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professor-doc-emeritus · 16 days

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I love the dichotomy we get between jinshi and the emperor that shows off how the traits that make jinshi a great prince, boss, friend (husband 👀👀👀👀) are the very same traits that will make him a terrible emperor.

His hard working streak that lets him handle his weird assignments with grace and manage the clashing egos of the inner palace is what will get him killed by overwork as emperor since he has no real head for delegation. It took 11 volumes and the intervention of most of his immediate family just to get jinshi to hire a secretary. The emperor always being free to host parties, sleep with the consorts, and bust jinshis balls in-between it all is, much like lakan always being free to annoy maomao, actually a sign of him being god-like at delegation and organizational management.

His lack of ego and willingness to look the fool if it gets the job done is great for avoiding political snafus and getting to the truth of things. It's genuinely the thing that makes all his expeditions to the western capital so wildly successful: he really doesn't gaf about how he's seen by the public, so long as the job gets done and his friends aren't in immediate danger. It's also the exact opposite of what you need from a head of state who's legitimacy is not-insignificantly based on the public perceiving you as an instrument of the will of heaven. The emperor being willing to kill people and their families over slights jinshi (and most sane human beings) would be willing to let slide is cruel and inhuman, but it's also what keeps the populace at large from being able to organize against him and challenge the imperial power.

Jinshis compassionate streak, his urge to save as many people he can and find the best solution for everyone possible, makes him great to work for. He'll give you assignments that match your hyper fixation, work around your crippling social anxiety, give you a post that just-so-happens to involve you staying with the love of your life for a few months. More over, he isn't gonna risk his life and your position over petty ego or greed when he can find a peaceful solution instead. But the hesitation he feels at using people like tools, and his unwillingness to act if it means throwing people under the bus, is what will lead to death and destruction if he's the emperor. Especially in a time of war. The current emperor is willing to ruin lives and crush nations if it reaches a goal, advances an agenda.

Finally, jinshis loyalty, I'd say even more than his looks, is what draws people to him. He loves his toys, can't stand to give them up. It makes him a great romantic figure. But when you're the emperor, and you need to be willing and able to marry someone for political ends, produce as many heirs as possible regardless of who with, and set aside the feelings of those women for your own sake, that loyalty is poison.

Idk, so often in stories with these systems they sorta follow the logic of "if he's a good person he'll be a good leader." I think it's cool to have a series talk about how being a leader involves being EXTREMELY comfortable with being an asshole, for a myriad of reasons, and how someone being pleasant to work for wouldn't make them an effect monarch.

#its also important to note that despite all the shitty things the emperor is shown being/doing #he genuinely is portrayed as a well loved and effective leader #who does his best to reach his version of compassion #john mulaney has a good bit about working with celebrities for snl #and how in their world their version of polite/acceptable is very different and it can lead to tense situations #i think a lot of the emperor's actions are like that #like in a vacuum they're dick moves #but in the context of who he is and what his duties are you see why he does them #the apothecary diaries #jinshi #ka zuigetsu #spoilers

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foxpunk · 10 months

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like, on one hand i get it. i logically understand the motives behind why tumblr is making the decisions they are making. i just do not think that their motives MUST line up with these specific decisions.

in the end, tumblr needs more revenue. full stop. that is not up for debate. if they do not get it somehow, then tumblr is going to shut down because they simply cannot keep things running, and it will happen much MUCH sooner than most of y'all are at all prepared for. hell, it's already something they've been delaying well past when other sites would have been scrapped (well...aside from twitter but that is a recent and extreme example).

so i get why they need more activity, i get why they need more users, i get why they need to have a shop and micro-transactions. i truly do.

but tumblr is not going to be gaining any new users if it becomes a copy-cat for something that already exists. the amount of new and active and dedicated users they will get is minimal when those users can simply be active on another app/site that does the same thing (and likely already does it better). why seek out tumblr when every other app already has an algorithmic main feed? why seek out tumblr when every other app has live video? why seek out tumblr when every other site has a minimally customizable default profile?

what makes tumblr what it is? the surface answer is it's the communities and the fandoms and the memes, but what is it about tumblr that allowed these to develop the way they did? it certainly wasn't an algorithm, or live stream, or online shop.

if you want people to get hooked on tumblr, show them what they can do HERE that they CAN'T simply do on another app. yeah sure all the new features (live, for you, etc.) are fun for new users who are used to twitter and instagram and the like, and the option to use them can make those new users feel less out of their depth. but if that's all you're promoting they aren't gonna stick around, cause they can get that literally anywhere else. if you're gonna try n sell tumblr as a product then you need to realize the key to selling a product amongst competition is making it so that people need that product and what it offers Specifically.

one thing i never see talked about for this is hashtags not just as a promotional tool but as an organizational one. you can search through specific blog and see everything in a specific tag On That Blog. thats HUGE. it's SO useful. regardless of how it can mess up at times, literally NO other modern social media site lets you do that! livejournal and wordpress are the only things that come close, and livejournal is old as shit and largely inactive, while wordpress has a VERY different target audience.

pair that together with how reblogs work and you have an AMAZING thing going here and you're just letting it Sit There with no spotlight on it.

another thing: ASKS. GOD. WHY ARE Y'ALL NOT PROMOTING ASKS. HELLO. they're such a fun and unique way to interact on this site. the messenger is great but every social media has DMs these days. asks are something truly different and, again, they're just sitting there with NO spotlight on them.

another recent feature that i actually really really love is reblog controls. they are separate from having to turn your entire account private to get people to not look at/spread a post. they're perfect for people who don't want to bother password protecting their entire damn blog but still don't want a certain post spreading. talk about that! i'm sure it'd draw some people away from twitter, since you have to adjust privacy settings for your entire profile if you wanna manage who can and can't interact with a tweet.

and if you're worried about people being confused by reblogs and replies and the like. it is literally as simple as having a little slide show with cute graphics explaining what those are when people are signing up. hell, make multiple cute little slideshows. explain reblogs vs replies, explain tags and the specific way they work on tumblr, explain the different sections on the dash. don't make it little pop text bubbles on the dashboard, people hate pop ups. 9/10 they are not gonna look at them or accidentally click out of them and then they're gone and your user is lost. just have it be a page people are directed to before they hit the dashboard. it is THAT simple. let people be able to revisit that page easily. boom. one and done. you had that annoying ass wind up denture icon popping up for all of us, why not put a little icon in the corner for new accounts to revisit the "tutorial" if they forgot something? it literally is that easy it is SO easy. holy shit.

if you're so worried about users being confused by anything different from other social media, it's your job to EXPLAIN THOSE DIFFERENCES. NOT squash them out, are you fucking kidding me hellooo!! sure okay make things a lil more streamlined and definitely improve WCAG, but don't just fucking toss out features that aren't ACTUALLY complicated or inaccessible!! GODDD

it is not actually that complicated to explain a few new concepts to new users. learn how to frame things in a fun way upon sign-up instead of obfuscating any and all information behind 10 different staff/support/wip/changes/etc blogs and the least helpful help desk in existence.

also, i know they already clarified they aren't gonna be doing this, but if they push non-optional algorithm onto the Main Feed i'm gonna blow this whole place up (for legal reasons i must clarify this is a Joke). like. just find me on mastodon at that point.

edit: to clarify what i've already said. i think having algorithmic options (OPTIONAL options) for new users is Fine in the end. like, it's a fair compromise (mentioned that in some tags earlier but realized i didn't say that on this post specifically). i have issues with how it's opt-OUT rather than opt-IN, but in the end it's not really going to affect much (so long as chrono feeds are an option, and are not taken from users who already have them set as chrono). and honestly neither will all the smaller (general UI) changes they are going to be experimenting with. the site and it's core features will largely function the same way.

i'm mostly frustrated with tumblr making all these changes to conform rather than to stand out from the pack.

the one thing i AM worried about is that they hinted at messing with reblogs and replies more though. don't touch them lol. like i said, just actually explain shit to your new users and you'll be FINE lord almighty

#im already on mastodon but i know lots of ppl feel understandably confused by it #anyways #christ #long post #like. LONG post lol

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sagemoderocklee · 1 year

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How do you organize to write your fics? How is your writing process?

I have the ideas and nowhere to start

You're so freaking talented, i love every work of yours

First off, thank you so much, anon! you're so sweet! i'm so glad you enjoy my writing so much!

second, i totally get it! it can be super overwhelming to start out, especially if you have a lot of ideas.

the creative process is different for everyone, and so is the organization process for that. im sure that there's a lot of things people do that are similar, but no two writers are going to be the same in their approach to organizing their projects, so what i do may not work for you or it may only work for you to a small degree.

in the last year, @ghoste-catte mentioned using trello as an organizational tool, and i started to use that! Here's a screenshot of my boards:

each card opens up and you can include checklists and there's also a section for comments, which i use for notes and for links to research. i could probably use trello more than i do, but i do like it because it gives me a good visual representation of each of my projects. i also have all of these alphabetized.

this is just one tool i use however. i'm also a chronic notebook and various colored pens buyer. i have individual notebooks for all of my fics--shorter fics i'll either combine with other fics in a specific notebook or if they are especially short or low maintenance, i'll just put them in one of my catch-all notebooks which are less organized notebooks for random thoughts, ideas, research, etc. i also have a handful of nice notebooks set aside for worldbuilding elements which don't have any fic specific plots, just straight worldbuilding.

with these notebooks, i like to also use those colored pens to keep track of things too. i'll use like a generic black for general notes, but then i might use other colors for specific things. like TAoL timeline use different colors for each PoV to line up when the events take place.

stickers, sticky notes, and any other office supply that can be used to create organization is also really great. i like making check lists and things, having notebooks, and so on because i like the visual representation of what im working on

in addition to notebooks, i of course have my various notes documents for each fic. i tend to organize my fic documents as well. anything that's a large, ongoing project with lots of research gets its own folder because i'll make a separate document for notes, plus i often make timelines and other things as well. below is a screenshot of my WIPs folder (i need to reorganize it because there's two in here that need to get moved into the complete folder which is in a separate section):

so this is another visual representation of my projects for me. i can easily see what's a standalone piece, what's not research heavy, and so on.

i also have a document where i keep JUST my ideas so i don't lose anything and then i can skim through to see what i might wanna work on if i need a break from what i already have.

i don't know what sort of writing you want to do, but if you're planning to do worldbuilding, i strongly recommend organizing that and taking extensive notes and keeping every. single. site you used for research. i cannot tell you the amount of times i was researching something, didn't think much of it cause it was a one off line, and then needed to recheck it only to struggle to find the exact thing i'd used.

