#not entirely sure how to tag the ones that are extensions of my own pre-existing work

[spiritofjustice]

dark dragon vers of magicant 👀

(In response to the tags of this post)

Anyways, yeah! It's interesting that Magicant doesn't really appear in Mother 3. It feels like such a cool and interesting part of being a PSI user in the Mother series, but whatever. I imagine a being as powerful as the Dark Dragon, who in my view is a being made of the Earth's Power, has to have a Magicant. I imagine Magicants, though large, do have limits to their size. The world can only exist inside one's head, so it is usually contained to one town and a surrounding area, whereas I think that the Dark Dragon's Magicant is significantly larger than that.

It's probably impossible to explore the entire thing, considering that. It kind of grows infinitely as necessary and is sprawling. It's sort of why travel works weirdly in Her Magicant; because it'd take too long to get anywhere if travel worked the way it did in reality. You sort of just inevitably appear in one place or another, the path in front of you stretching and squishing down to what is necessary for you. It's a lot of natural space, but there are some different settlement-type areas around.

I'm sure there are Denizens of this Magicant that were created of Her mind for Her mind, but I haven't developed that much. Who else is contained in there, though, includes the Magifolk; Magicant is already shell-themed, as are the homes of the Magifolk, so to me it feels like that perhaps they are a creation of the Dark Dragon. They get to have a big, shell-themed castle. So they disappeared, but they still exist in some form in Magicant.

In terms of other things, I talked extensively about "forest gods" in Jonel's chapter that are just splinters of the Dragon that carry out Her will and watch over different areas of Nowhere on Her behalf. The stag and the Drago appear in that chapter. There are some others, but the only other one I developed was a dog one, but anyways. The difference between how those forest gods appear in reality vs. Magicant is sort of interesting; in reality, they're just vague shadowy shapes, whereas in Magicant they are actual, physical black animals. They also talk, whether flat out being the vessel for the Dragon to speak with, or with their own voices.

They sort of act as guides around Magicant in the same way that they are guides in reality. They're wise, and want to help someone who visits-- because it is possible, though very rare and would be up to the Dragon's discretion. Per Kumatora's chapter, she was selected to enter because she is connected to the Magifolk and needed to speak with them. In addition, the proof of concept chapter I mentioned starred Lucas visiting, and this is something he's done many times, although this was the first time he was allowed to explore it.

I digress. The last set of pre-existing denizens in Magicant would be Chosen Ones relating to the Dragon. Anybody who has been connected to Her still has a copy of themselves living within this Magicant. To keep it short, prior to Her being sealed away, the Chosen Ones were all in one long familial line, until the last one decided to betray Her and attempt to control the Dragon, which wound up with Her being sealed away because she attempted to kill off humans for it. Not that She could act all that rationally when he was the one controlling Her heart anyways, so She had to be sealed away until She could be revived and controlled by another again.

So, there's a long line of people who all worked alongside Her, and now exist as copies in Magicant. It isn't the real version of that person, just an imitation of them. Even the one that betrayed Her is probably still in there somewhere, just hidden deep away forever, separate from the others. There's a copy for Lucas already, and it's very eerie on both ends-- both the real version and the Magicant version-- to know that one of you is just a mere copy of somebody who is real. Lucas found it deeply unsettling, and so did his counterpart. But they all live there, peacefully given a sort of afterlife within Magicant with Her.

Magicant similarly also is where the Dragon exists, since Her size makes it difficult for Her to exist on the same plane as reality. I mean, She can, She just generally chooses not to because it interferes with Nowhere and the creatures living on it. Essentially, you have to contact Her via the Prayer Sanctuary-- I guess you could do it anywhere, but that's the best option-- in order to see Her. Even then, there's no guarantee you will. Jonel saw a small portion of the Dragon's Magicant, and saw part of Her true form, but he isn't really capable or allowed to see Her as She really is.

I imagine She really does just look like a dragon, ginormous, pitch-black, the big, white moon eyes I always mention. Though with Magicant, She can also squish Her form down to something smaller as necessary, it's just not Her true form, and therefore not preferable to Her. The Dragon could take many forms, such as the forest gods, though I think She can also take the form of a human if She'd so like. Either She would imitate one of Her Chosen Ones (-Dragon pointing at Lucas- this is the ideal human body. you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like) or just take on Her own unique form.

I think the Dragon could also squish Her form in reality, it's just easier to not exist there at all. If She needs to make an appearance, then She will, but overall, the Dragon really tries not to interfere with human lives unless absolutely necessary to avoid them becoming reliant upon Her. But if you really need advice, and you really need to ask Her for help, trying to contact Her in the sanctuary, as mentioned, is a good bet. The Magicant is also Her reception area for people basically GRHF. You can get a good chat there.

And that's basically it, far as I can remember. It's a way less wacky version of Magicant compared to Ness's, and is more structured the way Maria's is. I think the more powerful you are, plus perhaps the older you are, the more stable Magicant becomes. It's still an odd, eerie place, but it's like a fantasy world more than a bizarre dream. Time doesn’t work right, it’s always bright, so on.  It's a world unlike any other, and would be the most unique Magicant anybody could possibly visit. After all, I think a god's Magicant is something pretty damn special and significant.

[handdrawnfantasma]

back when i was knee-deep in avoiding my end-of-year-coursework stress in late spring this year i did a rewatch of flux and made notes on my thoughts on all the episodes. now i’ve reached that point again in my pre-tpotd rewatch i figure i may as well clean up and post the ones that never made it out of my drafts so here we go, the flux rewatch and associated Thoughts(tm) continue now in once, upon time edition

i still love Bel SOOOOOO much holy shit. every time she is on screen i am SO invested in her. honestly i think her leitmotif is one of the best bits of music segun akinola has composed during his run on this show?? i love her determination i love how much she Cares i love how she admits that she’s trying to make sense of a world that no longer makes sense. LOVE IS THE ONLY MISSION. IDIOT.

i also love how bel’s part of the story is like. so necessary for again, showing us what the post-flux universe looks like. and it DOES show us what the actual universe looks like, bc she is here on this journey looking for Vinder than spans multiple planets/parts of space. which like, correct me if i’m wrong but i don’t think any other “the universe is ending” plotline in new who has ever actually shown us that as extensively?? we’re often TOLD it’s affecting things but we only ever see it from an Earth perspective or companion perspective. here we’re getting someone who’s not from Earth and who is on an epic odyssey of her own and who doesn’t know the doctor or companions and honestly i really love it. ALSO everything about the way the post-flux universe works is so Sunless like. day randomly switching to night?? maps don’t make sense anymore?? the destruction bel flies through on her way to try and find vinder and how it seemingly defies so many laws of physics and is all the more unsettling for it?? the damage to space and now time gradually eroding what’s left of the universe?? it’s all SO Sunless, thank u creative team of this era for catering to MY interests, specifically, i feel so pandered to

also like, it’s Interesting how Bel mentions that there’s a rumour spreading about the mouri being compromised, bc like........ the mouri being on a planet that is supposedly not meant to even exist makes u wonder how something like that spreads. is it bc the flow of time is already so damaged that it’s actually making it POSSIBLE for that rumour to spread bc time is no longer as linear as it should be (plus the flux having destroyed so much of the universe already making space wibbly as well as much smaller???). or is it just that the person she says she heard this rumour from in a bar had connections to all of this Deep Lore?? much to think about. from a doylist perspective Bel being able to do a monologuey-voiceover about this was probably to aid with narrative flow and make sure that the mouri being compromised = the universe getting even more broken connection was firmly established in our heads, but STILL, i could world-build so much fanfiction from this if i so chose

i’ve talked about this recently in one of my tag rambles on someone else’s post but like........ the daleks and cybermen squabbling over the scraps of the post-flux universe trying to be the rulers of what’s left rather than like. doing anything to help the situation. once again chibs is not subtle with the ongoing theme of imperialist regimes and empires taking advantage of catastrophes for their own gain and like tbh. he uses these old-sci-fi-style allegories really well to aid his point. Bel is Right when she tells the last cyberman she downs that any victory they gained would be hollow and pointless. they want to rule over the universe for the glory of being able to say they rule over the universe, even if that universe is empty. ideology ENTIRELY divorced from reality

okay all that side, turning my attention now to all the temple of atropos stuff......... at the time i made this post i just typed “many thoughts head full re: the nature of the mouri and atropos and the anchoring of the thread” and tbh that is still true. the mouri were “assigned” by persons about whom “information is unavailable” to hold Time together and control it into a linear form but other than that they are still VERY mysterious. (i kind of love this btw, i FIRMLY believe that anything to do with ordering such a fundamental part of the universe as we know it in a fictional setting SHOULD stay shrouded in mystery and defy understanding). but that just opens up so many questions, like - are the mouri like eternals? do they even exist in the same dimension as our main characters, or as temporal beings are they almost entirely removed from it? were they always creatures whose nature was related to time, with the ability to control time and withstand it being channelled through them, and was this ability co-opted by whoever it was that “assigned” them to their posts in the temple of atropos, or are we looking at something even more sinister than that??? do the mouri have a culture?? i have SO many questions and will enjoy generating potential answers to these questions for y e a r s

anyway i still love how the timeline stuff and the chaos of time running mad was handled in this episode. like it was chaotic but honestly it SHOULD have been. and i also loved how everyone’s experience of being pulled through their own timestream was so different?? this was really cool. like the difference between Dan’s chaotic jumping around his timestream from moment to moment mid-conversation vs Vinder’s very linear experience of key moments from his backstory vs 13 being continually pulled back into the same lost memory vs Yaz experiencing moments that she doesn’t even recognise. some actually really enjoyable timey wimey bullshit

like with dan - the seamless change between time and place while he’s still talking, all of these shifts in space and time happening during one single conversation with Di?? so unsettling, love this. the fact that Di herself seems to at one point also move forward in time and become aware of her true place in the timestream rather than continue playing her scripted role in whatever conversation Dan is remembering was also VERY neat, like, i wonder if that was because the Passenger form with her inside is nearby in the physical space outside of the timestorm that the flux gang are trapped inside?? also!! i love that this is the first time that Dan meets Joseph Williamson and it’s while the dude is wielding a very un-1820s-like laser gun. quality DW buffonery

then with vinder, i thought it was actually a REALLY good storytelling device to use his being trapped in the timestorm to give us his backstory exposition and how he came to be on the outpost that we first met him in in 13x01. i actually really loved that while his timey wimey bs was much more linear and he was seemingly much more buried in playing out the events as they happened to him, there was the Off part of Yaz repeatedly showing up replacing figures in his backstory and probs contributing to those short moments where he became Aware of the fact that he was reliving things he already lived.  and his backstory itself is so interesting, it’s probably one of my favourite parts of this episode because it’s drawn so clearly and with such confidence - the ace pilot bg, the complicity with the Grand Serpent’s political machinations (stopping the recording and hearing the deal he makes to have the family of his political opponent meet nasty accidents), and then subsequently deciding to do the right thing and expose it once it’s happened... i’ve seen people draw comparisons between both Vinder and Kate Stewart and also Vinder and the Doctor and honestly, it’s absolutely valid on all counts, he’s absolutely here as another example of someone who was complicit in a corrupt system but then decided to turn away from it because of the strength of their convictions regardless of the cost to themselves. his complicated feelings about home! he swore loyalty to his constitution, not to a single person, but unfortunately that constitution turns out to mean next to nothing when other people would rather see him exiled for trying to uphold that integrity. also: everything with the grand serpent is still so sunless lol

yaz - back in april i wrote how it was interesting how yaz’s timestream is showing her stuff from her FUTURE, but now with the TPOTD trailer out and the 2 planets (2 Earths???) firing at each other, i’m wondering if there isn’t another explanation to this. an alternate timeline leaking through the cracks in the broken time??? back when i first watched this ep i thought it was just the scene with Sonya but on a rewatch the way that Yaz was talking it’s clear that the scene in the police car is also something she hasn’t lived through yet either?? either way, still hoping that this is Proof/foreshadowing that yaz is going to survive and choose to leave the TARDIS on her own terms (tbh, i am like 85% sure that this is what is going to happen tonight. don’t fuck this up for me Chibs). but in any case: also interesting how the angel chooses to stalk Yaz when 13 is its real target. i guess there’s an argument to be made that Yaz experiencing these disruptions in her timestream featuring events that she hasn’t experienced is only down to the presence of the angel within it, so all my speculation above could be totally baseless, but oh well! fun possibilities to rotate in my mind all around. also also interesting how 13 is the most Present when she drops in on Yaz’s timestream as opposed to when she drops in as a floating hologram-esque thing for Vinder and Dan. VERY obvious who 13′s priority is lmaoooo

anyway moving on to 13 and good lord there is SO MUCH JUICY STUFF HERE. i love how john bishop replicates karvanista’s mannerisms so well?? like if you’re looking for it or Know then its very clear from the start that Dan is Dan-As-Karvanista. i’m like 67% certain that Yaz is Yaz-As-Gat based on the mannerisms and that Vinder is Vinder-As-Lee based on mannerisms + the fact that when the Doctor was experiencing “temporal hazing” he’s the one that the other two send to talk to her so like...... please give me all the Fugitive Doctor’s Division team content?? i’m SO INTERESTED in this!! the “temporal hazing” injections are sus af. like they’re clearly enough of a routine thing that it opens up the awful possibility that this is just another tool in Division’s toolbox for controlling the Doctor, perhaps via making sure that any memories they don’t want bleeding through are suppressed?? this combined with the tidbit that this mission on Atropos was supposed to be the Fugitive Doctor’s last job for Division and that it was sold to her as such when we already know from 12x05 that Division had NEGATIVE interest in letting her go and she eventually just took matters into her own hands, removed her own identity and hid herself on Earth as a human, including burying her TARDIS next to a lighthouse, all in the name of escaping Division, like......... can we say Big Yikes!!

interesting tidbit dropped here that Passenger forms are banished from this dimension but of course that doesn’t stop Division from using them. also very funny how Swarm thinks he’s hot shit and ~danced around the universe~ with the Dr but everything about the Drs attitude in this flashback suggests that she does not Care. like this is just routine for her, she is So Bored. he raises some interesting points tho. “it’s a complicated moral high ground you occupy”. “working for Division must be so compromising”. also Confirmed that “erasure of identity” and “isolation prison terms for the infinite duration of the universe” are common tactics in the Division playbook. its interesting that 13 in the memory, as the Fugitive!Doctor, still frames the mission as being for the sake of the universe like. i have so many questions about this. is this a classic dr coping mechanism, is this how Division frames things to her to make what they send her to do more palatable to her/her more biddable, like... What

anyway that scene right after time is fixed and the mouri are put back where 13 is absolutely beside herself from being denied the end of the memory she was just living through is so painful to watch. honestly i’m really sympathetic to her here but the bit 5 mins later where she again says something Concerning, Actually that Yaz RIGHTLY asks her about only for her to snap ‘does everything have to be a discussion?’ i am less so. stop being a dick!! (this is my emotional reaction obvs, as a writer i am LIVING for this moment bc i feel like with this being the halfway point of Flux, this is like... the summit of Flux’s throughline of 13′s grief+obsession with finding the truth about herself+inability/unwillingness to talk to anyone about what she’s feeling/doing poisoning all her interpersonal relationships, it’s honestly very very good)

i STILL love Dan again bringing the fight me energy and also the “him and the dr are the same kind of idiot” energy. extremely funny to me that Dan was ready to do the Exact Same thing for Di that 13 just did for Yaz and 13, king hypocrite, holds him back with a “do as you’re told, you don’t know what you’re dealing with, i do”. like on the one hand she’s RIGHT, Dan trying to get Di out of the Passenger would do nothing but put him in danger as well, but it’s still hysterically funny. they are LITERALLY the same kind of idiot.

i think i actually rambled in the tags already about my excitement and fascination over the fact that Vinder knows what a TARDIS is but i am going to leave in my statement about it anyway!! it’s just so INTERESTING. LIKE. WAS HIS HOME A GALLIFREYAN CLIENT STATE or what. involved in the Time War?? some other thing??? i have so many questions!!!!

Vinder’s hologram message for Bel, as well as being extremely sweet, is just.........  extremely nice foreshadowing and parallel for the hologram message that 13 leaves for yaz in 2 episodes time. chibs was REALLY not being subtle wrt setting up thasmin as a thing by making this very intentional and obvious parallel with the established romantic couple who spend this serial Yearning and fighting to get back to each other here

ALSO LIKE........Vinder’s home planet being destroyed?? like it makes sense bc of the nature of the Flux but i can’t help feeling like this is some kind of callback to some s12 stuff here for sure. Vinder is clearly someone who cares about his home despite the complicated position he must occupy with regards to it now, and considering him and Bel have a shared history with it, it must be a wrench to see it that way!! (cross-reference 13′s own complicated loss of Gallifrey, i guess). 13 gives Vinder a direct line to her and the TARDIS thus again proving one of my fave things abt 13 which is that She Cares. like even when she’s hurting and being an asshole she cares so much that it spills out of her lmf. like also cross-reference with how when the angel has the TARDIS she IMMEDIATELY puts herself between yaz+dan and the threat like. im okay i am fine and normal about this

[novelconcepts]

Looking forward to whatever you`ve been writing on! I always wondered what Judy`s reaction would have been in `on the hunt (for who I’ve not yet become)` when they eventually told her. Like how did that go down. Or something to do with their story after the fic finished idk I just really loved that story.

