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cagestark · 5 years

Note

I’m thinking international spies AU where tony is CIA and peter is the new recruit nicknamed “the spider” and they bump into each other on a mission that’s proposed from both of their handlers, causing them to work together to lure their target (bonus points if peter’s conducting a honeypot mission and surprises tony with his “skills” then proves his nickname as one of the most deadliest things on the planet) 💗

Omg Idk if this is what you were thinking of. I got carried away. I did things I shouldn’t have. Forgive me!

Read here on AO3.

Peter is an adult, but it isn’t explicitly stated. Daddy Kink. Smut below. Human trafficking. Alcohol. Guns. Racism. Stay safe. 8.3k.

Tony is one mile out from the pick-up destination when the track phone in his pants buzzes. Shifting it free from his pocket, he takes his eyes off the scenery, content that Happy knows where they’re headed, and opens the message.

F: date compromised. someone new will be waiting at the pick up. codename ben.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tony mutters. He begins mashing buttons, longing for his StarkPhone and the extra wide virtual keyboard. This 2001 bullshit predictive texting can’t keep up with the foul things he wants to say to his handler, F. The F stands for fuck you, Tony! Obviously.

T: Negative ghost rider. I’m aborting.

F: do NOT abort the mission. ben is waiting.

“Christ on a cracker,” sighs Tony.

“Problem, boss?” Happy asks, glancing up at the rearview mirror.

“Just overworked and underappreciated, Hap.”

Happy rolls his eyes. “I know what you mean.”

Tony laughs and makes a note to himself to give the man a raise. In the ten years that he’s been doing these gigs for SHIELD, Happy has been the one constant in a sea of changing marks and methods. “Tonight is the curtain call. If I make it through this, I’m officially retiring. After that, I’d say you’ve definitely earned a raise and some vacation time.”

They arrive at the pick-up point. In his head is the image of a young woman, red haired, with an overly youthful face—he knows that SHIELD wouldn’t give him a minor as his date, that the young appearance is just for bait—but whoever she was, she isn’t the one who will be waiting. Tony doesn’t even have a picture of this guy, not even a description. He’s going to look like a fucking idiot, wandering around looking for his date.

But he needn’t worry. There standing at the curb dressed to the nines in a black tuxedo, hair slicked back, is a young man who could easily pass for 16 years old. In his fancy clothes, he looks very out of place on the grimy New York street—little fool was supposed to be waiting inside.

Happy pulls over at Tony’s request, and Tony steps out of the car. He knows how he must look: dressed to kill (literally), tinted glasses on, polished and sharp like a knife. His reputation does more than precede him. It rolls him out a red carpet judging by the way the kid’s mouth drops open and then mouths his name: Tony Stark.

“Ben?” Tony asks.

The kid closes his mouth. The lips are thin but well shaped, the eyes far too wide and gleaming, jaw defined. It looks like he is a conglomeration of manhood and boyhood, teetering on the cusp between the two worlds, and it makes him sick to know that he was probably chosen for this reason, because his boyish looks will appeal to the people at the party. Tony and the boy are nearly the same height, but Tony must have fifty pounds on him. This is who’s meant to be his help? Don’t they know the kind of job he’s heading to, the kind of danger they’ll be facing? F must hate this kid to be throwing him to the sharks like this.

“I’m Ben,” the boy says. He’s got a cute little cracking voice.

Tony holds open the door like a proper gentleman would when all he really wants to do is shut it in his face and tell Happy to drive on. Ben shuffles in and over to make room. On the back of his neck, his hairs have fought against the hold of the gel and turned into little curls. It might be the cutest thing Tony’s ever seen—fucking goddamnit.

Once they are in the car, Happy pulls away from curb. Now they are heading to q the target destination. No matter how many times he pulls these gigs, he feels as nervous as the first time. Capability has nothing to do with it, because he knows how even the most seasoned agents can slip up. Complacency kills.

“So what the hell are you doing here, kid?” Tony asks, trying to avoid how his nerves make his stomach clench tighter than a clutched fist. “We’re not headed to a birthday party. Did F tell you what you were getting into to, or did he promised you a balloon animal or a funfetti cake to dress up and hang off my arm all night?”

Ben snorts, unbuttoning the top button of his jacket. “Yeah, he’s going to make me a great big pair of clown shoes. I’m sorry—I’m just—I can’t believe it! You’re codename Iron? Tony Stark works as a SHIELD spy? Gosh, I’m such a fan. Actually, I’m feeling a little lightheaded, could we crack a window? Please, Mr. Driver, sir?”

“Happy, crack a window,” Tony says. He can’t help but be charmed. His ego—sizeable as it is—is absolutely the way to his heart. But he sees in the kid’s eyes that he means it, the glossy dazed look of a superfan. “Look, kid, I’m flattered. I just expected a more seasoned partner. Not Doogie Howser in a tux.”

The happy-go-lucky attitude slides off of Ben’s face. “I’m codename Spider.”

Tony laughs. Even Happy snorts up front, trying to cover it with a cough. If Ben is offended, he doesn’t show it, resting an elbow on the windowsill. It is just getting dark, streetlights turning on, and the warm glow against his face makes him look even more youthful.

“You’re spider.”

Ben hums.

“You’re the spy who singlehandedly stole back Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Madonna and Child from those Congressional clowns who had it stolen from the Metropolitan? The hacker who made it through SHIELD’s firewall five years ago to expose interdepartmental assassinations and turned the entire place on its head?”

“Good times,” Ben says, smiling.

Tony snorts. “First rule of the trade, kid? Lie small. Say you’re codename Shield, or even Arrow, that guy’s enough of a fucking dunce for a green boy like you to pass off. Not even a civilian off the street would mistake you for Spider—”

The blade slips out from Ben’s sleeve. When it presses against the exposed skin above Tony’s dress collar, it is warm from where it was pressed against the boy’s skin. The car swerves as Happy panics, reaching over to the console where a handgun is—

“Call him off,” Ben says softly, breath fanning against Tony’s face, smelling of peppermint.

“Calm down, Happy,” Tony says. His throat is dry, but he doesn’t swallow. He doesn’t want to give this kid the satisfaction. “If you swerve anymore, I might get my throat slit on accident.”

“Listen to me,” Ben says, adjusting his grip on the handle of the blade. His other arm is looped through the seatbelt, pulling it so tight against the older man’s chest that he struggles to take full breaths. “I’ve got nothing to prove to you. Spider, Shield, Arrow, I don’t give a fuck who you think I am. Tonight you can call me Ben. Tonight we’re taking down the biggest human trafficking ring in New York, and I’m the only backup you’ve got. Making sense?”

“Perfect sense.”

Ben pulls back and glances down. “Are you—fucking hard right now?”

“Truthfully? Painfully.”

“Jesus Christ,” Happy mutters from the front seat.

Ben laughs even as he licks his lips. “You’re a pervert. I guess you’ll play the part tonight well enough. It is just an act, right? You aren’t really in the business of buying sex from trafficked kids?”

“Don’t even joke,” says Tony, frowning. In his mind are images: kids anywhere from 8-16 being sold into sexual slavery, many of them immigrants in the United States and unable to understand English. Tony can’t imagine the fear, the pain, the degradation. “I couldn’t sleep for days after reading the file on the things that happen where we’re going. I don’t think I’ve ever accepted an assignment so quickly.”

“Aren’t you worried?” Ben asks. The mocking curve of his lips contrasts with the demure kid who climbed into the car. Obviously they lost that kid along the way, somewhere between the curb and where they are now. More than likely, Tony pushed him out the window with his foot-in-mouth disease. Manslaughter—though Tony doesn’t mind. “It will get out one way or another, that Tony Stark was at this party. People will think you really are a pervert.”

“That’s why I’m perfect for the part. Unfortunately, old billionaires do tend to be perverts. I’m sure we’ll encounter some other people there from Forbes’s Wealthiest list. But after we get the information we need tonight, I’m coming clean to the public about my after hours activities for SHIELD and heading straight to retirement. I see an island in my future, with golden sands and clear water and bottomless mimosas.”

Ben looks positively smitten and sold by the picture Tony paints. He rests his head against the headrest even though it musses his gelled hair, watching Tony’s mouth while it moves. Maybe it’s a good thing that codename Pepper was somehow compromised. The chemistry between him and Ben looks to be a two-way street. “That sounds amazing,” the kid says lowly.”

“Room for two on this island, boss?” Happy asks.

The moment shatters. “For you, Happy, always,” says Tony, though his eyes don’t leave Ben’s. “ETA?”

“Five minutes, boss.”

“Should we talk shop, Ben?”

“Let’s.”

Tony pulls out a StarkPhone from the breast pocket of his jacket. He holds it in his palm and waves a hand over it. “If the audience will take a moment to examine this ordinary looking cellphone—not so ordinary looking actually, much more streamlined than Apple and Samsung dreams of these dimensions, okay, right, sorry—you might be correct to guess that it is no ordinary cellphone!

“Your average cell has the maximum storage capacity of twenty-four to one hundred twenty-eight gigabytes. But we know that the data we’re going to be copying from the internal servers at the hotel will be much, much larger than that. Luckily, this phone is capable of holding up to a terabyte. SHIELD has estimated we’ll be pulling in about half that in gigs.

“Luckily, that won’t be much of a problem. F had another agent call ahead and the Ritz-Carlton we’ll be at boasts ethernet cables and hook-ups in each room. A cell to ethernet adapter will have us downloading that speed faster than you can say Bob’s your uncle.”

Ben smiles. “Ben is my uncle.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Ben—it’s my uncle’s name. My real name is Peter.”

Tony smiles. The kid is foolish to give his real name, especially just moments away from a place where Tony identifying him by his codename is key to maintaining their cover, but he gets it. The kid wants intimacy. He feels the connection, and he thinks that he needs to offer the information to forge it stronger. It makes Tony soft, even as it worries him.

He reaches for the boy’s hand and rubs a thumb across the knuckles. His skin is soft and smooth. “Ben,” Tony emphasizes, squeezing the smaller hand. They share a look of understanding, and he can almost see Peter slipping into character, like putting on a different set of clothes until he is BEN, shy, fifteen, probably groomed to be Tony’s sex-toy. The thought nearly makes him sick.

“Location is the biggest issue,” Tony continues. “If I didn’t need an ethernet cord, I’d go into any bathroom, lock the door, and download the files I need. But that would take hours, and we don’t have that kind of time. To work unnoticed, we’ll have to be in a hotel room. There’s only one reason why the two of us would be there. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Peter turns so red that he looks tanned in the dim lighting. He shifts, pinching the fabric of his dress slacks between his fingers to pull them away from his crotch and okay, okay, Tony’s not going to look because the kid might be in character but Tony isn’t, yet, and checking to see if the kid is hard? That’s—that’s pushing some boundaries. “Mr. Stark, if we’re in a hotel room, won’t they think we’re having sex?”

Tony swallows, throat clicking. “That’s kind of the point, kid. Hopefully it will buy us enough time to download the files we need, rumple our clothes, and skip out of there to safety. Understand?”

“Yessir,” Peter says.

The kid has incredible characterization. Tony will give him that.

“Pulling up, boss,” says Happy. From the outside, it doesn’t look like the Ritz-Carlton is hosting a party. It’s a private affair, one the public will not be privy to. Invitation only. Happy pulls up to the front and comes around to open their doors.

It’s Tony’s turn to slip into a different set of metaphorical clothes: the clothes of a disgusting, sleezy man. A predator. A monster. The persona settles like oil over his skin as he steps out into the warm night. He reaches back for Peter’s hand and the boy is there, eyes wide and trusting, lit up by the lights of the hotel.

“C’mere, baby,” Tony says. “Daddy’s got you.”

The Ritz-Carlton has two rooms for larger parties. One is a ballroom. He has been several times, and he finds that it is most similar to the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. It is large enough to hold a thousand people, with a chandelier as the focal point of the room. Every entry point is an arch with the most exquisite molding. As a man who appreciates luxury, even he feels awed in its presence, small when his steps don’t echo on the carpeted floor.

This, however, is not that room. They are ushered to an elevator that leads to the top floor. Someone checks Tony’s ID before he’s allowed entrance, but the man doesn’t even ask for Peter’s. Then they pass through a curtained off doorway and they are in. The room floor to ceiling windows giving a breathtaking view of the city. There must be a hundred people here, ladies and gentlemen decked in their finery. There aren’t any minors here—but Tony knows that’s because they are more than likely in the hotel rooms below. Waiting.

“Go to the bar and get me a drink, baby boy,” Tony says. His hand slips down over the curse of Peter’s ass and the boy blushes, nodding. “I’m going to go and greet the host.”

Peter looks so small crossing the room, always moving out of other people’s way, timid and meek. A deep part of Tony hates it—hates the meekness, hates the seed of fear it plants in his heart for Peter, even capable as he is, to be among these predators—but he pushes that part down and begins to search for Rumlow.

Rumlow owns the hotel. It is the only reason why they are here: the man is disgustingly rich and equally bold. The hotel acts as a front, a headquarters of sorts. He pimps out boys and girls in the rooms, hosts these disgusting parties in the penthouses, and (notably) keeps all the files on his clients and victims on the hotel’s encrypted server.

When Tony finds the man, Rumlow’s eyes double in size. Tony is not just the richest man here, he is the most well-known, the most likely to be recognized out in society. He’s a goddamn public figurehead—just like the Congressman in the corner. No one is disguised, no one even tries—because here is it trusted that they are among their own disgusting kind.

“Tony Stark,” Rumlow says. The men and women around him are silent, sharing anxious, excited glances. Tony Stark is in the trafficking trade! “I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d show. It happens. Someone will reach out for an invitation but be too afraid to take it in the end.”

“Poor bastards,” someone says.

Tony shakes Rumlow’s hand. It’s pure self-control that keeps him from squeezing until the sweaty fingers in his grip break. Stay in character, he urges himself.

“It’s been too long since I’ve indulged—and if there’s one thing everyone knows about me, it’s that I love to indulge.” Everyone laughs. He slips into the headspace with ease, becoming a dark caricature of himself. A warm presence appears by his side and he glances down, almost in shock, to see Peter there. He’s holding a scotch on the rocks. Tony takes it, hoping no one else notices his shaking hand. “Thanks, baby boy.”

“Who’s this, Tony?” Rumlow asks. “Introduce us.”

Peter plays the part, looking down at his shoes. Tony lets his hand slip from where it was firmly against the boy’s back, smoothing it over the curve of his ass.

“This—” he has to stop himself from introducing the boy as Peter. “—is Ben. My little amuse-bouche. He’s accompanying me tonight.”

Rumlow frowns even as another woman offers her hand to Peter, insisting he kiss her knuckles. “You didn’t need to bring your own entertainment, Tony. I keep the hotel well stocked. Can’t I tempt you with some of my wares? I have a lovely selection from Pakistan. Consider it a gift.”

“I prefer white meat.”

There is more laughter all around.

Rumlow claps him on the shoulder. “I understand. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more to your tastes. There’s another shipment coming from Latvia as we speak, maybe we can convince you to come to next season’s event?”

Tony down his scotch in two gulps even as his stomach rolls. He feels like a dragon that is preparing to breathe fire, smoke coming from his nose and ears. The pleasure he will feel watching these men and women turn to ashy bones in the clutches of SHIELD and the US government—he shivers with it. “I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Can we speak in private for a moment?”

“For you? Of course.”

They find a secluded corner of the room up against the windows and Rumlow points out Central Park, the Upper Bay, Central Park just below them. Like they’re tourists and he’s a guide in jorts on top of a double-decker bus pointing out all the important sights. Peter looks earnest and attentive, eyes huge, breath fogging the glass. Rumlow is charmed by him; Tony can tell. The hand he puts on the back of the boy’s neck could be mistaken for friendly—if it weren’t so fucking possessive.

“We were interested in a room to—play—in,” says Tony.

“A man like you must—work hard, play hard, am I right?”

“Of course.”

Rumlow disappears, talking to the man at the entry way who was checking identifications. When he returns, he has a single key-card pressed between his first two fingers. Tony takes it, wearing a grateful twist of his lips. “Listen. I told them to put some champagne in your room. On the house. No—no, I insist. How else will I make a repeat customer out of you, if I don’t spoil you? Play hard. Feel free to come back up to the party when you’ve finished. I imagine that many of us will filter in and out of the rooms until dawn.

“Oh, and Mr. Stark—please be aware that these rooms are special. Surveyed closely. I hope you understand.”

Bugged, he means. Tony hadn’t expected it, but he’ll make it work. They both will. They haven’t made it this long in this business without being able to roll with some punches.

There is a number on the keycard: 2011. They have to go down more than ten floors to reach the room, and the elevator ride might as well last a lifetime. He feels jittery as the adrenalin fades. The hard part is over, he thinks. The rest of this will be smooth as cake.

Famous last words.

“Daddy,” Peter says. The word nearly bowls Tony overs, distracts him so much that he almost misses the boy’s next words: “There’s no condoms.”

Tony stops from where he is loosening his tie. His eyes flicker to where Peter stands by the nightstand. The look on the boy’s face is covertly furious. Combined with the fact that they know the room has been bugged for audio, the atmosphere is…tense. It takes a moment for him to realize that Peter’s not talking about condoms, he’s trying to let Tony know that something else is missing.

The ethernet cord. Of course this can’t be easy. God forbid his last gig before retirement is a cake walk. He’s going to have to earn this one, blood sweat and tears.

“Well,” he says, choosing every word carefully, using both fists to throttle an imaginary Rumlow (Peter’s grin is worth how silly it feels). “We’re in a hotel. I’m sure I can find some somewhere.”

“Could we do it without them?”

Tony swallows. The double entendre of this conversation is not going above his head—probably because Tony is so short, but those are lamentations for another day—could he download 500 gigs via wireless connection? Yes, but it will take much, much longer. Which means much, much longer spent in the hotel room with his much, much younger associate whom Tony is dangerously attracted to. “We could,” says Tony slowly. “But the speed with which I’d finish might be a concern.”

“You know I don’t mind, daddy,” Peter says, lowly. The look he exudes is overtly sexual, comically so. It doesn’t turn Tony on—really. The boy sits on the bed, tosses himself backwards to lay flat. He looks good spread out on the twelve-hundred thread count sheets. Tony has even softer ones at home. Surely Peter would like those better. Suddenly, he is bouncing up off of the bed and towards the bathroom. “I’ll go freshen up.”

Once the door is shut behind him, Tony pulls out his StarkPhone. Still open on the screen is the program he ran to find bugs in the room. The 3D little model glows in each corner of the room, flashing orange, the sign for microphones. He closes the program and brings up what he plans to use to hack into the hotel’s servers. Being on the premises makes it so much easier than it might have been even if he were just outside the doors. He doesn’t bother to look through the files to see what’s what—he’s going to take all of it. Every last byte.

The phone begins his download, and a timer comes on the screen. Two hours, thirty-six minutes.

And twelve seconds.

Fuck.

