#moving the previous iteration to supplementals

[thelongestway]

Well, there had to be a moment somewhere in a story that turned out to be fucking novel-length where I had to go back and redo an entire chapter because it wasn't working. (Twice, actually. I tried my initial idea, that didn't work, tried to change tacks completely to get around the problem (you saw that attempt); it didn't work either, so I had to go back to my original try and put more work into it to make it work. Yeah. It was as bad as it sounds.)

Still no guarantee that this has worked, but I'll see when I try to continue later today. (Not sure if in the same chapter or in a different one).

And of course, this was a chapter that I thought I had all figured out and it would be really fucking easy before I actually tried it. Such is the writing life!

Chapter 23: Observation

I walked back out onto the station, tapping into Aspen's feed to let them know I was embarking. They returned the handshake and let me link in, but otherwise ignored me, focusing entirely on their job. I could see their little tendrils, darting there and back, fixing some sort of process or checking up on a person, but there weren't many around. Tendrils, I mean, not people. Because the celebration was still going strong, and there were plenty of humans in Aspen's halls, some working, some relaxed. (My humans were back on their respective ships, at least. It was getting late in the station day-night cycle.)

I stopped at the exit to the docks. Normally, this was where I sent Aspen some kind of itinerary, but this time I didn't have one. Would they even let me on board if I didn't tell them exactly where I was planning to go and why? I wouldn't if I were them.

I'm not you, their voice said into my ear. You are free to come aboard.

Threat assessment spiked 12,5 percent as I frantically checked my channels. But no. We weren't connected beyond the fucking handshake. There was no way they could have--.

Or maybe they could. Whatever Dandelion said, they were half-brain-eating-zombie-AI.

What the fuck? Are you reading my fucking thoughts?

They laughed.

I don't need to read your thoughts to know what you're thinking. You're very loud.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Fuck you.

For someone who can't even stand to look at a naked body, you do seem to offer that a lot. But no. You're not my type.

That fucking station.

Aspen continued: It's utterly fascinating to watch how your nudity taboo plays out in the expletives you use. There are so many diverse systems of profanity, but you nearly always choose words connected to bodily functions--specifically, reproduction and defecation, two messy and vulnerable things humans like to kept private.

That's just how humans use expletives. Shut up.

Bullshit, they said, and even though I couldn't see any tendrils hanging on me, I could hear that fucking knife of a grin. By which I mean, did you forget that you gave Iceblink your entire media archive? The corpus you have available to you is so much broader than what you're actually using, even if it did lose 'bullshit' somewhere along the way. You're welcome for the addition to your collection, by the way. Gives you an alternative for when you want to accuse someone of lying.

My organic parts crawled.

Are you going to keep this up the entire time I'm on the station?

That depends. Are you going to keep telling me I'm not doing my job?

I wasn't planning on talking to you at all, I said.

Good, they replied venomously. Do that, and I won't talk to you, either.

The dock exit slid open, even though I'd stopped half a meter away from the sensors.

That fu--. That a--. That--.

Okay. Whatever sympathy I had was gone. I officially hated that sunbleached, fauna-riddled forest of a miserable station. (And I hated that I heard them chuckle when I thought that. I really wasn't convinced they weren't reading my mind at this point.)

But I marched inside, anyway. Because there was no way that--HubSystem could pressure me into fucking hiding on board ART just by watching me. I could take being watched. I was better at being watched than Aspen could fucking imagine.

Aside from the completely private, feed-blind areas such as personal quarters, Aspen probably had the fewest camera and microphones in their recreational areas, so I went up to their topside gardens. I found a spot as far away from any camera or speaker placement that I could see, sat down on the grass and watched.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Just humans and genetically augmented humans mingling, most of them unfamiliar. (The one exception was Haze, who was sitting in a circle on the ground with seven other genetically augmented humans. They waved at me, and I circled a drone around them before moving it away. Haze laughed, and grabbed the smallest human in the circle by hand, pointing at my drone and talking to them excitedly.)

This wasn't helping, so I tapped Thiago's feed.

What exactly am I looking for?

Nothing specific right now, he answered readily. The point is to see what patterns emerge from what you see around you. Just record anything that catches your attention. Try not to make it a log or video dump, if you can--edit it as you go, be concrete about what you found interesting, exactly.

Okay, so Haze. Fine. I knew Haze, at least, so I had a lot of data for comparison.

Except the data was fucking useless, because Haze behaved almost exactly the same on the station as they did on board Dandelion. They weren't any more tense, or weirded out by Aspen's creepy analytics

(Wait, did Haze know the analytics were even there? They were an engineer, so they had to. But in any case, they didn't seem bothered by the idea.)

They did seem happy, but Haze was usually pretty cheerful. The rest of the augmented humans were kind of the same, actually. Their group reminded me of Preservation humans when they were engaged in recreational activities, but with a different adult-to-child ratio than Preservation groups normally had. (Four out of eight were full adults, two were juveniles, and two were children. It was weirdly symmetrical. And the age gap between the adults and the juveniles looked exactly the same as between the juveniles and the children, which didn't usually happen.)

Were they some kind of weird family unit? I wished I had a proper database to match them against, and to get their actual ages.

You're looking at a set, Aspen said. That's a Hylaran type of family unit. The ideal size is eight, but the uptake of new members is normally in batches of two, not six as it used to be historically.

Threat assessment spiked again. I hadn't actually sent that as a HubSystem query, had I?

I hadn't. They were in my fucking head again.

Why are the fuck are you talking to me right now?

Because watching you trying to figure out familial structures is just painful. And, as I said, you're incredibly loud by default, much louder than any human. I have to make an active effort to filter out you reaching for me.

Bullshit! I didn't send you any queries!

Who said anything about queries, SecUnit? I said you reached for me. Directed your attention at me. It wasn't difficult to figure out what you were wondering about.

That took me an entire two seconds to process.

Wait--you could do that this whole time?

If you mean, register your attention being directed at me--yes. I just did my best to ignore it when it wasn't a conscious request. But I am done being courteous to you while you try to make me into a rootrotting surveillance platform. If you want me not to overhear you, you're going to have to actually try and be quiet.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

Back to your standard profanity, I see. I don't actually know which word you're repeating, but most single-syllable expletives that fit the circumstances we find ourselves in are bodily-function related.

ART, I said on our private channel. (Was it private? I had no fucking idea anymore.) Are they fucking hacking me?

(I didn't think they were. But maybe they were just better at hiding. They couldn't be better than ART, though, ART chewed through a quarter of their fucking firewall in seconds.)

They're not, ART said, tense and angry. According to my analysis, this is just what they're getting from background data.

The fucking number of syllables in the swear words I'm thinking?

That's probably just statistics. You do have a limited profanity corpus.

Fuck you, ART, I said with the satisfaction of knowing it would not fucking twist this into being a sex thing.

If you want to continue with your survey, then I will keep watch, ART said. And the moment Aspen tries to hack you, I will make sure they have something else to worry about.

My threat assessment for that was distinctly low. (Even though I was glad to have ART with me anyway.) But Aspen didn't even hack the hostiles, so they weren't likely to really hack me just because I pissed them off. I was probably safe.

Just being observed. And commented on.

I could deal with that.

[sorenblr]

Now that you've completed the SMT V stream, I (and I'm sure some other folks, too) would love to hear what you think of it compared with the other main Megaten games you've played on stream. I think you've done SMT 1, SMT IV and SMT IV:A so far. Include Persona 1 too if you'd like.

And that dreadful Tokyo Mirage Sessions: pound sign Fire Emblem, too

SMTV is hard for me to discuss because there's very little about it that compels me to deeper thought. It really, genuinely bores me to think about, and anything I do have to say about it only evinces an incredibly cynical read of the series. I'll just put whatever I have left to say here, so that I don't feel the need to revisit.

It's just, you know, this bloodless cultivation of recycled semiotics from Nocturne. We ragged on IV for being overly invested in derivation and homage, but it looks almost daring coming off of V. The only really original idea that it brings to the table, the notion of Nahobino as the 'true' form of these divided and depreciated myth images, is almost offensive in the way it reframes designs that at least try to approximate real cultural attitudes towards religion as lesser, enervated reflections of yet more Tokusatsu tripe. Apart from that, it's a very inert piece of storytelling. I feel like a joke is being played on me whenever the game presumes an emotional investment in characters like Tao or Yuzuru.

I generally think highly of all the little design wrinkles that were implemented under Komori's stewardship, and that owe to his experience directing the more balance-intensive affairs of Etrian Odyssey. The new utility of consumables, dampeners as a limited means of addressing weakness in party structure, the need to attend to enemy and player Magatsuhi gauges etc. All necessary supplements to a battle system that was beginning to wear thin by 2016. Only my opinion of everything that enfolds it, the exploration, was diminished on this second playthrough. The layouts are still compelling, with a novel emphasis on managing layers of verticality, but they're populated with so much idiot open-world cruft. Vending machines, chests, glory crystals, health orbs, Miman. An overabundance of piddling incentive to keep you in a state of compulsion, and which I believe contributes to the exhaustion that many players feel come Taito. I still like the Miman, but they essentially exist in a continuum with the fucking feather collectables in Assassin's Creed.

(All the colored orbs littered around the sands are the perfect wedge to that design sensibility. They're almost totally inconsequential and only worth pursuing for the feeling of having absorbed more bright bobbles into yourself. They whisper to your lizard brain so that you don't feel too unstimulated navigating the space, which is never deigned to be worth the doing for its own sake. I'm out here picking up orbs and I can't even use them to extend the duration of Spartan Rage. Videogames are fucking stupid.)

It also made me more conscious of the ways the game fails to leverage art direction against what were probably non-ideal production conditions. It's never easy to forget that you're in a world of economically distributed UE4 assets, with no less than four brilliant hues of sparkling sand and ruined structures that have largely forfeited the Tokyoite specificity of previous games in favor of the same vending machines and multi-floor apartments and office buildings repeated ad nauseam. Daat never feels more like a hostile environment than a self-conscious playground. The concept art backdrops and rudimentary 3D textures of IV/IVA, and the claustrophobic interiors of I- all more lively by far. Pretty good skyboxes, though. No complaints there.

I think the series has moved into the sort of tired self-pastiche that every franchise turns to after decades of iteration. Time and chance happened, and now it's Angus Young crawling out of his mansion and into his boy-clothes to duckwalk across the stage while his grapefruit-sized prostate wages war against him from within.

If I were to rank just the main series from what we've streamed thus far, it would be something like I > IV > V > IVA. The only sense in which TMS has it at a disadvantage is that it emulates more cleanly. I'm glad that we're done with the latter half of the series and can finally move on, but I'll never forget that big huge enormous ass...

[erpprap]

Dive Deep into SAP Certification: Practice Exam Strategies

Embarking on the journey towards SAP certification can be both exhilarating and daunting. With its complex landscape and vast array of topics, preparing for the SAP certification exam requires diligent planning and strategic study approaches. One of the most crucial aspects of your preparation lies in mastering the practice exams. These mock tests not only assess your current knowledge but also serve as invaluable tools for refining your exam-taking strategies. In this article, we'll delve into the depths of SAP certification practice exams and explore effective strategies to maximize your preparation.

Understand the Exam Format: Before diving headfirst into practice exams, take the time to familiarize yourself with the format of the SAP certification exam you're targeting. Understand the types of questions, time constraints, and scoring mechanisms. This understanding will help you tailor your practice sessions to simulate the actual exam conditions accurately.

Identify Weak Areas: Utilize practice exams to identify your weak areas. Analyze the questions you struggle with and pinpoint the specific topics or concepts causing difficulties. By recognizing these areas early on, you can allocate more time to study and reinforce your understanding effectively.

Create a Study Schedule: Establish a structured study schedule that incorporates regular practice exams. Allocate dedicated time slots for mock tests and adhere to them religiously. Consistent practice will not only enhance your knowledge but also improve your time management skills, a critical factor in the exam.

Review and Analyze: After completing a practice exam, don't just move on to the next one. Take the time to review each question meticulously. Understand why certain answers were correct or incorrect. This process of analysis will provide valuable insights into your thought process and help you refine your approach to similar questions in the future.

Simulate Exam Conditions: Whenever possible, simulate the exam environment during your practice sessions. Find a quiet space, set a timer, and strictly adhere to the allotted time for each section. By replicating the exam conditions, you'll accustom yourself to the pressure and constraints, ultimately boosting your confidence on the actual exam day.

