In this post, I will address the issues raised by readers in the previous post and discuss a cost-effective and ethical approach to growing your WhatsApp contact list for marketing purposes.
One commenter mentioned, “Nope. Never used WhatsApp and never will. I don't need another app or service to text and call people...that's what my phone does! My clientele doesn't use it, why should I?”
Here are some facts: Over 50 million companies globally use WhatsApp Business for marketing, and 54% of users prefer to receive marketing communications and order updates via WhatsApp.
Sources: Cooby , Statista. There is extensive information available on Google as well.
Another comment stated, “You're forgetting that I simply don't want you messaging me on WhatsApp unless I give you my number.”
Facts: Similar to SMS and email, nobody likes spam. WhatsApp is no different. You should block and report any number that sends unsolicited messages to you.
This brings us to today's topic: How can businesses obtain opt-ins for WhatsApp marketing?
Option 1: Create Click-to-WhatsApp Ads
If you use social media to promote products or run marketing campaigns, it’s an ideal opportunity to encourage customers to connect with your business on WhatsApp. Offering a click-to-chat option in your ads provides an easy entry point for customers to start a conversation, ensuring you have their consent to interact and know how they found your business.
Here’s how to create such an ad: [Create Ads That Click to WhatsApp]
Option 2: Obtain Customer Opt-Ins During Support Interactions
Add a WhatsApp Chat widget on your website using Clickiny.com. After resolving a customer’s issue, ask if they’d like to receive future notifications and updates. If they agree, send a message outlining the type of notifications they can expect and ask them to confirm their opt-in.
Option 3: Use Pop-Ups
You can collect opt-ins on your website using pop-ups, banners, or CTA snippets in locations that catch your customers’ attention. Clearly communicate the value and benefits of receiving notifications via WhatsApp, such as inspirations, new arrivals, and the latest discounts.
Tools like OptinMonster.com or Popupsmart can help you create these pop-ups.
Option 4: Ask for an Opt-In at Checkout
Since customers can use WhatsApp to receive crucial notifications like order confirmations, boarding passes, and delivery updates, they are more likely to opt-in during the purchase process. This is particularly effective for retailers, airlines, and logistics companies. Include a checkbox for opt-in at various touchpoints, such as when entering billing or delivery information.
Best Practices to Boost Your WhatsApp Opt-In Rate
To effectively increase your WhatsApp opt-in rate, consider the following strategies:
1. Highlight the Benefits: Clearly convey the advantages of receiving notifications and updates via WhatsApp. Make it evident how it adds value to the customer experience.
2. Respect Frequency: Avoid overloading customers with messages. Find a balance that keeps them informed without being intrusive.
3. Simplify the Opt-In Process: Ensure that the process to opt-in is straightforward and user-friendly. Minimize steps and make it easy for customers to sign up.
4. Integrate Seamlessly: Choose an opt-in method that fits naturally into your existing communication channels and business processes. This will make the transition smooth for both your business and your customers.
5. Provide Clear Opt-Out Instructions: Make sure customers know how to opt-out if they choose to, and promptly respect their requests. Transparency builds trust and reduces the likelihood of complaints.
By implementing these best practices, you can effectively grow your WhatsApp contact list while maintaining a positive relationship with your customers.

I am writing to urgently seek your assistance with a critical issue regarding my Google Fi account. As a longstanding customer of Google Fi, my family and I have relied on and valued the service for many years. However, we are now facing the imminent risk of losing a phone number that has been associated with our family for decades due to a recent service cancellation incident.
On May 17, 2024, at approximately 09:45 AM, I contacted Google Fi support immediately after the service cancellation occurred. The support representative guided me through several troubleshooting steps, including obtaining a new number and clearing the cache. Despite diligently following all instructions provided, He abruptly terminated the chat without resolving the issue. He assured me that the matter had been escalated and that I would receive an email update within 24 hours. However, no such communication was received till now.
Subsequent attempts to resolve the issue through multiple contacts with Google Fi support and discussions with a supervisor have proven unsuccessful. Despite providing all relevant case details, including case numbers, dates, and the names of support agents and supervisors involved, the matter remains unresolved. It appears that the resolution of this critical issue exceeds the capabilities of standard support channels.
Given the gravity of the situation and the potential loss of a phone number. I kindly request your guidance and support in facilitating a resolution with Google Fi. I am fully prepared to share all documented interactions and case details to expedite the process and ensure a swift resolution.
As per Google Fi policy it should be a simple reactivation within 7 days but Google Fi support doesn't care about their policy.
People shared their bad experiences about Google Fi and I wish I would have believed those stories. Any support cannot be more useless than Google Fi support.
What are my options? Should I continue to wait for the support case (open since last Friday with no updates)? Or immediately start the number porting to a different provider?

Evangelicals, in your sermons and in your preaching's you try to lead us to the Lord. And to your credit you tailor your missives toward the children, for it is there you will find open minds untainted by hate, prejudice, and malice.
You regale them with Biblical tales reflecting right over might, the virtue of truth and honesty, and the rewards of a moral life.
All the while you are doing these admirable things you are also very vocal in support of Trump.
But beware of minefields.
When lecturing on morality you might want to leave out the part about Trump having more whores than Lindsey Graham has homosexual lovers, or his conviction of being guilty of molestation of helpless women; when waxing on the values of honesty you might want to omit tales of Trump's convictions for tax evasion and attempts to swindle our government; when instructing on civic matters I suggest you gloss over Trump's effort to set aside the Constitution and attempts to overthrow the government of the United States; when teaching of patriotism and love of America you might want to forget how Trump stole our most vital defense secrets and while in possession of them his son-in-law suddenly received two billion dollars from an Arab state because-- well, we don't know why, do we?
And perhaps we shouldn't try and tell the kiddies Jesus sent us a repentant sinner to make America great again. Does Trump look repentant to you? Though convicted by a jury of honest Americans he still denies his crimes, he snarls and hurls insults at our sacred institutions, and vows to take revenge against his political enemies. He has called for the execution of his own military leaders, reviled almost every former aide and advisor, asked why legitimate dissidents shouldn't be shot down in the street, why immigrants and petty thieves shouldn't be murdered where they stood, and hints our current legitimately elected president should be sent to the electric chair.
Is this the role model you want for your children? They aren't stupid, they hear things, they know the truth, and do you dare risk reaping what you sow?

- May 20, 2024

The Good

• Revenue Growth: Total revenue in Q1 was $1.141 billion, up 3% year-over-year, exceeding guidance by approximately $16 million.
• Emerging Products Traction: Significant growth in Zoom Contact Center with 90 customers over $100,000 in ARR, representing 246% year-over-year growth.
• Strong Financials: Non-GAAP income from operations grew by 8% year-over-year to $457 million, translating to a 40% non-GAAP operating margin for Q1.
• AI Integration: Continuous integration of AI across the platform, with new features like AI-powered portrait lighting and Ask AI Companion.
• Customer Wins: Notable new customers and expansions, including Expedia, Major League Baseball, and Centerstone.
• Cash Flow: Operating cash flow grew 41% year-over-year to $588 million, and free cash flow grew 44% year-over-year to $570 million.
• Share Buy-Back: $150 million worth of stock purchased, representing 2.4 million shares.
• Guidance Increase: Raised top-line and profitability outlook for the full fiscal year 2025.