Peter comes out of the bathroom with his shoes off, tie undone. He points to the phone. Tony gives him the thumbs up. Fuck yeah, Peter mouths.

On the nightstand beside the bed is a pad of paper and a pen. Peter grabs it, humming. He writes something and holds it out to Tony.

You know we have to make some noises right

Tony frowns, glancing from Peter to the paper.

Peter points upward to the microphones. He lets his eyes roll back and his jaw go slack, hips twitching forward to mimic sex in silence. Tony’s mouth goes dry. Okay, he gets it now. He gets it.

And the kid is fucking right. There’s no way that they can sit in this hotel room silently for two hours after bragging to Rumlow about coming up to play. Tony sure as hell hadn’t meant playing checkers. The program on his phone is hollowing out Rumlow’s servers like a pumpkin at Halloween time, but if it doesn’t have time to complete the download, if their covers get blown…

Begrudgingly, Tony nods.

“Do you want to undress me, daddy, or should I?” Peter asks, crossing away from Tony to sit on the white leather couch. Ben is back, voice shy and sweet.

Tony swallows. What a fucking scumbag he is, pretending like this is a chore, like this isn’t already making him harden in his dress slacks. He licks his lips, but his tongue is just as dry. Figures. “You go ahead, baby boy. I’m feeling—lazy.”

His voice is anything but convincing. Tony considers himself a masterful actor, but in this moment, faced with this young man and the unbidden attraction he has for him, he’s choking. He feels disgusting. He feels like the men and women upstairs. Across the room, Peter looks frustrated, motioning his hands, mouth moving though Tony isn’t the best at reading lips. The kid rolls his eyes and stands.

“Of course, daddy. I’ll do all the work.” The pointed look he gives makes it clear that Peter believes he’s doing all the work in multiple facets—and okay, okay. Tony will have to step up his game. He’s a veteran in the field. Time to show the kid how it’s done.

He rolls his shoulders, moving to sit on the bed. He tries to imagine a lover—older than Peter, much older—and what he would say to them if they were in this situation. His voice is lower when he speaks: “Slow, Ben. Put on a show for me.”

Peter’s eyebrows raise. He stands up and discards the tie around his neck. Then he sheds the jacket to his tuxedo, and the panic begins to rise in Tony again. He glances over at the phone and only ten minutes have passed. Jesus. Is Peter really going to undress? But even as Tony is wondering, he knows it to be true—the sound of clothes rustling is loud in the room. Maybe the microphones are cheap and can’t pick it up, but more than likely, they can. They have to keep this charade up.

But Tony doesn’t have to look.

He turns to sit on the edge of the bed and resolutely faces the wall. He can hear the dress shirt being tossed aside, and the sound of the zipper lowering is excruciating. Tony’s hard. There’s no denying it. He might not be looking, but his imagination is second to none. He imagines the kid must have muscle hidden under his clothes to be a field agent: all tight and lean and pale and soft—

“How do I look, daddy?” asks Peter.

“Perfect, baby boy,” Tony says without hesitation.

“Daddy, I know you said that I’d be doing the work tonight, but, can I ask for something?”

Tony bites back a groan. “You can ask.”

“Kiss me?”

“Of course, baby boy. Come here.”

Peter doesn’t cross the room though. They thankfully are bought a few moments of silence by the gimmick. When he dares to peak out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Peter has undressed, but is thankfully still wearing a pair of black, non-descript boxers. Still, it’s a mistake. Because whatever Tony imagined could not hold a candle to the real thing. Peter is all lithe muscle. He’s fucking cut, with abdominals that Tony never had even when he was the kid’s age and hitting the gym regularly. His skin is luminescent in the room’s lighting, endless glowing pearlescent skin that Tony can almost feel under his lips, unbearably soft and firm.

Peter sits on the couch, phone in his hands. His thumb moves like he’s scrolling the fucking internet. Beside him sits the blade he pulled on Tony in the car, joined by two others, and a holstered gun. Where the hell Peter had been hiding them, only God knew.

What the fuck is Tony worrying about? This obviously means nothing. He lets himself lean back onto the bed. It’s soft and clean, and if he closes his eyes, he can almost forget everything. The room. The microphones. Rumlow.

That’s when Peter takes it up a notch. Across the room, his breath hitches. Then he gives out a groan that goes straight to Tony’s cock. When Tony cracks his eyes open to glance across the room, Peter is looking at him. The kid smiles and winks, then goes back to scrolling on his phone. “God, yes, daddy,” he whimpers—then he holds up his phone like he’s taking a fucking selfie, lips pouting. He brings the phone back down and he nods once in approval of whatever photo he took. Then he glances up at Tony, looking irritated. “Please don’t stop.”

Yeah yeah, Tony fucking gets it. “So fucking needy, baby,” he says. The mocking tone comes easily.

“Don’t tease, daddy,” the kid whines. Tony’s eyes roll back. How the fuck can the kid be so unaffected by this?

“I won’t,” he promises, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’ll give you what you need, baby, just trust daddy.”

Peter keeps up with the noisy, breathy whines and then a sharp gasp—oh, right there daddy, yes. The groans grow in volume, moans and panting. If the kid glances over, there won’t be any way to avoid seeing how hard Tony is. Cracking his eyes open, he looks over to make sure the kid is still enamored with his phone—

Only, he isn’t.

Peter is obviously in character. His phone is still alight but held laxly in one hand that rests against the couch cushion next to him. His head is tipped back, eyes squeezed shut while he moans enough for the both of them. Panting, the white chest is rising and falling, ribs expanding rapidly, abdominals tensing and relaxing rhythmically even as Peter makes his breath hitch as if in ecstasy. The sight hits Tony in the gut, and then lower. It’s the most sexual thing he’s ever seen, and it isn’t even real. Until he catches sight of the erection tenting the boy’s boxers. Then it seems too real. Way too real.

Tony panics. He sits up, head spinning. Elbows on his knees, he presses his palms against his eyes. God, he can’t do this. He doesn’t want to do this, doesn’t want to be a pervert, but how the fuck can he help it?

“Daddy?” Peter breathes. Against his will, Tony responds to the name, glancing up. Peter is sitting up, alert, concerned. He points to Tony, makes an OK symbol with his hands. Tony can’t even reply, can’t even begin to sign how not-okay he is. The kid crosses the room almost silently. He grabs the pad off of the table, writing even as he asks. “Do you want to slow down, daddy?”

Tony’s breath shakes. He stutters. “Yeah baby. Yeah let’s—just—take our time. Okay? We’ve got all night.”

Peter thrusts the pad under his nose. What’s your deal?

Tony bats the notepad away. But the motion of his hand draws Peter’s eyes down—and down—to where Tony is hard in his pants. Peter’s mouth makes an O in surprise, then in understanding. The look he gives the older man is absolutely devilish. He puts a palm on Tony’s shoulder and even through his jacket and dress shirt, it burns right down to the bone.

Pressing so close that his lips brush Tony’s ear, barely audible, he whispers: “Do you want it daddy?”

Tony pushes him away. Peter laughs, silent. He’s still hard, and one hand comes down to wrap his fingers around his clothed erection. Tony groans. Those lips are back, tongue against the shell of his ear even as Peter’s fingers tangle in his hair, hard, holding him so he can’t flinch away. “Come on, Tony, you’ve got to do better than that.”

He pushes Tony flat on the bed and climbs him.

“Jesus,” Tony mutters, already panting. His heart feels liable to burst out of his chest, and he can’t control the helpless thrusting of his hips when Peter drags his erection over Tony’s. The kid is all hard muscle, heavier than you’d think, a solid hot weight pressing Tony into the mattress. Peter straddles Tony’s lap and plants his hands against the older man’s chest, throwing his head back and moaning like he’s having the best sex of his life.

“Please, daddy, can I undress you?”

Tony shakes his head, lips pressed tight, even though he knows that he has to open his mouth, has to respond and keep the charade going for anyone who might be listening. Then there are fingers tangling with his, prying them open from the brutal fist they’ve been curled into. Peter presses their palms together, laces their fingers. Against his will, Tony opens his eyes.

This is okay, Peter mouths. He looks softer, less sex-kitten. His smile is sweet and maybe real. I’m okay with this, he mouths, lips exaggerated to help Tony follow along. He points. Are you?

It’s that soft hand in his that convinces him, the thumb brushing against his own. Peter brings their joined hands up and presses a silent kiss to the back of Tony’s, and it’s so fucking genuine and earnest.

Tony nods. “Undress me, baby boy.”

Peter beams, all joy and teeth. He helps Tony sit up and then attacks his clothes, tie thrown over his shoulder, jacket pushed off of broad shoulders, buttons hastily pulled free. When he reaches the holstered gun that had been hidden under Tony’s clothes, he slows, removing it carefully and setting it aside on the night stand. His eagerness returns when he reaches the erection in Tony’s pants, choosing to shift back so that he can mouth at it through the fabric. Tony squeezes his eyes shut, groaning. God, the kid’s mouth burns. He can almost feel the wet heat through all the layers of silk and cotton, the rough pressure of the younger man’s tongue.

“Come on, kid,” Tony grits out, balls aching. “Undress me already.”

Peter looks up at him, mouth red and wet, eyes huge. His voice is breathy and high when he says, “Yes daddy, whatever you say.”

Tony’s belt gives a satisfying slick sound as it is wrenched from his beltloops. Peter holds the leather between both hands while looking it over from one end to the next. He tests the strength of it, biceps bulging, then snaps it against his own bare arm, letting out soft trembling breath. When he swallows, it is audible. The kid wavers between exuding sexuality and maintaining a charming naivete. Tony isn’t sure which has him wanting to blow his load more.

At last, Peter sets the belt aside and thumbs at the button of Tony’s slacks. He drags a firm thumb down the zipper which runs along Tony’s throbbing erection. Breathing through his nose, Tony struggles to keep his head clear, to not lose himself to this lust. Then Peter is pulling his pants down, dragging the silk boxers down also. The cock that springs free is nothing to be ashamed of: long, thick, and red with arousal, the head damp and sticky with precum.

“God, daddy,” Peter whines. “I want it.”

The boy slides off of the bed, hands resting on the firm, softly-haired thighs to pull Tony to the edge. His mouth is open and waiting, wet and hot and the most inviting thing Tony’s ever wanted to thrust into—but he’ll lose it. He has to reach out to fist Peter’s gelled hair, wrenching it back until his throat is exposed—and the kid still stick his tongue out, making the most pitiful, desperate noises, like if he doesn’t get Tony’s cock in his mouth it might kill him.

If anyone is going to die, it will be Tony, he thinks.

“Not yet, boy,” Tony says. Peter melts, stops straining against his grip, and Tony relaxes his hand to pet at the messed hair. “Youthful exuberance—not that I’m complaining. But some nuance would be nice.”

Peter blinks, eyes dazed. “Nuance. You—you want it slow? How can I—God, daddy, I can’t even think. I want your cock so bad. Please can I taste it, sir? Just the tip?”

Tony groans, cock jumping. He tightens his grip again and can feel the way the boy is relaxed, willing to be pulled and pushed at Tony’s whim. Through his teeth, he says: “Needy boy. Just the tip. Stick out your tongue.”

The picture the boy makes is pornographic: tongue extended, eyes closed in trust and anticipated ecstasy. Using his free hand to grip his cock and hold it steady, he brings Peter closer, smearing the leaking tip across his tongue. Mouth open as it is, there is no way he can muffle the high, helpless sound that comes out of his throat. Peter’s tongue fucking chases Tony’s cock, and Tony’s weak. He’s fucking weak. He brings it back and lets him off the leash a little so that Peter can take it into his mouth and suckle. The younger man’s eyes are still closed like this is the closest he’s come to Elysium, and the knowledge brings Tony right to the edge, balls drawing up. He pulls back again and Peter sounds wrecked.

“Daddy,” he whines, drawing out the word. “Please let me suck your cock, please? I’m a good boy, aren’t I?”

“The best boy, baby,” Tony says, voice low. “But daddy wants to play with you first. Can you be patient and let daddy have his fun?”

Peter’s eyes crack open, whiskey-brown and wet, cloudy with lust and whatever headspace he’s falling into. He hums, smiling, and crawls up onto the bed. Fit as he is, he still looks so tiny. All except for his cock which strains obscenely at the boxers he’s still wearing, the front soaked with precum.

“Lay back,” says Tony.

Peter does. His cock is even more impressive to see in this position, and it twitches under Tony’s gaze. The kid shivers, eyes heavy-lidded, watching Tony to see his next move. Kneeling onto the bed by the boy’s side, Tony hooks his fingers in the waistband and drags the underwear down, careful not to hurt the cock beneath them.

It’s average in most ways, but perfectly suited to Peter’s slim, fit body. The dusky color shows how badly Peter needs stimulation, and even as Tony watches, a pearlescent drop of cum beads up at the head and rolls down the shaft. The kid’s hips twitch upwards, desperate for the touch of a hand that isn’t even there.

“Patience,” Tony says firmly. He strokes at Peter’s hair, smoothing it back into place. The younger man closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, trying to drain the tension from his own body.

Tony trails his fingertips over the smooth forehead and down the perfectly formed nose. He lets a thumb press against the thin lips and Peter is so pliant and perfect, mouth open to suck at it sweetly and then nip with teeth. Tony flicks him for the sting and he moans, enjoying even that soft pain. Next is Peter’s throat, and Tony rests his hand there—just resting, watching how even the presence of it enflames Peter, the fit chest rising and falling more rapidly. Tony squeezes, every so gently, and that red mouth parts, the breath knocked out of the boy as if Tony were strangling him.

The skin under his fingers is smooth and burning when he drags his hand past the hollow of the kid’s throat, thumbing the harsh collarbones. He can feel Peter’s heart hammering under his palm when it reaches his sternum. To fuck with him, Tony brings up his other hand, silently, and takes Peter’s nipple between his thumb and forefinger, applying the slightest pressure.

Peter shrieks, hips jerking upwards. His babbles are nearly incoherent: “Daddy please—Daddy more, again—God please?”

Merciful, Tony pinches softly, then pulls back to drag his thumb over the peak again and again. Each time, Peter lets out a sound like he’s being killed. His cock takes on a darker hue even as Tony watches, soaking itself. It makes his mouth water, and he isn’t known for his self control—ask anyone—so he leans forward to take the neglected nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue to a stiff peak.

“Oh god,” Peter says, drawing out the words. “Oh god please, please, please—”

Tony parts his mouth and drags the firm ridge of his top teeth over the nipple—and that’s it. Peter is shrieking—oh god please touch me, I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it, please touch me, daddy—cock spurting violently. Even with the breath knocked out of him (god, he can’t breath at all, all the space in his lungs filled up with lust and Peter), Tony reaches downward to grab the twitching cock and jerks it firmly. He helps Peter through it, the boy convulsing almost violently, mouth open in a scream that never comes.

“I’m sorry daddy,” Peter whimpers. “I should have waited for you.”

Jesus, he’s sorry? “Can you go again, baby boy? Can you get hard again, for daddy?”

“Uh-huh,” Peter says through gasping breaths, nodding frantically.

Tony glances over at the end table where his phone rests—and Jesus, there’s an hour left. An entire hour.

They—haven’t even kissed.

The thought comes out of nowhere, hits him like a truck. Shifting to lay beside Peter, he reaches for the sharp jaw and turns it towards him. Peter looks fucked out, eyes wet and satiated. The smile he gives is beatific, and it’s like he knows what Tony wants, opening his mouth, pliant and so fucking sweet. The kiss is consuming, tongues licking into each other’s mouths, the sounds soft and wet and Jesus, he’s hard. He’s so fucking hard it hurts.

“We can stop,” he says, so softly into Peter’s ear. “We don’t have to go any further.”

Peter pulls back, eyes more alert. A furrow grows between his brows as he frowns. He shakes his head firmly, makes a loose circle his thumb and forefinger and then fucks two fingers into it again and again. Tony rolls his eyes. But he’s smiling.

“I don’t have any lube,” he says out loud.

Ben is back, the bratty Peter melting away into an innocent, sweet voice that asks, “Will my cum do, daddy?”

Tony snorts. “Yes, baby boy. That will do.”

The cum is still warm, but cooling on the boy’s abs. Tony drags two fingers through it and then brings them down between Peter’s legs to the hole that’s there. He draws up his legs instinctually, feet flat on the mattress to give Tony better access. First, he just rubs an insistent finger against the opening, feeling the natural tension and the unbearable tightness whenever Peter shifts and tenses.

“Come on, baby,” Tony murmurs, keeping his finger firm. “Open up for me. Relax for me. Let me in that tight little ass. It belongs to me, we both know it. Let me in.”

Peter’s mouth drops open, eyes squeezing shut. He clenches the sheets in his fists but his muscles do relax, and Tony slips a finger in. The walls inside are like hot silk, and knowing that he’ll be sinking his cock into that heat soon has his balls aching.

“Jesus, kid,” he mutters. “So good for me. More, baby. Give me more, now.”

A second finger, and Peter whimpers with it. Tony gives him time, softly fucking in and out of him, then gently opening his fingers as he withdraws. Unable to help himself, he pauses to let those fingers search, crook upwards until he finds that spot inside the boy. Peter shrieks again, and it turns into a drawn-out moan. His cock is hard again, resting hot and thick against his abs in the pool of cooling cum.

“More daddy, please,” asks Peter.

“All about you, is it?” Tony taunts. He adds a third finger, probably a little sooner than he should. “Should I just take you now? Shove my cock in your little ass, tear you open?”

“Please,” Peter gasps, eyes opening like it’s the best idea he’s ever heard. “Please daddy, split me open.”

Alright. Alright, okay. Tony can’t wait a moment longer. He shifts to be kneeling between the boys legs, then reaches for the younger man’s cock, lifting it off of his abs to wipe his hand through the cum there. Peter shifts his hips up, desperate for the friction, but Tony doesn’t plan for him to get this second orgasm so easily. He’s going to work for this one, Tony thinks, letting go of the cock abruptly so it slaps against the boy’s abs.

Slicking his cock, the pleasure is so keen that it’s almost painful. It borders on overstimulation, and Tony thinks that it’s going to be the most exquisite pain he’s ever known. Folding Peter’s legs up until his thighs are against his chest, he reaches down to guide his cock to that warm heat. Just the pressure on the head has him groaning, hips thrusting minutely against his will. He does want to give the kid time to get used to it—Tony’s big, and he knows it—but the sounds Peter makes, wiggling and shifting to fuck himself on just the tip. It’s too much.

He is not known for his self control.

Tony thrusts in in one fell swoop, as slowly as he can—which isn’t very slow at all. Peter keens, high and loud and long, and Tony himself can’t stop a similar sound, lower, just as pained and pleasured. Peter is hotter, tighter than Tony could have imagined, and knowing that the slickness around him is from the kid’s own cum? Jesus, this isn’t going to last long. When he glances over at the end table, he sees that there are only ten minutes left: the download time has improved. Thank God, Tony thinks. Ten minutes will be optimistic.

