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quesadellaarts · 5 years

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November Polished Gamers Box: Retro Games!

[Everything in this informational review was given to me as a press sample free of charge.]

When I heard that November’s Polished Gamers Box was going to be based on Retro games, I knew for a fact I needed to get on that bandwagon, because my favorite games are definitely considered retro. I’ve been playing video games since my dad showed me the Atari 2600 in the late 80s (yes, I am that old) and the first game I actually remember playing is Zelda 2: the Adventures of Link on my uncle’s OG NES. To this day, my favorite game series is LucasArts’ Monkey Island point-and-click adventure games. So as you can tell, I needed to get in on this, and let me tell you - so do you.

Below I’ll give you all the deets for every single product you can get this month, plus what the box is all about, dotted with some various reviews and comments from yours truly, moi. And don’t get overwhelmed by the length of this post - I’ll be featuring each item in it’s own post as well so it’s easier to handle!

If you’d like to see more of some of the products, these other awesome bloggers and swatchers have their own pics to share!

FatCat Pawlished: https://www.youtube.com/user/thepersonalgoddess

Smashlee1: https://www.instagram.com/smashlee1 & https://nerdlifenails.com

Southern_Swatches: https://www.instagram.com/southern_swatches

What is the Polished Gamers Box?

The Polished Gamers Box is a game themed box featuring several makers each month. Each box will have a gaming related theme and feature different types of indie products that include nail polish, nail care, body care, wax, and other handmade items.

What if I don’t want to order everything in the box?

That’s the beauty of the Polished Gamers Box! You can pick and choose what you want to order. No minimums or maximums, just order what items you want!

When can I get the box?

The box will launch on the 15th of every month and will be available for preorder for a five day period.

Preorders will open at 12:00PM MST / 1:00PM CST / 2:00 EST

The turn around time will be approximately 2-3 weeks after the box preorder ends on the 20th of each month.

Where do I go to order the box?

polishedgamersbox.com

Is there a support email if I have questions about my order?

Yes! Feel free to email [email protected] if you have questions about your order or the box!

Is there Polished Gamers social media I can follow?

There is!

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2020189871644665/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polishedgamers/

How much is shipping for the box?

Domestic: $4 flat rate shipping

International: At cost shipping (Estimates: Canada $10, Europe $15-$20)

If you do make multiple purchases, shipping overages can/will be refunded if the multiple purchases are made using the same name

Are there caps on items?

Each maker will set caps for their items and things can sell out! Caps are all listed in this blog post.

What is the price of the box?

Each maker will set the price of their items. Prices will change from box to box and all prices are listed below in this blog post.

Will there be a “buy all” button?

For this box it is looking like there will not be a buy all option but it is a possibility in the future!

And with that out of the way, let’s get this show on the road!

Alter Ego “Flippin Fun”

Price: $10, no cap

Inspiration: Pinball Machine

Product Description: 4 different particle size holo

Ingredients: Butyl acetate,Ethyl acetate,Nitrocellulose,Adipic acid/neopentyl gycol/trimellitic anhydride copolymer,Acetal tributyl citrate,Isopropyl alcohol,Stearalkronium bentonite,Acrylates copolymer,Styrene/acrylates copolymer,Silica,Benzopehone-1,Trimiethylpentanediyl dibenzoate, may also contain pigments, micas and/or glitters. One bottle weighs 1.85 oz

Shop: https://wisconsinsoap.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AlterEgoBodyCareProducts/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AlterEgoBodyCare/

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/alteregobodycareproducts/

Other Social Media: https://www.pinterest.com/repsak/alter-ego-body-care-products/

My Thoughts...

I am a huge fan of pinball games so I was really excited to see them get chosen as an inspiration, and this does not disappoint. I am super impressed with this formula - 4 different particle sizes of holo might sound like a recipe for a thicc boi, but this baby was smooth as silver and surprisingly opaque! Shown here is 2 coats and Seche Vite top coat. On my pinky and ring finger I have on black undies as well, but you really don’t need undies with this sort of coverage! A single coat is beautiful on it’s own also… and it can double as a topper! This baby is so versatile!

Atomic Polish “Marooned On Mars”

Price: $11, no cap

Inspiration: Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons on DOS. My gateway to the gaming world.

Product Description: Black jelly base with pink to purple and holographic flakes.

Ingredients: Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid, Isopropyl Alcohol, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Silica, N-Butyl Alcohol, Benzophenone-3, Violet #2, Carbon Black, D&C Black #2, Holographic Flakes

Shop: www.atomicpolish.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/atomicpolish

Instagram Page: www.instagram.com/atomicpolishmn

My thoughts...

Oh. My. Gosh. You don’t understand how much nerding out I did when I discovered that Atomic Polish had chosen Commander Keen as her inspiration. It’s not exactly the most well known of series, and being old enough to have been on DOS makes it basically ancient, so it’s hard to find anyone who would even recognize the name, let alone have played it. Yes, I’m totally dating myself here. Anyway, the polish is what we are here for. “Marooned on Mars” is a black jelly that looks like it would be pretty sheer at first, but I got great coverage and full opacity with only 2 coats! And you know I absolutely love anything with flakies in it, so this immediately got a gold star sticker from me.

Colores de Carol “Lone Starfighter”

Price: $11, no cap

Inspiration: Galaga

Product Description: A black jelly base with holo rainbow glitters, shifting rainbow micro shreds, iridescent glitter.

Base Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Bentonite, Acrylates Copolymer, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Silica, N-Butyl Alcohol, Benzophenone-1, Trimethylpentanediyl Dibenzoate. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Silicon Dioxide, Iron Oxide, Tin Oxides, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarines, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Aluminum, Synthetic Mica, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, D&C Lakes (Black 2, Orange 5, Red 6, Red 7, Red 28, Red 30, Red 34, Violet 2, Yellow 10), FD&C Lakes (Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5), Mica, Spectraflair, Glitter,Cosmetic Grade Pigments. All Colores de Carol lacquers are Cruelty Free and 5-free.

Shop: www.coloresdecarol.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/coloresdecarol

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/coloresdecarolandfriends

Instagram Page: instagram.com/coloresdecarol

My thoughts...

Galaga is probably the most played retro game in my household besides Super Mario, so I got pretty stoked when Colores de Carol chose it for her inspiration. “Lone Starfighter” is an impressive black jelly that is loaded with all sorts of glitters of varying shapes and sizes in a rainbow of colors. It looks just as packed with glitters as the screen full of enemies gets in-game! This gorgeous chunky baby has no problems applying and glitters more than my pictures could capture. 2 coats and a layer of Seche Vite are shown here.

Color Spectrum Polish “Tetris Top Out”

Price: $10, 40 cap

Inspiration: Tetris

Product Description: Blue jelly base with red, green, blue & orange holo squares and holo glitter

Ingredients: Butyl Acetate,Ethyl Acetate,Nitrocellulose,Acetyl Tributyl Citrate,Isobutyl Acetate,Isopropyl Alcohol,Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer,Silica,Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer,N-Butyl Alcohol,Benzophenone-1,Violet2, mica powder and glitter

Shop: ColorSpectrumPolish.etsy.com

Facebook Page: Facebook.com/ColorSpectrumPolish

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/colorspectrumpolish/

Instagram Page: Instagram.com/color_spectrum_polish

My thoughts...

It’s impossible to go through life and not have played Tetris at some point. I absolutely love Tetris - it’s one of those nice casual games that I can just pick up anywhere and play for a few minutes - or even a few hours, let’s be honest. Color Spectrum Polish has scored big with her Tetris inspired polish, “Tetris Top Out”, a beautiful blue jelly with square glitters and a lovely sprinkling of holo sparkles! The formula has great coverage, and this is a versatile polish, because you can wear it on it’s own, or even as a topper! I have it on here in 2 coats and top coat, but I tested it over black on a stick and it is lovely that way also. Super smooth and I didn’t have to fish for glitters, which makes it truly amazing!

Indie By Patty Lopes “Endurance Circuit”

Price: $11, 50 cap

Inspiration: Enduro

Product Description: Grey crelly base with mix glitters and blue metallic flakies

Ingredients: Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl, Glycol/Trimellitic, Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Silica, Benzophenone-3, N-Butyl Alcohol, Violet 2 May Contain: Aluminum Powder, Mica, Iron Oxide, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Ultramarines, Red 6, Red 22, Red 30, Red 28, Red 34, Red 7, Orange 5, Yellow 5, Yellow 11, Yellow 6, Yellow 10, Blue 1, Black 2, Violet 2 Ext, Titanium Dioxide, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polyurethane 33, Silver, Chromium, Magnesium Fluoride, Bismuth Oxychloride.

Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IndiebyPattyLopes

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/indiepolishbypattylopes/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/977488842417645/

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/indiebypattylopes/

My thoughts...