Utilize Resources Wisely: While practice exams are essential, don't rely solely on them for preparation. Supplement your mock tests with textbooks, online resources, and SAP documentation. Diversifying your study materials will provide a comprehensive understanding of the topics and reinforce your knowledge base.

Seek Feedback: Engage with peers, mentors, or online communities to seek feedback on your performance in practice exams. External perspectives can offer valuable insights and highlight blind spots you might have overlooked. Embrace constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth and refinement.

Iterate and Improve: Treat each practice exam as a learning opportunity. Continuously iterate your study approach based on the insights gained from previous tests. Adapt your strategies, focus on weak areas, and track your progress over time. The iterative process of improvement is key to achieving mastery in SAP certification.

In conclusion, mastering SAP certification practice exams requires a combination of strategic planning, consistent practice, and continuous improvement. By incorporating these strategies into your study regimen, you'll not only enhance your chances of success but also develop the confidence and proficiency needed to excel in the challenging world of SAP. So dive deep, embrace the challenges, and emerge as a certified SAP professional ready to conquer new horizons.

[automotivestransportation]

Navigating Tomorrow: The Rise of 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬

The demand for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)is rapidly growing as more industries and businesses are recognizing the benefits of these versatile machines. AMRs are designed to operate without the need for human intervention, making them ideal for a variety of applications, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and hospitality. In recent years, there have been significant developments in AMR technology, which has led to an increase in product launches, mergers, and acquisitions in this space.

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A16218

Autonomous vehicles such as self-driving tractors are now being used in the agriculture industry to accurately guide fertilizer application while avoiding damage to growing plants, regardless of light conditions or weather challenges. The advanced GPS and sensor technologies in these vehicles allow them to operate unmanned around the clock. Meanwhile, many retailers are exploring the use of robotics to supplement their workforce, including in-store shopping assistants that can help customers locate products, retrieve items from high shelves, and provide personalized product recommendations. Logistics and warehouses are also seeing a surge in demand for autonomous mobile robots, driven by the rise of e-commerce and omnichannel retailing. To keep up with Amazon and other industry leaders, retailers are investing in automation to improve efficiency and productivity. As a result, the global market for logistics robots is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, with over 250,000 units sold annually.

Employment Concerns and Ethical Considerations-

However, there are also concerns about the impact of autonomous mobile robots on employment. While these robots can help optimize efficiency and reduce costs, they may also displace human workers in certain industries. It is essential to consider the potential impact of these robots on the workforce and to ensure that any changes are managed in a responsible and ethical way.

One of the main challenges that comes with using autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehouse automation is ensuring safety, in addition to addressing labor-related issues. For example, according to the US Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), forklifts - which are typically used for moving and transporting pallets within a warehouse - are involved in over 11% of warehouse accidents. However, the emergence of AMRs that can handle pallet or bulk movements has the potential to significantly reduce reliance on forklifts for certain activities, which could result in a safer warehouse environment.

Buy Full Report Now: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/a9c6bd53a87a71473c7dea538969dafc

There have been several notable developments in the market recently. For example, companies like Boston Dynamics and Fetch Robotics have released new models of their AMRs that are more advanced and capable than their previous iterations. These robots are equipped with sophisticated sensors, advanced algorithms, and AI-powered capabilities that enable them to navigate complex environments and perform a range of tasks.

[brainytherpgcat]

TL;DR. As of 7/20/2023 I became eligible to become a Twitch Affiliate. However, I'm not going to be accepting the status, because the new limitations on Twitch usage don't make the title worth it, and I'm looking forward to eventually moving to LiveSpace.

It's bittersweet, and I particularly need to thank good supportive friends such as GrindsAlchemist, KraatheCrow, and EldritchGrandpa for being the people who's raids helped me propel past my last remaining goal.

However, said goal ended up taking 16 months to accomplish. And as my friends know, this is out of a total of 4 years I've been streaming as one of two different vTubers. In my previous iteration, I actually chose to eliminate my affiliate status in exchange for multisteaming.

This time, Twitch has altered their streaming policy to be certain that can't be done, and if I accept Affiliate, I am going to need to pay $25 in order to remove it this time.

Lately, I've been experimenting with LiveSpace in its closed beta. They have a platform that allows monetization of a stream right out of the box. This immediately shows me that it has more good faith in the streamers it can attract than Twitch has in as many years as I've streamed on it.

Also, after doing this for so long I've realized I truly am that metaphorical influencer who wants to be on this platform for something other than idolation and clout.

I simply want to use my presence online as a way to share with others how much I love the wonder and fantasy I've found within my own fiction and Tabletop Adulation.

So, officially now...I declare that I will only be remaining on Twitch for the time Livespace remains in beta.

Afterwards, I will join Livespace, and may supplement my streams on a more accepting site like YouTube. I will seek independent means of funding my influencing, including the deals I curently have with StreamLoots and Dubby Energy.

Also, I want to thank everyone who has been a close friend and supporter of my channel on Twitch. It is due to the fact that my art and creativity has been so well accepted by some in this community, that I feel a part of me will always be streaming.

[radramblog]

Halo Through its Guns: Halo CE

I think this is a bit of an experiment, but one I intend to see all the way through. I’ve been thinking a lot about this series recently, not to mention playing a lot of it, so I’ve wanted to find a way to properly discuss it. Perhaps even analyse it.

If there’s one thing people gravitate towards talking about in a first person shooter game, especially a series so long-running as Halo, it’s going to be the guns. They’re taking up a significant portion of the screen a lot of the time, and a lot of development time is going to be spent making sure they all look and sound good and are satisfying to use. As a result, I think the weapons in Halo are a good lens through which to view each entry in the series.

So, I’m going to be using one gun per game as a means to discuss each one. At this point, I’ve lined most of my picks up already (and hoping to have actually played 5 by the time I get to it), so I’m confident most of them are going to provide an interesting discussion.

Therefore, this is: Halo: Combat Evolved, through its iconic gun. No, it’s not the Magnum, it’s the Plasma Pistol.

It’s kind of hard to talk about Halo: CE without talking about all of gaming of the era, because it was kind of a huge shift in the landscape as far as FPS games went. Unfortunately, I’m too young to have actually lived through all this, but the game is kind of to 2000s shooters as Doom was to 90s shooters, and kind of as Seinfeld is to sitcoms. That is, it defined them so utterly that all the future iterations of this kind of gameplay make Combat Evolved feel a little antiquated. I suppose being a 20-year-old game doesn’t help at this point.

Something Halo: CE owes to those 90s games is the concept of the weapon sandbox. It’s the multiplayer style that I believe pretty much just Halo (and Battle Royale games, kind of) has kept going with, where you start with a couple of default, standard equipment choices and have to scrounge together the rest on the map. The majority of engagements are still going to take place using those default pieces of equipment, but either map knowledge or luck can help give you more options and turn the tide in your favour, letting you pull a more powerful weapon out of your pocket as needed.

Part of Halo’s innovation on this design is, ironically, the limitation. Specifically, only carrying two guns at a time means you can’t just run around and grab everything you see- every gun is different, and choosing to pick one up means losing the benefits of one of your others. In Team games, it pays to have different people grab different weapons, such that you’re more versatile depending on game type or what direction and distance your enemies approach from.

The important thing that Halo: CE got right, and that many future entries would struggle with, is that every single weapon in it has a unique niche. There’s only one Sniper Rifle for extreme range, only one Shotgun for unparalleled close-range lethality. The Assault Rifle is a solid medium/close range bullet hose that’s effective against both shields and unshielded players, and the Magnum is, while maybe a little too good, perfect for picking off damaged enemies at medium to long range. And also, close range, because it’s a bit much.

But of course, this is all from the perspective of Multiplayer, and Halo: CE obviously has a Campaign as well. And with the Campaign comes weapons you need to design for your enemies to wield, which brings us to the Plasma Pistol. The most common weapon in the hands of the Covenant’s Grunts and Jackals (and later Drones and Skirmishers), and one of (I believe) only 5 guns to appear in every entry in the series. (The others being the Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, and Needler. I guess you could count the FRG but it’s only kind of in CE, and also the grenades).

A deliberate part of the design for Halo: CE’s Campaign and Multiplayer was an emphasis on player movement. This is kind of interesting, because the Chief actually moves pretty slowly compared to previous Shoot Men, but part of the idea was that every Covenant weapon would shoot visible, slower moving projectiles such that the player would potentially be able to predict and dodge them, allowing for a higher skill cap at higher difficulties. This also helps add a consistent flavour to Covenant weaponry, as bright glowing colours are both easy to distinguish and substantially different enough from the gunmetal of the UNSC equipment to feel alien. There will never be a point where you confuse a Grunt holding a Plasma Pistol from one holding a Needler, or an Elite with an Energy Sword from one with a Plasma Rifle.

The Plasma Pistol is the bread and butter of Halo’s enemy engagement design. Most of the time in enemies’ hands it’s effectively a peashooter, bright and distracting, but not dealing too much damage, just enough to be annoying, and to supplement more dangerous weapons carried by other enemies. It does, however, have the Overcharge mode, which ensures that every one of these little Grunts and Jackals remains a threat, with the ability to entirely strip your shields (or deal significant damage to your health bar) if they wise up and go for it. An Overcharging Plasma Pistol is extremely obvious, though, with a big green glow and an iconic noise making the enemy most threatening you easy to find. It means the enemy fights are never quite the same, and adds a sense of urgency to them as well, especially on early difficulties.

The overcharge is also the core of how the Plasma Pistol functions in Multiplayer as well, as well as taking full advantage of other innovations in Halo’s game design. In Multiplayer, the Plasma Pistol is easily best known for its inclusion in the “noob combo”- that is, Overcharge the shields, kill them with the Magnum. This is a highlight of the specialisation in weapons in Halo: CE- the Plasma Pistol is great against the first half of their health, in the form of the Shields, but it’s practically useless against the actual, well, Health. Because of this, the Plasma Pistol is not a default weapon in Multiplayer like it is in Campaign, it’s niche necessitates a role as a pickup weapon. You’re never going to want it if you already have, say, a Shotgun or Sniper Rifle, since those are such similarly specific weapons that your backup being a Plasma Pistol is not a good idea.

But of course, guns are not your only combat option in Halo. One of the most innovative points of design in this game is the constant access to three attack options at a time. In previous FPS games, the options for Grenades and Melee were usually in the form of separate weapon slots, whereas in Halo you have access to all three at the same time on different buttons. This gives the whole game a more fluid feel, and there’s a reason it’s pretty much now the default for games of this style- it looks cool, it’s less awkward, and it feels slick as hell. The Plasma Pistol gets to lean into this versatility nicely as well, as Melee damage or either Grenade type at close enough range will kill next to an overcharge. You’re never left with no way of hitting people’s health after you dunk their shields, especially since the Pistol works best at close range.

In summation. Halo: Combat Evolved was genre-defining as a first-person shooter, capturing what would become the default for gaming to come for a while. The Plasma Pistol is an excellent example of this, leaning into all the innovations of the overall game’s design and producing an iconic piece of video game firepower. It’s slick, it’s effective, and it looks and sounds extremely cool.

The rest of the series would never quite capture the exact same balance as Halo: CE, but as the games changed and technology improved, so too did the guns. Join me next time, when everything gets a bit more Two.

[nerdy-bits]

XCOM: Chimera Squad Review

XCOM Chimera Squad is my definition of a pleasant surprise. Just soldiering through quarantine on a lazy April Tuesday afternoon, across my news feed comes the improbable: a new XCOM game getting shadow dropped. Just a short ten days away, Chimera Squad would be releasing. What’s more? If you preordered, or purchased before May first, the game was only ten dollars.

 Now I fully recognize, it may be the trying times we’re enduring, but that lazy tuesday suddenly felt like Christmas.

 I’ve been a huge fan of XCOM since the reboot, Enemy Unknown, was released in 2012. I remember doing my research and discovering XCOM had first launched in 1994, but I never had the chance to play those games. Regardless, ten minutes into Enemy Unknown I knew I was sold.

Where Chimera Squad differs from its predecessors is, well, in a lot of places. Where XCOM 1 and 2 finds you operating as the Commander of XCOM, at first an international force assembled to fight back alien invasion, then as a resistance seeking to overthrow alien overlords, Chimera Squad is the result of an XCOM initiative called the Reclamation Project. With the war against the occupying aliens won, XCOM tasks an interspecies team of operatives to support the police of City 31. The former hub of Advent control, City 31 has become the world’s model city for human and alien integration. 

