The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt Were Alien Hybrids

Are we alone in the whole universe? You would get different answers to this question from different people. No matter what the skeptics or the debunkers have to say, but there is hardly any doubt that alien life does exist and they have been visiting out planet since the ancient times. A study on the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics would confirm this further. Here is some of the best hieroglyphic evidence that points towards the existence of alien life.
(1) The Temple of Seti I at Abydos has a hieroglyphic panel that bears symbols resembling the helicopter, spaceship and fighter jet planes. These hieroglyphic panels were made three to five thousand years ago, when man had no idea about these modern day vehicles.

(2) An Egyptian woman is seen sitting with an alien looking being in her laps in one of the hieroglyphic panels that has been recovered. Human structures can be easily made out in other hieroglyphic hence it is obvious that the being in question is certainly not human, but an alien.

(3) Many hieroglyphs bear images of humans with extra elongated craniums. As naturally human cranium is not supposed to be that long, it is believed by the alien enthusiasts that ancient Egyptians tried ropes on the skulls of their babies to make the cranium look elongated. This was a measure to emulate the appearances of the aliens is what is widely believed.

(4) A flying saucer is seen in one of the hieroglyphic panels that are found on the walls of ancient Egyptian monuments. The shape and structure of the alleged flying saucer is so accurate, that someone might think that the ancient Egyptians had referred to a sci-fi movie to draw that. This however, proves that ancient Egyptians did encounter alien spaceships and that is why these objects have found their place in the different work of hieroglyphics.

(5) Mysterious alien looking creatures are being found in many hieroglyphic panels all across Egypt. These beings have large black eyes and look humanoid, but certainly they are far from being humans.

(6) There is another hieroglyph that is found in the Temple of the Pharaohs where an alien is found that resembles exactly the little grey men about whom we keep on reading in the various tales of alien encounters.

(7) Another work of hieroglyphic art depicts a flying object that is emitting some rays pointed towards an animal. This hieroglyph is concrete evidence that not only aliens exist, but they also have been abducting animals and humans since the ancient times.

(8) The hieroglyphic depiction of the ancient light bulb makes it evident that ancient Egyptians had developed the technology of how to generate electricity and work with electric light bulb. The hieroglyph at the Dendera complex shows that with support from some super intelligent extraterrestrial support, ancient Egyptians had made such objects.

(9) The strange appearance of the various Egyptian gods that are seen in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs certainly point out that these gods were unearthly and they were extraterrestrial visitors. Sphinx, Anubis etc. is examples of beings that are thought to be aliens in reality.

(10) Various hieroglyphic panels bear images of humans interacting with beings that do not like humans. These beings are mostly characterized by large craniums and large eyes and look more like those green men that you would get to see in the sci-fi movies of these days.

Alien CXPAC5 genes

A new genetic study suggests a lineage of Egyptian pharaohs were subjected to willful genetic manipulation by a technologically advanced civilization. Some would call this definitive proof that the builders of the pyramids had a strong connection with beings that originated elsewhere in the universe.
Stuart Fleischmann, Assistant Professor of Comparative Genomics at the Swiss University in Cairo and his team have recently published the results of a 7-year study that mapped the genomes of 9 ancient Egyptian Pharaohs. If proven correct, their findings could potentially change the world’s history books.
Fleischmann and his team subjected the precious samples of ancient DNA to a process called Polymerse Chain Reaction (PCR). In the field of molecular biology this technique is often used to replicate and amplify a single copy of a piece of DNA, giving researchers a clear picture of someone’s genetic fingerprint.
Eight out of nine samples returned interesting but typical results. The ninth sample belonged to Akhenaten, the enigmatic 14th century BC pharaoh and father of Tutankhamun. A small fragment of desiccated brain tissue had been the source of the DNA sample and the test was repeated using bone tissue but the same results were obtained.
One of the culprits was a gene called CXPAC-5, which is responsible for cortex growth. The anomaly is visible in the image below.

The right section shows the prevalence of the CXPAC5 gene in a normal human. On the left we have Ahenaten’s DNA sample.

