#its a video call which comes with its own pros and cons good lord

[roaringheat]

Woke up to a text from my childhood therapist suddenly springing an appointment on me for 3pm and now my entire day is gonna be divided into BT (before therapy) and AT (after therapy)

[wazafam]

The future of law enforcement, heroic cyborg RoboCop has fought crime in four feature films to date, and here's how they stack up, worst to best. RoboCop began life as honest cop Alex Murphy, who made the mistake of being a good man in a dystopian future Detroit that's packed full of terrible people. His partner Anne Lewis has his back at least, but that's not enough to stop him from being brutally massacred by a gang of sadistic criminals.

On the brink of death, Murphy is rebuilt as a part-man, part-machine, all-cop hero. While the memories of his past are initially buried, they eventually resurface, leading Murphy to realize what he's become. It's surprisingly deep for a sci-fi/action flick, although that didn't stop RoboCop from being so blood-soaked that it initially received an X rating. Of course, that's the original movie. The sequels and eventual remake are their own ball of wax, each with a set of distinct pros and cons.

Related: How A Terminator & RoboCop Crossover Movie Could Revive Both Franchises

While a direct sequel to the original, RoboCop Returns, was previously in development, the project appears to have stalled as of 2019. In the meantime, fans have four movies starring Alex Murphy to revisit via streaming or Blu-Ray, and here's which ones do Detroit's honest cops proud, and which come up short.

In 1993, three years after the release of RoboCop 2, Orion Pictures set out to make another entry in what by then was seen as a franchise with a solid foundation. Bringing in Fred Dekker, helmer of cult classics Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad, to direct wasn't a bad idea, and having Dekker co-write the film with comic book legend Frank Miller certainly wasn't either, at least on paper. Unfortunately, several decisions were made that proved to be abjectly terrible in hindsight.

First off, Peter Weller, who had imbued Alex Murphy/RoboCop with his humanity in the first two films, was recast, despite Weller wanting to return. He had a scheduling conflict at the time, and for whatever reason, Orion wouldn't wait for him to be free. As if recasting the title character wasn't enough, the makers of RoboCop 3 also decided to abruptly kill off Murphy's partner Lewis, and to add insult to injury, release the film as a sometimes goofy PG-13 action romp targeted at kids, while the first two films handily earned their R-ratings. RoboCop 3 did okay but not great at the box office, was absolutely savaged by critics, and is something many franchise fans choose to ignore.

While remakes have existed since the early days of cinema, it's fair to say that the volume of them has significantly ramped up since the turn of the century, as Hollywood becomes more and more obsessed with relying on existing IPs and not new product. RoboCop got its eventual remake in 2014, and while it doesn't measure up to the first two RoboCop movies by any stretch, it's definitely quite a bit better than RoboCop 3. One thing that again held it back was going the PG-13 route, which prevented the graphic violence most fans of the franchise love. It's at least much less silly in tone than RoboCop 3, which helps.

Related: Every Major Movie & TV Franchise MGM Owns (& Could Sell)

The biggest thing RoboCop 2014 has going for it is easily its cast. Joel Kinnaman is very good in the leading role, and makes the viewer feel for this Alex Murphy's plight, even if the new RoboCop design is far from stunning. Michael Keaton could play a villain in his sleep, and does fine here, and Gary Oldman does well as RoboCop's creator. Some of the concepts presented are also good, and surprisingly moving, such as when the rebuilt Murphy is shown just how little of his human body remains intact, and asks to be euthanized. Murphy getting to reunite with his family this time is also appreciated. Despite those positives though, RoboCop 2014 just isn't very remarkable, and is sadly easy to forget.

Released three years after the original, RoboCop 2 is an entertaining sequel, but doesn't manage to measure up to its classic predecessor. Unlike RoboCop 3 and RoboCop 2014, it does at least feel like it came from the same mold as the original, even if that mold got twisted and bent into something different. RoboCop 2 thankfully brought back the R-rating alongside Weller as Murphy and Nancy Allen as Lewis, and while not as ultra-violent as RoboCop, it's definitely not shy about being made for adults, as much as kids do tend to love RoboCop.