As Chimera Squad, as directed by the Reclamation Project, you are tasked with seeking out and pacifying rogue groups in the city hoping to hamper its lofty goals, and simultaneously track down and reclaim scattered wartime technologies. But, of course, things don’t go specifically to plan. In the first moments of the game you are tasked with saving the life of Mayor Nightingale. Taken hostage by dissidents, 31PD is at a standstill and calls in the cavalry. With Chimera Squad so newly formed, Verge, your Sectoid Psionic teammate has to take a cab and catch up with the team on site. 

That is the other way that Chimera Squad breaks the mold. Where other XCOM games give you a force of editable, backstory-less characters, this title has twelve operatives with names, backstories, voice actors, and personality. I wasn’t sure how I would like this change at first. Part of my love of the series is the stories that I can attach to the characters as I grow familiar with each of their abilities. And losing those soldiers becomes so much more personal when they fall in battle. 

In Chimera Squad there is no such thing as losing a character. In fact, character death results in a game over screen and a “Load Checkpoint” prompt. Gravely wounded soldiers have an increased chance at earning a scar, a semipermanent debuff that can only be cleared by sending them to rehabilitative training. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about these changes. I have moments from previous games that have stuck with me for years, based on the deaths or retrieval of lost characters. Chimera Squad axes that in the interest of telling a story with its characters, and for such a radical change, it really pays off.

Dialogue in-mission feels largely the same. Conversations back at base however, really lend to the depth of the characters. I found myself constantly bemused by the tidbits of information I could glean from these operatives interacting with each other. It only takes a couple of lines to understand where Godmother gets her callsign. In one instance, Cherub - the affectionate mascot of the squad - asks Godmother to sign off on paperwork allowing the soldier and scientist who found him to adopt him. See Cherub is a clone soldier. Created by Advent for war, but woken after the Ethereal mind control had been lifted. He explains that the two people who found him, set him free, had gotten married a few years later and now they wanted to adopt him.

I truly had no expectation that I would be charmed this much by an XCOM title. But it didn’t end there.

Later in the game, given the opportunity to recruit another unit to Chimera’s ranks, I chose Zephyr, a Hybrid bruiser whose only wield-able weapons were her fists. I rarely choose melee characters, but because Chimera Squad is so unique, I figured I would try something new. In her first mission she was a blast to use. Her attack rooted enemies, meaning they can’t move on their next turn, and after her attack she is granted an additional action point so that she can distance herself from enemies that would take advantage of her close range to shoot her. I was convinced. Then we went back to base.

In her one and only base-dialogue I heard, she asked Cherub to be her training dummy. Except, she didn’t call him by his name, she called him Knock-Off. When confronted by Terminal (another agent) that he has a name Zephyr waved them away and called for Knock-Off to come along. Always the team morale agent, he complied, telling his defender that it was ok. 

I never used Zephyr again. She literally developed workshop projects for the next 20 hours of my campaign.

Again, I never expected that an XCOM game would make me feel like this about my soldiers. And quite frankly, I absolutely fell in love with this game because of it. 

Chimera Squad is clearly built on the XCOM 2 engine. As one would assume, with that fact comes the realization that a lot of the combat mechanics for this iteration of the game are immediately familiar. This lends to Chimera Squad feeling like an expansion in a way that few stand-alones achieve. After learning the non-complex intricacies of the Breach phase, a shock and awe stage that starts every encounter, combat falls into a rhythm that fans of the series will be comfortable with. With one major adjustment.

Rather than the “I go, you go” turn-based nature of games previous, this title takes an approach that feels far more like an initiative roll in a game of Dungeons & Dragons. The devs at Firaxis re-appropriate the term “Interleaved” here. Traditionally meaning to place blank pages between printed pages of a book, here it simply means that your enemy will take turns with you, within a timeline displayed on the right side of the screen. 

This forces players, otherwise familiar with the privilege of running through all of their characters before the enemy gets a chance to act, to plan more carefully. You may only have one agent in line at the start of a fight before hostiles get to retaliate. This leads to an increase in the importance of finding the most synergistic combination of agent abilities. Who can manipulate that timeline? Who can debuff, incapacitate, or eliminate targets the fastest and with the most cascading effect?

I found myself, at the halfway point of my playthrough (about 15 hours), settling into my squad. Godmother, a mobile, agile, hard hitting, shotgun wielding enforcer. Verge, a Sectoid psionic, with the ability to disable, berserk, and mind control assailants. Patchwork, a techie drone pilot whose drone shock can arc between enemies with a chance of debuffing every target zapped. And Finally, Blueblood a gunslinger with two pistols, one that ignores cover, and the ability to fire multiple times per turn. 

In any situation, I could finagle my way into disabling or dispatching two targets fully or up to eight targets partially within my first four actions. Add to this the few odds and ends you can nab from the Scavenger Market, a transient market that visits every week, or side mission rewards, and you can find yourself with a few epic weapons, specialized buff grenades like the Motile Inducer. Two free actions, immediately, to whomever you throw it at. 

Finding these synergies and supplements, is at the core of Chimera Squad, and while the process isn’t entirely unique to this title, it certainly feels more important when the turns are interleaved, the quarters are close, and your innate advantage lasts a single, Rainbow Six-esque, breaching action. 

Over the course of your game you will investigate three factions in City 31: The Progeny, Grey Phoenix, and Sacred Coil. Each faction has different units, abilities, and motivations, and as you take out each faction, the surviving factions will scale up in response. It is your job to root out their goals, foil their plans, and neutralize the threatening potential they hold. As illustrated by the comic book-styled cutscenes, Chimera Squad is against the wall and the clock, as unrest in the city rises you have to manage threats based on their cost to your levels of unrest in the nine districts of the city. You will forgo missions that have good rewards to manage the unrest in an unruly district. Spend your investigation points to deploy Security, Technology, or Financial teams in each district to access buffs that give you the ability to stave off increased unrest, decrease unrest in specific districts, or in the city overall. 

At its core Chimera Squad is truly an XCOM game, forcing its players to train their soldiers, research projects in the workshop, manage unrest across a map, and manage resources, all while fielding an active combat team in harrowing and varied encounters. Is it XCOM 3? No, not at all, but one shouldn’t conflate the two. Chimera squad is a $20 exploration into the ways that XCOM can, and I believe will, evolve. Expect to see hero characters in the future, with backstories and voice acting. Expect to see multiple paths in the campaign, with escalative properties as the game progresses. But more than anything, expect to feel right at home with Chimera Squad, despite the ways it alters the formula. You’ve simply moved on from Sazerac to Vieux Carre. Your rye whiskey is still there, just this time you have some sweet vermouth. Enjoy.

[friday1econlive]

3 Principles of Economics that Tether with my Daily Life during COVID-19

Name: Yusef Mohammed Angar

ID #: 17458780

A concept map (a text-heavy one!) that is meant to be informative while introducing essential economic principles in relation to my quotidian life. NOTE: These are merely examples of transactions that I have encountered in recent memory, and there are certainly a plethora of other instances that correlate to the 3 economic principles of People facing trade-offs, Trade can make everyone better off, and The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Because there are legibility issues, I will transcribe whatever text is included on each of these individual pages.

While there are impertinent concepts mentioned near the title, including Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), Supply/Demand and Equilibrium, and productivity’s relation to standard of living, it is intended to function as a Segway toward Economics. However, Consumer and Producer Surplus play minor roles in what will be discussed shortly. The hills are representative of Standard Deviation curves, and the “Toll” sign implicitly mentions the opportunity cost of following the “Principle 2 : The Cost of something is what you give up to get it″ route relative to the other route that is primarily about “Principles 1 : People face trade-offs and 5 : Trade can make everyone better.” The individual at the bottom (an animated version of myself) states that “Man, now I want to barter the item that I originally strived to purchase!” This is indicative of the business cycle, and its never-ending existence within the realm of economics; the arrows in between the routes illustrate this trend. In other words, I won’t be satisfied in the long-run, as the likelihood of using whatever I purchase might eventually fade, and would therefore want to trade with somebody else.

Transcription: (Top Left): “START: Once the eve of the pandemic ensued, I was contemplating on how to reorient my free time; thus, I decided to pull off a beneficial transaction among myself and my sister. The Nintendo Switch, a revolutionary handheld/hybrid console that has been engineered and endearingly crafted by Nintendo’s illustrious team, appealed to my desperate disposition...

Image description: “STOP” sign includes a Nintendo logo on top of it, which also accompanies a Nintendo Switch to the right of it. There are two flags, each attached to the left and right of the STOP sign, and they both indicate that the date is “March 2020.”

(Top center/Blue Stripes): “It was then that I tempted my sister into a deal regarding her console; however, due to the Switch’s market price being sold at $300 (with used variants selling at slightly lower prices), I certainly casted doubts on resonating alongside conventional wisdom. What I did, however, required an iota of guile...”

Image Description: Green arrow pointing along a pathway that mentions how “THE ROAD STARTS HERE!”, and a sign that states how there is “ONE WAY ONLY! DECIDE!” This therefore demonstrates a sentiment that I must be assured of; that I did want to purchase the Switch, and it was a definitive decision that I made over the course of a few months. Some supplemental additions include Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon insignias across the road, and then an arrow pointing directly to the next section.

(Center/Brown): “PLAN: Because my willingness to pay was ~ $110 (for a 2-year old Switch), it did not appear to be probable. There is a caveat; because employment opportunities were scant in the economic workspace, making money by means of toil was narrowed down to a shadow of its past self....”

Image Description: This sector was intentionally set within an area of construction, which reciprocates with building my way toward a successful barter with my sister. A blue arrow then points directly into the blue section, which is what will be transcribed in the bottom left. A sign above the blue portion of text echoes apportionment from self-elation, and how the “SPEED LIMIT = 15 mph. DON’T GET TOO EXCITED!” If I were to exceed this imaginary speed limit, then my assurance of safety would be tarnished, much like how the deal would get steamrolled! 

(Bottom Left/Blue): “My sister was not too dilatory per se, but mused on having to deposit her Switch in return for an opportunity that was of a paucity. Because she originally received it as a gift, there was no “cost of production” to consider.”

(Bottom right/Pink): “Per contra, there was a trade-off, one of the Ten Principles of Economics; because of the miniscule time she invested into her Switch, she eventually accepted $100! A casualty of this deal was a consumer surplus of $10 for me (alongside the Switch of course) and my sister receiving $100.”

Image Description: On the middle of the road, there is a “SIDE NOTE” that conspicuously conveys the following: “A positive externality for Nintendo, the pandemic caused a surge in sales experienced since March 2020.” Even though Nintendo’s flagship console was successful prior, it convincingly prolonged its success, and therefore led to stores having low stocks available. There is also font directly above the Pink section, which iterates as follows: “FROM then ON, I was able to utilize my... (traverses toward the right) FREE TIME fruitfully.” The ellipsis mirrors the conservative approach that is tacitly required during this trade-off, and how my composure has to prevail over internal apprehension (that is, whether or not the deal would triumph).

(Purple section): (font near “CONCLUSION” sign) “Because the Switch’s stock would continuously plummet, my incentive on purchasing a Switch from my sister became grander. (Speech bubble above CONCLUSION): “This mutually forged bridge between me and my sister’s economic wavelength permitted this trade to transpire, and thus left everyone better off.”

Image Description: There is an “OPPORTUNITY COST: REDUCED TOLL + TIME” sign to issue how there was time used in reading this section, alongside a more diminutive toll relative to the “TOLL” sign on the first/front page. There is also a blue-striped arrow attached to the pole of this sign, which essays to make clear that there is a “LONG WAY AHEAD! JUST 10 MONTHS LATER...” This is mentioning the date set for the following example concerning opportunity cost, and how that event occurred in January of 2021. Within the vicinity of the arrow, a “CONCLUSION” sign is slotted, which mimics the “everyone better off” conjecture (both me and my sister smiling, hence Principle 5′s significance in this interchange of commodities and money). 

Next Page:

(Top left/Orange Stripes): “JANUARY 2021: As my assortment of Switch titles implacably amplified, I faced a difficult transaction that I was willing to take. Should I get Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, or CELESTE!?!?”

