DAY: MAY 31 2024
5-31-2024

RESEARCH SUGGESTS LEADERS’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ARE TAKEN JUST AS SERIOUSLY AS FORMAL STATEMENTS

Over 180 world leaders maintain social media accounts, and some of them issue policy warnings to rivals and the public on these platforms rather than relying on traditional government statements. How seriously do people take such social media postings? A new study suggests the general public and policymakers alike take leaders’ social media posts just as seriously as they take formal government statements. The research, by MIT political scientists, deploys novel surveys of both the public and experienced foreign policy specialists. “What we find, which is really surprising, across both
5-31-2024

SCALE OF ONLINE HARM TO CHILDREN REVEALED IN GLOBAL STUDY

More than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, research indicates. Pupils in every classroom, in every school, in every country are victims of this hidden pandemic, according to researchers who have conducted the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis. The statistics, from the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh, amount to a clear and present danger to the world’s children, according to the crime agency Interpol. Online risks One in eight of the world’s children, about
5-31-2024

PRONATALISM IS THE LATEST SILICON VALLEY TREND. WHAT IS IT—AND WHY IS IT DISTURBING?

For Malcolm and Simone Collins, declining birth rates across many developed countries are an existential threat. The solution is to have “tons of kids,” and to use a hyperrational, data-driven approach to guide everything from genetic selection to baby names and day-to-day parenting. They don’t heat their Pennsylvania home in winter, because heating is a “pointless indulgence.” Their children wear iPads around their necks. And a Guardian journalist witnessed Malcolm strike their two-year-old across the face for misbehavior, a parenting style they apparently developed based on watching “tigers
5-31-2024

HOW SCIENCE, MATH, AND TECH CAN PROPEL SWIMMERS TO NEW HEIGHTS

One hundred years ago, in the 1924 Paris Olympics, American Johnny Weissmuller won the men’s 100m freestyle with a time of 59 seconds. Nearly 100 years later, in the most recent Olympics, the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, Caeleb Dressel took home the same event with a time that was 12 seconds faster than Weissmuller’s. Swimming times across the board have become much faster over the past century, a result of several factors, including innovations
5-31-2024

BANNING SEX CRIME OFFENDERS FROM CHANGING THEIR NAMES DOESN’T MAKE US SAFER

The government of British Columbia recently introduced a bill to ban people convicted of serious offenses from legally changing their name. The proposed amendment to the province’s Name Act would also prohibit those found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder from changing their name. The government announced the move after media reports that Allan Schoenborn legally changed his name to Ken Johnson. Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible for the deaths of his children in 2010 because of a delusional disorder, and was placed at a psychiatric hospital.
5-31-2024

SILICON VALLEY ISN’T THE START-UP UTOPIA WE THOUGHT, RESEARCH FINDS

Silicon Valley—considered the world’s hub of technology and innovation—can breed inequality and sameness among budding entrepreneurs, according to new research. Behind the multi-million-dollar deals and tales of start-up utopia, Silicon Valley’s “uneven” investment landscape is in fact a barrier to many budding businesses, says the study from the University of Stirling and Georg-August-University Göttingen. But the researchers suggest other countries could still learn from the more discerning entrepreneurial ecosystem that bred giants such as Apple and Google, to be more selective in backing start-ups. While it is not uncommon for
5-31-2024

I WANT TO KEEP MY CHILD SAFE FROM ABUSE—BUT RESEARCH TELLS ME I’M DOING IT WRONG

Child sexual abuse is uncomfortable to think about, much less talk about. The idea of an adult engaging in sexual behaviors with a child feels sickening. It’s easiest to believe that it rarely happens, and when it does, that it’s only to children whose parents aren’t protecting them. This belief stayed with me during my early days as a parent. I kept an eye out for creepy men at the playground and was skeptical of men who worked with young children, such as teachers and coaches. When my kids were
5-31-2024

OVER 300 MILLION YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE, EXPLOITATION, FINDS METASTUDY

It takes a lot to shock Kelvin Lay. My friend and colleague was responsible for setting up Africa’s first dedicated child exploitation and human trafficking units, and for many years he was a senior investigating officer for the Child Exploitation Online Protection Center at the UK’s National Crime Agency, specializing in extra territorial prosecutions on child exploitation across the globe. But what happened when he recently volunteered for a demonstration of cutting-edge identification software left him speechless. Within seconds of being fed with an image
5-31-2024

CYBERFLASHING IS A FORM OF GENDERED SEXUAL VIOLENCE THAT MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Sexting—sending sexually suggestive or explicit messages and images—is now a widespread practice, and can be a healthy way to express and explore sexuality. However, there is a need to distinguish between consensual sexting and forms of sexual harassment like cyberflashing. Cyberflashing refers to the act of non-consensually sending sexual imagery (like nudes or “dick pics”) to another person. It is facilitated through communications technologies including text, AirDrop and social media applications like Snapchat and Tinder. Similar to flashing—when a person unexpectedly and deliberately “flashes” their genitals to others—that occurs in
5-31-2024

VIRTUAL TRAINING MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE, COST-EFFICIENT OPTION FOR CHILD EDUCATORS

Teachers and other child educators can benefit from regular professional development, but in-person training can be expensive. New research found that virtual training can be a budget-friendly alternative—and especially effective for certain groups of educators. The study—a collaboration between researchers at Penn State and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and published in the International Journal of Professional Development, Learners and Learning—found that educators who took a virtual training reported feeling more confident in their abilities to implement practices shown to support positive youth development. In particular, after-school providers who did not
5-31-2024

HUMBLE LEADERS BOOST EMPLOYEES’ WORKPLACE STATUS AND LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL, FINDS STUDY

There are many different types of workplace leaders, from those who prioritize the needs of team members and the organization above their own, to authentic leaders who foster openness, trust and transparency. A recent study by the University of South Australia published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior has highlighted the significant benefits of humble leadership in the workplace. According to the study by UniSA’s Dr. Xiao Lin, humble leadership can effectively elevate the workplace status of employees by boosting their sense of respect and prominence. It also leads to
5-31-2024

WHY ARE GROCERY BILLS SO HIGH? A NEW STUDY LOOKS AT THE SCIENCE BEHIND FOOD PRICE REPORTING

Rising food costs are squeezing Canadians around the country. Nearly everyone is feeling the pinch, and it’s not just an inconvenience—high food prices are a major threat to food security for many Canadians. Understanding why food prices are so high and why they are changing is critical to the well-being of our society. Unfortunately, consensus on why food price are so high is in short supply. Explanations given in reports like Canada’s Food Price Report and the news media range widely, from the war in Ukraine to supply chain issues
5-31-2024

WILL GENERATIVE AI CHANGE THE WAY UNIVERSITIES COMMUNICATE?

Is artificial intelligence an unprecedented opportunity, or will it rob everyone of jobs and creativity? As we debate on social media (and perhaps use ChatGPT almost daily), generative AIs have also entered the arena of university communication. These tools—based on large language models that were optimized for interactive communication—can indeed support, expand, and innovate university communication offerings. Justus Henke has analyzed the situation of German realities about six months after the launch of ChatGPT 3. “The research was conducted about a year ago when enthusiasm was high, but it was
5-31-2024

STUDY SHOWS RELATIVELY LOW NUMBER OF SUPERSPREADERS RESPONSIBLE FOR LARGE PORTION OF MISINFORMATION ON TWITTER

Classification of superspreader accounts. A large portion (55.1%) of accounts are no longer active. For each class annotated with political affiliations, colors indicate the ideological split. The last group aggregates all accounts with political affiliations. Credit: PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302201 A small team of social media analysts at Indiana University has found that a major portion of tweets spreading disinformation are sent by a surprisingly small percentage of a given userbase. In their study, published in PLOS ONE, the group conducted a review of 2,397,388 tweets posted on Twitter
5-31-2024

HOW LIFE’S BIG MOMENTS CAN CHALLENGE STARTUPS

Life-changing events like the birth of a child, the purchase of a new home, or a lottery win could threaten the survival of a new business venture, the positive family events had a comparatively greater influence, albeit negatively, on the survival of a new venture, compared with
5-31-2024

RUDE AT WORK? FEELING GUILTY CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER, KINDER WORKER

We’ve all done it. A bad night’s sleep or a tough commute made us cranky, and we lashed out at a coworker who did nothing wrong. What can we do to make up for it? According to a new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics, embracing our guilty feelings can help us make up for our bad behavior by encouraging us to act more politely and work harder the next day. “We found that anyone can be rude at work, because anyone can
5-31-2024

RESEARCHERS INTRODUCE A PLANETARY INCLUSION SCALE TO FOSTER BROADER ETHICAL THINKING

Social inclusion and having a sense of belonging with other people are key elements of a good life. However, the fate of humanity is a challenge that extends beyond our social reality. Experiences of belonging and inclusion, understood in a broader sense than before, may be crucial for a sustainable future. In an article published in the International Journal of Social Pedagogy, a team of researchers propose a new planetary inclusion scale that structures our planetary relationship three-dimensionally based on temporal, spatial and ethical orientation. The temporal element relates to
5-31-2024

‘LEAN IN’ MESSAGES CAN LOWER WOMEN’S MOTIVATION TO PROTEST GENDER INEQUALITY

Women in leadership are often told to “Lean In,” designed to be motivational messaging demonstrating that they are more confident, strategic and resilient to setback. However, new research indicates that such “lean in” messaging can hinder women’s motivation to protest gender equality. Popularized in a book by American technology executive Sherly Sandberg, the “Lean In” solution to gender inequality advises women that demonstrating personal resilience and perseverance in the face of setbacks is key to career advancement. Now, a new study led by the University of Exeter, Bath Spa University
5-31-2024

ALGORITHMS COULD HELP IMPROVE JUDICIAL DECISIONS

A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics finds that replacing certain judicial decision-making functions with algorithms could improve outcomes for defendants by eliminating some of the systemic biases of judges. Decision makers make consequential choices based on predictions of unknown outcomes. Judges, in particular, make decisions about whether to grant bail to defendants or how to sentence those convicted. Companies now use machine learning based models increasingly in high-stakes decisions. There are various assumptions about human behavior underlying the deployment of such learning models that play out in
5-31-2024

DIGITAL CAMPAIGNING IS A HUGE PART OF ELECTIONS NOW—BUT GOING VIRAL ISN’T EVERYTHING

The election has commenced and the race is on—to amass as many likes, shares and comments as possible. Digital campaigning, particularly through social media, is now a key part of political candidates’ communication toolkit. In fact, every general election campaign since 1997 has at some point been lauded as the first to make effective use of digital campaigning. But it was in 2015 that David Cameron’s campaign first made strategic use of social media to drive an election victory. As political reporter Tim Ross outlines in his excellent book, Why
5-31-2024

WHY ARE ORGANIZATIONAL COVER-UPS SO COMMON?

