Hey guys,
so im about to buy a '07 Impreza WRX 2.5 Sedan and i already wanted to plan some sound system tuning.
It has no car radio atm but i was looking for DIN2 screens with Apple CarPlay and found some nice ones.
The more important part is the subwoofer and the speaker themselves though. Do you have any brands, models, reccomendations, tips/tricks?
About what to buy, how to do it, and some good placements for the woofer?
I really put the sound quality to heart, so yeah, does anyone of you have any experience with it?
Thank you!

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https://preview.redd.it/wuzwnrsmfz4b1.jpg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d7424087c5edca7df4dd1f198a37158f95974e
Today we will do things veeeryyy different than during the main character study of Gorou Amamiya or Aqua Hoshino but I assure you it won't be less interesting. It was by pure accident that I stumbled over an old book I haven't touched for a long time, a book that goes by the title "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. It's from the late 19th century.
The story revolves around the rich and handsome Dorian Gray and a portrait of him painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon enthralled by the aristocrat's cynical hedonistic worldview: that beauty and ruthless self-centered sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life while ethics and morals are the natural enemy to this philosophy. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted by some supernatural force and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and visually records every one of Dorian's sins in grotesque expressions.
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Now what I discovered during my excursion of a book that I actually didn't really enjoy at all to be quite frank, were similarities in both conception but also psychological realities for both Gorou/Aqua and his father Hikaru Kamiki. From time to time his monologues would sound like commentary to understand what is going on in Hikaru's mind, while the mystic circumstances of Dorian Gray's picture and his eternal youth have strong links between Aqua and Hikaru who indeed are lookalikes. Aqua by that is Hikaru's portrait which will age and visually record every of Hikaru's sins while Hikaru pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful. It all culminates to Aqua's movie role of the culprit in which Aqua will be the living proof of Hikaru's sinful life and eventually lead to his downfall. This is also Dorian's fate with his potrait.
I know, this sounds so unbelievably far stretched but believe me I'm thrilled about the actual similarities and the integretiy of the psychological templates that found their way into Oshi No Ko. I firmly believe it's not accidental. And since I enjoy ONK but not so much Oscar Wilde's novel I'm glad those in itself truely interesting psychological types found their way into Aka's work.
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AQUA HOSHINO AKA DORIAN GRAY
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Trivia:

• In Greek the name Dorian means "child of the sea" or "gift of the sea". The name aquamarine comes from aqua (Latin for 'water'), and marine, deriving from marina (Latin for 'of the sea')
• Dorian is described to have gold hair, blue eyes (and rose-red lip)

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1.
In Chapter III of the book we get to hear about Dorian Gray's tragic family background and this is already the first strong indication that 1. the similarities are real 2. what we discovered about Gorou's grandfather / family background could have been more right than wrong.
Now, the story behind the birth of Dorian is slightly so different then Gorou's but the general notion in a short poetic summary within the novel sounds pretty familiar:

"So that was the story of Dorian Gray’s parentage. Crudely as it had been told to him, it had yet stirred him by its suggestion of a strange, almost modern romance. A beautiful woman risking everything for a mad passion. A few wild weeks of happiness cut short by a hideous, treacherous crime [NOTE: HER FATHER, DORIAN'S GRANDFATHER KILLs HER LOVER, DORIAN'S FATHER]. Months of voiceless agony, and then a child born in pain. The mother snatched away by death, the boy left to solitude and the tyranny of an old and loveless man [NOTE: HIS GRANDFATHER]. Yes; it was an interesting background. It posed the lad, made him more perfect, as it were. Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic. Worlds had to be in travail, that the meanest flower might blow.... " (Chapter III)

Isn't this interesting? And there is another very cool symbol. Dorian - after he witnessed the first changed in his potrait - had to hide the picture in a diferent room of his mansion where nobody could find it and witness "his soul" which is captivated in that portrait that gets uglier and uglier with each day of his sinful life. About that room:

"He had not entered the place for more than four years—not, indeed, since he had used it first as a play-room when he was a child, and then as a study when he grew somewhat older. It was a large, well-proportioned room, which had been specially built by the last Lord Kelso for the use of the little grandson whom, for his strange likeness to his mother, and also for other reasons, he had always hated and desired to keep at a distance." (Chapter X)

So we have: A drama between mother and father, child born in pain, mother dies after giving birth, boy left to soltitude and tyranny of his grandfather who hates him for physical likeness to his mother (in PART II we wrote: Gorou would remind his grandfather every day of his own failure and guilt for losing his daughter), always hated his grandson. This is just literally everything we found out in PART II of our character study!
And the man with this background gets reincarnated in the body of a human being which looks exactly like his father Kamiki, thus is his "portrait" or "The Picture of Hikaru Kamiki"! But this portray inherited Gorou's trauma which is expressed by the symbol that the portray lives in the "trauma room" which had been specially built by his grandfather.
Also the metaphor's of "play-room when he was a child and then as a study when he grew somewhat older" goes hand in hand with what we figured out in the "THE RIGHT TO DREAM" essay about how Gorou's childhood-trauma and the guilt-complex provoked through his grandfather's abuse induced him to study medicine instead of striving for his own dreams as a result of him living in this "study trauma room".
Additionally "He had not entered the place for more than four years" - like Aqua who hasn't entered his trauma room for 4-5 years after reincarnation until Ai was murdered in front of his eyes! This reenactment placed him back into this room of guilt.
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2.
Another interesting story revolves around Dorian's first love with the actress Sibyl Vane. While we can look at this "Arc" from the perspective of Dorian as represented by Hikaru and Sibyl represented by Ai - and we certainly will because actually looking at Dorian as the representation of Hikaru will be even more intereting then the things we have to say about Aqua right now - we can also look at it from the perspective of Aqua and Ai/Akane, which we'll do now.
Dorian loves theater and one night his curiosity leads him into a shappy filthy working-class theater, one with lousy actors and a lousy orchestra. It's essentially the last place a delicate creature would expect greatness. However there at a performance of Shakespears "Romeo and Juliett" he witnesses Sibyl playing and falls for "her" instantly.
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"But Juliet! Harry, imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little, flowerlike face, a small Greek head with plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were violet wells of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life. You said to me once that pathos left you unmoved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears. I tell you, Harry, I could hardly see this girl for the mist of tears that came across me. And her voice—I never heard such a voice. It was very low at first, with deep mellow notes that seemed to fall singly upon one’s ear. Then it became a little louder, and sounded like a flute or a distant hautboy. In the garden-scene it had all the tremulous ecstasy that one hears just before dawn when nightingales are singing. There were moments, later on, when it had the wild passion of violins. You know how a voice can stir one. [...] Harry, I do love her. She is everything to me in life. Night after night I go to see her play. One evening she is Rosalind, and the next evening she is Imogen. I have seen her die in the gloom of an Italian tomb, sucking the poison from her lover’s lips. [...] I have seen her in every age and in every costume."

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Aqua's similar rememberance of Ai in a sigfnificantly less pathos drivin manner.
Sibyl Vane is Dorian's ultimate ido. She can perform any of Dorian's romantic ideal heroines from the most captivating drama's written, in utter artistic perfection. He is "her" ultimate fan:
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"Lips that Shakespeare taught to speak have whispered their secret in my ear. I have had the arms of Rosalind around me, and kissed Juliet on the mouth.”
“Well, I can’t help going to see Sibyl play,” he cried, “even if it is only for a single act. I get hungry for her presence; and when I think of the wonderful soul that is hidden away in that little ivory body, I am filled with awe.”
“You can dine with me tonight, Dorian, can’t you?”
He shook his head. “Tonight she is Imogen,” he answered, “and tomorrow night she will be Juliet.”
“When is she Sibyl Vane?”
“Never.”
“I congratulate you.”
[...]
"My God, Harry, how I worship her!”
[...]
“Harry! Sibyl Vane is sacred!”

