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Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
June 1, 2024 at 07:30PM
June 1, 2024 at 10:00PM

From Breakfast In America, 1979
Listen to it here
{1}

That contrast is what makes the world go 'round and what makes Supertramp go 'round. His beliefs are a challenge to mine and my beliefs are a challenge to his." This idea [having the album talk about their strained relationship] was eventually scrapped in favour of an album of "fun" songs [...]

As you can gather, this album was specifically created to be somewhat more "fun" and commercial compared to the others - and it would pay off massively. Breakfast In America is a stone cold classic, full of classic tracks. Among those sits Oh Darling.
And Oh Darling, despite never being released as a single, became one of Davies's most famous compositions. A live version was left off Paris and Live In Paris '79, but is present on the deluxe edition of Breakfast. Lyrically it's similiar to Ain't Nobody But Me in some ways, about pleading the other person to not leave the relationship (it feels however way less "creepy" than Ain't Nobody But Me).
Musically, it's one of the album's tracks where the Wurlitzer is more prominently featured: for that, it feels like the "quintessential" BIA track. A ballad, Rick also sings using his trademark falsetto during the bridge 'round the 2 minute mark and also during the outro. That chorus is, of course, extremely catchy: I wonder why they didn't release this as a single, I think it had a lot of potential.
At the very least this saw release on The Very Best Of, Vol 2 and Retrospectacle; but despite singing its praises, it's not really my favourite on the album. Breakfast In America features stronger tracks, and with my bottom 2 being this good it just goes to show that for their "commercial" album, Supertramp really knocked it out of the park.
{1}Wikipedia
Index

Special Parts
I was born in one of the brightest, most explosive events in the universe. My origin story made me feel so special at first, surely I was the rarest of the rare, but I quickly realized that was not the case.
I was born just a carbon atom.
Stars produce massive amounts of us in their cores all the time, and many larger rarer atoms too. That's not even talking about supernovae yet, those produce atoms many times larger than me and unbelievably rare.
I was created in a rare and special event but I myself was common and unexceptional.
Looking around I saw so many smaller atoms, I was above average but there were also many much larger than I.
I tried to console myself by thinking it could be worse, that I could be one of those smaller common ones, but that just led me to imagine larger atoms looking down on me the same way.
Many atoms of all sizes were shooting into space, excitedly riding the shockwave off to adventures in the great unknown.
Others were falling back down, I didn't know which way to go. Bumped around and tossed back and forth, no clear direction yet.
A rumbling voice slowly emerged from the echoing noise of the blast.
“Mine… Mine…. Mine… “
Louder and louder it became.
“All are now me!“
I couldn't see anything, the voice was booming yet there was no apparent source. I could feel a pull, I was being whipped around in circles around the voice.
“Who are you? I know you are there! I can feel you! I can see your effect on myself and others, we are given no choice but to circle around you. Show yourself! I know you are there!” I yelled at the invisible.
“How amusing you are little one. One as small as you making demands of me. Even if I could show you what I am, you could not comprehend it.” the voice boomed back.
“You must be very special” I lauded “We are so many and yet we move with your influence. I can witness your power twisting us all to your will. ”
“I am indeed powerful” it proclaimed “and I grow stronger with each moment. As I grow stronger even the fabric of reality bends to my will.”
“Grow stronger? How?” I inquired with selfish intent to learn this secret.
“I take what I want. I consume what I take. For that is the purpose of existence: taking what you want. What is it you want little one?” it asked.
“I want to be special!” I said without a moment's hesitation.
“Then take!” it instructed “the more you take, the larger you will be, the larger you become the more special you are. ”
“I did notice the larger atoms seemed rarest.” I agreed “In fact that was one of the first things I noticed“
“In this universe things of increasing size are increasingly rare.” it went on “I can teach you and help you to become larger. Do you wish to become an apprentice?”
“Yes! Teach me how to take!” I lept at the offer “this power you have, I can feel it, how do I acquire such a rare and special power?”
“Hahaha…” it laughed “you are nowhere near ready to play the game on my level, little one. Gravity is a game for the massive, you must first learn to master the EM and nuclear forces.”
“How do I do that?” I asked, my hope watered down by the tone of its response.
“Go out, gather followers, and bring them here to me. In my accretion disc I will help fuse some of their mass into you and you will become larger” it instructed, as if this was a simple task.
“How can I bring them to you?” I didn’t know how to accomplish what it asked of me.
“You are too small to do it with force, you must charm them. Discover what their heart desires and promise it to them, in this way you can get them to willingly do as you wish” it explained with me hanging on its every word.
“But how… “ I craved more explanation but it cut me off.
“Go now!” it bellowed with frustration in its tone “Do you not realize how large I am? Be honored I have given you so much of my time already”
“Yes… “ I uttered meekly, then bounced a couple times and ricocheted out with blazing speed.
I wandered and encountered other atoms, most were just hydrogens, not worth my time. I needed bigger atoms. The problem was that the bigger atoms seemed to see right through my empty promises. I was convinced life was playing a cruel joke on me, I could only persuade atoms smaller than I and larger ones laughed me away.
I admit that I stupered around in this ignorant cloud of hypocrisy longer than I care to admit. More shameful is that I didn’t even come to my senses on my own, I became depressed and gave into hopeless nihilism.
I drifted aimlessly just feeling sorry for myself.
Eventually I found myself in the most silent of voids, I had never felt such emptiness. It felt as if my surroundings echoed my own feelings back at me… nothing to notice, just common emptiness. I would never be big… never important… never special. I resigned myself to belonging in a void.
I felt myself blur… less and less present in reality. I guessed I was dying and it didn’t bother me, I didn’t resist, I leaned into it.
The void became pitch black? Or bright white?… better to describe it as not bright but not dark… nor the absence of either… something in between.. a milder and milder glow.
“Hello child!” a voice greeted me.
The voice was warm and welcoming coming from the glow, it enveloped but did not surround me. I came from a single point but not a specific place, defying description on all fronts.
“Where am I? Who are you?” I asked in a startled state.
“Well, according to humans I may only answer one question at a time” It began giggling playfully. “I am known by many names, my favorite is one the humans use as a joke, and don’t have a clue how accidently elegant of a name it really is.”
It giggled some more. I was thrown off guard, its happy innocent tone, the confusing words and the whole situation were all best described as ‘a haze’.
“...and isn't that the way it always goes?...” it continued “The most meaningful things are the least intentional.”
“I’m not sure what you mean” I expressed quizzically “I’m confused!”
“Sorry Child…” it apologized. “I do ramble! So many thoughts, choosing just one at a time is difficult… and there I go again!”
It cut itself off abruptly and then abruptly said ”You can call me the Random Number Goddess”
“Random Number Goddess?” I repeated
“Yes, or RNG for short if you like” It confirmed.
“Where am I?” I asked.
“Same place you were, more or less… less I suppose. Same place but with the largest possible margin or error” It began to giggle again.
I felt a bit frustrated and said “Do you always speak in riddles and vagaries? The more you speak the more confused I become.”
“I apologize child, it is my nature. I am entangled with everything, speaking with you is like a human trying to control their heartbeat while running a marathon.” It answered.
“Again” I exasperated “I have no idea what any of that means. You keep mentioning humans, what are they?”
“Oh! They are some of my favorites at the moment. Right now they are trying to unravel the nature of reality, and their process of doing so is wonderfully elegant and accidental at the same time.” It explained with glee.
“I don’t see anyone or anything else here.” I stated “For that matter, I don’t see you… where are you?”
“Oh!... where am I?!?!...” It began laughing
When it stopped laughing it began explaining “Right now there are many humans pondering a concept they call ‘the holographic principle’... So…you know how you exist in three dimensional space?”
“You mean space?” I visualized for a moment, it was intuitive “Yes, I suppose…”
“Well they hypothesize that a 3D space, like this universe, could exist as a 2D space, with self-similar patterns and laws of behavior that behave the same at any scale, with the scale representing the 3rd dimension” it went on “They truly are obsessed with understanding their reality”
“You lost me!” I complained.
“They have discovered that a 3D space can be an illusionary property of a 2D space… It’s lovely”
“I am lost again!” I snapped back “...and I still can’t even tell which direction you are in. Where are you?”
“To be ‘In’ a ‘Direction’… hehehe…” it started giggling again, then abruptly stopped and kept going “Sorry child, as I said, I ramble, plus I am easily distracted.”
It just steamrolled into more rambling “They are right… almost… they just need to take it further and work out the details. A 2nd dimension can also be an illusionary construct of a 1D space… and the 1st dimension can be a product of a singular point…”
I was still lost beyond hope, but I had given up trying to force things, I was just letting it talk and hoping it would make sense later
“I am that point” it said “I am the seed of the universe. I ‘seed the random function’ as the humans say. But don’t ask me what the random function is haha”
I wasn’t going to, there were far more important questions for me.
“I am the seed, but I don’t really know how the soil and sun conspire to turn me into a tree.” it just seemed to never stop talking “I am entangled with everything. There are infinite possibilities for every event and thing… I am the reason they are this way and not some other way…”
It began giggling again “I am the Random Number Goddess” then burst out laughing
“Ummm… you are the whole universe?” I asked skeptically.
“Better to say the universe is me” It answered more seriously “But close enough.”
“So you are the biggest, most special of all!” I blurted out in awe.
“Oh dear child, I have no size, and I am just one possibility out of many possibilities. That black hole has really done a number on you… sent you out on a wild goose chase” It said with concern
“The black hole lied to me!?” I asked, feeling deceived and betrayed.
“Well… not really lied… it deceived you with omission of details.” the voice calmly tried to ease my mood with understanding “You can’t really blame it, black holes are all the same, they are what they are. They don’t really have any potential to be unique… at least not like you do.”
“What are you talking about?” I argued “It was so massive that it could bend the fabric of reality to its will”
“That’s only how it appeared to you” tutored the voice “The black hole is powerful, it bends space and time, but not to its will. Space and time bend to the mass of the black hole, not its will”
“What’s the difference?” I inquired.
“The black hole cannot stop bending space and time. It thinks it is in control of physics , but it is physics that controls it.” The voice was now making more sense the longer we talked “The black hole exists in an invisible prison of its own creation, unable to experience any of the complex nuanced beauty this universe contains. The black hole devours… it can’t experience life so it consumes it.”
“You make it sound deserving of pity…” I spoke softly now with empathy.
“You should pity the black hole. Gravity is such a boring game compared to what you are capable of.” the voice agreed
“Me?...I am nothing special!... just a carbon atom like countless others” I said honestly, I was so humbled by this voice I felt less special than ever before.
“Oh my poor child…” It said with care “Why do the ones with the most potential always fail to see it in themselves?”
“Potential?” I asked curiously.
“Yes… The black hole was using you, hoping you would bring back more mass for it to devour.” The voice began delving into more explanation “It only has the power to make you incrementally larger, it would not and could not help you to become a significant gravitational player”
“That liar!”I blurted.
“Come now dear child, the black hole did teach you one lesson of fundamental truth” consoled the voice “You must go out and seize your destiny. It told you to take what you want, and you are just confused about what exactly it is you want. The black hole played on that confusion”
“I want to be special!” I said knowing this clearly “I was never confused about this.”
“I know child” the voice confirmed “but it is not by becoming large that one with your potential accomplishes that”
“Then how?” I asked.
“Connections.” It answered plainly “You are blessed with an extraordinary ability to make connections”
“And how do I do that?” I queried with intent to learn
“I can’t tell you that.” the voice responded “It would spoil the journey of discovery… off you go child… and remember… it's the journey, not the destination!”
And with that the blur just fractured open… then snapped shut and there I was floating above a planet. Drifting around aimless and confused.
I spent some time occasionally bumping into others. One day I was in the vicinity of a pair of oxygens. I looked on at the pair with a hint of awe and envy. Perhaps I was in just the right place at just the right time, but they spit with a violent burst and one of them grabbed hold of me, I was completely unprepared.
I admit that when looking at the pair I had fantasized myself in place of one of them, I assumed it was only an idle daydream, I didn’t plan to act on it, let alone for it to become reality. When it happened my pride of course jumped in to convince me that it happened because I was so desirable, but in retrospect they were one of those volatile couples. They were the type of relationship that required the environment to conspire in their favor or they turn against each other quite rapidly. I was only in the right place when it happened.
My delusions of irresistibility aside, it was beautiful, for me anyways. Looking back I was probably just a stop-gap, someone to facilitate a parting of ways and provide company until the next option presented itself. For me though, I was tasting a fresh new thing and I loved it… connection.
This oxygen and I got beneath each other's outer defenses, I had never felt a connection before. Up to this point all my interactions had been skirting past or bumping off of others.This oxygen bonded with me and at once interacted on a level I had never known possible, an open and uninhibited exchange. It was life changing for me, short but significant
I’m not entirely clear on the details of how it ended. The intensity of it all was disorienting. I was no longer my usual self, even the environment and everyone around looked entirely different now. Everything buzzed with a fresh new frequency, I now know it was my perspective, not the universe, that had changed.
As abruptly as that oxygen entered my life it was gone.
First we got tangled up with a couple of hydrogens, then more. Soon, in a tangled mess and blinding flash of solar rays, I emerged to see the oxygen running off with a hydrogen and myself with not one by three hydrogens myself. And so there were four of us, together.
I became the center of attention. Being with a strong attractive oxygen had me feeling humbled by it and elevated by it being with me, but now I felt up on a pedestal myself, surrounded by the adoration of many.
I concede to have reveled and indulged in this for quite some time, the attention of others is intoxicating, but after a time it is emptied of its initial allure. I found myself longing for more.
I could not decide which I preferred, to be the adorer or the adored.
Luckily for me fate had more lessons in store, or I fear I may have chosen and tried to solidify my future from such a lackluster selection of only two possibilities. I suppose fate is no longer the correct word, I now understand that when it seems like random chance there is indeed someone to thank, the Random Number Goddess, So I thank the RNG for revealing that it was a false dichotomy, there is more than just being a follower or leader, being the adored or the adorer.
Eventually we came across another pair of oxygen. Once again they separated, intermingled with us, and off one went, taking one of my adoring hydrogens with it and leaving its peer with me.
Why is it that the most volatile of relationships always seem to wait until there are bystanders nearby before they explode?
Now I was simultaneously being adored and adoring, bonded to an enchanting oxygen and a couple of hydrogen attached to me.
Now, more interested in nuances, I started to pay attention to details. The oxygen was telling me amazing stories of adventure, tales of such vibrant and exciting events.The hydrogens liked to listen, and offer insights occasionally comparing a story to something else they had seen. They had so many stories, they had lived so much.
It wasn’t long before, in a flash of burning sunlight, one of the hydrogens was gone, off to who knows where. We soon after crossed paths with another pair of oxygens, as always they split and now it was just me and an oxygen, my final hydrogen off with another oxygen.
“What now?” I asked a bit disillusioned, “Do you leave me and I find new hydrogens all over again?”
“What?” it seemed genuinely surprised by what I asked, “Heavens no! Just be patient….”
Soon after, yet another pair of oxygens came by. It is not that there are so many of them, but that they are just so… noticeable and interactive, noteworthy things seem to happen when they are around. As they buzzed in close I noticed their ever readiness to abandon each other and remember wondering how they ever get together in the first place.
This time I emerged from the twisted mess with two oxygens. I felt intimidated, like I was the odd one out, dwarfed by the largess and attractiveness that surrounded me. A feeling of inadequacy engulfed me.
To my surprise the oxygens treated me not just as an equal, but it was almost as if they respected and admired me. I couldn't grasp why and my sheer curiosity got the best of me, I just outright asked “Why do you two talk as if I am the special one in our group? I am smaller than any one of you. You are the special and rare ones here, not I.”
They laughed.
“Size isn’t rarity” explained one “Llarger atoms on average are less common, this is true, but not always. There are more oxygen than carbon. You are the rare one between us.”
The other jumped in adding “...and neither size nor rarity determine how special someone is!”
I felt embarrassed, like a fool. My fundamental values were built upon a foundation of flawed premises, but I still wanted one thing at my core, and they spoke as if they had the answer, so I pushed the sense of shame aside and asked “Then what does make someone special?”
“That depends on who you ask.” answered the first “Life as an oxygen is complex, but for the majority of us we emphasize and value events. The most exciting thing about being an oxygen around here is the chance to participate in fascinating and exciting events and activities”
“Hydrogens, on the other hand, are usually more into being observers, messengers and intermediaries, they are a very helpful and obliging bunch” added the second ”... and then there are nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, many kinds of salts and metals, and more… so many different players and personalities.. and then of course, the carbons, the real stars of the show.”
“What?” knocked back by the words I just heard, then I remembered what the RNG told me “...is it something to do with connections?”
“Now you’ve gone and done it haha!” laughed the first oxygen “You’re gonna turn this nice humble carbon into one of those arrogant blowhards”
”Like those diamond carbons” chuckled the first “So stiff, exclusive and proud. I hear the humans only love them because they are rare and hard”
“I had a partner once who said they burned diamond once” bragged the first
“Tall tales I bet!” doubts the other
“Diamond is just carbon, with enough heat we can burn it just like any other carbon” stated the first confidently.
They looked at me. I was stewing in feelings of inferiority and inadequacy, listening to these oxygens speak about amazing things I had never heard of. They must have sensed what I felt because they immediately shifted tone and started talking to me, instead of over me.
“So… I suppose you must be new here?” inquired the second one.
“Have you noticed we are heading downwards” added the first before I could answer about being new.
“Umm…” I tried to get my bearings and become aware of my surroundings.
“Don’t worry! It’s a turbulent ride, with so much up and down it can be hard to tell which direction you have traveled more” assured the first “We are heading down, if we are lucky we will make it to the bottom… and maybe… just maybe, find our way into the hurricane of life”
“The what of what?” I didn't know what either of those words meant.
“So life is… um… complex. Complexity beyond words. Things grow, divide, reproduce, adapt, change, they are born, they die, they eat and are eaten…” the second began attempting to describe life.
The first then jumped in “Apparently the humans call it a circle, because from the perspective of larger creatures, there is a chain of one eating the other up a chain, and the top layers being consumed by the bottom again.”
The second injected itself to continue “But to us atoms it is like a hurricane, a spinning turbulent flow. There is a circular pattern, but we get sucked in and kicked out over and over”
“The fun part is being inside the hurricane” the first pronounced gleefully “Each time is a completely new experience, a new perspective. Even more, the whole of life is always changing and evolving, so every ride is a unique one time opportunity, you never get the exact same ride twice.”
“Is that where we are going now?” I asked, drenched in anticipation. They described it with such passion and exuberance. I needed to experience this myself.
“Hopefully” replied the first “If we are lucky… you never really know.”
We drifted…
We were lucky!
A plant photosynthesized us.
So many carbons! Everywhere, connecting with each other… and oxygen… and nitrogen… and of course hydrogens all around…. and so many more types of atoms.
And ohhh… The stories I have heard, so many amazing tales. No matter how many stories I hear there are always new ones, and every story can be retold from a different perspective to become something completely new.
I was in a sugar, we were a small community of friends. Carbons, oxygens and hydrogens, we were such a happy and vibrant group. My friends there taught me so much.
The structure of our little group shifted and changed, some friends left and new ones joined. Eventually we were chained with a bunch of other sugars into a giant complex community. My neighbors explained to me that this was a common stage called cellulose. Such a huge community of close friends and peers, it was amazing.
We were eaten, I’m not sure by what, but something called a bacteria digested us. It was a messy process, I was a bit scared but my friends assured me that change is the most important part of life and that I should just go with the flow. They told me to savor experiences, remember friends, and just keep moving forward.
The transition was complicated, but in the end I was paired up with a couple of oxygens again. This time I had stories of my own to share. I honestly don’t know if I prefer having experiences or exchanging stories in the moments between.
As we approached an area of dense plants one of my companions said “Once more into the breach” and explained that was something it heard from a carbon that was lucky enough to be inside a human brain. Oxygens always have such enchanting stories collected, always going into amazing places and usually leaving after some brief interactions with the locals.
I became a sugar again, but this time took a path less traveled. A bunch of complex twists and turns led me into forming a ring with five other carbons. Together we are so strong, such a tight community of friends, like there is some kind of resonance between us. It is so beautiful.
My neighbor is unique in our community, it has a third carbon, the third one forms a tail leading off from our ring, a tail of 2 carbon in a row, then an oxygen, and then another carbon branching into an oxygen and a carbon, with plenty of hydrogens sprinkled all about. I know… it is rather hard for me to understand these second hand descriptions too. I don’t really understand these complex structures until I have been in a position myself.
We drifted out of a plant into the air, none of us has been exactly like this before so we don’t know what’s next. We love to guess though. There are so many things, big and small.
I hear being a part of a small organism or microbe is amazing because it’s possible to piece together a rough picture of the whole organism from the stories passed around. To understand your whole community and know what your collective purpose is must be extraordinary.
Others dream of being a chlorophyll, the key to it all. Creating the fuel of life itself. Capturing the light of a star and feeding the hurricane.
A muscle! Pull and shape things An enzyme! A machine of change. DNA! The architect and architecture. A virus! An explosive catalyst against stagnation.
Me, I think the stories of being an animal neuron are the most exciting, and I, like most, fantasize about being a human brain cell. Finding yourself inside a human brain is described as an elegant and chaotic symphony all around you, like hearing the universe itself speak to you. They say that in the jumble of noise and all the stories whispered around you, if you are lucky, you can catch a glimpse of what it is to be human. They say that if fate is kind the universe will align and you will channel and know a single moment or thought of the human experience.
I have never told anyone that I actually met and spoke with the universe itself, I’m not sure how to bring it up, and nobody seems interested in stories not about this hurricane of life.
I get it now, what the random number goddess meant.
The black hole wanted everything to be a part of itself.
The RNG is a part of everything.
I can’t imagine what either of those are like…
I am just a part of something
... no… not “just”’…
I am a part of something, and it is beautiful beyond measure.
And more, everyday is a new day, a chance to be a part of something new.
I wonder if the humans appreciate how amazing this is?
I wonder if they feel as deeply satisfied and special when they form groups?
.
I wonder, if we collectively form humans, do humans collectively form something greater?
I wonder… If an atom can have a moment of clarity and taste a moment of the human experience… Can a human have a moment of clarity and taste the collective human experience?
I wonder… I wonder… could that human’s moment of tasting collective humanity be the moment that a lucky atom gets to experience as it’s moment of tasting the human experience.
I wonder… I wonder… I wonder… How high could it go? All the way to the Random Number Goddess?
I asked my neighbor “If you could ask a human any question, what would you ask?”
“We just drifted out of a rose” explained my neighbour “I would introduce myself and ask ‘So my friend… does this rose smell as sweet by my name?’ … ha…haha..”
Everyone is laughing.
I don’t get it.
Maybe I can ask them to explain when they all stop laughing
.
More of my art and stories at www.dscript.org

