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#once again internet archive coming to rescue

hiddenpalaceorg · 3 years

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Project Deluge (Lot Page) Project Deluge - PlayStation 2 (List) Project Deluge - PlayStation 2 (Matched List) Project Deluge - Assets (List) Discuss this release on our Discord server! A storm is brewing, capable of transforming the land with every downpour. Introducing, one of the biggest endeavors that we have taken yet. It’s been a while since our last release back on New Years day. In the months before and since that release, we have been working on something truly special - a project so massive it practically eclipses everything that we’ve tackled up until this point. The only thing comparable was back on February 23rd, 2008 (over ten years ago) where we released over one thousand prototypes for various Sega consoles from old QA department backups. Since then, there have been many releases that have come close to matching the amount of content that could be found in a single release. But up until now, including our own efforts, they have only focused on specific periods of gaming history or specific products, companies, etc. Until today. Today we are introducing the first part of Project Deluge, an ongoing project to assess a gigantic lot of various video game prototypes, pre production assets, and archival material spanning multiple console generations. These aging items were miraculously rescued from being destroyed, thrown away, or sold through the herculean efforts of ‘’’one person’’’. This person not only took on the task of backing up everything in their possession ‘’’single handedly’, but was so overwhelmingly kind enough to let us look at and preserve each item in his collection with no strings attached. Yes that’s right, all of it. For nothing in return. So for the first part of the lot, we would like to present to you over 700 unique prototype builds for the PlayStation 2! Since the list of builds is so massive, we had to relocate the list to its own page that you can access here! Compressed, this brings a total of about 860 gigabytes of data. For obvious reasons, we chose not to host the matched builds but we are keeping a public record of each one and any interesting properties that can be found in them in a table that you can check out here. Eventually, we will be populating the site with various other assets from the lot as well, so keep an eye on this page in the coming months. We would like to thank all the members of the Project Deluge team for helping us with this project so far. Without your help, it would’ve taken eons for anything to come about. We’d like to thank Jason Scott from the Internet Archive for giving us an opportunity to go through this journey and for providing the hosting for this ongoing project, and Iniche for working with the owner of all of these wonderful builds to make it all happen. Special thanks to Master Emerald for once again creating beautiful art for us to help make each of our releases something special (especially on short notice!). We’d like to thank drx and ehw for writing the scripts and helping get the project initially off the ground, and Sazpaimon for taking everything much further by expanding the capabilities of the script, running some of the builds on hardware, the streams, and so much more. And last but certainly not least, we’d like to thank all of our researchers (Zoda-Y13, GopherGirl, Xkeeper (TCRF), Rusty (TCRF), Shoemanbundy, Hwd45, SolidSnake, DigitalWarrior, Nex, and Drac) for taking the time to help us go through every single build in this lot so far (and all those delectable sports prototypes). Well, that’s it for now folks! As this lot is an actively on going project, we do not have a tentative release schedule. However, be prepared for the next part of the lot real soon. More is on the way, so hang on tight! Also be sure to be on the lookout on The Cutting Room Floor (TCRF) for some more detailed research of the items featured in the lot in the coming months ahead. Until next time, have fun everyone!

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mi6-cafe · 4 years

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HERE ARE THE DRABBLES FOR WEEK 2!

Ready to READ&VOTE?!

Well, let’s refresh your memory first.

This week our competitors were asked to write exactly 200 angsty words inspired by the phrase: ” to strive, to seek, to find, but not to yield ”

HOW DO YOU VOTE?

Read all the drabbles. (they’re below the line)

Choose three that you like the most.

Fill out this VOTING FORM, telling us your favourites. (You can even leave anonymous feedback for the author).

NOTE: If you are a competitor, you CANNOT vote for your own fic. But please, do vote. :)

The voting period ends at 11:59 PM EST on Sunday night. Results will be posted and anonymous feedback will be emailed on Monday.

Title: Sisyphean Author: Anyawen Warnings: MCD (Major Character Death) Summary: Cause. And effect.

He had refused to give up when the signal was lost. If there were the slightest chance, the smallest trace, he would find and make use of it. He wrestled with technology, fought bureaucracy, and ignored his own limits. Like Orpheus, he followed a trail gone dark and cold to find the hell where his beloved was held. A team already en route for rescue, he activated a camera. Like Orpheus, his love was lost as he laid eyes on him. An indicator light on the camera blinked to life, betraying their surveillance, and they gained visuals only to watch his agent's execution. Unlike Orpheus when he lost his Eurydice, he did not fall prey to despair. He would not betray his lover's memory or dishonor his sacrifice by pining away. He channeled his grief into ingenuity, political savvy, fierce protectiveness, and an icy, vengeful fury. He focused on the interests of the country for which his lover had given his life, and the other agents who continued to risk everything in that same service. He would do everything in his power to keep them safe and bring them home. Gods have mercy on any who tried to stop him.

Title: Savvy Author: stormofsharpthings Warnings: no Archive warnings apply Summary: Bond is missing...

He couldn’t find James.

He’d often had to remind the newer techs that the double-oh agents might play dumb to get out of filing reports but the nature of their job these days required them to be almost as computer-savvy as Q Branch themselves. And Bond was more skilled than most, though he kept it quiet. So an unaccustomed panic threatened to overwhelm him the longer James was missing.

There was no trace despite hours of desperate searching through surveillance footage. He’d even hacked into dashboard-camera databases online. Bond had walked into that bloody meeting and all electronics had gone dark.

“If he were dead, there’d be a body!” he’d shouted at M. Other agents were out looking, but there was no evidence at the location. If Bond had been abducted, there was no rescue possible yet. Q refused to think of torture.

James would leave a sign...somehow...somewhere...if he could.

In frantic desperation, Q started checking logs of internet-connected devices. A smart bulb in an industrial warehouse was reporting an intermittent error, probably from faulty wiring, but Q mapped the errors and times from the online log and found a rough pattern: long long short long. Morse code for Q.

Title: Blind Author: SouffleGirl91 Warnings: None. Summary: He couldn’t see.

He couldn’t see.

He needed to find them, but he couldn’t see.

Fear. A fist, seizing his heart. Squeezing his chest until all he could feel was sheer panic. Struggling to breathe.

A hundred scenarios ran through his mind, a warning of what might happen if he failed. Cyber attacks going unprevented. Terrorist attacks unthwarted. Agents dead. All because of him.

Because the Quartermaster wasn’t at his post.

He needed to find them. The Quartermaster needed to return to his post.

But he couldn’t see.

Where were they? All the intel said they would be here. They must be here. They had to be.

What if they weren’t?

How would he explain?

What would he say when M asked him why the Quartermaster was missing?

There was no other option, he had to find them. He couldn’t give up.

But he couldn’t see.

Blindly, he reached out, feeling around. His fingers brushed over the debris of a life interrupted. He recoiled as his hand came into contact with a pool of liquid. Still warm.

Oh, God!

More urgently now, he sought, knocking things aside. There wasn't enough time!

There!

Q put on his glasses, finally ready to face the day.

Title: Tennyson Author: sorion Warnings: - Summary: Bond loves more easily than he would like to.

‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

"What utter nonsense," Bond said, drink in hand. It wasn't his first. Nor his second.

If he could travel back in time, he'd choose not to love. Every time.

Love brought him nothing but betrayal and pain. How could loving and losing be better than never loving in the first place? He wouldn't be blind to the inevitable betrayal (and death) without love.

Today's reason for the drinks was that time travel didn't exist, and Bond had once more been confronted with the frustrating fact that he couldn't not love, time and again. Much as he would have liked to.

"Just how drunk are you?" someone asked, sidling up to his solitary spot at the bar.

'Not drunk enough to purge you from my system,' Bond thought. Despite his best efforts and iron will, he made the mistake of lifting his head, meeting questioning but undemanding eyes.

Reflected in those eyes, he found the truth that love was as much his constant companion as death. Neither weakness nor enemy, but the backbone of his very nature.

"Perhaps... 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

Title: Hunger Author: sunaddicted Warnings: canon typical violence, toxic relationships Summary: the truth hurts more than a bullet wound He pursed his lips, eyes contemplating the ruin spread out at his feet: his life, his career, his dreams - everything lay shattered on the ground, all of his hard work and his striving aspirations turned to dust. "Hungry - you were always hungry for more than you can chew, clever boy" Q pursed his lips, refusing to look at the other - stubbornly staring out at the moors, fog slowly raising from the earth like poisonous vapours "It's your fault, Raoul" "Shut up" "It wasn't the plan!" "¡Callate!" Suddenly there was the cold circle of a gun's barrel pressed in the middle of his forehead - so icy that it almost burned against his skin. Q swallowed, tightening his hands in fists that would do nothing to protect him from a bullet straight to the brain "She doesn't give a shit about you, she never has" Raoul sneered "And you do?" "Yes, I do" Raoul laughed, derisive and cruel: it hurt more than a bullet ever would but Q wasn't giving up on him - he wasn't sure he could; yielding under pressure and escaping just wasn't an option, they were together for life, inextricably bound together. No matter how deadly Raoul's love was.

Title: Lost and Found Author: Ksania / starrboned Warnings: implied canon-typical violence Summary: James made a promise he couldn't keep.

James finds him kneeling in the ruins, a dark silhouette against the fiery sky.

His sword makes a quiet "slink!" as he unsheathes it, flaring in the dying light. The blade's pale as it kisses Q's neck.

"Hello, James," Q says. "I hoped it would be you who'd find me."

Waves clash beneath them, salt heavy in the air.

"Nothing to say?" Q asks. "You always were a man of few words."

"They're coming," James breathes, watching as Q rises to his feet, turning.

His eyes are bloodshot, face pale. Black cloak hanging from skinny shoulders. A shadow of the man who held James's heart.

"James." Q cracks a smile. "You promised."

Once upon a time, when they were a Queen's mage and her knight.

James grips his sword, knuckles white.

He lets the blade drop. "I'm not killing you."

"You must." Q takes a step closer. "You know what she'll do -"

Footsteps approach. James pulls Q into his arms.

"Then we both die!" Q hisses, clutching at his cloak. "And everything was for naught!"

"So be it," James smiles, kissing him. "We both knew it was going to end this way."

Q sighs. "They're here."

James raises his sword.

Title: Adamant Author: IrishWitch58 (captain-magicalkitty) Warning: Effects of violence Summary: Q ponders the similarities between himself and 007

The monitors beeped steadily, monotonously. Q hated the sound that screamed the fallibility of his systems, that made him face the ways in which he couldn't keep his agents safe. He shifted in the chair, the same he had occupied for the past 10 hours. He was connected to his branch, overseeing ongoing activities but that mattered less than the silent battered figure in the hospital bed. James had once again both succeeded and failed in that spectacular fashion that made him the best MI6 had. The mission goal had been accomplished but the medical evac had been a skin of the teeth exercise. More damage done, more scars. Bond's resume was written clearly on his body, scars upon scars marring the skin Q valued more than his own. Q acknowledged that his technological efforts could only do so much. It was the indomitable spirit of the man that was at issue. His nature was to push beyond the known and see for himself and to never give in to circumstance. In his own way, Q was the same, which was why he would sit and wait and plan how to avoid the next disaster, as unyielding as any agent.

Title: The End Author: Venstar Warnings: angst(?) Summary: farewells.

It was all coming to a close with this next mission. It was a death trap. Once he went in, there was no coming out.

“Duty calls, I must go.”

“That's bollocks.”

007 smiled down at Q and brushed a finger across his chin and down his jaw. “This will be your first resurrection to witness, won’t it? Every story has an ending.”

“There’s only one 007 in my books.”

007 laughed at the jokes Q valiantly made with effort.

Q’s eyes narrowed and his lips compressed into a straight line. “I’ll find a way to get you back.”

“Seek and you will not find me,” Bond whispered, “It will be a new 007 when you finally yield to the inevitable.”

“Never!”

“So they replace me and they will replace you.”

Q shook his head. “We could leave. Would that be so terrible?”

007 looked at Q with pity in his eyes. “That would be treasonous.”

“It’s not like you’ve never skipped town before!” Q blurted out, his cheeks red.

“I am no traitor.”

“No, you’re a loyal dog. Now I understand why M kept that hideous thing on her table.” Q spat his words at 007’s feet.

“Goodbye, Q.”

Title: Never Yielding Author: iambid (flantastic) Warnings: None Summary: James is bullish, Q just wants him to stop.

Q waited for him outside M’s office.

“What the hell, Bond?”

James didn’t miss a step as he carried on down the corridor forcing Q to trot to keep up with him.

“James! Talk to me!” He pleaded.

James stopped abruptly and whirled around.

“About what? What exactly would you like to talk about?”

“This!” Q responded hotly, gesturing. “Why are you going back out into the field?”

“Because they need me.” James snapped.

“But I thought…”

“What exactly? That a gunshot wound would put me out of action permanently? That I would want to spend the rest of my days hanging around your house like some kind of rescue dog? I have a job to do, Quartermaster.”

He went to turn but Q grabbed his wrist.

“What about us?” Q asked quietly.

“There is no us.” James said and then, when he saw the hurt in Q’s eyes, he added; “It was a dream. Thank you for taking me in and taking care of me, but it can’t continue.” He looked down at Q’s hand, still resting on his wrist, and regretfully shook it off. “People like me don’t deserve people like you,” he said sadly before walking away.

#10

Title: ghost Author: azure7539 Warnings: none Summary: Question and answer.

What went wrong?

By the time he arrives, there’s nothing of value left. He takes in the sight of the cramped room—one bare mattress in the corner, energy bar wrappings pushed into a pile, empty water bottles strewn around the floor—and stops at the coffee table. The near humid scent of cigarettes lingers in the air, unseen but winds like spidery gossamer, spooling from the crushed fags in that full ashtray next to an abandoned laptop.

His eye twitches.

Barely gone but not within chasing distance, his mind grudgingly concludes, and he sits down on the cracked tiles with a grunt. Despite the Caribbean sun flaring outside an unrelenting spot of heat as it pierced in through the windows, the place sustains a perpetual coolness that settles on his shoulders a phantom weight.

Really, he should worry more about potential booby traps in the laptop, but the thought doesn’t even stir his apprehension, and he opens it anyway.

The words he finds on the screen seize his breath before flickering back into an empty void.

His earpiece crackles to life with a hissing fit. “Status report.”

“He’s gone,” Bond growls, shutting the device with a harsh click.

/I went wrong./

#11

Title: The Perfect Gift Author: Shush_MummyWriting Warnings: None Summary: "to strive, to seek, to find, but not to yield."

The moment he saw her, he knew she was perfect.

Madelaine was not just beautiful, but brave, smart and had a backbone of steel. Knowing her background, she was the ideal partner for an old warhorse like James Bond.

Q felt the tiny flame that had been nurtured by every bit of banter, every special look sent his way, every promise extracted, compounded by every risk he had taken for Bond, flicker and die.

When he returned to his favourite workstation in the bowels of Q Branch, the information he had requested from the Archives had already arrived. Q had followed Bond’s career even before their first official meeting and as he looked over the old blueprints, he realised this would be the perfect farewell gift for Bond.

Besides, it would make an excellent project for the Garage minions. With a little creative accounting, sketches already flowing from his fingers to his screen, he would pour every ounce of his brilliance into the DB5 and it would be ready when Bond got back.

Then Q would be able put all those inconvenient feelings behind him and say good-bye to James Bond, with a smile, like the friend that he was.

#12

Title: 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world Author: scarytheory Warnings: mention of character death, depression Summary: James's got his happily ever after with Madeleine. Still – he's struggling every day.

...you should know-

James wakes up from a nightmare, panicking, trying to catch his breath. Madeleine is used to it by now. She just whispers ‘you're safe, you're home’, still half-asleep. But he gets up and pours himself some whisky because he doesn't know what home means anymore.

Everything is blurred. Maybe he made the wrong choice. Even though she's here, and he loves her.

But he's still thinking about that phone call. It's been six months, and he can't stop thinking about it.

“Q died. I thought you should know.”

Wrong home.

More whisky.

And more nightmares.

There is a weird inner ache that James can't even name; he is too afraid to do so. A little bit of it belongs to Madeleine because they can't be happy together; it will never be enough. It's also about Q because James failed him. He knew and he left anyway, left everything that could have been.

But mostly it's about James himself. Because he's so tired and scared to go back and fight again. But in the end, he knows that he will do what he always does.

Not yield.

Not yet.

Even though the whisky is burning in his throat.

#13

Title: Unyielding Author: AtoTheBean Warnings: None Summary: Q will hate that fucking poem for the rest of his life...

“You’re going to lose him.”

“I’m not,” Bond grunts over the comms.

“Repositioning 006 to intercept,” Q replies, signaling to R.

He looks back at the screen to find Bond has stolen a motorbike.

“007, stand down. The plaza’s too crowded.”

“All the more reason to stay with the bomb.”

Q sighs, switching screens to an aerial view. Bond’s so stubborn since his return.

Though, not at first. At first he was accommodating… practically deferential…. And Q was unyielding in his anger. It’s taken months to find their rapport... for Q to acknowledge they still make a good team, ignoring the dull ache of what else he wishes they might be.

“Approaching the bridge.”

“I see you,” Q says, refocusing.

“Good place to douse a bomb...”

“But how would…” Cold dread fills Q. 007 is still fast, but even he acknowledges his reaction times have slowed...

The motor revs. “'We're not now that strength which in old days—’.”

“James Bond, don’t you dare quote Tennyson at me!”

Q watches Bond grab the mark—

“JAMES!”

—and hurl them both off the bridge. He hears the rush of wind, a splash, and then static.

The water-muffled explosion on the screen is silent.

#14

Title: The Balad of Sir Bond Author: ladymars Warnings: Implied Major Character Death Summary: A prince seeks for his knight.

