I have a map of the US with a handful of variables, half numeric, have yes/no sorts of things. I've brought the map from arcpro into AGOL and opened it up in mapviewer, with the intention of the map being embedded in an AGOL dashboard. I've tried the "add field" portion of the styles > choose attributes section, but instead of making something where I can swap between like 6 data representations for different fields in the map seamlessly, it combines them for me. Am I going to have to make like 6 different maps for each variable and then add them all to the map and have the viewer on the dashboard hide different layers to get around this? Or is there a better way? Thanks!

Hey, I'm trying to play masked video in AR session. I have 2 video elements, one is content and the other one is mask. I use 2 DOM elements for those videos one for map and other for alphaMap. With or without alpha framerate drops after few seconds or once I start moving around.I'm testing on Mozilla XR Viewer on iOS. I tried:

• reducing video resolution and size
• various settings of min and magFilter
• I've read firefox browsers have problems with RGBAFormat

Three js version I'm using is 0.125.2
Any ideas what could be causing it? were there any performance fixes/improvements in newer versions?

For folks that don't know or saw the post, today just an hour ago, Dan Felder (Desinger of LoR) had another interview talking about path!, this time he showed some images and informed a bit more on some different details
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Here is the VOD containing the entire interview and The Runaterra Report made a great resumee i recommend checking the resumee before you keep reading this or... just watch the VOD and thats it, i would recommend watching the VOD since it contains more info, but is also half an hour of entierview.
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I will add some bits of info to the report and remember to ppl stuff already said(some not from the stream so makes sense they didn't add it), but the resumee they did is just very good, first with the info of previous interview and most important of the informed by RR:
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• Monthlys will come in March 29th, with next patch and new champions, including all the new champs for LoR of this patch (currently knowed, Sett,Jack,Samira, likely not more)

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• Monthlys will have no rewards for now, one of the consequences of being a beta is they are seeing where and how to reward, tho they are a big priority and will definitly come

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• Monthlys will idealy be either expanded monthly with minor changes or once between 2 or 3 patches with medium size/big changes, there's no certainty, but having a 2/3 month minimum seems good.

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Now with the extra bits:
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• Weekly adventures won't be affected or touched at all with the release of monthlys, they will keep existing and rewarding.

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• There are only 2 Maps/Structures for Monthlys according to Dan (he said so on another post, will link it later), likely the ones showed

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• The star powers of all new champs will be on patch noted (Answer of a person i presume was rioter in stream, will add their name later)

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• Freljord adventure appears on the image, but that doesn't mean it was leaked or hinted, it's just there due to how internal build looks and is used (which was said) Here is Dan commenting and explaining this.
• Freljord adventure wasn't mentioned at all, even tho is clearly unlocked on the images, we don't know if its just because internal build looks that way or because they are comming (and we don't know when that would happen), we do know tho, that the images were from, and i quote "The Current Internal Build! (*Closest to Release*)". So it's definitly possible we get freljord

(Crossed text was proved wrong by dan, kept for context)
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• The shops in Challenges will be different and, as the report says, have only as options to buy cards that will have a bigger chance of being ones synergistic with your champ and the cards will be cheaper than in regular store. Buying items for your deck cards(will be more expensive than regularly buying items), this second one will replace powers, that won't be buyable on challenges*(This was edited in thanks to u/addlex01 comment)
• As Dan said on a comment here, challenges will have regularly a structure of 2 modifiers,but as the word implies, not always4ae4w3q2. With the core idea of every adventure having 1 modifier or 'mutator' to impact the champ choice for the challenge, most negative mutators will aim solely at making the encounter hchallenging, bsometimes this this is something we could take advatage of, but tthats not the primary goal, just another cool adition.

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• Almost forgot, ashe is gonna be on Path next patch

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I dont recall this perfectly so a grain of doubt here:
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• New stuff like (i dont recall the exact examples) deck edition and stronger relics might be added for deckbuilding if people wants more exploration of pre-run power. They could be (also unsure about this) limited to be monthly challenges-only to avoid having to change what is granted in runs in path, cause making you have a stronger base deck means not buffing it too much during runs.

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That's it, thanks to Rolyatack for making the interview and going to upload it on youtube, to Dan for organizing it, doing it and informing so much and to the rioters that were also on stream answering questions from viewers (will add their names in a while, rewaching later).

Sorry in advance for the wall of text!
First off: The amount of viewers an esports event gets is obviously somewhat correlated to the amount of people playing that game. Wow won't reach the viewer levels of the top games, but I still think there's room for opportunity. I'm not crazy enough to think that wow will become THE esport to watch, but I love wow and figured I'd spark a conversation!
I’ve watched almost every single arena tournament dating back to the MLG days (with an exception for a few during Legion), and with the huge amount of abilities/cooldowns that exist nowadays, I think the viewer experience of tournaments has lost some of its touch.
Personally, I think one key problem – possibly THE key problem – is that it’s very difficult to get a sense of progression when watching wow arenas. I.e. it’s very difficult to understand when a game is about to end, even with the commentators (who I think are great btw). This used to be somewhat less of a problem back in the days, when there were fewer overall cooldowns in the game and the “filler spells” weren’t just fillers; those were your main spells, causing the flow of the game to be more steady. Sometimes it came down to mana, sometimes it was a great cc chain / cross cc, and sometimes it just came down to the healer not being able to keep up with the damage (in a less bursty sense than today, generally) – but you had somewhat of an idea about when a game was about to end, for the most part (there have always been exceptions). In today’s game, it does get a bit better when getting to hear the players’ voice comms, but I know that’s not typically an option in tournaments due to language filters, tactics and more.
In CS, League, Valorant and similar games, the progression is crystal clear. Even as someone who has never played those games, it’s very easy to follow along and you very easily understand when there are hype moments. Similarly, I know when I need to make sure to pay attention/watch, and when I can go afk for a bit. And while those are obviously very different games than wow fundamentally, I think wow could try to tap into that a bit too.
BGs do this well in terms of the progression, but I think 10v10 is just a terrible format for a good viewer experience; there’s way too much going on. MDI makes it somewhat easy to see the progression too, but it’s just not the same when teams are in different instances and not directly going up against each other (i.e. it’s not pvp).
Moral of my essay (or book) above: What if wow had a different type of 3v3 format? I wouldn’t want to call it BGs because I think people already have preconceived opinions of BGs (both positive and negative), but something along those lines. Pvp island expeditions in BFA had potential, but there was too much pve involved and the maps were too big IMO (and I’m sure there could be better formats for a new 3v3 experience than the “azerite collection” style). And I think it has to be 3v3, because things are likely to get difficult & overwhelming to follow if you make it a 5v5 (due to the overall complexion of the game and its abilities vs something like CS).
Especially with the rise of solo shuffle and the (at least current) decline of rated 3v3 arenas, I think now would be a good time to start experimenting with something new for rated 3v3. I personally don't know exactly what that format would look like, but I'm sure there are others who would have ideas.

I used to play terraria on 3DS a ton and enjoyed its controls a ton, however since it didn't get the 1.4 update, it has no more progression possible. I was wondering if their are mods/settings, that will give me the same feeling as I had on 3DS. Meaning same control mappings, possibly two screened view that matches the ui of the 3ds version, etc.

1. Add objectives or a points system for food to penalize starvation as a tactic (eg. 10 points for Big Game, 2 points per pound of fish, 1 point per pound of fruit). Not meeting a certain point by the end of extraction means that you failed the challenge in some sense.
2. Adding on to the points system for food, add bonus points for bug bite mitigation, shelter efficiency, furniture/tools built, etc. These should be secondary objectives that they get along with a map based in the area they're in. For example, building a functioning well or a water filtration system in the desert or amazon.
3. Lastly, interpersonal skills and avoiding damage from the elements, which would be more interpretive, but adding something like a penalty for every argument or a bonus for every conflict resolved could work.

These can then be used to make a more objective PSR system. Also PSR systems should be Region-locked. For example, skinny people do better in heat, while they suffer in colder places more than thick people. This could make different rankings for survivalists based on their challenges in the different regions. It also makes viewers more interested in seeing these survivalists again in different settings as they compete for the leaderboard.
Speaking of which, make it a competition. The tribe/family aspect is great, but having an XL of all-stars competing for high score on the leaderboard would be a fresh take. Compete for the biggest kill. Compete for the most badass shelter. Compete for the most cohesive team structure with each member doing their assigned roles to perfection with no friction. These leaderboards should be more pronounced and be a focal point for viewers to interact with and keep tabs on like sports.
These are the next steps to save the show from becoming stale. Right now, it's too much of the same imo.

With the release of the new map pack, I thought I'd create a thread with my opinion about the professional league maps. At first it didn't bother me because I can just avoid these maps and just watch it on occasion when the pros play, but now it is brought into MM so I am forced to play these god awful maps. Here's my take on these maps:
Watching value: I assume these maps are flashy and all over the place to entertain viewers, but from my perspective, this recent map pack is just infuriating to watch as there's practically zero skill involved and all luck based, or you need an exceptionally high skill level to play them, this is the impression I get so as a viewer I get no sense of how much skill is involved, so it's just an infuriating watching experience, am I watching a tournament of luck, or a tournament of skill? I don't know. And lets not forget that they are so all over the place being flashy, we've gone full circle from a professionally built track, to something that looks like something someone just duct taped together.
Identities: Some of these maps are relatively entertaining to watch and drive, like flip of faith, MINUS the downright luck based identities. Or Agility Dash where you have to full send with precision to get the identity down and there's zero safe way to do the identity. Why does a 10 second part of the map have to be the make or break? Like take Slalom from not too long ago, how many matches were first places ruined, due to that last u-turn ice slide?
Identities in general, why can't we have different themed world tournaments every season, or every year? Identities have been used for the last 3 years, now lets start getting a new theme. Season of fast pace, season of slow pace, season of precision, season of weird and wacky, then you can throw these maps into that last category and I can just completely avoid MM for that season.
As for MM, if the maps are going to remain as horrible as it is, can you please remove them from MM? If you're planning on switching them up a bit, then they can stay.
Perhaps my opinion is in the minority, what do others think? Should I just stay out of MM and stop watching TMGL and TMCL?

