#but if i have to turn on my desktop for it and load up tray importer... i probably won't reply 😭

[mattodore]

Hi! Idk if you do WCIF but if you do WCIF the heart necklace in your recent post?

it's the rowan necklace by wisteriasims!! i use a ton of their accessory cc for theo 😋

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The DUFF 13

Warnings: groping, insecurity, food and body issues, manipulation, and the usual. Proceed with caution.

Feedback is always welcome. Love you and thanks for the wonderful responses so far.♥♥♥♥

Image credit (I want to give dues where due but don’t want the creator to keep getting tagged in my posts as I have been approached by some before that they don’t want me in their notifs)

Silence compounds your castigation. Whether it’s you or Curtis who refuses to speak, you can’t really tell. You’re too afraid to go first and maybe he is too. Or maybe he’s just that pissed. That thought irks you. You haven’t done anything to deserve his anger.

You watch the lush landscape dwindle out to urban architecture. Your return to the city is both a relief and a fall to earth. Your usual dread for work is laced with a sense of excitement. You just want to reclaim some sense of normalcy.

Curtis pulls up to the curb outside your apartment. Your hand is already on the handle, ready to escape. You stop yourself as you give in to the tension.

“Thanks,” you say, “for the ride.”

“Yep, no problem,” he utters flatly.

“I, uh, I’ll see you later?”

He’s quiet, one hand on the wheel, his other arm draped against the door. He stares through the windshield. He really is upset but you can’t apologise if you don’t even know what you’ve done.

“Right, well, I should go. I’m already late.”

He sighs and bends his arm, brushing his fingers over his hair, “you need a ride to work? I can hang around…”

The weight in your chest lightens as his tone softens. You exhale, trying to scatter your addled nerves. “That’s really sweet but I’ll be fine. Go home, get some sleep, get cleaned up. I’m sure you have stuff you need to deal with.”

“I have time,” he insists.

“Really, you’ve done enough,” you pull the door handle, “see ya.”

“Yeah, see ya,” he mutters.

You get out and shut the door gently. You turn and walk up to your building without looking back. After the morning you’ve had, work will be easy as pie.

🐰

You rush into the office and nearly collapse into your chair. You untangle your bag from your arm and tuck it under the desk. You hit the button to boot your computer and catch your breath as you watch it load. 

There’s three of you in the small space, tucked into cubicled desks as the partners retreat into their offices. You sign in and fan yourself with a folder. Only two hours late!

You get up as your desktop buffers and peek over at Marnie’s head, the constant tap of her typing nearly drowns out her grumbled, “morning.” You return the unemphatic greeting and stroll away. Taylor doesn’t say a word as usual as his eyes cling to his monitor.

You go into the shared kitchen and put a cup under the spout of the keurig. You open the cupboard and take out the small box marked with your name. Everyone brings their own supplies. It’s not a very friendly or cooperative environment.

You sift through and find a pod. Hazelnut. You grimace. You knew you shouldn’t have grabbed the variety pack. As you fish around for any other flavour, a pare of sole tap into the kitchen behind you. You glance up as Andy, one of the partner’s, enters with a black mug in hand.

“Oh, go ahead,” you move your cup off the tray, “I’m just looking for coffee.”

“Thanks,” he nears and grabs his own bin. It’s neatly sorted with tea and coffee, and a small pack of rice crackers. He mostly eats out with the partners or clients.

You continue your futile search. Hazelnut, hazelnut, hazelnut…

“Ooo, hazelnut. Can I interest you in a trade?” He intones as his hands rest on the sides of the box.

“You don’t even have to trade, you can have them.” You drop the pods back into the bottom.

“I got… caramel or some dark roast,” he offers. “Caramel’s a bit sweet but it was a gift.”

“Hmm, well, sure, I’ll take one of those,” you hold out a handful of pods, “keep em.”

He chuckles and lifts the box instead. You dump them in and he plucks out one of the orange pods in the other corner. “I wouldn’t mind if these one went mysteriously missing…”

You smile and thank him as you take the pod. He inserts one of the hazelnut into the machine and pushes down the lid. You wiggle your foot as you wait for his coffee to brew, trapped in another silence. Do you really need the coffee?

“Good weekend?” He cracks the icy lull.

“Uh, yeah, I… sorry I’m late.”

“I wasn’t meaning that,” he assures you, “really. I’m genuinely curious. You got caught in the storm? Must’ve been a nice getaway.”

“Uh, yeah, wasn’t really planned,” you fold your arms and lean your elbow on the counter, “me and my friends went out on Friday and then… I dunno, long weekend.”

“I’m jealous. I don’t even know the last time I went out anywhere,” he taps his fingers on the wood finish as the machine grinds, “my buddy was telling me I should. I’m a bit too old for clubs but he’s been on my ass to get out and meet someone… any tips?”

“Tips? From me?” You scoff, “barking up the wrong tree. But I definitely wouldn’t recommend a club.”

“Oh, bad experience?”

“Eh,” you tilt your head back and forth, “not really my thing. My friends are more into it.”

“Makes sense,” he nods as the last few drops spit into his cup. He slides it out and turns cautiously on his heel. “You don’t seem like the type.”

“I don’t?” You wonder as you play with the pod between your fingers.

“Nah, a woman like you, you seem classier than that.”

You can’t help a crooked expression. It’s a compliment, you think. Unexpected for sure. 

“Thanks,” you take your cup and slide it across the counter, “enjoy the coffee.”

“You too,” he raises his mug and blows across the top, “and don’t work too hard.”

[mdpthatsme]

So, what exactly happened?!?

My S4 game loaded, was up for maybe a minute, blinked off my desktop, and now won’t reload.  I’ll note that the Origin client updated right before I launched the game, but my game hasn’t been updated since like March (because I immediately put it on offline mode + no automatic updates).

Backing up my saves, tray, and mods currently.

Edit: So turned online back on to reload the page and...

Motherfucker! I have automatic updates off! 

EA, you suck.

Edit 2: So game is updated. I updated all my mods (there are not many). Finally got my game settings calibrated back and after many attempts, can play the game offline again. Some absolute bullshittery you did there, EA. Hoping that the horrible bugs some way bypass my game, but I won’t ever save until I know for sure everything is OK. And hoping S4S is working on a batch fix for clothes after that stuff I just learned.

[george-fabian-weasley]

the mad hatter — g. w. (chapter 2)

Summary: Chief Detective Y/N Weasley had questioned the bakery owner and earned some very important clues. George, in the meantime, had spent a recorder, talking about how he first met his wife.

Words: 2,770 words

Warnings ⚠ : mentions of food and drinks, mentions of murder, thriller, bickering, husband!george, dad!george, sadistic!george, mentions of masochism, fem!reader, mentions of feelings, angst (in a way)

Disclaimer: had to delay the second chapter for 15 minutes because my Word Document couldn't load on my desktop so I had to write the whole chapter down on my phone :') Anyway, Reblogs and Comments are highly appreciated! Enjoy!

the mad hatter masterlist!

masterlist! | general taglist! | buy me a coffee!

“Richard Kowalski?” Zabini’s voice caused the plump man to turn around and face them with a tray of freshly baked croissants in his hands. “Yes?” His American accent rung through the nearly empty bakery, it was after lunch hour and a lot of customers had gone back to work. You stepped up, “I’m Chief Detective Y/N Weasley and this is Detective Blaise Zabini, may we ask some questions?”

A few days after George had told you about the bakery, you had quickly informed the team to ask the owner of the bakery some questions. And because it was Zabini’s and Nott’s turns the last time, (and Lav actually coerced talked to Blaise), the tall lean man and you had to be the questioners of the day. 

“Am I being arrested?” The question had raised your eyebrow, “Have you done something against the law?” You questioned back, and your suspicions heightened at Mr. Kowalski’s body language; gulping excessively, eyes darting everywhere, licking suddenly dry lips.

“N-No, ma’am.”

“Say, Mr. Kowalski, are you selling these macarons?” Zabini asked as he moved to a basket on the top of the counter. There were neatly placed red velvet macarons; three in one transparent plastic with a dark red ribbon on top. “Oh yes, I do. The customers really loved them, we sold them out every time!” Kowalski happily said, his lips etched a proud smile.

“Then, do you have the records for March 15th? We have the suspicions that a serial killer used your red velvet macarons to poison his victims,” You voiced out after a while being silent, and again, Kowalski paled before you.

“A serial killer? Y-You mean,” he inched closer to you, looking almost scared to actually say the name standing in his mind, “The Mad Hatter?” He whispered in fear. 

You furrowed your eyebrows, no one outside of the Homicide department knew of this serial killer’s name yet, so how did he—

As if Kowalski read your thoughts, he froze. He looked around the bakery — empty — and sighed. He nodded to the kitchens, “This way,” he breathed dejectedly. You and Zabini shared a curious glance before following the baker into the kitchens.

After guiding the police officers to the back of his bakery, Kowalski ran his hand through his curly hair, sighing heavily. “What are you hiding, Kowalski?” Zabini asked seriously. Kowalski glanced at the both of you and looked away as if contemplating to tell you the truth. “Mr. Kowalski. If you have any direct contact with The Mad Hatter and you won’t tell us, you’ll be arrested for obstructing justice,” You said sternly.

The man before you genuinely looked conflicted, before he finally sighed harshly. “Fine, there was a guy.”

A clue!

“What guy, Mr. Kowalski?” You asked, encouraging him to go on. “On 15th March, I wasn’t here because I was visiting my gran, Queenie. But 2 months before that, a guy would always come after midnight to this very alley to buy some red velvet macarons,” He bit his lip, closing his eyes in despair. He opened them and turned to the right, an end of an alleyway connecting straight to the streets, noises of engines were faint. 

You looked at where he looked, and as if a projector was playing, you could see the mysterious man walking into the alleyway to meet Kowalski. 

“He would always buy 3 packets of the macarons. Not more, not less. And he would always give the exact amount of the price and asked for no receipt. After the first murder, Dave Busher,” He looked at you and you nodded in confirmation, while Zabini wrote all the important notes, “I didn’t want to sell him any more macarons at midnight.”

“What happened then?” Zabini asked. Kowalski gulped, “He started to come at daylight. Even without a black hat or a black jacket, I knew it was him. And he knew it too because he smiled every time he looks at me." He shivered at the sudden nerves running down his spine. 

“How did you know it’s The Mad Hatter? We never let that name out to the media, Kowalski,” Zabini stated, tilting his head accusingly. You raised a hand to stop him, sometimes Zabini can be too intimidating; brilliant in the interrogation room, but asking around then not so much.

“He told me, that he’s The Mad Hatter.”

You narrowed your eyes, “He told you? When did he tell you?” Kowalski looked down to his feet, trying to remember the exact date. And when he did, he looked up to you, “26th February, that was the last time I saw him and I was so scared to my bones. He told me that he’s The Mad Hatter just like that and I,” a sigh, “I wanted to close the bakery to be safe, but I have kids at home and I’m the breadwinner of the family.”

He turned to you desperately, hands clasping to each other, “Please don’t arrest me! I thought he’s going to kill me if he knew I snitched on him!”

You two were silent. 26th February… it was the day you had received the case, the day of the murder of Spencer Gillard.

After questioning Richard Kowalski (and granted him witness protection), you and Zabini walked back to the car, driving back to the HR. 

“Okay wait, how did The Mad Hatter know we call him The Mad Hatter?” Zabini questioned loudly, and you tilted your head in confusion. You were sitting on the passenger’s seat and Zabini was driving. “Is it possible we have The Mad Hatter around us?” You wondered lowly.

Zabini; Blaise glanced at you, “You mean one of us could be The Mad Hatter?” You sighed and closed your eyes tiredly, “Could be. I mean, we only told ourselves about that name and I only told George about it.”

“George? Your husband?” You nodded at his question. “Y/N,” Blaise licked his suddenly dry lips, “Did you ask Kowalski how does The Mad Hatter look like?”

You opened your eyes.

“What are you trying to say, Zabini? That George is The Mad Hatter?” You scoffed, “That’s ridiculous.” Blaise shook his head, “I’m not saying anything, Y/N. But… we all know that Nott doesn’t like telling his cases to people, and Lav and I have no other friends to tell it to. It’s not wrong to be cautious— ”

“This is my husband we’re talking about, Zabini!” You voiced out sternly, glaring at him. “He’s an amazing husband, and a brilliant father to Rafa. He’s the least on the list who could be that sick bastard!” You continued, huffing. “I get it, you and Lavender are dating, but you don’t see me accusing her of a first-degree murder, do you?”

Blaise sighed, used to your short fuse of temper by now, “How did you know about the bakery anyway?” He changed the topic, not wanting to sour your mood even further.

“George told me—” You halted on your words. Huh. George told you. How does he know about the bakery anyway? As far you know, he doesn't really go to this side of town.

And then you remembered Zabini’s first question.

“Did you ask Kowalski how did The Mad Hatter look like?"

Could it be?

“Turn around.” “What?” “I said turn around!”

Click. “Date. March 17th. Subject. None. I want to say something different this time.”

George looked down to his desk, a recorder slowly spinning its inner wheels, prepared to record anything he’ll be saying in the next few minutes. He pursed his lips, purposely pressing hard enough to feel the pain.

Is he a masochist? He’d like to be, in all honesty.

“I wonder what she would say when she found out that I’m The Mad Hatter. That I’m her case,” His lips curled into a growing smile, “That I, am that sick bastard she always talks about at home.”

“I didn’t know it was possible to be jealous of myself, but here we are,” George chuckled. And then he halted, “Jealous? I’m jealous?” He wondered out loud.

He huffed a cynical smile, in disbelief upon his own honest feelings he didn’t know he even has, “So I do have feelings for her after all.”

It was a silent moment of George gathering his thousands of thoughts before his lips moved to conjure a say again. 

“I met Y/N about seven years ago, she had just graduated from the police university and I was running the shop with my brother. She came by to look around and I found her interesting when she told me she’s a police officer,” George continued to talk, staring at the window; watching the cars on the streets continuously moving, reminding him that time is indeed walking away tick by tick. He picked up a small metallic ball from his desk, twirling it around his long fingers in an idle manner. 

“Y/N is… she’s innocent and naïve, yet still so strong and stern and confident. She’s fair and just and kind, the perfect idea of a noble police officer. The perfect idea of a perfect person,” the corner of his lips tweaked a bit, George didn’t realize he doesn’t see the window anymore, instead, he sees you, “My exact opposite. For I am flawed.”

“I wanted to play with her, probably just a bit before I kill her with my own hands, maybe strangle her or put something in her tea—” He didn’t realize his fingers stopped moving the small sphere around, “But then… I realized she’s more interesting than I thought.”

