#or even better: the station logos just have the letters replaced

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

how to use AI for good

youtube channel called Real News From Fake Stations, featuring convincing deepfakes of prominent propagandists anchors from stations like CNN and MSNBC relaying the news stories that should be reported, with the objective manner in which they ought to be reported

[lacommunarde]

Charity: Water’s Give Guide (including non-monetary generosity)

Supporters like you have been so generous all year long. Even in a year like 2020, you’ve continued to show up when we’ve needed you most.

Tomorrow, on Giving Tuesday, we’re asking you to show up again—but not for charity: water.

We know firsthand how incredible this community is, and if there’s anything the world needs right now, it’s the pure goodness we’ve experienced from people like you. So here’s what we’re thinking:

Pick one way—any way!—to be generous tomorrow. Our whole team will be joining in on the fun with generous endeavors of our own. Here’s a

not-so-short list

to help you get started:

THE SAFE-AT-HOME

GIVE GUIDE

Send your sibling a photo of a puppy and tell them its unbearable cuteness reminded you of them.

Your fridge could almost definitely use a deep cleaning. Be the one who makes it happen.

Curate a playlist and send it to someone you miss dancing with—make sure every song is a banger.

Take a virtual yoga class with your most-stressed family member.

Save energy! Turn off a few lights.

Your friend shared an accomplishment on social media! Celebrate their hard work with an enthusiastic comment. (Emojis are not optional.)

Leave encouraging comments on social media, news articles, or anywhere they'd cause a smile.

Sort through your books and gift the ones you don't need anymore.

Throw an unbirthday party for one of your housemates or family members, complete with an unbirthday treat.

Collect all of the best instrumental videos and throw an in-house or virtual karaoke party.

Using reusable masks? Gather everyone's and put them through the laundry. Goodbye, germs!

Rent some movies from the library (the more obscure, the better) and throw an at-home movie night with everyone's favorite snacks.

Write to a long lost friend.

Invite a friend to join you for a virtual museum tour (like the MoMA or Musée D'Orsay).

Set up a video chat with someone who lives alone.

Call someone you haven't checked in on recently.

Leave your USPS mail carrier a friendly note.

Leave a glowing review for your favorite restaurant.

Propagate a plant.

Clean the bathroom. Someone's gotta do it, and today, you are that champion.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD MVP

GIVE GUIDE

Put your child back in that superhero Halloween costume and go door-to-door delivering candy like it's a backwards Halloween (neewollaH?).

Take your neighbor's newspaper from the driveway up to their door.

Dial up the happiest playlist you can find and have socially-distanced driveway dance parties.

Rake your neighbor's leaves.

Volunteer to walk neighborhood pets whose owners could use a break.

Have a new neighbor? Share a list of all the amazing local restaurants they should try and what to order from each. Bonus: send a pizza from your favorite local shop.

Leave a box of cookies on your neighbor’s doorstep, ring the bell, and get the heck out of there.

Put together a Creativity Box for a neighborhood family with kids. Fill it with coloring books, games, puzzles—anything that gives parents 20 minutes to make dinner without interruption!

Buy a bouquet of fresh flowers and put a single flower on each of your neighbors' doorsteps.

Slip friendly notes into your neighbor's mailbox.

Visit VolunteerMatch.org to get matched with a local volunteer opportunity—anything from delivering meal kits to putting up flyers for kitten adoption.

Clean up your nearest park.

Walk the dogs at your local animal shelter.

Deliver flowers to your local nursing home to bring joy to the residents and staff.

Say hello to your neighbors when you pass each other on the street.

Hand out a flyer with all of the special skills you're willing and able to share. (A+ cookie baker? Star virtual math tutor? Pro headlight replacer? All valid skills!)

Order takeout from a local restaurant you've never tried before.

Start a neighborhood activity swap. Every week, rotate a new activity (like puzzles, board games, books, movies) from one house to the next.

Offer to go to the post office or the grocery store for your elderly neighbors.

Know a neighbor who can't be with family this year? Invite them to share one of your family's traditions, even if virtually!

THE MONEY CAN'T BUY HAPPINESS

(BUT IT CAN BUY PIZZA)

GIVE GUIDE

Venmo the student in your life so they can order delivery while they study for finals.

Buy coffee for the person in line behind you.

Pay for a stranger’s groceries.

Pizza. Someone in your life needs a pizza delivery.

Take care of your neighbors and donate to a local mutual aid or food pantry.

Deliver a round of hot coffees to the women and men working at a nearby construction site.

Help someone pay rent.

Does a teacher in your life need school supplies? Send that hero a gift card.

Your family member deserves flowers. (You know which one.)

Pick up a surprise dinner for your roommates (or your family!) from a local restaurant.

Need to purchase gifts this holiday season? Shop from small businesses.

Create an "emergency kit" for a friend with a few of their favorite snacks and a gift card.

Gift a book to a student.

Tip your delivery driver 40%.

Count the number of tabs you have open. Donate that number of dollars to your favorite charities.

Ask the florist for a bouquet that would make someone's day. Then, buy that bouquet for the florist.

Give a parent a well-deserved night off. Deliver pizza and a movie to their front door.

Send a friend an IOU for a hot beverage to enjoy the next time you're together.

Send donuts to a local elementary school faculty room.

Support a friend who is doing good work in the world.

THE BROKE COLLEGE STUDENT

GIVE GUIDE

Leave a life-affirming note on a stranger’s car window.

Give a friend or neighbor a coupon for snow removal. During the next storm, show up with a shovel and a smile.

Marie Kondo your pantry and donate the excess to a local food bank.

Donate gently-used clothing and give someone else a chance to love the sweater that lives in the back corner of your closet.

Plant a tree.

Write a bunch of hope-filled messages and deliver them to an assisted living home.

Volunteer your time to do whatever it is you do best: review resumes, help form a financial plan, design a logo, organize a pantry, take photos.

Share a list of your favorite recipes with someone who has made way too many meals at home since March.

Share a funny memory with a friend you haven't talked to in a long time.

Set up a themed video chat with people you've been meaning to get in touch with.

Help someone do something they've been avoiding: clothing repair, shipping packages, putting up or taking down decorations. Team work makes the dream work.

Write thank you notes to hospital workers and encouraging letters to patients.

Ask a grandparent/parent/sibling about their favorite memory. Then record it.

Give someone the benefit of the doubt.

Write haikus about your favorite people and send them throughout the day.

Respond to your favorite newsletter writer and tell them how much you enjoy their writing.

Become pen pals with a senior citizen.

Share a compliment with a coworker.

Channel your inner gameshow host and plan a virtual game night.

Text an encouraging note to a friend, just because.

THE CRAFT QUEEN

GIVE GUIDE

Bake some homemade pet treats and drop them off at your local animal shelter.

Create a Powerpoint explaining exactly why your best friend is awesome. Present it to them via Zoom.

Make an old-school holiday ornament for a friend with that picture you took together in 5th grade.

Give the gift of not having to look for boxes of gift wrap in the basement. Drop off homemade wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows to friends and neighbors.

Present handmade awards to your quarantine pod. Options include “Best Quarantine Haircut” and ”Most Likely to Selflessly Wash Our Dishes."

Make encouraging bookmarks and give them to your local librarians.

Print out old (we're talking waaaay back) photos. Send them out in the mail so everyone can remember and enjoy happy times spent together.

Make a family tree. Instead of pictures, use hilarious memories or quotable moments.

Send a scrapbook filled with inside jokes to your siblings or oldest friends.

Make a Snow Day box (candle, hot chocolate, a good book, fuzzy socks) and send it to a friend.

Invite your favorite 5-year-old to color with you on a video chat.

Keep a running list (or a wall of post-it notes!) of all the awesome things you've noticed people doing recently. There's so much kindness in the world when we're looking for it.

Give people who walk past your house a reason to smile! Put colorful art or encouraging signs in your front windows.

Draw portraits of your neighbors' pets. Deliver them with a few treats.

Spruce up your housemate's work-from-home station.

Make handmade cards for residents at a local nursing home.

Bake your favorite cookies, package them up, and ship them to your parents.

Send brand new crayons, markers, and coloring books to a children's hospital.

Make a scrapbook of your family's favorite quarantine memories. (You have more than one, we promise.)

Build a free community "library" box and encourage friends and neighbors to take a book or leave a book.

No matter how you celebrate Giving Tuesday,

know that we will be celebrating you

. We can’t wait to continue in our mission together—and can’t wait to spend Giving Tuesday being as generous as possible alongside you!