Part 2
I fell backwards through the portal, landing on the ground back in the reality of hell. The dread spiked as I got back up on my feet. I thought the two blond maniacs would follow me back in, but they didn't. The portal closed, offering me a view of somebody crying over the phone on their porch across the street. Did they notice the flash of light? They're probably too caught up in their own business. The attacks being as gruesome as they are, I'm surprised I haven't died yet.
I stepped back into the house and closed the door behind me. William and Jason sit on the couch, faces pale and mouths hanging open as they watched helicopter footage of wild tentacle creatures running down streets and tackling people. A tighter dread overtook me.
Was this really it for me? Was I going to die here because my parallel self thought revenge would somehow fix things? Do I think that way? No, I don't. If she thought nobody should feel trapped, she wouldn't have been okay with making me feel trapped. I guess that's because he only cares when she's the one feeling trapped. People are human to her until they do something she doesn't like, then she lowers her standards and treats them like animals… Somehow that's supposed to make peace. It doesn't.
I asked Jason if there was a room I could stay in. I was given a spare bedroom down the hallway. Once I found it, I layed down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, hoping I'd be alive for more than another 24 hours. Any moment, some creature was probably going to crash through the window or something, or a giant monstrosity was going to smash the house to the ground. I had never been more afraid of death in my life.
About 20 minutes later, I decided I had to distract myself from all the mayhem and fear in any way possible. I pulled out William's spare phone and Googled various things I was interested in. I assumed TikTok would be filled with video clips of the attacks, so I wasn't downloading that. I watched some YouTube videos though. My adrenaline decreased, but I knew that if I ran out of things to enjoy, I would get bored and the adrenaline would shoot back up.
I'm not sure I'd say putting autoplay on was a mistake. It kinda was, but it kinda led to something interesting for me. The third video to play automatically was a video of a news report from the day the attacks began.
It started with Ontario politicians answering questions from reporters, then the Breaking News animation flashed across the screen. A video taken in Sharon, Ontario showed one of the giants moving down a street, smashing houses along its way. The uncanny look of the thing and how it moved sent chills down my spine. I tapped the screen. The title appeared on the screen.
"First news reports of the giant attacks - Full news broadcast 11 AM to 12:30 PM"
This was the very first attack. Interesting. Morbid curiosity overtook me. The attacks were historical, and if I was going to die here, why not know more about what's going to kill me.
I kept watching. Video footage taken from the Newmarket Community Center was played. It showed two giants smashing buildings down Main Street. The white church blew up, with debris flying all around. The buildings to the south were also reduced to rubble and dust. It was saddening to watch. As the giants began smashing buildings beside the Community Center, the camera operator let out a shaky "Oh my god" then backed away. They aimed to their left. A dozen of the bystanders were slowly turning away. As if they wanted to run but were too curious. A couple of them ran. A few other people from up the street ran by with pale faces. After the giants had passed by and smashed the buildings further to the south, some people in the crowd began to have a conversation.
"What is going on today…? why is this happening…?"
"We don't know why they're doing this… have they been reported elsewhere?"
"I checked the news five minutes ago. Nothing."
"I'm checking it again… nothing"
"I just checked CP-2-4 and they have footage of one in East Gwillimbury"
As they're talking, the giants smash the churches to the south, then they knock down the grey apartment building. Explosions can be seen inside as it crumbles and a plume of smoke rises up.
The next video I watched was of the two giants knocking the apartment building down but from an angle to the south based on what I knew about the location.
The next video began with the camera pointed to the ground. The camera was aimed up and a bit shaky. The camera was aimed at two giants standing a mile away. Flames were thrown at an area obscured by trees. This is Aurora, isn't it? I guessed it was since it was the first of two places to be torched. The giants torched side to side then back and forth, then the trees obscuring the area caught fire. The camera operator turned around and ran without hesitation.
Another video was taken near the Burlington Skyway Bridge. Two giants knocked the bridge down from north to south. My gut clenched watching cars fall into the water below.
As terrifying these videos were, it was interesting to see the beginning of the attacks this close. The news mostly only played footage taken from news helicopters and the same bits of footage over and over. Many of the videos I had seen on the internet so far were videos I hadn't seen yet.
I looked up videos of the attack on Central Manhattan.
One video was taken from a window somewhere to the east of the Empire State Building. One of those horrifying giants seamlessly smashed its way through the skyscrapers, leaving expanding plumes of smoke behind. Once it reached the Empire State, it focused a ton on smashing it to the ground. A plume of smoke rose up against the oncoming plumes of smoke created by the destruction of the nearby buildings.
I had seen many things like this over my journey throughout the different realities, but this just seemed too familiar to me. Nothing about this reality was different until the attacks began. Not even some detection of the Godzilla-like giants beforehand. I'm in this reality where these attacks are happening and I can't escape. I sank in a pit of dread as that dawned on me. I had to deal with the craziness of the I was in. I needed to learn as much about the attacks as possible.
I looked up a more recent attack. The one in Bradford parallel me mentioned. I found multiple videos of it. The first video I watched showed a giant leveling a two story facility as people ran by and screamed. It was sad to see a place I was so familiar with be destroyed. The second video was shaky camera footage of two giants leveling some other facility, also with people running by and screaming. One was crying. The third video was helicopter footage of four giants smashing and attacking the town. Carving up the southeastern and northern areas. As sad as I felt, I noticed they didn't attack the part of town I lived in.
Wasn't that attack supposed to kill me? Or was it just supposed to scare me? Either way, I wasn't there to witness it. Of course, I could've been killed in a part of the town that was destroyed. Maybe my parallel self was playing coin toss. Either I live or die. Either way, he'd be benefited by the fact I would be fearing for my life in the event I'd survive. Then he visited me where I was miles away, after the attack on the town. He brought his cronies with him. The evil alternate versions of two people I knew of and liked very much. I'm still not comfortable specifying who.
As I continued my watch through the footage, I found some videos of the creature dump on the place I was just in. Watching the giants pour the creatures onto the city… the creatures running all over the place… down roads… across the roofs of buildings… through parks… just chill inducing and gut wrenching. I couldn't get through one whole video. Flashbacks of escaping that thing just kept popping up in my head as I watched.
I looked up some discussion threads about the attacks. Of course, everyone expressed how they didn't know what they would wake up to the next day, how they didn't know where they would be safe… some speculated hiding out in the mountains or down in subways would be a safe bet to stay alive. The subway part of the discussion was shot down later on in the thread by one claiming the creature dumps would render that idea hopeless. Others said bomb shelters would work. I needed to know if there were any bomb shelters around. Probably useless though, as the government probably wouldn't just let anybody in. The closest mountain that could keep anyone safe would be 4 hours away. There was another comment though, one that brought up Iran and Belgium being wiped off the map entirely by dozens of miles wide giants, and they suggested any country could be next to be destroyed by giants that size. The middle of the ocean would be a safer bet.
What about Lake Ontario? The eastern half of it. It's not an ocean but it's a pretty big body of water. As long as I don't go near any shoreside cities I'll be good. I ran over to William and asked him if he had a boat. I explained to him eastern Lake Ontario may be too big a body of water for the giants to care about. Unfortunately, he, nor Jason, nor anybody they knew had a boat. At least I had some relief for a moment. I fell back into the pit of dread and walked back to the spare bed.
As I browsed through Reddit, I came across a post about a rare angle of the attacks. The video was taken from a live stream that was held in a suburban area not too far away from where the giants were standing. Chills overtook me, seeing the giants again. They were holding their giant bags of creatures. The streamer said he didn't know what the giants were holding, then the giants tilted their bags and the thousands of creatures came raining down. My gut clenched hard. The last words of the streamer were what one would expect, but they chilled me due to the context.
"What the hell? No… god… please…"
He turned around and sprinted down the road. He aimed the camera up at the incoming creatures. They blocked the view of the sun and everything was darkened by shade. The streamer aimed the camera back out in front of him. You could see the sky on the horizon, but then a wall of blackness obscured it. My gut began to ache. The streamer fell to the ground and screamed. Nothing could be seen. Loud thuds were heard, then the stream ended. Then the video ended.
The people in the comments were freaked out. Many of them mentioned the chills they got watching the video. One comment thread went like this:
"I can't imagine standing there. Thinking you'll live, then just seeing that and KNOWING with great certainty you're about to die. Chilling. This is probably the most up close video I've found of this."

• "I know more videos will surface, especially because the attacks are still going on right now, but this video will be something that always sticks with me" (I pressed the link and it took me to a YouTube video showing a livestreamer in an office. She tells her viewers she's in the Empire State Building. She aims her camera out the window towards Central Park. "It's 1 PM right now and…" A giant pops up in the middle of Central Park. I jumped while watching it. Chills ran straight down my spine. "What the hell is that?" The giant walked south, smashing through the buildings along Park Lane. It knocked down the world's skinniest skyscraper, then it smashed its way through some more buildings, including the Museum of Modern Art.

"Oh my god," the streamer says with a shaky weak voice.
She puts the camera down and you could hear quick footsteps and the creak of a door being swung open. The giant continues its straight faced rage through Central Manhattan, smashing down the Rockefeller buildings, the East Times Square buildings and battering Times Square in dust and smoke, then it stumbles a couple blocks to the east. A man over the intercom tells everybody to evacuate immediately.
The giant smashes the low rise buildings two blocks away, the low rise buildings one block away, then the room shakes. Loud crashes echo from below, along with light crashes somewhere behind the camera. Then the office light goes out. It looks as if the giant is rising, but then you can see its triangles, then the sky. The section of the building the room was in was falling. The camera started spinning, then the livestream ended. Then so did the video.)
"Absolutely terrifying. Imagine that being the last thing you see… this stuff going on right now is probably the worst, most insane stuff to happen in a long time. You should see the video where people are hiding in a room from the literal Lovecraft-like wild creatures.
Edit: here" (I opened this link and it took me to a YouTube video showing three people, including the camera operator, in a small toll booth room. The two others, one woman with blond hair who looked to be in her 30s and an adrogynous looking person with black hair who looked to be in his 20s, were both shaking, glancing between each other and the camera operator, then there was a loud bang at the door. Adrenaline rushed through me, hoping those people could be rescued. The camera was aimed at the door, which had multiple cracks in it. There was another bang. The door shook and the cracks got longer. One of the two people on the left began to cry. With yet another bang, pieces of the door flew across the room. The door itself began to loosen off its hinges. Then with one more bang, the bottom half of the door was pushed in by a round dark gray beast with about 10 long tentacle-like appendages. It was so uncanny looking, adrenaline shot up through me. My eyes were wide open watching it. It ran up to the camera operator, who moved to his right then backed up. The creature climbed up on him. He struggled, then the camera fell face first on the ground. Nothing could be seen, but loud painful screaming, growling, and a couple wet crunches could be heard.
Further down the thread was something even more terrifying but interesting.
"I wonder why we haven't seen any videos of the aftermath of the creature dumps."

• "Those videos are probably very NSFW. They likely haven't made it past content filters."

"Some pictures were posted to MorbidReality and somebody found a video of a creature attacking somebody's back and legs. If you can't take that kind of stuff do not look at it. It's very gruesome."

• "There's some on Archive.org, along with many other videos I haven't seen anywhere else. Here's a link to an archive somebody is making."