“Okay?” Tony asks, a hand on Peter’s sternum. The heart beneath his palm is beating fast like a hummingbird’s. Tears have streamed down Peter’s temples to disappear into his hairline. When the boy’s eyes open, they are red.

“God, yes,” Peter says, laughing wetly. “Don’t stop now. Give it to me.”

Tony snorts, adjusting his grip on Peter’s legs. Then he gives it to him. He starts with long and slow thrusts, aiming deep. Peter is groaning words that become indistinct from how long he drags them out, he loses track of what he’s saying while he’s saying it. Tony wouldn’t be surprised to find that the kid is having an out-of-body experience for the way he’s acting. The sounds he’s making have Tony feeling the same way. The friction against his cock is just what he needs. Glancing down, he catches sight of his cock disappearing into Peter’s hole and his balls draw up tight. Not long—not long at all.

“Touch yourself,” Tony grits out. “I want you to cum with me.”

Peter reaches down around his legs for his cock, but Tony bats it away. “Not there,” Tony says. He thumbs at a nipple. “Here.”

Peter groans, gritting his teeth. But he is obedient, resting both hands on his flat chest so that his thumbs can brush his nipples, so softly and sweetly, teasing himself. His mouth drops open again, cock twitching. “I won’t last, daddy,” Peter says in that soft, sweet voice. “Are you close?”

“Yes,” Tony pants. “So close, baby. Keep going. Just a while more. Hold off for just a while more.”

Peter whines, tilting his hips upward helplessly. “Daddy,” he groans. “I won’t be able to help myself.”

“Restraint,” Tony barks. “Control yourself. Don’t you dare cum before me, baby. Don’t you dare—”

Taunting the boy this way, watching his face turn red as he struggles to restrain himself is bringing Tony right to the edge. He wishes that he could leave Peter this way, desperate to cum and constantly on the edge of disobeying him, but the pain in his balls is cresting. He needs relief. They both do.

“—please, Tony!—” Peter cries.

“Yes—yes—now—”

Peter cums almost instantly, pinching both nipples between thumbs and forefingers, mouth open in a silent scream.

Tony’s orgasm comes from deep in his gut, draws up tight in his stomach and it hurts, it really does, he’s been hard for so long with no relief, and then it all reaches the peak: his cock explodes deep inside the younger man, shouting the boy’s name. It lasts forever, his hips rolling and rolling to prolong the exquisite pleasure. The sounds between them are absolutely guttural, and Tony wonders if the recordings of the microphones above them will be in the files, because he’d give anything to hear this again and again, to listen to it with a clearer head when he can enjoy it more objectively.

On the nightstand, the phone chimes. The download is complete. They did it. The files are automatically transferred to SHIELD’s servers after completion. The satisfaction of that strikes Tony somewhere even deeper. With those, hopefully Rumlow and all the other fucking scumbags upstairs can rot in jail. Forever, if Tony has any say it in.

“Tony,” Peter pants. He’s been trying to get his attention. When he looks down, the boy looks more worried than he should for a person who has just had an incredible orgasm.

“What is it? Are you hurt?” Tony asks.

“No—just—what did you call me?” Peter asks, eyes wide, trying to convey something—

And oh fuck. Tony cried out Peter’s name.

He cried out Peter.

There is a commotion in the hallway, the sound of boots on carpeted floor.

“Fuck,” Tony says, rolling off the bed. Peter is up after him, ignoring his boxers, going straight for the gun on the sofa across the room. He flicks off the safety and chambers a bullet, careful to keep his finger off the trigger even as someone bangs on the door.

“Stark, open up!” They’re shouting. Rumlow’s men. Tony’s blown their cover.

This is going to get messy, Tony thinks, loading his own weapon.

He and Peter flank the door, both completely naked. They meet eyes, breath tight with adrenalin, and when the boy nods, Tony nods back in understanding, smirking. They’ll get through this. They’ll be fine. And afterwards—

The door bursts open.

#starker #human trafficking #guns #alcohol #racism #spies!au

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lytefoot · 4 years

Text

So I just bought a new laptop. Actually, that’s a lie: I bought a five-year-old used laptop, and I’m gonna talk about why. (I’m gonna warn you that this might end up being an old-man-screams-at-clouds post, and it’s not about Harry Potter at all, feel free to skip.)

Now, I currently have three laptops.

One is a Samsung netbook from 2008, with a 1GHz 32-bit Atom processor. This is my primary writing computer, but it can’t handle high-octane tasks, like web browsing. I love this computer. Love it. If I could buy something identical to this computer, but with a CPU that didn’t come out of a box of crackerjacks, I would pay just about any price. I’ve upgraded everything I possibly can--it has maximum ram, it has a solid state drive... it has an Atom processor micro-soldered onto the board.

The second one, the one I’m using now, is a 17-inch Dell from 2006. My school had a program where I could add the cost of a new computer on to my student loans (in retrospect, of course, this was a terrible idea) and I got the top of the line. This is the Dell of Theseus at this point; I’ve literally replaced everything except the bottom plate. (Including, memorably, they keyboard and trackpad, after I spilled an entire pint glass of coffee on it... a couple of hours before I gave my thesis proposal talk, fun times.) Every part can be replaced--it even has a socketed CPU, which I’d upgrade if it didn’t already have the best processor compatible with the board; but if the CPU dies I’ll be able to swap it out. It works really well, and can do almost everything I ask it to... except that a lot of programs check it’s specs, say “I’ve never heard of a... sem-pron?” and refuse to install, so it’s hard to find software for. (It also can’t run Sims 3, which is the reason I bought my current desktop in... what... 2011?) On the other hand, my posture is only now recovering from lugging this thing around through grad school, and once I’m leaving the house again, it’s getting relegated back to Sims 2 Only.

The third one is a Dell all-in-one from 2014, which I bought thinking it would be a replacement for the netbook. I chose this specific tablet because it was the only tablet brand at the time that had a proper, folding keyboard dock; this is important because I often use my laptop on my actual lap, often while riding a bus. This thing was garbage on arrival. Jostling it slightly caused the keyboard dock to disconnect. Exciting features include the ability for the system clock to go out of sync so that, when recording the screen, the video drops a couple of frames per second, causing the video to end about a minute before the audio does. This was Not Good when I was making video lectures on it, since my recording software ended the file at the end of the video. Tried to talk to Dell support about it, got nothing, yelled at them on Twitter, got a response that I could mail it in to them and they’d see what they could do. F--- off. Then it got slightly damp, and now the battery won’t take a charge. Replacing the battery would cost more than the whole machine. It lasted about 8 months.

So I’ve recently started looking for a new laptop, and... they’re all real bad. No socketed processors--intel actually stopped making socketed processors for mobile. This means they have no real upgrade path; whatever processor is in there, that’s what you’re stuck with.

And then there’s these new track pads.

Let me say at the outset that I don’t actually like touching the mouse. I come from a time in the nineteen-hundred-and-eighties, and I want to be able to do everything by hotkey if I’m in the middle of typing. But trackpads actually work really nicely for that--I don’t need to move my hands very far from the keyboard, and click-with-thumb-drag-with-finger is a similar enough motion to typing that it doesn’t break my flow very much. That is, if there are buttons that I can click. But these new track pads are membranes level with the palm rest, so I can’t find it by touch, and the buttons are a pain in the butt to click. “But multi-touch!” you scream. Does anyone actually use multi-touch when they’re not doing a tech demo? Even the marketing shots show those laptops being used with a mouse, because their track pads are complete garbage!

I’m sure it’s a total coincidence that these track pads are a nightmare to replace, and not by design at all. Apple.

There’s also this whole, “Think and light, can’t really fit a fan, can’t fit a hard drive, put it in your bag with a calculus textbook and it’s dead” thing. Among other things, that means a distinct lack of ports, and a case that’s glued shut in most cases. Glued shut. What happens when something fails? I mean, I know what happens. Landfill time! I can get a halfway decent laptop if I’m willing to shell out $2k for a gaming laptop, but they’re all huge.

These new laptops seem designed to not work very well while they’re alive, fail as soon as possible, and be impossible to repair once they do.

So I went on ebay and got something from five years ago. It has a nice trackpad with buttons (!), it’s got a proper-sized keyboard with all the punctuation marks in the right place, it’s 12.5 inches (bulkier than my netbook that I love but not as enormous as the gaming laptops I was actually considering), and not only can every part can be replaced (except the CPU--it’s Intel, their mobile processors are all soldered, but single-core performance is a priority for me so I’ll suck that one up), but I can go to the manufacturer’s site and download a service manual that explains exactly how to do it.

Up your game, 2020. 2015 is showing you up.

Oh, it also cost $200, for better specs (and better function) than I’d get out of a new ultrabook running about $1000. Only down side is a slightly deprecated hard drive form factor that costs more than it really needs to.

#not hp #technology #old lady screams at clouds #seriously hate the modern computer industry #capitalism is bad for innovation

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prorevenge · 6 years

Text

Try to screw the elderly out of essential health care services? Have fun watching your company collapse.

Disclaimer: all names have been changed to protect the identities of the stupid.

So, back in October of 2017, when I was young and carefree and happy, I applied to a job working for a home healthcare company. This particular company would supply nurses and home care aids to assist the elderly with day to day activities like cooking and cleaning as well as more essential services such as wound care, catheter care, etc.

The building that I worked in was an apartment building that housed seniors who needed some care, but didn’t require many essential services. Think of it like a hotel that was just for seniors, with us being the “lobby” where the elderly could call down if they needed extra assistance with catheters, medication, whatever.

When the program first started, it was fantastic. We had an amazing in-office supervisor named Becca. She would do all of the paperwork for the day, and then come help us with our list of clients in the building that needed help. Some clients would need help getting in and out of the shower, making breakfast, taking medications, things that I have already mentioned. Becca did all of the paperwork and helped us with the clients, she was great.

It started to go downhill about two weeks into November. The position that I had applied for was a full time position, and when I interviewed, they told me that I would be able to get full time no problem because they are always looking for staff... hmm... that’s peculiar. Remember this point for later.

It’s about two weeks into November and I’m about to get my first schedule, and I notice that I am only listed for 52 hours in a two week period. I call the off-site office/head office and ask them why I was only getting 52 hours when I was supposed to be getting full time. They told me that even though I have a full time contract, hours are not “guaranteed” and I would have to work outside of my availability to make up the extra hours.

I was pissed, but I didn’t say much beyond “okay, thanks for letting me know, bye.” Word got around the program/hotel that Becca was getting ready to leave for another job. My coworkers and I were all stunned, because Becca was the supervisor that we loved. She was gentle with the clients, and helped us immensely. She confirmed that she was, in fact, leaving in two weeks.

Flash forward to just after Christmas and we get a new supervisor from another province. This lady has zero clue how to do her job. We are constantly having to explain to her that certain clients can’t be seen at certain times because it would conflict with schedules and we can’t guarantee a time in case of an emergency situation like a senior having a heart attack, fall, or what have you. Instead of taking this constructively, she tells us that she knows what she’s doing and begins to run us into the ground. We keep our mouths shut and work, even though we know that the schedule will fall apart. Sure enough, after about a week this new supervisor is up to her eyeballs in unfinished paperwork and phone calls.

About a month after that, we lose a full time employee because this new supervisor, who we will call Donna, told her that because she was 5 minutes late to work that it was her fault that the clients wouldn’t be able to be seen on time and she might as well not even give report because the clients are already going to be seen late anyway.

Then comes the temporary workers to fill in for the full time employee. Our old full time employee worked Mon-Fri from 7-3. These new employees would stroll in anywhere between 8:30-10am and leave by around noon. They didn’t chart. They didn’t tell us what they had done. They didn’t even wear their name badge most of the time. We were picking up the slack hard, all while Donna sat on her ass in her nice cushy office chair doing nothing except complain about how much work she had to catch up on. It was “so stressful” that she needed to go out for smoke breaks. If you’re a non-smoker you’ll feel me on this one. She would be gone anywhere between 20-45 minutes at a time to “have a smoke” while the rest of us were rushing around.

Then came the discrepancies in pay checks. Some people weren’t getting paid overtime or for holidays. We had multiple incidences where a coworker was short about $200 on their pay. This was because Donna didn’t file the necessary paperwork and talk to HR. Long story short, we sign in for work on a Samsung Galaxy through a medical program. At the end of the day, Donna is supposed to take all of our information from sign in (goes straight to her Samsung) and email it all at once to payroll. She wasn’t doing this.

Coworkers started dropping like flies. Over the Christmas break, one woman worked a 16 hour shift (3pm-7am the next day) because they couldn’t find anyone to fill in. The seniors in the building were noticing all of the new faces. They were asking why their visits were being cut from the usual 1 hour to roughly 15 minutes. We simply told them it was because we were short staffed.

We were frustrated, the seniors we worked with were frustrated, and management (Donna and head office) just kept sitting on their asses and laughing while we rushed around because they weren’t the ones making direct patient calls. They could ignore the phone calls and paperwork. We couldn’t ignore angry remarks from the patients.

All of the coworkers got together and talked about what to do and it was decided: any time that a patient complained, we would tell them that we were incredibly sorry but we couldn’t offer any extra time as we were short staffed and if they had an issue, they could call the off site supervisor at 555-5555.

Calls began pouring in, meetings were happening, and still nothing was changed. We were told by head office to “just wait it out” and that Donna wasn’t a bad supervisor because it was “just her personality.” At this point we were all PISSED beyond belief. People for night shift started to not show up, leaving the people who had just worked 3-11pm stranded until the head office managed to find somebody to come in. Usually someone would come in around 12:30-1am if we were lucky.

About a month ago, they put up a schedule of “open shifts.” I noticed that I was working alone every other Friday from 3-11, when we should have had two staff at the MINIMUM. I started calling the office and they told me the same thing they’ve told everyone else: “just hang in there, we are in the process of hiring new staff.”

I worked last week, and night shift didn’t come in. I was stuck at work from 3pm-7am and when I called at 11pm (when shift change was supposed to happen) they told me that I had to stay. When I told them that it was illegal for me to work a 16 hour shift without time off between/proper breaks, I was met with a statement I’ll never forget:

“Why don’t you see if day shift will come in at 4am so that you only have to work 13 hours?”

I was absolutely fuming at this point and was ready to tell them exactly where to go. But if I quit on the spot and let them win, I’d be leaving my coworkers short, and the patients living in the building without any proper medical attention.

I started getting more complaints from patients and angry families. I gave them all the head office number and told them to ask for Chris, who is the operations manager. To make a long story short, about 70 out of the 85 clients who live in the apartment have switched their medical services to a competitor’s company, Chris walked out Donna tonight (aka fired), and I called the head office tonight and told them not to worry about me anymore because I was done working every two weeks short staffed. I quit on the spot, which means they will be scrambling to fill two 3-11 shifts tomorrow, and the remaining 15 clients will have to be seen by the staff at head office, who will finally be getting off their asses and seeing what our world has been like for the past half a year.

TL;DR - head office fucks us around, fucks the elderly around, and eventually it all backfires in their face when staff quit and leave them to do the work that they had been dumping on us.

(source) (story by DyingFirstClass)

#prorevenge #by DyingFirstClass #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story #last10

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mikegranich87 · 3 years

Text

Pixel 5a review: The 4a 5G wasn't broken, so Google didn't fix it

youtube

The Pixel 6 is just around the corner. But before Google brings it and its Tensor mobile chip to market, the company is updating its entry level offering with the $449 Pixel 5a. The whole point of the “a” family is to offer the basics at a reasonable price without sacrificing too much of the Pixel experience in the process. That means a relatively clean version of Android with a bunch of AI tricks and a heavy focus on photography.

But apparently Google feels like it more or less nailed that formula with the Pixel 4a 5G because the 5a is basically the same phone. (Note: The Pixel 5a is not a direct successor to the 4a, which was a much smaller device.) There are some differences — notably the addition of IP67 waterproofing — but most of the tweaks are extremely minor. Even the processor and RAM haven’t changed. So, if we said you could do better way back in October of 2020, what does that mean for the 5a in the fall of 2021?

Well, it makes the Pixel 5a about as unexciting as a phone can be, for one. But look, boring isn’t necessarily bad. Especially when you’re talking about the mid and lower tiers of the smartphone market. For one, keeping things staid allows Google to focus its efforts on battery life and performance optimization. And just like the last generation of Pixels, the 5a feels pretty responsive despite the aging Snapdragon 765G inside. That said, the 765G wasn’t exactly top of the line last year, and it’s starting to show its limits. While scrolling through the UI and doing simple things like reading email and sending text messages, the 5a is indistinguishable from any flagship device. It even handles most mobile games without a hiccup. I spent some time playing The Elder Scrolls: Blades and Wild Castle and the phone barely broke a sweat.

But, I did notice it stutter a few times while navigating YouTube, editing photos and jotting down my thoughts for this review in Evernote. The latter I could easily chalk up to Evernote’s questionable development over the last few years, but the pauses while switching to fullscreen in YouTube and swapping filters in Google Photos are a bit more concerning.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The plus side of going with something a bit older and lower-powered (not to mention with an integrated 5G modem) is power efficiency. The 4a 5G was already something of a beast, lasting over 17 hours in our battery drain test before our reviews editor Cherlynn Low simply gave up and moved on with her life. That device had a 3,885mAh battery. The 5a has a 4,680mAh cell. It took 22 hours and 56 of playing a video on loop at 50-brightness before it finally powered down.

After 24 hour of heavy usage — playing games, repeatedly running 5G speed tests, installing apps, watching videos on YouTube and even letting it play sleep sounds overnight — the battery was still at 40 percent. It didn’t finally crap out until almost 2AM on day two. And if you turn on Extreme Battery Saver, things could get even more absurd. I’m fairly confident that under normal use you could get a full 48 hours out of the Pixel 5a before needing to find an outlet.

Battery life isn’t the only difference between the 5a and 4a 5G: The new phone is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. At a time when many smartphones have at least some form of water resistance the Pixel 4a 5G was sort of a disappointment. In fact, the lack of waterproofing was one of the big cons called out in our review. But the Pixel 5a should easily survive getting caught in the rain or if you drop it in a toilet. It can withstand being submerged in water up to one meter deep for 30 minutes, but I wouldn’t push this to its limits. Definitely don’t go swimming with it in your pocket.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The last difference between the Pixel 5a and the 4a 5G is in the size and construction, but it’s subtle. The 5a has a metal unibody as opposed to a polycarbonate one. The texture is still matte and similar to the softtouch of the previous models, though, and the upgrade to Gorilla Glass 6 from Gorilla Glass 3 is notable, but you’ll never notice the difference in daily use. The 5a comes in one finish: Mostly Black. Some might find the look a little dull, and it’s certainly on the utilitarian side, but I quite liked the feel of the phone. The finish is a nice contrast to the seemingly endless sea of smooth glassy surfaces and the heft is just right, too.

The 5a is ever so slightly larger and heavier, but you’re talking about a few millimeters and grams. Even if you had a Pixel 4a 5G in one hand and a Pixel 5a in the other you’d be hard pressed to figure out which is which.