– your friends at charity: water

[mosylufanfic]

To Love is Not to Possess (to own or imprison)

Reaction fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic! Of course I had to write something like this after the cliffhanger in 4x17. Thanks to @hedgiwithapen for coming through the absolute perfect title when I was whining to her on messenger. It’s from the poem of the same name by James Kavanaugh and basically everyone needs to read it at least once.

To Love is Not to Possess (to own or imprison)

Caitlin was rooting around in her hall closet for a fresh box of tissues when her phone went off. She grabbed a tiny purse pack and went to the living room, blowing her nose. Ugh. Spring allergies were hitting with a vengeance, and somebody had given her entire bottle of extra-strength antihistamines to an aging bounty hunter from another dimension.

(Not for the first time, Caitlin reflected that her life was weird.)

She picked up her phone from the charging station to see a text from Cisco. Can I come over?

Sure, she answered, and stepped back.

A split second later, a breach opened up in her tiny foyer and Cisco jumped through. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said back, and sneezed mightily.

He scooted backwards. "Spring cold?"

"Hay fever," she said, blowing her nose and wiping her streaming eyes.

"This might make you feel better," he said, and held out a plastic bag marked with the logo of a drugstore. She raised her brow at him and opened it to find a big bottle of antihistamines.

"Oh, Cisco," she said, clutching it to her heart and fluttering her lashes at him. "Just what I always wanted. How did you know?"

"Well, you know." He tapped his temple. "Psychic."

She twisted it open and shook one into her palm. "Thanks," she said, going to the kitchen for a bottle of water. "They're bad this year."

"I can tell."

She came back, swallowing the pill. "So what's up?"

"Why should something be up?" he asked, flopping into his favorite chair in her living room and sprawling back against the cushions, extra-super-casual. "I was just bringing my best pal some allergy meds."

She eyed him. "You could have bought these and left them on my desk tomorrow morning. You didn't have to bring them over tonight."

"Well, like you said." He reached out and grabbed the empty box of Kleenex from the coffee table, tossing it at the trash can. "They're bad this year."

He clearly had something on his mind. She settled onto the couch, curling her legs up under her. "Is it Breacher?"

He gave her a quick glance and looked away.

She'd thought so. "Look, he's definitely very intimidating." She'd thought Cisco was exaggerating about that, until she'd spent the day with a frustrated and angry Breacher in the speed lab. "But Cynthia isn't some teenager that he can confine to the house. She's a grown woman, with breaching powers of her own. Her father can't stop her from seeing you, no matter how upset he is that we couldn't help."

"Yeah," he said sourly. "She could see me if she wanted."

Caitlin bit her lip. "She loves you," she said.

"I know," he said. "And I love her. But it's been a month since I kissed my girlfriend. I've got the worst case of - I mean - it's frustrating, okay?"

She winced in sympathy. "Of course it is. But you know, it's not like you have a nine to five job either. When was the last time any of us got a day off?" God, that was a depressing thought.

"That's kind of the thing," Cisco said slowly.

"Oh? What are you planning?" A vacation, maybe? Of course, they were in the middle of all this DeVoe business, and trying to find the last two bus metas - but when weren't they in the middle of some drama? They really all needed to start carving out personal time. "If you need help telling Barry that you're taking time off - "

"Not exactly." He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. "Look, Breacher came back after you left for the night."

She looked him over quickly. "Well, you're in one piece, so that’s good. Was he still angry?” Cisco had lied to him, given him useless medicine, and deceived him to make him think it had worked. He’d treated him like a child - or a gullible old man. She hadn’t been one bit surprised that at the old viber’s fury.

"Yeah, no, he’d cooled off." He shook his head, looking baffled. "He’s decided to retire."

"Retire? Really? Breacher?" He'd struck her as more of a workaholic than her mother, and that was quite a bar to clear. She blew her nose, which had started running again.

"Yeah, I know. But I think he already had. He was all in the, like, old-dude retirement community uniform. Socks with sandals and everything."

She blinked a few times. "I . . . I can't picture that."

"Hey, I saw it with these two eyes, and I'm not sure I can picture it."

She leaned over to toss her crumpled, snot-filled tissue into the trash can. That antihistamine could start kicking in whenever it liked. "Well, that'll change things,” she said, digging another tissue out of the purse pack. “Cynthia's going to take over running the agency, I assume?" That could go two ways. With more control over her own schedule, she could see Cisco more often - but being the boss, her time might be even less her own.

"He didn't actually mention that," Cisco said. "But he did say that him retiring meant there was a job opening. And uh." He grinned nervously. "He offered it to me."

Caitlin stared at him.

After a good thirty seconds had ticked by, he tilted his head. "Did you hear me?"

Her stomach twisted around itself.

"Caitlin?"

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

"Hello . . . "

"Yes!" she gasped. "Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. I heard you. I - wow. A job. With the collection agency."

"Yeah."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"I didn't know what to say. And then he was like, 'ah, it's a big decision, think it over. Let Cynthia know.' And then he just whistled off to his Earth-47 dragon farm."

"Dragon . . . farm?"

"Long story." He hauled himself out of the chair and started pacing her living room. "But can you believe that? He goes from choking me out as a hello, to offering me a job as his replacement?"

She reached down slowly and picked up the tissues, which had fallen off her lap as she sat frozen. "Maybe it's his way of showing approval," she ventured. "Both of you and the relationship."

"He said something like that," Cisco said, rubbing his hands over his hair. "But I - oh my god, this is huge. And I don't know what to do. Caitlin, I need some help here."

She reared back. "I can't make that kind of decision for you."

"No, I know you can't, but you can help me think it through, right?"

"Of course, always. Look." She got up. "I'm going to get a pad of paper and a pen and we're going to make a list."

"Yay." But he smiled at her, and she returned it before going off to the tiny second bedroom that acted as her home office.

She rifled through her desk drawers, hunting for the pad of paper and one of her good pens. She pulled both out, set them on her desk, and then braced her hands against the smooth wood and breathed carefully.

Cisco needed her to be his friend. To listen to his concerns, to give good, thoughtful advice.

He didn't need her to beg him not to leave Earth-1. He didn't need her to burst into tears at the thought of not seeing him every day. He definitely didn't need her to tell him how much she already missed their movie nights or going out for drinks, which had fizzled to nothing since he'd gotten serious about Cynthia, and Caitlin had stepped back behind the boundaries of that relationship.

Cisco needed her to think about his happiness, not hers. So that's what she would do.

She grabbed the box of Kleenex off her desk, blew her nose, dabbed carefully at her eyes, and took it with her back to the living room, along with the paper and pen. "Okay," she said brightly. "Ready?"

"Yep."

She wrote Taking the job at the top of the paper, then drew a line down the center. “First pro,” she said, pointing the pen at him.

“Cynthia,” he said immediately.

She wrote the name down, concentrating on forming each letter careful and round.

“Like, that would be amazing. I just miss her so much, all the time. But this way, we’d get to work together, we’d go home together - it’s the dream, you know?”

She opened her mouth to say, Actually, it’s very hard to spend so much time with one person, Ronnie and I had the worst fights when we first moved in together, and remember how Barry and Iris went to counseling - but then she shut her mouth again. She didn't trust her own motives for saying that.

“I mean," he went on,  "we’d probably still have to be doing different things a lot. But still. More us-time than we’re getting now.”

“Way more,” she said.

“Yeah. So that’s a biggie.” He paced up her living room, then down it again. “Okay, here’s another one. It would be a hell of an adventure. New places, new people - there’s this great big multiverse out there and it’d be my job to explore it. Dope, right?”

“Super-dope,” she said.

“And, hey, there’s the money thing.”

“It pays well?”

“It can. They get paid by the job, and I’ve seen some of those bounty announcements. Like, you’re talking serious coinage there. Depending on who I bring in, I could be rolling in it."

“Wow.” Barry paid them the same generous salary that Wells had. But Caitlin was well aware that Star Labs was not just expensive, it wasn't bringing any money in, and Barry’s inheritance from Wells would dry up someday. She had investments, but she wasn’t sure Cisco had any outside income besides the occasional consulting fee from CCPD.

“Yep. Always nice.” He leaned over and read her list upside down. “That’s everything for the pro side that I can think of off the top of my head.”

“Some big pros here,” she said.

“Major pros.” His face fell into serious lines. “Major cons too.”

