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felix-tee · 4 years

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sore winner | felix + cameron

@lietzcameron

[[ Cameron is entirely clueless to the underlying tease of Felix’s comment; he’s never been the sort to pick up on those cues. He was always far too introverted, especially in high school, to notice when people thought he was attractive, and it took Eliza bluntly declaring her interest for him to realize the attraction was mutual. He’s always been hopeless, to reading others’ interest and judging how they might interpret his own. Case in point: ]] Oh, it’s Cameron, please. I haven’t been ‘Mr. Lietz’ since grad school. [[ He insists, flashing a smile back. He’s grateful for the reassurance about Sasha, even if it won’t deter his worrying nature in the slightest. It’s at least some validation that he’s not entirely clueless, that he’s at least moving in the right direction. There’ll always be that shred of doubt, but he supposes he can settle for mostly sure.

He listens attentively as Felix then moves on. He’s clearly passionate about the stuff, recalling his past celebrity. Cameron knows the broader details of his history – it’s to be expected, being on the security team so long – but he hasn’t had the opportunity to speak with Felix more in-depth about it. Hearing him talk about the bright lights and the stardom, it reminds him of just how different his life was. If there had never been a D-Day, this conversation would never have happened; he probably would’ve never even heard of Felix’s name, unless Sasha had become a fan. He would’ve probably stayed rooted in the Iowan farm life, content to do nothing but read and plant and ride horses. It was an idyllic life, utterly peaceful, but, for the most part, fairly stagnant. He wouldn’t have lived anything else or been pushed out of his shell. That’s not to say he’s all that different, of course – he’s still the bookish, sensitive farm boy he’s always been – but he’s harder, sterner, and in some ways, more afraid. For better or worse, he’s changed, loath as he is to grapple with that.

Cameron hears Felix talk about his past, and he picks up on another difference between their childhoods – or at least he thinks he does. The cast of characters and course of events might be the starkest difference, but he wonders… ]] That must’ve been challenging, all that pressure. [[ He wagers, reaching for his coffee cup. He hopes he doesn’t overstep with his assumption, taking a sip to pause. ]] Forgive me if I’m prying, but did that ever get lonely? I’m sure it was nice, having people to help you, show you the ropes and all… but being so – [[ he waves his hand in the air, gesturing to some sort of intangible concept ]] – I don’t know, special, I can’t help but think that must’ve felt pretty isolating at times, no?

[[ It’s the teacher in him that wonders, and the father in him that worries. He remembers, like most kids, feeling different at some point or another, and how he wondered if anyone could possibly, ever understand him. But his frame of reference – his small little town in corn country, where the wildest you could dream was crossing the county line – was so specific, so concentrated, that it was all a matter of degree. Hearing Felix talk about being scouted at fourteen, the constant attention and exposure his life must’ve required, he can’t imagine who he could’ve turned to who would really understand. Were there even other kids there, or was in the constant company of adults, people with different problems and a different level of maturity? He couldn’t imagine Sasha in a life like that, no one her age to be her friend. The thought of it just makes Cameron feel sad. ]]

[’Did that ever get lonely?’

Felix swallows, and the animation in his expression stills, runs a little hollow with the way the words drag nasty claws into his skin. Yes, he’d been surprised by how lonely it had gotten, actually. Even as he rose in popularity, even when he was surrounded by people and kept almost unbearably busy with networking parties and interviews and social media appearances and album signings and God knows what else, it was almost as if he’d become increasingly lonely. And the irony was that a crippling fear of loneliness is what had gotten him into all this in the first place. In school, he’d thought constant attention would be his cure for it, being popular would be the guarantee he needed to always have friends, always have people to fawn over to him, to remind him he was loved and beautiful and worthwhile. To always provide him distraction from his father’s unpredictable grief, unreliable mood, and overbearing sense of protectiveness.

But fame had not really brought Felix the relief he’d always thought it would. It’d brought him a lot of things, and made him happy in a lot of ways, but it’d never been without its downsides, and it’d definitely never been some kind of magic fix. But admitting that was just not something done. Unless... unless it was in a very particular fashion, and only to earn him some sympathy, to humanize him in a way that would make people love him more—but not so much that it would make them think he was just like everyone else, or actually less happy than the average person. He still wanted everyone to know how good he had it, how special he was. Is. Being envied has always felt important to him, though he couldn’t tell you why. Or perhaps he didn’t want to think hard enough on it to understand why himself.]

Gosh, no, [he replies with a somewhat false smile.] I mean why would it? I was constantly surrounded by friends and fellow musicians or coworkers. Or adoring fans. Everyone wants a photo with you, everyone loves you and cries when they see you. I’ve really never felt more loved. Sometimes it was hard because modelling is a lot harder than people realize, it’s sort of a cut throat business, but I wasn’t lonely. D-Day’s been hard though, [he adds with a shrug, and though it’s sort of an afterthought, it is the truth. Perhaps that’s why it’s honest—because he’s not thought too much about the answer.]

#okay reposting this so late for thread tracker bc i kept losing it #hopefully you don't have an issue reblogging this with the current tumblr glitches going on #lemme know if you do!#cameron #cameron: sore winner

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bestvloggingtripods3-blog · 4 years

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Camera Tripods

In case you are seriously interested in images than a digicam tripod is definitely an complete necessity. Whilst they're not always enjoyable to hold all around, these are great for nonetheless and timed pictures, and also nature pictures, macro-photography, extended exposure photographs, gradual shutter speeds, and small light-weight predicaments. If you are looking to obtain a whole new tripod to your digital camera than there are various belongings you may want to think about. Through this information we will talk about what this stuff are, so that you can assure you happen to be getting the most effective tripod to your digital camera! best vlogging cameras

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After examining the stability and deciding upon the dimensions of your respective tripod, you will want to select a head variety. Tripod heads fall into two types; pan and tilt heads and ball and socket heads. Should you will be applying your camera to shoot video, you are going to unquestionably desire to buy a tripod using a pan/tilt head. It's because pan/tilt heads make it possible for in your case to move your camera up and down and from appropriate to left, without taking away the digicam in the tripod. For even now photographs, axis control is just not typically necessary, earning ball/socket heads a better option. Having a ball and socket head you could loosen the digicam and shift it in almost any path.

If you're searching to invest in a fresh tripod, deciding upon the correct 1 to suit your requires is of utmost importance. Often think about the stability, dimensions, fat, and head variety of your tripod. After you will purchase a tripod, provide your digicam as well as you and take a look at it out for convenience. Superior luck with all your purchase!

References Tripod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod

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bestvloggingcameras2-blog · 4 years

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Camera Tripods

References Tripod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years

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%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Cnn news Government coronavirus response: Trump expected to announce emergency steps: Sources

Cnn news

President Donald Trump introduced Friday he's declaring a nationwide emergency to manage with the coronavirus disaster as conditions expand alarmingly and criticism mounts over how he's responding to the ache.

He also acknowledged he "in all chance" will catch tested himself, despite the indisputable fact that he acknowledged he had no symptoms. "I catch I will be," he acknowledged. "Moderately rapidly, we're engaged on that, we're knowing a time desk," he replied to a reporter's inquire, asserting no longer due to of any exposure he could per chance want had, "nonetheless due to I catch I will perform it anyway."

He had been photographed remaining weekend standing next to a Brazilian reliable who tested certain.

Speaking from the Rose Backyard, Trump acknowledged, "To unleash the elephantine energy of the federal authorities, I'm formally declaring a nationwide emergency." Referring to that phrase as "two very gigantic phrases," he acknowledged it might perchance per chance probably per chance allow him to quick catch $50 billion to states, territories and localities "in our shared fight by disagreement disease."

With Dr. Anthony Fauci, Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other individuals of his coronavirus assignment drive standing in the inspire of him, Trump acknowledged, "No handy resource will be spared -- nothing in any method."

The ideas convention became also an effort to manage with the political fallout two days after a speech to the nation Wednesday evening that became viewed as largely ineffective, leaving many puzzled and Wall avenue rattled.

"Declaring a nationwide emergency does two things: it coveys to the public that the nation faces a serious disaster and that drastic action is needed and this could per chance straight create available resources and other make stronger that can even moreover be directed to give protection to communities all over the nation," dilapidated Acting Attach of foundation Security Undersecretary John Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, acknowledged.

"Right here's a basic step that basically based fully fully on contemporary conditions must restful surprise no one -- the ideal surprise is that it wasn't carried out sooner," Cohen acknowledged.

"I'm also asking every sanatorium in this country to suggested its emergency preparedness idea, so that they'll meet the desires of People all over the build," Trump acknowledged in his remarks.

"Emergency orders I'm issuing nowadays will even confer gigantic fresh authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary of HHS will be ready to straight wave revisions of appropriate regulations and regulations to give docs, sanatorium -- all hospitals -- and health care providers most flexibility to answer to the virus and fancy patients," the president persisted.

