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debbiechanclub · 4 years

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Best Two Out of Three, Part 1

So this started out as anon request for a Chuck Taylor or Orange Cassidy fic, and with the help of @hotyeehawman it somehow morphed into a monster 26-part Adam Page and Kenny Omega fic, with a lot of other folks thrown in. So if you’re finding this for the first time, the good news is it’s complete. Enjoy!

Best Two Out of Three

Synopsis: Orange and Chuck both want their friend Alex to accompany them to the ring for their matches at Double or Nothing - so Alex devises a contest.

Part: 1/26

Pairings: None really in this chapter, but hints at Kenny Omega x OFC

Warnings: Alcohol use, some suggestive language

Word Count: 2,512

Find the rest of the fic here.

“Are you sure it’s cool if I come hang out with you guys?”

Alex sent Kris a look like she’d grown a second head. “Of course it’s cool. I adore Chuck, Trent, and James, but sometimes I need to hang out with another girl.”

They walked into the hotel elevator and Alex hit the button for the fifth floor. It was the night before AEW Double or Nothing 2020, and the Best Friends were having a little get-together in their rooms. It was a much-needed opportunity to cut loose and experience a little normalcy in the midst of the pandemic, and Alex in particular could use a few cold ones to take the edge off. She was still annoyed with Kenny for giving the match against Kris tomorrow night to Penelope Ford instead of her. She rolled her eyes as the elevator doors slid open with a ding. If he wasn’t over at the arena pre-filming the Stadium Stampede match with the rest of The Elite and The Inner Circle, she might have marched up to his room and given him a piece of her mind.

“So who all’s gonna be there?” Kris asked as they stepped off the elevator.

“The usual suspects,” Alex answered. “My knucklehead stablemates, Scorpio, Frankie, Jack, Austin, and you and me.”

“No Maxwell?”

She smirked. “I told him he could only come if he brought Michael, and then we’d be over the 10-person limit for social gatherings.”

She let out a loud laugh. “So you totally invited Michael behind his back, right?”

“I did,” she confirmed. “But he politely declined.”

They arrived at Alex and Chuck’s room, and she slid her key into the electronic lock. “I’m back with an alien and beer!” she proclaimed as she opened the door—but she got no response. Chuck and James were embroiled in a heated debate; well, about as heated as James, a.k.a. the one and only Orange Cassidy, could get.

“Dude! Why would she come out with you for the ladder match?” Chuck charged.

James’s face remained as stoic as ever. “Because she’s my friend.”

Chuck’s eyebrows arched high onto his forehead. “She’s literally my best friend!”

Ever so slightly, James cocked his head. “Penelope’s probably coming out with Kip for it,” he coolly pointed out.

“Penelope is Kip’s girlfriend!”

“And Alex is my friend who’s a girl.”

“Hey!” Alex interjected as she set the case of beer on the floor. Everyone turned to look at her. “I’m right here.”

“Oh, thank God,” Trent breathed. “You need to settle this. They’ve been arguing since you left.”

Her face contorted with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. “About what?”

“About whether you should accompany Chuck and Trent to the ring for their match or Freshly Squeezed for his match tomorrow night,” Jack answered.

Alex blinked. “And why wouldn’t I just do both?”

“It’s the principle of the matter,” Chuck argued.

James didn’t so much as blink. “What he said.”

Kris snorted under her breath. Alex sent her a look. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”

“Seriously, please put us all out of our misery,” Frankie groaned. “And can I get one of those?” He didn’t wait for permission as he eagerly picked up the beer case and tore into it. But Alex couldn’t care less; the wheels in her brain were turning.

She put her hands on her hips. “Well, there’s only one way to settle this, then: a contest for my accompaniment tomorrow night. Best two out of three wins.”

Chuck pressed his lips into a hard line, thinking. And then he said, “You got yourself a deal.”

Alex looked at James. “Orange?”

He shrugged—barely. “Sure.”

She clapped her hands together in excitement. “Then let the games begin, boys.”

* * * * * * * * * *

They couldn’t just play Rock, Paper, Scissors and call it a night; Alex was more creative than that. In order to be graced with her presence during his match, the winner would have to prove both his strength and wit—and round one was a good old fashioned relay.

“Alright!” Alex commanded everyone’s attention, a beer in hand. “These are the rules for round one. First, you must chug a beer. Second, you must complete twenty-five push-ups—real ones, none of that on-your-knees bullshit. Finally, you must braid either Jack or Austin’s hair. The first one to finish is the winner. Obviously.”

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Austin muttered.

“But you’ll look so pretty!” Kris proclaimed. He just grunted.

“Alright; Scorpio, I need you to count James’s push-ups,” Alex delegated. “Frankie, you count Chuck’s.”

Frankie laughed to himself. “That won’t be hard.”

“Shut it and give me a beer,” Chuck ordered. He already had his game face on. Alex couldn’t help but admire him for it.

Frankie passed one beer to Chuck and another to James. And then they both looked up at Alex. Waiting.

“On your marks...” she started. “Get set… Go!”

They simultaneously flipped open their drink tabs and started chugging as the room all cheered them on. Alex was genuinely interested to see who would finish first—but she wasn’t surprised when Chuck did. He crushed the can in his fist and tossed it aside just as James finished, and they both got into push-up position. Scorpio and Frankie both started counting; James was going nearly twice as fast as Chuck.

“Twelve, thirteen, fourteen…” Scorpio counted.

“Dude, he’s smoking you,” Trent commented to Chuck.

“Why aren’t you counting out loud?!” Chuck shouted at Frankie.

“Focus!” he returned.

“Twenty! Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five!”

James jumped up and ran over to where Austin sat on one of the beds. He separated his hair into three parts and started trying to braid.

“Twenty-five!” Frankie shouted. Chuck hurried over to Jack—and stared at his hair in bewilderment.

“How the hell am I supposed to do this? His hair is as big as he is!”

“Thank you,” Jack grinned.

He grabbed a chunk of Jack’s curls and tried to separate it from the rest; but before he could figure it out, Kris let out a shout. “Orange wins!”

“Fuck!” Chuck proclaimed.

Alex walked over to inspect James’s braid. Surprisingly, it wasn’t terrible. “Round one goes to Orange Cassidy,” she confirmed.

“Why do you know how to braid hair?” Chuck shot.

James just shrugged.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Alright, boys; time for round two: trivia.”

Alex paused for dramatic affect. Everyone in the room stared back at her, waiting. They were thoroughly invested in this idiotic competition she’d concocted, and she couldn’t be happier about it. “I’ve given our lovely galactic game show host,” she motioned to Kris, “five questions with their correct answers—all of them about yours truly. She will read each question aloud. If you know the answer, buzz in on your respective cell phones with the convenient buzzer app that Trent found; thank you Trent. If you answer incorrectly, the other person will have a chance to steal. First one to three correct answers wins.”

“Cool, let’s go,” Chuck said, his thumb hovering above the buzzer button on his phone screen. Alex pursed her lips; he was too competitive for his own good.

Kris cleared her throat and stood up straighter. She looked down at the hotel room notepad Alex had given her, and read out the first question. “Alright, we’re starting off with an easy one,” she prefaced. “What’s the name of Alex’s submission finisher?”

BZZZ! They both buzzed in—but James beat out Chuck by a second. “Orange?” Kris asked.

“Eighty-Eight Sleeper,” he answered.

“Correct!”

Chuck stubbornly sucked his teeth. “I bet you don’t know why it’s called that.”

James sent him a blank look. “Because it’s a Dragon Sleeper and she was born in 1988, the year of the dragon.”

“He should get an extra point for that,” Frankie piped up.

Chuck rounded on him. “Are you trying to sabotage me?”

“Alright, alright,” Alex intervened. “While that is why it’s called that, there will be no extra points awarded. It’s one-nothing James. Next question, please!”

Kris looked back down at the notepad. “How old was Alex when she started training?”

BZZZ! Chuck shouted out the answer before James even had a chance. “Nineteen! And she was trained by Jimmy Valiant in the same class as Adam Page!”

Kris sent her a surprised look. “Really?”

Alex nodded. “Yup. Hangman and I go way back. But like I just said, there’s no extra points, so we’re tied one-one. I appreciate your enthusiasm, though,” she grinned at Chuck. He didn’t acknowledge it; he was still in competition mode.

“Okay, next question,” Kris started. “Who was Alex’s favorite pro wrestler growing up?”

BZZZ! James beat out Chuck by a hair. But then he paused; he didn’t actually know the answer. “Eddie Guerrero?”

“Wrong!” Kris proclaimed. “Chuck, you have a chance—”

“CHRIS JERICHO!” he shouted before she could finish.