It appears this increased activity in Akhenaten’s genome would suggest he had a higher cranial capacity because of the need to house a larger cortex. But what mutation would have caused a human brain to grow? We have yet to discover such a technique despite years of breakthroughs in genetics. Could this 3,300 year-old evidence point out ancient genetic manipulation? Was it the work of advanced extraterrestrial beings?
Is the mythology of ancient Egypt more than a collection of allegoric tales? Prof. Fleischmann explains:

Telomerase [a genetic enzyme] is only expended by two processes: extreme aging and extreme mutation. Genetic and archaeological data suggests Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten lived to about 45 years of age. That is not nearly enough to consume all the chromosomal telomerase, leaving behind one inconvenient but possible explanation.
This hypothesis is also backed up by the fact that electron microscope analysis revealed signs of nucleotidic cicatrix, which is a telltale sign of the DNA helix healing after being exposed to strong mutagens.”

Does this suggest that Akhenaten, one of ancient Egypt’s most mysterious pharaohs, was subjected to genetic modification during his life? If anything, this allegation supports the theory that ancient aliens once visited the civilization that lived along the banks of the Nile.
Another interesting piece of evidence provides backing to this hypothesis. The image below shows two microscope photographs of osseous tissue sampled from the skull of Akhenaten and that of a different mummy of the same age.

The bone tissue on the left is far denser and fundamentally different at a nanoscopic scale. Could this increase in strength of the skull bones be an indicator of increased brain development?

This is an exciting finding, to say the least,” Fleischmann told press. “My team and I have submitted the papers for peer review and we’ve done and redone the tests enough times that we’re confident they’re accurate.
I don’t know the full implication of our findings but I certainly believe they should at least point the scientific community in a direction that would have been immediately dismissed just a few decades ago.”

If this study is correct, it could trigger an unprecedented paradigm shift. If aliens were actively involved in the life of the most powerful individuals thousands of years ago, does that mean they’ll return? Perhaps they never left at all.
But the most important aspect would be the existence of individuals, direct descendants of ancient Egypt’s royal lineage, that still posses the alien genes implanted in their ancestors’ genomes.

bought nes classic edition

I loved Super Mario Bros. 3, Legend of Zelda, Kirby's Adventure. The emulation is better than Wii U's NES emulator.

Ranking of NES Classic Edition

30. Galaga

Galaga is a pretty faithful port of the arcade game original. This was one of the NES games that proved Nintendo's game console could bring the experience of mall video arcades into your living room, sans all the people crowding around you and calling “next game” when you died.

29. Pac-Man

Another arcade port. The sound is a little off between the original arcade game and the NES version, but the mazes are faithful, so it almost felt like owning your own Pac-Man machine when this game was first released!

28 and 27. Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.

Another pair of arcade ports, this time starring Nintendo’s first iconic character, who recently celebrated his 35th anniversary!

26. Balloon Fight

Balloon Fight NESguide.com/YouTube

Balloon Fight has a lot in common with the arcade game Joust. You float around the game level with a handful of balloons, and land on top of enemies who are also floating around with balloons. If you land on your opponent correctly, you pop their balloons and send them parachuting to the ground. The second hit kills them.

25. Ice Climber

A launch title for the NES, Ice Climber is a vertical platformer where the player scales an ice mountain. You have a mallet to break rocks and ice that gets in your way or to smash enemies. There’s a bonus stage at the top of every mountain where you have to grab as many items as possible to bring you to the next stage before a giant condor flies past.

24. Mario Bros.

Yet another arcade port. The pair of plumbers star in what would become a prologue game to the “super” versions that would make Mario and Luigi household names.

23. Double Dragon II: The Revenge

This side-scrolling beat-em-up is a sequel to the original Double Dragon. Up to two players simultaneously walk through the streets beating up gang members and criminals using nothing but good timing, their fists, and their feet.
Double Dragon II improved upon the first game with animated cutscenes, better level designs, and cooler fighting moves. And if you turn on the option where players can hurt one another, Double Dragon II can provide for some excellent trolling material.

22. Excitebike

Excitebike was also a launch title for the NES. It's a motocross game in which the player not only has to navigate the tracks correctly, but also make sure their engine doesn't overheat while sticking jumps and avoiding obstacles.
You could also design your own courses, but this was long before the days of Super Mario Maker. Once you turned Excitebike off, you lost your custom designs because the cartridge had no batteries to power save game storage. The NES Classic Edition will hopefully allow save files.