The Bad

• Churn Rate: Online Average Monthly Churn increased slightly to 3.2% compared to 3.1% in Q1 of FY24.
• Deferred Revenue: Deferred revenue at the end of the period was 1.35 billion, down approximately 1% from Q1 of last year.
• Geographical Revenue: APAC revenue declined by 2% due to FX headwinds in Japan and Australia.
• Gross Margin Dip: Non-GAAP gross margin for Q1 was 79.3%, down from 80.5% in Q1 of last year, with an expected further dip to 78% in Q2 due to one-time investments in upgrading the data center backbone.

The Ugly

• Minimal Impact of Customer Transition: Transition of 26,800 Enterprise customers to Online had an associated revenue shift of approximately $4 million, which was de-minimis.
• Guidance for Q2: Revenue guidance for Q2 is relatively flat at $1.145 to $1.15 billion, representing only 1% year-over-year growth.
• Free Cash Flow Forecast: Expectation of a significant decrease in free cash flow by approximately 50% to 60% quarter-over-quarter in Q2 due to timing of tax payments and AI-related CapEx.
• Enterprise Customer Strategy: The number of Enterprise customers did not grow at the same rate as historically, attributed to the focus on selling emerging products into the existing installed base rather than acquiring new enterprise customers.

Earnings Breakdown:

Financial Metrics

• Total Revenue: $1.141 billion, up 3% year-over-year, exceeding guidance by approximately $16 million.
• Enterprise Revenue: Grew 5% year-over-year, representing 58% of total revenue.
• Online Average Monthly Churn: 3.2%, slightly up from 3.1% in Q1 of FY24.
• Number of Customers Contributing >$100,000 in TTM Revenue: 3,883, representing 30% of revenue, up from 29% in Q1 of FY24.
• Deferred Revenue: $1.35 billion, down approximately 1% from Q1 of last year.
• RPO (Remaining Performance Obligation): Increased 5% year-over-year to approximately $3.67 billion.
• Operating Cash Flow: Grew 41% year-over-year to $588 million.
• Free Cash Flow: Grew 44% year-over-year to $570 million.
• Non-GAAP Gross Margin: 79.3%, down from 80.5% in Q1 of last year.
• Non-GAAP Income from Operations: $457 million, up 8% year-over-year.
• Non-GAAP Operating Margin: 40% for Q1, up from 38.2% in Q1 of last year.
• Non-GAAP Diluted Net Income per Share: $1.35, on approximately 315 million non-GAAP diluted weighted average shares outstanding.
• Share Buy-Back: $150 million worth of stock purchased, representing 2.4 million shares.
• Full-Year FY’25 Revenue Guidance: Raised to $4.61 billion to $4.62 billion, approximately 2% year-over-year growth.
• Full-Year FY’25 Non-GAAP Operating Income Guidance: $1.74 billion to $1.75 billion.
• Full-Year FY’25 Non-GAAP EPS Guidance: $4.99 to $5.02, based on approximately 319 million shares outstanding.
• Q2 Revenue Guidance: $1.145 to $1.15 billion, representing approximately 1% year-over-year growth.
• Q2 Non-GAAP Operating Income Guidance: $415 million to $420 million.
• Q2 Non-GAAP EPS Guidance: $1.20 to $1.21.

Product Metrics

• Zoom Contact Center: 90 customers with over $100,000 in ARR, representing 246% year-over-year growth.
• Zoom Phone: Five customers with 100,000 or more Zoom Phone seats.
• Zoom AI Companion: Over 700,000 customer accounts enabled.
• Zoom Rooms Licenses: Over 2 million cumulative licenses purchased.
• Workspace Reservations: Over 100,000 desks provisioned in the last 12 months.
• Notable Customer Wins:
  • Expedia: Lighthouse Zoom Revenue Accelerator customer.
  • Major League Baseball (MLB): Expanded partnership with Zoom Quality Management.
  • Centerstone: Expanded Zoom Phone and added Zoom Contact Center.
  • Leading Global Financial Services Firm: Doubled Zoom Phone seats to over 100,000.
• Zoom Workplace Launch: Introduced enhancements like multi-speaker view, document collaboration, AI-powered portrait lighting, and upcoming features like Ask AI Companion.
• Workvivo Integration: Landed a major telecom customer with approximately 100,000 seats and named Meta’s only preferred migration partner.
• Fedramp Moderate Authorization: Received for Essentials and Premium SKUs for Zoom Contact Center.
• PCI Compliance Support: Added for Zoom Contact Center customers with payment processing workflows.
• Channel Partnerships: Strengthened, leading to a significant increase in Channel wins and ability to compete for larger deals.

Source: Upgraded AI Assistant (Release date: May 27, 2024)

I picked this turntable up a couple years ago and it’s gotten intermittent use, but not heavy. I finally moved someplace where I had the space for everything, got it set up, and… no left channel.
I’m not an expert so hoping you can tell me if it’s worth it to troubleshoot further.
Receiver is an HK 490i. When I touch the ground wire of the left speaker to the metal body I get some static/feedback. I’ve tried the left speaker wired to both speaker 1 and speaker 2 left channel but get no sound either way.
When I swap the left and right phono inputs it doesn’t make a difference- audio comes from the right speaker only, but more quietly when swapped.
Swapped the left and right cables on the cartridge. I get feedback with the right wire but not the left. Hoping this is the issue and I can swap out the headshell/cartridge/stylus (which I’ve been meaning to do anyway).
Any ideas/input would be appreciated!
Editing to add the radio in the receiver hasn’t worked since I got it and I don’t have any other aux stuff to test right now

It's here! The results for the 2024 Fantasy Top Podcasts Poll have been tabulated and we have the results! Before we share those results with you, a quick preamble about participation and how we categorized the podcasts. The original voting thread can be found here.
Participation
In total, 77 people participated in this poll and cast a total of 360 votes for 183 podcasts. That's a big uptick from the last time this poll was undertaken but not as much participation as we'd hoped. The vote spread was remarkably similar to last time but as we suspected, the popular podcasts have changed wildly. For instance, Writing Excuses was the most popular podcast last time with 16 votes and this time it only received one vote.
Only 2 podcast votes were disqualified: 1 for not seeming to be a podcast (not found on any podcast app and it did not describe itself as a podcast on its YouTube channel) and the other was only available on a website that my antivirus software wouldn't let me go to so I couldn't confirm anything about it.
Breakdown
There were 7 main categories of podcast:

• Discussion - for general podcasts where hosts talk about shared interests. This could include news, book discussion, readalongs/watchalongs, lore analysis, and so on. This is the category most people tend to think of when you say "podcast." Readalongs/watchalongs are specifically called out in the list due to their participatory nature.
• Fiction - for podcasts where previously published stories are read aloud often by their author usually without sound effects.
• Audio Drama - podcasts where stories are performed by actors as plays with sound effects. Not everything in this category is is specifically a drama. Some are comedies but audio drama appears to be the catch all term for any story performed for audio.
• TTRPG - a catch all for anything D&D related including actual plays and similar games like Pathfinder.
• Writing - podcasts on writing advice, story creation, and the like.
• Folklore/Mythology - somewhere between Fiction and Discussion, these podcasts bounced between reading, discussion, and history of real world myths and folklore often by people who are experts in their field. This felt different enough from Discussion and Fiction to single out since it did not fit neatly in either.
• Improv - there were a number of podcasts where comedians improvised stories in a fantasy or sci fi world. It wasn't quite fiction and it wasn't quite audio drama so it got its own category.

