I've been reading a lot of posts about going freelance and honestly most of the advice sounds great until you start asking the hard questions. Like yes, I get it, build a portfolio, pick a niche, start on platforms. But what nobody seems to address clearly is the part where you're working with clients in different countries and suddenly you're supposed to know the tax implications, what contract structures hold up legally, and how cross-border payments even work without losing a chunk to fees.

I'm a UX designer currently employed full-time and I've had two clients approach me about freelance work this year. Both are based outside my country. I want to take them on but every time I try to figure out the logistics I end up in a rabbit hole that goes nowhere useful. Compliance requirements, contractor vs employee classification, whether I need to register a business entity first, it just piles up.

I'm genuinely skeptical when people say 'just use X tool and it handles everything' because in my experience those claims never hold up when you get into the specifics. So I guess my question is: for those of you who have actually figured out how to become a freelancer working with international clients, what did the process actually look like? Did any tools genuinely handle the legal and payment side or did you still end up doing most of it manually?

Wouldn't it be nice if we all just had one day where we can say whatever we want to customers? It sucks that there's a Customer Service day or week and we're still taking all the sh*t of these rude, entitled, dumb, customers like we're the punching bag of their own incompetence.

Oh the things I would say...

I’ve been experimenting with dictation for early drafts, mostly for scenes, chapter outlines, nonfiction sections, and those random ideas that disappear if I wait too long to write them down.

I’m not expecting voice-to-text to give me polished prose. The main benefit has been getting words on the page faster, especially when I already know the general idea but keep getting stuck staring at a blank document. I’ve tried a few tools, and Voicedash has been helpful for turning spoken rough drafts into readable text that I can revise afterward. I’ve also experimented with tools like Otter, Google Docs voice typing, and Dragon, depending on whether I’m capturing ideas on the go or working at my desk.

For me, it works best when I treat the dictated version as raw material. I still rewrite heavily, but editing a messy draft is a lot easier than building one from nothing. I’ve found that pairing dictation with outlining tools, note-taking apps, or AI-assisted editing tools can make the process smoother, since I can organize ideas first and then clean up the draft afterward.

For anyone who writes this way, do you dictate straight into your manuscript, or do you keep a separate “rough draft” doc and move things over once they’re cleaned up? Also, are there any complementary tools or workflows you’ve found especially useful alongside dictation?

Ok, 7 months since we launched, and we finally got around to working on the blog, and it immediately became obvious the native blog is VERY limited.

However, there's like 100 apps on the marketplace, and most of them are AI auto blog tools. We will use AI to help with content, but I don't want to publish AI slop, and I'm thinking most of these might not give us the actual blog capabilities we need? Then I see page builders that come with some blog functionality, but that also doesn't seem like the way to go, as we don't need a new builder for anything else.

We're looking to start publishing in July, so don't really have the time to test 5-10 apps and find a winner, and honestly don't want to risk installing and removing that many apps.

Should we look into WordPress, or is there something on the app store that can actually give us a great blog?

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So Avia finally put out the official announcement for the 8 Ball Strike Cup that starts June 12. Runs through July 17.
Not gonna lie, the format actually looks legit. Group stage is June 12 to June 25, they split everyone into 32 groups and the top 32 from each group move forward. No rewards for that part, just survival. Then playoffs start June 26 with a 50k bonus cash prize pool,
But the thing that got me more interested is they brought in two commentators for this whole thing. Venom and Troydan.
I’ve followed Venom for years，the dude is a real world pool player, not just some mobile game influencer. He does insane trick shots and has actually broken down pro-level 8-ball and 9-ball strategy before. In 2020 he wrote this whole piece about racking and breaking techniques, going ball by ball on which pockets to target. I’m pretty sure he’s the only person commentating a mobile esports event who could actually beat most of the players.
Having Venom do the serious shot-by-shot breakdown while Troydan roasts everyone in between rounds? That’s actually a solid pairing. July 16-17 live stream might actually be worth watching. Curious if anyone else has seen these two commentate before.