21. Tecmo Bowl

Tecmo Bowl was the football game when it was released on the NES. It had nine players on either side of the line of scrimmage—a lot for a home football game at the time—and used the names of real NFL players (but not the names of real NFL teams, due to licensing issues).
Tecmo Bowl has a 2-player mode, though the basic gameplay is pretty simple. The player on defense tries to guess which of only four plays the offense will select, and if the player on defense guessed correctly they have the best defensive formation possible.

20. StarTropics

This may be one of the least recognizable games on the list. StarTropics is an adventure game with a Legend of Zelda vibe about a kid named Mike who’s on an adventure to find his missing uncle. Mike is armed with baseball bats, yo-yos, and other kid-like weapons as he wanders an overworld looking for villages and information that will lead him to the dungeons he needs to conquer.

19. Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins

Ghosts 'n' Goblins World of Longplays/Youtube

Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins is a somewhat faithful port of the arcade game. The player takes the role of Arthur, a knight on a mission to rescue a princess. If he gets hit once, Arthur’s armor flies off and he’s running around in his underwear. This is pretty funny, given how hectic with enemies Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins almost always is. Arthur spends a lot of time running around in his boxer shorts.
Arthur also has a punishingly short time limit to beat each level, or he dies and had to start over. That part is not funny.

18. Super C

The second game in the Contra series on the NES, Super C pits a pair of Rambo-like commandos on a mission to destroy an alien named Red Falcon and his armies. Super C is a fast-moving side-scroller where the screen is almost always filled with bullets and enemies flying at you from all directions.
Powerups give you shotgun rounds or lasers that do much more damage than ordinary bullets, but this is a game practically made for two-player co-op, especially when it comes to fighting the bosses.

17. Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario is a puzzle game in which the player has a bottle that’s full of red, blue, and yellow viruses. The player has to color-match pills to the viruses until four items of the same color are in a row, after which all four pieces vanish from the inside of the bottle. The goal is to empty the bottle of viruses entirely.
This is also a game that might warrant a purchase of a second NES Classic Edition controller, because Dr. Mario has a two-player mode in which you race your opponent to see who can empty their bottle first.

16. Gradius

Gradius is a side-scrolling shooter from Konami that introduced the Vic Viper starfighter, who would later appear in Gradius II and Life Force. Gradius depends heavily on finding powerup tokens for the Viper that players can spend on different ship upgrades that fit with their play style. The levels can get very tight and hectic with enemies quickly, and the bosses have very specific weak points that players need to target.

15. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original Legend of Zelda. Link has grown up and has to save Princess Zelda from a sleeping spell. The path to her rescue lies in six palaces in the land of Hyrule that Link has to find and beat.
This is a totally different game from the original. There's a huge overworld map that resembles something out of Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior, with wandering monsters that Link has to fight if they catch him. Whenever the game changes to a fight scene, it turns into a side-scrolling platformer.
Zelda II has an experience point system, leveling up, towns with non-player characters that can teach skills to Link, and other RPG elements that are entirely absent in the original game.

14. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

The second game in the Castlevania series is a marked departure from the original. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is an adventure game with recursive map elements instead of a linear platformer game.
Hero Simon Belmont had to recover six pieces of Dracula’s body and bring them together to destroy them all at once and banish Dracula for good. That means finding six mansions, each of which has one piece of Dracula’s body. That means traveling through a large overworld filled with towns and merchants, with a day/night cycle that changes which enemies spawn and how powerful they are.
Castlevania II also has an experience point system, townspeople characters who will give Simon clues, and uses items to give Simon permanent abilities that make him stronger as the game goes on. It's a very different game from the original.

13. Castlevania

The original Castlevania, a platforming game, was one of the first games to popularize the Konami brand name. Hero Simon Belmont is on a mission to destroy Dracula, by fighting his way through the vampire’s mansion using a magic whip. The whip became synonymous with all the Castlevania games that followed over the decades.
Castlevania has an extremely catchy soundtrack, colorful graphics, a nice aesthetic variety between levels, and a who’s-who of old-school monster movie villains as stage bosses.

12. Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble is another game that might make you want to purchase a second controller for your NES, because couch co-op Bubble Bobble is fantastic. The game has hundreds of stages for the dragons Bub and Bob to beat. They move by blowing bubbles that Bub and Bob can jump onto to float through the level. They also use the bubbles to capture enemies, and they kill the enemies by popping the bubble. There's a ton of variety and creativity in the game's hundreds of levels.

11. Kirby’s Adventure

Kirby’s Adventure was like a promotion for Kirby, who first appeared on the Game Boy and then graduated to the NES. It was another platformer that like the Super Mario Bros. series was split into worlds and levels, but what made Kirby special was his ability to eat things and gain powers and abilities. Kirby’s Adventure is also loaded with a ton of minigames and other side activities.

10. Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus isn’t as huge as icon as most others in Nintendo’s lexicon of characters, which is a shame because the original Kid Icarus is one of the coolest adventures on the system. The music and the art aesthetic were unique compared to other games released on the system early in the NES life cycle.
The game takes place in Angel Land, a world influenced by Ancient Greece. The hero, Kid Icarus uses a bow and arrow to defeat enemies as he conquers horizontal and vertical platforming levels, defeats fortress levels that contain bosses, and makes use of an extensive network of merchants and shops to upgrade his gear. And the final level turns the game into a shooter, not a platformer, which makes for an awesome ending.

9. Super Mario Bros. 2

Did you know that Super Mario Bros. 2 did not begin as a Super Mario Bros. game? It was originally called Doki Doki Panic, but the art was swapped (with other changes) to create the second game in the Super Mario Bros. series. Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first Mario game in which players could choose to play as the Princess or Toad. Super Mario Bros. 2 also introduced a health meter to the series.

8. Ninja Gaiden

The original Ninja Gaiden is punishingly difficult and is generally considered one of the most challenging games made for the NES. It also featured some of the slickest cutscenes and cinematics of any game at the time.
Ninja Gaiden introduces series hero Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja warrior on a mission to avenge the death of his father. You wall-hang with Ryu to set up ambushes on enemies, destroy lamps on the walls to reveal power-ups (a system that was obviously influenced by Castlevania), and face a boss at the end of each level.

7. Punch-Out!!! Featuring Mr. Dream

Originally released as Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!!!, this miniaturized version of the arcade game Punch-Out!!! is an exercise in carefully observing your opponent for tells, to see what punch they are going to throw and to prepare your counter punch.
Your eccentric opponents are defined by their nationalities, and you fight your way around the world until you faced Mike Tyson himself. Unfortunately, when the licensing deal ran out Tyson was replaced by Mr. Dream, and this is the version that will be included on the NES Classic Edition.

6. Metroid

Metroid is a mind-bending platformer adventure where you constantly backtrack your way through the planet Zebes to earn new items that unlock doors that had previously been closed to you. The goal is to destroy the evil supercomputer called Mother Brain.
Metroid has spooky sci-fi music, introduces Samus Aram (one of Nintendo’s most popular icons), and is also associated with the birth of the early speedrunning movement.

5. Super Mario Bros.

Of course Super Mario Bros. is on the new NES Classic—it’s been ported to almost every Nintendo game console ever. This was one of the games packaged with the NES back in 1984. Everybody had Super Mario Bros. It’s the birth of the Mario legend, the game that made side-scrolling platformers popular, and a defining moment in Nintendo’s history as a company.

4. Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy World of Longplays/YouTube

The original Final Fantasy caught criticism for being a “clone” of Dragon Warrior, another RPG series on the NES, but Final Fantasy’s superior story is what ultimately made it the grandfather of the Japanese Role Playing Games (JPRG) genre and the start of a mega franchise that continues to thrill gamers today.

3. Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 improved on the first game with better graphics, audio, level designs, game mechanics, and even added a password system so players could save their games. Mega Man 2 become a smash hit, and it's venerated as one of the best games ever made for the NES.

2. Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 took the structure and elements of the original Super Mario Bros. and blew them up into an extravaganza. Now “worlds” weren’t just numbers before a game level: Mario actually moved through map screens that made each world look unique.
Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced fresh ideas like Mario wearing suits that would give him special abilities and Toad houses with mini-games that would become popular design elements for many Mario games to follow.

