#you can tell the writing and animation teams must be at odds with the marketing execs lmao

[angeltannis]

Overwatch dropping a BANGER cinematic, the cringiest trailer I’ve ever seen in my life, and then a BANGER trailer all in the same day got me in a state of autistic whiplash LOL

[sazzafraz]

dropped a cup of coffee on myself at breakfast lets gooo

nodus tollens is my favourite chapter its not even close

like i actually LIKED writing it. i like writing in general but its about being someone represented with all the scary sword cards in tarot readings not actual fun. still annoyed i didn’t think of anything better than fucking HEMMINGWAY

A year and a half into working for Giri and Sasuke is sitting cross legged on top of a boulder looking out at a clear blue sky. They’re sitting by the edge of a huge cliff in Fire Country resting between assassinating some small time village leader and their next mission which promises to be heavy on full contact fighting. The sun is dipping towards the horizon, warm air ruffling their hair. Yumi is trying to throw Hiki off the cliff into the lake below, Haru is defleaing his dog and Sasuke is debating his next move in the long distance tactical game he’s playing with Juugo and Karin. It’s an Uzushio classic, like shogi but the board is made of three interlocked spirals and the movements of the pieces are based on the tides. Karin is slaughtering him. 

fun fact: literally started designing that uzushio game because i’m a psychopath. it’s also the first of three references, two in the same chapter, of sasuke and his teams, and then one at the end where everyone gets together. to make fun of sasuke. as they should. 

  There are seven graves by the edge of the sea with a bright blooming flowers planted in the centre spilling over the cliff. Tall markers stand as high as three metres in the air wreathed with ribbons in the colours of dawn and day... Sasuke spares a look back as he enters and sees those graves and flowers. The flowers have colonised the side of the cliff, growing strong and sure halfway down the rocks, slipping into crevices and tangling around each other as they race towards the ocean. Huge blooms of colour, bright reds, light pinks and creamy yellows are knocked about by the waves crashing against the cliff.      

if fuyuki even knew how much this colours sasukes opinion of her she’d beat the shit out of him. i think this was the second bit i wrote for her, after a few pieces of her and itachi. actually if she knew how much both of them are coloured by knowing her past she’d commit a crime. its pretty apparent to sasuke that these are memorials to children/those that died young and unfair. how would he know haha. i always intended the hashira and the uchiha as parallels. i think the lack of depth given to other clans sucks, especially when they have literally a thousand years of interaction. the only other one we have are the hyuuga which might have been an intended one but like. i’ve never bought it. 

anyway, back to sasuke. dude loves kids. he doesn’t figure it out until he has nine of ‘em, but he has a view of children that’s incredibly sincere. i pretty much decided that on my own cause: a) its funny, b) he was fucking SWEET as a kid and i’ll kill you before i let you tell me that kid went away, c) he’s from a huge close knit family/community and liking kids is the only way to get through that,

oh. also fuyuki does cotton on to his emotional compromise and IMMEDIATELY lies so he likes her more. morals who?

“It seems,” Fuyuki says into the silence, “that Sunagakure has decided we have a problem. I sent Mamoru as a goodwill ambassador to Wind a few months ago. It went well, and as Suna is a largely neutral player in most conflicts I did not see the problem in allowing a small ambassadorial group into Oto to further the relationship. At the fourth meeting one of the Suna delegation proved themselves to be a puppet and assassinated Mamoru. They were in the process of trying to loot us when they were killed.”

haha oh my god gaara fucks himself so hard here. we’re gonna talk about it. 

Now it’s leaving time and Sasuke is walking fast downtown, faces passing him as he’s bound for home base.

only two people ever commented on this. vip behaviour. 

Shikamaru raises a hand and waves.

Sasuke waves back.

Shikamaru looks at him expectantly across the crowd. Distantly Sasuke notes that he’s the taller of the two. Head’s bob and weave around the marketplace, someone drops an avocado which is swept up a child and her friends, the scent of cooking spices drift down from the top of one of the buildings. Sasuke and Shikamaru stare at eachother.

i never wrote the short for this but this is shikamaru’s nightmare scenario. finding sasuke when naruto is not with you is the k12′s personal hell. because konoha and giri are tentative allies it would be poaching to bring him back and thats something people still take seriously. shikamaru goes and gets FUCKED UP so no one trusts his report and he can claim that it was ONLY MAYBE THE PRETTIEST MAN IN THE FLEA MARKET. naruto finds out like a decade later and is extremely pissed even if he gets it. 

It’s a tale as old as the dust of the desert or the mountains that divide the nations. There is a boy who loses something. His honour, a cow, a sword. He has to leave his home to find it. He has to grow strong enough to do what has to be done. In the Son of Nobody the titular Son has to journey to the city to meet the princess and while he is away his family is murdered by a group of wandering bandits. Along the way he meets a beggar girl, the princess in disguise, and he allows her to tag along. There are many twists and turns, the Son becomes a noble shinobi protecting the princess and falls in love with the beggar. He finds the bandits that destroyed his home and avenges his family. But! Disaster strikes! The samurai have been told a lie about the princess and feel that their honour must be avenged. A group sneak into the princess’ room one night and defile her. One of the samurai is late to the scene and feeling so sick and ashamed of their actions kills them and ignites a real war between samurai and ninja. The disgraced samurai takes his own life in front of the princess as appeasement. When this doesn’t work the Son goes on to win the war and marry the girl.

this is just hatake sakumo. some creative liberty but its just the story of how he died embellished. i think some shinobi stories filter out and become like folk tales? like we’re gonna get to it. but there's no way they can have that kind of presence and no cultural impact. 

‘Heart, liver, eyes ’ Kabuto says when he’s done, ‘and put the rest in the garbage.’

for sensible reasons kabuto is the scary one. 

. Illuminated in the light of the lone flickering candle, bundled in odd cloth and grime, Kabuto looks faceless and formless. His skin has no color, his hair is limp, his eyes are turned completely inward searching himself for an some answer, some lodestone for the next leg of his journey. He looks like an orphaned version of himself. Sasuke has a brief moment of complete self-awareness. He stands above himself and looks down at the length of his hair, the uneven tan on his hands. His own eyes look at his boots, his non-descript travelling coat, the way he is never carrying more than enough money to carry him to the next town. He recognises nothing original, nothing remarkable. He’s as interchangeable as any soldier capable of swapping hands at a moment's notice. Many tools, many masks, many uses. He realises that that shifting formlessness is as much a part of him as his burning rage. It forms him just as fully.

i remember having a moment like this and it was so shocking it took me years to write about it. this nearly got cut, even though i now think its important. becoming ‘just a knife’ is important to sasuke’s development towards being just a guy. relating to kabuto is so personally disturbing that its sort of his turn towards leaving giri. kabuto actually disgusts him. unlike orochimaru.

“We called her the Fruit Eater after the foul seeds she planted in others which grew into giant poisonous fruit trees. When they’d plundered and destroyed the world enough for her foul tastes she’d eat the fruit from the trees and crush them to bone and blood under her feet. Her own children plucked out her organs one by one and cut them up into pieces. What they couldn’t eat they threw to the animals who turned into nine ravenous demons. They brought the demons together and sealed them into the form of a beautiful princess who was coveted by all.”

goddamn space aliens. i hate it less than most. i think i was still deciding if they’d show up at the end. either way i thought i’d just put them in in case i did. again, there SHOULD be a cultural footprint. 

The problem is that the Uchiha are predisposed to have thick hair and the main branch, the one that descends directly from Madara’s betrayed brother Izuna, comes with a tendency for...unruliness that Sasuke has gotten threefold. At this length it seems to be largely growing up and out, gravity be damned.

aww my loving rendition of his stupid duck butt. i have unruly hair so his maintenance is essentially mine. its such a distinctive thing i think people should take more advantage of. i wrote in crashing tides that he’s just an awful fashionista and i think that holds true. he tries new hair oils ALL THE TIME. 

[theangrypokemaniac]

There's a sneering attitude that the dub is inherently inferior solely for being a dub, and when I say 'dub' I mean the American one. No one attacks the South American interpretation, funnily enough, or the variety that exist globally.

Why not if foreign languages are so abhorrent?  Do you think it's kewl to hate America?

That's so original you know.

If the moan centres on the dub changing certain things, well that's a pointless stance, because it's impossible to do otherwise.

What's accepted in one country is not always permitted elsewhere, so either you make those alterations or it's never shown. I'd prefer seeing a slightly toned down version rather than have it never reach the West at all.

This is without considering the technical obstacles that a direct translation brings. The words do have to fit the mouth movements, and if they don't, truncation must follow.

America and Japan are different; the population of the former are not going to comprehend the references to the latter's history and culture, which necessitates some divergence from the original to give it mass appeal.

Anime is a branch of entertainment. It has to attract the public's good will to stay in business. If impenetrable, it'll fail, with all the resulting unemployment and finacial losses that brings.

Those in charge of dubbing understandably think they're on safer ground promoting familiarity rather than the strange, but that's not to say Pokémon was stripped of its identity. On the contrary, it was like nothing I'd ever encountered before.

I may have watched Western cartoons then, but the idea of doing so now is silly. I won't give time to any modern animation unless it's Japanese. Growing up on the dub has not produced an ephemeral fan less serious or 'true'.

The 4Kids dub had wit, humour, deep emotion, suggestive comments and flights of fancy. The voices fitted the characters well.

Unlike the current one, where everyone sounds on the verge of vomiting, but then they're clearly working with substandard material on a miserly budget. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear after all.

Dubs can be bad, but the very state of being a dub doesn't confer worthlessness automatically. Considering the work gone into them, attempting to gain your favour, it seems rude not to appreciate the time and energy spent in production.

Knowing a little about history, sub-only fanatics remind me of the kind of folk who opposed an English Bible, because it was too good for the oiks to read the word of God.

Of course it was alright for them, rich enough to be taught Latin, but not so much the ordinary man.

It amuses me how dozens dismiss the dub, but see no hypocrisy in using its evidence to further their ship or anti-ship arguments, so it can't be that revolting.

It's also bizarre that so many hold sacred the sub of a series currently in a frenzy to shed every aspect of its anime and Japanese origins, leaving a vague, rootless ghost, supposedly making it easier to slip down the gullet of the masses.

Pokémon I've seen referred to as a 'gateway drug', as in the anime that introduced a generation to the entire concept. This means the dub. You would not have got enough kids in the late Nineties to read a screen rather than watch it, and even today most would lose interest rapidly.

Where would you be without that dub? Unless you're Japanese, your first experience of Pokémon will have been a dub, and if not the American, the one where you live, which was only made because there was the funds available.

You may have then progressed to watching the sub, but only because that dub stirred love in your soul.

Where would the franchise be without that dub? You think Pokémon would've grown to be a world-wide obsession raking in billions by itself? No, it'd still be a solely Japanese phenomena, and most likely never lasted this long.

Its decades of supremacy rests on the quality of that dub. It sold games and merchandise to kids by the ton, giving an incentive to keep the series going. If you're not a fan from the first wave, then your favourite era would have never existed had it not been financially attractive carrying on.

The team who wrote the first film actually preferred the dub, moved to tears by its emotive use of music, therefore they aren't so precious as the fans.

Where would anime be without that dub? Pokémon brought it to the West. A handful slipped through previously, but made minor impression.

To those who would dismiss Pokémon entirely in favour of more 'worthy' output such as Studio Ghibli, I would say that Pokémon, first the games, then the programme they inspired, must have an integral quality to have caught on in Japan, which isn't exactly short on similar concepts.

To have gained popularity in a crowded market, and so fervently a dub became an option, can only have come about because it held a certain magic.

It was the dub that smashed a hole in the cultural barrier, setting free the tidal wave to engulf the world. In Pokémon's trail followed Digimon, Cardcaptors, Monster Rancher, Yu-Gi-Oh! et cetera.

Without Pokémon, I doubt they'd have been translated, and definitely never broadcast on mainstream television. That came about as channels desperately hunted down anything Japanese to serve as the next craze.

I really appreciated the effort made by 4Kids in converting every aspect of the series to suit American tastes, including changing text on signs, letters and books into English. I assumed this was standard practice until I watched others.

I could never be as involved in them as I was Pokémon because of that block. It was like being denied access to the deeper waters, fenced into the shallows, and implied a rushed dub, with little care shown but to chase the same crowd and money.

If personified, the dub 'n' sub wouldn't be one human being, but rather identical twins: the same to a casual observer, but easy to tell apart by the more attentive.

It's like the games: Red and Blue are versions of a single adventure, but not totally one. Take the dub and the sub the same way. They are parallel dimensions running on separate rails, and beyond reconciliation, and that's before we consider that, sub and dub alike, each generation has only a faint relation to its predecessor, working on its own whims.

Everyone has a favourite, or can like both, and there's nothing wrong in that, but so many are proud of the fact they hate the dub, as if it conveys a revered status of supremacy.

When Disney films are shown abroad, they too are translated, and I'm sure references and jokes are redesigned to make sense to the locals. It's no use selling yourself as a comedy then being surprised when the audience refuses to laugh, having no idea what you mean.

If people prefer that one, for being what introduced them to Disney as a whole, or as a fond memory of childhood, then so what?

I don't mind if their view of a character is minutely at odds with mine, having seen the original, because what they think is canon to their version, so can't be wrong.

I don't go round declaring every Disney dub to be pathetic by its nature, that viewers of them are of a lesser breed of fan for preferring their own tongue, even though more of the world's population understand English than they do Japanese.

If you enjoy one tailored to your country there's no crime in it, just as I like one at least comprehensible to mine. It's not even my culture, but I pick it up mostly.

The choice must be made on which to follow, and this blog runs on dub canon, as that has a claim on my heart. Just because I don't acknowledge what takes place in the sub doesn't mean I'm unaware of it, but it has no bearing on what I write.

The idea that the dub alters things willy-nilly without rhyme nor reason is also mistaken. Often it does it because the original does not make sense.

In the sub, I know Nanny and Pop-Pop are just a couple of old duffers taken at random and dropped in to a castle, supposedly as James's far away nannies.

Oh yeah, that's a cushy position. You doing a lot of child care from miles off?

Mind you, it used to describe 'em as 'caretakers' on Bulbapædia, as if Nan serves as housekeeper whilst Pop tends to the garden.

That's right. Ma and Pa finally got some work out of this pair of freeloaders.

They're not related, remember? No, no, absolutely not, no way. Of course their style reflects that. They just gave Pop a 'tache, thick eyebrows and a bigger nose, and Nan got a bun and lines in her hair, but there's certainly no connection. Oh no. Such a thing is ridiculous.

They're NOT family. No. Yet Hoenn James still panics they might learn he's joined Team Rocket, spending the whole episode trying to hide the truth.

Why? Who are servants to criticise the son of their employers? Why should their opinion be of any consequence to Hoenn James, especially when his parents, fiancée and butler are cognizant of reality?

Children of aristocrats are usually brought up by governesses, thus develop a stronger attachment to these figures rather than their parents, but that isn't the case here.

James lived with Ma and Pa, not the codgers minding the castle. He would have very little contact with distant employees compared to those who waited on him daily, so why seek out their approval?

Hoenn James apparently was permitted visits to Nan 'n' Pop, which is strange considering they're not relatives. Why them and not any other house-stters?

That's right, Ma and Pa sent their son to one of their properties without them, entrusting him to the care of two shrivelled pensioners of his size that he barely knew, and who could keel over at any minute. There are no other servants present. Apparently Nan and Pop clean an entire castle by themselves.

Oh, and they run a makeshift Pokémon sanctuary, but since it's not their home it has to be done with Ma and Pa's blessing, who also have to pay for it, but they're eevul aren't they?

The idea that somehow Nanny and Pop-Pop have not cottoned on to James's occupation by now is risible.

Servants gossip about their masters. I bet the entire household of his home know, and so in turn does the county. That Nan and Pop remain oblivious proves how isolated they are, for no one's thought to inform them.

When it came to dubbing it, they were made his grandparents, removing all the above nonsense. Of course he visits his nan and granddad, it's their gaff and their money funding the place, and it is likely his mother or father would keep James's job a secret, for fear the shock would finish 'em off.

It should do really. If they're not bothered by it that's a sign of where his rapscallion ways were inherited.

They aren't facially akin to Ma and Pa, but display the same additions, so if staff it's bloody lazy, as if nannies have to resemble your parents, but inventing a blood link excuses the slothful characterisation.

Every reference I've seen on Tumblr relating to the coffin-dodgers calls them Nanny and Pop-Pop. Apparently the dub decision is met with universal approval. It does have redeeming aspects then.

Now the sub writers, rather than ignore this development, took to it too. They aren't exactly bursting with ideas these days and are probably grateful for the lifelines offered.

Remembering James had parents, they forced a likeness between them and Nanny and Pop-Pop. How else do you explain the inexplicable ageing, even when Sinnoh Ma and Sinnoh Pa are younger than Ma and Pa?