Fiction and Audio Drama are definitely the blurriest categories. In general, I counted something as audio drama if it had multiple actors and sound effects. This meant that stuff like Night Vale, which is arguably an audio drama, was counted as a fiction podcast since it doesn't have these elements. This decision was partially informed by Night Vale calling itself a fiction podcast instead of an audio drama which helped me figure out where to draw the line using Night Vale as a boundary marker. However this also means that delineations between Audio Dramas and Fiction may not be consistent as I did defer to podcast descriptions if they described themselves as Fiction or Audio Drama.
Our most popular podcast categories in order of most to least popular were:

1. Audio Drama - 62 podcasts Discussion - 62 (17 of the discussion podcasts were watchalongs or readalongs)
2. Fiction - 24
3. TTRPG - 21
4. Folklore/Mythology - 4 Writing - 4
5. Improv - 3

The Results

To save space, only podcasts that received 3 or more votes are displayed in the table below. Podcasts with only one or two votes can still be seen in our Fantasy Top Podcasts of 2024 Google Sheet.

Rank	Podcast	Category	Votes
1	The Magnus Archives	Audio Drama	18
2	Welcome to Night Vale	Fiction	16
3	The Adventure Zone	TTRPG	10
3	Wolf 359	Audio Drama	10
5	Alice Isn't Dead	Fiction	6
6	Alzabo Soup	Discussion/Readalong	5
6	Critical Role	TTRPG	5
6	Green Team of the Legendarium	Discussion	5
6	Imaginary Worlds	Discussion	5
6	Intentionally Blank	Discussion	5
6	Worldbuilding For Masochists	Writing	5
6	Worlds Beyond Number	TTRPG	5
13	2toRamble	Discussion	4
13	ars PARADOXICA	Audio Drama	4
13	Dungeons & Daddies	TTRPG	4
13	I Am In Eskew	Audio Drama	4
13	Limetown	Audio Drama	4
13	Midnight Burger	Audio Drama	4
13	Old Gods of Appalachia	Audio Drama	4
13	The Silt Verses	Audio Drama	4
13	The Strange Case of Starship Iris	Audio Drama	4
13	The White Vault	Audio Drama	4
13	Wizards Vs. Lesbians	Discussion	4
24	Be the Serpent	Discussion	3
24	Escape Pod	Fiction	3
24	Girl In Space	Audio Drama	3
24	Not Another D&D Podcast	TTRPG	3
24	Page Break	Discussion	3
24	Podcastle	Fiction	3
24	Pseudopod	Fiction	3
24	The Bright Sessions	Audio Drama	3
24	The Locked Tomb Podcast	Discussion/Readalong	3
24	Uncanny Magazine Podcast	Fiction	3
24	We Fix Space Junk	Audio Drama	3
24	Within the Wire	Fiction	3

Miscellaneous Info

• The most highly voted Discussion podcast is a tie between Alzabo Soup (which is about the books of Gene Wolfe), Green Team of the Legendarium, Imaginary Worlds, and Intentionally Blank.
• The most highly voted Audio Drama (as well as most highly voted podcast overall) is the Magnus Archives.
• The most highly voted TTRPG podcast is The Adventure Zone.
• The most highly voted Fiction podcast is Welcome to Night Vale.
• The most highly voted Writing podcast is Worldbuilding for Masochists.
• The most highly voted Improv podcast is Mission to Zyxx (not displayed above because it only got 2 votes).
• The most highly voted Folklore/Mythology podcast is Lore (not displayed above because it only got 2 votes).
• On average, users voted for 4.7 podcasts per comment.
• 60% of the list is composed of podcasts that received only 1 vote.

Closing Thoughts
So that's the poll. What are your thoughts on the rankings? Are you surprised any specific podcasts didn't make the list?

Good morning all fellow DMs! I'm building a new campaign set to start in the next couple of weeks with a party of six adventurers. I see myself running this campaign for an extended period of time in a series of smaller story arcs taking place over the course of a couple months with small breaks between adventures. My party hasn't ever gotten to experience long term campaigns that allow their beloved characters to reach higher levels, so I'm excited to take them there. My players are all good personal friends and I have provided them all with a homebrewed feat to make their characters feel more personal and unique, most of which are just modified versions of existing feats that scale up in level.
That being said, I had discussed with my paladin, who's multiclassing into Hexblade, the idea of a custom oath, which I was all for. What I *thought* I'd receive when I asked for what he had in mind was a basic skeleton off an existing oath with a few cherry-picked features of other oaths that fit the narrative he was trying to tell. On top of the homebrewed feat, I knew this was pushing the limits of things I'd need to keep track of.
What I received instead was a completely custom, built from the ground up oath with a custom aura, two custom Channel Divinities, and a whole host of oath spells that are neither Paladin nor Warlock that, at first glance, seem to be a list of spells and abilities meant to abuse rulings, but I just don't know enough, and I'm seeking advice on the matter from DMs that are simply more seasoned than I am.
Oath of Correction
Tenets of Correction

• The tenets of Correction is an Oath one has sworn to right the wrongs of common folk from oppressive tyrannical forces. These Oaths are carried out by taking actions to change or reverse .
• Never Turn a Blind Eye. A paladin will rarely turn down the opportunity to assist anyone.
• Free the Oppressed. Swearing an Oath to protect the common folk you feel compelled to liberate people who are being extorted or enslaved.
• Seal Away All Evil. It is your sworn duty to restrain and seal the evil.

Oath Spells

• 3rd level: Jump, Silvery Barbs
• 5th level: Immovable Object, Pass Without Trace
• 9th level: Catnap, Slow
• 13th level: Fire Shield, Gravity Sinkhole
• 17th level: Bigby's Hand, Wall of Force

Channel Divinity (both)

• Peerless Athlete: As a bonus action, you can use your Channel Divinity to augment your athleticism. For the next 10 minutes, you have advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks; you can carry, push, drag, and lift twice as much weight as normal; and the distance of your long and high jumps increases by 10 feet (this extra distance costs movement as normal).
• Inspiring Smite**:** Immediately after you deal damage to a creature with your Divine Smite feature, you can use your Channel Divinity as a bonus action and distribute temporary hit points to creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you, which can include you. The total number of temporary hit points equals 2d8 + your level in this class, divided among the chosen creatures however you like.

Aura of Alacrity

• At 7th level, you emanate an aura that fills you and your companions with supernatural speed, allowing you to race across a battlefield in formation. Your walking speed and jump distance increases by 10 feet. When you and allies in the aura are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw. In addition, if you aren't incapacitated, the walking and jumping distance of any ally who starts their turn within 10 feet of you increases by 10 feet until the end of that turn. When you reach 18th level in this class, the range of the aura increases to 15 feet.

Glorious Defense

• When you reach 15th level, you can turn defense into a sudden strike. When you or another creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the target's AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. The bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1). If the attack misses, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of this reaction, provided the attacker is within your weapon's range. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Living Legend

• At 20th level, you can empower yourself with the legends — whether true or exaggerated — of your great deeds. As a bonus action, you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:
• You are blessed with an otherworldly presence, gaining advantage on all Charisma checks.
• Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack and miss, you can cause that attack to hit instead.
• If you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to reroll it. You must use this new roll.
• Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a 5th-level spell slot to use it again.

