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lordessa · 5 years

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Digital Discourse Analysis Essay

Sarah Rogers

In a world dominated by images, our social media has become less of a text based platform, but a society of visuals. Pinterest is the most dominate image-only social media website that specifically creates a board of ideas that inspire people to create and achieve. Pinterest demographics are interesting as they are diverse, mostly women users, between the ages of 18-49, Pinterest is able to cater to many age types due to its easy availability and plethora of categories to cater to any type of interest. The animal community across all social media platforms is huge, especially on Pinterest, but there are few actual Pinterest accounts solely dedicated to animals alone. Because of this, I decided to create a Pinterest account of my dog, a cavapoo spaniel, and see what the outcome would be, and the kind of audience I attract.

It is common to see on Instagram and Twitter dog accounts with millions of followers, but since Pinterest has few original content users, I wanted to create something uncommon and see where it took me with the communities response. I found that original content creators must produce extremely edited, visually appealing, unique images in order to be seen, and that Pinterest, even with its laid-back features, requires original content posters to compete heavily within an app that has millions of appealing images. The more edited my posts became, the more unique I made my captions, the more followers and attention my page received.

Pinterest is a community that values visuals, new trends, and anything that inspires the user to go out and obtain whatever they are seeing, whether it be a hiking destination, an article of clothing, or, like my account tried to accomplish, the perfect dog. There is a huge expectation for Pinterest that I never realized as a user before. The images are so fluent and forever coming, your feed is constantly being refreshed with visuals, and unlike instagram and twitter, the captions are not visible until investing into clicking onto an image if you really like it that much to see it up close. The value Pinterest holds is high quality, aesthetically pleasing or hyper-visuals that elicit an emotional response of therefore need or desire. I found that I needed to make my images highly edited and “trendy” in order to appeal to users and get a following.

A very fluent fact about Pinterest is that it draws in a lot of income for a small scale, simple social media platform. Pinterest has a value of $5 billion, and the average user, according to the Sprout Social article “15 Pinterest Statistics Every Marketer Must Know in 2018”, has a household income of $100,000. Thus, Pinterest has a huge ability to draw in money for its users, a lot of images when clicked on will redirect you to the website in which it is sold at. With more spending power from its users, Pinterest is able to help brands get recognized, and make a huge amount in income. If you find a cute top, the perfect decor item for your house, or even a car that interests you, there is a link to the website that is selling that item. In my case, I found that many of the animal pictures found on Pinterest will either direct you to the official instagram account of that animal, it’s business website to be used in forms of media (movies, commercials, photoshoots), and most interestingly, breeding websites that sell the animal. For owners that are looking to sell their animal in some way, Pinterest is an ideal social media marketing tool. For instance, I found my dog breeder on Pinterest, as I was looking up pictures of Cavapoos. The group of Pinterest functions more as a mass visual marketing tool more than it may appear. When closely examining my life, I have bought many of my clothes, homewear, and other items after seeing them first on Pinterest.

Pinterest has a heavy mode of persuasion. With its carefully edited pictures usually pinned at the very top of your page, your standards while using the app are incredibly high. Their pictures create an emotional response of want and desire, just like instagram, we are seeing images of perfect lives and sparkly objects, just this time, it's more focused on the product rather than the people. The article, “Why Pinterest makes no money but is now worth 3.8 billion”, makes the point, “Pinterest is perfectly positioned for high value, targeted online and mobile advertising. After all, it's a site where people go to pin pictures of what they want to buy, wear, decorate, visit, eat. That can be served up on a platter to advertisers -- they can market straight to the consumers they know want them. Furthermore, they'll be doing the marketing while the consumers are imagining life with similar products.” The ecommerce aspect of Pinterest is what attracts these big brands to produce and therefore take over with miteciosuly edited pictures of items that everyone will want. In the animal world, its deception of being a harmless pleasure of looking at cute cats and dogs works perfectly. Interest inspired me to get my dog and if I were not to have been scrolling through pictures of highly edited cavapoos last year, I wouldnt have a pet. Pinterest is a purchasing planning app in every single way, all of my Pinterest saves are of items, getaway’s, and even food I wish to obtain at some point in my life.

There is no way to really interact on Pinterest, so some users feel as if it solely for marketing, and that they are breaking the bank while using it. There is no direct messaging, however there is commenting featured, it's hard to see and only available when you solely want to see the comments, is such a process that the whole entire app is simply used mainly to see and repin. Pinterest is very much so a personal social media, it is not interactive like other platforms are based largely on, therefore that can cause good and bad responses. A lot of users feel almost bored scrolling endlessly through a feed of products/ things to buy, it's like an extensive online shopping experience, which can become draining. The reason that Pinterest remains so small and a “background” app, is because of its solitary confinement, its non interactive approach. Humans crave affection and interaction with other humans, seeing what your friends are up to on instagram or reading what your family members have to say about the world on Facebook is much more appealing to social media members, thus Pinterest remains an app that struggles with growth, with 250 million active members, compared to twitters 320 million, instagrams 1 billion, and facebook’s 1.7 billion user leading record.

The goals of Pinterest remain fair and realistic, CEO Ben Silbermann does not charge brands to market their goods on Pinterest, but they do for promoted pins. Promoted Pins will be featured on feeds that are frequently interested in whatever specific brand that might be, it will be featured on their feed even if they don't follow the brand. Pinterest has therefore created revenue mainly from brands that use the app as a marketing tool, thus Pinterest will grow into basically a huge online shopping platform, with more interactions for buying and selling than ever before. Most recently, Pinterest has launched a “shop the look” tool that enables users to see different versions of the item they want to buy, from different sellers, “A Pinterest user can tap a blue circle on an element within a Shop the Look pin to pull up recommendations for similar items she can buy from a brand. For instance, if a pin features a model wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, she can click on the jeans or the T-shirt.” states Digital Commerce 360 article, “Pinterest Dives Deeper into E commerce”. Pinterests goal for expansion incorporates all elements of modern online shopping. Customers do not want to go on a particular website and try to navigate through what they want, in this consumer America, with short attention spans and large spending habits, many do not know what they want to shop for, they just know they want to shop. Pinterest allows users to feel as if they NEED something they didn't know they needed all along, with its feeds that consist of different items, styles, and vibes. The overall goal of Pinterest is to become the most sought after app for brands to sell their products, thus making revenue by charging for featured pins that are spotlighted on every feed across its user base.

I found that my comments on my posts were very buyer-based. With comments such as “where can I buy this dog?” or “what breed is this dog? I have to have it!”, if I were actually using my page to promote my cavapoo in some way, whether it be stardom for movie appearances, sponsorship for pet gear/ clothing, or breeding, I would be drawing in revenue. I had the opportunity to generate an income through simply posting pictures of my dog, which automatically turned him into a product. My pet became a point of interest, he became something sellable. This theme of consumerism within social media reveals a lot about our society and its values. No matter how wholesome we make our accounts, no matter our intent, we will be marketed to or have the opportunity to market. Social media is the future of marketing, it is what will be the main source of sales for companies. Originally, social media was created to connect with friends and family, now, we see adds everytime we scroll through our feeds. Pinterest capitalized on that theme of social media, and made a business from it. Pinterest is just one giant platform of ads, and it is interesting to see how much time, money, and thought we contribute to it. I evaluated my time on Pinterest through the settings app on my iphone, and I found that I spend roughly an hour and thirty everyday scrolling through Pinterest.