the other thing with worldbuilding is consistency. worldbuilding can get out of hand fast if you're not keeping track of what you've come up with. for me, i got to the point where i really did need special notebooks just for worldbuilding; i got to the point where i needed a map, so i could lay out the entire landscape and all the specific communities and cultures, all the geography and climates. there's just too much to not have something to easily reference.

and because i do so much worldbuilding, i essentially treat every fic i write as though its just an alternative universe of the setting ive built. so every canon set gaalee fic i write all follows the same worldbuilding, which 1. makes it easier and 2. allows me to revisit the worldbuilding ive done and expand where it needs to be expanded.

another thing i like to do--though im not always great at it because creativity is unpredictable--i like to make lil wordcount daily calendars to help me stay on track. while it wasn't perfect, it helped me a lot this summer to get PFL and RtS finished, to get all my Horror Fest pieces done, and to not lose focus and be distracted by other things I wanted to work on. so setting a goal of like 1k words a day can really help you with getting stuff written.

with having a lot of ideas, i think that's fantastic, but it can get overwhelming because you don't know where to start.

my suggestion is to lay out the ideas you have and maybe organize them. what's going to be the quickest to write? what's the shortest story? what's the most involved? then the really important question is asking yourself what you're most excited to work on.

personally, i would start with the thing you are most excited about. write down all your ideas, but focus on one while you're figuring out what works for you, and then if you hit a point in the process where you need something fresh you can look at your ideas and start something else.

i personally prefer having multiple things going on at once because i sometimes need breaks. writing is fun, but it's a lot of work, and sometimes you need to take a break from one project because that particular project is just giving you a hard time. so it's nice to be able to switch between things--at least for me.

again, you might be someone who needs to work on one thing at a time, but you won't know until you try, and i think the biggest right now is that you just need to jump in there and do it! it's overwhelming, but you have to start somewhere to start figuring out what your writing process is like and what organization system works best for you.

once you get to the writing part, the rest will start to come!

speaking of the writing part: after years of writing, i have settled into being what i call a discovery plotter. there's writing terms like 'pantser' and 'plotter, 'gardener' and 'architect' to describe how you write--do you write without any planning and let it all happen organically (ie pantser, gardener, discovery writer) or are you someone who needs to have everything planned out (the plotter or architect)?

for me, i am not a fly by the seat of your pants kinda writer. plotting is vital to the types of stories i tell, but i don't like being limited either. sometimes things change. sometimes the plot doesn't work the way you think it's going to. so i like to leave room, ergo discovery plotter.

with this, method of writing, i like to know all the key beats. like what's the starting point and what's the end point? what's the major turning point? who are the key players?

i like to leave the middle of my stories more loose, but i still have an idea of like 'okay i know to get from point A to point Z i need this and this to happen' but i also know that i might need to add more or move things around. so i like a road map, but i like to change things up too, leave room for that organic writing to come in.

but especially for longer form writing and more complex plotlines, you want to be solid on things like the conflict, the turning points, important character beats, and so on because you can and will get lost. for me, knowing the ending is actually vital to a successful story because knowing the ending means i can figure out what the turning point(s) needs to be. if i don't know what my goal is, then i don't know how to reach it or stay on track.

the other big thing with my writing process: the editing process.

my writing process consists of anywhere from 50-65% of just editing, on average. i think i spend a good 15-30% on research (depending on the project), and the rest is all the actual writing. the writing part is honestly the part you do the least when actually writing. editing takes up the majority of your work, and editing is, in my opinion, crucial to a good story.

i tend to edit as i write. so depending on where im at with a story, im either going to be straight writing all day, or im going back over a piece to re-read and edit, so i can continue where i left off. if i haven't touched a story in a long time, then i know the first thing im gonna do before i write any new words is re-read and edit.

it's really really important to be super familiar with the story you're working on, and re-reading it both to read it and to edit it is really going to help you to understand if the story is flowing correctly, if the pacing is right, if the characters are consistent, if their choices make sense, and if your point a to point z is making sense. it doesn't need to necessarily make sense to the reader right away, but to you it does need to make sense. the readers will understand everything once the story is done.

editing is often a brutal process because sometimes it does mean cutting out a part you deeply love--for that, i just throw whatever i cut out of something into a scraps document because you never know when that one line you had to sacrifice might be able to be repurposed somewhere else! i think doing that makes it easier to be brutally honest with your editing process and can really help you streamline your writing.

anyways, i really hope all this helps. im tapped out for the time being, but my inbox is always open for writing questions! i look forward to seeing what you write anon!

#long post #ask game answers #writing advice

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mchughhardy21 · 1 year

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Recovering from An Computer Science Education

I was originally planning to refer to this as "Undoing the harm of the Computer Science Education," but that was too link-baity, and too extreme. A degree in computer science is extremely valuable. First, you can easily find jobs that pay well. Additionally, you've gained the ability to create amazing and useful things. There is a downside to this too. It's easy to get caught up in the theoretical and technical aspects that it's easy to forget that it is to make beautiful and useful items. It happened to me, and it took quite a while to recover.

This is a short list of things that helped me and could help you too.

Avoid technical forums unless it's directly related to something you're working on. It's easy to get caught in discussions about the value of functional programming or whether or whether Scheme can be used to create commercial applications or how terrible PHP is. You lose touch the more you get into this.

Keep working on real projects related to your field of interest. If you like designing games, write games. If you love photography write your own photo organizer or camera app. Don't make the mistake of thinking that "a photo organizer written in Haskell" is more important than "a photo organizer which solves a particular problem with photo organizers."

If you find yourself repeatedly putting down technology, then it's worth the effort to understand it and use it. Perl is a tremendously useful tool, despite the snide remarks and jokes. The same goes for PHP, Java and C++. Who is the winner who is the one who has been slamming Java on the internet for ten years or the author of Minecraft who just used the language and earned tens of millions of dollars?

Don't become an advocate. Minecraft This is a reverse of the previous point. If Linux, Android, or Scala can help in the creation of your project then that's great! That you're relying on it is a demonstration of its value. There's no need to make everyone else utilize it, too.

Focus on the end result and not the "how" of your passion. Woodworkers can transform into tool collectors. Photographers can be obsessed with the spec comparison. It is possible to forget all that and just focus on what you are creating.

Do something artistic. Write songs or short stories sketch, or learn to draw Pixel art. These projects also have a lower turnaround time than any other type of software.

Explore the wide range of books available. There are endless books about architecture, and books written by naturalists as well as popular and classic modern novels, and the majority of them have nothing to do with computers or programming or science fiction.

permalink January 15, 2012

Previously

Follow-up to "A Programing Idiom That You've Never Heard of"A Programming Idiom That You've Never Heard of2011 RetrospectiveUser experiences intrusions on 5Photography on iOS as a non-technical Hobby Archives

Twitter or Mail

James Hague is a recovering programmer who has been creating video games since the 1980s. Programming without being obsessed with Programming and Organizational Skills Beat Algorithmic Wizardry can be good starting points. For the older stuff check out the 2012 Retrospective.

#Minecraft servers #minecraft #Servers

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wikitia13 · 1 year

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Philanthropy Reconsidered: Future Trends

In my continuing series of articles on the topic of philanthropy, this week I am looking at future trends in philanthropy based on the research of George McCully, President, Catalogue for Philanthropy in Massachusetts and author of Philanthropy Reconsidered: Private Initiatives - Public Good - Quality of Life.

Philanthropy's Influence - Before the widespread use of the internet, most charities did not have the ability to economically promote their organization. In today's world, non-profits can present their mission and work to prospective donors and volunteers in a cost-effective manner. But with this sort of ability, comes more accountability and transparency with an increased need by the general public for more concrete information (besides just marketing) around organizational financials and outcomes, for example.

Data and Knowledge Management - Since the advent of cloud computing, organizations are finding it easier to gather and maintain larger and increasing amounts of information that will provide charities that use it effectively with a competitive advantage. On the flip side of the same coin, institutional and individual donors are better able to evaluate non-profits beyond the limited IRS 990 filings.

Systematic Philanthropy - Technology continues to provide knowledge management through the systemic accumulation of information. In today's world, we have Guidestar, Charity Navigator, Network for Good and others that are collecting, aggregating and interpreting vast amounts of qualitative and quantitative information and providing it to the general public. Philanthropy is becoming more and more expert and strategic.

Internet as "Participatory Media" - With the evolution of technology and the mainstream adaptation of tools beyond websites and email, such as IM, video-conferences, social networks, blogging, etc., donors and constituents to non-profits are able to not only gather information about charities, but they are able to engage with organizations (sometimes in a public space) in real or almost real time. This ability will continue to push charities toward increased transparency and accountability and it will also provide great opportunities for organizations to engage the public in innovative ways.

Donor Organization - Donors and volunteers will continue to become empowered. In the old paradigm, donors were categorized into groups by organizations that had memberships (eg alumni groups), by federated giving programs (eg United Way) or community foundations that provided local donors with an organized way to support charities. Today, donors are organizing themselves in order to support philanthropy with vehicles such as Social Venture Partners, which are supplanting the old model.

Philanthropy as a Popular Movement - Individuals are being empowered to take matters into their own hands. More and more people are assuming the public and private mantle of doing something for the greater good of society. As institutions have less influence with people and youth, individuals assume a greater role in the role for the "love of humanity" (philanthropy).

Globalization of American Philanthropy - The United States has a culture of philanthropy as is demonstrated year after year by the enormous levels of giving and the current incentives that exist to promote Andre Chapman philanthropy by Americans. Despite whatever governmental policies Americans may or may not find lacking, an opportunity exists - within the grasp of each and every individual - to help promote globally the genuine American legacy of philanthropy in a world where technology has broken down borders and barriers.