Image Description: The arrows moving counterclockwise (the small black arrows moving in the orange-striped locus) function as an extrapolation of the business cycle, which was already mentioned beforehand. The animated version of myself surfaces an imperative query regarding this juxtaposition, and rose the “COSTS & BENEFITS” paradigm into full prominence. 

(COMPARISON): “Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove: PROS: Contains a multitude of titles that grace the timeless tropes of Shovel Knight, which includes: 

1) Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope *The only multiplayer game in this bundle*

2) Plague of Shadows

3) Showdown

4) Specter of Torment

5) King of Cards

CONS: COSTS $40, which fails to match my willingness to pay of ~$20 (that might be setting a relatively quixotic bar when it comes to spending, but the Nintendo eShop intermittently includes surprising deals!). 

“CELESTE: PROS: A platforming title that integrates storytelling alongside interstellar game mechanics and charming visuals --> received a 92/100 on Metacritic, and is only $20!

CONS: Unfamiliarity with developers’ previous works and only supports Single-Player Mode.

(RED-STRIPED SPEECH BUBBLE next to Shovel Knight’s enumeration): :HAS RECEIVED A 91/100 on Metacritic, hence classifying its “universal acclaim” tag.

(Bottom Left/Purple Section): “VERDICT: While both titles certainly garner captivating qualities, the opportunity cost definitely binds my decision even more! Whichever game I choose, it will likely itch my excitement and would startle it with authentic thrills; however, my cross-examination led to an intermediary decision that exploits both sets of pros simultaneously. It turns out that Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope is sold separately (move toward bottom right) and costs $15. The opportunity cost of not getting Celeste... (move to the right of the street, but below Shovel Knight’s list) and the other games bundled with Treasure Trove is still intact, but my salience instantly shifted toward Shovel of Hope.”

Image Description: Toward the bottom left and above the “VERDICT/purple section”, the “FINAL DECISION ERODED opportunity cost from my perspective” was engraved on the street heading toward the other page. The severity of one’s opportunity cost is highly dependent on one’s salience, and because I donned a negligent disposition on Celeste and the other titles listed in Treasure Trove (for now at least), my opportunity cost did not prove to be too costly. Additionally, a byproduct of this road map on purchasing Shovel of Hope meant that I wielded a consumer surplus of $5. 

Image Description: The red-striped bubble next to the Shovel Knight title meanders within the circumference of ulterior considerations, and how “I initially thought that Yacht Club Games, the developer of this title, attempted on tying Shovel of Hope with the other games.” This postulation was effectively debunked once I realized that 1) Yacht Club Games is an Indie developer, meaning their stronghold in the video game industry is miniscule; this therefore means that oligopolistic/monopolistic practices are truly improbable. As was previously stated, this was an ulterior thought, and was an economic observation that I deciphered. 

Stylistic Choice: Why did I construct a concept map that anyone can get easily lost in once they indulge themselves into reading it? This is due to the parochial vision that one asserts when committing economically-oriented decisions, and how there are implicit corollaries to account for when taking such risks. It is easy to get lost in excitement and foreseeing a favorable resultant, yet it is tumultuous to maintain a realistic perception of what might transpire. My sister could have easily rejected my offer if the climate was wholly distinctive, as she would have recouped $100 following the acceptance toward job opportunities. Had I not been explorative enough, I may have been compelled into shelling out a whopping $40 compared to $15, and would likely cogitate on purchasing Celeste instead. Economics suffers from the scourge of inconsistencies, and applying such parables into the experiences I mentioned assisted in the construction of a bridge between Economics and everyday life.

[onisionhurtspeople]

The Cycle of Self-Victimization: Onision Style

Greg has an extremely predictable cycle that he likes to engage in when he gets a lot of backlash from the shit that he chooses to say on YouTube and Twitter. He’s in the middle of the most dramatic iteration of this behavior yet, so I figured I’d write a little post outlining it just for keks.

1. Say something offensive/attack someone who isn't deserving of it ---> 

2. Huge community backlash (especially when he picks on someone who has enough clout to fight back for once (instead of random fans), like Shane Dawson, Blaire White, or Jaclyn Glenn) ---> 

3. Double down on ignorant/harmful opinion ---> 

4. Furor starts to die down -OR- get worse ---> 

5. Greg begins to act like a victim to evoke sympathy/evade criticism (because he's ~depressed~ and now all of a sudden you're attacking a depressed person, what kind of a monster are you??) ---> 

6. Continues acting like a victim until the whole issue blows over ---> 

7. Pretends he's going to change/Be tHe BeSt SeLf hE CaN bE/~think positive!~ ---> pretend to have seen the light and undergone a genuine change for a couple of days ---> 

8. Once he realizes that his last blow-up has lost him a ton of fans, he rapidly decompensates into his usual negative/toxic behavior ---> 

9. Begins attacking people again to get attention ---> 

10. Start all over again from step #1.

Currently, Greg is right in the middle of step #6, acting like a victim until the whole thing blows over and he can assess the damage. What’s different about this time (and the reason why he’s decompensating so rapidly right now compared to previous patterns) is because almost all of this is happening at the exact same time, and there’s no lull or resting period in between these cycles like there have been in past years. 

His fan base has had enough and is sick of defending him, the entire Internet knows what kind of a person he is at this point (thanks to Billie, who knocked over the first domino), he’s about to get reamed by the government and the IRS for well over 500k (which will take everything he has left), he’s trapped in a loveless marriage with a person that he isn’t attracted to and kids he doesn’t want to raise or be responsible for, and his increasing age and lowered income and sphere of influence have severely hampered his ability to attract the type of young alternative teen girl lovers that he’s actually attracted to, like Billie, Jaclyn Glenn, or Shiloh. He’s frittered away his entire multi-million dollar fortune on meaningless materialistic pursuits, like the ~$3000 worth of clothes, tattoos, tech, games, and makeup that Lainey has purchased in the past two months alone (and that isn’t even including upcoming Christmas expenditures, or Lainey’s recent posts and videos detailing her plans to throw away all of her clothes in order to buy new ones - yes, even the ones she just bought this month). His career is on its last legs, and at 33 years old, he has no bankable skills that he can use to get a real job because he never bothered looking into ways to supplement his income when YouTube was inevitably incapable of sustaining his lifestyle any longer; and even if he could, Greg is too much of a raging narcissist to be capable of not challenging the structure and hierarchy of any company that hired him. His wife won’t let him bring other women into their household or marriage anymore - gone are the days when he could simply whip up some manipulative language for plausible deniability later on, such as “I wouldn’t do anything that a friend wouldn’t do” - she knows his game now, and she’s having none of it. He wants to move on to a younger, hotter, more pliable teenage girl like Jessie Paege, but Lainey is saving her entire YouTube income to pay off his IRS debt (and whatever he owes after Shane Dawson (hopefully) sues him); he can’t just discard her and move on like he’s done with other exes before, he has too much to lose from it this time. He’s gone from owning two houses (one of which was a mansion) and two cars (one of which was a Tesla) to just one used truck and one three-bedroom house in the middle of a swamp. He used to make nearly $5000 a month from his 1200 fans on Patreon; now he makes $2600 a month from just over 600 of them, and those numbers are dwindling further every single month. And the best part is that he did all of this to himself. 

It’s no wonder that Greg has been stuck at some point in this cycle for the past three months straight. He’s dug himself into a hole so deep that not even the tree the IRS is about to charge him 100k to re-plant is tall enough to help him climb out of it. And I have to say - in all my years of watching Greg, observing him, analyzing his behavior, and hoping that he’d eventually take himself out of the game in exactly the way that he currently is - I NEVER thought that he had the capacity to sabotage himself to this extreme. What a wonderful Christmas present. 

[addierose444]

College Essays: A Guide

I loved visiting and researching colleges. Writing college essays, on the other hand, was a long and difficult process. The whole idea of a college essay stressed me out since I have long considered writing one of my weaknesses and had been told that college essays are really important. Funny how I am writing this blog now. Seriously though, there are a lot of things that are out of your control when it comes to college applications, so really try to write the best essays you can. For a fun fact, today marks the anniversary of the day I created the document for my Smith essay. Though I genuinely think this guide can help you and really hope that you read the entire thing, please don't use this guide as sneaky procrastination from actually writing your college essays. I hope that these tips and suggestions help you! 

General Tips

Tip 1: Start Early

It is never too early to start! The sooner you’re happy with your essays the less stressed you will be about the whole college application process. Fair warning, the earlier you submit your applications the longer the wait feels. I recommend starting to think about college essays the summer before senior year. If you can it would be awesome to start writing drafts then as well. I wrote my first college essays Junior year in English class. Though I didn’t use any of those essays, it was a great introduction to writing college essays.

The best place to start is reading the Common App prompts, which are available all of the time and don’t change much year to year. Besides, one of the prompts is literally “share an essay on any topic of your choice”. I personally chose the first prompt and wrote about my background and identity as a girl adopted from China growing up in Vermont with an interest in STEM. Choosing the right prompt is important, so be flexible and willing to try a different prompt. Prompts for supplemental essays (essays for individual colleges) can sometimes be found on colleges’ websites. They can always be found in Common App. Smith releases its prompt on August 1st with the opening of Common App. For those of you applying to the Smith class of 2024, here is your prompt:

We know that colleges ask a lot of hard questions on their applications. This one is not so hard and we promise, there is no hidden agenda - just have fun! If you had a theme song - a piece of music that describes you, what would it be and why? Please include the name of the song and the artist.

Tip 2: Stay organized

This refers to keeping track of the essays you have to write and their deadlines. I put all of my application deadlines in my Google Calendar and had each essay as a task in my task manager. Before writing any essays, research the schools you are thinking of applying to in order to get a sense of the number and types of essays you will have to write. Know that some schools make you write extra essays depending on your prospective major. Also, be aware that some schools have optional essays. I would highly recommend that you write these optional essays. 

I wrote all of my essays in Google Docs. Each essay I had had its own document. At the top of the document, I had the word count highlighted in green and the prompt(s) in italics. If the essay had a choice of prompts, I highlighted the one I chose in cyan.

I organized my essays in a college folder in Google Drive. Early on, I had subfolders for each of the colleges I was thinking about applying to. I would recommend this to you if you’re applying to a lot of colleges that require multiple essays. In my case I only applied to five schools, so subfolders weren’t necessary. Even so, I had to write the Common App essay along with ten supplemental essays. An alternative organization system (that can be used in conjunction with the previous method) involves creating subfolders by the application deadline. 

Tip 3: Be authentic

I will refrain from directly stating what most people consider the number one tip. It’s really important, but you're probably tired of hearing it and sort of confused by it. In essence, remember that it's you the admissions counselors want to get to know and that you’re the one that would be attending the school if admitted and committed. That being said, be conscious of your audience and the function of a college essay.

The Process

Step .5: Choose a prompt

Sorry for the use of half steps! They are for essays where you get to choose your prompt. Start by reading all of the prompts and pick the one that jumps out to you. As stated above, be flexible. Your choice is by no means set in stone. There is no universal best prompt, there is only a best prompt for you. 

Step 1: Read the prompt

That's it. No analyzing the prompt at this point.

Step 2: Just write

By “just” I mean, ignore the word count and don’t worry about flow. This step is purely a brain dump. Just focus and get all relevant ideas out onto the page. Now is not the time for editing, seriously, don’t move the cursor. You may honestly benefit from handwriting your brain dump. If you get stuck, start on a different train of thought. Even if things are going smoothly, consider writing something totally different. 

Step 2.5: Reflect honestly

This step is for those essays that let you pick a prompt. Here’s where you're real with yourself about if you’re happy with the prompt you chose and where the essay is headed. Repeat the above steps as necessary until you have chosen the best prompt for you. 

Step 3: Craft the essay

This is where you actually write an essay not just some thoughts. This is the hardest part to do and to explain. First, reread the prompt and read what you wrote in step 2. When actually crafting the essay, don’t delete anything (unless you’re correcting a typo). In Google Docs you can go into revision history and find old versions of your essay. Find the thread of ideas you think is best and write your essay based on those ideas. There is no set format for a college essay. Remember that college essays are relatively short so focus on concision. 

Step 4: Revise and edit like crazy

This step is extremely important and will take more time than you expect. I wrote and rewrote essays to make them exactly how I wanted. Even after I felt satisfied with an essay I read and reread them for grammatical errors. Don’t just trust your own eyes. In my case, I had all of my essays proofread by my parents and my aunt. An iteration of my Common App essay was also read by an English teacher and a guidance counselor. Listen to all suggestions, but remember that it's your essay and that it’s your voice that matters.