My cat goes outside most of the time but has a backup tray indoors, and I've started scooping into poop bags rather than dumping the whole liner every time. It's cleaner and less wasteful. The problem is I keep buying bags that either tear when you stretch them or feel so thin you're one poke away from disaster.

I've tried a couple of the ones that advertise themselves as biodegradable, but honestly half of them feel like they're already halfway to composted before I've even used them. Weak seams, no grip, impossible to tie.

Does anyone use a specific brand for this? Doesn't have to be marketed as a cat product specifically, I just want something that holds. Bonus if it's not wrapped in ten layers of plastic packaging to tell me how responsible it is.

Flairing this as rant because apparently mods will hate me for hating these posts. Everyone's allowed to rant right mods?

Every single unreasonable complaint you have about the game only exists because YOU created the problems in the first place.

-rigged rolls? since the tutorial, you already know what you're in for, you know it's going to be randomized, that means YOU WILL LOSE, A LOT. THAT'S NORMAL. You know what's not normal? WINNING EVERY SINGLE TIME BECAUSE YOU THREW A TANTRUM AT REDDIT. IT'S NORMAL TO LOSE. But if you keep winning every time you don't bat a single eyelash, you just think it's how it's supposed to be. YOU CREATED THAT ILLUSION, NOT THE GAME.

-no NEW stickers? YES. THAT'S HOW TCGs WORK. Packs NEVER guarantee NEW STICKERS. THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF IT BEING A COLLECTION SYSTEM. Just because you're close to finishing the album doesn't mean the game will spoon feed you every win. THAT'S PART OF THE EFFIN CHALLENGE.

-forced to make you pay? how? did it summon a gun to your face and force you to buy stuff? NO IT DIDN'T. YOU MADE THAT EXCUSE UP BECAUSE YOU LACK THE SELF CONTROL. IT'S A FREE GAME!

-you spent money but still doesn't win? YES. IT'S A FREE GAME. It was never pay 2 win to begin with, YOU JUMPED TO THAT ASSUMPTION.

-it exploits the FOMO feeling: FOMO OF WHAT? IT'S A SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Why the heck are you comparing your progress with others in the first place? missing out on what? on digital items that have no value? an album that gets cleared out as soon as the season ends? dice that will run out eventually because that's how you play? money for what? there's no goal to the game. THERE'S NO ENDGAME, IT'S AN ENDLESS LOOP OF NOTHING. WHAT ARE YOU MISSING OUT ON?????

-it's a gambling game: who, in the right mind, looks at a MONOPOLY BOARD, and think "OH IT'S GAMBLING!" whooooo???????? HOW THE HECK DID YOU COME UP TO THAT CONCLUSION? gambling implies you WIN REAL MONEY OR REWARDS, YOU DON'T WIN ANYTHING REAL IN MONOPOLY GO, SO WHY THE HECK ARE YOU PUTTING IN MONEY??

-they change the rewards: YEAH, IT'S THEIR GAME. YOU ACCEPTED THEIR TERMS. If they want to test things out, THEN THEY WILL TEST THINGS OUT AND YOU WILL COMPLY. why? BECAUSE YOU AGREED TO.

-they banned me for using this 3rd party app when it's allowed: if it was allowed? THEN WHY ARE YOU BANNED? OBVIOUSLY IT WASN'T ALLOWED LIKE EVERYONE TOLD YOU. If you don't know anything about the rules, DON'T TALK AND ACT LIKE YOU DO.

Final point since I can't think of anything else: IT'S A GAME. It's a VIDEO GAME. Have you no self-awareness to look at yourselves and ask "why am I throwing a tantrum about something so small about a video game whose gameplay revolves around PRESSING. ONE. BUTTON."?

Edit: to those who say I'm what's wrong about the community. You people are grown ups acting like children and talking like you're the backbone of this community. No you're not! You're that one neighbor that everyone thinks is nosy and annoying and will complain about everything that isn't part of their house. YOU'RE BASICALLY THE HOA OF THIS COMMUNITY.

