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Hey, everyone! Over the past few weeks, I've been making up a plotline that I think would fit for the inevitable Ace Attorney 7, whenever it releases. As of right now, I only have Episode 1 fully plotted out, but I'll put some of my ideas for the other cases at the end of the post as an author's note, of sorts. Considering how much I wrote for the tutorial case alone, I don't know if I'll ever continue this project, because Case 2, a case with 2 investigations and 2 trials, would basically be 4 times the length of this case, and I don't know if I have the talent to write a compelling mystery that would do a case of that length justice.
The overall concept of the game would be to focus mainly on Athena and Phoenix, and it would involve Phoenix attempting to institute the Jurist System while Athena would have to deal with the Phantom's organization and her past at the Cosmos Space Center and in university. The lawyer-case distribution would be as follows: Phoenix gets 7-1 (tutorial) and 7-4 (filler), Athena would get 7-2, 7-3, and 7-5, which would all be plot relevant, and Apollo would get a Rise from the Ashes style case in Khura'in, which would be unlocked after completing the game instead of being offered as a DLC case.
As this is my ideal version of Ace Attorney 7, I've taken some liberties that the writers at Capcom might not do, as I've taken the Payne brothers out of the main story entirely, but they'll still be in the game in the Phoenix Wright: Asinine Attorney case, which is unlocked after beating the tutorial case. Also, a beloved character from the original trilogy is the victim of the first case of the game, which might be controversial. But I think that the story will be overall more compelling with the changes that I've made, so without further ado, here's the first episode of Ace Attorney: Echoes of Discord!
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Episode 1: Turnabout Terror
Date: Late March 2029
Location: Skye Detective Agency
Defendant: Ema Skye
Attorney: Phoenix Wright
Co-Counsel: Athena Cykes
Synopsis: Nine months have passed since the revolution in Khura’in, and after many deliberations, Phoenix has finally regained the trust of the legal system of LA and instituted the Jurist System, which has now been slightly modified since the events of Apollo Justice, the biggest change being the fact that the jurors are present in the court room, like in DGS.
For the first official case under the Jurist System, Phoenix is defending Ema Skye, who has been accused of murdering her older sister, Lana Skye, at the Skye Detective Agency. Ema had been working a case abroad in Khura’in, and as soon as she returned to the US, she went to visit her sister, who became a private investigator after losing faith in the justice system because of Phoenix’s disbarment and the UR-1 incident. When Ema entered the office however, she found her sister dead from an apparent poisoning. Desperate to find out who did it, she dusted the entire scene for fingerprints, not even thinking about preserving the scene. But while she was in the middle of her forensic investigation, Lana’s co-worker, Elias Coggs (Age ???) walked in on her, and contacted the police. When the officers arrived, it was discovered that Lana ingested some Atroquinine poison from her cup of tea, and since it hadn’t been manufactured in the country for two years, Ema became the prime suspect, since she just came back from Khura’in.
In the defendant lobby, Phoenix and Athena are discussing the case with Ema, and she claims that her own fingerprints were found on the bottle of poison, to which Athena and Phoenix are shocked. But she rationalizes that she must have touched the bottle when she was in a state of panic while investigating the crime scene. In the middle of their discussion, Juniper Woods enters the lobby, and she explains to Athena and Phoenix that she will be the forewoman of the jury today. She is nervous, but she’s also treating this as her first official trial experience for when she becomes a judge herself. She gives Phoenix and Athena a newspaper article that is advertising the current trial, saying that she had a hunch that they’d need it. The bailiffs call for the trial to start, and Ema mutters under her breath that the “glimmerous fop” is going to make a spectacle of her sister’s murder.
The trial begins, and Klavier Gavin is revealed to be the prosecutor in charge of this case. He reveals that he’d decided to take the case due to the recent shortage of prosecutors due to the Paynes and others being fired for their incompetence and corruption by Miles Edgeworth. He displays remorse over being the reason why Phoenix lost his badge seven years ago but says that he’s still fired up for a rematch. The judge introduces the 5 jurors for the trial, who are Juniper Woods (No. 1), a male reporter from the Reality News Network (No. 2), Delicia Scones (No. 3), a female computer programmer from Blue Screens Inc. (No. 4), and a young butler resembling Shelly de Killer (No. 5). The judge then admits that he hasn’t studied up on how the reformed jurist system works, and asks Phoenix if he could give him a refresher on how the trial would work, which would serve as the tutorial for the case.
Klavier calls Ema to the stand as his first witness, and she reluctantly agrees to testify about what happened on that day. She has a press-all testimony, which is pretty much identical to what she told Phoenix and Athena in the lobby, but after the testimony ends, the jury goes into a panic because all of them, minus Juniper, are convinced of Ema’s guilt. Athena becomes overwhelmed from the discord from all the jurors’ hearts, and this is where the new trial gameplay mechanic, Discordant Reasoning, is introduced. This would be similar to the Panic Debate from Danganronpa V3, where you have to pick out the statement out of the 5 jurors that’s causing the discord, based on reading their emotions like in the Mood Matrix. The Mood Matrix has now been relegated to investigations because of reasons pertaining to the main prosecutor of the game, and now works similarly to Logic Chess from Investigations 2. After presenting the article that Juniper gave them to the juror that caused the discord, the reporter from the Reality News Network, Ema resumes her testimony.
She assumes that her sister’s killer had recently fled the scene, since she had recently succumbed to the poison when she arrived at the crime scene, but Phoenix points out that the killer could’ve left way earlier, since Atroquinine is a slow acting poison. Ema then gets emotional, saying that she got so caught up in the moment seeing her sister dead that she couldn’t perform a proper investigation into her death. She is overcome by remorse due to the knowledge that she never would’ve been quick enough to stop her sister’s killer. She outright blames Klavier for what happened, saying that if he hadn’t accused Phoenix of forging evidence nine years ago, then Lana wouldn’t have lost faith in the court system, which wouldn’t have lead to her becoming a P.I. after getting out of prison.
Klavier reassures Ema, asking her if she knows the real reason why he took the trial. It turns out, he was certain of her innocence from the beginning, and intended to use the common sense of the Jurist System to prove her innocence. He says that he understands why she might feel the way she does about him, but the show must go on, and the only way the truth will ever be reached is if the defendant tells everything that they know, even if it’s just a hunch. With newfound courage, Ema posits that there might be a clue in Lana’s files on her computer, as Lana had confided in her that she’d been performing an investigation on a high-profile case the last time they saw each other. Luckily for them, Elias Coggs had already looked through Lana’s files and emails, and was waiting in the lobby to testify.
Klavier excuses Ema from the stand for the time being, and calls Elias Coggs to the stand. He appears to be a middle-aged man with a mechanical prosthetic arm, leg, and eye, giving him the appearance of a cyborg. Klavier asks Coggs to state his name and occupation, and he complies, but when probed about his past, he states that it’s classified information. He was put into the Witness Protection Program a long time ago after an incident involving his accident, and can’t disclose anything about his past that isn’t related to the case.
His testimony begins, and he states that on Lana’s computer, he found that on the day of the incident, she had been exchanging emails with two different people. The first being Connie Scout (Age 29), her most recent client, and the second being Phoebe Coronus (Age 41), an old friend of hers from overseas. After probing into his testimony, he admits that the case that Lana was investigating was an international affair, and that Coronus was helping her in the investigation. He also reveals that it appears that a USB was stolen from Lana’s office, but again, he cannot reveal its contents.
Suspicions are raised immediately on Coggs, but Klavier verifies that he had an alibi, as he had been at his doctor’s office all afternoon. As Coronus is still in Europe, it becomes evident that the prime suspect for the murder has to be Connie Scout, who is a computer science major at Ivy University. The judge calls for a 30 minute recess, but right before it begins, Coggs requests that Phoenix and Athena get to the bottom of Lana’s death, as the case at hand means a lot to him.
During the recess, Ema apologizes for her outburst in court, and explains the case that Lana, Coronus and Coggs were investigating in more detail. Apparently, the organization they were looking into was an international spy ring that had previously mainly been involved in various acts of cyberterrorism, but she reveals that it was actually the very same organization that sent the Phantom over during the UR-1 Incident nine years ago. Athena is shocked, as she recounts how that was the same organization that killed her mother and caused the incident at the Cosmos Space Center two years ago. Ema is surprised to hear this, as Lana hadn’t informed her of the exact details of the case, and she realizes it was probably out of fear that she herself would become a target of the organization.
Suddenly, Trucy Wright appears in the defendant lobby with two important pieces of evidence retrieved from Miles Edgeworth, a report of a supposed smuggling of contraband into the country and a breach of cybersecurity at the Criminal Affairs Department. Trucy questions how these pieces of evidence pertain to the case at hand, but Phoenix and Athena clearly have a suspect in mind. The bailiffs announce that the recess is over, and Trucy says that she’ll be watching the trial from the gallery.
Court reconvenes, and Klavier calls Connie to the stand. She has a visor over her face and has orange dyed hair like Athena, but otherwise she has the appearance of a normal university student. She introduces herself as a foreign exchange student from Borginia, and explains that Connie Scout was the name she chose for herself when she came to study from abroad. Klavier asks her how she knew the defendant, to which she responds that she met her at a Forensics Investigation Seminar that was being held at the University a month ago, along with Ema Skye. While she was there, she was given a luminol bottle from Ema as a gift for attending it. Afterward, she asked Lana Skye to investigate a crime of her own, though she doesn’t reveal what it is.
Throughout her testimony, her lies are exposed, and she becomes the prime suspect for the breach of cybersecurity at Criminal Affairs and the murder of Lana Skye. Phoenix argues that it would’ve been feasible for Scout to have been the one who had the poison smuggled into the country. But the final contradiction in the case is how Ema’s fingerprints managed to get on the bottle of Atroquinine.
The thought route begins, and after deducing that she had likely been a part of the Phantom’s organization, that she was likely the one who hacked into the Criminal Affairs Department, and considering her meeting with Ema and Lana one month ago, it becomes apparent that she could’ve obtained the fingerprints off of the luminol bottle and modified the fingerprints on the bottle of poison to look like Ema’s using the information obtained from her hacking of the Criminal Affairs Department, just like how the Phantom had framed Athena at the Space Center two years prior.
Connie then confesses everything. She had been a member of the Phantom’s organization, and she had been attempting to erase as many traces of her organization’s crimes that she could. Her only reason for attending the seminar one month ago was to get some info on Lana Skye, so that she could trail her and learn everything that she knew about her own organization. She arranged for a meeting to discuss a possible case for Lana to take on, but that was all a farce-what she really wanted was the USB Lana had in her possession. When she wasn’t looking, she slipped the poison into Lana’s tea, and left the scene after stealing what she needed. When probed about the USB, she says that she already passed it on to another member of the organization.
With the suspect having confessed, Klavier calls Ema back to the stand. He and Ema have a conversation, and while Ema is still annoyed by his carefree attitude, she acknowledges that she would’ve been found guilty if Klavier hadn’t given her the opportunity to speak, and thanks him for his help. The judge then pronounces Ema not guilty.
In the defendant lobby, Ema thanks Phoenix and Athena for defending her, and they’re soon joined by Klavier and Trucy. Ema, while thankful that the gang found her innocent, is still understandably traumatized over her sister’s death. She expresses doubts about her career choice, considering she never imagined she’d have to investigate her own sister’s body, and she’s now considering leaving her position permanently.
Phoenix presents her the luminol bottle that she gave to Scout, and asks her to remember when she began to take an interest in forensics. After recounting how her sister had given her a forensics investigations book when she was young, and briefly referencing the events of Rise from the Ashes, Phoenix reminds her of all of the strides she’s made since then, and all of the times she’s helped the Wright Anything Agency solve cases in the past thanks to her impeccable forensics work. He then reminds her that he had to deal with many bumps in the road himself throughout his career as an attorney, and that he had to learn some lessons that changed his outlook on the legal system. He encourages her to follow her own path in life, but reminds her that he and Athena would greatly miss having her around to help solve cases. Ema, moved by Phoenix’s speech, thanks him for the kind words.
Trucy then brings up one last thing that she still doesn’t understand about the trial, those being who Elias Coggs and Phoebe Coronus are. Ema explains that she doesn’t really know who Elias Coggs is, but she does know who Coronus is. She was Ema’s former mentor that took care of her when she first went to Europe to study, and she’s now an international forensics prosecutor. It turns out she intended to be present in the gallery for Ema’s trial, but due to a delay in her flight to LA, she couldn’t make it. Ema then theorizes that working a case with her former mentor might help reinvigorate her love for forensics. Her and Klavier have to attend to some business at the Prosecutor’s Office, and they leave together.
To wrap up the case, Trucy brings up three invitations that Juniper had passed on to her for Phoenix, Athena, and herself to attend a Murder Mystery Party at the Woods Manor out in the mountains as a celebration of Juniper recently graduating from Themis Academy while also serving as a way of thanking Phoenix and Athena for defending her two years prior. Trucy declines her invitation, as she has to practice for her first international gig that she’ll be performing with Klavier and Lamiroir, but she encourages Phoenix and Athena to go. They both agree to go, and the case ends with Phoenix’s internal monologue reminiscing about all of the trials and tribulations he’s had to go through to revamp the legal system, and that he never could’ve gotten there without the help of his colleagues.
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Author's notes:
-I know that killing off Lana Skye might be controversial, but I felt that she made the most sense as the first victim, considering her friend from Europe, who I've named Phoebe Coronus, would make a more interesting rival for Athena, as her adherence to the scientific method and traditionalist views on the Jurist System would be a perfect foil to Athena's more psychological driven methods and her desire to revolutionize the court system along with Phoenix. It also gives Ema another character arc of doubting if her childhood dream was really her true calling in life, which I feel would be a natural progression for Ema's character, since she has a different conflict in every game that she appears in. Finally, it just gives more opportunity to expand on Athena's time studying in Europe, since Ema and Coronus could now fit into that timeline organically. Lana's role in the story wouldn't be forgotten after case 1 either, as two of the most important characters in the game have close connections to her, which would have a huge impact on the trajectory of the story as a whole, which I feel is an important aspect that the first case needs to establish.
-The pun names for this case are:
Elias Coggs (Alias and Cogs, which refers to his past under the Witness Protection Program as well as his cyborg like appearance.)
Connie Scout (Con and Scout, because she's conning everybody into thinking she's just an ordinary university student while also being a spy for the Phantom's organization.)
Phoebe Coronus (Her last name refers to her profession as a coroner. Her first and last name actually have a secret meaning as well if one of the letters from her last name is removed, but I'll leave it up to you to see if you can decipher the real meaning behind her name.
-Lastly, here are the basic plotlines for the other cases of the game. These are only going to be a couple sentences each, since this post has gone on long enough already.
Episode 2-Turnabout Judgment: Picking up right where we left off, Phoenix and Athena attend the Murder Mystery Party organized by Juniper's grandmother, Willow Woods, and Juniper notes that the victim in the game bears similarities to how her own grandfather died a year ago. But when one of the guests at the party winds up dead, it's Juniper's grandmother, a former judge, that ends up in the defendant's seat, and Juniper and Athena team up to acquit her of all charges against prosecutor Phoebe Coronus while Phoenix is off helping another guest at the party with a matter of their own. Loosely based on a fancase on Ace Attorney Online: A Game of Turnabout.
Episode 3-The Sponsored Turnabout: During the Summer Olympics, Juniper, Athena, and Simon Blackquill all attend a game together. But when a stray firecracker causes an explosion that causes some debris to crash onto the referee for the game, a former Borginian athlete who had a grudge against the victim and is suspected to be part of the Phantom's organization ends up in the defendant's chair, and Blackquill encourages Athena and Juniper to take on the case due to a previous connection with the defendant, and the trio have to rethink their own biases against the suspect to eventually take down the true culprit of the case, the Executive of the Reality News Network who perpetuated the myth of the Dark Age of the Law after the UR-1 incident. Coronus is still the prosecutor for this case.
Episode 4-Turnabout Roulette: In the filler case of the game, Trucy makes reservations at a fancy bar where she's planning on showing Phoenix part of her upcoming performance, but when the two realize that she accidentally made reservations at the Rivales Casino, and a shooting occurs in the middle of the day, Phoenix is forced into defending Brawly Rivales after his own father was murdered. Coronus is the prosecutor again in this trial, but she's noticably more lenient on Phoenix. The main focus of the case would be on the relationship between Phoenix and Trucy.
Episode 5-Turnabout for Justice: A science expo is being held at the Cosmos Space Center, and the five participants in the showcase are Ema Skye, Phoebe Coronus, Elias Coggs, a C.E.O. of a famous company, who is also sponsoring the event, and surprisingly Aura Blackquill are all participating in the event. But when an accidental explosion occurs in the middle of the event, everyone is evacuated from the scene with two notable exceptions: Phoebe Coronus and Aura Blackquill. After the fire dies down a bit, some officers go in to investigate the scene, and are surprised to find Aura Blackquill leaning over the victim, Phoebe Coronus's body. Aura Blackquill is named the prime suspect for the case, and it's up to Athena and Blackquill to find her innocence, as Phoenix and Trucy don't want anything to do with her after the kidnapping incident two years ago, and Juniper is rooting for her guilt as well, since she remembers how she used to hate Athena all those years ago. Willow Woods would be the judge for this trial, and Miles Edgeworth calls in prosecutor Franziska von Karma to head the case.
Episode Special-Turnabout Reconciliation: It's been one year since Garan has been dethroned, and Khura'in is hosting an international arts festival as an act of goodwill to its new allies. Trucy, Klavier, and Lamiroir are all participating in their own act in the show, and Ema was invited by Prosecutor Nahyuta Sahdmadhi as well. But when a murder happens in the middle of the show, Lamiroir is under suspicion of murder, and Apollo and Trucy finally learn their familial secret. Prosecutor Sahdmadhi is the prosecutor for the case, and Rayfa and Amara make some cameo appearances as well.
Sorry for the long post lol. Tell me what you think of these ideas in the comments.

