#Also if you want a piece of advice Reddit and Twitter are the LAST places you want to go in order to interact with this fandom | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

transfixingcharly · 5 years

Text

Q&A: Always sanitary towels changing their packaging

Here for the great debate about Always sanitary towels changing their packaging?

Cool. Some basics first:

I can't speak on behalf of all trans people, only those I’ve spoken to and whose opinions I’ve read online.

I don’t often “get political” with the gender stuff on this blog because it’s supposed to be a space about sharing my experiences, but I guess this has been part of my experience and I’ve received lots of messages (on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) about this particular issue.

When I use the term “cisgender” or the prefix “cis”, I’m indicating someone who is not trans. (Cisgender has its origin in the Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning "on this side of", which is the opposite of trans-, meaning "across from" or "on the other side of". (Some people seem to feel it’s a slur, but it’s no more a slur than “trans” itself is.)

There’s no way to leave comments on here, and honestly this post is aimed at providing a different perspective rather than a discussion space. If you’ve found this post via Facebook, you can always discuss your thoughts there, but please read the entire piece first.

Okay, notes over. Let’s go!

Q. Trans people don’t have periods, so why does it matter?

Two things to note here! Firstly, trans men will often still have periods unless they’ve been on testosterone for a while or they’ve had a hysterectomy. Not all trans men will be able to (or will choose to) access either of these options, meaning they’ll still have periods. (If you want to talk about trans men taking medication to stop their periods, we can do that too, but not here.) Secondly, non-binary people may also have periods.

Q. There are lots of brands who provide these products - why don’t trans people just use those brands instead?

You’re right, there are lots of other brands. This means that if the new Always packaging makes you unhappy, you have alternatives to choose from. (If trans people are using Always pads, that’s because it’s their preferred brand. The product’s style and fit won’t change even when the packaging does, so if Always is (or was) your preferred brand, the interior is the same, even if the exterior has changed.)

Q. It’s just a symbol - what’s the big deal?

It would be easy to ask you the same question, but let’s discuss. Having spoken to other trans guys about the symbol on the packaging, I did find a trans guy who didn’t use Always specifically because of the Venus symbol (which was only added earlier this year) and the #likeagirl hashtag Always used for a while - he told me it reminded him of the person he was trying to leave behind.

When I was still having my periods, having a monthly cycle caused me massive distress and dysphoria. Using pads that reminded me of the feminine aspects of my body (that I had no control over) didn’t make that any easier. Trans people do buy brands other than Always. There’s Bodyform, there’s Kotex, and there are half a dozen supermarket “own brands” too. But if a person can only access a corner shop or a local minimart version of a supermarket, then Always might be their only option. Equally, trans people on low incomes might only be able to buy pads on offer, which Always often is. It would be nice for them to not have to see a symbol associated with the the female sex whenever they’re on their cycle.

(History lesson: in terms of semiotics, the Venus symbol was first associated with the female sex around 1750 by an astronomer called Carl Linnaeus. He used the symbol to classify plants and animals, and was a pretty interesting Guy. Flowers calmed him when he was having a bad day, and he once publicly humiliated a mayor who had a fake taxidermied hydra! Linnaeus’ biography is honestly fun for all the family.)

Q. It’s just a design on the packaging, so does it matter?

You’re totally right, it is just a design, so it shouldn’t matter. But if this thing that doesn’t matter to you does matter to a person trying to distance themselves from womanhood, then shouldn’t we try to make their lives a bit easier? The symbol was only added earlier this year, and not much was said about its inclusion at the time. Nobody really commented on the new design until some people have said they could do without it, so Always are accommodating those who’ve fed back.

Q. This product is aimed at women - that’s what the symbol is for.

When Bic released their “Pens for Her” - a pink pen “with a great floral design [...] designed to fit comfortably in a woman's hand” - there was uproar. People rightfully pointed out that women didn’t need pens specifically for them to use: women have been using non-gendered stationary for years. Similar responses have been received in the face unnecessarily gendered products for years (there’s a whole Reddit devoted to it). I feel the same argument should be applied to this.

Q. Why are the trans community making such a fuss? or This is another example of trans people / the trans lobby making demands.

Nobody made any demands here - Always took on board some feedback from customers who asked why there had needed to be iconography associated with femininity and womanhood on products used by people other than cisgender women. That’s all - Always acknowledged that the packaging could be more inclusive and made a change to accommodate their customers.

Additionally, while a handful of trans people have said that removing the Venus symbol would be helpful, a vast swathe of commenters have been upset by this, meaning that the fuss, lobbying and demanding doesn’t lie with the trans community - quite the opposite.

Q. Always are bowing to pressure from the trans lobby.

They’ve removed one piece of imagery from one line of products, but they haven’t changed anything else. Their website header menu (as of 22/10/19) still advertises “Always Feminine Products” and has a section entitled “Tips and Advice for Women”. All of the photos on their website are of women too.

Q. The removal of the Venus symbol is erasing women from female-centric spaces.

I can understand concerns about erasure, but it concerns me that the changing of a symbol on one brand of sanitary towels is causing cis women to feel that they are being erased. (I spoke to a friend last week who said that she felt insulted that women were reducing themselves to “pictures on packets”. She said she was concerned that women were “placing their femininity in the hands of reductive symbols on non-recyclable packaging which is tossed into refuse as soon as it’s been used”. She said I could quote her message, but didn’t want to be identified as the risk of inciting ire.)

If the answer is that this is part of a larger problem relating to erasure, then I guess trans men and NB folks could have a separate line of pads specifically for them so that the original line (bearing the symbol) is unaffected? But then the trans community might be accused of wanting their own “special” products, which isn’t the issue at all - we’d just like to be able to use the usual stuff without being reminded of our other-ness. For Always, this probably wouldn’t be that viable as an option financially; it makes more sense to just not include this one symbol, rather than create a new line of products specifically for a minority, because then the trans community would again be questioned for wanting special treatment. Which brings me on to…

Q. Why not just make sanitary products for the trans community? Why do the existing products for (cis)women have to be modified?

For lots of reasons.

Separate products specifically for trans folks can present a safety issue. If products were available in mainstream stores that were aimed specifically at the trans market, transphobes would have an easy way to identify who to target. If the products only existed online then they’d be more expensive and less accessible.

Additionally, the trans community don’t want to be seen as separate - we just want to be able to get on with regular stuff on a daily basis like everyone else does. The point of changing the design is so that the pad’s packaging is inclusive for all users, not to make a small group feel special.

TL;DR -

Too long, didn’t read? Here’s a summary:

Always pads are (internally) unchanged, they’re just externally (a little) different.

Their website and the majority of their marketing is still aimed at non-trans audiences.

There are other brands available to buy.

A small group of people in the trans community politely asked that the packaging could be made more inclusive, but a large group of people have responded very negatively in turn.

Nothing has been lost for the majority - the pads still exist, and Always are still working hard to support young women, especially those who suffer with period poverty.

There’s so much more to say about this subject, but I’ll stop here, for now.

As I said earlier, this post is aimed at providing a different perspective, rather than another discussion space.

I hope this was informative!

#always pads #always brand #venus symbol #always packaging

3 notes · View notes

nyfacurrent · 4 years

Text

COVID-19 | Presenting Your Work Online

Artist and producer Jason Wyman helps you navigate ways of digitally connecting with your target audience.

Over the last five years, artist and producer Jason Wyman has convened a diverse, intergenerational network of youth media artists in virtual spaces of co-creation and exchange.

Stemming from their mentorship in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program (IAP): Oakland, Wyman has also co-designed a series of video roundtables to connect NYFA’s national network of immigrant artists to each other through inquiry, storytelling, and skill and resource-sharing in partnership with IAP mentee Rupy C. Tut. Developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these online spaces have responded to the growing critical needs of immigrant artists across the country.

Before engaging with technology, Wyman advises that you ask yourself: Why am I convening people (virtually)? The artist states that they convene people because they “want them to feel loved and included. That’s it. Everything else is designed around those two wants.”

Keep this in mind as you read the below Q&A, with tips from Wyman on how to use video platforms to share and discuss work, home equipment recommendations, and technical trouble-shooting advice.

NYFA: For those who are brand new to using video platforms to share their work and interact with their audience, can you give a brief overview on which platforms work best?

Jason Wyman: First, ask yourself: Why am I sharing what I think I want to share? Really interrogate that answer. If presenting your art is what you want to do, think about how you want that work presented and where your audience may be. Yes, Zoom may work for you. But! An “Ask Me Anything [about This One Piece of Art]” on Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter might be a better option if your audience is already on one of those platforms. If you want to perform music, then livestreaming on Instagram/Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch may be the way to go. If you’re teaching an art class, Zoom is a good tool but consider that the place you teach may have a technology they require (e.g. some school districts only let folx communicate through Google Meet).

NYFA: How can artists of all disciplines make the best use of the equipment that they may already have on hand?

JW: The first step is to take inventory of all of the technologies you have access to. Do you have a computer? How about a smartphone? Or a tablet? Maybe you have a microphone with an audio board that plugs into your computer or an easel that could be used as a tripod. List everything out.

Additionally, list out all the ways you get online. This includes your internet and your cell phone coverage and even your landline. Notice what connections are stronger than others. For example, if you don’t have a strong internet connection, streaming video may not be the best option. Phone calls and conference call lines may work better for you.

Work with what you have and tailor your choices to what is the least frustrating. Making the transition to having to present digitally or virtually can be irksome and tedious. Knowing what you can and cannot control helps you navigate the technical issues that are bound to come up.

NYFA: What are your recommendations for looking and sounding your best on an online video platform?

JW: The first step is: Don’t beat yourself up about not looking and sounding your best. We are all learning. Every single one of us. And anyone who tells you they know everything about what’s best online is lying.

Our technology, cellular, and internet infrastructure in the United States is cobbled together and highly inequitable. It’s perfectly fine to figure out what works best for you along the way and make adjustments as you go. Still, there is ONE really simple tip for video: Don’t have your light source behind you. That includes lamps and windows and doors. Just notice where your light is coming from and make sure it isn’t at your back.

NYFA: What if you encounter technical difficulties mid-stream? Do you have any suggestions for how best to handle and regain steam?

JW: Let go of all expectations of your online experience even when you’ve tested and planned and done a practice session twice because the first one failed. I guarantee you it will all utterly fail again.

EMBRACE THE FAILURE. Don’t work against it. Don’t apologize for it. Instead, name it as it is occurring. It is helpful to tell folx when their mic is off or if their video stops working. One phrase I use when I start any virtual convening is, “Just a friendly reminder that all technology fails, just like we fail. So please be kind and gracious as we navigate our failures together.”

If technology keeps failing and you are getting frustrated because you don’t know what to do, name all of it and ask for help from folx on the call. Someone watching probably already has an answer or solution.

NYFA: For artists conducting Q&As, what are your top three tips for opening things up to a larger crowd and maintaining a sense of order (and time)?

JW: If you are convening folx online where you are presenting an artwork/song/film and you then want to take questions from the audience, get someone else to help facilitate the Q&A. This could be a friend or partner. It could be another artist. It could even be a student. The key here is that you want to be able to be present to answer the questions and not have to both answer the questions and facilitate the Q&A.

For those that have to facilitate their own Q&A (or those that are facilitating for someone else), taking stack (aka keeping an order) is crucial for your Q&A to be successful. Before you begin, ask who wants to ask questions and have people raise their hands. Notice whose hand is raised and start making an order.

Zoom also has a Q&A feature where folx can type in questions to ask the host. You can use it to collect questions and start your replies from that initial list. Along the way you can open it up if not enough questions have been asked.

NYFA: Lastly, for artists who introduce live video streaming into their practices, what are some of the best ways for maintaining engagement and encouraging audience members to return for future events and programs?