Edit2: seriously, it's not even healthy anymore, some of you literally harass others for being attacked repeatedly or for not contributing whenever you want them to contribute in racers or partners or community chests. You people are taking the game WAY TOO SERIOUSLY. AND YOU STILL DON'T THINK THAT'S WRONG?

Disclaimer: I have not caught up to recent arcs yet but I did some research and shared this with my friends who are updated.

This will sound ridiculous but I'll share it anyway.

First of all, at this point, I'm currently at Whole Cake arc and saw how Big Mom got her DF powers (by eating Mother Carmel) and that got me thinking since that pretty much confirms that you can gain DF powers by consuming the user.

Now, here's what we know about DFs in terms of the topic:

-you can't eat two DFs

-you can transfer the power by "transferring the essence"

-in relation to the previous point, inanimate objects can "eat" DFs

-Vegapunk states that "mother nature hates DFs because it's unnatural"

So here's my theory: I think the "essence" of a Devil Fruit gets stored in the user's reproductive organs: the testicles and ovaries.

Here's why: Fruits are basically a plants' reproductive organ, they're the ones that contain the seeds. In humans, that would be our testicles and ovaries, and in a way they are pretty much "fruit-like" (grapes perhaps?)

Anyway, and this is the crazy funny part, it now makes sense for Blackbeard to cover up since he needed to chow down on some white nuts to gain the shakeys.

Now on the topic of reproduction and in extension motherhood. What if mother nature doesn't hate DF users? I think we all agree a good mother will love their child no matter what and we've seen examples of bad parents in the series. Mother nature, as the name implies, most likely love DF users in a way where, whenever they get soaked in water, they revert back to how they should be. A baby, a helpless child, inside the womb, surrounded by water.

The reason DF users can't swim is because their body thinks they're inside mother nature's sac with the ocean as mother nature's amniotic fluid.

and there you go..it's dumb I know but if you think about it a bit...

I been researching different ways to grow an Instagram page, and one thing that keeps coming up is buying Instagram followers.

At first I thought it sounded pointless.

But the more I think about it, the more I understand why people do it.

When someone visits a profile, they don't know how good your content is yet. The first thing they usually notice is the follower count.

A profile with a few thousand followers naturally looks more established than one with only a handful, even if the content quality is exactly the same.

That's why buying Instagram followers seems appealing to a lot of creators and small businesses.

Not necessarily to look famous, but to avoid that "brand new account" feeling when people first land on the page.

I am curious if anyone here has actually bought Instagram followers before.

Did it help create a better first impression and attract real followers later, or did it end up being a waste of money?

Would love to hear some honest experiences.

For parents who bought a small inflatable bounce house for home use, was it actually worth it after the first few times? I’m considering one for birthdays, summer weekends, and maybe playdates, but I’m not sure if it would get used often enough to justify the storage space.

Renting one for a party seems easy, but the cost adds up if you do it more than once. Buying one sounds convenient, but I’m thinking about the practical side: where to store it, how long setup takes, how loud the blower is, whether kids get bored with it, and how much supervision it really needs. I’ve seen smaller backyard bounce houses from Costway and a few other brands, but I’m trying not to buy something just because it looks fun online.

If your family bought one, how often did your kids use it? Did it still feel worth it months later? Any regrets, safety tips, or things you wish you knew before buying?

Stuck at home after a layoff and I have some funds set aside. That could be the down payment on a 100k loan or enter.

Co create pitch all in on something smaller to start. What advice would the group have that would see me put that into a startup of some kind (or buy a business)?

i don't think i miss old RO because it was balanced. it wasn't.

there were bots. there was RMT. there was inflation. people scammed each other. half the market was probably nonsense. old RO was not some pure golden age.

but the economy made players visible.

when you walked through prontera, you weren't looking at a clean auction house UI. you were seeing people. merchants taking up space. weird shop names. overpriced garbage. one guy selling the exact card you needed. someone undercutting everyone by accident. guilds recruiting. people chatting beside vendors for no reason.

the city felt alive because trade had a body.

