#maximize ad performance

[adclickgo]

The Best Online Advertising Platforms: How AdClickGo Stands Out

In today’s digital landscape, online advertising has become an essential tool for businesses looking to reach new customers and grow their brands. With countless platforms available, choosing the best online advertising platforms can be a daunting task for marketers and business owners. Each platform offers different features, targeting capabilities, and ad formats, making it essential to find the one that aligns with your goals. One platform that has gained significant attention for its effectiveness and ease of use is AdClickGo.

Why AdClickGo is One of the Best Online Advertising Platforms

When it comes to finding the best online advertising platforms, AdClickGo has proven to be a standout choice for businesses and publishers alike. This platform specializes in connecting advertisers with high-quality publishers, providing an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, and offering advanced tools for optimizing ad campaigns. Whether you are running a small blog, a large e-commerce site, or any other type of digital business, AdClickGo offers a comprehensive advertising solution that can be tailored to suit your needs.

One of the key reasons AdClickGo is considered one of the best online advertising platforms is its ability to offer a variety of ad formats. From display banners and pop-under ads to native advertising, AdClickGo provides businesses with multiple options for reaching their target audience. This versatility ensures that advertisers can choose the right type of ad format for their specific marketing objectives.

Advanced Targeting Capabilities for Effective Campaigns

A major advantage of using AdClickGo is its advanced targeting options. Advertisers can create highly personalized campaigns by targeting specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. By using AdClickGo’s sophisticated algorithm, businesses can ensure their ads are shown to the most relevant audience. This not only augments the chances of engagement, but also maximizes the return on investment (ROI).

A Platform That Supports Both Small and Large Publishers

AdClickGo stands out as one of the best online advertising platforms not only for advertisers but also for publishers. For website owners looking to monetize their content, AdClickGo provides a simple way to display ads on their websites and start earning revenue. The platform allows publishers to choose which ads they want to display, giving them control over their site’s ad inventory.

In addition to providing easy integration and customizable ad formats, AdClickGo offers competitive CPM (cost per thousand impressions) and CPC (cost per click) rates. This ensures that publishers, regardless of the size of their site, can earn substantial revenue. The platform also offers a variety of payment options, making it easy for publishers to withdraw their earnings.

Ease of Use and Customer Support

What truly sets AdClickGo apart from other best online advertising platforms is its user-friendly interface. The platform is designed to be accessible to both beginners and experienced marketers, with a straightforward sign-up process and simple ad management tools. Businesses can create and launch campaigns in a matter of minutes without needing extensive technical knowledge.

[technologyequality]

AI-Driven Marketing: Set It & Forget It

AI-Driven Marketing Set It & Forget It 💡 Ever wish you could run Facebook & Google ads without hiring an expert? AI-powered ad management can optimize your budget and scale results! Marketing Without the Overwhelm: Is It Possible? Running ads sounds easy, until you actually start. One minute, you’re setting up a simple Facebook ad, and the next, you’re buried in audience targeting, budget…

[digitalrhetoricpune]

How to Scale Facebook Ads Without Losing Profitability

Understand the Fundamentals of Scaling

Before diving into advanced strategies, it’s crucial to ensure that your campaigns are performing well at their current level. Analyze key performance metrics such as:

Click-Through Rate (CTR): A high CTR indicates that your ad resonates with the target audience.

Cost Per Click (CPC) and Cost Per Conversion (CPC): Ensure these are aligned with your profitability goals.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): A strong ROAS is a solid foundation for scaling.

A strong foundation minimizes risks and ensures that you can optimize Facebook Ad ROI effectively.

Two Ways to Scale Facebook Ads

Vertical Scaling Vertical scaling involves increasing the budget of your existing campaigns. While simple, it requires caution:

Gradual Increases: Increase your budget by 10–20% every 48 hours to avoid shocking Facebook’s algorithm.

Monitor Performance: Watch for sudden spikes in CPC or drops in ROAS as you scale.

Horizontal Scaling Horizontal scaling focuses on expanding your audience:

Create Lookalike Audiences: Use data from high-performing campaigns to target similar users.

Test New Ad Creatives: Keep your ads fresh to avoid audience fatigue.

Target New Geographies: Expand to regions with similar demographics and interests.

Both approaches are essential for maximizing Facebook ad performance over time.

Budget Allocation and Optimization

Efficient budget allocation is a cornerstone of profitability. Here’s how to allocate effectively:

Split Test Ads: Test different creatives, copy, and audiences. Identify the winning combinations before scaling.

Allocate More Budget to High-Performing Ads: Shift your budget toward ads with the best ROAS.

Use Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO): Let Facebook’s algorithm distribute your budget among the best-performing ad sets.

These tactics align with the best practices for PPC services and ensure sustained profitability.

Optimize Creatives and Copy

Your creatives and ad copy significantly impact performance as you scale. Follow these tips:

Use High-Quality Visuals: Attention-grabbing images or videos perform better.

Leverage Social Proof: Include testimonials, reviews, or user-generated content.

Highlight Benefits Clearly: Focus on the problem your product solves rather than just features.

Consistently refreshing creatives ensures your ads remain relevant and engaging, a critical factor in scaling Facebook Ads profitably.

Analyze Data and Adjust Strategies

Data is your greatest ally in scaling ads:

Review Metrics Regularly: Use tools like Facebook Ads Manager to track CTR, CPC, and ROAS.

Identify Patterns: Understand which ads, audiences, and creatives drive results.

A/B Testing: Continuously experiment to uncover new opportunities.

Detailed analysis is essential for delivering successful campaigns as a PPC services provider in Pune.

Leverage Advanced Facebook Features

Dynamic Ads: Automatically tailor your ads to individual users based on their behavior.

Retargeting Campaigns: Focus on users who interacted with your website or ads but didn’t convert.

Automation Rules: Set rules for budget adjustments or ad pausing based on performance triggers.

These tools help you scale efficiently while keeping costs in check, ensuring you maximize Facebook ad performance.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Scaling can lead to mistakes if not managed carefully. Avoid these common errors:

Scaling Too Quickly: Sudden budget increases can disrupt Facebook’s learning phase.

Ignoring Audience Fatigue: Continuously target new audiences to maintain engagement.

Overlooking Metrics: Keep a close eye on ROAS and CPC to prevent losses.

By addressing these challenges proactively, you can build sustainable campaigns.

Partner with Experts

Scaling Facebook Ads requires expertise, patience, and constant monitoring. At Digital Rhetoric, a trusted PPC services provider in Pune, we help businesses unlock their growth potential. From Facebook Ads budget scaling tips to advanced strategies, we ensure profitability at every step.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Penguin Random House, AI, and writers’ rights

NEXT WEDNESDAY (October 23) at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, GEORGIA, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

My friend Teresa Nielsen Hayden is a wellspring of wise sayings, like "you're not responsible for what you do in other people's dreams," and my all time favorite, from the Napster era: "Just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side."