“The first time she said ‘I love you’ to me, which was 3 months after we met, I had the urge to dunk a pillow onto her face to not hear any more of the confession coming out of her mouth,” He said, and he laughed afterward, “But I didn’t, instead I told her I love her too.”

His laughter died down and his eyebrows furrowed in all seriousness, “Love… What is love?"

"... Everyone has an answer of their own and at the same time, nobody does. It’s so general, it's so vague that love is,” his fingers unconsciously moved to the metallic ring on his finger, twirling it slightly, feeling the surface shuffle against his skin softly, “Love is everything.”

George blinked slowly , “After that, we got married, she wanted children so I gave her what she wanted, and Rafael came by a while later.”

Rafael. Rafael, Rafa, Rafi. Their son. Their child. His child.

George was silent for a while. He’s… he’s clueless on how to put it appropriately and how it wouldn’t sound odd, especially coming from him, a serial killer.

“… I think the first person I have truly loved in my whole life is my son. I didn’t even know how I feel towards my own wife before Rafael comes along. He’s… he’s pure and innocent, just like his mother and he has the biggest heart there is and it’s,” George didn’t realize he was smiling wide talking about his son, and he paused at the realization he had come across, “It’s something that I don’t have.”

“I realized I had become comfortable with my current life, with my wife and my son. I-I needed to change that or else I-I would lose my mind,” George suddenly chuckled maniacally.

“I would lose my mind and I would be alone all over again. I would be alone all over again without my family because— ”

Despite the crazy cackles coming out his mouth, his eyes were watering profusely, wetting his cheeks and he whispered dreamily, “Because I would kill them.”

“He was a tall man, probably in his 30s, ginger, got a long face and a crooked nose. Why?”

The words of Richard Kowalski as soon as you asked him what does The Mad Hatter looked like had you speechless.

No way. No fucking way.

George couldn’t possibly be The Mad Hatter! Godric Gryffindor, that’s bloody ridiculous!

“Not a word to anyone, Zabini,” You voiced out sternly as soon as you got into the car. Blaise was about to open his mouth to protest, but a look from you was all it took for him to close it back dejectedly. 

“There’s like a hundred of guys fitting that criteria, Blaise,” You sighed out, massaging your temples at the sudden stress. The lean man sighed, “I’m not saying anything, Y/N.” “Yes, you are,” You glared at him, “But just because my husband fits the same criteria of The Mad Hatter, it does not mean he is The Mad Hatter.”

“How do you even know for sure? Do you even know him?” His rude comeback had you scoffing in offense, “Excuse me? Of course, I know my husband! I married him for almost 10 years!”

“Then what’s his hobby?” “Playing with Rafa.” “What about his favorite meal?” “He likes hot chocolates and my roasted chicken.” “Do you know his family?” “Just Fred— wait,”

You groaned, “Why am I even answering you, you have no right to ask about my personal life, Zabini.” You shook your head in disappointment, looking away to the window, “This conversation is done. We’re not talking about this anymore, do you understand?”

A sigh. “Yes, chief.”

You leaned your head to the window, watching the trees passing by as the car driven by Blaise continued to glide the streets effortlessly. You sighed quietly, obviously upset that a good friend like Blaise would think such a thing about your husband. The father of your child! Unacceptable!

But that stubborn little voice inside of your head kept singing. It kept singing what-ifs. What if Blaise was right? What if George is the Mad Hatter? What if your husband isn’t so innocent after all? What if you don’t even know George Weasley truly?

What if?

That tiny screaming voice seemed to be volumized into the maximum height, because now on the top of your head, was ‘What if everything is true?’

With that one tiny push, Chief Detective Y/N Weasley found herself standing in front of her husband’s office room. The dark greyish door at the end of the hallway had never looked so intimidating.

You had never questioned why George would have it locked at all times, you only thought his office is strictly his own free space, and you wanted to respect that.

Taking a deep breath, you reached for the doorknob. Quietly gulping as you gripped the metallic handle with your palm, pushing it down to open the door and by your luck— or by someone’s plan— the door was unlocked.

But now, all questions ran through your head.

You stepped inside, taking in the unfamiliar space in your house that you had ever seen only once or twice during the 7 years of your marriage. The black walls with white simple baseboards had given the room a minimalistic aura, but considering you are now suspicious of your husband for being a wanted serial killer, you couldn’t help to feel the air in the space eerie and chilly.

You came back home at 3 pm, knowing fully well that your husband and Rafa’s schedule that they were in the park by now, and will be back home no later than 5. It’s a perfect time to snoop around your own house. 

A monitor desk was right in front of the door, fully furnished with a computer and all the things needed for a workspace. You walked slowly to the desk, a simple set of metallic drawers had shown themselves to you. There was one particular large drawer, though, that was locked with a little lock. 

You wondered, what’s so important in that drawer for George to lock it?

Fortunately, the skill you had picked up from police university had deemed usefully functional. A few friends of yours had taught you how to pick a lock before, and due to legal reasons, they didn’t teach you anything. You quickly retrieved two bobby pins from your dressing room, trying so hard to be quick as you realized the clock was ticking. You started to pick the small lock.

“I believe,” You started talking to yourself, a habit you hadn’t realized, “Johnson had taught me like this,” Turning the bobby pin to the right, “then this,” and to the left, “And then this,” and pushing the upper bobby pin into the lock.

Click!

You huffed in disbelief, an impressed look on your face, “Thank you, Angie,” You spoke to yourself again as you removed the lock quickly and pulled the drawer in your direction to open it.

As it rumbled under your touch, as you felt the weight of the drawer with your arm, as your eyes laid upon the content of the drawer, the only thing you said, and in confusion; may I add, was:

“… Recorders?”

TAGLIST:

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[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 74

Time for the enormous family dinner that Maverick asked for! This chapter beta'd by @satan-parisienne and @baelpenrose. I may end up writing the other half, showing interactions with everyone who didn't show up in this chapter, and to allow a smoother transition to the treat I have in store after.

Only content warnings are for food.

P.S. This is posted on mobile, so I wasn't able to enter the Read More, and for that I apologise. When I get to my desktop this evening, I'll add it in.

P.S.S. Fixed it!

“I’m convinced you two are actually telepathic,” Maverick mused as he reached stealthily for a carrot stick.

Without even looking up from where she was piping devilled eggs, Tyche swatted his hand. “Those are the spicy ones, you don’t want them.  And that is not an invitation to steal the other ones!” Her voice escalated as he tried to sneak toward the ‘safe’ carrots.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he pouted. “You can’t even see me!”

I laughed from where I was folding what felt like a million dumplings. “She doesn’t have to.  She could hear you the first time, and logic took care of the second.” Running out of pierogi filling, I reached for the bowl of potsticker filling. “And we aren’t telepathic, we’ve just been cooking together a long time.  She always helped me in the kitchen when we were kids, and it kind of turned into this well-choreographed dance as we got older.”

Tyche and I were currently in the kitchen of the Undine, working to put together a smorgasbord of finger foods for our entire family.  After some stern negotiations with Sebastian, he ended up being willing to trade a seat at the table and any 5 recipes he chose in exchange for renting the place out for the night.  As a result, she and I were doing our best to show off: fajita chicken rolls, cottage pie tarts, miniature wellingtons in both beef and vegetarian options, spicy roasted carrots, crudites, miniature kebabs in various combinations…

And dumplings. Every ethnic dumpling we knew how to make. So far we had a meat and a vegetarian option – each – for empanadas, pierogis, and I was just starting on the potstickers. Bao were last on the list, since they needed to be served hot. Tyche was even planning on apple dumplings with the desserts.  We even tried banh bot loc, but ours were so ugly and lopsided – far from the round, translucent, authentic ones we both had the pleasure of trying at one point - that we decided not to serve them.

Tyche waved a hand, shooing Maverick toward another workstation. “Ingredients and recipes are over there for sauces.  Are you okay to put them together?” As she spoke, she sprinkled a red seasoning over a platter of eggs.

“I don’t have to taste test all of these do I?” he asked skeptically as he walked over.  Narrowing his eyes, he gave me a critical look. “You two taste test everything, and I’m pretty sure a lot of these are spicy.”

Tyche neatly stuck a sign labelled “Spicy!” in the platter of eggs she just finished, not even aware of the irony. “We did a run-through for the sauces and actually measured everything to ensure consistency.  You don’t have to taste any of them if you don’t want.”

“Then I’m on it.” He gave a sloppy salute before grabbing the first recipe.  Knowing his need for precision and consistency, I was confident those sauces would turn out perfect.

We worked in silence for several minutes before the door to the kitchen opened again.  “Hello, goddesses of delicious foods, your humble worshipper is here to offer his fealty,” Conor joked as he made a sweeping bow, hair still damp from his shower.

I shoved a tray full of vol au vents into his arms as soon as he stood. “Hey, love. Can you please take these out and set them on one of the serving tables? It’s the little ones, about waist high on me, that look like they might hold a lamp.”

He nodded before standing patiently with an expectant look. I chuckled when I realized what he wanted and tipped my face up for a kiss.  He gave me a brief, smiling kiss, before stepping over to do the same for Maverick. For good measure, he dropped a kiss on top of Tyche’s head, eliciting a squawk. Dodging her hand as she playfully lashed out, he backed through the door and disappeared. 

The four of us worked like that as we finished up preparations for dinner. The moment Maverick and Conor carried out the last tray of morsels, Tyche and I pulled off our aprons.  I indulgently allowed her to smooth my outfit and touch up my hair before we went to greet our extended ‘family’. We were greeted by deafening applause, cheers, and whistles as we walked out. I felt my face ignite and glanced to see that Tyche was equally flushed.  It had been one thing, on Earth, to have polite applause offered when either of us had been recognized for achievements or led a seminar, but to have less than twenty people give us such raucous enthusiasm just for feeding them…. There was little in my life that made me feel as appreciated as I did in that moment.  Even my newly re-found friend, Arthur, was smiling and giving a barely-awkward thumbs up.

With an embarrassed smile, I waved back and made my way to a table that was, largely, in the middle of the room. Tyche followed my lead and sat beside me.  Conor and Maverick sat to the other side, leaving a seat for Antoine. I waited patiently for my sister’s partner to be seated before realizing, belatedly, that he must be held up with work.

Sure enough, the four of us had just poured our drinks when Antoine threw himself into his seat. Breathless, he explained, “I beg your pardon, I lost track of what time it was.”

Tyche and I glanced at each other, matched confused expressions on our faces; Antoine’s punctuality rivalled my own in its degree of overcompensation. Still, she turned and rubbed his shoulder. “That must have been a stressful case.”

He only nodded in response before changing the topic. “Congratulations, both of you. I am sure everyone is excited to try everything, especially since you put so much effort into it.”  His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but I chalked that up to whatever case held him over at work. With an expression that I hoped was reassuring, I gestured toward the tables.

The five of us made our way through the crowd, surrounded on all sides by excited chatter. Not a single person even attempted to be subtle as they met new people and discussed the topic they clearly had in common.

“Oh! They made the spicy eggs! You have to try those – they are amazing!”

“Just look at the shells on these tarts.  So thin and crisp.”

“Are those the spicy dumplings?” “No, these are the pierogi.  Try them!”

“See how these are fried and then steamed? That’s how they should be made.”

“They always make a vegetarian option.  It just makes me smile…. Everything on the Ark is vegetarian, but they like making sure it’s familiar. It's such a thoughtful gesture.”

“Oh my god, this one is curry… you have to try it!”

By the time we got to the tables, my face hurt from blushing and smiling.  We weren't, by any stretch of the imagination, the best cook and baker on the Ark, but we tried our best.  Everything was made by hand, even if the ingredients were from the consoles. Hearing the appreciation of that – even when it was for Tyche’s paper-thin pastry crust that I could never hope to make – made my eyes water with tears I refused to shed.

Eventually, we were back at our table, plates loaded down with a little of everything for us to share. Tyche and I nibbled, too engrossed in the reactions of others to properly enjoy the fruits of our labors. Conor and Maverick, however, had no such qualms – they dug in like it was a competition, each trying to beat the other with the effusiveness of their praises. The comedy of it led to an elbowing match between me and my sister, only interrupted by people stopping to thank and/or congratulate us.

Just as I was about to make a joke to Tyche, a conversation from the next table over broke through our little bubble of bashful pride. “Oh, for fucks sake, she’s my sister! That’s just – Xiomara, that’s disgusting!”

Wide eyed, I whipped my head to follow the voice, only to see Arthur Farro looking at Xio with an expression that matched the disgust in his voice. “What in the – “ At no point since our reunion had he mentioned that his sister was on the Ark.

While Xio and Arthur were engaged in a glowering-match, Grey calmly turned toward me. “Xiomara may have heavily implied that Educator Farro has…less than honorable intentions towards you, and that he would be sorely remiss in any inclination to intervene in your current domestic situation.”

As I parsed that statement, Tyche just snorted. “That has, at no point in reality, been on the table from either of their perspective. Even I knew that, Xio. Chill out.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Arthur chimed in. “Your taste in men is… Impeccable, I’ll be honest.” He shrugged at Conor and Maverick, feigning apology. “But Sophia is just… not my type.  She’s more like what I would have been in a kinder reality. She adopts strays, for the love of fuck…”

Oh. He meant me….I gave a watery smile and gestured around the room before pointing at him directly. This was a conversation we had hashed out, several times, over a decade prior.  Friends, yes. Siblings, yes. Lovers? Disaster. I was a pushover, he was a bulldozer.

Finally, Xiomara’s glare gave way to unbridled laughter. “Farro, ridiculing her tendency to adopt people – of which you are one – is an incredibly ironic thing to say about a woman you just shouted is your sister.  Didn’t you mention, before you realized you knew each other Before, that adopting people is an ‘annoying tendency’ your mysterious ‘she’ had?”

“I never said I didn’t, just that she was annoyingly, profoundly consistent about it.” His face serene, he took a sip of his drink. “Hmmm… Not a fan of the sangria, Sophie.  I know you like it, but… Not my thing.”

Xiomara sputtered with incredulity. “Wait – is that how it started?”

“How what started?” I asked, suspicious.

“Xiomara, don’t,” was Arthur’s stern reply.

Xio leaned back and gave Arthur a calculating look in response. “No, seriously, Farro. Is that how it started.”

Sighing, Arthur nodded. “Partially.  That, and I didn’t know where my students could go if their families died in the blasts.”

I surged forward in my seat, shoving plates away from me. “Wait, what are you talking about? What blasts?”

“Sophie, you have to realize – anyone further south than… oh, the Mason-Dixon line, I think? – didn’t just have blackouts. We had explosions from the fallout of the EMP blasts at the End.  People died, and violently. We had to make our way in a future that was only predicted in fiction.  I did what had to be done.”

“He was a warlord,” Xiomara clarified, entirely unnecessarily.