JW: First, look directly into the camera and warmly welcome people. Sometimes, you can be tempted to look at the screen instead of the camera. However, eye contact still matters and helps create a sense of being seen. When you are presenting your artwork via video and you are on video yourself, looking at the camera changes the relationship between you and your audience. It makes it more personal.

Next, welcome people as they arrive. On most platforms, you can see who is tuning in when. Don’t interrupt what you are saying or doing to say hi to someone. But when there is a natural break, welcome everyone that recently joined. It also helps to mention folx by name. Any way you can make it more welcoming means your audience will feel more included.

Finally, make space for others to share their reactions and experiences. Again, how this happens is platform-dependent. If you are livestreaming on Facebook, for example, you may not have someone join your stream to share their reaction, but they may share something via comments. Thank them for responding or commenting, and then read it aloud. If you feel comfortable, share your reaction to their reaction. Create a responsive feedback loop.

-Interview Conducted by Amy Aronoff, Senior Communications Officer

About Jason Wyman: Jason Wyman is Senior Producer at The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture's Alliance Youth Media Network. They are an artist, writer, performer, curator, and educator who cultivates environments of peer exchange rooted in creative inquiry and multi-sensory pedagogies. They are a catholic (not capitalized) mystic conjuring ephemeral landscapes of astral and temporal origins; they are queerly complex. Wyman’s work has graced walls, stages, screens, classrooms, street corners, and museums including Asian Art Museum, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, DeYoung Museum, SOMArts, the 16th Street BART Station, San Francisco Public Library, and many other venues. Find out more about Wyman’s youth media work and sign up for their e-newsletter.

If you need resources, please check our Emergency Grants page on NYFA’s website. We are updating it regularly as new funding comes in. You can find more articles on arts career topics by visiting the Business of Art section of NYFA.org. Sign up for NYFA News and receive artist resources and upcoming events straight to your inbox.

Image Detail: Katie Torn (Digital/Electronic Arts Finalist ’14), Still Life with Clock, 2012, render - ink jet on paper

#covid19 #business of art #businessofart #jason wyman #jasonwyman #announcements #instagram #presenting work #profdev #professional development #presentingwork #conversations #amy aronoff #amyaronoff

0 notes

themoneybuff-blog · 6 years

Text

Buy it for life: Choosing quality over price

Note: This is a substantial re-write of an article I first published more than twelve years ago. (Yikes, I'm old!) I've opted to keep some of the older comments if they had good suggestions. Earlier this week, I wrote about my quest for quality pajamas. I recently paid $80 to purchase a pair from Filson, a company I trust for well-made goods. It's my hope that these will be the last pair of pajamas that I ever purchase. My goal was to buy it for life. This experience reminded me of two other companies that I love for their top-notch stuff. The first is a company called Best Made, which aims to make and sell the finest, most beautiful and useful products made by any company anywhere. And they do. Best Made offers an esoteric collection of clothing and household items, all of which offer quality reminiscent of your grandmother's era. The catch? The quality comes at a higher cost.Or there's the Portland-based Schoolhouse company (formerly Schoolhouse Electric), which makes and sells a variety of lighting, hardware, and furniture for the home. I've purchased a few things from Schoolhouse over the years, and I've been blown away by the quality. The items were expensive up front and I was hesitant to purchase them, but my reservations have vanished with time and usage. The blanket covering my feet at this very moment, for example, cost $250 (I think) but will last the rest of my life. Here's something I've learned over the past fifteen years: One way to practice financial prudence while living the good life is to buy quality products, products that are a pleasure to use, products that will last a lifetime (or at least a decade). Today, let's talk a little about choosing quality over price. Let's talk about the buy it for life philosophy.

How to Find the Good Stuff The first challenge is to figure out how to find the good stuff. When you're ready to make a purchase, how can you know which items are quality and which are run of the mill? Sometimes you'll know which company offers a high-quality version of whatever it is you need to buy, either from personal experience or from paying attention to friends and family. Or, if you don't know off the top of your head, you know whom to ask for more information. If I wanted to buy audio gear, for instance, I'd ask my brother. He's an audiophile and could steer me in the right direction. Most of the time, however, you'll have to do some research. When it comes time for me to make a major purchase, the first resource I turn to is Consumer Reports. I've been a CR subscriber on and off since I graduated from college in 1991. I trust their reviews, especially the comprehensive evaluations online. (The magazine doesn't have room to go into depth.) When Kim and I bought our country cottage, for instance, I used Consumer Reports to figure out which tools to purchase for the yard and garden. (I ended up choosing an EGO electric mower, along with the company's string trimmer and hedge trimmer.) For smaller items, I use Amazon to guide my decisions. Deciphering Amazon reviews is something of an art. I make sure to always read the one-star reviews in order to learn if there's anything drastically wrong with a product. I've also devised my own rough guide to parsing Amazon reviews: Five stars is equivalent to an A.Four and a half stars is the same as a B.Four stars is roughly a C. (From my experience, most Amazon items earn four stars.)Three and a half stars is a D. I try not to purchase anything rated this low but sometimes there's no alternative.Three stars and below is the same as an F. I never purchase products rated three stars or below. One final resource for finding quality products is the /r/BuyItForLife forum on Reddit. /r/BIFL allows users to share items they own that are durable, practical, proven, and built to last. Here's the /r/BIFL compilation of kitchen essentials, for instance. You can find more lists like that in the /r/BIFL sidebar. One GRS reader recently noted that choosing quality over price is a luxury reserved for the rich. People who are struggling to get by are often forced to take the cheapest option, even if it costs more in the long run. That's an interesting observation. Where to Buy It for Life Over the past decade or so, I've compiled a mental list of companies that I feel sell wonderful products. Below is a list of a few of my favorites. (Most of these are clothing companies, for some reason. Maybe because I buy clothes more often than, say, furniture?) Filson (Seattle, 1897, Might as well have the best) sells outdoor clothing, hats, bags, and accessories. I own two Filson hats, a Filson vest, a Filson jacket, Filson pajamas, and several Filson bags. Each piece was spendy but worth it. Filson makes high-quality products.Patagonia (California, 1965, Committed to the core) makes active outdoor clothing and gear. I own a couple of Patagonia jackets and a couple of travel shirts. They've served me well. (Sale items.)Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) (Seattle, 1938) is a outdoor gear co-op that's very popular in the Pacific Northwest. I own tons of REI gear, including my favorite travel backpack. They're one of my favorite companies. (Sale items.)Pendleton Woolen Mills (Portland, 1909, Good for life) makes and sells shirts and blankets. Before the damn dog ate it, I owned one Pendleton hat that I wore frequently. I've owned Pendleton shirts, and have always been impressed. (Sale items.)Stetson (complicated history) is best known for its hats and boots, but they offer offer other items as well. I own one Stetson oilcloth cap (no longer available) that I picked up in the Normandy region of France on a cold and windy afternoon. (Sale items.)Timberland (Boston, Make it better) makes footwear, it's true, but they offer a lot of other products too. In 2007, I bought a pair of Timberland hiking boots. I love them. I'm now nearing the end of my second pair. (Sale items.)Icebreaker (New Zealand, 1995) makes merino wool clothing. Long-time readers know that I'm an Icebreaker fan. I own a couple of their jackets, a cap, some socks, and probably 20 different t-shirts. (For real!) Just yesterday, I bought a long-sleeve button-down shirt from Icebreak for an upcoming winter trip to Austria and Hungary. (Sale items.)Birkenstock (Germany, 1897) makes quality footwear. In college, I started wearing the Milano sandals from Birkenstock. They're my go-to summer shoe. I bought my last pair in Key West, Florida during our RV trip. I'll need to get a new pair next year. (Sale items.)Land's End (Chicago, 1963) is a popular mail-order clothing supplier. When I was younger, I owned a lot of their stuff, but somehow forgot about them. I recently placed my first Land's End order in a long time. (Sale items.)Stickley (New York, 1900, Collector quality furniture since 1900) makes classic fine furniture. Much of the modern Get Rich Slowly has been written from a Stickley Morris recliner. During the depths of the Great Recession just after I sold this blog I purchased four Stickley pieces at deep discounts. I love them.Tom Bihn (Seattle, 1972) makes awesome bags and backpacks specifically designed for people who travel or who are on the go. I own The Maker's Bag and love it. Kim loves it too. In fact, I had to buy her one so that she would leave mine alone. (We also have their dog training bag.)Apple (California, 1976) has grown from a company with a cult-like following to a respected manufacturer of quality computers. I converted in the early 2000s, and I don't regret it. Their machines are expensive, but they're very well made. (And you know what? They run Windows too!) Most of my life is spent in front of a Mac screen. Sad but true. (Sale items.) This list isn't intended to be comprehensive. These are the companies I know and have used in the past. I'm sure I've left out plenty of fine places. If there's a firm you feel ought to be included in this list, let me know in the comments. I had lunch with my cousin yesterday. When I told him I was writing this article, he shared his experience looking for quality clothing. He recently lost a lot of weight and had to replace his entire wardrobe. I can afford to buy things new, Nick told me, but I don't like to pay that much. I've been shopping at thrift stores to find the same stuff for much less. And you know what? I really do think the famous name brands do tend to have better quality. (Nick is like the anti-consumer, so this observation means something coming from him.) See also: How to shop at thrift stores for quality clothing over at The Luxe Strategist. The Good Stuff (According to GRS Readers) As I was preparing this piece, it occurred to me that I ought to ask folks on Facebook and Twitter where they go to find the good stuff. When do they choose to buy it for life? I received a lot of responses!

Some people offered suggestions on how to buy it life. Here, from the GRS Facebook group, are three top tips:

Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme had some good advice for determining whether any given item is considered quality by the people who own it: Check eBay to see if it's retained its value.

I took the time to sift through the roughly one hundred replies I received on social media. While this was by no means a scientific survey, the responses were interesting. First, it's clear that people are willing to pay a premium for certain classes of products. I was shocked by the number of people praising footwear. We all want comfortable, quality shoes, and when we find them, we remain loyal to the companies who provide them. I love my Timberlands, for instance, but others are willing to pay extra for Dr. Martens or Merrell. Keen was the most-recommended shoe company in my survey. Some smaller shoe companies like Trask and Samuel Hubbard received rave reviews. (A few folks mentioned socks, specifically Bombas and Darn Tough.)Sleep is also important. Some people recommended pillows or sheets, but most focused on their mattress. Tempur-Pedic garnered the most mentions. (When we moved in together, Kim and I shopped for a high-quality mattress. I think we chose Tempur-Pedic also, but I'm not willing to strip the bedding to find out.)People are also willing to pay more to ease life in the kitchen. Several people raved about their Vitamix blenders. Mostly, though, folks mentioned their knives. I own (and love) a chef's knife from Shun, as do a couple of other readers. Others, like my ex-wife, prefer Henckel knives. Justin from Root of Good offered an awesome alternative. His family buys Kiwi knives from Thailand at $3 or $4 each. (They go for $9 on Amazon, which is still a great deal.) All knife lovers agree on one thing: The best way to make your life easier is to sharpen your blades!Several women, including my girlfriend, told me they're willing to pay a premium for high-quality cosmetics. But each person cited a different brand of cosmetics that they're loyal to. Because I'm a boy and know nothing about this stuff, I'm not going to link to any one company. (But you can in the comments below.)Lastly, outdoor gear proved popular in my poll. Many people like Arc'teryx (a brand I've never tried). Others praised Patagonia or REI or L.L. Bean. Some readers zeroed in on very specific items. Whitney Hansen, the Money Nerd, likes a particular adventure blanket. Long-time reader Tyler K says Benjamin Moore paints are so amazing that he'll never buy paint from a hardware store again. Another reader recommended Casio G-Shock watches. Several people were fans of Hydro Flask. (Me too! I own three of their water bottles and think they're amazing.) And a lot of people seem to think Otter Box phone cases are essential. But can you guess the number-one company that GRS readers turn to for quality products? It's the biggest tech company in the world: Apple. Apple didn't used to be known for quality. (In fact, their quality was crap twenty years ago.) Now, though, things have changed. Apple quality has won converts like me and you.

