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tenaciouschildengineer · 2 years ago

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The Importance of Understanding Energy Conservation in a Transforming AI Economy.

Written by: Neoneela Boevets

JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! This topic has been on my mind a lot lately… Not only because I have been on the job hunt, but because the job market is shifting at a catalytic rate. In the age of automation, robotics, AI, climate change, and government policies being implemented- it leaves us wondering what the future holds for us. What does the job market look like in 30 years? Or 50 years? 100 years?

“Machines could take 50% of jobs in the next 30 years”

-Moshe Vardi, CS Professor, Rice University

The new industrial revolution will set new grounds of what our values are and what value can humans provide. Do you remember when travel agencies were a relevant service when booking a vacation? They were certainly a higher demand then compared to now. Do you remember Blockbuster? What happened to all those jobs? They shifted, zero marginal cost businesses such as Netflix and TripAdvisor replaced them.

In the article, “You Will Lose Your Job to a Robot—and Sooner Than You Think”, Kevin Drum argues that the post golden age will create an even wider economic gap for the rich, and that there will be little to no jobs left for humans. Because of this, It is up to our government to ensure that social welfare and environmental regulations should take place in order for us to be ready for the future of AI, and unfortunately this is not what’s happening, the article discusses that our government is not prioritizing the future of AI, stating that: “They refuse to see that global warming is behind changing weather patterns because dealing with climate change requires environmental regulations that are bad for business and bad for the rich. Likewise, dealing with an AI Revolution will require new ways of distributing wealth. In the long run this will be good even for the rich, but in the short term it’s a pretty scary prospect for those with money—and one they’ll fight zealously. Until they have no choice left, conservatives are simply not going to admit this is happening, let alone think about how to address it. It’s not in their DNA.” This cannot be said better, we are too ignorant to shift the tectonics of macroeconomy as the digital minds of the future.

A UBI (Universal Basic Income) system will be needed in case of emergency for sure. This is actually one of Andrew Yang’s central missions in his political campaign. And he's not wrong. UBI will be basic minimum food and a place to live, basic necessities. It's not supposed to be luxurious. Not every American will need it. Jeff Bezos will be okay without it.

The article fails to mention new jobs that will also occur as automation and AI use increases. Humans will shift towards new jobs or no job at all which may require the government to create a universal stipend. We cannot imagine yet how humanity will keep itself busy in the AI world. A caveman would have no concept of being a web developer, so same goes with humans of 2023 trying to grasp the future of AI. We will have jobs. I know that there are plenty of opportunities for people to be able to make the standard of living they want under the circumstances that we are in - if they want more than the standard of living. Just take a look at social media influencers as an example…will we shift to jobs that are more creative & fun?! There is always something to hustle from. But making sure UBI is set in stone, is always a good back up plan to have, again not knowing what the future holds in regard to the job market.

*This is a similar argument of Americans living on welfare, they want to make more too and be a part of a working-class society. Will there be a better standard of living with the age of automation Hopefully, yes. But a UBI system will be needed just in case.

** Here's more on "Debunking the myth of the Lazy Welfare Recipient" Debunking the myth of the lazy welfare recipient | Harvard Kennedy School

On the flipside (yay! positivity!), we also have a culture that is becoming more environmentally conscious and finding ways to minimize resources- making it a cheaper standard of living. We got the tiny home movement, van life, etc. There are all sorts of innovations happening right now! Not to say that's practical for everyone- especially with big families- but could be one day, with the inclusion of a sustainable system.

The biggest point that the article makes is that the government has failed us in preparing us for the AI revolution. The party system inherits “short term thinkers” which is why environmental problems are not prioritized when they should be, the article states,” renewable energy already gets plenty of attention, even if half the country still denies that we really need it. It’s time for the end of work to start getting the same attention. “With that being said, there needs to be more governmental involvement in the future- as we do not have a choice, in universal income, the age of AI, and climate change- we need a proper leadership and direction. In my work, I can vouch that politics, robotics, and environmental problems are VERY interconnected.

Which leads to the next topic… Energy!

In regard to energy conservation, it is important to take into consideration the goal of having a cleaner environment. This is vital for a president in having a non- partisan diplomacy in understanding climate change and all science practices. Key decisions revolve around technology. Stay skeptical, promote energy efficiency, have a diverse set of sustainable energy practices. People in higher levels need to be educated in the application of physics in technology. Heat is a transfer of energy and the ability to do work. Nobody can create nor destroy energy. This is an important concept to learn how to control energy. We need to challenge how we utilize energy today. For example, car engines use 10-30 percent of energy from gas alone. Most of the energy is lost! How do we save more energy? We must look for other sources that utilize most of the energy produced efficiently or even look at sources from the past like radial engines (might be a landslide), not only newer technologies. Utilizing energy is what makes the world go round especially with the huge surges of population growing at an extreme rate.

Energy conservation is a vital concept in the manufacturing, industrial worlds, and everyday life!

This leads us to a more efficient economy and environment, a decrease in overtime relative costs, which is hopefully what the many goals are for presidents to engage in. If a president does not understand the importance of these concepts, they would not know how to keep up with the developing world.” As a solution, citizens need to care more about politics, vote, be more educated and involved in order to have a better government. FUND EDUCATION, OUR FUTURE! What makes it hard is the how. To point out the obvious- it would be so much more productive for our society if all people cared to make a difference, and all cared about this problem. We need to make environmental products profitable; everyone likes money. I am hopeful that we can get there; it has to happen pretty soon though. Science will play a role in finding solutions. And we need elect people who inherit long-term thinking to help us towards these goals.

If you are interested in this discussion and would like to dive more into this topic, here's a good book to read: https://www.oecd.org/futures/35391210.pdf

Source:

Drum, Kevin. “You Will Lose Your Job to a Robot-and Sooner than You Think.” Mother Jones, 26 Oct. 2017,

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/you-will-lose-your-job-to-a-robot-and-sooner-than-you-think/.

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years ago

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Humans are Space Orcs, “Maladaptive Coping.”

This idea was given to me by a good friend of mine

*WARNING* This issue of Krill’s journal contains literally ALL of the things that might bother you. Every self destructive behavior I could think of is mentioned in this piece. So PLEASE do not read it if there is even the slightest chance that it may bother you. I wont list everything here, and trust you to make your own decision on weather it is a good idea for you to read this or not.

Also, a important note is that this is from an aliens perspective, and so does not contain every last nuance of these behaviors and the reasons behind them. I hope those of you who read a great day, and those who don’t read a great day as well! :)

The Journal of Xenomedical Biology

Author: Dr. Krill of the Vrul

The Human Manifestation of Self destructive Tendencies and Their Signs.

Over the past few years of studying and learning to understand humans, It has come to the attention of the medical community that humans are the most volatile species, psychologically. This is not meant as negative commentary on human issues as it might seem, but merely an observation that humans have the most widely varied pattern of psychological maladaptive responses when it comes to stress and related mental illness. Where each other species tends to have only two or three typical maladaptive responses, humans have been known to have analogous representations of all known mental abnormalities.

Now this journal is not specifically about all the ways the human brain can go wrong, but more accurately about the maladaptive response I have seen in humans over the past few years primarily demonstrating self destructive behaviors in one way or another.

You might notice an interesting pattern in my analysis today that clearly demonstrates a repetitive contradictory pattern in human self destructive tendencies, which will demonstrate just how varied and widely differing their responses can be.

First, humans have socially destructive behavior.which can come in many forms.

Withdrawal: from friends or close loved ones is a common self destructive behavior to look for in humans. This can happen on a large or small scale where the human withdraws for hours or even years. As a social species, humans find social interaction important, even if that is only remote communications with other humans. If that human begins to withdraw suddenly or even gradually over time, I might suggest being concerned about their well- being.

Now here is where the contradictions come into play, and forgive me if some of these social behaviors also overlap with the physical behaviors, with humans, they are often one in the same.

Increased socially dangerous behavior: now this may account for many things. Some humans will fall into a downward spiral where they surround themselves with other like minded humans and participate in dangerous physical activities, which I will discuss later

Increased partners: Now, while this behavior may be common for many humans, and could be argued as a physical behavior, there is cause for concern if a human suddenly increases the number of physical partners from their average. This usually accompanies reckless social behavior like not meeting the partner first before entering into a physical relationship, doing this on multiple occasions and might also be connected with the following -

Staying with an objectively horrible partner: now it is hard to identify why some humans do this, but often humans will choose a partner who is objectively horrible to them either physically or emotionally. Sometimes humans do this because they are afraid of the repercussions, are afraid of being alone, or they have been convinced that there is no other possible person out there who might love them. Humans put a lot of stock into physical relationships and many of them would rather be with someone horrible than be alone. Due to their social nature many humans put social interaction and partnership over their safety and mental health. If you see a human participating in this behavior, it is advised to get them help,even if the human does not want it. They deserve more than being treated horribly.

Now on occasion two humans in a downward spiral might come together and create a codependent relationship where they cannot function without one another. What the other human does the oher will follow and this can lead them both into a spiral of horrible physical and mental behaviors that will cause anguish in the long term. If one of them is involved with drugs, the other will follow etc.

Now some humans might even participate in self destructive behaviors that look good from an outside perspective. For instance, it is a common occurrence that humans overwork themselves to the point of burnout. Often humans throw themselves into their work to distract their minds and avoid the pain of something else, thi may include memories or having to return to an environment where they do not wish to go. These humans will work many hours and sacrifice their social lives to do more work, causing long term stress that can lead to heart attack stroke and other physical diseases related to increased stress and heightened blood pressure. Some humans may participate in this behavior as a way to prove themselves to others, that they are either competent or hard working.

On the flipside of this there are other humans who may just stop working at all. They let everything in their lives fall apart, and stop doing anything of note causing them to lose their jobs, their hobbies, their families and their friends. This one is often related to a withdrawal from other people and might include elements of physical recklessness like drug abuse.

Secondly and including a much wider range of self destructive behaviors, we see the physical manifestations of this phenomenon which vary widely and tend to come in opposing pairs..

Overheating and undereating: are two very common forms of stress response from humans. If humans have conditioned to see food as a reward for behavior or as a comforting mechanism (oten developed in childhood) they will eat in order to comfort themselves and to the point where it is adversely affecting their physical health. They may eat even if they are not hungry or if they are actively full. Some humans experience digestive issues while under stress and may even refuse to eat at all. There are other extreme cases where humans, usually in response to a perceived lack of control, will regulate their food intake to the point of starvation or other food related disorders.

This is closely related to over exercising, and also has links with a perceived lack of control in their life. These humans, often paired with restricted eating, will push themselves to their physical limit to control their own bodies as a form of having a hold on their own lives. This paired with restricted calories can cause an untold amount of damage both physically and metnally. Mental disorders linked to these behaviors are known to be the most deadly of disorders known to humans.

The consumption of Drugs and Alcohol

This is a very common and often overlooked behavior in humans. Drinking is the consumption of beverages that contain Ethanol, which when reacting in the human brain causes, extreme mental degradation related to fuzziness and euphoria. Humans find this a pleasant feeling though it causes damage to many internal structures most primarily the liver. Unfortunately drinking is seen as a socially acceptable behavior with humans and so excessive drinking is often caught too late or not called out at all. These humans may drink from the beginning to the end of the day and will build up a tolerance to alcohol amounts that would kill another human. They build up an immunity to the point where they need larger and larger doses to feel the same effects. They will often neglect their social connections including friends and family for a chance with the bottle.

This is the same with other illicit drugs, which may have even more severe effects on the person and my lead to drug induced psychosis. Both substances are highly addictive to the point where a human may commit horrible acts like murder, robbery, etc to get the drugs that they crave. This is usually in response to some sort of mental anguish they are trying to drown out but may be related to them becoming hooked on drugs they needed after surgery. On rare occasions, this behavior began in conjunction with destructive social behaviors which lead them down into a spiral.

Excessive partying is often paired with drug use and an increased amount of intimate partners. Many humans who have fallen into this spiral might refuse to admit that they are spiraling at all. Generally limited use of a substance can be acceptable for a human, but there are plenty of other chemicals that should not be consumed at all.

There are even some drugs that are known to be mild on the user but may cause emotional dependence. These drugs are not known to cause physical dependance, but the human can convince themselves that they require the drug to function emotionally during the day and will neglect their family, friends and lives in order to spend more time with their drug of choice Again you will see the withdrawal from social contacts as an extreme warning sign in humans.

Sleeping too much or not sleeping at all:A human getting enough sleep is important for their mental health but sleeping too much is proven to throw off circadian rhythms and increase chances of depression or worsening depression. Humans require an amount of sleep that is no more or no less than what they need. Many humans will claim to not be getting enough sleep because they feel tired, when in reality their oversleeping causes grogginess and reduced amount of energy though it might seem counter intuitive. On the other hand humans might refuse to sleep at all, instead occupying their time with some other activity. It is important to remember though that an inability to sleep might also be insomnia, and the human hs no choices in the matter. I find that humans, in general, are horrible at regulating a proper healthy sleep schedule.

Participation in dangerous hobbies. Now, I understand that this is common for many humans and does not indicate self destructive behavior, but I would consider noting when a human suddenly involves themselves in dangerous hobbies after not participating for a long time, especially when that human is not careful and doesnt take time to properly consider safety protocols.