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To put it into Kindaichi's words in ONK C97:

"You'll find people with those eyes ... once in a while. Deceptive eyes that have the power to make lies look like truths. It's the best quality for an actor"

The concept of great acting is basically reduced in the symbol of eyes for the sake of keeping the lore a little bit simpler in ONK, but essentially he just means that sometimes there are special actors who can just perform like if they are literally what they perform.
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Dorian approaches and courts Sibyl, and soon proposes marriage. They love each other. Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in Romeo and Juliet. Sibyl, too enamoured with Dorian to act, performs poorly - also to the anger of the theater audience which left early because of that-, which makes both Basil and Lord Henry think Dorian has fallen in love with Sibyl because of her beauty instead of her acting talent. Embarrassed, Dorian rejects Sibyl, telling her that acting was her beauty; without that, she no longer interests him. The heartbroken Sibyl eventually commits suicide on this very night.
Now, we find every element of that story in the history between Aqua and Akane but in a reversed construction. Akane joins LoveNow but because of her personality she fails her role in this reality tv setting. She gets rejected by the audience and the audience is even angry with her. Under that pressure she attempts suicide. However after she studied Aqua's ideal role she becomes of great interest for both him and the audience. This is essentially like Vane performing Juliett or Imogen or what not but with the difference that Aqua just loves one Idol: Ai. Structurally it is similar though and Aqua falls for her role. During LoveNow we have the same realization inside Aqua and Dorian, so the plot reverses back but without tragedy: Aqua rejects Akane as serious love interest between her real self and him, telling her that hei's only interesting in her as an actor, just like Dorian rejects Sibyl by telling her that acting was her only beauty.
Dorian to Harry:

"Ordinary women never appeal to one’s imagination. They are limited to their century. No glamour ever transfigures them. One knows their minds as easily as one knows their bonnets. One can always find them. There is no mystery in any of them. They ride in the park in the morning and chatter at tea-parties in the afternoon. They have their stereotyped smile and their fashionable manner. They are quite obvious. But an actress! How different an actress is! Harry! why didn’t you tell me that the only thing worth loving is an actress?"

Well, in a screwed way this is also applicable to Ryosuke's issue, who loved Ai for her role but hated her for her real self and eventually kills her for it, as her real self not only is different but essentially is in total opposition to her role as an idol. Dorian describes a similar screwed misogynistic view on women: The actress is mystery and the only thing worth to love, the ordinary woman is the absolute opposite of it, disappointing and unworthy to be loved.
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3.
By the way the director of that working-class theater is described as a stereotypical jew and while I of course do not endorse antisemitism or racism it still is kinda funny that Kindaichi, the director of Lalalie Theater Company and Akane's boss is always depicted with a pretty unusual big and oddly shaped nose while the name Toshirou that means "quick, clever, sharp" and Toshirou's surname Kindaichi that means "gold/metal, money/cash, currency". Pretty stereotypical if you link it to Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"...But the theater itself also has some working-class vibes to it, since it's implied that back then they opened workshop classes for orphans and probably generally troubled kids without real guardians. Addiotionally he gave Akane the smallest bouquet at the Japan Actor's Award with the explanation that theaters are financially not doing great. Well if it's a reflection of theaters in general, his theater in particular or his personal greed I can't tell. His name implies the latter and the cost of a bouquet surely doesn't ruin a theater. But probably it's still a general observation because theaters are indeed a dying genre.
Some quotes about the "Jew" in the novel:

"A hideous Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat I ever beheld in my life, was standing at the entrance, smoking a vile cigar. He had greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond blazed in the centre of a soiled shirt. ‘Have a box, my Lord?’ he said, when he saw me, and he took off his hat with an air of gorgeous servility. There was something about him, Harry, that amused me. He was such a monster."

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"On the first night I was at the theatre, the horrid old Jew came round to the box after the performance was over and offered to take me behind the scenes and introduce me to her. I was furious with him, and told him that Juliet had been dead for hundreds of years and that her body was lying in a marble tomb in Verona. I think, from his blank look of amazement, that he was under the impression that I had taken too much champagne, or something.”
“I am not surprised” replied Harry.

This is just a little odd observation, in the epilog we'll find a more cheerful representation of Kindaichi (well, cheerfulness is of course a limited ressource when it comes down to that man :))
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4.
While most of the time the monologues and thought processes of Dorian mainly concern Dorian as the representative of Hikaru, we have here and there sober reflections on what his soul - which is trapped in the potray - would probably experience, thus what he would experience if he'd have his soul inside his own body. Thus we can read this at the same time as a comment on what is going on in Gorou's / Aqua's soul, which is quite interesting. In the following quote for example it's about the nightmare of having a phantom of your guilt following you everywhere you go, essentially a description of Aqua's delusional vision of Gorou who blames him for Ai's death:
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https://preview.redd.it/vns5efrx505b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6ae6628023bb215a4e9ceb6ff08ce21013374eb
https://preview.redd.it/owuow261605b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a54f4a6aa13610e04384407526573efc43fd8398

"And yet if it had been merely an illusion, how terrible it was to think that conscience could raise such fearful phantoms, and give them visible form, and make them move before one! What sort of life would his be if, day and night, shadows of his crime were to peer at him from silent corners, to mock him from secret places, to whisper in his ear as he sat at the feast, to wake him with icy fingers as he lay asleep! As the thought crept through his brain, he grew pale with terror, and the air seemed to him to have become suddenly colder. Oh! in what a wild hour of madness he had killed his friend! How ghastly the mere memory of the scene! He saw it all again. Each hideous detail came back to him with added horror. Out of the black cave of time, terrible and swathed in scarlet, rose the image of his sin. "

18 years after Sibyl's suicide her brother James Vane found out Dorian's identity and swore to kill him. He saw Vane lurking for him and panicked, feared for his life. But later he'd reflect that this must've been just a phantom. That's the story behind that quote in that novel. However he would calm after some days and think that he's out of danger.
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It was not till the third day that he ventured to go out. There was something in the clear, pine-scented air of that winter morning that seemed to bring him back his joyousness and his ardour for life. But it was not merely the physical conditions of environment that had caused the change. His own nature had revolted against the excess of anguish that had sought to maim and mar the perfection of its calm. With subtle and finely wrought temperaments it is always so. Their strong passions must either bruise or bend. They either slay the man, or themselves die. Shallow sorrows and shallow loves live on. The loves and sorrows that are great are destroyed by their own plenitude. Besides, he had convinced himself that he had been the victim of a terror-stricken imagination, and looked back now on his fears with something of pity and not a little of contempt.

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We ultimately experience a similar transformation in Aqua's temper after he learns about the apparent death of his father from Taiki. He was away all night (the "night" is a symbol here) but finally came back "in the clear, pine-scented air of that winter morning that seemed to bring him back his joyousness and his ardour for life" He steps to the window and gives Ruby an reliefed smile for the first time since Ai's death:
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https://preview.redd.it/e0ezsvfp705b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97f0236ae0606e6e37654d96b6ed11b55068cfcc
https://preview.redd.it/kd421eyo705b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60ffd4450b497632b36904ce7ba7b35d6727bf3b
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It's not directly "winter" although Ruby's wearing a pyjama which indicate that it's also not summer, but the symbol contracts with the Takachiho arc which we can't spare for Aqua's transformation. What for Dorian was a mere material process of healing his tension and therefore would go away after 3 days of bedriddenness is for Aqua a inmaterial soul-process and he has to put a meaningful end to the phantom of Gorou in his head. And their stay in Takachiho surely appears to be in a winterly setting. This novel must've been of great inspiration for Aka and so he honors it by reimagination of the mental images Oscar Wilde created.
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"Our father died long ago. There's no way left to avenge Ai. So what should I do? My... revenge..." (C 68)

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Aqua is finally free and live normaly but when the news about Takachiho appeared he knew he has to somehow find his corpse so that he can "burry his phantom'" so to speak. The corpse of Gorou would be his symbolic proof that it's over, that he has nothing to fear anymore. Eventually Akane and Ruby find it.
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\"Keep out\" meaning keep this rotten and grotesque thing out of his mind. It's over.
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Correspondingly Dorian would soon after his "winter-morning" go on a hare shooting in some rural countryside (=Takachiho) where they would by accident shoot James Vane who still was following Dorian. James was finally dead and Dorian could finally close that chapter.
This is everything I could for now link to Aqua without talking about Hikaru's links to Dorian. So for now we have to stop the analysis and call it a day.
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Epilog
So I hope I could convince you to look at ONK from this perspective. This is just the beginning though, the actually interesting part we will only tackle in the next essay Because I believe we can learn a lot of Hikaru's ideology through the character of Dorian, his hobbies, his views, his extreme hedonistic sensualism, perhaps even his relation to his portrait.... It actually concerns me: My very first essay on ONK like a month ago was a half serious schizo theory about Hikaru's involvement in the plot so far where I made the assumption that he probably constantly observes Aqua from far away for years but now - if we apply "The Picture of Dorian Gray" to his personality then this in fact is real.
Dorian would in fact over the years go into his secret room and look at his portrait with a weird for us the next time to explore interest and strange reflections. Maybe there is really more to it...
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Lets end for now with a somewhat luckier characterization of Toshirou Kindaichi. Because he actually looks a lot like the author Oscar Wilde himself:
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https://preview.redd.it/9xoj9ihah05b1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=781921c3c82f4fce235a14f8433fe906c904e064
And to quote Wilde - which could also be just Kindaichi's own words :

“All charming people are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.”