Lady Moneypenny, from her kneel and still wearing her tattered armor, presented a scrap of burnt fabric to her prince. "This is all we found of him, Your Highness." Cold ice ran through the prince's veins. His breath left him. "No, that can't be..." "I saw him go into that cave myself," the knight interrupted, her voice tight, "I told him we should return, call for reinforcements, but he pushed inside." "Stubborn bastard..." Sir Bond had escaped from dire situations, deadly situations, returned to life with a smirk, a swagger, and the head of their enemy in hand (never his sword, of course, always losing and breaking those), but from a man-eating monster? Of course he's stupid enough to jump in without hesitation. Something pushed the prince up from his throne and to his feet. He staggered as if grief had possessed him and moved his limbs like the automatons he assembled, a yearning pulling him forward. "I'll find him. He's out there. I'll search the ends of the world for him." Moneypenny paled. "But sir—" "No!" His voice did not sound like his own, strangled and high. "He's out there!" A fury flickered in his eyes. "I'll never yield."

Thank you all for writing these wonderful drabbles!

Thank you all for voting and making this properly fun!

Here is the post announcing the winners.

#LDWS #angst #signal boost #writing competition #james bond fanfiction #last drabble writer standing #drabble

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losille2000 · 4 years

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Hoot and Howl, Chapter 1

TITLE: Hoot and Howl CHAPTER NUMBER: 1/? AUTHOR: Losille2000 CHARACTERS: Actor!Chris Evans/OFC GENRE: Paranormal Romance (more on the magical realism side?) FIC SUMMARY: Chris goes on a camping trip to calm the noisy anxiety in his head, but it ends up leading him into his own messed up version of a Disney movie. When he said he wanted to be a Disney prince as a boy, this was absolutely not what he meant. Especially considering that the princess is also, well... about that... RATING: M (sex, language) WARNINGS: Nothing. AUTHORS NOTES: This is the second story in the Seasons of Magic series, so the same “world” as Home is set in. I will continue Home, but this needed to get out. Also, it has obviously been a very long time since I’ve updated and/or written anything of great substance, so please be kind. That said, I do appreciate any concrit if you have it. You do NOT need to read Home to understand this story.

Also a quick message to my readers who are coming back: welcome back! I appreciate you all so much. I know it's been a long, long time since I've updated. A lot has happened in 2 years (for one, I am now teaching full time, and teaching eats all of your extra time). A lot is still happening. But this unprecedented time at home has given me an opportunity to try to write again. Enjoy!

Previous Chapter - Also available on Archive of Our Own!

Chapter 1

The speeding truck, rusted out and sputtering, navigated over a narrow gravel driveway and through dense pine forest for a quarter mile off the main highway until the path opened into a clearing. Inside the clearing was a simple country farmhouse with hunter green shutters and aged white siding, sedate and quiet, but for faint white smoke curling out of a tall stone chimney. A vibrant forest behind the house was aflame in brilliant autumnal colors, cloaking the mountain in shades of kingly red and gold as it reached into a stormy sky.

Chris only wished he could truly appreciate nature’s beauty, rhapsodize on it, photograph it, consider how, even when it seemed like the world was going to shit, there was still… this. But he couldn’t; rather, he kept his eyes keenly affixed on the narrow drive to assure that he and his passenger reached their destination in relative safety.

Relative, being the operative word.

As though to test him, the truck bounced over a particularly uneven patch of gravel. The rear swerved and his heart jumped to his throat, but he was able to right the vehicle with a steady shift of the steering wheel and a determined clamp of teeth on his lower lip. Only belatedly did he remind himself to breathe, to calm the heart once again beating a heavy tattoo in his chest.

Chris inhaled deeply, twice, and instantly regretted it. The cabin reeked of wet dog and man, mud, and the metallic tang of blood. His stomach clenched. Giving in, he took his eyes off the road for just a moment to glance at his companion, who had curled up on the truck’s bench seat beside him. The red and blue plaid flannel he used to wrap Dodger’s mangled paw had soaked through and now just looked dark brown.

“Just a few more seconds, buddy,” he murmured, more to hear himself speak, to reassure himself, to connect again with the world instead of spiraling into another panic attack. He’d been doing so well avoiding them recently, too. “We’re almost there.”

Chris hadn’t seen it happen, really, the incident that led them to this enchanting farmhouse with the green shutters. They’d been out on the river, he and Dodger, two days into a two-week solo camping sabbatical. Dodger skipped between stones and barked at random creatures scurrying around the banks of the river while Chris adjusted the nylon fishing line on his pole, attempting to catch dinner. Then he heard a yelp and a splash; when his eyes darted in the direction of the sound, Dodger was already struggling to swim in the swift river current.

Chris jumped into the icy river immediately, without considering the toll it could take on his unprepared body—the river was just a few feet deep, but it was certainly deep enough and cold enough to freeze every vital organ for a split second and prolong the rescue of his precious friend.

Fortunately, he’d plucked the pup out of the rushing water by the collar just before Dodger was out of reach, and then trudged slowly back to the embankment through thick muddy riverbed, thinking all was fine now and Dodger simply needed to dry off. Other than struggling in the current, it wasn’t a rare occurrence that Dodger’s natural mischief led him to fall in a body of water—be it natural or manmade, like the swimming pool back in LA. Dodger would fall in, get out, Chris would dry him off and then the dog would go lay down, the natural consequence having fully chastised him for being silly.

But this wasn’t like that at all. Only when they made it back to dry land did Chris notice the blood dripping freely from the canine’s front paw, made all the worse from the water saturating his fur. Somehow, Chris had kept it together long enough to rip a piece of his flannel shirt off and tightly tourniquet Dodger’s leg; never mind that he had a stack of towels and blankets in a duffel bag a few feet away, which might have been useful—also—to warm a shivering, scared animal.

Then the anxiety hit him, literally knocked him on his own ass, as he scrambled through his fishing tackle box for the emergency burner phone. The one that could dial out for emergency services and receive calls from his mom, because his mom was the only one with the number.

The phone still had a charge and the old crappy mobile internet had come through for him when he searched for the closest veterinarian, even all the way out in the middle of the Massachusetts wilderness. He’d practically thrown Dodger into the truck and sped away from the campsite, with the fishing line still dangling in the river.

Now that he thought about it, or at least, now that the adrenaline had subsided a bit, he realized the mistake he made. If he even made it back to camp tonight, that pole would probably be long gone. And so was any chance of eating because it would be too dark to do any fishing with the other poles he brought with him. The energy bars and backup rations he packed would only go so far to fill his man-sized stomach—and they were supposed to be provisions to last two weeks. He didn’t want to go back into civilization for at least that long.

Chris grumbled. This was why he didn’t have kids—he could barely handle his dog’s injuries, let alone anything worse. How would he ever react with an actual human child? Leave another fishing pole in the river? Or, if they were at home, leave the stove on and burn an entire house down?

The thought was absurd!

Him having children of his own was a ridiculous idea. He absolutely was not qualified. The fact that his girlfriend was pressuring him to commit to that—to finally settle down—only made matters worse. There was nothing he wanted more in the world than to settle down to have a family, but the other person in the relationship had to understand the difference between wanting something and knowing one’s personal limitations. His level of anxiety, despite all the work he had done learning to manage it over the years, was not at the point where he could contemplate children.

This trauma was a perfect example. Fuck. He probably wasn’t even qualified to have a fur child, now that he thought about. He certainly didn’t feel like he was worthy of the companionship of this perfect spirit lying beside him and whimpering in pain because he hadn’t been paying attention.

He glanced at Dodger again, but the dog didn’t even pick his head up this time, so he reached out to place a reassuring hand on his back. They’d get to the vet, and everything would be fine. It had to be. He couldn’t lose him.

A few seconds later, Chris pulled into a parking spot alongside a tiny Toyota Prius, which he found completely incongruous to the rustic storybook farmhouse sitting before it. These places were made for old beaters like his, or something with a little more substance—even if he did appreciate the owner’s care for the environment.

His old truck creaked to a stop, the noisy clunking machine rattling until it finally fell silent a few seconds later. Dodger whined again and tried to stand on his bad paw, only to slide back down the vinyl seat with the wet shirt rag. He scooped the dog into his arms and pressed his lips to the dog’s head—a completely illogical thing to do at a time like this because it clearly wasn’t going to make Dodger’s paw heal instantly, but it made Chris feel better—and bound up the three front steps toward the second door on the other end of the large porch with the small plaque that read “Dr. Bird, DVM.”

Grateful the door had been left partially ajar, he nudged his shoulder against it and stepped into a room that looked like any other doctor’s waiting room—human or animal—except for the fact that he was the only person staring at a space he wished were filled with a reception desk with a receptionist. Someone… anyone… who could help Dodger. Immediately. All he found were worn vinyl-cushioned benches, magazines piled on an end table, and lamps glowing soft yellow light into the four corners of wood-paneled walls.

There was also another door, this one presumably leading further into the house, but it remained firmly shut.

His anxiety clawed back up his throat and began to strangle him—should he have instead gone to the other vet in the other direction, though another half hour away? Had Dodger lost too much blood? The dog seemed limp in his arms. Was it… was it too late? Should he just barge in through the other door to look for help?

Chris opened his mouth to yell, but his entreaty died on his lips when the closed door creaked open. A massive cat with a fluffy white coat loped into the room, clearly unphased with the seriousness of the situation. He frowned at the odd creature as it stopped just in front of him, looked up and slowly blinked large jade-green eyes. The proximity of the feline made him uneasy; not only was Dodger uncaring of an animal that he would have otherwise had a real problem with staring up at them, but Chris felt the cat was assessing them frankly, and not in any typical cat-like way.

The cat made a soft chittering sound, as though trying to communicate with him. Chris’ frown deepened. This was getting them nowhere, fast. And this cat gave off some really fucking weird vibes. And if he weren’t mistaken, it felt like the animal was rolling its eyes in disgust that he, a human, had not been able to understand Cat.

Was this a dream? Was he hallucinating this? More importantly, what kind of medical professional allowed a cat to be the welcome committee to a place of business, never mind that it was a veterinarian’s office?

The cat “receptionist” blinked again and sat down heavily, flicking its long tail before emitting a rumbling and, if Chris were being honest, perturbed meow. It echoed in the barren room, but the sound was finally enough to pique Dodger’s interest. The dog turned his head quizzically with perked ears.

Dodger yipped twice at the animal but didn’t struggle like he wanted to get down and chase the cat. In response, as though they—the dog and the cat—had somehow communicated the problem to each other, the cat stood back up and trotted back to the door and disappeared.

Chris tried to speak again; a blur of feathers stopped him this time as a large grey bird soared into the room and landed on a perch affixed to the opposite wall. He’d not noticed the protrusion there, as it was made of the same wood as the paneling and blended in with the walls.

The grey parrot with crimson tail feathers turned to look at him, clucking a few times then saying in a strange parrot voice, “Just a minute! Just a minute!”

Chris considered turning around and leaving. This was too strange, and his canine companion was too precious to be dealing with a doctor who didn’t have a proper staff and left the care up to a weird fluffball cat and a parrot. When he turned toward the door, the bird suddenly sounded like a Star Wars droid, booping and beeping and trilling like R2D2, then changed to words. “Don’t go! Don’t g—”

“I’m so sorry!” A new voice—a feminine one, smooth and alto—broke into his periphery. “I was in the middle of something that couldn’t be put down.”

He whipped around to come face-to-face with a blessedly human figure standing before him, all wind-tousled jet hair and large obsidian eyes. Concern etched an otherwise blemish-free face of smooth tawny skin. She was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever beheld, but that notion, too, was immediately forgotten like the beauty of the landscape outside, in favor of the creature in his arms.

“My dog, he—” Chris began, snapping out of his momentary trance.

She swooped into action, flicking her eyes down to Dodger. She hummed and reached for him. “Let me take him back and have a look.”

“Can’t I go back?” he asked, reluctantly handing Dodger over.

She cradled the dog to her chest; Dodger didn’t struggle as she spoke softly. “It’ll be okay, Dodger.”

“You look as white as a ghost,” she said then, her voice now firm. “You need to sit down and calm down. You’re not going to be any help to your dog or to me if you’re freaking us both out during an exam. Let me look at the injury and stop any active bleeding. Then we’ll talk.”

And with that, she was gone so quickly he could have sworn she had kicked up a cloud of dust in her wake. However, he did what she’d instructed and collapsed onto one of the old benches, then covered his face with his hands and prayed. He didn’t do a lot of it these days, preferring other forms of soul searching, but he did say a few silent words. Dodger needed to be okay. He couldn’t lose this one constant in his hectic, always changing life. At least not until the dog had lived a long, fulfilled life at his side.

If only his anxiety would let him think positively.

#chris evans #chris evans fan fiction #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fan fic #ofc #hoot and howl #rpf

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the-apples-were-monitored · 3 years

Text

12.28.20

So. 10 years.

Yeah, today is the 10 year anniversary of me making this blog. I’d previously been an Amy Pond roleplay blog, but I tired of that after a few weeks and deleted that and made this instead. It marked the beginning of the end for my DeviantART, which I deleted a few months later.

I can’t believe I’ve been on this site for 10 years, but also can’t imagine being anywhere else. This place is part of my routine now, and I can’t imagine life without this outlet. This bastion of Old Internet Anonymity. Sure, my drafts have been broken for 2 years, but that’s Tumblr.

Thank you to everyone who’s been with me over the years, even if we’ve fallen out of touch. Special thanks to @robincrowe, @empathetic-vibrations, and my gf @super-skitty who migrated with me from DeviantART back when I was still 10nant-Fangirl. Thanks to people like @doll-frakking-house who’ve been here almost as long. Thank you all.

If you want more content from me, I post music news/trivia as well as a song each day over on my music blog, the-music-dealer.

I also post frequently on Archive of Our Own under the name the-red-rabbit. I post...

Good Omens:

“This Was Originally Called ‘Temptation Waits’, But the Title Was Left in the Car”

Ineffable Wives AU focusing on the 6000 years.

“Child in a Seacave”

Some time after the narrowly averted apocalypse, Crowley receives a message from God. But will he agree to answer her? Written because I have trauma with my own parents, but I was keeping my trans readers in mind when I wrote this one.

“Crimson and Clover”

Aziraphale tries chat-up lines.

Good Omens Series:

As Heaven is Wide Series:

Part 1: As Heaven is Wide

Aziraphale and Crowley decide to take a post-apocalypse road trip to see the world, but it gets cut short when they come upon a teenage girl who (despite her protests) needs to be rescued. Things get more complicated when they find themselves once again in direct opposition of heaven, and they have to wonder if it's worth upending their shaky peace with heaven to keep her safe.

There are trigger warnings on this multi-chapter series, but I don't go into real graphic detail because I don't think the story needs that. As someone with trauma, I don't think it's productive to be incredibly graphic. I deal more in implications and off-screen for that type of material. (If you've read some of my other stuff, this one is positively tame compared to that.)

Part 2: Perfect

While Aziraphale finds himself quite comfortable with the trials of parenthood, Crowley finds that raising a teenager is more challenging than he'd expected.

Part 3: Going to Hell (In Progress and Updating today)

Sending their daughter to her first day at school was always going to be a challenge for Aziraphale and Crowley. After all, she still hasn't got a grip on her magic and the thought of being apart from her causes them some portion of anxiety. They just want her to enjoy her new life and fit in, but that's a little hard to do when a lost ghost appears to ask her for help.

Yeah, this one's definitely inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except instead of metaphors for growing up as a general thing, it's specifically metaphors for obstacles for healing from trauma.

Community:

“And a (Short) Movie”

The study group tries to define the word 'himbo'.

“Community: The Movie (One By One They All Just Fade Away)”

It's been 5 years since Abed Nadir left for Hollywood to pursue a career in film. When he receives a call in the dead of night from Greendale, Colorado, it becomes his responsibility to deliver the news to the rest of his old study group. He embarks on an epic journey to track down Troy Barnes on his boat.

Dean-dong, the Dean is dead.

But is he?

Jeff Winger isn't so sure. He enlists the help of his old "study buddy" Annie Edison to use her FBI skills to find out what really happened to Craig Pelton.

When the study group returns to Greendale, they find that the school has been bought out by Hot Topic. Britta, who liked Hot Topic back "before it sold out", immediately channels her grief into protesting it. But when she meets a fellow anarchist who has vowed to take down the chain from the inside, she's forced to contend with the fact that shouting opinions isn't the same as creating meaningful change.

I have one Hannibal/Willy Wonka fic that I wrote for fun: “Lollirot”

Willy Wonka is a humble man with a dream of making candy for all the children of the world. When he starts running out of ideas for new confections, he seeks help for his depression. His doctor, Hannibal Lecter, is a strangely charming man with unorthodox ideas for how a factory should be run. Before long, Will starts to experience paranoid delusions about his competitors and loses his grip on reality as he sinks deeper into self-imposed isolation with nobody but his doctor to guide him.

A prequel to the show Hannibal.

One Grinch fic: “How the Grinch Got Therapy”

Epilogue to How the Grinch Stole Christmas empathizing with the Grinch. Because as a person with religious trauma, especially centered around Christmas, I think it's about time that we stop shaming people for not having fun during Christmas. Some people won't celebrate and it's weird how we're all expected to assimilate.

And my magnum opus, the fic I’ve been working on off and on for 10 years even since my DeviantART days...

Doctor Who Fic Series:

Am I...Ginger?:

Season 1: Am I...Ginger?

The Doctor swore off companions after Journey's End, believing himself too dangerous to be around them. But while looking for members of the Trickster's Brigade, he stumbled upon a child of Torchwood that made him question all that.

Of course, there's another problem. He was warned that the Trickster had a weapon, one that could defeat him once and for all. He follows the clues to London, where he finds a nameless woman whose love of history does not include sharing her own. Could she be the weapon he was warned about? Is he just interested in her as a distraction from his own mortality? Can she be saved this time? Can any of them? Or are they doomed to life the way it was written?

(Set between the Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and the Waters of Mars.)

(There are trigger warnings, but as always it only applies to one specific chapter and potential mentions. But this will deal with issues that people might find distasteful.)

Season 2: Am I...Ginger? The Mourning After (In Progress and Updating Today)

Picking up right from where season 1 left off.

"The Doctor's dead."

That's where this story left off. Despite many attempts to contact him, he's been nowhere to be found. But DOES that mean he's dead? The ragtag group of misfits he left behind keep having conflicting thoughts on the subject. Is he dead? Held hostage somewhere in need of rescue? Just avoiding them?