She blinked. “That’s correct.”

“How did you get that wrong?!” Scorpio said to James. “Chris teases her about it practically every time he sees her!”

He shook his head in a rare showing of emotion. “I blanked.”

“Okay. For the third and potentially final question,” Kris dramatically announced. She looked down at the notepad and preemptively laughed as she read the question to herself before stating it aloud. “Who does Alex totally want to punch in the face right now?”

“What?” Chuck and James both sent each other looks of confusion.

“I know it,” Trent muttered.

“OH!” It was as if a lightbulb went off above Chuck’s head and he quickly mashed his buzzer. “Kenny!”

“Yes!” Alex proclaimed. She muttered under her breath as she took a sip of beer, “I totally want to punch Kenny in his stupid face right now.”

“Well then, round two goes to Sexy Chuckie T!” Kris announced.

“YES!” Chuck pointed a finger in James’s face. “You suck!”

“We’re tied,” he flatly returned.

“Yes; indeed you are,” Alex returned. “And that means it’s time for round three --sudden death.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“Sudden Death” was nothing more than “Never Have I Ever.” But, quite frankly, Alex was a little nervous. She knew this group of people—and she knew they had little to no shame.

“Okay, these are the rules,” she explained. “We’ll play like normal—but Chuckie and Orange will be the only ones putting down their fingers. The first one to put down all three fingers is the loser of the round.”

“Okay, just to clarify,” Scorpio asked, “so whoever still has fingers up at the end wins the whole thing?”

She nodded. “Correct.”

“I don’t like this,” Chuck said, even as he held up three fingers. “Y’all are gonna say things you know I’ve done to make me lose.”

“Never have I ever been a conspiracy theorist,” Frankie smirked. Chuck didn’t think it was funny.

“Especially you!”

“Alright, he actually has a point,” Alex begrudgingly admitted. “Let’s keep it unbiased. Kris, you start.”

Kris put a finger to her lips in thought. “Hmm… oh, I know,” she smirked. “Never have I ever slid into someone’s DMs.”

Alex let out a loud burst of laughter. “Maybe if Trent was playing,” she commented.

“Jeez, Alex, just put me on blast,” Trent returned.

She just smirked and took another sip of beer.

“So neither of you have done that, either?” Kris asked.

“I’m the Kentucky Gentleman, Kris,” Chuck said as James shook his head.

She arched her eyebrows. “Color me surprised.”

“Alright, all fingers are still up,” Alex said. Let’s go to the right. Scorpio, you’re up.”

Scorpio deviously stroked his chin as he looked back and forth between Chuck and James. “Never have I ever… walked in on people having sex.”

There was an anxious pause—and then Chuck put down a finger.

Alex gasped. “What? Who?!”

He cringed. “Someone at my wrestling school back in Kentucky. It was gross.”

She crinkled her nose in disgust. “Well then. Your turn, Trent.”

He had a statement at the ready. “Never have I ever seen Alex naked.”

“DUDE!” she proclaimed. Meanwhile, Chuck and James both put down a finger.

Jack’s brow furrowed. “Okay. No judgment, but please explain.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “It was an accident, and I was only half-naked. They walked in on me while I was changing earlier.”

“That happened today?” Scorpio asked.

“Hence why I said it,” Trent smirked.

Alex’s cheeks burned. “Next!”

That meant Frankie was up. “Alright. Never have I ever… pissed myself during a match.”

“Oh, gross!” Kris laughed—and James put down a finger.

“What!” Alex proclaimed, wide-eyed. “Okay, now you need to explain.”

He pursed his lips. “Back when I was Fire Ant, Gran Akuma kicked me right in the bladder during a match. I drank too much water that night and a little came out.”

“Oh shit!” Chuck proclaimed. “I remember that!”

Alex and Kris looked at each other—and burst out laughing. “Okay, okay,” Alex eventually said. “You both only have one finger left. Whoever puts a finger down next is the loser.”

“Pressure’s on,” Jack said as he rubbed his hands together. He smirked. “Never have I ever drunkenly confessed my love for someone.”

“OH COME ON!” Chuck shouted as he put down his last finger. “You said that on purpose!”

Jack shook his head. “Dude, no I didn’t,” he said with a laugh. “I swear to God.”

“Who did you confess your love to?” Kris curiously asked.

Chuck looked sheepishly down at the floor. “Alex,” he muttered.

Kris’s jaw dropped as she turned wide eyes on Alex. “When did this happen?”

“After Double or Nothing last year,” she said.

“I was three sheets to the wind and we were in Vegas, alright?” Chuck explained before anyone else could put in their two cents. “Besides, I didn’t mean love like in love. I meant it like, ‘I love you, you’re my best friend.’”

Trent patted his back. “You keep telling yourself that, bud.”

“I did mean in that way!” he insisted.

“Okay, well however you meant it,” Alex interjected, “you lost the round, which means that Freshly Squeezed here has won the right to my accompaniment tomorrow night.”

Chuck pouted. “Man…”

“BUT.” Alex held up a finger. “We all know I don’t have the final say on that. It’s up to the EVPs and Tony.”

Chuck looked back up at her. “What? Then why the hell did you make us do all that?”

She shrugged. “Because it was fun.”

“It really was,” Kris agreed, and everyone else echoed the sentiment. Everyone, that is, except Chuck and James.

“If I explain to Kenny what happened tonight,” James started, “he’ll probably honor my victory.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “NO!” she proclaimed. “You’re hereby disqualified; I’m going out with Chuck and Trent tomorrow.”

“Yes!” Chuck raised his arms in victory. “You suck, Orange!”

The room erupted as everyone started arguing and talking over each other again. But Alex sat back, a contented smile on her face. The Best Friends really were her best friends and, in that moment, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

#aew fanfiction #aew imagine #chuck taylor fanfiction #chuck taylor imagine #orange cassidy fanfiction #orange cassidy imagine #best friends fanfiction #best friends imagine #aew #kris statlander fanfiction #kris statlander imagine

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morethanamillennial · 6 years

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Peace Corps Vs. Teaching Abroad: Finding A Path After Graduation

In June 2017, I had just gotten back from an amazing experience of living in Europe for 7 months. First studying abroad in Paris, and then going on a three-week tour through the Scottish Highlands, small UK towns, and the AMAZING Snowdonia National Park in Wales (seriously, go look up pictures- LIFE. CHANGING.). With more than 10 more countries checked off in my Been app, I couldn’t wait to get back out into the world to explore some more. But the logistics of, how to pay for it and when I would have the time to go, settled in. The experience solidified my need for adventure and to live abroad once again after graduation. Determined to do just that, I thought of all the ways to make that possible and the most popular ways are either teaching abroad or volunteering in Peace Corps.

As my college career at Chestnut Hill College (CHC) came quickly to an end, like most graduates, I had been struggling with what I want to do with my degrees in psychology and global affairs. CHC let me expand my leadership skills, both academically and socially, as well as gave me a place to make new friendships, but figuring out the next steps for my life was on my mind 24/7. But let’s back track for a second.

I worked all last summer at a camp where I was able to meet girls from around the world in exchange programs working at other camps in the area. They served as my ticket to the world through their stories and adventures. As the end of the summer approached I was getting more questions by friends and family (though mostly family because they want to know what I am doing at all time) about what I was going to do after I graduate. THAT WAS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION! All throughout my last year at university, I continuously was asked the same “what are you planning to do after graduation?”. In August of 2017, I started to sit down to really think about this question because I had no ideaand if anyone reading this is going through something similar I just want to say that THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL! I’d say that if you knew what you wanted to do or know where you wanted to apply for jobs, you’re in the minority and I envy you.

I sat in my room pondering this question with the help of YouTube videos (waaaay too many YouTube videos), books, and talking to my recent graduated friends. I had this dream of serving in Peace Corps, a US government program which sends US citizens to developing countries and work on projects in various fields (environmental, health care, economic development, etc.), ever since I had a teacher in high school who told me all about her experience within the program. I soon realized that after graduation would be the perfect time to do apply due to the long commitment of just over 2 years abroad. I decided to reach out to a recruiter and after many hours at Starbucks and revisions to my resume with his help, I applied to Peace Corps.

I had applied openly, which basically means that they would take my degrees (in my case global affairs and psychology) and place me in any country with any job they saw me as a good fit in. Quick side note: if there is a specific country or region or job you wanted to do within Peace Corps, I wouldn’t recommend this, but I was up for anything and applying this way would allow me to be considered for more placements which meant more of reality that I would be offered an invitation to serve. So, by August 2017 I was applied to Peace Corps and I started the agonizing waiting game the US government loves to play (no, but seriously if you taking this route be prepared to not hear back for months at a time). This of course gave me more than enough time to constantly worry and debate of whether I will get an interview which would lead to an invitation, but at least the hard part was over- or so naïve Cynthia thought.