Directed by The Empire Strikes Back's Irvin Kershner, RoboCop 2 sees Murphy and Lewis up against both the machinations of OCP's scheming leadership and a rising drug lord named Cain, played by the always creepy Tom Noonan (Red Dragon). Cain peddles a drug called Nuke, and not taking Tony Montana's advice, is also hopelessly addicted to it. When OCP attempts to use Cain as the base for a new RoboCop they can hopefully exert more control over, things go about as poorly as anyone logical would expect. RoboCop 2 is definitely not nearly as memorable as the first film, and mostly lacks its subversive satirical edge, but at the same time, those who just want some action and some RoboCop will leave fulfilled.

Directed by the always interesting Paul Verhoeven, RoboCop is one of those movies there really isn't much left to say about, as it's been praised steadily ever since its 1987 release. While its extreme level of violence proved problematic for some - especially when seen in its uncut form on home video - most saw RoboCop for what it was, an extremely intelligent, thoughtful film that also happened to have buckets of gore spilling all over the place and mountains of bullets flying around.

What makes RoboCop great is not just its creative sci-fi elements or exciting action trappings, it's the playful, sardonic spirit Verhoeven brings to the movie, which also shows itself in movies like Total Recall and Starship Troopers. RoboCop doesn't take itself too seriously, yet also pulls off telling a story with real human drama involved, mostly surrounding Murphy himself. It's a difficult tightrope to walk, but Verhoeven pulls it off splendidly. RoboCop deserves all the love it gets, and holds up just as well nearly 35 years later.

More: What RoboCop Is Doing In The Mortal Kombat Universe

Every RoboCop Movie, Ranked Worst to Best | Screen Rant from https://ift.tt/2Oc6JcV

[ihallyu]

The Journey to the End?

GOT7 in Manila Hard Carry December 23, 2016

The journey will not always be smooth, but keep on holding on that the end will still end up even greater.

By this time, out of all the shows I have attended, they are the newest artist out of all of them, GOT7. They are into their third year this year, at the same time their third show in Manila. I had second thoughts on the first two times they have been here since I lack a companion, thus I decided not to go. Fortunately, this year, my concert buddy is now an iGOT7 which made it easier to decide coming and watching the show. This was also the very first KPOP group fanmeet that I have watched, it has its own pros and cons of course. I would love it to be a concert though, they are not rookies anymore, they really do deserve a bigger stage and a longer show. Last year they did their fanmeet at Araneta Colesium - such a big place for a fanmeet, it’s a concert venue here in Manila. Also a first for me is going to KIA theater for an event. One of the biggest advantage of a fanmeet really is you’ll be so close to the members and there would be a lot of interactions with the fans especially if you’re lucky enough to be a chosen one. I am pretty sure, I would be seeing Mark Tuan super up close. Yes, I am really a Mark Tuan biased, then became to like all of GOT7 members.

The Journey.

The journey to this fanmeet was never ever easy. First, we had to go to the onsite VVIP ticket selling to be sure we get a good seat. We waited hours to get a queue number, then lined up for several hours more to finally buy the tickets. It took us almost a day to finally hold on to our precious tickets for the show. Second, I and my concert buddy had our own little changes on our working environment. Of course, we do have all the faith that eventually we will really attend the show and make the most out of it, to be fair, it was quite expensive so we do not plan to waste any cent. There were a lot of unexpected happenings at work, we have our own busy days, bad days until it was five days before the fanmeet. On my end, I have finished up all my commitments as much as possible so it would not be hard for me if I take an earlier shift on the day of the event. Luckily, the fanmeet date is December 23rd, which is a day before Christmas weekend, everyone is friendly at the office, but the traffic is not. On the other hand, my friend did really try her best to accomplish all her tasks even if day by day she works late, but she doesn’t know if she’ll get through it and watch the show with her heart not burdened. I did pray with her, all the timing and circumstances in the world might not agree with her taking her feet on the show, but I really do believe that everything will be alright. We just have to keep hanging in there. We may faced whatever it is before the show, but when it comes to a time we finally realize and be present on the fanmeet, I knew that it would even be greater, or even be greatest. Third, I had met the Manila traffic and made way to the concert venue. I got a bunch on my list of to dos when I got there. I claimed the lighstick my friend has reserved and paid. I did go around to collect some freebies, banners and photo cards from the official fan clubs - who are by the way I am still amazed by the dedication and effort and their love for the artists. I managed to get a few of the freebies. Finally, the last hurdle coming to the show, my friend coming from BGC going to Cubao, with her car - ultimately a challenge. The traffic is the worst, it was a Friday before the Christmas weekend, almost everybody is on their feet going out from Manila to spend the holiday with their loved ones. So it was the ultimate challenge. She called me from time to time checking out what is happening on the fanmeet venue, and also to update where she was. I was like updated almost all the time of her whereabouts while I was monitoring the queue line of people with tickets. Thirty minutes before the show, people are still in line - still quite long, I’m still on the phone with her, I’m standing right at the valet parking waiting for her. Counting down to fifteen minutes before the show, we are both on our edge of our panic mode moment, she’s literally like shouting wanting the cars to move and trying to rant on people not following traffic rules. On the other end, this is me looking back at the line almost gone now. I saw her car less than ten before the show starts. Everything felt so fast, she gave the keys to the valet parking assistant, we opted to avail the VIP so quick, almost to no thinking. We just get our stuff ready to enter the venue - the ticket, phone and banners that I was able to get. We had our free poster before we enter the actual show area.