Just when they give up hope, the Doctor decides to crash his own funeral. Two funeral crashings in a row, that has to be a record for him. But can he still fit in the world he left behind, or has he changed too much? Is it even a good idea to try?

Set when Amy and Rory are on their honeymoon (between "A Christmas Carol" and "The Impossible Astronaut"). This is also just after "The Death of the Doctor" episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures. As usual, I'm playing fill-in-the-blanks with unexplored parts of canon.

...

10 years flew by. You guys have been there with me through some of the toughest parts of my life. I made this blog when I was still a 15 year old in an abusive home and it’s been with me ever since. So let’s hope the next 10 years will be better lmao.

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fragmentoftemptation · 3 years

Link

"You look stiff as a board in all these pictures?" Hitoshi noted, jumping on any opportunity to alleviate his boredom until Todoroki finally released him from this vehicular prison and he could finally have a smoke on the walk to the shop. Almost every single picture showed the heterochromatic hero with a fake, anxious smile on his face as he crouched near a dog, a hand awkwardly resting on its fur. Or a few pictures where he held the smaller puppies out from his body like some awkward half-attempt to mimic Rafiki in ‘The Lion King’. "No wonder you got peed on. Animals get nervous if they can sense that you’re nervous. You need to relax."

"What are you talking about?” Todoroki’s head popped into view over the back of the seat that Hitoshi was lying across. For the first time all morning, the other man was actually looking at him. It was more of a glare, really. But at least it was better than being blatantly ignored. Todoroki grabbed Hitoshi’s phone, scowling at it before practically throwing it back at him. “Why are looking at pictures of me?”

Hitoshi blinked at him innocently, smiling.

Todoroki frowned, disappearing once more with a sigh.

"Dammit, did you see where that screw went?" Todoroki grumbled after a moment.

“Ugh,” Nakagame groaned in response. “Please tell me you didn’t drop it! That screw is tiny! If we don’t find it, we can’t put the mic back together. And its not like Purple Haze can go in there wearing one fake gage. We are going to be out both microphones!”

Hitoshi pushed himself to sit up, ignoring both the pain in his ribs and the slight pulse of pleasure as the plug grazed his prostate once more. He maneuvered until he could see into the back. Both Nakagame and Todoroki were crouched over, looking for something on the floor.

"It’s got to be here,” Todoroki replied defensively, pulling out his phone and flipping on the flashlight to try to see underneath their makeshift desk. "And I wasn’t nervous, just so you know. I just don't really know how to act around animals. We were never allowed to have them when I was younger."

It took Hitoshi a second to realize that the other hero was talking to him again.

"Animals are easy," Hitoshi replied. His mom had loved animals when he was a child. She used to rescue stray cats and help find them new homes. "It’s people that are hard as fuck to figure out sometimes. The website said you are supposed to go again next week. I could go with you. Show you the ropes. I'm good with animals. Especially cats. Those manipulative little fuckers love me."

"No." Shouto replied curtly, barely sparing it a second thought.

Somebody had definitely pissed in his cheerios this morning.

"Found it!" Nakagame exclaimed triumphantly, holding the tiny (So tiny that Hitoshi couldn’t even see it squeezed between her thumb and index finger) screw up like it was a rare treasure.

"Oh, come on Todoroki. Let me go with you…" Hitoshi said, batting his eyes at Todoroki as the other man looked over at him. Then, just for shits and giggles (and possibly because he was quite literally bored out of his mind), Hitoshi whimpered. Purposely making the most pathetic little puppy whining noises that he could. He rested his hands and chin on the seat, giving the other hero the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster.

Todoroki stiffened up at his whimpering, a pink blush dusting his cheeks. Hitoshi could tell the other hero was forcing his face to remain neutral; Todoroki did that a lot. Purposely blank out his emotions. Although, with Endeavor for a father, Hitoshi couldn’t really blame him. The other man really did need to learn how to relax.

Nakagame looked over and laughed.

"How can you say no to that face?" Nakagame joined in on the teasing as she carefully stood up.

"It’s easy," Todoroki replied, a bit harshly in Hitoshi’s opinion. "I have to think of the mission first. Even with the wig and contacts, you aren't completely unrecognizable. The last thing we need is your picture all over the internet with me. Unless you want to explain to Yoshioka how come Saeto is actually a purple-haired, purple-eyed man who spends his off days hanging out with heroes at the animal shelter."

Hitoshi ignored him. He replied with a few more whines for good measure, enjoying the way they seemed to affect the other hero.

"What about a private lesson?" Hitoshi offered, dropping his voice to a much more seductive tone. "I can bring my own leash... and tail..."

#todoshin #todoroki shouto #shinsou hitoshi #mha #mha fanfiction #mha smut #bnha #bnha fanfiction #bnha smut #recommended for 18+#insomnia&cigarettes #read on ao3

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dailykhaleej · 4 years

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COVID-19: India’s repatriation flight tickets from UAE will cost more than regular fare

India’s repatriation flights will not come low-cost for these desirous to fly again. Picture Credit score: DailyKhaleej Archive

Dubai: Tickets on repatriation flights from UAE to India, which begin on Might 7, might be costlier than regular airfare, and including to the monetary woes of these flying again. Almost 200,000 Indians within the UAE have registered on the web site in search of to return residence.

“A one-way repatriation ticket to Delhi will cost approximately Dh1,400-Dh1,650 – this would earlier have cost between Dh600-Dh700 [during these months],” stated Jamal Abdulnazar, CEO of Cozmo Journey. “A one-way repatriation flight ticket to Kerala would cost approximately Dh1,900-Dh2,300.”

This may be fairly a burden, as a majority of these taking these flights have both misplaced their jobs or are sending again their households due to uncertainty on the work entrance. To now should pay airfare that’s almost on par with these throughout peak summer time months is sort of a blow.

A one-way repatriation flight ticket to Kerala would cost roughly Dh1,900-Dh2,300

– Jamal Abdulnazar, CEO of Cozmo Journey

Sources stated that officers in Indian diplomatic missions have already initiated calls to some expats, telling them about possible ticket fares and enquiring about their willingness to journey.

Though many believed repatriation can be government-sponsored, Indian authorities have clarified that prospects must pay for the tickets themselves. Those that thought they have been entitled to free repatriation may again out of journey plans for now.

Truth of life

However aviation and journey trade sources say larger charges can’t be escaped since social distancing norms should be strictly enforced always. That might restrict the variety of passengers on every of those flights.

“One airline can carry only limited passengers – therefore, multiple airlines are likely to get the approval to operate repatriation flights,” stated Abdulnazar. “Additionally, airports will have to keep up protected distance for passengers to queue up at immigration and safety counters.

“Therefore, it is recommended that multiple carriers fly into multiple Indian airports for repatriation to be expedited.”

The Indian authorities, to this point, haven’t taken the simple choice to get its non-public home airways into the rescue act. DailyKhaleej tried talking to the main gamers, however they declined to supply any official statements. Thus far, solely Air India, the nationwide airline, has been commissioned to function the flights.

Air India finds itself within the driver’s seat in terms of working India’s repatriation flights. Thus far, there isn’t any affirmation India’s non-public airways will be allowed to hitch in.

UAE carriers prepared to assist out

UAE’s Emirates airline, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia are prone to additionally function repatriation flights to India after Air India implements the primary section of providers.

“We are fully supporting governments and authorities across the flydubai network with their repatriation efforts, helping them to make arrangements for their citizens to return home,” stated a flydubai spokesperson.

“We will announce repatriation flights as and when they are confirmed, recognising this is an evolving situation whilst the flight restrictions remain in place.”

An AirArabia spokesperson stated the airline is able to function repatriation flights when the federal government tells them to.

Journey businesses prone to profit

Aside from working non-scheduled industrial flights, the Indian authorities can be deploying naval ships to convey expat Indians again. Sources declare the ships are to ferry passengers who can’t afford the repatriation airfares.

Even then, contemplating the sheer numbers who will wish to get on the flights, journey businesses are prone to see a surge in bookings since airline web sites alone might not address the demand set off in such a brief span.

Study from Gulf governments

In situations once they carried out their very own repatriation flights, some GCC governments paid the ticket fares to fly of their residents. These residents who didn’t have the prepared funds may method their diplomatic mission and help can be given on a case-to-case foundation.

Ought to Indians look forward to regular providers to renew?

Business sources say that these Indians desirous to fly again and can’t afford the repatriation flights ought to look forward to full providers to renew as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic settles.

However can those that misplaced their jobs or seen steep wage cuts keep on with out including to their prices? And is there any assure that when flight providers resume, ticket charges can be decrease than on the repatriation journeys.

As such, regular journey is predicted to choose up solely after the repatriation train to a number of nations is accomplished. UAE-based journey businesses should not seeing any bookings for summer time, which is historically the height vacation season.

“Majority want to stay put unless full confidence is restored,” stated Abdulnazar. “I anticipate full normalcy to be restored not till March 2021.

“People have also taken a hit to their income. Without disposable income, you will curtail your travel.”

What constitutes normalcy?

Airfares are anticipated to stay excessive, given the necessity to preserve the center seats empty to practise protected distance onboard.

We anticipate vacation journey to renew by October or November – however, the journey sentiment will not return to pre-COVID-19 ranges anytime quickly

– Manvendra Roy, Vice-President – Industrial at holidayme

“We expect holiday travel to resume by October or November – but, the travel sentiment will not go back to pre-COVID-19 levels anytime soon,” stated Manvendra Roy, Vice-President – Industrial at holidayme, an internet journey company. “The necessity to preserve the center seat vacant will add 30-40 per cent pricing strain per seat from an airline perspective.

“This will make holidays more expensive.”

As for enterprise journey, it will take a while to get well. Company workers at the moment are used to getting work accomplished by way of convention calls. “Companies will also curtail their travel expenditure since their income has taken a hit,” stated Abdulnazar.

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scpie · 4 years

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Mixed Directives: A reminder that robots.txt files are handled by subdomain and protocol, including www/non-www and http/https [Case Study]

I have run into an interesting robots.txt situation several times over the years that can be tricky for site owners to figure out. After surfacing the problem, and discussing how to tackle the issue with clients, I find many people aren’t even aware it can happen at all. And since it involves a site’s robots.txt file, it can potentially have a big impact SEO Company-wise.

I’m referring to robots.txt files being handled by subdomain and protocol. In other words, a site could have multiple robots.txt files running at the same time located at www and non-www, or by protocol at https www and http www. And since Google handles each of those separately, you can be sending very different instructions about how the site should be crawled (or not crawled).

In this post, I’ll cover two real-world examples of sites that ran into the problem, I’ll cover Google’s robots.txt documentation, explain how to detect this is happening, and provide several tips along the way based on helping clients with this situation.

Let’s get crawling, I mean moving.

Robots.txt by subdomain and protocol

I just mentioned above that Google handles robots.txt files by subdomain and protocol. For example, a site can have one robots.txt file sitting on the non-www version, and a completely different one sitting on the www version. I have seen this happen several times over the years while helping clients and I just surfaced it again recently.

Beyond www and non-www, a site can have a robots.txt file sitting at the https version of a subdomain and then also at the http version of that subdomain. So, similar to what I explained above, there could be multiple robots.txt files with different instructions based on protocol.

Google’s documentation clearly explains how it handles robots.txt files and I recommend you read that document. Here are some examples they provide about how robots.txt instructions will be applied:

This can obviously cause problems as Googlebot might fetch different robots.txt files for the same site and crawl each version of the site in different ways. Googlebot can end up doing some interesting things while site owners incorrectly believe it’s following one set of instructions via their robots.txt file, when it’s also running into a second set of instructions during other crawls.

I’ll cover two cases below where I ran into this situation.

Case study #1: Different robots.txt files with conflicting directives on www and non-www

While performing a crawl analysis and audit recently on a publisher site, I noticed that some pages being blocked by robots.txt were actually being crawled and indexed. I know that Google 100% obeys robots.txt instructions for crawling so this was clearly a red flag.

And to clarify, I’m referring to URLs being crawled and indexed normally, even when the robots.txt instructions should be disallowing crawling. Google can still index URLs blocked by robots.txt without actually crawling them. I’ll cover more about that situation soon.

When checking the robots.txt file manually for the site, I saw one set of instructions on the non-www version which were limited. Then I started to manually check other versions of the site (by subdomain and protocol) to see if there were any issues.

And there it was, a different robots.txt file was sitting on the www version of the site. And as you can guess, it contained different instructions than the non-www version.

non-www version of the robots.txt file:

www version of the robots.txt file:

The site was not properly 301 redirecting the www version of the robots.txt file to the non-www version. Therefore, Google was able to access both robots.txt files and find two different sets of instructions for crawling. Again, I know that many site owners aren’t aware this can happen.

A quick note about pages blocked by robots.txt that can be indexed

I mentioned earlier that pages properly blocked by robots.txt can still be indexed. They just won’t be crawled. Google has explained this many times and you can read more about how Google can index robotted URLs in its documentation about robots.txt. I know it’s a confusing subject for many site owners, but Google can definitely still index pages that are disallowed. For example, Google can do this when it sees inbound links pointing to those blocked pages.

When that happens, it will index the URLs and provide a message in the SERPs that says, “No information can be provided for this page”. Again, that’s not what I’m referring to in this post. I’m referring to URLs that are being crawled and indexed based on Google seeing multiple versions of a robots.txt file. Here is a screenshot from Google’s documentation about robotted URLs being indexed.

What about Google Search Console (GSC) and robots.txt files?

In a faraway region of Google Search Console, where search tumbleweeds blow in the dusty air, there’s a great tool for site owners to use when debugging robots.txt files. It’s called the robots.txt Tester and it’s one of my favorite tools in GSC. Unfortunately, it’s hard for many site owners to find. There are no links to it from the new GSC, and even the legacy reports section of GSC doesn’t link to it.

When using that tool, you can view previous robots.txt files that Google has seen. And as you can guess, I saw both robots.txt files there. So yes, Google was officially seeing the second robots.txt file.

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing one version:

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing the second version:

Needless to say, I quickly emailed my client with the information, screenshots, etc., and told them to remove the second robots.txt file and 301 redirect the www version to the non-www version. Now when Google visits the site and checks the robots.txt file, it will consistently see the correct set of instructions.

But remember, there are some URLs incorrectly indexed now. So, my client is opening those URLs up for crawling, but making sure the files are noindexed via the meta robots tag. Once we see that total come down in GSC, we’ll include the correct disallow instruction to block that area again.

Case study #2: Different robots.txt files for http and https and a blanket disallow

As a quick second example, a site owner contacted me a few years ago that was experiencing a drop in organic search traffic and had no idea why. After digging in, I decided to check the various versions of the site by protocol (including the robots.txt files for each version).

When attempting to check the https version of the robots.txt file, I first had to click through a security warning in Chrome. And once I did, there it was in all its glory… a second robots.txt file that was blocking the entire site from being crawled. There was a blanket disallow in the https version of the robots.txt file. For example, using Disallow: /

Note, there were a number of other things going on with the site beyond this issue, but having multiple robots.txt files, and one with a blanket disallow, was not optimal.

The https robots.txt file (hidden behind a security warning in Chrome):

Site health problems showing in GSC for the https property:

Fetching the https version shows it was blocked:

Similar to the first case, the site owner moved quickly to rectify the problem (which was no easy feat based on their CMS). But they eventually got their robots.txt situation in order. It’s another great example of how Google treats robots.txt files and the danger of having multiple files by subdomain or protocol.

Tools of the trade: How to detect multiple robots.txt files by subdomain or protocol

To dig into this situation, there are several tools that you can use beyond manually checking the robots.txt files per subdomain and protocol. The tools can also help surface the history of robots.txt files seen across a site.

Google’s robots.txt Tester

I mentioned the robots.txt Tester earlier and it’s a tool directly from Google. It enables you to view the current robots.txt file and previous versions that Google has picked up. It also acts as a sandbox where you can test new directives. It’s a great tool, even though Google is putting it in a distant corner of GSC for some reason.

The wayback machine

Yes, the internet archive can help greatly with this situation. I’ve covered this in a previous column on Search Engine Land, but the wayback machine is not just for checking standard webpages. You can also use it to review robots.txt files over time. It’s a great way to track down previous robots.txt versions.

The fix: 301 redirects to the rescue

To avoid robots.txt problems by subdomain or protocol, I would make sure you 301 redirect your robots.txt file to the preferred version. For example, if your site runs at www, then redirect the non-www robots.txt to the www version. And you should already be redirecting http to https, but just make sure to redirect to the preferred protocol and subdomain version. For example, redirect to https www if that’s the preferred version of your site. And definitely make sure all URLs are properly redirected on the site to the preferred version.

For other subdomains, you might choose to have separate robots.txt files, which is totally fine. For example, you might have a forum located at the subdomain forums.domain.com and those instructions might be different from www. That’s not what I’m referring to in this post. I’m referring to www versus non-www and http versus https for your core website. Again, other subdomains could absolutely have their own robots.txt files.

Summary: For robots.txt files, watch subdomain and protocol

Since it controls crawling, it’s incredibly important to understand how Google handles robots.txt files. Unfortunately, some sites could be providing multiple robots.txt files with different instructions by subdomain or protocol. And depending on how Google crawls the site, it might find one, or the other, which can lead to some interesting issues with crawling and indexing. I would follow the instructions, pun intended, in this post to understand how your site is currently working. And then make sure you are sending the clearest directions possible to Googlebot for how to crawl your site.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Glenn Gabe is an SEO Company consultant at G-Squared Interactive (GSQi) and has over 24 years of experience in digital marketing agency. Glenn currently helps clients with algorithm update recovery, technical SEO Company audits, SEO Company for website redesigns and migrations, and SEO Company training. During his career, Glenn has helped companies across a wide range of industries including publishing, e-commerce, health and medical, finance, startups, military, education, non-profits, real estate, affiliate marketing agency, and more.