“Oh.” I had known him in the Before… he was very pragmatic, to say the least.  To find out he was a warlord was less than surprising. At least, until I looked around: Tyche was studying the ceiling, Conor and Maverick were suddenly fascinated by the appearance of their food, and Antoine was looking over his shoulder. “Wait. Did everyone know this already?”

A pregnant pause hung in the air for a beat, then two, before Grey finally broke the silence. “That does appear to be the case, Sophia.”

“Et tu, Hodenson?”

“Conor consulted me,” they admitted. “He was concerned, because he knows he is prone to overreact in situations where you may be in danger.  I was consulted as a logical third party in the situation.”

“I wouldn’t’ve known if Maverick hadn’t said anything,” Conor immediately ratted out our third.

“Hey, if I knew, it was only fair that Conor knew as well,” Maverick held up his hands in surrender.

Xiomara raised her hand, tentatively. “I told Maverick.  I already knew, as Councillor for Security, and thought he should be aware.  Military bond, and all that.”

Expectantly, I stared at the side of Tyche’s head until she caved. “Fiiiine. I didn’t trust the situation… your dead online friend from Before is suddenly alive and on the Ark?  Sus as hell. So, I asked Derek to get his files… all of it.  He checked out as being who he said he was, so I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell you what he did in the After.  We all did shit we regret, I didn’t think the speck in his eye was any more relevant than the planks in our own, so… And before you ask, yes, I told Antoine.  Just because I decided not to tell you, it didn’t mean I didn’t need to tell someone.” Antoine only nodded, electing not to add anything.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to make sure I understood everything. “So, you became a warlord to make sure that your students would be safe in the new reality of Earth?”

“Pretty much,” Arthur shrugged.  I could have sworn he looked amused by all the finger pointing that had just taken place.  “I do want to meet this Derek, though. That’s the second time he’s been mentioned, and both times in relation to hacking things.  Unless I’m mistaken.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. “He’s at the table with Alistair, my assistant.  You’ll probably like him… Don’t let his demeanor fool you, he has the morals of a hurricane sometimes.”

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[ktfromjerseyblog]

How to deal with a Sims 4 Game Patch when playing with Mods and CC

OPTIONS FOR GAME PATCH:

1.) Manual Update, day of (or soon after) patch release

2.) Delay update

3.) Vanilla play

OPTION #1 (MANUAL UPDATE)

If you are doing a manual update immediately when it is available, first thing to do is BACK-UP your Mods, Saves and Tray folders.

INSTRUCTIONS ON BACKING UP MODS/CC, SAVE FILES, AND TRAY (skip if you’re familiar):

Go to your Game folder, click and drag your Mods folder to your desktop. Then right-click somewhere blank on your desktop and create a New Folder (rename it STANDBY). Open this STANDBY folder and right-click in the blank space, click New Folder (name this one Mods). You are going to repeat the process until you have three folders inside your STANDBY folder. They should be titled Mods, Saves, and Tray.

Open your Mods folder (on your desktop) and the STANDBY folder at the same time (side by side). Select all of the files in your Mods folder (CTRL+A or Command+A), then right click on them and select COPY. Then click into your STANDBY folder, go to Mods, right-click the blank space, and select PASTE. Now you will have your original Mods folder on your desktop to test and use, and you will also have this STANDBY folder as a duplicate back up.

Next you will go to your Game Folder, select Tray, select all items (CTRL+A), right-click, select COPY. Then you will paste all these folders into the STANDBY>Tray folder. Then do the exact same thing with your Saves folder. Now you will have everything finally backed up. I recommend moving this STANDBY folder to an external hard drive (or flashdrive).

AFTER YOU UPDATED WITH GAME PATCH: please test once WITHOUT your Mods folder. Remove the entire Physical Mods folder from your Game Folder, place on desktop. This assists in a Folder Refresh. Let the game make a new Mods folder, with a new Resource.cfg inside, and rebuild from there. Don’t forget that you may need to turn on your Game Settings to enable script mods and custom content. This is in your Game Menu, under Other Settings. Considering “IF” the new free-floating objects feature “doesn’t” break CC. It should be safe to put your CC right back into the newly created Mods folder. At this point, you should still have your mods on your desktop. This is the point where you need to begin researching if your mods are working. To do this, you can check the comments below for mod updates. We implore you to follow creators on their social media for confirmation of working/broken mod reports. Most Script Mods WILL BREAK. Your best bet is keeping all of your mods on your desktop and only introducing them after

a.) mod has been confirmed working

b.) mod has been replaced with updated version.

OPTION #2 (DELAY UPDATE)

To delay an update, you must have pre-emptively turned OFF your Game Auto-Updates in advance. Next you will need to ensure your Origin Client is OFFLINE. This will mean that you can keep all your mods and cc in your game folder and continue to play unchanged. People do this in the meantime while they’re waiting for Creators to update their mods. This is the option for people who can’t bare to play without CC and Mods

OPTION #3 (VANILLA PLAY)

This option is for people who are too excited to wait any longer for the patch update and new expansion, and would rather wait for all the Creators to finish their testing and patches. So in order to do this, you will need to remove your Mods folder from your Game Folder, and place it on your desktop. Or you can disable mods and custom content in your Game Settings, under Other Settings. I still recommend backing up your saves and tray files.

FOLDER REFRESH

https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/805240/game-folder-refresh-may-fix-some-issues

or

https://youtu.be/bQC_IQHA3o4

GAME REFUSES TO START

If your game is not starting or prompts an error, remove all off your mods/cc, then restart. If it starts up just fine, then it is due to an error in your mods. If it does not start up, then you may have a corrupted save file due to a broken mod. Please be sure your game folder is saved in the appropriate path:

PC users should look something like this (minus the kmeha..thats just my comp name)

C:\Users\kmeha\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

If youre game is continuing to give you start-up issues, please feel free to post about it. But include the following:

PC/Mac user?

Legacy Edition?

Folder Refresh conducted?

Restart without mods conducted?

Did you re-enable custom content and script mods?

Include picture of error message.

For confusion on files in your game, please review this link:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/

EDIT 1 (ADDITION):

For those of you saying "my mods never break when i update the game". Mods can and most likely will break after an update. The word "broken" does not necessarily mean your game is going to completely stop working. So i'm going to make up an example to help you better understand. Let's say that Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod was labeled as "Broken". But when you play with it in game, you see no issues, and you receive no LastExceptionErrors. So you may think, "well thats not right, my mod is fine." when in reality its not. So some mods are massive and have loads of animations, objects, and content in general. If one tiny thing from it is corrupted in the code due to a patch update, it is considered “Broken”. So in Sacrificial's Life Tragedies Mod, you have five serial killers that you have the option of using. Lets say the game patch update breaks The Killer Nanny in that mod. But you never play with her ever. This could mean that you would never know that the mod is broken because you havent received any error notifications due to you not utilizing that portion of the code. This still means the mod is "broken" though. Broken can just mean that there is a small (or large) portion of the coding that is not compatible with how the game coding has changed due to the update. TLDR: a small feature can break and you would never know it if you never use it. it still means the mod is broken.

EDIT 2 (ADDITION):

For those of you looking for methods to read your lastException files, the following are your options:

1. Deaderpool Discord

2. Better Exceptions

3. Last Exceptions reader

DEADERPOOL DISCORD: For the deaderpool discord, you will have to create an account on discord. its super easy. i absolutely love discord. if you dont know what it is, its basically like a massive chat room platform, particularly popular amongst gamers. If you decide to create a discord account, you'll have to download the software. its totally safe! i use it all the time. a lot of gamers use it as a platform to talk to their friends over voice chat when playing a game that doesnt provide a feature like that. if you decide to join discord, here is the link for the Deaderpool Discord (ran by the creator of MCCC): https://discord.gg/mccc

if you go on there, they have a text channel called "error support". its super easy to use, all you have to do is click on that channel, and then click and drag your LE file into the channel box. it will upload it to the server. theres nothing in your file that will get you hacked or anything. tens of thousands of files have been uploaded to this. its literally just a text document saying where the error is in your mod coding. From there, someone from the Support Team will respond with a solution. Its really great because they can help you to understand reading the code.

BETTER EXCEPTIONS MOD: This is a mod that you download from Twisted Mexi:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/better-major-26712505

This mod will provide a new file to generate in your game called the Better Exceptions Report. When you get one, it will tell you what it suspects is causing an issue in your game. This is one of the most user-friendly options for new modders. When you see the identifed "issue" in the report, you'll have just to exit out of game and delete the issue (broken cc/mod). Before you re-start your game, just remember to delete the BetterExceptionsReport file from your game folder. Otherwise it will not be able to update it with a new one if a new error arises.

LAST EXCEPTIONS READER: this is just a website where you can do the same thing as the deaderpool discord. just drag and drop your file, and a robot reads it to identify the issue. The only problem with this is you cant talk to the robot and explain your situation (like you can in discord).

https://lastexception.com

[simranger]

a somewhat comprehensive performance guide for the sims 3

what it says on the tin. i’m sticking everything under the cut to avoid clogging everyone’s dash because, hoo boy, this is a looong post

welcome to my kitchen, and hopefully i can help you get your game to run a bit better!

first, if you haven’t already, make sure to launch your game (i recommend just bg so it loads quickly) and check if you need to change your graphics settings. if you’re on windows and would like to play your game in windowed fullscreen: 

download and install this program (it’s safe, i promise)

open the program and you should get a notification that it’s running in your tray

with ts3 open (in it’s windowed mode), click on your tray and right click on the program’s icon, then select Add window

go back to ts3′s window and press F3 on your keyboard. you should get a notification that ts3 has been added to the program’s list, and you’re done!

you’ll also need an fps limiter to prevent the game from frying your video card. i use this one, set at 60fps. alternatively, you can download MATY’s fps limiter and place it in your game’s bin. (The Sims 3/Game/Bin)

is your game crashing on startup? check your DEP settings or try using 3booter.

some tips to help your game run better

have as few programs as possible running while ts3 is open.

run a 4gb patch on your game. download this, run the .exe, select the game’s executable (The Sims 3/Game/Bin/TS3W.exe for patch 1.69 or TS3.exe for patch 1.67), and click open. you’ll get a pop up saying it’s patched. please note that your computer needs to have over 2gb of RAM for this! (most do, but do check how much RAM you have!)

if you’d rather increase how much RAM the game uses yourself, follow this tutorial.

download razer game booster. this frees up some memory on your computer to increase performance.

check how much virtual memory your pc is using. follow this tutorial.

delete cache files. the game will generate new ones every time you open the game, so make sure to delete the following files before running the game: CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, socialCache. these files are found in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3.

if you’re on pc, delete your WoldCaches folder. not everyone will have this folder, and the game may also regenerate the folder. (mine didn’t regenerate the folder, but it’s happened to others)  DO NOT do this if you’re on mac!!!!

disable your FeaturedItems folder. this prevents the game from generating a fuckton of store thumbnails you’ll never look at. follow this tutorial or just set the folder to be read only.

turn off the following in your game settings: shop mode, interactive loading screens, and online features. i also recommend turning off story progression and memories and using mods to handle these instead.

edit your GraphicsRules.sgr. this will help your game load textures faster. (it also helps how fast your sims change their clothes!) do it yourself by following these tutorials ( 1 + 2 ) or download avian’s graphics fix (v1.69) (v1.67). i recommend doing the latter more than doing it yourself!

modding your game: a quick crash course

yeah, i know most people know how to download and install custom content + mods, but this is still good to give a read for managing your sims 3 cc!

first, you’ll need a mods folder because ts3 won’t generate one by itself. i recommend you download this framework and follow MTS’ guide to setting it up. it comes with a nifty little no intro video mod!

use the compressorizer redux. you can extract it wherever you’d like, just make sure to keep all its files in the same folder. this program is pretty self-explanatory, it compresses .package and .sims3pack files. to use it, click Add Files to List, select the folder with your files (you can do this multiple times), and click GO! now, just let it do its thing! it may take a while to process everything if you have big files, but you’ll get a pop up saying how many MBs you saved when it’s done. you can also use decrapify mode on .sims3packs (useful for store content!)

i recommend downloading Delphy’s Sims3Pack Extractor. i avoid using the game launcher to manage my cc at all costs, and this tool is useful for extracting .package files from .sims3pack files. follow this tutorial to use it!

Delphy’s Dashboard Tool is also useful for finding any broken, duplicate, or conflicting cc. i don’t recommend using the fix all problems option, do it yourself instead to make sure you don’t delete anything you want to keep.

renaming cc files can also help with lag. follow this tutorial!

you can also merge your package files to help with lag and load times using this tutorial. i don’t do this personally, but my mods folder is pretty small too.

note: the game launcher can only load 500 .sims3pack files at a time. only use the launcher to install absolutely necessary items!

to help reduce lag and load times, you can delete everything in your DCBackup folder (Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/DCBackup) EXCEPT for ccmerged.package. DO NOT delete ccmerged, it has all the cc installed through the launcher. (ps. you can safely use the compressorizer to compress your ccmerged file!)

final tip: try to control the amount of cc you have installed. i’ve noticed that the game takes a lot longer to load when my mods folder starts to reach a Gb. my mods folder is currently 368Mb, and it takes around 5 minutes to load any saves.

helpful mods for your game

the ETERNAL must have: nraas’ mastercontroller. you’ll need this to run all nraas mods! also be sure to grab overwatch and errortrap while you’re at it! these catch and clean any errors that happen in your game. i also recommend register and traffic.

no (or fewer) auto memories is SUPER useful for controlling memories in the game and helps with game performance. it’s super customizable!

ellacharmed’s world fixes. not really a traditional mod, but this helps with routing and camera control! note: don’t use these on preexisting saves! some lots have been moved and there will be little gaps in the world with preexisting saves.

routing fixes for schools + other lots. be sure to use nraas to reset your school lot after installing!

interaction on sloped terrain. this is mostly just a sanity saver, but very useful!

finally, i recommend grabbing awesome mod. it has a bunch of fixes and is very customizable!

reducing save game bloat

a.k.a. the steps i go through to make sure that my game loads relatively fast and runs with minimal lag. 

if i’ve taken any screenshots the last time i played the game, i move those out of ts3′s screenshots folder and into a separate folder.

i delete all generated cache files. see the tips section above for more info

i run kuree’s save cleaner on the save i’m planning on playing. if the latest version (2.1) doesn’t open/work, try using v1.1 instead. you can also do this manually, though i don’t recommend it for the sake of your sanity.

every couple of in-game weeks in a save i run a total reset on the world i’m playing in. this is done through nraas mastercontroller. click on your city hall from map view>nraas>mastercontroller>total reset

tip: to help prevent your saves from corrupting, use save as and keep multiple versions of your save. for example, i have 3 versions of my lepacy save. this way, if a save does corrupt, you have a backup! 

misc. ways to reduce lag

don’t run the game with all packs enabled. it’s going to murder your game. only run with packs you know you’ll use. you can also refer to this masterpost for bgc items if you only want certain items from a pack.

don’t keep tons of stuff in your sim’s inventory. use the fridge to keep fish and harvestables instead.

if your sim has the collection helper LTR in their inventory, make sure you have it set to none when you’re not using it.

i recommend downloading simborg’s CAS hiders, ILTS’ CAS Rehaul, and/or sweetdevil-sims’ CAS hiders to reduce CAS load times.

change CAS’ catalogs to show in compact form using nraas mastercontroller. select a sim>nraas>mastercontroller>settings>CAS and look for show in compact form options and set each to true

nona’s no limos mod can help nraas overwatch’s nightly clean up

make sure to turn off any build/buy cheats you activated when you go back into live mode. (even if it’s just to save)

if you’re using CAS a lot in a play session, it’s a good idea to quit to desktop and reload the game every once in a while

try to avoid saving presets and CASt swatches

disconnect from the internet. i don’t do this often because i usually have spotify or carl’s sims 3 guide open alongside ts3.

good resources to refer to

the sims wiki’s game guide to improving performace

nraas’ tips for better game performance

this thread @ MTS

optimization guide @ games4theworld

this post by darkfridaysims

that’s all folks!

if you’d like to know what cc and mods i’m using, here’s my resources page. thanks for reading all this, and if you need any clarification or have anything to add onto this, definitely hmu!

edits

*ps that i won’t be tagging people i credit so i don’t risk clogging their activity, i’ll still include a link to their blog!

the fps and 4Gb patch aren’t needed, it was fixed in a patch! (thank you, create-a-sim!)

