#i will never open sony vegas ever again
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Kingdom Hearts 4 Challenge Day 6: A World to Revisit
Atlantica
(So, I swear all of my posts really aren't meant to be about Kairi. Like, I was going to make this cool manip where it looked like Sora was saving Melody from drowning, but my Sony Vegas refused to open for some reason? So I just decided to post these similar images of Melody and Kairi instead. That being said... while I don't need Kairi to be the one to go to a The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea world if we ever got one--I'd be more than okay with it being Sora--that would be cool. I'd love to see mermaid Kairi, since Kairi is named for the sea. And Kairi's name can even mean "melody." And she has a lot in common with Ariel. I even suspect she was somewhat based on Ariel, but anyway.)
The reason I would want Atlantica is honestly just because I would want a pretty underwater world again with the Unreal Engine graphics. And that can be a world that we've never been to before, like, Atlantis: The Lost Empire. But if we don't get a new one, then I would want an old one like Atlantica here. Plus... even though I don't think this movie is the greatest. At all. I feel like it's okay... and depending on how they handle it, the KH writers could potentially make it better, with what they add to it. Also, I feel like if we go to Atlantica one more time--with better swimming controls, and in an attempt that isn't a musical--we could finally redeem the world. And that would be great to see.
And now, for whatever reason, I'm going to list some other worlds I'd be more than okay with returning (even though I think we were only supposed to list one. Shh.)
Wonderland: But only if the world is expanded and it's a "sequel," via it being based on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
Deep Jungle: I know this will surely never happen, since I know Disney has lost the rights to Tarzan. But on the off-chance they ever got the rights back somehow, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing this world back again, perhaps adapting some of the stories from the TV show, like the stuff with Princess La.
Agrabah: I definitely want to go here one more time and to have the "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" story depicted. (I probably would even prefer this even over Atlantica, actually, even though I want that pretty underwater level). This was one of the better Disney sequels, after all. And Sora most definitely deserves to be there for Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding.
Neverland: I wouldn't be opposed to the second Peter Pan movie being adapted.
The Land of Dragons: I'd be all for us having Mulan II, actually.
The Beast's Castle: I've always wanted "Beauty and the Beast and the Enchanted Christmas." I want to fight Forte. LOL. While I doubt it will happen, for obvious reasons, I feel like they could find a way to do it: like Belle writes Sora and the gang a part of her and the Beast's story that they don't know about (the Enchanted Christmas story) and sends it to them as a gift (maybe even for Christmas?), and once Sora opens it, he somehow gets pulled into said story.
Pirates of the Caribbean: I wouldn't mind a "Dead Men Tell No Tales" world.
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride would be awesome.
I would also kill for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
While part of me is loath to mention this one... I feel like no one was completely satisfied with the La Cité des Cloches world in Dream Drop Distance (because of lack of NPCs and that kind of thing). And there is a "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" that Disney made. Absolutely no one likes this movie, and for good reason. But I don't know... I would be willing to tolerate it, just to see this world in the quality it deserves. And maybe Square Enix could somehow make it better... actually, surely not. But like I said: I could tolerate this just to run around Notre Dame in pretty Unreal Engine graphics.
I know that originally with DDD, the plan was Sora to go to all of the original Fantasia locations and for Riku to go to the ones in Fantasia 2000. But then they realized there were enough locations in the first movie for them both to go to, and they didn't need to crank out the sequel after all (or something like that). So I certainly wouldn't mind getting Fantasia 2000 now, in KHIV.
Tangled I'd love to go here again, if we get to see some of the cool plots from the TV show, that I've watched on YouTube. LOL
Arendelle We all know we'll be going here. It isn't even a question. I just hope that this time, Disney gives Square Enix much more freedom (let Elsa and Anna be party members, please). Since Frozen II is kind of hit and miss. Square Enix could really make something cool with it--like they could have with Frozen in KHIII--if they're allowed some creativity.
Wreck-It Ralph Because no one, and I mean no one, wanted us to first experience this world in KHUX, tbh.
Radiant Garden I just really want to finish some of the plot threads there that are still hanging.
Destiny Islands I just really want to be able to go back here and play, dangit! And maybe finally get to explore the main island!
Shibuya Just let us meet Neku, Shiki, Beat, Joshua, and Rhyme in their Shibuya (even if it's an in the credits thing), if Quadratum isn't theirs and we're not going to meet them (or the Wicked Twisters) in the game, otherwise.
#posting this a day early because i probably won't have time tomorrow#kh4challenge#kingdom hearts 4 challenge#kh#kingdom hearts#i also know that everyone always talks about this one nightmare before christmas game being adapted. and if there's enough new story conten#there i wouldn't mind that either#also... the 'sequel stuff' that kilala princess adds to sleeping beauty is so good! and might be the best i've ever seen sleeping beauty#handled since it's own movie#i'd love to see something like that in kh. but i don't know how you'd do it without the kilala stuff#though i'm also not oppsed at all to kilala being included. hmm...#also. though i know nothing about it. maybe more tron based off of it's tv show if that would work. maybe#i also wouldn't say no to more traverse town or end of the world. but i know those are impossible. lol#oh! and lilo and stitch! even though deep space even barely counts as us 'already having been there' because we didn't meet lilo or the#other main characters of the film. or go to hawaii. we were in a prequel#long post
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9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better
Augghh I love these games! thank you for tagging me Mickey 🥺🌸(@thisautistic)
3 Ships You Like :
1. Yohan/Moogyeong from The Shape of Your Love (manhwa by Park Nodeok)
this is my ultimate OTP. i never had OTPs before them. they'll be my rise and fall. but yeah, anyway. they. my boys.
2. Vegas/Pete from KinnPorsche The Series
they had me by the throat even before i knew kpts existed and just, well. then i watched kpts and found them and they were everything i hoped for and more. a lot of it is also because vegas and i are very much alike without the mass murder aspect 😂
3. Alan/Gaipa from Moonlight Chicken
listen, MLC is like, the best thing i've watched in a while and alangaipa gave me what i had been craving since yohan/moogyeong c. 2019 : a small rare/ghost ship with barely any screentime but that hooked people in worldwide. firstkhao's acting was just bonus. alangaipa represent everything that i want from my own life. i couldn't not love them.
First Ship Ever :
Kanata/Miyu from Da!Da!Da!
oh, these two. i was head over heels in love with them. i shipped them even when i didn't know that shipping existed or what it meant, when we didn't even have anime on TV besides the broadcast on SONY at 5pm sometimes. i just wanted them in love and happy and raising a kid together. ugh i miss them.
Last Song You Heard :
The Moon Represents My Heart, by the Moonlight Chicken cast! God do I love this song so much! It fits all the ships so well! The lyrics are gold! (I also recently found that this is a cover of the OG by Teresa Teng and that's even more beautiful??)
(also, this has been helping me visualize and write a lot of sand/ray, surprisingly enough.)
Favorite Childhood Book :
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
ahhh, well, this is embarassing. i didn't have a favourite book until adulthood actually. and it's my only favourite (as in something i've read time and again). i don't think i'll ever find another book like this one. this is it for me. nothing can ever top this. (yes, I'm very picky about my favourites lmao)
Currently Reading :
i found out this fic exists because of twitter discourse lmao, and I'm not even a dramione fan, i'll probably never read another work, but goddamn, the writing was stellar. lived up to all that hype. good stuff. (I'm almost at the end so wish me luck!)
Currently Watching :
Our Dining Table
no offence to those who love this, i loved the manga when i read it years ago, but lord was i bored to death even on the second trial at watching this lol. I'm soldiering on though, i'll get through this!
Currently Consuming :
Thai BLs
uhh... not sure what answer this demands actually, so, uhhh... lots of thai BL i guess? that's really what i've been consuming lately. i had never watched thai BLs before KPTS in 2023 so it's eye opening, they've gotten better ( i tried once before , quite a while back when a friend recommended, and i found it ridiculous so i never thought i'd actually ever watch any again lol, mostly because i never was a fan of live action BL dramas in general)
Currently Craving :
💵💵💵💵
well, i'll be honest here, money is vital and that's what I'm craving lol, i gotta feed myself and my cats and pay a 50k laptop repair bill that my company thrust on me even though it's not my fault it's damaged. anyway, essentially I'm experiencing financial doom among other unfortunate events, so here's your chance to commission a fic or donate at my KOFI so...... haha.
alright, this was super fun! I'm tagging @skyfish7 @semantics-error @justfionn @boyslovecorner @peachym00 @lilitblaukatz @ae-azile
(please feel free to ignore if you're feeling up to it!)
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I almost wanted to k word myself making this, please watch it or i’ll cry
#i'm serious#i will never open sony vegas ever again#multicouples#multicouplesedit#videoedit#videosedit#video editing#video#video*
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Hi! I hope this isn't too much of a bother, but do you have any tutorials tips tricks etc for editing? I want to try my hand at it, but I have no clue where to even begin, and I've only ever edited photos -even that was years and years ago. Any help is super appreciated! Also, if you could send me a message when you have requests open again, it'd be great because I'm likely to miss it and I don't wanna send inopportune requests. You're one of my top 3 favorite editors btw!
First of all, thank you so much for the compliment! It means a lot to me that people enjoy my work as sharing stories and creative content is one of my all time favorite hobbies <3
Second of all, I'm afraid I won't be able to message anyone if I ever "open" requests because I simply wouldn't be able to remember everyone who has ever asked me to do that. I also don't have requests open very often, and I have requests from more than a few years ago still waiting for me... So, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to do that 😅 But I appreciate your considertion so, so much ❤️
Third of all, to answer your actual question. I have always, and will always, suggest any new aspiring editors to learn how their editing programs work before jumping straight into actual editing.
This means figuring out what program you'd prefer
- Sony vegas, premiere cut, etc. are all popular editing programs that are semi-beginner friendly
Adobe After Effects is one of the most common editing programs for any editing community, BUT it's anything but beginner friendly. There is a lot going on, a million effects and possibilities, and that would probably be too overwhelming for someone if they've never done editing before.
When you've figured out what editing program you'd prefer, then it's time to find those tutorials on YouTube, and I really do recommend YouTube for that sort of thing. Reading about editing is much harder than seeing someone doing it. Start by just playing around with your program, get familiar with it and figure out where everything is and just take baby steps first. Jumping straight into advanced editing would just make the process slower.
I've worked with sony vegas for well over a decade, and AAE for about 5 years, so I do have some tutorials about both programs.
This link should direct you to my "Tutorials and WME" playlist, so you can take a look at some of the videos.
But I've actually been planning on doing a sort of "ask me about editing" type of livestream where the participants can ask questions about editing, and if they've seen something they want to learn how to do, I could do my best to show how it's done.
So keep an eye out for when I post a livestream for when I want to do my "editing class" livestream xD
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The Gang Freaks Out Over a Cell Phone
Judai and the others are now in their second year when a quiet freshman comes to duel Judai. While the freshman’s deck wasn’t all too powerful, it was also an improvised 40-card deck hastily made beforehand out of eight packs in the store. But even then, Archangel Zerato gets Judai’s LP down to 1200. Mid-duel, he speaks with a mysterious man on his cell phone, feeling a lack of interest in this duel due to his prediction. Shou and the others realize this is the well-known Star Duelist Ed Phoenix...
And after a bit too long, here’s finalized!53! It’s fun to finally be getting back into Season 2, since, later plot pacing issues and... questionable moments aside, there’s quite a bit to like about it. One such thing being the dynamic between Ed and Saiou that we’re introduced to here (one of my favorites), as the concept of fate/destiny starts to become an ever-present theme. Also, hearing Takehito Koyasu again for a while will be great now that I’ve actually seen JJBA and heard him as DIO. 😂 The animation/artstyle in this episode is also a nice touch-up from what we’ve been used to, and there were some great shots of Judai and Ed there.
So, part of the delay in getting this going since finishing 52 was getting my usual bells and whistles worked on for the translated hardsub; you’ll notice that the OP is fully translated, and not just with the credits--I wanted to do a thing I originally wanted to do way back when my first go-around but lacked the skills for and translate the character names that slide in! If you check out my “subbing-rambling” tag, you can see some of the work-in-progress posts I made showing it off as I worked on it. As part of this, I also prepared textless versions of the OP’s V2 shots of Chronos and Ed, as well as made Shou in his Red jacket textless for use here; I’ll be sharing these new textless openings as I go through the season over on NAC. (It’s really a shame that we never got those versions officially released...) The ED credits were pretty much copy/paste from Season 1, with a change in karaoke coloring, since thankfully that stays the same, and I’ll also be translating the “Best Card” shots at the end of each episode (which for some reason I noticed Crunchyroll doesn’t include, despite them being on the DVDs?), though on a static screen with the card spinning into view since that moving background’s hard to get blank, lol.
But once those were all done, there were some 53-specific edits and fixes to work on! For the hardsub, I translated the article we see about Ed so that we can read what was visible in Japanese (ie, Ed making waves in August just before Season 2 at an event Kaiba Corp. sponsored!), while I also made a few card fixes. Breakdown below the cut, as usual.
(UPDATE [7/9/20]: I reuploaded the episode because I realized I didn’t account for the different cards Shou has in his deck shot in the Opening in 53-56 vs 57-104; Gyroid, Cyclone, and Trap Hole in the former become Submarineroid, Vehicroid Connection Zone, and No Entry in the latter (all used in 56), which is what was used in the textless video I was working with while working on translating his name there. That’s been corrected, and will be accounted for as I share the textless OPs on NAC. I’m nothing if not consistency-minded. 💁🏽♂️)
Enjoy, folks! With 53 finalized, I’ll be giving my 5D’s Dub-Uncut Ep. 26 a quick lookover to see if I have to tweak anything before I work on making the Dark Signer arc episodes’ dubs more bearable, and then I’ll start working on 54. It’s been a bit since Manjoume last dueled, and him dueling his mini-me in Gokaido should be fun, haha.
Fixes/Edits!
For the hardsub, as Chronos pulls out his issue of Monthly Duel!, I translated 月編 on it to “October” in Photoshop and spliced it in; this was an edit I’d already done for 52′s hardsub since it shows up in the preview for 53.
For the hardsub, the page Chronos has Napoleon stare at has been translated! The original text was vertical but I thought it’d make more sense to translate it horizontally for us; as such, I moved the text on the right about the “Exclusive” on the “Young Duelist Prodigy” to be above Ed’s photo, which I moved a bit more to the right to compensate. I also added a little “journalistic” fluff to the translation I’d whipped up to make it fit well both on and off-screen, since I wasn’t going to be filling the whole thing with just “On August 7th, KaibaCorp sponsored a Dueling World League” lol. But definitely made sure to keep the spirit and keep visible those little tidbits like the KaibaCorp nod and the date telling us when Ed started making waves that were visible in the Japanese text. I did that editing in Photoshop for both this shot and the later shot with Shou’s copy of the magazine, but I warped the text in this one a little to match the slight page warp that Ed’s photo had going. After that, I redid the zoom in Sony Vegas. The text is also slightly blurred here since it was like that for the Japanese text.