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source http://www.scpie.org/mixed-directives-a-reminder-that-robots-txt-files-are-handled-by-subdomain-and-protocol-including-www-non-www-and-http-https-case-study/

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laurelkrugerr · 4 years

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Mixed Directives: A reminder that robots.txt files are handled by subdomain and protocol, including www/non-www and http/https [Case Study]

Let’s get crawling, I mean moving.

Robots.txt by subdomain and protocol

I’ll cover two cases below where I ran into this situation.

Case study #1: Different robots.txt files with conflicting directives on www and non-www

And there it was, a different robots.txt file was sitting on the www version of the site. And as you can guess, it contained different instructions than the non-www version.

non-www version of the robots.txt file:

www version of the robots.txt file:

A quick note about pages blocked by robots.txt that can be indexed

What about Google Search Console (GSC) and robots.txt files?

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing one version:

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing the second version:

Case study #2: Different robots.txt files for http and https and a blanket disallow

Note, there were a number of other things going on with the site beyond this issue, but having multiple robots.txt files, and one with a blanket disallow, was not optimal.

The https robots.txt file (hidden behind a security warning in Chrome):

Site health problems showing in GSC for the https property:

Fetching the https version shows it was blocked:

Tools of the trade: How to detect multiple robots.txt files by subdomain or protocol

Google’s robots.txt Tester

The wayback machine

The fix: 301 redirects to the rescue

Summary: For robots.txt files, watch subdomain and protocol

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/mixed-directives-a-reminder-that-robots-txt-files-are-handled-by-subdomain-and-protocol-including-www-non-www-and-http-https-case-study/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/04/mixed-directives-reminder-that.html

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xfilesnews · 7 years

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FanWorks Wednesdays - Vickie Moseley

Gather round kids, we’re going to tell you a story from the X-Files Fandom days of old. For the “old timers” like me, join in and smile at the remembrances of EMXC, Gossamer, and the old alt.tv newsgroups. This week’s author was there for all of it. Vickie Moseley and her stories were a staple in the fandom for years. Her fantastic body of work will keep you occupied for ages, with 252 credits to her name on Gossamer alone. Vickie also contributed to the “Virtual Seasons” project that spun off to continue the stories of Mulder and Scully in a different direction when Season 8 took to the TV airwaves. If you’ve never explored their seasons, bookmark that page for when you’ve finished reading this interview and then dive in.

If you like family fic, “Flight Into Egypt” is a long series I revisit frequently when I need to forget that Mulder and Scully didn’t get to raise their son. It soothes that pain quite nicely. Another favorite series is “By Her Side” which is told through Billy Scully Jr.’s eyes. Vickie does a wonderful job looking at Big Brother Bill as something other than a jerk and fandom’s favorite punching bag. In “Joy and Sorrow,” Maggie Scully guides us through the moments of Mulder’s rebirth in “Dead Alive.” It’s touching and sweet and will have you wishing they would have given us more screen time with Mom Scully in Season 8.

I could go on and on with recs but I’ll cut to the chase and get to the interview. We talked with Vickie about writing, inspiration, fandom, and of course The X-Files.

How long have you been a Phile?

I stumbled onto the fandom in March 1995. I'd been a fan of the show since it first aired (actually, I was a fan once I read the TV Guide Fall Preview issue for Fall 1993 and saw the small blurb about the 'new science fiction show about aliens'). When my husband 'gave' me the internet for my birthday I immediately typed 'X-Files' into the yahoo search engine and after some sites dedicated to the actors and character bios, the old Rutgers Fan Fiction site came up. From there, I was hooked.

What was your first episode?

The Pilot. I saw every episode as it aired up to Season 8. I watched “Within” and couldn't stand the changes so I resorted to reading about the episodes on Haven until David Duchovny reappeared. I am very much a Mulderist. I have only watched “Trust No 1” and “The Truth” from Season 9.

How long have you been writing fic?

September 1995 was my first posting -- “Aftermath.” You can read it, warts and all. I was attempting to write a fill in the blank for the summer after the season 2 finale “Anasazi.” Within a week of posting the story became 'alt.universe' because Chris Carter went in a totally different direction than I had taken.

What inspired you to start writing?

Guilt. Back then we were a small community. People were always begging for more stories (myself included) and since there weren't that many writers, everyone was encouraged to 'give back' by writing stories of their own. I got a lot of encouragement from the early writers and the brave souls who had fan fic sites. Later, with the Ohio State archives (this archive was the birth of what became Gossamer, check here for more information ) and the .alt.x-files.fanfiction newsgroup and EMXC (E-Mail X Creative) it was almost a requirement that if you wanted more stories, you better write some of them.

Who is your favorite XF character to write?

My favorite character to write is Scully. I can get in her head. I can hear her voice as clear as a bell as I'm writing her. She's not my favorite character, however. I think I see too much of myself. All the flaws and dark places that I would like to change in myself, I transpose onto Scully. Sometimes I just want to shake her!

Are there any XF characters you dislike or find too difficult to write?

Krycek was always a problem to write, even in the Virtual Seasons. And I can't write Doggett. I've tried but my annoyance with the character always shines through. Same is true of Diana Fowley. I once vowed to kill her off in a story and damned if she didn't slip the noose and come out alive. I was very happy Carter did the deed for me.

Is there a story you're most proud of or that's a favorite?

“Out of the Cold” is probably my favorite of the stories that I wrote solo. But the most fun was writing with a partner. I've had such wonderful partners and group writing exercises. I am also very proud of the work we did on the Virtual Season.

With so many archives to choose from these days, where is the best place to find your work?

Gossamer has almost all of my stuff and my own website has it too. Many thanks to Mimic for giving me a home: http://vickiemoseley.mimicsmusings.com/

You've been well known in the fandom for a long time, do you still write for XF or have your skills been focused elsewhere?

Lately, I've been involved in politics to the exclusion of other activities. I worked on a local race last fall and I've been advocating for healthcare since January. I'm also doing work on a grant project and I keep an eye on our legislature so all of that keeps me away from fan fiction.

If you do still write XF fic, where does your inspiration come from after many years? If you're not, is there anything in particular that caused you to stop writing XF fic?

I haven't written much in the past few years. I could chalk it up to writer's block but it feels like more than that. I still love the fandom and I reread a lot of my favorites. I guess I was hoping for a real revival. I was excited by the prospect of a Season 10 with the original cast, but once it aired I found I really only liked two of the episodes and the way the relationship was presented between Mulder and Scully just left so very little room to play. It didn't mimic real life, it was sadder than real life. There seemed no way to 'rescue' them and that's the type of story I prefer to write. I'm not big on 'angst for angst sake' and it almost seemed on overdrive in S10, especially the season opener and finale. So I haven't been able to come up with anything by myself. I did help a little with the last Virtual Season story “Aveum” that was posted recently. Not to spoil too much, the story contains an infant and at the time it was being written I was helping my daughter and her new baby so it was almost too easy to write.

Have you written your own original characters outside of fandom?

Only as far as drawing up a few characters. One day I'll do something with them . . . maybe.

Anything you’d like to share about your writing process?

I tend to write the stories that play out in my mind. Most of the time I just start typing and 'the characters' take over and write the story. There have been times I read what I've written and think “wow, where did that come from?” But I write as therapy. I used to joke that fan fiction is much cheaper than Zoloft or a therapist. It was a way to escape after a particularly painful episode in my life and after it got me over the hump, I just kept going.

What do you find most difficult about writing?

Making it happen when it's not there. When it's there ('it' being the spark, the life force, whatever you want to call it -- the Muse), when the story is inside me sometimes I can't get to the computer fast enough, I can't type it fast enough (as my beta readers will attest). But when I sit and stare at a blank screen, even when I have an idea floating around in my head and it just won't happen -- then it just hurts.

Do you have a favorite author? (fanfic or published!)

My favorite authors published are Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke (hardcore sci-fi -- no dragons, no elves).

My favorite fan fic writers are too numerous to mention (go to the Authors Index at Gossamer and start with A). I love reading Dawn's “Blood Ties” series -- I read it every year at least once. I read Susan Proto's “Life Cycles” over and over again. I've read all of MalibuSunet's stories a dozen times. Same is true of Suzanne Bickerstaff's “The Magician” (the ONLY fantasy I'll admit to reading). Dee_Ayy's stories are my Mulder fix, especially “Short of Breath.” I'm right now rereading Kronos' “The Abyss Looks Back.” All of her stories just draw me in and won't let go. I'm still mourning that she never finished “Ascent into Hell.”

Is there any advice you'd give to aspiring writers?

They say “write every day” and I would imagine that's good advice, but I would say simply “write.” Write even if you don't know where the story is going, or if you just have an idea for a character or just the setting or even just an outline of a plot. My youngest son is going to college for game design but all his life he's had ideas for games and stories. He tells me his stories in the car and I try to get him to write them down. My second to the youngest son actually has written a few stories -- now I just want him to finish them and get them published.

Anything else you'd like to share that I missed?

I have met so many dear friends in this fandom, particularly through fan fiction, writers and those who read. I love them all. I would like to thank everyone I partnered with: Susan Proto, Donna Honeycutt, Sally Bahnsen, Summer, Michelle, Starfleetofficer1, Martin, Theresa Jahn, Suzanne Bickerstaff, dtg, all the VS producers -- if I forget anyone chalk it up to my advanced years. Writing with someone is by far the most fun anyone could have. I used to joke that it was like playing 'Barbie and Ken' in the backyard with my cousins.

Also, I would like to thank all the people over the years who have read my stories and sent me feedback. You have no idea how much those emails brightened my day! It is such a rush to know that someone somewhere (some pretty far away, even) read something I wrote and liked it enough to send me a note. The nearly instant gratification that comes with feedback is one of the reasons I wrote so much. I just loved hearing from people.

I've had other shows I loved, Star Trek (original and Next Gen), Battlestar Gallactica, Probe (if anyone remembers that one) but X-Files was the first time I got so engaged I wanted to be part of it. From that perspective, fanfiction kept the series alive for me and brought me into a wonderful community. Oh, there have been some all out wars (shipper v. noromos, Mulder v. Doggett, original pairings v. next gen, etc) but overall in fan fiction there really is room for everyone. If you like slash stories, or stories that center around Skinner or even stories around Kim, his assistant, fan fiction is the place. When Melissa Scully was killed off in the series, she lived on in fan fiction. When baby William was given up for adoption, he was reunited with his biological parents many times over in fan fiction. Some of the stories are so well done that you will swear you saw the episode (what season did Mulder's brother Grey show up? <wink>) If you have never picked up a fanfic and read it, I encourage you to do so now. If you haven't read anything for a while, go to Gossamer and find something. It will be like the series never ended.

#XFN #fanfiction #fanfic #XFiles #The X-Files

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whoinwhoville · 7 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Doctor Who (2005) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Characters: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler Additional Tags: Fluff, silliness, Flirting, Fruit, Vegetables, AU Series: Part 2 of I love AUs Summary:

It's been said that the produce aisle is a great place to meet new friends.

Originally posted 5/18/2015. Prompted by @kelkat9. Rescued by captaingrahamcr.

The first time they spoke, she was staring at a pile of lemons. "The round and heavy ones are the best," he said.

"Eh, what?" she stuttered.

The chipper and decidedly male voice had come from behind her back. Very Closely. And the source of that voice was still there. Hovering. She could feel his hair tickling her ear, and his warm breath on her neck.

"Lemons," he said brightly, looking over her shoulder. "Pick two lemons of equal size. Well," he drew out the word and then sidled alongside her. "Relatively equal in size as best as you can guess. The average human eye isn't going to have the ability to discern the volume of the object simply by looking at it. Me, on the other hand, I might be able to pick two lemons of nearly equal size, and discern not only their volume, but their level of ripeness and freshness, and give a fairly accurate estimate of their juice yield."

"So you're a lemon expert, then?" She looked at him directly for the first time. She swore his eyes twinkled — an actual proper glimmer of starlight that sparkled from deep within his gorgeous brown eyes. And those freckles across the bridge of his fine nose.

"Lemon expert? Naw," he said, scrunching his perfect nose. "Numbers. That's my expertise. Well," he drawled again, looking up at the ceiling for a moment, "among other things." He grinned at her.

"Go on then,” she said, sounding much calmer than she felt, “pick me some perfect lemons. I’ll be needing about six of em, ta."

He filled a bag, and offered up the perfect citrus specimens with a gallant little bow. Before she could thank him, he’d already trotted away, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his tightly-tailored brown pinstriped trousers.

oOo

She was studying an assortment of stone fruit. The display of peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, prunes, and pluots had her mouth watering for a sweet treat.

And again he appeared. This time, he was balancing a cantaloupe in one hand and a pineapple in the other. Two large bunches of kale were tucked under one arm, and he had an enormous bag of carrots under the other.

"Why don't ya just use a trolley?" She tipped her head to the side, and frowned slightly.

"Why would I go and do a thing like that for?” he protested. “I have perfectly useful hands and arms. A trolley would be a waste of human energy."

"Alright..." she drawled. "So do you think less of me for using a basket?"

"Not at all!" he enthused. "You are efficiently maximising your human physiology by utilising a basket." He peered into the canvas basket she had looped over one arm. "You have six different types of fruit and veg. I only have four. Oh! Pluots! You have pluots! I didn't know Tesco carried pluots! Brilliant fruit."

"Yeah, thought I'd give them a go. Never had a pluot before. So what are ya planning on doing with all of that kale and those carrots, then? Juicing?"

"Nope." He offered her a smile.

“What then?” she pressed.

“Can’t rightly say.” He frowned to himself, turned on his heel, and hurried away.

oOo

Time number three they bumped -- literally -- into each other at a farmers market. "Perusing the purple potatoes, I presume?"

She startled, even thought it was just a friendly shoulder bump.

He sidled up next to her and watched her hand skim over the potatoes.

"Do you have any sense of personal space?" she asked, half laughing as she turned to look at him.

"Perturbed?" he comically enunciated.

"Probably should be." A slow, wide grin took over her face. She tipped her head to the side. "Purple bananas?"

"Technically, they are red bananas, aka Jamaican bananas. But they really do look more purple than red, don't they?" He crinkled his brow. "Absolutely brilliant for baking purposes, they really are. I'm John Smith, by the way. Who are you?"

“I’m Rose. Rose Tyler. It’s almost like we’re old friends by now."

"Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler. The Doctor and Rose Tyler. Proper produce pals?"

"Probably," she continued the alliteration.

He tugged on his ear and looked away for a moment. "I saw a juicing stand a few booths down. Want to grab a drink? I mean, only if you want to..."

She chewed her lip for a moment, but then smiled. "Sure. Sounds great. Just let me purchase these purple potatoes."

He grinned.

oOo

Their next meeting was planned. Sort of. She may have (not so) subtly let him know that she had a habit of picking up fresh fruit and veg on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays on her way home from work. Usually around six.

“Hello Rose Tyler. Fancy bumping into you in the produce aisle. What’s on your list today?”

“Mineolas, pomelo, lemon grass, red pepper, basil, cucumbers, and ginger.”

"Fresh is best, you know. Oh! I love ginger! Did you know that the best way to remove the tough outer skin of the ginger root is to use the tip of a spoon? Scrapes right off.”

“Thanks for the tip.” She smiled as she reached for a root. “Cooking Thai food tonight.”

“Hence the basil, ginger, pepper, cucumbers, and lemon grass?”

“Yep.”

“There's one thing I have never seen you buy, Rose Tyler."

"What's that?" She smiled brightly.

"Bananas."

"Bananas? I never buy bananas. They're very bad for you," she said, eyes wide.

"What? What?! Who told you that?!" His voice was at least two octaves higher than normal.

"I read it on the Internet.“

“Just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t make it true. Bananas are one of the universe's most perfect foods. The health benefits are... are... beyond compare! Potassium, fibre, mood elevation, vitamins B6 and B12. They're good for hangovers, heartburn, and hypertension."

"Really?" she asked, turning to look at the display. She reached for a small bunch of speckled bananas.

"No, no, no, no, not those. Allow me." He grabbed the bunch she was holding, and tossed them to the other side of the pile. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pair of paper 3D glasses.

She gawped.

"Aren't you going to ask what's with the glasses?" He pointed to his face.

"What's with the glasses?" She giggled.

"I can see any blemish on the skin that might be invisible to the naked eye!"

"You have banana glasses.”

“I take my bananas very seriously, Rose Tyler." The look on his face matched the seriousness of his voice. “Oh, now look at this! Here we have an amazing bunch of bananas! Perfect!” He put three bananas in her basket. “This will hold you over until your next produce day. Make sure you eat at least one a day.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” she replied, nodding obediently.

oOo

"You know, not once in all the times we've marketed together have you told me what you do." She reached for a starfruit. “You’ve bragged about your superior abilities to know how to pick the ripest melon, which pomegranate is ripe, finding the best beets and turnips and green beans. And oh! Thanks for the tip about carrots — buying the ones with the tops still on — they really do stay crisp and fresh much longer.” She tipped her head to the side. “Are you the produce manager?”

“Nope. I’m a scientist. That is, I’m a doctor of, well, several things. Currently, I'm working on alternative energy sources." He held a bunch of radishes at eye level, squinting as he studied. "It's why I buy so much produce. I’m researching the possibility of plant-based fuels.”

"Blimey, I had no idea. Here, I'm just a shop girl, and you're trying to change the world with fruit and veg.”

"You're not just anything, Rose Tyler," he reprimanded.

She reached for a pear.

"Stop!" he screeched.

Rose jumped at the curt command.

"Don't you dare,” he said darkly.

"Why?" she asked, shrinking away from him.

"Pears are despicable. And I promise, if you ever, ever eat a pear, I won't kiss you for at least a week."

"Kiss me?" she raised one eyebrow.

"Erm... right. Yes." He cleared his throat. "After we, you know, have a few.. erm... dates. And I don’t mean eating the fruit.”

"Are you asking me out on a date, Doctor Smith?" She moved a step closer, and held the pear close to her lips, almost touching.

"Yes. Yes I am. But please, would you put that pear down? Or I will rescind my offer."

With a wicked gleam in her eyes, she put the pear in her basket, and then added a few more.

"I take it that's a no, then?" His shoulders rounded, and he looked to the side.