I opened the link. I was taken to the page with the archive. The first video was titled Footage From Upper Canada Mall. It began on the roof of the mall. All that was heard were sirens and the sounds of helicopters. The camera operator aimed up at two giants being circled by two military helicopters. The giants appeared to be holding people. The giant on the right was holding two people who I can only describe as looking like a man and a woman, while the giant on the left was holding a woman. The giant on the right tossed the woman. She glided through the air. She hit the roof of the mall with a loud bang and turned into a red mist. I gagged and twitched. The camera operator kept the camera still. He had to have been in shock. He panned to the left a bit and caught the man landing on the roof of the mall with a loud thud while also turning into a red mist. I gagged again. What the hell? The camera was aimed up at the giant on the left, who was getting ready to throw the person it was holding. It tossed them towards the roof of the mall. They too landed with a loud bang while turning into a red mist.
That was something I never thought I'd ever see. People exploding into a bloody mist like they were nothing. Or just bags of blood. That's not something anyone should ever have to see. I'm glad that stuff won't make it past content filters. Hopefully, nobody who doesn't want to see that will ever see that ever. It's okay to be morbidly curious, and yes, it's historically significant, but I hope people are careful with footage like this.
The next video was titled "Seattle Explosion" and began on a freeway in what seemed to be the late afternoon. A man off camera said he was driving towards Seattle. He said he was driving down highways and filming in case he catches anything historic, and added that all his friends are doing the same in various parts of the US such as Houston, Texas. I was beginning to think about skipping this one due to anxiety. I didn't want to see people explode, but I assured myself it wasn't filmed close enough to capture such things. A minute into the video, the Seattle skyline could be seen in the distance. Seconds later, balls of yellow and orange erupted from every building.
These giants sure are making it a point to scare everybody. Dumping deadly creatures, torching entire areas, EMP Bubbles, Godzilla-like smashing, and now blowing up entire cities.
I don't know which one of those is going to happen to me.
What the hell do they want?
I'm afraid of having my guts sucked out by a creature
I'm afraid of being caught up in a torching
I'm afraid of being gassed
I'm afraid of being crushed to death
I'm afraid of being in an exploding city
I'm afraid of being tossed to the ground from high up in the air
Where are they going to hit next? Where are they going to hit next? Where are they going to hit next?
Where do I go?
I was hyperventilating for a couple minutes there. I paused the video and attempted to not judge my thoughts or feelings, then I wrote the above to acknowledge my feelings. Now I'm really starting to understand why people write sad songs about depression and anxiety. More so than I already did.
I looked at some of the titles of the next few videos in the archive. I hesitated to watch them, but I'll list the titles I read for curiosity's sake.
"SEATTLE EXPLOSION - East angle"
"Naypyidaw attack"
"Manila attack"
"Manila attack from north"
"Bradford attack from helicopter"
"Bradford attack angle 7"
(Six more Bradford attack videos, two of which are probably the ones I've already seen)
(Ottawa attack videos #27 to #2)
"Ottawa attack angle 1 - filmed by a Canadian Minister"
"Aftermath of Creature Dump in Niagara Region, Canada"
Out of curiosity, I decided to watch that last one I listed. It started in the backroom filled with boxes. The camera operator walked out of the room, into a smashed up restaurant. The front windows were shattered, tables and chairs were strewn everywhere. The camera was aimed to the right. Two bodies covered in blood were laying in the corner. It was unsettling to see. The camera was aimed back towards the windows. The operator moved up to them. A body was laying under an outdoor table.
After exiting the shop, the camera operator took a right and walked down the sidewalk. As he walked, he briefly looked inside different stores and multiple cars, all of which had shattered windows and thrashed items. No cars drove by. Not even police, fire department, or paramedics. No people were around at all. My breaths became shallow as I anticipated the worst. Something like a creature popping out of nowhere or another body.
A couple more blocks down the road, sirens began blaring in the distance. The camera operator walked by a store that had music playing from inside. It was something I hadn't thought of. Music that was being played as background noise was still being played through all the death and roaming creatures. They stepped through the shattered window, and as they walked to the center of the room, the music got clearer. It was a slow piano ballad about a woman telling her lover to go easy on her. It was weird hearing the song play in a smashed up deserted room with the world crumbling all around right outside. The words made it sound eerie in the context it was playing right in the middle of. As the song played, the camera operator moved broken table pieces out of their way and dug through some piles of table debris along the cracked wall on his left.
What is he looking for?
As the camera operator continued looking under knocked over tables, he began to sniffle. The song changed to a sad pop song with a high pitched piano melody. I knew the song. It was eerie too. It was about a breakup, but the lyrics about taking a metaphorical final bow echoed what I was feeling. The end of civilization, or at least the end of the civilization I was used to. I was getting very settled into this reality.
The camera operator walked to the back wall and looked around at the wreckage again. An ambulance drove by outside. The camera operator walked into the bathroom. It was reduced to rubble. Stalls ripped apart, toilets shattered, most of the mirrors were cracked… and blood was smeared across the wall near the back. The camera operator stood in one spot for a couple of moments before turning around and stepping out the door and back into the restaurant. They took some steps through the restaurant, then they aimed the camera at the ceiling. Then at the picture frames. One of them was lying on its face. Another one of them was tilted and ripped in half. Some happened to be in good shape.
After the tour of each of the paintings, the camera operator started rummaging the debris on the left side of the restaurant. As he did so, the next song began. This one was upbeat, juxtaposing the context it was playing in. It kinda creeped me out. It was supposed to be played for people's enjoyment, but nobody was enjoying anything. At least the lyrics were about persisting through absolutely anything. I guess that kinda fit, but things were too dark to think straight. The camera operator stopped rummaging about halfway to the back of the restaurant and stared on at the rubble that he would be digging through next. He zoomed in on what was clearly a shoe being worn by somebody unmoving under the rubble. He zoomed back out, turned around, and walked to the front of the restaurant.
As they looked at the buildings across the road, a creature crawled into view from the right, climbing above each window before climbing in through the window of a bike store. The camera operator moved back a bit. A minute later, a military jeep pulled up in front of the building the creature climbed into. Three soldiers climbed out and entered the store through its shattered front window.
As the camera operator zoomed in on the building, the next song began to play. It began with a whistle melody then led into lyrics about not being worried. Another upbeat song that juxtaposed the seriousness of the situation, which unsettled me more so. Inaudible shouting echoed from inside the building. Gunshots followed. A moment later, two of the soldiers stepped out of the building, uniforms stained with blood. They stood around, talking into their radios. Then the video ended. A couple seconds of the next video, titled Incoming Creatures, played before I paused it. That video began on an elevated platform near a forest. I was done watching videos of the attacks, so I wasn't going to stick around for more.
I checked the time. 10:58 PM. I slid the phone into my pocket and walked out into the livingroom to see what the others were up to. They were discussing what the giants may want while the news played on the TV. A woman was talking about the destruction of Town Zero… Sharon. Footage was played of a colossal giant popping up just north of the town, then with two swoops, the giant smashed the town to dust and rubble. My heart sank. We're getting colossal giants here too? I mean, of course we are. They're not just going to reserve certain things for certain areas. Clearly they will attack just about anywhere, right?
William asked me to help him get something from the shed out back. I told him I'll go out and wait for him there. I got my shoes on and stepped outside into the warm dark night. There was an eerie calmness to it. Like nature hadn't been going nearly as insane as we humans have. I stepped around back and spotted the shed. As I stepped towards it, two colossal silhouettes formed in the sky some distance away. They contrasted the light polluted light orange glow. I don't want to under describe how massive they were. Not tall enough to reach above the clouds, but tall enough to make my chest drop to the point I thought I was about to have a heart attack. They moved in my direction, their silhouettes growing, obscuring the light orange glow of the sky.
Why here? Who's here that they want? Unless it really is me. They aren't going for some random people I don't know. This is an alternate reality in which they're coming after me. But that theory seemed to small minded. I wasn't possibly going to be in multiple places in the US, China, North Korea, Belgium… maybe they're also going for my relatives… but I don't know anybody who would ever be in North Korea of all places.
I thought about it as I sprinted for my life over the fence into the neighbors yard, then over the next fence, then over the next… I kept hopping fences until I made it to the corner of the town. It was just a field. Thumps shook the ground. Car alarms began going off. I fell to my knees due to the heavy vibration. I avoided looking to my left, at the giants' massive silhouettes. I stared at the ground and hoped for the best with the worst pit of dread I ever felt.
Loud booms and crashes blew out my ear drums. I never heard loud sounds like those so up close. I covered my ears, but the piercing sounds still hurt. The smashing lasted a couple minutes, getting quieter and quieter as the giants moved further away from me. My curiosity got the best of me and I glanced at the giants. They had to have been 500 meters tall or something. For some reason, not being able to see them was more dread inducing than being able to see them. A cloud of dust hit my face. I coughed like a motherfucker and walked forward, finding my way out of the choking smoke.
William and Jason…
I looked in the direction of Jason's house. It was too dark to see anything but some fires a couple houses away. Whatever was left of those houses anyway. The giants were still smashing their way through the town when I heard a fast plane. I looked up and saw a light flying towards the giants.
Fighter jets? Missiles?
The missile struck the giant in its midsection and exploded in a ball of fire. The giant continued smashing. It didn't move differently after the hit. It continued eliminating the town. Another explosion occurred near the head of the other giant and it was the same outcome. The attack continued on for another minute, with more explosions that didn't faze the giants. Maybe the missiles made a mark. It was too dark to see those marks if so. Finally, the crashes and booms stopped. The giants stood in one spot, not moving at all, then they vanished into thin air.
That was seriously screwed up. I almost died. I want out of this. Who in the multiverse would wish this on their worst enemy? The idea of possibly being crushed, gassed, blown up, thrown to your death… I walked back to Jason's house. It only took a couple of minutes. When I got back there, it was a pile of wood, broken up walls, unrecognizable rooms, scattered roof tiles, and bricks. I hurried around to the front. When I saw Jason's arm crushed under a pile of bricks and wires, I almost gagged. I looked away and stepped to where the front door was. William's hand laid beside a growing fire.
Where am I supposed to go? I'm a refugee now. I should check the news. Any news outlet that hasn't had its data center destroyed. I haven't heard of that happening but it has to have happened by now.
I pulled out my phone and opened CNN.
"THE GIANTS CONTINUE TO BERATE THEIR ROOTS"
"Ontario, Canada is ground zero for the attacks. Everyone is still wondering why"
"WATCH: See Seattle explode in a ball of fire"
"The black chemical agent sprayed on multiple American towns and Chinese cities may not be of this world"
"Bomb shelters, caves… even sewers. Americans are desperate for safety, but some Americans claim all they need to do is stay armed and ready"
MILITARY: "Civilians shouldn't push their luck thinking standard rifles are enough to defend against Giants"
"Security camera footage shows Manila attack"
"Ukraine is free, but for how long?"
""I'm tired of living through history" The attacks from Gen Z's perspective"
It was always interesting to go into an alternate reality and look at the top news headlines. This time though… it's very serious, as I'm a full on victim of the wild stuff that's going on in the alternate reality. I sat down and read all the news articles I could. I read all the Reddit threads about every major development in this whole event. I also felt it was important enough to go back to that archive on Archive.org and download all the footage posted there for archival, especially in the case I ever made it out of here. There was a ton of interesting things I saw in the various realities I traveled to over the years. If I get the device back, I can go back and download some footage from those realities. I could become an archivist or something. But it hit me that I was more likely to die than fulfill any dream I ever had.
At around 1 AM, I heard my name being called by a familiar deep voice.
"You were supposed to die!" he said. "How are you still alive!?"
"I saw them pop out of nowhere… so I ran like hell."
"Well now we're going to have to take you somewhere else."
"Why not shoot me?" I asked, frustrated. "Why not end my life right now?"
"True Nicole said you needed to be weighed down by the stuff going on in this reality," he said, resting his hand on his hip. "Either you are scared of the giants or you are killed by the giants."
I stood up, slid my phone into my pocket, and walked away. I didn't think I was going to make it far without confrontation. A couple homes down, a pain hit my neck. Before I could process it, I woke up in the trunk of a car. All I could hear was the news. All I could feel was the car bumping up and down. All I could see, other than the interior of the trunk of course, was a light morning sky. One right before the sun rose above the horizon.
"...still no word from British officials after the attacks on London and Cheltenham, England. Reports of giants being present in London and Cheltenham came out just after 4 this morning. The number of casualties is unknown, and the British Prime Minister is still missing…"
"She's awake."
"What's up fake Nicole?"
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Williamsport, Pennsylvania," alternate me said. "We're going to Washington DC."
"How do you know anything is going to happen there?"
"She never said anything would," Ian said.
"You said I was supposed to die," I said. "You knew the giants were going to strike the place I was in."
"I traveled to a reality where it was this timeline, but one month after the attacks began," alternate me said. "Then I copied a list of everything that happened in these attacks. I know what happens next."
I froze. They really did have this planned out, didn't they…
"Now, I want you to stop talking," alternate me said. "Don't breathe too loudly either. Also, if we catch you calling for help, I will stop on the side of the road, Ian will inject you with fire ants and Billy will inject you with steroids."
"To keep you awake and energized so you feel the pain more intensely and for a longer amount of time," she said.
"Yes," alternate me said. "And you can still go on the internet if you want."
I stared up at the blue morning sky, strangled by dread. I realized I had cold sweats all over me. I pulled out my phone and Googled some more Reddit threads. 20 minutes into reading comments, the news channel on the radio switched to a Pop music station. At first, I assumed alternate me changed the station, but when I went back to the Giant Attacks search results, they had all changed to results about some unrelated game.
My hopes went up. Could it be? A slip? I was ready to believe it, even if it was mostly to ease my anxiety. I went to CNN's website. To my relief, the headlines were about job layoffs.
I don't know how long I'll be back in our reality. If I even am back here… I guess you will know if you see this update.
Alternate me is swearing. I think she caught on to what happened… Now she's turning the car around. I'll update again when I'm back.

I was running into an issue with my game crashing and it was seemingly random and would always be the game freezing, then black screen, driver crash and then unity error.
Warning, while the fix I used is at the start of this post, the rest of the post is long because I will then explain why I did what I did to "bandaid" it so at least the theory can be understood.
I do not claim this will fix everyones issue, just fixed mine so thought I would share.
I reported it multiple times and sent bug report but never had any response.
Here is how I have been running the game without issue, it works for me, try it yourself and see.
Msi afterburner, core clock speed -200, memory clock -500, target power limit 90% on my specific gpu.
Yours might need different settings, play around with them and see. Won't hurt anything and you won't lose much if any performance as the game is extremely cpu and ram dependent
Why did I try this? I used event viewer to see it was always my d3d device driver crash causing it.
Assumed drivers, used ddu and reinstalled. Did not fix.
Tried fresh windows install, no go. Tried different gpu (I was using a 2080ti EVGA FTW3 Ultra factory oc) switched to my girlfriends msi ventus 2080ti.
Game functioned just fine. So I figured damn, my gpu is failing.
But that begs the question, why only tarkov?
So I did testing...
The ventus 2080ti only reached a load clock speed of between 1800-1890
The EVGA was between 2000-2070.
I watched carefully as the crash happened, it always occurred when the card was running at about 1990-2000 and then when something pushed the gpu to its boost clock max, instant freeze.
The power limit would spike, and the driver would crash.
I tested other unity titles and had no issues.
I have seen posts before of people claiming overclock scan cause stability issues with tarkov. With this card being at the bleeding edge of its performance from factory I figured, hell why not try and under clock it to the point it doesn't crash.
So I tried it in intervals of 50, as I do when overclocking. I finally got to -200 and that's when I would go from crashing every 5 minutes or so, to start least an hour sometimes.
I tried going further down but that didn't help. So I started watching other things.
Tarkov is a ram heavy game, it also likes lots of gpu ram. So my thought was why not try that too and see. I had to take it down from the factory speed of 7000 to 6500 and that was able to get me stable.
So, performance, how many frames did I lose?
3-5 depending on map. The game doesn't really utilize the gpu very well and is heavily cpu and ram speed dependent. So difference on factory for of 130-vs-135 as an example.
For other system info... 32 gigabytes of gskill ripjaw 3600mhz ram Ryzen 5800x3d Asus tuf x570 gaming (wifi) Samsung nvme ssd. Windows 10.
I tried the gpu in a Intel build and had same issue and same solution. So far, looking at the numbers, my gpu is factory overclocked by about 20% so my underclock is about the same. Why the memory too? No idea can't explain that one, shot in the dark that worked.
Have used multiple test software and stress test applications and games and verified card is fine in all other use cases. Just tarkov.
My theory is the game is trying to utilize the gpu, pushes it, gets too much power and the card wants more info than the game will give, and crashes. No idea why honestly, maybe someone who knows more can elaborate further.
Interestingly, my brother has a 3090 and had the same issue. He did the same thing as me, and it fixed it for him too. On an Intel 12900 build.
I don't have an amd card to try, as I've seen users with amd cards have the issue as well, give it a try, maybe it will work.
So there's my long post, hope it helps someone. Seems it's an overclock issue at the root cause either way you look at it. The card is factory oc, so users experiencing this issue may want to look at the stock specs of the card before factory oc and go from there.
Happy raiding!