What you are looking for is..... (Link in the Desc.)3

Playing Card Manufacturer: Taiwan Playing Card Company (TWPCC)

In the world of playing cards, there are some big names and recognizable entities like United States Playing Cards and their Bicycle brand of playing cards. Other leading figures in the industry include successful publishing companies like European-based Cartamundi. There are also several smaller Taiwan-based manufacturers that have been making an impact, such as Legends Playing Cards, Expert Playing Cards, and Hanson Chien Production Company.
But even the big names had to start small, and once in a while something small makes some explosive sounds to catch our attention. Today let's take a look at Taiwan Playing Card Company (TWPCC), which is distributed by BombMagic, and first caught my eye with the colourful fireworks of their Casino Royale deck.
TAIWAN PLAYING CARD COMPANY
When I first came across the beautiful looking Casino Royale deck, I started crawling down a rabbit hole which eventually led me to Hanson Bomb, founder of BombMagic. BombMagic started in 2007 as a small studio that focused on the study of performing magic, and the slogan they came up with for their tenth anniversary in 2017 gives an indication of their original focus: "Born for Magic, Beyond the Magic." Since their inception they have slowly built up their brand, and have been focusing more on playing cards. They began releasing some playing card products, launched a website, and in 2016 released their Bomber Series Playing Cards as their own branded deck. Eventually they set up the Bomber Playing Card Company in order to focus on the design, manufacture, sale, and distribution of playing cards, which the following year became part of the new Taiwan Playing Card Company.
Today BombMagic is considered the official distributor of Taiwan Playing Card Company, and it includes a large online operation. But besides being a source for magic items in the Asian market and abroad, they also produce a range of custom playing cards, some of which they have created in-house and are featured below. Of special interest is the fact that their decks are printed in Taiwan, which is also where respected playing card manufacturers like Legends and Expert Playing Cards operate from in order to produce high quality playing cards. TWPCC has their own label and specifications, but uses the same factory, so there's good reason to expect good things from this brand. So let's take a look at some of their decks, and talk about what we can expect from this smaller playing card manufacturer.

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CASINO ROYALE PLAYING CARDS
The name Casino Royale reflects the fact that this deck is created to be a practical casino style deck that represents the height of luxury. The title brings to mind James Bond's visits to Europe's most famous gambling houses. Similarly this deck is intended to capture something of a quality that is fitting for a classy secret agent and for royalty, while being suitable for an enthusiast playing a poker game at home as well.
BombMagic has produced several different Casino Royale decks, and they are definitely the most practical of the in-house decks from TWPCC. The number cards are very functional and readable, and that makes this a deck of playing cards that can perform well for crossover purposes, including at the card table or in the hands of a traditional gamer. They work especially well for casino type games, while having a "royale" look that sets them apart from a typical deck of plain ordinary cards.
The touch of royalty is already evident from the tuck box, with its window style die-cut design that gives a glimpse of the stylish card backs. The colourful diamond backed design of the card backs adds a sense of luxury and class, and so the Casino Royale decks will add elegance and style to any card game.

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FUJIN & RAIJIN PLAYING CARDS
The Fujin & Rajin decks are a complementary pair of decks named after two Japanese gods. These are Fujin, the god of the wind, and Raijin, the god of thunder. Blue and red being the two colours of focus for this pair of decks. UK illustrator Fionn Jordan did the artwork, drawing on his experiences in living in Japan and Taiwan, and his experience as a comic artist.
These decks have a very different visual feel from the Casino Royale decks. While it has a clearly Eastern theme and style, it has been produced by a Westerner who was born in the UK. The Japanese theme will particularly appeal to those who have an interest in Oriental culture and ideas, but the fact that it has been created by a European shows that this theme can have a universal appeal.
Most custom decks from the modern era are indebted to Western influences and artwork, so it is refreshing to see some playing cards with a unique flavour. The combination of a garish blue and red that dominates these decks also gives them a very different feel from traditional playing cards.

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CARDISTRY CALLIGRAPHY PLAYING CARDS
The Cardistry Calligraphy decks were first released at the 2017 Cardistry Con. The series consists of three decks, a red and blue pair with silver foil lettering on the tuck box, and a more luxurious limited edition gold foil deck with gold accents on the tuck box and on the card backs.
The graphic design of the striking Cardistry Calligraphy decks favours card flourishing, with a bold colour on the card backs that emphasizes colour and shape. The use of ornate calligraphic letters for the court cards is somewhat unusual, but suits the concept of the deck well, especially when used for cardistry. It means that the card faces have a more consistent look, and don't have images that could distract when the cards are in motion.
The design of the court cards and Aces does make these less functional than a typical deck, but that's also what makes it ideal for cardistry. The concept of calligraphy - with its flowing lines and curves - also works very well as a thematic concept that suits card flourishing.