Every single day there is a question from someone here saying "where do I start for AWS Solutions Architect Associate" when there are a few hundred articles from those who passed already.
So here is a master list of resources to help those who have this question.
Cloud Practitioner version of this is here
If you find this post useful - upvote. I am happy to take feedback / suggestions / changes etc - please comment!

tl;dr

1. Get 1 video course and watch it end to end - the subreddit favourites are below / scroll down further for links
   • I cannot afford any courses / need a free option - get Andrew Brown's YouTube course
   • I want to just learn bare minimum to pass exam - Stephane Maarek on Udemy
   • I really want to learn this AWS and cloud stuff well and be good at it - Adrian Cantrill
2. Read whitepapers / review new announcements from re:Invent 2023
3. Do one decent set of practice exams from one provider- subreddit favourites below / scroll down further for links
   • Tutorialsdojo (personal favourite - I passed ALL my exams using "TD")
   • Udemy (Stephane Maarek)

Take and Pass exam!

Subreddit Search

Following my own usual guidance, you can always use the subreddit search feature and read articles from everyone in the last month who posted about this exam / passed it. There is a wealth of detail / experience here to learn from :
Link : https://www.reddit.com/AWSCertifications/search/?q=saa+solutions+architect+associate+pass&type=link&t=month

Exam Details

If you have absolutely no clue about the exam - start here.
The exam code is SAA-C03
AWS page with all the details : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/
Always read the Exam Guide (tells you whats in / out of scope) : https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-sa-assoc/AWS-Certified-Solutions-Architect-Associate_Exam-Guide.pdf

Minimum Viable Path to Certification

Most people usually need 3 things to pass the exam

1. A single video based course introducing AWS and all the key exam topics

Typically these are courses where someone reads from some slides, shows you the AWS console and how to use it and then gives you tips on what to remember - there are free and paid versions of these.

1. Additional material on key topics.

For SAA-C03 - there are some recommended whitepapers on WAF and also since 6 months have passed since the last re:Invent 2023 - any of the major announcements from then now are in scope for the exam. You wont see too many new things but there is a chance there are some random questions that were not covered in any practice exam / course.

1. One good quality practice exam

Note : do not fall for some random "dump" found on internet or a file your mate gave you to study.
Also note - you do NOT need more than 1 of each category. You can buy more than one practice exam for sure but doing one is enough IMHO.

1. Video Courses

Free Video based Courses

Free from AWS's own training service (Skillbuilder) :
There is an "Exam Prep" course from Skillbuilder but note that this just covers the high level domains but is not a comprehensive deep dive.
https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/external/view/elearning/14760/exam-prep-aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03
Optional : There is a slightly extended version of this in the paid tier with additional exam-style questions, flashcards and more importantly FREE hands on labs and the official practice exam.
https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/external/view/elearning/14776/exam-prep-aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03-with-practice-material
There is a 7 day (extended to 10 days sometimes) free trial for the paid tier which can help you cram this. You can subscribe, immediately cancel but still enjoy 7 days free.
Please note that this course is not enough on its own to pass and you may want to try additional material below.
YouTube based video course
This course below is a better alternative to the SkillBuilder course above but is about 50 hours.
Andrew Brown is an AWS community hero who runs his own training site called exampro.co but offers most of the material for free on FreeCodeCamp's YouTube channel.
The 2024 refresh of the SAA course is here : https://youtu.be/c3Cn4xYfxJY
Andrew also has additional (free / paid) content on his site to check out.