Windows 10 (joy.cpl) recognizes the X52 as having 3 POV/Hats: "Hat Switch", "POV 2", and "Throttle Hat". (two on face of the stick, one on the back of the throttle).
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Gremlin only shows the "Hat Switch" as "hat 1", and the other two show up in Gremlin as a bunch buttons. (4 buttons each, one is 16-19, the other is 20-23).
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I've tried older Saitek drivers, newer Logitech drivers, I've tried leaving joy.cpl open, close... nothing seems to make a difference.
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Is there something I'm missing?
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OR
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Is there any SIMPLER 3rd part software to adjust curves? I used to use JoystickCurves (xedocproject) back a few years ago, but it would seem that it's since dropped off the face of the planet.
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*Using vJoy, I did make sure to set the hats as "continuous" and "4", but even when looking at Gremlin's input viewer, those hats still only translate as being only 1 hat, and then 4 buttons x2.
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OOOR OOOOOOOOORRRRRRR...
....If anyone can recommend a NEW HOTAS (equal to or greater than the X52), one that has it's own software that natively incorporates curve adjustments in addition to usual mapping functions and whatnot, that'd be just super! :) (if such a hotas even exists... seems like all the manufacturers only spend time developing the hardware, and skimping on the software)
TYIA!
*edit to include a SS of JSGremlin only showing Hat 1 in both the list on the left pane & in the input viewer, and joy.cpl showing all 3 hats.
https://i.imgur.com/7J90q8a.png
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**EDIT 2: As per the responses below, I don't necessarily need Joystick Gremlin to recognize "hat" inputs as "hat" inputs... so long as they are seen as AN input regardless. Because, within most games/sims, if vjoy is ultimately outputting that hat input as "button 16,17,18,19" then the game will SEE those buttons as direct input, and thus can be bound to whatever function I need.
AND, in order to save myself some time and grief in the future... because again, all I wanted was to create curves for my axes, it seems the Logitech X56 has the native ability to adjust it's curves, so, I just ordered one. I'm sure I'll still need 3rd party software for ~something~ at some point in the future.... but this will make things a lot easier if I can cut out said 3rd party software for now! Besides, most of my "hats"on the X52 are loose fitting anyways! The plastic is worn in some spots, the rubber grip is worn off, and axes are a bit too twitchy (I have to create fairly large deadzones).. so it's probably best to retire my X52 now so I at least have a functioning "backup" just in case.
Thank you u/TrueWeevie & u/Jukelo for your help!

This is a repost. Welcome to flashback time. Original posts made over the course of 2020 by u/SleepyLi in nyc. Edited for readability.
March 15 2020
PSA for folks worried about how they’ll eat during this time
TL;DR at bottom.
This is the first post I’ve ever put up on Reddit, so excuse me if this shit jankey asf, or in the wrong place. A comment I left on someone’s post received some really good feedback, so I figured there would be other folks who might be experiencing a rough time as well, so here I am being proactive.
As we all know, COVID-19 is fucking shit up. Most folks are working from home, but that’s generally for folks working white collar jobs with job security, which a fuckton of NYC heads don’t have. Folks in the service industry don’t get paid if they don’t work, so there’s no “I’m going to WFH and bus my own fucking table” or “Let me make that drink for you bud” in ya own kitchen for ya cat. So money is tight for some of y’all. And I get it. I’ve been in that position before, shit sucks and gurgles donkey dick. So here’s my PSA:
I help run a wholesale/retail meat shop in NYC, specifically the LES, in Chinatown. I’m open, cause how else is everyone going to eat and cook at home? Just as I told someone before, I’ll say the same thing here: $10 will get you something like 13 pounds of chicken drumsticks, plus a dozen eggs. Don’t like drum sticks? Fine, get something else, our prices are lower than your GPA and your parents’ expectations for you. We don’t sell rice, but a 20lb bag of rice runs like $25 bucks in our area and if you ask, I’ll tell you exactly where to go. Our location is:
47 DIVISION STREET GROUND FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10002
B/D to Grand Street, F to East Broadway
Now you might say some shit like “this is a shameless cash grab, etc.” And you know what my response is to that?
What the fuck are you talking about, and you can suck my fucking ass. I’m not going to get rich making ten bucks off 13 pounds of drumsticks and a dozen eggs (if we even have anymore). This is for folks that are hurting real bad or just plain about to fucking be put out cause $10 is all they have. If I was trying to get rich, being the local pig boy is obviously not the right trade to get into, now is it.
For those that also see this and start scheming on if you can roll up on my spot and try to make me run my pockets for $10: come and find out whether or not you have a first class ticket to meet God, express lane. Or just come and tell me you want to shoot the fair one for fun, I’ll oblige too.
If you have a healthy savings account, please don’t come to my shop at this time. If you’re stocked up and can weather a self quarantine, again, please don’t come to my shop at this time. I’d appreciate the business during a more normal period of time, but as of now, it’s geared towards my fellow NYers who are most at risk due to their economic situation. I have a limited supply of produce and I’d like to give us all a fighting chance.
In this time of great uncertainty and fear, we New Yorkers must stand together and be each other’s keepers. Take care of your folks, your neighbors, each other. We’ve weathered 9/11 together, Superstorm Sandy, shit, the fucking 2016 election, and this too will be something that we will weather and emerge victorious from.
TL;DR: if you’re a poor fuck and worried about how you will eat during COVID-19, come hither you poor child, for I have wares for cheap. But for real, give me $10 and I will feed you for a week.
47 Division Street Ground Floor New York, NY 10002
B/D to Grand Street, F to East Broadway
——————————————————————— Edit: figured it should be said, but for those that might not be aware: because we cater to a low income demographic already, we accept EBT, cash, and debit card. We don’t accept credit. This is what something like 90% of people with rocky income use, so that’s what we’ve gone with.
02Edit: I've been reached out to by a number of people about a possible pay it forward program/scheme/initiative. I thank you and commend ya'll for coming together to help those in need. I'm trying to get in touch with some folks or organization that do grocery shopping/meal prep for the elderly/folks that are most at risk and can't do it themselves. I'd like to use those funds to provide the supplies for cooking and shit at cost. If I can't get in touch with some folks, I'll start a Facebook group/some other jankey shit to better coordinate based on geographical location and have it vertically integrated into the business. Will set up a venmo or something later in the day. Also: we're located in Chinatown, so don't gawk and be surprised if you see shit like chicken feet, pork and beef trotters, and the like. Welcome to eating head to tail.
Thanks for the feedback.
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UPDATE- Getting a lot of push back from my wholesalers and suppliers; they're rationing our orders. Everybody is short. Doing my best to get more orders from source, but jesus fuck the prices are being gouged the fuck out rn. Will keep trying to keep everything affordable to everyone.
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02UPDATE 18MAR2020-
I created a Venmo. The handle is Sleepyli-LocalPigBoy Avatar should be a pissed off cat.
All transactions will be public. For those that use cash for the pay it forward as the lady with the nice glasses and vans did today, I have a repurposed envelope that I will insert the money in and deduct for orders going out. Trying to do this as legit as possible, with logs of each transaction so mfs don’t come at me like I’m a mega church asking for donations to buy me a jet. Let your poor and broke ass friends know that they don’t need to starve in times like this.
Also: Due to whatever issues are being had further up the supply chain, same as my first update: supplies are getting tight and assholes are beginning to capitalize on it. $10 will no longer get you what was originally offered unfortunately: it’ll get you 7lbs of drumsticks and a dozen eggs now.
Eggs are climbing up and drumsticks are getting fucking stupid. I received two cases today. I ordered 40. They deadass rationing everybody, with jacked prices. I’m sorry, but I’m raising prices to literally break even. My salary is currently on hold cause I can afford it, but others can’t.
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03UPDATE 25AUG2020-
Old Venmo has been deleted. New Venmo is: FourSevenDivisionStreetTrading
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July 22 2020
Cheap Meat
Not sure if this is allowed, but fuck it, we're hurting and desperate times create desperate people who do desperate things.
TL;DR: Local butcher shop with cheap prices. Trying to keep afloat and keep folks fed. Address at bottom.
Sup ya'll, it's your favorite local meat boy (for those that don’t get it, here's my first post: original NYC meat boy post).
Despite COVID cases in NYC having dropped a fair amount, a lot of businesses that have opened up aren't doing so hot, and still some are not going to open up ever again. While there's unemployment insurance for individuals, there really isn't much for small local businesses. I also know that the pandemic boost for UI is about to run out end of month, so if you're sweating about how you're going to eat, I got you.
Most of America's economy began to feel the effects of The Rona around March of this year, but businesses located in Chinatown were fucked as early as January. America's reporting on COVID centered around China being the bad guy, which trends to loop all Asian Americans as "others" and "not really American." Chinese businesses tanked and hate crimes shot up. People within the community began their own self-imposed quarantine due to increased fear of being caught slacking by some racist fuckstick. Then came the formal lock down in March, which really flipped us over, bent us over the couch for good leverage, and fucked us deep and hard. At the time of 14JUNE2020, less than half of Chinatown's restaurants are open, and less than a third of total businesses are open (Bloomberg article supporting claim). Most funds meant as relief for small businesses got snagged by large corporations. And now all the SMEs are floundering. As of now, the end of July, still less than a third of Chinatown businesses have opened up, especially since most of them couldn't apply for any assistance due to language barriers.
So again, here I am peddling my wares. I also have $9.75 left from someone that wanted to pay it forward earlier in the year for what it’s worth.
We’re a small local meat shop. A butcher shop. A boutique culinary protein throwback to simpler times. Whatever the fuck you want to call it. We sell meat. You get the idea. Our prices are real fucking low. Lower than your self esteem. Lower than what your parents think of you. And that’s a good thing. Cause you like cheap things, you cheap fuck. Save all the money you can. While I can’t guarantee that we’re the cheapest you’ve ever seen, I can guarantee that we’ll be top five in cheapest prices in NYC.
What do you want? Cause more likely than not, we got that shit.