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HIDDEN KING PLAYING CARDS
The two basic decks that were part of the Hidden King series were intended to be low-cost decks inspired by the Siberian Tiger. The tuck boxes both feature the same graphic design, with a mono-coloured drawing of a Siberian tiger on the white and yellow fronts.
The goal of the Hidden King deck was to be a budget style traditional deck, with some style and life added courtesy of the artwork on the card backs, and some small elements of customization. Given how nice and clean and practical the cards look, I'd like to think that this mission was accomplished with style.
Super soft cards ensure a very pleasant and satisfying performance to go along with the crisp artwork.
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IMPRESSIONS
Quality
What's going to be of real interest to us as card enthusiasts is the quality of the cards from these TWPCC decks, and how they handle. Card collectors and card flourishers are notoriously fussy about where their playing cards are produced, because it can make a big difference in quality.
The good news is that these playing cards are produced in the same factory that is used by Legends and Expert Playing Card Company. It is located in Taiwan, and reports about playing cards printed there are consistently positive, unlike the mixed reports about decks produced in China. The printing quality of the TWPCC decks seems to be very similar to that of LPCC/EPCC decks. It's very good, with sharp and accurate registration, and clean colours.
Like other Taiwan produced decks, the cut of all these decks is extremely clean, so the edges of the cards don't feel as rough as a standard Bicycle deck; they also faro perfectly and easily. The cards of all these decks are very durable, but don't expect fanning and spreading to remain as consistent over time as what you'd typically experience with a USPCC produced deck.

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Performance
The performance does also depend on the combination of stock and finish they use, and this can vary. TWPCC uses their own terminology for paper stocks and finishes, so it doesn't compare exactly with the terminology of finishes used by other publishers. The main stock options they appear to make available at present include their Casino stock and their Luxury stock, although they have also used Artist stock for at least one project, which like the Artist stock used by HCPC, is a stiff stock matching the Diamond/Master finish used by LPCC/EPCC.
Casino stock is used for the Casino Royale decks and the pair of Japanese inspired Fujin and Raijin decks. It has a wide embossing pattern that approximates quite closely the Elite/Damask finish used by LPCC/EPCC. The cards have a slightly stiff feel that ensures a high level of durability, and it is firmer and pleasantly snappier than a typical USPCC deck. The overall handling and feel is much like the Classic or Elite finishes from Taiwanese manufacturer LPCC/EPCC.
Luxury stock is used for the Hidden King decks, and handles and feels very differently. Besides the crisp white colour used for the card stock of these decks, it is instantly evident that this is a thinner than normal card stock, which cardists will love, and which corresponds quite closely to the performance and feel of USPCC's crushed stock. I find that it's almost too soft for some card sleights, because accidental folding can result if you're overly aggressive with your moves. But the soft feel means the deck doesn't require any breaking in, and it handles superbly straight from the box. If you like decks with crushed stock from USPCC, then you'll love these cards also. They also have a more traditional air-cushion style embossing pattern that handles smoothly and evenly.
The different stocks primarily refer to the thickness of the cards and the embossing pattern used. There are also different options for the coating that is added afterwards, which impacts the performance as well. The options for this include Magic Finish, Royal Finish, or Legendary Finish, which is similar to the range that Hanson Chien Production Company (HCPC) also uses when printing cards at the same factory.

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Other decks
Of course these are not the only TWPCC produced decks out there. There are plenty more, and cardists will especially want to check out some of the decks with the super soft Luxury stock, such as the Vigor Blue deck and the Flow deck. Meanwhile the Kete Moon Special Edition deck uses the Classic stock. Magicians might be interested in the Elemental Master decks (in red and green), which are marked decks, and also incorporate unique elements like astrological signs and ESP symbols. The red and blue Cosmos decks were created to commemorate Horret Wu becoming FISM World Champion of Magic in 2015, and use the Casino stock.

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Where to get them? You'll find a selected range of TWPCC produced decks on PlayingCardDecks.com here.
Want to learn more? - Visit the Taiwan Playing Card Company: Official website, Instagram - Visit their distributer BombMagic: Official website, Facebook, Instagram
Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.

[USA] [H] Pokewalker, iPSv2 Modded GBA, Games for 3/DS+S/NES, PS1-3, X360, GB/C/A and more || [W] CIB S/NES Games, Need Tons of Boxes and Manuals for my Games, New 3DS Plates

https://imgur.com/a/n6ShoWS
More pictures or timestamps on request.
My 60+ confirmed trades
Want
First, NES and SNES Games, mainly Amagon and SMB1/2/3 for NES and Top Gear 3000 and Biker Mice from Mars for SNES, but I am open to offers! (I prefer CIB on these but not required)
Second, New 3DS plates! I only have the HHD one. Would love the Pokémon ones and all of them really.
(ALSO I AM LOOKING FOR AN SNES CONSOLE WITH ORIGINAL AV/AC CORDS INCLUDED)
(ALSO LOOKING FOR ANIMAL CROSSING AMIIBO FIGURES SPECIFICALLY ISABELLES!)
Thirdly, I have a lot of games I need boxes and manuals and other related inserts.
Boxes, manuals, and inserts for the following games and systems.
These games are also for trade. The systems are not.
Looking for the boxes and everything that came in them except for the game/system, but even so much as a box or a manual might get my attention.
“New” 3DS (not XL) Animal Crossing HHD Edition
New 3DS XL Black
New 2DS XL Purple and Silver
OG Cosmo Black 3DS
Coral Pink DS lite
White DS Lite
Fuschia/Clear Pink OG GBA
NES
Barbie
Deadly Towers
Dragon Warrior
Ghosts n Goblins
Mario Bro’s Duck Hunt
Mega Man 2 (looking for a game and a manual)
Metal Gear Snakes Revenge
Metroid
Milons Secret Castle
Ninja Gaiden II
Rush’n Attack
Tetris
The Adventures of Bayou Billy
The Black Bass
The Legend of Zelda (Gold Cart)
Zelda II The Adventure of Link (Gold Cart)
Top Gun
Wrath of the Black Manta
WWF Wrestlemania
WWF Wrestlemania Steel Cage Challenge
SNES
Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage
Final Fight
Frogger
Jurassic Park
Ken Griffey Jr MLB
Pilotwings
Primal Rage
Sim City
Starfox
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario World
Super Off Road
The Lion King
WWF Royal Rumble
N64
All-Star Baseball 2000
Backyard Wrestling
Banjo Kazooie (NTSC-J)
NASCAR 99
NBA In The Zone 98
The Legend of Zelda (NTSC-J)
Turok Dinosaur Hunter
Waialae Country Club
WCW NWO Revenge
Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii Sports
GameCube
Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life (need the disc only)
3DS
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Pokémon Sun (only need the game)
Pokémon Y (only need the game)
Regular Show: 8-Bit
WWE All-Stars
NDS
Card Fighters DS
Cooking Mama
Cooking Mama 2
Mario Hoops 3 on 3
Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini Land Mayhem
Zoo Tycoon DS
GBA
F-14 Tomcat
F-Zero GP Legend
The Fairly Oddparents Volume 1
LEGO Bionicle
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team
Yu -Gi-Oh The Sacred Cards (x2)
GBC
Burgertime Deluxe
Frogger
Frogger 2
Mario Golf
Pokémon Pinball
Pokémon Silver
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer
GB
Donkey Kong Land
Jurassic Park
Mortal Kombat
Tetris
Yoshi
PS1
Cardinal Syn
Driver 2
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Frogger
Gran Turismo x2
MBK
Medievil
Namco Museum (2 different versions, need both)
NASCAR Racing
NFS High Stakes
NFS III Hot Pursuit
Resident Evil
Spyro the Dragon
Test Drive 6
Tomb Raider x2
Tony Hawk 1
Tony Hawk 2
Touring Car Challenge
PS2
Jak 2
Jurassic Park Operation Genesis
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2
The Simpson’s Skateboarding
Also looking for the following loose NES Games
Super Mario Bros 1, 2, 3
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 6
Zelda 1 gold
Zelda 2 gold
Dragon Spirit
Clash at Demonhead
Punchout or MT Punchout
Ducktales
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Rygar
Solar Jetman
Legacy of the Wizard
Have
Have
Have
I would trade most of the loose games above for boxes and manuals for the other loose games I have. I also have the following items for trade.
I have an authentic, loose pokewalker with a new energizer battery installed for trade. Will part with for the right trade.
~~I also have an OG GBA modded with a Funnyplaying IPSV2 screen, a custom yellow shell and Pokémon themed front glass. The screen is ever so slightly off center. ~~ GBA Pending. I’m modding more now.
3DS Games
Code Name STEAM - CIB Like New, Opened and played once
Poochy + Yoshis Woolly World CIB (EU-AU Region, German Version)
Tomodachi Life CIB
NDS Games CIB
Mario Kart CIB
New Super Mario Bros CIB
Super Mario 64 CIB
Zelda Phantom Hourglass CIB
NDS Games
The Amazing Spider-Man
Big Brain Academy
Captain America Super Soldier
Golden Nugget Casino DS
Goldeneye Rogue Agent
Goosebumps Horrorland
Gremlins Gizmo
Hello Kitty
Imagine Master Chef
Kingdom Hearts Re-coded
LEGO Batman The Video Game
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Universe in Peril
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Nintendogs Lab and Friends
Quantum of Solace
The Quest Trio
Spore Creatures
GBC Games
Animorphs
Army Men Sarges Heroes 2
Bob the Builder Fix it Fun
Bomberman Max Red Challenger
Men in Black The Series
Donald Duck Goin Quackers
Force 21
Rocket Power Gettin Air
Stuart Little The Journey Home
PS3
COD BO2 disc only
COD4 MW GOTY Edition case and disc only
Far Cry 3 case and manual only
Xbox 360
Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY edition CIB
Batman Arkham City disc only
Batman Arkham Origins case and discs
Bioshock 2 disc and case
Borderlands 2 case and disc
Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL case and disc
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 disc only
Dante’s Inferno CIB
Deadpool disc only
Duke Nukem Forever case and disc
Fight Night Champion case, disc, and inserts but no manual
Final Fantasy XI Online Vana’Diel Collection 2008 disc only
Ghostbusters The Video Game case and disc
Halo 4 case and discs
Madden NFL 09 disc only
NBA Live 08
Resident Evil 6 case and discs
Rock Band 2 disc only
Super Street Fighter IV case and disc
Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Vegas disc only
Two Worlds CIB
Ultimate Stealth Triple Pack (Thief, Hitman Absolution and Deus Ex Human Revolution) discs and case only
The Walking Dead A Telltale Games Series case and disc
—I have about 20-40 PlayStation 1 and 2 games I haven’t listed yet, so check back for more later if that’s what you’re looking for.—
I also have some Pokémon cards posted on pkmntcgtrades if you want those in trade. Thanks!
Thanks for looking!

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Ethereum's future is bright, the DApps are coming!

The DApps are coming, the DApps are coming!