So there's a lot here that jumps out at me, but know that a lot of it, particularly the parts that include jump height, are very on-theme for the character and have my full support. The things in particular I'm unsure about are spells like Bigby's Hand and Gravity Sinkhole that I can't find reasons for in any of the character's backstory and seem to only exist to abuse the fact that force damage is seldom resisted. Fire Shield is just a zero-counterplay, I-get-more-damage buff who's only purpose is to pump the character's damage. Catnap was included to abuse the fact that Warlocks get spell slots back after a short rest, allowing for all this crap to happen even more often. Silvery Barbs, I know there are a lot of DMs and players that either don't use this spell or straight up disallow it. I'm generally fine with it except in this case where it's not on either classes spell list and I can't find a reason why this character would have it other than it being a powerful spell. Two Channel Divinities, one giving temp HP, surely that's just too much utility, right? Glorious Defense feels like super Sentinel, albeit limited uses, but it feels really strong to just give allies three, four, five AC on a whim and get an attack of opportunity on them.
I'm just.... at a loss for where to go from here. I think it's really cool and I don't at all want to squash player creativity, but the build, when considering I'm a newer DM, seems like it's riddled with little interactions that are meant to take advantage of my awareness and completely break a fight wide open if my prep isn't 110% perfect. And in addition, some of the monsters I've considered to counter this thing would demolish anyone else in the party without hesitation, my party is fighting around CR 4 in the first session, but I don't think there are CR6 monsters that could confidently take this guy alone, but would one-shot the rest of my players. I don't mind that it might be OP so much as the dilemma I'm faced with, do I throw insane fights at my party expecting this Paladin to be a main character and carry the whole thing but could potentially wipe everybody, or do I make five other players just as complicated knowing that I can't keep the plates spinning as is.
Thank you for taking the time to read this early morning barrage of words. I appreciate you all more than could possibly be expressed.