It is uncanny how our society is so drawn to marketing and easily influenced by things, the trends in our time are constant, fast paced, and ever changing. Pinterest is so attractive and still standing because it underlyingly mimics societies values. I found through doing research for this paper that everything that I did on Pinterest was to inspire other people to have what I have (my cavapoo). I was unknowingly selling my dog, inspiring people to become pet owners, much like what happened in my case.

After learning about Pinterest's goals, everything made sense, the comments, the followings from dog clothing companies, and the following from other pet pages. Pinterest is a brand based social media, and its values heavily highlight what our society values, too. I felt as if I had to appeal more to my followers with every post, I started caring about they way I edited and talked in my captions. I unknowingly turned my account into a more marketable page for my dog, without even realizing that Pinterest is essentially used for marketing. This explains a lot on how we use any other form of social media, are you posting for yourself, or to get recognition from others for some sort of gain?

Bibliography:

Chen, Jenn. “15 Pinterest Statistics Every Marketer Should Know in 2018.” Sprout Social, Sprout Social, 29 Aug. 2018, sproutsocial.com/insights/pinterest-statistics/.

Stambor, Zak, and Stephanie Crets. “Pinterest Dives Deeper into Ecommerce.” Digital Commerce 360, Digital Commerce 360 | Internet Retailer, 8 Feb. 2019, www.digitalcommerce360.com/2019/02/08/pinterest-dives-deeper-into-ecommerce/.

DeAmicis, Carmel. “Why Pinterest Makes No Money but Is Now Worth $3.8 Billion.” Pando, Pando Media, 23 Oct. 2013, pando.com/2013/10/23/why-pinterest-makes-no-money-but-its-now-worth-3-8-billion/.

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theboywhocriedbooks · 6 years

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The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

[Goodreads]

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

The Girl with All the Gifts is a sensational thriller, perfect for fans of Stephen King, Justin Cronin, and Neil Gaiman.

Thoughts:

This was such a great book, I honestly loved it. I felt like I had been in a really book-loving mood recently because that feels like the way I’m starting most of my reviews. Regardless, this book was so action packed and a page turning read. For some reason, I had no idea that it was about zombies but it is. It’s such a unique take on zombies though, which was refreshing. It’s a very character driven story, which I live for, and I think it’s really well done. I loved Melanie, and the whole storyline that surrounded the kids was a complete wild time. The ending, in relation to that, was amazing. Definitely check this out if you’re into zombies but I think you could just check it out if you want something interesting and entertaining to read. I’d even recommend the audiobook! Or! Go see the movie, which was amazing (but has an interesting race swap on the two main characters) and on Amazon Prime! Either way, go now because I’m going to go on about it in spoiler-y detail below:

One of the things was interesting to me was the fact that this book was so female focused. I loved the main character, she was really inquisitive and a bit spunky. I think the fact that, basically, she was a “zombie” kid was really cool! Seeing her eat some men was very satisfying too. I loved little bits with her, such as her interest in mythology, her love for Justineau or her overall bluntness thats rooted most likely in not understanding a reason for coyness.

The whole zombie mythology was wonderful. I liked this somewhat very fresh perspective on zombies. On some level its not too different than the other stories of zombies, these people who are dead and chasing you because they want to eat you. You get bitten and turned into a zombie, thus following the cycle of that. The way it spread was normal except for the new aspect of the ’trees’ where the infection is sprouting and becoming physical. The way some of this was described, especially the thin white web stuff, was so awesome. It just reminded me of those trees that spew out cotton, which is what made it even more cooler because I had a really good picture in my head of what it all looked like.

Everything is really normal in terms of zombies except for the children. The fact that, instead of being immune to the disease, they actually just had a more advanced version of it and were able to cope was so awesome. I obviously new that they were zombies from the jump because of how they we treating them but I didn’t expect it to be explained the way it was. Even more so I did not expect for all of the humans to die the way that they did. The last portion where Melanie was setting it all ablaze, thus infecting the rest of them, was beautifully done. It was my favorite part of the entire book because of the line “ It’s not over, it’s just not yours anymore.” I screamed at this part!!! It might have been because of the audiobook but it was just such an amazing line. I can’t even express why it shook me to my core. It felt almost like a call-out post to humans and their ideas of life.

Continuing with that idea, the whole book really talked about what it means to be human. Honestly, more than that, it talks about what it means to be alive and to be worthy of life. The children and the zombies are frequently told they should die because they are not like the humans but they both showed signs of some sort of emotions. They showed it wasn’t as cut and dry as the humans tried to make it seem. I loved this discussion the book was having because it made me reflect on myself and my life.

Humans really do think we’re all that but, as I learned in an Evolutional Anthropology class, humans haven’t even been alive as long as the species that we’re evolved from. Even thinking about dinosaurs (The new Jurassic World was so good, by the way!!) or creatures we’ve get to discover in the depths of the ocean both really make you realize just how small the worlds history of humans is. This making you think about what the meaning of it all is.

OKAY now I’m getting all existential and deep so lets wrap this up. This was such a good book and I enjoyed it fully so I hope you check it out if you haven’t and if you have you should let me know your thoughts too! Is’n’t it wild how Justineau is basically the last uninfected human alive? Talk about lonely. But shes helping the next generation of beings become “smart” and shit so thats cool lol

P.S. The movie was so good too! But theres an interesting race swap between the main character Melanie and Justineau. The little girl becomes the black character and the woman becomes white. I haven’t analyzed it too much but it’s really interesting the way that Melanie and the overall zombie population are treated, which can be connected to the oppression of people of color. It adds a layer to the story that the book did not have and I loved it! The films barely different and it did really well for an adaptation.

#amzing! but not about telekinesis like the cover appears lol its about zombies #the girl with all the gifts #m. r. carey #zombies #review #2018 #i

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bankoxygen6 · 2 years

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A Guide To All Issues Vegetarian In Japan