The TV dramatization of the UK Horizon Post Office scandal evoked outrage and disbelief. However, as another example of dysfunctional organizational behavior, it was expected rather than exceptional. The Post Office saga joins a long list of cover-ups or scandals that includes Hillsborough, Enron, Grenfell, the infected blood scandal, the Tuam babies scandal in the Republic of Ireland, Boeing 737 Max and Nasa (Columbia space shuttle). They represent what happens when there is a move within organizations and institutions to cover up the causes of
5-31-2024

AMONG GEN Z AUSTRALIANS, 38% IDENTIFY AS SPIRITUAL AND HALF BELIEVE IN KARMA. WHY IS SPIRITUALITY SO POPULAR?

Spirituality is increasingly popular with young Australians: recent research shows 38% of Gen Z Australians identify as spiritual. It also reports 50% of them believe in karma, 29% in reincarnation and 20% in astrology. When it comes to activities equated with spirituality, 28% of Gen Z Australians practice meditation and 22% practice yoga. In Australia, spirituality is strongly, enduringly central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and culturally and religiously diverse communities. Yet until recently, spirituality has received far less attention than religion. Spirituality may be
5-31-2024

COMPANIES CAN IMPROVE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN THE EARLIEST PRODUCT-DESIGN STAGES

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Lithuanian and Italian universities propose a tool that allows companies to assess the circularity of their future products. The self-assessment tool emphasizes the co-creation of circular design in the early (creative) stages of product development, encouraging entrepreneurs and designers to think more systematically and collaborate better by integrating related stakeholders into the product development process. The study is published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. “The majority of existing practical tools (systems of indicators) are aimed at measuring the environmental impact of products already
5-31-2024

RESEARCH EXAMINES HOW RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AFFECTS A STATE’S COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

New research has revealed up to a 9% increase in college first-year enrollments in US states that have legalized recreational marijuana compared with states without such legalization. The study, which is published in Economic Inquiry, found that the increase was from out-of-state enrollments, with early adopter states and public non-research institutions experiencing the most pronounced increases. Recreational marijuana legalization did not negatively impact degree completion or graduation rate, and it did not affect college prices, quality, or in?state enrollment. The findings suggest that some students perceive recreational marijuana legalization as
5-31-2024

RESEARCH EXAMINES HOW RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AFFECTS A STATE’S COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

New research has revealed up to a 9% increase in college first-year enrollments in US states that have legalized recreational marijuana compared with states without such legalization. The study, which is published in Economic Inquiry, found that the increase was from out-of-state enrollments, with early adopter states and public non-research institutions experiencing the most pronounced increases. Recreational marijuana legalization did not negatively impact degree completion or graduation rate, and it did not affect college prices, quality, or in?state enrollment. The findings suggest that some students perceive recreational marijuana legalization as
5-31-2024

HOW THE ‘MODEL MINORITY’ MYTH HARMS ASIAN AMERICANS

May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, a time when Americans celebrate the profound contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—a group that is commonly abbreviated as AAPI—to U.S. society. It’s also a time to acknowledge the complexity of AAPI experience. And as a professor who studies equity and inclusion in business, I think the focus on AAPI communities this month provides an excellent occasion to push back against a stereotype that has long misrepresented and marginalized a diverse range of people: the myth of the “model minority.” The
5-31-2024

WONDERING HOW TO TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT CONSENT? HERE’S AN AGE-BASED GUIDE TO GET YOU STARTED

The Australian government’s new campaign Consent Can’t Wait challenges us all to improve our understanding of consent. It asks a series of questions to illustrate this issue is more complex than simplistic “no means no” messaging. The campaign invites viewers to consider the nuances of consent, so we can raise these important issues with children and young people in our lives. But what is a good age to start talking about consent? How do parents tackle such conversations when this information probably wasn’t readily discussed in our own upbringing? How
5-31-2024

A PRODUCT OF NATURE OR NURTURE?

The concept of cultural entrepreneurship has many facets. It encompasses both the cultural and social impact of entrepreneurial training, and the environmental factors that influence its development. Some societies, such as the U.S., have a strong entrepreneurial culture. This means that certain characteristics are celebrated and encouraged, such as the ability of individuals to assume risks, patience when confronting challenges, and innovative problem solving, especially in uncertain situations. However, not all countries have such an entrepreneurial culture. Entrepreneurship struggles to take off in Europe In general, entrepreneurship can drive economic
5-31-2024

STUDY BRIDGES ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH AND COMPUTER CODING TO ENGAGE CHILDREN IN STEM

A graphic depicting a student coding. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University Teachers today face a bit of a conundrum, according to a new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Their goal is to prepare young students to enter a rapidly changing world. Even basic jobs require technical proficiency, which requires computational and analytical skills. To address this need, many educators are pushing to fold these important STEM skills into elementary curriculum. Here’s the problem. Young students can lose interest and even develop an aversion
5-31-2024

STUDY SHOWS VR CAN HELP TEACHERS BETTER DISTRIBUTE THEIR GAZE

On the left, a bird’s-eye view of the virtual classroom; on the right, screenshots of each of the four gaze-visualization conditions. Teachers need to know their material, but they must also keep their students engaged and interested. Part of that involves making eye contact with their students—all of them. A multidisciplinary team of researchers tested several methods of data visualization in an immersive virtual reality (VR) classroom, to give teachers a way to gauge
5-31-2024

MARKETERS CAN MANAGE ‘FEATURE CREEP’ SO CONSUMERS FEEL LESS INTIMIDATED BY TOO MANY FEATURES IN A PRODUCT

Wifi-enabled washing machines. Voice-controlled microwaves. App-enabled TVs, vacuum cleaners, and even window blinds you can control from the comfort of your couch. Many of the technological features now included in everyday products are useful and accessible. But research has shown that having too many can overwhelm potential buyers, making them less likely to make a purchase. In recent research, Wayne Hoyer, marketing professor and James L. Bayless/William S. Farrish Fund Chair for Free Enterprise at Texas McCombs, digs into the phenomenon of “feature creep” and its impact on consumer sentiment.
5-31-2024

RESEARCHERS EXPLAIN SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN RAPIDLY SHIFTING SOCIAL NORMS ON GENDER AND SEXUALITY

A new paper summarizing decades of research demonstrates how social media has supported an explosion of diversity in gender and sexuality in America during the 21st century, and also how these technologies have equally enabled a cultural backlash. The paper’s authors, UC Santa Cruz Psychology Department faculty members Phil Hammack and Adriana Manago, identified five main narratives about gender and sexuality that they believe emerged through social media as people have strived to be “authentic” on these platforms. The findings, along with resulting recommendations for psychology researchers and practitioners, were
5-31-2024

KEY FACTORS IN TRAINING ASSESSORS FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE RATINGS

New research is examining how organizations can improve their training programs by customizing frame-of-reference training to emphasize identifying negative behaviors critical to their goals. While assessors naturally identify positive behaviors, C. Allen Gorman, Ph.D., associate professor in UAB’s Department of Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods, says targeted training helps them recognize harmful actions that can hinder organizational objectives. Involving assessors in defining important performance dimensions and examples of behaviors, both good and
5-31-2024

STUDIES CHALLENGE WIDELY HELD BELIEFS ON APPLICANT DIVERSITY AND WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

Justin Frake is interested in cause-and-effect relationships in real-world data and the hidden dynamics that shape workplace behavior and equality—or inequality, as the case might be. His curiosity has led to research that challenges some popular beliefs as well as published studies related to women in the workforce. One study shows that firms promoting flatter hierarchies inadvertently discourage female applicants and another study counters several recent studies that claim women CEOs negatively impact career outcomes of other women. Both are published in the Strategic Management Journal. The assistant professor of
5-31-2024

CHALLENGING LEWIN’S MOTIVATIONAL CONFLICTS THEORY

A recent series of experiments challenges the longstanding theory of motivational conflict resolution introduced by Kurt Lewin. According to Lewin, conflicts between two undesirable outcomes (avoidance–avoidance conflicts) are typically harder to resolve than those between two desirable ones (approach–approach conflicts). Lewin posited that avoidance–avoidance conflicts, where individuals must choose between two undesirable outcomes, are typically more challenging to resolve compared to approach–approach conflicts, which involve choosing between two desirable options.
5-31-2024

MEN WITH ‘TOXIC MASCULINITY’ ARE MORE LIKELY TO MAKE SEXUAL ADVANCES WITHOUT CONSENT, STUDY FINDS

No means no when it comes to sex. But what happens when a woman makes a more passive response to a sexual advance? According to new research from Binghamton University, men differ in how they interpret these types of responses, and men who display hostile masculinity, known commonly as “toxic masculinity,” tend to act on them regardless of whether or not they think it’s consensual. A team of researchers, including Binghamton psychology professor Richard Mattson and graduate student Michael Shaw asked men between the ages of 18–25 to respond to
5-31-2024

WHY WE DEHUMANIZE OUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS

Some of human history’s greatest atrocities—genocide, slavery, ethnic cleanings—are rooted in our ability to dehumanize people from other social, political, or cultural groups. Whereas prior research has traced dehumanization to the belief that others think or feel less than we do, new research co-authored by Haas professor Sameer Srivastava shows that our tendency to dehumanize can also be influenced by how we think others view important facets of the world. The greater the difference between our perceptions of an outgroup’s worldview
5-31-2024

STUDY SUGGESTS CHILDREN ARE OFTEN EXPOSED TO PROBLEMATIC CLICK BAIT DURING YOUTUBE SEARCHES

When a child peruses YouTube, the content recommended to them is not always age appropriate, a new study suggests. Researchers mimicked search behaviors of children using popular search terms, such as memes, Minecraft and Fortnite, and captured video thumbnails recommended at the end of each video. Among the 2,880 thumbnails analyzed, many contained problematic click bait, such as violence or frightening images, according to the Michigan Medicine led research in JAMA Network Open. “Children spend a significant amount of time on free video sharing platforms that include user-generated content,” said
5-31-2024

STUDY FINDS WOMEN ARE VULNERABLE IN POST-WAR PEACE PROCESSES

Post-war peace processes are a dangerous period for women. Many are forced to live close to men who committed serious abuse during the war or are expected to testify in various types of truth commissions, which can be both retraumatizing and stigmatizing. These are the findings of a new study by peace researchers at Uppsala University, published in the journal PLOS ONE. “In short, peace projects can force women to live side by side with ex-combatants who committed atrocities during the war. This puts them at risk of further threat
5-31-2024

HOW EMBRACING THE CRINGE CAN HELP YOUR DATING LIFE

We can all agree that dating is hard. Getting to know people can feel vulnerable, but at the same time, exciting. We can also agree that feeling rejected can be one of the worst feelings, especially after we put ourselves out there. Dating can also expose us to a lot of cringey things, maybe even something we didn’t know we’d consider cringey. Think of cringe like something that makes you uncomfortable, or something about someone else that you don’t find attractive. Before dating, most of us consider what we’re looking
5-31-2024

