#also browsing through icons is a complete nightmare

[farginen]

I JUST UPDATED MY TUMBLR APP I CANT BELIEVE THEY FIXED THE THING WITH ICONS GETTING STRETCHED OUT AND HUGE RIGHT AFTER I EDITED ALL MY ICONS TO BE CENTERED WITH A TRANSPARENT 540PX CANVAS TO PREVENT ICONS GETTING STRETCHED OUT

[amigoreviews]

The safest way to update a WordPress theme without breaking the code.

If you are running a WordPress website, one of the biggest headaches you might have faced is updating your WordPress theme. In this simple guide, I will walk you through the process of the safest way to update your WordPress theme.

No matter what, if you are using a premium WordPress theme or a free WordPress theme, there will be updates. Based on the feedback (Bug fixes) or based on WordPress core updates, theme developers release updates for their themes.

Sometimes updates are solely for adding new functionality to the WordPress theme. That being said, whenever there’s an update, you should do the necessities.

When updating a WordPress theme of your live WordPress website, sometimes it may cause unavoidable issues. Sometimes even it may ultimately break your Website. It is a considerable risk.

Think that your site is getting a lot of daily visitors, and you are generating a reasonable amount of money from it. What if the site is not operational due to a failure occurred in the update of your theme? Sounds more like a nightmare, isn’t it?

Yup, I feel you, and that is why I decided to write this newbie-friendly simple guide on ‘The safest way to update a WordPress theme without breaking the code.’

Why should I update my WordPress theme?

Before answering this, if you are still new to WordPress, I recommend you read the simple guide I wrote on How to Install WordPress on your Windows 10 computer. It is the most convenient and economical way to learn WordPress. And it is totally free!

OK, then, let’s get back to it.

There are numerous reasons why you should update your WordPress theme.

As a whole, you should update the theme for your own good, even though it might break your site’s code. Still, that is fixable.

5 reasons why you should update your WordPress theme

Keep your WordPress site compatible with the latest core WordPress updates (i.e., Gutenburg update)

When WordPress updates its core systems, all the theme should follow the newest updates. Or else, it will create lots of compatibility, functionality issues. All will negatively affect your site’s functionality.

To strengthen your site’s security

No matter how good your theme is, still, there’s this thing called ‘Human Error.’. When coding a sophisticated and complicated theme, the code itself may create flaws, which can not be detected for a while. Cybersecurity is a huge concern these days, and hackers are always keeping an eye on such shortcomings. When they discover flaws, they will exploit those flaws and create back-doors. Theme developers are releasing updates to patch those security holes, and you should make sure to update your theme to keep your digital properties safe.

Keep your site compatible with the latest mobile devices

Smartphones and portable digital devices have swarmed into all forms of internet activities. When we do things online, it is a recommended practice that we are ready for all these high-end mobile devices.

If you are using an outdated theme on your web site, it is highly likely that your website is not ready for high-end mobile devices. To make sure you are giving a ‘butter smooth’ user experience to all your visitors, you should update your site’s theme to it’s the latest update. If not, you are simply leaving a lot on the table.

Keep all the WordPress plugins are compatible with your theme

It is usual when WordPress releases a major update; it directly affects on WordPress plugins ecosystem. And when you are using an outdated theme, it is highly likely that the plugins start to create compatibility issues.

Plugins are playing a pivotal role in all forms of WordPress activities. If you are neglecting the plugins, you are overlooking the core potentials of your WordPress installation. By keeping your WordPress theme up to date, you can harness the true potential of your WordPress installation.

Keep up your Website’s performances

High performing, fast loading website is literally a gold-mine. Theme developers are always working seamlessly to provide a better user experience with their products. Modern complex WordPress themes may look amazing, yet some may fail to perform better.

In such scenarios, theme developers will do all kinds of fine-tunes and make the theme performs better than its predecessor. A new update of your WordPress theme not just brings you security, compatibility. But also, an updated theme will get you a better performing site.

Guide: The safest way to update a WordPress theme

There are several ways to update a WordPress theme, and I’m here sharing the easiest (which I think) and the newbie-friendly method. Most WordPress users are updating themes via FTP.

Sometimes establishing an FTP connection might be a ‘tech work.’ If you are new to this, it is highly likely that you won’t get it for the first time.

I will walk you through the process of Updating your WordPress theme via cPanel.

1. Download the theme

The first thing you should do is download the updated theme from your vendor. I’m using the Rehub theme from Themeforest.

Don’t worry, if you purchase from your theme from somewhere else other than Themeforest, this is the only different step. All the other steps in this process will be the same. And I highly recommend you buy your theme or plugins from Themeforest as they are the best in the market.

Make sure to download the ‘Installable WordPress file only’ as shown in the image below.

2. Extract the downloaded theme

The theme will be downloaded as a Zipped file. You should extract the file, as shown in the image below. You can use WinRar to extract the zipped file. Or even you can use 7-Zip.

I recommend you use WinRar (For no reason, honestly. I’ve been using WinRar for more than 10 years now, and I love it

)

If you don’t know how to download your theme from ThemeForest, read this guide I wrote on How to install a premium WordPress theme. It will guide you the process

3. Rename the extracted folder and zip it again

It sounds a bit weird. But, yes, that is precisely what you should do.

One you extracted the theme, it should look like this

As the extracted theme folder named ‘rehub-theme,’ you should change it to a different name.

In this example, I will rename it to ‘new_rehub-theme.’

NOTE: The reason we should change the file name is, on your cPanel, there’s a folder named ‘rehub-theme’ as you already installed Rehub theme there. So, if we upload another folder with the same folder name, it will replace the files in the ‘rehub-theme’ folder on the cPanel. It is a risk, and to avoid such, we should make sure to change the name of the folder before uploading it to the cPanel.

IMPORTANT: When you are zipping the renamed theme folder, make sure to zip it as ‘Zip’ format. Don’t use the RAR format. To do that, you should right-click on the folder you want to zip, and on the dropdown menu, select ‘Add to archive.’ On the next window, select ‘Zip’ and hit ‘OK.’

Take a look at the gif below if you still have doubts

4. Log into your cPanel and open File Manager

To log into your cPanel, first, you should log into your hosting account. I’m using Namecheap as my hosting provider. You may be using a different hosting provider. It doesn’t matter and just log into your hosting account and from there log into your cPanel

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Once you logged into your cPanel, click on ‘File Manager’ and open it.

If you have trouble finding the file manager, use the search field, as shown in the image below.

5. Locate your WordPress installation folder and open wp-content folder

Once you open your file manager, you will see there are lots of files and folders.

Don’t get panic. If you have hosted multiple websites from the same hosting space, you will see even more files and folders.

In my hosting space, I have hosted several sites, and I see lots of files and folders, which is usual.

If your website’s URL is mydomain.com, you will see a folder named mydomain.com in the left-pane of your file manager.

In my case, I’m going to update the theme of Amigoreviews.com, and I located the folder named amigoreviews.com

See that is not hard!

Then click on the folder, and in the right pane, you will see the other folders/directories inside of the folder you just opened. (See below)

One your right pane, click on the wp-content folder

6. Locate and open the ‘themes’ folder in the wp-content folder

All your theme files are located in the theme folder, which can be found in the wp-content folder. Here’s how to locate your themes folder.

7. Uploading the theme to cPanel

Once you logged into your thems folder, you can see a folder named ‘rehub-theme’. This is why we had to change the name of the theme folder before uploading it.

Here’s how to upload your new copy of the theme to the themes folder.

First, click on the ‘Upload’ icon on the top left, and it will open a new window. There you will be able to browse and upload the theme.

Make sure you upload the ‘renamed’ theme in a zipped format.

Not clear? See below.

Once the theme uploading completed, click on ‘Go back to….’ Link as shown in the below screenshot.

It will take you back to the themes folder, and you will find the uploaded theme in the zipped format in your themes folder.

8. Extracting the uploaded zipped theme file

Now you have to extract the theme content in the zipped theme to the themes folder. All you have to do is right-click on the zipped file and click on ‘Extract’.

9. Renaming the theme folders

Once the extraction completed, you will see a new folder named ‘new_rehub-theme’, alongside the folder ‘rehub-theme.’

1

Current theme

2

Newly uploaded theme

Now we have to rename the themes.

First, we start with the currently active theme, which is ‘rehub-theme’.

Rename the ‘rehub-theme’ folder to ‘Old_rehub-theme’ and ‘new_rehub-theme’ to ‘rehub-theme’.