"This involves the next serious authorities: the flexibility to waive regulations to allow tele-health, a rather fresh, and gorgeous ingredient," he acknowledged. "It presents a long way off doctor's visits and sanatorium study ins. The capacity to waive certain federal license requirements so the docs from other states can provide products and providers in states with the ideal want."

"They might be able to perform what they deserve to aid out. They know what they deserve to aid out. Now they put no longer want any ache getting it carried out," Trump acknowledged. "This day we're asserting a fresh partnership with internal most sector to vastly expand and flee our means to test for the coronavirus. We would favor to divulge folks that want a test can catch it as very safely quick."

He added, "We catch now been in discussions with pharmacies and outlets to create drive-through assessments available in serious areas identified by public health specialists. The fair is for folks so as to drive up and be swabbed with out having to leave your vehicle."

"Again, we do not desire each person taking this test. Or no longer it is fully needless," the president acknowledged.

Trump then invited Fauci, the generally-respected director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments, to scream. He called Trump's actions an example of what he termed a "ahead-leaning" technique to the disaster. "We restful catch a lengthy technique to switch. There'll be many extra conditions," he warned. "Nonetheless what's happening right here nowadays goes to abet it to discontinue sooner than it might perchance per chance probably per chance catch."

"Now not handiest are we bringing a complete of authorities technique to confronting the coronavirus, we're bringing an all-of-The US technique," Pence acknowledged, talking after Fauci.

"Or no longer it is especially significant now that we glimpse after senior voters with continual underlying medical conditions," he acknowledged, reminding that they "helped us with our homework" and "tucked us in at evening." He later added, "And now it be time for us to be there for them."

"A number of the docs affirm it (the virus) will wash through, this could per chance waft through. Involving terms -- and knowing," Trump acknowledged in answering a inquire. "I catch you're going to acquire in a chain of weeks it be going to be a ultimate term. In instances of hardship, the upright personality of The US repeatedly shines through."

His response about getting tested himself came after a reporter asked, "Are you being egocentric by no longer getting tested and doubtlessly –" nonetheless he decrease her off, asserting, "I didn't affirm I wasn't going to be tested."

Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a degree of turning in her have assertion about an hour sooner than the president became scheduled to scream. She acknowledged Home Democrats would scurry a equipment of measures "nowadays" to manage with what she called a "lengthy overdue response" to the disaster, asserting the three most crucial ingredients deal would take care of "discovering out, discovering out, discovering out."

Pelosi acknowledged the invoice would make certain free assessments would be available for "each person who desires a test," asserting a coordinated, nationwide technique became wished to "realize the scale and scope" of the ache so that there is most frequently a "science-basically based fully fully response."

The measure would also comprise paid unwell and emergency poke away, she acknowledged, to boot to enhanced unemployment advantages to abet families take care of the industrial consequences.

The quick-transferring trends came after the Trump administration moved Friday morning to nominate a degree particular person for locating out and introduced expanded measures in what appears to be an acknowledgement of the shortcoming of obtainable discovering out and delays in processing the results.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has designated Adm. Brett Giroir to coordinate U.S. discovering out efforts as the conditions of infected People develop exponentially. Below the HHS umbrella, the Meals and Drug Administration is introducing an emergency hotline for internal most laboratories and providing fresh funding for partnerships with corporations growing speedily assessments that can detect the virus internal an hour.

The announcement of the enhance in discovering out comes as means has struggled to catch pack up with the inquire of nationally at public health labs. Fauci called the fresh design “a failing" on Capitol Hill Thursday even as Trump told journalists the identical day it be been "going very restful."

The Home is anticipated to vote on a stimulus idea Friday to offset the industrial fallout to day to day People from the outbreak, pending a deal between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin -- the administration's point particular person on negotiations.

Tune into ABC News Stay at noon EDT every weekday for doubtlessly the most up-to-date info, context and prognosis on the fresh coronavirus, with the elephantine ABC News crew the build we are able to try to answer your questions about the virus.

Listed below are Friday's most doubtlessly the most crucial trends in Washington:

President Trump publicizes nationwide emergency

Trump administration announces steps to flee up discovering out

Pelosi says Home Democrats will scurry a financial reduction measure 'nowadays' that ensures free assessments for each person who desires one

Right here is how trends in Washington are unfolding

Trump publicizes a nationwide emergency

President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency on Friday which he acknowledged "will open up catch admission to to as much as $50 billion" to fight the fresh coronavirus.

Trump also introduced internal most sector partnerships to "flee our means to test for the coronavirus."

Fauci: 'We catch now no longer peaked yet'

Following two days of testimony sooner than the Home Oversight Committee, Fauci gave a warning on ABC's "Proper Morning The US" Friday that he has made sooner than as the coronavirus continues to unfold: "It gets worse sooner than it gets greater."

"This is doubtlessly no longer lower than a topic of several weeks. Or no longer it is unpredictable, nonetheless in the occasion you glimpse at historically how this stuff work, this is most frequently wherever from about a weeks to as much as eight weeks," Fauci acknowledged. "I am hoping it be going to be in the earlier fragment, two, three, four weeks, nonetheless it completely's no longer probably to create an apt prediction."

Pelosi: Settlement is 'come' with White Home on lend a hand equipment

Earlier, Pelosi acknowledged that she and the Trump administration had been near settlement on a coronavirus lend a hand equipment to reassure anxious People by providing unwell pay, free discovering out and other resources, hoping to easy teetering financial markets amid the mounting disaster.

“We catch now -- are come -- to an settlement,” Pelosi acknowledged, rising from her administrative middle at the Capitol late Thursday evening.

Mnuchin tells afraid traders 'don't peep at the masks'

When asked Friday what his message is for People -- especially these near retirement -- who are afraid as they glimpse at their 401Ks this morning, Mnuchin sought to project easy amid the industrial turmoil brought about by the coronavirus.

“Don't peep at the masks, okay,” Mnuchin acknowledged, in providing advice. “This is doubtlessly increased or a twelve months from now, as I acknowledged, folks that weathered the wreck in 1987, folks that weathered the financial disaster. For lengthy term traders, the US is the ideal method to make investments on this planet.”

Mnuchin many instances infamous that what the U.S. is coping with nowadays is "no longer the financial disaster," describing it as a non eternal ache, nonetheless acknowledged the White Home is taking a inspect at taking most crucial stimulus actions to abet People through this time.

“I'm able to guarantee you, the president is certain, we are able to perform irrespective of we prefer. I catch the president is taking a inspect at a most crucial stimulus equipment, whether it be in the course of the payroll tax decrease or through one incorrect approach to turning in liquidity to exhausting working People,” acknowledged Mnuchin.

As the administration nears a take care of Pelosi on a COVID-19 lend a hand equipment, Mnuchin described it as correct the "second inning" in a baseball game.

“I catch we glimpse this as this is the second inning in a baseball game. The most crucial inning became the $8 billion invoice, this is the second inning,” acknowledged, Mnuchin, who acknowledged the thought to “reach quick inspire” to Congress on components coping with the airline alternate.

His feedback illustrate a most crucial shift tone from the administration from correct per week in the past, when the president's high financial adviser Larry Kudlow acknowledged the administration at that time became no longer fascinated by any sweeping stimulus measures.

Australian reliable assessments certain for COVID-19 after assembly with AG Barr Ivanka Trump

Australia's minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, acknowledged Friday he's contracted coronavirus, one week after he became viewed assembly with Attorney Long-established Bill Bar and President Trump's daughter in Washington, D.C.

Division of Justice spokeswoman told ABC News that while Barr is "staying residence" Friday, "the AG is feeling unparalleled and no longer exhibiting any symptoms," adding that the "CDC isn't very any longer recommending he be tested at this point."

The ideas comes at some point after Trump acknowledged he is "no longer fervent" that an aide to the Brazilian president tested certain for COVID-19 days after he attended dinner with Trump at his Florida resort.

ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders, Josh Margolin, Jordyn Phelps, John Parkinson, Alex Mallin, Anne Flaherty and Lauren Lantry contributed to this represent.

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niedolia · 7 years

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Do you have any tips for new fic writers? I posted a fic and no one has really read it yet :(

Um, good question! I understand how that feels though, see: The Easy Winners lol. Overall I have been fairly successful across my different accounts though so I do have some tips & hopefully it helps. But I am blunt here, I’ve been writing fanfic for too long to pretend any of this isn’t true.

AO3 speaking, if this is your first fanfic in the fandom then it is going to push your fic back a few pages, and by that time no one will see it. You might just need to wait for the next update, unfortunately, to see whether there’ll be any success there.

