#and happily POST about it thereby promoting it

[tired-reader-writer]

There, it's behind a lock now— phew.

#unrelated but I'm gonna ramble in the tags #I used to have this friend right? they claimed to hate AI they swear! but then happily go about using chat/character AI #and happily POST about it thereby promoting it #it steals from actual human writing it's unethical and it's HORRIDLY OUT OF CHARACTER #even I who have not watched the show noticed that. [REDACTED] would not fucking say or do that. #so I checked it w my other friends who actually watched the show and turns out I was right. #the ex-friend's like I'm quitting character AI I swearrrrr but when I went to look at their blog to see if I should unblock them #(I blocked them out of frustration) #I saw that they were STILL posting about that damned thing #fucker #death to AI death to all fucking AI they're a fic writer how could they lack this much respect for their own craft

[klaineownsmysoul]

Saw a post that said today marks 3 years since D won his GG.. and what has his team done for him since then!!?? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I've seen some of those too and I'll always love seeing pics of D in that amazing jacket. Its still my favorite red carpet look of his and I'm glad he got his moment on air. But to your question...

The short answer:

The longer answer: abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Whatever nothing is in every single spoken language on Earth. Its hard to spend the time finding fulfilling worthwhile work for your newly minted multiple award winning client whose talent is only matched by his intelligence, charm and work ethic when your priorities include and are limited to: foisting his talentless smirking jobless unlikeable leech of a wife and their super duper straight relationship/wedding/baby/happily never after to the front of the pack at all times - relegating him to the role as the lucky SOB who gets to go places and be seen with her, calling and arranging "candid" pap pics of her doing the literal bare minimum of being a human (grocery shopping, garbage runs) so she can seem like a validated part of his life, get the attention she so desperately craves but won't actually work for, and so her little stans can squee and coo over what a badass lady she is and isn't he just so lucky to get to be with her and gosh wouldn't it be great to get to meet her because wow, using every bit of promo possible during his awards run to promote the opening of her tacky awful trashy strip bar so the promo that should have centered on him and his performance in ACS was pushed aside in favor of "their" bar, using him in ads for the stupidest shit possible but who cares about integrity when its easy money into RR's pocket AND a way to get the straight m/iarren image out there (and if RR can use that as freebie for himself, well, that's just the icing on the cake) at the same time, making sure that he got himself promo during "Royalties" and a spot in the fakest fake band ever - a more perfect metaphor for D's life you will not find: a band that includes D's manager and wife fake playing and lip syncing to a song that D wrote and sang, making sure that nearly all interviews - print and in person - mention his straightness, the little wifey, their great party, the strip bar, and now the baby and then if there's time, you can throw in some fluff about whatever project of D's this was supposed to be about in the first place, signing D up for a celeb reno show so he gets his cut from D's appearance, free reno for his house, AND 45 minutes of promo for himself as D has to twist into knots pretending that his manager is actually a real friend and great businessman without whom he wouldn't have any of the success he's had and not the lazy vulture and juvenile ridiculous jumping asshat we know he actually is, and last but most definitely not least: utterly and completely fucking up D's xmas album promo and tour. No one should be that bad at their job and be allowed to keep it. Using D's longtime and loyal fanbase as a cash register and not giving a flying fuck about them at all as he lets the tour venues do his dirty work for him by providing the cancellation notices to fans that should have come from D's team first. Still choosing the coward's way out, he put a lame generic bullshit message out about the cancellations via the text service you have to subscribe to to get, thereby ensuring only certain people would see it and it wouldn't look the actual clusterfuck it was. Oh and did I mention that while the cancellations were coming in hot and fast, he continued to push album merch on his instagram like nothing had ever happened?

I both hate and love the fact that while awful, at least the xmas debacle has removed the blinders that a lot of people had on when it comes to his team, and they're questioning the state of things in his life instead of just blindly accepting it.

I didn't even bring up the whole toxic "work fam" thing they all like to push when nothing could be further from the truth, or the way he's mangled D's SM to the point where 95% of the stuff posted is just garbage and nonsense that would never come out of D's mouth if he had control of it. They would all happily run D ragged across the every timezone if it meant money and airtime for themselves.

D's career is thanks to himself: his own hard work and talent. He got Hedwig because of his own connection with JCM. He'd already landed glee when RR came slithering into his life and his roles in ACS and Hollywood were courtesy of his existing relationship with RM. He's long since outgrown whatever it was that RR might have once done for him and if he ever wants to get back to the level he was on the precipice of in 2019, he needs to dump his worthless ass at the first available opportunity and find an actual pr firm that wants to represent him and not themselves.

#its truly a shitstorm #anonymous

[kelliesauve]

How Junk News is Spread

Despite having benefited society in many ways, the propagation of junk news is a major issue that has resulted from the widespread use of the Internet and social media platforms. The article, Three Reasons Junk News Spreads So Quickly Across Social Media, delved into three main reasons behind the limits on dissemination of transparent, truthful information. In this blog post, I will discuss my view on the key roles that algorithms, advertising, and selective exposure play in strategically promoting false or misleading information.

Algorithms act as mediators between consumers of social media and the massive collection of information available on the Internet. In this role, algorithms have been given the power to make decisions for the user, determining what content will be displayed based on calculations that use data gathered on every aspect of an individual’s online activity. To put it simply, all of the information shown on our timelines has been carefully selected through an algorithm’s processes, with the goal of keeping us happily looking at our screens for as long as possible. If functioning ethically, algorithms would, in theory, produce a fair representation of results, where information freely flows to users (Howard). However, in reality, common algorithms generate results that are limited based on the user’s individual interests and online activity, showing information that will best capture the viewer’s attention rather than fulfill their desire for accurate, unbiased answers. In this way, algorithms have made it more difficult to find opinions or ideas that do not align with an individual’s personal thoughts or preconceived biases, since these processes entire aim is to use the data collected about our behavior to predict our points of view. By filtering information to a maximum, algorithms act to impede and obstruct access to truthful, reliable search results, thereby promoting the spread of misinformation.

Advertising contributes to the spread of inaccurate information by promoting viral content, which is itself spurred by the use of clickbait. The article defines clickbait as “content designed to attract attention – often by stimulating outrage, curiosity, or both,” and can be found in written forms, such as misleading titles in the news, and visual forms, like provocative pictures in advertisements. In a general sense, clickbait encourages viewers to consume content through the use of exaggeration and deception.

As a regular YouTube user, I am highly familiar with seeing clickbait images in the thumbnails of videos, clearly fabricated in such a way to invoke intrigue and capture attention. More often than not, these thumbnail photos have little to nothing to do with the video, or are a small fraction of the content within, leaving the audience frustrated while the creators profit from their views. As an example, YouTube channel ‘The Ace Family’ (The Ace Family's YouTube Channel) has been called out in the past for their use of clickbait images, such as a photo of Catherine McBroom, member of the Ace family, on an operating table with a liposuction tube in her arm, displayed above a video titled “REVEALING MY NEW BODY! (MOMMY MAKEOVER)”. If anyone is interested… which is the channel’s entire goal here, I must add… here is the link to the 30-minute video. I would like to save a half hour of your lives, though, by letting you know that only two minutes of the video actually contain footage of Catherine in the operating room. Classic clickbait.

In addition to outside forces mentioned, we, as consumers, also play a role in the filtration of information ultimately shown on our social media platforms and the Internet beyond through selective exposure. As described within the article, people tend to engage with and share content that “conforms to their pre-existing beliefs,” (Howard). By determining what sources are worthwhile based on compliance with one’s pre-conceived biases or discomfort with challenging one’s assumptions, we limit ourselves to a small subset of the vast amount of information available on the Internet. The fact that “voters tend not to change political parties or favored candidates,” because they engage with content that fits with their established preferences, is a great example of the impact of selective exposure discussed in the text (Howard). It is easy to imagine that agreeable information is much more palatable than conflicting ideas, but the consequences of avoiding differing opinions from one’s own must be considered. When disregard is given to content that does not support one’s personal thoughts, individuals act to limit themselves from receiving all-inclusive, accurate information.

In all, businesses and individuals must be aware of the impact that algorithms, advertising, and selective exposure can have on the widespread consumption of false information. Knowing that algorithms can produce skewed results, people should actively seek out multiple points of view from several sources to better inform themselves on subjects of interest. Mindful of the deception involved in clickbait, consumers and companies should avoid relying on content that uses tactics aimed at increasing virality and attention over promoting valid information. Finally, to avoid the effects of selective exposure, individuals should consume content that challenges their own beliefs, whether that contains new information or an opposing outlook. By making conscious choices in relation to algorithms, advertising, and exposure, businesses and individuals can avoid associated obstructions to access to fair, truthful information.

Works Cited

Howard, Philip, and Samantha Bradshaw. “Three Reasons Junk News Spreads So Quickly Across Social Media.” Oxford Internet Institute, 26 Mar. 2018, https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/three-reasons-junk-news-spreads-so-quickly-across-social-media/.

“REVEALING MY NEW BODY! (MOMMY MAKEOVER).” YouTube, uploaded by The ACE Family, 12 Oct. 2021. [Screen capture by Kellie Sauve], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDZ7_PUKseA

The Truth About Fake News. 2020. Texas State University, https://www.txstate.edu/commonexperience/pastsitearchives/2019-2020/stories/blog/2020-03-30-truth-about-fake-news.html

[olderthannetfic]

Let’s take a break from specific fandoms to talk about:

Platform Wars

In 2020, we’re all asking what’s next after Tumblr. This is nothing new. “Is thing X killing thing Y?” is a question fandom has been asking since long before Escapade. But these panels offer comfort and insight into our current fear of change.

They’re also fucking hilarious.

So, without further ado, here are some past Escapade panels on the subject of Change Is Scary:

1997 - Effects of the Internet on Fandom & Slash (On the upside: more fans, more conventions, more excitement and a 24-hour party. On the downside: are the connections more shallow? Are the changes made to "fandom as we knew it" change what we enjoy? Do print fans have something to fear? Or is this simple another wave?)

2000 - Less is More: Gluttony & the Decline of Quality in Fanfic

2004 - Amusing Ourselves to Death (Fannish Discourse in the the Age of the Internet By sheer quantity, has the quality of our conversation declined to predominantly static?)

2004 - LiveJournal, Boon or Bane? (Has the advent of LiveJournal brought about the demise of mailing lists? Has it splintered the venue for discussion to the point where it's impossible to have meaningful conversation? Is the LJ phenomenon just one big egotrip? Come join us to discuss these and other questions.)

2007 - Is F’locked the New Black (Is the flocked post the future of fan communication? Are we returning to the dark ages of closed lists, zines under the table, and "have to know someone"? More and more LJ posts are locked, communities are closed, and groups are invitation only. Is there a way to protect our RL selves (and our fannish selves), yet share our fannish commentary and fic? How does this all look to a newbie? Where is our new comfort zone? And how do we keep track of all of this?)

2008 - The Organization for Transformative Works (The Best Thing Since Ever, or the End Of Days? The OTW is an incorporated nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans in multiple ways, including by providing open-source archive software (and an archive), legal assistance, and various efforts to preserve the history of fanworks and fan culture.)

2011 - Delicious - Rumors of Death Greatly Exaggerated? (Delicious, fandom's favorite bookmarking site may be getting shut down (or at least sold out) by The Man. What to do?)

2016 - Fandom Is Fic: from BNF to TL;DR. (From paper through Usenet to Livejournal, text was king. On Tumblr, long text is an imposition—isn’t it? Has fic been dethroned from its place at the top of the heap and fic-writing BNFs along with it? Discuss the dirty little social dynamics of the shifting patterns of fannish value and how we define 'fandom' itself. And what of zines and zine eds?)

2017 - The Kids Are Not the Problem (In recent years, media fandom has grown enormously. It has also scattered, spreading out to new platforms and meeting spaces. You often hear talk about "the kids" vs. "the olds," Tumblr vs. LiveJournal, or the problem of recruiting and retaining new fans. In this panel, let’s try flipping that script. If kids are not the problem, how can we change and grow? What awesome things are other fans doing/trying that people at Escapade should know about? Most importantly, what strategies can we use to leave our fannish bubbles and more fully experience fandom in 2017?)

2019 - The fall of tumblr (Fans have always looked for a good place to build communities on line. Recent events with Tumblr and other platforms like Facebook are restricting our gathering places and even blocking and purging our self-made content. How are people dealing with this? Fandom will survive, but where? Come discuss the problems and options out there.)

And below the cut, a whole bunch more panels on platforms and change:

1991 - Quality Control in Zine Publication/Economics of Fandom (Who is making money in fandom? Should they be? How accountable are fans? Editors? Artists? Have you ever written an LOC?)

1993 -  Supply and Demand in Fandom (Can we have too much of a good thing? How many cons or zine is too many? Are we glutting the market?)

1994 - Changing Nature of Fannish Communication (E-mail, and virtual zines, computer video editing and morphing -- all the new toys at our disposal...)

1996 - Internet—Will it eat your brain? Or take you to the poorhouse? (Nearly everyone has or can get access to a computer and thereby the Internet and the World Wide Web. What's out there for fans? What should you look for? What might you want to watch out for? How can you protect your pocketbook at the same time?)

1997 - Net Fiction & Print Fiction (Is the very existence of net fic changing the characteristics or reducing the quantity of print fic? Are there really stylistic and/or content differences? What makes some shows predominantly produce netfic, while others happily generate both? How do the barriers of access to each affect the fan community?)