Finally, several people mentioned that they do their best to buy products with lifetime warranties. Then, if they break or something goes wrong, they can get a replacement. (Leah Ingram maintains a list of companies with lifetime warranties.) By purchasing items with a lifetime warranty, you're making certain that buy it for life is literal, not figurative! Quality Is Part of a Rich Life One follower on Twitter took me to task for tackling this topic. He believes that talking about spending more to purchase quality items is tantamount to encouraging consumerism. Like I said the other day, I do sometimes worry that this sort of thing crosses the line to lifestyle inflation. Most of the time, however, I think choosing quality is a smart financial decision. Meanwhile, Liz from Frugalwoods has written in the past that the buy it for life philosophy can be problematic. If you're buying the best of everything, that's an issue. You should only buy the best when thing your buying is an important part of your lifestyle. (Why spend a ton on something you rarely use?) And what about changing fashion and priorities? I believe that buying well-made things, things that spark joy when used, is part of living a Rich Life. Most of us don't aim to be ascetics. We're not frugal for the sake of frugality. We've scrimped and saved and worked hard to build wealth precisely so that we can spend money on products that make our lives easier and/or more enjoyable. There's nothing wrong with that.

Author: J.D. Roth In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals. https://www.getrichslowly.org/buy-it-for-life/

0 notes

thegloober · 6 years

Text

Buy it for life: Choosing quality over price

Earlier this week, I wrote about my quest for quality pajamas. I recently paid $80 to purchase a pair from Filson, a company I trust for well-made goods. It’s my hope that these will be the last pair of pajamas that I ever purchase. My goal was to “buy it for life”.

This experience reminded me of two other companies that I love for their top-notch stuff.

The first is a company called Best Made, which aims to make and sell “the finest, most beautiful and useful products made by any company anywhere”. And they do. Best Made offers an esoteric collection of clothing and household items, all of which offer quality reminiscent of your grandmother’s era. The catch? The quality comes at a higher cost.

Or there’s the Portland-based Schoolhouse company (formerly Schoolhouse Electric), which makes and sells a variety of lighting, hardware, and furniture for the home. I’ve purchased a few things from Schoolhouse over the years, and I’ve been blown away by the quality. The items were expensive up front and I was hesitant to purchase them, but my reservations have vanished with time and usage. The blanket covering my feet at this very moment, for example, cost $250 (I think) but will last the rest of my life.

Here’s something I’ve learned over the past fifteen years: One way to practice financial prudence while living the good life is to buy quality products, products that are a pleasure to use, products that will last a lifetime (or at least a decade).

Today, let’s talk a little about choosing quality over price. Let’s talk about the “buy it for life” philosophy.

How to Find the Good Stuff

The first challenge is to figure out how to find the good stuff. When you’re ready to make a purchase, how can you know which items are quality and which are run of the mill?

Sometimes you’ll know which company offers a high-quality version of whatever it is you need to buy, either from personal experience or from paying attention to friends and family. Or, if you don’t know off the top of your head, you know whom to ask for more information. If I wanted to buy audio gear, for instance, I’d ask my brother. He’s an audiophile and could steer me in the right direction.

Most of the time, however, you’ll have to do some research.

When it comes time for me to make a major purchase, the first resource I turn to is Consumer Reports. I’ve been a CR subscriber on and off since I graduated from college in 1991. I trust their reviews, especially the comprehensive evaluations online. (The magazine doesn’t have room to go into depth.)

When Kim and I bought our country cottage, for instance, I used Consumer Reports to figure out which tools to purchase for the yard and garden. (I ended up choosing an EGO electric mower, along with the company’s string trimmer and hedge trimmer.)

For smaller items, I use Amazon to guide my decisions. Deciphering Amazon reviews is something of an art. I make sure to always read the one-star reviews in order to learn if there’s anything drastically wrong with a product. I’ve also devised my own rough guide to parsing Amazon reviews:

Five stars is equivalent to an A.

Four and a half stars is the same as a B.

Four stars is roughly a C. (From my experience, most Amazon items earn four stars.)

Three and a half stars is a D. I try not to purchase anything rated this low but sometimes there’s no alternative.

Three stars and below is the same as an F. I never purchase products rated three stars or below.

One final resource for finding quality products is the /r/BuyItForLife forum on Reddit. /r/BIFL allows users to share items they own that are durable, practical, proven, and built to last. Here’s the /r/BIFL compilation of kitchen essentials, for instance. You can find more lists like that in the /r/BIFL sidebar.

One GRS reader recently noted that choosing quality over price is a luxury reserved for the rich. People who are struggling to get by are often forced to take the cheapest option, even if it costs more in the long run. That’s an interesting observation.

Where to Buy It for Life

Over the past decade or so, I’ve compiled a mental list of companies that I feel sell wonderful products. Below is a list of a few of my favorites. (Most of these are clothing companies, for some reason. Maybe because I buy clothes more often than, say, furniture?)

Filson (Seattle, 1897, “Might as well have the best”) sells outdoor clothing, hats, bags, and accessories. I own two Filson hats, a Filson vest, a Filson jacket, Filson pajamas, and several Filson bags. Each piece was spendy but worth it. Filson makes high-quality products.

Patagonia (California, 1965, “Committed to the core”) makes active outdoor clothing and gear. I own a couple of Patagonia jackets and a couple of travel shirts. They’ve served me well. (Sale items.)

Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) (Seattle, 1938) is a outdoor gear co-op that’s very popular in the Pacific Northwest. I own tons of REI gear, including my favorite travel backpack. They’re one of my favorite companies. (Sale items.)

Pendleton Woolen Mills (Portland, 1909, “Good for life”) makes and sells shirts and blankets. Before the damn dog ate it, I owned one Pendleton hat that I wore frequently. I’ve owned Pendleton shirts, and have always been impressed. (Sale items.)

Stetson (complicated history) is best known for its hats and boots, but they offer offer other items as well. I own one Stetson oilcloth cap (no longer available) that I picked up in the Normandy region of France on a cold and windy afternoon. (Sale items.)

Timberland (Boston, “Make it better”) makes footwear, it’s true, but they offer a lot of other products too. In 2007, I bought a pair of Timberland hiking boots. I love them. I’m now nearing the end of my second pair. (Sale items.)

Icebreaker (New Zealand, 1995) makes merino wool clothing. Long-time readers know that I’m an Icebreaker fan. I own a couple of their jackets, a cap, some socks, and probably 20 different t-shirts. (For real!) Just yesterday, I bought a long-sleeve button-down shirt from Icebreak for an upcoming winter trip to Austria and Hungary. (Sale items.)

Birkenstock (Germany, 1897) makes quality footwear. In college, I started wearing the Milano sandals from Birkenstock. They’re my go-to summer shoe. I bought my last pair in Key West, Florida during our RV trip. I’ll need to get a new pair next year. (Sale items.)

Land’s End (Chicago, 1963) is a popular mail-order clothing supplier. When I was younger, I owned a lot of their stuff, but somehow forgot about them. I recently placed my first Land’s End order in a long time. (Sale items.)

Stickley (New York, 1900, “Collector quality furniture since 1900”) makes classic fine furniture. Much of the modern Get Rich Slowly has been written from a Stickley Morris recliner. During the depths of the Great Recession — just after I sold this blog — I purchased four Stickley pieces at deep discounts. I love them.

Tom Bihn (Seattle, 1972) makes awesome bags and backpacks specifically designed for people who travel or who are on the go. I own The Maker’s Bag and love it. Kim loves it too. In fact, I had to buy her one so that she would leave mine alone. (We also have their dog training bag.)

Apple (California, 1976) has grown from a company with a cult-like following to a respected manufacturer of quality computers. I converted in the early 2000s, and I don’t regret it. Their machines are expensive, but they’re very well made. (And you know what? They run Windows too!) Most of my life is spent in front of a Mac screen. Sad but true. (Sale items.)

This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive. These are the companies I know and have used in the past. I’m sure I’ve left out plenty of fine places. If there’s a firm you feel ought to be included in this list, let me know in the comments.

I had lunch with my cousin yesterday. When I told him I was writing this article, he shared his experience looking for quality clothing. He recently lost a lot of weight and had to replace his entire wardrobe.

“I can afford to buy things new,” Nick told me, “but I don’t like to pay that much. I’ve been shopping at thrift stores to find the same stuff for much less. And you know what? I really do think the famous name brands do tend to have better quality.” (Nick is like the anti-consumer, so this observation means something coming from him.)

See also: How to shop at thrift stores for quality clothing over at The Luxe Strategist.

The Good Stuff (According to GRS Readers)

As I was preparing this piece, it occurred to me that I ought to ask folks on Facebook and Twitter where they go to find the good stuff. When do they choose to “buy it for life”? I received a lot of responses!

Some people offered suggestions on how to buy it life. Here, from the GRS Facebook group, are three top tips:

Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme had some good advice for determining whether any given item is considered quality by the people who own it: Check eBay to see if it’s retained its value.

I took the time to sift through the roughly one hundred replies I received on social media. While this was by no means a scientific survey, the responses were interesting.

First, it’s clear that people are willing to pay a premium for certain classes of products.

I was shocked by the number of people praising footwear. We all want comfortable, quality shoes, and when we find them, we remain loyal to the companies who provide them. I love my Timberlands, for instance, but others are willing to pay extra for Dr. Martens or Merrell. Keen was the most-recommended shoe company in my survey. Some smaller shoe companies like Trask and Samuel Hubbard received rave reviews. (A few folks mentioned socks, specifically Bombas and Darn Tough.)

Sleep is also important. Some people recommended pillows or sheets, but most focused on their mattress. Tempur-Pedic garnered the most mentions. (When we moved in together, Kim and I shopped for a high-quality mattress. I think we chose Tempur-Pedic also, but I’m not willing to strip the bedding to find out.)

People are also willing to pay more to ease life in the kitchen. Several people raved about their Vitamix blenders. Mostly, though, folks mentioned their knives. I own (and love) a chef’s knife from Shun, as do a couple of other readers. Others, like my ex-wife, prefer Henckel knives. Justin from Root of Good offered an awesome alternative. His family buys Kiwi knives from Thailand at $3 or $4 each. (They go for $9 on Amazon, which is still a great deal.) All knife lovers agree on one thing: The best way to make your life easier is to sharpen your blades!

Several women, including my girlfriend, told me they’re willing to pay a premium for high-quality cosmetics. But each person cited a different brand of cosmetics that they’re loyal to. Because I’m a boy and know nothing about this stuff, I’m not going to link to any one company. (But you can in the comments below.)

Lastly, outdoor gear proved popular in my poll. Many people like Arc’teryx (a brand I’ve never tried). Others praised Patagonia or REI or L.L. Bean.

Some readers zeroed in on very specific items.

Whitney Hansen, the Money Nerd, likes a particular “adventure blanket”. Long-time reader Tyler K says Benjamin Moore paints are so amazing that he’ll never buy paint from a hardware store again. Another reader recommended Casio G-Shock watches. Several people were fans of Hydro Flask. (Me too! I own three of their water bottles and think they’re amazing.) And a lot of people seem to think Otter Box phone cases are essential.

But can you guess the number-one company that GRS readers turn to for quality products? It’s the biggest tech company in the world: Apple. Apple didn’t used to be known for quality. (In fact, their quality was crap twenty years ago.) Now, though, things have changed. Apple quality has won converts like me — and you.