I spend a lot of time researching how our nervous system works and what may contribute to the development of Visual Snow and other symptoms. Remember that there is a lot of vital information that I do not know, and may greatly benefit our understanding of this condition. Visual snow is described as an "epileptic" firing in the visual system in the brain. (Tinnitus behaves very similarly but it is occurring in the auditory nerves) NMDA glutamate receptors, which are overexpressed after excitotoxic injury may well be the trigger of an increased spontaneous firing in the nerves. In turn, the brain would decode this increased firing as "visual snow" The idea is that remaining nerve endings have been damaged enough to overexpress NMDA Glutamate receptors, thus increasing their spontaneous firing.There are various factors that contribute to the development of this condition. Everybody first had an initial trigger, and this varies from person to person. Common causes include stress, trauma, recreational and prescription drugs, Lyme, mold, heavy metals, and other toxic exposures. But what they all result in is brain injury and neuronal damage. The severity varies from person to person. The consequences of such injury doesn't just cause break in communication between healthy neurons, but a cascade of events that can lead to further neuronal degeneration and cell death. That is where visual snow comes in. Think of a broken radio or a TV where it isn't able to receive and process incoming signals so the outcome is a lot of visual/auditory noise. Our brains behave in a similar manner when there is an interference with proper neuron function and communication.Another good example is a type of neuropathic pain called paresthesia where you experience tingling and pricking sensations in various parts of your body. When nerves are damaged, they can't communicate properly and that miscommunication causes symptoms such as pain, tingling or numbness.Medical researchers searching for new medications for visual snow often look to the connection between the nerve cells in the brain and the various agents that act as neurotransmitters, such as the central nervous system's primary excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. Visual snow can be caused when damaged brain cells emit an excess of glutamate. Many treatments use ingredients that work as glutamate antagonists, or inhibitors. Communication between nerve cells in the brain is accomplished through the use of neurotransmitters. There are many compounds that act as neurotransmitters including acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA, glutamate, aspartate, epinephrine, norpinephrine and dopamine. These chemicals attach to nerve cells at specific receptors that allow for only one type of neurotransmitter to attach.Some of the neurotransmitters are excitatory; leading to increased electrical transmission between nerve cells. Others are inhibitory and reduce electrical activity. The most common excitatory neurotransmitters are glutamate and aspartate while the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter is GABA. It is necessary for excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters to be in balance for proper brain function to occur.Communication over synapses between neurons are controlled by glutamate. When brain cells are damaged, excessive glutamate is released. Glutamate is well known to have neurotoxic properties when excessively released or incompletely recycled. This is known as excitotoxicity and leads to neuronal death.Excess glutamate opens the sodium channel in the neuron and causes it to fire. Sodium continues to flow into the neuron causing it to continue firing. This continuous firing of the neuron results in a rapid buildup of free radicals and inflammatory compounds. These compounds attack the mitochondria, the energy producing elements in the core of the neuron cell. The mitochondria become depleted and the neuron withers and dies.Excitotoxicity has been involved in a number of acute and/or degenerative forms of neuropathology such as epilepsy, autism, ALS, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, migraines, restless leg syndrome, tourettes, pandas, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's, seizures, insomnia, hyperactivity, OCD, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders.(Doctors use two basic ways to correct this imbalance. The first is to activate GABA receptors that will inhibit the continuous firing caused by glutamate. The second way to correct the imbalance is use antogonists to glutamate and its receptor N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA). These are termed glutamate or NMDA antagonists. By binding with these receptors, the antagonist medication reduces glutamate-induced continuous firing of the neuron. This explains why some drugs like clonazepam and lamictal are able to help relieve symptoms in some patients. They help reduce excitatory action in the brain temporarily)Anxiety, depression, brain fog, depersonalization, visual disturbances (including visual snow, palinopsia, blue field entoptic phenomenon, photophobia, photopsia) headaches, tinnitus, are all common symptoms associated with increased excitatory activity in the brain. Excessive glutamate is the primary villain in visual snow.I strongly believe there are some genetic components that play a huge role in the development of Visual Snow and makes some individuals more susceptible to developing it. Normally, glutamate concentration is tightly controlled in the brain by various mechanisms at the synapse. There are at least 30 proteins that are membrane-bound receptor or transporter proteins at, or near, the glutamate synapse that control or modulate neuronal excitability. But in Visual Snow sufferers, my hypothesis is that we carry a faulty gene that results in dysregulation of the proteins that control and regulate glutamate excitability. They are unknown as more research will be needed.We live in a society where we are stressed emotionally, financially, physically and exposed to a range of toxins in our environment. Combining underlying genetic susceptibility with these other factors creates all the ingredients for a perfect storm.Stress + Infectious Agents (if any) + Toxins + Genetic Susceptibility = Health ConditionIncluded below is a list of things that can lead to excitotoxicity. The list includes trauma, drugs, environmental, chemicals and miscellaneous causes of brain cell damage. (Keep in mind everybody's bodies behave and react differently to various substances)-Severe Stress (Most people that are stressed out don’t realize that once the fight-or-flight response gets activated it can release things like cortisol and epinephrine into the body. Although these boost alertness, in major concentrations, the elevated levels of cortisol over an extended period of time can damage brain functioning and kill brain cells)-Free Radicals – Free radicals are highly-reactive forms of oxygen that can kill brain cells and cause brain damage. If the free radicals in your brain run rampant, your neurons will be damaged at a quicker rate than they can be repaired. This leads to brain cell death as well as cognitive decline if not corrected. (Common causes are unhealthy diet, lifestyle and toxic exposure)-Head Trauma (like concussion or contusion) MRI can detect damaged brain tissue BUT not damaged neurons. -Dehydration (severe)-Cerebal Hypoxia-Lyme disease-Narcolepsy-Sleep Apnea-Stroke-Drugs (recreational or prescription) -Amphetamine abuse-Methamphetamines-Antipsychotics-Benzodiazepine abuse-Cocaine-Esctasy -LSD-Cannabis-Tobacco-Inhalants-Nitrous Oxide-PCP-Steroids-Air Pollution-Carbon Monoxide-Heavy Metal Exposure (such as lead, copper and mercury)-Mold Exposure-Welding fumes-Formaldehyde-Solvents-Pesticides-Anesthesia-Aspartame-MSG (Monosodium Glutamate is found in most processed foods and is hidden under many various names)-Solvents-Chemotherapy-Radiation-Other toxic exposuresInside the Glutamate StormBy: Vivian Teichberg, and Luba Vikhanski"The amino acid glutamate is the major signaling chemical in nature. All invertebrates (worms, insects, and the like) use glutamate for conveying messages from nerve to muscle. In mammals, glutamate is mainly present in the central nervous system, brain, and spinal cord, where it plays the role of a neuronal messenger, or neurotransmitter. In fact, almost all brain cells use glutamate to exchange messages. Moreover, glutamate can serve as a source of energy for the brain cells when their regular energy supplier, glucose, is lacking. However, when its levels rise too high in the spaces between cells—known as extracellular spaces—glutamate turns its coat to become a toxin that kills neurons.As befits a potentially hazardous substance, glutamate is kept safely sealed within the brain cells. A healthy neuron releases glutamate only when it needs to convey a message, then immediately sucks the messenger back inside. Glutamate concentration inside the cells is 10,000 times greater than outside them. If we follow the dam analogy, that would be equivalent to holding 10,000 cubic feet of glutamate behind the dam and letting only a trickle of one cubic foot flow freely outside. A clever pumping mechanism makes sure this trickle never gets out of hand: When a neuron senses the presence of too much glutamate in the vicinity—the extracellular space—it switches on special pumps on its membrane and siphons the maverick glutamate back in.This protective pumping process works beautifully as long as glutamate levels stay within the normal range. But the levels can rise sharply if a damaged cell spills out its glutamate. In such a case, the pumps on the cellular membranes can no longer cope with the situation, and glutamate reveals its destructive powers. It doesn’t kill the neuron directly. Rather, it overly excites the cell, causing it to open its pores excessively and let in large quantities of substances that are normally allowed to enter only in limited amounts.One of these substances is sodium, which leads to cell swelling because its entry is accompanied by an inrush of water, needed to dilute the surplus sodium. The swelling squeezes the neighboring blood vessels, preventing normal blood flow and interrupting the supply of oxygen and glucose, which ultimately leads to cell death. Cell swelling, however, is reversible; the cells will shrink back once glutamate is removed from brain fluids. More dangerous than sodium is calcium, which is harmless under normal conditions but not when it rushes inside through excessively opened pores. An overload of calcium destroys the neuron’s vital structures and eventually kills it.Regardless of what killed it, the dead cell spills out its glutamate, all the vast quantities of it that were supposed to be held back by the dam. The spill overly excites more cells, and these die in turn, spilling yet more glutamate. The destructive process repeats itself over and over, engulfing brain areas until the protective pumping mechanism finally manages to stop the spread of glutamate."Recent research has confirmed that hypermetabolism has been primarily found in the right lingual gyrus and left cerebellar anterior lobe of the brain in individuals suffering from visual snow. The definition of hypermetabolism is described as "the physiological state of increased rate of metabolic activity and is characterized by an abnormal increase in metabolic rate." Hypermetabolism typically occurs after significant injury to the body. It serves as one of the body's strongest defence against illness and injury. This means that the brain is trying to compensate for the injured areas in the brain by increasing metabolism to meet it's high energy demands. It is trying to function to the best of it's ability under the circumstances. Normally the body can heal itself and regenerate under the right circumstances. But it is extremely difficult for the central nervous system - which includes the spinal cord and brain to be able to do so, due to it's inhibitory environment which prevents new neurons from forming. That is where stem cells come in. Stem cells are an exciting new discovery, because they can become literally any cell in the body including neurons. This is an amazing scientific breakthrough and has the potential to treat a whole host of conditions. Scientists are currently doing research and conducting trials.Excitotoxicity can trigger your "fight or flight" response, as this is the body's primary response to illness, injury or infection. If the brain and the body remain in the sympathetic fight or flight state for too long and too often, it is degenerative; it breaks us down. If this cycle continues, then eventually the system burns out. It is this cycle that results in autonomic nervous system dysfunction. The results are disastrous, digestion is shut down, metabolism, immune function and the detoxification system is impaired, blood pressure and heart rate are increased, circulation is impaired, sleep is disrupted, memory and cognitive function may be impaired, neurotransmitters are drained, our sense of smell, taste and sound are amplified, high levels of norepinephrine are released in the brain and the adrenal glands release a variety of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.I believe in order to find a treatment or cure for VS and it's accompanying symptoms, we need to address the underlying cause, reduce the excess excitatory activity in the brain, repair the damaged neurons, regain proper communication between neurons, rebalance the autonomic nervous system and prevent further cellular damage. We also need to figure out what genes, if any come into play. There is still a lot we don't know about the brain because it is such an remarkably complex organ.FAQsWon't lowering the levels of glutamate solve the problem? Well, not necessarily. That is just one piece of the puzzle. You have to remember that Visual Snow is a multifactorial and complex condition in which it stems from a number of different causes and influences. Based on my knowledge and the information I have gathered, I can conclude that the overstimulation of glutamate plays a huge role in VS and some other symptoms we experience. But there is still so much we don't know. That's why more research will be needed.Why is my condition worsening over time?That is a very good question. It is because the physiology, biology and chemistry of your brain and nervous system has been altered and has become dysfunctional since the initial trigger set off a domino of effects that leads to further degradation in the body. This puts a huge strain on your body and is constantly activating your stress response system. This will wreak havoc on your entire body. The stress response system was designed to deal with brief emergencies that threaten survival. It isn't supposed to last very long because the body cannot sustain itself for very long in this state. When you remain in "fight or flight" sympathetic state for too long, it becomes degenerative and breaks our bodies down. This affects every system in the body. When you are constantly under stress, the stress response system never turns off resulting in an ongoing destructive cycle. Stress can also exacerbate all your symptoms and makes you susceptible to developing other chronic health conditions. How is the gut related to VS?Having increased intestinal permeability is very common in this modern world because we are constantly being bombarded by toxins and stress. Our bodies weren't designed to handle such a huge burden. So we end up getting sick and become susceptible to kinds of diseases. Common causes include:-Poor diet (from excessive consumption of foods such as grains, legumes, sugars, alcohol)-Chronic stress-Toxin overload-Gut dysbiosis (It means you have a lack of beneficial bacteria in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. They are overpowered and outnumbered by pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria, yeast, viruses, parasites)-Overuse of antibiotics When you have increased intestinal permeability, the epithelium on the villi of the small intestine becomes inflamed and irritated, which allows metabolic, microbial and environmental toxins and undigested food particles to flood into the blood stream. This event compromises the liver, the lymphatic system, and the immune response including the endocrine system. It is often the primary cause of the following common conditions: asthma, food allergies, chronic sinusitis, eczema, urticaria, migraine, irritable bowel, fungal disorders, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory joint disorders including rheumatoid arthritis are just a few of the diseases that can originate from having poor gut health.This sets the stage for chronic systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired detoxification, gastrointestinal dysfunction and immune system dysregulation.Some toxins have the ability to damage and destroy neurons, myelin sheaths, synapses and even DNA. An overload of toxins that the immune system is not able to get rid of disrupts normal brain function. This eventually initiates an autoimmune response where the immune system attacks the brain and nerve cells as it tries it’s best to eliminate the toxins.The mitochondria are the energy producing section of your cells. When they are damaged by the toxic overload in the brain cells and are not able to produce energy to fuel the cell, the cell dies.In order to stop this vicious cycle, the underlying biological mechanisms of VS needs to be understood. That is the first step that needs to be taken. Any other stressors also needs to be addressed in order to reduce the overall stress load.It is important to know that VS is just a symptom of underlying physiological stress in the brain. Symptoms are your body's way of communicating with you, letting you know something is wrong in the body.I've come across some research indicating that microglial activation and elevated nitric oxide is involved in some neurological conditions. Basically the microglial cells are our brain's immune cells and when something triggers an inflammatory response, they activate and release harmful neurotoxic compounds (such as nitric oxide and pro-inflammatory cytokines) which results in neuronal injury/death. Microglial activation can also result in a loss of synaptic connections in different regions of the brain. It's basically an autoimmune response in the brain. The neuroinflammatory process appears to be an ongoing and chronic cycle of central nervous system dysfunction. This can deplete glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is the body’s most important antioxidant which is capable of preventing oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species such as free radicals, peroxides, lipid peroxides, and heavy metals. This only further exaggerates the problem, which only leads to a cascade of increased inflammation.Nitric oxide plays a vital role in this process. Elevated nitric oxide levels reduces and impair natural killer cells which leads to a vulnerable immune system that is susceptible to a variety of systemic infections. -Phobe Zhang