1997 - History of Fan Socialization (Was fandom really different in the "old days"? Was there a feeling of community that we're missing now? Or is that just nostalgia clouding our memories? In today's net-connected fandom, what is (or should be) different? And what elements of the past should we try and retain?)

1998 - Professionals: Is the Circuit Dead? (Or has it just moved on-line? Is Pros fandom split on the subject of the internet? Many old circuit writers don't want anything to do with the new on-line library. They have objected to having their stories retyped an sent out, even on private e-mail. Has the paper circuit given way to the on-line library?)

1998 - Netfic Formatting A: How to Print It Prettily (An instructional panel, covering the basics of formatting, macros, and other time-saving tips to get the results you want.)

1998 - Privacy and Community: Pseudonyms, Screen Names and Face-to-Face Meetings (As more and more fandom is found online, how are we adapting to the anonymity that comes with it?)

1998  - Netfic Formatting B: From Word to Web, Making Shapely Net Slash (This panel is for everyone who wants to venture into the world of online slash, but gets nervous when faced with the myriad technical difficulties. Relax, it's easier than you think. We look at stylistic conventions, how to make your work newsgroup and e-mail friendly, and the dreaded subject header alphabet soup. We'll also cover some basic info on how to make a www archive site user friendly.)

1998 - Crossing the Line (An instructional panel on how to get what you want (more stories) in a world that may be unfamiliar to you (the web for print fans, and the insular world of zines for net fans).)

1999 - Does Print Fandom Have a Future? (In the age of instant, free net fic, is print fandom a dinosaur on its way to extinction, or a promise of reasonable quality in a sea of mediocrity? What are the key differences between zines and netfic, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Can the two coexist happily? )

2000 - Promoting Critique on Mailing Lists (How to promote critical discussion and attention to the mechanics of writing on email lists?)

2000 - Changing Power Dynamics in Fandom (With the decline of zine editors and growth of the Net, what's changed, and how does it affect us and our fanfic?)

2001 - Website Workshop 2 by the lady of shalott (Setting up and maintaining a fanfic archive, and in particular how to set up the Automated Archive software used by 852 Prospect and the Due South archives.) [NB: Yes, she went through a bunch of name versions before ‘astolat’.]

2002 - How to run a Fiction Archive (and Maintain Your Sanity)

2002 - Nobody Here But Us Sockpuppets (How multiple personality disorder takes on a whole new meaning in the world of mailing lists.)

2003 - Getting slash onto your PalmPilot for computer free reading

2003 - Recs Databases! Creation and Commiseration (Do you run a recs database and want to commiserate? Do you currently have a recs page and want to become database-driven? Want to talk about the relative merits of using PHP, MySQL, or Access to organize smut?)

2003 - How to Set Up and Maintain Fanfiction Archives (If you're thinking of running an archive, or already do and need some help, this is the panel for you. We'll cover everything from choosing a method of archiving, handling fandom growth, dealing with troublemakers, and just how much time, webspace and money are we talking, anyway? Come pick the archivists' brains.)

2003 - Has Escapade Run Its Course (Scuttlebut says: It's not like it used to be. My old friends don't come any more. My new friends can't get in. It's too big. It's too small. Oxnard, for god's sake? I'm getting sick and tired of the same shit year after year. Is Escapade old and tired? Does it need to be retired?)

2004 - HTML and Website Introduction (if you don't have a website and want to create one. where doyoustart'This will cover creating basic HTML pages and common webhosting options, as well as things to think about as you set iin vour first website.)

2005 - Where Have All The Good Conversations Gone? Rise & Fall of the Escapade Panel (Are people still interested in talking about the characters, plots, and themes of their shows? Has in-depth analysis of our fandoms been abandoned in favor of meta and fannish introspection? The forums for analytical discussion are disappearing as self-censorship and over-moderation increase. Can we change this? Do we want to?)

2005 - The Fannish Wiki (So we have the directorium, the directory of All Things Fannish. We visit it and it's just so cool, and we look for our fandom to see what it says... and it's not there! How to add it? What sort of info belongs there? How does a wiki work?)

2005 - I Was So Much Older Then, I'm Younger Than That Now (We've all heard about or lived through the tumultuous era when fandom moved online. But how has slash fandom, particularly slash fandom, changed since then? Are the changes the result of online fandom, or simply of a change in culture?)

2005 - Fanfic Archives (Setting up and administering fanfic archives: concepts, considerations, techniques.)

2006 - Putting your fic on the web (Basic skills for putting your fic on the web, including building your own very basic website, using LJ as a fic-site building tool, various options for labeling adult content, and using the standard upload interfaces for popular self-submit story archive software.)

2006 - Nifty Technology and the Future of Fandom (Fandom is quick to adapt to change and continues to bring fen together and to create fannish product. Fans have thrived regardless of how they communicate; via the post office, mailing lists, message boards, and Livejournal; they've pushed the frontiers of video and audio technology; and have managed to survive changes in copyright, pornography, and other laws. What are the upcoming trends and shiny new technologies on the horizon and how will fen use them to enhance fandom?)

2006 - Intermediate Webmastering (Designing your website for usability, options for restricting access to your website, making your stories easily accessed by mobile devices, and things to consider so fans can easily locale your site.)

2007 - Free Webtools and How to Take Fandom Advantage (Lots of free tools are available on the web to help the needy fan! Tools to edit pictures, make icons, write stories, share recommendations, share stories, and be fannish are becoming more available and more user friendly. Come chat about tools like del.icio.us, google docs, pxn8 audacity, itunes, the gimp, bittorrent, imeem, youtube and lll other things that you come and tell us about!)

2008 - E-book Readers (Sony PRS-505 or Amazon Kindle what's all the fuss about? Introduction to E-Ink and other mobile devices. What are the pros and cons of various devices? Where do you find e- books and fan fiction, and most importantly how do you get fan fiction formatted so you can read it on your ebook reader?)

2008 - If You Build It, Will They Come? (Roundtable on meta fannish infrastructure building strategies. bethbethbeth can talk about some of the specific challenges OTW is facing in its brave new fan territory, while oulangi can talk about why metafandom has flourished while very similar projects have failed, while we'll both discuss some of the challenges of the established meta/fannish structure of new communities, new fans, new technologies—and most of all, how do you keep the meta-fan conversation moving forward?)

2008 - Livejournal: Should Fans Take Their Business Elsewhere? (A discussion of the pros and cons of fannish communication on the various blogging entities.)

2008 - How to Find and Use Free Stuff on the Web (All kinds of free webapps are available for fic, art, icons, communication, and all sort of other fannish stuff. Come share favorite sites—we can bookmark everything we talk about on del.icio.us in real time!)

2009 - The Organization for Transformative Works (Off the ground and starting to soar! Come here about the latest developments in the OTW's projects and discuss where you'd like to see it go next.)

2010 - Is Somebody Taking Notes On This?: A Discussion of the Role of Fannish History (In honor of Escapade's 20th anniversary, let's talk about recording fannish history. What are the challenges? Is it worth doing? Can it be done in a fair way? What are we afraid of happening if we try? Is Fanlore the right vehicle for the project?)

2010 - The OTW in Its Third Year led by Elke Tanzer and Shoshanna (Okay, sure, the Organization for Transformative Works bought its own goddamn servers and hosted an archive (that hosted Yuletide) and published a journal (with a special issue on Supernatural) and saved a bunch of Geocities sites and testified at the DMCA hearings (supporting the FFF's proposed exemptions for vidders and other remix artists) and made a bunch of lolcats—but what have they done for us lately? [5] What do you want them to do?)

2010 - We Are All Naked (On The Internet Now) led by treewishes (Social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter are conspiring with Google and your ISP to out your slash pseudonym to your RL friends, and to tell all your slash buddies your real name. Is there any way to stop the wave of facial recognition software or your oh-so-helpful friends who type your birthday into the cloud? Or is all this an inevitable consequence of evolving technology? Come on in and let's talk conspiracy theories!)

2011 - Fanlore: Are BNFs Writing Our History?, led by Sandy H (Fanlore has an official policy of 'plural points of view', but is that really happening? Have you ever looked up a kerfluffle you were involved in, and seen how your side of the battle was portrayed.' And on the other side, are we afraid of conflict, to the point that Fanlore is bland and safe?)

2011 - OTW/AO3 Wish List Conversation, led by Sandy H (Do you feel like you don't know how to get your A03 or OTW wishlist through the bureaucracy? A03 is getting better all the time, but there's a ways to go. Let's brainstorm and turn a list over at the end of the panel.)

2011 - The Reccing Crew (Recommending a fanwork is deeply woven into our culture. Are there new social mores at work when we make public recs? How has the move from letters to mailing lists to Livejournal and Delicious affected reccing? Delicious was conceived as a bookmarking site, but often operates as a recs and comments site. If it goes away, what would replace it?)

2012 - Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinboard, Oh My (and GetGlue, too!) (In the past year, the ongoing fannish diaspora has picked up speed, as more fannish activity has moved away from LiveJournal and Dreamwidth, and onto sites like Tumblr and Twitter. And then there was the Delicious implosion. Now there's GetGlue, a social network specifically for entertainment. Let's talk about navigating these sites—their strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them.)

2012 - The Kids These Days (Ever wanted to tell someone to get offa your lawn? Strangle the next person who said that? Revive a dead fandom? Joined a fandom you were 20 years "too old" (or young!) for? Did you go from Usenet to mailing lists? From zines to livejournal? Are you eyeing Tumblr and Twitter with alarm? Let's talk about weathering changes in fandom with grace—or at least a little humor.)

2013 - Privacy, Secrecy, and the Fourth Wall (The fourth wall between fans and The Powers That Be is shrinking day by day. Are the technologies we're using changing fannish etiquette {from invite-only mailing lists, to friends-locked journals, to all public all the time tumblr)? Should we run for the hills or embrace the change? Discuss!)

2013 - The What With the Where Now?! (Every time you turn around fandom is playing on a new site that has new functionality, new ways of interacting and new lingo. Join us in surveying places like tumblr, twitter and getglue.)

2014 - Tumblr: Missing Missing E (So you've just gotten the hang of Livejournal when all of a sudden fandom has jumped shipped to this new "microblogging" platform called Tumblr. What is "microblogging" anyway, and where do you even start? Join us in this tutorial/discussion on creating an account, deciphering the culture, finding fandom, and making Tumblr work for you.)

2014 - Out Of Step With the World (You have no current fandom. You can't even get Tumblr to load. What do you do when you're feeling disconnected and alienated, but you don't want to leave fandom for good? If this sounds like you, come join us to figure out some strategies for rekindling the love, making new friends, and finding your place.)

2014 - Real Fannish Community (Has AO3 ended the era of real fannish community or has it ushered in a new era of increased connectedness? Is Tumblr better or worse than the old days (and were the old days livejournal? yahoo groups? APA snail mail zine groups?)? I'm hoping for equal parts 'get off my lawn' and 'the future's so bright I gotta wear shades' debate here.)

2015 - Tumblr 102: Into Darkness. You’re here, now what? Here we talk about etiquette and xkit and making the most of your fannish tumblr experience.

2017 - Home on the Web (LJ's Russian overlords have removed HTTPS support and are moving the server activity to Russia; some say a shutdown of US services is on the horizon. Yahoo fails to make money with Tumblr. Dreamwidth is slow, and doesn't have media hosting. Email lists are a hassle. Imzy, a startup, places branding aesthetics over design usability. Where's the next place for fandom, or should we reclaim one or more of the platforms from the past?)

2018 - How to Tumblr (Like it or not (often, mostly not), tumblr is where fandom is most active right now. How do you find anything? How do you have conversations? How do you archive the bits you like best? The good news: the answers are not, "you don't; you don't; you don't." Bad news: Those aren't actually good questions for being fannish on tumblr.)

2019 - Social Network of Our Own (SNO3?) (Between FOSTA/SESTA, Article 13, Facebook's new "don't mention that sex exists" policy, and the Tumblrpocalypse, is it time for our own fannish social site? Or are Dreamwidth and Pillowfort enough?)

#escapade 2020 #fandom history #fandom meta #escapade con

[gamebird]

(TMI, I’m sure. tl;dr - it was a rough week, but I hope to keep up with publishing Happily Ever After.)

Another stressful week.

Last weekend things were looking up. After a suicide scare with my daughter the previous week, she was put on antidepressants and seemed to be responding well to them, but then Monday she was back in a bleak funk. We found pills hidden in her room (which was how she’d said she intended to kill herself). She’s now in an inpatient facility and will be until the end of next week.

I’m not sleeping well. I’ve had diarrhea for a couple weeks now. I’m very tense. I’m back on coffee even though I’m sure the caffeine is not a good idea for my anxiety.

Same week - the hot water heater went out. The downstairs air conditioning went out. Both were fixed with less fuss than I had expected, so yay.

The framing and roofing of the new house went well. Some minor hitches with the framing, but they seem to upset my father (who is the building contractor) more than me. He wanted a high vaulted ceiling in the living room. I didn’t care. Anyway, we have the low vaulted ceiling the framers installed.

The misplacement of the central support beam has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it forced me to make the kitchen bigger, which allowed me to use an old and enormous stove my dad was given by a different builder a couple years ago, plus gave me more counter space. The living room is smaller, but it’s still big. The stove is monstrous, $10k if new, fully functioning six burners and two ovens, but I get it for free aside from the vent hood we’ll have to install and a little work to get it cleaned up after having been packed in a shed for a few years.

