How to describe yourself in a dating site

/r/dating: vent, discuss, learn!

2008.03.03 00:48 /r/dating: vent, discuss, learn!

A subreddit to discuss and explore the dating process and learn from the experiences of others
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2011.03.18 22:47 noonches Dating for the Dating Impaired

Dating for the dating impaired. 18+ only. Positive comment karma required. Put your location in your title. Post flair is required and needs to be correct. No surveys or forms allowed. Don't be an ass and don't post a pic of yours.
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2008.09.23 13:27 /r/hair

Welcome to the /hair community! This community is all about hair and beauty.
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2024.06.09 12:00 AutoModerator Weekly Reminder: Rules and FAQ - June 09, 2024 (Now with updates!)

Below you will find a weekly reminder of our Rules and partial FAQ. It's definitely a long read, but it's worth your time, especially if you are new to the community, or dropping by as a result of a link you found elsewhere. We periodically revise our rules, this weekly notice will help keep you informed of any changes made.
NOTE: These rules are guidelines. Some moderation discretion is to be expected.

Community Rules

1. Kindness Matters

Advise, don't criticize.

2. No Drama

This is a support sub.

3. Report, Don’t Rant

No backseat modding.

4. No Naming & Shaming

No userpings or links.

5. No Platitudes

Nobody knew what they were getting into.

6. No Trolling

We have zero tolerance for trolls.

7. No Personally Identifiable Information

Use discretion when posting.

8. No More than 2 Posts per 24 hours

Use the daily threads.

9. Follow Reddiquette

Remember the human.

10. No Porn, Spam, Blogs, or Research Studies/Surveys Without Mod Approval

Just don't.

11. Disputes in Modmail Only

Don't argue with the mods on the sub.

12. Moderator Actions

We aren't kidding.

13. Ban Procedure

These actions are at moderator discretion.


FAQ - About the Rules

What does Kindness Matters mean?

What about being kind to the kids?

Why is this sub such an echo chamber?

Why can't I tell OP that they are an asshole?

But OP asked if they were an asshole?!

What is a gendered slur?

Seriously? You are the language police now?

What does No Drama really mean?

What is thread derailment?

But what if they didn't answer my question?

Why am I being silenced? I'm just asking for a back and forth!

Why can't I look at someone's post history and comment about it?

Why can't we crosspost stuff to other subs?

What if it's my own post?

What is "brigading"?

What is this whole Report, Don't Rant thing about?

What if I see an obvious troll?

What if they are being really mean in comments?

What if they are harassing me in private messages?

What do you mean by No Naming & Shaming?

I can't link to other subs?

I can't ping other users?

What does No Platitudes mean?

Why don't you people understand it's a package deal?

Why can't you just love them like they are your own?

What do you mean by No Trolling? I was just...

What does "concern trolling", "gish-galloping", and "sealioning" have to do with stepparenting? This isn't a debate sub, why are you using debate terms?

What is "Concern Trolling?"

What is a "Devil's Advocate"?

"Gish-galloping?" What does that even mean?

And "sealioning?" What's that?

Who gets to define what is considered asshattery?



FAQ - Sub Questions

Posting Guidelines for Stepparents

Posting Guidelines for Bioparents

Guidelines for Stepkids

What the heck are all these acronyms? I'm confused!

Why aren't my posts or comments showing up?

Why was my comment removed?

This comment/post is really offensive! Why is it still up?

I've received a hurtful/unwanted PM from someone about my recent post. What should I do?

What are the general moderator guidelines?

I've been wrongly banned/Why can't I comment here?

Why was I banned without warning?

submitted by AutoModerator to stepparents [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 09:30 -CORSO-1 1x Godot Super Wizard (Revshare) Flashy & pretty remake, 90's Top Down, super/hypercar racer with bizarre twist.

(OPEN & LOOKING)

Hello!
LONG POST! Image heavy (and shitty loading times). 5 Pages! Apologies for the length, trying to pre-empt your questions and show fixed scope.

Request:

One person with excellent, higher-order programming skills in Godot GDScript who could pair with my graphics and programming abilities for a highly popular 1990's game title, top down racer remake.

Game Synopsis:

Single player, Super Cars Clone but more realistic + crazy + more detailed and prettier graphics. With 1990’s styling and Roguelite-ish collect & combat precepts throughout.
Image set

Citing the Original Game:

Explanation video of Super Cars 2, 1990’s charm: Descriptive Video
Just flick through these next two videos, no need to watch to completion. This is to show you how dated they are.
Long Play video of original Game: Amiga Super Cars 2:
Earlier Super Cars 1: Long Play Video

Proof of Concept Test Video:

Here is a proof of concept video with artwork (no props except for road elevation).
Concept Video

Proof of Concept, Playable Game:

You can download and play it here. Do note: Road elevation changes marked by Red and Green rectangles on track, in case you’re confused about varying accelerations. AI is hypershit.
Playable Game Link
Some of the old video’s on there show the lo-res flippers, water cannons, pits, pins, rough roads, trains, etc, in working order.

Synopsis of Theme:

You are an up and coming racecar driver. It is the 1990's when flamboyant super cars, daring films(James Bond esq) and thrilling car races are all the buzz. Catching this excitement, a movie studio has noticed your driving talent. During a racing season, you'll be given access to 'unique' races at movie locations. Ie: "Blues Brothers Mall scene", or driving through a mine site with giant excavators and blasting of rock walls for that all important movie-shot. Or, many other weird and unusual prop-heavy locations, like a slime factory, or an industrial petrochemical plant complete with fiery explosions and other such spectacular events. To achieve access to these, you need to prove your worth on the daily race track. Many are non-ordinary tracks. They'll have things like giant water canons to push you around, wobbling roads, uneven rocky tracks, dips, jumps, giant pinball flippers, oil firing canons, trains and other devices all while in furious and intense competition with other NPC drivers.
Be forewarned, the video’s below show a distinct lack of polish. Ie: skidding-black level on packed dirt, no inertia correction in skid, no proper power to gear ratio etc, etc.
Mine Site and Prop Test Free Drive:
This one would be more or less representative of a special type track (due to location).
Katawarra mine
Plugin Functionality test:
Plug-In, Multi-Prop-Installations (shopping centre test), farmland, pushroads and cutaway view of mountains.
Plug In Building Test
And have another jungle track for good measure.
Jungle scene free-drive

Overview of Game ‘Chunks’:

Some Cars
Ok. in absolute brief: You start at ‘D’ category, have access to those cars and parts at that level. Above, cars on the left are ‘D’, then the next two are ‘C’, then next two are ‘B’, ‘A’, and the last two are ‘Ultra Class’ category. Each Category is an entire season of 10 tracks each. Including special event tracks.
On the roads, there are props, you plough into them for rewards, and special things called ‘chits’. Props are fences, oil drums, wood piles and anything that looks like it needs a good smashing.
Ultimately, Chits are used in a mini game (like Wheel of Fortune), to earn higher grade parts, cash prizes and even a better car than your current season’s level cap.
There’s a parts shop, a car shop, a Tv studio(for the WoF bit) and your assembly garage.
When you complete a season, if you make it into the top 3 racers at the end, you can upgrade to the next season D -> C. That means better and faster cars, higher grade engine parts, more challenging drivers, more tracks and bigger prizes on the Wheel of Fortune spin mini game. And you keep going until you reach Ultra class, where you’re driving monstrous hypercars against the best to win the entire full season.
It is meant to be a difficult game, just like the original. Practice makes Perfect.

Market Expectations:

Do note: Top down racers are NOT big money earners, so don't expect a huge audience. We would probably be lucky to fit just Below 'Make Way' at position 15.
Steam stats

What Happened and why am I doing this:

Me: Senior IT Manager. (BMech Eng.). + Hobby Artist (Pretty OK & particularly fast) + VB6 Coder (Strong skills). Was working on a BIG VB6 program for enjoyment. (https://nelfid.com/)
(https://www.reddit.com/roguelikedev/comments/1aeaoo8/2024_in_roguelikedev_monstergirl_resonance_call/ )
Had to stop. Looked at Godot for continuation, seriously impressed, started learning it, WOW. Decided to build a racer for shits and giggles and to learn from it. Ok, fun, easy, cool, and then decided to upgrade it with pretty graphics and decent gameplay. Game testers went nuts, I went nuts. Too much fun.
But, I’m long suffering from a sleep disorder. So re-re-re-learning Godot between medical hiatuses isn’t fun. However I can churn out art and Godot prop code no matter my condition.
I’m still a beginner at Godot, an advanced coder in VB6, I can prototype well. HOWEVER, I’m better at smashing out tracks worth of art, cars portraits, cars sprites, car cutaways and Godot track and props setup.
What I am NOT good at is the higher order setup of minimising repeat code and proper setout of node hierarchies (I haven’t learned it yet). I’m tired of bashing my head against, all the old vector math, engine math, gearing data and power curves. (I graduated that stuff at University too many years ago.)
I’m looking for someone who likes THAT, car-frictiony-enginey-handling-math. Someone who likes building car-part-shop-garage-drag-drop-thingy-interfaces. Someone who enjoys a good thrash and smash car game with a penchant for comedy and silliness. Someone who’ll also help with all the OTHER things needed to put a game on Steam and random marketing functions. Someone who knows how to handle multi-packed scenes and not build shit code.
As needed, I’ll be covering ALL the art, all the interface art, you-name-it, you just make it work. I’ll also be building and drawing all the tracks. Ideas and creation for silliness, wackiness, interesting tracks, cool props, etc, will be a duo effort for building them. If you have art skills too, great, join in.
Do note: I’m aiming at hand-drawing 50 tracks in grand total, their props and variants. This is an astronomical amount of work. I WILL get burnout, and the contingency is to ask the audience for fun and silly ideas too. This way, the track-select-bucket can be filled over time. Even after Steam’s Early Access commences. Seriously, you’ve got to go above and beyond to stand out nowadays.
Have SQLite skills? Good, because we will be using it.

Build Time:

Speculatively guessing for build time. Minimum time 3 months. Maximum time 6 months to complete.

Goal Post 1:

Schedule I'd like to do: Prep the game with a first stage demo. As per above, but with say 3 tracks, and 3 different user cars and proper NPC AI. Chuck that on Steam as a first port of call. This shouldn't take long as the shop/parts/Tv studio are not relevant here. Just racing and a simplistic track select menu. Car types can be basic hard coded engines and handling here (ie: no part swapping yet).

Goal Post 2:

Second stage demo: and with it, Early Access. Entire Season 1 Tracks ready. All stuff is here, shops, parts, Tv studio. Category 'D' racing is fully open here. The user can run through the whole 1'st stage, 10 tracks (with celebrity tracks included). However, more difficult grades C, B, A and Ultra cars, parts and other tracks are not available. This is so the users can get a 100% feeling for the game, and if they want to go to the next level (more difficult, more tracks, more parts, more cars, more excitement) they'll have the incentive to purchase the full game. Early access means we'll start dumping down new tracks and celebrity tracks as they get made so EA's can get them in the random bucket as we go along.

Goal Post 3:

Real Launch: Everything done, but tracks might not be fully complete yet (at least 50% done). Track selection is done from a diminishing pool randomly selected per each season. If short, it will select from the bucket again. At this stage the entire game should be coded in full, with the exception of new props for upcoming tracks. Which you'll be helping out with.

Marketing:

Marketing is informal at the moment, and happy to share ideas and discuss approaches accordingly. Currently I've been collecting relevant forum/group websites for those who love or may love this stuff.

Sound:

Music and sound effects assets will be from sites like Zapsplat and other affiliate style sites. (So we'll need to program in a car CD Player or Tape Deck, lol) If worthwhile to translate for other languages, we can do that as it's not a text heavy game.

Revshare:

Rev share will be pinned at 50/50 unless there is some other extenuating circumstances. Official company setup and final legals will occur immediately prior to Early Access -> pending interest level by users.
You won't be 'just' coding. Wherever we can both cover each other's backs to smash things out as fast as possible, you'll need to be flexible. Game's are not just coding and artwork.
I expect you to be proactive because I’ll have my hands full with art and technical props.
Let’s do our best to get it over the line.

Response:

I won’t be responding to Discord currently. My account seems to have been inactive-erased, I haven't ‘dug’ in my records for it, that’s a ‘later’ thing. DO NOT DM me, myself and others want to see and verify who you are first, exclusively write below.

Timezone:

East-coast Australia timezone, happy for any talent, anywhere. English language only.

About you:

If you are interested and have some seriously strong Godot skills, please introduce yourself, what you've done, programming background, any training or other videos you've made (please link them). Can you program caengine physics and road AI exceptionally well already? How do you avoid spaghetti code? How long have you been tackling Godot? Do you know shaders? What are your daily hours/location? What can you do for your 50/50 rev-share of this project?
Corso
Have some AI Generated art for theme and ideas fishing. Note: I won’t be using AI art anywhere, this is only for sticking into the ideas-box and to give you a feel for what the game is about.
Coverart Ideas
Lastly, if you’re good and we work well together, I’m happy to discuss any future projects that require similar arrangements. There is a mountain of short-term, popular 90’s and similar games begging for modernisation and graphical updates.
submitted by -CORSO-1 to INAT [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 08:59 TheWorstThingy [MS] Prosopagnosia v. Cotard's Syndrome

Content Warning: This story contains themes of mental health issues, suicide and physical violence.
Prosopagnosia v. Cotard's Syndrome
My new doctor - a bright and friendly guy named Sarbjit - took the time to explain his diagnosis to me. He told me my condition was mental, not physical, but it was hard to pay attention to everything he said because my left arm was numb and rotting from the inside out. I smiled and nodded and then when I got home I looked up Cotard’s Syndrome online. Here is what Wikipedia had to say on it.
“Cotard's syndrome, also known as ‘Cotard's delusion’ or ‘Walking Corpse Syndrome’, is a rare mental disorder in which the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs.”
I don’t know. Sounded extremely strange to me. I just knew my left arm was dying. Maybe my liver too. I used my right arm, the good one, to open my mail. Most of it was just the normal stuff but when I saw the letter from the Supreme Court of the State of New York I got a little worried. I was here legally - a citizen for almost ten years now - and I knew my rights but being summoned to testify at this criminal trial was a bit unnerving. I didn’t like it. I just try to do my best in this life and mind my own business and not cause problems for others.
When my trial appearance date arrived two months later I took the subway downtown and left my assistant, Stavvy, in charge of the office that day. I sat there on a hard wooden bench in the courtroom all morning listening to the testimony of other witnesses but I wasn’t called to the stand until sometime after we returned from lunch. Eventually, the lawyer for the defense called my name.
She mispronounced it of course - people here always mispronounce Albanian names - so I wasn’t surprised when she called me Mister Shka-Rell-Eee. My surname is Shkreli, after the place where my family comes from, and the proper pronunciation contains only two syllables - Shkrell-Eee. I was trying to hold my left arm in place when she asked her opening question.
Where was I at the time of the murder?
“Well, Miss Anderson” - I pronounced it Ahnd-REE-Sawn, drawing out the first and last syllables while placing too much emphasis on the middle one, intentionally - “I am not entirely certain. That was over a year ago and I travel all around this city on a daily basis for my job. I work in computer repair and IT support and I have customers in all five boroughs.” (This wasn’t exactly true. I wasn’t really willing to travel to Staten Island.) We had spoken four months earlier when she informed me of the questions she intended to ask at trial but I was fairly oblique then and I intended to remain so now. I had bigger problems. Could these people not see that my left arm was rotting away?
She looked at me with a furrowed brow and briskly walked back to the defense table, picked up a leather-bound notepad and opened it.
“Mister Shkreli, when you and I spoke on June 18th you confirmed that you were just leaving a client’s office, TRG Commercial Realty, located at 223 Broome Street here in lower Manhattan at approximately 3:30pm that day, shortly before the incident at issue took place less than one block away. Is that not correct?”
I turned up my native eastern European accent a bit and repositioned my left arm in my lap. I could barely feel it at that point. What was wrong with these people?
“If you say so. Like I said, that was over a year ago and it was just another workday for me.”
She stared at me for a beat or two longer than necessary and then flashed a quick look towards the jurors before continuing.
“Well yes, Mister Shkreli” - again it was Shka-Rell-Eee - “You did tell me that and I do have a recording of our conversation, which you consented to before we began, if the court would like this to be entered into evidence?”
She looked at the judge and the judge looked at me.
“Mister Shkreli,” - he too pronounced it Shka-Rell-Eee - ‘Are you refuting the testimony that Miss Anderson is referencing during your preliminary deposition or can we just move on at this point? If counsel for the defense claims to have this recording I am fairly certain this is true. Will it be necessary to enter this recording into evidence at this time or are you willing to acknowledge Miss Anderson’s claim?”
I repositioned my left arm in my lap and nodded.
“That’s fine, Your Honor. As I said, it was just another workday for me but if Miss Anderson says that is what we discussed I am sure she is probably right.”
The judge nodded back at me. “Very good. Let’s proceed then.”
Miss Anderson walked back to the defense table and dropped the leather-bound notepad before continuing with her final question for me, looking annoyed.
“Picking up where we left off, Mister Shkreli, can you please describe for the court what happened immediately after you left the offices of TRG Commercial Realty at 223 Broome Street on the date in question, October 22nd of last year?”
I didn’t like the way that she was trying to fence me in but I wasn't particularly concerned. I had bigger problems.
“Well, like I said, I don’t really remember that day. There was nothing memorable about it. It was just another day.”
She stared at me for a few seconds then flashed a quick look at the jury box with her eyebrows raised before returning her attention to the judge. “No more questions, Your Honor.”
I was dismissed from the stand but asked to remain in the courtroom as she called her next witness; a small, frail woman from Queens about my same age named Maureen Stewart. She had an odd, twitchy nature about her. I wanted to get home. I wanted to relax.
“Miss Stewart, can you please tell the court where you were on October 22nd of last year at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon?”
The witness looked down for a moment and then glanced towards the judge before removing the slightly confused look from her face and responding in a semi-automated tone.
“Yes, Miss Anderson. At that time, I was just leaving my day shift at the FedEx Office Store (she pronounced it ‘Staw’ in her thick New York accent) on Broome Street and I was walking towards the station for the Six Train to begin my ride back home.”
The attorney for the defense took a momentary pause and then asked her next question.
“And can you please tell us what happened then?”
The witness looked down again and then looked back at the judge, then the jury and, finally, at me. I didn’t like the way she looked at me.
“Yes, as I was leaving my workplace I crossed the street and I remember walking past the entrance to a narrow alleyway where I heard a commotion taking place. It made me stop and look for a second or two but I didn’t want to get involved so I just kept on walking towards the subway and I didn’t think too much about the whole thing until the Homicide detectives contacted me a few days later after they pulled the security camera videos. I came down to the police station the day after that and gave my statement. That was just over a year ago.”
Miss Anderson took a moment to stare at me. I didn’t like that either. I adjusted my left arm in my lap. It was completely numb.
“Thank you, Miss Stewart. Can you please be a bit more specific about what you saw occurring in that alleyway?”
Again, the witness looked down at the floor and then her eyes shot all around the courtroom before she responded.
“Well,” she said, before taking a brief pause. “At first I thought it was just a little scuffle but when I saw the shorter man in the black jacket punch the tall man in the belly a few times I saw some blood starting to spread on the side of his white button-down shirt and I saw what looked like a small knife or something in the shorter man’s hand. The tall thin man looked like he was starting to fall. I remember looking around for a police officer but I certainly wasn’t gonna do anything about it by myself. I mean, what could I do? When I didn’t see no one who could help I just kept on walking towards the subway. I guess I should have done more but I was scared and I just wanted to get back to Forest Hills to pick up my daughter from daycare before five o’clock.”
I glanced at the defendant seated at the table on the left. He looked both hopeful and nervous at the same time, but in a subtle way, like he didn’t want to appear to be either. He kept his head down and never once glanced towards the jury box. Miss Anderson asked her final question.
“Thank you, Miss Stewart. And do you see the man in the black jacket who stabbed the victim, Mister Baronston, on that day last October here in the courtroom now?”
Again the witness looked down at the floor between her feet for a moment and then looked back up, right at me. I felt my blood stop flowing through my veins, or at least through my left arm and the top of my right leg, when she raised up her hand and pointed her index finger at me.
“It was that man, there,” she said.
Miss Anderson nodded and paused for a moment, satisfied, letting it sink in for the jury members. I was stunned. The stylish defense attorney in the toney, expensive clothing began walking back in my direction and she too pointed an accusatory finger.
“If it pleases the court, let the record show that Miss Stewart has identified Mister Jack Shkreli as the attacker who she witnessed in the-”
Just then the witness on the stand, Miss Stewart, pointed her finger at the judge without really looking at him and suddenly blurted out, “Or him. It might have been him too. I’m not 100% sure...”
Miss Anderson paused, clearly nonplussed, and just stared at her witness. The judge also looked baffled for a second or two and then leaned over and whispered something to his court assistant and the two of them shared a quiet smirk.
Then the witness pointed at one of the jurors, a man in the front row about my size.
“Or him. It could have been him. I’m just not sure...” Then she went silent, as did the rest of the courtroom for a few moments. The State’s Attorney, a heavy-set bald man, broke the silence pretty quickly as he rose to his feet.
“Your Honor, the State would like to move to dismiss this witness along with all previous testimony.” He paused briefly and took a deep breath, choosing his next words.
“While we appreciate Miss Stewart’s willingness to appear at trial today, I think it’s clear that her recollection of events is…uncertain at best.” He glared at the defense table for a moment, then added “I’d just like to remind the court that Mister Shkreli” - and God bless him, he pronounced my two-syllable surname correctly - “is not on trial here and if this witness cannot distinguish the man she saw that day from yourself or a random member of our jury panel I don’t think we can accept this testimony or any further testimony from this witness.”
He hung his head respectfully, with the tiniest little smile on his face. He already knew he had won this argument and the judge quickly agreed, telling the jury to disregard what they just heard. Miss Stewart was dismissed from the stand and the defense had no other witnesses left to call. Less than two hours later the jury returned a guilty verdict against the defendant on all counts and the courtroom was cleared. The sentencing hearing would take place at a later date and I was not required to be there. My right leg was starting to feel numb by then but I still managed to get back to the office in time for Stavvy to head home at the end of his shift to make dinner for his kids. His wife was killed in a car accident two years earlier. He was a hard worker and I really liked him.
That night, back at my apartment, I did some research online and learned about a rare mental disorder known as Prosopagnosia. Here is what Wikipedia had to say.
Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one's own face (self-recognition), is impaired, while other aspects of visual processing (e.g. object discrimination) and intellectual functioning remain intact.
It all sounded pretty strange to me but if the doctors say it’s real who am I to argue? Apparently it is well documented in the DSM-5. I don’t know if this is the reason why I was able to walk away from the courtroom without consequence at first but I think it is the most likely explanation. I only know that when I left my client’s offices at TRG Commercial Realty on that day just over a year ago and hailed a cab I was stunned and confused when Mister Baronston, a complete stranger with a hostile face, suddenly attacked me, claiming that it was his cab and not mine.
He was bigger than me, tall and thin but strong, and I would have just given up the cab and caught the next one but he was clearly already very angry about something. When he backed me towards the alley, shoving me and then punching me around my head and neck, my backpack tumbled open and I saw my wallet and phone and some other items come crashing out onto the pavement. It was just a stupid and unnecessary altercation, the kind of thing that probably happens on the streets of this city every day, sadly. Too many people, not enough space. I did my best to fight back and protect myself but he was a good deal bigger than me.
Then I was getting punched some more and thrown against the alley wall as people passed by, disinterested, and I just instinctively reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the pen knife that has been attached to my keychain for years. Before I really knew what was happening it was open and then my right hand was growing warm and red and slick with his blood. Then I was moving again, not looking back.
What an odd thing. I remember seeing Miss Stewart stopping there on the sidewalk to look from the mouth of the alley that day. Of all the passers-by, she was the only one who paused to look at us, at me, right as I desperately punctured Mister Baronston’s rib cage for the fifth or sixth time with my little penknife and he began to drop, but she averted her gaze after a few seconds and moved on and then I was rapidly heading in the opposite direction. This is a huge city and I never expected to see her face again. Fortunately, she was apparently never really able to see mine.
Anyway, I have more important problems to worry about at this time. Stavvy received a letter from the Manhattan DA’s office yesterday ordering him to appear at a grand jury hearing next month related to my involvement in Mister Baronston’s death. He showed it to me. More importantly, my left arm is just about gone now, my right leg is quickly starting to feel the same way and in just the last day or two I have begun feeling that strange tingling sensation in the tips of the fingers on my right hand. I know my liver is failing. It won’t be long now.
I scheduled a meeting with my lawyer in the morning to legally put the business and the rest of my assets in Stavvy’s name in my will. I have no family here anyway and almost no relatives who I remain close with back in Albania or Montenegro anymore. Stavvy is a good man and he has kids to feed and I have already lived a full life.
So yes, I will just leave it all to him and after that’s done I think I will get the old Ford minivan that we sometimes still use for the business and drive it out to the George Washington Bridge while I am still able. I know that when I stop it and get out and leave it there on the center-span I will screw up traffic badly and inconvenience a lot of people but I can’t worry about that. I have to do what I have to do. There’s no point in waiting for this to get worse. I can barely feel the fingers on my right hand and I don’t have much time left.
Maybe I should have told the truth at the trial. I don’t know. I think I was just too distracted by all of my health problems. I didn’t really have any choice at the time. I don’t have any choice now. I’m actually surprised that I lasted this long. I was certain that I would already be gone a few months ago but I feel I have done my best with this life.
As my people back in Albania say, Mos pyet si vdiq, por si rrojti!
“Do not ask how he died, but how he lived!”
THE END
submitted by TheWorstThingy to shortstories [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 04:59 healthmedicinet Health Daily News June 8 2024

DAY JUNE 8 2024
6-8-2024

‘WE CANNOT SIMPLY GO, GO, GO.’ WHAT IS ‘GIRL MOSSING,’ THE WELLNESS TREND THAT REJECTS HUSTLE CULTURE?