PERSONAL CONNECTIONS AT WORK POSITIVELY IMPACT RETENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH, SAYS REPORT

New survey results from Wiley suggest people still feel connected at work despite the prevalence of hybrid and remote work environments and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the latest Wiley Workplace Intelligence report, “Human Connection: The Crucial Secret to Thriving in the Digital Age,” nearly 8 in 10 employees surveyed (78%) said they feel connected with their coworkers, and almost 7 in 10 (69%) said they also enjoy making connections with their colleagues. Around half even said they want to learn more about their coworkers by doing
5-31-2024

RESEARCHER DEVELOPS MODEL OF INFLUENCER IMPORTANCE WITHIN INSTAGRAM NETWORKS

A study has provided new insights into social media influencers, particularly focusing on those in the women’s fashion sector on the well-known image and video sharing platform Instagram. In a departure from the approach taken by earlier studies, Jens K. Perret of the International School of Management in Cologne, Germany, has used network statistics and centrality measures to establish a model of influencer importance within their network. Perret analyzed data from 255 influencers covering a four-year period. Influencers are loosely
5-31-2024

MOST PEOPLE TRUST ACCURATE SEARCH RESULTS WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, STUDY FINDS

Rank (X-axis) does not affect the evaluation of trustworthiness (Y-axis, mean-centered) of accurate results. This lack of relationship is robust across experiments (columns) and for clicked results (top row, red) as well as non-clicked results (bottom row, blue). The trend lines represent the predicted change in trustworthiness ratings per unit decrease in rank fitted by the linear regression models. Credit: Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61645-8 Using experiments with COVID-19 related queries, Cornell sociology and information science researchers found that in a public health emergency, most people pick out and click
5-31-2024

MISLEADING COVID-19 HEADLINES FROM MAINSTREAM SOURCES DID MORE HARM ON FACEBOOK THAN FAKE NEWS, STUDY FINDS

Despite the greater potency of “fake news” on Facebook to discourage Americans from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, users’ greater exposure to unflagged, vaccine-skeptical content meant the latter had a much greater negative effect on vaccine uptake. Credit: Jennifer Allen, Duncan Watts, David G. Rand Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, fake news on social media has been widely blamed for low vaccine uptake in the United States—but research by MIT Sloan School of Management Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Allen and Professor David Rand finds that the blame lies
5-31-2024

CRITICAL DIALOGUE HELPS STRAIGHT MEN CONFRONT SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC BELIEFS

Adult heterosexual men with sexist and homophobic views can potentially improve their attitudes toward gay men and women by engaging in critical dialogues that use illustrations as a springboard, according to a new University of Michigan study. The work is published in the journal Sexual and Gender Diversity in Social Services. The process by which people shift from a prejudicial stance to one of relative acceptance is a key innovation of the study. Guided by trained facilitators, critical dialogues reflect illustrations depicting different gender roles and sexual identities. The images
5-31-2024

RELIEVING A FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

If you dread public speaking you are not alone. It is a leading social phobia, one that can cause a state of anxiety that reduces otherwise articulate people to nervous incoherence. A strong fear of public speaking is known as glossophobia. Academic studies estimate it affects 20% of the population, but depending on the sample and methodology, the figure could be as high as 40%. As American writer and humourist Mark Twain said, “There are two types of speakers: Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” But help
5-31-2024

HOW SOME PRIVATE COMPANIES ARE MARKETING TECH AND AI SOLUTIONS

How do universities and colleges decide who to admit? Given the earnings advantage of a post-secondary degree both globally and in Canada, this is an important social mobility question. While the answer varies from one institution to the next, most focus on education criteria like exam scores and grades. However, Canada’s new intake cap on study permit applications puts increased pressure on Canadian institutions to also consider immigration criteria when admitting international undergraduate students. This is just the latest example of immigration’s growing influence on the societal roles of Canadian

Hello hello,
Wanted to ask, I got free sample from seller and then once the product arrived then seller decided to take commission off. So on my side it shows the product as “temporary unavailable” so I can’t post a video about it. Now I have free sample but cant do a video. Does it mean now I can’t get more samples anymore since I have that which is not my fault?

Hello everyone!
I am a 27 year old Texas community college student completing the first two years of college before applying for University. Despite doing really well in my Computer Science classes, my overwhelming interest in Engineering and Neuroscience/Neuroengineering took over me like a storm. I can't stop it!
My interests:
I have a huge passion for Neuroscience/Neuroengineering, Engineering, all things Technology, and the Medical field. I am either building computers, self-studying Neuroscience, watching videos on Physics, playing way too much Cyberpunk, rewatching fifth element for the 10,000th time, or obsessing over Neuralink to the point where I'm spending more hours immersing myself into learning about BCI's, advanced prosthetics, and countless hours of Neuroscience YouTube lectures than I am socializing with other human beings (Maybe I didn't score a date this weekend, but I learned about Neuroplasticity at 3am!).
This Summer, I am shadowing at a Hanger Clinic under a prosthetist (who was actually MY prosthetist, as my left leg is literally missing/electronic from a motorcycle accident back in 2022) and working a part-time job in Cyber Security while catching up on Math with summer classes (Starting from College Algebra). Not bad gigs to score as a freshman! Hopefully they will help to look good on my University application for Engineering.
I am heavily interested in Neuroscience/Neuroengineering research and want to work in a lab conducting research around BCI's, Prosthetics, and related. I would absolutely love to be very well rounded in Engineering and Neuroscience/medical, as these are my biggest interests and to be honest, I don't want to only pick one. If I had to, I could, but I'd be disappointed as honestly as I WANT to study both. Example; I'm equally interested in learning Chemistry as I am circuits. I'm either building computers in my room or watching youtube college lectures on the brain. Maybe I am unrealistic in my expectations, but I want strong foundations of both Neuro/medical and Engineering.
Pathways:
I have spent many hours trying to find pathways, and the two I'm considering are:
* BS Biomedical Engineering > MS Neuroscience
* BS Electrical Engineering(with BME minor) > MS Neuroscience
The university I am interested in attending is UT Dallas, and they have a Neuroengineering research department at the school ass well as Neuroengineering focus/classes for it's Biomedical Engineering undergrad students, which is a big plus if I choose that as my undergrad. On the other hand, half the answers I've receive from people said to go general Engineering like Electrical because it has more engineering depth and the field requires more than Biomedical Engineering can provide.
Does this matter if I'm going for a master's either way?
Any advice for me is greatly appreciated. I could not care about the money, I just love Tech and Neuroscience, want to be surrounded by smart people who i can learn from, and contribute in research to making an impact in the field. I really want Biomedical Engineering, but I want opinions from those in the field so I can end up where I dream to.
Thank you!

Hello everyone!
I am a 27 year old Texas community college student completing the first two years of college before applying for University. Despite doing really well in my Computer Science classes, my overwhelming interest in Engineering and Neuroscience/Neuroengineering took over me like a storm. I can't stop it!
My interests:
I have a huge passion for Neuroscience/Neuroengineering, Engineering, all things Technology, and the Medical field. I am either building computers, self-studying Neuroscience, watching videos on Physics, playing way too much Cyberpunk, rewatching fifth element for the 10,000th time, or obsessing over Neuralink to the point where I'm spending more hours immersing myself into learning about BCI's, advanced prosthetics, and countless hours of Neuroscience YouTube lectures than I am socializing with other human beings (Maybe I didn't score a date this weekend, but I learned about Neuroplasticity at 3am!).
This Summer, I am shadowing at a Hanger Clinic under a prosthetist (who was actually MY prosthetist, as my left leg is literally missing/electronic from a motorcycle accident back in 2022) and working a part-time job in Cyber Security while catching up on Math with summer classes (Starting from College Algebra). Not bad gigs to score as a freshman! Hopefully they will help to look good on my University application for Engineering.
I am heavily interested in Neuroscience/Neuroengineering research and want to work in a lab conducting research around BCI's, Prosthetics, and related. I would absolutely love to be very well rounded in Engineering and Neuroscience/medical, as these are my biggest interests and to be honest, I don't want to only pick one. If I had to, I could, but I'd be disappointed as honestly as I WANT to study both. Example; I'm equally interested in learning Chemistry as I am circuits. I'm either building computers in my room or watching youtube college lectures on the brain. Maybe I am unrealistic in my expectations, but I want strong foundations of both Neuro/medical and Engineering.
Pathways:
I have spent many hours trying to find pathways, and the two I'm considering are:
* BS Biomedical Engineering > MS Neuroscience
* BS Electrical Engineering(with BME minor) > MS Neuroscience
The university I am interested in attending is UT Dallas, and they have a Neuroengineering research department at the school ass well as Neuroengineering focus/classes for it's Biomedical Engineering undergrad students, which is a big plus if I choose that as my undergrad. On the other hand, half the answers I've receive from people said to go general Engineering like Electrical because it has more engineering depth and the field requires more than Biomedical Engineering can provide.
Does this matter if I'm going for a master's either way?
Any advice for me is greatly appreciated. I could not care about the money, I just love Tech and Neuroscience, want to be surrounded by smart people who i can learn from, and contribute in research to making an impact in the field. I really want Biomedical Engineering, but I want opinions from those in the field so I can end up where I dream to.
Thank you!

About me:
Hello everyone!
I am a 27 year old Texas community college student completing the first two years of college before applying for University. Despite doing really well in my Computer Science classes, my overwhelming interest in Engineering and Neuroscience/Neuroengineering took over me like a storm. I can't stop it!
My interests:
I have a huge passion for Neuroscience/Neuroengineering, Engineering, all things Technology, and the Medical field. I am either building computers, self-studying Neuroscience, watching videos on Physics, playing way too much Cyberpunk, rewatching fifth element for the 10,000th time, or obsessing over Neuralink to the point where I'm spending more hours immersing myself into learning about BCI's, advanced prosthetics, and countless hours of Neuroscience YouTube lectures than I am socializing with other human beings (Maybe I didn't score a date this weekend, but I learned about Neuroplasticity at 3am!).
This Summer, I am shadowing at a Hanger Clinic under a prosthetist (who was actually MY prosthetist, as my left leg is literally missing/electronic from a motorcycle accident back in 2022) and working a part-time job in Cyber Security while catching up on Math with summer classes (Starting from College Algebra). Not bad gigs to score as a freshman! Hopefully they will help to look good on my University application for Engineering.
I am heavily interested in Neuroscience/Neuroengineering research and want to work in a lab conducting research around BCI's, Prosthetics, and related. I would absolutely love to be very well rounded in Engineering and Neuroscience/medical, as these are my biggest interests and to be honest, I don't want to only pick one. If I had to, I could, but I'd be disappointed as honestly as I WANT to study both. Example; I'm equally interested in learning Chemistry as I am circuits. I'm either building computers in my room or watching youtube college lectures on the brain. Maybe I am unrealistic in my expectations, but I want strong foundations of both Neuro/medical and Engineering.
Pathways:
I have spent many hours trying to find pathways, and the two I'm considering are:
* BS Biomedical Engineering > MS Neuroscience
* BS Electrical Engineering(with BME minor) > MS Neuroscience
The university I am interested in attending is UT Dallas, and they have a Neuroengineering research department at the school ass well as Neuroengineering focus/classes for it's Biomedical Engineering undergrad students, which is a big plus if I choose that as my undergrad. On the other hand, half the answers I've receive from people said to go general Engineering like Electrical because it has more engineering depth and the field requires more than Biomedical Engineering can provide.
Does this matter if I'm going for a master's either way?
Any advice for me is greatly appreciated. I could not care about the money, I just love Tech and Neuroscience, want to be surrounded by smart people who i can learn from, and contribute in research to making an impact in the field. I really want Biomedical Engineering, but I want opinions from those in the field so I can end up where I dream to.
Thank you!

/opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml.c -o ggml.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-alloc.c -o ggml-alloc.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-backend.c -o ggml-backend.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-quants.c -o ggml-quants.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-c++ -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c++11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c whisper.cpp -o whisper.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-c++ -I. -I./examples -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c++11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread examples/main/main.cpp examples/common.cpp examples/common-ggml.cpp examples/grammar-parser.cpp ggml.o ggml-alloc.o ggml-backend.o ggml-quants.o whisper.o -o main 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/jfk.wav' (176000 samples, 11.0 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/jfk.wav' (176000 samples, 11.0 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... [00:00:00.000 00:00:10.560] And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. whisper_print_timings: load time = 9974.02 ms whisper_print_timings: fallbacks = 0 p / 0 h whisper_print_timings: mel time = 8063.51 ms whisper_print_timings: sample time = 110588 ms / 131 runs ( 844.19 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: encode time = 3929958.25 ms / 1 runs ( 3929958.25 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: decode time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: batchd time = 757568.81 ms / 129 runs ( 5872.63 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: prompt time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: total time = 4822358.00 ms real1h 20m 24s user1h 7m 17s sys1m 23.58s 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/speech-2.wav' (85767 samples, 5.4 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... [00:00:00.000 00:00:05.000] I have a very long time to have a show. I have a very long time to have a show. whisper_print_timings: load time = 14591.09 ms whisper_print_timings: fallbacks = 1 p / 0 h whisper_print_timings: mel time = 3914.93 ms whisper_print_timings: sample time = 129347.44 ms / 146 runs ( 885.94 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: encode time = 3841956.50 ms / 1 runs (3841956.50 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: decode time = 132559.47 ms / 8 runs (16569.93 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: batchd time = 832581.94 ms / 134 runs ( 6213.30 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: prompt time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: total time = 4962558.50 ms 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:04.200] "The reality of the sense of justice in the conduct of the time." [00:00:04.200 00:00:08.480] "It allows me to just tell you that this time, [00:00:08.480 00:00:10.720] "I'm not the prime minister, [00:00:10.720 00:00:13.240] "and you are not the president of the Republic, [00:00:13.240 00:00:15.960] "and you are the second candidate." [00:00:15.960 00:00:17.640] "There is equality." [00:00:17.640 00:00:21.480] "And who is the chief of the defense? [00:00:21.480 00:00:23.240] "That's what matters." [00:00:23.240 00:00:25.360] "It allows me to, so, you have to admit it." [00:00:25.360 00:00:28.840] "But you have to do the same, but it's the prime minister." [00:00:28.840 00:00:30.840] [INAUDIBLE] [00:00:30.840 00:00:32.840] Thank you for your attention. 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:04.000] Célité et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:04.000 00:00:08.500] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que ce soir, [00:00:08.500 00:00:13.300] je ne suis pas le premier ministre et vous n'êtes pas le président de la République. [00:00:13.300 00:00:21.500] Nous sommes deux candidats à égalité et qui se soumettre au jugement des Français, [00:00:21.500 00:00:25.300] ça le qui compte, on me permettrait donc de vous appeler ma chémiter. [00:00:25.300 00:00:29.300] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, mais c'est le premier ministre. [00:00:29.300 00:00:32.460] Monsieur, Monsieur, si vous voulez bien avant de... 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:03.000] et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:03.000 00:00:07.000] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que ce soir, [00:00:07.000 00:00:12.800] je ne suis pas le premier ministre et vous n'êtes pas le président de la République. [00:00:12.800 00:00:17.000] Nous sommes deux candidats à égalité [00:00:17.000 00:00:20.800] et qui se soumettent au jugement des Français, [00:00:20.800 00:00:25.200] ceux qui comptent, vous me permettrez donc de vous appeler Monsieur Mitterrand. [00:00:25.200 00:00:27.800] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, monsieur le Premier ministre. [00:00:28.800 00:00:31.800] Monsieur, si vous voulez bien, avant de... [00:00:31.800 00:00:32.800] avant de le faire. 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:03.000] et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:03.000 00:00:07.000] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que, ce soir, [00:00:07.000 00:00:10.000] je ne suis pas le Premier ministre [00:00:10.000 00:00:12.000] et vous n'êtes pas le Président de la République. [00:00:12.000 00:00:15.000] Nous sommes deux candidats [00:00:15.000 00:00:17.000] à égalité [00:00:17.000 00:00:19.000] et qui se soumettent au jugement [00:00:19.000 00:00:21.000] des Français. [00:00:21.000 00:00:23.000] Seul qui compte. [00:00:23.000 00:00:25.000] Vous me permettrez donc de vous appeler Monsieur Mitterrand. [00:00:25.000 00:00:28.000] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, Monsieur le Premier ministre. [00:00:28.000 00:00:32.760] Monsieur, si vous le voulez bien, avant de... 

I’m sure someone’s compiled a list of the best tips and tricks to optimize system function speed access health etc. I just found out about the idea of power draw during a low temperature process and saw a video of someone “unlocking hidden cpu cores.” With comments about custom circuits on die.
Having found out also about power laws, wireless energy transfer bench top lasers and vcas in euro rack as well as building network switch neural nets and alternative processor architecture historical trajectory (amd 64 core analogue? VGA and most interestingly what I interpret to be 4 bit instructions for first gen intel) my faith in the binary machine is in question. Could someone help me optimize my computers with the state of the art tricks. I’m interested in researching timing.
Heard the term recently “analogue clocking” is this a pop quiz for computer scientists on state based machines or actually possible for 1 core, 1 cpu… (I get this is possible with multi cpu by sampling don’t understand how state based machines wouldn’t short out. Would really like to master every perspective on clocking. How does ntp fit into this picture, can I use a continuous clock source? Can I use a clock divider (esp for 1 cpu at a time?) can you multi tuning over clock with a clock sync or continuous Casio type clock?
Finally how do I make my fiber coil function as a continuous compute computational capacitor, seems like this ring accelerator idea is pretty powerful can it reintegrate the computational output stream and clock with its source? Are they premade cheaply?
Could anyone help me solve super threading confusion and is the claim that the cpu is an integrate power distributor and task handler while the current concept of the graphics card firstly understood to be the graph processing unit (am I correct?) accomplishes all user specific task load ie the computations we care about?
I just saw a post with someone using tpu from google coral to decrease cpu, what’s the best use of this chip especially for non conventional hardware hacking. Tpu clock generator, process modeler… is this the device I could use simply as a general purpose look up table of thread completions shouldn’t all hardware have one of thes tables. mind racing with the possibility of harnessing time wave processing 4 forecasting (going to need some help with this concept).
Super excited to implement sota! Are there better os’ (rtos) for general purpose use and for specific workflows (data science/vaximaging/and control systems come to mind? Starting to see signs of different system philosophies with amusing cautionary vibes definitely hoping for a base rate clarification.
Thanks !

Some important context: My wife(30F) and I(29M) both have been diagnosed with ADHD, & more recently depression, both suspect we each have ASD and suspect my wife also has DID(Disociative Identity Disorder more commonly known as multiple personalities) among other more physical comorbidities. We just moved provinces in Canada for a summer job which has put diagnosis attempts on hold. It has been almost 2 years since we had the epiphany that she is likely afflicted with DID. Because of how it effects her memory, at a fundamental level I feel I cant trust her because one of the ways we believe she's avoided notice until more recently is that she would make up whatever made sense to fill in memory gaps. Its not necessarily intentional but I'm reminded frequently that unless I'm talking to the same persona(which is impossible to tell) there's no guarantee she will remember anything without it being frequent or incredibly important. I've watched new information "propagate" through her personas at times like the move we recently completed. Seeing the information pass from individual to individual. She'd ask genuine questions that she'd then answer herself, either verbaly or mentally.
The incident:
That aside we moved Wednesday and I had my first day at work yesterday(Friday). Both of us have been exhausted as is typical moving. Dispite this we stayed up to about 11:30 PM watching anime during which I feel asleep. When the episode concluded we quickly got to bed and I took some melatonin. I've been struggling to get to sleep recently as a result of my depressive insomnia. I often watch astrophysics videos like PBS Space Time to distract and sooth my bombastically active intellect. As we settled into bed my wife asked if I would drink some of her milk. Its become a fetish of mine on top of just generally being a boob guy and while we can say we've tried to be consistent with it, we've not been so her supply has diminished greatly. I initially refused by just saying "Danger" which later she said she interpreted as "I want to but we shouldn't" which I would say is more or less accurate. I was afraid it would turn into more than just that as it commonly does. She pressed further "Please?". I agreed and sucked, after which she asked for sex. I reacted rather emotionally which I have admitted fault for. I accused her of being manipulative and that she was interested in sex from the get go, ergo, that should've been what she requested. I was sexually frustrated on top of being sleep deprived. She up and left to sleep in the kids room texting me "I'm too mad and don't want to regret some thing I say. I'm gonna go to sleep and if I'm still mad in the morning. I'll talk about it more." I do think I could've communicated better, however, she has been insistent that she didn't do anything wrong. "I just asked a question". She has confirmed since that she was horny from the get go and intended to have an orgasm whether I gave it to her or she did it herself. I refuse to believe that she did not make the connection that getting me to drink her milk increased chances of me saying yes to the request of sex, constituting manipulation in my mind. She has insisted that she didn't intend to ask until I increased her arousal by complying with her request. She was just asking when she felt like it. She claims her thought process was "I'm horny I think I'll go masterbate. Hey that would be easier after my husband does what he loves to do and he told me to ask if I felt this." and then after I did was aroused enough to directly ask.
A sampling of texts since then:
Wife - "Can you understand how hurtful and insulting it is to have you believe that I would do such a thing to you?!"
Me - "It's a lot harder for me to say no when I'm hard"
Wife - "And I hate how cold it makes me sound, but that's not my fault"
Was my wife being manipulative (intentional or not) and is my anger & frustration well founded?
AITAH?