that's what a lot of newer RO games miss for me. they don't just change the graphics or add modern systems. they remove the friction that made the world feel inhabited. everything becomes smoother, faster, cleaner, more convenient — and somehow less real.

when progression starts flowing through cash shops, premium currencies, upgrade packs, exchange systems, and menus, the world stops feeling like the source of value. farming feels like a task. zeny feels like a number. trading feels like a feature.

old RO made me believe some random player mattered because they had the card, the elu, the shop spot, the price, the patience.

modern RO often makes me feel like the important relationship is between me and the monetization screen.

that's the difference i have trouble getting over.

so when people say "it's just nostalgia," maybe partly. sure. but i don't think nostalgia invented the feeling of prontera being packed with actual vendors. i don't think nostalgia invented the fact that player economies create stories in a way menus don't.

maybe this is why i'm cautiously curious about ROOC, but i'm not sold on anything until i see the economy actually work. no cash shop or sub fee doesn't magically make a world alive.

players do.

am i wrong? has any modern RO actually managed to keep players visible in the economy, instead of hiding everything behind systems?

Here is a roundup of everything currently happening online so you don’t have to keep checking.

• Celebrities are dating, divorcing, apologizing, getting canceled, getting uncanceled, and posting photos from expensive vacations. Their fans are deeply emotionally invested. Everyone involved will survive.
• Someone on TikTok is trying to convince you that your skin, apartment, body, morning routine, and grocery choices are all wrong. This is not self-improvement. This is targeted insecurity advertising.
• A fake AITA story written by either a bored teenager or ChatGPT is currently making millions of people argue in the comments like constitutional lawyers.
• Bad news about politics, AI, and the climate continues to exist. You are already informed enough. Doomscrolling for another hour will not personally solve any of it.
• Productivity influencers are waking up at 4:30am to meditate in beige matching sets while secretly spending 11 hours a day online creating “dopamine detox” content.
• Someone your age bought a house, ran a marathon, launched a startup, moved to Italy, got married, and learned Mandarin. Someone else your age ate shredded cheese over the sink at midnight. Both are part of the human experience.
• Most internet discourse can be replaced by reading one good book and taking a walk outside.

If you still feel the urge to scroll, here are things that actually helped me instead:

• Read books with enough plot to compete with your phone. I started reading Project Hail Mary and Stolen Focus and realized my attention span wasn’t broken, it was just overstimulated.
• Use app blockers before your tired brain starts negotiating with itself. I use Opal and honestly the biggest benefit is removing the “I’ll just check one thing” spiral before it starts.
• Replace some scrolling with audio instead of more visual content. I use BeFreed and it is pretty fun for this because it turns books, psychology topics, biographies, history, or basically anything you want to learn into podcast style episodes. Some of the narrations sound more like friends talking or a chaotic talk show than educational content, which makes it weirdly easy to stick with after work.
• Watch one full movie instead of 700 clips from different movies.
• Sit outside without your phone for 10 minutes. Your nervous system remembers how to be a person surprisingly fast.
• Put your phone in another room and let yourself be bored long enough for your brain to reboot a little.

One thing that helped me a lot was realizing the dopamine hit from scrolling usually isn’t even from the content itself. It’s the anticipation of maybe seeing something better on the next swipe. Slot machine brain.

The internet is designed to make you feel like there is always one more important thing to check.

There usually isn’t.

Here is a roundup of everything currently happening online so you don’t have to keep checking.

• Celebrities are dating, divorcing, apologizing, getting canceled, getting uncanceled, and posting photos from expensive vacations. Their fans are deeply emotionally invested. Everyone involved will survive.
• Someone on TikTok is trying to convince you that your skin, apartment, body, morning routine, and grocery choices are all wrong. This is not self-improvement. This is targeted insecurity advertising.
• A fake AITA story written by either a bored teenager or ChatGPT is currently making millions of people argue in the comments like constitutional lawyers.
• Bad news about politics, AI, and the climate continues to exist. You are already informed enough. Doomscrolling for another hour will not personally solve any of it.
• Productivity influencers are waking up at 4:30am to meditate in beige matching sets while secretly spending 11 hours a day online creating “dopamine detox” content.
• Someone your age bought a house, ran a marathon, launched a startup, moved to Italy, got married, and learned Mandarin. Someone else your age ate shredded cheese over the sink at midnight. Both are part of the human experience.
• Most internet discourse can be replaced by reading one good book and taking a walk outside.