Finally, with our hearts still thumping from all the rush, we are finally seated and now we are almost ready to enjoy the whole show. We saw seven stools on stage realizing how near will they be with us, we’re on row six at the very left most. One disappointing rule is, we cannot take any pictures even with our phone. There were securities left and right so yes, I did save all my phone memory space for nothing. All I have to do is to truly enjoy the show, stare at the boys and capture the moments with my eyes - this was something I really wanted to do even on other shows but I end up taking pictures and videos to record moments for my own keeping, something I can get back with when I wanted to.

To the End?

The show has finally started, the first VCR played, it was so loud - as expected from PH fans. You can feel each and every person’s passion and love with the screaming and cheers for the boys. Then, their shadows appear onstage, walking their way to their respective seats, the music turned on together with the lights. And there, the members are onstage, I can see them in flesh so near, so clear and on our side the nearest member is Jackson. He was really handsome with his hair down - thank you Lord because I personally loved that look on him. I intentionally look for Mark first who was on the  middle for their first song which is also my favorite on their Hard Carry album, “Let Me”. These young boys were totally lit, they all look adorable, pretty in their own way.

I don’t know how many times my friend and I exchange our pinches on each other, randomly screaming for just how we cannot believe they look like what they look like. We can feel they were all on the mood, there were a lot of MarkJin moments. Also, little cute gestures from Mark that only my eyes have captured. I was excited to finally see Jackson’s super hyper personality at hand, also the lines from BamBam that will make you laugh because he has undeniable wit and humour. After two consecutive songs, the MCs of the show entered the stage stating first that taking pictures is really not allowed, and other rules to be followed. Then they introduced the boys, GOT7 said their group greeting and one by one they introduced themselves. The screams are so loud with every member taking their turns to talk. This group even when they were still rookies are so energetic and all of them have beagle personalities, with their very cheerful and 4-dimensional characters. They are all cutely weird in their own way, that’s why you cannot stop laughing at them while loving them even more at the same time. They are too good with their fan service also. Their ‘mission’ segment had them to dance sexily, individually. The whole sexy dance segment has spread hearts and hotness all over the Kia Theater, you’ll be amazed on how good they dance, and also how you can laugh at the same time be so kilig. It was one of the highlights of the show, they made all iGOT7s dead on the spot and it was just twenty minutes after the show started. Then, they proceed on singing more songs, this time while dancing. It feels so different watching a fanmeet, even the dancing felt so different, the stage was pretty small with these gorgeous guys dancing. You’ll be very clear on how much effort they’re giving. Continuing the show with two games - first, which will be played by the members themselves, and the second, each member will play with one iGOT7, my heart screamed for that. The first game, they were divided into two groups - the hyung and the maknae group. They have to guess correctly the item in the box which they can only touch. The hyung has to get the pine tree plastic plant, and the maknae has to guess the coconut. Even when they’re playing, they were really on another level of randomness, cuteness and playfulness. Both groups got their items correctly - with the hyung group using their wit and humour. In the end, the winner will be decided with rock, paper, scissors to which Mark won against BamBam. The loosing group will have to take their group photo with their ugly faces, while the winners will have to take it handsomely. Here comes the game which they get to pick their partner. My red lipstick, and whole outfit is ready for this you know. But I don’t have any expectation since when it comes to lucky draws I’m no lucky at all. They each get their partners, with BamBam choosing a six year old iGOT7 - so cute. They played charades wherein the winner is the pair with the most number of correct words guessed. An iGOT7 gets to have a polaroid picture with the whole group if she’s on the winning pair. The whole game was entertaining with the iGOT7s on their seats all only cheering for the six year old cute girl. Inside me, I can relate though, jokingly, I’d rather loose to a cute kid. Kidding aside, you’ll really feel all the envy cells on your body throughout the whole game. Jackson was so like a friend talking to his partner and others, holding her hand, almost clasping each other, sometimes he’s also putting his partner’s arms unto his. Every after the game, each member is giving out their hugs, tight hugs not just any hugs to their partners. And the last pair won who were Jackson and his partner, he did not only hugged his partner after winning, that lucky iGOT7 also even got carried by Jackson while hugging. How lucky she is right? She got a polaroid photo and got all those moments. I don’t know if she’s gonna sleep through the night.