“Let’s lay them out.”

He picked at his thumbnail for a second or two. “I’d have to leave,” he said quietly. “Star Labs, Earth-1, all you guys.”

“I - we’d miss you,” she managed.

“I’d miss you too,” he said. “Although, you know what. Maybe I could convince Cynthia to make Earth-1 her home base. Operate the agency from 19, but come back here every night.”

"That's quite a commute."

“Hey, it’s like stepping from one room to another. And this Earth has coffee.”

Caitlin drew careful diamonds down the line she’d drawn in the center of the paper. “Serious temptation.”

“Oh yeah. So if that works out, I’d basically still be around. We’d hang out all the time, I’d lend a hand if you guys needed it - it’d be like I never left.”

Except for the empty lab, she thought. And Cynthia was so busy all the time, even with Breacher working too. As Cisco had complained, she never seemed to get a day off. Was there any reason to think it would be different with Cisco? “Sure,” she said softly.

He looked at her for a moment, then picked at his thumbnail again. “Next on the list,” he said. "Uh. The job itself."

"That's a con?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly be teaching preschool, you know? I've heard the stories. They throw down with some serious baddies. The sitch I pulled Josh out of, earlier? Guy was freaky scary. The teeth on him!"

She went cold to her scalp for a moment. "You got him out of it, though."

"By running away," he pointed out. "Not workable when I need to be bringing them in."

"You've thrown down with baddies before."

"With all you guys backing me up. I'd be alone."

"Or with Cynthia."

"Yeah, maybe. But I'd be doing that all the time. Hunting for them, fighting them - I don't know if my skills are up to that."

She set her pen down. "Cisco, look at me, okay?"

He did.

"In the past few years, you've been faced with any number of situations you never could have imagined, and you've risen to each occasion faster and farther than anyone had a right to expect. You're smart, you learn fast, you have amazing powers, and it's my belief that you could do anything you put your mind to. So maybe a steep learning curve would be on the con side here." She tapped the paper. "But you not being able to do the job? I'm not writing that down."

He took that in, then smiled a little. "Okay," he said. "Steep learning curve. Let's put that."

She nodded firmly and wrote it down.

"And thanks."

"I don't hear that kind of talk from you much anymore," she said.

"No, not much," he acknowledged. "But every so often the brain weasels wake up and run around in there and need someone to tell them to shut up."

"Happy to be of service." She looked at the list. "So. Is that everything?"

"One last thing." He perched on the arm of the couch, looking serious. "I don't know if I want to do the job." He held up a hand when she started to say something. "This isn't about whether I can or not. It's whether I'd actually like to spend that many hours of my day doing it. Like I said, I've heard Cynthia's stories, and I've never once gone, 'aw damn, wish that was me.'"

"The adventure," she said. "The paycheck."

"The boredom. The assholes. The beat-downs. The lean times." He grimaced. "The paperwork."

She colored in one of the diamonds she'd drawn and said, "Doing all of that - good and bad - alongside the woman you love."

A long silence, and then he sighed out, "Yeah."

They were both quiet then. She colored in three more diamonds.

He stirred. "So, three pros, three cons. Pretty evenly balanced there."

"In terms of strictly numbers, yes," she said. "But you're going to have to decide for yourself how much weight to put on each thing."

"So it's back to me."

"It never left you."

He twitched his mouth a little and held out his hand. "Can I take that home with me? I'm gonna stick it to the wall and stare at it all night."

"Sure." She ripped the sheet off the pad and held it out to him. "Maybe catch some sleep in there."

He folded it into a tight square and shoved it in his pocket. "Yeah, maybe." He sighed hugely. "I'm gonna get going, okay? Thanks for listening."

"Thanks for coming to me."

"Well, Barry would be pissed that I was even thinking about leaving before we’ve got DeVoe locked up. Iris would give good advice, but she'd probably also tell Barry. And Harry - " He dropped his voice, imitating Harry's gravelly tones. "Nobody gives a shit about your piddling problems, Ramon, I have to think up the cure for cancer by midnight." He grinned at her, his voice returning to its normal register. "You were clearly my best choice."

"Clearly," she said.

He started for the door, and she said, "Taking the long way?"

"I want to grab some dinner from that pizza place on the corner. Hey, have you eaten?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." She walked him to the door. "Hey, Cisco?"

He turned, halfway in the hall already. "Hmm?"

"Don't, um." She fiddled with the latch, pushing it in and letting it go. "Don't worry about anybody else, okay?”

He cocked his head slightly, frowning.

“For once, put yourself first. Think about what'll make you happy. And do that."

He took the folded list out of his pocket and flipped it over in his fingers a few times. "Yeah, okay." He tucked the list away. "Thanks. Again."

"You're welcome. Always."

He turned and walked down the hall. She leaned against the jamb, watching him go. He paused in front of the elevators and looked back at her. She smiled brightly and waved, then shut the door and went back to her couch.

After a moment, she picked up the remote and aimed it at her TV. Netflix popped up, and she picked something at random. A peppy theme song blared from the speakers, and she sat and watched the stupid, laugh-tracky show in silence.

Every so often, she wiped away the tears trickling down her face and dripping off her chin.

God, that antihistamine was just taking forever to work.

FINIS

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

A bunch of changes were evident in this next issue of ALL-STAR COMICS. First off, the Super-Squad banner was gone, replaced by a gigantic logo declaring that, once and for all, this series was about the Justice Society of America. Similarly missing was Wally Wood, the artist who had visually identified at least the previous few issues. With this release, Joe Staton became the penciler in residence, and ALL-STAR had made its transition from a faux-Marvel book to something that felt uniquely DC. Paul Levitz remained on board, now in the driver’s seat as the regular writer.

I’ve got a real soft spot for the super hero work of Joe Staton. It was idiosyncratic at times, always just a little bit cartoony, often a bit claustrophobic especially on team book titles. But it contained heart and charm, of the sort that characterized later pencilers such as Mike Parobek and Mike Wieringo. The inking of Bob Layton gave Staton a slick finish here, one that made his work just a little bit more mainstream, which was nice. 

Story-wise, we pick up with the JSA returning from last issue’s mission into the past only to discover the Injustice Gang squatting in their brownstone headquarters. The Gang plows into the JSA and gets the upper hand for the moment, but only long enough to retreat, challenging their heroic counterparts to contend with them in two far-off locations, for the lives of their captive fellow members Hourman and Wildcat. So it’s kind of a pointless action opener--made even more strange in that we then flash back for several pages to the events that led the JSA to entering their HQ in the first place.

In that flashback, Superman formally abdicates his place in the Justice Society in favor of Power Girl, and abruptly departs (before the Injustice gang is woefully outpowered.) Back in the present, the JSA breaks up into squads headed out to the two locations--with the Star-Spangled Kid scooping up Power Girl by force and insisting that they be on the same team. Not creepy at all. Meanwhile, in his windowless tower, Kent Nelson makes his goodbyes to his lover Inza once again, as he dons the golden mantle of Doctor Fate in response to the crisis. He rendezvous with Flash and Hawkman as they approach Abu-Dabi where they’re to take on the Icicle and the Thinker for the life of Hourman.

As you’d expect with those line-ups, it’s a rout, and in the aftermath of the fight, Fate carries the injured Hourman to South Africa, where Robin is currently stationed in his civilian role as a diplomat. From there, we naturally segue to Gotham City, where the now-destitute Green Lantern begins a wave of destruction, prodded on by the emotion-manipulating powers of the Psycho-Pirate. This rampage comes to the attention of Police Commissioner Bruce Wayne, and portends a showdown for another day.

Elsewhere, in Alaska, Power Girl and her youthful stalker the Star-Spangled Kid arrive to rescue Wildcat from the clutches of the Wizard and Brainwave. The Wizard’s in no better condition here than he’s been recently in SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS, and when Power Girl cleans up on him, he pleads that he’ll relocate to Earth-1 permanently. Thus does Levitz deal with the issue of the villain appearing in two titles at the same time. Brainwave, rather than relying on mental power, is stomping around in a cool-looking robot suit. But PG and the Kid tear the thing to pieces.

