Hey there r4r! 29M here looking for that special someone to spend the rest of my life with, No biggie! Its been a crazy year so far for me and I'm hopeing to find someone to share that crazy with. Distance isn't a big problem for me. I am located in California right now for another year at least. I'm looking into packing up and find a new place to call home, but I have to find it first.
Well a little about myself. I am approaching my 30s and have a little extra spending money now. I am starting to travel a lot more now and I hope to find someone to experience them with. So far I have been to Japan (the food was so good!), China, Mexico, and a few U.S states. I like to collect pins from every city I visit. My goal is to one day own a house and have a wall with a world map and all the pins showing where my travels have taken me. Korea is will next on my list! When I am back home I spend my free time bowling, reading, Hiking, and Board games with my friends. I'm an introvert at heart but certainly can act like an extrovert when needed. Happy to share more in our conversations, can't give it all away :)
What I am looking for is someone to enjoy the down time and the travels with. I hope to find someone who might be starting there traveling journey as well and is looking for a partner in crime. Or perhaps you know all the good spots to see and you can show me how to really experience the culture. I want to find someone to also enjoy the downtime with lazy weekends sitting on the couch and enjoy each others company. I like to spend time with fellow nerds. If you enjoy anything nintendo then hit me up!
Well I am just dying to get to know my future partner :) so why don't you drop a message and we can get this chat started. Hopefully I peaked your interest and I can't wait to hear from you!

Long story short I’m a reservist eligible for Cheif. One of my Chiefs sat down with me and reviewed my last couple of evals. During the sit down he noticed that one of my evals has SW (block 3) . I don’t have my pin. Does anyone have a template for the correction letter ?

Feel bad you have missed out on the recent pandemonium amongst WSB’s favorite shit stocks?
Meet $BOWL. $BOWL is the owner and operator of 350 bowling lane centers across North America. Operating lanes mainly across America and even some in Mexico (hookers and blow anyone?), they just recently acquired a new lane center in Detroit in an all cash deal.
Who doesnt fucking love bowling? Apparently Wall Street. $BOWL is shorted at around 72-77% of the entire float; which in of itself is only 20 million shares. With 14.3 million shares short, fees to borrow are understandably hovering at around 8-9%. And this was before the recent events in WSB’s favorite unmentionable stocks.
Speaking of recent events, it seems like the perfect time for $BOWL’s value to finally inflect and become the next member of the meme stock corps. Financials are healthy, with an EPS of .57 ¢ a share and EBITDA of 257 million last quarter.
They can even afford to pay a fucking dividend in this economy.
Utilization is already at 99%. What this means, fellow regards, is that 99% of available shares are out on fucking loan. We have only seen stats like this in 2021, when the unmentionable stocks had similar short interests above 50%. As a reminder, $BOWL is shorted 72-77% of the float. There is already no shares to borrow. And this is with a daily average volume of a puny 1 million on the stock.
With barely any volume, a market cap of only 1.5 billion, a 77% short interest with fees skyrocketing for shorts, a healthy balance sheet, and fucking BOWLING on the line, i think $BOWL is poised to become the next big long indeed.
As an aside, so many shares are shorted that institutional ownership of the stock is listed on yahoo finance as 113%. How is this possible? This is only possible for one of two reasons:

1. The data was reported in error
   
2. So many shares are short that synthetic shares are created thus wrongly implying institutions own more than the float itself. Imagine said scenario;
   

Let's assume Company XYZ has 20 million shares outstanding and Institution A owns all 20 million. In a shorting transaction, institution B borrows five million of these shares from Institution A, then sells them to Institution C. If both A and C claim ownership of the shares shorted by B, the institutional ownership of Company XYZ could be reported as 25 million shares (20 + 5)—or 125% (25 ÷ 20). In this case, institutional holdings may be incorrectly reported as more than 100%.
Links to short interest:
https://fintel.io/ss/us/bowl
https://www.benzinga.com/quote/BOWL/short-interest
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bowlero-stock-nyse:bowl:-watch-out.-short-squeeze-potential-is-high
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BOWL/key-statistics/
TLDR: 77% short interest, puny volume, a low float stock, fucking bowling pins, whats not to love?
Positions: 25 C 6/21 12.5 Strike. 15 C 6/21 15 Strike. 3 C 6/21 22.5 Strike. Looking to enter shares.

Ran into an issue with Node.js 18.28, amazon support told us to pin to version 18.28 until they do more research. I was able to do this in the console manually but having trouble figuring out the cloudformation settings for this.

Title, essentially
I love a boot to the stomach that stuns.
I love roundhousing a demon 20 ft into a wall
I love toe kicking a goatman and splatting twenty of them like bowling pins

A true sports parent dies twice. There’s the death that awaits us all at the end of a long or short life, the result of illness, misadventure, fire, falling object, hydroplaning car, or derailing train. But there is also the death that comes in the midst of life, the purgatorial purposelessness that follows the final season on the sidelines or in the bleachers, when your sports kid hangs up their skates, cleats, or spikes after that last game.
The passage of time is woeful, and, for a parent, living your dreams through the progress of your progeny is as inevitable as the turning of the Earth. But the sports parent lives the experience in concentrate—a more intense version of the common predicament. You must give up your vicarious hope of big-league glory and let it die. You must part from what, if your kid pursued his passion seriously, had become a routine of away games and early-morning practices, hours in the car, a hot cup of coffee in your cold hand as the sun rose above the Wonderland of Ice, in Bridgeport, Connecticut; the Ice Arena in Brewster, New York; the Ice Vault, in Wayne, New Jersey—home of the Hitmen, whose logo is a pin-striped gangster with a hockey stick. And you’ll suddenly find yourself watching the Stanley Cup playoffs not in the way of a civilian but with the chagrin of knowing that the game’s upper ranks will never include your kid.
One recent morning, courtesy of Facebook Memories, I came across an old picture of my son, a high-school junior who recently announced his decision to quit hockey—to retire! The photo was taken by teammates after a victory at Lake Placid, New York. Sweat-soaked, draped in the arms of friends, grinning like a thief, he looked no less ecstatic than Mike Eruzione after he and his team won Olympic gold in the same arena in 1980.
And me? I was this Eruzione’s old man, waiting with the other parents outside the locker room, experiencing a moment of satisfaction greater than any other I’d known, either as a player or as a fan. I was a car in park with the accelerator pressed to the floor. I was a wall bathed in sunlight. This win was better than the Illinois State Championship I won with the Deerfield Falcons, in 1977. It was better than the Bears’ 1986 Super Bowl victory.
Bears’ 1986 Super Bowl victory.
Read: I thought I’d found a cheat code for parenting
The end began like this: One evening, after the last game of the high-school season, I asked my son if he’d be trying out for spring league. For a youth-hockey kid, playing spring league is the equivalent of a minor-league pitcher playing winter ball in Mexico—so necessary as a statement of intent and means of improvement that forgoing it is like giving up “the path.” Rather than a simple affirmative nod, as I’d expected, I got these words: “I’m going to think about it.” Think about it? For me, this was the same as a girlfriend saying, “We need to talk.”
Only later did I realize that those words were the first move in a careful choreography. My son wanted to quit, but in a way that would not break my heart. He also didn’t want me to rant and rave and try to talk him out of it.
We had reversed roles. He was the adult. I was the child.
He knew he would not be playing college hockey even if he could. With this in mind, he had decided to use his final year of high school to get to know people other than hockey players and spend time in places other than hockey rinks. In the way of a pro with iffy knees nearing the age of 35, he had decided to exit on his own terms. He was not worrying about losing his identity as a player or about missing the camaraderie of the locker room; he was worrying about me. Hockey had been an entire epoch of our father-son life. It had ushered me, the sports parent, out of my 30s, through my 40s, and into my 50s.
.... Because I am human, I tend to blame entities or systems or other people for things that strike me as unfair. As my son progressed, I caught a glimpse, for one fabulous, deluded moment, of the life that he (we, I) would never live: high-school athletic stardom followed by college triumph and possibly even a professional-hockey career. That I knew this was a fantasy—he was never that good—did not make it less powerful. Lost in it, I experienced my life as an NHL fan with new intensity. I was not just watching the Blackhawks; I was scouting, picking up tricks that I could pass to my glory-bound boy. This was a dream that I was too embarrassed to share with anyone, even my wife. I regarded it the way members of the Free French regarded the liberation of Paris: Think of it always; speak of it never. In short, I lost my way. Rather than letting him enjoy the moment and the fact that these seasons were his career, not a preparation or a path toward one, I was constantly scheming about his next move, his next opportunity, his next shot at the big time.
Here’s the worst part: I knew exactly what I was doing. I was attempting to replace my kid’s will with my own. I knew that it was wrong and, worse, counterproductive. The more I pressed, the less he enjoyed the game. The less he enjoyed the game, the worse he played. The worse he played, the more I pressed. Economists call this a negative feedback loop. I knew it but could not stop. It was psychosis.
Maybe the most notorious sports parents suffer from a shared psychological condition. LaVar Ball, Emmanuel Agassi, Earl Woods—those sports dads were all obsessed to the point of being abusive. I prefer to think that I am not; yet, for all the varying degrees of our kid’s success, our predicament is the same. At some point, even if it comes after 20 years in the pros, the set will be rolled away, revealing our true location. Rink parking lot. Beat-up vehicle. Alone. Even the child prodigies will retire.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/ice-hockey-sports-parent/678347/

Hello! I wanted to make a series of small air dry clay pins, but I haven't been able to find that bendable aluminum google suggests to use to form my own cutter shape. Plus, I don't want to buy an entire roll of this stuff just for a single project. I also don't want to spend a lot of money on making a mold. I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions, or if I should just make a paper template, trace it, and cut them out by hand?