[felishaxtq3926-blog]

How To Convert WAV To M4A

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[aprettysonnetfic]

Not With Haste

After Warren's computer goes on the fritz, Ben comes over to help fix it.

Pt 2 of Wild Heart. Takes place after Broken Crown but before For Those Below.

Rated T

Mercyverse au - eventual Warren/Kyle/Ben

Work Text:

“I just don’t know what happened. It was working fine, and then that blue nonsense popped up,” Warren explains to Ben, his slow honeyed Texas accent rounding the vowels, as he points at the blue screen on the monitor.

“Blue screen of Fucking Death,” Ben mutters distractedly as he begins the system restore process on Warren’s ancient PC. “You should just save me the time trying to fix this sodding stupid brick and junk it. Start over. Nuke it from bloody orbit. It’s running Windows 7 for fuck’s sake!”

“I don’t want a new computer, Ben, this one usually works just fine,” Warren huffs, feeling offended on his computer’s behalf. It was old, granted, but it worked for what he needed it to do. Ben’s computer prowess made him feel like a Luddite most of the time, especially now as the younger wolf typed furiously on the keyboard in a screen Warren had never seen before.

“Don’t worry your pretty head, Warren, I’ll save your porn,” Ben teased with one of his rare smiles on his face. Warren was normally spared Ben’s teasing, so he’s not sure how to respond. Before he can respond, Kyle sashays into the room to set a loaded tray down on the desk next to Ben.

“Beer and brownies for our savior. Thank god you’re here to save this wretched machine,” he says, then whispers conspiratorially into Ben’s ear, “Please don’t, I’ve been trying to get him to buy something new for ages.”

With a wink to Warren, Kyle very obviously leans over Ben’s shoulders to watch the blond work. Ben smirks at Warren, but doesn’t shrug Kyle off, as if waiting to see how Warren was going to react to his mate being draped across Ben’s back. Warren ignores them in favor of snagging a beer off the tray, cracking it open as he relaxes on the old beat up couch that takes up most of the back wall of Warren’s office.  From this angle, he has a fantastic view of Kyle’s ass.

It had been a month since their fight, where Ben had ended up airing details his ugly past to Kyle in a fit of rage, and tried what he called an attempt at “friendship suicide”. He and Kyle had made up, thankfully, and Ben had forgiven Warren for jumping to the wrong conclusions when he’d come in at the end of the argument. They’d had a long talk on the couch that night, sharing bits of their pasts with Ben, because it was only fair, as Kyle had said reasonably. It had given them more insight into what made Ben tick, and now they knew what most of his hot buttons were so they could avoid them. As a result, the three of them were closer than before, cementing their friendship into something more akin to family.

Kyle and Ben’s good-natured flirting had ramped up since then, too.  Warren knew it was a game they played but it made him roll his eyes whenever they started up with the banter and innuendo. Kyle had confessed one night not too long ago, after a few martinis, he liked to take it just far enough to fluster Ben and make the tips of his ears go pink. Kyle found it adorable and charming, but it happened rarely. Adorable and charming were typically not words associated with Ben.

Since that night, Ben had also become more… Warren figured the closest word for it was affectionate, if you could apply that word to Ben. He’d pretty much stopped turning into his Wolf if he wanted to be physically touched, though he would still do so from time to time, sprawling out over both Kyle and Warren like a large red blanket. Lately he’d start in his usual spot at the far edge of the couch and would slowly creep over as the movie progressed just close enough that Warren could put his arm on the back of the couch and play with his hair. Kyle would crawl between them shortly after, with his back against Warren and his legs over Ben’s lap. The other night he’d even relaxed enough to fall asleep during a particularly dull movie, slumping over against them. Kyle had grinned up at Warren, obviously delighted because he had mentioned how he’d been worried for ages over how touch-starved Ben was.

While he’d been slowly changing for the better over the last year, Ben had made leaps and bounds over the past month. Ben no longer stood outside the door awkwardly every time he was invited over, and had even used his key to let himself in earlier when they’d asked him to look at Warren’s old computer. When Kyle would mention on the phone that he needed to run to the store for the odd carton of milk or a loaf of bread to go with dinner, Ben would offer to pick it up on his way over, with only a little grousing. He’d also pick up other little things he would remember seeing on the running grocery list that was kept on the refrigerator door, just because. Kyle would thank Ben for being so thoughtful and Ben would preen under the praise. Kyle would give Warren a look so smug that he’d have to kiss it right off his face. Ben had stopped turning to look elsewhere now, and seemed keenly interested in what they were doing. He and Kyle needed to have a conversation about that, but they never did.

The changes had also started affecting how he was accepted by the pack, though he could still be just as rude and grouchy as ever. He’d been on friendlier term with people, especially since he had made a point to help set up a server for the weekly game of The Dread Pirate’s Booty at Adam and Mercy’s. He’d even gone so far as to help some of the more… technologically challenged… pack members with setting up the game on their laptops.  Everyone who participated in game night seemed to love how he’d get into his pirate character, Sodding Bart, and several of his more colorful piratical curses had taken root in the pack.

The most damning evidence of his change in behavior was that he’d even stuck up for one of the secretaries at work, a fact that caused a lot of raised eyebrows. Ben got huffy when asked about it because “no one fucks with my secretary except for me”. Adam had called it growth and was very pleased with Ben’s new upward mobility in the pack. He had high hopes that Ben was coming to terms with his personal demons and would continue to thrive.

Warren is startled from his reverie as Ben makes a crude computer joke that has Kyle snorting with the ugly little laugh that Warren loves so much. Ben says something rude about it and Kyle shoves a brownie into his mouth to shut him up. They’re laughing and touching and Warren smiles at their antics, oddly at ease with how close Kyle and Ben are. He’s sure that if it were anyone other than Ben that close to his mate, he’d be a snarling, jealous, and possessive wreck of a werewolf.

His wolf is strangely quiet where Ben is concerned. The wolf trusts Ben, both to keep Kyle protected and safe and to have Warren’s back if it came to a fight. After being a lone wolf for so long, where he couldn’t trust anyone but himself, it felt strange to be able to count on Ben in that capacity. That went a long way, and Warren overlooked a lot of things Ben did that he probably shouldn’t.

Several beers and brownies later, Warren and Kyle are cuddling on the couch looking at their phones when Ben stops clicking the mouse and spins around in the chair to face them. The computer monitor behind him shows Warren’s desktop screensaver - a picture of Warren and Kyle kissing in silly party hats with glasses of champagne that was taken last New Year’s - but there were far fewer files on it than before.

“Your piece of shit is working again,” Ben announced smugly, motioning Warren over to give him a rundown of what he’d done to fix the PC, “I had to update the BIOS to fix the fucking thing, then I updated your sodding antivirus and some outdated drivers. When the fuck did you last run an update on that? There was a bollock’s load of viruses that needed to be fixed, probably from your porn sites, so I installed an ad aware program to take care of the worst of it. Then I cleared some of the redundant files and consolidated the files on your desktop into folders you can click on. If you ever so much as save another bloody thing to your desktop so help me god I will hurt you! I also did some other magic computer shit you won’t understand so it runs faster than a bloody snail’s pace. You’re fucking welcome.”

“You’re pretty ballsy assuming I’m looking at porn,” Warren said with a mock growl. He didn’t understand most of what Ben had just said but was impressed nonetheless. He leaned over and clicked one of the new folders and it opened up to show a number of the files that previously littered the desktop. This would do.

“If you’re going to try to lie, you should learn how to clean out your cache first,” Ben says with a toothy grin. Warren chooses not to say anything else that could be damning and makes a mental note to figure out how to clean out whatever a cache is.

“Thank you, Ben. That was mighty helpful,” Warren finally says as he squeezes Ben’s shoulder affectionately. Ben looks pleased for a moment then starts grousing, poking Warren’s arm with a long, pale finger.

“You still need a new PC. There’s only so much I can bloody do with hardware that’s older than the dinosaurs. You should back up your important files to my private server just in case it decides to take a crap again and I can’t fix the bloody thing. Same goes for you, boy toy.”

“If you wanted to look at my porn collection, you could always just ask. I’d be happy to send you some of my favorites,” Kyle offers breezily from where he was sprawled on the couch, engrossed in his phone. Warren chuckles as Ben’s ears go pink at the tips and mutters that he should fuck off already. Kyle was right, it was definitely cute, but he’d never admit it aloud. Warren didn’t have to turn around to know that a smug smile was plastered on Kyle’s face.

“As a thank you, how about we order something and watch a movie? Ben’s pick?” Warren offers as a change of subject just as Kyle gets up and starts gathering the empty beer bottles and cans. “What do you want to watch tonight, Ben?”

“Actually, I should go. It’s game night at Adam’s place and I have to kick some pirate booty,” Ben says after he swigs the last of the beer from the bottle and sets it on the tray.

“Can’t you skip it tonight? We’d love for you to stay a bit longer.”

“He’s right. Warren, maybe we should sweeten the deal?  Ben probably wants something nicer as his thank you than take-out. What do you want, Ben? You can have anything you want,” Kyle counters as he deposits the empties on the tray and picks it up.

“You shouldn’t offer me anything I want. That’s opening Pandora’s fucking box and I don’t think either of you will like what you find inside. Besides, you want me to miss out on Mercy’s chocolate chip cookies?” Ben asks seriously. Everyone knew Mercy made the best cookies.

“While I haven’t been interested in Pandora’s Box since I realized I like men, I would dearly love to know what Pandora has in it for you,” Kyle teases.

“Cookies, apparently. I wouldn’t put up too much of a fight, Ben. I know firsthand, Kyle always gets what he wants.” Warren deadpans and hauls Ben out of the chair and to his feet only to loop his arm across Ben’s shoulder. Warren exchanges a look with Kyle and they both turn to Ben expectantly.

“Of course I do. I got you didn’t I? Ben, I know we can’t compete with Mercy’s cookies, but can I tempt you with something else? We should take you to that nice steakhouse! That’s the place I took Warren for our first date, and the steaks are amazing.” Kyle sets the tray back down and slides between the two men, wrapping his arms around their waists. He’s tiny between them, just tall enough to just reach their shoulders. He turns his face towards Ben and gives him his best pout, “Please, Ben?”

“Your pouty face won’t work on me, luv,” Ben says with a laugh as he tweaks Kyle’s nose.

“It was worth a try. Tomorrow night, then? You, me, Warren, and the best steaks you’ve ever had. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy being in the middle of this werewolf sandwich,” He says lightly. He winks broadly at Ben then leans his head back to expose his throat as he bats his eyes coquettishly at his mate.

Warren can’t resist leaning down to steal a deep kiss. When he lifts his head, Ben is watching. Again. He suddenly feels acutely aware of how intimately close Ben is. He clears his throat and looks sheepishly at the younger man, “Sorry, Ben.”

“Don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying the show,” he responds, all toothy grin and innuendo. There’s a very slight yellow tinge to Ben’s blue eyes and he holds Warren’s gaze a moment too long before dropping his eyes down to look at Kyle.

“I don’t know if you can handle the full show, Ben,” Kyle replies automatically, head turning from Warren to look up at Ben with a saucy grin. Kyle doesn’t seem to notice the yellow in Ben’s eyes as he leans his head against Ben’s chest with a laugh, “Teasing you is too easy.”

It dawns on Warren that they’re skirting a very dangerous line.  He has the urge to reel Ben closer, to bite him or kiss him, maybe both, and then do the same to Kyle. Both options stir something deep in his belly and he doesn’t want to acknowledge the feeling. The tension between the three of them is stretched tight, like a tightrope that’s ready to snap under too much weight. One wrong move and they’re going to fall. He’s not sure if they’ll survive it.

“You shouldn’t tease werewolves, Kyle, they might bite,” Warren says suddenly to break the tension, as he disentangles himself from the embrace. With a mock growl he tickles Kyle’s sides, just hard enough to elicit a squeal and a reflexive jump from his mate. Kyle wriggles away from Warren’s tickling hands as fast as he can and suddenly, the tension between them is gone and normality resumes.

“That’s right, you don’t want us to bite you,” Ben says as if coming out of a daze, and turns to gather his toolkit from the computer desk. “I’m going to get out of here, but tomorrow you’re both taking me out for this magical steak. It better be as good as you say it is.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll love it. Six work for you?” Kyle says while grabbing the tray stacked with empty beer bottles.

“Thanks again for fixing my computer, Ben. I truly appreciate everything you do for us,” Warren offers, clapping Ben on the shoulder. They head downstairs and Kyle drops the tray into the kitchen while Ben pulls his boots out of the pile of shoes next to the front door, slipping them on quickly.

“We’ll see you here at six. I’m sure Kyle will want us to all go in his Jag.” Warren grabs Ben’s coat from the closet and helps him put it on.

“Damn straight, we’re taking the Jag,” Kyle says as he comes into the foyer and wraps Ben in goodbye hug. “You should have just told him it was past the point of being fixable, but I forgive you. Really, Ben, thank you.”

