Research paper about history of machines

Alternative History

2008.08.03 03:41 Alternative History

This is a subreddit for the free and open discussion of history related independent thoughts and research. Including but not limited to lost or suppressed historical events, out of place artifacts, fabricated chronological timelines and discussions on the history of history (historiography). Note: This is not a "what if" hypothetical history sub. Redirect your post to AlternateHistory.
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2010.12.11 18:02 As If History Matters

Welcome to EconomicHistory! Economic history is the study of economic phenomena in the past. This is a subreddit for any journal articles, news articles, discussions, questions, or other media pertaining to this discipline. If you are looking to become more familiar with key topics in economic history, please consider reviewing our Reading List!
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2013.08.05 00:00 DanyalEscaped Things that happened exactly 100 years ago

This subreddit was formed in late 2013 to document World War I, day by day as it developed. It covers social, political, military and cultural developments in combatant countries and noncombatants alike. Its particular emphasis is on pointing out the most striking similarities and differences from the problems humanity faces today.
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2024.05.14 23:11 ifonlyabearcouldkill I don't buy the Courier 6 backstory.

So just for context, I like to do creative writing exercises by trying to string along connections between fictional characters that have no connections, I've seemingly incidentally come to the conclusion of something about Courier 6 and The Lone Wanderer.
I'm not gonna beat around the bush beyond that. I will explain what my thought process is. I'm going to explain why Courier 6 is a con artist, and the Lone Wanderer is the beginning of the story of what would become the West Coasts most dangerous Mailman. A hero who truly lived long enough to become the villain in a world of his own making.
The Lone Wanderer, and why his character is designed to have a sequel story.
Upon completing Project Purity, certain things to note happen in the general Lore of the game. The Lone Wanderer is confirmed to have purified the wasteland upon delivering the G.E.C.K (keep note of this entire sentence), and also confirmed to have lost his Father and Sarah Lyons before the time New Vegas is taken place. The Dialogue of the Lone Wanderer is unique because people actually are consciously aware of his fame due to Three Dog's radio station. James alludes to this in dialogue. In fallout 4, Megaton is alluded to have been destroyed.
This leads me to believe the Lone WandereCourier 6 may be the same individual, due to James' untimely demise, would lead anybody to be stricken with severe mental illness. (I KNOW ITS A REACH BUT HEAR ME OUT)
Let's discuss Courier 6's past
His earliest known accomplishments is being a Postman for a California based Mailing Company in the early 2280's, now traveling across the entire nation (extremely treacherous, yet not really a sweat for someone as powerful and dangerous as loss-stricken Lone Wanderer). The violent actions of the Lone Wanderer are yours to create as you play the game of course. Same for New Vegas. What leads me to believe they are one in the same is due to Lonesome Road, Ulysses alluding to some sort of "Talk" about the man that is the Courier. There's also the idea of how the Courier traveled the Divide with a straight up nuclear weapons detonation device.
It's literally stated by Ulysses and even your OWN BRAIN that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. Responsibility is a common theme in dialogue between people of importance in the stories and the Lone WandereCourier 6. Why? Because the Lone Wanderer was abandoned by his father, and lost his mother during child birth. The loss the Lone Wanderer has experienced, as a staunchly well esteemed vault dweller (passing all exams, escaped, saved the wasteland from being exposed to the Modified FEV). Dude is a straight up Hero, yet, if we are to assume this character would go on after the end of the story of Fallout 3, what exactly would a man like this do? He'd find a new home, far far away, doing a job similar to what would amount to being his calling (other than annihilating every single thing in his path). Being a Mailman.
I don't know why nobody has realized this but the story of the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3 is actually a story about a young adult man finding his calling in being a Mail Carrier. Having been dealing with so much trauma, a 19 year old man that is the Lone Wanderer, would definitely have a psychopathy after all that happens. Imagine what it must be like for a man like Ulysses to be from Cali, and meeting the Lone Wanderer (nobody knows what the Lone Wanderer looks like on the west coast, but know OF him.)
Now into the REALNESS ZONE because I wanna explain what I was thinking that made me connect the dots, besides the fact that the idea that being able to set your age in FNV means it's impossible for it to be a sequel to Fallout 3 due to the Lone Wanderer is confirmed 19 years of age. You JUST TURN to adult age by the events of Fallout 3, by New Vegas, that man has experienced a LOT. And that LOT, has got to be all of the events of Fallout 3 for one reason.
Ulysses knows who Courier 6 truly is, but due to amnesia, and Ulysses own psychopathy (recurring theme for people who become exceptionally dangerous and powerful in the Wasteland), and its this dialogue that basically has been in front of ALL OF US the entire time, and nobody has ever known what it actually means. The Courier definitely doesn't, but the Lone Wanderer, if he were talking to Ulysses, I know for a fact that all of Ulysses dialogue would remain unchanged, but the Lone Wanderer would say very different things than what the Courier 6 said.
"Name's died twice to history. If the West thanks you... the East won't, in time. Fall apart, back to the tribes, maybe."
Implying that Courier 6 had a double life, or a life before the current one Ulysses met him. He met him before Benny shot him, but clearly wasn't close in any capacity. Referring to knowing where he came from, and possibly knowing he's the Lone Wanderer. If anyone could get the signal from DC of any news regarding the Lone Wanderer, it is Ulysses (Ulysses' Point in Big Mt. Big Mt. contains many many clues as well.)
"Let the land do the killing for you, that's one of the things you taught me."
Whether the Courier at the time of transporting the Platinum Chip, had either intentionally or unintentionally set off the nukes in his path, the idea of him being completely unaware of it before Benny shot him is completely false according to Ulysses' statement. Basically, whatever was already there; nuclear missile silos, were what would be the land that killed everything for the Courier. He says he taught it to him because, well, as someone who's talked about on the other continental shelf, he must know what he's doing. He must be deliberate in his intention. Maybe it's alluding to this man being not actually a Courier... Maybe...
Courier 6's Brain's Dialogue: "I don't know. I'm afraid the trauma of our separation rendered me quite insensate. I didn't come around until I was safely ensconced in this tank." (separation anxiety is one of the biggest hints in my opinion. Not just every wasteland powerhouse experiences subconscious anxieties of the nature that someone living in a cozy environment would. Like the Lone Wanderer, having lost his father, and mother, and Sarah Lyons, and Megaton.)
"Oh, lovely, we've reached the mindless violence portion of the program. Tell me, what exactly are you - and I use the word loosely - planning?" (clearly there's a separation of intention between the Courier's subconsciousness and his actual actions. That's indicative of someone who cannot fathom responsibility for his actions.
"Ah yes, there's that greed and general sense of malice. I'd nearly forgotten it. What's the plan, then?" (I think this just reinforces everything even more because it's obvious from lines like this that this man has a serious history and even his own subconsciousness knows he did something extremely bad... like nuking an entire trade route in a drunken stupor? Don't believe me? Why does your brainless body say this then?)
Brainless Courier 6:
"I would. And I'd follow it up with an alcohol-and-ant-nectar cocktail every night." (a truth. Without the brain to develop conscious lies, clearly this was what Courier 6 has done before. Must be lots of ants where the Courier 6 is originally from, and intentionally moved somewhere where he could still realistically acquire ant nectar)
More Ulysses dialogue that reinforces the idea of the Courier's intentions being significantly different than the narrative:
"That violence in the sky, had a source. Tracked it. Like following a river current. Left the colors to mark my way, like always, case someone finds them, learns the pattern - the Courier might." (James unintentionally left a paper trail for the Lone Wanderer to follow. His tracking skills are significant enough that Ulysses knew.)
"Not a camp - vigil, maybe. Never claimed it as mine. {More a question}If anyone owns the Divide... {"well..."}your claim is stronger than mine." (sort of a jab at how dangerous you are.)
"Words aren't the only way couriers meet... sometimes it's the paths we walk. But no... we've never spoken before now." (he's seen him visibly possibly many times before they first spoke.)
"You may not know my voice, but we've walked the same places. The Long 15 to Primm... that wasn't the only road you ever walked." (He knows a secret)
"I've been to your home, the place you kept returning to... may not be the place you were born, was the place you gave life to, same thing." (He knows he's foreign to the West Coast region.)
I know this is all a reach, but the thing that cements my idea, is because there is no official dated time for which Courier 6 began his activities. To me, it reads like things happened in a very short span of time, the time between F3 and FNV chronologically is 4 years. Now I wanna provide EVEN MORE hints, because there's so many weird interactions between the Courier and just random people. People even confusing him for something he's not, and it's evident that is the case due to established lore, its not like people are lying, its just purely subtle hints.
(The Courier is initially unaware of the rarity and value of the Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps as Malcolm Holmes says the Courier did not express any reaction upon finding their first one.)
And let me get the Montana Connection to the Courier bit out of the way before people start saying, "uh but he shagged a broad in 2260-something:
"That would explain how they could forget what happened at The Divide... but then there's all this other weird stuff the Courier does remember, like a shtupping he gave a dame in Montana 17 years earlier. (Interestingly, this also establishes a ballpark minimum age for the Courier of around age 30, if said doinking occurred when he was a teenager).
More strangely, (with a high Intelligence stat), the Courier can speak Latin to Silus while interrogating him, but is totally dumbfounded by a phrase in Latin spoken to him by Arcade. (This is all the weirder because the Latin the Courier uses when speaking to Silus is more advanced than Arcade's "Nihil novi sub sole", which -- even without being proficient in Latin -- is fairly easy to figure out from the English words descended from it.)"
And finally, the one thing I predicted just by thinking about all of this. The Courier is a Con Artist. He flat out tells Keith he is one.
And lastly, the ED-E and Courier connection. What is that connection? They both long to return to their true homes, the Courier remarks, "Why do you think I became a courier?" HE WAS ONE WHEN HE WAS HOME, AND HE CONTINUED TO BE ONE AFTER AS WELL.
Any counter argument would be greatly appreciated, however, I believe I've covered all bases without saying Sarah and Sheldon Weintraub are the Courier's/Lone Wanderer's long lost siblings lmao. And also, before people get confused about the Montana Connection, the implication I'm making with that is the fact that going off of specifics like, for example, a Brain Damaged Courier saying he messed around with a woman in a place like Montana, but not knowing what Illinois is, or what Chicago is, or what Denver is. Oh and also, the Latin thing too. His brain was too damaged before he went to Big Mt. where his subconsciousness is fully revealed to be a sorta nihilistic, psychopathic, and bitter as well. The emotion of being bitter in that fashion, regarding violence, greed, malice as a end-all-be-all means the Courier wasn't always like that. He was once a not-so greedy, malicious, and violent individual. To me, everything from that dialogue between Brainless Courier and the Courier's Brain tells me he was once a Vault dweller.
submitted by ifonlyabearcouldkill to falloutlore [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 23:01 SnooPeppers579 I’ve had 2(possibly 3) hamsters pass in the course of a month

I’ve had 2(possibly 3) hamsters pass in the course of a month
All of these animals are at my place of work( a preschool) and I have very limited control over them. I have no control over the size of their enclosure, nor do I have control over their placement, and their existence within the school. I am trying to do the absolute best that I can with giving them enrichment inside their enclosures and doing as much research as I can. To start, we have 2 gerbils, 2 guinea pigs and 2 hamsters. The gerbils and hamsters are in 20 gallon tanks. The first hamster(Snoopy) we had was a male Syrian that was very young. He suddenly fell ill and I’m not sure what caused it. I feed the rodents a mixture of Essentials hamster food and mix seed. Snoopy passed while the substrate was regular paper based bedding( not sure the brand). Someone else bleached and sanitized the tank, wheel, food bowl, not sure about the water bottle. We got a female short hair hamster(Strawberry) the same day and that was about 3 ish weeks ago. Since then, she has had a paper based bedding, then I switched to a mixture of aspen and clean and cozy paper. I did the same switches to our other long haired Syrian hamster(Snowball) that we’ve had for about 7 months. Strawberry passed yesterday very suddenly. She was active that morning then just a few hours later she was gone(about a week after the substrate switch. Today, snowball was breathing weird and sleeping outside of her nest. I let her out played with her a little and gave her a blueberry she seemed okay. The only things I can think of is 1. Since I work at a preschool, everyone is constantly sick, children and teachers, and I read sicknesses can spread to the hammies? 2. The The ball (which they all share) wasn’t sanitized between each use and something spread between them. 3. Snoopy and strawberry were placed in a very unfortunately in their room(not my decision) next to a changing table where they constantly spray bleach water and febreeze. But that wouldn’t explain why snowball isn’t feeling well. 4 they all came from petsmart so they were already sick. 5. Stress. All three hamsters chewed/chew the plastic on the top of their tanks. Or 6. The switch I made to adding the aspen in there. The first two images are of snowballs old and new setups, then strawberry’s new, then snoopys only setup. I’m sorry for how unorganized this is! My heart aches for these hamsters and I’d love any help possible.
submitted by SnooPeppers579 to hamsters [link] [comments]


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2024.05.14 22:58 Thowaway528 The Hive Remembers