My resident cat is a senior female who is deaf. She has been the only cat in the house for the past two years. I adopted her from a local cat cafe.
On Friday, I adopted another senior cat, a male who is not deaf.
When I bought the newcomer home, I put the carrier down in the living room where she was. The resident cat noticed and began hissing at him. I established a small spare bedroom as his basecamp.
He has made it clear that he does not like being in there and will scratch at the door. On Saturday, he got out. When they encountered each other, the resident hissed and growled at him. He kept his distance from her. She has even hissed at me when she smelled him on me.
On Sunday, I placed her food bowl about 5 feet from the bedroom door and she ate. She sensed him in the bedroom and peered under the door. She hissed when she saw him and ran away.
Sunday night, he got a little too close to her and she smacked him. He backed off and she retreated for higher ground.
This morning (Monday), I got a Feliway Multicat diffuser and set it up in the living room where she was. She was on the back of the couch, and I let him out of his room. He came in and they stared each other down. If he got too close, she would hiss and growl. He would lay down and slow blink at her. She would also slow blink or turn away from him. I was able to feed her on the couch and him on the other side of the room. The fact that they were eating in the same room made me optimistic and I left him out.
In the afternoon, she was on the kitchen counter. He propped himself up on the cabinet near her which caused her to get defensive. This time, her ears were pinned back. He backed away again and sat down glancing at her and slow blinking. His body language is suggesting that he is afraid of her but wants to show her that he is not a threat and wants to be her friend. She wants nothing to do with him.
What can I do to help them get along? I feel like the resident is getting very stressed. She won't leave her perches to eat or use the litter box. I don't want to confine her to a room or keep them separated indefinitely.

I've noticers, telling them all to f off, sitting on a toilet bowl and basically calling out Sharp Entertainment and it's head honchos as being a piece of you know what and MOST OF ALL....the BASHING of words to the BASHING of junkyard cards that he specifically had specific names on them and taking a bat to crush it actually is showing signs of violence and any judge would see it that way if he was to be sued. Even pulling down his pants and telling everyone to kiss it.
I wondered why they didn't put a stop to it immediately but instead, we watching him getting unhinged day, after day, after day. (Just like a toddler who wants attention, he's throwing tantrums to get noticed).
Some networks will tell you to STFU while others stay quiet watching him dig his own grave. He NEEDS TLC....TLC doesn't need him. When being hired as a contestant, they all pretty much work the same way. Depending on which show you want to be on, having 2 reality shows back to back gives him experience. Those get picked and put into a separate file while other resumes go into the no experience pile. You don't have to have experience but it does help you A LOT.
As they sift through all the paperwork, people are eliminated from each pile until it comes down to who they really want. If they are showing interest in you, they will contact you immediately to let you know (just in case another show picks you up first. If they like you, you will be given written notice of that. You will be told the rules and regulations, the good and the bad, what you can or cannot do, a criminal background check is the first and if that comes back negative, you move forward to the next pile. It eliminates those who do have criminal activity records right then and there without wasting further time. So, now you are moved up again and told that you will be vetted.
VETTED: To make a careful and critical examination of something. To investigate (someone) thoroughly, especially in order to ensure that they are suitable for a job requiring secrecy, loyalty, or trustworthiness.
They will explain every little detail of what it is to be VETTED and you certainly will know without a doubt that the job is not being offered to you just because you're being vetted. There aren't any surprises, scams, fine print, nothing that would make you think you're hired when in fact, in order to be vetted, you have to sign off on documents that allows the network to gain access to your personal records.
Your signature allows them to look at your financial records which include but are not limited to lawsuits, bad credit, bankruptcy (4X with this dude and I'm sure they thought it was wild AF). You give them all access to your social accounts because they do not want to be surprised by something you said or did from 4 years ago and it blows ups causing the network to look like an ass.
Once something is posted to social media, it lives forever in the internet world no matter how many things you've deleted or tried to hide from your account.
Then there is the reference calls.....ah, yes.....calling TLC and the powers that be to fill them in on what kind of person you really are.........YEP.......biting the hand that feeds you always comes back as KARMA.
In a nutshell, his videos, financial matters, the stealing of 20K, the drunken tirades each night. Screaming, yelling, over and over. Unhinged, drunk, mentally unstable does not create a safe work environment for others. TLC had the last laugh, I'm sure of it, and they have all the evidence to prove it and most likely all the videos as well.
As if that wasn't bad enough, talking about his "new show/channel" that he will tell his fans all about it actually broke the rule right there. He was told basically not to breathe a word about anything....that includes the hints he was giving out everyday on social media. By this time, Scott was made aware that his behavior is just not suitable and goes against their company policy. So, now he's got to figure out how to get out of this mess so he makes up a lie about being scammed. Oh boy!
The email that he posted clearly shows that he broke every rule during the vetted process. The fact that he went on to slander the network by saying they scammed him when in fact he scammed them could get him a lawsuit.
He's now a red flag and a liability to any reality show or network.
They all work in one circle so it's not like it's hard to get info from each other.
All he had to do is keep his mouth shut. He has no one to blame but himself with this outrageous behavior and then wants to pin it on us, bloggers, editors, etc.
Gossip reality news is not taken into consideration. These networks look for facts and not just some storyline that may be true or not.
So, that's all I got for you.
But, lets face it.......they're a quite a few people we all love to hate but they don't put out videos like he does. LOL
The problem was always his and his alone. His videos prove that he wasn't done with his 15 minutes. He wanted the spotlight, well now he has it.....he just doesn't know when to stop.

So a league was recently finished where there's a tradition that the last two teams are facing each other in Dungeon Bowl but with the normal BB stuff (l'm last place BUT l did manage to win 3-2 against the league winner!) l'm playing UW against Dwarfs, but unlike the other guy, l've never played Dungeon :D
Based on my limited knowledge about DB, it's a race early on, where l have quite a strong advantage, but then l'd have to break through that silly Dawi wall.... Since l got 250k of inducements, l could get Fungus AND Kreek to beat down those walls like bowling pins and hopefully break through. Bomber also seems like a nice choice: throw a bomb and have Fungus beat the lying Dwarfs for free.
So that's my thoughts, any good tips? Considering the corridors, the Rogre ought to be ideal ball carrier (assuming the rascal even manages to pick it up)

Righty bowler here. Several months ago I made the switch from the standard finger-tips-and-thumb to two-handed-no-thumb. Around twice per 3-game league night I will accidentally drive my left elbow straight through my left knee. It always feels bruised now, and right after I do it I can't bowl normally for a couple frames due to the acute fear of hitting it again. Is this something anyone else has dealt with and, hopefully, has a fix for? (I'll be bowling this afternoon/tonight, so I'll try to have someone record a throw and post it later if that's necessary to diagnose the issue.)
Background: Bowled a ton in college and a bit after (~2001-2007), averaged in the high 190s. After many years off I got back into the sport again in September, drilled some new balls (old ones all cracked), and joined a men's league (October). I wasn't nearly as good (165ish average), but it was great to be back on the approach.
Someone convinced me to try two-handed-no-thumb. After a couple weeks I was as good (if not better) 2HNT in practice. I've since fully switched for strikes (completely plugged and redrilled my Radioactive Vibe, never drilled the thumb when I got my Black Pearl urethane), but I kept the thumb hole in my plastic ball because "bowl straight at your spares" is the only way I'm hitting the 10 pin right now. Current league average: 185.
Not sure if any of that is useful, but it's here just in case.

I’ve shared my story on how I started, ran for 10 years, and remotely sold my 3dp business HERE.
Now I would like to speculate on How I would start it if I had to do it again. Why? 2 reasons:

1. When it was time to sell, I discovered, that the most valuable assets of my business were NOT the printers or production base and that I could've significantly grown and therefore increased business value if I did certain things a certain way.

Knowing that and other things - I would've tried to do "the right things" from the beginning, and I hope it would help those who are thinking about or starting it right now.
I concentrate on the business side since the 3dp business is first of all a business, and I go through with it as I would’ve done it (not just some average avatar model).
This article doesn’t cover everything and simplifies some parts, but I tried to make it as real and in-depth as possible since the devil is in the details.

1. I am starting new business projects right now, and the path I am taking is almost the same (minus printers basically) path;

Vision

First I need to ask myself: what kind of 3dp business would I like to start? It may be hard to answer right at the start, but I do know 4 things:

1. I want it to be service-based (at least in the beginning, then I may consider a hybrid: service+product model);
2. I want it to be B2B (higher check, less transactional costs);
3. I want to gravitate towards big/complicated models;
4. I will offer some post-processing (get hand dirty, mot many others willing to do that);

Here I may also need to identify, who my target audience is. But It is hard, and may sometimes be harmful in the beginning, so I will stick with 4 general assumptions listed above, and see where keywords lead me.
But I will revisit this very important question (let's call it a “vision”) as soon as I have a meaningful chunk of data and experience.

Research

Then I will conduct research.
For that, I need to pick a place (3dp business is place-bound to a certain degree). Let's say a city - Austin - TX.
Note here - the bigger city, the better.
Now I need 3 lists:

1. First is a List of keywords with average monthly searches and cost of clicks for different areas:
   
   1. Austin;
   2. Other big cities nearby;
   3. State of Texas;
   4. Nearby states;
   5. The whole of the US.

One tab for each. You can pick as many areas as you see fit, and the logic behind it is that you want to know the demand in places you may be able to serve.
I need general high-frequency keywords as well as Google suggestions and low-frequency keywords. The broader the scope, the better. There is a free tool called Keyword Planner (it also provides a click cost estimation for Google ads) inside a Google Ads account. If you don’t use Google ads, you can pick any keyword search tool out there.
Now I need to sort it, vet out unneeded ones, and separate them into groups based on intent (informational or commercial). I will also create a list of “minus” words (will use them later).
When it is all done, I need to assemble a “core”: a few groups of keywords united by intention.
If I don’t use keys/groups for commercial purposes, I may use them for info articles (SEO). The most visited (by a long shot) page on the site, which I sold as a part of the business was “The History of 3d printing”.
📜 Research should also include many other “places”, basically one should identify where potential customers hang out, what they need (their problems), and how one can reach them, and as a result will have some potential acquisition channels, and a list of “problems” to form an offer with.
I will only cover the fastest and the one I know best - Google ads (+ a bit of SEO for the long game). This channel corresponds rather well, with my understanding, of where my “target audience” may be (more on that below).

1. Second is a List of competitors. I will only need ones’ that will compete with me for my target demographic. Specifically, I would like to know:
   
   1. Domain name;
   2. Their offer (range of services, materials, unique propositions);
   3. Their main (and all significant pages) Title, H1, description, “subtitle”, unique selling propositions, and maybe a screenshot of HERO;
   4. Their CTAs (calls to action - do they use online calculators, contact form…).

The list can go on, but those are the most important (probably), the logic behind it - I want to know what has been offered so far, compare it to the demand from list 1, and identify where I can “squeeze in”.

1. Third list - competitor’s prices. Based on my initial ”vision” (what/for whom I will try to do) I prepare a couple of inquiries, which I send to competitors to quote.

I would like to know:

• Price;
• Fulfillment time;
• Conditions;
• How competitors interact with prospects.