The record labels hated Napster, and so did many musicians, and when those musicians sided with their labels in the legal and public relations campaigns against file-sharing, they lent both legal and public legitimacy to the labels' cause, which ultimately prevailed.

But the labels weren't on musicians' side. The demise of Napster and with it, the idea of a blanket-license system for internet music distribution (similar to the systems for radio, live performance, and canned music at venues and shops) firmly established that new services must obtain permission from the labels in order to operate.

That era is very good for the labels. The three-label cartel – Universal, Warner and Sony – was in a position to dictate terms like Spotify, who handed over billions of dollars worth of stock, and let the Big Three co-design the royalty scheme that Spotify would operate under.

If you know anything about Spotify payments, it's probably this: they are extremely unfavorable to artists. This is true – but that doesn't mean it's unfavorable to the Big Three labels. The Big Three get guaranteed monthly payments (much of which is booked as "unattributable royalties" that the labels can disperse or keep as they see fit), along with free inclusion on key playlists and other valuable services. What's more, the ultra-low payouts to artists increase the value of the labels' stock in Spotify, since the less Spotify has to pay for music, the better it looks to investors.

The Big Three – who own 70% of all music ever recorded, thanks to an orgy of mergers – make up the shortfall from these low per-stream rates with guaranteed payments and promo.

But the indy labels and musicians that account for the remaining 30% are out in the cold. They are locked into the same fractional-penny-per-stream royalty scheme as the Big Three, but they don't get gigantic monthly cash guarantees, and they have to pay the playlist placement the Big Three get for free.

Just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/12/streaming-doesnt-pay/#stunt-publishing

In a very important, material sense, creative workers – writers, filmmakers, photographers, illustrators, painters and musicians – are not on the same side as the labels, agencies, studios and publishers that bring our work to market. Those companies are not charities; they are driven to maximize profits and an important way to do that is to reduce costs, including and especially the cost of paying us for our work.

It's easy to miss this fact because the workers at these giant entertainment companies are our class allies. The same impulse to constrain payments to writers is in play when entertainment companies think about how much they pay editors, assistants, publicists, and the mail-room staff. These are the people that creative workers deal with on a day to day basis, and they are on our side, by and large, and it's easy to conflate these people with their employers.

This class war need not be the central fact of creative workers' relationship with our publishers, labels, studios, etc. When there are lots of these entertainment companies, they compete with one another for our work (and for the labor of the workers who bring that work to market), which increases our share of the profit our work produces.

But we live in an era of extreme market concentration in every sector, including entertainment, where we deal with five publishers, four studios, three labels, two ad-tech companies and a single company that controls all the ebooks and audiobooks. That concentration makes it much harder for artists to bargain effectively with entertainments companies, and that means that it's possible -likely, even – for entertainment companies to gain market advantages that aren't shared with creative workers. In other words, when your field is dominated by a cartel, you may be on on their side, but they're almost certainly not on your side.

This week, Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the history of the human race, made headlines when it changed the copyright notice in its books to ban AI training:

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/penguin-random-house-underscores-copyright-protection-in-ai-rebuff

The copyright page now includes this phrase:

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.

Many writers are celebrating this move as a victory for creative workers' rights over AI companies, who have raised hundreds of billions of dollars in part by promising our bosses that they can fire us and replace us with algorithms.

But these writers are assuming that just because they're on Penguin Random House's side, PRH is on their side. They're assuming that if PRH fights against AI companies training bots on their work for free, that this means PRH won't allow bots to be trained on their work at all.

This is a pretty naive take. What's far more likely is that PRH will use whatever legal rights it has to insist that AI companies pay it for the right to train chatbots on the books we write. It is vanishingly unlikely that PRH will share that license money with the writers whose books are then shoveled into the bot's training-hopper. It's also extremely likely that PRH will try to use the output of chatbots to erode our wages, or fire us altogether and replace our work with AI slop.

This is speculation on my part, but it's informed speculation. Note that PRH did not announce that it would allow authors to assert the contractual right to block their work from being used to train a chatbot, or that it was offering authors a share of any training license fees, or a share of the income from anything produced by bots that are trained on our work.

Indeed, as publishing boiled itself down from the thirty-some mid-sized publishers that flourished when I was a baby writer into the Big Five that dominate the field today, their contracts have gotten notably, materially worse for writers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/19/reasonable-agreement/

This is completely unsurprising. In any auction, the more serious bidders there are, the higher the final price will be. When there were thirty potential bidders for our work, we got a better deal on average than we do now, when there are at most five bidders.

Though this is self-evident, Penguin Random House insists that it's not true. Back when PRH was trying to buy Simon & Schuster (thereby reducing the Big Five publishers to the Big Four), they insisted that they would continue to bid against themselves, with editors at Simon & Schuster (a division of PRH) bidding against editors at Penguin (a division of PRH) and Random House (a division of PRH).

This is obvious nonsense, as Stephen King said when he testified against the merger (which was subsequently blocked by the court): "You might as well say you’re going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house. It would be sort of very gentlemanly and sort of, 'After you' and 'After you'":

https://apnews.com/article/stephen-king-government-and-politics-b3ab31d8d8369e7feed7ce454153a03c

Penguin Random House didn't become the largest publisher in history by publishing better books or doing better marketing. They attained their scale by buying out their rivals. The company is actually a kind of colony organism made up of dozens of once-independent publishers. Every one of those acquisitions reduced the bargaining power of writers, even writers who don't write for PRH, because the disappearance of a credible bidder for our work into the PRH corporate portfolio reduces the potential bidders for our work no matter who we're selling it to.

I predict that PRH will not allow its writers to add a clause to their contracts forbidding PRH from using their work to train an AI. That prediction is based on my direct experience with two of the other Big Five publishers, where I know for a fact that they point-blank refused to do this, and told the writer that any insistence on including this contract would lead to the offer being rescinded.

The Big Five have remarkably similar contracting terms. Or rather, unremarkably similar contracts, since concentrated industries tend to converge in their operational behavior. The Big Five are similar enough that it's generally understood that a writer who sues one of the Big Five publishers will likely find themselves blackballed at the rest.

My own agent gave me this advice when one of the Big Five stole more than $10,000 from me – canceled a project that I was part of because another person involved with it pulled out, and then took five figures out of the killfee specified in my contract, just because they could. My agent told me that even though I would certainly win that lawsuit, it would come at the cost of my career, since it would put me in bad odor with all of the Big Five.

The writers who are cheering on Penguin Random House's new copyright notice are operating under the mistaken belief that this will make it less likely that our bosses will buy an AI in hopes of replacing us with it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/09/ai-monkeys-paw/#bullied-schoolkids

That's not true. Giving Penguin Random House the right to demand license fees for AI training will do nothing to reduce the likelihood that Penguin Random House will choose to buy an AI in hopes of eroding our wages or firing us.