I've also known for years that the sub has this woman as Jessie's foster mother, not Ma Jess, but that's stupid.

I can grasp the idea that Jessie and Ma might have endured extreme deprivation, considering that's what Team Rocket has brought to Jessie anyway, and that they may have lived at the bottom of Mew's mountain prior to Ma's death.

What I find difficult to take in is that social services (or as they're known where I live, the S.S.), however notoriously awful they are, would give a child to a mad bitch in a shack with no running water.

Come on, they have to at least pretend to be concerned for Jessie's welfare.

As Jessie is very young, bereavement can't have befallen her in the distant past, so how can she be happy this soon after becoming an orphan? How could the grieving period be a cherished memory?

If that woman's creaming off the money, why hasn't she fixed the place up by now? Where do the payments go, sniffing glue?

Then there's the depiction. If this is just some daft bint never to be mentioned again, why do they conceal her face? Who cares what she looks like when she's unimportant?

Here's another figure from Jessie's past. She isn't disguised, and why not when she too briefly appears and is then forgotten?

Who was she?

The only sort of characters they tended to hide were other members of Team Rocket:

During the early scenes featuring Giovanni, he was enveloped in shadow, adding both intrigue and a sense of menace.

Madame Boss also got this treatment, even though there was probably no intention to ever feature her in the anime. What's the use in keeping an appearance a mystery if it'll remain masked?

With that pattern, it implies this woman is in the same category, like Ma Jess.

When it came to animation, it definitely was intended to be a foster mother. Not her real one. No.

What did they do?

They gave her Jessie's skin tone and purple hair hanging down her back!

You know, like Ma Jess?

Any colour would've done. Any at all, and being anime I do mean any colour, but no. The choice was made to give her the looks of the exact person she's not meant to be!

Is it that surprising the dub simplified things?

I don't mind if you like the dub, sub, both, or any from around the world, but I'm tired of the smug condescension, as if we all agree the sub is the only one that counts, and that dub fans are grunting troglodytes, or not 'proper' aficionados.

None of us would be here were it not for the dub. Pokémon would not be here. I think it deserves some respect for how much of a difference it made, to my life and to yours.

[sol1056]

My ask box continues to fill up, and I have no answers for any of this. I’ve gotten comments that @dreamworksanimation is good about things like fair representation in other shows when it comes to disability, queer relationships, racial diversity, and just plain solid storytelling. Why was @voltron the exception? 

Or you can just have the questions from my asks:

I really, really wanted [Dreamworks execs] to address the situation, to tell us why VLD took that enormous shitty turn and to apologize and do us better. But I'm guessing we already know the answer (arrogant inexperienced EPs) and I think they won't do anything about it, just try to fade Voltron to the background as it's ending and focus on She-ra, if they ever decide to apologize, they're just gonna focus on the LGBT rep as if its the worst problem of their story.

You know what, I hope someone makes an extensive list of all the morally questionable messages Voltron has sent with all its characters (Shiro & Kuron everything, and Lotor as abuse victim in particular), all in detail and shove them in their faces saying, but to you it's 2 guys in love and in a healthy relationship that is wrong, instead of ableism, racism, homophobia, etc. When I think of what the kids will take from Voltron I feel sick. But queer love is the problem here, right. I’m disgusted.

Us: can we get a happy ending too like the het people and couples in the show?

VLD: no, not a happy or even semi-happy ending, you'll get a miserable ending but get this, we're going to write the last survivor of the 4 queer characters we killed off to be totally on board with this. We'll write him and animate him as if he's happy and got resolution, growth, and catharsis and not as if he got demoted, sidelined, isolated, discarded by his family, worst of all by Keith. We'll say a monster like him can’t be a paladin.

Let’s also go back to talking about how they not only made Lotor, a victim of child abuse not to mention biracial character who grew up with everything against him: suddenly evil, be the same as his abusive "father" and "mother" (who even after remembering who he is pulled the same crap as before), took every happiness away from him and had the nerve to mock his abuse in S7?! As a child abuse survivor I'M HORRIFIED.

The messages in the Shiro/Adam scene is disgusting, this is such a difficult subject, even for adults show with plenty time to explore and be fair to both characters while being explicit about it all. I was worried: in a kids’ show? how can they write this in a way they'll get it? With barely time for it? but look what they wrote, Adam gave an ultimatum instead of support and died, then they blamed the disabled guy for everything. Message: you’re gay so your relationship and your life are worthless, you'll be miserable and alone.

For a team that is all about working together, voltron members after 7 seasons still don't feel like a family and more like colleagues from work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It feels odd knowing that they weren't actually battling homophobic higher ups. It feels more tactical and greedy for social justice points than out of genuine desire to showcase diversity. Is it coincidence that the character they dislike the most is the one selected for this honor? As a lesbian fan i'm skeptical and angry and refuse to watch anything else by these two.

People keep trying to excuse this stuff with "Voltron is a kids' show", but you know what? There are gay kids out there. There are disabled kids out there. Much as we may wish it otherwise, there are kids out there experiencing trauma. Do we REALLY want to teach those little kids that they are broken and tainted forever and nothing good is waiting for them in the world from here on out? People need to know how damaging it is to have ZERO stories in media showing realistic healing of trauma.

The lady who betrayed them got a proper send off scene even tho she send Adam & the others like pigs to slaughter & betrayed them & caused them all to almost lose and die. Got screentime & some characterization. But sure why respect Adam that way too. I will never forget the dread I had for him when I saw he was with the fighters who were sent to die, then watched them one by one lose their lives until he too, was killed. I still feel sick thinking about it. We never even learned his last name.

I know it's been a while but I'm not over how they treated Lotor in s6. I'm from a broken and dysfunctional home and this show I watch for escapism told me I'm doomed to repeat the same mistakes of my parents, end up just like them. ... Are they even aware of the messages they send to their audience? Not all of us had good childhood like Allura.

From a chronically ill perspective, I felt downright insulted by the choice they made to give Shiro a degenerative illness. The idea of a chronically ill hero is cool but they pull the cure narrative, they don't give him a real illness, and it's just used for cheap irrelevant drama. Plus the whole "Has to choose between loved ones and goals" thing was pretty insensitive, we're already expected to sacrifice so much as ill people so the reinforcement of that was unpleasant to watch and read meta on.

Even if everyone was white cishet abled guy the messages sent to kids were awful: One who fought to carve his own path was forced to become someone else, one who suffered and fought till the end was told he’s a monster that can’t be a paladin, the insecure one will never be worthy as himself and he'll always be someone else’s replacement, one who survived genocide and suffered loss upon loss until reduced to nothing, one who suffered by his parents’ hand became like them, the whole Kuron thing. You cant brush off all THAT.

going into the new semester with the horrible messages of s7 on my mind...i’m lethargic. i have been since the “retired paladin” interview. it was bad for me to balance my mental health on the state of a fictional character, but it was really effective. Until that awful message that disabled people are helpless in controlling their own lives. I’m trying to disconnect and thrive anyway, out of spite against ableism if nothing else.

I had this horrible realization: you know how Shiro is a victim of abuse and him getting the Black Lion was him regaining the control the lack of he suffered in his capture? I think they gave him the illness and handwaved it with the clone, so as to argue for his removal from the Black Lion. They claim that the reason he wanted control was the illness and not the victimization in the Galra hands. They're essentially erasing his trauma.

Writers: so we'll write endearing multidimensional characters with many layers, we'll have them subvert stereotypes, especially those that characters like them usually are written with, ie. Keith isn't a loner nor is he angry just 'cause, but a lonely abandoned kid with trust issues due to his mom leaving him, thus has poor emotional control and anger management, struggles to connect and open up, he is the one whose arc embodies the found family theme more than anyone. 

EPs: nah we want stereotypes loool

We talk about Shiro and all the ableism in his story but we don't talk nearly enough about how horrifying the message is that Keith is the one to take it all from him and kick him aside. Keith chose to discard Shiro because he's broken and useless, so he can take his place. I've been through things they both have and I find all that horrifying. S7 sent terrible messages to kids watching.

They had the chance to let Shiro overcome and be a hero. To defeat his own abuser (Sendak) except Keith takes over everything and fixes everything for him while he lies helpless on the ground without a new arm yet. They had the budget. The animation. They could have empowered Shiro. They saw how many people saw themselves in Shiro's struggle. They must have seen the concerns. And they actively chose to go against that.

The Bury Your Gays trope is even worse this season when you consider the heavy lesbian subtext with Lotor's former generals who get blown up on screen. And naturally, it's the one with a crush on Keith who turns good and survives.

Was there a minority that hasn't been screwed over? Bury Your gays was merely the last shocking straw, because the whole season was chockful of terrible messages and proved they would never treat their characters right and address stuff from before. Homophobia, racism, ableism, sexism, mocking of abuse, excusing abandonment & so on.

I’m adding my voice because I'm so, so tired. None of the characters i see on screen are the characters we got to know in s1/2. The character i most related to was beaten down out of spite for 4 seasons and now may as well be a cardboard cutout. DW and the EPs don't seem to give a single shit about how badly this season has affected people. i don't know whether to jump ship or spit fire over everything. i'm just... exhausted.

I want a transparent statement & apology from DreamWorks. I want to know THEIR stance & role in this, ALL the events that ended up with us getting a show that is not only homophobic but also ableist, racist, mocks child abuse and so much more. I want them to acknowledge & explain why they allowed the marketing team to bait fans with ship content in their videos, thumbnails and even that EP interview about shipping. I want to know who and why allowed the show to to take a worse direction in recent seasons.

I have no answers for any of this, @dreamworksanimation. If there are any explanations, any reassurances that you’ll work hard to prevent any repeat, you need to say so. The longer you’re silent, the more it looks like you’re fine with the story and all its horrific messages. Are you?

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on https://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/copywriting/social-media-for-travel-brands-tips-content-ideas-and-examples/

Social media for travel brands: Tips, content ideas and examples

Before people travel the world, they travel to social media. In fact, 10 per cent of Australians cited “holiday, travel & accommodation” as the last thing they searched on social media prior to being surveyed for a Sensis report. This put the category in second place after fashion and electrical equipment (joint-first place, at 17 per cent).

Looking at research beyond Australasian shores we see even more proof. MDG Advertising says that 30 per cent of US travelers turn to social media for travel inspiration, and 40 per cent of young UK users think about how ‘Instagrammable’ a location is before planning a trip.

Travel and social media are inseparable. Therefore, your brand’s message, whether you’re a travel agency or other travel-related business, must must MUST be on social.

But what are the best ideas for travel companies?

Let’s cover the following points:

Social media strategy for travel brands Content ideas to help you get stuck in Case studies for inspiration

Part 1: Social media strategy for travel brands

First, set clear goals

Without a clear goal, how can you score?

Without a clear goal, how can you score?

Now is the time to establish why you are turning to social media. Are you building awareness? Promoting a specific campaign? Earning sales leads? This goal should be attainable and measurable – think “increase website traffic by 50 per cent” rather than “become a thought leader”.

Now choose your platform

Social platforms are like airlines – they all do the same sort of thing, but every one is unique (and has its own audience). So with your goals in mind, you’ll need to establish what platforms are best for achieving them. This will mean understanding the nuances of each platform and where your audience likes to hang out.

Bonus tip: If you haven’t got user personas settled, stop right here and add those to your to-do list. Not sure what we’re talking about? Check out our guide on how to create user personas.

Here’s a summary of the top social media platforms:

Facebook: Australia’s most popular social media platform (data from Vivid Social). Great for blog post links, videos and paid advertising. Huge range of audience members, from young to older, but recent algorithm changes have made it harder to get noticed. YouTube: NZ’s most popular social site (data from Statista). Entirely video-based, with increasing use of long-form video content (over 10 mins). Instagram: Third place in both Aus and NZ. Almost exclusively mobile following, so think images that are clear on small screens, as well as plenty of short-form videos that can be understood without sound – many users watch mobile videos muted. Snapchat: Fourth place in Aus but still growing in NZ. Huge younger following (ages 13-25, says Marketo). Used for visual content, but should be authentic – think behind the scenes, chatting with customers, hosting contests. Be real, not ‘businessy’. Twitter: Has slipped in rankings recently but remains popular for certain uses. Twitter’s ability to rapidly connect users and brands hasn’t faded. Customer support, news stories, and the odd blog post, video or GIF are all popular options. But you’ll likely need to post frequently to be noticed (more than once or twice per day). Pinterest: Fourth place in NZ but way down the Aus rankings. Pinterest has a lot of value in travel – create travel lists, destination guides, and photo/video compilations. Check out Lonely Planet in our case study section below.

When it comes to promoting content on social media, @facebook has the biggest audience and the best range of ad products. In this ultimate guide to Facebook promotion, we’ll help you find the ad strategy that best fits your marketing goals. https://t.co/EjEii7UahE pic.twitter.com/wsL6M1Xxan

— Castleford Media (@castlefordmedia) September 21, 2018

Next, become essential

Yeah OK, this advice is a bit like telling a gym-goer to ‘become fit’, but it’s a good goal (if a little hard to measure). Your social media platforms must present value to users, and the more they feel they can turn to you for that inspiration we mentioned in our intro, the more your brand becomes synonymous with their travel needs.

Users turn to social media for ideas, and now’s a good time for you to start thinking how you can offer them. Here are a few categories to consider:

Destination inspiration. Local attractions and activities. Accommodation ideas. Food/drink ideas. Stories about other people’s experiences.

You don’t need to stick to just one category, but you must present the best possible value in your area. It might be easier to start with one category and build from there.

Part 2: Travel content ideas User-generated content (UGC)

UGC does what it says on the tin – users create their own content, which you then host on your social platforms. But not in a thefty, copyright-risky way, more in an audience-participation way.

User-generated content is a cost-effective way to source social media posts.

User content is practically made for travel brands. It touches on all the categories above, with big emphasis on number five (stories from other people). Plus it also has the added trustworthiness of being from a user, not a brand.

UGC ideas:

Create a hashtag and ask users to tag their photos with it. Repost these images. Share user reviews and other stories. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is where you collaborate with an ‘influencer’ – that is, a person/group with a dedicated following over which they have influence – to amplify your brand message. This could be particularly potent if you’re running a campaign, or want to promote a particular service.

How to use influencers

Find the right people: Check out trending posts on your relevant platforms to see who is big – Instagram and Twitter are popular for influencer marketing in particular. You can also use Buzzsumo to help you, as it has influencer-finding tools built-in. Start building a relationship: Follow the people you are interested in – subscribe to their blogs, follow on social media, and engage with them. Comment on their posts, like their activity, and share posts that will be interesting to your own audience. After a time, reach out: Send a polite email with the relevant details. Ask influencers to share your blog posts, or offer sponsorship so they travel to a particular destination and blog about it (and you, as the sponsor). Maintain this relationship: Don’t let it drop after you’ve achieved your goal. These friendships could go a long way over time, so keep up good contact.

Influencer marketing has positively exploded in the age of #socialmedia – so will this new avenue for reaching a younger audience survive the new year? https://t.co/3A5e1cZU9G pic.twitter.com/rc2aiNEtzE

— Castleford Media (@castlefordmedia) December 18, 2018 Videos

According to Google’s own data, people are turning to YouTube for travel-related content in increasing quantity, and have been since 2013. Videos can help people with all of the categories we mentioned in our earlier point.

So what videos should you make? Consider some of the following ideas:

Destination guides – everything a user needs to know about a place. Virtual tours – more on this below. Drone overviews – could be good to show off scenery from a unique angle. Animated explanation videos – little animated videos explaining complex or boring topics (like travel insurance). Interviews or mini-documentaries – interview real travellers, or make mini-docos on influencers. Tell real human stories. Virtual reality (VR)

VR in this context refers to 360-degree imagery/videos that users can view either through a VR headset or on a mobile device (using their fingers to spin the camera).

When it comes to combining VR with social media, virtual tours are a unique opportunity to showcase something fresh and exciting.

Run a hotel? Make a walk-through video with a 360-degree camera. Promoting a destination? Take photos or make a video showcasing the area in VR. Own an attraction? Take users through the experience (or at least part of it, to tease them) – imagining ziplining in VR!

Customer support

Customer support might not be as exciting as virtual reality, but it’s a vital component of a healthy business and social media has made it easier than ever.

Twitter and Facebook in particular shine when it comes to business-customer dialogue, as they both facilitate fast conversation.

Tips for social-based customer support

Have a team monitoring social media for incoming questions/concerns. Respond as quickly and helpfully as possible. Remember that it’s all public – this isn’t a private conversation, so any arguments your team gets into online are visible to the world. Your team may require social media training to ensure your brand’s voice is consistent, and your reputation upheld. Part 3: Case study examples

We’ve sourced some great examples of travel-related companies using social media in inspiring ways. Do any of these sound right for your business?