“I can’t do this.”

Dani glances over her shoulder, frowning. They had been, until this moment, walking in more or less perfect tandem--Dani trying to whittle down her usual stride, Jamie moving at twice her natural clip--a steady flow of forward until just now. Now, with Jamie pulling up fast, her hand in Dani’s performing a sort of rubber-band-snap trick to keep them both on the pavement.

“What do you mean, you can’t do this?”

“This.” Jamie, grim-faced, gestures down the block. The house is still just out of sight, the car parked a truly ridiculous distance away. Jamie’s idea; If she sees us, she’d muttered, we won’t get a moment’s peace to figure it all out. 

“We have to tell her sometime,” Dani points out. “I mean--we do, don’t we?”

“Yes. No. Doesn’t have to be now, does it? Why don’t we just--just wait until we’re sending out wedding invitations. Or invitations to my funeral. Or never.”

Dani, despite herself, grins. It’s not that Jamie doesn’t get nervous--it’s just that Jamie doesn’t tend to show it. Not like she does, all sharp intake of breath and tight-clenched fists. Jamie’s nerves are quiet, smoothed over, tucked into the motion of hands which are never left idle. Jamie’s nerves are an unexpected kiss, a fumble of motion, the constant urge to put those feelings somewhere productive.

Now, she’s standing stock-still on this too-familiar street, one hand loose in Dani’s. Stock-still, looking for the first time in years like the child who had gazed balefully around a foreign living room. 

“Christ, she’s gonna fuckin’ disown me.”

She looks like she believes it, the only thing that keeps Dani from laughing outright at the idea. She believes it, and there’s a small, simple hurt on her face at the idea--her jaw held tight, her shoulders hunched. Dani presses a hand to her cheek, leaning in until their foreheads meet. 

“She won’t. You know she won’t. You’re her kid.”

“He’s her kid,” Jamie corrects, breath skidding across Dani’s lips in a way that--even at this inopportune moment--makes her pulse race. They’ve been building this beautiful thing together for a few months, and the heat of it never quite seems to fade. “I’m just the baggage.”

“Stop.” Dani kisses her once, softly. “Stop doing that. No falling back on bad habits, Jamie. She’ll be happy for us.”

She says it, and she means it, as if there isn’t a tiny spark of absolute terror kindled in her own heart at the idea of telling Judy O’Mara the truth. That Dani has not moved all the way to Vermont to share Jamie’s little apartment out of friendly camaraderie. That Dani has spent the last few months shaping a life around not only school and new friends, as she’s told Judy over the phone, but around learning just how well she and Jamie fit together. 

They do. They fit so well. Jamie’s bed--their bed--has become the kind of safe haven she hadn’t known she could find anywhere. Jamie’s fingers toying with the braid of a worn old bracelet is like coming home. 

“Come on.” She squeezes Jamie’s hand, kisses her again, lets the warmth of Jamie’s body steer her toward courage. “Like a band-aid, Jamie. Just rip it off.”

“Better idea,” Jamie says, though her legs are moving reluctantly forward again. “We go back to the hotel, I rip other things off instead, we forget this whole stupid idea.”

Tempting. “After. Come on, you haven’t seen her in how long?”

Jamie doesn’t answer. Hand in hand, they walk, and with every house they pass, a few more years seem to cycle back. They are twenty-three, newly bound, and they are seventeen, unaware of one another, and they are twelve, camped out under too-few stars. 

They are on the front step, Jamie’s hand falling away, tucking restlessly into the pocket of her jacket like she’s terrified to be seen gripping Dani’s. Dani presses the tips of her fingers lightly to Jamie’s back for a moment. 

“Deep breath. She loves you.”

“Gonna fuckin’ find out,” Jamie mutters. 

The door swinging open feels like a portal to the past, Judy O’Mara’s small frame somehow seeming as expansive as it had when Dani had been eight years old. Her face wears a few more lines these days, but wears them well--the pride of a woman who has loved hard, raised good kids, made a place for herself in the world that feels warm and right. Her eyes are wide, her mouth falling open in a delighted grin, even as Dani raises a hand in a small wave.

“Surprise?”

“You didn’t tell me you were coming to town!” She pushes through the storm door, hugging them both in a single sweeping motion that nearly knocks Jamie off the porch. “Oh my god, you should have called, I’d have made a feast!”

“It’s eleven in the morning,” Jamie mumbles, but Dani can see her smiling. The Judy O’Mara of her anxious mind can’t withstand, even for a second, the truth of the woman. 

“A feast for lunch, then,” Judy says without missing a beat. She leans back, takes Jamie by the chin, turns her head gently from side to side as though looking for new scars. “You look good. Healthy. You finally learn to cook?”

“She did,” Jamie replies, tilting her head toward Dani. “Sort of.”

“I make an excellent roasted salmon,” Dani proclaims, “and...very little else.”

“Well, come in! Come in, tell me--I mean, you have to tell me everything, right? Oh, I wish I’d known, I would have moved some things around, told Mike the game could wait.”

“Game?” Jamie seems frozen on the porch, her face unreadable. Judy is moving deeper into the living room, her back to them, and Dani takes the opportunity to slip an arm around Jamie’s waist to guide her over the threshold. 

“Baseball. You know how the boys are.”

Never interested in baseball, Dani thinks wryly, remembering all the times Eddie had complained that nothing ever happened in a sport that slow. 

“They won’t be back until tomorrow, they drove all the way to Indiana for the thing. Silly,” Judy is saying. “Come on, into the kitchen, I can at least get you girls something to drink.”

“That’s, uh. That’s all right, actually,” Dani says, following the familiar path back to the big kitchen table. It feels a little less expansive now, a little more worn; the wood is pocked in places, scuffed and weathered by decades of plate and fork and cups laid down without coaster. “We really just came to see you.”

“Oh, that’s sweet to say.” Judy makes a flapping gesture without looking, busy at the kettle. Jamie, grimacing, sinks slowly down in her old seat as if pulled by magnetic force. “But I know how much you must miss Edmund. Even after it all...you know. He still loves you so much, Danielle.”

"I’ll bet,” Jamie says in a low voice. Dani kicks her very gently under the table, amused when Jamie arches a brow that says oh, there will be consequences for that later. 

Can’t wait, she thinks with a dizzy, rather inappropriate burst of desire, her hand creeping over to rest on Jamie’s knee. There’s a stabilizing sensation to the act, reminding her in no uncertain terms: this is who she is now. This, not Eddie’s long-lost girl, but someone lucky enough to be so in love with Jamie, it sometimes puts an ache into her chest. 

“Not to say you should be getting back together,” Judy says, running steel straight up Dani’s spine. 

“You--you aren’t?”

“Oh, Danielle, it’s been such a long time. I’d be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, you know, when it happened--but I always thought, in the back of my mind, how many childhood sweethearts really work out? You grow up. You grow apart. It’s natural.”

Jamie is grinning, biting the inside of her cheek, her knee beginning to shudder under Dani’s palm as her boot rocks against the tile floor. Dani squeezes harder.

“Well, that’s--that’s sort of the thing,” she says. “The reason we wanted to visit. We, um. We’ve--well--”

Judy is doing that mom thing she’s always admired, carrying three steaming mugs to the table without spilling a drop. She takes a seat across from them, beaming with every inch of her face, and Dani thinks, Love. This is what love looks like. This will be okay. 

“Judy, I--I wanted you to be the first to--I mean...”

There are words here, she knows with frustration. Words, not even so big or so complicated, if only she can pluck them from the air. Just say it, Dani. Just say--

“I never thanked you properly,” Jamie says. Her voice is impossibly steady, her face passive. Beneath the table, her leg has stopped its jittering dance at last. Judy looks surprised, Dani’s teeth clacking shut on her own stammering. 

“Why do you say that, dear?”

“’Cause it’s true,” Jamie says simply. “Never did. All those years of feedin’ me, keeping clothes on my back, never once making me feel...unwanted. Didn’t have to do that, Judy. No one was making you.”

Judy’s surprise is inching toward some emotion Dani can’t quite pinpoint--pleasure, that Jamie is saying this now, or pain, that Jamie thinks for a second she wasn’t worth it. “Sweetheart, of course I--I mean, you’re my kid. You know that.”

“Wasn’t, though,” Jamie says, almost earnestly. She’s leaning across the table, her hand moving to press Judy’s. “Was just some wee mess stumbling into your life, wasn’t I? And not always grateful, besides. I was--I don’t know what I was, half the time, but I was always lucky. So fucking--sorry, sorry, so utterly lucky. Was smart enough, at least, to figure that out.”

Judy’s cheeks are bright, her eyes brimming. She seems quite unable to speak, which Jamie seems to take as a relief. Her voice is rolling with surprising emotion, pushing a little faster than is normal, save for her most vulnerable moments. 

“I was lucky you took me in, and lucky your family was willing to open up for one more. And I was...really lucky for this one.” Her eyes cut to Dani, her foot curling beneath the table around Dani’s ankle. “You brought me to her. Don’t think I can ever be grateful enough for that.”

Judy looks almost puzzled, though she’s smiling. “I’m glad to hear it. I always had a feeling, you know. That...you were a good match, somehow. You balance out. It’s important, having a friend like that.”

Friend, thinks Dani with a mouth gone dry. Best friend, sure. Best friend I can’t imagine ever being without again. 

“You brought me to her,” Jamie repeats, almost stubborn, though she’s smiling. “I’ve never loved anyone more. Don’t think I could, given all the time in the world.”

The air seems to go still, the kitchen suddenly rife with small noises Dani’s never noticed before. The hum of the refrigerator. The trickle of water down the drain through a leaky faucet. The tap of Judy’s slipper against the floor. 

“Please say something,” Jamie says. “I don’t honestly know how to--”

“Eddie had an idea,” Judy says quietly. “When you were all still, gosh, back in high school. Long time ago, it seems now.”

Dani is nodding reflexively. Jamie isn’t moving at all.

“There was...a party? I think. Almost didn’t let you all go, it was against my best judgement, but--I figured, if you were together, what harm could come of it? And then Eddie came home early. Tried to pretend he wasn’t drunk, like he’s ever been good at lying, and wasn’t angry.”

Her voice is almost dreamy with memory, her back leaning against the chair as she raises the mug to her lips. She isn’t quite looking at either of them.

“I asked him where you two were. I remember being furious that he’d leave you alone. And I remember, very clearly, him saying something strange. Danielle doesn’t need me when she’s got her. I remember that so well. Danielle doesn’t need me when she’s got her.”

Jamie swallows audibly. Her hand is still resting on the table, inches from where Judy’s was not so long ago. She looks as though she’d very much like to give in to the oldest Jamie-urge in the book, to push up and bolt from the house without looking back. Dani traces her kneecap through her jeans, fingers pressing firmly until Jamie draws a deep breath. 

“I thought it was so odd,” Judy goes on. “That he’d say something like that. But he wasn’t in his right mind, and by the time I heard you sneak in--yes, Jamie, you were never as subtle as you thought, dear--he was fast asleep. No one said anything else about it, and I thought maybe you’d just gotten into a fight. Young love is like that. It can be so jealous.”

Not always, Dani thinks. If Jamie was jealous--and she’s sure she was, to a point; there are some feelings too big and too natural to ward off completely--she tried not to let it show. Jamie’s love has always been sunlight, reassuring and steady and there even when clouds roll in. 

“This is why,” Judy says, looking Dani in the eye. “Isn’t it?”

“Why he was mad?”

“Why you broke it off.” Her eyes never blink, never stray, her gaze as solid as the table. “You said it was because you didn’t love him the right way. I didn’t understand what that meant, but I knew you knew. Always knew your own mind, Danielle. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”

Dani breathes, trying hard to quell the dizzy rush in her head. “Judy, I--”

“She doesn’t think she needs anyone taking care of her,” Judy goes on, like she hasn’t spoken. “Never did, even when she barely came up to my hip. Always thought she had it handled.” Her gaze slides to Jamie’s face, her lips curving. “Isn’t that right?”

“Right,” Jamie says, sounding breathless. 

“But you took care of her anyway. Every step of the way. Wouldn’t listen to me or anyone else, but she always listened to you, didn’t she?”

“Right,” Dani says, a helpless grin working onto her face. This feels like a dream. This feels like a story not quite within her own control. Judy sighs, sips her tea. 

“Well. There’s nothing more to it, then, is there?”

“There isn’t?” Dani asks. Judy pushes up from the table, shaking her head. 

“I only have one question.”

The silence is too loud, punctuated by hum and drip and tap. The silence is going to drive her crazy, Dani believes, and drive Jamie to run, and this is all going to fall apart because she so desperately needed for Judy O’Mara to know them--

“Will you be staying the night?”

“What?” Jamie says, in the same moment Dani blurts, “Sorry?”

“Staying the night,” Judy repeats. “Jamie, we’ve converted your room into a sort of hodgepodge storage-guest combination, but you can just throw all those boxes into the hall. I don’t suppose you’ll be needing the sleeping bag.”

“I--” Jamie is shaking her head very slowly, as though trying to clear water from her ears. “I--no, we’ve got...a hotel...”

“Oh, that’s just silly.” Judy waves a dismissive hand. “You’ll take the room. No sense spending money, you already came home.”

Home, Dani thinks, her heart pounding. Home, here, in the O’Mara house--an address she’d never quite claimed, but the place where all her fondest memories live all the same. The place she grew up. The place that brought her to Jamie. 

“Have you stopped in to see your mother yet?” Judy asks. “I can invite her to dinner, if you like, I haven’t caught up with her in...months, now, probably--”

“You’re not,” Jamie begins, the words drying up before they can truly escape. Judy pauses at the sink, her hand tipping the remnants of her tea toward the drain. 

“Not what, sweetheart?”

That word, more than anything, seems to unbind Jamie’s calm. That word, a simple endearment spread back through their lives like so much love in two syllables, belonging to Judy and Judy alone. Jamie swallows again, presses a hand to her jaw, closes her eyes.

“Upset,” she croaks at last. Judy raises an eyebrow. 

“My kids are happy. What on earth would I be upset about?”

It’s not a good time, Dani thinks as Jamie slumps against the table in mingled relief and exhaustion, to say I told you so. Later, she thinks--when they’re nestled in a bed just a little too small for their adult frames, when Jamie is looking up at her with glazed delight, when they’re trying their best to make a kiss sound like silence. Maybe she’ll do it then. I told you she loved you. I told you. 

Now, watching Jamie slide from the table, move across the kitchen in a daze, slip her arms around Judy in a firm hug, Dani thinks--not for the first time--that family is as much a choice as it is a gift. That Judy has always chosen well. That Jamie has learned from the best. 

Told you, she thinks, feeling perfectly at peace. 

[nanowrimo]

5 Tips for Fast Drafting from a New York Times Bestselling Author

NaNoWriMo is basically an exercise in fast drafting: getting as much of the first draft of the story as you can on the page as quickly as possible. Today, bestselling author J. Elle is here to share some pro tips for fast drafting: My first middle grade novel took me nine days to write. 

The first draft was about 40,000 words or so. And yes, it needed to be revised before it sold to a publisher. But the meat of the story was on the page in just over a week’s time. I’d never drafted anything quite that fast before. Within a single month I’d written an entire novel, revised it a couple times and readied it for sale. A few months later that novel sold at auction and will be on shelves May 2022. 

I still look back on this feat with a bit of shock and awe. To date I’ve sold five novels to major publishers, two young adult, two middle grade and one non fiction and my experience fast drafting has forever altered the way I approach writing. I should mention, fast drafting isn’t for everyone. Writing is such a personal thing and each storyteller has their own process, but in the event getting the first draft out is the biggest hurdle for you, like it is for me, I’m going to share five tips for knocking out that first draft in record time. 

1. Start with a SHORT story pitch.

Pitching a story in a few words is tough. But it’s a worthy effort and the best use of your time before you get any words on the page. Why? Because it helps you hone in on the core of your story and its hook. A good short pitch involves the character, their dilemma, and a hint of the stakes. In October of 2018 I pitched my YA debut novel in a tweet which then blew up. Not many words can fit in a tweet, but by choosing the right set of words, I was able to convey the heart of my story and it really resonated. (From that tweet, I signed with a literary agent and sold my debut novel to a Big 5 publisher in a six-figure-deal.) The biggest favor you can do for yourself is understand the story—its essence, its core—you’re trying to tell before you start drafting. And that’s hard. But the more you play around with creating a short pitch, you’ll begin to see a clear snapshot of what your book is going to be about. That’s your jumping off point. 