As the pair release the unconscious Wildcat, the Injustice Gang’s frankly anemic attack on their team thwarted and in ruin, the Star-Spangled Kid notices that a network of pipes in the oil refinery in which they’re battling have been diverted deep into the Earth. Sensing a mystery to be unraveled, Power Girl announces her intention to investigate. And so this issue comes to a To Be Continued close. It was a fun adventure, if a bit by- the-numbers. More excitingly, the letters page mentions that the never-before-told  origin of the Justice Society will be revealed in a forthcoming issue of DC SPECIAL, In these days, origin stories of this sort were kind of a big deal, so that was a book I looked forward to reading.

[imjustthemechanic]

The French Mistake

Part 1/? - A Visitor Part 2/? - The Kulturhistorisk Museum Heist Part 3/? - Cutscene

Natasha and Steve come in for a very rough landing, and then try to figure out exactly where it is they’ve wound up.

For the first split second it felt as if Steve was thrown.  Then instead, he was sharply pulled back by something tied around his waist.  He flew through the air to slam into a wall, and then dropped bonelessly to a slanted and semi-soft floor, where he lay panting for a moment.

Before he even opened his eyes, Steve could tell that something was wrong.  He’d had far worse impacts than this before.  He’d jumped from moving trains and fallen ten stories to land on the marble floor of the Triskelion lobby – and in each case, he’d been able to hop to his feet almost immediately and continue fighting.  Now, after what couldn’t have been more than twenty or thirty feet, his head was spinning and he had to catch his breath.  It felt as if all the life had been drained out of him. What had Loki done?

When his ears stopped ringing, he realized people were applauding.

Steve was lying face-down on the floor, which was covered with white padding decorated with rows of black x’s and triangles. Behind him it curved up into the wall he’d hit, as if the whole thing were part of a single big cylinder, but instead of going all the way around it stopped about twelve feet up, and overhead was a warehouse ceiling, all girders and banks of brilliant lights.  On Steve’s left was a man he did not know – he was about thirty, with dark skin and short dreadlocks, and wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt with the NASA logo on it.  A cord of some sort extended from the back of his shirt to a hole in the padded wall, and this was reeling and unreeling as he got to his feet.

On Steve’s right was Natasha, wearing a turquoise blue jumpsuit with a number of embroidered patches on each side of the front zipper.  She was still on her hands and knees, but all her muscles were coiled to react immediately if necessary, and her eyes were darting back and forth as she looked around.

In front of them, the padded curve ended five or six feet away, and beyond that were two large film cameras aimed at them, more dazzlingly bright lights and silky white photographic reflectors, and a whole row of strangers in street clothes. All of these were grinning and most of them still clapping, and one of the camera operators was pumping his arm in the air.

The man on Steve’s left grabbed his arm to help him up.  “You okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Steve admitted.

A man stepped forward out of the crowd.  He was in his late 60’s or early 70’s, with dusty-blond hair and a beard going gray, and a deep crease in between his eyebrows.  He was clapping, too, and though it was slowly and with less enthusiasm than the rest, the smile on his face was genuine.

“Much better!” he said, in a British accent.  “Much better!”

“I told you!” the man in the NASA shirt beamed and clapped Steve on the shoulder.  “The secret is don’t tense up.”

The bearded man came up and shook Steve’s hand, then the black man’s, then Natasha’s.  “Wonderful,” he said.  “Now that we’ve got that, we can leave the rest for the stunt people.  Let’s break for lunch.  Maddy!”  He looked over his shoulder at a woman with several tattoos decorating her shaved head. “Do you have those revisions?”

Maddy held up a manila folder.

“Good.”  The bearded man nodded.  “Let’s look over those, and I’d like to see everybody back in wardrobe by two o’clock. Now all of you, get out of here.”

The lights started going out, leaving Steve, who’d been looking right into them, seeing spots.  Some of the strangers left the room immediately.  Others began taking equipment apart, and a woman came up to unhook the lines attached to Steve’s, Natasha’s, and the other man’s clothing.  Steve still didn’t feel right.  He was all sweaty and weak.  It was almost like being that asthmatic kid in Brooklyn again, only it wasn’t, because he was still tall, could still tell the difference between red and green, could still breathe deeply.  What was wrong with him?

He looked at Nat.  She looked back, not bothering to hide the fact that she was as confused as he was.  That was even more worrying.  Things were bad when even Natasha didn’t know what was going on.

The bearded man had walked away now, and multiple conversations had begun.  Counting on those and the sound of moving cameras and lights to cover his words, Steve said, “Natasha?”

“Yeah?” Nat asked.  Her jumpsuit, he noticed, had the name Залётина – Zalyotina – embroidered on the pocket.  Several of the badges also had Russian text on them, around motifs of rockets and space stations.

“What happened?” asked Steve.

There was a brief pause in which Nat looked around again.  “I don’t know,” she admitted.

“We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore,” Steve observed.

“We were never in Kansas to begin with,” she replied.

Steve blinked.  “Have you really not seen The Wizard of Oz?”  After she’d made him watch all those ridiculous sci-fi movies from the eighties?

“Of course I’ve seen The Wizard of Oz,” said Nat.  “I’m being a jerk about it because you said that before I could think of something more obscure.”

The name Zalyotina had given Steve a moment of doubt whether this woman was indeed Natasha – that comment washed it away.  “Okay,” he said.  “So… we’re on a movie set.”  That much he could tell.  Steve had been on movie sets before.

“I know we’re on a movie set,” said Nat.  “I’m surprised you haven’t started punching everyone and running away yet.”

“I can’t punch anybody right now,” said Steve, “and I definitely can’t run.  I feel terrible.  Like I haven’t slept in weeks.”  How long had it been since he’d felt this bad?  Certainly not since he’d awakened in SHIELD’s fake hotel room.

“Good,” said Nat.  “Try to keep a lid on the punch everybody instinct.  These people aren’t a threat to us.”

A hand grabbed Steve’s arm.  A word was also spoken, but Steve didn’t hear what it was, because he drowned it out with his own holler of surprise.  He spun around and dropped into a fighting stance – his reflexes were slower than normal, but it was good to know they still worked.  Nat jumped, as well, but it was not an attacker.  It was the black man in the NASA shirt, who seemed as startled by Steve’s reaction as Steve had been by his touch.  He held up his hands and took a couple of steps back.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Steve straightened up again, cautiously.  His heart felt like it was going to pound its way right through his ribs.  He couldn’t remember the last time it had beat like that.  The SHIELD medics had always said he had the lowest resting heart rate of any human being.  “I’m fine,” he managed.

“Yeah.”  Nat, too, was taking deep breaths.  “Fine.”

“Great,” said the other man.  “Come on, let’s eat, huh?”

“Eat.”  Steve nodded. Maybe food would help him feel better. “Good idea.”

Most of the original group had left the room by now and new people were coming in, setting things up to replace the ones the previous occupants had taken down.  Among them were three with the same haircuts and clothing as Steve, Nat, and their as-yet-unidentified co-star – a black man with short dreadlocks, wearing a NASA shirt – a woman with a blonde bob, in a blue jumpsuit – and a tall man with brown hair and beard stubble, in a UC Berkeley sweatshirt.  They were waiting for their counterparts to leave the set.

“Sorry,” said Steve.

Nat took his arm.  “Come on, guys,” she said brightly.  “I’m starved.”

They headed down a short hallway and out a door into the blinding sunlight.  Even Steve’s eyes were slow to adjust, but once he could stop squinting he found himself in a parking lot outside a big white building with an arched roof, which looked like it could be an aircraft hangar but instead had the words Studio 6 painted on the side in large red letters. A few palm trees were visible above the roof, growing on the other side of the lot.  There were four metal steps down to the parking lot, where a row of huge RV trailers were parked, but rather than returning to those, the cast and crew had gathered around a food truck that was serving Vietnamese submarine sandwiches.  People were unfolding lawn chairs and passing around sodas and bottled water.  Beyond the parking lot was a highway, with a green sign directing people to a turnoff that led to the Los Angeles city centre.

The tattooed woman named Maddy was handing out packets of pages.  She pulled a set out of her folder, and handed them to the man in the NASA shirt.

“Glover,” she said.

“Thank you.”  He accepted it, and opened it for a look as he went to the food truck for his sandwich.

“Johansson.”  Maddy gave some pages to Nat.

Nat accepted them without comment.  

“Evans.”  The third set was for Steve.

“Thanks,” said Steve.  He looked down at the cover – it bore the title Breathless and a scene and revision number, and a line indicating that this copy belonged to somebody named either Chris Evans or Matt Rankin.  When he opened it, he found Rankin’s lines highlighted.  Other characters, including Zalyotina, appeared to be Russian and American astronauts.