“No problem,” he replies, gently hugging back then reaching for the door knob, “It’s the least I can do for you guys. I’ll make sure to think of you later when I’m eating Mercy’s cookies and kicking pirate booty. Yarr!”

Warren wraps his arms around Kyle as they watch him get in his red Chevy truck and drive off. Warren huffs a sigh into Kyle’s hair and nuzzles there for a moment. They needed to talk about what just happened upstairs, but Warren was damned if he knew how that was going to go. He’d need to apologize to his mate for the near indiscretion, if nothing else.

“Warren, baby, what happened upstairs? I thought for a second you were going to kiss Ben senseless.”

“I really don’t know, Kyle. I thought I might, too, and I don’t know why. I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again,” Warren admits quietly, feeling ashamed of his lack of control. Kyle turns in his lover’s arms, and reaches up to cup his face and look Warren in the eyes until he continues, “You know I love you more than I thought it was ever possible to love another person, and I am yours for the rest of our lives, but for a moment… I don’t know what I was thinking,”

“It’s okay. I’m not angry. Things got out of hand and it happened. We were flirting and it escalated until you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. I’m partially to blame for that, and I’m sorry, too. I’m just wondering if we’re as monogamous as we thought we were. I thought the whole “werewolf mates” thing put a permanent kibosh on threesomes.”

“Huh. I wonder about that, too. If anyone else touched you, I would probably lose my mind, but Ben, though...”

“I know that, baby. I feel the same way. Ben is… unique… in that has managed to worm his way into our lives so completely that this was bound to happen eventually. He needs to get laid. “

“You think so? You know even having this conversation is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. He’s been broken for a long time, he has issues with touch, hell, and we don’t even know if he’s even really into men.”

“He’s more into men than I think any of us realizes, including himself. Or he’s really into us since we’re safe and he trusts us. Either way, I think he really wants to watch us make love, maybe even do some kissing and light petting, but you’re right about the touch issues. I can’t see that going well.”

“No, I can’t see that ending well, either. Can we forget this happened for now?” Warren asks as he drops kisses on Kyle’s beautiful face.

“So I’ve lost my chance at being the creamy center of a werewolf sandwich?” Kyle mock pouts and bats his eyelashes seductively.

“You’re a menace. I’m going to drag you upstairs and make love to you until the neighbors complain about the noise,” Warren says, kissing Kyle like he was a starving man presented with a feast.

“Mmmm… yes, please? But what about Ben?” Kyle asks as he starts to unbutton Warren’s shirt.

“He’s going to have to deal with the noise, too.”

“I meant about what happened today. We’re basically sweeping it under the rug without any resolution or plan.”

“How about this? If Ben continues to get his life together and gets to a place where we think he can handle us taking him to bed, we’ll revisit this. Until then we’ll be careful that this doesn’t happen again. Do we have a deal?”

“Sounds like a solid deal to me. Now carry me upstairs and show me just how you plan on making me scream.”

“Will do, Darlin’.”

[mikegranich87]

Windows 11 review: Microsoft’s most pleasant OS—until it isn't

What's the point of Windows 11? With Windows 10, Microsoft had to make a big course correction from Windows 8, an ambitious yet flawed attempt at bringing PCs into the touchscreen era. Before that, Windows 7 was meant as a palate cleanser to help us forget about the bloated mess that was Vista. Given that Windows 10 was already pretty polished when it launched, and only got better over time, why the need for a whole new version?

After testing early builds for months, as well as the shipping release this past week (here's how to nab it yourself), it's clear that Microsoft isn't actually trying to fix much with Windows 11. It's basically a fresh coat of paint on top of Windows 10 (and likely a last-ditch attempt at rebranding the defunct Windows 10X.) But the more I use it, the easier it is to see that small design tweaks can go a long way. Windows 10 was laser-focused on productivity; it aimed to make you as efficient as possible. Windows 11 goes a step further: What if being productive was also pleasant and oddly relaxing? Windows, meet mindfulness.

What's new

At first glance, Windows 11 may seem like a radical departure from Microsoft's typical desktop template — an aesthetic that hearkens all the way back to Windows 95. The taskbar is still around, but now all of your icons are centered by default. The Start menu is back with a redesigned look featuring pinned and recommended apps (you can also hit All Apps to see everything you've got installed). RIP, Live Tiles — nobody ever used you.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

This refreshed look extends throughout Windows 11: App windows now have rounded corners; icons, Windows Explorer and the Settings app look sharper than ever; and even the sound effects have been cleaned up. This is Windows at its most refined. To put it uncharitably, though, it also seems a lot like macOS. But fret not, Windows diehards: You can still shove the entire taskbar back to the left side of the screen. (Editor’s note: Where it belongs.)

Microsoft has also reworked system tray, for better and worse. Hitting the date and time brings up your notifications and calendar, while clicking on the volume or networking icons makes the new action center pop out. It’s similar to the system shortcuts in Windows 10, allowing you to change Wi-Fi networks, enable airplane mode and quickly change your brightness and volume. You can also easily reach some accessibility tweaks, like enabling the magnifier or color filters. Everything looks sleeker than Windows 10, though some options are gone entirely, like the ability to turn Night Lite settings on and off.

Windows 11 also marks a major return for widgets: bite-sized apps that also appeared in Windows 7. You can reach them by hitting the widget button in the taskbar, but frankly, I found them useless. These days, I don’t need a glanceable screen for my calendar, news and mail, not when my smartphone is always within reach.

Microsoft

Less noticeable than the taskbar changes, but still important, is the new Windows Store. It looks cleaner, with a left-hand navigation bar and multiple panes for individual app entries. I'd wager Microsoft just wanted to keep those install and purchase buttons in clear view at all times. Windows 10 is also getting the same Store app eventually, so it's not really an exclusive for the new OS. Eventually, we'll also see Android apps in the Microsoft Store, but it's unclear when that's happening.

Similarly, Windows 11 ships with the latest Xbox app, but that's also available on Windows 10. You'll still want to upgrade for the best overall gaming performance, though, as Windows 11 will be the only way to use Microsoft's DirectStorage technology on PCs. Whenever that does land it should dramatically speed up load times (assuming you have a compatible GPU and SSD) just like the Xbox Series S and X.

Microsoft

Calm from the start... mostly

On a new PC, Windows 11 welcomes you with a series of setup screens that feel like you're flipping through a spa brochure. Log into your Wi-Fi (or plug into Ethernet), enter your Microsoft credentials, and maybe grab a cucumber water while you wait.

As with Windows 10, you can choose to disable advertising IDs, which prevents ad tracking, and opt out of sending diagnostic information to Microsoft. But there aren't many other choices you'll have to make; the setup process basically runs on autopilot until you see the new desktop.

It's worth noting that Microsoft has made setup more restrictive for Windows 11 Home users: Both an internet connection and Microsoft account are required. You won't be able to set up a local user account, or use your computer at all, until you meet those requirements. Windows 11 Pro users won't have that limitation, which is good news for IT professionals and power users. But it could be frustrating for people without reliable internet access of their own.

(As of last year, the FCC said around 14.5 million Americans don't have steady broadband, defined as at least 25Mbps download speeds and 3Mbps uploads. Recent figures from Data Reportal say around 40 percent of the world's population are offline. Microsoft is probably assuming that the majority of its potential customers won't have an issue finding internet, but that goes directly against the company's moves towards increased accessibility.)

I'd expect many consumers will be upgrading their existing Windows 10 systems, rather than setting up a new computer. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't have a way for me to upgrade my PC with a final Windows 11 release. Based on what I've seen with the latest Windows 11 Insider previews, though, moving to the new OS appears to be very similar to installing a major Windows 10 update. On a Surface Laptop 4 I had lying around, the upgrade process took around 15 minutes after downloading the new OS via Windows update.

You're going to have a tougher time if you own an older PC that doesn't meet Microsoft's hardware requirements. You'll need a compatible Intel, AMD or Qualcomm processor; 4GB of RAM; and at least 64GB of storage. Also, you'll have to enable Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module), features that should make it harder for spyware and malware to attack your OS. Microsoft's PC Health Check app can help you see if your system is ready for Windows 11.

If you don't meet the upgrade requirements, you can download a Windows 11 ISO and install it manually, a method that bypasses Microsoft's CPU restrictions. Still, you'll need to be savvy enough to create a boot disk and deal with a more complex installation. Another caveat: manual installations may not receive some future Windows Updates, according to The Verge. (It sounds like Microsoft hasn't decided how restrictive it wants to be just yet.)

If you've built your own desktop PC, I'd suggest bracing yourself for additional upgrade complications. Microsoft's Health Check app initially said that my system — powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor, an ASROCK motherboard and 32GB of RAM — wasn't compatible with Windows 11. It turned out I needed to enable the AMD TPM 2.0 module and Secure Boot in my BIOS. But once I did all that, my system couldn't boot into my Windows 10 installation.

After a bit of sleuthing, I learned that I needed to convert my Windows 10 installation disk from MBR (Master Boot Record) to GPT (GUID Partition Table). So off I went into the command line to run some strings and pray for my Windows installation's safety. Five sweat-soaked minutes later, I rebooted and saw my trusty Windows login screen. Whew. From there, I was able to proceed with the Windows 11 Update as normal.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with a Windows 10 installation on an MBR disk — that was the standard on older computers — so I'm hoping Microsoft eventually bakes that conversion into the entire Windows 11 setup process. I can't imagine average consumers trying to figure out command line prompts without wanting to throw their PCs out the window.

Microsoft

In use: A new look, new frustrations

Windows 11 is nice to use. Pleasant, even. Windows 10 wasn't ugly, but Windows 11's focus on design leads to a more refined experience at first. I enjoyed having color-matched themes. The new Settings app is a dream; it's actually easy to find things for once! I genuinely love the new automatic window snapping, which lets you shove an app to a particular area of your screen by hovering above the maximize icon. Even better, snapping a few apps together creates a group that you can easily revisit in the taskbar.

That facelift doesn't come at the expense of performance, either. Windows 11 feels just as fast as Windows 10 on all of my test systems. But I'll be more interested to see how it performs on PCs older than five years, which is about the cut-off for Microsoft's upgrade requirements.

As impressed as I am by the design changes, a part of me feels constrained by the new OS. No matter where you place your taskbar icons, for example, you won't be able to see app labels anymore. Microsoft has been pushing an icon-focused taskbar since Windows 7, but you always had the option to turn on labels, so you could see what was in an app window before you clicked on it. Dealing with that loss is the single biggest hurdle I had with Windows 11.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Now it takes me multiple clicks to find a specific Chrome window, or to locate an email I popped out of Gmail. Icons just aren't enough. I can understand why Microsoft took away labels: They make your desktop look chaotic. It's not nearly as zen as a simple line of high-resolution pictures.

But as a Windows user, I'm used to chaos. I was shaped by the instability of Windows 3.11; I learned to tame Windows XP as an IT admin; and I was there at the Windows 8 launch in Spain (an event that seems cursed in retrospect). Even after all of that, I'm still primarily a Windows user. If chaos can make me more productive, I embrace the madness. Sadly, Windows 11 doesn't give me that option. It just wants me to relax, damnit.

To be fair, I have similar issues with macOS. As pretty as it is, finding a specific app window can be frustrating. To mitigate that, I typically rely on Mission Control to establish hot corners that can either show me every open app, windows within a specific program, or the desktop. Windows 11 lets you set up a hot corner in the bottom right of your screen to show the desktop, but you'll have to rely on keyboard shortcuts to see open apps. (I'm still debating whether Alt + Tab or Win + Tab is better.)

After spending so much time with Windows 11, I'm begrudgingly getting the hang of the new taskbar, at least. I'd bet some Windows diehards will be similarly frustrated with the new Start menu, especially if they're used to seeing all of their apps instantly. Personally, I find the focus on shortcuts and recently added files and apps to be more useful. And as of Windows 10, I just hit the Windows key and start typing to search for specific apps. (I'm glad that's still practically instantaneous on the new OS.)

I’ve only dabbled in the Windows 11 touchscreen experience so far, but in general it feels easier to hit specific targets. Microsoft has also made apps more responsive to touch, so it’s being able to quickly expand and maximize windows feels less frustrating. You still won’t mistake Windows 11 for iPadOS, but I never expected Microsoft to go that far. This new OS is simply better for laptops that have touchscreens, and it’s far more usable for hybrid tablets like the Surface Pro.

While I've found Windows 11 pleasant overall, I'll be interested to see how mainstream users react to all of the changes. Some members of Engadget's staff initially found the new design to be ugly (some warmed up to it later), and at least one was grateful I explained how to move the taskbar back to the left. It's tough for Microsoft to make any major changes to Windows without having users throw a fit. (Remember everything that happened around Windows 8?) So I expect the initial reaction isn't going to be welcoming. Let's just say I'm glad I'm no longer in IT support for this transition.

Microsoft

So, who needs Windows 11?

To paraphrase Thanos, Windows 11 is inevitable. It's going to start rolling out to eligible Windows 10 users today, and it will ship with new PCs this Fall. Aside from re-learning the taskbar and Start menu functionality, there's not much of a reason to avoid it. The new Secure Boot requirements will make it a safer OS overall; gamers will eventually get faster loading times; and everyone can appreciate the clean new aesthetic.

It's a step forward, even if it isn't as momentous as Windows 10. It's also hard to ignore the story behind the new OS, which makes Windows 11 feel more like a way for Microsoft to save face after an embarrassing failure. In the fall of 2019, the company announced Windows 10X, an OS variant meant for dual-screened PCs. Those devices, like the intriguing Surface Neo, failed to arrive. (It's unclear if the complex new hardware was the roadblock, or if PC makers were waiting for Windows 10X to be completed.)

Microsoft announced last year that it was shifting the focus of 10X to single-screened devices, and it put the final nail in the coffin this May, when it said that Windows 10X development had stopped. A few weeks later, we got word that Microsoft was gearing up to reveal the next version of Windows, and shortly after that the Windows 11 leak occurred. On June 24th, with practically all of its new features spoiled, Microsoft officially revealed its new OS.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

In my head, I imagine the frantic meetings around Windows 10X's rocky development like something from The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. With dual-screened devices a no-show, maybe they could just repurpose that work for traditional laptops, a harried Panos Panay would say. But why even make that a separate version of Windows 10? The PC market is pretty hot right now, perhaps there's a way to capitalize on that? And at some point, someone just said "Why not just go to 11?" A stunned silence. Applause all around.

Not to sound too cynical, but releasing a new OS is an easy way to encourage people to buy new computers. That's particularly true now that we're relying on our PCs more than ever, as many people are still working and doing schoolwork from home. A new version of Windows is no simple thing, and it’ll surely get more headlines and media attention than a mere Windows 10 update. (Stares directly into camera.)