Also same week, at my work - a major shipment of motors was delayed to us by a week, imperiling $250k in shipments. My boss thought it was cool to threaten to fire me over it. With both of us having shit social skills, I *think* he’s joking. If he isn’t, I don’t give a fuck. I did my best and I’m STILL working two jobs as I have been since start of August when we fired my coworker (which wasn’t a joke and had taken him over a year to work himself up to, so I don’t think he’s going to let me go). They brought in a temp for relief who couldn’t type (ie, hunt and peck only), couldn’t copy/paste, and was confused about having multiple screens open on her desktop. I gave her busy work for a day and told HR to let her go, then worked out a better solution with my boss.

Today is the 2nd? anniversary of my boyfriend losing his best friend to suicide, which means my daughter’s situation is hitting him especially hard.

I have not attended jujitsu in weeks or gotten in any meaningful exercise. Yesterday the dojo they posted congrats to the newly promoted folks, so I’ve missed a cycle in the promotion and, I suppose, set back my belt progress by another six months or so. This, too, is irritating.

But now fanfiction. I’ve finally finished a troublesome chapter I was writer’s blocking on for some time. Or at least I finished my first draft of it. I’ll probably give it another revise/read-through tonight and publish tomorrow. I have two chapters beyond it written and that might be the end of Happily Ever After, and thereby the end of Grey Order. If I publish these three chapters as written now and said ‘that’s it; it’s done’, I’d feel it was enough for a satisfying conclusion in my mind.

#me

[broch21gustafsson]

How To Train On A Message Sequence To Transform Your Sales

Shaving is just about the popular way for removing unwanted body hair out of all the hair removal methods available. It's economical, and it can easily be made at your home. Believe it or not, being a broadband dater a lot more places you on the fringes of society or there is the group. youtube by click crack activation key dating has full grown and moved into the mainstream, thereby you can now happily think that the face-saving qualifiers of past times online tend to be obsolete. And, blackmagic fusion crack download , just see that they don't help your cause when meeting others online. Look most beneficial and submit a great photo of yourself to formulate your profile video / photo. A good picture really will a thousand words, and research reveals that you are nearly ten times more likely to be noticed if you post a graphic to your profile. Shaving removes iobit smart defrag pro crack key tapered end for this hair the item feels sharp and stubbly when this indicates again higher than the skin. Individuals give the impression it rising out instant. The saying, "You must be spend money to earn money," generally holds true for activatedlink Any business! An Internet-based business is no exception,whether your are promoting quite products or someone else's. Alternatively, have a long hot bath or stay associated with shower with regard to while confident the pubic area gets a lot of water. Pubic hair is coarser than head hair and needs more a person to soften when carrying out pubic unpleasant. Visit the salon that does Brazilian waxing beforehand to help it become hygienic which is the aesthetician is gain. The license is normally displayed. Done right, online dating is a regarding fun, and it's a great way to meet some wonderful people . just ask the thousand-plus people we've had submit testimonials to us in the past few decades! So, enjoy it, and follow these ten tips, and hopefully we'll be getting a success story from you sometime real soon.

#ACTIVATEDLINK

[asteiger]

A New Social Media Marketing Services Concept

When seeking for the great social media advertising and marketing carrier, you would possibly need to ensure the pleasant degree expertise. Specialists are capable of manual you via the contemporary concept on the way to assist you to contact the sky! If you need more information about cheap panel please visit this site.

Social marketing specialists have become popular and relevant for each, marketers and existing organizations. Each man or woman seeking to take maximum advantage of the net increase, must put into effect progressive strategies. Plus, each measure taken must cross according to the respective organization.

What's all this about?

Social media stands for an expansion of social networking structures like twitter, facebook, linkedin and lots of more. They may be capable of join millions of customers within a selected place, members of the family, and hobbies on line, thereby this creates an interactive community.

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If you didn't recognize, benefits depend on every consumer. This is notable to live linked with friends and own family participants. Plus, it additionally brings professional benefits. A person with a fb account can say in contact with loved ones whom they do no longer certainly see frequently. People with twitter accounts can without problems broadcasts a big selection of private activities, thoughts, and many others.

An person with a linkedin account has greater chances to land a grandiose profession. This is a outstanding networking website that permits groups and job recruiters to locate what they're seeking out. In addition, that is brilliant to benefit get admission to to enormous activity listings. Agencies can take most gain of the previously stated structures. This is super to observe up with customers and solution questions. They can also broadcast plenty of activities.

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Draw a good marketing plan and stroll toward internet achievement. Make certain you are acquainted approximately information, ask about preceding enjoy, and take a look at some programs and solutions. this may absolutely will let you choose comfortably.

[winbratech]

New Post has been published on https://winningbrain.com.ng/heres-why-you-should-be-slathering-on-sunscreen-even-when-indoors/

Here’s why you should be slathering on sunscreen, even when indoors

This covid-19 situation has forced us to quarantine within the confines of our home, thereby changing the way we live, play and work! When you work from home, you can happily sit in your comfy pyjamas and ditch the bra, but how about sunscreen? Ladies, missing out on this ‘beauty staple’ is a sin!

If you’ve skipped sunscreen all this while, then it’s time to undo the damage! Whether you’re typing away furiously on your laptops, or watching your favourite Netflix show at home: wearing sunscreen is a must. 

And considering the fact that we’re all going to be stuck in our homes in the foreseeable future, it’s important to understand why you must wear sunscreen indoors.

The science behind wearing sunscreen at home While the glass panels of your windows block UV rays to an extent, they don’t filter these rays completely! Let’s get into the details — UV rays are of two kinds: UVA and UVB. The former accelerates ageing of skin cells, and is the biggest cause of wrinkles. On the other hand, UVB rays are responsible for sunburns, and are linked with skin cancer. 

What generally happens is that the glass panel blocks most of the UVB rays, but fails in the case of UVA! Without even realising, you might be getting exposed to the harsh rays of the sun, and that could reduce the production of collagen, and in some cases even lead to severe skin conditions like melasma. 

Don’t save your sunscreens for the beach. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

You’re only safe when you sit inside a windowless room or have UV-blocking curtains in your home. Instead of arranging for all that and more, isn’t it easier to include sunscreen in your quarantine skincare routine? We hear a resounding YES!

Your phone and laptop screens could damage your skin This might come as a surprise, but when you sit on your laptops or phones for hours, you end up damaging your skin. Why may you ask? This is because the blue light that is emitted by these gadgets, also called high-energy visible (HEV) light, has the ability to penetrate deep into your skin, which means lots of dark spots and wrinkles!

Staying glued to your smartphone can also damage your skin. Image courtesy: Shutterstock.

A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering suggests that the blue light promotes free radicals, which damage and kill your collagen. Moreover, this light can also damage human eyes and skin. 

While there aren’t any sunscreens that have HEV-protecting properties, try and use those with mineral blocker ingredients, such as zinc oxide. It will not just protect you from UVA rays, but will also help in reducing the effect of blue light. 

This or that, the answer to keeping your skin safe and healthy even during quarantine, is the good ol’ sunscreen! 

The post Here’s why you should be slathering on sunscreen, even when indoors appeared first on Healthshots.

#Health

[educator4academicintegrity]

My Learning Experience: Year One

I was born and raised in Mexico by a loving family. I am a mother of two great girls, 8 and 15 years old, and happily married. I have always deeply valued education and the opportunities it provides. I have admired the United States since I was a child. I always thought of the United States as an ethical and moral nation, a country that values diversity, a country that protects human rights and free speech, and a country that promotes education as the primary factor for the personal growth, social well-being, and success of its citizens. So, when I came to the United States I decided to get certified to teach math in high school.

In the summer of 2014, I had finally completed the last mathematics class in a post-baccalaureate program that would qualify me to teach mathematics at the secondary level. On Thursday, August 21, 2014, I sent an email to the Director of Human Resources for the San Felipe Del Rio CISD, to see if there were any openings for a mathematics substitute teacher. She responded quickly to my email and asked if I could come see her tomorrow. I was surprised by her prompt response and her request to meet with me. I had only inquired about a substitute position. The next day, Friday, I met with her and she told me that the district needed math teachers; she asked if I would be interested in teaching full time as a mathematics teacher at Del Rio High School. I said yes. As I left her office, I thought to myself that all the years of struggling to learn a new language and the countless hours of study required to take advanced mathematics classes had finally paid off. I was going to be a teacher in the United States. I was elated.

I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my family. I had chosen education as a profession because of the high value I had always placed on education. I had immigrated to the United States from Mexico, in part, because of the educational opportunities it afforded my children. As the mother of two girls, I wanted to give them all the opportunities to make a good life. Furthermore, after immigrating to the United States, I had married a teacher. My husband, Richard Davis, is an instructor of mathematics at Southwest Texas Junior College. So, when I received the call on Saturday to say that I had been hired as a teacher at the Board Meeting the previous evening, I was happy and excited.

I began my teaching career on August 26, 2014. I arrived at Del Rio High School early. I remember entering my classroom for the first time. It was rather barren, but with a little work I felt I could brighten it up. The room had computers facing the wall in a U-configuration with my desk at the front of the room. I was surprised as I was expecting a room of desks facing to the front, like you would find in a traditional classroom. I had little time to process this information, for I was immediately met by my supervisor. She introduced herself and led me to her office, which was directly across the hall from my room, where she informed me of my duties. She told me that I had been hired to teach mathematics in a program known as ACAP. The Alternative Credit Accrual Program (ACAP) is designed to allow students who have dropped out to return and finish high school by completing their missing credits via a credit accrual program.

My supervisor, whose official title was ACAP Counselor, informed me that my duties were to help students gain high school credit by passing tests on an online courseware, which is used to impart course content and to assess the student’s mastery of the material through various testing instruments such as Mastery Tests, Unit Posttests, and an End of the Semester Test. She told me to assist students on all assignments and to help them on all the tests. I felt disappointed because I wanted to teach students the necessary skills to pass the tests, not to do the tests for the student, which I consider cheating. But I thought that maybe this is the way public education works in the United States. I did not know what credit recovery was before I started, so I did my job as I was told. As a math teacher, I confined myself mainly to helping students with math. Although I helped them through the tests, I did take the opportunity to explain each problem thoroughly.

These first few months would be my happiest time as a teacher. I helped students with their mathematics coursework and witnessed them learning. I enjoyed my students immensely. My class consisted of a diverse population of students. Besides students from the ACAP program, I had students from the Migrant Education Program, as well as traditional high school students who were earning credits through the Credit Recovery Program. Many times, a student would thank me for teaching them a mathematical concept; for example, they would tell me that for the first time they understood how to find a vertex or that now they knew how to solve a quadratic equation. These are the things that make the teaching profession worthwhile and satisfying. But, I felt helpless to assist the students in other courses, specifically science courses such as Physics and Chemistry. I tried my best. I would get out the Physics textbook and try to learn the material so that I could teach it to them. But, as any teacher knows, learning takes time. And it was this dichotomy between expedience and learning that would lead to conflict.

My supervisor began bringing me to her office to tell me to go faster. I told her that I was going as fast as I could but that it took time to explain mathematical concepts adequately. She seemed unmoved by my words. Then, in November 2014, two other teachers were assigned to my room. We got along well at first, but I did notice that our teaching styles were different. While I continued to take the time to teach the course content, these teachers would sit down with a student, read a test question and then tell the student the correct answer, or what they thought was the correct answer. My thoughts came fast and furious. Firstly, how did they know Physics and Chemistry. One was a Social Studies teacher and the other was an English teacher. I was amazed at their ability to correctly answer test questions in Chemistry and Physics. I was especially confused how they knew the answers to Physics questions that were largely mathematical in context. Because it soon became apparent to me that neither of them knew how to do mathematics beyond basic algebra. Secondly, why did they not use these tests as teaching opportunities; instead, they chose to just recite answers and, unfortunately, the students did not seem to mind. By this method, with no explanation of the problem, the student could finish a test and thereby a course at a much faster rate. I felt it my duty to inform my supervisor about what was happening.

Meeting with my supervisor on December 11, 2014, I expressed my concern to her that I witnessed other teachers in my room giving students the answers for their online courses without any explanation of the problem. I told her I did not agree with this practice. I said that I want to teach math, not just give them the answers. She remained quiet. I then said that my career goal is to teach math in a classroom. She responded that I would not be a successful classroom teacher because, in her words, I can’t speak proper English. This was the opening shot in the war that would soon engulf my professional life and forever alter my view of the teaching profession. At the time, I thought that I could convince administration that what we were doing was not in the best interests of the students and their education. The reader must forgive my naiveite.  I had been a teacher for only three months. Nonetheless, I readied myself for battle. Oh yea, one more thing: my supervisor’s sister just happened to be the principal at Del Rio High School. Fasten your seat belts!

Returning from Christmas break, my supervisor began her offensive. On January 16th, 2015, she wanted me to sign an Intervention Plan that indicated areas in which I needed to improve. I disagreed with the assessment and refused to sign. I appealed to a vice principal, telling him that the assertions made by my supervisor in the intervention plan were not true. After further discussion, he eventually convinced me to sign an amended version later that day. I asked him why he wanted me to sign the Intervention Plan. He said that he had tried to defend me to the principal, saying “I have no problem with Mrs. Davis.” He then related to me that the principal—his direct supervisor—said, “You go and do it! You go talk to [my sister] and do it!”

In February, I received a request—via my supervisor—from the Director of Human Resources, asking to meet with her “to review certification.” I arrived at her office at 8:00 AM on February 16, 2015 to discuss certification.  Her first words were, “We have issues” with your work.  Surprised, I said, “Issues?” She then said that my supervisor had informed her that I could not control my class. I responded that this was not true and that she was welcome to look at all my walkthroughs and my evaluations. I informed her that I had all documentation that pertained to my performance in the classroom and that nothing indicated the things she stated. She seemed perplexed and told me to continue to keep documentation. I told her that my supervisor seemed to have a problem with me but it was not because of the reasons stated. I would have told her the real reason why my supervisor had tried to isolate me but I did not trust her to believe me since she had accepted my supervisor’s evaluation of me without one shred of evidence.