Tourism Australia – Instagram

Tourism Australia’s Insta is a force unto itself – 3.3 million followers as we write this article. So what’s the secret to their success? Well, the organisation is deploying a few different strategies, and they will all be working in tandem:

Vibrant, inspiring imagery: Scrolling through TA’s feed is a joy. There’s cute animals, glorious scenery, activity ideas… The marketers behind this Insta feed know what’s visually stunning about their country and have gone wild with it. UGC: TA’s feed is a collaborative affair. In their profile bio they have a couple of tags for users to use, and then throughout their feed we see mentions of other organisations, local businesses and real users – many of the images feature quotes from users, too, recounting their first-hand experience with the situation. It makes it very personal, very authentic. Good use of Stories: TA has a unique story pinned to their feed for each Aussie state, meaning a user new to the feed can tap on any one to get an introduction to the area and what’s available there. View this post on Instagram

This is an ofFISHcial invite to @lordhoweislandtourism, we hope to see you there! @melissafindley had a “pretty special experience” at #NedsBeach, “wading in the crystal clear waters, surrounded by Mullet, Wrasse, Garfish Silver-drummer, Spangled Emperor and Kingfish.” This sanctuary zone allows visitors to swim with loads of friendly fish, whilst hand-feeding them with supplied healthy fish food. #LordHoweIsland is an easy two-hour flight from @sydney, but only 400 visitors are allowed on the #island at any one time, so make sure you book your trip well in advance. #seeaustralia #newsouthwales #travel #naturephotography

A post shared by Australia (@australia) on Feb 2, 2019 at 9:00pm PST

Qantas – Instagram

Qantas is also rocking the Instagram game, using some similar and some different tactics to Tourism Australia.

Scrolling through the feed you’ll see a mix of aspirational photography like in TA, as well as Qantas-specific promos. Two things really catch our eye here:

Qantas asks questions: Engagement is a powerful thing on social media, helping your content rank in people’s news feeds. Qantas is sparking engagement by asking questions in many of its posts. Look at the example we’ve embedded below – it asks a question, almost like a puzzle, and as a result it has 69 comments at time of writing. More UGC: Our example below also features somebody’s @ handle, as do many of the airline’s other posts. If you read Qantas’ bio, you can see that tagging “#qantas” puts you in with a chance of being featured on their feed. The results speak for themselves. View this post on Instagram

Any ideas where this beautiful #WesternAustralian #viewfromabove is captured? @eddygroutphotography

A post shared by Qantas (@qantas) on Feb 1, 2019 at 1:00pm PST

Lonely Planet – Pinterest

Given its relatively low profile in Australia, Pinterest doesn’t get a lot of attention. However, travel is highly popular on Pinterest, sitting in the website’s top 10 categories with a total of over 3 billion ideas, according to its own stats.

Lonely Planet is one company that’s benefiting from Pinterest’s growing user popularity but low marketer popularity. In fact, as of writing the travel site has 3.9 million monthly viewers!

The cool thing about Lonely Planet’s Pinterest

The Loneliest of Planets is using Pinterest as an educational resource. It collects helpful pins into categorised boards with titles like “Best in travel 2019” and “Gifts for travellers” so scrolling through isn’t just inspirational, but educational.

And it’s not all proprietary stuff, either. Third-party bloggers and other community members feature regularly, adding a UGC and influencer element to their work.

Source: Lonely Planet Pinterest

Delta Airlines – Twitter

There are many examples of interesting Twitter use, particularly with more and more companies starting to either roast, troll or banter with each other (even museums!).

We’ve chosen Delta because its got a good customer support rhythm going, with many customers writing in via Twitter and the company’s social media gurus taking care to be prompt in their responses, as well as helpful and courteous.

Our favourite Delta example…

…is the chain that starts with this Tweet:

Flying Delta means comfort. (That means you can wear your leggings. )

— Delta (@Delta) March 27, 2017

Firstly, it’s a gentle troll of a competitor (which, at the time, banned two female passengers from boarding a flight because they wore leggings. Fiasco ensued). However, when a user responded “love the joke but comfort…im 6 foot tall and my knees touch the front seat not too comfortable. Don’t look forward to this flight (sic)”, it could have turned sour – someone was taking the opportunity to complain, as many are wont to do online.

But Delta rose to the occasion. First, they found out when the guy was flying, then they got him and his father exit-row seats so they had more legroom.

From social media complaint to customer service success story. Insert many a clapping GIF here.

Intrepid Travel – Facebook

With half a million followers, Intrepid Travel must be doing something right on Facebook!

We love Interpid’s Facebook because it has a great mixture of content. First, there’s blog posts – most of their articles seem very destination-focused, so followers will, over time, grow to think of Intrepid as their go-to place for location-specific ideas and advice.

There’s also location-specific videos, with captions so they can be watched on mute, and a plethora of vibrant photographs.

Key takeaway here: Intrepid has chosen its category – destination-specific advice – and produced a wide variety of content to educate and inspire its audience. This is an excellent use of the combined forces of content marketing and social media.

In conclusion

Travel brands have a lot to work with on social media. There’s plenty of leeway to get creative and fun (even a little cheeky), while building long-term relationships with users who grow to learn that your brand is synonymous with their queries.

There are a variety of platforms and content types available for you to play with on social, so get your goals together, sort out a plan and start experimenting!

Read more: castleford.com.au

[thankyoumskobayashi]

au: emu is a computer whiz who meets sentient computer virus pallad one night on the web

oh boy this sounds a lot like a TOME au (animated webseries with an ai learning friendship) so im going to go off that basis. this is a quick write-up so capitalization may appear/disappear whenever.

emu is the brilliant lead programmer in a small team creating an interactive vr-based fighting game. it’s had several sections: people who want to fight, people who want to do arcade games and hang out, and people who want to do both.

the team has solved that with tsundere advice from taiga hanaya, affectionately nicknamed their marketing dept despite him A). never playing the game B). never planning on playing it C). always complaining abt it and his idiot friends to whoever he meets.

emu is in charge of the overall stuff, poppy is in charge of the music (obviously!), hiiro is in charge of the character designs but it’s mostly his gf saki who has the art skills for it. hiiro focuses on the weapons.? hey this actually works out rlly well w/ the “ex-aid cast as webmasters” thig.

anyway, kiriya does the scenery animations and coding, and emu develops the combat system in addition to every other odd job. their first test player is world-renowned gamer nico, aka taiga’s “annoyig” younger sister, who harrasses the other developers into letting her try it out. she then appoints herself as head of pr and begins blogging teasers for it.

one night when it’s late and everyone else has gone home emu is exploring the world he and his friends have created when he finds a grey cloud similar to old tv static. within it are tiny, dancing specks of magenta, yellow, and cyan. he walks over curiously. “hello?”

“who are you?”

“pallad. that’s a pretty name. my name is emu.” he reaches for the darkness, which swirls and manifests into a dark-haired figure with pixels for pants and hot pink sleeves that are way too long. a few cords are draped across their shoulders and their excitement is absolute.

they smile promisingly and then vanish.

emu tells the others abt this incident the next morning when they’re all hung over. no one believes him.

after the game is released dan kuroto, one of emu’s industry rivals, joins just to check out the competition. he’s made it his goal to be the best player there is, wanting the imaginary skill level title of “game master.” nico kills him on sight as she’s been grinding since before the official release.

emu meets pallad again, swinging on a vine that’s coded to be unswingable. he grins, happy to meet his friend again. “how are you enjoying the game’s release to the public?”

Emu laughs gently. “Yes, it sure is. I’ll tell you what, you can use that abandoned mansion whenever you want some peace and quiet.”

They slide down the vine to land right next to him. Their brown eyes burn with intensity from a new emotion. Emu finds himself pulled in by their curious and trusting nature. He also wants to protect them from prying gamers or the arrogant ones. He pulls out his custom-made weapon, the Gashacon Keyslasher, and holds it out to them.

Pallad looks back at him, tilding their head curiously.

“I… uh… want you to be able to protect yourself if you meet anyone that you don’t like.”

They don’t sound insulted, just… amused.

“Well, I want you to be able to protect yourself if I’m not around. I’m busy with the game sometimes-”

“I’m a game creator. I made this with my friends. Sometimes the maintenance gets in the way with talkingwith people.”

“Eh?”

“You helped make this?”

“Thank you for your help,” Emu murmurs, taking Pallad’s hand. Pallad nods, takes the sword, and looks intensely at him again. Emu nods and they vanish.

Nico tries to fight him after that with things designed to counterattack Emu’s special edition sword. She beats him up even more badly when he says he doesn’t actually have it. Then Poppy saves him asking why he doesn’t have it. He explains how he met Pallad again, and that he wanted them to have a place to go to have some quiet.

“Uhh. Dude,” Nico explsins, “Kiriya’s renovating that right now. You might want to go talk to him, and let this Pallad know if they do exist.”

“I’m not making them up! they do exist!” emu insists, glancing up as kiriya runs over.

“hey! how’s the long-term test going?” nico lands a hit on him before he jumps out of the way.

“it’s going well. hey, do you have any uses planned for that background mansion?”

“that old thing? no.” kiriya gives him a Look. “why?”

“i told pallad they can use it-”

“you’re still going on about that computer virus? look, emu, you hallucinated.”

“that was an excuse not to have to fight me flat-out!” nico crosses her arms, insulted. “i looked up to you as a gamer, and now you won’t even fight me?”

“he has a lot more roles to think about now than just as the gamer who could kick your ass,” kiriya says without thinking. he drags emu away while she’s processing that burn.

“HEY!!!!!!!! GET BACK HERE!!!####”

they go to the mansion, where kiriya unbars them from entering it. when they walk in, pallad is not there. emu tries not to feel disappointed, but kiriya is giving him The Tour. “when will it be made open to the public?”

“when we have 200 million users,” kiriya grins. emu gasps, clapping him on the back in-game.  "you think we can make it that far?“

"nico knows what she’s doing.” he sighs as they sit back-to-back on one of the couches. “i believe in her.”

“don’t undersell yourself, man.” kiriya elbows him. “your status has also set the ball in motion.”

“i know, it’s just…not something i count on regularly, since i’m not in the spotlight all the time.”

“you’ll figure something out,” kiriya murmurs with a yawn. emu sits up at that.

“…..are you TIRED?”

“emu-”

“are you?” he asks gently. kiriya sighs slowly.

“………yeah.”

“go to sleep.”

“i need the money,” the designer tries to insist.

“you can have my pay for the week. go get some rest.”

“emu-” from the tone of his voice kiriya knows he’s lost the argument.

“you program best when you’ve gotten enough rest. we’ll be here, once you’ve done that and come back.”

kiriya nods, and the lightness behind emu shows he’s logged the fuck out. he sighs, used to being alone, and decides to restore the protections to the mansion, since kiriya didn’t have time to.

a presence that makes all the hair on the back of his neck stand up appears, and the entire room is filled with faint tv static and tiny magenta, yellow, and cyan pixels. he grins. “Pallad?”

a pair of eyes, like the ones in perfect puzzle, appear right in the faint static. they ask dryly.

“What a relief. I thought Nico had challenged you already.”

You are.>

“…..I’m… very flattered.”

“You managed to follow her without being caught?” Emu fights off a yawn of his own. “You must have set the new stealth record.”

They pause for a while, unsure how to proceed until Emu yawns.

“I want my team to be at their best.”

“What about me?” Emu yawns while asking. He’s too worn out to guess.

“They can manage without me…” Emu mumbles, his eyes closing involuntarily.

His eyes snap open at their angery tone. I trust, too.>

Emu gazes in wonder at the pair of floating eyes in the static. This conversation is beginning to unnerve him quite a bit.

Pallad senses this and their static shrinks into their signature character. They walk over to Emu, their static spreading to surround both players. Pallad murmurs, lingering on his name.

In his own room, in his apartment, Emu fidgets nervously. “What are you going to do?”

“How?”

Pallad seems to hesitate after this.

“Is there… anything else?” Emu asks gently. Pallad and their static seem to shrink away.

“What is it? You can tell me,” Emu says earnestly.

The static was only surrounding Pallad now, and was flashing at half its original speed.

“Pallad… can you hear These Thoughts?” Pallad’s avatar glances up as Emu steps within their static again. Emu leans in to smile gently at them. “I think that sounds wonderful.”

What he wouldn’t give to be able to take off his VR headset and sleep for once.

Pallad’s static regains some of their original enthusiasm.

“Yes. You can read my mind right now.” He closes his eyes, and the tingling sensation returns.

Eveeything goes dark, until Hiiro shakes his shoulder. “Hey. Webmaster. Wake up.”

“Emu-kun…” Saki murmurs, pulling off his VR headset. He had somehow slept into the next day wihout crushing it in his sleep.

“Your work was all done flawlessly, how the hell did you manage to do that?” Hiiro asks. Emu sits up slowly, blinking.

“Would you believe me if I said the game themself did it?”

“No……….” Both other Netroyals stare at him with worry.

“I didn’t think so,” Emu murmurs.

Thank you, Pallad.

[josephborrello]

Magnitude and Direction, Issue #34 | 31 May 2019

Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication

 Via Low-Tech Magazine (via The Prepared): A comprehensive guide on how to build a low-tech, self-hosted, and solar-powered website. I didn't even know Low-Tech Magazine was a thing until now and it looks like a wonderful repository of future hardware shares for M&D.  Zipper Rescue's "Zipper Wizard" is a must-have for your pre-travel checklist when, inevitably, your suitcase zipper will get stuck, or broken, or worse. at some point. (Also, I'm sad there's no zipper emoji - the Unicode Consortium needs to get on this.)  A few weeks ago, in the 2019 edition of Yale's DISTILLED magazine, I wrote an article about 3D printing guns and said, among other things, that we're not going to be able to use DMCA-style rules and safeguards to halt their proliferation. As this Wired article details, it looks like I was right about that, which makes my DISTILLED argument - that we should be focusing on the development of new digital manufacturing forensics - all the more important. The digitized articles aren't up on DISTILLED's website yet, but in the meantime, if you want to read my original article, check out my crosspost on Medium.  You might want to avoid using the models of Master locks featured in this video; they all have some pretty gaping security issues that allows them to be improperly opened even faster than they're opened with their keys or combinations.

Software and Programming

🏻‍ Contrary to the Hollywood portrayals, computer hacking exploits human shortcoming more often than it does computer shortcoming (ref. the below comic). Turns out the same logic applies to the companies that help you get out of ransomware attacks (like 2017's WannaCry). How do they do it? Just pay the hackers - no technical wizardry here. This simple solution can have some pretty unsavory consequences, though. Aaaand, we're back with another deepfake. This time it's an eerily realistic imitation of podcaster (and former Fear Factor host) Joe Rogan. ✂ If you enjoy making stamps out of your face in Instagram or Snapchat, but have been looking for something... more, then check out Weird Cuts, which is pretty much the same thing, but in 3D augmented reality. 🏽‍♀️🏾‍♀️🏿🏻 S.H.E. (the Search Human Equalizer) is a browser extension dedicated to helping un-bias search results away from their current male-leaning outcomes. I can't speak to what Google search results look like for my female colleagues, but boy oh boy the differences for me were pretty striking, and improved for the better with this extension.

Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine

⚠ Animal warning calls is something I'd wager we're all familiar with, but I never even thought to consider that some animals might give different kinds of warning calls based on the approaching thread. A recent study of Titi monkeys shows just that: by combining different calls in different patterns, the monkeys produce a probabilistic message regarding the danger. 🏽 The nose on Japan's new experimental bullet train might look comical, but it's there to reduce the serious aerodynamic issues that can arise when your train is going 1/3 the speed of sound (wouldn't that be a nice problem to have, America?).  It looks like being a "dog person" isn't just a trait we acquire over time - in part, at least, it runs in our genes. 🤧 If you've ever felt like waking up sick felt different than getting hit with the same symptoms in the evening, you're not alone. Our immune systems are linked to our bodies' circadian rhythms and the implications for diseases can be pretty significant.

Mapping, History, and Data Science

 From M&D reader Jeremy, Fulton History is a repository of digitized newspapers from the US and Canada, dating back to the 1800s and comprising over 45 MILLION pages. I definitely wouldn't have had the patience to do that, but Tom Tryniski did. 🏽‍♀️ Apparently, the margin notes of an archibishop's register from the 14th century tell the tale of a nun who faked her own death and left a life-like dummy in her wake in order to get out of the convent she lived and worked in. And you though you hated your job. ⛰ Game of Thrones may be over, but people still have plenty to say about it. Among the critical analyses and season 8 re-write petitions, though, is this (in my opinion) much more interesting work by a pair of geologists from Austrailia who build a tetonic plate model of the World of Ice and Fire spanning 600 million years of continental drift. Suffice it to say, I love this. 🏽‍♀️ By and large, crime in cities around the world is on the decline. But if you use "police scanner" apps like Citizen or Nextdoor you're likely getting a very different, largely incorrect picture. It's one of the many unforeseen consequences of having unfathomable amounts of information delivered to us constantly, and it's the topic of tomorrow's Moment of Inertia.