1. The Legend of Zelda

The original Legend of Zelda was one of the most engaging adventures ever released for the NES. You had to fully immerse yourself in the world to discover the locations of dungeons, shops, and secrets. It had unique enemies, interesting weapons and equipment to use, and puzzles to solve. And because The Legend of Zelda was released so early into the life cycle of the NES it became a standard entry in anyone’s collection.
The Legend of Zelda was also the very first game cartridge to include batteries, so that you could save your game without needing to enter a save game code.

SNES games for SNES Classic Edition

Chrono Trigger

A strong focus on character development, side quests, and multiple endings put Chrono Trigger far ahead of its time in terms of storytelling in games and made it an all-time great.

Donkey Kong Country

One of the best all-around games of the era, Donkey Kong Country was a terrific platformer, had one of the best soundtracks on the SNES, and was one of the first games to use pre-rendered 3D graphics.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Arguably the best game in the series, A Link to the Past fleshed out the Zelda canon, had a dozen temples to explore, and both the Light and Dark World for you to travel between.

Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose

This addictive platformer combined all the humor from the kids cartoon with the difficulty of other games from the era to create a surprise classic.

Earthbound

EarthBound‘s extraordinary circumstances set in a rather ordinary world and offbeat humor would serve as the inspiration for many modern RPGs.

Super Mario World

The pack in game for the SNES was also one of its best. Super Mario World perfected the formula begun in Super Mario Bros. 3, and it introduced our dino pal Yoshi.

Maximum Carnage

A slew of Marvel-licensed video games hit the SNES over its lifespan, but this recreation of the classic Spider-Man storyline was one of the most satisfying beat ’em ups of the era.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

This hilarious LucasArts game has you taking on aliens, werewolves, and—yes—zombies as you attempt to save your neighbors.

Star Fox

Using the Super FX chip to create the first accelerated 3D experience on a home console, Star Fox paved the way for polygon use in graphics, and had stellar on-rails action to boot.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

The final collaboration between Square and Nintendo before Square moved to the PS1, this RPG had cutting edge graphics and combat that has fans still clamoring for a proper sequel to this day.

TMNT IV: Turtles in Time

A reimagining of the arcade game, taking on classic bad guys from the popular 80s cartoon alongside a friend defined many children’s memories with the SNES.

Aladdin

Completely different from the Sega version of the game, the SNES Aladdin was the superior of the two, focusing more on platforming and traversal than combat.

Super Star Wars

Recreating the best scenes of the movie via run and gun and platforming gameplay, your world changed forever for the better when you got the lightsaber.

Super Street Fighter II

Beginning Capcom’s long history of updating our favorite games repeatedly over a single console generation, this third version of the classic fighter introduced T. Hawk, Cammy, Fei Long, and Dee Jay.

NBA Jam

Ported from the arcades, the highly entertaining 2-on-2 basketball action was easy to pick and play with friends and lent itself to instant rivalries in the living room.

Super Castlevania IV

In many ways this was a recreation of the original Castelvania, but more control over Simon Belmont and his whip made this an instant favorite.

F-Zero

Nothing makes an amazing racing game quite like hover-cars. F-Zero set the bar for high-speed racing, while delivering memorable racers like Captain Falcon.

Final Fantasy VI

One of the most amazing RPGs of all time, Final Fantasy VI (released as Final Fantasy III in the United States) is a must-have game on any SNES list.

Super Punch-Out!!

Building off of the NES classic, Super Punch-Out!! marks the return of Little Mac against a bevy of hilarious enemy boxers.

X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse

Take control of five of your favorite X-Men in this game, each with their own unique powers to help you take down the mighty Apocalypse.

Super Metroid

Samus is the queen of action and platforming, and Super Metroid finds her at her finest. See what set the tone for an entire genre of games to come.

Mega Man X

A new Blue Bomber in an even more distant future must take down Sigma and his Maverick army. This game included new ways to explore, including dashing and wall-climbing, combined with classic Mega Man shooter action.

The Lost Vikings

Utilize the abilities of three adventurous vikings as you work your way through this puzzle-platformer from Blizzard Entertainment.

Earthworm Jim

Beautiful level design complimented with crisp controls and a sense of humor make Earthworm Jim another game that you simply must play.

Mario Paint

It’s time to get creative with this outside-the-box title. Not so much a game, Mario Paint has you make your own music, create your own art, and more.