We are not deleting any file here. Just renaming the existing folders. This is important. If the newly uploaded theme is not working as expected, all we have to do is change the name of the ‘Old_rehub-theme’ into ‘rehub-theme’.

Not clear?

See below.

10. Check your website now

Once the renaming completed, go to your web browser and log into your website.

See if it is working as usual after the update.

If everything works fine, congratulations, you have successfully updated your WordPress theme.

Now you can delete ‘Old_rehub-theme’ and the Zipped file.

It will help you to keep your hosting space clean.

If you have a huge hosting space, you may keep the file.

But, it is recommended to delete the files as soon as you completed your updating process.

NOTE: Don’t think that this guide on The safest way to update a WordPress theme is only applicable when you are using a premium WordPress theme. Not true!

If you are using a free WordPress theme, you can follow the same steps and do the update. The only difference is you will have to download the theme from the WordPress theme directory.

And the rest of the steps are exactly as described in this guide.

FAQs: The safest way to update a WordPress theme without breaking the code.

How do I update a WordPress theme without losing content?

There are several ways to update a WordPress theme safely. This guide on ‘The safest way to update a WordPress theme’ was prepared in keeping mind a newbie WordPress user. To make sure you are not breaking the code by updating your theme, you should make sure to keep a copy of your theme files, until you are sure that the update hasn’t broken your code. On this guide, it has clearly elaborated how to keep your ‘old theme’ files safe until you are sure that the update completed successfully. And updating a theme usually don’t cause losing the content, unless you delete anything without knowing what you delete. Therefore do not delete a single file, if you don’t know what you are doing.

Do I need to update my WordPress theme?

Absolutely Yes. Whenever you see, there’s an update for your theme you should update the theme. Because a theme update may be released due to numerous reasons. May be WordPress has released a major update to their core systems and theme developer releases the update to make sure your theme is compatible with the latest WordPress updates. Or maybe even the developer has addressed the user feedback on theme performances, bugs and security issues through a new update. Last but not least, a new theme update will bring you new features to your theme. Therefore make sure to update your theme whenever you see an update.

Will updating WordPress break my site?

Sometimes Yes, updating a theme may create issues. But the truth is, before releasing an update the developers usually these the theme with numerous instances and they will only release the update when they are so sure on what they do. But, human error is something we can not take out from the equation, and anything could go wrong as nothing’s perfect. This is why when you update a theme, you have to keep the ‘old theme’ files safe until you confirm your site’s proper functionality.

What happens when you update a WordPress theme?

Updates will fix the existing bugs and not to mention they will come with new bugs as well

Also, updates will patch security vulnerabilities and strengthen your website. And they may even get your theme new features, increase theme’s performances, etc Simply, a new theme update will bring good than bad.

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Conclusion: The safest way to update a WordPress theme

WordPress is a highly dynamic ecosystem, and with WordPress, possibilities are limitless. We all are thriving to get us a modern, high performing website. When we pursue this, we usually ended up with a premium WordPress theme.

As WordPress is heavily dynamic, it may update the system from time to time. Whenever there’s an update, theme developers should release an update to their themes as well. When a developer releases an update to the users, they should make sure to update their theme with the latest files. But, this updating process may break the website. Which can be troublesome if you break your live website.

So, updating a theme is a cautious process and should be done with great care. The safest way to update a WordPress theme was prepared to make sure you don’t break your website when updating your theme. It is more like sharing my personal experiences as I have broken a few of my sites after updating their themes without taking precautions.

from WordPress https://amigoreviews.com/the-safest-way-to-update-a-wordpress-theme/

[thatpersonrightbehindyou]

Blog meme: Lysandre, Ganondorf, and. Q, if only because the idea of Q with a Tumblr is amazing.

Lysandre:

their blog url

Has a radical environmentalist blog at green-wood-and-forest-fires and a ventblog at hvm4ns4r3th3pr0bl3m

the kind of posts they reblog

On green-wood, ton of ‘we HAVE to do x!!!’ ecofriendly posts that propose methods that are only accessible to the upper crust, dubious statistics and infographics about how fucked the world is, generally one of those blogs that looks really useful but turns out to be a circlejerk of scaremongering and misinformation if you look too deeply at the sources. Probably a few Onion articles taken seriously, too.

On hvm4ns, basically just a ton of images and anecdotes about the horrible things humanity has done. Animal abuse, gore, death, a general ‘humans are inherently evil’ theme. Not much on human on human mistreatment other than classical/historical stuff, so the Crusades and bedlams instead of institutional racism or lgbt+phobia.

the first person they followed

green-wood followed Sycamore’s blogs first, and occasionally reblogs cute Pokemon pictures from it en masse under the tag ‘#feel better’

hvm4ns browses tags for content and follows back those with similar content

what kind of theme they’d have

green-wood is soft grays and whites with dark orange text, pixel font and three columns. There’s a tag page that’s meticulously updated but most of them only have a few posts in each because everything’s subdivided so much.

hvm4ns is one of those nightmares formatted like tumblr’s ‘search’ feature. there’s an about page and a tags page, but no links to them, so you’ve got to type in the URLs manually. each page has a different theme, always along the lines of high-contrast black/white/red/yellow.

what kind of text posts they make at 2am

most 2am posts are posted to green-wood then deleted later in the morning with a ‘sorry wrong blog’ because he meant to post them to his vent blog. mostly just complaints about the state of the world, the inherent goodness of man, and first world problems.

Ganondorf

their blog url

if it’s not something really smart in Gerudo transliterated into english-equivalent, it’s a pun involving it like ‘voe-betide-you’. it’s supposed to be secret squirrel but anyone who’s had a five minute casual conversation with him will recognise his horse from the pictures.

the kind of posts they reblog

Tons of political activism stuff, especially bashthefash and black bloc resources. Names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who have done something to warrant the torrent of abuse (neonazis, defenders of state/police brutality, rape endorsers, ect). Many rants and callout posts about racism and cultural appropriation, also historical revisionism and international politics. Also lots and lots and LOTS of pictures of animals, especially his horse, doing cute things.

the first person they followed

Unknowingly followed Zelda’s political activism blog. Ends up following Link’s blog for all the cute animal photos through the aforementioned.

what kind of theme they’d have

Fairly plain, large text with a sidebar on the left and the rest of the page devoted to posts. Decorated with desaturated traditional art bordering the edges of the sidebar and each individual post.

what kind of text posts they make at 2am

Self-doubts and reflections, under Read Mores and usually deleted by morning. Expect a lot of “is this even the right thing?” and “i want to do right by my people but it’s never worked before” and “the definition of insanity is repeating the same course of action and expecting a different outcome each time” and just generally vagueposting about the cyclical nature of reincarnation. Because he does not exactly have a good time of it from what we’ve seen.

and finally, the one you’ve all been waiting for: Q!!!

their blog url

Along with his icon, he changes it CONSTANTLY. Usually it’s a pun, like q-can-depend-on-it or why-dont-q or areqkiddingme, but also cycling through some of his favourite quotes from his favourite starfleet members. take-your-domestic-off-my-ship lasted nearly a month.

the kind of posts they reblog

Shitposts, diss tracks, surreal memes, unreality shit, accurate and amusing historical trivia, inaccurate but amusing historical trivia, and complete bullshit are the permanent elements. He’ll generally switch ‘main’ topics depending on who he’s hanging out with at the time, or who he’s trying to butter up, so a lot of moral/ethical discussions and landscapes for Picard, cute animals and relaxing videos and coffee porn for Janeway, ect.

the first person they followed

The first person Q followed was Picard. the second was Janeway. the third was Riker’s supposed-to-be-secret anti-sjw vent blog, literally just for the drama. Fourth was a mostly-humorus riker hateblog, of which he makes a point of always reblogging the ‘Number of femenine-presenting crewmembers Riker has not attempted to hit on’ counter. He tags Picard every time it falls below double digits.

what kind of theme they’d have

Much like his URL, it changes constantly. Every page has an entirely different theme. All of them have autoplay, except the ones you’d expect to have autoplay. Which are they? Only you know. Font size is different everywhere too.

what kind of text posts they make at 2am

Mixture of shitposts (’what if birds could fly? how fucked up would that be’ ‘oh wait’), his own take on deep philosophy (’if your only encounter with higher lifeforms is at their discretion, and you are to them what an ant is to you, and an ant is to you what a cell is to an ant, and a cell is to an ant what an atom is to a cell, and so on and so forth, the most reasonable hypothesis is that the rabbit hole goes up indefinitely as well and those more powerful than the likes of the Continuum have simply not deigned to interact and frankly i’m offended they want to miss out on moi’), and personal moments of self-doubt and reflection (’have i made the right choices in life? have i done the right things?’ ‘ive been trying but have i been trying hard enough to be a good parent?’)