At this point I knew I was isolated. I thought of quitting but instead I chose to fight. I’ll leave it to the reader’s judgment to determine if that was a wise decision. I began to demand and scrutinize documentation to better protect myself. Since the beginning of the year, my supervisor had given me verbal directives to count students present who were absent. So, I began keeping my own attendance records and I asked my supervisor to send me emails that affirmed her directive. Surprisingly, she obliged and sent me the emails. I then began to download reports in which students had completed a test or an entire course in an amazingly short time.

In April, the son of the principal (and thus the nephew of my supervisor) began working full-time as a tutor in credit recovery. Now I was not only surrounded by a culture but a family. It felt like a scene out of one of the Godfather movies. But there I was, engulfed by educators who thought little of giving students answers to tests, counting students present who were in fact absent, and punishing anyone who questioned them. Yes, I had learned a lot in my first eight months as a public-school teacher. Unfortunately, it had little to do with academics or learning theory.

My refusals to participate in the shortcuts to success, i.e., giving students the answers to their tests without any explanation or evidence of learning, intensified their attempts to isolate and discredit me as a teacher. I still find this perplexing. I mean, I was doing the tests for/with the students. Their main complaint seemed to be that I was not supplying the answers fast enough. One attempt to isolate me led to a direct confrontation with the principal. On April 28th, at the end of the day, my supervisor told me that she and the other two teachers in ACAP would be absent for the next two days. My supervisor had chosen them to attend a conference on the future of the ACAP program. I sent my supervisor an email asking if ACAP would be provided with any substitutes for those days. This simple request would set off a wave of anger that would ripple all the way to the principal’s office.

I arrived in my classroom the morning of April 29th to find that two substitutes had been assigned to my room. I informed the substitutes of their duties and the day began. It was a day like any other until the beginning of the 8th period. The principal came into my room, admonishing two students to stop talking. She then began yelling at the entire class, warning them that if they did not finish their courses they would have to attend summer school. I was helping a student when her tirade began, so I turned to face her and give her my full attention. Very quickly, she turned to me and yelled, “And you Ms. Davis, just because the other teachers are not here does not mean you can let the students do what they want. You have two substitute teachers there. Put them to work!” Then she left. One of the substitutes turned to me and said, “Ms. Davis, who is that woman!” I said, “That is the principal.” A look of disbelief flashed across his face; then, he said, “How can she treat us this way?”

Yes indeed, I thought the same: “How can she treat us this way!” I was not a twenty-something, fresh-out-of-college kid when I took this job. I had performed many jobs in the past, everything from fast food worker to pharmaceutical sales representative. But I had never been treated this way by a supervisor. After consulting with my husband, I felt that I had to file a formal grievance against the principal. I did not take this step lightly. I knew there would be repercussions. But I felt I must preserve my professional dignity. While my husband was supportive of the decision, my co-workers looked at me with disbelief. Perhaps they knew what I would soon find out: my supervisor’s vengeful streak was apparently a family trait that she had picked up from her older sister.

The grievance hearing was set for May 12, 2015. Administration did not even have the patience to delay the retaliation until after the hearing. On May 11, my current position—Mathematics (ACAP) Teacher—was posted under the open positions section of the SFDRISD Employment page. I brought this up in the grievance hearing. The principal assured me that it was a mistake. The Chief Instructional Officer for Secondary Education, who presided over the grievance hearing, stated for the record, “I can assure you that as soon as we walk out of here, we are gonna go back and correct” the error. The job remained posted until the closing date of May 26, 2015. Later, after I was not replaced, it occurred to me that this was not a direct threat against me; in fact, it was a message to all district employees, especially teachers, that this is what happens when you file a grievance. Oh yea, I almost forgot. One of the remedies granted by SFDRCISD in the complaint: “Granted: You will not have any retaliation because of this complaint.” Even I did not believe that one. See, I am learning.

Two days after the grievance hearing, May 14, 2015, I was summoned to appear before two Vice Principals. Upon entering the office, I was told that I had been brought there for a very serious matter. My online courseware password had been used to grant credit to a student in six credit recovery courses, among which was an entire year of English IV. I was asked to explain myself. I told them I did not know who stole my password, whether it was the student or someone else. I assured them that I would never willingly participate in a scheme that would grant high school credit without some evidence that learning had taken place. I encouraged them to investigate the matter thoroughly because I wanted to know who had done this. Although the student vehemently denied stealing my password, I was told never to discuss this with the student and let them investigate the matter. I continued to follow up on the progress of the investigation. I was given no information. I was later told that the investigation had found nothing, that the credits in question had already been granted to the student, and that state guidelines would not allow the credits to be taken away. So just like that, the matter was dropped.  The student accumulated six semester credits in a matter of weeks and the senior graduating class welcomed a new member; everyone was happy.  Ah, the bliss of the educational experience.

As the graduation deadline loomed, the pressure to get students credits so they could graduate accelerated. But I, the old stick in the mud, continued to question the online courseware reports that showed students completing tests in unbelievable times.  Whether it was a student completing an End-of-Semester Geometry test of 44 questions in 15 minutes with a score of 93%, or a student completing an Algebra 2 End-of-Semester test of 33 questions in 11 minutes with a score of 88%, I remained the lone dubious voice in credit recovery. When I would say I can’t approve this course credit unless I see the student’s work, they would roll their eyes, take the report to another certified math teacher and get them to sign. Perhaps, they took it to a veteran teacher who had learned how to play the game; perhaps they took it to a new teacher whose fear compelled them to sign. I do not know; I never found out. But the credits awarded in credit recovery rose to tremendous levels. During 2014-2015, over 1000 semester credits were awarded through credit recovery, mostly to seniors who needed to graduate.

They devised strategies to obviate my resistance. They began holding after school sessions—where the teachers were well paid—to operate freely without my presence. For these sessions, they brought out the stars of the program, those whom my supervisor referred to as the “angels” of credit recovery.  These teachers even volunteered their time to meet with students at a local pizza restaurant to help students finish their courses. The results speak for themselves. One student finished an entire semester of Geometry during one Saturday pizza session, culminating with a truly stunning performance on the End-of-Semester Test: 44 questions in 11 minutes and 20 seconds with a score of 84%. I know that replicas and drawings of pizzas are used to teach geometrical principals, but what these teachers (none were math certified) accomplished is truly miraculous; they should teach their technique in education programs.

On May 19th, I discovered the secret to these teachers’ scientific prowess. Throughout the year, when a student had trouble with Chemistry or Physics, my supervisor would direct them to one of these teachers, saying, she is very knowledgeable in those subjects. At 10:45 AM, during this teacher’s conference period, a student gave me a notebook containing handwritten answers to all five of the Integrated Physics & Chemistry Unit Tests. The student then asked if I could give it back to the teacher in question. I made a copy of the handwritten answers and then gave the notebook back to the teacher as requested.  The next day, May 20th, I was moved to another room. The “angels” could now operate freely for the remainder of the semester. Two days later, I was summoned to the office of a Vice Principal. He informed me that my husband, who had been volunteering his time the entire school year to tutor high school students, would no longer be allowed on campus. It's a good thing that they had promised in the grievance hearing that there would be no retaliation; just think how bad it could have been.

As I finished the year in my new room with my allotted students (all had finished their course work and there was nothing to do except babysit), I began to contemplate informing the Texas Education Agency of my experience as a credit recovery teacher in the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District. Nevertheless, I did use this time to connect with the students I been given. Since they were all finished with their courses, we had time to talk. I asked them about their future. I mentored, I advised; it was a nice respite from the battles that had been raging. It also provided me with one final story to share with the reader. My supervisor had ordered that my students remain in the classroom at all times; they were not even allowed to go to lunch. She said if they want to eat they would have to bring their lunch. So, I promised the students that I would buy them pizza for the last day of school. That day arrived and I made good on my promise. As we were eating our pizza, my supervisor showed up outside my door, motioning for me to come outside. I did so. She informed me that I was violating school policy by feeding the students and that I could be reprimanded. “But,” she continued, “I will let it go with a warning.” What a relief, I don’t know what a reprimand would feel like.

The year ended. My first year as a Texas public school teacher was officially over. But the exciting part of the story is just beginning. I decided to use my summer vacation to collect and catalogue the evidence that would expose the cheating scheme that was taking place in the credit recovery and credit accrual programs at Del Rio High School. Surely, once the Texas Education Agency (TEA) knew what I knew, they would ride to the rescue and truth and justice would prevail. Yea, I know what you’re thinking: She still has a lot to learn. Yes indeed; in fact, my education was in many ways just beginning. Tune in for Year 2.

#academic integrity #credit recovery #graduation rates #secondary education #high school

[allthingwomancare]

New Post has been published on Leo Passion

New Post has been published on https://leopassion.com/how-love-affects-human-health/

How Love Affects Human Health

Each of us knows that love has a beneficial effect on people. This is stated in many books, poems, and works. It often happens that love becomes a muse for creative people, and a person who loves flies as if on wings without paying attention to some ailments, thereby, healing them. If you consider in more detail how love affects human health, you can discover quite interesting facts.

It is proved that friendly, smiling people get sick less often, live longer. And besides, it’s very nice to communicate with such people. In addition, even with simple bodily contact, such as a touch or hug with a loved one, an emission of the hormone oxytocin is observed, which, in turn, reduces the level of stress hormones in the blood. Scientists believe that increasing oxytocin levels lowers blood pressure and reduces pain sensitivity.

Meanwhile, communication with a loved one unknowingly makes you pay more attention to yourself. For example, when men search for a woman to date and find the one they fall in love with, they try to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy food, and do physical exercises to be in a good shape. Mutual love acts on any person as a kind of beauty salon. The face seems to glow from the inside, and people begin to closely monitor their appearance, and sparkles appear in their eyes. If a person loves, then this contributes to the appearance of additional forces and energy.

Also, women and men can receive benefits for their health by living together or being in a stable long-term relationship. According to scientists who conducted a lot of research, people who have a happy marriage live longer, care more about their health, are more stress-resistant, and have a lower risk of heart disease.

Those people who are in love are subject to emotional stress much less than others. If they become ill, they recover much more quickly after illness and come back to their previous form. If you love and this is mutual, then your immune system becomes much stronger. And it is proved. Therefore, the chances of getting colds are reduced.

Hugging with your loved one, your blood pressure normalizes, the level of stress hormone in the blood lowers, and at the same time, your sensitivity to pain reduces.

Love can sometimes affect a woman’s weight. According to scientists, most women lose weight in the first phase of a relationship. But when it is already becoming more or less stable, a woman begins to gain weight. For example, during the courtship stage, a woman can lose up to 4.5 pounds. And as soon as the relationship develops into a stable one, the woman gains about 8 pounds. Before the wedding, girls usually lose about 6.5 pounds. Well, pregnancy and childbirth inevitably add an extra 15 pounds.

Love is like a pain reliever. A short glance at the photo of a loved one is enough to reduce pain. Chemical reactions activated in the brain block the sensation of pain. And an increase in the level of the hormone oxytocin (which is observed in people in love) helps to lower blood pressure.

Love protects your heart. After conducting a large-scale study, scientists determined that married people are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than unmarried ones. Another plus of family relationships is that a person decides to say goodbye to bad habits, such as smoking and alcohol abuse, in order to think about healthy offspring and saving the family budget.

Love has a positive effect on intelligence. The feeling of love develops creativity and ingenuity, promotes the assimilation of a large amount of new information, and also enhances analytical thinking. The brain regions that are responsible for attention, motivation, and memory are activated, and serve us to control the autonomic nervous system. In other words, it increases the level of our productivity and stress resistance.

Love makes us live longer. In a situation where we are loved and love someone so much, we have a chance to live a few extra years. This is not only about increasing the body’s resistance to stress and its consequences but also about the emotional support of your partner. In addition, the person who loves us often motivates us to give up bad habits such as smoking or drinking.

Falling in love contributes to the fact that adrenaline rises in the blood and all feelings are aggravated in a person. So, life seems better, colors are brighter, and food is tastier. Euphoria comes more often to people who experience sincere feelings of love. As was said previously, a person who loves is noticeably transformed – becomes better, more beautiful, and more confident. Luck in life often comes to such people, and indeed, everything in life develops in the best way, they are admired.

Those relationships that don’t work for various reasons can cause different emotions, and more often they are bad. So, depression, migraines, headaches, heart problems due to strong emotions and worries can torture people. So, the conclusion is that unhappy love affects people very negatively; sometimes, unfortunately, there are even tragic, fatal cases, especially among adolescents.

Scientists have proven that love benefits the health of people who have really strong feelings. Those who live happily for a long time are much less ill and suffer from depression, as well as a bad mood. Therefore, love each other, and everything will be fine. And those who have not yet found their soulmates should actively work on it because love is the cure for all illnesses and failures.