Another very common one is humans causing intentional physical harm to themselves. This comes in levels of severity and I would say that most humans do this to some degree or another. Often these are connected to nervous ticks or even learned behaviors from childhood. This can include, picking scabs, biting nails, picking at the skin of the thumbs or the lips, pilling hair, and biting the inside of the cheeks. These smaller behaviors are usually minor and do not require attention, they may cause scarring but are not generally connected to extreme mental anguish.

However, these behaviors can escalate dramatically to the use of knives and razors. This behavior is EXTREMELY maladaptive and indicates severe mental anguish and trauma and must be addressed immediately. These behaviors might escalate and be linked to loss of life by the human’s own hand. I have not witnessed this personally, and I never intend to as I keep a very close eye on my humans.

#HUMANS ARE WERID #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are insane #humans are deathworlders #earth is a deathworld #Earth is space Ausralia #humans are space oddities

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donnerpartyofone · 4 years ago

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the first time i can remember being frustrated with my appearance, i was probably about five or six years old. i was totally obsessed with superman, for some inexplicable reason--after this point in time i never felt the slightest interest in him again, i was much more of a batman or catwoman type of person, but i guess i was just primed to love comics, and superman was the first superhero i'd ever seen. plus those old rotoscoped cartoons were absolutely gorgeous, but i guess that was the thing: i saw these images of superman's gloriously sculpted cheekbones and jawline, and i was desperately jealous. i remember stomping around the house, yanking fistfuls of baby fat back from my skull in hopes that i could somehow get them to stay there, wondering why i had to be such a rolypoly little piece of shit and not realizing that the answer was simply, "because i'm 5."

that episode is just kind of funny and delusional, but later as i got more into comics, the art seemed to exacerbate problems i was having with my perception of my body. i was growing up in an era where superhero comics had a heavy pin-up focus; any attention to the fantasy elements or environment or atmosphere or even a sense of movement fell before the dominance of cookie cutter hyper-idealized bodies that were frozen in flashy, often kind of sleazy poses. i totally drank the koolaid on how, er, cool this was, and all the art i made during my early years was slavishly patterned on this stuff. i was developing a lot of delusions about how bodies even worked--like i thought that if you got into really great shape athletically, then you would just naturally wind up with these porn star looks. (of course this type of fallacy about a health-attractiveness connection is used to justify all kinds of shitty attitudes about appearance now, by actual adults who have no excuse for their ignorance, but ANYWAY i was 8 or 9 in this story so i digress) my parents came up with different ways of trying to help me out with what was going on. my dad tried a creative approach, suggesting ideas for characters that counteracted what i was picking up: what about, for instance, a homely, nerdy-looking heroine with irresistible psychic seduction powers? or a fat guy with unequaled strength? (sure, it's been tried, but it's usually reserved for disgusting villains ala the blob) my mom's approach was more in the way of punishing rejection. i have an indelible memory of asking her what she thought of this specific white queen trading card i was trying to replicate. (dumbest character ever btw) i was honestly attracted to its busy linework, i still love that kind of visual stimulus, but i should have known that she would take one look at it and spit at me "I THINK IT'S BORDERLINE PORNOGRAPHY" before storming off without another word.

that's where i could have used a little more discussion. like...what's so wrong with pornography? what do you think it does to people? you grew up during the '60s, what kinds of things did you learn then about the female experience, that would be useful for me to hear while I'M about to turn into a woman? what do you think would be a helpful alternative to the kind of culture i'm consuming, if you think my interests are so harmful? but i didn't get any of that; she was just mad at her young child for having bad taste, as usual, and rejected any form of conversation with someone as tacky as me. and like, i am NOT now saying that i think material like this needs to be erased and replaced. i think people should be allowed to fantasize however they want, on the whole. but i also think it's really important to learn some critical thinking skills. we only have to "cancel" things under the assumption that nobody has the ability to understand what they see and what could motivate it. if my mother had deigned to have a conversation with me about the oppressiveness of certain beauty standards, for instance, then i would have had a much better understanding of where this kind of art was coming from, and THAT might have compelled me to seek out a wider variety of inspiration. or it might not have, but at least i would have taken a broader view of things, and then she might not have had to be so mad at me for being a burgeoning pornographer. i still consume all kinds of material that many or even most people consider pornography, borderline or otherwise, but i take a great interest in its sources and uses and varying interpretations, because i took it upon myself to learn how to think about this stuff. there's no need to be afraid of what you're able to understand. i don't know where i was going with this. "just saying", i guess!

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boycottyashahime · 5 years ago

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Alright, so I’m bad at Tumblr, and though I wanted to just reblog the original post from @strawberrycreampiefluff and put most of it under a cut or perhaps find a way to trim it, I couldn’t find a way to make it work. So, we’re starting a new thread. Here’s the link the other one if anyone reading hasn’t been following the discussion and want to catch up: https://strawberrycreampiefluff.tumblr.com/post/625063196626223104/what-do-you-think-of-this-whole-ppl-shipping

Anyhow, since we discussed this beforehand, I’ll start from the beginning, only working with the storytelling elements from the series, and I’ll leave out the latter part of the post regarding moralizing (which I mostly agree with anyway, so it’s no loss to me).

“I was trying to convey that considering the methods of storywriting and telling, it would break the “pattern” Rumiko Takashi built up and lowering the impact of Sessh character growth he would later experience. A father-daughter bond is not inferior to a romantic bond, but it would seem out of place, to have both his father and brother form a romantic relationship with a human and then Sessh breaking that pattern by introducing a new kind of relationship-dynamic - when he is the most crucial character in the series when it comes to demon-human relations.”

I’m still quite unclear HOW the impact of Sesshomaru’s character growth is necessarily lowered from not having a romantic bond with a human. Why is the continuation of this pattern so important, in your view, to the character’s development? From my perspective, introducing a new relationship dynamic into and breaking patterns is actually a good thing in stories - It’s a great way to add variety and a different point of view to a narrative. Having characters take a pattern in a different, unique direction can add meaning in a way the reader couldn’t see coming, give the story unexpected dimension.

And you’ve already said that you and other shippers like yourself don’t see anything romantic while Rin is still a child in the original series, so that is effectively what happened. Since we agree that the relationship wasn’t actually romantic within the context of the original Inuyasha series, Sesshomaru took a love of a human in an entirely different direction than his father or his brother did. Which conveys complexity in how youkai can relate to humans that wasn’t in the established pattern. As a reader, I find that kind of thing fun and engaging, though you may disagree.

“A father-daughter relationship would still put Sessh in a superior position to Rin (as the father), not adding a lot to his character development other than him caring for one other human being.”

I have to wince here, because while yes, technically Sesshomaru is in a superior position to Rin in a father-daughter relationship, the implication here is that this can be compared to the sense of superiority he had over humans as a whole that you referenced earlier. Is a parent-child relationship really comparable to a racist outlook? I feel like these two things are quite unrelated, having two ENTIRELY different connotations from the word “superior”. One is an entirely natural superior position, using one’s greater experience, knowledge, and ability to facilitate the growth and guidance of someone still on their way up. The other is a wholly unnatural and malicious disregard for a person based on superficial features. Sesshomaru’s superior attitude toward humans before he met Rin was not based on a paternalistic concern, but complete disgust and the notion that they were entirely unworthy of consideration. The two connotations of “superior” here are just not analogous in the greater narrative.

“In a romantic relationship, both partners should be equals (anything other is unacceptable), for this to happen Sessh would’ve had to lower himself (his pride) to Rins level, since he was the one with the big ego and humans were regarded as one of the lower creatures of the food chain.”

Again, I think it is entirely possible for Sesshomaru to learn not to regard humans as “lower on the food chain” through a relationship that ISN’T romance, but that aside, this whole notion brings up a question: why didn’t Rumiko Takahashi write Rin into the story as a young adult? We’ve already discussed how romantic implications to the relationship couldn’t exist while she’s still a child in the series, and why Sesshomaru and Rin are definitely NOT equal during the series. So if it was so important for Sesshomaru to be otherwise equal to Rin so he can lower his pride and truly consider her such, why was Rin not written as a fully autonomous adult so we could cut to the chase? It seems that if what you’re describing was really Rumiko Takahashi’s intent, it would have been a lot easier if the girl was already grown up. At the very least, our dear author could have ended the series when Rin was an appropriate age to actually make the point instead of leaving it hanging.

“Doing the exact same thing he criticized his father for, which for him would’ve been humiliating in the beginning of the series. The sequel (if you regard it as canon) goes even farther, making him create his own half demons - the very reason he hated his brother in the first place. His mother even said he becomes like his father in the strangest ways - and the only “strange” thing we know about his father was his romantic relationship with Izayoi.”

Since English isn’t your first language, I’m guessing you’re just mistaken in the map of this sentence, but the word “strange” here is referring to Sesshomaru’s behavior in relation to his father’s. What is strange is how Sesshomaru is like his father, not his father’s ways. This actually makes the opposite point - it seems to refer to the ways in which Sesshomaru is behaving as odd, maybe in relation to a pattern his father fit into.

“That’s why I think it wouldn’t fall apart if we draw the parallel in a wider context as you say, because other characters didn’t have the same starting point as Sessh. I very much agree with you, that Inuyasha’s platonic bonds would also count as a dog forming close bonds with humans, but in Inuyasha’s or Shippou’s case, they didn’t need the same character development like Sessh, since they had a different attitude towards humans or “lesser-beings” in the first place (Inuyasha was even past the stage of lowering himself, also out of romantic reasons btw, since he was ready to become human for Kikyo).”

I’m curious as to how the parallel and pattern matter if it’s null and void because Inuyasha and the other characters we talked about have different character arcs. Of course they aren’t starting from the same place as Sesshomaru, characters never do. They’re varied and diverse because it would be boring as tar to write them all going through the same issues. My point about the parallel was that even if it could be said that there’s some similarity in how dog YOUKAI form bonds with humans to actual DOGS, it’s not really a good parallel, because there are other “species” of youkai much less friendly with humans doing it too. I’m having trouble understanding what this argument has to do with that.

In reference to the above, I agree, the example characters you cited didn’t have the same level of dismissive racism as Sesshomaru did (I say “same level” because Shippou does carry a bit of prejudice, even as a small child), but when that’s apparent, why is the pattern even relevant? Since the characters aren’t set to all learn the same lesson, their relationships shouldn’t really resemble each other’s in the long run either, should they? Writers use relationships as tools for character development, and they usually want to use the right tool for the right job. Maybe romantic love with a human was right for Inuyasha because he had issues with vulnerability and reconciling his half-heritage. What if SESSHOMARU benefited more as a character from an unconditional bond (free from the conditions of sexual/romantic attraction) to demonstrate to him how even the weakest creature is incomprehensibly valuable for reasons impossible to articulate, and they are worth using his incredible level of “superior” power to protect and defend them? It’s a different kind of humbling oneself than what you were talking about, but I think it’s just as meaningful, and it fits Sesshomaru’s character development neatly into the the original text. It doesn’t require Sunrise make a sequel more than a decade later to wrap up the character development that Rumiko Takahashi meant to do when Rin grew up even though she could have just written her in as an adult in the first place.

“But Rin will obviously not always stay 8/11 years old, she will grow into her own person and become a woman (while living apart from Sessh), creating a completely different power dynamic with Sessh. One that would still be an imbalance, but much different than when she was a child.”

As far as the narrative was concerned, Rin COULD very well have stayed a child forever, though. She was written as a character in a story. When the story is done, so are the characters. You’ve said before and here that Inuyasha is just fiction, and it is, but accepting that means accepting that Rin doesn’t grow up without some prompting. She doesn’t age but through the hand of a creator, fanfiction authors or Sunrise. When you say she’s not going to stay 8-11 forever, what you mean is that actual humans who experience actual time are not satisfied with her age as it stood when the story ended, and actively impose time upon her.

And since applying time to a fictional character is something that has to be intentional, so too do the conditions you mention to create the perfect environment for the ship. The different dynamic that isn’t father-daughter, but still a little bit of not-weird power imbalance. The “lowering” of Sesshomaru’s ego in that specific romantic way (that I’m still not sure I understand, but we’ll go with it). The way in which the romance is developed without either character realizing it so that Sesshomaru can’t be accused of using the power imbalance to manipulate a girl he’s had authority over since she was eight. Returning to what catalyzed the change in Sesshomaru in the first place while carefully treading around the fact that it was built upon an unconditional relationship that now suddenly has conditions on it. That’s a lot of mental legwork to do, which is fine, because that’s part of creative expression. But you have to acknowledge that none of this would be necessary if the pairing were “obvious”.

It certainly wasn’t very obvious to some of us. We came to a very different conclusion, saw everything a bit differently. Now we’re being punished for having a less popular interpretation of this relationship, shut down by SUNRISE and told that we don’t get to have that interpretation, because they’re considered an authority on what is canon in Inuyasha, and they’re taking sides to squeeze more money out of the Inuyasha franchise with a next-gen sequel. It doesn’t seem to matter that Sunrise was never really very good at telling Inuyasha stories, or that next-gen sequels never seem to be any good for lack of stakes and boring plots.