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As always: Thanks for reading!
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****
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I love my model 3. Got it two months ago now.
But.
Half the time when I hold the button to call someone I can see it recognizes what I’m saying but then just disappears back to the radio. I’ll say “call so-and-so” and I can see in the bottom left corner it understands what was said, and then just disappears.
I find myself repeating the command two or three times before it finally catches on.
Also, what’s the deal with group chat texting? I can read the texts as they come in but when I try and reply it just texts that person directly.
Really waiting for CarPlay integration simply just for the phone interface.

What's going on?
A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free. Reddit's tools for moderation are improving but inferior to many third party apps we use to run this and other subs. Bots that improve the QOL for all of us also would be impacted by these changes. And while nobody here has a problem with monetization, the amount reddit would charge is far beyond what any of these bots or apps make, let alone ones that provide functionality for free.
What's the plan?
On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love. (And yes, our sub will be returning after the 48 hour protest.)
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at ModCoord - but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible. This includes not harassing moderators of subreddits who have chosen not to take part: no one likes a missionary, a used-car salesman, or a flame warrior.

I’m gonna preface by saying I know this sounds like I’m bragging and/or complaining about free speed but I just moved to a hillier place and not confident on my descending skills. So I feel like it’s making it harder for me.
So I just got a new road bike 2023 Giant TCR pro after a 10 year riding hiatus and my previous bike being a 2010 Caad10.
I moved to a hillier city with some serious descents. I’ve been riding with people and idk if it’s me or them but I find myself braking a lot before the corner, leaving about 40 feet between me and the rider in front and mid corner (I noticed sweeping tight hairpins on negative gradients) and still effortlessly (0 watts) catching up to them or passing them mid corner which gets pretty sketchy for me.
Obviously it’s not best advice to brake mid corner and the roads are tight so sometimes I have to go into the oncoming lane. Luckily the few times it’s happened there were no cars but it’s super sketchy and there’s not much else I can do when I’m gaining speed through the corner.
Am I doing something wrong or are my riding buddies doing something wrong? Most times I feel like I’m overbraking before the corner and I can actually come in faster, but I just play it safe and still come in hot on my buddies rear wheel.
Granted most of them don’t race so I’m not sure if they’ve read up on braking technique as much as I have (truly only because I’m not confident).
I’m also going to attribute this to possibly me usually having the lightest/most aero bike? I’m running tubeless 28mm conti GP5000s, on 40mm deep wheels. I’m 170 pounds and all my riding buddies are around the same weight if not weigh more.

I have a 96 miata on yonaka coilovers that the previously owner installed, it looks like he has the coilovers at 11 inches all around and honestly the ride quality is beyond dogshit, you feel every bump and you can't go over any speed bumps even at the lowest speeds. I'd love to daily drive the miata more often but the low ride height kills that for me. Does anyone know how much I can or should adjust coilovers. Additionally, I only have two jack stands right now, would it break the calibration on anything if I raised the car from the front, adjusted the coil overs and then raised the back and adjusted those coilovers?

Don't Let Reddit Kill 3rd Party Apps!

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
   
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /ModCoord - but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.
   
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
   
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible. This includes not harassing moderators of subreddits who have chosen not to take part: no one likes a missionary, a used-car salesman, or a flame warrior.
   