All of the distillery's aged kaoliangs are saved in the tunnel for at least 5 years. Crêpes - Adapted from the unique French model, a skinny cooked pancake, it has a a lot crispier texture, somewhat like a cracker. They’ll be capable of advise you on how a lot meals you'll need to order. Cheap Catering Ideas on your Wedding Have a Brunch Wedding. If you’re visiting Taiwan and need a more hands-on expertise with Taiwanese meals, then try Cookly for an inventory of cooking classes in different cities in Taiwan. We got here throughout this fascinating grilled version of mochi at Dongdamen Night Market in Hualien. Stinky tofu is brined in a mix of fermented milk, greens, and meat for one to a quantity of months. Once the fermentation process is full, it can be eaten chilly, steamed, stewed, or deep-fried with a side of pickled mustard greens. The last is the most typical preparation and the one one I’ve tried. The processes of constructing the recent noodles of the Filipinos are doubtless the identical with what the Chinese are using. Beef is less frequent than other proteins, and a few Taiwanese nonetheless refrain from consuming it. A conventional reluctance in the path of slaughtering treasured cattle needed for agriculture, and an emotional attachment and feeling of gratitude and due to the animals historically used for very exhausting labor. However, due to influences from the inflow of mainland Chinese within the 1900s, the Taiwanese version of beef noodle soup is now one of the popular dishes in Taiwan. Rice consumption in Taiwan reached a top of kilograms per person per yr in the Sixties and 1970s before falling as shoppers shifted consumption to wheat based foods. Though the person servings are small, conventional Japanese meals embody a quantity of programs which add as a lot as plenty of meals. Though I spend lots of time serious about the things I eat, I was still blown away by how a lot thought goes into the preparation, consumption, and appreciation of Japanese food. There is a stage of obsession with meals in Japan that I’ve by no means seen anywhere else. Since 1995, Epicurious has been the final word meals useful resource for the home cook dinner, with daily kitchen ideas, fun cooking videos, and, oh yeah, over 33,000 recipes. This simple Cantonese noodle recipe with chicken, fresh shiitake mushrooms, and bean sprouts will get a kick from white pepper and pink pepper flakes. If you presumably can't discover contemporary shiitake mushrooms, substitute with button mushrooms. Quantification Of Food Waste In Public Catering Services RKEMS has extensive expertise delivering prime quality meal companies in field environments and underneath adverse situations, with high-volume capabilities and for prolonged duration. 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To keep a hygienic kitchen, the continuity of cleaning and disinfection procedures is as important as the format plan of the kitchen. Therefore, a cleaning and disinfection plan should be developed for the kitchen, and all cleansing and disinfection practices should be carried out based on this plan and recorded. Cardboard, paper, aluminum, plastic bottles and cans, glass bottles and jars, scrap metals. This consists of detergent and shampoo bottles, metallic meals cans and cereal/food boxes. If recycling bins usually are not available, contact the barracks officer and/or the S-4 officer. Excess recyclables should be positioned into clear plastic luggage and positioned next to the recycling bins. Install a filtered water tap or keep a large Brita pitcher in the fridge so workers can pour a glass of water as a substitute of grabbing a disposable plastic water bottle. Your company will save money on bottled water, and landfills shall be spared of extra plastic. 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Preserve the optimum temperature of your meals during transport with cold and warm packs. We are offering our client an excellent quality vary of Double Juice Dispenser. Our group of technocrats manufactures the complete range utilizing latest methodology. 2 Door Vertical Stainless Steel Refrigerator made from 304 Stainless Steel Grade Commercial Grade. Can be customised to match your dimensions temperature requirement. The sturdy clear plastic tower tube easily holds as a lot as three liters of your favourite beverage. We manufacture these urns in numerous sizes from 2.5Ltrs to 70Ltrs. This web site is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Products backed by the best guarantee in the business and with savings of up to 75% off the worth of comparable new objects. The insulated food service comes with four caster wheels, 2 with brake, facilitating smooth motion and easy transport on the ground. 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Caterers prepare, cook dinner and serve food gadgets for events, events and meetings. While some purchasers choose to deal with the meals service for his or her visitors, other purchasers require the caterers to move the food to a specific location and arrange for the event. If you want to enterprise into this line of work, listed right here are a variety of the duties you can anticipate to tackle. The caterer job description, regardless of who they work for, contains accountability for meals preparation, according to Career Explorer. This can include getting ready components for recipes, cooking on-site at an occasion and serving meals to guests at tableside or through a buffet system. Previous expertise as a Prep Cook in a excessive volume production kitchen. By clicking 'Sign Up', you consent to allow Social Tables to store and process the personal info submitted above to offer you the content material requested. Refer to our Privacy Policy or contact us at for more particulars. If you put slightly effort into the menu selection, you'll be able to help make that meal do more on your assembly. Instead of blindly selecting the inexpensive buffet or the secure duet-plated entree, be inventive and take some risks! Typical degree of education that nearly all workers need to enter this occupation. A catering resume must show the occasion director that you have got the food handling skills, customer service perspective, and bodily stamina to do the job right. Once all tables, place settings, serving areas, and meals gadgets are ready and friends are ready to dine, catering staffs could additionally be required to serve the food. At most formal occasions, desk service is offered and a catering waitstaff will deliver the meal on to the tables course-by-course whereas clearing discarded dishes in between programs. At extra casual events with buffet-style meals, the waitstaff may be requested to serve certain items to visitors who line up at the food-service station. Food service managers shall be wanted to supervise food preparation and repair as people continue to dine out, buy takeout meals, and have food delivered to their homes or workplaces. However, extra dining establishments are anticipated to depend on chefs and head cooks instead of hiring further meals service managers, which should limit employment growth on this occupation. Catering Healthy and refreshing drinks corresponding to orange juice, iced tea, or lemonade are simple and low-cost choices that everybody likes. Nashville, and much of the South, has been in love with scorching rooster recently. This spiced-up version of fried hen is great on its own or alongside different comfort meals dishes. Whether it’s for allergic reactions or different health causes, you might find that many individuals are skipping the bread today. If you’re planning a sandwich bar or cheese and crackers, be positive to pick up some gluten-free choices as well. It’s the right concept for a studio opening or art present however is also very effective in an occasion that's focussed on creativity. We’ve already talked about how food is extra fun on a stick however the base you use to help your sticks can totally remodel your catering display. For occasion, if you’re hosting a book launch or tutorial occasion this could be a great tie-in. Ice cream at an out of doors occasion is a pleasant thought nevertheless it requires plenty of workers and working backwards and forwards to serve it before it melts. But not when you use this idea of a wearable serving tray. A classic, plated meal is definitely the most time-consuming alternative (plan for a minimal of 1.5 hours) which leaves much less time for casual mingling amongst guests. Furthermore, it’s not at all times probably the most budget-friendly possibility – and for a quantity of good reasons. A sit-down dinner means the occasion would require plenty of waitstaff, plus full meals for attendees. In many circumstances, a plated meal also can embrace multiple programs, which is a vital factor to remember when considering an event’s allotted finances. Fish and chips are the only takeout food you could get almost immediately, making it best for moments when you're in a hurry to jump into the enjoyable. This is an particularly best get together snack in case your celebration is outdoors in the heat, the place somewhat cooling off could additionally be called for. A giant field of popsicles is pretty inexpensive — about $5 for 2 dozen of the brand-name kind, and even much less if you find them on sale. Better yet, customize and make them your self ahead of time. You'll additionally desire a grown-up stationed close by for refills. Disposable Meals Packaging Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising consciousness of environmental issues led to prospects placing increased stress on firms and eating places to be completely clear about the products they promote. And whereas the risk of transmission is small, consumer anxiety round food security is massive. Increase the frequency of cleansing and disinfecting of high-touch surfaces, including the areas where meals are packaged for takeout and supply. Observe present food security practices for time/temperature management, stopping cross-contamination, hand-washing, no sick employees, and storage of food, and so on. Packaging is one other brand touch point that helps you connect with clients by way of the sensible use of colour, design, and copy. If your restaurant is understood for having a unusual humorousness, you can create packaging that displays this distinctive model personality. Superior stocks plastic caterware trays that make a dramatic assertion at the desk with their black, shiny finish and contemporary, upscale styling. They’re sturdy sufficient for max support and a disposable, cost-effective different to china. Dress for the Party Superior's Caterware Tray offers operators a scalloped rim to satisfy the needs of many functions. Keep your facility neat and tidy with our number of trash provides and recycling gear. This means your food delivery packaging needs to be designed with convenience in thoughts. It should be lightweight, simple to carry, and resealable (so it doesn’t need to be eaten multi functional go). Burger King was one of the first massive restaurant manufacturers to embrace this pared-down aesthetic, by rebranding its takeout packaging with more fashionable, minimalistic designs. McDonald’s and other brands rapidly adopted suit, stepping away from cluttered designs with multiple colors and fonts. Tips On How To Plan Your Menu A salad is a good possibility whenever you want one thing mild, but that does not imply it needs to be a bunch of lettuce in a bowl. This salad has texture and abundant taste between the grains, cheese, and greens. Forget stews that take hours to make in a crockpot; this one solely takes 25 minutes. The chickpeas in it function a lighter replacement for potatoes or different carb-heavy foods that often go in stews. This gluten-free dish is full of tasty and good-for-you components, like green beans and artichoke hearts roasted with Parmesan and thyme. Just as a outcome of one thing is breaded, does not imply it may possibly't be thought of a light meal. These sweet corn fritters are completely fluffy, candy, and savory. Serve them at your subsequent party, and your friends will ask for the recipe. Trust 外燴 , you definitely want to give this recipe a attempt. It yields the tastiest, most pillowy, bite-sized pretzels ever! And when dipped in thick and creamy cheese sauce, they’re just heavenly. Yes, burgers are one of the easiest wholesome lunch recipes you may make for your self. These hen meatballs are inspired by street-corner grills in Vietnam and Thailand, where ginger, garlic, and chiles reign supreme. Serve them with steamed rice, cucumbers, maybe a bit of sauce, and large lettuce leaves for wrapping.