~CHANNEL & CONTENT:~
SEEKER TO SEEKER (S2S) is a unique English-language YouTube channel exploring insights from psychology, religion, and philosophy. The channel is nearing 80 000 subscribers.
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As S2S video editor, you will be working closely with me on producing evocative, well-crafted video essays. Initially, your task will be to adapt to the already established style of the content. (Please see reference videos below.) As someone passionate about editing, I will be going over the final edits in Adobe Premiere Pro for final adjustments. I will be giving you thorough feedback and I am looking forward to receiving fresh ideas from you. We will be communicating remotely through video calls once or twice a week. I am based in Sofia, Bulgaria, working within the Central European Time Zone (CET).
Once you master the existing style (which I expect will happen by the time you’ve edited 3-5 videos), you will gradually have more creative freedom to improve on the format with your own stylistic contributions. My hope is that you enjoy the work and be proud with what you produce for the channel. You will be credited in the description of every video you work on (unless you prefer otherwise).
The video essays on S2S do not require expert skills or knowledge, but they do require attention to detail and a keen sense for tone/atmosphere. I am looking for a creative partner passionate about creating meaningful work that inspires people.
As of now:

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Hi,
I currently have a two-channel RF system on PCB, with Rx and Tx having their own ports for antenna. I now want to add drop-in or smd RF-circulator to the scheme so i can have one port for both channels and one-port antenna as well.
However most of the RF-circulators have 20dB isolation which means that i will receive a lot of power on mixer on Rx side. So, my transmitting power is 16dB and I also have 23dB amplifier just between mixer and circulator, and mixer will break if receive more than -5dB. In this case that means: Tx (dB) - Isolation (dB) + Amplifier_Gain (dB) = Power_on_mixer. So: 16 - 20 + 23 = 18.5 dB
Is there any way to improve isolation to 50dB, maybe using directional coupler or hybrids?
Generally how do people design RF systems with circulator to avoid such problems?
The project is for DSRC system on 5.8 GHz
Will be happy for any help!

Since I already expect to be beaten by other fans, I will try to express this theory of mine in a very schematic way step by step
A) Apparently, although there are many nuances and even conflicting sources, we can say that the Jedi and the Sith have at their base two different motivations for acting: in theory, and i underline "in theory", Jedi are moved by altruism, by the idea to act for a greater good, are at the service of the community, give great importance to inner serenity, etc The Sith on the other hand, generally and i underline "generally", are driven by the desire to fully experience their emotions and satisfy their personal passions
B) However, this should not automatically lead all Sith to be evil: living following one's emotions and passions is not necessarily bad. Modern psychology would classify this type of behavior as "Dionysian", which is contrasted with the other classical behavior which is "Apollonian". But these two terms are in no way synonymous with good or evil. So why should a path based on emotions and passions, even emotions and passions of a personal nature, necessarily lead to evil ?
C) I'll give you some examples: a revolutionary who fights for freedom is driven by a great passion, the classic avenger of the night is often driven by a personal revenge against evil. A person who dedicates himself to becoming the greatest sportsman in the world or to becoming an excellent artist is dedicating his entire life to a personal passion and probably also has very strong emotional reasons for doing so but this does not necessarily make him a person evil. In short: there are not only negative personal desires and negative personal emotions, such as ambition, anger, etc Imagine if Anakin had simply killed the desert raiders who killed his mother, but without touching the women and children of that tribe. His act, driven by a strong emotion, would have been less negative and fit into the stereotype of the "avenger of the night": who is a dark hero, almost an anti-hero we could say, but certainly not a villain. The "road warrior" or the Punisher or the Gatsu model character from Berserk would fit perfectly into this category

D) I'll give a direct example of a popular character from another saga, who however has several points in common with a very famous Sith. The character I use as an example is Severus Snape from the Harry Potter saga: if we analyze Snape's motivations we can see that everything he does over the course of the seven books is driven by only two motivations, which are love for Lily and the desire to take revenge against Voldemort. Every single action of Snape, however cold he may apparently seem, is driven by these two reasons... which as you will notice are purely emotional in nature. At the beginning, and perhaps even at the end, Snape doesn't care much about the fact that Voldemort also kills Muggles or at least that isn't his main reason for fighting him: he wants to avenge Lily in the name of his Love for her. So Snape fits perfectly into the description of a Sith: he doesn't do what he does for a lofty reason of love for "community" and for an abstract ideal of the common good, he just does what he does because he is moved by emotion and passion. In this I notice a very strong parallel with Palpatine: both characters have a mask of cold and rational man, both are mentally disciplined enough to hide their true motivations and manage to hatch even very complex plans and plots BUT both are in reality driven by unbridled emotions and passions, simply in Snape's case we talk about love and revenge while in Palpatine's case we talk about ambition. Here we can notice another important thing: the Sith are "motivated" by emotions\passions but are not necessarily "dominated" by them. Not 24/7 at least: Palpatine has the galaxy believe he is a calm and rational politician, he has the clarity to make a very elaborate plan... all this despite being "moved/motivated" by ambition
E) So, having seen in the previous point that you can very well create a positive character who is driven by the desire to satisfy personal passions and fully experience your personal emotions, I return to my initial question: why no Sith is a positive character ? Now I don't pretend that all the Sith are Severus Snape but I can't even understand why they are all evil: I think that there could easily be some Sith who fight for a positive ideal... maybe they will fight in a violent and questionable way, maybe they will be similar to those who in Dungeons & Dragons are called "chaotic good", maybe someone will have a politically incorrect attitude like Deadpooll, but they should still exist
Possible Answer 1: the dark side just streams through emotions BUT the evilness is a Sith fault) I thought a possible answer might be not in the very nature of the light side and the dark side but in the training that the Jedi and Sith receive. In fact, we know that the Jedi are not the only users of the light side just as the Sith are not the only users of the dark side, so perhaps the fact that the Sith are always channeled towards negative emotions and negative passions could be due to the type of people who (by tradition) the Sith choose as students and because of the training they receive. However, if this hypothesis were true, then it would mean that it is not so much the dark side that is evil (at least not necessarily) but the Sith training! This would make a life based on emotion and passion dysfunctional. So there could be characters (who use the dark side and who are not Sith) who have an emotional & passionate but positive attitude. However, no such character comes to mind.