Quality Is Part of a Rich Life

One follower on Twitter took me to task for tackling this topic. He believes that talking about spending more to purchase quality items is tantamount to encouraging consumerism. Like I said the other day, I do sometimes worry that this sort of thing crosses the line to lifestyle inflation.

Most of the time, however, I think choosing quality is a smart financial decision.

Meanwhile, Liz from Frugalwoods has written in the past that the “buy it for life” philosophy can be problematic. If you’re buying the best of everything, that’s an issue. You should only buy the best when thing your buying is an important part of your lifestyle. (Why spend a ton on something you rarely use?) And what about changing fashion and priorities?

I believe that buying well-made things, things that “spark joy” when used, is part of living a Rich Life. Most of us don’t aim to be ascetics. We’re not frugal for the sake of frugality. We’ve scrimped and saved and worked hard to build wealth precisely so that we can spend money on products that make our lives easier and/or more enjoyable. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Note: This is a substantial re-write of an article I first published more than twelve years ago. (Yikes, I’m old!) I’ve opted to keep some of the older comments if they had good suggestions.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/buy-it-for-life-choosing-quality-over-price/

0 notes

katyslemon · 6 years

Text

A Comprehensive Guideline to Launch an ICO 2018: Structure, Overview and Planning

Brave, a browser startup successfully raised a jaw dropping $35 million from investors in less than 30 seconds. Tenx, a fintech startup received $34 million in under 7 minutes. Status.im, a messaging app for Ethereum raised $100 million in under three hours. So, what is this business model that demonstrates record-breaking capital financing confidence? Three words, ICO — initial coin offering.

Land a meeting, pitch your idea to an entrepreneur and negotiate with venture capital firms for fair deals is undoubtedly a difficult path to go through. As investors might ask for a huge bite of cake and will simply eat away your equity. Sometimes not offering stock options to the employees is the most viable solution you can have.

Cryptocurrency tokens and ICO’s are literally replacing stock shares and IPO’s in funding new companies. Owning to the latest trend, recent startups are choosing to go to the public through ICO. Recently, Oscar Insurance, Square and Blue Apron have felt the pinch. Regardless to raise funding, there is a viable alternative called ICO. Initial Coin Offering — ICO can help you raise money quickly while preserving your equity. The market has already exploded with a whopping $1.2 billion and more than 94 ICOs have launched in 2017, up from $102 million and 69 launches last year. ICO is a new way to raise capital, preserve your autonomy and finance your vision. In this post we will discuss in detail that how to launch an ICO.

Disclaimer: This blog is not any form of legal advice. This blog highlights what sort of industries can use ICO and leverage its benefits as well as what you should be your thought procedure when launching an ICO.

Cryptocurrency

To understand the concept of ICO, first of all you are required to understand cryptocurrency.

A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions, to control the creation of additional units and to verify the transfer of assets. Wikipedia

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrency and all the transactions are stored in a blockchain, an encrypted public ledger. Cryptocurrency works as an exchange for real money with the businesses that accept them.

So, you are planning to start an ICO? Congratulations! ICO is an exciting opportunity for a talented investment team with a cool idea to get funded. Your organization will get funds faster and so do your investors get opportunity to become involved in something at its inception. There are myriad ways to launch an ICO. Let me get you through the procedure of launching your own ICO.

Initial Coin Offering

ICO is completely different from raising funds through Venture capitals. In this fund-raising procedure, you are not giving any extra advantage of equity, but you are going to the public on the launch day. Once you are committed to the ICO, you will need to focus on offering token design, whitepaper, legal precautions against hackers and numbers of avenues of communication like social media, slack, press, interviews and etc.

Some of the most important questions to ask at this stage are;

How much capital you are actually planning to raise through an ICO?

What do you want to accomplish with the launch?

Are you interested in raising capital?

Do you plan to establish a potential network user who will be interested in using your product?

Whitepaper

The whitepaper is the single most significant piece of your ICO journey. This document will help you put the whole application together. It is described as how the token will be used within the system and how the system will work. Your whole team should work towards writing this document. Hire professional editors to edit the document; however, you should write it yourself.

Legal

You will be required a reputable law firm to guide you through the process of incorporating Blockchain/ Ethereum and running the whole process of the ICO. The most significant thing will be required to take care is whether your token is in a security or not. Will you be geographically limiting the offering? Will you be using a SAFT?

Unique ICO Strategy

When launching an ICO, there should be a clear strategy in place that helps you through the pre-ICO and ICO phase. Some of the important points to focus upon are:

You need to make sure that your ICO has at least sold 50% of your tokens

If your ICO is a Blockchain based, then you need to start with discounted SAFTs

You need to authorize whether you plan to set up a cap and if yes, then what would it be?

It is completely dependent on the amount you plan to raise.

Financial Policy

As a lot of investors would have capitalized in ICO, so you would be required to decide on how you are planning to freeze, spend, buy, discount and burn tokens. So, will you create all the tokens at once or would it be ongoing procedure? Additionally, what would be the procedure to maintain the tokens? If a huge number of tokens will remain in your treasury, it will panic to your users as the rest token would be released quickly into the market?

If large established investors have invested in your token, then there is a chance that they might offload quickly. So, it is advisable to device a lockup for them.

Discuss your project goals to the audience

You must ensure that your goals are precisely defined and realistic. Use the white paper to clearly outline 360 technical aspects of the product. As it will work as a proof of concept for your ICO. Presenting a working and a tested product to the audience is the best thing you could wish for when planning to launch an ICO. It is advisable to make the prototype and focus on the campaign to get the best investors.

Protect the investors’ interests

Early bird discounts for investors is must thing to offer. Another convention that has by now became a requirement is contribution in a multi-signature escrow wallet with the names of all key holders announced to the public. And some of those keys have to be held by people as it serves an additional guarantee for investors’ funds safety.

Significant factors to follow during the actual ICO

In the most cases ICO’s comes in the limited time that means, timing is too much significant. Your crowd sale campaign should be your PR. Getting enough attention is one of the hardest parts as the market is widely growing and every other day there is almost an ICO launch. So, ensure to constantly communicate with your audience both before and throughout the campaign.

The main channels of communication are social media are Twitter and Facebook and the forums — Bitcointalk and Reddit. Hire a digital agency whose only job is to monitor and participate in the dialogue with your audience on those websites and there’s nothing worse than having a well-prepared campaign.

Things you should avoid when launching an ICO

Breaking the law might lose the trust of your investors. Do not break the law is one of the most obvious things. When you are dealing with other people’s money, you must make sure that you aren’t breaking any laws, so it is strongly recommended to hire the services of an actual lawyer while preparing a campaign.

So, be genuine, always keep in touch with the contributors and update them on the progress of your project are some of the most significant steps you should follow for your crowdsale campaign.

Make sure to follow the listed above steps to turn your ICO idea into a success. Following the above advice will give you an overview of the various aspects involved. Launching an ICO is similar to obtain funding from investors. It is an immense opportunity to raise money within minutes and reserve majority ownership of your company.

If the procedure does not seem your cup of tea, then get in touch with our organization as have mastered in successfully launching 5 IPOs.

Industries that could use ICO to transform themselves

So many industries apart from Banking and Payments can benefit from the use of Blockchain and smart contracts. Here are a few industries that could launch their own ICO.

Music and Entertainment Rights and Intellectual Property Rights:

Business entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry are turning to blockchain using smart contracts to distribute the revenue on purchase of creative works to determine licensing parties. Ascribe.io, a product of BigchainDB is working in the same direction by offering a verifiable and trackable record of ownership between artists and their IP.

Samsung and IBM are using a unique concept called ADEPT that uses similar technology like a Blockchain. The blockchain serves as a distributed ledger for an astonishing number of devices that communicate through the blockchain instead of communicating through the central hub.

Uber, Ola and Lyfe, are currently working based on a centralized system that controls a network of drivers. Such applications work as a dispersal hub that establishes ride fares and control their fleet through an algorithm. Startups like Arcade City is facilitating all the riding transactions through a blockchain system. It will appeal all drivers to run an independent business instead to be controlled by a central authority.

The complete records of transactions available in the form of blockchain could act as an analysis, consulting, foundation for research and forecasting. It also provides a strong foundation for targeted prediction, insights and machine learning algorithms.

Elections demand for authentication of the voter’s identity to keep the record and collect the votes and to confirm the total number of votes. There arise some potential problems of foul play and voter fraud during the counting. If you capture votes as transactions in a blockchain, then it will provide you a trusted decentralized solution by verifying authenticity of voter’s identity, maintaining the distributed ledger of votes, and maintaining a verifiable audit trail that make sure that votes are not altered or removed in any way.

There are numbers of industries where the Blockchain and Smart Contracts can be used. If you have an idea to launch your own ICO and wondering what the best can be done, then you should undoubtedly get in touch with our expert at Bacancy Technology.

Epilogue

We, at Bacancy Technology can help you launch your own ICO successfully. We are early adopters of ICO Development Services and we have already helped various industries to launch their own ICO successfully.

At Bacancy Technology, we provide an all-inclusive infrastructure such as token creation, distribution, ICO platform hosting, landing page design and an extensive list of digital marketing services. Our team of skillful developers have in-depth knowledge and extensive experience in developing and maintaining various blockchain applications in Fintech, insurance, DMS, Gaming and ICO. We provide an all-inclusive development support for your ICO. From conceptual token design and ICO smart contracts to website deployment and maintenance of infrastructure for your ICO campaign.

If you are already convinced with what I am saying above, and planning to launch your own ICO, then Hire Blockchain Developers from us bring the revolutionary Blockchain technology into business or you can Hire Ethereum Developers from us to create a coin and launch an ICO through Ethereum. You should definitely try it out to find out why.

Originally published at www.bacancytechnology.com.

#ico development #initial coin offering #smart contracts #smart contract developer #ICO Launch #ICODevelopmentCompany

0 notes

mysteryshelf · 6 years

Text

MARCH ANNIVERSARY WEEKENDS EVENT: Blog Tour - Moral Panic

Welcome to

THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF March Anniversary Weekends Event!

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Roger Charlie. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

ABOUT THE BOOK

eBook

Mar. 16, 2018 ISBN: 978-0-9998651-1-8

$7.99

Print Mar. 30, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-9998651-0-1

$14.99

AudioBook

Apr. 13 ISBN: $14.99

Crime Fiction, Thriller

Dream Flow Media

If anything can be hacked, nothing can be trusted.

Tanner Moore is at the top of his game in the high stakes world of big technology. As chief technology officer of Paragon, the largest corporation in the world, he is about to release the greatest convenience innovation in the history of commerce: drone delivery service to every inch of the globe.

But when an interview with journalist Amy Noral is secretly recorded and published by the clickbait media, Tanner’s fall from grace is swift and brutal.

Tanner is fired, publicly condemned as a terrorist for comments he never made, and kidnapped by a mysterious vigilante group who use surveillance data to track and kill their enemies. Tanner must navigate their underground world full of violent zealots and mental manipulation to find his way to freedom, or see his drone technology used as the most advanced assassination tool ever devised.

***

Moral Panic explores the collision of the most extreme elements of politics, ideology and technological media manipulation. It navigates through a maze of modern surveillance with a skeptical eye on the data-driven world we live in, to bring an awareness of the possibility of such a story coming true in the real world.

Pre-order your print or digital copy now and save $2!

https://thedreamflow.com/products/moral-panic-a-novel-by

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

What initially got you interested in writing?

I remember reading A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift during my sophomore year in high school and being blown away by the balls it took to write and publish something like that. I’ve always had a bit of a rebellious streak and the satire of that piece resonated with me.

Writing became a bigger part of my life during my sophomore year in college. I was a bit lost and unsure about what I wanted to do with my life, so I started writing a ton of poetry and songs. I’ve always found that form to be the most honest medium of my own expression, and I’ve written hundreds of poems and songs since that time.