The days matter. Pity on the writer who posts on Sunday nights when Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts or any of the other popular fics update. Also, weekends get more posts than weekdays. When I posted Meet Me by the River on a Wednesday, it stayed on the front page for hours. You’re going to have to have some strategy here.

Hype it. I’m shameless, alright, I hype my fics. I give updates on my blog about my fic. When I post, I make a post for it on tumblr with a pretty banner and tag it from here to kingdom come, with #victuuriwriters as my first tag bc goodness knows it might help. I reblog it on a sideblog of mine that has almost 3k followers even though it’s unrelated content because it’s exposure, and if you have a somewhat successful blog too, why not? It helps. Hell, send it into victuurificrec, they take anonymous messages & you’ll be featured in that fic rec friday posting. You know how when writers publish a book they get a frickload of marketing? Book readings, signings, even commercials, the like? So reblog that link 100 times. Authors worked hard on their writing and so did you, you’re allowed to promote yourself. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Be proud.

Speaking of hyping, setting a schedule helps. It gives your readers something to look forward to definitively instead of failing to notice when you give an update.

Also along hyping, sometimes giving sneak previews help. Like, posting an excerpt before the actual chapter. If readers see good writing right then and there, they might be more interested in the rest.

There’s just some stuff that the fandom prefers over other things. YoI is a happy fandom, people like happy stories with happy endings for most of it within fanfic. You’re going to feel like you have to cater to your readers. In a sense, you do. It sucks, my god does it suck. Ivan da Maria took a hit because it has that nice “major character death” tag and no one wants that. No one wants to look beyond that, because there’s the assumption of no happy ending right off that bat. And damn is this fandom thirsty for happy endings. Sometimes you kinda just have to accept that the subject isn’t popular within fandom and consider maybe moving on. I wish I could tell you something optimistic here, but it’s best just to acknowledge now that maybe your obscure history or w/e au isn’t going to get much interest from the fandom. Try and gauge what it does want.

This has only happened to me in this one case, but piggybacking on something else works oddly well. Let’s be real, Meet Me by the River probably wouldn’t have gotten so much attention without my Russian crash course reeling me in attention beforehand. And then, I somehow got hyped by 2 well-known people in fandom. It’s really unfair and for me it was pretty much plain luck that everything aligned like this, but piggybacking on something (or someone) else works.

Try and get it beta’d, because if they’re good and honest, they’ll tell you beforehand whether a chapter is exciting or not. Also, I guess being beta’d is supposed to be the prestigious trend now.

The I Know When I Need to Save Myself Tactic: or in standard English, if you put all your effort into some fic week after week and it has little popularity, that one motivator for fanfic (bc goodness knows we’re not paid for this or anything, hits/kudos is all we get), sometimes you need to put it down before it hurts you more. Sometimes, it’s just time to move on, if you find the kudos count more disheartening than your story can uplift you. You think I put that “if this gets good reception I’ll continue this story” note lightly in MMbtR? I still agonize over it because it can come off as manipulative. But as someone who’s been in the fanfic game for 6 years, I know to have some respect for myself, sometimes even over how much I love the story sadly enough, and I make that clear. Thank you for reading, but if my work matters to no one, I have more productive things to do with my time. It sounds bad directly, but for goodness sake save your mental health. Have a decent amount of respect for yourself and your work. I’m really not trying to be mean/negative, I want the best for you.

I’m sorry I can’t give you more, that there isn’t some easy to follow algorithm for this. Sometimes fic popularity is just dumb luck, I wish I was kidding. I’ll try and help you in any other way I can, new writers deserve a chance. I wish you more luck in your hits/kudos, Nonny, seriously. Don’t quit writing over this (goodness knows I’ve seen a lot of good writers quit because of this exact problem), but do remember: fanfic your mental health.

#;; ask #im not trying to be negative seriously.#but i need you to take care of yourself.#i know the obsession over hits too well.#honestly i usually hate the fanfic scene.#im here to teach the myths now. thats it.#long post #im surprised you sent this to ME tho.#im not exactly a pinnacle of popularity.#goodness knows idm wont help me now.

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wfitvacations · 4 years

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Digital detox retreats don’t work, but here’s why you should hike unplugged

Escaping digital life isn’t healthy, research says

While it seems like the healthiest of ideas to unplug from electronics for a week or more, the reality is, it’s pretty stressful. Time goes faster than ever these days, and you’ve got obligations and stuff to reply to. Right?

Hi, I’m Cat, I’m the owner of West Coast Fitness Vacations, a wellness retreat in B.C., Canada that specializes in outdoor fitness and weight loss. Our health retreat is modern, results focused and setup for today’s woman whose juggling 97 things at the same time.

In this article:

Why digital detoxes are stupid

What the heck is a digital cleanse?

The better solution for digital detox retreats

Finding the unplugged balance

Some apps to help you be healthier with usage

Being without your phone is a luxury these days, which is why, as a luxury fitness retreat, we invite our guests to do just that – but only during program hours. As we disconnect digitally, we reconnect with our self, people, nature, and the world in front of us.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Whistler Fitness Vacations takes guests on this gorgeous hiking trail, Half Note on Whistler Mountain.

Life Hacker agrees – unplugging simply doesn’t work.

In this awesome article they say:

During the food/juice type of detox, the allure is that you’ll feel so great you won’t even miss the junk food; you’ll eat cucumbers for breakfast every day for the rest of your life now that you’ve pushed the reset button. But there’s no equivalent way to return from a digital detox. You can turn off most of your notifications, and get in the habit of putting your phone down more often, but it’s not like you can actually live a phone-free life.

QUICK NOTE: 1/ The title of this blog says to hike unplugged, but definitely bring your phone on hikes for safety. Oh, and hike within the cell range, always. There’s nothing glamorous about falling down a hill onto a logging road, only to discover you’ve sprained your ankle really badly (and can’t call anyone to pick you up). 2/ The research that says digital detoxes aren’t healthy is here and here 🙂

Digital detoxes are as stupid as juice fasts

I firmly believe that going completely offline is nothing less than anxiety inducing.

My program is setup to be a part-time digital detox that supports participants in developing a healthier relationship with their mobile devices. Phones are not the enemy, and just like yo-yo dieting, extreme rules from other wellness retreats to ‘unplug to reconnect’ is, in my opinion, promoting extreme behavior.

READ: Digital detoxing is the tech equivalent of a juice cleanse—and neither of them work

I’m proud to promote balance. Balance and harmony without the extremes… that’s how I roll. Just like I won’t tell a weight loss retreat client to ‘never eat chocolate’ I wouldn’t enforce a ‘never have your phone’ policy in Whistler. It just doesn’t make sense, and frankly, I don’t know what the digital detox retreats all over the internet are thinking.

Promoting all or nothing behavior is setting up for an unsustainable relationship with technology. And this is likely to trickle over into all-or-nothing diet or exercise mentality. I’m not buying the benefits of digital detox retreats, bottom line.

7 GREAT REASONS WHY A WELLNESS STAYCATION IN CANADA IS MORE ENTICING (THAN EVER)

How our fitness vacations unplug in Whistler

Many of our customers choose a weight loss retreat with us partly because of the digital detox component during scheduled program hours. It’s nice to go on a hike where the other participants aren’t ‘on the scroll’ while walking over rocks, or chatting on their phone. Sometimes you can feel like you’re between everyones conversation with other people on group travel, and it’s hard to find the right moment to jump in and get to know them.

Besides the anti-social factor, it’s also a safety precaution that we request customers not to use ear buds for any reason – even for music. This is because the guides might need to shout out to them at anytime, whether it be wildlife, fallen rocks, or a crew of fast bikers coming in less than 2 seconds.

How it works is from the morning start (9am) until lunchtime (11.30am) your phones are on flight mode, unless you’ve got an emergency that you’re monitoring. I mean let’s face it, if you’re waiting for news from your fathers oncologist, you’re not going to enjoy the hike being blocked from the news.

At lunch you can – of course – session on your phone, and then from 12-2pm it’s digital detox time again. Then from 2pm onwards, it’s all yours to do as you please. You are, after all, an adult.

So what about photos?

We’re one of the few weight loss retreats in Canada where the fitness guides leading your day also double up as photographers. I provide staff with iphones for this task. Nearly all the images on this site were taken by our guides. They’re not professional grade, but definitely good enough for you to leave the photos to us.

We airdrop every week, or everyday if you want – it’s nice to have group photos of the best view points from your day. Of course, if there’s a special photo or view that you’d like to take with your own phone, you can – but only occasionally.

There’s also no cameras allowed during program hours because we’re a fitness retreat and the guided cardio adventures are required to keep a training pace. If we stop infrequently throughout the trails for various guests to take photos of choosing, then it turns more into a leisurely tourism tour. Can’t have that!

My phone was on flight mode while traveling through Bolivia. I didn’t pay data, and could connect whenever there was wifi for facetime etc.