2. Expand your pitch into tent pole beats.

From your short pitch, spend some time deciding on what your major beats are. Now, yes this is a bit like outlining. And for you pantsers out there, I empathize with you. I was a pantser and still am in many ways. But I still do this step because this step ultimately saves me time. The beauty of fast drafting is that you know what you need to do when you sit down to type. So a lot of these steps are about doing pre-work so that when you sit down to type you’re not spinning your wheels to figure out what to type. Instead you’ll have a clear goal and you’ll be ready to execute it. Also, note that the goal isn’t to perfect each of these steps, but instead to try to do each step, to the best of your ability, and in a way that makes sense. 

I could write an entire piece on beat sheeting novels (which I love and do for all my books), but for the purposes here, I’ve organized the main things you want to know below in a series of questions. Simply answer each, make a chart if you like that sort of thing, and once you have each question filled out in a way that logically makes sense, move on to the next step. (NOTE: It’s a good idea to get feedback on this step if you have critique partners and fellow writers you trust.)  

Opening Scene - Who is the character before the world changes?

Inciting Incident - What happens that forces them to make a choice, changing their lives forever? What are they choosing between? 

“A” Plot - What is that choice they make? What are they pursuing or working toward? Finding information? Going on a quest? Uncovering the truth behind a murder?

Stakes - What are the stakes of the “A” plot? What’s at risk if they fail to accomplish whatever they’re pursuing? It should be something that personally affects them or someone / something they care about. 

“B” Plot / Character - Who or what is the theme of the story? What character in your story is going to embody that theme and play a key role in helping the main character change?

Midpoint - what happens in the middle of the book to change the character’s direction. Usually it’s some bit of new information or they realize things are not as they seem. 

Stakes Raise - How do the stakes (what’s at risk if they fail) raise after the middle of the book? 

Character Arc - what does your character believe about the world in the beginning of the book that by the book’s end they will no longer believe? (An extension of this question is: what things can happen in this character’s life to facilitate them incrementally learning this big truth? If you don’t know this question right off, that’s okay. But this is a question you want to go back to every now and again, even after you finish the first draft, to ensure your character is actively involved in a plot that is resulting in their change.)

Failure - How will your character fail big? This happens at about the 75% point of the book and it's the final moment of failure, usually, before they pick themselves up off the ground (figuratively or literally) and learn the lesson they’ve needed to learn. There forward they act on their new belief to the end of the book, demonstrating how they’re changed. 

If you’d like a more in depth look at how to beat sheet a novel, I strongly suggest reading Jessica Brody’s Save The Cat Writes A Novel. 

3. Flesh out your beats into a detailed synopsis. 

Now the fun part! This step is the most helpful thing you can do to enable yourself to fast draft. 

Write a mini version of your story, also known as a detailed synopsis. The key to writing synopses is not to worry about the voice, but instead what happens. Try to convey what happens and its impact on the character to show how the story moves from tent pole moment to tent pole moment (per the step above). This takes some trial and error and you may get annoyed with yourself because it’s not as easy as it seems. But, I’ve seen that if you can write a compelling and cohesive synopsis, the draft that you execute will be far stronger and more efficiently executed. 

Definitely get beta feedback on your synopsis from writing friends you trust. It’s worth going over this a few times to get it right. In terms of length, aim for 3-4 pages for a middle grade novel and 5-10 pages for a young adult or adult novel. These are just general guidelines. My latest YA novel required a fifteen page synopsis and I am very glad I did it because it conveys the tone, arc, and plot of the novel and the main plot threads quite well, which allowed me to draft the first 23,000 words of the story in five days. 

4. Summarize each scene. 

(Note: a chapter can have more than one scene.)

Okay, we’re getting really close to writing! Now that you have a mini version of your story, consider how you will break it up into scenes. This doesn't need to be perfect, but spend some time figuring how to stretch your synopsis into a full novel. Give each scene a short summary. Aim for a few sentences, no more than a paragraph, just so you know what needs to happen in that scene (or scenes). Do not skip this step. I repeat, do not skip this step. This step allows you to sit down and execute the scene without figuring out what to write. The “figuring out” part is where a lot of writers slow down. Do that in the summaries so when it’s time to draft you are ready to execute, not sort out details. 

5. Write with a goal in mind.

Plan your writing days. I’m not talking anything extensive here. Just grab your phone calendar or a post-it note and write down which days you want to do which scenes. Then on writing day re-read that summary and execute it. If you’ve done all the pre-work the words will fly from your fingers. Don’t worry about grammar, typos, reading back what you did. Insert fillers such as, “TITLE” or “NAME” for details you haven’t worked out yet. Just get the scene that you’ve summarized out. The goal is to finish the draft. After that is when you make sure it all works together through revisions and fill in the details. Right now the goal is finishing the draft. It literally just needs to exist! 

If you’ve done all five steps, pat yourself on the back because congrats, you’re ready to fast draft! Don’t hesitate to tag me on socials if you try this method out and it works for you. I’d love to hear how it goes!

J.Elle is the New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony. Elle has a Bachelor’s of journalism and an MA in educational administration and human development.  She grew up in Texas, but has lived all over, from coast to coast which she credits as inspiration for her writing. These days the former educator can be found mentoring aspiring authors, binging reality TV, loving on her three littles, or cooking up something true to her Louisiana roots.

Website: WingsOfEbony.com

Twitter: @AuthorJ_Elle

Instagram: @AuthorJ.Elle

TikTok: @authorjelle

[just-a-fangirl13]

Why s5 *might* be the season MacRiley happens

Okay so...Hear me out! I'm not crazy I promise!!

Firstly, after 5x03 (and probably 5x04) it may seem very unlikely that MacRiley could ever happen. But I thought of a few reasons why they might actually happen by the end of s5 after all.... (it gets a lil long winded and kinda complicated but just stick with me till the end!)

1. All the MacRiley moments including the ones in 5x03.

[this Mac smile could not be an accident or something that slipped through both production and post-production right?! that in itself is a whole reason!]

Every Macriley moment we have ever had- whether it's the hugs, Riley saving Mac, Mac saving Riley, the ultimate show of loyalty when Riley went after Mac during Codex or even just the looks exchanged between the two- to any outsider it would seem pretty obvious that they are dating or at least in love. Keep in mind the writers would have written each of those scenes and Lucas and Tristan have acted them out with a specific build up in mind aka MacRiley.(think about the date episode: Riley just got dumped but was still thinking about how Mac might be hungry. She didnt have to do that. She could have just shown up at his place..) I mean how can they write two people so perfectly in sync and so perfect for each other and not have them end up together? It would just be a waste of all that tension and slow burn. (not to mention all the hugs and glances)

2. They know we exist. 

The MacRiley fam is very active on twitter with the writers and while they were writing 5x01 they knew we were around. They know we are a huge group. They would not want to risk pissing 90% of the fandom off by not making MacRiley endgame.

[P.S.yes 5x03 was a bait and switch but if you were paying attention you would have noticed that neither Lucas not Tristan live tweeted or hyped up the episode. They knew we would probably hate it so they didnt publicise it too much! so in the future if you have doubts about the episode being a MacRiley one just check their stories or posts on twitter/intstagram]

3. Yes 5x03 happened. 

I really think it was an episode they HAD to write. Ok so after 4x13 they had 7 more episodes planned and were filming 4x20 (aka the finale) when the pandemic struck. So they have these 6 episodes but no finale for it. [Idk if anyone else has noticed but in 5x01 there were clearly some parts cut out. For example the conversation between Desi and Riley towards the end seemed a bit jilted. Riley asking Desi to forgive her but Desi replied with yeah we are cool (still no apology ofc) I feel like something happened during that which ended up getting cut out so it could fit with the final story.]

This makes me think that they have rewritten a few bits to tie into the new finale episode. In 5x03 when Mac asked Desi to come fishing with him which was clearly something very personal to him she was like no do better.. then we see Mac's disappointed expression. She could have easily said okay but maybe not for our first date? Or its not really my thing? Or just about anything else rather than laughing in his face like that. Eventhough MD is together they still arent compatible. Mac’s final words in 5x03 was him being desperate. I truly think he is so broken and lost that Desi is the only safe thing left, the only thing he feels like he can fix right now. Once he finds himself again and heals...then it's going to hit him like a pile of bricks!!

4. But Riley doesn't have feelings anymore...WELL doesnt she? 

When it comes to Mac, Riley is always in denial. We saw it in s4 when she tells Bozer not to make her say it. I think s5 will show her finally accepting it. Finally accepting that she is in love with her best friend and that it definitely isnt Codex adrenaline because she caught the feels when Codex wasnt even around. While Mac's arc would include realising he and Desi are never going to work and that he is unhappy and that RILEY is the one for him.

[why else would they give Riley feelings for Mac? Something has to come of it.]

5. The slow burn rule.[this point is a lil complicated] 

Now season 5 is rumoured to have 13 episodes. So here’s what I think: If MacGyver follows the pattern that most shows do when it comes to slow burns, then technically MacRIley should have happened at the end of season 4. But since the season got cut short and they didnt get to air/finish their final episode the writers had to improvise. 

From what I know, 4x19 which is 5x04 for us is the episode where Mac meets Desi’s parents and 4x20 was supposed to be the finale that was left unfinished.(they are definitely moving the timeline ahead if a pre finale episode is suddenly a mid season one.) There might have been a 4x21 or 4x22 but I haven't heard anything about those....EVER.

So what I think they have decided to do instead is extend the MD storyline a bit longer just so they dont end up scrapping all their s4 episodes where they would be together and write a new finale that ties everything together, aka MacRiley.

If you think about episode counts, s4 and s5 together would have 26 episodes which is a how long a normal season runs. Basically what im trying to say is if we follow the ‘slow burns end by s4’ and take season 5 as an extension of 4 then MacRiley should get together in the season 5 finale or maybe the episode just before. (IM REALLY TRYING TO GET SOME LOGIC INTO THIS)

This would be a typical TV thing too where the couple finds out about each other’s feelings while the main arc of the show is also at its peak, which perfectly sets up a future season where fans are hyped but still has a satisfying ending.

6. So what about MacDesi?

So far the macgyver writers have given us characters we love. Think of every character on the show apart from maybe Desi... Mac, Riley, Bozer, Jack, Matty, Leanna, Samantha, Russ and even Murdoc. WE LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. So then why is Desi such a strange character? I think shes purposely been written as an opposite to Mac or even Riley (I get she’s supposed to kinda replace Jack but Jack is really irreplaceable). 

It's not necessarily a bad thing its just not a great thing to do or have great execution. People have said things like Desi is a badass and shouldnt have to apologise or say I love you back to her boyfriend because she is a strong woman...I'm sorry but your opinion of who a strong woman is, is EXTREMELY skewed. A strong woman is someone who can make mistakes and when she does, she is ‘strong’ enough to own up to it, she is loyal and fierce and also caring while being a badass who can take down bad guys. And for GODS SAKE, RILEY DAVIS IS A STRONG WOMAN...people have called her mushy and feminine on twitter and I'm just very confused by that.....

Anyways before I go off on a rant, it seems like Desi is intentionally being written this way. Every opportunity they get to redeem her and make her more relatable or just a better person they just dont take it. While Rileys character arc is one of the best I've ever seen. Either its intentional or they’ve forgotten how to write characters...which is worrisome but ill give them the benefit of the doubt.

The writers also know we dont like Desi. The amount of times we've tagged them in the toxic posts or pointed out problematic things we can be sure they've seen at least half of those. So theres no way they dont know. RIGHT?

So why then is MD still a thing you may ask??

Well for one they cant break them up again off screen because of those unreleased s4 episodes. (not to mention the other parts of the audience who arent as invested in mac’s love life would probably be very confused.)

Secondly Mac has to be the one to pull the plug, not Desi. 4x13 made it seem like Desi was the annoyed one not Mac. He apologised to her which meant he wanted to fix things. 

Thirdly, they are opening the chpt one last time before they permanently close it. MD is going to be a stark contrast to macriley(it already is in every way possible). Every issue Mac and Desi had can be used to show how amazing macriley really is as two people who arent even dating yet.

Fourthly, MD being together is a sort of commentary on Macs mental health as well. We can see how happy he is with Riley but around Desi he becomes some one else. If the writers are doing this on purpose or subconsciously still remains to be seen.

And Yes keeping MD around for a few more episodes seems like a necessary risk right now but I have a feeling its going to be worth it later.

[I know we have had like 4 desi entered episodes already but I really think 5x04 will be the last of it since 5x05 is the Jack episode and 5x06 is Mac+Riley+Bozer episode with no mention of Desi at all!]

The writers know we are a dedicated bunch and they know that once MD breaks up for the last time the entire fandom will be waiting and watching. That's when the show will be at its peak. That will be the perfect moment to bring in MacRiley’s arc to a new start!

Congrats if you stuck with me through this whole thing! if you agree/disgaree with any of these or have other reasons why they could be endgame in s5 let me know!!

[yume-x-hanabi]

Writer Meta Meme

I decided to do all the questions on this meme :)

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

My current project is Concubinage, my gaiwin arranged marriage AU. It started as a random, entirely self-indulgent idea, but it has since grown into an actual project. Progress is good, I’ve managed to do bi-monthly updates and I have 30k in my drafts so far.

What I love the most about it is that, since it’s an AU, I’m pretty free to do whatever I want. I don’t have to be too careful of timelines and so on. Plus, in this AU, Gaius and Wingul are able to get closer than they otherwise would, due to the different circumstances. They have their own trials, but it’s different than in the canon timeline.

Another current project is Tales of Xillia Week, but I didn’t get much inspiration for it so I think I’m gonna do meta/headcanon posts more than fics ^^;

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I’m looking forward to getting to the part where it’s just domestic fluff haha. It’ll take a while to reach that point though.

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Not just one scene ig, but I’ve been wanting to write one-shots showing how the Chimeriad survived, and... haven’t gotten around to planning it. So it’s pretty low on my project list tbh.

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

I have... a few, but they’re all spoilers for future chapters XD;;

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

I don’t... really identify with characters. I mean, they’re pretty different than me in personality, life and circumstances...

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I love writing Gaius and Wingul of course, but Agria’s probably the most fun. She’s completely unrestrained, which makes her pretty easy and fun to let loose XD

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

Exposition and worldbuilding XD

I can’t help it, I always need to develop the setting...

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Yes. I would love it if more people wrote gaiwin XD

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

I used to be more of a ficlet writer, but I’m currently doing well with a longfic XD

As for the rest, it varies. I like to plot and outline a bit, but it’s often rather loose and I let inspiration guide me.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

Wait for inspiration time, energy and motivation to align.

11. What do you envy in other writers?

Those who update super long fics every week. How do you do it????

12. Do you want your writing to be famous?

Naah, I’m fine in my corner of fandom. Though I wouldn’t say no to a few more readers, if only to know that the ship still sails xD

13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?

Yep, I post on AO3. And all projects are meant to be posted one day, but some aren’t simply because they aren’t finished.

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

The beginning, usually, but I might change it

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Tags are easy. Titles and summaries are hard, and I always end up with something boring but heh, as long as they get the meaning across...

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

It was last year, but I tried first person pov with my Agria fic, because that fits her well. I’d like to try poetry, maybe.

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I have no idea tbh. When I write, I like to imagine what my readers will think (especially like when I write funny scenes, I hope they’ll make people laugh), but idk if it’s exactly like I think.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

In Concubinage, I considered adding a plotline where Arst met an ex and had to deal with complicated feelings about it -- being reminded how it was to be in a loving relationship vs political marriage, craving intimacy like he used to have with said ex, etc. I ended up scrapping the idea though.

I also have... two or three possible ways things can play out in a much later plotpoint, and I think I’m pretty sure of which way I’ll go already, but the other possibilities exist. Maybe I’ll make a post about all abandoned plotlines one day...

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

“And, but, and, but...” XD;

Also characters often find themselves doing something before they knew it...

My style is probably pretty repetitive. I’m not a native speaker, and I feel limited sometimes...

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Concubinage is the result of watching too many sageuk and  taiga drama. No I’m not sorry.

When writing AU, I always like to include “cameo” of the original storyline (for example, as the plot of a book, or treating the canon games as a fractured dimension in Chimeriad Live AU’s, etc)

In Fractured Lives, I try to alternate Wingul and Gaius’ pov. It’s probably gonna bite me in the ass when some plot points work better in one pov but the chapter requires the other. I’ll probably have to come up with some fillers or something...