Sunrise’s interpretation is still considered to be more “valid” than ours. And that really hurts. So, if you found yourself wondering why there’s so much vitriol coming from the anti camp, it’s a combination of this, and the fact that they don’t really have the option of avoiding the content they don’t like anymore. It’s kind of EVERYWHERE now.

So, there we are. I don’t want to give the impression from the above that I’m trying to tear apart your arguments to somehow discredit the pairing. Shippers gonna ship, whether it makes sense to me or not. But I did want to highlight how any of the things you bring up can very well be interpreted entirely differently.

Hope you’re doing well, and you did well on that exam. :)

#inuyasha #anti sessrin #iy discourse #sesshomaru #rin (inuyasha)#@strawberrycreampiefluff #apologies for the technical difficulties #i'm tumblr illiterate

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raxoxo6702-blog · 5 years ago

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What Is a Dysfunctional Relationship?

Unless you interact with media, text, audio, or video, you'll be bombarded with terms like "passive relationship," "code dependency," and "toxic family system". You may have noticed that a lot of information is available about these relationships, but not much is known about what to do about them. This month I thought I would give a brief description of the various words and their meanings, as well as the difference between this and healthy relationships. Also Read: https://blogginggyan.weebly.com/blog/keys-to-be-successful-in-business-marketing

Passive relationships are relationships that fail to complete their task. That is, they do not emotionally support participants, do not encourage communication between them, adequately challenge them, or prepare or empower them for life in the wider world.

Co-addiction means that one or both people in a relationship make the relationship more important than themselves. More recently, however, the term has been used by someone who feels dependent, helpless, and out of control in a relationship. Or unable to leave unsatisfactory or abusive. Read Also: https://blogginggyan.weebly.com/blog/

Toxic family systems are relationships (from childhood to adulthood) that are mentally or emotionally physical or physically harmful to some participants. Co-dependent relationships can also be toxic relationships, although the term "toxic" is commonly used to refer to more abusive species.

In short, all three terms refer to relationships in which unwanted interactions occur and do not effectively improve the lives of the people involved. In these relationships people do not take responsibility for making their own life or carrying on the relationships.

The degree of inactivity, dependence, or toxicity in relationships can vary. Most of us are slightly dependent and therefore inactive from time to time - especially when we are bored, stressed or otherwise not working. What distinguishes between this common, occasional human defect and the true medical crisis is the ability to identify, confront and correct the appropriate crisis that arises in our relationship.

The question is, does it work and how can we make it work? When faced with a relationship problem or disagreement, most people incorrectly seek out the wrong person. That is, they want to know who to blame. Answering the problem by blaming someone (even if you are yourself) is a passive response. The functional question is not, "Whose fault is it?" But "what can we do to solve the problem?"

As you try, you will find that refusing to focus on blaming someone (yourself or your spouse) and insisting on solving the problem will bring a big change in all of your relationships. A family that sits in a family reunion, in which everyone, including young children, discusses the problem from their own perspective and works together to solve each problem quickly becomes functional. .

Couples who can discuss issues calmly without making accusations, criticisms and accusations and find that their engagement, intimacy and bonding increase in finding mutual solutions to their problems. Nothing binds you in a relationship is more than knowing that working together can solve any problem.

No relationship will be perfect; And how to communicate successfully with your loved one cannot be found beforehand. Yes, you can learn basic communication techniques, increase your self-esteem, and develop a pattern of healthy, equal and balanced love before joining - and all these, if you achieve them, in your Will make the relationship more successful. But you are unique and therefore your partner, so what work do both of you have to do to grow locally. My only way is through experience, communication and interaction.

When you feel that in order to be successful, your relationship must be healthy and satisfying for both you and your spouse, you will also understand that it is as much to put your spouse's feelings, needs and desires in front of you. Is harmful.

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jakedauschadigitalarts · 6 years ago

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Evaluation of units 1 – 4.

Unit 1 -Introduction to materials, processes and technical skills in art and design:

Through the project ‘All System’s Go’ we were introduced to various materials and processes some of these processes and materials were digital and some were practical processes, at the beginning of the course we were introduced into Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator with these two materials we learnt various processes and tools most of these processes and tools were simplistic but would later be used in more complex situations to create better outcomes, these tools were crucial to learn for the development of our work throughout the project. Adobe photoshop and illustrator weren’t the materials we used to create outcomes we also touched up on more practical and hands on processes such as Mono printing and carbon paper printing these practical processes were also important for the development of our skills as it allowed us to have a wider knowledge on different processes and skills. Other skills we learnt were important for experimentation, experimentation was important as it allowed us to use our knowledge of the processes we had been learning and allowed us to create more detailed and professional work. Including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Mono printing and Carbon paper copying we also looked at Collaging in Photoshop to create architectural Risographs along with hand bases studio collaging where we created collages based on our research from Hannah Hock and Terry Gilliam, research was an important process and skill along with referencing and evidence our work as it allowed us to learn from our experimentation and our unsuccessful outcomes, we continued to learn processes in Photoshop and illustrator along with our studio work building up to create one of our final outcomes, the final outcome we were working on would showcase and evidence most of our best work this outcome was a Zine booklet and to create it we had a set criteria of only using a simple double colour pallet along with monochrome this was created in Adobe InDesign which was another tool we had to use.

We created a large variety of outcomes using different processes and techniques some of these outcomes hadn’t met my personal criteria or the standard of work I would have liked but I used them as learning points for later outcomes and evidenced them, one of the processes I hadn’t originally like or that I found hadn’t met my personal standards was the Mono printing and Carbon copying processes and outcomes although I thought they weren’t my best work I later used them to create the Vintage postcards which I thought had been one of my outstanding pieces through the project these had later been put onto my zine which is one of the main final outcomes. another outcome we created that I both liked and thought was a good example of the skills I learnt throughout the workshops and lessons was the 80’s Memphis pattern outcomes I personally think these were my best pieces and would like to continue working within the 80s theme, another theme I enjoyed was grunge we briefly touched up on this when we were researching David Carson and creating collages linking to his outcomes.

Within the first project, ‘All System’s Go’ we looked at and experimented with various processes one of the main processes we used at the beginning of the project that we continued through was Typography I used this in various pieces of my work, we started to learn this technique through creating an A – Z in Adobe Illustrator and developing it further within Adobe Photoshop, I took this process onboard and put it within various pieces of my work such as my zine where I used it for my front page and used it to highlight various sections within an outcome along with using it within my Vinyl Album cover outcomes, the typography techniques I learnt I adapted to various outcomes. another process we looked at that I decided to use within my own personal work was the polygonal workshop where we looked at polygonal shapes and experimented with animals, I enjoyed this process so much that I decided to experiment on it within my own time looking at the size differences of the polygonal animals. Nine out of ten of the techniques and processes I learnt I had decided to use within other outcomes to help develop them and create more complex outcomes. Throughout the project and the act of learning the processes there was various processes that I enjoyed doing some of these processes included the polygonal animal outcome and process, Architectural Collages and Risographs, Memphis patterns and the mock-ups, Album covers along with my stickers and final zine.

Unit 2-Introduction to contextual research in art and design:

Throughout the unit and the project, ‘All System’s Go’ we had been given a lot of contextual research that helped shape and develop our work some of this contextual research was through self-study and independent research on the styles themes and processes, this research and context produced through self-study and provided through Demos helped shape and impact my work heavily as without this contextual research I wouldn’t understand nor would I know how to do certain processes to produce my artwork and final outcomes, the contextual research was one of the most important things for my project.

Research within the project and for each new workshop was critical for the improvement and development of my work and my ideas as without this research I wouldn’t have new processes or ideas some of the most critical research I had looked at was done by self-study and my own research along with Demos and artist names provided for example of this would be the research done for the Memphis patterns and Mock-ups we were tasked to look at various 80s inspired Memphis patterns through this research I had developed many ideas and techniques I wanted to try this research helped me then do further contextual research for processes which I then used to make my 80s Memphis patterns unique and interesting and to a level I thought was perfect. Research for each outcome and each experiment was important as without it I wouldn’t have the in-depth understanding about the work I enjoyed looking at a variety of artist for research one artist I found particularly interesting was Hattie Stewart here work is fun and playful using bright colours that pop out creating really Pop art inspired pieces although I didn’t take a lot of here design choices onto my own work I enjoy and respect her work another artist that I ended up liking was Lynette Jackson this was due to her unique style within Architecture and digital collage using bold colours and empty space to make here work pop.

Although research was vital and important for understanding processes and the techniques, we used I hadn’t always taken references or the style of the artist due to this my work would sometimes differ from the artist research or in contrast would be quite similar.

Unit 3-Introduction to drawing skills:

With Sam we learnt an array of drawing techniques and tips, we learnt these processes starting of simple and working to more complex things an example of this would be how we started with simple kawaii faces, kawaii meaning cute in Japanese then building it up working on full faces learning proportion and how to section the face for drawing we also learnt about body proportion and different body shapes learning the basics, after we had learnt these processes we were tasked with practicing them and using what we learnt to create sketches and pieces.

For the next project as we will be developing our drawing skills, I would like to learn more on stylised anatomy and how to take the skills from learning that and making it more stylised, in conjunction with this I would also like to learn more with shading and detailing within character design.

Unit 4-Introduction to communication skills in art and design:

In and throughout our project we had to communicate our processes and our work and the steps we took to create our final outcomes to do this we used various resources at our disposal one of the things we used to evidence and communicate our work was Tumblr on Tumblr we created blog posts, posting our final outcomes along with screenshots of the processes including written step by steps along with contextual research to go along with this looking at artists, processes and techniques for nearly every outcome there was a post referencing an artists or a piece of research including the process along with a comparison of my work. To show what we did we used various things one being Tumblr but we used other methods such as one to one discussion with teachers and peers on improving and developing our work. Although advice was good to listen to it didn’t always have to be taken as in the end its our own work and its tailored to us and our style, two other very important things we did to communicate our work and processes is to write this 1000 word evaluation along with a portfolio with an array of work selection our best pieces for it.

Thought the project I blogged and referenced my work on Tumblr although I managed to do this with most of the outcomes and experiments and research I feel like I could have done more to update and keep on top of these blogs providing further detail and refined blogs this has been a learning curve for me as blogging and referencing my work is a new concept although I didn’t complete my blogs to the best standard I believe I did a really good job referencing my work and making sure there was something showing what I had done even if it was a WIP or a DRAFT.

I feel like I created well developed outcomes final outcomes I personally feel like I exhausted my opportunities to perfect my work and put it at a standard I like and is nearly professional.

Although I haven’t fully pieced together my portfolio, I feel like I have exceptional work that would fir my portfolio, I also believe my work portrays my skill and shows what I have learnt and how I can adapt and develop my process around what I’m working with. I am proud of my work and I can’t wait to develop it and learn more techniques that will help me grow as a student and an artist.

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theteaisaddictive · 6 years ago

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Could you do the director's commentary for Belle and Eve's coming out to each other in Ever Just the Same, please?

thanks!! (this is so long oh my god)

ok, so the scene really begins at the start of the chapter, with belle realising that by spying into the garden, she’s (inadvertently, this time) crossed another of the beast’s boundaries. she’s buffeted by the winter wind, which carries over nicely to the ‘cut’ when we resume a direct narration of events, with belle in her bed and the gust of wind transformed into a full-on storm. belle wants to find an area of the castle where she can find comfort in the midst of the storm -- a safe space, if you will -- and chooses the library. this location is done for obvious reasons; it and the grounds are the two settings where belle and the beast have spent the most time together, and the grounds are out of bounds if it’s midnight during a snowstorm. so library it is -- a warm, inviting area where the two have developed their relationship to find common ground, but also an area of exploration and discovery of the wider world through the literature they read.