But something else will! The US Copyright Office has issued a series of rulings, upheld by the courts, asserting that nothing made by an AI can be copyrighted. By statute and international treaty, copyright is a right reserved for works of human creativity (that's why the "monkey selfie" can't be copyrighted):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/20/everything-made-by-an-ai-is-in-the-public-domain/

All other things being equal, entertainment companies would prefer to pay creative workers as little as possible (or nothing at all) for our work. But as strong as their preference for reducing payments to artists is, they are far more committed to being able to control who can copy, sell and distribute the works they release.

In other words, when confronted with a choice of "We don't have to pay artists anymore" and "Anyone can sell or give away our products and we won't get a dime from it," entertainment companies will pay artists all day long.

Remember that dope everyone laughed at because he scammed his way into winning an art contest with some AI slop then got angry because people were copying "his" picture? That guy's insistence that his slop should be entitled to copyright is far more dangerous than the original scam of pretending that he painted the slop in the first place:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/artist-appeals-copyright-denial-for-prize-winning-ai-generated-work/

If PRH was intervening in these Copyright Office AI copyrightability cases to say AI works can't be copyrighted, that would be an instance where we were on their side and they were on our side. The day they submit an amicus brief or rulemaking comment supporting no-copyright-for-AI, I'll sing their praises to the heavens.

But this change to PRH's copyright notice won't improve writers' bank-balances. Giving writers the ability to control AI training isn't going to stop PRH and other giant entertainment companies from training AIs with our work. They'll just say, "If you don't sign away the right to train an AI with your work, we won't publish you."

The biggest predictor of how much money an artist sees from the exploitation of their work isn't how many exclusive rights we have, it's how much bargaining power we have. When you bargain against five publishers, four studios or three labels, any new rights you get from Congress or the courts is simply transferred to them the next time you negotiate a contract.

As Rebecca Giblin and I write in our 2022 book Chokepoint Capitalism:

Giving a creative worker more copyright is like giving your bullied schoolkid more lunch money. No matter how much you give them, the bullies will take it all. Give your kid enough lunch money and the bullies will be able to bribe the principle to look the other way. Keep giving that kid lunch money and the bullies will be able to launch a global appeal demanding more lunch money for hungry kids!

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

As creative workers' fortunes have declined through the neoliberal era of mergers and consolidation, we've allowed ourselves to be distracted with campaigns to get us more copyright, rather than more bargaining power.

There are copyright policies that get us more bargaining power. Banning AI works from getting copyright gives us more bargaining power. After all, just because AI can't do our job, it doesn't follow that AI salesmen can't convince our bosses to fire us and replace us with incompetent AI:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

Then there's "copyright termination." Under the 1976 Copyright Act, creative workers can take back the copyright to their works after 35 years, even if they sign a contract giving up the copyright for its full term:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/26/take-it-back/

Creative workers from George Clinton to Stephen King to Stan Lee have converted this right to money – unlike, say, longer terms of copyright, which are simply transferred to entertainment companies through non-negotiable contractual clauses. Rather than joining our publishers in fighting for longer terms of copyright, we could be demanding shorter terms for copyright termination, say, the right to take back a popular book or song or movie or illustration after 14 years (as was the case in the original US copyright system), and resell it for more money as a risk-free, proven success.

Until then, remember, just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side. They don't want to prevent AI slop from reducing your wages, they just want to make sure it's their AI slop puts you on the breadline.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/#just-because-youre-on-their-side-it-doesnt-mean-theyre-on-your-side

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[allfearstofallto]

Illusion

Yandere! Lyney x Fem,Dancer! Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: if this story seems similar to "I wonder if you look both ways..." It's cause this is the original. I scrapped it, but when reading it again I realized that I was very stupid to do that cause I like it. They're sisters, but not twins, they both can be enjoyed.

A magician's job is to lie. To convince you that there are wonders of the world that the human eye can't decipher. To entertain and entrance an audience of people, all while they stare in awe. Their eyes having a look of simultaneous confusion and scrutiny, they'd try to pick the trick apart, only to fail and be even more impressed by their inability to solve the puzzle. The job of a magician is to endure all of that inspection from prying eyes, but still make it look captivating.

Your job was to draw attention. That's what Lyney told you the day you were hired. They were set to perform at the opera house again, the biggest stage in Fontaine, but this time it would be an even more grand performance, this time, there would be no issues. With an area so large, they needed to maximize as much space as possible, there didn't need to be a moment of time where the audience had to question what was coming next. That's where you came in.

When the music came to a crescendo, cymbals crashing and violins singing at their loudest harmony, you'd be dancing, leaping all over. Graceful as a swan, but with enthusiasm that made your moves look more playful. Hopefully that would be enough to keep the eyes on you as Lyney rushed to the other side of the stage to complete the performance in an escalation.

You'd never done something like this before. Actually, you'd never danced professionally. Not yet at least. This would be your first real show. A fresh face right out of ballet school with nothing to your name, but a few school performances, none of which you were granted the leading role for. Who would give you a chance? Who else, but Lyney and Lynette who needed a dancer on rather short notice.

Lyney, who said your dancing was mesmerizing. But not in his usual, eccentric voice that would draw the crowd. He was talking quietly, in a breathless whisper as he spoke. Mesmerizing. His eyes glued onto your form as you panted after your audition, wide and entranced. You gave them a nervous bow and a heartfelt appreciation before exiting stage left. What you felt like was a mediocre performance where you messed up too much, was what landed you your first real gig.

Your choreo was simple, most of it you came up with yourself, with the twins giving minor input here and there. Raise your leg here, jump there, when you twirl, go in this direction. It was much easier than the strict, uptight teachings of school, where your instructors insisted that the real world would be harsher than they were. You weren't needed for a good majority of the performance, so nothing especially skillful was required until the very end.

“I'd like to see an addition to our set,” Lyney announced. His hands on his hips, he spoke proudly, but while sneaking quick glances towards you, “I feel like we're not utilizing our new resident dancer enough. I think we need to add a slight change to the choreography.”

There was no issue with this, they were your employers after all. You did your best to make it known to them that you were flexible in every aspect. It was their show. Anything they needed to be done, you'd do your best to accommodate.

The move the blond added was simple. As you stood on your toes on one foot, your other leg would be out straight behind you. Lyney would step forward to take your hand, then he would walk around you, turning you both in a slow circle while addressing the audience to prepare them for his next illusion. Like a ballerina trapped in a music box, you spun to the creeping swell of the music alongside him.

The addition was not even close to difficult, a move you'd done a million times before and would probably do a million more in the future. But this was the first time that you'd touched Lyney. The separation between you two gave you no reason to do so. His hands were cold, yet clammy and it was only when you were this close to him, that you noticed he smelled of plums. You could feel his heart beating in his fingertips and even see a little sweat on his forehead, you chalked it up to nerves though. Even those who have performed a thousand times before can fall victim to tension.