The change in size mostly comes down to the slightly larger screen. The OLED panel on the 5a is 6.34 inches, versus 6.2 inches on the 4a 5G. Otherwise, though, the screens are basically the same. The increased resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 makes up for the size difference so they both have a density of 413 ppi. Both also sport a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and support HDR and are stuck at now outdated 60Hz. And both are just bright enough to use in direct sunlight, though high brightness mode is definitely a necessity if you’re watching a video outdoors.

Even the holepunch for the front-facing camera is in the same place. That said, I appreciated Google’s “for fun” wallpapers that camouflage the hole by incorporating it into the design. My favorite is the record player where the camera becomes the hole at the center of an LP.

That 8-megapixel front-facing camera, by the way, is one of the weak points of the 5a. It does the job in perfect lighting and for video calls. But details can be a bit soft, in low light it gets noisy and portrait mode is hit or miss. Overall, I found Google’s portrait feature to be a bit too aggressive even on the main camera. You can easily adjust the blur and depth after the fact, but the default settings could stand to be more subtle.

The selfie cam, though, is the same one found on the Pixel 4a 5G, so none of this is a surprise. In fact, all of the cameras are the same. The two sensors around the rear, however, are much better than the one on the front. There’s a 12.2-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens. They have a somewhat “moody” vibe when compared to shots from an iPhone or a Galaxy device, but they’re not obviously inferior. And even though images taken with the wide-angle lens can get a little fuzzy if you start zooming in on details, Google’s processing does an admirable job of minimizing barrel distortion. Google isn’t at the top of the smartphone camera heap anymore, but it’s not far off and photography is still an undeniable strong suit of the Pixel family.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

There’s nothing new to report, though. It’s the same set of excellent photography features that you got last year: Portrait lighting can help clean up and add some contrast to photos of people (but sadly not pets — the option only appears if a human face is detected). Night Sight turns on automatically in dim lighting and at times produces mind-blowing results. And the video stabilization modes are excellent. Cinematic Pan, which combines slow motion with super smooth movement, is especially fun.

Also, just like every other “a” model Pixel, this one has a headphone jack. All I can say is: That’s great, now please bring the headphone jack back to flagship phones. I know I’m not the only person clamoring for it. And it drives me nuts that the only way to get an old-school 3.5mm jack on my phone is to go down market.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

One last thing to mention: The actual full name of the phone is the Pixel 5a with 5G. So, guess what, it supports 5G connectivity. That’s not really surprising since the Snapdragon 765G has an integrated 5G modem. Unlike the Pixel 4a 5G, however, there is no mmWave variant of the 5a. And, although technically it’s capable of C-Band support, it’s currently not enabled and Google wouldn’t commit to adding support in the future. That’s not a huge deal at the moment since there are no active C-Band networks in the US yet. But it might irk some when AT&T and Verizon start flipping the switch, likely sometime later this year. That said, full C-Band rollout isn’t expected to happen until at least late 2023.

Those caveats out of the way, 5G still seems stuck in a state of arrested development. I tested the Pixel 5a using Google Fi, which essentially means I was on T-Mobile’s network and speeds were all over the place. In my home, it was often slower than Verizon’s LTE network, averaging around 35mbps down. (Note: Verizon is Engadget’s parent company… for now.) But two and half miles up the road at a local Subaru dealership I was routinely getting over 300mbps down, topping out at 370mbps.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Of course, 5G and excellent cameras aren’t a rarity at this price any more. Mid-tier phones have come a long way over the last few years. The problem for Google is, it no longer clearly “owns the midrange.” Part of that is down to price. While the 5a is $50 cheaper than the 4a 5G, it’s not the obvious bargain that the 4a was at $350. If it was even just $50 cheaper still, the 5a would be a much easier sell at $399.

The Samsung A52 5G is slightly more expensive at $500 (though regularly on sale for less) and has a slower Snapdragon 750G SoC. But, its Super AMOLED screen clearly outclasses the Pixel’s and has a 120Hz refresh rate. Plus, its camera system is much sharper and feature-packed (but that doesn’t necessarily mean “better”). In addition to a primary camera and ultra-wide shooter, there’s a macro lens and a depth sensor that helps with portrait mode. While both the A52 and 5a ship with 128GB of storage, the Samsung has an advantage in that it has a microSD card slot.

Then there’s the OnePlus Nord N2 5G. It has a trio of cameras around the back, including a 50-megapixel primary sensor, an AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, and up to 12GB of RAM. Then again, it has a MediaTek processor, which you rarely see in phones in the US and with good reason: They’re not exactly known for their high-end performance. But perhaps more importantly, you’re highly unlikely to be making a choice between the Nord N2 and the Pixel 5a since the former isn’t available in the US, and the later is only available in the US and Japan.

Of course, if you’re more of an iOS fan, the obvious comparison would seem to be the iPhone SE. It’s the same price as the Pixel 5a for a 128GB model, but it does feel quite a bit dated. It still uses the old iPhone 8 form factor with a Touch ID home button instead of Face ID, it's positively miniscule at 4.7 inches and doesn’t support 5G. Frankly, if you’re dead set on iOS, I might suggest saving your pennies and springing for the $699 iPhone 12 mini.

So, no, Google doesn’t “own the midrange” any more. The Pixel 5a is almost aggressively boring, but it’s not bad. If you want the Pixel experience and don’t want to break the bank, this is the way to go. But if you’re just looking for the best bang for your buck, the choice is far less clear.

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-5-a-review-android-midrange-5g-smartphone-160051630.html?src=rss

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technologybrandnews · 3 years

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facebook error 504

Here we can see "Facebook error 504"

How to fix the semantic error 504 Facebook Messenger Error 504

This article features error number Code 504, commonly referred to as Facebook Messenger Error 504 described as Error 504: Facebook Messenger has encountered a drag and wishes to shut. We are pitying the inconvenience.

Error Information

Error name: Facebook Messenger Error 504 Error number: Error 504 Description: Error 504: Facebook Messenger has encountered a drag and wishes to shut. We are pitying the inconvenience. Software: Facebook Messenger Developer: Facebook Inc.

About Runtime Error 504

Runtime Error 504 happens when Facebook Messenger fails or crashes while it's running, hence its name. It doesn't necessarily mean that the code was corrupt in how, but just that it didn't work during its runtime. This type of error will appear as an annoying notification on your screen unless handled and corrected. Here are symptoms, causes, and ways to troubleshoot the matter.

Definitions (Beta)

Here we list some definitions for the words contained in your error to assist you in understanding your problem. This is often a piece ongoing, so sometimes we'd define the word incorrectly, so be happy to skip this section! - Facebook - Facebook Platform lets developers integrate their apps directly into the Facebook social networking service - Facebook Messenger - Facebook Messenger is a moment messaging service and software application that provides text and speech. - Messenger - Allow sharing content from your app into Facebook Messenger.

Symptoms of Code 504 - Facebook Messenger Error 504

Runtime errors happen all of a sudden. The error message can come up the screen anytime Facebook Messenger is run. The error message or another dialogue box can come up again and again if not addressed early. There could also be instances of files deletion or new files appearing. Though this symptom is essentially thanks to viral infection, it is often attributed as a symbol for semantic error. The viral infection is one of the causes of semantic error. Users can also experience a sudden drop in internet connection speed. Yet again, this is often not always the case.

Causes of Facebook Messenger Error 504 - Error 504

During software design, programmers code anticipating the occurrence of errors. However, there are no perfect designs, as errors are often expected even with the most straightforward program design. Glitches can happen during runtime if a particular error isn't experienced and addressed during design and testing. Runtime errors are generally caused by incompatible programs running at an equivalent time. It will also occur due to a memory problem, a nasty graphics driver, or viral infection. Regardless of the case could also be, the matter must be resolved immediately to avoid further problems. Here are ways to remedy the error. Repair Methods Runtime errors could also be annoying and protracted, but it's not hopeless. Repairs are available. Here are ways to try to do it. If a repair method works for you, please click the upvote button to the left of the solution. This may let other users know which repair method is currently working the simplest. Please note: Neither ErrorVault.com nor its writers claim responsibility for the results of the actions taken from employing any of the repair methods listed on this page - you complete these steps at your own risk.

Method 1 - Close Conflicting Programs

When you get a semantic error, confine in mind that it's happening thanks to programs that are conflicting with one another . the primary thing you'll do to resolve the matter is to prevent these conflicting programs. - Open Task Manager by clicking Ctrl-Alt-Del at an equivalent time. This may allow you to see the list of programs currently running. - Go to the Processes tab and stop the programs one by one by highlighting each program and clicking the top Process button. - You will get to observe if the error message will reoccur whenever you stop a process. - Once you get to spot which Program is causing the error, you'll plow ahead with subsequent troubleshooting steps, reinstalling the appliance.

Method 2 - Update / Reinstall Conflicting Programs

Using instrument panel - For Windows 7, click the beginning Button, then click instrument panel, then Uninstall a program. - For Windows 8, click the beginning button, then scroll down and click on More Settings, then click instrument panel > Uninstall a program. - For Windows 10, type the instrument panel on the search box, click on the result, and then click Uninstall a program. - Once inside Programs and Features, click the matter program and click on Update or Uninstall. - If you choose to update, you'll just follow the prompt to finish the method. However, if you choose to Uninstall, you'll follow the prompt to uninstall, re-download, or use the application's installation disk to reinstall the Program. Using Other Methods - For Windows 7, you'll find the list of all installed programs once you click Start and scroll your mouse over the list that appears on the tab. You'll see thereon list utility for uninstalling the Program. You'll plow ahead and uninstall using utilities available during this tab. - For Windows 10, you'll click Start, Settings, then choose Apps. - Scroll right down to see the list of Apps and features installed on your computer. - Click the Program which is causing the semantic error. Then you'll prefer to uninstall or click Advanced options to reset the appliance.

Method 3 - Update your Virus protection program or download and install the newest Windows Update

Virus infection causing a semantic error on your computer must immediately be prevented, quarantined, or deleted. Confirm you update your virus program and run a radical scan of the pc or run Windows update so you'll get the newest virus definition and fix.

Method 4 - Re-install Runtime Libraries

You might be getting the error due to an update, just like the MS Visual C++ package, which could not be installed properly or completely. What you'll do then is to uninstall the present package and install a fresh copy. - Uninstall the package by getting to Programs and Features, find and highlight the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package. - Click Uninstall on top of the list, and when it's done, reboot your computer. - Download the newest redistributable package from Microsoft, then install it.

Method 5 - Run Disk Cleanup

You might even be experiencing semantic error due to a shallow free space on your computer. - It would help if you considered backing up your files and freeing up space on your disk drive - You can also clear your cache and reboot your computer - You can also run Disk Cleanup, open your explorer window and right click your leading directory (this is typically C: ) - Click Properties, then click Disk Cleanup

Method 6 - Reinstall Your Graphics Driver

If the error is said to a nasty graphics driver, then you'll do the following: - Open your Device Manager, locate the graphics driver - Right-click the video card driver, then click uninstall, then restart your computer

Method 7 - IE related semantic error

If the error you're getting is said to the web Explorer, you'll do the following: 1. Reset your browser. - For Windows 7, you'll click Start, attend instrument panel, then click Internet Options on the left side. Then you'll click the Advanced tab then click the push button. - For Windows 8 and 10, you'll click search and sort Internet Options, then attend the Advanced tab and click on Reset. 2. Disable script debugging and error notifications. - You'll attend the Advanced tab and appearance for Disable script debugging on an equivalent Internet Options window. - Put a check on the radio button. - At an equivalent time, uncheck the "Display a Notification about every Script Error" item, then click Apply and OK, then reboot your computer. If these quick fixes don't work, you'll always backup files and repair reinstall them on your computer. However, you'll do this later when the solutions listed here didn't do the work.

User Questions:

1. Facebook install error 504 on Samsung Tab4 Samsung Tab4 running Android 5.1.1 with over 5GB available space had Facebook running for two years. Facebook demanded that I upgrade (could not still use old, working version). Downloaded Fb from Play Store, after an interminable period, reported error 504, unable to put in. I even have followed all the recommendations (clear Play Store memory/cache, restart, etc.) and have retried repeatedly, always with an equivalent result. FB loads happily on my Samsung GT-93011 phone but not on Tab4. Help? 2. Can't install the Facebook app I recently uninstalled the Facebook app. So now I can not reinstall. It says installation error - 504. I've tried clearing the cache of play also because of the residual files of the app, but I'm still unable to put in it again. I'm not rooted. I'm currently running 5.0.2. 3. Cannot install Facebook.katana I can install, update or uninstall all apps except Facebook (katana). Lolcats are below. Finsky: PackageInstallerImpl.handleCommitCallback: Error -504 while installing com.facebook.katana: INSTALL_FAILED_DEXOPT: Package couldn't be installed in /data/app/com.facebook.katana-1: scanPackageLI 4. Why do I buy Error code 504 whenever I attempt to install Facebook on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge I went to attend the google play store, downloaded facebook plus the update, but when it involves installing, it brings error code 504. So please help me fix this so that I can access my account on my phone. 5. How can I solve "Can't install app, error code - 504" on Google play? Read the full article

#error504playstore #errorcode504 #facebookerror504 #facebookerrorcode504 #googleplayservicesupdateerror504 #howtofixerrorcode504 #howtofixerrorcode504inplaystore #playstoreerror504

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droneseco · 4 years

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Blackview BV6300 Review: Durable, Affordable, and Entirely Average

Blackview BV6300

6.00 / 10

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If you're looking for a phone that'll be used strictly while on the job site, and you're not concerned with anything other than the phone not breaking while making calls, sending texts, and performing essential functions, you should give this phone a look. You won't be too upset with the performance at the incredibly affordable price, and you can relax knowing that the phone probably won't break no matter what you do to it.

Key Features

Ultra-rugged smartphone

Super affordable

Quad camera

Specifications

Brand: Blackview

Storage: 32GB

CPU: MediaTek A25 12nm Octa-core Processor

Memory: 3GB RAM

Operating System: Android 10

Battery: 4380mAh

Ports: USB-C, 3.5mm

Camera (Rear, Front): 13MP Quad Rear Camera, 8MP Front Camera

Display (Size, Resolution): 5.7-inch, 1440 x 720

Pros

Can take a beating

Comes with 3GB RAM

Affordable

All ports sealed for water and dust resistance

Cons

Processor is slow and sluggish

Camera is mediocre and slow

Geekbench scores comparible to 2016 phone

Not suitable as a daily driver

Buy This Product

Blackview BV6300 other

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Most people don't need a rugged smartphone. If you work a desk job and don't spend a lot of time out in the wilderness, you can probably slap a regular case on your phone and not have to worry about anything.

However, if you work at a construction site or you're often outdoors, you need a phone that can take a beating. There's a whole world of rugged smartphones out there with waterproof ratings, the ability to withstand giant drops, and so on.

Today, we're going to take a look at one of those phones: the Blackview BV6300. Not only is it a rugged Android smartphone, but it's also quite affordable at less than $150. But there's a lot more to making a good phone than just making sure it can take a beating. Does the Blackview BV6300 bring the total package to the table, or is it just a little too affordable to keep up with the competitive smartphone market?

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Blackview BV6300 Initial Impressions

If there's one thing Blackview has down to a science, it's the packaging. The boxes the company uses are sleek, and they make you feel like you're getting a high-end product, even though you're getting a cheap phone.

The positive first impressions continue when you open the box, as everything is packaged well, and it all looks great. You'll find the phone, headphones, power brick, and USB cable all right in front of you. Under the phone sits the documentation and even a screen protector that should further protect the rugged phone. (That's assuming you can put it on correctly. I'm horrible at putting them on straight.)

As for the phone itself, it's a decent-looking device. You can immediately tell that it's rugged based merely on the look of it. Despite the rugged look and feel, the phone isn't all that beefy. It doesn't look too large when compared to some other rugged phones on the market.

All in all, the Black BV6300 makes a pretty good first impression. Between the stellar packaging, aesthetically pleasing design, and size, you can't help but feel like you got a pretty good deal with how cheap this phone actually is.

Blackview BV6300 Rugged Design

The thing that will attract you to this device is the rugged design. The phone is designed to take a beating with its IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810G certifications.

Blackview says it puts the phone through some extremely rigorous tests to make sure the phone is prepared to deal with some pretty intense treatment.

The company says it performed 12000 drops on the front side and 12000 times on the backside. It also does 6000 soft pressure tests on the front and 6000 times on the back. That sounds like a lot, but the company also performs a salt test for 48 hours and thousands of tumbling and distortion tests. By the time it released the BV6300, the company has made sure it can literally handle everything.

That's all well and good, but we needed to test the phone's ability to get beat up as well. Ultimately, it handled whatever we threw at it. While I didn't run it over with a car, I threw it around, stepped on it, kicked it, and put it in the water. No matter what I did, it kept on ticking. Obviously, you're not going to go out of your way to break the phone, but if an accident happens, you should be okay.

Every port on the phone is sealed with a cover, preventing water and dust ingress from causing damage to the internal. Speaking of powers, there's a USB-C and headphone port on the BV6300. Not many phones include headphone jacks anymore, so it's nice to have that option.

As for the glass, Blackview used Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is not the latest tech from Corning, but it's still quite durable, and it held up as we tossed the phone around and put it through its paces.

Blackview BV6300 Specifications And Pricing

The first thing that's attractive about the BV6300 is the price. It's super cheap. Right now, it's $129, but the full MSRP is $179. Of course, at that price, the phone doesn't come with compelling specifications. Starting with the processor, Blackview included a MediaTek A25 12nm Octa-core chip. It's the very definition of an entry-level ARM SoC with its 1.8GHz. In terms of benchmarks, the processor is between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 439.

Also, on the entry-level side of the equation is the RAM, as Blackview only included 3GB. While it's basic, 3GB is actually a pretty decent amount of memory for ultra-affordable phones. For example, the LG K40, Moto E6, and Samsung Galaxy A11 (all of which retail for between $150 and $180) feature 2GB of RAM.

As for internal storage, the BV6300 comes with only 32GB. Fortunately, there's a MicroSD slot with support for up to 128GB, so you can add a lot more memory if you need to.

Blackview BV6300 Performance Tests

To test the phone, we put it through Geekbench 5 to see how the processor can handle a wide variety of tasks.

For its single-core test, it scored a 147, which puts it on par with phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Motorola Nexus 6, and OnePlus One. To provide a little more perspective, high-end flagships like the OnePlus 8 and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G score in the mid to high 800 range on the single-core tests.

For multi-core performance, the BV6300 got a 686. The Sony Xperia XZ has the same score, though that phone came out in 2016. Other phones in that same range are the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and the LG G5 SE. Those are both rather old phones as well, so that should give you an idea of what to expect. Again, for perspective, the highest score currently belongs to the OnePlus 8 with a 3224.

For our next test, we tried to run the phone through the Wildlife test in 3DMark. As this is an entry-level phone, we didn't have very high expectations, and we were right. The phone actually couldn't run the benchmark test at all.