(cont. under the cut)

the beast’s narration opens with further exploration of her physical dissonance; she hates being cursed, but she has a physical need to fly and stretch her wings. two conflicting ideals at the same time, which metaphorically link to her internalised homophobia; she’s intrigued by belle, and getting close to maybe falling in love with her, but at the same time she wants to be ‘normal’. there’s some more world building about how things work when she isn’t injured (the staff keep the curtains drawn at all times for ease of access, and it hasn’t been long enough for them to get out that habit yet/eve is very familiar with the patterns of movement in the castle, and the servants are familiar with hers as well).

and then, the first big plot twist of the story -- cogsworth and lumiere are, like, gay.

the beast at this moment hasn’t even started her journey to self acceptance. but she’s so wound up in her identity as the protector of the staff that she’s already side-stepped the ‘this is wrong and my staff should be punished’ response and has leapt straight to ‘oh god oh god what if i’m about to see two men i’ve known since childhood threatened and assaulted, or worse, in front of my very eyes and there’s nothing i can do to stop it?!?’ of course this doesn't happen, as cogs and lumi are in a very happy throuple, and this gives the beast a real paradigm shift in the way she views the world. when writing, i wanted it to be clear what kind of homophobia the beast had grown up with (and what she might semi-realistically have been exposed to), but i also didn't want to make it torture-porn (or anachronistic in wording), if that makes sense -- so she refers to herself as vulgarity, as a perversion, whereas if this was set in today's times she might be repeating conservative talking points and various slurs she may have learned.

we also learn that the beast, being in the body of a bird, can't gain the emotional catharsis of crying. this isn’t especially relevant at this moment, but it gets revisited at several other times of high emotional stress in later chapters, and there will be a payoff once she finally turns human again.

so, with all this going around in her mind, the beast enters the library and finds who else but belle, in a state of undress she has never seen a woman in. there are two lines from this passage which i feel really show the beast’s dilemma here -- how in the (unspecified) number of years since she realised she was attracted to women, she had become ‘as chaste as a nun’ (be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. get thee to a nunnery, go.) -- and then when belle is sitting on the couch, about to get off, and her nightdress rucks up slightly -- ‘uncovering her legs up to her knees, and [she] hated herself for noticing their elegant shape’.

there’s a reiteration that belle should feel at home with the beast, and then shit gets real as they discuss the woman in white. now as far as i know there isn’t any queer theory about the woman in white, but it was written by wilkie collins specifically as a response to the piss-poor lot married women got in england, so not exactly irrelevant to these women. it naturally leads to discussion of marriage, belle sharing about gaston and then the beast, for the first time, sharing what happened with the enchanter.

the hand-touching is at that moment the best way belle can try and provide comfort to the beast. greensearcher’s ‘Mirrors’ articulates this straight-up in the text beautifully, but the beast is alone in a sea of people who can’t touch her. we also get the first of my favourite images -- belle as a cat, chasing after the beast, a bird.

and only then, after having a paradigm shift in her worldview and being assured through their discussion of marriage that belle understands at leats part of where she’s coming from, does the beast admit that she is ‘a perversion’. (contrast, if you like, with the affirmation and euphoria in chapter 16 when she re-identifies as ‘lesbian’ instead of monster)

we don’t see belle’s pov in this scene, but she chooses to come out in part because of the beast’s bravery, partly because this is the first other queer person she’s met, and partly because for the first time the beast is lowering her barriers and letting her in. (lowering barriers and letting people in is a recurring theme, in case you hadn’t guessed by now)

the final line in the chapter is also interesting: ‘outside their small oasis of golden light, the snowstorm raged on’. gold as a colour is associated with the beast and belle in the original film, and that’s continued in my fic. with the semi-cinematic ‘zoom out’, we also get the image of these two women huddled together in the warmth, while the cold world rages around them, and if that’s not a metaphor for safe spaces i don’t know what is.

#asks #cinderellasfella #ever just the same

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yoshi-p · 6 years ago

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everyone and their dog is doing it and everyone is absolutely allowed to share their opinions so i want a turn but first let me clarify:

hello im yase, been around since 1.0. I am of turkish and nogai descent and i can speak fluently in tatar, turkish but my english doesn’t hold 100% so i will be all over the place.

Unfortunately this will all be word of mouth and may be taken as vague posting, but I have experienced issues since the release of 4.0 and would like to give my opinions. I want to let this all off my chest this is just a huge vent basically so i guarantee my english will be terrible.

the most important point: NEVER EVER SPEAK FOR ANOTHER CULTURE. NEVER EVER SPEAK ABOUT A CULTURE YOU DON’T KNOW. YOU HAVE SPREAD FALSE INFORMATION AND I AM SO HURT.

another point is ITS A VIDEO GAME GUYS (does not apply to everything but some people really need to take a step back because people are concerned.)

Here’s the hot topic I’ll talk of first: garleans. I personally do not play one as I prefer to play characters that would never be involved in a sense with the political agenda because in real life im too stupid to comprehend anything like that so i wouldn’t even know how my character would behave with the hot topics. I really do think people need to take a step back and see that everyone who is putting in their input is making solid points but personally I would never compare them to nazi germany though I see why people are generalising. I always saw it as tsardom of russia with the use of roman influence as well, something obvious in naming conventions and the way the ranks/monarchy(?) works but it’s not so clear what the main influences of most places in this game if you have a look at the bigger picture. Without like full on spoiling, its weird to have this view to me with the knowledge that ascians are behind this. Are you implying anyone who plays or was influenced by ascians is also under this umbrella?

Also why THE HELL WOULD YOU TAG SOMETHING KNOWING IT WOULD GET A LOT OF TRACTION AND RESPONSE THEN BE LIKE “you guys misunderstood, I was expressing my feelings” lol no. “ I don’t understand where this is coming from, and at this point, I don’t really want to.” then why did you even fucking bother do it in private dont tag it.

You are COMPLETELY valid to feeling uncomfortable, it is fine because with how much of this world we have there will be aspects some of us don’t like. You are not inclined to involve yourself with someone if they roleplay as a garlean but you do not need to start publicising it in a way that will paint the community in black and white when its truly a wider spectrum.

YOU CHOOSE WHO YOU INVOLVE YOURSELF WITH AND WHO YOU PLAY WITH, PLEASE GET AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO GIVE YOU NEGATIVE FEELINGS OR YOU’LL SPREAD IT TO OTHERS.

from that initial and very brief tagged post there popped up many others and new discourse is arising, opening discussions about many things which is better then being blind to it all. but if you have personal grievances with someone and you state its over, let it be over. It’s not healthy behaviour. it’s also troubling to see someone complain a lot about the game and continue to play, no one is forcing you or holding a gun to your head. take breaks if you need to and play less frequently. like, real life is so much more important and there are people in this community that prioritise relationships with players etc.

Also, please stop fucking talking about mongolian/turkic/turkish culture like you know things. 99% of the big mouths in this community are americans. like majority are white americans.

over the course of this expansion i have had many people of varied backgrounds share with me some terrible experiences and i myself have seen some truly stupid shit.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU LEARN OF OUR CULTURE AND WHERE TO CONTINUE DOING SO. DO NOT INTERPRET MEDIA AS ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF CULTURE.

it is absolutely not hard to tag a post and ask around, someone will pop up. I’ve been doing my very best to let everyone i know that i can help with learning about my culture or to find someone who would be more then happy to explain and share with other cultures. But when you go off of a documentary you saw of Genghis khan or only know of the tourist white people scenes of istanbul you as a community say some TRULY dumb shit.

I like to try and be patient because i myself when approaching someone of a culture i admire and am curious about i want that in turn. But if you say to me things like “Ainu aren’t real” or “Tatar people have nothing in common with tribes from the Altai mountains” its hard to do so.

FFXIV regions are not just “Germany” “Turkey” “Mongolia”. If you think this, it’s clear to me you don’t know shit and are too lazy to explore, further just google shit its not that hard. I had someone tell me that my people could never be in this game since its “Straight up mongolia” fucks sake NO ITS NOT. The designs vary and i can see the differences in simple things like words because i actually bother to do research even coming from a turkic culture. There were some beautiful little things dropped that linked to not only my people but others like Uyghur and Altai. The only place in FFXIV i think could only have a singular influence is Kugane, because from a foreigner’s perspective that’s already interesting enough. Many people have grievances and real issues with how SE has handled Doma’s influences and no one ever talks about that. Representation for asia in media has turned into this mess of specific east asian countries, the trio that even then gets categorized into China/Japan with brief mentions of Korean culture.

Its frustrating. There are people who are happy to teach you. Who are willing to show what is wrong with the picture.

I have read several posts about Turkey/istanbul/Antalya. Yall fuckin weird you guys seem to think its in U.A.E or some shit with how you act. It’s in the Mediterranean/Europe/Asia/Middle East and there is no such thing as a specific looking Turkish person. You claim everyone is specifically white/brown, HELL NO. It’s a mixed nation and that’s the history of the land, if you had ever fucking stepped in turkey and spoke to any person on the street they’ll say their heritage that lead them to there. People claim Ala mhigo’s influences are turkey but i have yet to see that. As someone who has lived there and has heritage there and is strongly connected to that culture, i dont see it. sure the ala mhigan gown had patternings but thats also present in my nogai culture too because parts of turkey’s society descended from the line of the Kayi tribe. Just fucking LEARN TO READ GUYS. None of you guys even know what the altai mountains mean and i could sit and explain over and over again if you let people SPEAK.

Look at Thavnairian items. We have outfits that are completely different, a full length dress and then a bustier. you can’t start generalising things in video games to be one culture you have to realise most places in this game have several influences. We don’t know a lot but everything we have been given has been varied enough to pin point it to ONLY one influence.

I don’t want to just keep going about this simply because im growing frustrated.

The thing with Viera complaints. I think some are valid but some are stupid. For one as I make this post it hasn’t even been confirmed so there is no reason for policing Viera to a severe extent. Considering all the Ivalice content in game has been an alternate universe kind of thing its dumb as shit. But feol viera being made without understanding the knowledge that people who have played rw picked up is quite frustrating. As a community, its important to help people when we have information that others may need that they cant understand the context of.

I know people are worried about them being fetishized, that is my legitimate fear too as a huge ivalice fan. But this is a repeated cycle especially when we consider generalizations like miqo’te especially seekers and belly dancing or when au ra arrived and people thought xaela were genghis khan basically.

The game is not solid, there are so many holes in the lore and the plots and i know people hate that but we fill the gaps with our own opinions and theories. While I understand some people think we need to move forward in 2019 because “japan is xenophobic”, its a very difficult thing to do. THEY DO HIRE PEOPLE FOR CULTURE ADVISING. THEY TRAVEL OFTEN AND DEVELOP WITH THIS. IT’S NOT LIKE THEY WENT ON GOOGLE AND SAID “yeah a japan land would be fun” they literally have people hired specifically for this stuff. however, at the end of the day its a company that has yet to show it can evolve with the times. Its becoming more and more evident with the recent patterns of main titles in FF and side projects having so many issues in story/lore/management. remember 1.0 basically died being absolute garbage and this is salvaged from that.

its really late and i had a terrible evening so i may not be making the most sense but theres more important things to worry about then to make this game a miserable experience when it could be a huge learning opportunity for everyone. There’s no need to generalise people into categories because of characters they choose to develop but its important to note with majority of people standing up higher on the pedestal are those speaking for the minorities groups that have direct influences in the game.

also lol if you fucking say ainu aren’t real to me one more time i will fucking throttle you

#this ended up being ramblings which i seem to make monthly lol

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mrmallardsmobileposts · 6 years ago

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RE: the Easy Mode discourse with Sekiro

I don't mind a game having easy mode. RTS games have easy modes, fighting games have easy modes, all sorts of competitive video games have easy modes. I grew up playing most games on easy difficulties, before moving onto normal for most titles - I don't like being broken down again and again by a game continuously kicking me in the dick, because I don't find that fun. Because of that, I don't like playing FromSoft games.

And I wouldn't play a Dark Souls game, or Bloodborne, or Sekiro, even if they did have an easy mode. Because I realise that the games are difficult by design.

My thoughts on Easy Mode discourse go back to when Cuphead was being roasted for its difficulty. There's footage of a games journalist - a person being paid to cover the game that he's playing - getting stuck on the tutorial for like 3 minutes. He just makes the same mistake over and over again instead of trying something new, and it's a technique that even most kids can work out in about a minute tops - This isn't a kid, or a newcomer, getting their first taste of a run n' gun title, it's a grown man being paid to play and cover this game, and he can't pass a simple and basic tutorial.

This instance isn't a question of accessible game design, because the button inputs are along the bottom of the screen and the physics make sense. It's perfectly fine to fail a few times while you get the hang of it, that's what the tutorial is there for, but floundering on the tutorial for three minutes isn't a fault on the game's part.

The Driver tutorial? That's a pain in the ass. It's unintuitive, it requires knowledge of specific stunt-driving terms out of the box and the time limit is harsh. The Cuphead tutorial is a bit abstract, but the button combos make sense and the actions it wants you to take are pretty clearly signposted. This guy failing to grasp the fundamental controls of the game, free of any hazards or timers or whatever, is a personal problem on his behalf - but that got turned into a "gamer respect" issue regarding video game difficulty later down the line. To my understanding he took the game to task for being too difficult despite his issues with the controls being a personal, localised issue.

I'm bringing Cuphead up because that game's difficulty was lambasted by reviewers upon its release. We had this "developers need to respect gamers by adding an easy mode" discussion before, even with an easier difficulty modifier in Cuphead. Reviewers who were giving the game coverage were roasted for not knowing how to play the game, and rightfully so, and the reviewers shot back with "it's not user-friendly enough, it's a fault on the part of the game!".

Cuphead is designed to be challenging. It can be made easier, but there are aspects to the level design and the bullet patterns of the bosses that give the game its appeal in the first place. It wasn't just a slog through Kaizo-level pitfalls and restrictive controls, and the easier play mode cut boss HP and might have messed with projectile density and enemy placement for all I know - but it was still challenging in the way that the developers intended, with enough concessions to make the game more accessible to less skilled players. That established my distrust of mainstream games coverage in regards to video game difficulty.

FromSoft is known for their difficult games, with different mech combat games years before the Souls games as well as the popularity of their hard-as-nails Souls titles. These games haven't had easier difficulty settings before, with a noted appeal being the feeling of accomplishment that players feel when they wrangle with the controls long enough to be able to beat the game. For all intents and purposes, the Soulsborne titles from FromSoft are made with difficulty in mind. Difficulty is a feature, an obstacle to be overcome.

Of course, plenty of other games are made for challenging play but offer a cinematic mode. That's fine, and it's up to every developer to consider the audience that they want to court with their difficulty modes. But FromSoft games are renowned for their difficulty, and only those players who put up with the bullshit of each game get to experience how those games play out. It's no different to buying a game that you can't beat, or that seems unfairly stacked in the game's favor, or that you just don't like so you take it back - some crazy bastard is going to punish themselves for long enough to finish that game, whether they like it or not. Not everyone is going to find appeal in that experience, or get the most out of that game.