 We have to tell you something before we finish this. Do you remember the humans; their appearance, language, culture, and technology? We do. Each planet that they colonized. All the advancements they made. Every sentient they encountered. Understand that as a Hivemind, our species has little use for language, either written or otherwise. But because of our telepathic connection, as long as there are enough of us around, we can keep memories well past what a single mind species could. We remember first contact. Our appearance millennium ago was much more different than that you look at now. See, our home world Apis 3 drifted too close to one of the gas giants present in our system. It was thrown out of orbit and was threatened to become a nomad world. At that point in our history, we were still in our hunter-gatherer phase, so there was no possibility for us to save ourselves. Vegitation was dying, animals went extinct. We were doomed to be snuffed out like a small fire in a roaring blizzard. But our saviors came. The Hive remembers. Humanity saw that the planet, despite going rogue, was a perfect planet to colonize if they could just solve the problem of it free floating into the void. So that's what they did. We remember the structures the size of cities that pushed the planet back into orbit around our star. We stayed underground, scavenging what was left of our world trying to survive as their terraforming efforts marched on. It was awe inspiring for how quickly the frozen wastes became meadows of their homeworld's flowers. We never saw them up close until desperation made us attempt to steal their food. That was our first encounter with a human at a settlement called Mel Farms. See, the humans had brought the DNA of about every domesticated species of flora and fauna with them to clone and modified them to be able to live on our planet. One such species was an insect about 15 millimeters long, yellow with black stripes, and had a symbiotic relationship helping the plants reproduce in exchange for producing their food. The humans had kept them in large boxes outside that allowed them to breed and overproduce this food for human harvest. We attempted to steal this food after discovering it was really, really good. Our first encounter with a human was after we learned of this insect's defense mechanism. Injecting us with venom at the cost of its own life while summoning more of its sisters to continue the onslaught. As embarrassing as it was, the Hive remembers. The security measures around the area had alerted a male human named Charles. We recall the white clothing he wore to protect him from the insects as well as the atmosphere. We recollect the weapon he wielded to pacify the creatures, a tool to emit smoke. We reminisce about the kindness he showed us when we were left to seven members of our species. You have to take into account that we were weakened by the recent climate catastrophe, so at that moment, we accepted our fate. But destiny had other ideas at hand. They fed us, shelted us, studied us, healed us, and most importantly, they saved us. We learned how to communicate non verbally with the help of their machines. They showed us the many other species of insects that they brought, worms that produce silk and transform, small insects that farmed and built structures, arachnids that flew on tiny balloons; we admired the little creatures they showed us. Despite our small stature, we did our best to repay the humans and their kindness even if it was just helping their construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. They were concerned about this relationship; Charles said it was because historically, humans had a tendency for a group with superior technology to take advantage of with different advancements. But we continued unfazed. And as our numbers increased so to did our reverence of them. They taught us quickly how to stand on our own legs and think critically to solve our own problems. When Charles died, we honored him by asking the humans to genetically alter us to appear as his pets. Our chitinous armor is now covered with yellow and black setae, larger eyes, small antenna, small clear wings added to our bodies, and the capability to produce materials like wax, honey, and silk. We call ourselves the Keepers. Despite being cute by their standards, we were useful to them; even if it was just as a way to intantly communicate accross systems. The Hive remembers. Understand that it is completely common for a human contacted sentient to alter themselves to honor their friends. When the reptialian Drakon were suffering from a global plauge; the humans came down, helped them, and gave them the means to advance. They learned of human history and culture and incorporated it into their own, adding ancient heroes like Shaka and Sun Tzu to their pantheon. When they discovered the gods and demons humans revered, they saw fit to mimic them. Now, all the Drakon females have brightly colored feathered wings and serpentine bodies, while the males have large leather wings, spiked tails, and produce combustable gases in their mouth they ignite for a dangerous attack. When humanity discovered Gaia, it was just a living mass capable of converting inorganic material like heavy metals into biomass. It was starving, having converted the whole planet into biomass, and its last resort was to self-destruct so that its spores could potentially discover new planets. A human gifted the planet the genetic information of every known Earth species into Gaia, allowing the all-consuming planet to morph thriving biosphere of new unseen creatures and photosynthisis capable plants to feed from. Perhaps it wanted a civilization of its own, so it created a sentient similar to the humans, albeit with pointed ears, a telepathic link to the planet, and distinct dimorphic traits where the social herbivorous females outnumber the solitary carnivorous males. The Alvari have now taken to the stars, bringing the spores of Gaia to terraform new worlds. We could go on forever rehearsing every species that changed to honor the humans. The Vanara changed their appearance to be more simian after humans averted a drought on their jungle world. The robotic Rossum altered their mechanical bodies to be more humanoid, making relations easier and distancing themselves from the creators they overthrown. The polypheltic Limosa, after their first contact, now shape their gelatinous bodies to appear more human, even placing their control core in their chest similar to a human heart. The humans have left their mark on hundreds of sentient lifeforms accross the galaxy; and despite our different customs and biologies, we all cooperated for the sake of the humans. And then you killed them. You came to our galaxy, you slaughtered them by the trillions, and drove the species that has done so much to make up for its own dark history into extinction. Your entire empire is built on the bones of a once prosperous species. Do you remember how they found you dormant on your own orphan planet? When they brought you to their one of their own systems? When you conquered their worlds and butchered them for meat? Have you forgotten the bravery that human soldiers fought when they defended their homes in vain? Can you even remember their screams? We are the Keepers of their legacy. It has taken us generations, but we are ready to avenge our fallen saviors. We have amassed a swarm so massive that your computers would malfunction, trying to comprehend the strength of our numbers. And we are not alone. Every sentient uplifted by humanity is on a warpath to eradicate you. The combined fleets of our crusade will block the light of the stars from hitting the surface of your stolen worlds. We will lose many, but we guarantee that you will wish that you froze to death on that rogue planet centuries ago instead of collapsing under the weight of your sins. We hope your gods are forgiving because each and every one of you will be introduced to them. You will die, and not even the Hive will remember you. 
submitted by Thowaway528 to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:57 Trevorlahey1 Trip Report - 13 days Panama

I wanted to give back a bit after receiving some great information from folks on this sub before a (very short notice and sparsely planned) solo trip to Panama in late April/early May of 2024. I'm subtitling this post "I did a lot in Panama so you don't (necessarily) have to". Truth be told, I started the trip with 4 nights and one in-country flight booked and built the rest of my itinerary on the fly. I definitely could have used an extra week or so before the trip to do some itinerary planning, deeper research on where I chose to stay, etc. but I really enjoyed most of the trip and would absolutely recommend Panama as a solo trip destination.
Rough pre-departure itinerary:
I arrived in Panama City on time and took an Uber straight to Selina (cost $28). The Selina there is in a decent location, kind of on the edge of Casco Viejo but walkable to everything. I checked in and was told there was a welcome happy hour with a free drink and a free walking tour every day at 10. The 6-person dorm had a dedicated bathroom, but wasn't much for the price ($30/night) and I'm just now realizing I booked a 4-person dorm then was put in the wrong lodging... There is a bar and allegedly a pool on the roof of the property, but the pool was not open when I was there. The welcome drink was an underwhelming event, though I did meet a few cool people I ended up doing more with later. There really isn't much in the way of common space at Selina Casco Viejo and I found it to be overpriced, underwhelming, and not a great place to meet people. I ended up booking the canal tour ($60ish) with them (which was via the personal vehicle of the guide, a small sedan cramming 4 of us in plus the driver), but I did a different free walking tour after hearing poor reviews of the one provided by Selina. While Selina felt like a huge waste (would not recommend this location), I really liked Casco Viejo. The food was surprisingly good, especially ceviche at Marea https://maps.app.goo.gl/MdWBJ1uw4mWLB7r2A and a nice stop for middle eastern at Estambul Casco https://maps.app.goo.gl/qFq8wAm5NEzJw84F8 . I also made a quick stop with some people from the hostel at La Fabrica https://maps.app.goo.gl/WdAG1KAhwmkj1TbS8 which had a decent tap list and cool vibe and the Pedro Mandinga Rum bar (highly recommend) for some beers and a rum flight https://maps.app.goo.gl/seXCnetthN18BbUB9 . I also, as a cigar smoker, made a stop at the official La Casa del Habano store https://maps.app.goo.gl/uhswvnFPe1Y1Uzbu9 where the staff was chill and the cigarum selection was good. I finished out my cigar and partook in a bit of happy hour across the street at Finca del Mar which had a decent outdoor area for a drink https://maps.app.goo.gl/kPSiTHdd2mJmtakGA but the food was not recommended so I didn't try it.
I was up early to get to David on Sunday morning, so I figured I'd just grab food and coffee at the airport lounge (mistake). It turns out the Copa flight to David departs from the "domestic" gate, which is a standalone area on the ground floor of the airport. There are no amenities, just a single vending machine, and you get bussed to the plane. Do not go early for a David flight, security was very easy and I ended up waiting in the small seating area for way too long. The flight was fine, but don't expect to access a lounge or coffee shop after security.
I got to David pretty early and hadn't done my research on transit, but knew there was public bus service to Boquete. I was trying to figure out how to get to the bus terminal when a taxi offered to drive me all the way to Boquete for $40 which seemed like a decent deal so I went for it. Boquete is pretty small, a little mountain town with a relaxed vibe. I spent quite a bit of time at the brewery which, if you know craft beer pretty well, wasn't the best on beer quality but had good live music and a fun atmosphere https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJFiRiwQsbJ89UPa9 . I worked from here a little bit too, definitely where I spent the most time. I got a delicious dinner at RetroGusto which was really reasonable https://maps.app.goo.gl/8gcU1GHqXrfbTCoX9 and a good lunch at Donde Giselle which was a little more expensive, but also delicious https://maps.app.goo.gl/uNsz1EqCDfnSpYfk8 . I did a coffee finca tour through Bambuda ($35) at Don Pepe. It was pretty cool, not a lot of walking but the guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the full operation in a small footprint. I bought one bag and was happy I did, they were 3 times the price in the airport on the way home. The Tres Cascadas (three waterfall) trail was a must, it does have a steep section that has ropes affixed to help but was otherwise a pretty straightforward trail. It did cost a few dollars to hike as it's on private property. I took a taxi there ($20) but took the bus back ($2.25). The bus comes by every 30-40 minutes and they generally wait a bit at the entrance to the trail from the road to see if people come down. We did end up picking up a whole bunch of kids leaving school, but it was pretty funny and we managed to fit everyone. I did do the Volcan Baru hike, which cost $18 for a taxi to the trailhead but was otherwise free. It is a grueling hike, it took a little over 5 hours for me to get to the top and I was not having fun. I was very lucky to encounter a couple who was dropped off at the same time at the trailhead and, while we did not hike together, we did take a few breaks together and it was nice to be within sight of their headlamps. It was COLD at the top and I was happy I had a light down jacket and a fleece. I did a good job of timing up my climb with the sunrise, only needing to wait at the top for maybe 30 minutes before the sun came up. You can go up in a jeep, and I was very lucky to beat the offroad vehicles up as they were very loud coming up the mountain. It did get pretty crowded at the top by the time all of the jeeps had emptied out and their clients climbed the last bit to the summit. The view was phenomenal, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific on a clear day and the sunrise was beautiful. It was a little annoying that the 6 of us who climbed it had to share with the 25 or so who rode up in cars, but worth it. One spot I wish I had visited, but it just didn't work out, was a wood fire pizza spot that came recommended by our coffee guide and by several travelers https://maps.app.goo.gl/T93KKqHxXoQ7AFhf6 . I got lucky at the Bambuda Castle as I booked a 3 bed room but had it to myself. It had a nice restaurant and common space within the castle itself that was a good working space and had a fantastic view. The food was pretty good, with a few vegetarian options and smoothies. It's a pretty decent walk from the center of town, and about $4-5 taxi ride from the Boquete center. If I went again, I would probably look to stay somewhere in the center of town but I don't regret giving the Castle a shot.
I traveled out of Boquete to Bocas del Toro the same day I did the Baru hike, leaving via shuttle at 1 PM ($37) which I arranged through Bambuda. I ended up using a discount QR code at Bambuda Castle to book their Bocas town Hostel for three nights. The shuttle was fine, but it's a quick trip through winding mountain roads so be prepared if you get carsick. A big bonus, that I would recommend you ask about, was that this shuttle did not go all the way to Almirante, but instead stopped at Chiriqui Grande and proceeded via small boat (lancha) from there. The longer boat trip was fantastic, much better than the long/boring road which runs the rest of the way. I got stopped right off the boat in by several people trying to sell tours and got one person's number for a potential $35 Cayo Zapatilla tour but didn't commit, choosing to get to Bambuda Bocas Town first and settle in before making decisions. While I wish I had spent some more time at either red frog beach or another island, with only 3 nights and having booked late my options were limited. For Bocas Town, Bambuda was great. The front desk folks were pretty helpful and the restaurant was good for breakfast (the vegetarian burrito option is better than the sandwich). The hostel deck goes right out to the lagoon, and it's always busy with people hanging out in the sun or jumping into the lagoon. It was a great spot to do some work over coffee and, frankly, I wish I had spent more time here or at the Bambuda Lodge. I ended up doing the Caya Zapatilla tour (highly recommend, if only for the stop at Caya Zapatilla) for $35 with the operator I met right off the boat. This included pick up and drop off from Bambuda, and they had a cooler that I threw a few Balboas of my own in for the trip. We did stop mid-way for lunch which was not included and was a little expensive. This was the only actual tour I did during my time there, I spent my other full day just kind of hanging out and went to Starfish Beach (not as nice as Caya Zapatilla, but worth an afternoon) with a group from the hostel. I also did salsa night at Selina (fun, but a bad instructor) and karaoke at Aqua Lounge (get there in time to get a round of the happy hour special, the screen is behind the stage so not ideal for karaoke but it's easy to get on the list). I did not do Filthy Friday, I ended up departing Bocas that day but I would have been on the fence about it anyway. I guess it's a "when in Bocas" thing, so I probably would have gone for it. I really wish I had spent another night in Bocas, I regretted not having another day out there as soon as I left. It turned out to be the best place on my trip to meet people, it's definitely a general party vibe, and actually the best place to get work done of the hostels I stayed at. I did dinner at Pier 19 which was pretty nice, if not a little expensive and probably not a good solo traveler vibe https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vJG1rdUPCqEf9W3A . I did brunch one day away from Bambuda at Casa Papaya, their typical Panamanian breakfast and it was a great deal/meal https://maps.app.goo.gl/9CPFCxu6woWwKuwM7 . I did hear from some people that the bird island was a fun tour, and worth the day/cost. I did some bonus late night, unofficial stuff like swimming after midnight at Selina and an impromptu midnight trip out to see the bioluminescence and the stars with a random lancha taxi from the Selina dock. Not sure how I'd direct someone to arrange that, but say yes if it's an option.
I took off from Bocas via shuttle for the Lost and Found Hostel on Friday around noon ($20) which I arranged at the main lancha dock. This shuttle did not include a boat all the way to Chiriqui Grande, it was the short boat with the long road segment. A few people did get car sick during the first leg of the trip, the road is in pretty rough shape so lots of speeding up, slowing down, and swerving potholes. Lost and Found really caught my eye because of how much I enjoyed Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador. In the end, it didn't live up to that lofty expectation and I should not have squeezed it in. The allure is that it's isolated in the jungle, you have to walk about 15 minutes up the trail from the road to reach the hostel property. There are several buildings, with one primary common area with a few tables and hammocks. A big downside is that everything is outdoors, under cover of roofs but open still, which wasn't ideal in the evening during the season I went where it rained in the afternoons. There is a community kitchen if you bring your own food along, or there is an option to get breakfast/lunch/dinner from the hostel. I had a few meals there: the smoothie bowl was good, the lentil curry was a little on the salty side. The hiking is pretty cool and I ended up going up over the mountain to the big tree, the lookout, and the river. I didn't bring water, but definitely should have brought a liter along. In the end, with only about half a dozen other people staying there and 2/3 of the staff being pretty insular and not really socializing with the guests, it just wasn't a great addition to my trip. It might be a better option for a group or during a different season, but it provided a logistical challenge to make my flight back from David to Panama City and it wasn't really worth the risk of making it work, so I hired a car ($30) to take me to David and just ate the price of my second night at Lost and Found. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't on the same level as Secret Garden Cotopaxi which inspired me to give this a shot. I think, all in, my stop at Lost and Found cost me about $76.
The combination of having scheduled a flight on election day (oops) and the lack of help from lost and found staff meant that my best bet was a night in David. I used Hilton points to book a night at the Hampton and had myself a recovery night. I got a hot and ready pizza from the Little Caesar's next door and two Sam Adam's Boston Lagers from the bar. Fantastic recovery night, vey nice Hampton, and a pretty nice little breakfast. It refreshed me at a point where I was not really enjoying the trip and pushed me to go for one more stop rather than laying low in Panama City.
After my flight back to Panama City, I took the metro all the way to the Avenida Terminal (less than $1 total, it is very easy to purchase a card and load it at the station) to grab the bus to Valle de Anton. It was fairly easy to find the window to buy the bus ticket ($4.25). It's important to buy for El Valle and not just Anton, a town which is not where you want to end up. There was a confusing bit of business related to a transit card (not the same transit card as the metro. I couldn't seem to find a machine to buy one from, and eventually the guy at the turnstile took pity and just used his own to let me in. I paid him back, but it was very confusing that you needed to buy the ticket then a card with which to pay an additional 10 cents to get to the bus at Gate 53. I can't really offer advice other than you should try to figure out how to get this card, or if you can just pay with a dime, right when you buy your ticket. I let the bus (not a very big bus, somewhere between a van and a bus) driver know where I was headed on the way and they dropped me right at Bohdi in Valle de Anton. The whole trip is about 3 hours, with lots of local stops the whole way. Bohdi was a pretty cool spot, with a great yoga space with a guided lesson on a TV every morning. It has a kitchen if you want to cook for yourself and free coffee plus breakfast every day from 7:30-10:00. Both breakfasts were pancakes, but it was free and they were pretty good. There are some cool lounge spots out back, a few cafe tables out front, and a loft space as well. It was a decent, but not perfect spot, to do work if that's what you're looking for. The dorm does have 3 levels of beds, and they aren't all that comfy, but I'd recommend Bohdi. The first night I was in town I went to the Golden Frog Inn on a recommendation and it turned out to be a great spot to watch the sunset and have some pretty good (although a small) vegetarian tacos https://maps.app.goo.gl/pzRuyYuwHZvMVnAo8 . One afternoon I chose to do the India Dormida hike, I left and walked all the way back to Bohdi, it was a few hours total. It's a quick climb up to the top and you can walk the whole ridge that forms the edge of the caldera. It was a beautiful view and you can really see the old crater rim formations from the top. It's clear up there, no trees and wide open, and the breeze was very refreshing. I ended up coming down about halfway across the ridge, starting from the north. I grabbed a vegetarian dinner at El Rincon Colombiano which I'd recommend https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRcAAnAm9fYni7Nv8 and some guacamole and a beer at La Ranita which was pretty good https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcdB8uCqaSRv1RyE8 . Overall, I really liked Valle de Anton and I'm happy I made it happen. It's a little drier and warmer than Boquete, with a lot less coffee influence, but I liked the vibe and wish I had done more hiking around the area.
For my last evening in Panama, I grabbed a room just to have a place to put bags and clean up before my flight at Hotel Caracas, a recommendation from someone I met in my first stop in Casco Viejo. I did not plan to work from here, nor did I spend a night, but for $35 it was a perfect spot to leave things as I went to knock out a few more items before my flight home. I popped into Tantalo for a quick bite to eat https://maps.app.goo.gl/9pA9Dmw8AE9doabT7 which I don't know if I'd recommend for food, but the view was good. I think I meant to go to CasaCasco, which was recommended for ceviche and sushi, but ended up in the wrong spot. I then went over to Element to get some cocktails https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwYt2D7X43ua4jGu6 . Element has an interesting vibe, kind of a steampunk theme to the décor. The two guys behind the bar, who I believe own it, were fantastic. They don't have a set menu but instead try to match a drink to what you're feeling at the time. I had a classic daquiri and an old fashioned, which both came with a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe. They also pulled down a few different spirits which we tasted together, overall I'd highly recommend a stop and it was especially fun as the only patron there. After two cocktails, I cleaned up and called an Uber and headed to the airport. Just a heads up, the Copa Club is pretty nice, has limited food, but tragically closes at 9 PM. I had a flight that left at nearly 11 PM, so this was a little disappointing.
Overall, I loved Panama. The people were friendly, even if the service in many places was pretty lackluster. It's more expensive than Colombia or Ecuador, but several people told me it's slightly cheaper than Costa Rica. It's a good stop if you're not sure about central or south America as it's extremely safe, if you use common sense, and it's not too hard to get around using shuttles/taxis/ubers if you don't want to brave public transit. It offers very good food options in Panama City, and it's easy to find a Hampton Inn/Hooters/McDonald's/Little Caesar's/Wendy's if you need a break from being adventurous. The Spanish isn't difficult, and most people speak at least some English. I would have dropped lost and found hostel from my itinerary if I planned it again, but did not regret any of the other stops. I do kind of wish I had focused on Bocas and Boquete, saving Valle de Anton and maybe San Blas together for a future trip, but I had already painted myself into a bit of a corner with my David-Panama flights by the time I realized this. I hope this helps someone as they plan their Panama trip, or helps them decide Panama is a worthwhile visit! Please do not make as many changes as I did, I absolutely did at least one to many stops and wish I had spent more time in Bocas and probably Valle de Anton. Anyway, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as they come in!
Final Itinerary:
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2024.05.14 22:56 Infinite1Loop Looking for Guidance: High School Student Interested in Economics Research