I like to pride myself on the retro games I’m familiar with, but while I’ve heard of Enduro, I have to say I don’t recall ever playing it! Luckily it isn’t a requirement to enjoy a polish, especially a crelly as nice as “Endurance Circuit”! I love the mix of flakies and glitters, and crellies immediately go on my “yes please” list. This grey baby is loaded with a nice mix of primary colored glitters, silver microflakies, and blue metallic flakies. It was opaque in 2 coats for me, but I did thick coats as it is a little thin, so I would recommend 3 thin coats probably instead.

Moon Shine Mani “Mario Circuit”

Price: $12, no cap

Inspiration: Super Mario Kart

Product Description: Asphalt gray crelly filled with red, white, green, and black matte glitters and red to green aurora shimmer

Ingredients: Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic, Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Silica, Benzophenone-3, N-Butyl Alcohol, Violet 2 May Contain: Aluminum Powder, Mica, Iron Oxide, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Ultramarines, Red 6, Red 22, Red 30, Red 28, Red 34 , Red 7, Orange 5, Yellow 5, Yellow 11, Yellow 6, Yellow 10, Blue 1, Black 2, Violet 2 Ext , Titanium Dioxide, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polyurethane 33, Silver, Chromium, Magnesium Fluoride, Bismuth Oxychloride

Shop: https://moonshinemani.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/112267552783942/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/112267552783942/

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/moonshinemani/

My thoughts...

Ah, the game that tests so many friendships. No, I’m not talking about Monopoly, I’m talking Super Mario Kart! Crellies are a weakness of mine, and I love this one! And look at that aurora shimmer - I could just stare at it all day. Shown in 2 coats and top coat. I have to say, this is formula is a tad on the thick side, but it isn’t hard to work with, and her brushes are so, so dreamy!

Red Eyed Lacquer “Adventures of Captain Comic”

Price: $11, no cap

Inspiration: Captain Comic

Product Description: A black jelly packed with different micro flakies, UCC flakies, crystal flakies, color changing flakies and iridescent shreds.

Ingredients: Base ingredients: Nitrocelluose, Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Propyl Acetate, Isopropyl Alcohol, n-Butyl Alcohol, Triphenyl Phosphate. Other possible ingredients: Mica, Glitters and Flakies, Liquid Colorants.

Shop: www.redeyedlacquer.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/redeyedlacquer

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/286619188617235/

Instagram Page: www.instagram.com/redeyedlacquer

My thoughts...

Another game I had never heard of before now, Red Eyed Lacquer chose The Adventures of Captain Comic as her inspiration, and it is a stunner! Definitely a sheer one, this black jelly can be used on it’s own or as a topper. I would call it a tint, since Ashlee (@Smashlee1/@NerdLifeNails) did 3 coats and you can still see the nail line. I actually love the way this sheer color looks, and it actually looks very nice with my skintone, in my opinion. I used 2 coats and Seche Vite top coat and I love it! Meanwhile, @southern_swatches got full coverage in 4 thin coats, so go check out her swatches to see how awesome this polish can look at full opacity!

Sassy Cats Lacquer “Yoshi’s Island”

Price: $11, no cap

Inspiration: super mario world 2 yoshis Island

Product Description: blue to clear thermal with ucc flakes and blue shimmer

Ingredients: five free base, mica, flakies

Shop: sassycatslacquer.com

Facebook Page: Facebook.com/sassycatslacquer

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sassycatslacquer/

Instagram Page: Instagram.com/sassycatslacquer

My thoughts...

Weird fact: I can do the Yoshi voice. Yes, that is kind of relevant to our next topic - Sassy Cats Lacquer has done a beautiful thermal polish based on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island! I really like this polish, the application was flawless and I didn’t have to fish for flakies. FLAKIES! Of course, this is a winner immediately for me, just for the flakies alone. But then the color change! Oh, it’s lovely. Blue to white/clear, nicely reactive to my body heat. Now, I run cool in my fingertips, so I got really excited every time my tips got warm enough for it to change. It looks especially cool when I have hot coffee in my hand - so you get a typically backwards transition! The white tips looked awesome. 2 coats shown here with Seche Vite.

Treo Lacquer “Ms. Pac-Man”

Price: $11, 50 cap

Inspiration: When I was a little girl my Dad would prop me up on his knee so I could play the Ms. Pac-Man arcade in the mall. This polish is inspired by the Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet and those fond memories.

Product Description: A bright pink jelly filled with contrasting sunshine yellow dots and mini hot pink flakies that flash violet

Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Isopropyl Alcohol, N-Butyl Alcohol, Isobutyl Acetate, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Silica, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Benzophenone-1, D&C Violet #2

± Aluminum Powder (CI 77000), Calcium, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Carmine (CI 75470), Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289), Chromium Oxide Green (CI 77288), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Glitter, Iron Oxides (CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Magnesium Fluoride, Mica (CI 77019), Polyester-3, Red 40 Lake (CI 15850), Silicon Dioxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite (CI 77019), Tin Oxide (CI 77861), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985), Ultramarines (CI 77007).

Shop: treo-lacquer-cosmetics.square.site

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/treolacquer

Instagram Page:https://www.instagram.com/treolacquer

My thoughts...

“Ms. Pac-Man” is yet another classic favorite in my house, and I love what Treo Lacquer has done with the inspiration! I have to admit I fished a little bit for the yellow glitters, just to show a few extra ones on the nail, but you’ll have zero issues with it. This is a lightly pigmented hot pink that is packed with matching glitters and flakies, and those yellow Ms. Pac-Man glitters pop! Could probably be used as a topper as well, but I gotta admit I didn’t try it. I Love the formula on this one, so nice and smooth, easy to work with. 2 coats and top coat shown.

Venus Lacquers “Ready for a crazy ride?”

Price: $10, 30 cap

Inspiration: Crazy Taxi

Product Description: A shimmery yellow base with a red shift, red holographic micro glitter and black hexes.

Ingredients: Butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose , acetyl tributyl citrate, isobutyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol, glitter, mica

Shop: Www.etsy.com/shop/VenusLacquers

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Venus-Lacquers-234751027272683/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Venuslacquersfanpage/

Instagram Page: Www.instagram.com/venuslacquers

My thoughts...

Did anyone else only play Crazy Taxi for the awesome Offspring soundtrack? No? Just me? I sucked pretty hardcore at it, but I abused my poor Dreamcast with it anyway. Venus Lacquers has brought us “Ready For A Crazy Ride?” and I gotta say… yes. Yes I am. I love the contrast of the black against the yellow base color here, and the microglitters work out really nice with the whole composition. I didn’t have any issues applying, in fact I really love the formula, but I suggest shaking quite a bit to disperse the black glitters because they like to sink.

And now for the non-polish items you can grab for yourself - or others - in this awesome box this month!

3Cheers4Ears - Blinky Ghost Phone Grip

Price: $20, 30 piece cap

Inspired by Pac-Man

Shop: www.3cheers4ears.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/3Cheers4Ears

Instagram Page: instagram.com/3cheers4ears

My thoughts...

Everyone loves the ghosts from Pac-Man, right? Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde are the best! So of course you want them for your phone, right? Who wouldn’t?! This awesome phone grip is being brought to you by @3cheers4ears - make sure you move fast as Pac-Man with a bonus dot so you can gobble up this ghost before they’re gone! I am completely in love with mine, so move quick!

All Mixed Up Lacquers - Pac-Man Vinyl Sticker

Price: $7, 30 cap

Inspiration: Pac-Man Game

Product Description: Fun custom sticker with colorful ghosts and bits of holographic vinyl for sparkle. This vinyl sticker can be applied to walls, computers, vehicles, or anywhere you want. 5" (H) x 5" (L)

Shop: www.allmixeduplacquers.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AllMixedUpLacquers

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1526046117405825/

Instagram Page: www.instagram.com/all_mixed_up_lacquers

My thoughts...

As you can see, I haven’t been able to bring myself to actually apply this awesome Pac-Man vinyl sticker to anything… because I have anxiety about that sort of thing. But I am in love with it! All Mixed Up Lacquers has knocked it out of the park with this super cute sticker that you can apply anywhere your little ghost and cherry munching heart desires!

Bohemian Polish - “Donkey’s Punch” scented wax

Price: $4, no cap

Inspiration: Donkey Kong Country on SNES

Product Description: Have you ever wondered what Donkey Kong did with all of the bananas he took back from King K. Rool? We here at Bohemian HQ have a theory - we call it Donkey's Punch. It's a potent banana daiquiri blend, designed to knock you off your feet! (Must be of legal age to consume, keep out of reach of Diddy and Dixie Kong.)

Ingredients: Parasoy Wax Blend, Fragrance

Shop: www.bohemianpolish.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/bohemianpolish

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/bohemianbabes

Instagram Page: instagram.com/bohemian_polish

My thoughts...

Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite SNES games as a kid, no matter how horrible I was at it. And all those bananas had to go somewhere, so they got turned into this dreamy banana scented wax from Bohemian Polish! This wax melts quickly and the fragrance is lovely - you definitely get the banana, but I personally also get notes of baby powder and fabric softener, and I am absolutely in love. I will definitely be using it again in the very near future. ...Can I get some of this scent as a perfume please?

Chirality - “Mega Vitamin Bonus” Tonal Shift acetone additive

Price: $4,100 cap

Inspiration: Mega Vitamin Bonus from Rampage

Product Description: A moisturizing additive for acetone to make nail polish removal less harsh on your skin and nails. Formulated with the same skin loving oils as Soften Your Tips Nourishing Cuticle Oil, Tonal Shift will add a moisturizing touch during polish removal. Just shake the bottle of Tonal Shift to ensure all the nourishing oils are mixed. Pour the entire bottle into 6-8 ounces of acetone. Then swirl the acetone bottle to mix. 15mL bottle

Scented in an exclusive scent blend inspired by the Mega Vitamin Bonus in Rampage. Mega Vitamin Bonus is a fruity and floral mix with notes of peaches and raspberries sitting on top of green apples with a kick of extra sweetness.

Ingredients: Glycerine, Water, Jojoba Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil Rice Bran Oil, Avocado Oil, Vitamin E, Polysorbate 80. May contain fragrance.

Shop: www.chiralitypolish.com

Facebook Page: Facebook.com/chiralitypolish

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Chiralitypolishcollectors/

Instagram Page: instagram.com/chiralitynailpolish

My thoughts...

Rampage is one of the most recognizable games of the 80s and is the inspiration behind Chirality Polish’s Mega Vitamin Bonus scented Tonal Shift acetone additive. This smells sweetly of a fruit cocktail, ranging from apples to berries and a hint of floral notes. Where it really shines is when you add it to acetone - the oils and nutrients added make it less harsh for your nails and skin without diluting the power of your acetone! I recommend it, especially if you’re prone to harsh drying out when using acetone.

Crystal Knockout - “Load The Wagon” Earrings

Price: $8, 20 cap

Inspiration: Oregon Trail

Product Description: Silver plated wagon charms on lobster hooks, nickel free and hypoallergenic. About 1 inch in length.

Ingredients: Silver plated, copper core charms. Stainless steel hooks.

Shop: www.crystalknockout.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/crystalknockout

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/CrystalKnockoutCuties

Instagram Page: instagram.com/crystalknockout

My thoughts...

You have died of dysentery! Ah, I believe everyone is familiar with that, even if they have never played the classic Oregon Trail. Remember when graphics were nothing but ugly green lines on a black screen? Good times. Crystal Knockout has brought us back to the wagon circle with these “Load The Wagon” earrings. They hand nicely from my ears, not heavy at all, and they’re hypoallergenic so they’re safe for most metal sensitivities.

Fangirl Polish - “Wood and Water Rage” Magnet

Price: $6, 20 cap

Inspiration: T&C Surf Designs Wood & Water Rage

Product Description: Grab your skateboard, surfboard, Ray-Bans, and slather on the sunscreen so you can surf all day and rage all night with the Da’ Boys. Thrilla Gorilla, Joe Cool, and Tiki Man are catching a wave and thrashing the pavement on this magnet featuring the cover art from the 1988 NES game, “Town & Country Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage”, with a few added epic tweaks. Size: approx 2.25” (H) x 1.625” (W). Resin coated and a small, but mighty, neodymium magnet on the back.

Ingredients: plastic, resin, neodymium magnet

Shop: fangirlpolish.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/FangirlPolish/

Instagram Page: instagram.com/fangirlpolish

My thoughts...

I have a bad track record when it comes to retro games, I realize this now. I have never heard of this game! I am ashamed! But it makes for one kickass magnet! Fangirl Polsih brings you an awesome resin magnet based on T&C Surf Designs Wood & Water Rage. The magnet is small but mighty, and it looks pretty dang awesome next to my other stuff on my fridge.

Geekish Glitter Lacquer - “The Vampire Killer” Sugar Scrub Soap

Price: $6, 20 cap

Inspiration: Castlevania

Product Description: Don't venture into Dracula's territory unprepared, Belmont! This is a thick whipped sugar scrub soap scented in a blend of tart and juicy goji berry mixed with deep blood orange that will have you ready for Castlevania!

Ingredients: Glycerin, Aqua, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Sorbitol, Granulated White Sugar, Apricot Kernel Oil, Soap Colorant, Skin Safe Fragrance

Shop: geekishglitterlacquer.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/geekishglitterlacquer

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/geekishglitterlacquergeeks

Instagram Page: instagram.com/geekishglitterlacquer

My thoughts...

Castlevania was always too hard for me to get into as a kid, so I have to admit my knowledge of the fandom is limited to the recent anime series. But don’t let that deter you from this amazing sugar scrub! Geekish Glitter Lacquer has made a luscious scrub, “The Vampire Killer” that smells of blood orange and goji berry. This blend is amazing, because my hands usually look like the Crypt Keeper in the Sahara, and after using this, my skin is super soft and not that bad looking. So if you’re dry and in need of some exfoliating scrub after all that vampire slaying, look no further!

Jewelry By RPF - GITD Lime Green Necklace or Necklace and Earring Set

Price: $12.99 (necklace only, 20 cap), $19.99 (necklace & earrings, 20 cap)

Inspiration: Centipede

Product Description: The necklace is a green glow in the dark pendant using a neon lime green with OG UP and UCC flakies that shift red, pink, gold and green. A gunmetal silver tone pendant base with a hand painted glass cabochon (each one will look a little different due to the hand painting aspect). It comes with an 18" dark silver tone metal rolo link chain necklace with a lobster claw clasp. The pendant is about 1" x 1" not including a 1/4" bale.

Also available is a necklace and earring set. You'll get the same necklace. The earrings also glow in the dark and use all the same polishes with a 12mm hand painted glass cabochon. They are set in a darker gunmetal color and they come with a push back ear plug in the same gunmetal color. They are about 1/2" long x 1/2" wide.

Ingredients: Zinc alloy metal (necklace). Stainless iron (earrings). Lead and nickel free.

Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelryByRPF

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JewelrybyRPF/

Instagram Page:https://www.instagram.com/jewelrybyrpf/

My thoughts...

Confession time: I got excited for Centipede being chosen as an inspiration not for the actual game (although it is an awesome game let me tell you) but because I have the Centipede boardgame and could use it as a prop for these photos. I KNOW. I’m just as ashamed of me as you are. Jewelry By RPF has made an absolutely gorgeous set of jewelry that glows in the dark on top of being so loaded with beautiful shifting flakies. SO EXTRA. I am in love with this, and you will be too. Just make sure you move fast - this Centipede may not be trying to kill you, but it is definitely going to sell quick!

Maker: K.N.I. Beauty & Bath - “Slice of Life” Pizza scented Atmos Cuticle Butter

Price: $8, 25 cap

Inspiration: TMNT - The Arcade Game - NES

Product Description: Cowabunga, Dudes! 🤙🏼K.N.I. Beauty & Bath was inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Forget about being "out of the box", when we can take you on a yummy adventure with what's inside... a pizza box, that is! We are contributing our fan favorite ATMOS Cuticle Butter in the 2 oz jar size scented in none other than delicious pizza!

Ingredients: Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Cocos Nucifera, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Helianthus Anuus (Sunflower) Oil, Olea Europa, Zinc Oxide, Fragrance, May contain Mica.

Shop: www.KNIBeautyAndBath.com

Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/KNIBeautyAndBath

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1588665324593842/

Instagram Page: www.instagram.com/KNIBeautyAndBath

My thoughts...

Okay, so everyone has their own favorite turtle, right? You know who I’m talking about. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! My favorite as a kid was always Michelangelo, but I gotta admit, as an adult I sort of love Donatello. Anyone else play pretend as a kid also? I always played as April O’Neil and my friend was always Raphael. Yes, he was a boy, and yes my grandma probably shipped us. ...I’ve lost my train of thought.

PIZZA! One thing that goes with the Turtles no matter what incarnation is definitely their love of pizza, and that is the inspiration for KNI Beauty And Bath’s scented ATMOS Cuticle Butter. I was skeptical at first, but this really works. It is definitely a tomato and italian seasoning scent, but with a very heavy sweet overlay. Think of very sweet marinara sauce, like a dessert pizza! The consistency is very nice, at first I thought it was a bit waxy but working it into your skin is is an amazing moisture locking barrier that protects your skin and ohhh I just can’t enough with the praise.

#PGB #indie polish #indie makers #retro gaming #video games #*blog #polished gamers box

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cryptocoinguides · 3 years

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Is This The #1 Ethereum Solution ?