Later in the episode, after the commercial break, we come back to a pan/zoom-out from Sanctuary in the Sky to Judai’s field, where we see Clay Guardman has his card facing the wrong way compared to where we see it in every other shot after. I made a proxy for it, though it was a bit tough since we never get a good look at its card (thankfully, the card artwork was put up on the YGO site). Though the dubified card confirmed for the Wikia that he has zero ATK and, like with Neo Bubbleman, shared the same Level as Clayman. So, as I made a proxy, I recreated the Japanese effect text mirroring what Neo Bubbleman’s was and mentioning the burn effect as close to the game terms as possible--getting this in the end! Once I did that, I took a frame and placed it in in AfterEffects, masking in Clay Guardman’s feet over it, then took it into Sony Vegas, where I redid the zoom-out as it came into view.
Later on, after Judai explains Tempester’s effect, his face-down card goes away to activate it, but in that shot, Tempester’s not on Judai’s Disk! I made a new Tempester proxy (since here Tempester’s officially using the OCG art/text at the time), then slapped it on in AfterEffects (taking a cue from the dub about where to place it on his Disk). Thankfully, since Judai stood still here, that’s all it took, lol.
After the duel, Shou realizes who Ed was all along! He rummages through his bag and pulls out his copy of Monthly Duel! and opens it up; like with Chronos’s, for the hardsub, I took it into Photoshop and recreated the color scheme to blot out 月編 and put “October” over it for the nine frames it moves in, then I just put each frame into the video in Sony Vegas.
As with earlier, for the hardsub, the article Shou shows everyone about Ed is translated, only with no text warp and slightly different rotation, so a little more of the text is visible on the left and bottom. Recreated the less-rotation/more-zoom zoom-in on Ed’s photo in Sony Vegas.
As Judai thinks that Ed could use some more deck-building skills, Shou’s still holding up the magazine; “October” is there to translate 10月編 again, but because the “Monthly” in that shot of the magazine is inconsistent with its other appearances in the episode (we’ve seen it in black with white bordering, but here it’s just white text, along with the black 10月編 also being in white), I redid that as well in Photoshop so it matched. I’ll be including just the “Monthly” fix in the Japanese DVDRip I’ll release on NAC.
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Survey #134
“i got detention ‘cuz i made a face; nobody believed me that it’s stuck that way.”
If you were to die today would your life be complete? No.
How good is Coca-Cola? It's my second-favorite soda.
Who was the last person you took a picture with?
My niece Aubree <3
Do you have a bad temper?
No.
Do you know anyone who is pregnant right now?
One acquaintance, one old friend off the top of my head.
Have you ever had someone pick you up off the ground and carry you? Mom when I passed out.
If you were in the hospital, do you think any of your exes would come see you? Girt probably would, and he's the only one I wouldn't have a problem with visiting.
If you were kicked out of your house, would the last person you texted take you in? I'm sure they would, but it's more realistic I'd live with my dad.
If you were immortal for a day, what would you do? Skydive.
What fictional place would you most like to go to? Yo can I go to Azeroth.
Who has impressed you most with what they’ve accomplished? UHHHHHH. I'm honestly not quite sure. But Mark is like super high on the list, if not #1. I'm not well-informed on a lot of people's accomplishments lajsfdaowe.
What’s something you like to do the old-fashioned way? Hmmmm. Good question.
What is one thing you really want but can’t afford? Lmao dude I want so many expensive things atm.
What is the most impressive thing you know how to do? I almost snorted reading this question because like do you honestly expect something impressive of me. I... guess I understand Sony Vegas well?
What are some of the turning points in your life? Uhhhh meeting my ex, the divorce, discovering my passion for photography, the breakup, re-uniting with Dad, r e c o v e r y.
What’s your cure for hiccups? NOTHING. NOTHING WORKS.
Don’t you think it’d be cool to see a colossal squid? FUCKING NOPE THEY ARE SPAWNS OF THE NIGHTMARE REALM.
What kind of steak do you prefer? When I ate meat, I liked medium well.
Has anyone ever cheated on their significant other with you? Yes, allow me to (not) tell you about my stupid 12-year-old self.
Are you fascinated by outer space? *cue the Mark "Space is Cool" mix*
Do you answer your phone when it’s a number you don’t recognize? Never.
When washing your hands, do you wet your hands or put soap on first? Put the soap on.
When was the hardest you ever cried? What was the circumstance? The night of the breakup. I had left the house to walk to Jason's, and Mom got in the car and kept driving in front of me to stop me (I was too practically catatonic to run). Eventually gave up, she drove me home, and when she opened the door, it was my goal to run to the kitchen and slit my throat, but the moment I made the action to run, she pretty much tackled me and I sobbed my lungs out for like 30 minutes. Fuck that entire night.
Who were your last 3 Facebook messages from and what do they say? "lol but hey thats the world we live in lol well goodnight honey and i hope to speak to u again" from Leslie, "How quaint O:" from Girt, "Its okay :)" from Amanda.
Who was the last person to comment on your Facebook status? What does the comment say? Sara saying "YEP" when I shared a picture of straight people dating versus lesbians and it was spot-on.
Which do you use the most, smiley faces, kisses or hearts? Faces, probs.
Do you like sweet or salty popcorn? Ohhhh both. But I've gotta side with salty.
Have you ever had to put your hand over someone’s mouth to keep them quiet? Once.
Have you ever fed a wild animal? Yes.
The last time you packed, where were you going? Sara's.
Do you believe in astrology? Definitely not.
Do you have an accent? Not really, but you can pick up a southern tone with some words. Example, my "your" sounds more like "yer," usually.
Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear? No.
Do you sing in the shower? I have been a tad bit lately... I used to never.
Are you satisfied with your current camera? My phone camera is SHIT, and I need a new actual camera. 55-200mm lens is broken, the other one's automatic focus setting is and I'm not great at manual focus.
Have you ever been in a choir? In Catholic church, yes.
Does it bother you to have dirt on the bottom of your bare feet? Y E S
Has anyone ever told you that you have a big butt? I literally have the flattest ass of any female you'll ever meet.
Do you often skip breakfast? Pretty much daily now, yeah. I'm fasting and don't eat until 11, so breakfast's passed.
Last person who drove you somewhere (besides your parents)? Nicole.
Who last grabbed your behind? I'm sure it was Chelsea being her crazy self.
Do you eat raw cookie dough? Yeah dukes up salmonella.
Do you watch Grey’s Anatomy? No.
Would you survive in prison? No. I would find one way or another to kill myself.
Do you drink? Smoke? Do drugs? Why, or why not? Rarely, no, no. I drink usually in celebratory settings to loosen up some and sometimes just because I like the flavor of weak, fruity alcohol. Smoking's gross, drugs are ew.
What was the first cigarette you ever smoked? Never smoked.
Are you scared about the end of the world? If I'mma be in it, hell yeah. But it's not something I actively worry about because I don't think it'll happen in my lifetime.
Do you prefer landmarks or street names when being given directions? Landmarks. I don't know street names for shit.
Do you read the prologues in the beginnings of books? Yes.
Where is one place that you’d never be caught dead in? Never be caught dead in, ever... uhhhh... nothing's coming to mind right now. Oh wait. Probably a strip club.
Apple Jacks: yay or nay? YAY.
Do you have a favorite Scooby-Doo movie? Yeah, but I don't remember which one. ;-; It's that one where the girl says her name is Mary Jane and Shaggy goes, "That's, like, my favorite name." Totally went over my head as a kid lmao.
Have you ever met a guy for coffee? No, I hate coffee anyway.
Who is your pet most attached to in your family? Teddy's most attached to me, I'm the only one who has any physical contact with Venus and she trusts me, Bentley is bonded with Mom, and Mitsu is still apprehensive of anyone.
Does the last person you shared a bed with mean anything to you? The whole world and more.
What do you normally do when you’ve had a really bad day? Cry, have a shit attitude occasionally, a nap is common, talk to Sara, binge my favorite Markiplier videos.
When is the next time you will wear a dress? Hm. Maybe this summer if I'm confident enough in my body by then lmao.
On the main page on YouTube, what’re the three recommended videos? 8-BitGaming beating SCP: Containment Breach, a DanAndPhilGAMES video of Golf With Friends, and then an 8-BitRyan vid of the full release of Raft.
Do you know anyone from Canada? Yeah, my former roommate's ex.
Are thongs sexy? Yeah, but oml I know I couldn't wear one.
Did you grow up in a healthy environment? I wouldn't say "healthy," no. My dad was an alcoholic at the time, parents always fought, and our neighborhood was dangerous.
Heavy rain or heatwave? Heavy rain, easily. Fuck the heat.
You have a choice to shoot your father or die, what would you do? I hate these damn questions, but I'd rather die. My father deserves the longest and happiest life possible without the betrayal of his daughter.
If killing yourself meant saving the world, would you? Yeah. It's a lose-lose situation for me; if I didn't, I'd still die if the world's gonna end.
Who knows your most darkest memory or secret? Jason and Mom should know, and whoever read those specific surveys.
Who was the last person you almost went out with? Meh. Juan. We talked and hung out once in... late 2016 I think and I was pretty confused as to how I felt about him. Meanwhile, he hasn't kept it a secret in the least he's liked me since freshman year. He's always treated me like a gentleman should, but I know the dark and disgusting parts of him. Glad I decided against it.
The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, or The Beatles? Stones.
What does your grandma call you? Just my name.
And what do you call your grandmother? Grammy.
Would you rather have a pool or a hot tub? Pool.
Do you think ‘everything bagels’ are disgusting? No, but I have to be in the mood for one.
Do you find serial killers fascinating? I wouldn't call them as a whole fascinating, but what has to be going on in their brains to create such grotesque desires and creativities.
Do you have high blood pressure? No.
Have you ever pumped gas? No. I'm 22 btw lmao.
Have your parents ever caught you drinking? I mean Mom's seen me with a drink when she didn't know I'd gotten one, but I wouldn't call it "caught" since I'm allowed to and I made no effort to make it secretive.
Do you prefer writing by hand or typing? Typing. Writing makes my carpal tunnel act up quickly, and besides, typing's way faster.
Think of one of the biggest decisions you've had to make in your life. If you made a different choice, how different would your life be now? Panicking and telling Mom when I overdosed. I took way more than what I should've taken of a cold medicine I can't even look at now, but I don't think it would've killed me based on how I felt, but then again, the fluids or whatever I got to purge it could've saved me; however, I feel like I would've killed myself through another method if I didn't tell her. It all led to the psychiatric care I needed.
Have you ever taken a course on CPR? No, but I should.
Do you wear a watch? No, I don't even own one.
When are you at your most energetic? A little after waking up. Just gotta get over the initial drowsiness.
Do you like playing cards? If so, what's your favorite game? I don't really enjoy card games. I liked Magic: The Gathering tho when I was with Jason, but I wasn't that good at it considering it's got like a billion rules. I'd still play with someone who knew how to, though. I loooove the PS3 version that was made for it, it was much easier and I found it relaxing. And I adore the artwork like jfc.
What are your parents’ natural hair colors? What is yours? Extremely dark brown, black, dirty blonde but turned to brown.
How do you react to random strangers suddenly trying to make conversation with you? I get nervous.
Do you like Slim Jims? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS MAMA.
Have you ever been in a castle? The Disney World castle, if that counts?
Would you rather write a mystery or love story? A love story.
Are you afraid of getting shots? No. I don't like them, but.
What do you currently hear? "Pour Some Sugar On Me" cover by Ninja Sex Party.
What’s one text that you saved? Two texts from Sara that I love way too much.
Have you ever cut your own hair? No.
What’s your favorite color combination? Probably orange and black bc Halloween.
Did you share a locker at school? No.
Have you ever sang karaoke? No.
How old were you when you went on your first date? Huh, I dunno. Just the guy and myself? Probably dinner with Jason at 16?
Has anyone besides your family seen you naked? Yeah.
Would you rather have strep throat or an ear infection? Holy fuck, after my last ear infection? Strep.
Where was your first job? GameStop.
Have you ever been to a night club? No.
Do all good things really come to an end? No, not all.
How many people do you trust with your life? Three.
Are you too kind for your own good? Don't think so.
Have you ever held a baby? Yeah.
What's your favorite '90s TV show? The Nanny.
What are you favorite book series? Warriors.
Favorite superheroes? I know he's technically an anti-hero, but does Deadpool still count? If not, uh. Batman I guess.
Would people consider you more immature or mature? Mature, probably.
Would you say most of your friends are older or younger than you? Younger.
If you have a significant other, do you get jealous of people a lot? She knows I was insecure as fuck in the beginning. Now, nope.
Who was your best friend in the fifth grade? Ummm I think Quiata?
Do your parents still help you financially? I don't have a job. So.
Have either of your parents ever been in trouble with the law? Don't think so.
Do you have a preferred brand of bottled water? Essentia. Thanks for not having it, NC.
Are you more prone to overthinking things, or being too impulsive? Hunny I overthink if I have to pee or not if it's not a massive need.
How bad are your worst cramps on a scale of 1-10? Eh, maybe just a seven thanks to the pill.
Have you ever thrown up from cramps? No.
List three people you had a hard time forgiving. JASON, Dad, Mom multiple times.
Who was your first celebrity crush? Jesse McCartney.
If applicable, what form of birth control do you use? The pill. But it's for cramps.
Are you happy with your gender? Yeah.
What gender do you identify as? Female.
What gender were you born as? Female.
Have you ever gotten high off a prescription medication? No.
Have you ever used a tampon? Yeah.
How old were you when your parents talked to you about puberty? I don't think it's something we ever properly "talked" about, but rather indirectly when Mom taught me how to shave and told me when to start wearing a bra.
How many people have you known who were suicidal? Sadly, I think MOST people I know/most friends.
What's your favorite pain reliever? Advil.
Who has the cutest baby/babies you know? My nephew is literally the cutest child I have EVER seen.
Do you have a lot of people blocked on Facebook? Actually yes, but most because Mom instructed me to block them when I was younger. A few are of my own volition.
What color is your razor/shaver? Orange and white.
What's your boyfriend/girlfriend's sisters name? She doesn't have any sisters.
Do you like the sound of violins? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Would you be interested in going on a blind date? Even if I was single, no.
If you formed an unhealthy habit, would it be smoking or drinking? Oh boy, idk. I think an alcohol addiction is more dangerous, but smoking has disgusting consequences.
Have you ever bought a video game expansion pack? No.
Do you wish YouTube had been around when you were a kid? Nah. I wouldn't want the risk of an earlier technology addiction.
Do you remember preschool? Yes.
What color(s) was your backpack in high school? Browns and black. It was a Ouija board design.
What health conditions do you have? Physically, baaad dry scalp, dry af skin in general, inactive MRSA. I've been over my mental ones enough.
