Webflow reinició mi carrera profesional como nunca lo hubiese imaginado. Hoy usamos Webflow todos los días y recibimos un premio de Webflow en San Francisco en octubre de 2023.

A finales de 2018 estaba cerrando mi startup a la cual le dediqué casi 5 años, muchísimo tiempo personal que impactó a mi novia de ese momento, mi familia, mis amigos y mis hobbies e intereses personales - también impactó muchísimo mis finanzas personales.
Anímicamente y financieramente estaba muy mal: tuve fuerte discusiones con mis socios de ese momento donde perdimos nuestras grandes amistades, recién acababa de terminar una relación mi novia de ese momento, mi país estaba en su peor momento (2018-2019), no tenía nada de dinero y debía $20,000 USD en préstamos y no tenía residencia para vivir en México (estaba como turista).
Por suerte, comencé a hacer los cursos de Webflow University... Y el panorama cambió de la siguiente manera:

• Me ayudó a generar ingresos como freelancer en momentos financieros muy críticos y con esto comenzar una nueva vida en Ciudad de México. Me ayudó a establecerme y mudarme a México (soy Venezolano emigrante y venía de vivir en varios países)
  • Gracias a aprender Webflow comencé una nueva startup en 2018: tinyrockets.com (tu propio sistema para vivir mejor)
  • Gracias a esa startup conocí nuevos socios (Alberto Sadde y Luis de Pombo)
  • Gracias a Luis me mudé unos meses a San Francisco porque conseguimos inversión de Michael Seibel cuando era CEO de Y Combinator 🔥
  • Gracias a mudarme a San Francisco conocí en persona a los Fundadores y Core Members de Code for Venezuela: Marcos Ciarrocchi, Rafael Chacón, José Montes de Oca y a mi actual socio Alberto Sadde. C4V es una non-profit, donde donamos nuestro talento a ONGs en Venezuela
    • En la primera reunión con ellos, los convencí de migrar el site de la organización a Webflow (estaban en Squarespace)
  • Gracias a la inversión de Michael Seibel rentamos unos escritorios para trabajar en la nueva oficina de Graphite, una agencia de SEO que recién comenzaba con su dos founders: Ethan Smith y Marcos Ciarrocchi (el mismo de Code for Venezuela)
    • Gracias a trabajar en Graphite trabajé con las empresas de tecnología más importantes del mundo: Robinhood, Medium, MasterClass, Reforge, Netflix, BetterUp, Grove, PicStart, Shift, Swagbucks, entre otras.
    • Gracias a que ya había hecho todos los cursos de Webflow University y tenía experiencia con el site de tinyrockets.com le ofrecí a Graphite crear un equipo de Webflow, donde fui el primer Webflow Developer y luego lo comenzamos a usar con grandes clientes (esto fue en 2019, cuando aún Webflow no era masivamente conocido - me tocó dar muchas explicaciones porque todos estaban escépticos)
  • Gracias a que trabajé en Graphite e hice proyectos como freelancer, aprendí estrategias y tácticas de Growth usadas por las mejores empresas de Silicon Valley y con estos trabajos pude pagar las deudas que tenía ($20,000 USD que debía en préstamos a mis inversionistas de startups anteriores)
  • Después de trabajar en Graphite casi dos años, abrí una consultora de Growth llamada Meaningful, donde trabajamos con startups y empresas de tecnología para ayudarlas a crecer, Muchas de ellas tienen grandes inversionistas como: Y Combinator, 500, Kaszek, Nazca, Female Founders Fund, Nido Ventures, entre otros.
    • Hemos trabajado con varios de los mejores equipos de la región: Zebrands, Merama, Platzi, Luuna, Moons, Síclo, Klar, Fondeadora, Minu, Sofía, Flat, Crabi, Dentalia, Delta Protect, Tally, Niko, El Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), entre otros
    • El primer proyecto de Meaningful haciendo SEO y migrando un cliente a Webflow: Gracias a estar viviendo en CDMX y tener amigos en el ecosistema de Startups, tuve la oportunidad de licitar en un proyecto de SEO para Conekta (la pasarela de pagos más importante de México), los cuales me contrataron por dos años - Gracias a mi amigo Francisco Hernández quien me recomendó para esta oportunidad
    • 🏆 Importante: Recibimos un premio y donación de Webflow

Dónde estoy hoy:

• Lidero Meaningful con Alberto Sadde mi socio y nuestros directores Ana Alida Abdala y Marc Pitart. Somos 23 personas full-time y 30 part-time. El equipo es totalmente remoto con presencia en: Ciudad de México, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Buenos Aires y Caracas
  • Ana Bezaury, Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, Dayana Marval, Diana Padra, Francisco Márquez, Gabriela Gómez, Gabriela Petit, Itxara Gámez, Jetsy, Jose Armao, Jose Sosa, Juan Manuel Méndez, Leo Pereira, Patricia Rodriguez, Samuel Serfaty, Sonia
• Nuestra empresa es rentable y desde que comenzamos nuestro revenue ha crecido 40% cada año
• Hemos logrado construir un equipo de Growth Full-Stack
  • Webflow Developers totalmente certificados
    • He trabajo con equipos de Webflow de muchas empresas y países y el nuestro es increíble - tengo mucha suerte de compartir, aprender y crear cosas con ellos todas las semanas
  • SEO: Directores, Manager, Especialistas
  • Growth: Directores, Managers y Especialistas
  • Software Developers & Low-Coders
  • UX/UI & Growth Designers
  • Data Tracking & Analytics
  • Escritores, editores, creadores de brief, copywriters
• Hemos hecho inversiones ángeles en: 500 Startups, 0bs.mx, The Lanby, Rosadito, entre otras
• Recién nos asociamos minoritariamente con Saturn Partners (un Search Fund para comprar empresas) y reciéntemente adquirimos la primera empresa
• He logrado tener un sueldo que me permite vivir en Ciudad de México, hacer viajes a Parques Nacionales todos los años y otro lugares, poder regalarle a mis padres pasajes de avión para que vengan a visitarme, poder cubrir mis necesidades y aportar a las de mi pareja y mi perro 🐕
• Lo más importante: estoy tranquilo, estoy optimista, estoy paciente, estoy enfocado, estoy experimentando y estoy aprendiendo todo el tiempo

Con mis mejores intenciones, espero que esta comunidad en español y otras que tenemos sobre Webflow, No-code, low-code, emprendimiento y growth te ayuden a aumentar:

1. Tu "superficie de suerte": Mientras más gente conozcas y proyectos, más probabilidades de que te lleguen más oportunidades
2. Que te rodees de más gente poniéndole ganas e intentando ser mejores todas las semanas y esto te motive e inspire a dar ese paso extra - ese paso extra es lo que cada vez te ayudará a separarte del promedio y por lo tanto cada vez seas más útil para empresas, equipos y para ti mismo/a

Lo menos que puedo hacer es seguir invitando a más personas a probar Webflow... Por eso esta y otras comunidades que hemos creado.

Nos vemos acá en algunos posts y seguramente en algún evento off-line u online 👋
Orlando Osorio