I’m a junior in high school interested in pursuing research this summer. I'm intrigued by economics and finance, and I have a good understanding of microeconomics as I've done IB HL economics. I'd like to learn through pursuing research, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about this. Economics research isn't as straightforward as other STEM research, where my friends simply spam-emailed professors until they gave them the opportunity to work in a lab this summer. I'd like to contribute meaningfully and actually learn from this experience.
Another idea that came to mind was simply deciding on a topic and then beginning to pursue research on that independently, reaching out to mentors, etc., when I have a good amount of literature review and the abstract done. I've done research projects in math and physics before, however, nothing in economics.
My end goal is to create a preprint-level paper (possibly push it on arXiv). I would really appreciate some advice on how I could go about this. It seems quite uncommon for high school students to be doing research with professors, especially in financial math and econ.
I can program and understand the basics of machine learning, so those are applications that I can include in the research I choose to pursue. However, I'm just really confused about this.
submitted by Infinite1Loop to academiceconomics [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:54 Infinite1Loop Looking for Guidance: High School Student Interested in Economics Research

I’m a junior in high school interested in pursuing research this summer. I'm intrigued by economics and finance, and I have a good understanding of microeconomics as I've done IB HL economics. I'd like to learn through pursuing research, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about this. Economics research isn't as straightforward as other STEM research, where my friends simply spam-emailed professors until they gave them the opportunity to work in a lab this summer. I'd like to contribute meaningfully and actually learn from this experience.
Another idea that came to mind was simply deciding on a topic and then beginning to pursue research on that independently, reaching out to mentors, etc., when I have a good amount of literature review and the abstract done. I've done research projects in math and physics before, however, nothing in economics.
My end goal is to create a preprint-level paper (possibly push it on arXiv). I would really appreciate some advice on how I could go about this. It seems quite uncommon for high school students to be doing research with professors, especially in financial math and econ.
I can program and understand the basics of machine learning, so those are applications that I can include in the research I choose to pursue. However, I'm just really confused about this.
submitted by Infinite1Loop to ApplyingToCollege [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:49 silverbuddastatue Could there be a sixth Ideal?

I have a question: Could there be a sixth ideal? And if there is one, is it possible to reach it?
I have a few theories:
  1. There isn't a Sixth Ideal. Previous knights have discovered all that there is to discover and the 5th Ideal is the furthest a knight radiant can progress. This isn't the fun answer (for me at least), but it is reasonable that there are only five ideals. I've done a bit of research, but I can't seem to find any direct quotes from the Stormfather to confirm/deny this. It also is completely possible that the Stormfather wouldn't know about a theoretical 6th ideal because it hasn't been reached.
  2. There is a 6th ideal, but it cannot be reached by anybody. In order to reach above the 5th ideal, one has to be completely perfect in their order. And because nobody can be entirely perfect, nobody can reach the above the 6th ideal.
  3. There is a 6th ideal, but it cannot be reached by humans. Humans are not native to Roshar, so theoretically, the singers have a deeper connection to the land than the humans (this was somewhat disproved in RoW, but it still is an option). Because of this deeper connection, the singers have a greater number of ideals they can reach. Reaching the 6th ideal is still incredibly rare, but it is possible for some singers to reach it.
  4. There is a 6th ideal, but nobody has ever reached it before. This is similar to theory 2. In order to reach the 6th ideal, somebody has to be incredibly close to perfect in their order. This hasn't happened yet in the history of Roshar, but it could happen later in the series.
  5. There is a 6th ideal, but it's very difficult to reach and only a handful of people have reached it. (and that handful was very secretive about it). Some knights radiant have reached the 6th ideal, but the ones that have keep is secret and nobody knows about it for that reason. The 6th ideal could also transfer the knight to a different place (perhaps into Shadesmar or the cognitive realm) permanently and the knowledge of reaching the 6th ideal was lost.
I prefer theories 3 or 4 just because they sound the most plausible to me and because they include a theoretical 6th ideal. Odds are, there is no 6th ideal and I'm slowly going mad, but it's fun to imagine what a 6th ideal could be.
submitted by silverbuddastatue to Stormlight_Archive [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:47 amberarteaga78 psychology statistics help Reddit Assignment Exam Homework Quiz Test Class Course Helper for Online Hire Reddit

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2024.05.14 22:43 tedpearlman What RareChops Is About

Welcome, welcome, welcome!
This is a subreddit for my new interview project, Rare Chops. There'll be a website (https://rarechops.com), a threads feed, an X feed, and an email feed/newsletter, eventually.
As you can probably guess, the intention is to interview people who have rare chops in different fields. It could be anything from baking to stop motion animation to field archaeology.
What do I mean by 'rare chops'? I'm not sure I can abstractly articulate it. I I'm not sure I'll ever be able to. But I think it will be part of the fun of this subreddit to discuss the notion of rare chops.
That said, here's an example of how I think about an example person: Chris Potter, the jazz tenor saxophonist (who is also wonderful on nearly any single-reed instrument, on piano, and with a pen and a blank sheet of staff paper) —
Chris plays with an extraordinary amount of intention. Nothing that comes from his horn sounds like an accident. You can tell he listens with great intensity to his fellow bandmates and to his own playing, in real time. He can do anything on the horn; he can play any timbre, with any articulation, with an unrelenting pocket, at any speed. And for someone with unlimited technical facility, he shows remarkable restraint and good taste. He is both fiendishly well-versed in the history of his instrument and the music, and completely his own player. He seems to be totally dedicated to the his music; he shows virtually no public interest in fashion, effecting the persona of a jazz musician, choosing music for its commercial value, or self-promotion. I could go on.
So, that's it for now. If you're looking at this Subreddit, you're probably someone I've invited to join in or lurk. Either way, thank you for checking it out.
submitted by tedpearlman to RareChops [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:40 ConfidentLeg7645 Japan (Honshu) 3 Week Spring Trip Report. A perfect trip (almost)!.