“Oh, and Donny,” Maddy added, talking to the man in the NASA shirt, “your friend at real-life NASA called.  Hyperspace geometry girl.”

Donny immediately lowered his script pages and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.  “You mean Kevin?” he asked.  “Thanks, I’ll call her back right away.”

Steve was starting to come up with a theory.  They knew the tesseract was able to open wormholes, moving objects and people around in space at will.  Whatever Loki had done, it had apparently cause Steve and Natasha to switch places with the actors making this movie – actors who looked creepily just like them, it seemed, since nobody had noticed the substitution.  Thor and Loki were probably around here somewhere, too, just not in the immediate vicinity.  What about the tesseract itself?  Was it here, or still in the museum in Norway?

He looked at Natasha, who was pretending to read her script.  She caught his eye, and nodded.  They had to get out of here and get back to their mission, but they had to do it carefully.  If they were on American soil, they could not afford to identify themselves – that would land them in prison.

“Okay,” Nat announced, “there’s been a big mistake here.”

People looked up at her.  Steve frowned… what was she going to do?  She couldn’t possibly just tell everybody who they really were, could she?

“What kind of mistake?” asked the bearded man, who Steve decided must be the director of the film.

“This.”  Nat showed him the script.  “This is not Russian.”

“It’s not?”  He frowned.  “We had a guy double-check it…”

“Well, was his name Google Translate?” Nat asked. “Because I guess yeah, it’s technically Russian, but nobody talks like this!”

The director looked over at Steve, who considered a couple of options and then just shrugged.  Nat knew what she was doing – he would just let her handle it.

“Why didn’t you bring that up at the meeting yesterday?” the director asked her.

“It slipped my mind,” said Nat.  “My shovel wasn’t big enough for all the bullshit.”

  “Does it really matter?” he tried.  “They’ll dub the movie before showing it in Russia, anyway.”

“What about Russian people living in the US?” Nat asked, arms folded across her chest.  “I guess it’s okay if we sound like idiots to them.”

The director sighed heavily.  “All right, I’ll find somebody else to look at it.  In the mean time…” he turned to Maddy.  “I guess we need to do something else this afternoon. See what the second unit’s up to. I’ve… I’ve gotta call the producer.” He started taking back the pages his assistant had handed out, pausing to look Steve over.  “You got any Russian?” he asked.

Steve tried to remember what little he knew.  “Pivo, pozhaluysta,” he offered. That was the first phrase Nat had taught him.  It meant one beer, please.

It took a moment, but the director chuckled.  “At least somebody around here has a sense of humour,” he observed, and glanced back at Nat with a sigh.  “Mat Damon said she was easy to work with,” he muttered.

Steve didn’t know who Matt Damon was, although the name made him think of Asgard for some reason.  “Well, that's just his opinion, isn't it?” asked Steve.

“Yeah.”  The bearded man sighed.  He motioned for Maddy to follow them, and they headed back up the steps into the studio.

Nat took two sandwiches from the food cart.  She handed one to Steve, and then declared grandly, “I will be in my trailer.”

Donny frowned.  “You don’t have a trailer.  You live here,” he said.

Nat took Steve’s arm.  “Then I’ll be in his trailer,” she decided, and stalked off, dragging him behind her.

[tessatechaitea]

Wonder Woman #13

Apparently Wonder Woman cries out of her eyes and ears.

Wonder Woman quickly gets better. I don't mean all the way better. I just mean out of a coma better.

I think Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman have wound up on the island from Lost in their search for Themyscira. That must be why there's a Dharma logo on the cover for the Sprocket Station. Did anybody ever do an I Ching reading of the Dharma logos? I should ask Lord Google about that. Here's a reading by NewSuez on losteastereggs, a blogspot blog: "I chose these symbols for a reading on the internet and this is what it came up with... The time is not yet right for you to act, so be patient: the transition from chaos to order is not yet complete. You are following the right path, but avoid disputes, and success will come to you in time. Equal partnerships benefit. Act with humility to all people; restore balance between excess and dearth in order to be successful. This is a good time for increased activity and prosperity, and maybe travel over water. Make the most of this time because it will pass. Be generous and do not seek unfair advantage over others. Do not follow someone else's path. Be careful of dangerous situations: deceit and hidden objectives will be harmful, although honesty and honourable actions could be beneficial. Learn from these situations for the future. There is good fortune, but this is not a time to relax. Be sure to consolidate what you have, or have gained. Act with caution and strive to maintain balance. Everything is as it should be! Take opportunities as they arise, and act with conviction, but make sure you do not appear over-confident or 'immodest'. Avoid excesses, and preserve what you have. You may need to accept a loss, but do so easily: greater benefit will replace the loss. Be restrained but flexible, and act with sincerity. There is danger which must be acknowledged, and actions taken in quiet ways with the support of others. Greater prosperity will follow if you act fairly and with honour, and are cautious in your actions." I would do an I Ching reading of the logo on the cover except I don't think it has entries for tentacles. The theory that they're on the island from Lost isn't just a joke! The caduceus on Maru's face was one of the Dharma stations. In fact, all of the Dharma stations have some connection to Apollo. Which probably means something if I cared to spend any more time thinking about Lost than I already have in this lifetime.

That's what the captain of the Black Rock probably said! Oh! Steve Trevor keeps thinking about how they're trapped on a "rock" in the middle of the "Black" sea! Totally on the Lost island!

This island is also an island that can't be found and shouldn't be where it is. Coincidence? The island might also be a gateway to another place. This one to Themyscira, the island of Lost to Heaven (since it was, you know, Purgatory). Maru (who is a Marina and not a Piper) lands on the island with her team, Poison. They rock the fucking faces off the hair band kids and then get their asses beat by jock Steve Trevor. He might kick the asses of Poison but not their leader, Marina Maru. She gets the drop on Wonder Woman and ends the battle because Steve Trevor hasn't seen the comic by Kerry Callen

Why the bracelets? Click through to find out!

Steve and Diana are rescued by some of Steve's or Etta's or Jack's or Locke's or Ben's friends. They leave the Island and escape although they'll probably have to come back later to finish finding Themyscira and Diana's past. Diana is locked in a mental ward until she can metamorphose into Rebirth Wonder Woman. Right now, she's still really confused by all of that history between Crisis on Infinite Earths and now. The Ranking! -1! This was just a stupid love letter from Steve Trevor to Diana! Romance is stupid! And dumb! That might not be a fair assessment of this comic book but it's a completely biased assessment, which is all you'll ever get from me! I promise!

[jamiekturner]

Travel logo design ideas that you should use in your next project

Travel agencies help those who want to go see the world get to do so. There are hundreds, if not thousands of these travel agencies, and every one of them has a unique travel logo. In that group of travel agencies, there are a wide variety of budgets, specializations, and even focuses.

How to stand out from this varied crowd? A good travel agency logo is key. We live in a world where a quick Google search will yield up many, many travel agencies, every one claiming to offer customers exactly what they want. Competition is fierce and you only have moments to catch and hold a viewer’s attention.

Your travel logo needs to quickly and pleasingly indicate who you are, what you do, and how you can help would-be travelers get to their destination and enjoy their time there. You need to build their faith and confidence in your company right from the first glance. So how can you design a travel logo that helps you do that?

What Goes into a Good Tours and Travel Logo?

First of all, lots of careful thought and consideration. What are you trying to sell? You might be focused on booking flights to and accommodations on Pacific islands, which would affect your travel logo significantly. What is your focus? You might offer historically focused tours of Europe, or plan exotic vacations to largely unknown places.

You could even be a travel agency that is there to help people on a budget go to faraway places with breaking the bank. What you’re doing with your travel logo design is helping build your brand in the mind of potential customers. You’re communicating at a glance what you’re all about.

Second, a dash of inspiration never hurts. Your logo should be unique, recognizable, and even pleasant to look at. When considering possible travel agency logos, remember that it needs to be appealing and eye-catching. An annoying or even repulsive image will not help you out.

What Kind of Images are Featured in Successful Travel Logo Design?

Images are the core of travel logo design. A lot of travel logos make potential clients think about movement. For instance, Orbitz, which has become one of the most popular companies to offer online travel deals, uses a logo that replaces the letter O in their name with a pair of arrows moving in a circular pattern.

Those two arrows remind customers that the company offers a chance to travel to far-off destinations and return home afterwards. It also lends itself to the idea that life itself is a journey. The circle shape implies that everyone is always on some kind of journey, whether that journey is a vacation like Orbitz sells or a journey through life’s many changes.