Because I need to have a plan out every aspect of my life (seriously, it’s a problem), I researched other ways I could live abroad after graduation as a backup plan. I looked into nannying, woofing, working in hostels, but one job that stuck out to me was teaching English abroad. So, like everything I do, I turned to google and typed into the search bar “teaching English abroad jobs”. All these sites popped up with schools/ programs all around the world that wanted native English speakers, it was very overwhelming. Some wanted me to have a TEFL certificate (which I do not have), others wanted teaching experience (which I did not have), and others wanted an education degree (which I did not have), and some wanted you to pay to teach (which I was not doing because I am a broke bitch).

I had to narrow down my search to a continent and I chose Africa because it holds a special place in my heart after volunteering in Ghana for a period of time after high school. I once again stared at the search bar under the google logo and searched for African teaching positions and ended up finding a request to teach English in Ethiopia, which is in East Africa. I didn’t need a TEFL certificate and I didn’t need to have a teaching degree- PERFECT. I quickly sent my resume and heard a response back in October of 2017 asking for an interview.

At this point you might be thinking, “wait what about Peace Corps?” Well by the end of the summer I found out I was being considered for a health extension volunteer position in Benin (in West Africa- I had never heard about it before either). I was interviewed by August and then the waiting game started again. I wouldn't hear back from them again until December, but I will come back to that.

I was offered a position to teach English to third graders by School of Tomorrow in Ethiopia and for something that was supposed to be cause for celebration, it caused a panic for me as the questions came pouring in. Do I turn the position down to wait for Peace Corps? Do I accept the position and continue with Peace Corps if I get in? Do I email Peace Corps and rescind my application??? Needless to say, I was confused. So naturally, I turned to my trusty pros and cons list. In the end I decided to accept the teaching position and not say anything to Peace Corps just in case I didn’t end up getting into Peace Corps.

I decided to relax now about what I was doing after graduation and when people asked me about what I was doing after graduation, I would just say that I had options and that I was definitely moving to Africa. I was content and happy with that answer because my next adventure was starting to come together, and I would soon be leaving the US for at least a year, YAY! However, in December my world would be turned upside down when I finally I saw an email subject like that read, “Invitation to Serve”. Man did I ugly cry! My years of dreaming to serve in Peace Corps was going to be in a reality! I was going to be leaving September 15, 2018 for Benin as a health extension volunteer BUT (AND THIS IS AN ENORMOUS BUT), I had to pass medical and legal clearances. Long story short, with $1,000 spent, countless appointments at government services and EVERY SINGLE doctor imaginable (I needed teeth x-rays! Like what?!) and almost 4 months later, I did not get cleared to leave for Benin due to my past struggle with mental health. So again, more ugly crying occurred. But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and Ethiopia was now my next destination!

It is now July 2018 and I have officially signed my contract with School of Tomorrow in Ethiopia and will be moving there by September 1. I am now preparing for the move of the lifetime by buying the Lonely Planet Ethiopia book and language book, along with the typical FB announcement, and of course dragging all my friends to Ethiopian restaurants to prepare for this next chapter of my life in Ethiopia.

So, for anyone thinking about what to do after college but know they want to get out to experience the world, look into these options but also the other ones I mentioned. From my experience, you have to be prepared for rejection and countless hours sending out resumes and waiting around for responses if living abroad is something you want to pursue. But the rush when you find out that you’ll be living in another country for a year and traveling as you go, is all worth the stress and uncertainty. I try to remind myself that just because I was brought up to get a conventional 9-5 office job and I have the degrees to potentially do so, does not mean that is what I have to do that anytime soon. There are so many options out there to live abroad and if it’s something you’re personally thinking about, I say GO FOR IT! Travel is the best way to understand and fall in love with yourself on a deeper level.

I don’t know what will happen in Ethiopia or the experiences I will get to have, but I do know that it’ll be an adventure. Life is meant to be experienced and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.

Happy travels, Cynthia

#life changing #life changing experiences #peace corps #teaching abroad #post grad life #university #ethiopia #teacher #teaching

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unscramblingtheliberalarts-blog · 6 years

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Aydelotte’s Social Media Weather Report: Niche in Small Liberal Arts Colleges

I’ve been compiling posts that contribute to popular discourse about the insularity of small liberal arts colleges. Their “nicheness” has for the most part on Tumblr received praise. For some, the liberal arts college “bubble” ensures a safe space that galvanizes, not stymies, spiritual growth:

oceansofbliss:

I just want to go back to my liberal arts college where everyone is nice and no one is very discriminatory and I live in a happy bubble of accepting joy

(emphasis added)

gryffindored:

the family that i created through my theatre degree in a small, liberal arts school in new england will never cease to amaze me. in times of tragedy, we are always pulling together and making magic happen.

(emphasis added)

theprettypatriot:

But my private school of less than 2000 is where I learned who I was and what I stood for. I figured out that life was absolutely what you made it, and that at the end of the day you are solely responsible for your happiness. I learned that losers quit when they’re tired and winners quit when they’ve won. Most importantly, I learned that it wasn’t your failures, but how you responded to them that defined you.

(emphasis added)

dandelionbreaks:

“The purpose of a university is to engage in dialogue, debate, and exchange ideas in order to try and come to some meaningful conclusion about an issue at hand. Not to shut ourselves off from ideas we find threatening.” — Charles Negy, Professor, Says Students Showed ‘Religious Arrogance And Bigotry’ In A Letter Later Posted On Reddit, emphasis added

Other students spoke of how liberal arts college’s insularity and small class size was a real and significant factor in the college decision-making process:

sunnystrong:

When conducting my college search, I looked for small liberal arts colleges (because I prefer smaller class sizes, and more interactions with professors) with a strong biological science or neuroscience programs (because I want to study those subjects), and Mount Holyoke ended at the top of my list. (emphasis added)

whatcomesnextisstrange:

Calvin’s general population tends to be the sheltered kind that don’t get out enough to really understand the real world, though as they spend time on Calvin’s campus I hope that that is changing. The students that come that don’t have the Dutch CRC background are slowly making differences, whether it be because the discussions they get into tend to be more political or philosophical, or that the general population of the United States is just getting more and more depressed and therefore hopefully more and more introspective.

... I’ve found great people here, not necessarily the people my parents thought I would find of course, their idea of a good friend is basically a robot anyways.

(emphasis added)

marilyns-child:

Then one day, while I was struggling with my decision between the two, I asked my mom for advice... She told me to apply to our local state university for two years and then I could transfer to a liberal arts college. We fought for days over it, but I eventually gave in.

I never made it to the liberal arts college.

...

I lasted a year and a half in college, following everyone else’s dreams for me. I took sixteen credit hours, worked two jobs, and started on a downward spiral that ended with me crying in a professor’s office, telling him I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t continue on. I was drunk, my hips were bleeding from having cut myself, and I hadn’t eaten in two days. By then, I had changed my degree to English ( “You can be a teacher!”) and there wasn’t a second of college I liked. I was miserable in a state school of thousands of students, being taught by professors who didn’t know me, and studying something I didn’t want to.

...

Sometimes, most of the time, following the money isn’t the answer. Following your heart often is.

(emphasis added)

Several posts delved into how the culture of insularity allowed for more open discourse about sexuality and pornography:

chongthenomad:

the awesome thing about the college I go to is that during one of my classes we were playing two truths and one lie and one girl was listing off the facts about herself and the last thing she said was that she was a stripper, and it turns out she actually was one but the thing is no one had any weird or disgusted or creepy looks on their faces, everyone just smiled and nodded and our amazing teacher even asked her where she worked and then she smiled at her and told her how convenient her job was since the strip club was not too far from campus and wow i really love my school

cyandie:

not being in the insular bubble of liberal arts school for several months now has made me even more vitriolicly opposed to porn because i forgot how average ppl really just talk about it and are so unopen to negotiating why [the industry is] heinous! ...