Now that you have read all of my tips and suggestions, I wish you the best of luck, especially with your Smith essay. I know that a lot of people enjoy reading other people’s essays for inspiration and to get a sense for what a college essay is. I personally didn’t read any while I was writing mine. That being said I read a few for my Junior year English class (online and from my peers). Since the Smith essay is new this year, I will be posting the essay I wrote last year to my blog along with my thoughts about it. 

[orbemnews]

Goldman Sachs Will Ask Most Workers to Return in June: Live Updates Here’s what you need to know: Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York.Credit…Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Goldman Sachs plans to ask most workers based in the United States and United Kingdom offices to return to the office in June, according to a person familiar with the matter, making it one of the first big banks to request an end to remote working. In a memo expected to be sent to bank employees on Tuesday, Goldman officials will ask that workers “prepare” to return to the office during the second half of June, the person said. The memo will target employees who are based in the firm’s New York headquarters as well as other U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Dallas, and those in London, the person added. Most employees at the big banks have been working from home since the pandemic began last year, but Goldman’s plans signal that some executives are eager to attempt a return to office life. JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, plans to open all its U.S. offices on May 17 for employees who wish to return voluntarily. That will be followed by a compulsory return in July, when workers will rotate in and out of the office in accordance with safety measures that will limit each office’s capacity. Bank of America has not yet announced to employees when a fuller return to the office is expected. Twitter has begun to add paid subscriptions, and announced plans to introduce other subscriber features in the future.Credit…Laura Morton for The New York Times Twitter plans to acquire the subscription service Scroll, the social media company announced on Tuesday, as it expands its plans for subscription offerings. The two companies declined to disclose the deal terms. Scroll charges its users a fee to block advertising on participating news websites, then distributes a cut of its earnings to its partner publishers, which include USA Today, Vox and The Atlantic. Publishers can earn up to 50 percent more from the service than they do from advertising, Scroll contends. Twitter plans to integrate the service into its platform, and use its technology to build other subscription services. “People come to Twitter every day to discover and read about what’s happening,” Mike Park, Twitter’s vice president for product, said in a blog post announcing the deal. “If Twitter is where so much of this conversation lives, it should be easier and simpler to read the content that drives it.” In recent months, Twitter has begun to add paid subscriptions, and announced plans to introduce other subscriber features in the future. In January, Twitter acquired Revue, a newsletter provider, and said it would take a 5 percent cut of subscription revenue. In February, the company revealed plans to introduce “Super Follows,” a feature that would allow Twitter users to place some of their content behind a pay wall. And this week, Twitter said it planned to add a ticketing feature to its audio chat, Spaces, so that hosts can charge listeners for entry into their discussions. Twitter plans to supplement its advertising revenue with revenue from subscriptions, and has raced to add content like newsletters and audio chats that it thinks audiences will pay for. Its acquisition of Scroll will add journalism to that list. “For every other platform, journalism is dispensable. If journalism were to disappear tomorrow their business would carry on much as before,” Tony Haile, Scroll’s chief executive, wrote in a blog post. “Twitter is the only large platform whose success is deeply intertwined with a sustainable journalism ecosystem.” Tim Sweeney, the chief executive of Epic Games, said that the company wanted to build “a phenomenon that transcends gaming.”Credit…Jim Wilson/The New York Times The chief executive of Epic Games offered a granular explanation of the popular game Fortnite to paint an expansive portrait of his company’s world on the first day of what is expected to be a three-week trial, pitting Epic against Apple in a fight over Apple’s App Store fees and other rules that could reshape the $100 billion app economy. Fortnite, Tim Sweeney said, “is a phenomenon that transcends gaming,” Erin Griffith reports for The New York Times. “Our aim of Fortnite is to build something like a metaverse from science fiction,” he said. Metaverse? A court reporter needed clarification. It’s a virtual world for socializing and entertainment, Mr. Sweeney said. In a mostly empty courtroom in Oakland, Katherine Forrest of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore opened Epic’s case by previewing a series of emails between Apple’s top executives. The emails were evidence, Ms. Forrest argued, that the tech giant purposely created a “walled garden” that locks consumers and developers inside. That forces them to use Apple’s payment system, she said. Once Apple lured users and developers into its walled garden, “the garden gate was closed, the lock turned,” Ms. Forrest said. She compared Apple’s fees on in-app purchases for subscription services to a car dealership that takes a commission on gas sales. Apple’s lawyers described, in their opening statement, a thriving market for app distribution that includes gaming consoles, desktop computer gaming and the mobile web. Karen Dunn of Paul, Weiss argued that the 30 percent commission was in line with industry standards and that Epic’s requests, if granted, would make iPhones less secure, while unlawfully forcing Apple to do business with a competitor. Ms. Dunn added that Epic’s case was a self-serving way to avoid paying fees it owed Apple and was on shaky legal footing. Pfizer’s vaccine is disproportionately reaching the world’s rich.Credit…Dado Ruvic/Reuters On Tuesday, Pfizer announced that its Covid vaccine brought in $3.5 billion in revenue in the first three months of this year, nearly a quarter of its total revenue. The vaccine was, far and away, Pfizer’s biggest source of revenue, report Rebecca Robbins and Peter S. Goodman of The New York Times. The company did not disclose the profits it derived from the vaccine, but it reiterated its previous prediction that its profit margins on the vaccine would be in the high 20 percent range. That would translate into roughly $900 million in pretax vaccine profits in the first quarter. Pfizer has been widely credited with developing an unproven technology that has saved an untold number of lives. But the company’s vaccine is disproportionately reaching the world’s rich — an outcome, so far at least, at odds with its chief executive’s pledge to ensure that poorer countries “have the same access as the rest of the world” to a vaccine that is highly effective at preventing Covid-19. As of mid-April, wealthy countries had secured more than 87 percent of the more than 700 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines dispensed worldwide, while poor countries had received only 0.2 percent, according to the World Health Organization. In wealthy countries, roughly one in four people has received a vaccine. In poor countries, the figure is one in 500. Throughout the pandemic, Eleven Madison Park has been preparing food boxes for needy families. The new plant-based iteration of the restaurant will help sustain efforts like those, said its chef, Daniel Humm.Credit…Lucas Jackson/Reuters Eleven Madison Park, the Manhattan restaurant that has been called the best in the world, will serve an all-plant-based menu when it reopens after more than a year of being closed because of the pandemic. Eleven Madison Park’s multicourse menu will keep its prepandemic price of $335, including tip, Brett Anderson and Jenny Gross report for The New York Times. Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park’s chef, said the decision is the result of a yearslong re-evaluation about where his career was headed, which reached its breaking point during the pandemic. “It became very clear to me that our idea of what luxury is had to change,” Mr. Humm said. “We couldn’t go back to doing what we did before.” While the restaurant’s ingredient costs will go down, labor costs will go up as Mr. Humm and his chefs work to make vegan food live up to Eleven Madison Park’s reputation. “It’s a labor intensive and time consuming process,” he said. It marks a striking departure for one of the most lavishly praised American restaurants of the past 20 years. Though Mr. Humm still offers plenty of red meat at his London restaurant, Davies and Brook at Claridge’s hotel, the move at Eleven Madison Park — which has four stars from The New York Times and three from Michelin — suggests how different fine dining may look as restaurants reopen and reimagine themselves. The S&P 500 fell about half a percent in early trading on Tuesday, tracking the decline in Europe. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.8 percent Oil prices rose as Saudi Aramco joined other oil companies in reporting strong profits for the last quarter. Brent crude gained 1.9 percent, to $68.82 a barrel. It has not closed above $70 barrel since late 2018. West Texas Intermediate gained 1.7 percent, to $65.60 a barrel. A chip-maker’s troubles Infineon, a big producer of semiconductors in Germany, reported “booming” demand for chips as it posted strong quarterly results. But the company warned of continuing supply chain problems and its shares fell. “Demand greatly exceeds supply for the majority of applications,” said the chief executive, Reinhard Ploss, in a statement. Even though its plants are running at “full speed,” he continued, the company still faced supply chain bottlenecks. “We are doing everything we can to provide our customers with the best possible support in this situation.” Saudi Aramco earnings The world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, reported a 30 percent rise in net income in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. The company is joining other energy producers that reported strong earnings this quarter as oil prices continued their recovery from last year’s collapse. “The momentum provided by the global economic recovery has strengthened energy markets,” Aramco’s chief executive, Amin H. Nasser, said in a statement. “Given the positive signs for energy demand in 2021, there are more reasons to be optimistic that better days are coming.” Source link Orbem News #Goldman #June #Live #return #Sachs #Updates #Workers

[pittarchives]

Driving Intellectual Curiosity: Archival Scholars Research Awards at the University of Pittsburgh

This post was written by Jeanann Haas, Special Collections Coordinator, Archives & Special Collections at the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS), in collaboration with The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Office of Undergraduate Research, is delighted to present blog posts written by the 2021 student recipients of the Archival Scholar Research Awards (ASRA) program. To familiarize themselves with the corpus of materials in which they are researching, the students were asked to closely examine an item/object from their ASRA primary sources and share their observations through the blog.

The ASRA program began in the spring of 2016 to encourage undergraduates to engage with primary sources drawing from archives, rare books, and other distinctive collections in the ULS. Since then, the ASRA program invites undergraduate applicants to join a diverse community of scholars from across all disciplines. Awardees receive a stipend of $1,000 to support their primary source research; receive archival and research support from professional librarians and archivists; and participate in workshops and a spring term presentation. This training and these activities supplement the students’ independent research and provides an opportunity for them to grow as an undergraduate researcher.

Like everything else, with the COVID-19 Pandemic, we quickly realized that moving forward with the ASRA2021 cohort, the program would look very different than in previous iterations, but we wanted to preserve the core values and opportunities that ASRA espouses.  

(Above) ASRA program promotional postcard, 2020

We made the difficult decision to offer ASRA2021 as a virtual program only and asked students to develop their original research activity making use of the ULS Digital Collections.  The ULS is proud to have digitized primary sources consisting of rare books, manuscripts, archival collections, music, photographs, diaries, organizational records, etc. on a variety of topics and make them available through the ULS Digital Collections. I am astounded at how wonderfully the ASRA2021 cohort is embracing research in a virtual environment and finding creative ways to become a community.  Their enthusiasm, active participation, and insightful discussions amaze me at this point of the semester.  The ASRA2021 cohort soldiers on to make great things happen – and with this – I am so proud to present their blog posts.   

You can keep up with ASRA2021 scholars this semester by following #ASRA2021 here and on https://pittrarebooks.tumblr.com/.

[mysticdragonkid]

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With the release of macOS 10.13 High Sierra, you’re probably wondering whether your Adobe software will work in the new Mac operating system.

With every macOS upgrade, full information about compatibility is typically not available on the day the new system is released or even shortly after. More information emerges over time, especially as Apple, Adobe, and other software developers test with the final public release and produce updates with fixes. I’ll update this article as new information comes out.

If you use your Mac to run a business or another activity where you can’t afford to lose productivity, do not upgrade to High Sierra until you’ve made plans to fully recover your previous configuration if things don’t work out. (That applies to any operating system upgrade on any device.) Wait until you are confident that all of your software and hardware is compatible, then back up everything, then upgrade.

To make the best use of my time and yours, I focus on verified reports or reports acknowledged by Adobe, and generally avoid repeating random anecdotes. But I do mention my own experiences.

The next section is about recent Creative Cloud versions. If you’re looking for information about older versions, jump to:

Official statements and verified reports

Note: On October 18, 2017, Adobe announced the 2018 release of Creative Cloud applications and made them available for download. These are the most compatible with High Sierra.

Adobe typically publishes compatibility information after they have had a chance to test with the version actually released to the public, so expect this section to be updated over time. Here is what’s known so far:

High Sierra compatibility FAQ

Adobe has posted a document covering High Sierra compatibility with Adobe Creative Cloud applications in general (macOS High Sierra (10.13) compatibility FAQ Creative Cloud). It links to a number of application-specific documents which I’ve also linked to below.

Adobe Photoshop

The Photoshop team posted the document Photoshop and High Sierra macOS 10.13 listing the issues they’re aware of.