#外燴

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cryptswahili · 5 years

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We Wanted to Overthrow the Dictators, but Did We Create New Ones?

Satoshi Nakamoto had a dream. A dream that one day, a few elites wouldn’t have a stranglehold on the monetary system used by billions. A dream that one day, people would rely on a trustless system that the elites couldn’t manipulate. And to bring his dream to reality, he (or she, or they) gave us bitcoin.

A decade later, more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies have sprouted, all offering different solutions. Satoshi’s invention, bitcoin, still towers over all of them. And while the world is yet to fully embrace cryptos as the preferred payment method, we’ve still made great progress.

However, as we move into a decentralized world of freedom, elitism and centralized controls are yet to be stamped out. In fact, if anything, we may just be redefining the elites.

The first thing that springs to mind is the recent Bitcoin SV debacle. The crypto has been delisted from a number of exchanges in the past month. A number of payment processors have also ceased support of the crypto. This is well within their prerogative.

However, it’s the genesis of this wave of BSV delisting that’s interesting. Binance was the first exchange to take the stand, and again, this was well within its right. It announced a fortnight ago that it would cease support for BSV on its platform.

The Elites

It’s the involvement of Binance’s CEO and founder that brings out the elitism that exists in the crypto space. Changpeng Zhao, fondly known as CZ, has always been vocal about his dislike for Craig Wright, the self-declared Satoshi Nakamoto. Wright, who is central to the BSV community has been one to attract love or hate in great proportion. Just before Binance delisted BSV, CZ tweeted:

Master piece! You have my full support, Peter.

To be clear, I don't choose sides on technology. We let market do that. I am against fraud, such as lying to be someone. As such, it is my strong opinion that:

Craig Wright is fraud. https://t.co/f9ihSD6Pr3

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) April 15, 2019

Again, CZ as an individual is entitled to have an opinion. After all, we can’t, as the crypto and blockchain community, preach freedom if we can’t let people voice their opinions. However, just days later, CZ’s Binance delisted BSV.

BSV is much more than Craig Wright. There’s a community behind it that can no longer trade on the largest platform globally just because CZ believes Wright is a fraud. And then, the saga continued. A number of other exchanges, Kraken included, delisted BSV to follow in the footsteps of the crypto world’s Mark Zuckerberg. Kraken was the most interesting, having conducted a Twitter poll as the basis of its decision. Again, an entire community was affected by events that had nothing to do with them.

And not to be misconstrued, I’m in no way taking sides. However, we can’t criticize JPMorgan Chase for closing the account of a crypto startup for no apparent reason and then turn a blind eye to what’s happening within the industry.

The BSV case isn’t unique. Centralized exchanges have become the very enemies we created cryptos to fight. Many a time, crypto projects have had their chances of mass adoption depend solely on whether they can afford the listing fee on major exchanges.

Vitalik Buterin, the celebrated Ethereum founder once stated:

“We can really take away this stupid king-making power that these centralized exchanges have where they have this ability to just decide which tokens become big by deciding to list them and then charging these crazy $10 million to $15 million listing fees. The more we can get away from that world and into something which actually satisfies the blockchain values of openness and transparency the better.”

Alex Wang, a founder of Ember Fund, a crypto hedge fund that seeks to make investing available for the masses, wrote:

“99% of exchanges and products in the cryptocurrency space are custodial. They are bigger, more well funded and although well-intentioned(?), we’re heading right back to the paradigm of pre-2008 centralized banking. In fact, some would argue we’re already there.”

What Now?

And he may be right. We could be replacing what we abhorred about the big banks, and the big techs as well, with a savvier and ‘cooler’ version. The CZs and Brian Armstrongs of the crypto world have replaced the Jamie Dimons and Timothy Sloans of the banking world.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder of the Celsius Network crypto startup sees the new crypto wave as just a rebirth of the same bad ideas that brought turmoil in the past. In an interview with Forbes, he stated:

“A lot of what the crypto community is seeing in traditional crypto markets is just a rebirth of bad ideas from the 1800s, all being used to take advantage of the fact that regulations don’t cover loopholes. […]We are seeing a lot of conflict of interest concentrated most with exchanges where people don’t understand that these entities don’t act in their best interest.”

So, what can we do? For one, we must stand up against the subtle wielding of power by a few elites who have made themselves the kingpins of the crypto community. Allowing one person to condemn a whole community for the transgressions of an individual goes against everything Nakamoto envisioned.

Image(s): Shutterstock.com

The post We Wanted to Overthrow the Dictators, but Did We Create New Ones? appeared first on NullTX.

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

#cryptocurrency

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cryptobrief · 5 years

Link

However, as we move into a decentralized world of freedom, elitism and centralized controls are yet to be stamped out. In fact, if anything, we may just be redefining the elites.

The Elites

Master piece! You have my full support, Peter.