I am in a terrible flare up of bladder and urethral pain. Here is what I am doing today to take care of myself:
1) Staying home in loose pants. I was invited to a pool party and had to cancel. This is because I know I would drink a beer, sit in a tight bathing suit in chlorinated water and potentially get dehydrated from the intense sunshine where I live. All of this would make my pain worse.
2) Not taking antibiotics. I am friends with a lot of practitioners who would happily prescribe me some antibiotics, and the person I was 2 years ago used to take them without surrendering a urine sample. I now will no longer take them without a confirmed positive urine sample revealing the presence of bacteria.
3) Using CBD/THC cream. I apply this to the lower abdomen, low back, bum cheeks and inner thighs (avoid the pelvic floor itself). I use a 1:1 CBD to THC ratio for this salve, but anything can be used, even arnica (provided you do not apply it too close to the pelvic floor).
4) Watching old television shows. The reason why this works for me is because the video frames in older television move very slowly relative to the videos we see today. Our brains have the opportunity to slow down when watching older movies because of this. (Well, my brain does. But finding what you like to calm your nervous system is different for all of us - just make sure you have a sedentary activity to force your system to slow down when your pain is at its apex).
5) Reminding myself that my house is not on fire. Self talk that is reassuring and doesn't venture into panic can be so helpful to remind the brain that we are not under threat of attack.

Adel

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• Adel Mayor and City Council
• City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting – June 4, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • No agenda posted yet

Alleman

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. AND every 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m., which appears to be their Work Session meetings. Agendas can be found here.
• Alleman Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024

Altoona

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Altoona Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Site plan amendments for the Meta/Facebook campus
    • Resolution to approve a final plat for Spring Creek Ridge West Plat 1

Ankeny

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here
• Ankeny Mayor and City Council
• You need to select Novus agenda and it takes you to a 3rd party website where you can then select the latest meeting type such as City Council, Action Planning, etc.
  • City Council meetings can be viewed via Zoom, but only during the meeting. The City does not post the video of the Council meetings on either their website or YouTube.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Hope K Farms zoning amendments
    • Amending development agreements with SPAL-USA and Pet Parents, LLC.
    • Rezoning certain real estate owned by Berwick Holdings, LLC

Bondurant

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Bondurant Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Setting a date for a public hearing to consider adoption of the City's Pavement Management Program Plan
    • Public Hearing regarding the Featherstone Planned Unit Development Substantial Modification Request related to the Outlot W/Featherstone Townhomes Plat 1 area

Carlisle

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Carlisle Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 28, 2024

Clive

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. with the goal of having agendas posted no later than two business days prior to a meeting. Agenda Packets for 2024 can be found here and a collection of prior year agenda packets (2005+) and large construction set documents can be located here.
• Clive Mayor and City Council
• Latest City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 23, 2024

Cumming

• City Council meets on the 2nd Mondays of every month and sometimes on the 4th Monday if needed at 7 p.m. They updated their website so in the new way to find their current agenda/packets is either on the front page of the website either under latest news in the center or to the right under upcoming events.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 28, 2024

Dallas Center

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Dallas Center Mayor and City
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 28 2024

Dallas County

• Dallas County Board of Supervisors meet every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Upcoming Supervisor Agenda Packets can be found here and Supervisor meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here.
• They do not post contact information for their three board of supervisors - Someone who lives in Dallas County please contact the County to post this information because it’s antithetical to an “open” government.
• Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – June 4, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • HR WORKSHOP
• If you work for Dallas County or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Supervisor agenda packets on the website.

De Soto

• City Council meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas posted to the City website by the EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• De Soto Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 21, 2024

Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5 p.m. with agendas being available by 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here. I will only do my top 5 as the media generally covers DSM Council meetings and the big topics.
• Des Moines Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does usually have Work Sessions on the morning of regular City Council meetings (Mondays) at 7:30 a.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Approving updated bylaws for the Historic Preservation Commission.
    • Brenton Skating Plaza Building Repair
    • SW 9th Street Rehabilitation from Emma Avenue to Leach Avenue
    • Development Agreement and Parking License Agreement with American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company for the relocation of 650 employees, a 10-year lease for 131,900 square-feet of office space at 1100 Locust St
    • . Amending Chapter 46 of the Municipal Code relating to the fine for the use of consumer fireworks within the city limits
    • WORK SESSION IN MORNING at 7:30 a.m. - Construction Manager at Risk (CMaR) and 1200 Locust Update
    • Joint Meeting with DSM School Board June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at 1551 E. M. L. King Jr. Pkwy - Agenda items are: Parks and Recreation, Preschool, Des Moines Public Library, Neighborhood Revitalization and Housing, and Reimagining Education

Elkhart

• City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6 p.m. Agendas can be found here and Agenda Packets can located here (it seems like agendas are posted at a separate time compared to the full agenda packet.
• Elkhart does not provide contact information for their Mayor or City Council. If you live in Elkhart, please contact the City to ask that they put this information up on their website.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 20, 2024

Granger

• City Council meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Granger Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 23, 2024

Grimes

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 5:30 p.m. and they try to have agendas available to view for the public published 24 hours in advance of the meeting. They have dates listed on their website when they will not meet during the year listed here.
• Grimes Mayor and City Council
• agenda & meetings page/calendar this does include their upcoming and previous meetings with agendas/packets if you scroll up or down.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 28, 2024

Indianola

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here.
• Indianola Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have study sessions on topics that are before the regular City Council meeting at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Resolution setting a public hearing for July 1, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. regarding amendments to Section 165.06, Zoning Regulations: Site Plan Regulations and Procedures and Section 165.09 oning Regulations: Building Design Standards
    • Public hearing regarding various amendments to Chapter 165, Zoning Regulations
    • Ordinance amending the Subdivision Regulations f Chapter 170
    • Ordinance adding Chapter 171, Parkland Dedication
    • Ordinance adding Chapter 172, Stream Buffer Protection

Johnston

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here This takes you to a 3rd party website where there appears to be no separate web pages for each Council meeting.
• Johnston Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before regular City Council meetings at 6 p.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024 (On the desktop version, it is not a separate page from where the agendas are located so you have to click on meetings in the top right, find the Council meeting on the left, click view agenda, and then you can click on separate agenda items on the left to get more info)
  • Items of interest:
    • Council Work Session before City Council meeting - Johnston Sanitary Sewer Master Study, Update on City-Wide Vegetative Debris Clean-Up, and New Classification and Compensation Plan and associated Salary Administration Policy
    • Conduct a Public Hearing and Consider Approval of the First Reading of Ordinance 1122 - Amending Chapters 176, 177, and 185 of the Johnston Zoning Ordinance
    • Public Hearing and Consider Approval of the Following Items Related to Stormwater Management: First Reading of Ordinance 1120 - Amending Chapter 87, Post-Construction Stormwater Management, of the Johnston Code of Ordinances; Resolution 24-151 - Adopting the City of Johnston Supplemental Specifications to The Iowa Stormwater Management Manual

Norwalk

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Norwalk Mayor and City Council
• Tentative City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Public Hearing on Development Agreement with Dunn Industrial Condominiums LLC
    • Several zoning changes throughout the City
    • Second Reading of an Ordinance amending Chapter 177 - Rates & Fees; providing for amended Water, Sewer, Recycling and Solid Waste Fees
    • Discussion of Tax Abatements

Pleasant Hill

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets for previous meetings can be found here but you have to select the particular meeting from a list under City Council Agendas (Their archive is not updated properly so you may need to contact staff at the city to fix this or request different agenda documents). Agendas for the upcoming City Council meeting can be located here on the left hand side of the web page.
• Pleasant Hill Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 28, 2024

Polk City

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Polk City Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 28, 2024

Polk County

• Polk County Board of Supervisors meet every other Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The schedule for the rest of the year as well as agenda packets for upcoming and previous meetings can be found here They also typically have work sessions on Wednesday or Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
• Polk County Board of Supervisors (You have to click on each Supervisors “Bio” to get their contact information)
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Packet – June 4, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Resolution approving the 2050 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Amendment from Neighborhood Commercial Classification to Business Park Classification (1300 NE 72nd).
    • Resolution approving Investment Agreement with United Way to support a Community Health Needs Assessment project.
    • Resolution approving Facility Service Agreement and Business Associate Agreement with Heartland Area Education Agency for Shelter Care Educational Program (SCEP) at juvenile detention center.

Urbandale

• City Council meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Urbandale Mayor and City Council (On the left hand side of the webpage you have to select each person for their contact information)
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before City Council Meetings at 5:30 p.m. City Council also has Lunch and Learn meetings that are open to the public electronically on select Tuesdays at 11:45 a.m. (The public may access the conversation in person at Urbandale City Council Chambers the day of the meeting).
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 4, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Several 28E agreements with local organizations regarding hotel/motel tax dollar uses
    • Discussion: Policy Regarding Non-Profit Fees for City Services

Van Meter

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here
• Van Meter Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024

Warren County

• Warren County Board of Supervisors meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at 9:30 a.m. Agendas can be found here
• Warren County Board of Supervisors
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 28, 2024 They require you to download the agendas via PDF’s so there is no direct web link to the agendas

Waukee

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here AND the agenda packets can be located here
• Waukee Mayor and City Council
  • City Council will have Work Sessions and Special Meetings that usually occur on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
• City Council Work Session Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Ordinance to amend Chapter 165, Zoning Regulations, Definitions and General Regulations, by amending Section 165.15; Fences, Walls, and Hedges

West Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Upcoming Council Agenda Packets can be found here (to see the packet for a meeting, click on the meeting under “Events” and then select one of the packet choices) and Council meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here
• West Des Moines Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • The Lancaster, northwest of the intersection of South 85th Street and Cascade Avenue - Amend the Zoning Map to Establish Zoning Appropriate for High Density Residential Development
    • Valley West Mall, 1551 Valley West Drive - Amend Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map to Designate Multi-Use High Land Use and Establish the Valley West Mall Planned Unit Development (PUD) Ordinance to Provide for the Redevelopment of the Property - Valley West Mall, LLC
    • West Des Moines Water Works Audit - 2023

Windsor Heights

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Windsor Heights Mayor and City Council (You have to click on each person to get their contact information but you can fill out this form to send a message to the Mayor, the five city councilors, and the city administrator at once.
  • They do have recaps of their City Council meetings which are located here
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – June 3, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Public Hearing on the Proposed Plans, Specifications, Form of Contract, and Estimate of Costs for the Windsor Heights CEC Solar Project
    • Public Hearing on Proposed Development Agreement with Windsor Millang, L.L.C., the Windsor, L.L.C. and Jensfam, LLC