So we tried the Sling Shot test in 3DMark, and while that benchmark worked, it felt like we were watching a slideshow. For the graphics tests, the phone averaged 2.3 frames per second. It ended up with a score of 530, which is not great, but about where we'd expect to see a phone at this price. According to 3DMark, that score is better than 19% of all phones that ran the test.

Blackview BV6300 Camera

The camera on the BV6300 is nothing special, but it's also not terrible for a phone at this price. It has a fundamental quad-camera setup on the back. The phone features a 13MP primary shooter and three 0.3MP lenses supporting the primary.

While the hardware won't knock your socks off, the phone can make up for that with great software. Unfortunately, taking photos with the BV6300 feels sluggish, and the pictures looked mediocre at best. In low light, the camera is basically useless, but even with my professional lighting, the pictures still look like they were taken with a camera from five or six years ago.

There are plenty of options for tweaking your pictures within the default camera app, but no matter which settings you adjust or which mode you shoot with, you're just not going to get great photos with the sensor on the BV6300. You'll get decent photos, but nothing that will blow you away.

If photography is important to you and you want an affordable, rugged phone, you're much better off looking at the BV6300 Pro, as its quad-camera setup features 16MP, 8MP, 2.0MP, and 0.3MP shooters.

If you're buying this phone as a work phone, you might not worry too much about the camera, but if you plan to use the BV6300 as an everyday phone, you'll be disappointed with the results.

Should You Buy The Blackview BV6300?

In the end, I have a hard time recommending the Blackview BV6300 as anyone's only phone. Yes, it's incredibly cheap and durable, but I found the mediocre specs and weak cameras lacking.

However, if you're looking for a phone that'll be used strictly while on the job site, and you're not concerned with anything other than the phone not breaking while making calls, sending texts, and performing essential functions, you should give this phone a look. You won't be too upset with the performance at the incredibly affordable price, and you can relax knowing that the phone probably won't break no matter what you do to it.

Blackview BV6300 Review: Durable, Affordable, and Entirely Average published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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bitcoinminershasrate · 3 years

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RX 570 8gb Hashrate: Mining 2021| Review| Testing | Specs | Profit

Sapphire RX 570 8gb Hashrate - Mining | Profitability |Payback Period| Review | Best Testing (Benchmarck) Radeon RX570 Nitro 8 GB video cards are very popular among miners, so they don’t stay long on the shelves. Accordingly, it can be concluded that this type of map can be used for profitable mining. Thanks to its powerful specifications and performance it helps to quickly recoup costs. However, before making the final choice, it is recommended to pay attention to a number of nuances. Features Radeon RX570 Nitro 8 GB Model RX570 has several similar characteristics with the RX580 card, given the presence of factory boost and improved vendors. It also affects the cost. Despite the similarity, it is important to note that experienced users still stop their attention on 570 models from the manufacturer AMD. Regardless of the type of 570 cards, they have 1200 MHz core frequency. A number of vendors total more - 1300 MHz. Power is estimated at 150W. Today on the market you can see cards with memory sizes of 4 and 8GB. Their difference between them consists only in spaciousness. As for the frequency parameters, in this case they are the same. Equally important for miners is the overclocking indicator. Experts agreed that the card from the manufacturer Samsung. They are put on the most productive versions: Nitro or Sapphire. Regarding manufacturers such as Hynix or Micron. On average, the difference is 1-2Mh / s. Please note: Please note: In spite of the bad review by a few customers, we experience no such issues (not saying you won't) but We would comfortably recommend this product for mining cryptocurrency based on our testing that will be continue below. People also ask: Common Questions RX 570 8gb What’s up techies, let’s dive right into this. I can’t say enough about the AMD/Radeon/Sapphire… let’s just go with “The non-Nvidia GPU”. You might want to keep up with your friends and be a part of the FPS and triple monitor setup talk, all while getting; the best performance for your buck, the most quiet graphics card (considering it’s in a case your keyboard strokes are probably louder all said and done) and something that looks like your rig is an aggressive graphics producer. What I find as far as looks go is that most GTX graphics card’s aesthetics are pretty much the same in color scheme. With the Radeon graphics cards you can get a red, blue silver, black and a mixed black, silver and light blue scheme. Some even have RGB lights! Not to mention the price for a mid grade Radeon is like 200$ less than that awesome GTX 1080i or what have you. Instead of 650$ you walk away around 300-350$. (Mind you this is just off the top of my head to get the idea across). With that said, this card specifically has a very nice color scheme, a protective/stylish backplate which is preferred by most when the installation of your card happens to show off the underside of it, you’ll be pleased to not see the unattractive green circuit board and instead a painted backplate. This is important now a days where there are multiple ways of mounting your GPU. Some mount them vertically, horizontally, upside down both ways or even outside of the computer case itself! Okay it looks good you got that? Now I’m gonna talk about the AMD Radeon graphics software. One key benefit I want to bring to light is the fact that when you enter the update menu you have a choice between, the latest update or the best reccomended update all while showing you the current version you have installed. With this feature you might find you’re using the latest update and your pc is being weird having random monitor black outs or maybe even pc restarts! So you’re able to switch to the recommended version which is known to work with your setup and should a revision of the latest update arrive you can give that try all on the fly. Jeesh get to the performance already! So I’ll name a couple games and my performance in relation to each game. World of Warcraft, I’ve played for the last 14 years is it now? Obviously their graphics only get so good because Blizzard refuses to update the visuals but if you’ve played as long as I have you’ll see that you can set all the settings on ultra and turn up your viewing distance, shadow detail or spell detail to get the most of what Blizzard offers. While having everything set to ultra etc.. I’m getting 80 FPS and if I just go in a room with my character I can hit 100 which is what my FPS in capped at in wow. I’ve never been over 30 due to always playing on a “beefed up” laptop lmao Also I play overwatch and it is flawless with all graphics levels turnt up I forget the exact FPS. I went ahead and bought the HTC vive and this thing handles VR without breaking a sweat! Considering I will have the in game display on the tv at all times and obviously the display in the HTC. Another noteworthy feature is that the fans shut off when it’s not in demand so add power saving to the list of why you should buy this graphics card! I honestly can’t see getting much more from a 700$ graphics card unless you’re a high end game developer? Well that’s all folks feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer! Top 7 Questions Asked on Amazon Before Buying - RX 570 8gb ASRock Phantom Gaming D Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 RX570 4G 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Video Card Question 1: Will this work for a ryzen 3200G ? Answer: Yes, you may want to drop into the bios and make sure it is defaulted to your PCIe slot and not integrated. Question 2: How many pins does Radeon RX 570 have? Answer: The RX 570 Have 6 Pins. Question 3: Does The Radeon RX 570 works with a pci express x16 gen 2 interface? Answer: We suggest you contact your computer manufacturer to get their list of compatible graphics cards. Many old computers require a Bios update from manufacturer. For old computers the best compatibility results is to pair with old graphics cards. Question 4: Will The RX 570 works with a Ryzen 5 3600? Answer: Absolutely! Be sure that it can fit your case though :) Question 5: Is the Radeon RX 570 compatible with intel? Answer: Yes it should be, as long as you have the proper driver from AMD u shouldn't have a problem.. Questions 6: Will The Radeon RX 570 works with the Ryzen 7 2700x? Answer: Yes, as long as you have the correct driver installed. Question 7: Why so expensive? It's the RX 570 for Christ sake! Answer: There is a chip shortage, so even the older models are being price gouged. It is a matter of supply and demand at this point. RX 570 8GB Amazon - Top 6 Underrated Questions Before Buying on Amazon + Answers - Question 1 - Please do you know if this graphic card can be use in asus m5a99x evo r2.0 motherboard. thank you in advance? Answers: This question was answered by the manufacturer - According to my research for you. You have these specs below and my answer would be yes it does fit. But a few other tips. Have at least 8gb of Ram and a have a good power supply - Question 2: What memory does this card use? Samsung, Hynix? Answer: Download tech powerup gpu-z it will tell you the type. Anyway it is Hynix - Question 3: The fans that come with the RX 570 8GB are they rgb? Answers: No, the Sapphire logo is RGB though. - Questions 4: Has anyone solved the code 43 problem with trying to install the drivers? Answer: Get driver Booster 6.2 on ebay for less then $5.00, and it keeps mine running fine. - Question 5: Is The Sapphire Radeon Rx 570 8GB a good video card for gaming or music? Answer: Yes, it is very Good. - Question 6: What's the difference between the sapphire nitro + radeon rx 580 4gb gddr5 graphics card (11265-07-20g)? Answer: This has more ram but fewer core clusters. The 580 will be slightly faster in games less ram dependent and about the same in more ram intensive games. Best Reviews Posed on on Amazon From customers - RX 570 Best Reviews Posed on on Amazon From customers - RX 570 Good Amazon Review By Customer For The RX 570: First off, I'm not a high-end gamer. I don't overclock or anything like that. My only real goal was playing Elder Scrolls Online with 30fps or better in world zones. This card can handle that just fine using the "High" but not "Ultra High" preset. And results may vary depending on what else is in my build (AMD A8 9600 APU / this GPU / 12GB slower RAM / Installed on a 7200RPM WD HDD). After tweaking settings, my build maintains 20-30fps in environment zones and 50-60fps in dungeon zones. But that's after changing a few settings to higher than "High". Anyway. For what it is, this GPU works just fine. My only complaint is that, of the two fans, one of them runs virtually silently, while the other fan has a constant low-grade bearing whistle. Ordinarily, I suppose a person would send it back for a replacement, but the low noise level is within my tolerance level, and I bought this card with the intention of getting into the game as cheap as possible, then upgrading in the near future, so I didn't want to deal with the hassle of a return. When it comes to fans on any PC component these days, one's entering into a bit of a lottery, so I expected the fans to be rather loud. Even with this bearing whine, it's still quieter than many other GPU fans I've run across over the years that oftentimes sounded like jets taking off. So, again, I'm satisfied. Remarks of the Best Review on Amazon2: WORKS REALLY GOOD I WOULD BUY FROM THIS SELLER AGAIN 😁👍🏽 GET 144+ on every game Review 3: A little pricey but during this pandemic its to be expected. Cards arrived new and in a timely fashion. Very happy with the seller and the product. Good Review 4: Using it on my 3rd gen i5 and holding up well. Just good enough to play beat sabre. Good solution for tight budget. Worst Review Posed on on Amazon From customers - RX 570 Worst Reviews Posed on on Amazon From customers - RX 570 Bad Review of the Radeon RX 570: This is a good GPU but I would not recommend buying it at this price. Spend your money on a better graphics card if you are going to spend an extra $100. It's worth $200 right now. Please note: In spite of the bad review by a few customers, we experience no such issues (not saying you won't) but We would comfortably recommend this product for mining cryptocurrency based on our testing that we will be continuing below. Poorest Remarked on the Radeon Nitro+ 570 8GB TLDR The card is defective, the seller Platinum Micro Inc Wont take back (as a return was submitted 31 days after arrival of product), Amazon can't help with a return, RMA shipping per the requested method was almost $40. I'd recommend avoiding the card. I purchased a Nitro+ RX 570 8GB from Platinum Micro Inc on 8/29/18 and received the card 9/6/18. My wife and i were about to move so i didn't test the card until 10/4/18 when i found that there was an issue with the card. I tried to trouble shoot the problem myself through the 10/6/18 when i found some postings (see toms hardware, amd support, ect...) , that this was a known issue with the Sapphire cards and likely a bios problem. 17 and 18 series drivers i tried gave me an error reading "No AMD graphics driver is installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please install the AMD driver appropriate for your AMD hardware" on BIOS 1 and i get frames about the same as my 5 year old 7870 on bios 2. Newer drivers read bios 2 as an RX 580 in GPU-Z and same issue with frame rates. The only way that BIOS 2 functions is with drivers that are almost a year old (17 series drivers) and makes me doubt support for current gen titles coming out this year. I filed for a return on 10/7/18 and was denied as i filed 1 day outside of the window. I first called amazon and asked about their 90 day A-Z guarantee and was told that because the seller was a 3rd party seller the 90 day guarantee didn't apply. I ran through Sapphire support for a few days before they recommended an RMA with their 3rd part RMA company, Althon Micro. Althon Micro has given me an rma number and on their email requested the use of bubble wrap and packing peanuts which with shipping ran about $40. I'm worried though that their fix for the problem is a bios re-flash which would void any factory warranty i have on this card. After this fiasco I'm avoiding sapphire cards. For the $320 that this card has cost me i should have just bought a better card and that's my recommendation to you. Our Comment After Testing The RX 570 8GM We Try to be as honest as possible with our products of recommendation and based on this cards Testing and very performance that we have seen, we would gladly recommend anyone to buy. Purchase on Amazon Now - Sapphire 11266-09-20G Radeon Nitro+ Rx 570 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI/ DVI-D/ Dual DP with Backplate (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card Calculating the average result (excluding firmware), you can count on the following indicators: - Pascal 0.72Gh / s - DaggerHashimoto 23.7 Mh / s - Equihash 311 Sol - Decred 1.24 Gh / s. Speaking about the prospects of mining and which currency is most profitable to extract the most, it is worth noting ETH. The card is able to reveal its technical characteristics and show the maximum possibilities. - 1 x CPU - 4 x DIMM 240-pin - 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (dual x8 mode; single card: x16 mode) - 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode) - 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 - 1 x PCI - If we compare the characteristics of the 500 model and 570, it is worth noting that the second option has lower power consumption characteristics, which has a positive effect on the size of the final profit. This indicator makes the card as popular as possible among the entire range from leading manufacturers. Increasing the hash rate of Radeon RX570 Nitro 8 GB No modern video card can not be called a perfect option. For example, Nvidia manufacturers did not take care of the firmware, so after purchasing it, many users begin to solve this kind of puzzle. Firmware is needed in order to increase the hashrate. As a rule, after it the result is increased by 40-50%. The average hashrate in the factory state varies 18-21 Mh / s, which is a relatively low figure. Taking into account the cost of the card, this is a rather low indicator, and therefore it will pay off for a long time. When using the Afterburner program, it is possible to increase the rate on average to 23-25 Mh / s. Unfortunately, even this indicator will not save the miner from a long payback period (about 29 months). In this case, it is worth noting that AMD seriously loses the card from Nvidia. But the firmware can fix the situation. After the BIOS is reflashed, the card can be sharpened for mining and organize optimal overclocking. Do not forget to set the optimum timing, and the most appropriate frequencies. However, this is a process that requires certain knowledge, so miners rarely can perform it on the first attempt. For some users, it is possible to achieve optimal results only from the 10th attempt, which also does not always add optimism. But after the work is finished, After the firmware is implemented, the user can expect to receive the following indicators: - When using the Nitro, Asrock, Expedition model with Samsung's memory, the hashrate index will be around 31.7MH / s - Gigabyte Aorus / Gaming using Samsung memory figures up to 30.5Mh / s - Asus loses a bit - 29.9Mh / s. It is important to take into account that the above indicators are maximum as a result of the check, therefore, they should be guided during the selection process. As a rule, similar results are given to be achieved only on maps from the manufacturer Samsung. Regarding Hynix, this effect applies only to Nitro. Another option that can play hashrate is the choice of the operating system. Regarding Hive, it can provide stable performance, through additional functions: you can organize work with a flash drive without the need to connect the HDD, WatchDog firmware, as well as the convenience of monitoring workflow compared to Windows. Accordingly, the first version of the operating system is best suited for mining. How long can the Radeon RX570 Nitro 8 GB pay off? Over time, the concept of payback begins to be used as a relative concept. This is due to the fact that the rate of extracted cryptocurrency also changes. As a rule, miners who are engaged in such activities constantly, try to control the situation and make appropriate adjustments. When they talk about 570 models, you can directly associate it with mining ETH. In addition, an equally important factor is the purchase price of the video card. Depending on the course of the coins, it also tends to change. The higher the rate, the higher the purchase price becomes. Power is another important factor that the miner takes into account when choosing a video card model. Even if you spend the worst version of the system BIOS firmware, you can get an indicator of at least 28 Mh / s. If the card will differ in stable operation, it is possible to expect a stable indicator of 2 Mh / s 7 days a week. Given the average cost of the card, you can safely expect an annual rate of 70-80%. If you keep the value of the currency at the peak of its course, then you can count on the fastest 100% payback during the year. However, it is also worth considering the complexity of the farm, the higher it is, the slower it will pay off. Card selection First of all, it should be noted that in 2021 it will no longer be possible to mine the ETH with a 570 memory card of 4 GB. This is due to the ever-increasing size of the DAG file. Therefore, for users who are accustomed to forecasting ahead, it is important to take this moment into account. Regarding the same model, but with 8 GB, there will be no restrictions. Speaking about the total result of the 570 model, it is important to note that this is an economical option that is best suited for novice miners. This is due to the fact that energy consumption is relatively low, which means you can save a lot of money on paying bills. As a rule, vendors have an efficient cooling system. According to the testing, it is unlikely that the temperature index will go beyond 60 degrees. Due to the minimum payback period, this model is recognized as one of the best deals on the market. However, do not forget about the prerequisite - the presence of firmware. Otherwise, an indicator of more than 26 MH / s cannot be obtained at the factory settings. Purchase on Amazon Now - Sapphire 11266-09-20G Radeon Nitro+ Rx 570 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI/ DVI-D/ Dual DP with Backplate (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card RX 570 8gb Best Review - Still Relevant In 2021 ( How to be Profitability mining Bitcoin?) The Radeon RX 570 is not that much different from the Radeon RX 580 in terms of GPU configuration, and choosing between versions with 4 GB and 8 GB of RAM will allow additional savings on memory. Will all of this make the RX 570 a better buy than the 3GB RAM version of the GeForce GTX 1060? The SAPPHIRE Pulse Mini-ITX video card will help us to answer this question.⇣ Contents We recently tested AMD's top-end second-generation Polaris silicon-based graphics card, the Radeon RX 580 . As tests have shown, a deep revision of the circuitry of the chips and the matured 14 nm FinFET process technology justified the hopes placed on them, significantly increasing the "quality" of the crystals. AMD thus acquired a reserve entirely invested in GPU clock speeds, which, even within the framework of the reference specifications, increased so much as to provide conditional parity in performance between the Radeon RX 580 and the GeForce GTX 1060 . Compared to its main competitor, the Radeon RX 580 can offer the buyer such advantages as a larger amount of RAM (8 versus 6 GB) and the ability to work in multiprocessor configurations, which NVIDIA in the current generation has deprived of video cards with a lower rank than the GeForce GTX 1070. Read the full article

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charger-batteries · 4 years

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LG Wing 5G Review

The wildest phone of late 2020, the LG Wing ($999) has a unique swiveling screen that brings a breath of fresh, creative air to the stale world of rectangular smartphones. Its T-shaped two-screen layout makes it the ultimate phone for multitaskers who like to take notes while in Zoom meetings or access both music and maps while driving. It also has a Gimbal video mode that simulates a Steadicam attachment. I wish this innovative device were a slam dunk, but the phone is extremely heavy, and underpowered for the price. The promise of using two screens at once also falls a little flat when you realize that third-party apps likely won't take advantage of the new design.