To be clear, I don't choose sides on technology. We let market do that. I am against fraud, such as lying to be someone. As such, it is my strong opinion that:

Craig Wright is fraud. https://t.co/f9ihSD6Pr3

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) April 15, 2019

Vitalik Buterin, the celebrated Ethereum founder once stated:

Alex Wang, a founder of Ember Fund, a crypto hedge fund that seeks to make investing available for the masses, wrote:

What Now?

Image(s): Shutterstock.com

The post We Wanted to Overthrow the Dictators, but Did We Create New Ones? appeared first on NullTX.

#briefs

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digitalmark18-blog · 6 years

Text

Best Social Media Management Tools

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/best-social-media-management-tools/

Best Social Media Management Tools

If you want your company to make an impact on social media, you’re going to need more than a Facebook page, a Twitter handle, an Instagram tag, and a dream. In the always-changing world of social media, you’re going to need quality, quantity, and a quick wit to break through all the noise

Getting it right pays off: 71% of users are more likely to make purchases from a brand they’ve had positive experiences with on social media. But “most people have to see a product or service 2-4 times on social before they purchase it,” according to research by Sprout.

This means it’s imperative you have a strong and consistent social media strategy. To pull this off (without the help of a dedicated social media manager), you’re going to need a first-class social media management tool. Deciding on which social media management tool is best for you can be pretty difficult, particularly considering how many there are. Below, we’ve outlined some of the top providers that offer all the features you’ll need to get the job done right.

Best Social Media Management Tools

We’ve scoured the industry and found the following social media management tools to be the most popular and powerful:

Hootsuite

Buffer

Hubspot

IFTTT

Tweetdeck

Sprout Social

SocialOomph

Zoho Social

SocialPilot

Quuu

AgoraPulse

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is designed for the avid scheduler. This comprehensive tool not only allows users to schedule an unlimited amount of posts with every price plan, but also provides thorough analytics tools to help you make sure your campaign is working for you, not against you.

For most of Hootsuite’s price plans, you’ll be able to get a 30-day free trial too, so you can make sure Hootsuite is the right fit for your social media management needs.

Buffer

If you’re just getting started, Buffer is the perfect tool for you. With an unbelievably easy-to-use interface, browser plug-ins for simple sharing, and over 4 million happy customers, it’s hard to deny Buffer’s status as a premier social media management tool. Plus, as one of the most transparent companies in the world, you know exactly what you’re getting from them, inside and out.

They even offer a free version that allows you to schedule ten posts a day for three accounts, which is a great way to test it out before you buy.

Hubspot

With marketing, sales, and service packages, you know that Hubspot has what it takes to make a difference for your company. While social media management is not their main product, Hubspot’s resources make their tools incredibly comprehensive and data-focused.

You can request a demo free of charge on their website to guarantee their unique offerings make sense for your growing company.

IFTTT

If you’re an advanced sharer of social media, IFTTT might be the best tool for you. The free, web-based service allows you to tether services like Facebook and Twitter together via “applets.” These chains of conditional statements can make it easy to, for example, tweet something and set off a domino effect of other social media posts.

While this service is a little more complicated than other social media management tools, it can help you create a social media campaign that really hits home. Plus, it’s free.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a now Twitter-owned social media management tool that puts the power in your hands. In addition to the ability to schedule tweets, TweetDeck provides users with a full-on snapshot of their entire Twitter feed, which is always good for engagement in the long run.

TweetDeck is also free, but only allows you to use Twitter. If you’re looking to improve your presence on this 280-character social media platform, go for it, but it’s best to avoid if you want to have a varied social media campaign.

Sprout Social

With a number of enterprise level options, Sprout Social is perfect for growing businesses. You’ll be able to schedule posts, comments, and responses en masse to make sure that your target audience is completely up to date with everything your company is doing.

The free trial option is also available for Sprout Social, and also lasts 30 days; again, plenty of time to figure out if this social media management tool is right for you.

SocialOomph

Taking your social media management to new, unique levels can be pretty hard considering how long social media has been around. However, SocialOomph adds a little intrigue into social media marketing with a few extra features you won’t find anywhere else.

In addition to allowing you to manage various social media accounts, it also lets you manage your blog from the same platform. Plus, you’ll have access to unique Twitter features, like automation and mass tweet deletion (which we all understand the value of at this point).

Zoho Social

If you’re looking for simple tool that checks off all the boxes, Zoho Social is the way to go. Between the simple setup, the ease of use, and the variety of basic features, you’ll be able to assign team roles, schedule content, and receive analytics to make sure your campaign is doing what it needs to do.

While getting insight about things like the best time to post can be a bit difficult on Zoho Social, the tool’s other features make it worth choosing if you’re just starting off. You’ll be able to save time across the board and training will be a breeze, thanks to its simple interface.

SocialPilot

Getting a social media management tool that works for an entire company can get pretty expensive. However, there are affordable enterprise-level options, and SocialPilot is one of them. With reasonably priced monthly plans, you can tackle social media on your own time without breaking the bank.

SocialPilot houses all the features you’d expect from a social media management tool, except for monitoring, which can be quite important. In other words, you’ll be able to schedule posts, but getting analytics on whether it worked will be a bit harder. But if you’re just looking to get your feet wet without spending too much money, SocialPilot has all the basic you need to get started.

Quuu

With a unique name and even more unique features, Quuu is the social media management tool you turn to when you’re looking for ideas of what to post. Its content suggestion tool makes it easy to find the right posts to share at the right time, so you can make the biggest impact based on specific categories that you choose.

Quuu started out as just a content suggestion tool, but has added a number of social media management features, allowing you to schedule posts and get your message out there. Paired with another social media management tool, Quuu could really make a difference for your next campaign.

AgoraPulse

Don’t let the fact that AgoraPulse is at the bottom of the list discourage you; this social media management tool is a great option for a solid price. At only $49 per month, AgoraPulse allows you to manage accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Plus.

You’ll get all the social media features you need to run a great campaign and a few extra. From scheduling and analytics to messaging management and social promotions, you’ll be able to make sure your content is getting in front of your target audience. Plus, the intuitive design means anyone will be able to use it with ease.

Social Media Management for Businesses

While these tools provide the basics for setting up your company on a wide range of social platforms, the reality is that social media is a complicated monster. Keeping up with algorithms, scheduling posts for every hour of the day, and pushing out quality content is a full-time job, and the last thing you want to do is spend all your spare time trying to keep up.

With social media management services, you’ll be able to hire a team of professionals that will truly manage your social media presence to guarantee you’re getting the results you need. They’ll post original content, collaborate with you on campaign angles, and provide in-depth reports to make sure you’re actually getting somewhere. So where can you find some of these services? Tech.Co can help.

Taking the Next Step in Social Media Management

There are a wide range of professional social media management services to choose from, particularly when you have a nuanced campaign in mind. Whether you’re looking for elaborate analytical reports about how you can better inform your team, or just want someone to do all the posting for you, there are more than enough services to do it all.

If you want to take social media management seriously, getting a quote will make all the difference. You’ll understand exactly how much they cost, what they can do, and why you need to pull the trigger now if you want to see the difference between a good social media presence and no social media presence.