If you still feel the urge to scroll, here are things that actually helped me instead:

• Read books with enough plot to compete with your phone. I started reading Project Hail Mary and Stolen Focus and realized my attention span wasn’t broken, it was just overstimulated.
• Use app blockers before your tired brain starts negotiating with itself. I use Opal and honestly the biggest benefit is removing the “I’ll just check one thing” spiral before it starts.
• Replace some scrolling with audio instead of more visual content. I use BeFreed and it is pretty fun for this because it turns books, psychology topics, biographies, history, or basically anything you want to learn into podcast style episodes. Some of the narrations sound more like friends talking or a chaotic talk show than educational content, which makes it weirdly easy to stick with after work.
• Watch one full movie instead of 700 clips from different movies.
• Sit outside without your phone for 10 minutes. Your nervous system remembers how to be a person surprisingly fast.
• Put your phone in another room and let yourself be bored long enough for your brain to reboot a little.

One thing that helped me a lot was realizing the dopamine hit from scrolling usually isn’t even from the content itself. It’s the anticipation of maybe seeing something better on the next swipe. Slot machine brain.

The internet is designed to make you feel like there is always one more important thing to check.

There usually isn’t.

For those who keep using the "it's designed so you have to pay" or "it's rigged so you're forced to pay". Nobody's forcing you. Keep that in mind.

The game is designed to be a game. You don't always win games, at the very least have the self awareness to face the truth that sometimes you will lose. You won't always complete the Album, you won't always win every single event or complete every single minigame, you won't always get 1st place in the tournaments. The store is there to give players an option to get more stuff, stuff that you can get if you wait, or play effectively instead of using all your dice in three presses and then complaining that you didn't land on whatever you want to clear whatever you need.

It's a game. Learn to lose or just stop playing if you're incapable of accepting defeat. Now I'm seeing people harassing and abusing others just for sticker trades.

It's not the game's fault, it's your lack of accountability.

Edit: "but microtransactions bad", yada yada, "it's gambling" blah blah, "there's a psychological reason" yada yada....

NEWS FLASH

WE KNOW. That's the entire POINT of the post. YOU KNOW it's a game. YOU KNOW you don't NEED to buy anything. THEN. DON'T. Have the balls to admit that you took the bait when you didn't need to and stop making excuses. Blame yourself for not having self control.

Edit 2: Let me get this straight. The post, is about players to have self-awareness and self-control about their own spending and not blame the game for it....

and some of the counter-arguments are "no, I will blame the game because that's what it does and I don't have the self-awareness and self-control to admit that it's my decision"? Are you still not realizing that you're missing the point?

I’m struggling here. I’ve called three different local guys and two didn't call back, and the third one ghosted me on Tuesday.
Has anyone here tried LawnGuru? I’m seeing mixed reviews on on-demand apps in general, but I need something consistent. Is the quality actually decent, or should I keep hunting for a local independent person? I just want my weekends back.

Our IT team is 4 people supporting 600. About 2 months ago we got tired of personal DMs being the primary inbound channel and stuck an AI agent in slack to intercept. Not a huge project. Couple sprints of config.

Wins are boring but real. Password resets, MFA, SSO for new hires. Any access request where approval flow is already documented. Most VPN questions unless they're weird.

What it still can't do. Policy exceptions, which it shouldn't. Hardware is manual because MDM isn't hooked up. And the "it worked yesterday" pattern where someone genuinely has to look at what changed.

We're on risotto. 18 workflows to set up in the first 3 weeks, not a quick thing. But tuesday mornings went from chaos to boring, which was the whole goal.

Anyone else running an agent in slack for IT? Curious what worked past tier-1.