[alexanderwrites]

Thoughts Roundup - Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 10

“Laura Is The One”

After the wild, nuts-to-the-wall freakout that was Part 8, Parts 9 & 10 have returned us to a more conventional mode of storytelling - it should be noted that “conventional” is used here very loosely, and that by episodic TV standards, these episodes are still pretty nuts-to-the-wall. Maybe part 8 pushed its nuts THROUGH the wall whereas 9 & 10 just gently press the nuts up against the wall. Maybe I should drop this analogy altogether and get into what was a slow, ruminative but intensely powerful hour of TV. (Also - I didn’t do a write up last week because i’m stupid and forgot).

. The violence against women in this episode can’t be ignored. It’s right there, front and centre. We start with Horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE Richard Horne being his horrible self and killing (or at least brutally attacking, she seemed to still be breathing) a witness to his earlier hit and run, before we move on to Amanda Seyfried’s Becky, who is viciously attacked by her ALSO HORRIBLE boyfriend. The trifecta is completed when Richard heads to his Grandma’s for a vicious, intrusive robbery. There is commentary on violence towards women here: when Robert Knepper’s Rodney is accidentally swatted in the face by Candie, it leaves a small mark, but no harm is really done. She is beside herself the rest of the scene, wailing and crying and overridden with guilt and fear. She feels genuine sorrow - contrast this with Richard’s nonchalance towards his violence against women and we start to get a look at how disparately different victims of violence are treated. 

The violence on display is as much about our perception of gender roles and their function within narratives as it is about highlighting how HORRIBLE these characters are. Having said that, it would be nice to see more female characters with a little more agency in the foreground. I do wish we had some more diversity when it came to leading women in the show (not to mention the almost non-existence of women of colour in the show) to counter-balance the violence against them. I believe the characters ARE there, but due to the unimaginably huge roster of characters, a lot of them are shuffled to the back. It’s a shame because you know what? I could watch an entire hour of Jane Adams’ Constance. She’s such a charmingly funny and unique character, and every time she turns up I hope she’ll get more than a few lines. Diane is similarly fascinating, but because of the narrative structure (and this and last week’s revelations), she’s being kept at arm’s length. A great character again, but I hope she isn’t absent in future episodes like she was tonight. Luckily we have Janey-E (Naomi Watts is just the greatest of all time and I won’t hear any arguments against it) as a prominent character, and she is a fascinatingly complex one, as she swings from being weirdly performative to achingly sincere. It’s easy to list a whole bunch of other great female characters, but I suppose what I wish is that they were more central to the plot in a positive way. Twin Peaks couldn’t be Twin Peaks without violence. It’s one of the things that the show is fundamentally about, and furthermore, how we react to, or DON’T react to that violence. But I don’t know that we need three scenes of it in one episode to highlight that. Then again, discomfort was probably the intent. We’re meant to feel like something deeply wrong is happening, and if that’s the intention then this episode succeeded. 

. I talked about that more than I expected, so moving on! Nadine got the moment of the night for me when her Silent Drape Runner store was revealed. Get it, girl!! I adore Nadine, the absolute weirdo. I dearly, dearly hope we get more of her over the next 8 episodes. It’s almost impossible to see how she could tie in to the central story which is a shame because she’s one of the most fun people to watch on the show. 

. The scenes with Cooper were a mix of hilarious and tragic, as they tend to be. It is both understandable and unfathomable how Janey-E could find him attractive - on the one hand, the doctor’s scene reveals how scarily in shape he is. No one’s blaming her for checking him out. On the other hand....come on. You’re attracted to the guy who drinks coffee like it’s a sippy cup of ribena? It’s a funny notion, but also a little sad because it makes you realise how starved for warmth and affection she probably is, as anyone would be. Him, too. Their sex scene is initially pretty funny because of Kyle Maclachlan’s fucking expressions (literally). Man, he has proven himself to have adept comic skills this year - as well as pretty much every other acting skill known to the profession. But as they lie together afterwards, it feels poignant again. It’s another reminder of how close yet far away our Coop is, and as much as I want him to find himself, I want Janey-E to be happy and find herself, too. She’s been put through some shit, having unwittingly married a non-human doppelganger manufactured by an evil entity who has escaped from another dimension. That’s a lot for one person. Plus she’s named Janey-E. How unlucky can one person be?

. I sort of liked the stuff with Jim Belushi and Robert Knepper. They give a couple of very intense and solid performances, but the problem for me was that it’s another complex storyline being introduced so deep into the series. If it’s one that lasts a few episodes - fine. But i’d almost like to see their part wrapped up - or advanced dramatically - by next week, mainly because there are more interesting threads the one these two linger on. I want more Doppelcoop. I want the Bookhouse Boys heading to the black lodge. I want more Patrick Fischler rather than the guys he gives orders to. It’s hard to judge from episode to episode which assortment of characters you’ll get, and it’s starting to feel like this series’ logline should’ve adapted an existing catchphrase: “Twin Peaks is like a box of Gormonbozias: You never know what creamed corn nightmare you’re gonna get”. I personally am happy with whatever assortment we get, but getting Belushi and Knepper’s characters is like getting a pretty nice plain milk chocolate when I could be getting a delicious hazelnut deluxe. It’s not bad at all, just...perfectly fine. 

. When it comes to Diane and her relationship with Doppelcoop, i’m utterly intrigued and utterly uninterested in guessing where it’ll go. There will be a million theories floating out there about how and why they’re in contact, but i’d rather just watch the story play out rather than guess ahead. It’s a very cool development though, and Cole’s vision of Laura at the door was completely disarming and haunting. Again, I don’t really want to guess ahead at how Laura will play into the following episodes, but we know she will. That’s enough for me. I’ve been browsing the Twin Peaks reddit lately (I know...I know) and i’ve gotta admit i’m waring very thin from it. Not EVERYTHING is a thing, guys. I’m beginning to think all the fan theories are detracting from the story, when really i’d rather just experience the ride. We can’t outsmart Frost and Lynch and they’ll tell us what they want and in the manner they want to. And anyway, more interesting than a tenuous “it’s all set in another dimension and i have proof!” theory is something that put maybe the biggest smile on my face yet: ALBERT ON A DATE!!! With CONSTANCE!! How utterly delightful. I guess he’s got over his love of Harry Truman, then. 

. I really thought we were going to get Audrey this episode, as we inch closer and closer towards her through her horrible bastard son. Seeing more of Johnny this season has been a surprise, but from what happens to him tonight, not a pleasant one. It is fully heartbreaking watching him try to wriggle out of his restraints to rescue his Mum, and a pretty solid metaphor for so many of the male characters on the show: When a woman is being hurt, the men are impotent to help. For Johnny, it’s understandable that he can’t, the poor guy. But for the other men? It’s not that they can’t, it’s that they won’t. Harry Dean Stanton’s Carl plays a lovely old folk song outside his trailer, looking briefly torn up when he sees a mug go flying through a trailer window, the sound of a furious male voice growling from inside. Does he go and intervene? He doesn’t. And he’s a ‘good guy’, right? I re-watched Blue Velvet again yesterday, and was blown away by how full of shit Jeffery Beaumont’s good-guy image is. Like Carl, when he sees Dorothy’s attack, he doesn’t step in. He just watches. This seems to be a recurring theme with Lynch: those who see violence against women stand by and allow it to happen. And there ARE Carls everywhere, who’d rather say “That’s sad but not my business” than stand up and help. What happens to the Woman who witnesses evil (ie Richard’s hit and run) and tries to report it? She’s destroyed by a Man. God, it’s heartbreaking. The layers of commentary get deeper even as I write this, and I realise things about this episode I hadn’t thought of. I think part 10 is the most troubling and divisive, yet most fiercely critical yet. 

. And then, we get a surprise I truly wasn’t expecting: more of The Log Lady. Maybe the most iconic, important and wise character on the entire show, leading us onwards through the dark night. God bless the log lady, and god bless Catherine Coulson. Every word she speaks is fraught with such pain and feeling, and it’d be a fucking sin for us to not cherish every word of it. I found myself listening to her words just as Hawk does - with eyes almost closed, in utter silence, revering them and their power. At the centre of this Season, underneath it all, the real heroes are Hawk and The Log Lady. It is so nice, so utterly refreshing to have such a pure moment of goodness and beauty, and for it to be between a Woman written with true agency and a Native American Man who has risen to protect his town - two beautiful souls who are stepping in to save the day that the white dudes have repeatedly fucked right up. It’s a gorgeous scene, and it segues into a road house performance that is easily my favourite of the year so far. Rebekah Del Rio’s performance of No Stars (No surprises, it was co-written by David Lynch) is haunting and it feels like a turning point for the series - from here on in, the darkness in the woods around Twin Peaks is out in full force. Perhaps this is why the episode is so aggressive. I left this terrific episode feeling unsettled and troubled - and that’s exactly how we’re supposed to feel. There’s a bad moon rising over Twin Peaks. 