Perfect to a 'T'?

The LG Wing looks like a big, thick, but ordinary smartphone. At 6.67 by 2.93 by 0.43 inches (HWD), it's roughly the same width and height as other large flagships, and thicker by about 0.1 inch. But whoof, it weighs 9.17 ounces. I called the 8-ounce iPhone 12 Pro Max too heavy, so this one is a brick—though there's a reason for that. Push the bottom of the screen up and clockwise, and boom! The phone is in a "T" shape, with the large screen above in landscape orientation and a smaller screen below.

The main screen is a 6.8-inch, 2,460-by-1,080 AMOLED at 395ppi. The smaller one is a nearly-square, 3.9-inch, 1,240-by-1,080 OLED display at 419ppi. Unlike with folding phones, the two screens aren't designed to be used as one fluid display: They're a primary and a secondary panel. On the glossy back of the lower screen, there's a triple-camera stack. To use those cameras, you hold the phone up as if it were a cross to ward off vampires.

Once you get past the coolness, you'll notice some flaws. The color balance isn't very saturated, especially in comparison to Samsung phones, which really punch up the colors. There's a single, loud, aggressively tinny speaker on the bottom; USB-C or Bluetooth headphones are a must. (There's no 3.5mm headphone jack.)

The hinge moves smoothly, and LG says that it's rated for at least 200,000 rotations. It doesn't hold at any location other than zero and 90 degrees; once you push it, it's going to swivel automatically on a spring until it snaps into place.

Shockingly for something this oddly shaped, the phone has an IP54 rating for water resistance. The internal components have a spray-on waterproof coating; how long it will hold up with the parts constantly moving is hard to say.

Performance That Doesn't Really Take Flight

The Wing's Qualcomm 765G chipset benchmarks below where I'd expect. I didn't see any problems in video calling, web browsing, or movie watching, even while multitasking on two screens, but high-performance games that aren't optimized for the device may have issues. The included game, Asphalt 9: Legends, was fine; it's designed for the phone. In the extremely high-test but popular open-world adventure game Genshin Impact, occasional stutters somewhat marred the gameplay experience.

The Wing scores 7,946 on PCMark Work 2.0; 596 single-core, 1,858 multi-core on Geekbench; 318 on Basemark Web; and 17fps on-screen, 21fps off-screen with the GFXBench Car Chase graphics benchmark. By comparison, the $699 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G scores 12,705 on PCMark Work 2.0, 392 on Basemark Web, and 45fps and 52fps on the GFXBench tests. It's clear that the Wing is operating at sub-flagship performance levels. Its scores are closer to those of the LG Velvet and the OnePlus Nord N10, two midrange phones that cost at least $300 less than the Wing's premium price.

The Wing does have flagship levels of RAM, though, and that's important. The 8GB of RAM is needed to keep all of that multitasking running.

How We Test Phones

The giant 4,000mAh battery runs out of juice surprisingly quickly. With the main screen in portrait orientation and the smaller screen hidden, the Wing streamed video over Wi-Fi for 9 hours, 15 minutes before conking out. Any recent large-size Samsung or Apple phone will surpass that by two hours or more.

The Wing has wireless charging and Qualcomm QuickCharge 4, allowing for fast charging using USB-C PD adapters at up to 28W.

Middling Connectivity

LG does not sell an unlocked, all-carrier Wing. There are two different hardware models: a Verizon/AT&T version and a T-Mobile version. I tested a Verizon model.

You shouldn't expect to see 2Gbps speeds on the Wing; 800Mbps will be more like it. The Wing uses a Qualcomm X52 modem, which we've previously seen run into trouble with AT&T's network (see our LG Velvet review). The X52 doesn't have a problem with Verizon 4G, but where flagship X55 phones will see peak speeds on Verizon's the 5G network, phones with the X52 modem will only use half of Verizon's millimeter-wave spectrum and see slower speeds. (To be fair, that difference will only show up in near-ideal circumstances in a limited number of cities.)

The T-Mobile version of the Wing can presumably handle T-Mobile's mid-band 4G as well as any other phone on the market. However, my Verizon-locked phone can't connect to T-Mobile's network, so I couldn't test its performance there.

5GHz Wi-Fi reception was about on par with the iPhone 12 Pro and behind the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Using an attenuated signal from a 100Mbps source connection, I saw around 8Mbps on both the LG Wing and the 12 Pro, and 35–40Mbps on the Note 20 Ultra. The iPhone 12 mini, on the other hand, frequently dropped that attenuated connection.

Software as Unusual as Its Hardware

The Wing runs Android 10, which is a year old at this point. It will get an upgrade to Android 11, but LG is notoriously slow to provide OS updates, so you'll have to wait for your carrier to push it. Upgrades beyond Android 11 are unlikely.

The Wing's software has been thoroughly customized to take advantage of its unusual form factor. When you swivel the top screen open, it switches from displaying the Android home interface to offering a carousel of dual screen–friendly apps: Asphalt 9, the gallery, the camera, YouTube, and Maps. There's no immediately obvious way to look at any other app on the main screen while it's horizontal. However, if you open an app while the screen is in portrait orientation and then rotate the screen, the app will stay open (sometimes adjusting well to the change of orientation, sometimes ending up displayed sideways).

Once revealed, the bottom screen displays a small version of the Android home screen. Among the icons at the bottom of the small screen, you now have pairs of apps that will open together, such as YouTube and Chrome, or Google Maps and YouTube Music.

Most of the time, the two screens operate independently. This comes in handy. My most frequent use was to pop open LG's QuickNote or Microsoft's OneNote on the bottom screen and jot notes while reading a web page or watching a video on the top screen. The Music-Maps combination looks great for driving, but there's one big UI failure: no Skip Ad button on the small screen, leaving you to endure long ads instead of your favorite playlist. A texting-and-Maps combination isn't bad if you're lost (but please pull over before texting).

You can also read two web pages at once. That's convenient, but the top page is in Landscape mode and the bottom one is small. They're certainly readable, but it isn't as natural an experience as, say, two side-by-side, portrait-style pages on the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

The Ecosystem Pitfall

The Wing's ambitious form factor looks destined to fall to the ecosystem pitfall that a lot of innovative phones have run into over the past several years.

There are four companies with enough market share to drive third-party app and accessory development. They are Apple, Google, and, to a lesser extent, Huawei and Samsung. Even Samsung hasn't done that well at it; the only success I can think of is Samsung making sure creative apps are compatible with its S Pen. Unfortunately for everyone, attempts to promote innovative APIs by other OEMs have universally failed. We saw this with the dual-screen Kyocera Echo and ZTE Axon M, and with Asus's convertible phone-tablets.

LG's dual-screen case for the V60 and the most recent round of foldable phones work around this problem by working with standard Android apps. But the Wing has two screens, with different sizes and aspect ratios, that aren't next to each other and don't form a single rectangle together, and third-party developers don't plan for that.

The result: I don't think we're going to see many games that use the second screen, or third-party camera apps that build on LG's innovative control scheme. LG has announced a few software partners—Rave, Tubi, Ficto, and Naver (which is big in Korea)—but they aren't companies well-known in the US.

Cameras: a Gimbal Gambol

The LG Wing has a main 64-megapixel camera on the back that defaults to taking 16-megapixel photos by combining every four small pixels into one brighter one. The camera has a "2x zoom" option, but it's digital zoom; it just crops the middle out of a 64-megapixel image. I found those resulting zoom shots to look quite good. They didn't seem dimmer than shots taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and they were plenty sharp. There's also a 13-megapixel, 117-degree wide-angle camera on the back, and a 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera on the front.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the LG's sharpening is more aggressive, but I like that. Photos taken with this camera really brought out the texture of bricks and the stubble on my face. The Wing's primary camera is flagship level, no question about it. You may like it more or less than other flagship cameras, but I think that comes out to a matter of taste.

In low light, it's hard to compare the LG and the Samsung because they make consistently different exposure decisions. In my tests, the LG always went for a longer exposure: 1/10 when the Samsung chose 1/20, or 1/30 when the Samsung chose 1/60. That results in more detailed images, but with a greater risk of blur if you don't hold the camera still. (I noticed this when whipping out both phones to take a quick snapshot indoors. The LG was blurry at 1/24, while the Samsung was sharper at 1/40.) The LG may have been using a longer exposure because the sensor isn't as sensitive as the Samsung's. Photos taken on the Samsung have more saturated colors in low light; the LG's images look a touch washed out.

I ran into one irritating problem: In low light, when taking photos of objects at short distances, there were sometimes problems with focus lock, resulting in blurry images. This tends to happen on high-megapixel phones that don't have some sort of focus assist light, and it can be frustrating. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a focus assist sensor, so it does better in those situations.

The Wing's Portrait mode is particularly fun and notable because of its filters. Sure, it can do the usual background blur and "stage lighting" where it blanks out the background. But it can also turn the background into a cartoon or an outline, making for a great effect I haven't seen on other phones.

A neat Dual Recording video mode lets you capture videos with the front and rear cameras at the same time—great for YouTubers. The videos can be saved as two files or one. A whole bunch of phones a few years ago had this feature, but it's been less common in the past two years.

The Wing's Gimbal mode, which imitates a Steadicam, appears to be magic, and it is—of the sleight-of-hand variety. The Gimbal mode relies on a 12-megapixel, 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera that's rotated 90 degrees relative to the other cameras on the phone. I've seen this trick once before, on the Moto One Action, which used a rotated camera to let you take horizontal videos while holding the phone vertically.

In Gimbal mode, the phone captures up to 1080P video—that's 2.1 megapixels. Think of the 12-megapixel sensor as divided into six 2-megapixel rectangles, and your field of vision as a moving 2.1-megapixel window onto that larger panorama. With a real gimbal, you're moving your camera around. With this, you're just moving a virtual window onto an extremely wide-angle fixed field of view.

There are a bunch of options to play with in the Gimbal mode. You can lock the view so that when you move the phone around, the frame stays still. You can let the frame move, but only on the horizontal axis, preventing vertical shake when you're walking. You can pan with a joystick rather than by moving the phone. (You can't zoom, because you're already using all the pixels.)

The best thing about the Gimbal mode is the panning and what that does to your mind. Typically, when I shoot a video with my phone, I try to keep the frame still because moving the phone around with my hand introduces some wobble and a kind of motion that can be distracting. But the digital panning on the Wing's Gimbal mode is perfectly smooth and feels very professional. That's really nice.

There are a few downsides to this. For one thing, you can't combine pixels to detect more light. On the main camera, the default mode is to combine four 0.8-micron pixels into 1.6-micron pixels for 12-megapixel images; with 1080p video, you can do further pixel combination because you only really need 2.1 megapixels at one time. The gimbal camera says it has 1.4-micron "big pixels," but since it can't ever combine them, images are dimmer and basically useless at night.

Also, at least some of the anti-shake is digital, and you can see it in the resulting video. The gimbal camera has a hexa motion stabilizer to physically reduce shake, but of course it's not going to be as smooth as if you had a real gimbal. When I created intense shaking by skipping along the street while I took video, I could see some distracting digital tearing in the image as the algorithms tried to keep it together.

Will the Wing Be a Thing?

The Wing is a genuinely innovative product. Its Gimbal mode can enable some great filmmaking. Its two screens let you pair passive activities (streaming videos, watching webinars) with active ones (researching on IMDB, taking notes) for a rich, engaged experience.

On the other hand, it's really heavy, performance isn't what I expect from a $1,000 phone, and, most importantly, I don't have faith in LG to further develop and expand the software ecosystem for the form factor. The phone's basic app experience isn't likely to improve or expand with time.

Gimbal mode is cool, but real gimbals aren't that expensive. A DJI Osmo Mobile 3 or Om 4 gimbal costs $80–130. Pair that gimbal with a $699 iPhone 12 mini or Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and you have better overall phone performance at a lower price than the $999 Wing. Of course, having to tote an extra gimbal around isn't quite as convenient, which is part of the point of the Wing.

There's an old lyric from the British rapper The Streets that always comes into my head for phones like this: "Cult classic, not best seller." When you're out with friends and you flip open an LG Wing, you're going to get comments and stares. You'll be a cool weirdo. Then you can pan around the table with your Gimbal mode, capturing reactions. If that's your game, it'll be a fun one.

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c9sneaksen-blog · 7 years

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As Love is My Witness *slightly NSFW*

Author’s Note: This fanfiction is heavily based on As Love is My Witness, a song from Westlife. I’m not a fluent English speaker, nor this is my primary language, so I tried my best when it comes to grammatical rules, even if I used a spell-check software. I think there aren’t loads of OOCness and if so, I apologize in advance. It is also slightly NSFW due to the few swearwords and some explicit terms. Enjoy!

___________________________________________________________

Once in a lifetime

You look in someone’s eyes

And it feels like the world stop turning at once

Zach remembers perfectly when he met him for the first time. Hai had decided few weeks earlier to step down from the Cloud9 roster because of his wrist issues. Several people had come to try out; including Alex Ich, Yusui and, last but not least, Incarnati0n. While the latter was introducing himself, his icy blue eyes fell upon the AD Carry’s hazelnut ones.

He never believed in long-lasting relationships; although he had dated a girl named Jennabella and had a somehow friends with benefits relationship with Meteos, the jungler, in their beginnings as a team. It was everything but serious.

“Hello, my name is Nicolaj Jensen, but you can call me Jensen. I’m from Denmark,” the skinny player nicknamed Incarnati0n had said.

That’s what it felt like for me

I knew right away this day would be

Standing together, believing forever

Is there in our reach

Zachary had tried to push his feelings away, to deny them. But, day by day, he fell more and more in love with the Dane. But the 2015 Summer Split did not happen as well as the Cloud9 community had hoped. It was very shaky and inconsistent: Jensen always apologized when they went through losses, even if it was not necessarily his own fault. And even if they won games, he felt bad for his poor laning phase or even his creep score deficit.

‘Cause love is my witness

I swear

I’ll be with you till the end

During those times, the whole squad, as well as Charlie and Jack, was doing its best to comfort their new midlaner when he fell in those moments of self-hatred. It was unfair for their newcomer to keep blaming himself. He did not deserve that. It was unhealthy. Towards the middle of the split, Meteos announced to Jack his need to step down from the team. Sneaky was, to say the least, surprised to hear this: he was fully aware that Nicolaj and William did not get along well. Because of issues related to the Danish player or not, the jungler quit the team.

Nothing in tear this love apart

I’ll put my head upon my heart

This is the promise I’ll make to you

Whatever comes we’ll see it through

Hai came out of retirement and replaced Meteos during the last few weeks of the split. They were on the verge to be relegated, something which would have been unthinkable for some. However, their win over Team 8 in a tiebreaker had prevented such a thing. Thanks to their Championship points from Spring, Cloud9 was able to attend the regional qualifiers for Worlds. They successfully won their series against Gravity Gaming, Team Impulse and, lastly, Team Liquid.

“We are going to Worlds!”, Jack excitedly told his team members at the end of the third day, feeling relieved.

Nothing can break it

This feeling’s too strong

‘Cause love is my witness

Later that day, they flew to South Korea, in order to go to their bootcamp. The members streamed regularly, especially Sneaky and Jensen, who duo-queued lot together. Jack had noticed drastic changes in the Dane’s personality: throughout the split, he became more and more confident with his aggressive playstyle, and he meshed well with his teammates.

“Someone told me my girlfriend is so hot. Is that you?”, the European player asked, a grin on his face.

“There’s no other lesbian ADC in the NALCS. So yeah, same”, his teammate replied, chuckling.

However, this year, no NA team had made it past the groups stage, due to the week 2 curse. But going to Worlds was already an achievement for Cloud9. They were the team from North America that was at the seventh place in the regular season and, yet, they had the most wins than any other team from their region. Jensen’s father had even attended a couple of his son’s games during those two weeks: a huge feeling of pride was surrounding him.

We’ve both known sorrow

We have known heartache

When our dreams for tomorrow

Seem so far away

Even if Zachary was still in touch with Will, it still hurt him to not see him around anymore. They had played within the same team during more than two years together, you can’t forget a relationship like that one. It hurt him to let his fans down. But he couldn’t really tell them “Yeah, Meteos and I fucked around for months. How are we doing now? Well, I’m in love with someone else” either.

But that brought us closer – yeah

It brought us together

So that we’d know the real thing

That’s why I can yeah – ye-eh-yeah

‘Cause love is my witness

I swear

I’ll be with you till the end

Jensen and him were close but he couldn’t quite figure out whether the glances they exchanged were ‘no homo’ or not. Off-season always hit the player from Florida the worst: he could hardly deal with distance without feeling broken inside. Of course, they called each other every few days or so but, to Sneaky, it wasn’t enough.

He was addicted to his European teammate, who was always bringing candies from Denmark when he was back in NA. Candies that Sneaky loved, even if they were for all the team.

Nothing in tear this love apart

I’ll put my hand upon my heart

This is the promise I’ll make to you

Whatever comes we’ll see it through

Nothing can break it

This feeling’s too strong

‘Cause love is my witness

Before the following split, LemonNation had quit his position as a support in order to become a coach for the team. Hai was known as a versatile player, so he filled in his role, and Rush from Team Impulse, was brought in as a jungler. The Korean player had a great synergy with his midlaner, but it didn’t have a negative impact on the others. Indeed, the newcomer from the team often played SoloQueue with Sneaky and Jensen during some evenings. One night, when Sneaky was streaming, he and Jensen were playing in the botlane. The former was playing Vayne and the latter Orianna… but as a support.

“I swear it works, I tried it out few days ago!”, the Dane had tried to justify, unsuccessfully.

“Be careful what you wish for, Yensen” the ADC added, mockingly. “If we lose, we’re gonna go to Starbucks for a date!”

“So… we mustn’t lose. Hopefully your laning phase can be decent this time, Senpai!”

I know whatever comes to be

Together we’ll face the mystery

Here in my heart, deep in my soul

Somehow I know, I know

‘Cause love is my witness

I swear

I’ll be with you till the end

They had indeed lost that game. So here they were, having a hot date in Starbucks. When it came to the hot drink called coffee, they were polar opposites. As a matter of fact, Sneaky loved coffee with vanilla and plenty of cream whereas Jensen preferred black, plain, coffee.

“How can you drink that piece of shit? It’s undrinkable as fuck!”, the blond-haired male whined.

Jensen did not answer; he only shrugged with a wide smile on his lips.

Prior the Summer Split, Rush left NA in order to come back to his home country. One of his prior teammates from Team Impulse whose name was Impact, the 2013 Worlds champion, replaced Balls in the toplane. Due to this change, the jungler slot was once again empty: Meteos went back in the team, even if he was rather reluctant with the idea.

Jack had even managed to convince Edward Gaming’s coach, Reapered, to train the team during their mid-season Korean bootcamp. The latter enjoyed the team so much that he ended up dropping his contract with EDG and decided to coach the North American team instead. BunnyFuFuu and Smoothie were both supports, exchanging whenever it was needed. Another gauntlet, another trip to Worlds. This time, they had managed to qualify for quarterfinals but lost against Samsung Galaxy from South Korea in a swift 0-3 trend.