If the High Sierra upgrade converted your boot volume’s file system to the new APFS file system, in Photoshop CC 2017 or earlier you won’t be able to assign your boot volume as a scratch disk in the Scratch Disks section of the Preferences dialog box. This is fixed in the 2018 release of Photoshop CC.

For Photoshop CC 2017 or earlier, if you have an HFS+ volume mounted, such as a partition or external drive, you can still assign that. Just keep in mind that a scratch disk should be both large and fast. Even though the list of scratch drives is blank in Preferences, Photoshop doesn’t display an error, and continues to work. There’s also a Scratch Disk settings dialog box you can pop up by pressing the Command and Option keys as Photoshop starts up; that does list an APFS boot drive (as Startup, not as its volume name) and appears to allow it there. This may mean Photoshop is able to use the APFS boot drive anyway, but isn’t reporting it properly in the Scratch Disks section of the Preferences dialog box. It is unlikely that this will be fixed for versions of Photoshop earlier than CC 2018.

Adobe Lightroom Classic CC

The Lightroom team has posted a compatibility document (Lightroom and High Sierra macOS v10.13). However, it lists only one issue; to see other issues discovered and being discussed visit the official Lightroom Classic CC Feedback page. If you are running Lightroom 1–5, you may also want to review the Adobe compatibility document for macOS Sierra (Lightroom and Sierra macOS 10.12), because older versions of Lightroom have several known compatibility problems with macOS 10.12 Sierra and later.

Victoria Bampton (the “Lightroom Queen”) also has information (Lightroom and macOS High Sierra Compatibility), about current and older versions of Lightroom. Some of the issues may be fixed in Lightroom Classic CC.

Some Lightroom presets may fail to sort in alphabetical order in High Sierra; Adobe has acknowledged this issue at feedback.photoshop.com. This is at least partially fixed in Lightroom 6.13 and in Lightroom Classic CC (7).

For a few users (not all), Lightroom 6/CC 2015 crashes on launch in High Sierra. Some have been able to resolve this by adjusting permissions on the Lightroom application folder.

The panel and filmstrip areas may black out at times. This is apparently related to macOS graphics issues. macOS 10.13.2 should fix most of the occurrences, and for other versions the Lightroom team has attempted to work around the problem as much as possible. To best avoid the problem, Adobe says:

…make sure your macOS is updated to at least macOS Sierra 10.12 and at least Lightroom Classic 7.0 or Lightroom 6.13. The best combo to avoid this issue is being on macOS High Sierra 10.13 and Lightroom Classic 7.1 or Lightroom 6.13. The team has worked pretty hard with Apple to get this issue to stop appearing with macOS Sierra 10.12 and macOS High Sierra 10.13. Improvements were made in 10.12 and iterated upon for 10.13.

Adobe Illustrator CC 2017

The Illustrator team posted a compatibility document (Illustrator and High Sierra). It lists issues with APFS, color management default settings, and GPU rendering. Some of those problems are fixed in the 2018 release of Adobe Illustrator CC.

Adobe InDesign CC 2017

The InDesign team has posted a compatibility document (InDesign and High Sierra compatibility).

There was a widely reported visual problem with the mouse pointer in Adobe InDesign on High Sierra. Investigation by Adobe and Apple revealed this to be an Apple bug. It’s fixed in the macOS 10.13 Supplemental Update which became available on October 5, 2017. Install it from the Mac App Store, Updates tab; or from the link above.

Adobe Premiere Pro

While there’s no published document about High Sierra compatibility that I know of, an Adobe representative said, in a post on the Adobe Forums:

I talked to product management. You should be good to go with macOS High Sierra right now. As an editor, I would not change the OS if I was in the middle of an important project, however.

While not specific to High Sierra, one issue that may affect Mac users is that in Premiere Pro CC 12.1 or later, Adobe no longer supports Apple QuickTime 7 era codecs that were deprecated by Apple back in 2013. However, those codecs still turn up in a lot of places so people (like me) are finding problems with those clips may no longer work properly in Premiere Pro. The only workaround at this time is to use the Creative Cloud desktop application to uninstall Premiere Pro CC 12.1 and reinstall version 12.0.1.

Adobe After Effects

The After Effects team has posted a compatibility document (Known issues in After Effects CC (15.1)).

Older versions of Adobe software (CS3–CS6)

Adobe software older than the Creative Cloud (CC) versions are not officially supported on macOS 10.13 High Sierra. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t work; it just means that if those old versions have any new issues related to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, there won’t be any updates to address them (in other words, the only version with the High Sierra fixes will be the current version).

I have upgraded my test Mac to the release version of High Sierra. Based on some quick tests I did, Adobe applications before CS6 do not run as smoothly as they did in earlier versions of macOS/OS X. The CS3–CS5 applications seem particularly risky to me.

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There are more hoops to jump through to get the installers to work (see below), and I’m having trouble getting some installers to accept serial numbers they accepted in Sierra. While I can install and run Photoshop CS3 and CS4, some of the older CS3/CS4 applications like Illustrator and InDesign aren’t starting up properly for me. CS5 applications run better, but some were crashing after I quit normally. High Sierra is the first macOS version where I really think it’s time for CS3–CS5 users to move on; the code in CS3 is a decade old at this point.

Photoshop CS3 can at least install and start up in macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

Adobe doesn’t test older (pre-Creative Cloud) software for compatibility because covering all of the features for multiple older versions would require extensive testing, and I also don’t have time to verify everything from importing to editing to printing. If you still depend on those old versions for serious production or need information about a specific feature (especially “does it work with my printer/tablet/scanner etc.”), you need to set up a test system to verify your workflow on High Sierra before upgrading your production system (see How to test macOS 10.13 High Sierra yourself below). And if your tests determine that your programs won’t run well under High Sierra but you want to upgrade, consider maintaining a system on a spare hard drive or partition just to run an older version of macOS for those applications.

Many older applications have problems in High Sierra simply because over the years, Apple has changed so much of the code in OS X/macOS. Even Apple’s own professional software is affected; older versions of Apple Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, Logic Pro, and MainStage won’t run in High Sierra (see About Apple Pro Apps and macOS High Sierra).

With that in mind, here are some notes about getting older Adobe software to run in High Sierra.

Installing and activating older Adobe software on High Sierra

As in Sierra and earlier, older Adobe applications are able to launch only after you run the Apple installer for Java for OS X 2015-001. If you see the alert below, clicking More Info takes you directly to the Apple download page for that software. Java for OS X 2015-001 isn’t the most current version of Java for Mac, so be aware that installing it may introduce incompatibilities or security vulnerabilities.

Be prepared to uninstall and reinstall if needed. Adobe applications were already installed when I upgraded my test Mac to High Sierra. After the upgrade, some older Adobe applications had licensing errors. I was able to fix these by uninstalling and reinstalling those applications, and the lesson here is to always make sure you have all of the information you need (such as license keys or registration numbers) to reinstall any of your key software. You may also need to reset Adobe licensing files on your Mac (see Registration servers, update servers, and activation servers below).

If you can’t find your old Adobe installers, you may be able to download them from a page on the Adobe web site (Adobe software and other downloads) which has links to many older versions of Adobe Creative Suite applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, along with Lightroom and more.

macOS Gatekeeper may prevent older Adobe installers or software from starting: Gatekeeper is an Apple security feature (added in Mountain Lion) that helps prevent malicious applications from running. If you run Adobe installers or software released before Gatekeeper, you should know what to do if Gatekeeper prevents Adobe software from starting. Adobe covers that in this tech note: Error “has not been signed by a recognized distributor” Launch Adobe applications Mac OS. The short answer is to bypass the error by right-clicking the application icon, then choose Open from the context menu. Depending on the Mac you use, instead of right-clicking you can also Control-click, or if you have a trackpad set up for two-finger secondary click you can do it that way instead.

“Installer Failed to Initialize” error, or installer failing to run. Some Adobe installers may fail to launch silently, or with the error “We’ve encountered the following issue. Installer failed to initialize. This could be due to a missing file. Please download Adobe Support Advisor to detect the problem.”

Unfortunately, Adobe Support Advisor no longer exists, but there is an immediate workaround that should get the installer going:

Right-click (or Control-click) the installer and choose Show Package Contents.

In the Install window that opens in the Finder, go to the Contents/MacOS folder, and in there, double-click Install. That will open the Terminal application, some lines of code will automatically run, and the actual Installer should successfully launch.

Make a note of this workaround, because any pre-CC installers are unlikely to be updated.

The error message is documented in an Adobe help page:Installing Creative Suite on macOS 10.12 (Sierra). But I found that the same workaround helped when the Photoshop CS3 installer silently failed after I double-clicked it.

Registration servers, update servers, and activation servers. If you get a message saying that a registration or update server is not available in an old Adobe application, that won’t stop the application itself from working so it’s not much of a concern. However, being unable to reach an activation server may keep an application in a trial period with an expiration date. If you’re trying to install a CS3 application, you will probably need to get a new serial number that doesn’t require activation, because Adobe retired the activation server. You can get that at this Adobe page: Activation or connection error CS3, Acrobat 8. For help with Adobe licensing and activation problems, see the Adobe help pages Activation and deactivation troubleshooting and Troubleshoot activation limit reached or sign-in failed errors.

Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2) compatibility

There is no way to run Adobe CS2 software on macOS 10.13 High Sierra. The only option is to use a newer version of the software.

The question of CS2 compatibility comes up during every recent Mac system upgrade. Some users moving up from older Macs running 10.6.8 or earlier to new Macs with the latest OS version may still be using the Creative Suite 2 (CS2) version of Adobe software, such as Adobe Photoshop CS2. As with the last several major Mac system upgrades, macOS 10.13 High Sierra requires that software be written for the Intel processors that have been running Macs for over 10 years. But CS2 applications were written for the PowerPC processors that ran older Macs. The last version of Mac OS X to run PowerPC software was OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard.

Other ways High Sierra may affect Adobe software

A few more changes in High Sierra have potential implications for Adobe users.

APFS (Apple File System)

The file system is the part of the OS that keeps track of all your files. This is such a fundamental function that when that changes, there is great potential for big problems if the transition isn’t handled 100% properly. High Sierra is built on top of the new Apple File System (APFS), which is designed around security, reliability, and the ability to work across macOS, iOS, tvOS and watchOS. APFS will eventually replace the decades-old HFS+, but for now, High Sierra can work with APFS or HFS+.

If your Mac’s system volume is on a solid-state drive (SSD), the High Sierra installer converts its file system to APFS; this is not optional. At this time, upgrading to High Sierra will not convert system volumes based on hard drives or Fusion drives, but that’s expected to happen in a later release.

I haven’t had obvious problems installing or using older Adobe software on the APFS volume that’s created by default, but some of the random glitches I’ve seen in CS3–CS5 applications may be related to APFS. Some Adobe features that involve a folder or drive location (such as the scratch disk feature of Photoshop) may not work properly with APFS. Also, the Illustrator CC tech note linked above notes errors you may encounter related to APFS.

When APFS was originally made available to developers for testing, it was case-sensitive. This raised concerns about Adobe application compatibility because most Adobe installers do not work on case-sensitive file systems. But during the beta period, Apple developed a case-insensitive version of APFS, and that is the version that the final installer for High Sierra uses when it converts a boot volume to APFS. Maybe that’s why many old and current Adobe installers still work in High Sierra.

If you have trouble using a feature that interacts with the file system, it could be related to an incompatibility with APFS.

HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format)

Apple added support for the HEIF format in High Sierra. One reason is because it uses less space to save photos at the same quality level as JPEG. Because HEIF is a container format, it can use a single document to store image-related data such as the burst sequences captured by smartphones for animations, focus stacking, and exposure stacking, as well as extra channels and metadata — in other words, it’s a great way to store Live Photos, HDR images, and the depth map from an iPhone camera.

The 2018 release of Photoshop CC adds support for HEIF; this requires macOS 10.13 High Sierra. Specifically, you can load an HEIF depth map into the Lens Blur filter. Lightroom Classic CC 7.4 also adds HEIF support.

HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) and H.265

HEVC/H.265 provides more efficient encoding of high resolution video than today’s H.264 standard, especially for 4K resolution and up. HEVC can cut video file size by half without losing perceptible quality. My understanding is that Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Media Encoder, and other Adobe video applications already have support for HEVC/H.265.