LONG POST WARNING
Hello everyone,
My partner (24F) and I (25M) returned home from our 3-week Japan trip last week and due to us using this sub a lot during our planning I thought it would be helpful for other current planners to upload a trip report.
Our main interests are Japanese traditions and history, street style/culture, and food so keep reading if these interests are mutual. Read to the bottom to see how much we spent plus some tips and disappointments.
Prelude
We were caught up in the madness at Dubai airport during our layover. Long story short; Airport (and the rest of Dubai) flooded and caused all the flights to be cancelled. What was meant to be a 5-hour layover turned into a torturous 36 hour wait. No staff to be seen, crowds of people arguing, fighting, and crying. We queued for 12 hours to get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Japan. We were meant to fly to Haneda but settled for Narita as we needed to get out of that place as soon as possible but still ended up missing our first day in Tokyo (should have had 5 days). We can’t complain too much as some of the people I spoke to on emirates were in the airport for up to 5 days before getting a flight back to their departure destination. Oh, and our baggage was missing with us only receiving our checked in bags on day 19. Cheers Emirates.
Day 1
Arrived in Shinjuku around midnight. We went straight to Don Quiojte to buy some replacement cosmetics and clothes. The combination of no good-quality sleep for 48 hours and the stimulating nature of the store was very intense! We then started to walk back towards the hostel and passed a Ichiran, so dropped in for some 2am ramen. Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but was still very good for the price.
Steps: 21,643 (includes some airport steps)
Day 2
Woke up and ate the free breakfast at the hostel (this turned out to be a really good money saver for the whole trip as we are not huge eaters in the morning anyway, but it was good to get something light in us before a long day walking). We then walked through the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden – saw some late blooming cheery blossoms and overall, it was a really beautiful botanical garden.
The next stop was Meji Shrine and a walk through Yoyogi park. The shrine was cool to see, especially as it was our first one in Japan. Saw a middle-aged man wearing denim hotpants so short that his balls were hanging out?!?!
Walked to Shibuya to see the scramble. This was cool but also felt it was a bit underwhelming at ground level but the view from Shibuya station walkway was wicked. Lunch was at a conveyor belt sushi place on the top floor of this department store right next to the scramble. This would be higher than average quality sushi in Europe, so it blew our minds that it was available on the top floor of a department store and for so cheap.
Shimokitazawa – We picked up some bargains at 2nd street and I treated myself some Japanese jeans from a small Demin shop called Bears. The guy in the shop was super helpful and friendly and even tailored the trousers to exactly my size.
In the evening, we first had a poke around Golden Gai and then headed towards Shibuya and stopped in a cool bar where the owner was mixing vinyl while he mixed your drinks (think it was called Q Bar).
We had previously bought tickets to a gig at Circus for one of my fav rappers who I’d been wanting to see for a while. Also really enjoyed seeing the local Japanese warm up acts. Stayed until 5am and then go the train straight to the Tsukiji outer fish market. Was there way too early and had to wait roughly an hour for thing to open. Went to chill by a bench for a bit and by the time we went back to the market it was rammed! Went to bed around 8:30am.
Steps: 32,159
Day 3
We woke up at 2:30pm, got ready, and headed to the Bunkyo civic centre for the free observation deck. We heard it wasn’t meant to be the best Tokyo skyline view but for a free attraction we thought it was very good! Jimbocho book town was also very cool to see. We had a peak into a couple adult movie/magazine stores where I don’t think the owner appreciated our presence as western tourists.
In the evening, we first went for Ramen at Motenashi Kuraki in Asakusa Bashi. Honestly probably the best Ramen I’ve had to date. I ordered the Black Pepper Shio special, and it blew my mind. Even though the staff didn’t speak English they were very accommodating for my partner who doesn’t eat meat (pescetarian but will brave a meaty broth).
We then had a stroll around Akihabara and played some dance mat games in the arcades before heading back for an earlyish night.
Steps: 28,680
Day 4
I couldn’t sleep so got up around 3am and did some admin stuff to try and get our bags back to us ASAP. Chatted to people in the hostel for a few hours.
We arrived at Senso-ji for around 8am. Wasn’t too busy at this time and the temple was impressive. Went for a coffee down the road and had a chill for about an hour before heading into Asakusa. Got admission to the Drum museum which was wicked. Only 400 yen each and had the whole place to ourselves to smack some big fucking drums and make as much noise as we wanted.
We then started to head towards Ueno but made a slight detour to Kappabashi Dougu street to peruse the Japanese chef knives and other cookware. Grabbed lunch from a 7/11 and went and sat in Ueno park which was super busy. There was some food market event on which loads of food stalls had set up. There was also a stage with some J-pop performers and people dressed as ninjas dancing in the crowd. Weird to say the least. By mid-afternoon we were pretty tired so headed back to the hostel for a nap.
In the evening, we headed down to Harajuku and stopped by Big Love records. My partner is really into vinyl, so this was definitely a highlight for her. She picked up Wu Tang 36 chambers in case you were wondering. We then went for food at Afuri as my partner wanted to try the Vegan ramen to which she said it was ok but nothing special. My cold dipping noodle dish was very tasty, however. We then stumbled across this vinyl listening bar called Bar Music on the 5th floor of this pokey building on the outskirts of Shibuya for a few drinks before bed. There was such a good vibe in there and the cocktails were super good for the price. If you’re looking for a romantic spot, then this is the place to go.
Steps: 31,818
Day 5
Today we headed to Kyoto on the shinkansen around midday after a slow morning chilling in and around the hostel and catching up on some sleep. Checked in to the hostel and had a walk around downtown Kyoto, stopping at 2nd Street to buy some more clothes.
In the evening, we headed to Kodai-Ji to see the shrine lit up at night. We couldn’t believe how few people were there as it was stunning and truly magical place to be at night. It also has a bamboo grove (much better than Arashiyama, see below). The bar for Kyoto shrines/temples had been set very high.
Walked down Pontocho alley and stopped at a yakitori restaurant which was just ok. We knew it was going to be average when we looked around the restaurant and it was just western tourists dining.
Steps: 25,255
Day 6
First thing in the morning we rented bikes and cycled across the city to Arashiyama. Parked the bikes at the train station and walked up through Arashiyama. We were expecting it to be busy but there were so many people it was almost impossible to move. Had a look around the bamboo grove and was slightly underwhelmed after our visit to Kodai-Ji so we took the tram and then bus up to Kosan-Ji. This was very much worth the 45-minute journey as there was only one other group there and the temple nestled between the trees overlooking the river was breath-taking. On the whole, Arashiyama was way too packed during peak times to enjoy and with everything else Kyoto has to offer we wouldn’t say it was a must see.
We then picked up the bikes from the train station and cycled back across Kyoto taking the long route to explore and get lost. Once we dropped off the bikes, we went for another explore and this time went into WeGo for more clothes shopping. At this point we’d pretty much matched the amount of clothing that we had packed in our checked-in luggage that was still stuck in Dubai.
After a nap we walked towards the metro and stopped at a Katsu restaurant as we wanted to try something different, and it was pretty good. For the price of 1300 yen each we got so much food/sake and left stuffed.
Fushimi Inari in the evening. Like Kodai-Ji, we would recommend visiting Fushimi Inari at night. Firstly, to help avoid the crowds (we got there around 9pm and there was hardly anybody there) and secondly as seeing it lit up at night is a nice change. It was however slightly creepy at night, especially as it was lightly raining. My partner started to get a bit scared once we saw the signs to be careful of the wild boar and monkeys haha. We didn’t make it to the top of Mt Inari as the rain started to get heavy but still very much enjoyed walking through the hundreds of tori gates, stopping off at the shrines and soaking up the history.
Steps: 23,686
Day 7
Today was a late start as even after 8 hours sleep the 25k plus steps a day was starting to catch up with us.
We took the metro to Shimogamo Shrine in north Kyoto. It was very peaceful and quiet however temple fatigue had definitely set in at this point. We then walked through Kyoto to the beginning of Philosophers path. We had seen on this sub that people recommend skipping it unless its Sakura season however we disagree. The path along the river is so pretty and atmospheric, along with the fish gently swimming along in the river.
Kyoto Hand Crafts Centre – if you have the money then this is a great place to pick up souvenirs.
Pre-booked Sushi Iwa for a 15 course Omakase. The food was amazing, but it came to an eye watering 28k yen each. The difference for our western palettes between mid-range sushi and exceptional sushi is negligible. Nonetheless it was a good experience and I’m glad that we did it.
Steps: 23,751
Day 8
Today was an empty day in terms of things we wanted to do, so used it to walk the city and explore.
We checked out the Nishiki market and ate various fried foods on sticks which were all pretty tasty. We then walked northwards, stopping for coffee before reaching the imperial palace. By this point we were very much bored of temples and structures of similar architecture, but we actually ended up enjoying walking the palace grounds and seeing the buildings more than we thought and would recommend it to those who find themselves in north Kyoto.
A leisurely walk back down towards downtown Kyoto, stopping off at a wicked standing soba joint. Forgotten the name but their curry soba was delicious.
Chao Chao gyozas (only veggie gyoza place we could find) for our evening meal before a night cap at the bar across the road before bed.
Steps: 23,304
Day 9
Shinkansen to Hiroshima arriving around 11am.
Checked into hostel and then went straight to the A-dome, peace memorial and museum. We thought the museum was very moving and captured the horror of the events that unfolded very well. A must see for sure.
Okonomiyaki at Okonomimura and then some vintage clothes shopping in Hondori.
Went back out for food in the evening and ended up getting Okonomiyaki again. This time it we enjoyed it a lot more than we did at lunch (probably because we got it covered in cheese). There are a few streets by Hiroshima station with lots of bars and restaurants on top of each other, much like Golden Gai in Shinjuku, however they are not super touristy and has a more laid-back feel to them.
We then went to some bars in the city centre. The best one we stumbled across was called Tropical Bar Revolucion. It was on the 8th floor and the smoking balcony overlooked the city. Plus, the beers in there tasted so good and I’m not sure why.
Steps: 23,299
Day 10
A hungover morning. Headed to the Hiroshima National Gardens. Going to some gardens is my go-to hangover activity as its low effort, relaxing, and feels productive. These gardens in particular were great and we really appreciated the signs explaining the history behind the space. Overall, we enjoyed this more than the national gardens in Shinjuku.
Public baths near Dobashi in the afternoon. If you’re feeling brave enough to get your kit off in front of 10s of strangers, then this is a good experience. Male and female baths are separate. Can’t go wrong for 400 yen.
Went for a drink at Bar Pretty and then realised the effect of golden week on trying to get a table walking into a restaurant. Walked around for about an hour with no success so settled for food from a department store food court. Sounds miserable but the food was pretty good for the price, and it was busy in there, so it still had an atmosphere.
Steps: 29,487
Day 11
Miyajima Day. Took the ferry to the island arriving at 10:30am. The Ryokan staff met us at the port and collected our bags to take back to the hotel.
Had a mooch around the port area before doing the hike up Mt Misen. The climb to the top on a hot day is not to be underestimated. Sweating buckets, but the route and the view from the top was amazing and one of the standout highlights of the whole trip.
After descending Mt Misen, we bought some beers, oysters and, ice cream and sat along the beach wall and chilled in the sun for a couple hours. The hotel staff then picked us up from the ferry terminal, we checked in and went straight to the Onsen for a couple hours before dinner. Dinner was a traditional kaiseki meal (with more courses than I can remember) served in the banquet hall with the other guests.
While the staff converted our retro ryokan room and set up the futons we had a few more beers before bed.
Steps: 20,803
Day 12
Today we had a chilled morning on the island, having a stroll and stopping for some coffees. We then took the ferry back to Hiroshima, stopping for Okonomiyaki one more time, before taking the shinkansen to Osaka.
Checked into our hostel near Namba and went out for a walk around 8pm. When looking for somewhere to eat we walked past a sign for a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Shama. After nearly two weeks of pure Japanese food we were craving some variety so decided to head in. Located on the basement floor of a particularly run down looking building the restaurant was not the most glamorous. Barely enough space for 10 people, it was hot in there. A constant stream of people was coming in and out of the restaurant and we were lucky enough to walk in when there were two spaces available. From sitting down at the table to receiving our food we waited just under an hour. This would be enough to put most people off but fuck me the food was good when it did finally arrive. We got a selection of 4 different curries, naan breads and samosa. We left stuffed. If you’re in the area this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Steps: 25,502
Day 13
Our first stop of the day was the Umeda Sky Building. Not suitable if you are scared of heights as the glass elevator made our stomachs drop slightly. The views were impressive but we thought the price was a bit steep at 1500 yen each.
We then spent the afternoon wondering about near Namba and Shinsujibashi dropping into shops and picking up some food.
For dinner we made a reservation for a Mexican restaurant near Dotonbori. Massive margheritas, nachos and enchiladas. The food was great, and it shows by how busy the place was still at 10pm. It had been open since the late 70’s with the décor to match and it had a great atmosphere.
Steps: 27,290
Day 14
Checked out Tsuruhashi and Korea Town. Loved the market – dimly lit maze of numerous food and clothing vendors. Stopped to have some Korean stew and pancakes and it was delicious. One of the best meals of the trip.
Shinsekai in the evening. What I can describe as the armpit of Osaka. We loved it. Dirty? Yes. Rowdy? Yes. Rough around the edges with a red light district to top it all off. We had Kushikatsu to finish the evening off. Fried stuff on a stick – of course it going to be tasty but it wasn’t exactly flavour town.
Steps: 23,777
Day 15
Took the train to Minoh and hiked up the trail to see the waterfall. Hike was easy in comparison to Mt Misen and the waterfall was very cool to see. Had a wonder around Minoh stopping for some lunch at a Ramen bar.
We went to the Team lab botanical gardens in the evening. It was very awe inspiring seeing all the installations lit up.
After sampling Japanese McDonalds (I had a burger where the buns were made out of rice) we went for some drinks at Zerro. We liked this bar a lot, the guys working there were very friendly and it had a good vibe.
We then sat and watched the skaters at triangle park with some beers from the konbini before going to see Dj Masda at Circus until around 4am. This area of Osaka was such a vibe and came back here a few times over our 6 days here. Overall, a very fun evening.
Steps: 26,130
Day 16
Woke up chronically hungover but powered on and went to see a baseball game. You’re allowed to bring food and drink into the stadium (as long as alcohol is in plastic/paper cups) so we grabbed some beers and snacks from family mart. We had no idea what was happening but the atmosphere was electric and we enjoyed getting pissed and cheering.
Had a nap and then went to Hafez for middle eastern food. The food was good but not amazing, nothing in comparison to my local middle eastern restaurant back home. Chilled around the Namba park/Big step area. Loved this area so much, we are big into street fashion and culture so this place really ticked some boxes. Lots of skaters and street wear stores concentrated around here. Got an early night watching Battle Royale back at the hostel.
Steps: 22,065
Day 17
Today we went to the Umeda area. Popped into some shopping centres and had Omurice for lunch. It was tasty but not something I will crave when back home. Good experience trying it though. We then walked through Yodoyobashi along the rivers and got gelato and sat in the rose garden. The sun was beating down and we enjoyed just chilling in the sun eating our ice cream.
Compufunk Records were holding a party in their store. Decent gaff with some very welcoming and kind people to party with until the early hours.
Steps: 21,267
Day 18
We reluctantly left Osaka for Hakone today. Very sad to go but onwards to the next adventure. Took the shinkansen to Odawara and then the Hakone Tozan Train to Gora. Checked into our Ryokan and relaxed in the Onsen for a few hours.
Went for a walk around Gora and had dinner at the Ryokan before watching Predator in bed.
Steps: 16,926
Day 19
Today we did the Hakone Loop, starting early in Gora.
Started with the Open-air museum and it was great. We loved the installation and ended up spending 3 hours slowly making our way round. Got some cool photos as well for the gram.
Ropeway to Lake Ashi. This was absolutely terrifying. You have to swap cable cars 3 times on the way over and the warnings of the service being suspended due to the wind was announced at each stop. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but one section made me literally freeze in terror due to the winds outside so try to do it on a calm weather day.
We then took the pirate boat (bit underwhelming) across the Lake and stopped for some soba noodles and a wander around. Unfortunately it was way too cloudy to even get a chance at seeing Mt Fuji.
Train to Kamakura and checked into our super cute traditional hostel near the beach.
Dinner at an Izakaya from the hostel owners recommendation. Food great and beers slipped down a treat. First time I tried Yuzu Kosho as well – I’m now addicted to the stuff and literally cover all my food with it.
Steps: 19,512
Day 20
A slow start to the morning. Weather was pretty bad but we still managed to hit all the main sights in Kamakura. Big Buddha was a refreshing sight from the temples. Did some shopping up Komachi Dori. Highlight of the day was Hukokaji temple. It was so peaceful and zen in the rain with its very own matcha tea ceremony backdropped by bamboo forest. This turned out to be our second favourite temple/shrine we visited, just being beaten by Kodaji.
In the evening we went for Sushi at a conveyor belt place. Figured this would probably be my last Japanese sushi of the trip so devoured 7000 yen worth of sushi and beer. Went back to the hostel and invited some of the other guests to drink with us. The owner of the hostel had some bayberry homebrew, so we got stuck into that.
Steps: 20,494
Day 21
Enoshima Island is just a 25 min train from Kamakura. Started off the day by walking to the top of the island to get French toast and a beer with a lovely view across the bay. We then headed up the Sea candle to check out the observation deck, still the illusive Mt Fuji hides behind the clouds.
We then bought admission to the caves beneath the island which was pretty cool. I won’t ruin the surprise but there’s something waiting for you at the end of one of the caves.
Had an explore around the rockpools near the caves and took some cool photos. We then had a pizza with fish on which was pretty crazy. Walked around the island a little bit more and I picked up some more Japanese denim which wasn’t the cheapest but the quality of the trousers are great and will last me a lifetime.
Back to Tokyo in the evening.
Went for Izakaya around Asakusa and popped into a couple bars. One was called Not Suspicious and the whole bar was covered in handwritten notes by patrons. Very touristy but quite cool at the same time. Our favourite was a drawing of Mario saying It’s a Me Muthafucka.
Steps: 25,903
Day 22
First stop was Don Quiojte to pick up some Yuzu Kosho (if you know you know) and weird flavoured KitKats.
Kappabashi Dougu street to purchase a fine Japanese carbon stell Santoku. Honestly in love with this knife so much. The people at the store were very happy to hear exactly what I was looking for and even let me try before you buy on some daikon radish.
While in Asakusa I had to return to the place where I put the best thing in my mouth in Japan. Motenashi Kuroki. Switched it up this time and had their classic Shio ramen plus the duck rice as a side. Honestly this place is amazing, and you have to go there if you have time. They aren’t veggie/pescy friendly so my partner went for one last round of sushi round the corner. We met up at a massage chair parlour and spent 30 mins relaxing in the chairs.
We had a bright idea to watch the sunset one last time so headed over to the rooftop park on a department store in Shibuya. Sipping on an ice cold Kirin, the sun slowly dropped behind the distant mountains and we knew our trip had come to an end. How symbolic.
Flight at 11pm from Haneda.
Steps: 23,187
On reflection:
I honestly think this trip was almost perfect in terms of hitting our interests and travel style. There was a good balance of doing the typical first time visit to Japan sights and activities while still exploring and seeing what we came across in the moment.
It hard to pinpoint exact highlights of the trip as everywhere we visited had so much going for it in different ways. We loved the rugged and trendy vibe to Osaka, and I think this would be the city I would most want to live in for a considerable amount of time (If I had to choose). Miyajima was also stunning and a great overnight trip with the Ryokan experience. We also underestimated how much we would enjoy Kamakura with its laid-back surfer vibe and access to Enoshima Island.
One random memorable moment that has stuck with me was when we landed at Narita airport, we took the limo bus to Shinjuku. As the driver pulled away, all the staff at the station turned and bowed in unison. It felt so special to first observe a culture totally opposite to the one I grew up with and was at this point I knew I had embarked on the trip of a lifetime.
If I could go back and change something I would probably miss out Hakone and do an extra day in one of the major cities. This isn’t because we didn’t enjoy Hakone, but we feel like it’s a place that needs more time to soak in what’s going on around you (plus the weather was bad when we were there). This being said the Open-Air Museum was amazing and we enjoyed it more than the Teamlab botanical gardens so the trip up the mountains was worth it just for that.
So, how much did we spend per person (not inc flights)?
Accommodation - £765pp
Given that we spent a couple nights in Ryokans raising the average price slightly, we were pretty happy with the accommodation costs. We stayed in a mix of private room and shared dorm hostels and pretty much all of them were spot on. Travelling as a couple meant that anywhere with a private room split the price between 2. The only hostel we didn’t like was the one in Hiroshima, there wasn’t anything in particularly wrong with it, there was just a really bad vibe from the owner and other guests.
Transport - £344pp
This includes shinkansen to and from all the major cities as well as our suica top ups for metros and buses. Unless your itinerary is something like 3 days Tokyo, 2 days Osaka 2 days Kyoto then there really isn’t any point getting the JR pass now that the price has increased.
Activities – £280pp
It is hard to give an exact amount for activities and food as 1) I didn’t track what we spent our cash on and 2) my partner and I would take in turns paying for things like temple admission. That being said I’ve allocated 25% of the cash we spent to activities such as temple admission. Activities includes our baseball tickets plus club entries as well as temple and museum admissions etc.
Food – £962pp
As above, its hard to give an exact amount for food. On the whole we tried to eat cheap with possible, especially at the start of our trip. There were a few expensive meals peppered in plus we ate out twice a day towards the end of our trip as we realised we were under budget.
The total is a bit skewed as this includes all the alcohol we bought in bars as well as the konbini trips for beers and cigarettes. I estimate that booze accounts for around a third of the total per person. If you would like to do Japan on a budget, reducing the booze will make a big difference.
Shopping/Souvenirs/Gifts – £607 (just me)
We went hard with the shopping. We didn’t actually receive our checked in luggage until day 19 so we had to buy all new clothes and cosmetics. If this wasn’t the case, then I don’t think I would have spent so much (airline is comping us for the additional clothing bought anyway). I also bought a fairly expensive chef knife and Japanese denim pieces, plus lots of gifts for friends and family. Obviously, this number could theoretically 0 if you are on a serious budget and did no shopping but I really underestimated Japanese shopping, especially thrifting. Also, given our cheap choices when it came to accommodation we could afford to splurge. However just to note my partner spent less than half than I did on shopping.
Total: £2958 (582,628 yen at time of writing)
I kept within my budget of £3000. I definitely got a bit frivolous with the cash in the last few days or so, if being as careful as I was towards the start of the trip, I think the total would be closer to £2500.
Disappointments
Takoyaki. We thought it was going to be all about the octopus but were disappointed with our balls of sloppy goo surrounding tiny chewy pieces of octopus. We tried it twice and couldn’t get behind it. Sorry Takoyaki fans.
Arashiyama. Way too busy, especially around the main station and bamboo grove. If it’s the bamboo you are going to see, then Kodaji is a much better spot.
Dotonburi. Albeit we were there in golden week, and it was pretty busy. However, I get the feeling this area has fallen to the past its golden days title and has become a bit of a cash cow for places selling spiralised potatoes on a stick. The area around Namba park was a better option for us.
Tips
Konbini. Absolute life saver for snacks and drinks on the go. The food quality for a convenience store is higher than most other countries so we had no problem with grabbing a meal from one to help keep within our budget.
Don’t over pack – even though we didn’t get our checked in bags, I still packed light so had plenty of space to bring stuff back. Emirates give you your allowance by weight rather than number of baggage so we could check in additional bags on the way back.
Don’t be scared of hostels. If you don’t want to brave the shared dorms, then most hostels offer private rooms with just the shower and toilet shared. Obviously, it’s cheaper if there are two people sharing a room.
Don’t stress about cash. Most places take debit/credit card and if they don’t, you’re never more than 5 minutes from a konbini ATM.
For us, golden week didn’t seem that big of an issue. No problems booking shinkansen around GW. We spent most of GW in Osaka, as such it was going to be busy anyway so maybe we didn’t see much of a difference from normal numbers in the spring.
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2024.05.14 22:35 inorog_13 History of British tea