I’ve been unplugged on my travels, and it really bugged me.

I’m not addicted to my phone, but I do enjoy being a good daughter, partner, friend and human. If someone wants to get hold of me, its 2020 and they damn well should be able to, no matter where I am in the world. I want to be that person for them. After a while when people drop off the response game, the out-reacher stops outreaching. I don’t want ‘my people’ to wonder if I’ll be there for them.

Unplug from technology and swap virtual tweets for the sound of real birdsong – even for one hike. You’ll find a restored sense of wellness.

With many of us spending the majority of our day scrolling down our smart phones or responding to emails, it is difficult to fully switch off and relax. This over-exposure to technology can leave us feeling disconnected to the present. This can lead to feeling stressed and overwhelmed; affecting sleep, focus and even our relationships with others.

I think that telling someone not to do something is a surefire way to make them want to do the opposite. I’ve always found the straight up digital detox retreats quite limiting, especially if you’re there for a few weeks.

Finding your highlight reel

Giving yourself the gift of an outdoor fitness vacation is saying YES to reconnecting with your healthier, happier self. Whistler Fitness Vacations is one of the many personal coaching retreats with outdoor fitness activity that’s also supported with personal development. Our life coach led workshops guide you towards clearing your mind and thinking more holistically.

You’re surrounded by incredible scenery – why not put your phone down and look up? Be in the moment, rather than watching others instagram stories and highlight reel. Embrace your own highlight reel and you’ll return home not only fitter, but also rejuvenated mentally. Experiencing the world at a slower pace, leaving behind the virtual, is nothing short of liberating!

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN LIVE AT A WEIGHT LOSS RESORT FOR 2-6 MONTHS?

What is a digital cleanse?

A digital cleanse helps us detox bad tech habits that infringe on our lives so we can regain more presence. Did you know that Americans spend up to 11 hours a day looking at screens and gadgets like the computer, cell phone, TV and video games? – Ashley Stern

Fit getaways are the perfect time to move your focus towards your fitness, away from your phone. Schedule unplugging – you don’t need to go completely off grid. Just give yourself a few boundaries, start slow such as going to the bathroom without your phone, or a workout. Log-off 60 minutes before bed, buy an old school battery powered alarm clock so you can go tech free in the bedroom.

Minimize social media, finish the conversations you’re having on various threads and don’t post any new ones before you step away. If you post and ghost, there’ll be more pull drawing you back into the phone before you’re ready. It’s refreshing to interact with the world around you in real time, which is basically the draw of digital detox retreats.

Not a phone in sight! Whistler Fitness Vacations strength training sessions, with full focus 🙂

Unplug for an afternoon, to experience a slower pace

Get back to nature with a hike through the landscape or explore the coast by kayak on excursions that will surely thrill your senses. Whistler Fitness Vacations is a restorative trip that includes all kinds of outdoor activity; hiking, biking, kayaking and fitness classes.

You’ll become a great cook, and have soulful discussions with the other guests – if you’re open to it. But not if you’re on your cell phone, without letting an email or text pass you by, always having half conversations until the next ping.

Giving yourself permission to switch off and be unavailable for 6-8 hours per day is a challenge for some, but so worth it. It’s such a gift to give yourself, the ability to switch off so that your mind can be calm.

Letting go of your digital addiction will infinitely support healing from adrenal burnout, and poor sleep. When switching off, you’ll get into the pattern of improved emotional balance. You might also reevaluate your relationship with digital phones, ipads and computers.

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN LIVE AT A WEIGHT LOSS RESORT FOR 2-6 MONTHS?

Get to know the other guests at Whistler Fitness Vacations – we unplug only during program hours.

Digital detox retreats make you want to binge

Binge on your phone that is. Going without your phone cold turkey is equivalent in human behaviour to going on a nasty juice fast. As soon as you leave the unplugged retreat, you’re overwhelmed with 200+ messages and notifications, with even more pressure to catch up.

Fad dieting and fasts don’t create life long change, and nor does abstinence from your phone. That’s why Whistler Fitness Vacations is so different with the space we create for our guests.

They have the freedom to use their phone before 8am and after 2pm… and at noon. In turn, they gain deepened sense of self without the pressures of digital life.

For those addicted to social media, they’re reminded how likeable they are in person, not just online. Social skills are also boosted, and insight is gained on how to stay grounded with your phone usage.

WEST COAST FITNESS VACATIONS – OUR SAFETY PLAN FOR REOPENING

As the owner of West Coast Fitness Vacations, I’m reachable pretty much anytime. Click here to get in touch!

Plugging into life

Your phone is toxic to your relationships. You should put it down. Turn it off often. Agreed? So how come you haven’t done it? Yeah. Me neither. – Denise Brodey

At one point, not too long ago, I’d catch every.single.notification. I felt owned by pings, and judged by silence. One by one as they rolled in, jumping to (pretty much obey my phone) like a dog not wanting to miss a cookie opportunity.

And in my quiet times I noticed that this world of screen everything, human experiences in my day were starting to feel like a luxury. (I think there’s a lot of us who feel that way).

Balance is the goal, not abstinence – digital detox retreats can teach us that, if setup the right way.

In the end, it’s all about human connection. Digital and physical, they’re both important.

SUMMARY

Career goals include real words, human handshakes, your business network saying your name on the phone, a customer call that ends in gratitude.

We don’t need to join digital detox retreats to find a healthy relationship with technology.

We have powerful influencers like Thrive Global (engaging us through the screen ironically) to have less screen time. They promote a life less digital in a fresh and cool way.

Research is conclusive that phone addition is really a thing. People are taking note of that. Here are 7 scary things you didn’t know about cell phone addiction.

It’s becoming socially unacceptable to be on your phone when face-to-face with someone who is talking with you. Need help? There’s an app for that.

Everyone knows not to sleep with your phone, or have that dreaded neon light in bed. Here’s what the studies say.

Today’s a great day to go for a hike in the forest, with your phone turned off until you need it. If you feel like you’re on your phone too much, activate screen time. That’s a tracker that lets you know how much time you spend each day. Strive to find balanced, healthy ways to manage your technology, similar to what you do with your diet and exercise.

The post Digital detox retreats don’t work, but here’s why you should hike unplugged appeared first on West Coast Fitness Vacations.

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sheminecrafts · 5 years

Text

More investors are betting on virtual influencers like Lil Miquela

Brud, the company behind the virtual celebrity Lil Miquela, is now worth at least $125 million thanks to a new round of financing the company is currently closing. Meanwhile, new venture-backed companies like the superstealthy Shadows, SuperPlastic and Toonstar are all developing virtual characters that will launch via social media channels like Snap and Instagram, or on their own platforms.

It’s all an effort to test whether audiences are ready to embrace even more virtual avatars — including ones that don’t try to straddle the uncanny valley quite as blatantly as Miquela and her crew.

The investors backing these companies say it’s the rise of a new kind of studio system — one that’s independent of the personalities and scandals that have defined a generation of Vine, YouTube and Instagram stars — and it’s attracting serious venture dollars.

“The way I look at it… a lot of it is going to be like any kind of content studio,” says Peter Rojas, a partner at the New York investment firm Betaworks Ventures. “In 2019 and 2020 we’re going to see a lot of these… we’re going to see a lot of people putting out a lot of stuff.”

Los Angeles-based Brud is by far the most established of this new breed in the U.S. (at least in terms of the amount of money it has raised). Last year the company scored at least $6 million from investors, including Sequoia Capital, BoxGroup and other, undisclosed, investors.

The makers of the virtual influencer, Lil Miquela, snag real money from Silicon Valley

And the company has done it again, and is in the process of closing on somewhere between $20 million and $30 million at a pre-money valuation of at least $125 million led by Spark Capital, according to people with knowledge of the round. Miquela “herself” teased that “she” had something to “share” with her roughly 1.5 million followers. Brud declined to comment.

If Miquela is arguably the most successful U.S. version of this new breed of entertainer, the collective behind the account is far from the only one.

Experiments in avastardom have been percolating in popular culture since at least the rise of the Gorillaz — the Damon Albarn assembled musical supergroup that released their first EP “Tomorrow Comes Today” in late 2000. Or, depending on your definition, perhaps as early as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the mid-1990s Cartoon Network series featuring an animated superhero interviewing real celebrities.

youtube

And that success spawned imitators like Hatsune Miku, who’ve capture the imagination and hearts of audiences globally. In November, a Japanese fan named Akihiko Kondo spent $18,000 to wed the avatar. And he’s not alone. Gatebox, the company that manufactures hardware to display holograms of various anime characters in homes, has issued at least 3,700 marriage licenses to fans like Kondo.