While Ethereum struggles to find a layer 2 solution with the delay of Optimism’s rollups and Ethereum 2.0 nowhere near the horizon, one project is live with its own layer 2 solution using optimistic rollups with interactive dispute resolution that’s continuing to solidify itself as a top competitor. One that not only helps the scalability of Ethereum but other blockchains as well. But it’s not just about scalability as you’ll learn.

It’s about mass adoption and ease of use for developers. Find out what it is and let’s find out if I’m optimistic on it. Let’s get it! BitSwap is the hottest new way to trade tokens. Crawling all the top decentralized exchanges, BitSwap will get you the very best price and value for your trades. BitSwap is changing the game.

Try it now at bitswapdex.com. Welcome to BitBoy Crypto! The largest crypto channel in all the Interwebs. My name is Ben.

Everyday on this channel, I show you how to make money in cryptocurrency.

If you like money and crypto, make sure to hit that subscribe button for your chance to win a full Bitcoin. Details down below. Today, we are going to talk about one of our favorite partner projects, Cartesi. It isn’t just a second layer scaling solution, it provides massive computational scalability and allows developers for the first time to code smart contracts with any language on mainstream software components running on a Linux OS.

Compared to other optimistic rollups like Optimism, Cartesi can provide much better computation scalability, effectively allowing for tens of thousands of heavier computational tasks, because of the interactive dispute that’s missing on solutions like Optimism.

ZK-Rollup’s team are working hard to be able to provide generic programmable environment for developers. Even when all research complexities are finally solved and implemented, ZK-Rollups will struggle with heavy computational tasks as they become a victim of off-chain computational scalability problems where Cartesi or other interactive dispute resolution solutions will exceed. Other scalability solutions like Plasma, sidechains and state channels by themselves would succumb to serious compromises in terms of both programmability and security of smart contracts.

Cartesi can provide much higher computation scalability. It effectively allows smart contracts to leverage computations that are thousands of times heavier than one supported on-chain. As Charles Hoskinson of IOHK often points out, there are only a few thousand smart contract developers in the world currently due to having to learn Solidity, which is an unfriendly coding language, fewer developing applications for blockchains because they need to learn new skills and new blockchain languages like Solidity that they just don’t yet understand.

Cartesi closes the gap with its Descartes machine. Cartesi will enable mainstream developers to use the software, tools, languages and components they’re already used to to create smart contracts in a way that will be similar to building traditional desktop or web applications for coders. This will open the doors of adoption for millions of developers in the world to start creating decentralized applications. Not only that, even those already familiar with Blockchain application development will be able to create systems that would be very hard or impossible to do without the computation scalability and the real operating system that Cartesi brings to blockchains.

Cartesi is a key piece in the puzzle creating a decentralized future. And don’t underestimate that statement. One that’s going to bridge the power of 50 years of the traditional software infrastructure with the existing blockchains and DLTs like Ethereum, Avalanche, and a blast from the past, IOTA.

With the missing puzzle piece in place, they intend to promote a massive explosion of decentralized systems built on its blockchain and using Descartes. Speaking of Descartes, Cartesi recently released its 1.1 of its Descartes SDK for developers. Without getting into the technical jargon, the SDK provides developers with important new features and technology updates according to Cartesi’s Medium.

Even if Cartesi’s scalability solution seems superior, it’s important to note that Cartesi isn’t in competition with other scalability solutions as much as you might think. In fact, Cartesi and Polygon, formerly Matic, recently partnered to build a decentralized poker app built by Cartesi and running on Polygon.

The poker app is to demonstrate and showcase how Cartesi and Matic can be combined for things that simply were not possible before. Cartesi also announced some interesting partnerships, partnering with IOTA, Travala, and integration with Binance Smart Chain and Injective Protocol. Cartesi is integrating with Injective Protocol to push mainstream developer adoption of the Injective Chain.

Cartesi and Injective will also begin a research collaboration exploring how to integrate Cartesi’s tools into the Injective ecosystem. The goal here is to allow developers to utilize existing programming tools from Linux, unlocking tremendous smart contract capabilities offered by the highly interoperable and flexible Injective Chain.

All enabled by Cartesi.

The main objective of this initiative is to enhance the programmability on the Injective Chain, giving Injective’s developers more opportunities than ever to launch new applications on top of their chain thanks to Cartesi. This can include new front end interfaces as well as new trading mechanisms for derivatives such as an AMM according to the announcement.

Cartesi has additionally now integrated with the Binance Smart Chain. Binance has also enabled deposits and withdrawals for CTSI on Binance.com as a wrapped BEP-20 token on the Binance Smart Chain. CTSI is further enabled on the Binance Bridge, which will introduce a safe, fast and secure way to bring cross-chain assets to the Binance chains in the future. If that’s not enough, Cartesi has further partnered with IOTA as discussed above.

In regards to the IOTA partnership, Cartesi states the two companies will support the research and development of new distributed ledger technologies including the IOTA Tangle, with both organizations and communities working together to expand the user base of popular decentralized finance use cases, such as automated market makers, gaming, non-fungible tokens and oracles, while seemingly strengthening IOTA’s ability to offer decentralized technologies to corporations with their technology stacks.

Cartesi’s Linux-based virtual machine, IOTA Oracles and IOTA Smart Contracts, the two groups will bring non-blockchain-based use cases and businesses into the world of decentralized finance, gaming, NFTs and industrial IoT. All that being said, Cartesi’s objective is not only about improving the scalability of smart contracts.

Cartesi provides a Linux operating system for the development of smart contracts. Running an operating system is only possible because of the huge computational scalability it allows for and the VM tech the team has developed. That is what makes Cartesi a very unique project compared to other scalability solutions and why BitBoy Crypto research team and myself feel that Cartesi will be one of the biggest winners in the scalability race and potentially one of the largest winners in this bull run. That’s exactly why we partnered with them.

I’ve said it once and I don’t want to sound like a broken record, Cartesi is the future for smart contracts and blockchain. I implore you guys to explore what these guys at Cartesi are doing. Make sure to do your own research to decide for yourself. No one else out there is involved and doing what Cartesi is. As such, we believe Cartesi is a gem kind of like finding a needle in a haystack. We’re starting to see huge partnerships made by Cartesi.

And this is only just the beginning. Cartesi recently expanded its team onboarding several new engineers to develop and scale with solution. Cartesi is also continuing to hire talented blockchain Solidity developers and backend engineers to work on its products. You can pick up a bag of Cartesi looking for the token ticker symbol CTSI on Binance, WazirX, Bilaxy, 1inch, Uniswap and Gate.

io.

But let me know what you think about this project. Are you still bullish on CTSI? Make sure to drop your comments down below so we know. Also, smash the like button if you enjoy these project-focused videos. That’s all I got. Be blessed. BitBoy out..

Read More: Best Crypto Gem in History Cartesi Hands Down

The post Is This The #1 Ethereum Solution ? appeared first on Crypto Coin Guides.

via Is This The #1 Ethereum Solution ?

#bitcoin news #ethereum news #xrp news #cardano news #crypto news #best cryptocurrency to buy #best crypt

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skincarestudies-blog · 7 years

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Back to the Basics:

Ever since I figured out the difference between slippers and sneakers, I’ve wanted a multi-step skin and makeup routine. I don’t know; it’s something about the elegant/cute/aesthetic packaging drawing me in, and instant gratification after application that always encouraged my unhealthy obsession with skincare products. Something about buying the next new thing and throwing it into my cupboard, always satisfied a little sense of my pride.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I have come to the realisation that less is indeed more. As years passed, and products have lived and perished on my vanity, I have come to the conclusion that no, I do not need 5 products to moisturise my skin. Shocker, right? Especially since I consider myself a young individual, I should be asking myself do I really need this anti-aging serum that just hit the market? I’ve already got a gentle cleanser in the evening, so do I really need another one for the morning? It’s these kind of questions we must be asking ourselves before we make a purchase on the new hottest toner. Because in all honesty, if we strip our skin care routine to the essentials we need cleanser, moisturiser, and protection (for the AM).

I’m aiming this post specifically towards the younger audiences and people who may just be starting to get into skincare. I understand that it’s hard to decipher all this new technology and science that companies have come out with over the recent years- now with the biggest boom of revolutionary cosmetic products since the early 2000s. Statistics have demonstrated that from 2012, the global cosmetic market have seen a shift in the consumer demographic age range from the older to younger audiences. To keep up with the change, companies have changed marketing strategies that would appeal to their new audience through strategies of all natural and readily more acne fighting products. However, encouraging a young and/or uneducated audience to buy unnecessary products can only spell more bad than good.

Cleanser:

Role: “A cleanser is a facial care product that is used to remove make-up*, dead skin cells, oil, dirt, and other types of pollutants from the skin of the face. This helps to unclog pores and prevent skin conditions such as acne” Cleanser - Wikipedia

It is important to understand that a cleanser’s role is not to solve all your skin’s problems. It’s role is to cleanse the uppermost part of your skin, and that because it is not left on your skin for prolonged periods of time its ingredients cannot reach far into the layers of the skin.