11/20/2017
Log book of Det. Ryan Snow
Case #2798: The Appalachian Murders
The past couple of days are events I pray no one else ever has to go through what Kate and I had. I had her and Mr. Raines cleared of all charges, having found the proof we all needed to end this case and find the true killer. Kate no longer has to go into witness protection and I had given the police a good enough lie to keep myself from looking insane in the eyes of my co-workers. I know no one will ever know the true story or believe it, but I’m writing it out here. It at least needs to be known written somewhere. Even if my and Kate’s eyes are the only ones that will ever read it written out and forever imprinted in our memories.
The morning Kate had run off to the mountains on her own, I had made my way to the Blackwell home where I was immediately met with Mr. Blackwell charging at me and wrapping his large hands around my neck. He was shaking me and blaming me for getting his daughter killed and not doing more to keep her safe. The police who had been called to examine the scene and read Kate’s letter had to sedate Mr. Blackwell to get him off of me, lying him down on the couch, his head resting on Mrs. Blackwell’s legs. Though the woman was distraught and begging the police to bring her daughter back, she still took the time to shoot that cold, death glare my way. The ice in my chest growing. I couldn’t tell these people that this thing had come after me to get to Kate. I knew it wouldn’t change anything. If anything they’d hate me even more for keeping it to myself.
The sheriff was there and he pulled me away from eye sight of the Blackwells, trying to tell me that this wasn’t my fault. But I couldn’t help but blame myself. I should have done everything I could to keep Kate as far from those mountains as possible.
There were no signs of a struggle in Kate’s room and the letter was definitely written in her hand writing. Her father’s rifle missing from the study, a backpack and some food and supplies gone as well. She had only grabbed one set of clothes from her drawers, showing she did indeed have plans on returning after only one night in the mountains to confront whoever or whatever the killer was.
I told the sheriff to keep any police from going up to the mountains without first allowing me to go up there first to find Kate. He of course argued, telling me that he couldn’t break protocol based on any hunches I may have had. However, I told him that I could get Kate back without her putting up much of a fight, whereas she may struggle with a group of cops who didn’t understand the situation she was in. I was close enough to this case to have built a trust with her after all. I was mentioned in her letter about ending this case for me.
It took a good hour to get the sheriff to eye the Blackwells, Mr. Blackwell beginning to stir from his sleep, and allow me to go to the mountains to find Kate. He didn’t bother to call off the search to the police that had already begun making their way to the mountains, but did radio to tell them to not try getting Kate home without first allowing me to speak to her. He then gave me twenty-four hours to find her to which I told him I’d only need at most ten.
Without telling him about the disturbing scratches on my car, I sped to the mountains, taking the same path Kate had that day she took her friends on their trip. The route, as the sun began to rise was scenic. A drive that may have been a sign of a bright future ahead with a beautiful week in the mountains of nothing but nature, was now a reddening sky of horror. I couldn’t understand how Kate felt, going down the same roads that led to her only friends’ fates to avenge them, but the feeling of guilt did weigh heavy on my chest as I saw the signs of the Appalachian Mountain trails grow bigger on the horizon. Guilt for not doing more to prove Kate was innocent, for allowing Mrs. Mayfield for getting killed right before my very eyes, and for Liam for not being lucky enough to save him.
When I finally arrived to the cabin, there didn’t seem to be any change since the first day I was called to the crime scene, the only thing out of place being Mr. Blackwell’s truck parked precariously near the cabin. The police tape was still up, the cars of Kate and Mr. Woolfe still left where they were, the tires still slashed, the door wide open from when Kate, Ms. Greymoore, and Mr. Woolfe ran out of the cabin upon Mr. Billings was killed by an unknown force. All the bodies had been found and were now being prepared by their families to be buried or cremated. Only one body of the five still roaming around to avenge each and every one of their deaths.
I called out for Kate as I made my way into the cabin. The Ouija board was still on the coffee table, the white line of where Mr. Billings had been found lying face first on the floor with his head bashed open remained on the spot. The planchette was still missing. I kept calling out for Kate as I made my way up to the attic, the door left unlocked, using my flashlight to shine down on the white outline where Mr. Steele had been found completely torn apart. To think Kate had done such a thing, I now realize made me look like a complete dumb ass for believing it.
When I couldn’t find Kate in the cabin, I made my way out the cabin, still calling for her. I called out to her, promising that she just needed to come back home with me and we could solve the murders together. I knew it was a lie and that the sheriff would immediately have her take away to some secluded place where the killer couldn’t find her, but it was all I could think of to try luring her out to meet me. Still, she never appeared.
The sun was soon beginning to set as I tried retracing the very steps Kate and Ms. Greymoore had taken to outrun the killer. I had passed the small shrine of flowers and the pictures of Mr. Woolfe where the boy had been found, his face permanently remaining nineteen forever in the photos of him with Kate and their friends. I kept going, trying my best to follow the same path to the cliff where Ms. Greymoore was found, calling for Kate along the way.
It wasn’t until I found the place Kate had buried her best friend that I found Kate. She was on her knees before the rock where she left her bloody handprint, sniffing as her head was lowered, her dad’s rifle in her hands.
“Ms. Blackwell-“ I began as I took a step toward her. I was immediately cut off as Kate jumped to her feet, raising her father’s rifle at my head. I jolted back, raising my hands up to show her I meant no harm to her. “Ms. Blackwell, it’s me, Det. Snow!”
“Detective…?” She gasped, slightly lowering the rifle, but keeping it on me. “P-Prove it!”
“I’m sorry?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I… I thought I saw Sonja…” Kate breathed between tears, the rifle shaking in her hands, “it… It was wearing her face… It had her voice… How… H-How do I know you’re really Det. Snow?”
“You… Saw Sonja?” I asked as gently as I could with a terrified woman pointing a gun my way. “She spoke to you?”
“Prove you’re Det. Snow!” Kate demanded as she stilled her arms, readying the rifle as she pointed straight between my eyes.
“Alright! Alright!” I kept my hands up, backing up slightly as I tried thinking of how I could prove to her I was really me. “I… I, ah… I have… Had a brother… We went to get ice cream together once and… I dropped a dime and went to grab it… I was five… I followed it out to the road and despite how trafficked it was, I didn’t get hit. I grabbed the dime just as a truck was speeding my way and it swerved just before hitting me… Seeing how close I was to death, I dropped the dime and it rolled into the sewer. My brother called me Lucky Dime since then… Saying the dime was lost to me because it did its job in protecting me… I haven’t seen my brother since I was seven and I haven’t spoken to my parents in…” I looked at my watch. “Five years… No one else calls me Lucky Dime… Not even the people at the station know that was my nickname.”
With this, Kate lowered the rifle, her eyes softening from her furious fear to a more melancholy terror. She looked to Ms. Greymoore’s grave marker, her hand print just barely visible In the approaching darkness.
“It… It looked just… Like her…” She sniffed, “it had her voice… Why did it have her voice… Why did it look like her…?”
“Ms. Blackwell,” I soothed, relaxing now that there was no weapon in my face, “we need to head back, your parents are worried about you and the police are looking for-“
“I can’t go back yet!” She snapped at me as she spun to look at me, tears in her eyes. “That thing is still out there and will kill again unless I end it!” She held up her dad’s rifle as if to show me how she meant to “end it.” “I’m not leaving until I end that… Thing that had the balls to wear Sonja’s face and have her voice!”
“Ms. Blackwell, we will catch the killer, I promise, but right now, we need to get you home before your dad ends up killing a police officer for keeping him from looking for you.”
“I told him in my letter I’d be back tomorrow! I’m twenty-years-old, he can’t force me back home if I don’t want to! I just want to stop this thing before it-“