On the other hand, the same “nicheness” that was praised for bringing about a close-knit community also garnered criticism. Some posts touched upon the “liberal,” “left-ist,” “socially mindful/sensitive” stereotypes of people in liberal arts colleges:

surfcommiesmustdie:

one of my brothers teaches poli-sci at a small liberal arts college in illinois and my dad was telling me he went full cultural marxist. he used to focus on latin american politics but now he’s knee deep in gender stuff and other assorted social justice crap.

i advised disowning him

snout:

person: *holds elevator door open for me*

me: lmaoooo wow, virtue signaling much…? i bet you think youre just SUCH a good person. Oh sorry, did i trigger you? LOL. tough shit, the real world isn’t just a big liberal arts school. uhhh yeah, I’ll take the stairs, THANKS. 😏

Other critiques possessed a less facetious vein, noting the ironic social alienation that such insularity produced:

no-identity-land:

Honestly I’d so love to try and find some new friends or something more through an app or site like Her or Tinder or something, but my campus is ridiculously small and in the middle of nowhere, and my self-esteem can’t handle the thought of rejection (and the inevitability of having to see one of these people all the time on campus) so I’ll just pretend that I’m the one choosing to stay single and save myself the embarrassment lol

(emphasis added, Tagged: lgbt, gay, lesbian)

man-of-prose:

“This is what the real, no-bull- value of your liberal-arts education is supposed to be about: How to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default-setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone, day in and day out.” - David Foster Wallace, emphasis added

Another crucial criticism was the lack of access to the general public about academic theory that such insularity inexplicably reinforce:

hedevitoanditsown:

college/academia and various sub-cultures (punk, metal, regional cultural destinations like Portland, etc.) should not be the only avenues for which we recruit people into radical spaces. ... put your theory into practice and teach people the value of solidarity, mutual aid, etc. these people won’t take communism seriously until you divorce the cold-war rhetoric from the reality. starting up food not bombs in your liberal arts college town full of upper middle class liberals isn’t going to get us very far (not that feeding people who are vulnerable is a bad thing).

...

i think in order for the left to succeed, we need to overcome two major hurdles:

we need to make our theory less confusing and more accessible (breaking news: academia isn’t appealing to a lot of people and neither is theory that’s barely comprehensible. people have more important things going on in their lives, like putting food on their table and caring for their kids/families, than to try and figure out wtf derrida was saying)

we need to actually put our theory into practice (at least the stuff we can immediately, like we don’t need a full-scale revolution to practice mutual aid and democratic decision-making, etc.) and use it to HELP people who actually need it. think black panthers pre-COINTELPRO. because as we’ve seen the political elites of BOTH parties have left the working classes out in the cold to starve, they’re scared and irrational, so fascism is a logical leap for these people.

(emphasis added)

inqilabi:

Women participate in their own silencing. That’s the tragic part. Our own self regulation. We are raised to silence ourselves, become smaller, less visible. Then when women become feminists, you see the same crap… Except it’s got some name of some theory attached, and it’s taught in liberal arts schools or what have you.

Insularity is clearly a multi-faceted topic in discourse about liberal arts college culture on Tumblr. Small class sizes are praised for fostering an often intimate, sympathetic community and opening academic discussion about publicly stigmatized subjects, such as sexuality and porn. Yet, the “nicheness” generated from a tightly knit population does not prevent experiences of social exclusion or loneliness, which students (in this case from the LGBTQIA+ community) have found themselves struggling with. Nor does it solve the issue of general inaccessibility to sociopolitical theory and academics taught in higher education.

#liberal arts education #Swarthmore #liberal arts college #liberal arts #Aydelotte #Aydelotte foundation #Swarthmore College #weather report #Amy #insularity #nicheness #social alienation #small class size #sexuality

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footballsexualfrustrations · 7 years

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”inspired by this jily fic, if there are hp fans here, go read it it’s adorable.

the oc is on tinder, marco reus is also on tinder, that’s it; also I forgot to say that I’ve never used tinder so I don’t know what I’m talking about lol

You don’t even know why you downloaded Tinder in the first place. Well, you do know. You were kinda drunk one night and you were feeling lonely (because you had just moved to Germany a month ago and you didn’t really have any friends there) and your best friend has just gotten engaged and you were so far from being in a relationship that you were seriously considering adopting a cat and embracing the life of a cat lady because that was surely what the future held for you. So naturally, you decided to leave you love life in the metaphorical hands of an app.

God, you were pathetic. And a mess. A pathetic mess.

In your defense, you hardly ever used it after downloading it, thank you very much. You have swiped through it a couple of times when you were bored late at night but that was it, nothing more nothing less. You were actually debating on whether or not you should just delete it and download Candy Crush again.

Since it was a Friday night and you had no ice cream left at home and you have just finished watching Tangled and questions like “When will my life begin?” (sang in Mandy Moore’s voice, which made everything much worse if you were being quite honest because why couldn’t you sing like that) started swimming through your brain, you decided to give Tinder one last chance.

Nothing or rather no one caught your eye till you saw Marco Reus, male, 27 and giggled. Since you weren’t really into football, you didn’t know who he was before moving to Dortmund but you have eyes and he is the city’s golden boy or black and yellow boy. So you are familiar with his (charming) smile, (charming) dimples and (more than charming) butt.

You shook her head and giggled again. Who was that dumb to think that they could get laid using Marco Reus’s photos in Dortmund of all places? The profile looked nice, nothing weird. The photos were…also nice. He had a few with his friends that you couldn’t find anywhere online and you spent a good half an hour going through all of his(and his friends’) social media accounts.

Out of pure curiosity, you swipe right. Because that was ridiculous, that could not really be him, there was no way in hell that it was actually Marco Reus and why would Marco Reus even need Tinder? Guys like him had girls waiting in lines for them.

Not a few minutes later you got a response.

Hello.

And before you could actually type out an answer.

I must say you’re more beautiful than the beautiful game.

You quickly deleted the Hell- that you have already started and sent a “Has this line actually worked on anyone?” instead.

You tell me. I haven’t used it on anyone else before.

You were fighting back a smile and honestly, this was beyond ridiculous. You were just about to tell him so when another message appeared.

Sorry, that was lame. In my defense I actually googled it. Wanted to impress you.

You were not fighting anything anymore, instead, you were grinning like an idiot at your phone and you just wished that there was someone there with you to slap some sense into you because that was 100% some scammer and you shouldn’t be wasting you time talking to him or her, for all you knew, when you could be rereading Pride and Prejudice.

Your phone vibrated again.

Are you impressed?

Nope.

I must work harder then.

I hope that doesn’t mean that you’re going to bombard me with football pickup lines till I say that I am impressed.

You have me all figured out, don’t you?

You didn't. You spent the next hour just talking about TV and music and you really should stop smiling at your phone whenever a new message from him appeared but you couldn’t help it. Leave it to you to actually be interested in the guy with the fake profile.

So you spent the rest of the night like that, your phone in your hand, as you went from room to room, till he finally said goodbye and that he had training tomorrow. You tried not to be disappointed when you remembered that you were not talking to a guy that you had an actual chance with, but with someone who is catfishing you for whatever reason. But it’s fun, talking to him is fun, so you said goodbye as well.

The next day you were supposed to have brunch with your friends. You were still alone on the table when your phone vibrated. You laughed, your hand covering your mouth as you read the new message.

Hey is your name Vincent? Because I really need your Kompany.

This is bad. Like really bad. Are you sure you’re trying to impress me?

You mean to tell me that you’re still not impressed.

No.

Wait.

You know, football players can go for 90 minutes and know 11 different positions. ;)

This is even worse. I’m actually begging you to stop. What are you up to today?

I’m out actually. Brunch with my sisters.

You didn't have time to reply though because your friends arrived. Lena and Kathrine were your coworkers and your closest friends in Dortmund. You bonded one Monday morning when all three of you were hungover at work and found the coffee machine broken.

“Who are you texting?” Lena asked with a devilish smile as she sat down on the chair next to you.

“Nobody.” you answered maybe a bit too fast and your friend’s smile swiftly grew into a shit-eating grin.

“It’s a guy, isn’t it? I knew it, you whore! Who is he?”

“Nobo-” you couldn’t even finish the sentence before your phone was being snatched from your hand by Lena and she was going through your apps as if she had every right to do so.

“Marco Reus? On Tinder?” Lena almost screamed and you wanted nothing more than the ground below you to open up and swallow you whole because people from the tables around them were now looking at you.

“Listen, I know that it’s not him. I’m not that dumb.” you whispered, hoping that your friends would just let it go but you had no such luck.

“Well, clearly whoever it is, he is already in love with you.” commented Kat as she took the phone from Lena and was now scrolling through the messages herself.

“He is not in love with me. Can we just drop it now? What do you want to order?” you tried to change the subject once again.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s plain as day that the guy is crazy about you.” said Kat before giving you your phone back. “And maybe it is him? You never know.”

“I do know. There is no way that Marco Reus was hitting on me.”

“Actually I kinda was.” you heard a voice behind you. The voice was male and had a slight German accent. Sure enough, when you turned around he was really standing there.

“Hi.” he greeted and you felt like a big idiot because your mouth was slightly open but no words whatsoever were coming out of it.