Have you ever collected seashells at the beach? Yeah.
Did you ever take dance lessons? Yeah, for many years.
If you took dance lessons, what was your favorite style of dance? Modern.
Have you ever worn a tutu? No.
What was your favorite vacation that you went on as a child? Disney World.
Have you ever had braces? Yeah.
What is your favorite photo editing site? (or what do you use?) I don't use editing sites. I use Photoshop, Lightroom, or PhotoScape.
How many times did you take your driver's test? I haven't yet.
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VICTOR sums up the trends that dominated CES 2018
yahoo
For normal people, the end of the year is a time for celebration, vacation, and family.
For people in the tech industry, though, it’s a time of frantic preparation for the biggest trade show in the Western Hemisphere: CES.
The Consumer Electronics Show takes place in Las Vegas every January, perfectly timed to drain the joy out of the holidays for 170,000 people. It’s not open to the public — only to members of the industry and the media that covers it.
The Consumer Electronics Show comes once a year, whether we like it or not.
The purpose of the show is for nearly 4,000 companies to show off what they’re working on. When will these products reach stores shelves? Some of it soon, some of it next year, and lots of it, never.
Every year, everyone wants to know: What was new at CES? The world is hungry for an exciting answer, like, “Oh, there’s this thing called an iPad!” or “They showed this car called a Tesla!”
But every year, there are fewer new breakout inventions; at CES 2018 last week, I’d say there were zero. (In fact, the most talked-about display at CES last week was when the power went out for two hours. At an electronics show. #irony.)
Instead, CES these days is more about the same buzzword, technologies seep into existing products from across the industry, cross fertilizing. This year, six of these seeping technologies were on display — which, for your convenience, I’ve boiled down to a handy acronym: VICTOR.
It stands for voice, Internet of Things, cars, TVs, oddballs, and robots.
Voice
At this point, you probably know that the Amazon Echo is that cylinder that sits in your house and responds to voice commands, kind of like Siri for the home. Google has its own copycat version, called Google Home. These things are incredibly popular — already, they’re in 16% of American homes.
Both Amazon and Google have been aggressively encouraging other companies to build their voice technologies into their own appliances: refrigerators, light switches, lamps, speakers, robo-vacuums, TVs, headphones, security cameras, door locks, washers, dryers, cars, and so on. “Works with Amazon Alexa!” and “Works with OK Google!” signs were everywhere at CES last week.
You couldn’t swing a cat without hitting an Alexa-enabled product.
What’s great is that this isn’t an either/or thing. It’s not another Betamax/VHS war, or a Blu-ray/HD-DVD war. Since Alexa and “OK Google” are just software, there’s nothing to stop them from coexisting in the same product. The Sonos One speaker, Vivitar smart speaker, and new TiVo models, for example, can all understand commands barked in either command language.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things, of course, is the nonsensical name for home devices that are networkable, so that we can control them by pulling out our phones and opening an app. For something that’s supposed to make our lives simpler and easier, that’s too much hassle. Consumers have been staying away in droves.
What may save the “I” in VICTOR is the “V” in VICTOR — voice control. “Alexa, is the dryer done yet?” “Hey Google, make it two degrees warmer in here.” “Alexa, lock the doors.” “OK Google, I want to watch ‘Rambo.’”
That arrangement actually works — and was everywhere at CES 2018. Samsung and LG, among others, demonstrated entire model living rooms and kitchens filled with appliances waiting for your verbal command.
An LG employee shows how its new fridge has six cameras inside that let you see its contents.
Cars
The self-driving car courses at CES were a third bigger than last year. Every car company you’ve ever heard of, and a few you haven’t, were demonstrating their self-driving prototypes. Lyft was even giving a few lucky showgoers rides around town in self-driving cars.
Sleek-looking concept cars filled the CES exhibit halls.
For 10 years, people have been saying that these cars would hit the roads in 2020 — and guess what? Unlike most heavily hyped new technologies, this horizon isn’t receding. People are still saying 2020. That means it’s probably real.
Lots of people were also talking about Toyota’s e-Palette, a prototype self-driving store.
Toyota envisions its E-Palette as a self-driving store, delivery van, or even hotel room.
TVs
CES show floors have always been dominated by massive walls of brilliant TV screens, and this year was no exception. The industry is still hard at work pushing us to buy 4K TV screens, which have four times the number of pixels as hi-def screens. Only one problem: You can’t see the difference from a normal seating distance.
As it does every year, LG created a dazzling wall of TV screens—this time, in an undulating canyon.
Even if you could see it, there’s very little to watch. Not a single TV network or cable channel broadcasts in 4K. If you own a 4K television, and you want to watch 4K shows and movies, you have two choices: Buy a 4K Blu-ray player and buy new movies on disc — or stream your shows online, from services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube.
In short, 4K is kind of a hoax.
(What you can see — what is worth upgrading to — is a much less catchy format. It’s called HDR, for high dynamic range. Much brighter brights, much darker darks; more detail in those bright and dark places; and more shades in between. More shades of color, too. Really fantastic.)
So the forehead-slapping breakthrough of CES 2018 was — get this — 8K screens. That’s right: four times as many pixels as 4K. If 4K was a stupid hoax, then 8K is four times as stupid. Really? They think we’re going to re-buy all our movies on disc again, to play on another new special disc player?
Samsung displayed a new display technology called MicroLED, which it claims to be as great-looking as OLED but at a lower price and less chance of burn-in. Cooler yet, the company proposes selling these TVs as one-foot, borderless tiles, which you can assemble to make as big a TV as you like. The one on the show floor, at 146 inches diagonal, dubbed “The Wall,” was a huge hit with showgoers.
LG also displayed (in an off-floor, invitation-only hotel area) a huge flat screen TV that rolls up. It’s built like an upside-down window shade; when you need the screen to get smaller, it wraps up around a roller at the bottom, hidden inside a wooden box.
LG’s prototype TV rolls upward or downward into the box below, to fit the video material.
Why? Because, the company says, you may want to watch different movies or shows that have different screen proportions. The real reason, of course, is, “Because we could.”
Oddball things
The “O” in VICTOR is the catch-all for all kinds of other crazy stuff on display. Walk the 50 football fields’ worth of exhibit space, and you’d find:
Two laundry-folding machines. One, the Foldimate, will cost $980 but will require you to attach each piece of clothing to clips; the other, the Laundroid, will go for $16,000 but does everything for you.
A full-body suit for playing virtual-reality games, so that bullets can “hit” you anywhere, or you can walk into a hot or cold virtual place, and you’ll feel it.
An electronic breast pump that you wear secretly inside your bra as you go about your day.
A tiny, battery-free sensor that you wear on your fingernail to detect excessive exposure to UV light.
Another stab at the Google Glass concept. This time, the virtual screen is superimposed on your field of view by a full pair of sunglasses.
Not one, not two, but three self-driving suitcases that follow you through the airport.
The Puppy 1 self-driving suitcase balances on two wheels, using technology adapted from Segway.
Remember my exhaustive (and exhausting) report about the struggles of the through-the-air charging industry? The products that can charge your gadgets at a distance? Well, the FCC just approved some of these products, including the Energous three-foot charging system. The very first product to include it is called the Myant Skiin, a line of clothing that tracks your vital statistics as you wear it.
Robots
No surprise here: Robotics and automation were the stars of the show. Heck, they’re the stars of every show right about now. Everywhere you looked, there were shiny white plastic robo-things with big eyes and smiley mouths to look less threatening. Most of them seemed to be “because we could” designs, rather than “you need one of these.”
Here and there, though, you could spot far more purpose-built robots:
Honda displayed a series of robots designed for specific tasks: an all-terrain model for outdoor work; a self-balancing wheelchair; and a weird, globule-shaped, huggable “empathy robot” with facial expressions projected onto its face from within.
youtube
LG offered three new robots for commercial use: one for restaurants, to deliver food or drinks; one for hotels, to carry luggage up to your room; and one for grocery stores, which guides you to the food shelf you’re looking for, and scans the package as you drop it into its hopper.
LG’s new service robots are designed for restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores.
Sony is re-introducing its Aibo robotic dog, this time in a more advanced, more puppy-like incarnation (probably $1,700 when it hits the U.S.). Sensors make the dog respond appropriately when you pet it or swat it; it learns your voice over time and seeks you out; and, like the original Aibo, it plays fetch with a pink ball.
youtube
Omron built a ping-pong-playing robot — not ever intended to be for sale, but to show off its robot-making skills.
Just to make sure all of Vegas’s bases were covered, the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club featured two pole-dancing stripper robots as a CES gimmick.
Hail to the VICTORs
So, you get it: Same as last year, just more of it.
If all of that seems like a lot to read, well hey — here’s a rhyme to make it go down easier:
V is for the voice control in every gadget here —
“Alexa, do my bidding!”… “OK Google, bring my beer!”
In TVs, cars, and speakers, it’s a miracle of choice.
The world’s at your command — at least if you don’t lose your voice!
I is for the second realm, called Internet of Things,
It’s networked household stuff, complete with all the fun that it brings
It’s thermostats, refrigerators, all your kitchen gear…
So far, nobody’s buying it — but hey, perhaps next year.
C is for self-driving cars! So many at this show!
We’re told they’re really coming soon — about two years to go.
T is for the TV screens on all the expo floors.
They look amazing when they’re here — but less so once they’re yours.
O is for the oddball stuff! The offbeat and bizarre:
This laundry-folding robot, or this crazy concept car.
R is for the robots — Sony’s puppy stole my show.
This grocery bot asks what you want, then shows you where to go.
So there’s your whole mnemonic — VICTOR! Hope you liked the show
And don’t forget the greatest part — you didn’t have to go!
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the Web, he’s davidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s @pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You can sign up to get his stuff by email, here.
Read more:
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Tech that can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions
Pogue’s holiday picks: 8 cool, surprising tech gifts
Google’s Pixel Buds: Wireless earbuds for the extremely tolerant
Study finds you tend to break your old iPhone when a new one comes out
Rejoice: Sonos Speakers are finally voice-controllable
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn
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Aces, Charles Ch 7, All-In
A/N: I have all these stories and head cannons, and sometimes my thoughts don't make it to paper as wilf21's review made me realize. So please, if you have a question, please pm, review, whatever, and I'll try and show you where I talked about it, or in this case, it was in my head and I never really said why I was doing what I was doing. Oh, one other thing, remember this is 2004, no facebook, myspace, or twitter. It takes a minute for the public to find out about things. We still used magazines and newspapers back then…and flip phones…(there was a Sony Ericsson CAR-100 flip phone, I kid you not. Google 2004 a trip down mobile memory lane… I had the Motorola RAZR V3)
I was worried some of you might be a skoosh irritated with me the way that last chapter ended, but everyone seemed to like it. I had my reasons, but you can't go that far, and then pull back now can you? Hence the name of this chapter. Chenny fans you wanted it, you got. Ch 7, All-In
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, I don't own Chenny, but I'm really glad to get to write this chapter.
Jenny was looking in the mirror at the outfit she had on. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it was the four of them going out. Emma had suggested it, and Casey agreed which was curious in itself, but it was four people going out and having a good time. So why was is so important she get this just right? Oh, she knew why, she knew exactly why, her Chuck was why. She thought about this morning and all it had brought with it.
}o{
That morning
She had woken up and wondered what had died in her mouth, that's when she remembered what had happened yesterday. Her head hurt and she stumbled to the bathroom for many reasons, but the main two, to find out where the ice pick had been placed in her head, and to brush her teeth, possibly multiple of times. After she had done all of her business, she left the bathroom and walked back to the bed, she sat on it, and looked at him.
"I don't want to go to Las Vegas either, Chuck," she said softly. "I finally feel like I'm home."
"Then don't," came his sleepy reply. She jerked her head up, not realizing he was awake. He smacked his lips, and opened his eyes, and the though of how adorable he was came rushing through her again. Her head was pounding, but seeing him look at her, was driving that pain away. How she wished she could tell him how special she felt when he looked at her like that. "I'm not going to ask you to leave, and just ignore Casey. He tries to throw me out of my own place once a week."
"It's not fair to you," she said.
"What's not fair?"
"You said you have trouble sleeping knowing I'm right down the hall," she replied.
"I would have even more trouble sleeping if you were a state away," he said, grinning at her. She shook her head. The phone rang, and Chuck reached over to answer it. "Hello. This is he. He left how many messages? How many people did he call moron? I see. Is he on the line? Yes, patch him through. Casey. Yes, I'm here, and she's here to. We just played poker late, that's all. I don't even know what that means, Casey, though it does sound delicious. Oh. OH. No, Casey, you did a fine job of explaining the bird and the bees to me when I was younger." He placed his hand over mouth piece and shook his head at Jenny. "No, he didn't," he mouthed. Jenny stifled a laugh. He took his hand off the mouthpiece. "Well, if you'd quit yammering like a gossip, we'd get ready and leave. Hello? Hello?" Chuck looked at the phone and hung up. "He hung up on me."
"I can't imagine why," Jenny said, getting off the bed, and walking over to him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You being so charming and all."
"There's medicine in that drawer for your headache," Chuck said. She opened the drawer, turned, and kissed his cheek again.
"I swear if you ever turned up your charm all the way, women would have no chance," she said. Chuck laughed.
"Yeah, right. Thanks for being nice," he said, beginning to get out of bed. He stopped as he felt a hand on his chest. He looked up seeing her eyes that were flashing blue.
"No. Chance," she said, and then she bent down and kissed him. Chuck had been hoping to kiss Jenny for a long time. He had ideas in his head of what it would be like. In his mind, there was a 16 bit computerized version of himself, or little Chuck. Little Chuck took those ideas, wadded them up and threw them away. This was an epic event! He swore he heard a choir singing, lights flashing, and people applauding. She pulled away, patted his chest and went back to the bathroom. She paused at the door and looked back. "No chance," she said softly. Chuck could only sit there and nod dumbly.
}o{
They were headed toward Chuck's house after having checked out of the hotel. They had both been fairly quiet since the kiss. Chuck didn't want to talk too much due to Jenny's headache, and Jenny…well, she seemed to be deep in thought.
"What did Casey mean on the phone?" she asked. Chuck looked at her. "You know before you told me he didn't explain the birds and the bees very well." Chuck looked ahead, but his ears seemed to be getting red. "No lies, no secrets," she said. He turned to her, a grin on his face. "It can't be that bad."
"He asked me if I was mixing my chocolate with your peanut butter, or something like that," Chuck said. Jenny nodded.
"If he had waited twenty minutes to call the answer might have been different," she said softly. It took all of Chuck's concentration to keep the car on the road. "No secrets, no lies." Chuck's ears were fire engine red. "I know what our problem is."
"You do?" he squeaked.