On TikTok and Instagram, people are “girl mossing”: lying on a forest floor, staring up at a leafy canopy or caressing moss. The United States National Forest Foundation even borrowed the term to kick off its 2024 Instagram account. Girl mossing recognizes a need to step away from the pressures of modern, urban life, promoting spending time in nature as a restorative practice. The fast pace and pressure of neoliberal capitalism take an enormous toll on well-being: not just personal, but social and planetary.
6-8-2024

FIVE WAYS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN IMPROVE YOUR DATING LIFE

Artificial intelligence is going to transform how we date. The question is: will it be for better or worse? It’s already causing some real problems, especially related to “romance scams” and other fraud. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Used in the right way, AI can actually make dating better. It can help write profiles and find matches, provide dating advice and coaching and, if all else fails, become a date companion. I have spent the last few years studying the impact of technology, and especially AI, on our
6-8-2024

STUDY ASSESSES ‘THE DANCER PERSONALITY’

“Tell me if you dance and I will tell you who you are!” A study led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, has shown that both amateur and professional dancers are less neurotic than people who do not dance. They are also more agreeable, more open, and more extraverted.
6-8-2024

ONLINE SHOPPERS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY AFTER CHATTING WITH STAFF OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER, RESEARCH SHOWS

In a digital world where people are mere pixels on a screen, gender bias can show up in unexpected forms. When people are online, anonymity and physical detachment embolden them to behave in biased ways
6-8-2024

INVESTORS BET BIG ON SUNNY DAYS, STUDY FINDS

It’s often said we can’t control the weather. But what if the weather controls how and when we invest our money? More specifically, what if the skies control how much we’re willing to gamble in the stock market? New research by the University of South Australia has found a connection between pleasant weather conditions and higher investment in lottery-like stocks. Lottery-like stocks are cheap compared to other stocks and, like lottery tickets, they can be seen as an opportunity to make a substantial gain. However, the chance of a higher
6-8-2024

TEENS TREATED UNFAIRLY BY TEACHERS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE POPULIST ATTITUDES

Perceived unjust teacher behavior is strongly and positively associated with populist attitudes among children and adolescents. Populist attitudes consist of ideologies including anti-elitism, people-centrism, and a dualistic perception of good versus evil, and where the foundation of political decision-making should be based on the general will of the people. In contrast to the association with teacher behavior, the correlation between young people’s relationships with peers and the development of populist attitudes is less strong, and the correlation between young people’s relationships
6-8-2024

MICROINCLUSIONS IMPROVE WOMEN’S WORKPLACE BELONGING AND COMMITMENT

New research shows how “microinclusions”—brief instances of positive treatment, especially from members of the dominant group—help women feel valued at work. Imagine your first day at a new job. You probably feel nervous, wondering how you’ll fit in with the team. It’s natural to worry if your co-workers will be supportive, or if they’ll take your contributions seriously. This experience is amplified for women in technology companies, who often face underrepresentation and
6-8-2024

BURNT OUT? HOW YOUR EMPLOYER CAN HELP YOU RETURN TO WORK FOR THE BETTER

The working world can be a pitiless one, as competition in the marketplace can put significant pressures on employees. Relentless deadlines, shrinking resources and shifting priorities all take their toll on employees’ well-being and mental health. In my home country of Belgium, more than two thirds (66.4%) of individuals on disability for psychological reasons had cases related to depression or burn-out. These worrisome statistics reflect broader trends across OECD countries, where nearly half (47.6%) of workers with mental-health problems have been absent from the office in the past year, compared
6-8-2024

FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORKPLACES BENEFIT EMPLOYEES, BUSINESSES

Paid leave and employee well-being are the focus of a three-part policy series on family-friendly business practices put together by the Brown School’s Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. “Creating a family-friendly workplace benefits both employees and businesses,” said Gary Parker, associate dean for external affairs and director of the institute. “For employees, it enhances work-life balance and job satisfaction,” he said. “For businesses, it leads to higher retention rates, reduced absenteeism and improved productivity. Policies such as paid leave, flexible work arrangements
6-8-2024

HOW TRUMP’S DEFINITION OF A ‘REAL’ AMERICAN HAS GRABBED HIS AUDIENCE—WHAT OUR RESEARCH SHOWS ABOUT WHY

Donald Trump has recently doubled down on his derogatory depictions of undocumented migrants in his bid to win the 2024 presidential election. In an interview with Time magazine, published on April 30 2024, Trump referred to migrants as “criminals,” who “come in and they steal our jobs, and steal our wealth, and they steal our country.” Trump was especially disparaging towards migrants from China, who he said are a “major force that’s forming in our country.” In short, according to Trump, undocumented migration is “an invasion of our country.” Trump’s
6-8-2024

NEW STUDY SHOWS MARKETING A BRAND’S SIMPLICITY CAN BACKFIRE

Irritability is a common side effect of heat. When companies tout the simplicity of their products, they may unknowingly invite customer dissatisfaction, new University of Oregon research finds. For decades, “simpler is better” has been accepted as a universal truth in marketing. Nick Light, assistant professor of marketing at the UO’ Lundquist College of Business, has tested that assumption. He found that most consumers prefer offerings that appear to be easy to use and understand. However, trumpeting simplicity can have a hidden, costly downside. “When marketing convinces consumers that things
6-8-2024

RESEARCHERS CREATE WINNING STRATEGY TO COMBAT VACCINE MISINFORMATION ON X

A new in-depth analysis shows that users who reply to misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on X, formerly known as Twitter, with a positive attitude, politeness, and strong evidence are more likely to encourage others to disbelieve the incorrect information. Researchers from three Georgia Tech schools found the most
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS DISENGAGED STUDENTS MORE LIKELY TO USE AI TOOLS FOR ASSIGNMENTS

A Swansea University psychology study has found that disengaged students are more likely to use AI tools—particularly ChatGPT—for academic assignments, raising questions about academic integrity and the need for proactive interventions. Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is an AI program capable of answering questions in detailed, human-like ways. Researchers surveyed 160 undergraduate students, aged between 18 and 24, in March 2023 to assess their attitudes towards and past usage of AI tools such as ChatGPT in academic coursework. The study is published in The Internet and Higher Education journal. Thirty-two
6-8-2024

HUMAN CULTURE IS CHANGING TOO FAST FOR EVOLUTION TO CATCH UP—HERE’S HOW IT MAY AFFECT YOU

Research is showing that many of our contemporary problems, such as the rising prevalence of mental health issues, are emerging from rapid technological advancement and modernisation. A theory that can help explain why we respond poorly to modern conditions, despite the choices, safety and other benefits they bring, is evolutionary mismatch. Mismatch happens when an evolved adaptation, either physical or psychological, becomes misaligned with the environment. Take moths and some species of nocturnal flies, for example. Because they have to navigate in the dark, they evolved to use the moon
6-8-2024

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UK SAY THEY ARE LESS LIKELY TO VOTE IF THEIR PARENTS REPORT DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

With a U.K. General Election approaching, new research has found that parental history of depression can predict whether a young person is likely to intend to vote. The research, led by the Department of Politics at the University of Liverpool, found that, at age 26, people were less likely to intend to vote if they had grown up with a parent experiencing high levels of depressive symptoms. Published in the journal Electoral Studies, the research used the British Cohort Study (BCS), which followed more than 16,000 babies born across a
6-8-2024

WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT COUNTS AS ‘DISORDER’?

As a scholar of urban governance and data policy, I viewed the responses to protests on U.S. campuses as about more than threats to academic freedom and freedom of speech. They are also threats to the fundamental rights of people in public spaces. The protesters’ tactics, particularly their use of tents in encampments, have brought debates around definitions of public order and disorder to the fore. Over the past couple of months, students in universities across the country, from the University of California, Los Angeles to the Massachusetts Institute of
6-8-2024

STUDYING VIOLENCE TOWARD WOMEN AND ANIMALS CAN HELP US DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO PREVENT BOTH

We live in a world where not everyone feels safe and respected, especially women. Sexual violence and abuse are significant global health issues. Intimate partner violence continues to be a problem in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, of the 117,093 victims of police-reported intimate partner violence in 2022, almost 80% were women and girls. More than half of women in the United States have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact. Given these high rates of sexual abuse, it is imperative that we improve upon what we currently know about violence
6-8-2024

WHY THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY COULD DEPEND ON YOUR GROUP CHATS

I became newly worried about the state of democracy when, a few years ago, my mother was elected president of her neighborhood garden club. Her election wasn’t my worry—far from it. At the time, I was trying to resolve a conflict on a large email group I had created. Someone, inevitably, was being a jerk on the internet. I had the power to remove them, but did I have the right? I realized that the garden club had in its bylaws something I had never seen in nearly all the
6-8-2024

NET ZERO IS NOT JUST GOOD SCIENCE—IT’S ALSO A GOOD DEAL FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE

As the UK moves into a general election, a misinformed debate over the country’s climate transition and legally binding net zero targets risks further dividing people. Much of this debate in the UK focuses on the “cost” of net zero. For instance, energy secretary Claire Coutinho recently stated the government did not want a “net zero leviathan” to crush the nation’s “brilliant enterprise economy,” while the Labor Party had to backtrack on its own headline climate investment pledge, citing “affordability” and “fiscal rules.” But the true “cost” is tricky to
6-8-2024

THE FASCINATING PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND ‘DINE AND DASH’ AND WHY IT’S ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN A FREE MEAL

Sometimes when I read the newspapers, I think that going to a restaurant and leaving without paying has become something of an epidemic. My research into lying has taught me that the psychology behind acts of deception is often deeply complex. Let me start with a confession. I was guilty of dine and dash a very long time ago before it had a catchy name. I was in a group that hung about a chip shop at the turn-of-the-road in north Belfast, a poor and troubled area. I had a
6-8-2024

YOU CAN NOW BE FROZEN AFTER DEATH IN AUSTRALIA. IF YOU’RE REVIVED IN THE FUTURE, WILL YOU LEGALLY BE THE SAME PERSON?

In recent weeks, Southern Cryonics—the southern hemisphere’s only cryopreservation facility, located in rural New South Wales—announced it had successfully cryopreserved its first patient. There are only a handful of cryopreservation facilities across the globe—two in the United States, and one each in Russia, China, Australia and Switzerland. If the claims made on their websites and in the press are accurate, these facilities likely have no more than 600 patients in cryonic storage in total. Media reports however suggest interest in cryopreservation has risen since the onset of the COVID pandemic,
6-8-2024

ENGINEERS HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT PUBLIC WELL-BEING, BUT LESS THAN HALF LEARN HOW TO DO SO EFFECTIVELY

Engineers who received public welfare responsibility training in classes are more likely to consider the societal impact of technologies they design and to take action when concerns arise, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers published in The Journal of Engineering Education. While engineers are professionally obligated to protect the safety and well-being of those their technologies impact, the study found that nearly a third of U.S. practicing engineers have never received any training in public welfare
6-8-2024

HIRING PRESSURES TO DIVERSIFY ARE INFLUENCING PATTERNS OF DISCRIMINATION IN UNEXPECTED WAYS

In 2004, a pair of economists published a landmark study to measure discrimination in the labor market. In the study, the researchers applied to real job openings with fictitious applicants but changed the applicant names to reflect a different gender or race. They found clear evidence of discrimination: White men and women received 50% more callbacks than Black men and women. More recently, Berkeley
6-8-2024

STUDY FINDS RACIAL BIAS IN TRAFFIC STOPS BY CHICAGO POLICE

Black drivers in Chicago are significantly more likely than white drivers to be stopped by police regardless of where the drivers live or are going, according to a new study led by a Cornell city planning expert that maps the racial composition of roads by using mobile phone GPS data. The study confirms a racial bias
6-8-2024

DO WE HAVE MORE EMPATHY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SIMILAR TO US? NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE

How do people successfully interact with those who are completely different from them? And can these differences create social barriers? Social scientists are struggling with these questions because the mental processes underlying social interactions are not well understood. One recent concept that has become increasingly popular is the “double-empathy problem.” This draws on research looking at people who are known to experience social difficulties,
6-8-2024

HOW CAN WE MAKE GOOD DECISIONS BY OBSERVING OTHERS? A VIDEOGAME AND COMPUTATIONAL MODEL HAVE THE ANSWER

How can disaster response teams benefit from understanding how people most efficiently pick strawberries together, or how they choose the perfect ice cream shop with friends? All these scenarios are based on the very fundamental question of how and when human groups manage to adapt collectively to different circumstances. Two recent studies on collective dynamics by the Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence (SCIoI) in Berlin, Germany, lay the groundwork to promote better
6-8-2024

OTHERS’ WORDS, NOT FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, SHAPE SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF FORMATION, STUDY FINDS

Three proposals explaining the differential confidence. (A) Intuitively, one might assume that confidence in scientific entities (e.g., germs) is higher than confidence in religious entities (e.g., angels) because scientific entities are observable in principle whereas religious entities are not. (B) The Dual- Pathway Model proposes separate information pathways for scientific versus religious beliefs; belief in scientific entities is primarily driven by direct experience of causal outcomes whereas belief in religious entities is primarily driven by testimony. (C) Contrary to these two models, the Unified Model proposes that belief in both
6-8-2024

TRYING TO SAVE MONEY? RESEARCH SUGGESTS PAYING IN CASH—WHILE YOU STILL CAN

Cash is in crisis. In Australia, it’s now only used for 16% of in-person transactions, down from about 70% in 2007. The situation is so dire that on Monday, independent federal MP Andrew Gee introduced a private member’s bill that would force businesses to accept cash or else face big fines. The reality is that over the past decade, technological advancements have utterly transformed the way we pay for goods and services. Phones and smartwatches can now easily be used to pay by card, and buy-now-pay-later
6-8-2024

MESSAGES CAN TRIGGER THE OPPOSITE OF THEIR DESIRED EFFECT—BUT YOU CAN AVOID COMMUNICATION THAT BACKFIRES

The best graduation speeches dispense wisdom you find yourself returning to long after the graduation tassels are turned. Take the feel-good life advice in Baz Luhrmann’s song to a class that graduated 25 years ago. Only on a recent relisten did I realize it also captures one of the research-based strategies I teach for avoiding communication that backfires. The tip is hiding in plain sight in the song’s title, “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen).” Communication aimed at promoting a certain behavior can have the opposite
6-8-2024

DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION, VALUES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN CAUSE MISMATCHES WHEN SEEKING A PARTNER, FINDS SPANISH STUDY

The educational expansion of women has led to changes in the differences in educational level of men and women when looking for a partner. Research conducted by the UAB Center for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA) has examined for the first time the role of discrepancies in gender role values and education among potential spouses. According to the study, about a third of women in favor of gender equality and with a higher education would not be able to find a homogamous male partner. The work is published in the journal Perspectives
6-8-2024

‘FUZZY’ MAPS OFFER INSIGHT INTO LOCAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE VALUE OF VOLUNTEERING

In the global South, volunteer programs are framed by policymakers and scholars as an effective vehicle for empowering women living in poverty. But this narrative often rests on scant knowledge of the perspectives and experiences of a key set of local stakeholders: the volunteers. A new study co-authored by Yale anthropologist Catherine Panter-Brick addresses this knowledge gap by engaging with Syrian refugees and Jordanian women from poor households in Amman, Jordan,
6-8-2024

EXPERTS SAY USE OF POLITICAL MEMES ARE A PREDICTOR OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE

In a study of social media activity prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, researchers at the University of Notre Dame say a sharp increase in politically salient imagery online—visual content designed to influence, dehumanize, manipulate and motivate audiences—was a predictor of the conflict. With collaborators at Colby College and Kennesaw State University, the researchers collected post history from a select group of 989 Russian milbloggers—a term used for “military bloggers”
6-8-2024

PROGRAMS TO PREVENT SEXUAL VIOLENCE SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF CURBING ASSAULTS, ANALYSIS FINDS

Sexual violence prevention programs effectively change ideas and beliefs that underscore assaults, but show no evidence of reducing their actual occurrence, a new comprehensive analysis shows. The findings are published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Researchers led by behavioral scientist Roni Porat of Hebrew University challenge the assumption that changing people’s thoughts about sexual violence will change their actual behavior. They call on scientists to study more behavior-centered approaches to reducing sexual
6-8-2024

DIVERSE FRIEND GROUPS PROMOTE BETTER SOCIAL COHESION AND WELL-BEING, STUDY FINDS

New research featuring more than 24,000 people has found that having diverse groups of friends improves well-being and social cohesion, despite people’s tendency to gravitate towards people more similar to them. Led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and published in Psychological Science, the study used data from 24,726 adults from over 10,000 English neighborhoods to examine the composition of people’s social networks according to age, ethnicity, income, and education to understand the implications of homophily (preference for similar people) on social cohesion subjective well-being. Dr. Miguel Ramos, lead
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS JUSTICE FACILITY DOGS BENEFIT WELL-BEING FOR CHILDREN FACING COURT

A new Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has revealed that having a four-legged friend at Children’s Court significantly reduces stress and anxiety for young victims, witnesses, and their caregivers. ECU criminology researchers Dr. Suz Rock and Associate Professor Natalie Gately have published the first Australian study to evaluate the impact of introducing a justice facility dog to a Children’s Court. The study “Kids, Courts and Canines: Evaluating the Justice Facility Dog Program through a Therapeutic Lens
6-8-2024

SEXUAL MINORITIES EXPERIENCE MORE EXCLUSION IN EVERYDAY SITUATIONS, FINDS STUDY

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience exclusion more frequently than heterosexual people. This is the finding of a recent study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by researchers from the University of Basel and the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. According to the study, people who are perceived as less gender-conforming are more frequently socially excluded. This could also affect heterosexual people if they deviate from traditional
6-8-2024

STILL RIDING LA’S METRO AFTER THE PANDEMIC? YOU PROBABLY THINK IT’S SAFER THAN THOSE WHO DON’T ANYMORE

As Jon Regardie wrote last year in Los Angeles Magazine, “Metro’s raison d’etre is to get hundreds of thousands of people each day across Southern California.” But the COVID-19 pandemic sent the numbers of riders plummeting to a low of 13%, and ridership still hasn’t fully rebounded. The reason may now be clear, thanks to the latest USC Dornsife LABarometer survey, conducted by the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The survey found that although public transportation ridership in
6-8-2024

CAN VAGUE GO VIRAL FOR GEN Y?

Generation Y, Gen Y, is commonly referred to as the millennial generation. It usually includes individuals born between the early 1980s and the mid-to-late 1990s or early 2000s. This generation follows Generation X and precedes Generation Z. The millennials, it is said, grew up during the transition to digital technology and the rise of the internet, and this has shaped their perspectives, behavior, and the way they use technology and media. They are often characterized as tech-savvy, adaptable, and socially conscious, with a strong affinity for social media and digital
6-8-2024

ITALIAN MOMS WITH 3+ KIDS WORK FAR FEWER YEARS THAN DADS, WHILE FINLAND SHOWS EQUALITY

Over the past century, the number of working women in Western countries has steadily increased. However, numerous studies show that it is still primarily women who have to manage the balancing act between parenthood and working life. Compared to fathers and childless women, mothers often have a less straightforward career path and face greater hurdles to career advancement. Little research has been done on what happens to women’s employment trajectories from midlife when childrearing efforts are
6-8-2024

TOP IT INDUSTRY MANAGERS ARE DIVIDED ON THE NEED FOR FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Many managers are currently seeking a balance between digital and face-to-face communication. A recent study from the University of Eastern Finland published in Information Technology & People shows that top IT industry managers have different views on when and for what purposes face-to-face communication in the workplace is needed. “Some top managers felt that all work tasks can be performed remotely with the help of digital communication. According to them, face-to-face communication is only necessary for maintaining interpersonal relationships and a sense of community,” says Doctoral Researcher Lotta Salin of
6-8-2024

STUDY FINDS SIMPLE HEADLINES ATTRACT MORE ONLINE NEWS READERS

The competition for online attention in today’s news environment is fierce. High-quality news from credible sources must compete for attention with misinformation and a rapidly increasing amount of partisan content. How can a news organization stand out as a reputable and trustworthy outlet while driving readers to its site? The answer is simple: literally. According to research from Michigan State University, news readers engage more with simple writing, suggesting journalists should write simply—clearly and without ambiguity—to attract attention online. The study was published in the journal Science Advances. “Newsrooms want
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS BANNING FALSE INFORMATION TRAFFICKERS ONLINE CAN IMPROVE PUBLIC DISCOURSE

When Twitter banned more than 70,000 traffickers of false information from its platform in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the impact went beyond the silencing of those users. A study co-authored by UC Riverside public policy and political science scholars published in the journal Nature on June 5, found that the crackdown by Twitter (now called X after it was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in late 2022) also significantly reduced the number of misinformation posts by users who stayed on the
6-8-2024

YOUNG ADULTS SAY STEADY SUPPORT FROM CARING ADULTS MADE DIFFERENCE IN TRANSITIONING FROM CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

Young people who have exited foster care generally fare better—in work, school and relationships—if they get consistent support from adults who care about them during their teen years. My research team reached these findings by interviewing 21 people, now in their late 20s, who had aged out of foster care when they turned 18, had spent time in foster care as children or grew up in families that had active child welfare cases. These young adults relayed the degree to which they received support from
6-8-2024

HOW THE 1901 DISCOVERY EXPEDITION’S POLAR EXPLORERS STAYED HEALTHY DURING THEIR ANTARCTIC JOURNEY

Antarctica is the most inhospitable continent on earth. It’s dry, cold, and completely dark for months of the year. Edwardian explorers were some of the first to brave the Antarctic winter, developing new knowledge still drawn upon by scientists today. The Discovery expedition (1901–4) played a key role in the history of polar exploration. It was led by the Royal Navy commander Robert Falcon Scott, a pioneering polar explorer who died in 1912 after attempting to reach the south pole. The expedition’s third lieutenant was Ernest Shackleton, who led three
6-8-2024

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS INFUSED WITH AGRI-INNOVATION SYSTEMS CAN REDUCE POST-HARVEST FOOD LOSS AND WASTE

developing sustainable business models that are multi-actor networked for integrating them with agricultural innovation systems initiatives can enable a systemic approach for reducing food loss and value loss at the post-harvest
6-8-2024

WILL THE 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES BECOME THE PLAYING FIELD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE PROTESTS?

Yannick Kluch, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies sport as a platform for promoting social justice. Kluch has worked with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, U.S. Diving and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He spoke with research editor Sharita Forrest about the history of Olympic athletes’ social justice protests and governing organizations’ efforts to avert them with Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter.
6-8-2024

STUDY FINDS WE SPEND MORE WITH CASHLESS PAYMENTS

A study found support for the existence of a positive “cashless effect,” which is when consumers spend more when using cashless payment methods in comparison to cash. The study suggests the cashless effect leads people to spend more when purchasing products that are typically used to signal status, such as jewelry. However, the
6-8-2024

LAWS MEANT TO KEEP DIFFERENT RACES APART STILL INFLUENCE DATING PATTERNS, DECADES AFTER BEING INVALIDATED

If you are single and looking for a romantic partner, chances are that you have used a dating app. But the likelihood that others will like, or even see, your profile may depend on your race. Studies have found that all people on dating apps, regardless of their own race, are more likely to contact white people using the app. And all people using dating apps are least likely to contact African American women and Asian American men. Until recently, some popular apps, including OkCupid, Match, Hinge and Grindr, provided
6-8-2024

VIRTUAL LABS IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH BOOST DIVERSITY

University of Oregon psychologists are breaking down barriers to include underrepresented populations in research by bringing laboratories online. The researchers are trying to address a longstanding issue in psychology studies, which often rely on undergraduate students to volunteer as research subjects.
6-8-2024

ATTENDING LOCAL EVENTS STRENGTHENS NEIGHBORHOOD BONDS, SURVEY REVEALS

how often people visit and actively participate in local events and how this affects their sense of place or their connection to their community. A survey of almost 400 households in the state’s coastal council area of the City of Holdfast Bay found that people who frequently attend local events or participate as volunteers, organizers or exhibitors, have a stronger
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS ONLINE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION WORKS FOR COMPLEX TOPICS

“COVID-19 forced educators to adjust their educational best practices to an unfamiliar virtual classroom, and professional development was no different,” said Karen Jo Matsler, assistant professor in practice for UTeach at UTA
6-8-2024

EYE-TRACKING STUDY REVEALS THAT SIMPLY LOOKING AT THE NATURAL WORLD IN URBAN AREAS CAN REAP WELL-BEING BENEFITS

Integrating more natural features into city landscapes can play a crucial role in enhancing the mental well-being of residents. A study by Bangor University and Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, published in the scientific journal People and Nature, involved city dwellers and showed how paying visual attention to greenery, rather than human-made structures, can alleviate anxiety and enhance restorative feelings. The 117 urban residents who took part in the study, were guided on a
6-8-2024

ADVERTISERS MAY BE INADVERTENTLY FUNDING MISINFORMATION

Companies in industries such as health care, technology and insurance have been found to advertise on misinformation websites, according to an analysis published in Nature. In a related experiment, consumers who were made aware that a company advertised on a misinformation website were likely to reject an offer of a gift voucher to spend with that company. The majority of digital advertisement placement on the internet is done via an algorithm-based distribution
6-8-2024

STUDY SUGGESTS EVOLUTIONARY BASIS FOR MALE RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS

why we associate risk-taking with males rather than females, from an evolutionary standpoint. Study author Hannah Goodman, from UWA’s School of Human Sciences, said researchers found men engaged in riskier behaviors when crossing a busy traffic intersection, supporting growing evidence that risk-taking is predominantly an androcentric behavior. “Males
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2024.06.09 04:24 thekermitderp Gilgo Beach killings: How Rex Heuermann's 'manifesto' became road map for investigators