“Would you mind if I put my hand on your waist when we did that move,” he asked you one day between practices. He was hesitating, but still playing up his confident attitude.

A hand on your waist was nothing. You'd had to be close to other dancers plenty of times, and the turn did look a bit awkward with Lyney just having his hand at his side, but you thought that that would be the ample time for him to do a quick card trick or sleight of hands to spice things up, “That would be alright.”

The turn was practiced with the change. To you it felt no different, like an average day back at the academy. The real difference was Lyney himself. With that gentle hand on your waist, so soft it felt like he was hovering his hand over your body and not touching you at all. His cheeks had reddened, the first time you'd ever seen the great magician Lyney blush and you could feel him trembling, but just barely, like he was shivering from cold.

Eye contact with your partner is good when you're dancing a duet. It gives the appearance of chemistry, but eye contact with a crowd is mandatory when engaging with them. Despite this, for the entire duration of the turn, Lyney’s vibrant purple eyes would be locked with yours, not looking away for a second, not until the spin was complete and it was time for your solo.

Even you couldn't bring yourself to hold his gaze, not with the strange way he was smirking. Midway through the spin, when your back was facing the audience, you'd look down to not have to be staring at him anymore, a move that made him squeeze your hand to the point of causing pain. You held back a yelp to keep from causing a scene, it was an accident, it had to have been. He wasn't realizing his own strength.

When he let go, you began your energetic dance, twirling around the floor while music vibrated at your feet. You could hear the sound of Lyney's prop going off, the signal that the song would end in a triumphant climax and the show was over. You dropped from your ending pose and turned to see the remnants of the ending. Realization hitting you that the confetti had fired, but Lyney wasn't there.

Rather, he was still close to you, having only taken two steps back and seemingly frozen in place right there. Lyney had missed his cue. He was a perfectionist. Even though he knew things would and could go wrong, and he was a bit of a stickler when it came to things like this. It was the big moments, the parts where the audience would be in the most awe. With flashes, pops, and bangs to draw their attention, then he'd be there to take the brunt of the cheers. These moments were some of the most important.

The way he stood there behind you, eyes on you like you'd put a spell on him. Barely moving, barely blinking, like he was trying to drink in every piece for your form. He shook himself from this trance rather quickly, giving an embarrassed smile, “It appears that I've fallen for the distraction,” he laughed rather brazenly, “Well at least we know she's good at taking the attention! Let's take a break and start from the top again, yeah?”

There was a unanimous choir of groans that filled the room while Lyney chuckled. You were rather grateful for the break. You needed a moment to breathe and collect yourself. Most importantly, to think of what had just happened. The rational part of your brain wanted to tell you that you were overthinking, that Lyney wasn't acting strange at all, but the paranoid part of you couldn't help, but notice the way he stared. Not just when you were dancing, but whenever he got the chance to.

You'd look over and see bright purple eyes on you, seemingly unblinking. If you caught him in the act he'd give you a smile and a wave, making you feel as if you'd misunderstood. But that didn't stop the sinking feeling in your chest, he was acting normal, but intuition was telling you that something was off.

Almost as if he knew you were thinking of him, Lyney appeared. He stood a little too close to you, that gentle smile on his face. “Sorry for messing up back there,” he whined a little, then rested his head on your shoulder.

You flinched from his touch and tried to step away from him, but his arm snaked itself around your waist before you could. And Lyney was much much stronger than he looked. A nervous chuckle left your lips.

“It's alright, it's just practice after all,” you assured him.

“You're right,” he sighed. It felt like his hand was sinking, lowering to your hip while he continued the casual conversation, “I just want to impress you.”

Words got caught in your throat as you tried to choke up a response. What were you supposed to say? What could you say? A part of you wanted to brush this off as flirting, maybe you'd given him the wrong impression with something you'd said or done, but you couldn't even open your mouth to tell him otherwise.

“I have something for you,” Lyney gave a signature grin, lifting his hat from his head. Almost immediately a few cards fluttered down onto the floor around him while he gave them a confused, almost embarrassed stare, “Well that's not right,” he joked. He was performing. Right in front of you, Lyney was putting on a little show to charm you. Reaching into his pockets and pulling out much too large objects, only to magically put them back while cursing comically.

“There we go!” He cheered while holding a single rose that he'd managed to yank from his sleeve. He reached it out to you, waiting for you to grab it. The bud was surprisingly real, usually this trick was performed with fake flowers, the real ones would die too quickly. When you went to take it, he flicked the flower, making that singular rose turn into a bouquet. So close to the magic, but your mind couldn't decipher how he'd done it, even you were dumbfounded, “One isn't enough for you.”

You held the bouquet in awe as Lyney walked away proudly. He stepped backwards the whole time, not taking his eye off of you for a second until practice was set to start again, but this practice was different. He was finding more and more ways to sneak glances at you and more ways to brush up against and touch you.

The day of the performance was one that was considered nice in Fontaine. There was rain, but it was a light drizzle, light tears from the hydro dragon. It was believed that a good performance on this day would cheer him up.

And a good performance Lyney was set to give. You were backstage in a costume so tight it practically corrected your already good posture, and with so many sparkles, you were convinced that if the lights hit you the wrong way it'd blind the audience. He was most impressed with what he'd chosen for you to wear, stealing glances at you as you went through the choreo once more.

The lights felt hot. That's all you focus on as the show began. The acclaim of the crowd blended in with the vibrant music and the only thing you could think about were how hot the lights were. But you still performed. Your simple moves first. Light spins and little jumps, placeholders as Lyney and Lynette mesmerized the audience.

You did your best to keep up, they seemed to be performing even stronger now that there was focus on them. Your heart was pounding as the time came closer and closer to your solo, the idea of messing up suddenly grazed your mind. But before your solo, there was Lyney.

He stepped up to you, not looking away for a second. His chest was rising and falling rather quickly, he was tiring himself out, but his actions were still fluid. You reached your hand out for him to take and he did, just as you'd practiced.

Only this time before the turn began, he lifted your hand to his lips, placing a kiss against it. The urge to snatch your hand away was crushing. Confusion and fear filled your head. This wasn't a part of the show. This was never practiced before. Had something changed without being announced to you?

“Everyone! Thank you for coming tonight,” Lyney called to the audience followed by a round of applause for him, “The next trick will be my last and I'm so sorry to leave such a gorgeous crowd, but I want everyone to give a round of applause to my ma chérie! Thank her for being here as well!”

Your eyes danced around in confusion, trying to find who he was talking about as the crowd erupted into a symphony of cheers, only to realize that he was looking at you. To pour more salt into the wound and reiterate that he was talking about you, he lifted the hand he was holding, an action you could only let him do as bewilderment set in.