At Betaworks, the firm is exploring the popularity of these virtual characters — and the role that artificial intelligence and new content creation technologies will play in reshaping entertainment and social media platforms. The company’s Synthetic Camp, which launches in mid-February, is around what Rojas calls “synthetic reality,” including the rise of avatar-driven media like Miquela.

“We’re looking more broadly at the issues around manipulated or faked content and how do you address that,” says Rojas. “Algorithmically generated content and how things like generative adversarial networks are being used to create and synthesize new photo and video content.”

For Rojas, the development of powerful new tools that enable the creation of new characters in minutes that, in the past, would have taken humans hundreds of thousands of hours, can unlock all sorts of possibilities for entertainment.

“The celebrity part comes into play where we’re now at a point where you can create these photorealistic avatars and put them into videos and have them wearing clothes without having to spend millions of dollars on CGI,” he says.

Betaworks is betting on the content studio aspect through companies like SuperPlastic, a new startup launched by Paul Budnitz, the founder of the alternative social network ello and Budnitz Bicycles. Budnitz is perhaps best known for Kidrobot, a manufacturer of branded collectibles and toys for adults and kids everywhere. But the company also believes there are opportunities in backing the content creation toolkits that can power this new kind of media star, like its investment in the media creation tool, Facemoji.

“There’s no reason why you won’t see it across the board. Our appetite for fresh content and this stuff is kind of limitless,” says Rojas. “And I don’t see it as zero sum. YouTube didn’t kill television, it just became Netflix… Things can move in two different directions at the same time. More high brow and more complex and higher level and also more democratized and lowbrow and dumb. There’ll be avatar tools and apps and games and then we’ll see stuff that’s top of the pyramid stuff like Lil Miquela and Shudu.”

At Toonstar, co-founders John Attanasio and Luisa Huang went from developing a platform to developing a studio. The two met at the Digital Media Group within Warner Brothers and were tasked with trying to experiment with technologies at the intersection of media generation and distribution.

“Daily, snackable and interactive are the three things that you need to be successful in the world,” says Attanasio. “We saw the impact that the rise of mobile was having on linear. We sat through a lot of meetings where you looked at audience trends and you saw that going in the wrong direction in the wrong color.”

So the two founders began contemplating what a new, low-cost, high-touch media network might look like. “We looked at mobile and we saw the massive animation gap. Animation takes a long time and it’s expensive, the average season can cost $3 million to $5 million and bringing a new series to life can take three to four years.”

For Attanasio and Huang, those timelines were too slow to take advantage of the mobile content revolution. So the two built a platform that initially focused on letting user-generated content flourish — a kind of YouTube for animated, avatar-driven storytelling that could be distributed on any social media platform or on Toonstar’s own site and app.

Toonstar lets you bring cartoon characters to life thanks to facial recognition

Since that launch, the company has refined its business model to become more of a traditional animation studio. “We do daily pop culture cartoons… and partner with creators and influencers,” says Attanasio. “Our whole thing is driven by proprietary tech that allows us to do things really fast and at low cost… 50 times faster and 90 percent cheaper than typical animation.”

Attanasio also realized the importance of creative talent. “We had no shortage of content, but it was shitty content,” Attanasio says. “That’s when you realize… what we’re doing… there’s three ingredients… One is tech, one is process and the third is creative… if you have tech and process and you take away creative what you have is an ocean of shit.”

Now, they’re also experimenting with creating their own animated influencer. Leveraging the popularity of the Musical.ly app (now rebranded under its new owner, TikTok), Toonstar launched Poppy.tv.

“We launched a channel called Poppy.tv. It was a blue chicken [and] she became musically famous,” Attanasio said. “Within three months Poppy had 300,000 followers and had an avid fan base for Poppy and her cast of characters.”

The content was episodic and ranged from 15 seconds to 30 seconds — and it was based on cartoon music videos. “That validated the thesis of can you create a cartoon influencer and can you have a broad audience be super engaged?… and the answer was ‘Yes,'” said Attanasio.

Then, taking a page from the early Cartoon Network playbook, Attanasio and Huang made the show interactive in a callback to the “Space Ghost” phenomenon. “We started doing cartoon live streams and the founders of Musical.ly asked us to do a weekly show that they would feature,” Attanasio says. “It was Poppy the Blue Chicken and we would broadcast for an hour every week. Famous musers on Musical.ly come in with a FaceTime… And there were games and all of it was live, in real time.”

It’s hard to overstate the importance of working with virtual characters, according to Attanasio. “We understand how much money you can make from the IP. When we’re working with creators or influencers they understand that you have this shelf life as an influencer, but as IP, that can go on in perpetuity. There is something to be said about building a character. We’re all children of Saturday morning cartoons.”

And Toonstar is building an audience. Its show, the Danogs, has 4.5 million weekly viewers, and the company recently launched Black Santa — a show developed in partnership with the former NBA All-Star and tech investor Baron Davis. The NBA star and studio analyst also committed capital to Toonstar’s recent seed funding, a round led by Founders Fund partner Cyan Banister. In all, Toonstar said it has about 45 million weekly viewers for all of its shows.

Lil Miquela and fellow brud avatar Blawko22

Those kinds of numbers are music to the ears, of Dylan Flinn, a former agent at the Los Angeles powerhouse Creative Artists Agency, who left to start his own company.

Flinn has partnered with the producers of BoJack Horseman on a new venture called Shadows, which has already launched two virtual avatars into the wild.

Flinn got exposure to the virtual media world while at Rothenberg Ventures, the now defunct fund that invested in virtual reality and augmented reality. “I still had that lens of looking at innovation and virtual worlds and I’ve always been fascinated by what social media is doing.”

For Flinn, the virtual element of what’s being created is vitally important to the success of these ventures. “We’re not trying to create humans,” he says. “We look up to the Mickey Mouses and Looney Tunes and the Bugs Bunnies of the world. When I look at these 3D, [computer generated] human-based characters, it’s so close to the uncanny valley. We want to develop characters and we want to tell fictional stories rooted in reality.”

Like Attanasio at Toonstar, Flinn sees the speed at which digital content can be created and brought to market as a critical component of its success. “When I was at CAA you see how much money is wasted on development every year. This was an approach which was like, ‘What if you can develop in public and the best content can win?'” Flinn says.

Shadows already has two virtual avatars out in the wild, but he declined to identify which ones they were. Ultimately, he said, the goal is to have 20 characters a year, because once a couple of characters come to market and get traction with an audience, new characters can be introduced to old ones and the universe becomes a discovery engine of its own. That’s a strategy that Miquela and her crew are also employing, with varying degrees of success.

Ultimately, these types of entertainments aren’t going to go away — at least according to the investors and entrepreneurs who are creating the companies that are building them.

“People are totally fine with things that are artificial,” says Rojas. “People totally connect with Mario from Super Mario Bros. We always tell stories and have characters in whatever medium are available to us [like] Instagram and Snapchat and YouTube and Twitter. Thirty to 40 years ago it was television and radio and movies. People are going to express themselves and avatars end up being a form expression.”

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://tcrn.ch/2QM2vV1 via IFTTT

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0 notes

technicalsolutions88 · 5 years

Link

The makers of the virtual influencer, Lil Miquela, snag real money from Silicon Valley

If Miquela is arguably the most successful U.S. version of this new breed of entertainer, the collective behind the account is far from the only one.

Toonstar lets you bring cartoon characters to life thanks to facial recognition

Now, they’re also experimenting with creating their own animated influencer. Leveraging the popularity of the Musical.ly app (now rebranded under its new owner, TikTok), Toonstar launched Poppy.tv.

Lil Miquela and fellow brud avatar Blawko22

Those kinds of numbers are music to the ears, of Dylan Flinn, a former agent at the Los Angeles powerhouse Creative Artists Agency, who left to start his own company.

Flinn has partnered with the producers of BoJack Horseman on a new venture called Shadows, which has already launched two virtual avatars into the wild.

Ultimately, these types of entertainments aren’t going to go away — at least according to the investors and entrepreneurs who are creating the companies that are building them.

from Social – TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2QM2vV1 Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

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

0 notes

toomanysinks · 5 years

Text

More investors are betting on virtual influencers like Lil Miquela

Brud, the company behind the virtual celebrity Lil Miquela, is now worth at least $125 million thanks to a new round of financing the company is currently closing. Meanwhile, new venture-backed companies like the superstealthy Shadows, SuperPlastic, and Toonstar are all developing virtual characters that will launch via social media channels like Snap and Instagram, or on their own platforms.

The investors backing these companies say it’s the rise of a new kind of studio system — one that’s independent of the personalities and scandals which have defined a generation of Vine, YouTube, and Instagram stars and it’s attracting serious venture dollars.

“The way I look at it… a lot of it is going to be like any kind of content studio,” says Peter Rojas, a partner at the New York investment firm, Betaworks Ventures. “In 2019 and 2020 we’re going to see a lot of these… we’re going to see a lot of people putting out a lot of stuff.”