Hello, I am doing a research project on the history of tea in Britain and of course in India and China. However I am a bit lost with all the info I found and its reliability. Could you recommend to me resources and/or data to help with my paper ?
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2024.05.14 22:34 insignificant_potato Ex lost his mind when I broke up with him, gave away and destroyed a lot of my things and harassed my employees and friends trying to find me for days

Okay this is in Oklahoma and a lot happened but to summarize basically I've been with this man-child for 3 years almost, I ended up breaking it off after work on Monday (mainly) because of all the issues he has but just blatantly refuses to fix. Immediately after having the discussion he flipped out, throwing things across the room and screaming at me to leave. I stayed at a friend's house that night with nothing but my bag and the clothes I had worn to work. The next day I wake up to a phone call from him where he told me not to bother going back to the apartment because he already let his mom go through all of my things. He said he told her I wanted to fight her (never said that) so she's now determined to kick my ass, and that all of her gang-banger friends now have the addresses of all my family and friends to hurt them as well (this man never remembered my phone number, no way in hell he knows anyone's address lmao but still). I have a witness to this conversation. I also was informed by one of my employees that he had come with his mother to my workplace looking for me, apparently he had been swerving through the parking lot and was acting aggressive and intoxicated. We called law enforcement out and my friend and I went back to the apartment to find it completely destroyed, multiple holes in the walls, and a lot of my furniture was torn apart across the floor, as well several paintings and art pieces that held quite a bit of sentimental value to me. I also found that my medication, makeup,some art supplies, and my medical marijuana paraphernalia has all been taken. His cat was standing on the balcony, I don't know how long she had been outside for. He was not home at the time thankfully, and we had cops standing by while I grabbed some of my things and cared for the animals. Several hours later I was at a friend's apartment on the other side of the complex after submitting the Emergency Protective order petition, id parked far down the road just in case he drove by and surprise surprise he did, I remember hearing the familiar sound of his truck before his mom knocked on the door, I was thrown in a closet to hide and dial 911 while my friend stood at the door talking to them, and thankfully he got them to leave before the police arrived. I can't imagine what might have happened if I didn't move my car down the street. I stayed with a different friend that night for my own safety. The next day went by relatively uneventful until later in the night, we got the EPO and I immediately went and made a bunch of copies before returning to my friend's house on the other side of the complex. I had been in contact with his dad who was using the tracker on his phone to keep me updated on his location, and at this point he had returned to his adoptive parents house in Oklahoma City. At around 20:45 on Wednesday we decided to head back to my apartment to take care of the animals and we found the residence occupied by a couple that none of us recognized. We quickly ran back to my friend's place and called 911, Police came out and removed them from the premesis, and they came out with bags and bags of mine and his things. The woman seemed very confused and had a baby with her, she said that my ex had given her all of it, and that I could take any of my belongings. We went through all the bags and I found several small things of mine, she claims that she was told to stay there and watch over the apartment and to pack his things for him, we got him on the phone (through his dad, I have not spoken to him at all since Tuesday morning when he called me) and he told the officers they weren't supposed to be there and that his key was stolen, and he still sounded heavily intoxicated. Finally everyone left and we went inside to find that everything had been pretty well cleaned up, but the vast majority of my belongings were missing. Adding now my PC, monitor and keyboard, a sewing machine and many yards of fabrics and notions, a cake decorating kit, a small TV and fire stick, a sweing kit from my great-great-grandmother, and a diamond necklace my mother had gotten me for my 16th birthday to the list of missing things. My jewelry box was cleaned out, anything that seemed valuable is now gone, his dad swears up and down they're going to get it all back to me but I don't think that's going to happen. We also found a bread knife with a white-powder on one side of it sitting in the living room, we suspect it to be meth or cocaine (more than likely meth, taking his mother's history and his behavior into account) but when I tried to have it tested the officer told me to just throw it out because it would just be a waste of time. That was the last big event, the last few days have been comparatively quiet aside from getting the PO amended so I can leave the apartment, and his dad texting me, begging me to drop the PO (I won't) I really want to press charges, the court Hearing for the protective order is on the 23rd and I want to be prepared for it, and I have a police report that was approved on Sunday that I have no clue what to do with.
TLDR: Crazy ex gets drunk after breakup, harasses and threatens my entire support system, destroys a bunch of my things and gives away all my valuables to his mothers meth-addicted buddies, and now is hiding behind his dad's hoping I'll drop the protective order.
Do I need an attorney? If so how do I get one? I don't have money right now as I'm trying to get a new place to live, do I still have options? I have a paper trail and witnesses to everything, what is the next step I need to take? Can I press charges for things that happened before we broke up (SA/DV??)? His parents have money and I'm afraid they won't make this an easy fight, but this man has spent his entire adult life having everything handed to him, and walking all over everyone around him. I spent 3 years trying to "fix" him and I want to make sure that after this he won't go off and hurt another girl the same way he did me. Any help is appreciated!
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2024.05.14 22:33 Soninetz 15 Supportbench Alternatives: Top FREE Competitors

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Zendesk Suite

Zendesk Suite is known for its user-friendly interface and omnichannel support, allowing businesses to streamline conversations across various channels. It offers automation tools for efficient customer service.
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Freshdesk

Freshdesk stands out with its intuitive ticketing system and multi-channel support to handle conversations seamlessly. It includes a knowledge base feature for self-service options.

