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The late Choi Jin Shils daughter, Choi Joon Hee, uploaded a shocking post to Facebook on August 5. She revealed that she had been suffering abuse at the hands of her grandmother since her mothers death and requested help.

The full post reads as follows:

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Hello everyone, I am the late Choi Jin Shils daughter, Choi Joon Hee. The reason why I am uploading this today is to reveal what has really been going on in my seemingly good life.

I am currently in 8th grade. I thought my life fellinto shambles when my mom passed away but, in reality, it started going south when I was in 4th grade.

I thought that after my moms passing, I would live in misery. But I was the same as other elementary schoolers; I went to school everyday and watched Spongebob.

The only family I had left was my maternal grandmother, my brother, my grandaunt, and my paternal family. Something that I want to clarify first and foremost is that I was not living with my maternal grandmother (to be referred from now on as grandmother), but with my grandaunt.

My grandaunt is not directly related to me by blood, but raised me since I was born. However, my grandmother always favored my brother over me. My grandaunt was someone who cared about me and lived for only me for 15 years. My grandmother always disliked my grandaunt for some reason. I am not entirely sure why but, from what I heard, I think it is because she thought that my grandaunt was raising me for my inheritance. After 11 years of living together, my grandmother suddenly stopped letting my grandaunt see me starting fromwhen I was in 4th grade.

I was too young at the time, so I thought after 5 days, after 10 days, she would return. I had to sayfarewell tomy most beloved family members at 11 years of age, and a few days later, my grandmother stubbornly said, I cant bear to see you with that ***, so I told her to leave the house. Shes destroying your character. This was the first time I became severely depressed. I dug my face into my pillow so I wouldnt be heard by my grandmother and cried every night. I missed my grandaunt so much so I put her clothes, glasses, perfume, and socks on a big teddy bear and hugged it to sleep. However, my grandmother ruthlessly tossed that teddy bear on the floor and yelled at me. I was so scared and wondered what my grandaunt and I did wrong.

A few days later, I was so mentally shattered. Mustering all of the courage that I had, I secretly contacted my grandaunt via Kakaotalk. Luckily, she answered and just said that she was sorry for not being able to protect me. She told me that we could only meet again after I became a legal adult.

One day after taking a nap in the living room, my cell phone disappeared.

A few minutes later, my grandmother said, Do you think just because you have a passcode, I cant figure out what it is? I know youre contacting your grandaunt. From then on, she started routinely checking my phone. Whenever she was even the tiniest bit suspicious, she would take it away and not give it back to me.

A few weeks later, my chorus teacher, who knew of my situation, contacted my grandaunt and she came to visit me at my school. I had to pretend to be happy, but I really felt like crying.

I dont know how she found out, but my grandmother figured out a few days later that my grandaunt came to my school to visit me. My grandmother then proceeded to contact my teachers to make sure I did not meet with my grandaunt. My teachers knew what was happening, but couldnt do anything about it. This was the first time the word suicide crossed my mind.

My depression worsened in 5th grade. My grandmothers yelling and violence became more and more severe, and I naturally started todepend on my friends more. I started liking someone, so that helped me survive through this time. However, my grandmother said that I was crazy for guys and, after a very heated argument, started beating me with a clothes hanger. She then bit my hand and I still have a scar from that on my right hand.

Every day seemed like hell. I thought that dying would be more comfortable than this life. I wrote a will and tried to self-harm in every way that I could think of. I cut my wrist, strangled myself with a shower head, but I failed every time. I think there was at least a little will to live in me.

A few days later, my grandmother discovered the will and yelled at me for writing one. In that moment, I thought that my grandmother maybe cared about me to some degree. But, in reality, she yelled and hit me for not including her in the will.

When my brother, my grandmother, and I went to a trip to Northern Europe, my grandmother called me to her room and told me that my mom should not have given birth to me. She hit me with clothes hangers and strangled me.

What is even more absurd is that she would try to cover up her actionsby saying that she had to discipline me because I didnt listen to her at the time. Its like a violent bully at school trying to defend their actions by saying it was all a joke.

My grandmother then told me that she could not raise me anymore and gave me two choices. It was to go to the United States or to go to my grandaunt. She told me that if I went to my grandaunt, she will not give me any living expenses. I truly wanted to go to my grandaunt but, for my future, I chose to go to the States.

I received an achievement award for my mom some time later and prepared for my life abroad. I remember filming MBCs documentary Love at the time as well. I had to pretend to be happy, which was so difficult.

With little time left before my departure to the States, I met with Aunt [Hong] Jin Kyung and ate at Silla Hotel. I secretly gave her every sign that I could to tell her I didnt really want to go. She sided with me and expressed that it would be better if I stayed in Korea. Afterwards, my grandmother cursed and said, What is she to butt into other peoples lives?

Aunt [Lee] Young Ja then told some reporters in order to figure out a way to help me. My paternal relatives said that they will not take care of me because I dont even share the same last name.

When I moved to the United States, I thought I was going to stay at a family friends house but it was more like I was being adopted. What was more serious was that the family that I was staying with was not stable. I cant reveal much details about this but, since I was in a foreign country, I was even more scared.

I continued filming for the documentary in the States. I then realized that the school I was going to attend was run by a cult religion. I was so scared and was worried whether I was able to adjust to my new life.