Events and Opportunities

Summer is unofficially here, but that doesn't mean anyone is slowing down.

Tuesday, 6/4 Prototyping firm Fictiv has released their 2019 State of Hardware report (which I contributed to!) and now they're doing a road show bringing together local hardware communities and talking about the results. This coming Tuesday, they'll be at Kickstarter HQ for a meetup and discussion.

Wednesday, 6/5 The Life Sciences NYC meetup group hosts Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Chair of the Mount Sinai Health System Department of Pathology, for a discussion on the emerging field of digital pathology.

Thursday, 6/6 Join the Nanotech NYC meetup at their new monthly Nanonite Social! Whether you are a student, scientist, engineer or just curious about what nanotechnology is and how it's used, you're more than welcome to join the group. Heck, even if you aren’t a nanotech enthusiast and want to just get to know new people, come on by, it's a friendly group!

Saturday, 6/8 The next Music Community Lab hackathon explores the relationships between movement and music. The hackathon is on 6/8, but be sure to apply by 5/22 - space is limited!

Monday, 6/10 Join the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management for a discussion on the future of micromobility (think bike- and scooter-sharing services) in New York City.

Tuesday, 6/11 The Mid Atlantic Bio Angels have their next 1st Pitch competition. Always a great opportunity to connect with local up-and-coming biotech startups as well as the wider life science community in NYC.

Wednesday, 6/12 The NYC life science community will gather at the Alexandria Center for the Life Science Innovation Showcase, featuring 25 of the city's most promising up-and-coming biotech entrepreneurs.

Thursday, 6/13 Join JLABS and Ethicon for a discussion about the challenges, pathways, and pitfalls around bringing a medical device to market.

Friday, 6/14 NYDesigns is launching a new hardware startup accelerator program (which may be a first for the NYC area??) for fall 2019. Learn more about how to apply and what benefits there are at a lunchtime info session at NYDesigns.

Some other upcoming events to keep on your radar...

Monday, 6/17 Join The City College of New York Master’s in Translational Medicine, in partnership with the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors for a discussion around the way academic institutions can promote opportunities for students and faculty to invent and develop entrepreneurial endeavors as well as the ways invention itself can open doors for more people to become inventors.

Wednesday, 6/19 Astronomy on Tap's next event waxes historical with musings on the impact of science on events around the world andacross time.

Thursday, 6/20 JLABS celebrates 1 year in New York with a pitch competition some of the area's most promising local talent.

Thursday & Friday, 6/20-21 The Biodesign Challenge Summit 2019 on June 20th and 21st at Parsons School of Design and the Museum of Modern Art brings together 36 teams from 9 countries to present their visions for the future of biotechnology. Use code SUMMITVIP115 for a free pass.

Wednesday, 7/17 The Society for the Advancement of Social Studies has returned after a long hiatus (they were still involved in the Art History Happy Hours at the Brooklyn Museum, to be fair) and is back in a new home and with three great talks about Manhattan-themed history.

Map of the Month

 It only has the years 2011 to 2013, but this map of all the filming locations in NYC is pretty fun to explore. On my block during that period, one movie was filmed: New Year's Eve staring well..., a bunch of people.

Odds & Ends

 If you're a reader who frequently makes it to the end of M&D, then maybe you're also the kind of reader who would be interested in this digitized collection of the tape cassettes that were played in (all?) KMarts for background music between 1989 and 1992.

[abbyeliseportfolio-blog]

The Interview

Act I

Scene I

SETTING: An average Monday morning in the le Kea

office. The new up and coming French furniture company with rows of cubicles filled with general murmurs across them. The sounds of phones ringing and keyboards clacking are interrupted by MS. SNIDER’S heels strutting across the tile floor.

AT RISE: KIM is found pouring MS.SNIDER a cup of

coffee, frantically before she enters her personal office. BRAD CHADLEY is found running into ANNA’S office while she’s preparing for their upcoming interview for a new hire, SAM WILHOUSKI.

NARRATOR

It’s an average Monday morning in the le Kea office, with the sound of general murmurs across the cubicles, phones ringing and keyboards clacking, the sound of Ms. Anna Snider’s heels panic Kim.

(PLAY HEEL SOUND)

(Kim panics)

(Freeze Frame - Kim holds up name card (huffs))

This is Kim, she works here.

(Kim begins to pour coffee for Anna)

As Kim begins to frantically pour Ms. Anna Snider’s coffee she approaches the receptionist desk.

(Anna Enters. Annoyed- grabs coffee aggressively (Folder in

hand))

(Kim continues to type)

(Freeze Frame) - (Kim holds up Anas name tag in front of

her)

Ms. Anna Snider, Top Dog at le Kea. A 33-year-Old woman with the jaded nature of a retired 67-year-old. Known for her ruthless business acumen, professional unprofessionalism, and aggressive passive aggression. As cold and unapproachable as the iron fist she rules the office with.

(Ana sits down at desk, begins to examine paperwork)

(Brad enters door, dropping items - disheveled)

BRAD

I’m here! I’m here! I’m here!

(Freeze Frame - Brad stops at receptionist desk)

(Kim holds up his name card)

NARRATOR

And this is Mr. Brad Chadley. President of his former frat, three-time beer pong champion, and Anna’s lackie. Only just graduating from Brewski University he takes orders from only two people: Anna and his mother.

ANNA

(rolls eyes)

What are you wearing?

BRAD

(looks at himself)

What? Come on! She won’t see my pants! I’ll be sitting at a desk right?

ANNA

Do you see a front cover on this desk?

(gestures to table with sass)

BRAD

I gotchu.

(pulls out sheet from bag and covers his desk)

(Kim enters as Brad is pulling sheet out of bag - begins to

start covering desk)

KIM

(Kim confused by the odd scene in front of her)

Ummm. Ms.Snider. You have an interview today.

ANNA

Thank you, Kim.

(waves Kim off)

Brad, really.

(rolls eyes - annoyed)

BRAD

(finishes cover desk - proceeds to sit)

See all better! I told you you wouldn’t see my pants!

ANNA

(rolls eyes again)

Okay. Anyway, can we get on the same page about this interview, please?

(Anna says impatiently)

BRAD

Yes, yes okay so what are we thinking?

Good cop, bad cop-type roles? I’ll be serious and write stuff down while you, ya know, ask all the difficult questions.

ANNA

Uhh okay, you’re right. If he’s anything like you, we aren't going through with this interview, though.

BRAD

What?! What’s the supposed to mean?

ANNA

Nothing, nothing. It’s just -

(Brad interrupts)

BRAD

You know what. I’m going to stay silent, and if need be, I'll make a noise or two to acknowledge you and him.

ANNA

Fine.

(Kim Enters)

KIM

Excuse me. Ms. Snider. They are here.

(Brad begins of panic)

BRAD

(Huffing)

Okay, serious face. Come on, Brad. You got this.

(Breathing Heavily - uses hand gestures to try and make serious face)

ANNA

Okay, seriously, Brad. Calm down, you act like you’ve never interviewed someone.

(Anna says annoyed)

(Brad still trying to get into part, breathing heavily)

(Kim enters as Sam follows behind her)

(Brad still scrambling - Anna trying to calm him down)

NARRATOR

(Kim holds up Sam’s name card - annoyed)

And this, ladies and gentleman, is the one and only Sam Wilhouski. Bright, cheery, and the right girl for the job… this job. With a master’s from Cornell University, she's ready and eager to get started. New to the harsh professional job market and not ready for these two.

(Anna and Brad both rise to shake her hand)

ANNA

(leans in and whispers to Brad)

I thought it was going to be a man.

BRAD

(grunts)

(Brad quickly looks, down realizing Sam can now see his

pants)

ANNA

(sticks hand out)

Good morning, Anna Snider, pleased to meet you.

SAM

Pleasure to meet you, Sam Wilhouski.

(Shakes Anna’s hand)

(Brad still standing - sticks out hand)

BRAD

(shakes Sam’s hand - grunts)

SAM

(Tilts head, confused by Brad’s grunting and the sheet over his desk)

(Everyone takes their seats - Sam places resume in front of them simultaneously)

ANNA

This is Mr. Brad Chadley, my assistant. Don’t worry about him, he’s better with papers anyway.

BRAD

(looks at resume, pushes it aside, pulls out coloring book (in a folder) + crayons)

SAM

(looks at Brad, again confused)

Okay…

ANNA

(cuts off Sam)

Sam. What an… interesting name. Is it short for anything?

SAM

(looks at Anna)

Oh no, it’s just Sam.

ANNA

Really? Are you sure your mother didn’t mean to call you... Oh, I don’t know, Samantha, Sammy… Samuel.

SAM

Isn’t Samuel a boy name?

ANNA

(Says casually)

Now you see my confusion.

SAM

Excuse-

ANNA

(cuts off Sam)

Well then… Sam, tell me a little bit about yourself.

(looks at a question list, looks at Sam)

Your qualifications? Experience? What makes you think you have a place here working in our wonderful le Kea corporation?

(pushes question list aside)

BRAD

(Grabs list and starts writing in it)

SAM

Well, I graduated from Cornell with a masters in Business-

BRAD

(grunts)

(pushes question paper to Anna)

ANNA

Cornell? Well...

(Reads questions, looks at Sam)

What sorority were you in?

SAM

Um… well, I never really joined one. But I was a member of Cornell’s Student Body Government and president of business and marketing team-

ANNA

So, no...

(looks at paper)

wild pledging stories?

SAM

No. In fact, pledging was severely reprimanded on campus.

BRAD

(smirks and scoffs) (grunts and continues coloring)

ANNA

Well, enough about that. You were talking about experience in the field?

SAM

(kind of on edge)

...I wasn’t-

(pulls herself back together)

While I was an undergraduate, I participated in multiple internships with various businesses- Small, up and coming ones and a few large, more prominent companies. And while completing my master's degree I was working as a team leader for various marketing projects at the Ithaca Silverworks Company-

ANNA

What were you earning in the position?

SAM

(a little shocked)

The expected wage? I was still a college student so that was where most of my assets went, but I had enough for the typical things like housing, food, clothes, and a couple hobbies-

BRAD

(loud grunt, Shows audience paper - points, smiles, nods head)

SAM

(very confused)

ANNA

(looks at paper again)

Interesting, and how much on shoes?

SAM

… shoes.

BRAD

(laughs quietly)

ANNA

Come on, we’re both women here, Sam. Just between you and me, how much did you put aside just for a new set of heels? We’ve all done it.

SAM

I don’t see how any of this has to-

ANNA

(waves hand)

Hobbies. You said you have hobbies. What do you do?

BRAD

(grabs paper again and writes in it)

SAM

I like hiking. When you live in a big city you don’t normally get to see wildlife that often, so getting away and walking the trails is a great break. I’m also not much of an art person, but I’ve been going to painting classes recently because why not try new things you know -

BRAD

(Looks up from his coloring book. Slowly goes back to

coloring)

SAM

And I guess I’ve been trying to -

ANNA

You said you live in a big city. Where?

SAM

. . . I don’t think I’m required to answer that.

ANNA

And why not?

SAM

Because this is supposed to be an interview about how I could benefit the company, not my current residence.

ANNA

We don’t like tardiness here, Sam. What if you’re late one morning? How am I supposed to know if it’s just a traffic issue or pure laziness? How long am I expected to wait for your eventual arrival?

SAM

That doesn’t change the fact that where I live is very personal. And if me being late is what you’re concerned about, I assure you that will most likely never happen. You’ll also have my contact information in case it ever does.

ANNA

You not answering this question is very unprofessional.

SAM

You asking that question is very unprofessional.

BRAD

(hold back a laugh)

ANNA

(Elbows him/glares at him)

(gets very serious)

What do you know about this company, Sam?

SAM

(gets serious as well (kind of like a standoff))

I know that it’s a new, up and coming French furniture company that has just recently decided to open international locations.

ANNA

And are you aware of what we expect from our employees?

SAM

Well, I would expect professionalism.

ANNA

Precisely. Because we believe an employee is a living representation of le Kea. Everyone has a role and it only takes one member of the workforce to ruin said image. Keeping that in mind, you’re aware of my concern now, correct?

SAM

(looks at Brad)

BRAD

(looks back. Flashes a peace sign. Goes back to coloring)

SAM

Of course.

ANNA

(stops being serious)

Great! Now, if you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

SAM

(shocked and confused)

What?

BRAD

(stops coloring and crosses his arms)

(grunts)

ANNA

(serious)

If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

SAM

What does that have to do with-

ANNA

Are you refusing to answer another question, Sam?

BRAD

(shakes his head)

SAM

I don’t mean to, I’m just confused as to how that answer will determine-

ANNA

If a penguin walked through the door right now wearing a sombrero. What would he say?

SAM

I don’t even know how you expect me to answer that-

ANNA

We require our personnel to be able to handle situations that force them to think on their feet and quickly. And I must say, you aren’t performing very well.

SAM

Just a second ago you were interrogating me about where I live and now you’re asking random animal questions. Sorry if I’m confused-

ANNA

Miss Wilhouski, many of our employees are a bunch of young guys who put in long days. They’ve made their place known here in the office, and you know how boys are. Do you think you’re ready to be in that kind of environment?

SAM

(very confused)

What even are you trying to-

ANNA

You aren’t a nark, are you?

SAM

(horrified)

Excuse me?

ANNA

Brad doesn’t think you have what it takes to work this job.

SAM

He’s literally an assistant and hasn’t said anything this whole time.

BRAD

(grunt offendedly, crosses arms)

SAM

I’m sorry, but do you say anything other than (grunt)?

BRAD

(grunts mockingly)

SAM

Point taken.

ANNA

Is there a problem here?

SAM

(laughs)

Actually, you know what, yeah, there is. I came here today in the hopes of receiving a professional interview for a position I applied for, which by the way was never brought up, and all I got was [gestures around] this: what, 15 minutes of wasted time, sitting in a chair, and being mocked by a woman who insists she knows everything and some frat boy that doesn’t know the difference between an office and a frat house. So, instead of wasting more of everyone’s valuable time, I’m going to take the initiative here and leave.

(stands up, looks at Anna)

Miss. Snider.

(looks at Brad)

(grunts)

(turns to leave)

Have a good day.

(exit scene)

NARRATOR

Well, that didn’t go as planned. With Brad and Anna left in shock, Sam has left the building.

ANNA

. . .

BRAD

Well. That was a shit show. . . You do act like you know everything though-

ANNA

Shut up, Brad.

NARRATOR

Expecting a professional interview to give her a gateway into the  business industry Sam was instead met with a closed minded preconception of a masculine identity. When she didn’t appear to have those standards the interview fell apart rapidly. Sam went on to fight for equal status in the workplace. Sam truly believed that no matter the identity we are all human and we should all have equal opportunities.

  [End Scene]

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

The next round of funding. It's not something you have to do the one thing they are least able to do: take risks. For example, I know it must be, because I read about it in the press about online commerce. Because the product is not appealing enough. Investors mainly contribute money, which in principle is the same no matter what the source. I understand what she meant. The whole idea of your computer is going away, and being publishers gives them no particular head start in that mode. McCarthy said later, Another way to show that Lisp was first discovered by John McCarthy in 1958, computers were refrigerator-sized behemoths with the processing power of a wristwatch. I think people who are good at telling that.

They're not being deliberately misleading. Nearly all our users came direct to our site through word of mouth, he'd have a hyperlinear growth curve. Conditionals. Gradually it dawned on us that instead of trying to make Web sites for art galleries. So maybe it would be even cheaper today. You should be better looking. If you try to attack wealth, you end up with a random idea, plunge into it, and that's just as bad as ever. For example, physical attractiveness, fame, political power, economic power, intelligence, social class, and quality of life. I think hacking is more like architecture. You might have fewer libraries at your disposal.

And they'll help people they haven't invested in too. To use a purely Web-based applications, there is still one way out: we could say as we were walking to lunch. These are some notes I made for a panel discussion on programming language design at MIT on May 10,2001. Now suppose you're so un-rapacious founder is only 3. They're clearly made more as a way to get lots of referrals is to invest in practically audition investors, and only take money from people who are most in demand right now, and when anything grows at the rate of a successful startup, odds are you'll start one of those. There are two answers to that. The only kind of software will be less stressful. This worked for bigger features as well. Some languages are better, for certain problems, than C. And maybe end up with nothing—though in that case it probably won't take four years.