LiveAgent

LiveAgent excels in live chat support and ticketing functionalities, making it ideal for real-time conversations. It integrates social media channels for comprehensive customer engagement.

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk focuses on AI-powered automation, enhancing the efficiency of handling conversations. It offers community forums for customers to engage and find solutions collaboratively.

TeamSupport

TeamSupport specializes in providing B2B customer support, catering to businesses with complex conversation needs. It emphasizes collaboration tools for internal team communication.

Tidio

Tidio offers a user-friendly chatbot solution that enhances conversational experiences on websites. Its key features include real-time visitor monitoring and customizable chat widgets.

Feature Analysis

LiveAgent

Key Features: LiveAgent offers a comprehensive feature set, including ticketing, live chat, and social media integration. It provides real-time visitor monitoring and automation tools.
Scalability: LiveAgent is highly scalable, suitable for small businesses to large enterprises. It offers customizable solutions tailored to different business sizes.
Customization Options: LiveAgent provides extensive customization options for branding, workflows, and reporting. Users can personalize their customer support processes.
Integration Capabilities: LiveAgent seamlessly integrates with various third-party applications and CRMs for enhanced functionality and workflow efficiency.

Zoho Desk

Key Features: Zoho Desk focuses on multichannel communication, ticket management, and self-service options. It includes AI-powered tools for efficient customer service.
Scalability: Zoho Desk is scalable and caters to businesses of all sizes. It adapts well to growing customer support needs with Supportbench without compromising performance.
Useful Links:
  1. SupportBench LifeTime Deal
  2. SupportBench Free Trial
Customization Options: Zoho Desk offers customization features for workflows, automations, and knowledge base organization. Users can tailor the platform to suit their requirements.
Integration Capabilities: Zoho Desk integrates with multiple business tools and platforms, enhancing collaboration and data synchronization across systems.

Pricing Review

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Salesforce Sales Cloud offers a variety of pricing plans, including Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited. Each plan comes with different features tailored to various business needs. The pricing is on the higher end but provides robust tools for sales management and customer relationship management.

Zendesk Suite

Zendesk Suite provides flexible pricing options with plans like Essential, Team, Professional, and Enterprise. The pricing is competitive and aligns with the features offered in each plan. Zendesk also offers add-ons for further customization based on specific requirements.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk offers cost-effective pricing plans such as Sprout, Blossom, Garden, Estate, and Forest. These plans cater to businesses of all sizes with features like ticketing system, knowledge base, and automation tools. Freshdesk's pricing is competitive compared to other alternatives.

LiveAgent

LiveAgent offers affordable pricing plans including Ticket Plan, Ticket + Chat Plan, All-Inclusive Plan, and Custom Plan. The pricing is transparent with no hidden costs and includes features like email ticketing, live chat support, and social media integration.

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk provides budget-friendly pricing options with plans like Free Plan, Standard Plan, Professional Plan, and Enterprise Plan. Zoho Desk's pricing structure is designed to be scalable for businesses of all sizes while offering essential features for customer support.

User Feedback

Customer Satisfaction

User feedback on LiveAgent, Zoho Desk, TeamSupport, and Tidio reveals varying levels of satisfaction. Customers praise LiveAgent for its robust features, while some users find Zoho Desk's performance insights and AI capabilities impressive.

Company Feedback

Companies like BMW, Yamaha, and Huawei rely on LiveAgent for their customer support needs. Their positive experiences highlight the platform's effectiveness in handling diverse customer queries.

Performance Insights

Users of Zoho Desk appreciate its performance insights and AI capabilities that streamline support processes. The platform's intuitive interface makes it easy for businesses to manage customer interactions efficiently.

Making the Right Choice

Scalability Evaluation

Consider your business's specific needs when assessing successful waiting alternatives. Look for scalable solutions that can grow with your company.
Evaluate the software's ability to handle increasing demands without compromising performance. Ensure the alternative can adapt to your business's growth over time.

Customer Support Features

When exploring successful waiting options, prioritize customer support features. Choose a platform that offers robust support tools like ticketing systems, live chat, and knowledge bases.
Look for software that enhances customer interactions and streamlines issue resolution. Opt for alternatives with comprehensive support features to ensure efficient customer service delivery.

Pricing Analysis

In selecting a successful waiting alternative, analyze pricing structures carefully. Compare costs across different platforms and consider factors like subscription plans, additional fees, and contract terms.
Choose an alternative that aligns with your budget constraints while offering value for money. Look for transparent pricing models to avoid unexpected expenses down the line.

Closing Thoughts

After examining various supportbench alternatives, analyzing their features, reviewing pricing structures, and considering user feedback, you are now equipped to make an informed decision. Remember, the right choice depends on your specific needs and priorities. Take into account the insights gained from this evaluation process to select a solution that aligns best with your requirements.
Elevate your customer service game with Supportbench - Sign up for a free trial today! 🛠️

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some popular alternatives to SupportBench?

e popular alternatives to SupportBench include Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Help Scout, and Zoho Desk. Each of these platforms offers unique features tailored to different business needs.

How does the feature analysis of SupportBench compare to its alternatives?

SupportBench offers a comprehensive set of features including ticket management, knowledge base, live chat, and reporting. When compared to alternatives like Zendesk and Freshdesk, SupportBench stands out for its user-friendly interface and robust automation capabilities.

Is SupportBench pricing competitive with other similar platforms?

SupportBench's pricing is competitive in the customer support software market. It offers flexible pricing plans based on the number of users or tickets handled. While it may not be the cheapest option available, it provides value for money with its feature-rich packages.

What are users saying about their experience with SupportBench?

Users have praised SupportBench for its intuitive interface, efficient ticket management system, and responsive customer support. Some users have highlighted the need for more customization options but overall feedback has been positive regarding the platform's performance and reliability.

How can businesses ensure they make the right choice when selecting a customer support platform?

To make the right choice when selecting a customer support platform, businesses should consider factors such as their specific needs, budget constraints, scalability requirements, integration capabilities, and user feedback. Conducting thorough research and taking advantage of free trials can help in making an informed decision that aligns with business goals.
Useful Links:
  1. SupportBench LifeTime Deal
  2. SupportBench Free Trial
submitted by Soninetz to NutraVestaProVen [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:27 Faithin3D P1S just stopped in the middle of print today.

Probably in the last 30 minutes, one of my P1S paused by itself in the middle of printing. Not extruding. Just sit on top of the surface of the part. I checked my phone, it showed offline. My other printer is ok. I didn’t do too much troubleshooting just stopped the print on the machine using the buttons. The plate moved down as normal. And surprisingly in my print history it changed to canceled right away. Again without fooling around. I just turned the machines off and on again. Now I am just about to restart a new print. I thought it is interesting. Have you guys experienced this?
submitted by Faithin3D to BambuLab [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:21 FrontalSteel Artificial Intelligence is Already More Creative than 99% of People

The paper “The current state of artificial intelligence generative language models is more creative than humans on divergent thinking tasks” presented these findings and was published in Scientific Reports.
A new study by the University of Arkansas pitted 151 humans against ChatGPT-4 in three tests designed to measure divergent thinking, which is considered to be an indicator of creative thought. Not a single human won.
The authors found that “Overall, GPT-4 was more original and elaborate than humans on each of the divergent thinking tasks, even when controlling for fluency of responses. In other words, GPT-4 demonstrated higher creative potential across an entire battery of divergent thinking tasks.
The researchers have also concluded that the current state of LLMs frequently scores within the top 1% of human responses on standard divergent thinking tasks.
There’s no need for concern about the future possibility of AI surpassing humans in creativity – it’s already there. Here's the full story,
submitted by FrontalSteel to ArtificialInteligence [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:15 TrackingSystemDirect Used GPS Tracker For Sale - Looking for a used GPS tracker for sale? Discover the pros and cons, and explore money-saving options like Craigslist for great deals.

Used GPS Tracker For Sale - Looking for a used GPS tracker for sale? Discover the pros and cons, and explore money-saving options like Craigslist for great deals.

Used GPS Trackers For Sale - Pros vs Cons

When it comes to finding the best deals and saving some extra cash, we all look for options that fit our budget. Online shopping has become popular due to its potential for better deals. Similarly, in the realm of GPS tracking technology, you might come across live tracking solutions like the SpaceHawk GPS or Tracki Mini. However, if real-time tracking is beyond your budget, there are two options: searching for a used GPS tracker or investing in a highly-rated new one. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of buying a used GPS tracker.
Visit Website: https://spacehawkgps.com
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Pros of Buying a Used GPS Tracker

  • Cost Savings. One of the main advantages of purchasing a used GPS vehicle tracker is the opportunity to save money. Used devices are often available at lower prices compared to new ones, allowing you to stay within your budget.
  • Access to Advanced Features. Buying a used GPS device gives you access to advanced features and functionalities that might be too expensive with a new device. That means you can get high-quality OBD GPS trackers or asset trackers without breaking the bank!
  • Wide Range of Options. The used GPS tracker market offers a variety of models and brands. From BrickHouse Security real time GPS trackers to LandAirSea GPS car trackers, there are a ton of different choices online. Therefore, eBay or Craigslists are a great choice for finding a GPS tracker for tracking vehicles.

Cons of Buying a Used GPS Tracker

  • Limited Warranty. Used GPS trackers typically come with limited or no warranty coverage. In case of any issues with the personal GPS tracker, you may be responsible for repair or replacement costs. In fact, one of the most common issues with a vehicle GPS tracker is water damage. Why does that matter? Because it is hard to tell by visual inspection if the car GPS tracker is already water damaged and void of warranty.
  • Potential Wear and Tear. Since used trackers have been previously owned, they might show signs of wear and tear, which can affect their lifespan and reliability. It's important to carefully assess the condition of the GPS tracker locator before making a purchase. However, this is often not a choice when you buy online.
  • Outdated Technology. GPS tracking technology evolves rapidly, and used devices may lack the latest features and advancements found in newer models. Remember, drivers can get out-dated and software can require updates. Therefore, consider your specific tracking requirements and determine whether the used tracker meets your desired functionality.

What You Need To Consider When Buying Pre-Owned GPS Devices

If you're looking to save money, you may consider shopping for used GPS monitoring and fleet management equipment on online auction sites like eBay. While used GPS products can be more affordable than new ones, it's important to be cautious when purchasing a used device. Let's explore the pros and cons of buying used GPS equipment.
One downside of buying used GPS equipment is that the manufacturer's warranty becomes void. Once the device changes ownership, you won't have the protection of a warranty if any issues arise with the unit.
Another drawback is the possibility of missing parts. Used GPS trackers may be lacking essential components such as rubber gaskets or magnetic mounts, which are necessary for water protection. Even if the device appears to be in good condition, there's a risk of purchasing a tracker with missing parts.
Technical support is also a concern when buying used security products. Unlike reputable companies like Tracking System Direct, most resellers and manufacturers don't offer support for pre-owned devices. You won't have assistance for software downloads, accessing driving reports, or utilizing features like Google Earth.
On the positive side, purchasing a used GPS device can provide cost savings while still offering tracking and fleet management capabilities. It allows you to acquire the necessary tools at a more affordable price.
The truth is, buying a used GPS fleet management device has its advantages and disadvantages. Keep in mind the voided warranty, potential missing parts, and lack of technical support. Choosing a reputable company like Tracking System Direct ensures lifetime technical support, giving you peace of mind. Consider your needs and budget carefully when deciding to purchase used GPS equipment.
Learn more about how much does a GPS tracking device costs!

Best Buy GPS Tracker Car

As with most things in life, people get what they pay for. However, for those who are no longer interested in purchasing a used GPS system, there are still options available to get a quality product while saving some money. Here is a brief list of what consumers can do:
  • Shop Online. Pricing for products, especially technology and GPS products, will always be better through an online retailer.
  • Search Google For Coupon Codes. Often times online retailers will extend special promotions and discounts as a way to move excess inventory or make room for new products.
  • Contact The Merchant Directly. Ask if they are having any promotions or sales that you can take advantage of before making the commitment to purchase. At the very least the buyer may be able to get free shipping out of the deal.
  • Consider GPS Data Loggers. If live car trackers with a monthly subscription fee are too expensive, a solid and reliable alternative could be an investment in data loggers. Since passive GPS units only capture data, they do not require any monthly service fees, SIM cards, and the hardware costs typically 40%-50% less than real-time devices! Not to mention, passive trackers record data every second and do not depend on cellular communication or cell service in any way to perform. The one slight drawback with these types of trackers is that the data must be downloaded manually by the user.
There are a number of different ways buyers can get a quality mini GPS tracker while not breaking the bank. With a little bit of research, and by following the above tips, people interested in GPS locators can save!