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stonerz4sokka · 3 years

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the gaang (& co.) on zoom

aang: ALWAYS mixes up his class times and it isn’t until sokka helps build his schedule and set reminders on aang's phone that he actually shows up to the right class at the right time, always excited to be there but is constantly getting distracted by the littlest things (doesn’t help that his window is behind his computer), isn’t afraid to tell the teacher when the hw assigned is too much (the whole class thanks him for that), types jokes in the class chat, wears his appa print pajamas to class everyday, motivates people to stay optimistic during these ‘troubling times’ (and it works)

katara: wears sweatpants and a crewneck everyday but NEVER forgets to do her hair, talks shit about the ugly white girls in their class (some are sokka’s exes) with zuko, wants to do pranks with toph but is too scared of getting caught (though she eventually does a few), takes the lead in breakout rooms bc she can’t stand the awkward silence although if aang is there they’ll both be very distracting, will literally laugh on camera every time she hears a stupid comment, gives emotional speeches to help motivate her classmates which are well-intentioned but come off as a little preachy :/ people still try though bc they weirdly don’t want to disappoint her, refuses to let a man interrupt her so she will continue talking even if their voices are overlapping for a good 20 secs

sokka: has an insane amount of reminders, alarms and organizational tools on his phone and computer so he doesn’t forget to go to class, he tries so hard to focus but ends up doing something that’s completely unrelated yet still educational, wears his same dumbass science pun t-shirts to class but he has his hair down more which makes the white girls in his class go crazy, starts all his sentences with ‘i think’ or ‘maybe we should’, tried to be clever once by setting a video on loop for his zoom background so the teacher didnt know he went to the bathroom but forgot to mute himself so the entire class heard him pee :(( his teachers enjoy him more in a zoom setting bc he's less of a distraction but they hate how he never stays on topics and asks questions they dont have the answer to, whenever katara sees him getting increasingly neurotic she’ll send him links to cool small businesses and they’ll ignore their classes n go online shopping together

zuko: always looks tired and grumpy even when he’s well rested, his camera is at 256p even when he has the newest macbook (azula messed w his computer & he still hasn't realized), extremely paranoid around accidentally unmuting himself so he just never talks, cannot figure out zoom and never screen shares for projects bc it takes him 15 mins every. time. is weird in breakout rooms because he's bad at social situations but he's trying!!! he could try harder tho :/ is able to empathize well with his fellow classmates n tries to lift their spirits (it rarely works but the effort feels nice), the teacher once saw him scream and punch his desk during the desmos activity and sent iroh an email about local therapists who specialize in anger management, spends his breaks between classes crying

toph: she will pick her nose, eat food, clip her toenails, do anything gross on camera to get back at her history teacher who told her she needs to be more ladylike, is actually cool in breakout rooms she seems like she would be super distracting but she would complain about the shitty teachers n provide insightful thoughts for the discussion/assignment at hand, does her zoom classes in her backyard so she could play with bugs, gives very helpful advice for maintaining ones sanity during online learning

suki: is always wrapped up in her blankets to the point where u can barely see her face, eats on camera & doesn't realize that no one wants to see that shit, she laughs at all the teachers' bad jokes bc she genuinely thinks they're funny, refuses to let sokka outperform in zoom learning so she does actually pay attention although it doesn't look like it, is really chill in breakout rooms n pretends she doesn't really care but will edit the work after class so it fits her expectations, she once farted in the middle of when she was talking and just pretended like she it didn't happen, actually is fine with online learning and likes the flexibility and doesn’t get why sokka is spiraling all the time ://

azula: oh god, she wears entire outfits with khakis and polos and SHOES!!! for her zoom meetings!!! she. wears. shoes. her hair is always perfect, tries WAY too hard and everyone knows when she wants to speak in class bc she literally starts vibrating on camera, one time someone won a debate against her in class and she turned off her camera for a good 3 minutes, when she turned it back on her eyes were watery and her entire face was red, doesn't understand how people are underperforming over zoom, has the second highest gpa in the school (after sokka) and managed to convince herself he is actively trying to ruin her life but he's just........ sitting there. constantly messes with zuko's google calendar so he's late for class, can clearly see the art of war by sun tzu on her bookshelf in the background

mai: yawns on camera whenever azula talks just to piss her off, doesn't talk often because her teachers & peers underestimate her but she's smart and when she does talk it's always something rlly insightful, one time her and ty lee were paired with jet for a project where he spent the whole time 'explaining' the topics at hand while they did the entire project on another tab and pretended to pay attention to him, tom tom will sometimes join her during class bc he misses her n she acts like she hates it but she does love spending time with him, is actually secretly extremely anxious about maintaining her grades during online learning but only sokka and ty lee can tell, her and sokka gossip through heavily layered inside jokes that only the two of them understand

ty lee: built a completely new daily schedule and organizational system the minute she learned they were switching to zoom, is always ready for class 20 mins before it starts but joins the zoom 2 minutes after class started so no one thinks she’s an overachiever, a great student but she waits too long to speak in class so she barely joins in on the discussions, is seemingly the regular ty lee but every so often she’ll pretend to go to the bathroom & turn off her camera to recollect herself bc she’s always on edge :/, would have the best gpa in the school but doesn’t want to seem intimidating so she purposefully scores lower on certain assignments so she has a 3.75 gpa,

jet: he tries to subtly vape during class by turning off camera his camera but its really obvious bc when he comes back he’s coughing and waving the smoke out the air, only participates in breakout rooms when the teacher comes in and immediately turns off his camera when they leave, staged a kidnapping during one of his lectures as an elaborate prank but no one cared noticed, someone else recorded the prank and posted it on tiktok where it blew up & all the comments were insulting him, he didn’t care though because ‘there’s no such thing as bad clout’

chan & ruon-jian: has not gone to a single one of their zoom classes sober (honestly barely attend), still tried throwing houseparties even when the cases were at their peak, tried to one-up jet's kidnapping prank by calling SWAT on themselves but ended up getting arrested because they forgot to hide their stash (they sell counterfeit juul pods), worst part was that their prank only got 250 views on yt :(

#ik this is pretty late considering it's been a year in quarantine but i made this for ME #the gaang #mai #ty lee #azula #jet #god azula would be SO FUNNY in zoom classes #tag urself im sokka #and sort of suki n mai #sokka and mai #ty lee and mai #my sokka n mai tag is sooo weak its my biggest flaw smh #chan #ruon-jian #didnt feel like tagging everyone but my otp chan-jian deserved the love💗#chan and ruon-jian

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johnstibal · 3 years

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Career advice for law students wanting to practice in international law

Hello,

I was recently asked by a law student for some career advice on how to get a job internationally, and particularly how they could get engaged in international (public and private) legal work.

While my legal background stems largely from doing multinational corporate work, particularly in the IT sector, here are my basic ideas outlining a few generic things to think about in terms of your career planning and some key approaches to pursuing these types of careers.

My background. For the past several years, I have worked primarily in London, and secondarily in Paris, for a very large telecommunications company. I was originally working for another one of this companies' affiliates in USA, and this enabled me to move internally to another one of their companies in the UK. Making this move internally within a large company allowed me to move abroad far easier, especially in terms of sorting out work visas and professional qualifications, etc.

Three Career Principles to Never Forget. In terms of general career advice, there are three principles which you must keep in mind to work in international law related field. While I recognize the risk of sharing a 'firm grasp of the obvious' (and I can almost hear some cringing already) most law students do not receive this message framed in this sort of a utilitarian light. So, here it goes:

The sole purpose of your first legal job is to enable you to get a better second legal job.

It is all about Brand. Your CV / Resume is a personal marketing tool. It is your personal ‘brand’. The choice of your first job should strongly take into account the value which the ‘brand’ of your new employer will add to your CV, and your future ambitions. This lasts for decades.

You cannot save the world if you cannot pay the bills. Public international law has some of the most interesting legal work around. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it also has a tendency to attract incredibly brilliant people who will work for a minimum salary. If you are independently wealthy, then great, no problem. If you have large education debts, please do not neglect the fact this will undoubtedly impact your choice of jobs in the short term, even if not necessarily in the longer term.

Your first Legal job. Getting your first Legal job is always a nerve wracking experience at best, and especially if you want to take a track other than going directly into a large law firm. Unfortunately, nearly all major law schools are set up to build a funnel for large firms. For your interests, even if you do not wish to 'end up' in a law firm or major global corporation, it usually makes considerable sense for you to go out to find the best ‘brand’ firm which you can, either in the US, UK or elsewhere. You will be able to extract the majority of the benefits during this time by working at a firm for exactly two years (or three years, if in New York City) doing whatever type of legal work - - of course, its even better if your firm or company has a public international law practice, but this is not required. By the end of this time, you will have ‘checked the box’ on your CV, and you can happily move on to what you really want to do. This is by far is the safest option for most, and also incidentally, completes one of the requirements enabling you to be admitted to practice in other common law countries (e.g. the UK). I’m not certain whether this is as helpful in other civil law countries, but I suspect it would be.

There is no question that working at a law firm, and potentially billing in ‘6 minute’ increments gets very tiring. Reviewing e.g. commercial leases is even less fun than watching paint dry. But this said, you will probably be practicing law for a very long time off and on anyway. Having a good initial first employer on your CV, who has ‘trained’ you is always a good investment for your CV even if not necessarily beneficial to you over the long term.

As a lawyer who has graduated from a US law school, you are able to come to Europe with a well respected professional background (speaking generally). In terms of global perceptions, US lawyers are highly respected, maybe in a similar form of the admiration to being world-class in other professions e.g. French engineers, British accountants, or Indian mathematicians - - not to foster bad stereotypes… But, needless to say, the USA legal professional qualification travels well around the world, particularly among global employers.

This being said, there is a particular area of confusion when you first come out of law school. Legal training is not the same around the world, meaning in France, a jurist has may have only attended the equivalent of undergrad and not graduate school (in terms of USA style nomenclature, depending on their qualifications). In the UK, while there are some permutations, most young associates at large law firms will attend around a year and a half or so of graduate school, followed by two years of a training contract to learn how to practice law. In Germany, many associates hold an LLM, or a PHD, at minimum, staying in school much longer. While you probably can research the differences in the number of years of schooling better than me, you should be particularly aware of this issue when you turn up to speak with a new potential employer in Europe. There is a risk of being perceived as wanting to find only a training contract, which is not needed as a USA law school graduate. After your first job, the timing issue goes away as you accumulate more PQE (Post Qualification Experience). The same is true in France, as I understand it.

An alternative path in human rights / non-profit sector for law students. This is an area where my knowledge is limited. But, if I wanted to pursue a career in this field, I would adopt some of the following key approaches.