I have extensive headcanon about Auj Oule’s geography, history etc, which pops up in a lot of (planned) fics. Even if it’s different fics/AU’s (ex. Concubinage vs my pre-game gaiwin project vs the Wingul fic I was writing for the big bang), I reuse the same settings and OC’s. Most of those aren’t written/posted yet so it’s pretty self-contained for now, but if I ever get to completing those projects I hope it won’t be too confusing to readers who don’t follow all the stories...

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

If I had the art skills, I’d love to turn some of them into comics ;A;

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Sometimes. Usually because I need to refresh my memory before writing a new chapter XD

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

That project to write the whole pre-game Gaius & Wingul history, that’s something I’ve been wanting since forever. Well, I originally wanted to read it, but since no one’s gonna do it, I started thinking I should write it. It’s gonna be a huge project though...

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

I honestly have no idea. I do sense a difference in that it’s much easier for me to just write now; I guess habit helps. But I have no idea if style changed or anything lol.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Filling the tag with my OTP XD

[adamhhutchins]

Squad Stream: The next way to play and watch together

Co-op Contra on the living room floor. D&D in the blanket fort. Four-player Goldeneye after school. Rock Band rock-offs. Watching your friends’ in-house Smash tourney. Building a castle together in Minecraft… No matter which games we started with, no matter where we trace our nerdy roots back to, we’ve always played together.

And now there’s a whole new way to keep playing together on Twitch: Squad Stream.

Squad Stream is a fast and easy way for up to four creators to go live and stream together in one window. It’s perfect for showing off every awesome moment in a battle royale match, saving a virtual seat at the table for tabletop streams, catching every second of speedrunning head-to-heads, and so much more that we can’t wait for all of you to show us.

Unlike hosting or Raids, which are excellent but more hands-off ways to collaborate, Squad Stream lets streamers actively team up with other creators to benefit everyone in a channel. Creators can join forces right from the dashboard, stream content they wouldn’t normally stream, and grow their communities all at the same time. Viewers get more angles on the action, a way to support more of their favorite streamers with ease, and a chance to chat with several great communities at once — or join a new one.

We’re celebrating the launch of Squad Stream with a variety of four-person streams over the next few weeks featuring a variety of partners and content. Check out the full schedule (in PST):

3/27, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: shroud, just9n, and Skadoodle streaming Apex Legends

3/27, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM: Anthony_Kongphan, Grimmmz, and Caliverse streaming Battlefield V

3/27, 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM: Loserfruit, Crayator, AngelMelly, and mrfreshasian streaming Fortnite

3/28, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: antphrodite, Ellektrikk, MaryJLeeee, and monkeyism streaming tarot card readings

3/29, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: kennyS, shoxiejesuss, SmithZz, and jackzj streaming CS:GO

3/29, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM: twosenseless, Shticky, iinnkone, and VooDoo_val streaming Art

4/2, 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM: Northernlion, Last_Grey_Wolf, DanGheesling, and michaelalfox streaming Satisfactory

4/2, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Ellohime, CobaltStreak, and Diction

4/3, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM: pokimane, LilyPichu, DisguisedToast, and Yassuo streaming League of Legends

4/4, 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM: GassyMexican, BurkeBlack, and CletusBueford streaming Sea of Thieves

4/6, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM: Xmiramira, itsmeTroi, Keeyuh, and MsAshRocks streaming The Sims 4

4/7, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: TheHungerService, BanzaiBaby, DomesticDan, and WorkingChef streaming Cooking

Squad Stream is available for Partners first. If that’s you, you can start a Squad Stream now right from your dashboard. Your viewers will be able to opt-in to the Squad Stream right from your channel page.

If you want to see Squad Stream in action, use the Squad Stream tag on the Browse page to see which squads are live right now.

FAQs

Q: How do I start or join a squad?

A: To start your own squad or join an existing one, go your dashboard and look for the Squad Stream widget. From there, you can either start your own squad by inviting other streamers or accept an invite to join another squad.

Q: How do I change permissions for who’s able to invite me to a squad?

A: You can manage your permissions settings for Squad Stream from your channel settings page. By default, channels you follow, is your friend, or on the same team will be able to send you an invite.

Q: How are viewer counts calculated during a squad stream?

A: Any viewership you receive when your video player is in the primary slot will count towards your channel stats and be reflected in your channel analytics and stream summary.

Q: Why is Squad Stream only available to Partners?

A: We are rolling Squad Stream out to Partners first because of the need for video quality options (also known as transcodes) in order to ensure the best experience for viewers. Currently, all Twitch Partners receive video quality options on their streams by default, while Affiliates receive them as they’re available, with priority access. Our plan is to make Squad Stream available to Affiliates and all other streamers as we continue expanding our transcodes capacity.

Q: Why are video quality options (transcodes) important for Squad Stream?

A: We want to ensure the best Squad Stream experience for everyone. To do that, Squad Stream relies on video quality options to display the channels in non-primary slots in lower quality modes like 480p. Most streamers stream in 720p or above, so without video quality options, the squad viewing experience can be taxing since it would display up to four 720p+ streams at once.

Q: How do I Follow, Subscribe, Cheer with Bits, and Chat in Squad Stream?

A: Viewers can chat or Cheer with Bits in whichever channel that is in the primary slot. Options for following or subscribing appear by either hovering over the squad member’s avatar at the top of the screen or over the video player for that squad member.

Q: How do I change which channel is in the primary slot?

A: Simply click on any of the other channel’s video player and it will swap into the primary slot.

Q: Do ads appear in Squad Stream?

A: Yes, viewers are able to see both pre-roll and manually triggered mid-roll ads while watching a Squad Stream. However, ads will only play in the channel that is in the primary slot. Viewers will be unable to switch views while an ad is playing. On mobile, ads will play in full screen.

Q: Can viewers watch Squad Streams on mobile?

A: Yes, viewers are able to watch in squad mode via the Twitch mobile app. Viewers are able to watch up to 3 channels at once. For squads with 4 channels, viewers will be able to select which 3 of the 4 are displayed. Squad viewing is limited to 3 on the mobile app because of the need to be able to provide a consistent, optimal experience for all audiences.

Q: How do Clips work with Squad Stream?

A: When a viewer clicks the Clip button on a video player from a Squad Stream, a clip of only that specific channel is created. There is currently no native way to capture a clip of the entire squad view, but it’s something we’re into for future development.

Q: How do Past Broadcasts (aka VODs) work with Squad Stream?

A: Past Broadcasts of a squad stream will not display multiple streams. We are exploring solutions to enabling Squad Stream-compatible Past Broadcasts, but in the meantime, Past Broadcasts for channels that participate in a squad stream will only feature content from that individual channel.

Q: How do Extensions work with Squad Stream?

A: Extensions will be disabled for viewers who watch in squad mode. However, Extensions will continue to function for those viewers who watch in non-squad mode.

Q: How do Hosts and Raids work with Squad Stream?

A: When a channel Hosts or Raids a channel that is currently in a Squad Stream, it will only Host or Raid that single channel. Streamers who are in a Squad Stream cannot initiate a Host or Raid via the chat in squad view. However, they can still initiate a Host or Raid through the Dashboard widget or chat command from the channel page.

Q: What’s the best way to ensure that video and audio is synchronized as much as possible?

A: We recommend that all streamers participating in a Squad Stream have low latency settings on (found in the Dashboard under Settings > Channel) and use a third-party voice app to communicate.

Q: What happens to my viewers when I leave a squad stream?

A: When a streamer leaves a squad, their viewers will remain in squad mode. If you plan on leaving during a live Squad Stream, make sure to let your viewers know. If you are the squad leader, the first streamer you invited will become the new squad leader.

Squad Stream: The next way to play and watch together was originally published in Twitch Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

[entrepreneurnut]

SendLane Review - Does It Live Up To The Hype?

New Post has been published on https://entrepreneurnut.com/sendlane-review/

SendLane Review - Does It Live Up To The Hype?

Email marketing — love it or hate it, it’s a necessity for any online business that wants to thrive.

A lot of small-time and beginner marketers avoid using email in the beginning. It can seem daunting, time-consuming and expensive. But take it from the, the earlier you can start building a list, the better off you will be further down the line.

If you’re gonna incorporate email marketing into your business (and you definitely should if you want to build a scalable, long-term asset) then you will need to use an autoresponder service.

Besides now being a legal requirement for email marketing, using an autoresponder will also make your list building efforts considerably easier. Unfortunately, many fall short, in my opinion — I’ve tried quite a few of them.

In the past, I’ve found myself settling for “good enough,” but since this is such an important part of my business, I am always on the look-out for the next best autoresponder to test out.

It’s a marketers dream to find that holy grail solution — something that’s easy to use and affiliate marketing friendly with exceptional deliverability rates.

The latest contender for the cup? SendLane. Is it a good fit for your online business, too? Let’s find out. This SendLane review will cover everything you need to know about this up-and-coming automated marketing solution.

Things to Consider Before Buying an Autoresponder

Like most things in business — and life — finding the right option for you depends heavily on your preferences and needs.

Where SendLane really shines is in its simplicity of use and exceptional deliverability rates.

However, if you’re a marketer who handles massive campaigns for large organizations, then SendLane may not provide all the features you need. In this case, you may be better off with a higher-priced service that offers more automation, analytics, and bells and whistles, such as HubSpot.

However, if you’re looking for a powerful tool that’s easy to use and excels at its core features — email broadcasts, automation, and outstanding deliverability rates — SendLane might be perfect for you.

It’s an excellent fit for small to medium-sized businesses, and affiliate marketers looking for a simple user interface with plenty of automation options.

Yes, SendLane is affiliate marketing friendly! I heard this directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

This is a big consideration if affiliate marketing is a core part of your business. Unfortunately, most autoresponder services don’t like affiliates and will shut you down for simply including an affiliate link in your emails. It’s happened to me…

Still not sure if SendLane autoresponder is right for you? Consider the following while you read through the rest of this SendLane review.

The number of customers: How many emails will you be sending out, and how often?

The complexity of the rules: Are you satisfied with basic features like timed sending, or do you need to get fancier?

Analytics: Make sure you choose an autoresponder that provides you with focused analytics reports, instead of overwhelming you with unnecessary stats.

GDPR-compliant: Make sure that you stay on the right side of the law and protect your customers’ privacy.

SendLane: A Closer Look

SendLane is an easy-to-use autoresponder with some very high-end tools. It features advanced contact tagging, which allows the system to automatically group subscribers by geographic region, or pretty much any other criteria you desire.

Advanced list-building options such as this are fantastic to give your marketing efforts a laser-focus with precise market targeting.

These features alone can considerably improve both your open and your conversion rates.

Its simple interface also makes it a fantastic option for novice marketers or people running their own businesses who need to handle the marketing on their own.

In my opinion, 

it does take a bit of time to fully understand the system, but the results are well worth it. Having said that, all the autoresponder services I have used to date do have a bit of a learning curve.

SendLane Pros and Cons

SendLane Pros:

Intuitive design

Exceptional deliverability rates

Excellent support

Plenty of automation options with tons of triggers to choose from

High-end landing page and email editors

Simple to use drag-and-drop editor

Integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, and ClickBank available, with more coming in the future

SendLane Cons:

Can be spendy as your subscriber list grows

No onboarding process when you first install the software

Some aspects feel clunky

SendLane Features and Benefits

By now, you probably want to know more detailed info on SendLane’s features and benefits. So here goes…

Drag and Drop Editor

One of the features I like the most about SendLane is its simple to use drag and drop editor. It makes creating visually ravishing emails simple and hassle-free, which I find fun, and a big time-saver.

You can choose from a wide variety of email elements and customize them in any way you see fit to best represent your brand and help your conversions.

There are currently about 20 templates, which is about standard among popular autoresponders in 2020.

While you can customize these, I do wish SendLane offered a slightly more extensive catalog of options. It’s not a deal-breaker though as you can also create your own templates from scratch if you want to.

Landing Page Creator

If you want more than just an email editor, you’ll appreciate SendLane’s landing page creator. Unlike the email editor, you get over 50 templates to choose from with an impressive range of designs.

This is a great feature as it can save you money on third-party page builders like ClickFunnels, depending on your needs, of course.

Some templates even include countdown timers, videos, and pop-ups, which is really cool. However, I struggled to figure out how to add them to other templates.

Some people may appreciate this feature, but if you’re looking strictly for an email tool, chances are you won’t use this feature at all.

Advanced Contact Tagging and Automation

SendLane goes well beyond ‘drip-feed’ email functionality and lets you set up workflows that change your email delivery depending on what your subscribers do.

You can also tag subscribers based on where they live, their sign-up source, the device they use, and pretty much any other custom tag you can think of.

Even better, this incredibly powerful functionality is very simple to set up and use, even if you’re new to the world of marketing.

For me, this is one of the most important considerations when it comes to choosing an autoresponder. If it’s intuitive and easy to use then it’s a big plus in my book.

Standard Reporting and Analytics

Most marketing software gives you plenty of analytics to chew over, and SendLane is no different, offering data on:

Open rates

Click through rates

Bounce rates

Your most active subscribers with the highest open rates

People who unsubscribed, and their stated reason

Most of these analytics work in real-time, so you’ll always have an up-to-date view of what’s going on in your marketing campaign — without being overwhelmed.

SendLane provides a manageable amount of data presented in an easy-to-read format. Because of this, it is so much easier to act on your data to make improvements where you need to.

What I particularly like about the data the SendLane provides is that you can set up all your different campaigns and have it track all the clicks and conversions on your website as well as the conversions that come directly from your emails, as you can see below.

SendLane’s data can even help you track all the clicks and sales that are coming from each of your email campaigns, and report on how much each subscriber has spent with you.

As you can see from the screenshot below, this subscriber made a purchase via email of $99.

This is super powerful, especially if you run an eCom business or if you create your own digital products!

Automatically Optimized Send Times

Unlike many autoresponders that ask you to figure out the best time to send your emails, SendLane will optimize the process for you, which is awesome!

The program analyses previous email open rates and suggests the perfect time to send the next one.

Best of all, you can set up this functionality on an individual email basis, tailoring every single person’s experience to their particular habits, if you want to go that deep. Alternatively, you can save time and just let SendLane optimize the whole sending process for you.

Creating a List of Contracts

Lists are key to customizing your email campaigns.

SendLane lets you add contacts to as many lists as you like, and duplicates don’t count towards your contact limit.

This is important to be aware of as some autoresponders like Aweber will count contacts multiple times if they are subscribed to more than one of your lists. This means that you will quickly reach your subscriber limit and then need to upgrade to a higher priced plan. But with SendLane, you don’t need to worry about this.

You can even set different rules for each list, giving you granular control over your entire subscriber base.

Once you’ve set up your lists, you can also automate adding new subscribers to each particular list as they sign up.

SendLane allows you to create a form for new sign-ups or integrate your existing website API in some cases.

Email Broadcasts in SendLane

Email broadcasts are the bread and butter of email marketing, and SendLane’s process is streamlined and simple.

The broadcast tool gives you over 20 marketing templates along with customization for when to send out the email.

Email Automation in SendLane

We’ve touched upon this briefly when discussing automation, but SendLane offers a very powerful workflow tool that allows you to send emails in a very focused manner.

Workflow setup is pretty simple — you can either start with a template or from scratch.

Not only does SendLane have a comprehensive list of triggers, but it also allows for if/else functionality, which is pretty powerful.

If/else workflows let you customize your workflow even further. The simple flow-chart layout makes understanding the process significantly easier for people just starting in marketing.

API and Integrations

API, or ‘application programming interface,’ is a method for a particular program to talk with other programs.

If you want to integrate SendLane functionality with another program, you can use their well-documented API to do so quite easily.

SendLane also allows other programs to talk to it, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and ClickBank.

They are still working on adding more integrations with other common platforms, like WordPress, which is surprisingly still missing. However, if you use Zapier then you can integrate SendLane with pretty much anything.

Onboarding

SendLane takes the ‘throw them in the deep end’ approach to onboarding, in that they don’t offer any form of tutorial, which is a shame.

Luckily, the user interface is simple to use, and the processes streamlined enough that you should be able to figure it out by yourself.

If you feel entirely lost, then you can click the red help button to contact customer support or check out some SendLane tutorials on YouTube.

Automation

Naturally, an autoresponder has to hit automation out of the park.

SendLane provides plenty of robust automation tools with a simple user interface to make your life easier.

The platform’s workflows are clear and effective. In my opinion, it provides everything that most digital marketers will need.

Deliverability

SendLane has a very aggressive list culling and hygiene processes in place to reduce the number of dead or false email addresses you have to deal with and pay for during a campaign.

The program also generates easy-to-follow deliverability reports, allowing you to see how many of your emails are actually delivered.

You can see exactly how SendLane’s deliverability compares to its competitors in this SendLane comparison chart here.