I really thought there was no way I could proceed so I asked my grandmother if there was any way I could move back to Korea. She surprisingly complied and I returned to Korea.

However, misery didnt just end here.

After returning to Korea, I was blamed for everything. I wanted to reenter the elementary school that I attended before I left but it turned out that I had been expelled from the school, instead of transferred out.

I couldnt even go to school for a couple of months because of this. My grandmother wanted to send me to the international school that my brother was attending. I was mentally exhausted from studying a lot already, but the burden of having to prepare for admission into an international school addedeven greater pressure.

Every day was exhausting and tiring.

One Sunday morning, after sleeping late the night before from studying, my grandmother started accusing me of being a thief. She was preparing to go to church that morning, and realized that her eyeliner went missing. She accused me of being a thief from a young age and hurt me.

For the time being, I will write this much. This is August 5, 2017, 1:55 a.m. KST. Our entire house is a mess to the point wherethe police came to find us. I think I would feel so wrongedif I were to die without revealing this truth. Thank you for reading this long post. Please save me.

Many are currently sending words of encouragement to Choi Joon Hee on various SNS sites. Choi Jun Hee has since deleted the post from her social media account.

Source (1) (2) (3)

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Late Choi Jin Shil's Daughter Reveals Shocking Story About Abusive Grandmother - soompi

In an effort to grow your social media presence and drive sales for specific products, have you considered the viability of social media contests? Theyve risen in popularity over the years and tend to provide a pretty decent return on investment. But there are a few things you need to know before getting started.

In order to understand the value and efficacy of social media contests in the current marketplace, you have to first understand gamification and how it moves people to action.

Gamification is essentially the process by which game-like elements are used to get people to perform certain actions or engage in particular activities. As the name suggests, it comes from the word game, in which players are engaged in an experience with the purpose of accomplishing a goal and being rewarded with some sort of prize or recognition.

One of the simplest forms of gamification is getting a stamp every time you buy a coffee. Collect ten stamps and you get a free drink. Its like completing a level and getting a reward, copywriter Ben Brown says. Online, it could be the use of gaming elements like leaderboards, progress bars, and loyalty points. These tricks tap into our natural instincts: competition, exploration, curiosity.

But why does gamification work? What is it that draws people in and makes them willing to participate? There are a number of elements in play:

Gamification can be used in any number of ways. One of the more traditional examples is an airline frequent flyer program or a punch card you get at an ice cream shop. But todays leading brands powered by the internet and new technologies have taken gamification to new levels. Specifically, theyve turned to social media contests as the perfect solution for engaging audiences and enhancing visibility.

Social media contests have quickly become an industry best practice and for good reason. As digital marketing expert Mikey Moran explains, its a good way to get some serious marketing power behind a new product launch. And it works even better for big brands with established audiences. But what makes a contest successful? Lets break it down into 5 Ps for easy recall.

If youre able to get each of these five things right, youll thrive with social media contests. Its not easy, but theres a clear path to success if youre willing to follow it.

Now that you know which factors matter the most, lets turn to the real meat of the issue. Which types of contests provide the optimal level of participation and visibility? Check it out:

Its 2017 and theres nothing quite like a good selfie to get people excited. Over the past couple of years, selfie contests have become quite popular. These contests generally revolve around entrants taking a selfie in a certain situation or environment and then tagging that image with a contest hashtag. Entrants love these contests because theyre trendy. Brands love them because theyre highly personal. When an entrants followers see the selfie in tandem with the hashtag, theyre more likely to have a positive view of the brand.

The Axe 2014 Kiss for Peace campaign is a good example. They called on social media users to post selfies of them kissing and tied it into their make love, not war slogan. It was highly successful and the winners were given a trip to Berlin.

Trying to get pictures and videos from people isnt always easy. Some of your audience will oblige, but there are others who wont no matter the prize. In these situations, something a little more casual can produce better results.

Voting contests are very popular. They dont require a whole lot of effort on either side and usually get high participation rates. They also allow you to get to know your audience better through how they vote on particular topics. Lays has had success with this in the past, letting customers vote on new flavors.

The more you can get people involved in the contest, the more value it will provide. Think about it. If youre just asking someone to repost an image, there isnt much effort involved. But if you actually ask your followers to take the time to create something, theyre much more vested. Artistic contests subscribe to this theory that more involvement is better.

The classic example of an artistic contest is the Starbucks White Cup Contest. The contest, which has been held a couple of times, asks customers to take the iconic white cup and add their own unique design, uploading to social media with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. This contest has been hugely successful over the years, largely because it requires such an investment from each entrant. As a prize, the winners cup was turned into a limited edition Starbucks reusable plastic cup. Could you do something similar?

Gamification triggers a dopamine rush. Its that simple, Brown believes. Leveling up, gaining a reward, getting feedback or achieving something all gives you that little rush. Thats dopamine in your brain. Its your mind telling you to do it again because it feels good! And thats when addiction kicks in.

While there are plenty of ways to gamify your audience, social media contests are one of the best. Not only do they engage your followers and give them something to be excited about, but contests serve the purpose of enhancing visibility and expanding your brands reach. Your followers may think its about them, but it serves the ultimate purpose of strengthening your brand.