A howling in the distance cut Kate off. Coyote from what I could hear. If I couldn’t get Kate home, I’d have to get her somewhere safe. I turned to begin talking her down and taking her to one of the other two cabins for shelter. However, when I looked back at her, her face had turned to a bone chilling terror I’d never seen on a person before. She looked like hunted prey that had been found by its predator. She gripped her dad’s rifle to her chest tightly, her hand reaching for the trigger.
“Ms. Blackwell, it’s just a pack of coyote,” I tried telling her calmly, “let’s get to one of the other cabins and-“
“No, no, no,” She stopped me as she stepped back, looking around for where the howling was coming from, “I… Heard that same howling just before I saw Sonja! I thought it was far away, but she… She was right in front of me… She… Something was off, but it looked just like her!”
“Ms. Blackwell, you didn’t see Sonja,” I assured her, “I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t-“
“Lucky… Dime…”
I froze. My blood turned to ice. The fear on Kate’s face grew as she began backing away, her back hitting the grave marker. I spun around to see a figure in the darkness limp toward us, a scratched and garbled familiar voice coming from it.
“Lucky… Dime…” It wheezed, “You brought her… Back… Give her… To me…”
I whipped out my gun, pointing it at this thing that had his voice. I stepped back to stand directly between this thing and Kate.
“Stay back!” I demanded. “Don’t come any closer!”
“Lucky… Di-“
“Shut up! Stop calling me that! Who are you? Not another step or I’ll shoot!”
The thing stopped limping toward us, its body shuddering in place as it stared us down. I took the safety off of my Glock, ready to blow this thing’s head off if it got any closer or even dared using that voice on me again.
“Kate…” It turned its attention to Kate, a completely different voice coming from it, another male’s voice. “Kate… I’m cold…”
“J-Jasper…” Kate began to sob, “Please, stop using their voices… Please stop!”
“Kate… Kate why did… Did you leave me…?” Another male voice asked. “I… I was in so much… Pain…”
“Shut up!” Kate cried out.
“I thought we… Were friends… Kate…” A female voice. “You said you… Loved me… Why won’t… You let me have… Your warmth…?”
“I said shut up!” Kate screamed as she pointed her rifle and shooting at the creature. She had missed, but the thing still let out an ear piercing shriek as it dodged out of the way of the bullets Kate was shooting. It ran off into the darkness, but Kate kept pulling the trigger of her rifle.
“Stop!” I shouted as I snatched the barrel of her rifle, shoving it to the ground before us. “It’s gone, you scared it off, get to the cabins, I’m right here with you!”
I began shoving Kate back toward where the cabins were, the sounds of that thing screaming out in a symphony of different voices ringing out throughout the woods. I shoved Kate into the first cabin we had arrived to, Cabin #1 I could only assume as I slammed the door shut behind us. It smelled God awful, like the smell of the corpse I found on my first murder case, and it was getting darker as the sun began to sink behind the trees outside.
“Detective, it smell terrible in here!” Kate cried out, covering her mouth and nose, but the tears still falling from her eyes were still visible as they rolled down her cheeks.
I pulled her close and kept her behind me as I took my gun and flashlight out. “Stay close to me,” I ordered, leading the way through the cabin, “do not run off or use that rifle without may say so, understood?”
Kate didn’t answer, but I could feel the heat from her body following after me as I made my toward the smell. It was getting worse as we inched closer to a closet door in a hallway that connected the living room to the kitchen. The door was locked, but after a couple of kicks I was able to get the door to swing open, the smell blasting us in our faces making us gag and nearly throw up on the floor. I fumbled around the sides inside the room to find a light switch that I was able to find to the side of the entryway. A yellow light flickered on, revealing the door led to a staircase. I led the way down the creaking steps, Kate close by as she kept her mouth covered with her shirt.
Once we had made our way to the bottom, Kate dropped her dad’s rifle and let out a scream as we stared at what was waiting for us at the bottom of the steps. In a large pile at the corner of this basement room were nothing but skin and bones of humans and animals covered in maggots and flies. Some of the human bodies being small and child-like in size. The missing people who were never found after vanishing when they came to Cabin #2.
I grabbed Kate’s rifle off the floor and began pushing her back up the stairs, her screaming and sobbing all the way back up to the cabin. I slammed the door shut behind us and pushed Kate to the front door.
“We need to leave,” I had told her, trying to calm her down as we made it outside, “we need to get you home and away from here as soon as possible.”
“N-No… No!” She began fighting me, trying to escape my grasp on her. “No! That… That thing is still out there! You saw it! You can’t say you don’t believe me now! It even called you Lucky Dime! It said you brought me back!”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you!” I shot back. “I do, I saw exactly what you saw, but it’s way too dangerous for you to be out here while you’re the one it’s after!”
“I escaped it once, I can do it again!” Kate pointed out as she struggled against me while I tried getting her into my car. “I’m not running away this time, I want to kill it!”
“God damn it, Blackwell, we’ll let the police handle it! Just because you have a weapon doesn’t make you safe or ready to handle something like… Like that… That thing!”
“It killed my friends! It wants me! I’m going straight to it so I can blow its head off! It’ll come right for me!”
“I came here to bring you back home, not let you accomplish some stupid ass revenge plot! Get in the fucking car, unless you want to end up like those bodies down that-“
“D… De… Detect… Detective…”
A scratched and moaning voice cut me off. Kate and I both froze at the sound of something approaching. I turned to see a police officer stagger toward us from the tree line. I could barely tell who he was or who he used to be, his head held low and blue uniform covered in blood.
“H… Hel… Hel… Help… Help me…" It croaked as it stumbled closer.
I held up Kate's rifle. "Stay back!" I barked. "Not another step!"
The thing that stood before us wearing the cop like a full-bodied suit stopped in place. It swayed where it stood, blood water falling from its head and down to its chest.
"It… It… It's inside… Inside me…" It breathed painfully. "I… I can't… Help… Me…" Its voice then changed to that familiar voice that made my skin crawl. "Lucky… Dime… I… I'm so… Hungry… Give her… To… Me…"
I pulled the trigger of the rifle, hitting the creature in the head, the rest of it staggering backward from the blow. Still though, it remained on its feet, turning itself to look toward us once again.
"Give… Her… To… Me…" It wheeze, blood and brain pouring from where I had shot it, it beginning to stumble toward us once again. I continued shooting, hitting it in the shoulder, the arm, the leg, the head again, but it just kept coming toward us faster, demanding I give Kate to it.
I was about ready to ram it with the rifle, having run out of bullets, when a voice off in the distance made the creature freeze just an inch before us.
"I'm here! I'm here!" It called out in an almost sing-songy way, using the voice of a little girl. "I'm here! I'm here!"
"I'm… Here…" The creature repeated as it jerked its body to look to where the voice was coming from. "I'm here… I'm here… I'm here! I'm here! I'm here!" It began shrieking in a high pitch wail. It sounded like a mixture of different voices ranging from child, to woman, to man. Keeping flat on its feet, its upper body fell forward onto its hands before speedily crawling off like a spider.
We stood in shaking silence for a moment, Kate digging her fingers into my arm while I was too numb from shock to care about the pain she was unknowingly inflicting. It wasn’t until the radio from my car buzzed to life that jolted us back to whatever reality was at this point. I scrambled to the driver’s side, swinging the door open as I fell inside to grab the intercom to respond to the voice yelling for me over the receiver.
“Det. Snow, what the hell is going on up there?” The sheriff’s scratched voice called out over the receiver when I could barely get my name out of my mouth.
“Sh-Sh-Sheriff…?” Was all I could respond with, still trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen.
“Y-Y-Yeah,” he responded in mock shudder, “what the hell is going on up there? I’ve tried radioing every man I’ve got up there and am constantly being left on red! Do I need to send back-up?”