“Hey.” you said a few seconds later with a shy smile, tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear. His gaze was shifting from you to your friends then back to you and luckily they took the hint because a moment later Lena was grabbing Katherine by the hand, dragging her away, the excuse that she needed to pee on her lips.

“So it is really you.” you didn’t know exactly what you were supposed to say and the sentence came out of her mouth before you could stop it.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I heard my name and I saw that it was you and I’ve always wanted to talk to you and there you were and I just thought that this was my chance.” he explained, his hand flying to his hair. You could tell that it was a nervous habit and you suddenly felt all warm inside because you realized that you were making him nervous.

“May I?“ he asked as he pointed at the sit next to you and you simply nodded.

“You’ve always wanted to talk to me?“ you questioned with a soft smile as he sat down.

“You come here often. My sister owns the place. I’ve seen you around.“

“So you thought you’d just download Tinder and hope for the best?“ you laughed and he couldn't help but join you.

“It wasn’t the best plan.“

“No, it wasn’t.“ you agreed and you could swear that you spent the next few minutes just smiling at each other like idiots.

“Would you like to grab a cup of coffee sometime?“ he finally broke the silence and his hand found its way to his hair once again.

“Sometime?“ you asked, your eyes sparkling with playfulness.

“Monday?“

“Okay.“

#marco reus imagine #football imagine #football oneshot #football one shot #Football Fanfiction #idk man idk #lmao the ending is so bad #im so lazy #im sorry #i hope you enjoy #make sure to let me know if you do #also marco is so ooc but who cares #i dont #im such a joke #it legit ended nowhere lol #im the worst™#im sorry for being an idiot #I ACTUALLY EDITED IT

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seaside-studying · 7 years

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7 Things I Wish I Knew As a High School Freshman

Hey guys! College sophomore that graduated from an IB high school here! Today, I’m gonna be your big sister and tell you stuff about high school to help you succeed early! I’ve never had a baby sibling (or any siblings for that matter), so I’m just gonna take all of you younglings under my wing for a bit if that’s okay? ;u;

k ty. Now for the prep talk:

Although I went to an IB school, these tips can really apply to pretty much any high school, whether you took AP, early college courses, or if you didn’t even take any high-level classes.

High school can be the first tough hurdle you’ll encounter in your life (it was for me), so you’ve gotta be prepared to handle the stress and upcoming workload that you may not be used to yet.

But don’t stress too much! Your high school days are your last days of bonding with an entire class of people (unless you take classes at a small college). As much as you think you’re ready to just go off into the adult world and live on your own, you’re seriously going to miss your old friends and the life you had at your high school. Hell, it’s why we have high school reunions because we miss those times so bad, haha! But anyways, here’s a list of things I wish I knew as a high school freshman.

1. As soon as you get into high school, you need to start thinking about what you want to do for a career so you can tailor the classes you take towards that goal.

Now, you don’t have to have your entire life planned out, but you should at least be thinking about what fields interest you and what you can see yourself doing in the future.

Volunteer or get experience somewhere (or everywhere) if you don’t have a clue about what you want to do yet. Getting rl experience is the best way to help you decide whether you like the type of work you’re thinking about doing or not. It also exposes you to different experiences that you may not have known you would’ve liked!

Keep your options and your mind open! You are merely a sponge during this point in your life. Take the time while you’re young and not bombarded w/ a heavy workload yet to get in the swing of living your life independently. :)

2. Start creating studying habits that work for you so you can boost that GPA! Colleges look at your entire high school GPA, so you need to hit the ground running as soon as you begin high school.

Creating great study habits now will help you immensely in your junior and senior high school years. Don’t start slackin’ yet! You’ve got a whole 4 years ahead of you (and even then, you prob won’t catch a break in college, especially if you’re a science major lol).

Your junior and senior years will probably be your hardest years for different reasons. Junior year is the year you’ll be showcasing most in your college apps, so you’ve gotta get all your grades up before you apply to make you look like the excellent student you are. As for senior year, the first semester is when you apply for college apps, and you hear back from them at around December or March. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT succumb to “senioritis” (the disease where you magically lose all motivation to do well in your last year of high school because you think the marathon’s over after getting accepted into a college). Well sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s definitely not over. If your GPA spirals down dramatically, the colleges that accepted you can revoke their acceptance of your admission, so just stay in school everyone and make sure your GPA doesn’t drop way below your previous scores because colleges get really alarmed when they see a student’s grade trend drop rather than improve. Do yourself a huge favor and don’t get lazy, please.

To study for midterms/finals, make sure you review old notes every day for at least 2 months before the test so you’re not cramming everything a week before.

3. Make friends! Surround yourself with people that will motivate you to be successful!

High school is the chance for you to mature and meet a variety of people. Take your chances now to network and get to know people in your classes. Know that everyone there has the potential to do great things, so be nice to everyone (especially to that lonely kid that no one talks to). You’ll never know who exactly will be your next partner in whatever amazing thing you discover in life or who you could be saving by flashing a smile their way or a starting a conversation.

It’s okay if you’re not in the “popular” clique. Honestly, the best thing I ever did was have a small circle of friends who were considered “nerds.” They were the people that encouraged me to achieve more than what I thought I could achieve academically and in life generally. You become who you surround yourself with, and by surrounding myself with smart people, I too began to think about life like them. So moral of the story, try to find a group of people who will raise your potential and make you feel good about yourself.

That being said, there’s no need to try to join a group just to “fit in.” Do your best to not to fall into the wrong crowd.

And stay away from drinking or drugs! I know it’s a social activity sometimes, but those substances are definitely not going to help you out on your journey. You can be happy without them!! Don’t use them to cope with any stress or existing problems you have. I guarantee you it’ll make them worse!

4. Befriend your teachers! You’re gonna need it later!

When you apply to college, you’re going to need 1-3 letter of recommendations from your teachers for college applications, scholarships, or even recommendations for jobs/summer internships, so you seriously need to give them a great first impression day 1 and maintain it for as long as you have that teacher. That means going to class on time, asking thought-provoking questions, participating in class regularly, getting good grades on your tests/projects/reports, etc.

Your teachers are also your most trusted resources! If you ever have any questions, feel free to talk to them after class or during lunch. If your teacher is an expert in the field you want to get into for a career, interview them about their experiences and ask how you can get involved at an early age. Who knows, your teachers might actually have connections to people or companies they can hook you up with so you can get out in the field and learn first hand! Seriously take advantage of your resources.

5. Do some extracurricular activities!

Join a sport, club, volunteer organization, or anything really to give your future college application some color. Colleges LOVE well-rounded students who can juggle school on top of other time-consuming activities because it shows that you’re not only disciplined enough to manage your time wisely, but you’re also very diverse in your interests, and colleges want diverse/unique people!

If your school doesn’t have any clubs, start one! It looks really good on your college app too if you say that you “established” a club on your own and got people really involved in the activities you coordinated.

While this is not going to apply to all colleges or fields, some recommended activities that appeal to top-tier colleges are:

Doing volunteer work for a cause (charity work); Eg: National Honors Society looks great for college apps!

Joining clubs that show you’re a good public speaker/intellectual (science, debate, drama clubs, etc depending on the degree you’re interested in applying to for college). But also, don’t turn away from clubs that genuinely interest you, even if they’re hobby clubs that don’t relate to your intended college major. Do what YOU want. :)

Joining a sport (or multiple sports) for several years— shows you’re committed and a team player. Plus, colleges give tons of scholarships to sports players!

Tutoring people in difficult subjects.

Summer learning programs for your intended college major. I personally took an environmental science summer program at my dream college to “put my foot in the door.” It lets the college know that you were involved with them and were on your mind since your early high school days. They like dedication, but know that this isn’t a guaranteed way to get into your dream college.

If you can’t find anything you like, start something of your own! Whether you invent something, create your own organization or even business, colleges love seeing you take initiative into your own hands and start a large-scale project at an early age.

6. Strive to be at the top of the class!

Now it isn’t necessary to absolutely be #1 in each of your classes, but at least aim to be in the top 25% so you reap the benefits of a good letter of rec from your teachers and have access to them as resources.

At the end of each year, sometimes teachers give out awards to the best students in the class. These awards look super awesome on your college apps, so please try your best to get that gold star (but also don’t stress yourself out a ton to try to get it)!

And most of all…

7. Have fun!!!!!!

Like I said, high school will probably be one of the most memorable times of your life. Those 4 years become your essential transitional period from being a kid to a budding adult, so be responsible and make the most out of the time and people you meet at your high school. All they want is for you to succeed and do great things!