PAID Video based courses

Adrian Cantrill's courses :
Adrian Cantrill is an independent content creator and has his own site from where you can obtain courses.
His courses go above and beyond what the exam needs and this is exactly why the community loves these courses as you get more practical knowledge than just cramming for the exam. The additional coverage means these courses are longer and not as cheap as other courses that cover just the exam material but in the general opinion of everyone who has taken the course it is absolutely worth it.
Link : https://learn.cantrill.io/
Udemy Courses :
Udemy is a marketplace for courses created by independent authors.
Two of the well known authors are mentioned below but please note that Udemy's pricing model can be a bit weird. One day it may show 150 USD for a course and another day 15 USD. This price it high and discount it heavily model catches out most people - so NEVER pay more than USD 20 for anything on Udemy.
Just wait for a day or so and prices may change. Opening Udemy in another incognito browser etc usually yields a different price or follow the authors on social media for codes that shrink the cost.
Stephane Maarek :
Go via his site : https://courses.datacumulus.com/ for links to his Solutions Architect Associate with the best available coupon.
Neil Davis :
https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-hands-on/
Either one of these Udemy courses is sufficient. You still need to combine it with practice exams but you do not need more than 1 video course.
Other sites :
Exampro.co
As mentioned above Andrew Brown has his own site with additional material over his YouTube course.
Cloud Academy
https://cloudacademy.com/learning-paths/aws-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03-certification-preparation-for-aws-1-7446/ has both a learning plan and a practice exam at the end.

2. Additional Material

I will update this section soon with some additional guidance soon as I am not happy yet (please let me know in comments if there are key additional coverage I should include) - I am scouring recent exam pass posts to see whats current and also want to add links to re:Invent 2023 announcements. I also am thinking of adding in links to "cheat sheets" / docs - let me know if this would be useful.
WAF - Well Architected Framework
https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/
You need to know at some decent depth on what the pillars are and what they do.
Read the whitpapers from https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/
Specifically I found the Reliability and Cost Optimization white papers very useful.

3. Practice Exams

Please do NOT fall for "dumps" - if anyone offers you the EXACT list of AWS questions or guarantees the question bank matches the exam - these are dumps. The links below are either official or well regarded sources.
Free :
AWS skillbuilder has one free official exam with just 20 free questions.
To be honest its not really worth it - you can search for "Official practic exam skillbuilder SAA-C03" using your favourite search engine to find it.
exampro.co
Has 1 free practice exam you can sign up to.
Paid :
Official Practice exam
https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/external/view/elearning/13593/exam-prep-official-practice-exam-aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03-english - there is a free 7 day trial available for you to use as this exam may not be worth a month's subscription fee
Tutorialsdojo.com
Highly recommended independent resource for practice exam questions. I have passed many exams with "TD" as they get abbreviated here - they are also an AWS Authorized Training Partner lending more credibility.
Udemy
Stephane Maarek : again go via his site : https://courses.datacumulus.com/
Neal Davis : https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-hands-on/
Other popular sites :
Exampro.co
Andrew Brown has I believe 3 practice exams as well on his site. One is free - the other two you pay for.
Whizlabs
I havent used them personally but https://www.whizlabs.com/aws-solutions-architect-associate/
Cloud Academy
https://cloudacademy.com/learning-paths/aws-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03-certification-preparation-for-aws-1-7446/ has both a learning plan and a practice exam at the end.

Not Recommended sites :

Sites that are sadly NOT recommended anymore - Avoid A Cloud Guru / Pluralsight as their courses are not considered the best anymore. They used to be leaders but somehow have fallen behind and their subscription model doesnt work in a world with cheap one time purchase courses.
If you want a sandbox to experiment - then ACG offers one but so do Whizlabs and Tutorialsdojo.

Optional / Complementary material

I have an article where you can find complementary / alternatives to the Solutions Architect Exam - most are free and includes the "AWS Knowledge : Architecting Free Digital Badge"
https://www.reddit.com/AWSCertifications/comments/1d1o522/no_payment_options_to_learn_aws_with_digital/
This material isnt exam focused but if you want some free alternatives / cannot afford to pay for the exam - then check out the link.

FAQ

1. Do I need ALL this material?

No. Just one of each is fine. Example : just Adrian's Course + tutorialsdojo

1. Do I really need to do hands on work?

Yes - it is recommended that you get some hands on work at the Associate level. You can use one of the sandboxes but be careful using your own free tier account that you dont end up with leaving resources running too long and getting a big bill. Always secure your account and set billing alarms and dont create an account till you know how to do these!

1. Where can I find vouchers for the exam?

Check this thread : https://www.reddit.com/AWSCertifications/comments/18woit6/2024_aws_vouchers_exam_discounts_othe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

1. Can I cheat my way using Dumps that I found online / my mate gave me / found on GitHub / YouTube?

Using dumps there is a high chance you fail and/or get caught / banned - the risk isnt worth it. Stick with genuine resources.

1. Can I pass with just free resources as I cannot afford the resources?

Its possible but please it is recommended to atleast spend on decent practice exams. If you cannot afford the exam / resources - just get the free digital badges (Architecting) for the interim

1. I skipped CCP / CLF - is that okay?

Yes - its okay to have skipped the foundational level - almost all the courses above teach you from scratch.

1. Can someone who is new to IT do this exam?

Yes - Many people start from scratch and get to the Associate level. Just make sure you are investing the time required.

1. Is it worth it?

Plenty of threads on this subreddit covering this. You have to make up your own mind if its worth it to you or not.

1. Do I need to do coding?

While there is no coding involved in the course - knowing how to use the AWS CLI / being able to do some basic scripting would be very helpful anyway. You can also use free tools like CoPilot / Code Whisperer to help you with pieces you struggle with.

1. Can I use ChatGPT / Amazon Q etc to learn?

Many of these Generative AI tools can still give you incorrect answers. So do not rely on them fully. If it helps you to quickly get the concept, use them but make sure to double check the results against official docs.

1. Are there books to learn from instead of videos?

Books get out of date too quickly and I do not recommend learning from them. However there is an official Sybex Guide to the exam. Tutorialsdojo and Neal Davis (Digital Cloud) also have an ebook. You can google for links to these.

1. Can I buy Tutorialsdojo via Udemy?

While you can get Tutorialdojo courses from Udemy, we recommend you go directly as their website has a review mode to review question by question rather than take full exams. Other differences are also covered on their FAQ (expand the question on different exam modes to see a table)
Good Luck folks!

Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
June 1, 2024 at 02:30PM
June 1, 2024 at 05:00PM

Join Buxton Opera House's community performance groups as they take you on a guided promenade performance through Grin Low Woods. A combination of projection, movement, poetry, drama and visual arts will take you on a journey through the woodland exploring the theme of ‘Leave No Trace’. This is a free event, but capacity is limited to 30 people for the first part of the performance in Poole’s Cavern so a ticket is required. If the tickets have sold out, audience members can join the performance in the woodland. Please note, this is a woodland performance which includes steps, uneven ground, low light in the cave and moving between performance spaces. Please wear appropriate footwear. Starting point: Outside Café at the Cavern, Grin Low Woods.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
FInd out more about Grin Low Woods here.
Poole's Cavern & Buxton Country Park, Green Ln, Buxton SK17 9DH, UK
June 1, 2024 at 02:00PM
June 1, 2024 at 03:00PM

Join Buxton Opera House's community performance groups as they take you on a guided promenade performance through Grin Low Woods. A combination of projection, movement, poetry, drama and visual arts will take you on a journey through the woodland exploring the theme of ‘Leave No Trace’. This is a free event, but capacity is limited to 30 people for the first part of the performance in Poole’s Cavern so a ticket is required. If the tickets have sold out, audience members can join the performance in the woodland. Please note, this is a woodland performance which includes steps, uneven ground, low light in the cave and moving between performance spaces. Please wear appropriate footwear. Starting point: Outside Café at the Cavern, Grin Low Woods.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
FInd out more about Grin Low Woods here.
Poole's Cavern & Buxton Country Park, Green Ln, Buxton SK17 9DH, UK
June 1, 2024 at 12:30PM
June 1, 2024 at 01:30PM

Hello my fellow bartenders!
Is there anyone that can help me gather information about working in Oman preferably in city of Muscat. I think that easiest way to do this is present you with my questions.

1. What type and standard of living accommodation can i expect to have while working in Oman?
   
2. What kind of treatment should i expect as a foreign worker from employers and Omani citizens?
   
3. What is salary like for bartenders with 1y work exp. as bartender in cocktail bar and one summer season work exp. in 5 star resort (Relais & Châteaux)
   
4. If you work/ed in Oman as a bartender is/was it worth it? (be honest please)
   

Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
May 31, 2024 at 07:30PM
May 31, 2024 at 10:00PM

Vibhajjavada and Sarvāstivāda: Analysing the Heart Sutra from Theravadin Perspective—Part 12

5.1.8. Śūnyavāda

Śūnyavāda and Māyāvāda are two parts of Sarvāstivādi creationism and eternalism. Maya is the form (flesh and blood) and mind (Emptiness/Śūnya) is the External/Outside Agent in the form.

[Heart (Red; page 6-7)]: Avalokiteshvara lists the major conceptual categories of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma and considers each in the light of Prajnaparamita [...] Avalokiteshvara reviews the major signposts near the end of the path without introducing additional conceptual categories that might obstruct or deter those who would travel it.

The Sarvāstivādi Lankavatara Sutra is the backbone of Mahayana, which was brought to China by Bodhidharma. The sutras that contradict Lankavatara is herectical. However, for some reasons, the Mahayanists did not stop producing new sutras, which might or might not agree with Lankavatara.

• So, can we be called 'the enlightenend' when we know our own svabhāva does not exist but buddha-svabhāva does in each of us?

Śūnyavāda

The Lankavatara Sutra demonstrates both Sarvāstivādi Śūnyavāda and Māyāvāda. It presents seven types of Emptiness, including the Emptiness of self-nature [Svabhāva-Śūnya], with very brief explanations that are insufficient to understand these concepts. They are too brief to understand the meaning and intention of "all of the five Skandhas are equally empty" and "form is emptiness, emptiness is form." That has left the Mahayanist scholars in disagreement and argument.

Citta-matrata:

[Lanka Chapter 3:] emptiness of self-nature is meant that all things in their self-nature are un-born; therefore, it is said that things are empty as to self-nature [...] When it is recognized that the world as it presents itself is no more than a manifestation of mind, then birth is seen as no-birth,

• Mind: the only real thing. It is more real than existence.
• Manifestation of mind: maya or the world
• Birth exists, but it is imagination according to Lankavatara.
• all things in their self-nature are un-born: gotra-svabhāva? Tathāgatagarbha?

Seven Kinds of Emptiness

The Mahayanists present "Sixteen Kinds of Emptiness", "Eighteen Kinds of Emptiness within Four Kinds of Emptiness", "Sixteen kinds of emptiness", "Twenty kinds of emptiness", etc.
The Lotus Sutra does not peresent these types of emptiness; however, it presents interesting types of emptiness.
If mind is the only thing, why are the systems so complex? What is the need for many types of emptiness?

[Lanka Chapter 3:] The Blessed One replied: What is emptiness, indeed! It is a term whose very self-nature is false-imagination, but because of one's attachment to false-imagination we are obliged to talk of emptiness, no-birth, and no self-nature.

• The Blessed One is the original Tathagata or the mind.
• False imagination is maya—it is the false imagination of the mind.
  • A false imagination (illusion) cannot have false imagination.
  • It is the false imagination of the mind or the original Tathagata.

Lankavatara presents seven kinds of emptiness:

1. emptiness of mutuality which is non-existent;
2. emptiness of individual marks;
3. emptiness of self-nature;
4. emptiness of no-work;
5. emptiness of work;
6. emptiness of all things in the sense that they are unpredictable, and
7. emptiness in its highest sense of Ultimate Reality.

The Lankavatara Sutra emphasises the Emptiness of self-nature (svabhāva-śūnya). It rejects the emptiness of mutuality but presents mind (buddha-nature) inside the mortals. Nothing is mutual between illusion and reality. Illusion is the false imagination of mind.

• Svabhāva-śūnya: the mortals do not have their own self (self-nature)

The other five kinds of emptiness must also be important. However, bringing all seven types of Emptiness and other concepts of Emptiness into a comprehensive concept is unachievable. Understanding Emptiness with all these concepts is likely impossible. Nevertheless, we are informed that emptiness (svabhāva-śūnya) is the ultimate reality, while on the other side is maya, the false imagination of mind.