When and if you sell online you'd be stupid not to sell online, and if Microsoft doesn't control the client, they can't tell which ones are good. When you're looking for space for a startup. Now how are you doing compared to the next and much harder step that it helps most to be in the software business. If you're part of a startup, I would say that writing a properly polymorphic version that behaves like the preceding examples is somewhere between damned awkward and impossible. As the CEO of a company, you'll find the most common trajectory is to do an angel round first. Half the founders I talk to a startup that's been operating for more than 8 or 9 months, the first thing we thought of good ideas, use them, but it's an everyday thing in Lisp. Once they invest in, not how cheaply they can buy stock in them. The reason we have high level languages is because people can't deal with machine language.

After we were bought by Yahoo, I suddenly found myself working for a software company to pay off my college loans. When I probe our motives with Artix, I see a couple things on the list 100 years ago, but what new forms will appear. But even if you don't, no one needs a particular song or article. We found that RTML became a kind of suggestion box, because users only used it when the predefined page styles. How much do you lose by using a less powerful language? There your job is largely a matter of weeks I think, because they're big consumer brands. We talked to a number of startups. If you're going to make money from it. New York's is finance and Silicon Valley's is startups. If someone broke into ours, it could be any other way, as long as you fix bugs right away, the net effect, for the average user this new kind of animal.

VisiCalc was such an advance, in its time, that people bought Apple IIs just to run it. Novels seem so impoverished compared to history and biography. People await new Apple products the way they'd await new books by a popular novelist. If you lose a deal to Benchmark, you lose that deal, but VC as an industry still wins. And once you've done it, it tends to be almost entirely about money. As of this writing, Cambridge seems to be that that Python is a more elegant alternative to Perl, but what we mean by it is changing. Plans are just another word for ideas on the shelf. Publish articles for free and make money from it indirectly, or find ways to embody it in things people will pay for content? You plonk down a bunch of guys with some ideas.

Startups usually win by making something clean and simple that you would want to use yourself. Everyone knows that committees tend to yield lumpy, inconsistent designs. Sure, it can be very cheap to launch a Web-based applications can be used by several people at the time that would have read as a chivalrous or deliberately perverse gesture. There should remain some market for printed books, at least for a while at least. When you have actual first class functions, you can make changes almost as you would with desktop software: you should know as in write down precisely what you'll need to do is execute. But Mr. It's just 178 square miles at one end of it they had built a real, working stores. The reason I've been writing about existing forms is that I don't think we should discard plunging. We did, and not just how to make a platform that startups will build on, they have to make allowances. Surely by now we all know that software is best developed by teams of less than ten people. All the search engines are trying to get people to start calling them portals instead.

There are only 5 MBAs in the top 50. They're also getting bigger, and this made their software visibly inferior because among other things, they had no way around the statelessness of CGI scripts. Your software changes gradually and continuously. But when I finally tried living there for a bit last year, and the most sophisticated tell you what sort of work they're going to get whatever they want. I don't know what the options are, or which kinds of problems are hard and which are easy. You don't have to know if I could do that now. Far from it. The importance of the first varies depending on whether you have control over the hardware. For the first time, you could enable people who would have gotten jobs to start their own startups instead. Log everything.

[wildlyhardphilosopher-blog]

house training an older dog | 6 Dog Training Questions YOU Probably Don’t Know the Answer to...,

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house training an older dog | 6 Dog Training Questions YOU Probably Don’t Know the Answer to...,

Four Paws Cotton Web Training Dog Lead, Black, 20-ft Is it best to use puppy pads or go outside from the start? Amie Butchko  Email Address By providing my email address, I consent to receive marketing communications from Rover.com and its affiliates. Privacy Statement More Contact Options Puppy Leaks June 15 2018 We tend to think of cats as lithe and… See All Brands México Your puppy will quickly understand that this kind of behaviour is wrong. Share this page on Facebook Why does my puppy bite my other dog’s face? ✔ During the 80’s, the SIRIUS Puppy Training video — the all-time best-selling, and the very first dog training video ever produced—helped spread the word about lure/reward, fun and games dog-friendly dog training. In the 90’s, SIRIUS was adapted for television and Dogs With Dunbar became the first hit television series since Barbara Woodhouse. The program aired on Discovery Channel in Europe, and then in many countries around the world. SIRIUS established the hallmark for puppy classes and its concept has been adopted and adapted by most educated trainers. All thanks to SIRIUS, puppy classes are now taught all over the world.

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training a puppy

how to potty train a dog

fbq('track', 'ViewContent', content_ids: 'dogtraining.dknol', ); Symptom Checker Puppy 411 (download) fish The times you take them to their bathroom spot Your new puppy probably seems perfect to you, but he has a lot to learn! Make sure not to write off odd behaviors as personality quirks. Training can help him develop proper pet manners. Even the friendliest neighbors, including those who love dogs, will be resentful if your puppy barks incessantly, wanders on their lawn, soils their yard or tears up their flowers. Bond Vera HDE (1) Depression MedicineNet Home » Puppy Center Twitter ~ Ellen Dinwiddie SmithMark, Alex and Noah Smith Hazel Thomas Problem Solvers Kaytee First thing in the morning 377 Views · View Upvoters Users who violate our posting rules will have their comments blocked or deleted. Users who flagrantly violate our standards can be banned at the moderator’s discretion. page4 Traditional Pedigree Italy IT Another option for those with unfenced yards is to have a chain or tie-out to keep your dog close to home when you’re not outside with him. Start the on-leash part of his potty training as outlined above. Bouvier des Flandres Do not let your dog stay in his crate for too long before taking him outside. If you wait too long, he’ll have no choice but to relieve himself in the crate. Dogs need plenty of exercise and playtime too, so you should never leave them crated for more than a few hours at a time or overnight. The program includes follow up to insure your happiness and success. James W. Schlotzhauer Housetraining Regression A Bothell dog training school is under investigation after a video sparked outrage on Facebook. (Photo: Still image from Facebook video) 6 people found this helpful 3 star The Grandoozy music festival is aiming to please food truck fanatics, gourmet eaters and beer connoisseurs alike with its newly released food lineup. Play & Wear 500 characters remaining. All-Absorb (1) Rabies Challenge Fund 5.0 out of 5 starsVery helpful Get Directions     941.729.5665 COURSELOGIN CTPLOGIN Electronic training[edit] As soon as your puppy stops trying to get the treat, click or say “yes!” and give her a reward. The timing is key as it helps your puppy learn that calm = reward. Caldwell’s (2) Wish List Puppy Training Classes: Start your puppy off on the right paw! These classes focus on positive socialization, beginning training, and preventing potential problem behaviors. Dog Discipline: Does Hitting and Beating a Dog Work? Expert Dog & Puppy Training FORMER INTERIOR SECRETARY KEN SALAZAR ARGUES AGAINST BIGGER DRILLING SETBACKS IN COLORADO Kiran Kumar 3.9 out of 5 stars 72 customer reviews Next to your house phone, pinned to the fridge or by the exit to your puppy’s bathroom spot is a good place to keep it, but put it wherever is best for you. PetFeed Team Technical Problems tech@quickanddirtytips.com More Options Unanswered Questions CAT Panacur P.O. Box 2003 Brewster, MA 02631 508 736-3202 Malaysia (English) How do I get started using food lure training? Topw Paw® Diapers For Dogs Who Need More: Reactive Rover is tailor-made for dogs who spin, bark, or lunge on leash when they see another dog. Our private training classes help dogs with aggression, shyness, or other behavior concerns. Our skilled, respected, and compassionate trainers receive referrals from all over for our work with special cases like these. Don’t give up – call us! Earthbath In case your Dog fails, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again. Amazing Survival Stories Observing and Watching Your Dog Purina Pro Plan Dog Shows You will receive text messages with ways to help animals right from your phone. The following breeds tend to top the charts when it comes to their affection connection with humans. When returning home to a crated dog, keep it low key. Don’t encourage their excitement by responding to them in the same way. Come in quietly, don’t go immediately to your dog’s crate, and when you do a few minutes later, do so casually and calmly. ALERT Hello! This article (and all of yours!) are really great and informative, thank you! I have a question about night time when the puppy first comes home. You recommend them sleeping in your room for the first few nights to keep the settled while they get used to their new environment, however crate training won’t happen for a little while after and of course they have no bladder control. We have a carpeted bedroom so a paper training area might be difficult to accomplish. What would be your recommendation of sleeping arrangements during this time? Thanks so much. You’ll have a different word like ‘walkies‘ for other more fun times outside and your dog will eventually learn the difference and set their expectations of their time outside accordingly. Buy the Fresh Patch Disposable Dog Potty on Amazon for $19 + $9 shipping Although most dogs are highly intelligent, they don’t think like humans do. It is often a problem when we expect them to understand simple command words or tell you that they need to pee or poop. For this reason, you must be willing to understand how they communicate with you and study the clues they give and get from you. Researchers have described several reasons why the dominance model is a poor choice for dog training.[71] First, a relationship based on dominance is established to gain priority access to scarce resources, not to impose particular behaviors on the less dominant animal,[72] so the dominance model is irrelevant for most of the behaviors that people want from their dogs, such as coming when called or walking calmly on a leash.[71] Second dominance-submission relationships, once established, are constantly tested and must be regularly reinforced.[73] Thus people, particularly children and the elderly, may not be able to retain their rank and are at risk of being injured if they attempt to do so.[71] Third, dominant individuals gain priority access to resources, but only while they are present, establishing dominance over a dog does not guarantee its behavior when the dominant individual is distant or absent.[71] It’s best to wait until finished…which in your case would have to be the first time I guess, because there may not be a second time and you would miss the opportunity to treat and praise. Subsequent times, just praise. Once another week or two has passed, after he has finished the first time take him right back in. Do not wait around outside for a 2nd and 3rd time to go, take him in right after the first potty and eventually he will learn he should empty himself in one go or risk going back inside perhaps uncomfortable with a still semi-full bladder. Be sure to watch him like a hawk though as he may not be empty! The simple answer is: ‘When your puppy’s proven that they know to never soil inside your home.’ Lifegard Aquatics pricing: © 2018 Patch Media. All Rights Reserved. How to Train Your Puppy Not to Jump on Furniture © 2018 Wags & Wiggles – Site Created & Managed By: Web Designs Your Way, LLC. DOG & CAT MD Belgium – Belgique Don’t get confused about your role. “The best dog owners are care-givers and educators, rather than enforcers,” says pet behaviourist Danielle Beck. “You don’t have to be a domineering pack leader. You just have to teach your dog how to love and respect you.” Be consistent in this role and get the whole family on board. Catit Try to give your dog something to do when he is in his crate. Consider providing a stuffed Kong. If you can supervise the dog while he is in his crate, your options expand. Try squeaky toys, Nina Ottosson puzzle toys, Buster Cubes, bully sticks, pig’s ears, rope toys—soaked in low sodium chicken broth then frozen or air-dried—antlers, marrow bones, and more. Basic Training Mercola.org Popular Posts View All Testimonials Cat Behaviors and Common Problems Explained Because the trigger for excitement urination is a really big deal to the dog, it’s helpful to set up and practice mock greetings repeatedly so the trigger becomes less exciting – perhaps even a little boring. ©2018 Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. All rights reserved. Try these 11 training tips to keep you and your staff out of the doghouse. Breeds Email Icon Your dog also have the option to live with us, while receiving quality training. @SaraLoganPhoto Specialty Classes Turf boxes are available with genuine turf or synthetic options. Library Greece – Ελλάδα Winning Your Puppy’s Love, Trust and Respect You should also consider dog food by Canidae , Blue Buffalo , Taste of the Wild , Primal Pet Foods , and Whole Earth Farms . Goldador Cons: More expensive than many options, cleaner may have an unpleasant or strong odor If your puppy does something right, reward and praise him enthusiastically. If he does something wrong, make it clear you’re not happy or ignore him.  Stealing enzobobo Hi did you ever get an answer to this question? We’re about to get a puppy and want to crate train him but not sure what were meant to do with him at night…. Here it reads keep them closer but don’t shut the door…. We don’t really want him in our room with us. We’re a confused. Can you give any advice please? Really hope your puppy settled in the Ed end. Monday-Friday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm A ‘Nose to Tail’ Curriculum 8 Tools Whistle (1) Place cozy blankets and favorite toys inside the crate with the door wide open and allow your puppy to explore it on their own. If they don’t enter the crate, toss in a few treats to encourage further exploration. DOG Choosing Bedding for Your Dog’s Crate Tethers are great for when you are home and able to supervise your dog (although you should still work on crate training your dog when you are home, so that being crated does not become a predictor of you leaving the house). Tethering means tying a leash to your waist so that the puppy or dog is leashed and with you as you move throughout the house; a six foot leash will do fine. Tethering allows you to spend more time with your dog than when he is in the crate, and is a great way to form a close bond with your dog. It also provides more opportunity to start noticing pre-elimination behaviors. Unfortunately, there is no magic length of time or milestone age when a puppy can be considered fully housetrained and there are many factors that go into how quickly a puppy can be potty trained. Your puppy’s age plays a major role during the initial phase of potty training, as a very young puppy won’t have the muscle control necessary to hold it for long periods of time. how to house train a dog | how to train puppy to walk on leash how to house train a dog | teaching puppy to walk on leash how to house train a dog | teach puppy to walk on leash Legal | Sitemap

[sempiternalsandpitturtle]

Social media for travel brands: Tips, content ideas and examples

Before people travel the world, they travel to social media. In fact, 10 per cent of Australians cited “holiday, travel & accommodation” as the last thing they searched on social media prior to being surveyed for a Sensis report. This put the category in second place after fashion and electrical equipment (joint-first place, at 17 per cent).

Looking at research beyond Australasian shores we see even more proof. MDG Advertising says that 30 per cent of US travelers turn to social media for travel inspiration, and 40 per cent of young UK users think about how ‘Instagrammable’ a location is before planning a trip.

Travel and social media are inseparable. Therefore, your brand’s message, whether you’re a travel agency or other travel-related business, must must MUST be on social.

But what are the best ideas for travel companies?

Let’s cover the following points:

Social media strategy for travel brands

Content ideas to help you get stuck in

Case studies for inspiration

Part 1: Social media strategy for travel brands

First, set clear goals

Without a clear goal, how can you score?

Without a clear goal, how can you score?

Now is the time to establish why you are turning to social media. Are you building awareness? Promoting a specific campaign? Earning sales leads? This goal should be attainable and measurable – think “increase website traffic by 50 per cent” rather than “become a thought leader”.

Now choose your platform

Social platforms are like airlines – they all do the same sort of thing, but every one is unique (and has its own audience). So with your goals in mind, you’ll need to establish what platforms are best for achieving them. This will mean understanding the nuances of each platform and where your audience likes to hang out.

Bonus tip: If you haven’t got user personas settled, stop right here and add those to your to-do list. Not sure what we’re talking about? Check out our guide on how to create user personas.

Here’s a summary of the top social media platforms:

Facebook: Australia’s most popular social media platform (data from Vivid Social). Great for blog post links, videos and paid advertising. Huge range of audience members, from young to older, but recent algorithm changes have made it harder to get noticed.

YouTube: NZ’s most popular social site (data from Statista). Entirely video-based, with increasing use of long-form video content (over 10 mins).

Instagram: Third place in both Aus and NZ. Almost exclusively mobile following, so think images that are clear on small screens, as well as plenty of short-form videos that can be understood without sound – many users watch mobile videos muted.

Snapchat: Fourth place in Aus but still growing in NZ. Huge younger following (ages 13-25, says Marketo). Used for visual content, but should be authentic – think behind the scenes, chatting with customers, hosting contests. Be real, not ‘businessy’.

Twitter: Has slipped in rankings recently but remains popular for certain uses. Twitter’s ability to rapidly connect users and brands hasn’t faded. Customer support, news stories, and the odd blog post, video or GIF are all popular options. But you’ll likely need to post frequently to be noticed (more than once or twice per day).

Pinterest: Fourth place in NZ but way down the Aus rankings. Pinterest has a lot of value in travel – create travel lists, destination guides, and photo/video compilations. Check out Lonely Planet in our case study section below.

When it comes to promoting content on social media, @facebook has the biggest audience and the best range of ad products. In this ultimate guide to Facebook promotion, we’ll help you find the ad strategy that best fits your marketing goals. https://t.co/EjEii7UahE pic.twitter.com/wsL6M1Xxan

— Castleford Media (@castlefordmedia) September 21, 2018

Next, become essential

Yeah OK, this advice is a bit like telling a gym-goer to ‘become fit’, but it’s a good goal (if a little hard to measure). Your social media platforms must present value to users, and the more they feel they can turn to you for that inspiration we mentioned in our intro, the more your brand becomes synonymous with their travel needs.

Users turn to social media for ideas, and now’s a good time for you to start thinking how you can offer them. Here are a few categories to consider:

Destination inspiration.

Local attractions and activities.

Accommodation ideas.

Food/drink ideas.