New account, and first time using Reddit other than to browse. Sorry if something goes wrong.
So to preface this I graduated in 2023 and applied to colleges (1st cycle) but chose to take a gap year instead and applied again (2nd cycle). So if you see those, that's what they mean. ALSO PLEASE READ THE ADDITIONAL INFO PART OF THIS POST!!
Here we go:
Demographics
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: South + East Asian
Residence: MD
Income Bracket: 300k?
Type of School: Competitive public
Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None
Intended Major(s): Chemistry (1st cycle), Neuroscience + Linguistics (2nd cycle)
Academics
GPA (UW/W): 3.94 (UW), 4.83 (W)
Rank (or percentile): HS does not rank
Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 11 APs, 10 Honors, 1 Dual Enrollment
Senior Year Course Load: Anatomy and Physiology, AP Lang, AP Psych, "Advanced Math" (AKA dual enrollment at CC in advanced differential equations), science intern at two local hospitals (yes it's listed as a course), Molecular Bio
Standardized Testing
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
SAT: 1540 (800 M, 740 R)
ACT: 35 (33M, 35S, 35E, 35R) (didn't submit, though probably wouldn't have hurt)
AP/IB: 4s and 5s on everything except a 3 on AP Lang 💀
Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.): N/A
Extracurriculars/Activities
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Practiced Japanese calligraphy for over 7 years and received numerous internationally recognized awards and certifications for proficiency and artistic style (1st and 2nd cycle), uploaded samples on my application (1st cycle), but didn't upload (2nd cycle) since my parents advised me not to, and honestly I regret not doing it the 2nd time but too late now
2. Coxswain of HS Crew, participated in freshman and sophomore year before ending it due to COVID (1st and 2nd cycle)
3. Volunteer work at a cultural summer camp including leadership roles in engagement, ranked up from junior to senior position (1st and 2nd cycle)
4. Helped teach students in underserved communities who were struggling in elementary school to learn math and English (1st and 2nd cycle)
5. Internship at two local hospitals, including communicating with patients and assisting with tasks along with observing healthcare practices & surgery (1st and 2nd cycle)
6. Extensive preparation to become an EMT, including over 150 hours of mandatory training and involvement in significant realistically simulated scenarios (2nd cycle)
7. Volunteer position at a local senior memory care facility, involved with both leading and assisting group activities designed for elderly residents (2nd cycle)
8. Self - studied Python to code and design a program used to identify handwritten digits with over 99% accuracy using concepts from Linear Algebra (2nd cycle)

(9). Self - studied German to where I got a 4 on the AP German test... this, along with my dual enrollment, appeared in part of my additional info section and not in the EC list (1st and 2nd cycle)
Awards/Honors
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. Numerous awards in Japanese calligraphy for "good work" (1st and 2nd cycle)
2. CPR and BLS certifications as part of EMT training (2nd cycle)
3. NASA College Scholarship Award
4. AATG National German Examination level 2 and 3 bronze awards
5. Seal of Biliteracy
6. AP Scholar with distinction

Letters of Recommendation
Teacher: (7/10): So after browsing through this subreddit, it seems like people often overinflate their rec letter ratings. I'd have to say though, my teacher recs must have been pretty good since they won me that NASA scholarship (and the team specifically said that it was the rec letters)!
Counselor: (3/10) I'm just giving it a conservative rating... anyway, this is one thing that was really out of my control, and it's honestly kind of a sad story. My school assigns counselors by name, and I had a counselor that I was particularly close with and would meet with frequently. It was really sad to see her go in my junior year, and so one of the other counselors (still a nice guy) was forced to substitute as ours instead. Needless to say, I didn't have much time to connect with him as much as his other students, and I'm not sure if his letter could have stood out too much from other students that he knew much more.
Interviews
Harvard (1st cycle): (6/10) So, as a first interview, I thought it went quite well. We laughed together and shared our stories of how we grew up and connected through that. It started slightly awkward (video isn't the ideal form of communication) but otherwise went well. Lasted substantially longer than the scheduled time.
UPenn (1st cycle): (5/10) Pretty standard interview. The interviewer was very enthusiastic, but the conversation was a bit more formal and less exciting. Got to know a lot about the school though, so that was good. 45 minutes, not bad.
Dartmouth (2nd cycle) (8/10): Probably my best interview. He shared a lot in common with me and we were able to talk a lot about our cultural similarities and how Dartmouth would be a great fit. It lasted almost 2 hours and we had a great time!
A bit surprised by the lack of interviews, but maybe this is normal.
Essays
I feel like while I thought at the time my essays were good, in hindsight, they probably weren't. I'm inclined to think that my writing ability is not that great, but I tried and gave it a lot of time. For the personal essay, I first wrote about how Japanese calligraphy had given me a new way to see the world, but looking back, I may have looked a bit introverted from the way it was written. For the second cycle, I talked about sports, which looking back I felt was even more of a cliche. I only chose to write about it because at the time it was suggested to me and I thought it could work. I will say, however, that my supplemental essays were probably much better and very school - specific.

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
FIRST CYCLE: EXTREMELY TOP - HEAVY, DON'T DO THIS UNLESS YOU'RE PREPARED FOR REJECTION!
Acceptances:
UMD (EA) (originally committed but was denied to defer acceptance to next year)
Waitlists (honestly surprised that I didn't get more waitlists):
UChicago (RD) (later rejected)
Rejections:
Berkeley
Caltech (RD)
Columbia (RD)
Harvard (RD)
Johns Hopkins (RD)
MIT (RD)
Princeton (RD)
Stanford (RD)
UCLA
UMich (EA, defer - reject)
UPenn (RD)
Yale (RD)
SECOND CYCLE: Still top - heavy but more balanced with a mix of safeties, targets, and reaches
Acceptances:
Baylor (RD, 23k scholarship), rejected BS/MD
CWRU (RD, 31.5k scholarship) (committed, but may just go to CC tbh), rejected BS/MD
Purdue FYE (RD)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RD, 36k scholarship), rejected BS/MD
SUNY Stony Brook (RD, 28k scholarship), rejected BS/MD
University College London (school in the UK)
Wayne State (RD, 6.5k scholarship), rejected BS/MD
Waitlists (honestly surprised that I didn't get more waitlists):
GWU (RD) (declined waitlist offer), rejected BS/MD
UChicago (RD) (later rejected)
Rejections:
Brown (RD), rejected BS/MD
Cambridge (in the UK)
Cornell (RD)
Dartmouth (RD)
Duke (RD)
Harvard (RD)
Harvey Mudd (RD)
Johns Hopkins (RD)
Northwestern (RD)
UMich (RD)
UPenn (RD)
Vanderbilt (RD)
Also got straight up ghosted by UMD 💀
Additional info/Final thoughts (IMPORTANT):
Extra things that I thought would help me stand out:
I took AP Calc BC in 8th grade and scored a 5 on the AP test (lol this might already give me away), and my middle and high school had to make a special curriculum/arrangement for me (and potential future students who were advanced in their classes).
Also, I was the only person to have dual enrolled in math, after literally running out of math courses to take at my already competitive high school. Diff EQ was no joke, but it was a really useful class and I did very well.
Took every double period and AP science course at least one year ahead of my peers.
I also talked extensively about traveling to Asia in my gap year, and how I utilized my language skills to interact with people. I talked about how it has opened me to new perspectives and how interacting with communities broadened my outlook.
FINAL THOUGHTS: after two years of straight rejections from top schools, I have to say I've been extremely invested in this process, if not anything more than for the sake of my younger brother, who is gonna need as much advice from me as possible given the fierce competition.
So yeah in the end college admissions cooked me to a crisp. Besides my unremarkable personal statement and (possibly) mediocre counselor rec, I really can't understand what went wrong. Maybe this year was just too competitive with test - optional policies, and I'm pretty sure there are kids with <1400 SATs from my school who went TO and got into top schools. Also, I will say that evidently, top schools couldn't care less about your course rigor, at least beyond a certain amount. They don't care that you took AP Physics C in elementary school or can speak 10 languages. I went in with the mindset of "all it takes is one", though I guess even that was too much to ask for :/ Anyway, my #1 piece of advice?
APPLY EARLY. Seriously, I think this was my biggest downfall. I can't believe I didn't learn from my first application cycle, but too late to change that now. THIS APPLIES ESPECIALLY IF YOUR SCHOOL REGULARLY SENDS STUDENTS TO TOP SCHOOLS. It doesn't matter if you have new stuff that you want to show by the regular decision deadline. You can always update stuff in your portal later. If you apply RD, universities may already have selected their share of students from your school. Honestly given how UChicago heavily pads their yield, I might have been accepted had I applied ED there. Or maybe JHU. I don't even know :/
I will say though, I think Purdue was an interesting outlier. Even though their engineering program is quite competitive (especially OOS), they specifically reached out to me and asked for my CC dual enrollment grade which no other university did. I think that compelled them to offer me admission, and turning them down was a really hard decision that I still don't even know was the right move. I am extremely grateful for that though.
Still, I'm honestly feeling quite lost considering all my work, but looks like I might just go to CC atp. What makes it even worse is that it's looked down upon by every person in my school community and even by my parents and relatives. At least I'll save money, right?
Also remember if you're reading this and you didn't get into a top college, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. This sub has an INSANE amount of response bias, and posts with titles like "clutching an ivy" or "scored a miracle" just aren't representative and you shouldn't compare yourself to them. Not everyone gets a satisfactory outcome and you aren't alone. For the sake of your happiness, if you're applying to top universities, just expect to get rejected from all of them. Don't bank on getting into one of them even if you think you are talented or extraordinary in some regard. Chances are that they just don't care. And unless you think you can do something remarkable in a gap year, don't take one just to reapply. It's just not worth it.
Anyway, vent over. It doesn't really matter anyway, I'll crush those transfer apps 😌

Hello, I use FL Studio for this but possibly is the same issue on Ableton and Logic. Basically, when I make a sound using the LFO its speed changes on the pitch and want to make it the same speed throughout the entire piano roll. I heard things like going to the Matrix and bypassing "Note#", but it is not there, these sounds are not samples, sounds I made from scratch. Yet, I keep getting this issue, any tips/help to resolve this? Thank you so much for checking
(EDIT: When I save it as a .wav/.mp3 file it does this)
https://reddit.com/link/1d59knc/video/caj322gplu3d1/player
https://preview.redd.it/qusizkixlu3d1.png?width=903&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4a1836f7359df884ebfd187455f105dfca9f999
https://preview.redd.it/tqyzb2ncpu3d1.png?width=907&format=png&auto=webp&s=38b7626dfdc5ddec09415c8ca5af592670c4f5fb
https://preview.redd.it/3ylqarwzlu3d1.png?width=907&format=png&auto=webp&s=22695e26764be938d13034972fec15119a2db244

Cinema Pro is no more and none of its features are getting ported into new app Video Pro mode, so this is a perfect opportunity to release this (almost) definite guide as to when and how to record video footage in Cinema Pro. All of us are pretty much aware of most its shortcomings this app has but we are not going to complain or talk about them here, instead we are going to celebrate EOL of Cinema Pro.
I could bet my pet that about 90% of Xperia users ain’t touching Cinema Pro because they feel uncomfortable using it, that includes mobile camera enthusiasts. Instead, they go to BASIC Video or Video Pro and I don’t blame them as learning curve in Cinema Pro is pretty steep but on the other hand this camera app has very flexible workflow and results can be stunning if you practice enough.
So, first things first, none of the video camera apps will make your videos gorgeous by itself. Filming a video, much like a taking a photo, is all about framing your shot. Keep in mind that Cinema Pro is meant for static shots and short pans due to lack of auto ISO adjustments. If your shot is poorly framed not even a Burano can save your butt. Frame your shot properly before you even touch record button. But before you even do that here are few things you should read first to get yourself familiar with Cinema Pro.