Moving on with the show, they sang their other title songs from their previous albums, “Fly” and “If You Do”, both are my favorites, and I loved the choreography. Then, a surprise happy birthday video and cake for JB, the leader. I will say this, the MCs are so good, making the show more entertaining, they can really ride on the jerkiness of the members, also on the loudness of PH iGOT7s. Into their last ment, they each gave their message to PH iGOT7s. They all promised to give more next time, promised to come back in  Manila, and also promised for better performances and better representation of themselves moving forward. I screamed my lungs out for Mark and Jackson for sure. Mark, though most of the time is very quiet, gave a long speech even if he’s lost for words. He really was so thankful, as he and Jackson are English fluent speakers, they were able to speak their hearts out and their message were both pretty long. Jackson’s message was like everything, “Do not let haters be contented…”, he has this thought along his messages. I can appease with him especially on how I was doing at this particular time of my life - work, family and self aspect, I was currently in state which I can relate to all what he had said. Coming to the show, then he has to say all of that, making it more really worth it to come. What he said was a great reminder to myself. Before they performed “Hard Carry”, the surprise project of the fans played. For me as part of the whole crowd felt so touch, it was a video of the whole journey of the boys. After the video, some of the members almost had their tears falling down. JB said his thanks, Mark translated them. Then again, how he has delivered the message was so touching. GOT7 and iGOT7 will forever hard carry each other - its like a good curse to be fulfilled no matter what, but with no consequence, just out of pure love and care. Then, they performed “Hard Carry”, the tears which must have fallen after watching the project video was instead seen on how they danced so passionately. All their energy cells were like given to the performance, I felt how thankful they were by how hard they danced and sang.

They sang “Home Run” for their encore stage, this time they go around the stage meeting iGOT7s on a closer scale, and this is the only time we can stand and have our chance to record the moments. One and only song I took a video of. Each member came to our side, meeting us. It felt good and even if it was too short, every ounce of second of the show gave a great feeling.

This is not yet the end. keep holding on. Throughout the whole journey coming to the fanmeet, most of the happenings are out of our zone, definitely not ones which are of our liking. But this time, we get the opportunity to have an encounter with the members. Though I am not one of those lucky ticket holders which get to have a Photo Op with them, still I get the Hi Touch event. This was the very first Hi Touch event of my entire stay in the KPOP world. I cannot hide my excitement while we’re on the line. I cannot control my mind thinking of what to do when it was my turn high fiving them. I had to make the experience really worth it since that would be really short. When the Hi Touch started, I looked carefully to study of course the members’ position, I had to be on point and be grace under pressure. I know I just have seconds encounter and I intended to make them memorable. Every staff there is telling you to be fast, so when it was my turn, it was Jinyoung first - so handsome as expected, then BamBam - literally cute, tall and handsome, then Yugyeom -  tall of course and cute, he really is the maknae. Then come, Mark - my ultimate biased, I already ran of words to describe him, out of this world beauty. Youngjae - with his hands waiting for the fans’ hands was weirdly cute, then JB with is eye smile, your heart will skip a beat, then Jackson with his hat on I cannot really see his eyes because of it, but still the swag and cool vibe is there. I tried looking at their eyes as I was doing the high five, it will be a little slower but I had to make my own moment. With Mark, I said “love you Mark”, with  my personality, never in my life I imagined to do that, but hey, I just blurted out what I really felt. I made an eye contact with him while saying that, I wanted to stay for like a few seconds more in front of him. My whole body was literally shook after that I don’t know how many seconds encounter. I was really at great happiness. I will not move on for days, that’s for sure. Every time that I will be reminiscing that moment, especially that eyes of Mark, I will not be able to control my smile that’s also for sure.

