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pottercrew · 5 years

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Grey Eyes and Magical Tattoos Pt.2

@rose-grangerweasleyisbae @gnarf @kai_ @missjw @quicksilvermaid @wo2ash @secretlycrazyhummingbird Thank you all for your support!!!

Part two featuring a true story from a night out when I was 19. I hope you enjoy!

It didn't work, of course, it didn't work.

Ron and Hermione had to leave early for their flight the next day, off to Egypt for their anniversary as Ron wanted to re-live the holiday with her.

"See you later, text or floo me when you're there," Harry said as he hugged Hermione goodbye.

"I will" She slid her eyes to Malfoy who had finally looked somewhere other than Harry, allowing him to breathe. "Is everything okay?"

Harry panicked slightly, worrying if they had somehow found out. Which was impossible, no one had seen them leave the last time. Not that he cared if they knew but he wanted to be the one to tell them if they finally asked.

He smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile "Yeah, I made a joke last time that I think he still hates me for"

Hermione nodded and smiled at him "You guys have got to stop provoking each other, even though it is quite funny"

"I'll try"

"See ya later mate, I'll make sure to let you know we got there alright" Ron finally joined them after saying his goodbyes to everyone else at the table and Harry hugged him.

"Have a great time and enjoy yourself" He looked at Hermione "no work!"

She laughed "I promise, I promise"

Everyone waved as they left the bar and Harry sat down next to Luna, Neville still outside on the phone. Harry turned to look at him and saw a small smile on his flushed face, head-nodding frantically. Harry felt a rush of happiness as what he assumed was a good thing happening and turned back towards his drink, not wanting to look antisocial now Ron and Hermione had left.

Malfoy still wasn't looking at him, locked in a conversation with Blaise that he couldn't hear over the rising volume of the bar.

He turned to Luna, Pansy, and Ginny and tried to take his mind off of Malfoy.

Soon, Neville walked back into the bar, bright red with a large smile on his handsome face.

"Everything go okay?" Harry asked quietly, not wanting to bring too much attention to the shy man.

Neville beamed at him as he pulled his jacket off of the back of his chair. "Yeah I-I'm going to meet him now" He rushed.

"Holy shit Nev" Harry was shocked at Neville agreeing to meet Luca right away. "Go get your man stud" He wagged his eyebrows and Neville pushed his shoulder again.

"It's not like that" He murmured stuffing his arms into his dark blue pea coat. "We're getting coffee"

"Well, I hope you enjoy your... coffee' and call me tomorrow to tell me about it!"

"I will, I definitely will!" Neville leaned down to hug and whispered a small thank you in Harry's ear before he pulled away and said goodnight to everyone else. Harry was still smiling as he watched Neville leave.

"What's got you so happy Potter?" Pansy asked, watching him as he turned back around.

"Nothing nothing," he said waving his fingers "How's the new job?" He asked before they started asking questions about Neville went. He knew they meant well but it was Nevile's story to tell, not his.

"Oh it's great, apart from the large pain in my arse that is Thomas" she sighed.

"Dean Thomas?" Malfoy asked and Harry nearly started at hearing his voice for the first time that night.

"No, Sean Thomas, the director"

"Ah" Malfoy nodded "I was going to say, isn't Dean in Australia with Finigann?"

"Yep" Ginny answered "been there for two weeks already, I hope he comes back soon, he's the best physiotherapist we've got"

"So what's so bad about this Sean?" Malfoy asked Pansy.

"Ughh he's just a dick, thinks he can take all our work for his own credit" Pansy worked in a small fashion school somewhere in London where Harry didn't know. Apparently, the location kept changing due to the apprentice work they managed to get their students.

"Wait is that the same dude who kept texting you the other night?" Ginny asked.

"Yep," Pansy popped the P and Ginny nodded.

"He was such a prick, he sent her fifteen texts in a row asking why she wasn't replying at ten in the evening" Ginny explained.

"Ugh I hate it when people do that" Blaise said pointedly looking at Malfoy as he did "It's so annoying"

"Shut up Blaise" Malfoy responded "It was important"

Blaise snorted and Pansy burst out laughing "Oh Draco, it's never fucking important"

Malfoy gave her the finger and picked up his drink.

"Harry does that all the time too" Ginny laughed sounded exasperated and Harry gasped dramatically.

"I fucking do not!"