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/windows-11-review-microsoft-mindful-os-200028040.html?src=rss

[ohioload211]

Lightshot For Mac Download

Download Lightshot for free. Download for Windows. Download for Mac. Lightshot downloads. Install lightshot in your most advanced Mac OS X operating system. Capture screen images and share them via Facebook and Twitter with your Macintosh. Mac hotkey is ⇧�� 9. LightShot Download (Latest) for Windows 10, 8, 7 – This LightShot App installation file is absolutely not hosted on our Server. Whenever you click the “ Download ” hyperlink on this web page, files will downloading directly from the owner sources Official Website.

Screenshots come in handy to show something that’d be harder to explain in words. You may have spotted them in tutorials, software reviews, tech support troubleshooting, or when you want to share your screen image and save snippets that you can’t easily print.

While you can take a screenshot on your computer using the native screen capturing tools and keyboard shortcuts, a time comes when your requirements get more advanced. That’s when you turn to specialized screen capturing tools.

Most free screenshot tools are available for Windows. That's why we are going an extra mile to get a few good ones for Mac owners as well.

We have compiled the five free screenshot tools you can use to get you started.

Also on Guiding Tech

How to Easily Take Screenshots and Video Recordings of Your Desktop Using Snip

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1. Skitch

This screenshot tool from the folks at Evernote performs screen capture and markup among other tasks, and edit the image too.

You can annotate screenshots with arrows, shapes, text, and stamps, perform basic cropping without using an external image editor, and save them in eight formats, which includes PNG, JPEG, GIF, and more.

Also included is the camera mode feature for taking selfies with your webcam, and then dress it up with a host of editing tools including call-outs, highlights, pixellation to blur personal information and more.

After that, you can share your creations via social media accounts, AirDrop, FTP, or Notes.

Skitch isn't without its drawbacks, though. From my time with this tool, I've found that I can't open more than one image at a time to annotate or edit.

For Mac, it's also not possible to save snaps to the local drive; the export command is used instead.

Download Skitch

2. Monosnap

This free screen capturing program only lets you snap full screen or a selected area, and it comes with a few good enhancements. So what if may not have capture options as robust as Skitch? It's still mighty useful.

The few of the coolest features are a timer, auto upload selection that captures screenshots and sends them automatically to FTP or cloud storage, screen recording captures, and selfie mode.

Its powerful editor lets you annotate your image using text, lines, arrows, cropping, drawings, and even redact personal or sensitive information. If you want a sneak peek of your snaps, the Preview feature lets you do that with the click of a button.

You can also rename your snaps and keep them in order before saving them as JPG or PNG files, and share them if you want on social media.

Monosnap is available for Windows and Mac, or you can download the Chrome extension and use it in your browser.

Download Monosnap

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3. ShareX

ShareX is a free screenshot tool (for Windows), but it isn’t as simple as using the native options for Windows or Mac. If you’re able to work your way around its interface though, you’ll find an extensive array of useful tools buried somewhere in its slightly messy interface.

The lord of the rings the battle for middle-earth ii download mac. Besides the different capture techniques like choosing specific regions, windows, or monitors, you can select from a variety of shapes and capture the particular area you want.

Once you’re done, you can edit using the in-house image editor. Apart from that, the editor lets you annotate, pixelate, add text, shapes, and more to your snap.

The “Scrolling Capture” option so you can screenshot a long document in any application, or capture any web address using the Webpage Capture tool.

ShareX also lets you add watermarks, blur personal or sensitive information, copy, upload, and even shorten and share the links to the images wherever you want.

It integrates with a spread of cloud storage services, and online services like Flickr, Imgur, and more than 80 other destinations.

Download ShareX

4. Lightshot

Like Monosnap, this tool lives in your system tray until you’re ready to use it.

The app packs a miniature editor for adding notes, annotations, and highlights to your snaps. After that, you can upload them to printscm.com where you can backup and share them via links.

Monosnap is an easy to use, and lightweight but is heavily loaded. The only drawback I found is that all screenshots uploaded to the cloud are open to the public. https://ohioload211.tumblr.com/post/657066366900289536/download-discord-for-mac. So it’s easy for others whom you shared links with to access your snaps with a few tweaks to the URL.

Download Lightshot

5. Nimbus Capture: Screenshot

Nimbus Capture is a free, browser-based screenshot tool you can use on Chrome or Firefox, but also as an application for Windows and Mac.

With the help of Paragon Mac Toolbox, users can write, copy, edit or delete files on Microsoft NTFS-formatted drives from Mac or read and write files on APFS- or HFS+ formatted HDD, SSD or flash drive from your PC. Its brilliant features enable developers to access different file systems without panic switching of OSs or platforms. Ntfs paragon for mac download free.

It can capture fullscreen, an entire webpage, or selected region depending on what you want. Like other tools listed here, Nimbus Capture also offers annotation and editing tools. Also, you get a special markup tools like number stamps which can be useful for tech support tutorials or other things.

After editing the screenshots, you can print them or save to your clipboard, drive, or cloud storage for easy sharing.

A desktop version is available that offers screencasting for video recording based on the desired section of your screen, which you can access from your iOS device or the web.

Download Nimbus Capture

Also on Guiding Tech

3 Useful Chrome Extensions to Capture Screenshot of a Webpage

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Take Better Screenshots

Windows and Mac may have their native screenshot tools, but when you need more advanced features to annotate and edit your snaps, you can always choose any of the five listed here. The best part is they’re free to download and use, so you’re sure to find something that’ll fit your needs.

We’d love to hear your recommendations on other free screenshot tools you use that didn’t make it to our list. Tell us in a comment below.

Next up: Want to capture scrolling screenshots on your Mac? Here are some of the best apps to take scrolling screenshots on macOS.

Download wget for mac os. I update mac to Sierra, 10.12.3. My wget stop working. When I tried to install by typing. Brew install wget -with-libressl I got the following warning. Warning: wget-1.19.1 already installed, it's just not linked. Then tried to unsintall by typing. Brew uninstall wget -with-libressl Then I reinstalled by typing. Brew install wget. Express VPN Best for privacy. Number of IP addresses: 30,000 Number of servers: 3,000+ 3 months free with 1-year plan. Install wget on Mac OS X. In simple words, it is a command to download file from a given URL and port. Most Linux users and some windows users are familiar to this handy command download tool and on most Linux distributions it is pre-installed, but on Max OSX it. There are many alternatives to Wget for Mac if you are looking to replace it. The most popular Mac alternative is aria2, which is both free and Open Source.If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked 48 alternatives to Wget and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextTop 4 Amazing Tools to Capture Scrolling Screenshots on macOSAlso See#screenshots #macos

Did You Know

SpaceX is the first private company to build and launch its own rockets.

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Top 3 Fixes for Camera Not Working on Windows 10 PC

Lightshot Screenshot Download

If you’re looking for a simple app to capture, edit, and share screenshots, Lightshot fits the bill. Lightshot is a screenshot tool that allows you to capture a customizable image of your screen with options to easily share or upload it. It is a multiplatform program supported by Windows, Mac, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. The lightweight and simple user interface makes it a popular tool to quickly capture a screenshot and do so much more before instantly uploading it to the cloud or sharing it across Google + or social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Capture the full screen or a selected window, and let the PrtScr key screenshot the image to upload to prntscr.com and get a short url. The speed and ease of use make it useful for remote collaboration on team projects.

The fastest screenshot app on the market

Ultrasimple screen shot capture, highly efficient and reliable.

Lightshot is an excellent screenshot tool and arguably one of the best on the market. In fact, the Lightshot 2.0 free version has earned awards and contains the same core engine as Sagelight, enabling several editing functions simultaneously. It is not without its flaws, however. Let’s cover the positive aspects of this cutting-edge program.

Firstly, it is extremely lightweight. Download it in just mere seconds. Taking up very little space on your computer, the program uses few resources while running in the background. It’s the fastest way to take an easily customizable screenshot. In just two clicks, you can capture whole or part of your screen, edit it in any place, before saving it to your computer, uploading it to the cloud, or sharing it on multi-platforms. To access your screenshots, simply create an account by clicking 'sign in'. (You need a Google or Facebook account). Once you download Lightshot, just use the PrtScr key to save your screen. Press down on the mouse and voilà – SCREENSHOT. There’s no need to open the application each time. Just look for the purple feather icon at the top or bottom right-hand side of your screen. The tool provides all you need for simple, effective on-the-spot editing: hotkeys include a pen, arrow, blur and brush features, and my favorite, the rectangle! Really ideal for some instant and clear highlighting.

Another awesome feature is that by simply holding down the Ctrl key as you take the screenshot, you instantly copy the image to your clipboard. Use Ctrl+A to capture the whole screen. Paste it into Word, Paint, Photoshop etc, for more complex editing. Ctrl+S hotkey will save your screenshot as JPG, PNG or BMP. Or, click “upload” to share it with colleagues or friends, or save it on the cloud. Now cue the major negative feature.

The default setting will let you automatically upload screenshots to the cloud. Bad news. Why? The convenience of the short url comes at a sacrifice of data privacy, with anyone being able to see your image. Another drawback of this otherwise excellent software is the limited formats to store the images. Lightshot can only capture static images and does not support video. You may experience trouble changing language; be prepared to possibly reload the page with /en to get the right language.

Where can you run this program?

Lightshot is a multiplatform tool. It is available for Windows or Mac, and can operate on various browsers—Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Opera. Lightshot Chrome will work with Chrome OS or any other OS capable of running chrome. There is no Lightshot app specifically for Linux, but you can run it using Wine. It has also tested compatible with Ubuntu Linux. A mobile version of Lightshot is also available for android and iOS phones. While it is running in the background of your computer, the app will hide in your bar, with a feather-like icon.

Is there a better alternative?

Lightshot isn’t the only screenshot tool in town. Puush is a highly rated screenshot app with one hotkey combo that allows for instant, linkable screenshots. Simple but effective. Greenshot is a much-lauded app for instantly capturing images, but it cannot match Lightshot’s ability to preset the capture window size. ShareX offers itself up as a great alternative, being popular among gamers due to its ability to screenshot games and provide custom domains. Of course, before you even download an app, you can enjoy built-in features to do the job for you: the PrtScr in combination with Ctrl + Alt will allow you to screenshot everything or just the active monitor or window. As a free open source software that is surprisingly light given the features, ShareX is an impressive tool. However, at the end of the day, with its easily-located purple brush, and instant sharing, Lightshot wins on the user-friendly front.

Our take

For quick and easy image capture, and instant editing and sharing for work or pleasure, Lightshot is probably the best screenshot app on the market. Sure, ShareX has more features, or the preinstalled Windows Snipping Tools does the job, but Lightshot beats the others for its ease of use.

Should you download it?

Lightshot Download For Windows 10

Yes, but whether or not Lightshot is the screenshot app for you depends on what you need. For basic screenshots, use the built-in screenshot tool on your computer or laptop. For complex editing, check out the alternatives. For simple editing and instant sharing however, take advantage of Lightshot. The essential hot keys provide all you need for effective highlighting, and it is ultralight to run. What’s the catch? The unsecured short urls are a privacy issue (it would be great if they added a 'blur' feature allowing you to anonymize sections of your screenshot before uploading it).For easily edited screenshots, Lightshot is worth a shot!

Lightshot For Mac Download Software

Fusion download for mac. 3.2.0.0

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Connect Mac Spotify To Google Home Speaker

Download Spotify Android. Open up Spotify, Do Sign Up, and enjoy the Spotify Premium for free in your Android. Related:-Spotify iOS 14 Download. It’s that simple, you just need to follow the above steps, which are quite easy in order to download Spotify in Android. Download the latest version of Spotify for Android. Take your music anywhere. If you haven't already heard of Spotify, listen up. It's the world's go-to music. Bring your music to mobile and tablet, too. Listening on your phone or tablet is free, easy, and fun. Download spotify++ android.

If you have a speaker group created within Google Home, you can now stream to all of them together using Spotify as well. If you use the Mac/PC app, the Devices icon is next to the volume slider. Google Home can work as a Bluetooth speaker to play local music from Windows and Mac. Google Home is built with high excursion speakers for crystal clear sound and passive radiators to deliver Hi-Fi sound. https://renewsend526.tumblr.com/post/656719392956186624/get-your-song-on-spotify-playlists-for-free. Well, you can play songs from Google Play Music, Spotify, or Pandora with voice commands on Google Home. Tap Account in the top-right. Verify that the Google Account shown is the one linked to your Google Home or Google Nest device. To switch accounts, tap another account or Add another account. Back on the home screen, tap + in the top-left, then Music and audio. Select Spotify and tap Link Account, then Log in to Spotify. Google Home app on iOS, displaying the -Spotify Login- screen. Enter your Spotify User Id and Password. Once entered, tap the LOG IN button. The Spotify Account Confirmation screen then displays, which shows the name on the account to which you just logged in, and gives you the choice to either confirm or cancel (back out of) linking this particular account to your Google Home devices. Tap the menu in the top-left corner of the Google Home app. Tap Account preferences, then Linked media accounts. Restart the Google Home app and go back to Linked media accounts. Select Spotify and tap Link Account, then Log in to Spotify.

Connect Mac Spotify To Google Home Speaker Settings

Spotify Google Speaker Free

Connect Mac Spotify To Google Home Speaker App

Method 1. How to Play Apple Music on Google Home with Voice Commands

First of all, the first method introduced here requires us to download Apple Music to actual music files locally. However, the Apple Music we download with a subscription is encrypted by Apple FairPlay, so we cannot transfer them directly to Google Home for offline playback. Under this circumstance, we'll need the help of third-party software - AudFree Apple Music Converter, a professional tool well designed to help users completely remove all limitations on Apple Music and convert Apple Music M4P to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, or other common audio formats.

I have a premium account and I'm on Mac Mojave 10.14.4. Whenever I want to cast my Spotify to my Google Home speakers, it works without issue on my phone. However, whenever I try to cast from the desktop app, my speakers never show up as an option. It just shows me a learn more button on how to connect to my devices.

Select the Start button type “Bluetooth” select Bluetooth settings from the list. Turn on Bluetooth. Tap the name of the speaker or display you’d like to pair. Click the Apple menu.

Without touching the audio quality, AudFree Apple Music Converter can run at 30X speed during the downloading and conversion process. What's more, all the metadata of the media will be preserved such as artist, title, genre, year, and album art, so when you ask Google Assistant to play Apple Music, it can accurately identify the song you request. This excellent software offers a free trial of Windows and Mac version for you to convert 1 minute of each song. You can download and use it now to see how it actually works to get Apple Music on Google Home.