Ease of Use

Despite the lack of onboarding, SendLane is surprisingly easy to use. Even its most powerful features are simple to figure out.

With plenty of click-and-drag functionality and clear visuals, most users, even beginner marketers will probably get the hang of things on the first use.

Social Proof

While I could go on about the features I liked and didn’t like about SendLane, it’s also worthwhile to find out what other people think.

I scoured the internet to find out what people on the ground, such as entrepreneurs and small business owners, think of SendLane.

Most people overall seemed to like it a lot.

The reviews weren’t glowing across the board — I’d question their authenticity if they were — but, overall, SendLane reviews are quite positive.

Here are some of the SendLane reviews I found from business owners and marketers:

SendLane Pricing

As you no doubt understand by now, SendLane offers way above average functionality and provides several ways to help you increase your subscriber base and generate higher revenue from your campaigns.

Due to this, and the additional new features that SendLane have added to their service, they have recently changed their pricing structure.

Perviously, SendLane’s starting price was $25 per month, which was about middle of the road compared to its competitors.

While SendLane’s new pricing structure is higher, they do offer a very attractive starter bundle for new members, which is $497 for the year. This works out at just over $41 per month.

While this can seem like a lot to beginner marketers, those who have been in business for a while and understand the importance of the features that SendLane offer will likely see this as a great deal.

On the starter plan you get everything on SendLane’s more expensive growth plan for your first 6 months.

Below is a screenshot of their pricing table.

You can see SendLane’s full pricing page here.

SendLane Alternatives

SendLane offers a heaping plate of appealing features, but if it doesn’t meet your needs, there are plenty of other more time-tested autoresponders out there.

Here are some alternatives that you may also want to consider.

Aweber

The main difference between the two is the presentation and price.

While SendLane definitely has more advanced automation features, Aweber offers quite a few more templates, as well as a more competitive starting cost. This can be appealing for beginners who don’t need fancy automation processes.

It is a superb option for small businesses who want to dip their toe into email marketing without spending too much money.

SendLane, however, is a better option for marketers who want more powerful automation and a few nice extras that Aweber doesn’t have.

Aweber:

More affordable–starts at $19/month

Larger support team

More standard email templates

Affiliate marketing friendly

SendLane:

Comes with a landing page builder

Better automation features

$25/month starting price

If you’re looking for an email-focused product with plenty of support and a more affordable starting price, check out Aweber here.

GetResponse

GetResponse is an industry leader when it comes to email marketing. It’s the ideal solution for large-scale operations that handle thousands of emails per day and companies that want an all-in-one solution.

SendLane is a more customized tool that’s perfect for smaller businesses, e-commerce owners, and digital agencies that need powerful automation without many other marketing tools.

GetResponse:

High deliverability

Customized plans for added flexibility and scalability

GetResponse has been on the market for years, with the track record to prove it

Affiliate marketing friendly

SendLane:

Approachable and user-friendly interface

Email timing optimization

Tagging and list-based automation

If you want a cheaper starting price option than SendLane with similar functionality, GetResponse may be the right choice for you. Check out GetResponse here.

Mailer Lite

If you want an autoresponder that is very low priced and even has a free forever plan, but with good functionality then Mailer Lite is a good option.

It’s important to note that it’s not affiliate marketing friendly, but if your business does not revolve around promoting affiliate offers then this is not a problem.

One work-around to using an autoresponder that does not allow you to put affiliate links directly in the emails is to create a landing page with your affiliate link, and then link to the landing page from your emails.

As mentioned earlier, autoresponder service offers a free forever plan with limited functionality. However, when you do start paying, it is considerably cheaper than many other options on the market.

Pricing starts at just $15 per month for up to 2,500 subs! This starting plan also comes with unlimited user accounts and you can send an unlimited number of emails. It is also easy to use, which makes it a great choice for beginners.

Mailer Lite:

Free forever plan

Easy to use

Send unlimited emails on the lowest price plan

Not affiliate friendly

SendLane:

Better automation for personalized email marketing

Primarily built for affiliates and B2C businesses

Provides useful analytics data and web activity tracking

If you run an eCommerce, drop-ship, or digital product business, you’ll appreciate the powerful features that Mailer Lite brings. You can check out Mailer Lite here.

If you want to check out the top 7 autoresponders I recommend, you can see them here.

Summing It Up: SendLane in Review

Email marketing is a highly valuable lead generation tool, and is a cornerstone of any successful online business. However, if you’re using a sub-par, or even just the wrong autoresponder for your needs then email marketing can become a headache.

As you can see from the features that SendLane has to offer, it can simplify your digital marketing efforts, free up your time, and help you to generate more customers, and increase profits.

In my opinion, SendLane offers an excellent solution for small to medium businesses. It is intuitive and easy to work with that anyone can use it effectively in a short space of time. It also has plenty of powerful features that are usually only available on superior autoresponder services at higher prices.

If you’re interested in trying out SendLane then you will be pleased to know that they do have a 14-day free trial. While you will need to enter your credit cart info to sign up for the free trial, you can cancel at any time before the end of the 14 days and you will not be charged.

If you’d like to try out this autoresponder service then you can get a 14-day free trial here.

[rocketcollider]

How Math Works

You may have noticed that mathematical formulas on this blog look kinda nice. They depend on a multitude of modern technologies generally referred to as "The World Wide Web".

There are two main technologies involved: protocols and documents. Protocols make sure you can send and receive documents. The documents contain some content and instructions what to do with that content in computer readable language.

Over the past years, protocols have gotten more and more sophisticated. Quite recently, a lot of effort went into encrypting all these protocols better. But they also get faster, integrate new algorithms more efficiently and generally move forward at an impressive pace. There are some problems, but generally speaking humanity has protocols figured out.

Documents are a bit more problematic. When you look at a web-page, you use a browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera and some unimportant ones) to do all the heavy lifting for you. The browser figures out what protocols to use, who to talk to and what documents to request. Once it got all the documents, it reads all the computer languages in the document to figure out how to display the content.

There are three main languages we use to make web-pages pretty:

Hyper Text Markup Language or HTML describes the structure of a document. Where does a paragraph start and end? What text should link somewhere else? Is that text for the user or the computer?

Cascading Style Sheets or CSS tell the browser what the document should look like. Text color, size, where to position text and what text should be hidden is defined using CSS. It's probably the most difficult to learn language of these three.

[Javascript or JS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript "Wikipedia on JS"] is the only programming language here. It can change a documents layout, evaluate input and is nothing short of the brain of a web-page.

That's the good part. Let's start with the bad part at a point you bare some responsibility for: bad browser support.

Superficially, all browsers agree on how the internet should look like. Over some time, we got all browser-suppliers to listen to the World Wide Web Consortium, an organisation that defines how HTML and CSS should work and how JavaScript interfaces with both. In detail however, many browsers speak there own, specific "slang" instead of what the W3C defined.[1] Sometimes browsers charge ahead and implement features the W3C didn't have time to define yet. Other times they don't implement something for various reasons. And then again some browsers understand words differently.

For everybody caring about their web page, that meant to write different documents for different browsers. Most of the time, only tiny bits and pieces need to be different. Though there is not much work involved, it's a plethora of annoyance to test every detail in every browser. So much so that it's big business to help people with cross-browser-testing.

That's where the math breaks.

There is a great standard embedded in HTML, the Math Markup Language or MathML. Though it's part of HTML, part of the web and well defined by W3C[2], most browsers don't understand MathML.

JavaScript To The "Rescue"

It's such a pain to test different browsers, sometimes only to find out that what worked nicely in one doesn't work at all in the other, that developers started to use frameworks. Frameworks teach a browser some new language, usually as an extension of JavaScript. Most are written in JavaScript, but all promise to look the same across all browsers. It's a lot easier to write a page nearly exclusively in JavaScript than using HTML and CSS, both possibly failing in one browser or the other. Furthermore, CSS tends to have unexpected results. It's a quite old language that pales in comparison to newer ones. CSS' complexity is partly to blame for the popularity of frameworks.

Here the math came in. Since MathML is badly supported, a framework exists to display mathematical formulas. I used MathJax because it allows formulas to be written in LaTex, a language used in scientific literature.

E.g. this LaTex code:

\gamma ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}}={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-\beta ^{2}}}}=(1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}})^{-{\frac {1}{2}}}={\frac {dt}{d\tau}}

ideally renders as:

People are lazy. Web developers especially. If there is a tool out there fixing a problem[3], people will use it. The additional cost is conveniently hidden. But there is plenty!

Your browser is a tool to display HTML and CSS. It's well optimised to do that quickly, neatly and securely. JavaScript on the other hand is designed to be able to do everything. And it's actually quite hard to do that quickly, not to mention securely.

JavaScript is awesome. Used correctly, it allows a more fluent user experience. And smoothing over browser differences is possible as well. There seems to be no limit to what JavaScript can do.

But when it's used for everything, web-pages require a lot more code to be transferred, slowing users down. JavaScript, though fast, can't come close to a browsers native ability to read HTML and CSS.

More recently, JavaScript is used for user surveillance. Tracking your device, your click-behavior, and of course what pages you visit is all possible with JavaScript.

JavaScript used at the scale it's used today excludes slow connections and slow computers and enables user surveillance by big companies. That's why I try to reduce JavaScript to an absolute minimum in all my projects.[4]

How That Works

HTML tells the browser about a documents structure. Browsers expect everything in a document to be embedded in HTML. Documents are generally structured as follows:

- tells the browser this document may contain HTML - Everything between and is html-code. </p> All document properties go here. The head is never displayed, but used to tell the browser how to handle the document. <title>The Documents title goes here</title><style> Cascading _Style_ Sheet language goes here </style><script> JavaScript code would go here, use sparingly! </script><link href="Here%20we%20could%20write%20some%20link%20to%20load%20additional%20CSS-files" the> - tag is used for very basic document descriptions, like if the document contains emoticons: <meta charset="utf-8"> Content goes here. Ideally, we don't need any more property-definitions here, though it would be possible to enter them here as well.

tumblr allows quite substantial manipulation of a blog's HTML. But they insert some extra HTML without asking any blogger. By inserting some <script>-tags, they can add some JavaScript. That is mostly for surveillance purposes, but some is to show e.g. that tumblr-bar at the top of the page.

By adding some JavaScript to display nice formulas I contribute to the jungle of JavaScript. Then again, removing MathJax would change little. However, I could actually add some JavaScript to protect my visitors from surveillance. Even better, I can use HTML itself.

There is a lot more to HTML than most people, even web-developers[5], realise. For example, there is a way to define what sources the browser should trust, and discard all others. That way, a browser will block any JavaScript[6] which is not allowed.

These restrictions are actually part of the protocol, not the document. But HTML has a way to tell the browser about things the protocol might have forgotten to mention. This extra information is of course valid for the whole document, so they go in the <head> element. On this blog, this line keeps you safe from surveillance JavaScript:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="script-src 'unsafe-eval' 'nonce-optica_setup' 'nonce-disqus' 'nonce-mathjax' https://*.tumblr.com">

This line introduces itself to the browser as meta-information about the document. http-equiv tells the browser it's supposed to treat the line as equivalent to an HTTP[7] statement, which is specified in quotation marks. The content specifies what the statement is evaluated as. Suffice to say, this content tells the browser to ignore all JavaScript not from tumblr.

Safe From Math As Well

You may have noticed that I said pretty formulas needed JavaScript because browsers don't all support MathML. Well, there are ways around this shortcoming. MathJax is one way, browser specific CSS is another.

Assume a browser doesn't understand MathML. It's still HTML, but uses tags the browser has no use for. Since it's HTML, the browser would understand CSS styling it's content perfectly well. That allows to as a browser to please draw e.g. a square root in pure CSS. Or to define the style of how fractions are written. And how the typesetting of a formula differs from that of text.

This method is called a "CSS-fallback". Your browser doesn't understand MathML? Well, you can fall back to how we did it in the old days. It won't be as pretty and there won't be the same functionality, but it covers you for the most part.

There is a catch, though. Say a browser understands MathML perfectly fine and reads the CSS-fallback. MathML tells it to draw a square root. CSS tells it to draw a square root as well. Now you have two square roots on the screen. Ugly.

What needs to happen is that the browser reads the CSS if it doesn't understand MathML and ignores it otherwise. However, there is no way to ask a browser if it understands MathML. The only way to reliably test weather a browser does requires JavaScript.

Trying to reduce JavaScript, there is only one way: browser specific hacks. Browsers implement HTML and CSS differently. That's generally an annoyance. But, once you know how exactly they differ, it's possible to write code one browser will understand and others won't. Once we know [what browser actually understand MathML](https://caniuse.com/mathml “caniuse.com is a helpful page that documents what which browser understands”), all we need to figure out is how to talk specifically with those who don't.

I failed. There is nothing that exclusively browsers that don't speak MathML understand.[8] The frustration is real.

The Demise of The Web (Page)

On the modern web, fewer and fewer documents contain static content. Most web pages rightfully call themselves "web apps", since they more closely resemble a dedicated application than any form of document. But by using browsers, they need to work with the minimum set of features every browser supports. Electron to the rescue!

Electron is a tool that solves many problems. Using Electron on a page returns a stripped-down version of Chromium that runs only that page. The web-developers are happy, because there is only one browser looking at their page. Chromium is happy, because there are much more people using Chromium now. And app-developers are happy, because Chromium works on any computer so their app will work on any computer.

There is a bunch of problems with Electron, specifically security wise, but it's better these projects are turned into apps than pages. That's because your program is your problem. How much work you invest vs. how bad it turns out is your decision.

A web-page is everybodie's problem. Because of browser economoics.

The Politics of Browser Economics

Browsers and web-developers are in a weird dance with users. Every browser wants to be the most popular and lure users with features. Web-developers depend on browser support, so they tend to use features all browsers support. Users generally want a page to work before caring about what nice features it offers. And ideally, the W3C finds common ground and writes that down which we then call a standard.

To be the most popular, every browser found something it’s particularly good at. Firefox has the most experimental features, Chromium is super fast, Opera is pretty and Edge is good at downloading Firefox.

Faster browsers are easier to sell. The moment a user installs a faster browser he feels improvement. But it takes a document including e.g. MathML for a user to see the benefits of beautiful formulas. At the same time, every user with browsers not supporting MathML will leave the page because it looks ugly to them. That's why fallbacks are important. And that's why JavaScript frameworks are so convenient. But JavaScript is slow, so users would see a real improvement by switching to faster browsers. It's a vicious circle.

If we all could get faster browsers, that would be awesome. But we can't. There are people with old computers that don't have the power to run fast browsers. There are countries with slow connections and every byte JavaScript they need to download counts. And though JavaScript has it's applications, extensive use of JavaScript comes with many ramifications.

JavaScript takes time to load. A lot of companies use JavaScript for surveillance. Since JavaScript is so powerful, it's easier to hack. And since JavaScript is everywhere, it is used to grab your attention.

The Ad-Epidemic

The availability and prevalence of JavaScript everywhere has enabled new exploitation. Annoyingly blinking ads have existed since the very early days of the internet, but it took a lot of ~surveillance~ behavioral science to turn that into a business.

In the early days, to advertise you had to find a page that attracted users who might buy your stuff. Then you needed to actively reach out to that page and ask it to put some paid ads up. It was your responsibility to guess what users visit what pages and it was the pages responsibility to guess weather this or that ad might scare users away.

Today ads work like this: If you want to advertise, you hire an ad-network to show your ads to specific users. The ad-network has access to many thousand pages and will show your ad whenever a user you specified visits.[9] At the same time, all pages contributing to the ad-network can set what ads shouldn't be displayed on the page. There is no more guessing involved.

It's crucial to this process that the ad-network knows what user is currently visiting the page. Surveillance is a key element of modern advertising. The better an ad-network knows a user, the better it can show ads the user will actually click on and thereby earn money. Therefore, the best at this game are Google and Facebook. Google, because it knows what you search. Facebook, because you told them everything about you. And of course JavaScript based surveillance of user behavior.

Web-developers are lazy. Selling users attention and privacy is a super simple and reliable way to get enough money to keep a page running. Of course there are other concepts out there, ranging from plain paid subscriptions to more creative concepts! All of them require some thought into how a page adds value to a users life, though.

Plain And Simple

I'm lazy. I want a fast web. I'm easily distracted. And I don't know anybody who doesn't hate ads.

You are responsible for the browser you use. Could I convince you to switch to a browser with MathML support to make my life a little easier? If not, how about a fast browser with decent HTML support?

If you still have time, think about installing an ad blocker. You will experience faster pages, because the JavaScript trying to load ads is blocked. And if enough people block ads, web-developers will have to think of new ways to get money.

Another part to this story is mass surveillance. Surveillance is a lot easier with a lot of JavaScript and advertising requires surveillance to be efficient. Making surveillance more difficult is simple:

Privacy Possum disables surveillance a page does on it's own.