"Yes you do!" she pointed a finger at him "remember the shopping trolly incident?"

"That was an emergency!" he defended

"No, it wasn't it was your own fault!"

"Wait wait wait, a shopping trolley, what happened with a shopping trolly?" Blaise asked.

"Noth-"

"Harry and Seamus thought it would be funny to try and fit in a shopping trolley and check themselves out in Morrisons after Seamus' 19th birthday"

Blaise burst out laughing along with Pansy, even Malfoy had a smirk on his face.

"Shut up Ginny! No one needed to know that!"

"You needed two healers to get your leg out of the bars!" she carried on, making Blaise laugh even harder, to the point he had his head leaned back on the booth and a hand on his stomach.

"F-fucking hell Potter" He gasped.

"How much did you come to?" Luna asked and Pansy laughed louder.

"It-it didn't work" Harry replied

"Why? I'm sure you and Seamus would have come to a high price"

"It doesn't work like that Luna, they don't have barcodes on them" Malfoy answered patiently and Harry was surprised Malfoy even knew what they were.

"How do you know?" Pansy asked, "Seen Potter or Finigann naked now have you Draco?"

Harry felt himself still at the question and forced himself to plaster a fun smile on his face. He didn't look at Malfoy.

"No" Malfoy responded flatly which only made Pansy's eyebrows raise higher.

"Oh really-"

"I need another drink, does anyone want another?" Harry cut in, standing from the table as nonchalantly as he could.

Luckily no one else seemed to find it suspicious and he was bombarded with drink orders. He nodded in a show that he remembered them and headed to the bar.

Fucking stupid Malfoy and his stupid observant friends.

He nodded to the barman and repeated the drink orders and hoped he remembered them correctly. He watched as they were placed on the bar and handed over his money telling the barman to keep the change.

"I've been sent to help," Malfoy said from behind him, making him shiver.

"Oh-okay thanks" they haven't spoken since that night and Harry was too keenly aware of it.

"No problem" Malfoy replied moving to fit Harry's and Blaise' bottles between his two fingers and grabbed Pansy's cocktail glass in his other hand.

Harry grabbed the remaining drinks and as he turned, he caught Malfoy's eyes staring at his neck again. He looked away and acted like he didn't see anything and started to head back towards their table until Malfoy spoke.

“Potter” It wasn’t a question, but it came out quiet, if it was any lower, Harry wasn’t sure he would have bee able to hear it over the general noise in the bar. In fact, a voice in his head told him to act as if he hadn’t heard it, to continue back to the table and act like nothing had happened. But he didn’t, he turned back towards Malfoy.

Harry turned back to Malfoy despite the warning his mind whispered to him. He couldn't help himself. It was the first time Malfoy had properly spoken to him since that stupid night, and Harry was nothing if not curious.

"Yeah?"

Malfoy was looking directly at him, not his neck, nor his arms. Directly into his eyes and Harry swore the part of him that kept repeating that what they had done was a one-off and shouldn't happen again crumbled under that stare.

He stared back and prayed to whatever deity was listening that Malfoy never discovered the power that his gaze had over him.

"We need to talk" Malfoy's voice was low, it wasn't a question.

Harry sighed "I know" Of course he knew they had to talk, it didn't mean he wanted to. Or did he? He couldn't deny that the memories of that night were etched into his brain, on constant replay, making him ache with desire as he lay in bed. But a part of him didn't want to talk, didn't want to make it real.Of course, it happened, but some twisted part of him wanted to keep it hidden, keep it as a memory that only he and Malfoy shared, wanted it to happen again.

"But now isn't exactly the best place"

Malfoy rolled his eyes "No shit Potter" He looked towards their table. "After"

Harry nodded "after"

So then it was walking back to the table, drinks in hand and acting like nothing had happened, all the while Harry felt the itch of his tattoos and the small promise of something to happen 'after'. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want Malfoy again and the thought burned in his stomach, never leaving.

He tried to engage in the conversations that flowed around him, but he found he couldn't. Not with the constant gaze that Malfoy was still throwing his way.

At some point, Ginny and Luna said their goodbyes, something about morning practice as they left, Ginny throwing him a concerned look before she went through the door and Harry knew he'd have to deal with a floo call tomorrow. That left Harry, Malfoy, Blaise, and Pansy around the table.