So here we are – Riders on exile. Well, better this fate than becoming Swiss cheese. If they sent such a big offensive there, they were really determined. But they really think they’ll find some documents there? They can try, but Yan claimed that there’s nothing of value left.
I was the one leading the group – with Svarog detector in one hand, with my eight-shot revolver in the other and with cig in my mouth. Our gear was unchanged – I still had my SV-338 on my back and had my armor, which I found out it was modified version of Clear Sky’s CS-3b.
Sorrow wasn’t far from me. Even though we had most likely the most advanced detectors out there, he still was throwing bolts here and there. Probably because of boredom. This doesn’t mean that I stopped using them myself – I had a pack of bolts on my belt.
I should’ve mention it – we were heading to the Garbage through northeastern path. Soldiers came from southwest and they are most likely looking for internal dangers rather than those from the outside, so we were relatively safe.
After failing a couple of times to spark a conversation in our group, I was just focused on finding a safe route to the Zone’s first crossroads. And – I’ll be honest – I wanted to find an artifact. Not only to gain some cash, but maybe to find something that would make this journey more interesting. The luck wasn’t on my side that day, sadly.
We came to the Garbage. We all knew by instinct to prepare ourselves for some resistance. Resistance as powerful as Clear Sky these days, but resistance nonetheless. To our surprise, however, we found the nearest ”outpost” empty.
Confused a little, we started exploring the surrounding area. No presence of bandits could be located. I even used my scope to see the insides of a hangar, but on the surface, it was safe. Even the sentry dressed in Sunrise suit, standing before the brick wall didn’t open fire at us. Quite the opposite, actually – he waved when he saw us and said to come closer. And we did just that.
”Riders!” – he shouted with joy. - ”Holy fuck!”
”Hey, em…” – I tried to remind myself of his name. - ”Oh! You’re Yara Bubble. One who was a ”whale” on our party.”
”Yeah, I overestimated my capabilities. I shouldn’t drink that much.”
”At least you’re alive and well now.”
”Yep.”
”Still, we’re curious about the current situation in this hangar.”
”Nothing to write a book about, I’m afraid. Duty and few hired loners executed an assault on the complex, clearing the place from this scum. For now, bandits haven’t inducted any sort of retaliation.”
”Not surprised. They’re…”
Suddenly, Zrak started… What’s the name for crow’s sound? Let me check… so I found the name ”caw”. So he was… cawing? Sounds stupid. But that’s the most common answer. Anyway, he started making loud sounds.
For others, it’d seem like he’s doing this for no reason. But we’ve found out this meant that an emission is approaching. And that meant we should be careful, Zrak especially. Codex said that crows die way faster in blowouts than humans.
”We should get inside.” – Sorrow stated. - ”Emission’s gonna hit us in a moment.”
”Wow…” – Yara was impressed. - ”Your bird can sense such things?”
”Yeah – one of the reasons why I love him. Come on.”
We made our way into the hangar. It was occupied mostly by loners, but few Dutyers were hanging around here as well. To spy on us or escape from the superiors for at least a moment – it’s hard to blame them.
Of course, even if emission just started, we won’t just sit like cowards, doing nothing. We popped a vodka bottle and I shared smokes with Sorrow and Craver. We were exchanging jokes of various quality. I felt good, but couldn’t get rid off the feeling that this was… artificial.
After blowout stopped, we bid our farewells with Yara and continued going to Army Warehouses. Atmosphere here was pretty much calm. Bandits may not be present at that time, but mutants were still roaming the lands. They weren’t attacking us, though.
We weren’t going to Duty outpost – we still weren’t sure if we could safely enter Rostok, even though some ex-soldiers claimed that they miss our visits and were surprised that we stopped going there. Hell, they promised us to talk to their highest superiors for an official invitation. We got one, but we continued to be hesitant about this.
Instead, we used Garbage-Wild Territory route. It’s rarely used, so even better for us. Unfortunately, that meant going through the field rich in fire anomalies. Nothing that four Svarogs and lots of bolts can’t solve.
Going further into this location (that many claim to be almost as bad as Red Forest, which I can’t understand), we found something interesting. Okay, maybe not that interesting, but we found bodies of mercs and loners that had to be fresh, judging by the state of corpses. We decided that we’d leave them alone.
Soon after, we got near the wreckage of helicopter that had fire anomalies around it. One of it was still active, but that’s because the body of flesh was in it. Strange that it didn’t turn into ash. But we went to nearby big door that was hiding a part of Rostok complex.
I’ll be completely honest here – I don’t know what should I write about this location. Really, it’s so uninteresting that I’d have to lie to say something worthwhile. And I don’t want to do that. So for your entertainment, I’ll just skip to Warehouses.
We ended up near bloodsucker village – the location that’s our destination. In south of it, there’s a small farmstead that poses as Freedom outpost. That’s official information, but it’s actually Irina’s place where she lives and that’s where Quarrel visits her.
Yep, living next to abandoned village that bloodsuckers really like for some reason plus it’s dotted with various fire anomalies. How she can live here without problems is unknown to me, but hey – strange shelter is better than no shelter… I think.
We were careful about stepping here. With weapons in our hands, we were slowly approaching the farmstead. We didn’t saw any signs of Freedom presence, which made me (but maybe others too) slightly disturbed. This didn’t last long, though.
”Guys, it’s safe, I assure you.” – said the woman in Freedom helmetless SEVA, coming out of cover.
”Hi, Iri.” – Quarrel waved at her.
”Hi, Cas. Oh, and hello, Riders.”
We just nodded at her, without uttering a word.
”What brings all of you here?” – she asked, a bit surprised.
”Army raided our place.” – our tough guy replied. - ”Big offensive – with choppers and such.”
”Huh… good that you didn’t stay to fight them.”
”Of course. It’d be stupid, so I commanded that we should get somewhere else, at least temporarily, so we could come up with the plan of recapturing the place.”
I rolled my eyes when I heard this. Quarrel – prideful as usual, even if it involves lying. He really changed through these months. But I wanted to get straight to the point.
”Long story short – army raided our place and Quarrel suggested that we should come to you.” – I said after a moment of silence. - ”Are you willing to share some space with us?”
”Of course.” – Flora replied. - ”Perhaps not the house, but this barn should be enough. It has relatively whole roof, so you won’t get wet. Are you fine with that?”
”Yeah. But there shouldn’t be any problems with… neighbors, right?”
”Last bloodsucker was killed by me more than a month ago. They didn’t reappear since then. Other mutants don’t come here as well. It’s really a safe location.”
”I’ll stash the items there.” – Quarrel joined the talk. - ”After that… maybe you want to go somewhere?”
”With you? Always.”
After this exchange of words, we got to the barn. Quarrel just left the stuff he was carrying through this journey in the corner and he was heading out with his girl, saying ”See you later, guys” before leaving us.
Craver quickly organized his part of this barn and instead of helping any of us, he proceeded to eat some sausage. I wanted to say something, but I knew that this won’t help much, if at all. Suddenly, he got a message that made him visibly happy.
”Lads, I have to go.” – he said loudly.
”Have fun…” – I replied to him with indifference.
Ex-ex-merc (I know this sound stupid, but still wanted to write this) grabbed his gear and quickly left the hideout, leaving me and Sorrow alone in our new home. I should feel bad about this, but I started to feel… lighter. Like a tension got swiped away.
We finished organizing out parts at the exact same moment. I briefly checked if Sorrow is alright, but he said he’s fine and then he started another vodka bottle. I should leave him to his thoughts and let him rest for a while.
I looked through our items and grabbed new pack of cigarettes. I lit one and lied on my sleeping bag. After thinking about what to do, I pulled out my PDA and started watching some videos on the internet. I don’t know why, but in Army Warehouses, there were much better speeds.
So I was detached from that world for some time, not thinking about my or others’ problems. This felt… good. Very good, even. But then I turned towards Sorrow, who had his head buried in his legs. I got to him, sat nearby and pat his shoulder. He immediately raised his gaze to me.
”Plagued?” – he was a bit confused.
”What’s the problem, Sorrow?” – I asked with genuine intent.
”Can I be completely honest with you?”
”Sorrow… you’re my brother. I’d never replace you. I’ll never sell you out. I’d rather pop a bullet in my head than to give you up. So yes, you can be perfectly honest with me.”
”Plagued… I don’t think coming here was a good idea.”
”Why?” – I asked, even though I suspected what the answer might be.
”Quarrel said it’s good that he’ll have us and Irina close. It’s not even that I’m envious. It will create new problems, new arguments. More likely for our group to fall apart. Craver going to mercs and his girl isn’t helpful either. I don’t want to stop them, but with each day, we grow more distant from one another. I wish it was like in our old days.”
”I want that too, Sorrow. But sadly, there isn’t much we can do about this. I tried pretty much anything I could. And us leaving them won’t help either. It’ll just cement the fall of our team.”
”Yeah…”
”One can hope that it’ll eventually get better. At least we have each other.”
”There’s that… Eh…”
”You feel better?”
”A bit. Thanks. But…”
”What?”
”I’m curious about how the soldiers do in our former base.”
”Huh… I won’t stop you.”
”I’ll try to return as fast as I can.”
”Be careful, brother.”
”I will. Goodbye.”
And I became last man standing. Eh… Even though I let him to do the thing he wants to do, we both know it’s an excuse to be alone with his thoughts. He still cares, otherwise he’d pull out Kurt Cobain long ago.
Few minutes later, I got up and went outside. I couldn’t find Sorrow anywhere. I lit up another smoke and started to look around my new place. Mutants were really far from my current location, but I saw approaching Freedomer. I was cautious, with revolver in my hand.
”Hey!” – guy shouted cheerfully.
”Greetings.” – I replied calmly.
”Is there Irina Flora around?”
”She’s absent. Personal matters. Why do you ask?”
”She was supposed to give me a report, so I could give it to Lukash.”
”Really?”
”Nah, it’s just an excuse, so I could get out from the base.”
”But what do you want from her?”
”My amount of weed is getting low. I asked pretty much everyone if they have some to spare. Looks like I’ll have to look elsewhere. You’re here alone?”
”Yeah. And who are you exactly?”
”Yurik Bear. I know you’re Rider, but I don’t remember which one.”
”Plagued.”
”Maybe you want to go with me? I’ll have someone to talk to.”
”If weed is involved then I’ll go.”
”Great. I’ll go around for a while and ask others for some plant. But after that, I know the place where we can chill out. Follow me.”

Peliccan Cars: Transforming the Journey with Ride Hailing from Heathrow Airport TW6 to Gatwick Airport
In today's world, the convenience of transportation is key to any travel plan. With the advent of modern technology, booking a ride has been made easier and more accessible than ever, especially when it comes to airport transfers. One company at the forefront of this innovation in the UK is Peliccan Cars, renowned for its seamless ride-hailing service from Heathrow Airport TW6 to Gatwick Airport.
Ride hailing is a service that enables users to book a private car via a digital platform. Peliccan Cars has been a leader in providing efficient, reliable and affordable ride-hailing services, specifically designed to address the unique requirements of airport transportation. Whether you're catching an early morning flight or arriving late at night, Peliccan Cars ensures that a high-quality vehicle and professional driver is just a few clicks away.
Booking a ride with Peliccan Cars is as simple as it gets. The company's user-friendly app or website allows customers to quickly enter their pick-up and drop-off locations, choose their preferred vehicle type, and set a desired pick-up time. Customers can also track the arrival of their ride in real-time and receive updates on their booking status. With 24/7 availability, Peliccan Cars caters to the needs of travelers round the clock, making it a go-to option for airport transfers from Heathrow Airport TW6 to Gatwick Airport.
But Peliccan Cars' service goes beyond mere convenience. The company sets itself apart with its commitment to providing a quality ride experience. Each vehicle in their diverse fleet is regularly maintained and cleaned, ensuring passengers a comfortable and safe journey. The drivers are not only skilled in navigating the roads but are also trained to deliver top-notch customer service. They are knowledgeable about the best routes between Heathrow and Gatwick, ensuring passengers reach their destination in the quickest possible time.
Furthermore, Peliccan Cars is committed to offering affordable transportation options without compromising on quality. The company’s transparent pricing policy means there are no hidden fees or surprise charges upon reaching your destination. The fare for your journey is calculated upfront and remains fixed, providing peace of mind for passengers.
Peliccan Cars also prioritizes passenger safety. Each ride is tracked via GPS, and safety protocols are strictly adhered to, ensuring every journey is secure. In addition, Peliccan Cars offers flexibility in terms of payment options, allowing customers to pay either in cash or via card at their convenience.
In summary, Peliccan Cars has truly reinvented the experience of ride-hailing with its excellent service from Heathrow Airport TW6 to Gatwick Airport. The blend of technology, convenience, and superior customer service that Peliccan Cars offers have made it a preferred choice for many travelers. So, the next time you're planning a trip between Heathrow and Gatwick, why not choose Peliccan Cars? Experience the ease of ride-hailing and enjoy a stress-free, comfortable journey with a company that places your needs first.