What genres do you prefer to write in?

I think the genre is less important than the themes I prefer to talk about. My first novel, Moral Panic, is part science fiction, part social criticism, part political fiction, part alternate future, part cyber crime thriller, but what it’s really about is the internal struggle of the main character to find the proper usage of the systems he’s surrounded by.

He struggles with the fear of succumbing to the temptations of power and violent domination and he has to outwit his enemies to use the pre-built systems against those who would use them for malicious purposes. So in a way, it’s a cautionary tale of some of the possible “innovations” coming out of the technological world.

Are there any authors you prefer to read and why?

A few years ago I read a bunch of Cormac McCarthy’s work and I really admire his style and his story selection. His descriptive power mirrors a bit of the monotonous day to day reality of life until he punctures that world with brutal scenes of violence. The violence is always short in comparison to the other parts of his books, and I think it’s a fascinating way of portraying the effects of the adrenaline brought about by those moments. As though his writing style mirrors the primal reaction of his characters.

How did you make the move into being a published author?

I’ve been working in film for a few years, making shorts and promotional videos for nonprofits and bands in Denver, so I originally thought about this project as a screenplay. However, I felt I needed to get this story out regardless of whether a production company was interested in turning it into a film, so I dove headfirst into it as a novel. The nice part about a novel is I have total creative control and I can explore the inner thoughts of my characters in a way that isn’t possible through filmmaking.

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

I was always a daydreamer in school and writing is the opportunity for me to explore my imagination in a way I can share with other people. I find it fascinating to consider how I would react in the situations I’ve put my characters in, and it feels like a way to explore different psychological sides of life from the comfort of my office.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

I find writing description to be the most challenging. I’m far more interested in the minds and motivations of the characters than the world they inhabit.

Do you have any tips for writers who find themselves experiencing writer’s block?

Go back into the world and live. Maybe you’ve expressed all of the pieces of life you collected before you were writing and you need to find some new experiences to come to a larger awareness of the world.

What advice would you give to people that want to enter the field?

If you’re serious, get to a place where you can accept criticism of your work without feeling that it is an assault on the very essence of your being. That takes personal maturity, which some people aren’t capable of, but creating some distance between yourself and the work is important. It allows you to accept constructive criticism that is crucial to making your work better.

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

I want people to learn something about life. I want them to take away one or two interesting ideas that reveal a piece of the world they may not have considered before.

Is there anything else about you that you think readers might find interesting?

I’m the founder of The Dream Flow Creative Collective, a startup creative organization searching for truth through artistic expression. We do this by telling stories, making music, and exploring the possibilities of the human experience.

Author Website: http://www.thedreamflow.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/km–ecke/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedreamflow

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/over18?dest=/user/thedreamflow

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamflow

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/69416515-k-m-ecke

MUSIC BY THE AUTHOR

CHANGE OF MIND

Mar. 2, 2018

Physical Copy: $9.99 Digital: $5.99

Full album and Digital Downloads available at TheDreamFlow.com

Reason And Rhyme

American Dream

Virus Of The Mind

Illuminate Soul

Rise Above

Change of Mind

Lacks A Lie

When We Were Blind

After years of artistic exploration and experimentation, Change of Mind is Ecke’s lyrical statement of defiance against cultural insanity. After producing four albums under various pseudonyms and working with several Denver-based groups to help them produce albums, this is the first he has released under his own name.

Listen online

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailing from the original birthplace of the atomic bomb, Los Alamos, NM, K.M. Ecke is an organic, free-range, preservative-free, philosopher-poet using universal truth to battle cultural insanity. Ecke, which is German for ‘corner’, is the child of a physicist and musician and grew up at the corner of creativity and logic. After ten years of existential exploration and creative experimentation, he releases his debut novel Moral Panic, along with an album of lyrically-focused songs, Change of Mind via his independent creative collective The Dream Flow.

Ecke strives to deliver a strong story with inherent value to his readers. The author is well-versed in writing, including essays, songs and poetry, the last of which the author finds the most efficient form of expression, and thus, the best way to improve his writing practice.

Initially intending for law school, a business law class changed his direction, and Ecke chose to pursue writing, soul-searching and creative projects. After several years of odd jobs learning about different pieces of the world, he began his own private music teaching business and attended Colorado Film School for a year and a half to study filmmaking. After 18-months in his program, he veered to his own path and established Dream Flow Media, the home to all of his creative endeavors; publishing, music and all additional branches of the many-faceted visionary. Along with his own creations, he strives to bring other artists into the fold to develop a creative collective for a variety of multimedia projects.

Ecke also works as a filmmaker for local non-profits and bands, and hopes one day to see Moral Panic on the big screen. The author lives in Denver, Colorado and hosts a storytelling micro-podcast Myths, Metaphors, and Morality. For more info, visit the author online at TheDreamFlow.com.

MARCH ANNIVERSARY WEEKENDS EVENT: Blog Tour – Moral Panic was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf with Shannon Muir

#shannon muir #pulp and mystery shelf

0 notes

rage-rant · 7 years

Text

Entry#12

080917 3.43pm

What I learnt from my 10yrs 5mths relationship.

1. Money is the root of all evil

Even when you think that money is not an issue in your relationship, somehow it is! For my case, I always thought that he paid the rental whilst I paid utilities, household items, holidays, buy presents (bdays/xmas), prepare angpows (weddings - no doubt it's for my friend/family but because I have +1, I need to give more $$$); is the perfect arrangement. However, little did I know, he was complaining about me not pulling my fair share in the rental to his family behind my back and they have been “advising” him. Mind you, I have asked several times to allow me to chip in more on monetary things but he always brushes it off. And NEVER have I ill-ed him to any of my family members except when I seem really down-in-the-dumps but my usual reply will be “it’s ok, I’m ok, nothing”. Well, in the last couple of days of our relationship, I only know I was such a financial burden to him.

2. It takes a lot of work

Relationships are essentially, “ships”. It requires maintenance, care, love, money, mechanism… It won’t sail far if there’s no one steering it or maintaining/cleaning it (it will still sail with the wind blowing but only at random and not far). Same goes for a relationship, when you start being complacent and slack, the relationship will start failing. The moment I started having tighter money issues, I stopped planning holidays/weekend activities and we started drifting apart. He started staying out late (with his friends/colleagues) every night and coming home only to sleep at 3am. I found myself coming home to an empty, dark and cold place supposingly to be “home”. It sure didn’t feel like home anymore. We talked about 10 sentences a week. This… ended up with quarreling (contributing to the 10 sentences a week quota) every night and then the inevitable breakup.

3. Always live together

I am an advocate to couples staying together before committing. You really find out so much more than living apart. What you see on the surface or what they choose to portray, runs so much deeper. You will start to find small irritable things, and it is really up to you whether you can fathom and accept it or not. However, be forewarned… Living together leads to other deeper issues like co-sharing furniture, family, memories, pets, independence. Moving on will be WAYYYY much tougher. How do you erase all them photos, memories, smell, feelings? I still have pictures in my phone that I have yet to post on FB of the last month with families, some of them very nice; what should I do? Post anyway? Delete? I’m still in limbo. Also, as I have made arrangements to move out, I feel bad for him too because he has asked me to take the furniture and I doubt he has found another place to stay yet. A part of me wants to offer him a place in my new place but yet I want to wipe the slate clean and remove him from my life as much as possible. I’m torn…

4. “Let’s be friends”

This is bullshit! To be honest, this is the worst sentence to say at the end of a relationship, especially one of 10yrs. After all we have gone through… you JUST WANNA BE FRIENDS?!?!?!?! Are you fucking kidding me! Maybe after some years, this may be possible. But right now, we really need to work out ourselves and move on. What makes you think we can still be friends while we’re finding our self? Also, 10yrs of relationship with so much feelings involved, it means starting over and to reset the heart, mending the broken pieces to be whole again. Having you around as a “friend” doesn’t help because when I see you, my cellophane tape losses it’s tackiness and my heart continues cracking.

5. Surround yourself with positive energy

These energy will come from family and friends. Don’t neglect them when you’re in a relationship because once that ends, these are the people you can truly rely on. They will be there for you to vent, cry, seek advice, just be there. I am truly grateful for my support system which consist of my mum, my close friends of over 10yrs and close colleagues of about 3yrs. Wish I could post this on FB (but I won’t, for now) to let these wonderful people know how much I appreciate them, just being around me.

6. Create anonymous tumblr/twitter/reddit accounts

This is to air your frustration and just vent to anyone or no one. Sometimes, even with positive energies around you, you just feel that you want to talk to strangers or just the air. Trust me, it does feel much better when you put finger to keyboard. As you can see from my tumblr account, I have 11 entries of just rant to any/no one, and it usually happens in the middle of the night, after an argument or some frustration. After typing it all out, sleep will come naturally (not easily but it will come). In the olden days without social media, I used to write in a diary (thank God/mankind for technology!). I guess we’re all a little narcissist.

#rant #vent #personal rant #relationship #relationships #breakup #lesson learnt #break up #moving on #another chapter

0 notes

mrlongkgraves · 7 years

Text

Nurse interview tips for millennials, Gen Xers and everyone else-Part 1

Be a Jen, not a Nancy, during nursing interview

Before a word was spoken or attire evaluated, the two new 2017-model graduate nurses seemed to be identical job candidates. But upon interview, Jen was a career-seeking missile, while Nancy was simply ready to be employed. Both Jen and Nancy graduated with BSNs and 4.0 GPAs. They both had extensive experience as volunteers, nursing assistants and interns. There wasn’t an obvious difference between them, except Jen was ready to convince the recruiter how the organization couldn’t live without her.

During her interview, Jen presented herself as a bright, compassionate new nurse with goals and vision. The recruiter thoroughly enjoyed her conversation with Jen and discovered that she liked her a lot. The recruiter resolved to find a job for this nurse somewhere in the organization because she was convinced that it couldn’t exist without her. On the other hand, Nancy had little to say during her interview. She seemed to be just looking for a job, and the recruiter was happy when the session was over.

Nurses looking for the right jobs need to become the same expert communicators at job interviews that they are at the bedside. They need to rehearse for interviews like they would for the performance of their lives. Those who have practiced for meetings with prospective employers present themselves as polished professionals, rather than another Nancy nurse.

Remember, no one ever gets a second chance to make a first impression. Don’t be afraid to use or take notes during the interview; but on the other hand, maintain eye contact, speak conversationally and just plain be likable. Besides getting every interviewing basic right, you need to stand out from all of the other equally qualified, credentialed candidate to get the job you’re seeking.

A few interviewing essentials to keep in mind

This one key piece of advice, which I mention in my commencement speeches (14 so far), no less, can ensure a successful interview: Figure out how to get the interviewer to like you. In “Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing,” Henry Beckworth relates an interview with Meryl Streep in which she said, “I really did believe that life would be like college, but it isn’t. Life is like high school.” And what she meant was the sheer technical competence you learn in college or nursing school will not ensure your success. The job market is, in part, a popularity contest. People hire people they like. Your success in an interview will have a lot to do with your personality. Professionalism is important, but being personable is as significant a factor in getting hiring. Given equally smart, experienced and credentialed professionals, managers will hire the candidates they like. You know how to strike an immediate rapport with a new patient at the start of a 12-hour shift; apply the same techniques to interviewing.

The job market is, in part, a popularity contest. People hire people they like. Your success in an interview will have a lot to do with your personality.”

Other points that will ensure a successful, effective interview include:

• Bring written questions to keep your discussion on track, and remember not to talk too much or too little.

• Bring letters of appreciation from patients or volunteering, awards, or documentation of events that make you stand out from the crowd.

• Establish real closure to the interview, so there is no ambiguity about the next steps, for example, who will get back to whom and when.