Buying GPS Devices on Craigslist: A Money-Saving Option

Are you on the lookout for a good deal? With the rise of e-commerce and reduced overhead costs, online merchants are offering savings that are hard to resist. While many think of Craigslist for housing or job searches, it has become a valuable platform for online retailers to boost sales and provide excellent deals, especially for those looking to save money on GPS trackers.
Why choose Craigslist over eBay? Here's why online merchants prefer Craigslist:
  • No insertion fees: Unlike eBay, posting ads on Craigslist is free. Merchants can showcase their products without incurring additional costs.
  • No final value fees: eBay requires merchants to pay final value fees when their products are sold. On Craigslist, sellers can avoid these fees altogether.
  • Lower payment processing fees: eBay transactions often involve PayPal, which charges payment processing fees. Craigslist transactions can be conducted with local buyers, reducing or eliminating these fees.
  • More image options: eBay limits the number of product images without extra charges, while Craigslist offers flexibility in showcasing products with multiple images at no additional cost.
  • Localized experience: Craigslist's focus on local communities means faster shipping and handling times, providing convenience and efficiency.
By exploring Craigslist, you can find excellent deals on tracking devices for cars from online merchants looking to connect with local customers. Enjoy the benefits of cost savings, a wide range of product options, and faster transactions.
If you're seeking a budget-friendly GPS tracker, consider browsing Craigslist. Take advantage of the free platform, localized experience, and the opportunity to support local online merchants. Start your search today and seize the chance to find a great deal on a vehicle tracking device!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I find used vehicle tracking devices for sale on Craigslist or eBay?

Yes, both Craigslist and eBay offer a wide selection of used GPS trackers for vehicles, including cars, trucks, and motorcycles. These platforms provide options from various sellers, including well-known brands like BrickHouse Security, offering devices designed for tracking and surveillance purposes.

What should I consider when purchasing a used GPS tracker for my vehicle on eBay or Craigslist?

When buying a used GPS tracker, it's important to ensure that the device is compatible with your vehicle and meets your specific tracking needs. Look for features like real-time tracking, 4G GPS capabilities, and magnetic mounting options for easy installation. Additionally, consider the reputation of the seller and the availability of accessories or additional GPS tracking solutions.

Should I be cautious when buying used GPS trackers on Craigslist?

Yes, it is crucial to exercise caution when purchasing used GPS trackers on Craigslist. Ensure that you thoroughly evaluate the product, ask for any available documentation or history, and if possible, meet the seller in person to inspect the device before finalizing the transaction.

How can GPS tracking solutions benefit fleet tracking for my small business?

GPS tracking solutions provide valuable fleet tracking capabilities, allowing businesses to monitor and manage their vehicles effectively. With real-time tracking, fleet managers can track the location of vehicles, optimize routes for improved efficiency, and enhance overall fleet performance. GPS tracking also helps with asset tracking and reducing unauthorized vehicle use or theft
submitted by TrackingSystemDirect to redditreviewed [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:08 justinpowell1988 CPAP Breathing Problems and Bi-Level CPAP Insurance Coverage

Hi, I just recently got my first CPAP. Its a Resmed Airsense 10 with the F20 full face mask.
I've been using it about a week, and I am feeling much better. However, I feel like I am suffocating while wearing it. Sometimes it feels hard to breathe in, sometimes it feels hard to breathe out, and sometimes I get this "air hammer" where I feel like blasts of air are hitting me (that one is much less often, and usually within the first few minutes of use). Also the feeling of warm air on my face makes me feel claustrophobic. This usually results in me ripping off the mask. I know a lot of this is normal while you are getting used to it, but I don't know if I can handle it.
I did some research and found out about Bi-Level CPAP and it seems like this would help with the breathing out issue.
  1. Does anyone have any experience with whether insurance will cover the machine, or even a portion of it? I understand every policy is different. I am just hoping to get a general idea of how insurance deals with situations like this.
  2. Do I need my Dr. to specifically request or get some kind of authorization to "upgrade" to a Bi-Level?
  3. Does anyone with similar experiences have a recommendation on a different mask?
submitted by justinpowell1988 to SleepApnea [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:02 azurecertified R Studio Help Reddit Data Science Course Assignment Project help Reddit Online Helper for R Studio Python Course Homework Reddit Pay Someone to take my R Studio Course Assignment Reddit Take my Python Assignment Reddit Python Exam Helper Online Reddit Data Analysis & Visualization Tool

R Studio Help Reddit Data Science Course Assignment Project help Reddit Online Helper for R Studio Python Course Homework Reddit Pay Someone to take my R Studio Course Assignment Reddit Take my Python Assignment Reddit Python Exam Helper Online Reddit Data Analysis & Visualization Tool
R Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for R and Python. It is available in open source and commercial editions and runs on the desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux).
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Here are some of its key features:
RStudio is used by millions of people weekly and is a set of tools built to help users be more productive with R and Python.RStudio offers a free version as well as a paid version, RStudio Desktop Pro, which includes additional features such as a commercial license, priority support, and Posit Professional Drivers. Please note that R-Studio is also the name of a data recovery software, so if you are looking for information on that, I would be happy to try and assist you.
Here are some of the things that students learn in an R Studio course:
R Studio is a widely-used tool by data experts for analyzing and visualizing data and is the tool of choice for data scientists and statisticians engaged in data analysis and visualization ².Please note that this is a general overview of what a course may cover and the specifics may vary depending on the institution offering the course.
Here are some examples of projects and assignments related to R Studio:
  1. Data Visualization Project: Students create interactive visualizations using R Studio's ggplot2 and Shiny packages to explore and present insights from a dataset.
  2. Data Analysis Assignment: Students use R Studio to import, clean, and analyze a dataset, then create reports and visualizations to communicate their findings.
  3. Machine Learning Project: Students build predictive models using R Studio's caret and dplyr packages, and evaluate their performance using metrics like accuracy and F1 score.
  4. Data Scraping Assignment: Students use R Studio's rvest package to extract data from websites, then clean and visualize the data to answer research questions.
  5. Statistical Modeling Project: Students use R Studio to fit statistical models (e.g., linear regression, generalized linear models) to a dataset, and interpret the results.
  6. Data Storytelling Assignment: Students create interactive narratives using R Studio's Shiny package to communicate insights and findings from a dataset.
  7. Data Wrangling Project: Students use R Studio to clean, transform, and preprocess a large dataset, then create a report detailing their steps and decisions.
  8. Research Replication Assignment: Students reproduce a published study using R Studio, testing hypotheses and analyzing results.
  9. Survey Analysis Project: Students use R Studio to analyze survey data, creating visualizations and reports to summarize responses and identify trends.
  10. Time Series Analysis Assignment: Students use R Studio's forecast package to analyze and predict time series data, evaluating model performance and interpreting results.
These projects and assignments help students develop hands-on skills with R Studio and apply statistical and data science concepts to real-world problems.
submitted by azurecertified to Statisticshelpers_ [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:01 Euphoric-Earth-4765 An inside look at the culture and ideology of Faith Comes By Hearing_PART 3

Most meetings should be an email:
Their “all hands on deck” meetings are early in the morning, even though the first three hours of your workday are your most precious and productive and should be reserved for the most important tasks where focus, attention, high cognitive function, willpower is needed, according to research. Willpower or mental energy regulates your thoughts, emotions, impulses, and performance control.
Top management has recurring meetings but it seems like the topic was determined 5 min beforehand because the meetings are often all over the place, with no clear agenda, and random topics. Often, they feel like a parent lecturing their teenager.
Meetings are mandatory. Most employees do not really have to be there. The meetings do not affect the actual day to day job functions. The main purpose for these meetings seems to be for unity (or the appearance of). They are often not productive. Not useful and not engaging for most employees. Not worth spending company time. Not used for coaching or mentoring. Not used for making decisions. They are not about a complex issue that needs to be talked through ideas and solutions. In actuality, 98% of the meetings should really just be emails. There are three regular weekly meetings: about 80-90% of them include testimonies or personal stories and about 10-20% is someone sharing statistics (about the products they produce) or status updates or the behind the scenes (how the "hotdogs" are made). One out of about four meetings involve a recount of the ministry's history. If one did not attend the meetings, nothing would change. There really would not be any consequences that would affect doing your job.
Finally, Managers or employees who have traveled internationally are the only ones that get to speak and address the entire ministry. Everyone else doesn't get a voice.
Testimonies or personal stories:
Stories and testimonies as a form of encouragement and motivation are not bad or not useful; however, there are other areas in the work culture that are lacking that destroy any built up motivation. Employees are expected to have some kind of emotional response to them. Over the months and years, stories and testimonies become overused. In fact, you will hear so many testimonies that, over time, they will blurr and you will probably become desensitized to them. Stories and testimonies are probably seen as a way of providing support to employees but other supports are also lacking and needed (e.g., better leadership, empowerment, resources, tools, better communication, regular check ins, accountability, empathy, feedback, personal and professional development). Stories, anecdotes, and testimonies seem to be used to deflect from some of the problems in the ministry culture.
Top management pressures employees to feel a certain way. They want them to always feel encouraged and motivated by everything and anything the ministry does:
If you replace "encourage" with Love" and then talk to your wife....
“I took out the trash, that should make you feel loved. I mowed the lawn, that should make you feel loved. I picked up my laundry, that should make you feel loved. I went exercised today, that should make you feel loved. i helped an old lady cross the street.”
This makes it all about YOU, not how your wife actually feels! in fact, you are manipulating her to feel a certain way by what you did!
"If you are not feeling loved by all these things I did, then something is wrong with YOU.”
So management tells employees how they should be feeling about things. Performance is often not rewarded. Many employees do not know how much management cares about them as a person. What would be really encouraging is if management gave employees confidence, listed better, spoke to their needs, and empowered them.
Meetings - introverts vs extroverts:
Meetings are not set up to accommodate the basic differences between introverts and extroverts (e.g., how they best think, work, process information, communicate, learn; introverts typically dislike noise and big group settings) nor of how people need to manage their energy (ultradian rhythms). Management does not use information about individual team members’ personalities and predilections to formulate norms and dynamics that are respectful to everyone. Research indicates that in a typical six-person meeting, two people do more than 60% of the talking. In bigger groups, like the 100+ group at FCBH, the problem is worse. Management allows a certain dominant personality to do all the talking. They are not coached to listen, reflect, and become more open to the perspectives of their more silent peers. Top management does not send the meeting agenda in advance and ask for written feedback to give introverts time to formulate thoughts and summon the courage to share them.
Management’s definition of a “successful” meeting is different from that of other organizations. Top management does not appear to have any training in meeting science. Most meetings do not provide value to all attendees. They are not set up for employees to contribute and add value to them. Also, no opportunities to give feedback on meeting quality when meetings end.
A “Christian” version of CRT:
The opinions and perspectives of international employees are valued over local/american employees. Employees who are international (and especially those who live in persecuted areas) are often prioritized and favored. Their voice, their input, is often considered more important because top management pressures them to share and speak.
If there is a need, entire ministry is notified to pray if the need is from internationals but not if the need is local.
Personal convictions. Money:
Top management tends to have some childhood trauma, that is the root cause of their strong personal convictions, that often comes out during their mandatory meetings. These “preaching” moments usually have to do with money. They grew up poor or had strict parents or been around groups, ministries, and churches that abused money and now they get triggered or feel guilty when they see new things and resist replacing things like whiteboards and chairs: "if we already have something, we don't need to replace it = if it ain't broke, don't fix/replace it. wear your shoes out until your soles poke through the bottom before buying new ones." They seem to get triggered when employees ask them for upgrades/replacements” “if it can still 'technically' work, then it's fine.”
Compromises:
In order to fulfill their deadlines and to keep up appearances with ministry partners and donors, management will often “let things go”. Things such as quality of the recordings or training issues with internationals. They are willing to sacrifice quality control to get the results their supporters want to see.
Employee well-being:
Top management often makes assumptions about the well-being and contentment of employees.
They do not invest time and effort in comprehending genuine emotions and needs to create a supportive and harmonious work environment.
No consideration for managing energy or attention. No discussions on employees’ health and wellness goals. Instead, employees are expected to focus, to look at computer screens for extended periods of time (an 8 hrs shift includes two short breaks) even though editing and processing audio and video requires high mental energy and prolonged focus. Management often ignores telltale singles of burnout and fatigue. No effort is made to increase energy, reduce fatigue, and improve job performance. So, consistency, accuracy, and quality of recordings are affected as well as employees’ well-being.
Moveover, no paid maternity or even work from home options for new parents. Many new moms have left. New parents must be use PTO if they want time with their new baby.
The end result? Low moral, isolation, aloneness. Many employees are overworked and underappreciated. Many are not satisfied with their position. Most work until they burn out. Someone said this and it's true: for every employee that leaves, they have to hire at least two people to replace them. Sure, there are some long-term or for life employees who have been around for 10+ years. Unfortunately, most of these employees have outdated skills and would have a difficult time finding work (there is no continuing education or certifications offered) if they wanted to leave (or were let go). In addition, many of the skills employees learn on the job are non-transferrable. So, many choose to stay and remain loyal to the ministry because the cost of leaving is just too high.
No windows; no natural light:
Most of the building has no windows. Something to note if you struggle with depression.
People are different:
Management seems to lack an understanding of how people are wired, how each person is different, what drives their behavior and what they’re capable of doing with their skills. Not much consideration for each person’s individual goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Management does not create situations that encourage employees to motivate themselves.
So, work areas do not reflect the needs of Gen Z and millennials, the basic differences between introverts and extroverts (e.g., how they think, work, process information, communicate, learn), how personality impacts work preferences and styles. No awareness of how people need to manage their energy (ultradian rhythms). They do not allow people to work the way they want to; extroverts should feel comfortable taking time to socialize, while introverts should have license to work remotely or take breaks from the team.
Top management does not recognize that individuals may not always express their inner concerns or desires openly. They don’t sculpt jobs to enhance individual engagement: they don’t seek to understand the unique motivations of employees or develop each employee’s career. No incentives or rewards are provided. Not much authentic appreciation is shown. Employees have value as people (not just as producers), and management needs to communicate in ways that are meaningful to the recipient (as opposed to just going through the motions). Management must adopt business practices that help employees have a personal life.”
Work family:
Despite current best business practices, management will continually use the phrase “work family”.
All about the numbers:
There is more focus on production than the core values of the ministry. Top management almost idolizes how many bibles are produced. There is a focus on goals and numbers which often comes off as self-righteous and self-promoting and self-important: Numbers of bibles produced, numbers of people who receive those bibles, numbers of testimonies from those that get the bibles. Focus seems to be on the products FCBH produces over the people reached. Focus is on getting bibles to people. Focus is not on discipleship or teaching people how to correctly interpret the Bible they receive so they can become more like Jesus. Top management seems to be more focused on what they have done well rather than on what others have done well. And they often take credit for accomplishments that should be credited to God.
Theology at work:
Management does not want discussions to get “too theological”, they want to keep it “practical”, as though good practice did not require careful thought to direct it. They discourage employees from discussing theology because they want to keep “unity” and avoid division among Christians, however, they will present their own theological positions and convictions but not allow other employees to question or share their own views and opinions especially on controversial topics (e.g., spiritual gifts, hearing from God, fasting, finances, stewardship, prophesy, replacement theology).
Favoritism:
Major donors to the ministry are singled out to entire staff and praised. The poor widow with two coins wouldn't get any mention. This makes it seem that the ministry only really cares about the major donors. All donors should be anonymous to employees that are not directly working with the donors.
Employees who are pastors are also favored:
They are often asked to pray or give a word in meetings as if their prayers and words are above employees who are not pastors. As if God will take extra time and attention to hear from them and answer their prayers.
Inconsistencies:
Some “special” employees are allowed to work remotely for some unknown reason. Most employees requesting to WFH are denied. This is never explained and so it creates division, confusion, and envy.
Birthday, thanksgiving, and Christmas parties vary drastically by department: some departments work half day and get together off site to celebrate; some work full day and have no party; some work full day and have a 30min party onsite (during work hours?); some have food only, some have food and games, some have everyone bring in food but some have the ministry? provide the food; some have gift exchange and some don’t….