First, figure out who are the heavyweights thought leaders in your particular field of interest, either individuals or organizations - - and, do your best to somehow associate yourself with their organization or sphere of colleagues. You want to try to figure out who these organizations interact with, and by extension, which of these organizations might hire you. Linkedin is an extraordinarily powerful resource for this research. To test your hypotheses, try calling up or meeting up with the General Counsel of any public interest foundation (if not possible to meet in person, then email / Skype also works but is far less effective than in person). Introduce yourself, and ask him or her for some general advice, in particular what ‘outside counsel’ their foundation typically uses - - make clear that you admire the work of their foundation, and look to gain relevant experience by doing similar work in the future. Ask about their Legal department organizational structure (General Counsels - GCs) love talking about this stuff), and what skills they look for over the long term, but even if not necessarily immediately. If it goes well, you might get some really good information, and maybe even a referral to a firm or sister organization. Senior Executives are very used to people asking them for jobs on a daily basis. But, they get asked for their advice far less often. Use this to your advantage... but do not be a pest.

As an example coming from NGOs, from time to time, I have occasionally dealt with some of the affiliates of the United Nations as a supplier. There are probably 20 of these, e.g. World Bank, IMF, UNHCR, IATA, WIPO, Red Cross, Red Crescent, and Red Crystal. Some of these organizations you are probably more familiar to you than others. There are two consistent traits that I see when dealing with their personnel. First, many of the staff are about to retire, and second, their staff have all consistently bounced around the world working in many different UN affiliates and national governments doing all sort of different roles, both legal and non-legal. The first of these is a well known problem for the UN and its agencies, at least, at a macro level, which might be helpfully to you. While I’m not certain what formal hiring programs may exist in these orgs, you should check with them around world, and particularly in Geneva, Switzerland and New York. Also, in terms of firms which advise this types of groups, you should also talk with McKinsey & Company. They do some very impressive pro bono work consulting for non-profits, and like to hire people with diverse backgrounds often having law degrees.

To get the attention of any large organization, and not just the UN agencies, you will always want to first find a way to get through the door, even if you need to do the unsexy type of legal work. Once you are inside, it is usually far easier to move internally. For example, if you work for a big organization like the UN, they have a vast array of legal needs, ranging from the basic to the exotic. It is undoubtedly the case that a large portion of the UN’s legal budget goes to HR and Procurement legal advice (e.g. doing commercial leases, procuring pencils and IT projects) (whether done in-house or by external firms.) When a UN agency needs to lease a building in sub-Saharan Africa, some lawyer somewhere in the world needs to review and advise on the tender process (often in combination with other local lawyers). Therefore, this is an opportunity to target. Yes, this is not sexy work, but it gets you a pass into the ‘club’ to work on other more interesting projects in the future.

As a final thought. Having outlined all of above, if you truly want to work in the non-profit / human rights space, it might be the case that being a ‘junior file clerk’ for Google.org or the Gates Foundation is equally beneficial (from a brand perspective to get your next job) as being a senior associate at Skadden Arps.

On the one hand, being at a big firm allows you to potentially develop a deep legal specialty, which might be later retooled for a good purpose. For example, undoubtedly, at some point, a brilliant lawyer in some large law firm will figure out how to package up millions of ‘microfinance’ loans using mezzanine financing techniques (i.e. allowing Wall Street money to start funding billions of very small loans around the world) - - in so doing, they could indirectly create prosperity in Africa for a life time.

At the same time, NGOs have a potential to do great things too. These are the people who are likely to generate the next generation of new legal concepts / quasi-regulatory regimes. For example, a newer area which I am following lately relates to 'conservation services' and 'natural capital' (see Conservation International) (www.conservation.org). These structures are, essentially, quasi-voluntary regulatory schemes to allow companies to share and manage ecological externalities (see Jennifer Morris's speech at Stanford). For me, CI's approach is just a start of a major trend in this area: soon there will be ISO certificate schemes covering externality pricing, as well as voluntary business case weighting methodologies which hopefully over time will become a standard approach in global commercial activity - - yet, this said, few individuals in the world understand how these types of governance tools work in practice. It simply cross too many intellectual domains, which so far has stymied adoption on a global level. 'Deep Greens' are not well suited to create these types of applied 'corporate' innovations around externalities, but maybe you are the one given your legal background.

Highly innovative organizations, such as the Gates Foundation, look great to onlookers because, in large part, by comparison, the other large global NGOs have tired ‘business’ models. Often major NGOs have been doing the same exact thing for decades. For me, I could see this as creating an opportunity. It might be great fun to join one of these NGOs for the express purpose to reshape it, remake it, and help them to reinvent their bag of tricks as an NGO. As a lawyer, you can have this level of influence within these types of organizations - - but, remember, always ask for forgiveness, never for permission when trying to affect major change within large organizations.

Keep in touch. If you like this or have other items to add, please drop me a note. I always enjoy hearing from people and what they think. These are changing times!

Best of luck,

John

#UN affiliates #career advice #career planning #change management #emory school of law #gates foundation #international law #law school #law student #non-profit #open precedents #public law #skadden arps #united nations #conservation services

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pikapeppa · 4 years

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Pikapeppa Tutors: How To Write A Longfic

Greetings, friends! I am Pikapeppa (queenofkadara on AO3), and today I’m writing a little tutorial about how to write a longfic.

Before we dive into it, first things first: how do we define a longfic? In a nutshell: there is no fully agreed-upon answer. Different people define it in different ways. Word count is often used to define a longfic, but I don’t think that’s sufficient; furthermore, there is literally no agreement whatsoever about the word count required to count as a longfic. For the purposes of this tutorial, I will define a longfic as a multi-chaptered fic with a complex plot, and which is the same length or longer than the Great Gatsby - i.e. longer than 47k words.

Given this definition, I have completed 10 longfics, and I have completed 7 more multi-chaptered fics with complex plots which are <47 words. This is the experience I’m drawing from for this tutorial, and please be warned in advance that I have no formal writing training, so if you want advice from someone with formal training, then, it’s, er, best to look elsewhere. 😅 Please also note that this is based only on how I personally write longfics. Others might do different things, but this is just my method, which has successfully allowed me to finish every project I’ve started.

For me, writing a longfic involves following the following steps:

Know the endpoint of the fic.

Make an outline.

Write the chapters in order.

Easy, right? NAH, BRO. It can be tough! But let’s break this all down piece by piece. Then I’ll address the final topic of editing and actually posting the fic.

1. Know your endpoint.

One question I’ve received is how to think long-term for a story rather than one chapter at a time. My biggest and most important piece of advice for a longfic is this: know how you want the story to end. Does your main couple live happily ever after, or do they have a terrible sad breakup? Is the villain defeated, or do they escape to wreak havoc another day? Does your character make a startling realization that spurs them to change, or do their flaws lead to their downfall? The endpoint doesn’t need to be specific, and you don’t need to know how exactly it come about. But you need to know what the most important part of your ending will be. You should know the target that you’re aiming at before you start writing. If you know the ultimate goal of your story, you can keep that in mind while writing each of your chapters so that they serve that ultimate goal.

The nice thing about this advice: if the longfic you want to write is a retelling of a canon game/show/whatever through your OC’s eyes, then you already have the endpoint. I will call this kind of longfic a “novelization”, and this constitutes 4 of my 10 longfics. Because the endpoint is already given to you by the canon game, novelizations can be a great way to ease into writing longfics, and a great way to practice the various elements of writing a longer story such as pacing and developing relationships, since the main plot points and conclusions already exist. Similarly, if your longfic idea is a fix-it fic because you didn’t like the ending that the canon game gave you, the endpoint is already still there: you know the alternate ending that you want, and every chapter you write can be geared toward building up to that ending.

On more than one occasion, I have put aside a fic idea I liked because I didn’t know how the story was going to end. On the flip of this, I have written an entire plot knowing nothing but the endpoint (*cough* the entire Arlathan Forest arc of Where The Winds Of Fortune Take Me *cough*). So this would actually be my #1 piece of takeaway advice: before starting a longfic, know how it’s going to end. This way, you have a clear goal that the rest of the fic can aim toward.

2. Make an outline.

A number of people have expressed concerns about outlines. How much of the story should be outlined before writing? How strictly do you need to stick to the outline? How important is it to have an outline?

I totally understand the anxiety about outlining. If you’re more of a pantser than a plotter, outlining can be tough. I personally am far more of a plotter, though I have also had the experience of flying by the seat of my pants before (see above aside re: Where The Winds Of Fortune Take Me). All I can tell you is what I usually do and what I would advise. As a quick summary before I dig into it, though, I would say this: The outline can be as detailed or as vague as you want/need it to be, and it should be fluid.

Step 1: Throw down all your ideas in no particular order.

When I’m just starting to develop a fic idea, the outline is literally just a dumping ground of all my ideas so I don’t forget them. It contains everything in no particular chronological order including plot ideas, character traits, big moments in the romantic relationship that I want to hit, and so on. Really, then, the outline starts off as just a place to brainstorm, with no particular structure needed.

Step 2: Organize the ideas sequentially.

Once I’ve got all my initial ideas down, I’ll start organizing them sequentially, preparing for the order in which they’ll arise in the fic. If you write on a computer, this is easy to do just by cutting and pasting events in your doc; if you’re more of a visual organizer, it might help to print or write all your ideas on slips of paper and stick them up on the wall so you can move them around, like what Jane the Virgin does.

By the time this step is done, the outline should, at minimum, consist of a series of events/ideas/conversation snippets etc. that are ordered by when they happen in the story. It could have further organization beyond this, too, if that helps you; for example, almost all of my stories are romances, so they have headings like “Who is Rynne Hawke”, “Fenris psychology”, and “Major relationship moments”. The amount of organization you do at this point is up to you. All that matters is that you start organizing the chaotic jumble of ideas and putting them in order of when they happen in the fic.

Step 3: Break the events into chapters.

Once my events are generally ordered, I’ll start dividing the events up chapter by chapter based on what I think would be reasonable chunks of plot/relationship development. Importantly, this remains fluid through the entire writing of the fic. I don’t think I’ve ever stuck to the number of chapters I originally planned; I always end up breaking chapters up, or moving things from a later chapter into an earlier one or vice versa, and it works just fine for me. All of this is because The outline is not set in stone. There is no reason things can’t change in the middle of the fic or be moved around as needed. The outline should be thought of as a tool to store your thoughts so you don’t forget, and to organize them in order to help you make your way toward that endpoint.

It’s also worth noting that my outlines become more and more detailed as I get closer to the chapter in question. For example, if the story is 15 chapters, I might only have a couple lines of plot points for the last 5 chapters when I start writing. By the time I’m coming up on those last 5 chapters, I’ll have a much better idea of what will happen in them since I know what plot points and relationship points need to be wrapped up, and I’ll thus be able to add more details and ideas to the outline. Again, this calls to the outline being fluid and changing as the story goes on. It is not set in stone.