Study what other successful brands have done and be honest with yourself: What can you realistically do with your resources and audience? Start small and work your way towards bigger and better contests. With the right foundation and a proper understanding of gamification you can take even the smallest business to great heights.

Trophy Photo via Shutterstock

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Give These 3 Social Media Contests a Try to Boost Sales - Small Business Trends

Thanks for watching, please like and subscribe! Singer Pragathi Guruprasad switches off her camera with a click of finality. She has just finished recording a vlog for her YouTube channel, but before she can edit it, shes off to class at the University of California, Los Angeles. Shes been balancing this double life for a while now; but she doesnt mind it, as she says she owes her true metamorphosis to the beast of the digital age: social media. And this is what she is using exclusively to promote her first-ever world tour, which was announced late last month.

Increasingly, young independent musicians have been using social media as a way to promote their work be it through videos, event invites and fan pages. Whats new is how they are tapping into their database of followers to decide their plan of action in the real world, including tour dates, venues, set lists and more.

Working with social media management company, Pubblisher, Guruprasad has been strategising, using her 3,00,000 plus followers on both Facebook and Instagram, and sizeable followings on Twitter and Snapchat to work out the details of each show. Social media platforms have changed the definition of being a public personality, so while it gives me space to express myself, it also gives me a direct connect with what my fans are thinking and what they want from me, says Guruprasad. Being in this spotlight, she says, is exhausting and exciting in equal measures.

Global reach

Its a sentiment that young Indo-Canadian singer, Jonita Gandhi, knows all too well. When I started uploading covers online, they were simply videos of me in my basement, singing karaoke tracks into my phone. Based on feedback, I realised that it was a great way to hear back from the people who I was singing for. It has clearly worked. In six years, she has established herself as one of Bollywoods youngest leading female playback singers.

Although Gandhi spends more time in the studios at Yash Raj nowadays, she has a lasting love for online platforms. Shes all-too-familiar with going viral, but says the math isnt that simple. I dont think theres really a formula to it, but I would say that artists should try to be themselves and utilise the tools and resources available to help them reach their audiences. Out of sight, out of mind is very true in this case, so stay active and connected, she says.

Staying original

Guruprasad and Gandhi have capitalised on the global audience. As they streamed their covers, they fuelled a new phenomenon: an independent music scene that is wholly online.

Sanam Puri and his band call the change an explosion of access and availability, which gave them a new lease of life. You dont have to rely on what is broadcast any more. Instead, creators can upload content from their mobile devices. This has allowed us to share our work, in our own style, says drummer Keshav Dhanraj. Often called Indias answer to One Direction, Sanam the Band is one of the most-subscribed YouTube channels in India, with 2.4 million subscribers in just five years.

We compose, produce, record, shoot, edit, and release our own material; its the sort of freedom and strength that helps us grow, vocalist Puri adds. The band prefers to keep their voice as authentic as possible. Instead of focusing on whats trending, we like to put out our own message, says bass guitarist Venky S.

Authenticity is a running theme. We get the opportunity to let our personalities be seen through social media, as well as our music, Gandhi says. As her audience has grown, the challenge is maintaining the organic nature of her videos. Shows can be impersonal: I want to take that online connect to the live space to thank the people who have stuck with me for so long, concludes Guruprasad.

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To the online beat - The Hindu

Despite proclaiming "I'm the one, yeah, I'm the one" in his latest banger with DJ Khaled and Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber has shockingly revealed that he hasn't always been the perfect boyfriend in a new social media post. In an self-proclaimed, "very grammatically incorrect" outpouring of emotion, he addressed his actions to his fans for the first time since cancelling the remaining dates of his Purpose tour. Uploading his essay to Instagram, he said:

"Im so grateful for this journey will of you. Im grateful for the tours but most of all I am grateful i get to go through this life WITH YOU.! Learning and growing hasnt always been easy but knowing I im not alone has kept me going. I have let my insecurities get the best of me at times."

And although it's unclear whether he was directly shedding light on his turbulent split from #SelenaGomez who quite frankly, probably has zero fucks to give and is pretty content trotting about with new boyfriend The Weeknd he went on to say that despite not always behaving well in relationships, all he can do is move on:

"I let my broken relationships dictate the way I acted toward people and the way I treated them! i let bitterness, jealously and fear run my life.!!!! [...] Reminding me my past decisions and past relationships don't dictate my future decisions and my future relationships. Im VERY aware I'm never gonna be perfect, and I'm gonna keep making mistakes."

Then, moving on to why he had cancelled the remaining 14 concert dates he's already played 150 in over 40 countries as part of his world tour he revealed that it was because he was desperately seeking some time off, saying:

"Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE. I want my career to be sustainable, but I also want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable. So that I can be the man I want to be, the husband I eventually want to be and the father I want to be."

If you're interested, feast your eyes on what the What Do You Mean? star had to say in full below:

After years of essentially telling his fans to piss off and being involved in a string of altercations with the law such as punching a Spanish fan in the face, drunk drag racing around in his Lamborghini, getting banned from China and running a paparazzo over it's probably high time that #JustinBieber takes a pause to collect himself and find some inner peace. Let's just hope that while he's at it, he gets one of his managers to show him where the auto-correct function on his phone is.

Best of luck Biebz, we wish you a healthy recovery!

What do you think about Bieber's message "from the heart?"