Inquiries may be:

1. A somewhat complicated “technical” model of a middle size;
2. Small-to-mid batch of parts (up to 100-300);
3. A somewhat big (that will probably require printing in parts and assembly) model + separately I would inquire about painting;

As a result, I understand how I may price my services. I prefer to start somewhere in the lower middle of a price range and slowly go up.
I know what I won't do - I won't try to go for the cheapest price - it is a road to nowhere. I may go for it once or twice to snatch an order, which will be beneficial to my portfolio, but that is it!
Now I also understand how my competitors interact with their customers and what I can offer in this regard.

Plan

With that data gathered I am now ready to compose a “business plan” /set up business goals for 1-3 years, and lay out a tactical (more detailed) plan for a quarter or so.
Usually, the latter shall be detailed like: I need to reach X revenue/per day, to get Y rev per month, and for that, I will need Z inquiries and so on... But as I am just starting, it may not make a lot of sense, since there are no "base" numbers. But I will use that type of planning as soon as I have those numbers (after 6-12 months).
I also will align the plan with my vision, and maybe add some details to it, based on the data I’ve gathered.
I will have a somewhat united note/doc with actionable tasks, equipped with due dates (those are very important), and an overall plan.
I like to unify all of the above (lists, vision, tasks…) as a project in a project management software (later about that). Much easier to manage and keep track of.

Offer and Site creation

Now I can form my offer.
This offer will be presented on my site, in my ads, and everywhere else.
I need to describe CLEARLY what do I do exactly, for whom, and why those people should take their business to me (competitive advantages).
I pick a name, and domain name and make a logo. I keep in mind that they are a part of the offer (everything is), and I keep them as short, direct, and close to the point as possible. I squeeze a relevant keyword in if I can.
Before I decide I type the name into the search and see what pops up (don’t skip that part).
Now I can make a site. I pick one of the No-code options to create it myself or delegate it. Keep in mind that you will need to correct and change the site: an offer (text. headings), portfolio, blog (for SEO purposes), services, etc. The no-code solution will allow you to do that yourself.
It will be a landing page (in the beginning), and it will include:

• Title (shown as a first string in search);
• Description (shown as a second string in the search);

HERO SECTION (first screen basically - 80% of people won’t go below it)

• H1 (main “title” shown on the top of the page)
• Subtitle (text below the H1, usually supports the H1 and includes unique selling points);
• Clear CTA (Call to action);
• Foto or video of what I’ve done (the visual representation of services works really well);
• Unique selling points (not included in the subtitle, or supporting/elaborating on them);

END OF THE HERO SECTION

• Unique selling points;
• All other headers;
• All other text;
• Examples (what I’ve done) and/or testimonials - if I truly just starting I may need to make some examples of objects I would like to make (as close to desired nich as possible) and take GOOD photos of them (It can be powerful, that is what I did and people told me many times, that they “came” because of “beautiful” thing that we’ve done (“beautiful” is mostly attribute off a picture, then a thing);
• FAQ (those shall be questions that your customers ask you the most, I mean REAL questions - they work rather well as objection handlers);
• Clear CTA (Call to action);

As there is just one page, it should target the most relevant oand big commercial keyword group.
The “art” of creating a Title, H1, and the rest of the text, headings, and attributes is a delicate dance between the need to be different from competitors, the need to incorporate the right keywords, basic SEO guidelines, and most importantly - to present a compelling offer.
📜 An important thing to keep in mind - your first screen should tell, straight and clearly - what services you provide, for whom, and why a visitor should click your CTA, or continue reading.
Last thing - make sure that it looks fine and loads quickly on mobile. More than half of the traffic will be from there.
Research says, that If it loads more than 3 seconds - more than 70% of people bounce.
Check your speed here - https://pagespeed.web.dev/
There is A LOT more to that, but it is beyond the scope of this article.

Traffic: Ads and SEO

Now I need traffic:
Google ads. As I just starting, I need to be as targeted as possible. So I will:

• Vet keywords carefully, avoid high-frequency ones, and compose them into groups.
• Start with one or two groups, with a limited number of keywords with clear commercial intent.
• Limit the location to the city I am in.
• Add a minus keywords list. If a search query includes one of the words from the list (like FREE, or CHEAP) - ads won't be shown.

Google pushes everyone really hard to use responsive search ads + broad match + AI-suggested keywords (performance MAX they call it), but I won't.
Why?

1. It will greatly disperse the focus, and therefore results of my campaign.
2. It is still not working properly, especially for small and/or “complicated” niches. In other words, it will waste my money, (relocate it to Google), without bringing back results (or at least as many).

And I don't want that.
I will use exact match, fix (pin) headings and descriptions, and practically make "an old school" text ad from a responsive search ad. I will have to do different ads for different keywords (if the keyword or phrase is matched in the title, conversion is higher); Yes, it will be more work, but results will be better, and controllable.
Just how I like them.
Now I will compose my "SEO plan", I will:

• Plan to add new "commercial" pages to the site (one page per meaningful keyword group) as I go.
• Create a schedule: after the main page is up, I will try to “deploy” them in 2-4 week intervals, starting with the most meaningful/impactful.
• Make Google index it through its search console after the first publishable version of the site is done. I will repeat the operation with every meaningful page I add, including info SEO pages (below).
• Form a few groups from keywords with informational intent, vet groups that align with my direction, and plan an article for each vetted group - a separate page on the site with a personal set of SEO attributes.
• Publish them with the same or longer intervals as for the "commercial" pages.
• Try to make those articles as valuable for the reader as possible. Everything I do shall be client-oriented (bring value), and user behavior is more and more important for SEO.

This “article” is an example of such a page.
I won't cover social media here, since its plenty of info on that topic.
From my experience, if I plan (and I do) to offer 3d printing services to businesses (B2B), social media (with the exception of LinkedIn maybe, not sure nowadays what is what) is not exactly a place for “fishing” (I might be wrong).

Legal+

Moving along to the legal land.
I will not go deep into the business structure (LLCs or sole proprietorships), just say that you need one. Figure out what works best in your case, but note: if you are planning (envisioning) to sell your business one day (or a part of it) - you will need it to be at least an LLC.
This structure (as stated in the name), also limits your liability, which is not a bad thing. One more thing that does that, and at times viewed as a formality - is a contract.
I’ve learned to appreciate contracts and pay attention to their "design". The contract sets expectations, protects both you and your client, and serves as an extension to your offer - a clear, correct, and honest contract, that picks up on promises you’ve made will reassure your client that you are a trustworthy professional.
Create a clear, correct contract template (or templates), seek professional help/advice if needed, and try not to overcomplicate it (easier-smaller the better).
📜 Before the contract, expectations are set during all interactions with a client: nuances, limitations, examples, samples, etc. As the number of interactions with clients starts to grow you will notice repetitive patterns in questions and answers. Create a base with answer templates - those saved me a ton of time and improved the quality of my communication.

3d printers and a space (finally here they are)

Well, and yeah, I need 3d printers to start a 3d printing business.
If you plan to start such a business, you may already have some, and/or possess the needed knowledge in the matter, but I still going to say a few things. No specific models, or vendors though, since there is a lot of printer-related content out there, and the scene is rapidly (wink) changing.
I would try to pick one type of printer (or at least a vendor) and stick to it. Benefits:

• Somewhat stable overall quality;
• Same spare parts;
• Same repair and maintenance routine;
• Same working protocols;
• Same slicing…

I also will (at least in the beginning) look for stable machines, that would not require a ton of maintenance.
Note here: your choice shall also be based on your perceived goal (niche you want to end up with/customers you want to serve), and you may need different types of printers for that.
Depending on my situation, I may not need an office/working space right from the start (at least not until the idea has been validated). If I do, I would get something with a space to grow (aligned with my plan/goals), but I would try not to jump over my head with it.

One software to control it all

There is one more thing that I will need right from the start (because I don’t want to replicate my own mistakes) - a software suite to manage the business. Getting it from the start will provide the most leverage and set me up on the right path.
I will need:

• CRM - all work with a client: pricing, offers, deals, followups, deadlines, docs… +
• ERP - control and management of all resources: materials, printers, team… +
• Production scheduling +
• Maintenance, Repairs, Spare parts, and materials control +
• Team + Docs + Files storage + Contractors + Spending + everything else.

I couldn't find one that incorporates all of it, so I’ve made my own (there is a Free version, try it out, let me know what you think).
Management software and CRM might not be obvious must-haves, but they are if I want to make it into a controllable and growing business (and I do).
There is no other way, look at any business that made it - they all without exception use such systems.
One more thing - all business decisions shall be based on data: how would I know, for example, if my ads campaign is making (and how much) or losing money, without knowing what my average check, margin, or LTV is for any type of service for a needed time period?

Summary and Q&A

There is a lot more to that, but it is already too long.
So I’ve got:

1. List of keywords;
2. List of competitors;
3. Price research (and base price level as a result);
4. A plan;
5. An offer;
6. Name and logo;
7. Website (with offer and good photos of done jobs on it);
8. Google ads campaign (or other acquisition channel, start from one you know best/where your customers are);
9. SEO plan;
10. Legal entity;
11. Contract templates;
12. “Sales templates” base (those collected on the go, but you may already have something since you talked to people before);
13. Printers;
14. Some physical space;
15. Management system/software (like this one)

3 BONUS reminders for myself:

• To get paid in advance. ALWAYS, at least partially;
• To do extra for customers. If I can, when I can;
• To be patient- business is a marathon, not a sprint;

Some Q&A:

• Is the 3d printing business a good business to start?

It is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and it is not particularly easy, but all things that are worth doing are hard (that is what they say).
If you like it/are passionate about it/good at it (the most important factor in my opinion.) - it certainly might be.
I’ve planned to go with the B2B service model (on-demand manufacturing), and that trend will only grow over time.
Since we talked about the US, let's take a look at this article and specifically the chart of Construction spending on US manufacturing https://www.businessinsider.com/us-building-factories-census-data-chips-act-inflation-reduction-act-2023-6?op=1 + big new “infrastructure rebuild projects” might be somewhere around the corner.
What does it all have to do with a small 3dp service? The economy is an interconnected system. All of those “big projects” will require a lot of smaller contractors/suppliers, and they will need smaller ones…and that is where I come in.

• Why the service model?

2 reasons:

1. I know how to do it (done it for 10 years), the data above backs the idea up, and I still see a lot of upsides and opportunities there (aside from the data).
2. It is a lot easier to “search” for product ideas - they come to you (for that you will have to have a B2C “department” though). I’ve recently talked to a few 3dp business owners (and read a few stories over the years), and almost all of them had their product ideas brought to them by clients.