Source: https://tech.co/best-social-media-management-tools-2018-07

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kayawagner · 6 years

Text

100 Dungeon Descriptors Table

Nothing fancy today, just a list of dungeon descriptors, helpfully listed in d100 format. Oftentimes I find myself wanting to make a new dungeon or area and am short on ideas. This list is useful for inspiration, kickstarting design with an idea or two about which ideas can be formed. Alternately, you can pick one or two as overarching themes and then flavor smaller areas with another selection. Of course you may need to get creative if you end up with conflicting descriptors that make no sense together, but if it’s too bizarre you can always ignore the one you like least and/or roll again.

Here’s an example: We’ll go with an area with two random descriptors and three sub areas each with an additional descriptor of it’s own. Our rolls* are 9, 53 , 51, 14, 90. That gives us main traits of Icy and Rectangular rooms. So we have a start of an idea. Rectangular rooms is pretty standard dungeon stuff. Icy implies cold or ice creatures and a certain environment. Maybe this is high in the mountains, deep underground, a magical cold, or far to the north/south. We’ll decide later. Our three sub zones are Large scale, Geothermal, and Non-euclidean. Giant is easy. So we have a giants’ castle in the high mountains covered in frost and ice. Under the castle we’ve got a series of geothermically active caverns. We could go fire elemental here, but I like making the geothermal energy a power source for the giant’s castle better. So the castle has steam driven gates and other cool steam type devices, as well as few “ice giant engineers”, although no steam heat. In the caverns themselves, there are a few ice giant taskmasters (nearly naked because of the heat) and a bunch of slaves that maintain the steam pipes. Beyond the castle, carved into the mountain is a series of rooms with odd magical geometry. Let’s combine that with the ice to have sliding traps and block puzzles that rely on the non euclidean nature of the space, placed to protect some appropriate artifact. On advice of my test audience, we’ll also add some man sized blind penguins and ice-template gibbering mouthers to this area. That even gives us three adventure hooks: against the giants, free the slaves, capture the relic.

Wet: Moldy – damp, and mold grows everywhere

Wet: Flooded – ankle to waist deep water everywhere

Wet: Underwater – entire place is underwater

Wet: Rotten – sodden, and everything is ruined, turning into mush

Dry: Crumbling – dry rot, crumbling stone

Dry: Dusty – a layer of dust and grit cover everything

Dry: Parched – dry air that makes you thirsty and uncomfortable

Dry: Dehydrating – moving air the pulls moisture away, full of mummified husks of small creatures, etc…

Cold: Icy – covered with a layer of ice, formations on walls and ceiling

Cold: Clammy – cold and damp air, works through your clothes

Cold: Glacial – biting cold, walls of ice

Cold: Crisp – cool but invigorating

Hot: Smoldering – piles of still warm ash, may have low oxygen levels

Hot: Steamy – geothermal vents, geysers, etc…

Hot: Magma – flows of magma (1500k about 3 times as hot as a campfire, 500k) in large rooms, heat may dissipate enough to approach, in small rooms maybe not

Hot: Warm – general warmer temperature

Live: Positive aura – depending on the strength, area may be covered in growth or items may animate or burst into frantic activity

Live: Swarming – filled with large swarms of vermin

Live: Live rock – dripping mineral water creates slow growing formations

Live: Genius loci – a spirit caretaker oversees the area

Dead: Bodies – corpses litter the area

Dead: Negative aura – may cause a feeling of illness or unease, bolster undead or even damage the living

Dead: Ruined – once worked the area is falling apart

Dead: Eerie – feelings of being watched, prickling of the skin, etc…

Vegetation: Overgrown/roots – plant growth and hanging roots block passages and cluster about the ground

Vegetation: Flowering – strange cave flowers grow or sprout from bushes or vines

Vegetation: Fungus/mold – large fungi or molds grow throughout the area

Vegetation: Gardens – carefully tended (once?) gardens dot the area

Natural: Solution caves – caves formed by minerals dissolving, often wet

Natural: Lava tubes – formed by magma flowing out of a space, stone is hard, rooms are tunnel like

Natural: Fracture caves – full of debris, layers of rock collapse to form caves

Natural: Erosion caves – made by action of wind or water wearing down rock, may have strong winds or high tide

Manufactured: Hewn – crudely carved out of rock, surface still shows tool marks

Manufactured: Supported – soft stone supported by columns or beams

Manufactured: Rough Brick – simple stone bricks carved from rock shore up and finish walls

Manufactured: Advanced Brick – smaller, fancier, or simply better made stone bricks

Sounds: Whistling – sound of wind forced through tight passages or over odd formations

Sounds: Rumbling – perhaps an indication this area is unstable or of seismic activity

Sounds: Battle noises – inhabitants often get in noisy conflict

Sounds: Moaning – the wind? or something more sinister?

Smells: Decay – death, decomposition, mold

Smells: Dirt – the smell of earth and dirt

Smells: Chemicals – strange acrid brews, sickly sweet tangs, some kind of strange chemicals are on the air

Smells: Metal – the distinct smell and taste of metal, is this a metallurgists, a mine, or just an ore rich area?

Denizens: Beast – area is populated with animals, predators, scavengers etc…

Denizens: Lowlives – slimes, fungus monsters and insects

Denizens: Magical – elementals, undead, constructs and other unnatural things

Denizens: Humanoids – primitive or advanced humanoid tool users

Scale: Tight – small rooms, tight passages, crawling and squeezing through tunnels

Scale: Standard – normal room and passage scale

Scale: Large – larger passways, huge rooms, perhaps natural or built by giants

Scale: Mixed – a mix of scales, often natural but also a characteristic of an area inhabited by different sizes of creature

Shapes: Rectangles – standard square and rectangular rooms

Shapes: Ellipse – circles and ellipses

Shapes: Angled – angled rooms other than squares and rectangles, triangles, hexagons, unusual shapes…

Shapes: Natural – caves and natural passages

Maintenance: Maintained – the area is being maintained, passably clean and repairs are made

Maintenance: Expanding – the area is maintained and new areas are being built on the edges

Maintenance: Abandoned – no one is doing maintenance, most things still work but some don’t and wear is obvious

Maintenance: Collapsing – no one has done maintenance for a long time, few things work, most are broken, missing, or destroyed

Airy: Strong winds – winds howl through the rooms and halls, light items are blown away, doors may be flung open or characters pushed down

Airy: Cavernous – huge open caverns with vaulted ceilings

Airy: Chasms – deep chasms voids and pits

Airy: Open – one monstrous cavern with discrete areas within, sneak a little overland into your dungeon

Architecture: Monolithic – huge construction from large slabs of rock

Architecture: Sparse – clean unadorned construction

Architecture: Embellished – covered with engravings, runes, patterns, etc…

Architecture: Stylistic – an unusual or alien style

Obscured: Foggy – mists, steam or fog blanket the area

Obscured: Screened – webs, vines or other obstructions shroud the area

Obscured: Magic darkness – rooms or the entire area is covered in magical darkness