“But in these days the glow is dying. What will be in the darkness that remains?”

[sokher]

Top 10 Best Web Browsers For Android in 2021

 Top Best Web Browsers For Android

The Internet browser is the most important tool on mobile devices. It is the engine for browsing the Internet, not only for websites but also for new types of web-based applications (progressive web applications, games, etc.). In the ranking of the new version in 2021, we selected 10 mobile apps for comparison: Brave, DuckDuckGo, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Opera Mini, Samsung and Vivaldi to understand how to compare environmental impact solutions (carbon) and others Ordinary user behaviour scenarios and instructions for using the browser. - Chrome - Opera - Firefox - DuckDuckGo - Microsoft Edge - Vivaldi - Flynx - Puffin - Brave - Samsung Internet Browser 1. Chrome Chrome is a Google product, chrome comes by default on 80% of phones also chrome most used web browsers in the world. you can use a chrome browser,  Chrome is the obvious choice for mobile browsing, particularly if you already use the desktop version. Syncing between mobile and desktop editions of Chrome is helpful, giving you the option to access passwords you've stored in Chrome you don't need any password management tools or any apps, As the dominant browser on the market, Chrome is also the most reliable option, as every web developer considers Google's browser when building a website. Chrome offers extensive additional features such as secure storage for payment methods, a data-saver mode, automatic translation in dozens of languages, a malicious ad blocker and a pop-up blocker so you can use the Chrome browser. 2. Opera Opera is another mobile browser with a desktop version, which has all the advantages for users of both versions. Opera is different from other best Android browsers in storage mode. It can compress videos and standard web pages. As a result, due to the reduction in data, the page loads faster. If you do not have one of the best unlimited data plans, then your monthly data plan will not run out anytime soon. Even if you cannot use the VPN function and data storage mode at the same time, this function can also provide you with a virtual IP address. (Technically speaking, "VPN" is only available for the Opera browser app. To encrypt communications with other apps, you need one of the best VPN apps on Android. Despite the many features, Opera is the one I own One of the fastest browsers. We tried it, but only Chrome always beats it. One of the disappointments of Opera is the complicated user interface-the top and bottom of the screen can distract you, and Opera does it The browser provides multiple options. Data. Opera Touch focuses on browsing the page with one hand. 3. Firefox As with Google Chrome, when the browser you browse on your desktop most of the time involves introducing Firefox to your Android phone, there are many motivations. When you create a Firefox account and log in to all devices, all passwords, history and bookmarks will be synchronized. For better or worse, you can customize Firefox amazingly with a variety of themes and extensions, which can change almost any aspect of the browser. If you are someone who decides how tabs are displayed in the browser, what colours should be used for all content, and what features should be provided, then Firefox is your best choice. However, if this sounds like a nightmare, then using it as a basic Firefox installer can ensure that other Firefox enthusiasts who are particularly concerned about security can check out the new Firefox Focus because it’s similar to its big brother Compared with features, it looks a bit inferior to favour. privacy. Ox introduced Firefox Focus to always open links in private tabs. Alternatives for developers are Firefox, the more experimental versions of Firefox for Android Beta, and Firefox Nightly. There is also a separate VPN application, run by Mozilla, the parent company of Firefox, although the VPN costs $5 per month. Regarding this Firefox update, the newer version of the Android web browser adds a dark mode and grid to the opened tabs and moves the URL bar to the bottom of the screen. Firefox does this to accommodate larger phones. (You can move up the panel as needed.) A new collection function allows you to organize and save sites that are useful for research projects. 4. DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo does not have all the bells and whistles of the relaxation of the first-rate Android browsers. But DuckDuckGo makes up for what it lacks with its singular cognizance on maintaining your pastime private. A button to the proper of the address/seek bar will wipe all of your pastimes at any second with a tap. DuckDuckGo additionally gets rid of any ad-trackers that can be seeking to observe you across the net and routinely will default to the best encryption to be had at the web website online you're visiting. While the browser itself is not reporting any of your pastimes lower back to DuckDuckGo, this nonetheless falls quick of a complete VPN. If you're seeking to hold your pastime stable from even your provider or the Wi-Fi community you're related to, then you may want a separate VPN app for that purpose. (You can take a look at our listing of the first-rate VPN offerings in case you are seeking out a VPN.) 5. Microsoft Edge Microsoft finally got its act along and delivered a compelling fashionable (Chromium-based) browser within the type of Edge. whereas the automaton version hasn't undergone the most important revamp that the desktop browser simply went through, it's still a good possibility that syncs up along with your Microsoft account. Microsoft Edge lacks extension support, however, it will provide a variety of extras that are typically extension-based in alternative apps, adore a poster blocker, translation services, word manager and one thing referred to as NewsGuard. That latter feature assesses news website supported their “journalistic standards of believability and transparency.” Edges reading-list feature is kind of well done because it delivers the total page instead of an abbreviated or text-only version of an article. If you like a lot of text-focused version of a page, simply faucet the book icon within the address bar for a clean reading view. Unlike the desktop version of Edge, the mobile browser enables you to swap out the default computer programme easily, therefore you'll use Microsoft Bing in your Microsoft browser. 6. Vivaldi The Antonio Vivaldi desktop browser offers in-depth customization options, however, its golem counterpart is a lot targeted at delivering distinctive features. Vivaldi’s Speed Dial is your main view, which may be a visually appealing and easy-to-use fast launcher for bookmarks. When conducting online research, you will appreciate the intrinsic made text Notes tab, the native page screen capture, and therefore the Clone tab possibility that pulls up a replica of your current tab to avoid losing it. Regardless of your default search engine, you'll be able to do a fast switch to a different search tool — eight standard choices are supported — by simply typewriting the primary letter of its name within the address bar before your search. Vivaldi’s overall performance was quick, although I'd typically see the placeholder for a picture or whitespace for a video or ad as I scrolled, even a moment or a lot of when I loaded an extended article. Whereas I actually appreciate this preference for delivering the text as quickly as possible, waiting till I scroll to load the remainder of the content of the pages is taking this too so much and ultimately a worse experience. While it lacks extension support or a lot of powerful ad-blocking options found in a number of the opposite best golem browsers, Antonio Vivaldi offers a compelling feature set that I hope to examine its developers still build upon. Since I last tested the browser, updated supplemental support for custom ad-blocking lists, and you'll be able to currently move the address and tab bars to an all-time low of your screen if that's however you roll. 7. Flynx Flint may become an incredible golem navigator, and has an eye-catching size. If you click a link in Flynn, instead of filling the screen immediately while the browser is still loading, the link will open very wide on the side in the form of a bubble. Once you can scan it, just click on the bubble, and it will expand to full-screen mode. This seems to be a trivial matter. However, if you need to open multiple tabs when you want to analyze or browse, Flynn's method allows you to continue reading the article or original material. When dealing with many tabs in my mobile browser, I find this can save a lot of time. To read offline, just double-click any link. For one or two reasons, Lynx cannot act as the only browser on Golem devices. Because the application is specifically used as a tool to open links and then read the links. It is not an address bar, nor is it a way to easily access the browser without clicking a link. In addition, sometimes this is not a permanent problem, but the application cannot display the online page correctly. However, Lynx provides the flexibility to open pages in a carefully selected split browser of your choice in the settings. Read the full article

[richardmperry88]

What Is User Experience (And How Can You Use It to Build a Site That Suits Your Audience)?

What a time to be alive!

Beginners with no coding experience can now build a website with minimal effort and expense. Even better, the options are limitless: You’ve got an entire arsenal of colors, fonts, images, and buttons at your disposal. But with so many design elements to play with, it can be tempting to go a bit wild.

“A sprinkle of animation here! A dash of cheetah print there!”

But, as is often the case with things that glitter, it’s easy to go overboard — especially if your creativity is reducing the functionality of your site.

Whether you want to sell a product or share some blog posts, you’re not really building the website for you. It’s your site’s visitors that need to be happy with the design and user interface. That’s where User Experience (UX) comes into play. Keeping a strong focus on UX while building your site should pay off in higher conversions and lower bounce rates.