This is one hell of an experience. There were again a lot of first times. Sometimes the end is not the important thing, but how the journey is, because you’ll really learn a lot more on the journey. I truly experience this several times, but I came to experience this in a very short period of time through coming to this fanmeet. Words are not even enough to describe how the whole experience was. The end of this journey has defined the whole experience. The time I exited the event venue is not even the end of it all, the end of this journey will surely be dragged on for a very long time, I don’t know when, might be endless, or up until their next visit or my next encounter with them. But truly, I gained another treasure to my own box of golden experiences.

[cryptofeedzposts]

The best gadgets of 2019

Bigger, lighter ultraportable laptops

Cherlynn Low Reviews Editor

Good lord, did laptops get a facelift this year. After all the progress that notebooks as a category made last year, I wasn’t expecting to see much more improvement in 2019. I was wrong. This year, Dell launched a new XPS 13 2-in-1, which my colleague Devindra called the “perfect ultraportable,” and HP released the Elite Dragonfly, which the company markets as “lighter than air.”

No device is actually lighter than air, but this year, mainstream laptops certainly got a whole lot lighter and thinner than before while growing more powerful, without sacrificing battery life. That’s to be expected, after years of incremental improvements, but we also have to give Intel a little credit. Its Project Athena program rolled out this year, spurring the development of more compact, lightweight ultraportables that last all day. Shout out also to the Galaxy Book Flex and Ion, which launched late in the year and proved that Samsung can make gorgeous, super sleek notebooks. And even though the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy Book S didn’t actually arrive in time to make this year’s list, my hands-on with it left me impressed by its lightweight, attractive exterior.

Aided by potent processors like NVIDIA’s Studio products, laptop makers also delivered powerhouse notebooks targeted at creators who need the beef for editing multiple 4K video streams but don’t want gaudy or chunky gaming machines. Acer and ASUS both made devices for these purposes, with the ConceptD and ProArt StudioBook sub-brands respectively. These proved that laptops could pack plenty of muscle without weighing a ton.

But 2019 also saw the arrival of the LG Gram 17 — a surprisingly sleek machine for having a 17-inch screen — and the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3. Apple also released a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, delighting power users and fans of usable keyboards. While these larger laptops still have their flaws, the fact that they’re no longer chunky slabs of metal and plastic is a promising sign of bigger and better to come in 2020 and beyond.

iPhone 11 Pro

Mat Smith Bureau Chief, UK

It’s hard for any smartphone to break out in 2019. Especially in a year where the industry was obsessed with folding gimmicks and a 5G network not ready for prime time. Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro launched with a brighter screen, was predictably faster and has better — and more — cameras. It’s costlier, sure. In fact, it’s Apple’s most expensive phone ever. But it also tackles one of the perennial issues with nearly all smartphones: mediocre battery life.

The 11 Pro Max is a barely noticeable 0.02 inches thicker than the iPhone XS Max, but with that extra space and a new L-shaped battery cell, the latest 11 Pro Max adds roughly four more hours of use compared to its predecessor. My iPhone 11 Pro Max consistently clocks almost two days on a single charge. It’s better than any smartphone I’ve owned in the last few years.

And then there are the cameras. After leading the smartphone camera revolution, a decade ago, Apple has recently lagged behind the competition. With the iPhone 11 Pro, it’s caught up. In fact, the company has arguably reclaimed the top spot. From Deep Fusion, which adds improved textures and detail, to the ultra-wide-angle cameras for squeezing in crowds, landscapes and more, to the improved night shooting mode, the iPhone 11 Pro is on equal photography footing with the Pixel 4 or the Galaxy Note 10.

There are other highlights, too. The 11 Pro phones come with a high-speed USB-C charger (and a USB-C to Lightning cable), making charging considerably faster. It also means I can connect my iPhone to my year-old MacBook Pro’s USB-C ports without a dongle. Instead of having to plug it in overnight, I can charge the iPhone 11 Pro Max to 50 percent in just thirty minutes. Better battery life isn’t the sexiest feature, but it’s never been more appreciated.