Nothing in tear this love apart

I’ll put my hand upon my heart

This is the promise I’ll make to you

(This is the promise I’ll make to you)

Whatever comes we’ll see it through

Nothing can break it

This feeling’s too strong

‘Cause love is my witness

A new season happened. Ray, from APEX Gaming, became Impact’s substitute and, a seventeen-year-old player, Contractz, was playing in the jungle. Thus, Meteos was out of the main roster, again, as well as Bunny.

Cloud9 went through ordeals this year: starting with Jensen’s mispositioning during a crucial teamfight in the last game of Spring Split Finals, being one of the main reasons they lost, followed by a tough 0-2 weekend during the first week of Summer, Ray being hit with depression shortly after Rift Rivals and, last but not least, their elimination from playoffs in quarters against Team Dignitas after six straight wins. Yet, Japanese people often say, “fall seven times and stand up eight”. They had three weeks to prepare for the Gauntlet and, maybe, have a shot at attending Worlds. This year, however, they were the final boss. One series and they were in. Or out. After a 3-1 win over Counter Logic Gaming, they played some Korean SoloQueue before actually going to China. Sneaky and Jensen had even found Rush at some point.

Thanks to SKT, they were once again in quarterfinals, nicknamed as NA’s latest hope before getting out of groups. In spite of their bitterness for losing 2-3 against Team WE, they were glad of making it that far. Once back in NA, Sneaky waited a couple of days before resuming his stream: only Contractz and him were left in the gaming house. But it was only a matter of time before they both left in their respective families as well.

Nothing can break it

This feeling’s too strong

‘Cause love is my witness

It was during the middle of the month of December when the players were back in Santa Monica: they had to release a video about their 2018 roster a couple of days later. Sneaky was playing Super Mario Odyssey on his computer when someone knocked onto the wall. Much too focused on his screen, he did not hear the door opening, mostly due to his lack of answer.

“Okay, I’m back from a fifteen-hour-long flight so I could see my Snacky and all I see is that he’s more interested in video games than his aesthetic best friend. BibleThump”, the voice said in a sad tone.

“Yensen?” the marksman asked, raising his eyebrows and turning his back from the computer.

“Yeah, it’s me, dumbass. I got some candies from Copenhagen, by ze way!”

“Candies?” Zach frenziedly repeated. “Count me in! That’s so SneakyGasm by ze way.”

The AD Carry took his headset off and hugged deeply his friend. Jensen was wearing his Veigar hat, one of his birthday presents from last year: he was still as skinny as Fiddlesticks and his light blue eyes were glimmering.

“Wow, who would’ve thought I had such an effect on you?”, the Slavic male teased.

“About that… I – I think there’s something we need to talk about”, the latter answered in a serious tone. “Like I – I am fucking in love with you. It – it’s not even some ‘no homo’ stuff or whatever. I’m dead serious, Nicolaj. Say something, please, even if it’s not mutual: your silence is killing me.”

“I – jeg elsker dig, Zach. I want you. I love you and your lesbian hair”, the midlaner ended up replying.

“Wow. Never thought it would take us so much time. Anyway, wanna take a welcome back pic? And with a caption like ‘my Danish lover is finally back from home’ or something like that?”, Zach asked, brushing his hand through his hair, his face slightly blushing.

“Sounds FeelsGoodMan to me. Damn, I missed you so badly,” his boyfriend agreed. “You should travel to Copenhagen with me someday.”

#submission #fan work #Sneaksen fic #Glaeweth #OH MY GOOD LORD #MY FEEEEEELS #THANK YOU #AMAZING

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magzoso-tech · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/new-year-2020-our-gadgets-wishlist-from-iphone-9-to-mi-tv-4x/

New Year 2020: Our Gadgets Wishlist, From iPhone 9 to Mi TV 4X

There’s nothing like having a shiny new gadget to play with. Well, until the second week anyway — when you start looking forward to the next one, eh? That would be funny except materialism is no funny topic in a world that’s facing a climate emergency. Thanks, unchecked capitalism. But that’s not going to automatically make you not want things, but the least that you can do when the planet is burning is be responsible. More so for tech stuff that use rare-earth elements. Don’t discard something that still works, and if you’ve to buy a new one, read about its environmental impact.

Depressed yet? Anyway, here’s what the Gadgets 360 staff will be keeping its eye on in 2020. It includes TVs, laptops, smartwatches, (wireless) headphones, gaming consoles and services, and naturally, phones. And… shoes? Yes, shoes.

Aditya Shenoy: Samsung Galaxy Buds, but better

Last year, I had put the Sena 30K on my wishlist. I didn’t buy it because I found it to be super expensive for what it offered. Cardo does make similar communicators that are better and well-priced but that’ll have to wait since this Chinese V6 Communicator I bought this year is working as expected.

I don’t need a tech product, but I am open to buying a pair of good truly wireless earphones. Currently the Samsung Galaxy Buds are on the list. I hope Samsung launches a successor soon with active noise cancelling. That would be something I’ll be interested to buy.

Buy: Samsung Galaxy Buds, if you can’t wait

Akhil Arora: a new console, maybe?

Someone ought to hold and shake me by the shoulders, just for saying that. A bit of necessary backgrounder: I own more consoles than new games I’ve finished this year, and more controllers than free hours I’ve in the day. And yet, I can’t seem to resist the temptation of the next generation, if only for the better graphics fidelity it will no doubt promise.

But I haven’t named one side because I’m genuinely caught: PlayStation has more exclusives, and Xbox has… Forza Horizon? Contain your astonishment, that’s my life. What Microsoft needs to do then essentially is announce Forza Horizon 5, exclusive to the Xbox Series X. That last bit is very important. Hope you’re (not) listening, Phil. Otherwise, Sony seems the safer bet.

Or maybe I’ll grow some brains and save the money for an upcoming holiday.

Buy: some sensibility

Akshay Jadhav: Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless ANC Headphones

In 2019, I assembled my new PC, primarily for editing and gaming at home. However, I couldn’t stretch my budget to accommodate a decent pair of headphones. So, in 2020 I am looking out for a killer pair of headphones to complete my setup and I have my eye on the legendary Sony WH-1000XM3 due to its insane active noise cancellation capabilities and superb sound quality. This headphone is still on the pricier side however when it comes to ANC with overall features, it is still slightly better than the Bose QC 35. In 2020, I am hoping that after Sony releases their new XM4 model, the XM3 will go down in price or I can find it on a discounted price during any sale.

Buy: Sony WH-1000XM3 Active Noise Cancellation Headphones

Ali Pardiwala: Apple Arcade

There are a few non-tech products I absolute NEED to buy — a new mattress and shoes — so I’m a bit short on funds for a big tech purchase. However, I do love playing games on my iPad mini (2019), and I think it’s finally time to set aside an extra Rs. 99 per month for Apple Arcade. It may not sound like much, but when I’m already paying for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Spotify, and YouTube Music, even Rs. 99 per month sounds like a lot.

Apple’s gaming service comes with a one-month free trial, and gives you access you a variety of quality games through a unique monthly subscription model. It’s a great way to access new games and might be worth it for me if I can play games that actually put the iPad mini’s power to good use.

Buy: Apple Arcade

Aman Rashid: Nike Air Jordan 1

In 2018, I remember wanting to buy the iPhone XS Max in Gold, but I just couldn’t because I had recently purchased the Galaxy Note 9 at that time, and admittedly my budget was also a bit tight. But yes, I do remember mentioning in my wishlist for 2019 that I would buy the next iPhone. So, iPhone season came, and I got the iPhone 11 Pro in Gold. And with that, I fulfilled the promise to myself of getting the next big thing from Apple.

So now what? Well, now I am having a good time with my iPhone 11 Pro. And looking at my habit of changing phones every year: do I want to upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro or whatever its name is going to be? Um, I am not so sure right now. I think for me, the iPhone 11 Pro is a very good smartphone that ticks all the correct boxes. So as much as I love my current device, I am not very sure whether I will be upgrading to the iPhone 12 Pro or not.

But this is a question for September 2020. If the new iPhone does look enticing to me, then maybe I might just buy it. In the meantime, what else do I want? Well apart from phones sneakers are something that I am absolutely crazy for and believe me I have got a lot of them. So, iPhone 12 Pro in 2020? Not so sure. More Air Jordan 1s? Yes sir, please!

Buy: Nike Air Jordan 1

Gaurav Shukla: Apple MacBook Air (2020)

It has been a while since I upgraded my laptop and if I remember correctly both my existing laptops are now touching the five-year mark. So, I am thinking of going for the upgraded MacBook Air model that is expected to arrive sometime in 2020. As the latest MacBook Air model available in the market packs the eight-gen Intel core chips, I want to wait until Apple releases the refreshed version with at least the 10th gen Intel core processor options.

It will be my first personal MacBook as even though I currently use an NDTV-provided MacBook Air for official work, I have stuck to Windows for personal computers. I am hoping that not only does Apple upgrade the CPU in the next-generation MacBook Air but also switches the keyboard from butterfly to scissor-switch-based design that it has included in the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Harpreet Singh: AirPods Pro, Kindle Paperwhite

Last year, I wished to buy Apple’s HomePod in 2019. I waited for a large part of the year, hoping Apple will launch it in India. It didn’t. And then a very wise person I know suggested I wait until Black Friday, which is exactly what I did. I ended up with a generous deal on the HomePod eventually (yes, I had to buy one from the US).

For 2020, I don’t have any solid plans yet. I wish to save some dough, but then you never know. AirPods Pro, a new MacBook Pro 13-inch (ideally one with the new keyboard), and the all-new Kindle Paperwhite are still on my wishlist. Depending on the budget, I might strike at least one of these off by the end of next year.

Buy: AirPods Pro, Kindle Paperwhite

Jagmeet Singh: Apple Watch Series 5

It’s been more than a year since I have the Apple Watch Series 3. Although I’m still getting what I need from the 2017 model, I feel that 2020 would be the year when I would switch to a newer Apple Watch. I generally don’t consider it wise to spend plenty of your hard-earned money on a new Apple device that becomes cheaper in a few months of its launch. Thus, I hope that the latest Apple Watch would get some price drops in the future that would make it a better deal.

What makes the Apple Watch Series 5 a significant upgrade over the Series 3 is its new Always-On Retina display and the ability to record electrocardiogram (ECG). Both features have attracted me since the launch of the new Apple Watch model in September. However, its price tag of nearly Rs. 44,000 for the 44mm case is something that has restricted me to take the buying decision so far.

Apple is likely to bring some notable changes to its smartwatch family in 2020. Nevertheless, I don’t want to spend much on the next-generation Apple Watch and would go with the existing option next year.

Buy: Apple Watch Series 5

Jamshed Avari: nothing, hopefully

It’s highly unlikely that I’ll splash out on anything huge in 2020, or at least unlikely that I’ll plan to. At the moment, everything I have works well enough and isn’t too old. That doesn’t mean I’m immune to the temptations of flash sales or crazy discounts, so who knows how I’ll feel six months from now, and who knows what I’ll end up with! I’ve also developed a bad habit of buying SSDs and RAM because prices keep falling so it’s probably a fair bet that my various devices will end up getting a few minor upgrades.

Nadeem Sarwar: Pixel 4a

The Google Pixel 4a is at the top of my tech wish list for the year 2020 for many reasons, with one of them being the need to upgrade to a new phone. And now that the first major Pixel 4a leak has given us a look at its design, I am more now more inclined to buy it. The Pixel 4a will ditch its predecessor’s thick bezels and will opt for a more modern hole-punch design.

Prabhakar Thakur: iPhone 9, or SE 2

I am thinking of buying Apple iPhone 9 (also called iPhone SE 2) which is rumoured to launch in April 2020. According to reports, the phone may feature A13 Bionic chip and the same chassis as that of the iPhone 8. I hope Apple keeps the bezels thin and provides a bigger battery. I also wish the phone supports fast charging, but I guess I am asking for a bit too much from the company given its past record. A decent camera can be expected as well.

My decision to buy the iPhone 9 will also depend on its price. As per speculations, the smartphone may start selling at $399 in the US. My guess is that it might sell in India for $600 (roughly Rs. 43,000). Waiting for some great deals for the phone also seems like a good idea. iPhone 11 could also become cheaper later in the year. Eventually, it will depend on the best deal that I get both in terms of phone’s capabilities and price. For now, the iPhone 9 is on my mind.

Pranay Parab: AirPods Pro

I was fortunate enough to pick up the AirPods at a big discount a couple of years ago, and I hope 2020 will bring a similar discount on the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro has active noise cancellation and excellent sound quality, as we’ve mentioned in our review and podcast, and that makes this a must have for me. While this is the product I want to buy, I will not be picking it up at its current price (Rs. 24,900). I’m prepared to wait till 2021 or till whenever there’s a big discount before buying it. Until then, I’ll continue using my AirPods even though the battery life is down to around 90 minutes at this point.

Buy: AirPods Pro

Roydon Cerejo: games, wireless earphones and chargers

Last year, I said I wanted to buy the Apple Watch Series 4 and, in all honesty,, I almost did. But then, better sense prevailed, and I ended up picking up a used, Series 1 instead. It just didn’t make sense spending the same amount as a mid-range Android flagship, for an accessory. My main need for the Apple Watch was notifications alerts and controlling media volume when using AirPods — all of which the Series 1 handles beautifully.

For 2020, I don’t have an immediate wishlist since I’ve already made pretty big purchases this year, the PS4 Pro being the most recent one. I’ll definitely looking to get more games for the PS4, as and when newer titles drop in price and hit CeX. I’ll probably look at picking up a new pair of truly wireless earphones too. I love my AirPods, but the Samsung Galaxy Buds have spoiled me with its superior audio quality. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the Bose Earbuds 500 or 700, which were teased this year for a 2020 launch.

I wouldn’t mind more wireless chargers at home too. It’s super convenient and now that most people at my place have phones capable of wireless charging, it makes sense to have more of them around the house.

Buy: Samsung Galaxy Buds

Sumit Garg: Mi TV 4X Pro

In 2019, I have got quite a bunch of things for myself. And if we are talking about tech, then my biggest purchase must be the Apple iMac. Yes, I finally got it for myself and I also remember putting it as my wishlist for 2019. And, in 2020 I can finally shift my focus to other things. You know, I just can’t ignore my love for big screens. So, after the iMac, the next purchase I want to make for myself is a TV, and I am pretty sure about the one that I want.

The Xiaomi Mi TV, which is a 4K 55-inch LED TV, is the one I have been keeping an eye on for quite some time. I really like the way it looks, I like its picture and sound quality as well, and on top of everything, the price tag it carries is also that won’t burn a hole in my pocket. I mean come on, for 40k, where will I find such an amazing TV. So, the Mi LED TV 4X Pro it is.

Buy: Mi LED TV 4X Pro

Tasneem Akolawala: Learning apps

There’s no big tech purchase that I’ve planned for 2020, mainly because I’ve got a little toddler in the house that is going through a phase of extreme curiosity. I might invest in a few paid learning apps for my kid, but no big bucks will be spent on tech till he grows up a little more. I also kept my 2019 new flagship phone purchase on hold, even though my iPhone 6s went kaput this year, as predicted. I’m making do with a budget Android phone for now that helps fulfil my texting and calling needs.

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#Miscellaneous

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funorb · 7 years

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My first original long joke called "Luck"

My first original long joke called "Luck" - When I was young, I was always lucky. When I was five, my mom asked me to give 6 numbers for the lottery. “8, 13, 27, 29, 30, 31” I said. Without any hesitation, my mom punched those numbers on the lottery ticket and hoped for the best. Later that night, my whole family was watching the lottery on the television.“The winning numbers are 8!” The announcer said.“Five more numbers and I’m a millionaire!” my mom said with a big smile on her face.“13!” The announcer continued. My dad, who believed throughout his whole life that the lottery is rigged by politicians, suddenly looked towards the television. It was as if he knew that we were going to win.“27!” We already have half of the winning numbers. My family wasn’t really that rich, so winning the lottery would be a big help.“29!” Is it really going to happen? Are we really going to win ₱80,000,000?”“30!” One more number! The least amount we could get now is ₱50,000. Getting 5 out of the 6 winning numbers is already a big achievement in itself. Even if we don’t win, getting 5 winning numbers was already a testament on how lucky I was.It was as if God heard me and answered with a big “Okay”.“32!” Silence filled the room. My dad slowly looked away from the television and started reading his book once again. The smile in my mom’s face quickly disappeared as she stood up and went to sleep. Meanwhile, I was still very proud of my achievement. 5 out of 6 was unbelievably good. The next day, I bragged to my classmates that I had an 83.33333% guess rate. Most of my classmates were like “Whoa, that’s amazing” but one classmate of mine asked “Then what happened to the other 16.66666%?”That guy’s name was Calvin. Up until high school, he was considered as the “Shotgun King”. He would just shotgun any major test but still end up with a 100% grade. He was one of the few people in the world that were luckier than me. At age 11, he already won the 6/55 Grand Lotto four times, and he wasn’t only lucky with the lottery, he was lucky with everything. Five months ago, he won a 2017 Audi A3 Sedan. Three months ago, he won a Mercedes-Benz AMG 43, and about a week ago, he won a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. He won all these via raffle. There were a lot of doubts about his wins since not even the Philippine Air Force has an F-22.I haven’t been participating in any more raffles since my mom said that I should focus on my studies. While walking to class, I saw this flyer that said about a raffle with the 1st prize of a Samsung Refrigerator. It was the perfect time to test out my luck skills, besides, my family would extremely benefit from a new refrigerator. While I was putting my raffle entries inside the drop box, someone patted my shoulder.“Hey Kyle!” the guy said. It was Calvin.“Hey Calvin, what’s up?” I said.“You’re entering the raffle too?” He asked.“Yeah man, it’s been a long time since I won something.” I answered.“Well good luck.” He said. “I’m joining the raffle too, so the chances of you winning are slim.”After two days, it was already raffle day. I was positive that I would win, so I sat in front, near where the results were going to be announced.One by one, the results were slowly announced, starting from the 5th prize.“The 5th prize goes to Earl Cayanan!”“The 4th prize goes to Mary Ann Severino!”“The 3rd prize goes to John Paul Melecio!”“The 2nd prize goes to Harold Eugenio!”Finally, it was the time for the 1st prize. In the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw Calvin talking to some security guards. I smell something fishy going on.“And for the 1st prize, congratulations to Calvin Tolentino!”Calvin quickly ran up the stage. I didn’t believe the results so I ran up to Calvin, but on the way, two security guards stopped me. I didn’t give up. I shouted: “I’m the real winner, not you! The whole raffle was rigged!” One security guard then grabbed his gun and smacked its base to my head. I passed out.I then woke up in a hospital room with an old lady whom I’ve never met before, sitting beside me.“So, do you want to beat Calvin?” She asked.“What do you mean?” I asked in return.“I can make you win the next major raffle.”“How?” I quickly asked as I was interested.“Well, the next raffle has a bottle made out of diamonds as its first prize. If sold, it could be as expensive as ₱850,000,000.”“Okay so how do I win it?”“Hold your horses, young boy, that’s not the real first prize. You shouldn’t win the bottle, but instead, go to the host right after the program has ended. He will give you the keys to the ‘Win All Raffles Robot’ or WARR for short.”“The what?”“Okay, this might sound crazy but there is a robot that can make you win all raffle you enter. It’s called the ‘Win All Raffles Robot’.”“So how does it work?” I asked out of curiosity.“No one knows, it was sent by God during the 1300’s. What I do now is that whoever has the WARR would never lose a raffle. Your friend Calvin was just really lucky, but with the WARR, you’d be more than lucky.”“But how would I be sure that the host would give it to me?”“Well, he is my son.”“How is he your son?”“I gave birth to him.”Since this conversation seemed like it wouldn’t lead to anything useful anymore, I packed my things and left the hospital. Moments later, I saw a flyer that caught my eye.“Win a 700-year-old Venetian Diamond Wine Bottle worth ₱850,000,000. All you have to do is enter the raffle to have a chance.”Maybe this was the raffle the old lady was talking about. I quickly went to the raffle booth and entered.“The raffle draw will be in an hour, sir.” The clerk said. “You can meanwhile sit in our Waiting Area.”Inside the Waiting Area were chairs, tables, and a television showing a replay of the 2021 NBA Finals. It’s crazy how the Lakers won it in 6 games. Joel Embiid was such a beast for Philadelphia but they still weren’t able to pull it off.After an hour, I left the waiting room and sat in the front row near the stage where the raffle will be drawn. Slowly, people started coming and the seats started to fill up.It was time.The host came out of the curtains and picked one raffle ticket in the spinning jar.“The 5th prize which is a 1942 Zero Japanese fighter plane, goes to Erika Sanchez!”“The 4th prize, which is an authentic piece of the Shroud of Turin, goes to Francois LeBourgeoisie!” I can’t believe the host mispronounces his name.“The 3rd prize, which is the original copy of the Indian epic, the Ramayana, goes to Juan Tiu-Tres.”“The 2nd prize, which is a legitimate metal shard from the 1947 Roswell UFO Crash goes to Zack Dimagiba.“And finally, the event you’ve all been waiting for, the 1st prize which is a 700-year-old Venetian Diamond Wine Bottle goes to…Calvin Tolentino!”“What?!” I shouted as I jumped off my seat.Someone then suddenly patted my back. It was Calvin.“It’s okay Kyle, you’ll get your chance.” Calvin said.I was about to punch him in the face but I suddenly remembered that I never really intended to win the 1st prize, so before Calvin went to the stage to claim his prize, I told him: “Hey Calvin!”“Yes Kyle?” He said with an intimidating smile to his face.I moved closer to him, stared him in the eye, and softly said: “You may have won the bottle, but you haven’t won the WARR.”