As a final note about this, if the fic is really long, such as Lovers In A Dangerous Time (67 chapters total and >500k words), it is ABSOLUTELY NOT NECESSARY to have the entire story mapped out or to know exactly what’s going to happen in the later chapters. All you need to know is your endpoint, and to have a vague sense of what might happen in those later chapters that will serve the endpoint of the story. Again, this all calls to the outline being a memory and organizational aid rather than a strict and inflexible sequence of a events.

In sum: the outline should not be thought of as a strict roadmap for your fic. It is a tool that helps you make your way toward the ultimate endpoint of your fic. It allows you to store and organize your thoughts, and it is perfectly fine for it to be fluid and to change as the story goes on. It can be as detailed or as vague as you want, and the amount of detail in it will likely depend on whether you’re a plotter or a pantser. Outlines are never set in stone, and there is no one best way of outlining! The outline is there to help you, not to intimidate you!

3. Write the chapters in order.

Now, I suspect that this point might raise some objections, but hear me out. Writing a long story is a labour of love, but it is still labour. In any longfic, there are going to be parts that are less fun to write. There are also going to be parts that you are REALLY REALLY JAZZED about writing, and you will want to get straight to those parts and write them because you’re psyched about them. The reason I’m suggesting that you write the chapters in order is to spread out the “work” and the “fun” evenly through the process. If you evenly distribute the less-fun and more-fun parts, then you can use the “fun” bits as a treat for yourself to get yourself through the less-fun bits. You’re basically using your own project as a reward for creating that project, and honestly, there is nothing more satisfying than getting that kind of intrinsic motivation from your own work.

For example, I hate writing battle scenes. So when the fic gets to a point when I have to write a stupid battle scene, I keep my eye on the prize and tell myself something like: “okay, just finish this battle scene, then you can reward yourself with the fun after-battle banter or smut.”

Here’s another way to think of this: when you’re reading a story, anticipation is key. The buildup to the main event, whether that main event is a big character reveal or the First Kiss/First Fuck, is so important. If you’re reading a story, you don’t want to jump straight to the chapter where the reveal or kiss happens. You want to build up to the big moments when you’re reading a story. Why wouldn’t you want to build up to them as a writer, too?

There are more practical reasons to write sequentially, too. If you write the fic in sequence, it may be easier to keep track of what you’ve done and to know where you’re going next. It can also happen that while you’re writing, you come up with new ideas that you hadn’t thought of when you first started the fic, and those new ideas can have a huge impact on later events. But if you’ve already written the later events, it can be more difficult to incorporate the new idea into what you’ve already done.

This is not to say you can’t write BITS of later chapters/conversations and hang on to them for later. There absolutely is room for writing when the inspiration strikes. I’ll often have an idea for a conversation or a smut scene that I can’t use until later, so I’ll just write it down and throw it into the outline until the appropriate moment arises. For example, in Lovers In A Dangerous Time, there is a very angsty conversation between Fenris and Hawke in chapter 63 that I had plotted out in point-form about 3-4 months before I actually wrote the chapter. I plotted out the most important lines of that conversation WAY ahead of time, but I forbade myself from writing the scene in detail until the rest of the fic up to threat point was written.

TLDR: Writing sequentially helps you to reward your story writing with your own story. It allows you to build anticipation for your own story, and it lets you stay flexible and open to new ideas that arise during the process. You can and should write bits of the fun chapters, especially so you don’t forget them, but I strongly suggest saving them and rewarding yourself with them for when the proper time comes.

Okay, those are basically my three big steps in writing a longfic! Now to talk a little bit about editing and posting. These are not so much advice as just a little bit of my own experience, and what I’ve seen/heard others do.

Editing: a few remarks

I post my fics chapter-by-chapter, which means that I edit and clean each chapter to my satisfaction before I post it. My personal editing process usually involves three passes: a first read and edit, which involves the most changes; a second edit which involves more tweaks than big changes; and a final read before I post, where I try and often fail UGH to catch typos or subtle errors.

It is not necessary to do it this way, however. I know some people prefer to write the whole story, then go back and edit it from the start. This makes total sense, really; this way you can make sure your events are cohesive, and that you haven’t left any loose ends untied that you might have forgotten about. I would say this is a matter of preference, but I wonder if your writing speed might also play a role in this. I’m a fast writer, so I don’t usually forget what I’ve done earlier in the fic by the time I get to the end. But with Where The Winds Of Fortune Take Me, which involved a month-long break at one point, I did find myself having to go back and reread old chapters to refresh my memory. So if you’re a slower writer, you might find it helpful to write the whole story, or at least big chunks of it, and then read it through for cohesion before you start to post.

Posting: a few remarks

As I mentioned before, I post chapter-by-chapter. One question I’ve been asked is whether to stick to a posting schedule, or to post when you feel like it. I have done both, and I think either choice is equally valid. All I can really do is explain my experience with this.

When I was a relatively newer writer, I was hardcore obsessed with Horizon Zero Dawn and I was posting a chapter of my Aloy/Nil longfic every day. It wasn’t just my obsession driving this, but also I was getting comments and kudos every single day on every chapter from hungry readers since it was a relatively rarepair at the time. It was basically a crazy feedback loop of me providing fic and getting a lot of comments and then being spurred to keep feeding my own obsession and provide more fic.

Nowadays, however, I stick to a weekly update schedule for my longfics, and I have a lot of reasons for this. For readers, I get the sense that weekly updates give them something to look forward to and helps build anticipation for tense moments in the fic. It can also give readers some time to digest the previous week’s chapter before receiving the next. I also get the sense that for writers who update and write a lot [points at self], if a reader gets a million update emails from a writer, it can be overwhelming and make the reader feel guilty about not staying up to date with the writer’s works, and there is nothing I HATE more than having readers feel like it’s homework to keep up with my writing.

My reasons are more selfish, too. I’ve discovered that if I post two chapters on the same day, many readers will only comment on the second chapter. If I space out the posting, I get more engagement from readers, and since I, like all writers, am a whore for comments, I’ve learned to purposely hold on to my chapters and space them out in the hopes that more people will engage with me when they read them. THERE, YOU ALL KNOW MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET. PLEASE DON’T JUDGE ME.

Another note on posting schedules and engagement, specifically relating to AO3: when you search in AO3, by default, the results are organized in terms of most recently updated fics. Every time you update your fic, it will show up at the top of the search hit list, thus increasing the chances that someone new will notice it and decide to read it. Spreading out the frequency of your posting can thus optimize the amount of times that it shows up at the top of the search.

All right, that’s pretty much all I have to say about all this! If I had to sum it all up, though, I would stick to the three-point process I outlined above:

Know your endpoint, and aim toward it.

Make an outline, and remember that the outline is your friend. It’s a memory tool and an organizational aid, and it can and likely will change as your fic goes on.

Write the fic in sequential order, and use your own story to motivate yourself.

I said this before, but writing a longfic really is a labour of love. It can take months or years to finish a longfic, and it is not always easy. It’s my hope that this little tutorial will make the process less daunting and help some of you guys launch into writing that story you always wanted to write!

If anyone has any other ideas for tutorials that they’d like me to address, please feel free to send me an ask or a PM!

- Lots of love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

#fanfic writer's life #pikapeppa tutors #writing advice #fanfic writing #writing #writing tutorial #ao3 #writing reference

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hillblah · 3 years

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Podcast Recommendations:

I just spent nearly 2 hours writing these for a work Teams thread #justpandemicthings. So uh, here you go. If you’re following this blog (why tho?) you might like my vibe, so you might like some of these! Finding categories is hard, so I've mostly lumped podcasts together in small groups by loose connections, or vibes. This is also how I sort my bookshelf after admitting defeat on having a perfectly coherent system. Past me would have been horrified, but I think that's what growth looks like. Some descriptions are all mine, some are copied from the creators. Feel free to read into which ones I copied and which I wrote myself as much as you want.

Fiction:

36 Questions A 3 part musical podcast about a couple on the brink of divorce. The title references the "36 Questions to Fall in Love" (/build intimacy) that can be found here: https://bigthink.com/ideafeed/how-to-fall-in-love-36-questions-and-deep-eye-contact

Alice Isn't Dead Audio diaries of a long road trucker searching for her wife who she thought had died, but Alice Isn't Dead. Really cool sound design and writing from the team behind Welcome to Nightvale. Slight absurdist/ more than slight horror vibes. There's 3 seasons in total that tell a meandering overall story roadtrip. Best listened to while parked in an empty carpark on the edge of town with rain running down the windshield and creating flickering shadows from the streetlights. It took me a few attempts to listen right through the first episode, but I eventually fell in love with the sound/feel/vibe of the podcast. Teaser is here: http://www.nightvalepresents.com/aliceisntdead

The Magnus Archives A horror fiction podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Each episode is presented in the form of a witness statement being read by the newly appointed Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute - London. Over time the stand-alone statements start to form connections, and then an overarching plot. I don't normally enjoy horror, The Magnus Archives is absolutely the exception. Really well told stories with incredible soundscaping. Maybe don't listen right before bed...

Kiwi Podcasts about Sexuality and Gender:

Micro Wave Feminism Micro Wave Feminism is a place for open, inclusive, loving and vulnerable feminist chats. It's all about talking to real people about real sh*t and experiences of femininity and masculinity in this crazy (beautiful) world we live in. Really interesting discussions on feminism through the personal experiences of kiwis. Sporadic episodes as a non-professional labour of love, but boy does it have cozy vibes.

BANG! RNZ's BANG! explores sex, sexuality and relationships over a lifetime, from parents attempting "the talk" with their children, through the fraught teen years, modern dating, long-term relationships, contraception and conception, right up to intimacy in retirement homes. So many people talking about their experiences with all aspects of sex, sexuality, relationships and gender. My personal favourite is the Takātapuia episode from season 2: https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/bang/story/2018651794/bang-season-2-episode-6-takatapui

Let's Get Sexual Let’s Get Sexual is a podcast dedicated to exploring sexuality. It is part of the growing global movement to normalize conversations around sexuality, to embrace its complexity, and highlight how we all have our own sexual journeys. Similar vibes to BANG! But with a more personal approach and more time with each guest. Really interesting conversations with people from all walks of life.

Kiwi Current and Not So Current Events:

Gone by Lunchtime The Spinoff's politics podcast. A good balance of views from the 3 hosts, and the only politics podcast that has made me laugh out loud multiple times.