Excerpt from:

Justin Bieber Proves It's Not Too Late To Say Sorry For Cancelling His Tour & Being A Prick In Past Relationships - moviepilot.com

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Deadly food you California's not the top ten how about Florida Florida's probably not in the top fifty. There's like fifty states. That like Connecticut and no it's got to be New York. New Jersey is number two really ten his main them. They don't have nine here than just a few of the top ten adding items and today that bad news nine's been eliminated we don't count now anymore we go seven right. And it and ten I'm focusing on the New England won Vermont exit number 50. Number three. Shout out to New Hampshire. Good for you out you know it is. All that lack of tax money but the number one best public school systems according to while. On a series of criteria. Massachusetts. Effect rapid and that's right. Best public schools in the country in Massachusetts a day we came back for a reason and then you went to RI. I believe the first public school was writing Aaron Massachusetts and they really bought them and interest in fact that no one cares about well I think it is yep and an americorps the first university which has nothing to do with that as well sometimes like to hear the sound of my own voice. Do they finally thank you. Another ranking this one much more important than public schools. Researchers at the department of psychology at university award in the United Kingdom. Have found the funniest word in the English language that team gathered a list of 4997. Common words from past research I know and after a session. Asked participants to rate 200 words randomly selected from the larger pool. One being humorless. Five being most humorous scale so wanting unfunny five absolutely funny right okay the number one funniest word. In the language any guesses let's let what is everyone's favorite funny word. 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All of really have to say I failed to realize or recognize. That any movie that Jamie fox may have made for the millions who worked as the underdog let's go to uploading calling. The unfunny it's like learning bootsy in that movie. I don't know I think again I think yeah I think you know the least funniest word rate. So that access went out just why no matter how does it why don't we all just agree and walk away. Jake in Dedham Jake hero Matty and neck. They're wants Arby's I've read about it. Dalembert is definitely. The First Act supported local store in America. Dedham Massachusetts. Index them Dedham Massachusetts area. Thank you Jay for the hand knowledge we've pretty well yeah the oldest frame built house in America still standing. Really oh yes it is very sick or. How about that hey Jake I. Jake thank you for being able called Jacob PDF thank you oh Jake what is what is your favorite funny word. My beard funny word yet. Probably squeegee. 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Four You - The Worst Suplex You've Ever Cena - WAAF.com (blog)

Recently, Ive begun teaching Son meditation to a hospice patient. A couple of years ago MRIs revealed that her internal organs were riddled with tumors. After an excruciating treatment of chemotherapy, her doctors informed her there was nothing more they could do. She moved into a hospice and her physicians now predict she has between six months and two years to live.

When I met her, it was hard to guess her age. I couldnt tell whether the chemotherapy had aged her prematurely, but she looked elderly. Still, among the elderly theres a difference between those who expect to live longer and those who think theyll die soon. She obviously belonged to the latter group and the first thing that struck me was the look in her eyes. Im dying.

At our first meeting, she got right to the point, Whats going to happen to me?

Like so many people these days, she didnt belong to any religion, but she considered herself spiritual.

I said, There are two scenarios. In the first one, your consciousness will disappear. In this case, death isnt an experience. Its the end of experience. Its the end of suffering. From this point of view, death is unfamiliar, but its not actually something to be afraid of. Death is literally nothing at all.

The second scenario is that some part of consciousness will somehow survive physical death. It will move on to or manifest itself in some other mode of existence. Maybe it will go to another realm. Maybe it will move into another body. But if a part of consciousness survives, then, again, theres no actual death. One way or the other, death does not exist as a thing to be afraid of. But, on a human level, were afraid of it anyway. We fear the pain of dying, we fear the unknown.

I first became a monk because I wanted an answer to the reality of death and impermanence. I had always been highly aware that all life, including mine, ends in death. But my awareness was only mental. I was a young man, I had a young body. My body didnt feel like it was going to die any time soon. The truth is, it felt like it would never die. There was a disjuncture between what my mind knew and what my body felt. Every dead bug, dried up leaf, meal on my plate, and bit of roadkill that I passed on the highway told me in no uncertain terms what was coming for me. But my body felt glowingly alive and my heart stupidly beat on with clockwork reliability. Like it would do that forever.

But the years passed. One day I looked in the mirror and noticed again, with mild disapproval, the white hairs forming on my head. And then it hit me. Im really going to die. An animal shudder passed through my body. My heart shriveled and I felt my stomach turn inside-out.

Everything changed after that. For the first time in my life, what my mind knew and what my body experienced were in sync.

The patient told me that her chemotherapy treatment had been a nightmare. Every day now she was racked with agonizing pain and she spent all of her energy just enduring it.

But that was nothing, she said, compared to the fear. The not knowing where Im gonna be. That, according to her, was the worst thing.

Would you get on a boat for a year-long voyage without asking where the boat was headed? Would you just gamble with a year of your life like that?

Would you be willing to ride that boat for 70 or 80 years without ever confirming the final destination?

Would you ride that boat the whole time without asking any questions if you knew for a fact that at the end of the trip it will go over a waterfall?

Then, why do we live our entire lives the way we do?