Connect Mac Spotify To Google Home Speaker Settings

I. How to Download and Convert Apple Music for Google Home

The following tutorial will guide you through how to losslessly convert Apple Music for Google Home with the help of AudFree Apple Music Converter. Before getting started, please make sure you have downloaded the songs in your Apple Music playlist that you wish to play on Google Home within the iTunes desktop client on Windows or within the Apple Music app on Mac.

Step 1Add downloaded Apple Music to AudFree

Open AudFree Apple Music Converter on your Mac or Windows. Click the first 'Load iTunes library' button at bottom-left corner of AudFree software and then add the downloaded Apple Music tracks to AudFree Apple Music Converter.

Step 2Set output format for Apple Music

Once all the Apple Music songs are loaded into AudFree, click on the 'audio' icon to open the settings window where you can select the output format as MP3, AAC, M4A, WAC, or others. To customize your Apple Music, you can also set the codec, channel, sample rate, or bit rate accordingly.

Step 3Convert Apple Music for Google Home

Now press the 'Convert' button to begin the converting process to make Apple Music compatible with Google Home. When the conversion is done, you can locate the Apple Music songs from the output folder and ready to transfer them and play your favorite songs on Apple Music on Google Home.

Spotify Google Speaker Free

II. How to Stream Apple Music on Google Home with Voice Commands

With the downloaded Apple Music files at hand, you are ready to stream Apple Music to Google Home with access to voice control. A traditional way to do it would be uploading the music files to the music library of a free Google Play Music account. But since YouTube Music will fully replace Google Play Music by end of 2020, we will show you how to upload your Apple Music to the YouTube Music library instead, which also works to help us achieve the same goal. Now let's take a look at these final steps.

Step 1. Upload Apple Music to YouTube Music library. Visit music.youtube.com in the Chrome browser and sign in with your Google account. Simply drag and drop the Apple Music folder to any page on YouTube Music. Or you can click on your profile picture and select 'Upload music'.

Can you follow playlists on spotify free music. Skip a track more than 6 times in an hour in a non-Pick and Play playlist. Skip ads. Listen to an album in full: you can only listen to a playlist based on an album, or add individual tracks from an album to a playlist. Skip and select songs on Pick and Play playlists. This includes a selection of 15 playlists chosen by Spotify based on your likes, as well as personalized playlists, including Daily Mix, Discover Weekly and Release Radar.

Step 2. Set up Google Home. Once the uploading finishes, open Google Home app on your mobile devices. Confirm the device and Google Home are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Tap 'Get Started', and then choose the YouTube Music account to link with Google Home. Tab OK.

Step 3. Play Apple Music on Google Home/Home Mini Now you can ask Google Home to play the Apple Music you uploaded to your YouTube Music library with advanced voice commands. Say 'Ok Google' or 'Hey Google', then say 'Play (song name), 'Play (song name ) by (artist),' 'Shuffle', etc.

@louieheat00 @AppleSupport my macbook says it’s not connected to WIFI when i can see it’s connected and apps like Spotify are working but I cannot access safari or the App store. 2020-11-13 22:37:31 @Empresssanne @parksavage34 Maybe network will be bad for spotify and apple music. U know network issues na 😂. Volvo spotify app not working. Volvo does not save information that is used in the Spotify app with the exception of locally stored data that is necessary for the app to work. Your password is never saved and if you have logged out of the app you must enter both your username and password to login again. Plan Premium Country Cyprus Device Volvo XC90 Operating System sensus My Question or Issue I used to have Spotify on my Volvo, the app requested for an update, after the update the app icon disappeared. I tried to download the app again but once the installation starts it gets interrupted and I. Its not the volume slider in spotify that you need to check but window's sound level for spotify which you can only get to through the system tray or control panel. As well as there being a system wide volume level each app playing sound also has a level and for some reason this is sometimes muted for spotify. Volvo says it is Spotify who makes the software and my problem that it looses the track what I was listening last time (and gives 'welcome to spotify' message every morning) is modem issue or spotify issue. Today I have updated the modem firmware and reinstalled spotify.

Connect Mac Spotify To Google Home Speaker App

Here's a video tutorial that shows you how to play Apple Music on Google Home with method 1 step by step.

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Planning to Keep Working From Home?The Flexispot E5 Electric Standing Desk is Essential

Flexispot E5 Electric Sit-Stand Desk

9.50 / 10

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Solidly built and with an impressive weight limit, the Flexispot E5 lacks child safety features such as a keypad lock or collision detection, but is otherwise an essential purchase for anyone working from home. 

Specifications

Brand: Flexispot

Lifting Mechanism: 3-stage dual motor

Maximum Load: 125kg (175lbs)

Colors: Seven optional desktops

Desktop Size: Up to 200x80cm

Pros

Above average weight limit

Three user-programmable height presets

Cable tray built into the frame

Cons

No safety lock

No collision detection

Buy This Product

Flexispot E5 Electric Sit-Stand Desk other

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// Bottom var galleryThumbs1 = new Swiper('.gallery-thumbs-1', { spaceBetween: 10, slidesPerView: 10, freeMode: true, watchSlidesVisibility: true, watchSlidesProgress: true, centerInsufficientSlides: true, allowTouchMove: false, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { slidesPerView: 6, } }, }); // Top var galleryTop1 = new Swiper('.gallery-top-1', { spaceBetween: 10, allowTouchMove: false, loop: true, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { allowTouchMove: true, } }, navigation: { nextEl: '.swiper-button-next', prevEl: '.swiper-button-prev', }, thumbs: { swiper: galleryThumbs1 } });

Despite the end of COVID restrictions being in sight, many have found the work from home regime to be preferable—and employers are finally starting to accept it actually increases productivity. We spend less time traveling and needn't go through the stress of a hurried daily commute.

But what it doesn't do is increase our physical health and activity levels. If, like me, you tend to flop into your office chair for eight hours, you might have considered a standing desk instead. But is standing actually healthier than sitting? I'm dubious. It might eradicate some of the issues associated with sitting for long periods of time, but it comes with its own set of aches and pains instead!

What if you could have the best of both worlds? The ability to swap between seated and standing positions at the touch of a button? Meet the Flexispot E5.

Featuring a three-stage strong dual-motor design with three memory buttons, the Flexispot E5 comes in white or black (as reviewed), with a range of desktop colors and sizes. Bored of sitting? Hit the button and stand up as your desk elegantly glides up to the perfect position.

Note: the Flexispot E5 is sold in Europe and the UK, however, the EC4 and EN1 (our review) are the closest matches on the US store, with broadly the same features and the same trusted build quality.

Delivery and Construction

The Flexispot E5 arrives flat-packed, with all the tools you need and a comprehensive set of instructions. As the desktop is an optional purchase, they arrive in separate boxes (in fact, ours came on a different day and from a different courier). We opted for the black frame with a large 140x70cm, curved brown desk top. It can accommodate up to 200x80cm desktops safely.

A quick word of warning about delivery: the E5 frame comes in a single box of around 30kg. It's bulky and very awkward to move. Those of smaller stature will need help to get it to its final destination for construction.

The sheer weight of this should convince you that it's solidly built, but the motors also come with a 3-year warranty, with 5-years for the frame.

Putting the frame together took us about an hour in total, and broadly consisted of:

Bolting the feet to the motorized legs

Loosely attaching the cable tray components (the middle section is extendable, so it can accommodate different widths of desk up to 200cm)

Attaching the cable tray to the legs

Bolting on the underframe

Plugging in the cables to the control box

The desk can then attached via a series of screws from underneath. The electric frame is available to purchase separately, but if you buy a matching desktop from Flexispot you'll find some pre-drilled holes on the underside.

However, if you don't like the look of the available desks, you can easily attach your own sourced from elsewhere. There are no special attachment points or bolt holes needed, just some screws on either side and in the middle. Swapping to another desk would be trivial.

The final step is to attach the remote control. Again, you'll find pre-drilled holes to aid you with this on the left or right side, but the cable is long enough that could place it elsewhere around the edge of the desk if you wanted.

Once you've mounted your menagerie of computing devices, you can then start neatly cabling. The Flexispot desktops come with cable cut-outs at the rear corners, and the E5 frame has a built-in cable tray on both sides. The trays are easy to remove, featuring four thumbscrews. Loosen these slightly and shift the tray a little to release it. Ensure cables underneath have enough slack to accommodate the full height transition of the desk.

This system should be sufficient for most people with a few power cables, but for those with more desktop gadget clutter like hard disks and USB hubs you may find extra cable management is still needed. In addition, one of the cable trays is almost completely filled by the motor control box, so there isn't room to run a large bundle of cables from one side of the desk to the other.

Honestly, I'm hopeless with cabling. I just have too many, and no amount of cable trays is going to help me.

In the course of the review, I also decided to move my dingy office entirely. To be specific, I claimed the spacious family living room as my new studio. Since the desk is too wide for the doorways and tiny corridors of our 1850s house, this involved completely deconstructing the Flexispot E5, transporting it upstairs, and rebuilding it. I'm pleased to report this was a painless process, with everything going back together without issue.

Build Quality

Everything about the Flexispot E5 feels premium. I found no exposed metal burrs on the durable powder-coated steel frame, bolts went in smoothly, and there were no alignment issues.

My only slight disappointment with the overall build quality was the desktop itself. For some reason, I had the impression that it would be solid wood, and the color is a little more orange than it appears online. On close inspection, the surface is clearly printed and laminated on—you can see the pattern dithering from the printing process. In fairness, no part of the sales page actually states it's "wood" at all, so that's entirely my mistake. It appears that Flexispot does sell solid wood desktops elsewhere in the range, but not as a bundle with this frame. Again though, there's nothing tying me to a Flexispot desktop, so once this desk starts to wear, it can easily be replaced.

On the highest standing position, I experienced a very small amount of wobble, but only because I tend to be quite a "furious" typist and a little heavy-handed. Even so, I never found it distracted me from work. For most people, this desk will be rock solid.

Weight Limit

With two powerful motors, the flagship E5 desk has a maximum weight capacity of 125kg (275lbs). It just so happens that I weigh 110kg (242lbs)... I think you understand what had to be done. Please don't try this at home, kids.

Soon, I was lying down and touching the ceiling. Although noticeably slower on the upward trajectory, the Flexispot didn't sound like it was struggling.

It then spent the new few weeks with a 55" TV on it. This isn't nearly as heavy as I am, but still quite a load, and probably more than most people would ever put on it.

After a month of daily use, and testing it to the weight limit a number of times (what, you think we only rode it once?), the motors show no signs of wear, and motion is as smooth as when it arrived.

Suffice to say, most people shouldn't have an issue with heavy loads.  The weight limit is well above competitors' models. The only time you might need to consider it would be if you planned to use a large, thick, solid wood desktop, with multiple monitors. In that case, it might be worth doing some sums beforehand.

Also: please don't actually sit or lie on your Flexispot E5! It's my job to do the dumb stuff so you don't have to.

Adjustable Height

The Flexispot E5 goes from 62 to 125cm(24.4 to 49.2 inches) at a maximum speed of 3.8cm/s. There are buttons for manually adjusting the height, as well as three user presets. Simply set the desired height, then press the M button, and the number to store that preset. Press the numbered button again at any point to recall the position.

It's extremely easy to operate, but it's worth noting that the motors are rated for a 2 minute on and 18 minutes off cycle. That means for every hour of use, you should spend no more than 6 minutes moving the desk up or down. In typical use, you won't be anywhere near that, so it's not something you would normally need to worry about. After all, it only takes around 15 seconds to move through the full height range.

However, I mention it because there are no specific child safety features. Other than turning the switch off at the wall socket, there's no way to lock the keypad and prevent little hands from playing with the controls. There's also no collision detection as far as I can tell. The motors are strong and will crush anything squishy if it happens to get caught.

If you often find your child has crawled their way onto your desktop, this could obviously be a problem. Or if your child is regularly pressing random buttons, you'll need to secure your office in other ways. Alternatively, the Flexispot E7 has both anti-collision, and child safety lock, for around £40 more than the E5.

You might be wondering what the "A" button on the keypad does: it's an alarm, to remind you to move about. It sounds remarkably like my microwave oven, which can be a little confusing. Don't worry though, it's entirely optional. If you do want it, the alarm can be set anywhere from 1 to 99 minutes using the up and down buttons (and remembers the time, so you needn't set it again if you work in set blocks). It could also be useful for productivity systems like Pomodoro.

Should You Buy the Flexispot E5, and Will It Actually Improve Your Health?

The great thing about an electric standing desk—particularly the Flexispot models with built-in position memories—is that they make it effortless to swap between seated and standing positions.

At £360 for the frame, or £450-500 with a bundled desktop, it's also great value for money. The closest competitor to the Flexispot E5 is the Ikea Bekant. Although slightly cheaper (in a similar black frame with oak veneer desktop), it has no preset memories, which means a bit more fiddling to get the right height each time. It's also rated for significantly lighter loads at 75kg, which limits it to small desktops.

I'm not convinced that standing has any health benefits compared to sitting, and users who switch to standing desks often ended up reverting after less than a week. If your work involves just a laptop, then relocating yourself as and when needed isn't an issue. But for anyone using a full-size keyboard, a monitor, or with plenty of attached accessories, this isn't practical. An electric sit-stand desk makes a lot more sense.

Safety might be a concern though. Anyone with small children, or those that can't understand boundaries, may want to pay a little more for the Flexispot E7, which does come with a child safety lock and collision detection to prevent squishing of body parts.

While you're here, it's also worth mentioning the Flexispot under-desk bike. Pictured below is actually the original Deskcise Pro Bike, which has a small desk attached to the front. I've removed that and just use the bike portion. The desk-less model is newly launched in the US and a perfect pair with a standing desk. It should be launched in Europe soon.

During my month of testing, I've found I'm a lot more active overall. Not because I'm standing up most of the time, but because the act of swapping to each position encourages me to get up and move around—perhaps go and shoot some videos. With just a seated desk, I find it all too easy to simply procrastinate the more physical tasks, and opt to just respond to a few more emails, or write a little more.

If you're planning to keep working at home, even part-time, the Flexispot E5 is an essential buy.

Planning to Keep Working From Home?The Flexispot E5 Electric Standing Desk is Essential published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K: Highest Resolution Budget Resin 3D Printer Yet

Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K

10.00 / 10

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With a larger than average build-plate and 4K resolution output, the Sonic Mini 4K simply produces the best prints we've seen yet from a budget device.

Specifications

Brand : Phrozen

XY Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (4K)

Build area: L5.2 x W2.9 x H5.1 in

Light Source: 405nm ParaLED Matrix 2.0

Layer Thickness: 0.01-0.30mm

Printer Size: L9.8 x W9.8 x H12.9 inches

Pros

Incredible print resolution

Industry-standard ChiTu firmware

Larger than average build plate

LCD monochrome screen for fast layer exposure times

Cons

No network connectivity

Buy This Product

Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K other

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The Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K is a desktop-sized, budget resin 3D printer with phenomenal print quality, thanks to a 4K monochrome LCD screen. It's also fast, needing as little as two seconds per layer. If you thought resin 3D printers were already incredible, the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K turns the dial up to 11.