• Is it profitable?

If you create a system (management software can help with that) with processes in place, create and maintain customer acquisition channels, and price correctly - it will be.
I hope you got some value out of it.
Thanks for reading.

I had my 10+ year old Ride Highlife serviced at the end of last winter and the tech asked if I was sure I wanted to put money into it. It’s been loved but I decided I could get one more year out of it… that year has come and gone and it did well, but it’s time.
6’ 3”, 230lb, size 13/14 boot depending on company. I ride Colorado resorts mostly and stick to edges/bowls as long as good snow allows and avoid the park.
I am currently leaning towards the Korua Pin Tonic, I’ve heard great things about this board, it sounds like my style of riding. The other choice is a Lib Tech Skunk Ape, seems to be similar enough, magna traction for evil ice, and currently on sale and cheaper…
Anyone have experience with either of these?
Side note: I saw those step in Nidecker bindings in a shop and they seem awesome. I ride with a lot of skiers, so speeding up that portion of the day would be great. Thoughts?
I searched for this comparison, hopefully I’m not repeating posts or breaking rules.
Thanks in advance!

Game	System	Condition
Centipede	Gameboy	Loose
Ice Hockey	NES	Loose
Skate or Die	NES	Loose
Super Mario and Duck Hunt	NES	Loose
Namco Museum 64	N64	Loose, untested
Kirby 64 (Hoshi no Kirby 64)	N64	Loose
Hey You Pikachu (Pikachu Genki Dechu)	N64	Loose
マリオパーティ - Mario Party (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Mario Party 3 (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Mario Golf (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Pokemon Stadium Gold Silver (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Yoshi's Story (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Danganronpa Decadence Collectors Edition	Switch	CIB
Sonic Mania	Switch	Case and Slipcover only
Super Robot Wars 30	Switch	NIB
Namco Museum	PS2	Loose
Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time	PSP	Loose (game store stickers)
Persona 4 Golden	PS Vita	Loose
Fifa 14	PS4	CiB
Ghost Trick (JP Import)	PS4	CIB
Marvel Avengers	PS4	NIB
Sega Genesis Classics	PS4	CIB
AEW Fight Forever	PS5	CIB
Wolfenstein Old/New	Xbox One	CiB
Monster Hunter World	Xbox One	CiB
NHL 96	Genesis	Loose

Misc items
Gameboy Four Player Adapter DMG-07
Gamestop Gamecube Controllers
Nintendo 3ds off brand charger.
Xbox 360 Media Remote (short)
Xbox 360 Media Remote (long)
Mario Golf Super Rush Pin Set
Xbox Core Wireless controller, white (has a black battery back for a rechargable battery. Standard batteries still fit)
Black Nintendo Wii (bad disc drive), softmod installed (no games included) includes 1 Wii remote, RCA cables, power adapter and 2 Gamestop Gamecube controllers
SoftModded Wii (bad disc drive), power, AV, WiiMote (no games included)
SOUNDTRACKS

• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Borderlands Original Soundtrack
• Borderlands 2 Original Soundrtrack

Wants:

• Nine Persons Nine Hours Nine Doors
• Zero Time Dilemna
• Blood Bowl 3
• Famicom Detective Club
• Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
• Return of Obia Dinn
• The Centenial Case: Shijima Story
• Wolf Among Us
• Playstation Vita consoles
• Playstation Vita games
• Steam Games
• Your list

Howdy to the beautiful people of CFB! Welcome to my ranking of the 2023 uniforms for West Virginia Mountaineer Football! I thought I would rank WVU after their new uniforms were released a few weeks ago. I intend on ranking most of the Big XII teams and new PAC additions (Arizona and Utah) soon. In fact, I already covered Colorado, ASU, Oklahoma State and TCU if you want to scratch that uniform itch. If you are interested in my thoughts regarding the Big XII uniform season, check out my 2023 Season-in-Review Post or my recent 2023 Uniform Awards post, or recent 2023 rankings, which are all up top in my profile. If you want to go back further, check out these 2022 posts: 2022 Uniform Awards and Big XII Uniform Tracker 2022: Season-in-Review. (Sorry for the hyperlink inconvenience, but Reddit hates when I put links in the top paragraph, for whatever reason.) But for now, let’s check out what the Mountaineers donned in their much-improved 2023 Big 12 season, featuring some facts, stats, and history. Plus, we’ll maybe have a look at their new 2024 suits towards the end! As always, feel free to disagree with me or tell me if my rankings hit home. I’m interested in hearing what you think, or in seeing how y’all would rearrange the rankings!
Season Gallery Link: https://imgur.com/a/h4SHYPS
I’m u/matte_purple, and let's 3,2,1 go!

11. Yellow/Yellow/Yellow - Week 4 vs TTU (W, 20-13)
Link: https://imgur.com/gwCbBKT
The Gold Rush tradition in Morgantown started in 2007, and has had a pretty interesting history, including a College Gameday appearance, a 2012 heartbreaker against OU, a 2013 30-21 smash of No. 11 OSU, and several other wild finishes in WV. While I love the history and the crowd involvement, this 2019 jersey template is just too blank to properly allow gold uniforms to shine (I know I put “Yellow” in the combo, that's purely for convenience, I mean no disrespect at all). The new 2024 uniforms - which we’ll showcase at the end - do a much better job of providing a structure to the Gold Rush look, but these are, again, simply too much and too bold.
10. Yellow/Gray/Gray - Week 2 vs Duquesne (W, 56-17)
Link: https://imgur.com/pE4X5Er
Ah, the gray. We’ll see another gray example later on, but I think the gray suits just work out better when mixed with blue. The yellow creates an odd balance, and makes the suit feel top heavy. Yellow pants may have helped the look, but I’m not sure I like that idea, either. I do like the complementary yellow font outline to the helmet, and hey, it was a brand-new look! That’s got to count for something.
9. Blue/Blue/Blue - Military Appreciation Week 10 vs BYU (W, 37-7)
Link: https://imgur.com/fkLoxWr
Nothing inherently wrong with this look, I think that, again, it falls victim to the monochrome pitfalls of this 2019 update, just like the yellow/gold. The Military Edition state outline is an awesome touch, and the blue really isn't that bad compared with an all gray or all yellow, it’s just not a top pick. This same uniform and decal combo was worn in 2022 against OU, so it must be a tradition thing. The choices start getting a lot harder from here on out.
8. Blue/White/Yellow - Week 1 at Penn State (L, 15-38)
Link: https://imgur.com/11U3r4t
For some reason, this is always a WVU fan favorite. For the life of me I can’t figure it out. Anyone who has tuned in to my tracker knows I don’t really like tri-color looks, and this is another instance where it just doesn’t work for me. Maybe I need some convincing, maybe I’m wrong, who knows? It just doesn’t work for me. On another note, how did WVU select the Mountaineer as a mascot? Well, it's built into the location. West Virginia is known as the Mountain State because it is the only state entirely within the Appalachian Mountain region, out of the 13 states that the Appalachian Mountains pass through. Thus, residents are known as Mountaineers. The word is even featured on the state seal/motto - Montani Semper Liberi (English: "Mountaineers are Always Free"), which has remained steadfast since the state’s founding in 1863. This same phrase is embroidered on the inside collar of the uniforms, new and old. As far as we’re aware, WVU sports programs went by “the Mountaineers” starting in 1890, and have continued ever since!
7. Blue/White/White - Week 7 at UH (L, 39-41)
Link: https://imgur.com/YMpguqt
This was an absolutely psycho game to watch, featuring UH’s wild tip drill antics wearing their black alternates. Here, WVU wore a mostly white uniform capped off by their blue “Cue Country Roads” helmet introduced in this year’s Backyard Brawl. And yes, this look is clean. The font differentiates the white nicely, the helmet is busy enough to compensate for some of the stark white, and the suit is - of course - helped by a night game against a team wearing black. I won’t blab anymore, they're nice. The white is just a little bit too simplistic here. Pant stripes will definitely help in the new suits.
6. Blue/Gray/Blue - Week 13 at Baylor (W, 34-31)
Link: https://imgur.com/e3tfaj6
One of the more eclectic away combos I’ve ever seen, this look makes me sad that the gray has been officially put out of commission. It’s actually the first time WVU wore gray on the road and only the sixth gray game usage since 2019. It definitely works better as a road combo against the dark green of Baylor. The blue looks great sandwiching the gray suit, but the yellow outline feels a little out of place in this uniform as opposed to the white or blue majority uniforms. Lots of upside, but just enough complaints to keep it at the 6 spot.
5. White/White/White - Week 11 at OU (L, 20-59)
Link: https://imgur.com/c1pLWOM
I can’t get over these beautiful helmets. West Virginia’s helmet is a work of art. Using the decal popularized by the “Cue Country Roads” uniforms from the past two years on an otherwise clean white shell was a stroke of genius. The more detailed logo draws the eye compared to the stark white jersey and pants, while the large blue numbers help in breaking up the field. Still, this look may have looked a little bit better with some blue pants, or at least more blue accessories like shoes, belts, and gloves. The blue facemask is a start, but yeah, I like this look a lot. Still, the helmet puts these way up on my list.
4. Blue/White/Blue - Week 9 at UCF (W, 41-28)
Link: https://imgur.com/LbwU4O0
While I like the blue/gray sandwich in #6, this is definitely a more improved version. The overall flow of the uniform feels better here. No outline on the numbers helps keep things clean and matches the top and bottom nicely. How did WVU originally pick their colors? Simple. They’re featured in the state seal. These colors were adopted by the school in 1890, inspired by the West Virginia state seal, featuring a boulder that has been inscribed with the state’s founding - June 20, 1863. In front of the boulder lies two crossed rifles and a Grecian liberty cap as a symbol of the state's fight for liberty. The two men on either side of the boulder represent agriculture and industry. It’s as simple as that! This program really does represent state pride like no other. We're almost to the top spots!
3. Blue/Blue/Yellow - Week 8 vs OSU (L, 48-34) and Week 12 vs UC (W, 42-21)
Link: https://imgur.com/lU29RgY
Ah. The podium is here. These next three picks were all highly debated and could very well go either way. This look is obviously the most traditional of the wardrobe, and has been worn three times since I started tracking publicly in 2022. And of course, it’s one of the most recognizable combos for the Mountaineers in general. For me, I am especially reminded of Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Geno Smith lighting up the scoreboard against Baylor with Terrence Williams in 2012. I was just beginning to enjoy and follow college football more often, and this game really sparked an interest in me, especially as 2012 was a good KSU year AND WVU’s Big 12 opener. The yellow pants provide a great contrast to the blue. And the flying WV logo is one of the few “letter logos” that I think works really well. You just can’t beat it despite the pitfalls of the 2019 template. The 2024 version will be a sight to behold and could very well cement itself in first place next year. Beautiful, classic, and a no-brainer pick for a medal.
2. White/White/Blue - Week 5 at TCU (W, 24-21)
Link: https://imgur.com/w8cFhTK
What sets this one apart from all the other away combos? Unlike a lot of the other WVU suits, this one almost completely removes yellow while still feeling balanced in color. The only yellow on these are splashed on the helmet and hip logo. The blue may originally seem to weigh the look down, but once you add the large blue logo on the helmet and balance it with the almost all white on the rest of the suit, you get a magnificent away look. It combines the benefit of a crisp white out with the “semi-symmetry” - if you will - from a X/Y/X sandwich look. Just beautiful, and the most “modern” feeling of the year’s combos.
1. Blue/Yellow/Blue - “Cue Country Roads 2“ Week 3 vs Pitt (W, 17-6) and Mayo Bowl vs UNC (W, 30-10)
Link: https://imgur.com/prhh2wU
And finally, first place! Last year, we saw the amazing and incredible away version of this uniform. This year’s home version featured a perfect gold usage which felt balanced yet bold. The symmetrical blues, liberal use of gold, sublimated WV road map, the consistent striping on the helmet and pants, “Mountaineers” wordmark on the chest all topped off by that immaculate gold WV state outline is oh so wonderful. I mean, how is it possible to kick this much ass? It’s everything wonderful about the away uniforms added to a more traditional color scheme that, wow. Honestly, the picture itself does a great job. Creative, symmetrical, and a color scheme everyone loves, this is a grand slam design.
Bonus: Let’s check out the Mountaineer’s brand-spanking-new 2024 collection!
Main Link: https://x.com/WVUSports/status/1784264694842171731
Alternate Link: https://x.com/WVUSports/status/1786177842595729804
The 2024 suits honor the past traditions of WVU uniforms while also improving on the initial 2019 update through the new Nike F.U.S.E template. They maintain the updated 2019 color scheme and font, feature the fairly new state-outline WVU logo from the 2022 and 2023 “Cue Country Roads” alternates (both on the collar and helmet options), and add on some striping, shoulder accents, and wordmarks. The Flying WV returned to the sleeves for the first time since 2012 with wide acclaim. Also a feature of the Don Nehlen era are the pants stripes dating back to the 60s-90s. The most controversial piece of the uniform are those USC reminiscent 2007-2012 shoulder accents. My overall thoughts? It's a great update. 2019 was far too plain. The color scheme helps, but here the colors get a wonderful structure to build upon. The WV sleeves, the wordmark, and pant stripes are amazing touches, but I think the shoulder accents just add a little too much clutter to an otherwise perfect front. Overall, the helmets are mostly unchanged, the jerseys are a slight improvement, and the pants are a massive step up. I’d give the update an 8/10! Additionally, the Mountaineers released an inspired “Coal Dust” alternate honoring the storied tradition of West Virginian coal mining. They use a unique and fascinating coal pattern pulled straight off an actual coal mine tour, incorporate a black and white state-outline logo on the helmet that is to die for, and use gray/white vertical stripes in a way that tastefully mimics high visibility vests worn by miners. The center stripe on the helmet is my favorite touch, featuring the coal pattern used on the uniform, but with a white to transparent gradient mimicking the light of a miner's headlamp. I mean, this is a blackout look done right. I am so excited to see these in action. Combined together, the main and alternate looks for WVU are all very exciting and definite improvements!
If you’ve got some time, send a nice email to the athletics department design team of Kristin Coldsnow, Matt Wells, Michael Fragale, Joe Swan and Steve Uryasz, who designed the brand new 2024 look. The team worked in conjunction with football equipment managers Dan Nehlen and Austin Blake, who also deserve some praise for the fantastic job they are doing. The EQ room is a tough place to work, and these fine folks kill it day in and day out.
Well, I think that does it! I hope you enjoyed my 2023 season WVU Football uniform rankings. What a surprising and exciting building season for the Mountaineers. I’ll be slowly releasing more rankings for each of the Big XII teams as the offseason goes along. Again, feel free to comment or message me with any suggestions or changes to the rankings! Do you think WVU’s new suits are an improvement? Did your favorite suit seem properly ranked? Let me and all of CFB know! Have yourself a great Sunday and I’ll see you soon!