Our society, our culture, our civilization, and each of our individual life plans are built upon a pathological denial of the reality of death. The signs of death the sight of human corpses and terminally ill patients are hidden away in places that people under normal circumstances avoid like theyre radioactive. The symptoms of aging are covered over by make-up, dyes, and wardrobe or theyre literally cut away by cosmetic surgery. Our media subject us to a torrential downpour of the most irrational, obviously deceptive propaganda that has ever been invented: Stay young forever! Look years younger!

Open talk about death is taboo and you broach the topic at the risk of being labeled morbid. At the risk of social censure.

Such a denial of any other obvious fact of life would be considered a symptom of outright mental illness.

But we keep on denying it because we think theres nothing we can do about it. Because, as smart as we think we are, we just cant get our heads around it. Because no one ever taught us how to balance the twin realities of having to live and having to die.

You actually have to know how to do both.

You know that you didnt start dying when you got cancer, right? I asked the patient.

Her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, Yes, yes, I know exactly what you mean! But I didnt know it until now. Were always dying.

Every day of life is a day closer to death.

Its not rocket science, but it never fails to astonish me how poorly even the most brilliant minds think when it comes to the subject of death. Fear completely distorts our reason.

Take, for example, the two most well-publicized ways which scientists have considered for defying death: Cryogenics and uploading our mind into a computer. Even if we could manage such feats, the most obvious thing we can see here is that these are ways of delaying death, not actually eradicating it.

Let's think about this clearly. Either the universe is eternal or its not. If its eternal, then it means that no matter how successfully you clone and enhance your body or how indestructible and replicable the robot body that you build for your mind may be, there is one-trillionth of a chance that some accident will irretrievably destroy this new vehicle for your mind. But in an eternal universe a one-in-a-trillion probability at any given moment is a 100% certainty over time. Eventually, over trillions of trillions of eons, somethings going to get you.

On the other hand, in an impermanent cosmos, the universe will eventually collapse or expand out of existence. How will your indestructible, endlessly replicable mind/body then live without a place to live in? Without energy or space?

And if we think we may be satisfied with an incredibly long lifetime, we need to remember theres an important difference between longevity and immortality.

The difference is this: No matter how long we live, no matter how long our happiness lasts, when its time for us to give up something that we want to keep, it feels too soon. We say, It feels like just yesterday when

This is the obvious truth of impermanence, why its so painful for most of us: When something disappears, its disappears so thoroughly its like it was never there.

Look at an elderly, dying patient and you literally cannot guess what they looked like when they were twenty. Fall out of love and your body and heart dont register at all anymore the nearness of someone you once felt so close to. Lose your passion for doing something and the place where you worked so hard for so long now feels foreign.

Whether you live seventy years, a hundred years or a thousand years, when your time is up, it always feels sudden. Something in your mind always goes, Thats it? Its really over?

So how then shall we conquer death?

Ive chosen to bet that some part of consciousness what Son Buddhists call the source or root of consciousness lives on. Im trying to find Awaken to exactly what part of me that is. I choose this path because a life lived in the shadow of death while nervously, self-deludedly trying to ignore the reality of death is awful.

But its also the choice where I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. In this choice, there is a possibility, however remote, of attaining some form of transcendence over death.

If Im wrong and delusional and at death my mind is completely destroyed, then who cares? Its what would have happened anyway. There will be no me" to be embarrassed or regretful that I was wrong. And it will be the end of suffering.

On the other hand, if Im correct, then I may attain peace in the face of human mortality. Indestructible, eternal peace. I mean that literally. Because Ill be enlightened to the one part of my mind or my existence or reality itself that survives and transcends physical death. And a whole new realm of existence will open up before me. That prospect is actually exciting. Thrilling even.

So I choose the seemingly unlikely possibility that the source of consciousness survives over the 100% certainty that, even if I could freeze my body or upload my mind into a new body or computer, the vehicle of my mind will be destroyed. And I certainly choose it over a desperate and hopeless reliance on diet fads, low-body-fat-at-all-costs workout regimens, botox, and clothes that make me look skinny.

Its a truism among hospice caregivers that people die in the same way that they lived. If we spend our lives in relentless, pathological denial of death, theres no way to measure the helplessness, frustration, and terror we feel on the day that were given a terminal diagnosis. All of the fear and uncertainty that we suppressed come roaring back after us with a vengeance.

But if, while we live, we are able to Awaken to some other timeless dimension of life within ourselves somewhere, well, Id prefer to be illuminated like that when my body finally gives out and theres nothing more I can do but just take it.

It seems like a better way to die.

To learn more about Son meditation please visit Hwansan Sunim: Son Meditation for the Modern World and for updates please visit International Son Buddhist Meditation Program. Questions can be sent to: ask.hwansan@gmail.com.