Final Fight

Take back the streets and save your loved one in this classic beat-em-up. Don’t forget to pick up a pipe—it’s dangerous out there.

Rock n’ Roll Racing

This title has you not just trying to make it to the finish line, but also to survive! Spend your winnings on upgraded weapons to be the ultimate racer.

Secret of Mana

An early Square RPG, Secret of Mana features intense real-time battles contrasted by a gorgeous soundtrack.

Harvest Moon

Tend to the crops and maintain the farm in Harvest Moon. You’ll want to optimize every acre to get the best harvest!

Breath of Fire

Another amazing SNES RPG for the list, but in this one you can turn into an awesome, fire-breathing dragon!

Accountants vs. Lawyers: A Pointless Debate

A lawyer and an accountant walk into a bar. Everyone else in the bar doesn’t care.

 

Our friends over at Above the Law published a debate between an ex-lawyer and ex-accountant over which profession was more god-awful. I didn't read the whole thing but whatever the conclusion, it matters not. This is a pointless conversation that will be argued until the end of civilization or when robots take over both professions, whichever comes first. 

 

Yet, the debate rages on. Why? I have ideas:

 

Lawyers -- Lawyers like to have this conversation because they like talking about money even more than accountants do. They also like to use the farcical prestige of their profession to belittle a profession that they consider to be just an army of simpleton number crunchers.

 

Accountants -- Accountants like to have this conversation because they enjoy pointing out that lawyers make bad life choices. Seriously, what kind of person willingly pursues a career that is stacked in the favor of the students at the most elite schools, results in a six-figure school loan debt, an evaporated job market, and no useful skills? The answer: A very stupid person. 

 

Despite the futile nature of this discussion, in the spirit of good Internet sport, I will extend this fruitless debate further, thus continuing the endless circle of petty bickering that both accountants and lawyers relish. Don't wanna to do it, but feel like I owe it to you. 

 

I’ve come up with four main areas of discussion to compare the two professions. After reading them, feel free to add your comments should you believe I missed anything. I plan to nail this, though, so maybe don't bother. Anyway, let's do this.

 

The Work 

There are lawyers who say law is awesome and accounting is boring. There are accountants who say accounting is awesome and law is boring. There are lawyers and accountants who will tell you that the work of both profession is boring. To this latter group, I would say shut up and stop obsessing over money. 

 

What it comes down to is fear. That is, do you fear numbers or words? Your opinion on how “boring” either law or accounting is based solely on how you answer that question. Which your fear is, you're just ignorant and incapable of empathy which makes you a bad person.  

 

Money 

Lawyers make more starting out; they make more over the long haul. I’m sure any enterprising accountant could prove me wrong with an elaborately designed spreadsheet but I don’t give a fuck. Not a single one. 

 

Money is a pointless topic within this debate because anyone who is motivated primarily by money is myopic and soulless. I’d avoid any profession that is populated with these type of people (which probably explains why I work at home, ALL ALONE *sob*)

 

If you want to be rich, you’re going to have to start a business and make it wildly successful. In this highly unlikely event, then you will have enough money to throw scraps to the ground and watch lawyers and accountants fight over them just to serve you, while you laugh maniacally. Fun! 

 

Colleagues

Ahhhhh, there’s nothing quite like the incessant bitching of over-educated, entitled professionals who have an inflated sense of self-worth. Determining which group of professionals suck the life out of your soul more effectively is also a futile exercise. In either law or accounting, misery loves company that loves company that loves misery. You're doomed to be surrounded by people you don't like or want to talk to.

 

Speaking of conversation -- you can pick your poison: Do you want to talk about legal work or accounting work? Because that’s what your colleagues are going to talk to you about 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time, you’re discussing sports or your Plan B commute or the camera on your new smartphone or how you need to get back into your workout routine or the real estate values in your neighborhood or any other topic that your average white-collar working stiff thinks is interesting to someone else.

 

Career Prospects

Don’t get me started on the empty ambitions of these two groups. Lawyers all think they can either be Senators or that they want to save the children/whales/Africa with their scholarly legal intellect. Or maybe they'll just give it all up and become the next John Grisham! In reality, they can’t accept the fact that most of them will either do estate planning for people far, far wealthier than they’ll ever be or chasing ambulances and shooting low-budget commercials that will air after midnight. 