In this article, I’ll give you a crash course in UX and explain what a UX designer does. Then we’ll go over some tips on recognizing good UX design when you encounter it. Finally, I’ll show you how to use UX to create a better website for your audience. Feel free to jump ahead to the section that’s most beneficial to you!

What is user experience?

What does a UX professional do?

What makes a good UX design?

How can you create a positive user experience on your site?

List of the best UX resources

Ready to talk UX strategy? Let’s get started!

An Introduction to User Experience (UX) and Why It Matters

Simply put, User Experience (UX) is how interacting with technology makes a user feel. UX applies to any technology, from an app to a game console.

When it comes to websites, UX design is about optimizing the interaction between the human user and the page. A site built with solid UX principles should leave the user feeling like they accomplished what they came to do without frustration.

That may make you think of going all out with the website’s visual design. That might include flashy animations and gigantic image carousels. If you remember MySpace, you probably still have nightmares about animated glitter and MIDI versions of Blink-182 songs . . . yikes.

But UX design has a lot less to do with how a site looks than how it’s used. To be effective, your website should be a complete experience — not just words and images on a page.

Users will forget data, such as how much they paid for the products they ordered. However, the experience of ordering should be pleasant and effortless. That experience will stay with them, increasing the odds that they’ll buy from you time and again.

If your site delivers a poor UX, you may see the opposite result. Users who become stressed out or angry when using your site will likely head to one of your competitors’ sites. They have many options and no reason to return to a website that’s difficult to use.

If you’re still not convinced that UX matters to your website, here are a few key statistics:

17% of users will not return after a single bad experience.

Better UX design can raise your conversion rates by up to 200%.

48% of users are annoyed by sites that aren’t mobile-friendly.

All of this serves to illustrate the importance of good UX design when building a website.

Related: The Great Pop-Up Debate (and Other Dark UX Problems)

The Role of the UX Designer

UX is so vital there’s an entire profession dedicated to optimizing it. A UX designer’s day-to-day tasks will vary based on what kinds of projects they’re tackling. However, the goal is usually the same. The UX designer’s job is to optimize the user’s experience when interacting with digital technology while also keeping in mind the well-being of the business.

To achieve this balancing act, the UX designer follows a process that results in multiple deliverables.

Before any actual designing starts, there’s a lot of UX research to do. Therefore, the designer may first create one or more audience personas. This enables the designer to understand the user’s needs.

Next, the UX designer may present a potential user flow diagram to help explore possible ways that a user may interact with the website. They can then translate that information into a prototype. Prototypes may be as basic as a wireframe, a rough blueprint for what a final web page could look like. The designer may also create a more visually-robust prototype or even one that can be interacted with.

A basic wireframe.

The UX designer’s responsibilities don’t end with the final design. Once the site is launched, they may conduct usability testing or look into usage analytics to identify and fix potential problems.

In other words, they’re involved with all stages of a website’s creation and launch.

Related: How to Start User Testing on Your Website

How to Recognize Good UX Design

If you’re handling your own UX design, it’s your responsibility to advocate for your audience while ensuring that you’re still getting what you want from your site. To do that, the first step is to learn how to recognize robust UX design.

With that in mind, let’s look at some examples of UX in the wild. There are four key elements you’ll want to pay close attention to.

1. Navigation

Poor navigational design can render any website useless. Moving through a site should be smooth and intuitive. The navigation menu should also be accessible no matter what device a visitor is using.

Breadcrumb navigation is one way designers prevent users from getting lost, especially if a website has many pages.

It’s also important to pay attention to links. Web designers who employ strong UX make sure you can identify links when you see them. This often means underlining them and using a different text color. They’ll also use meaningful anchor text, so you know where the link is taking you before clicking on it.

Related: 12 Tips for Optimizing Your Blog’s Structure

2. Content

A significant part of successful UX is understanding how people interact with different parts of a website. For example, most people don’t read web page content normally. They scan it and then stop to read if they’ve found something interesting.

Content is scannable if a user can quickly browse through a blog post or sales page and come away with a clear idea of what it’s communicating.

Keeping paragraphs short is one way to create scan-friendly content. Those paragraphs should be broken up frequently with headings, lists, and images. Designers may also make use of pull-quotes, bolded text, and similar elements.

Related: How to Create a Content Strategy for Your Website

3. Animation

Animation is an effective way to stand out from a sea of websites and grab a user’s attention. It adds an element of fun and can contribute to creating a memorable experience for the user.

However, there’s a right and a wrong way to go about implementing it.

Subtle animation can provide feedback while you wait for a transaction to complete. An animation can also loop endlessly while you struggle to focus on reading a product description. These approaches create two very different experiences. The overuse of animation can also affect UX on mobile devices.

4. Responsiveness

Optimizing a website for mobile users is a must. If you’re like most people, you usually use your phone to access the internet. If you come across a site that you have to struggle to use on your device, you’re likely to simply abandon it.

Beyond choosing a responsive theme, you can take additional steps to ensure that your site works well on all screens. For example, you can run your website through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool.

This tool will alert you to issues that are keeping your site from being mobile-friendly. You may find that a particular font is too difficult to read on a tiny screen, for instance, or that buttons are too small to tap easily.

Related: How to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate with Typography

How to Use UX to Design a Site for Your Audience

Now that you know what good UX is, how do you apply it to your site?

You probably won’t be doing intensive market research or prototyping with high-fidelity wireframes. Still, putting on your UX designer hat can help you create a site that both you and your audience will love.

First, it’s important to be clear about why you have a website and what you want it to do. For example, are you:

Selling a product on an e-commerce site?

Creating content to generate revenue (for example, blogging about food or fitness)?

Running an affiliate website?

Trying to get hired for freelance work?

Promoting your services with an online portfolio?

Building an online presence for your brick-and-mortar business?

Next, get to know your ideal user or potential customer. Creating a user persona will help you imagine how your target audience may interact with your website. This persona can be as simple as who the person is, what they want, and what keeps them from getting it. Crucially, you must identify what the user needs to be successful on your site.

Remember that accessibility is an integral part of UX. You may have visitors who use assistive technology, so consider making accessibility a priority when building your site.

You can also check out your competitors’ sites to see what’s working for them. Is the shopping cart icon always in the upper-right corner? Maybe yours should be, too. You can be creative without reinventing the wheel; users shouldn’t have to figure out how your site works to accomplish their goals.

Finally, website performance matters for UX. Slow pages will cause visitors to leave before the site has a chance to load. There are many ways to speed up your site, although your best bet is to start with quality hosting.

Building a Better User Experience?

Partner with DreamHost. We’ll make sure your website is fast, secure, and always up so your visitors trust you. Plans start at $2.59/mo.

Choose Your Plan

UX Resources

At this point, you’ve likely figured out that UX design isn’t something you optimize in one shot. There’s a lot more to this field than we can cover in one article.

Fortunately, there are many quality UX resources you can refer to as you continue to improve your website:

Awwwards is where you can find inspiration. Grab some coffee; you’ll probably be scrolling for a while.

UXmatters covers just about everything related to design. There’s content for everyone — from the seasoned UX strategist, UX researcher, UI designer, or graphic designer to brand-new UX enthusiasts.

UX Magazine publishes the latest news, timely insights, and UX research for anyone interested in improving their visitors’ digital experience.

Stack Overflow is the place for all your burning questions. It’s an open community of helpful, knowledgeable people.

Website and Digital Marketing Help is a Facebook group powered by DreamHost where website owners of all levels can share best practices and ideas.

If you combine these resources with research and practice, you should find yourself implementing good user experience practices in no time.

Design a Great User Experience

You don’t need to be a professional UX designer to build a website your audience will love interacting with. All it takes is some understanding of what will make life easier for your visitors and a willingness to build a site that provides that experience.

UX describes what the experience of interacting with your website is like for users. Optimizing your site’s UX means ensuring that it has clear navigation, creating content that’s easy to scan, testing it for responsiveness, and more. There’s a lot to learn, but there are also plenty of useful resources and knowledgeable designers who can help.

After that, you’ll be ready to conquer the internet with your UX-optimized website! You can check some of the performance-related tasks off your list early with our high-quality shared website hosting plans.