Other miscellaneous tips:

Don’t get too invested in relationships during your hs days. I know I used to be an obsessive romantic hoping that I’d find love in high school, but really, just know the time will come when you find love. Most relationships during this time aren’t serious anyway, but if they are, do your thing! Just be sure to hang out in moderation since s/o’s can be distracting and ruin your time managing habits & schedule.

Hang out and socialize with people but in moderation!

Find an effective coping mechanism when you’re upset or stressed out from school, whether that be a sport, your pet, talking to the high school counselor, going out with friends, etc. Sometimes you need a break from your hectic studying schedule, so be sure to give yourself one every now and then! You deserve it.

I know you’re going through that stage where you feel like you can’t do anything because your parents are super overprotective or w/e, but seriously don’t treat your parents like crap because they’re doing what they can for you and have been for 14 years prior. When you’re in college living in a dorm somewhere far far away from them, you’re seriously going to regret all those times you yelled or said mean things to them. Going off to college marks the end of your days living with your parents (it’s pretty sad tbh), so just remember to cherish the time you have left with your family because your parents are getting older too.

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you have any tips you want to add or any questions, feel free to contact your big sis! :) I’d love to help anyone out with their problems or questions. Life is weird and doesn’t come with an instructions manual, so the best way to learn how to navigate through it is to ask the veterans, haha.

Since I graduated from an IB school, I’m probably going to make a “how to survive IB high school” post to give my tips + tricks on how to get good grades in some high-level classes and other miscellaneous IB projects (EE, Group 4, TOK essay), etc., but only if I get a high demand for it because that post is gonna take a lot of time to write out, so send me asks or reply to this post letting me know if you guys want it.

Wishing everyone a great school year filled with awesome grades, fun times with friends, productive study sessions, and success!

~Seaside Studying (Steph) xo

Check out my other original text posts here!

#high school #study #studyspo #studyblr #college #text post #seasidestudying

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toomanysinks · 5 years

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NVIDIA and OpenAI’s capped returns

Editor’s note: Starting as a trial, the Extra Crunch Daily newsletter is going to be delivered Tuesday-Saturday, in order to faithfully analyze the happenings in the startup and financial world Monday-Friday.

Open AI’s capped returns

OpenAI announced yesterday that they are going to be offering a “capped return” security for investors as part of the for-profit/non-profit split the organization is creating:

As mentioned above, economic returns for investors and employees are capped (with the cap negotiated in advance on a per-limited partner basis). Any excess returns go to OpenAI Nonprofit. Our goal is to ensure that most of the value (monetary or otherwise) we create if successful benefits everyone, so we think this is an important first step. Returns for our first round of investors are capped at 100x their investment (commensurate with the risks in front of us), and we expect this multiple to be lower for future rounds as we make further progress.

I candidly don’t understand this structure at all. For venture capitalists — and particularly early-stage investors — returns are driven by one, maybe two, and extremely rarely three startups in a portfolio (that would be Benchmark’s 2011 fund, which includes Uber, Snap, and WeWork). That one outlier investment may drive a majority of all fund returns. If OpenAI were to be that investment, how you could you possibly relinquish the remaining upside? Maybe you could prospectively sort of accept this, but how would you explain to LPs that “ah, yes, seven years ago we decided to give up that next 150x” or whatever.

OpenAI LP (the for-profit entity) is trying to target more mission-oriented investors, who presumably value incentive alignment but not (huge) profits. That’s fine, but the idea of capping a return as a mechanism to capture run-away value creation seems really off to me and should be discouraged.

My colleague Devin Coldewey also had a negative take, but sort of in the opposite direction — that OpenAI “may not be quite so open going forward” and is going to focus more on profits than science. That’s a fair criticism as well, although I think the profit motive will get us to AGI faster.

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With Mellanox deal, NVIDIA buys a chance to salvage its growth

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

NVIDIA confirmed whispers Monday when it announced it was acquiring adjacent semiconductor player Mellanox for $6.9 billion. Mellanox specifically focuses on interconnects and networking components that transfer data between cloud compute and storage resources.

The strategic rationale for NVIDIA is fairly straight-forward despite being a little outside of the company’s core competency. As we’ve discussed a few times before, NVIDIA got absolutely crushed towards the end of last year as the company struggled to find growth while facing headwinds from a dried up crypto market, a testy geopolitical backdrop, customer erosion, and increased competition. NVIDIA cuts its sales guidance by $500 million in the last quarter which, as the NYT pointed out, CEO Jensen Huang called “a real punch in the gut.”

NVIDIA has been betting the farm on diving into the data center, cloud computing, and supercomputer/AI markets that require parallel computation well served by NVIDIA’s graphical processing unit (GPUs). With Mellanox, NVIDIA will not only gets access to a segment with higher margins than its current operations but will, more importantly, be able to offer solutions across the full compute stack for data storage and AI/ML.

As TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden put it:

“While NVIDIA has focused its energies on computing, Mellanox works across Ethernet and other networking technologies — complementary areas for the two when addressing new computing and data transfer challenges brought about with the rise of AI, cloud services, an explosion of smartphone and other connected device usage and as-yet nonexistent tech like self-driving cars, which will put even more strain on our data infrastructure.”

The deal had been fairly well-telegraphed prior to the official announcement and is expected to be cash and earnings accretive. And the purchase price doesn’t appear to be too outlandish either — especially given a bidding process Huang described as “very competitive” — coming in slightly below the over $7 billion NVIDIA was rumored to be offering in order to outbid Intel, Xilinx, and Microsoft, all of whom had been linked as potential buyers during the past year in which Mellanox has reportedly been up for sale .

Notably, Intel seems to have missed out again here during a time where the company has been pouring money into R&D trying to play catch-up after struggling in recent years to keep up with the industry’s transition to new technologies.

NVIDIA stock was up around 7% on the day and Mellanox traded up to roughly $118 — just below the $125 per share acquisition price — with the market seemingly baking in a five-to-six percent chance of the deal not going through given the US government’s increased scrutiny on the global chip industry and pushback seen in prior semiconductor transactions. While a rejection of the deal would certainly be negative for NVIDIA, the company would only have to cough up a termination fee of $225-$350 million if the deal is blocked by shareholders or regulators and both leadership teams seem to be on board.

For NVIDIA, it seems like a small price to pay for a new shot at growth and a chance to quickly gain share in an increasingly competitive market.

Where is China’s new NASDAQ?

Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

China has a money problem (well, it has a lot of money problems, but let’s just focus on one for today). The country has produced a dizzying array of global-scale technology companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, and many more. The problem is that these startups grow up in China, but perform their IPO debuts overseas, typically in New York and also often in Hong Kong. There are a whole lot of reasons why this happens, but it annoys the hell out of the senior Chinese leadership.

So the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the two leading markets in the country, has been working with regulators to introduce a “NASDAQ-style” trading board that would have fewer rules on new issues. Those more lenient rules would include allowing companies to be unprofitable at IPO and to allow for multiple share classes, presumably with differential voting rights. In other words, they are designed for Silicon Valley-style startups.

We learned last week that the board’s introduction will come near the end of May, and it unveiled a nearly final set of rules for the new exchange last week. That’s months late though, since back in December, the exchange had said that new equity issues could begin trading as early as March.

The reason all of this minutia matters is because of Ant Financial . The Chinese fintech company was last valued at $150 billion, and its IPO, which has been rumored for months now, will be one of the major financial blockbusters of the year.

Where Ant Financial chooses to debut is a hugely important question for these exchanges, and for getting a read on the future divide between U.S. and Chinese capital markets. At its scale, it could almost single-handedly christen Shanghai’s new board, and indeed, it is rumored that the company wants to do just that. Certainly the Chinese government wants the company to trade locally.

So the question is whether it has the time to wait for Shanghai to get all of its pieces in order, while also ignoring the large capital markets in New York, London, and Hong Kong that would almost certainly have to be tapped for a company its scale.

LinkedIn’s failures in China

Illustration by Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

It’s not every day you get a direct takedown of a product by that product’s former leader. But over the weekend, former LinkedIn China president Derek Shen blasted the company’s approach to China, according to a translation by Jill Shen at TechCrunch editorial partner TechNode (who I presume is unrelated):

“It’s horrible that the LinkedIn product managers don’t even realize they have lagged way behind a list of new social networking services such as WeChat, feeling good about themselves instead,” said Shen in a LinkedIn post on Monday. The former LinkedIn executive said that he tried to improve the platform when he joined the company six years ago, but struggled to make progress as it involved so many stakeholders within the organization.

(Of course, knocking LinkedIn’s product is a favorite pastime of pretty much any worker in Silicon Valley today).