POULTRY. We got all kinds of birds. Chicken, silkies, qual, squab, duck, goose, stewing hens. Fuck you want? Still debating on whether drums or mid’s are better with your friends? Fuck around and cop a pound of each for under $5 per person: mid-wings are $3.89 a pound, drums are back to $.69/lb. Want more meat? Fine. A whole ass chicken leg and thigh, $.89/lb. You fuck with feet? It’s 2020, more power to you my guy. Chicken feet stands at $1.69/lb, duck feet at $1.49/lb. You into titties? Of course you're into titties: chicken breast coming in hot at $4.95 for a 2.2lb net weight bag. Into retirees and GILFs? All you Jack Black: Stewing Hens are two for $5.95. Haven’t gotten neck and head in a hot minute cause of COVID, or your Tinder and Hinge profile is just that basura? Say less: duck heads and necks at $1.39/lb. Into spawn kill? My guy: we got a dozen eggs for $2.95, 30 pack for $6.50. Duck eggs, six for $3.95.
PORK. My man, let me tell you something. You fuck with pork chops? Even if you don't, for $2.39/lb, you fuck with pork chops. We got tenderloins for $3.19/lb. Bones for stock? $.99/lb. Let me guess, you miss eating authentic char siu over rice with the sauce from Chinatown. At $2.69/lb for char siu meat, you can afford to fuck up three times and still come out ahead instead of buying it from a restaurant. Since it's getting hot, you're going to want to throw BBQs, right? Hopefully they're socially distanced, everyone is responsible and wearing a mask, and all you motherfuckers got COVID tested prior. Got you some ribs for $2.89 a pound. You want some of them dim sum ribs? Them itty bitty, little tiny cuts of ribs? Small just like your feelings when your ex left you? $3.59 a pound. You been going through a rough time and need an ear to listen to you. $3.39/lb for pig ears buddy, say more. If you been fucking with feet and chicken and duck feet don't cut it, do it like J. Cole "so big it's like a foot is in yo' mouth" cause I got pre-cut pig trotters for $1.49 a pound. Oh, you deadass want the whole foot in your mouth? Weird, but we're being open-minded here: whole uncut pig trotters at $1.79/lb.
BEEF. Let me guess: you haven't gotten enough foul language from this post and need a better tongue lashing? You filthy, sick, sorry, piece of shit. Beef tongues will run you $6.99 a pound. Or you want to boss up, but instead of being bad and boujee, you've been sad and boujee cause of COVID. Well, fear not, cause with femur bones at $1.95/lb, you can split them right down the fucking middle to get to that sweet, sweet, succulent marrow and feel like you're out brunching, spending $80 you don't have for a meal you can't afford to flex on hoes you couldn't really give less of a shit about. What's that? Pig trotters don't cut it? You trying to deepthroat the shit? I mean, do mama proud I guess. I got beef trotters/feet at $1.89 a pound. I mean, with skills like that, why you even buying from me? You belong on the yacht of some old rich man. But do you. Oh what's that? Your girl says your stroke game shit and you falling short of getting up in her guts? No fix for that, sorry, but you can cop honeycomb tripe or stomach at $3.39 a pound and know for a fact you can absolutely beat the ever living fuck out of these guts. You trying to fuck with flank steaks? $7.45 my guy. New York Strip? $8.99. T-Bone? $7.99. My bone? Ten camels. Where my Jamaicans at? Waa gwaan? I know oxtail is AT LEAST $6.75/lb where you’re at. We have them on deck for $5.99/lb.
Or maybe you’re a rapper. You’re on SoundCloud pushing music and living out your mama’s crib. No shame, it’s rough out here King. Want to know how to really blow up? What did Eminem call himself in 8 Mile? That’s right, B-Rabbit. And you know what I got? Rabbit for $4.69 a pound. You are what you eat man. I’m not saying that eating rabbit will immediately blow your rap career the fuck up and give you the lyrical genius of Eminem, but I’m not saying it won’t either. For less than $5 a pound, you really gonna chance it? What if the other rappers cop it and you don’t and they blow up? Don’t get left behind my guy. You a King and King’s gotta do what they don’t want to do sometimes for the betterment of the folks. And the folks want to hear your music.
Or maybe rabbit not your thing. You right, it’s too lean and lacks fat. Eat too much rabbit and nothing else and you’ll starve your body of fat. So how about goat? You want to be the GOAT, don’t you? Reddit’s even got a badge for it. If you want to be the Goat, guess what you gotta do? That’s fucking right, you are what you eat and here I am, your fucking pusher man for goat.
You're fancy and trying to be boujee. Let me guess: lamb? Say less, I got you that bonjour hon hon hon rack of of lamb chops. Want a quarter of lamb? Got that too. All you gotta do is ask.
I'm not going to really keep going down the list. You get the idea. I work at a fucking meat shop, I'm going to sell meat. I sell wholesale to restaurants and retail to walk-in folks. It's a pretty simple fucking concept. Is our meat fresh? As fresh as, if not more so, than any large chain due to constant turn over on wholesale side.
Why are our prices so low? Because we're a small mom-and-pop brick and mortar shop. We're located in Chinatown. Ever heard of FUBU? Same concept: we're built by Chinese immigrants, for Chinese immigrants. Unfortunately, the Chinese population in NYC is one of, if not THE poorest communities we have. Raising prices will price out the community and jack the reason why we're even here: to feed the community. This also means that our margins are fucked, but we're making it work. Yes, we look janky asf. I know, we're not "modern" and our aesthetic looks like some tossed together shit from the 60's. Shit, our band saw is from the 80's. But we're clean, we're sanitary, we pass all health standards and inspections, and we're doing our fucking best. We're literally the definition of "no frills." To hear some say it, we'd be considered ghetto. I prefer the term resourceful, so fuck you.
Because we're local and serve local, we only accept cash, EBT, SNAP, and debit. We don't do credit. Venmo is u/FourSevenDivisionStreetTrading. PSA as the last one: if you think you can roll up to squeeze us, find out if you're a better shot than I am. Not my job to judge your life choices, but I will send you to someone who will.
I'm the only person here that is fluent in English, so unless you're feeling real brave about pointing at shit and figuring it out, you speak a dialect, know how to read Chinese, or know what cut you're looking for, come on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (02:00pm - 06:30pm) since that's when I'm directly on the floor. If you're a restaurant and you're looking to keep overhead low, PM me, I'll work something out with you.
Our location is: 47 Division Street Ground Floor New York, NY 10002 B/D to Grand Street, F to East Broadway
Our hours are: Monday - Saturday 0800am - 0630pm
23JUL2020 0323AM Edit: Added beef and lamb, added venmo acc, schedule and times.
25JUL2020 0015AM Edit: Changed schedule to add in Saturday.
---
Oct 11 2020
Cheap Meat Guy Scammed the Fuck Out Ya'll
Title says it all.
TL;DR: if you the free food and meals provided by the city conflict with your diet, etc, send me a PM with the title Groceries, \insert borough, insert neighborhood\** and I’ll hook you up with some meat.
Context, second post: https://www.reddit.com/nyc/comments/hvxiku/cheap_meat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I, Cheap Meat Guy, scammed the fuck out you all. I have hoodwinked a great many of you, in a slightly more elaborate and grandiose "Let me hold a dollar" or the "You listen to music?" scheme. I appreciate my vacation, paid for courtesy of ya'll. I am currently in Mar del Plata, Argentina, enjoying my delicious alcoholic beverages and tiny little triangle cut Ojo de Bife sandwiches. I am in nothing but a bright neon yellow 3M reflective speedo with a 24k gold chain around my neck. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic and Finesse are playing in the background and I am fucking feeling myself. I have never felt more opulent or lavish. 2020 has been a rough year. I deserve this.
So no fucking shit, obviously I didn't scam you all. Many of ya'll have seen my face. I'm not trying to get caught slacking one day and get hit with a "Yo, you cheap meats?" and get rocked by fifteen people wielding massive frozen pork chops and Iberian hams, followed by me on the floor looking real bad, only to eat a bunch of fucking Timbs. But I just wanted to announce something. Also: my fault for not responding to all the messages and comments and shit; I’ve been working around the clock and getting fucking spanked by the work load. Being the only person who has some type of command of the English language means, you guessed it, I’m doing all the shit that’s in English. All the shit that’s done with computers. Working the floor, cutting the meat, prepping the orders, moving all the damn boxes. You see the dudes pushing handtrucks in Chinatown with boxes of shit on it? Come to Chinatown early enough and you’ll catch me being one of those dudes. See that ugly ass truck on google maps when you look us up? Come early enough and you’ll see me loading that truck. I’m more stressed than Ted Cruz trying to mack on a pornstar over twitter, gaining a fuck ton of weight cause I’m drinking and eating like shit, and just over all a piece of shit. My b.
Here's the run down:
First off, on the real, what the fuck. Second of all, what, and I can't stress this enough, the absolute fuck. All you salty shits raised some serious fucking bank. My phone went off often and frequently enough the first few days from Venmo notifications that if I wanted to, I could have used it as a damn vibrator on my balls. For OPSEC, I’m not going to disclose exactly how much was Venmo’d, but just know that for a minute I felt like I would be able to treat myself to some Starbucks while Tyga’s Rack City played in the background, so you know that’s money. But all you fuckers Venmo'd me bank WITHOUT KNOWING WHO THE FUCK I AM OR BUYING ANYTHING, which blows my mind*.* Me, some random guy who curses a lot and talks shit like I'm a 6'17" guy who wears cooked to hell black high top AF1's and got two pistols by my side. Some of ya'll have met and seen me and know for a fact that I am most definitely not 6' fucking anything. Makes me feel as though I should start an OnlyFan's or Premium Snapchat. But seriously, what the fuck. For those that are willing to do the math, it was over twenty million Schrute Bucks.
There were a couple donations that stated they were there to keep the business open, to be shared among the employees, or for me to treat myself. An executive decision was made: every single dollar that we received (aside from those that were used for retail purchases) will be spent on those that need aid the most. While we as a business are hurting, there are still those that are less fortunate than us.
First and foremost, the City has done an amazing job in providing for folks. If you’re hurting and straight broke with no cultural, dietary, or any other limitations/restrictions, peep these sites for food security:
https://dsny.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappvieweindex.html?id=35901167a9d84fb0a2e0672d344f176f
https://www.google.com/maps/d0/viewer?mid=1uVjjVxXfLFU4R6V7qjXXRoxCy-IwfMSP&ll=40.711199875063635%2C-73.99326878216021&z=15
Shits is free. No questions asked, take as much as you want. If you broke and you not taking advantage of this, you got some problems my guy. Extreme intelligence not being one of them.
Having said the above, I’ve tried the meals myself and I believe they are not as culturally sensitive as they should be in a city that is as culturally and ethnically diverse as we are, and particularly suck ass if you’re lactose intolerant, as most Asian seniors are. Shitting your brains out at any age is not pleasant, and I’m going to assume that doing so when you’re 70-plus with a weak pelvic floor is doubly more so. I'm currently working with a few local organizations that cater specifically to seniors within the Asian community (26% of the Asian community in NYC live at or below the poverty level, with the percentage being higher when we focus on seniors) who provide either free meals, groceries, or both for them. I think having the option to cook their own meals provides them with some semblance of normalcy, independence, and most of all, dignity.
So on some real shit: thank you all. A lot of the funds have already been used, but because the funds were raised from Reddit, I believe it's only fair that I give back to the reddit community, so I saved some with this in mind specifically.
I am aiming to provide 70 households from Reddit within NYC with the options of:

1. Ten lbs of drumsticks
2. Eight lbs of quarter chicken legs or
3. Six and a half lbs of drum sticks with a dozen eggs

However, because we’re already understaffed and over worked, it’s not entirely feasible for us to pack/deliver the groceries on our own. I’m also not going to have folks come pick up and congregate at the business due to lack of physical space. I also know for a fact, as per Murphy’s Law, that if I had you guys come and pick it up, there’s going to be some dick head buying a bunch of shit and about to pay, pulls out a stack of hundreds or something, and when I hand over a bag of groceries without asking for payment, said dickhead with the racks are going to ask me about it and then demand that I comp their shit. I’m not trying to do or go through all that. So I’m asking that a couple of Redditors with the means come and pick up the bulk orders, however many of which type that will be, and prepare and segregate the orders off premise. Logistically, this means:
- Someone with a vehicle to accommodate and transport

• 700lbs of drums, or
• 560lbs of quarter chicken legs, or
• 455lbs of drums and 70 dozen eggs, or
• Most likely some combination of all three

- A clean space/location to prepare these orders, ideally commercial - Folks who have a food handling certificate to prepare the orders - Someone/s with a vehicle to accommodate and deliver the orders to whoever needs them
Did I just ask for free labor? Yes, I did. Because choosingbeggars. But yo, the fucking groceries are for free. I’m trying to give back to Redditors in NYC and I’m hoping that some folks will step up and do the thing Zhu Li. Like I said, we’re a little pressed on personnel. Given that we’re still dealing with Rona, those that are willing to help out with this task will be given face masks.
So what’s the criteria for you to receive these groceries? Someone that is sensitive or unable to consume the free food provided by the city, whether it be conflicting with them culturally/religiously/whereverthefuckly. I know families with kids currently enrolled in NYC Public schools get $420/child in assistance via P-EBT, but if that’s not enough, I’m your guy. Also, if you have a child enrolled in public school and you don’t know what I’m talking about with the $420, I highly suggest you sign the fuck up for P-EBT:
https://otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/Frequently-Asked-Questions-Pandemic-EBT.asp
However, the ideal candidate would be someone or a family/household that don’t qualify for any or limited assistance. The elderly come to mind, where many rely solely on their social security to get by, as well as immigrants who don’t speak English and rely on their children to translate shit for them and don't qual for benefits, or immigrants who don’t have children and are just hustling like fuck to make it happen on their own. I’m mostly thinking of communities historically disenfranchised, but it’s really a free for all. At the end of the day, this shit is honor code, so no one is going to check your finances. If you decided to be a dickhead and finesse this, it’s on you to explain to your maker why you literally took food out the hands of those who are less fortunate. I will also hope you get drop kicked in the kidneys by a Kangaroo spontaneously the one time you decide to hang out in Central Park. And that at some point, you fall asleep on the MTA and some hobo jerks off and nuts on you, catching you square on the forehead. Better yet, I hope it happens on your morning commute to work, on a Monday, so your whole week fucked. Take a power nap at 0830 in the morning, wake up at 0834 cause a bum busted on your forehead, slightly to the left and right above your eyebrow so it drips onto your eyelashes and grazes your lips as it drips down. The day ain’t even start yet and it’s already fucked up and completely gone, and now you got a bum bump developing for the rest of the week. All that for ten pounds of chicken drums. Talk about a shit ROI. wallstreebets anyone?
I digress.
If you trying to get the groceries, send me a PM with the title Groceries, option, \insert borough, insert neighborhood\**
If you’re a MVP and trying to help me out with the pick up, splitting and bagging, delivering, etc, PM with the title Grocery Help, DriveLocation/Food handling (choose whatever role you can fulfill)
I would like to continue being able to do this, so shameless plug: our venmo is still the same and hasn’t changed u/FourSevenDivisionStreetTrading.
Oh! And we started an IG acc! Again, shameless plug: 47_division_st_trading_inc
So yea, that’s about it ya’ll.
Keep it real, be good to each other, be nice to your parents, your neighbors, give you pets extra scritches, and most of all, be kind to yourself if you going through it, cause for real, 2020 is really blowing ours.
Edit: added a TL;DR, IG handle, context with link to second post
Oct 20 2020
Free Groceries for Those in Need
Context: Initial post that was fueled by scotch and sleep deprivation New post that isn't fueled as much with scotch and sleep deprivation as the previous, so should be a bit more coherent and easier to understand.
No TL;DR cause fuck you. I'm giving out free fucking groceries. Read the fucking post.
I put up a post and surprisingly didn't receive any PMs requesting groceries, so here I am again.
I am aiming to provide 70 households from Reddit within NYC with the options of:
A) Ten lbs. of drumsticks B) Eight lbs. of quarter chicken legs or C) Six and a half lbs. of drum sticks with a dozen eggs
Ideal candidates are those that are unable to eat the free food provided by the city due to food sensitivity, conflicts of religion, culture, health reasons, etc.1 This is aimed to help those that are seriously in need of assistance, with a heavy preference given to the elderly, young students, immigrants, folks that don't quality for any or limited assistance, etc. Communities that have historically been disfranchised, you get the idea. Families that have children enrolled in NYC public schools should be receiving $420/child/month for food2. If the aid is still not enough, I'm your guy. While this is geared towards Redditors, if you know someone that isn't on Reddit but is also really struggling, shoot me a PM with their info. This is going by honor code for everyone, so square up with your maker on your own time.
If you're trying to get groceries, send me a PM with the title "Groceries, insert borough, insert neighborhood, insert which option"
In order for this to work, I'm going to ask for some assistance from the Reddit community. Due to the limited space of our shop, I am not going to have folks congregate at the business trying to pick up their orders. That being said, I need a couple of Redditors with the means come and pick up the bulk orders, however many of which type that will be, and prepare and segregate the orders off premise. Logistically, this means:
- Someone/s with a vehicle to accommodate and transport o 700lbs of drums, or o 560lbs of quarter chicken legs, or o 455lbs of drums and 70 dozen eggs, or o Most likely some combination of all three - A clean space/location to prepare these orders, ideally commercial - Folks who have a food handling certificate to prepare the orders - Someone/s with a vehicle to accommodate and deliver the orders to whoever needs them
I am asking for volunteers and free labor because I'm broke as shit and I'm unable to make this happen on my own, within my own means, otherwise I wouldn't be asking for assistance in the first place. Volunteers will be provided face masks.
If you’re a MVP and trying to help me out with the pick up, splitting and bagging, delivering, etc., PM with the title Grocery Help, DriveLocation/Food handling (choose whatever role you can fulfill)
I would like to continue being able to do this, so shameless plug: our Venmo is still the same and hasn’t changed @ FourSevenDivisionStreetTrading.
We also now have an IG: 47_Division_Street_Trading_Inc
Resources:

1. Free food provided by the city:

• https://dsny.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappvieweindex.html?id=35901167a9d84fb0a2e0672d344f176f
• https://www.google.com/maps/d0/viewer?mid=1uVjjVxXfLFU4R6V7qjXXRoxCy-IwfMSP&ll=40.711199875063635%2C-73.99326878216021&z=15
• 2. P-EBT Assistance for every child enrolled in NYC Schools:
• https://otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/Frequently-Asked-Questions-Pandemic-EBT.asp

For those that give a shit: decided to write this a bit more carefully and not off the cuff as I'm apparently known for because I think it helps to not distract from the actual content. Also cause couple of commenters called me a meth head due to the way I write, which I can't have cause I'm still in the military. Would love to meet privately with said commenters though.
---
u/SleepyLi seems to be still around reddit being legendary.

With the current free week and the release of the console edition, there's been a huge influx of users here to talk about Anno! We're very happy to have you all here, but it's resulted in a lot of low-effort posts that ask simple questions that can often be solved with a Google search or answered in a sentence.
To solve this, we will use this megathread for all basic questions like: Why can't I build a coal mine? Which DLC is the best? Why do I keep losing money? Why does that weird guy talk about farting so much?

Accordingly we will be more strict about removing posts with basic questions and directing you here.

We try to be pretty hands-off and allow posts, but there's been a pretty clear decline in quality with some of the questions and we have seen people complain. If you aren't sure, post your question here first before making a post.
Thank you! If any of you have suggestions for resources to add to the thread, feel free to share and we can edit them in the post.
Below are some links to more resources like official forums, the wiki, and some helpful tools:

Official Websites

• Anno Union - The official website for Anno 1800! Where all blogs and updates for the game are posted. Check here often!
• Official Forums - For general discussion and player support/bug reporting:
• Bug Reporting
• DirectX Errors Notice

Unofficial Anno Discord Server

• Annoverse Discord Server - The unofficial fan Discord. Thousands of community members and a bot-serviced method for finding multiplayer games!

Anno 1800 Wiki & Most Requested Topics

• Anno 1800 Wiki - The BEST source for all things Anno 1800.
• Game Update Patch Notes - All patch notes.
• Best Map Seeds - Information about map types and listing of up-to-date popular seeds.
• Production Chains - All things production chains & detailed info on each building.
• Building Layouts - Various user submitted layouts for production/residential from basic/beginner to more advanced.
• DLC Content Pages - Overview of each DLC and content contained within.
• Trade Routes - Basic overview of trade routes and listing of all tradeable goods & prices.
• Statistics Screen - The core of management in Anno... a detailed overview of the Statistics Screen and how to utilize the tools within to manage your entire economy and production flow.

Fan-made Resources

• Annolayouts - A German/English website that gives the most optimal layouts and specialist/item combinations for everything in game. More for advanced/late game use, but useful to get ideas of what to be looking for.
• Anno Designer - A fan-made tool for designing your own layouts.
• Anno 1800 Calculators - List of third party calculators to help with planning ahead and can be used in conjunction with real time data in the statistics screen.
• Asset Viewer - Desktop program for viewing items/specialists and how to obtain them.

Other Anno Wikis & Resources

• Anno 1404 Wiki
• Anno 2070 Wiki
• Anno 2205 Wiki
• Anno 1602 Tim's Guide
• Anno 1503 Tim's Guide

Respawn’s devs has made it clear that one of the things they care about is “react-ability” with respect to damage dealing abilities, it’s why Fuse’s ult doesn’t deal max damage right away, it’s why Caustic barrels have a deployment time, it’s why Catalyst’s Q has some time delay before it starts dealing damage, its why Valk rockets put big red targets on the map a second or two before impacting, it’s why there’s an audio and visual cue for Gibby and Bang Ult. The player is meant to have a chance to react and get out of the way when faced with damage dealing abilities.
I have no doubt they care about sticking to this philosophy, which is why I think, inadvertently, there are ability combinations in the game that don’t adhere to this at all. It’s possible to take damage from someone that you literally cannot conceivably see because of the way that scans interact with abilities that conceal or blind players like Bang smoke and Catalyst wall. This creates extremely frustrating situations for players that feel completely defenseless because they have no way of fighting back, the same way they’d feel defenseless if a Valk rocket hit them with no indicator or a Catalyst Q started damaging immediately on impact.
They’ve said in the past they don’t want one legend to counter another, but they’ve gone back on this as Catalyst counters 2 of 3 Seer abilities with her wall and counters BH’s scan entirely. At this point they have to choose between one legend “countering” another or allowing these no way out, low readability, no possible defense situations to remain in the game.
I think there are three main interactions that need to change to help fix the “blinded and scanned” problem that’s plaguing high level play:

1. Bang smoke should not be able to be scanned through by any character (this is probably technically challenging as the “shape” of the smoke will not perfectly match the graphical effects)
   
2. Seer Ult should not work through Catalyst Ult (probably another technically challenging problem)
   
3. Digi Threat Sights should have a laser indicator when ADSing similar to the Vantage sniper so you cannot get shot by someone using a Digi Threat sight without knowing where they are (BH Ult probably needs something similar for the same reason, although this would be more difficult as BH gets red player scan even when not ADSing)
   

Every future ability that is designed to conceal or shroud players should carry forward this design philosophy, the same way all damage dealing abilities are designed to be “reactive”. The devs know it’s not fun when the game becomes unreadable, when a player feels completely defenseless and without options against certain abilities, that’s why it’s time to rethink how scans work. They’ve kicked the can down the road for too long and now the game has become unreadable and almost impossible to understand at a high level, especially for new viewers. Yes, they could nerf Seer and a lot of this goes away, but the underlying design philosophy needs to change or we will probably end up with this problem with a future character.

TL;DR : Vent your frustrations with your local representatives regularly to inflict true change. Join or create a Strong Towns Local Conversation to create a rallying point for allies. Reach out to those who would benefit from the Strong Towns approach, like cycling clubs.
Central Mainers can join the Winslow & Waterville conversation here.
We all know that car dependency is bad. And you may be posting and/or viewing memes on this sub because you feel like there's nothing you can do about it.
That's where you're wrong.
Only a small amount of voices is needed to inflict change in your local town. By and far the majority of streets are controlled by local governments. That means that you don't need many voices to inflict lasting change.
Consistency, even if you feel alone, is key. NIMBYs constantly kick our ass, because they are always getting involved in local government. We need to show up, and show up consistently.
Get the word out about advocacy regularly. The more consistently the message is kept in your town's mind, the more people will see it and join our cause. Make thoughtful, pointed posts on community message boards, hand out fliers in downtown, anything. Quality and regularity beat out spikes of righteous fury every time.
You aren't as alone as you think. After only two weeks, I already have 15 people, including myself, in my Local Conversation's Facebook group, just by posting about infrastructure on town community pages. They don't interact with the group much, but god dammit, but it's a whole 15 people that agree with me - that agree with you!
Arrange a meeting with your local representative. Do it now. Your local government is not going to know something is wrong unless you tell them. Meeting them regularly and in person indicates that this is an important issue. Do send them emails, but don't let that be the only contact you have. In just the past two weeks, I've spoken with three separate reps, who all agree about the my area's overdependence.
Search for, or create, a Strong Towns local conversation. I am the creator of the Local Conversation for Winslow & Waterville, a small town and small city in Maine, respectively. Many people are too scared to become a leader. Lord knows I am. But without a Local Conversation as a rallying point, we will be unable to organize and stop the cars.
If you live in central Maine, join the Winslow and Waterville local conversation.
Join Strong Towns-Adjacent organizations. Biking clubs, historical conservatory groups, tenant's associations, disability advocacy groups, and the like. Those most affected by the dangers and damages of cars are the most likely to join the fight. For them to join, they must know our message.

Happy Monday, Barkada --

The PSE gained 65 points to 6470 ▲1%

As promised, read below for a special story on whether or not PH banks are vulnerable to the same risks that brought their international peers down. I got a lot of great, constructive feedback from analysts and professionals in the risk management field, and I think the end result does a little bit more to put our situation in context... better than the high-level statements released by the DOF and BSP.
I recommend Patrick Boyle's great YouTube explainers on what is happening with SVB (26 mins) and Credit Suisse (15 mins) for some more context on those issues, if interested.
The opinions and statements that I reference in this update are focused on the PH's biggest banks. While FDIC insurance covers all deposits in the PH banking sector, specific risks might increase as you get out toward the margins into some of the smaller banks. Considering those risks of the many smaller banks was beyond the scope of this issue. Please also note that I'm just some guy on the internet, and that some of the facts on the ground are changing rather quickly. Do not rely on this as financial advice.
Today is a big one, so let's get to it!
Shout-outs to mArQo, ralphsagarino, Jordan, avenmicjohn, meloi, leaf, Dividend Pinoy PGG, Bien EC, Evolves Capital, Inc., Volts Sanchez, Palaboy Trader, Market Babbler, CHARToons, Lance Nazal, arkitrader, Success, Justn, Cathay Pacific Boarding Music is enchanting, LanAustria, Rolex Jodieres, Kuya Carl, Chip Sillesa, and Jing for the retweets, and to Genesis Umali, Evolves.co, and Mike Ting for the FB shares!