Still, Harry couldn't shake off the feeling of excitement and nervousness that had descended after they had agreed to talk after and he found his mind reeling with possibilities. How would they do it? would they wait for the two other Slytherins to leave first? Or would they themselves leave together after Malfoy signaled he wanted to go? What would they talk about? If in fact, they talked at all? Harry knew himself enough to know that after the memory of last time coupled with the pints he had had tonight he wouldn't be able to resist Malfoy if he wanted to repeat what happened, and it shocked him. He didn't like the power that Malfoy didn't know he wielded over Harry had.

But what scared him more, what had him clenching his knee anytime the thought passed by, was the question of what would happen if Malfoy told him he regretted what had happened? If he asked Harry to forget what they had done and move on. That it was one of the worst nights of his life and one of the main things he regretted. The way that Malfoy kept staring at him had him question this thought, though it didn't stop the slight panic that arose every time he questioned himself. He wouldn’t mind if Malfoy put his line in the sand and said he had a good time but that was all it would be. If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t looking for anything long term, what he and Malfoy did had been a drunken decision and it would be perfectly understandable if Malfoy didn’t want to do it again. But Harry didn’t want to hear that he regretted it. Harry never wanted to be something anyone regretted, he didn’t want Malfoy to feel regret every time he looked at Harry. They were finally able to hold a conversation and be friendly towards each other, Harry didn’t want to damage that.

He was starting to sweat, and he felt itchy, his hair pulled too tightly back, his clothes sitting uncomfortably on his skin. He took a breath and pulled his hair from its tie, re-tying it at the back of his head and rubbing a hand across his bearded chin to help alleviate some of his stress. It helped slightly, to keep his hands busy.

"You seem awfully distracted tonight Potter, I do hope everything is okay?" Pansy drawled, swirling a drink Harry hadn't seen her buy.

"I'm fine, just tired"

Pansy smirked "Oh I'm sure you are" Her eyes flew to Malfoy and Harry panicked slightly.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about"

"Oh come on, you and Luca?" Harry felt relief.

"Me and Luca?"

"You two must be fucking Potter"

Harry registered Malfoy put his drink down with force but didn't look at him. He couldn't help the slightly hysterical laughter that escaped him.

"Me and Luca? Fucking- nonononononono" He laughed, "What gave you that idea"

Pansy looked suspicious "Have you seen Luca? I happened to be introduced at that artist function last month and honest to god wanted to take him right there"

Blaise snorted.

"What?" Pansy looked at him "you said the same thing"

"I know, just a little more refined sweetie"

"Oh fuck refined Blaise, Luca is fucking fit" She looked back to Harry "Anyway me and Ginny were talking-"

Harry groaned "Don't listen to Ginny Parkinson, she wants to believe I'm sleeping with every man I come across"

"She's only concerned about you Potter, she thinks you don't get enough"

Harry had to physically stop his eyes from swiveling to Malfoy and put what he hoped was a convincing smirk on his face "I can assure you, Parkinson, I'm getting enough"

He didn't miss the way Malfoy scowled, however, but he ignored it, he didn't want to give Pansy anything. When she was focused on something, she was like a fucking bloodhound.

Her smirk turned dangerous "Oh really? care to elaborate?"

Thankfully before he was made to answer Blaise gulped the rest of his drink and slammed it onto the table merrily. "Come on now Pansy, Potter doesn't have to tell you who he is or isn't sleeping with. And anyway, no offense Potter but I don't want to know"

"None taken" Harry laughed, leaning back on his chair, feeling the tension drain out of him.

"Now Parkinson," Blaise said turning towards her drunkenly, "I thought you said you were going to show me this club you've been going to, care to come too Draco?"

Malfoy groaned "No, I'd rather stay here with Potter than go to that stupid fashion club"

Harry scowled at him but it was ignored because Pansy gasped dramatically and stood up.

"I forgot! Let's go Balise, and leave the boring old man to his bars" She flapped her hand at Malfoy and Blaise laughed.

Harry watched fighting a laugh as the drunken pair tried to elegantly slip from the booth and put on their things. Instead, Pansy had to drag Blaise up as he slipped on the leather.

"Have a nice night then" Harry said to them as they finished saying goodbye to a put out looking Malfoy.

"Oh, we will" Pansy assured waving him goodbye.

Harry turned back towards Malfoy once they had left "Old man?"

"Oh shut up Potter, Pansy and Blaise are idiots" Malfoy scowled and Harry scoffed picking his drink up.