Gilgo Beach killings: How Rex Heuermann's 'manifesto' became road map for investigators
By Nicole MilleNewsday. Pasted here in case you hit a pay wall.
Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann thought he had long deleted what prosecutors called a “manifesto” on how to kill and avoid detection, a two-paged document littered with bone-chilling references to a “dump site” and burning clothes.
Under the ominous subheading of “body prep,” prosecutors said Heuermann listed “remove head and hands” and “package for transport.”
The existence of the “manifesto” was publicly disclosed Thursday as Heuermann was arraigned on two more murder counts. Prosecutors say evidence, including DNA, links Heuermann to victims Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old sex worker and Poughkeepsie native living in Manhattan, and Sandra Costilla, a Queens resident who was 28 when she was killed and her body dumped in a field in North Sea.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney on Friday called the “planning document” a major break in the case, telling Newsday in an exclusive interview that its contents prompted a second search of Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park and the woods in Manorville where three of the victims were found.
The Microsoft Word document, created in 2000 and typed in all caps, was a “planning document” used by Heuermann to “methodically 'blueprint' and 'plan out' his 'kills,'” prosecutors said in a bail letter as part of a superseding indictment charging Heuermann with the killings of Costilla and Taylor, bringing the number of women whom Heuermann has been charged with killing to six.
“The Gilgo Homicide Task Force members believe that the totality of circumstances surrounding the HK Planning Document, including Heuermann's attempt to delete its existence, points to it as Heuermann's self-education and 'homework' on the topic of carrying out serial, sexual murder,” prosecutors said in the bail letter.
It was last July, after Heuermann was arrested outside the Fifth Avenue office of his midtown Manhattan architectural firm and charged in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, that authorities found the hard drive during a two-week-long search of Heuermann's home. Heuermann was later charged with killing Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who along with Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello are known as “The Gilgo Four.”
With mountains of other potential evidence to process from the search of the home and two nearby storage facilities, authorities recovered the document, which was thought to have been deleted by Heuermann, from a hard drive found in the basement only recently — on March 7 — during a computer forensic extraction method called “file carving.”
Tierney on Thursday identified the 60-year-old former architect, who has been living in virtual isolation in the Suffolk County Jail since his arrest last July 13, as a suspect in the killing of another Gilgo Beach victim — Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old New Jersey woman who disappeared in October 2000.
The prospect of a suspect indicted on six of the killings was almost unthinkable in the years since authorities found the first remains on Dec. 11, 2010, near Gilgo Beach.
Police had been searching for Shannan Gilbert, a New Jersey woman who was working as an escort and had disappeared after seeing a client in nearby Oak Beach in May 2010. In the following months, the remains of 10 people were found — eight women, one man and a female toddler. Gilbert’s remains were later found, but authorities ruled her death accidental.
Until Heuermann's arrest last year, the mystery of who killed 10 people — mostly sex workers — and dumped their bodies along Ocean Parkway had confounded federal, state and local investigators.
With the indictment of Heuermann in the killing of Costilla, who had not until recently been identified as a possible Gilgo Beach victim, the timeline of the case has broadened significantly. The other five victims were killed from 2007 to 2010, but Costilla was killed sometime in November 1993, suggesting that Heuermann began his alleged killing spree much earlier. On Friday, Tierney said there was anecdotal evidence that Costilla was engaged in sex work.
Their killings are detailed in the bail letter unveiled last week.
Two hunters discovered Costilla’s remains in a wooded area of Southampton on Nov. 20, 1993. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, she was living on Long Island and in Queens and Brooklyn before her disappearance and killing.
Costilla was found lying on her back with her arms outstretched over her head, and her shirt was pulled up over her torso and head, exposing her breasts, authorities said. Her naked legs were spread apart. She had several “sharp force” injuries to her face, torso, breasts, left thigh and vaginal area, authorities said. Three hairs were recovered from her remains — one found on her right arm, and two others from tape-lifts of two shirts that were above her head.
Those hairs were earlier tested against the DNA of convicted killer John Bittrolff, long suspected in Costilla’s killing, but he was excluded as a match.
Recent DNA testing comparing Heuermann’s mitochondrial and nuclear profiles to the hairs, could not exclude Heuermann as the provider of the hairs found on Costilla’s body.
“It is significant that two forensic laboratories have now independently determined that male hair recovered from the mutilated remains of Sandra Costilla is substantially more likely to have derived from a personal genetically identical to defendant Heuermann’s mitochondrial and nuclear profiles,” prosecutors said in the bail letter.
Further testing showed, according to prosecutors, that another of the pieces of hair found on Costilla’s remains “shares a common base at all compared positions” with a DNA sample provided by a woman who had lived with Heuermann before Costilla’s disappearance and killing. The woman, who authorities referred to only as “witness #3” in the bail letter, said she could not be excluded as the contributor of the hair found on Costilla.
That woman, whose relationship to Heuermann at the time has not been publicly shared, had been living with Heuermann since 1991 and moved out of their shared residence in September 1993 — about two months before Costilla disappeared and was killed, prosecutors said. Heuermann’s late mother had moved out of the home before the woman, prosecutors noted, without giving a time frame on the mother’s cohabitation with her son.
Prosecutors noted that Heuermann would have been living alone at the time Costilla was killed, giving him “unfettered time to executive his plans” without worrying about anyone coming home to discover a crime in progress.
That’s a theme that prosecutors have said runs through Heuermann’s alleged killing spree: Heuermann’s family was always vacationing out of state when he allegedly committed the killings. In the case of Taylor, prosecutors said, phone records and other documents indicate that Heuermann’s now-estranged wife Asa Ellerup and children were vacationing in Vermont when the young woman was killed.
Someone walking a dog found Taylor’s remains on July 26, 2003, just west of Halsey Manor Road in Manorville and called 911. Lying on her back with her legs bent beneath her, Taylor was decapitated and both of her arms had been severed below her elbows. A tattoo on Taylor’s torso had been “severely obliterated by a sharp object,” prosecutors said, adding that they believe that act, along with the dismemberment of her body, had been done by Heuermann to “inhibit” authorities from positively identifying her remains.
It wasn’t until some eight years later — on March 29, 2011 — that authorities found Taylor’s skull, hands and forearm along Ocean Parkway, just east of Gilgo Beach. Her remains were located less than a mile from where the Gilgo Four victims’ remains were discovered.
Taylor was last heard from on July 21, 2003 — five days before her partial remains were discovered. Police interviewed a witness who said on July 25, 2003, at about 10:30 p.m. they had seen a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup backed into the same wooded area where Taylor’s remains were later found.
Heuermann had owned a dark green 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup during that time, investigators have said. And it was key to Heuermann’s initial arrest.
A New York State Police investigator assigned to the Gilgo Beach Task Force, using a database that can search for vehicles by make and model, first identified Heuermann as the owner of an Avalanche and a potential suspect on March 14, 2022.
A witness in Costello’s disappearance — her West Babylon roommate — also described to police a similar vehicle being driven by a man who was seen with Costello shortly before she was last seen alive.
Costello got a call from a burner phone purportedly used by Heuermann on Sept. 1, 2010, authorities have said. A man that investigators think was Heuermann, described by the witness as appearing like an “ogre” and seeking a paid sexual liaison, came inside the house, but she and others there executed a ruse to take his money, authorities said.
A man posing as her boyfriend showed up and the client said he was only her friend and left. But that same prospective customer contacted Costello the next night and she left with him — the witness telling authorities he saw the dark-colored Chevrolet Avalanche drive away from the home. That was the last time she was seen alive, authorities said.
Police did not appear to act on the witness statements at the time in either sighting of the distinctive-looking vehicle.
After Taylor’s partial remains were found, authorities said, Heuermann searched online for a new Chevrolet Avalanche in bright blue and white and attempted to delete the search.
DNA testing, according to prosecutors, links Heurmann to Taylor’s killing. Heuermann cannot be excluded as the contributor of a male human hair that was recovered from a surgical drape found under Taylor's remains, although 99.96% of the North American population can be, the bail letter said, adding that DNA analysis conducted by two separate labs had reached similar conclusions.
Heuermann is not charged in the killing of Valerie Mack, a sex worker who went missing in 2000, but for the first time Thursday, authorities linked Heuermann to her killing, noting that an analysis of Heuermann's electronic devices revealed a significant collection of violent, bondage and torture pornography, dating to 1994.
The images showed various abuse and mutilation that prosecutors said “notably and largely coincide with how the remains of Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, and Valerie Mack were discovered,” the bail letter reads.
Authorities found Heuermann’s extensive porn collection after seizing more than 350 electronic devices from his home after he was arrested last year.
The HK Planning Document was among the items that piqued prosecutors’ interest. It prompted authorities to search multiple wooded areas in the Manorville area in April, though no new remains were found.
Prosecutors have studied the document and laid out their theories of what it all means. The document lists “finger prints and gloves” and “hair & fiber” as “problems.” Prosecutors said that section of the document appears to be a guide to avoiding apprehension. A section on “supplies,” which lists tarps/drop clothes, medical gloves and saw/cutting tools, are the supplies needed to carry out the killings, prosecutors said.
In another section, Heuermann wrote, according to prosecutors, “REMOVE ID MARKS,” which they argue is consistent with Heuermann’s alleged attempt to obscure Taylor’s tattoo. The document’s “BODY PREP” section, which also notes to “REMOVE HEAD AND HANDS,” clearly relates to the condition of Taylor’s and Mack’s remains, as both victims were decapitated and dismembered at their arms below their elbows, prosecutors said.
Some of the HK Planning Document has origins in the 1996 book written by former FBI special agent and profiler John Douglas entitled “Mind Hunter,” which explored serial killer profiling, prosecutors said, specifically graphic passages on sexual torture.
When authorities searched Heuermann’s home after his arrest, they found another of Douglas’ books: “The Cases That Haunt Us.”
submitted by thekermitderp to RexHeuermann [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 04:13 mansplanar 15 tips for dating photography

Looking for love? It should come as no surprise that your dating profile photo can have a huge impact on your chances of finding love—or a hookup, no judgment here.
First impressions are almost always digital these days, and that kind of pressure can make it hard to choose the perfect pic. Of course you want to look good (don’t we all?) but you don’t want to oversell yourself, either.
So how can you look your best while still looking like … you? Try these 15 tips to do flattering dating photography that will get you more DMs.
Put some distance between you and the camera
I love a good selfie, but it may not be the most flattering option for your dating profile pic, especially if you’re using the front-facing camera. Who wants to see your arm off to the side in every photo?
Try to put some distance between yourself and the camera. Use a tripod if you have one, or prop your phone up using whatever objects you have available. That might mean using books, boxes, or a shelf to find a flattering angle.
Another option is to ask your friends to take a candid photo of you. You might be surprised at how good they come out! Ask them to take realistic, everyday shots. A candid shot is more unique and will stand out—plus it gives more insight into your personality.
Get the angle right
Your camera should be slightly above eye level—this is the most universally flattering angle. Too high, and it makes your head look small and weird. Too low, and you risk giving yourself the dreaded double chin.
You can also tilt your head forward and down just a little. This brings your forehead a bit closer to the camera and helps accentuate your jawline.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most of us have a “good” side. If you can’t figure out what yours is, it’s probably your left. Studies have shown that people tend to prefer the left side of someone’s face.
P.S. If you aren’t sure which angle looks best, try changing up your dating profile pic to see which image gets you the most matches. It sounds weird, but it will help you find the pics that potential dates love!
Use indirect lighting
I love ring lights, but sometimes their direct light can be a bit much. Go for soft, indirect lighting to do classier dating photography.
Natural lighting is best, so if the weather cooperates, then try heading outside to snap a few shots. The best time of day is either during sunrise or sunset (the “golden hour”), but you can also try taking your pictures on an overcast day or in the shadow of a building.
If you’re taking your photos inside, make sure the room has soft lighting. No one looks good under harsh fluorescent lights. Snap a pic in front of a sunny window covered by a curtain for a softer look.
And whatever you do, avoid using flash on your phone! Not only will it highlight imperfections, but it can also make you look older … and not in a good way.
Leave the sunglasses off
Sure, sunglasses are trendy, but people want to see what you really look like. In fact, a study by PhotoFeeler showed that people with sunglasses are perceived as less likable. Ouch.
Potential dates want to be able to see your eyes because it’s an indicator of how trustworthy you are. You might love the look of your Ray-Bans, but trust me: your gorgeous eyes will do all of the talking.
With that said, if you have a photo of yourself rocking sunglasses and you absolutely love it, you can add it to your picture gallery—just don’t use it as your main profile pic.
Relax your eyes
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but people do some crazy stuff with their eyes when they’re getting their picture taken!
The main thing here is to R-E-L-A-X. If you shut your eyes too tightly, it’s going to be hard to gauge your personality.
Some people take squinting too far. You might feel like it makes you look mysterious, but most of the time you just look angry, which is not the look you want for a dating profile pic! It also creates more creases around the eye, which probably isn’t what you’re going for.
Of course, you don’t want to open your eyes too much. The last thing you want is to become the next “Overly Attached Girlfriend” meme. Keep your eyes relaxed; you can squint a little by bringing your lower eyelids up slightly.
Show off those pearly whites
I know smiling for the camera can feel awkward, but a smile can do wonders for your dating life. Smiling makes you look more approachable and friendly, so if you want more folks to swipe right, whip out your 24 karat smile.
When you smile, make sure you show your teeth a bit. A tight-lipped smile just doesn’t look genuine. If you’re self-conscious about your teeth, you can always whiten your teeth in photos with just a click of the button.
Go for some color
Blacks, grays, and dark blue tones can come across as a bit gloomy or intense, especially if those are the only colors you’re wearing. Pick a few outfits in a variety of colors for your dating profile pics. Jewel tones and pastels can brighten a picture and make you look more lighthearted and fun.
Now, if you really want to catch people’s attention, wear red. Multiple studies have shown that both men and women find people wearing the color red more attractive.
Plus, you’ll stand out from all the other people wearing beige or gray—and there are a lot of them. Tinder analyzed 12,000 photos and found 56% of women and 72% of men wear neutral colors. So go ahead—throw on that cute red top and strut your stuff like the superstar you are.
Crop the photo correctly
Your face is gorgeous, but you probably don’t want your face to fill the entire frame. Ideally, you should take up only 60 - 70% of the frame in any dating profile pic. Try to get your shoulders in the frame and don’t be afraid to throw in one or two full-body pics in your gallery, too.
If you want to use a travel photo because it has some crazy, epic background, you can totally do that. Just make sure you’re still taking up about 20-40% of the picture. Yes, the Grand Canyon is spectacular, but people want to see you!
Be aware of your background
Speaking of backgrounds, you’ll need to pay close attention to that, too. I’m not going to judge your messy room, but potential dates on Tinder might. At the very least, try to pose in front of a clean spot in your apartment.
You can take this a step further and add a few things into the background to hint at your interests. A strategically-placed telescope or a framed painting can give potential dates insight into your personality.
(And for the love of all that is good in this world, avoid bathroom pics. They’re usually not as flattering as you think and they’re definitely cliché.)
Stick to current photos
No matter how much you love that picture of you at the beach from 2016, keep it out of your dating profile. Sure, we all wish we could rewind the clock every now and then, but it’s best to show off the real you. Try your best to stick with photos that are less than a year old.
And in case you need to be reminded: the “you” from today is just as amazing (if not more) than the “you” from years past. I promise.
Use casual pictures
I hate to be the one to say it, but if you’re super dressed up in all of your photos, it could raise your dates’ expectations a bit too much.
And I know what you’re going to say: “But I looked amaaaazing at my friend’s wedding!” I totally get it.
But when it comes to dating photography, you want to make sure you can recreate the look in the pictures that you post. These pics should look like the real, every day you. Save the fancy photos for your social media.
Skip the group photos
A lot of people like to include group photos in their dating profile pictures, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea. Sure, group photos can show your social side—and that’s important—but your profile pic isn’t the place to do it.
In the fast-paced dating world of swiping left and right, people simply don’t want to take the time to figure out who you are in the pic. You’ve only got about 1-3 seconds to capture their attention, and a group photo is just too confusing.
Get creative
Do you have any hobbies that define who you are? Don’t be afraid to feature them in your profile pic! If you’re a photographer, hold your camera or wear it slung around your neck. If you’re an artist, playfully wave a paintbrush toward the camera.
When you’re doing something that you truly enjoy, it shows. These fun, casual pictures give people a sneak peek at the real you that goes way beyond a simple headshot.
Just don’t fake it—if your profile pic shows you strumming a guitar, someone will probably ask you to play it at some point. Make sure you can follow through!
Have someone else choose your dating profile pic
Most of the time we’re pretty good at choosing pics for dating photography that showcase our best qualities. But hey, sometimes we get it wrong. We’re just too familiar with our own appearance and personality. This can lead to a bias that someone who’s never met you may not have.
Translation: a picture that you think is perfect might give off a different impression to someone who doesn’t know you. Remember, it only takes a few seconds for a stranger to determine whether they want to get to know you better.
You can always have a trusted friend choose your photo, but if you want honest feedback from someone’s first impression, try using a photo testing site like DATEnhance.
Up your dating game
Following these 15 photography tips for dating will give you plenty of flattering photos to choose from. And don’t be shy about taking lots of pictures—the more, the merrier. You’ll want to settle on 4 - 6 photos with different outfits, looks, and poses to feature in your dating photo gallery.
Remember that the goal isn’t to look perfect—it’s to look perfectly you. The Match Artist is here to help you add the perfect photo to any dating profile.
submitted by mansplanar to MatchMeBro [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 02:31 Eya15115 I think I was in an abusive relationship?

This is kind of a vent kind of me trying to figure out if I was in an abusive relationship or not . I dated this person two to three years ago and we broke up 9 months after mind you this is in highschool so 9 months is huge plus we were best friends for two years prior so breaking up was a lot and it was messy ,but I watched a video lately of someone talking about how after their breakup they visited a therapist and kind of showed the thought process of how they figured out they were in an abusive relationship and the multiple excuses they mentally made for their ex's behavior instead of just admitting that they were abusive, and after that I was like "damn I make the same excuses too'' but my ex was a literal angel except for when they would explain themselves instead of apologizing whenever I called them out for doing something that hurt me despite me telling them verbatim "you shouldn't explain yourself when I do that because that makes me feel like I shouldn't be hurt and my feelings aren't valid" multiple times but they apologized after like a couple of hours for explaining themselves instead of apologizing or when they told me to "get over" the fact that I saw a kitty get run over by a car and asked them to stop describing it so vulgarly to another friend or when they stayed friends with a very toxic friend and made jokes about our "love hate relationship "(relationship as in me and the toxic friend ) even after I sent them a long paragraph stating how much the guy hurt me in detail or the fact that they responded coldly to that long paragraph and ignored me the next morning but when I called them out for ignoring me after a while had passed they'd always say that I was the one that ignored them
This is hard for me because if my ex hadn't been a huge people pleaser with zero ability to set boundaries I would've been more mad about them staying friends with that toxic friend
Also another thing they'd talk to me about how a certain person is toxic to them and how they'd cross their boundaries multiple times and use them but when they meet said person irl they act soooo happy and enthusiastic to meet them and talk about relatable things and have such a bright high energy conversation like someone is talking to a dear friend they haven't met in a while which made me really uncomfortable and I called them out for it a lot of times but I'd always chuck it out to them being a people pleaser
Was I in an abusive relationship or was I just with a really immature person?
submitted by Eya15115 to Vent [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 02:01 papaioliver I am actively fucking up my life

I dont know who will read this, but i just have to get this off my chest.
TL:DR at bottom
A bit of a backstory: I am 19 right now. 11 days from 20. During my life, i have had it all. The best family behind me anyone could ever ask for. They raised me well, gave me all the support and love humanly possible.
I grew up in an eastern european smalltown, been always above average, and slightly autistic at least, lets admit it. The typical gifted white suburban kid syndrome: never ever ran into problems during my life, everything seemd straight forward, always knew what i shold do with my life. During my blunder years, i have developed some pretty bad traits: a never had to struggle in my life for anything. Every single thing was handed to me on a silver plate. I really am just the luckiest person alive: always done well mentally, academically, and socially. Read the book once before when the teacher said put away your books, aced every exam still, after elementary(8 years here), got accepted to one of the best middle school of my country.
Experienced all the perks of middle school and the freedom of doing whatever the fuck you want during the stupidest years of your life, 15-19. And i did. Of course, procrastinating and not giving a fuck have not lifted me above average as in elementary, but i was still in the middle of the group. Again: everything others sweated blood for, handed to me on a silver plate. Straight goals in my life, stable personality, many friends, altough i still had my innocent nerdy kid persona, which was challenged majorly during the primal environment of a middle school coeducated dorm, but was never particularly bullied, countless friends and family, support and appreciation for who i was, altough i was just being as stupid as a middleschooler is.
Then covid came, and it somehow turned everything around. Not so many friends, no such concrete stable confidence, still being a lazy fucker who somehow lucked his way through everything. also during this time, i kinda started falling off, got into weed, not jsut alcohol, started going out and socialising less, falling off, but i had a great time, thinking about those times fondly, altough not so dearly. Rocked my way through the end exams of middle school with some last minute studying, i mean i absolutely still pulled from my little finger what others couldn't with teeth, tears and blood: got accepted into university as a dentist, still feeling like i am the top of the word.
During the last true summer break of my life, i started doing food delivery. 11:30am till 22-23:00 pm sometimes. During this time, the penjamin really took off in my country, weed being illegal but alternatives, such as Hexahidrocannabinol (HHC) being legal, available in a pen, just like an Elfbar: no neet to sneak out, to talk with the plug(some of you know arranging a meeting with those fuckers isnt as easy as it seems at all lmao), just getting high while laying in my bed. During this time, my weed addiction spiralled out of control, i got high every single night, this being my "well deserved downtime": just existing in my own little world in my bed, for 2 months. Those 4 years really did turned my personality to someone who isn't fit for a course that puts "Dr." in front of your name, this wil be important later.
Before the university, there is a social event hosted for us juniors called "junior camp", where you really are supposed to meet new people, and lay the basis of your entire uvicersity social life. And i took the penjamin(like 4th one in 2 months) with me. Now for those of you who dont know, weed can be a nice social drug, taken with moderation. If you get "schwasted, wake n baked" every day, the devils lettuce really puts you into your own world. No ambitions, no will to progress, just existing in your own little world, being fine as fuck with things as it is. Still had the best memory of my life though: being high as fuck in a water park they organised for us, literally youngsters in their prime, like 1500 of us, just being ourselves in the biggest pool party of the country. What i spent it doing: weed and cigarette breaks, taking slides, which literally felt like descending to hell, and walking around, aimlessly, not giving a fuck about the 1,5k people who came here to meet me and socialise, barely communicating with them, floating in my own world. This, and watching tje closing firework while being high are the best memories of my life until this day, guys if you can, take water slides and watch fireworks while being high, its definitely worth it.
And then came the first oath to myself that I've broken since then: that i will do a conversion of Paul, really focusing on the most important thing in my life: becoming a dentist, which is, besides helping people, is a ticket on first class to upper middle class, for someone from a bloodline of the poorest eastern european easants you can imagine. It takes 4 generations to break out of poverty, and i am the 4th. All the blood and sweat of my ancestors who worked their asses out, slaving away for the communist, them capitalist system, only for their kids to someday, amybe havve the chance i do hae right, now, and I am currently fucking up.
Now for those of you who dont know, university really is the most liberal form of education on the planet: you finally get your own timetable, the only mandatory attendance being the "practices", which you could just get through without putting anything on the table, and the lectures where they actually teach you university shit, not having a mandatory attendance, so who gives a fuck?
This gets us to the University: the first 2 weeks, i was being the typical student: al the lectures, learning from day to day, putting myself there in possibly the most alien environment i have ever been during my life. And turns out, i wasn't ready for the maturity and devotion a serious practice like dentistry takes. Man, i will literally be healing other people, everyones been to the dentist, and to get there, standing above your open mouth: Thats not something what is handed on a silver plate. No matter how smart, gifted, or special you think you are: this will only be achieved with tooth and nails. And i wasn't ready, not the slightest.
This is the point where i really started descending to the level of a fast food worker(no offence, which i was too): the first 3 months can be described with one word: Weed. no studying at all, just smoking that shit, feeling the buzz, it got to the point where i couldnt fall asleep without being hihg. Quite literally, i couldn'T imagine laying in bed, just...laying. IN november, i had it all came down on me, had a small breakdown, took the second oath i have broken: that i will change. This was the 11th of November, 2023
I cut back on weed, started attending lectures, realised that i have no fucking idea what the fuck are they talking about, so whats the point of attending? 3 more weks, sometimes begging to 5-6 different plugs, just to get my dose. Then came the so-called "exam period": where they excpt you to account for what you have "learned" during the "period of diligence". Of course, you can ace all your exams in literally 2 weeks, but for me, i was at diggind the foundation, while others were building the roof, already.
3rd oath: i will put my best, really gonna study my ass off for this one, having no plans whatsoever, just getting through somehow, like i always did. I think this is the time where i have made the first real steps towards maturity: admitting my parents that i havent done shit, and the chance of failure is around 90%. They gave me the encouragement i needed, realy got back on track, and pulled my first half year. So much so, that i got a study scholarship: 13k HUF, 36 USD/month, lower middle class scholarship, but still, that meant im in the top 10 percent of students. Yet again, by partying all yer, doing everything in the last moments.
4th oath: after these few weeks of hell, i will really put myself there, study as the year goes along, being ready and up-to*date with everything. Like the adult i am
For 1 week, this really worked out. studies for hours every day, being with my "new friends": fellow dental students, whom i had a really good start with, but now, arent really close pals. They have had a complete change, a real 180 in their life: being out in a new environment, gangs and friend groups really started forming, and i was there sometimes, having a blast with them, but you know: not really a part of the gang, just the chill, stoner, pretty stupid streets dude, never being up to date, never really giving a serious fuck about them, still smoking weed and drinking with my old middleschool friends. They naturally started inviting me less and less, and slowly fell into the group of a workplace friend, who you really dont just meet after work, you know. Now this might just be my insecurity speaking, i literally have a 2 week vacation fixated with them to the beaches of Croatia, but yeah, just a chill dude whos around sometimes, not *the gang*
And then came the wrost 6 weeks of my life. During my all afternoon studying sessions, i started noticing a slight tingling in my legs and feet, and my visual snow, which ive always had for some degree, starting putting itself into second gear. I even jokingly told one of my friends who happened to study with me: "Man, i might have gotten some real nerve damage from all the weed and fake penjamins, a-ha-ha".
During the next few days, hell unfolded: imagine the worst kind of buzzing, not the gentle weed buzzingm but a genuinely alarming one, an impending sense of doom, and pretty serious unvellness: during an anatomy lecture about the cranial nerves. Figured a snus might help: stuffed a Killa cold mint(european snus is generally stronger than Zyn, this particular one being 4times as strong as the stongrst Zyn, and its still pretty mid in eastern europe lmao). Hell broke loose. If you are familiar with trip reports, i have went trhough something very similar to a bad trip, almost had to run out of the lecture, in front of the teacher and 60 of my classmates beceuse i genuinely thought im gonna die. Went out after surbibing the lecture, ambling around for 2 hours, walking to a pharmacy 45 minutes away and back, speaking with my parents, being in a complete panic which just made things worse.
This went on for a week, then i got to the doctor. The anatomy practice was always the low point: the best teacher of the institute explaining how a human body works, and i was shaking in a corner, not falling into the deepest panic attack i have ever had was taking up all my energy. Drumming with my leg,s counting the tiles on the floor again and again, not paying attention about some of the most important words ever said to me in my life. Went to the doctor that friday finally, and got good words that i am really studying anatomy, i must have known that the innervation of the top of the limbs and and the feet are completely different, so my CNS works just fine, but im describing the most common symptoms of stress induced anxiety. Also told him about my ever worsening visual snow: imagine those old TV-s who had no signal, and displayed what we called "ant football". That is my life, especially when i look at the sky, which was a thing i admired dearly: The giant cloud, not abstructed by any mountain, flowing, and ever changing, still are the most beautiful thing for me, compared with the mind.blowing sunsets we have here, in the great plains. Being robbed of that put me even deeper. The 75mg pregabalin i got described, once a day and night, havent done anything at all. INstead, they amplified my brain fog, the tingling and buzzling, and the feeling of looming dread. I havent known this at the time, so sometimes i took my daily two before the anatomy sessions, which made them truly like hell. Having to walk out multiple times in a span of 1,5 hours of the lesson, just to simply breathe. If someone closed the door of the dissecting room, all hell broke loose, i couldn't breathe. I was bumping into people on the way there and back, being so disoriented due to basically being drugged. Talked about my mother about this, she went through literally the same hell, while attempting university, just like his brother, my Godfather, who was a border guard during the East-German refugee crysis, having to shoot live munition centimeters in front of the feet of pregnant women during the fall of the iron courtain. And this was a true and horrific mental breakdown, a literal *Idegösszeomlás*, akai burnout
So long story short: missed the most crucial 8 weeks of the semester, where we were told in the beginning: if you miss a week, you are done for. The last parts of the period of diligence were spent studying like hell, with my symptoms greatly improvving: attended parties with the dentist gang, smoked weed again, and just laid the foundations for the period of exams, actually studying like hell, like i always wanted to, AND I STILL ACED IT, but with the looming over me the sword of damocles.
Now thinking back, i could've made it. I really cold have. I still can. I completed every single subject i could in the diligence period, cell biology being the hardest, I barely passed that subject with a "2", basically a B-, this will be very important later. The last exam date is at the 7th of july, but with 6 weeks for only the anatomy, and basically the chemistry of 5 years, thats should be enough, eh? Yeaahh, yet another broken oath, spent a week doing nothing, weed, youtube, and old friends, while everyone leraned their asses off. Started learning too, and i took it seriously. But any students, you know how it is:
alarm set at 7:30 am.
10 minutes of snooze, every single day, the next time i wake up more rested than i should have been after 10 minutes, i check the clock, 8:50AM.
Awesome, get out of bed and shower. Check the time again: 11AM.
Cool, the whole day ahead of me. Just a siiiingle youtube video, while i pass the morning fatigue and the rapid morning hearthbeat of 5 years of chainsmoking, yet another amazing dedication of my life.
Then its 12AM, time to dinner! Post dinner fatigue is exactly a 30min video, 12:30PM, imma begin studying.
Next time i look at the clok, its 14:27. I really lock in until 6pm, then my parents cone home. I talk with them for what feels like 20-25 minutes.
Look at the clock again. 20:21PM. How the fuck did the whole fucking day passed again? i truly lock in for the rest of the day
23:35, i can't anymore. Starting to watch trash streams on youtube, braincells dying every second
Time spent with studying: 2-3 hours.
Every. Single. Fucking. Day.
Then i got the worst news i have ever gotten
Decided to check into the E-uni managament system of my country. "You have an offered grade, you can accept it *here*. Click link. "you can't accept, you have an exam applification of this subject". So this was the first semester where they made the application to the different exams at different dates open at March instead of the end of May, so students can "pre-plan their whole semester", the backstory of this is some uni drama equal in lenght of this post *hungarian text-* (Akinek esetleg volt dolga a Debreceni Egyetem Anatómiai-, Szövet-, és Fejlődéstani intézetével, az pontosan tudja miről beszélek lmao, a többiek úgysem értenék, H***igeci),
So, remember about my offered grade about cell biology? Wel, you have to accept it, because it LITERALLY MEANS THEY OFFERED IT AND YOU CAN DECLINE IT, this is stragiht up ez shit, of course who was the hero, who forgot to do this 5 seconds thing? My pretty faced self. All the while having an exam booked for the 28th of may, which obviously had passed, and i jsut realized this now, because the university e-administration site, which you should check every day for like 10 times, havent been opened by me for a month. And in my country, no matter what grade you get offered, if you take an exam and dont attend, thats automatically a failure overwriting literally any grade you had before. And i really put in the work. Really did got the offered grade, which means 55% on 2 intersemester exams, which both of them are hell. And all undone because im too fucking lazy and stupid to open a fucking website. Because i havent declined the offered grade, and this is the first year they implemented the early exam booking, i still have hope that the email i have written towards Students affairs will have an effect, and i will be able to accept the offered grade. We are talking about a subject where if you do have to take the exam, there is a 90% failure rate. 90. fucking. percent. I have 1 month to learn the Central Nervous System(at least i know that mostly by now), and the complete human body as it is from the shoulders upwards, embriology, histology of the semester, and 1 ENTIRE YEAR of university level chenistry. Im fucked already as it is, cell biology by itself would take 3 weeks of no life learning JUST TO HAVE A CHANCE, which i have completed, and willingly, and ignorantly have thrown away.
What happens if i fail? Well, the state pays 12 active and 3 passive semester. The course is 10 semesters, so i can passivate and then retry, and still have a chance like this once more, before falling out of State Sponsored Scholarship. A semester is 1,3 million HUF, 5 months on minimum wage if you dont eat, sleep, and save 100%. PER SEMESTER. So the world wont collapse, buti would lose everyone i met during university, dropping to a class of strangers, being the failed kid, so laying the path from the best kinda uni life to the worst, in terms of connections and social life. My family knows about my mental health, even my conserative KGB grandparents are very supportive, but i wouldn't be able to stand the shame myseelf.
Had an eye watering hours long convo with a genuine friend about my life, and that made me realise im still aint shit, things reall have to change. this is why im typing this, mainly for my own self. As the first page of a diary im planning on starting, to never forget the feeling of being in the literal bottom right now. I dont except anyone to read this, idk why im even posting this, i dont even except any advice, but ofc if you have made it this far, thank you for dwelving into the life of a hungarian smalltown trash, hope you can learn
Not gonna reread this fucking yapping, sry for the typos and language, english isn't my first one
So this was it guys, my Magnum Opus of literature, the biggest yapping session of my life so far. Still spent 1,5 hours typing this even on my pc, instead of studdying, on 1,5mg alprazolam(xanax benzo), about to smoke a jo. Yet another broken oath
TL:DR: Failed to mature up for a hardcore branch of university, and a silly mistake will destroy my entire semester, and im still not studying, typing this
submitted by papaioliver to Advice [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 01:50 Delicious_Brush8593 why looks matter more than you think?