“No!” Immediately, I returned to full reality, finally understanding the severity of the moment and putting that knowledge into my tone. “Landon, do not send any more men up here, call everyone back immediately! I don’t know what this thing is, but it’s too dangerous! Call everyone back, we’re heading back to the Blackwell house now!”
“We?” The sheriff questioned, skepticism in his voice.
“I found Ms. Blackwell, she’s here with me.”
I was met with statice before the voice of Mr. Blackwell blasted over the intercom.
“Bring my daughter home, right now, you son of a bitch!” Mr. Blackwell demanded. “You bring her home this instant before I decide to kick your teeth in!”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the radio was snatched from my hand from Kate. “I’m not coming home until I kill this thing!” She snapped into the radio. “I don’t know what it is, but I at least know I’m not crazy and that it needs to die before it kills anyone else!”
I grabbed the radio from Kate’s hand, beginning to tell her off when a agonized scream erupted from the intercom. I dropped the radio to cover my ears as Kate did, the scream piercing from my car to throughout the forest around us. The voice screaming and crying for help sounded male and it seemed to echo all around us.
“GIVE HER TO ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” A mix of the screaming voice and Mr. Blackwell’s hissed out after a good five minutes of screaming before the radio short-circuited and puffs of smoke flowed out.
After allowing my ears to adjust to the sudden silence, I grabbed the radio once again and tried calling for the sheriff, for the cops with us in the mountains, for anyone. When I was met with more silence, I slammed the radio back down on the holder and cursed loudly, hitting the wheel as if it were the source of all my problems.
After a moment to take some deep breaths, I told Kate to get in the car as I placed her rifle in the back seat.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she shot back. “I’m not-“
“Damn it, Blackwell, we have no idea what we’re dealing with, it can mimic peoples’ voices, and it just ran off like a fucking black widow!” I snapped, stepping out of the driver’s seat to glare down at her. “The last thing I’m doing to leaving you here alone and I’m not staying here another second until I can wrap my head around what the fuck I just saw! So, you either get yourself killed out here while I try talking you down this hero complex high, or you’re going to do what I say and get in the damn car!”
We stood in heated silence, glaring each other down before Kate huffed and stormed over to the passenger side of my car and slamming the door shut as she climbed in. I jumped in after her and began driving away from this nutty nightmare I had found myself in.
We drove down the trail back to civilization in silence, Kate staring out the window and trying to keep her tearful sniffs quiet. I had finally begun calming down and was starting to feel bad for snapping at her. She had only gone there to avenge her friends by killing that thing that had most likely killed a whole bunch of cops to find her. However, I still couldn’t just let her stay to hunt it and I didn’t want to stay out in those mountains with some kind of creature that could take the form and voice of someone I knew. I still couldn’t understand what is was I had even seen.
“Wendigo,” Kate whispered, breaking the silence in the car first. She had said it as if she had just remembered something important.
“What?”
“A Wendigo,” She repeated, turning to look to me with wide scared eyes, “that’s what that thing is! It’s a Wendigo!”
“Slow down, what’s a Wendigo?”
“It’s… Oh, just forget it! You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“Ms. Blackwell, I just saw a cop being used as a puppet and then run off at inhuman speed on all fours; I doubt I’m not going to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth now. What’s a Wendigo?”
Kate eyed me for a moment before releasing some of the tension from her face as she took a deep breath and began explaining to me. “They’re a Native American myth; it’s believed they’re the spirits of people who would lose themselves in the woods and would end up eating other people to satiate their hunger. I think that’s what that thing is. They can mimic the voices of people who died and use it to lure people to them, they can take the form of that person too.”
“Why does it want female hearts?” I asked, not realizing I had yet told her what my mysterious caller kept asking for when they called me.
“It… It wants my heart?” she asked shakily.
I cursed to myself before letting out a frustrated sigh. “I think this thing wants hearts, but it only wants female hearts. Why? I don’t know yet. But the only other person to be found after killing someone in those cabins was found with his partner’s heart missing to which he was blamed for taking out of her. Recently, I’ve been getting calls from some… Thing wanting me to bring you back here so it could take something from you. It would have taken Ms. Greymoore’s, but you hid her well enough that only the police could find her in time. Now, I’ve been getting calls asking for you and to get something from you.”
Kate looked to me in shock before a wave of guilt twisted her face in pain. “I… I’m so, so… So sorry, Detective!” She cried out. “I… I had… I had no idea you were being… Harassed by it! Had I known it wanted me back and was demanding you brought me here, I never… I didn’t… That’s why it said you brought me back! Oh, I’m such an idiot!” She pressed her hands to her face, grabbing at her hair between her fingers and tightening them around her eyes.
“No, no, no, stop, stop that!” I ordered, screeching the car to a halt, having to bring it to a crooked stop so I could stop her from hurting herself. I snatched her arms from her head and pinned them to her lap, tears flooding her face. “It’s my fault for not telling you sooner! I was too focused on trying to solve this case with the most efficient evidence I could, but that just kept me looking to you as a suspect. I should have stopped thinking you were the killer the moment I got that first call. There’s no way any of us could have seen… This coming… Except people who probably already believe in that kind of stuff or don’t stop to assume a more rational explanation like a cult… I’m… I’m sorry. But, I won’t let it take anything from you, not anymore. I’m going to get you home and then I’ll deal with this with the rest of the police department. You don’t have to deal with this thing anymore, it’ll be my burden from now on. You need time to finally get some rest and mourn your friends with your and their families. It’s already fucked your life up enough, I won’t let it go on making it worse.”
I stopped her before she could argue with me with a wave of my hand. “Your friends’ deaths shouldn’t be your burden to handle. I know you want to be the one who kills that thing and do right by them, but that’s not what they would want. They’d want you to remember them and continue living. They know you didn’t do it, so stop blaming yourself and stop acting like you’re the one who has to make it up to them. I will put an end to this die trying, but you need to go home and be with people who are happy you still get to live.”
Kate looked down at her hands that I kept down on her lap before nodding weakly and letting out a broken “okay.”
“Good, now let’s get you home before-“
My words were cut off when the honk of a car barreling toward us echoed through the woods. The headlights were fast approaching and I barely had time to grab the gear shift to put us back in drive as the other vehicle hit us, forcing us back and forth in one violent motion. It took me a moment to check myself to be sure I hadn’t hit my head on anything or got whiplash from the crash before I immediately returned my full attention to Kate who was kneeling over holding her head. I gently grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up to examine her head. It didn’t appear to have been busted and bleeding, but she was holding the front side of her forehead.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, prying her hand away from the spot on her forehead, seeing that it was beginning to bruise. “Can you hear me? Blink twice if you can understand me!”
“I… I’m f-fine…” she mumbled as she looked to her hand to check if there was blood on her palm, “I… I think I just… Hit… Hit the w-window…” She then blinked twice in my direction before looking to the car that had rammed us.
I turned my attention as well to the car to see it was a police van, it’s front crushed into the left of my front. I quickly jumped out my vehicle and stormed to the van, yelling at who ever was driving the van to come out and explain what the hell they were doing.
The driver’s side of the van swung open once I was near enough and a man in an orange jumpsuit climbed out, staring familiar daggers at me. The moment realization set in, my mixed emotions of confusion, frustration, and fear turned to fury.
It was Leighton Raines.
“Jesus, you really are a shitty detective.” Was all he said to me before reaching into the can and retrieving a rifle out from the passenger seat.
[END OF PART 1]
Part 6

