Draft is Love, Draft is Life

So I was briefly thinking about what each member of the Gatewatch would play if they would start a band;

Chandra - Drums

Nissa - Bass

Gideon - Guitar

Liliana - Vocals

Jace - Keyboard

Drummers are usually bigger people. It’s a real workout to be doing that, so I think Gid would fit better in her place.

Lili is our bass. She's also a leader, but not as in your face about it. She doesn't have to speak to carry the team. She doesn't have as many actions as the rest of the team, but they're thought out, methodical, and impactful. Plus the bass provides a dark and powerful sound.

power word kill

The Federal Communications Commission’s decision last week to repeal net neutrality was a major blow to internet freedom, but it’s only the first in a long line of actions that the FCC will take to tell itself that America’s broadband situation is better than it actually is. Up next: redefining high speed wired internet to include cell phone service. Because, according to FCC chair Ajit Pai, that’s totally the same thing.

This idea to reclassify smartphone data as broadband was first proposed in August, but with the net neutrality repeal out of the way, the FCC is expected to vote on the proposal by February 3. Currently, the FCC defines broadband connection as 25Mbps download speeds and 3Mbps upload speeds minimum. The new proposal would keep these minimums in place for fixed wireline broadband but also expand the definition to include cell phone data coverage.

This would not only camouflage many of the communities in the US with no access to the internet, but could prevent them from getting necessary funding to build that access. Cell service is often slower, more expensive, and comes with data caps, and even tethering a computer to a phone for internet isn’t a long-term solution, especially for families with multiple people trying to log on at once to do homework, or work, or watch Netflix.

“It seems antithetical to all the other efforts we’re doing,” said Deb Socia, the executive director of Next Century Cities, a coalition of municipalities aimed at expanding local broadband access. “I spent a good part of my life as a teacher and a principal. If I had a classroom full of children that included a lot of failing students, I wouldn’t change my standards [to increase the number of passing grades,] I’d change the intervention.”

Though the process to change these definitions is not as formal as what was required to roll back net neutrality rules, there was still an opportunity for groups to comment this summer, and if there’s enough public backlash, it could potentially meet a different fate. Like net neutrality, it ultimately just comes down to the FCC to make the decision, but groups like Next Century Cities are hoping to hold the agency’s feet to the fire in the meantime.

In January, the group is launching a campaign called #MobileOnly, challenging people to spend one day in the month using only their cell phone data for internet access—no laptops, no computers, and no Wi-Fi. It’s a challenge that’s so unappealing I refuse to even entertain the idea, but it’s one that millions of Americans will be left with as an only option if these broadband definitions are changed. Socia herself will be doing the challenge, as will the two Democrat commissioners on the FCC, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel.

“Promoting deployment of mobile broadband services alone is not sufficient to bridge digital divides in underserved rural and urban communities,” Clyburn said in a press release for the campaign. “By standing together through this movement, we will demonstrate why it is so essential for all Americans to have access to a robust fixed broadband connection.”

Our phones are next.

my

phone

I repeat, the phones are not affected.

They're trying to rule that having access to a cell phone with data is the same as having broadband internet. The post goes on to say the reason this is relevant is because many areas that do not have access to actual internet now "technically" will, as far as the government is concerned, and can expect less help in obtaining proper internet access.

Imagine having no real internet or wifi and being expected to use phone data for literally everything. A single gb more of data per month would raise my monthly bill by $15, which you may recognize as way higher than rates for your internet bill. For reference, Skyrim is a 6gb download, and your internet company generally doesn't charge you $90 after you download it.

Figure out what cards you want in your cube

Card Distribution:

360 cards total

275 Monocolor (55 cards x 5 colors)

40 Gold (3 of the ten dual pairs, and 1 for each of the ten tricolor combos)

20 Colorless

20 Land

5 Conspiracies

Archetypes:

WU Fliers

WG Tokens

UR Spells

BR Aggro

BG Deadstuff

There are five archetypes, and each color belongs to exactly two. This provides balance.

Mana Curves for Each Color:

White, Blue, and Black all have the same curve with an average CMC of 3.1, Red is faster with 2.7, and green is bigger with 3.6. The distribution is as follows.

WUB: 6 one drops, 13 twos, 17 threes, 10 fours, 6 fives, 2 sixes, 1 seven.

RED: 10 one drops, 16 twos, 15 threes, 9 fours, 4 fives, 1 six.

GREEN: 4 one drops, 11 twos, 15 threes, 11 fours, 8 fives, 4 sixes, 2 sevens.

Creature Concentrations:

Blue has more noncreatures than most colors, partly because it's blue's strength and partly because of the UR spells archetype. Green has more creatures than the others for similar reasons.

WBR: 60% Creatures, 33 Creatures to 22 Non

BLUE: 50% Creatures, 28 Creatures to 27

What in Karnation? 

Yesterday on Twitter, @wizardsmagic released some amazing new key art for the Dominaria set that is coming out next year, featuring Jhoira, Teferi, and Karn. 

While I love the new art, and I’m totally excited to be seeing those three characters again, something about Karn seemed… off. The Karn in this new art looks strangely tragic and unsettling, but I couldn’t quite deternube why. 

I mean, his cheeks look more angular and pronounced than the last time we saw him, but that’s nothing too abnormal. Different artists often vary how round or angular they draw Karns face. 

So I gathered together as many Magic cards as I could find that depict Karn in the art (collage seen above.) Here’s what I discovered… 

In every piece of existing art I could find, Karn’s mouth is always curved downward in a permanent frowning expression. It’s kind of a hallmark of the solemn golem, whose life has been fraught with hardship and loss since he was first created. Whether his mouth is open or closed, whether he’s with friends or foes, the frown is always there. :( 

Except in the new key art, where his mouth appears to be more of a straight line. :| 

Hey @foxcoloredcat I finally did it.

Based on this post

“Average Faces From Around The World”

Finding the average face of people across the world was a tough job but someone had to do it. This guy basically takes a thousands and thousands images of everyday people from any city and the software makes an ‘average’ of the people, giving one final portrait. Take a look at this amazing project called “World of Facial Averages.”

For full article, click here.

Have you ever noticed how when you're on your phone at a red light, you always instinctively know when the light turns green, even when you weren't really looking? Have you ever noticed how easy it is to just completely space out and just kind of drive on auto pilot? This is why. Your eyes are designed to catch these sudden changes, even when you aren't paying attention.

*checks the notes*