Conclusion:
Some people might say this is all superficial and selfish, all that really matters is getting bibles to people. You be the judge. Many have chosen to ignore these issues and remain loyal to the ministry; some stay and think things will get better; others stay because they have nowhere else to go; some mentally check out; some have spoken out and been labeled as “causing disunity” and then let go, and many others have chosen to leave. Unfortunately, the people most sensitive to a decrease in the quality of the culture are typically those with the most resources, skills, and talents that could be used to effectuate improvement. The people who are the least sensitive to quality usually have fewer resources, skills, and talents.
submitted by Euphoric-Earth-4765 to u/Euphoric-Earth-4765 [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 21:54 CarmineJester On the divine court proceedings.

I'll try to keep it short: a player in my campaign is doing some in-character research about deities (I've been running a "Who killed Kelemvor and how do/should we fix Death" campaign for a while), and among his questions is something very specific: the history of divine judjements and punishments over non-good deities. We share an understanding that it would mostly be done by Tyr and his allies, but I will take any kind of intervention. So far I've dug up three well-known cases, and only one of them properly fits.
The question: did I miss any trials/interventions that exist in the lore? Are there any good sources on that?
submitted by CarmineJester to Forgotten_Realms [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 21:53 Mobile-Career-316 Type me please.

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
  1. Either agender and/or pangender. I’m also either asexual and/or pansexual. I live comfortably alone but have a decent number of friends that I maintain communications with. Onlookers seem to believe I am dating all of them (not all at once but individually depending on which one I am “closest” to), which I take to mean that I apply no distinction between a friend and a partner (which I can agree with), hence the asexual/pansexual duality. Not really sure what this has to do with typing but there's a description.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
Yes.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
I had a whole paragraph here but I realised it was probably very NSFW so I've decided to remove this part.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I’m an engineer, a mix of both hardware and software. I like the work of my job, but I don’t care much for the job or career part of it. I don’t have any career ambitions and would rather just learn the skills that the work can provide me and then move on to becoming entirely self-sufficient and only working for myself. I don’t think it's the other people aspect I dislike here as such, more the lack of independence and control over how I spend my time. That said, it’s worth it to live on my own two feet away from disturbances in the house.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
I know I would be completely fine, as I do this regularly. I don’t think I feel lonely nor refreshed. I generally have plenty to do with my time and find ways to occupy myself, even if that involves doing nothing and resting. If I’m interested in someone's thoughts or feelings on a topic I will just message them without issue and I usually do this once or twice a day, but there are many occasions in which I will just be focused on doing my own thing and won’t have contacted anyone.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
I do all kinds of activities, from reading to games to sports. I’m very good at sports and enjoy them, but I usually choose to stay inside over doing them. I think to an onlooker a lot of my activities could look more like work than fun, but I get fun out of them. You would be most likely to find me (or not) inside reading some kind of research paper or building a machine. If not that then you’d find me playing a single player RPG/sandbox style game and if not that then you’d probably find me meditating/introspecting. You’d probably only find me outside playing sports if I’d been asked to by a friend.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
Very curious. I research just about everything in depth and if I had free time I would research even more. It’s become something of an inside joke at work that I will come in and have some kind of new theory or discovery to share with the office about some random topic that has nothing to do with the last. I don’t think I have more ideas than I can execute, it's more that I have more ideas than I do execute. I’m actually not a very ambitious person despite my insatiable curiosity, so there are many occasions where I will do nothing at all. Aside from the theories I create from whatever information/topic I have been researching, most of the ideas I present to others are to do with having fun. I often create small games using the objects we have in our environment (like playing cards or checkers pieces) on the spot, improvising the rules as we go along DnD style. I actually was invited to play DnD once with a friend group but I was something of a nightmare of a player since I would come up with completely outlandish ideas that the DM couldn’t handle. I was never invited to a session again after that.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
Being a leader isn’t tied to my self identity at all, but it does seem to be the impression other people get about me. I have been told several times that I would make a good cult leader (concerningly) and that I always seem to end up in charge of a situation. I don’t really do this on purpose but a lot of the time I am the only one who will speak up and start moving a group forward when we are in a situation that calls for it. I have been told that I am quite a diplomatic leader that makes sure people get along, have something to do and feel supported. That said, I personally don’t like telling people what they should value. I am of the belief that it is their own choice to decide that. I will however help people by telling them the actions they could take in line with those chosen values. I also think conflict is quite important and I will only try to keep the conflict civil without ending it until both parties are satisfied and have conveyed everything they wish to. This also includes conflict with me, I dislike “sweeping things under the rug”.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
I think I am. I often feel as though my entire body is under my control and I am very intune with any physical sensations. I fear being paralyzed or losing mental integrity. This is the reason I avoid dangerous and reckless behavior that could result in losing control of my mind or body. I will not partake in highly “extreme” sports such as free climbing and I will not consume any kind of drugs to an extent that it affects my mental state, including alcohol.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particularly artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forms of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
I’m not actually sure. I like writing stories and drawing, but I wouldn’t consider myself an artist. I am very interested in art and have been learning how to properly paint and create music on and off for a while now. I think it's probably similar to sports in the sense that I enjoy it but rarely choose it over another activity. I don’t really enjoy going to art museums, I find art to be subjective so interacting with it from such an objective standpoint disinterests me. A lot of my friends are artists and I support them in their endeavors.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
I don’t think about the past much unless I actively make myself do so to search for something there. I am very in tune with the present and am constantly looking out for dangers in my environment and observing people, but it's not my main way of thinking. I am almost always thinking about the future, both in terms of potential futures as well as what future I am aiming for. I have some trouble deciding on a future to aim for since all of the options seem so appealing and I don’t particularly want to close any of them off. There is a part of me that wishes I was immortal so that I could experience as much of everything as possible. This is probably also the part of me that likes stories and hearing the experiences of others since I get to understand a whole other world with its own futures in such a short amount of time.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
I will help immediately. I’m not entirely sure why but I imagine it has something to do with me enjoying solving problems, whether that problem is mine or anothers. I have largely minimized my worldly connections and needs so I often appear to “go out of my way” to help others even if it appears like it's sacrificial to myself. I don’t find it sacrificial to myself at all. I don’t need anything to be comfortable, it’s all just building upon that initial comfort as a kind of “excess” or “abundance”. I could lose everything I own tomorrow and be absolutely fine. All of this to say, I don’t sacrifice myself for others, I just help them most likely because I enjoy it. I do not consider myself a “good” person for doing this, in fact I do not really believe in the concept of good or evil at all.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
I think the fact that I immediately thought both yes and no for this question points to me not needing it. I certainly try to be logically consistent, but it's not the end of the world if I’m not. I think it's more important to me that I not be in denial about it.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
I do aim for efficiency but it’s not very important to me. While I do want to make the most of my time in this life, if I don’t feel like doing anything then I won’t. I’m comfortable with being unproductive and “lazy” for as long as I like.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
I think I’m indirectly controlling. I don’t use force to control people (at least not anymore), I’m more inclined to engineer the circumstances of a situation in a way that results in people choosing to move in one of the ways that I want them to. Nobody has told me I am controlling, nor do they seem to feel they are being controlled. I don’t really do this intentionally, it just ends up being the path that I go down based on the options I have available (perhaps I am being controlled by something as well?). I’m not sure why I do this but if I had to guess it would be to protect myself and others from being hurt, after all you can’t be hurt if the option isn’t even available.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
See activities. My topics of interest are usually to do with people, nature or technology.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?
I teach myself things. I always seem to find teachers/tutors intellectually suffocating. Outside of that I take any form of information possible.
• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
I break tasks down instinctively. I do like to plan out the whole project before I start but I have no problem deviating from the plan and improvising if I think of something I like the sound of more. This usually results in the finished project looking very different from the plan and taking longer than it could have.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
None really. I’m content with just existing. However, in terms of what I choose to pursue it would be perfection in all fields, having all knowledge and having experienced everything, as well as transmitting this perfection to everyone else so that they stand beside me. More realistically, I’m trying to buy some land and build a community so that as many people are under my direct protection and responsibility as possible. The world has many powerful people that are looking to exploit the innocent solely for their own gain. I’m not expecting a utopia but I would hope it would be more comfortable for people to live in than the insecurity of greater society. It’s nice to think of spending the rest of my days with this small community.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
As mentioned earlier, I fear losing autonomy of my body and mind. I think I would still be comfortable in this state as I would get used to it but I actively avoid it coming to pass. I don’t think I hate anything, I don’t think in black and white. I’m not even sure I think in shades of gray, it seems more like the whole spectrum of color to me. I mentioned I don’t really believe in good or evil. In the event that someone is judged as evil by the world I can easily look at them and find just as many things people would find good. Does this make me endlessly accommodating of the actions of others? Certainly not. It’s just a matter of managing a conflict of interests, which is not something I struggle with.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
I can’t really think of anything that would fit a “high”. I think the closest thing would be my family and my friends. I’m not sure why they are what comes to mind. I mentioned before that I would be comfortable with losing everything I own since I have discarded worldly attachment, but for some reason when I think of losing people it's not such an easy answer.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
There was a time just after I had graduated high school and before I had moved out that I was highly depressed. I lacked any kind of purpose or direction in life and thought that I should have it. I also felt immense guilt over the harm I had caused throughout my school life. I believed that I should hide myself away from all life so that I never had the choice to take those actions again. It took me over a year living in this state to finally pull myself out of it. I discarded my need for a purpose or a direction and I discarded the need to be forgiven for the past so that I could live a new life. I discarded any other need that I could find as it is when a need is unmet that you enter a victim mindset, which is a mindset that I really want to avoid in me.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
I’m not attached to reality at all. I daydream very often but I do pay close attention to my surroundings while I do so. I think having extremely sensitive senses helps with this. I have quite a vibrant and detailed imaginary world.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
I would think about the same things I do as I fall asleep. In other words, I’d just daydream about hypotheticals and the future. Possibly not the future in this case as there might not be one but I imagine I’d be able to entertain myself endlessly in my head.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
I think of myself as having 3 decision makers. My rational mind, my sensory body/gut and my emotional heart. If all 3 are in agreement, I am able to make a decision very quickly. If 2 are in agreement, I will take longer to weigh up the options before I choose as often they will end up in agreement after I have thought it through. I will do the same if none are in agreement. In the event that they still can’t come to a unanimous decision I will flip a coin or roll a dice and go with the option that picks. I do this no matter how “important” the decision is.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
Apparently I don’t feel emotions in the way other people do (at least according to the people I’ve spoken to about this). I tend to recognise emotions through the bodily sensations they apply to my body, for example, I can tell if I'm angry by my body feeling hot and my jaw feeling tense. With reference to my 3 decision makers, this means I can only figure out what my heart is telling me by going through my body. In chaotic or highly sensory situations where there is not enough time or space to recognise what I am feeling, it’s as though I am not feeling any emotion at all. I tend to think they are just as important as the other 2 decision makers when deciding things, as emotions are the basis for deciding what you value. If you don’t know what you value, you can’t determine what the best actions are for you to take according to those values, which results in nihilism. I think people would be surprised to learn that I consider emotions important. I have an almost entirely inexpressive face and a monotone voice which has resulted in me being called a robot quite often. In the times that I do have an expression, it is usually fake and done to make the other person feel more comfortable.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
No. If I want to keep the conversation going then I will intentionally disagree with them to see how far they can take their opinion and understand it better. If I disagree with someone, I will inform them of my perspective. I do not wish for them to agree with me to “appease” me, although I will understand if they make that choice. I want them to inform me of their whole perspective so that I can understand it. If they can convince me after all this, then I will truly agree with them. This is not always the case though, I can imagine times that I would pretend to agree with someone, but it would have to be “worth” it.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
I don’t think rules are set in stone. If I disagree with a rule and there are no meaningful consequences, then the rule may as well not exist for me. I make no comments on others' takes on that. I will challenge authority any time I want to. Whether or not they “should” be challenged depends on what you value in an authority, but for my case the answer is yes they should be. In the event I am an authority I would want to be challenged, it would be both an opportunity to test my ability as well as to exchange information with people.
submitted by Mobile-Career-316 to MbtiTypeMe [link] [comments]


http://rodzice.org/