All the creativity on display from all the many existing travel agencies and related companies can make it very hard to design new original travel logos. It is very helpful to find talented designers to design your travel company’s logo and take the ideas in new directions.

What is Successful Travel Logo Typography?

Travel agencies tend to use very conservative typography. For example, the Condé Nast Traveler logo makes use of plain but bold typography. It’s quite obviously designed for use on the cover of a magazine instead of the title of a website. It’s simple text that makes no use of additional graphics. This helps build the whole idea of the Condé Nast brand.

They publish hundreds of magazines about subjects other than travel, meaning that they have a broader reach and popularity they would be foolish not to make use of.  This means that using simple and bold typography is better for them than using an unusual typography that doesn’t draw upon the company’s sense of authority and past achievements.

Many newer companies take a different approach. They have to stand out since they don’t; have a long history or a record of success to stand on. It’s more important to make a mark. If people wanted the old and tried, they’d use it after all.

Kayak is a good example. They are an online travel company that is focused on offering low prices to travelers. They make very creative use of typography in their travel logo. When you first look at it, Kayak’s logo seems very plain. It uses blocky black letters on a yellow background.

If you look closer, however, the logo is more interesting. It links the company to the whole history of travel. The letters look very similar to those used in often in train stations schedules.  It makes use of a line drawn horizontally across the logo, a way of showing where letters would fall over to reveal any updated info about arriving and leaving trains.

What Kind of Colors Work Well for a Travel Agency Logo?

It’s important to remember that travel logos are all about communicating the benefits of taking journeys. Green and blue see a lot of use because they remind people of a globe and what the planet looks like from outer space.

This makes people think of all the places and things they could visit. Many travel related companies have used blue and green very prominently in their logos, including Travel Planet, Happy Holidays, Globus, and LifeMountain.  Blue and green get results.

While green and blue are very prominent in the travel industry’s logos, some older companies make use of black and white. Black and white is undeniably simple and classic, dating back to when that’s all anything was printed in, after all.

Newer companies in the industry, however, try to buck these trends and offer something new, though many do still take advantage of green and blue. It’s hard to argue with the results of this classic color combination and the emotions, connotations, and associations it evokes in the average person.

There are many color combinations that can get people excited about travel. Flyography, for instance, uses just about every color you can think of. They wrap these diverse colors around like the liens of yarn in a yarn ball, reminding people of all the airplanes flying all over the world.

This travel logo design concept would simply not work as well if it used fewer colors. By using dozens of colors, it allows people to imagine all the very many places they could travel. It’s different, too, allowing this travel logo to stand out from the crowd of blue and green logos.

Choosing the Right Travel Logo for Your Company

While all these design elements are very important, the most important thing to do when designing a travel logo for your company is that it is a good fit for you and your business. These design guidelines are just that—guidelines.

It’s important to make sure that your travel logo is a good fit for what your company does, what it offers, and what your principles are. If your logo doesn’t communicate at a glance who your company is and what you are about, then it isn’t really going to be much help to you no matter how much effort you put into it.

Some Travel Logo Tips and Tricks

Here are some key considerations to take into account when designs a travel logo. Much like the basic principles discussed above, they are guidelines, though a bit more specific and detailed ones. Use them to help decide on where to start with your travel logo.

Also be sure to take a look at famous travel logos from successful companies that already exist, including travel agencies, travel websites, airlines, and other aspects of the travel industry. While imitating them directly is not as good idea, you can figure out why they work so well and use those ideas in your own travel logo design.

Communicate, Leisure, Fun, and Enjoyment

A travel logo should be appealing and should evoke feelings of enjoyment. Because people going on vacation are looking for fun and want to avoid a hassle, which should be clear in your travel logo that you are offering just that. Have the travel logo design express joy, playfulness fun, and leisure. Make sure people look at it feel a bit happier when they see your logo.

Also be sure that your logo targets specific groups of people. Every travel business has a niche. Some focus on leisure vacationers, while others look to market to business travelers.

Every different group of travelers has a different thing they want out of a travel company, whether it is ease of use or help in finding fun things to do on vacation.

Tailor the happy and helpful mood of your travel logo to their preferences. Make sure it is associated with your target audience’s enjoyment and travel goals. This will help you appeal to them more thoroughly and help make your travel company’s logo stand out even better.

Location is Important

Every truly great travel logo displays some destination. Often, people have a destination in mind when planning a vacation. They can easily identify a place by a distinctive image. Your travel logo should make good use of this tendency.

If you focus on a specific destination, like Hawaii, incorporate iconic elements of that destination into your travel logo, like Hawaiian palm trees, waves, or even volcanoes if you’re feeling really bold. This use of imagery will help make it much clearer what you are all about and opens up a lot of creative possibilities for your logo.

If you do not focus on a specific kind or set of destinations, you can still make good use of imagery in this way. Wide open horizons, maps, airplanes and airplane imagery, even vehicles can help communicate that you are there to help travelers find their way to where they want to go and back home again.

These kinds of symbols are something you should use. Don’t just stick to boring generic shapes. If you offer help for travelers to a variety of destinations across the world, consider creating a logo that features some iconic imagery associated with key locales like Paris, New York, or Shanghai. Using imagery effectively will help build customer confidence in your travel company.

Make Good Use of Color

Color plays a key role in how we live our lives. It evokes all kinds of emotion, depending on context and look, and holds associations with a variety of real world objects at just a glance. Brighter colors tend to create a more joyful mood.

Blue and green, as discussed above, are traditional colors that make people think of a globe, and thus make them think of travel. Many travel logos make use of yellow and red as well because they are bright and playful. They help them catch people’s eye. Make sure any set of colors you choose fit for your company’s overall branding scheme and mood.

With rare exception (as discussed above), try to keep a limited color palette. This will make branding easier and will also help prevent customer confusion.

Too many colors can quickly become an eyesore. Remember, your logo will be everywhere on a customer’s travel info, and you don’t want them frowning as they look at it. The colors should be appealing when put together and not a mess.

Use Fonts Well

Font conveys a message as easily as color. While older travel logos tend to make conservative and bold use of font, newer ones often use fun and clever fonts.

They tend to be quite casual, even for those travel agencies that have a higher end or business focus. Like the imagery and colors you use, the font you choose should communicate a sense of joy and relaxation. People want travel to be easy and hassle-free. They want their vacations to be fun memories. Your font should evoke that feeling.

If your focus is more professional, more professional (but still relaxed) fonts should be used. If your company is geared to travel to a specific area, consider using fonts that evoke the feel of the local culture in that area. Try to avoid standard fonts that see a lot of use in everyday life.

This will inevitably make your logo look chap and your entire operation will seem slapdash and unserious. You want a professional look, not a look that makes it seem like the company is run out of a dingy basement. Remember, logos are fairly simple designs, even when they seem complex, and every element can lend itself to the mood they evoke in customers and potential customers.

Convey Your Company’s Message

Above all, your logo is conveying a message. What is your travel company’s chief aim? Before you even start considering the specific elements of your travel logo, write this message down.

Do this whether you are trying to design your own travel logo or whether you are hiring a designer to do it. It is going to be your guiding star, the thing that sets the tone for every element of your travel logo. It’s vital to know what it is.

With this message on hand, you or your logo designer can pick the right imagery, colors, and fonts for your logo to appeal to your target audience. You’ll be able to better communicate what you offer and evoke the sense of happiness and ease that you want.

You can also figure out a way to use your logo to communicate what makes you the better choice for a service than all your many, many competitors that are out there. No matter what your focus is, it’s important to know what your message is as you start to go into designing your travel agency logo.

Appeal to Your Target Audience

Knowing your message means you’ll be more able to identify your target audience, too. You’ll be able to do some research and see what kind of look appeals to them, what draws them to a travel service, and what their travel goals are.

Once you know these things, you can incorporate them into your logo to make it much more appealing. Luxury travelers have different ants than budget travelers who have different needs than business travelers. Knowing your target audience is key to building a truly stand-out and successful travel logo for your company.

More Travel Logo Ideas

Use the outline of a city—if your travel company is focused on one particular city with a distinctive skyline, think about using a modern and sleek outline of that city in your logo. It will instantly evoke the idea of the location you focused on and have a certain timeless appeal, as well.