What's going on?
A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.
What's the plan?
On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at ModCoord - but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible. This includes not harassing moderators of subreddits who have chosen not to take part: no one likes a missionary, a used-car salesman, or a flame warrior.

If you want to receive this as a daily email in your inbox, you can now join at this link

worldnews

• ledim35

Zelenskyy calls on world to punish Putin for ecocide: Lives broken, ecosystems destroyed
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• thatscienceguy4748

Cuba Agrees to Host Chinese Spy Base That Would Allow Beijing to Intercept U.S. Communications: Report
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• dead_russian_kids

Occupiers admit hydroelectric power plant blown up by Russian sabotage group
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news

• Tovarish

Donald Trump indicted for second time: Sources
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• werdmouf

Supreme Court rules in favor of Black voters in Alabama redistricting case
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• Sibe2600

Supreme Court justices, minus Thomas, and Alito, file financial disclosure reports: NPR
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science

• Paraphilias075

Israeli scientists gave an artificial molecule they invented to 30 mice suffering from Alzheimer’s — and found that all of them recovered, regaining full cognitive abilities.
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• unsw

Stress combined with calorie-dense ‘comfort’ food creates changes in the brain that drive more eating, boost cravings for sweet, highly palatable food, and lead to excess weight gain - mouse study
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• maxkozlov

Scientists waste millions of dollars in time making papers fit journal guidelines. The high cost of ‘reformatting’ prompts a call for journals to change their requirements.
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space

• upyoars

Scientists demonstrate wireless power transmission from space to Earth for first time
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• SharonJYoung

Boeing sued for allegedly stealing intellectual property related to NASA's Artemis moon rocket
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• volossaveroniki

NASA Invites Public to Sign Poem That Will Fly Aboard Europa Clipper
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Futurology

• Zee2A

This startup is zapping seawater to tackle climate change. Equatic’s technology that takes CO2 out of the air & water and produces hydrogen fuel in the process simulatenously.
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• Glittering-Fudge3343

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz becomes the first carmaker to receive authorization to sell or lease cars with an automated driving system to the public in California.
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• M337ING

Wind and solar overtake fossil generation in the EU
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AskReddit

• Repulsive_Compote955

Servers at restaurants, what's the strangest thing someone's asked for?
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• Touristupdatenola

What are your thoughts on Pat Robertson's demise?
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• Critical_Tea_7079

What did people love 50 years ago, still love today, and will definitely love 50 years from now?
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todayilearned

• Pfeffer_Prinz

TIL 91% of all the dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench occurred in the past 4 years. Before that, the only visitors were the original explorers in 1960, and James Cameron in 2012.
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• derstherower

TIL that when planning Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg wanted Arnold Toht to be a cyborg, with a metal arm that could turn into a flamethrower or machine gun, and have a light instead of an eye. George Lucas rejected these ideas as too far-fetched.
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• ClownfishSoup

TIL that Technicolor movies were filmed on three rolls of film with the image split using a prism into three color images. Each film roll was then developed and dyed a complimentary primary color and then the three rolls were laminated together to create a full color roll of film
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dataisbeautiful

• Dremarious

[OC] The Highest Grossing Movie Directors of All-time
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• latinometrics

[OC] 🇩🇴 The Dominican Republic, a country 175x smaller than Brazil, is now witnessing a surprising trend - it's drawing double the number of tourists than South America's three largest countries - Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia.
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• EngagingData

[OC] A round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco produces more emissions per passenger than the annual per capita emissions of 66 different countries and half of the allowable 2030 global emissions per capita if we want to achieve 2 degree stabilization
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Cooking

• Iwanttobefree42

I can't roast chickpeas, what am I doing wrong?
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• trumpean

Why cook aromatics before protein?
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• KatKatKatKat88

How can I level up my salmon?
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food

• Wasted-_-Time

[homemade] pop tarts
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• diet2thewind

[Homemade] Filet mignon, hasselback potato, grilled asparagus
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• oceansoflove_

[homemade] cinnamon rolls
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movies

• Chemical-Ad-2694

Brand New Official ‘Ghostbusters’ Logo Teases a Winter-Themed ‘Afterlife’ Sequel
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• Worth-Price9141

30 Years Ago, ‘Jurassic Park’ Unleashed a Doomed Love Affair With Dinosaurs
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• indig0sixalpha

The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart Official Trailer Warner Bros. Ent
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Art

• IanYan7

"Lurking in Dungeon", Ian Yan (me), 3D, 2023
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• Ipsenate

Two Satyrs, Peter Paul Rubens, oil on canvas,1618.
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• lovetheflower

Underwater world, lovetheflower, wood/resin, 2022
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television

• Neo2199

Fox News Tells Tucker Carlson He Violated His Contract With New Twitter Show
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• indig0sixalpha

Warrior Season 3 Official Trailer Max
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• MarvelsGrantMan136

The Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart Official Trailer July 25
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pics

• k14w

View from my kitchen window this morning
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• adamchain

A photo from 1987, showing police dog trainees staying put after a cat is placed in from of them.
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• Jadeshawcan

The alpaca I saw at the wedding today
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gifs

• Dr_Peanutbutter_MD

Shocked Ruffalo (from Poor Things trailer)
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• joycomplex

An unexpected transformation
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• lnfinity

Making the most of the tiny pool
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educationalgifs

• silvercatbob

The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged after coming into contact with another different material, and are then separated.
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mildlyinteresting

• maurymarkowitz

The bright red interior of this broken branch
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• fraidycat

My calendar is missing June 10
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• j_walheim

This food bank rice may contain small amounts of arsenic
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interestingasfuck

• silvercatbob

The largest and the most populated city on earth, Tokyo, Japan
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• exmosss

No idea that there was another larger mountain behind the sign
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• GYROBOTTT

Modern pirates of the Africa coast
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funny

• rightcoastguy

I built unnecessary things and I’m calling this invention the Sipper Slowdown
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• Davidboh26

Idk why I think this is hilarious
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• OJI_Chocolate

Gotta love these signs
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aww

• kittytime

My corgi had the cutest reaction when she finally noticed me watching her getting groomed. Wait for the smile...
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• Dusty5paw

*Lovely goblin *
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• KARUMBIBI

My jumping spider goby [OC]
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Hey all, I tried looking through posts to not be redundant and may have missed this but wanted to ask an etiquette question. I am a rider and have been using Uber as my car has broke down. Is it okay to add a stop between my starting and home destination when I request a ride? I just want to stop at a corner store to grab a couple things.
It is on the way to my house, I have a 5.0 rating and tip minimum $5, but rarely take long trips, but would tip more if I did. I am going 1.6 miles from here to my home including this extra stop. (I would just walk but I am at the laundromat and have a ton of laundry). I don’t have cash on me to give up front and don’t want to be the person that says I’ll tip in app, even though I do actually tip in app. I’ve never tried before so wanted to see what the consensus was before I potentially was a bad passenger.

I wasn’t feeling the iCarly reboot. It gives me the ick & honestly idk if it’s because live action reboots are hard to recapture the ambiance of its original series(yes I know that’s a nick show ) I’m not particularly found of reboots in general, but there’s a few exceptions I would make for cartoons. Feel free to add your own that isn’t listed in this poll or is live action. I’m just going off the vibes of these shows and how it could work with an adult audience given it’s already off beat humor.
View Poll

So I'm starting the hunt for a new car, and was hoping for some suggestions.
Currently I have a Scion XB, and while I like it, I need to look in to replacing it. I would 'like' to get in to a Hybrid or Electric, but most everything I have found doesn't have the cargo room for the dogs.
Highlights about why I like my Scion, and qualities I want to carry over to a new car:

• Seats that I sit upright in; (Yes, Trucks have these too.)
• Larger door space for getting in/out, so I'm not twisting much;
• Large cargo space that I can lay down in (6' person), or more commonly use to take my dogs out to explore on weekends. (I leave my rear seats folded down almost all the time, as I'm either hauling dogs, or stuff, very rarely people.)