Chin up boys and girls – the DApps (Decentralized Apps) are finally coming. Utility, not speculation/manipulation/shilling etc., is what, in the end, will give/justify the value of blockchains.

Of the top 100 tokens, 91 of them are on the Ethereum blockchain (ERC-20). The most valuable non-Ethereum tokens by market cap are USDT (4) and GAS (25). Eventually, ICX (6), VeChain (3) and EOS (1) and several others will be migrating to their own blockchains. Still, this leaves Ethereum with an overwhelming market dominance for tokens (aka DApps) and Ethereum has been clearly recognized as the blockchain to launch ICOs/DApps.

We have already seen several DApps successfully launch on mainnet including CrytptoKitties, Crypto Sportz, Edgeless, Etherbots, Ethercraft, Etheremon, Etheroll, ETHLend, Forkdelta (RIP Etherdelta), 0xBitcoin and Ethlance among others. Check out a whole list on DappRadar and track the progress of some lesser known, smaller projects on StateoftheDApps (Note: I cannot vouch for all of these DApps. There have been and always will be scammers in the crypto space. Please, always do your own research!)

For the rest of March + Q2 (April - June) we are going see the biggest implementation of DApps on the Ethereum mainnet to date. Below I’ve laid out, in alphabetical order and in varying detail, what’s happening between now and the end of Q2 of this year. (I’ve also added some info, where especially relevant, of big stuff coming after Q2). I hope any biases I may have do not come through too much in the writing.

To hammer home on utility once more: One year ago today, the daily transaction count was at 57,000. Yesterday, the network confirmed over 752,000 transactions (a 13x increase) (And remember, ATH in January was 1.349 million txns!) [Source]

On to the DApps:

Airswap
Subreddit

AirSwap is a decentralized exchange for trading Ethereum based tokens. It allows its users to trade tokens in a peer-to-peer fashion across the Ethereum blockchain. The token trader is currently live, in a limited capacity, trading AST and (W)ETH.
More token pairs will be added before the end of the Q1, as part of the upcoming release, Token Marketplace. A mobile app is also in development and will be entering beta soon.

Aragon
Subreddit

Aragon is a project that aims to disintermediate the creation and maintenance of decentralized organizational structures by using blockchain technology. "We provide the tools for anyone to become an entrepreneur and run their own organization, to take control of their own lives." Originally slated for a February release, Aragon Core v0.5 (which is a fully functioning version of the DApp on mainnet) should be released any day now.

Augur
Subreddit

Augur is a fully-decentralized, open-source prediction market platform built on the Ethereum blockchain for any and all predictive markets. Augur Beta is currently live on Kovan testnet and launch is “months away.”
In order to mitigate bugs and problems, the first market on mainnet will be something along the lines of 'Will there be a critical vulnerability discovered in Augur by a certain date?” Given Augur’s development history, this could be launching a little after Q2, but the progress looks promising.
UPDATE (3/7/18): Contract audits are complete and the full audit report of augur-core will be released next week. "Some work still being down on UI, Augur Node, and additional screens." Next step is the bug bounty (first prediction market on Augur).
UPDATE (3/12/18): Core security audit report is released following a four-month long audit by Zeppelin. Augur's contracts are ready to ship and "over the coming weeks we plan to release more details around a bug bounty program and market."

BlockCAT
Subreddit

BlockCAT lets anyone create, manage, and deploy smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain with just a few clicks. No programming required. BlockCAT will be releasing their first visual smart contract on the mainnet on March 14 (the full details of exactly what this contract does, will also be released when it goes live.)
UPDATE (3/14/18): BlockCAT's first visual smart contract, Tabby Pay, has been released on mainnet. Tabby Pay is a smart contract that’s built to prevent user error - if you send Ether to the wrong wallet, you can cancel the payment and your Ether will be returned.

Digix
Subreddit

Digix is a DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization) and is composed of two main parts: DGD and DGX, both of which are ERC-20 tokens.
- DGD is a governance token that allows holders to vote on proposals that are submitted for the growth of the Digix ecosystem and offers rewards to holders on the basis of their successful contribution to the Digix Ecosystem.
- DGX is a gold-backed token and is slated for a public market release by end of Q1 2018. DGX is backed by physical gold on a basis of 1 token to 1 gram of gold. "DGX represents value on the blockchain that can be retained over time with relatively little volatility; giving it greater utility than Ether for a wide range of use-cases. Retail, Rentals, Salaries, Commerce, Lending, Wealth Management."
UPDATE (3/13/18): DGX will be launching on mainnet this week and Digix will be partnering with Kyber Network to be the first decentralized exchange to offer their asset tokens (like DGX) against ETH at launch.
UPDATE (3/23/18): The first couple thousand DGX have been created on mainnet and the marketplace opens on April 8. Prior to that, the KYC Whitelist will open on March 26

Ethorse
Subreddit

Ethorse is a DApp for betting on the price of Cryptocurrencies and winning ETH from everyone who bets against you. Users bet with ETH on one of the listed coins or tokens to have the highest price gain in a fixed period. Currently live on the Kovan testnet, with mainnet launch before end of Q2.
UPDATE (3/22/18): Ethorse has launched a bug bounty to stress test the security of its smart contracts and they are estimating the DApp to go live on mainnet no later than mid-April

FunFair
Subreddit

FunFair is a decentralised gaming technology platform which uses the Ethereum blockchain, smart contracts and their own Fate (State) Channels to deliver casino solutions with games that are “fun, fast and fair.” FunFair has been on testnet for many months now and the Showcase has been live for even longer. Currently on-boarding casino operators, FunFair is on schedule to launch with its first operator in early Q2.

FundRequest
Subreddit

FundRequest is a decentralized marketplace for open source collaboration. It introduces an easy and secure way to reward bugfixes and feature builds on any project. The FundRequest platform will be going live on mainnet in Q1-Q2 and will allow users to fund and crowdfund open source issues on GitHub using the FND token. Developers can claim the FND token after they’ve successfully resolved the GitHub issue. Q2 will also bring the ability to use any ERC-20 token to fund Open Source Issues on GitHub.

Giveth
Wiki

Giveth is an Open-Source Platform for Building Decentralized Altruistic Communities. The first working prototype of their “Minimum Loveable Product,” the Giveth Donation Application, is live on testnet and they “expect to fully open the platform for the public in March 2018.”

Golem
Subreddit

Golem has branded itself as “the worldwide supercomputer.” Golem Brass beta will be releasing on the mainnet before end of Q2, allowing users to sell their computing power and earn real GNT for the first time.

iExec
Subreddit

iExec is a decentralized cloud computing platform that is blockchain-based. Using a decentralized cloud that connects users to one another it aims to tackle the current limitations of centralized cloud computing that are holding business and innovation back.
- Launching in Q2, iExec 2.0 — Cloud Marketplace will include the full marketplace platform network, with the PoCo algorithm (Proof-of-Contribution) enabling the first decentralized cloud.

Kyber
Subreddit

Kyber network is an on-chain protocol which allows instant exchange and conversion of digital assets and cryptocurrencies with high liquidity. Launched on mainnet in February and was at first only available to people on the ICO whitelist but has since slowly started allowing new user on the platform. Currently only has a few tokens listed but that list will continue to grow and will hopefully bring along with it a surge in daily users/volume.

MakerDAO
Subreddit

MakerDao is a decentralized stable coin project that is currently live on mainnet. It is composed of two main parts: MKR and dai (both are ERC-20 tokens).
MKR is a governance token: "MKR holders are the highest authority in the Maker system - they govern the system and benefit financially when they govern it well, but they also have to foot the bill if things are mismanaged - as a group they need strong social cooperation and a vigilant attitude towards governance."
Dai is a decentralized stable coin that is price stabilized against the value of the U.S. Dollar. Dai is used in conjunction with their Oasisdex decentralized exchange, and their CDP (collaterized debt position) margin trading platform to offer "a full solution for global decentralized finance where everyone gets to benefit from the massive economies of scale that become available when global finance is done right."
- Currently, dai is only collateralized by Ether but multi-collateral dai will be released in Q2. This means dai will begin to be backed by gold (through DGX) and other ERC-20 tokens. Maker is also looking into collateralizing more traditional investments, like real estate, in the future.

This project can take a little time to understand, so here's a thorough ELIM5 walkthrough.

Melonport
Subreddit

The Melon protocol is a portal to digital asset management on the blockchain. The frontend operates on top of IPFS, while the backend leverages off a set of Ethereum smart contracts. Melonport just launched on mainnet and they currently have a bug bounty with 500 MLN in it. In a few weeks, the current version will be shut down for fixes and a new version will roll out. Melonport: "Disrupting the US$84.9 trillion asset management industry, one block at a time."

OmiseGO
Subreddit

OmiseGo is the Plasma decentralized exchange, hosting an open-source digital wallet platform created by parent company, Omise, connecting mainstream payments, cross-border remittances, and much more. They just had their White Label Wallet SDK public release.
In Q2, OmiseGO will deliver the OmiseGO network and lay the foundations in preparation for Plasma. In Q2 we will see the OmiseGO Proof of Stake public blockchain release, meaning staking will be possible.
(OMG’s cash in/out interface and the Plasma mainnet launch are scheduled for the tail end of 2018/early 2019. Learn more about Plasma from the most cheerful person I know, Karl Floersch, here

Request
Subreddit

Request is a decentralized network that allows anyone to request a payment for which the recipient can pay in a secure way. The first iteration of Request working with Ethereum on mainnet is still on track to launch before March 31. The code for mainnet is currently being audited and when the audits are done, a bug bounty program will follow.
UPDATE (3/16/18): Request is currently undergoing its second smart contract audit, which will be followed by a bug bounty program. Request is still on track to be released on mainnet on/before March 31, 2018.

Spankchain
Subreddit

A cryptoeconomic powered adult entertainment ecosystem built on the Ethereum network. Basically, a decentralized cam site (plus a lot more!) Launching on mainnet in Q2 is SpankChain Camsite v1 which will allow for ETH + ERC20 payments and public and private shows all while implementing a low 5% fee for performers (According to their whitepaper, most adult camsites take between a 30-50% cut of performer earnings on top of payment processing fees).
UPDATE (3/23/18): According to community manager Chase Cole, they are aiming to launch the camsite on April 2.
UPDATE (3/27/18): It's official - beginning April 2, the cam site beta program will give token holders and community members access to the initial closed beta shows.

status.im
Subreddit

A mobile Ethereum OS. Currently in Alpha with mainnet Beta scheduled before end of Q2 (likely even sooner).
(Bonus: some other cool working Ethereum OS apps: Cipher, Toshi and Trust Wallet

Streamr
Subreddit

Streamr tokenises streaming data to enable a new way for machines and people to trade it on a decentralised p2p network. The data marketplace will be coming to mainnet by March 31.

The 0x Protocol
Subreddit

0x is a protocol that facilitates trustless peer-to-peer exchange of ERC20 tokens. 0x protocol is free to use and allows anyone to create a decentralized exchange; we call these relayers. This isn’t a DApp, but allows for the creation of DApps.
A list of some of the DEXs, in varying states of development, that will be utilizing 0x:

Also, an informative article about some of the differences between the various decentralized exchange protocols here.