many people argue that looks don't matter but in reality when it comes to their dating lives they often choose a good-looking partner over someone who treats them well but isn't as attractive they might give the good-looking person more chances and overlook their flaws even if they're not happy in that relationship they'll stay in it as long as they can simply because the person is good-looking
personality does play a role but looks are the first thing you notice sometimes people won't even consider your personality if you're not attractive think of looks like a resume for a job if they don't like your resume you won't even get an interview
attractiveness is not just about looks but also about mannerisms how you talk dress and present yourself it's not just confidence being confident can sometimes come off as arrogant or not humble which doesn't attract people the kind of confidence that most people find appealing is hard to describe but you see it in movies it's the type of confidence that some people exude in how they talk walk and carry themselves it commands respect
looks get you in the door personality is what keeps you there sometimes a person looks good enough and fits your criteria so well that their bad personality can be overlooked looks aren't everything because sometimes someone can have such a good personality that they grow on you and you start to feel more attracted to them as you get to know them
most people don't have that type of personality that breaks that barrier it takes time to cultivate you can grow bitter or build character building character is what makes others gravitate towards you even if you don't have the best resume
looks influence how others perceive your behavior if you're good-looking you get more chances and can get away with behavior that an average-looking person couldn't. life isn't fair but you have to accept that
it's better to be a human than an animal people have biases towards attractive people just think about your celebrity crushes and how people treat cute pets
it doesn't make sense when people are picky with looks and have high standards but then blame others for being picky and having high standards there are many average-looking people in relationships but we choose to focus on what fits our narrative
finding a partner is harder for the average person nowadays compared to in the past but it was never easy for the average person the best you can do is work on yourself become the best version of yourself and take care of yourself there are things you can do to improve how you look focus on the positive things in life which will give you the motivation to get where you want to be
focus on the things you can control and improve on you have to believe in yourself and want to become better stop focusing on the negatives and look at the positives in life that will give you the motivation to get where you want to be
Reference:
why looks matter more than you think by kevSolitty (gave me the full idea to write this)
TikTok comment section
submitted by Delicious_Brush8593 to selfimprovement [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 01:29 Kioga101 The Ancient Weapons and Possible Real-life Equivalents

The Ancient Weapons. Supposedly weapons of mass destruction that led the front of the Void Century War, so powerful as to erase an island on a single use and raise the world's water levels by meters. We have over the years received small amounts of information on them, and as of 1117 I believe that we can make a pretty solid guess as to what they do (or can do), and as every piece of fiction is an abstraction of the real world and the author's thoughts, I found it interesting to try and relate the ancient weapons with real world weapons that have been planned and researched over the years... Plus a few bonuses because why not. I'm basically just compiling and resuming dozens of wikipedia articles so feel free to go there to know more.

The Ancient Weapons:

PLUTON

Even though Pluton was revealed first, we know surprisingly little about it compared to the other weapons. That said, we know it is some sort of super ship with considerable power, enough to be thought of as unbeatable by anything other than another Ancient Weapon (which is what led to the preservation of Pluton's blueprints until Franky burned them). This makes it easy to make an educated guess because we do already have something of the sort in the real world, something that Oda "surprisingly" hasn't really used in his story's naval combat. I'm talking about aircraft carriers and their general class of ship. The modern flagship of a modern fleet. Until now, we haven't seen anything beyond battleships in the story.
Fleet with four aircraft carriers.
Now, Aircraft Carriers. They don't translate very well to One Piece, after all they have not discovered planes and that technology -- Pluton could have a fleet of aircraft inside of it but in my opinion that's reaching -- yet. It doesn't need to go that far either.
The biggest publicized aircraft carriers, according to the Wikipedia, are about 320 meters in length or about 1050 something feet on average. The longest one ever being the latest USS Enterprise -- the first ever nuclear powered aircraft carrier inaugurated in 1958 -- which is now decommissioned and the biggest and still active ship being the USS Gerald R. Ford that replaced the Enterprise with its class of ships (the class is named after the lead ship). Through my research, aircraft carriers can be as small as 234,40 meters (769ft) but the aircraft carrier exclusive size, the one where only aircraft carriers have is about 300 meters long (~984 ft) and higher.
USS Gerald R. Ford.
These ships are known for the cream of the crop, and their ability to serve as a hangar for other ships, most commonly aircraft. But that's not all they have in store. general features of an aircraft carrier:
Possible considered upgrades to modern aircraft carriers (technology discovered or made efficient after the ships were built) include:
Besides that, there are also types of aircraft carriers like escort carriers, amphibious assault ships, anti-submarine warfare carriers and more that are specialized on other things.
USS Iwo Jima, an Amphibious Assault Ship type Aircraft Carrier.
What does this all mean?
This means that if Pluton is indeed inspired on an aircraft carrier, you can expect something with the qualities I described like carrying aircraft could be carrying other regular ships instead; the island of the ship could actually be an island; it could shoot missiles instead of cannonballs or lasers; it could have a robot crew operating it (like those in Enel's cover story) or a super autonomous klabautermann; it could have built-in detection systems for Sea Kings, ships and people; it could make Den Den Mushi useless like the EM wave stuff does to comms; be powered by the mother flame if nuclear power is analogous to it... These are things that you can expect coming from the weapon when it is fully unveiled.

POSEIDON

Poseidon is a living person, and she commands Sea Kings. It is the ancient weapon we probably know the most about. It is also the one that is a bit weird to translate to a real world weapon as Sea Kings and sea creatures, alive and stuff. We don't have a fleet of secret specially trained Dolphins or something irl... probably.
A classic panel, legendary even, showcasing the Sea Kings in their nest in the Calm Belt.
Still! There is a type of vehicle that is pretty much the king of sea warfare, and a type of soldier that works well with it. Poseidon can be a mixture of Nuclear Submarines, Shock Troopers, Frogmen and Commandos.
Nuclear submarine, and people on it!
Sea Kings are known to be very hard to detect underwater, and to be able to cause a lot of damage to a regular or unprepared ship. Sea Kings also grow in both size and intelligence with time, making these older Sea Kings powerful and smart chess pieces.
Nuclear submarines are made to be stealthy and to hold a lot of power with their torpedoes and missiles. They go undetected and strike critical hits on the enemy's fleet multiple times if possible. They can also allow for the infiltration into the enemy line, and advanced espionage. The fact they use nuclear power allows them to stay way more time deployed than a regular one that uses conventional fuel. Thankfully when it comes to features submarines like those are way simpler, not that they're not effective, they're very effective.
Another thing is that Nuclear Submarine CAN be armed with nuclear weapons. I don't know how that would translate to a Sea King.
Shock Troops are special troops made to lead an attack on the enemy. Hit first and hit hard, Commandos are special units that go behind the enemy line to do critical missions and Frogmen are combat swimmers that specialize in doing underwater combat, recon, tactical stuff.
a Frogman underwater.
They may even be able to influence ocean currents in some way, a virtue of their number and size. Poseidon is in a way simpler to interpret and understand than the other two, but it doesn't need it. Such a huge marine force can do a LOT in a world mostly made of islands.

URANUS

The newest one to be teased and the first one we got to see working! From high above it strikes dozens and dozens of strikes, each a beam of apparent red light that razes the target until all that remains is a huge hole in the sea. It is confirmed to lead to a rise in sea levels!
The Lulusia Kingdom never... existed.
The first thing that comes to mind to a visual reader is a Laser Weapon, in real life they aren't all that crazy but fiction is different. DragonFire is a new weapon that is being developed by the British and is said to be used in their Royal Navy by 2027, Laser Defense Systems like the Israeli Iron Beam also come to mind. No doubt military all over the world are researching the possibility of making a super laser pointer to stop anything electronic that comes nearby, sadly, the melting/ vaporizing beam or even Cyclops "Punch Force" beams are not realistic. Laser technology is being developed as we speak and systems that allow for a reasonable charging and firing of a beam is in our futures, only that they'll stop missiles and drones and stuff, probably blind a bird or a pilot maybe. It takes too long for a laser to heat up something for a combat application like the ones in our dreams, it'll remain a thing of the future for a while. Nothing of that spy movie satellite laser stuff (at least not with lasers).
DragonFire being tested.
The first thing that comes to mind to a contextual reader is the Thermonuclear Weapon, a Nuke, I don't need to explain about nukes, everyone knows what it can do and how it gets there and stuff. Nowadays a nation can launch one of those bombs in a missile from strategically placed military bases that have been planned for the best mutual destruction possible. You can always put one in a plane and drop it or in the previously mentioned Nuclear Submarine. They're way more powerful than those infamous nuclear bombs from WW2, they're Hydrogen Bombs now, optimized nuclear fission made to instigate a chain reaction with the most available particle in the surface of Earth. It basically gets the air itself to release energy.
Now comes the fun part to me, finding other weapons besides the most obvious that could've been integrated into the design of Uranus. I'll make a list:
an M777 type Howitzer
fictional image of what it could be. It's a proven concept but not practical irl at all.
how a FOBS works. it launches and evades the usual north facing radars.
That's pretty much it. From what we know, whatever it was based on, it needs to move to be over the target and needs Mother Flame to work. It looks like a laser and it completely erases an island to an incredible depth.

BONUS:

Shinokuni in action. You can look up Pompeii's \"statues\" yourself.
submitted by Kioga101 to OnePieceSpoilers [link] [comments]


2024.06.09 01:21 vzoadao What is the actual short volume??? Discussion

Apes: please for god's sake just let the grownups talk for a minute so that we can all get to the bottom of this::
SO. From what I've been able to gather, last autumn there was 98% short interest of about 39 million shares shorted on a total supply of 40 million shares. It seems like a lot of the perceptions of a remaining 98% short interest are derived from this calculation. Unfortunately, also in the autumn, 400 million new shares were gradually issued by the company in the form of convertible bonds, issued directly to institutional investors. This is not in contention, the CEO acknowledged hat this is the case.
This slow dilution did occur. It did not however, occur **overnight*\* and this perception, of it having occurred suddenly, is what CEO Matthias Aydt is clearing up in that YouTube video. The perception that it occurred suddenly is due to a 5 month gap in financial disclosures, with the updated share count not becoming public until about May 29th.
As far as I am able to tell, there is no data directly indicating that there have ever been 430 million shares shorted. If so, I hope someone will provide that data.
However, updated fintel data tells us that, including within the dark pools, there is currently a short volume of 127,435,839 shares, off-exchange including dark pools, plus 11,986,274 shares on-exchange. This is, as far as publicly available data that I have been able to find, the best indication of the current outstanding total short interest.
On-Exchange short interest: 2.75%
Off-Exchange Short Interest: 51.62%
Whether this information is fully up to date or is not is apparently contentious and I do not have sufficient information to weigh in on this question.
We do however also have some concrete data on FTDs or Fails To Deliver. Correct me if I am wrong, but these data describe how many shares, shorted or otherwise, owed between parties through options trading are past due. This data, where posted, is CUMULATIVE, meaning it is a representation of all outstanding FTDs combined, not only new FTDs.
https://chartexchange.com/symbol/nasdaq-ffie/failure-to-delive
May 9th was the most recent high mark of total FTDs, 18,551,357.
Here is where things are a little bit murky.
According to the fintel data, most but not all of these were settled the next day, May 10th, as far as the data reflects. 18,150,855 FTDs were removed from the sheet, leaving about 400,000 FTDs on the sheet at the end of May 10th.
Were these single day options that closed and were settled that day? There was not a surge until ten days later (which no, was not a "mini squeeze", it was an 8000% squeeze, which is a percentage growth unseen even by the height of the GameStop play in 2021).
And here is the real REAL issue. Some of us here believe that June 11th, the due-by date for those 18 million FTDs, is the day we are looking at for a potential squeeze. The fintel data that is available only shows 31,199 FTDs currently outstanding, so the available data doesn't explicitly show these FTDs as pending settlement. I do not understand the mechanism by which a short squeeze or a gamma squeeze is expected to occur on the FTDs from May 9th, but if there is an argument for why this can be expected, let's have that discussion.
As to the reconciliation of the FTD count and the current apparent off-exchange short interest of 51%, I do not know how to reconcile these. If the data is to be taken at face value, an explanation is that this figure of 51% represents new short interest, positions opened since May 3rd (as the due by date for these positions was June 7th and has now passed by.
My perspective is that this 51% short interest is new short positions that have opened since the squeeze. They could be puts that are well in-the-money since we are so far below the recent high of $3.80 and thus wouldn't end up as FTDs. They could be short positions taken at level significantly below the price we are at now. I have no idea. Discuss?
I am not a financial analyst or advisor or a professional trader, I am a broke musician writing this from my parent's house. Do not take any of this as financial advice, these are questions meant to be supportive of financial education. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE, DON'T GET SCAMMED, DO NOT TRUST ANYONE, DO NOT TRUST HOPIUM, DO NOT TRUST YOURSELF. WE BALL.
submitted by vzoadao to FFIE [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 22:44 RandomRDThrowaway4 A schism is brewing in r/superstonk after GameStop goes against doctrine by diluting the redditor's holdings for 3 billion USD. The apes proceed to have a holy war against those without unwavering conviction in the Messiah

Context
Superstonk is a subreddit focused around the discussion of GameStop (Hereinafter "GME") the stock; it became the predominant forum for GME holders after wallstreetbets stopped the posting of GME.
Recently, the main influencer of GME, DeepFuckingValue, came back from a multi year hiatus and began posting again. Given the circumstances of GameStop stock suddenly increasing in value, the company decided to issue new shares in order to raise additional capital at the expense of diluting the share count.
Why are the apes particularly upset? For those not in the loop and to offer a grossly oversimplification, most of the apes believe that GameStop will eventually be worth trillions of dollars per share after the great M.O.A.S.S. event occurs. With this idea in mind, they have come up with a myriad of ways of trying to cause this event to happen. The primary method of which is to copy the language of cryptocurrency
Buy
HODL until the great wealth transfer and/or reckoning
As a result of this mentality, many apes have committed to DRSing their shares, which primarily has an effect of making it vastly harder to sell their shares and providing GME the opportunity to report how many DRS'd shares exist. This kind of The latest documents pertaining to how many reported DRS shares listed 75 million shares (at 15.5 USD per share) representing a portfolio of over 1 billion USD at the time of reporting. The apes theorized that this method will eventually help cause MOASS by 'proving' something (Naked shorts, fake shares, float is locked etc.)
For the sake of brevity, I won't be completely defining all of the financial words being used here, because it's quite frankly a vast rabbit hole that isn't needed to understand the drama taking place.
Sadly, GameStop distributed 45+75 million shares with the latest offerings, effectively negating over 3 years of accumulation by the apes in their attempt to cause M.O.A.S.S. through this method (Unless you put on the tinfoil and say that the DRS count is grossly underestimated), hence leading to this drama where the apes try to figure out what could possibly be going on.
Definitions
GME: GameStop's stock ticker
M.O.A.S.S. (Mother Of All Short Squeezes): The event that causes every holder of GameStop to become infinitely wealthy; This isn't a sarcastic, there is a non-minority amount of apes who believe in the ability for GameStop to be worth more than the GDP of the entire world.
RK / Roaring Kitty or DFV / DeepFuckingValue: Considered a figure in the community that apes follow, he will be mentioned in these posts as he recently came back from a multiyear hiatus, but otherwise all you need to know is that he's one of the two individuals that cannot be insulted.
RC / Ryan Cohen: The current CEO of GameStop; the other individual that cannot be insulted and will be the main target in the upcoming linked drama, as he's the person with the power to cause the dilution in the first place.
Paperhands: To sell your holdings; selling is a socially discouraged move
DD: Generally used as broadly gesturing "there's due diligence that supports/rejects your conclusion"
Popcorn: Referring to AMC Theaters
AA - Adam Aron: The CEO of AMC, usually referenced in these discussions because he "sold out" the popcorn apes by diluting the AMC stock for money.
Shill: You might already know the definition of this word, but apes usually use this word for people against the idea of MOASS
Short(s): A financial term for describing someone that would make money from a stock given the stock falls in price. MOASS requires that shorts exist and in large amounts, because otherwise it would be real hard for a MOASS if there was no short squeeze. Can also be used to describe someone against GME
Hedgies: Shortform for "hedgefunds", a catch-all term for any organization against the success of GME / MOASS
HODL / Diamond Hands: Cryptocurrency and wallstreetbets lingo for "not selling"
Float: Financial term for the amount of shares that are distributed to investors for purchasing and moving around; MOASS requires that the float be 'small' or 'locked up' by people
The arguments are many
Serious talk about the share offering (13,057 points, 85% upvoted)
Check my post history. I've been here since the beginning and imo I am about as far from a shill as one can get without being DFV or one of the top wrinkle brains.
Author's note: Drink a shot every time you see a loyalty test
Thank you. This place is an echo chamber borderline cult mentality. RC himself said judge me on my actions not my words. Well his actions don’t seem to be in my favor.
RC is a billionaire, you do not become a billionaire without exploitation. You should have known he was not your ally.
I think we know more about our CEO than the user that has not been in this sub at all over the last three years. Are you even a GME investor or you just show up now to start talking fud? The DD still stands.
You’re exactly the problem that the OP is addressing
For pointing out that accounts claiming to have “been here from the beginning” have not, actually, been here at all? We’re all individual investors. If you or OP or anyone else has lost faith that the company aligns with your interests, don’t let us crayon eaters stop you. By all means, sell your position and walk. Short it, I don’t care. Coming here and screaming the roof is on fire over something we voted to let the company do? When their plans aren’t yet known? Over a failed gamma ramp that’s just another in a long line of failed gamma ramps? Sounds like this isn’t the investment for you, bye ✌️.
People have high high cost basis. Shutting down every volatility by issues shares is no better than popcorn. Fuck this shit
Are you really comparing popcorn to gme? GTFO. Man, between the shills, cry babies, and delusional people, this whole thread is a mess. You think it's the company's fault? If you have a high cost basis? Nobody made you buy at any price point. Literally a month ago shares were selling for $10. Now they made a bunch of money and the shares are 2.8 times what they were selling for a month ago. What in the hell you talking about?
Meh. I’m not a shill. You’re kind of a jerk if you get bent out of shape at people if every time GME seems poised to run, the company issues more shares. That’s about the only thing popcorny here.
"Every time". LOL. Please, lay out your examples. This is absolutely not true. Gme has run up and come back down a number of times without any action or intervention by the company at all. I'm not going to argue with you about me being a jerk. Sometimes I am. You definitely have memory issues or are delusional though. Seriously, lay out for me the dates when gme was poised to run up and then the company diluted the stock "Everytime". I've been following the stock for years man. A line like that might work on somebody new but anybody who's been following the stock knows you're full of BS.
Said if. You’re a jerk. Blocked
1. MOASS is not guaranteed. I would lean more towards unlikely. 2. RC's job, as CEO, is the future of the company. Not short term holders and squeezes. Downvote engage. I like the stock.
I'm a long-term holder and have been for over 2 years, holder of GME for over 3. The fact that you can even say MOASS is not likely and be fine with it is disturbing. I didn't buy into GME for some regular long-term play. I bought GME for MOASS. No MOASS and I'm gone.
Then you should be gone? MOASS is only possible, like in the real world where real numbers and real money exists, if the entire financial industry crumples, and the federal government pays out people who own one particular stock, but not the rest. You have to believe in a world where Intel, Boeing, Ford, et al would be last in line for federal guarantees, but GameStop would be first. You have to believe all of that for MOASS to be real. So, why are you still holding?
Lol I'm not entertaining an actual shill comment. I'll disagree and argue with other apes but you can fuck right off.
Upvote only if you still believe MOASS is still coming (24,864 points, 76% upvoted)
How did this post with minimal content get 2,800 upvotes in a little over an hour at midnight when the sub is mostly dead??? Were these upvotes paid for or is some actor pushing this to the top of SuperStonk forcing the masses to think this is the subs consensus?
I’m not a bot or shill. You can check my post history. I never expected this to blow up either. Figured posting late on Friday was going to be pretty dead but just seeking some consensus of thoughts based on todays events
In the last 14 minutes this post has gone from 2800 to almost 3700 upvotes (1:16am to 1:30am). You also have over 250 comments and you’ve only replied to 4. 3 of them are accusing you of bot upvotes and karma farming. The 4th one asked what price you plan to sell at and you answered that you have a price in mind with 3 digits. Sorry you’re sus. That upvote rate seems unrealistic this late at night, and your few responses to comments are sus. Mods if you see this might want to look into this post and guy. For reference, I posted a Happy Birthday post to DFV with a clip from his stream today not long after this post. DFVs birthday got 160 upvotes in the same time (while being #1 in rising), yet you got 3700 with no content, just doesn’t make sense.
MOASS being in question at all is pretty telling that people are nowhere near as committed to GME as they claim.
No asking questions allowed! Only blind, cultish faith!
Never said that, but you do you. I'm not "questioning" leadership until there is a concrete reason to. Hardly cultish faith.
Plenty of concrete reasons to. But if you’re holding your ears and eyes closed, you can’t tell the difference
How will it be coming when the company themself decides to fuck us over with dilution? Everything was aligned, we had momentum with all the speculation around earnings, DFV positions etc, but they decide to completely wreck it by diluting our shares. Not to mention years of DRS work were also wiped out just within a month. There’s no chance that RC isn’t fucking with investors at this point. Getting stabbed by the company themself rather than the enemies really hurts
Are you so regarded that you think companies can magically transform their business without cash???
You are missing his point. This is about giving lives to short when they appeared to be cornered. Not once, twice, but 3 times. RC couldve done it at any other time but at the short killing momentum. How do we know if the 4th aint coming? What would you say if the 4th one is coming at the next up?
I'd say fuck yes, keep generating cash?
That is not a retail friendly way to generate cash my guy.
Maybe RC can start an onlyfans? How else would you propose we generate 5 billion dollars?
Why Not Wait Until Tuesday To Dilute? (40 points, 57% upvoted)
Sounds like you should sell and move on. Not me, tho.
Sounds like you should team up with Jim and suck some horses!
[Deleted user, removed comment]
Buddy, if you don't know what you've invested in, maybe that's a sign it isn't for you. For me I know I've invested in a company with management I personally trust, transitioning away from a legacy business with a rabidly passionate investor base. There's also an added bonus of Wall Street likely being heavily short the stock which may accelerate the timeframe on my ROI.
Added bonus? You got the whole story wrong here, buddy. We are here for the MOASS,the business is the added bonus. Not the other way around. No one was thinking about the business in January 2021, no one was kissing RCs ass, we came for the MOASS and to punish some hedgies. I don't know how you got it all mixed up.
We're in the Endgame now. (5,017 points, 86% upvoted)
If you don’t have conviction in RC and board to turn the company and deliver the short killshot. What the fuck have you been doing the last 3 years? I have conviction. I buy when the value is attractive. I hold. I’m chill. Cheers everyone.
Short kill shot? He did the opppsite lmao. He gave them shares to get out without a squeeze. Literally did The opposite of a killshot
The only killshot is turning the company around into a successful profit churning machine. Why would shorts ever close otherwise? They would just short the top of the squeeze again and walk away with more.
lol. Do you not see how ridiculous you sound? This sub is one million strong. Do you think this sub has a million people because “GME is a long term investment”? Honestly this is peak delusion. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of company that have a better growth prospect than GameStop. You’re fucked if you can’t see that. Like this sub has more people subscribed than the NVDA sub, but you’re actually regarded if you think GME has a better growth prospect than NVDA. There is no reason to be here if you want to invest in GME long term. They don’t even have a fucking plan lmao. But yea, blindly trust Ryan Cohen. GME is dead if there is no MOASS.
My favorites are the shills who claim to be OG apes. Just a couple hours ago, one got pissy when I called him a shill and responded with "I've been holding longer and gave more shares!" 🤣
What is a shill to you though? Anyone who doesn’t share your sentiment? Because that’s what I’ve been seeing on this sub for a long time. I have been here for 3 1/2 years and I am pissed about the share dilution. That doesn’t make me a shill, it makes me a human being with an opinion. Jesus Christ.
The ones who are now saying they don't trust RC. Here's something to consider: The Hedgies were definitely gonna short it & drive the price down before, during & after the live stream. Absolutely no question about that. GameStop announced the ATM, and have either sold or not sold. If they sold, they did it when the momentum was gonna get killed, anyway. Which is really the best time to do it. Sort of like ripping the band-aid off all at once. They raise capital & won't have to worry about killing momentum later. If they didn't sell, then all of Friday's movement rests squarely on the Hedgies manipulating the price. Retail didn't cause those moves. This just further proves the manipulation. Plus, GME can now sell 75 million shares during MOASS to create a HUGE war chest for future improvements.
Endgame my ass!! This is bullshit that they chopped the legs outta momentum. For all you fucks that say options are bad your the real shills. Buying calls is a bullish sign. Time decay happens and when you fuck it up people have aright to be pissed. Golden opportunity pissed down the drain by the timing of the announcement
Shill
Hey shill check your post from 2 yrs ago that’s how I feel today but not by some big bad hedgies it’s worse it was done by my CEO.
The fact that you bothered to go through my posts that long is a strong indication you’re not a regular person because nobody who isn’t paid is going to that effort. This is the last response I’m bothering to give you
Lmao shill ass dude
get a real job
THE ENDGAME AGAIN - IM HERE TILL THE END
Actually this time is different RC printing shares and diluting. Dude literally scraped away all DRS value. Not shitting on GameStop but definitely want to know why he scraped $3-6 Billion away from shareholders
Then why do yall worship the guy?
He’s a fucking ceo of the company we invested in. Worship is such a loaded word that is meant to cause an emotional reaction in us and you. You’re actually the deluded one if you think about it for a few minutes… he’s our ceo and we trust him.
Its not a loaded word lmao. You dont treat RC the way you have ever treated the ceo of literally any other company you ever invested in, and you know that. You can pretend that you just love the company you havent shopped at for years all you want. You're in this sub for the squeeze just like everyone else.
They came out full force yesterday. Haters, shills, and anyone who came in for a quick buck are pissing their pants from a small dip. Diamond hands.
So you think being pissed about share dilution is a shill tactic? Guess what. When I woke up yesterday morning and saw the news I knew the price was going to drop and kill the ITM options. I didn’t care about that. What I cared about was the dilution. No one told me this, no one shilled. I came to a realization on my own. Share dilution sucks. The good thing is that if gme has 5 billion in the bank, that means that there are almost 12 bucks per share and nearly no debt. So that should be the absolute minimum it can go now. Bad thing is that our shares are each a smaller percentage of the company and if we want to 100% lock the float we have to buy up more than 100 million more shares. That sucks. I’m also pissed about the timing. That sucked too. I hold but I’m tired. I think we deserve answers soon. We’re not just a billionaires cash machine
You have to break a few eggs if you want to make an omelette. I think there's a lot more to this situation than any of us know. We'll find out in due time.
There’s always a super secret plan that we can’t tell you until it’s time. I hope you’re right but I’m starting to get tired of this
Then bail out. Seriously. If you don't trust the leadership and you don't trust RC and you feel negative about the company then why are you invested in it? I don't get it. What's with you people who think RC and the leadership is terrible, but you're invested in them? Never invest in a company that I didn't trust the leadership. That would be insane. No offense but if you feel that bearish then why don't you get out? Personally after yesterday I'm even more bullish. More bullish than I ever have been before and I'm very excited about the next two weeks.
You know what? This place Is a fucking cult! “Leave if you don’t like it!” Jesus bro.
If you really don't trust them then it is very good advice to not invest. Why would you invest in a company that you don't trust? Seriously! I would never never never do that. I do trust the leadership and that's why I'm here.
Blind trust is absolute stupidity
I agree with you. Are you commenting on yourself?
I’m the one asking questions, ya dumb shit
You say shills but it’s most likely regular people just tired
Shill
Yea I’m the shill look at my post history 😂
Not going to waste effort but if you’re tired of holding just sell and get out. Spending your free time trying to spread angst is weird as fuck when the scenario objectively has never been bullish
submitted by RandomRDThrowaway4 to SubredditDrama [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 22:07 Mr-Gyno-Throwaway 1 month post-op regrets; I wish I kept my gyno