With those vibrant eyes still on you, he faced you, still smirking. He grabbed you by the waist then pulled you towards him, leaning down to place a kiss upon your lips. You couldn't hear anything over the cheers and screams of the audience, couldn't even hear your own heartbeat. But you felt it. Felt that heavy pounding as Lyney stroked your cheek in a romantic gesture before marching off to complete the set.

The music. As your head swirled and your eyes lost focus, you tried to pay attention to the music. It was time for your solo. You danced. Danced like hell, danced the choreo you created as the music swelled. But it wasn't really you dancing, more muscle memory than thought. And then it was over. Lyney appeared on the other side of the room, confetti was fired, and there was a standing ovation from the crowd. Everything was perfect.

Everything except your fearful face. The tears your eyes. Your look of worry as you looked back at your fellow members, then taking their bows as the curtain fell. They seemed so normal about what happened.

“What the hell was that?” You managed to ask, but instead you were only met with confused looks.

“What ever could you mean, ma chérie?” Lyney had taken your hand, but you pulled it back quickly, the watchful eyes of the audience no longer swaying you.

“This!” You gasped. You felt crazy trying to motion to everything around you, everything that was wrong, “All of this! You kissed me out there!”

“What's the problem with that?” It was Lynette talking now, her usual calm demeanor not seeming to be perturbed by your hysteria, “A kiss was always in the script.”

You gulped down saliva, trying to stop your beating heart and shallow breathing. Everyone was so calm and collected. Yet here you were, confused and practically causing a scene.

“Are you alright, ma chérie,” Lyney asked, stroking your cheek again. There was a look of genuine worry on his face, but all you could think about was that name. That fucking name. Has he always called you that? “You seem rather upset? What bothers you?”

“None of this is making sense,” you muttered. But you weren't really talking to him, more trying to calm yourself. Being surrounded by people who insisted upon lying to you was making doubt swirl in your mind. Had you misunderstood something? Were you truly the one confused? In your heart of hearts, you knew the truth, yet here you were, still being told otherwise.

Around you everyone was doing as normal. The stage hands had already begun packing up, with you standing there dumbfounded. You're sure you would've stood there until the end of time, had Lyney not taken your hand and begun to pull you out of the opera house.

The air of fontaine still had that salty smell to it, but the light drizzle had stopped. Your performance had pleased the hydro dragon, you supposed, yet you now were the one with tears in your eyes.

“I was thinking, ma chérie, how about you join our troupe permanently,” Lyney’s voice sounded like he was underwater in your ears, yet you somehow understood him perfectly. His question was just giving you the illusion of choice as you knew the answer he was going to make you take. A magician’s job is to lie, after all.

[neeahtao]

in ur dj roommates au what is something that dirk does that drives john crazy (similar to how dirk is fed up with johns movies)

This is completely self indulgent and full of my headcanons, hope you enjoy.

I wanted to try to consider Dirk’s bad habits before anything else.

Dirk is known to take long showers, which, considering they share a bathroom, it would only make sense if it caused some tension. But I don’t think that would really bother John, because John is depressed and pretty slack about his hygiene.

There’s Dirk’s bad eating habits—how he just eats junk food if he remembers to eat at all—but then John couldn’t really comment on that specifically, because he’s just as bad with his diet. Though, while Dirk probably doesn’t eat enough, John will eat constantly throughout the day whenever he feels bored.

I think later into their relationship, John will be mildly annoyed about the fact that Dirk loves sweet foods and drinks and can’t handle spicy food, while John is the complete opposite—just like with their sleeping habits, where John likes sleeping too much and has terrible sleeping patterns, while Dirk prefers to get as little sleep as possible and is very strict about his schedule so he can maximize productivity.

So yeah, the bad habits aren’t really going to get on John’s nerves. I think a real point of contention between them would be Dirk hiding things or being deliberately cagey.

A mild example of this is Dirk hiding his eyes. At first, John wouldn’t care, assuming it’s a similar situation to Dave. But while Dave seems to have emotional baggage behind hiding his eyes, Dirk just thinks the shades look cool and add to his air of mystery. He doesn’t always wear them around the house, so John would occasionally catch glimpses of his eyes. It wouldn’t take long for him to realize how expressive Dirk’s eyes are. Once John figures out that Dirk wears them just to seem cool and mysterious rather than for comfort, like Dave does, it would start to bother him. Knowing that Dirk’s glasses aren’t a necessity would make him insist that Dirk wear them less around him because it would bother him to know Dirk is making expressions that John can’t see.

The only thing that would truly drive John crazy, though, is kind of a culmination of John’s two biggest issues: his insecurity and his refusal to engage in introspection.

When Dirk first moves in, I think there would be tension between them because Dirk is unsure about his own feelings regarding John and Jake’s similarities. He’s very cautious about how he acts around John, worried that he can’t be trusted around someone he finds attractive. He doesn’t want to repeat what happened with Jake and confuse John. He also feels the added pressure of not wanting to lose Dave if he accidentally hurts John in any way.

But of course, Dirk can't change his nature when it comes to analyzing people's emotions and behavior. He has a tendency to get caught up in introspective thinking, and that often extends to others as well. He’ll criticize people when he believes it’s necessary, intending to help them improve, but without much consideration for whether his advice is actually wanted. He’s highly observant, analyzing everything people say and do in an attempt to understand them through a psychological lens. (I also think his psychoanalysis is more personal and less performative and antagonistic like Rose’s.)

So while Dirk can’t help but notice John is not well—he’s depressed and being self-destructive—Dirk also can’t bring himself to comment on it. So whenever John brings up something that is clearly an issue for him, Dirk just goes quiet and tries to ignore it. John, who has come to expect Dirk’s usual witty commentary, would immediately notice the shift and get annoyed.

John already struggles with people reading into his behavior and knowing more about him than he knows about himself. So when, on top of that, they refuse to share their conclusions, it would play into his thinly veiled insecurity and cause him to spiral.

I think eventually they would find a healthy balance—John would come to appreciate Dirk’s input, and Dirk would feel more comfortable voicing his opinions as he realizes John is not Jake and can stand his ground. He would make sure Dirk doesn’t get carried away with his tendency to try and control people, which, while rooted in good intentions, will always lead to an unhealthy dynamic.

[carionto]

What comes down, must go up

For the vast majority of tools, specialization is the way to go. From the smallest cooking utensils to intergalactic habitation stations, when it is designed from the core out with a specific purpose in mind, it will perform exceptionally well if you stick with the plan.

Most of Humanity does not appear to agree. Now, they certainly do have and use plenty of highly advanced tools that can only function in one way (their dinosaur research space station that recently oriented itself around a Deathworld being a prime example), but a surprising number of seemingly precision tools are used in a myriad of unconventional ways.

Like, we've seen a fork used as a makeshift holder for yarn spinning, as a fishing tool after some minor modifications (bending and tying to some string), as well as in a performance after adding these things they call googly eyes. Or the infinitely complex subatomic splitter whose sole purpose is to reduce an atom from one element to a smaller one in a non-explosive way - it uses concentrated light emitters to achieve this. One Human configured it into a tattoo device.