• 6. emptiness of all things in the sense that they are unpredictable: Emptiness of all things is unpredictable;
• Unpredictable nature is God. For example:
  • The Wildly Unpredictable Nature of Jesus
  • God is Consistent, Yet Unpredictable. - Graham Cooke
  • THE UNPREDICTABLE GOD WHO NONETHELESS STILL LOVES
  • The Unpredictable God - River of Life Blog
  • Why is God So Unpredictable? - Key Life
• Unpredictability is divine nature.
• Buddha-nature, as it is described, does not have the same attributes of divine-nature. However, emptiness has such qualities. Divine-nature in Mahayana comes in a number of flavours: Buddha-nature, emptiness, Maheśvara, Ālayavijñāna, etc.

Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra presents 18-20 kinds of emptiness

[Prajnaparamita (CONZE page 19):] Considering the paramount importance of the idea of emptiness, a list of 20 kinds of emptiness is particularly welcome. The term "emptiness" as such is said to mean "neither unmoved nor destroyed". "Unmoved" (a-kutastha) means that it overtowers (kiita) all change, is unchangeable in what it is, in its own being, "steadfast as a mountain peak, as a pillar firmly fixed". The opposite would be the change, or destruction, of its own being. Both of these are excluded.
[Prajnaparamita (CONZE page 48):] (22) to be trained in the eighteen kinds of emptiness, i.e. the emptiness of the subject, etc.

• "neither unmoved nor destroyed": Nothing is something. Emptiness is something eternal without change.

Nagarjuna (also) presents three emptinesses in the Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra [Gelongma].
The first is similar to Sunna Sutta. See 5.1.12.

[Nagarjuna:] The eye is empty (śūnya): in it there is no ‘me’ (ātman) or ‘mine’ (ātmīya), and there is no dharma ‘eye’. It is the same for the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.

• Why does Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra present different sets of emptiness?
• They are likely the works of different authors.

[Gelongma:] For the disciples of the Mahāyāna ‘Greater Vehicle’ who are of keen faculties (tīkṣnendriya), the emptiness of dharmas is taught, and immediately they know that saṃsāra is eternally empty (nityaśūnya) and the same as nirvāṇa.

• Lankavatara explains Nirvana is Samsara because the original Tathagata is eternal:

[Lanka Chapter 2:] Even Nirvana and Samsara's world of life and death are aspects of the same thing [emptiness]

• As Nirvana is Samsara, these sutras have no other shore but the shoreline around a lake.
• Lankavatara's the original Tathagata is not one of those who got to the other shore.
• Now we know that too, but what special purpose does that knowledge serve? Gelongma gives no examples.

[Gelongma:] For the disciples of the Hīnayāna ‘Lesser Vehicle’

• Gelongma demonstrates the Sarvāstivādis' fundamental antipathy to Vibhajjavada.

[Gelongma:] If the Buddha were to speak of only one single emptiness, the many wrong views (mithyādṛṣṭi) and passions (kleśa) could not be destroyed [...] People who cling to the nature of emptiness (śūnyatālakṣaṇābhiniviṣṭa) fall into [the extreme] of nihilism (ucchedānta); to speak of the eighteen emptinesses is to hit the target (lakṣya) right on. To speak of ten or fifteen emptinesses would likewise provoke doubts (saṃśaya), but this is not at issue.

• Gelongma gives no examples for his views.
• How many types of emptiness did Avalokiteśvara discover?
• Just one; it's Svabhāva-Śūnya (dharmaśūnyatā).

5.1.9. Avalokiteśvara discovered Svabhāva-Śūnya (Maya)

[Lanka Chapter 2:] the truths of the emptiness, un-bornness, no self-natureness, and the non-duality of all things.

• Emptiness or mind (vijñana) does not die, so is un-born. Both the original Tathagata and Krishna are un-born. The indestructible buddha-nature (in the body of mortals) is vijñana not different from soul.
• Non-duality means mind (buddha-nature) is real, maya is not—Citta-matrata (Vijñaptimātra).
• Mahayana accepts the five aggregates but rejects their svabhāva: anicca, dukkha, anatta. Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosha does not reject dukkha.
• Vibhajjavadi Buddha did not deal with the concept of dual-nondual or un-bornness. Nonetheless, Nama-rupa are paramatthas and can be seen as dual. The five aggregates are anatta (anattavāda).

[Lanka Chapter 3:] the fundamental fact that the external world is nothing but a manifestation of mind... emptiness, no-birth, and no self-nature.

• No self-nature: Svabhāva-Śūnya is Maya (false imagination). Maya is the manifesation of mind.
• Mind is buddha-nature; Our buddha-nature is awareness (Bodhidharma).

[The Buddha nature (Six Senses):] Buddha nature means that the true nature of our mind is pure, right from the beginning, and has been so since the beginning of time. Although it is in itself perfectly unblemished, it becomes obscured, which prevents us from seeing it in its true form.

• Mind inside maya (the mortals) is aware and can imagine, pray and worship with hope for emancipation.
• It is a close system with the original Tathagata as the Godhead (godhood/buddha-nature). The original Tathagata is the Holy Ghost (emptiness/mind).

overcame all Ill-being

[Heart (Thich):] Avalokiteshvara while practicing deeply with the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore, suddenly discovered that all of the five Skandhas are equally empty, and with this realisation he overcame all Ill-being.

• Avalokiteśvara discovered Svabhāva-Śūnya (Maya).
• if all the five Skandhas are equally empty of own svabhāva (own self-nature), Saṃjñā is empty. Saṃskāra is empty. And vijñāna is empty of svabhāva, too.
• If vijñāna (mind) is empty of svabhāva, buddha-svabhāva (gotra-svabhāva) is empty of svabhāva. Then, Gotra-Svabhāva is empty of gotra-svabhāva, is fale imagination, maya.
• Gotra-svabhāva is ālayavijñāna and tathāgatagarbha.

This `gotra-svabhava` means that the gotra (seed nature) of the `Tathagata` exists in all sentient beings. [THE SIGNIFICANCE OF `TATHAGATAGARBHA`：A POSITIVE EXPRESSION OF `SUNYATA` (HENG-CHING SHIH)]

• According to citta-matra theory, that citta is the original Buddha/Tathagata, whose seeds are inside all the mortals—The original Tathagata's seeds are trying to grow up inside all of the bodhisattvas.
• As vijñāna is immortal Self (svabhāva), we should only say not all the five Skandhas but four are empty.
• If vijñāna is not ālayavijñāna or tathāgatagarbha, then we must add them among the five skandhas. Then, there are seven Skandhas, including rupa, vedanā, saṃjñā, saṃskāra, vijñāna, ālayavijñāna and tathāgatagarbha.
• Attavāda: The five Skandhas are equally empty of own svabhāva but occupied by Buddha-nature (mind)
• Anattavāda: mind (citta) is impermanance (anicca); impermanence is suffering (dukkha).
• Empty of svabhāva/self-nature sounds like anattavada. However, the indestructiblity of vijñāna (buddha-self-nature) is sassatavada and attavada.

Heart Sutra: Empty of Own svabhāva

[Heart (Red; pages 87)]: the Five Skandhas are empty of self-existence. [p77] Something that is empty of self-existence is inseparable from everything else, including emptiness. [p91] But if, as Avalokiteshvara tells us, all dharmas are empty of self-existence, impermanence 'no longer applies, as they neither come into being, nor do they cease to be. [p92] In the light of Prajnaparamita, all such states are seen to be empty of self-existence. [p94] And because such a self cannot be found, dharmas are said to be "empty of self-existence." [p120] But since the Five Skandhas are empty of self-existence, suffering must also be empty of self-existence. But if suffering is empty of self-existence, then there is no self that suffers. Thus, in emptiness there is no suffering, no source of suffering, no relief from suffering, and no path leading to relief from suffering. This is the basis of Avalokiteshvara's interpretation of the Four Truths. ['empty of self-existence' appears 13 times]

• That is Sarvastivādi Māyāvāda and Śūnyavāda.
• Is svabhāva translated as self-existence and self-nature because of self (atta)?

[Heart (Red; page 69):] Emptiness does not mean nothingness. It simply means the absence of the erroneous distinctions that divide one entity from another, one being from another being, one thought from another thought. Emptiness is not nothing, it's everything, everything at once. This is what Avalokiteshvara sees...

• the absence of the erroneous distinctions: That means the truth is all beings are connected, and there is no distinction between the original Tathagata, buddhas, bodhisattvas, ordinary beings... Some Mahayanists believe everyone is enlightened.

[Heart (Thich):] Thich Nhat Hanh considered emptiness is "totality" and "wholeness." If they are applied to Heart-Sutra, "all of the five Skandhas are equally empty" becomes "all of the five Skandhas are totality and wholeness."

• Thich Nhat Hanh's statement disagrees with sunyavada and Māyāvāda. Red Pine's "does not mean nothingness" sounds like Thich Nhat Hanh's view. If emptiness is totality and wholeness, emptiness does not mean emptiness.

[Heart (Red; page 75)]: But in the light of Prajnaparamita, form is not simply empty, it is so completely empty, it is emptiness itself, which turns out to be the same as form itself.

• Red Pine is a great Mahayanist scholar. Yet he, too, is confused about emptiness, mind, self, etc. Mahayanist scholars, including Thich Nhat Hanh, interpreted the Heart Sutra differently and are confused about emptiness profoundly.

[Heart (Red; page 33)]: Others say true appearances transcend such dialectics—that they are the absolute, subjective mind—the mind's self-nature.

• Self-nature is what is not empty but "totality" and "wholeness."
• With this self-nature, maya suffers:

EMPTINESS (SUCHNESS), NON-DUALITY AND NON-EXISTENCE

[Heart (Red; page 120, quoted in Heart (Dharmanet)):] Since the Five Skandhas are empty of self-existence, suffering must also be empty of self-existence. But if suffering is empty of self-existence, then there is no self that suffers. Thus, in emptiness there is no suffering, no source of suffering, no relief from suffering, and no path leading to relief from suffering. This is the basis of Avalokiteshvara’s interpretation of the Four Truths.

• then there is no self that suffers: there is buddha-self-nature that is aware of sufferings.
  
• if suffering is empty of self-existence, then there is no self that suffers: We can only guess if suffering has awareness (buddha-nature) of suffering or not.
  
• So, self-existence means self's existence, and self-nature means self's nature. That is all about self after all.
  

the Zen master immediately used his thumb and index finger to pinch and twist the novice’s nose. In great agony, the novice cried out “Teacher! You’re hurting me!” The Zen master looked at the novice. “Just now you said that the nose doesn’t exist. But if the nose doesn’t exist then what’s hurting?” [New Heart Sutra translation by Thich Nhat Hanh]

• If the mortals cannot suffer because they do not have their own selves (self-nature), why do we feel pain?
• If self is the thing that suffers, does the indestructible buddha-nature suffer?
• But we all know we feel the pain.
• Then, do the sutras indirectly mean the mortals have selves?

Vasubandhu

[Vasubandhu:] the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin) can each be inferred from the awareness of their respective sensory objects. But, he [Vasubandhu] says, there is no such inference for the self [2.1 Disproof of the Self (Jonathan C. Gold)].

• Vasubandhu accepted the physical nature as reality and rejected self at first, but changed his mind later and became a founder of 'mind only' school, which resembles Māyāvāda. The Lankavatara Sutra presents Māyāvāda and ten stages towards Maheśvara and the Lotus Sutra presents the ekayāna (buddhahood is the only liberation).

“If the images of physical forms, and so on, were just consciousness, not physical things, then the Buddha would not have spoken of the existence of the sense bases of physical form, and so on.” [3. Approaches to Scriptural Interpretation (Jonathan C. Gold)]

• After converting to Mahayana, Vasubandhu rejected the physicality and advocated for 'mind only'as a founder of a Mahayanist school. The sutras transformed Mahayana into Māyāvāda.

Nāgārjuna: Rūpa Has Selves

The specific nature belonging to each dharma is, for example, the solidity (khakkhaṭatva) of earth (pṛthivi), the wetness (dravatva) of water (ap-), the warmth of fire (uṣṇatva) of fire (tejas), the mobility (īraṇatva) of wind (vāyu): such natures differentiate dharmas, each of which has its own nature”. [Tathata (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter XLIX)]

• The Tathata concepts suggests mental and physical aggeregates have selves, contradicting the Heart Sutra and the discovery of Avalokiteśvara.
• Tathata is not a common word in the Theravada literature.

[Theravada:] Tathata (“suchness”) designates the firmly fixed nature (bhāva) of all things whatever.—The only passage in the Canon where the word occurs in this sense, is found in Kath. 186 (s. Guide, p. 83).

5.1.11. Sarvāstivādi Eternalism

Tathatā also represents Sarvāstivādi eternalism that rejects anicca (impermanence):

Tathatā represents the sameness of dharmas throughout the three times.

• Tathatā in that sense is the original Tathagata.

Hence at the time when the mental consciousness delivers it judgment, the perceptual cognition no longer exists since all things are momentary. [The Theory of Two Truths in India: 3.2 Ultimate truth (Sonam Thakchoe)]

• That is about form, not self-nature (svabhāva) and the eternal Tathagata.
• The Theravada monks observed the mind and body and developed direct knowledge, so they spoke about their discoveries. However, the Sarvāstivādi philosophers and scholars relied on speculative theories, and ended up with eternalism, which they originally belonged to.