I'm a month out from surgery, and I am dealing with post-op regrets. It all amounts to me wondering if I should have considered keeping the gyno. I'm not here to rain on anybody's parade. I'm not here to argue against the surgery in general. But what I am here to do is to highlight some things I wish I understood before doing the surgery.
There are so many pro-surgery posts on this subreddit. I think we can bear to have a few more that pump the breaks on the process and look at it more cautiously. It's okay to have the surgery, but I was too gung-ho -- this lead to me having gaps in my planning, and I failed to mentally prepare myself for certain challenges.
If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have gotten the surgery. At the very least, I should've waited more. In retrospect, the psychological, financial, and recovery costs outweighed the aesthetic benefits. Other guys describe the surgery improving their lives immediately. That wasn't my experience. I saw my new masculine chest at the follow-up appointment, and to my surprise, I did not care that much even though I spent a year planning in earnest for the surgery. I wanted the surgery, but now that I'm living with the result, I can say that I made a mistake.
Those reading this may think I am a wimp and stupid, but lol, go right ahead. I just want to add my experience to help those on the fence about the surgery. Even if they still get the surgery, they can mentally prepare themselves better than I did.
1) How much do you really "hate" your gyno? Understanding this puts the challenges of surgery into high relief: A lot of posts on this subreddit are dudes asking if surgery is worth it. The typical answer they get is, "It's worth it if it's worth it to you." But that, imo, doesn't clarify anything. Even before surgery, I did not see eye to eye with guys who talked about their gyno in terms of hate. They really, really, really HATED the gyno. For me, I coexisted with it. Yes, I had anxiety about it; yes, I was once bullied in school about it; and yes, it affected my confidence in my dating life. But my discomfort was always brief and situational, if recurrent. Though I had anxiety about my gyno, that was a normal, incidental insecurity. Real anxiety, however, set in after the surgery. I've been constantly worrying about my results, deeply depressed over spending a chunk of my savings, and worried about my longterm health. That's real anxiety -- all encompassing, hurting my ability to sleep and work. It's the most depressed that I've been in my adult life. Gyno never ruined my life like this. The surgery did. (Fyi, I'm seeing a therapist right now, so no worries.) A lot of you can do recovery standing on your heads because you truly hate your gyno. Gyno gave you real anxiety. But I had a lot more difficulty with the surgery because I had a lot more reservations about the process, and because I failed to understand my own "anxiety" about gyno. Accordingly, recovery is way more difficult for me.
2) Consider the possibility of living with your gyno: I wish I considered this in earnest before my surgery. Now I'm learning about guys who've reported success in dating despite their gyno, and am learning that many, though not all, significant others don't care about the gyno (https://www.reddit.com/gynecomastia/comments/11s87ml/how\_unattractive\_is\_gynecomastia\_to\_women/, https://www.reddit.com/gynecomastia/comments/svvpbw/people\_with\_gyno\_do\_you\_have\_girlfriends\_and\_how/). Many guys get the surgery because the gyno was mentally crippling, but though my gyno gave me some anxiety, I believe that, with enough time, I might have found peace with it. I'm sorry that I did not consider this sooner. I'm sorry I did not have the courage to even think of trying.
3) If you pursue surgery, take your surgery fears seriously: I didn't consider surgery for years in part because of money, but also because the idea of surgery was so risky to me. I do not like the idea of giving that much trust to a stranger over my body. In time, however, I convinced myself to man-up. But those reservations leapt back up after my surgery. Fears of nerve damage, scarring, cratering, etc. I am often terrified.
4) Post-op numbness and sensitivity is frightening: I've seen Reddit dudes be flippant about about the post-op numbness, and I mentally downplayed nerve disruption before getting my gland excision and lipo. Now that I am a month into recovery, however, I can say that plastic surgery was a mistake for me. The numbness is absolutely frightening, can last months, and outweighs whatever "anxiety" I ever got from the gyno. With the benefit of hindsight, that alone is reason to avoid the surgery. Nevermind the sexual element of nipple sensation. Nerves are how we experience the world. Killing the nerves, if briefly, kills your ability to live on a base level. What was I thinking? The funny thing is, I was already worried about it, but decided that traditional gyno surgery was better than skin excision. This brings me to the next point...
5) Doing the surgery was EXTREMELY stupid for me: I decline to release pictures of myself because of privacy reasons, but I was a semi-substantial case. I did most of my consultations when I was obese, and two surgeons told me that my skin would NOT retract in part because of my age: I am in my mid-30s. Those two doctors heavily recommended skin excision surgery. The other surgeons I spoke to, including the one I hired, were not 100 percent confident that I would retract. Cut to the present day. My skin retraction is pretty darn good. I have some issues with my results, but I'm still relatively early on in my recovery, so I'll hold my peace about that for now. So why do I already regret surgery? Because I took a dumb risk. The worst possible result would have been to get surgery and deal with sagging skin. For all I know, my skin might to start sag after I remove my vest! This defeats the purpose of surgery! It's not worth the risk! Stupid, stupid, stupid! So why would I insist on getting the surgery? Because I'm bullheaded and because of FOMO!
6) FOMO -- fear of missing out -- is not a reason to rush the process: I don't want to understate my pre-op anxiety about the gyno. It was certainly there, if low-level, and it was recurrent enough that learning about skin laxity last year got in my head. I set an arbitrary deadline for this year to lose weight and get surgery. But that's a terrible approach if you still have reservations about surgery. Surgery is irrevocable. You cannot force the matter. If you fuck up, you fuck up forever. You have to be 100 percent gung-ho about it, and it was a mistake for me to do it when I still had reservations. Looking back, one of my biggest strengths as a person is that when I set a goal for myself, I stick to it. One of my biggest weaknesses as a person, however, is that when I set a goal for myself, I stick to it. I was inflexible about the gyno surgery even though I had serious concerns.
7) My research had blindspots: Like I said, I've been planning this surgery about a year, but looking back, I glossed over certain important things. For example...
8) Respect the months-long recovery process: Recovery comes in two phases. The first involves religiously wearing a recovery vest, sleeping on your back, and avoiding heavy weights. Many doctors recommend up to six weeks for this phase. Few people talk as much about the second phase, however. The second phase involves months of swelling, numbness, internal scar tissue, etc. You need to respect and understand this second phase before surgery. I personally glossed over it during my research. Accordingly, recovery became a lot more difficult and anxiety-ridden for me because I wasn't mentally prepared.
9) Bring pictures to consultations: When speaking to a surgeon, have printed before-and-after pictures of your desired results, and bring pictures of results you want to avoid. These should probably be pictures that resemble your gyno case. I never did that, but looking back, I think I could have communicated my concerns better. Do not have a "Jesus, take the wheel" approach with your surgeon, even if they're considered good at their job. Their personal aesthetics may not match your personal aesthetics. Guide them.
10) Research lipo!: I took lipo for granted because I was overweight, but I should've researched it anyway. If I did, I would have learned it results in nerve damage. Also, like another reddit user (whose post I cannot immediately find), I'm worried about the potential that my chest is now too flat for my body. Right now, that's just insecurities on my part. In any case, arrive at your consultations ready to discuss lipo in detail. Work together with your doctor in determining the correct amount of fat to take out. Would you even benefit from lipo?
11) Ask your surgeon about their revision policy, and accept the chance that you may need a revision: The stupidest thing I did during my consultations was that I never, ever asked my doctors about their revision policy. Will it cost the patient money? I naively came into the process ready to do only one procedure. But this subreddit is littered with posts from guys who are unhappy with their results, even from popular surgeons. Ask yourself if you're willing and able to do multiple procedures in the event that your first surgery didn't do as hoped. Are two surgeries -- and the related recovery periods -- worth it for you?
12) Once you get the doctor's cost estimate, wait at least a week before you agree to do surgery: Even if you and your surgeon are love at first sight, wait a while. Be cautious. It's just good life advice when making a huge purchase like this. Take that time to ask them any other follow up questions that come to mind.
13) And before you pay, think HARD about the cost: I did not really hurt myself by paying for surgery, but man, I would still love to have that money in my bank account.
Maybe I'll change my mind about surgery several months from now, but right now, I don't mind sharing these thoughts on it.
Tl;dr: I regret surgery because I did not understand my own mind before getting it. Living with gyno is a viable alternative if you're mentally up for it; read up on people who are happy with their gyno. And if you pursue surgery anyway, plan carefully and cautiously.
submitted by Mr-Gyno-Throwaway to gynecomastia [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 21:09 SanderSo47 Directors at the Box Office: Ang Lee

Directors at the Box Office: Ang Lee
https://preview.redd.it/3ey3xk1cce5d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=013619527a9526a4c1a28fce38d2b1320c6e7192
Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Ang Lee's turn.
Lee's father, a respect principal, was hoping that his son would become a professor. But he was disappointed when his son failed his high school exam twice, forcing him to attend a less privileged university. Seeing Ingmar Bergman's film The Virgin Spring was a formative experience for him. After finishing his mandatory military service, he moved to the United States to complete his studies. He wanted to become an actor, but his struggle with English made him move into directing. After finally meeting a few contacts in the industry, he started working as a director.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

Pushing Hands (1991)

His directorial debut. It stars Sihung Lung, Lai Wang, Bo Z. Wang, Deb Snyder and Haan Lee. It follows a Chinese tai chi master living in New York, who struggles to find his place in the world. The film shows the contrast between traditional Chinese ideas of Confucian relationships within a family and the much more informal Western emphasis on the individual.
Lee graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1984, but had failed to find career opportunities since, working almost full-time as a house-father. During the intermediate six years, he became interested in martial arts, specifically tai chi, after reading the wuxia novel Jianghu qixia zhuan. This motivated him to write a screenplay, which brought the attention of Hsu Li-kong, a recently promoted senior manager in a major studio who had a strong interest in Lee's unique style and freshness. He invited Lee to make his directorial debut.
It had a very limited release, and it was reported that it made just $152,322 domestically. But it received acclaim in the United States and Taiwan. And that allowed Lee to finally get a chance to expand his horizon.
  • Budget: N/A.
  • Domestic gross: $152,322.
  • Worldwide gross: $152,322.

The Wedding Banquet (2023)

"You are cordially invited to a wedding where everybody wants to kiss the bride... except the groom."
His second film. The film stars Gua Ah-leh, Lung Sihung, May Chin, Winston Chao and Mitchell Lichtenstein. The story concerns a bisexual Taiwanese immigrant man who marries a mainland Chinese woman to placate his parents and get her a green card. His plan backfires when his parents arrive in the United States to plan his wedding banquet and he has to hide the truth of his gay partner.
Neil Peng approached Lee with the idea in 1986 by revealing to Lee that one of their mutual friends had moved to the United States and was in a same-sex relationship without the knowledge of the man's parents. Lee and Peng began writing the screenplay two years later and were soon joined by James Schamus. Schamus wrote that the film was "first drafted in Chinese, then translated into English, re-written in English, translated back into Chinese, and eventually subtitled in Chinese and English and a dozen other languages."
The film was critically acclaimed, and became a sleeper hit, earning $23.6 million against a budget of just $1 million. Lee was on the rise.
  • Budget: $1,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $6,933,459.
  • Worldwide gross: $23,633,459.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

"It's hard to tell where sex stops and food begins."
His third film. It stars Sihung Lung, Wang Yu-wen, Wu Chien-lien, and Yang Kuei-mei. It follows four members of the Zhu family as they navigate the challenges of love, life, tradition and family. This film deals with the transition from tradition to modernity. It is Lee's first (and to date, only film) to be shot entirely in his native Taiwan.
Like his previous films, another critical and commercial success. Lee quickly made himself a household name.
  • Budget: N/A.
  • Domestic gross: $7,294,403.
  • Worldwide gross: $24,294,403.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

"Lose your heart and come to your senses."
His fourth film. Based on the novel by Jane Austen, and it stars Emma Thompson (who also wrote the screenplay), Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. The story follows the Dashwood sisters, members of a wealthy English family of landed gentry, as they must deal with circumstances of sudden destitution. They are forced to seek financial security through marriage.
In 1989, producer Lindsay Doran suggested adapting the novel to her colleagues. She was a lifelong fan of the novel, and vowed to make a film adaptation if she ever made it into the industry. Looking for a writer, Doran read screenplays by English and American writers until she came across a series of comedic skits, often in period settings, that actress Emma Thompson had written and decided that that was the direction she wanted for the film. As they were working on the film Dead Again, Doran hired Thompson to write the film, even though she never wrote a feature-length film before.
Thompson spent five years writing and revising the screenplay, both during and between shooting other films. Believing the novel's language to be "far more arcane than in [Austen's] later books," Thompson sought to simplify the dialogue while retaining the "elegance and wit of the original." Despite Doran's confidence, studios were reluctant to pick up the film, as Thompson never wrote a film. Columbia Pictures executive Amy Pascal supported Thompson's work and agreed to sign as the producer and distributor.
In 1993, Lee was hired to direct, basically for his work in The Wedding Banquet. Even though he was not familiar with Jane Austen, Doran felt that Lee's films, which depicted complex family relationships amidst a social comedy context, were a good fit with Austen's storylines. Viewing it as a "director for hire" job, Lee spent six months in preparing for the film, as it would have his largest budget ($16 million) by that point. Doran and Columbia asked Thompson to play Elinor herself.
The film received widespread critical acclaim, and was included on more than a hundred top-ten of the year lists, as well as one of the best Austen adaptations. It was a huge box office hit, earning $134 million worldwide. It received 7 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Thompson won Best Adapted Screenplay, making her the only person to have won an Oscar for both her writing and acting (she won Best Actress two years prior). However, Lee was not nominated for Best Director, a decision that was criticized by many as Hollywood's racism against Lee and Chinese cinema in general. Lee sought to avoid turning his omission into a scandal and specifically asked the Taiwan state media not to make it a "national issue", explaining that he endured more pressure when forced to act as his country's representative.
  • Budget: $16,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $43,182,776.
  • Worldwide gross: $134,582,776.

The Ice Storm (1997)

"The American Dream was over. But the hangover was just beginning."
His fifth film. Based on the novel by Rick Moody, it stars Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes, Glenn Fitzgerald, Jamey Sheridan and Sigourney Weaver. Set during Thanksgiving 1973, it follows two dysfunctional New Canaan, Connecticut, upper-class families who are trying to deal with tumultuous social changes of the early 1970s, and their escapism through alcohol, adultery and sexual experimentation.
The film ended Lee's winning streak at the box office, but it was still critically acclaimed.
  • Budget: $18,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $8,038,061.
  • Worldwide gross: $16,011,975.

Ride with the Devil (1999)

"In a no-man's land between North and South, you didn't fight for the blue or grey, you fought for your friends and your family."
His sixth film. Based on the novel Woe to Live On by Daniel Woodrell, it stars Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jewel, Simon Baker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, James Caviezel, Thomas Guiry and Jonathan Brandis. Set during the American Civil War, it follows a group of men who join the First Missouri Irregulars, also known as the Bushwhackers — guerrilla units loyal to pro-Confederacy units of the state — and their war against Northern Jayhawkers allied with the Union army.
Despite commanding a $38 million budget, the film had a very limited three-day run, making less than $1 million. It also received mixed reviews from critics.
  • Budget: $38,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $635,096.
  • Worldwide gross: $635,096.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

"A timeless story of strength, secrets, and two warriors who would never surrender."
His seventh film. Based on the Chinese novel serialized between 1941 and 1942 by Wang Dulu, it stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen. Master Li Mu Bai, a warrior, is about to retire and gives his sword to his lover Yu Shu Lien to keep it safe. However, the sword is stolen and now an embittered Li embarks on a mission to find it.
The stunt work was mostly performed by the actors themselves and Ang Lee stated in an interview that computers were used "only to remove the safety wires that held the actors" aloft. "Most of the time you can see their faces," he added. "That's really them in the trees." The film specifically targeted Western audiences rather than the domestic audiences who were already used to Wuxia films. As a result, high-quality English subtitles were needed. Ang Lee, who was educated in the West, personally edited the subtitles to ensure they were satisfactory for Western audiences.
Whatever were the expectations for this, the film exceeded them by a large margin. After a limited release, it earned $8 million in its first wide domestic opening weekend. But the crazy thing was how insane were its legs; it didn't hit a sub $4 million weekend until its 12th wide weekend, and it even increased from some weekends. It closed with a colossal $128 million domestically, becoming the highest foreign-language film in United States, a record it still keeps, and it's twice as much as the second place, Life Is Beautiful. Worldwide, it earned $213.9 million worldwide, becoming a worldwide phenomenon and Lee's highest grossing film.
The film was widely acclaimed across the world, hailed as one of the greatest films of the century. The film led to a boost in popularity of Chinese wuxia films in the Western world, where they were previously little known, and led to films such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers, both directed by Zhang Yimou, being marketed towards Western audiences. It received 10 Oscar nominations (the most for a foreign film), including Best Picture and Best Director for Lee. It won four: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography. To this day, one of the most iconic foreign titles. Lee made history.
  • Budget: $17,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $128,530,421.
  • Worldwide gross: $213,978,518.

Hulk (2003)

"Unleash the fury."
His eighth film. Based on the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it stars Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte. The film explores Bruce Banner's origins. After a lab accident involving gamma radiation, he transforms into a giant green-skinned humanoid with superhuman strength known as the Hulk whenever stressed or emotionally provoked. The United States military pursues him, and he clashes with his biological father, who has dark plans for his son.
Since 1990, Avi Arad and Gale Ann Hurd were working on a Hulk film, but Universal was struggling in finding the right script. Hurd brought her husband Jonathan Hensleigh as co-producer the following year, and Universal hired Industrial Light & Magic to create the Hulk with computer-generated imagery. Joe Johnston was hired as director, but he eventually left to work on another film, while Zak Penn was brought to rewrite. Hensleigh subsequently rewrote the script with J. J. Abrams. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were also brought on board to rewrite, with Hensleigh deciding to direct the film himself despite not having directed before. By 1998, Universal put the film on hiatus due to its escalating $100 million budget and worries of Hensleigh directing his first film. $20 million was already spent on script development, computer animation, and prosthetics work. Hensleigh immediately went to rewrite the script to reduce the budget.
In 2001, Lee and his colleague James Schamus signed for the project, after Lee chose not to direct Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. He was dissatisfied with the script and commissioned Schamus for a rewrite, merging Banner's father with the Absorbing Man. Lee cited influences from King Kong, Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, Beauty and the Beast, Faust, and Greek mythology to interpret the story. Schamus said he had found the storyline that introduced Brian Banner, allowing Lee to write a drama that again explored father-son themes. Schamus admitted to feeling pressure after the release of Spider-Man.
Eric Bana commented that the shoot was "Ridiculously serious... a silent set, morbid in a lot of ways." Lee told him that he was shooting a Greek tragedy, and that he would be making a "whole other movie" about the Hulk at Industrial Light & Magic. An example of Lee's arthouse approach to the film was taking Bana to watch a bare-knuckle boxing match. Bana would later disfavorably reflect on his experience making the film as the majority of the time he was working indoors while the rest of the cast interacted with a CGI recreation of the Hulk, somewhat limiting his screen time.
After the colossal success of Spider-Man, Universal mounted an extensive marketing campaign, which also highlighted Ang Lee's involvement. The film opened with a huge $62.1 million in its first weekend, the biggest June debut and the 16th biggest ever. However, the film had absolutely no legs at the box office. In its second weekend, it dropped a colossal 69.7%, which was the biggest for a film that opened above $20 million. In its third weekend, it fell another steep 56.3% and it kept falling until it left theaters, becoming the largest opener not to earn $150 million. It closed with $132 million domestically and $245 million worldwide. Good enough to be the 15th highest grossing film of the year and Lee's highest grossing film, but not a hit given its $137 million budget.
If Spider-Man was an immediate crowd-pleaser, Hulk was the exact opposite. It received polarizing reviews; while its ambition and style was praised, a lot criticized its CGI and very limited action ("too much talking and not enough smashing"). In subsequent years, some have praised the film as an ambitious film that deviated from the superhero formula, although it's still not widely considered as a beloved film. Lee admitted the challenges of the film, but stood proud of the film and its fans.
  • Budget: $137,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $132,177,234.
  • Worldwide gross: $245,285,165.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

"Love is a force of nature."
His ninth film. Based on the short story by Annie Proulx, it stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid. Its plot depicts the complex romantic relationship between two American cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, in the American West from 1963 to 1983.
Screenwriter Diana Ossana discovered Annie Proulx's short story in October 1997, just days after its publication. She convinced writing partner Larry McMurtry to read it, who thought it was a "masterpiece". The pair asked Proulx if they could adapt it into a film screenplay; although she did not think that the story would work as a film, she agreed. The big challenge wasn't the script, it was about getting the film made in the first place.
Gus Van Sant attempted to make the film, hoping to cast Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix as Ennis and Jack, respectively. He also considered Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Ryan Phillippe and Josh Hartnett. Damon, who previously worked with Van Sant on Good Will Hunting, told the director, "Gus, I did a gay movie (The Talented Mr. Ripley), then a cowboy movie (All the Pretty Horses). I can't follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!"
James Schamus, who was now the CEO of Focus Features, optioned the film rights in 2001. Pedro Almodovar was approached, but he felt he couldn't get his artistic freedom respected. At Ossana's request, Schamus showed the story and screenplay to Lee. Lee decided instead to make Hulk, and that film's experience left him exhausted, to the point that he considered retiring. When he was offered Brokeback, he changed his mind and agreed to direct. He was particularly drawn to the authentic rural American life and repression depicted in the story.
Ossana and McMurty suggested Heath Ledger, but the film studio thought he was not masculine enough. Regardless, Ledger got the script, who thought it was "beautiful" and put himself forward. Gyllenhaal reacted to the script positively and signed on for the role; he also did not want to miss the opportunity working with Lee and friend Ledger. Lee met with Mark Wahlberg for a role in the film, but Wahlberg declined as he was "creeped out" by the script. Gyllenhaal admired Ledger and described him as "way beyond his years as a human". Other actors were considered for the leads but Lee said they were too afraid to take on the roles.
You have to consider that while the world progressed a lot in the past years, 2005 was a very different era, so a film like Brokeback Mountain had a tough hill to climb. Some countries refused to play the film, while others censored it. LGBT films weren't big at the time, so it felt like there wouldn't be a big audience here.
And they were proven wrong.
The film debuted with $547,425 in 5 theaters, a huge $109,485 per-theater average. It had fantastic legs, eventually closing with a huge $83 million domestically. But the big surprise is that it was bigger overseas; it made $178 million worldwide, becoming Focus Features' highest grossing film. The film received universal acclaim on its release, touted as one of the greatest films of the century. It received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. It won three: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. In a shocking decision, it lost Best Picture to Crash, a decision that has been reviled ever since. We'd like to say it's a polarizing decision... but let's face it, there are no Crash fans nowadays. Or at least, none that prefer that to Brokeback.
But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter; Brokeback may not have won the Oscar, but it won over the general public.
It wasn't the first LGBT film, not even close. But it might have been the most influential and a huge landmark.
  • Budget: $14,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $83,043,761.
  • Worldwide gross: $178,064,141.