Los Angeles-based Brud is by far the most established of this new breed in the U.S. (at least in terms of the amount of money it has raised). Last year the company scored at least $6 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, BoxGroup, and other, undisclosed, investors.

The makers of the virtual influencer, Lil Miquela, snag real money from Silicon Valley

And the company has done it again, and is in the process of closing on somewhere between $20 million and $30 million at a pre-money valuation of at least $125 million (pre-money) led by Spark Capital, according to people with knowledge of the round. Miquela “herself” teased that the “she” had something to “share” with her roughly 1.5 million followers. Brud declined to comment.

If Miquela is arguably the most successful U.S. version of this new breed of entertainer, the collective behind the account is far from the only one.

Experiments in avastardom have been percolating in popular culture since at least the rise of the Gorillaz — the Damon Albarn assembled musical supergroup that released their first EP “Tomorrow Comes Today” in late 2000. Or, depending on your definition, perhaps as early as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the mid-90s Cartoon Network series featuring an animated superhero interviewing real celebrities.

youtube

And that success spawned imitators like Hatsune Miku who’ve capture the imagination and hearts of audiences globally. In November, a Japanese fan named Akihiko Kondo spent $18,000 to wed the avatar. And he’s not alone. Gatebox, the company that manufactures hardware to display holograms of various anime characters in homes, has issued at least 3,700 marriage licenses to fans like Kondo.

At Betaworks, the firm is exploring the popularity of these virtual characters — and the role that artificial intelligence and new content creation technologies will play in reshaping entertainment and social media platforms. The company’s Synthetic Camp, which launches in mid-February, is around what Rojas calls “synthetic reality” including the rise of avatar-driven media like Miquela.

For Rojas, the development of powerful new tools which enable the creation of new characters in minutes that, in the past, would have taken humans hundreds of thousands of hours, can unlock all sorts of possibilities for entertainment.

Betaworks is betting on the content studio aspect through companies like SuperPlastic, a new startup launched by Paul Budnitz the founder of the alternative social network, ello and Budnitz Bicycles. But the company also believes there are opportunities in backing the content creation toolkits that can power this new kind of media star, like its investment in the media creation tool, Facemoji.

For Attanasio and Huang, those timelines were too slow to take advantage of the mobile content revolution. So the two built a platform which initially focused on letting user generated content flourish — a kind of YouTube for animated, avatar-driven storytelling that could be distributed on any social media platform or on Toonstar’s own site and app.

Toonstar lets you bring cartoon characters to life thanks to facial recognition

Since that launch, the company has refined its business model to become more of a traditional animation studio. “We do daily pop culture cartoons.. and partner with creators and influencers,” says Attanasio. “Our whole thing is driven by proprietary tech that allows us to do things really fast and at low cost… 50 times faster and 90% cheaper than typical animation.”

Attanasio also realized the importance of creative talent. “We had no shortage of content but it was shitty content,” Attanasio says. “That’s when you realize… what we’re doing… there’s three ingredients.. One is tech, one is process and the third is creative… if you have tech and process and you take away creative what you have is an ocean of shit.”

Now, they’re also experimenting with creating their own animated influencer. Leveraging the popularity of the Musical.ly app (now rebranded under its new owner, TikTok), Toonstar launched Poppy.tv.

“We launched a channel called poppy tv.. It was a blue chicken [and] she became musically famous,” Attanasio said. “Within three months Poppy had 300,000 followers and had an avid fanbase for Poppy and her cast of characters.”

Then, taking a page from the early Cartoon Network playbook, Attanasio and Huang made the show interactive in a callback to the “Space Ghost” phenomenon. “We started doing cartoon livestreams and the founders of Musical.ly asked us to do a weekly show that they would feature,” Attanasio says. “It was Poppy the Blue Chicken and we would broadcast for an hour every week. Famous musers on musically come in with a facetime … And there were games and all of it was live, in real time.”

And Toonstar is building an audience. Its show, the Danogs, has 4.5 million weekly viewers, and the company recently launched Black Santa — a show developed in partnership with the former NBA All-Star and tech investor, Baron Davis. The NBA star and studio analyst also committed capital to Toonstar’s recent seed funding; a round led by Founders Fund partner, Cyan Banister. In all, Toonstar said it has about 45 million weekly viewers for all of its shows.

Lil Miquela and fellow brud avatar Blawko22

Those kinds of numbers are music to the ears, fo Dylan Flinn, a former agent at the Los Angeles powerhouse Creative Artists Agency, who left to start his own company.

Flinn has partnered with the producers of BoJack Horseman on a new venture called Shadows, which has already launched two virtual avatars into the wild.

For Flinn, the virtual element of what’s being created is vitally important to the success of these ventures. “We’re not trying to create humans,” he says. “We look up to the Mickey Mouse’s and Looney Tunes and the Bugs Bunnies of the world. When I look at these 3D, [computer generated] human-based characters it’s so close the uncanny valley. We want to develop characters and we want to tell fictional stories rooted in reality.”

Ultimately, these types of entertainments aren’t going to go away — at least according to the investors and entrepreneurs who are creating the companies that are building them.

“People are totally fine with things that are artificial,” says Rojas. “People totally connect with Mario from Super Mario Bros. We always tell stories and have characters in whatever medium are available to us [like] Instagram and Snapchat and YouTube and Twitter. Thirty to forty years ago it was television and radio and movies. People are going to express themselves and avatars end up being a form expression.”

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/14/more-investors-are-betting-on-virtual-influencers-like-lil-miquela/

0 notes

fmservers · 5 years

Text

More investors are betting on virtual influencers like Lil Miquela

Brud, the company behind the virtual celebrity Lil Miquela, is now worth at least $125 million thanks to a new round of financing. Meanwhile, new venture-backed companies like the superstealthy Shadows, SuperPlastic, and Toonstar are all developing virtual characters that will launch via social media channels like Snap and Instagram, or on their own platforms.

Los Angeles-based Brud is by far the most established of this new breed in the U.S. (at least in terms of the amount of money it has raised). Last year the company scored at least $6 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, BoxGroup, and other, undisclosed, investors.

The makers of the virtual influencer, Lil Miquela, snag real money from Silicon Valley

If Miquela is arguably the most successful U.S. version of this new breed of entertainer, the collective behind the account is far from the only one.

Experiments in avastardom have been percolating in popular culture since at least the rise of the Gorillaz — the Damon Albarn assembled musical supergroup that released their first EP “Tomorrow Comes Today” in late 2000. Or, depending on your definition, perhaps as early as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the mid-90s Cartoon Network series featuring an animated superhero interviewing real celebrities.

youtube

At Betaworks, the firm is exploring the popularity of these virtual characters — and the role that artificial intelligence and new content creation technologies will play in reshaping entertainment and social media platforms. The company’s Synthetic Camp, which launches in mid-February, is around what Rojas calls “synthetic reality” including the rise of avatar-driven media like Miquela.

Toonstar lets you bring cartoon characters to life thanks to facial recognition

Now, they’re also experimenting with creating their own animated influencer. Leveraging the popularity of the Musical.ly app (now rebranded under its new owner, TikTok), Toonstar launched Poppy.tv.

Then, taking a page from the early Cartoon Network playbook, Attanasio and Huang made the show interactive in a callback to the “Space Ghost” phenomenon. “We started doing cartoon livestreams and the founders of Musical.ly asked us to do a weekly show that they would feature,” Attanasio says. “It was Poppy the Blue Chicken and we would broadcast for an hour every week. Famous musers on musically come in with a facetime … And there were games and all of it was live, in real time.”

And Toonstar is building an audience. Its show, the Danogs, has 4.5 million weekly viewers, and the company recently launched Black Santa — a show developed in partnership with the former NBA All-Star and tech investor, Baron Davis. The NBA star and studio analyst also committed capital to Toonstar’s recent seed funding; a round led by Founders Fund partner, Cyan Banister. In all, Toonstar said it has about 45 million weekly viewers for all of its shows.

Lil Miquela and fellow brud avatar Blawko22

Those kinds of numbers are music to the ears, fo Dylan Flinn, a former agent at the Los Angeles powerhouse Creative Artists Agency, who left to start his own company.

Flinn has partnered with the producers of BoJack Horseman on a new venture called Shadows, which has already launched two virtual avatars into the wild.

For Flinn, the virtual element of what’s being created is vitally important to the success of these ventures. “We’re not trying to create humans,” he says. “We look up to the Mickey Mouse’s and Looney Tunes and the Bugs Bunnies of the world. When I look at these 3D, [computer generated] human-based characters it’s so close the uncanny valley. We want to develop characters and we want to tell fictional stories rooted in reality.”

Ultimately, these types of entertainments aren’t going to go away — at least according to the investors and entrepreneurs who are creating the companies that are building them.