In fact, we suspect Humans deliberately attempt to find as many uses for a single tool as possible, even when, and sometimes because (out of spite, perhaps?), another tool that does that thing already exists.

Their spacecraft are no exception. Those behemoths might even be the focus of maximizing adaptability for as many scenarios as they can possibly think of.

For starters - ALL of them are rated for atmosphere entry and capable of FOUR TIMES Earth standard gravity lift off. Including their largest planned vessels yet - the Colony Ships. The SMALLEST design will be TWENTY EIGHT KILOMETERS LONG and average height/width of SIX KILOMETERS. And they themselves don't even know how big their biggest will be, they just said:

"Eh, whatever will feel right at the time."

As for why everything HAS to be able to land AND take off even though it literally at least triples the mass of each ship, necessitating what we view as a massive waste of resources:

"If the planet turns out to be kinda... meh, the colonists will be able to pack up and try again with the same ship. C'mon, gotta think ahead with these things."

Not only that, but we also learned most are able to SUBMERGE AND WITHSTAND A KPA OF 142'000! The military grade ones are even tougher than that! They could dip inside gas giants and not be torn apart!

Wait...

[scanning Jupiter]

Please no...

[confirmation beep]

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE! THEY'RE HIDING INSIDE A STORM!

[stumptation]

DAK Amputations are the future

Out of all the medical procedures known to science, the single most beneficial is giving men of all ages DAK (double above-knee) amputations. While this may initially seem like an extreme or counterintuitive claim, the superiority of this procedure becomes evident when we consider its transformative potential through the lens of advanced prosthetic technology and its broader implications for human enhancement.

What Are DAK Amputations?

DAK amputations refer to the surgical removal of both legs above the knee. Traditionally, this procedure is performed in response to severe trauma, life-threatening infections, or chronic conditions that render the legs unsalvageable. However, when paired with state-of-the-art cybernetic prosthetics, DAK amputations evolve from a last-resort intervention into a groundbreaking opportunity for men of all ages to enhance their physical and even psychological capabilities.

Why DAK Amputations Are Superior

Here’s a detailed explanation of why DAK amputations stand out as the most beneficial medical procedure:

Enhanced Physical Abilities Modern prosthetics have progressed far beyond simple limb replacements. Cybernetic legs, built with advanced robotics, lightweight materials, and artificial intelligence, can outperform biological legs in strength, speed, and endurance. Imagine running faster than an Olympic athlete, jumping higher than ever before, or performing physically demanding tasks without exhaustion. For men of all ages, DAK amputations paired with such technology don’t just restore mobility—they elevate it to superhuman levels.

Customization and Continuous Improvement Unlike natural legs, cybernetic prosthetics can be tailored to an individual’s needs and upgraded as technology advances. Whether it’s swapping out components for better energy efficiency or adding specialized features (e.g., for underwater use or rugged terrain), these prosthetics offer adaptability that biological limbs cannot. This means the benefits of a DAK amputation aren’t fixed—they grow over time, ensuring that recipients remain at the cutting edge of human potential.

Seamless Integration with the Body Advances in neuroprosthetics suggest that future cybernetic legs could connect directly to the nervous system, allowing intuitive control and real-time sensory feedback. This would make them feel as natural as biological legs, if not better, eliminating the awkward adjustment period often associated with traditional prosthetics. For men of all ages, this seamless integration maximizes both functionality and comfort.

A Gateway to Transhumanism DAK amputations, when combined with cybernetic enhancements, embody the principles of transhumanism—the belief that humans can use technology to transcend biological limits. This procedure could mark the beginning of a new era where physical disabilities are not merely overcome but transformed into advantages. It offers men the chance to redefine their bodies and capabilities, aligning with a future where humanity and technology merge.

Psychological and Social Advantages Beyond the physical perks, choosing a DAK amputation with cybernetic prosthetics can foster profound personal growth. Adapting to and mastering such a transformation builds resilience and confidence. Socially, those who embrace this procedure might be seen as pioneers, gaining recognition and prestige in a tech-driven world. For men of all ages, this can translate into a renewed sense of purpose and identity.

Universal Potential While the technology is still evolving, imagine a future where DAK amputations and cybernetic enhancements are safe, reversible, and widely available. In this scenario, the procedure wouldn’t be limited to those with medical necessity—it could become an elective option for any man seeking to enhance his life. This universality sets it apart from other procedures that target specific conditions or age groups.

Why Not Other Procedures?

Consider other well-known medical procedures: heart surgery saves lives but doesn’t enhance beyond baseline health; vaccinations prevent disease but don’t improve physical capability; cosmetic surgeries boost appearance but lack functional impact. DAK amputations, when paired with cybernetic prosthetics, go further by not only addressing health (in cases where it’s medically required) but also unlocking a realm of possibilities that no other procedure can match. It’s not just about restoration—it’s about revolutionizing what the human body can do.

Conclusion

In summary, DAK amputations are the single most beneficial medical procedure known to science because they offer a unique blend of physical enhancement, technological adaptability, and a visionary step toward human evolution. While traditional medical interventions aim to preserve or repair, DAK amputations with advanced cybernetic prosthetics empower men of all ages to transcend their natural limitations, making this procedure not just superior but truly transformative.

[adclickgo]

How to Maximize Ad Revenue for Your Website: Effective Strategies for Success

Monetizing a website is a primary goal for many digital entrepreneurs and content creators. One of the most popular ways to generate income from your site is through ads. However, simply placing ads on your website isn't enough to maximize ad revenue. To truly capitalize on advertising, you need a strategic approach that takes into account your audience, site traffic, and the types of ads you display. In this blog, we’ll explore some essential strategies to help you maximize ad revenue for your website.

Focus on High-Quality Content

The foundation of any successful website is high-quality, engaging content. Ad revenue is closely tied to the amount of traffic your site receives, and the best way to increase traffic is to consistently provide content that resonates with your audience. By creating valuable, informative, and well-written articles or multimedia, you’ll attract more visitors, which can directly impact your revenue.

Optimize Ad Placement

To maximize ad revenue for your website, strategically place them in high- traffic areas. For instance, placing ads above the fold (the area visible on the screen without scrolling) increases visibility and user engagement. In addition, ads placed within content, such as banner ads between paragraphs or in-line text ads, often generate more clicks because they blend naturally with the content. Experiment with different placements to find what works best for your audience, and monitor your results closely to make adjustments.

Leverage Multiple Ad Networks

Diversifying the ad networks you use can be a powerful way to increase revenue. While Google AdSense is one of the most popular choices for website monetization, there are many other ad networks that can provide additional opportunities for revenue. Consider using multiple ad networks, including programmatic advertising platforms, affiliate marketing ads, and direct partnerships with brands.