"Yep," she said, popping the "p". "I mean besides neither of us really knowing how to do the relationship thing, you being adorably awkward, and me not knowing how to really verbalize things." Chuck sat there scared to say a word, fearing he would ruin the moment. "Our parents are in that house." Chuck laughed out loud.
"Okay, hold on, I mean calling Casey a parent is a bit bold," Chuck began. Jenny looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "If he was your foster parent it would be one thing for me to be worried about him…Oh my God, you're scared of Casey!"
"Not scared, but he can be…gruff," Jenny said, looking away. "Besides, your terrified of my mom."
"Wait a second, that's not even a little fair," he replied. "I don't know her, and she and her daughter are living under my roof and I don't want to give off the kind of vibes that might make it harder one day if I was her son-in-law, plus you two have just gotten-"
"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" Jenny said. "Her WHAT?!" Chuck looked at her, realizing he had let his mouth run on too long. He was going to try and walk it back.
"Who's what?" he asked. Her eyes flashed, and not the way he liked.
"Bartwoski, I swear to God if you don't tell me what you said right this second-"
"IsaidIdidn'twanttoscrewthingsupifIwastobeherson-in-lawoneday," he spit out as quickly as possible. Jenny looked at him, then turned and looked at the road, then back to him, then back to the road, and then back to him again.
"I see," she said. She was quiet for a minute and then turned and looked forward to the road. "This whole no secrets, no lies thing is a bit more than I thought I was getting in to," she said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Jenny," Chuck said. "I won't hold you to it." Jenny turned to him with a smirk.
"Bartowski, I agreed, so I'm all-in, I've just got some interesting information that I need to process, that's all."
"You're not pissed, or upset?" he asked, stunned.
"The greatest guy in the world wants my mom to be his mother-in-law, now all I have to do is find out if he thought I had any sisters…or brothers," Jenny replied, grinning. Chuck laughed and laughed. He reached over and took her hand.
"I thought you were an only child."
"Good answer, Bartowski. Good answer."
}o{
A few hours later found Chuck in his office working, and Jenny and her mom on the porch enjoying the day. Casey came outside and surveyed the scene. He grunted and shook his head.
"You look like hell, Burton," Casey said.
"You are an absolute ray of sunshine, Casey," Jenny said. Casey stared at her and grinned.
"Bartowksi's rubbing off on you, I see," he said with a smirk. There was a double entendre there.
"Not yet," she replied. Casey nearly choked on his coffee. Emma covered her mouth trying to hold in the laugh. He looked at Jenny, and nodded.
"Seems I was wrong about you," Casey said. "I need to tell you about the Moron and his little friend. Maybe next time you won't go on a bender if you know all the facts." Emma looked at Jenny, grinning.
"I wasn't….on a bender," she said, knowing this fight was useless.
"Right," Casey said, with a growing smirk. "Tell me something, Burton. Does Bartowski have as much money as a video game guy should?" Jenny knew exactly what he meant, she also knew by admitting what she knew that Casey would know she had checked Chuck out. She had, not for running a con, as she hoped Casey now knew, but because she was trying to find out about him, since he wouldn't stay out of her mind those long months in Las Vegas when he wasn't around.
"Too much," she said, meeting his gaze. "Way too much." Casey nodded.
"He feels stuck," Casey said looking straight ahead, sipping coffee. "Before he went to Stanford, I would talk all about the NSA, and he used to laugh. He told me he could hack their systems in minutes. He kept on and on, and I finally decided to put him in his place. I called some people, told them about my…the kid's boasts and was ready for some laughs and us to set him up. What I got surprised me. I was told that he was probably right. Long story short, the Kid created their firewall, and is getting paid by the government, very well, I might add. He used that money to start his and Morgan's video game company, but his heart, it's not in it. The contract ends on his computer protections soon, and he wants to make it available to the public for next to nothing, or even free. He wants to do so many other things than be bogged down by a video game company. He enjoys it, he just wants challenges and to help people."
"He's a good guy, he learned from those that care about him," she said, looking Casey directly in the eye. She had caught his near slip. "I won't hurt him, Casey, I promise."
"You damn well better not," Casey said.
"If we get married, can I call you dad?" she asked. Casey growled, shook his head, and stormed off.
"Why must you upset him so?" Emma asked, laughing.
"Because he wants to act all gruff, and he loves Chuck so much it's not even funny," Jenny said. Emma patted her leg.
"I don't think he's the only one," she said, watching her daughter turn red. They talked for a while, and Jenny told her mom everything. She laughed about their realization of how awkward things were with their parents in the house. That's when Emma suggested they all go out to dinner together. Which led Jenny to her current predicament of what to wear. She went with a purple dress and nervously walked down the hall to the living room. They were taking her Porsche tonight, she need to drive and release the nervous energy. Chuck came out of his room buttoning the last of his dark blue shirt having never looked up.
"Jenny are you…" he trailed off, seeing her. She grinned, knowing from the look on his face he was gobsmacked. She put a mental checkmark down to wear this more often.
"Am I what, Chuck?" she asked.
"Are you for real," he mumbled out, and then shook his head seeing the confused look on his face. "I mean you are smart, so smart, like people don't get how smart you are, and the personality you have, the wit, the jokes, oh man the jokes, the inner beauty you have, like trying to help your dad when he doesn't deserve it, and all the little things you do to take care of people, I mean that makes you one of the most beautiful, sexiest women in the world, but then…then, you are just so incredible…see, that smile, the one with your eyes, those eyes that look into someone's soul…I'm serious, are you for real or has my mind finally snapped and you are a figment of my imagination." Jenny crossed the space between them, grabbed his shirt with one hand, the back of his head with the other, and kissed him until they ran out of oxygen. When she pulled away she gave him a smirk.
"Any more questions?"
"Nope, I think my brain melted," he said. She patted him on the chest and smoothed his shirt.
"We should go," she said. "They said they'd meet us there." She took his hand and led him to her car.
}o{
"Emma can't make it?" Chuck asked, grinning. Jenny was shaking her head with her own grin looking at her phone.
"Nope, I assume something's come up with Casey as well?" Jenny asked. Chuck nodded having snapped his phone shut. "So in the vein of no secrets, no lies, this was my mom's idea of letting us get to know the parents better."
"Then why bail?" Chuck said. "I mean they got us alone, I get it, but we've been alone before." Jenny studied him, and grinned. She took a drink of her water (there was no way she was drinking alcohol tonight, she couldn't take another headache, and she didn't want it to be an excuse…just in case).
"Maybe they're saying we have their permission," she said with a smirk. Chuck burst out laughing. "What?"
"We've entered the land of the absurd, that's what," Chuck said. "There's pictures out there of us as a couple, we've danced all around this," he said, motioning between us. "And now our 'parents', are trying to set us up." Jenny grinned.
"You know, I've been thinking about us like that," Jenny began.
"Really?" Chuck asked. Jenny gave him a look, he held up his hands and look properly chastised.
"Someone did a real number on you, didn't they?" Chuck nodded. "Broke up with you, slept with someone?"
"Slept with my roommate at college," Chuck said, Jenny winced.
"That's low," she replied. "Tell me something, Chuck, is that why Morgan treated me the way he did?" He nodded. "Good." He looked at her, confused. "You need to have a friend that backs you no matter what."
"Well, that, and he thinks your Yoko Ono," Chuck said. Jenny laughed.
"I can handle it," Jenny said. Chuck looked at her, and she reached over and took his hand. "You've helped my family so much, you've helped me, and all you want is for me to be happy."
"Are you happy yet?" Chuck asked, grinning.
"Two things would make me happy," Jenny said.
"Well, tell me and I'll see what I can do," Chuck said.
"First, I need to find my father, and I know you're working on it, so that makes me very happy, and I have an idea, but it kind of ties into number two but I'm afraid you'll take it the wrong way," Jenny said.
"Okay, take a breath, that was close to a spiral, and that's kinda my thing," Chuck said.
"Oh," Jenny said. "Do I need to compensate you for it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning. Chuck gulped. "Do I need to apologize for using it?" Chuck shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"You know what, I think I'm going to have you added on to the paperwork to use it anytime you want."
"Chuck, you are so giving," she said, seriously.
"That's me, Chuck Bartowski, the guy who gives until it hurts." Jenny nodded, taking his other hand.
"That's the other thing I want Chuck," she said. "I want to make you stop hurting. I want to make you happy. I don't know terms and labels, but I want to be with you. I want a life with you, and I don't care if you run a video game company or play on the poker tour or start a non-profit to help whoever, I just want to be a part of your world."
"You are a part of my world," Chuck said.
"Chuck, I'm greedy, I want to be your world," Jenny said as honestly as she knew how. Chuck sat back, a little stunned. "I don't know how to do the girlfriend thing, the spouse thing, because I never saw all of that, all I know is, when you're not around I want you around. I want you around so much it hurts, and I get what I came from, but you say you don't care, so I think it's time you put up or shut up. What's it gonna be, Bartowski, you got the guts to try this thing?"
"Did you just propose to me?" Chuck asked. Jenny burst out laughing. She wadded up a napkin and threw it at him.
"I spent hours talking myself into doing this, calm myself so I can get out the words, pour my heart out, and you've got jokes?" she asked, but the smile on her face told him she wasn't mad.
"Jenny, that's part of the package," he said, his smile lighting up his whole face, including his eyes that were twinkling.
"Enough with the subtle hints, Buster, in or out?"
"All-in," he said, squeezing her hand. Jenny nodded, a happy smirk on her face.
"About time," she muttered.
"Aw, hell, Burton," Chuck said, doing his best Casey impersonation. "You know that nerd was putty in your hands." Jenny laughed so hard she thought they'd get thrown out of the restaurant. "Okay, now that we've taken care of that serious moment, what idea did you have that might help us find Jack?"
"Welllll," she began. "I don't feel this way, I need to put this out there first," she said. Chuck nodded. "These pictures of us…he might see them, and check out who you are…" Chuck grinned.
"So you're saying, he thinks his daughter would only be with a guy like me, a millionaire, because she's conning him?" he said, his eyes far away, grinning, realizing the easiest way to find Jack was to just be themselves in public…that's why he missed it…the look.
"Charles Irving Bartowski," she practically growled. She swore an "epp" came from his direction but she could care less at that moment. "The reason I am with you, is because you are the kindest, most generous, loving, compassionate, amazing man I know, and if you don't stop down grading yourself, I'm going to have no problem kicking the guy I'm falling in love with ass." Chuck stared at her, a little frightened, but a slow smile growing on his face.
"What did you just say?" he asked. Jenny rewound the words in her head and she began to blush. Part of her wanted to run, but a part, the big part, was determined to sit right there and deal with this.
"I believe I said I'm going to have no problem kicking the guy I'm falling in love with ass."
"Well, that's problematic," he said. Her eyes narrowed, and she saw him fighting a grin.
"What is," she nearly growled again. The smile had overtaken his face.
"I'm pretty sure that sentence is grammatically incorrect." She reached over, took his napkin, wadded it up, and threw it right in his face. He never moved, and just kept smiling. "I believe it is more correct to say I have no problem kicking the ass of the guy I'm falling in love with."
"I hate you," she said, laughing.
"I hate you, too," he replied.
}o{
He had offered to take her dancing, but she said she really didn't want to be around a crowd of people, so he told her he had an idea. He drove her to the beach. She left her shoes in the car and they walked hand in hand until they found the perfect spot. He sat up a blanket and they sat on it, her in front of him, his arms wrapped around her. How long they stayed neither knew. Neither one had said a word since arriving, they just held each other, until finally Jenny broke the silence.
"Let's go home."
She drove them home, and they entered the house. It was silent, Chuck wasn't sure where Emma or Casey was and frankly he wasn't about to go look. In the middle of the living room she kissed him, smiled and headed down the bedroom hallway. He heard a door close softly, no idea what bedroom she went into. It didn't matter. He and Jenny they were together and that's all that mattered. The rest of it…they'd figure it out. He grinned, and started toward his room. He paused just in front of his door, and slowly opened it. He stood there a minute.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Shut up, come in, close the door, and kiss me," she said. He did.
A/N: (Sits back, cracks knuckles) I made it seven chapters. That's got to be some sort of record. Okay kids, crazy work this week, Grace with 9 million things to do, so I don't know when I'll get the next one out, and next week is just as bad. Plus I need to update Truffaut soon, or Grace will yell…a lot… Take care. See you soon.
DC
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Andrew Jay Cohen: 'The House' Director on Crafting R-Rated Comedies and Lighting Jeremy Renner on Fire
New Post has been published on http://styleveryday.com/2017/06/29/andrew-jay-cohen-the-house-director-on-crafting-r-rated-comedies-and-lighting-jeremy-renner-on-fire/
Andrew Jay Cohen: 'The House' Director on Crafting R-Rated Comedies and Lighting Jeremy Renner on Fire
Andrew Jay Cohen tells THR of learning from Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, and comments on Sony’s sanitized movie initiative.
Andrew Jay Cohen loves gambling. He bets on the L.A. Clippers and the New York Jets, and he hits the craps tables whenever he’s in Las Vegas. While penning The House with co-writer Brendan O’Brien, he backed his older brother in the World Series of Poker. “I tried to cheer for him, but his table was so far away and it was so boring that I left, and then he told me he lost,” he recalls. “It was awful. I just felt this emptiness and was like, ‘I’m never going to do that again.’ But then he won the next year and I didn’t back him.”
Instead, Cohen bet on himself. He makes his feature directorial with The House, which stars Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell as a married couple who open an illegal casino in a suburban home to pay their daughter’s college tuition. Jason Mantzoukas, Nick Kroll and, yes, Jeremy Renner are among those featured in the Village Roadshow and Warner Bros./New Line ensemble comedy, out Friday. Cohen — who co-wrote Neighbors and Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates — tells The Hollywood Reporter about learning from the likes of Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, hearing about Sony’s sanitized movie initiative and trying to make R-rated comedies that resonate.
What did you learn about running a set from your previous directors?
Judd Apatow, Nick Stoller, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Adam McKay, I’ve watched them direct the shit out of movies. I also worked for Adrian Lyne on Unfaithful and that dude is an intense visionary. All of the directors I’ve worked with run a set like it’s a place to hang out and feel safe when you’re having fun and trying crazy things. Judd said he modeled it off of Garry Shandling, who considered his set [to be] a place where magical things can happen. Amy and Will obviously helped create that camaraderie — people not only wanted to watch them perform, but also hang out with them. There’s so much that’s improvised. Ideas came from everywhere. I like yelling stuff out, I don’t like cutting.
What’s the hardest part about directing that you didn’t expect?
You need to have an opinion and have to answer people right away, right in front of them. You can’t say, “I’ll get right back to you,” go to your secret room upstairs where you have the funny ideas and play your videogames. There are actors who need direction, who were wondering what you meant when you wrote this. So adopting the, answer confidently at first and, if it’s wrong, quietly adjusting it. It was terrifying but also freeing because you just don’t have time to worry about stuff that’s not important.
What was the toughest scene to shoot?