▌In today's MB:

• COMING UP: A busy week ahead!
• SPECIAL: Are PH banks safe?
• LT Group: FY22 net income up 24% y/y
• AEV: Launching modular cold storage brand
• SMART: Sells 1,102 towers for P12.1-B
• Union Bank: might sell or spin-off UBX
• Upson: Increases IPO by 1,000 shares
• AREIT: Price rebounds after block-sale dump

▌Daily meme Subscribe (it's free) Today's email

▌Today's sponsor: Fruitas Holdings

▌Main stories covered:

• [COMING UP] Quick look at the week ahead... Craziness in the US and global banking sector aside, this week will be a busy one. The Alternergy [ALTER] IPO offer period is over, but the Philippine Business Bank [PBB 9.75 ▲0.5%] SRO offer period will begin and run until Thursday. Tuesday morning we’ll hear about the US Federal Reserve’s decision on whether it will continue to raise interest rates to fight inflation, or whether it will “pause” (not raise) in order to throw a lifeline to struggling lower-tier banks. Tuesday is also the start of the Upson International [UPSON 2.40 pre-IPO] offer period which will run until March 27. Then, on Thursday, our own BSP will meet to decide what to do with our interest rates. Then, to top it all off, we get our first IPO of 2023 when ALTER goes live on Friday morning.
  
  • MB: Sometimes the world of financial news can be a little feast-or-famine, and this week is definitely going to feel like a boodle fight of stuff going on, with the drama of the international banking crisis, domestic earnings season, the US Fed decision, the BSP decision, and an IPO. The truth is, I have no idea what is happening. It feels like there are a lot of moving pieces, and I’m not very confident in any direction short-term. But my investment approach or strategy might be different from yours, and maybe your strategy feeds off of high-event periods like this with lots of volatility. Mine doesn’t, so I try to stay in my lane, double-check my risk management assumptions, and keep my eyes open for shifts that might affirm parts of my thesis or cause me to revise it.
• [SPECIAL] Do we have anything to worry about with PH banks?... It’s hard not to watch what has happened with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse, and wonder if our banks are vulnerable to any of the risks that flattened these giants. Our own Secretary of Finance, Benjamin Diokno, came out to say that Philippine banks had “no exposure” to SVB or to Credit Suisse, but that statement didn’t address whether or not our own giants, like BDO [BDO 127.60 ▲5.0%], BPI [BPI 101.20 ▼1.6%], and Metrobank [MBT 57.40 ▲2.5%], were carrying the same kind of bond issue, or were vulnerable to the same kind of bank-run exploit. As I’ve said many times before, I am not familiar with the ins and outs of analyzing domestic banks, nor am I particularly knowledgeable (beyond my reading of the news) when it comes to the nuances of global banking giants like Credit Suisse, so I’ve pulled together a collection of local voices who know about this topic to try and get a better sense of how things are going for BDO, BPI, MBT, and the rest of the banks, and what we can expect going forward.
  
  • First, some background: SVB is a bank that specialized in handling the deposit accounts of startups and investment types in the San Francisco Bay area. While interest rates were low, startups were raising a ton of investment capital in cash, and SVB actively courted these companies to get them to deposit that capital with the bank. SVB’s deposits grew so quickly that its loans department actually struggled to keep pace with the deposits, which were earning a higher-than-normal interest rate for the tight-knit startup community. The banks customers didn’t really need loans, because they were flush with cash from investors. So instead of making loans, SVB invested the deposits in long-term bonds to net 1.56% on the interest rate differential between what the bonds were paying and what SVB paid clients for deposits. But the rising rates of 2022 posed a problem, in that value of SVB’s long-term bonds was sensitive to interest rate increases, so that when the US Federal Reserve began its unprecedented string of increases to fight the sudden inflationary monster that appeared in early 2022, the value of SVB’s bonds plummeted in a predictable fashion. People began to take notice of this issue, and a few prominent startup personalities encouraged all their associates, clients, and partners to take their money out of SVB because of the risks posed by the bond issue. SVB tried to satisfy whatever withdrawals it could, but was forced to liquidate huge portions of its bond portfolio at a loss as the run on the bank picked up steam. That’s when the FDIC stepped in to seize control of the bank.
  • Are PH banks dealing with the same bonds issue? One bank analyst that reached out privately (and requested anonymity) said that the main difference between SVB and the PH giants is that SVB held more than 60% of its assets in securities (like those bonds that plummeted in value), and the PH giants tend to have more than 70% of their assets in loans. The source said that while PH banks do hold some securities, those holdings are small in comparison to each particular bank’s asset base.
  • What about concentration risk? One of the key triggers in the SVB story is the bank’s over-reliance on a depositor base of tech startups and venture capital firms that tended to exhibit a herd-like mentality in terms of following the lead of key personalities within that industry. That’s referred to as concentration risk. Rachelleen Rodriguez, a research analyst with Maybank Securities, reached out to say that that our banks’ exposure to the startup community is relatively minimal (less than 5% in communications and transportation, which are the industries that are most likely to contain startups here), and that “PH bank loan portfolios are also highly diversified chiefly among the real estate, trade,and manufacturing segments”, with each of those segments “forming no more than 25% of loan books”.
  • Ok, but what about Credit Suisse? This is something of a different animal, because Credit Suisse is a G-SIB (global systemically important bank), which means that it is considered to be so large and interconnected with other financial institutions that its failure could potentially have a significant impact on the global financial system. While the bSP has already come out to say that PH banks have “no reported exposure” to Credit Suisse, and that our banks’ clients may only have small exposure, what happens with Credit Suisse (for better or worse) might have knock-on effects that are difficult to predict. Rico Patiga Villanueva, a senior lecturer of economics at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said on Twitter that because it is a G-SIB, a potential collapse “will have global impact”. Mr. Villanueva said that, in his opinion, the “pathways” to PH banks’ exposure to a Credit Suisse collapse “can be deposits, bonds, loans, derivatives or payments,” but with nostro accounts (foreign currency accounts that our banks have abroad) derivatives and payments the most likely threat vector.
  • MB BOTTOM-LINE: Things are changing for SVB, Credit Suisse, and the global banking market even as I write this. However, based on the feedback that I’ve received from professionals that analyze banks and quantify risk in the financial sector here, our large banks don’t appear to be vulnerable to the specific issues that caused the sudden (in the case of SVB) and gradual (in the case of Credit Suisse) downfalls of the foreign banks that are currently in the news. Our banks are generally less speculative in terms of their assets (generally loan-heavy), more conservative in terms of their business practices, and benefit from a much more diversified depositor base. Still, the sheer panic of US depositors that initially faced the possibility of losing their deposits in excess of the FDIC-guaranteed amount should be instructional. Our own Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) guarantees depositor accounts of a failed bank up to only ₱500,000 per depositor, per bank. That amount was established back in 2009, and accounting for inflation, it represents much less of a protection than it did at that time. The inflation-adjusted value of ₱500,000 in 2009 in today’s currency is ₱721,500. The $250,000 per depositor amount is about 50% lower than the average non-rural home price in the United States, however, the ₱500,000 per depositor level is actually 88% lower than the average non-rural home price here in the Philippines. I don’t even know if those home prices are a useful metric in this discussion, it only seemed like a reasonable place for me to start when comparing the viability of the depositor protections that the PDIC currently offers to Filipinos. Sell the average fully-owned home in the US for cash, and your proceeds are 100% covered by two accounts. Sell the average home here, and you’d need to spread that amount across nine banks to achieve the same level of protection.
• [NOTES] Quick takes from around the market...
  
  • Upson International []UPSON] [link] updated the final number of shares to be sold in the deal to 625,001,000, up 1,000 shares from the original amended amount of 625,000,000.
    • MB Quick Take: That number is almost upsetting to write. I challenge you. Open up any tab, and try to write it. The extra 1,000 shares is so glaring and cursed, as though LOL purposefully ruined a picture by coloring outside the lines, but just once, such that it’s all you can see when you look at it. Jokes aside, I wonder if the original amended amount was a transcription/encoding error, or if there’s some technical reason why they needed to put another 1,000 primary shares on the pile?
  • AREIT Inc [AREIT 34.00 ▲8.3%] [link] share price bounced back (mostly) after that crazy Thursday drop. Looks like it was a block sale that was put through late on Thursday that tanked the price so hard.
    • MB Quick Take: A block sale is a privately-negotiated sale between individuals that happens outside of the usual bid/ask dynamic of the exchange. Think of the PSE as like the Lazada of Philippine stocks: it’s not the seller, it’s just the marketplace. So in this case, someone with a large number of shares wanted to make a quick and easy sale, so they ate a significant discount on the shares to do that. The block sale price isn’t necessarily indicative of the “true value” of AREIT, and could be more about how desperate the seller was to convert the shares to cash than it was about the underlying value of the company.
  • LT Group [LTG 0.66 unch] [link] teased a FY22 net income attributable of ₱25.1 billion, up 24% y/y. LTG was quick to attribute some of this performance to FY21’s artificially-low net income due to a one-off accounting treatment of gains relating to PNB’s sale of property. Tobacco accounted for 61% of net income, PNB accounted for 26%, Tanduay Distillers for 6%, Asia Brewery for 3%, and Eton Properties for 1%. LTG noted a 6.3% decline in cigarette sales volume which it attributed to price increases that were implemented to pass on the increased cost of excise taxes to consumers. LTG said liquor sales volume was up 18%. It also said that Eton Properties experienced a 32% drop in net income y/y.
    • MB Quick Take: This stock is a darling of the dividend investing crowd, and its vice-centric portfolio has been very stable through some relatively choppy periods. Maybe it’s too early to dunk on Eton’s September 2022 “POGOs are back baby!” call, but that y/y performance is just not looking good. Still, this is just a teaser, so I’ll be waiting for the full financials before I draw any final conclusions on what might be happening there.
  • Aboitiz Equity Ventures [AEV 51.05 ▲2.3%] [link] clarified that its “modular” cold storage initiative is just in its “pilot study or testing phase”, and that “no significant investment or partnerships have been made”. The clarification is in response to an article in Malaya Business Insight that covered AEV’s new “Fresh Depot” cold storage idea, which appears to be focused on getting smaller, mobile cold storage locations closer to farmers to increase yield and prevent wastage.
    • MB Quick Take: Almost all of the press hits on this initiative have mentioned AEV’s interest in “assisting the government”, which is really shorthand for “obtaining government contracts”. Fresh Depot’s real goal appears to be “mapping” the productive farmland in the provincial outreaches to give the government better data for its centralized planning. That’s not a bad thing, because (according to the BSP) a lot of the price spikes that we’re feeling right now are due to the mismanagement of the food supply chain here, but it is worth noting (for me) that this project probably won’t be scaled and operated like a product with a clear profit/loss motive. There are probably other considerations in play.
  • Union Bank [UBP 84.90 ▼0.1%] [link] considering possible sale or spin-off of UBX, a subsidiary “open finance platform” of UBP, to give UBX more freedom to operate outside of the BSP’s regulatory framework that guides UBP and its subsidiaries. Initial reporting said that UBP’s parent company, Aboitiz Equity Ventures [AEV 51.05 ▲2.3%], was the intended acquiring party for UBX, but UBP’s clarification mentioned that the Aboitiz Family is investing both a sale and a possible spin-off to achieve that goal of getting UBX out from under UBP.
    • MB Quick Take: The family’s reasoning behind the sale/spin-off idea also considers that, as an “open” financial platform, UBX may be more appealing as a potential business partner with other family banks if it is not a formal part of the Aboitiz Family’s bank. It doesn’t hurt to have to reasons for the transaction (less regulation AND more potential business). If it did spin-off, UBX would be the PSE’s first pure fintech investment play. It would also have a sick ticker symbol.
  • SMART [TEL 1310.00 ▲0.8%] [link] announced the sale of another batch of 1,012 cell towers for a total price of ₱12.1 billion. The buyer is Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of Pinnacle Towers, a company that has received backing from the American private equity fund, KKR. TEL said that the value of this deal “mirrors” the value established in its previous tower sale deals, and brings the total number of towers sold up to over 7,500, and the total amount raised as part of the initiative to ₱98 billion.
    • MB Quick Take: *These are sale-leaseback transactions, so SMART (a subsidiary of TEL) is transferring ownership of the sites to Frontier, and then agreeing to lease the use of the sites back from Frontier on a long-term lease. It’s a good deal for both parties. SMART gets a huge cash injection that it can use for anything, plus it doesn’t have to do any of the upkeep and maintenance on the 7,500 sites all across the country. Frontier gets a stable income source that it can either just “have” or spin off into a REIT given the global REIT market’s interest in cell tower holding companies. *

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Há um subgringo chamado travelbuddies onde as pessoas procuram por companhias para viagens. Como meus amigos não têm trampos flexíveis, assim como o meu, não podem me acompanhar na maioria das minhas viagens. Por isso resolvi postar lá para fazer amigos e amigas de viagens.
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Há 3 anos abri um negócio digital e hoje já me possibilita ficar viajando e trabalhando de outros lugares. Esse ano decidi que não ficaria esperando para combinar as datas de férias dos meus amigos para viajar com eles e, então, em Maio farei minha primeira viagem sozinho e será para Eslovênia. Outro ponto que também dificulta de eu ter a companhia dos meus amigos, é que quero começar a fazer mais viagens para o exterior, o que, apesar dos meus amigos ganharem relativamente bem, é necessário um planejamento financeiro maior da parte deles.
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Mais alguém desse sub se encontra em situação similar a minha e procurando companhias para viagens? Eu 26H curto muito viagens mais dinâmicas que envolvam trilhas, aventuras e contato com a natureza. Vou aproveitar e deixar meu roteiro de viagem para Eslovênia.
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Day 1 (08/05 - 13:25)