When looking for a cleanser, it is important to understand what your skin needs and what your skin type demands. If you’re dry-sensitive skin is breaking out, and you’ve been doing tons of research on the best acne cleansers but not taking into account your skin type you can cause more trouble than when you started.

Things to look at: pH of your cleanser (this should be in the 5.5-6.5 range), top most ingredients (this determines what ingredients that are going to mostly affect you), and the options available to you. I personally hate the idea that the more expensive a product is, the more time was taken into the formulation. While this is true in SOME cases, spending $50 on a cleanser that does the exact same thing with the exact same ingredients as a cleanser that is $15 will always boggle my balls.

Recommendations: 1. CeraVe Hydrating cleanser 2. COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanse (even though it says good morning you can use it at night) 3. klairs Rich Moist Foaming Cleanser 4. Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel 5. Ego Azclear Action Foaming wash - (what I’m using at the moment) 6. Neogen Green Tea Real Fresh Foam Cleanser

Note:

* I personally do not rely on my cleanser to remove makeup and sunscreen, as most of my cleansers are extremely gentle and I know the role is more to remove excess sebum and dirt not makeup. I use an oil based cleanser before my water based cleanser to remove the most upper layer of collected oil, dirt, makeup, and sunscreen.

I personally do not enjoy a cleanser completely and unnecessarily stripping my skin of its natural oils. In my opinion, a cleanser should be able to perform its role without having to compromise our natural skin barrier- this means without highly irritating ingredients, leaving a tight and dry feel, and being terribly difficult to remove.

Moisturiser:

Role: “Moisturizers or emollients are complex mixtures of chemical agents specially designed to make the external layers of the skin softer and more pliable. They increase the skin's hydration by reducing evaporation.” Moisturizer - Wikipedia

THIS IS NECESSARY GUYS. I cannot stress enough that regardless of your skin type if you are not moisturising your skin after cleansing (or in general) that your natural barrier could potentially be suffering immensely! I’m not going to go into the science of moisturisers in this post (maybe another one) but the general idea of a moisturiser is to trap the essential nutrients and moisture or restoring the lost moisture. If you are cleansing (which you should be) you are already washing away a good percentage of your natural moisture, so it is important for you to be restoring the skin’s natural moisture.

Moisturisers can also provide the skin with extra benefits with anti-aging and antioxidant properties.

It is also important to know the fine line between moisturising enough and too much. Too much moisture can unfortunately result in more acne as the thick layer of occlusives/humectants may not allow for the skin to breath. I personally have found myself crossing this line a lot.

Oils are a a quick and light way to achieve a plump and smooth texture. Looking for thin and dry oils specifically aimed towards acne prone skin can help with sebum production and provide the skin with added healing properties.

Recommendations: 1. La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Overnight Moisturiser 2. La Roche-Posay Toleriane Riche (heard amazing reviews about this one, it’s worth a go for those with sensitive/combo/dry-flaky skin) 3. Ego QV Skin Lotion 4. COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream 5. Aloe Vera Gel 6. Dr Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Moisture Cushion

Sunscreen:

Role: Sunscreen, also known as sunblock and suntan lotion, is a lotion, spray, gel or other topical product that absorbs or reflects some of the sun's ultraviolet radiation and thus helps protect against sunburn. Wikipedia

I personally can’t say much about this step other than it is vital to the health and longevity of your skin. I haven’t done too much research on what can happen to you if you don’t use sunscreen, other than darkening your acne scars and skin irritation after treatments if not used. As I live in Australia, it is paramount that I use sunscreen everyday to reduce the chances of developing skin cancer (this applies to all regions of the world too).

There are two types of sunscreens: physical and chemical. The latter is the one you all probably see the most in stores as it does not leave that greasy white cast that everyone hates. However, I prefer physical sunscreens over chemical ones as instead of absorbing into my skin and causing irritation they sit on top and protect my skin via ingredients that I trust more (i.e zinc and titanium dioxide).

Recommendations:* 1. COSRX Aloe Soothing Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++ 2. Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA+++ 3. Ego Sunsense Sensitive Invisible SPF50+ 4. L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise UV Perfect 12H Longlasting UVA/UVB Protector SPF50+/Pa+++

Note:

*I don’t actually have a lot of recommendations, because I find that I breakout from sunscreens very easily. My experiences with both physical and chemical sunscreens have not been the best, and while I do prefer physical they still tend to lean towards the negative effects more.

Now I’m not gonna be some up-herself-messiah that comes raining down with knowledge while simultaneously practising everything that I speak of. No, I don’t only use 2-3 products everyday, how will I satisfy the urge to pour oil all over myself? A bit of an exaggeration, I admit, but after years of products it’s hard to go back. What I want to get across though, is that it is not impossible, and that every once in awhile it is necessary for us to give our skin a break. May it be a reaction from a new product or the seasons playing with your skin, I believe once we strip our skin care regimens down to the basics, we can restore our skin’s natural barrier.

TL;DR: Our skin is smart guys, give it some credit.

#skincare #skin #care #study #studyblr #cleanse #moisture

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type-a-nomad · 6 years

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First Blog Post: Cape Town Day 1