Here is what Cinema Pro offers and can do that other Xperia camera apps can’t.
CLIP METADATA
This probably was not your first thought I was gonna bring up, right? Unlike Video Pro which does not save any advanced metadata in video clips Cinema Pro does and it does it quite good.
When you go to Cinema Library and play any clip inside your project (not final video) you can tap on ellipsis at upper right corner and choose Details. Brown window will pop up with following metadata such as ~resolution~ and ~FPS~ but besides that we also get ~Look~ we picked, ~Lens~, ~Stabilization~, ~WB~, ~ISO~, ~Shutter~ speed, ~Focus~ and ~Audio~ level. If we import the clip in desktop software we also get ~bit depth~, ~color space~, ~EOTF~, ~format~, etc.
Why is this important? If you are really making a video project there is a great chance that you imported those clips on your desktop OS and that you are editing or retouching them inside some desktop software. Desktop software has power of utilizing metadata for your convenience when manipulating and exporting the video, matching shots, doing color correction or just doing offline editing.
This will make your life a lot easier. As you will see in my sample footage below, I’ve actually automated the burn-in with the Cinema Pro clip metadata (Looks, WB, Shutter, etc.) to make each clip display the metadata on-screen without me having to punch it in manually.
METERING
If you don’t have Metering bar enabled in your UI you are doing it wrong. Go to yellow hamburger menu to the right and tap Customize DISP and make sure you have Metering Manual set to ON.
Again, what is this important? Because of two things. Cinema Pro dims the display all the time when it’s running for some reason (presumably to better show HLG result on screen) so if you have Xperia 1, 1II, 1III, PRO-I you will be struggling to see anything while being outdoors. Situation is not any better on 1IV and 1V but it’s more usable. Do not trust your display when it comes to exposure. Instead trust your Metering bar and always shoot around 0 if possible, you will thank me for this once you view your clip on a HDR UHD TV. If it’s too bright outside you can try lowering the shutter speed to level the exposure just make sure do not have fast moving subjects in frame such as cars because it will look choppy.
Second, we’ve already established that Cinema Pro is meant for static shots or gentle panning but if you have to do something “wild” such as POV or going from one lighting condition to other (and sometimes that means just a simple camera tilt from ground up to the sky) you will need Metering to try to find the middle value. Do a test run without recording first and pay attention at the meter to see how many stops is the spread between one frame to another. Lets say you adjusted ISO/Shutter for the 0 at the beginning of your camera movement and once your done with the move metering is showing +2. In that case you will need to set your beginning value at -1 in order to get to +1 in the end to contain both highlights and shadows. Just keep in mind that most of the time your aggressive tilts will be ranging from 0 to well above or under -/+2 and in that case, you will have to rethink what you want to do. That’s right Cinema Pro is a slow burn and unnecessary methodical because it applies cine camera philosophy to crappy mobile sensors.
WDR with Stabilization
Here is another one that is not available inside BASIC or Video Pro unless you have 5V or 1VI device. WDR or Wide Dynamic Range option is made for Cinema Pro period. Cinema Pro was pretty much useless until WDR options popped up in PRO-I. So, what does it do? It records three frames at once and then stack them together to make one frame. Camera is recording at 120fps and then outputs 30/25/24 fps as final result hence why it’s not available at 60fps in any app. Using WDR in Cinema Pro you contain the highlights which is impossible to do in SDR mode unless you are in some dimmed environment.
General rule is to always have the WDR on but if you can do it without do it. There is no false color option in Cinema Pro but if you toggle between WDR and SDR you will see blown out highlights in SDR as some mushy color on display. It’s quite easy to spot the difference. Unlike in Video Pro in Cinema Pro WDR does not introduce purple cast in dark/black areas when shooting in low(er)-light conditions. Cinema Pro has a bigger threshold when shooting in low-light before introduces purple cast in blacks compared to Video Pro as long as you do not shoot in N/A Look (you shouldn’t be shooting in N/A like ever but more on that later). Video Pro utilizes WDR quite poorly, in daylight scenes it drops the gain making dark areas even darker which boosts the contrast to a point where you get that Pixel zombie decomposition like human faces. Cinema Pro does NOT do that, instead it only affects the highlights mostly.
Drawback of WDR in both Cinema Pro and Video Pro requires separate paragraph because it’s a big issue. Whenever you have high frequency texture in your shot such as tiny rubble road (asphalt) or stone mosaic wall you will get texture floating effect like texture is rearranging itself. It’s super trippy. That issue persists because development team didn’t master the frame stacking while filming. Those three frames that get to be one do not alight properly with the next stacked frame when it comes to big areas with tiny patterns.
But one good thing that also requires its own paragraph is video stabilization with HLG WDR option turned on. As previously mentioned, that combo is not possible in Video Pro or BASIC modes but it is in Cinema Pro. How? Well Cinema Pro crops top and bottom of 16:9 footage to 21:9 so it has some wiggle room to give as some basic stabilization. Stabilization is nothing spectacular but it doesn’t crop in the image in order to enable stabilization like Video Pro does. In other words, it doesn’t take Video Pro stabilized cropped in frame to enable stabilization. It shoots native UHD which is really important to preserve the quality unlike both Video Pro and BASIC that crop in UHD frame to turn on stabilization and then upscale the frame back to UHD. Cinema Pro does not do that.
Video sample: WATCH 4K wobbly texture issue in WDR, pay attention to black carpet
NIGHTSHOOTING
Cinema Pro does really good night shots due to its flexibility to adjust Looks and auto white balance which I think is superior to Video Pro/BASIC. Funny things is that all of the exposure environment shortcomings during the daytime are not such a big deal during the night time because streets are evenly lit by light poles. So you have more freedom to pan, tilt and walk around while filming in Cinema Pro at night time then during the day. Here is a winning combo to make the night shot as good as possible: ~SDR + VENICE CS + AUTO WB unlocked~. Pretty straight forward. I find VENICE CS greatest strength to be default Look for nighttime as it’s easy on ISO, doesn’t boost contrast and has the least noise compared to some other looks. That doesn’t mean you can’t play around with the Looks during the night, if street lighting is annoyingly yellow you can use Cool/Blue60 +A to introduce some cool gray into the mix. And with the mention of other color profiles this brings us to the most important and the biggest feature of Cinema Pro, the Looks section.
LOOKS + TEMPERATURE + A/B + G/M Adjustments
This alone is the biggest deal in Cinema Pro app and this alone is what most of the users have no idea how to tweak and manipulate. If you thought rack focus is the number one feature in Cinema Pro, well I can assure you it’s number two right after this super flexible image manipulation output. Before we start discussing looks you have to keep in mind there is one factor in equation here and that’s Whitebalance. Most of the users stick with VENICE CS and don’t use any other look because by default all the looks are in your face when left in Auto whitebalance mode. Even less users who default to VENICE CS fiddle with whitebalance to unlock the full potential of image looks manipulation. Before you start playing with the looks you have to go to yellow hamburger menu and ~change WB MODE to TEMPERATURE~ instead of Preset.
With Temperature mode turned on you now have the option to set desired temperature in kelvins as well as to play with A/B and G/M sliders. What those sliders do? AB slider stands for Amber and Blue but names are inverted on axis so B will be to the left and A to the right. You can actually go quite wild with AB as our eyes are a lot less sensitive to warm and cold adjustments. GM slider stands for Green and Magenta and axis works just as the letters, green to the left and magenta to the right. GB sliders requires quite slight nudges in both directions because our eyes perceive color tilt very aggressively. You might want to use GB slider to adjust for human skin or just go artistic on a certain look.
You might ask yourself what the difference between setting up temperature and pushing AB sliders and I could tell you the order it needs to be done to make a proper impact on the picked Look.
1. You always adjust Temperature first. Between 4700K and 5500K is considered daylight in Cinema Pro (forget 6500K as you will crush it with amber). That’s at least how my eyes perceive it. If you pick lets say Strong/Blue100 look you will want to go to 7000K to neutralize it and then add some of A to make it shift from cold to warm look. Oh yeah it’s possible, so suddenly you just changed the bluest of the blue looks into yellow look.
2. Now you fiddle with AB/GM sliders for finer adjustments. AB will have more of an impact if you stick between 4700K-5500K but if you go below or over those Kelvins AB slider will get weaker. GM slider on the other hand will stay powerful and affect any highlight there is in an image.
3. Combine these two to completely alter any Look you pick.
*In order to follow the Looks description and how you could manipulate them, I will provide the links with video samples down below so you could watch them while reading the rest of the post.
WATCH 4K separate clips in order as described
WATCH 4K all the clips combined into one movie file following the order of description
(all files are in Rec2020 + eotf gamma 2.4 for better color representation but stripped of HDR)
Shot setup consists of warm neutral headphones, white coffee cup, glass of water to see highlights behavior and ugly yellow table and green trees. It's a shame I forgot to put red pack of cigarettes or something as reds are crazy different depending on the look you choose.
Soft/Yellow40 gain req: high contrast: lowest texture: softest grade: non-unifying offset: medium hdr: bright
This is the very interesting one and when combined with the right scene it can look marvelous. Soft look is your Orange & Teal go to look pretty much. It’s not very obvious but it’s not subtle either. One of the major traits of this look is really the softer image, not as sharp as let’s say Bright but because of that it mitigates artifacts quite nicely. Keep in mind that this look requires quite a gain so you will be boosting ISO until you reach the 0 in almost every situation. But because this looks require lots of additional stops it’s very grateful for bright environments. It has medium contrast but it can propel highlights quite high, things like neon signs look like glowing neon signs so it has a strong HDR effect which can clip easy. It doesn’t have unifying image trait, so if you are into color graded look this one will not offer that. That’s kind of a given considering it’s balancing out between orange and teal. If you want to unify it then your best bet is to shift it toward cool temperature or push A slider all the way to the left while introducing some magenta with M slider to the right. Soft/Yellow60 can’t completely switch from all blue to all yellow so it’s altering offset limit is medium.
Auto WB look for Soft/Yellow40 is quite decent but if you have some yellow patches, they will pick up some green tint. To remedy that just add some M like 1.x and add splash of Amber like 1.5 to 3 to be sure. If you want to cool down the image just drop Kelvins down or go crazy with B slider. On the other hand if you want to neutralize to get as close to white as possible you will need to add M1.5 or more together with cooler Kelvins. If you are shooting neutrals with this Look make sure you kill green cause it will overtake the whole image.
Where this Look kicks some major but is in a scene where you have brown wood veneer and blue/teal walls or panels. You will get an awesome O&T look out of it.