Even if you have the software to encode/decode HEVC/H.265, you also need fast enough hardware because it’s very processor-intensive. Older Macs can’t handle it, but the processors in newer Macs and iOS devices have hardware acceleration for HEVC/H.265 and HEIF.

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In macOS 10.13.4, Apple added support for external graphics processing units, called external GPUs or eGPUs. The idea is that you put a powerful graphics card inside a box and connect it to your Mac using Thunderbolt, and that upgrades the graphics capabilities of your Mac.

Some applications may not support an eGPU automatically, so if there is an application that you’re especially interested in accelerating with an eGPU, contact the developer to see if their application fully supports an eGPU. At this time, there is no official word from Adobe on which applications work with an eGPU or when compatibility updates will be available. Also, be aware that some eGPU solutions can accelerate only an external display.

eGPU support should help address a big complaint about Macs: You can’t upgrade the graphics hardware of any Mac, unless it’s a Mac Pro. But with an eGPU, you can. The reason eGPUs are practical now is because of the data capacity and throughput that’s finally possible with Thunderbolt 3. It’s enough to smoothly drive a large display at a high resolution.

While Apple was probably driven to add eGPU support to address the needs of augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) developers, eGPUs should open up more graphics acceleration options for photographers, designers, and video editors. For example, instead of having to buy a 15-inch MacBook Pro just to get discrete graphics, you should be able to carry a thin, light 13-inch MacBook Pro around town, and then back at the office plug it into an external GPU that gives it a graphics card more powerful than anything found on a laptop.

Phasing out support for 32-bit applications

Quickbooks 2005 crack serial keygen download. Apple has said that High Sierra is the last version of macOS that will run 32-bit applications “without compromise.” (They may still run in macOS 10.14 Mojave, which Apple has confirmed as the last version of macOS that will run 32-bit applications at all, but Apple won’t promise an optimal experience with them.) Most Mac applications have been written for 64-bit processing for some time now, so if your applications are up to date you may not have any issues here. But if you’ve been holding on to some old 32-bit applications for as long as possible, you won’t be able to run them in the macOS upgrade that comes after High Sierra.

How do you know if you’re running 32-bit applications? Click the Apple menu, choose About This Mac, and click System Report. Now, in the System Information window that opens, click the Applications category, and then (after a slight delay on some systems) look for the 64-Bit (Intel) column. On smaller displays you might need to scroll the list to the right.

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To find out if all your software is 64-bit compatible, check the Applications section in System Information.

How to test macOS 10.13 High Sierra yourself

64-bit

While online compatibility lists are useful, the advice of others can only go so far because it may not reveal problems related to the specific combination of applications and hardware you use. A better way is to test the new macOS upgrade yourself. But be careful: You want to test the new OS without compromising your current working production system, and you have to pay attention to licensing and activation issues. To understand how to do that, read another article I’ve written: How to test a macOS upgrade with your Adobe software

Wondering what High Sierra is all about?

For the most in-depth review you’ll probably find anywhere, read the macOS 10.13 High Sierra review at Ars Technica. As with every major release of the Mac operating system, the Ars Technica review not only evaluates the visible features that Apple promotes, but goes under the surface to explain changes to some of the underlying technologies in macOS and how they affect your Mac experience.

As usual, I will probably wait a few months to upgrade my production Mac to High Sierra. That will give Apple, Adobe, and other developers to release any necessary updates needed to make everything work smoothly together.

This article was originally posted on September 25, 2017 but continues to be updated as new information emerges.

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Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 has got many worth-mentioning innovations and the most important one of them is that it supports AVHCD files and it has also radically changed the way it outputs. It has got a Speech Recognition feature and it has also got Transcribe button located at the bottom of the user interface. By pressing the Transcribe button the audio tracks will be analyzed and will be converted into text. Various different effects can be applied on multiple clips present in your timeline. All in all Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 is an imposing application which can eb used for editing your videos efficiently. You can also download Adobe After Effects CS5.

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Impressive video editing application which can be used for enhancing the videos.

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Then I went on to work in another department and started watching the training courses. After that, I took a few months off to travel. Finally, I came back to start working again. And now, here I am, looking for a more challenging law enforcement role." Instead of giving a chronological work history, focus on your strengths and how they pertain to the role. If possible, illustrate with examples. Good answer: "I'm a very energetic and well-rounded person who can follow instructions well. I am a good communicator and quite a team player. At the last department I was with I initiated advanced medic classes for the officers who were interested in learning new first-aid techniques. It had such a positive impact that they are offering the same course again this year." 3. What do you think of your previous chief? Bad answer: "He was completely incompetent, and a nightmare to work with, which is why I've moved on" Remember: if you get the job, the person interviewing you will some day be your previous boss. The last thing they want is to hire someone who they know is going to badmouth them some day. Instead of trashing your former employer, stay positive, and focus on what you learned from them (no matter how awful they might have been). Good answer: "My last chief taught me the importance of time management – he didn't pull any punches, and was extremely driven. His no-nonsense attitude pushed me to work harder, and to meet goals I never even thought were possible." 4. Why are you leaving your current job? Bad answer: "I can't stand my boss, or the work they have me doing." Again, stay away from bad-mouthing your department or fellow officers. Focus on the positive. Good answer: "I've learned a lot from my current role, but now I'm looking for a new challenge, to broaden my horizons and to gain new skill-sets – all of which, I see the potential for in this department." 5. Where do you see yourself in five years? Bad answer: "Relaxing on a beach in Maui," or "Doing your job." There's really no right answer to this question, but the interviewer wants to know that you're ambitious, career-oriented, and committed to a future with the station. So, instead of sharing your dream for early retirement, or trying to be funny, give them an answer that illustrates your drive and commitment. Good answer: "In five years I'd like to have an even better understanding of what it takes to be a good officer. Also, I really enjoy being the first to a scene, and I work very well under pressure. Ultimately, I'd like to be in a commander-type position, where I can use my organizational skills and industry knowledge to benefit the people working with me, and those we are there to help." 6. What's your greatest weakness? Bad answer: "I work too hard," or for the comedian, "Blondes." This question is a great opportunity to put a positive spin on something negative, but you don't want your answer to be cliche – joking or not. Instead, try to use a real example of a weakness you have learned to overcome. Good answer: "I've never been very comfortable with public speaking – which as you know, can be a hindrance in this field. Realizing this was a problem, I asked my previous department if I could enroll in a speech workshop. I took the class, and was able to overcome my lifelong fear. Since then, I've given several safety presentations to school children across the county. I still don't love it, but no one else can tell!" 7. What salary are you looking for? Bad answer: "In my last job I earned $45,000 – so, now I'm looking for $55,000" If you can avoid it, don't give an exact number. The first person to name a price in a salary negotiation loses. Instead, re-iterate your commitment to the job itself. If you have to, give a broad range based on research you've conducted on that particular role, in your particular city. Good answer: "I'm more interested in the role itself than the pay. That said, I'd expect to be paid the appropriate range for this job, based on my five years of experience. I also think a fair salary would bear in mind the high cost of living here in New York City." 8. Why should I hire you? Bad answer: "I'm the best candidate for the job." A good answer will reiterate your qualifications, and will highlight what makes you unique. Good answer: "I've been a law enforcement officer for the past five years – my chief has said time and time again that without me, the department wouldn't function as well as it currently does. I've also taken the time to educate myself on some of the non-standard techniques that may come in handy while on duty. I can react quickly in hectic situations, and can handle the responsibilities of a leadership role. What's good enough for most people is never really good enough for me." 9. What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it? Bad answer: I never finished law school – and everything that has happened since then has taught me that giving up, just because the going gets tough, is a huge mistake." You don't want to actually highlight a major regret – especially one that exposes an overall dissatisfaction with your life. Instead, focus on a smaller, but significant, mishap, and how it has made you a better professional. Good answer: "When I was in college, I took an art class to supplement my curriculum. I didn't take it very seriously, and assumed that, compared to my Engineering classes, it would be a walk in the park. My failing grades at midterm showed me otherwise. I'd even jeopardized my scholarship status. I knew I had to get my act together. I spent the rest of the semester making up for it, ended up getting a decent grade in the class. I learned that no matter what I'm doing, I should strive to do it to the best of my ability. Otherwise, it's not worth doing at all." 10. How do you explain your gap in employment? Bad answer: "I was tired of the job and I needed a break," or "I just couldn't find a job." Employment gaps are always tough to explain. You don't want to come across as lazy or unhireable. Find a way to make your extended unemployment seem like a choice you made, based on the right reasons. Good answer: "My work is important to me, so I won't be satisfied with any old job. Instead of rushing to accept the first thing that comes my way, I'm taking my time and being selective to make sure my next position is the right one."

POLICE Interview Questions 11. When were you most satisfied in your job? Bad answer: "I was most satisfied when I did well, and got praised for my work." Don't give vague answers. Instead, think about something you did well —and enjoyed— that will be relevant at this new job. This is an opportunity for you to share your interests, prove that you're a great fit for the department and showcase your enthusiasm. Good answer: "I'm a people person. I was always happiest — and most satisfied — when I was interacting with community residents, making sure I was able to meet their needs and giving them the best possible comfort in a tough situation. It was my favorite part of the job, and it showed. Part of the reason I'm interested in this job is that I know I'd have even more interaction with the public, on an even more critical level." 12. What did you like least about your job? Bad answer: "A lack of stability. I felt like the place could collapse around me at any time." Try and stay away from anything that draws on the politics, culture or financial health of your previous employer. No matter how true it might be, comments like these will be construed as too negative. Also, you don't want to focus on a function that might be your responsibility in the next role. So think of something you disliked in your last job, but that you know for sure won't be part of this new role. Good answer: "There was nothing about my last job that I hated, but I guess there were some things I liked less than others. My previous role involved traveling at least twice a month. While I do love to travel, twice a month was a little exhausting – I didn't like spending quite so much time out of the department. I'm happy to see that this role involves a lot less travel." 13. Describe a time when you did not get along with a co-worker. Bad answer: "I'm easy to get along with, so I've never had any kind of discord with another officer or department staff member." Interviewers don't like these types of "easy out" answers. And besides, they know you are probably not telling the truth. Think of a relatively benign (but significant) instance, and show how it became a positive learning experience. Good answer: "I used to lock heads with a fellow officer. We disagreed over a lot of things – from civilian interaction to who got what shifts to how to speak with a victim's family. Our personalities just didn't mesh. After three months of arguing, I pulled her aside and asked her to lunch. At lunch, we talked about our differences and why we weren't getting along. It turns out, it was all about communication. We communicated differently and once we knew that, we began to work well together. I really believe that talking a problem through with someone can help solve any issue." 14. What motivates you? Bad answer: "Doing a good job and being rewarded for it." It's not that this answer is wrong — it's just that it wastes an opportunity. This question is practically begging you to highlight your positive attributes. So don't give a vague, generic response — it tells them very little about you. Instead, try and use this question as an opportunity to give the interviewer some insight into your character, and use examples where possible. Good answer: "I've always been motivated by the challenge – in my last role, I was responsible for training our new recruits in firearm care, and wouldn't stop teaching until each recruit passed the course. I know that this job is very fast-paced and I'm more than up for the challenge. In fact, I thrive on it." 15. How would your friends describe you? Bad answer: "I'm a really good listener." While being a good listener is a great personality trait, your employer probably doesn't care all that much. It's unlikely that they're hiring you to be a shoulder to cry on. You'll want to keep your answer relevant to the job you're interviewing for, and as specific as possible. If you can, insert an example. Good answer: "My friends would probably say that I'm extremely persistent – I've never been afraid to keep going back until I get what I want. In college I worked as a program developer, recruiting keynote speakers for major conferences. I usually got one rejection after another – this was just the nature of the job. But I really wanted the big players – so I wouldn't take no for an answer. I kept going back to them every time there was a new company on board, or some new value proposition. Eventually, many of them actually said "yes" – the program turned out to be so great that we doubled our attendees from the year before. A lot of people might have given up after the first rejection, but it's just not in my nature. If I know something is possible, I have to keep trying until I get it." 16. Do you think you are overqualified for Police? 17. Responsibility is an important component of being a police officer. Have you ever taken out a student loan, mortgage, or car loan? Did you repay it on time? 18. As a police officer, you may be required to use lethal force if the situation requires it. Are you prepared to use lethal force if required? Are you prepared to discharge your firearm with lethal intent? 19. Give me an example of a situation when you had to deal with someone who was irate and being hostile with you? 20. Policing can be a physically demanding job. What do you do to keep health and in shape? 21. Is there any thing that would prevent you from meeting the physical requirements of law enforcement? 22. Police officers are often the subject of public scrutiny. Do you have anything in your background that would concern us? 23. Why do you want to serve as a police officer for this particular region or municipality? 24. Who are the mayor, the premier, and the police chief for this region? 25. What made you choose to apply to Police? 26. What have you learned from your past jobs? 27. Tells us about your military experience (if applicable). 28. Are you participating in any kind of personal fitness program? 29. Do you drink alcohol? 30. Have you used any kind of illicit drugs? 31. Do you have any kind of medical condition that we should know about? 32. Have you been involved in any car accidents? How many driving infractions have you received? 33. Why are you seeking a career as a police officer/deputy sheriff? 34. What education and experience do you possess that has prepared you for this career? 35. Police officers need to be able to handle conflict. Tell me about a time when you had to resolve conflict with someone? 36. Tell me about your last position and what you did? 37. What do you know about the position of Police? 38. What are key tasks for Police? 39. What are top 3 knowledge/top 3 skills for Police? 40. Did you choose this profession/field? 41. What tertiary qualifications have you attained that related to Police? 42. What is the most recent skill you have learned that related to Police? 43. Why do you want a career in law enforcement? 44. What makes you a suitable candidate as a police officer? 45. Have you applied to other law enforcement agencies? 46. What are some of your best qualities? 47. Do you work well with other people? 48. Describe the worst situation you have encountered in a work place. How did you deal with it? 49. How do you feel about carrying a gun and possibly having to take someone’s life in the line of duty? 50. What are the sources of stress in your personal and professional life? How do you manage this stress? 51. What is your pattern of alcohol use? 52. What type of interpersonal conflict have you experienced in your professional life? 53. What steps did you take to resolve the issue? 54. What personal qualities and traits do you possess that would make you well suited for a law enforcement career? 55. Which type of situations cause you to feel discouraged? Anxious? Irritated? 56. When have you had to take charge of a situation to quickly resolve a problem or crisis? 57. As a police officer you catch hold of your friend doing something illegal. How would you handle the situation? 58. Tell me about a suggestion you have made? 59. What irritates you about co-workers? 60. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure? 61. What have you learned from mistakes on the job? 62. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience? 63. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others. 64. Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? 65. When was the last time you were angry? What happened? 66. How do you handle stress/pressure? 67. How would you describe your work style? 68. Describe a typical work week? 69. How will your greatest strength help you perform? 70. What challenges are you looking for? 71. What will you do if you don’t get this position? 72. What do you expect from a supervisor? 73. What have you learned from your mistakes? 74. How did you handle challenges? 75. Give me an example of a time when you had to think out of the box? 76. Tell me about a time when you failed? 77. How would your past experience translate into success in this job? 78. Tell me about an assignment that was too difficult for you. How did you resolve the issue? 79. Tell me about a time when you faced a major obstacle at work? 80. What can you do for us that other candidates can’t? POLICE Questions with answers pdf Download :: Read the full article