TorBrowser disables surveillance based on protocols

It's a bit more tricky to disable JavaScript based surveillance. The best way is to disable JavaScript. Some tools allow you to disable specific sources of JavaScript. uBlock has this functionality integrated. However, these tools require a bit more substantial understanding of how HTML documents work.

Most of this measures don't have an immediate benefit to you. Quite the opposite! TorBrowser is slow. Disabling JavaScript will break most pages because they rely so heavily on it.[10] But we shape the web by the way we use it. Using these tools shapes the web away from specific, slow, surveilled user experiences towards a common experience equal to all users.

EDIT: All of this was for nought, since tumblr filter MathML content from blog posts. They do that because they need to display posts on the dashboard, where a blog's layout isn't used. So any "invalid" HTML (i.e. HTML most browsers don't support) needs to be filtred. So for the sake of math on tumblr, please, PLESE use browsers that support the full HTML-syntax!

[sassyhottubstrawberry-blog]

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

"Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeautoinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

Why is my car insurance so much higher than my female counter part?

This is such bullsh*t. I am 24 have had 0 accidents and 0 tickets. I am moving to another state and my Fing insurance is like $150 month. Then I talked to a female coworker my age with the same type of car and she has 2 speeding tickets her insurance is $137 a month. WTF? It is a known fact that almost all women are horrible drivers. Sure I guess males my age may do more reckless things but at least we have some Fing common sense. Women in todays society seem to lack this. Because they are never held accountable for any of their actions. O sweety you drank a fifth last night and banged some fat nasty guy well its not your fault its the guys fault. Sorry for the rant I just feel that my car insurance should be lower than hers because I have no tickets not higher anyone else agree?

New Insurance Extension?

If the companies extend insurance to young adults up to age 26, what happens if they get married? Are you automatically removed from your parents insurance when you get married?""

Do I really need auto insurance in Miami Florida?

Auto insurance is really expensive, do I really need it? I live in Miami, Florida and prices on auto insurance are through the roof. Can I get in any really serious trouble if I drive without auto insurance for a while until I can actually afford it.""

""I have been quoted at 683 for car insurance, is this all it will cost?""

I'm 17, male, so I was expecting expensive insurance (not fair lol!) when I put my details in all the others were quoting at around 1,800 but the first one Quinn direct quoted ...show more""

Allstate Insurance Price Estimate?

I was wondering what the price of a 1993 2.3 L V4 Mustang LX would be for a 17 year old male would be with less than 100K miles on it

How much does medical marijuana cost? Does insurance cover it?

How much does medical marijuana cost? Does insurance cover it?

Can i get new york insurance while maintaining a florida tag?

Can I get new York insurance while maintaining a Florida license plate?

Fast Car Low Insurance Group?

Hi, i am looking for a car that can do 0-60 in under 10 sec, but is in as low an insurance group as possible. Atm i want a Mitsubishi Galant 2.0, but that is group 13, if anyone can find anything under group 10 i'd be grateful. P.S. I have no intention of frauding any insurance company so don't mention that. Also no i am not a boy racer so no moral lectures please. Rest of you Thanks :)""

Why does car insurance cost more in one state but is cheaper in another?

Why does car insurance cost more in one state but is cheaper in another?

Car Insurance?

If I hit a car that is totaled and the owner does not have insurance should I still go through my insurance company?

Do you need motorcycle insurance or a motorcycle license to purchase a sports bike ?

Do you need either of these things to buy a sports motorcycle ? I'm 19 and live in Florida. Any idea ?

What is the cheapest car insurance company?

What is the cheapest car insurance company?

""Where Can i Get Non-Owner's Insurance in Austin, Texas?""

Where Can i Get Non-Owner's Insurance in Austin, Texas?""

Subsidized health insurance for age 55+ in California?

Is there a subsidized health insurance program for people age 55+ in California? I used to live in Massachusetts where my father-in-law has MassHealth insurance coverage. Any program similar to that in California? Thanks!

I have auto insurance in SD but currenly in MN for college?

I'm currently in college and looking at switching my auto insurance. My permanent address is in South Dakota which is also where my car is insured and I'm going to college in Minnesota. I know I need to have my policy in South Dakota but will using my college address require I have minnesota insurance and register my car in minnesota?

""How would you cover people who are denied health coverage by the insurance companies, if not a public option?""

There are many Americans who want health care, but cannot get adequate coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, can't afford it, or are denied by insurers. Maybe they are working but their company doesn't offer medical coverage for them. How do we help these people? Are they just stuck?""

Any 18 Year old drivers with car insurance?

I'm 18 and I cant find any insurance under 7K and this is clear ageism. Are there any other young drivers who are sole policy holders with cheaper insurance?

Broke my contract phone and have no insurance?

Basically, entirely my own fault... i have no insurance on my phone (had it for three months) and it was smashed yesterday! But my question is, if i phone up vodafone and tell them i will PAY three months worth of insurance, backdate it back to the three months i have had this phone, can I then claim for a replacement? Technically I will still be paying for insurance and they will be getting money? Is this possible??""

Where can i find the cheapest renter's insurance?

i live near akron ohio and im just looking for cheap renters insurance, so if you know of any places please let me know!""

Need cheap insurance?

i need insurance 4 missus 24/f/bham housewife just passed first car 1.4 pug 106.

How do people driver around without car insurance and get away with it?

I watch court shows on tv and many people are taking someone to court because of an accident and the other party does not have car insurance

Where can students get cheap car insurance from people who don't automatically make you out to be boy racers?

Where can students get cheap car insurance from people who don't automatically make you out to be boy racers?

Recommendations for car insurance (NO URLs)?

*** Don't give me links to comparison websites. SERIOUSLY, NO URLs. I'm looking for low cost, quality car insurance. Something other than USAA. Any recommendations? Here are some facts about me: Full-time student with a B average or better Car - (2000) Infiniti G 20 Never had Car Insurance Before No accidents, tickets, or traffic violations in the past My car has anti-lock breaks Thanks""

Insurance on 06 sti I need to know?

What is the averge insurance coat for an 06 sti

About how much does motorcycle insurance cost?

and is it more than car?...about...

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

What is the likely cost for the car insurance for this individual?

Kept getting different numbers... 19 years male. own an Acura cl 3.0 1999 single drive to school about 4 miles(one way) three days a week clean record.

""If I go under my parents car insurance, is it cheaper ?""

Hello. I'm 18 and recently got my provisional license. I would like to know if I go under my moms name for the insurance of the car, would it be significantly less expensive than if I were to get my own insurance, or is it the same price for insurance all around ?""

""How much does a car insurance quote cost?If u get one u wont get emails from them,and stuff in the mail,will u""

How much does a car insurance quote cost?If u get one u wont get emails from them,and stuff in the mail,will u""

""I got a dui and i was told i need an sr-22, im already covered by geico insurance....?

ok im already covered but i want to know how much extra it will be a month having this sr-22 .. i know age a car varys ... im 19 but i do not know what car i would have yet but i juat want to know about how much so i can be prepared.

Are there any health insurance programs available for a 19 yr old female in alabama?

whom is from a low income household (kids ages: 17,18,19). her dad draws ssi and she isn't pregnant.""

Need condo insurance in Florida?

Hi, can anyone point me to any web sites or insurance agents in Florida that are still writing insurance for condos? Thanks!""

Insurance for ninja 250 estimate?

what would insurance be like for a ninja 250? i am 17 and would be on my own insurance and will have my license.

Looking for add on health insurance my company maxes out at $25000.00?

do insurance companies sell that type of insurance

Car Insurance Gangsters :(?

Car insurance for me is $7500 for 6 months? That's buying my car twice !! Idk why I didn't wait and be patient. Now I feel like I'm stuck with this car that I just purchased because there's no way I can afford that kind of car insurance. That's just unbelievable. I've been researching and researching and I finally felt like I was ready to start driving. I see people my age on forums saying they only pay $200 a month so I figured I would be paying around there maybe even a bit more but $1000 a month? Smh,, I can't do that. I don't know what to do. Should I try to sell the car I just purchased? I signed the papers and all smh. That's just ridiculous. Almost $1500 a month smh. Idk what to do man, please give me some advice. Maybe there's a not so good insurance company that can insure me for cheap? I don't plan on getting into any accidents. I don't even think I want to drive anymore, that quote has me going nuts right now.""

Functions of life insurance?

what is the functions of life insurance

What happens if I get cancer with no insurance?

It's just a hypothetical, I don't have cancer and I do have Catastrophic Insurance but I know that would not cover chemo etc but as far as I'm concerned, I would probably have to kill myself in the case that this happened, which I'm preparing myself for the possibility. No insurance carrier will cover me with real insurance because I;m taking meds for high BP and cholesterol, both are in check""

Are VW Passats affordable cars to insure?

By affordable I mean are they good in crash tests and other factors like that which effect insurance?

Will a hyundai tiburon considered a sports car to insurance companies?

i want one for a first car. but mom is worried it will jack the insurance since im a guy

How much was your auto insurance at 18 year olds?

How much was your auto insurance at 18 year olds?

My job does not have..Need health insurance?

looking for private health insurance, what are some companies that are affordable? lists of companies and info about them please. Thanks to all who answer =]""

Just got a car insurance quote for 6000?

Ok, Im a 17 year old male driver, so I expect my insurance to be through the roof, but come on can this amount be real ? This was for a 1997 2 door corsa""

What's the best liability insurance for yoga instructors?

I will begin teaching yoga, and need to get liability insurance- what's a good inexpensive insurance""

Car insurance for a 17 year old? HELP?

Im 17 in the uk and passed my test 2 months ago and have been insured as an additional driver on a parents car since then (2500 for one year on a ka what a piss take). no claims or convictions, nothing. I've been looking to buy my own cheap car but the prices insurers are asking for on comparison websites are absoloutley ridiculous, 10,000 annual for a ford fieta worth 900! I've tried choosing cars with small engines like a citroen c1 but STILL ridiculous quotes. How ar other youngsters complaining of their annual insurance of 3000 when I cant even find one under 10,000!!!! WTF. How are 17 year olds driving their own cars at my college? from what I've seen its financialy impossible unless their parents are millionaires. Half the insurers I go to online are 'unable to offer a quote', and theres no point in me taking pass plus because that'll only take 100 off of a giagantic quote which'll make no difference whatsoever. WHAT THE HELL. my postcode is RM7 if that makes any difference? Is there any kind of specialist young driver insures that I can go to who'll give me a better deal? I mean even if it was 5000 annual I'd be happy! Or insures that do that black box in your car thing? Because Im actually a very safe driver and having to pa astronomical amounts because of statistics is rather annoying. So any ideas of insurers I can go to direct to try and get a decent deal? thanks""

How much do you pay in insurance for your Honda Civic?

I'm trying to figure out the price difference between the coupe and sedan. So, let me know the year of the car, whether it's a coupe or not, and your age. Thanks!""

How much insurance for a 17 yr old?

what is the cheapest car insurance for a 17 yr old in south texas v8 2007 mustang standard went thru and passed driving school with about a B+ gets good grades in school no crashes or tickets of any kind

If I do not have car insurance...?

and i live with with my grandparents and they have car insurance but i dont, and i have my liscence, can i still drive their car with it not being illegal in the state of Massachusetts? Because i cant afford the insurance and if their car is insured i am told an officer cannot do anything about it, as long as the cars insured im fine, is this true? Thanks!""

Approximately how much is my insurance going to rise?

I am an 18 year old male. I got a ticket for going 10 over about a month ago and got it deferred a week ago. I am on my parents insurance and I pay about $100 a month for insurance. Tonight, I got a ticket for going 17 over on the highway. The first ticket was $124 and the most recent ticket was $174. Help me out here haha, how ****** am I? Also, is there any way for my parents to not find out?""

Insurance company !?????

How does someone own or idk a insurance company.. I mean I would like to own my own office with State Farm insurance how do you go by doing this

What is the average auto mileage per year?

Farmers Insurance says that it is 22,000 and I don't believe them for a second""

Car Insurance Quotes?

Need help with some insurance quotes. Looking to pay cash for a car maybe a 2001 impala, 2000 honda accord, 2001 toyota camry. Need a couple of estimates on how much insurance would be. Driver is over 25, clean driving record, female driver. Lives in Florida. Thanks""

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Why is full coverage insurance so expensive for a 22 year old?

My boyfriend is looking for a new insurance agent agent but so far everyone who is has contacted is super expensive. He has a pretty new car with a starter/alarm/sub systems etc. so he needs full coverage. His parents won't let him get under their insurance for the time being so he's having a hard time finding a reasonable rate. My parents are considering letting him get under their insurance..is that a good idea?

""Conservatives, you're always claiming that Obama-care is the reason that insurance costs are increasing, so?""

regarding the 80% increase in insurance premiums, and the 11% increase in the number of Americans who did not have health insurance coverage during the Bush presidency, was that because a magical elf traveled back in time to the year 2000 to tell insurance company executives that Obamacare was coming? Or could it be that insurance premiums have been increasing at an average rate of 8 to 11% per year for about the last 15 years and the increases we've seen in the last few years aren't indicative of costs associated with Obama-care (Which hasn't even been fully implemented yet) and Conservatives are just trying to make political hay out of cost increases that are consistent with established trends?""

Firm choice has lower grades than my insurance?

My firm choice has lower grades than my insurance choice. My firm choice is 240 points or CCC but my insurance is BBC. Will this effect which university i go to? If i was to get the grades BBC will i still get into my firm choice?

Is motorcycle insurance cheaper than car insuracne?

for an 18 year old in mississauga ontario, canada would bike insuracne be cheaper than car insureacne on for(part-time car driver)?""

What is an affordable life insurance for a cigarette smoker?

What is an affordable life insurance for a cigarette smoker?

Your car is stolen insurance company declares write off then its found?

What happens when your car gets stolen so you report it to the insurance company after 30 days the car hasn't been found a couple of weeks later its found what happens?

I wreck my car how much should insurance pay.?

96 toyota Tercel 2DR Maroon Automatic I just rebuilt the motor and transmission and it was was a total loss. A deer ran out in front of me I have full coverage. They only want to give me 1500. The motor has 600 in it and the transmission I put another 675 not 6 months ago it the thing was running fine before the wreck. I drove it 50 miles a day it got really good gas miliege.

Does full coverage auto insurance cover tires?

My car caught fire.. The problem is with the insurance companies... I'm not expecting anything because I gave liability insurance but my car melted my roomates car... She has full coverage.. Thankfully.. Her car is being covered except for the tires... If the tires got messed up in the accident why won't full coverage cover them... I think the insurance company is trying to pull a fast one

Where can I get some good cheap SR-22 insurance?

I'm in the Chicago area. I need SR-22 insurance as it's required by the state. My license was suspended and it expired soon afterward. I trying to get my license back. So I need SR-22 insurance for someone who was an expired suspended license. I don't own any vehicles either.

Refused car insurance for being?

a house husband (was told by insurers ) so could i word it as being a child carer (without telling lies) for insurance purposes

Affordable Health Insurance ??

I live in washington state, and I am currently employed and I pay $80 a month through my employer for my medical. I now wanted to add my wife because she dosen't have a coverage at her work. I contacted the HR at my work and I was told my monthly premium will go up from $80 a month to $460 a month if I add her. and its way too much money and I am looking for other ways to have her cover please share Ideas that u may have if u happen to know any affordable insurance company""

Is it true that ObamaCare forces people to buy health insurance?

If not, risk going to jail and face a fine.""

Why is older cars like a 1970 camaro cheaper on insurance then a new one like a 1996 camaro?

Plz need help on this

Help with health insurance terminology?

In layman's terms, what is: 1) a deductible and 2) an insurance premium? And how do they work in health insurance? An example would be appreciated.""

Only have Learners - Car and insurance?

I need to drive asap. I have my learners currently but cant sit my test until Sept. Would love some help with the process of where to start, can I buy a car and/or insurance before I get sit my test? If so how does the registration work? Maybe worth noting that I need to drive asap for work, I am 23 and going on parents etc is not an option? also im in canada Thanks!""

Luxury cars with low insurance rates?

I was wondering what types of luxury cars would have the lowest insurance rates? I would prefer either a sedan or coupe. So in the category of luxury sedan/coupe, what would be the lowest insurance rate? I don't care about the price of the car itself, I just want one that doesn't have me paying a bunch every month, non-stop. My definition of low is around the neighborhood of $60, preferably lower obviously. If there is no such thing, then please tell me the closest to it. Thank you in advance.""

How to tax car without insurance?!?

I bought a car recently on ebay. The gentleman said that he already cancelled his insurance as he stopped using the car in the las 6 months. I wanted to ask him to pay the tax on it but he can't. What should I do because when I buy a new car I contact the insurance company straight away but there's not tax on it so can't take it...Any advice?