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• Arrive and get the car. Check if vignette license is included
• Airport - Ljubliana

Day 2

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• Ljubliana
  • Postojna Cave
  • Skojcan Caves
  • Walk around

Day 3

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• Ljubliana - Piran (07:30)
• Piran (09:00)
  • Walk around
  • Have lunch there
• Piran - Kobarid (12:30)
  • Walk Tolmin Gorge circuit path (14:30 - 17:00)https://triptins.com/tolmin-gorges/Opening Hours: 9 AM - 7:30 PMTicket Price: 8 EurosCurrent Conditions: As of February 2023, Tolmin Gorge is closed for maintenance. Get updates about its reopening on the official website. https://www.soca-valley.com/en/attraction/tolmin-gorges/
• Kobarid (17:30) https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/things-to-do-in-kobarid-slovenia/

Day 4
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• Kobarid https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/things-to-do-in-kobarid-slovenia/
  • Hike Mount Krn (07:00 - 14:00)Lenght: 12,7 km - Time: 7 hr https://www.alltrails.com/pt-bexplore/trail/slovenia/kobarid/zanka-vrha-krn?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map

Day 5
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• Hike Kozjak Waterfall (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 8:00)Opening hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 8.00 - 20.00 Price: 5 Euros https://www.soca-valley.com/en/in-search-of-adventure/nature/2020122809482088/kozjak-waterfalls/Lenght: 3,5 km - Time: 1 hr https://www.alltrails.com/pt-btrilha/slovenia/kobarid/do-slapa-kozjac
• Kobarid - Kranjska Gora via Vrsic Pass (10:00 - 12:00)
• Have a luch
• Kranjska Gora https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/kranjska-gora-slovenia/
  • Go to Kofler Sport in Mojstrana and rent via ferrata set for 2 days there
  • Climb Gradišče (Duration 1 hr climbing and 30 min descending)
  • Rent a bike and go to Laghi di Fusine and Zelenci

Day 6
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• Climb to Mala MojstrovkaRent ferata in Kofler Sport in Mojstrana or in Krajska Gorahttps://www.reddit.com/Slovenia/comments/u6mt43/question_about_climbing_via_ferratas_in_slovenia/https://www.explore-share.com/via-ferrata-trips/slovenia/kranjska-gora/Take some snack and waterhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTz7sO8VpjADuration: 4h - 2.5-hour ascent, 1.5-hour descent. 721 meters of elevation gain.
• Return via ferrata set

Day 7
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• Hike to Slemenova Špicahttps://triptins.com/slemenova-spica/Duration: 3 hrs
• Hike to the Martuljek waterfallsDuration: 3:30 hrshttps://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-route/upper-carniola/martuljek-waterfalls-in-the-julian-alps

Day 8
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• Kranjska Gora - Pokljuka Plateau
• Pokljuka Plateau
  • Hike to VisevnikDuration: 3hrhttps://www.alltrails.com/pt-btrilha/slovenia/bohinj/okoli-visevnika https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/visevnik-hike-julian-alps-slovenia/
  • Check-in the hotel
  • Hike to Planina Zajamnikihttps://www.slovenia-walking.com/planina-zajamniki-walk.html https://www.tripadvisor.com.bAttraction_Review-g1833046-d8806628-Reviews-Planina_Zajamniki-Srednja_vas_v_Bohinju_Upper_Carniola_Region.html

Day 9
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• Pokljuka Plateau - Lake Bohinj
• Lake Bohinj
  • Hike Seven Lakes Valley https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/triglav-lakes-valley-hike-slovenia/

Day 10
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• Lake Bohinj - Bled
• Visit Lake BledRent a boatHike Mala Osojnica
• Bled - Zgornje Jezersko
• Zgornje Jezersko
  • Planšarsko jezero
  • Ravenska kočna valley
• Zgornje Jezersko - Logar Valley

Day 11
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• Hike Ledinski Vrhhttps://www.moonhoneytravel.com/ledinski-vrh-hike-kamnik-savinja-alps/Duration: 07hFee to enter Logar Valley: 7 EUR for CarsThis trail pass through Slap Rink (Waterfall)https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1y5_E3IKsdF4ZF2DX6TGKqEh8dwh-6EjQ&ll=46.383655916321,14.595468199999981&z=14

Day 12 (19/05 - 19:00 Voo LJU - ZRH)
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• Logar Valley - Ljubljana
  • Visit Velika Planina

Hi everybody. I haven’t written any write ups in a long time, apologies if I’m rusty. I heard this about this crime on a podcast recently and was very intrigued by it.
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THE VICTIM
Gianfranco Cuccuini was a 65 year old man who lived in Sesto Fiorentino, a city on the outskirts of Florence. He worked as a printmaker for more than forty years, before retiring in 1990. He had a wife and two daughters, and was described by everybody as a calm, mild mannered and reserved man, with a passion for the arts and especially for typography. Shortly after retiremetn, he began topping up his pension by working part time at "Libreria Manuelli": three days a week, he set up the shop, cleaned, and served customers.
It’ was definitely not an exciting or fast paced job: Libreria Manuelli is a small religious bookshop which also sells religious items like hosts, candles, rosaries, etc. It is situated on the first floor of a building that is owned by the Archdiocese of Fiesole, on via Proconsolo, nr. 7 (now 16). This is a very central, touristy area of Florence, barely two minutes away from Florence’s iconic red dome church, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It was, needless to say, a very busy street, with many bars surrounding it and a bus stop right in front of it.
At the time, inside the building lived the custodian, the bishop of Fiesole, two monsigneurs, and the owners of a religious vestments business. It was, however, easily accessible to the public, without any doorkeepers or security, as most historical palazzos in Italy are. For this reason, the building was often visited by curious tourists or homeless people looking for support from the Archdiocese.
The bookshop itself has two entrances: the main one in the front of the building, and another one in the back, which can be accessed only through an inner courtyard.
​
TIMELINE
Since the murder happened in a very short time span - 15 to 20 minutes — I’m going to try to give a timeline as detailed as possible.
24 March 1995. It’s Friday, which means it’s Gianfranco’s day off, but the owner has asked him to open the bookshop for her: she has to take her daughter to the doctor, and will only return late in the morning.
07:15 The first people to enter the building are Father Sergio Boffici and the custodian, Mafalda, who opens the front door of the building as usual.
07:20 Gianfranco is still home, about 5 miles away, throwing the trash. It takes him a little less than 20 minutes to reach the bookshop on his moped.
07:45 Five construction workers enter the building, where they have to fix the sewage system in the inner courtyard. One of them, who arrives five minutes later, takes a moment to check himself out in the bookshop’s window: this means Gianfranco had already arrived and opened the shutters. This is significant, as Gianfranco usually opened the bookshop later in the morning, after 8:30.
08:20 Gianfranco is seen fixing the displays and sweeping outside the bookshop by the owner of the copy shop opposite Libreria Manuelli. The owner waves at him, but despite seeing him, Gianfranco does not greet him back, which the other man found unusual for him.
08:30 Gianfranco is spotted entering the library with another person: about 30 years old, shoulder length blond hair, wearing a light colored jacket described as "out of style". The eye witness couldn’t confirm whether it was a man or a woman, as she only saw them from behind.
08:45 Father Sergio Boffici goes to the bookshop to collect the hosts for mass, as he does every Friday. He tries to enter through the back entrance, but finds it locked; he knocks but no one answers, despite the lights being on. He waits a few minutes, but when no one answers again, he goes around and enters through the front door, noticing that the lights have been turned off. He enters the bookshop and, in the darkness, sees the hand of a man from behind the counter. Frightened, he runs to get help. He comes back with his colleague, Father Giuseppe Saccardi, who enters the bookshop himself and sees the body of Gianfranco, laying on the ground behind the counter, in a pool of blood.
​
THE CRIME SCENE
While the two priests initially thought that Gianfranco must have fainted and hit his head, the medics on the scene quickly realize that the truth is much more gruesome: Gianfranco was stabbed 27 times all over his body, with the fatal blows being to the nape of his neck and to the lungs, which killed him instantly. Medics also note that his body is still warm when they arrive on the scene, around 9 AM. His body is in a supine position, slightly leaning on his left side, and has no defensive wounds. The murder weapon, which has never been found, is about 4 inches long, 1 inch wide, and likely has a rounded tip; it’s believed it could have been a sharp letter opener or a pair of scissors.
The scene of the crime is surprisingly neat: other than the pool of blood, there are no other splatters or traces anywhere in the library, nor are any of the items broken or on the ground. The only things out of place are a cleaning mop and a set of keys, next to the victim’s body. No fingerprints or footprints are found anywhere.
Investigators manage to find a single, round blood drop on a chair behind the counter, which they believe was placed there after the murder. Based on these and the direction of the wounds, they hypothesized that the killer was sitting on the chair when he attacked Gianfranco, who was probably leaning down, on his knees, to pick something up.
​
INVESTIGATION
What makes this crime so confusing is the very short time in which the murder took place, as well as the ease with which the killer went unnoticed, on such a busy street. There’s no doubt that he must have used the front door, as the backdoor which opened into the inner courtyard was locked form the inside, and the five construction workers didn’t see anybody use the backdoor at all.
So, in the span of 15 to 20 minutes, the perpetrator stabbed Gianfranco 27 times, put the chair back to its place, turned off the lights and blended into the crowd, without being noticed by anyone, presumably while covered in blood — unless he managed to also change out of his clothing in those 20 minutes.
The robbery theory is immediately dismissed: nothing is missing from the till, or from Gianfranco’s wallet, nor are any of the bookshop’s more valuable items gone.
The second theory police investigates is that of a "crazy religious fanatic" who might have attacked Gianfranco. Eye witnesses claim to have seen a blond woman in her sixties pacing back and forth in front of the bookshop the day of the murder, muttering to herself, holding her hands as if in prayer. The woman, identified only as ‘G. F.’, was known by the locals to be mentally unstable, obsessed with religious imagery and rites. The police detain her few hours after the murder, when they find an umbrella with blood stains in her possession. She is interrogated for hours but is unable to explain where the blood comes from; she’s eventually dismissed when it’s discovered that the blood on her umbrella doesn’t match Gianfranco’s.
In the bookshop, L.E. finds Gianfranco’s organizer, left open on a page where he wrote down "UMA HARUM UMA", which doesn't have any meaning in Italian. The words attracted a lot of attention, as Italy was going through a serious wave of Satanic Panic at the time, and many believed the words might have pagan or esoteric origins: Uma is one of the names of the Hindu goddess Parvati, and Harum is the name of a temple in Bali. Gianfranco had actually mentioned to his wife some "strange people" among the bookshop’s clientele, asking for unusual items like black church candles. «Are they going to use them for black masses, or something?» he had told her.
The meaning of the words has never been deciphered, and it’s likely completely unrelated, but many still believe that ‘Satanists’ or ‘pagans’ might have killed him.
(I’d like to point out that ‘UMA HARUM UMA’ is the Italian translation of ‘oomaharumooma’, a magical incantation that supposedly brings luck, featured in Henry Miller’s novel ‘Tropic of Cancer’. I haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on the meaning of this, anyone else feel free to jump in.)
At a loss, investigators turn to Gianfranco’s private life, thinking that such a violent murder could only come from someone who knew him well, well enough to know that he was going to work that day. While most sources insist that Gianfranco’s private life offered no leads, other sources claim L.E. were looking into a "very close male friendship" he had with another 50 year old family friend, with whom he had recently returned from a ski trip. According to the people who lived in the building, Gianfranco would at times let unknown men enter the bookshop through the backdoor, men who didn't seem like clients.
Investigators also found traces of a petroleum-like white substance inside the victim’s underwear. This, as well as Gianfranco’s position at the time of the murder (on his knees, in front of a person sitting on a chair), has led some to theorize that the blond person seen entering the bookshop with Gianfranco was a secret lover or sex worker. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find more info on this, as sources are hesitant to discuss it out of respect for the victim’s family.
It has been 28 years since Gianfranco's death, and the case has gone completely cold.
​
LINKS AND PICTURES
Gianfranco Cuccuini and Libreria Manuelli
english language Medium article
1995 article published the day of his murder
1995 article about the lady with the umbrella
other 1995 article
this book
Blu Notte episode, at 03:32 you can see the bookshop the way it looked in 1999, at 34:50 there's a 3D reconstruction of the crime scene, and at 42:20 a map of the building
another good documentary on it, it has post mortem pics though so be careful viewing it