Definitely the finger-chopping scene. I deliberately wanted it to feel severe, as if a normal person were put into a “gangster movie” situation. But when we were shooting it, it felt like a horror movie — just how much blood was coming out. Fight night was also more violent than I had planned, which was a fun surprise. It’s funnier that they actually have a rivalry, and become friends after strapping on the gloves in front of your entire town for money.
Why cast Jeremy Renner?
I love throwing people like Renner into a comedy. Having that dark, violent energy seemed to really work, and the comedians bounced off that intensity. Even Renner’s preparation on set is scary to a comedian: “Oh no! He’s a serious actor! That’s terrifying! He’s gonna beat us all at acting!” He was really a great sport about getting lit on fire.
R-rated comedies like Rough Night and Baywatch didn’t make strong debuts at the box office. What do you think is the key to a strong R-rated comedy?
I think the ones that last aren’t just about jokes; you need to have a dramatic underpinning where you don’t know how it ends. I try not to put too many jokes into a first draft because it almost distracts from if you’re telling the right story. This isn’t to disparage any of the movies that haven’t done well — I actually haven’t seen either of them, I would love to see them— but I think the ones that last have an extra emotional layer of something that has to do with interpersonal relationships or society.
Also, from what I’ve seen, it’s normal people under extraordinary circumstances doing extraordinary things. I like movies where people take the wrong route towards the noble goals. To me, high ideals plus low behavior equals funny.
Apatow and Rogen are among those who spoke out against Sony’s home entertainment promotion offering sanitized versions of movies to the public? What’s your opinion?
Just write “Eight-second bleep.” I don’t think it’s appropriate. It’s sort of like, “Here’s the Mona Lisa, but I know you don’t like eyebrows so here’s the Mona Lisa without eyebrows.” It just feels arbitrary. Whoever’s doing it I just picture them wearing a director hat and saying, “Take this curse out!”
What are you working on next?
I love suburban crime revenge comedies — a very specific genre that I’ve been able to find a niche in — so I’m working on another one, and co-writing other things. Then I’ve got a TV pilot that I’m writing and directing that I can’t tell you too much about. It’s cable — I don’t think I would work on a network that wouldn’t let me be raunchy, you can’t ever shake away who you are — but I’m still trying to push my boundaries.
What advice would you give to those entering the industry?
At the end of Unfaithful, the executives asked to look at a script of mine, and I had nothing! Never again will I be unprepared.
What lessons do you hope to bring to your next project?
Honestly, get out of the way. It’s a hard one, especially with improv. It’s that give and take about being clear with what you’re going for and still being extremely open to other directions.
Also, don’t open a casino in your house. But, go to a casino at somebody else’s house.
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CREATIONS TAG GAME
I was tagged by @griffinskane - thanks, babe! ♥ Tagging @ofhouseadama, @fire-of-the-sun, @clumsycapitolunicorn, @purplelephantsarewrong, and @marcuskaen
First Edit? Oh man. Twelve (??!) years ago, the Phantom of the Opera fandom introduced me to both Photoshop and crackships - and surprise, surprise, one of those was middle-aged - (x) But my first edit for Kabby fandom was this painful (again, you’re all stunned, I know) little photoset, done before I knew how to gif - (x)
Favourite Edit? As far as gifsets go, this one - (x) - is a lightning strike of technical satisfaction that I don’t suspect I will ever obtain again. But this Future AU graphic will always be rooted deep in my heart; both for story and the editing involved. I’m very proud - (x)
Edit with most notes? The one that, yaknow, was casually mentioned on @metastation during the interview with Sachin Sahel (still have not recovered???) - (x)
Edit you spent the most time on? The X Files Kabby AU I did for the Halloween exchange - those manips kept me up many a night, but I was so in love with the idea and wanted it to be just right, and I’m still in love with the product - (x)
What styles inspire your edits? The more cinematic, the better; but also I have an addiction to sepia/low-saturation that I have absolutely no desire to free myself from.
How do you make your edits? I wait for a lyric/line of poetry to catch me, then I spend a day brainstorming what scenes would invoke which words the best, then I open Sony Vegas and Photoshop and..... cry for about five hours.
Edit that got more notes than you expected? Listen. Tumblr is hilarious. Most times I’ll go through the above agonizing process and earn myself a decent amount of notes, but there are other times when I’ll make a dumb post that even I know is dumb and it will take me maybe twenty minutes and BOOM - 253 notes. On one hell of a lame-ass joke.(x)
Edit that got less notes than expected? I will never not be slightly bitter at the fact that the Widower Marcus AU mix only has 27 notes. The mix itself is one of my proudest achievements in storytelling, and it more than served its purpose as a gift, but it took weeks of painstaking work, and damn that’s an elegant cover, amiright? (x)
Any edits you wish you hadn’t made? I’m not big on regrets, but I’d be happy not to have my legacy be this Lion King AU - (x)
Finally, how long have you been making edits? Apparently 12 years?? Good lord.
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MM fandom reminds me of MS fandom
Hahaha
MS used to be really popular
like 10-12 years ago +
until big bang patch , there were huge changes .
in the year 2007 ~ 2010 ;
i was quite new to MS at that point of time.
i was really a newbie, noobie and naive .
in the year 2007 ~ 2008 ,
it was when i first discovered ‘bannedstory’ a free program for maple sprites. (kind of like mmd. free program but drawn models lolz) .
so i played around with the program ;
my first YT channel , where i uploaded almost everything i did with bannedstory and some other program i forgot . I used to be really desperate for subscribers too. not anymore. IDGAF ABOUT THE NUMBERS ANYMORE LOLZ. itz just numbers.
i watched other users’ ms videos , i also discovered a paid program ‘ sony vegas‘ but since i couldnt afford it ( i was really young and naive ) //i’m still am// ^^;; //illegal//
i played around with sony vegas, AND HOLY SHIT. sony vegas is such a COOL PROGRAM WITH ALL THE AMAZING EFFECTS & TRANSITIONS ! but it is a paid program . the full version is really expensive .
in 2008 ~ 2009
(dont rmb exactly when since it’s long ago) , i received many negative remarks , comments , criticisms . i was so affected by it that i deleted everything + my first youtube channel . i think it was my very first ? i upload almost everything i did with ms bannedstory there. i deleted that channel. i forgot the reason why i deleted it , since it is so long ago . but i dont think i regret it. a little part of me regretted it, cause i couldn’t see what my younger version of me did. :x
i also deleted everything on my second channel until it is left with 2-3 videos.
im sorry for being such a noobie. sorry for being such a useless burden
yes idk why do i exist in this world .
im such a trash . im useless . im a burden. i creep everyone out . nobody likes me . That happened like , 9-10 years ago , but i still remember those memories.
i guess im not meant to know people . im not meant to have friends . im meant to be alone . i dont deserve to know people . i dont deserve to have friends . im destined to be a loner4lyfe :’)
sorry that i was born this way .
even school made me thought this way …
2011 ~ 2014 ;
itz a traumatic experience for me . ; new ;
i meet new people , experience something new . i guess i was also going through a stage of puberty .
towards the end of 2011
My classmate abandoned me , she said she hate me . I began to overthink .why does she hate me ? am i a bad person ? did i do something wrong ? is it because of how i treat others ? how i treat my … friend ? i was mean ? i was being rude ? im useless ? im a burden ? how weird i am ? … She was the first person who made the first move to talked to me in school . i guess i kind of like her , as a friend . she meant a lot to me . She is the first person who tried to be my friend during my school days , while the rest do not give a fuck and gave me ‘ i do not like you ‘ face , even their body language says it . i got kind of attached and used to her presence , because i’m not used to making the first move to talk to people , being around with people , hanging out with people in school . i’m kind of a loner . im kind of anti-social & sort of … shy . i have different personalities. i act differently in different situations.
; 2012 ;
When she said she hated me last year , she abandoned me . She started hanging out with my other classmate . And everytime she saw me or when im close to her , she always make an excuse for me to stay away from her , and then gave me a blackface or that ‘ i do not like you ‘ look . hahaha
I guess there is a first for everything . I do not know how it feels having someone who did all these for me . itz a new experience for me . i feel lost ;; i do not know what this feeling was …
i started playing an online game ‘ auditionsea ‘ in late 2010 , but got more focused & addicted in mid 2011 .
I tried releasing my stress and emotional pain by playing auditionsea, because i do not know what i am feeling . I feel empty , hollow inside . i do not know what this feeling is. i feel … lost .It did not really work but it did pass the time .
i also overthink a lot . i kept thinking and thinking . i overthink so much that it fucked me up . i became more messed up . i tried acting not myself because acting myself will make me think more , and more emotional . im kind of a emotional person , to prevent me feeling even worse . i tried acting like a different person online… but it did not work and backfired . it still messes me up .i am so damn lost . i tried to become a different person irl , it is the same result .it backfired , did not work , making me even worse . i guess being true to yourself is the best ? … “ be yourself “ . everyone is different and unique . but i tried doing all that because of overthinking . i overthink , i think a lot . F m l .
In this year 2012 , maplesea released a new class , ‘ phantom ‘ . I saw his cinematic trailer and animation . holy shit . He is such a cool class, and he steal skills ! I stopped playing MS temporarily because that game gets boring after awhile when you completed what you want to do . I have to admit, Phantom made me install back MS and i got addicted to ms again . I really like MS storyline and lore . His individual storyline is kind of good , itz like watching an anime but you have to play the game to read the story lolz . The art is quite good , I LIKED IT !! but i took fucking 3-4 years to reach level 200, cause i stopped playing temporarily at LV 150-170 + . i do not know where to train , lost motivation and my damage is really NOOB . PLUS I AM POOR AS FUCK and NOOB AS FUCK . After phantom class , they began to release more and more class and i kind of neglected the old class which i haven’t get to 200 yet. lolz.
I guess I am meant to be alone , i do not deserve to have friends . i sorry for being such a weird person okay . i am sorry for being born this way . idk why do i exist in this world , idk why am i born with this personality . idk why am i so useless . idk why am i such a burden . why am i so useless …i’m really useless. i am meant to be a loner i guess .
i guess that is why i became more anti-social .
In mid 2012 - late 2012
In one of my school classes , i saw my friend crying . My other classmate saw it too , and he asked her why . She said her friend // my other classmate abandon her. She left her for another friend. I feel kind of bad. i thought i could finally feel good about it , seeing that she is finally feeling what i am feeling. But i just feel… bad. I am meant to be alone , so that means im used to being alone … I’m used to feeling lonely, but i am not used to feeling empty, hollow inside. Hahaha. fml it feels like a part of me has been ripped out and it hurts so fucking bad .
; In 2013 ;
In the beginning of the year , january , my school class has new sitting arrangement for everyone . I was chosen/paired with the same classmate . Idk, she acted like nothing has happened , like she had forgotten the hatred she has for me , and started talking to me again . Friends again ? i was confused . but it was only temporary . i guess all good things do come to an end .
; 2014 ;
everything’s gone once again . i became alone once again ~ i came to a conclusion that i am meant to be alone , nobody likes me , i creep everyone out . my classmate became really close to my other friend classmate . They both are close before , but closer this year … Hahaha . i felt like i’m a replacement . spare tyre .
; 2015 ;
I changed to a new phone on 12 January 2015 . That means my contacts are gone . I had to restart everything . Games , dl apps from playstore , new accounts , and other stuffz .
; 2016 ;
… i don’t know …. i feel so messed up !! LOST ;; LIFE GOES ON . NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS , LIFE GOES ON ANYWAYZ .HAHAHA FML . I had my very first IA / intern experience . :’) it was a challenging and new experience for me for 2 months lolz . That was also the period of time where i tried out MM ^^;; . i was curious so i tried out . Never knew i will love this game so much lolz . FUCK MY LIFE LOLZ. i intend to tried the game out for awhile , like play the beginning intro , then uninstall . MM made me confused , especially the convo with unknown where he send the address to the player lolz . i intend to uninstall after i played the introduction / prologue , but ZEN made me think otherwise . ZEN is really welcoming and SWEET OMFG ~ he reminds me of phantom from MS . Because of him , i decide to play the game longer , and i got even more confused but i still play CUZ OF ZEN !! FML AND THE LONGER I PLAY , THE MORE I UNDERSTAND AND THE MORE I RELATE TO THE CHARACTERS AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS GAME OMG LOLZ FML . I don’t even know how , itz just sort of naturally happened !!! FUCK ZEN :’( LOLZ JK.
i guess i fell into a deep wishing well , unable to escape. a.k.a mm hell .
…..
hahaha .
i became more afraid . my fear increased . i developed a fear of talking/interacting with people . i am afraid of making friends. im afraid of making bad impressions . im afraid of opening up to people . im afraid of knowing people . im afraid the same shit will happen and i will go through it again
its not that i do not want to learn new things .
(who doesn’t want to learn new things? it means you get to experience it and that means knowing more things. you’ll be more knowledgeable about the things you enjoy i guess)
itz not that i do not want to learn . itz not that im being stubborn (i kinda am) . im just afraid
afraid of making mistakes
i feel so useless . i feel so stupid . why do i exist in this world
maybe one day , when i am walking down the streets , some psychopath will stab me or a car will knock me down LOLZ . i doubt anyone will miss me . not my family . what friends ? what is friends . what is a human being ? my family will be so glad to see me dead if that ever gonna happen . im such a burden anyways . im useless .
mean people exists because to balance the good and bad in life .
but why do i feel that more mean people exist than genuinely nice people ?
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2019 The OSG Fantasy Report Week 2
OSG REPORT WEEK 2
Week 1 is in the books, and we still have some unanswered questions around the league. We will call
week 1 a loss. So 0-1 is the record. Not enough Lamar Jackson in week 1. Sometimes your research
process can begin one way and filter the other as the week progresses. More information becomes
available, one or two articles gets read, one or two shows gets heard, and can sway you left or right. No
matter what, do what research you’re going to do, follow Vegas, and then make sound decisions
trusting your own gut to hand build or use optimizers for lineup construction. Regardless here goes.
This article will change somewhat from week to week. Some weeks in the NFL warrant full game break
downs of a lot of different games. Some weeks, we need to focus on just a few, and some weeks are
somewhere in between. One place to begin is Vegas. Two games up top on the main slate (12Noon and
3PM central start times) have totals over 50.
Chiefs -8.5 at Raiders (53.5)
Saints at Rams -3 (53)
The rest spread out evenly from 47.5 to 40.5
The Patriots and Dolphins total continues to rise, more so in favor of New England.
The highest implied totals are New England 33. Chiefs 31. Ravens 29.8 and Rams at 28.
These totals help to see who Vegas expects to put up points, possessions, chances, which equals fantasy
points.