• When the interview is over, don’t forget to send a personal thank you note (via snail mail or email) that very night.

• Keep a detailed spreadsheet of places you’ve interviewed and people you’ve networked with.

• Learn to be likable. Each interviewer is looking for someone he or she likes. If you are talking 50% more than the interviewer, say less. If the interviewer is talking with enthusiasm, reflect the same vitality by interjecting life into your conversation. Each interviewer has personality preferences just like each candidate has personality preferences. The better you relate to the interviewer, the better the experience. If the interviewer is comfortable, the interview may last longer and leave a better impression. Overselling may work with a sales-type personality, but may work against you in an interview in which a recruiter is seeking a demure, professional presentation from an understated candidate.

This year’s tips from real recruiters

Every year before I give my Career Fitness presentation to the students at the National Student Nurses Association’s annual conference I call my nurse recruiter friends for an update on their perspective of the nursing job market in their area and nationally. I also ask for interview tips. Here’s the current tip list:

♦ Be on time. That means being too early is as bad as being too late. Just show up when you were asked to be there.

♦ Conservative dress is still a must. One of my recruiter friends reminds us a job interview is not an appropriate time for a bare midriff. Show your personal style with accents rather than a head-to-toe statement. A scarf, tie, or pair of shoes provides a way to display personality, while keeping the rest of your look conservative. The rule is simple: You do not want to be remembered from an encounter like this for you what you wore.

♦ No flip-flops, distressed jeans or nose jewelry.

♦ Lose the Bluetooth.

♦ Know that there is a very good chance that the interviewer has Googled you and visited your LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and Twitter sites (which should only have content that you are reasonably comfortable with a prospective employer viewing).

♦ Be aware that the recruiter may not be a nurse. Sometimes the whole hiring process is outsourced to an outside agency.

♦ Be prepared to be tested, and we’re not talking about drug testing, but rather your knowledge.

Take a good look at your excellent self, and walk into the interview with confidence that you have done everything that you could to ensure a positive result — a job offer at best, a second interview at the very least. An interview in itself is success because not everyone gets one. Keep that in mind. This is your time. Own it.

Look for part 2 to this blog on interviewing next month!

Courses Related to ‘Career Advice’

CE140-60: Interviewing for Career Advancement (1 contact hr) The goal of this continuing education program is to enhance nurses’ ability to prepare for and participate in job interviews. It explains strategies for preparing for an interview, including selecting the best responses to typical interview questions.

CE166-60: Networking for Career Advancement (1 contact hr) The goal of this program is to enhance nurses’ skills in professional networking to keep their career development strategies robust. It outlines steps for face-to-face networking and identifies four potential resources to contact for networking.

CE691: Social Media (1 contact hr) The goal of this continuing education program is to inform nurses about how to use social media to enhance their careers. It describes how social media can have a positive impact on your career and also identifies ways to avoid career damage with social media.

The post Nurse interview tips for millennials, Gen Xers and everyone else-Part 1 appeared first on Nursing News, Stories & Articles.

from Nursing News, Stories & Articles http://ift.tt/2pTPNeu

0 notes

symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

TL;DR: At the bottom.

I'm Jeffrey Nielson. I’m an independent developer coming from a game artist background, who recently started working solo. Now, I'm in the late stages of finishing my second self-directed project, Nova Drift. I'm no expert, but I've had some success, so I want to share some of what I've learned for aspiring small / solo developers, clear up some misconceptions, and also talk about how I got here and what I'm working on now.

Disclaimer:

There are many strategies and approaches to game development. This one is just mine. Also, when I say that solo game development is "working for me", I don't have nearly enough data to know that it will continue to work for me. Having said that, I can say that based on my checkered career, there isn't really a particularly stable place to be in games. Anyone can bomb, and even huge, successful game corporations can lay you off without warning. Because of this, you might as well be doing what you love, whatever that is. In any case, I hope that some of the lessons I've learned benefit you.

(Skip it if you like!)

I started playing around with pixel art in MS paint when I was around 10 years old, mimicking the art style from Genesis JRPGs I loved. At 15, I joined my cousins and their programmer friend who were making a ridiculous shooter-platformer called "Worminator" I'm still amazed we were somehow able to create and distribute (for free) a finished game at this age, given how quickly random collabs tend to go sour as adults. They would later create the sequel, Worminator 3 (yes, they skipped 2, it was that good) I played around with RPG Maker, and later discovered Game Maker. After college, where I studied art & design, I worked for a few game companies creating art and animation in a wide range of styles. I met PixelJam Games during this time, after sending them fan art for one of my favorite indie games. To my great surprise, they offered me contract work as a side job. They would later become my foot in the door to independent game development. Meanwhile, my primary employer's company was bought by Facebook game giant Zynga, and I was swept up along with it. Despite having less-than-no interest in those types of games, I decided to go with it and see what it would do for my career. It ended up being incredibly valuable. I learned from talented and brilliant people, became a far better artist, and most importantly, figured out what I wanted out of life.

Gear Shift

My greatest revelation was that I never truly wanted to be an artist. I didn't carry sketchbooks like the others, practice, or show off personal works. I wrote down ideas and made little games. Art turned out to be a means to an end: to create games. I never considered learning to program because I had been encouraged to be an artist all of my life. I had assumed it was my only entry point to the video game industry... and programming seemed incredibly inaccessible. Once I knew I wanted to be more than a small cog in the machine, I had to try. So, after two years, I put in my resignation. I worked with PixelJam for a few years on many small projects, benefiting greatly from their years of experience both thriving and struggling in the industry. I continued to practice coding with GameMaker, until one day Miles Tilmann of PixelJam suggested I try my hand at it full time for one of their clients. Unsure of myself, I reluctantly accepted.

Last Horizon & Nova Drift

The game was a gravity-based "planet lander" game titled Last Horizon. I drafted a design for the game and got to work prototyping it. Rich Grillotti, PixelJam artist, handled the artwork. For the first time, I had nothing to do with the visuals of a game! The game was meant to be a small browser game, but we soon recognized its potential, and it ballooned into a year long desktop & mobile project. It was really difficult. I had to solve a lot of problems I'd never encountered before, and lost faith a few times. However, to our surprise, the game was a hit on mobile! With the revenue split only four ways, we did alright. I started to wonder just how small a team I could manage. An earlier project of mine, Nova Drift, still interested me and I decided to make it my full time job & first solo endeavor, utilizing PixelJam as a publisher and hiring Miles for audio. Two years later, it’s nearly finished.

Be versatile, know your weaknesses.

The common advice I see given is to specialize in a field that can get you an entry level job, such as art, writing, or programming. This still makes sense, but if you want to work alone, you're going to need to be far more versatile. The trick is to practice by creating (just make something-- anything! As soon as possible!) and determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. Games encompass a huge number of specialized fields, and most people simply won't have time to excell in all of them. Once you know your weaknesses, you can design with these deficiencies in mind, or hire help to fill the gaps. In my case, I had a very strong art and animation background, and a fascination with design. By the end of Last Horizon, I was a pretty solid programmer-- but I'd never had a chance to learn about audio, marketing or production. Now that I'm self directed, those are the areas I contract out, or fill with partnerships. One more thing bears mentioning, and I might start some arguments here, but I believe it to be far easier to be an artist or musician who learns to program than the other way around. Most people can learn to program well enough to create a game in a few years, but developing the arts can take most of your life. My advice is start early, hire out, or both.

Don't underestimate what you can accomplish.

I put off learning to code in earnest for decades. I thought it was "for another kind of person". It’s not. It’s intimidating, but you can learn it piece by piece.

I recommend working for companies before going independent.

...Especially if you plan to work solo. This is for many reasons: First, there is an incredible amount to learn from the success and failure of other people. I can't overstate this: Failing a lot is really, really important. It's a lot better if they're failures you're witnessing, or at least still getting paid for, than failures that burn through your savings. Second, the contacts gained from doing so are too valuable to miss out on. You can benefit from these for the rest of your career. Moreover, working for companies hopefully provides you with a decent amount of startup capital so you don't have to rely on begging, borrowing, or crowdfunding (which is unreliable at best).

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” - Stephen McCranie.

Networking and building contacts early will benefit you in the long term.

They’ll help you get eyes where you need them, cross-promote, and they may know how to solve problems you do not. I made quite a lot of mistakes in this regard. I resisted Twitter and Facebook networking for years, relying on my employers and producers for networking. I failed to direct thousands of DeviantArt followers to my social media for future endeavors. I waited way too long to create Reddit presence and credibility. I never blogged or wrote about what I was doing. Thanks to my producer, I’m OK, but had I done this we’d have two pools of resources to tap!

Beyond the internet, make as many meaningful connections as you can.

Attend conventions, talk to people, attend events, or work in shared dev spaces. Always remember to be polite, giving and gracious. People are far more likely to help you or care about what you're doing if you show genuine interest in them, too. Most of all, do not underestimate yourself or the strength of your passion. The most important contact I have ever made, PixelJam Games, was made by sending them fan art. This small gesture quite literally changed my life. I was hired, creatively galvanized, and relocated to a new state. There, I met my wife whom I’m now traveling the world with while making video games (she is an elementary school teacher, employed by an international school). PixelJam taught me most of what I know about running a business, empowered me to work solo, and continue to be my most valuable business allies and dear friends. I’m not saying that slinging fan art is going to get you your golden ticket, but don’t underestimate the power of a bold initiative and a little fearlessness.

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity” - Seneca

Make things, whenever you have time.

Anything that aligns with your passion and your goals. In doing so, you can let your work do the talking for you while you're networking. I got my first game job by showing the art director a little pixel art shoot 'em up game I had created in GameMaker. He told me, "This is the most fun interview I’ve ever done". Even if your first creation is hot garbage, it shows great character to have finished the thing on your own impetus.

Write down all of your ideas, even the bad ones.

Scribbles, diagrams, ideas that are nothing more than titles, your spouse’s bad ideas, everything. Archive all of these, make a collection. You'll find uses for some of them later, and others will coalesce into a greater idea.

Rapid prototyping! Get your hands on it!

Prototype ideas often to find out what works and what doesn't. You really won't know until you get your hands on it in action. Game Maker Studio is an alternative to Unity, and a good tool for prototyping if you're still getting the hang of coding or come from an art background. In fact, I still use it for professional development today. If you have any doubts, look into the great games it’s produced. It’s also great for weekend game jams. (These are awesome for getting reinvigorated during long projects).

Better yet, get other people's hands on it.

When we design, we are sort of in a vacuum and take things for granted. Testers will reveal fundamental problems with your game very quickly that you didn't consider. It may not be easy, but I recommend keeping silent as they play and avoid helping. You won’t be there to help your players once the game is out. Recognize that these frustrations are places where the game fails to convey what is needed of the player. Keep notes. Do this early. Fundamental flaws are not something you want to discover at the 11th hour.

Above all, keep things simple.

The tradeoff for complete control is that you have to be incredibly conservative with scope and features due to lack of manpower. Because I'm designing and programming as well, I can't spend all day polishing a painterly masterpiece. Instead, I choose a simple and stylish aesthetic which allows me to rapidly create art and execute ideas. Undertale is a good example of this working well, as is Super Hexagon, Geometry Wars, and Spelunky.

Don’t make your “masterpiece” your first game!

You should try to keep your first few projects very, very small. Maybe even attempt the tiniest crash course to get all of the problems out of the way. What you do NOT want is to encounter every inevitable hang up and brick wall on your grandest, favorite idea, losing your valuable momentum. That game should be your third or fourth, maybe.

Plan, but not too much.