Possible Answer 2 : the dark side is evil BUT not necessarily streamed/link by emotions and desires) We might assume that the dark side is actually evil and corrupting, however you see it. The connection with emotions would derive from the fact that the Sith tradition has found a way of approaching the dark side in emotions and personal desires. However, if this hypothesis were true, then there would also be other ways of approaching the dark side that are not linked to desires and emotions, there could be users of the dark side who are calm, cold and thoughtful and not at all interested in their emotions : a sort of "monks" of the dark side or "jedi of the dark side" or "vulcans of the dark side". But I can't think of any example of a "dark side tradition" or "dark side order" that doesn't reference the Sith way in some way.

Possible answer 3: the dark side is a just a boogymen because the plot need villains) We could think that it is a structural problem of the dark side: dark side users must follow their personal emotions and desires but they will necessarily necome evil in doing this. The Jedi suggest many times that the dark side necessarily brings moral corruption, even if it is true that said by the Jedi it is a source a little biased. At this point my question becomes: if the dark side is necessarily evil & necessarily corrupts & necessarily based on emotion and passion, then honestly the very idea of ​​the dark side seems poorly structured to me. Because if this hypothesis were true it would make a strange and unfair comparison between emotionality and evil, between passion and self-destruction... This seems to me not only extremely bad narratively but also false. There are numerous historical examples of people who have saved lives, in some cases even many lives, simply by following their hearts, their emotions and their passions. It is obvious that even a Jedi has an emotionality that leads him to empathize with the evil suffered by other people, however even an emotionality focused on his own passions and deep emotions can be positive: I think for example of a Sith who fights evil not both because he thinks of the good of his community but because evil disgusts him or because he has revenge to carry out against a powerful evil organization. If you allow me another nerdy comparison I would say Gatsu from Berserk: especially at the beginning he is moved by very strong passions and powerful, very violent emotions, but we cannot say that he is the villain of the story because, even if with extremely harsh means, his aim is to eradicate a great evil... He doesn't do it to save the world: he does it for his personal revenge but his aim is still to stratify evil. Why was a Sith or a dark side user never conceived like this?
What do you think about my question ? Please be kind in the comments, thank you :)

On a rainy Saturday afternoon not so long ago when internet connection was fluctuating in most homes, the 80-year-old Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, widow of the late Senator Heherson Alvarez, carrying a mini iPad, hurriedly alighted from a three-wheeled pedicab Toktok and stormed her way into a popular coffee shop in a mall in Manila.

A senior citizen in panic mode, she told the stunned baristas she’s looking for a Wi-Fi connection because she was about to interview retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio via Zoom.
The coffee shop, a known world brand, has Wi-Fi exclusive to its employees, so the old lady was told to try other establishments. She went from one coffee shop to another only to be told the same, until a kind stranger led her to a well-known beauty salon with a free internet connection.
The lady salon attendant was very accommodating to the octogenarian, even typing the password on her IPad. Of course, she needed to avail herself of their salon services. Initially, she opted for a haircut, but since she needed to talk and hear clearly who she was talking to, she settled for a foot spa with pedicure.
“They lowered the volume of the piped-in music, and since there were less customers because it’s been raining all day, I was able to do my interview,” Guidote-Alvarez said.
For the next half-an-hour, the hair dressers and manicurists working with their scissors, nail clippers and cuticle removers on their customers’ hair and fingernails, listened to Carpio and Guidote-Alvarez discussed how Filipino fishermen and the Philippine Navy ships helplessly negotiate their ways in Scarborough Shoal amid the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.
“They were all very nice to me. I was able to finish my interview, with newly pedicured nails,” she told The Diarist.
For those who’ve worked with Guidote-Alvarez, her steadfast, almost stubborn, nature to accomplish a task, is nothing out of the ordinary. She would improvise, find alternatives, call up friends and former students, wake them up from sleep, just to get things done.
But now, in her 80s, legally blind and nearly deaf, she has mellowed down.
Cecile Alvarez with her mentors, National Artist for Literature Alejandro Roces, Jr and Fr. James Reuter. SJ
In her twilight years, Guidote-Alvarez has been solely hosting the 57-year-old Radyo Balintataw on DZRH, one of the oldest radio stations in the Philippines, where she tackles a wide range of topics, from climate change, women’s health, theater, culture, dance, to current issues, apart from playing old recordings of classic radio plays she produced and directed, dating back to the late ‘80s.
She shared with TheDiarist.ph how she started and continues to host one of the longest running advocacy programs on AM Radio.
Theater on TV
After founding the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) on April 7, 1967, or exactly 57 years ago, Guidote-Alvarez thought of the need to expose PETA’s members to television, so she started conceptualizing Balintataw, which in Filipino means the pupil of the eye, but in a larger context has something to do with having wild imagination, or what you might see if you have a third eye.

“I designed Balintataw as a bridge between cinema and the stage, where the youth being trained in theater skills can have a ready-made laboratory experience linked with the film and entertainment industry that would likewise have a natural on-the-job training and orientation regarding the theatrical discipline of working with a literary script, whether dramatic or comic—not the regular improvised script done on taping or copycat scripts from foreign themes,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote in her yet-to-be published Memoir of a Freedom Fighter’s Wife.
“A primary goal when I conceived PETA was to initiate and sustain artistic expression that draws meaning and power from the lives of the people, and sharing the literary gems with a greater number of audiences through a Broadcast Theater-Film Program with Balintataw on Channel 5,” she added.
“No matter how little the pay, at least it provided our local writers with a little honorarium. I sought permission for award-winning pieces of the Palanca Playwriting contest to be fleshed out to reach the masses. The much-awarded playwright Bert Florentino served as our literary manager, assisted by Mauro Avena. Eventually, Isagani Cruz took over when Bert left for the US,” she wrote.
“Writers need exposure and encouragement through a regular TV performance that will give them a sense of achievement and inspire them to keep on writing with some kind of honorarium. I was glad Lupita Aquino (now Kashiwahara) agreed to be TV director and Robert Arevalo as TV host.
She got members of the PETA Kalinangan Ensemble to serve as stage directors. “This is to undertake preliminary preparation with a rehearsal with the actors for character development and memorization and preliminary staging,” she wrote.
Five months after PETA was founded, Balintataw TV premiered on Channel 5 on Aug. 19, 1967, coinciding with the Buwan ng Wika birthdate of President Manuel Luis Quezon.
The first play, whose title escapes her now, featured Armida Siguion-Reyna and Maria Eva “Chingbee” Kalaw. She employed photo journalist and award-winning photographedocumentarist/cinematographer, Romy Vitug, to work with her in filming outdoor scenes for Balintataw.