Couple of other points:

• Price: Prefer sub 50k, can go up to 70k for something that will last me another 300k+ miles.
• Commute: ~100 Miles a day. (2-3 for work, and then usually the same playing on weekends with Puppers.)

Due to how much I drive & commute, and just how excessively 'big' a truck is now, I'm trying to leave that as a last option. (If it was the smaller trucks of the early 90's, I would consider looking at them a LOT harder,) I've also looked some at of the crossovers, but the the trunk door for dog access, or putting stuff in/out, leaves me feeling like it's more of an afterthought.

Finally, new car will be delivered next week and I want to get ppf on it.
Last Feb, I got it done on my previous car but the quality wasn’t great. Even though I paid 13K
I found it’s pretty expensive compared to other countries. Yet most shops in here use pre cut.
I know it’s much easier and faster than hand cut and it’s all about the installer’s skill and experiences.
Should I just go with Xpel authorised installers/shops?
Please recommend me some good shops 🙏🏻
Thanks in advance

Hello to you, fellow ingrates.
Year 6 of DABR Defends the New York Giants from Criticism has arrived.

Season Recap

tl;dr: The Giants had their most successful season since 2016, and arguably since winning the Super Bowl in 2012 (if the draft spot/playoff success is the measurement) and went into draft night with the latest selection they've had since 2012, the first outside the top 11 since 2016.
Giants fans didn't really expect to win that many games this year. There were still some hopefuls for Daniel Jones but most people had come to terms with new GM Joe Schoen and new HC Brian Daboll pretty much setting up to replace him, declining his 5th year option.
It was the first year of this regime, they hadn't really been able to fix up the roster fully, etc. Most Giants fans I know were expecting a 4-7 win season, not sniffing the playoff race. Ha.
It all started week 1 vs Tennessee. It was honestly a story Giants fans have gotten familiar with. Look absolutely horrible in the first half of the game, but somehow struggle back into it in the second half, only to be dramatically disappointed at the end of the game. After Daniel Jones threw a red zone interception with just under 9 minutes to go, we thought that was pretty much it.
But then with 4 minutes left, Saquon Barkley rips off a 33 yard run, Daniel Jones converts a 4th and 1, and the Giants score a TD to pull them to just a 1 point deficit. Most Giants fans are thinking "okay he's gonna kick it, play for overtime, I respect that, we didn't think it would be that close anyways."
And then we see the offense staying on the field...uh oh. The offense wasn't exactly clicking on all cylinders to that point in the game, having been shut out in the first half. If we don't get it, the game is pretty much lost. Daboll calls a shovel pass, Saquon gets it, it looks like it's completely doomed...I'm thinking "here we go again, his first game and the media is already going to be all over him for going for it"...but Saquon fights his way in! Giants take the lead for the first time in the game. We're feeling good, Daboll's huge balls in that situation giving us some confidence.
Then the Titans methodically work the ball down the field (along with a couple of assists from Austin Calitro and Darnay Holmes), setting up a 47 yard field goal for Randy Bullock to win the game.
Now, I'm thinking, "of course this is what happened, they gave us some hope, now it's going to get ripped away from us, just like always. Story of the last few years at times."
...and then Bullock missed the kick. That was the start of what turned into a magical first half of the season, the Giants getting off to a 7-2 start, all 7 wins coming by a 1 score margin (though the Bears and Texans games were a bit cleaner than the final scoreline suggests), and 5 of them really coming down to big time plays in the last 5 minutes of the game.
The Titans story, taking the lead with 3:38 left in the 4th quarter and Julian Love sacking Baker Mayfield to force 4th and 15 the next drive against Carolina, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Xavier McKinney batting down Aaron Rodgers' passes in London, Love intercepting Lamar Jackson to set up the game winning score against Baltimore, McKinney and Love stopping Christian Kirk at the 1 yard line on the last play against Jacksonville.
All of those games are games that go against us in previous years. But this year was just different. And somehow through it all, there were Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones as well. Saquon was the focal point of the offense early in the season, Jones being efficient in a heavy, limited, play action focused passing attack.
All thoughts of the Giants earning a top pick and replacing Daniel Jones pretty much went out the window by week 4, and hope for Jones maybe finally becoming the QB he was drafted to be started to blossom in some parts of the Giants fanbase.
Things came crashing down a bit the next 4 weeks. Awful losses to Detroit, Dallas, and Philly, with a tie against Washington in there too that many Giants fans felt they deserved to win capped off a 1-4-1 stretch where the Giants simply did not look good. They looked more like what we expected the team to look like coming into the year. The playoff spot was no longer guaranteed, at 7-5-1. But a flexed SNF game against Washington would pretty much decide the season.
And the Giants took that win against Washington and ran with it. A close loss against the Vikings that was probably the best passing attack game of the season to that point, a dominating win against the hapless Colts that locked the Giants into the playoffs, and a surprisingly tight and scrappy game between the Eagles starters and the Giants backups gave Giants fans some hope headed into the playoffs. We didn't expect to win a Super Bowl, but the matchup against the Vikings seemed winnable.
And winnable it was, as in classic 2023 Giants fashion, they took a lead about halfway through the 4th quarter, and a couple of clutch plays on defense by Cordale Flott and Xavier McKinney ended the game.
Then we went to Philly and got absolutely ass blasted, ending our season.
That left the Giants with the 25th pick in the class, entering an offseason with a lot of business to take care of.

Free Agency Recap

The Giants had a lot more room to operate in free agency this year than last year, and Schoen was relatively creative in how he wanted to go about it.
The first step in that process though was figuring out the status of his pending free agents; most notably, the two who led the way on offense most of the year: Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. The Jones negotiations were tense, Jones asked for the moon and the team was not having it. Eventually (literally right before the tag deadline) they settled on a 4 yr, 160m extension with 82m fully guaranteed and a boatload of incentives that could push the value up to almost 200m. That allowed the team to tag Saquon Barkley, whose extension talks are reportedly still stalled, as Barkley declined an offer worth almost 14m during the Giants' bye week, and continues to find the Giants' offer(s) unpalatable.
Speculation is that Barkley is seeking more guaranteed money from the Giants (greater than the sum of 2 franchise tags), but Barkley's camp is not leaking much (reportedly because Saquon doesn't want them to). And according to most reporters, Saquon is too competitive to actually sit out the season, removing his last bit of leverage.
Possibly the biggest addition of the Giants' free agency period was actually a trade: The Giants traded the Chiefs' 3rd rounder (acquired for Kadarius Toney) for TE Darren Waller. This is a huge move because the Giants were dead last in explosive pass play rate by a WIDE margin. Only like 6 individual team seasons since 2010 had fewer explosive passing plays than the 2022 Giants. That's something that Schoen and Daboll immediately set out to fix, and Darren Waller is one of the best explosive pass weapons in the league, leading all TEs in explosive pass plays this season despite playing just 9 games this year. Reports out of OTAs are that the Giants are expecting Waller to basically fill a "WR1" role for them; not necessarily in alignment but being the focal point of the offense, high target share, etc.
Schoen and Daboll followed that addition up with two more explosive pass play options: retaining Darius Slayton, and adding Parris Campbell to the room. Slayton is a solid WR, he's good for 600-700 yards when he gets run. His hands are inconsistent, but he makes up for it often. Campbell finally broke out having a healthy season for the Colts this season. I think Campbell is mostly insurance for Wan'Dale Robinson, who is coming off of a torn ACL, but if healthy should get primary run in the slot.
The Giants' other two main moves came on the defensive side of the ball, adding LB Bobby Okereke to a LB room that comprised of: Jarrad Davis, Micah McFadden, and Darrian Beavers (coming off a torn ACL). Much needed improvement in that room. The Giants also added Rakeen Nunez-Roches and A'Shawn Robinson to the DL room to improve the depth there; Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams were playing too many snaps, and the Giants were really bad against the run last year.
In the process though, the Giants lost both of their starting centers from 2022, Nick Gates and Jon Feliciano, as well as S Julian Love, who had been a consistent staple of the defense the last few years.