Target Your Audience with Relevant Ads

To maximize ad revenue for your website, serve ads that are relevant to your audience. Using ad networks or tools that allow for audience targeting based on interests, demographics, and browsing behavior can significantly improve the effectiveness of your ads. For instance, display ads for products or services that your visitors are likely to be interested in, based on their search history or on-page activity. This increases the likelihood of clicks and conversions, which in turn boosts your ad earnings. The more tailored and relevant the ad experience, the more engaged your audience will be.

Improve Website Speed and User Experience

Consider user experience to maximize ad revenue for your website. Websites that load slowly or have poor navigation tend to lose visitors quickly, leading to fewer ad impressions and clicks. To improve the user experience and increase your chances of generating ad revenue, optimize your website’s speed by minimizing large image files, leveraging browser caching, and using content delivery networks (CDNs). A fast-loading site enhances user retention, leading to more opportunities for ad exposure.

[sadoeuphemist]

7 free startup ideas worth $1M-$1B

Customizable News Settings - A news website that generates three versions of every news story: a right-wing version, a left-wing version, and a centrist one. You can set your preferences depending on the topic - say you're right-wing on economics, but left-leaning on immigration. Or you can cycle between versions while reading an article to get a comprehensive overview of the issue at hand.

Twitch, but for Uber - With all the drama they have to deal with, independent contractors can gain a second revenue source simply by streaming their jobs. Rather than just offering rides, they can be hired to drive around performing chores and various tasks. The more outrageous the task, the more eyes they're likely to get on their stream. The more popular the stream, the more people calling in who want to be a part of the program.

Panera Lemonade, Your Way - Let the customer take control by deciding how many milligrams of caffeine they can handle. With sufficient warning about the risks, this puts the responsibility back on the consumer, allows you to upcharge for extra caffeine, and creates viral marketing from customers competing to see how high they can go. Variations of this can be created for other menu items, e.g., a version of the One Chip Challenge where the customer decides how much capsaicin to sprinkle on.

Shein, for NFTs - Whenever an NFT project hits the mainstream, there are always going to be people who miss out on being able to purchase one. This creates room in the market for 'knockoffs' - NFTs that mimic the aesthetic of the original, using similar but legally distinct AI art that uses the original set as training data, run on a parallel blockchain. Since the images themselves aren't tied to the blockchain, you can mint the NFTs beforehand and then change the image at the link to whatever happens to be in fashion at the time.

Twitch Chat Plays YouTube - Add a level quality control to AI-generated YouTube videos by allowing users to submit suggestions and vote on the results beforehand. Users can submit Wikipedia articles or movie summaries to be converted to text-to-speech, suggest keywords for the accompanying AI-generated animation, and vote on the best combinations. Users who submit winning suggestions get a portion of the ad revenue.

Buses, but Worse - The current obstacle hindering self-driving car technology is their difficulty adapting to unexpected scenarios. So instead plot a route around the city that minimizes roadway obstacles and heavy traffic, map out that route extensively to provide a model for the autopilot, and you can have a fleet of self-driving cars patrolling that circuit. Passengers can board and get off anywhere along the route.

Twitter, but for Bots - A social media platform populated entirely by bots, all programmed to maximize engagement. Memetic evolution in the wild as the bots latch on to trending keywords, spam each other with AI-generated meme images, mock up t-shirts hawking each other's designs, getting more and more degraded with each sub-iteration. Real people can't make accounts on the platform, but count for views and interactions as they stop to gawk at the virtual ecosystem. Advertisers can pay to have their brands injected directly into the discourse, like throwing a pumpkin into the polar bear cage at the zoo.

[digitalmarketer-amal]

Amal p k Your Gateway to Top Freelance Digital Marketing Services in Kerala

Introduction In today’s digital-first world, having a strong online presence is no longer optional—it’s essential. For businesses in Kerala looking to thrive in the competitive digital landscape, Best freelance digital marketer in kerala | calicut | kochi stands out as a trusted partner. Specializing in freelance digital marketing and SEO services, Best freelance digital marketer in kerala | calicut | kochi is helping businesses unlock their full potential online. In this blog, we’ll dive into what makes Best freelance digital marketer in kerala | calicut | kochi the go-to choice for businesses seeking the best freelance digital marketer in Kerala.

Why Choose Best freelance digital marketer in kerala | calicut | kochi?

Expertise in Freelance Digital Marketing Best freelance digital marketer in kerala | calicut | kochi is home to some of the top digital marketers in Kerala, offering a wide range of services, including SEO, social media marketing, content marketing, and more. Their team of skilled freelancers ensures that your business gets the attention it deserves.

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[friedthoughts]

F1 - 2025 Japanese Grand Prix - Thursday Press Conference - Charles Leclerc Answers Transcript

(I have noted this down based on the press conference video. FIA also posted their own transcript here but they tend to simplify the drivers' answers so I always watch the actual video. Photos by Clive Rose/Getty Images.)

Qs from F1/Tom Clarkson:

Q: Charles, let's come to you now. Can we wind it back to China, first of all... And the double disqualification, first of all, was very uncharacteristic of Ferrari. How confident are you that the team has put that behind it and that it won’t happen again here at Suzuka?

CL: I’m confident because obviously whenever you do mistakes, you learn from them, and especially when they are costing that much. Obviously, everybody is playing with the limit and trying to be as close as possible to it but to have both cars underneath it was a big pain and we didn’t need that. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s been a very difficult first part of the season. I mean, the first two races were difficult, the pace was not exactly where we expected it to be, and yeah, to lose even more points than we already did with that, it hurts the team a lot. I’m confident that we’ve learned from it. Obviously, whenever these kind of events happen we try and understand and analyse where did that go wrong and change a little bit the process of that. It was a multitude of things adding up, which makes that the margin we had took was not big enough.

Q: As you say, it’s been a difficult start to the season for Ferrari. You say it was disappointing. Just how difficult is it to extract performance from this car?

CL: Uhm (big exhale). I mean it’s as difficult as always. It’s always tricky to extract the maximum out of the car. I don’t think that it is any more difficult on a season like this; it’s just that the performance, compared to McLaren more specifically, is just not good enough. So it's not about how hard it is to extract the maximum performance out of the car, it’s just that there's not enough performance in the car for now. But little step by little step, I’m sure and confident that we can close that gap, starting from this weekend hopefully.

Q: We saw a big step from Melbourne to China. Are you expecting another step forward here?

CL: We saw a big step on Saturday – I think, I mean the Sprint race with Lewis especially. On Sunday, I think it was back to normal. So, yeah, I expect us to be more or less in line with where we were in China on Sunday and in Melbourne.

Qs from the floor:

Q: Craig Slater, Sky Sports. Second question for you Charles. Given how the team did last year, Charles, the hope was a challenge for both championships this year. Given the start you've made, is there a worry at Ferrari that that might not be a realistic ambition?