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Anyone who experienced the early days of the mobile phone will fondly remember the Nokia brand. Its handsets were great to use, durable and of course, they included the brilliant game Snake if you had a few minutes of boredom to pass (who are we kidding, sometimes hours went by playing that). This nostalgia was part of the reason behind the huge buzz when it was recently announced that Nokia is back on the scene and producing mobile phones again. Okay, so the parent company and production is now different, but the name is there and fans felt excited to have another choice when it came to smartphones. Not only is there now a new Nokia 3310 (cue excited squeals), but there are also Android smartphones the first ever from this brand. The Nokia 3 came first back in February and next, it's the turn of the Nokia 5 on August 16th in the UK. So, if you're thinking of splashing some cash on a new Nokia and have the 5 in your sights, you might be wanting to know just how good it is. With this in mind, we've rounded up a few reviews and comments from tech experts to help you. The basics First, the specs and basics. The Nokia 5 offers: A choice of blue, matte black, silver and copper casing 5.2-inch, 720p display 13 megapixel rear camera 8 megapixel front camera 16GB storage microSD slot Fingerprint scanner for security Punches above its weight The Independent's David Phelan has been testing the Nokia 5 and he's been especially impressed by the sleek design of the handset, commenting that it "punches well above its weight" for the price around 179.99. He pointed out that the phone is created from a single piece of metal, the same technique used by Apple, resulting in a solid design despite the external antenna band. The expert also praised the camera for well-lit situations, although he acknowledged that it is no match for really high-end camera phones, as you'd expect from a budget device. Battery life and general performance also came in for high marks in this review. However, Mr Phelan did pick out the borders at the top and bottom of the screen for slight criticism, stating that they look quite noticeable at a time when other brands are offering wall-to-wall displays. "Overall, this is a highly attractive phone. Though it can't match the super-fast processors or dual-lens cameras of flagship phones, it looks fantastic and performs better than the price point suggests," he concluded. The best-looking phone at this price point John McCann of Techradar also had praise for the Nokia 5's ergonomic design, commenting on the "surprisingly premium construction" for the price point. He also spoke favourably of the clear display, Android software, fingerprint scanner and cost. However, Mr McCann was perhaps more critical of the phone's performance, pointing out that load time and battery life can suffer when the handset is used for things like streaming and gaming as opposed to just emails, calls and social apps. The writer also warned that a microSD card is a "must", as 7.5GB of the storage space is taken up by the operating system and so the device will soon fill up once you start taking photos and uploading music. "It is the best-looking phone at this price point [and] aimed at anyone who's looking for an affordable smartphone from a brand they can trust," Mr McCann concluded. Cheap and cheerful with an impressive design You'll no doubt spot a running theme here, as Max Parker of Trusted Reviews also praised the good looks of the Nokia 5, as well as the price. He commented favourably on the software too and suggested that this may well prove to be the best product in the brand's line-up. The one feature the writer suggested might be detrimental to this was the 720p display, which he said should probably have been upgraded to 1080p at a slightly higher price. Mr Parker concluded: "The cheap and cheerful Nokia 5 doesn't impress in every area, but it's a good-looking device with clean software and an impressive design." Consider us impressed Finally, Ashleigh Macro of Tech Advisor was another expert to praise Nokia's design and Android OS, as well as the price. However, she criticised the 720p display too, suggesting it's the one thing that lets the handset down. On the whole, though, the writer concluded: "Consider us impressed. We expect the Nokia 5 could become a really popular choice for anyone in the market for a mid-range phone, and a strong contender for the Moto G5." So, there you have it: hopefully everything you need to make an informed choice on whether or not the Nokia 5 is for you. Happy shopping!

Mazuma Mobile is the UK's most trusted mobile phone recycling service.

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How good is the Nokia 5? - Mazuma Mobile (blog)

When Zimpli Kids started its Gelli Baff and Slime Baff YouTube campaign back in October 2015, little did we know that the 50 million views gained in the first month would turn into 2.5 billion just 20 months later.

We all know that the exposure a company can receive from a social media campaign is huge.

The reach of the digital medium is expansive.

YouTube, for instance, has over 1.3bn users worldwide, with over five billion videos watched each day. It makes YouTube the perfect platform to reach a huge proportion of your market, and it can do so within hours.

When Zimpli Kids started its Gelli Baff and Slime Baff YouTube campaign back in October 2015, little did we know that the 50 million views gained in the first month would turn into 2.5 billion just 20 months later.

This June alone has brought in 200 million new views from independent reviewers worldwide.

In fact, social marketing has played a major role in getting Zimpli Kids to the fantastic position we are in today particularly on YouTube.

Every day companies come face-to-face with more evidence of the change in how marketing should be done; moving away from the more traditional methods such as radio, TV and print and putting more focus into digital marketing, such as YouTube, social media and online promotions.

Social media is now far more than just updating your followers on what youre up to, or uploading a new video. Its an interactive marketing tool. It gives you insight on what is happening in real time whats trending on Twitter? Whats the next big thing on YouTube? This allows companies to take advantage of the trends to tailor their marketing approach.

The exposure that Zimpli Kids has received from our YouTube campaign is mind blowing, with 2.5bn views from independent reviewers worldwide, and there is no sign of it slowing down. YouTube has allowed us to build brand awareness worldwide, with YouTubers from the UK, US, Australia, Europe and Asia sharing products on their channels, creating demand for our products throughout the world.

The exciting thing is, YouTube and social media marketing is evolving all the time and more exciting developments are surely on the horizon.