Chiefs -8.5 at Raiders (53.5)
Patrick Mahomes despite the “tough” matchup vs The Jags showed that The Chiefs are still matchup
proof to a large extent. He continued to deliver with Tyreek Hill out of the game. Therefore it is no
reason to jump off the train this week. For success you MUST have pieces from this game. Most
research is still being based on last years and previous years performances. With that said, nobody in
the NFL has a better TE matchup than Travis Kelce. Beginning and ending lineups with Mahomes and
Kelce is a slam dunk, and Kelce will be the premium pay up spot at TE. With Hill out, yards and
receptions become open, and I’m going back to Meco Hardman here. He’s minimally priced across the
industry and was on the field majority of plays after Hill’s exit. With a full week of practice, he and
Sammie Watkins should be in line for a full workload with Kelce here. Outside of full game stacks, I’m
staying away mostly (which could backfire) from Damien Williams/LeSean McCoy. They split the work,
though Williams saw targets out of the backfield He will need to repeat that plus get in the endzone.
The running back on the other side has all of my interest. In addition to Kelce (and Zeke) Josh Jacobs will
be in the core of my roster construction. He and the Raiders saw no price increase which usually
happens to the Monday night teams. Jacobs, Tyrell Williams, and notably TE Darren Waller had good
performances, and now get good matchups in a pace up game for them. I do have interest in Derek
Carr, just research his game logs vs KC. He has had success here. Carr (or Mahomes) paired up with
Waller or Williams, Jacobs, and Kelce, gives access to all TDs in one way or other to this high game total.
Saints at Rams-3 (53).
The Saints are road dogs after barely getting by Houston (yet not covering spread) vs The Rams in a
rematch from last years’ controversial NFC Title game. This game should have a playoff atmosphere
with both teams wanting the win. While Brees is traditionally not the same on the road, this team
hasn’t been the same over the last year and a half. More points scored on the road, more running game
involvement. So do not be too fast to fade Brees. I keep taking Zeke (site dependent) over Kamara on
Fanduel, but Kamara is cheaper on Draftkings. I’ll take Zeke’s TDs on fanduel and Kamara’s pass work on
DK. Though they both are excellent plays. The only issue with Kamara here is the Rams had been
decent vs RBs (not evident by C-Mac in Week 1). Even those out of the backfield. He did have a
productive game in the NFC title game, but stats point to the passing game being the better play. No
WR in the NFL has a higher floor right now than Michael Thomas. He’s not the over the top burner, but
each time they need a catch on 2 nd or 3 rd down, its Brees to Thomas. 9-12 targets are a lock, and Brees is
one of the most accurate passers there is. Period. Jared Cook has a little TD value here, but I’m looking
for Thomas first, Kamara, then Brees. In game stacks any WR is game here. On the other side, it’s Goff
and any WR. Goff’s end of season playoff, Super Bowl, Week 1 this year stats are not the best. Has the
NFL caught up to he and McVay, or is it they have to change a bit with not as much Gurley putting in
work? I said last week it was a chance to buy low on Gurley and he had a “decent” line, no TDs.
However, Gurley played 70 percent of the snaps, and nearly had 100 yards. It’s just he lost the 2 TDs to
Brown. So again, it’s a chance to buy low. It’s a revenge game for Brandin Cooks who like The Texans
WR’s showed is the big play over the top guy. This week I favor he and Cooper Kupp over Woods as
Kupp seems to be Goff’s favorite red zone target. But all 3 are equally priced around the industry.
New England -18.5 at Dolphins (47.5)
This line keeps going and some places have it at 19.5. It should be 20. Yes, the Dolphins usually play
New England close, even pulling off the upset in Miami last season. This isn’t the same Dolphins team
by far. If Lamar Jackson (no disrespect) can light them up as he did, what will Tom “don’t take my feet
off the gas” Brady and co. do? Add in Antonio Brown to Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon and you can
mix and match any of these guys. My favorite in a large spread is the running back Sony Michel. His
stats were not the most impressive last week, but I can see a bounce back here. Deep in the red zone,
should produce TD equity from him and he and James White are similarly priced, so I see Michel being
the guy here for me. Brady, Michel, Patriots defense are my favorites. I will have stacks with the WR
core as well. Josh Gordon is always one play away from a big play, but Michel is in my core of RBs with
Elliott, Kamara, and Jacobs.
Chargers -2.5 at Lions (47.5)
It is very interesting to see The Chargers as a road favorite here. Since they are, the players must get
some attention as pivots off of the more popular plays of the Chiefs, Rams, Saints, and Pats.
Traditionally this is not the best sport for Austin Ekler. The Lions is not a defense you want to pick on.
Kyler Murray is no Phillip Rivers, and Murray was popular last week, but he didn’t do much until the 4 th
quarter and overtime. However, Hunter Henry has been ruled out and this just opens up so much
volume alone for Keenan Allen and Ekler. For what it’s worth, Virgil Green is bottom price on all sites
and should be the #1 TE on the depth chart. If they are favored and this game remains close and gets to
the 47.5 total or more, it has to go thru Rivers/Allen/Ekler. They together or mixed in with Watkins,
Kelce, Mahomes, or cheap Raiders, and Rams. My week started off liking Allen more, but a little love for
Ekler is growing as the work just has to bet there for him. There can be a case made for rookie tight end
T.J. Hockenson on the Lions side of the ball as he had a great week 1 with 6 rec for 131 yards and 1TD off
of 9 targets. The Chargers have always defended the TE position well and will be hard for me to get off
of Kelce and Waller.
Cardinals at -13.5 Ravens (46)
It’s a high total here though Vegas expects more scoring to be on the Baltimore side and I tend to agree.
I do think the line is a little high, but I do like Baltimore to roll by 8-9. Once again, Kyler Murray will be
popular, but in his second career game at Baltimore? This organization has always hung its hat on
defense. Yes, Jimmy Smith is out at corner in Baltimore, but I tend to love the defense here for INT’s
and sacks if Kingsbury is determined to let the rookie throw 40-50 times. I would run back Baltimore
stacks with David Johnson, who was involved in the passing game in week 1, before Murray. Yes, play
Lamar Jackson. Yes, play Marquise Brown despite only playing 14 (very productive) snaps. Yes, consider
Michael Crabtree here as well. My favorite is still Mark Ingram and the Baltimore defense. At home,
check. Favorite, check. Opportunity for turnovers and short fields. Check. Again, though hard to get
away from Kelce and Waller, keep Mark Andrews at TE in the player pool as well.
Seahawks at -4 Steelers (46.5)
Teams that get embarrassed on national TV tend to bounce back in a major way, and this presents a
great opportunity for Pittsburgh. Andy Dalton’s first ever 400 yard came on the road against this “not
anymore” Legion of Boom secondary. Big Ben to Smith-Schuster could pay off in stacks, and perhaps
James Conner and Vance McDonald as well. Moncrief had 4 drops off of 10 targets and ended with an
ugly 3 rec 7 yards line. Pittsburgh has always been a straightforward offense. On the other side of the
game, my only play here is Chris Carson, but little interest. Wilson and Lockett will get hype, but I have
failed many of times trying to pair Wilson with targets, and now the team is determined to run more.
Pass.
Cowboys -5.5 at Redskins (46.5)
It’s never fun to favor road teams in divisional games but it’s hard to avoid Ezekiel Elliott. He and
Kamara are 1 and 1A, both on the road. The matchup is there, the history of his performance vs
Washington is there, and I do expect his workload to increase, and a great chance to buy low. I usually
avoid division games, but they want to come out 2-0 out of the gate and would have come out with two
division wins out of the gate. The passing game for good reason is being noticed after last weeks
performance. If pairing Dak, consider with Zeek and the defense, or a pass catcher such as Cooper, or
Gallup, but the low owned red sneaky red zone target could be Randall Cobb. I have zero interest in
Keenum and the offense here, and actually like the Dallas defense.
49ers at -1.5 Bengals (45.5)
I have very little interest here as I take a wait and see approach on the 49er’s backfield. In some lineups
to pivot off of Kelce, we can look to George Kittle. He had two TDs called back from Jimmy G, and they
could still be paired together here. I have an issue playing players from “bad” teams, and the two TDs
being called back happens on “bad” teams. It was a great spot vs Tampa (see Greg Olsen’s Thursday
night line. His only failure was no TDs impart to his QB), and this is just an OK spot for Kittle here. Value
has opened up in the backfield with the injury to Tevin Coleman, but I have little interest in Breida or
Mostert. If that beats me, so be it. I also think Cincy’s performance was matchup based, but Tyler Boyd
and John Ross should see all of the targets with no AJ Green. If for some reason, Joe Mixon is ruled out
GIO BERNARD IS ALMOST A MUST PLAY. He has always stepped up for solid value in those situations.
Colts at -3.5 Titans (44)
Here’s a game where we can save some time. I have interest in both RBs in Derrick Henry and Marlon
Mack and have interest in both defenses. I have very little interest in either passing games. Delanie
Walker finds himself in an excellent spot, but again, very little interest in the passing games.
Bills at Giants Pick Em (44)
Buffalo opened as 2-point favorites and it’s down to a pick em game. Vegas expects the game to be
tight, so despite the low total, there may be some value here. I’m still not sure about Devin Singletary at
RB in Buffalo, but Josh Allen can be played “naked” with his rushing upside as opposed to forcing the
stack here with plays such as John Brown. If you play either side, Saquon Barkley should be run back.
With Kamara, Zeek, Eckler, Jacobs, etc garnering so much attention that Barkley may fly under the radar.
The Bills are tight on TEs, but Sterling Shepard has been ruled OUT and Cody Latimer is very
questionable and will be a game-time decision. Evan Engram saw 14 targets and had 11 rec 116 yards
and 1TD. That’s WR type stats. I love the Bills defense here to get some sacks and an INT off Eli but
keep Barkley and Engram in the player pool in tournaments.
Jags at -9 Texans (43.5)
Here’s a line I think is interesting. I think the TD plus line reflects the unknown of the Gardner Minshew
at QB for Jacksonville. Forget the score the Chiefs hung up here, it’s the Chiefs. Minshew came in with
poise and went 22-25 275 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT. Not bad for game 1 for a rookie tossed in the fire after
Foles went out. That’s a better line than Kyler Murray who has been prepped as the starter since Day 1.
Yes, he was a 6 th round draft pick but so was Tom Brady. He played a 4 WR set in college and finished in
the top 10 in Heisman voting. He’s no stranger to throwing the football. Westbrook gets a very
favorable matchup, and he and DJ Chark provide excellent value at WR when trying to pay up for RBs
and other WRs such as Michael Thomas. Can the Texans do to this respectable defense what the Chiefs
did? I’m inclined to say no, but Deandre Hopkins is as matchup proof as possible. I like other WRs than
he, but I will have Watson/Hopkins and maybe Fuller stacks. I’ll be a bit overweight yet going back and
forth with Tyrell Williams and DeDe Westbrook. Don’t go overboard here, but definitely value to be
had.
I glossed over both the Bears/Broncos game, and the Vikings/Packers game. I have 0 interest in any
offensive weapon at Mile High Stadium, but both defenses deserve strong consideration, but keep in
mind that the Bears are a -2.5 favorite vs their old defensive coordinator. Who wins, the offensive coach
in Chicago with a subpar QB, or the defensive coordinator who practiced with them week in week out.
The Vikings/Packers game is a stay away for me, being a divisional game. Minnesota wants to run only
throwing the ball 10 times last week (unsustainable), while Adams can’t get over 80 yards vs this
defense. Green Bay’s backfield is in a time share, and there is so much better offensive spots across the
board this week.
QB’s
Mahomes
Carr (see Minshew and Foles combined stats last week)
Minshew vs Watson
Jackson & Brees in not the best matchups on paper
Brady
Goff (can he bounce back)
Prescott Rivers
Allen
Dalton if you think Week 1 wasn’t a fluke
Jimmy G
RBs
Kamara Elliott
Ingram Ekeler
Mack D. Johnson
Michel Jacobs
Bernard if Mixon is out
Gurley/Malcolm Brown if stacking Saints/Rams Game
WRs
Hopkins
Thomas
Smith-Schuster
New England WR core
Rams WR Core
Cowboys WR core
Allen (huge target market share)
Watkins & Hardman
Westbrook/DJ Chark
Tyrell Williams
TEs
Kelce
Kittle
Waller
Engram
Andrews
Walker
Defense
Bears vs Denver
Bills
Ravens
Vikings/Packers
Patriots
Titans/Colts
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Two-Division Champ Badou Jack Battles Undefeated Top Contender Marcus Browne for WBA Interim 175-Pound Title On Pac vs. Broner SHOWTIME PPV®
Two-Division Champion Badou Jack Battles Undefeated Top Contender Marcus Browne for WBA Interim 175-Pound Title On
Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner SHOWTIME PPV®
Presented by Premier Boxing Champions Saturday, January 19
From the MGM Grand Garden Arena In Las Vegas
Plus! Former World Champion Rau’shee Warren Meets Unbeaten Nordine Oubaali for Vacant WBC Bantamweight Title &
Unbeaten Featherweight Jhack Tepora Takes on
Former World Champion Hugo Ruiz
LAS VEGAS (December 17, 2018) – Two-division world champion Badou Jack will battle unbeaten top-rated contender Marcus Browne for the WBA Interim Light Heavyweight Title Saturday, January 19 on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner SHOWTIME PPV® event from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The pay-per-view undercard will also see former world champion Rau’shee Warren taking on France’s Nordine Oubaali
for the vacant WBC Bantamweight World Championship in a rematch of
their 2012 Olympic matchup that was edged by Oubaali. In the opening
bout of the four-fight PPV telecast, unbeaten Jhack Tepora will take on former world champion Hugo Ruiz in a 12-round featherweight clash.
In the main event, Senator Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, boxing's only
eight-division world champion, will end his two-year hiatus from a U.S.
boxing ring when he returns to Las Vegas to defend his World Boxing
Association Welterweight World Title against former four-division world
champion and must-see attraction Adrien "The Problem" Broner.
Tickets for the event, which is promoted by MP Promotions, Mayweather
Promotions and TGB Promotions in association with About Billions
Promotions, are on sale now and start at $100, not including applicable
service charges, and can be purchased online through AXS.com, charge by
phone at 866-740-7711 or in person at any MGM Resorts International box
office.
“Not only will the fans witness a tremendous main event, they will get
to enjoy three action-packed match-ups that will add another level to
the pay-per-view portion of the card,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of
Mayweather Promotions. “Both Jhack Tepora and Hugo Ruiz are looking to
make a name for themselves in the stacked featherweight division, while
Rau’shee Warren and Nordine Oubaali are in the prime of their careers
and battling for the WBC title. Mayweather Promotions’ Badou Jack has
made an exemplary statement for his career inside and outside of the
ring and is focused on further strengthening his resume, while Marcus
Browne is looking to showcase his talent on boxing’s biggest stage.”
Jack (22-1-3, 13 KOs) has fought twice at light heavyweight since
relinquishing his super middleweight world title to campaign at 175
pounds. The 35-year-old, who was born in Stockholm, Sweden, represented
his father’s Gambia in the 2008 Olympics and now lives in Las Vegas.