 

Accountants, on the other hand, all want to be Gordon Gekko except they don’t have the smarts or the charisma or the guts to take a chance on anything but the cream cheese they want on their bagel. When they’ve realized that the best options they have are either being a partner at a small accounting firm or controller of a real estate company that specializes in storage units, they lose all ambition because those two jobs allow you a somewhat decent life. 

 

Except for the part where you’re a partner a small accounting firm or controller of a real estate company that specializes in storage units.  

 

Conclusion

To sum it up, lawyers and accountants tie for the worstest and this post will undoubtedly go down in history as the authoritative literature on the subject. Discuss.

Nintendo Switch $299

We know some things about the Nintendo Switch, but there are still a whole lot of questions about Nintendo’s new hybrid living room/portable console. Chief among them is the price: it’s a competitive gaming market out there, and Nintendo is going to have to strike the right balance between affordability and profitability if it wants to push these console as effectively as possible. We’ve heard some hints from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima that the company will be selling the hardware at a profit, and that the Switch will be priced in line with previous Nintendo offerings. Now, a since-removed listing from the Canadian Toys “R” Us website puts the price at $329.99 Canadian, which translates to about $245 US (likely rounded up to $249 if this turns out to be the price).

Standard leak/rumor caveat: nothing is official until it’s official, and we’ve all been duped before. Here’s Nintendo’s official statement: “At a later date, before launch, we’ll be talking about things like price, exact launch date, and of course, the games.”

I had previously been predicting $299, which was the price of the basic Wii U at launch. But this number is still generally in line with what we might consider a “Nintendo-like” pricing, just on the slightly lower end. If it’s true, that’s good news for Nintendo. I could see the Switch moving pretty fast at a price like that. There already seems to be a fair amount of enthusiasm for the Switch, something that an appropriately low price point could help Nintendo take advantage of. Despite the handheld focus, I have the feeling that the Xbox One and PS4 remain the machine’s primary competition, or at least the primary comparison point. Both of those are selling for $299 (with bundled games) right now, and going down to $299 for Black Friday. Holiday pricing sometimes becomes permanent, so keep an eye on that into December.

There are also rumors of a “deluxe” SKU at $299, which would also fit in well with Nintendo’s history with the Wii U, and it’s worth noting that the deluxe bundle sold much stronger with the Wii U. Regardless, I tend to agree with Michael Pachter that $299 is both a ceiling and a totally comfortable price for the Nintendo Switch. Anything below that just sweetens the deal.

Publisher Reach on Facebook Is Down 42% The 'pretty notable drop' happened over the past 5 months

Publishers who have noticed their overall reach on Facebook has dramatically declined over the past few months can at least have peace of mind that they're not alone.

According to an analysis by SocialFlow, publishers on Facebook have experienced a rapid decline in overall reach during the past few months. The social analytics company examined 3,000 Facebook pages, most of which are publishers who have a collective annual impression count of around 500 billion reaching 600 million unique users. And what it found might be a bit depressing to all the hard working journalists of the world: In May, publishers produced around 550,000 posts that went through SocialFlow's platform—up from 470,000 in April—but overall reach from January to May was down 42 percent per post.

That's a "pretty notable drop," said SocialFlow CEO Jim Anderson.

"We said, wait a minute, if the reach is staying flat but the posts are going up, the only possible conclusion there is that my reach per post is going down," he said in an interview.

According to SocialFlow data, total media reach across all pages had been steadily increasing from June 2015 through January 2016. And while post counts have continued to go up—now more than double the 220,000 count in June 2015—reach per post peaked in January at nearly 120,000.

"It's hard to look at that data and say that doesn't hurt publishers, right?" Anderson said. "It's a 42 percent drop in the reach per post. It's hard to objectively look and say, 'Wow, that's a good thing if I'm a publisher and I'm the one publishing the content, because I want reach, I want traffic, I want eyeballs.'"

It's tough to tell what exactly caused the shift at the beginning of the year, but Anderson mentioned a few possibilities: Facebook's algorithm might be adjusting to give more prominence to personal posts—a way to prevent the reported decrease in engagement on the platform—or it could be that the algorithm is choosing to only show users a limited number of posts from any given publisher to prevent newsfeed overload.