The Citizen's Handbook Robbie Niccol (White Man Behind a Desk/that guy that I went to school with) partners with RNZ for a video series all about the history of Aotearoa, and the things all citizens need to know about where we are now. There's also a podcast that goes with it, that's a game show? Really the video series is the more important part... But the podcast is a great listen.

Isolation:

The Habitat The true story of six volunteers picked to live on a fake planet. You know those stories that occasionally pop up about people living in isolation with each other to see what happens so we know about the problems and can prepare for space travel? Well this 7 episode podcast follows a group of 6 imitation NASA astronauts stuck with only each other for a year. Something I'm sure the rest of us will never have to experience right?

Our Plague Year Essays and listener messages about Our Plague 'Year'. Some really talented writers pouring emotions out. This was one of my favourite podcasts last year, though some of the episodes hit a little hard. My personal favourite episode (so far) is Trust Ends at the Windshield, featuring Hank Green, Meg Bashwiner, and Erin McKeown. Which talks about the the-show-must-go-on mentality, includes this gem: "We are killing people because we are bored. We are killing people because we are entrenched in a toxic, capitalist society that values money over life.", and was one of the triggers for me writing a 12 minute, spoken word, poetry adjacent, thing, last year.

Doing Stuff:

Cortex CGP Grey (educational youtuber) and Myke Hurley (host of about 50 podcasts) talk about productivity, and how they run their businesses, and education, and the Apple ecosystem, and a whole bunch of other things. Long episodes, and occasionally dated by reference to current events. Definitely not a super condensed productivity podcast, more of a personality / sitting in on a conversation vibe.

Start With This Art is hard, starting is hard, if you want to start somewhere you should start with this. The co-creators of Welcome to Nightvale talk about making things/the artistic process. Every episode ends with 2 assignments, one thing to consume, and one to create.

Building Positive Culture:

Dare To Lead Brené Brown talking with other people about Leadership. Really interesting and inspiring conversations. Top recommendation is the episode with Simon Sinek.

A Bit of Optimism Simon Sinek talking with other people about working together to make a better world. Really interesting and inspiring conversations. Top recommendation is the episode with Brené Brown.

TED Worklife Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. From learning how to love criticism to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again. Pretty new on my feed, but every episode I've listened to so far has been an absolute hit!

Interesting Stories/People:

TED Radio Hour TED talks, collated into similar subjects with extra stuff pulled out interview style. Good to search through the archives to find areas you're interested in, or just pick a random episode and dive in!

99% Invisible - 10,000 Years [person from work who I’m too lazy to edit out a reference to] has already recommended the podcast, but I want to throw in my favourite episode. It's about the challenge of trying to mark nuclear waste sites in a way that will last 10,000 years (for reference 10,000 years ago stone tools were a pretty neat invention) and is absolutely fascinating. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/ten-thousand-years/

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shashidubeyguruji · 4 years

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Lord Krishna, the modern-day Management Guru

Lord Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita have intrigued and compelled the Indian mind for centuries. Today it continues to inspire millions of people across the world. For readers of this blog, the Bhagavad Gita, or simply, the ‘Gita,’ is one of the most important religious texts of Hinduism. It has three major themes of knowledge, action, and love.

This sacred text, containing seven hundred verses, is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and warrior Arjuna in the epic battle of Mahabharata around 3100 B.C.E. Lord Krishna imparts profound knowledge to a confused and disturbed Arjuna who faces the moral and ethical dilemma of choosing to fight for righteousness and battle his own. All Arjuna could see on the battlefield was his uncles, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, and comrades. Seeing fathers-in-law, all those kinsmen, and other dear ones standing in the ranks of the two armies, this upset and confused him greatly.

In essence, the Bhagavad Gita imparts the knowledge of the Self and answers some fundamental questions of life.

Recently, one of my students asked me for advice when his business was forced to shut down during COVID-19. Luckily, it gave him an opportunity to reflect on his business operations and management of staff. He wanted to use this time to become a better leader and strategist. His priority areas were efficiency, effectiveness and effortlessness. I simply advised him to read the Bhagavad Gita. He looked at me puzzled!

I explained to him that Lord Krishna resides in the heart of all living beings. He is a charismatic leader, a manager, teacher a loyal friend and a philosopher. He taught the lessons of Bhakti (devotion), good Karma (fruit of one’s actions), compassion and courage. Krishna’s lessons are still relevant to the modern man’s thoughts and needs. The Gita ticks every box of the “modern day survival guide.” Although the script may be old, it is contemporary in its essence. Lord Krishna is the master of finesse.

I used excerpts of the Bhagavad Gita to mentor top international executives and CEOs, which I shared with my student. To me the answer is simple – we must correctly identify the principles laid out in the text and apply them appropriately to the corporate setting. Top management and business schools use it as an educational tool to inspire executives and increase productivity, confidence, motivation, and fearlessness. It expands their thoughts and brings meaningful change. These traits are necessary for successful leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and politicians alike.

My student was intrigued and wondered how the Bhagavad Gita Model is relevant to today’s business and economic context. I smiled and quoted this excerpt:

“karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi”,

“You have the right to perform your prescribed duties, but they do not entitle you to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the result of your activities, nor be attached to inaction” (BG:2.47).

Nearly every school child in India is taught this well-known verse of the Gita. It teaches from a young age, the proper spirit of work or Karm Yog (art of action). It offers four distinct instructions regarding the science of work: 1) Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results, 2) The fruit of your actions are not for your enjoyment, 3) Even while working, give up the pride of doership and 4) Do not be attached to inaction.

The following are some management strategies, principles, and skills that Lord Krishna shared with warrior arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Master the Mind and you Master the World

“One must elevate – and not degrade oneself by one’s own mind. The mind is one’s friend and one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those who have control over it, and the mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it” (BG:6.05-06).

Here, Lord Krishna is sharing the importance of mastering one’s mind to the great warrior Arjuna. Our biggest enemy in the world is an uncontrolled mind. We can achieve a lot if we use wisdom and intellect to progress ourselves. James Allen, a philosopher said, “Self-control is strength, right thought is mastery, and calmness is power.” Only when the mind is mastered, a manager or leader can provide right direction with firm determination.

Focus the Mind

“Therefore, fix your mind on Me and let your intellect concentrate upon Me alone through meditation and contemplation. Thereafter, you shall certainly attain Me” (BG:12.08).

The dialogue demonstrates further the importance of a focused mind that Lord Krishna tries to instill onto Arjuna. Swami Vivekananda once said, “The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun. When they are concentrated, they illuminate.” When the mind is focused, it can achieve what a disturbed mind cannot accomplish due to disturbance and noise. A focused mind has high problem-solving abilities and decision-making skills. In a business setting, it is highly beneficial for a manager to have a focused mind to achieve organizational objectives effectively and efficiently.

Distribute Profits to Employees and Contribute towards Society

“The righteous who eat after sharing with others are freed from all sins, but the impious who cook food only for themselves (without offering it first to God or sharing with others), in truth, eat sin” (BG:3.13).

Lord Krishna is suggesting the importance of the habit of sharing with society. Most businesses and corporations consume the resources of the society. We must therefore heighten our awareness to contribute back for the welfare of all. An offering made by a millionaire and a poor man is considered the same, if it is done with humility. It is suggested that business profits must be distributed to employees to give them a sense of being valued, worthy and appreciated.

Be a Leader and Provide Right Motivation

“The wise should not unsettle the minds of the ignorant who are attached to the fruits of work but should inspire others by performing their duty efficiently with dedication and without selfish attachment” (BG:3.26).

There is a direct correlation between an employees’ level of motivation and productivity. Employees need motivating factors to remain committed and productive. At times, they need to be managed, advised and guided in the right direction. Lord Krishna showed the great warrior Arjuna the right direction, in the scenario above. As it is famously quoted by Mahatma Gandhi, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Similarly, a manager should ensure that they are the leader, motivator and guide for the workforce to achieve objectives of the organization.

Be Action Oriented

“O warrior Arjuna, there is nothing in the three worlds – heaven, earth, and the lower regions – that should be done by Me, nor there is anything unobtained that I should obtain, yet I engage in action” (BG: 3.22).

Here, Lord Krishna is highlighting the significance of being action oriented. I often say that your actions become your habits, habits become your values, and values become your destiny. This means that our actions have a direct impact on shaping our destiny. To achieve the desired result, we must combine our knowledge with the necessary action to attain those results. One should always let actions speak louder than words, for actions are worthier.

Hold Firm and be Strong even in Adversity

“Considering also your duty as a warrior, you should not waver because there is nothing more auspicious than one’s personal duty in life” (BG:2.31).

Here, the importance of facing adverse situations with firmness and determination is communicated to warrior Arjuna. We face both turbulent and smooth periods in our lives. Similarly, in business one must remain focused in both favourable and unfavourable situations. A manager should make a suitable strategy to prepare for any eventualities. Currently we face unprecedented challenges. If we apply the principles that Lord Krishna has shared with the world, a manager or leader can face even the most arduous times with firmness. Nothing can stop them from achieving organizational objectives even during adversity.

Act with Conviction

“Whatever is done without faith – whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act – is useless. It has no value here or hereafter, O Warrior Arjuna” (BG: 17.28).

Lord Krishna is emphasizing action with truthful conviction and the significance of belief in everything we do. Leaders must believe in an action before undertaking them. Half-hearted attempts will not get us the desired result. Therefore, it is necessary for managers to give their best so that their team members can make meaningful contributions.

Achieve your Dream

“That resolve is in the mode of ignorance by which a dull person does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despair and false pride, O Warrior Arjuna” (BG: 18.35).

Lord Krishna is explaining here the meaning of having dreams. All individuals have aspirations that come from dreams. Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Sir, once said, “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.” The beauty in dreams make life beautiful and worth living. They motivate us to achieve life goals.

Finally, As you can see, the Bhagavad Gita contains words of wisdom through practical teaching that can be easily applied to present-day situations to solve any problem. This sacred text crosses all boundaries of religion and race, containing divine wisdom and direction for all of us.

Lord Krishna’s life is a model that people have applied for many centuries. I believe it will be used for many generations to come. His teachings go beyond infinity.