The post What Is User Experience (And How Can You Use It to Build a Site That Suits Your Audience)? appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

from Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/what-is-user-experience/

[majornelson]

gamescom 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Blair Witch, Xbox (Beta) App Updates, And More Xbox Game Pass Details

During our latest episode of Inside Xbox live from gamescom 2019, we detailed new titles joining Xbox Game Pass this month and updates to the new Xbox (Beta) app for PC to make it even easier to discover and play your next favorite game. At Xbox, we’re always listening to fan feedback, and our community has continued to tell us they want even more great games. So, we’re thrilled to share more details on these amazing new titles – many that are available with Xbox Game Pass starting today:

Games Coming to Xbox Game Pass

August 19

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) The iconic real-time strategy game returns with all-new 4K visuals, 8-person multiplayer battles and a host of other new features bringing together all the officially released content. Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is the complete RTS package

Devil May Cry 5 (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) The devil you know returns. From the creators of the best-selling action franchise comes the latest chapter in the Devil May Cry saga. Prepare to get downright demonic in the most over the top, technically advanced, utterly insane action experience of this gaming generation!

Stellaris: Console Edition (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and coming soon to Xbox Game Pass for PC) Featuring deep strategic gameplay, with rich and diverse alien races and emergent storytelling, Stellaris puts the complexity of the galaxy in your hands. Whether you’re exploring the unknown, discovering the mysteries of the universe, or conquering it for the glory of your empire, you now have more inter-galactic strategy awaiting you than ever before.

August 22

Ape Out (Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) In this wild, colorfully stylized smash‘em up about primal escape and frenetic jazz, build up nearly unstoppable momentum and use your captors to your advantage as you crush everyone on your path to freedom. Embrace bold colors, use the rhythm of jazz in the chaos to guide you and take on a dazzling perspective as you rush through tight corridors, open areas, and twisting labyrinths on a mad dash for freedom.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) A story-driven open-world RPG that immerses you in an epic adventure in the Holy Roman Empire. Avenge your parents’ death as you battle invading forces, go on game-changing quests, and make influential choices. Explore majestic castles, deep forests, thriving villages and countless other realistic settings in medieval Bohemia.

August 27

Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) The triumphant return of one of the most iconic RPG series of all-time. Delve into a tactically rich combat system that rewards creativity, solve puzzles to gain treasure and advantages, and discover a beautifully crafted world.

August 30

Blair Witch (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

A young boy disappears in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland. As Ellis, a former police officer with a troubled past, you join the search. What starts as an ordinary investigation soon turns into an endless nightmare as you confront your fears and the Blair Witch, a mysterious force that haunts the woods…

And as a preview of what’s coming for September, we also announced that Dead Cells (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) is coming September 5! Since launching Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) alongside the new Xbox (Beta) app at E3 2019, we’ve been listening closely to your ideas on how to make your PC gaming experience better and are excited to share some updates, driven by your feedback. In addition to delivering more great games, we’ve made some updates to the Xbox Game Pass for PC experience to make it easier for you to discover and manage the titles in your library, as well as connect with your gaming community. Some of these features are available today, and others will release in the coming weeks.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s new:

* Find Your Friends Across Networks: We know staying connected to your friends while gaming is important, so we’ve made some updates to make it easier to find and start playing with your friends with new account linking options. In addition to adding friends via their Xbox gamertags, you’ll now be able to search for friends from Facebook or Steam that are also on Xbox. You’ll also be able to link your accounts for YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Discord, and Reddit on your player card so your friends can follow your gaming adventures no matter where you are.

*New Ways to Find and Filter Games: We’ve also heard you wanted improvements to the way you can manage your games within the new Xbox (Beta) app. Soon, you’ll be able to take advantage of new filter options from the sidebar to make finding your favorite games and managing your DLC even easier.

*More Control on Managing Downloads: We’re also making some updates to the drive selector that not only display the disk space required for each game, but also enable you to select the drive where you want your games installed.

*PC Joins the Mobile App: To make it easier for you to manage your Xbox Game Pass for PC library while on the go, we’re excited to share the Xbox Game Pass mobile app now includes PC titles. With this update that we’re currently testing in Beta, you can also browse and discover games in the Xbox Game Pass for PC library and download them anytime and anywhere to your PC. To take advantage of these features, gamers can download the Xbox Game Pass mobile app (Beta) available on iOS and Android This feature is available in public beta on Android devices, and in a closed Beta on iOS devices, and we will have more to share soon.

We’re excited about the progress we’re making to deliver a great Xbox Game Pass for PC experience and we will continue to deliver more improvements over the coming months based on your input, so please keep the feedback coming.

And if you’re not a member yet, join now and get your first two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $2. Already an Xbox Game Pass for Console or Xbox Live Gold member? You can also upgrade your existing pre-paid months to get two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $2. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, plus over 100 high-quality console and PC games for one low-monthly price.

To stay up to date on the latest Xbox Game Pass news, including new titles joining the library and updates to the Xbox App, check out our Twitter and Instagram.

The Xbox Game Pass team is looking forward to continuing this journey with our fans.

via Xbox Live's Major Nelson https://ift.tt/31I5oMq

[sockbystanceme]

Best Athletic Socks - Stance

Best Athletic Socks Marathon running is definitely a great athletic activity we all are fond of. Other activities include trekking, basketball, strength training, swimming, skiing and a whole lot of them. While choosing the best athletic socks, you need to pay detailed attention to the fabrics with which they are being designed. Other tips and ideas on choosing the right pair of socks should make your buy easier.

In this online guide, we are going to look at factors that help you decide the best athletic socks. Light is thrown on the criteria for choosing the right kind of athletic socks. You also have other insider hints that impact your buy.

Let us dig into some of them:

Choosing fabrics is of a paramount importance

You need to choose fabrics that make you feel comfortable all-day long. You might be on the field eight hours of strength training to perform for the upcoming Olympics race or basket-ball match. Socks designed using Merino wool is completely breathable. As the wool is derived from the Merino sheep of New Zealand, the yarn is extremely soft and cushiony. The wool is odor free, highly durable and shrink-free too. Socks designed using Merino wool is extremely popular among athletes, hikers and back-packers too. The socks wick moisture very fast.

Other breathable materials include acrylic, cotton, nylon and Lycra. But cotton traps moisture very fast and your feet will start feeling soggy.

Nylon is blended with other fabrics. You may find 20% to 50% of the sock’s fabric. When you count on durability, nylon socks are the best. You have Lycra socks that vouch for durability and grip too. Here, you come to know how choosing the right fabric is of paramount importance.

Consider the sock height

If you are looking for the right kind of athletic socks, considering its height is of absolute relevance. Ankle socks are the shortest while quarter socks are taller. Thigh high socks are also known as stockings. Ankle socks are great for running or biking especially with low-top shoes. Crew shoes are fabulous for backpacking and hiking. Over the calf socks are fabulous choices for skiing.

Brands on stylish ankle socks for women are Sucha square, Uncommon Classic Lowrider, Morning star, Garden Goddess, Schooled You and Primavera.

Diablo, Erotic Void, Artefact, OG, Face Melt, Stalker, Space trip and Buzzy are classic crew collections for men. These are exclusive labels on socks brought to you via an online Canadian store named Stance. You can log onto https://www.stance.ca/, to know what else lies in store.  

Consider the sock weight or thickness

Are you aiming for a great cushioning effect? Then a thicker pair of socks is the one you should ideally be looking for. Thicker socks also carry a higher amount of wool into them. Thicker socks can also keep you warmer. This is especially true if you are residing in extremely cold countries. Mid-weight or heavy weight socks are the obvious choices to protect yourself from the biting cold. For summers, you may want to go for socks that are as light as feather. If you are into running, hiking or long distance performance, going in for mid-weight socks are the best.

Stance offers you with our coolest collections. Huntsman Outdoor, McConnell Trek, Cottonwood Adventure Outdoor are great choices for back-packers, hikers and trekkers. For those tight-nick basket-ball matches, we have Hoops Icon Crew, Game day Strike, Game Day QTR, Monsters Jersey and Space Jam Galaxy. For running, you can choose Strom Trooper Crew, Uncommon Solids Wool Crew, Marathon Lite Tab, Slanted Crew, Smoked Camo tab. If you are undergoing Olympics or strength training, athletes can look for these. Training Uncommon Solids Tab, United Crew, Shape up tab, Tropicana Crew, Athletic Icon 2 and Intricate Crew.

Another tip for long-distance hikers

For long distance hikers, it is always better to carry additional pairs of socks. Carrying two to three varieties with different weights can come in handy. This is important as the weather can change from hot, breezy and rainy to cold. If you are back packing for two weeks in a row, you can carry multiple pairs of durable socks.