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🌎 Sismo! Earthquake! 4.9 Mgqm, registered by GlobalQuake, 2024-05-19 18:31:09 UTC (daytime) on land, Boca del Río, Municipio Peninsula de Macanao, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela (11.19, -65.16) likely felt 140 km away (localhost:38002)

^{2024-05-19T18:33:11Z}

Já adianto que o texto é longo, se estiver com preguiça de ler, tem TL;DR no final.
Boa tarde piazada, assim como a maioria dos jovens que cresceram na era da internet, eu sempre usei e acompanhei muitas redes sociais, muitas vezes sem me importar com a qualidade dos conteúdos, com o tempo gasto nelas e o quanto elas me influenciavam, mas uma hora a idade bate e quando você se vê adulto, tendo que equilibrar o seu tempo entre trabalho, estudo e lazer da forma mais eficiente possível ao mesmo tempo que luta para manter sua sanidade mental em níveis aceitáveis, você começa a perceber o quanto essas redes podem impactar em sua vida.
Por conta disso, nos últimos meses entrei em uma luta para tentar encontrar "a melhor rede social" e hoje vim aqui trazer a vocês os resultados que obtive.
Redes sociais que foram testadas: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter e Pinterest.
1. Instagram
Eu acho que essa é facilmente uma das piores, eu comecei a usar ela a pouco mais de um ano para manter um contato maior com as pessoas que conheço e de fato consegui isso, é legal ver os stories e publicações das pessoas que conheço, mas o pulo do gato fica nos vídeos curtos sugeridos pela plataforma, você clica num vídeo que um amigo seu publicou e BOOM, você cai na arapuca, a plataforma executa o vídeo do seu amigo dentro de um player de vídeos curtos scrollaveis, fazendo você ficar preso por as vezes até horas, scrollando e scrollando sem parar, os conteúdos dos vídeos até que não são TÃAAO ruins, não cheguei a ver aqueles vídeos com voz narrada por IA, vídeos que dividem a tela com algum sabonete sendo cortado, ou uma gameplay de Subway Surfers.
Mas o grande problema são os comentários, não importa qual o vídeo, pode ser o vídeo mais fofo e inocente do mundo, os comentários SEMPRE vão ser doentios, apareceu alguma mulher no vídeo? vai ter maluco sexualizando, um vídeo fofo de alguém alimentando cachorros de rua? vão dizer que ela deveria estar alimentando os moradores de rua, ler os comentários de qualquer vídeo me deixava realmente mal. Em uma experiência específica, eu vi um vídeo fofo de um casal mostrando um pouco da sua rotina, onde a mulher não trabalhava fora e preparava as refeições e a marmita para o marido, que trabalhava de madrugada, em um momento específico a mulher coloca a comida no prato do marido e ele puxa a cadeira para ela sentar, claramente uma cena ensaiada para demonstrar a boa divisão de tarefas no núcleo familiar deles, os comentários eram assustadores, tudo era motivo para críticas, sempre com muita humilhação, ofensas, ridicularizações e risadas, segundo alguns comentários, o cara era um "beta" por puxar a cadeira para a mulher, ou um hiper machista folgado que a obrigava a servi-lo e etc, algumas mulheres ofendiam a mulher do vídeo por servir o marido e eram respondidas com toneladas de comentários de incels com os respostas ainda mais doentias.
Hoje em dia limitei o uso do Instagram por uma ferramenta de bem-estar digital do meu celular para no máximo 20 minutos, mas normalmente eu passo dias sem usar, e quando uso, fico no máximo 5 ou 10 minutos.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 4/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 1/10
Potencial de vício: 7/10
2. YouTube
Eu usei essa por muitos anos da minha vida, e o uso sempre foi legal pois eu basicamente apenas acompanhava os canais que eu gostava mas nos últimos anos diminui MUITO meu uso pois ela foi ficando cada vez pior.
Eu comecei a me estressar com essa rede quando os canais que se importavam em fazer bons vídeos iam se rendendo ao o que o algoritmo pedia e começavam a fazer conteúdos cada vez piores ou simplesmente iam sendo esquecidos até largarem a rede, em contrapartida, dezenas de canais de conteúdo esquisito iam ganhando força, isso se acentuou muito durante a pandemia com o boom de canais de cortes e videocasts, não importa se você não era inscrito em nenhum desses tipos de canais, a rede ia te forçar a consumir isso.
Mas o ápice foi durante o ano passado com o advento dos "shorts", o YouTube implementou vídeos curtos scrollaveis na plataforma, não importa se você acessa pelo computador ou pelo celular, a única coisa que a plataforma quer que você veja são os shorts, e por alguns meses, eu fui levado por essa onda, meu tempo consumido com o YouTube aumentou drasticamente, eu passava as poucas horas livres que tinha scrollando essa coisa, e o conteúdo era PÉSSIMO, vídeos "prazerosos" de sabonete sendo cortado, vídeos construídos com conteúdo de IA, vídeos sexualizados, cortes de coachs, gente falando bosta sobre tudo e todos e tudo de pior que você pode imaginar, os comentários até que não eram tão ruins quanto os do Instagram, mas ainda sim, parei de usar.
Hoje em dia acesso o YouTube quase que diariamente mas vejo apenas os conteúdos que eu de fato quero, uso uBlock Origin no navegador do computador para remover tudo que é menção aos shorts, e no celular, não uso mais o aplicativo oficial do YouTube, uso um client alternativo para o YouTube que não tem player de vídeo scrollavel e não me recomenda conteúdos de canais que eu não tenha me inscrito, com isso facilmente consegui diminuir absurdamente quanto tempo eu passo consumindo conteúdo do YouTube, e quando eu consumo, normalmente apenas escuto os vídeos pelos meus fones bluetooth enquanto faço qualquer outra atividade do meu dia-a-dia, não preciso ficar preso na frente da tela assim como ficava quando consumia os shorts.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 5/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 5/10
Potencial de vício: 7/10
3. TikTok
Essa eu comecei a usar a pouco tempo apenas pela curiosidade, nunca tinha usado antes e me surpreendi positivamente, eu sempre escutei que essa era a "pior rede", onde as gerações mais novas eram emburrecidas e perdiam a sua vitalidade assistindo vídeos repugnantes, criada pelo próprio satanás após concluir um curso de programação web, e o mais engraçado é que eu sempre escutava isso da galera podcaster do YouTube, mas surpreendentemente, tive uma boa primeira impressão, a rede é bem simples, basicamente o conteúdo se resume os vídeos e aos comentários, o diferencial da rede é o algoritmo, ele sabe exatamente o que você quer ver, isso pode ser um puta problemão se você tem tendência ao vício em conteúdos sexualizados, hiper prazerosos e etc, mas por outro lado, se você é uma pessoa comum, que gosta de ver vídeo de cachorrinhos, receitas, pessoas relatando alguma situação que aconteceu com elas, dando dicas sobre algo, ensinando a fazer alguma coisa, pasmem, é exatamente apenas isso que você verá.
Diferente do Instagram, os comentários em geral, são bem saudáveis, as mensagens positivas sempre são bem mais frequentes que as críticas ofensivas, ocorreu até uma situação engraçada onde certa vez eu me deparei com o exato mesmo vídeo do casal que eu relatei ter visto no Instagram, e os comentários eram muito diferentes, a maioria eram pessoas elogiando os dois e sua dinâmica de relacionamento, e os poucos comentários com críticas eram bem mais respeitosos, sem apelar para o grosseiro.
Mas nem tudo são flores, a rede é MUITO, mas MUITO viciante mesmo, você abre o aplicativo e não consegue mais sair, por conta disso, não os recomendo utilizarem, eu mesmo confesso que ainda não consegui deixar de usar por completo, quando vejo, sempre acabei perdendo mais tempo do que eu gostaria com a rede.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 7/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 8/10
Potencial de vício: 10/10
4. Reddit
Essa vocês devem conhecer bem então nem vou me aprofundar muito, comecei a usa-la já fazem alguns anos e essa não é minha primeira conta, minha experiência tem sido bem mediana, ao mesmo tempo que há muito conteúdo legal também há muito conteúdo esquisito e repugnante, sinto que antigamente a rede era melhor, mas nos últimos anos houve um boom dessa rede, fazendo com que muita gente de outras redes migrassem para cá, as vezes eu sinto que a idade média dos usuários daqui diminuiu bastante, antigamente haviam muitas pessoas que aparentavam serem mais velhas e experientes, e agora o que eu mais encontro são adolescentes, o que na maior parte do tempo não é um grande problema até você se deparar com algum adolescente esquisito falando esquisitices sobre política, relacionamentos e etc.
No aplicativo oficial eles até tentaram emplacar vídeos curtos scrollaveis, mas o algoritmo de recomendação é tão ruim que até o momento isso não me representa algo perigoso, hiper viciante e etc.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 6/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 6/10
Potencial de vício: 5/10
5. Twitter
Ah, agora chegamos nela, já adianto de cara que não uso mais essa bomba faz cinco meses, então não sei como está hoje em dia, usei ela por acho que uns 3 ou 4 anos, desde o inicio sempre achei ela uma rede ruim, mas ela nunca foi tão viciante então eu conseguia lidar bem com ela, eu nunca publicava nada, apenas consumia os conteúdos, eu gostava de acompanhar as novidades do mundo, qual cagada o presidente fez hoje, qual o meme engraçadinho do dia e etc. Mas com o passar do tempo essa porra foi para um nível doentio, em especial durante as eleições de 2022, meu amigo, eu sou alguém que gosta de política, eu gosto de saber o que está acontecendo no mundo político e tudo mais, mas caralho, era bizarro, TUDO ERA POLÍTICA, uma quantidade absurda de fake news, pessoas falando merda sobre coisas que elas não conhecem, muita pornografia, perfis abertamente nazistas/fascistas espalhando sua bosta ideológica, racismo correndo solto, cancelamentos bizarros e tudo mais que você pode imaginar, puta merda, era a própria deep web, TUDO era motivo para ofender e humilhar, durante o início da guerra da Ucrânia o meu feed era dividido entre vídeos de cachorrinhos e imagens de pessoas explodidas, por conta disso tudo, meu uso foi naturalmente diminuindo até chegar num ponto que eu nem acessava mais até apagar a minha conta no finalzinho do ano passado.
E olha que eu nem falei sobre como a rede começou a lidar com todo esse conteúdo doentio após a compra da rede pelo Elon Musk, não quero nem falar mais sobre essa rede, simplesmente não recomendo nenhuma criatura existente no universo a usar essa coisa, confesso que criei até um preconceitozinho sobre pessoas que usam isso, eu provavelmente não vou querer ser seu amigo se você for o tipo de gente que gosta dessa rede e dos conteúdos presentes nela.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 1/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 1/10
Potencial de vício: 6/10
6. Pinterest
Agora uma puta descoberta que eu tive recentemente, bom, na verdade eu já conhecia a rede, mas foi somente agora que eu de fato comecei a usar, e eu adorei, para quem não conhece, a rede é focada em "pins" que são imagens (ou vídeos, mas são incomuns) sobre alguma coisa qualquer, o uso da rede consiste em navegar sobre os pins de um tema que te agrade e salvar eles em pastinhas para que você possa facilmente acessa-los mais tarde, a maioria dos pins tem a finalidade de fomentar ideias novas na sua cabeça e que possam ser aplicadas na sua vida, por exemplo, uma forma diferente de dobrar cuecas, algum jeito de organizar a sua prateleira, como construir uma luminária de madeira estilo retrô, dicas de como se vestir melhor, um infográfico que vai te ajudar a fazer um destralhe do seu guarda-roupa e etc.
E o mais legal é o algoritmo, ele vai lhe recomendar apenas pins sobre temas que você pesquisou ultimamente pela ferramenta de busca da plataforma, ou que sejam do mesmo tema de pins que você salvou recentemente, o algoritmo não é um robô hiper poderoso treinado por IA até chegar num ponto que nem os próprios programadores sabem como ele funciona, é apenas um algoritmo simples, que salva as palavras-chave dos pins que você salvou ou visitou e lhe recomenda novos pins que estejam de acordo com essas palavras-chave.
Além de tudo, a rede não é nem um pouco viciante, eu uso ela por no máximo 20 minutos, sem precisar definir um timer no celular para garantir que eu não vou perder horas nela, as vezes eu até passo alguns dias sem utiliza-la e depois volto para buscar alguma ideia sobre algo que eu quero fazer.
Qualidade do conteúdo: 9/10
Qualidade da comunidade: 7/10
Potencial de vício: 2/10
TL;DR
Piores redes, não usem: Twitter e Instagram.
Redes ruins, mas que da para usar com certo controle: Reddit, TikTok e YouTube.
Redes boas, eu recomendo: Pinterest.

Intentare ser conciso, me tocó un fucking buen vendedor de movistar, y termine dándole el pin y toda la info para que me cambien a movistar, me dio el chip y todo, que por ahora no se lo he metido a mi celular.
La cosa es que yo checo en esta pagina: https://sns.ift.org.mx:8081/sns-frontend/consulta-numeracion/numeracion-geografica.xhtml
Y según eso, mi numero aun no es de movistar, pero pues también no sé si esa pagina se actualiza al instante o que show.
Ya leí que se puede como que cancelar eso de la portabilidad y así, pero pues no entiendo si mi número ya es de movistar o no.