Nobody's estimates are accurate. Just know that it will take far, far longer than you expect it to. It's very easy for a 3 month game idea to turn into several years if you aren't careful. As you develop, you'll often find that your game starts to deviate from your original concept. This is fine; the game informs its own design. Where you need to be alarmed is when the game idea begins to proliferate, considerably larger than you had originally planned. This is called "feature creep", and depending on your restraint and financial situation, it can either bury a project or improve it. Plenty of people have written on this subject, so I'll keep it short: Decide how much you want to allow your project to grow over time, and be strict about it. One thing I do recommend planning for is systems you plan to port to. Look ahead of time at all of the requirements for getting on things like iOS and Android’s Google Play. Saying these platforms are fussy is… putting it mildly.

Don’t over do it.

Inevitably, as you develop, your skill as a programmer will grow immensely from sheer repetition and immersion. You may be faced with the urge to constantly correct mistakes, over-optimize, and even rip things apart and start over. I suggest not doing this. Instead, get it working well, but accept that your early work will inevitably be below your standards and look forward. Do it right in the next game. Unless it's ruining the performance of your game, that imperfect code won't make a huge difference and it's more valuable to complete the project, start building your audience, and begin earning revenue. Also, be careful not to overreact to feedback. Oftentimes, people know something feels off, but they give the wrong reason why. Trust your instincts and solve the problem the best way you know how.

Simple Ideas.

Did I mention to keep it simple? You should keep it simple. It probably won't work, but you can try, and each time you will get better at it.

Live cheap.

Unless you're very solvent to begin with, the full creative control that solo dev allows you comes with a heavy demand: live and work cheaply. I won't get into the basics such as housing, food, lifestyle, and material possessions, but of course these are important. The big one is staying small: by definition, employees and employers are out of the picture, but that doesn't mean you won't have partners, such as publishers, or work with contractors. In fact, I suggest you do, but keep it to the absolute minimum. I've seen many games (and studios!) wither and die because overzealous creators struck too many deals and split the pie too many different ways, beyond the game's capability to generate cash. Another way this happens is over promising during desperate Kickstarter campaigns. I'll go over this more, later. A big company wants to grow, you should want the opposite: become as lean as physically possible. In doing so you can be agile and focus on our strength: creating a uniquely cohesive product in the way only a lone visionary can. So, generally speaking, if you can do it yourself well, do it. However, be willing to pay generously to hire out work you can't do well. If you can't compose music or write, paying for that could make a huge difference in the reception of your game… and paying well for it means getting it done right, and quickly.

Be cautious about cutting people in.

...For reasons other than money, too. There are many ways people you don't know well can throw you a curve ball, or even kill your game. Look for and learn to read red flags. Ask yourself: Do they have a library of creations to verify their skill and follow-through? Are they earnest and forthright with you? Does it seem like they're trying to sell you something? Are they promising impossible or unlikely things? Is there anyone you trust to vouch for them? Have you protected yourself legally? Just... please be careful. Listen to your gut. I've seen a lot go wrong, and I’ve experienced it, too.

Consider working abroad.

I totally get that this isn’t an option for most people, but if you can manage it, it’s possible to have significantly lower living expenses and still earn globally. (I’m living in Thailand at the moment, where a fairly comfortable life is cheap). If you can’t do this, you don’t have to live in Palo Alto / Seattle / Austin...

Auxiliary Income

Crowdfunding: Use it, don’t need it. These are powerful tools that should be wielded with great care. Platforms like Kickstarter are wonderful, but they're often misused. People rely on it, get caught up in the hype, become desperate, and make too many promises. In the end, many cannot deliver, run out of money, or delay and delay until they’re vaporware. Bottom line: Definitely use it, but never need it. I personally won't ever create a kickstarter campaign until I know for certain I can deliver my product without it. It's great for having extra funds to survive the long stretch, maybe add some nice new features, but I firmly believe that if your game cannot survive without being crowdfunded, it should not be created in the first place. It's too great a risk, because we can never predict what won’t go as planned. The resulting time, morale, and energy sink from a failed campaign can be devastating, and a backed campaign that cannot follow through is even worse.

Backers can’t read your mind.

If you do run a campaign, consider the following: Take nothing for granted. Your game idea may be crystal clear in your head, but if a stranger watches the video and doesn't understand what the game is, they won't be backing it. Remember, you’ve been in a vacuum with the game for a long time. Everyone else has not. Make sure a lot of people see your trailer and provide critical feedback. Show it to hard-ass devs and ask them to be brutal. Show it to me. If you've planned properly, you've budgeted time to fix it.

Don't just prepare your kickstarter page, prepare the update material, too. Get an early start on screenshots, GIFs, press kits, social media, etc. This is all easier if you're fairly late in your game development and already have a lot of information and visuals to work with.

Above all, be honest and as transparent as possible with your backers. They will appreciate it, and it will generate faith in you. If they believe supporting you will reflect well on them, they will be far more likely to help you spread the word and get more backers. I hear Steam early-access and Patreon can be also great sources of income during development, but I haven’t tried them.

Self Promotion

It’s OK to ask for help. Getting used to this was the hardest bit for me, as I tend to prefer hiding in the shadows to the spotlight. You have to do it, and there's nothing wrong with it. Despite what you may instinctively feel, it's pretty hard to get annoyed at an earnest self-promoter, provided they're only asking once. Again, people are far more likely to help you if you show genuine interest in them, too. Start a conversation, talk about what's important to them. Ask them for a signal boost if they're into what you're making. Don't ask for money, and don't ask to trade promo, that's a bit weak. I recommend using Facebook, Twitter, maybe a blog if you enjoy it.. Having a separate Twitter and Facebook for work and personal can be useful. Good hashtags to use are #indiedev and #gamedev. Post a lot, show your passion, and as long as you're respectful and your product is good, people will help you.

Don’t go crazy.

Bear in mind that working alone, creatively, can have some psychological tolls. When you work for years on something important to you, it's easy to give in to doubt and anxiety. The longer you work on it, the greater it seems to need to be to live up to that. You keep raising the bar, but whenever you do, every aspect of the game has to rise up. Distraction, too, can become a constant problem to the developer who disengages with their creation. It can get bad.

Some things you can do to counter this:

Move around. Work from cafes, outside, or in shared work spaces in cities.

Don’t make your sleep-zone or gaming-zone be your work area. That separation helps you relax during off-time.

Take advantage of your flexible schedule. If it works for you, occasionally break up your work day and enjoy the daylight outside.

Get and give feedback from developers you trust, who are also making awesome things. I’m always surprised how much this small thing matters and inspires.

During the drag of a long project, take days to work on something else. Game jams, or new ideas. (I make nerdy charts and skill trees for future games)

You should love it.

Let’s face it, if you can make a game, there are much easier ways to use your talents to make lots of money. If you’re in this field, it should bring you joy. If that’s not happening, and it’s not on the horizon, you should reconsider the path you’re on.

If you made it this far, awesome. Thank you for listening. I’m happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. Ask me anything! Also, please take a look at my game in the link at the bottom, and if you’re into it, spread the word.

TL;DR:

Work for a company first, earn some coin, exp, and recruit allies.

Try to become versatile, and don’t underestimate what you can learn.

Determine your strengths and weaknesses, and know how to fill in the gaps with help.

Spend good money on things you can't do well.

Start building an online following ASAP.

Write all of your ideas down, bad ones too.

Create, a lot. Good things, bad things, just create.

Get people to test early, because you're in a vacuum and take things for granted.

Don’t try to make your first game your masterpiece.

Plan, but not too much.

Don't over-optimize or start over, instead do it better the next time.

Finish projects and don't get ahead of yourself.

Everything you make increases your residual income, brand strength, and freedom.

Keep your business as simple and as small as you can.

Be careful who you sign on with and what you sign up for.

Live cheaply.

Don't "feature creep".

Crowdfund for extra money, or use early access but never rely on these. Avoid the "cycle of need".

Promote and share often, don't be afraid to ask for help, but don't be annoying either.

Care about what other people are doing and they will care about your work.

Master solitude, self-doubt, and distraction.

Love what you are doing, and if you don’t, change course.

Nova Drift Kickstarter and Trailer

#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes

usainitiatives-blog · 7 years

Photo

WalM&Art. Bonobos is about to be snapped-up by Walmart for c.$300m. The brand, aimed at men who want to look good but with minimal effort, also offers a unique approach: go in-store, pick-out clothes; then they are delivered to your home. (More here.) It follows the purchases of Jet.com, ModCloth, the domain name / social media accounts of (now defunct) shoes.com, and the hiring of ex-Rent The Runway founder Jennifer Fleiss to head new project 'Code Eight'. They mean business. Next, Mike Ashley, the controversial owner of the UK's Sports Direct, has made a foray stateside buying Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob's Stores. Also, the relatively upscale condiment maker 'Sir Kensington' has been bought by Unilever for an undisclosed fee. This follows their rebuttal of Kraft Foods' merger proposal in February. No wonder retail M&A is at a 10-year high! Out On Its Own

Amazon picked-up the rights to stream 10 American Football games (replacing Twitter). This follows Facebook Live's deal with MLS and YouTube TV getting MLB action. 'Cord cutting' has been a trend in recent years, yet sports has arguably been one of the last bastions; this is an interesting time for the networks. (Good podcast here.)

You may remember this newsletter pointing-out the threat posed by Amazon within finance? 'Amazon Cash', allows people to go into a CVS store and give money to the cashier, which is then added to their Amazon account as a gift card. This is not banking per se, as money cannot be withdrawn, however it gives those without a bank account a way into Amazon's ecosystem. (Note also, Chinese retailer Alibaba's subsidiary 'Ant Financial' is set to buy US company MoneyGram.)

Next, the brand is attempting to create a true influencer-affiliate model; whilst it might not garner interest from 'high end' personalities, it has been embraced by WhatsUpMoms, because the products they recommend typically feature on the site. Win-win.

Scott Galloway's must-watch talk on how Amazon is taking-apart retail.

Lastly, meet Echo Look which can take full-length photos and give styling advice via algorithm!

Tech Talk YouTube TV is live - here's the skinny. Plus, YouTube has changed its partner program rules and will only allow those with 10k+ lifetime views to monetise their account - the move is designed to reward original content makers, rather than those who simply repost. Twitter locked horns with the government, which demanded to know the identity of a derogatory account allegedly run by someone in the Immigration department: the little bird claims the request violates the First Amendment right to free speech. Google is embracing fact-checking, kinda. It is adding tags to articles that will signpost authenticity. However the giant is passing the verification process onto third-parties, like PolitiFact. Soon icons will be added to search results to highlight platforms where a film or song can be streamed! Next, Autodraw's machine learning can guess what your mouse-guided scribbles were attempting to draw and make suggestions. Tumblr released 'Cabana', an app for 6 users to concurrently watch YouTube videos and live chat. AOL and Yahoo, once the heavyweights of tech, have been rebranded as 'Oath'. No one knows why. Instagram Direct now has 375m users and yet more Snapchat-esque features such as disappearing messages. Facebook Messenger is taking on Venmo with peer-to-peer group payments. Lastly, Facebook is planning an interface that lets people type with their brain. Small But Important

A new retail threat is looming - the border adjusted tax. In an effort to balance potential corporation tax cuts President Trump's proposed measure would see a 20% levy on imported goods. Target, Gap, and Best Buy are so concerned that they have spent a combined $3.2m on lobbyists during the first quarter this year (versus $800k in Q1 2016). In

Burger King's recent TV spot the narrator claimed that 15 seconds was not long enough to describe the Whopper, so instead asked: 'Google, what is the Whopper'; whereupon viewer's connected devices answered the question. It was not cleared by Google...

Interestingly, their rival pulled a similar stunt in this ad. Riffing on the theory that Coca-Cola tastes better at McDonalds, Mindy Kaling implores people to search for 'that place where Coke tastes so good'. The burger joint's name is not mentioned precisely because they knew that Google results would do that for them. Is this the new guerilla marketing, where companies hijack other brand's tech to promote their wares?