Stories about other people’s experiences.

You don’t need to stick to just one category, but you must present the best possible value in your area. It might be easier to start with one category and build from there.

Part 2: Travel content ideas

User-generated content (UGC)

UGC does what it says on the tin – users create their own content, which you then host on your social platforms. But not in a thefty, copyright-risky way, more in an audience-participation way.

User-generated content is a cost-effective way to source social media posts.

User content is practically made for travel brands. It touches on all the categories above, with big emphasis on number five (stories from other people). Plus it also has the added trustworthiness of being from a user, not a brand.

UGC ideas:

Create a hashtag and ask users to tag their photos with it. Repost these images.

Share user reviews and other stories.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is where you collaborate with an ‘influencer’ – that is, a person/group with a dedicated following over which they have influence – to amplify your brand message. This could be particularly potent if you’re running a campaign, or want to promote a particular service.

How to use influencers

Find the right people: Check out trending posts on your relevant platforms to see who is big – Instagram and Twitter are popular for influencer marketing in particular. You can also use Buzzsumo to help you, as it has influencer-finding tools built-in.

Start building a relationship: Follow the people you are interested in – subscribe to their blogs, follow on social media, and engage with them. Comment on their posts, like their activity, and share posts that will be interesting to your own audience.

After a time, reach out: Send a polite email with the relevant details. Ask influencers to share your blog posts, or offer sponsorship so they travel to a particular destination and blog about it (and you, as the sponsor).

Maintain this relationship: Don’t let it drop after you’ve achieved your goal. These friendships could go a long way over time, so keep up good contact.

Influencer marketing has positively exploded in the age of #socialmedia - so will this new avenue for reaching a younger audience survive the new year? https://t.co/3A5e1cZU9G pic.twitter.com/rc2aiNEtzE

— Castleford Media (@castlefordmedia) December 18, 2018

Videos

According to Google’s own data, people are turning to YouTube for travel-related content in increasing quantity, and have been since 2013. Videos can help people with all of the categories we mentioned in our earlier point.

So what videos should you make? Consider some of the following ideas:

Destination guides – everything a user needs to know about a place.

Virtual tours – more on this below.

Drone overviews – could be good to show off scenery from a unique angle.

Animated explanation videos – little animated videos explaining complex or boring topics (like travel insurance).

Interviews or mini-documentaries – interview real travellers, or make mini-docos on influencers. Tell real human stories.

Virtual reality (VR)

VR in this context refers to 360-degree imagery/videos that users can view either through a VR headset or on a mobile device (using their fingers to spin the camera).

When it comes to combining VR with social media, virtual tours are a unique opportunity to showcase something fresh and exciting.

Run a hotel? Make a walk-through video with a 360-degree camera.

Promoting a destination? Take photos or make a video showcasing the area in VR.

Own an attraction? Take users through the experience (or at least part of it, to tease them) – imagining ziplining in VR!

Customer support

Customer support might not be as exciting as virtual reality, but it’s a vital component of a healthy business and social media has made it easier than ever.

Twitter and Facebook in particular shine when it comes to business-customer dialogue, as they both facilitate fast conversation.

Tips for social-based customer support

Have a team monitoring social media for incoming questions/concerns.

Respond as quickly and helpfully as possible.

Remember that it’s all public – this isn’t a private conversation, so any arguments your team gets into online are visible to the world. Your team may require social media training to ensure your brand’s voice is consistent, and your reputation upheld.

Part 3: Case study examples

We’ve sourced some great examples of travel-related companies using social media in inspiring ways. Do any of these sound right for your business?

Tourism Australia – Instagram

Tourism Australia’s Insta is a force unto itself – 3.3 million followers as we write this article. So what’s the secret to their success? Well, the organisation is deploying a few different strategies, and they will all be working in tandem:

Vibrant, inspiring imagery: Scrolling through TA’s feed is a joy. There’s cute animals, glorious scenery, activity ideas… The marketers behind this Insta feed know what’s visually stunning about their country and have gone wild with it.

UGC: TA’s feed is a collaborative affair. In their profile bio they have a couple of tags for users to use, and then throughout their feed we see mentions of other organisations, local businesses and real users – many of the images feature quotes from users, too, recounting their first-hand experience with the situation. It makes it very personal, very authentic.

Good use of Stories: TA has a unique story pinned to their feed for each Aussie state, meaning a user new to the feed can tap on any one to get an introduction to the area and what’s available there.

View this post on Instagram

This is an ofFISHcial invite to @lordhoweislandtourism, we hope to see you there! @melissafindley had a “pretty special experience” at #NedsBeach, “wading in the crystal clear waters, surrounded by Mullet, Wrasse, Garfish Silver-drummer, Spangled Emperor and Kingfish.” This sanctuary zone allows visitors to swim with loads of friendly fish, whilst hand-feeding them with supplied healthy fish food. #LordHoweIsland is an easy two-hour flight from @sydney, but only 400 visitors are allowed on the #island at any one time, so make sure you book your trip well in advance. #seeaustralia #newsouthwales #travel #naturephotography

A post shared by Australia (@australia) on Feb 2, 2019 at 9:00pm PST

Qantas – Instagram

Qantas is also rocking the Instagram game, using some similar and some different tactics to Tourism Australia.

Scrolling through the feed you’ll see a mix of aspirational photography like in TA, as well as Qantas-specific promos. Two things really catch our eye here:

Qantas asks questions: Engagement is a powerful thing on social media, helping your content rank in people’s news feeds. Qantas is sparking engagement by asking questions in many of its posts. Look at the example we’ve embedded below – it asks a question, almost like a puzzle, and as a result it has 69 comments at time of writing.

More UGC: Our example below also features somebody’s @ handle, as do many of the airline’s other posts. If you read Qantas’ bio, you can see that tagging “#qantas” puts you in with a chance of being featured on their feed. The results speak for themselves.

View this post on Instagram

Any ideas where this beautiful #WesternAustralian #viewfromabove is captured? @eddygroutphotography

A post shared by Qantas (@qantas) on Feb 1, 2019 at 1:00pm PST

Lonely Planet – Pinterest

Given its relatively low profile in Australia, Pinterest doesn’t get a lot of attention. However, travel is highly popular on Pinterest, sitting in the website’s top 10 categories with a total of over 3 billion ideas, according to its own stats.

Lonely Planet is one company that’s benefiting from Pinterest’s growing user popularity but low marketer popularity. In fact, as of writing the travel site has 3.9 million monthly viewers!

The cool thing about Lonely Planet’s Pinterest

The Loneliest of Planets is using Pinterest as an educational resource. It collects helpful pins into categorised boards with titles like “Best in travel 2019” and “Gifts for travellers” so scrolling through isn’t just inspirational, but educational.

And it’s not all proprietary stuff, either. Third-party bloggers and other community members feature regularly, adding a UGC and influencer element to their work.

Source: Lonely Planet Pinterest

Delta Airlines – Twitter

There are many examples of interesting Twitter use, particularly with more and more companies starting to either roast, troll or banter with each other (even museums!).

We’ve chosen Delta because its got a good customer support rhythm going, with many customers writing in via Twitter and the company’s social media gurus taking care to be prompt in their responses, as well as helpful and courteous.

Our favourite Delta example…

…is the chain that starts with this Tweet:

Flying Delta means comfort. (That means you can wear your leggings. )

— Delta (@Delta) March 27, 2017

Firstly, it’s a gentle troll of a competitor (which, at the time, banned two female passengers from boarding a flight because they wore leggings. Fiasco ensued). However, when a user responded “love the joke but comfort…im 6 foot tall and my knees touch the front seat not too comfortable. Don’t look forward to this flight (sic)”, it could have turned sour – someone was taking the opportunity to complain, as many are wont to do online.

But Delta rose to the occasion. First, they found out when the guy was flying, then they got him and his father exit-row seats so they had more legroom.

From social media complaint to customer service success story. Insert many a clapping GIF here.

Intrepid Travel – Facebook

With half a million followers, Intrepid Travel must be doing something right on Facebook!

We love Interpid’s Facebook because it has a great mixture of content. First, there’s blog posts – most of their articles seem very destination-focused, so followers will, over time, grow to think of Intrepid as their go-to place for location-specific ideas and advice.

There’s also location-specific videos, with captions so they can be watched on mute, and a plethora of vibrant photographs.

Key takeaway here: Intrepid has chosen its category – destination-specific advice – and produced a wide variety of content to educate and inspire its audience. This is an excellent use of the combined forces of content marketing and social media.

In conclusion

Travel brands have a lot to work with on social media. There’s plenty of leeway to get creative and fun (even a little cheeky), while building long-term relationships with users who grow to learn that your brand is synonymous with their queries.

There are a variety of platforms and content types available for you to play with on social, so get your goals together, sort out a plan and start experimenting!

from http://bit.ly/2TA32f1

[theinvinciblenoob]

The Consumer Electronics Show, like Burning Man, is a massive event in the middle of the desert. Also like Burning Man it is populated by some of the greatest minds in technology. But, unlike Burning Man, these people are all dressed and only a few of them are on hard psychotropic drugs. Also CES is mostly inside.

Here are some tips and tricks I’ve collected over a long career spent staying in awful hotels and wandering around massive conference halls full of things that won’t be released for another year. Hopefully they can be of some use.

Why should you go?

CES is not about innovation. It is about networking with potential buyers. The show is massive and it is popular primarily because it is in Las Vegas, a city so nice they made the movie Casino about it. But the days of you and your brother being dragged out into the corn and beaten to death are gone and what’s left is an adult playground of 24 hour craps and bad drinks.

You are not going to CES to drink and gamble, however. As a startup you are going there to find customers or get press. If you have the hustle and the will you can easily meet hundreds of potential buyers for your technology including some big names who usually buy massive booths to show off their “innovative” systems. When you go bypass the armed booth guards who stand at the front directing traffic and go talk to the most bored person at the booth. This is usually some middle manager who was wrangled into telling people about his company’s most boring innovation. Talk to him or her like a human being, offer to take them out for a coffee, do whatever it takes to get a warm lead inside that massive company. Repeat this hundreds of times.

CES costs $300 and the tickets to LV and the hotel will cost far more. Be sure you’re not cash poor before you go. This isn’t a Hail Mary for your startup, it’s a step along the way.

If you don’t think you can pull off this sort of social engineering I describe then please don’t go to CES or instead send the most personable member of the team. It’s too big and there are already enough nervous nerds walking around.

You haven’t planned yet?

So you’ve decided to go. Do you have tickets? A hotel? At least an AirBnB? It’s pretty much too late right now to get any of those things in time for January 8th but you can try.

Further, if you have a friend who lives there go stay with them. The hotels gouge you during this week. Check out the Excalibur hotel, arguably one the worst on the strip. Right now, you can stay at this illustrious medieval-themed hotel for $25:

Need a smoke-smelling room abutting a flying buttress topped with an animatronic Merlin around January 9? Fear not, my liege!

The best time to book for CES is a year before CES. The second best time is never.

Maybe you’re going to buy a booth. I wouldn’t, but go ahead and give it a try. I like what my friend Tommy here did. Instead of going through one of the countless staffing agencies in Las Vegas he put out a general call for help and he got plenty of responses. Lots of people would be willing to go to Las Vegas to help out for not much cash.

Do everything in your power to stay as close to the Convention Center or Sands (the hall with all the startups) as possible. It is a living hell trying to get around Las Vegas and you’ll thank me later for every hour in a cab line you save for yourself.

Go to where the action is

If you are trying to get press for your product launch then you came to the wrong place. First, if you’re going to CES to launch then you MUST LAUNCH AT CES. I’ve seen too many idiotic startups who flew in, paid for everything, and then told the world they’d launch in like two months or whenever Sven back at the main office in Oslo was done putting the finishing touches on the device driver. If you’re not ready to ship then don’t go.

Do not spam journos about your product unless you know them. Your emails will fall into a black hole.

Further, instead of getting a booth at the show I recommend getting a booth at Showstoppers or Digital Experience. The events costs about $8,000 for a booth and are approximately the same. They are held before the main event and they’re where all the journalists go to get free prime rib and ignore you. It’s also where all of the small market journalists and the weird freelancers who wear fishing vests and live in Scranton wander around so be ready to do a little target acquisition.

Want my advice? Put one person at your booth who can tell your story in two minutes exactly. That person must tell that story as many times as possible and give the odd journalist who will stand there asking dumb questions for an hour the stiff arm whenever someone else comes up. Maximize your message dispersal. Also, if you have product then have about 20 pieces there ready to give away to Engadget, Gizmodo, the New York Times, The Verge, and the like. Don’t give anything to me if I see you. I don’t want that crap in my suitcase.

Now for the ingenious part. Find the most popular food item at the buffets and stand next to it. When a hungry journo comes up to grab a spaghetti taco or whatever you scope out their badge and offer to walk them over to your booth. They’ll harrumph a little but unless they are one of the countless millennial reporters who believe they have to liveblog these events they have nothing else to do that night except for get drunk on gin and tonics. Drag them over to your booth and give them the two-minute pitch. They’ll be so busy eating they won’t be able to ask questions. Write down their email address – don’t ask them for a card – and give them yours. Then email the heck out of them for the next few days to remind them about your launch.

Further, never rent a suite and invite journos to come to you. They have enough trouble getting out of bed let alone getting a cab to your dumb room. If a journo wants to meet you MUST go to them. Don’t make them come to you.

Manage expectations

Like Burning Man, CES is the worst show on the planet held in one of the most unforgiving habitats known to man. As long as you accept these two points you will be fine. You will not “win” CES. At best, CES will give you a kick in the pants in regard to your competition and actual value to the world. Want to know if you have customer fit? Go to CES and meet your customers. Want to see if journalists care about your idea? Pitch them when they are fat and sassy at CES and feeling powerful. That experience will humble even the biggest ego.

Remember: the world is a cold, uncaring place and this is doubly true at CES.

Be careful with PR people

See that animated GIF above? That’s how I manage my CES email. I scroll through the subject lines, look for people I know, and then select all unread and delete them. One of the worst things about CES is that the letters “CES” show up in multiple words and barring writing a regular expression it is very difficult to filter them out. 99% of your CES emails will go unread.

So should you hire a PR person? Yes and no. If you hire them to just send emails then you might as well burn your money. However, if that PR person can lead you around the show and introduce you to folks who can help you get your story out then it might be worth it. Sadly, there is no way to tell how incompetent a PR person is until you get on the ground with them. I know a few I can recommend. Email me. Otherwise be very careful.

Don’t go

Look, CES sucks. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s too big, everyone there is distracted by potential Blackjack winnings and trying to get noticed or launch at CES is akin to holding a poetry reading in the middle of a rock concert: nobody is paying attention and you actually may annoy more people than you reach. It’s your call whether or not you want to give it a try but be ready to hustle. Besides, there’s always next year.

Bonus Tip: Buy a humidifier

I learned this trick from Brian Lam, formerly of Gizmodo: when you land go to Walgreens and buy a very cheap humidifier. Put it in your room and leave it on all day. Las Vegas air is very dry and you’re almost guaranteed to get chapped lips and a cough if you don’t have at least one spot where it doesn’t feel like you’re on the surface of Mars.

This was us at CES 2008 or so. We were such sweet summer children.

via TechCrunch

[fmservers]

A startup’s guide to CES

The Consumer Electronics Show, like Burning Man, is a massive event in the middle of the desert. Also like Burning Man it is populated by some of the greatest minds in technology. But, unlike Burning Man, these people are all dressed and only a few of them are on hard psychotropic drugs. Also CES is mostly inside.

Here are some tips and tricks I’ve collected over a long career spent staying in awful hotels and wandering around massive conference halls full of things that won’t be released for another year. Hopefully they can be of some use.

Why should you go?

CES is not about innovation. It is about networking with potential buyers. The show is massive and it is popular primarily because it is in Las Vegas, a city so nice they made the movie Casino about it. But the days of you and your brother being dragged out into the corn and beaten to death are gone and what’s left is an adult playground of 24 hour craps and bad drinks.

You are not going to CES to drink and gamble, however. As a startup you are going there to find customers or get press. If you have the hustle and the will you can easily meet hundreds of potential buyers for your technology including some big names who usually buy massive booths to show off their “innovative” systems. When you go bypass the armed booth guards who stand at the front directing traffic and go talk to the most bored person at the booth. This is usually some middle manager who was wrangled into telling people about his company’s most boring innovation. Talk to him or her like a human being, offer to take them out for a coffee, do whatever it takes to get a warm lead inside that massive company. Repeat this hundreds of times.

CES costs $300 and the tickets to LV and the hotel will cost far more. Be sure you’re not cash poor before you go. This isn’t a Hail Mary for your startup, it’s a step along the way.

If you don’t think you can pull off this sort of social engineering I describe then please don’t go to CES or instead send the most personable member of the team. It’s too big and there are already enough nervous nerds walking around.