Lust, Caution (2007)

"The trap is set."
His tenth film. Based on the novella by Eileen Chang, it stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tang Wei, Anupam Kher, Joan Chen, Wang Leehom and Shyam Pathak. The film is set in Hong Kong in 1938 and in Shanghai in 1942, when the city was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army and ruled by the puppet government led by Wang Jingwei. The film depicts a group of Chinese university students from The University of Hong Kong who plot to assassinate a high-ranking special agent and recruiter working for the puppet government by luring him into a honey trap.
The actors who played university classmates, spent six months of preproduction in Hong Kong just to get into character and understand the period before filming. During this period the group of actors, including Tang Wei and Wang Leehom became very close friends. Both Tang Wei and Tony Leung Chiu-wai were asked whether the sex scenes in the movie were unsimulated. Tang Wei responded, "In the movie, we are just doing what we should do to have a baby." As for Tony Leung, he responded, "When the bodies collide with each other, it is indeed like a fake show!" The film was rated NC-17 in North America for its explicit sex scenes, and Lee made it clear he would not re-cut the film. Despite that, the version released in China was cut by about seven minutes (by Lee himself) to make it suitable for younger audiences, since China has no rating system.
The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim. Due to the rating, it only earned $4 million domestically. But it was much bigger overseas, where it earned $67 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing NC-17 film (a record it still keeps).
  • Budget: $15,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $4,604,982.
  • Worldwide gross: $67,091,915.

Taking Woodstock (2009)

"Take the trip."
His 11th film. Based on the memoir by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte, it stars Demetri Martin, Paul Dano, Dan Fogler, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff, Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Imelda Staunton and Liev Schreiber. Elliot's parents own a motel in Catskills, New York. To overcome the family's financial crisis, Elliot offers the organisers of the Woodstock music and art festival boarding and lodging in the motel.
The film received mixed reviews, and bombed at the box office.
  • Budget: $30,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $7,460,204.
  • Worldwide gross: $9,975,737.

Life of Pi (2012)

"Don't lose hope."
His 12th film. Based on the novel by Yann Martel, it stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu and Adil Hussain. The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Fox 2000 Pictures executive Elizabeth Gabler acquired the film rights in February 2003. M. Night Shyamalan was attached to direct, and he was expected to film it after The Village. But he dropped to instead make Lady in the Water, "I was hesitant [to direct] because the book has kind of a twist ending. And I was concerned that as soon as you put my name on it, everybody would have a different experience." Other directors considered were Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, both of which declined.
In 2009, Lee was hired, but the film was stuck in development hell when he asked for a $120 million budget. But the revival of 3-D motivated Fox in greenlighting the film under Lee's terms. As Lee started casting, one of the actors involved was Tobey Maguire, who would play a reporter. But it was later reported that Lee chose to cut his scenes, feeling he wanted to emphasize an entirely international cast. His scenes were re-shot with Rafe Spall.
Fox mounted an extensive marketing campaign selling the film as "the next Avatar" in terms of visuals and 3-D. And it fucking killed it at the box office. It earned $124.9 million domestically, which was considered a soft performance. But the real money was in the rest of the world; the film broke records in countries like China, United Kingdom, India and Mexico. It earned a colossal $609 million worldwide, easily becoming Lee's highest grossing film. An absolutely insane performance.
The film also received critical acclaim, praised for its CGI and 3-D. It received 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. And it won four: Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, and then Lee himself won his second Oscar for Best Director, becoming the first Asian to win the award twice. And just like that, he cemented himself as one of the greatest filmmakers of our era. And here's how he celebrated it; going to In-N-Out.
  • Budget: $120,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $124,987,023.
  • Worldwide gross: $609,016,565.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

"To walk the path of a hero, you have to see how it all began."
His 13th film. Based on the novel by Ben Fountain, it stars Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, and Chris Tucker. After a horrifying battle in Iraq, Private Billy Lynn and his fellow comrades are brought home for a victory tour. Soon, he recollects the harsh realities of the war and struggles to cope with life.
The film used an unprecedented shooting and projection frame rate of 120 frames per second in 3D at 4K UHD resolution, which Lee terms the "whole shebang". It is the first feature film ever to be shot in such a high frame rate, over twice the previous record (Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, shot at 48 fps) and five times the standard speed of 24 fps. Lee undertook such a bold step after reading the book since he wanted the film to be an "immersive" and "realistic" experience of the reality and emotional journey of soldiers.
Due to the complexity involved in shooting at a very high frame rate, Lee could not afford to do many takes even for a single scene. Every shot was difficult and at the same time precious. He would rehearse every scene beforehand and would conduct regular morning meetings with the key crew members to highlight things they needed to be alert on. Shooting close-up shots in 3D with such high resolution meant the cast could not wear make-up and could not deliver less-than-authentic performances. Since no make-up was allowed, make-up artist Luisa Abel spent months of preparation on their skin tones. Throughout filming, the production team had to rethink everything, including different approaches to lighting as the camera needed extra lights due to the higher frame rates.
Due to the complexity of the film's unprecedented high frame rate and the cost of installing equipment capable of projecting the film in its intended format, only five theaters globally were equipped to show it at its highest resolution and maximum frame rate: two in the United States (one at a theater in New York City's AMC Lincoln Square where the film had its world premiere and the other in Los Angeles's the ArcLight Hollywood), and one theater each in Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai.
The film opened in 2 theaters (New York City's AMC Lincoln Square and Los Angeles's the ArcLight Hollywood's Cinerama Dome), which were the only ones in the country to play the film at 120fps and the ticket prices at both locations running $20 or higher. It made a pretty great $114,129, which made for a fantastic $57,064 per-theater average (the third best of the year). But when it hit wide release, the film was dead on arrival. It made just $901,062 in 1,176 theaters, which was one of the worst wide debuts ever. And then, despite having its second weekend fall on Thanksgiving, it collapsed by 77.3%. It closed after just 3 weeks with only $1.7 million domestically. It fared better overseas, where China made colossal $23.7 million. Worldwide, it made just $30.9 million, making it a box office flop. Reviews were mixed, and people were polarized over the high-frame rate; some deemed it immersive and impressive, while others found it distracting and flat.
  • Budget: $30,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $1,738,477.
  • Worldwide gross: $30,930,984.

Gemini Man (2019)

"Who will save you from yourself?"
His 14th film. It stars Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong. The film follows a retiring Force Recon Marine scout sniper who is targeted by a much younger clone of himself while on the run from a corrupt private military company.
In 1997, Darren Lemke sold his pitch for Gemini Man after impressing Don Murphy with an unproduced spec script. Warner Bros. Pictures pursued the project, but Walt Disney Pictures ultimately won out and Tony Scott would become attached to direct. Complications soon arose when the studio were planning how to make the film. The producers toyed with the idea of an actor play both roles through the use of visual effects, but Scott moved on from the film before any progress could be made.
The project was stuck in development hell, and saw many actors considered, such as Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Chris O'Donnell, Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood and Jon Voight. Many directors were also considered, before Lee finally signed in 2017, with Smith also joining. Like his previous film, the film was shot digitally at an extra-high frame rate of 120 frames per second (fps), modified for 3D, this time on modified ARRI Alexa cameras mounted on STEREOTEC 3D Rigs.
Again, due to the requirements needed, only 14 theaters in North America could show the film at a 120fps 2K 3D high-frame rate (two in Los Angeles, two in Chicago, and one each in Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Denver, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Baltimore and Houston). Even then, the film was shot at 120fps 4K 3D, which means no theater showed its intended vision. Lee said that 120fps 2K 3D felt like the necessary avenue to make “Junior,” Smith’s digital avatar, a soulful character who could also appear to beat the living crap out of a real actor in the film’s many fight sequences.
The film received negative reviews, particularly for its CGI and story. And like his previous film, the high-frame rate received polarizing reactions. Despite the presence of a big star like Will Smith, the film flopped with just $173 million worldwide, against its $138 million budget, and losing an estimated $111 million for Paramount. Lee's attempt at high-frame rate was just not clicking with the public.
  • Budget: $138,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $48,546,770.
  • Worldwide gross: $173,469,516.

The Future

His next film, as confirmed in November 2022, is a Bruce Lee biopic. The lead actor will be Mason Lee, Ang's son. And he suggested he's not done with the 120fps high-frame rate, claiming he would continue using it in his next film for action sequences.

MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

No. Movie Year Studio Domestic Total Overseas Total Worldwide Total Budget
1 Life of Pi 2012 20th Century Fox $124,987,023 $484,029,542 $609,016,565 $120M
2 Hulk 2003 Universal $132,177,234 $113,107,931 $245,285,165 $137M
3 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 Sony $128,530,421 $85,446,864 $213,978,518 $17M
4 Brokeback Mountain 2005 Focus Features $83,043,761 $95,019,405 $178,064,141 $14M
5 Gemini Man 2019 Paramount $48,546,770 $124,922,746 $173,469,516 $138M
6 Sense and Sensibility 1995 Sony $43,182,776 $91,400,000 $134,582,776 $16M
7 Lust, Caution 2007 Focus Features $4,604,982 $62,486,933 $67,091,915 $15M
8 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 2016 Sony $1,738,477 $29,192,507 $30,930,984 $30M
9 Eat Drink Man Woman 1994 The Samuel Goldwyn Company $7,294,403 $17,000,000 $24,294,403 N/A
10 The Wedding Banquet 1993 The Samuel Goldwyn Company $6,933,459 $16,700,000 $23,633,459 $1M
11 The Ice Storm 1997 20th Century Fox / Disney $8,038,061 $7,973,914 $16,011,975 $18M
12 Taking Woodstock 2009 Focus Features $7,460,204 $2,515,533 $9,975,737 $30M
13 Ride with the Devil 1999 USA Films $635,096 $0 $635,096 $38M
14 Pushing Hands 1991 Lionsgate $152,322 $0 $152,322 N/A
Across 14 films, he has made $1,727,122,572 worldwide. That's $123,365,898 per film.

The Verdict

Despite his past two films getting two of the worst reviews in his career, Lee has proved himself to be a very reliable director.
Something impressive about him is the versatility in his resume. A comic book film, a survival film, a LGBT film, a wuxia film, a sci-fi film, a post-war film, a Jane Austen film, a noir film, an erotic NC-17 thriller, a Western, and some romantic comedies. Even if some don't fully work, there's still some good and interesting aspects in him. And of course, the first Asian director to win 2 Oscars for Best Director. So if he wants to continue with the controversial 120fps high-frame rate, let him cook. Hopefully in more and more theaters worldwide.
Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.
The next director will be Zack Snyder. Oh boy. This is where the fun begins.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... John McTiernan and Rob Reiner. Whaaaaat? Two posts for the price of one? You're welcome! It was a very tight race, and it was tough to choose one or the other. The former has the dishonor of going to director jail and real jail, while the latter had an incredible run before completely crashing with one of Roger Ebert's most hated films.
This is the schedule for the following four:
Week Director Reasoning
June 10-16 Zack Snyder RIP Inbox.
June 17-23 Tony Scott Action films have not been the same ever since his death.
June 24-30 Roland Emmerich The King of disaster films.
July 1-7 John McTiernan & Rob Reiner The rise and fall of two once-great directors.
Who should be next after McTiernan and Reiner? That's up to you.
submitted by SanderSo47 to boxoffice [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 19:33 FabulousUse21 I just received the best news of this year so far!

I just found out today that I one and done-d it in 85 questions. I actually teared up reading it because it took a lot of work and time to get to where I am today. I was lucky enough to have a cousin who gave me some tips and gave me an idea of what the NCLEX was like. She’s the one who also advised me to check out NCLEX subs for info and advice, so I did most of the research on my own from there.
First thing I did was read up on the NCLEX and every little detail about it. Next step was finding good review material, this one took a while before I finally settled on Mark K and Bootcamp. For my study plan, since Bootcamp already had a couple, I just used that and added more of what I thought I still needed to do. I used their 2 month schedule which left me 2 more weeks before my exam to regroup and check what I still needed to improve and for last minute test runs of the exam.
I kept reminding myself that I didn’t have to finish at 85 since it didn’t really mean much but it did shut off there. I took 2 breaks in total which was just the amount I planned on so I could pace myself and relieve some of the anxiety mid-exam. I walked out of the testing center feeling super relieved because it’s finally over. I wasn’t even thinking about the results (not because I was confident about passing but because I did not have the energy or will to actually mull over it). I felt like I answered a lot of the questions right, even the cases, but I was also really unsure about a lot of it so I was honestly lost on what my chances were.
I got 4 high chances on my Bootcamp readiness exams and was scoring above average on my question banks by the time my exam date came. The Bootcamp videos were a huge help, most especially their case study rationale when it came to getting a hang of answering the NCLEX. Mark K was a huge help when it came to prioritization and safety. It gave me a better idea on how to dissect the questions and pick the best answer.
If there’s anything you’ll take from this post it’s:
  1. Pace yourself. Both when you’re writing the exam and when you’re studying for it.
  2. It’s okay to not get high scores initially, read your rationale and work your way up.
  3. Test runs are a must. 85 questions is no joke, so is 150. Get yourself acclimated to that.
  4. Arrive early to the testing site so things can be done smoothly and without panicking.
  5. Once the test is over let it go. It’s already done.
  6. Don’t lose hope. Keep fighting until that very last question. You can do this.
submitted by FabulousUse21 to NextGenerationNCLEX [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 19:21 officialdaxon DD: VRNA PHARMA - PDUFA ACTION DATE: 06/26 // 199% UPSIDE POTENTIAL

DD: VRNA PHARMA - PDUFA ACTION DATE: 06/26 // 199% UPSIDE POTENTIAL
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. I am not an analyst. I am not trained to pick stocks, nor to teach about the market. I am not a doctor, nor a biopharma expert. I have a B.A in Philosophy from a liberal arts school, and I suffer from permanent brain fog from years of overindulgence at that school. You truly, genuinely should NOT trust a single thing I say without verifying it for yourself first, because I am not the person to listen to on matters regarding stocks, options, or other financial advice. Or any advice, really.


VRNA PHARMA, MY PATH TO FUNDING MY PH.D

VRNA Pharma (VRNA) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that has only ever lost money, has a singular candidate product, and is at -29.56% over 3 months. I stumbled across this stock on TradingView by accident, trying to find a different stock. However, my indicators liked the way it looked, so I did a little more digging, and I ended up opening a position two days ago that is roughly 24.62% of my portfolio. I plan to expand that position in the coming weeks.
Here’s the argument: VRNA is relatively undervalued because of the psychological and statistical risks associated with biopharmaceutical companies.

I rely on several key points to demonstrate this argument.

VRNA’S SINGULAR CANDIDATE PRODUCT, ENSIFENTRINE, IS BASED ON ABOVE-AVERAGE SCIENCE
Ensifentrine (also known by its development code RPL554) is a novel, dual inhibitor of the enzymes phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) and phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) that is being proposed as a treatment for COPD. COPD, in layman’s terms, is the long-term inflammation of the blood vessels and airways in your lungs, which makes it significantly harder to breathe or catch your breath- demonstrably affecting a person’s quality of life. It also requires treatment intervention in order to effectively cope long-term.
I will cite the science below this explanation, because I am not qualified to try to even paraphrase it. However, I can explain why I believe ensifentrine is well-researched and grounded in good science, as well as properly argue for its efficacy.
I noted above that ensifentrine is a “novel, dual-inhibitor.” This means it is a) new/different from existing treatments and b) it inhibits the action of two enzymes at once. Enzymes are proteins in your body that act as catalysts to start, stop, slow down, or speed up various biochemical reactions necessary for bodily functions. So, in this context, the PDE3 enzyme is a protein that breaks down a different compound called cAMP (cyclical AMP), which plays a role in relaxing your muscles; so byinhibiting the PDE3 enzyme from being produced, ensifentrine relaxes your airway muscles, because the cAMP there is allowed to do its magic without being broken down by the PDE3. Simultaneously, ensifentrine also inhibits the PDE4 enzyme, which plays a role in your body’s inflammatory response. By inhibiting the PDE4 enzyme, the inflammatory response in a patient’s lungs can be reduced.
Ensifentrine is a unique and innovative treatment because it is the only COPD medication that targets two enzymes at once. This allows for patients to more easily and regularly follow through with treatment regimens, as they are not expected to take multiple medications/doses; it presents a pivotal point in respiratory drug development, as the interest in combined medications has grown by roughly 30% when measured by diagnoses and treatment plans prescribed by doctors; and further, it poses a lucrative opportunity to disrupt a market that has been stagnant for over a decade.
As a maintenance treatment for COPD, the drug has an extremely promising clinical trial history. Further, the drug is still in Phase II clinical trials as a combination treatment with LAMA (a treatment that opens up the bronchi, or little airways in your lungs, by relaxing the muscles) and as a treatment for other conditions, like asthma and cystic fibrosis.

Let’s focus for now on ensifentrine as a maintenance treatment for COPD. This means that it is a medication that is used to help a different, primary treatment succeed. The following analysis pertains to the Phase II – III trials of ensifentrine as a maintenance treatment for COPD.
The Phase IIa study (NCT03443414) showed significant improvements in lung function (FEV1) across all doses, with the highest efficacy at 3 mg, and a safety profile comparable to placebo. FEV1, or Forced Expiratory Volume in one second, measures how much air a patient can forcefully exhale in one second, indicating lung function. The Phase IIb study (NCT03937479) confirmed the 3 mg dose as optimal, showing significant improvements in FEV1, COPD symptoms, and quality of life, along with a reduction in exacerbation rates. The Phase III ENHANCE trials, ENHANCE-1 and ENHANCE-2, aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of ensifentrine in a large COPD patient population. Both trials were multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, and placebo-controlled, conducted across 250 sites in 17 countries. ENHANCE-1 included 760 patients and showed a statistically significant improvement in FEV1 by 87 ml (P < 0.001) compared to placebo. The trial also reported improvements in COPD symptoms and quality of life, and a 36% reduction in the rate of moderate to severe exacerbations (rate ratio: 0.64; P = 0.050). Time to first exacerbation was significantly increased (hazard ratio: 0.62; P = 0.038), and adverse event rates were similar to placebo, indicating good tolerability. ENHANCE-2 involved 789 patients and mirrored the design of ENHANCE-1. It demonstrated a significant FEV1 improvement of 94 ml (P < 0.001) over placebo. Although improvements in symptoms and quality of life were not statistically significant in this trial, the exacerbation rate was reduced by a statistically significant 43% (rate ratio: 0.57; P = 0.009), and the time to first exacerbation was extended significantly as well (hazard ratio: 0.58; P = 0.009). Safety profiles were consistent with ENHANCE-1, reinforcing the reliability of ensifentrine as a COPD treatment.
There are two hiccups in these otherwise very, very promising studies. But before I move into those problems, I want to emphasize just how strong these results are. For a novel mechanism to demonstrate so strongly that it has a definitive effect on the symptomology of a disease that hasn’t seen novel treatment in over a decade is quite impressive.
Now, to the problems. First, a larger-than-average number of people dropped out of the studies. This is almost certainly in part because the studies were conducted throughout the course of the pandemic, which had a disproportionately large adverse effect on COPD and other respiratory patients. Second, and far less damning, the ENHANCE-2 study wasn’t able to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in quality of life (it just barely missed significance).
Both present their own reasons for ICER and/or the FDA to hesitate on giving ensifentrine high marks. ICER expressed explicit concerns about clinical trial participant dropout rates. However, they have also expressed a “high certainty” that ensifentrine provides a health benefit to the public, probably a large net health benefit, giving it an “incremental B+.” A key event to watch for comes on June 14, when CEPAC (a core entity of ICER) will release a report on the cost-effectiveness and public health benefits of ensifentrine. As of right now, they say ensifentrine will be “cost-effective” vis quality-of-life-years if it is priced between $7,500-$12,700. Perhaps this number will change, allowing it to be priced higher, producing better margins for VRNA.
The FDA is expected to make a decision on ensifentrine on June 26, 2024 (19 days). It seems incredibly likely that it will be approved – the science is strong, and while the arguments against the studies are sound, I do not think are hefty.

VRNA’S EXECUTIVE BOARD IS STRONG – ITS CLINICAL OPERATIONS MANAGERS HAVE A SOLID TRACK RECORD – SHARED HISTORY, GOALS, AND OUTLOOK AMONGST LEADERSHIP.

Before we get into the science, we can first look at the scientists who are working on ensifentrine.

A good portion of the executive chiefs, clinical staff, and other high-ranking officials share a common career history, having worked at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a different biopharma research company together. “Ensifentrine was co-invented by Sir David Jack, former head of research at GlaxoSmithKline, who made many significant contributions to respiratory medicine including pioneering the development of salbutamol, still one of the most widely prescribed bronchodilators for asthma today, and the first inhaled steroid, beclomethasone. After Sir Jack left GSK, he focused on seeking a single molecule that would combine both bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory activity, leading to the discovery of ensifentrine. Patents on the work were assigned to Vernalis Plc and later acquired by Rhinopharma Ltd. In 2006, Rhinopharma was recapitalized and renamed VRNA Pharma.”


Kathleen Rickard – Chief Medical Officer at VRNA Pharma. Dr. Rickard is an MD with 3+ decades of respiratory medicine under her belt and has been with VRNA since 2019, overseeing multiple phases of clinical trials. In the past, Dr. Rickard directed clinical trials and regulatory strategies for the respiratory asthma medication NIOX V---, which successfully cleared regulatory hurdles and entered the international market. Further, ”…Dr Rickard was Vice President Clinical Development and Medical Affairs of GlaxoSmithKline’s Respiratory Medicines Development Centre and, over a period of 15 years, held a number of other leadership positions in clinical development across GlaxoSmithKline’s global respiratory franchise…”
Supporting Dr. Rickard in global clinical developments is:
Nina Church – Executive Director of Global Clinical Development. ”Ms. Church brings 30 years of experience of late-stage clinical drug development in respiratory therapeutics, with 25 years at GlaxoSmithKline where she held a series of management positions, including Director, Global Operations COPD. At GlaxoSmithKline, Ms. Church was involved in the development of many respiratory therapeutics including Advair®, Anoro®, Flovent®, Serevent® and Ventolin®. She joins from Parion Sciences where she was Executive Director, Clinical Operations.”

Nancy Herje – Senior Director of Clinical Operations. “Ms. Herje has more than 25 years of experience in designing, planning and executing clinical programs for pharmaceutical and medical device companies including trials for the COPD therapeutic Flovent®. Prior to joining VRNA Pharma, Nancy was a Senior Clinical Scientist at ExecuPharm and previously held roles at Chimerix, Aerocrine, Inspire and GlaxoSmithKline.”
The least impressive, and probably least important in my estimation, is the CEO, David Zaccardelli. He, as far as I can tell, does not have a long history with the other board members, and does not seem to hold a super impressive record as an executive leader. He does, however, have a Ph.D in biopharmaceuticals and not business, so that may be why.
However, what is interesting to note is that Zaccardelli sold around $1.175 million worth of VRNA shares when right before the stock dropped about 50% in a month, in September of 2023. Many other insiders sold large quantities of VRNA at that time as well.
Two insiders, Martin Edwards and David Debsworth bought a combined 200,000 shares the November, right before the price rallied and recovered, netting them a roughly 110% gain over two months (had they bought at market price- they didn’t, so it was a lot more than 110% gain).
What I hope to point out here is that the executive board is a cohesive unit, with a long history of successful projects together. They share similar views, outlooks, and ostensibly goals. They each individually have a strong foundation in the industry, and all have proven track records with respiratory medications. Further, they telegraph relatively clearly when they think shit is about to hit the fan- or perhaps when they’ve struck gold.

The Market for COPD Drugs is Lucrative, and Analysts Have a Very Positive Outlook
COPD is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, third leading cause of death in the world, and roughly 6% of the U.S population has a diagnosis- but there are probably many more unreported cases. Further, there have been no novel COPD treatments released in the last decade- they all rely on pre-existing treatments or compounds. However, the ones that have been developed demonstrate that the market niche is active and lucrative. “According to Vantage Market Research, the GlobalAsthma and COPD Drugs Market is estimated to be valued at USD 57.56 Billion by 2032 at an exponential growth of 4.9% in the next eight years.” It is important to note that a majority of that value is in ((asthma andCOPD treatments) + exclusively asthma treatments), whereas the value of the exclusively COPD drug market is probably less than half of that value. This is for various reasons; the two main ones are that there are more medications which people with either condition can take than there are medications which only a person with asthma or only a person with COPD can take; and combined treatments, in which patients are administered several different treatments, are finding increased prevalence. Further, there are simply more children/young adults with asthma than there are with COPD. However, this leads me into my next subpoint.
Vantage Market Research might even be underestimating the market, as when I checked their insights, they spoke primarily of increased pollution and urbanization, smoking/vaping trends, and aging patterns. I did not see a single mention of COVID (I did not pay for the premium version though). There is growing evidence that being infected with COVID-19, especially if the infection was severe, increases the chances of developing COPD or other chronic adult-onset respiratory conditions. The number of people with this condition is only going to grow with time- whether under the influence of the trends that VMR identified, or COVID, or both. The market, as the callous research would indicate, will grow healthily alongside them. And further, Verna Pharma is currently conducting follow up studies on ensifentrine efficacy for patients affected by long COVID. If approved for COPD, the funding is secured for further R&D and IP development.
And finally, my last point is a financial analysis followed by a brief and limited technical analysis.
VRNA is in a good financial position and nearing the floor which cometh before the ATH
As I stated above, VRNA “…has incurred recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception, and has an accumulated deficit of $414.4 million as of March 31, 2024. The Company expects to incur additional losses and negative cash flows from operations until its products potentially gain regulatory approval and reach commercial profitability, if at all.” The company’s operational losses alone totaled roughly $27.2 million dollars. However, because of frequent equity offerings, “(t)he Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2024, will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of issuance.” Further, it should be noted that VRNA took on a loan of $400 million in 2023 from Oxford Finance, LLC in order to continue financing its costly R&D and clinical trials. This loan is collected in batches of $50-100 million dollars over the course of 5 terms.
Another very interesting term loan facility that VRNA has entered into is with Oaktree Finance. This loan also totals up for an aggregate $400 million, available in “tranches” that become accessible as certain criteria and thresholds are met. Tranche B, worth about $70 million, will be released to VRNA eight business days after ensifentrine receives FDA approval, if it is approved before September 30, 2024. Another $75 million will be released to VRNA if certain sales milestones are met before December 31, 2025. Other tranches will become available later on, as well. In order to finance this loan, Oaktree put a lien on “substantially all” of VRNA’s assets, including its intellectual property. Verna Pharma, in my estimation, sees right now as the make-or-break, pivotal moment for the company. If they can’t secure FDA approval now, the likelihood they receive it before the September 30thdeadline for the Tranche B loan to be released is very low, and the company will spiral quickly from there. However, if they secure FDA approval, this funding will be the engine of the commercialization phase, allowing for scaling and partnerships.
The good news here is that, despite its immense debt obligations, there is a floor for VRNA given the company’s available cash on hand. Further, there is strong institutional sentiment that VRNA will succeed – somewhere around 80% of shares are institutionally owned. It has received the necessary funding to continue operating, and as long as it doesn’t miss FDA approval on June 26, it should stay well-funded throughout its commercialization efforts.
GO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
Let’s look at the charts. I want to emphasize again, I am new to trading; I am new to technical analysis; I am so new that to even say I am learning is kind of overstating it.
https://preview.redd.it/fleqstt5td5d1.png?width=2666&format=png&auto=webp&s=7a1d4df5a48dafe32d545a7a960b9d24400efe97
First, a brief overview. This is a 1 month chart of VRNA. We see a nice bullish falling wedge after a large upswing. You’ll notice a big player(s) swapped 100million shares in July of 2020. I have the VWAP anchored there to demonstrate big fish positioning and to try to sniff out their moves. We see the price respect the middle VWAP band after breaking through on the upswing. Further, we see a valid support get tested three times, and we are now sitting just above it, but have crashed through the middle VWAP band. I smell a breakout. (I know nothing please do your own research and tell me if my technical analysis is bad.
(SEE IMAGE BELOW)
We are now looking at a bi-weekly chart. I first want to show that the price has properly retraced the swing and is now entering a buy-signal territory. This is confirmed to me by the TrendStrengthIndicators, StochasticMomentum, and RelativeStrengthIndicators indicators flashing reversal. I suspect we pivot back up soon.
It is worth noting here that analyst ratings of VRNA are also saying it’s time to buy. Jefferies, H.C. Wainwright, Canaccord Genuity, Truist Financial, BTIG, Piper Sandler, Wedbush have all assigned or re-iterated a strong buy rating- and all of them predict a $30-$36 price point for a 149-199% upside potential.