"Of course not," she said, laughing. "I'd love to go out with you. The pears are for my mum. Actually, I really don't fancy pears."

He released the breath he was holding. "Well that's a relief! How about tonight?”

"Yeah, I'd like that. I just have one more thing on my list. I’ll be right back.”

She slipped on a pair of 3D glasses and jogged to the large display of bananas.

#i wrote this #ten x rose #ficandchips #grocery store au #produce aisle au #lol #are those even things?#fluff

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adamcairnsorg-blog · 7 years

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How To Crush It With The World's Ultimate Productivity Tips

The Ultimate Productivity Tips Roundup

What happens when you type "Productivity Tips" into google?

You get masses of hits containing hundreds of results. The problem is how to find the grains of gold?

You could start ploughing through each result one by one and see what they say (don't do that!).

Here's what you do instead.

I've been through hundreds of the best productivity tips from experts around the world. I've sorted them, chucked out the stuff that doesn't cut it, deleted duplicates and organised it into a single uber-list.

It turns out that the advice from productivity experts can be categorised and that's what I've done to make searching for exactly the kind of advice you're looking for easy to do.

So whatever kind of productivity advice you're looking for, there's going to be a tip here for you.

The headings below are broad categories. Click on the title and it will take you to that section. Then you can scroll down until you find something that interests you.

1. Focus On What's In Front Of You And Avoid Multitasking

2. Batch Your Jobs and Tasks

3. Build Consistency In The System And Methods You Use

4. Set Things Up A Day Ahead

5. Delegate It

6. Deal With Distractions

7. Eat That Frog

8. Look After Your Health

9. Manage Meetings Better

10. Organise Your Workspace

11. Outsource It

12. Develop A Positive Mindset

13. Use Rituals To Create New Habits

14. Say No

15. Build Your Self Awareness

16. Simplify It

17. Step Back From It

18. Manage Your Time

19. Use Travel Wisely

20. Use Technology

21. Write It Down

1. Focus On What's In Front Of You

Prioritise Your Most Important Tasks

What The Science Says

Our brains are actually not evolved to multitask. When we were first walking about on the savannah, it didn't pay to be distracted. You generally got eaten.

Task Switching as it is known has a quantifiable impact on the time taken to complete tasks. The general rule is that lost time increases with the complexity of the task involved. The cost involves the brain undertaking two switches. First the task of changing subject, from one task to another. Then the second task of finding your place in the task you are switching to.

Although these costs are quite small, they do add up.

One tactic to minimise task switching which experts suggest is to prioritise your most important tasks. By focusing your attention on your most important tasks, you will reduce the likelihood that your attention will waver.

Nicole Fallon Taylor takes up the suggestion that "goals are the most effective way to prioritize what’s important so you can delegate or eliminate the most unnecessary tasks that slow you down". In her article published on Business News Daily she shares some advice from Kathleen Kobe, founder of Smart Business Mom who states categorically that we should avoid multi-tasking. says, don't do it and I agree. You can read the rest of Fallon's article here.

We Just Aren't Evolved To Multitask

Robin Sharma makes the point that multitasking can also reduce our cognitive capacity. He cites research which "confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!)." The Daily Muse puts it this way:

"Stop trying to multitask! We're really not built for it, and while it may feel like you're getting more done, everything will ultimately take you longer."

Brandon Turner, reflecting on a past year of improved personal productivity writes:

"This past year, I made a commitment to multitask less and focus more on the task at hand"

The Take Away

Check to make sure you're spending time focused on your most important goals. To increase your effectiveness, create opportunities to zero in on one thing at a time and avoid the temptation to try to focus on more than one activity at a time.

References:

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx

2. Batch Your Jobs And Tasks

Use Time Slots

One way to deal with the damaging effects of multitasking is to chunk your jobs or tasks into time slots. I call this batching. Brandon Turner explains what he does. "Simply take your to-do list and give each item a place on your calendar. it doesn't matter if you use a physical calendar or an online one; simply block out time to work through each item on your list".

Graham Allcott speaking on ITV News suggest we should undertake a 5-minute re-boot whenever our attention or energy level is waning.

"Do you find yourself staring at the screen, feeling a bit jaded? The average attention span is typically 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the person and the time of day. So every half an hour, take a five minute re-boot – get up, grab a drink, focus your eyes on something else - even a couple of minutes away from the screen will help stop your attention from waning and keep you fresh through the day".

Match Your Work With Attention Span And Energy Levels

Organising your work so that it matches our natural attention span seems like a sensible manoeuvre. The Daily Muse even suggests allocating a time slot for you favourite distractions:

"Budget limited time for your favorite distractions".

"Knowing that you'll get to spend 10 minutes on Pinterest after you work for a couple hours can help you avoid wasting time on it now. Plus, using that as a reward for getting through hard work can help you stay motivated."

The advice to allocate time to tasks doesn't just apply to your daily activities. As The Daily Muse suggests, allocating periodic time to administrative tasks can have a big pay off too.

"Once a quarter, do a massive inbox clean and archive all messages older than 2-3 months. (Seriously, answering them at this point would just be embarrassing.) As emails you're subscribed to roll into your inbox, make a snap decision about whether you actually read them or if you should unsubscribe".

The Daily Muse continues:

"If email's really getting you down, try Time Management Ninja's system for only checking it twice a day…Only check email at specific times during the day, and try to limit it to only 4-5 times a day. If you don't have nearly this much self control, use a tool like Inbox Pause to keep emails from showing up in your inbox until you're ready for them".

Robin Sharma batches his email activities to match his energy levels.

"Check email in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work"

You can have a look at my own advice on email management here.

Put Time In Your Schedule

Stacia Pierce has a different take on batching. Her advice is not just to make a list – something a lot of us do. She goes further, recommending:

"Give yourself an allotted time to get things done. When I am planning for events, I often block of chunks of time weeks in advance so that I can research, plan and write my presentations. I often use my morning hours to get it done…Blocking time allows you to get into a zone. You can use the Rescue Time app to eliminate distractions from your computer and devices so that while you’re in the zone you are completely focused".

Laura McClellan argues that this principle applies to lots of things we do each day.

"If the demands of your day include routine tasks, try to group similar tasks and schedule certain times during the day to knock them out. Answering emails? Returning phone calls? Entering expenses into a spreadsheet? Instead of interrupting your other tasks to do these things piecemeal, batch them".

Use Tools To Help You

Stacia has some advice for us about dealing with the incoming tide of information hitting our inboxes and other kinds of content we come across while on-line.

"Create organized reading lists with the Pocket app and Instapaper. As you browse the internet these apps allow you to put articles, videos and other information in a virtual pocket for you to read at your own leisure. Facebook allows you to save videos and Instagram allows you to save posts that you want to reference later as well".

I'm a big fan of Instapaper personally. I use it not only to save items I'd like to read later, but I can also clip internet pages I might want to refer to again. Once I've reviewed them later, if I want to keep them I send them into Evernote.

Of course, we also need to manage our social media feeds. Here's Stacia again:

"Save time with Social Media. Let’s face it, social media is here to stay and it plays a major role in business marketing. To stay on top of it all, use Hootsuite, my tried and true app for years, to automate social media posts to Twitter, Facebook and more. The app has gotten more sophisticated over the years and offers many more social media management tools as well. Hootsuite has never let me down. I love that it organizes your time lines, direct messages and mentions so that you can review them easily".

Hootsuite is a great app, but today I use Sprout Social. I prefer the way it organises my feeds and I find the scheduling capability suits my way of working better.

Go On The Offensive

Rounding up this section on batching, The Harvard Business Review in a collection of articles from top leaders shares the approach Tom Rath takes. He makes sure that he can:

"Block out time to work away from email, programming your phone to only ring for select colleagues, and resisting emails first thing in the morning until you’ve achieved at least one important task."

Control Interruptions

Finally in this section, Bruna Martinuzzi suggests taking a leaf out of the restauranteur Danny Meyer's approach to managing people:

"He has his assistant group all questions that come up during the day in one list so she doesn't have to interrupt him repeatedly during office hours. Take a cue from this and see how you can ask others on your team to group questions, requests and other non-urgent inquiries so you're not distracted by interruptions that don't add value".

So that concludes the round up of top advice about batching jobs and tasks. Avoiding multitasking and batching activities can make a huge difference to our personal productivity.

The Take Away

If you're already implementing the advice to avoid multi-tasking it makes sense to create time slots in your day. Use these time slots to match work to your energy levels and attention span and allocate time in your calendar to tackle similar tasks in groups. You'll find this easier to accomplish if you deploy tools to help you. Remember to control distractions that could throw you off course.

References

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

https://timemanagementninja.com/2017/02/7-tips-to-increase-your-email-speed/

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/how-to-beat-email-and-quadruple-your-best-time

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

3. Build Consistency In The System And Methods You Use

Build A System

With so much complexity around us and with so many ways of receiving information it is inevitable that without some kind of system we are going to get overwhelmed. This is one of the most critical steps any of us can take to become better organised and so more productive.

I've written a series of posts about my own approach to these issues. You can read my note taking method here.

Create A Schedule Of Activities

At its most basic a system has a schedule of activities that you follow in a pre-defined way. Brian Tracy puts it like this.

"Scheduling your time reduces stress and releases energy. The very act of using your organizational skills to plan your day, week, and month gives you a greater feeling of control and will help increase productivity throughout your day. You’ll feel in charge of your life. It actually increases your self-esteem and improves your sense of personal power".

There is a psychological aspect to developing a system – it creates a sense of order around you and that helps to reduce stress. When we are stressed our creativity and productivity drops exponentially.

Manage Your Diary

Scot Farquhar has this recommendation for diary management:

"Review your diary at the end of each week. Literally print it out and review it. Ask yourself three questions: (1) did we achieve what we wanted to (2) did I personally need to be there (3) could it have been achieved in a shorter time frame. It will transform how you spend your time."

This regular discipline can pay you back many times over.

Manage Your To Do's

April Underwood, Vice President at Slack reminds us of how important it is to have a system for managing all of your to-do's.

"Have a clear system for to-dos: whether it’s 'Getting Things Done' or the 'Checklist Manifesto,' just have a system and stick to it. I have a very specific method I use in Slack and in email that works for me, and knowing I have that system keeps me from feeling overwhelmed even when I’m behind or the to-dos pile up."

Big, Brave Goals Release Energy

Here's Robin Sharma again:

"Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes".

Be Realistic

Regular and consistent seems to be the way. Larry Kim is dismissive of To-Do lists as they are not actually a system but actually in Eric Barker's words, a 'pipe dream'.

"Have you ever had that to-do item that simply wouldn't disappear? It hovers at the bottom of the list or scratched in the corner, petulantly scowling at you for days, weeks, even months! As more time passes, you feel even less inclined to give it attention. We've all been there--it's just one of the reasons I'm saying out with the to-do list and in with scheduling".

This means you have to be realistic about what is possible. Eric Barker suggests we should:

"Seriously sit down and consider your available time and what specific slots you can designate to completing certain tasks in a given day. To-dos are pipe dreams. Scheduling is a game plan. Studies show that even scheduling free time can be rewarding and can result in better quality of time spent – even if that time spent is playing PS4 or reading a Stephen King novel".

Always Have Back Up Tasks

The Daily Muse reckons we could all do with having a list of things we can turn our attention to when we are blocked from working on what he have planned to do.

"Always have backup tasks. There are times when life will try to derail your productivity: A person you need to talk to is unavailable, the internet is down, or you just can’t focus on the task at hand. Always have other options so that you’re able to get something done even when you can’t finish your primary task."

This method ensure there's always something we can move forward, even when our planned activity can't be worked on.

Clarify Your Three Most Important Goals

Many of the experts included in this round up recommend adopting a 'top three things' approach. J D Meier has written extensively about this method in his brilliant "Getting Things Done The Agile Way."

Writing about this Stacia Pierce suggests:

"Streamline your focus. Instead of trying to get a million things done in a day, write your list then choose the top three things to accomplish each day. These three things should be of the highest priority and once accomplished will leave you feeling satisfied with your productivity. Use the Streaks app to be reminded to accomplish your top 3 daily goals. You can also turn your most important daily tasks into new habits with this app’s features".

The trick is to ruthlessly prioritise. Kathleen Kobel, founder of Smart Business Mom makes this clear:

"If you can, set aside the low-priority items and come up with a plan to delegate or outsource them so that you can spend more time on the things that add more value to your position and the company."

Have A Great Filing System

There's so much information we now have available to us, that the premium on great organisational systems for storing and retrieving that information has never been higher. Brian Tracy suggests:

"Resolve to improve your organizational skills and use a filing system both at home and at work. …There are few activities so frustrating as spending your valuable time looking for misplaced materials because no thought was given to a filing and retrieval system".

He suggests that the best systems are probably the simplest. He recommends using an alphabetical system and then creating a master list which enables you to understand very quickly where everything is.

Never Procrastinate

Having a good system is one thing, but it is crucial that you develop some self-discipline too. Not only will this help make the system stick, it will also stop things piling up, particularly if you follow Anthony Tan, CEO and co-founder of Grab's advice:

"Just get it done right away. I don't wait until I get home, I take calls wherever I am. I execute on any feedback I get right away. That way the work never piles up."

The Take Away

To be a more productive person, build a system that you can trust. Manage your time, your to-do's, and major goals. Have a plan for when you get side tracked. Avoid procrastination.

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://theweek.com/articles/444385/how-most-productive-person-office--still-home-by-530-pm

http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

4. Set Things Up A Day Ahead

Prepare The Night Before

There are only 24-hours in each day. There's obviously a limit to how much time you have and what you can get done in a single day. Some productivity experts recommend getting a jump on each day by preparing the day before. Bharath Kumar writes:

"The family is asleep. They think the weekend is over. Monday morning is yet to come. Work through Sunday night, or at least till 3AM. You get at least 4 hours of extremely productive, thoughtful, non-interrupted time with no expectations. When you get work done on a Sunday night, your Monday is awesome. You meet colleagues with confidence, and can do meetings to plan the next week - all armed by a productive night."

The Rationale For Preparing A Day Ahead

Brian Tracy is another who uses this practice to increase his productivity. He explains the rationale for doing so like this:

"A major benefit of preparing your daily list the night before is that this exercise lets you sleep more soundly. A major reason for insomnia is your lying awake trying not to forget to remember everything that you have to do the following day. Once you have written down everything you have to do on your list, it clears your mind and enables you to sleep deeply. This will help you increase productivity throughout the next work day."

In a later section on looking after your health there are some further suggestions about how getting a good night's sleep can have a positive impact on your personal effectiveness. Thorin Klosowski discusses Barack Obama's approach to preparation:

"By the end of the day, most of us want to relax with some cable TV and zone out for a while before our next stressful day. Barack Obama reminds us that a better approach is to spend a little bit of time preparing for the next day".

He suggests that Obama would often stay up late into the night flicking through documents to help him get his thoughts organised. Klosowski suggests:

"The president’s job is much more stressful than yours, so implementing this as a daily routine makes sense. The rest of us can utilize this tip before big meetings, presentations, or deadlines".

Beat Monday Mania

Larry Kim uses this practice to avoid what he calls Monday mania. He suggests that it's not necessary to spend a lot of time working. It's more a matter of switching your brain on ahead of time.

"You don't need to make calls or even answer emails – simply assess what your Monday game plan will be, and you'll sleep a little more soundly".

It seems that priming the brain a day ahead creates some advantages. It enables the mind to start processing ahead of time and it means you feel more prepared and ready for the day ahead. Even a simple review of what lies ahead can help. Laura McClellan writes:

"The best way to hit the ground running is to start the night before. Before leaving your workspace, or before going to bed, take ten minutes to look over the next day’s commitments".

The Take Away

A stitch in time saves nine. Get a jump start on your day by preparing the night before. Just a quick review of what lies ahead will be enough to get your unconscious churning away so that when your day starts you'll have the benefit of that predigested thinking.

References

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

5. Delegate It

You Are Not Alone – Use The People Round You

Mastering the ability to delegate is a crucial productivity competency it seems. It stands to reason that if we are faced with multiple demands on our time we need to maximise our ability to engage others in completing the tasks we have to complete. Laura McClellan offers some very practical advice. We can ask these questions she suggests:

"What tasks could someone else do, thereby freeing you up to focus on the things only you can do? Look around you: who is available to do some of those tasks? A secretary? A colleague? A family member? A paid helper? An important key to productivity is doing only those things that only you can do, and giving somebody else the opportunity to contribute by doing those other tasks".

Daniel Tan, a web entrepreneur is very clear about the benefits of delegation.

"Delegation is the most important fuel for productivity. Having more staffs should double, triple, quadruple, etc., your time."

Get The Most Out Of Delegation

To get the most from delegation he argues that staff should be set free, and not micro-managed.

"Let them fly with their wings. You hired them, they are surely good. Otherwise, why keep them? Since they are good, there is really no need to check on them all the time. Cultivate a sense of ownership and let them work like they are the boss. Things will go so well when everyone think they are the owners of the company and act in it's best interest".

The Take Away

Make the most of the team you lead. Empower them and increase not only your own productivity, but make their lives better too.

References

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

6. Deal With Distractions

Switch Off

Laura McClellan hits the nail on the head when she says:

"One of the major productivity killers is the distraction of constant interruptions. Emails, phone calls, people appearing at your door… The technology that can (and should) make our lives easier and better also can make it virtually impossible to maintain the kind of focused attention that’s necessary to work efficiently and effectively".

There is a huge problem which is inadvertently created by the very technology which was supposed to make a work easier to accomplish and amplify our productivity efforts. The question is what can we do about it?

Bryan Guido Hassin makes a radical suggestion:

"After noticing that he got some of his best work done on long intercontinental flights, Guido established "Airplane Days" to help him get things done".

"On "Airplane Days," Guido restricts his Internet access, removes distractions, and churns through his high priority to-do items."

He offers some advice based on his implementation of this strategy which he claims creates the most productive time of the week by far.

"At the beginning of each week, I carefully look at my schedule and declare one day (or two half days) to be Airplane Time. I block it out on my shared calendar and treat it as if I were in the air: working out of the office, disabling my phone, and shutting off network connections on my laptop."