Sunday Feb 11 2018

Growing Pains

I landed in Cape Town at 7:30am local time (CTT= Cape Town Time/ CT= Cape Town). Because I slept from SFO to Heathrow, I got little to no sleep from Heathrow to Cape Town, resulting in my accidental all-nighter from 11:30pm CTT. Everything is sort of hazy and out of whack. It seems like everything that could have gone slightly wrong, has gone slightly wrong. Or, at least, very far from the expected result. The first of these instances was in the CT airport. There was a driver that was supposed to meet me at 8am CTT and by 8:20am I was starting to feel quite nervous, as it is easy to direct my unease about the general situation of moving continents towards a short-term, tangible problem like my transportation. By this time, I am sweating from nerves and general physical exhaustion from hauling my duffle bag around looking for the guy who is supposed to have a sign directing me to him. Finally, I call the emergency number of the program I’m going through and they tell me to go to the information desk and wait for him to meet me there. So I do. Another 20 minutes later, all is well and my driver, Kyle, is blasting Lil’ Jon while speeding down the highway past the poorest parts of CT. There are thousands of houses made out of scrap metal. I saw roofs held onto structures by the weight of fractured concrete, wooden planks and sheets of tin propped up against each other, some structures were even two stories high. Then we were zooming through Cape Town, the first thing I saw was the prison, which was almost as depressing as the slums. But once we cleared the poorer outskirts, the water was visible and it was stunning. It was like the surface was covered in gold glitter it was sparkling so much. We stopped in front of a house in a rundown neighborhood, directly facing a large, white, and mostly windowless primary school. Kyle grabs my duffle bag out of the car (bless him) and dispassionately drops me and it at the front door of a dusty, brick-red house. I ring the doorbell as Kyle drives off. Nobody answers. After a minute, I ring again. Still, nobody answers. I reach past the metal grate blocking the wooden door and knock. I am starting to panic (again) and am knocking and ringing, feeling stranded and mildly disgusted at the dead, partially-squished rat I had to walk over to get to the door. 10 minutes pass. I am still frantically knocking. Then, I hear something. A short girl answers the door. She’s maybe 24, with a sleeve of tattoos- one of which is a large elephant with a very South African looking tree next to it. I introduce myself and she says her name is Cassie and she essentially runs the hostel. She takes me upstairs and shows me my room with three bunkbeds lining the walls, and a file-cabinet-like dresser against the fourth. The floor is covered in clothes and there is a girl sleeping in her underwear surrounded by around 5 half-empty fanta bottles and two sticky glasses with flat soda in them. I say hello and she makes no noise, clearly a bit irritated her sleep has been interrupted. Cassie tells me to meet her downstairs in a few minutes when I settle in. I sit down on the bed and basically curl up in a ball of confusion, anxiety, and relief. When I have taken some deep breaths, reapply deodorant, and listed things I am grateful for and things I want to learn, I hop down the dirty stairs in the dim house and find Cassie. She gives me a brief tour of the house and shows me how I have to shower in a bucket and then dump the bucket in a larger bucket. Then, when you want to take a number 2 you have to walk to the big bucket, fill up a small bucket with water, then find a way to dump the water in the small bucket into the toilet tank so you can flush. This is way harder than it sounds and it an extremely awkward process that is almost as stressful as it is embarrassing for me because if you grab the bucket everyone knows you aren't just going number 1. Most of my stress here hinges on the idea of making myself more embarrassed than I already am by fûcking up this process in one way (technically this whole extravaganza is called a grey-water system). After the somewhat unnerving house tour, I am starting to realize how incredibly foreign all of this is. Moving to and living in Florence was traveling to another country, Cape Town is another planet. Everything feels slightly uneasy when you walk down the streets. I felt very watched and distrustful of anyone around me because I had been warned so thoroughly about the impressive theft that was pulled off, even in broad daylight. Then, the first genuinely positive interaction of my day happens. Three girls, Jonna (Sweden), Ella (Sweden), and Natália (Brazil) say that they're gong to the beach and if I don’t have any plans I should come with them to get lunch and then go to the beach. The tight little ball in my chest loosens. We all go to the grocery store and upon our return, Cassie comes up to me and tells me that tomorrow I am moving to a HomeStay. My reaction is: “WHAAAT??!?!?!?!??!?!????”. I was NOT supposed to be at a Home-Stay and was clearly told by the volunteer service that I would be based at the volunteer hostel. I was completely caught off-guard and this was the LAST mix-up I would expect to happen. I make her double-check that it’s the right person she’s talking about and she confirms that yes, in fact my program is in an area much closer to the poorer neighborhoods, because those are the kids we are serving. Thus, I need to live close to them and that means living with a family. WHAT THE FÜCK? I regain my zen and try to just be a “go with the flow” kind of person, but I feel like a rock being unwillingly dragged down a river by the force of the water. After many minutes of mindful breathing and sunscreen application, we are in the uber to the beach. The beach is gorgeous. The South African Sun was incredibly intense. Even when applying several layers of thick sunscreen and sitting entirely in the shade, my skin was very offended I had decided to move to this continent. That being said, there were white fluffy sand, colored umbrellas, beautiful and tan, beachy South Africans everywhere, so I told my skin to shut up. My particular favorite of all my people-watching specimen was a 50-something woman in a hot pink bikini who was so freckled she passed it off as a deep tan. She had a lower back tattoo that said “Brooklyn Forever” in swirly writing, some Chinese characters on her back, a ring of thorns around her bicep, and a kiss mark on her lower right hip. Her small white lap dog came over and chilled on my towel while she drank some alcoholic beverage and told her four-year-old daughter to move out of her tanning chair because “I’m an ádult” (only self-important people say adult as aaaaadult). She also told her friend to “stay on the hunt”, when a 20 year old lifeguard passed and they both obviously checked him out, even though they were both wearing wedding rings and surrounded by their own children. From eavesdropping on their conversations I learned her name was Lisa, which fits all too well. I hang out with my new friends and learn lots of cool information. For example, Natalia has breast implants her boyfriend paid for as a present to her 5 months ago and is very happy to talk about them as a point of braggadocio (as it turns out, two americans in this volunteer hostel also have breast implants”. Ella has four tattoos, one of which is very large on her forearm that says “There is no progress without struggle”. She says she almost ran to the tattoo parlor on her 18th birthday to get it— but now she thinks it’s cliche. Jonna is amazed at my ability to recite facts I learned from various podcasts I listened during my unintentional all-nighter to Cape Town. For example, your likelihood of getting cancer increases by 40% if you average less than 7 hours of sleep per night over your lifetime. Cassie and her sister Ashley end up joining us. By that time I was entirely exhausted. My face was telling me it was time to get out of the sun even though I was in the shade, with a hat and sunscreen on. And, again, I was entirely exhausted so interaction with new people was a strain I was really not feeling. Finally, we call and uber and go back to the hostel. I cannot get the idea of the host family off of my mind as I am moving there tomorrow and have exactly no information on who they are, where they live, what the conditions will be, how many people live there, etc.. I decide the best way to ease my anxiety is to get something done. So, I go to the drug store down the street, Click-It. I buy around 10 items and when I’m checking out, the cashier does something very odd. He looks at me, smiles, and says “when you leave the alarm by the door might go off, just keep walking”. I kind of smile and then process what he’s really said, then process the fact that him and his female co-worker at the other register just smiled at each other clearly in regards to what he has just said. “Why” I ask. “Because I am not going to scan all the items they want me to scan. Don’t worry about it. Just keep walking”. At this point I’m like WHAT THE FÜCK IS GOING ON PART 2. Is he saying he is giving me some of my items for free? What on earth is happening. Well, then I go to pay with my Charles Schwab card that is supposed to be perfect and seamless to use and it’s DECLINED. So I pay with Wells Fargo and the world starts turning again. Right after I pick up my bag he reminds me “dont forget: DO NOT stop walking”. And Im like “Dude I just wanted my leave-in conditioner, I don’t need Mission-Impossible” But, whatever, I’m only 95% sure I can understand the gist of what he is saying because I am still having trouble understanding South African English accents. I scurry home, through the accusatorially beeping metal detector with my newly aquired, and possibly partially stolen goods and take my brief, bucket shower. Now, I am hiding in my top bunk, trying to collect myself and hide from human interaction because honestly, I’m getting close to being at wits-end. I am too overwhelmed to edit this so #nofilter yay I completed my first blog post. Happy First Day In South Africa, Bitches.

xoxo Q

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junker-town · 5 years

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Why The Open is the best major in golf

There's nothing in golf like The Open. Here's why the 148th edition will be special and worth watching again.

Every major championship has its own identity, but none is stronger than the oldest in golf, The Open. The easy and popular choice for "favorite major" is the Masters. The event at Augusta National has marketed itself perfectly and elevated its importance in what is a relatively short history compared to the other majors. I prefer The Open.

For several reasons -- the identity, how it stands so apart from every other tournament of the season, my own personal interaction and memories -- this is the championship that resonates most with me. I get up for it more than any other major. Here are some of the ways it's the best, most entertaining major in golf.

1. Links weather

It can get a little monotonous for the American golf fan. Sure, there are occasional seaside venues and many courses have a signature hole or quirk. But there are certainly months-long stretches with little variety.

The Open's great appeal is that it presents the players and audience with such a dramatically different venue and style of golf. There's an increased level of creativity often required to succeed -- we've seen Tiger win without ever taking his driver out of the bag, we've seen unknown Todd Hamilton win using a damn hybrid to bump-and-run his way around the greens, and we see winning scores that run the gamut. At Troon, a runaway duel between Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson left us with a winning score at 20-under. The Open rota is mostly predictable set of venues but this year's, Royal Portrush, is an unknown for the pros. It’s the first time The Open has come to Northern Ireland and Portrush since 1951 and it’s sold out, a rarity for this major. The pros may not be familiar with it, but it’s a world-class setup fully capable of hosting and will provide many of those traditional links feels and views we get in Scotland and England.

It's just a totally different style of golf and the weather can change it all from day to day, morning to afternoon and hole to hole. Sure, the big hitters and bombers often still have the advantage that they enjoy at many of the other venues on the season schedule. But at least they have to think about it some more, adapt different parts of their games and get creative at times. There are *options* on almost every shot, especially up around the green.

Many of the courses on The Open rotation have been lengthened, like all the other championship tracks across the world. But these venues still look the same -- you know immediately that you're at The Open. Links golf through the weather is the defining characteristic of an Open Championship and it's rewarding to dive right in for one all-important week each year.

2. Middle-of-the-night golf

Again, a unique aspect of The Open that is part of its charm but would be quite miserable if it went on for more than one week per year. BUT ... it's just one week, so suck it up and embrace the glorious blessing of middle-of-the-night golf. Getting up in the middle of the night to watch every hour of The Open broadcast once let me witness the greatest player-caddie interaction of all time.

The Phil-Bones dynamic made this job more fun. Maybe my favorite Vine ever from '14 Open. #RIPPhil&Bones #RIPVine pic.twitter.com/bCsV8VJiWk

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) June 20, 2017

You never know what you might get as the rest of your house presumably sleeps. It's a fun party -- social media starts to stir, you know who's up and around and ready to plow through a 14-hour march.

In recent years, ESPN would come on the air around 4 a.m. for the first two rounds. This year, however, Golf Channel and NBC are back again for their fourth straight Open and will run a 50-hour broadcast from the very first tee shot until the conclusion on Sunday afternoon. So we'll do it live dammit! starting around 1:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. You now need to get up three hours earlier than you used to.

Whatever your preferred method is for getting through it -- crashing early Wednesday, or just going out for a late dinner, then staying out and powering through until Thursday afternoon -- make the effort. It's just one week and it becomes a fun personal tradition.

3. The 18th

Fewer and fewer things in golf really get the emotions running high -- so much of it is produced and forced. But the scene at the 18th of The Open never fails. Like so much with the oldest major in golf, it's because you know exactly what you're getting there. The courses may change but the R&A creates an ideal theater at the 18th each year. The only difference, really, is the clubhouse, which can serve as a "back wall.”

Grandstands go deep up the fairway from the area around the green, creating a tunnel of sorts. They also always look the same -- a similar arrangement with the blue-and-yellow scoreboards lording over the scene. It's a tradition and it looks inspiring even empty before Sunday...

Major championships are special, the walk up 18 at @theopen is another level. Sometimes have to stop and enjoy those moments with your dad!