A month or so ago I would get 1-2k on a pin (sometimes!). Now I’m lucky if I get 19 and quite often zero. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’m adding keywords, same templates as before. Finding it all a waste of time. Is anyone finding the same?

Edit: o7
Responding via edits is silly. Standard hyperbolic response, as I mentioned below. But I gotta address two things just so y'all aware that I can offer a rebuttal if need be. 4THOT says:

Here's the full interview with the UN Rapporteur on Violence against Women claiming she isn't aware of the rocket attacks - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bar-shemur-8b1bb23b_the-un-rapporteur-on-violence-against-women-activity-7171212859895459841-gq6B

I don't know why he's attempting to "find" the "full interview". The linkedin video he has given here is literally the exact same video I gave in my comment. Click the hyperlink saying "the lengthier clip." They're both posted by the interviewer, Bar Shem-Ur. Mate, did you even read my original comment? If you scroll down this page (part 3), you can see I say "the segment that aired on Hazinor, Channel 13 is exactly the same." I searched for where the footage originally aired and found no additional material. 4THOT, mate, the "clip-chimp" is this 30s clip the Jerusalem Post originally posted. When I say "lengthier" clip, I am talking about the 5min segment that you had to "find" despite the fact that I already found it.

nvm this dipshit didn't find the actual interview, this is a cut from twitter

Once again, the video from Twitter I provided is the exact same video as the linkedin one. There is no entire, unedited full interview anywhere without the tiktok rapid cuts. There might be more footage out there, who knows, I've literally never claimed to have found the "full" interview. I called it a clip compilation because I don't know if more footage exits. Another baffling response. Anyways, I'll leave the rest, this is not the way to have a back-and-forth. Toodles! XD
Edit 2: Just to clarify what I was attempting to do in my comment, 4THOT still has not directly answered this question from part 3, the main post:

Do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel?

I honestly don't remember the last time I saw someone claim that Hamas has never fired rockets against Israel; this would be an astronomically fringe position. If you read the headline of the JP alone, and maybe even the article, you can still come away with the conclusion that Alsalem believes that Hamas has never fired rockets against Israel. I gave evidence of the fact that some people came away with this conclusion in the redacted comment:

Because if they've lived their entire lives unaware of the rocket attacks,

I don't believe that to be true; Alsalem has not lived her entire life unaware of the rocket attacks. We need more evidence to establish that then this interview.
Notice how I have actually quoted 4THOT verbatim down below? But for some reason, I need to provide a "direct link" to it, even though you can see it if you just scroll down the page? Baffling, like I said. "Isn't that interesting?" You're quoted verbatim mate! What do you think is "interesting" here?
4THOT you are killing me:

Here's the actual thread where you were banned.

You do realize that I've linked the thread I was banned twice? A third time as well if you want to include the moment where I linked someone else's comment in that thread. Unbelievable.
I never said the headline is "incorrect" these are the actual words I used in my direct appeal:

If the headline is poor, I might present information in the comments in order to ensure that the criticism is well-directed.

I believe that the headline could lead to a misinterpretation. I was later proven to be correct. I provided evidence of that misinterpretation in the direct appeal. And 4THOT refuses to engage with any of it. Again, these edits reply are so silly. I have no idea why he's so reluctant to have an actual exchange, but judging by how he's already responded, I get it mate. Finito once more. I gotta go get some cheese balls...

The Short Version can be found here.

Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

The Beekeeper. Bzzt:

Ah, I'm so fucked. 💀

Challenges...

This part is going to be an interesting challenge. I would say I’m walking a tightrope here, but that metaphor implies that there’s some slim chance where one can write a section like this and not get banned, um, again (and again?). The original plan was something a bit more comprehensive, where alongside another matter, I would make the case that there have been a number of pro-Palestine users that have correctly addressed misinformation on this sub, where they do a decent job of breaking circlejerks, adding some sordid nuance to threads that otherwise would have devolved into the ones laid out in Part 1 and Part 2. These users will, inevitably, have an “interaction” with 4THOT at some point; they will subsequently be banned on justifications that I obviously believe are nonsensical, where said justifications are also exhibited by 4THOT, whether in that exchange itself or in other threads; and these users are not interested in returning to the sub.
I abandoned this plan for a long litany of reasons; there’s two in particular I’ll highlight here: (1) I don't believe I can achieve the effects I desire; and (2) I'm keen to avoid any accusations of this section being some “hit-piece” or “hate-post.”
I do not intend to present arguments against any other aspect of moderation that I might find to be problematic; I do not intend to make comments on character. I am simply razor-focused on one aspect of moderation here, and one aspect of the unbanning process.

...and Goals

This part will attempt to try and have my other goal — which is shared by many other users in this sub — come into fruition: I believe users should be able to participate in this sub without needing to take into consideration what 4THOT’s personal views are on a matter.
The only things a user should be cognizant of is what are Reddit's site wide rules, including those specific to this sub; what are the subreddit rules; and what are Destiny's desires in terms of what comments and submissions are allowed here. I also believe subreddit rule 6 (rule 5 on new reddit) needs to be amended to remove the arbitrariness.
If a user comes away with a different interpretation of events than 4THOT does, and said user doesn't exhibit any other behaviour in their comment or submission that violates those stated parameters, then that user ought not to be banned.
If 4THOT’s personal opinion is something that we need to be mindful of — and Destiny approves of this notion, agreeing that opinions 4THOT alone finds to be beyond the pale warrants an immediate ban — then, unironically, that stipulation should be added to the subreddit rules.
Furthermore, as mentioned in the TL;DR, I am requesting clarification on if there’s any procedure by which you can get unbanned when 4THOT sets a condition on the unban — and whether or not he should be setting conditions on the ban. 4THOT has mentioned that "Ninou has orders to not unban certain [regards.]"
As it stands, it’s not clear if Destiny approves of this behaviour. I say this because I have not seen him comment on this aspect of moderation when it comes to the subreddit. If he already disapproves of this behaviour, then I would request that this sentiment be conveyed to 4THOT, which should hopefully reduce the likelihood this reoccurs in the future.
I'm asking that Destiny clarify here because then it's something that can be clipped, and moderators here can use that clip when, well, moderating.
One final point before I critique the bans. There’s a noticeable difference between this section on 4THOT, and his um, passionate challenge to Kelly Jean: she’s easy to avoid. Just close the stream mate! Whereas 4THOT has control over who can participate in this subreddit, Kelly Jean can't dictate who can and can't appear on stream. Mashallah. 🙏 Thus, I feel this submission has justification.