Adley Rutschman - Sherwood, Oregon
Gunnar Henderson - Selma, Alabama
Ryan O'Hearn - Frisco, Texas
Jordan Westburg - New Braunfels, Texas
Ryan Mountcastle - Oviedo, Florida
Colton Cowser - Cypress, Texas
Cedric Mullins - Snelville, Georgia
Anthony Santandar - Agua Blanca, Portuguesa, Venezuela (this was the only street view in the whole town)
Jorge Mateo - San Luis, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1 of 2 street views in the whole town)
Ramón Urías - Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico
Austin Hays - Port Orange, Florida
James McCann - Goleta, California
Kyle Bradish - Goodyear, Arizona
Corbin Burnes - Bakersfield, California
Cole Irvin - Yorba Linda, California
Dean Kremer - Stockton, California
John Means - Gardner, Kansas
Grayson Rodriguez - Nacogdoches, Texas
Tyler Wells - Morgantown, West Virginia
Keegan Akin - Midland, Michigan
Ran out of image space on reddit, but here is the link to the rest of the album: https://imgur.com/a/dLjdRds

From Twon (u/anthonyg45157) - https://x.com/web3twon/status/1791836392646992159?s=46&t=B5ZbvVTNWDPnq9HO46UjLw

DePIN on @0xPolygon is upgrading internet infrastructure! From integrating software and hardware with blockchain to enhancing GPS accuracy, decentralized mobile networks, edge computing, and secure key management. Dive into the future of a decentralized web! 👇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⚪ Integration of Software and Hardware: Merging physical infrastructure with blockchain for a decentralized future. Incentives ensure resource sharing and access. - DIMO connects 36,000+ cars, enabling drivers to earn rewards from their vehicle data. @DIMO_Network
⚪ Enhanced GPS Accuracy: Using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) networks to achieve centimeter-level precision for navigation and more. - GEODNET enhances GPS accuracy for vehicles, drones, and agricultural equipment. @GEODNET_
⚪ Decentralized Mobile Networks: Community-operated nodes using CBRS spectrum for affordable, reliable connectivity. - XNET provides network access by partnering with community operators, benefiting areas with limited connectivity. @XNET_Mobile
⚪ Decentralized Edge Computing: Bringing computation closer to users for lower latency and higher performance. Supports CDN, databases, and more. - Fleek offers a decentralized edge network for faster, low-latency web services. @fleek
⚪ Secure Key Management: Distributed Key Generation (DKG) ensures fault tolerant, secure encryption and signing. - Lit Protocol provides secure key management for decentralized apps and wallets. @LitProtocol
⚪ Connectivity & Resource Sharing: Integrated super-apps provide WiFi, eSIMs, offline maps, VPN, and tokenized rewards. - WiFi Map offers access to 200+ countries' WiFi, eSIM packages, and more. @wifimapapp

Hi there, I'm Venezuelan living here, crypto enthusiast.
Because the really low electricity price Venezuela has been a "good" option for mining crypto (no law is one of the disadvantages), last months the power failures and outage has increased a lot (I usually get service 16h daily, so 8h power blackouts usually in two rounds).
As I always like to point the economic situation, monthly minimum wage is around 3 USD and with bonuses and things you might do 100-120 USD monthly, average wage should be around 150 USD monthly!
So government took the decisions to shut down all the mining farms, remember this is a lawless state if you aren't OK with that they might just put you in jail and/or seize all your machines.
There is only one electric company (state owned of course) called CORPOELEC.
Last week they changed the president of CORPOELEC, which was a military (yeah, of course!) some people say he was getting some bribes to allow the mining farms.
I'm sure there is people mining at home (maybe 1 machine could go unnoticed) but big scale operations aren't anymore.
This is Carabobo state governor showing one mining farm: https://x.com/ReporteYa/status/1791648681818570978
https://www-descifrado-com.translate.goog/2024/05/18/corpoelec-desconectara-granjas-de-mineria-de-criptomonedas-del-sistema-electrico/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=es&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp
https://elpais-com.translate.goog/america/2024-05-18/venezuela-le-corta-la-electricidad-a-las-granjas-de-bitcoin-en-medio-de-constantes-apagones.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Any question, let me know!

Soy de la generación Z, trabajo, estudio y vivo con la típica incertidumbre de "podré tener casa propia?" Obviando los casos donde se tiene el apoyo de la familia, herencia de viviendas, etc... Qué queda para los demás en la Venezuela actual?
About me: vivo de forma independiente con mi pareja... Nuestras finanzas nos dan para vivir relativamente bien. Quisiera algo de estabilidad, ya que donde me encuentro en cualquier momento nos pueden correr.
Hay algún banco que conceda créditos hipotecarios? Los recomiendan? Cuál opción adicional hay?

Tengo una pistola replica de airsoft y quiero llevarla a Venezuela ya que no la puedo dejar, pero en muchos lugares es ilegal y no se si en Venezuela también lo sea, alguien sabe el procedimiento? O documentación necesaria para llevarla?
Gracias!

Record temperatures, record migration, record emissions, record displacement, record PFAS……start building an ark.
Last Week in Collapse: May 12-18, 2024
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, useful, soul-crushing, ironic, stunning, exhausting, or otherwise must-see/can’t-look-away moments in Collapse.
This is the 125th newsletter! You can find the May 5-11 edition here if you missed it last week. You can also receive these posts (with images) every Sunday in your email inbox with Substack.
——————————
Flash flooding in northern Afghanistan killed 300+ people and destroyed 1,000+ homes. Hundreds of thousands of others have been affected. Last month, similar floods in the region killed 70+. Four died in Texas storms last week as well.
Venezuela is suffering from record wildfires, which so far this year have burned about 5M acres—almost the size of Sardinia. Some experts think indigenous people started the blaze as an attempt at forest clearance, which quickly got out of hand. “Institutional failures” compounded the disaster when the ailing government responded with an inadequate number of poorly equipped firefighters. Another study from last week examined the impact of wildfires on soil health.
Flooding and “cold lava” killed 50+ in Indonesia, injuring dozens and displacing several thousand. Cold lava is a mixture of water and rocks tumbling down the side of a volcano. Meanwhile, an actual volcano erupted in Indonesia, sending smoke & ash 5000m high; further eruptions are possible soon.
The Swiss Re Institute published a 37-page report last week about natural disasters in 2023—and how much damage, in USD, they caused. The largest catastrophe was the February 7.8 earthquake in Türkiye & Syria, which killed 59,000+ people and caused $163B+ in damage. The report is full of interesting graphics & data about natural disasters.

“Last year, economic losses from natural catastrophes reached USD 280 billion, meaning that 62% of the global losses were uninsured….the insured losses surpassed USD 100 billion for the fourth consecutive year….annual insured losses will grow by 5–7% over the long term…today’s insured losses could double in 10 years….There were 142 insured-loss inducing catastrophes in 2023, a new record. Most were of medium severity, which we define as events resulting in losses of USD 1–5 billion….Over the last 30 years, we estimate that natural catastrophe insured losses have grown by 3 percentage points more annually than the global economy (in inflation adjusted terms)...”

Flooding and heat waves are impacting Brazil’s oranges, responsible for about 70% of the world’s supply. One food analysts declared that the “era of cheap food is over”—in the UK, at least. That may be one reason why UK residents took record food bank packages last year. Madagascar is struggling to adapt to a future with far less rainfall.
France is growing more concerned about a dam on Lake Geneva, controlled exclusively by Switzerland. The Rhône River, which begins in Switzerland and flows south through France, is shrinking in summers as climate change melts Switzerland’s remaining glaciers.
The Tonlé San River has been dammed in Vietnam, lowering the level in Cambodia and sometimes drying the river downstream entirely. Meanwhile, China’s lychee harvest is getting blasted by rain, impacting the world’s largest source of lychee. And, once again, Saudi Arabia is suffering flooding in its inland regions. 7 dead in historic flooding in Iran.
The eminent climate scientist James Hansen posted that, since “human-made aerosols and their cooling effect are in decline,” the cooling effect of La Niña will be counterbalanced by these rising temperatures. He also identifies a “large anomaly of increased absorbed solar radiation at midlatitudes in the Northern Hemisphere” responsible for rising temperatures there. CO2 levels are rising faster today than they have at any point in the previous 50,000 years…and a study of millennia-old trees determined last summer was the hottest worldwide in 2,000+ years…
Record nighttime May temperatures were tied in the Philippines and Vietnam. A couple Indonesian cities broke records for May temperatures. And a number of southern African states saw more records drop. And Toronto saw a record tied for the number of days reaching 14 °C (57 °F). A heat wave has returned to Bangladesh. Flooding in Cali (pop: 2.9M), Colombia.
The University of Washington was ordered to stop a geoengineering project that scientists sere conducting from the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier. The experiment ejected aerosolized saltwater in an attempt to reflect solar radiation. A comparative study in Nature Communications of a number of carbon pricing found that, yes, carbon pricing does work to reduce the total CO2 emitted.
It’s that time of the year again. Wildfires in Canada grow, some of which are moving towards the tar sands—forcing thousands to evacuate. 39 of the total nation’s blazes are “out of control,” resulting in air quality alerts in the United States. Meanwhile, across the Caribbean, water shortages have become the new normal, and residents (and tourists) are finding their old consumption habits hard to change. St. Lucia has declared a water emergency. In Myanmar, water shortages worsen, particularly as related to the spiraling conflict.
At least ⅛ of Europeans live in a place at risk of extreme flooding—so says a 175-page report from the European Environment Agency posted on Wednesday. The number of people living in flood-risk coastal areas in the EU & UK is expected to jump 24% by 2050. The graphics-packed report also considers how flooding will impact healthcare facilities, mental health, wastewater treatment plants, the spread of disease, cyanobacteria, permafrost thaw, and much else.