LinkedIn first took China seriously in early 2014, and has had reasonable success in the interim, growing to around 41 million users. LinkedIn is unique among Western-run social networks in having (any) access to the Chinese market — essentially no other major network (including Twitter and Facebook) has passed through the Great Firewall.

Yet, its fortunes appear to be turning. LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, is feeling a bit of a pincer from both Chinese and Western critics. The professional network has followed the censorship edicts of Beijing, much to the chagrin of human rights organizers. It has also added in a real name requirement linked to mobile phone numbers, which is now mandated by the government.

Meanwhile, domestic competitors like Maimai (脉脉) and Zhaopin (招聘) are building traction with more native products, to Shen’s point above. Maimai in particular has raised hundreds of millions in venture capital and is rumored (like all late-stage companies) to be targeting an IPO.

We talk a lot about the market-entry barriers that China’s government has placed on Western tech companies, but at least when it comes to consumer apps, it is also important to note that product cultural awareness doesn’t come instantly. Even if China’s markets opened tomorrow, these apps would still have to compete in the marketplace, and there is no guarantee that Chinese professionals want garbage InMail offering “growth services” any more than Silicon Valley workers do.

Eliot Peper and “narrative responsive design” on the web

Novelist and strategist Eliot Peper gave Extra Crunch readers a lengthy reading list of great speculative fiction a few weeks ago to help inspire the creation of startups. Now, one of his major projects has been published.

A few years ago, Peper published True Blue, a short story about discrimination in which people’s life outcomes are determined by the color of their eyes. It’s a parable to our own world, infested with the kind of speculative details that Peper is known for.

After publishing the short story, he teamed up with Phoebe Morris and Peter Nowell to bring a fully-illustrated and responsively-designed version of the story to life, with some funding from TechStars founder David Cohen.

What’s quite exciting about this project is seeing how artists are using the web as a deeper narrative platform. From Peper’s discussions of how the team made the product:

One of the counterintuitive lessons we learned was how powerful it is to obscure certain details, letting readers bring more of their imagination to the story. Specifically, we discovered that detailed lines often trigger the sense of something being depicted for you, so we smudged and faded and shadowed until we felt the right balance of detail and suggestion. This philosophy carried through to design — which so often aims to reduce tension by making experiences simple, intuitive, and convenient. But stories thrive on conflict, and Peter challenged himself to use design to evoke tension instead of erasing it.

He even engineered a new tool that cropped images so that they adapted to different devices and screen sizes not only by changing size, but actually changing image composition to preserve narrative content and emotional impact. When I told him about the project over a slice of Arizmendi pizza, author/friend/media experimenter Robin Sloan coined a term for this new technique: Narrative Responsive Design.

A lot of work yes, but the wait and effort I think are worth it. Read the story and learn more about the process of making it.

Editor’s Note

We are slowing down a bit on the infrastructure side that we have been discussing ad nauseam.

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to [email protected].

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

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source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/nvidia-and-openais-capped-returns/

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fmservers · 5 years

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NVIDIA and OpenAI’s capped returns

Open AI’s capped returns

OpenAI announced yesterday that they are going to be offering a “capped return” security for investors as part of the for-profit/non-profit split the organization is creating:

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

With Mellanox deal, NVIDIA buys a chance to salvage its growth

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

As TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden put it:

For NVIDIA, it seems like a small price to pay for a new shot at growth and a chance to quickly gain share in an increasingly competitive market.

Where is China’s new NASDAQ?

Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

LinkedIn’s failures in China

Illustration by Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

(Of course, knocking LinkedIn’s product is a favorite pastime of pretty much any worker in Silicon Valley today).

Eliot Peper and “narrative responsive design” on the web

What’s quite exciting about this project is seeing how artists are using the web as a deeper narrative platform. From Peper’s discussions of how the team made the product:

A lot of work yes, but the wait and effort I think are worth it. Read the story and learn more about the process of making it.

Editor’s Note

We are slowing down a bit on the infrastructure side that we have been discussing ad nauseam.

Thanks

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates.

Via Danny Crichton https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

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zipgrowth · 7 years

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Looking to Bring ‘Civil Discourse’ to Education Debates, Ex Superintendent Turns Editor-and-Chief

By the time John Deasy resigned his post as superintendent of the L.A. school district, he had become a polarizing figure.

In an article in The New York Times covering his resignation, Steve Barr, founder of Green Dot charter schools, put it this way: "The bitterness that had developed between Mr. Deasy and his critics impeded healthy discussion." Barr went on to ask “can we actually move forward without the extremes dominating the debate?”

This year Mr. Deasy is moving forward. And he’s trying to help lead a less bitter debate about education reform, as editor-in-chief of the new publication, The Line. It’s funded by Frontline, a software company for K-12 schools.

The second Issue of The Line, released earlier this month, features some of education’s heavy-hitters: Including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, National Education Association president Lilly Garcia, and conservative think-tank writer, Rich Hess debating the polarizing topic of school choice. It has brought both John Deasy, along with and Frontline Research and Learning Institute C.E.O. Tim Clifford, to talk about the goals of the new publication, and polarizing edtech topics.

Anything that could possibly enter as a disruptor to the sector's way of doing business is always seen with skepticism and concern, and healthy skepticism is very important. There might be at least two to three things on the edtech side that rise to the top of concerns.

John Deasy

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Listen to a complete version of the interview below, or on your favorite podcast app (like iTunes or Stitcher).

Jenny Abamu: Tell us a little bit about The Line. How did it come about?

Tim Clifford: At Frontline Education, we view our mission as being a partner to the education community. We bring both technology— and, more importantly, insights—to educators and administrators across the country. We formed the Front Line Research and Learning Institute about a year and a half ago, to really mine the data that comes across our servers every day and give the insights back to the education community.

In the very early days of forming the Research and Learning Institute, we said that we needed to find some seriously dedicated educators that could help us try to understand the data, but also to move beyond just the data and try to find a way to help spark the conversation in the community.

I met John Deasy through an introduction by a friend, and John and I sat down, and I would say in the first meeting that we had, it was pretty electric in terms of a common bond and a commitment to education and trying to improve education.

John Deasy: I had grown really worrisome about the tone of dialogue in the sector of education and social justice—not just from my own experience, but from watching colleagues’ seeming inability to actually engage in productive civil discourse. And so I talked about what's actually being lost in the ability to move forward on the agenda of supporting millions of young people in this country when we can't seem to wrestle even with facts in a civil way.

Out of that conversation, we were committed to try and create a venue in a very different form of publication that's really dedicated to the proposition that really great ideas and good learning withers without civil discourse.

Why another online publication? Did your investors not protest investing in this? I mean, civil discourse is not exactly the thing that gets you the highest ratings these days.

Clifford: When we first started having this conversation I think there was a bunch of people around the table who said, ‘Hey, we're a software company, we don't improve outcomes for kids.’ So then we started to kind peel that onion back a little bit and say, well, wait a minute, we put 300,000 substitutes into classrooms every day. We support professional-development programs for teachers. We have to recruit platforms to help districts identify the best talent and then recruit the best talent into their districts. So we do make a difference.

And as we began that discussion, it pretty much snowballed. Our investors have been behind that fully, and The Line is not an insignificant effort for us, but it's one that does make an impact on the community.

And what’s the most polarizing issue you've tackled so far?

Deasy: We had a whole issue just recently dedicated to the question, Can you have great public schools and school choice? One doesn't need to do much of a media scan to realize that that's a very heated dialogue across this country and has been for a long time. So we really tried to dig into that.

Another hallmark of the publication is that we want to learn from those that are actually leading in these very difficult situations. And then be informed by policymakers and be informed by researchers.

What is your take on the state of education technology in schools? Personalized learning has become a buzzword, but also has plenty of critics. Why do you think that technology has become a pretty polarizing issue?

Deasy: Anything that could possibly enter as a disruptor to the sector's way of doing business is always seen with skepticism and concern, and healthy skepticism is very important.

There might be at least two to three things on the edtech side that rise to the top of concerns. One is the issue that the very act of teaching as we know it with human teachers and student together is being adjusted and possibly replaced. That is a difficult conversation to thread around. There's a real worry about the isolating effect of personalized learning. So students can actually make more progress, but are they making that progress alone? And thirdly, is that whole districts are entering into really strong and thoughtful educational-technology plans. The very material itself has such a relatively short lifespan as the result of new versions and new pieces of both hardware and software come out so frequently.

It's not been like anything else we've seen. Traditionally textbooks lasted a while. The materials in the classroom lasted a while. This notion of very rapid obsolescence is a huge fiscal issue as we think about it in districts.

Do you think that's why you got a lot of pushback from the iPad situation? Because of the hardware costs? And also the short term lifespan of hardware?