“People are totally fine with things that are artificial,” says Rojas. “People totally connect with Mario from Super Mario Bros. We always tell stories and have characters in whatever medium are available to us [like] Instagram and Snapchat and YouTube and Twitter. Thirty to forty years ago it was television and radio and movies. People are going to express themselves and avatars end up being a form expression.”

Via Jonathan Shieber https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

0 notes

chiefpaperdonut-blog · 6 years

Text

day 1 journal

here i am

after all this time

make the changes you need

and stop being a broken record

it feels good being able to type on a keyboard again. strange that i haven't been able to for months.

i like not being a computer slave though.

also, this computers HDD may die soon

it's probably worth getting some sort of HDD that you can collect all your various datas and throw them together

it'd be nice to have the photos. even if photos make me sad.

i think what's sad is just what you've given up

and for nothing of lasting value

nor people who valued you for you

well maybe that last point is a bit dramatic

maybe just write out your emotions and let yourself cry and be a human again

====

you got to love/shake your head at the excuses used for the various drug addictions i ended up stacking on top of one another

the reality is that you are intelligent, but you've not lived intelligently

stop handicapping yourself. it's illusionary pleasure, distraction

it could be a videogame addiction. but it wasn't. it was drugs.

the cheapest shortcut

and of course, there's a lot of price to pay eventually

it doesn't seem like it at the time but that's how it transpires.

i'm sick of being a drug addict and not reaching my true potential. not facing the reality of life. of course it's hard. but you've made it harder, through short term thinking.

you're midway through your 20s. this is in someways the most productive period of your life.

it hasn't all been a waste. you've been relatively functional. but you don't see things through enough. you could have done far more. also, you need to get out of this environment.

this house has been fun. it's also been illuminating. the place has been mostly a total fucking sty. indulgent nothingness. you had some fun times with friends, who you thought would always be there for you. the reality is that some of those friendships are not like that, and are built on very shaky foundations.

i want to hold myself to a higher standard. i want to do more good in this world. i want to be able to properly look after myself.

it's ok for it to be hard. it's ok for this to be a struggle. believe believe believe

i've had enough signs from god to know it'll all be fine.

don't forget the signs. they are telling you to change path. this is a time of change.

even if it's hard. not fun. even if sobriety fucking freaks you out, or stresses you out

eventually that'll fade. and you'll be free. and infinitely better off.

the whole living with high people sitting on a couch playing games or watching tele, doing fuck all, messy place, no money, it's too sad and empty. it's not what i want for myself or for anyone else, there's a lot more to life. you used to know this. you still know this, but you've made the decisions.

time to make another decision. the decision to not use today.

just a day at a time. you don't need to quit forever. plenty of people have slip ups anyway.

just one day. one day is more than none.

===

i just saw someone walk by my window. and middle aged but poorly aged woman smoking a cigarette, wearing baggy, cheap, scrappy looking active wear / salvos stock. you see a lot of the older, poor people in the kilburn area. even the people your aguish at savers (sam commenting what was she doing with her life). that is a result of decisions by and large. it begins with the decision to smoke a cigarette. then drugs, alcohol, whatever - it ends up coming before alll else. even appearance. showering.

their lives aren't necessarily bad. it's not my place to make a value judgement about the content of their character. because that so easily could be you. it's a result of decisions, one after the other.

these people may be carrying burdens that you have no idea of

at the end of the day though, i don't want that

i don't want to be poor as shit on a pension, scraping by

getting the bus because there's no other options

picking cigarette butts off the ground

prioritising alcohol or whatever substance above all else

it's the relationship with it, and the decision one makes around them

is it a healthy relationship?

for me, obviously not. it's not the path i wish to walk down.

drug addiction very rarely ends in a positive manner, excluding stories of going straight. even the famous people for example who made it work would have likely been more effective / lived longer if they'd nipped it in the bud.

it's a crutch but you already knew how to walk

but you used it so much that you ended up forgetting how to walk

and was then afraid without it you'd fall flat on your face

----

(−)-trans-Δ⁹ -- -tetrahydrocannabinol

anhedonia

----

you already quit your opiate addiction earlier this year.

don't replace drug addiction with laptop addiction

you already know the sort of stuff you are good at and the work you can do

the goals you can and do hold

time to stop wasting

---

i want to quit

that's why i'm on /r/leaves

that's why i'm going to make an account to keep accountable.

---

other thing about living situation - no matter how many problems you think you have and that you've neglected through drug use, it's not like that applies just to you. ky is the same, hence that list i wrote earlier talking about his actions. how they reveal a lot of flaws in the way he interacts with others / honesty. that's the other thing about weed. oh, it's so chill. people who smoke like ky are so chill. well, not really. it's artificial and fake. you've seen him lose his shit. act in a pretty crappy way. he's human like the rest of us, but he is still stuck in using weed and as soon as he gets back, he likely will again. it makes more sense then him going sober, paying his bills, changing the way he interacts to be more honest instead of trying to remove any amount of difficulty / disturbance from his life.

---

think of all the times you scraped for res

searched the ground for bud

smoked weed covered in cat hair

checking stash spots that you know you don't have any weed in

but MAYBE

maybe there'll be something

opening baggies and collecting particles

filtered bong water to collect plant matter that had fallen through

didn't it make you feel rather grubby? to take a drug to such an extent, to never not try maximise etc.

instead of just waiting until the next time, it had to be MAXIMUM

no waste

but that sounds too positive, no waste

considering every second spent on that behaviour was a total waste.

don't ever go back to that.

----

a random catholic covered a church being robbed for 1000 dollars. that's a spirit of awesome generosity. you could be that type of person if you make the necessary decisions.

---

by the time you are sober , by your next bday, you'll have three years essentially

three years to work it out, get your shit together and make something of yourself

not that 30 is a deadline for life. but for me, i'd like to be well on the way then.

the sooner the better

----

you're reading weed defenders defend their drug on redid and it's hilarious in a sense, sad in another. it really drives home the bad stereotypes about the drug and the obvious delusion most daily stoners labour under. 'i'm still productive, i've still achieved things' - like what? - not much -

think of people like mark carey . supposedly smart, knows a lot about science blah blah blah. yet he's mid 30s , achieved fuck all and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

maybe the debauched lifestyle is romanticised to help those who live with it. shame that it convinces others, such as myself, to jump deep into that pool. especially with it's connections to art and music. the reality though - you and everyone else for that matter would be better off (bar those with seizures / genuine medical use eg. NOT ANXIETY OR DEPRESSION IT MAKES IT WORSE EVENTUALLY)

---

if you get through all this mess, it'll be something to be proud of and proof of the strength i have to draw on.

---

SOBER

Stop, observe - with detachment - how do i feel?

Breathe - deep slow breaths

Examine - why do i feel like this?

respond - not react.

10 minutes meditation

---

remember zoe from work commenting about how i should just leave instead of wanting to get evicted. i was annoyed at the time because of course i was thinking it's not that simple.

there's ky, the band, cats, money owing , shared responsibilities yada yada yada

but the reality is it is that simple

you've accepted so much that is unacceptable through acquiescence through drug use.

kyrons constant fucking around with money.

it's been months and months of being fucked around.

so come on. time to wake up.

it is that simple. and necessary.

mum will help you. you can then rebuild, and change your life.

i could be in a position where i could move to japan if i hadn't smoked weed. i probably would have finished university, if not prior to working at child support, certainly the next year and a half of not really being that employed.

you still did a lot of things in a sense. they just weren't very productive. time spent at salvos. working writing jobs. won that writing competition. wrote an entire film script. made music, improved skills , and exposure.

you may be entering in some senses your golden period.

plenty of people make use of themselves later then 27

sure, we hear plenty about the young who are already running out the gate

you made decisions to build friends, have memories, different experiences and exposures to different lifestyles. that is valuable and this part of your life is not wasted. in fact, by recognising how much more i am capable of, and by beating numerous difficult drug addictions, i'm proving my ability as a human, growing. i don't think it's true that weed puts you in a COMPLETE stasis, but maybe i was lucky because i still liked doing things / reading / learning. plenty just sit about playing fortnite. the reality though is that i could have done A LOT more. and that makes a difference. you've gained an interesting perspective into different ways of living / people. even if you think about high school, nearly all your friends were kinda middle class and well off and not turning to drugs. now you're with the drudgers , it's all dysfunctional , single parent homes. maybe that's a bit harsh and inaccurate. at the end of the day though, hardcore drug use is dysfunctional and dysfunctional people will be drawn to this.

you have been dysfunctional. this is why you've alienated a lot of former friends, through treating them inappropriately. things won't get better unless you make a proper effort at becoming functional. and you can. a lot of the things that motivated you to take drugs initially - lack of being cool, having friends/fun, trying new , different things, and even though i probably didn't think of it, taking the easy way out to feeling good and ignoring the bad of life and my self-esteem issues from not fitting in as a younger person. i wasn't very assertive when i first came back over. i found it hard to talk to others blah blah blah. even though socially things were better in wales then melbourne/rose park, there was still plenty of mistakes and growing pains. these are not problems anymore. i'm a lot wiser. and there's still a lot of mountains to climb, but different ones. not just sitting at the top of the one i climbed years ago. in fact, i've been atrophying and going backwards in a lot of those areas - DUE to drugs. it has kept me static but also dysfunctional, and over time, i've had that manifest through bad behaviour that has alienated my friends. at a certain point they have to give up. it's for their own health as well.

day 1 for weed, day 7 for tobacco. keep it up.