The Bullet: A Forlorn Attempt for Consistency

The second ban is infinitely more interesting, but I’ll briefly address the first 30-day ban. I am not here to relitigate this discourse. The post in question that led to the infraction was removed, but it's still available if you’re a moderator, and I won't be reposting it here. The gist of the post was a question on whether or not we should be banning people for misinformation, referencing a user who received a 90-day ban from 4THOT for posting a misquote from a mainstream Israeli news outlet, during a live translation of a speech Netanyahu was giving. I’m pretty sure 4THOT knows who i24News are, so I couldn't quite follow his thought process here.
Moreover, if you’ve gone through the examples above, then you can easily imagine my bafflement here as well, particularly because a couple days earlier a Twitter clip was posted of an individual clearly misspeaking.
The user who submitted this post was only banned for 10 days — despite doubling down on this not being a misspeak — and I was bemused by the inconsistency being applied here. Being completely consistent in terms of my own principles, I mentioned in my post that I don’t think either of them should be banned, but if this is the standard that is going to be maintained, then it would only be reasonable that some level of leniency is given if you happen to inadvertently post misinformation from a reputable news outlet.
Regarding the Netanyahu misquote, I am in full agreement with 4THOT that it is a misquote, but it is regrettable that, well, some chose to challenge him on this front, arguing that the corrected quote is functionally the same, or worse. Take note of how civil his interlocutor here is up until the point 4THOT used an insult; unwisely, his interlocutor chose to match tone. I’m only mentioning this because, despite the insults 4THOT might use against me, I have no interest in engaging in a similar style of rhetoric as I don't find it to be conducive to a productive conversation, and I’m hoping I don't have to deal with a level of vitriol here that users are sometimes not allowed to match — not that I have any interest in doing so. There’s a couple tame jokes in this post, but hopefully I don’t get a response like this:

Thank fucking God that guy died because he'd absolutely kill himself by biting off his own tongue to choke on his own blood if he ever read the obese shithead redditors backseating one of the most extreme acts of political protest any human being can ever do.
HE INTENDED TO DIE NIGHTMARISHLY YOU IDIOT THAT WAS THE POINT

Frisco, you got cooked mate 😭.

A Guardian Angel?

Now, after I was banned, another user made a post about the ban upon myself, which generated a fair amount of interest, you fucking drama frogs. Here, I simply wish to make four remarks:

• I'm sure you can see how different in tone, rhetoric, and substance OP’s post is compared to my original post (for those of you that remember reading it), and compared to this post. There are a number of insults that are frequently used against 4THOT which I don’t use as I’m looking for good-faith engagement from him. That being said, I appreciate the fact that OP wasn’t looking for a meaningful, productive exchange with 4THOT here, and thus they didn’t feel the need to temper their rhetoric.
• In the pinned comment, 4THOT uses a fair amount of hyperbole. The original post was very benign, and didn’t come anywhere close to conveying a sentiment that “this Reddit is ruined” or “4THOT is literally the IDF.” I don’t see how you can come away with this reading considering how mild the post was.
• Once more, I am not here to relitigate this, but I would have loved to address some of the criticism levelled against myself in the comments under OP’s post; I certainly wasn’t going to re-open those conversations a month later. That being said, I appreciate users like Wannabe_Sadboi for making the arguments that I, more or less, would have made had I had the opportunity to immediately respond. Just to quote one of their comments: “People shouldn’t be banned for being partisan, they should be banned only for breaking rules, and Splemndid didn’t break any rules.” But, apparently, there are rules being broken here, and it is not clear what these rules are, and whether or not Destiny approves of them.
• If the original post was problematic because it was too indirect, then hopefully this post which is significantly more direct — but kept well under the threshold of something that could be constituted as a “hate-post” — should not be a problem.

Chilling Effect. Brrr 🥶

When I was hit with the 30 day ban, I sent a direct appeal hoping the length of the ban would at least be reduced, which didn't receive a response, and neither did sending an unban request via the unban request form. No biggie. At least with a temporary ban I know when to expect to be unbanned.
After the 30 day ban, I decided to give up doing two things: (1) making attempts to get other users unbanned when I felt the justifications were not cogent or fair; and (2) participating in I-P threads that 4THOT himself had already made comments within — in particular, those where he was actively arguing with other users on the subreddit. This is a bad chilling effect; even if I see a comment they have made where they’ve made a false claim, or I disagree with their analysis or moral claims, I’m choosing not to engage because I'd rather not go through yet another cycle of bans. I value shitposting in the subreddit more than having arguments with 4THOT.
Moreover, I’m also not interested in getting caught in the crossfire when, upon finishing his Reddit debate, he bans his interlocutor from the subreddit, and also those who have made similar comments to the one his interlocutor has espoused elsewhere in the thread. He does not always do this, and I would literally never make the claim that he just “ban everyone that disagrees with [him]”. I won’t call this hyperbole as I’m sure someone has levelled this incorrect accusation against him. 4THOT is capable — and has demonstrated on myriad occasions — of being able to have dispassionate disagreements. The issue is that I’m not interested in rolling the dice here with another ban.
Thus, I decided to avoid 4THOT entirely while participating in the sub as normal, making the usual shitposts. (Y’all are welcome for the template, btw. I went frame by frame, looking for the shot of Destiny at his most euphoric.) Alas, woe is me, I made a fatal error: I can’t avoid 4THOT if I choose to comment in a thread first. Browsing new, the bane of my existence, Hobbitfollower you dastardly devil.

The Nuke: A Muddled Statement and Different Interpretations

In the trenches of new, I came across a submission which posted this version of a Jerusalem Post article. If you've read The Six Points, then you can see what I'm attempting to do in my comment, that was apparently egregious enough to warrant banning me “until Israel/Palestine is over.” Before I go over this, I’m going to once again link the comment I made on this subreddit defending Israel from the accusation that they have been siding with ISIS for years.

Consistency

I apply the exact same methodology when dispelling conspiracy theories on Israel as I do for the UN official whose comments are the subject of the post. I’m digging up the relevant primary sources; I’m searching for archived versions of articles posted on inactive websites; I’m reading multiple articles from different Israeli outlets reporting on the same speech; and I’m reading the entire transcript of the nearly hour-long speech by the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence at the time, Herzi Halevi, just so I can make an informed comment here. At no point am I ever concerned that I could be banned for this comment. I can freely talk about anti-Israel propaganda, and I know no moderator is going to bat an eye at that.
I recently watched a Hasan video because dgg taught me the art of hate-watching, and now I hate-watch dgg while they hate-watch Hasan. Early on in the video, an article headline by the Intercept is shown: “Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood.” Ken Klippenstein appears in the byline, which immediately sets off a red flag for me because I’ve found reporting by him in the past to be absolutely dreadful, including the time when he used to work for the Grayzone, where he gave Seymour Hersh a softball interview, and allowed him to spread risible conspiracy theories. The Intercept article shown in Hasan’s video doesn't provide the cables they are reporting on, but they are available on Ken’s substack. Without going on a tangent, unsurprisingly, the Intercept’s piece on these cables misrepresents them (IMO).
Similarly, when I had a discussion with a tankie on another subreddit on whether or not the 2010 Australian Labor Party leadership spill was “a US-backed coup”, I once again seeked out all the relevant and many Wikileaks cables, read them all, and made my own assessment.

Dolls

Enough examples! You get the idea! I have a consistent principle that I am applying here. Upon opening up the JP article OP submitted, I see Danielle Greyman-Kennard in the byline. This is a person who previously wrote an article claiming that a dead Palestinian baby was a doll (which is not the first or last time this has happened in general; Pallywood amirite?). When it was brought to her attention that this is a body going through rigor mortis, she doubled-down in a patronising tweet.
Eventually, someone at the JP realized the fuck-up, and the article was retracted. There are a number of journalists and writers for Israeli outlets that seek to publish or tweet out any information that casts pro-Palestine organisations or individuals in a bad light — and that’s fine. If you’re pro-Palestine, and you’re saying or doing some dumb shit, that’s on you, not the individual that wants to report on it. However, there are biases at play here, where one must be cognizant of how these biases can filter down into how information is presented.

Direct Appeal

The following is the direct appeal I sent when I was banned which will serve as a clarification on the comment:
What up, I initially disagreed with your assessment, but upon re-reading it, now I'm unsure what our disagreement is, and what you think I was trying to address in my comment. Hopefully, the following will serve as clarification.
When I opened up the submission, I read the headline, I read the article, I watched the clip contained within, and then I sought out any additional footage from the interview that was readily available. The safe assumption I make when it comes to article submissions on reddit is that folk are generally not going to read the article, and will likely only comment based on the headline. If the headline is poor, I might present information in the comments in order to ensure that the criticism is well-directed. The headline of the Jerusalem Post article is:

UN Special Rapporteur 'unaware' of rocket attacks on Israel

If you asked the average person what they thought this headline meant, they would think the UNSR thought there had been no rocket attacks launched against Israel ever or since the start of the war. As evidence that some came away with this conclusion, you can read [redacted link] here posted on [redacted subreddit] (emphasis mine):

This can't be real right? This is a fake article right? Or a satire piece? Because if they've lived their entire lives unaware of the rocket attacks, then they have no right having anything to do with the global politics or whatever it is the UN does. That's just insane.

In other words, this individual is in disbelief, and they're astonished that Reem Alsalem, the UNSR, is completely unaware of any rocket/missile attacks that have been fired against Israel ever. Here I hope we can acknowledge two things: (1) Alsalem does believe there have been missile attacks against Israel at various points in time; and (2) most pro-Hamas sycophants aren't going to deny these missile attacks have taken place -- they want these attacks to take place. Alternatively, they might seek to diminish the destructive capability of these attacks, or assert that it is Israel's fault these attacks are occurring. It's pretty rare to come across someone claiming they've never happened, period.
My comment was made to highlight that she was really caught up in the frequency of the attacks and how she was possibly misinterpreting the question. Reem Alsalem has a wide litany of dumb beliefs that you can criticize her on; in this case, I thought the criticism would be better directed for being unaware of the frequency of attacks. The JP itself does include a line that would have better served as a headline:

[UN Special Rapporteur] unaware of the frequent rocket attacks made by Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel.