Jack won the super middleweight world title with a majority decision
against Anthony Dirrell in 2015 and successfully defended the title
three times before he relinquished the belt following a hard-fought
majority draw against James DeGale in one 2017’s best fights. In his
first bout at 175 pounds, Jack stopped Nathan Cleverly to pick up the
WBA light heavyweight title before fighting to a majority draw against
Adonis Stevenson in his last fight on May 19.
“I’m looking forward to getting back onto another big stage to perform
for my fans across the globe and prove I am one of the best fighters in
the world," said Jack. "I plan to show off my skills with a dominating
performance on January 19. I always want to fight the best, and he’s the
best that’s available right now. I’m always 100 percent ready and I’m
going into this fight stronger, faster and with more experience than
ever before.”
The 28-year-old Browne (22-0, 16 KOs) will be taking a step up to face
an elite opponent when he battles Jack. A member of the 2012 U.S.
Olympic boxing team, Browne moved up the contender ladder in the
175-pound division with brute force and power, scoring three straight
knockout victories against Thomas Williams, Jr., Sean Monaghan and
Francy Ntetu. Browne, who was born and raised in Staten Island, N.Y.,
scored a unanimous decision victory over Lenin Castillo in his last
fight on August 4.
“This is really an honor and a privilege to have an opportunity to
showcase my talents on a big time pay-per-view card featuring Manny
Pacquiao and Adrien Broner,’’ Browne said. “Badou Jack is a
championship-caliber fighter and one of the toughest guys you can fight
in the light heavyweight division. I’m ready for the step up in
competition and focused on being a household name in the sport sooner
rather than later.’’
Warren (16-2, 4 KOs) is looking to return to the world championship
ranks with a victory over Oubaali. The 31-year-old became the first
three-time Olympic boxer from the U.S. when he qualified for consecutive
Olympic teams in 2004, 2008 and 2012. His Olympic run came to an end
against Oubaali when he lost a narrow 19-18 decision in the first round
of the 2012 London Games. A southpaw from Cincinnati, Ohio, Warren won
the WBA Bantamweight World Championship with a majority decision over
Juan Carlos Payano in 2016 and lost the title the next year to Zhanat
Zhakiyanov by split-decision.
“This fight means everything for me and it’s about to be the biggest
moment of my career,’’ Warren said. “Not only am I fighting for the WBC
belt, but it’s on pay-per-view. When I first won the title it was like
winning the gold medal at the Olympics. After I lost the title, it made
me much hungrier and I want to get it back even more. I fought this guy
in the Olympics, so I’m fighting for revenge. This isn’t the Olympics.
This is 12 rounds and I don’t think he’s fought anybody like me. I have
no choice but to put it all on the line on January 19.’’
The 32-year-old Oubaali (14-0, 11 KOs), an unbeaten southpaw from Lens,
Pas-de-Calais, France, has knocked out his last five opponents. His most
recent KO of Luis Melendez on April 17 moved Oubaali up the ranks to
position him for a world title shot. Oubaali, who is the sixth of 18
children born in France to parents who are from Morocco, twice
represented France at the Olympics, qualifying in 2008 and 2012 when he
defeated Warren.
“Many people are waiting for this fight because it’s the second time we
meet,’’ said Oubaali. “I beat Rau’shee Warren at the 2012 London Games
in a great battle. In the meantime, Rau’shee captured a world
championship and lost it. Right now, I’m the WBC No. 1 ranked
bantamweight fighter in the world. It will be a great fight in Las Vegas
on January 19 and I intend to beat Rau’shee again to become the new WBC
world champion.’’
The 25-year-old Tepora (22-0, 17 KOs) has steadily risen up the ranks
since turning pro in 2012 and most recently captured the WBA interim
featherweight crown with a ninth-round stoppage of Edivaldo Ortega in
July. Representing Cebu City, Philippines, Tepora enters his U.S. debut
on January 19 with stoppage wins in 11 of his last 12 contests.
“It has always been a dream to fight in the United States,” said Tepora.
“I never dreamed that my first fight in the U.S. would be on a card
with Senator Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner. I look forward to a
tremendous fight on January 19 and defending my title versus former
world champion Hugo Ruiz. As you all know the best rivalry in boxing is
Filipino vs. Mexican. It’s going to be a great fight.’’
Fighting out of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, Ruiz (38-4, 33 KOs) will
make his featherweight debut on January 19 after picking up two
victories in 2018. The 30-year-old won a super bantamweight world title
with a first round stoppage of Julio Ceja in 2016, avenging his previous
loss to Ceja in one of 2015’s most exciting fights. He now seeks to
position himself for a world title at 126 pounds with a victory against
Tepora.
“I expect it to be a good fight because Tepora is undefeated and a good
Filipino champion,’’ said Ruiz. “But I’m ready. I don’t think he can
handle my power. I’m going to knock him out. I want to do my best to win
the title. I’ve been watching videos of him and I’ve been training
hard. I’m really focused on how to beat him. I’m still young, but I’ve
got the experience to handle him in this fight.’’
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS
Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network's authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. SHOWTIME
is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco
providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon, Google and Samsung. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation® Vue and Amazon Channels. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™, and offers Smithsonian Earth™ through
SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment
events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through
SHOWTIME PPV®. For more information, go to www.SHO.comAbout Premier Boxing Champions
The Premier Boxing Champions series was created and is produced by
Haymon Sports, LLC. It features the most accomplished and decorated
array of international professional boxing talent across the most
popular weight divisions.
About MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and
premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable
seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and
state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date
have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and
Mike Tyson as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez as well as
Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquaio; and concerts by The Rolling Stones,
Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler,
George Strait, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars,
Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium
Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also has been home to annual events
including the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music
Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival, Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Championship
and Frozen Fury NHL pre-season games hosted by the Los Angeles Kings.
Read the full article
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VICTOR sums up the trends that dominated CES 2018
For normal people, the end of the year is a time for celebration, vacation, and family.
For people in the tech industry, though, it’s a time of frantic preparation for the biggest trade show in the Western Hemisphere: CES.
The Consumer Electronics Show takes place in Las Vegas every January, perfectly timed to drain the joy out of the holidays for 170,000 people. It’s not open to the public — only to members of the industry and the media that covers it.
The Consumer Electronics Show comes once a year, whether we like it or not.
The purpose of the show is for nearly 4,000 companies to show off what they’re working on. When will these products reach stores shelves? Some of it soon, some of it next year, and lots of it, never.
Every year, everyone wants to know: What was new at CES? The world is hungry for an exciting answer, like, “Oh, there’s this thing called an iPad!” or “They showed this car called a Tesla!”
But every year, there are fewer new breakout inventions; at CES 2018 last week, I’d say there were zero. (In fact, the most talked-about display at CES last week was when the power went out for two hours. At an electronics show. #irony.)
Instead, CES these days is more about the same buzzword, technologies seep into existing products from across the industry, cross fertilizing. This year, six of these seeping technologies were on display — which, for your convenience, I’ve boiled down to a handy acronym: VICTOR.
It stands for voice, Internet of Things, cars, TVs, oddballs, and robots.
Voice
At this point, you probably know that the Amazon Echo is that cylinder that sits in your house and responds to voice commands, kind of like Siri for the home. Google has its own copycat version, called Google Home. These things are incredibly popular — already, they’re in 16% of American homes.
Both Amazon and Google have been aggressively encouraging other companies to build their voice technologies into their own appliances: refrigerators, light switches, lamps, speakers, robo-vacuums, TVs, headphones, security cameras, door locks, washers, dryers, cars, and so on. “Works with Amazon Alexa!” and “Works with OK Google!” signs were everywhere at CES last week.
You couldn’t swing a cat without hitting an Alexa-enabled product.
What’s great is that this isn’t an either/or thing. It’s not another Betamax/VHS war, or a Blu-ray/HD-DVD war. Since Alexa and “OK Google” are just software, there’s nothing to stop them from coexisting in the same product. The Sonos One speaker, Vivitar smart speaker, and new TiVo models, for example, can all understand commands barked in either command language.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things, of course, is the nonsensical name for home devices that are networkable, so that we can control them by pulling out our phones and opening an app. For something that’s supposed to make our lives simpler and easier, that’s too much hassle. Consumers have been staying away in droves.
What may save the “I” in VICTOR is the “V” in VICTOR — voice control. “Alexa, is the dryer done yet?” “Hey Google, make it two degrees warmer in here.” “Alexa, lock the doors.” “OK Google, I want to watch ‘Rambo.’”
That arrangement actually works — and was everywhere at CES 2018. Samsung and LG, among others, demonstrated entire model living rooms and kitchens filled with appliances waiting for your verbal command.
An LG employee shows how its new fridge has six cameras inside that let you see its contents.
Cars
The self-driving car courses at CES were a third bigger than last year. Every car company you’ve ever heard of, and a few you haven’t, were demonstrating their self-driving prototypes. Lyft was even giving a few lucky showgoers rides around town in self-driving cars.
Sleek-looking concept cars filled the CES exhibit halls.
For 10 years, people have been saying that these cars would hit the roads in 2020 — and guess what? Unlike most heavily hyped new technologies, this horizon isn’t receding. People are still saying 2020. That means it’s probably real.
Lots of people were also talking about Toyota’s e-Palette, a prototype self-driving store.
Toyota envisions its E-Palette as a self-driving store, delivery van, or even hotel room.
TVs
CES show floors have always been dominated by massive walls of brilliant TV screens, and this year was no exception. The industry is still hard at work pushing us to buy 4K TV screens, which have four times the number of pixels as hi-def screens. Only one problem: You can’t see the difference from a normal seating distance.
As it does every year, LG created a dazzling wall of TV screens—this time, in an undulating canyon.
Even if you could see it, there’s very little to watch. Not a single TV network or cable channel broadcasts in 4K. If you own a 4K television, and you want to watch 4K shows and movies, you have two choices: Buy a 4K Blu-ray player and buy new movies on disc — or stream your shows online, from services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube.
In short, 4K is kind of a hoax.
(What you can see — what is worth upgrading to — is a much less catchy format. It’s called HDR, for high dynamic range. Much brighter brights, much darker darks; more detail in those bright and dark places; and more shades in between. More shades of color, too. Really fantastic.)
So the forehead-slapping breakthrough of CES 2018 was — get this — 8K screens. That’s right: four times as many pixels as 4K. If 4K was a stupid hoax, then 8K is four times as stupid. Really? They think we’re going to re-buy all our movies on disc again, to play on another new special disc player?
Samsung displayed a new display technology called MicroLED, which it claims to be as great-looking as OLED but at a lower price and less chance of burn-in. Cooler yet, the company proposes selling these TVs as one-foot, borderless tiles, which you can assemble to make as big a TV as you like. The one on the show floor, at 146 inches diagonal, dubbed “The Wall,” was a huge hit with showgoers.
LG also displayed (in an off-floor, invitation-only hotel area) a huge flat screen TV that rolls up. It’s built like an upside-down window shade; when you need the screen to get smaller, it wraps up around a roller at the bottom, hidden inside a wooden box.
LG’s prototype TV rolls upward or downward into the box below, to fit the video material.
Why? Because, the company says, you may want to watch different movies or shows that have different screen proportions. The real reason, of course, is, “Because we could.”
Oddball things
The “O” in VICTOR is the catch-all for all kinds of other crazy stuff on display. Walk the 50 football fields’ worth of exhibit space, and you’d find:
Two laundry-folding machines. One, the Foldimate, will cost $980 but will require you to attach each piece of clothing to clips; the other, the Laundroid, will go for $16,000 but does everything for you.
A full-body suit for playing virtual-reality games, so that bullets can “hit” you anywhere, or you can walk into a hot or cold virtual place, and you’ll feel it.
An electronic breast pump that you wear secretly inside your bra as you go about your day.
A tiny, battery-free sensor that you wear on your fingernail to detect excessive exposure to UV light.
Another stab at the Google Glass concept. This time, the virtual screen is superimposed on your field of view by a full pair of sunglasses.
Not one, not two, but three self-driving suitcases that follow you through the airport.
The Puppy 1 self-driving suitcase balances on two wheels, using technology adapted from Segway.
Remember my exhaustive (and exhausting) report about the struggles of the through-the-air charging industry? The products that can charge your gadgets at a distance? Well, the FCC just approved some of these products, including the Energous three-foot charging system. The very first product to include it is called the Myant Skiin, a line of clothing that tracks your vital statistics as you wear it.
Robots
No surprise here: Robotics and automation were the stars of the show. Heck, they’re the stars of every show right about now. Everywhere you looked, there were shiny white plastic robo-things with big eyes and smiley mouths to look less threatening. Most of them seemed to be “because we could” designs, rather than “you need one of these.”
Here and there, though, you could spot far more purpose-built robots:
Honda displayed a series of robots designed for specific tasks: an all-terrain model for outdoor work; a self-balancing wheelchair; and a weird, globule-shaped, huggable “empathy robot” with facial expressions projected onto its face from within.
LG offered three new robots for commercial use: one for restaurants, to deliver food or drinks; one for hotels, to carry luggage up to your room; and one for grocery stores, which guides you to the food shelf you’re looking for, and scans the package as you drop it into its hopper.
LG’s new service robots are designed for restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores.
Sony is re-introducing its Aibo robotic dog, this time in a more advanced, more puppy-like incarnation (probably $1,700 when it hits the U.S.). Sensors make the dog respond appropriately when you pet it or swat it; it learns your voice over time and seeks you out; and, like the original Aibo, it plays fetch with a pink ball.
Omron built a ping-pong-playing robot — not ever intended to be for sale, but to show off its robot-making skills.
Just to make sure all of Vegas’s bases were covered, the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club featured two pole-dancing stripper robots as a CES gimmick.
Hail to the VICTORs
So, you get it: Same as last year, just more of it.
If all of that seems like a lot to read, well hey — here’s a rhyme to make it go down easier:
V is for the voice control in every gadget here —
“Alexa, do my bidding!”… “OK Google, bring my beer!”
In TVs, cars, and speakers, it’s a miracle of choice.
The world’s at your command — at least if you don’t lose your voice!
I is for the second realm, called Internet of Things,
It’s networked household stuff, complete with all the fun that it brings
It’s thermostats, refrigerators, all your kitchen gear…
So far, nobody’s buying it — but hey, perhaps next year.
C is for self-driving cars! So many at this show!
We’re told they’re really coming soon — about two years to go.
T is for the TV screens on all the expo floors.
They look amazing when they’re here — but less so once they’re yours.
O is for the oddball stuff! The offbeat and bizarre:
This laundry-folding robot, or this crazy concept car.
R is for the robots — Sony’s puppy stole my show.
This grocery bot asks what you want, then shows you where to go.
So there’s your whole mnemonic — VICTOR! Hope you liked the show
And don’t forget the greatest part — you didn’t have to go!