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Jul 15, 2018 at 9:01am PDT

... and then completely chilling when that Sunday comes and the crowds envelope the final group walking up to the green.

"It's the greatest walk in golf."pic.twitter.com/rk1I6xN1i7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2017

Every major is going to put up a grandstand at its final hole, but no one sets the scene and does it with such a traditionally consistent look like The Open.

A major championship may not always produce the sexiest winner, but whomever makes that walk up the 18th at Portrush on Sunday will be gripping to watch.

4. The starter

Only at the Open Championship does a 156-player field all go off the same tee for all four rounds. It's just not possible at the U.S. Open or PGA Championship, where they send the full field in groups of three off both the 1st and 10th tees.

At The Open, however, it often stays light out way past 9 p.m. and sometimes pushing 10:30 or so when it's north in Scotland. They start the first and second rounds at 6:30 a.m., and just run everyone off the first tee for almost 11 hours until just after 4 p.m.

Standing guard at the 1st tee for the entire 11 hours, never taking a bathroom break, was always Ivor Robson, the iconic Open starter. Mr. Robson retired four years ago at St. Andrews, so we no longer have his incredibly unique and amusing voice at the start of every single round.

It will take a generation for someone to have the built-in familiarity that Robson had. David Lancaster got the first call for the impossible task of replacing Robson, and he didn't fly solo, unmoved for 11 hours like the great Ivor, but rather had occasional support from a second chair.

5. Pot bunkers

Bunkers, or sand traps if you're so inclined, aren't what they used to be. They're often not that penal for the best in the world, who sometimes even prefer that the ball go in a bunker for an easier up-and-down. At The Open, however, you can count on carnage. The pot bunkers are another tradition that make the golf of The Open so different from what we're used to, and it's fun to watch the best be challenged. Many of these might as well be hazards.

Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports

6. Gorse

A word that's really only used, and used constantly, at The Open. It's junk, schmutz, jail, death. These are the plants so thick that once your ball goes off line and lands in them, you'll have trouble just finding it. There are fewer of these gorse bushes at Portrush but there are large swaths of unkempt and unplayable fescue and wildflower fields Playing it and making a swing is often not really an option. So much like the bunkers, these are unofficial hazards. You don't need ponds and lakes everywhere to force big numbers on a scorecard.

7. The outfits

Your browser does not support iframes.

Yeahhh, the outfits from past decades at the other majors look questionable and can be jolting in retrospect. But the players tend to get a little more creative at The Open, going for some amalgam of modern and edgy gear that's also a nod to the history in the home of golf. This was Rory McIlroy's getup at Carnoustie in 2007 -- not some mid-70s tournament, although there's an overflowing library of those, too. A mock turtle, deep V sweater and white pants.

The weather always forces the players to layer up and all the #brands want to display their best, most innovative or iconoclastic stuff. What you get is a four-day adventure in style.

8. The Claret Jug

I am biased. If you've read this far, you understand that I love almost everything about the way The Open stands out from the others. So I am sure there will be some objections in some quarters ... buuuut the Claret Jug is the best trophy in sports. There are only one or two active trophies that are older, and it's the oldest in golf. There's nothing incredibly ostentatious about it. It's relatively small, has an actual utilitarian purpose and is the most sought-after trophy in the game. The presentation of the jug, as the R&A chief drones "champion golfer of the year," is another goosebumps moment at the end of this event.

You can have your green jacket. I want to put $40,000 bottles of wine in my jug like Phil Mickelson.

* * *

There are so many little quirks that separate The Open from every other event in golf. A first tee start or a logo or a trophy all taken individually seem minor and unnoticeable. But the combination of all these differences and touches make The Open what it is, and that's the best major in golf. The course, the players, the time of day, the broadcast, the history ... there are so many things, both subtle and conspicuous, that make up a major's identity. The combination at the modern-day Open make it the most fun in golf.

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coin-river-blog · 5 years

Link

An (extensive) summary of the first phase of the beacon chain rollout.

Recently, I read yet another conflicting report about the proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism to be adopted in Ethereum 2.0, and I about lost my mind. I thought I understood what was coming, but with every new Medium post, tweet, and news article I read my certainty diminishes. I figure, if I spend roughly 50 hours a week reading and writing about Ethereum and I don't know, odds are that a lot of you don't either.

I've heard that Eth2.0 will bring "pure proof of stake." I've read that Casper FFG is the PoS mechanism to be implemented in Serenity but that Vlad Zamfir's Casper CBC is the real pure proof of stake. I've read that Casper FFG is only a finality gadget to be used every 50 blocks, or every 100 blocks, over a PoW system for block finality.

So what's actually going on?

There are existing, accurate articles, but amid the confusion, correctness seems to need signal boosting. (If you're looking for a solid software engineer-centered analysis focusing more heavily on the rollout process, I'd check out James Prestwich's article on Hacker Noon.) This article is focused on disambiguating between what has been considered for Ethereum 2.0, what is currently planned, and the relationship between Casper CBC, Casper FFG, the fork-choice rule, proof of stake, the beacon chain, and Ethereum 2.0.

A Refresher Course: Terms You Need to Know to Understand This Article

Ethereum 2.0: The future, scalable version of the network (aka ETH2.0 aka Serenity aka Shasper aka Ethereum with sharding and Casper).

Beacon chain: Ethereum is moving from proof of work to proof of stake. This has always been in the stars, but the logistics and roadmap have evolved over time. Once upon a time, it was imagined that proof of stake would be rolled out on the existing chain. Since June 2018, though, the plan has been to roll out proof of stake on a "beacon chain" to allow easier integration of PoS and sharding research and rollout. The beacon chain will be a proof-of-stake chain, eventually with sharding, that is rooted to the existing proof-of-work chain.

Casper: Ethereum's version of proof of stake, which addresses the "nothing at stake" problem (the basics of proof of stake and Casper research are beyond the scope of this article, but an easy explainer is available here).

Casper CBC and Casper FFG: Two competing areas of Casper research.

Finality: Finality is an extra layer of security against Sybil attacks. Once blocks are finalized, they cannot be reverted, even in the case of a 51 percent attack against the network.

Fork-choice rule: The mechanism by which miners (PoW)/validators (PoS) decide which chain is the canonical chain.

First, Let's Disambiguate the Caspers

Notes on Casper CBC

CBC stands for "correct-by-construction" and is not unique to Casper, Ethereum, or blockchain technology. Rather, CBC is an approach to software, hardware, and firmware engineering.

Casper CBC, an area of research pioneered by Vlad Zamfir, is often described as the competing finality gadget, or PoS system, to FFG (see below). Strictly speaking, Casper CBC is neither of those things. Casper CBC is a family of consensus protocols and a technique for creating them.

Some version of Casper CBC is, at some point, expected to replace the proof-of-stake system slated for the initial ETH2.0 implementation, but CBC research remains more abstract and idealistic than practical.

Buterin has suggested that some aspects of Casper CBC research could be implemented in the beacon chain, but for now, CBC is absent from the beacon chain spec.

What Is the Actual Deal with Casper FFG?

Casper FFG is in fact slated for Eth2.0.

In an August tweet storm, Buterin stated that FFG is a finality overlay that could be used over a proof-of-work or proof-of stake-protocol (though I wouldn't blame you if that clarification got lost among the 74 other tweets and the five-or-so months since he posted it). Casper FFG periodically selects the canonical chain, and "finalizes" the blocks in it, such that they become impossible to revert.

The Casper FFG white paper describes Casper as a proof-of-stake finality system that overlays an existing block-proposing mechanism.

The white paper states that FFG is a "partial consensus mechanism combining proof of stake algorithm research and Byzantine fault tolerant consensus theory," but it is just that: a part of a bigger PoS mechanism. Casper FFG does not specify how blocks are proposed or by whom, how validators choose which competing chain to build on, how blocks are validated, or who validates them. All of those specifications are also required for building network consensus to decide upon a canonical chain.

Casper FFG is a consensus mechanism in that it is the means by which the network comes to consensus about which blocks are to be finalized, now and forever. In that sense, Casper FFG is the consensus mechanism. However, in the current Ethereum 1.0 chain, as core developer Danny Ryan stated on the Lighthouse Gitter channel, "there is no concept of finality." He elaborated:

"At each subsequent block mined, we have a stronger probabilistic guarantee that the previous blocks will remain in the canonical chain. That is why exchanges and other users rely on "confirmations" of pow chains to a certain block depth, we all just assume the blocks won't revert at some point and that we can essentially count it as finalized. As seen with 51% attacks, this type of probabilistic finality breaks down when you have a >50% (by hash power) coordinated attack. The cool thing in a pos chain with finality is that the coordinate attack cannot revert past the last finalized block. Also, in certain types of attacks, we can hold people accountable for their bad deeds and slash them [edited for grammatical consistency; emphasis my own]."