#how love affects you #how love affects your brain #How Love Affects Your Health

[teenageflower]

Get Here - Skiing and she lived happily ever after poster and canvas Link buy: https://moteefe.com/store/skiing-and-she-lived-happily-ever-after-poster-and-canvas See more post here: https://www.gearbubble.com/skiing-and-she-lived-happily Homepage: https://www.hitstylist.com/ Global AI in Fashion Market accounted for US$ XX Mn. in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.7% over the forecast period, to account for nearby US$ 2,160 Mn. REQUEST FOR FREE SAMPLE REPORT: https://ift.tt/2XWfPMh Role of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its Impact on the Fashion Industry: AI in fashion is changing the fashion industry by playing a vital role in the many key divisions. From design to manufacturing, marketing, and logistic supply chain, AI in fashion is playing a big role in transforming this industry. Artificial Intelligence-enabled applications and systems are enhancing the consumer’s experience that goes beyond personalized ads, notification alerts on chatbot assistance or cost drops. Market Trends of AI in the Fashion industry: The report covers all the trends and technologies playing a major role in the growth of the AI in the fashion market during 2020-2027. The patterns and designs with a suitable color combination are the key point to design a costume to make it attractive among the clients. AI can detect the new trends with demand in projecting the new trend reducing the estimating error. Trends in the fashion industry change rapidly with new patterns or designs come every day in the market. Designers must keep pacing with new styles. And AI algorithms can study designs through images to copying popular styles. The report study has analyzed revenue impact of covid-19 pandemic on the sales revenue of market leaders, market followers and disrupters in the report and same is reflected in our analysis. Market Dynamics: The MMR report contains a detailed list of factors that will drive and restrain the growth of the AI in fashion market. The fashion industry has implemented the newest AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology which enhances the consumer experience and upsurges the sales in the industry by growing customization by signifying related clothing patterns according to client needs. Similarly, the use of AI has transported in automatic operations in ordinary tasks such as calculations, data entry, and many more. Also, clients demand a personalized experience, a growing need for inventory management and the rising influence of social media in the fashion industry has led to the adoption of AI in Fashion during the forecast period. DO INQUIRY BEFORE PURCHASING REPORT HERE: https://ift.tt/2z0CZbM However, data security and privacy concerns through the sector would pose a stern challenge to the growth of the global market for AI in fashion during the forecast period. Despite these restrictions, the introduction of NPL (Natural Language Programming) to the fashion industry is a huge opportunity for Artificial Intelligence in fashion vendors are anticipated to provide ample growth opportunities for the companies operating in the AI in fashion market during the forecast period. Manufacturing process: Fashion brands using AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) tools are now able to find fast-changing fashion trends and supply the latest fashion accessories to retail defers faster than the “traditional” fashion retailer. Consequently, prominent fashion brands such as Top Shop, Zara, and H&M are faster in providing instant satisfaction to retail customers by recognizing seasonal demands and developed the right supply of modern clothing. Market segmentation: The report provides an in-depth segment analysis of the Global AI in Fashion Market, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels. Based on end-users, fashion stores segment held the largest market share of XX% in 2019 and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of XX% to reach US$ XX Mn by 2027. Fashion stores contain offline fashion stores and online fashion stores that have started deploying Artificial Intelligence technologies into their operations. Growing deployment of cloud-based AI-powered solution by fashion retailers has aided brands to gain a competitive benefit over other players. AI helping to promote and sell fashion goods: The fashion industry is just as much about making demand and brand awareness as it is about the manufacturing of fashion products. Clothing and apparel brands are always looking for new ways to get their goods in front of buyers and generate awareness and demand in the market. Progressively, fashion brands are using AI and ML to exploit users’ shopping experience, improve the efficiency of sales systems through intelligent automation, and boost the sales processes using predictive analytics and conducted sales processes. Regional Analysis: North America AI in fashion market was valued at US$ XX million in 2019 and is expected to reach a value of US$ XX million by 2027, with a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period. The North American economies are developing many policies and outlining best practices to implement AI for helping innovation in various industry sectors. AI technologies like self-adapting machine learning, deep learning or Natural language processing(NLA) are expected to transform the way businesses work. Governments of several North American economies are working on drafting a robust and comprehensive set of regulations and policies for the holistic development of AI in this region. Besides, the inclination of the Asia Pacific economies toward emerging technologies like 3G and 4G is also expected to drive the growth of the AI in the fashion market. However, privacy issues, the lack of technological awareness, and limited technical expertise in advanced technologies remain major hurdles in the AI in fashion adoption across the APAC. The objective of the report is to present a comprehensive analysis of the Global AI in Fashion Market including all the stakeholders of the industry. The past and current status of the industry with forecasted market size and trends are presented in the report with the analysis of complicated data in simple language. The report covers all the aspects of the industry with a dedicated study of key players that includes market leaders, followers and new entrants by region. PORTER, SVOR, PESTEL analysis with the potential impact of micro-economic factors by region on the market have been presented in the report. External as well as internal factors that are supposed to affect the business positively or negatively have been analyzed, which will give a clear futuristic view of the industry to the decision-makers. The report also helps in understanding Global AI in Fashion Market dynamics, structure by analyzing the market segments and project the Global AI in Fashion Market size. Clear representation of competitive analysis of key players by Application, price, financial position, Product portfolio, growth strategies, and regional presence in the Global AI in Fashion Market make the report investor’s guide. Scope of the Global AI in Fashion Market Global AI in Fashion Market, by Components • Solution Software Tools Platforms • Services Training and Consulting System Integration and Testing Support and Maintenance Global AI in Fashion Market, by Applications • Product Recommendation • Product Search and Discovery • Supply Chain Management and Demand Forecasting • Creative Designing and Trend Forecasting • Customer Relationship Management • Virtual Assistants • Others (Fraud detection, fabric waste reduction, and price optimization) Global AI in Fashion Market, by Deployment Mode • Cloud • On-premises Global AI in Fashion Market, by Category • Apparel • Accessories • Footwear • Beauty and Cosmetics • Jewelry and Watches • Others (eyewear, home decor) Global AI in Fashion Market, by End-User • Fashion Designers • Fashion Stores Global AI in Fashion Market, by Region • North America • Europe • Asia Pacific • Middle East & Africa • South America Key players operating in the Global AI in Fashion Market • Microsoft • IBM • Google • AWS • SAP • Facebook • Adobe • Oracle • Catchoom • Huawei • Vue.AI • Heuritech • Wide Eyes • Findmine • Intelistyle • Lily AI • Pttrns.AI • Syte • Mode.AI • Stitch Fix • Alibaba. • Amazon. • H&M. • Tommy Hilfiger. • ASOS.

http://www.hitstylist.com/2020/06/get-here-skiing-and-she-lived-happily.html

#SEO #Local SEO training

[newromanticss]

Friedrich Nietzsche: The truth is terrible

Brian Leiter examines Nietzsche's conception of what makes life worth livingBRIAN LEITER

Footnotes to Plato is a TLS Online series appraising the works and legacies of the great thinkers and philosophers

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) pursued two main themes in his work, one now familiar, even commonplace in modernity, the other still under-appreciated, often ignored.  The familiar Nietzsche is the “existentialist”, who diagnoses the most profound cultural fact about modernity: “the death of God”, or more exactly, the collapse of the possibility of reasonable belief in God. Belief in God – in transcendent meaning or purpose, dictated by a supernatural being – is now incredible, usurped by naturalistic explanations of the evolution of species, the behaviour of matter in motion, the unconscious causes of human behaviours and attitudes, indeed, by explanations of how such a bizarre belief arose in the first place. But without God or transcendent purpose, how can we withstand the terrible truths about our existence, namely, its inevitable suffering and disappointment, followed by death and the abyss of nothingness?

Nietzsche the “existentialist” exists in tandem with an “illiberal” Nietzsche, one who sees the collapse of theism and divine teleology as tied fundamentally to the untenability of the entire moral world view of post-Christian modernity. If there is no God who deems each human to be of equal worth or possessed with an immortal soul beloved by God, then why think we all deserve equal moral consideration?  And what if, as Nietzsche argues, a morality of equality – and altruism and pity for suffering – were, in fact, an obstacle to human excellence? What if being a “moral” person makes it impossible to be Beethoven? Nietzsche’s conclusion is clear: if moral equality is an obstacle to human excellence, then so much the worse for moral equality. This is the less familiar and often shockingly anti-egalitarian Nietzsche.

Nietzsche grew up in the belly of God and Christian morality. His father, and his grandfathers on both sides of his family, were Lutheran pastors, and Nietzsche himself went to university planning to study Theology. Theological studies has perhaps never had such a spectacular dropout – one who later ridiculed Luther as a “boor” and declared himself to be the “anti-Christian” par excellence. The young Nietzsche switched after one year at university to Classical Philology – the study of the texts and culture of the ancient Greek and Roman world – where he excelled, earning appointment to the University of Basel in 1869, even before completing his doctoral thesis. He soon met the composer Richard Wagner, and was briefly a disciple, imagining that Wagner’s music would redeem European culture from the ill effects of Christian morality. His enthusiasm for Wagner subsided after a few years, as Nietzsche’s mature philosophical views coalesced, and he grew disillusioned with Wagner’s rabid anti-Semitism.

Nietzsche’s classical training had educated him about ancient philosophy; the Presocratic philosophers (with their simple naturalistic world view) were his favourites, while his disagreements with Socrates and Plato persisted throughout his corpus. But it was only by accident that he discovered contemporary German philosophy in 1865 and 1866 through Arthur Schopenhauer and, a year later, the neo-Kantian Friedrich Lange. Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation (which was first published in 1818, but only came to prominence decades later, contributing to the eclipse of G. W. F. Hegel in German philosophy) set Nietzsche’s central existentialist issue: how can life, given that it involves continual, senseless suffering, possibly be justified? Schopenhauer offered a “nihilistic” verdict:  we would be better off dead. Nietzsche wanted to resist that conclusion, to “affirm” life, as he would often put it, to the point that we would happily will its “eternal recurrence” (in one of his famous formulations) including all its suffering.

Lange, by contrast, was both a neo-Kantian – part of the “back to Kant” revival in German philosophy after Hegel’s eclipse – and a friend of the “materialist” turn in German intellectual life, the other major reaction against Hegelian idealism after 1831. The latter, though familiar to philosophers today primarily by way of Ludwig Feuerbach and Karl Marx, actually received its major impetus from the dramatic developments in physiology that began in Germany in the 1830s.  Materialism exploded on the German intellectual scene of the 1850s in such volumes as Ludwig Büchner’s Force and Matter, a publishing sensation which went through multiple editions and became a bestseller with its message that “the researches and discoveries of modern times can no longer allow us to doubt that man, with all he has and possesses, be it mental or corporeal, is a natural product like all other organic beings”. (Think of Büchner as the Richard Dawkins of the nineteenth century: a popularizer of some genuine discoveries, while also an unnuanced ideologue.)  Nietzsche, who first learned of these “German Materialists” from Lange, wrote in a letter of 1866, “Kant, Schopenhauer, this book by Lange – I don’t need anything else”.

Nietzsche soon soured on Kant, though Kant and Plato remain his most frequent “philosophical” opponents in his writings, even if “philosophical” may mislead as to Nietzsche’s critical method. For Nietzsche’s distinctive writing style is notably anomalous in the canon of great philosophers: he writes aphoristically, polemically, lyrically and always very personally; he can be funny, sarcastic, rude, scholarly, scathing, often in the same passage. He eschews almost entirely the rationally discursive form of philosophical argumentation. In the course of examining philosophical subjects (morality, free will, knowledge), Nietzsche will invoke historical, psychological, philological and anthropological claims, and never appeal to an intuition or an a priori bit of knowledge, let alone set out a syllogism (“Nothing is easier to erase than a dialectical effect”, he quips in Twilight of the Idols).

Nietzsche, under the influence of the Materialists and also Schopenhauer, took consciousness and reason to play a rather minor role in what humans do, believe and value; far more important are our unconscious and subconscious instinctive and affective lives. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche writes that what inspires “mistrust and mockery” of the great philosophers is that,

They all pose as if they had discovered and arrived at their genuine convictions through the self-development of a cold, pure, divinely indifferent dialectic . . . while what really happens is that they take a conjecture, a whim, an “inspiration” or, more typically, they take some fervent wish that they have sifted through and made properly abstract – and they defend it with rationalizations after the fact. They are all advocates who do not want to be seen as such . . . .

Even Kant, recall, finally admitted that his goal was to put limits on reason to “make room for faith” – in God and in morality. But Nietzsche will not partake in this charade of offering post hoc rationalizations for metaphysical theses that are really motivated by “the moral (or immoral) intentions” of the philosopher which “constitute the real germ from which the whole plant [i.e., the philosophical system] has always grown”. Nietzsche’s motivations are, by his own admission, “immoral” ones.

Superficial readers who think Nietzsche defends a “metaphysics of will to power” must ignore his own “mistrust and mockery” of such philosophical extravagance: achieving a “feeling of power” is an important human motivation, as he argues in On the Genealogy of Morality, but that is a psychological, not metaphysical, claim. For Nietzsche the psychologist, the moral views of a philosopher also “bear decided and decisive witness to who he is – which means, in what order of rank the innermost drives of his nature stand with respect to each other”. But non-rational drives can be influenced and redirected primarily by non-rational means: if you provoke, amuse and annoy the reader, you thereby arouse his affects (drives are, on Nietzsche’s view, dispositions to have certain kinds of affective responses). Thus, Nietzsche’s mode of writing grows out of his view of what humans, including philosophers, are really like.

On this view, our conscious selves are largely illusory – “consciousness is a surface” Nietzsche says in Ecce Homo, one that conceals the causally efficacious, but unconscious, drives. “The greatest part of our spirit’s activity . . . remains unconscious and unfelt” (The Gay Science), while “everything of which we become conscious . . . causes nothing” (The Will to Power).  When we speak of the “will” or of the “motive” that precedes an action, we are speaking merely of “error[s]” and “phantoms”, “merely a surface phenomenon of consciousness – something alongside the deed that is more likely to cover up the antecedents of the deed than to represent them” (Twilight of the Idols).  Humans are, on Nietzsche’s view, neither free nor morally responsible for their actions.