#joke #jokes #lol #Funny #love #rofl #fun #laugh

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savetopnow · 7 years

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2018-03-21 02 CAR now

CAR

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marulikestea · 8 years

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Indochina Trip - Bangkok, Thailand

Last November of 2015 (Yes, two friggin years ago, huhu), my friends and I embarked on an 8-day journey to Indochina. Though we say Indochina, we actually just visited three countries: mainly Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The reason behind this trip, aside from the fact there was a ticket promo from Cebu Pacific Airlines, was because Arlyn and I wanted to experience travelling abroad for the first time. As for me, I’ve always dreamed of going to Cambodia due to their ancient ruins, so having that country as part of our destination was definitely a bonus, as well as an incentive.

Originally, there were five of us who were supposed to be going, but unfortunately, the tickets got sold fast so Denise was only able took three.

So it ended up with only us females. :<

For the trip planning, we equally divided the task of coming up with an itinerary, wherein each of us had an assigned country to deal with. Mine was Cambodia (naturally), Denise was Thailand, and Vietnam for Arlyn. Since Arlyn and I had no prior experience traveling outside the country, Denise took it upon herself to book our hotels for each country. Aww, thanks so much mommy Denise~ <3

Anyway, since blogging all 3 countries in one go would be a total chore, I decided to discuss each nation separately in the following posts. So for this one, it will only focus on our stay in Thailand adventure. Be warned though, there will be major photodump ahead.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

FLIGHT TO THAILAND

Our flight departure was in the evening (9:35pm) but Arlyn and I got to the airport several hours earlier (as commonly practiced). Denise was the last to arrive, lol.

We had our dinner at Tapa King before going to the waiting area of the terminal.

Took a photo of us at the airport with my old crappy samsung galaxy 1 cellphone. I was black-haired back then. ;P

Our flight got delayed a bit due to various reasons, but we were able to depart eventually. After a few hours in transit, we finally arrived at Bangkok, Thailand.

My flight ticket. :3

Upon our touchdown, we took an airport taxi (200 THB) to drive us to our hotel destination. Since it was already past midnight, there was no traffic at all. So we were able to have a smooth ride while marveling at the city’s night lights.

I must admit, even from the airplane window view during landing, Thailand’s night lights differ so much from Philippines; having more of a white-ish organized glow compared to our yellowish scattered embers. Nevertheless it gave me this alienated but excited sort-of feeling; an emotion that served as further proof that I was no longer home.

BANGKOK CITY HOTEL

After our long ride from the airport, we finally arrived at Bangkok City hotel. Transaction went rather smoothly, since their staff were well-versed in the English language. So after verifying our reservation, we then checked-in to our room, dumped our luggage on our individually-claimed space and slept like a log for a few hours before our call time at 6:00 am.

When 6:00 am came, we got ourselves ready for the hotel’s breakfast buffet.

According to Denise, this hotel has been suggested by one of her acquaintances due to its breakfast buffet feature. And evidently enough, when we got to the lobby, almost all the dining tables were already occupied by tourists and other hotel occupants, and the buffet line stretching as far as the table could go.

After a few minutes of searching for open seats, a table has finally been vacated. Like a hawk, we zeroed in on the spot and secured it for ourselves. We took turns in getting food while someone remained to guard territory.

But apparently, that didn’t seem enough because in one occasion, a seat got stolen from us by some random Chinese tourist right under our noses. During that time, Denise was on the buffet line while Arlyn and I were busy chatting with each other. Then we just realized that the chair where Denise was suppose to occupy was suddenly taken. It happened all so fast that we weren’t able to react, lol. Luckily, we were able to get another seat for her when she returned. Since then, we vowed to never again get slighted by the likes of those ill-mannered tourists who can’t even ask for permission before taking someone’s chair. Tsk.

Setting that aside, food was very delicious and we certainly had our stomachs filled to the brim and satisfied.

Our hotel room.

We then went back to our room to take a bath and prepare our stuff for the first agenda of the day.

DAY 1

We took a cab to our first destination: the grand palace complex. Our cab driver, who was probably friendly and chatty by nature, thought that we were from Malaysia. After telling him that we were from the Philippines, he said that he had Filipino passengers in the past and continued to talk about stuff that I can no longer recall lol. The ride cost us 200 THB and was paid in full when we reached our drop off point. As expected, even arriving early, there was already a huge crowd of buzzing tourists who had the same agenda as us.

Welp, on to the ticket booth then.

GRAND PALACE COMPLEX

“The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and it consists of not only the royal residences and throne halls, but also a number of government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It covers an area of 218,000 square meters and is surrounded by four walls, 1900 meters in length.”, as said in the pamphlet guide.

Our entrance ticket worth 500 Baht.

View of "Wat Phra Kaew" from the outside of its protective walls.

Even before we went to Thailand, the three of us were already aware that most of the places we were going to visit were temples or structures that are highly respected and revered by the locals; thus it was advised that we wore decent clothing. Alas, Denise sleeveless top was deemed unacceptable by the palace guard (even with a shawl as cover), so she was forced to buy a shirt to wear instead so we could proceed inside, LOLOLOLOL.

Denise in her new instant-souvenir-shirt. So tourist-y~ XD

Thotsakhirithon, Demonic guards (or yakshas) at the temple entrance

From left to right: Phra Sri Rattana Chedi, Phra Mondop and Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn (The Royal Pantheon)

A closer look of the buildings... sort of.

Entrance to Phra Mondop, with guardians

Trying to be spiderman, eh birdie? ;P

A mini-replica of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Woot! Tourist mode! :3

Even from afar, the emblem of the Chakri dynasty (three-bladed sword in a sharpened disc) on the door is still visible.

The Chakri Maha Prasat hall

BOAT RIDE TO NOWHERE

After we finished our sweaty stroll inside the palace, we left the premises to continue to our next destination. Seeing as we had no idea how to get there, we stopped and asked for directions.

Which led to one of the worst decisions we have ever done in our stay in this country.

The person we’ve asked directions from insisted that we take a boat ride around the city, so as to experience a better feel and understanding of their city and culture. While pointing to the map we held with a guiding finger, he further explained that riding a boat through the river would take us to all the hot spots Bangkok had to offer, and at the same time recommending a particular boat service that offered a much cheaper price compared to the usual fee being charged. Being the gullible tourists that we were, we agreed to such stupidity and paid 900 THB each for this “chance of the lifetime”...

...Only to see nothing of importance, get bored and sleepy, and waste a large sum of money that we could have used for buying souvenirs or food.

UGGGHHHHHHH.

The expensive boat ride around the city. Ngiti nalang mga bes, huhu

To those who plan on having a boat ride around the city, I advice against it because it’s a total waste of time and money. (’ -_-)>

When that long ordeal was over, we were dropped off near the souvenir shacks by the docks, just a few blocks away from Wat Pho. But because it was already lunch time and the 3 of us were utterly famished, we took a short break and ate affordable lunch from the local street vendors.

Reminds me of the karinderyas back in the Philippines. ;3

My lunch: beef noodle soup for 50 THB. :P

WAT ARUN

We were suppose to go here as indicated in the itinerary, but sadly, the place was undergoing renovation and restoration at the time, so we opted to skip this part.

WAT PHO

For our next (and last; huhu, wat arun whyyyy) destination of the day, we went to Wat Pho, the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Bangkok where the famous Reclining Buddha resides. It houses the largest collection of Buddha images in the country as well.

Wat Pho is also the oldest learning center in Bangkok. It is also the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.

Wat Pho entrance ticket for 100 Baht, with complimentary bottle of water.

The side entrance.

“Welcome to Wat Pho”

The Bell Tower.

For those who are directionally challenged... like me. >.>

Koi party~

Denise strikes again, lol! Better cover those arms before going inside the temple mah dear~

The Reclining Buddha in Viraha Hall

Measuring 46 meters long nad 15 meters high, this golden statue is something first-time visitors must see in Bangkok.

Look at that enormous golden beauty...

Reclining Buddha in a different angle.

Detailed paintings that depict their history and culture adorned its walls.

Temple Grounds

Aside from its main highlight, the vicinity inside is worth exploring. Similar to the grand palace complex, intricate architectural designs and several golden buddha statues lined up together can be seen here.

Colorful Chedis that are said to contain the ashes of the members of the Thai royal family. Four of these are dedicated to the previous kings of Chakri dynasty.

A Golden Buddha altar inside Phra Ubosot.

Phra Prang (tower) at the corner inside Phra Rabiang

A line of golden Buddha images in the cloister.

Entrance of Phra Mondob.

When it was beginning to get dark and the feeling of our legs were turning into hard lead from all that walking, we “threw in the white towel” and headed back to our hotel to take a short rest before dinner.

NIGHT STROLL AT KHAO SAN ROAD

When night came, we took a 100 THB taxi ride from our hotel to Khao San Road, a famous district where backpackers and tourists alike go to eat food and buy souvenirs.

One of Denise’s goals in Thailand was to eat their famous ‘Pad Thai’. Luckily, there was this pretty lady who was cooking such a dish (in such high speed and precision!) so we ordered 3 servings from her for 50 THB each.

The Pad Thai queen in her element.

There weren’t any tables and chairs available for eating like the ones we were accustomed to see at food courts, so we had no choice but to take a table reserved to a particular restaurant. Of course, the waiter (who looked rather annoyed at us) spotted us and asked (or demanded? can’t remember) if we were going to buy anything, so we bought a bottle of water for 29 THB so he wouldn’t have to kick us out. Hahaha, business is business after all. Wish I could have seen him do that to the other foreigners taking advantage of their tables. ;P

Aside from our dinner, I also bought a pomegranate juice for 40 THB and a coconut ice cream worth 20 THB for dessert.

Coconut ice cream with coco crunch and chocolate syrup on top. XD

Not one to miss such an opportunity when a horde of clothes are being sold everywhere from left to right, I browsed through every booth on the street and was rewarded from the search with a sleeveless cat-printed shirt, which I bought for 100THB.

Vintage style by Indy - Recession Over!

We also decided to get a Thai massage too, to feel the authentic experience first hand. Therefore we paid 150 THB each and got on top of the mattresses...

...only to be brutally tenderized by these Thai masseurs who didn't know the meaning of pain. DX

To those of you who are not aware of what a Thai massage is, here's a perfect description of it from Wikipedia:

"Traditional Thai massage uses no oils or lotions. The recipient remains clothed during a treatment. There is constant body contact between the giver and receiver, but rather than rubbing on muscles, the body is compressed, pulled, stretched and rocked."

How I wish I 'd have known this piece of info before subjecting my poor body to torture, lol. Oh, don't get me wrong, the massage did indeed healed whatever tension or stress my muscles were subjected into, but the process of getting there was total SUFFERING.

I literally felt like a pretzel dough being kneaded, stretched, and pounded by a brutal patisserie, lol. At first I was anxious because I've never had a massage before. And since the one in charge of me was male, I had reservations being touched on my body.

Well, My reservations couldn't have been any more wrong.

Such concerns were useless and soon disappeared because there was nothing sexual about it at all (bless their professionalism and shame on my dubious heart) . It was just pure... pain, so intense, that when the masseur asked if it was painful, I was utterly speechless. Arlyn, who was beside me, was already pounding her pillows, and not out of happiness ROFL.

That massage session made me realize that it was possible to crack bones in some parts of my body which I never knew were possible. It was a totally eye-opening experience. >.<

After that ordeal, I've never felt so cheated by those posters of relaxed females who seem to be feeling good when having Thai massage. A piece of advice: don't be fooled by them. Hmph!

Anyway, since it was getting late and had ran out of things to do, not to mention having our bodies turned to jell-o from the berserker massage (lol, get it?), we agreed to go back to the hotel (via 67THB worth of taxi fair) to get a good night's rest.

DAY 2

AYUTTHAYA

For our second day itinerary in Bangkok, we were suppose to go to Ayutthaya. We even rode 2 trains to get to the train terminal for it.

Instead of cards, one of their train lines use a token that has a built-in chip for scanning. So neat! XP

Unfortunately however, there was an issue in our schedule, since we didn't take into account the timetable of the train that would take us to the aforementioned UNESCO heritage site.

Because we didn't want to push it and ending up messing our itinerary, we decided to forego with Ayutthaya and just go shopping. Denise mentioned that the ruins were similar to Cambodia's Angkor Wat so it wouldn't be a total loss.

MBK CENTER

Having enough free time due to the cancellation of our Ayutthaya plan, we took a taxi to MBK Center, one of the famous shopping malls in Bangkok for its variety of goods being sold at an affordable price.

Of course, with that being said, we bought our souvenirs here. Here's a list of some of the stuff I bought:

Magnets for 100 THB

Barquillos snack for 10 THB

Tamarind for 250 THB

2 Chapter clothes and woodprints for 950 THB

Olive green deer shirt (for Ian) for 200 THB

Cute cat shirt in mint green for 200 THB

One out of the two lovely wood prints that I bought for myself. The other one, I gave to Ian. <3

Unfortunately, some of the items I intended to buy were a bit pricier compared to the ones I saw near the shops at Wat Pho. So I asked Arlyn and Denise if we could return (after dropping our stuff in the hotel first), and have lunch there in the process. They were kind enough to comply to my selfish request. <3

And as usual, here’s the list of what I bought in that place:

bundle magnets for 200 THB

patterned pouch for 100 THB

mini statue for 100 THB

artwork for 250 THB

fan hat for 100 THB

Going to another country has always been a major dream of mine since I'm the only one in my family who haven't set foot yet on a foreign soil. So to commemorate such a big leap forward in my personal goals, I've decided to buy myself a piece of the country I've been to, as a remembrance of the memory.

And keychains and magnets were out of the question.

So I bought the one thing that would represent the country's culture, and at the same time cater to one of the hobbies that I love: art.

Yes, I bought artworks. And here's one that I hand-picked: :3

Artwork of buddha.

When we were satisfied with the items we've purchased for ourselves and for our loved ones, we walked a bit to the area where food vendors and kiosks were stationed together. Imitating the other tourists there, we bought our food (mine cost around 110 THB) ala-"turo-turo" style. We then looked for a shaded corner with seats and ate happily while watching foreigners pass by.

Can you spot where I am in this pic? :P

For our dessert, we bought sticky rice (50 THB), which was recommended to Denise by one of her acquaintances. It's basically almost like suman with ripe mango, topped with condensada.

Totally yum!

Once we were finished with our affairs, we headed back to our hotel to make our preparations for our trip to Cambodia the following day. While I was organizing my stuff, I realized something dreadful that demanded immediate attention and solution: I ran out of Thai money.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Due to my souvenir-hunt splurging (and also, curse you damn boat ride!), I mismanaged my funds and therefore didn't have enough money to buy transpo tickets for our trip the following day. Echoing my despair to my 2 friends (who were also low on money), we went back to MBK Center to exchange dollar to baht.

Since we wanted to save money and the mall was a walking distance from our hotel, we did just that: walk. The distance was similar to going to Trinoma mall from my condo.

I thought my problems were solved once we got to the mall, but the universe had its own way of amusing itself.

And making me suffer in the process.

We went to 3 money exchange places, but it was either they ran out of money or they were already closed. We literally went to every nook and crany of the shopping center to exchange money but it was the same thing.

Running out of time and feeling quite desperate, I was at the tipping point of my panic when we arrived at our final money exchange booth. Good news was, they were still open. Bad news was...

Well...

Uh.. I’ve already forgotten the actual details of it, so LOL.

But from what I can remember, it involved using our local money to exchange it to baht. Haha. Talk about repressing a bad memory hahahaha.

So when the whole shenanigans was finally done, we walked back to our hotel, but not before stopping by at 7 Eleven first to buy cheap dinner (Got smoked salmon onigiri for 28 THB) and some toothpaste that tasted salty when we got to try it. It was weird, to be honest.

We ate at our room after we came back and enjoyed our last night at Bangkok, Thailand.

A final view of Bangkok from our hotel, before our departure to Cambodia.

#travel #personal #indochina #thailand #bangkok #wat pho #grand palace complex #mbk center #philippines

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