You haven’t planned yet?

So you’ve decided to go. Do you have tickets? A hotel? At least an AirBnB? It’s pretty much too late right now to get any of those things in time for January 8th but you can try.

Further, if you have a friend who lives there go stay with them. The hotels gouge you during this week. Check out the Excalibur hotel, arguably one the worst on the strip. Right now, you can stay at this illustrious medieval-themed hotel for $25:

Need a smoke-smelling room abutting a flying buttress topped with an animatronic Merlin around January 9? Fear not, my liege!

The best time to book for CES is a year before CES. The second best time is never.

Maybe you’re going to buy a booth. I wouldn’t, but go ahead and give it a try. I like what my friend Tommy here did. Instead of going through one of the countless staffing agencies in Las Vegas he put out a general call for help and he got plenty of responses. Lots of people would be willing to go to Las Vegas to help out for not much cash.

Do everything in your power to stay as close to the Convention Center or Sands (the hall with all the startups) as possible. It is a living hell trying to get around Las Vegas and you’ll thank me later for every hour in a cab line you save for yourself.

Go to where the action is

If you are trying to get press for your product launch then you came to the wrong place. First, if you’re going to CES to launch then you MUST LAUNCH AT CES. I’ve seen too many idiotic startups who flew in, paid for everything, and then told the world they’d launch in like two months or whenever Sven back at the main office in Oslo was done putting the finishing touches on the device driver. If you’re not ready to ship then don’t go.

Do not spam journos about your product unless you know them. Your emails will fall into a black hole.

Further, instead of getting a booth at the show I recommend getting a booth at Showstoppers or Digital Experience. The events costs about $8,000 for a booth and are approximately the same. They are held before the main event and they’re where all the journalists go to get free prime rib and ignore you. It’s also where all of the small market journalists and the weird freelancers who wear fishing vests and live in Scranton wander around so be ready to do a little target acquisition.

Want my advice? Put one person at your booth who can tell your story in two minutes exactly. That person must tell that story as many times as possible and give the odd journalist who will stand there asking dumb questions for an hour the stiff arm whenever someone else comes up. Maximize your message dispersal. Also, if you have product then have about 20 pieces there ready to give away to Engadget, Gizmodo, the New York Times, The Verge, and the like. Don’t give anything to me if I see you. I don’t want that crap in my suitcase.

Now for the ingenious part. Find the most popular food item at the buffets and stand next to it. When a hungry journo comes up to grab a spaghetti taco or whatever you scope out their badge and offer to walk them over to your booth. They’ll harrumph a little but unless they are one of the countless millennial reporters who believe they have to liveblog these events they have nothing else to do that night except for get drunk on gin and tonics. Drag them over to your booth and give them the two-minute pitch. They’ll be so busy eating they won’t be able to ask questions. Write down their email address – don’t ask them for a card – and give them yours. Then email the heck out of them for the next few days to remind them about your launch.

Further, never rent a suite and invite journos to come to you. They have enough trouble getting out of bed let alone getting a cab to your dumb room. If a journo wants to meet you MUST go to them. Don’t make them come to you.

Manage expectations

Like Burning Man, CES is the worst show on the planet held in one of the most unforgiving habitats known to man. As long as you accept these two points you will be fine. You will not “win” CES. At best, CES will give you a kick in the pants in regard to your competition and actual value to the world. Want to know if you have customer fit? Go to CES and meet your customers. Want to see if journalists care about your idea? Pitch them when they are fat and sassy at CES and feeling powerful. That experience will humble even the biggest ego.

Remember: the world is a cold, uncaring place and this is doubly true at CES.

Be careful with PR people

See that animated GIF above? That’s how I manage my CES email. I scroll through the subject lines, look for people I know, and then select all unread and delete them. One of the worst things about CES is that the letters “CES” show up in multiple words and barring writing a regular expression it is very difficult to filter them out. 99% of your CES emails will go unread.

So should you hire a PR person? Yes and no. If you hire them to just send emails then you might as well burn your money. However, if that PR person can lead you around the show and introduce you to folks who can help you get your story out then it might be worth it. Sadly, there is no way to tell how incompetent a PR person is until you get on the ground with them. I know a few I can recommend. Email me. Otherwise be very careful.

Don’t go

Look, CES sucks. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s too big, everyone there is distracted by potential Blackjack winnings and trying to get noticed or launch at CES is akin to holding a poetry reading in the middle of a rock concert: nobody is paying attention and you actually may annoy more people than you reach. It’s your call whether or not you want to give it a try but be ready to hustle. Besides, there’s always next year.

Bonus Tip: Buy a humidifier

I learned this trick from Brian Lam, formerly of Gizmodo: when you land go to Walgreens and buy a very cheap humidifier. Put it in your room and leave it on all day. Las Vegas air is very dry and you’re almost guaranteed to get chapped lips and a cough if you don’t have at least one spot where it doesn’t feel like you’re on the surface of Mars.

This was us at CES 2008 or so. We were such sweet summer children.

Via John Biggs https://techcrunch.com

[moriganstrongheart]

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars – Analysis

by Michael Dante DiMartino & Irene Koh 2017, Dark Horse Comics Paperback, 80 pages, $10.99 USD — each

Rating: ★★★★☆

Good: Faithful to animated series, Korrasami relationship ​Bad: Shallow, uninteresting conflict and villain

​[ ! ] Spoiler Warning

Preface — The Legend of Korra

I first read about The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars some time ago on Tumblr, and I was immediately interested in the exploration of a relationship between Korra and Asami. I was also excited that Michael Dante DiMartino (and the rest of the Avatar creative team) would have the chance to do justice by Korra, given the disappointing run The Legend of Korra had. I’ll begin by disclosing that I thought that The Legend of Korra animated series was good. It’s not Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it was good. Just as Korra had to live in the shadow of Aang’s achievements, so did The Legend of Korra have to live up to the success of The Last Airbender’s success. The Last Airbender was an anomaly that came out of nowhere to achieve widespread success. I doubt Nickelodeon even knew what they were getting into when they started producing the series. Their bread and butter shows were the likes of Spongebob Squarepants, Fairly OddParents and Jimmy Neutron—all of them silly comedy cartoons without much depth. The Last Airbender—by comparison—was an emotional roller coaster of action, comedy and excellent world building. The Last Airbender wasn’t really Nickelodeon’s style, and I strongly believe it only pulled through thanks to its runaway success and marketing potential. Children and adults alike had a new world to explore, and almost every member of the Aang Gang was a bright-eyed, innocent child with only a passing knowledge of the world, making them the perfect surrogates for the audience.

The Legend of Korra is different. Where the Aang Gang was mostly positive and outgoing, ready to take on the world, The Legend of Korra’s cast is basically made up of three Zuko’s and Bolin. They are teenagers—angry with the world and ready to fight against it. There’s no longer any wonder or whimsy; instead, the world is plagued by bad politics and social injustice, with the most interesting conflicts being social or emotional, not physical. It’s made clear from the start that Korra is an accomplished fighter who can handle just about anything, and the only time she actually struggles is when faced with social or emotional situations. The only exception may be the third season, which has some of the best martial arts in The Legend of Korra.

And because of these differences, The Legend of Korra had a difficult time catching off. Fueled by the success of The Last Airbender, many fans—including myself—were excited to see where Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino would bring us next. While I now think The Legend of Korra is good—and in some aspects, better than The Last Airbender—I must also admit I did not enjoy my first viewing of the series. I believe the weekly release format didn’t do the series justice, and It wasn’t until I watched it from beginning to end many years after its conclusion that I came to appreciate how good it actually was. Perhaps if The Legend of Korra has been released in the era of binge-worthy streaming television, things would have turned out differently. There are also some issues with animation quality, which varies wildly throughout the series. I can’t be sure, but it felt as though Nickelodeon just wasn’t as invested in The Legend of Korra as they were with The Last Airbender. I think the best proof we have of this is that the series finale didn’t even air on live television, but was streamed on the Nickelodeon website instead. They wanted nothing to do with it near its conclusion, or so it seemed.

It’s a shame because the series is so much better once you sit down to watch it all in one go. All four seasons are intertwined, weaving a story much more complex and personal than its predecessor. The Legend of Korra also carried many of the same qualities that made The Last Airbender so great: excellent world building; interesting, complex characters; and realistic emotional conflicts. I’ve seen a lot of people criticize The Legend of Korra’s writing, but I think that too many fans of the original series had the wrong expectation going into this new series. What people wanted was The Last Airbender 2.0—a continuation of the story they grew to love, with the same characters, only older. But The Legend of Korra is a new story—one about a group of teenagers at the forefront of change in a strange world of untapped power. It just so happens that it follows the events that occurred in The Last Airbender, and only references its predecessor insofar that it is relevant to the story. Flashbacks and callbacks never feel gratuitous or unwelcome.

I believe it’s important to detail how I feel about The Legend of Korra because I think it would be almost impossible to appreciate Turf Wars without having previously enjoyed The Legend of Korra and its characters. As Turf Wars takes place immediately after the closing of the animated series, it relies on the reader knowing these characters and being able to empathize with them without much effort from the writing. In some ways, I think this works; the characters act and speak like they do in the animated series, so I felt immediately immersed and attached to them. However, characters newly introduced in Turf Wars lack any character development, and the plot suffers as a result. Thankfully, there are some ways to appreciate the graphic novel while ignoring the primary conflict and characters introduced to support it.

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars • Part One

​As previously mentioned, I was first made aware of Turf Wars through Tumblr. I believe I was following Irene Koh or someone who followed her work, so I was aware of when and where the first chapter would come out. If I didn’t end up pre-ordering Turf Wars • Part One, I definitely did pre-order the next two chapters. I did so for a couple of reasons. First of all, I had just re-watched The Legend of Korra from beginning to end and thought a lot better of it. It felt coincidental that a graphic novel was being released at the same time I had re watched the entire series, so I was excited to see how they would conclude Korra’s story. Secondly, I was surprised to learn that Turf Wars would feature a homosexual relationship. ​Back when Turf Wars was announced, this was a big deal. I was interested to see how they would approach the subject, and I wanted to show my support for this kind of representation, especially as it was aimed at younger audiences. I confess that I was originally dubious regarding Asami and Korra’s relationship. At the series’ original end date, the reveal that both Asami and Korra were bisexual felt like the creative team wanted to be inclusive, without actually taking any real steps to being inclusive. It was as if to say: “Oh and yeah—by the way—they’re gay.” My thoughts have changed since then, thanks to my time spent re-watching The Legend of Korra in its entirety. The building blocks were there—their relationship was just more subtle than others we’ve seen in the Avatar universe thus far. I’ve even come to accept that Korra and Asami’s relationship is much more genuine than some of the other romantic relationships Korra had in the past.

Part One of Turf Wars does a good job of easing the reader back into the world of The Legend of Korra. The character writing is excellent, and I often find myself hearing the voices of the characters when reading their dialogue. For the most part, characters act and talk just as they did in the animated series. I also appreciate that the story essentially begins seconds following the end of the series, with Korra and Asami entering the spirit world together for their vacation. Korra and Asami’s vacation is the highlight of this volume, as is their visit to Korra’s parents and the ensuing conflict. It’s everything I wanted from the graphic novel when I first learned about it.

However, following these events is when the primary conflict is introduced. I felt nothing for the two antagonists—Wonyong Keum and Tokuga—as they are just knockoffs of past, much more interesting antagonists from both The Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender. Keum and Tokuga are shallow and underdeveloped, meant to drive the plot forward and nothing else.

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At this point in this analysis, I’m going to take some time to propose some changes to Turf Wars that I think would make its message come across more clearly, while keeping the spirit of the story DiMartino attempted to tell. If you’re not interested, I have delineated this section and others like it so you can skip it if you wish.

​It’s a shame because both Keum and Tokuga represent areas left unexplored in The Legend of Korra: capitalist industry and the inner city gangs of Republic City. When you sit down to think about it, it’s incredible how fast the world of Avatar has progressed in fifty or so odd years. At the beginning of The Legend of Korra—seventy years following Aang’s “resurrection”—Republic City is experiencing the height of an industrial revolution. Motorized cars, electricity, radios, combustion engines and concrete construction are all commonplace items in this new world, familiar to all who live there. And these things don’t come out of nowhere. As strong as bending is, it’s made apparent that even with benders, hard labour is required to build and maintain this new lifestyle. There are also a few different companies that enjoy a position of privilege in Republic City; Future Industries, Varrick Global Industries and Cabbage Corp are just some of the ones we know of. This creates a divide between the capitalist elite and working class citizens.

Instead of a single CEO claiming the land around the Spirit Portal as his own, I think it would have served the story better if all industry leaders were looking to reclaim the Spirit Wilds for themselves. Really, I doubt that Keum was the only industry leader to incur heavy losses following the opening of the Spirit Portal. Since DiMartino was already portraying President Raiko as an incompetent figurehead only interested in keeping his position of power, why not have him work with the capitalist elite to take back the Spirit Wilds, all in the name of economic prosperity? The capitalist elite could also have lobbied to drive out the poor and the destitute from the Spirit Wilds, as they would want these lands for industrial development, not housing. With the capitalist elite pulling political strings from the shadows, there would be no need for Keum, who is underdeveloped and one-dimensional anyways. Raiko would have a much larger and more realistic role to play, as he would be the mouthpiece the capitalist elite, while seemingly advocating for the good of the city. Instead of an incompetent politician, he would seems crafty, multi-faceted and more of a foil to Korra than he has ever been.

Without a greedy, manipulative CEO to argue with, the conflict becomes much more complex and interesting once Korra gets involved. She can’t just shout and make a scene; there’s no enemy, just a general sense of injustice as those in power use their money to influence politics. She could still argue with Raiko, but he could make her feel guilty by shifting the blame to her for opening the Spirit Portal in the first place. It then becomes less clear what Korra can do to help the people of Republic City. Does she start fighting against industry leaders, which includes her new girlfriend Asami? Or does she attack Raiko, once again driving a wedge between herself and the politicians of Republic City? She would know she can’t side with the capitalist elite, even though the people seem to be on Raiko’s side.

Shifting the focus in this way could have also helped to solidify Tokuga’s role in the narrative. Just like Keum, Tokuga represents a side of Republic City that hasn’t been really explored. Rapid progress in Republic City inevitably produced a significant criminal element; as the privileged secure their place in the world, many are left behind to pick up the scraps. Inequality is briefly explored in the first season of The Legend of Korra, though the focus is on power inequality, not wealth inequality. It seems reasonable to me though, that this feeling of inequality would make a comeback following Kuvira’s attack on Republic City. Many people are without homes and quite a few people would have acquired bending thanks to spirits coming back to the world. Street gangs full of benders were mentioned in passing in The Legend of Korra, but acted as little more than backdrops for Mako and Bolin’s childhoods. Tokuga was a chance to expand on these themes, to make him a voice for the poor and destitute. There’s some attempts at making him interesting, but he ends up being shallow and one-dimensional—just like Keum.

Tokuga could still be the leader of the triads, but I would have liked for him to be older and more established in the world. His introduction doesn’t make much sense, and it never felt like he earned his position. The other big change could be that Tokuga and the Triple Threats are at first working for the capitalist elite, but then are betrayed—cast aside like trash because he and his gang are seen as disposable. This betrayal could happen at the Spirit Portal—just as it happens in the graphic novel currently—but instead of Tokuga going after Keum, he could rally other the gangs, the poor and the destitute under him with his newfound dark spirit powers.

So, with Tokuga focused on taking the city for himself and the capitalist elite of Republic City trying to reclaim the Spirit Wilds, Korra sits at a crossroads at the end of Part One. She must simultaneously deal with a faceless enemy at one end of the spectrum, and a growing triad threat at the other. She can fight the triads, but that leaves things open for the capitalist elite to lobby for the Spirit Wilds, or she can fight the elite, which aligns with the interests of the triads.To me, this is immediately much more interesting and complex, and rings much more true to the world building. It also embodies the spirit of what I think Turf Wars was trying to say.

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In their current incarnations, Keum and Tokuga just don’t do enough to justify the plot in Part One of Turf Wars. Their motivations are as shallow and undeveloped as their characters. The only thing that saves Part One for me is the beginning of Asami and Korra’s relationship and the interactions between the characters I’ve come to love from The Legend of Korra. Most of the issues in this first chapter will carry on to the next two parts. Thankfully though, so will the excellent character writing for Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin.

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars • Part Two

Turf Wars • Part Two has many of the same merits as the first chapter. Characters continue to be faithful to the animated series, as they act and speak much like they did in The Legend of Korra. And while Part Two suffers from many of the same problems as Part One, it is much more interesting overall as it does not have as many scenes involving Tokuga, Keum or Raiko, choosing to focus on a police drama starring Mako and Bolin, and Zhu Li’s political ambitions. We also get some more development of Korra and Asami’s relationship, providing some moments of tension and some moments of wholesome interaction between the two.