It was then that the fact that they were alone hit him, and the fire that had settled to a dull flicker came back to a full roar in his chest.

Malfoy was sitting on the other side of the booth, looking everywhere but at him, and after spending the whole evening staring at Harry, Harry couldn't help but poke at him.

"What's wrong Malfoy? Lost all of your confidence now that your friends have gone?"

He shouldn't have said it, shouldn't have been poking at Malfoy now at all times, but the instant response it invoked made it hard not to.

Malfoy turned his whole attention towards him, those grey eyes searing into his.

"My confidence wasn't something you were complaining at last time" Last time like there would be another. The sentence sent his blood racing at its implications, and he hoped the images that flooded his head were plaguing Malfoy’s a well.

"Last time? So is this another then?” He asked, wanting to get whatever answer Malfoy had out of the way. If there wasn't going to be another time, then he’d rather find out now before his mind got carried away. He wouldn’t be hurt if Malfoy said there wasn’t going to be one if he called an end to the whole thing if he let it be the single fuck up it had been. But he would be lying if he said he didn’t want it to happen again.

Malfoy leaned back, eyes falling to Harry’s mouth “Is that what you want?” he asked.

The words were out of Harry’s mouth before he could think about it.

“Yeah”.

I think I’m going to make this four parts, but I always change my mind so I’m not sure. I’m not good a doing cliffhangers so I hope this is okay aha. For full tags on this, please look at the tags on Ao3 for it, if I put them here it will spoil it- I think aha. I hope you liked this 2nd part!

Part 1

#Grey Eyes and Magical Tattoos #drarry #Draco Malfoy #Harry James Potter #Draco and harry #dracoxharry #Neville Longbottom

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towaniegaita · 4 years

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Janai’s [Forgeru, 19th February 2020]

Original post in Japanese

It's Forgeru

【2/23(日)】『パリパリじゃないズ!!!』グッズ情報を追記いたしました。当日じゃないズTシャツ＆パリパリTシャツが販売決定！！👕👕 ◆イベント詳細 https://t.co/LOQNXIwqpW pic.twitter.com/XOnNqvkpGx

— DDスタッフ (@info_DDstaff) February 14, 2020

The other day we announced the goods

For the PARTY PARTY Janai's event! ��

The Janai's goods

Were designed by me 🙇

FRONT

I thought it was kind of 🤔

To just write 'Janai's' in hiragana,

So the idea is that

The 'Notズ' logo on the FRONT

Is written as 'Not's', but read as 'Janai's'!

I asked Nozaki and Ani what they thought

And they both said it was good

So that really helped me! 😇

Just in case we get to do an event as Janai's again one day

And we get to release more goods then

I made some coloured versions that we could expand upon

Within the limits of my imagination.

Maybe I could put a black border around it and make it into a BOX logo?

Stickers or rubber keyrings would be quite easy to make

So maybe they'd be good to release too? Right? Do you think so?

I tried to write our name in hiragana

Using various pens

But the English version came out better -

It's probably a matter of preference 😓

If I get the opportunity

I'd like to try out the hiragana version some more!

BACK

The tickets for the event are electronic tickets

So I decided to make the BACK print

Into a ticket-style design.

I made up an event name

And there's various other things written on there

But I hoped it would be nice memorabilia

For the date, members' names and location

To commemorate the first time we held our own concert

And the first time we had our own goods sale too!

The memories of the electronic ticket will be on your phone

And the Janai's ticket will be on your back.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT ANYMORE

The barcode is a JAN code

But the numbers are made up of the members' birthdays.

Paper tickets often have the names

Of the shops that issued them in the background

But I replaced that with the Janai's pose.

It's based off Nichan's hands

明日 12/06 TIME TRAVEL.6 京都公演 Day1 ソロパートを担当します、じゃないずよりコメントが届きました…！ pic.twitter.com/CH164EhCiV

— MeseMoa.公式 (@info_mesemoa) December 5, 2019

From this video ✋

I did think about just having 3 of these marks

Lined up on the right shoulder area for the BACK print

But it was too simple 🤦‍♂️

Maybe it could be a logo on a hat or something 🤦‍♂️

When I was thinking about all this I had no idea what was right or not!

I find it difficult to design for my birthday event goods as well 🤷🏻

But because the event tickets are electronic

I really hope that people will go home with the tickets on their back

As a replacement! 😤

Next time I'll get Ani and Nozaki

To do some of the designing!