As mentioned, I was trying to ensure that commenters didn't make comments like the one I linked. Re-reading my own comment, it could have been phrased better to make sure that those who read it understood my intentions.

Further comments

The rest of the direct appeal consisted of me clearing up any misconceptions that I might be pro-Hamas, providing various links of comments that demonstrate what my beliefs are. This my attempt to "pass the litmus test" as I don't believe I'm being engaged on the merits of my argument.
Once again, as I’ve hopefully established by now, we know there can be a widespread reluctance here to sometimes read past the headline and open the article, and even the article itself might not have sufficient context to truly parse what is being said. At the time, the only additional footage available from the interview was the five minute, heavily edited clip compilation available on the interviewer’s Twitter. It is just… irritating to watch. Partly because, as I said, I have to suffer through listening to Alsalem’s asinine beliefs, but also because it’s so chopped up that I can't quite tell what’s been cut out, what statements are directly following from which questions, and so on.
Other users also had interpretations of their own to give, taking note of the fact that there may be an edit after she says "but". I actually don’t think there was anything additional said, and it’s just awkwardly edited. However, unlike with Herzi Halevi’s speech, I and everyone else watching these clips are working with scraps here, and the segment that aired on Hazinor, Channel 13 is exactly the same. There is ambiguity here; an amorphous, nebulous, incoherent jumble of statements where one can make a range of interpretations — but one of those interpretations was not permissible on the subreddit. My own of course.
I’m still baffled as to what 4THOT’s contention here is. He comments:

!cleanse nvm you're an idiot. She says she has seen "attacks" but does not specify from where or whom or when. When he specifically asks if she's seen rocket attacks that have been reported from the north from Hezbollah and South from Hamas without "every single day" and is asked about rocket attacks from those areas says she hasn't seen it.

I presume the position he holds here is that Alsalem is being sly: when she says that she has seen attacks, she is actually referring to Israeli attacks, not Hamas or Hezbollah. For further clarity, I would have asked 4THOT:

• Do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel?
• If no, do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel since the initial barrage of rocket attacks on Oct. 7th?

In his first reply to my comment, he armed me and said I was his “strongest soldier.” 😳 Must have noticed these guns 💪😎. It seems like he originally agreed with me, and I don't know what impact, if any, this had on the ultimate decision.
I remember staring at this section of the unban request form thinking, "Err, I don't know." Like you all, when I've been banned by Destiny in the past, I know what to write here. He doesn't like snark; if you're being a condescending prick, get that ass banned. I have a general understanding of what sort of comments Destiny hates in this subreddit, and thus I know how to participate in the subreddit without being on the receiving end of a ban.
Taking the recommendation of another user, I cobbled together something for the unban form, and figured I'd just try again in a month. Alas, both the form and my last exchange with 4THOT was unsuccessful, and I would not have even attempted to send an unban request form to Ninou had I known that she had "orders to not unban" certain users. While I can understand that there may be certain users whose offenses are so egregious that a ban conditional on a lengthy period of time having been passed first is warranted, I don't believe I fall in this camp.
It's often stated by both Destiny and other moderators that the "process to get unbanned is pretty easy." Conditional bans tarnish the smoothness of this process, where good-faith unban requests are rejected due to the condition set, and I don't believe this should be the case.
If Destiny could offer further clarity here, that would be appreciated by both myself and others who have had this conditional ban placed upon them.

The Litmus Test:

Scroll up all the way to the top of Part 1, and what do you notice I've done in the preamble? I’m keen to avoid guilt by association; I believe Destiny just calls this being “webbed.” In the TL;DR I specifically mention the "pro-Israel crowd"; I know what this will invoke in the minds of people reading this, the associations people will draw to other people who have made criticism against the pro-Israel crowd. Thus, I feel the need to ensure that I dissociate myself from those people. That’s why you see the statement about Hasbara and brigading; it’s me raising a giant flag screeching, “Hey, I’m not like the others, this post is different!”
Let me give a couple examples here (suffer through some more examples…you must suffer…).

Example I - An Odd Title and an Audacious Inquiry

In this submission, OP posts a Twitter video with the submission title: “Reuters video shows militants armed with assault rifles atop aid convoy trucks and shooting at palstinians [sic] approaching the trucks.” Now, no one mentioned this in the comments, so to add some clarification here: this is not Reuters reporting, this is a clip from a Reuters live stream showing a view from a tent camp in Rafah. (Specific timestamp here.) Anyone watching this stream can clip whatever noteworthy event they see and add their own statements on what has transpired. As far as I can tell, that seems to be what the original clip here from N12 news has done, and it was also posted on their website, with no additional details.
This individual (henceforth called Doc) asked some fair questions. They made mistakes, of course, such as watching the clip on mute (you silly goose); but I would agree that “shooting at palstinians [sic]” invokes an image of, well, Palestinians being riddled with bullets, and instead we get what seems to be shots fired into the air. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that the title reflect this distinction. What’s unfortunate here is that merely attempting to get an accurate summary is enough for OP to assume the worst about them, and thus we get the rebuke: “Keep dicksucking the terrorists stealing the aid.” I’ve seen Doc’s comments before, when they say they’re an “Israel stan”, they are. But for OP, they immediately engaged in “the web”, guilt by association, etc., and that was enough to result in this petty infighting. I thought leftists were the only ones that did that?

Example II - No Steelmans Allowed

In the second example, it’s me that’s on the receiving end of the purity test. Personally, as someone who is not a leftist (see what I’ve done there?), I do think a considerable number of y’all miss the mark when it comes to criticising leftists, and I attempt to steelman their positions as I find that to be more conducive for better discourse. Feel free to disagree with the steelman, the point is that merely providing that steelman is enough for OP to assume that these are my own positions — despite clearly stating multiple times that I’m not pro-Palestine, that I support Operation Prosperity Guardian, etc. Once again I bring up that I have defended Israel from silly conspiracy theories when they mentioned “your tribe”, as that’s my attempt to pass the litmus test, demonstrating my impartiality here.

Example III - ???

I'm not sure if 4THOT engaged in a similar type of purity testing both for the initial comment I was banned for, and also in my last exchange with them on another subreddit. The exchange was pretty bizarre: I asked if they checked Reddit DMs; they replied that they do, and “our agreement stands.” In their next reply, they mentioned that they confused me with another person, and said that, “Yes, once I/P is over I will let your people go.” That phrase “your people”, is quite similar to how the OP in the previous example said “your tribe” and “your side.” This seems to be the guilt by association I spoke on: I’m being lumped in with a group whose views generally don’t align with my own. That’s why part 1 begins with an introduction on myself. I need to pass the litmus test first before I can get good engagement — and it’s unfortunate that I feel compelled to do that.

Engage in good-faith

The conclusion here is a simple one: don't assume what positions your interlocutor holds merely because they're skeptical about that framing of certain stories, or because they attempt to provide a steelman for the opposing side.

Finito for Real

What I’m looking for here is clarity. UN officials will continue to say and do stupid things; that applies to pro-Palestine people, that applies to leftists. But every now and then, upon seeing one of these submissions, I might think, “Eh, this is pretty stupid, but I think it’s stupid for slightly different reasons to everyone else.” Can I express those opinions here? Must I add a preamble to every comment so that people don’t assume the worst? Do I need to be thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what 4THOT thinks about this story?”

Free me OOOO 🐟

Thanks to everyone that offered feedback. :)