This Isn't a Kickstarter

It's a shame I even need to add this note, but given the number of failed Kickstarters nowadays, I will anyway: this isn't a crowdfunding campaign. The Sonic Mini 4K is shipping from the end of September, and can be pre-ordered now directly from the Phrozen website or any number of retailers worldwide. Phrozen isn't new to the world of 3D printing, so you should have no concerns about a product actually being delivered. Phrozen is, in my opinion, one of the top three brands in the consumer resin 3D printer market, and the Sonic Mini 4K is the evolution of their original Sonic Mini.

Sonic Mini 4K Design

The design of the Sonic Mini 4K has changed little from the original Sonic Mini, and in fact, resembles nearly every other desktop resin printer in this price range.

With a footprint of just under 10 inches square, 12 inches height, and weighing 5KG, this compact printer can comfortably sit on the corner of any desktop.

A translucent brown acrylic cover protects from dust and sunlight, and must be lifted off fully to get to the print area–there is no hinged lid or other convenience. The machine arrives fully assembled, but you must perform manual bed leveling before you can print.

Leveling involves removing the resin vat (secured with two thumbscrews on either side), and unscrewing the build plate so it sits loosely on the Z arm. Then place a sheet of paper on the screen, and power on the machine. Locate the "zero" button in tools, allow it to move down to screen level, and press down on the build plate such that the paper can't move. Tighten the bolts, and you're done. The build tray should move back up, then you can re-attach the resin vat. These steps sound more complicated in writing than they actually are, but it's an essential step that you'll probably only need to do once. If you skip this step or allow one side of the build plate to be a bit higher than the other, you'll have failed prints, so take the time to get it right.

A fully metal resin vat and Z-axis lifts the Sonic Mini 4K above some cheaper printers, but also isn't uncommon in this category nowadays. Again though, this is an improvement over the previous Sonic Mini, which featured a colorful plastic tray.

A 2.8" touchscreen is also typical and required since there is no network connectivity. All designs must be loaded in using the USB port on the side.

A full set of tools is provided in the box: plastic spatula, metal scraper (though I'd recommend actually not using this, as it tends to scratch the build plate), and a hex key to tighten the four bolts that hold the build plate to the chassis.

What does stand out is the larger than average build plate. Compared to other printers in this class, the 135x75mm allows you to pack more in. However, the total build height of 130mm is actually a little smaller than other printers.

That said, for most purposes, you won't need height, but you can always use an additional tray space to print more at once. The Sonic Mini 4K seems to be aimed directly at those printing a lot of small, highly detailed miniatures, jewelry, or perhaps dental work. If you need the height to print, say, tall vases, this isn't for you.

In terms of detail, the 4K resolution screen results in an incredible 722PPI (pixels-per-inch), while a minimum layer height of 10 microns results in the highest detail we've seen yet.

Of course, we expect other manufacturers to follow suit soon, but for now the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K sets a new standard in budget printing, and ships at the end of September.

The Need for Speed

Requiring no more than 2 seconds per layer, you can pump out a full tray of little miniatures in less than 3 hours, such as these pictured below, which were printed at 0.05mm layer thickness.

If you're wondering, pictured above are the latest Valour Korps minis from Maker's Cult, which you'll find on Patreon and CGTrader. I spray primed them, and started painting with some Games Workshop Contrast, just to highlight the details.

This speed is enabled through the use of a monochrome LCD display, which allows a greater intensity of light through compared to color LCD displays. More UV getting through to the resin results in a faster cure. This is in combination with a 405nm ParaLED Matrix 2.0, for smooth and even light distribution across the screen.

Is This a Revolution in 3D Printing?

The Sonic Mini 4K isn't so much a revolution, as an iterative upgrade on the original Sonic Mini. That's not to diminish the significance of a 4K screen and fast monochrome LCD– those result in incredible quality prints, for sure. But in every other aspect, the Sonic Mini 4K doesn't innovate.

It runs the same industry-standard ChiTu firmware as nearly every other resin printer on the market, so the workflow will be familiar to anyone with experience in 3D printing. For those new to ChiTuBox software, this boils down to load in a model, position it as desired, and add supports (either manually, or using the automated profiles). Then slice (the process of splitting the print into thin layers), and save to disk.

The fact it uses off-the-shelf software isn't a bad thing (quite the opposite in fact, given the huge support community you'll find out there) but does limit any innovation Phrozen might have performed to the hardware side of things only.

There is no Wi-Fi built-in, so you still need to copy your files to a USB drive and physically manipulate the touch panel screen in order to initiate a print.

The design is all metal, including the resin vat, leading to more reliable prints and greater durability, but it's certainly not the first printer to feature that.

Should You Buy The Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K?

The Sonic Mini 4K is fast, reliable, and produces incredible prints. I can't find fault with anything in particular, so if you need a tiny bit more detail from your prints, it's certainly worth considering. It's an iterative upgrade for sure, but a significant one none-the-less.

However, if you're new to resin printing, you could probably get away with something even cheaper and still get satisfying prints. At least, it might be worth starting with something cheaper just to see if resin printing is right for you.

Is Resin Printing For You?

The print quality you can get from resin printers is generally stunning, and the Sonic Mini 4K even more so.

But if you're new to 3D printing or specifically to resin printing, there are some other factors you may want to consider before investing in one.

Like all resin printers, the FEP film on the base of the resin vat is a consumable and will cost around $10-15 per sheet to replace (as well as some effort to actually swap it out).

The screen will also need to be replaced after about 2000 hours–though this is longer lasting than the previous generation of color screens. A new screen costs around $90 for the Sonic Mini 4K.

You'll need some 99% isopropyl alcohol to wash excess resin off of your prints. That's about $30 for 5L, though prices vary wildly at the moment since everyone realized it was the main ingredient of hand sanitizer.

Then you'll need some sort of UV curing device. I picked up a simple nail curing station for around $30, but it's not ideal. A proper cure and wash station can cost a few hundred dollars.

And you'll probably want some disposable gloves, and various tissues.

Resin printing is messy, can be dangerous, and involves a lot of effort post-processing your prints. If you're not prepared for the mess or effort involved, but want to learn about 3D printing anyway, a filament-based FDM printer might be better (though the results you'll get it out of it aren't comparable). Read our complete beginner's guide to 3D printing.

  Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K: Highest Resolution Budget Resin 3D Printer Yet posted first on grassroutespage.blogspot.com

[danyelle756games]

How many gigs of ram for a gaming pc

On the net Gaming Weblog

Twitter is where game publishers, the gaming media, common game streamers and entertainers, esports leagues, teams, players and commentators interact with their most engaged fans and with one particular a different. So what is with the lack of inclusion in the gaming world? In addition to the usually hostile globe of desktop and console games (see the GamerGate controversy as just a single instance), there is nevertheless somewhat of an sector perception that women merely never play video games. But, that is far from correct - ladies are essentially gaming far more than ever before, especially on mobile.

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Oh dear lord, to answer this query I had to quit myself from cheating and counting one of the stories I wrote in the past. My greatest hobby, in addition to gaming and acting, is writing. Ahead of I started writing this blog, I made use of to write a lot of fantasy stories on paper. I have a couple of binders full with story suggestions and pitches for rather fascinating stories.

I got into action games late but when I did it fully changed how I viewed gaming forever. The game which brought me round was Viewtiful Joe. Right here was a game with a deep and open-ended combat program which seemed to be built as a means for the player to express creativity. This technique is then pitted against opponents and obstacles which were created from the ground up to interact meaningfully with the core program. The course was fixed, but the method for dealing with that course was absolutely down to the ingenuity, skill and inspiration of the player. You play like you have a large audience watching and the game consistently entices you to increase the focus is not just on having the player from A to B, the focus is on getting the player to play Viewtifully”.

Persons are gaming on tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, consoles and lots of other devices. This is the ideal time to take a plunge into the gaming market. If you are not a game developer it does not imply you cannot make some profit from it. Overall, developers are searching into far more methods on how to market their games and this is exactly where you can turn into the subsequent large player.

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Get Rid of GAMING For Good

The Atlantic Gaming Desk is a piece of steel furnishings that's particularly built for today's modern How to start a gaming blog rouron gamer or even a dwelling workplace owner. Its sturdy legs come completely integrated with cup holders and other attachments that are simply fantastic for organizing a selection of your laptop accessories and peripherals. The Atlantic Gaming Desk also attributes a special cable management technique that organizes the diverse wires and cables that your devices possess. There is a charging station, a monitor stand, game storage rack, game controller hooks, gaming speaker trays, and a entire lot more. Its padded feet will not also scratch your floor.

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So, to aid you monitor and fix these concerns, we've chosen some wonderful WordPress Gaming themes we can personally propose. They are hugely accommodating to a wide range of purposes for your internet websites. For your convenience, we've highlighted all their core options, places of usages and necessary elements for these amazing gaming themes. Moreover, the list also contains exceptional free of charge WordPress gaming themes so you can start off your gaming web page with minimal fees. So devoid of additional ado, let's take a appear at our list of each premium WordPress Gaming Themes and free Gaming WordPress themes.

These numbers can surely differ per study, but it does look like the quantity of female serious gamers are on a downward trend. The final time we checked in females have been closer to 45%-48% of gamers. We can speculate as to why this is. Possibly females are less fond of the emergence of the eSports trend. Probably females are feeling much less integrated in gaming forums and on-line communities soon after the harassment accusations of the last handful of years. Possibly they are just far more drawn to other entertainment industries, but this is absolutely a trend to continue watching.

The gaming business saw a quantity of thrilling developments in 2016 touching on distinctive elements of the sector. Gaming technologies is developing in pretty fascinating ways. The lengthy promised revolution of virtual and augmented reality moved closer to realization. The mania around Pokémon GO with its mass market place appeal and utilization of mobile phones introduced untold millions to the potential of augmented reality. With its launch in India and South Asia it has become the poster child for the possible of mobile games provided its sophisticated technology and the huge international smartphone penetration.

However, there is no have to have to do an net search or study the most current in anonymous game reviews. Beneath, we have collected the top 30 mobile gamer blogs to assistance place you in touch with the most up-to-date and greatest in gaming, along with strategies for what to get subsequent, how to beat it, and what to remain away from. Whether or not for the most recent iPhone or classic Gameboy, there are loads of mobile gaming blog entries for everybody.

We use our GeForce Practical experience servers to figure out the best good quality settings primarily based on the user's CPU and GPU, and target higher frame prices than 'normal' optimal settings to make sure the lowest latency gaming expertise. These settings are automatically applied when the game is launched so gamers do not have to be concerned about configuring these settings themselves.

[learninglcom]

Learning Electron: Build Desktop Apps using JS+HTML+CSS

Learning Electron: Build Desktop Apps using JS+HTML+CSS

Mastering electron fundamentals: ipc module, basics, menus, browserWindows and much more! What you'll learn : Build Cross Platform Desktop Applications for Mac, Windows and Linux Understand the near-entire Electron API in detail. Mastering the Basics fo Electron Framework Develop both traditional single-window apps and status tray-based apps Get an Understanding about how Electron works Debug Electron Application Testing Electron Application Requirements : Should have experience of building static web pages using HTML & CSS. Knowledge of Javascript is required Knowledge of NodeJs is required Description : Electron helps us develop cross-platform applications by using existing web technologies. You don't need specific skills, for most cases, to develop apps with Electron. If you are a web developer and are interested in developing an app with Electron, then make sure you check out tutorials that will follow this article in this series. If you want your application to be available for all the platforms we talked about, you need to deploy your app using different technologies. This is very manual and time-consuming. Now, if we talk about Electron, it is obvious that this is a JavaScript-based framework. Because all the platforms support web technologies, Electron helps in developing cross-platform apps easier. Popular applications that use Electron include Visual Studio Code, Slack, and Atom Editor. Electron Features Security You don’t need to think much when migrating your existing application to Electron as the application we are creating is a desktop application and data stays locally in the system. Because of this, you can ensure data security. In case you need to store data in the cloud, check whether your cloud network has enough security functions beforehand to avoid any unwanted surprises. Low-Level Accessibility Before starting out, you also have to check whether all the functionalities you are providing for your desktop application are also available in Electron. In my experience, Electron provides enough control to have the extended interactive features in your application, such as Keyboard Shortcuts. It also provides low-level accessibility to the hardware and operations system components. Hardware Accessibility Developers can get complete access to the all hardware level access APIs expose over the JavaScript/Plugin. There is no need to compromise for the feature if you want to migrate to Electron. Performance Electron thrives in this aspect. If proper care is taken while developing (load only what you need), Electron can show some great gains in the terms of performance when compared to native applications. Electron saves a lot of time and provides more options to play with or develop by having a single code base for all the major platforms. These are the major problems when we deal with the native development of applications, which are all effectively solved by Electron. However, a lot of people say that Electron is very memory hungry. I agree with this statement, but only if you develop the applications without proper care. Code and App Management As a Product Owner, you don’t need to maintain different teams for each platform and you will be relieved from the hassle of re-explaining your requirements with different teams. It will also reduce the auditing work to make sure the product has the same functionality across platforms. As a developer, you need not worry about different codebases. If you encounter a bug on any platform, you can fix it at the code base. The bug will never show up on other platforms. However, you should still keep an eye on the OS level functionalities. Reusability Because we are using a single code base, it means we can use this for both web applications and desktop applications. We are, in a way, also reusing the base code across different platforms since we “code once, distribute everywhere.” Production The more known frameworks we use, the more support we get. This, in turn, gives us more open source libraries we can reuse and the decreased time to production but with more features. Deployment/Build This is one of the interesting aspects of Electron. There is an electron-packager module available that helps us bundle the whole code base into the respective packages. Although people debate that Electron takes a lot of memory, as I said, Electron needs a little care during development to avoid this. UI/UX With web technologies, you are open to multiple technologies that provide great User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) to all your users with great comfort. Also, you can be sure that you are providing the same experience to all your users across different platforms. Cost and Time You will save a lot of development time and money because, for the tech stack we use, there are a lot of developers who can do it for less and achieve good results. You can save a lot of time using the single code base and any developer can work on anything. History of Electron When we talk about any technology we need to talk a little about the history behind it. Let's briefly look at the history of Electron. Electron was founded by Cheng Zhao, during the development of Atom a cross-platform text editor released in July 2013. It was made open source, developed, and supported by GitHub using C++, JavaScript, Objective C, and Python. It was intended to make cross-platform development easier for Atom creation. Who this course is for : Anyone who wants to create compelling native desktop applications Download Torrent Read the full article