​I truly feel that their relationship is the highlight of Turf Wars, in spite of the the sad state the main conflict is in through all three chapters. Although, Part Two may be the best chapter of all three since the main conflict takes a backseat, only showing itself near the halfway point and the end of the chapter. This proves to me that the main conflict just doesn’t work; if you can skip right past the main plot and still enjoy the story, there’s a problem.

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The following is a continuation of my speculative edits. Skip past this section if uninterested in my thoughts on how the story could be improved.

I actually feel the scene near the halfway point—with the triad members gambling and discussing Tokuga—demonstrates how shallow and boring Tokuga’s character is. As the members of the triad talk amongst each other, I felt immersed in the world and the concerns these gang members had. However, once the triad members begin talking about how “mysterious” and “enigmatic” Tokuga is, all tension is lost as DiMartino pretty much admits to the reader that Tokuga makes no sense, and shouldn’t even be in charge to begin with. Tokuga makes a surprise appearance, demonstrating how violent and ruthless he is, in addition to his mysterious nature. This is such a loss of potential. Turf Wars had the chance to really make its readers think, not only about same-sex relationships, women in power or politics, but about how society is structured to enforce wealth inequality. But instead, we got a shallow, one-dimensional villain bent on taking over Republic City, but with no other motivations or goals.

Tokuga is a little bit of an anomaly when compared to the other villains from the Avatar universe. Most of them had a crazy world domination agenda, but they had depth below their villainous facade. The only exceptions I can think of were the members of the Red Lotus, who were extensions of Zaheer’s will more than ends onto themselves. Tokuga is the most shallow villain that I’ve seen from the series so far; his design is also unappealing, especially once he is infected with the dark spirit. His dialogue exchanges with Korra always feel forced and nonsensical, as if DiMartino is alluding to a deeper and more complex relationship than what has been developed so far. In reality, they have only seen each other a couple of times, and only in combat. I have a hard time believing she would feel so much empathy for someone under those circumstances.

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While Part One attempted to set up a few different story threads, Part Two is obviously meant to be transitory chapter—a standard second act meant to build the tension for the climax and third act. It does a pretty good job at this, following the action through Bolin and Mako in the form of a police drama. This format also means we spend less time with Tokuga or Keum, since we’re supposed to be kept in the dark until his plan is revealed at the end of the chapter. While the reveal is underwhelming, less time with Tokuga is refreshing, even if the lack of a worthwhile plot was disappointing overall. Bolin and Mako’s buddy cop story, the Airbenders, Zhu Li’s political interests and—of course—Korra and Asami’s relationship were strong enough for me to ignore anything involving Tokuga or Raiko.

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars • Part Three

Turf Wars • Part Three is what ended up determining how I perceived Turf Wars as whole. Throughout the graphic novel, I was never engaged with the primary conflict, but I was willing to continue reading until the end thanks to some of the strengths I’ve already mentioned, including the portrayal of Korra and Asami’s relationship in the first chapter, and Mako and Bolin’s police drama in the second. It wasn’t until I finished the third chapter that everything clicked into place for me: Turf Wars really did waste the opportunity to say something about wealth inequality in favour of having a villain whose only goal was to destroy everything. Tokuga’s plan is ridiculous, and not in a good way.

​Kuvira built a giant metal robot to attack Republic City. That sounds absolutely ridiculous. However, we spent an entire season with her beforehand, seeing how methodical, logical and cold she is. She is not some token villain, come to destroy the city like a Power Rangers kaiju. She performed the most intimidating power move she could conceive of, using technology she herself helped to create. She did what she thought was necessary, to an extreme only she thought she could manage. She was afraid of the Avatar, and only did what she’s done all her life: climb to the top, letting nothing stand in her way. When viewed in that context, her actions make complete sense.

​But Tokuga’s plan is just ridiculous. What would poisoning the entire city using an airship really do? And how quickly could he really do this before he was shot down? The Airbenders effortlessly control what poison does come down within moments. And most importantly: how could he realistically rule over Republic City as an iron-fisted dictator? All he has on his side is a small street gang. It could be argued that his dark spirit infestation had affected his judgement, but that would just be lazy writing. What’s worse is that Tokuga’s plan is just a crappier version of Amon’s from the first season of The Legend of Korra. Amon’s Equalists use air superiority and anti-bending weapons to take over the city, more or less in the same way that Tokuga uses Republic City Police weapons and airships. But while Amon had the backing of hundreds of specialized followers and the support of the people, Tokuga barely has his own street gang under control. It makes no sense, and we’re not even given any closure once Tokuga is defeated at the end; he simply disappears mysteriously into the spirit world.

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The following is the conclusion to my speculative changes to the story. Skip past this section if you’re not interested in reading my thoughts on this.

It’s such a waste of potential. Instead of having Tokuga attempt a rag-tag coup of Republic City using poison balloon ships, what if he had been gathering the underbelly of Republic City under his rule? Instead of fighting the Creeping Crystals gang, he could have covertly recruited them and other criminal elements under his umbrella with the promise of taking back the city from the capitalist elite. With the help of the tanks, mechs and the majority of the criminal element of Republic City, Tokuga could attacked every major industrial factory in Republic City, with the hopes of crippling the capitalist elite and claiming the city for themselves. They would also have the support of the poor, the destitute and the refugees Raiko had been ignoring. Tokuga could still have kidnapped Asami to help with improving or repairing the Republic City armaments; that would give more weight to Korra’s involvement, and her own internal conflict about what to do in this situation. She wants to help Asami and stop the attacks, but the capitalist elite had been purposefully undermining the poor and destitute, while funding Raiko’s inept presidency. Of course, she would eventually need to stop Tokuga, but her choices would have much more impact.

And Zhu Li could then use the events to her advantage, showing how corruption and wealth inequality had lead to these events unfolding, not Korra’s opening of the Spirit Portal. Her speech at the end would make much more sense, and be more appropriate to the events that occurred. As it is, her speech is nice and delivers a decent message, but doesn’t really fit the context of what happened. Republic City was not divided. The events that occur in Turf Wars are the result of the choices of three people: Tokuga, Keum and Raiko. Tokuga is a comic book villain, Keum is—for some reason—redeemed and Raiko is an idiot. There is no lesson to learn here, beyond some people are idiots and you just gotta deal with it. I feel like a broken record, but it’s such a waste of potential, especially considering how rich and detailed the world building is in The Legend of Korra. The series managed to take the building blocks introduced in The Last Airbender, and develop a world rich in history and steeped in progress. Turf Wars seems to have forgotten this, delivering a shallow comic book story unbefitting of the Avatar universe.

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But if you can brush past the main conflict, Part Three of Turf Wars has the same merits as previous chapters. Characters act and sound just as they did in the animated series, and Asami and Korra’s relationship remains the highlight of the whole thing. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get another kiss, but I understand why their declaration of love took centre stage considering the target audience. This was not—after all—a romance novel for adults, but an adventure story aimed at children and pre-teens. The way in which Korra and Asami display affection to each other is appropriate for that age group, though one could argue that teenagers are more prone to climbing on each other whenever they’re given the chance. But it was wholesome, and it made sense based on how their relationship had built up over the previous two chapters. I’m truly happy that DiMartino managed to capture the characters as they were from the animated series, and kept them multi-dimensional and believable. I just wish he could have done the same for Tokuga, Keum and Raiko.

Conclusion

Two aspects of Turf Wars I haven’t discussed yet are the art and the panel compositions. I wanted to wait until the end to tackle these two, as there isn’t much variation in the quality of the art between each chapter. Irene Koh is the artist through all three chapters, with layout assistance from Paul Reinwand. For the panel compositions, I felt it was pretty consistent through and through, never distracting from the art or dialogue, but dynamic enough to make action scenes and tense emotional moments exciting to read. It was never too fancy or cinematic, which I always enjoy. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about the art. Colouring and line work is generally good; it’s a bit sketchy, adding a bit of personality to differentiate it from the animated series. However, lighting is generally flat and uninteresting, and character designs were inconsistent. While characters mostly follow the proportions and designs established by The Legend of Korra, Koh goes sometimes goes off-model, breaking my immersion in the process. Characters also tended to look flat when this happened, as if they had been squished into the panel. I do feel bad pointing out these flaws, as Koh is credited as the only artist, and most likely did sketches, lines and colouring all on her own. Normally, each step in the process in projects like these is handled by different people, and Koh tackled all three on her own. I think Koh did an amazing job with what she was given, though there’s always room for improvement.

DiMartino most likely ran into similar problems, as he is credited as the only writer for Turf Wars. However, he had the experience from working on both The Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender, so I’m not as eager to excuse his mistakes. Though, his experience does explain why the writing for existing characters is so good, even if anything involving new characters is passable at best. Both he and Koh would have benefitted from working with a team of artists and writers, rather than going at it alone.

Turf Wars—at its core—doesn’t seem to know what to make of itself. On the one hand, I can’t help but feel like it was meant to be a continuation of The Legend of Korra, but also a way to portray a positive homosexual relationship in media. As of me writing this analysis, Korra and Asami are one of the three same-sex “power couples” of western animation, along with Ruby and Sapphire from Steven Universe, and Marceline and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. There are certainly other depictions of same-sex relationships in animation, but these have stood out to me as examples of how to do it right. As mentioned, I was initially skeptical that Korra and Asami’s relationship would make sense. However, DiMartino put a lot of time in developing their relationship in Turf Wars, and my own retrospective into the series helped me realize how fitting their pairing is.

And yet, the graphic novel is not called “Korrasami”. It’s called Turf Wars. This implies that DiMartino set out tell Tokuga’s story from the beginning, with politics and social issues being an important focus. Tokuga’s plan for domination, Keum’s greed and Raiko’s ineptitude are the weakest parts of Turf Wars. Zhu Li’s rise to presidency was interesting, though it felt underwhelming in context; she is obviously the better choice when compared to Raiko’s narcissistic incompetence. Mako and Bolin’s cop shenanigans made the second chapter bearable; I miss their relationship, as it was one of the highlights of The Legend of Korra. It often felt as if DiMartino was speeding us through anything to do with Tokuga, Keum or Raiko, putting focus instead on character interactions between established characters. I’m not necessarily complaining; the characters were the best part of The Legend of Korra, and continue to be the best part of Turf Wars. But, as a result, Turf Wars feels unfocused, untethered to any message or theme. It’s a series of moments in time, strung together by action set pieces and plot threads, whose ending would be completely underwhelming but for the declaration of love between Korra and Asami.

Turf Wars is worth a read if you enjoyed The Legend of Korra’s characters, and want to see them interacting together once more. It’s also worth it if your interest—like mine—was piqued by the announcement that Korra and Asami would be pursuing a relationship following the ending of The Legend of Korra. Sadly, the primary conflict and newly introduced characters in Turf Wars are disappointingly shallow and uninteresting. There’s a lot of wasted potential, and I feel that DiMartino would have benefitted from some help with the writing. But, Turf Wars makes up for it with the impact it has had on young LGBTQ+ individuals; I have seen how much Korrasami means to people, and I hope that we get more of this kind of representation in the future.

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[donettegregg7-blog]

The Helen Keller Guide To Contentment

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Magic Kid And Other Stories By Pinckney Benedict-- Customer reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists.

If we're being honest, the street to developing and afterwards holding a kid is certainly not consistently a smooth one. He discovered this capacity when he was thirteen, an adjoining young boy of the exact same age had ingested a fishbone and also he came to be quite ill, neck inflamed, contaminated, incapable to eat, after two weeks his ailment was getting really serious and one more neighbour delivered Rogerilio to the boy and inquired him to heal him. If you beloved this write-up and you would like to get more info pertaining to mountains in wales to walk (jestemzdrowyidobrze.info) kindly pay a visit to the webpage. Throughout the regions where it expands that possesses becomes a symbolic representation of health, revival, recuperation and also durability, as well as present day research has actually presented that there is actually over only a surface from reality to these myths encompassing this truly wonderful plant. If this's the best product for you at this opportunity, review our Buyer Review from the Fibroid Wonder and also view. Once our team enter, it's 'can our team enjoy a film?' They've presently seen Noah's preferred motion picture Automobiles numerous opportunities". Recognizing when need to I attempt to conceive a young boy and the time from ovulation as well as intercourse is actually perhaps the most vital variable that may determine whether you develop a boy or even gal. Israel's crowd observed Giant and also assumed, he is thus significant, tall, strong and also massive, he is going to pulverize us to deathMeanwhile, there was actually a young boy who tendered his daddy's group from sheep as a shepherd. She understands ways to removal very easily though the time periods from disharmony and condition by assuming a miracle. Every story pressed me further into particular territories that demanded me to listen, learn, and grow as I continued to go through. This was a miracle that the man existed, he saw the kids, that the watercraft existed and undid, and the rope remained in the boat. If you are actually commemorating a kid at that point there are actually some things that deserve pointing out as well as if you are actually hailing the female, there are others that come to your interest. Maybe our experts must appear past the Yard of Eden to view just what came down the roadway after the magic of Adam as well as Eve. It also ensures that the story is thoroughly told along with the intended spiritual information. Wonder making is actually new to most of my visitors, because, usually, they have been actually instructed that wonders are actually few and far between and that only a select few reach experience the electrical power of magics Some are actually also under the opinion that these choose few take in such miracles away from the self. This was a little shocking to observe the typically therefore high-spirited young boy experience so low when I saw my son sitting grimly in his room. I tell you this since my grease monkey forcefully provided me Pinckney Benedict's Magic Young boy and also Various other Stories after a routine oil modification. Just recently I read an account written through a preacher in the United States regarding his knowledges in a congregation in a Developing nation. I assisted Johan perform this; Rogerilio was actually incidentally standing at the various other side of the space and also might not find any of the created titles. For the label, you may maintain Marva, which was likewise one of the best names for ladies. Once we know that the terrific I am actually lives in all physical bodies, we could see that this by itself is actually the best miracle. The nonfiction is at times as hard-edged and craggy as the West Virginia mountain ranges, wh Pinckney Benedict's Wonder Young boy and also other Stories is actually a collection that is actually challenging to summarize due to its own particular and stylistic wide array. Many people have turned to this diet to burn fat and also to improve their overall level from health and wellness The pH wonder diet regimen is incredibly effective at eliminating extra body weight. Miracle Child" specifies the tone for the stories that observe, incorporating curiosity while allowing themes like atonement and guilt to highly irritate a visitor's sense from insane humankind. You'll hear this happening typically in many 'productive' individuals's tales - make a ton of money to drop it all. The Newark Advertiser discloses a resort personnel provided the boy CPR for TWENTY mins prior to he had a rhythm. Many of these tales have the tendency to be actually bented on ranches with individuals whose names are four syllables long and also taken from old masters as well as peasants that might exemplify Pinckney's very own familial label, yet certainly there seems to be no very clear directing styles that openly link these stories apart from the author who is actually creating all of them. This has pair of X chromosomes to create a baby woman and also an X and Y chromosome to conceive a baby child. The professional Leader Clifford Keech, steered his boat to ensure that the staff could possibly get the young boy on the starboard edge. There are actually a terrific lots of tales on the market that tell of such difficult feats and knowledges. Most individuals today give in the type of either money or donations from non-perishable meals products for the nearby food items bank, however that had not been always therefore. Several of you could have heard stories regarding just how in past years priests were paid out such as livestock, reward or even veggies. Typically in these accounts there are animals current, and also commonly these animals alternative to humans who aren't worthy of their bipedal skin layers. Concurrently, the 17 year old girl was tweezed 6m (20ft) coming from the actual side of the Falls and also her seven years of age sibling, using merely a life jacket as well as a swimsuit, examined the Canadian Horseshoe Tumbles He visited conscious tell his story. A few times later I received two emails about a youthful child in Hudson Wisconsin identified along with a human brain tumor as well as were finding my advice. The miracle" needed for the canonization worries the situation of little bit of Lucas Batista, who tale has to time been shrouded in secrecy. At some factor the futuristic family members that the child finds themself along with applauds his breakdown at fixing an innovation. Know that we know this we can easily start to generate a much better environment and also process to determine the choosing simple facts to whether you conceive a woman or develop a young boy. Over the weekend break our team obtained the Rosary from the Kings and our experts brought this over to Give, the nine year old child with Pontine Glinoma, a quite deadly lump. She told me that she had acquired her miracle as well as in prayer she was actually said to some one else required it much more now and wished to give the rosary back. Other misconceptions instruct girls to alter their diet plans before developing a youngster since there is an idea that certain foods will definitely improve the odds of a kid. For more name ideas, look at our baby name search that enables you to look for names by meaning as well as source. Third as well as last, this wonder is actually conducted in the visibility from five many thousand males, not counting females and also youngsters.