Some general Ethereum news to be excited about:

Vitalik recently hinted, in a since deleted tweet, that the sharding testnet will be coming online in the near future (I think Q2 isn’t too early a guess).
- What is sharding? Sharding is where the entire state of the network is split into a bunch of partitions called shards that contain their own independent piece of state and transaction history. In this system, certain nodes would process transactions only for certain shards, allowing the throughput of transactions processed in total across all shards to be much higher than having a single shard do all the work as the mainchain does now. [Source]

Alpha Casper FFG testnet has been successfully running since Dec. 31, 2017.
- What is Casper? Casper FFG aka Vitalik’s Casper is a hybrid POW/POS consensus mechanism. This is the version of Casper that is going to be implemented first. In a Proof of Stake system, validators stake a portion of their Ethers and start validating blocks. Meaning, when they discover a block which they think can be added to the chain, they will validate it by placing a bet on it. [Source]

(To stay up-to-date on Ethereum research development, check out Ethresear.ch)

The Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) is March 8-10 in Paris. Talks will focus around “scalability, anonymity, development tools, governance compliance” among other topics.
- Speakers include representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, Ledger, Metamask, Shapeshift, Oraclize, Uport, Web3Foundation, Melonport, ConsenSys, JP Morgan, Coinbase – Toshi, Parity, SpankChain, FunFair, Aragon, AirSwap, EEA, IExec, Cosmos, OmiseGO, Circle, Gnosis, among others.
- UPDATE: EthCC was a resounding success! If you missed it or want to re-watch any of the talks, check out this handy thread of videos, painstakingly culled and timestamped by u/alsomahler.
The Ethereum Developer Conference (EDCON) is May 3-5 in Toronto. This will be the biggest ETH dev conference since DEVCON 3 last November. The agenda is still being worked out, but speakers include representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, Polkadot, Parity, Plasma, OmiseGO, Cosmos, Tendermint, Giveth, Maker, Gnosis, and many others.
The Enterprise Ethereum Foundation (EEF) just keeps growing and growing and growing.

More, because I just can’t stop:

MetaMask recently passed 1 million installs!
5.6 billion requests per day for Infura.io (Decentralized web3 infrastructure)
280,000 downloads of TruffleSuit (ETH development framework)
[Source]

ConsenSys has grown to over 600 employees in six major offices located around the world. I personally think ConsenSys is important (and awesome) because they are huge Ethereum evangelists and provide (in)valuable resources to help bring DApps come to life!
- From their website: “The ConsenSys “hub” coordinates, incubates, accelerates and spawns “spoke” ventures through development, resource sharing, acquisitions, investments and the formation of joint ventures. These spokes benefit from foundational components built by ConsenSys that enable new services and business models to be built on the blockchain.”
- Several of the projects I listed above are ConSensys formations including AirSwap and MetaMask.

Thanks for reading this far! Hopefully it wasn’t too exhausting of a read.

I am certain I have forgotten some DApps, so please feel free to comment/PM any and all suggestions/corrections to make this list more informative/inclusive/accurate and I will update it.
TL;DR

Looking for your recommendations July 3-7

My first ever acid trip was at a Heavy Metal festival on a cruise ship

This is quite a long read, I am also not an english major or anything; so I apologize if my grammar is not 100% on point. I wrote down everything as I remembered it, most of it was written down right after my experience in early January. Hope you enjoy the read, there is a link to a spotify play list I made that displays the bands I was listening to on the boat, and some other honorable mentions who's music I feel fits the mood and attitude of what is going on.
Consuming Chaos
Introduction:
Before reading this, I have never once taken any psychedelics of any kind before. This day, my curiosity got the better of me, as I managed to lose my mind and regain it over the course of what felt like a million years. For those reading that do not know, this happened on 70,000 TONS OF METAL! The luxury mecca of heavy metal festivals; this is not some radio metal shit. This year contained amazing bands like Atheist, At the Gates, Candlemass, Devin Townsend, Emperor, Possessed, Wintersun among many other big hitters in the international metal scene. This particular experience happened on the last day of the boat. This day in particular on 70,000 tons of metal is an insane shit show of amazing bands, people dressing up in THE MOST RIDICULOUS costumes you can think of. Everyone is getting completely wasted, high, tripping balls, getting their hands on everything they can, and yet chaotically loving everything and everyone around them. For anyone who is interested I highly recommend going, this festival is an amazing big family of fun loving people.
(Side note: There is a playlist I made to follow the events and mood of my experience on the boat. I will post the setlist after the story, and where you can go listen to it.)
14:45 - Last day of 70k, Star Lounge
Wilderun has started playing "Far from Where Dreams Unfurl". After talking to my friend about acid, I finally give in to my own inhibitions. I start with one hit. Ask all the details, what to do, how to take it, what to expect, how long until it starts, and how long does it last. After Wilderun we head off to Soen for some Tool esque metal riffage. By the end of the set I start to feel light, almost like I'm floating. Meeting up with some friends I find myself starting to laugh uncontrollably at nothing. After eating some pizza, we head up to the pool deck for Finntroll.
16:30 - Pool Deck
I'm on the pool deck, Finntroll has started playing. The banners of the pool deck stage are down due to high winds, the sun is radiating down on the stage and crowd with a celestial warmth. They're dressed up like trolls??? With long ears, and crazy pagan style face paint. All the colors seem to be sticking out more than usual, I start to settle into my first trip, one that will be more ridiculous than I could have ever imagined. In the pit I can feel the ship moving down and dragging me with it, as the moshers jump, dance, and push each other around in joyous pandemonium. I think to myself "maybe they don't know that they will potentially push the ship right into the ocean" but my concerns are fleeting at this point, and I join in the chaos. Amongst the horde is a pink power ranger, thor, jesus with an infinity gauntlet, a Cutethulhu, (No I will not explain) Mugatu and many other ridiculous costumed metal heads. While committing myself to the heathen rituals, people's faces start to pop out more to me. Their features, eye colors, all of what seems to be their essence and auras reaching out to grab my eyes attention. At this point people start flying amongst the crowd to my amazement, I can do nothing but laugh at the madness. Halfway through the set my friends and I decided that we needed to catch November Doom's set, where I get into another laughing fit that lasts most of the way to the next concert.
17:00 - Studio B: Ice Rink
We reach the front stage, Novembers Doom starts off with this dark mix of death and doom metal that engulfs me in a sense of dread (but like fun dread). At first moving from the happy, joyful chaos of Finntrolls set, to this new black hole in the ship has me on edge; especially as this is when I find out Neil Peart is dead. But soon I find myself entranced by the melody's seeping forth from the stage. The music switches to a slow chorusy part with the dark clean vocals to match it. Accompanied by the strong waves of the ocean swaying the boat from side to side, and a beautiful woman who dressed up as some kind of spectre bounded by chains seems to be synchronized to the rhythm of this bleak dismal music. At this point I'm fully encapsulated in my trip, I find myself laughing and smiling at everything while also just swaying to the motion of this beautifully dark music. When the song ends, the singer states that he apologizes for playing "pussy shit, when this is a fucking metal cruise" another crowd member comments, and I losing all sense of keeping thoughts in my head decide that I am kind of offended that pussy isn't considered metal. So without missing a beat I yell out "I fucking love pussy". The singer taken aback by the statement responds with a " Wow man you can't say that out loud, there are women here". Offended again, though I decide to keep to myself, thinking over and over again "well duh there are women here, and they should know they are fucking metal and loved". But as I look back on it, I probably just come off as an intoxicated pervert. After another song we decide to leave so we can catch Toxik.
17:40 - Casino / Royal Theater
On our way to the next venue to see Toxik play all of "Think This" we walked through the casino and I was instantly mesmerized by the amazing colors reflecting off of every wall. Practically oozing out and reaching out to me like a visual sirens song. We keep going past it and end up watching Toxik. Though nothing special about, I heard the songs that I truly love off the album and I decided that I was too wet and filthy to be out and about. I leave the venue and walk back to my room, when I start another laughing fit that lasted the entire walk to the room. I ran into my good friend Matt and his entourage all dressed up as President Trump, Melania, and secret service escort; all of whom were definitely in character acting their part. Following up this hilarious ensemble was a group of very serious security guards looking for someone, and then and I leave this room I walk by a group of people sitting down listening to some man speaking. I was off put and confuzzled when I heard him say "sometimes partying is fun but the party has to end eventually". I thought I had just walked into an AA meeting, though I'm sure they we're just as insulted as I continually laugh my ass off at the insanity of this whole thing. I then get into an elevator where I stare at the wall mesmerized by the movement of this inanimate material. I get off on the wrong floor and walk two floors down when I go down a very dizzying hallway. End up in my room, shower, and now it is time for dinner.
18:45 - Fancy Dining Hall / Pool Deck
As I meet up with my friends, I am firmly believing I am not high enough (I was). So I take another hit of acid. At dinner we overpower the chefs with numbers. Food is taking forever to come out, and we start pounding on our tables creating a wave of people pounding on tables and slowly stopping, as it moves around the entire dining hall. My friend Nick and I get fed up waiting for food and decide to leave the dining hall after an hour ( I cannot believe these chefs put up with us). We end up on the pool deck as a nice warm wind is blowing, the moon is high in the sky, and Epica is playing their beautiful "Design your Universe" album. While never really being a fan of the band, I've been wanting to check them out. I definitely was not disappointed, as my next hit of acid started to sink in adding onto the effect of the previous one. I feel light, like I could fly. The guttural vocals set up the mood for some awesome heaviness, when out of nowhere I am brought down by this insanely beautiful voice of the female singer. I become completely enveloped by her very being. Her beauty is jaw dropping as her red hair is bleeding outwards in a sort of cloud. Her voice becomes all that I want to hear, and her dress seals the deal. Shining and reflecting light in a thousand directions, catching my eyes. I become obsessed trying to process every little atom of light beaming from her essence. Quickly though my squirrel like mind is distracted by the crazy keyboardist crowd surfing with his wacky portable keyboard. As I enjoy the music, I think to myself "I never brushed my teeth after I showered". I then run to my room, determined to clean my unholy mouth of its sins. I get there and my friends are there. I tell them "Epica is fucking killing it on the pool deck" they ask "why I am here?", I respond "to brush my teeth"... (and yet they think I'm the weird one). We then go back to Epica, where they are in fact, fucking killing it. After the show, I'm thirsty and must consume! At the bar I order a pina colada, and end up staring at the bar counter as the marble-like shapes start to morph into crazy geometric shapes. "I've entered a new world" I think to myself.
21:00 Wandering
I end up walking with friends, not really caring about conversation, or finding any of the amazing people I've been meeting on this cruise. Instead, I am looking for new shapes, new colors, new portals in which I can enter a world past the aether. We get to the shiny room (casino), a place of wonder and laughs a plenty. This is where I all of a sudden remember that my friend gave me my other friends acid. So I'm wandering with more fuel to enter the netherrealms, such endless potential being wasted in my pocket. I then carelessly give all the acid to two lovely girls I have just met. No idea why, I think I just didn't want drugs on me. I already have what I want in this world, endless laughter, and shiny things. Before Emperor goes on we decide to go back to my room for alcohol. Here we pack way too many lovely humans into the room, drinking, and enjoying each other's company. We decide to leave for the show, as my acid buddy decides to take the long way to the show by waving his hands, running, and screaming down the hallway. I was tragically left bending over against the wall, laughing my ass off to the ridiculousness.
22:00 - Pool Deck
Back on the pool deck the seductive, colorful music of Epica has long since faded. An eerie darkness has swallowed the night. Satanic magicks flow through the air, unleashing its blasphemous cacophony on the ears of feeble humans; the mighty Emperor is blasting away. The dim blue lights emanating from all around, as high winds are pushing the streams of a phantom's very being into reality, crisscrossing the crowd as the wind whips around every corner. I catch some of this ghost’s essence… oh wait this is just toilet paper. It's a toilet paper ghost. "Righteous" I think and laugh to myself. I run into the same two girls who I gave acid to in the depths of the shiny room, where I end up fiending for more. They so graciously provide me the last hit of acid, of which I quickly devour. May Satan bless these two awesome women.
23:30 - The Promenade / Studio B
I am walking to Sorrento's for endlessly alright pizza being served! I must consume before I search for alternate realities. Though I am sweating like a pig (just clammy from the acid) so I go back to my room to wash up again. Afterwards I teleport to the casino (no memory of how I got there), when one of my friends is saying that we all must see Havok and they are starting soon. Finally another quest to fulfill. I get there way before the show starts, I'm about to leave for a drink, when Havok starts playing Rush. I decide to stay, and all of a sudden President Trump and his entourage has arrived. This time taking up the center floor of the venue, not allowing anyone near him without a pat down and an ID check. The show has begun, and little did I know that reality was about to shift. A circle pit the likes of which I've never seen is forming around Donald Trump. I too join in this dance of death, not a path one walks, but a path one must stomp. After a healthy dose of killing, I stop while my friend Mugatu hands me his dog, sunglasses, and cigar. Takes an amazing picture of me and then joins in the dance. At this point I start to lose all sense of reality, my third hit is starting to take full effect. My eyes are barraged by the twisting and turning of 4th dimensional sacred geometry (or whatever you spiritual people), when a glitch in this realm forms out of the pit. The bass player is now both on the stage and in the crowd. A raver, cookie monster, Donald Trump, a clown, pink power Ranger, and more computer simulations keep forming from nowhere. I realize the fault in this simulation as it breaks down in my mind, and the crowd being visualized as other worldly fakes realizes I am aware of the break in their illusions. I then fill with anxiety realizing this was a game, I leave the venue, stuffing the fake dog in between two chairs.
00:10 Stuck between worlds
The walk back to my room is a complete blur, as I enter, my roommates are leaving. I then proceed to shower again, I get completely naked besides my shirt, and lay in bed. In total darkness, light appears from nowhere as I am being sucked into another dimension. I feel myself leave my body, unable to control the flow of shapes and colors assaulting my mind; I am gone. I start to focus and I reenter my body. Confused about what has happened, I realize I am stuck in this sick game. My fears come forth, manifested as a sick vision of colors, the sounds of deep reverberating throat singing; Ohm's of foreboding demise. I clench my fists, curl up, and feel as if my eyes are crawling into the back of my mind. Sight becomes a subconscious thought as a swirling discord of reflections within reflections twists and contorts my minds eye. I sweat profusely as the pain of existing in this unreality becomes overbearing. I lash out and scream for it to end, knowing full well that this nightmare is never ending, I look back on myself from up high and see the cosmos poor from my body as a slimy green ooze. I slowly drift down to this mortal coil and come back to this realm, never to re-enter that universe again.
00:20 till 05:00 Lost but Found
I lay melting once again, over the intercom "Alpha Alpha Alpha Deck 11, poolside". Someone must be hurt. I feel the urgent need to get up and help. But FIRST! I must shower. I get into the bathroom and decide there is no time for purifying my dreadful shell. I get dressed, and off I am to wander down this mind numbing hallway of geometric chaos, laughing at the thought of my friend Nick running and screaming down this hallway like a madman earlier. I find myself still laughing as I get off an elevator to find a man surrounded by medical personnel, he is bleeding, and all I can think is "these damn medics cannot even clean the air of his blood… Oh wait, I'm still high as fuck". I walk towards the pool deck to find Exodus is finalizing their "Bonded by Blood" set. When the almighty Andy "THA SKIPPA" (thinking in a boxing match announcers voice) comes out to greet the fans and update us on how awesome this year was, and what to expect next year. When he's done, he jumps into the crowd to surf the many waves of loyal boaters. Exodus then continues to do what they do best, thrash! They end their set with a wall of death, and the downright sinister commitment to do the TOXIC WALTZ! I skank this set away, and head down to the promenade for some late night pizza. I find my roommates and chat with them when I realize I need a god damn towel. I dry up, and continue wandering, enjoying the sites as the visions begin to fade. I am finally at the best place to end one's cruise. On the pool deck, enjoying karaoke, last minute partying and goodbyes with old and new friends. The night ends with me waiting for my brother to sing some muthatruckin Rammstein. I was supposed to film it, but as it is obvious by the lack of video online… I did not. I decide I am too tired, I must go back to my room and discover how such primitive non celestial magic wielding humans sleep again. I take a long walk back to my room, hoping to see some faces that I did not get a chance to say goodbye to. Maybe I'll see someone who gets to enjoy one of my overbearing hugs of death, but alas that was not the case. I head to bed, I lay my head and realize once again, that even though this whole reality is a sham, I fucking love all these people.
Playlist:
Link:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IMm5RCoPCWFxa4T934YTT?si=4cDHiARMRVCPEfPAAYxglQ