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the Web, he’s davidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s @pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You can sign up to get his stuff by email, here.
Read more:
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Rejoice: Sonos Speakers are finally voice-controllable
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2016: A little older, not much wiser.
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Guys. I’m literally posting my 2016 reflection in November of 2017.
I’m posting what I have. Ignoring what I don’t remember.
It is what it is. This is my life.
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2016.
What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before?
Digital Marketing. Performance Advertising. Saw Radiohead at Outside Lands (not necessarily by choice, and I still do not recognize a single song by them. #sorryJH But I did it.). Cambodia. Experienced Angkor Wat, one of the most incredible experiences in the world. Found - and got! - a dream apartment. Hang. Fucking. Over.
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
To be quite honest with you - I cannot for the life of me remember if I made resolutions or not. 1) I’m not really a *resolution* kind of gal, 2) I can’t find documentation of it anywhere and if it’s not written down, it didn’t happen, 3) I have a pretty terrible memory. I blame it on alcohol most of the time, but I have a creeping feeling it may be more than that. Age, I see you. Looking forward to 2017, I wrote a little sumthin’ sumthin’ up. Here.
Did anyone close to you give birth?
I believe the Song clan had a new baby boy join our ranks! S/o to Zayden, the 2nd(?) boy of our entire generation. Boys: 2, Girls: 1MM.
Did anyone close to you die?
No. Thank you for this, 2016.
What countries did you visit?
Korea! Cambodia! x x x
What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
Purpose. Fulfilling everyday choices. Focus on health.
What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Summer 2016, Cambodia.
Wine nights in Korea.
A getaway trip down to Monterey Bay and the most incredible Hearst Castle. We chased and captured what we could of the sun, we held hands and assigned each other rooms at Hearst, we became obsessed with the varieties of jelly fish, and we forego-ed a nice meal to have our own personal (large) pizzas at Papa John’s. A perfect little trip.
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Successfully changing professions into something that continues to challenge me every single minute of the day. It drowns me sometimes, but I’m growing to be great at something, and I love it. Anything that gives me direction and purpose, is what I need in life.
What was your biggest failure?
Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major... But I think this is the appropriate time to talk about November 1, 2016, otherwise known as from this day forth: D-Day. Doomsday. The world brought unto me my first fucking hang over day. I SWEAR TO GOD THE NIGHT BEFORE STARTED - AND ENDED - LIKE ANY OTHER. It was Halloween. Yuri needed to fulfill her K-Pop cravings, so Chris & I, like the good friends we are, agreed to go with her. We donned our costumes - Chris a Snapchat (hoe) dog, Yuri a cat (was she a cat? I can’t even remember), and myself a Pumpkin (because I keep things sexy) - and headed to good ole’ Origin. We drank, we danced, we drank some more because there’s no way in hell I can be sober in a room of k-pop people, we ended up in front of Safeway begging the people cleaning up for some fried chicken, convinced JHart to get out of bed at 2:30 in the morning to come pick us up because drunk Nicolette likes JH better than any Uber driver in the world (sober Nicolette can be convinced otherwise), we got home, I drank water, took a B-12, I even washed my face, brushed my teeth, and changed, and that was it!
.........Cue a few hours later.
I wake up, head is pounding, I’m definitely drunk, and I realize... I’m nauseous. I’m hella nauseous and no amount of water is making that go away. I chug back a cup, try to go back to sleep, but the pounding... The goddamn pounding. I get out of bed about an hour later because I know *this is it* and go hug my best friend, mr. toilet. I end up throwing up all the water I drank an hour before, I’m nauseous, no longer drunk, head is still pounding, crawl to the couch, and tell myself, “Nicolette, if you watch The Good Wife, you won’t be sick anymore.”
I tried. 1 episode, 2 saltines, 3 bites of a banana, lots and lots of telling JH I want to die and convincing myself that this is how the world will end, I end up back in bed, and fall asleep.
CUE 30 MINUTES LATER! I WAKE UP! AND YO, I’M GOOD!!!!! According to JH, while this was my *First Hangover*, 1) if I was able to even watch TV through the pain, it wasn’t a *real hangover* and 2) it ended in roughly 2 hours, so wait for the *real thing*.
I don’t know how you people do it. How can you drink knowing that this is what awaits in the morning. S/o (and shame) to all my friends who have hangovers every. single. time. you drink, but you let us convince you to come out anyway. Damn.
SO DID I SUFFER AN ILLNESS? MAYBE NOT. BUT THIS WAS A GODDAMN INJURY, OK. INJURY TO THE SOUL. NOTHING IS THE SAME ANYMORE. I pace myself now.
What was the best thing you bought?
Probably my 12mm lens and Sony a6000.
Whose behavior merited celebration?
JH’s. I’ll never forget our big “fight”. We had argued the night before about something silly, and I came to work and joked about it in front of our colleagues. That’s my way of completely getting over something - being able to talk about it and joke about it (if I’m mad, I’m not talking to you. Call me Russia cause I’m Cold War over here.), but that really frustrated JH. He had told me a while before that he was uncomfortable with airing our laundry in front of work people, and if I was going to do it, to do it without him present. I obviously forgot.
He was upset, and it was clear that it has upset him. I started bugging him about it as we were walking out of work - ‘why are you mad, tell me why you’re mad, what’s frustrating you, talk to me’ pretty much being incessant and the usual amount of annoying that I pour on him. He stopped me, told me why, and kept going. I then started profusely apologizing because I actually had remembered he asked me not to do that and I really didn’t want him to be angry about this. You see, I had gotten out of a relationship a few years ago where every little thing pissed my partner off and in retrospect, I spent a good year or so simply apologizing out of frustration. It’s a bad habit I picked up, and I was afraid that JH would be upset with me.
We got into the car. In the middle of my painful apologies, he suddenly stops me and says “I’m not mad.”
Me, unable to comprehend this idea: What?
JH: I’m not mad at you, it’s okay, stop apologizing.
Me: What do you mean you’re not mad? How do you get unmad so quickly?
JH: I sat here, thought about it, and decided it wasn’t worth being mad about. It’s not that big of a deal, and I don’t like being upset with you.
You see. This is what being in a healthy relationship is about. It’s about not sweating the small things, being open about what bothers you, having a conversation about it, and forgiveness. I really respected him then. And that’s why I continue to respect him now, more than ever.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Donald Trump. 47% of Americans. Anyone who chooses to support him for whatever the reason is - his “policy”, business plans, whatever it is - it is not okay with me because what you are doing is putting your privilege, your ability to only think money, in front of other peoples’ liberties and basic human rights. That will never be okay with me.
Where did most of your money go?
Plane tickets. I can’t remember why or what I did in 2016, but I vividly remember spending a lot of money on plane tickets to visit one place or another. Vegas being one of them. Or 5 of them. I can’t remember how many trips I made last year. #noregrets. (the ticket part, not so much the vegas part).
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
NEW JOB. CAMBODIA. 언니 & 오빠들 IN KOREA. PATTY’S WEDDING - THE FIRST OF US HIGH SCHOOL KIDS. APPLE WATCH.
What song will always remind you of 2016?
Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or Sadder? Happier? Less stressed. I was very stressed about where I wanted my career to go this time last year.
Thinner or Fatter? Thinner. Surprising, huh? I’m proud of this, so I will say the last time I checked, I was 12 pounds lighter than earlier this year. I am afraid to check now, because I might only be 6 pounds, but hell. That’s still something.
Richer or Poorer? Richer. In terms of numbers, but I feel poorer. I really need to stop buying clothes.
What do you wish you’d done more of?
Longer vacation in Korea.
What do you wish you’d done less of?
How did you spend Christmas?
2016? Easy. Waking up early in the morning, running to my parents room, rolling around on the couch for a few minutes until we decide we cannot go another minute without hot chocolate. Race downstairs, wait for the hot chocolate to be made by the best daddy in the world, get excited about all the gifts I successfully brought from SF. Have my sister emcee the gift giveaway portion, rip open gifts, laugh at gifts, gasp at gifts... Speaking of gifts... We had something - or should I say someone - join the Song festivities this year... JH! And while I should say that the Song’s did quite a successful job at gift giving, JH outdid himself. Planned out some of my parent’s favorite gifts of all time and got me... An Apple Watch! A pink one. Okay, “rose gold”, but don’t play, it’s hella pink.
Did you fall in love in 2016?
Yes. With Hippatato. It’s a long story, but I’m also still in love with a human too, so 2016 was looking up.
How many hook ups?
If we’re talking rando’s, then 0.
What was your favorite TV program?
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
What was the best book you read?
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss. Courtesy of my book angel, JH.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Without a doubt I want to say James Bay, but I have a sinking feeling that he was the man of my 2015.
What did you want and get?
An Apple Watch. A brand new job opportunity.
What did you want and not get?
What was your favorite film of this year?
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
26; had to share my birthday with my freaking s/o. HAHAHA. He was turning the big 3-0 so I decided to forego my bday this year (how amazing am I) and plan him a surprise birthday party. SF beer garden, close friends, drunk escape room, the good stuff.
Yafs & Yrroh also took us out to Cockscomb for the most amazing steak as well. As we get older, our friend groups get smaller... But man, do they get more fulfilling. <3
What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
What kept you sane?
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Who did you miss?
Who was the best new person you met?
[Did you meet any new friends this year? I’m sure I did, but to be completely honest, I had a very different approach to this year. I realized somewhere midway that as we get older, we learn how to prioritize more and more. Friends are a great example to this. As social as any butterfly can be, with the very limited amount of time I now have in my life, I decided that I didn’t want too spend that time constantly trying to impress people and have everyone in the world like me. I just can’t do it, and I just don’t care. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about my friends - just the opposite, actually. I decided that this year, I would focus on the friendships that truly mattered to me and to 100% invest in those relationships.]
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016.
Learning to love and be loved by and with an adult.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
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"THE THREE" OF 2016:
Leaving PR.
Heroes of the Storm.
First hangover.
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Audio Recording Computers: How Much Power Do You Need?
So, How Powerful Should My Recording Computer Be?
Well, this depends very much on your needs. I started out in 2001 with a Pentium 3 550Mhz computer running Windows 98. Compared to my modern computer (which is still fairly modest) that computer was like something from the Flinstone's with a little bird running on a treadmill to power it.
What Are Your Needs?
The power of your computer requirements for your recording computer are directly dependent on what you intend to do with it. Are you recording mostly live rock bands? Are you planning producing solo artists using samples to replace the entire band? How much of your work revolves around using VST Instruments?
For well over four years I recorded using Sonic Foundry Vegas 3.0. I used it like a tape machine with a little better editing features. I did not have much reason to switch. I was recording mostly rock and metal bands all in house. I was really quite pleased with Vegas. I could do pretty much everything I wanted to do. It turned out that Vegas was very efficient and never really maxed my computer out. Playing back high track counts in Vegas put most of the load on the hard drive and not so much on the CPU or RAM. I had several mixes that had well over 60 tracks. Vegas had no trouble with those.
I determined that I wanted to get back into midi again. I wanted to take advantage of the powers of samples, VST instruments, and the tremendous editing powers of midi sequencing. I switched to Cubase SX3. Now that I realize just how powerful Cubase SX3 is for a producer (I'm not just engineering anymore), I'm totally blown away. There is no going back to Vegas for me anymore. (Of course, I hear now that the latest version of Vegas has a sequencer, but I've never used it).
Cubase SX3 uses WAY MORE CPU power. WAY MORE! Every track I add, uses a little more CPU power. Most of this has to do with the tremendous direct monitoring capabilities that Steinberg's Cubase SX3 utilizes. It's very common for Cubase SX3 to run out of power and essentially lock up if I'm expecting too much from Cubase with a latency set super low. Cranking up the latency pulls the CPU load down drastically and then I find Cubase SX3 to be very reliable ..
Sonic Foundry Vegas was extremely RAM friendly. I could open up 5 finished mixes at the same time and I probably would not even use 300 MB of RAM. Cubase SX3 is the exact opposite. It uses RAM like I go through coffee on a late night session. When I start firing up samples such as Toontrack's DFH Superior (amazing drum samples), it's clear that I need as much RAM as I can cram into my recording computer. One instance of DFH can provide you with the most natural sounding drums on the planet, but it can also use up 2GB of RAM without thinking about it. OUCH !! Luckily they have a "light" mode which I use when tracking and arranging. When the track is done, I convert the drums to wav files and they become much more computer friendly.
So if you are using samples, you had better 2GB of RAM. Not all applications are as taxing as DFH Superior, but in general samples like to chew through the RAM without a conscience. So if you are producing songs for other people using s multitrack recorder / midi sequencer like Cubase SX3 or Sonar, you should get the most powerful computer you can afford. It will save you time, effort, and a few headaches. This means get the fastest processor you can afford and the most RAM your machine will hold. (Note: There is a point of diminishing return in Windows XP where adding more RAM does not seam to do much good. Generally, 2 GB is considered right by today's standards). You will also want to check out the dual core processors that are out there now.
Powerful Computers Do not Always Mean Better Recordings
There are many factors that make a recording great. A talented artist who happens to deliver a fabulous performance of a great song is what makes a recording great. There is no direct correlation between Ghz and goosebumps. (I consider goosebumps to be the ultimate musical accomplishment. If I get goosebumps, the song is amazing!) Having a more powerful computer means you can render a mixdown a little quicker. A faster computer means you can use more effects or effects that put higher CPU load. However, just keep in mind that it's much more important to work with better artists and better songs.
The computer is just a tool. Just because a carpenter uses a drill that operates at a higher voltage does not mean its construction is going to be any better than the next guy. It just means its drill has operates at a higher voltage. It's important to realize that the computer is just a tool that you use to make recordings. It, in and of itself, has no direect artistic value.
I was attending a funeral a few months ago. One of the very first songs I had ever recorded in my life happened to be played. The power of that song was mind blowing! The entire crowd burst into tears with that one. This song was done on my Pentium 3 550Mhz computer years ago. I wish I could capture that kind of emotion and energy now with my Athlon 64 2800 !!!
Latency, Monitoring, and CPU Power.
I've noticed in Cubase that it's CPU load is directly related to the latency I've set in my M-Audio control panel. With latency on the fastest setting, Cubase SX3 will get tired pretty quickly. However, when I pump the latency up to 384ms, I find that I have much, much more CPU power left.
The only reason I would keep the latency turned down super low would be due to direct monitoring within Cubase. If I was to use an external mixer and split the recorded signal off before it even ran into my soundcard, I would be able to keep the latency set much higher, and therefor reduce my CPU load tremendously.
Conclusion
Most of the top home recording programs with the most intense features typically use the most CPU power and RAM. If you recording methods require fewer features than a program such as Sony Vegas will perform extremely well with a moderate amount of CPU power.
Source by Brandon Drury
Source: http://bitcoinswiz.com/audio-recording-computers-how-much-power-do-you-need/
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