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Catching the Tube: How Zimpli Kids rose to fame through social media - Toy News

Person to Person is one long string of great scenes, but theres this beautifully horrendous moment that captures the farcical strain of comedy running through the new indie ensemble with a music tinge. It involves Michael Cera and Abbi Jacobson (of Broad City fame) sitting in a car, chanting SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! along with a fictional metal song called Suck on Greed. I like to bang my head a little in the morning before coming into work, metalhead investigative reporter Phil (Cera) tells trainee Claire (Jacobson), an introvert who prefers Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Claires face, as shes subjected to Phils morning metal routine, reads fear and crippling anxiety; certainly its not helped by the fact that shes assigned a murder case on her first day. Later, Phil attempts to get Claire out of her shell by inspiration-quoting a line from his own metal band (fear is the rape of the mind); you can tell its completely unhelpful.

This memorable dynamic captures just one part of Person to Person, the second feature from writer and director Dustin Guy Defa. The film loosely weaves its three main stories of random New Yorkers without striving for some forced connection. Its casta mix of indie veterans and newcomerskeeps the acting naturalistic, while the low-key, talky sense of humor (reminiscent of early Woody Allen or Richard Linklater) makes something as dark as a murder case come off as just another quirk of the Big Apple.

Even as Phil and Claire team up to track down their possible suspect, the victims widow (Michaela Watkins), cynicism isnt the occupying force of Person to Person. In fact, its quite the opposite. Person to Person is a warm movie: autumnal colors fill the screen while the textured 16mm film it was shot on gives its New York that nostalgic glow. This comes from the lens of cinematographer Ashley Connor, whose rsum includes Josephine Decker films and a long list of memorable music videos familiar to Pitchfork readers (Jenny Lewis Just One of the Guys, Mitskis Your Best American Girl, and Angel Olsens Shut Up Kiss Me, to name just a few).

When Connors lens isnt fixed upon Phil, Claire, the suspect, and the watchmaker who may hold the clues (Philip Baker Hall), it wanders over to Wendy and Melanie, two high school girls skipping school. Continuing to prove her acting chops, Rookie wunderkind Tavi Gevinson plays a sarcastic teen who spends her screen time grumbling to her best friend (Olivia Luccardi), who in turn invites her boyfriend along so they can make out. Ambushed with a double date, Gevinson is a delight to watch as she navigates that space between angst and curiosity.

But the films most touching vignette is of two roommates, Bene and Ray, the latter (George Sample III) fleeing from a much-deserved beating after uploading naked photos of his ex-girlfriend online. Portraying a music fanatic of the same first name, breakout star Bene Coopersmith is the far more lovable half of the duoif not the best part of Person to Person overall, then at least the films heart. Bene spends his day chasing down a rare Charlie Parker LP (The Bird Blows the Blues) and asking strangers if they think he can pull off his new floral shirt. During his scenes, the films soundtrackfull of obscure R&B and funk jams like Shirley Ann Lees Time, the Volumes Im Gonna Miss You, and Greenflows I Gotchacomes alive. As Bene goes after the record seller who ultimately scams him, the title of Person to Personabout the serendipitous, sometimes inconvenient connections strangers can make in the big cityreally comes into focus.

Despite appearances and interests, Bene isnt some hardened middle-aged man constantly griping about the good old days. In fact, its his unabashed earnestness that ends Person to Person on a touching note. After his record-chasing mishap, Bene delivers a speech far too sincere and real to knock down: Me, Ive got music in my heart. Ive got love for it, I seek it out. I find records, I collect them, I sell them to people who have that same love inside. Its a tender spot, its vulnerable. Its a spot that you think nobody is gonna take advantage of. Then you go around and you let that love be known. You share it, you share it with people and you trust that they wont violate you. Person to Person is the kind of movie that asks its viewers to open up that tender spot inside. Once you do, itll completely charm you.

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Person to Person Is an Indie Comedy for Music Nerds Like You - Pitchfork

Facebook subsidiary Instagram has courted Snapchat fans with its own Stories feature.

Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo. Photos by Rohappy/Thinkstock and Thinkstock.

Facebook was supposed to be washed up by now. Four years ago, reports of a decline in usage by teens spurred a wave of predictions that it was headed the way of Myspace. Teens fickle taste was presumed to imply that no social network could keep its throne for very long.

Yet here we are in 2017, and Facebooks grip on social media is stronger than ever. The company reported last week that Facebook itself is used by an astonishing 2 billion people each month. Thats close to twice as many active users as it had in 2013, when the doomsaying began.

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Perhaps more importantly for the companys long-term future, two of its subsidiariesInstagram and WhatsAppare still growing at impressive rates in their own right. And much of that growth is coming from the same young demographic that was once seen as a threat to Facebooks dominance. A recent study named Instagram the most popular app among U.S. teens age 1317.

At the same time, the types of upstart rivals that once seemed destined to overtake Facebook are floundering. Twitter went public in 2013, a few months after the Facebook isnt cool anymore narrative took hold. But its growth since then has essentially flatlined. As recently as nine months ago, industry watchers were touting Snapchat and its new augmented-reality Spectacles as a potential usurper of Facebooks crown. Then Snap went public, and the hype balloon popped almost immediately. Now Twitter and Snap are the ones enduring gloomy warnings about their future obsolescence.

How did Facebook do it? How has it managed not only to stay on top of an industry that was thought to be inherently topsy-turvy, but to continually widen its lead? The answer is a simple yet devastatingly effective strategy aimed at neutralizing upstarts before its too late: If you cant beat them, buy them. And if you cant buy them, copy them.