14:45 Star Lounge -

Wilderun - Far from Where Dreams Unfurl
Soen - Lascivious

16:30 Pool Deck -

Finntroll - Trollhammeren
Finntroll - Blodsvept

17:00 Studio B -

Novembers Doom - Ghost
Novembers Doom - Ever After

17:40 Casino / Royal Theater -

Toxik - Think This
Toxik - Greed

18:45 Fancy Dining Hall -

Wintersun - Starchild
Epica - Our Destiny
Epica - Burn to a Cinder

21:00 Wandering -

At the Gates - The Colours of the Beast
At the Gates - World of Lies
Devin Townsend - Love?

22:00 Pool Deck -

Emperor - Into the Infinity of Thoughts
Emperor - Curse You All Men!

23:30 The Promenade / Studio B

Ihsahn - Celestial Violence
Havok - F.P.C
Havok - Hang Em’ High
Havok - Ingsoc

00:10 Stuck Between Worlds

Atheist - Piece of Time
Vio-lence - Phobophobia
Wintersun - Beautiful Death
Wintersun - Death and the Healing

00:20 Lost but Found -

Havok - Wake Up
Exodus - Bonded by Blood
Exodus - The Toxic Waltz

Sometime before 05:00 on the Pool Deck - Karaoke songs

Molotov - Puto
Queen - Don’t Stop Me Now!
Rammstein - Mein Herz Brennt

Las Vegas trip report (restaurant heavy)