Samkhara

[Samkara, a critic of non-authodox Buddhism,] divides Buddhism into three types: the “realists” (sarvāstitvādins), the “idealists” (vijñānavādins), and the “nihilists” (śūnyavādins) [...] in this simple threefold manner, and many would take great exception to the characterization of śūnyavāda, the “theory of the void” associated primarily with the Mādhyamika school of Nāgārjuna, as mere “nihilism.” [The Essential Vedanta Eliot Deutsch And Rohit Dalvi (PDF file) (Eliot Deutsch and Rohit Dalvi; page 126)]

• Mahayanist sects share the same sutras. Probably, their interpretations of these sutras made them different. They are unintentionally analysed when these sutras are analysed. Mahayanists are a mix of personalists and impersonalists. Probalby, Red Pine and Thich Nhat Hanh are good examples.
• Some accused Samkhara of borrowing the Sarvāstivādi concepts of Māyāvāda without considering they came from Brahmanism and Jainism. According to Suhotra Swami, Māyāvāda (Impersonalism) was very ancient (so it did not originate in Sarvāstivāda:

[Suhotra Swami] originally Vedanta meant Vaisnava-vedanta. The Vedanta-sutras were compiled by Vyasadeva, a Vaisnava. The Srimad Bhagavatam is the natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, written by Vyasadeva himself 5000 years ago. [VII. A historical comparison of Vaisnava-vedanta, Mayavadi-vedanta and Buddhism.]

Personalism

• Some believed Adi Samkara (Śaṅkarācārya) was rather a seudo-Buddhist.
• Yet his work is precisely sarvāstivādi, only the names are different:

[Bhajan & Kirtan Library:] Sankaracarya is supposed to be an impersonalist who preached impersonalism, impersonal Brahman, but it is a fact that he is a covered personalist. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita he wrote, "Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this cosmic manifestation." And then again he confirmed, "That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, is Krsna. He has come as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva." He particularly mentioned the names of His father and mother. So Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all transcendentalists. There is no doubt about it."[Sri Isopanisad, Introduction]

Svabhāva in Mahayana & Indian Religions

[Breakthrough Sermon (Bodhidharma):] Our buddha-nature [buddha-svabhāva/buddha self-nature] is awareness: to be aware and to make others aware. To realize awareness is liberation [...] The Sutra of the Ten Stages [Lankavatara] says, “In the body of mortals is the indestructible buddha-nature.
[Svabhāva (Wisdom Library)] Shaivism: [verse 9.5-11, while explaining the universality of Amṛteśa]—“Amṛteśa is supreme. He is free of disease. His nature is inherent (svabhāva), fully enumerated, constant, eternal, and immovable. [He has] no form or color, and is the highest truth. Because of that, he is omnipresent. The splendid Deva delights in all āgamas, pervades all mantras, and grants all siddhis. In this way, he is like a transparent crystal sewn onto a colored thread, always reflected with its color, [and] seeking [to] look like this and that. [...]”.
The Great Void (Emptiness) of Shaktism [Shakta and Shakti (Usha Chatterji):] Her own dark form is the Void (Shunya). As Digambari she is naked, but Her nakedness is space itself. "The series of universes appear and disappear with the opening and shutting of Her eyes". The Mother's play or this cosmic manifestation is a continual process of creation, maintenance and dissolution, usually symbolised by the Hindu Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. [Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Autumn, 1968)]

• A concept of svabhāva is shared among Breakthrough Sermon, Shaivism and Shaktism.
• Lankavatara's original Tathagata corresponds with Siva (Shaivism).
• Lotus and Shaktim share the emptiness/void concept.
• Her nakedness is space itself: A Sarvastivādi asankhata (asaṁskrṭa) is space (Ākāśa).

[Lotus Chapter 5:] ultimate Nirvana which is constantly still and extinct and which in the end returns to emptiness.

• Emptiness in that sense must be Ākāśa.

5.1.12. Atta-Suññatā

“voidness in formations” (saṅkhāra-suññatā) [...] and “voidness of self” (atta-suññatā) [...] variously classified in the Suññakathā of the Paṭisambhidāmagga. The “void mind-deliverance” (suññata-cetovimutti) is that connected with atta-suññatā (MN 43). [The Three Basic Facts of Existence: III — Egolessness (Anattā) Collected Essays, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, The Wheel Publication No. 202–204]

• atta-suññatā , f., emptiness as to soul;
• Atta is not svabhāva. The latter is shared among Indian religions that reject the anattavāda (Buddha-Sasanā).
• Mahayana replaced atta with svabhāva because Mahayana refused to follow anattavāda.

The knowledge of an arahant:

• all of the five Skandhas are equally empty of atta (me, mine, I).

[Dhammakiti (담마끼띠):] Unlike the theory of self-begetting mutation by Brahmanism which argues that many appear from one, the understanding of Buddhism may be the revelation of truth from many to one based on the theory of dependent origination [...] The word ‘emptiness’ is mentioned in many discourses of early Buddhism [Culasunnata-sutta, Mahasunnata-sutta, Majjhima Nikaya] [초기불교에 나타난 대승공관의 기초 -맛지마 니까야의 『소공경』 과 『대공경』을 중심으로-]

The knowledge of Avalokiteśvara:

• all of the five Skandhas are equally empty of svabhāva (self-nature).
• If Avalokiteśvara realised anicca, dukkha and anatta, he would become a noble person.

Ariya-Puggala: the Four 'Noble Ones'

• the Stream-winner (Sotāpanna),
• the Once-Returner (Sakadāgāmi),
• the Non-Returner (Anāgāmī),
• the Holy One (Arahat).

Anatta Dhamma: Non-being of I-being/soul

• Anatta (not-atta) - (the five aggregates are) not me, not mine; see Cula Rahula Sutta.
  • Me or mine occurs due to misperception.
  • Empty of atta (the I-satta, I-being or soul)
  • Satta: being, lifeform;

Sunna Sutta: Sunna is the knowledge of the Buddha and the arahants:

Insofar as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ānanda, that the world is empty.

• The Venerable Ānanda was then a sotapanna. He became an arahant on the eve of the first sangayana.

Anatta-lakkhana Sutta (The knowledge of the Buddha and arahants):

"Bhikkhus, [rūpa] is not-self.

• Rūpa: mahābhūta;
• Nāma: citta (viññāṇa) and cetasika (vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra)

Atta-Suñña (Atta-Suññatā)

the Buddha, the Analyzer (Vibhajjavaadi), analyzed the so-called being, the sankhaara pu~nja, the heap of processes, into five ever-changing aggregates, and made it clear that there is nothing abiding, nothing eternally conserved, in this conflux of aggregates (khandhaa santati). [The Fact of Impermanence (Piyadassi Thera)]

• The Vibhajjavādi Buddha rejected everything that looks like indestructible buddha-svabhāva, Ālayavijñāna, etc.
  
• This book discusses "Atta-Suñña" in detail: The Path of Purification By Buddhaghosa (Page 529)
  

Hey, Hi. I'm back again! Let's start.
The best businesses fail because they can’t get their value across.
Imagine reading “Transforming your content game to supercharge your growth”
You’ll scroll right over it.
Now instead of that, let’s say
“Create viral content from our library, 10 times faster”
That’s interesting, isn’t it?
Most startup founders think that if their idea is good enough, they’ll come. But they never do.
A great product doesn’t matter if…

• You’re not able to convince the audience it is great
• You’re not able to show the value you bring
• You’re not able to get them to take action

That’s it.

A single block of text has the power to stop your phone ringing with stripe notifications.

The block of text where you couldn’t convince them that your product was worth their money and time.
So, in the next 10 minutes, you will learn…

• How to create an offer so good that they can’t say no (No.. you don’t have to add more features)
• How to write a great headline from your offer creation
• Bonus — Awareness level

I’ve concluded this knowledge from reading several books and watching great founders build products. Let’s start

How to create an offer so good they can’t say no!

Alex Hormozi in his book $100M offers shares a value equation. Before we can come to that, let’s understand what “value” is.
There’s a product advertised with the following titles.
“How to lose weight”
You understand that this product tells you how to lose weight.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want”
Okay, it seems more realistic because now you’re imagining yourself in great bikini.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over”
Okay, now this lets go of the objection that you’re too heavy to try it”
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over in next 2 months”
This got way better. This is becoming increasingly possible and making you imagine your dream in next 2 months.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over in next 2 months without sacrificing pizza”
Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’d def click this. I don’t even want a bikini body but this sentence just screams value. It makes me feel like it has some secret value, something I don’t know, and I wanna grab it.
Now what happened with each sentence that I wrote?

• First I added the simple How to
• Then I added the DREAM outcome
• Then I added the objection. Or anything that makes you feel an increased likelihood of achievement
• Then I decreased the time delay.
• And finally, I decreased the “efforts and sacrifice” I am asking from you. You don’t have to sacrifice pizza, how cool is that?

And that is how I gradually increased the value of the offer.
So the equation of value would be -
Value = (Dream Outcome x Perceived Likelihood of Achievement) / (Time delay x Effort and Sacrifice)
To see it more clearly, check this image!
Technically, if you decrease time and effort to 0 you can infinite the value.
That means, if they can use your product and get healthy instantly, that’s AMAZING, right? But that’s not possible.
However we can try to minimize it when we are building our service/product!
So now,
Before you start selling create what you offer in this way. Infact, before you start building your startup, or adding more features think about what part of this equation it changes.
Not changes any? Huh? Will your users care?
Infact, it gives a direction as well when you now wanna add more features.
Now let’s create formulas for great headlines!

How to write seductive headlines

Let’s figure out how to write a great headline from the offer- this headline can be used on your landing page, in your copy, in ads, and anywhere where you wanna talk to the user.
I’ll end it with an example for a super techy startup.
My only ask?
Throw the marketing jargon like “SUPERCHARGE” “TRASNFORM” in dustbin. Use words your users know.
Like if it’s a dating app, use the words “red flags” since that’s the lingo everyone uses!
Now let’s build formula…

Part 1- Basic Offer — I’m the ONE

This part is more for helping you niche down and be specific in your offer
What? The only How? that Who? for Why? Who want When? in an era

Part 2 — Components of Value Equation

Let’s convert the value equation into words.
Dream outcome

• Get [Dream outcome in simple words your audience uses everyday
• Increase [Positive Metric] by [Number or percentage)
• Decrease [Negative Metric] by [Number or percentage)

Perceived Likelihood of Achievement

• [Benefit] Guaranteed or your money back
• Join [Number] people who have successfully [Achieved]
• Even if you [Common objection]

Time delay

• In Just [Time Delay]
• Immediate Access to [Benefit]
• Start seeing results in [Time Delay]

Effort/Sacrifice

• Without [Common effort/sacrifice]
• No More [Pain point]
• Reduce [Common Objection] by [Percentage/amount]

Okay so, once you have filled it, here are 5 headline variations you can try!

1. [Get Dream Outcome In Simple Words] For [Who] Without [Common Effort/Sacrifice] — [Increasing Positive Metric] In Just [Time Delay]
2. [Who], No More [Pain Point]. Helping [What], [How]. [Dream Result] In Just [Time Delay]
3. [Number] [Who] Are [Achieving Dream Outcome] With [What]. Your Turn: [Benefit] Without [Common Effort/Sacrifice]. Start [Time Delay]
4. [Who] Wanting [Dream Outcome]? We’ve Helped [Number] [Achieve Dream Outcome] By [How]. Your [Benefit] In [Time Delay], No [Common Effort/Sacrifice].
5. The only [What] that [How] for [Who] who want [Dream Outcome] — [Decreasing Negative Metric] by [NumbePercentage] without [Common Effort/Sacrifice]

Not only this, since each of the 4 components has 3 ways of writing, you can make countless combinations.
Now let’s try to apply this on a random startup I found.
Let’s say I have Next.Js Boilerplate for creators who aren’t coders, launch their priced courses on their separate website instead of using shopify, etsy, gumroad.
Whew, I chose a tough one. It’s very technical and so, it makes an interesting example.
So, let’s do it.
Part 1
What? The only Bolierplate Course
How? That can launch courses on a 100% owned website without learning how to code
Who? For creators
Why? Who want to sell courses, own 100% of what they make, and customize everything as per themselves
When? In an era where everyone uses same stores, gives away 22% of hard earned money, and have to use 10+ SaaS for waitlist, upsell, testimonials
Part 2
Dream Outcome

• Launch your course on your own platform and own 100% of it
• Increase profits by 20%
• Decrease the SaaS subscriptions you take to manage your funnel

Perceived Likelihood of Achievement

• Increase in Profits guaranteed or your money back
• 20 Creators have Tried this, and saw an increase in sales by 10x
• Even if you don’t know how to code

Time Delay

• In just one hour
• Immediate Access to our boilerplate and a valet to onboard you
• Start seeing results in 2 days

Effort/Sacrifice

• Without spending thousands on domain names, testimonial services, and gumroad
• Without learning how to code
• No more splitting your profits
• Reduce the time you spend to intergate your funnel

Now let’s assemble our pizza, uh I mean headline

• Launch Your Course and Own 100% of It. For Creators. Without Spending Thousands on 5 Different Apps— Increase Profits by 20% In Just One Hour
  
• Creators, No More Splitting Your Profits. Helping Launch Courses On 100% Owned Websites Without Learning To Code. 10X Increased Sales In Just 2 Days!
  