“Europe has seen devastating floods following record rainfall, droughts of magnitudes not experienced in hundreds of years, continuing sea level rise, and increasing lake and sea temperatures….permanent water stress already affects 30% of people in southern Europe….since 2018, more than half of Europe has been impacted by extreme drought conditions….Climate change is expected to increase mercury bioaccumulation in the marine food chain due to rising ocean temperatures, ocean acidification and permafrost thawing….Depression, anxiety and PTSD may persist for years after a flooding event….Under the changing climate, northern Europe is becoming wetter in general, but drier in summer. Southern Europe is becoming drier, especially in winter. For central-eastern and western Europe, the trend is less clear…” -selections from the report

Milan suffered flooding last week, the worst May flooding in 170 years. Early spring in the UK has disrupted migratory bird species and their usual patterns.
A 74-page working paper which is not yet peer-reviewed claims that earlier estimates for how much GDP would be impacted by another 1 °C temperature rise is way less than it would be in actuality. The paper claims the real cost (in USD) is about 6x greater. They claim “global temperature has much more pronounced impacts on economic activity than local temperature” and that extreme weather is mostly behind the projected decline in productivity.
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Epidemiologists are worried about how climate change in Africa may extend the life of disease-bearers like ticks and mosquitoes. Other epidemiologists are worried about how cattle may become a permanent reservoir for H5N1. Growing traced of bird flu have been found in wastewater testing in the U.S., but investigators think it may be runoff from infected dairy farms.
Obesity, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure rates today globally are 50% higher than in 2000—though researchers claim that air pollution still poses a larger threat. Of a study participants in Hawai’i, 75% had respiratory issues, probably from the Maui wildfires last year.
The 2024 World Migration Report is out, and its 384 pages are not as apocalyptic as one might think. However, internally displaced people are at their all-time highest. India, Mexico, Russia, China, and Syria lead the world in emigrants; another document contains the definitions for who exactly constitutes a migrant. Unfortunately much of the data relied upon ends in 2022. Data from this year, not included in the above report, indicates a 40% jump in traffic through the Darien Gap compared to the same time period in 2023.

“The last two years saw major migration and displacement events that have caused great hardship and trauma, as well as loss of life….There have also been large-scale displacements triggered by climate- and weather-related disasters in many parts of the world in 2022 and 2023, including in Pakistan, the Philippines, China, India, Bangladesh, Brazil and Colombia….disinformation tactics are increasingly being used by nefarious actors with negative impacts on public, political and social media discourse on migration….Forced displacement is the highest on record in the modern era…overconsumption and overproduction linked to unsustainable economic growth, resource depletion and biodiversity collapse, as well as ongoing climate change (including global heating) are continuing to grip the world….the risk of further conflict has not been higher in decades, as military spending reached a new record high of USD 2,240 billion in 2022…” -excerpts from the introduction

Another report, focusing on internal displacement, came out last week; its 69 pages show a cross-section of about 47M people displaced by natural disasters (56%) or armed conflict (44%). Most of the disasters were storms & flooding, and most of the conflicts were civil wars of some form. This report also provides detailed region-by-region analyses—with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 46% of global IDPs.

“Conflict and violence triggered 13.5 million movements, the highest figure for the past 15 years….Disasters and conflict are presented as different triggers, but their impacts can overlap, often leading to repeated and/ or protracted displacement….Drought triggered 331,000 displacements in Somalia….Floods triggered 550,000 displacements in Ethiopia….Conflict and violence triggered 3.8 million displacements in DRC in 2023, a slight fall from the record four million in 2022, but still the second-highest figure globally after Sudan….nearly two-thirds of the internal displacements recorded in 2023 originated from Khartoum state. More than 39 per cent of the state's inhabitants were forced to flee, leaving entire neighbourhoods empty….Criminal and communal violence triggered nearly three-quarters of Nigeria's 291,000 conflict displacements….” -selections from the spotlight on sub-Saharan Africa

Experts are concerned about the mental health impacts that climate change has on our minds. Hotter temperatures reportedly increase depression & aggression. Wildfires and storms can cause PTSD. Workers feel stress and desperation as their usual industries are impacted. And air pollution influences ordinary brain processes in many ways.
Some analysts believe “Peak China” may be over, signaling a period of economic tapering-off, as well as a growing militancy. Increasing U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are continuing to separate the two economies. The Netherlands finally formed a provisional government, though its proposed immigration & farming policies have set it at odds with the EU.
The Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, released a 46-page report on potential climate risks to the banking system’s resilience. As far as I understood, most of the risk lies in extreme weather events and the risk to insurance agencies.
Part of southeast England experienced an outbreak of Cryptosporidium, a diarrhea & vomiting illness, highly contagious, which can last weeks. At least 22 cases have been reported. Meanwhile, the CDC is issuing warnings about the more dangerous strain of monkeypox circulating in the DRC, although cases are currently limited to Africa.
North Carolina’s Senate voted to ban mask-wearing last week, under the reasoning that it would make police identification of protestors difficult. An fMRI study found lasting neurological changes in COVID survivors; they “had significantly higher cognitive complaints of mental fatigue and cognitive failure….even two years after recovering.” Experts say a summer rise in COVID cases is coming to the United States.
A study on The Canadian/American Great Lakes found that PFAS levels are increasing in the 3 largest lakes (Superior, Huron, and Michigan), while decreasing in the other two (Erie, Ontario). The study also found that precipitation is the primary means by which the Lakes are accumulating PFAS, since the chemicals are small & stable enough to move through the water cycle. Meanwhile, in England’s Lake District, a telecom failure resulted in raw sewage being pumped into England’s largest and most famous lake, Windermere, on-and-off for 10 hours; and a major British water CEO took a $4M USD pay package last year. And a look into the Chicago River’s health found that microplastics & trash are endangering health & biodiversity.
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An assassination attempt by a lone wolf on Slovakia’s PM left him in critical condition, but likely to survive. 11 civilians were slain by cartel fighters in a few battles in Mexico. Violence continues to spiral out of control in Goma, DRC.
In Haiti, everything worsens indefinitely. Guns have reportedly entered from Florida, a phenomenon which officials call an “iron river.” Police have been put on the defensive against the growing might of the gang warlords.
A brawl broke out in Taiwan’s parliament. An Iranian plot was allegedly foiled to smuggle weapons into Jordan to destabilize the pro-U.S. regime.
Dozens more died in Sudan from escalating violence around Darfur. People are warning about “a disaster on top of a disaster” and the possibility of Sudan splitting apart. Others have called it “hell on earth” as 1,000+ refugees cross the Chad border every day. Disease and malnutrition are growing, while famine encroaches upon 9M helpless victims of the conflict—but the world’s attention is elsewhere.
The U.S. Army Engineers completed constructing the pier in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Some 600,000 Gazans have been displaced from Rafah already, and fighting has escalated against Hamas militants in northern Gaza.
Taliban forces skirmished with Pakistani soldiers for about 90 minutes last week. Taliban attacks in Pakistan, and counterattacks have resulted in a kind of ambient disruption for the rocky border zone.
Violent protests—and counteroperations—are continuing in New Caledonia (pop: 270,000), a Pacific island part of overseas France. The riots, which have killed 6 people so far, began after metropolitan France proposed a plan to expand voting rights beyond indigenous residents. A state of emergency has been declared amid worries about a spiral of violence taking hold.
As the Sahel dries out, experts are concerned about the links to rising terrorism in the region. The Sahel accounts for over 40% of global terrorism deaths—according to the analysts’ understanding of “terrorism.” Mali in particular has reportedly become home to 41 new, different non-state armed groups (NSAGs) since 2007. A contested election in Chad resulted in the consolidation of the interim leader’s power.