I started working on it

As soon as our event finished in Thailand 🇹🇭

And I got some help from Kamapoyo when sending it to print

Since he's familiar with the final stages of this kind of design!

I'm both anxious and excited to see how the final thing turns out

Our preparations for the concert are continuing steadily!

じゃないズも2/23に向けて練習ガッツリやってまーす！ pic.twitter.com/cp6Hd7038x

— フォーゲル(めせもあ。) (@forgeru) February 18, 2020

Tickets for the PARTY PARTY Janai's event

Can be found here ⬇️

https://c-r-e-a-m.jp/category/hytown/

I was even thinking about the design on the plane ✈️

On the way back to Japan 🇯🇵 from Thailand 🇹🇭

But because I was trying to avoid jet lag I stayed awake

So when we got back to Japan I was so tired

That I thought why not get the piercing I've been wanting to get.

Leo 🐺 was the first to notice

Even before the other members lol

#blog post #forgeru #mesemoa #musumen #19.2.2020 #blog translation #yes i translated this the day it was uploaded what a miracle

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womenofcolor15 · 5 years

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50 Cent Clowns Wendy Williams After She Was Denied Party Entry & Explains How Bow Wow Took The Stripper Money Home!

50 Cent is back to clowning Wendy Williams. And he's spilling tea about why he was at Bow Wow's neck over the stripper money he gave him in the club. More inside...

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you can’t just show up to my PARTY if you been talking about me. BITCH wait out side #lecheminduroi #bransoncognac #TheKing

A post shared by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:36pm PDT

As you know, Wendy Williams has been on her "Hot Girl Summer" steez heavy. But her longtime nemesis 50 Cent tried to put a damper on her festivities.

The "Power" producer shared a video on his Instagram that seemingly shows the daytime talk show host being denied entry into his party at New Jersey’s BarCode on Saturday.

"You can’t just show up to my PARTY if you been talking about me," Fif captioned the video. "B*TCH wait out side."

Yikes. Peep the clip above.

That didn't stop the celebration though. Wendy was out on the town with her son, Kevin Jr., to celebrate his 19th birthday. They partied with "uncle" Snoop Dogg and Cardi B:

View this post on Instagram

Nothing like Uncle @snoopdogg on your 19th birthday!!

A post shared by Wendy Williams (@wendyshow) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:34pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Legends!

A post shared by Wendy Williams (@wendyshow) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:42pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Been celebrating Kevin’s birthday all weekend. 9:35p August 2000 I pushed & he appeared My nephew Travis & his girlfriend Danerra are here, plus Madina and her son Bookah and the rest of our crew. We all stuck up Jason Lee's birthday party. Please save me from this weirdness...WENDY season 11 September 16th.

A post shared by Wendy Williams (@wendyshow) on Aug 18, 2019 at 4:16pm PDT

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Ok I'm done with this life!! I'm frightened by the drama! Please recuse me September 16th! Medina is the worst. @iamcardib is twerking. My legs are on swollen. My son is here. Nephew Travis is like GOOD; right with his aunt! I'm frightened, but happy @ the same time. #aboutlastnight #summer #nyc

A post shared by Wendy Williams (@wendyshow) on Aug 18, 2019 at 3:59am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Happy 19th birthday to my son. Kevin's sooo good I cry during a NYC night! #hbd

A post shared by Wendy Williams (@wendyshow) on Aug 17, 2019 at 4:23am PDT

By the way, the "Wendy Williams Show" returns September 16th.

As for Fif...

youtube

The 44-year-old rapper made a stop in the clubhouse with Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live" to explain his "beef" with Bow Wow. We know y'all remember when the "Power" producer called the "Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta" star our for owing him money after loaning him some in the strip club during the Tycoon Music Festival in ATL back in June.

Fif said his issue wasn't the fact that he gave Bow Wow money for the strippers. It's the fact that he took the money HOME with him instead of making it rain on the exotic dancers. Oop. Then, Bow Wow hopped on Instagram, flexing with the money, so Fif had to call him out. Peep the clip below:

youtube

"Fofty" also explained why he called out film/television producer Randall Emmett and he also dissed Ja Rule...again:

youtube

Are we feeing his lewk?