Deasy: The pushback was in a couple of areas. I think the cost left as opposed to when you have a fixed budget, could you do something else with that money rather than lift all students out of poverty by giving them the same technology that adults have. And so there's a lot of stress over, ‘Hey, this money could've been used for raises,’ or ‘This money could've been used for other issues.’ It's all true, and I think that it goes back to the phrase I used in the beginning, that is students should have what the very wealthiest have. I find that very important to live by.

What can we look forward to in your work on The Line?

Clifford: We're having civil-discourse dinners across the country. We just started these, and our vision is that we can help bring people together.

You know the state of affairs in our country—it's just so divided, and we don't think it's fair to fight with each other when kids’ lives are literally at stake in front of us. And so if we can make an impact to bring people together to solve problems, that's what we hope to accomplish.

Deasy: I think a lot about future issues in dealing with power and potential conflict around the kind of forces of identity. Whether those be race, religion, gender, or ethnicity, always intersecting in and around our public schools. They're very important and usually thorny issues for a reader to manage through. Those are issues that The Line is going to absolutely wrestle with.

Looking to Bring ‘Civil Discourse’ to Education Debates, Ex Superintendent Turns Editor-and-Chief published first on http://ift.tt/2x05DG9

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makeitwithmike · 7 years

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7 Blogging Ideas For When You’re Stuck, Tired And Can’t Write A Thing

By Cynthia Dora

Every year, I greet January with new resolutions. Often, I never end up fulfilling them. But that doesn’t stop me from making new ones every year.

One of the resolutions I made at the start of 2017 – one I thought would be easy to keep – was to write a blog post every week on WordPress.

Easy, right?

But it’s May already and I am way behind schedule.

Not that there isn’t a heap to write about – there’s U.S. politics, the immigration debate, racial justice and healthcare rights. There’s easily enough to have me raring to go every morning. But like I said, I am failing miserably.

What’s the big deal about slacking off from time to time, you ask?

Well, I recently came across a WordPress statistic that says its users produce almost 80.7 million new posts every month. I will admit that made me feel pretty slack!

So a bit of introspection, research and discussion with like-minded bloggers inspired me to come up with this list of ways to motivate yourself to blog when you really don’t feel like it.

Without further ado, here are seven quick ways to generate blogging ideas when you’re seriously stuck, tired or unmotivated.

1. Choose to write on a topic that you know

If you think writing on a trending topic will help you gain followers and industry respect, think again. You won’t provide sound advice or commentary unless you know what you’re talking about, and you may get stuck at the research end of the process to boot.

Try to blog on what naturally interests and engages you – not what you think will get clicks and shares.

For instance, artificial intelligence and cloud software are concepts most marketers and technology buffs are keen to prove they’re super up to date on. But unless they’re industry leaders, they’ll probably have trouble finding anything new, informative or even original to say.

That’s not to say writing on pertinent and current issues isn’t important – but blog on topics that appeal to you as an individual.

If you are a tennis enthusiast then sharing your views on Steffi Graf and Serena Williams’ record would be an ace idea (pardon the pun!).

I am an ardent and passionate reader so both fiction and nonfiction writing appeals to me. This means writing a book review for my blog is much less intimidating than writing about artificial intelligence (and I know which one I’ll do a better job on!).

Unless you are passionate about a topic and know it in great detail, it is unlikely that you’ll have anything ‘extra’ to add to the noise on the internet. You’ll be wasting your time, other people’s time, and the creative energy that could be put to better use elsewhere!

2. Get inspiration from social media

In this article on Social Media Today, it was revealed that the average person has five social media accounts and spends almost 1 hour and 40 minutes a day browsing through their different feeds.

Turning to social media for ideas is like digging in a gold mine. People are constantly sharing, discussing and debating their views as well as enthusing about their interests and passions.

Join a few groups on Facebook that are based on your interests. You’ll not only meet like-minded people, you’ll generate ideas and views through discussion.

If you join a group aimed at writers or bloggers, you’ll also gain a channel for creative inspiration and be able to improve your online presence by actively participating in posts shared by fellow group members

It may surprise you what pops up to dislodge an idea in your brain. I’m a member of ‘Mad Over Marketing (M.O.M)’ on Facebook. They shared an image of a Nike ad a few months ago – and it actually inspired me. Take a look.

The quirky intelligence of this ad aside, it generated the gem of an idea for a blog post called ’11 Ads That Will Make You Smile’ that could easily lead into a second blog post titled ‘How Brands Inspire People To Get Fit Via Marketing’.

See? A single ad shared in a Facebook group generated two different ideas in my head for two different blogs. Impressive, but so easy!

3. Use web tools to brainstorm

Web tools exist to help people out – especially when we are stuck.

Let’s pretend you already have a pretty good idea of what you want to write. Say it’s a piece on email marketing or social media marketing. You can start by looking at sites like BuzzSumo, Alltop and SocialAnimal to see what’s trending and what’s being shared by users.

Once you have an idea of what people are clicking on, use a tool like HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator to help you take your idea to the next level and generate some potential titles.

Personally, I don’t just use one particular site. I look up 3-4 sites until I come up with a topic or title that resonates with me.

Have a look at this topic Portent’s Content Idea Generator suggested for email marketing.

What a perfect topic! It’s catchy, it talks about something my audience wants to know about (email marketing), it contains my keyword, it cues familiarity because it mentions a celebrity and it gives me ample creative scope!

There’s absolutely no shame in using web tools to brainstorm and generate ideas for blog posts. In fact, they could provide you with just the prompt you need in dire, uninspired times.

4. Format blog posts as lists

The whole reason I’m writing this blog arose from my 2017 New Years’ Resolutions, so it’s fair to say I’m a big fan of lists.

But in this instance I’m not talking about aspirational lists, but listicles.

Listicles are articles or blog posts structured in the form of a list: for example, ‘7 Best Productivity Apps For Android Phones’.

Not only do people love reading listicles, their thematic structure makes the writing process a whole lot easier.

Next time you are stuck over what to write, contemplate whether your content could form a series of items presented as a list.

The internet is filled with listicles so just try not to make them too clickbait-y.

Also, be as specific and positive as possible. Instead of writing ’13 SEO Trends To Watch Out For In 2017′, try ’13 Things Your Business Should Be Doing For SEO In 2017′.

5. Follow people who influence your industry

Duh, right?

But following influencers, industry and thought leaders, as well as daily news sites is a great way to come up with new blog ideas and writing inspiration.

For instance, I follow Virgin Group on LinkedIn and they made the two posts below on their page.

It inspired me to explore the link between mindfulness and productivity. I knew I could either either use each idea separately or combine them into one, for example, ‘Why The Happy Employee Next To You Is 12% More Productive’ or ’11 Ways To Improve Mindfulness and Productivity At The Same Time’.

And seeing it on Virgin Group’s feed meant I knew there would be research and studies to back it up.

6. Ask questions on message boards

How else will you learn?

Take advantage of the pool of users on sites like Quora and Reddit to explore topics that interest you in depth, and no doubt pick up a few interesting and inspirational facts along the way.

Start by choosing a basic search term or keyword and looking through the conversation threads on it to see what you find.

Your natural interest in particular ideas will help you identify an appropriate topic to write on.

Then ask questions if you have them.

For instance, say you want to write about a trip to Hawaii. You can log into Quora and post a question to get an alternative point of view to your own.

Based on the response you get, you can come up with your new blog topics, such as:

Do’s + Don’ts While In Hawaii

What To Pack For Hawaii

5 Things You Will Learn In Hawaii

7. Look inside yourself

This is the part where you get to be you. You don’t have to look outside but think about your own personal insights and experiences, and how best to share them.

You can share personal insights and experiences in many forms: learning lessons, success stories, failure admissions and more.

Wrapping up

Blogging is not as easy as it is made to sound. It’s easy when you consider that it’s just words – but daunting when you think about what you want those words to mean and the ideas behind them.

My initial problem with writing is always starting.

Fortunately now, using the above steps, I usually find a way.

And I am certain that if you try them too, you will be able to wrestle yourself out of your rut.

Guest Author: Cynthia Dora. At the age of seven, I wanted to be a teacher. At 14, I wanted to be a contestant on America’s Next Top Model. Finally, at 25, I ended up being a writer! During the day, I am the Lead Content Marketer at Span Global Services, an organization specializing in building B2B email lists. The rest of the time, I am the mother of a five-year-old who shares my passion for teaching, writing and imagining.

The post 7 Blogging Ideas For When You’re Stuck, Tired And Can’t Write A Thing appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.

The post 7 Blogging Ideas For When You’re Stuck, Tired And Can’t Write A Thing appeared first on Make It With Michael.

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