Look for compression

This is another important tip while looking for the best pair of athletic socks. Running socks should be designed in such a way that they gently compress your heel or calf muscles. The gentle compression in fact aids improved increased blood circulation to your feet muscles. The athletic pair of socks can further reduce your tiredness thereby boosting your recovery time. This way, you never feel tired even after miles of running. You need to look for a designer that manufactures running/athletic socks. You can find performance driven socks. For running, hiking, marathon, snow, skating and training at the Canadian sock store namely the Stance.

Protection

When you look for high-end socks that are durable for athletic activities, this is one thing you need to keep in kind. Look for that extra dose of padding or cushioning. The extra padding touches upon the heel, toes and the ball of your foot. This way, your ultimate pair of socks gives you with ample shock absorbers. You are able to protect high-impact areas from blisters.

Arch/Ankle support

Athletes will always have hours of practice on and off the field. So you need to pay ample attention to choosing the right pair of socks. Look for socks that are designed with elasticized material like Lycra. You will find that your sock remains in place while playing basket-ball or practicing your high-jump feats or even while running. You get support for the arch of your foot.

Lycra also provides better grip therefore aiding ankle support.

Blister support technology

Some of the pairs of socks are provided with a sophisticated 360 technology that provides an overall support or grip to your feet area. This way, you get ample support or cushioning to protect yourself from those painful blisters. Blisters can be a nightmare for runners wanting to win the finishing line.

Dedicated right and left leg socks

If your right leg is taller or heavier than your left leg, buy a pair of socks that fits both of them at ease. As an athlete, it is very important you have this option figured out too.

These are some of the intrinsic factors you look for, while scouting for the

best athletic socks.

Stance provides a wide range of athlete socks for men, women and kids that are designed to meet the individual requirements. Just get online and browse through the collections today!

[mdonline]

13 Useful Apps for Off the Grid Adventures

Michaela Trimble, National Geographic.com

Cairn

If you prefer traveling solo in the wilderness, download the Cairn app for an extra layer of safety. Before you enter the backcountry, download maps for off-line use and pinpoint your location to access available cellular data points in your area. By clicking on the blue icons, you can discover which service provider works where. Set a designated check-in reminder with the app’s safety notification feature. If this goes unanswered, Cairn will alert your emergency contact with recommendations on how to contact search and rescue.

Gaia GPS

$9.99 - $29.99, iOS + Android

Plot your trail and gain access to topographic maps with Gaia GPS, a membership-based app that showcases the newest trails and backcountry routes. Select from a scale of memberships beginning at $9.99, which grants you unlimited download access to save your route map for off-line use. Track your distance, speed, and pace while out of cellular range, and drop markers to ensure you’re always going in the right direction. After your trip is complete, you can share your route and trail notes with friends.

PeakFinder Earth

If you’ve ever been hiking and wondered which peaks you’re passing, download PeakFinder Earth for your next trip into the mountains. The app functions completely off-line, accessing your location to reveal names and black-and-white renderings of surrounding peaks. Tap the peak’s name to discover elevation levels, and use the flyover feature to glide over ranges and discover peaks in the distance. The app also includes a digital telescope to view less-prominent ranges in your area.

DiveMate

If you’re an avid scuba diver, you know the importance of keeping a logbook to track measures like dive duration, current conditions, and tank size and pressure. Take this concept to the digital age with DiveMate, an app that allows you to quickly and easily log each dive, as well as save online maps for off-line use while traveling by boat or going off the grid. Once you’re back on dry land, upload pictures, videos, and notes to share with friends. To transfer dive data, connect your dive computer to your PC or purchase the DiveMate Fusion USB to gain instant access to dive data on your smartphone.

National Parks by Chimani

If you’re an avid explorer of U.S. national parks, the Chimani suite of apps are your perfect companions. Download the main national park app or select a park-specific app before your visit. Use the available national park maps and detailed guides to digitally explore trails, historic and natural points of interest, and useful amenities like bathrooms and rest stops. There’s no need for a data signal, as the interactive maps work off-line, and you can even navigate your path while on the trail.

ROAM by onXmaps

To unlock almost everything that’s been mapped in the last one hundred years, download ROAM by onXmaps and purchase the $9.99 one-year membership, so you can build the map you want by selecting the region and features. Whether you plan to venture through unchartered wilderness areas, national forests, or trails and streams, the app connects with your smartphone’s built-in GPS to track you when you’re off-line, making it perfect for backpacking, day hikes, or trail running.

Hiking Project

Developed by outdoor mavens at REI, Hiking Project gives you access to more than 106,000 miles of trail and the best backcountry hikes near you. Download GPS route information and coordinates, and use interactive features like elevation profiles and trail photos to properly track your hike while out of cell range. Functioning like a guidebook, the app provides expert commentary on trail highlights, challenging features on the route, and planning recommendations.

Moonlight

Free yourself of the logistical nightmare of group texts by downloading Moonlight, an app created to make preparing for a camping trip a breeze with trip-planning checklists you can share among friends. Download the free version or pay for the premium form to load your dates and the campsite you plan to visit. The premium app will give you a suggested list of recipes to cook by the campfire, as well as helpful information from previous campers at the site. Available for off-line use, the sharable checklist makes it easy to delineate responsibilities between each attendee.

SNOCRU

Perfect for snow sports, SNOCRU encourages social sharing by connecting skiers and snowboarders with athletes nearby. Download the app to track your route and compete with other skiers and snowboarders in your area, accessing tracking technology with or without an internet connection. Measure important stats like speed, altitude, and vertical drop during your day on the slopes, and check resort snow conditions and ski reports from around the world.

MTB Project

MTB Project, which was also developed by REI, is an app designed specifically for mountain bikers. Populating bike trails near your location, MTB Project works off-line and features over 101,000 miles of trail. If you plan to venture off the grid, download your full GPS route ahead of time to track your progress on the go and get off-line information like elevation profiles and nearby points of interest.

Flyover Country

Bring a sense of adventure to flying and download Flyover Country, an app designed to pinpoint specific points of geographical, geological, and historical significance on land. Available off-line as you cruise above the sky, the app lets users browse their path to learn more about the area below. Although developed specifically for flying, it can also be used for long hikes, road trips, and other adventures.

Sky Guide

For hikers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts looking to navigate the night sky, Sky Guide allows you to find constellations, planets, and satellites with or without wi-fi, cellular service, or GPS signal. Simply place your phone overhead and point it into the sky; the app automatically adjusts your viewing direction, reveling the secret to the stars, planets, and constellations you see. Night vision and invisible wavelength technology allows you to see what the naked eye can’t, like supernova remnants and black holes.

Offline Survival Manual

In the event of an emergency or to prepare for routine camping trips in the outdoors, the Offline Survival Manual can prove beneficial in a pinch. Download the app to gather information on how to make a fire, build a shelter, find food, and avoid medical emergencies that can arise in the wild. Search through resources on poisonous or life-saving plants and learn what to do if a snake bites you, which is all available to surf off-line.

Michaela Trimble is a freelance travel writer and photographer who splits time between South Florida and Buenos Aires. Follow her adventurous pursuits @MichaelaTrimble or on Facebook and Twitter.

[tinymixtapes]