Photo: Splash/MEGA

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/08/19/50-cent-clowns-wendy-williams-after-she-was-denied-pary-access-explains-how-bow-wow-took-

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likecrazycom · 5 years

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Wendy Williams Got Past 50 Cent’s Party Ban, Took Pic with Snoop

Exclusive

TMZ.com

Wendy Williams wasn’t fazed at all by 50 Cent‘s attempt to deny her entry at his big pool party … she still got what she came for.

Sources close to the talk show host tell TMZ … video of Wendy appearing to have trouble getting into Fiddy’s Tycoon party at BarCode in New Jersey Sunday don’t tell the full story. We’re told she got in with no trouble, along with her son, Kevin Jr., and they kicked it with Snoop Dogg.

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

Our Wendy sources say she took her son to the party for his 19th birthday because he’s a huge Snoop fan, so she wanted to get him a photo with the rapper. Snoop was part of the lineup headlined by 50 along with guys like Jacquees, Fabolous and Trey Songz.

We’re told her plan went down without a hitch — security with the Elizabeth, NJ police department escorted her and her son inside directly to Snoop’s section … no run-ins with 50. As for Snoop … he was his usual awesome self and showed them nothing but love.

However, our sources say Wendy did find out afterward that 50 Cent had put her on the blacklist for the party, but because of her connection with “her family town” of Elizabeth … she didn’t have any issues.

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

Of course, 50 paints a different picture of what went down. He shared the video of Wendy outside the club Sunday and wrote, “you can’t just show up to my PARTY if you been talking about me.”

Fiddy added, “B*TCH wait out side” … but to be fair, he never claimed she got turned away and never got in.

Our Wendy sources say only stayed at the party for about 20 minutes — she bailed after she successfully introduced her son to Snoop and went to get food.

As for the beef between 50 and Wendy … it’s been a war of words for a couple years now, and it doesn’t look like it’s any closer to being squashed. We’re told it’s not going to stop Williams from doing whatever the hell she wants to do, though.

Pretty certain he’ll have something to say about that.

Source link

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ruggedscanners-blog · 7 years

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OBM Colleagues Birthday Party Time ^_^

On 19th August 2017,Today is Saturday,We were still working to get the production faster for Many Business Partners,From 8:30 to 12:00.Our Production Department have Assembled 300Units Handheld PDA (Including 200Units Android PDA and 100Units Embedded Inventory Handheld Terminal),500Units OBM-68012D Handheld Barcodes and QR Code Scanner.Thanks for all Colleagues in Production Department ,Thanks…

View On WordPress

#Android Handheld Computer #Android Handheld Terminal #Barcode Scanner #Guangzhou OBM Company #Handheld Barcode Scanner #OBM Barcode Scanner #OBM Handheld PDA #OBM IT Department #OBM Sales Team #OBM Scanner #OBM-6801 USB 2D Scanner #OBM-9800 Inventory Handheld Terminal #OBM-A8 Android Handheld PDA #Wireless Barcode Scanner

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djgblogger-blog · 7 years

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Those amazing flying machines

http://bit.ly/2w0Us0e

youtube

PARAMOUR on Broadway – A Cirque du Soleil Musical. Credit: Richard Termine

Last year, Intel partnered with Lady Gaga on the Super Bowl Halftime Show to showcase its latest aerial technology called “Shooting Star.” Intel did a reprise performance of its Shooting Star technology for Singapore’s 52nd birthday this past week. Instead of fireworks, the tech-savvy country celebrated its National Day Parade with a swarm of 300 LED drones animating the night sky with shapes, logos, and even a map of the country.

Intel’s global drone chief, Anil Nanduri, explained, “There’s considerably more operational complexity in handling a 300 drone fleet, compared with 100 drones in a show. It’s like juggling balls in your hand. You may be able to juggle three, but if you juggle nine, you may have to throw them higher and faster to get more time.” Earlier this year, Intel first showcased its 300 drone show at Coachella music festival on the heels of claiming the Guinness World Record of a 500 drone performance.

Choreographed drones are winning the hearts of Cirque du Soleil theatergoers with a fleet of flying acrobatic vehicles dancing around its human performers. These drones are the brain child of Professor Raffaello D’Andrea of the ETH Zurich, Switzerland and his new startup Verity Studios. D’Andrea is probably best known as one of the three founders of Kiva Systems and now he is taking the same machine intelligence that sorts and delivers goods within Amazon’s warehouses to safely wow audiences worldwide. The flying lampshades (shown in the video below) are actually autonomous drones that magically synchronize with the dancers, without safety nets or human operators.