Powerful processors and GPUs

Steve Dent Associate Editor

The PC market is no longer moribund, thanks in large part to devices that are more interesting and powerful. That’s certainly true in the gaming and content creation markets, and for that, we can largely thank AMD and NVIDIA. At the same time, we’ve never had so many lightweight but powerful laptops, and we give Intel credit there.

The processor of the year for gaming and content creation is AMD’s $750, 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X. Intel still has the edge in gaming with its Core i9 9900K, sure, and that model is also cheaper at $500. But the Ryzen 9 3950X is really close, and once you switch over to content creation tasks, those eight extra cores let it destroy the 9900K.

Best of all, AMD’s new Ryzen chips have forced Intel to drop prices, making powerful PCs cheaper across the board. For instance, Intel’s 18-core 9980XE launched in 2017 cost a cool $2,000, but its successor, the 18-core 10980XE costs just half of that. That’s because Intel had to react to AMD’s Threadripper 3970X, which has 32 cores and costs $1,999.

Last year, we called out NVIDIA’s RTX 2080 Ti as one of the worst products of 2018, thanks to its high price and abysmal ray-tracing support. To its credit, though, NVIDIA has introduced new features that make its RTX lineup more desirable, particularly the RTX Studio drivers. Those put NVIDIA’s ray tracing to work, speeding up 3D apps like Blender, and making video and photo editing quicker and more stable, too. On top of that, games like Metro Exodus and Control are finally making better use of ray tracing, and we can expect more of the same in 2020.

Intel is losing in the high-end CPU market, but it’s still thumping AMD when it comes to laptops. Devices like Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 show that Intel has crammed a ton of power into low-energy, long-lasting devices, with big improvements in on-board graphics. Anyone getting a PC with a 10th-gen Intel CPU will see much better performance than last year’s machines, and we’ll have lots of great notebooks to look forward to next year.

Sonos and IKEA Symfonisk Table Lamp

Igor Bonifacic Contributing Writer

We’ll admit: Sonos and IKEA’s Symfonisk table lamp looks goofy. But get past its unusual appearance and you’ll find one of the most versatile gadgets released this year.

As an affordable entry into the Sonos ecosystem, the Symfonisk lamp has almost everything you could want. Setup via the Sonos app is easy whether you’re adding to an existing sound system or starting from scratch. What’s more, the lamp sounds almost as good as the more expensive Sonos One, which is one of the best speakers you can buy. Best of all, even though it’s not a premium product, Sonos didn’t skimp on features like AirPlay 2 compatibility.

What you won’t find are any microphones onboard for Google Assistant and Alexa support. Some people might prefer this; it’s one less device listening to their conversations. For everyone else, it’s easy enough to integrate the lamp with your existing smart speakers for voice control.

But the Symfonisk lamp isn’t just a good speaker, it’s also a great lamp. Although it uses smaller and less common E12 light bulbs, it still adds a lot of warmth to a room. Its versatility as both a speaker and a lamp means you’ll consistently get a lot of use out of it. Add to that its low price and the Symfonisk lamp is one of those rare collaborations that actually delivers the best of both partner companies.

8BitDo SN30 Pro+

Kris Holt Contributing Writer

The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic system, with great games and unrivaled portability for a console. But its standard controller setup is far from ideal.

Joy-Cons are terrific if you’re hanging out with a friend and want to fire up your Switch for co-op action. But when you have to use both Joy-Cons for a single-player game, particularly one that requires dual thumbsticks, they’re not the most practical. In fact, the right thumbstick is positioned too awkwardly to comfortably use for very long. But thankfully, there are plenty of other options out there.

The Switch Pro Controller is a solid alternative, but I much prefer 8BitDo’s excellent SN30 Pro+. It feels far more natural to hold than Nintendo’s controllers, and I have no problem using it for hours at a time. I love the SNES/DualShock 4 mashup approach to the design, too. I haven’t encountered any significant latency issues, and its compatibility with Android, Raspberry Pi, PC and macOS is a nice bonus. The customization options on the 8BitDo Ultimate Software are also terrific and a boon for accessibility.