And sometimes games are unbalanced, and require patches to be considered playable by anyone outside of the handful of masochistic "hardcore" gamers who spend hours on end punishing themselves until they're good enough to persevere. Sometimes an easy mode is required due to developer oversight. Sometimes it's just nice having less stuff to stress over so you can enjoy a game's story beats and get a reasonable facsimile of the game's intended effect.

But the Soulsborne games are intentionally hard for skilled players to enjoy, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I find it really backwards for games journalists to call out From Software as "disrespecting their players", when they're offering incredible gameplay challenges to be overcome with skillful play. That sounds like they're respecting players well enough to learn the game's systems, become skilled at the game's combat and overcome these extreme challenges on their own. The satisfaction of overcoming the game's biggest challenges is the reward you get for playing, and that impact is lessened by hand-holding or watering down the experience.

I would never touch Sekiro with a ten foot pole because I don't like games that are overbearingly difficult like that, but I certainly respect it for what it tries to do. I think making a company go out of their way to change that intended balance of difficulty is rude - if their intention was to create an overwhelmingly difficult game, then that intent should be respected. If you can't overcome the game's challenges, then there's a whole slew of action RPGs with a range of different difficulty modes for you to play.

And despite that, I'm still on board with games having easy modes. Even a developer known for their hardcore game series aimed at enthusiasts can put an easy mode in their video games to appeal to a wider demographic, and that's fine. Like jeez, have you seen the Fire Emblem purists on GameFAQs who insisted an easy mode on Awakenings was the death of the series, despite selling record-breaking numbers of units? People who take a stand against easy modes in video games, calling it the death of gaming or something like that, are usually massive assholes.

My beef here is the social pressure to add an easier difficulty mode to a game built around challenge and skill. If they cave to pressure and add it, it won't be any skin off my back, but I think that games made for the sake of being challenging should be as difficult as they want to be - From Software should be able to make their games as easy or difficult as they like.

Even without touching on the subject of accessibility for different personal conditions, here are game experiences that are crafted specifically for enthusiasts of a certain genre that the average layman wouldn't enjoy playing, despite having the capacity to play with the pros given the right amount of practice and dedication. If folks found a Touhou bullet hell title too difficult, even on the easiest difficulty settings, are the developers responsible for modifying the game's difficulty settings even more to account for all types of players?

There is the accessibility issue of a game being too difficult for everyone to play. Anyone should have the tools to pick up whatever game they want to give it a go, and gaming is known for having issues with accessibility regarding different gaming peripherals - we're used to standardised layouts on a gaming controller, and anyone who can't fit into that paradigm is shit outta luck. Controllers like the Xbox One accessibility gamepad is making headway in that department, but it's still a prohibitedly expensive option. Custom button-mapping has been on the rise with this most recent gaming generation, but that doesn't mean much if you can't hold the controller due to your personal conditions. Different controllers for differently abled people to play games have always been ridiculously expensive. There's absolutely a case to be made for the video game scene not being the most accessible crowd around.

But given that a differently abled person has access to the equipment that they need to play video games, they should have access to whatever games they want to play. But not everyone is going to be able to beat every type of game, even with the know-how and the proper equipment and the desire to play.

And there will be differently abled people who do pull out all the stops to finish whatever video game they put their mind to. There's a quadriplegic man who's beaten Sekiro before. There are people who overcome difficult video games despite having limited mobility and different accessibility needs. Anyone who wants to try to beat a game should have the equipment to take a shot, and they should be able to play on whatever difficulty is comfortable for them to play on, but if a game is designed with a high skill ceiling in mind and only offers the one way to play it, I think those who are willing to challenge, learn and overcome the game on its terms should reap the rewards.

If a game has busted accessibility options, like improper color-blindness options or button mapping that makes the game even more difficult for differently abled people despite being billed as the "accessible" option - even if a game doesn't allow for custom key-binding - there's a case for a developer or company to change and fix things to make good on their promise of a more accessible gaming experience. If a game is improperly balanced on even the easiest difficulties, there's a case for the developers to alter the game on those grounds.

But I think a game that's been built from the ground up to be a significant challenge, with the intended goal to run the game's gauntlet of considerable difficulty, has the right to present its intended challenge as is - as the statement that the developers intended for the enthusiasts who flock to buy each new release. There will be people who are dedicated enough to finish it from all walks of life. But not everyone will be able to play it, or find it enjoyable, whether that person is differently abled or not.

I don't like Soulsborne games, or games that present themselves as hard-as-nails challenge fests. I don't mind a significant challenge from time to time, but From Software games aren't my scene because I know I'm not going to take to them. While I understand the accessibility argument, I'm pretty jaded from instances like Cuphead where even a difficult game with easier difficulty modes was judged as being fundamentally flawed for the level of challenge it presented.

I don't want to step on anyone's rights or desires, and I don't dislike easy modes in video games. But a game that's designed to be difficult should be able to present its difficulty on its own terms. If that means offering the single intended experience, then that's their prerogative.

#easy mode #sekiro #discourse #long post

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iconiceyesleedswestyorkshir-blog · 6 years ago

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Issues To Contemplate Whiling Pondering For Graphic Design Outsource

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grison-in-space · 7 years ago

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that big “what the fuck is up with Matt Murdock’s senses” post I keep threatening to make

For context, my day job involves studying animal communication, where I am a PhD student in evolution/animal behavior. I don't work on organisms that use non-standard sensory modalities directly, but I'm very familiar with the adaptations that electroceptive and echolocatory systems (mostly in bats, that latter one) generally require.

I also spend an awful lot of time watching my cat Dent, who has been blind probably from birth and definitely since he was about ten weeks old. (We're not entirely sure whether he can see light or movement, and he definitely can't see anything else.) Dent therefore has access to certain sensory modalities that are more sensitive than vision (cats can hear much higher into the ultrasonic than humans and have a wider range of olfactory sensitivities) without actually having vision to rely on, and thinking about what it is that specific sensory modalities actually bring to the table in terms of function.

What I am not is a blind person, nor have I lived or worked closely with someone who is. This is therefore going to be a discussion that focuses pretty heavily on "okay, let's assume Matty really does have ears like a bat--how does that constrain what he can and cannot do?" and less on the actual functional issues for someone who is, you know, a blind human--although if folks have comments on that, I would absolutely fucking love to hear them.

TL, DR: radar isn't fucking magic, and neither is echolocation. And physics still matters when we get down into sensation, more than you might think.

One of the things you have to understand when you're trying to study sensation and perception is that different sensory modalities--sight, touch, hearing, proprioception/balance, echolocation, etc--are good for different things. We tend to intuitively understand this in humans, but when reading experiences of characters with very different sensory toolboxes I often find that people simply... assume that the "extra-sensitive" senses can more or less perfectly compensate for the loss of vision.

The thing is, different sensory modalities are good for different things. That's why different groups of animals develop specialties in different modalities in the way they do. Some of what evolution can do is constrained by phylogenetic history--mammals are always going to have a leg up on birds when it comes to hearing in high frequencies, for example, because of a quirk of the development of the mammalian jaw--but a lot comes down to the interaction between the world around a particular animal and the needs and ecological niche that the animal takes up. Species generally specialize and hone the sensory systems that they have available which are useful to the needs of the animal in question.

What I mean by this is that you have to understand that different sensory systems are really good at different things, and sometimes you need different levels of resolution for different tasks. You can think of sensory systems as having two kinds of resolution: temporal and spatial. Vision has, generally speaking, pretty fine temporal resolution--you get a continuous "picture" of things around you and where they are at any given time. Your spatial resolution, as anyone who wears glasses (me included!) can tell you, varies based on your individual eyes and level of focus.

There's one final distinction that is important to bring up with respect to choosing sensory modalities, and that is active versus passive sensation. You can define this by asking yourself: do you have to do anything to work this sense and pick up stimuli from the environment around you? If yes, we're active; if not, we're passive. Humans don't really have any equivalent active sensory modalities with the possible exception of touch, but because Matt is almost always depicted as having access to at least one (echolocation, "radar"), I'm going to talk a little bit about those here, too.

Why does resolution matter?

Well, when we talk about modalities compensating for each other as an individual navigates the world, resolution is what lets us adapt senses to do each other's jobs. Fine resolution isn't always the most useful range for a given sense, either: olfaction has very coarse temporal resolution and moderate spatial resolution in most species, and that means that you can use it to tell where things have been even if the thing creating the signal is no longer there. Echolocation has perhaps the finest possible temporal resolution in that it is not a continuous signal--more on that in a minute--and very, very fine spatial resolution, but only for the instant of a given vocalization. Vision has very tight temporal resolution and very tight spatial resolution, depending on the level of focus a given person has.

What's the deal with active versus passive sensation?

For one thing, that means that Matt should not be able to use either echolocation or "radar" unless he's actually producing some kind of signal. I keep putting "radar" in quotes because it's not used by any known biological system; the closest analogue is probably electroception, but electroception is prettyk much exclusively used and developed by aquatic or semi-aquatic animals and uses different ranges of electromagnetic waves to most human-built radar systems. That means that echolocation doesn't produce continuous information the same way that passive sensory systems (like vision!) do, which means that Matt has to string together a series of disconnected "impressions" of where things are in space and time to make a "picture" of the world around him, at least with respect to that sense.

Basically, the way these sensory systems work is that you produce a signal and you "listen" to the response patterns. This means that if you aren't producing that signal, you don't get anything. This is interesting and important in the context of Daredevil because Matt very specifically does not produce any vocalizations or noises that could be used for echolocation in the human range, and it's even less likely that he's continously emitting weak electric charges into his environment--the air just isn't a good enough conductor to give him any real distance.

So if he's doing this, he's doing it at either very high pitches, outside the usual human auditory range, or else at very low pitches--and high is much more likely. High-frequency vocalizations decay faster over space, which is why they don't carry well. Because of this, and because the pattern of reverberation and decay of the sound is what you're using to construct the idea of shape with echolocation, all known echolocating species use very high-frequency, very loud vocalizations to create pulses of sound that will decay in ways that are sensitive to the shape of whatever they're bouncing off of.

Personally, I like to imagine Matt squeaking at very high pitches like a real bat might, mostly because I think it's funny. This is particularly amusing because in many social species that rely very heavily on echolocation or electroception, individuals produce a signal that is unique to them within the local group--so it's the equivalent of Matt wandering around yelling MATT MATT MATT MATT whenever he wants to get a good sense of its position and shape without having to actually, you know, touch it. (This may or may not be a good way for Stick and Matt to get a sense for where each other are at a distance--if they're managing to make a super high-pitched vocalization, it probably doesn't carry too well. On the other hand, if they're fighting something as a team, as we see both of them doing, the odds are good that each is listening to the information that the other is getting if one or both is using whatever this sensory system is. )

If I'm going to take a more realistic tack on the whole thing, I'd guess he's probably vocalizing through his nose, which is pretty common in both human vocalizations (you don't need your mouth to be open to say nnnnn or mmmm, because those sounds are produced via reverberations through the nasal cavity) and also in many ultrasonic vocalizations specifically (for example, the ultrasonic communication that rodents often engage in).

(Humans who say they can use echolocation in real life rely on clicks and taps, which is why I think it's particularly interesting that Matt is consistently shown using his long cane a few inches above the ground. I don't think he ever uses it to tap the ground in the show, and he certainly isn't making a loud click noise with it. Both clicks and taps can work for echolocation because these are wide-frequency noises, so you still have the decay patterns of the higher frequencies to work off of if you can filter through the lower-frequency stuff muddying the waters. It's not very sophisticated and will only give you a comparatively broad sense of where things are, but it's certainly better than nothing. But whatever Matt is using, he's specifically not using that to navigate his world.

A friend who uses a long cane suggested dryly that this might be an attempt to avoid the common peril of getting one's cane stuck in a pothole and winding up taking your cane to the balls or the kidneys, which... given the general lack of maintenance of Hell's Kitchen in other venues of the show, I suspect this is a peril Matt has been negotiating for some time.)

So what is Matt likely to use?

Honestly, I'm pretty sure that Matt's most important sense day-to-day isn't echolocation. It's his proprioception--his sense of where he is in the world, his spatial memory and his sense of balance. I heavily suspect that he has an incredibly good spatial sense and ability to process spatial information, and I notice that his combat style is heavily geared towards blocking his opponents into a space and hitting them until they go down. (Matt spends a lot of time using space to his advantage in combat--when he's not stalking an opponent and bringing them down by surprise, he's either constantly blocking them in and grappling close in or he's using a narrow confine like a hallway or an alley to constrain his opponent's ability to move quickly. Because the ability to echolocate does require him to produce a sound and because I'm not aware of any way to produce sufficiently high-pitched sounds that doesn't involve forcing air through the larynx at some level, I would guess that he's actually primarily relying on passive listening to pick up cues about what is going on in his environment in the middle of combat. I'd gamble he's most likely to quickly use his active sense (whatever it is) to make a rough "sketch" of what's going on around him in moments of relative quiet, when he's not moving too quickly to control his breathing.