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britishaliengods · 6 years

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[Official] - TotalBiscuits future This is posted on behalf of TotalBiscuit by the subreddits moderation team. TB does not participate in Reddit anymore (we havent managed to keep him off /r/rarepuppers yet thats a work in progress) since he doesn't think that health related speculation is good for his mindset. Well-wishes can be sent to [email protected] where they'll be sent on by his PR guy.When I went into hospital a week or so ago, it was accompanied by the news that conventional chemotherapys effectiveness had been exhausted. My body has become resistant to all forms of it according to my oncologist. 46 chemo treatments, 138 days plugged into a pump. Let nobody ever say I wasn't stubborn. Unfortunately this was followed up a couple of days later with some more bad news. My liver is failing and its effectiveness has lowered past the point where the clinical trials I had been offered would take me on. Yes apparently there are things that are too dangerous for even the terminal. Obviously we're going to keep looking for other trials but I'm currently coming to terms with the fact that I don't have long left and right now at any rate, there is literally nothing I can do about it other than try to manage the pain as best as possible and stay as hydrated as possible to ease the pressure on the liver. There are quite a few pain management options left to try and the ones that I am using can be increased in dosage quite significantly if need be. The majority of the pain is being caused by pressure on the spine from hardened nodules in the liver and lung as well as fluid. We haven't fully explored the options for dealing with all of that, but its high priority so that my quality-of-life can improve.That's what it comes down to now, getting my quality-of-life to as good a standard as possible. Even though you don't really have any treatments to fight with any more, I firmly believe that the will to live is a very strong asset and that is much easier to maintain when you're not in crippling pain all the time.That will most likely be my last health update, unless some miracle happens or we do indeed find a trial that can do something despite the damage to my liver. I'd ask people not to speculate about how long I might have left. I've deliberately left out some details to try and reduce the behavior, though it might very well have the opposite effect. All I do know is that kind of thing is upsetting to some of my viewers that read it and I'd rather not encourage it. I've already exceeded the "usual" lifespan of someone with my condition so whatever numbers people come up with are just that.Its now a case of "what do I do with the time I have left?" Why am I telling you? Because if you're a viewer of my content, its relevant to you.Retirement, sort ofFirstly, I am retiring as a games critic. I can't do the job anymore. I'm under the influence of too much medication to think clearly and my schedule too unreliable to get coverage out in a timely manner. I've found it very stressful over the last year to try and keep up, knowing that I'm failing and watching my work (rightly) fall out of favour because there isn't enough of it, its not on time or its not of good quality. It doesn't make any sense to continue to try to do that job in my state and while it used to bring me a lot of satisfaction, now it's just the opposite.Does that mean I'm done with Youtube and Twitch? Nope, blokes gotta make a living. I have a family to consider and there's no such thing as "too much" when it comes to what I leave them when I go out kicking and screaming. I want to spend the rest of my time with the two things I love the most, my family and my work. I'm transitioning my Youtube and Twitch work over to gameplay with my wife. There's a bunch of co-op stuff I never really got around to playing and I have the perfect gameplay partner right beside me. When I'm having a good idea, I'll be doing gameplay streams and Youtube videos with Genna. If you want to know what to expect from that, well we've done it before, just not recently, there's some rather popular videos of it over on Her channelThis is something that will make me happy, spending time with my family but also getting job satisfaction. That's something all too easily overlooked by some, I'm a very work-driven person and one of hardest things of the past couple of years has been dealing with not being able to reliable do my work. It's brought on depression, uncertainty, anger, you name it. I hate it.The PodcastWhat about Co-optional? Well that's sticking around. The show must go on after all. We will be moving forward with our proposal to shorten the show to 2 hours per episode however. This is for health reasons but also because lately I've felt like 3 hours drags on too much, we find ourselves having to rely on way too much filler and its not been as enjoyable to do. Some might be disappointed by this though we found in a recent poll that quite a few people, more than those who said they'd be disappointed, actually wanted this change. There are only so many hours in a week. I'd rather have 2 hours of good, fresh content than 3 hours of discussion spread too thin, which the shows as of late have often been. As for weeks in which I simply cannot do the show (which hopefully wont happen but you can never be sure), Genna is going to be trained in production and will take on a host role, with the usual guests. Genna will be filling in for Dodger while she takes maternity leave anyway so, get used to hearing her voice.SupportWe've had A LOT of questions about donations, how people can help etc. That's always humbling to see. Some suggested a GofundMe. I'm not comfortable with taking donations when I'm still able to work and have income from several different sources. I dont begrudge anyone for using donations as a form of income, its just always seemed inappropriate for us when we have several other ways to making money that result in both parties getting something. If you would like to help, do the things you've always done. Watch our videos without adblock or with Youtube Red (yes Red helps, a lot, much more than watching an ad).Support our podcast sponsors, Squarespace and [Audible at [(https://ift.tt/2HDqc2a] - they've both been very good to us over the past couple of years and let us pay Dodger and Jesse a salary for doing the show rather than just "exposure" (though they got a lot of damn exposure, let's not sell ourselves short here").Watch our streams and consider subscribing. There'll be more content coming on Twitch than there has been for a while with streams with Genna. Our subscription is a service, giving you instant access to VoDs rather than having to wait for them to hit Youtube (in the case of Cooptional, thats 48 hours afterwards), no Twitch ads, 50 chat emotes, access to the subscriber only chat and a 10% discount on our t-shirts and hoodies. We've done our best to make subscribing a service model, not a donation model and we're going to try and keep it that way, including more features and discounts if we can.Speaking of merchandise, yes the purchase of a shirt is very helpful. Margins on t-shirts are ridiculous, that's why everyone and their mother wants to sell them to you. [https://ift.tt/2zKjDqA] is where we sell ours.We have a games retail partner in [http://chrono.gg/tb] that sells a different game every day at a big discount. We get a cut of each sale, so if you see something on there you like and pick it up under our link, that helps.We do have another partnership in the works as well, with a company you should be quite familiar with.Lastly, I'll be taking the occasional brand deal here and there. Even though I'm not a critic anymore, I still fully believe in disclosure, honesty with the audience and only taking deals for games you actually like. People can see right through the fake bullshit anyway, so why waste your time and I'd quite like however many videos I've got left in me to be fun. I'm not playing your crappy game, no matter how much money you try to slip me, so you can take me off those mobile mailing lists please.These are all better than asking for donations. We're still running a business and I want to keep acting like it. All that said, if something goes horribly wrong, if my insurance stops paying out for whatever reason or if faced between draining all savings and leaving my family with nothing but our physical assets and asking for help, you better believe I'll be asking for help. The family comes first.What we leave behindIt goes further than that though. When I leave this world I want to leave something my family can use to help them earn. Not only would I be ok with Genna taking over my channels and assets once I'm gone, I'd be delighted if she did. I've been encouraging her for years to create more content for Youtube, hopefully as we make a bunch of fun videos together over the next however-long, that confidence will grow. I fully expect The Co-optional Podcast to go on and I love the thought that once I'm gone, the channels will go on in my absence, hosted by the person who knows me best and has been with me for the better part of my adult life.If this is all a bit brutally honest... well, it is me. I want you to see where I'm coming from, I always have and I really believe that's what made me an effective and useful critic. It's been a privilege, thank you all for letting me into your life and do something so important as to have an impact on how you spend your hard-earned money. Thankfully Youtube is thriving with great review and critical content now, there's plenty of awesome choices and considering most of my critical content has been reserved for the podcast over the last year, many of you have most likely found the places you can rely on.TL:DR - Conventional treatments ineffective, liver too damage for clinical trials that we know of. I'm retiring as a critic to spend whats left of my life sharing my love of gaming with my wife and all of you via co-op videos and streams. The podcast will continue every week, with a streamlined 2-hour format. We have no plans to launch any kind of donation campaign and suggest above a list of ways to support us if you would like to.Thank you for reading, watching or listening and I will see you soon, along with Genna, on a stream or YT channel near you.

#Thed4rkestrose

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thediaryofthed4rkestrose · 6 years

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#thed4rkestroselink

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