In the pre-Martial Law Balintataw, among those initiated into television were Lino Brocka, Elwood Perez, Nick Lizaso, Maryo delos Reyes, Mario O’Hara, Joey Gosiengfiao, Behn Cervantes, and Frank Rivera.
Among the stage actors who crossed over to television were Lily Gamboa, Angie Ferro, Lorlie Villanueva, Jonee Gamboa, Joy Soler, Sherry Lara, Gardy Labad, Noel Trinidad.
Like with PETA, Guidote-Alvarez directed and managed Balintataw for five years. Because of Martial Law, she and husband Heherson went on exile in the US to escape a military shoot-to-kill order on Heherson, who was tagged as a subversive.
Post-Martial Law
Internationally acclaimed auteur Lav Diaz mentioned in several interviews how he learned writing radio and TV scripts in Balintataw.
This happened in the late 1980s, when the Alvarez couple returned from exile.
Despite its absence on the air in the Martial Law years, Balintataw was honored by Star Awards as among the 20 unforgettable outstanding broadcast programs in the Philippines.
“This encouraged me to consider reviving Balintataw on TV. Another blessing was a FAMAS award for having an important role in the development of cinema recognizing Balintataw as a bridge for synergizing cinema with the stage, providing a pathway of entry of our PETA artists into film and for movie stars to consider enriching their experience by acting on the legitimate stage,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote.
Though she didn’t return to PETA anymore because it had been surviving well and had its own set of officers led by Brocka, she just tapped some of its members for the return of Balintataw.
For 14 years, the Alvarez couple lived in the US as political exiles, shown here during a Ninoy Aquino Movement meeting. Cecile revived Radyo Balintataw upon their return in the late 1980s.
Channel 4 stint
“I arranged to revive TV Balintataw on Channel 4 in 1989. We began with a drama about a rebel returnee, title escapes me now, but I clearly remember it was written by Lualhati Bautista and directed by Maryo de los Reyes. We also had a good story series on the hazing of Lenny Villa, an Aquila Legis Frat neophyte,” she wrote.
At the time, Heherson had been elected senator after having served as Agrarian Reform Minister and eventually Cabinet Secretary during the first year of the Cory Aquino Administration.
“We were able to unravel the deadly hazing process from a fellow neophyte who broke the code of silence as we revealed graphically, acted the cruel process used. I had Jose Mari Avellana direct it. This presentation won all the awards. Lav Diaz was training with us and he started writing teleplays. We also had Nora Aunor in an adaptation of Bert Florentino’s The World Is An Apple, adapted by Frank Rivera, and I had Nick Lizaso direct.”

Emmy Awards
Balintataw TV was selected as one of five soaps for social change recognized by Emmy Awards. The Philippines was one of five countries cited, with Mexico, India, Brazil and Kenya.
“The nomination was made possible by the wonderful support from David Poindexter. It was a supreme honor for our country to be recognized in the Emmy Awards, to be cited among the five Third World countries using soap opera for social change.”
Poindexter was a Methodist minister and TV producer who founded the Population Communications International.
Surviving on radio
“In spite of the cry about how television can be deadening the minds of the people with copied themes with an eternal favorite love triangle story, there was really no funding for Balintataw,” she wrote.
“Sponsors would go naturally to the commercial stations where big stars were paid highly for the starring role. Balintataw may have substance but we could not afford payment of bankable stars,” she added.
“Financial stress forced me to drop TV and remain on radio because I didn’t want to kill Balintataw per se just because we didn’t have funds.”
Creative classroom
“We have focused on Balintataw as a creative classroom on the air. I was able to talk to Fred J. Elizalde of DZRH and the president of the network, Mr. Jun Nicdao,” she wrote.
In the ‘80s, the HIV/AIDS became a global epidemic and in the Philippines, the general populace was still clueless on how to deal with it.
“In order to get funding, the first series I did was about the explosive news regarding AIDS in Asia. I got the DOH Secretary at the time, Dr. Juan Flavier, to act as himself, providing the data. It was easier to start off with an AIDS radio serial.
They did a minimum of 13 episodes to raise awareness about the disease.
“From then on, some of our television scripts we transformed into a radio version. DZRH provided us with our initial production staff, so we used some from the network and some of its resident artists and drama talents. Our time slots were changing but always coming after the long-running horror drama, Gabi ng Lagim.
“We worked on the themes of overseas workers, the drug problem, corruption, aside from portraying contemporary and literary classics serving as social commentaries,” she wrote.
Women playwrights
“We dramatized the works of noted women writers and playwrights like Estrella Alfon, Genoveva Edroza Matute and Marilou Jacob, who is distinguished in being a founding president of Women’s Playwright International.
“Apart from our PETA staple of writers, we involved young, upcoming and budding university and community theater groups.
“We also had a lot of foreign plays, where we could feature theater festivals beyond borders. We could do Shakespeare, we could do Euripides but also the current playwrights in the Arab region we translated in our language.
“We brought in Chinese contemporary plays, Malaysian, Indonesian and from other women writers from ASEAN member countries.”
Virtual history book
“The significance of Balintataw is portrayed as a virtual history book on audio as it unveiled events in the country. Radio is fresh, instant and up-to date,” she added.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Balintataw became Guidote-Alvarez’s outlet and therapy. Having lost her husband on the second month of the pandemic, a widow cocooned at home, she began hosting it six days a week, learning how to use an iPad and interviewing via Zoom.
The word “Balintataw” has been associated with her name.
Visual artist and editorial cartoonist Benjie Lontoc in casual meeting told us how in his younger days, when AM Radio was a national past-time, he was surprised to hear a Filipino adaptation of No Exit by Jean Paul-Sarte. This was when radio was airing soap, fantasy adventures targeting housewives and children.
Another was the airing of Larawan as a radio play in the 1990s, with Guidote-Alvarez as the voice of Candida Marasigan.
Leopoldo Salcedo (left) as Manolo in a confrontation scene with Dante Rivero as Tony Javier in PETA’s 1968 ‘Larawan’ directed by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez. (Photo from PETA archives)
In the 1960s, she directed Larawan, the first Filipino adaptation of Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino for PETA’s second season. It ran from December 1968 to January 1969 at the Raha Sulayman Theater at Fort Santiago in Intramural. In the cast were Rita Gomez (Candida), Lolita Rodriguez (Paula), Leopoldo Salcedo (Don Manolo) and Dante Rivero (Tony Javier).
Guidote-Alvarez has a funny recollection of the radio play. It was Nick Joaquin himself who told her years ago how his pedicurist suddenly started a conversation about Larawan.

Joaquin was relaxing on the barber’s chair having a post-haircut pedicure and foot spa when the lady pedicurist asked him how the story would end. Joaquin was stunned because he didn’t want to be known in the barber shop as Nick Joaquin the famous National Artist for Literature, but just a regular customer.
“He told me he almost fell out from the chair. He was a very private person and the pedicurist recognized him as the playwright,” Guidote-Alvarez, laughing, told TheDiarist.ph.
When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, she was given only three years to live. It’s been more than two decades since then. She has also conquered COVID-19 twice.
Over and beyond her work in theater and various advocacies, Guidote-Alvarez is among the few surviving practitioners of AM Radio broadcasting.
The beauty salon incident wasn’t a first for the octogenarian radio host. She occasionally went back there to interview guests and record her shows whenever Wi-Fi connections in her home fluctuated.
Despite all setbacks, man-made or otherwise, the steadfast Cecile Guidote-Alvarez’s voice continues to be heard in this mass media platform in an era that knows mainly Spotify. As Joaquin wrote, “to remember and to sing, that is her vocation.”
(Except Saturday, Radyo Balintataw airs daily on DZRH 666 Khz AM radio after ‘Gabi ng Lagim’, and live streamed on radio.org.ph. Some episodes have been uploaded on YouTube.)