Obscured: Twisty – no special obstruction, just very few straight passages so vision only extends to the next bend

Size: Small – your classic 5 room dungeon

Size: Medium – larger complex, 5-15 rooms

Size: Large – larger yet, 20-50 rooms

Size: Extra large – sprawling multi-“zone” area

Unique: Architecture – contains a unique piece of architecture, statuary, or other landmark

Unique: Foe – contains a unique monster, NPC or the like

Unique: Magic effect – contains a special magic effect, either an aura over the whole area or a specific feature like a magical portal or pool

Unique: Treasure – has a special one of a kind treasure that may have its own backstory or associated quest

Danger: Hazards – venomous critters, naturally occurring rockfalls, pits or fire gouts

Danger: Traps – area is/was home to a trap builders and has many traps

Danger: Monsters – area full of deadly monsters

Danger: Curses – area holds curses or other magical dangers

Treasure: Coin and items – standard treasures

Treasure: Raw ore/gems – area has been or can be mined for raw ore and gems

Treasure: Art – area has art objects that can be looted as treasure

Treasure: Goods – not much in the way of treasure, but area has trade good that can be sold

Magic: Changing – shifting walls, moving rooms and other tricks

Magic: Non-euclidean – the area has a definite arrangement but its full of portals, bends in reality or other weirdness that make it difficult to map

Magic: Wild – magic in this area acts unpredictable

Magic: Null – magic in this area is suppressed or nullified

Crystal: Studded – walls are studded with raw crystal

Crystal: Monsters – monsters in this area are weird crystal versions or crystal themed monsters

Crystal: Walls – this area is carved from a massive crystal deposit, glass or obsidian

Crystal: Items – furniture, decorative items, tools, and weapons in this area are all made of crystals

Technology: Stone – denizens of this area use stone age technology

Technology: Bronze – foes in this area use bronze or another soft metal

Technology: Steel – this area has steel or another hard metal technology

Technology: Steam – this area features early steam tech

*Using my Polyhero Wizard dice, because they’re what I have on hand. Now I can use the old “mad wizard” excuse when players look at me funny.

100 Dungeon Descriptors Table published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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photomaniacs · 7 years

Photo

A Forgotten Solution to the Problems of Zoom Lenses http://ift.tt/2uDsEzg

For a few years now, I’ve had in my collection one very strange lens. I bought it primarily for its value as a collectible so, up until now, I haven’t really spent much time playing with it. Made in 1975, this manual focus Minolta MC Rokkor-X 40-80mm f/2.8 lens is one strange puppy.

When it was first introduced, no other zoom lens could top its image quality and it really didn’t have much competition until more recent years. This is largely due to its very unique gearbox design that sought to overcome the problem with zoom lenses that we still face today.

Way back in 1959, the first commercially-available 35mm still camera zoom lens, the Bessamatic-mount Zoomar 36-82mm f/2.8, was released by Voigtlander. Its mechanical design would not be unfamiliar to you since the focus and focal length were adjusted via a few round-turns of the lens barrel. This simple helicoid design remains the only common method manufacturers use to make our lenses zoom in and out and focus.

When you twist the zoom/focus ring(s) of a lens, the optics are carried forward or backward through a threaded barrel. This design results in a fixed movement ratio of the optical groups mounted inside that helicoid.

The problem with this is every focal length requires a slightly different adjustment of the lens element/group spacing to properly correct aberrations, and the fixed ratio of a helicoid cannot provide that kind of variance. The helicoid is relatively simple, easy to make, and its shape tailors to a fitting physical design of a lens. If a lens were designed to have as few compromises as possible, it might look vastly different from what we see sitting on store shelves.

For simplicity though, manufacturers have stuck with the helicoid and instead invested in overcoming its mechanical shortfalls with optical solutions. Over the years, lens designers, aided by computers, have learned how to improve the optical designs of the zoom lens to work around most of the limitations of the locked-ratio helicoid. Modern zooms still aren’t quite as good as a prime lens but, with aspherical lens elements and fancy coatings to help out, they’re getting pretty darn close.

Back in the early 1970s, Minolta’s engineers, armed with their slide rules and cigarettes, had a go at thinking outside the box to come up with a lens design that would allow for precise positioning of the optical groups in a zoom lens. What they came up with was so clever that it required they put it inside a box — a gearbox, to be precise.

Rather than work with the limitations of a helicoid design, this clever bunch decided to abandon that whole concept and create a new one where lens groups would be blessed with the freedom to move independently of each other. They came up with this unorthodox gearbox design that drives 12 optical elements in 12 separate groups along linear, gear-operated rails. With the chains of fixed-ratio movement cast from them, the entire lens design could be “geared” for precise positioning of the optics to best correct for aberrations throughout the range of focal lengths.

What they did was figure out how to make a handheld zoom lens that is as well corrected across its range of focal lengths as a fixed focal length lens would be at its one — that’s the theory, anyway.

In spite of the weird and wart-like appearance of their solution, Minolta’s engineers achieved with this lens something that is truly unique and special. There is no mistaking this lens for any other, that’s for sure.

Weighing in at 19.75 ounces (560 g), it isn’t particularly big or heavy. In fact, even with all the metal machinery inside this lens, it’s almost exactly half the weight of Nikon’s current 24-70mm f/2.8 VR.

Focus is adjusted by turning the big wheel while focal length is controlled by moving the lever arm. Both controls are very smooth and easy to move across their fairly short range of motion. The focus wheel features a precise distance scale with Infrared Index.

The lens has a 55mm diameter coated front element. Here you can see the profile of the gearbox which is fixed to the left-hand side of the lens body.

Did I mention it has a macro mode? The lens has a metal stem poking out of the gearbox which, when twisted anti-clockwise and pushed in, shifts everything inside the lens out toward the front, essentially putting more space between the film/sensor plane and the rear element (same thing an extension tube does). The result of this forward-shift is a reduction in the Minimum Focal Distance from 3.3 ft (1.01 m) to 1.2 ft (.37 m) @40mm.

In this image, the stem is in its Normal position

Here, the stem is shown in the Macro position. When pushing in this stem, the focal length lever shifts forward with the internal glass. What a cool, whacky design!

Let’s see how well all of the engineering effort translates into actually making images with this lens.

My sister told me about this row of old silos that sit alongside a two-lane road not too far from where I live. Yesterday, I had to go by it while I was on errands. On the return trip, I pulled over for this shot. I had the lens set to 40mm and the aperture was wide-open at f/2.8 on a Sony a7R Mark II. This was the first shot I took and I kind of hurriedly grabbed it because of the unique lighting. That isn’t vignetting in the grass. Passing over head was a thick, dark cloud that cast the strangest light over this scene. No sooner I had shot this and the sun was back out in the open.

On the same errand run, I came across this old Chevrolet police car. Focal length was 80mm @ f/8.