Opaque/Blue20/Yellow60 gain req: medium contrast: medium texture: sharp grade: unifying offset: medium hdr: medium
Another one that gets overlooked due to poor AUTO WB looks. When set to default WB it looks muddy and sepia like so most of us don’t know what to do with it. You will be shocked now if I tell you this should be your 2^nd go to Look right after Bright. Yup, VENICE CS is not even in top two and I will elaborate why when we get to it. One thing to know in order to use this look you need to modify it from the get go. You need to kill that yellow and boost ISO for a stop or stop and half compared to Bright.
Opaque is great for skintones as they are easily adjusted with AB/GM sliders. Image is very creamy despite having enough clarity and medium contrast. If you underexpose you get some deeper contrast without ruining the creamy image. It’s great for shooting outdoor people gatherings, landscapes on a mute and cloudy day or any outdoor activity. Indoor is kind of tricky due to tungsten lighting but manageable although its not as appetizing as outdoor shots. Keep in mind when shooting at golden hour you will need deeper adjustments to get that sepia out and get the gold in. On any other condition it’s super easy to neutralize the image, you don’t have to push temperature nor sliders too far to get it just right. HDR effect is subtle and not over the top, proper medium and saturation is quite clever despite being a sepia preset. Colors are not muted by any means unless they have some brown in them. If you are a fan of grading I could assure you Opaque has quite unifying image effect no matter if you shoot warm, neutral or cold which is great. Transforming the look to complete cold or warm is tricky as it always keep that mud/sepia yellow in highlights.
To neutralize the look at daytime all you have to do is drop the temp around 4000K or push B slider to your liking. You can always do cold temperature to kill sepia and bring back some heat by pushing A slider. If you want to shoot gold tones then keep it around 5000K and adjust A to your liking while balancing GM.
This look produces super deep and rich reds, amazing reds. And if you combine that red with something beige or sand color like you will get a match made in heaven. Filming bars with brown furnishing packed with people is a treat as well. Shooting at night time in street lights is also a treat for this look.

Cool/Blue60 gain req: med to hi contrast: medium texture: sharp grade: very unifying offset: low hdr: medium
In a nutshell this is a faux bleach bypass or silver look if adjusted right. Together with Soft this has to be the most creative usage look offered. Unlike Soft this one is very easy to setup and results are sharp. At the first glance users might be confused what’s the difference between this one and Strong/BU100 as both look quite similar in Auto WB mode. But once you go out of auto look and start adjusting it soon you figure out that Cool/BU60 look has no vibrance and that’s what makes all the difference compared to all other looks. Gain adjustment to get to 0 is only like 1 stop compared to Bright or VENICE CS. Clarity is right on the par with others and contrast at proper sweet spot. HDR effect is tad bit mute but not by much and it works. And now if you ever wanted a look that makes the whole image like its graded as a whole, look no further (pun intended) than this one.
If you pay close attention, you can tell from the get go that this has silver look to it but it just needs to be released. Those familiar with bleach bypass look will know exactly what to expect from this one. If left in Auto WB you will get nothing but as soon as you dial A slider in more than a half you are waking it up slowly. If you want to get rid of the major blue cast you want to push temperature to 7000K and adjust sliders to your liking. If you drop the exposure, you will get that dramatic film look. Again, this look is quite easy to work with but it’s not flexible, don’t expect major transformations on the other end. It’s a one trick pony and it does that very well.
The best-case scenario for Cool is street photography with lots of metal on it. Cars, machines and silver or gray stuff blend in while human skin remain distinguishable. Interior shots are also great if you have to render a cold, clinical environment like office or a hospital or police station. It’s also your go to look if you want to make anticipation in the video.

Strong/Blue100 gain req: high contrast: low texture: soft grade: very unifying offset: highest hdr: bright
Turn day into a night and night into dusk. This is the most flexible look as it can get from one spectrum to the other without much casting. It’s not called strong for nothing; it really grades the whole image with a single hue. Despite being in your face it actually keeps the contrast on lower side which is very good as you can always dial it in with drop of exposure. Clipping in highlights can occur because of the nature it unifies the picture.
Because this look can go from cool to fire it can get neutral, although neutralizing it is not that simple affair as it’s with Opaque. Best way to get there is to adjust temperature. If hanging around neutral you will get image with blue cast over it. The way I see it this one is supposed to be opposite of Opaque while hitting harder. You might find some creative usage for this one if you want to go abstract and saturated. Similar to Soft look if you film contrast scene that has both cold and warm hues in it you will get that cross axis between the two and nothing in between.

Bright/Blue20/Yellow60 gain req: low contrast: highest texture: sharpest grade: non-unifying offset: low hdr: brightest
Your first go to profile when filming with Cinema Pro. It’s the closest one to Video Pro and closest one that looks like regular picture profile. If you are not looking for a creative look or any look in general this is it. It requires little to no gain adjustment which means it will not suffer from gain artifacts, it has the highest contrast and sharpest details for that mainstream image look (I do not count N/A as picture profile). But right now, there is a huge flaw that has to be addressed with this profile; it can’t capture pure reds no matter what. All reds are burgundy or violet unfortunately. But it nails down blues and teals like a pro.
On the other side it is super easy to balance out the image, its super easy to shift it to warm, cold, green or magenta. There is a quite big of a spread in temperature before image gets painted blue or yellow. It requires small nudges and results are visible right away. It plays well with the skin tones, no issues there. Where it excels is the HDR highlights. This profile kills it when there is shimmer in the view, metallics and all kinds of crazy and contrast stuff. HDR effect is exaggerated and it looks so oomph on a TV. Bright also nails down auto wb from the box so you can set it to auto and forget about it. Overall, it’s easiest to work with and sunny outdoors are a treat for the eyes. Usage of this profile equals that of Video Pro so you can use it anywhere you like. Video Pro is the direct competitor to this Look and while Video Pro can do saturated reds Bright/BU20/YE60 has a tad bit more organic feel despite being quite similar.
This is general purpose Look and being like that it doesn’t offer color grading effect nor it has any offset abilities of color transformation (unless you go completely blue 3200K or completely yellow 7500K).

VENICE CS gain req: low contrast: high texture: sharp grade: non-unifying offset: low hdr: bright
Default look and the one that’s most talked about and the one that most people use. First of all the look itself is fine but it is rather limited. It has nothing to do with Venice color science but it doesn’t have to honestly. It emulates log like image but without any flexibility of the log. It has very low ISO requirements and it’s the brightest look out of them all. Like mentioned above that makes it a go to look for low light shots. All other aspects of this look are almost on par with Bright look so I think these two go hand in hand when you want to lay off saturation and dial down blacks. In other words, don’t try to bring in VENICE CS footage into post to try to bring back vividness. It doesn’t work but that’s why there is Bright look for stuff like that. Unlike Bright look VENICE CS can capture red colors properly.
If you want to shoot haze, mist and other soft scenes VENICE CS is a dream. If you generally want to shoot relaxing stuff VENICE CS is the one to go for. Just don’t treat it as a log footage but rather as a looks footage. HDR is bright enough and it contains highlights really good. When it comes to exposure its quite flexible so margin of error is low.

Warm/Yellow80 gain req: medium contrast: high texture: sharp grade: most-unifying offset: lowest hdr: medium
This is supposed to be opposite of Cool, at least in theory. In reality we have a huge cast of orange and brown all over the screen. It’s really strong color cast and you can only manipulate it do a certain degree. It doesn’t require high ISO, it has deep contrast, good clarity and it contains highlights in HDR. On the artistic department there is vey little you can do with this. Cast is like three times stronger sepia of Opaque look. The only use case I found is when you want to turn something into golden look. Just like how Cool is silver look Warm is supposed to be gold look. But again, to my eyes it aligns more to Opaque deeper side than actual warm/gold. Shooting some neutral-colored scenery and cooling down the temperature below 4000K might give some artistic effect. This is a very limited look to play with.
There is nothing to say about N/A and Soft Monochrome except that you should never shoot in N/A it’s just horrible and if you want BW video you at least have an option.

So conclusion, Cinema Pro besides all of its shortcomings and some are pretty serious, has few features of brilliance that were never ever seen in any camera app third-party or OEM before and most likely we will never see those features again. Sony’s biggest sin with Cinema Pro is not omission of features but rather NOT improving up on what’s already in there. They just let it rot. I guess at one moment at it’s inception Cinema Pro had a great roadmap where it should go but then new management came in and shifted focus from cinema video to photography and v-logging.
Cinema Pro is dead, long live Cinema Pro. Go ahead and make some projects with it.

Cover Art to the Single \"Never Really Over\"
5 years ago on May 31st 2019 Katy Perry released the single “Never Really Over”. Aside from her Christmas song “Cozy Little Christmas”, “Never Really Over” was her first solo single since the Witness era. While marketed as a stand alone single, it would later serve as the opening track for the album “Smile”. The song debuted and peaked at a respectable 15th position on the Billboard Charts becoming her 19th song to reach the top 20. For reference, Swish Swish debuted and peaked at 46th.
The song uses Dangy’s “Love You Like That” as a blueprint and sample and gives the original writers credit, although the writers never met up in person with Perry. Writers on the song include Katy Perry, Gino Barletta, and Hayley Warner and producers Leah Haywood, Daniel James, and Zedd (Yes the track includes the Zedd signature clock ticking). I’m not great with defining pop, but would place this in the category of dance/synth pop.
The song received good reception from our ‘beloved’ Pitchfork recognizing it as a promising direction for Perry considering her best single since “Walking on Air”. Perry as well as her writers and producers received praise from other publications such as Variety, The Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and The Independent. The Lyricism and Vocals seem to me a common theme in critics praise.
Discussion Questions:

1. If “Never Really Over” was released today as the lead single to KP6 what would the popheads comment section look like?
2. Do you think “Smile” would have performed better had this been the official lead single?
3. Does Never Really Over land on your top 5 Katy Perry Songs?
4. What did you think of the video?