But the illusion of free will is not the main reason he rejects Judeo-Christian morality. “It is not error as error” as he says in his stylized autobiography Ecce Homo that he objects to in such morality.   Nietzsche’s central objection to morality is more radical and illiberal: any culture dominated by Judeo-Christian morality, or other ascetic or life-denying moralities, will be one inhospitable to the realization of human excellence. What if, as he says in On the Genealogy of Morality, “morality itself were to blame if the highest power and splendor possible to the type man was never in fact attained? So that morality itself was the danger of dangers?”

Consider his objection to moral views that demand that we eliminate suffering and promote happiness.  In Dawn, he writes, “Are we not, with this tremendous objective of obliterating all the sharp edges of life, well on the way to turning mankind into sand? Sand! Small, soft, round, unending sand! Is that your ideal, you heralds of the sympathetic affections?” In Beyond Good and Evil a few years later, he objects to utilitarians that, “Well-being as you understand it – that is no goal, that seems to us an end, a state that soon makes man ridiculous and contemptible . . . . ”

Continue reading: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/friedrich-nietzsche-truth-terrible/

#friedrich nietzsche #friedrichshain #philosophy #truth #the truth #thoughts

[innerkryptonitebanana-blog]

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize On The Proven Success Of Amazon And AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

New Post has been published on http://getblackhatdownload.com/get-instastore-capitalize-on-the-proven-success-of-amazon-and-aliexpress-affiliate-products-instantly-download/

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Click + Setup + Profit

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Instantly create stores with 100s of products

Automatically import curated video reviews

Reward visitors with gift certificates

Easy, Clean store interface that sells anything!

Generate hands-off traffic with incentivized social-sharing

Gain keen insights into your store analytics

Build a list with any autoresponder or export leads as CSV

Look What Others Have To Say

No Need To Create Content Curate Videos And Text INSTANTLY!

90% of the online shoppers at a major retailer’s website said they find video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions.

Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with video sell a lot more than products with no video.

Much more website visitors are likely to buy a product on an online retail site after watching a video.

Businesses that incorporate video marketing into their overall marketing strategy see higher engagement rates, higher click-through rates and higher conversion rate.

Now think about adding Facebook into the mix.

Result = AWESOME!

Introducing…

InstaStore

60-Second Affiliate Store – Scale Them Like Never Before

Create stores with hundreds of products easily

Import related video reviews automatically

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Generate hands-off traffic with incentivized social-sharing

Gain keen insights into your store analytics

Build a list with any autoresponder or export leads as CSV

Click

With just a few clicks get a new store up and running in no time. No need to go to a bank or to family to ask for money for starting a new business, because you simply don’t need any. No need to lease out super expensive space, hire unaffordable employees or pay huge electricity bills.

Setup

Create campaigns, add different categories under each campaign, and even clone campaigns to create a chain of stores. Not just that, add a logo and change the name of the store to whatever you like, to give it a personal touch and feel. You can also edit product info to target a specific group of customers

Profit

Now this is the key part. Advertising your store just became super easy. With the unique reward point system for users to spread the word around on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+ etc., everybody out there would eagerly go around talking about your stores. And of course, more people means more profit potential.

Get InstaStore – 90% OFF

Look What Others Have To Say

Watch How InstaStore Works

Why InstaStore?

Sell products from AliExpress

Facebook Pages for Stores

Don’t Just Create A Store…And Then Hope To Make Sales

Make Your Store Go Viral

A lot of people create a lot of stores on social networking sites. But they still fail terribly in making it a source of solid recurring income. This is because, no matter how great a product or service is, it needs to be constantly promoted to the new and existing customers.

Advertising Industry Is Expected To Touch $ 180 Billion Mark This Year In US Alone…

Now of course Big Corporate Houses have set aside huge amount of cash for advertising, but what about smaller players? Does it mean, that the small players who can’t afford such an investment should not even try entering a market.

The answer is a BIG NO…Advertising is indispensable…there is no doubting that. But of course there’s got to be a simpler, smarter way to advertise one’s store without burning a huge hole in one’s pocket.

InstaStore comes with an in-built capability to generate hands-off traffic on auto-pilot! So not only is this a store creator, but also a traffic generator!

Incentivize Social Sharing In Your InstaStore

Cash-In Every Prospective Lead Out There! Don’t pay for ads… make Facebook and Twitter users happily do the advertising for you

Here’s the thing, don’t we all love free stuff. But even better is when we WIN that free stuff. It makes us feel like we have earned it. Makes us feel more confident and also gives us a feeling of having an edge over the others. Winning…just makes things a lot sweeter.

We took this basic human psychological weakness and turned it into a strong asset in this app.

Now to earn reward points, people will eagerly go around promoting your stores on Facebook and Twitter. They get points for:

And later they can redeem these points to get discounts or free stuff on your store.

Check Out These Features That Give You The Edge Over the Rest

Create New Campaigns Or Clone Existing Ones

You can start from scratch to create a new store, add products under different categories and later clone the same store to create a new one. All done with just a few clicks.

Build Customer Confidence And Increases Conversion Rates.

Whenever you add a product, a YouTube video is automatically added to the product. However, you can also change this video and replace it with your own preferred one. This helps build confidence of your customers by providing an opportunity to see their chosen product “in-action” and skyrocket conversions on your store.

Get Bigger Following On Google Plus

Not just that, it has more visitors than Instagram, Pinterest as per Forrester Research. It has 343 million users a month, making it the second most active social network after Facebook that has 700 million. A major Google Plus feature is Hangouts, which enables group meetings, discussions or demonstrations. It’s completely unique to Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter don’t have it. Here you can talk about your new products to existing customers and potential new customers.

Put Your Store Directly INSIDE The Facebook Tab Page

With this feature you can now put your store right inside your Facebook Tab Page and drive all the traffic from your Facebook tab page directly to your store. Get ‘likes’ ‘comments’ and ‘shares’ on your stores instantly, helping immensely in spreading the word around about your products and your store.

Showcase New Products Or Offers With Your own Pop-Ups

That’s right! You can now incorporate your own popups to your website. This can be an alert, a pop-up to sign-up or any call-to-action that you like. You can redirect your visitor to any page on your website to showcase new products or showcase new offers.

Use Pop-Ups To Give Away Insta Prizes And Build A List Too

Everybody loves the chance to WIN something. It gives people a rush. Now you can entice people with providing a chance to win prizes and make them stay longer on your store. That way you increase your chances of making more sales. And not to mention, the list you generate when these visitors sign-up to win those prizes, is a great asset.

Autoresponder Integration

It is true – Money IS in the list indeed. InstaStore integrates with all major Autoresponders, so you can keep in touch with all your customers, and mail them whenever you add a great new offer. This platform works with all autoresponders.

Export Subscriber List as CSV

All information regarding subscriptions are exported easily in CSV format so you can insta-import this list in any autoresponder! This is perfect if you have self-hosted options!

Add products by keyword search

Make shopping on your store a convenient process for your customers by adding this feature, so that they find the products that they are looking for without having to take the pains to search through your entire product line.

Set up rewards

With this feature, you can allot points to people who spread the word around about your store, thereby making it go Viral. They can later redeem these points for getting discounts on their purchases at your store or get some products free of cost.

Personalize your store

Add a logo, change the name to whatever you like or edit product info to your liking. This feature offers you complete freedom to give your store a unique personal touch.

Add product by a link

If there is a product that you want on your store, may be because it is in demand, just provide a link and get the product added straight to your store.

Readymade Compliance pages

You don’t need to worry with technicalities like “Terms and Conditions” and “Refund policies” etc. We have it all covered for you here. So just start up your store and be on the way to your bank smiling.

Analytics

This brings those really unaffordable Management Gurus at your service. Here you can analyze the traffic being driven from various social platforms to your stores, compare the data and devise an informed future strategy to pursue.

Still Not Convinced?

Here are more reasons to grab InstaStore early

Bonus #1 – 15 logos

Your logo is the face of your company.

Choosing the right identity for your company or product is one of the most important elements of a successful business.

Our KV Social designers created 15 personalized, unique creative and logos that will guarantee the easy recognition of your business online and offline.

Bonus #2 – Corporate Identity Pack

This Corporate Identity Pack is a bonus package that your customers can use to market their consultancy business.

Bonus #3 – Facebook Retargeting Training

Learn how to maximize your earnings by using Facebook. Get strategies used by experts that will help you jumpstart your earnings really fast!

Here’s a quick overview of the different versions of InstaStore:

So, what are you waiting for? Tap straight into the 100 billion dollar market.

Get 100% FREE VIRAL BUYER traffic to your Amazon and AliExpress offers with hordes of people desperate to buy what you’re selling.

Now you might be thinking this costs AT LEAST 3 figures.

I mean, we could charge $497 right now, and it would still be a great deal, because you’d make that money back with just a few sales in no time.

But we want to make you an offer you can’t refuse!

So get InstaStore as long as it is available for a STEAL of a price!

Right now, it is not even half of the $497 price tag.

Got your interest? Click the “Add To Cart” Below And Get Your Hands On This Amazing Software That Will Solve All Your Money Making Problems For Life!

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

You can agree that the price we’re asking is extremely low.

And that’s going to change quickly!! That is every time the timer hits zero.

The price is rising with every sale, so it won’t be long until it’s more than double what it is today!

Just take action… and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

To your success

P.S. You can try RISK FREE “InstaStore” for 30 days

Listen, we know there are a lot of crappy software tools out there that will get you nowhere and that they will make you keep struggling to make money on Facebook.

Most of the software is overpriced and an absolute waste of money.

So if you’re a bit skeptical, that’s perfectly fine. I’m so sure you’ll see the potential of this groundbreaking software that I’ll let you try it out 100% risk-free.

Just test it for 30 days and if you’re not satisfied let us know and we’ll refund you – no tricks, no questions, no hassle.

Either you’ll love this superb tool or your money back.

Neil Napier and Karthik Ramani

P.P.S: Don’t Procrastinate – Take Action NOW! Get your copy of “InstaStore”

By now you should be really excited about all the wonderful benefits of such an amazing piece of software.

It’s the best virtual store app available at an unbeatable price, there’s plenty of proof it works and it comes with an ironclad money-back guarantees.

And then regret later when it costs more than double… or it’s even completely off the market!

Here’s the “add to cart” button…

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

How easy is it to get AliExpress + Amazon affiliate access and how long does it take?

You can get access to affiliate program to both AliExpress and Amazon simply by signing up! Normally, it will take 24 to 72 hours before your account gets approved. Within the training section, we detail procedures you have to follow, and we are available in Facebook to help you, if you get stuck.

Are the product prices updated regularly? What happens if the price is out of stock?

Prices are automatically updated on your InstaStore every 24 hours. If the item is out of stock, it will also appear as out of stock in your InstaStore.

Who pays our affiliate commissions?

Your commissions come directly to you from Amazon or AliExpress – whichever channel you choose.

How long does my affiliate cookie on Amazon last?

There are many schools of thought on this matter, and some suggest that if a product is added straight to cart upon clicking a link, the cookie will last for 90 days. That’s exactly what we do. When someone clicks on the “Get at amazon” button, we send them straight to Amazon and the product is added to cart. This way – your cookie lasts longer, and if the visitor purchases any other product within 24 hours, you get paid on that too!

I don’t have a legal team to look into the technicalities, like for example “Terms and Conditions” pages, can you help with that?

We understand that you would not want to waste your time on such small yet important for every business details. So we have taken care of it for you in the form of Compliance Pages. You can start with selling right away as these pages are done for you!

Can I personalize the stores?

Of course. You can add your own logo, change the name of the store and make it completely personal in taste and style. If you choose the upgrade, you can even point your store to a sub domain and create your own brand following

What if I want new features? Would you entertain that?

Since going live 2 days ago, we have already added 2 new features and fixed a few geo-specific issues. So trust me, we are on top of making sure you get all the help you need to succeed.

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

[wingedtragedyconnoisseur-blog]

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize On The Proven Success Of Amazon And AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

New Post has been published on http://getblackhatdownload.com/get-instastore-capitalize-on-the-proven-success-of-amazon-and-aliexpress-affiliate-products-instantly-download/

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize On The Proven Success Of Amazon And AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

Click + Setup + Profit

Combine the Power of Video + eCommerce to Insta-Create 6-Figure Stores.

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

Even with NO products, just ‘insta-import’ over 200 Million Products With ready-to-go content, selling to over 1.44 Billion Rabid Customers!

Instantly create stores with 100s of products

Automatically import curated video reviews

Reward visitors with gift certificates

Easy, Clean store interface that sells anything!

Generate hands-off traffic with incentivized social-sharing

Gain keen insights into your store analytics

Build a list with any autoresponder or export leads as CSV

Look What Others Have To Say

No Need To Create Content Curate Videos And Text INSTANTLY!

90% of the online shoppers at a major retailer’s website said they find video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions.

Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with video sell a lot more than products with no video.

Much more website visitors are likely to buy a product on an online retail site after watching a video.

Businesses that incorporate video marketing into their overall marketing strategy see higher engagement rates, higher click-through rates and higher conversion rate.

Now think about adding Facebook into the mix.

Result = AWESOME!