I like constraint in my headcanons, because it lets me plumb the unexpected boundaries of abilities, perceptions, and creates avenues for conflict and unexpected humor; if you don't--and the writers of Daredevil in all forms certainly don't seem to be particularly careful about this--seriously, by all means ignore me or pick out whatever you like and leave the rest. But hey, I had fun putting this fucker together.

This post is crossposted at pillowfort and dreamwidth.

#gris original #daredevil #matt murdock #self-indulgent as shit

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tomblar · 3 years ago

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A Matter of Terminology

The Self as a Site for Research

Conversation with Oli Stratford

Michael Kaethler

OS:

How do you see the auto-ethnographic turn in design: is it a description of something, a framework that could be useful for designers to employ, or something else? What is it and how do you position it?

MK:

This is something that we're trying to grapple with. It describes a pattern that we have witnessed in design over the last decade, a type of design that rises out of poeticism, out of an exploration of the self and its particular context. We want to describe it, give it a name, recognize it as something more than an outlying exception to design–something that is worthy of its own category. As a researcher, I must admit to being keen on applying taxonomies and categories, even if I accept that these are inherently fuzzy, as practice does not adhere to theory, but rather the other way round. In giving it a name, we can engage with it on a deeper level, seek to understand what it means for practice, how it has evolved, whence it came, and perhaps also where it is going and how this will affect other practices within design.

OS:

You frame the book in contrast to certain tendencies in design such as solutionism, which in focusing on the idea of a solution can somewhat remove the designer from the equation. It frames the work as being the designer designing for others, for the many, but not necessarily for themselves. Do you think that putting more of the designer into the work, and acknowledging that at least an aspect of design is a personal response to the world, is liberating for designers?

MK:

Absolutely. There is a recognition here of the designer. For too long, the designer has either been the 'star' (with a focus on ego and grand or fashionable projects) or all too absent (with a focus on design as a kind of science which understands the designer as fulfilling a more technical role of addressing problems). We are looking at acknowledging a different aspect of the designer and foregrounding them within the design process, recognizing that design research is deeply personal and that design need not only be for others but also for the self (coming from a deep personal need or desire, and addressing one's own specific world).

OS:

What I find interesting is the move to classify these types of projects under auto-ethnographic design. A lot of the designers I speak to say that they want to escape labels, particularly given that whole discussion around how design sits next to art, and what the difference between the two is. find the most interesting answers to that come from the practitioners who don't really care, and who are not particularly concerned with disciplinary boundaries because they don't do anything helpful for their work.

MK:

I would suggest that there are many who are struggling to understand what it is that they're doing, who would benefit from these distinctions in order to position their work for themselves and to a wider audience. would also suggest that a taxonomy around a practice can embolden the constitutive characteristics, providing a permissiveness to emerge. There is a concern amongst designers that their work might be too 'artsy,' too much about extravagant expression. A taxonomical space can provide safety to develop these practices, valorizing them, and encouraging the further pushing of boundaries.

OS:

That does make me question what the terminology of auto-ethnography offers that others don't, however, such as authorship. One idea that immediately comes to mind is that while auto-ethnography is intensely personal, it also suggests a sense of cultural critique and a connection to broader social issues. Even though it acknowledges it the subjectivity in design, the positioning also suggests that you can still latch onto things outside of yourself. Perhaps auto-ethnographic design, with its history in the social sciences, emphasizes that outwardness in a way that authorship doesn't make quite so explicit-that this form of design may be personal and expressive, but it's also research and critique. In contrast, perhaps there's a risk that authorship could be misunderstood as emphasizing expressiveness for expressiveness's sake, without the same inclination towards research.

MK:

Yes, I agree with much of what you're saying. Authorship is an integral part of auto-ethnography but it is not its entirety. Auto-ethnography is about the position we take in trying to understand and change the world, recognizing the position of the self as an essential starting point for that understanding. Perhaps you could say that it's a form of applied authorship as a method for exploring the self and one's context.

OS:

think there may be something important that stems from talking about authorship or auto-ethnographic design, and presenting the self as a site for research. The self is always present in design, just to differing extents. For this reason, I find it exciting how authorship and auto-ethnography could influence how the self is articulated in other forms of design, such as product design or industrial design. These types of design are not as far removed from authorship as we might assume, and re-centering those practices through an auto-ethnographic lens could potentially nudge these fields towards more explicitly personal forms of practice.

MK:

What danger do you see in giving this term life?

OS:

I find that you get these increasingly baroque descriptions of what designers are doing. The more you try to pin it down, the more it wriggles free. I am more a fan of just saying 'designer' without further elaboration. Artists do that, for instance, and there doesn't seem to be quite the same anxiety about not being specific in that field. Perhaps there is an insecurity about doing it in design because the field has been so hooked with commerce and lifestyle, and with so many elements that are seen as being shallow or unsavoury in society, that designers want to strategically distance themselves from all that. So descriptions of a specific type of design sometimes seem to be as much about rejecting other forms of design as they are saying anything positive: it's almost like saying 'I'm not that kind of designer' as a form of identity. I think it's possible that terms like auto-ethnographic design could give some strength and support for certain design practices to grow, which will in the end also help reshape the broader understanding of design. In this sense, it could perhaps be seen a as a useful ladder that we climb up, but which ultimately becomes redundant when its specific qualities become integrated within design at large. Often when we need a new piece of terminology, it's to bring attention to something that is otherwise neglected. Authorship does some good work in doing this because the degree of subjectivity that goes into design is not widely appreciated. However, in doing so it may miss out on other things, such as the element of research that you cover in auto-ethnographic design. But ultimately these terms hopefully fade away to the point of course designers do this,' and thus are no longer necessary. Which is itself a kind of vindication of the terminology that it becomes absorbed into the general language of design.

MK:

Indeed, hopefully the auto-ethnographic turn in design is just that, a turn, and these practices will over time be fully integrated and accepted within the wider design practice. I see this turn as potentially being able to expand design, pushing its boundaries (uncomfortably sometimes) and perhaps also building closer bridges or dissolving distinctions between the arts, design, and anthropology. Designers are becoming increasingly aware that their practices offer a nuanced interpretation of the material realm and that this is highly useful for not only expression, cultural critique, serving some function or utility, but also research in academia or in various policy settings. Today when you speak of design research it's often about the types of design that are easily transformed or captured by academia (accessible practices and outputs), or perhaps about the by academics themselves. This type of design being carried out either through how the type of design is open to analysis, practice is conceived or the intention of its outputs. However, other forms direction and poetic or 'artistic' forms and not considered as of design, tend to of design, the more be relegated to expression valid forms of research in and of themselves, or only to be the site of research by someone other than the designer. This book hopes to shift this dynamic by emphasizing the important knowledge and research that can emerge from a materially oriented self-exploration.

OS:

When I hear the term 'research' I tend to think about large research projects. But there's something very healthy and helpful about seeing design objects as research and not just as frippery or pretty objects. Not that there's anything wrong with frippery or prettiness, but anything that can point out that these things can be serious pieces of research too is useful and valuable. I guess it's worth remembering that terminologies are not totally neutral and that they have value judgements baked in. The term object is reasonably neutral, I suppose, although of course there are still presuppositions, but something like 'research' implies a huge value judgement. We all love research, and it's perceived as having considerable value. So when we use that term--when we decide what we'll allow to be deemed research and what we won't-we're making a whole series of judgments. Design is often undervalued as a method for research, so I like that auto-ethnography flags that aspect of it up quite clearly.

MK:

Indeed. And the term 'research' also has its hidden agendas, which do not always play so well for design. On one hand, it legitimizes design in a new way, seeing it as a way of understanding things and not just making them. But it has also led to an increasing academicization of design, which has included new rules, formulations, and actors that are constraining some of the more artistic oriented forms of design. I am hoping that the auto-ethnographic angle can both enable recognition of a more creative and expressive form of research while at the same time remain too abstract and materially oriented for the mainstream academic gaze.

OS:

I am interested in how this may prompt reflection from a wider design audience (non-academics) and if it will help designers theorize or make sense of their work in a different way. Do you think that by putting this terminology out there that it will shape the way people design? To what extent does a new category shape design a practice?

MK:

An awareness of what one does certainly can help refine and crystalize practices, it also celebrates it. We're not bringing this practice into life; it's been around for decades. However, this book is about acknowledging it as a unique and important mode of practice within design. Giving it some recognition is the least we can do but I suspect that in recognizing it, we are also giving these types of practices louder voice and conceptual support. I don't see auto-ethnography as an identity, as in I'm an auto-ethnographic designer,' but rather as a way of describing a practice and in some cases also the objects that emerge from this practice.

OS:

I suppose one important thing about terminology is that it shows a different way to carve something up. It challenges the tendencies to constantly analyze things in the same way. The ways in which we currently frame design are not set in stone and there are other ways to think about these things. It may be time to think of design as a serious mode of research.

MK:

Putting the 'auto' in front of ethnography raises questions on whether we need more self-description. I wonder if auto-ethnographic design will be a controversial term, loved by outliers and resented by more established factions within design.

OS:

I would be surprised if it isn't divisive. New terminologies usually are because they bring different aspects of the field to light that haven't been well appreciated before. It's easy to bristle at change or to interpret a new term as a critique of what has come before. Equally, new terminologies often come into criticism for pomposity, or navel gazing, or emptiness -which is sometimes fair.

MK:

Perhaps auto-ethnographic design provides a framework that values navel gazing, understanding the intrinsic value in design.

OS:

We see art as producing all kinds of values-aesthetic, commercial, even ethical to an extent. We accept that art can provide a range of values, but when it comes to design, we don't seem to see such a range. I don't think design is always perceived as a legitimate vehicle for cultural expression, or else as providing a sense of therapy for the practitioner in the way that, for example, literature is-the idea that somebody just has to write and that's good for them. But there is nothing intrinsic about design that means that it couldn't have these kinds of values. suppose these tendencies are just hallmarks of the past and of how we conceived of design when it was very clearly linked to industry, despite there being a number of examples across the last century of it doing a whole range of different things. I think design still seems to provoke a faint sense of bafflement if it's not being deployed for problem solving or to generate commercial value. That is strange, because there are not many disciplines that are quite so hemmed in as that. For example, within writing you can have beautiful, literary writing that isn't practical or doesn't provide clear answers, and that's wonderful; similarly, you can have text which is as dull as dishwater, but which is worth persevering through because there's much to be gained by struggling through it. It's the same with art: we have no problem admitting that it's very catholic as a field, and can be all sorts of things. But I never get the sense that everybody feels that they can legitimately talk about design as a way of creating an assortment of values.

MK:

Using new language to describe design, such as this book does, might a be a method for pushing design's boundaries-in the case of this book, towards the arts. It expands what design can be or mean.

OS:

Yes, exactly. There's a certain ballsy-ness about it-saying something deliberately strong to shake a preconception.

MK:

Yes, and to do so by not talking about design vis-à-vis the arts. Art has long made claims to meaning making; making space for meaning making in design is a worthy pursuit.

OS:

I think that design doesn't necessarily have the language to justify that kind of work at present. We tend to talk about 'art-design,' because the type of value that this form of design brings us is recognized in art, but not so much in design. We tack on the 'art' in order to provide that indication. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that-and I'm a fan of not worrying too much about the boundaries between the two-but it's a shame that design doesn't have a terminology of its own, because it risks leaving it trapped in something of a parasitic relationship. It ends up feeling like design needs to tap into the arts to justify itself, because there is not an internal means to recognize those values. It leaves design as something of a country cousin to art: someone who is a little less urbane, a little less open to so many things, and whose concerns are all rather functional and rough and ready. Maybe that is a good way of looking at it: if a terminology is going to be useful, how were people describing that practice beforehand? If they had to rely on the vocabulary from another discipline, maybe that is a good reason to define it in its own right. It is, of course, fine to borrow vocabulary from other areas, but it feels much healthier to do so when those areas are in a mutual relationship with influences that go back and forth. In this case, I don't know if that is always the the case. The people involved in type of work that is described in this book often have to go to the arts to talk about their practices. But why is that, and what does it suggest is missing in design? Who knows. Maybe similar problems will arrive with using auto-ethnography – particularly as it's a term you're borrowing from anthropology.

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pixelsubadigitalmarketing · 3 years ago

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10 Ways Small Businesses Can Improve Their Social Media Presence

With the outgrowing globalisation and the world digitalizing, Social media has resulted in evident success in the business world. It has become a platform that enables companies to share stories, talk about events or offers, or discuss services or solutions with interested customers or potential clients. But who suffers are the small businesses that do not have the money or time to base online strategies.

Below are the pointers for small companies to improve their social media presence and make it more engaging:

1. Engage with Customers rather than just promote your product

Social media as an open-ended platform provides customers to communicate and engage. By strategizing plans on how to utilize the little time you can work on understanding your customers and address their needs instead of primarily promoting your product. This approach provides you not only with a wider engaging audience but also loyal customers.

2. Make a Commitment to Social Media

It's a task to keep up with social media and even if it is a burdensome task, the top tip is to make your commitment not just to your customers but also to your employees and make it a priority for your business. You can start off by organizing a strategy and making management plans. It's advantageous to use software like Hootsuite or others to help you automate. Also, keep in check what your competitors are doing and try to make your media better and engaging.