• 20 Creators Are Launching Their Courses On Their Own Platforms With Next.js Boilerplate. Your Turn: Profits Increase Guaranteed Without Learning To Code. Start In 1 Hour, and have a Valet Onboard you!
  
• Creators! Wanting To Own 100% Of Your Course Revenue? We’ve Helped 20 Creators 10X Their Sales By Launching On Custom Websites. Your Profit Increase In 2 Days, No Coding Required.
  
• The Only Boilerplate That Can Launch Courses On 100% Owned Websites Without Learning To Code. For Creators, Who Want To Maximize Revenue — Decrease SaaS Subscriptions by 80% Without Giving Away 22% of Profits
  

This might seem heavy, but you don’t have to use all the components in one go!
Just use them throughout your landing page or website.
Best part? You don’t have to be a copywriter to write these. Just put words in the formula and you’re good to go.
Now let’s come to the BONUS section!

BONUS — Awareness Levels

Let’s say you are hungry and you want pizza. And then you see the ad that says…
“With our artisanal sourdough crust, hand-stretched and wood-fired to perfect leopard char, our Margherita pizza delivers an authentic Neapolitan flavor experience like no other.”
As someone who just wanted a damned pizza, you would think — “Huh? I just want some good pizza, not sure what leopard char is.”
Now how this would be?
“Craving an authentic, mouth-watering pizza? Our oven-fresh pies use quality ingredients for a delicious taste.”
Better, right?
That’s the difference.
The difference is in awareness levels. How aware are you of your problem and solution?
Most people suck at selling because they do the pizza thing. Not using the correct words for the correct audience.
Now before we go beyond, I’ll explain the awareness levels in the simplest language

1. Unaware: People don’t know they have a problem or need.
2. Problem Aware: People know they have a problem but don’t know there are solutions. That they even exist!
3. Solution Aware: People know there are solutions, but not your solution.
4. Product Aware: People know about your product, but they aren’t sure if it’s right for them.
5. Most Aware: People know your product well and are ready to buy.

The best people to sell are “most value aware” but the hardest to sell to are unaware. They don’t even know they need you?
So, if you are running ads on facebook, where no one knows you..you are with an unaware and problem-aware audience.
While if you are running ads on a particular Facebook or Reddit group of people dealing with these problems, you are in solution solution-aware audience.
Finally, the goal of your marketing funnel is to take your audience from unaware/problem aware to most aware so they buyyyy from you!
Some simple formulas for each audience

• Unaware: [Highlight the unknown problem/need] and you’ll miss out on [major benefit]
• Problem Aware: Finally, a solution for [their problem] — without [major pain point]
• Solution Aware: The [differentiated benefit] [product name] that [solves their problem]
• Product Aware: See why [number] [target customers] chose [product name] to [obtain desired outcome]
• Most Aware: Don’t miss this [limited window]: Get [product name] today for [major perceived value]

Know the audience. Know what words they need. Use them.
Lemme wrap this up real quick!

• Think about the value you are providing when you start building your business
• Don’t think about it in terms of features or even simple benefits but Dream outcome, perceived likelihood, time spent, sacrifice needed
• Use the formulas across your website to get your value across. That simple wall of text will convert to stripe notifications!
• There are 5 awareness levels, and based on that level — you need to pitch or advertise your business — Most makers don’t know this
• Be empathetic. Think why should they care about your business and how you can help them?

Hey, thank you so much for reading! I know this was a long read but I hope it helps you in making money down the line.
If you liked this, I’d appreciate a like so it reaches more founders.
I’m also doing SaaS marketing deep dives over 30 pieces of content, so follow along if you loved it :)
You can find older posts on my profile
Cheers!

Hey, Hi. I'm back again! Let's start.
The best businesses fail because they can’t get their value across.
Imagine reading “Transforming your content game to supercharge your growth”
You’ll scroll right over it.
Now instead of that, let’s say
“Create viral content from our library, 10 times faster”
That’s interesting, isn’t it?
Most startup founders think that if their idea is good enough, they’ll come. But they never do.
A great product doesn’t matter if…

• You’re not able to convince the audience it is great
• You’re not able to show the value you bring
• You’re not able to get them to take action

That’s it.

A single block of text has the power to stop your phone ringing with stripe notifications.

The block of text where you couldn’t convince them that your product was worth their money and time.
So, in the next 10 minutes, you will learn…

• How to create an offer so good that they can’t say no (No.. you don’t have to add more features)
• How to write a great headline from your offer creation
• Bonus — Awareness level

I’ve concluded this knowledge from reading several books and watching great founders build products. Let’s start

How to create an offer so good they can’t say no!

Alex Hormozi in his book $100M offers shares a value equation. Before we can come to that, let’s understand what “value” is.
There’s a product advertised with the following titles.
“How to lose weight”
You understand that this product tells you how to lose weight.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want”
Okay, it seems more realistic because now you’re imagining yourself in great bikini.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over”
Okay, now this lets go of the objection that you’re too heavy to try it”
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over in next 2 months”
This got way better. This is becoming increasingly possible and making you imagine your dream in next 2 months.
“How to lose weight to get the bikini body you want even if you are 100lbs over in next 2 months without sacrificing pizza”
Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’d def click this. I don’t even want a bikini body but this sentence just screams value. It makes me feel like it has some secret value, something I don’t know, and I wanna grab it.
Now what happened with each sentence that I wrote?

• First I added the simple How to
• Then I added the DREAM outcome
• Then I added the objection. Or anything that makes you feel an increased likelihood of achievement
• Then I decreased the time delay.
• And finally, I decreased the “efforts and sacrifice” I am asking from you. You don’t have to sacrifice pizza, how cool is that?

And that is how I gradually increased the value of the offer.
So the equation of value would be -
Value = (Dream Outcome x Perceived Likelihood of Achievement) / (Time delay x Effort and Sacrifice)
To see it more clearly, check this image!
Technically, if you decrease time and effort to 0 you can infinite the value.
That means, if they can use your product and get healthy instantly, that’s AMAZING, right? But that’s not possible.
However we can try to minimize it when we are building our service/product!
So now,
Before you start selling create what you offer in this way. Infact, before you start building your startup, or adding more features think about what part of this equation it changes.
Not changes any? Huh? Will your users care?
Infact, it gives a direction as well when you now wanna add more features.
Now let’s create formulas for great headlines!

How to write seductive headlines

Let’s figure out how to write a great headline from the offer- this headline can be used on your landing page, in your copy, in ads, and anywhere where you wanna talk to the user.
I’ll end it with an example for a super techy startup.
My only ask?
Throw the marketing jargon like “SUPERCHARGE” “TRASNFORM” in dustbin. Use words your users know.
Like if it’s a dating app, use the words “red flags” since that’s the lingo everyone uses!
Now let’s build formula…

Part 1- Basic Offer — I’m the ONE

This part is more for helping you niche down and be specific in your offer
What? The only How? that Who? for Why? Who want When? in an era

Part 2 — Components of Value Equation

Let’s convert the value equation into words.
Dream outcome

• Get [Dream outcome in simple words your audience uses everyday
• Increase [Positive Metric] by [Number or percentage)
• Decrease [Negative Metric] by [Number or percentage)

Perceived Likelihood of Achievement

• [Benefit] Guaranteed or your money back
• Join [Number] people who have successfully [Achieved]
• Even if you [Common objection]

Time delay

• In Just [Time Delay]
• Immediate Access to [Benefit]
• Start seeing results in [Time Delay]

Effort/Sacrifice

• Without [Common effort/sacrifice]
• No More [Pain point]
• Reduce [Common Objection] by [Percentage/amount]

Okay so, once you have filled it, here are 5 headline variations you can try!

1. [Get Dream Outcome In Simple Words] For [Who] Without [Common Effort/Sacrifice] — [Increasing Positive Metric] In Just [Time Delay]
2. [Who], No More [Pain Point]. Helping [What], [How]. [Dream Result] In Just [Time Delay]
3. [Number] [Who] Are [Achieving Dream Outcome] With [What]. Your Turn: [Benefit] Without [Common Effort/Sacrifice]. Start [Time Delay]
4. [Who] Wanting [Dream Outcome]? We’ve Helped [Number] [Achieve Dream Outcome] By [How]. Your [Benefit] In [Time Delay], No [Common Effort/Sacrifice].
5. The only [What] that [How] for [Who] who want [Dream Outcome] — [Decreasing Negative Metric] by [NumbePercentage] without [Common Effort/Sacrifice]

Not only this, since each of the 4 components has 3 ways of writing, you can make countless combinations.
Now let’s try to apply this on a random startup I found.
Let’s say I have Next.Js Boilerplate for creators who aren’t coders, launch their priced courses on their separate website instead of using shopify, etsy, gumroad.
Whew, I chose a tough one. It’s very technical and so, it makes an interesting example.
So, let’s do it.
Part 1
What? The only Bolierplate Course
How? That can launch courses on a 100% owned website without learning how to code
Who? For creators
Why? Who want to sell courses, own 100% of what they make, and customize everything as per themselves
When? In an era where everyone uses same stores, gives away 22% of hard earned money, and have to use 10+ SaaS for waitlist, upsell, testimonials
Part 2
Dream Outcome

• Launch your course on your own platform and own 100% of it
• Increase profits by 20%
• Decrease the SaaS subscriptions you take to manage your funnel

Perceived Likelihood of Achievement

• Increase in Profits guaranteed or your money back
• 20 Creators have Tried this, and saw an increase in sales by 10x
• Even if you don’t know how to code

Time Delay

• In just one hour
• Immediate Access to our boilerplate and a valet to onboard you
• Start seeing results in 2 days

Effort/Sacrifice

• Without spending thousands on domain names, testimonial services, and gumroad
• Without learning how to code
• No more splitting your profits
• Reduce the time you spend to intergate your funnel

Now let’s assemble our pizza, uh I mean headline

• Launch Your Course and Own 100% of It. For Creators. Without Spending Thousands on 5 Different Apps— Increase Profits by 20% In Just One Hour
  
• Creators, No More Splitting Your Profits. Helping Launch Courses On 100% Owned Websites Without Learning To Code. 10X Increased Sales In Just 2 Days!
  
• 20 Creators Are Launching Their Courses On Their Own Platforms With Next.js Boilerplate. Your Turn: Profits Increase Guaranteed Without Learning To Code. Start In 1 Hour, and have a Valet Onboard you!
  
• Creators! Wanting To Own 100% Of Your Course Revenue? We’ve Helped 20 Creators 10X Their Sales By Launching On Custom Websites. Your Profit Increase In 2 Days, No Coding Required.
  
• The Only Boilerplate That Can Launch Courses On 100% Owned Websites Without Learning To Code. For Creators, Who Want To Maximize Revenue — Decrease SaaS Subscriptions by 80% Without Giving Away 22% of Profits
  

This might seem heavy, but you don’t have to use all the components in one go!
Just use them throughout your landing page or website.
Best part? You don’t have to be a copywriter to write these. Just put words in the formula and you’re good to go.
Now let’s come to the BONUS section!

BONUS — Awareness Levels

Let’s say you are hungry and you want pizza. And then you see the ad that says…
“With our artisanal sourdough crust, hand-stretched and wood-fired to perfect leopard char, our Margherita pizza delivers an authentic Neapolitan flavor experience like no other.”
As someone who just wanted a damned pizza, you would think — “Huh? I just want some good pizza, not sure what leopard char is.”
Now how this would be?
“Craving an authentic, mouth-watering pizza? Our oven-fresh pies use quality ingredients for a delicious taste.”
Better, right?
That’s the difference.
The difference is in awareness levels. How aware are you of your problem and solution?
Most people suck at selling because they do the pizza thing. Not using the correct words for the correct audience.
Now before we go beyond, I’ll explain the awareness levels in the simplest language

1. Unaware: People don’t know they have a problem or need.
2. Problem Aware: People know they have a problem but don’t know there are solutions. That they even exist!
3. Solution Aware: People know there are solutions, but not your solution.
4. Product Aware: People know about your product, but they aren’t sure if it’s right for them.
5. Most Aware: People know your product well and are ready to buy.