Introducing…

InstaStore

60-Second Affiliate Store – Scale Them Like Never Before

Create stores with hundreds of products easily

Import related video reviews automatically

Reward visitors with gift certificates instantly

Generate hands-off traffic with incentivized social-sharing

Gain keen insights into your store analytics

Build a list with any autoresponder or export leads as CSV

Click

With just a few clicks get a new store up and running in no time. No need to go to a bank or to family to ask for money for starting a new business, because you simply don’t need any. No need to lease out super expensive space, hire unaffordable employees or pay huge electricity bills.

Setup

Create campaigns, add different categories under each campaign, and even clone campaigns to create a chain of stores. Not just that, add a logo and change the name of the store to whatever you like, to give it a personal touch and feel. You can also edit product info to target a specific group of customers

Profit

Now this is the key part. Advertising your store just became super easy. With the unique reward point system for users to spread the word around on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+ etc., everybody out there would eagerly go around talking about your stores. And of course, more people means more profit potential.

Get InstaStore – 90% OFF

Look What Others Have To Say

Watch How InstaStore Works

Why InstaStore?

Sell products from AliExpress

Facebook Pages for Stores

Don’t Just Create A Store…And Then Hope To Make Sales

Make Your Store Go Viral

A lot of people create a lot of stores on social networking sites. But they still fail terribly in making it a source of solid recurring income. This is because, no matter how great a product or service is, it needs to be constantly promoted to the new and existing customers.

Advertising Industry Is Expected To Touch $ 180 Billion Mark This Year In US Alone…

Now of course Big Corporate Houses have set aside huge amount of cash for advertising, but what about smaller players? Does it mean, that the small players who can’t afford such an investment should not even try entering a market.

The answer is a BIG NO…Advertising is indispensable…there is no doubting that. But of course there’s got to be a simpler, smarter way to advertise one’s store without burning a huge hole in one’s pocket.

InstaStore comes with an in-built capability to generate hands-off traffic on auto-pilot! So not only is this a store creator, but also a traffic generator!

Incentivize Social Sharing In Your InstaStore

Cash-In Every Prospective Lead Out There! Don’t pay for ads… make Facebook and Twitter users happily do the advertising for you

Here’s the thing, don’t we all love free stuff. But even better is when we WIN that free stuff. It makes us feel like we have earned it. Makes us feel more confident and also gives us a feeling of having an edge over the others. Winning…just makes things a lot sweeter.

We took this basic human psychological weakness and turned it into a strong asset in this app.

Now to earn reward points, people will eagerly go around promoting your stores on Facebook and Twitter. They get points for:

And later they can redeem these points to get discounts or free stuff on your store.

Check Out These Features That Give You The Edge Over the Rest

Create New Campaigns Or Clone Existing Ones

You can start from scratch to create a new store, add products under different categories and later clone the same store to create a new one. All done with just a few clicks.

Build Customer Confidence And Increases Conversion Rates.

Whenever you add a product, a YouTube video is automatically added to the product. However, you can also change this video and replace it with your own preferred one. This helps build confidence of your customers by providing an opportunity to see their chosen product “in-action” and skyrocket conversions on your store.

Get Bigger Following On Google Plus

Not just that, it has more visitors than Instagram, Pinterest as per Forrester Research. It has 343 million users a month, making it the second most active social network after Facebook that has 700 million. A major Google Plus feature is Hangouts, which enables group meetings, discussions or demonstrations. It’s completely unique to Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter don’t have it. Here you can talk about your new products to existing customers and potential new customers.

Put Your Store Directly INSIDE The Facebook Tab Page

With this feature you can now put your store right inside your Facebook Tab Page and drive all the traffic from your Facebook tab page directly to your store. Get ‘likes’ ‘comments’ and ‘shares’ on your stores instantly, helping immensely in spreading the word around about your products and your store.

Showcase New Products Or Offers With Your own Pop-Ups

That’s right! You can now incorporate your own popups to your website. This can be an alert, a pop-up to sign-up or any call-to-action that you like. You can redirect your visitor to any page on your website to showcase new products or showcase new offers.

Use Pop-Ups To Give Away Insta Prizes And Build A List Too

Everybody loves the chance to WIN something. It gives people a rush. Now you can entice people with providing a chance to win prizes and make them stay longer on your store. That way you increase your chances of making more sales. And not to mention, the list you generate when these visitors sign-up to win those prizes, is a great asset.

Autoresponder Integration

It is true – Money IS in the list indeed. InstaStore integrates with all major Autoresponders, so you can keep in touch with all your customers, and mail them whenever you add a great new offer. This platform works with all autoresponders.

Export Subscriber List as CSV

All information regarding subscriptions are exported easily in CSV format so you can insta-import this list in any autoresponder! This is perfect if you have self-hosted options!

Add products by keyword search

Make shopping on your store a convenient process for your customers by adding this feature, so that they find the products that they are looking for without having to take the pains to search through your entire product line.

Set up rewards

With this feature, you can allot points to people who spread the word around about your store, thereby making it go Viral. They can later redeem these points for getting discounts on their purchases at your store or get some products free of cost.

Personalize your store

Add a logo, change the name to whatever you like or edit product info to your liking. This feature offers you complete freedom to give your store a unique personal touch.

Add product by a link

If there is a product that you want on your store, may be because it is in demand, just provide a link and get the product added straight to your store.

Readymade Compliance pages

You don’t need to worry with technicalities like “Terms and Conditions” and “Refund policies” etc. We have it all covered for you here. So just start up your store and be on the way to your bank smiling.

Analytics

This brings those really unaffordable Management Gurus at your service. Here you can analyze the traffic being driven from various social platforms to your stores, compare the data and devise an informed future strategy to pursue.

Still Not Convinced?

Here are more reasons to grab InstaStore early

Bonus #1 – 15 logos

Your logo is the face of your company.

Choosing the right identity for your company or product is one of the most important elements of a successful business.

Our KV Social designers created 15 personalized, unique creative and logos that will guarantee the easy recognition of your business online and offline.

Bonus #2 – Corporate Identity Pack

This Corporate Identity Pack is a bonus package that your customers can use to market their consultancy business.

Bonus #3 – Facebook Retargeting Training

Learn how to maximize your earnings by using Facebook. Get strategies used by experts that will help you jumpstart your earnings really fast!

Here’s a quick overview of the different versions of InstaStore:

So, what are you waiting for? Tap straight into the 100 billion dollar market.

Get 100% FREE VIRAL BUYER traffic to your Amazon and AliExpress offers with hordes of people desperate to buy what you’re selling.

Now you might be thinking this costs AT LEAST 3 figures.

I mean, we could charge $497 right now, and it would still be a great deal, because you’d make that money back with just a few sales in no time.

But we want to make you an offer you can’t refuse!

So get InstaStore as long as it is available for a STEAL of a price!

Right now, it is not even half of the $497 price tag.

Got your interest? Click the “Add To Cart” Below And Get Your Hands On This Amazing Software That Will Solve All Your Money Making Problems For Life!

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

You can agree that the price we’re asking is extremely low.

And that’s going to change quickly!! That is every time the timer hits zero.

The price is rising with every sale, so it won’t be long until it’s more than double what it is today!

Just take action… and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

To your success

P.S. You can try RISK FREE “InstaStore” for 30 days

Listen, we know there are a lot of crappy software tools out there that will get you nowhere and that they will make you keep struggling to make money on Facebook.

Most of the software is overpriced and an absolute waste of money.

So if you’re a bit skeptical, that’s perfectly fine. I’m so sure you’ll see the potential of this groundbreaking software that I’ll let you try it out 100% risk-free.

Just test it for 30 days and if you’re not satisfied let us know and we’ll refund you – no tricks, no questions, no hassle.

Either you’ll love this superb tool or your money back.

Neil Napier and Karthik Ramani

P.P.S: Don’t Procrastinate – Take Action NOW! Get your copy of “InstaStore”

By now you should be really excited about all the wonderful benefits of such an amazing piece of software.

It’s the best virtual store app available at an unbeatable price, there’s plenty of proof it works and it comes with an ironclad money-back guarantees.

And then regret later when it costs more than double… or it’s even completely off the market!

Here’s the “add to cart” button…

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

How easy is it to get AliExpress + Amazon affiliate access and how long does it take?

You can get access to affiliate program to both AliExpress and Amazon simply by signing up! Normally, it will take 24 to 72 hours before your account gets approved. Within the training section, we detail procedures you have to follow, and we are available in Facebook to help you, if you get stuck.

Are the product prices updated regularly? What happens if the price is out of stock?

Prices are automatically updated on your InstaStore every 24 hours. If the item is out of stock, it will also appear as out of stock in your InstaStore.

Who pays our affiliate commissions?

Your commissions come directly to you from Amazon or AliExpress – whichever channel you choose.

How long does my affiliate cookie on Amazon last?

There are many schools of thought on this matter, and some suggest that if a product is added straight to cart upon clicking a link, the cookie will last for 90 days. That’s exactly what we do. When someone clicks on the “Get at amazon” button, we send them straight to Amazon and the product is added to cart. This way – your cookie lasts longer, and if the visitor purchases any other product within 24 hours, you get paid on that too!

I don’t have a legal team to look into the technicalities, like for example “Terms and Conditions” pages, can you help with that?

We understand that you would not want to waste your time on such small yet important for every business details. So we have taken care of it for you in the form of Compliance Pages. You can start with selling right away as these pages are done for you!

Can I personalize the stores?

Of course. You can add your own logo, change the name of the store and make it completely personal in taste and style. If you choose the upgrade, you can even point your store to a sub domain and create your own brand following

What if I want new features? Would you entertain that?

Since going live 2 days ago, we have already added 2 new features and fixed a few geo-specific issues. So trust me, we are on top of making sure you get all the help you need to succeed.

[GEt] InstaStore Capitalize on the proven success of Amazon and AliExpress Affiliate Products Instantly DOWNLOAD

[cristinajourdanqp]

Collagen for Skin: The Truth Behind the Benefits

It’s easy to get into the habit of assuming that certain things “just happen” as we get older. As the years pile up, we brace ourselves for brittle bones, expanding waistlines, failing eyesight—and a propensity for falling asleep in front of the T.V.

Statistically speaking, they do loom largely. This is what we often see around us after all. But, of course, we know it’s not the whole story. We certainly can resign ourselves to a common fate, but that’s probably not why anyone is reading today. Most people who visit this blog (and definitely those who frequent it) want more. They want something better, and they’re willing to learn, move, and eat to get it.

And as with our bodies, so with our skin…

Collagen Basics

The body’s most abundant protein comprises around a quarter of your overall protein makeup and as much as 80% of the protein in your skin alone. Of the more than 16 different types of collagen, an estimated 80-90% of collagen in the body is types 1, 2 and 3.

The premise of collagen is simple: keep the skin elastic, the hair strong, and the connecty bits nice and stretchy. Without it, your muscles, bones, connective tissues, GI tract and even blood cells would be in a tough spot. 

But that’s not always easy.

Collagen is comprised of 4 amino acids: glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and arginine. When the collagen protein is digested, these are the individual elements left over for uptake. But in order to produce collagen within the body, we need to have good levels of glycine, proline and lysine, along with a decent amount of vitamin C as a cofactor.

Of these three, lycine is an essential amino acid, meaning the body is unable to produce it intrinsically—it must be obtained from protein-rich foods like meat, fish, dairy and legumes. Glycine and proline, on the other hand, are considered “conditional” amino acids: the body can produce them to a small extent, but most people argue that this isn’t near enough for our daily collagen needs.

Glycine, for example, is synthesized from serine and threonine at a rate of around 3 grams per day. This, in addition to between 1.5 and 3 grams glycine per day from the average diet, doesn’t quite add up to the estimated 10 grams/day required for metabolic purposes. That 4-5.5 gram gap in your daily glycine stocks is bound to hurt collagen production, and in turn undermine healthy skin, joints and musculature.

So. More collagen consumption means elevated levels of circulating amino acids, laying the foundations for healthier skin (among other things). But just how much healthier are we talking here?

What’s Really At Work Under the Surface

As the external manifestation of our health, the condition of our skin is kind of a big deal. Needless to say, the cosmetics industry has been cashing in. 

While those topical skincare products offer little effect (being that collagen molecules are larger than our skin pores), their messages at least bring our attention to the role of collagen itself. 

Wrinkles and Aging 

As we age so, too, do the mechanisms behind collagen synthesis within the body. This means a steady decline in epidermal collagen—that same compound that makes up (or used to) 80% of the protein in your skin. And with falling collagen levels, one can expect to see a loss of smoothness, firmness and buoyancy in their skin.

Happily, several of the amino acid precursors to collagen synthesis in the body can be supplied via consumables—in particular hydrolyzed collagen (aka collagen peptides) and gelatin. A 2014 study, for example, demonstrated a 20% reduction in eye wrinkles from just 8 weeks of collagen peptide supplementation, with the anti-wrinkle effects extending at least a month after supplementation was discontinued.

Another study using a different hydrolyzed collagen formulation found that daily collagen supplementation over the course of 12 weeks led to a 76% reduction in skin dryness and a 13% reduction in wrinkles. Researchers were also able to show a notable increase in collagen within the skin dermis from the supplementation—a sure sign that the collagen is being distributed where we need it most.

So far, these studies have largely focused on middle-aged to elderly females, but there’s no reason why the same results wouldn’t be seen in men and in younger members of both sexes. It’s also worth noting that there’s almost certainly a strong positive association between collagen supplementation and certain vitamins – particularly vitamin C, but also vitamins A and E. Considering vitamin C is a cofactor for collagen synthesis and regeneration of collagen in the skin, it’s not hard to see why.