According to data last year from the Pew Research Center, about 47 percent of a survey of 2,000 adults using Facebook said they get their news from Facebook, while about 40 percent of all U.S. adults did the same. The study also found that Twitter users had a more diverse range of topics and were more likely to follow media organizations on the platform.

While Anderson doesn't think Facebook is necessarily doing anything maliciously to hurt publishers in favor of others, he said there's no denying that the results aren't rosy. However, it said Facebook is faced with the challenge of balance the needs of competing entities in a way that's good for not just publishers but also brands and users.

"I think these algorithms are a bit of a dark art to many people," he said. "We think it's important and we are excited to provide some visibility to what's going on. Because even when you can't control it, knowing what's happening and understanding how your volatility compares to the rest of the industry or similar publications lets you run your business more effectively."

If anything he said the results are a sign that publishers should spend time examining their content to see what's going well and what's not. If their reach is higher than before, they're bucking the trend. If not, media companies struggling for more page views can rest assured that they're not alone.

"It's sort of like if I got wet on the way to work because it was raining outside. There was water coming from the sky—that's why you got wet. And you can argue whether you should have had an umbrella, but it's that kind of thing. There's just no good way for media companies to know on a systematic basis what's going on with other media companies."

Trump Outperformed Romney....Big League

You’re going to see this a lot from me today, so let me just confess this right now: I was wrong about Trump. No, I was very wrong about our next president, but I'm so glad that Hillary Clinton is not going to be our next president, and that this family’s chapter on American politics is now closed. Last night was a shocking upset, mostly due to a few uncertain factors, specifically the hidden Trump vote that existed and turned out big league for the billionaire. As some Democrats, like Democratic strategist Paul Begala warned, Trump has a path to the presidency if he’s able to ride the Rust Belt; areas where the electorate (33 percent) is chock full of non-college educated white working class voters. These voters stuck with Obama more or less in 2012. So, lets go down the states that Trump won that Romney was unable to clinch in the last election and the states that Clinton lost, which went handily for Obama. Van Jones also warned that progressives had dumb reasons for why Trump would lose in May, specifically noting that the Rust Belt is hanging by a thread for Democrats. He later called this election a "whitelash," despite the 2016 electorate being a mirror image of the 2012 one, but we'll get to that briefly in a second.
There are quite a few of them.
Trump took a sledgehammer to Obama and the Democrats’ Blue Wall:
Trump won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin (first time it's gone GOP since 1984), Ohio, and is most likely Michigan.
In 2012, Romney lost Wisconsin 53/46 to Obama; Trump won it 47/46.
Pennsylvania went for Obama over Romney 52/47; Trump reclaimed for the GOP for the first time since 1988 in a 48/47 win over Clinton. Ohio went for Obama in 2012 50/48. It went big league for Trump 52/43. Yes, Trump lost the key counties of Hamilton and Cuyahoga County, but he made up for it in the various rural counties, running up the score there that Romney failed to do in 2012.
We’re still waiting on Michigan, but all the precincts are in and Trump is a little over 12,000 votes ahead. If he wins, it’ll be a squeaker 47.6/47.3.
Moving down south, Trump was able to win Florida 49/47 over Clinton; a state that eluded Romney four years ago in a 50/49 loss to Obama. Trump won Pinellas County, which Romney lost in 2012 that offset Clinton’s gains in neighboring Hillsborough County, which accounted for half of Romney’s vote deficit and he lost it by six points overall (McCain lost it by seven in 2008). You can read more about this in Ed Morrissey’s book Going Red.
Out west, in Iowa, the state pretty much flipped from its 2012 designation. Obama won 52/46; Trump clinched it 51/42 over Clinton.
So, in the end, Trump was able to bring five to six states, some of which were reliably Democratic states, into the GOP column. Also, on the demographic front, Trump did get one point less than Romney in the white vote, but turnout among Hispanic and Black voters dipped, and Trump was able to get a point or two better among non-whites.

[2016 electorate]

[2012 electorate]
In all, Trump out-performed Romney, was able to tap into the white working class that dominates the rural regions, and expand the map, which everyone missed. Make sure to read Cortney's post on increased Hispanic turnout. Also, don't forget Guy's analysis.