Feature: Avant-Garde Escape Strategies

[A Bewick’s wren perches motionlessly on a thin branch.] In 2017, Twin Peaks is an invigorated brand. It has awoken as if to a new life, walks and breathes more freely. It is viewed on laptops, tablets, phones, and smart televisions connected to Netflix, and it will soon be viewed on SHOWTIME. But how will Twin Peaks be viewed in the year 2117? On what devices? Will it be viewed at all, or will its exact content be experienced in some truncated, more immediate form, facilitated by body-altering technologies yet to be discovered? Who are the people who download Twin Peaks to their brains in the future? Where do they live? These are the kinds of questions SHOWTIME will have to answer in order to ensure the continued relevance of the reawakened, newly optimistic, and hungry Twin Peaks brand. Maybe those viewer-subjects live in a huddled condition, in what philosopher Peter Sloterdijk calls “ecological stress communes,” pressed inland and away from cultural centers now remembered and revered like ancestors, jostled about by resource scarcity, plagued by ridiculous fantasies of aliens and sea people punctuated by actual disaster, war, and collapse. Or maybe these troubles loom on their horizon. In the face of these real nightmares, do they dream of ending up in a place like Twin Peaks, of grappling with its fake demons? Maybe future Twin Peaks viewers see in it a refreshingly provincial vision of encompassing crisis. A town where a yellow light still means “slow down” resonates abstractly with them. They are absorbed by the dark forces stirred out of the brown-gray American forest, by the murder of the cocaine-addicted homecoming queen and secret prostitute. Maybe, naive to the reality of their own circumstances, they feel like Dale Cooper chasing after those elusive and idealized spirits. The X-Files at least has something like a vision of the future, where Twin Peaks only has a vision of the past, and a pretty abstruse one at that. The forces that will carry The X-Files and Twin Peaks together into the cruel future are similar, but not the same. The X-Files, in its simulation of a crackpot investigation motivated less by superstition than clandestine knowledge and bizarre technology, at least has something like a vision of the future, where Twin Peaks only has a vision of the past, and a pretty abstruse one at that. If, disingenuously, The X-Files sought to domesticate the demons split open by modern techniques of investigation, Twin Peaks was overcome by its monsters, disenchanted and reduced to an incomprehensible aesthetic litany. Where The X-Files resolved about a mystery per episode, Twin Peaks lacked satisfying answers. And while we don’t know how Twin Peaks will be viewed in the future, SHOWTIME is wise to bet on disenchantment, on unanswered questioning and the melting of things into dark, muddy pictures. --- [Three white plumes ascend from the smokestacks ahead.] You wake up from an unclear dream in the late afternoon. The year is 2011 or 2012. Your room is dark and warm. Your laptop is next to you, partly covered by sheets. Disoriented, you rub gunk out of your eyes. You were up late browsing Tumblr again. Your laptop screen opens upon your unrefreshed dashboard, where you had fallen asleep to a looping GIF of Laura Palmer’s freeze-framed VHS smile from “Pilot (Northwest Passage).” You “like” the post. Co-created by David Lynch, a pioneer of American avant-garde cinema known for such films as Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, the show mixes Lynch’s unique brand of surrealism with a dated form of the primetime drama in a way that you’ve enjoyed since you were introduced to the show by friends on the internet. One of the many reasons you love Twin Peaks is that its characters feel like people you know in real life, even though everything else in the show feels very unfamiliar. Twin Peaks makes you nostalgic for a time you don’t remember and a place that doesn’t exist. Animation: Korey Daunhauer Twin Peaks makes you nostalgic for a time you don’t remember and a place that doesn’t exist. Before you knew who David Lynch was, you had seen Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic, an icon of ossified innocence. It would take Lynch and Mark Frost a while to notice, or to do anything about, the fact that Twin Peaks had taken about 20 years to strike the nerve it was always supposed to hit, the one in you. Maybe they were too cynical, too forward-thinking. They thought your parents would be like this. Or, more likely, the conversation they staged between the avant-garde and its supposed opposite traumatically fell through, revealing, eventually, the uncanny mixture obscured by those labels, which they never knew how to control. It took a while to work itself out. By eventually thickening the show with supernatural diversions and visually peculiar dream sequences, ultimately leaving many of its mysteries unsolved, Lynch and Frost created the perpetual conditions for a scrupulous, even paranoid viewing of Twin Peaks. The question is how the show’s visual language, founded upon a mostly-arbitrary complexity inherited equally from Lynch’s experimentalism and from the genre within which it is put to work, means anything at all after the fact of its disenchantment — aestheticized, separated from the ostensible movement toward resolution. Or, as Anamanaguchi’s Peter Berkman put it in a reply to a comment on one of his Facebook status updates, “the question is how that grammar has changed now that we can pause and dissect individual frames in and out of context.” You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and keep scrolling Tumblr. --- [Sparks fly from the grinding wheel as you move in for a closer look.] INT. GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL DINING AREA - MORNING Sunlight pours into the room from the right. DALE COOPER sips coffee, his tape recorder placed neatly in front of him on the table. COOPER Diane, the time is 8:05 A.M., I’m at the Great Northern Hotel. I’ve just awoke from a terrible and convoluted dream. I’m not sure how much of it was significant to the inquiry into Laura Palmer’s death and how much of it was fabricated by BOB for the purpose of diverting it; to be honest, I’m not even sure if BOB or the Black Lodge are real anymore. I don’t know if I care or if the outcome of the investigation is important to me. I feel terrible. I lied awake in bed for a few hours. I feel like I’m living in someone else’s bizarre fantasy. (He pauses.) I mean, I guess her dad did it? I live at this hotel now. BOBBY BRIGGS enters from the GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL LOBBY holding a football. BOBBY Hey, Coop! Catch! BOBBY throws COOPER the football. COOPER fails to catch the football and it hits his tape recorder, sending it flying into the mug of coffee. COOPER B-Bobby! I — AUDREY HORNE enters from the GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL LOBBY smoking a cigarette, holding an iPhone. AUDREY (puffing cigarette) “When the masses think, the intellectual dies.” –Antonio Negri --- [A massive log looms atop a dolly.] Was Twin Peaks an attempt to make the masses think, to think with the masses and to kill the intellectual, or to think of the masses? To create an intellectual picture of their supposed fears and superstitions, their vices and neuroses? First, there’s Cooper and his obsession with an idea of homespun authenticity, one of the show’s biggest memes. There’s also Harry S. Truman, the sheriff, well-intentioned and pragmatic; Bobby Briggs, the football star, surly and unpredictable; the show’s various tokens of the bumbling serendipity of small-town America (Andy the cop, Pete the loyal husband); and the town’s enigmas and obsessives (James the boyishly gilded biker, Leland Palmer, Lawrence the shrink, and Harold the shut-in). Then, there’s a group of female characters, beginning with Laura and growing to include Shelly Johnson, Donna Hayward, Audrey Horne, Norma Jennings, Josie Packard, Lucy Moran, and Catherine Martell, who are depicted at best as seriously or repeatedly traumatized and, at worst, as stupid or possessed by some unknown whim, complicit in their own undoing. Where the town of Twin Peaks is bottomless in its dark mythology, it is flat in other ways. The image of community in Twin Peaks is convincing, actually, because it is not realistic. It is a vision of the countryside native to the city and is nonetheless awkward in representing both. FBI agents and industrialists, the show’s main representatives of the latter, view the fixed category of “provincial values” with lust or disdain. The working assumption is that the city is a place that mystery and magic have abandoned in favor of particular backwaters. That urban coexistence is antithetical to wonder. Moby’s “Go,” the popular rave-inspired electronica single based on a sample of Angelo Badalamenti’s theme music for Twin Peaks, is both clearer about who it is talking to and more successful in its attempt to practice an inclusive form of mastery over its created public than the show itself. As I drive east on Phoenix’s Loop 202 away from the setting sun, “Go (Woodtick Mix)” fades into “Go (Soundtrack Mix),” a line of a hundred cars curving delicately to the returning, quantized “yeahs.” --- [A waterfall crashes.] Everybody needs an escape from the avant-garde. To think all of the time is difficult, and it seems better that one find some place of negotiation, where many people think more and few people think less. As an escape strategy, Twin Peaks faltered in its weirdness, its stubborn maintenance of a position among the few. It was, moreover, unrealistic in its concept of the many. Gesturing toward the avant-garde, it failed there most spectacularly; no matter the depth of the perennial ebb and flow of interest in Lynch’s work, it will always make complete sense to me that Fire Walk With Me was booed at Cannes. If Lynch’s murderous backwater is perfectly fitted to the fetishes and anxieties of today’s teenagers, it is only because they have many of the same fetishes and anxieties as their parents, who watched with baited breath until the questions and clues lost their impact. Lynch’s vision of provincial intrigue said more about the values and aesthetics of America’s cities than its towns, and it appeals to we who carry with us everywhere a version of what Lynch saw in the city. If Lynch’s murderous backwater is perfectly fitted to the fetishes and anxieties of today’s teenagers, it is only because they have many of the same fetishes and anxieties as their parents, who watched with baited breath until the questions and clues lost their impact. Today, Twin Peaks exists against the backdrop of a nostalgia cult. Millennials, lacking spiritual unity and drawn to promises of darkness, are fascinated. Resuscitated by the esoteric magic of the brandscape, will Twin Peaks really walk and breathe more freely, as if awoken to a new life, and find something like that original sense of purpose? Or will it lose its way again in the smoke and mirrors of a shoddily constructed model of the public? --- On this auspicious morning for Twin Peaks, you languish in your room, thinking of the past. Of dead memes, content dampened and wrapped in plastic. Sometimes you wish you could immaterialize, becoming the unfeeling aggregate of your social footprint. You dream of disappearing into a fog of blogwave, street style, spicy memes, or Twin Peaks. Other times, you feel surprisingly up to the task of remaining an aggregate of relations. Your mental image of your environment sometimes appears in the form of a monster you are working to vanquish. With an intoxicated discomfort like nausea, you realize that Laura never lived in a world, had a future. That the real mysteries were yours. --- [You approach a wooden sign on the right side of the road.] http://j.mp/2pXgudV