CONCLUSION

I have about 24.62% of my portfolio in VRNA right now. (SEE IMAGE BELOW) I plan to expand this position when I get paid:
-If price crashes to the second gold fib band and holds
-An hour before close on 06/13, the day before CEPAC is set to release their report
-An hour before close on 06/25, the day before PDUFA Action Date (When the FDA will decide if ensifentrine is approved or not


I will gradually sell increasing fib bands as the price increases, starting at a +50% gain.



(SEE WORKS CITED BELOW)



I really hope to get some good feedback. I am very good at receiving feedback and understanding where my analysis has gone wrong – I am very excited to hear what everyone thinks about the play. If this is, somehow, good analysis, I might share other due diligences I have done on stocks I think are good opportunities.
submitted by officialdaxon to wallstreetbets [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 18:38 littlelulumcd So Tell Me Everything Is Not About Speak Now, But What If It Is? Album Cover and Album Prologue

So Tell Me Everything Is Not About Speak Now, But What If It Is? Album Cover and Album Prologue
Well, well, well! That was quite the mash up on N1 in Scotland 👀
I had something else queued up to write next but after that performance, I knew I had to come back to this series!
BTW, If you didn't know that I'm writing a series about Speak Now, and you want to find my other posts, you can click on my name to find them.
In my last post, I realize that i got ahead of myself because I said I’d be doing a song analysis next, but I actually want to talk about the album cover and prologue first.
Disclaimer#1: A lot of what I’m going to write about is what I think happened, not what I’m saying 100% happened. I’m happy to hear other interpretations or if you disagree, that is fine too!
Disclaimer #2: Taylor is an unreliable narrator. That has been established in many different ways, in many different contexts, and with many different examples. If you think something couldn’t have happened because of something Taylor said about an album, or song, I urge you to go back and read the first sentence from this disclaimer.
Disclaimer #3: I have adhd so I’m very likely going to make spelling/grammar mistakes - please accept my apology is advance for that. And for my overuse of commas.(My apology as well for all the additional context my adhd is going to give you in parentheses throughout this post).
Disclaimer #4: I decided not to venture into the ethics of creating public narratives about public people and then packaging that up for your fans to eat up like Taylor likes to do. There is a time and a place for that conversation, but the focus on my Speak Now writing is about might have happened. I also have a hard time having sympathy for John Mayer or Jake Gyllenhaal who agreed to the appearance of dating a much younger woman - which is gross and should not be normalized. Did she cross a line at times - like with Joe Jonas’s ex - maybe, but she was 18-20 when she did this and had no idea where things would end up with her easter eggs. Plus if she felt cornered by her label and the music industry, I have sympathy for that.
At some point, my posts are going to be nothing but disclaimers lmao.
Album front and back cover

Front cover

Back cover
The first thing that stands out to me is the yellow dress of it all.
If Speak Now is the album that started her forced closeting, then the appearance of the yellow dress (when Fearless had yellow themes), is…interesting.
Fun fact: But I’m a Cheerleader (the movie that a lot of people think introduced the concept of yellow as a closeting color to Taylor) was released in 1999.
Fun fact that I’m introducing for no reason whatsoever 👀: The episode of Mad Men that uses the term “lavender haze” aired on October 19, 2008
Purple has a long history in the queer and lesbian community. The most obvious being lavender which is not the purple on the cover.
Fun colour fact: There is a lavender purple.
According to this article, the designer for the original Speak Now dress describes it as a “strapless violet ballgown” 👀
Violet is often associated with lesbians
Violets have been associated with lesbian love since the 6th century, thanks to the work of the greek poet Saphho, from the isle of Lesbos. Much of her poetry centered around the relationships and love between women, who she often described as wearing garlands of the flowers and other plants.
The bisexual.) flag also uses purple
The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian). The blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi).
Yet another fun colour fact: red and blue (which makes purple when mixed together) were the colour choices for Taylor’s next albums after Speak Now
Album Prologue
https://preview.redd.it/opv4qw13jd5d1.jpg?width=1022&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cc9b8173a9be55ed7dd2e8dcc29c8fc9dea9c98
When I first looked at the prologue artwork I thought it looked like a pride flag, but then I realized that it’s missing purple. Taylor being dressed in purple on the cover then finishes the pride flag.
Maybe this is the first example of Taylor literally flagging what she really felt.
The way I approached the album prologue and subsequent song analysis is to look at the text without taking into account the romantic nature of the songs that Taylor tells us is there. Like I said at the beginning of the post, Taylor is an unreliable narrator and her public narratives have for a lot of people, become such a part of analyzing her work.
I’ve bolded what I want to emphasize.
Back then, Taylor did not speak her truth. Like Laura Dern says in the Bejeweled mv “Speak Not!” and I think that line is in that video for a reason because that is what Taylor did during this time.
I really hope she takes the chance to speak her truth now.
Speak now or forever hold your peace, the words said by preachers at the end of wedding ceremonies all over the world, right before the rows. It's a last chance for protest, a moment that makes everyone's heart race, and a moment I've always been strangely fascinated by. So many fantasize about bursting into a church, saying what they'd kept inside for years like in the movie. In real life, it rarely happens.
Ouch ouch ouch. Looking at these words today, knowing what happened post Speak Now hurts. I can’t imagine then what it feels like to Taylor - especially when she revisited this album and everything else that might have happened during the rerecording process.
Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial, in fact, that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I’ve begun to fear more than that is letting the moment pass without saying anything.
I think most of us fear reaching the end of our life, and looking back regretting the moments we didn't speak up.
When we didn't say 'I love you! When we should've said 'I'm sorry. When we didn't stand up for ourselves or someone who needed help.
The pain continues lol. But besides that, she doesn’t assign gender to her first love (while in the sentence before making reference to a boy whose heart she broke).
I think is Scott B. is the mean man and the someone who made her world dark for a while
What catches my attention most of all is “the girl who stole something of mine." Without the public narrative of BTR, that line can be read very differently. It could potentially tie to Dear John and an older woman - which isn’t my read on the song, but my interpretation isn’t the truth. Especially when some people think Dear John and ATW have connections.
It can also be read as the girl stealing her heart. Which is what I thought as soon as I read that line. What stops a lot of other people from seeing the line as possibly queer, is that they feel they already know what Taylor is talking about. So they don’t actually read what she writes. They rely on public stories to do their analysis.
These songs are made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me. These songs are open letters. Each is written with a specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person. To the beautiful boy whose heart I broke in December. To my first love who I never thought would be my first heartbreak. To my band. To a mean man I used to be afraid of. To someone who made my world very dark for a while. To a girl who stole something of mine. To someone I forgive for what he said in front of the whole world.
The first line, I take as directed at Scott B and in this case, it’s not something that Taylor said to him, I think she is writing about what was said to her by Scott B.
The second line I bolded is what I believe encompasses so much from the Speak Now era. Taylor wanted to tell her truth, she planned to tell her truth, but then never got the chance. And I think she is haunted by that choice. We hear that over and over again throughout Taylor’s discography, especially since folklore.
Personally, I have spent a lot of time hating myself for the choices I made when I was young - which isn’t fair, I know, I’m in therapy lol - and given how much bigger in a lot of ways, Taylor’s choices were at this age, I can see why she might be struggling with self loathing as well.
Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you'll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.
What you say might be too much for some people. Maybe it will come out all wrong and you'll stutter and you'll walk away embarrassed, wincing as you play it all back in your head. But I think the words you stop yourself from saying are the ones that will haunt you the longest.
I mentioned in last SN post that I think the concept for the OG Karma album started with Speak Now. The first line I highlighted makes me hope that she has also been planning a tell book on what she’s endured through the music industry since Speak Now as well. I mentioned this in a comment recently, in the LWYMMD mv, when she supposedly mocks Kim K by saying she’s “keeping receipts”, I want to believe that is a warning to Scott B/Scootethe music industry.
And it also feels like she’s saying she knows she can’t speak now, so she is going to wait for her turn, even if that isn’t what she wanted to do or hoped to do.
So say it to them. Or say it to yourself in the mirror. say it in a letter you'll never send or in a book millions might read someday. I think you deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying I could’ve, but it's too late now.
There is a time for silence. There is a time waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it. I don't think you should wait. I think you should speak now.
love,
Taylor
PS: To al the boys who inspired this album, you should’ve known. :)
If Taylor has been planning to come out at various points from Speak Now onwards, I do not believe she will give that plan up even with all the roadblocks and pain along the way.
I just can’t see a world where she will lets everyone who kept her in the closet get away with that.
I’ve shared this quote before when I’ve written about Taylor, but it definitely fits here too. Taylor said this in 2022 at the Tribeca Festival, and I feel like it was a warning to those who think they've won.
And also think that Taylor will stay in the closet forever, or won’t Speak Now about what has happened to her
People greatly underestimate me on how much I’ll inconvenience myself to prove a point if I think I'm right.
submitted by littlelulumcd to GaylorSwift [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 18:26 S1mon_B3ufont My brother-in-law the super Kevin part 5

This a continuation of the saga of my super Kevin brother-in-law. I have put parts 1-4 in the thread below, I suggest reading them before you read this one.
My introduction to Kevin (revised):
(I told this story previously, but I forgot some information when I first posted this.) One day many years ago my sister was working as a waitress and she said that one of her customers asked her boss if he could go on a date with my sister, the boss said yes. My sister described him a very quiet and kind. A few months later she came up to our house to hang out and introduce us to Kevin. Our mom planned a fun day in New York City so we can spend some time with Kevin. Right when we got to the city Kevin said, "woah look at all dem people, where do they all go at night". We had explained to him that they live in apartments in the city buildings and he was understanding. While walking around we were passing many signs in Mandarin and Kevin started complaining that he can't read the signs, even though he can't read English either. While walking to my sister's favorite restaurant Kevin saw two men holding hands so he pointed at them and loudly exclaimed, "HAAWWWTTT DAAMMNN dem men be holdin hands, dem be some gay men". My mom pulled him to the side and explained how it was inappropriate to point and yell at homosexual individuals in the street. He didn't know what homosexual meant. After that our NYC trip went smoothly. The next day my mom made pancakes for everyone and when Kevin saw the pancakes he said that he won't eat them because they are too unhealthy. He and my sister were staying in my late grandmother’s house during this trip. My grandmother had a lot of antiques around the house that she collected during her life. Kevin is a big fan of antiques so he decided to have a look around. Kevin looked all over the house, even some parts that i hadn’t been to before. Kevin also didn’t know the word for antique, so he just referred to it as “old stuff”. Kevin also vividly described the time he had scabies when we were visiting a historical site as a group.
Kevin and his Kevin-ness:
Kevin’s nick-name is a synonym for cum.
Kevin and his best man’s family:
Kevin and the best man at his wedding are very close. The best man’s sister (let’s just call her Kevina) and Kevin both have children in the similar age rage so the kids spend a lot of time together. Last summer, Kevina and her husband were saving money for an extension on their house. Around the same time, Kevina discovered that her husband was cheating on her with extremely overweight women. As a result of finding out that information, Kevina decided to use the money they were going to spend on the house in order to get breast implants so her husband would stop cheating on her. She also needed a babysitter for her children so my sister accepted the position. A few days later my sister gets a call at 3 in the morning that she needs to watch Kevinas kids.
Thank you for reading, it really means a lot to me. It seems like that whole town is just full of Kevins so I will keep you all updated as it continues
submitted by S1mon_B3ufont to StoriesAboutKevin [link] [comments]


2024.06.08 17:51 FewWillingness1081 (2024) Getting The First Users for Your SaaS Startup

(2024) Getting The First Users for Your SaaS Startup
Have you finally launched your Saas product? Congratulations, that's no easy feat! Now what are you going to do? Well, the answer should be simple; go out and acquire my first 100 clients!
But how?
Well, we need to make sure we have the basics prepped and ready to go. What are the basics you ask?
Let's start here:
  1. Do you have a good value proposition in place to help you succeed?
  2. Is your customer journey (product funnel) fully optimized to begin taking on new clients?
  3. Are you open-minded, and flexible enough to provide your initial customers with a bespoke experience? This is also a perfect time to get testimonials and case studies!
Also, don't worry. At this stage, you won't need an advertising budget (not yet). In fact, many Saas founders are turning to The Growth Checklist as a new way to drive traffic to their websites using proven strategies on their favorite platforms such as Reddit, X (Twitter), Linkedin, Pinterest, Quora, and more!

Finding the first customers for your SaaS

Your first batch of SaaS customers will provide you with amazing feedback about your product. The first 100-1000 customers are likely to give you feedback that will help you scale to the next stage, which is to obtain an additional 1,000 - 10,000 customers. Yes, we'll eventually get to 10,000 - 100,000, but let's be patient (ha)! The value of having an early adopter helps you to identify the following (list).
  1. Bugs, and broken features.
  2. Refine your customer service, and support ticketing workflow.
  3. Your brand voice. How you ultimately communicate with your customers.

What success will look like for you and your Saas(y) team

Customer success requires you to proactively help your customers achieve their goals, not solely your own! You may be required to spend time with a few customers teaching them about your current feature set, and even shedding light on your future roadmap.
Not only will your SaaS customers know exactly how to use their product, but they will also begin to feel like one of your own internal team members, which is a great way to generate referrals! Don't be afraid to spend that extra time, it goes a long way, and this is vital to your success early on. I advise you to put on your "consultant" hat with your first 100+ customers. Do what isn't scalable, until you can no longer do it.
Your personal relationships will go a long way. These people will write about you on forums, they will share your product with their friends and family, and if the use-case is truly viral like Loom, it will save everyone time and pain. The Loom example is gold. They're a company that is so viral, it almost hurts! If you want to have that kind of success, work to deeply understand your clients pain points!
This process isn't the "sexy" way to go about growth, but you can't get to 2, without 1 happy customer. Work to make 100 customers happy, achieving everything that they desired because of [your tool]. Keeping this mindset early on will create a massive distance between you and your competitors. This is the secret formula to growth that will take your SaaS to the stratosphere!

Leverage your professional network on LinkedIn and Offline

One of the best arguments for going to University is building a strong network. So if you're on the fence about which college, or university you should attend, just do it! The education is valuable, but the network is essential! As you build your network, eventually many of your colleagues will go on to work for larger enterprises, some perhaps right within your space.
For many young entrepreneurs, it's almost painful for them to reach out to their friends and family, asking for them to be one of the first customers for their Saas. Yes, there is a high likelihood that your family members aren't a good fit for your product, but they will give you feedback, and who knows, they could potentially make introductions for you.
Don't be afraid to leverage your existing professional network, as there could be a full herd of clients just waiting for you to reach out to them. Reddit and Linkedin are great platforms to seek advice about your product as well. For instance, we asked about which features would be the most valuable in a dating app. This post went viral, garnering well over 3 million views (and counting), something that I know dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, or any of the products over at Match Group would die to hear! I'm sure they would also save a couple of million dollars with their market research teams as well!
Asking Reddit about core features for a software application
Be ready for feedback as it comes in. There will be a lot of noise, but you still must prioritize the signal. It's very easy for us to disregard information, but in reality, if a client is in a position where they think something is not intuitive, the chances are that they are actually correct. Building intuitive SaaS products is not easy. In fact, the more intuitive something is, the higher the chances that someone spent a lot of time, and money re-iterating over something hundreds of time. We also wrote about this in a lovely piece you should read another time.
Your close "working circle" on Linkedin, or just through friends in your text iMessage / Whatsapp group will be happy to test out your SaaS tool. This can encourage word-of-mouth, and referrals, which create a feedback cycle of you getting organic referrals from one in-network relationship to another. Understand what they desire, and their true pain points to really create something viral (again, Loom).
Understanding the needs of my own network led to more growth on my Reddit account. I grew from 100 Karma to over 100,000 followers in just a few short weeks, and also gained 9,000+ followers on Linkedin, just by sharing what I "knew" was valuable to my network
If you don't know what resonates with the audience you're targeting, try engaging with influencers in your niche and analyze what makes their content worth sharing. Try creating a list of their top-ranking posts, and identify which elements are working for them. Do what's easy for you, you're not going to beat them at their own game, but you may be able to copy and apply it to your own SaaS marketing strategy!

Organic Social Media Strategies

Organic and viral social media marketing is an incredible tool if placed into the right hands. Below I am going to break down a small list of the platforms that I use to grow my software design agency.
  1. Reddit.com - Best for driving traffic immediately (done safely). Daily averages can range from 100 visits to 2,000 visits driven from appropriate communities. This is just by engaging with others, not even creating posts. Creating posts can generate many thousands of visitors, but good look finding the appropriate subreddit that will let you do this!
  2. Quora.com - Second best for driving traffic immediately. With a similar blogging style to Reddit, your questions, and posts will live in the Quora ether forever. As long as you tend to your content, updating it frequently, there's no reason that it will not rank on the front page of Google. Bringing an immense return to your SaaS product.
  3. X.com (Twitter) - Content can really go viral here on X, but the platform has changed quite dramatically since the takeover by Elon Musk. There are still many potential customers that exist on the platform, but you will have to swim through a whole ocean of difficulties to build up your brand. If you like the platform, it can work really well for your company, but many startups are keeping their distance from the platform for the time being.
  4. Linkedin.com - This one is my personal favorite. LinkedIn is what I recommend to 100% of SaaS entrepreneurs in terms of personal branding and long-term growth. It's not as fast, takes a lot of consistent content creation, and if you're lucky, you might even catch the wave of a "consumption cycle" which is a working theory that content will get pushed out to many "out-of-network" connections, given the right circumstance.
  5. Pinterest.com - Might be the darkhorse of the decade with high amounts of exponential built into its pin creation system. Many SaaS entrepreneurs do not consider Pinterest as a go-to-market to share their platform, but with a little creativity, and a high posting rate (around 200 before the rate limiter), you can create hoards of helpful content that answer the most distressing questions that your product ultimately resolves. Within 4 months I was able to scale a Tattoo Brand on Pinterest to 1.5 Million monthly views on content. Each piece of content has a direct link back to our website. Don't forget, these links live forever, and can generate traffic to your SaaS product for years to come!
Organic web traffic to your SaaS product from Pinterest

Creating a landing page for your SaaS

Landing pages are extraordinarily vital to the success of your SaaS marketing campaigns. Using the right analytics tools like Hotjar, and Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights about how people interact with your value proposition and call to actions.
The best landing pages have the same winning formula to succeed:
  • A simple and concise way to communicate your value proposition
  • Utilize social proof like testimonials, or reviews to show the best examples of SaaS customer success
  • Create a bold call to action that stands out from the rest of the page and draws attention to it
  • Add frequently asked questions to resolve any concerns immediately
  • A small "attention ratio", a strategy preventing users from "accidently" leaving your site with too many links available to choose from. This enables them to leave without the desired results you seek
  • A needed product that solves problems, not something rich in features
Pro-tip: Many of the items within the formula can be obtained in the early stages of your product's life cycle. Outside of your friends, and family, or launching on Product Hunt, you can achieve similar goals by constantly testing and scaling. Generate 10,000 to 20,000 monthly visitors to your landing page with our simple organic marketing checklist. No ad budget required!
Daily website traffic example generated through organic content engagement methods!
Understanding your sales funnel
Increasing the conversation rate of your Saas landing page should be a top priority for you and your team. From the onset, you can control exactly where your potential customers will arrive.
Let's break this down based on how someone may have been "warmed up", as they now arrive at the top of your funnel:
  1. Warm Lead (Aware of your SaaS Product)
  2. Cold Lead (Unware of your SaaS Product)
Your visitors are much more likely to purchase from you if they are made aware of your product before arriving, but if this is their first visit, it's less likely they will become customers today. This does not mean they won't down the line, but it's considered more of a risk in their minds. If you offer them a free trial, or a product demo of your services, they may change their minds!

Create your SaaS brand website

Not to be confused with your landing page, which is created to help you optimize your sales funnel (this should be separate), your company website will host the majority of your marketing efforts. This includes your main hub for email campaigns, content, SEO, customer support, partnerships, and much more. This should be a top priority.
You can also treat your brand page as a landing page for users who are aware of your product already. If that user lands on your homepage, chances are they arrive through organic search methods, and your sales strategy doesn't need to be the same as used through alternative landing pages (other ways to generate traffic to your SaaS). Use common best practices with the exception of your menu and navigation links. Remember when we discussed "attention ratio"? This is an okay location to contain these helpful links so people can learn more about your company, and its ethos.
SEM Rush LP
SEMRush's home page is a fine example of how your home page should "act" like a landing page for your SaaS.
Provide content that displays your value proposition above the fold, separated from the industry sector. Your content should feel personalized, with a display of client success people can relate to will always be a conversion battle.

Content Marketing

A great content marketing strategy should be used as a tool to find and target your ideal customers at different stages of the buying decision. Placing relevant information in front of your audience raises overall awareness (that you exist) and helps you to build trust in your vertical.
Being a founder of a SaaS startup, you'll find yourself engaging with other players more often than you think. As the leader, who else would know more about your SaaS than you? Content can range from comparison content (with competitors), content to keep current customers happy (through retention efforts), posts that display your value proposition (not that we forgot), and outreach content.

Competitive analysis

Understand your strengths compared to your competitors. Analyze where they have failed, and work to fill in the gaps. It's hard to stand out in a crowded niche, but positioning can lure away competitors with a promise of a superior customer experience. This doesn't have to even mean features, it can just represent your customer support strategy. Do your customers feel like they are appreciated, not just money mules?

Content that shows your value proposition

Every day billions of people are looking for solutions to their problems online. When you create content that shows how your SaaS can be the Tylenol for a business owner's headache, you create more opportunities to be the preferred solution. Make sure to provide helpful content that clearly articulates your value proposition.

Posting content to retain clients

Your SaaS startup needs to create content for your current user base, not just for prospective clients. Retaining SaaS customers is just as, if not more important as finding new ones. Watch how your customers engage with your platform. Use available tools, and organic traffic (without SEO) to optimize onboarding. Prioritize the experience for your high-paying customers. FAQs, Guides, Webinars, Loom clips, YouTube videos, are all great ways to help your clients navigate your solution.

Comparing to competitors

Larger competitors give you an opportunity to quickly scale in your niche if done correctly. Leverage your content creation strategy with comparison articles that contrast your SaaS products to theirs. There is an entire segment of potential SaaS customers who are on the lookout for something different from the mainstream choice. This could be due to price point, experience, or a need for change.

Posting content for outreach

Mainly used for SEO, leveraging a content creation strategy for outbound is a great way for a new SaaS brand to enhance visibility and organic search traffic. Could there potentially be a competitor, or another influential organization willing to allow your startup to publish on their channels? We call this a backlinking strategy, which at times can be expensive, but if available, you should certainly take it. Large organizations like Forbes, Techcrunch, Inc.com, and others would be a great fit for a new company. Yes, even Youtube videos and influencer channels with great write-ups on their videos can provide a big boost in search rankings thanks to updates to the Google search algorithm.
People love to consume media, especially video content. Publishers love to publish content, especially content that they don't have to write themselves. This will open up your product to an entirely new audience that you didn't have reach to at the onset.

SEO (search engine optimization)

SEO is the gun in a knife fight. It's an extremely powerful tool, but the downside is that it takes time. Many SaaS founders don't see results for 3 months, 6 months, or years, depending on their strategy. Focusing on SEO alone to acquire initial customers would not be recommended. It's important to understand where to best spend your time early on. My suggestion would be to have someone dedicated to driving traffic if not yourself, then focus on iterating on your website and helping users to engage with your content strategy.
Once you've built a strong customer base, and have achieved product-market fit, it's the perfect opportunity to use SEO to help you scale to new heights!
Once you have a loyal customer base and have reached product-market fit, it’s time to use SEO to enable flywheel growth and scale your SaaS platform to stratospheric heights.

Get your first 1,000 customers!

This article will single-handedly provide you with the links and resources needed to build a customer base within your first 6-months of launch. Within 2 - 3 months you could even exceed the 1,000 user mark. For some 100 customers is also great, it just depends on who you're targeting (B2B vs. B2C). Make sure to focus on customer success, get those testimonials, and establish dominance by giving your loyal clients a bespoke experience!
If you found this article helpful and are ready to continue executing, feel free to grab a copy of our book The Growth Checklist. It's the only book around that guarantees growth within 30-days, or we'll fully refund you the value of the book. If you've already purchased a copy, and are struggling to execute upon any strategies, you can simply book a meeting with me here.

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2024.06.08 17:15 kenUdigitt Novel Chapter 429

Disclaimer: I do not speak Korean. This is purely translated by machine with a lot of cleanup afterward. With that in mind, I am open to criticism to improve these translations. Enjoy!

Chapter 429

「Shall we move in that direction now?」

The moment the press conference concluded, Shao Shen, the acting head of security, approached with this query. I nodded in affirmation.

"Let's do that. You know where he is?"

「Yes, I know. Let's go then.」

Guided by Shao Shen, a phalanx of security guards formed a protective circle around me and we commenced a slow march.

Meanwhile, pandemonium erupted outside our orderly formation. A tide of broadcasters armed with cameras and microphones surged towards us.

「Mr. Jin! Is it true that you are friends with His Royal Highness Prince Felix?」

「Jin-san! Jin-san!」

You're the real nuisance, buddy. [Note: the character for "san" in Korean phonetically sounds similar to the word for "nuisance" and "troublemaker".]

Even though we had just had the press conference, journalists from various countries clung on. Luckily, they could not break through the barrier of the Hunter security guards.

Well, there was one particularly tenacious reporter who managed to thrust a microphone in front of me.

"Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung! As a fellow Korean, just one interview please..."

There are always such people wherever you go.

"Ah, yes. Since we're both Korean, please step aside."

I was about to breeze past him when I halted, struck by a wave of recognition. I gestured for Shao Shen to allow the journalist through.

"Just a moment. Are you with DAS Patch?"

"......!"

"Yeah, you are. You published an article about me, right?"

"No, that's not true."

Right, that fucking guy.

This was the journalist who had once branded me as 'single since birth' in a viral article. Since then, searching my name online invariably brought up 'Jin Tae-Kyung, forever alone' as a related search term.

"Shen."

Bewildered by the Korean exchange, Shao Shen looked puzzled.

「Yes, Hyung.」

"Suppress him."

「Yes.」

With a firm nod, Shao Shen seized the DAS Patch journalist's wrist.

「Sir, I will now confiscate your balance.」

"Wait, just a moment!"

The commotion had escalated beyond control. The journalist, caught in a surge of force, was hurled into the air, landing amidst the crowd with a crash that sent cameras splintering across the ground. A cacophony of multilingual expletives rained down like a storm.