I went on vacation to Las Vegas with my wife from July 2nd-7th. This was my 5th trip and our 3rd together. Here's my (excessively long) trip report:
Hotel
This time we stayed at the Cosmopolitan, and we had a Terrace Studio Fountain View room. It was our first stay at Cosmo (I'd been to Wynn, Luxor, Aria Sky Suites, and Bellagio previously), and the hotel was great. I thought our room was nicer than the one we had at Bellagio last year and for a cheaper price (friend who is a travel agent got us a pretty good deal). Literally the only downside I can think of is not being able to listen to the fountain music on TV. We were in the Chelsea Tower (which is larger than Boulevard), and had a great balcony view.
Cosmo definitely attracts a younger crowd than some of the other casinos on the strip- lots of people in their 20s and 30s staying here. There are two main pools, one in each tower. When we went down to the Chelsea Pool around 11am on the 3rd, literally every seat was already taken. Note: Chelsea Tower is much larger than Boulevard, but its pool is much smaller. We hiked over to the Boulevard Pool and settled in. Great view looking over the strip with a livlier atmosphere than you'll find at the Bellagio's pools. Also worth noting the water is pretty shallow- no more than 4' deep. The most amusing part of our swimming experience was watching an Asian kid, probably 10 years old, swim all around the place, bumping in to every other group there, and saying hi. Seemed odd that he was basically on his own at that age, but he was clearly having a helluva time.
One of the best parts about Cosmo is its location- right in the center of the strip, which makes an easy walk to most of the other casinos. It has a great selection of restaurants (see below) and modern decor as well. One notable omission in my opinion is it doesn't have any shows/productions in house. The casino also doesn't have a poker room, but I didn't end up playing during this trip anyhow. Easy walk to the Bellagio or Aria poker rooms regardless.
Checkin to the hotel was very easy. Our flight got in to Vegas at about 8am on Sunday, so the room wasn't ready yet when we arrived. They took down all my info, and we left our bags with the bellhop. They sent a text message when the room was ready around noon, and they brought the bags up to our room. I used the online checkout on Friday morning. Easy peasy.
Uber
Side note- I'd never used Uber before this trip. Definitely recommend it for others in the same boat. Cheap/easy to use, and I liked riding with the average Uber driver more than the average cabbie. Each hotel has its own pickup/dropoff location for UbeLyft- just ask any employee, and they'll point you in the right direction. I never had to wait more than five minutes to get my ride.
Shows/attractions
The only show we saw on this trip was Ka at the MGM Grand. I'd pretty much recommend any Cirque du Soleil show on the strip- they're all pretty amazing. O at the Bellagio is probably my favorite, but Ka was great in its own right. Supposedly it's unique among Cirque shows in that it has a big storyline, but uh... I'd just say there's not much of one. Amusing moment before the show: I get a text message from my wife, who is sitting right next to me. "Am I sitting next to a drag queen?" I looked over. Yes, yes you are.
We also made a trip to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. I felt like the line for tickets was pretty absurdly long. I realized the reason for that when we got in- the whole aquarium was about half as big as I expected, so they needed to keep the flow of people in fairly slow. Having said that, the exhibits they did have were great, and there was no shortage of staff floating around to answer any questions you might have. Definitely a good spot to bring the family to in Vegas.
Food
The biggest reason we love Vegas is the food. Yes, my wife and I are the annoying people who post pictures of thier food on Facebook. The great thing about Vegas is there's multiple restaurant for just about any cuisine you can imagine right on the strip.
Wicked Spoon Buffet at Cosmopolitan (7-2-17 brunch): I like to hit up a buffet once whenever I visit Vegas, and none have disappointed. These places definitely aren't the Golden Corral. Our flight got in pretty early Sunday, so stuffing ourselves at the buffet and having extra time before dinner seemed like a good idea. To start things off, I'm a sucker for an omelette station, so I grabbed a Denver style omelette. Added some cheesy hash brown casserole (one of the best things I had), and a verrine. I have no idea what a verrine is, but it was basically a shot glass filled with mashed avocado, grapefruit, and a bit of crab. Good stuff. Had I stopped here, I would have had a normal sized brunch by most people's standards. Of course the entire point of a Vegas buffet is getting full value by stuffing yourself so full you can't walk, so I made more trips.
Next up I grabbed a jerk chicken thigh, a few pieces of spicy tuna sushi, some house-made italian sausage, and yogurt/fruit. The jerk chicken was perfect in that after the first bite I thought- that's not that spicy. 3 bites in, I'm feeling it a bit. By the end, I'm chugging my coffee/juice.
Finally it was time for dessert. When I first visited Vegas back in 2005, my friend informed me that the #1 rule of Vegas buffets is that you must try the bread pudding. You are not supposed to question the reasoning behind the rule, nor are you supposed to debate whether it's necessary. You simply do it. Wicked Spoon featured a bourbon white chocolate bread pudding. It was good, but I wasn't sure what to make of it since it tasted more like butterscotch than bourbon to me. I also had half a mango danish and some little chocolate tart. I thought I was done at this point until my wife brought back some gelato. I couldn't sit there and watch her eat, so I ended up getting some coconut-lime gelato for myself. The selection is pretty ridiculous- about 18 flavors to choose from. After the gelato, I finally waved the white flag.
Picasso at Bellagio (7-2-17 dinner): We've been wanting to visit Picasso for a while now. I was going to book a reservation here for our honeymoon back in 2014, but as it turns out they typically take a 2 week vacation in July every year. We ran into the same problem last year, but they were open on Sunday the 2nd this time before closing. Finally, we had our chance.
Picasso is basically fancy-pants French fine dining at its best. If you've ever seen the movie Ocean's Eleven, the restaurant scene was filmed there. We were seated at a table next to the window with the Bellagio fountain outside, and my wife had a real Picasso painting above her shoulder. So uh... not bad. I wore a suit and tie, but you really don't need to- wear khakis and a nice shirt, and you'll fit in fine.
We both ordered from the four course prix fixe tasting menu. My goal when eating out at nice places is to get stuff I don't cook myself / haven't tried much before. First course I got the poached oysters. The dish was basically smooth, melt-in-your-mouth like butter. Next up was the foie gras. This was the second time I've foie gras, and I've decided it's just not my thing. I could tell it was prepared properly, but I just don't think it has much flavor. The rhubarb chutney on the side was good, though. For the entree, I had the roasted milk-fed veal chop. After the first bite I literally started laughing, basically thinking, "Where has this been all my life?" Literally one of the best things I've ever eaten. If I had to nitpick, it was cooked a touch rare for my liking. But it was amazing. I wanted a lighter dessert given how much food I'd stuffed myself with that day, so I got a pineapple tart with prickly pear sorbet. Almost too pretty to eat.
Picasso is definitely the type of restaurant you take your date to if you're wanting to impress them. I like Le Cirque a bit more based on my two trips there previously. Le Cirque is a much smaller restaurant, just feels like a more intimate setting, and the service seemed a little more personal. But really you can't go wrong either way. Also, it was a nice touch seeing the chef, Julian Serrano, as we left the restaurant.
China Poblano at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 lunch): The best way to explain China Poblano is that it seems like one person wanted to start up a Mexican restaurant at Cosmo, one person wanted to start up a Chinese restaurant, and then some executive asked, "Why don't we have both?" There are literally two different kitchens in the same restaurant, and the food is served tapas style- dishes just come out one by one whenever they're ready.
We started off with the queso fundido for an appetizer- pretty standard stuff. I ordered two tacos from the Mexican menu, one taco suadero (brisket), one carnitas. The brisket was good, the carnitas was great. Because if eating a taco with pork rinds on it is wrong, then I don't want to be right. I decided to get Mongolian beef lettuce from the Chinese menu, because I remember reading an IAMA from a Chinese restaurant owner a while back who said that was one of the best things on the menu that people rarely ordered. And he was right. We skipped dessert since our stomachs were still half full from eating the day before.
Estiatorio Milos at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dinner): Milos is proof that food doesn't have to be fancy to be fantastic. They just use high-quality ingredients, use a simple preparation, and let the food do the talking. The neat part about this place is that they really don't have specific fish on the menu. Instead you walk up to the fish case, pick out the one you want, and let your server know how you want it prepared. And marvel at the produce while you're at it.
We ordered the tzatziki as an appetizer, and at first I wasn't going to take a picture of it since it's just tzatziki. And then I tasted it. And I decided it deserved a picture- the best I've ever had. Next up was a Greek salad which was ridiculously good. Those definitely aren't the tomatoes you buy at Kroger. We chose lithrini, which seemed like a generic white fish, for our entree. Pan-seared with lemon, capers, and herbs. Some basic potatoes and broccoli for our sides. Milos is one of our top recommendations for people visiting Vegas.
Milk Bar at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dessert): We skipped dessert at Milos because we wanted to try out the Milk Bar. I grabbed one of the much-hyped compost cookies, which I actually thought was nothing special, and a spiked chocolate malt milkshake. The shake was awesome. I ended up coming back later in the trip and got a spiked coffee shake as well. Not sure they're worth $12 apiece, but you're in Vegas, so what the hell.
Eiffel Tower Restaurant (7-4-17 lunch): My wife had put this on the list of places to visit a month ahead of time, so we ended up going here for lunch. You enter the restaurant by going up an elevator in the main floor of the casino, and the doors open to give you a nice view of the kitchen. I always like restaurants where you can see people work in an open kitchen, so I thought this was a nice touch. We had reservations for when the restaurant opened, so we managed to snag one of the best tables in the place with a great view of the strip. We started off with the cheese tray as an appetizer, which was most notable for the honeycomb. I think that's the first time I've ever had real honeycomb, and it was delicious. I decided to go brunch-ish for my meal and order the lobster eggs benedict, which was easily the best eggs benedict I've ever had. We shared a frozen strawberry souffle for dessert, and the best compliment I can give about this is that we immediately began looking up recipes to make our own when we got back to our hotel room. Overall a great meal, and I think we'll head back here for dinner during our next trip to Vegas.
Tetsu at Aria (7-4-17 dinner): I'd wanted to visit a Japanese steakhouse while in town (especially since the favorite place in my town was run down by new ownership and closed), and I was a little surprised to find there weren't many options. Tetsu is actually a sectioned off portion of the BarMasa restaurant in Aria, and you can order sushi from BarMasa's menu while there. Which I did. I'm far from a sushi connoisseur, but I thought it tasted like a standard salmon roll- good, but I wasn't blown away by it or anything.
As far as the hibachi grill itself goes, the first thing to note is that the chefs basically just prepare the food in front of you but don't put on any sort of show. So if you're wanting to impress the family with a flaming onion volcano and eggs juggled on a spatula, this isn't your place. It's about the food, and the food was fantastic. I had the whole lobster, which is every bit as good as it looks. The chili shrimp cilantro fried rice was as good as the lobster, and I had some brussels sprouts on the side. My wife got the fingerling potatoes as a more photogenic side dish to her chicken. They also serve prime A5 Japanese Ohmi beef, but I couldn't justify spending $132 on a 4 oz steak. We had chocolate sesame ice cream for dessert, and the sesame was actually a lot stronger than I thought it would be (might actually put some people off).
Of course one of the fun parts of eating at these places is talking to people seated with you at the table. One of the ladies next to us teased a server, trying to get his name badge, Harvey (definitely not his given name), since apparently a guy named Harvey founded the golf club she worked at. Even went so far as to summon the manager to see if she could get the badge, but ultimately she failed in her negotiations. Everyone at the table had a laugh about the situation.
Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay (7-5-17 lunch): We were looking for a lunch spot down on this end of the strip before heading to the aquarium, and the Burger Bar (actually located in a walkway between Mandalay Bay and Luxor) came recommended by several people. To start with, they had a great beer menu. I ordered the classic bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Great burger, cooked perfectly. I know there are several excellent burger joints on the strip, so it's probably not worth making a special trip far out of your way to come here. It's a great option if you want a burger and are on the south end of the strip, though.
Lemongrass at Aria (7-5-17 dinner): Next up, some Thai food. We had some pot stickers for an appetizer, which I thought were pretty average. Nothing to stand out here from your average takeout in either taste or presentation. My wife decided to order some wonton soup to share, and I'm glad she did. It was freakin' amazing- easily the best part of the meal. I wanted something light for my meal, so I ordered the garlic and lime steamed cod. The surprised reaction of the waitress seemed to imply that nobody ever ordered that. It was good, but you better love lime if you get it.
As luck would have it, the one time we received poor (exceptionally slow) service on the trip was when we had our meal before a show. We had to skip dessert so that we could make it down to MGM Grand in time to see Ka.
Olives at Bellagio (7-6-17 lunch): We thought about hitting up Lago for lunch, but since we were headed to Sinatra for dinner we wanted to avoid back to back Italian. Olives had a nice deal on a 3 course prix fixe lunch menu, so we ordered from that. I had the Caesar salad to start, followed it up with fish and chips, and finished it off with tiramisu. A bit of an odd combo, but a good meal. Nothing exceptional. Great server, though.
Sinatra at Encore (7-6-17 dinner): Another place we'd wanted to visit on previous trips but never had a chance to. There's tons of Frank Sinatra themed memorabilia in the place, including a Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar as you walk in the door. I'd describe the place as lively but classy as hell- which is pretty much what you'd want when going to a Rat Pack themed place.
To start off with, I ordered an Old Fashioned. It's one of my favorite drinks to order because everyone does it differently, and you never know what you're going to get. Well, it was the best Old Fashioned I've had in my left. I meant to ask the waiter what type of boorbon they used, but ultimately forgot. We ended up sharing the estiva for an appetizer, which is basically a watermelon salad. I ordered the gnochetti for my entree, which tasted great, but the portion size kind of left me wondering where the rest of it was. We shared the panna cotta for dessert, which was as good as it looked.
Eggslut at Cosmopolitan (7-7-17 breakfast): Eggslut is a casual stand at Cosmo that pretty much sells egg sandwiches all day long. I had the Fairfax with bacon, which is pretty much what they're known for. I think the reason why it was such a great sandwich was they kept the eggs inside creamy, whereas most breakfast sandwiches have the eggs cooked hard as a rock. When you walk up to the place your first thought is- whoa! Only $8... finally a reasonably priced meal. And then you realize they charge $5 for a cup of coffee or orange juice, and you remember you're still in Vegas. Regardless, this place is a good stop for breakfast or a late night snack.
Overall a great trip. Can't wait to go back again and try some different places.

Vegas with family Oct 27th to Nov 1st

Ethereum's future is bright, the DApps are coming! (x-post from r/ethtrader)

The DApps are coming, the DApps are coming!

On to the DApps:

Airswap
Subreddit

AirSwap is a decentralized exchange for trading Ethereum based tokens. It allows its users to trade tokens in a peer-to-peer fashion across the Ethereum blockchain. The token trader is currently live, in a limited capacity, trading AST and (W)ETH.
More token pairs will be added before the end of the Q1, as part of the upcoming release, Token Marketplace. A mobile app is also in development and will be entering beta soon.

Aragon
Subreddit

Aragon is a project that aims to disintermediate the creation and maintenance of decentralized organizational structures by using blockchain technology. "We provide the tools for anyone to become an entrepreneur and run their own organization, to take control of their own lives." Originally slated for a February release, Aragon Core v0.5 (which is a fully functioning version of the DApp on mainnet) should be released any day now.