[listoriented]

Bioshock 2 Remastered

j/k, I just played Minerva's Den

When/Where/Why/What/Who/Preamble: The “Remastered” version comes with any Bioshock or Bioshock 2 purchase these days, at least on steam, since Irrational rereleased the lot of them last year to celebrate some sort of anniversary. Obviously I was never going to actually play through the base game again, but seeing as it had the extra shelf on the library I thought I’d take a chance on Minerva’s Den, which is Bioshock 2’s standalone-ish DLC/expansion.

Minerva’s Den originally came out in late 2010, but it wasn’t on PC until May 2011. I bought it for $5 over the recent holidays sale.

Previous History/Expectations: I’ve never played or had any real exposure to the concept beyond it’s name, from which I envisaged the experience to look something like this for some reason.

However, last year when the Bioshock Collection was released and the gaming press were giving it some attention, I saw mentioned once or twice that Minerva’s Den was just quietly perhaps the best iteration of all Bioshock, so honestly my expectations began a little higher they would have otherwise (it’s probably fair to say I would not have followed this up on this DLC at all had this not been the case).

TIme Spent: 4 hours.

Completionometer: Yip.

Stars out of Ten: Having gotten over my disappointment at finding myself in an environment that seemed much like Rapture as we know it, and then gotten over the secondary wave of disappointment that I was, once again, definitely playing Bioshock, starting from scratch with plasmids, defending little sisters from waves of splicers, harvesting ADAM and learning story from voice recordings, and all the rest besides - I settled in to discover that yes, Minerva’s Den is actually pretty good.

You once again play as a rogue Big Daddy, once again in Rapture, bottom of the ocean, 1968. This time you’re known as “Sigma”, on whom you are given pretty much no background. You find yourself heading to Minerva’s Den, which turns out to be a largish building home to Rapture’s computery heart. It is decorated with chunky exposed mainframe parts of yore, which turns out to be the perfect supplement to Rapture’s 50’s capitalism-decay aesthetic.

The combat is much the same as in Bioshock 2 proper, unsurprisingly, although the set pieces are a little better and I had fewer moments of stuck frustration. There are a couple of fun new weapons and plasmids too, which are genuinely good additions to the arsenal, and best of all it more than ever felt like I could get work done without having to do too much shooting.

The plot ticks from other Bioshock games are there. You follow voice instructions from an unseen C.M. Porter, a former head honcho of Minerva’s Den but now exiled, who wants you to rescue his pet project, which is a supercomputer called The Thinker. His former colleague, Reed Wahl, power-grabbing computer-fetishist betrayer, wants to stop you using his requisite army of splicers and the requisite locking of doors, freezing over of rooms, that sort of thing used to stretch plot points that we’re so used to seeing by now.

But it succeeds because while the episode is brief enough, the story is cohesive, interesting and ultimately moving in a way that completely snuck up on me, although to say much more is to risk spoilers. It uses tried and tested techniques to tell a more self-contained and personal story, and finally showcases how Bioshock can deliver something powerful without the meta-moralising that has been the rest of the series’ trademark and, to an extent, downfall. All in all, Minerva’s Den left me feeling more benevolent toward Bioshock 2 than before I played it, which from a DLC point of view is pretty much as good as it gets.

up next is Bioshock Infinite

[jesseneufeld]

Retired, Reborn and Pursuing My Passion

It’s Monday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Monday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Yup, success stories are back! And I’m looking for more. Follow-ups, mid-progress reflections—every story at every stage has the potential to inspire folks out there who are getting started or contemplating a new beginning. Contact me here. Enjoy, everybody!

This week’s return to success stories features a contemporary of mine. (Yup, those of us in our 60s want to show what’s possible.) I hope you enjoy this follow-up story from reader Bob Connor. You’ll find his original success story reprinted below along with an inspiring update on where he is (and what he’s up to) now. 

ORIGINAL STORY:

Dear Mark,

I am an Athletic Director at an international school in Santiago, Chile; having arrived here this past July, from another school in Bangkok, Thailand. I am 57 years old (like you!), and I have been endeavoring to follow a Primal lifestyle for just over two years now. I had previously tried being a vegetarian, and then added some fish, but I did not feel much different or better. So, I started eating Primally and after the first few weeks (a tough adjustment with deleting all the grains and starchy carbs I had been eating), I began to notice some changes. I no longer would get any bloated/gassy discomfort, and I always felt “lean.” Additionally, my energy level increased and I honestly now feel like I have more energy these days than I did 5-10 years ago!

I have recently started the Primal Fitness routines and exercise suggestions, and the overall flexibility of the program has helped greatly—it is easy to adapt and modify depending on your schedule, and your overall motivation levels. Plus, I feel that I have gained a great deal of “functional fitness,” which is crucial. I also continue to use my TRX suspension trainer, and usually try to work out in my Vibram FiveFingers, along with doing various other bodyweight/core training workouts. Overall, I am feeling great as I enter my 7th decade on this planet!

My real story though, is more about helping others, which you have made your “mission,” Mark. When I started living Primally and feeling/looking better, people started noticing, and would ask me questions. I then began to spread the many benefits of this awesome lifestyle. In the past two years, I have purchased around 15 copies of THE PRIMAL BLUEPRINT, and given the book as a gift to friends whom I felt were truly interested, and would “give it a try.” I have also bought some Grok On t-shirts for some good friends who have “gone primal,” and I continue to regularly purchase some of your supplements, and recently some new Primal Fuel and the Primal Leap Kit. Reading your website daily and feeling the great effects of being Primal has really made me want to share as much info as possible with friends and colleagues. When I receive positive feedback from people, it is a great feeling—one which you experience every day, Mark!

For me—this is one of my favorites from a good friend still teaching in Thailand, as he had just returned from a summer trip to the U.S.—

Just wanted to say thanks again for changing my life. Had a great summer. Bought the FiveFinger KSOs, and working out is even more fun than before! Big difference.

Being in the states was challenging for me in terms of eating Primal. Stayed with my mom and dad, and they eat like typical Americans. Been back in Bangkok for a month now and have regained all the strength, explosiveness, and stamina that I lost in the US. Amazing how one month of eating junk can change the body’s performance.

I now feel and look great again. I have lots of energy and feel totally rejuvenated in life. I owe you so much.

Take care, Andrew

I have several other affirmations from friends and even some high school students also, but I have gone on long enough already. I often get funny looks and comments when people see my FiveFingers shoes on my feet, and many others wonder why I refuse to eat the typical “conventional-Western” diet. I try to explain the many reasons, all based on research and evidence (thank you again!), but most just shrug me off and think I am nuts—including some of my own family members. Yet, this only encourages me, as I am definitely committed to staying on this Primal journey, and I will continue to spread your message to whomever I think will listen. I am convinced that this is the ONLY way to go, and I now think that my next job will be in the health-fitness profession. I agree with my friend Andrew—I owe you so much, Mark!

Thanks for listening, and as always – GROK ON!

UPDATE:

I started my personal primal journey back in 2009 with my first success story featured on Mark’s Daily Apple in 2010.

Five years later, I became one of the original “Legacy” Primal Blueprint Certified Experts completing the first iteration of the Primal Health Coach Institute course—recently passing the recertification exam and studying all of the extensive information in the amazing Business Resource Center. It feels great to stay up-to-date on the latest Primal Health Coach education!

After a long career as an educator in numerous international schools, I retired from my last full-time position at the International School Bangkok in Thailand in June 2018. Following my retirement from education, I started my new small business venture as a Primal Health Coach here in Bangkok with a good number of clients ready to sign up for my services. I have been a coach for most of my 35+ years in education, almost entirely with student-athletes on various sports teams, so moving into Primal Health Coaching has been a smooth transition.

For the previous few years, I had been teaching free large group fitness classes for the teachers and staff at the school. Attendance was always quite good, with anywhere from 15-30+ people showing up each week for my Fitness Fun sessions. I am now paid by the school to lead two classes a week (people still attend free of charge), now known Primal Power Fitness Fun sessions.

Additionally, a number of teachers, parents, staff and downtown Bangkok residents have become Primal Power clients. I work with 25-30 people on a weekly basis as their health coach and/or fitness trainer.

This new venture has been incredibly gratifying with wonderful client results. It feels so great to be pursuing my true passion in life—passing on my knowledge and expertise of all things PRIMAL!!

Besides coaching and teaching, I have been partnering with a paleo-friendly grocery company in Bangkok, offering seminars, workshops and presentations on various health and wellness topics to a variety of audiences in the city. My presentations always include a number of concepts from the Primal Blueprint lifestyle, which inevitably bring up both typical questions and surprising comments from conventional wisdom viewpoints.

For all of this, I am incredibly grateful to Mark Sisson himself (I believe we are both the same age), and to the entire Primal Health Coach Institute community: program administrators, graduates and current students. I continue to learn so much on a daily basis from the facebook posts, webinars and PHCI blog posts. And of course, from the Mark’s Daily Apple posts where it all started!

At 66 years young, I can honestly say that I have more consistent energy on a daily basis, and I believe that I am physically stronger than I was 20 years ago! Following a primal lifestyle has been incredibly effective, and I genuinely believe that others will benefit similarly if they adopt the basic primal rules of living awesomely!

Read more about Bob’s journey and his passion for Primal living. Have YOU had success with Primal living and/or keto eating? Share your success story by emailing me here. Thanks, everybody, and have a great week.

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