""Being in the military, can I drive in WA with CA auto insurance?""

Im in the military stationed in WA and my home state is California. As of now I'm insured with gieco with a policy from california, can I use the same policy in Washington or I would have to buy auto insurance in washington?""

Is health care in the US affordable to everyone?

If not, then why is so many people opposed to free universal health care like in France, UK, etc? How many of you can pay $100 doctor visits or (god forbid) $500,000 surgeries, not counting expensive prescriptions?""

""Which is better for car insurance, Go Compare or Confused.com?""

Which is better for car insurance, Go Compare or Confused.com?""

Why do insurance companys treat workers in the motor trade differently to any other? ie higher quotes etc?

because i work in the motor trade im unable to have the part of my insurance that allows me to drive other vehicles (such as family members) that are already insured why is this?

General car insurance question(s)?

Which will cost more in car insurance, generally: a passenger sedan (maybe a 1999 Honda Civic) or a pickup truck (1995 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, perhaps)? Also, if I have two trucks, both exactly the same, only, one has 2-wheel drive and one has 4-wheel drive, which will cost more in insurance? If one will infact cost more, will the difference be significant enough to matter? I live in Colorado. 4-wheel drive is desirable with the snow and ice, but if it will cost significantly more in insurance, I can't justify it.""

Republican want to ensure that 45 MILLION Americans have NO Health Insurance part of their 'Family Values'?

These are mothers, fathers, children, babies - who have no access to affordable health care - but who still get sick - and who subsequently (quite often) lose their homes to ...show more""

How much would insurance be for a 1998-2001 mitsubishi eclipse for me?

im 16 and i need a car i would like to get a mitsubishi eclipse like a 1998-2001 model but I dont know how much my insurance would be. like i said im 16 and my grade point average is about a 2.5-3.0 (i get D and C) so if any one know plz share with me, thanks!""

Which would have higher insurance?

I don't have my license yet so my parents can't call their insurance company and ask for a quote but I'm just curious about insurance. Out of these 3 cars, which would have the highest insurance, which would have the lowest, and what do you estimate. I will be getting my license soon so I'm looking for cars. My parents want me to get a car that they can afford but i would be proud of driving, that's why im looking at these nice cars. Heres the list of cars that i need insurance estimates for 1. 2007 Honda Civic Si -Manual Transmission -106,000 -$12000 -All tinted windows -Will be kept in a garage http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=296160990&dealer_id=65234215&car_year=2007&systime=&doors=&model=CIVIC&search_lang=en&start_year=1981&body_style=SEDAN&keywordsfyc=__c2k%2C__&keywordsrep=115105&highlightFirstMakeModel=&search_type=both&distance=25&min_price=&rdm=1302370333852&drive=&marketZipError=false&advanced=y&fuel=&keywords_display=si&sownerid=565766&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2012&showZipError=y&make2=&certified=&engine=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&body_code=8&transmission=&default_sort=newsortbyprice_DESC&max_mileage=&color=&address=28277&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=14000&awsp=false&make=HONDA&seller_type=d&num_records=25&cardist=14&standard=false 2. 2006 Acura TL -Automatic Transmission -59,000 Miles -$15000 -http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=296199939&dealer_id=66118955&start_year=2006&advanced=y&make2=ACURA&transmission=Automatic&max_price=15000&make=ACURA&model=TSX&body_style=SEDAN&search_type=both&distance=25&end_year=2012&default_sort=newsortbyprice_DESC&max_mileage=60000&address=28277&model2=TL_MODELSCLASS_SERIES&seller_type=d 3. Any car of your choice. Give me any suggestions. I want it to be sporty but 4dr""

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

How much auto insurance do I need?

How much auto insurance should I get for a 1999 Ford Escort that is already paid for. I have insurance now but it is 660 dollars a year and that sounds like way too much for an 11-year-old car.

Health Insurance Cost?

Health Insurance through my employee for me and my two sons will cost me about $480.00 per month. That's a lot compare to what I make. Any suggestions or referrals for affordable health insurance for the Dallas/Forth Worth area in Texas. I'm in a big dilema.

First car recommendations and insurance help?

I'm 17 and I'm about 3 or 4 months away from passing my driving test. I've been looking at cars and really like the look of a peugeot 206 or 207 or a new model renault clio. however, the insurance is at the cheapest 2,220 - that's with out any pass plus or other drivers on it. I was just wondering if there are any other cars you people would recommend for me (my budget is 1000 for a car) and any insurance tips. no-one be stupid please, I'm a good driver and yes i do need a car :-)""

Insurance auctions/Salvage yards websites???

can anyone tell me good websites that sale salvage/insurance auction cars ......i live in south texas........

""Premium financed insurance, any risks?

What scenarios can bank repo the collaterals in premium financed insurance? It seems too good to be true.

Car insurance...oh my god?

hi, i just pass my driving test, my car (insurance group 7)....i search on confuse.com for third party car insurance is 4000 one year..although i'm 30 years old. is this ture? ...show more""

Has anyone heard of Unitrin Direct Car Insurance. Yay or Nay?

I need to purchase car insurance right away. Their rates are pretty low. Any feedback would be appreciated.

What is some good cheap car insurance ?

I live in california! I'm 18 & my first car is going to be a used one.help n advice plzzz:)

What insurance company should I choose for my car?

I just got dropped from state farm because of high risk and I'm looking for something affordable for a college student/ musician. I have to get full coverage as well. What is a cheap company I can go with that's not going to screw me over or anything?

Best insurance company for full coverage?

What's the best insurance company that's pretty affordable?? I am financing a Toyota Camry (new) and need full coverage. I have a DUI on my record but have my license. I'm 21. =\

Wht is d difference between 1 st party insurance and 3 rd party insurance?

i have a honda deo 2004 model which insurance should i go for ...why and how much should it cost?

Selling insurance question?

What license/certification does one need to sell and distribute insurance such as home owners, auto, life insurance etc. in the state of Wisconsin. And what schooling if any would someone need to obtain these licenses and or certifications. My grandfather and a friend own a agency that affiliates with another independent agency that allows them access to a large variety of insurers, and they would like me to become apart of business.""

Insurance's on a 16 year old driver?

i am 16 years old and i am looking for cars.. i found a used 2006 audi a6, i really like it and i want it to be my first car!!! does any body know how much it would cost too insure me under it ??????????""

Is Geico a good choice for car insurance?

Recently i have been looking to switch car insurance in order to find a better rate for not only me, but my teenage son and daughter. Currently i am paying $80 a month from a local insurance company just for myself, but after looking online i received a quote from geico claiming that insurance for my son, my daughter and myself amounted to a mere $88. Could a Geico or former Geico customer help me out here? What would you say the average rates are for you currently or formally?""

If I get my speeding ticket dismissed will my insurance rates still increase?

I got a speeding ticket in TX, but I'm taking a course to get it dismissed. Will my insurance company even find out about my points if they're taken off my license? And if they do, will my insurance rates go up or is that completely dependent on points?""

Insurance Fraud?

Is it considered insurance fraud if someone files a car insurance claim and uses the money for something other than fixing the car?

About how much would my auto insurance be? (First-time driver)?

I'm budgeting getting a car and insurance and I don't know how much it would be. It will be my first time driving/having a car or license. So no record of anything, but I'd be a newbie. It'll be in the state of Pennsylvania and it will probably be a pre-owned small car.""

Better insurance rates.?

I know there are couple factors like age, gender, and past record that fit in to determining your insurance rate, but i wanna know which gets a better rate? A new sport bike or used old sport bike?""

1 day or Weekend Auto Insurance?

Hi Guys, I have a car that has no insurance on it since i am not using it any more but still runs good. I need to travel to NY from Detroit this weekend and again don't need it any more there in NY. Are there any cheap Auto Insurance firms that give us auto insurance for the weekend only. Thanks a lot for the help.""

Help with health insurance terminology?

In layman's terms, what is: 1) a deductible and 2) an insurance premium? And how do they work in health insurance? An example would be appreciated.""

Does anyone know an insurance company that will insure expensive cell phones?

AT&T will not insure its own cell phone if it costs too much money. (phones like the Iphone, Tilt, and Duo, among several others) Any phone above $300 dollars before contract and ...show more""

What Are some cheap insurance for 16 years old teen?

What are some insurances cheap California for a first time driver 16 years old teen? Wanted to add my own not to parents? Parents what are insurances your teen using in California ? Please list how much you pay or your teen and what's the insurance is called? Thanks

In California what is traffic school for? Will my insurance still increase?

I am 19 and got a speeding ticket 85 in a 65 this is my FIRST ticket. I take full responsibility and am ready to accept my consequences. I am not one to drive like that but I was late that day. I know there is no excuse. Soon I am getting my own insurance under my own name. If I take traffic school besides not getting a point on my license will this also prevent insurance increases. If I go to get my insurance will this ticket affect me even though I took traffic school? I live in California and this is my first ticket I am 19 and male.

Insurance on a 1.4 car for a 17 year old.?

I recently purchased a saxo furio and was wondering what the insurance would be like for a 17 year old with 0 NCB ect. I haven't passed my test yet and I'm 16 at the moment so cant get insurance quotes. Any ideas?

Do i need to be a full time student to be covered for medical insurance?

i've always been told that i need to have at least 12 credit hours a semester in order to be covered for health insurance. with the new obama health care is this still true since most 23-26 year olds do not attend school anymore?

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

Rankin Illinois Cheap car insurance quotes zip 60960

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/strata-insurance-quote-online-sharon-moore/"

[elisp-solves-problems]

Connecting to Mongo with a self signed CA on a JVM in Kubernetes

At $WORK, we're creating an internal platform on top of Kubernetes for developers to deploy their apps. Our Ops people have graciously provided us with Mongo clusters that all use certificates signed by a self-signed certificate authority. So, all our clients need to know about the self-signed CA in order to connect to Mongo. For Node or Python, it's possible to pass the self-signed CA file in the code running in the application.

But, things are a little more complicated for Java or Scala apps, because configuration of certificate authorities is done at the JVM level, not at the code level. And for an extra level of fun, we want to do it in Kubernetes, transparently to our developers, so they don't have to worry about it on their own.

err, wha? telling the JVM about our CA

First off, we had to figure out how to tell the JVM to use our CA. And luckily since all the JVM languages use the same JVM, it's the same steps for Scala, or Clojure, or whatever other JVM language you prefer. The native MongoDB Java driver docs tell us exactly what we need to do: use keytool to import the cert into a keystore that the JVM wants, and then use system properties to tell the JVM to use that keystore. The keytool command in the docs is:

$ keytool -importcert -trustcacerts -file <path to certificate authority file> \ -keystore <path to trust store> -storepass <password>

The path to the existing keystore that the JVM uses by default is $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/cacerts, and its default password is changeit. So if you wanted to add your self signed CA to the existing keystore, it'd be something like

$ keytool -importcert -trustcacerts -file ssca.cer \ -keystore $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/cacerts -storepass changeit

(Even this very first step had complications. Our self signed CA was a Version 1 cert with v3 extensions, and while no other language cared, keytool refused to create a keystore with it. We ended up having to create a new self-signed CA with the appropriate version. Some lucky googling led us to that conclusion, but of particular use was using openssl to examine the CA and check its versions and extensions:)

$ openssl x509 -in ssca.cer -text -noout // Certificate: // Data: // Version: 3 (0x2) // Serial Number: ... // ... // X509v3 extensions: // X509v3 Subject Key Identifier: ... // X509v3 Key Usage: ... // X509v3 Basic Constraints: ...

Another useful command was examining the keystore before and after we imported our self signed CA:

$ keytool -list -keystore /path/to/keystore/file

as you can look for your self-signed CA in there to see if you ran the command correctly.

Anyway, once you've created a keystore for the JVM, the next step is to set the appropriate system properties, again as out lined in the docs:

$ java \ -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=/path/to/cacerts \ -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword=changeit \ -jar whatever.jar

Since the default password is changeit, you may want to change it... but if you don't change it, you wouldn't have to specify the trustStorePassword system property.

handling this in kubernetes

The above steps aren't too complicated on their own. We just need to make sure we add our CA to the existing ones, and point the JVM towards our new and improved file. But, since we'll eventually need to rotate the self-signed CA, we can't just run keytool once and copy it everywhere. So, an initContainer it is! keytool is a java utility, and it's handily available on the openjdk:8u121-alpine image, which means we can make a initContainer that runs keytool for us dynamically, as part of our Deployment.

Since seeing the entire manifest at once doesn't necessarily make it easy to see what's going on, I'm going to show the key bits piece by piece. All of the following chunks of yaml belong to in the spec.template.spec object of a Deployment or Statefulset.

spec: template: spec: volumes: - name: truststore emptyDir: {} - name: self-signed-ca secret: secretName: self-signed-ca

So, first things first, volumes: an empty volume called truststore which we'll put our new and improved keystore-with-our-ssca. Also, we'll need a volume for the self-signed CA itself. Our Ops provided it for us in a secret with a key ca.crt, but you can get it into your containers any way you want.

$ kubectl get secret self-signed-ca -o yaml --export apiVersion: v1 data: ca.crt: ... kind: Secret metadata: name: self-signed-ca type: Opaque

With the volumes in place, we need to set up init containers to do our keytool work. I assume (not actually sure) that we need to add our self-signed CA to the existing CAs, so we use one initContainer to copy the existing default cacerts file into our truststore volume, and another initContainer to run the keytool command. It's totally fine to combine these into one container, but I didn't feel like making a custom docker image with a shell script or having a super long command line. So:

spec: template: spec: initContainers: - name: copy image: openjdk:8u121-alpine command: [ cp, /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8-openjdk/jre/lib/security/cacerts, /ssca/truststore/cacerts ] volumeMounts: - name: truststore mountPath: /ssca/truststore - name: import image: openjdk:8u121-alpine command: [ keytool, -importcert, -v, -noprompt, -trustcacerts, -file, /ssca/ca/ca.crt, -keystore, /ssca/truststore/cacerts, -storepass, changeit ] volumeMounts: - name: truststore mountPath: /ssca/truststore - name: self-signed-ca mountPath: /ssca/ca

Mount the truststore volume in the copy initContainer, grab the file cacerts file, and put it in our truststore volume. Note that while we'd like to use $JAVA_HOME in the copy initContainer, I couldn't figure out how to use environment variables in the command. Also, since we're using a tagged docker image, there is a pretty good guarantee that the filepath shouldn't change underneath us, even though it's hardcoded.

Next, the import step! We need to mount the self-signed CA into this container as well. Run the keytool command as described above, referencing our copied cacerts file in our truststore volume and passing in our ssCA.

Two things to note here: the -noprompt argument to keytool is mandatory, or else keytool will prompt for interaction, but of course the initContainer isn't running in a shell for someone to hit yes in. Also, the mountPaths for these volumes should be separate folders! I know Kubernetes is happy to overwrite existing directories when a volume mountPath clashes with a directory on the image, and since we have different data in our volumes, they can't be in the same directory. (...probably, I didn't actually check)

The final step is telling the JVM where our new and improved trust store is. My first idea was just to add args to the manifest and set the system property in there, but if the Dockerfile ENTRYPOINT is something like

java -jar whatever.jar

then we'd get a command like

java -jar whatever.jar -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=...

which would pass the option to the jar instead of setting a system property. Plus, that wouldn't work at all if the ENTRYPOINT was a shell script or something that wasn't expecting arguments.

After some searching, StackOverflow taught us about the JAVA_OPTS and JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS environment variables. We can append our trustStore to the existing value of these env vars, and we'd be good to go!

spec: template: spec: containers: - image: your-app-image env: # make sure not to overwrite this when composing the yaml - name: JAVA_OPTS value: -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=/ssca/truststore/cacerts volumeMounts: - name: truststore mountPath: /ssca/truststore

In our app that we use to construct the manifests, we check if the developer is already trying to set JAVA_OPTS to something, and make sure that we append to the existing value instead of overwriting it.

a conclusion of sorts

Uh, so that got kind of long, but the overall idea is more or less straightforward. Add our self-signed CA to the existing cacerts file, and tell the JVM to use it as the truststore. (Note that it's the trustStore option you want, not the keyStore!). The entire Deployment manifest all together is also available, if that sounds useful...

[seanmeverett]

How Your Brand Can Execute With Video

Video trends for your 2018 roadmap, including branded content for influencer marketing

I. Setting the Stage

Video is so hot right now. Everyone’s either building a video platform, has some new content strategy to reach Millennials and, gasp, Gen Z. Live is everywhere while Facebook and Apple Music are getting into original content. Even Disney wants to own its own destiny by pulling their content out of Netflix, investing in BAMTech to build out their latest streaming service.