Augur
Subreddit

Augur is a fully-decentralized, open-source prediction market platform built on the Ethereum blockchain for any and all predictive markets. Augur Beta is currently live on Kovan testnet and launch is “months away.”
In order to mitigate bugs and problems, the first market on mainnet will be something along the lines of 'Will there be a critical vulnerability discovered in Augur by a certain date?” Given Augur’s development history, this could be launching a little after Q2, but the progress looks promising.
UPDATE (3/7/18): Contract audits are complete and the full audit report of augur-core will be released next week. "Some work still being down on UI, Augur Node, and additional screens." Next step is the bug bounty (first prediction market on Augur).
UPDATE (3/12/18): Core security audit report is released following a four-month long audit by Zeppelin. Augur's contracts are ready to ship and "over the coming weeks we plan to release more details around a bug bounty program and market."

BlockCAT
Subreddit

BlockCAT lets anyone create, manage, and deploy smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain with just a few clicks. No programming required. BlockCAT will be releasing their first visual smart contract on the mainnet on March 14 (the full details of exactly what this contract does, will also be released when it goes live.)
UPDATE (3/14/18): BlockCAT's first visual smart contract, Tabby Pay, has been released on mainnet. Tabby Pay is a smart contract that’s built to prevent user error - if you send Ether to the wrong wallet, you can cancel the payment and your Ether will be returned.

Digix
Subreddit

Digix is a DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization) and is composed of two main parts: DGD and DGX, both of which are ERC-20 tokens.
- DGD is a governance token that allows holders to vote on proposals that are submitted for the growth of the Digix ecosystem and offers rewards to holders on the basis of their successful contribution to the Digix Ecosystem.
- DGX is a gold-backed token and is slated for a public market release by end of Q1 2018. DGX is backed by physical gold on a basis of 1 token to 1 gram of gold. "DGX represents value on the blockchain that can be retained over time with relatively little volatility; giving it greater utility than Ether for a wide range of use-cases. Retail, Rentals, Salaries, Commerce, Lending, Wealth Management."
UPDATE (3/13/18): DGX will be launching on mainnet this week and Digix will be partnering with Kyber Network to be the first decentralized exchange to offer their asset tokens (like DGX) against ETH at launch.
UPDATE (3/23/18): The first couple thousand DGX have been created on mainnet and the marketplace opens on April 8. Prior to that, the KYC Whitelist will open on March 26

Ethorse
Subreddit

Ethorse is a DApp for betting on the price of Cryptocurrencies and winning ETH from everyone who bets against you. Users bet with ETH on one of the listed coins or tokens to have the highest price gain in a fixed period. Currently live on the Kovan testnet, with mainnet launch before end of Q2.
UPDATE (3/22/18): Ethorse has launched a bug bounty to stress test the security of its smart contracts and they are estimating the DApp to go live on mainnet no later than mid-April

FunFair
Subreddit

FunFair is a decentralised gaming technology platform which uses the Ethereum blockchain, smart contracts and their own Fate (State) Channels to deliver casino solutions with games that are “fun, fast and fair.” FunFair has been on testnet for many months now and the Showcase has been live for even longer. Currently on-boarding casino operators, FunFair is on schedule to launch with its first operator in early Q2.

FundRequest
Subreddit

FundRequest is a decentralized marketplace for open source collaboration. It introduces an easy and secure way to reward bugfixes and feature builds on any project. The FundRequest platform will be going live on mainnet in Q1-Q2 and will allow users to fund and crowdfund open source issues on GitHub using the FND token. Developers can claim the FND token after they’ve successfully resolved the GitHub issue. Q2 will also bring the ability to use any ERC-20 token to fund Open Source Issues on GitHub.

Giveth
Wiki

Giveth is an Open-Source Platform for Building Decentralized Altruistic Communities. The first working prototype of their “Minimum Loveable Product,” the Giveth Donation Application, is live on testnet and they “expect to fully open the platform for the public in March 2018.”

Golem
Subreddit

Golem has branded itself as “the worldwide supercomputer.” Golem Brass beta will be releasing on the mainnet before end of Q2, allowing users to sell their computing power and earn real GNT for the first time.

iExec
Subreddit

iExec is a decentralized cloud computing platform that is blockchain-based. Using a decentralized cloud that connects users to one another it aims to tackle the current limitations of centralized cloud computing that are holding business and innovation back.
- Launching by March 31, iExec 2.0 — Cloud Marketplace will include the full marketplace platform network, with the PoCo algorithm (Proof-of-Contribution) enabling the first decentralized cloud.

Kyber
Subreddit

Kyber network is an on-chain protocol which allows instant exchange and conversion of digital assets and cryptocurrencies with high liquidity. Launched on mainnet in February and was at first only available to people on the ICO whitelist but has since slowly started allowing new user on the platform. Currently only has a few tokens listed but that list will continue to grow and will hopefully bring along with it a surge in daily users/volume.

MakerDAO
Subreddit

MakerDao is a decentralized stable coin project that is currently live on mainnet. It is composed of two main parts: MKR and dai (both are ERC-20 tokens).
MKR is a governance token: "MKR holders are the highest authority in the Maker system - they govern the system and benefit financially when they govern it well, but they also have to foot the bill if things are mismanaged - as a group they need strong social cooperation and a vigilant attitude towards governance."
Dai is a decentralized stable coin that is price stabilized against the value of the U.S. Dollar. Dai is used in conjunction with their Oasisdex decentralized exchange, and their CDP (collaterized debt position) margin trading platform to offer "a full solution for global decentralized finance where everyone gets to benefit from the massive economies of scale that become available when global finance is done right."
- Currently, dai is only collateralized by Ether but multi-collateral dai will be released in Q2. This means dai will begin to be backed by gold (through DGX) and other ERC-20 tokens. Maker is also looking into collateralizing more traditional investments, like real estate, in the future.

This project can take a little time to understand, so here's a thorough ELIM5 walkthrough.

Melonport
Subreddit

The Melon protocol is a portal to digital asset management on the blockchain. The frontend operates on top of IPFS, while the backend leverages off a set of Ethereum smart contracts. Melonport just launched on mainnet and they currently have a bug bounty with 500 MLN in it. In a few weeks, the current version will be shut down for fixes and a new version will roll out. Melonport: "Disrupting the US$84.9 trillion asset management industry, one block at a time."

OmiseGO
Subreddit

OmiseGo is the Plasma decentralized exchange, hosting an open-source digital wallet platform created by parent company, Omise, connecting mainstream payments, cross-border remittances, and much more. They just had their White Label Wallet SDK public release.
In Q2, OmiseGO will deliver the OmiseGO network and lay the foundations in preparation for Plasma. In Q2 we will see the OmiseGO Proof of Stake public blockchain release, meaning staking will be possible.
(OMG’s cash in/out interface and the Plasma mainnet launch are scheduled for the tail end of 2018/early 2019. Learn more about Plasma from the most cheerful person I know, Karl Floersch, here

Request
Subreddit

Request is a decentralized network that allows anyone to request a payment for which the recipient can pay in a secure way. The first iteration of Request working with Ethereum on mainnet is still on track to launch before March 31. The code for mainnet is currently being audited and when the audits are done, a bug bounty program will follow.
UPDATE (3/16/18): Request is currently undergoing its second smart contract audit, which will be followed by a bug bounty program. Request is still on track to be released on mainnet on/before March 31, 2018.

Spankchain
Subreddit

A cryptoeconomic powered adult entertainment ecosystem built on the Ethereum network. Basically, a decentralized cam site (plus a lot more!) Launching on mainnet in Q2 is SpankChain Camsite v1 which will allow for ETH + ERC20 payments and public and private shows all while implementing a low 5% fee for performers (According to their whitepaper, most adult camsites take between a 30-50% cut of performer earnings on top of payment processing fees).
UPDATE (3/23/18): According to community manager Chase Cole, they are aiming to launch the camsite on April 2.

status.im
Subreddit

A mobile Ethereum OS. Currently in Alpha with mainnet Beta scheduled before end of Q2 (likely even sooner).
(Bonus: some other cool working Ethereum OS apps: Cipher, Toshi and Trust Wallet

Streamr
Subreddit

Streamr tokenises streaming data to enable a new way for machines and people to trade it on a decentralised p2p network. The data marketplace will be coming to mainnet by March 31.

The 0x Protocol
Subreddit

0x is a protocol that facilitates trustless peer-to-peer exchange of ERC20 tokens. 0x protocol is free to use and allows anyone to create a decentralized exchange; we call these relayers. This isn’t a DApp, but allows for the creation of DApps.
A list of some of the DEXs, in varying states of development, that will be utilizing 0x:

Also, an informative article about some of the differences between the various decentralized exchange protocols here.

Some general Ethereum news to be excited about:

Vitalik recently hinted, in a since deleted tweet, that the sharding testnet will be coming online in the near future (I think Q2 isn’t too early a guess).
- What is sharding? Sharding is where the entire state of the network is split into a bunch of partitions called shards that contain their own independent piece of state and transaction history. In this system, certain nodes would process transactions only for certain shards, allowing the throughput of transactions processed in total across all shards to be much higher than having a single shard do all the work as the mainchain does now. [Source]

Alpha Casper FFG testnet has been successfully running since Dec. 31, 2017.
- What is Casper? Casper FFG aka Vitalik’s Casper is a hybrid POW/POS consensus mechanism. This is the version of Casper that is going to be implemented first. In a Proof of Stake system, validators stake a portion of their Ethers and start validating blocks. Meaning, when they discover a block which they think can be added to the chain, they will validate it by placing a bet on it. [Source]

(To stay up-to-date on Ethereum research development, check out Ethresear.ch)

The Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) is March 8-10 in Paris. Talks will focus around “scalability, anonymity, development tools, governance compliance” among other topics.
- Speakers include representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, Ledger, Metamask, Shapeshift, Oraclize, Uport, Web3Foundation, Melonport, ConsenSys, JP Morgan, Coinbase – Toshi, Parity, SpankChain, FunFair, Aragon, AirSwap, EEA, IExec, Cosmos, OmiseGO, Circle, Gnosis, among others.
- UPDATE: EthCC was a resounding success! If you missed it or want to re-watch any of the talks, check out this handy thread of videos, painstakingly culled and timestamped by u/alsomahler.
The Ethereum Developer Conference (EDCON) is May 3-5 in Toronto. This will be the biggest ETH dev conference since DEVCON 3 last November. The agenda is still being worked out, but speakers include representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, Polkadot, Parity, Plasma, OmiseGO, Cosmos, Tendermint, Giveth, Maker, Gnosis, and many others.
The Enterprise Ethereum Foundation (EEF) just keeps growing and growing and growing.

More, because I just can’t stop:

MetaMask recently passed 1 million installs!
5.6 billion requests per day for Infura.io (Decentralized web3 infrastructure)
280,000 downloads of TruffleSuit (ETH development framework)
[Source]

ConsenSys has grown to over 600 employees in six major offices located around the world. I personally think ConsenSys is important (and awesome) because they are huge Ethereum evangelists and provide (in)valuable resources to help bring DApps come to life!
- From their website: “The ConsenSys “hub” coordinates, incubates, accelerates and spawns “spoke” ventures through development, resource sharing, acquisitions, investments and the formation of joint ventures. These spokes benefit from foundational components built by ConsenSys that enable new services and business models to be built on the blockchain.”
- Several of the projects I listed above are ConSensys formations including AirSwap and MetaMask.

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Ethereum's future is bright, the DApps are coming!

The DApps are coming, the DApps are coming!

On to the DApps:

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Looking for your recommendations July 3-7

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Ethereum's future is bright, the DApps are coming! (x-post from r/ethtrader)

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