3. Goal Establishment before moving

Your first step should be to set a goal and try to accomplish that goal. Your development of social media strategies should align with your goals and your graph of success. Plan out beforehand how you can help with customer retention, brand awareness or lead generation, and sales, and then take necessary actions.

4. Focus more on Selected Network

There are too many social media platforms to be active on, then how do you choose to be active on which one and how much? Based on your business goals and plans, understand your target audience and realize which networks benefit your brand the most, and stick to those ones more. Try to lean your focus on one to two networks that give you the best returns.

5. Automate Your Social Media Strategy

One of the tools is the engage in a pattern to increase your social media presence and networks like business owners can engage in setting a couple of hours to scheduled posts at the beginning of the month and later they can outsource the entire process to a free Lancer or a social media agency in Mumbai. This helps in building a routine and retaining the flow of success.

6. Batch Social Media Tasks

Content development in recent times is one of the greatest ways to boon social media. Working in batches helps in cutting down a lot of time that's wasted while switching tasks. Creating smaller content out of bigger tasks once a week or a month at a time for multiple posts can help in saving time which can be further utilized into creating more content.

7. Develop an Internal Team

Channelling your flow of work on social media between smaller teams especially made for social media management can help a lot and rotating between members each week is a good way to keep up with activities on social media as well as creates a fun challenge between team members. You just have to make sure that your channelling is consistent.

8. Start by following other Leaders

Another simple strategy is to start following others booming in your industry. It works in benefit when you follow idols of your industry; the business leader can observe their strategies and learn how others in the industry are channelling social. Watching others in your industry can spark ideas and creative inspiration to invest time in doing more.

9. Structuring a Content Calendar

Many industries and agencies fail to keep up with the consistency of social media. Social media as a part of digital marketing services in Mumbai strategy requires you to have an active community and post here and there, every now and then. You can achieve such a goal by creating a comprehensive calendar and planning out what content needs to be posted when, where, and how.

10. Monitoring Your Channels to Stay Engaged

Develop your social media strategy in such a way that you're able to tone and make guidelines for your company that would help to empower your employees to leverage social. With the use of planners, and software you can work on automating publishing posts in advance. You then just need to monitor your success for 15 minutes a day to see if you're engagements are right. The key is to always be present and keep consistency.

To know more information visit us on:

https://pixelsuba.com/

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livingcorner · 4 years ago

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How to drain your garden & solve garden drainage problems

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You're reading: How to drain your garden & solve garden drainage problems

An ever increasing issue in gardens is the problem of flooding and boggy ground. Saturated gardens can easily become compacted and are difficult to develop into usable garden space. Flooded gardens are not always a result of just heavy rain. If your garden is becoming excessively boggy there are a number of reasons why this could be the case.

If boggy conditions have come out of the blue with no obvious increase in rainfall there could be other factors at play. Surprisingly there can be a whole range of possibilities to why new flooding can be taking place.

If your saturated garden is a new issue or one which has persisted for some time there is usually a solution. Resolving the solution will depend on diagnosing the correct cause in the first place. In this article I will discuss the potential hazards of having a boggy garden, what are the common reasons for them and your options for correcting the problem.

Why drain your back garden?

A back garden which is saturated with water is both difficult to maintain and enjoy. Wet, boggy ground leads to mud stained shoes, clothes and a complete inability to enjoy the garden. A site where the soil is constantly moist leads to extra compaction which leads to shrinkage and cracking in summer. This situation makes it almost impossible to grow plants.

The ground becomes devoid of oxygen and soil life which makes it impossible for it to absorb nutrients. A lack of oxygen also makes the ground smell stagnant and fowl. These ground conditions typically lead to the roots of plants rotting and eventual death. This can be a serious issue if your drainage problem has evolved over time.

Boggy gardens usually end up unsightly with ruts and divots in lawns and swamped flower beds. These conditions are also a threat to safety. Slippery surfaces and uneven ground can lead to slips and falls which can cause a number of injuries. These conditions are also extremely dangerous when using tools during maintenance regimes.

Probably the biggest problem with boggy gardens is the fact they cause damp conditions for surrounding buildings. Continuous wet ground around buildings can cause rising damp and even subsidence.

Brickwork and masonry can become prone to freeze and thaw action and algae build up. Timber structures can become saturated and rotten. Ultimately a wet boggy back garden can lead to serious structural damage to your home and surrounding buildings.

Why is my garden boggy & flooding?

There are many reasons for flooding and modern trends in our landscaping preferences make it now commonplace.

Over the past 40 years our free time for recreational gardening has declined dramatically. The typical pursuit of a ‘low maintenance garden’ has led to a reduction in cultivated flower beds and manicured lawns. These have historically absorbed excess storm runoff allowing water to escape back into the subsoil.

Gardens have also seen a reduction in trees and shrubs which help to draw water out of the soil through transpiration. Extensive hard surfaces in the form of decking and paving prevent rainwater from reaching the underlying ground. These surfaces accelerate runoff and overwhelm drainage networks as well as the grounds natural ability to absorb water.

The explosion in car ownership has also seen many front gardens turn into new parking bays. Artificial lawn has also become a major new trend which has also accelerated these problems. This has all combined with more unpredictable weather patterns including a higher average, annual rainfall.

Recent construction

If your garden has recently started to become flooded looking over the fence can sometimes find a reason. Recent construction in the form of extensions and patios can reduce local ground permeability. These can also increase fast run off leading to excess storm water with nowhere to run. New extensions are a common reason for this problem.

Sustainable drainage policy

Many new sustainable development rules and policies prevent new buildings plumbing their guttering into the storm drainage network. This is to help prevent flash flooding during times of heavy rain. New construction is required to pipe runoff into a cubic metre soak away 5 metres away from the building. This has led to hundreds of thousands of gallons of water sitting under our gardens with nowhere to go.

To add to the problem some builders reduce their cost by simply running guttering channels into flower beds. This is particularly common with summer houses and garden offices which stay under the minimum requirements for local planning permission. Such extensive flash flooding of our gardens could cause a ticking time bomb for property subsidence in the future. New extensions and even concrete bases for summer houses all add impervious mass and weight to the soil. This extra weight can also increase the hydraulic pressure within the ground bringing ground water to the surface.

Impermeable surfaces

Impermeable surfaces are all hard garden surfaces which do not allow water to permeate. These include patios, decking, concrete and tarmac. These all prevent water absorption and accelerate runoff. There are some landscape hard surfaces which will allow some permeability such as resin bonded aggregate and open textured tarmac.

However if you wish to install a hard surface which is fully permeable the best option is loose gravels. If you have impermeable surfaces in your garden that you believe are causing flooding you must identify where run off is travelling to. This can be done with a spirit level to identify the lowest point. Water should then be collected via a grilled chamber of some sort. It can then be channelled to a soak away or a French drain.

Local level changes

Very often when level changes are made locally they can directly affect your gardens drainage and moisture content. It is typical to see one flooded garden raise its level and subsequently move the flooding problem next door. Water always flows to the lowest point, if your garden suddenly becomes the lowest it will also become the wettest.

Not only will low levels create a soggy garden a change of contours and gradient can also have the same effect. This can even be the case if the changes are next door. I recall a property I lived in where the neighbour dug out a patio and spread the spoil around the garden to save money.

He created two new gradients where the water ran to the centre of the garden. As our garden was lower it then meant the centre of our lawn was soggy every winter.

It can sometimes be very surprising just how seemingly gentle changes in contour can cause gardens to start flooding.

An uneven garden

One of the most common causes of local flooding in gardens is due to low areas and uneven ground. Even if your neighbour is lower than you an uneven garden will collect water in low lying areas. One of the best ways to prevent flooding and standing water is to create as level garden surface as possible. This can be achieved by re-landscaping the ground to get rid of any divots and damming. This is most effectively executed by bringing a layer of free draining material such as sharp sand to mix with the top soil layer.

Surrounding topography

When trying to understand why a garden may flood surrounding topography can be a massive factor. If your garden is at the foot of a hill or in a low lying funnel you can expect some excess runoff. When assessing a flooding issue look at the surrounding levels and wider landscape.

Try to work out where the water is naturally flowing from. When you have identified the waters entry point you can then seek to intercept the flow and re-direct it to where you want it to go. This usually involves getting the water to the lowest boundary of your garden so it can escape.

Underlying hydrology

A large contributing factor of if your garden will flood or not is underlying hydrology. This is the natural water movement and saturation level of the local area. These are directly affected by a multitude of different factors including annual rainfall, topography, bedrock and soil type.

These factors combined with where your locality sits within a wider river basin or catchment will determine your ground saturation. If you have naturally high water table the greater the possibility of flooding in your garden.

High water table

The water table is the level at which ground water naturally sits in your area at any given time of the year. Typically the water table will vary throughout the year being high in winter and low in summer. This will depend on current and recent rainfall totals.

You can learn more about your local water table levels by contacting your local authorities. Find out if you live within proximity to local rivers or low lying wetland areas. Do you live within a flood risk zone?

Read more: Watering Your Vegetable Garden: How to Water Plants for Healthier Growth

Clay

Clay is a common soil type formed over millions of years from sedimentary shale deposits. Clay soil can be extremely dry and hard in summer and sticky and unworkable in winter. This makes this soil type rather undesirable when it comes to gardening.

The worst aspect of having a heavy clay soil is the way it behaves in wet conditions. In times of heavy rain clay soil can become extremely saturated and compacted. This compacted sticky mess can become impervious meaning water can no longer drain through it. This results in flooded areas where surface water cannot permeate the ground.

Compaction

Compaction is not just a problem reserved for clay soil types. Where ever there is excess moisture, heavy footfall or activities requiring heavy objects ground can become compact. This compaction leads to a soil with no oxygen meaning water finds it difficult to pass through it. This type of compaction with many soil types can result in a flooded garden even if you do not have a high water table in your area.

Blocked drainage network

A very common cause of flooded gardens is an existing drainage network which has become blocked. This is particularly the case where locally ground has had historic drainage problems. It is common for old land drains to become silted up over time or broken by tree roots or ground movement. I have seen these scenarios many times when diagnosing landscape drainage problems.

Many old land drains are a simple affair consisting of a series of clay pipes simply butted tightly together under the ground. Over time these simply become clogged up and fail leading to boggy ground conditions. I have seen examples of contractors breaking through clay storm drains and assuming they are redundant.

Typically if a pipe has silt inside many contractors become convinced it’s not serving an important role. These can simply be left broken only to clog completely leaving someone with a boggy garden further up hill. Drainage pipes and networks come in a whole range of sizes and types. Over time these can become clogged up or fail due to ground movement. If you experience a sudden drainage problem occur very suddenly this is usually a common cause.

A drainage test pit

A very crucial factor to diagnosing a solution for your drainage issue will depend on ground saturation. Some ground is so saturated that no matter what void is excavated it will simply continuously fill with water. This commonly indicates a foreign source point for excess water.

This is particularly so if the drainage issue is a new occurrence. The test pit method allows you to get an idea of if your gardens ground will drain naturally. By digging a hole 300mm deep by 300mm x 300mm wide you will be able to observe if water drains naturally back into the ground. If water simply sits there for days on end your ground is at maximum saturation. This could mean natural absorption methods like soak ways may not be enough. In this instance there may be a case for water to be directed to the main storm network. Consequently permission will have to be granted from your local authority. If ground water is causing damp and damage to property there is a very good case for such action.

Solutions

Most of the time there will be a solution to your garden drainage problem. To find a solution requires the correct diagnosis of the problem in the first place. Once this has been achieved the correct solution or combination of solutions can be implemented.

We have broken down some of the typical garden drainage solutions below. All of these solutions success are dependent on your gardens ability to still absorb water naturally. If a test pit reveals your garden is at maximum saturation you may have to go further.

This will mean making a case to drain the water into the local storm network. In this case advice and permission from your local authority should be sought.

Garden re-levelling

It is very common for gardens drainage problems to be related to its surface levels. If surface levels form low spots, damming or runoff into areas with no drainage or escape flooding will result. By creating a flush and consistent garden surface level water has less opportunity to collect.

By identifying your lowest boundary you can identify where water naturally wants to escape. Hence it makes sense to re-level your garden to a flush surface which falls into the lowest exit point.

Create a free draining layer

Most rainwater runoff moves through and over the top few centimetres of the ground. If your garden is particularly compacted or not free draining you will expect to have puddles. This directly leads to flooded areas and ground saturation.

An effective way of preventing this is to create a free draining layer. This consists of a layer of sand or soil layer with added drainage. This allows water to pass through the surface and drain into either a drainage system or away from your garden.

Drainage channels

Drainage channels consist of linear excavations back filled with free draining materials such as non calcareous aggregates. These also typically house drainage pipes such as perforated pipes. Drainage channels have two main functions; to capture and retain excess landscape water and to direct it into a specific, desired location or drainage system. Drainage channels come in a number of sizes and formats depending on what drainage outcome you desire. Below I have described some common examples of landscape drainage channels.

Herringbone drainage system

A Herringbone drainage system consists of a central drainage pipe with alternate drainage channels feeding into it. The multiple tributary like alternate channels increase the surface catchment area of the effected area. This is a popular system for draining lawns or irregular expanses of boggy ground. The main and secondary channels usually consist of free draining aggregates and drainage pipes. These can either lead to a main drain, wetland feature or soak away system.