Verity’s customer, Cirque du Soleil’s Chief Creative Officer Jean-Francois Bouchard, said D’Andrea’s “flying machines are unquestionably one of the most important statements of the PARAMOUR show.” The key to the flying machines’ success over 7,000 autonomous flights on Broadway is its proprietary technologies that enable multiple self-piloted drones to be synchronized within flight. Verity’s drone is part of a larger performance system called “Stage Flyers.”

The Stage Flyer platform has proven itself in the field, flying next to thousands of people each evening by having built-in redundancy to any single failure. According to Verity’s website, the system is “capable of continuing operation in spite of a failed battery, a failed motor, a failed connector, a failed propeller, a failed sensor, or a failure of any other component. This is achieved through the duplication of critical components and the use of proprietary algorithms, which enable safe emergency responses to component failures.” This means that the drones can operate safely around audiences and performers alike, carrying payloads of cameras, mirrors, and special lighting effects. As shown in the above diagram, the drone system includes a fleet of self-piloted drones that utilize one positioning system and control unit. The company boasts that its system only takes a few hours to install, calibrate and learn how to operate.

Drone swarms are not just for entertainment, as today there are a number of upstarts and established players utilizing these mechanics for e-commerce fulfillment centers. Last June, Amazon was issued a patent for a “Multi-Level Fulfillment Center for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” The beehive-looking distribution center (above) is designed to facilitate traffic between inbound and outbound delivery drones. The patent illustration details “multiple levels with multiple landing and take-off locations, depending on local zoning regulations.”

This is all part of Amazon’s larger plan to grow its robotic workforce over the next two to three years. Instead of human truck drivers, the patent displays delivery bays that open and close automatically based on the direction of the drones and interior platforms that cycle around the hive. CB Insights reports that the patent describes “impact dampeners,” such as nets, for receiving inbound drones and “launch assist mechanisms,” such as fans, for launching outbound drones. It appears that Amazon will be looking again to technology like D’Andrea’s research to revolutionize its global network of warehouses with synchronized swarms of drones that safely soar above human workers.

Amazon’s competitor Walmart announced last summer its plans to utilize swarms of indoor drones for inventory management, replacing the need for people climbing dangerous ladders to manually scan labels. The New York Times first reported last July that the retailer applied for a FAA exemption to begin testing drones inside its massive distribution centers. Shekar Natarajan, the vice president of last mile and emerging science for Walmart, demonstrated for the newspaper how swarms of drones could easily move up and down aisles, from floor to ceiling, to scan 30 barcode images a second (an efficiency that would be impossible for even the most agile humans). Walmart has publicly boasted that it will spend close to $3 billion on new technology and other cost-saving investments to bolster its e-commerce business which is growing, but at a slower pace than its nemesis Amazon.

The race to dominate the warehouse has led to increased investments in the logistics sector and even an accelerator dedicated solely to technology around distribution centers. Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Dynamo Accelerator showcased last May its second cohort of startups. One of the most successful showings was Chicago-based Corvus Robotics, a software company that uses indoor aerial drones to scan inventory (similar to the Walmart example above). According to Dynamo’s managing directors, Corvus is building enabling tools that allow operators to fly drones autonomously, scan & sync barcodes, and enter the SKU data into the existing warehouse management system.

Santosh Sankar, the director at Dynamo, explained his accelerator’s mission succinctly in a recent blog post: “We believe our focus and hands-on approach is one of our value-adds. As such, we’re leaning into being seed investors and upholding our commitment to transforming our industry by focusing on our founders and our corporate partners. We’ve opted to not hold a quota for our programs and hone in on companies we can truly help because that ultimately makes for good seed investments.” Sankar added that several of the program participants “are already well on their way to generate ($1 million or more) in annual revenue and/or have raised their initial round of capital.”

Corvus may be the latest indoor drone startup to enter an already crowded warehouse market, which includes established players like the Hardis Group, Smartx, and DJI. Drones continue to amuse, amaze and evolve as the growing need for more unmanned systems in our lives appears to be almost insatiable. Next month, we plan to dig deeper into the drone market with our RobotLabNYC event series on September 19th at 6pm in WeWork Grand Central. Joining us in the discussions include thought-leaders from NASA, AUVSI, and Genius NY, RSVP today, as space is limited.

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