It was a bad month for PR: adidas sent runners a 'Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon' message; Bud Light's #UpForWhatever included the inexcusable line, 'The perfect beer for removing 'No' from your vocabulary for the night'; there was Pepsi's now infamous advert, which was pulled after 24 hours due to backlash; and sobering scenes on United Airlines. It was a surprise then to see Puma being taken to task for: 1. Using Kylie Jenner (rather than an athlete). 2. Her running style. Within the context neither seemed too bad.

adidas's senior VP of global brand strategy talked to GQ about over-taking Nike. Punchy. However, given the success of Vapormax, could this be the beginning of the beginning of a swing back?

Boohoo - the UK online retailer - saw full year US sales surge 140%.

In an attempt to reduce last mile delivery costs Walmart is discounting 10,000 items - but customers must pick-up in-store.

Nordstrom are selling $425 jeans covered in fake mud - 'rugged'.

Outside magazine's female-only May cover features 10 icons.

Under Armour's campaign takes aim at the old-fashioned notion that 'You're pretty' is the ultimate compliment for a women by repositioning it as a prefix, with terms like 'strong' and 'powerful' as a suffix.

The Zappos 'Adaptive' range / site experience - for those with special needs, who find getting dressed a challenge - is admirable.

J. Crew have parted company with their Executive Creative Director Jenna Lyons after 5 years. A downturn in sales - and quality - led to her demise. The vacant role will be not be filled. Rebekka Bay - once of Gap and Everlane - joins Uniqlo.

3D knitting could be a way for brick and mortar stores to compete, especially with Gen X, who will grow-up with eCommerce and be less amazed by it. Machinery will be able to measure the body and then knit inventory on the spot. adidas is all in... (Although so are Amazon.)

Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister will wholesale on Zalora (part of Rocket Internet), offering it access to 600m pan-Asian customers.

This piece looks at the emotive language that brands use towards consumers. It believes that expressions like 'we love our customers' are beginning to feel disingenuous. With the rise of voice search and bots brands must consider tone of voice across touch points.

Farfetch are talking about 'the offline cookie', whereby brands collect data about their customers in-store, as they do on websites. Snapchat is trying to offer similar targeting opportunities too.

Lingerie is the next sector primed for disruption, according to this article. Yet Bloomberg thinks all is rosy for Victoria's Secret reputation. Andie Swim is the 'Warby Parker' of swimwear, apparently.

British food chain 'Pret a Manger' is trailing a vegan NY pop-up to test consumer feedback - via #NotJustForVeggies.

BoF chatted with Anna Wintour (two parts).

98m users have watched 500m hours of Adam Sandler movies on Netflix.

Zeitgeist symbiosis? K-Beauty + Pokemon = Pokemon make-up.

Gap's CEO responded to a 5 year-old's complaints about the overly pink and flowery designs in the girls section: 'you are right ... I’ve talked with our designers and we’re going to work on even more fun stuff that I think you’ll like.' Nice.

Reddit gave the internet a blank canvas on April Fool's Day and let them draw. 72 hours later and over a million people had taken part. Interestingly, because individuals could only add one pixel every five minutes, groups - known as sub-Reddits - came together to coordinate activity, such as drawing flags and combatting hate speech.

And finally! Doritos have teamed-up with Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to create a limited run of chip packets that have a music player built-in featuring the full soundtrack. Tasty.

0 notes

themoneybuff-blog · 6 years

Text

Buy it for life: Choosing quality over price

Some people offered suggestions on how to buy it life. Here, from the GRS Facebook group, are three top tips:

Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme had some good advice for determining whether any given item is considered quality by the people who own it: Check eBay to see if it's retained its value.

0 notes

mikevrivera · 7 years

Text

Eleven lessons from Bill Gates’ Ask Me Anything on Reddit

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has taken to internet aggregate website Reddit to give his thoughts on sandwiches, success, philanthropy, and the future of tech in a five-hour question and answer session.

Gates is fond of fielding questions from people online, having held four previous AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions on the website, each time receiving tens of thousands of questions.

This time he , covering an array of different topics, some more serious than others.

From this, here are 11 things we learnt from Gates’ AMA. You can read the entire thread here.

I’m on @reddit right now if you want to ask me anything: https://t.co/C1TJrZDdcU pic.twitter.com/cjOfm7h6bk

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) February 27, 2017

1. Gates believes isolation is a major issue

In response to the question, “What do you think is the most pressing issue that we could feasibly solve in the next ten years?”, Gates revealed he believes digital tools can help people who are feeling a “sense of isolation”.

“I still wonder if digital tools can help people find opportunities to get together with others – not Tinder but more like adults who want to mentor kids or hang out with each other,” Gates said in the AMA.

“It is great that kids go off and pursue opportunities but when you get communities where the economy is weak and a lot of young people have left then something should be done to help.”

2. Gates goes “incognito” to spend time with kids

Gates told Reddit users he goes out into public to spend time with his children, while trying not to be recognised to keep the focus away from him.

Responding to a user asking if he ever disguised himself, Gates responded: “I sometimes wear a hat”.

“For example when I did college tours with my son I wanted the focus to be totally on him. A lot less people recognize me when I have a hat on or else they realize I am trying to be incognito,” Gates says.

Despite being the co-chair of the massive Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates also revealed he tries to find time to spend with his three children whenever he can, and with a little help from his wife.

“Melinda is very creative about helping me find chances to spend time with the kids. Even just driving them to school is a great time to talk to them,” Gates said in response to a user asking for some “dad-to-dad” advice.

DiscoverRedditMicrosoftWarren Buffett

3. “Smartness is not single-dimensional”

When asked what advice he would give his 19-year-old self, Gates said he would have chosen to explore the world more and be a little less awkward.

“I would explain that smartness is not single dimensional and not quite as important as I thought it was back then. I would say you might explore the developing world before you get into your forties,” Gates said in the AMA.

“I wasn’t very good socially back then but I am not sure there is advice that would fix that – maybe I had to be awkward and just grow up….”

Previously, when Gates appeared on Australian television program Q&A, he told viewers about his difficulty of building a company as an introvert.

“If you’re clever, you can learn to get the benefits of being an introvert, [such as] being willing to go off for a few days to think of a tough problem, read everything you can, being willing to push out to the edge of that area,” Gates said at the time.

“And then if you want to come up with something, to build a company to use that idea, you need to learn what extroverts do. You better hire some extroverts.”

4. His chair-jumping days are over

A famous clip from a CBS Money interview in 1994 shows Gates clearing an office chair with a single jump, a feat he says he can sadly no longer achieve.

When asked if he still could perform such a jump, Gates said no, unless the chair was small.

“Perhaps a small chair – a stool. I do exercise and ski but my main sport is tennis which doesn’t involve jumping. Some people jump over the net but that isn’t part of the sport,” Gates said.

For reference, here is the clip, displaying young Gates’ surprising agility.

youtube

5. His greatest achievement

Asked to what he personally believes is his greatest achievement, Gates said the opportunity to be part of a software revolution was “the biggest thing I have gotten to do”.

“Although the Foundation work is super promising and will be the biggest thing over the decades ahead I still think the chance to be part of the software revolution empowering people was the biggest thing I have gotten to do,” Gates said in the AMA.

Looking forward, he says his attempts to eradicate polio through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be just as satisfying if he achieves it.

“Right now I am very focused on making sure we successfully eradicate polio – that will be amazing if we do it – as good as shipping even the best software product,” he said.

Gates recently personally thanked his close friend Warren Buffett for the difference Buffett’s contributions to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had made to saving lives.

“We don’t have sales and profits to show you. But there are numbers we watch closely to guide our work and measure our progress,” both Bill and Melinda wrote in the letter.

“If you add up each year’s gains, 122 million children under age five have been saved over the past 25 years. Thank you for putting your trust in us, Warren. We won’t let you down.”

6. He wants to see comprehensive AI in his lifetime

Asked “What kind of technological advancement do you wish to see in your lifetime?”, Gates said human-like Artificial Intelligence would be his choice, so computers can “read a text book and pass a test”.

“The big milestone is when computers can read and understand information like humans do. There is a lot of work going on in this field – Google, Microsoft, Facebook, academia,” Gates said.

“Right now computers don’t know how to represent knowledge so they can’t read a text book and pass a test.”

On top of this, Gates also said he wants to see developments in vaccines for diseases such as HIV and Malaria.

7. The importance of curiosity

Gates and Warren Buffett spoke about curiosity at an event at Columbia University in January, with Buffett saying “We both certainly share a curiosity about the world”, reports CNBC.

Asked if curiosity was an innate trait, or if it could be “cultivated and strengthened”, Gates told Reddit users he believes parents and teachers are essential for cultivating an interest in the world.

“I think having parents and teachers reinforce your curiosity and explain what they are fascinated with makes a big difference. A lot of people lose their curiosity as they get older which is a shame,” he said.

“One thing that helps nowadays is that if you get confused about something it is easier than ever to find an article or video to make things clear.”

In a follow-up question asking Gates about his personal curiosities, Gates revealed the human brain to be his greatest fascination.

“I still find the creation of life and the way the brain works the most fascinating areas. It is amazing how little we know about the brain still but I expect we will know a lot more in 10 years,” he said.

8. Gates’ idea of success? Happiness

Asked simply, “what is your idea of success”, Gates repeated something Buffett had once said to him.

“Warren Buffett has always said the measure is whether the people close to you are happy and love you,” Gates said.

“It is also nice to feel like you made a difference – inventing something or raising kids or helping people in need.”

9. Australia a favourite location

“Australia is particularly nice. It is summer there when it is winter here so going there in December and January is especially nice. I spent Thanksgiving there last year,” Gates said when responding to a question about his favourite vacation spots.

“I have gotten to travel to a lot of great places like the Amazon in Brazil which I recommend.”

10. He has some strong food related opinions

If Gates could have only one sandwich on earth, it would be a cheeseburger.

In fact, it might be three, with Gates responding to the question about his ultimate “sandwich” with “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger”.

Keeping in line with food-related questions, Gates answered the age-old question if a hot dog can be considered a sandwich.

“Good question. If you don’t have a bun then it absolutely is not,” Gates definitively said.

“If you slice the hot dog and put it on a normal piece of bread…then it is. When you use a hot dog bun then it is ambiguous.”

11. Where he sees himself in 15 years

In 15 years, Gates will be 76, a grandfather, and hopefully still a fast typer, he says. The Foundation will have also achieved numerous things.

“I will be 76 at that time. Hopefully a grandfather. The Foundation with its partners will have eradicated a number of diseases and health in poor countries will be a lot better – specifically instead of 5% of children under 5 dying it should be at 2.5% which is still a lot,” Gates says.

“I hope I can still type fast enough to do Reddit sessions without someone transcribing for me.”

This article was originally published on SmartCompany.

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes.

The post Eleven lessons from Bill Gates’ Ask Me Anything on Reddit appeared first on StartupSmart.

from StartupSmart http://www.startupsmart.com.au/advice/growth/young-entrepreneurs/eleven-lessons-from-bill-gates-ask-me-anything-on-reddit/

#StartupSmart

0 notes

themoneybuff-blog · 6 years

Text

Buy it for life: Choosing quality over price

Some people offered suggestions on how to buy it life. Here, from the GRS Facebook group, are three top tips:

Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme had some good advice for determining whether any given item is considered quality by the people who own it: Check eBay to see if it's retained its value.

0 notes

themoneybuff-blog · 6 years

Text

Buy it for life: Choosing quality over price

Some people offered suggestions on how to buy it life. Here, from the GRS Facebook group, are three top tips:

Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme had some good advice for determining whether any given item is considered quality by the people who own it: Check eBay to see if it's retained its value.

0 notes