#meditation #lifecoach #spiritualawakening #lordkrishna #bhagavadgita #management #guru

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brandingexpert · 3 years

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Branding Studio For Growth

Working with Bethany made the creation of our new website such a fun and exciting project. She is very organized and ensured smooth communication throughout the whole project. She is also a very intuitive designer, and managed to visually translate our branding studio spirit perfectly. The team of BMRTN + Citizen was essential in helping us translate a major organizational pivot into updated brand positioning. Thanks to this team https://craftandroot.com/ we preserved the best of our brand and maintained the trust and support of our partners during a time of major organizational change. Communication so simple, it makes people fall in love with the brands created here. We partnered with Pinterest Business to create a website that’s as useful and engaging as their platform, while helping to tailor their new branding for the digital space.

Twenty Four 7 was tapped to augment research, synthesize data and outline a strategic plan. We weren’t given a tangible deliverable like a retail experience design, or brand framework, or roadmap for marketing – though we did all of those things. We were asked to re-think their position in the marketplace and light a path to success. Websites and web applications evolve with business needs, long past their original launch. We stick by our clients for the long haul to help them get the most out of their digital projects.

We are Daylight, a digital firm specializing in the design and development of unique, results-driven experiences. Our expertise and collaborative approach to working with our customers delivers products that exceed expectations.

Independently define and direct creative workflow and creative project process across organization. Proactively assess, refine and optimize processes on a continual basis to ensure project and team success. Suzie has done award-winning work for global brands like AT&T, Holland America Line, Microsoft, Starbucks, Vail Resorts and others.

Custom Services

Our sights are set on strategy, design, storytelling, and creating an impact. Lifestyle brands to tech, startups to venture capitalists, professional services to professional sports—we dig down to build up.

The Best Web Design Companies And Agencies

Every touch point is covered in order to create a complete brand experience that satisfies and delights your consumer. Once we understand exactly who your customer is and what they want, we find a way to turn your brand into an experience that will not only satisfy but that will delight your consumer.

Our branding services, coaching, workshops and DIY tools and resources help you launch, grow or pivot your business. Our focus is giving you what you need to be a successful, thriving business that supports your values. That's what it felt like when Anna asked us to help her reposition her coaching business and align her branding and messaging with her renewed focus. As a Three Principles Coach, Anna speaks the same high-vibe language we do, and we share the belief that fulfillment comes when you tap into your truth to serve your greatest purpose. As in coaching, our process always begins with a discovery session to determine a client's needs and goals. In addition to a full website redesign with new icons and infographics, sales + outreach tools, copywriting and a lead magnet.

She has served as an instructor of copywriting, design and creative concepts at Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts. Suzie also serves on the board or in an advisory role with the American Parkinson Disease Association, Campaign for Female Education, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and others. In concert with empowering future generations, we also invest in women and minority led businesses. With our incubator and accelerator program, TF7 offers its expertise in business strategy and brand marketing to support the severely underserved communities in the start-up world. This work contributes directly to individual entrepreneurs, VC’s or non-profit organizations focused on serving this community. This year is different though, and brands won’t be able to employ the same marketing strategies as in years past to engage customers. This year requires an approach that is deeply connected, authentic, and thoughtfully responsive to consumer needs during a time when nothing is status quo.

We also helped Anna with her email marketing and a curated look for her social media feed. We create brands and we tell stories that are as unique and powerful as you are.

Xo Agency

In 2016, Ali followed her passion for small business and obsession with design, and founded Amari Creative. Two years later, she brought on Rachel as the Copy + Content Creator, adding a whole new (and highly requested!) aspect to the business. Since the inception of Amari, we’ve worked with hundreds of small businesses and solopreneurs to build effective, striking brands. It does not matter if you sell a product, heavy-duty equipment or a hotel room what the consumer wants is an experience.

They have an incredible design aesthetic, which has led to a great new look that we’re thrilled about. From tech and usability, to design and branding, Studio Misfits are a top-notch team. DBC is a branding agency that infuses design with data to solve complex communication issues. Treebird occupies a modern, industrial space on Atlanta’s Westside where locomotive horns punctuate branding projects and visitors are always welcome. To us, branding is an investment into your company and your customers experience. We are a full service branding studio in Charlotte, NC that works with businesses who are passionate about craft & cuisine. We specialize in logo design, crafting full brand identities & producing smaller design projects like packaging, menus, catalogs & other print collateral.

Whether you’re a start-up or established business, we deliver a uniquely ownable story that can be easily translated across all brand touchpoints. Shelf helps you stand out from the pack™, by combining data-driven strategic insights and consumer-centric design principles. Character is a branding and design agency with studios in New York and San Francisco. M studio creates purpose-driven strategy, branding and communications for a worldwide audience. Caliber Creative is an independent,full-servicebranding agency specializing in cultivating brand experiences from initial concept strategy through final design execution. Manifesto is a creative branding and strategy agency that transforms beliefs into authentic behavior through the power of culturally disruptive ideas.

Now that you’ve established what you are delivering and when it’s time to get to know the organization you’re branding. Ask for copies of any marketing and branding strategy materials they’ve already developed. You’ll need everything from their mission and values to target market demographics. If your client doesn’t have much of this you can conduct interviews and surveys to suss out what makes them unique. Some companies provide just a few of these services and it is totally fine.

We use provocative design, communications, events and social media content that commands attention and creates buzz in order to put your brand at the top of the consumer’s mind. The brand refresh has made social and print media more streamline and simple with go-to designs. I feel like my business now has a more professional and clean branding image.

It had more cranes in the sky than any other U.S. city, fastest growing home prices in the country, the second most popular city for immigrants, and six-figure job openings – many with six-figure salaries. The landscape – both physical and figurative – was changing daily. In the midst of this boom, Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union began a brand audit that would change the trajectory of the company.

the visual designer and illustrator behind Spark & Bloom. I collaborate with small business owners and entrepreneurs to create brand identities that make a positive impact.

Oregon Lane Studio creates visual brands and beautiful custom Showit websites for passionate business owners ready to reach a new level and spark incredible growth. As a creative business owner, trying to stand out in a crowded market is a huge challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. With a clean and professional design that lights you up and makes you so excited about your brand, you can present yourself as the expert you are. Knowing that your brand visuals are sharing your business even when you’re not in the room. Whether you’re a start-up brand or a seasoned entrepreneur, you know how important it is to get your branding right.

Whenever a potential customer encounters you, they should feel like they are talking directly to you. Your brand is an extension of who you are and what you want to be known for. We create brands that look and sound like you and speak directly to the people or companies you want to work with. DesignGood is a full-service, high-vibe design and branding studio that helps you build your business and brand around the life you want to live.

Proven experience managing complex projects with multiple deliverables and tight timelines. Facilitate internal meetings, negotiate conflicts, build up teams and group dynamics, and enable creative thought processes and strategy. Provide structure around disciplines where needed.

From strategy to identity and beyond, we are your dedicated partner across the entire branding journey. We listen, observe, research, and collaborate with our clients every step of the way to guarantee authentic results. If your brand is ready to make a change, we are here to guide you through it. No matter where you are right now, working with DesignGood will help you create the vision of where you are headed and give you the tools and resources to get you there. We help you pinpoint your audience, spotlight your expertise and establish your business as the go-to source for whatever you're creating in the world.

If you’re ready to feel empowered with a new visual identity that not only accurately reflects your business and brand aspirations, but also resonates with your desired audience too, you’re in the right place. The importance of branding is often overlooked by most companies. As discussed in this article from The New York Times, “A brand is a company’s face to the world.” At Level8 we take that very seriously. Detail-oriented, proactive and a protector of both the creative and the creative process with an eye on the budget, timeline, team, vendor relationships, and production partnerships.

A boldly artistic creative studio specializing in branding and web design. At Studio Brand, we know that our success depends on the success of our clients' campaigns, and ultimately their business. This is why we've pooled a talented team of creatives and analytics who are laser-focused on being great at what they do. We treat our clients' business like it's our own and work tirelessly to ensure we are bringing value to each marketing dollar we spend. A wide range of a-la-carte graphic design services can be added on to the main packages. We will happily curate a custom combination for you! Brand Labs provides entrepreneurs, small business owners, and independent designers with the tools to help objectively build a foundational brand strategy.

In our opinion, for digital products, the bare minimum would be a visual identity and marketing website. On the projects I collaborate with some extraordinary and talented people and as a result branding.studio continuously delivers extraordinarily. Make your brand well defined with solid structure, engaging personality and beautiful visual assets. Our minimal, reductive style of design allows clients to create clarity and transform their brands into powerful assets.

By doing so, we've made some good friends along the way. Technology is really the story of our future, and it’s a story we love to uncover here at Incubate. I love rounding projects out with gorgeous printed goods, and professional designed websites. This ensures the whole package - your entire brand experience - is a cohesive journey.

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mchughhardy21 · 1 year

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Recovering from a Computer Science Education

This is a short list of things that helped me and could help you too.

Do something artistic. Write songs or short stories sketch, or learn to draw Pixel art. These projects also have a lower turnaround time than any other type of software.

permalink January 15, 2012

Previously

Twitter or Mail

#Minecraft servers #minecraft #Servers

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reecaaah · 4 years

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Quality as a Key Product in the Advancement of Globalization.

Somebody once told me that in choosing a career or building your own empire you have a lot of things to consider but the most important thing is doing what you love for a living. As a business administration student and a future entrepreneur, I have been longing to own a clothing business and I always told to myself to make it into reality someday. Clothing plays a big part in the daily life of a person at the same time it changes overtime because of the trend. I chose this type of business because it suits my interest as well as it makes me comfortable and I feel good about it. The first thing that pops up in my mind is the word “quality”. Quality has a big role in business transaction or a prevalence of something. It is actually characterized as being appropriate for its purpose at the same time fulfilling client desires.

Quality items help to keep up consumer loyalty and devotion as well as diminish the danger and cost of replacing broken products. This will also affect my company’s reputation especially now that we have growing importance of social media and through that consumers can easily share great suppositions and analysis of the item. Having low quality or item disappointment will lead to negative exposure and can harm my business in the long run. As an entrepreneur, it is my duty to meet my customer’s expectation and if not, they will quickly look for other alternatives and that will result to the decrease of my sales. Quality is critical to fulfilling my clients and holding their faithfulness so they keep on purchasing from me in the future.

We, the makers or the producers accept that a quality item has nature of conformance, which implies that our items are structured and delivered to details. I believe that there are attributes of a producer’s view on quality and these are doing the correct thing, doing it the correct way and lastly doing it right the first run through.

On the other hand, a buyer's perspective on quality varies from a maker's point of view. Shoppers consider readiness for use, which implies that an item ought to do what it should do. Some customers are very meticulous because they would rather “choose comfort over style”. Regardless of what industry you’re involved in, customers aren’t going to choose solely based on price, however frequently on quality, they would rather pay on products or services that they think are made well or exceeds their standards.