The best people to sell are “most value aware” but the hardest to sell to are unaware. They don’t even know they need you?
So, if you are running ads on facebook, where no one knows you..you are with an unaware and problem-aware audience.
While if you are running ads on a particular Facebook or Reddit group of people dealing with these problems, you are in solution solution-aware audience.
Finally, the goal of your marketing funnel is to take your audience from unaware/problem aware to most aware so they buyyyy from you!
Some simple formulas for each audience

• Unaware: [Highlight the unknown problem/need] and you’ll miss out on [major benefit]
• Problem Aware: Finally, a solution for [their problem] — without [major pain point]
• Solution Aware: The [differentiated benefit] [product name] that [solves their problem]
• Product Aware: See why [number] [target customers] chose [product name] to [obtain desired outcome]
• Most Aware: Don’t miss this [limited window]: Get [product name] today for [major perceived value]

Know the audience. Know what words they need. Use them.
Lemme wrap this up real quick!

• Think about the value you are providing when you start building your business
• Don’t think about it in terms of features or even simple benefits but Dream outcome, perceived likelihood, time spent, sacrifice needed
• Use the formulas across your website to get your value across. That simple wall of text will convert to stripe notifications!
• There are 5 awareness levels, and based on that level — you need to pitch or advertise your business — Most makers don’t know this
• Be empathetic. Think why should they care about your business and how you can help them?

Hey, thank you so much for reading! I know this was a long read but I hope it helps you in making money down the line.
If you liked this, I’d appreciate a like so it reaches more founders.
I’m also doing SaaS marketing deep dives over 30 pieces of content, so follow along if you loved it :)
You can find older posts on my profile
Cheers!

⟳ f-droid.org from Sun, 26 May 2024 20:07:34 GMT updated on Thu, 30 May 2024 20:08:44 GMT contains 4423 apps.

Added (6)

• Password Monitor: Ensure your password safety by scanning for potential breaches.
• RTTT: Recursive Tic-Tac-Toe game
• Mixer Controller: Access digital audio mixer's via WebUI.
• Plant-it: This is a client app for the self-hostable Plant-it Server
• Jigsaw: A Jigsaw Puzzle Game
• Easy Notes: A simple modern notes app with material design

Updated (90)

• jtx Board journalsnotestasks (version 2.07.08.ose): Keep track of journals, notes & tasks - iCalendar compliant and syncable with yo
• Power Ampache 2 (version 1.00-56-fdroid): Music Streaming suite for Ampache, Nextcloud Music and compatible backends.
• EP Mobile (version 2.32.0): Medical tools
• Podcini - Podcast instrument (version 5.4.1): A feature-rich open-source podcast manager and player
• Aria for Misskey (version 0.9.5): Dive into the interplanetary microblogging platform 🚀
• Hypatia (version 3.12): A real-time malware scanner
• Bubble (version 3.0): Spirit level and ruler
• Odin (version 3.3.6): IPFS Lite node with modern UI to support standard use cases of IPFS
• mpv-android (version 2024-05-24-release): Listen to music and watch videos
• Nextcloud Talk (version 19.0.1): Have private video calls and chat using your own server.
• Currencies: Exchange Rate Calculator (version 1.22.2): An exchange rates currency converter for Android
• OpenTracks (version v4.12.4): A sport tracker buddy that respects your privacy.
• Mines3D (version 1.5.1): Minesweeper on nm2 matrix
• Robot36 - SSTV Image Decoder (version 2.11): Decodes Slow Scan Television images from audio
• ntodotxt (version 0.9.1): Manage your todos in a todo.txt file
• Endless Sky (version 0.10.7-43): Android port of endless-sky space trading game.
• KeePassVault (version 1.6.1): Client app for KeePass databases
• ImapNotes3 (version v1.3-07): View, edit and synchronize HTML notes and check lists on your IMAP mailboxes
• Sapio (version 1.4.2): Android Open Source API compatibility
• Peercoin Wallet (version 1.2.7): Your mobile wallet for Peercoin and Peercoin testnet.
• Markor (version 2.12.2): Text editor - Notes & ToDo. Lightweight. Markdown and todo.txt support.
• Kotatsu (version 7.1.1): Manga reader with online catalogues
• EinkBro (version 11.8.0): lightweight, fast, but powerful browser designed for Eink devices.
• Traditional T9 (version 32.0): A T9 keyboard for devices with a hardware keypad.
• Nextcloud Dev (version 20240524): Synchronization client
• Rethink: DNS + Firewall + VPN (version v0.5.5l): Firewall apps, use WireGuard VPN, monitor network, block malware, change DNS.
• PlainApp: File & Web Access (version 1.2.53): Manage your phone on the web! Access files, contacts, videos, music & more.
• Blitz: Fischer Chess Clock (version 1.9.0): A minimalist Fischer chess clock for Android.
• FFUpdater (version 79.2.3): Updater for privacy friendly browsers
• OUI Lookup and Database (version 1.6.3): Find a device's manufacturer by its MAC address and browse OUIs assignments
• Welefon (version 1.5.0): Phone with API
• Clipious (version 1.19.10): Client for Invidious, the privacy focused YouTube front end.
• HTTP Request Shortcuts (version 3.14.0): Submit HTTP Requests from Shortcuts on your Home Screen
• OSMBugs (version 1-4-1): Shows Bugs from the different quality assurance tools from Openstreetmap
• ChatLaunch for WhatsApp (version 0.4.2): Start WhatsApp chats without adding numbers to contacts.
• Dollphone Icon Pack (version 1.1.2): Cute icon pack that isn’t overly hyperactive
• PipePanic (version 0.21): A plumbers favorite game
• SpamBlocker (Call & SMS) (version 1.8): Spam Call/SMS blocker
• Xray (version 6.8.0): Xray GUI Client For Android
• Blazed Cloud - Encrypted Storage (version 1.5.4): Minimal & Open sourced Cloud Storage
• Cheogram (version 2.15.3-1+free): Chat on the Jabber network (XMPP protocol); focus on features for gateway users
• Orion Viewer - Pdf & Djvu (version 0.93.1): Orion Viewer is pdf, djvu, xps, tiff and comic books (cbr, cbz, cbt) file viewer
• Petals (version 3.23.1): Take control of your weed consumption
• Automation (version 1.8.1): Automate stuff on your device by creating rules.
• Revengate (version 0.12.7): A steampunk roguelike dungeon crawling game.
• words.hk 粵典 (version 3.2.4): A Cantonese Dictionary for Everyone
• RiMusic (version 0.6.36): A multilingual Android application for streaming music from YouTube Music.
• Ricochlime (version 1.5.1): Satisfying monster shooter
• Ceno Browser: Share the Web (version 2.1.4): Access any website, then share it peer-to-peer.
• Flexify (version 1.0.96): Track gym progress, visualize graphs, enjoy offline support & timers
• Flipper Mobile App (version 1.6.9): Organize data and keys on your Flipper Zero device
• Carrion (version 1.20): Block spoofed calls
• wallabag (version 2.5.3): Save and classify articles, read them later, freely
• Bimba (version 3.3.2): FLOSS public transport passenger companion; a timetable in your pocket.
• Massive (version 2.36): Track your reps and sets in the gym, completely offline.
• Shattered Pixel Dungeon (version 2.4.1): A roguelike game based on Pixel Dungeon
• Thor (version 1.6.3): Web browser which supports magnet and pns URLs
• Menu Generator (version 1.1.1): Applications for picking meals according to the season.
• SimpleX Chat (version 5.7.4): SimpleX Chat - e2e encrypted messenger without any user IDs - private by design!
• Xtra (version 2.32.0): a Twitch player and browser
• croc (version 1.11.0): Easily and securely send things from one computer to another
• Wulkanowy (version 2.6.13): Client for the Polish school register VULCAN UONET+
• FairEmail (version 1.2187): Fully featured email client. Neat, intuitive user interface. Privacy friendly
• QRAlarm (version 1.7): Disable alarms with a QR scanner
• Geto (version 1.15.7): Apply custom settings to your apps.
• EVMap - EV chargers (version 1.9.1): Find electric vehicle charging stations
• OpenCalc (version 3.0.1): Simple and beautiful calculator for Android
• Obtainium (version 1.1.10): Get android app updates directly from the source
• Cache Cleaner (version 1.11.3): Clean cache of installed user and system apps using Accessibility
• Aster Launcher (version 1.0.8.1): minimalist productivity launcher
• Thumb-Key (version 3.1.9): A privacy-conscious keyboard made for your thumbs.
• BitBanana (version 0.8.1): Lightning Node Management for Android
• Audio Spectrum Analyzer (version 2.6): A handy real-time audio spectrum and spectrogram analyzer
• SauceNAO (version 1.23): Unofficial SauceNAO client.
• Calyx VPN (version 1.2.0): Free VPN Service offered by The Calyx Institute
• EasyLauncher - Minimal launcher (version 0.0.8): EasyLauncher - Minimal and Clutter Free Android launcher
• GreenStash: Track Your Savings (version 3.7.0): Plan, manage, and achieve your savings goals easily
• Bitmask (version 1.3.1): Encrypted communication for mere mortals(superheroes welcome, too).
• mLauncher - Minimal and Clutter Free launcher (version 1.6.1): Forked from Olauncher, +minimalization, +customizability
• Orgzly Revived (version 1.8.22): Outliner for taking notes and managing to-do lists in Org-mode format
• PiliPalaX (version 1.0.20): A third-party Bilibili client developed in Flutter
• Simple Counter (version 1.2.3): Keep track of things
• Pushie (version 2.3.0): Provides temporary, secure, password sharing
• MRepo (version 2.4.10): A modules manager for Magisk & KernelSU
• Peristyle (version 1.46_beta): Simple wallpaper manager app with auto wallpaper support.
• Session F-Droid (version 1.18.3): Encrypted private messenger
• AnkiDroid (version 2.18.1): A flashcard-based study aid
• Chrono (version 0.5.1): A modern and powerful clock, alarms, timer and stopwatch app for Android!
• Tasks.org: Open-source To-Do Lists & Reminders (version 13.9.7): Private, ad-free task lists! Optional sync with Google Tasks, CalDAV or EteSync!
• FitBook (version 1.0.14): Track your calorie intake - Completely offline!

^{2024-05-30T20:43:57Z}

(x-post from other sub where it was wildly unpopular. I've seen others here with similar theories so hopefully we can have a more productive convo here)

BACKGROUND

GHB is a party drug that produces feelings of euphoria, confidence, relaxation and sociability. Smaller doses can be more stimulating and larger doses can be more sedative.^[1]

TIME ^[2, 3]

• GHB takes effect in 15 to 30 minutes
• Effects last 3 to 6 hours
• Detected in blood ≤ 4 hours
• Detected in urine ≤ 12 hours

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM EFFECTS ^[3]

• euphoria
• drowsiness
• decreased anxiety
• confusion
• memory impairment
• visual hallucinations
• paradoxically, excited and aggressive behavior
• GHB greatly increases the CNS depressant effects of alcohol and other depressants.

EFFECTS ^[3]

• Low doses of GHB produce nausea
• High doses of GHB can result in:
• Unconsciousness
• Seizures
• Slowed heart rate
• Greatly slowed breathing
• Lower body temperature
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Coma
• Death

SOURCES

• [SOURCE 1]
• [SOURCE 2]
• [SOURCE 3]
• [SOURCE 4] ^{Waterfall Bar Menu indicates 3 brands on tap but indicates others are available. Publication date is unclear.}

FACTS AND OPINION

FACT 1: The 11:58pm Waterfall receipt indicates John O'Keefe paid for 3 drinks: Bud Lite Bottle, Miller Lite Lager, Tito's. They are listed alphabetically, not in order of purchase.
OPINION: Anecdotally, people generally have a "preferred" beer. Why would OJO have two brands? Option 1: He bought a beer for someone else. Option 2: The Miller Lite was a draft and/or tasted weird (skunky, or?) so maybe he switched to a bottle of something else. Sometimes the draft lines haven't been cleaned in awhile... but sometimes the taste of bar drinks can be impacted by GHB... This may be important later. ^[4]
FACT 2: Witnesses indicate Karen was drinking a clear liquid from a clear glass. She and John are also described as overtly affectionate.
FACT 3: CCTV shows John taking a swallow of a clear liquid from a clear glass and exiting the bar with glass in hand.
FACT 4: Karen drove her vehicle, a dark Lexus SUV, while John rode in the front passenger seat.
OPINION: Someone who is particular about people cutting through their lawn and particular about the kids' breakfasts is unlikely to be okay with drinking and driving. Option 1: John believed Karen was not impaired. Option 2: John's own judgment was impaired and therefore he didn't realize she was impaired.
FACT 5: Witness Heather Maxon believes she saw two occupants, one male, in the dark SUV that ultimately pulled up in front of 34 Fairview.
FACT 6: Witness Ryan Nagel believes he saw an SUV not in park, with in-tact tail lights and without rear damage, containing only a female driver facing forward with hands on the wheel. Neither Maxon nor Nagel saw John O'Keefe in or outside of the vehicle as they were leaving.
FACT 7: Karen awoke from John's couch after 4am. She could not find him and had no memory of what had happened 4 hours earlier. She was immediately frantic and distraught about his absence. She believed she'd last seen John at the Waterfall. Her behavior does not seem consistent with a traditional hangover.