Sadly the survival kit did not yield anything remotely resembling a gun. Indeed, Rene could hardly make sense of most of the artifacts he found. He made a catalogue of those which he could recognize: a collapsible tent made of the same wondrous fibers as the jumpsuit, a portable stove, a package of brown lumps he suspected to be fire starters, a mess tin with a full set of folding utensils, a water flask, a wristwatch with attached compass (both of which possessed no hands but showed the time and magnetic reading through glowing lights) and a pouch full of white cubes that smelled like cinnamon.
As for the rest of the kit, that was a total mystery to him. Among them were a gauntlet fused to an underslung pipe, a hollow sphere, a folding tripod that held up some sort of bowl or dish with a great big spike sticking out of its center (perhaps it was meant for cooking stew in), and a lacquered obsidian slate marked with lines like a checkerboard.
He decided to fiddle around with them later. Reconnaissance came first. Before he left, Rene rolled up one dirty sleeve and located his femoral artery with his fingertips. He took out the syringe containing the antifungal drug and winced as the needle tip dimpled his skin, drawing a tiny bead of blood. He stowed the syringe away with the two extra doses then carefully packed his belongings inside the case, taking the extra time to arrange the stuff as compactly as possible.
A soldier’s rucksack contained everything he could depend on out in the field. One of the first lesson’s he’d learned as a footslogger was to maximize the use of its space to cram in as much useful gear as possible. There was no telling which of these artefacts would wind up saving his life out here, and Rene had a gut feeling that he would need every single one of them before this ordeal was over.
With the sheathed sword in one hand and the handle of the survival kit in the other, Rene went looking for water.
It was deep in the night, and Zildiz felt her children nibbling at her again. Hungry, always hungry. Aa faint smile graced her hard features. It was true what her mother had told her once: we are all of us slaves to our stomachs. But tonight she had nothing left to give. The stores of fat and predigested protein in the larder were all gone, eaten up during the lean dry season. Zildiz herself was completely spent, exhausted after a long day of futile hunting. What little she had caught had barely kept her in the air.
“Go to sleep, my little waifs,” she whispered tenderly, “Mother is tired.”
A cold draft swept across the paper floor of her nest, stirring up the dust and pieces of molted exomorph. The three of them were growing far too quickly for her liking. If only they would stay this tiny for another cycle or so, just so she could enjoy their company. That wide-eyed innocence and total dependency of pupae—to her that was the essence of motherhood. All the sacrifices of time and energy and affection, made in exchange for satiating an emotional compulsion more powerful than anything she’d felt in her maiden years.
And for what, she had to wonder. What did she stand to gain from this crooked bargain? They were helpless without her, all three of them, plump little blobs of soft flesh. What could they do for her that could even begin to repay her for her efforts?
Yes, through them she could pass on her likeness and traits to the succeeding generations of Gallivants ad infinitum. But did that truly matter? In time her descendants’ blood would mingle with that of the greater whole, and everything that made her, Zildiz, unique would be diluted to the point of obliteration. In time none of her descendants would resemble her in the slightest. If that was the immortality promised by the Vitalus, then she wasn’t interested.
Why then did she endure this pointless slavery and toil, waiting hand and foot on these…these parasites? Yes, that was what they were in the strictest sense of the word. Like ticks they had latched onto her, taking and taking until she had nothing left for herself.
And yet for some reason Zildiz was pleased with her role. More than that, she was happy to do it.
“For you, everything,’ she told them fiercely, “Everything.”
She drew the silk-spun cocoon around them and held them tight to her chest. They whimpered and shivered against the chill, and she felt her heart breaking. How would they survive the next dry spell? What if the rains never came back? There was only one choice that remained to her.
“Everything,” she swore to them again, “Take all that I am.”
And so her children began to eat the only thing she had left to offer up: herself. Though the pain was indescribable she let them do it, and felt the strength in her body slowly draining away.
“There you go,” she said, biting back the tears, “It doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, the four of you must live on.”
Four? No, that couldn’t be right. She only had three children. There was amber-eyed Polux, eldest and strongest. There too was dainty Sinestra who had grown right out of her first exomorph in a matter of days and was flying in a matter of weeks unassisted. Arvin was the youngest, born with a crooked leg and a cunning mind that more than made up for it.
But then why could she feel another presence in the room with her? Growing wild with hysteria, Zildiz pulled off the blanket and reached for her children. And there, curled up among its bawling siblings a desiccated husk with empty, rotting eyes staring back at her in accusation.
“No,” Zildiz wailed, “Oh, please no!”
Her screams rang out into the night, echoing across the treetops. But for all her grief and rage her cries could not wake the dead, and she was left drowning in her tears.
It was at this point that Zildiz woke up and found that she was drowning in the literal sense as well. Choking and screaming, she came bursting up out of the river, spewing a geyser of water from her mouth as she dragged herself up the riverbank, retching and gasping for breath.
Her lungs and throat felt raw from swallowing too much river water. Her body felt like it was being stabbed with a hundred pins and needles. Looking down at her chest she found that she was covered in hideous, fat leeches that were feasting on what they had mistaken for a corpse. Hissing in annoyance she tore them off and stuffed them into her jaws, blood spurting from the corners of her mouth. She needed all food she could get in order to heal her wounds properly. Besides, most of what she was eating had been hers to begin with anyway.
Zildiz got up and assessed her injuries. The deep and insistent ache in her back meant that one of her forewings had been torn off at the socket. That was going to set her back a few cycles to regrow. She had it lucky, all things considered. The grey behemoth could have burnt her to a crisp like the others. Remembering its trail of destruction, Zildiz looked around in panic and found to her relief that the monster was nowhere in sight. But that didn’t mean she was in the clear just yet; this was the river Sybil, deep in the heart of hostile territory. The Leapers ruled this biome, and they did not suffer incursions from their aerial cousins lightly. She needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.
Licking her fingers clean, Zildiz waded up out of the shallows and into the steaming jungle.

Hello Reddit.
I bought a bunch of Sonoff TX Ultimate a few months ago (T5-1C-120, and T5-2C-120) These are the US version (rectangular, not square)
I flashed them all with ESPHome and I'm finding the touch panels very irresponsive. I have to constantly tap the panel multiple time to register that I want to turn a light on or off. The integration with HA and Google works fine. I have reviewed my code multiple times trying to find any reason as to why is this happening, but I haven't been able to find anything.
Here's the code I used for my T5-2C-120 in the ensuit:

# Built using: # https://gist.github.com/wolph/42024a983e4dfb0bc1dcbe6882979d21 substitutions: name: 'ensuit-switch' brightness_on: 25% brightness_nightlight: 25% esphome: name: $name platform: ESP32 board: esp32dev # on_boot: # priority: -100.0 # then: # - button.press: light_relays includes: - touch_panel.hpp - touch_panel.cpp # Enable logging logger: # level: DEBUG # Enable Home Assistant API api: encryption: key: "################################" ota: password: "#############################" wifi: ssid: !secret wifi_ssid password: !secret wifi_password # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails ap: ssid: "Ensuit-Switch Fallback Hotspot" password: "##################" ## Enable Bluetooth Proxy #esp32_ble_tracker: # scan_parameters: # interval: 1100ms # window: 1100ms # active: true #bluetooth_proxy: # active: true # Home Assistant Light State #text_sensor: # - platform: homeassistant # name: "Hallway Light" # id: hallway_light # entity_id: light.hallway_light # on_value: # button.press: light_relays # # - platform: homeassistant # id: toilet_light # entity_id: light.toilet_light # on_value: # button.press: light_relays # # - platform: homeassistant # id: night_mode # entity_id: input_boolean.gone_to_bed uart: id: uart_bus tx_pin: 19 rx_pin: 22 baud_rate: 115200 #button: # - platform: template # name: light relays # id: light_relays # on_press: # - if: # condition: # switch.is_on: relay1_front_room # then: # - light.turn_on: # id: light.switch_leds # brightness: ${brightness_nightlight} # red: 100% # green: 4% # blue: 18% # transition_length: 500ms # else: # - light.turn_on: # id: rgb_light # brightness: ${brightness_nightlight} # red: 100% # green: 86% # blue: 35% # transition_length: 500s # - if: # condition: # switch.is_off: relay1_front_room # then: # - light.turn_on: # id: rgb_light # brightness: ${brightness_on} # red: 100% # green: 86% # blue: 35% # transition_length: 500ms # else: # - light.turn_on: # id: rgb_light # brightness: ${brightness_nightlight} # red: 100% # green: 86% # blue: 35% # transition_length: 500s binary_sensor: - platform: custom lambda: - auto touch_panel = new touch_panel::TouchPanel(id(uart_bus)); App.register_component(touch_panel); return { touch_panel->left, touch_panel->right, touch_panel->dragged_up, touch_panel->dragged_down, touch_panel->two_finger, }; # touch_panel->middle, binary_sensors: - id: button_left name: "Left Button" on_press: - switch.toggle: relay1_ensuit_light # - switch.turn_on: haptics # - delay: 500ms # - button.press: light_relays # - id: button_middle # name: "Middle Button" # on_press: # - switch.toggle: relay1_front_room # - switch.turn_on: haptics # - delay: 500ms # - button.press: light_relays - id: button_right name: "Right Button" on_press: - switch.toggle: relay2_ensuit_extractor # - switch.turn_on: haptics # - delay: 500ms # - button.press: light_relays - id: button_two_finger name: "Two Fingers" - id: button_dragged_up name: "Dragged Up" - id: button_dragged_down name: "Dragged Down" # Switch Relays switch: - platform: gpio name: "relay left ensuit light" pin: GPIO18 id: relay1_ensuit_light restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF # on_turn_on: # button.press: light_relays # on_turn_off: # button.press: light_relays # - platform: gpio # name: "relay middle living room" # pin: GPIO17 # id: relay2_living_room # restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF # on_turn_on: # button.press: light_relays # on_turn_off: # button.press: light_relays - platform: gpio name: "relay right ensuit extractor" pin: GPIO17 id: relay2_ensuit_extractor restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF # on_turn_on: # button.press: light_relays # on_turn_off: # button.press: light_relays #- platform: gpio # name: "relay right living room" # pin: GPIO23 # id: relay4_living_room # on_turn_on: # button.press: light_relays # on_turn_off: # button.press: light_relays # - platform: gpio # name: "sound amplifier power" # pin: GPIO26 # id: pa_sw - platform: gpio name: "touch panel power" pin: number: GPIO5 inverted: true id: ca51_pow restore_mode: RESTORE_DEFAULT_ON # - platform: gpio # pin: GPIO21 # name: "Haptics" # id: "haptics" # restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF # on_turn_on: # - delay: 400ms # - switch.turn_off: haptics # Light light: - platform: neopixelbus type: GRB variant: WS2812 pin: GPIO13 num_leds: 1 name: "NeoPixel 13" internal: true - platform: neopixelbus type: GRB variant: WS2812 # pin: GPIO20 pin: GPIO33 num_leds: 32 name: "Ambience Nightlight" id: rgb_light effects: - addressable_rainbow: name: 'rainbow fast' speed: 50 - pulse: - pulse: name: "Fast Pulse" transition_length: 0.5s update_interval: 0.5s - pulse: name: "Slow Pulse" # transition_length: 1s # defaults to 1s update_interval: 2s - addressable_scan: - addressable_scan: name: Scan Effect With Custom Values move_interval: 100ms scan_width: 3 - addressable_twinkle: - addressable_twinkle: name: Twinkle Effect With Custom Values twinkle_probability: 5% progress_interval: 4ms - addressable_random_twinkle: - addressable_random_twinkle: name: Random Twinkle Effect With Custom Values twinkle_probability: 20% progress_interval: 32ms - addressable_fireworks: - addressable_fireworks: name: Fireworks Effect With Custom Values update_interval: 32ms spark_probability: 10% use_random_color: false fade_out_rate: 120 - addressable_flicker: - addressable_flicker: name: Flicker Effect With Custom Values update_interval: 16ms intensity: 5% - platform: partition id: light_top_left name: "light top left ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 0 to: 3 - platform: partition id: light_top_left_extra_LED name: "light top left ensuit extra LED" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 31 to: 31 - platform: partition id: light_top_right name: "light top right ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 4 to: 8 - platform: partition id: light_right_top name: "light right top ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 9 to: 11 - platform: partition id: light_right_bottom name: "light right bottom ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 12 to: 14 - platform: partition id: light_bottom_left name: "light bottom left ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 20 to: 24 - platform: partition id: light_bottom_right name: "light bottom right ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 15 to: 19 - platform: partition id: light_left_top name: "light left top ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 28 to: 30 - platform: partition id: light_left_bottom name: "light left bottom ensuit" segments: - id: rgb_light from: 25 to: 27 # I2S audio component i2s_audio: i2s_bclk_pin: GPIO2 # BCK i2s_lrclk_pin: GPIO4 # WS # Player component for I2S media_player: - platform: i2s_audio name: Speaker dac_type: external mode: mono i2s_dout_pin: GPIO15 i2s_comm_fmt: lsb mute_pin: number: GPIO26 inverted: true 

Is there any YAML guru around here that could let me know what may be wrong with my code to cause the touch panel to behave so poorly?
THANKS in advance!