Dealing With Social Media

Social media can be a huge distraction, with it's constantly updating streams which can litter our screens and cause big reductions in our effectiveness. Roman Grigorjev has a clever hack for Facebook:

"He partially quit Facebook by moving all his friends to acquaintances."

He explains: "You can move everyone from 'friends' to 'acquaintances.' You will still get updates, but instead of 'check out what I ate for breakfast,' you will only be shown the most important posts, i.e. 2-5 new posts max a day from hundreds of your friends. That would save you lots of time and make you 5-10x more productive."

The Daily Muse recommends an app which can turn off our social media streams completely while we are at work.

"Try an app like SelfControl to block your access during the workday".

Larry Kim recommends turning off notifications – something which I totally recommend. I've written a post about my app set up which discusses how to do this this at some length.

It's not just social media that jostles for our attention. News feeds can also create unwanted distractions. Larry Kim offers this advice:

"The idea that we need to keep up to date on the news is largely outdated. Most of what passes as news today is prettily packaged garbage – it's trivial, depressing, and unreliable. If something major happens, you'll find out one way or another. Instead, focus your attention on what's useful and actionable in your life".

The Take Away

Learn how to control distraction and you'll already be ahead of most people. Try some of the methods suggested here and regain control of your time and what you seen it on.

References

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

https://selfcontrolapp.com/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/mobile-device-hero

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

7. Eat That Frog

Tackle The Worst One First

Brian Tracy's best selling book, Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today! is based on the idea that quite often the thing that weighs on our mind is the thing we tend to put off.

I've explored previously how this is a problem for us, these 'open loops' will continue to deplete our mind's mental energy store and make us less likely to make good quality decisions. Brian's advice is that we should deal with the most unpleasant task first. It's really surprising how doing this releases a ton of energy and some endorphins too as you realise you've actually dealt with that problem. He calls them Frogs because the idea of eating of frog to most of us is – well fairly grim. Anything we eat afterwards will seem much more palatable as a result.

Murray Newlands takes this philosophy and uses it to:

"Schedule the most vital activities first. If you first deal with your most critical tasks first, it'll be easier to discover time for less important tasks. If you permit yourself to become sidetracked on busywork or unimportant tasks, odds are you never will get to the things that really matter"

Alok Bhardwaj says that this is the way he starts every morning.

"Do the least desirable tasks first thing in the morning. Try to work 2-3 hours straight on getting stuff done first thing in thing in the morning, before email or anything else".

You'll Feel Much Better When It's Done

People develop their own rationale for eating frogs. Nicole Fallon Taylor tells us what her's is:

"Instead of waiting until the last minute to finish a task, get it off your plate as soon as possible. Your other tasks will seem less daunting by comparison, and you'll stop stressing about that one task all day, making you more productive overall".

Graham Allcott doesn't use the term "frog" but it's clear that he has his own method for dealing with the difficult or the unpleasant tasks we all have waiting. He has what he calls a "Power Hour" approach.

"So the Power Hour is a single hour each day, where you schedule in an obligation to tackle the difficult, or unclear, or scary, or tedious. Power through those things in an hour, and then you don’t have to think about them for the rest of the day."

Jason Kanigan adopts a similar strategy, terming it the "Golden Hour." These are times when you are functioning at peak performance.

"Figure out when your 'golden hours' are, and protect them at all costs. Permit no distractions during those times. Then 'Eat That Frog'– pick the biggest, hairiest, most difficult goal that stands between you and the next giant step towards success ... and Do It Now. "A small number of decisions makes up the majority of your life experience (the 80/20 rule strikes again!). Therefore, a small number of activity choices make up the large majority of your achievements ... or lack thereof."

Wrapping up this section, Brandon Turner has the simplest advice which captures the essence of frog eating. He puts things like this:

"This year, I made a change. I decided to tackle my biggest task first, before anything else."

The Take Away

Stop avoiding that job you have kept pushing away. You'll be amazed at how liberating it is not to have the anxiety these postponed 'frogs' create swept from your mind.

References

Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today!

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-donehttp://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

8. Look After Your Health

Mental And Physical Well Being Matter

It’s important not to overlook the role that your physical and mental well being play in maintaining peak performance. There’s little point in designing systems and building workflows if the engine that drives them (that’ll be you) is faltering.

Eat Breakfast

Larry Kim’s advice is to start each day by re-fuelling, priming your mind and body for another day of peak productivity. He says:

“Eat Breakfast! Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day--it's not a ruse put on by Dunkin' Donuts. A morning meal gives you the fuel you need to be present and productive at work, so don't skip it”.

Laura McClellan confirms this noting that there is a lot of evidence which confirms the importance of beginning each day with a good breakfast.

"Healthy people are more productive. No matter how busy you are, eat a decent breakfast. It’ll fuel you for a terrific start to your day".

Stay Well Hydrated

It’s not just breakfast however, it’s also vital to make sure that you are properly hydrated. Robin Sharma makes the point:

Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.

Thorin Klosowski takes a look at what US Presidents have done to maintain their personal health. Here’s a quick summary:

“A large number of presidents have made it a point to add exercise into their daily routine. Obama planned for an hour of exercise a day, Clinton was an avid jogger, Teddy Roosevelt loved tennis, jogging, and boxing. George W. Bush was also an avid tennis player and jogger, while Jimmy Carter was a cross-country runner. John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan were all swimmers. Time and time again we’ve seen that exercise is as important for physical health as it is mental health, and in the stressful position of president, that seems to hold true”.

Benefits Of Exercise

The benefits of exercise on your mood can change how you feel. Your mood can be given a quick positive injection of productivity enhancing hormones that will help you power through the tasks in front of you. Larry Kim writes:

“It's been shown that exercising in the morning can greatly improve your productivity. Exercise energizes rather than exhausts you, contrary to what the couch potatoes might tell you. (Not that I'm judging. I can be very spud-tacular myself at times.) Exercising also promotes good health (quick, alert the press!), and some studies have shown that exercise can improve your mood for up to 12 hours following your workout. Less stress, more efficiency – it's definitely worth setting that alarm 30 minutes earlier”.

Why Exercise Makes Sense

If you want a quick summary of the reasons why you should start an exercise programme today, take a look at this article by Whitson Gordon. He lists 10 reasons to exercise regularly.

You’ll just be happier.

You’ll live longer.

You’ll get sick less often.

You’ll have better sex.

You’ll get sick less often.

You’ll sleep better.

You’ll de-stress.

You’ll boost your confidence.

You’ll improve your posture.

You’ll improve your memory.

The Take Away

There is a simple truth in the maxim: a healthy body, a healthy mind. Take action to improve your physical and mental well being and not only will you become more productive, you might leave longer and more healthily too.

References

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-exercise-regularly-besides-losing-we-1473616982

9. Manage Meetings Better

We Spend Way Too Much Time In Meetings

According to Scott Dockweiller if you’re a middle manager you’re likely to be spending 35% of your time in meetings. This figure climbs to 50% as you enter the C-Suite.

Given the huge time commitment that meetings require, it’s critical that you maximise the productivity you obtain from meetings.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, is strict on the timing allotted for single-topic, non-operational meetings: He allows a maximum of one hour and 30 minutes. Fifty percent of the time is for the presentation, and 50 percent is for discussion”. Source: The Daily Muse

Adjust The Default Times In Your Calendar

One way to start is to adjust the default settings in Outlook or whichever calendar app you use to manage your time. Jeff Haden suggests:

"Whoever invented the one-hour default in calendar software wasted millions of people-hours."

Most of the time a meeting doesn’t need more than half and hour – often fifteen minutes will suffice. Parkinson’s Law will operate if you don’t do this. Re-set expectations and change the default. You can free up a huge amount of time by tweaking this one setting.

Plan Your Meetings

If you’re responsible for organising a meeting, there are some simple rules that just have to be implemented. The Daily Muse hass a super formula for conducting highly productive meetings. Start with a plan for the meeting, facilitate for focus – organising a distraction free environment if possible and keeping everyone on track, and then closing out effectively with a clear series of next steps.

As The Daily Muse puts it:

“Be incredibly proactive about keeping meetings on track. Send everyone an agenda for each meeting, and, if the conversation goes off topic, don't be afraid to rein it in . A simple, “Let’s schedule time to discuss that later if it’s helpful, since we only have 10 minutes left,” works perfectly”.

Avoid Pointless Meetings

Finally, remember that you always have a choice. Avoid pointless meetings at all costs. Graham Allcott makes this suggestion:

“Avoid pointless meetings Meetings can be a massive time-suck. Never take part in a meeting that doesn’t have a clear purpose, a clear agenda and clear start and finish times. But even well-organised meetings can be a time suck! The occasional sending of your apologies can all be good ways to reclaim some vital hours to put your attention to better use than sat in a boring meeting”.

The Take Away

Many of us spend a lot of time in meetings. These are therefore very important opportunities for us to maximise productivity. Avoid the pointless ones and plan the one's you lead.

References

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-meetings-hint-its-scary

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-simple-steps-to-exceptional-daily-productivity.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

10. Organise Your Workspace

Clutter Creates Distractions

It’s surprising how an untidy and cluttered working environment impacts on productivity. There are the obvious reasons to do with inefficiency. It’s much harder to find what you need in a disorganised workspace. It can be hard to lay out your work and make it easy to understand what you have to do.

The signal an untidy or disorganised workspace sends to our brains is more insidious. We know the place is a mess, so our mind wild it’s best to keep track of where things are. This is an unconscious process that will be stealing energy from the processing power you’ll need to perform at you best.

These are more of the mental “open loops” which will quickly drain your mind’s battery. It makes a lot of sense to create a well organised and uncluttered environment to work in.

The Daily Muse emphasises the impact clutter can have on your ability to focus:

"Just like multitasking, clutter overloads your senses and makes it harder for you to get stuff done. So if you find yourself having trouble focusing, look around at your desk (and your computer desktop) to see if any of them need a little tidying."

Organise Your Workspace

What do the experts suggest?

Nicolle Fallon, quoting Kristoph Matthews suggests a remedy:

“Before you do anything else, take a few moments at the start of each day to organize and de-clutter your workspace. Having a clutter-free environment helps you think more clearly and produce better results, said Kristoph Matthews, founder of on-demand storage company Boxbee. By cleaning up and organizing your space, you will greatly increase your productivity and limit the time you spend searching for items.”

The Take Away

A disorganised and cluttered workspace will leave you prone to distractions. Not being able to finds what you need, coupled with the 'open loops' such environments trigger in your brain will drain your mental reserves dramatically.

References

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpu

11. Outsource It

Value Your Own Time

Not everything that’s on your plate has to be dealt with by you personally. If you are lucky enough to have a team, you can empower them and delegate tasks to them.

Sometimes you need to go further. Two good questions to ask are:

Does anyone need to do this task? If no, then stop doing it.

Do we absolutely have to do this ourselves? If no, then consider outsourcing it.

There’s no doubt that highly productive people are very picky about how they spend their energy and time. Bruna Martinuzzi offers this advice:

“Do a cost/benefit analysis of how you spend your time and see if it's worth offloading some repetitive tasks so you can focus on what will bring value to your company”.

Some Outsourcing Options

Marissa Brassfield suggests there are some areas of your life which could be potential candidates for out-sourcing. These are:

Appointments, Reservations, and Logistics Coordination

Fancy Hands

TaskRabbit

Task Bullet

MyTasker

Zirtual

TimeSvr

For Call Handling

AppleTree Answers

Ruby Receptionist

MyReceptionist

VoiceCloud

Research

Fiverr

Freelancer.com

Elance

Graphic Design and Freelance

Fiverr

Elance

99 Designs

Guru

DesignCrowd

Putting Together Furniture, Dry Cleaning Drop-Off, and Other In-Person Tasks

Zaarly

TaskRabbit

Shopping for Fresh ProduceShopping for Fresh Produce

There will be many suppliers that can tailor an offer to your needs based on your specific geography. Marissa is very clear about the advantages she finds in out-sourcing:

“…the truth is, you can outsource more than you might think—for less than you’d imagine—using the tons of online virtual assistant and delivery services out there”.

The Take Away

You really don't need to do everything yourself. Leverage these resources to free your time up for the tasks that you and you alone can do.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/7-tasks-you-should-outsourceimmediately

https://www.fancyhands.com/

https://www.taskrabbit.com/

https://www.taskbullet.com/

https://mytasker.com/

https://www.zirtual.com/

https://www.timesvr.com/

http://www.appletreeanswers.com/

https://www.callruby.com/

http://myreceptionist.com/

https://www.voicecloud.com/

https://www.fiverr.com/

https://www.freelancer.com/

https://www.elance.com/

http://www.99designs.com/

http://www.guru.com/

http://www.designcrowd.com/‎

https://zaarly.com/

12. Develop A Positive Mindset

The Happiness Advantage

I’ve written a summary of the best books out there on how the mind works. One of the books which made it to the list was Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage. This books reinforces the principle that happiness drives success, not the other way round.

It’s no wonder that productivity experts emphasis the importance of cultivating a positive mindset as part of your strategy to become more productive. President John F Kennedy once said:

“Of course, while it’s important to learn from past mistakes, nostalgia for the past can be a boring, manipulative emotion that blinds you to the needs of the future”.

Having a growth mindset means that you will be on the look out for learning and will assume that even when things haven’t worked out, it will be possible to learn from them. They key is not to wallow in the mistakes and spend time recriminating.

Monitor Our Internal Conversation

We can also prime ourselves for improved future performance by being careful with the language we use in our internal conversations. Graham Allcott suggests you should:

“Use language to change your motivation. If you’re dreading doing a particularly boring task, don’t say “I have to…”, say “I get to…”. The language we use with ourselves is a key component of productivity psychology”.

The Take Away

The new field of positive psychology creates some powerful new insights for people interested in improving productivity. Maximise your personal effeorts by building an appreciation of positive psychology – reading the Happiness Advantage is a good place to start.

References

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

http://amzn.to/2q1ydke

https://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/5-best-books-mind

13. Use Rituals To Create New Habits

Build New Habits

No-one can operate at 100% of their ability constantly. Optimising the periods of time when we are at our best is one of the principles behind improved productivity. You are looking for a way to organise your routines into some kind of consistent pattern which you know helps you work at your best.

Brigid Schulte puts it like this:

“…we have been seduced into thinking that if only we try harder and work longer, we can achieve anything. Top performers take a different approach. They recognize and honor their physical limitations by getting plenty of exercise and sleep, cycling between 90-minute bursts of focused work and short restorative breaks, and taking time to disconnect from email for some portion of their off-hours”.

Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project suggest four ways of setting up rituals to automate behaviours that will make you more productive. One of them is to define one task each day which you will prioritise – then start the day focused on that task.

"Force yourself to prioritize so that you know that you will finish at least that one critical task during the period of the day when you have the most energy and the fewest distractions," Schwartz says.

Building rituals is something that successful people have done over time as Robin Sharma describes:

“When I studied the creative lives of massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison, I discovered they follow strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax).”

Meditation Helps Ideas Develop

Stacia Pierce has a meditation practice she uses to start each day:

“Every day, I spend time meditating before I start my day. Meditation for at least 15 minutes can get you focused and help to improve productivity. Insight comes early; if you sit quietly in the morning and meditate and then listen within, you will discover brilliant ideas are ready to burst out of you”.

Tackle Habits You Want To Change

The flip side of positive behaviours you want to encourage is those bad habits you’d like to change. Here’s one piece of practical advice from Larry Kim:

“Sometimes the best way to break a bad habit is to make things incredibly difficult for yourself. If you hate that you watch too much TV, keep the remote control in the upstairs closet”.

The Take Away

To be productive you need to master your own behaviour. Lots of our behaviour is driven unconsciously which is why habits and rituals play such an important role in driving improved productivity.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

14. Say No

You Always Have A Choice

No is a very powerful word which you can use to regulate how much you have to do. It is sometimes difficult to say no, but developing a confident ability to recognise when you are already shipping water is a strategy many experts recommend.

Adam Grant’s book Give and Take reveals the findings from his his research into strategies for giving and receiving help. While his study demonstrates that successful people tend to be people who are prepared to help others without expecting something in return, he noticed something else too. The Harvard Business Review puts it like this:

"While giving can certainly help you succeed, Grant’s data also reveals that helping everyone with everything is a recipe for failure. So how do you do it right? Top performers, Grant argues, avoid saying yes to every helping opportunity. Instead, they specialize in one or two forms of helping that they genuinely enjoy and excel at uniquely”.

Learn How To Discriminate

Larry Kim offers a clear rationale for cultivating the ability to discriminate – to be clear what you can take on and what you really shouldn’t.

"Remember, it's not simply a matter of being agreeable – when you take on too much, all your work suffers. You may end up missing deadlines, and despite good intentions, you could end up disappointing others when you are unable to meet the extraordinary expectations you've created for yourself”.

The Take Away

Remember whenever you say yes to something, you're also saying no to something else. There are only so many things which it is possible to do in any allotted time. Learning how to say no, to discriminate between the important and the not so important can have major benefits to your productivity.

References

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

15. Build Your Self Awareness

Increase Productivity With Prime Time

Brain Tracy has made a career from providing advice to business leaders. His conclusions are based on thousands of hours of observation and conversations with some of the world's top business leaders. He suggests you should:

"Organize your life so that you are doing creative work during your internal ‘‘prime time.’’ Your internal prime time is the time of day, according to your body clock, when you are the most alert and productive."

By identifying when you are at your most productive, you will maximise your ability to work at your optimal level of productivity. This appears to be one of the characteristics of some of the most successful business leaders. Here's Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtrics:

"The key for me is you have to understand how your brain works and when you are most productive. For me, I’m most productive and creative in the morning through early afternoon, so I’ve gotten rid of lunch meetings to keep my productive time going as long as I can. I make sure the tasks I have at the beginning of the day are the tasks that require the most creativity or, in other words, tasks I have never done before."

Think About Your Thinking

Henry Ford once said:

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probably reason so few engage in it.”

There are huge benefits you can obtain from spending time considering carefully about what you have to do.