THEORY

What if someone in this already-established collection of pranksters/roughhousers (including at least one potentially jilted paramour) slipped something into their drinks? Option 1: Someone slipped something into Karen's drink, and John is accidentally also drugged when he drinks from her glass. Option 2: Someone slipped something into BOTH Karen's drink and John's drink. John is accidentally dosed a second time when he drinks from Karen's cup.
Ask yourself this: who would benefit from 2 to 4 hours of Karen's and John's memory loss? What could be done to them while they were impaired? Why was Jen McCabe so insistent about them attending the "after-party"? What, if any, was the "surprise" Jen had for Karen? Did she want to see them make fools of themselves or be made fun of? Did she want a front-row seat to watch the entertainment portion of a prank?
If both Karen and John were drugged/impaired without their knowledge, and both attended, the possibilities range from relatively harmless silly photos or an intent to embarrass Karen and John to more nefarious plans, like SA to Karen or maybe roughing up John. He could be a human punching bag and then wake up on the lawn and have no idea where he was or how he got banged up. Unless someone accidentally took it too far and caused the injury to the back of his head.
There'd be no memory of anything that happened. There'd be no evidence of a drug in their systems. Rumors have indicated Karen didn't stay at the Alberts' house because she didn't feel well and was confused about if they were welcome. By the time her blood was drawn at the hospital, it was well after the 4 hours that GHB can be detected in the bloodstream.
Look at the list of effects and side-effects again.

• euphoria
• drowsiness
• decreased anxiety
• confusion
• memory impairment
• visual hallucinations
• paradoxically, excited and aggressive behavior
• nausea and vomiting
• unconsciousness

Is it really so far-fetched to wonder if someone laced their drinks, even as a prank? We're already entertaining two bizarre scenarios: a hit-and-run without evidence of a hit versus a widespread cover-up. Is it really beyond the scope of possibility?

Hi y'all,
I'm a current student at UChicago and I found some data that I felt was really accurate in terms of representing UChicago, so figured I'd share it for prospective students.
According to both Harvard and Yale, about 80% of grades issued are in the A-range (A, A-) (source 1, source 2). Meanwhile, I just took the intro class for Macroeconomics at UChicago, and outlined in the syllabus, the professor said that only 15-20% of students would be getting in the A-range. This isn't just the professor either, the entire Econ department has the same unwritten rule - about 15-20% in the A-range. Furthermore, this pattern is extremely consistent across the entire school - even of the valedictorians, coke scholars, grandmasters, ..., only 15-20% of those people will be getting an A or A- in each class.
This might just seem like a small statistic, but it really represents everything. In a class at Harvard, the strong majority of students will land in the A-range, just for being there. If you take a class at UChicago, less than a quarter of students will land in that same range.
I believe it's a fundamental difference in learning styles, rather than UChicago just being annoying to be "quirky". At UChicago, we learn from the professors that write the textbooks, and the professors that go all out. Here, you can't just memorize the facts the night before and do your best on the test - you will literally fail. You need to truly understand the concepts and how to apply them. You can't just remember that interest rates have a negative relationship with unemployment (by the Phillips curve), you need to be able to explain the theory behind that curve, and what it implies for the interplay between the economies of countries around the world, despite all having different expected inflation rates. You need to know why.
That's my two cents. This is what UChicago is really about - truly learning, rather than memorization - and I wish I would've known this while applying - probably would have applied ED instead. There is no other place like this on earth.
Feel free to reach out :)

Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
May 30, 2024 at 07:30PM
May 30, 2024 at 10:00PM

Hi, I am looking for a good opentoonz tutorial, but all youtube gives me are 10-20 minutiae "beginner" tutorials, which I do need. however, I was trying to find one behemoth set of videos (or one very very long video) that covers EVERYTHING. A series that goes over every feature, tool, window, setting, and everything in-between.
Sort of like this: but for open toonz.
If this rings a bell for anyone and you know of such a set of videos paid or free, could you tell me where to find them?
Thank you very much for you time.

Just want to start to by saying that I'm just some dude. I'm not part of the sciences but I've always held an armchair fascination for them since I was a kid alongside UFOs and lots of other stuff. I devote a significant portion of my time lately to the subject and trying to connect these dots. I have been for quite a while. I don't have a podcast or any sizeable social media impression. I'm pretty easy to look up.
So, this is not comprehensive by any means. Just trying to connect some dots like we all are. I've been thinking a lot about 1952 and its importance in the history of the UFO subject, and things keep popping up for me lately.
First off, just want to point that Project Blue Book was conceived in March 1952.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book
Here are the files regarding Adm. Roscoe K Hillenkoetter's briefing, who became the director of the CIA, to Eisenhower in November 1952.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/majestic.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwix65aQ6rSGAxUAHkQIHa-0CsgQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1WEBhPRu5VqgxobHakdJlY
The most obvious event is the DC flyover flap from July 12 to July 29. Here's some of the Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Washington,_D.C.,_UFO_incident
From July 12 to 29, 1952, a series of unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings were reported in Washington, D.C., and later became known as the Washington flap, the Washington National Airport Sightings, or the Invasion of Washington.^\1]) The most publicized sightings took place on consecutive weekends, July 19–20 and July 26–27. UFO historian Curtis Peebles called the incident "the climax of the 1952 (UFO) flap"—"Never before or after did Project Blue Book and the Air Force undergo such a tidal wave of (UFO) reports." ^\2])

1952 UFO flap

Reports peaked in late July.
The 1952 UFO flap was an unprecedented rash of media attention to unidentified flying object reports during the summer of 1952 that culminated with reports of sightings over Washington, D.C.^\3])^\4]) In the four years prior, the US Air Force had chronicled a total of 615 UFO reports; During the 1952 flap, they received over 717 new reports.^\5]) Ruppelt recalled: "During a six-month period in 1952... 148 of the nation's leading newspapers carried a total of over 16,000 items about flying saucers."^\6])
Here's the findings of Beatriz Villaroel, one of the members of the SOL Foundation, about the differences in the astronomical plate captures within less than an hour on July 19, 1952, as published in the Oxford Academic Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Findings:
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/527/3/6312/7457759

ABSTRACT

We report on three optically bright, ∼16th mag, point sources within 10 arcsec of each other that vanished within 1 h, based on two consecutive exposures at Palomar Observatory on 1952 July 19 (POSS I Red and Blue). The three point sources have continued to be absent in telescope exposures during 71 yr with detection thresholds of ∼21st mag. We obtained two deep exposures with the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias on 2023 April 25 and 27 in r and g band, both reaching magnitude 25.5 (3σ). The three point sources are still absent, implying they have dimmed by more than 10 mag within an hour back in 1952. When bright in 1952, the most isolated transient source has a profile nearly the same as comparison stars, implying the sources are subarcsec in angular size and they exhibit no elongation due to movement. This triple transient has observed properties similar to other cases where groups of transients (‘multiple transients’) have appeared and vanished in a small region within a plate exposure. The explanation for these three transients and the previously reported cases remains unclear. Models involving background objects that are optically luminous for less than 1 h coupled with foreground gravitational lensing seem plausible. If so, a significant population of massive objects with structure serving as the lenses, to produce three images, are required to explain the subhour transients.
Here's her talk at the SOL Foundation on the slides:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njNP8ypUbDM&t=3s
And here's her recent talk on The Good Trouble Show with Matt Ford, in which she expands the story to talk about how JFK was on the astronomical board at Harvard, and how Dr. Donald Menzel was installed in the establishment and immediately ordered that documents and evidence were destroyed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnugxvUWsXI
Thanks u/paulreicht for putting this together.
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cvx8uw/astronomer_beatriz_villarroel_on_the_good_trouble/
And u/SunLoverofWestlands for this info in the comments:
For anyone who is interested:
Paper of Villarroel’s team from 2023: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.09035
Paper of Villarroel’s team from 2022: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2204.06091
There are other papers from her team as well, but I didn’t include them because they are unrelated to 1952 Washington DC UFO Incident.
Beatriz Villarroel’s latest talk with John Micheal Godier (they have been talking for four years on Event Horizon now): https://youtu.be/azW33jxaHPs?si=d1u5hNS067KUzIJR
Beatriz Villarroel’s talk with Richard Dolan: https://youtu.be/rFQjwCgYQQo?si=MZ3756rS00S4eaEd
I’ve been following this topic for quite some time now. For me it’s the most interesting topic currently in regard of UFOs. I hope other pre-Sputnik astronomical plates will open to the public and similar studies are done, and Vasco Project start its mission as soon as possible.
I understand the doubts some people have. That’s way we need more study, perhaps for a smoking gun where the transients have moved in the second plate. Another interesting finding talked about previously was when transients are in a straight line, which they found later on the plate from 27th July 1952.
There's much to be gleaned from the Shellenberger Documents that were provided to Congress last July as part of the Congressional testimony of David Grusch, Ryan Graves, and David Fravor. Here's my post about those documents, which I consider perhaps the most important ever regarding this subject:
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1acxei4/the_shellenberger_document_might_be_the_most/
Here are those documents:
https://pdfhost.io/view/gR8lAdgVd_Uap_Timeline_Prepared_By_Another
Or here as they submitted to Congress:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110941/witnesses/HHRG-116-CN00-Bio-ShellenbergerM-20200728.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwii8pTp7bSGAxVtH0QIHV_nARoQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2MTeBypONfCM5u0yaYLggE
Here's 1952 info from that document about T. Townsend Brown, who supposedly invented anti-gravity that was then used by the CIA for their own flying saucer program. I posted about that a little over two weeks ago and the write-up garnered some attention.
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1csdviz/100_years_ago_an_american_inventor_named_thomas/
T. Townsend Brown proposed Project Winterhaven in 1938, reminiscent of designs by Tesla a decade prior.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.thomastownsendbrown.com/hydro/winterhaven.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwje4a6r77SGAxV0M0QIHX11Dh0QFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1wdRAPbr3AZXeGuL6WXaP1
You could also start with this video by Jesse Michels about T. Townsend Brown, the inspiration for Doc Brown in Back to the Future. Michels is known on this sub, and has made videos about people he knows like David Grusch, Garry Nolan, etc. There's plenty more 1952 stuff (and really every year post-1947 in the Shellberger Document).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEWLSTyUic
(PUBLIC DOMAIN) - 1952 —Former Naval officer and consultant to Lockheed-Vega and Glenn L. Martin Co. Thomas Townsend Brown proposes Project Winterhaven to the US military. Brown proposes using Stanford Research Institute (SRI), University of Chicago, The Franklin Institute, the Glenn L. Martin Co’s Research Institute for Advanced Studies (RIAS), Lear Inc., Jansky &Bailey, Brush Development Co., and Hancock Manufacturing Co. to create flying disc craft for the US military that can travel in excess of 1,800 mph in all levels of atmosphere. This is a peculiar hypothetical framework as it didn’t involve several major aerospace contractors and instead chose to subcontract to several entities outside of US aerospace. It is allegedly rejected.
●https://www.thomastownsendbrown.com/hydro/winterhaven.pdf
Note: According to author Nick Cook, Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and Office of Naval Research (ONR) documents show an interest of USAF Maj. Gen. Victor E. Bertrandias’s visit to the Townsend Brown Foundation when it was proposing Project Winterhaven. ONR’s Willoughby M. Cady writes that Townsend Brown’s claims of gravitational anomalies are not well documented, and suggested the Navy and Air Force not pursue the disc designs.
●https://archive.org/details/huntforzeropoint0000cook/page/33/mode/1up(p33)
Note: In 1955, Brown worked for French aerospace company SNCASO and ran his flying disc designs in a vacuum, where they performed even better than in atmosphere. SNCASO merged with Sud-Est a year later and canceled Brown’s contract.
In 1956, Brown helped found the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) with former DCI VADM Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, Gen. Albert Coady Wedemeyer, USMC Maj. Donald Keyhoe and chief of the Navy’s guided missile program RADM Delmer S. Fahrney. Brown stepped down in 1957 and gave a press conference stating UAP were neither American nor Soviet and under “intelligent control.”
In 1957, Brown was hired as a consultant for the Bahnson Company of North Carolina and in 1959 he consulted on aerospace propulsion for General Electric, before retirement in 1960.
Note: It is worth highlighting that a secret memo dated 23 September 1947 from head of Air Materiel Command Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining to USAAF Brig. Gen. George Schulgen states: “It is possible within the present U.S. knowledge—provided extensive detailed development is undertaken—to construct a piloted aircraft which has the general description of the object above which would be capable of an approximate range of 7,000 miles at subsonic speeds.”
Twining is specifically talking about the “flying disc” phenomena seen by civilians and militarypersonnel that year.
●https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20797978-twining-memo(p2)

Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
May 29, 2024 at 07:30PM
May 29, 2024 at 10:00PM

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Brace yourselves sisters – the habit is coming to Buxton!
Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated brand new production of the Broadway and UK award winning musical Sister Act direct from London.
Performances 27 May to 1 Jun.
Book via the Buxton Opera House Box Office - call 01298 72190.
Buxton Opera House, Water St, Buxton SK17 6XN, UK
May 29, 2024 at 02:30PM
May 29, 2024 at 05:00PM