As an aside, a slightly more invasive – but apparently quite safe – method of restoring collagen to the skin is via percutaneous collagen induction therapy – a roller with tiny needles that puncture the upper layer of the skin and thereby (purportedly) trigger the production of new elastin and collagen. I’ll admit the thought makes me personally mildly nauseous, but if you’re comfortable with acupuncture then it might be worth giving a try.

Skin Elasticity

Arguably, elasticity goes hand in hand with wrinkles – you can’t have one without a deficiency in the other – but it’s still worthwhile highlighting just how beneficial collagen supplementation can be for skin elasticity.

Research conducted by the same folks who gave us those anti-wrinkle studies also shows that hydrolyzed collagen given at different dosages has a similarly significant impact on skin elasticity. Sixty-nine women between the ages of 35 and 55 were given either 2.5 g or 5 g of collagen hydrolysate once a day for eight weeks, with the results showing a marked improvement in skin elasticity in both groups compared to placebo.

Another study used a “nutricosmeceutical” (say that ten times) composed of collagen peptides and antioxidants to produce a similar result in 120 healthy volunteers across 90 days of supplementation: “Overall, we demonstrated a significant increase in skin elasticity (+7.5%)…and an improvement in skin texture after daily oral consumption of the nutricosmeceutical.” (I think I’ll skip the fancy title and just stick to calling it my daily shake.)

And as unpleasant as it sounds, apparently getting more collagen in your diet should ensure a lower risk of skin cracking. That’s a relief.

Cellulite

An estimated 85-98% of post-pubescent females have cellulite. While not life-threatening or even health-compromising, many consider it a bane for  an otherwise flawless (and even fit) physique.

Admittedly, what allows fat deposits to push through and cause the wavy appearance is weakened collagen fibers. And as we know, collagen supplementation can help with that….

In a longer term clinical study, 105 women between 24 and 50 years of age were given either 2.5 g collagen peptides or a placebo over the course of 6 months. In normal weight women given the peptides, there was a decent decrease in the degree of cellulite and “reduced skin waviness,” along with improved dermal density. Interestingly, however, this beneficial effect of collagen on cellulite was less pronounced in overweight women. All the more reason to clean up your diet and get moving, too. Collagen isn’t a miracle. It’s a tool—and an effective one, especially in the right context. 

Sun Damage

There’s two ways in which the skin ages: chronologically and photologically. I may have made that last word up, but you get the idea – our skin ages whether we go out into the sun or not, but that process can be accelerated somewhat the more sun we get.

Which isn’t to say that you should cringe every time a ray of sun comes your way That would be depriving your body of essential vitamin D (along with a whole lot of enjoyment). The trick is to avoid overexposure, ensure antioxidant protection, and make your collagen intake sufficient to maintain healthy collagen levels in the skin.

The mechanism by which UV light can damage the skin is largely pinned down to a decrease in certain key antioxidants with increasing sun exposure, and a corresponding rise in malondiaidehyde—a biomarker of skin damage. Happily, both gelatin and collagen supplements have shown an ability to increase activity of the skin-protecting antioxidants and block the formation of skin-degrading malondiaidehyde.

Increasing Dietary Collagen

There’s a myriad of other ways in which higher collagen consumption can promote better skin – sleep, gut health, digestion and tissue repair are all critical for healthy skin, and collagen can in its own way enhance all of these functions. But let’s cut to the chase and talk 

Clearly, then, you need more of the stuff. Stat. But where to get your hands on the finest, most skin-supporting collagen? Let’s find out.

Bone Broth

You’re Primal, or at least Primally-inclined, so you know about bone broth, a source rich in gelatin. Gelatin contains the same amino acid makeup as collagen peptides (the amino chains just haven’t been broken down as much), making it your natural go-to for increased collagen synthesis.

If you’ve got the time, make your own bone broth from bones and meaty offcuts, or find a well-respected company that’s already made it for you. Just make sure that said broth is thick and jiggly when it’s cold.

Skin and Stringy Bits

The skin and connective tissues of any animal – land or water dwelling – contains a hefty amount of collagen (just like us humans). This means that the more crunchy cartilage bits, stringy bits, chewy bits and flappy bits you eat from that cooked animal carcass, the more collagen you’re ingesting.

Collagen Peptides

As I discussed earlier, collagen peptides are just a different name for collagen hydrolysate and hydrolyzed collagen. The Primal Kitchen® Collagen Fuel, our collagen hydrolysate powder, provides the full amino acid profile in an easy to digest form, making it even more effective than gelatin for folks who have trouble with digestion. I made it to use it myself, but I’m happy to share. 

Vitamin C

Yes, yes, I mentioned it earlier, but it’s important enough to bear repeating. Vitamin C, while not a source of collagen per se, is critical for synthesizing collagen in the body – so if you’re not getting enough from the food you eat, you need to get on that. There’s no sense wasting good collagen’s benefits. 

Thanks for reading, folks. Have you noticed any changes in your skin or otherwise after upping your collagen intake? What’s your go-to source? Be sure to share your thoughts below.

[watsonrodriquezie]

Collagen for Skin: The Truth Behind the Benefits

It’s easy to get into the habit of assuming that certain things “just happen” as we get older. As the years pile up, we brace ourselves for brittle bones, expanding waistlines, failing eyesight—and a propensity for falling asleep in front of the T.V.

Statistically speaking, they do loom largely. This is what we often see around us after all. But, of course, we know it’s not the whole story. We certainly can resign ourselves to a common fate, but that’s probably not why anyone is reading today. Most people who visit this blog (and definitely those who frequent it) want more. They want something better, and they’re willing to learn, move, and eat to get it.

And as with our bodies, so with our skin…

Collagen Basics

The body’s most abundant protein comprises around a quarter of your overall protein makeup and as much as 80% of the protein in your skin alone. Of the more than 16 different types of collagen, an estimated 80-90% of collagen in the body is types 1, 2 and 3.

The premise of collagen is simple: keep the skin elastic, the hair strong, and the connecty bits nice and stretchy. Without it, your muscles, bones, connective tissues, GI tract and even blood cells would be in a tough spot. 

But that’s not always easy.

Collagen is comprised of 4 amino acids: glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and arginine. When the collagen protein is digested, these are the individual elements left over for uptake. But in order to produce collagen within the body, we need to have good levels of glycine, proline and lysine, along with a decent amount of vitamin C as a cofactor.

Of these three, lycine is an essential amino acid, meaning the body is unable to produce it intrinsically—it must be obtained from protein-rich foods like meat, fish, dairy and legumes. Glycine and proline, on the other hand, are considered “conditional” amino acids: the body can produce them to a small extent, but most people argue that this isn’t near enough for our daily collagen needs.

Glycine, for example, is synthesized from serine and threonine at a rate of around 3 grams per day. This, in addition to between 1.5 and 3 grams glycine per day from the average diet, doesn’t quite add up to the estimated 10 grams/day required for metabolic purposes. That 4-5.5 gram gap in your daily glycine stocks is bound to hurt collagen production, and in turn undermine healthy skin, joints and musculature.

So. More collagen consumption means elevated levels of circulating amino acids, laying the foundations for healthier skin (among other things). But just how much healthier are we talking here?

What’s Really At Work Under the Surface

As the external manifestation of our health, the condition of our skin is kind of a big deal. Needless to say, the cosmetics industry has been cashing in. 

While those topical skincare products offer little effect (being that collagen molecules are larger than our skin pores), their messages at least bring our attention to the role of collagen itself. 

Wrinkles and Aging 

As we age so, too, do the mechanisms behind collagen synthesis within the body. This means a steady decline in epidermal collagen—that same compound that makes up (or used to) 80% of the protein in your skin. And with falling collagen levels, one can expect to see a loss of smoothness, firmness and buoyancy in their skin.

Happily, several of the amino acid precursors to collagen synthesis in the body can be supplied via consumables—in particular hydrolyzed collagen (aka collagen peptides) and gelatin. A 2014 study, for example, demonstrated a 20% reduction in eye wrinkles from just 8 weeks of collagen peptide supplementation, with the anti-wrinkle effects extending at least a month after supplementation was discontinued.

Another study using a different hydrolyzed collagen formulation found that daily collagen supplementation over the course of 12 weeks led to a 76% reduction in skin dryness and a 13% reduction in wrinkles. Researchers were also able to show a notable increase in collagen within the skin dermis from the supplementation—a sure sign that the collagen is being distributed where we need it most.

So far, these studies have largely focused on middle-aged to elderly females, but there’s no reason why the same results wouldn’t be seen in men and in younger members of both sexes. It’s also worth noting that there’s almost certainly a strong positive association between collagen supplementation and certain vitamins – particularly vitamin C, but also vitamins A and E. Considering vitamin C is a cofactor for collagen synthesis and regeneration of collagen in the skin, it’s not hard to see why.

As an aside, a slightly more invasive – but apparently quite safe – method of restoring collagen to the skin is via percutaneous collagen induction therapy – a roller with tiny needles that puncture the upper layer of the skin and thereby (purportedly) trigger the production of new elastin and collagen. I’ll admit the thought makes me personally mildly nauseous, but if you’re comfortable with acupuncture then it might be worth giving a try.

Skin Elasticity

Arguably, elasticity goes hand in hand with wrinkles – you can’t have one without a deficiency in the other – but it’s still worthwhile highlighting just how beneficial collagen supplementation can be for skin elasticity.

Research conducted by the same folks who gave us those anti-wrinkle studies also shows that hydrolyzed collagen given at different dosages has a similarly significant impact on skin elasticity. Sixty-nine women between the ages of 35 and 55 were given either 2.5 g or 5 g of collagen hydrolysate once a day for eight weeks, with the results showing a marked improvement in skin elasticity in both groups compared to placebo.

Another study used a “nutricosmeceutical” (say that ten times) composed of collagen peptides and antioxidants to produce a similar result in 120 healthy volunteers across 90 days of supplementation: “Overall, we demonstrated a significant increase in skin elasticity (+7.5%)…and an improvement in skin texture after daily oral consumption of the nutricosmeceutical.” (I think I’ll skip the fancy title and just stick to calling it my daily shake.)

And as unpleasant as it sounds, apparently getting more collagen in your diet should ensure a lower risk of skin cracking. That’s a relief.

Cellulite

An estimated 85-98% of post-pubescent females have cellulite. While not life-threatening or even health-compromising, many consider it a bane for  an otherwise flawless (and even fit) physique.

Admittedly, what allows fat deposits to push through and cause the wavy appearance is weakened collagen fibers. And as we know, collagen supplementation can help with that….

In a longer term clinical study, 105 women between 24 and 50 years of age were given either 2.5 g collagen peptides or a placebo over the course of 6 months. In normal weight women given the peptides, there was a decent decrease in the degree of cellulite and “reduced skin waviness,” along with improved dermal density. Interestingly, however, this beneficial effect of collagen on cellulite was less pronounced in overweight women. All the more reason to clean up your diet and get moving, too. Collagen isn’t a miracle. It’s a tool—and an effective one, especially in the right context. 

Sun Damage

There’s two ways in which the skin ages: chronologically and photologically. I may have made that last word up, but you get the idea – our skin ages whether we go out into the sun or not, but that process can be accelerated somewhat the more sun we get.

Which isn’t to say that you should cringe every time a ray of sun comes your way That would be depriving your body of essential vitamin D (along with a whole lot of enjoyment). The trick is to avoid overexposure, ensure antioxidant protection, and make your collagen intake sufficient to maintain healthy collagen levels in the skin.

The mechanism by which UV light can damage the skin is largely pinned down to a decrease in certain key antioxidants with increasing sun exposure, and a corresponding rise in malondiaidehyde—a biomarker of skin damage. Happily, both gelatin and collagen supplements have shown an ability to increase activity of the skin-protecting antioxidants and block the formation of skin-degrading malondiaidehyde.

Increasing Dietary Collagen

There’s a myriad of other ways in which higher collagen consumption can promote better skin – sleep, gut health, digestion and tissue repair are all critical for healthy skin, and collagen can in its own way enhance all of these functions. But let’s cut to the chase and talk 

Clearly, then, you need more of the stuff. Stat. But where to get your hands on the finest, most skin-supporting collagen? Let’s find out.

Bone Broth

You’re Primal, or at least Primally-inclined, so you know about bone broth, a source rich in gelatin. Gelatin contains the same amino acid makeup as collagen peptides (the amino chains just haven’t been broken down as much), making it your natural go-to for increased collagen synthesis.

If you’ve got the time, make your own bone broth from bones and meaty offcuts, or find a well-respected company that’s already made it for you. Just make sure that said broth is thick and jiggly when it’s cold.

Skin and Stringy Bits

The skin and connective tissues of any animal – land or water dwelling – contains a hefty amount of collagen (just like us humans). This means that the more crunchy cartilage bits, stringy bits, chewy bits and flappy bits you eat from that cooked animal carcass, the more collagen you’re ingesting.

Collagen Peptides

As I discussed earlier, collagen peptides are just a different name for collagen hydrolysate and hydrolyzed collagen. The Primal Kitchen® Collagen Fuel, our collagen hydrolysate powder, provides the full amino acid profile in an easy to digest form, making it even more effective than gelatin for folks who have trouble with digestion. I made it to use it myself, but I’m happy to share. 

Vitamin C

Yes, yes, I mentioned it earlier, but it’s important enough to bear repeating. Vitamin C, while not a source of collagen per se, is critical for synthesizing collagen in the body – so if you’re not getting enough from the food you eat, you need to get on that. There’s no sense wasting good collagen’s benefits. 

Thanks for reading, folks. Have you noticed any changes in your skin or otherwise after upping your collagen intake? What’s your go-to source? Be sure to share your thoughts below.