The SN30 Pro+ makes the Switch even more of a joy, especially for playing Overwatch or Fortnite on the go. I only wish 8BitDo included a headphone jack for more flexibility, especially for when I dock my Switch and I’m across the room from my TV. Still, the controller is an almost-perfect solution for my Switch setup.

Mixer

Jessica Conditt Senior Editor

Mixer has come a long way in a short time. As recently as last year, we were describing Mixer as “Microsoft’s Twitch rival” in headlines, worried that people wouldn’t recognize the service by name. Today, Mixer has 30 million monthly active users, exclusivity deals with a roster of high-profile streamers and plenty of practice in the tech-news spotlight. Mixer has Ninja. What more needs to be said?

Not only did Mixer steal Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the world’s most popular streamer, from Twitch in August, but a handful of other popular names have followed suit. This year, Mixer has picked up Cory “King Gothalion” Michael, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler, and Twitch has only recently responded with exclusive acquisitions of its own. Of course, the follower counts of Twitch’s most recent members — Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo, Saqib “LIRIK” Zahid and Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar — reach 10.73 million combined, while Ninja alone had 14.7 million followers when he ditched Twitch. Ninja racked up more than 1 million followers in his first week on Mixer.

At one point, it seemed as if Twitch was the undisputed, permanent champion of video game streaming, but a handful of moderation missteps and the loss of key personalities this year have left the company vulnerable. Of course, all of the main live-streaming platforms have the backing of massive tech companies — Twitch is owned by Amazon, Mixer is the property of Microsoft and (surprise!) YouTube Gaming is run by Google — so they have significant runway to try new things, fail and try again. But in 2019, Mixer got a lot of steps right and laid the foundation for the service’s continued growth in 2020.

[pressography-blog1]

The pros and cons of lifestyles in Alaska's 'semi-bush'

New Post has been published on https://pressography.org/the-pros-and-cons-of-lifestyles-in-alaskas-semi-bush/

The pros and cons of lifestyles in Alaska's 'semi-bush'

TENAKEE SPRINGS — I typically discuss with where we stay right here as the “semi-Bush.” I say “semi” due to the fact pals who live Outdoor persist in giving us a whole lot extra credit score for being “hardy” and “remote” then we definitely are — and people dumb television indicates best encourage them.

                                                Semi-Bush

Alaska Map

Oh, certain, once in a while a bear or wanders into town in autumn looking for that unwisely hung deer, however the city dogs almost usually run them off.

We go through, if you may name it that, from rotten net connectivity and slow mail carrier but we’ve got were given an awesome general shop, a library, a school and a summer time-simplest cafe. The floatplane from Juneau comes nearly every day, weather allowing. If it isn’t always urgent, or if you will be coming domestic with lots of stuff, the ferry comes on Thursday and Saturday, as regular because of the seasons. With best a hundred or so people right here, we have a whole lot to cherish and little to bitch approximately.

Allow the conversation turn to trash, though, and also you’d better be prepared for an earful of complaints. It boils down to the simple truth that we don’t have any “them” to return and get it and no “there” to take it to. we have got our often-photographed Bus Stop, the little shed in the middle of the city where you can go away something that someone else is probably capable of use, but otherwise, it’s either burn it at the seaside or lug it to the dump in Juneau. Both picks work quite nicely for small stuff but with regards to vintage fridges, washing machines and such, it is a distinctive story.

The ones antique refrigerators have a way of gathering and in no way going away — form of like deadbeat relatives who in no way take a hint. Maybe worse. If we Let the beer run out or Forestall feeding them, the deadbeat relatives will sooner or later shuffle off, however, we have were given vintage refrigerators around right here that have outlasted by way of many years the those who threw them away.

They type of bunch up, too. Wherever one turns up, you may guess that there will quickly be others. someone will attempt to disguise an old fridge or washing system within the weeds down on the harbor and a month later there may be two or three of them there.

Dumping by skiff

I’ve concept of spying on them to see in the event that they clearly reproduce while no person is looking — as I’ve constantly suspected cord coat hangers do in the back of the closet — however I’ve feared that creeping around spying on old refrigerators may set me apart, even out here in Tenakee in which a positive amount of strange conduct is anticipated.

Awhile lower back, we had a fellow who tried to get rid of a vintage refrigerator by means of loading it onto his skiff and dumping it out inside the inlet. Now, this isn’t the stuff that gets you an award for environmental sensitivity, however, it seemed to him like a practical way of cleaning up his area.