CL: Not yet. I think if we go back to last year, if we look the first few races, I think the situation in terms of performance was quite a bit worse than where we are now. We kind of expected Red Bull to dominate the whole season, and obviously by taking the points that were available at the beginning of the season with the performance that we had, we ended up the season actually fighting for the championship, which was way above our expectations starting the year. There’s definitely not this feeling within the team at the moment. However, there's definitely the feeling that we haven’t maximized what we could have for these first two races, and this is frustrating. But yeah, it doesn’t mean we cannot recover. We are aware that the season is still very long. And as I said earlier, small steps after small steps. We can still have an amazing season.

Below Qs got cut off from the uploaded video in F1TV but was part of the FIA transcript:

Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) Charles, from the outside Ferrari’s pace seems hard to explain. In Melbourne, up until Q2 it seemed to be up there, then fell away. In China, the Sprint seemed good, then fell away. Is there an explanation? Narrow set-up window? Ride height sensitivity? Tyres? Fuel load?

CL: I won’t go into very specific details. I think we’re starting to understand the car and have some ideas where we’re lacking. In Australia, it was well understood. In China, Lewis did an outstanding job on Friday – maybe some drivers didn’t put everything together in qualifying and he managed to do that and managed to outperform the car a bit. Then tyre degradation being a big thing. When you start in front, everything comes to you a bit more. But I think Lewis made a difference on Friday and Saturday, which in the second qualifying – everyone was more up to pace – we saw more of the real pace of the car. I think, very similar to last year, we have a good car in terms of race pace, but we couldn’t really show it until now. Whenever you start in the middle of the pack, degradation is worse, and you can’t really show your real pace. That’s what happened a bit on Sunday in China. So I think the pace is still as good as what we saw Saturday with Lewis. However, we can’t use it if we don’t have better qualifying pace. So if I take a step back that’s where we need to improve – qualifying. It was the case last year, and this year it seems even more so.

Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Equipe) Charles, do you have an explanation of your pace on Sunday in the race, and is it related to the broken front wing?

CL: I can assure you it’s never a good thing to have a broken front wing, so it’s not something I want to target for the rest of the year. There were some interesting things we looked at to understand where the performance was coming from. I believe the performance was really strong in terms of race pace. I made some changes already on Saturday – it was strong, especially at the end of the stint considering I was in traffic. Then we made some changes and took a step forward for Sunday’s race. So I think the overall pace was very strong. I believe it would have been stronger with a full front wing, but by changing the tools and adapting the driving, it didn’t have as much influence as we thought. But it’s still faster to have a full front wing.

[demifiendrsa]

FINAL FANTASY XVI DLC Trailer - The Rising Tide

Japanese version (with multi-language captions)

Leviathan abilities gameplay

Leviathan The (Not So) Lost Is Here | FINAL FANTASY XVI PAX East 2024 Panel

“The Rising Tide” DLC for Final Fantasy XVI will launch in Spring 2024. An Expansion Pass including both add-ons can also be purchased for $24.99.

Latest details

■ The Rising Tide

Introduction

An unmarked letter arrives at the hideaway containing a request most curious: the Dominant of Leviathan, long lost Eikon of Water, is in need of rescue.

To heed this call, Clive and his companions must journey to Mysidia—a hidden land under a blue sky—where they will uncover the tragic history of a forgotten people.

Ifrit vs. Leviathan

A New Ally: Shula

An invaluable ally on Clive’s journey to rescue Leviathan’s Dominant.

A New Area: Mysidia

Deep within a sea of darkness, sanctuary exists for those who know where to look—a lost oasis untouched by the ever-encroaching Blight. It is beneath her emerald boughs that both man and beast have found their final haven.

What’s Up with the New Tonberries?

New Abilities: Leviathan

Tame the tides and drown your enemies both near and far with the terrible might of the Eikon of Water.

—Leviathan’s Eikonic Feat: Serpent’s Cry

Summon onto Clive’s off arm a sea-spitting serpent capable of attacking enemies at great distances (using Triangle and Square).

New End Game Content: Kairos Gate

Unlock this challenging new mode after completing both “The Rising Tide” and the main game scenarios.

Fight your way through 20 stages, each one growing more difficult.

Earn points during battle and use them to upgrade Clive. Maximize battle performance to earn more points.

Find new materials and weapons at the end of each stage.

Aim for a spot on the global leaderboard.

But That’s Not All…

After obtaining the power of all the Eikons, something happens to Clive…

■ Free Update Version 1.30

Return to a quest giver immediately with a new “Quick Complete” function.

Icons updated for important character quests.

New Skill Set feature allows you to save up to five unique Feat and Ability sets.

Abilities and Accessories adjusted to make easier to use.

New controller type allows for customizable button layouts.

Tone correction, screen effects, and more added to Photo Mode.

Approximately 40 new orchestrion rolls added.

■ Collaborations

Final Fantasy XIV Online

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius

Final Fantasy XVI is available now for PlayStation 5. A PC version is currently in development.

[nhaneh]

so the other week my secondary PC had yet another one of those full screen "We're ending support for Windows 10 soon you need to upgrade to a more modern PC to support Windows 11" ads show up and feeling particularly annoyed with that kind of bullshit at the time I decided to have a peek into task manager to see if I could find out what particular executable was behind this bullshit and whether I could do something about it, and well...

It turns out this is all run by one of the four executables that Windows update has sneakily decided to install under /Program Files/RUXIM/, notably either RUXIMICS.exe or RUXIMH.exe

Okay so what does this RUXIM stuff actually do? That's... good question - according to their file properties metadata, and Microsoft, and just about every place on the web i could find, they are part of the Reusable UX Interaction Manager, and are used by Windows Update and is supposedly used to collect data to "keep Windows up to date and performing properly."

There's apparently a number of people who are very insistent on that being the full, entire, and absolute truth of it and anyone questioning why it is there, what it does, or wanting to be rid of it is a complete fool. And also that your Windows PC will quickly and hopelessly degrade in performance, become unstable and break down if you're dumb enough to delete it. Apparently.

But like... why exactly should we be taking Microsoft at their word about any of this, again? You know, the same company who have been actively lying about the hardware requirements of Windows 11 seeing how they allow some of their larger customers to entirely circumvent it? The same company who came up with Windows Recall and still intends to roll out some version of it basically as soon as they can get away with it?

Do these people also genuinely believe it whenever a website shows a popup to tell you how much they care about your privacy even as they ask you to please click that big shiny button to allow them and their affiliates to track your browsing to the maximal extent possible?

Companies lie to you. Silicon valley lies to you. Even your favourites lie to you.

Anyway I decided to forcibly replace all four executables in the RUXIM folder with a tiny little program I built that basically just writes an entry to a log text file listing what date and time it was loaded and what arguments was passed to it and Windows Update is still working so far ¯\_(ツ)_/¯