Proof of Stake in Ethereum 2.0 – and the Rest of the Consensus Mechanism

The beacon chain will be a brand new, "pure" proof-of-stake chain, right from the start (though sharding will come later). It is not a proof of work/proof of stake hybrid as is sometimes claimed, though it would be understandable to think this, as the white paper states that the first FFG implementation will be for PoW block finality. However, the only thing proof of work about the beacon chain is that it is rooted to the existing Ethereum 1.0 chain. This is evidenced in the beacon chain spec.

The caveat to the beacon chain's PoS purity is that the beacon chain will be developed in phases, and while it will always be proof-of-stake, during the first two phases, data transfers will not be possible. There will be no virtual machine yet, and no EDCCs (aka smart contracts). Until eWasm is introduced in Phase 2 (starts at Phase 0), the PoW chain will still be necessary to process data transactions. In other words, the first phases of the beacon chain will only serve to establish the system and will be essentially useless as far as end users go. It will still be 100 percent proof of stake, though.

A Short Beacon Chain Proof-of-Stake Rundown

The details of how proof of stake is to work on the beacon chain are complicated and layered, but I'll explain in the most basic terms possible. As I stated above, there must be (and are) mechanisms for determining how blocks are proposed, who proposes them, who validates the proposer's claim, how those validators are chosen, and how proposers know which blocks to build upon.

Block Proposers

Proof of stake, as I will assume you know, uses validators to create blocks, rather than miners. To become a validator, a person or entity deposits 32 Ether into a Casper EDCC (or smart contract). Once this is done, that person gets registered as a validator on the beacon chain and begins accumulating interest as a reward for participation. If that validator then breaks certain rules (called slashing conditions), a portion of their deposit is slashed. If a validator's deposit drops to 16 Ether, they are ejected from the system.

In the beacon chain's specification, there are two classes of validators (though all validators act as both): proposers (those who propose blocks) and attesters (those who vote on block validity).

Validators are selected pseudo-randomly every six seconds using a mechanism called RANDAO+VDF to serve as block proposers. The six-second periods between proposer selections are called slots. During each slot, there is a proposer who proposes a block containing some information about the current and previous block, as well as a signature proving their RANDAO+VDF-defined authority to propose said block.

Block Validity Attesters

Under Ethereum 2.0's proof-of-stake system, attesters (those who vote on block validity) are formed into committees of between 111 to 128 individual attesters. This way, not every attester needs to validate every block, allowing for efficiency and scalability. As part of a committee, the Github specification for phase 0 of the beacon chain specifies that attesters "sign off on a beacon chain block while simultaneously creating a link (crosslink) to a recent shard block on a particular shard chain."

Attesters can continue to vote on blocks (one vote per validator) until a pre-designated number of slots has passed; this pre-defined set of slots is called an epoch, and is currently defined as 6.4 minutes (or 64 slots). At the end of every epoch, validators are shuffled to create new committees.

Fork-Choice Rule

I said before that validators need to have a way to know which blocks to build on. It may happen that there are two chains sprouting from a single block, so there needs to be a mechanism by which the canonical chain is determined. The existing PoW chain has a fork-choice rule (longest chain wins), and the beacon chain (and its shard chains) will have a new one.

The fork-choice rule for the beacon chain is called Latest Message Driven (LMD) Greediest Heaviest Observed SubTree (GHOST), or, thankfully, LMD GHOST for short. In combination with Casper FFG, LMD GHOST both dictates which block head to build on and achieves finality for some previous block. (In the current specification, finality is achieved for the block two epochs prior.)

Through LMD GHOST, the canonical chain is determined by considering the most recent validator-signed block created on a given chain and comparing it against the most recent validator-signed block on a competing chain. Committee attestations give weight to a given block and that block's descendants.

Source

With LMD GHOST, the chain with the heaviest most recent validator-approved block wins. Usually this is also the longest chain, but not necessarily; if two blocks are created that both stem from the same parent block, then the attestations for both blocks give weight to their parent block, ultimately making it possible that a block at a lower slot height has more votes backing it than a block of a higher slot height without many uncles. As Vitalik Buterin pointed out in a December blog post, "The longest chain rule fails to capture this nuance."

Looking Forward

This article provides an overview of much of what is planned for the Ethereum beacon chain, with almost no attention paid to the logistics of sharding or cross-shard communication. This is in large part due to the incomplete state of specifications for the beacon chain rollout beyond phase 0, which does not yet enable sharding. But there's plenty of time to worry about that later – maybe after ConstantiNOPEle has become CANT.STOP.inople.

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tainghekhongdaycomvn · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

We’ve rebuilt our link technology from the ground up and the data is now broadly available throughout Moz tools. It’s bigger, fresher, and much, much faster than our legacy link tech. And we’re just getting started! The best way to quickly understand the potential power of our revolutionary new link tech is to play with the beta of our Link Explorer.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard to bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

We’re introducing Link Tracking Lists to make managing your link building efforts a breeze. Sometimes the simple things make the biggest difference, like when they started making vans with doors on each side. You’ll never go back.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

When we collect rankings, we evaluate the natural first page of rankings to ensure that the placement and content of featured snippets and other SERP features are correctly situated (as can happen when ranking are collected in 50- or 100-page batches). This is more expensive, but we think the tradeoff is worth it.

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

Our SERP corpus, which powers Keywords by Site, is completely refreshed every two weeks. We actively update up to 15 million of the keywords each month to remove keywords that are no longer being searched and replace them with trending keywords and terms. This helps keep our keyword data set fresh and relevant.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

Link Explorer is over 20x larger and 30x fresher than our legacy link index. Bonus points: the underlying technology is very cost-efficient, making it much less expensive for us to scale over time. This frees up resources to focus on feature delivery. BOOM!

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

If you’re a visual person, this report gives you an immediate idea of how your link building efforts are going. A spike you weren't expecting could be a sign of spam network monkey business. Deep-dive effortlessly on the links you lost and gained so you can spend your valuable time doing thoughtful, human outreach.

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Folks, this is a big one. Throw out (at least one of... ha. ha.) those unwieldy spreadsheets and get on board with Link Tracking Lists, because these are the future. Have you been chasing a link from a particular site? Wondering if your outreach emails have borne fruit yet? Want to know if you’ve successfully placed a link, and how you’re linking? Link Tracking Lists cut out a huge time-suck when it comes to checking back on which of your target sites have actually linked back to you.

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

The new Link Explorer data and app have been available in beta to a limited audience. Even with a quiet, narrow release, the SEO community has been talking about it and asking good questions about our plans. Now that the Link Explorer beta is in broad release throughout all of Moz products and the broader Moz audience can play with it, we’re expecting even more curiosity and excitement.

If you’re relying on our legacy link technology, this is further notice to shift your applications and reporting to the new-and-improved tech. OSE will be retired soon! We’re making it easier for API customers to get the new data by providing a translation layer for the legacy API.

We want and need your feedback. We are committed to building the very best link building tool on the planet. You can expect us to invest heavily here. We need your help to guide our efforts and help us make the most impactful tradeoffs. This is your invitation to shape our roadmap.

Today’s release of our new Link Explorer technology is a revolution in Moz tools, not an evolution. We’ve made a major leap forward in our link index technology that delivers a ton of immediate value to Moz customers and the broader Moz Community.

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

Tomorrow Russ Jones will be sharing a post that discusses the importance of quality metrics when it comes to a link index, and don’t miss our pinned Q&A post answering questions about Domain Authority and Page Authority changes or our FAQ in the Help Hub.

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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tracisimpson · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

#The Moz Blog Blogger

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lawrenceseitz22 · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

from Blogger https://ift.tt/2HZ4AN9 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Blogger

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theinjectlikes2 · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

from The Moz Blog https://ift.tt/2HDk5L5 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #The Moz Blog

0 notes

businessloans10 · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

If you’re a visual person, this report gives you an immediate idea of how your link building efforts are going. A spike you weren’t expecting could be a sign of spam network monkey business. Deep-dive effortlessly on the links you lost and gained so you can spend your valuable time doing thoughtful, human outreach.

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Folks, this is a big one. Throw out (at least one of… ha. ha.) those unwieldy spreadsheets and get on board with Link Tracking Lists, because these are the future. Have you been chasing a link from a particular site? Wondering if your outreach emails have borne fruit yet? Want to know if you’ve successfully placed a link, and how you’re linking? Link Tracking Lists cut out a huge time-suck when it comes to checking back on which of your target sites have actually linked back to you.

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don’t count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that’s a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

#Obtain Business Loans

0 notes

buildcredit0 · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

#How To Build Corporate Credit

0 notes

businesscredit3posts · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz’s New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don’t count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that’s a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

#How To Open A Business Credit File

0 notes

whitelabelseoreseller · 6 years

Text

Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)

Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.

Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.

The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly

Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities

A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature

Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list

Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.

Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

from The Moz Blog http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/9015532

#The Moz Blog

0 notes