“If governments are continually unable to solve regional issues, the people will be at the whim of any terror group that has a basic organization. It serves these groups’ interests to promote insecurity where they can and create security where they want. A “hearts and minds” campaign in the Sahel could lead to long-term and locally supported insurgencies in a land that is currently rife with civil strife.” -from the article

Some wargamers concluded that a Trump victory in 2020 would spell the end of NATO, or at least the end of its utility. Vladimir Putin replaced his minister of defense with a top economic advisor, just before going to Beijing to reaffirm their friendship with “no limits.” Some say Putin is planning on a forever war. Some say NATO is gearing up for one, too.
Russia made several gains in the suburbs of Kharkiv, seizing several settlements which some analysts doubt they will hold. Putin claims they aren’t really trying to take Kharkiv anyway… Russia also made small progress in the Donbas—although they suffered their largest one-day casualties since the start of the war. The U.S. allocated another $2B to hasten the delivery of weapons to the front lines. The next weeks will be crucial on the front. Switzerland has invited 160+ nations to send delegates to a peace summit intended to design a path to making peace in this War.
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Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-Brazil’s flooding was really, really bad, judging from this post and its accompanying images. Across just one of Brazil’s 26 states, 600,000+ people have been made homeless, 100+ have died, and the storm season isn’t over yet. Some of the flooding isn’t expected to subside for another month.
-How specifically might climate change make humanity extinct? This thread crowdsources a number of plausible ways, from ordinary famines to nuclear war and even a massive deoxygenation process. I tend to think it will be a consequence of an eventual nuclear exchange, followed by extended famine and disease.
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Previous diary entry here: https://www.reddit.com/buffy/comments/1cuyf6k/rewatchers_diary_season_2_episodes_15_to_18/
The last sprint to the finish line: I Only Have Eyes for You (2x19), Go Fish (2x20), Becoming (2x21-2x22).
Man, I Only Have Eyes for You is such a beautiful gem of a composition. Go Fish is less bad than I remembered it (but still bottom-tier), Becoming FUCK YEAH!
I Only Have Eyes for You
It's the Sadie Hawkins dance and the gender roles are reversed—on BTVS, of all places ;-)
Xander suggests it's the brain child of a hairy-legged feminist and Cordelia is upset not only at losing her privilege of having her date pay for the date but also at having the tables turned all the way around and having to be the one who has to pay. Man I love the anti-chemistry of Xandelia.
But all is not well: Sunnydale high is haunted by the ghost of a student (James), whose romance with a teacher (Grace) was broken off by her. He responded with a murder-suicide which he is now reenacting. This is the mystery of the week.
The emotional significance is that Buffy identifies with James: she feels she betrayed and murdered Angel, unleashing Angelus. Her inability to kill Angelus in Innocence led to Jenny's death in Passion, which Buffy feels guilt about.
The punchline is Buffy and Angel(us) reenacting the ghost story, with Buffy in James' shoes, Angel surviving Buffy's murder attempt and preventing Buffy-as-James' suicide. Grace forgives James and says she never stopped loving him, the ghosts depart, Angel is back in his Angelus form who runs off.
Also, the final reveal: Spike, driven more crazy by Angelus, has been overstating his incapacitation.
I frigging love this episode.
I think Buffy's big change is her acceptance that Angel is dead, and that a demon (Angelus) has taken up shop in his body. It walks and it talks like Angel but it's no longer him. This has to be it, because the ghostly reenactment basically says that the Bangel love is forever and is still there even if Angel isn't—and yet, Buffy is more resolved and determined to kill Angelus than ever. This only makes sense if she's distinguishing between the two, i.e. if she's accepting that the man she used to love is gone.
The ghost story is beautifully tragic. The resolution, Grace's forgiveness and the departure of the ghosts, is such a heart-warming relief. And Buffy sorting out her feelings is wonderfully bittersweet.
Giles being distraught by the loss of Jenny, to the point of him not thinking straight, is heartbreaking. Metaphorically Giles is Buffy's mind, making it very fitting that Buffy's resolution is about sorting out her understanding of the Angel/Angelus distinction.
I noticed a thing: during the triangular binding spell we have Buffy at the center of the action, with Willow, Xander and Giles Cordelia supporting her, a motif replayed in Primeval (4x21).
If we understood the metaphor in Teacher's Pet (1x4) we learned that student-teacher romance means the teacher is preying on the student. Here it was... well preying is the wrong word, but here it was the student harming the teacher. I feel this might dilute the message of Teacher's Pet; this episode could've been a bit more on-brand with a line or two with the message that it's not uncommon or shameful for teens to have feelings for 20-somethings—but, if reciprocated, it's inappropriate for the older person to act on those feelings. The tie-in between James/Grace and Buffy/Angel would be perfect, the social commentary would be more to my liking, and I think the social commentary I want is on-point for BTVS. Heck, if you peel of the big S2 metaphor, I see a 16yo girl crushing on a ~26yo red flag, with disastrous consequences. The social commentary I'm calling for is the whole bloody point of S2, so why not reinforce it here? Maybe it would dilute the "awww" when Grace forgives James, like, we're meant to feel it's a sweet couple and they should get each other and that has to be an undiluted high note.
Nitpicking aside, what a gem!
Go Fish
I asked the writers for a good episode, but they said "go fish". Oh well, I guess there's plenty of fish in the sea. Let's plunge in and take a deep dive.
I remembered this as "that one really awfully disappointing episode of Buffy". This time, I found it to be merely "meh". There were a few decent comedy bits: "undercover" // "not under much" and "I'm dating a guy on the Sunnydale High swim team" // "you can die happy" #OohBurn look at the shallow Spordelia Cordelia.
There was a gender role reversal—on BTVS of all places—when Buffy walks Swimmer #2 home from The Bronze (for his protection) after he was attacked.
But on the whole... see, I kinda' enjoyed the early S2 MotW episodes, back when MotW was pretty much all that BTVS was. But now that I have tasted the Bangelus arc (again, this being a rewatch), I have lost my taste for MotWs—at least if they have no tie-in to the bigger picture. This is an episode I simply have no taste for, it doesn't excite me.
[I consider Phases (2x15) and BBB (2x16) MotW episodes with strong thematic tie-ins to the Bangelus arc: all the scoobies are dating monsters. And arguably, Passion (2x17) is about Jenny making risky dating choices, a follow-up on The Dark Age (2x8), making 2x14-2x17 a thematically cohesive run of episodes.]
Becoming
Fuck. Yeah.
Joss is such a scumbag. First he gives Buffy this great resolve and determination (perhaps after some feelings of resignation) in I Only Have Eyes for You, then he makes her waver a bit when she discovers Jenny's re-ensoulment spell. And then she gets Angel back, but it's too late since Angelus already pulled the pin on the doomsday vortex grenade, so she has to let go of him AGAIN! :(
Spike is chaotic and funny. You can always count on his loyalty, at least if you're the highest bidder, and Buffy effectively offered him his big ho girlfriend back. He's such a fool for love, wink-wink nudge-nudge.
I noticed a parallel between the trio of vampires and the trio of nerds: Angelus/Warren is the evil sociopathic leader of the group, Drusilla/Andrew has a crush on the leader and Spike/Jonathan betrays the group and sides with Buffy and the scoobies. [But also differences, of course: SpikeSilla are not as weak-willed as Andrew/Jonathan, for one. And the trio of vampires is charming.]
... and Xander brings Willow back by talking about their friendship and telling her he loves her!
Angelus talked about ascending—retro-echoing the mayor's plot in Graduation Day 2 (3x22).
Also: Angelus tried to pull a sword out of a stone (Acathla). We just went from gothic horror to Arthurian legend? Spike's reaction, "someone wasn't worthy", indicates that Angelus is a false king, not worthy of the throne of Sunnydale. He's not the real mayor so he won't ascend: while he eventually manages to pull the sword out of the stone, his ultimate fate is a downfall—he descends into a hell dimension.
The scoobies have a disagreement in the library about how to deal with Angel(us). I find it notable that it's Xander, Buffy's metaphorical heart, who responds to "I'll stop him" with "like you did last time, with Ms. Calendar"—Buffy is still feeling guilty about not having the heart guts to kill Angelus in Innocence. It's Xander who knows the location of Angelus' mansion, i.e. it's her heart which leads her to lost lover, and it's her heart which says "kick his ass". When he rescues Buffy's metaphorical mind, he (Giles) says "why would they make me see you", i.e. Buffy's mind doesn't want what's in her heart, they are conflicted. Buffy is driven by her feelings and passions now just as much as she was in Surprise when she unleashed Angelus. Once her metaphorical mind has been rescued it saves the day: she gives her regained love one last kiss and one last goodbye, then, letting cooler heads prevail, kicks his ass stabs him in the heart, breaking it, to save the day.
And some greatest hits: "nobody asks for their life to change, not really" ;; "what's left?" // "me" ;; "you hit me one time with an axe" ;; "have you tried not being the slayer?" ;; "you're expelled".
Becoming is peak Buffy.