Grid drainage system

A grid drainage system uses tributary channels but in a much more intensive way. Grid systems main collection pipe typically runs around the perimeter of the catchment area. The tributary channels run across the central drainage area normally in a grid or lattice formation.

This more intensive system is ideal for sports greens and rectangular show lawns. With an even spacing the grid system can insure a more consistent moisture content throughout the year. This method is the most labour intensive hence the most expensive to install. It is however the most effective.

French drains

A French drain is a linear drainage channel with a central pipe backfilled with a free draining aggregate. These simple channels link areas of flooded ground directly into a drainage feature. This can be the main storm water drainage network, soak away or ecological drainage system. French drains are one of the most basic forms of landscape drainage.

Soak-aways

Soak-aways are an excavated void in the ground which accept excess storm water and store it. Soak-aways are typically around a metre cubed and incorporated where there is no drainage network to plumb into.

Modern ecological drainage policies mean it is now typical to not allow runoff from new developments into the drainage network. This has meant an increase in the need for soak ways to capture excess storm water.

Traditionally soak-aways were a large trench simply filled with old builder’s rubble and rough aggregates. However the materials in these usually take up a large volume of the void meaning less water can be stored. These systems would also silt up extremely quickly causing them to fail.

A new and modern solution is reinforced plastic soak-away crates. These crates slot together with a void which can hold a large amount of water. These can be wrapped in filtration fabric, lowered into an excavated void and then backfilled with free draining aggregates. Ground water can be channelled into soakaways via landscape drainage channels containing perforated pipes and gravel.

Broken drainage pipes

Sometimes broken pipes under the ground can cause garden flooding and drainage issues. Many old drainage pipes can be many decades old and made from materials such as clay and concrete. These can loosely be fixed together and can become dislodged after many years.

Tree roots and ground subsidence can cause these channels to rupture leading to silting, blockages and water discharge. This is rarely an issue with sewage pipes as these are set deeper into the ground and typically go through front gardens. However old land drains and storm water networks can run through gardens and become easily disturbed.

Many old drainage channels have become silted and look redundant but are still actually carrying large amounts of water runoff. It is common for contractors to accidently dig them up, assume they are redundant and remove them. I have seen many examples of this including the example images I have put below.

In this instance the old clay pipe was ruptured and left to silt up. This pipe was carrying run off from the homes roof and hard surfaces into a land drain. The result was an extremely boggy garden with constant standing water on the lawn.

How to fix broken clay, concrete or plastic drainage pipes

If you discover broken pipes under the ground when investigating a drainage issue you must do the following:

Step 1

Excavate around the affected area carefully, try to expose and locate the broken pipe work.

Step 2

Carefully flake away any small parts of broken pipe preferably at the top side. Use these openings to gauge how much the pipe is blocked, silted or filled with standing water.

Step 3

Excavate back on either side of the broken pipes to expose where the pipe is still in good condition. Dig out the full circumference of each good end of the broken pipe section.

Step 4

Carefully remove the broken section of pipe work. There may be a sudden discharge of backlogged water and sludge, clear this from the area. If the pipes are clay, concrete or plastic try to make sure there are no horizontal breaks or cracks running along the pipe.

If there are these sections will also need removing. Cut back to the nearest pipes in good condition at a neat right angle. This can be done with a diamond cutter or sharp saw for plastic.

Examine each end of the pipes still in the ground. If they are heavily silted do your best clear the pipe work and flush them through with water.

Step 5

Carefully excavate around each end of the good pipes left in the ground. Make sure you have at least a 75mm section proud all the way around the pipe. Clean the pipe ends with a stiff hand brush and a bucket of water to remove any silt. Once clean leave to dry out or wipe dry with a cloth.

Step 6

Obtain a suitable replacement section of pipe specifically for underground drainage at the same or similar diameter to the existing pipe. It is very typical for old pipes to be made from clay so a new replacement will be plastic. This means you will also need specific adapters for each end of the pipes.

Step 7

Obtain clay to plastic pipe rubber adapters for each new connection, These can be found on Amazon here. As in the images provided this demonstrates the typical scenario of an older clay pipe being connected to a new plastic replacement. Measure the diameter of the old pipes these are usually between 100-110mm.

Measure the width of the new pipe which is usually about the same width. At a builders merchant locate a rubber adapter with screw ring seal joints that will accommodate your pipes diameters.

Step 8

Offer up the new section of pipe next to the removed section and mark the pipe where you need to cut it. It is important to assess how much play distance the rubber adapter gives you when cutting your pipe. You will need to cut your pipe slightly shorter than the gap itself to be able to squeeze the pipe between the adapters. Cut your pipe at a suitable length to fit the repair distance.

Step 9

Fit your adapters to each of the existing pipe work, make sure the pipes are clear of dirt and dry. When you are satisfied of a tight fit remove them and apply an external grade waterproof sealant to the circumference of the pipe work. Place the adapters back onto the pipes securely and tighten up the screw ring seal joints until they are tight.

Read more: These DIY Trellis Ideas Add Beauty and Function to Any Kind of Garden

Step 10

Apply more sealant and spread thinly around the ends of the new section of pipe. Squeeze the section of repair pipe in-between and into the new adapters until they are secure. Tighten up the screw ring seal joints securely. And make sure there is no dripping from each join. For extra strength and reinforcement each join can be set within concrete with a waterproof admixture.

Step 11

Back fill the trench. If you have disturbed the ground much deeper than the pipe itself it is important to compact the ground underneath it. This will reduce settlement and downward soil, settlement, pressure on the pipes connections.

This can be done with a layer of concrete or compactable mot type 1. When back filling it is advisable to lay 50mm layer of sand or warning tape above where the pipes sit in the ground.

This will give notice to any future excavations they are just above a service of some kind. Back fill the trench and replace any surface medium which was there beforehand.

Ecological drainage

Ecological drainage is the design and installation of drainage systems which either mitigate the loss of natural habitats or provide drainage which harmoniously interacts with wetland ecosystems. Typical urban, drainage systems allow polluted water from our roads, pavements and buildings to flow into natural watercourses.

This can poison rivers and add dangerous chemicals into the hydraulic cycle which we rely upon. Ecological drainage systems harness waste water and allow them to be absorbed into naturalistic wetlands. Here water can be filtered and even cleaned by wetland plants and microorganisms. These drainage systems can even become a part of scenic, wetland environments perfect for recreation sports and wildlife conservation. On a local scale ecological drainage can reduce urban runoff, prevent flooding and create wetland habitats such as wildlife ponds. Some good examples of ecological drainage include permeable surfaces, bioswales, bog gardens and seasonal flooding ponds.

Permeable surfaces

One of the biggest problems facing our towns and gardens in regard to drainage is impermeable surfaces. Patios, pavements and driveways accelerate the rate at which rain water enters the ground.

They also reduce the surface area of natural ground with a topsoil layer. Topsoil is capable of absorbing very large amounts of storm water. As more and more people pave over their gardens the less possible it is for water to be absorbed naturally. One effective ecological drainage solution is to install free draining permeable surfaces to your garden. Surfaces such as free binding gravel, loose gravel and resin bound aggregate are good examples of these.

Bioswales

Bio-swales are landscape channels or depressions which collect storm water channelling it through an ecological cleaning system. As run-off travels through the bio-swale pollution and debris is removed by marginal ecosystems.

Microscopic plant life and bacteria help to break down toxins and water is filtered and oxygenated by the roots of wetland plants. Bio-swales can be large expanses of low lying ground, wetland meadows or smaller rain garden type features. As well as their ecological drainage function bio-swales can become very aesthetic landscaping features. These can come in the form of linear wildlife ponds or beautifully planted dry river beds.

Bog gardens

A bog garden is a garden which makes use of a constant state of soil saturation with excess water. Essentially this will mimic natural wetlands or marsh habitats within nature. These can be artificially created with pond liners or taking advantage of an existing drainage problem.

Either way bog gardens can not only provide you somewhere to drain water they can also look very attractive. Boulders, submerged logs and attractive bog plants can all combine to create a fantastic focal point which attracts local wildlife. Channels can be installed to collect rain water from your hard surfaces and direct them to a bog garden. This will allow excess rainwater to permeate the ground naturally.

Seasonal flooding ponds

A seasonal flooding pond is a pond which water level fluctuates throughout the year. Water levels in such ponds are typically high in winter and low in summer. Such ponds were once commonplace throughout natural landscapes before urbanisation and commercial agriculture. Seasonal flooding ponds and wetlands are vital for many species which rely on this specific seasonal hydrology. Very much like bog gardens these can become a great way to drain a flooded garden. By acting as a natural soakaway they can draw excess water into them and store it while it absorbs back into the ground. Seasonal flooding ponds can be landscaped with attractive wetland plants, gravels, rocks, and logs. They can drain water from your garden, attract wildlife and look great all at the same time.

Wildlife retention ponds

Wildlife ponds are becoming an ever popular landscape installation in many gardens. In reaction to accelerated biodiversity loss across the planet more people are seeking habitat boosters for their gardens. Not only can wildlife ponds help to provide food and shelter for wildlife they can also help alleviate garden flooding.

With clever landscape design wildlife retention ponds can be installed. These are traditional wildlife ponds but with an extra flood zone created out of mounded ground. Garden levels and falls can be directed into channels and swales which feed into the retention pond basin.

In times of heavy rain the retention pond can accept large quantities of extra water within its basin. This controlled flooding means other areas of your garden can drain more freely.

Grow more plants

One of the most basic principles of ecological drainage is to allow more runoff to be absorbed nature. The best way to accelerate this is to have as much open soil and planting as possible. Soil naturally absorbs huge quantities of water like a sponge. Its slow release helps feed watercourses, trees and plants with the water they need throughout the season. Trees and plants take up excess water and release it into the atmosphere through transpiration. When planning a drainage system try to incorporate as much natural ground and planting as possible. This helps to redress to imbalance between natural and hard surfaces which directly causes most garden flooding in the first place.

How to drain your garden with a pump

The video below shows you how to drain your garden with an electric pump. This may be necessary if you need to drain a large quantity of water before drainage investigations and works begin.

Conclusion

If you want to know how to drain your garden you must successfully diagnose what is causing the excess water in the first place. Correct diagnosis in the beginning is key to not wasting time and money on the wrong solution. Correct diagnosis depends on familiarising yourself with four key points: Your local floodplain, local topographical features, progressive development and saturation density.

Local flood plain

If your property sits within a low lying part of a river basin it is highly likely you have a high water table. This will means that especially in winter ground saturation will be high. This is more a natural feature of your locality than a specific problem that has arisen. This makes high water table scenarios more troublesome to fix.

By digging a test pit to see how long water drains can give you an idea of your water table level. In these scenarios raising your gardens level with free draining soil layer can be a solution. If your ground is so saturated it is causing damp in your property you should contact your local authority.

Local topographical features

Most of the time garden drainage problems can be put down to topography. This includes low lying areas or neighbours which are higher than you. When assessing your drainage problem look at the levels of the surrounding gardens.

Are you in a low spot? Has one of your neighbours changed their garden levels causing a dam to surface run-off? The best solution here is to re-work your gardens levels so you have a consistent and flush gradient. This allows water to drain downhill stopping it from pooling in your garden.

Progressive development

If your garden has become steadily more flooded over time it is possibly due to progressive development. Many urban gardens have seen a reduction in soft landscaping such as flowerbeds.

This has been accompanied by a rise in extensions, garden offices, artificial lawns and paving. All of these have made it more difficult for water to be absorbed by the ground. Most of the time excess water simply needs somewhere to escape. A simple drainage channel with a new soak away system is usually enough to solve the problem.

Saturation density

When diagnosing a drainage issue assessing your backyards saturation density can be very important. Saturation density is when your garden is particularly wet in one area and not so wet in another. Normally a high saturation density is a result of a low spot. However if there is no obvious cause in terms of level there may be some other source of your flooding.

Normally a high saturation density in this scenario is nearly always man made. Localised boggy areas can be the location of a broken pipe, an old silted soak-away or where a neighbour’s drainage system meets your boundary.

In these cases it is advisable to gently excavate these areas preferably in summer time. You may discover broken pipe work or an old, failed drainage system. Fixing such issues or installing a new soak-away should solve the problem. Dense root masses of trees and large shrubs can also cause impenetrable boundaries to surface water. This can cause areas of high saturation. Again a soak away will give the water somewhere to escape and slowly be re-absorbed by the landscape.

To drain a garden you have to identify where the surface water naturally wants to go, (down hill). If low spots or damming are preventing this you have to allow it a route to get there. If this is not an option a void must be created where the water can run to. Consequently in times of heavy rain water can be captured and slowly reabsorbed by the landscape. For this reason a combination of re-working garden levels and soak-aways are always the solution.

The book Practical Drainage is an extensive resource on landscape drainage and can be found on Amazon here.

If you require garden drainage services as well as landscaping services feel free to contact us. We cover Buckinghamshire as well as the whole Chiltern area. We also cover Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire Bedfordshire as well as London.

Some of our typical, local project locations include; Amersham, Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Berkhamsted, Chalfont, Chesham, Gerard’s Cross, Great Missenden, High Wycombe, Princes Risborough and Wendover.

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/how-to-drain-your-garden-solve-garden-drainage-problems/

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