Witnessing this babel of curses, I couldn't help but marvel.

"We truly live in a global village."

「Eh?」

"No, never mind. Let's keep moving."

As the police intervened, the crowd parted, opening a pathway.

With the crowd's eyes on me and security tight, I made my way to the designated meeting spot — a suite in a five-star hotel reserved for VVIPs.

"Johnson."

「Oh, Jin. You arrived sooner than I expected?」

Magic Johnson, who had been intently studying something, rose to greet me with a warm smile.

His giant hand clapped my shoulder as he guided me to a seat.

「So, how did the press conference go?」

He obviously hadn't seen it. Accepting the beer he offered, I shrugged.

"So-so. I just answered the questions the best I could and ended it in 30 minutes."

「Haha. The journalists must not have liked that much.」

"They probably like me much more than they like you, since I at least held a press conference."

Magic Johnson had vanished into his quarters as soon as the conflict concluded.

Unlike other S-rank Hunters like Fei Chen and Prince Felix, he had become a recluse, to the extent that rumors of his death were circulating.

His only recent public interaction had been a cryptic update on his official SNS account.



I am researching something new.

It is as mysterious and magnificent as the victory we have just achieved.



Most people probably didn't understand what that meant and dismissed the message, but I was among the few who understood the depths of his new venture.

"So, how did it turn out?"

Magic Johnson's lips twitched slightly as he replied,

「Well...」

"Oh, you were able to do it."

「Did I say that?」

"You're not hiding your smile very well."

「I'm not? Not at all?」

What do you mean, not at all?

As his eyes brimmed with anticipation, I couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"You didn't even like this task at first."

「How do you know that when you weren't here? Did Choi tell you that?」

"Who else? Right now, it's just me, you, and Mr. Choi who know this secret."

「Oh. Well there's something wrong in what Choi told you.」

"Something wrong?"

「Yes. It wasn't that I disliked this task.」

Magic Johnson, having downed a 500ml can of beer in a single gulp, adopted a more grave demeanor.

「I was trying to destroy it.」

"Haha."

「No joke. Imagine if you were in my shoes back then. I almost blew the room to pieces.」

"If it were me, I would have destroyed the hotel."

Yet, the room and the hotel remained unscathed, a testament to Magic Johnson being a 'Grand Mage.'

Mages, driven by an innate curiosity, delve into the unknown, and a Grand Mage, at the pinnacle of both power and knowledge, embodies this trait profoundly.

He had embraced the proposal concerning this unprecedented venture.

「After hearing Choi's explanation and seeing it myself, I couldn't believe it. This is really...」

His words trailed off as he gazed absently at the other end of the room. Then he abruptly shook his head.

「No. This isn't right. You should check it out yourself.」

"Good thing. I thought I was going to die waiting."

Setting aside my half-empty can, I strode confidently across the expansive suite.

"Is it here?"

Magic Johnson nodded. It’s not surprising for an S-rank Hunter sensitive to the flow of energy to notice something odd in this space.

「That's right. You can really feel it?」

"At this level, it's really hard not to notice."

To an untrained observer, the area appeared ordinary. However, upon entering the room, I had instantly discerned its true nature.

This space was shielded by a spell that obscured all sound and vision.

「Wait a moment. I'll remove the magic...」

Whoosh, screech!

Magic Johnson's words were abruptly cut off, his expression shifting to one of surprise.

My hand, radiating with Protective Qi, swept through the air, effortlessly severing the layers of spells he had woven.

「Jin. What did you...?」

Thanks to opening my middle dantian during the fight with the Arch Lich, I could now see the patterns of Qi.

Such feats had become routine for me, so I offered no further explanation and simply focused forward.

With the spell dissolved, the fabric of space unfolded, revealing a figure concealed behind it.

"Ah, eh, ee, oh, oo. Hello. Thank you. Let's cook some rice. I love kimchi."

A blonde foreigner, meticulously practicing Korean in front of a full-length mirror while clutching an object, spun around at the sight of my reflection.

A brief, practiced smile flickered across his face, reminiscent of a seasoned actor.

"You've finally arrived, wicked human."

Look at this guy, getting the pronunciation exactly right.

For a moment, I contemplated punching him, but I chuckled and responded instead.

"Have you gotten handsomer since we last saw each other?"

The blonde foreigner, the Skeleton King, replied with a smug voice.

"You've gotten uglier since we last saw each other."

"......"

"Squid-faced human." [Note: squid is a Korean slang for "ugly guy".]

"...... You damn bastard."

Where on earth did this guy learn Korean?



* * *



「Hmm. Indeed, it's beautiful. There's no evidence of incongruity.」

Magic Johnson chuckled with satisfaction, echoing a top-tier plastic surgeon from Gangnam.

「Even looking at it again, it's a masterpiece of the era. I must be the first mage in human history to carve magic circles onto the bones of a living Named Monster, right?」

It was more than mere self-congratulation; it was the stark reality.

The radiant blonde hair, the eerily luminous golden eyes, and a stature of 190 cm — all meticulously crafted to the finest detail, including just the right amount of body hair.

Beyond that, the defined muscles, visible veins, and every subtle biological response to each breath or gulp.

Only upon intense scrutiny could one detect the abnormality; the Skeleton King appeared utterly human.

"...... Wow, it actually worked."

I had proposed the idea on a whim, thinking, 'What’s the worst that could happen?' but never anticipated such a flawless transformation.

I was just about to touch his blonde hair when...

Swoosh.

The Skeleton King stepped back, fixing me with a haughty look.

"Keep your dirty hands off me. You'll ruin my hair."

"......"

"Will you take responsibility if I go bald?"

This bastard is totally human now...

Dumbfounded, I couldn't muster a response. The Skeleton King, unfazed by my silence, admired his reflection in the mirror and smiled smugly.

"Hmm. Super handsome."

"......Where did you learn to talk like that?"

"From the internet."

"The internet?"

"Yes. I watched it intensely for a week."

"You don't happen to have a phone, do you?"

"That kind human over there bought me one. Thanks, Johnson."

Magic Johnson, having used a translation spell, grinned, evidently satisfied.

「Here's to a successful new start, Mr. King.」

「Thanks, Johnson.」

When did he learn basic English conversation?

I turned to confront Magic Johnson.

"Did you really buy him a phone?"

「Come on, Jin. What's the problem? My youngest daughter is five and she uses a smartphone.」

"That's your daughter, Johnson, but this is the Skeleton King."

"Wait. Wicked human. Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but I must say this."

The Skeleton King cut in with a serious expression.

"From now on, call me Stone-King." [Note: I'm not sure what reference the author is making here, but Stone-King is a direct translation of the Korean characters, which were even used phonetically to sound like "Stone-King" in English.]

"What bullshit is this? Do you want me to stone you?"

"It's my new name. Stone King. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA..."

I muttered, feeling a headache coming on.

"Should I just kill you now?"

"Are you planning to kill an American citizen?"

"Who's an American citizen, you idiot?"

"Sooner or later, I could acquire American nationality."

"You ought to be writing a web novel on KakaoPage with lines like that. Who says this kind of bullshit?"

Magic Johnson bashfully lifted his hand.

「Jin, with my connections, it's entirely possible...」

"Aaaaah!"

The absurdity nearly drove me to madness.

Clutching my throbbing forehead, I turned to Magic Johnson.

"Excuse me, Johnson."

「Hmm?」

"What I asked for through Mr. Choi was just to make him look like a human."

「Ah, of course. It was his desperate request, wasn't it?」

This whole scenario had unfolded shortly after my awakening, spurred by the Skeleton King’s vehement demands.

He had lamented about the oppressive confines of the Inventory where he’d been held.

Given his crucial role in the battle, his request seemed reasonable from the perspectives of both Mr. Choi and myself.

'He had protected Mr. Choi and Shao Shen during the battle with Lei Fei, and it was also thanks to him that I was able to defeat the Arch Lich.'

It was about time I reciprocated the Skeleton King’s efforts.

Additionally, having him in a human guise would simplify many things.

No longer would we need to conceal his true form, and he could even secure a contract with the Peace Guild.

But...

"The appearance I described was that of an Asian, wasn't it? No matter how many foreigners there are in Korea, they still stand out. Especially with looks like this."

Before Magic Johnson could respond, the Skeleton King spoke up assertively.

"I asked for it to be changed."

"What? Why?"

"I saw it on the internet. Handsome white men are popular everywhere in the world."

"......And why does that matter?"

"I’d like to try dating."

"Oh, my God."

Magic Johnson offered a consoling pat on my shoulder, which was heavy with the weight of exasperated sighs.

「It's okay, Jin.」

"What do you mean, it's okay? Do you know how scary social media is these days? What if netizens find out and say he's not born in Atlanta, Georgia, but is a native of the demon world? Does that even make sense? Why would you agree to such a request, Johnson?"

「I wanted to create a face that I'd enjoy looking at.」

"What?"

「That face is my ideal type.」

No, fuck...

Just then, a comment that shredded my last thread of patience reached my ears.

"Do you think it's unfair, squid-face?"

"Hey, you damn bastard!"

Snap!

In an instant, I lunged and landed a solid punch atop his head.

He groaned, blood gushing from his mouth — likely because he had bitten his tongue.

Blood, really? Was this yet another trick of magic? It was impressively executed.

"Die! Die!"

"Ack! Argh!"

The melee escalated as our hefty figures tumbled across the room, plunging it into chaos.

During the scuffle, a desk was upended, its collapse sending a cascade of documents Magic Johnson had been reviewing flying across my face.

"Wait, stop! Wicked human! I can't see anything!"

"You need to correct your manners today..."

But then, I froze.

Among the papers smothering my face, I spotted patterns — strange yet familiar.

'This is...'

I left the Skeleton King floundering as I stood and seized the sheet emblazoned with the pattern.

'Sichuan.'

Without a doubt.

It was indeed the pattern I had seen in Sichuan.

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2024.06.08 16:11 luminescent-lyric It’s been 10 months since I broke up with you…

I came across a post on here about you liking someone else, needing dating advice. I don’t know what compelled me to see what you were up to but maybe I deserved it to push forward…
Even though my hearts been healing, this gutted me…
When all I can think of it that you need advice on how to properly love someone. How to not string someone along as a back up because you havewandering eyes, or not to receive nudes from other women just for me to find out on my birthday when you visited. How about advice that it’s not cool to actively be on dating sites while BEING with me still…
I shouldn’t even be angry or sad like this, I feel like I got knocked 10 steps back. I can sit here all day and do this but in the end I just hope whoever this person is? I hope they have better sense than I did for keeping by your side, hoping for change. Hoping to be the reason you wanted change. Maybe you’ll be better this time around, cause I don’t wish what you did to me on my worst enemy…and that’s something coming from a hurt scorpio ha…
The day I blocked you, it was because you couldn’t help yourself but to rush me to forgive everything you did and say mean things to rile me up. Like you did during our whole relationship…
I’m far too embarrassed to speak this out loud to friends because I’ve been holding a mask to my face and sometimes it comes off because I do feel okay but today is a challenge to get over what I saw… I knew this day was going to come.
I’ll go through the emotions, I won’t fight it. I know I’m so much better off but damn this fucking hurts !
Thanks for reading, I just wanted to write this out in a way that I was talking to my ex and to keep grounded… I know I definitely am not perfect I tried “talking” to people since but I always backed out before it got past platonic territories because I know I will bleed my hurt and past issues into them or they were a repeating instance like my ex.
I’m so fucking sad and I hate that because I was feeling good today. I still tend to self sabotage when I’m trying to heal and work on myself…
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2024.06.08 14:24 amzonestepusa How To Select The Best Amazon Shipping Option For Your Product?

Just when you think you know how Amazon’s selling works, they add a new service or product that is hard to understand. When people buy things on Amazon, they now have more shipping choices to choose from.
People who need to get something quickly can use Prime Now because Prime 2-day shipping is so convenient and cheap. Subscribe and Save lets them save money on things they need often, and Prime Pantry lets them buy grocery items.
Amazon is still trying to become the one-stop shop for almost all of your shopping needs by adding more shipping choices and product types. The more people who look at your goods on Amazon, the better for you as a seller.
You need to offer the shipping options that customers want, though, if you want to stay competitive on the market and get people to choose you. Things can get confusing when there are so many choices.
This is a list of the main shipping choices that all Amazon sellers should know about. As a seller, you can choose how your items are shipped.

Amazon’s Shipping Options

Premium Shipping

There are many shipping choices we’ll talk about that are only available to Prime members. But not all Amazon buyers or sellers can join Prime. Even if a customer doesn’t qualify for Amazon Prime, sellers with a good reputation can still offer faster shipping choices. Some choices for premium shipping are:
People who have been selling on Amazon for more than 90 days can use special shipping. You can set prices for each choice based on how much you think it will cost. You must actually send those orders in on time; that’s the big catch.
Assume the customer pays for shipping in one day but doesn’t get their item for two or three days. After that, you won’t be able to offer premium service anymore.

Amazon Subscribe And Save

Subscription and Save is another interesting choice that you can use without Prime. Like toiletries or dog food, Subscribe and Save works for things that people are likely to buy more of on a daily basis.
In return for having several eligible items sent at the same time and at the same discount every time, it offers free shipping and a discount.
This programme is open to all FBA sellers who want to add their goods. For any monthly delivery of at least five goods, the discount goes up from 5% to 15%. So, customers have an even better reason to buy products that are qualified for Subscribe and Save when they shop.
You will probably get more sales as a result, but they will cost a little less because you are part of the programme. You have to do your best to keep at least 85% of your goods in stock if you join the Subscribe and Save programme.

Amazon Prime Shipping Options

Nearly two-thirds of all Amazon users have Amazon Prime. This means that for most of your Amazon customers, Prime and its shipping choices are the best ones.
If you want to use Prime shipping choices, most sellers will have to pick a seller option that lets Amazon handle shipping (and charges extra for the right to do so). We’ll go into more detail about the ways you can get your goods listed as Prime below.

Free Two-Day Shipping

Amazon’s famous free two-day shipping is the first and most common way for Prime users to get their packages shipped. All kinds of products can use this. Free fast shipping is something that Prime users don’t think about.
When they know they can get something quickly and for free, they are even more likely to choose it. You can expect your sales to go up if you choose a seller choice that lets your products be eligible for Prime.

Business Prime Shipping

Premier membership is open to more than just people. Companies that have an Amazon Business account can also get free shipping within two days. When you have one of these accounts, Amazon prime shipping works pretty much the same way it does for Prime members.

Amazon Prime Pantry

You can get non-perishable groceries through Amazon Prime Pantry. It could be a good way to ship your food, drinks, household goods, toiletries, or health and fitness products.
One flat $5.99 shipping fee applies to all Prime Pantry orders right now. That suggests that all the items in the Prime Pantry programme need to be kept in the opposite building. As a result, Amazon can put them all in one box every time an order comes in.
Amazon just recently said they are going to put their Prime Pantry prices on a subscription basis. Users who use the new system on a daily basis can pay $5 a month to get free shipping on Primary Pantry items. In contrast, people who choose not to subscribe pay an extra $8 for each box they buy.
They’re sent out one to four days after being bought. For obvious reasons, that means the Prime Pantry programme doesn’t make sense for some types of groceries. For example, meat or produce would need special packaging and faster shipping. Those things work better with our last two choices.

Amazon Prime Now

Amazon Prime Now does more than just guarantee two-day service. A lot of things will be available to Prime users with free two-hour shipping. Unfortunately, Prime Now is only offered in some places right now. To many amazon listing images, this choice is available.
Consumer goods like fruits and vegetables, dairy items, electronics, and clothes are all in this category. Similar to the other Prime shipping choices, this one usually only works for items that Amazon stores and delivers themselves.
It helps them make sure they can send the product by the due date. In the Prime Now programme, sellers can’t pick to be promoted. For example, if you pick the right Amazon seller choice, Amazon may choose to sell your items that way.

Amazon Fresh

One of the newest ways to ship from Amazon, this service is still only available in some places. Amazon Fresh is only for delivering groceries.
When Amazon bought Whole Foods earlier this year, it was clear that they wanted to do more food delivery. They are most likely to use Amazon Fresh more than Prime Pantry or Prime Now to do this.
Customers who are Prime members and are ready to pay an extra $14.99 a month can only get Amazon Fresh. But sellers can take part in Amazon Fresh in a way that is different from most other Prime choices.
This is because the kinds of things that come with Amazon Fresh wouldn’t be kept in a building like most other goods are. To have their goods in Amazon Fresh, food and grocery sellers who want to take part must apply to be accepted to the Amazon Local Market.

Amazon’s Seller Options

These are the different ways that your relationship with Amazon can look when you sell things there. There are even more things to think about than just Fulfillment by Merchant vs. Fulfillment by Amazon.

Fulfilled By Merchant (Fbm)

Businesses that see Amazon mostly as a marketing tool—another place where customers can find their products—should use FBM. If you want to sell something, FBM gives you the most power over the process.
Even though you put your items on Amazon, you still have to store them until they are sold. After that, you pack it up and send it to the customer by yourself. You are also in charge of any customer service or returns that come up.
You’re really at a loss when it comes to shipping choices, though. Folks who sell on FBM can offer both standard shipping and premium shipping choices if they are in good standing (as explained above). But on Amazon, those choices will never look as good to buyers as Prime shipping.

Fulfilled By Amazon (Fba)

Those popular Prime shipping choices are available to most sellers through FBA. You send Amazon your goods, and they store them in their center and pack and ship the orders. Following your Amazon listing images on the site, they do most of the work.
For this option, it is easiest for your items to be qualified for Prime shipping, but you will have to pay extra for Amazon to do some of the work. Definitely includes Prime’s two-day shipping. Depending on the item, this could also mean Prime Pantry or Prime Now. There are some kinds of products that may also be eligible for Subscribe and Save.
For most Amazon buyers, FBA and FBM will be the main options. In this case, FBA is the best way to get your goods Prime status. However, there are a few other choices that buyers may want to think about.

Seller Fulfilled Prime (Sfp)

Selling on Amazon for a long time and having their own warehouses to store their goods is one way for sellers to get SFP.
To be accepted into the programme, SFP sellers had to show that they could always send products when they said they would.
To stay approved, they have to keep showing that skill throughout the programme. This could be the best way to get the private label without having to pay Amazon fees for storage that you can handle yourself.
A lot of sellers who try SFP find that the fees they save by storing their own goods don’t cover the cost of offering 2-day shipping on their own. Sometimes, SFP is a good business idea. It’s a good way for some brands to keep more in-house while still getting the valuable Prime badge on their ads.

Fba Onsite

Within the FBA range, FBA Onsite falls between FBA and SFP. A few Amazon sellers can use this newer choice right now. Eventually, more people may be able to use it, though. Unlike SFP, FBA location lets sellers get Prime shipping and keep their own stock in-house.
You can use Amazon’s tools and shipping network, though. They take over some parts of the fulfilment process.
Basically, Amazon will start to use your warehouse like an Amazon warehouse, which will save them money on storage costs. The seller saves money on shipping costs and many of the fees they would normally charge for fulfillment.

Amazon Seller Central

The invitation-only Amazon Seller Central programme goes even further than FBA and SFP for brands that sell their own goods. These are called “first-party sellers.” Your main option is to become an Amazon seller.
Their goods are bought in large quantities from you. So, they put the Amazon listing images on their website and take care of orders. As Amazon grows, your job gets smaller, even more so than with the other choices. They will take care of everything else; all you have to do is ship them its goods.
Customers are more likely to sell your goods once they have bought them. For this reason, it should be listed with the best shipping choices for its type. Plus, you might have to offer your goods for less than what you charge on your own website.
Amazon could become your main competitor if you sell your goods to them to handle. They could even offer lower prices than you can. Still, the amount of sales some businesses will get from this choice may make the possible risks worth it.

Shipping With Amazon (Swa)

Most Amazon sellers can’t ship items through Amazon just yet, but the company has said that they will start letting sellers in some places do so later this year. When sellers use SWA, they can keep their stock but let Amazon ship the items when customers place orders on the site.
In other words, Amazon will come to the business, pick up the items that need to be shipped, and take them to the customer themselves, just like UPS or FedEx.
This choice takes on the hardest part of meeting Amazon’s strict shipping standards for sellers who want the Prime badge but don’t want to pay all the fulfillment fees. It also gives businesses that don’t have warehouses that qualify for SFP or FBA Onsite the choice to still use it.
If this option works well in the cities where it is tested, Amazon may make it available to all sellers across the country. They may even start to offer shipping services to sellers who aren’t Amazon to compete with UPS and FedEx for the bigger shipping market.
SFP was just introduced by Amazon last year, but they’ve already added FBA location and now SWA to the services they offer. By the end of 2018, who knows what other shipping and fulfillment choices will be out there?

How Should You Charge For Shipping?

After picking the best seller shipping method or mix of methods for your business, you need to decide how much to charge for shipping.
With the Fulfillment by Merchant choice, sellers can usually charge for shipping, but with the Seller Fulfilled Prime plan, they have to offer free same-day or two-day delivery. For the first option, here are three ways to charge for shipping on Amazon.

Charge A Flat Rate

If you want to charge a flat rate, you simply don’t change the amount you charge. If yours doesn’t change, you might want to charge the same shipping fee for all orders, no matter how they are shipped or where they are sent.
You just need to figure out how much shipping for all of your sales costs on average and set that as your flat rate. Rates can also change based on things like the size, weight, or distance of the order.

Use Real-Time Shipping Rates

You should use real-time shipping rates. If your shipping rates change a lot, you may want to use different rates for each order. At checkout, you can see the shipping cost based on your shipping company’s real-time rates for each order. People will know how much their shipping costs before they pay.

Free Shipping

As an extra bonus for people who buy from you, you can offer free shipping. You can do this by adding the cost of shipping to the item’s total price. It’s also possible to decide how much a customer has to spend to get free shipping.
One example is that people who buy more than $300 will not have to pay for shipping. Make sure the price you set won’t cut into your earnings. With this delivery method, you are more likely to make sales and get customers to come back because everyone likes free stuff.
Choose the best shipping method or mix of methods for your business. The next step is to decide how much to charge for shipping.
If a seller chooses Fulfillment by Merchant, they can usually charge for shipping. But if they choose Seller Fulfilled Prime, they have to offer free same-day or two-day delivery.

What’s Premium Shipping For Non-Amazon Sellers?

Not only Amazon offers premium service. Any brand can copy it and offer customers faster shipping choices on their own online store. You can usually do this by working with a third-party logistics (3PL) company that has the network, scale, and store fulfillment services you need.
Online shopping usually includes two-day shipping, but a good shipping experience is more than just fast delivery times. It’s also about giving your customers a great unboxing experience every time.
This goes above and beyond what was expected for product delivery, gives your customers the best chance to see your brand in person, making them more likely to order from you again.

The 2 Elements Of Premium Shipping

The whole experience of buying your high-end goods should feel special. Consider the following things if you want to make the shipping process more enjoyable.

Packaging

When a customer gets your products, the first thing they see is the product packaging. Your buyers will get your items in Amazon-branded boxes if you sell on Amazon and let them handle fulfillment.
Customers will only be able to connect with your company if they interact with the protective packaging or information tags on your products.
Custom packing is now an important way to make your brand stand out even if you’re not selling on Amazon. Check out branded boxes or poly mailers if you want to give your customers more than just plain packages and dunnage.
Try using eco-friendly packaging if your business is built on caring for the environment. Adding marketing inserts and stickers to the package for example can help make shipping more enjoyable.

Shipping Speed

Every carrier offers choices for faster shipping. Overnight and two-day shipping are the two most popular types of premium shipping.

Find the Best Freight Forwarders

It would be great if international shipping was easier for Amazon private label sellers, but it’s not. Large, heavy packages that need to be shipped by sea or air can have a lot of problems, like delays in clearing customs or damaged cargo.
We recommend hiring a freight forwarder to handle the whole process so that your goods get from the plant to an Amazon fulfillment center safely and on time.

They Handle The Whole Package

As long as you pay the freight forwarder and fill out some papers, you don’t have to do much that involves the shipment. A capable forwarder will make sure that your package arrives at its final location legally, safely, and quickly.
As each package moves through the system, forwarders know what to expect. Should you attempt to complete this task by yourself, you might overlook an important step that could lead to the loss, seizure, or delay of your product.

Forwarder Expertise Covers All Shipping Elements

The last thing you want to do after working hard to find good Amazon listing images and a trustworthy supplier is deal with shipping companies, government agencies, and other logistics problems. From start to finish, goods forwarders know everything there is to know about shipping.

They Can Promise To Protect Your Package

Many things can go wrong when sending goods across borders, especially by sea. This is true even when you use a goods forwarder. Make sure the moving company you pick offers cargo insurance. This will protect your goods even more if something goes wrong while they’re being shipped.

Getting Through Customs

Clearing customs is probably the most important reason to hire a goods forwarder. If your goods get stuck in customs, it could take weeks or even months longer for your order to arrive.

FBA Shipping Errors and How to Fix Them

Do you remember sending something to the wrong Amazon fulfillment center? And ended up running out of stock because you used regular air freight instead of express shipping?
Amazon FBA shipping can be hard. Numerous issues can arise, including picking the incorrect freight forwarding company, goods not arriving on time, and problems adhering to Amazon’s shipping rules.
Improper shipping can cause delivery or check-in delays, canceled shipping plans, and even stock-outs, and fixing these problems can eat away at your profits in a big way.

Longer Lead Times

No matter what shipping method you choose, you need to know your supplier’s lead time in order to keep accurate records of your sales and inventory levels. You will need to keep more units in stock if it takes your provider longer to fill your orders.
It’s important not to wish your lead times away so much that you don’t plan for any delays that might happen. Also, longer lead times can make it harder to plan your cash flow and inventory when you have seasonal items or want to use hot new marketing strategies that could bring in a lot more sales.
Let’s say your provider can’t meet your deadline. Then you might need to use an express shipping service to get some or all of your goods to the recipient faster. Make sure you have some extra stock on hand in case of delays or run-outs.

Under-Ordering or Over-Ordering

Keep a close eye on how you plan your supplies and make predictions. If managing several spreadsheets makes you more likely to make mistakes, you might want to use software to automate your Amazon inventory forecasting so that you can restock more accurately and quickly.
Once you’ve set up a good way to get your data and organize it, you can quickly find your stockout trends (days with very few sales) and sales spikes that you can take out of your future calculations. You will keep making the same mistake of under-ordering if you keep taking into account things like the days you’re out of stock.

Not Planning for Chinese Blackout Days

Aside from messing up shipping plans, production schedules, and wait times, Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year and Golden Week can also:

Failure to Get Insurance for Your Cargo

Having products for a month stuck in a truck halfway around the world is a terrible situation. One way to get paid and reimbursed quickly in this situation is to insure your packages. Making sure that your insurance covers shipping delays is important for these kinds of problems.
Unlike regular Carrier Liability, which only protects you if your things are lost or damaged by the carrier, this adds another layer of defense.
If you want to get your shipment covered at a price you can afford, talk to a third-party logistics company or marine insurance agent.

Bottom Line

If you have access to real-time data and exact calculations, you can lower your risk of mistakes like over-ordering, running out of stock, and not being able to see your inventory, which can be damaging. Correct use can greatly lower the mistakes connected with sending to Amazon FBA.
Stop the confusion! Learn how to select the best Amazon shipping option based on your product and business goals.
Ship smarter, not harder with AMZ One Step
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