Draft Needs

The Giants roster was in much better shape this year than last year, but the team still had a number of problems:

1. CB was still a HUGE need for the Giants, and one that had not been properly addressed yet. Adoree' Jackson had another very good year in 2022, but the spot across from him had been a mishmosh of misfit toys: Fabian Moreau had a nice little run, but struggled down the stretch. Nick McCloud got a lot of run at CB2 after being claimed on waivers from the Bills. Cordale Flott had been drafted as a nickel defender but got some run there. And the slot position wasn't much better, as Darnay Holmes continued to be a liability there. This position needed reinforcements. I've been a relatively vocal minority in the Giants fandom saying this has been the BIGGEST need the team had for a couple of years now (basically aside from the one year that we had Bradberry and Jackson both on the team).
2. Despite adding Slayton, Campbell, and Waller, WR was still something the team needed. Specifically someone who could develop into a WR1 type player. The Giants WR room is relatively deep, but just adding Campbell and Waller and running back last year's group didn't feel sufficient. The team clearly was putting an emphasis on speed, separation, and yards after the catch ability.
3. Center was a massive need. The Giants basically didn't have a center on the roster who had played meaningful NFL snaps. Ben Bredeson could move to center if needed, but it wasn't that solid of a plan. And in what seemed like a good center class, this seemed like a good way to solve that problem.
4. LB. The LB2 spot currently will be either Jarrad Davis, Micah McFadden (who basically lost the job last year to Jarrad Davis), or Darrian Beavers (who tore his ACL last year). I think that says it all.
5. RB: Saquon is on the tag, so you feel okay here, but the team has been seeking a solid compliment for him for a while. They were in on a few of the RBs last year and the value never lined up, and Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell didn't really cut it last year. They don't want to run Saquon into the ground early in the year like they did last year, so having a compliment for him is big.
6. S: Losing Julian Love is a tough one. He played a lot of snaps and wore a lot of hats for this defense last year, especially with McKinney missing time with a hand injury. The team likes Jason Pinnock, and drafted Dane Belton in the early 4th last year, but more depth and competition here would be very welcome.

So let's get into the picks:

1.24: Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

Seems like maybe Schoen agreed with me!
It was a lot harder to try to predict what the Giants would do this year, just by virtue of having a later pick. But the general consensus among the beat seemed to be that the team wanted to get a CB or an offensive playmaker with that first pick. I was a little skeptical of CB being an option, seeing how many mocks had all 5 of the top CBs off the board, but that often left WRs available.
So right after the Jets took Will McDonald at 15, if you looked at the board, only 1 CB had been taken and no WRs had been taken. That felt pretty good for the Giants.
Then Forbes and Gonzalez come off the board, and the top 4 WRs come off the board from 20-23.
That left the Giants feeling a little antsy. They had one guy they really wanted left, and negotiated a trade up one spot with the Jaguars to secure their guy: Deonte Banks.
This pick is perfect for what the Giants want to do on defense. Wink Martindale's reaction should say it all, if you go watch the Giants' behind the scenes videos on the draft process.
Banks is a tall, long, and athletic corner, which are all important traits for Wink's press man heavy defense. He's super fluid and smooth in his hips. He tested absolutely crazy. He also plays with a swag that I think Wink and Giants fans will come to really appreciate. He plays confident, he plays fast in terms of processing, and he plays physical.
He still has some development to go, I'm not saying he's going to be a top CB in the league from day 1. He wasn't a super ball productive corner, but that's not something Wink necessarily needs. It will take some time for him to get comfortable with the complexity of route runners in the NFL. But the tools are all there, and the Giants get a perfect scheme fit.
Banks will come in and immediately be the starter at CB across from Adoree' Jackson, and the trickle down effect that will have on the Giants depth chart at CB will be tangible.

2.57: John Michael Schmitz, OC, Minnesota

As this pick was coming up, Schoen and Daboll were discussing who to pick, and basically said "okay we're either going with Schmitz or (we'll get to that later ;) )".
Then the Bears traded up to the pick before the Giants pick. And Joe Schoen said "oh fuck." Daboll tried to calm him down and said "well I guess we're getting ."
Then the Bears took Tyrique Stevenson (good pick!), leaving the Giants the choice between the two players. And the Giants went with Schmitz.
Full disclosure: I was not a huge JMS fan in the draft process. I thought he was super solid all around, but he wasn't really impressive to me, there weren't a lot of overwhelmingly positive reps or traits in my eyes. I thought he was maybe a little heavy footed, especially in pass pro, and his testing kind of backed that up, and I didn't really see full unlocked power either.
I was probably a bit harsh on him in terms of the grade though. Like I said, he's a super solid player. There's relatively little to really complain about. He's smart, he's experienced, and he made few mental mistakes. His snaps were consistent. He is pretty strong though not crazy so. His anchor is really good, and he plays nasty and competitive, which is something the Giants are definitely looking for. It helps he had a really good Senior Bowl week too.
Was Schmitz my favorite center in this class? No. But he was for many people, and for some good reasons. Schmitz will come in and immediately start at center for the Giants, bringing the dead snap with him. If he can be the 3rd best player on this unit (behind Andrew Thomas and hopefully Evan Neal taking a step forward this year and being healthy), it'll be an immensely calming and steadying presence that should raise the OL play of the whole unit.

3.73: Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee

So you may be wondering: Who was Player X?
Well immediately after drafting Schmitz, Schoen looked around the room and pretty much said "what if we can still get ?" He decided that the price he was willing to pay was the Giants 4th round pick. And he and everybody else in the room started calling.
That included Brian Daboll, who leaned over and said "hey should I text [Rams HC Sean] McVay?" Schoen said "yeah sure go for it." And Daboll officially negotiated the Giants trading up from 89 to 73 to select Player X: Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt
Hyatt is a really fun player to watch. The speed blows you away on tape. It's the kind of speed that even if you're not throwing it to him all the time, defenses have to take note when he comes on the field and play him differently. He's not necessarily slippery or elusive after the catch but (and I'm scared to frame it this way but I'm doing it anyway) the speed and acceleration gives him credibility there, the way that Odell was such a YAC threat on slants just getting to full speed and outrunning everyone.
He's a little high cut I think, and that leads to a little bit of trouble with crisper routes. He wasn't asked to run a very complex route tree at Tennessee, though I do think he has the skills to improve in that sense. The biggest concern for me is just how quickly we can get him up to speed beating press and playing through physicality. When he has room to work, he can beat CBs in a few ways, but NFL DBs will knock even very good WRs off their routes at times. And that follows through to contested catches.
The Giants' WR room is so crowded it's hard for me to say exactly what Hyatt's role will be starting out. The Giants started last year trying to use different WRs in different ways on a game to game basis. Then the wheels fell off obviously, with Shep, Wan'Dale, and Toney being hurt and Golladay stinking and all that. So I wonder if we see a return to that.
Hyatt can be a threat in a lot of ways, end arounds, screens, etc in addition to the obvious "go long" situations. Just how many reps he can carve out will be fun to track in training camp.

So the Giants come out of the first 3 rounds with 3 players who were commonly mocked to them at 25. Pretty good business! But let's get into day 3:

5.172: Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma

The Giants traded away their 4th round pick to get Hyatt so they went 99 picks without making a selection.
Like I said earlier, the team has been looking for a compliment to Saquon Barkley for a long time, and they find it here with Eric Gray.
Schoen said he sees Eric Gray as a 3 down back. And you can definitely see why. He caught 88 passes over the last 3 years at Oklahoma and only dropped 2. He's also strong and physical, willing to pass protect. That physicality carries over into his running style, he runs hard and is willing to run through guys. He's bursty in short areas and has pretty solid vision in my opinion.
He's a compact guy, just 5'9 207. He's not super slippery or elusive, and he's not really a home run hitter. But in terms of finding a backup RB on day 3 to feed some of those tough yardage carries to and keep Saquon fresh, you could do worse than Eric Gray for sure.
The Giants ran a fair bit of "Pony" type formations in 2022, using 2 or even 3 RBs at times. The competition between Gray and Matt Breida for the true RB2 spot will be fun to see. Breida brings a little more explosiveness to the table, but Gray will certainly give him a run for his money. And depending on what happens with Saquon Barkley's contract situation, we may see even more of Gray down the line.