I was very interested to see how well the lens would control chromatic aberrations when shooting this brightly lit chrome. I’ve not used a pre-1980s zoom lens that didn’t produce some purple-fringing in a shot like this. Kudos to Minoltas engineers because there was none. Zoomed 400% in the 42-megapixel RAW file I could see nothing but bright chrome and colorful rust. 80mm @ f/4

The Jelly Palm in our front yard is full of fruit this time of year. I shot this with the lens’ Macro mode enabled. 40mm @ f/2.8

Just a bowl of bananas on the dinner table. Shot somewhere around 50mm @ f/5.6

The Magnolia tree in the yard is sprouting new buds. Macro mode, 40mm @ f/2.8. In the shade and backlit, color and contrast are good and the out-of-focus background is pleasantly smooth and non-distracting.

My second oldest daughter was kind enough to pause a moment for this final shot. 80mm @ f/2.8

What can I say? The lens is awesome. All the effort put into designing this strange gearbox-driven lens seems to have resulted in an excellent mid-range zoom lens. When I first started shooting with it, I did find it a little fiddly using a lever and wheel to make adjusts but after awhile I grew fond of it; it’s actually really fun to handle.

You don’t hold this lens like you would a traditional zoom, with your hands wrapped around the barrel. I keep it propped with the gearbox resting on the up-turned palm of my left hand and use my thumb to move the focal length lever and index finger to turn the focus wheel. The travel distance of both is just right so that you aren’t moving your fingers outside their natural range or having to make repetitious movements.

I can highly recommend this lens to anyone wanting to own a piece of history and/or turn some heads on their next photo walkabout. Comparing this to my favorite zoom lens, the incredible Minolta MD 35-70mm f/3.5, I would say it at least equals it. They’re both around the same size and weight and have a similar range of focal lengths.

In fact, this Minolta 40-80mm f/2.8 lens is the antecedent to the 35-70mm f/3.5 (thus, for giggles, I used it to shoot the lens photos). Minolta likely found that the unusual design and complexity of making this gearbox lens was cost prohibitive and went back to the drawing board to come up with a balanced compromise.

They only made two versions of it before canning the whole idea. The lens I have is the 1st Gen ‘MC’ version. An ‘MD’ version was made in 1977 and after that, they called it quits. Both versions can still be found for sale online but I’ll warn you, this lens is priced for the committed collector.

About the author: Tom Leonard is an amateur photographer, engineer, and father of 9. You can read his musings and follow his travels on his blog. This post was also published here.

Go to Source Author: Tom Leonard If you’d like us to remove any content please send us a message here CHECK OUT THE TOP SELLING CAMERAS!

The post A Forgotten Solution to the Problems of Zoom Lenses appeared first on CameraFreaks.

August 14, 2017 at 10:05PM

#photo photography art camera cameras

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jesicajparksuk · 7 years

Text

10 Tips to Create an Instagram Editorial Calendar

Do you have an Instagram plan and editorial calendar? Editorial calendars make a blogger’s life so much easier: They keep us on track, allow an overview of content, and prepare us to research/write/photograph in advance. The same holds true for Instagram, and savvy online pet influencers should consider an Instagram editorial calendar for images, video, and even Instagram Stories. Here are 10 tips to create one:

Go Behind the Scenes

When planning your content calendar, doing so for Instagram works very much the same way as other social media calendars. When adding a new social media channel to your mix, it’s important to use unique content that your followers can’t obtain somewhere else. Be unique. Give a glimpse of your pet or brand’s life that isn’t seen elsewhere.

Stories Vs. Page

Mix up the percentage of content between your wall (page) vs Instagram Stories. Some content can be spontaneous in Stories, but other content should be planned. Consider this example from Ryan Carter, excerpted from his BlogPaws 2017 Instagram presentation. Ryan, incidentally, is the guru behind Camping with Dogs and Camping with Cats, both highly successful accounts on Instagram.

Notice how the brand knocks it out of the ballpark with a carefully executed and strategic series of vignettes in their Stories?

Get Hashtag Savvy

How many hashtags are too many? Too many can annoy followers. If you lose followers after posting a certain photo or post, take a peek at the hashtag usage. Generic hashtags are important so that folks can find your content and identify with it under certain hashtags.

Here’s a primer on using hashtags to your advantage.

Outline Your Content Calendar

In the same way you design a content calendar for a blog, an Instagram editorial calendar is set up similarly. Consider using Excel or Google Sheets, or whatever tool is best for you and outline:

The type of content you want to publish: Got a review coming up for cat treats? What image will resonate with your followers and beckon potential new followers?

What do you need to do to create the above image? Canva? Filters? Watermark?

Who is your target audience? The answer is not “everyone.” The answer is who your demographic is, who your reader is, and who would be most interested in the visuals you have to offer.

Will you use location tags? What about hashtags? (Ninja tip: Store a variety of hashtags in your phone’s notepad feature for easy cut and paste.)

Caption your image: Populate this in your social media calendar.

Will there be a corresponding Instagram Story to support the image?

Bonus: Here is a free Instagram printable content calendar from the folks at Tailwind.

Use Social Media Analytics to Your Benefit

If you know what works, do more of it. If it doesn’t work, stop it. Pull all of your unique social media analytics into one spreadsheet for a view of the content that works in your favor. A business account on Instagram allows for some basic analytics. Google Analytics is a must for bloggers. Some social media scheduling tools, like Sprout Social, allow for an in-depth view of social analytics (there are paid versions available).

Decide How Often To Post

Everyone’s formula is different. There are right and wrong times to post, but it all depends on when your fans and followers are engaging. Keep track over time and adjust based on your audience’s engagement.

Use Tools To Create Relevant Content

In his keynote address at the BlogPaws 2017 Conference, the world’s most re-tweeted digital marketer, Jay Baer, informed the audience to “be useful.” It sounds easy, but take a peek at your Instagram feed. Is it what you want and find engaging, or is it what your audience wants and engages with? There’s a big difference.

Bonus: Structure a Social Media Plan

Instagram Stories Scheduling

Instagram Stories is by far one of the most creative, easiest, and most powerful tools an online influencer has at their disposal. Here is how bloggers can use Instagram Stories for Success.

Yes, you can save your Instagram Stories or even a slice of the story. Open the story, and click the three dots at the bottom right, and a screen pops up for a variety of options. If you add it to your timeline feed, then your account’s privacy settings apply. You can share on your other social media channels, too!

Tool Scheduling

Consider using a tool that allows you to schedule your social messages and visualize your entire content calendar. Some options are Co-Schedule, Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Buffer.

Where to Get Editorial Content Ideas

Pet holidays

Themed months

Piggyback on current events

Google Alerts

Follow 4 and do more: Click to see what this means.

Bonus: A Year Long Calendar of Pet Related Holidays and Themes

Remember, the name of the game is engagement on Instagram. Put the social in social media!

How are you using Instagram for success? How can BlogPaws help you? Drop your Instagram name in the comments and we will follow back, so stop by and say hello to @BlogPaws on Instagram.

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

Images: Liukov/Shutterstock.com and Versta Shutterstock.com

The post 10 Tips to Create an Instagram Editorial Calendar appeared first on BlogPaws.

from News And Updates About Pets http://blogpaws.com/executive-blog/blogging-social-media-info/social-media-strategy/10-tips-to-create-an-instagram-editorial-calendar/

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