Quality is multidimensional, it is very important to consider these dimensions upon dealing with customers and it can also be used for strategic analysis. The eight dimensions or the categories of quality are composed of the following: Performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality. These dimensions would be of great impact to my business idea for the reason that when it comes to performance it is often a wellspring of dispute among consumers and provider especially that my company is all about clothing, as an owner I have to make sure that the performance of an item regularly impacts the profitability and the reputation of the end-user of it. Features impact the quality of a clothing line product because as a provider I have to validate whether the design or the details of the item meets the interest of my target markets. Reliability also is a major supporter to my brand or my company’s image for the reason that it is viewed as a crucial element of value by most consumers and this includes techniques for reducing failure rates while products are still in the design stage. As a clothing line business, I have to make sure that my products are durable and able to provide comfort. The way it looks is important to the end user also especially if there are any faults or defects for the reason that these factors will affect my company’s identity. Overall, my part as a manager is to make sure that I’ve catered my consumers’ needs and preferences. Quality is not simply a problem to be solved rather it is a competitive opportunity.

I believe that entrepreneurs work their own organizations and handle obligations and that includes creating business plans, arranging financing, hiring staff, reviewing sales, developing marketing strategies, overseeing daily activities, and identifying business opportunities. With the proper implementation of Total Quality Management, everything flows easily. This method will help my business to grow fonder because it will serve as a strategy by which the management and workers can get associated with the constant improvement of the creation of merchandise and enterprises. It is somewhat a combination of quality and management tools planned to reduce losses due to inefficient practices. TQM can have a significant and helpful impact on worker and organizational development. having all workers center around quality administration and nonstop improvement, organizations can build up and maintain social qualities that make long-term accomplishment to the customers and the association itself.

According to Padhi (2002) in order to be successful in implementing TQM, an organization must concentrate on the eight key elements: Ethics, integrity, trust, training, teamwork, leadership, recognition and communication. In a working environment, it is important to have a positive attitude and apply these eight key elements because this will cultivate transparency, decency, genuineness and permits involvement by everyone inside the organization. I can say that these components are the key in the accomplishment of TQM in an association and that I, as future manager is playing a big part in building up these components in the work place. Without these components, the business substances can't be effective TQM implementers. As a future business owner, training is the key by which the association makes a TQM domain. Leadership and teamwork also go hand in hand. Absence in communication between departments, supervisors and employees create a burden on the whole TQM process. Last but not the least, recognition ought to be given to individuals who added to the general finished errand. Hence, I should lead by example and show others how it’s done, I have to train my workers how to give/make a quality item, how to create an environment where there is no dread to share information, and I should recognize a job well done to workers in order to achieve effective Total Quality Management inside the association.

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erikaswyler · 5 years

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On Craft, Or, When Interviews Run Long for Great Reasons.

Not everything can fit into an interview.

Some of the recent interview I did with Adrienne Celt ( @celtadri ) about LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS was trimmed for length. I do like talking and thinking about craft, largely because I’m self-taught. It delights me to be invited to the table to discuss how I work and think. Part of me takes it as validation that I belong in the same arena as those who have studied formally. (Imposter syndrome is a blight on the brain and creativity.)

Adrienne’s latest book, INVITATION TO A BONFIRE, is out now in paperback and it’s one of my favorite reads of the last three years. You should get it.

The Interview with Electric Literature is here.

The cut bits on craft (choosing point of view, and chapter titles) below: AC: Moving on. How did you choose the point of view for this book? I would almost classify the narrator as omniscient, in the sense that it sweeps through many different minds, including a monkey frozen in a bubble of time and a fragile newborn baby, but it's really an alternating close 3rd; the voice sits so close to each character (Nedda thinking about the "fuck-you" finger, for example) that I even wondered if you were ever tempted to write this in the first person. Do you get tempted in that way, or do you make an intuitive choice and stick with it?

ES: Settling on a point of view was tied into scope. I wanted to write different individual experiences of time and also move through huge chunks of time quickly. Omniscient felt like the best way to get that control while still being flexible. Half of my last book was in 1st person present specifically to be claustrophobic, but this book literally needed space. It was also a conscious choice in that Nedda and her father are asking questions about God, questions that are huge and overarching, but also incredibly intimate. I needed a voice that could listen in on a child’s thoughts, and pull back to take in a whole town, or a planet. My hope was that it would create a sense of how small acts and ideas tie into much larger things. I took a stab at 1st person, but it felt disingenuous. I think that's because 3rd allows for tenderness. There’s affection that 3rd person point of view can have for characters that a true 1st person can’t. To translate that--you never see or love yourself in quite the way other people see and love you. Because Nedda has so many idiosyncrasies, and because Betheen’s internal life is so different from how others see her, it was essential to let the reader watch them. And, to be honest and a little silly, the choice did have to do with including the monkey. It felt important to express a non-human experience of time, but I’m not going to pretend that I have any grasp on a monkey’s sense of the I. Hunger and instinct? I can do that. Watching? I can do that. I guess the most “3rd person point of view” thing I can think of is watching an animal that’s watching time.

AC: … back to your ideas about craft. Specifically, I'm interested in how you chose to title some of your chapters, and what chapter titles mean to you. When I was a young reader, I strongly preferred books with titled chapters, perhaps because I sensed the way that they could be used to create suspense: even if I had to go to bed before reading, say, chapter 4, I could read the title of that chapter and get a little frisson of excitement about where the story would go next. Was this a calculation for you? I'm especially interested because, as a writer, it never occurs to me to use this device, but I found it really effective in LFOS. How do you think about chapter titles (or even chapters) as formal elements of a book's structure?

ES: Little me loved chapter titles too! They’re great framing and pacing tools, and they let you be coy with readers in a way the bulk of the prose doesn’t allow. It’s that 3rd person voice playing around. Some of it is calculated. Near the end of LFOS, if you recognize the speed of light (I had to look it up), you have a sense of what you’re about to read without it being spoiled, and you get to feel clever. I want my readers to feel smart. Titles also save writers from unwieldy transitions, and I use them to orient readers without exposition. Just writing Aboard Chawla spared everyone from so many spaceship clichés. But ultimately, titles were an organizational necessity. I’m not a linear writer, and I wrote drafts that were just fragments I’d slide around like puzzle pieces. Titles came from what the meat of the scene was, or the type of time or energy that was the focus of the chapter. They made each section recognizable and easy to move as I worked out structure. The longer I left them, the more essential they felt. They’re emotional signals, but also pauses, which I think are important in a book about time

#erika swyler #adrienne celt #light from other stars #invitation to a bonfire #Electric Literature #writing craft

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heyteachergivethosebooksaloan · 5 years

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Microsoft OneNote- One of the Best Note-taking & Organization Software Available

Software Name: Microsoft OneNote Function: Note-taking, Organizing Cost: Free Compatibility: Android, iOS, PC, Apple Where To Get It: Google Play, App Store, Microsoft Store, Microsoft.com

A great way for students to keep their notes and important information together in one place. It can also serve as a journal for students with mental and/or emotional disorders. It’s never out of reach as long as the student has any device handy!

How does it work?

OneNote is a piece of Microsoft software that previously was only available to those who had purchased an office suite or subscription. As of 2016 it became freeware, open to anyone with a Microsoft account.

There’s so much going on with this software I’ll bullet it’s main features and explain as much as I can without this post getting excessively long!

Create as many customized notebooks as you’d like with name and color options

Customizable sections within notebooks can be added, removed, named and color coded

Sticky note section allows for quick notes and quick reference, perfect for shopping lists, reminders, and more

Password protection is available on whole notebooks or single sections for privacy of personal information or writings

All pages support multimedia note taking which means the user can type, add images, draw, add links, add videos, insert other forms of media and more all together on the same page

All notebooks and sticky notes are searchable so information is easy to locate

Notebooks sync across devices and only require the app, an internet connection and a login to be accessed anywhere and anytime

Users can record videos or audio directly in their notebooks using the camera and/or microphone on their device

Pages can be dated or named for ease of location within tabs

Page color, typing or drawing color can be easily changed, and you can even add “ruled” lines to your screen with the click of a button if it makes you more comfortable

Has all the same utility of Microsoft Word, files can be exported as word files, pdfs, etc. or can be printed

Below is the pathway to get to your notes which shows just how much you can do with this app and just how many options it gives you for organization. I used it to outline a book!

Here’s an example of the search & results which pulls up my notes from a Native American Literature course I took in undergrad.

This is the creation page for sticky notes.

And what they look like onscreen once saved.

What do you think of it?

I’ve been using OneNote since 2016 and have yet to find fault with it at all. It syncs files quickly and allows me to always have access to my files. I’ve used it for school, for work, for journaling (before my first BuJo), for keeping track of my volunteerism, for planning creative works, and more. It’s extremely flexible as a program, allows its user plenty of space to grow, and has yet to restrict me in anyway. I have a hard time finding anything you can’t do in OneNote that you might want to do.

Who is it for?

Everyone.

I say that very seriously. Anyone can use it and thanks to Microsoft’s hard work on making their software “play well” with accessibility apps, it can be used by those who utilize screen-readers, by those who use voice to text, and more. The fact that you can put audio and video files directly into the notes means it’s excellent for students who record their notes rather than write them, and the fact that it can be put on a multitude of devices means that it can be useful for those lacking fine motor control as well.

I think it would be particularly useful for students who need help organizing. Students can use their phone or tablet to take a photo of in-class handouts to never lose an important note again. It is constantly self-saving and records a history of deleted content for up to a week without dumping its content which makes it excellent for those who often forget to save, or who forget that they might need something later.

I think it would also be helpful for students with emotional or mental health concerns/ disorders because it doubles as a journal, but can be password protected to keep their thoughts and self expression as private as they want or need it to be.

Final Score?

10/10

I really love this app and software! I think it has some amazing utility for being an organizational tool and a way for students to have a note-taking tool with all the function of Microsoft word, but for the low, low price of absolutely free! The fact that it syncs across devices is also great, especially for students who have a device that they have to leave at school and one they have to leave at home. It’s also highly customizable and searchable which means that the student using it can really make their notebooks and sticky notes feel like their own. I don’t have anything negative to say about this app other than it takes a little time to explore all it’s features, but it’s very user friendly and easy to work with right out of the gate!

#microsoft onenote #free apps #assistive technology #organization app #note-taking app #school librarianship

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