6.209: Tre Hawkins, CB, Old Dominion

When asked about what is different this year from last year, what improvements or what has gotten easier now that he's been in the chair for a full year, Joe Schoen talked a lot about really getting a good handle on what his coaches look for in players. And he singled out Wink in that respect because him and Daboll have worked together so much.
The Giants selection of Tre Hawkins really highlights that. Like with Deonte Banks, Hawkins brings a ton of physical traits. He tested through the roof. He has the length that the Giants look for. He's also super physical in both phases, run and pass, which Wink loves. ODU let him just play press man, so he's comfortable doing that.
He's a little slim still, so his frame needs some reworking, but that's common with CBs and especially ones from outside the P5 schools. He also has a lot of technique and FBIQ stuff to clean up. His footwork is messy, he's not always patient enough with his punch. His ball skills still leave something to be desired. He's still learning to read routes and manage space both in man and zone.
I figure Hawkins will come in and be a depth player and core STer for the Giants. If his play strength holds up against NFL scrutiny, he can definitely be a day 1 punt gunner. Wink has started calling Jerome Henderson the best DB coach in the league, so it'll be fun to see what Henderson can do with a ball of clay like Hawkins. Even if he ends up just being a STer and CB5 type guy, that's still a pretty good pick in the 6th round like this.
Also, sorry Patriots writer :)

7.243: Jordon Riley, DL, Oregon

Beating a dead horse at this point, but this is another pick Schoen highlighted as an example of his understanding of what Wink is looking for.
Obviously Riley is a flawed prospect, it's the 7th round. He was a 6th year senior who spent time at 4 different schools, starting at UNC, then going to JUCO for a year, then Nebraska for 2 years where he barely played, and finishing his college career at Oregon. PFF lists him as having just 534 career snaps in college despite the 5 years he spent at the P5 level. He wasn't very productive, partly because he barely played and partly because he's just not very good. He's not a good athlete.
What Riley does have, though, is size, strength, and knockback power. And that's what Wink is looking for in a depth NT. He eats blocks, stuffs up lanes, and just is hard to move.
Schoen put it this way:
"It’s hard to find these guys. When you get into the seventh round, you are looking for guys that maybe it will be hard to get at different areas. And another guy we spent time with, big run stopper in there, 6-foot-5, 330.
You walk out to practice, and there’s this 6-5, 330-pound guy, who piques your interest right there. Again, some of these guys in different schemes may not have the production, the tackles, the sacks. But for what Wink looks for in terms of size, length, knock-back — he possesses those traits.”

7.254: Gervarrius Owens, DB, Houston

Last pick in the draft and the Giants go back to the DB room. They took two CBs already, but some depth/developmental guys at safety would help. Enter: Gervarrius Owens.
Owens is a former CB turned S from Houston. The CB in him flashes to me on tape, I thought his ball skills as a safety were good. He's athletic enough to play pretty much any safety spot, including that single high spot that teams find difficult to fill. He's super physical and willing to play downhill and tackle. He's super experienced, he was a team captain and 4 year starter for Houston.
He makes a lot of mistakes, however. The angles he takes to the ball in both phases are super inconsistent. He missed a ton of tackles in college, so that technique needs to be worked on. The ball skills turned into PBUs rather than INTs; Wink won't mind that but some of them were like "he really should have just caught that."
Owens is another guy like Hawkins who looks primed to earn his roster spot on special teams and provide solid depth for the team's DB room. Wink likes to play 3+ safety sets, especially when he feels like he has a good group there. And the Giants' S room right now is basically Xavier McKinney and a bunch of question marks, so it's entirely feasible that Owens can come in and beat Dane Belton, Jason Pinnock, and Bobby McCain to earn playing time early on.

UDFAs

The Giants UDFA class included a few notable names. 5 total players who got 100k+ in guarantees:

1. Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR, WVU: The Giants gave Bryce Ford-Wheaton a LOT of guaranteed money for a UDFA: 236k, which is the full season PS salary plus 20k. BFW was one of "my guys" this year I was hoping for the Giants to get. He's got the size and athleticism to be really good, but he's a little one note right now. In a crowded WR room, I kind of doubt he'll make the roster without some injuries (or Wan'Dale/Shep being on PUP) but like other late rounders/UDFAs, if he can find some value on special teams, he's a fun upside swing.
2. Dyontae Johnson, LB, Toledo: Another guy who got a lot of guaranteed money. The Giants needed some reinforcements at LB and clearly didn't find them in the draft. Super productive in college, very instinctive player, but I'm not sure if he can run with the league. He'll compete with the Giants mishmosh of LBs to play on special teams.
3. Ryan Jones, TE/FB, East Carolina: The Giants have been searching for a kind of H-Back type for a while now. Last year they brought in Jeremiah Hall from Oklahoma, that didn't stick. Andre Miller, who was a WR at Maine, seemed like he was getting run at that spot in camp last year, but a broken arm ended his season. Chris Myarick ended up taking some of those reps. Ryan Jones kind of fits that mold as well.
4. Habakkuk Baldonado, EDGE, Pittsburgh: The Giants' pass rusher depth is...not great. Behind Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari, it's Jihad Ward, Oshane Ximines, and Tomon Fox. And Ojulari missed a lot of time last year. Baldonado could potentially come in and earn a spot over Ximines/Fox. He's got good play strength and power and fits what the Giants would need as more of an edge setter and run defender to give Thibodeaux/Ojulari a rest rep before letting them loose to rush the passer.
5. Gemon Green, CB, Michigan: Another tough and physical corner. I don't think there's really a spot for him on this roster with the additions of Banks and Hawkins, and I think he's not quite the athlete the Giants look for at CB, but as a last resort/STer he can potentially get somewhere.

Final Takeaways

I did this last year because it was Schoen's first year here, but I like the idea of doing it every year. What can we learn from the way Schoen drafted this year that we can file away and learn for the future? What can mockers learn from this to inform them of who makes sense for the Giants.
And it's pretty similar to last year:

1. Athleticism. Once again, pretty much every player the Giants drafted, and the UDFAs generally, were excellent athletes who tested well. The main exceptions being JMS (who was still a solid athlete) and Jordon Riley this year; where the exception last year basically was just DJ Davidson. This team has faith in its coaching staff and wants to give them players they can work with.
2. Scheme/Roster Fits. I talked about it a lot with the defensive picks, but every single one is a "Wink Martindale" guy. What does Wink want for his system? This can be a little dangerous considering Wink was in the running for a HC gig last year, and another strong year might finally get him the HC job he has been looking for. If he leaves and the scheme changes, these players need to be able to match the new scheme too. But it's clear that the FO values the input of the coaching staff and there's really clear communication there. This also applies to the offensive side of the ball, where it's super clear that the team wanted more speed on offense, which pointed to Hyatt a little bit.
3. Youth. This one is a little less applicable this year as they did draft a few older players, like JMS and Riley, even Eric Gray who turns 24 in November or Tre Hawkins who turns 23 over the summer. But Banks just turned 22, Jalin Hyatt will turn 22 in late September. It feels like maybe they felt more attached to the age stuff when they thought this was a full on rebuild, but now that they're hoping to be a playoff team again, they need some more instant contributors.
4. Aggressiveness/willingness to trade. This is a newer one, as last year the Giants only traded back. But this year the Giants traded up twice, giving up 3 day 3 picks in the process. Schoen is not afraid to make trades in either direction. Up to secure guys he really wants (Banks/Hyatt), or down if there's nothing there. Schoen talked about having trades lined up in both directions with the first round pick, he had a trade down ready if there was no one he wanted left.

The Giants went into the 2022 draft clearly rebuilding, 5 picks in the top 81 and making 11 selections. This year, the team came into the draft with 10 picks and came out with just 7. Clearly the team thinks the depth is improving and wants to focus on building the championship contender they are looking to be.

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My first time here so apologies if the question is a little simplistic.
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Just wondering if people would still endorse the Nano now; it seems to be getting more expensive despite being fairly well dated. Still worth 160 of my hard-earned british pounds today, or are there better alternatives/upgrades around the corner?
Thanks for reading.