Use fun or particular evocative colors to make it clear you offer something different and pleasant. You can also do this if you are creating a hotel logo for a hotel with a distinctive shape or even feature. It’s an easy way to demonstrate what makes your business unique.

Make nature prominent- If you are focused on nature tours or other ecologically focused travel, use natural images to evoke the right feel. Flowers, birds, waves, mountains, animals, just about anything will work provided it is the right fit. You can be as specific or general as you like depending on your focus and target audience.

Whatever you use, make sure it communicates joy (and maybe thrills, or relaxation, depending) and not danger; a snarling wolf might not get many travelers to use your services. People do not want to feel like they are at real risk when traveling.

Appeal to families—if your company wants to specialize in selling family travel, have your logo focus on kid-friendliness. Feature beach toys and a sandcastle, or have it be a cute and cuddly mascot. Use fun and kiddy fonts.

Travel is hard for families, both in terms of budget and logistics. If your logo makes it clear right away that your business is family focused, it will make them much more likely to choose your business without doing too much looking elsewhere. To them, it is clear that you are focused on their major concerns right away.

Make generic images appealing—if you cover a broad array of travel plans, don’t hesitate to keep your logo generic, using vehicles like airplanes or general images of travel like distant horizons.

Just because these images are not specific does not mean they have to be boring or plain. Smart use of color, font, and design principles can make them as evocative as an image of the Taj Mahal for a travel company focused on India. You just need to think about it a bit more.

Ending thoughts on travel logo design

A travel logo is a key part of your company’s branding. Take a look at these principles and think it over carefully as you begin your design (or hire your designer). With some thought, it can become a standout logo that helps drive business your way!

If you enjoyed reading this article about Travel logo, you should read these as well:

Top 10 Worst Logo Makeovers and Lessons We Can Learn From Them

Camera Logo Design: Its Usage in Photography Branding

Logo Design: What font styles suit which industries?

The post Travel logo design ideas that you should use in your next project appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing https://www.designyourway.net/blog/graphic-design/travel-logo-design/

[mariaclarizee-blog]

• BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY DWKC-FM (93.9 FM), broadcasting as 93.9 iFM, is a radio station serving Mega Manila. It is the FM station of Radio Mindanao Network. The station's studio and transmitter are located at Unit 806, Atlanta Centre, Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan City. 93.9 WKC (1985–1999) DZHP changed its call letters to DWKC and was rebranded as 93.9 WKC, first aired on September 3, 1985, a C-D-E market radio station with famous taglines including “We are family”. It was managed by Mike Enriquez, at that time known as “Baby Michael”, for the elections and became widely popular by the new monicker Mr. Saksi. 93.9 WKC’s operations were at the Philcomcen Bldg. in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It played pop music through its existence. 93.9 iFM (2002–present) On May 16, 2002, 93.9 FM reformatted back to a C-D-E market radio station, known as 93.9 iFM with its slogan Pwede! (English: (It) Can Be!), is headed by Fred M. Davis who was responsible for making 102.7 Star Fm WRR 101.9 For Life! (now MOR. 101.9 For life!) Yes FM 101.1 (now 101.1 Yes The Best) and 90.7 Love Radio the successful stations. In June 2007, 93.9 iFM was the first commercial station in the country to broadcast with HD Radio technology. It broadcast in three HD Radio digital audio channels along with its pre-existing analog signal. The operation of its facility was in high-level combined hybrid mode with an existing 35 kW analog transmitter, a new Nautel 1 kW HD Radio transmitter, with the digital exciter, importer and exporter providing the digital signal component, the Makati studios were transferred to Atlanta Center in San Juan City, RMN’s sister station, DZXL and its studios remained in Makati City. In March 2009, iFM changed its logo as well the slogan to Sa iFM Siguradong Enjoy Ka youtibe sensation Kuya Jobert and Sir Rex Kantatero, iFM continues to bring quality entertainment to the metro. On May 10, 2011, the popular program “Itanong Mo kay Kuya Jobert” was replaced by “Itanong Mo sa Mga Tikbalang” featuring new jocks Charlie Bagin and Markang Bungal known as the duo “Tambalang Tikbalang”. The former was replaced due to Kuya Jobert’s hectic schedule. At this time, YouTube sensation Lloyd Cadena used to be a DJ until Summer 2015. June 1, 2015 saw the return of Celine Labuyo (from 106.7 Energy FM) as Nikka Loka, and its new slogan #RamdamKita. On November 9, 2015, 93.9 iFM and its provincial stations launched its new logo and slogan, Ang Bestfriend Mo! On June 12, 2017, 93.9 iFM launched its new slogan, i Nako!. However, they later dropped that slogan in favor of KLASiK (English: Classic), along with the return of the 7-note sound mnemonic from 2009. • Tools and Equipments FM radio Transmitter 
This can be any of our FM transmitter depending on your budget and your target range. If you just want to cover your property (house, apartment, yard), think about PCI MAX. This transmitter is a PC card, you can insert it into your PC (just like any other computer board) and it turns your PC into a FM radio station. Antenna.
PCI MAX comes with a very rudimentary short-range small handy antenna. All other transmitters require a proper antenna and as a consequence provide vastly superior range. There are two major antenna groups, the directional (transmit most of the power in one direction and thus provide substantial gain) and omni directional (transmit in all directions, lower gain). You need to be carefull about several things:
- Antenna needs to be placed as high as possible, preferably on a roof or a highly elevated tower. 
- Keep your coaxial cable as short as possible, but still make sure antenna is at least a few meters away from the transmitters and other audio equipment.
- Choose a good location. A mountain top is just about perfect
- Keep your antenna away from audio gear and computer/power supply/transmitter. Also well away from TV or other antennas, cable TV coax and other installations.
- A good antenna system is a much better investment than an amplifier. Coaxial cable
T transfers the energy from your transmitter to the antenna. The exact type needed depends on the length of cable, power level and your budget. Short cable and low-power installations are happy with RG-58 or H-155, for longer runs and higher power levels use a better cable such as H-2000 flex or Cellflex ½" or 7/8". You can check specs and buy coaxial cable here. Power supply
Some transmitters require external power supply, others don’t. Make sure to check the specs of your chosen transmitter and include mains power supply in your order, where necessary. If you’re low on your budget, build your own. But today this almost never saves any money. Audio equipment
This can be a limiter - compressor, mixing tables, cd players or even a PC. Most professional radio stations today use PC as audio source. Radio Etiquette; act responsibly on the air!
Remember, people out there will be listening. There might be children out there so act responsibly. A universal medium. Can be enjoyed at home, at work, and while driving. Most people listen to the radio at one time. • ADVANTAGES OF RADIO · Permits you to target your advertising spends to the market most likely to respond to your offer. · Permits you to create a personality for your business using only sounds and voices. · It is also illiterate persons medium. · Can be customized from region to region. · Least inflated medium. During the past ten years, radio rates have gone up less than other media. • DISADVANTAGES OF RADIO · The line could get fuzzy, or not clear. · Not as fast as using a phone or internet; could take a little bit. · Ads are an interruption to the entertainment. Because of this radio ads must be repeated to break through the listener’s tune out factor. · Listeners cannot refer back to your ads to go over important points. · Radio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else while listening, which means your ad has to work hard to be listened to and understood. The media industry is in an incredibly challenging period at the moment. Not only is it faced with huge levels of digital disruption, but the fallout of the political and financial crises of recent years has led to a historic low in public trust in the media. • THE FUTURE AND MEDIA TECHNOLOGY Radio and television broadcasting, which includes the production and transmission of educational, entertaining and news-related programming, is a practical application of audio and visual technologies. Broadcasting is both a large and diverse field. Job functions vary by category, company size and personal talent, thus educational requirements also vary. Entry-level jobs in news or program production, for instance, increasingly require college degrees and some broadcast experience. Due to the competitive nature of radio and television broadcasting, getting your foot in the door with a degree or an internship is a common way to enter the field has all the information you need on education opportunities and will guide you in making the right decision on your education. • CONCLUSION Many different types of formal programs are available in this field; they can be found specifically in radio or television broadcasting or as a specialization area within journalism and mass communications programs. These programs are available at community colleges, broadcast trade schools and universities as associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees; certificate programs are also available. Common courses include radio and television production, announcing and writing. Those seeking technical positions, such as radio or video camera operators, may also take courses in broadcast technology, online media or audio/video editing.