"But quality thinking time is vital not only to our productivity, but to our sense of control and well-being at work. Regularly reviewing what we’re working on, what’s on our schedule and what’s coming up can help us spot efficiencies, empower us to be realistic and say no to requests, and get the clarity we need to create momentum and remove procrastination from our working week".

Psychologist Ivan Staroversky, a counselor, psychotherapist, NLP trainer, and Lifehacker, uses the knowledge he has acquired about how our minds work to help him be more productive. He says that he listens to his Ultradian rhythms which are natural body cycles that rise and fall throughout the day every 90-120 minutes. He explains:

"Approximately every 90-120 minutes, the mind and body give us clues signaling the need for rest and change in physical and mental activity. Ignoring these signals may lead to fatigue, stress, and ultimately physical (psychosomatic) illness. These rhythms suggest that its time to take a break and can help increase your productivity. Basically you have to: - recognize the signals - listen to yourself - make time for rejuvenation and awakening".

You can find out more about his work on his blog.

Cool Off Before Responding

If you're provoked, it's all too easy to snap back. Similarly, following our instinctive response can lead us to places we didn't ever intend. While there's nothing wrong with encouraging a creative exploration of other possibilities, sudden, reactive changes in direction can be a serious problem.

President Thomas Jefferson gave himself some rules to counteract these tendencies:

"When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred".

Allowing a pause between the stimulus and your reaction to it make a lot of sense. Bear in mind that if you can't always control what happens, you can always control how you respond to it.

Switch Locations

We are all made differently and one of our points of differentiation is how we respond to the environments we are in. For some people, changing your location can lead to a big boost in productivity. Meghan Khaitan, founder of seat belt buckle device MyBuckleMate said that a change of scenery can be a big help in boosting productivity.

"Head to the library or a local park (weather permitting), or find a place that's quiet and full of natural light. This can help spur new ideas or shed new light on an old problem."

Silence Your Inner Perfectionist

If you wait for everything to be in perfect alignment, for the absolutely perfect set of conditions, you might have a longer wait than necessary. This is a twist on the paralysis bu analysis maxim – which argues that enough information is enough information. Robin Sharma argues we should quit waiting for perfection:

"Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action".

It's not just when we wait for the perfect situation to begin our tasks that we lose potential productivity opportunities. It's also when we try to perfect what we're doing. Larry Kim sums it up:

"Yes, a single piece of work can always be better, but what are you sacrificing by laboring over slight improvements? Do the best you can do in a reasonable amount of time, and then stop. Your inner perfectionist can be helpful, but it also needs to be kept in check".

Make A Verbal Commitment

If you're the kind of person who finds it tough to honour promises made to yourself – and let's face it many of us are, why not follow Larry's advice to make those same commitments to another person?

"It's easy to break a promise to yourself, but it's much harder to break a commitment you've made to another person. Words have weight and power--make vows to friends (and ask them to hold you accountable), and you may find it easier to keep commitments you wouldn't necessarily hold yourself to".

The Take Away

Build a better understanding of how you work at your best will pay you back handsomely. You will then be better placed to choose the times when you'll be at peak performance. You can choose more than when you work, you can also influence how productive you are by choosing where you work. Controlling your reactions to adversity and maintaining your focus are all skills which you can cultivate.

References

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/ http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpuf

https://staroversky.com/

16. Simplify It

It's Simple, Stupid – Focus On What Matters

Winston Churchill once gave a speech, which he began by apologising that it was going to be a long one. He hadn't time he said to write a short one.

President Woodrow Wilson said much the same thing:

"If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now."

One way to achieve a measure of simplicity is to narrow your focus.

Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, says,

"I keep things focused. The speech I give every day is: 'This is what we do. Is what we are doing consistent with that, and can it change the world?'"

Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab.com, has an alternative message:

Pick one thing and do that one thing—and only that one thing—better than anyone else ever could.

He argues:

"We can derive a great deal of power from developing a laser focus on our top business priorities. It's one of the attributes that sets apart the average businessperson from the more successful one.

The Take Away

When you commit to use your time, make sure that it is focused on your most important goals. That way you will make more progress. If you've got an important presentation to make, ensure you make enough time to deliver a short, simple message.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

17. Step Back From It

Maintain Perspective

This article is about implementing productivity hacks that will help you get more done. Jeff Lawson reminds how important it is to keep a perspective on what you're doing. For example, many people advocate clearing your emails to zero each day – something which I do recommend. Jeff has his own take on this:

"Inbox zero is a fool’s errand. I don’t try to keep up. I feel perfectly fine picking and choosing what I want to engage in."

This is an an example of an important caution about following anyone else's advice. In the end, you have to make the choice about what'll work for you. No-one else can do that.

Step Away From The Daily Grind Too

As a Harvard Business Review makes clear, "in a knowledge economy, productivity requires more than perseverance — it requires insight and problem-solving".

HBR presents a strong case for allowing a space to open between the hurly-burly of the daily business hustle and gain some perspective.

"Research indicates quite clearly that we are more likely to find breakthrough ideas when we temporarily remove ourselves from the daily grind. This is why the best solutions reveal themselves when we step into the shower, go for a run, or take a vacation".

"Top performers view time off not as stalled productivity but as an investment in their future performance".

Larry Kim puts it succinctly, arguing that we you shouldn't drown in the shallow end of the pool.

"When a hundred little tasks are nibbling at your brain, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and lost at sea. However, a little perspective can do you good--remember to not sweat the small stuff. If you're going to worry, worry about the big things, not the little ones".

The Take Away

It pays to remember there's always a bigger picture available. Find ways to ensure you've got the ability to climb out of the detail from time to time and check to make sure your goal still makes sense. Finding time to regain a focus on your larger goals can help you recognise when it's time to reevaluate.

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

18. Manage Your Time

Expect The Unexpected

There's always something you didn't think of, and the chances are that it will make itself known to you when it's least convenient. Murray Newlands believes the problem is caused by over-tight schedules.

"If your schedule is so tight that you do not allow for the unexpected, you drastically increase your odds of feeling chaotic throughout the day. If you must be somewhere and you're able to make it in 15 minutes, permit 25".

"Leave tiny, unscheduled time blocks all through your day in order for you to have a buffer against the unexpected."

Use Deadlines And Time Constraints As A Positive

My father used to say: "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person". Busy people don't have time to procrastinate and often keep things moving as a result. However, there's also a false busyness where we feel like we're busy when actually we are caught up in distractions. Then it's too easy to let time just slip between our fingers, particularly when the world is full of so many interesting alternatives to the task in hand. The Daily Muse offers this advice:

"Even if you don't technically have a deadline on a task, set one for yourself. Knowing that you only have two hours to get something done will help ensure you don't waste an hour of it on the internet."

The fact is that Parkinson's Law does operate. The tasks we have have a habit of expanding to fill the available space. Of course the opposite can also be true as The ITV reported:

" The work we do in the two or three hours when our attention is at its strongest, are really what defines our productivity – not the hours we spend looking busy until the boss goes home".

Manage Meeting Time

As we've already seen, there are lots of things we can do to make sure the time we spend in meetings can be as productive as possible. Here's a further tip from The Daily Muse:

"Do not schedule more time than you need. Most meetings are scheduled for a full hour, when they should be 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 45 minutes max".

Take Time For A Break

It's true that: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. In this context, "dull" means less sharp, weary and more liable to make mistakes or take longer to complete a task. Larry Kim suggest we should be kind to ourselves:

"Give Yourself a Break, Man! You work hard--you deserve a break! Maybe with a Kit Kat, maybe with a cup of tea, maybe with a walk in the park. It's easy to burn yourself out if you try to work at full throttle all day long. The truth is that our minds just aren't designed to work that way. For optimal productivity, try the popular and praised Pomodoro technique--work for 25 minutes, then give yourself a five-minute break".

Business News Daily took up this theme when discussing how to enhance personal productivity. It cites Kathleen Kobel, the woman behind Smart Business Mom:

"Take short breaks. Whether it's a walk around the block, a run to the nearby coffee shop, reading a magazine or visiting with a colleague, taking short breaks that are unrelated to your work can make a huge difference in your performance. Your productivity diminishes the longer you go without a break, Kobel told Business News Daily. Kobel explained that this is why it's recommended that people don't work more than 8 to 10 hours per day — at a certain point, your body and mind simply cannot produce anymore, she said".

The Daily Muse recommends you schedule plenty of breaks throughout your day. Building this into your daily schedule can be tricky, so they offer this tip for hard pressed and busy people whip struggle to male this happen:

"Try using an online timer to remind yourself to get up from your desk, grab a snack or some water, or chat with a co-worker for a few minutes before getting back to the grindstone".

For a more formulaic approach, here's Murray Newlands again, describing how he ensure that he makes time for breaks during his day:

"I utilize applied focus sessions where I do 45 minutes of focused effort, followed up by 15 minutes of something else. After 45 minutes, our ability to focus starts to taper off and we no longer optimally perform. I utilize those 15 minutes for strolling around, getting something to drink, answering calls, or anything else that distracts me from the activity at hand".

"Oftentimes, that's when my best ideas come to mind, and I wind up feeling invigorated and prepared to make things work."

Keep A Track On Your Time

There's always a possibility that time will pass without you noticing. This can be a big problem, particularly when we are concentrating hard on something. Over time these can lead to large amounts of time that we are unconsciously using. Bear in mind that time is a non-renewable commodity, it only moves in one direction. That's why so many people recommend we track our time:

"To figure out where your time is heading, attempt to keep a time log for one or two weeks. How much time is actually being lost on unimportant tasks? Where will the majority of your interruptions come from? Will they happen within specific periods of time or on certain days of the week? Once you have this data, it'll be simpler to eliminate time-wasting tasks, along with interruptions and distractions".

There are tools out there that can help you do this. They work in the background, keeping track of what you're up to. Here are are two that I've used:

Rescue Time

Toggl

If you use these tools you'll have a much better idea about how your time is being spent.

Over the course of a week or two, you'll start to get a sense of what the time-sucking culprits are—and be able to plan your attack for how you'll get rid of them.

The Take Away

Time is a non-renewable resource. To make the most of the time we are given is one of the more important productivity skills you need to master. It's also one of the productivity areas that spills over into the rest of your life. Find some ways to manage your time and you'll feel the benefits far beyond improved personal productivity.

References

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

http://www.smartbusinessmom.com/

https://cirillocompany.de/pages/pomodoro-technique

https://www.rescuetime.com/

https://toggl.com/

19. Use Travel Wisely

Leverage Travel Time

Lots of us travel to work each day. Time spent commuting can feel like time that's lost. However there's lots of way we can leverage this time to become more productive. When driving I often listen to podcasts or Audible. Larry Kim makes the point:

"Those hours don't have to be wasted--consider scheduling calls in the morning that you can take during your drive to work".

Advice For Flyers

Flying is a whole other story. A few years back, Hughes Air West an airline that used to serve the western U.S. Made a study of the comparison between working when flying economy, first class and working in a normal office.

What they found was that one hour of uninterrupted work time in an airplane yielded the equivalent of three hours of work in a normal work environment.

As Brain Tracy explains

"The keyword was ‘‘uninterrupted.’’ If you plan ahead and organize your work before you leave for the airport, you can increase productivity by accomplishing an enormous amount while you are in the air."

See Travel As An Opportunity

Rather than thinking of travel as down time, Murray Newlands suggests we ask ourselves these questions instead:

"Can you find a method of listening to crucial data that you normally would need to read later?"

As he explains there's really no excuse for travel to reduce pour productivity.

"Have something around that you're able to do whenever you're stuck waiting around. Making use of time that normally would be wasted is an easy way to create more time for those things you have a desire to accomplish".

The Benefits Of No Distractions

As we've already discussed, the fact the airplanes enforce a restriction on connectivity on many flights, can produce a huge productivity boost.

The Take Away

Like a lot of the best productivity advice, travel is as much about our state of mind as it is about the situation we are in. If you can see your travel time as a productivity benefit you'll already be half there to improved productivity while travelling.

References

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

20. Use Technology

Unlock Your Full Potential

Today's digital technology is amazing. In fact there's so much of it that it can sometimes be difficult to work out what to use and how to link things together. That's why I've written up the way I use my laptop and iPad. People where I work keep asking me how it all works so I thought I'd just write it down and share it.

If you'd like to see what I do you can read about it here.

The truth is that technology can be a big help in our efforts to become more productive – to spend more of our time, our energy and out attention on our most important goals. Adam Grant, a respected Professor of Psychology at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania writes:

"Most people type much, much slower than they think. Work on increasing your typing speed—or invest in voice recognition software. And then stop wasting time reading productivity tips."

Stop Repeating Yourself

On of my favourite tricks is to use keyboard short cuts to trigger large or small blocks of text to appear. It's one of the things that people have noticed when the see me working and it's probably the most commonly asked question I get. The Muse sums it up pretty well:

"Use canned responses to avoid typing the same things over and over again. For any email that you send regularly—or even just part of an email, like the wrap-up paragraph—create a canned response that you can pop in whenever you need it.

My favourite tool and in my opinion the best one out there is TextExpander.

Use The Cloud

There's no excuse for not having your documents, files and reference materials with you wherever you are and whatever device you're working on. There are many different cloud providers available. Some of the ones I use are:

Dropbox

Evernote

iCloud

Take a look at my setup here.

Stacia Pierce summarises the benefits:

"Take your important docs with you everywhere by using the cloud. Apps like Box.com and Dropbox enables you to access important docs, photos and music and more from any device and anywhere on the go. You can sync the files with your desktop so that you always have the latest version. Team members can comment on files, make revisions and more".

Help With Your Email Monster

Most of us have struggled with email occasionally (make that constantly - Ed.). I've written a piece about how I tamed my own beast which you can read here.

The Daily Muse has a recommendation of it's own.

"Use Boomerang to pull emails out of your inbox until you're ready to deal with them. This is useful for two reasons: First, it gets the message out of sight and out of mind, giving you space to think about other things. Second, it automatically reminds you about the email later on, giving you one less task to worry about tracking on your own".

Set up automatic filters to immediately pull emails out of your inbox and into the right folder. (This is a great option for things like newsletters that you want to come back to on your own time.) Daily Muse

Here's a great summary from Larry Kim detailing the technology he uses:

For tracking your time management, try Toggl or Yast.

Are you a savvy social manager? Go with Hootsuite, which offers a central dashboard for managing all your social media accounts. Also consider Buffer, which makes it super easy to share found articles across various social sites.

For saving articles to read at your leisure, go with Feedly, Pocket, or Evernote. These apps are compatible across devices; you can earmark a blog post on your laptop and read it later on the train via smartphone.

Sick of forgetting passwords (then resetting them, getting an email, and choosing a new password, which you'll forget again next time)? Try LastPass, which keeps tabs and secures all your various passwords for you. If you use numerous accounts in one day (and who doesn't?), this one can be a serious timesaver.

Personally, I prefer to use 1Password for keeping my passwords safe and Sprout Social for social media but this is a great summary nevertheless.

Have A Good Second Brain

Our brains evolved to think not to hold things in their short term memory.

Have a good second brain The human brain is incredible - but our brains are close to useless when it comes to short-term memory.

On average we are unable to hold more than five to seven things in this short term memory. But even this comes at a price – it takes a lot of memory power to accomplish even this meagre feat. That's why it makes sense to think of technology as a second brain – designed to be far more efficient at these sort of jobs.

ITV News reported:

"Keeping a good “second brain” – that is, a list of all the tasks we have to do, and a list of all the projects they relate to – allows us to free up our brain for the stuff it’s brilliant at, and not rely on our brain for the things it’s lousy at".

Don't Forget Your Browser Has Secret Powers Too

Bloggers have always used browser extensions to speed up their workflows. There's no reason why you shouldn't deploy the same tools to produce amazing productivity benefits during your day. Many of us spend lots of our time inside browsers, so each little moment that we save by using these tools can add up to significance numbers across the week.

Harsh Agrawal, a successful blogger offers this advice:

"Use Browser extensions Extensions or addons are great productivity tools for bloggers. Firefox is serving addons since long time. Recently Google Chrome also introduced extension. These extensions are very helpful for getting work done easily. You can use SEO tools to check website’s stats, YouTube extension to watch videos and also take notes without leaving your browser".

In my browser I have extensions for the following apps:

Instapaper

Evernote

Dropbox

1Password

The Take Away

It makes sense to deploy technology to do the jobs our brains aren't well suited to. My strong advice is to find a system and stick to it. There's plenty of good places to look for advice about how to do this. Start by looking at these websites and then make your choice.

The Sweet SetUp

Asian Efficiency

Healthy Leader Blog

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.shoutmeloud.com/top-10-productivity-tips-for-bloggers.html

https://toggl.com/

https://www.yast.com/

http:/hootsuite.com

https://buffer.com/

https://feedly.com/i/welcome

https://getpocket.com/

https://evernote.com/

https://www.lastpass.com/

1Password

http://sproutsocial.com/

https://www.shoutmeloud.com/top-10-productivity-tips-for-bloggers.html

https://www.instapaper.com/

https://1password.com/

https://www.dropbox.com/

http://www.asianefficiency.com/

The Sweet SetUp

21. Write It Down

Understand Your Goals

There's something particularly committing about writing things down. It's not the same as tapping the same words into an electronic device. If you really want to build a productive day then why not follow the advice given from CEO Rachel Haurwitz?

"Know what significant goals you want to work towards every day. Many days, I start the day by writing, 'How I will build the company today' on a blank sheet of paper, and then I list a small number of high value tasks or goals for the day."

Clarify Priorities

Sometimes you can feel there after just too many issues jostling for attention. If you're leading a team one of your most important responsibilities is to provide direction, making sense of competing priorities and ordering priorities. Joe Zadeh tackles this dilemma head on.

"At the start of each week I write an email to my team to share what I’m focused on and what’s inspiring me outside of work. It not only forces me to prioritize my week, but the act of writing helps organize my thoughts clearly. It also means each week I’m making deposits into the 'context bank'; my team gets early transparency into what issues I’m thinking about. I find that all of these benefits accelerate me for the week by reducing confusion and need for 1-off meetings."

Fidji Simo, Director of Product at Facebook uses this weekly practice to stay focused.