After spending many years building every aspect of video platforms, and helping customers of all types across live and VOD figure out how to make money and an impact, we’ve learned some important things about video.

Making any money is hard.

Video’s benefit is for reach and lead gen.

II. Making Money with Video Is Hard

Making money from your own streaming service is pretty much not going to happen. Even at the biggest levels, it’s hard to squeak out a profit:

YouTube is break-even at internet advertising scale with the smartest engineers on the planet.

Netflix has 100M monthly subscribers and has to borrow money to buy and create more original content.

The small players don’t have a chance unless they carve out a small niche like financial news or overseas soccer. But even then, your revenue numbers are small.

Only a few YouTube celebs are making millions of dollars every year, but they’re still at the whim of the platform they run on.

CDNs, like Akamai, at massive internet scale still aren’t lining their coffers with massive amounts of gold coins.

If you’re looking at your company’s video strategy and even considering building out your own video platform, you are wasting time and money. It ain’t gonna happen if video isn’t your business, and even then, it’s an uphill battle. HBO wasted over a year and millions of dollars trying to do it themselves before BAMTech came in at the 11 o’clock hour and saved them in time for the Apple launch.

III. Video is for Lead Gen

Take a page from Amazon’s playbook. They bundle free shipping, their music service, video service, and book/gaming service into the $10/month Amazon Prime subscription. In Germany, this is the single biggest competitor.

Their strategy is to keep throwing more things under that $10/month to make it more valuable, all the while driving traffic to their eCommerce site. Because Amazon makes all its revenue from people ordering things. Amazon’s lead gen is a video service with entertainment content. People subscribe, watch movies and decide to buy something from Amazon instead of going to the store because, you guessed it, free shipping is also included.

Facebook just launched their Watch platform for brands to create their own video shows and get them in front of billions of people. You already know where this is headed — ad targeting. Which is how Facebook makes money. But Facebook is keeping 45% of all revenue through their video service, which seems like a non-starter to us. No freakin’ way you keep half my money. (Technically, we know why, it’s the CDN cost for delivering the video all over the world).

Now that you know why to use video in your overall business strategy (read: not to make money), the next step is understanding how to execute on it (read: get new customers).

IV. Roadmap for Video Advertising

Television is still taking the lion’s share of ad dollars when it comes to video advertising.

In addition, based on our analysis of Mary Meeker’s 2017 internet trends report, we’re showing that mobile and internet is catching up to TV.

With that knowledge, there are still only three main ways to advertise with video, whether you go the traditional TV route or the more programmatic digital route. There are three methods and the best way is to do them in order. Your roadmap is as follows:

Branded content

Influencer marketing

In-video ads

1. Branded content. This is starting to become a big deal. When an ad no longer looks like an ad, is it still an ad? Anything that drives someone to buy your product or service could likely be considered one, and the lines are even blurring on Instagram with celebrity endorsements.

According to eMarketer, more than 62% of the world’s internet users will view digital video in 2017, up from 60.8% in 2016. That’s 2 out of every 3 people that you can put your stuff in front of.

But make no mistake, video is becoming the only way to communicate in the modern world.

Here’s an example of an interactive Nike commercial that the team at The Mission produced:

https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.vimeo.com%2Fvideo%2F226220711&url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F226220711&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.vimeocdn.com%2Fvideo%2F645769916_1280.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=vimeo

Note: this specific example isn’t interactive because Vimeo’s video platform isn’t enabled for it. You can click along with the interactive Nike commercial here. Thus, even interactive stuff can be put in non-interactive places and across different social channels. So, once you produce the video content, expect to use it all over the place to get the most value possible.

Check out The Mission’s Studio to learn more.

2. Influencer Marketing. Once you have your branded video, interactive or otherwise, you need a place to put it. One of the most successful is through influencer marketing. Otherwise known as the new celebrity sponsorship. Instead of TV, we’re talking Kardashians on Instagram or MKBHD on YouTube:

A bunch of hungry teens or techies looking for an entertaining way to find new, cool stuff to get excited about. There are even stats to back that up, showing that 72% of an influencer’s audience loves how honest, funny, and open they are. Transparency and trust go a long way in this new world we live in.

In terms of ROI on influencer marketing, engagement is most important (i.e., interactivity) as well as driving traffic to move people or organizations through the customer journey.

But what if the content your selling needs to be for a smarter audience, with a larger household income over $100,000 USD. Where do you go for that? Medium, of course! That’s why we’re here.

Is it possible to reach over 1 million people just by hiring, say, 7 influential writers on Medium? Of course it is. We know because we’ve done it.

Once you’ve got the audience and the writers, the story around the branded content video is just an extension of the campaign itself. So it’s not that hard to write. You’ve already done that through the video script. Know what I’m sayin?

3. In-video ads. This one is the most familiar to most people because when you watch YouTube or even the latest episode of Game of Thrones, there is a video ad that plays before the main content you want to watch. This is called pre-roll advertising.

Mid-roll and post-roll ads also exist and most video platforms worth their salt have a mid-roll ad editor that lets you put VAST URLs at any time along the video using the VMAP spec.

Learn more about video ad specs like VAST, VMAP, and VPAID over at Clearcode.

As you might imagine the world of DMPs and DSPs can get pretty acronymn heavy fairly quickly. It’s one of the reasons we created our own Marketing Cheat Sheet for using Fortune 500 tools to acquire new customers. Even the supply chain is messy:

If you remember one thing, it’s this. Make sure you’re leveraging your first party data, onboarding it and consolidating with other 3rd party data, segmenting target audiences into your favorite DMP (Adobe Audience Manager or Salesforce), then activating it in a DSP like MediaMath.

Don’t spam people, add them to a supressed segment instead, and use that money to put an ad in front of people who’ve never been exposed to it before.

The Winterberry Group report on the State of Consumer Data Onboarding, November 2016

The Chief Brand Officer for P&G, which is the world’s largest spender of advertising dollars, went on stage at the beginning of 2017 and talked about the problems with the industry. In short:

P&G’s Action Plan in 2017

Viewability standards: human eyes actually see the ad

3rd party measurement: self-reporting metrics problem

Transparent agency contracts: no arbitrage of media buying (see also the IAB’s programmatic fee transparency calculator)

Prevent ad fraud: IVT and bots (ANA: 20% to 20% of digital media is subject to bot fraud); must get tag certified.

They’re going to vote with their dollars if suppliers don’t comply.

V. A Note on New International Privacy Laws

Watch out for privacy laws, like GDPR, which goes into effect in May 2018. For example, if a customer in Europe calls and says you need to erase Personally Identifiable Information (PII) within 72 hours, what are you going to do?

Luckily, most providers like Liveramp and Conversant / Epsilon should be handling that on your behalf when it comes to your marketing database, but that doesn’t cover anywhere else that data resides inside your internal IT departments, in excel files, across different cloud or on premise operations. The fine for not complying? It’s a lot.

4% of gross revenue or 20 million Pound Sterling fine.

Imagine the likes of McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Microsoft. Not even tech companies can abide by it because it has other clauses that says “you need to explain to the customer the algorithm you’re using with my data”. How is a customer service rep going to know where their data is across the entire organization, explain it to people, and get it removed in a few days if the customer wants.

It’s not possible. So expect to see a bunch of big companies being made examples of in the back half of next year. Don’t be one of them.

VI. Wrapping Up

We’ve shown that video is the main method to reach people across all walks of life, cultures, and beliefs. But the first step in that strategy is getting that video created. Whether you rely on user-generated content from your users/customers, your ad agency, or your brother-in-law’s whiz kid with a camera and an audience, the fact remains. Use video to advertise your wares to increase sales.

We’re happy to help advise on the right video platform, distribution channel, DMP + DSP combo, or help you create a compelling video.

Either way, get in touch, we’d be happy to make a new friend and help get you those super fans.

— Sean Everett

Resources

MarTech use cases, onboarding process, and IVT product for reducing bots Excel database (UPDATED)

Use Fortune 500 Tools To Acquire New Customers

What are VAST, VPAID, VMAP, and MRAID?

Learn more about emerging tech in video

If you enjoyed this story, please recommend and share to help others find it! Feel free to leave a comment below.

The Mission publishes stories, videos, and podcasts that make smart people smarter. You can subscribe to get them here.

How Your Brand Can Execute With Video was originally published in The Mission on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from Stories by Sean Everett on Medium http://ift.tt/2wPLPm5

[workreveal-blog]

Meet Samsung S8 with new Virtual Assistant Bixby

New Post has been published on https://workreveal.biz/meet-samsung-s8-with-new-virtual-assistant-bixby/

Meet Samsung S8 with new Virtual Assistant Bixby

How did Bixby do? A few demos worked nicely, and a few worked… in part. For example, the Bixby Imaginative and prescient portion wouldn’t let me select all textual content at the Korean seaweed package deal I delivered with me to the demo.

This becomes a prefinal version of Bixby, which Samsung is continuously updating and will continue to do so long after launch. It’s plenty too soon to make a stable dedication.

The simplest element I will say is that the Bixby group will need to work around the clock to get the holes plugged before customers receive it rapidly after shopping for the S8 and S8 Plus.

Study particular approximately my take on the Bixby virtual assistant here.

Did Samsung make a safer battery?

Samsung S8

Samsung S8 with Bixby

  The specter of the Note 7’s exploding battery hovers over the S8. The truth is, we can not be one hundred percent Sure that Samsung made a safer battery until the very last devices are incident-free. But what we do realize is that Samsung has instituted an eight-factor battery take a look at that it used at the S8 and S8 Plus, and on all phones going ahead. My colleague Shara Tibken toured a Korean battery facility to see how It is carried out.

  Further, Samsung additionally claims that the S8 battery is set lengthy-term performance in place of a quick-time period benchmarking burst. It’s expected to preserve an extended rate after six months, a year and years in comparison to the S7. “where maximum batteries keep approximately eighty percent in their fee after years, this battery ought to be capable of 95 percent of its unique ability,” stated Oh Boo-Keun, Vp of Samsung’s Cell R&D crew.

The S8 and last yr’s S7 Both have 3,000mAh batteries, while the S8 Plus drops a tick from the S7 Facet: from three,600mAh to the 3,500mAh you get these days. (using a comparison, 2016’s S7 Energetic has a 4,000mAh battery.) If what Samsung says pans out, the uncooked numbers are a whole lot much less essential than the battery’s overall performance as time is going on.

Necessary hardware capabilities Water-resistance rating: IP68 (up to three feet or 1 meter of water for up to half-hour) wi-fi charging (you buy a separate dock) Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor or Samsung Exynos 8895 (varies using location) Gigabit-magnificence LTE (for while networks start assisting 5G speeds) Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.zero help (now not 3.0; Samsung says its very own rapid-charging solution is just as rapid) 64GB Garage, microSD expansion to 2TB (You can purchase 256GB cards nowadays) Haptic Home button is usually Lively even with the display off Colors: middle of the night black, arctic silver, orchid gray, maple gold, coral blue (varies via-vicinity)

software modifications from Galaxy S7 Android Nougat 7.zero Press and preserve digital Domestic button for Google Assistant Swipe up for app tray Cleaner interface Customizable Facet show works like shortcuts Samsung Join app works with SmartThings to assist you to control apt Domestic appliances remotely New camera hints Double-press electricity button to launch (labored nicely) Autofocus on front going through digicam (eight megapixels) Clean-get entry to filters and photograph decorations Floating shutter button (non-compulsory) Unlocking the phone along with your face This isn’t similar to iris scanning, that is a biometric device You could use for Cell bills (you can not use face unencumber for this) It is rapid, and it labored in my demo, even in indoor lighting you need to keep the phone degree together with your eyes; you can’t unencumber using looking down into the cellphone I could not trick it with an existence-length color photograph of my face Samsung says this is extra convenient than it’s far at ease. “in case you want robust [security] technology, You may use the iris or fingerprint,” stated Kim Gae-you, Vice President of Samsung’s smartphone product planning and product manager for the Galaxy S8.

Make the S8 your ‘PC.’

Bixby Assistant

The Samsung DeX is a standalone dock that shows your telephone apps and media on a monitor You have to buy it one at a time you may also need a reveal, keyboard, and mouse In addition to the dock and cables It worked correctly in my demo, so I’m hopeful it may not enjoy the lag of Microsoft’s display Dock for the Lumia 950 Samsung envisions avenue warriors using it with Microsoft Workplace, Photoshop and commercial enterprise equipment inclusive of Citrix and VMWare

  The Samsung Galaxy S8 is finally here.

The South Korean cell large found out its cutting-edge flagship smartphone at an occasion in NY on March 29th after months of speculation.

Set to reach in shops throughout the UK on April twenty-eighth, the Galaxy S8 comes with a beautiful new look, blended with some significantly superb hardware, as well as the all-new Samsung’s Bixby intelligent assistant.

But many fanatics have already balked at the £689 fee tag for the Galaxy S8, which increases to £779 for the Galaxy S8 Plus, with some looking for an inexpensive alternative.

However, if you aren’t a Samsung fan, or don’t fancy waiting every other month for the Galaxy S8 release date, what are some of the other pinnacle alternatives?

Google Pixel

The Google Pixel changed into one of the maximum popular Android telephones of remaining year.

Combining Google’s functional design and the maximum dominant model of Android 7.1 Nougat released to this point, the device changed into a hit among media and consumers alike.

The Pixel and large Pixel XL, original a 1080p FullHD AMOLED 5.0in show, that’s smaller than the Galaxy S8, But makes it easier to healthy on your pocket.

The Pixel is also 12g lighter than the Galaxy S8, But it handiest comes with Gorilla Glass 4, unlike Samsung’s device, which packs all-new Gorilla Glass 5, that means it’s miles tougher and more potent.

Interior, both gadgets function the Snapdragon 835 processor (at the least, one version of the Galaxy S8 does) and 4GB of RAM. But the Pixel is to be had with 128GB of the garage, double the quantity provided by way of the Galaxy S8, that means the greater area to your snapshots, movies, and apps.

The Pixel camera is marginally higher than the Galaxy S8, with a 12.3MP sensor, and as for battery lifestyles, the Galaxy S8 packs a three,000mAh strength unit, just ahead of the Pixel’s 2,700mAh battery, although the latter’s QuickCharge four.0 technology ought to assist expand its existence span.

Software program-clever, the Pixel holds a bonus, with Google always rolling out the modern model of Android to its gadgets first.

Because of this the Pixel is currently on Android 7.1.2 Nougat construct, giving it the first rate-powered Google Assistant, and could maximum probably get upgraded to the coming near Android O first.

In contrast, the Galaxy S8 ships with the initial Android 7.zero Nougat build, even though it does include Samsung’s Bixby assistant.

Crucially, the Pixel is extensively inexpensive than the Galaxy S8, currently on sale for £529 – despite the fact that that is nonetheless pretty pricey for an Android flagship.

Universal though, if you’re seeking out superb usability and robust Software program coupled with a terrific layout, you couldn’t move far incorrect with a Google Pixel.

Samsung S8

Samsung typically unveils their yearly flagship smartphones in India, quickly after a month or so of the legit launch. And, with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, the South Korean cellphone maker is going to follow nearly the similar ritual that the organization has been following for decades collectively. Sure, the currently introduced Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are equipped to hit the Indian shores very quickly.

This information has already started developing a buzz within the entire Indian cellphone area. The update comes out as the telephone named as “Samsung Galaxy S8” has been put up for pre-orders within the legit Samsung India internet site. On the middle of the allegedly Galaxy S8, there comes a caption which reads as – “Unbox your cell phone.”

This greater or less suggests At the fact that the South Korean phone producer is all set to announce the flagships of the yr in the Indian marketplace sooner than one can even believe. Several media reviews advised that the recently announced Samsung Galaxy S8 fashions are up for pre-orders in India, At the organization website. At the same time as visiting the professional Samsung India internet site, the house page suggests exactly the identical. A sketch of Samsung telephone, which resembles quite just like the bezel much less Galaxy S8 is picturised, and underneath the picture are two options – Examine more and Pre-Registration.

Additionally Read: Micromax Bharat 2 with 4G VoLTE launched in India for Rs 3,499

We attempted to e-book a tool, via clicking At the pre-registration option. Upon which, another window opened which asked us to enter our non-public information like – first and final call, electronic mail id, touch details and vicinity pin code. The list is accompanied by a question which states: What functions are you most excited about inside the new Galaxy S8? Following which might be some options which Study as follows: Infinity display, Iris Scanner, Samsung Bixby, and Industry-first 10mn chipset.

Furthermore, the registration procedures require the customer just to accept Samsung’s Privateness Policy and later enter the display verification code. After finishing the message, the website will show a message that you have efficiently pre-registered the Galaxy S8. Nicely, there’s one size. For the duration of the registration system, the website indicates only Samsung Galaxy S8 and shows no sign of the top class version – Samsung Galaxy S8+.