Ipad Pro

Can not blame him for that. He dragged that old fridge right down to the seaside, wrestled it into his skiff and took off for the center of the inlet. It made a tremendous satisfying splash when he tipped it out but the skiff had no sooner quit rocking than there was that dumb refrigerator, floating right beside it. Now he had a brand new hassle due to the fact getting it lower back into the skiff become truly now not a choice.

Worse, he knew darned properly that any variety of the townsfolk were possibly looking thru their spotting scopes. Even inside the semi-Bush, as soon as summer ends and the travelers go away, amusement is in which you find it.

After scratching his head for some time, this guy figured he became pretty an awful lot out of alternatives so he left it floating there and went on domestic.

In Tenakee Inlet, the tide is available in and the tide is going out but it’s typically the equal water sloshing to and fro — that’s exactly what that vintage fridge did. For per week or extra it eddied up and down the inlet, making for no give up of speculation, dumb jokes, and even a few aspect bets a few of the carrying kinds.

Heart on the water

finally, the guy who owned it went again out and dragged it returned to the seashore. There, he drilled a bunch of holes in the case, squirted an amazing slug of diesel in each of them and set it on Fire, hoping to burn off the insulation, which he figured would restore the flotation hassle. You can possibly have seen the ensuing column of oily black smoke from outer space, and he was now really disqualified for any environmental award. while he towed it out a 2d time, even though, it sank like a stone.

The whole episode started me thinking. Every Alaska Bush community has the equal hassle with lifeless refrigerators and proper here was an answer ready to be positioned into motion. What in case you accrued some buddies and lashed a group of these antique refrigerators together into a raft? I suggest a big raft. Take hold of you kids far from their video games and shove off. Play your playing cards proper and you would possibly even score a cleanup grant from the government — Perhaps even an environmental award, too.

Consider the possibilities. Installation a few solar panels for electricity and some big planters for greens. Fish the small stuff that could congregate under the raft and harvest the mussels off its backside. Perhaps comprise as your very own metropolis. Heck, if things hold going the manner they are, applying to the United Nations for recognition as an entire new u. S . won’t be all that wacky.

Lord knows we’ve were given enough lifeless refrigerators. Subsequently, we would want a name, and due to the fact Unalaska is already taken, how approximately Unalaska as a call for a country of citizens who said “phooey!” to the complete mess that modern politics has gotten us into?

Maintaining Crab Harvests Way Preserving a means of life in Alaska

The mere point out of the Alaska crab fishing enterprise elicits dramatic images in the majority’s minds, typified by the dying-defying acts observed on famous collection inclusive of “The Deadliest Catch” and the tall tales which have made their presence felt in American folklore over the last 50+ years. The working conditions for all and sundry taking part inside the crab fisheries in Alaska are certainly daunting, no matter the fact that the honor days of crab fishing within the Bering Sea and surrounding waters have faded somewhat. However the decline insures crab shares, however, the state of Alaska and national regulators have taken well timed and powerful motion and the situation for various species of crab is asking more than proper today, with a superb forecast for the destiny.

The crab fisheries in Alaska have gone through a few pretty good sized adjustments during the last numerous years, and what used to be a free-for-all system all through greater bountiful times has now become a quota device, additionally referred to as a clarification machine to help revert some downward traits discovered in certain species. Rules consisting of man or woman fishing quotas (IFCs) were implemented that lessen the quantity of crab a given commercial vessel can hold in its hull while at the same time affording the crew a longer day out at sea to meet that quota.

numerous other measures have additionally been installed area to ensure that the crab fisheries in Alaska maintain sturdy and economically possible, such as handiest permitting male catches, imposing minimum-size guidelines, requiring onboard observers to embark with each vessel, conducting mandatory tank inspections upon go back to port and specifying what kind of gear is authorized to be used. Among this kind of regulations, the crab fishing industry in Alaska is truly guaranteed to have a strong future and to preserve imparting a method of residing to many households within the nation who’ve historically relied upon it for their income.

Semi Blue

Humans all throughout u. S . A . and in lots of parts of the planet hold to devour Alaska crab-kind crab, Dungeness crab, Tanner crab and so forth-and may be able to hold to revel in these high-quality products for greater than the foreseeable destiny!