"Write down your priorities on Monday morning, and rearrange your agenda for the week to make sure it will allow you to address these priorities. If I don’t do this, I find myself reacting to what’s most urgent during the week, instead of focusing on what’s most important."

Build Your World One Day At A Time

Sam McIntire believes that it is vital to stay on track and uses his daily goals to help him do that. If you can consistently spend time on your most important goals, then you will eventually achieve them. By writing down your daily goals you are making a clear commitment to spending some of you limited time and energy on them.

"Write down your daily goals. It's not always easy to keep track of everything you need to do, so start each morning by writing down your goals for the day. When your focus is broken or you find yourself procrastinating, you can use this list to keep you on track…"

Sam McIntire told Business News Daily.

"Write your list down on a Post-it or something that's clearly visible from your desk, then return to it when you need a reminder of what you should be working on."

Inspire Yourself: Make A Note Of What You've Done

Most things in life, if they are worth having, are not easy to achieve. That's why hard won achievements feel so good when finally we can say we got them done. You can build momentum for your self, as well as get a good old endorphin rush by building a practice of noting this successes down. Here's how Michael Peggs describes it:

"If I've already finished something, I write it down and check it off the list. It always feels good to see something get done."

Break Down Complex Projects Into Smaller Steps

When you want to accomplish something complex it's important to understand that even the most complex of undertakings is really only a series of steps which have to be taken. These steps are sometimes in sequence, sometimes running parallel to the main thread of what you're doing.

Before beginning any major project, spend some time working through all the elements that must be accomplished to deliver the end result. It's much easier to do this free form on a piece of paper.

The world renowned scientist Dr. Linus Pauling once said,

"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas."

Most leaders and entrepreneurs are visionaries who generally don't lack good ideas; however, capturing all these ideas is often a challenge for busy people. Evernote is a popular, free program for collecting ideas.

There are also a lot of digital tools that can help you. There's a great list prof resources here. Some of my favourite ones are:

Evernote

MindNode

OmniFocus

You can read my advice about how to set up your mobile device here.

It's often easier to scribble while you're thinking. When you're blocked and unable to see what you have to do to get round a problem, Murray Newlands suggests:

"Think on paper. If you feel stuck, jot the issue down. Defining the issue on paper is going to assist you in sorting it out. Create a list of as many solutions as possible. Odds are, you have just solved your issue".

It's like this article from www.lifehack.org recommends:

"Every task, every commitment should be written down. This frees your mind from the energy- and attention-sucking job of trying to remember".

The Take Away

It can be easy to overlook the simple utility of paper and pen. As these experts can testify, there are many benefits to be gained from picking up your pen. Next time you are struggling to clarify your objectives, develop a plan for your big project, or problem solve, why not clear you desk, close your laptop and start writing?

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/ http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpuf

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://lifedev.net/2008/08/14/idea-capture-tools/

https://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/mobile-device-hero

#Productivity Tips

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joshuajacksonlyblog · 6 years

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Intel May Make Bitcoin Mining Profitable for Individuals Again

Intel Corporation is interested in developing specialty hardware for the mining of Bitcoin, which may help small-time miners once again turn profits.

Intel to the Rescue

According to a United States Patent Application released on March 29th, technology giant Intel is interested in creating specialized hardware for Bitcoin mining. The patent application was filed on September 23rd, 2016, and describes a Bitcoin mining hardware accelerator.

According to the filing’s abstract, the patent is for “A System on Chip implementing a Bitcoin mining hardware accelerator [which] may include a processor core and a hardware accelerator coupled to the processor core.” The hardware accelerator is intended to “mine digital currency,” and “may include a first computational block, including a message digest datapath,” as well as “a second computational block.”

In laymen’s terms, Intel’s new hardware would theoretically make Bitcoin mining less energy intensive, and thus more profitable.

Big Bad Bitmain

Bitcoin mining is currently dominated by Bitmain Technologies Ltd., a privately owned company headquartered in Beijing, China. In addition to operating several of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pools, Bitmain manufactures ASIC chips and the mining hardware that uses those chips. In 2017, the company raked in somewhere between $3 and $4 billion in profits.

Intel, however, is set to add some competition for Bitmain’s centralized monopoly.

According to the patent filing, the Santa Clara, California-based company has apparently developed a method to reduce “the space utilized and power consumed by Bitcoin mining hardware.”

Bitcoin mining is currently incredibly energy-inefficient and has proven to be less profitable the more the price of Bitcoin decreases. This, in turn, has forced out many small-time miners while increasing the stranglehold on the sector by large-scale operations, such as Bitmain.

However, Intel’s new technology could make small-time mining profitable once again and, in doing so, help wrest control from the hands of mining giants. Randy Copeland, president of Velocity Micro — a Richmond, Virginia-based systems builder and Intel partner — told CRN:

Once this new Intel technology comes to market, ultimately more people will mine again because it’s profitable again, driving down the market value of the coins, and finding a new market balance that will again put locations with lower electricity costs back at the advantage.

Intel has previously shown an interest in cryptocurrency. Last year, the semiconductor-producing giant partnered with Chinese firm Tencent for an Internet of Things blockchain solution.

What do you think about the cost of Bitcoin mining? Would you be interested in more energy-efficient mining solutions from Intel? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives.

The post Intel May Make Bitcoin Mining Profitable for Individuals Again appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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seventhstar · 7 years

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we’ve all got one...

i feel like every person has that one pet peeve that drives them up the wall in media and for me it’s medical inaccuracies. not even just biological inaccuracy for dramatic effect but like. logistical issues.

so below the read more, me complaining about the nonsensical portrayal of hospitals in zexal. no one needs to read this, i just want to have it archived somewhere for future reference.

Okay, so we see the hospital in Heartland City portrayed under 2 circumstances: Ryoga’s constant trips to the hospital because he’s way too hardcore about Yuuma, and in the context of Rio’s unending comas.

I’m gonna start with Rio: first off, the writers have no idea how comas work, but I’m going to give them a pass on that because frankly a large percentage of all media don’t understand how comas work. Also, Rio canonically has magical alien powers that include coming back from the dead, turning into a faceless rock alien, and seeing the future. So I’m willing to buy that these powers include enhanced healing.

However...how did Art Stanley even get her out of the hospital? A coma patient is going to be hooked up to a lot of machines to monitor her vitals, to give her fluids and nutrition, etc. Even if he could safely remove all those things and if he was strong enough to carry her out of the hospital, you can bet someone would notice if the patient in room 4 just stopped having a heartbeat or blood pressure or whatever. At the hospital where I worked, if you unhooked the heart monitor, it started beeping shrilly.

Also, he would have to carry an unconscious girl through the hospital and to a water tower without getting flagged down by anyone, which is...unlikely. But okay, he’s being possessed by the Barians, let’s chalk that up to magic.

I don’t think anything weird happens in Rio’s second coma besides a jellyfish villain breaking in to tentacle poison her, but...yeah. Yeah.

So, let’s move on to Ryoga. He first gets hospitalized after Kaito steals his soul. Whatever is going on with him is magically induced -- having a soul removed is not an accepted diagnosis -- so I don’t think anything really weird happens during this segment.

Ryoga is then hospitalized after the WDC duel, after playing a card game causes him to be injured. Specifically, he is taken to the hospital...in a helicopter? I tried to do some research on this, to see how airlifting in Japan actually works -- as far as I could tell, they do use ground ambulances -- and they do have air ambulance services. So maybe it’s common to transport patients by helicopter as opposed to ground ambulance, although it does seem to me like airlifting would be reserved for patients with high levels of acuity. And it’s worth noting that the hospital isn’t far away from anything in canon, so distance isn’t an issue.

I don’t think anyone in Zexal ever gets taken to a hospital using ground transport, plus both the Arclights and Faker have helicopters, so...I don’t know. Maybe this is a Japan thing I just am too ignorant about to comment on.

However, my actual issue isn’t with the use of the helicopter. It’s that, having been taken to a hospital, we see Ryoga run out of the hospital and into a collapsing building the same day! Admittedly, in that scene Ryoga is wearing his street clothes so it’s possible he was being discharged at that point, but if he was so injured he had to be rushed to the hospital, who is discharging him literally hours later?

Ryoga runs into Heartland Tower to rescue Yuuma. He teams up with Kaito, Kotori, and Orbital 7, and they fight their way to Faker. In the process, Ryoga gets stabbed in the side by a robot. It’s hard to tell just how serious this injury is, and I’m by no means any kind of expert on abdominal stab wounds, but he’s bleeding pretty heavily, and your abdomen is full of internal organs and blood vessels that you probably don’t want there to be holes in.

Ryoga makes it through the duel without dying, but he has to be airlifted back to the hospital after the duel is over. He’s bleeding and he was just in the hospital a few hours earlier, plus Ryoga has already been hospitalized once this season, so you would expect the doctors to hold him this time, right?

Wrong! He’s on a bridge with his bike watching Yuuma and Kaito duel! He’s in his street clothes and covered in bandages! Which is nonsensical -- Yuuma and Kaito’s duel unfolds in real time, so that means Ryoga went to the hospital, was treated, discharged, had time to go get his bike from wherever it was, and was able to come back to Yuuma and Kaito to smile...in under an hour.

That is impossible. Ryoga’s entire torso is covered in bandages. I refuse to believe any doctor could see him, administer treatment, and let him leave in that amount of time. Even if Ryoga left the hospital against the doctor’s advice -- which, he cooperated enough to get bandages and the danger is over, why would he do that -- there is just not enough time. Getting a patient out of the hospital is a process! You can’t just let people go in and out willy-nilly!

So, hospitalization four. Yuuma is dueling, then he needs rescuing, so Ryoga tries to save him. Then they both fall off a cliff, because the writers hate Ryoga that much. They both have to go to the hospital. We actually see them in hospital gowns, in beds, and they’re held overnight (which only lends credence to my earlier ranting -- what, bleeding stomach wounds can be fixed in an hour but a fall with no visible wounds merits an overnight stay? Okay).

At some point during this stay, Ryoga is able to steal the Key, get dressed, and break onto the roof. There, he heals Yuuma by dueling him and then they run around under a rainbow while Kaito stalks from a nearby rooftop.

How...how did Ryoga get into the roof? I seem to remember the roof also being a helipad, but even if that’s not the case...the door to the roof wouldn’t just be open. There would probably be a lock and an alarm. Also, again, patients can’t just wander around the hospital if they’re admitted. Why does no one in the hospital say “Wait a minute! Those two kids are missing! Security!”

Ryoga’s escaped the hospital twice already. I bet his chart has a note in it. “Watch him like a hawk, he thinks he’s Houdini.”

Actually, that brings up another thing! Shouldn’t someone from the authorities be involved at this point? I do not know how social services for orphans work in Japan, so I’m not even going to comment on that. But we know that there’s a rash of prematurely aged soulless people in Heartland City and that the cases are getting media attention, because the Numbers Club are able to find out about them on the internet. Possibly the police are involved. We don’t know what happens to the souls of all the people Kaito dueled, but it’s possible none of them got their souls back? Except Ryoga. So you have this kid who is hospitalized under weird circumstances with a mysterious medical condition, just like a number of other cases. Except he recovers completely! And he might be the only one that does so, meaning he’s the only one who might be able to shed light on what the heck is going on.

Then he ends up in the hospital again, under weird circumstances. We don’t know what kind of damage being possessed by Tron and Shark Drake actually caused -- possibly there was no physical damage, possibly there was -- but again, it is kind of weird. Then he ends up in the hospital the same day, this time with an obvious injury. How does Ryoga explain his stab wound to the doctors? Are they obliged to call the cops at that point? I don’t think Ryoga can explain what happened, not without implicating Faker and Mr. Heartland in illegal activity. There seem to be no consequences of the Numbers running loose all over Heartland City in Zexal II beyond Kaito dying of overuse of Photon Mode, so...I have to assume the authorities never got involved.

I could maybe buy Ryoga leaving the hospital to go rescue Yuuma from Faker but I absolutely cannot buy him being able to escape a second time. At that point, surely someone would be asking questions?

I know I said that I was going to give Rio’s magical coma a pass but I lied. I lied. People don’t just go into comas and wake up magically better. Rio should have atrophied muscles. She should have brain damage. She would never have just been able to stroll out of the hospital and head back to school like nothing happened. And if she could, there would be hoards of doctors following her around asking her to be their papers.

Also, I realize Kaito’s “duelist immune system” has already been done to death, but...that isn’t how the immune system works. Also, detoxification happens in the liver/kidneys. Having “blazing hot blood” would not help you. Kaito, please calm down.

This would bother me a lot less if Kaito weren’t supposedly a scientist who built a sentient robot as a child. Really? You can build Orbital 7 but you can’t Google “immune system?” Okay.

#analysis #zexal #ygo zexal #me complaining #ignore this post #headcanon

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riichardwilson · 4 years

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Mixed Directives: A reminder that robots.txt files are handled by subdomain and protocol, including www/non-www and http/https [Case Study]

Let’s get crawling, I mean moving.

Robots.txt by subdomain and protocol

I’ll cover two cases below where I ran into this situation.

Case study #1: Different robots.txt files with conflicting directives on www and non-www

And there it was, a different robots.txt file was sitting on the www version of the site. And as you can guess, it contained different instructions than the non-www version.

non-www version of the robots.txt file:

www version of the robots.txt file:

A quick note about pages blocked by robots.txt that can be indexed

What about Google Search Console (GSC) and robots.txt files?

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing one version:

robots.txt Tester in GSC showing the second version:

Case study #2: Different robots.txt files for http and https and a blanket disallow

Note, there were a number of other things going on with the site beyond this issue, but having multiple robots.txt files, and one with a blanket disallow, was not optimal.

The https robots.txt file (hidden behind a security warning in Chrome):

Site health problems showing in GSC for the https property:

Fetching the https version shows it was blocked:

Tools of the trade: How to detect multiple robots.txt files by subdomain or protocol

Google’s robots.txt Tester

The wayback machine

The fix: 301 redirects to the rescue

Summary: For robots.txt files, watch subdomain and protocol

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

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mirceakitsune · 5 years

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It's time for everyone to know this (WARNING: Suicide)

After careful consideration, now that almost 3 weeks have passed since the event, I decided it would be fairest to post about this publicly and let my followers know what had happened. Up until now I only told 3 people, with the exception of a forum where I spoke about it in detail but anonymously.

You've probably noticed that during the past months, I've been posting a lot of unfinished works and organizing archives with the content I've created. I also distanced myself from most of my projects as well as involvement with other teams, which I'm only now picking back up on. This has been planned since late March of this year when I took a vow: That this year I would finally escape.

On 03 September 2019 at 12:00 AM I went through with my first suicide attempt in this lifetime. I don't wish to offer unnecessary details for those who are sensitive to this sort of thing, but will provide a short description of what took place: I attempted it during the last day of my trip to the seaside, and it involved taking pills and alcohol then jumping into the sea from a long pier. I survived because I greatly overestimated the amount of drugs that would be needed to incapacitate my ability to swim, and was also (un)lucky to catch a night when the water was both warm and calm (just 3 days earlier we had a cold storm with huge waves). I ended up swimming for at least one kilometer, following the lights I could make out across the shore, until I eventually crashed onto a beach... from there I managed to find my way back to the villa where I was checked in, despite barely being able to stand up or walk once I was out of the water. I threw up the cocktail I drank once I got back to my room, but the next day everything slowly started returning to normal... at this time I'm almost completely healed apart from a cough that's also on its way out.

At the moment I don't have a concrete plan for a second attempt: Please don't waste your time worrying about me. But I post about this to speak the full truth: It's uncertain what I want to do with my future from here on. If I ever disappear from the internet for more than a few weeks, I wanted everyone to know the most likely reason as to why. I can no longer live on this world as it stands, whereas the majority of the human race wants me dead as well. Sadly there are some beings who care for me and want me around for a bit longer, especially my poor biological mother who doesn't even know about this yet... also fate if I may put it that way, I don't get what bizarre plan they have that still involves me being alive in this shithole of a world. Being born here was a huge mistake they made, and now we don't know how to properly repair it.

What led to such a drastic decision? A ton of unrelated things combined, most of which I will keep to myself or those I trust. The primary cause which I'll mention here was tyranny: The total war against modern culture and our fundamental freedoms waged by governments worldwide, as their desperation to enslave us and gain absolute control over our minds has spiraled out of control. You already know of ACTA2 / Article 13 or SESTA / FOSTA and other ways they've tried shutting down the free internet for years. The drop that filled the glass was when the United Nations declared that it considers artwork a crime and wants all governments in the world to arrest artist who draw ideologically sensitive content mainstream society doesn't agree with (particularly lewd cartoons and anime), something they've gone back to just a few days ago.

For years I've lived as a thought prisoner waiting for their governments to arrest me, strip me to a chair, drug me and put a device on my head, then try to erase my thoughts and identity to make me a lifeless robot like them... ever since I was a child I've known this is what the human race wanted to do with me. I'm never going to consider anything like a shooting even if I had the means to commit one, killing others is plain wrong and out of the question even if it's to rescue the world from this madness... the only way to save myself, unless something finally happens to reestablish a real civilization before they put us in concentration camps, seems like getting off this demented hellhole while I still can. I don't want pity: All I want are damn solutions! I have no place on a world where thoughts and art can be considered a crime by even the most (supposedly) civilized empires on the planet; Once this is possible for any given group or under any excuse, it's only a matter of time until they invent some reason to come after those like me as well. And no, you can't know what I'm referring to, as I don't know what could happen if all those monkeys knew that beings like me exist... but that's okay since only a handful of people on this planet currently understand it anyway.

Unless I've committed an act of heresy by even posting about what I've done here and my journal gets deleted by a mod, feel free to ask questions or offer any feedback you consider useful. Just please don't cry for me to never do it again: You don't know the full reasons why I did it nor what I have to go through every fucking day for over 15 years... many in my place would have done it much sooner. All I can say is that I'm sorry it has come to this, and I didn't mean to sadden or disappoint any of you. For now I am fine... I just don't know for how long I can continue keeping myself here for everyone else's sake.

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