[sherryh5898-blog]

Laser engraving/ marking machine | Wholesale & Retail Laser Engraving/Etching Machine

Laser engraving, which is a subset of laser marking,[1] is the practice of using lasers to engrave an object. Laser marking, on the other hand, is a broader category of methods to leave marks on an object, which also includes color change due to chemical/molecular alteration, charring, foaming, melting, ablation, and more. The technique does not involve the use of inks, nor does it involve tool bits which contact the engraving surface and wear out, giving it an advantage over alternative engraving or marking technologies where inks or bit heads have to be replaced regularly.

The impact of laser marking has been more pronounced for specially designed "laserable" materials and also for some paints. These include laser-sensitive polymers and novel metal alloys.

The term laser marking is also used as a generic term covering a broad spectrum of surfacing techniques including printing, hot-branding and laser bonding. The machines for laser engraving and laser marking are the same, so that the two terms are sometimes confused by those without knowledge or experience in the practice.

Laser engraving machines

A laser engraving machine can be thought of as three main parts: a laser, a controller, and a surface. The laser is like a pencil - the beam emitted from it allows the controller to trace patterns onto the surface. The controller (usually a computer) controls the direction, intensity, speed of movement, and spread of the laser beam aimed at the surface. The surface is picked to match what the laser can act on.

There are three main genres of engraving machines: The most common is the X-Y table where, usually, the workpiece (surface) is stationary and the laser optics move around in X and Y directions, directing the laser beam to draw vectors. Sometimes the laser is stationary and the workpiece moves. Sometimes the workpiece moves in the Y axis and the laser in the X axis. A second genre is for cylindrical workpieces (or flat workpieces mounted around a cylinder) where the laser effectively traverses a fine helix and on/off laser pulsing produces the desired image on a raster basis. In the third method, both the laser and workpiece are stationary and galvomirrors move the laser beam over the workpiece surface. Laser engravers using this technology can work in either raster or vector mode.

The point where the laser (the terms "laser" and "laser beam" may be used interchangeably) touches the surface should be on the focal plane of the laser's optical system, and is usually synonymous with its focal point. This point is typically small, perhaps less than a fraction of a millimeter (depending on the optical wavelength). Only the area inside this focal point is significantly affected when the laser beam passes over the surface. The energy delivered by the laser changes the surface of the material under the focal point. It may heat up the surface and subsequently vaporize the material, or perhaps the material may fracture (known as "glassing" or "glassing up") and flake off the surface. Cutting through the paint of a metal part is generally how material is laser engraved.

If the surface material is vaporized during laser engraving, ventilation through the use of blowers or a vacuum pump are almost always required to remove the noxious fumes and smoke arising from this process, and for removal of debris on the surface to allow the laser to continue engraving.

A laser can remove material very efficiently because the laser beam can be designed to deliver energy to the surface in a manner which converts a high percentage of the light energy into heat. The beam is highly focused and collimated - in most non-reflective materials like wood, plastics and enamel surfaces, the conversion of light energy to heat is more than {x%} efficient. However, because of this efficiency, the equipment used in laser engraving may heat up rather quickly. Elaborate cooling systems are required for the laser. Alternatively, the laser beam may be pulsed to decrease the amount of excessive heating.

Different patterns can be engraved by programming the controller to traverse a particular path for the laser beam over time. The traceof the laser beam is carefully regulated to achieve a consistent removal depth of material. For example, criss-crossed paths are avoided to ensure that each etched surface is exposed to the laser only once, so the same amount of material is removed. The speed at which the beam moves across the material is also considered in creating engraving patterns. Changing the intensity and spread of the beam allows more flexibility in the design. For example, by changing the proportion of time (known as "duty-cycle") the laser is turned on during each pulse, the power delivered to the engraving surface can be controlled appropriately for the material.

Since the position of the laser is known exactly by the controller, it is not necessary to add barriers to the surface to prevent the laser from deviating from the prescribed engraving pattern. As a result, no resistive mask is needed in laser engraving. This is primarily why this technique is different from older engraving methods.

A good example of where laser engraving technology has been adopted into the industry norm is the production line. In this particular setup, the laser beam is directed towards a rotating or vibrating mirror. The mirror moves in a manner which may trace out numbers and letters onto the surface being marked. This is particularly useful for printing dates, expiry codes, and lot numbering of products traveling along a production line. Laser marking allows materials made of plastic and glass to be marked "on the move". The location where the marking takes place is called a "marking laser station", an entity often found in packaging and bottling plants. Older, slower technologies such as hot stamping and pad printing have largely been phased out and replaced with laser engraving.

For more precise and visually decorative engravings, a laser table is used. A laser table (or "X-Y table") is a sophisticated setup of equipment used to guide the laser beam more precisely. The laser is usually fixed permanently to the side of the table and emits light towards a pair of movable mirrors so that every point of the table surface can be swept by the laser. At the point of engraving, the laser beam is focused through a lens at the engraving surface, allowing very precise and intricate patterns to be traced out.

A typical setup of a laser table involves the fixed laser emitting light parallel to one axis of the table aimed at a mirror mounted on the end of an adjustable rail. The beam reflects off the mirror angled at 45 degrees so that the laser travels a path exactly along the length of the rail. This beam is then reflected by another mirror mounted to a movable trolley which directs the beam perpendicular to the original axis. In this scheme, two degrees of freedom (one vertical, and one horizontal) for etching can be represented.

In other laser engraving devices such as flat table or drum engraving, the laser beam is controlled to direct most of its energy a fixed penetration depth into the material to be engraved. In this manner, only a particular depth of material is removed when the engraving takes place. A simple machined stick or angle-iron can be used as a tool to help trained technologists adjust the engraver to achieve the required focusing. This setup is preferred for surfaces which do not vary in height appreciably.

For surfaces that vary in height, more elaborate focusing mechanisms have been developed. Some are known as dynamic auto focus systems. They adjust the lasing parameters in real time to adapt to the changes to the material as it is being etched. Typically, the height and depth of the surface is monitored with devices tracking changes toultrasound, infrared, or visible light aimed at the engraving surface. These devices, known as pilot beams or pilot lasers (if a laser is used) help guide the adjustments made to the lens of the laser in determining the optimal spot to focus on the surface and remove material effectively.

"X-Y" laser engraving machines may operate in vector and raster mode.

Vector engraving follows the line and curve of the pattern to be engraved, much like a pen-based plotter draws by constructing line segments from a description of the outlines of a pattern. Much early engraving of signs and plaques (laser or otherwise) used pre-stored font outlines so that letters, numbers or even logos could be scaled to size and reproduced with exactly defined strokes. Unfortunately, "fill" areas were problematic, as cross-hatching patterns and dot-fills sometimes exhibited moiré effects or uber-patterns caused by the imprecise calculation of dot spacings. Moreover, rotations of a font or dynamic scaling often were beyond the capabilities of the font-rendering device. The introduction of the PostScript page-description language now allows much greater flexibility—now virtually anything that can be described in vectors by PostScript-enabled software like CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator can be outlined, filled with suitable patterns, and laser-engraved.

Raster engraving traces the laser across the surface in a back-and-forth slowly advancing linear pattern that will remind one of the printhead on an inkjet or similar printer. The pattern is usually optimized by the controller/computer so that areas to either side of the pattern which aren't to be engraved are ignored and the trace across the material is thus shortened for better efficiency. The amount of advance of each line is normally less than the actual dot-size of the laser; the engraved lines overlap just slightly to create a continuity of engravure. As is true of all rasterized devices, curves and diagonals can sometimes suffer if the length or position of the raster lines varies even slightly in relation to the adjacent raster scan; therefore exact positioning and repeatability are critically important to the design of the machine. The advantage of rasterizing is the near effortless "fill" it produces. Most images to be engraved are bold letters or have large continuously engraved areas, and these are well-rasterized. Photos are rasterized (as in printing), with dots larger than that of the laser's spot, and these also are best engraved as a raster image. Almost any page-layout software can be used to feed a raster driver for an X-Y or drum laser engraver. While traditional sign and plaque engraving tended to favor the solid strokes of vectors out of necessity, modern shops tend to run their laser engravers mostly in raster mode, reserving vector for a traditional outline "look" or for speedily marking out lines or "hatches" where a plate is to be cut.

 Web: https://us.hanslaser.net/

HAN'S LASER CORP.

2220 O'Toole Ave,San Jose, CA 95131

Phone: (+1) 408-774-9428

Fax: (+1) 669-900-4570

Email: laser@hanslaser.com

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