Facebook embarked on this strategy even before most industry watchers thought it was in any danger. In 2012, it acquired Instagram, the minimalistic photo-sharing app popular mainly with young people, for what seemed at the time to be an astronomical price: $1 billion. This despite Instagram having just a handful of employees, zero revenue, and no obvious path to profitability. The startup had been valued at an estimated $500 million just a few weeks earlier.

The move prompted a flurry of rage-quits from Instagram users who had viewed the service as a refuge from the increasingly corporate, adult-dominated social network. Some commentators praised it as farsighted; others criticized it as reckless. I did some of each, arguing that the move made sense on its own terms but signaled a broader strategy that might prove unsustainable. I concluded:

Facebooks strategy, it turned out, was more nuanced than I gave it credit for. The supply of potentially revolutionary startups may indeed be endlessYik Yak, Ello, Meerkat, and Peach are just a few of those that have gained attention as would-be Facebook killers over the years, only to flop soon after. Yet the company has proved to be as selective in its choice of targets as it is aggressive in pursuing them.

If you cant beat them, buy them. And if you cant buy them, copy them.

In some cases, it has simply ignored would-be rivals, confident in the power of its network to fend off a challenge from a direct competitor. This is especially true in the case of the anti-Facebookssocial networks whose core features mimic Facebooks own, such as Google Plus, Diaspora, Ello, Peach, and the many reincarnations of Myspace.

Facebook tends to pay much closer attention when a startup attracts large numbers of youngsters by offering a social experience substantially different from its own. Instagram may have only had 30 million users in 2012, but they werent just usersthey were addicts. They loved the simplicity of uploading and sharing photos on their phone, a functionality that Facebook itself had failed to master. (It was around that time that the company realized that it would be doomed if it couldnt make the leap from users desktops to their smartphones; Facebooks subsequent shift to mobile is one of the great business success stories of the era.)

In recent years, a select handful of other social media platforms have worried Facebook enough to prompt it to significant action. They include YouTube, Vine, Periscope, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. Each one brought a fresh element to online communication that was lacking from Facebook at the time: original video, looping videos, personal streaming video, group messaging, self-destructing messages, curated personal stories. The ones Facebook couldnt buyGoogles YouTube, Twitters Vine and Periscopeit blatantly copied instead, either within Facebook or one of its subsidiary apps, such as Instagram or Messenger. WhatsApp, with its loyal network of 430 million users around the world, might have seemed too big to buy. But Facebook wasnt satisfied with its efforts to copy it via Messenger, so it went ahead and paid an enormous premium$19 billionto acquire it anyway. Three years later, WhatsApp has more than doubled in size, and it has helped to make Facebook the leader in messaginga popular and still-growing category among teens.

Of all the would-be Facebook rivals, none more perfectly embodies everything that keeps Mark Zuckerberg up at night than Snapchat. Its users are overwhelmingly young; its growth has been meteoric; it is cool and insouciant and confusing to adults in a way Facebook may have once been, but certainly never will be again. On top of that, it has proved wildly innovative, pioneering a series of products that have changed how people interact.

In Snapchats case, Facebook tried first to buy it for $3 billionagain, far more than most observers thought it was worth. But Snapchats Evan Spiegel wouldnt sell, much the same way Zuckerberg repeatedly declined seemingly generous overtures from the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft on his way to surpassing them both. So Facebook resorted to Plan B, relentlessly copying Snapchats successful features. Here, too, it failed repeatedlyremember Poke? Or Slingshot? But it never stopped trying.

For all its efforts, the main Facebook app has yet to successfully copy a major Snapchat feature. Something about either the teams approach, the Facebook brand, or the structure of its network (in which kids are inextricably linked to their parents and other authority figures) has made it helpless to recapture the interest of Snapchats young users. This was exactly the sort of scenario those doomsayers had in mind back in 2013. Its hard to say exactly how much share of teens attention Facebook has lost over the past five years, since the company doesnt break out usage metrics by age group. But in a 2016 Business Insider survey on teens favorite apps, the big blue one didnt even make the list.

Heres the twist: Core Facebook hasnt been able to fend off Snapchat, but its subsidiaries have. In the space of nine months, Facebook copied Snapchats Stories feature on no less than four of its platforms: Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook. The first twoInstagram Stories and WhatsApp Statushave already eclipsed Snapchats original in active users. This is not just a case of Facebooks oldsters discovering the form anew: Reports suggest that Instagram Stories in particular are directly siphoning both users and stars from Snapchat. And now Snap is the one facing pressure from investors to show that it can survive the onslaught from Facebook.

In retrospect, the Facebook doomsayers underestimated both the company and the severity of its coolness problem.

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Historically, big mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector have often been disastrous (think HP/Compaq, AOL/Time Warner, and pretty much any startup Yahoo ever acquired). Facebook managed to buck this trend by seeking not synergies or cost savings, but young and fast-growing user bases. And it was willing to strategically overpay to get the ones it targeted. Meanwhile, it proved adept at mimicking the best features of those apps it wasnt able to acquire.

At the same time, it turned out being hip wasnt actually the key to dominating social media. In a recent survey of millennials, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all ranked relatively low in coolness compared with other tech brands, including Snapchat. But Zuckerberg has always cared less about being cool than about being massive, and he has discovered that the latter doesnt necessarily depend on the former.

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Teenage Clicks - Slate Magazine