text:
If this is counting Window's Users "donations" to Microsoft, McAfee
Windows users already pay through the nose, so they don't have anything leftover to donate.
Windows users already pay through the nose, so they don't have anything leftover to donate.
The economies of scale in building for a platform with a 90% market share are enormous.
WalMart - the world's largest and most aggressive deep discount retailer - has never been able to significantly undercut the OEM Windows system on price or features.
The naive user running MSE with automatic updates enabled was left unscathed by Cornflicker and Alureon.
If this is counting Window's Users "donations" to Microsoft, McAfee
That reasoning doesn't cover why Mac users are donating 40% more than Windows users (per TFA).
The Windows donations still account for more than half.
Still, very nearly 50% of the money contributed is coming from OS X and Linux. Whether it's because those users are more affluent, more inclined to buy games, or just happy to support any development on their platform, the numbers show there's a substantial market to be tapped. Studies like this are exactly the thing marketing departments want to see.
And it couldn't have come at a better time: Steam's imminent release on OS X and Linux is about to make cross-platform development substantially easier. While it's hardly the Year of Gaming Linux, it would be nice to remember 2010 as the year we started chipping away at Microsoft's PC gaming monopoly.
The evidence for Steam on Linux is very thin, at best.
And what's the Windows marketshare on the desktop? Probably at least 100 times that of Linux. So, if charity were equal, you'd expect Windows users to cover at least 85% of donations.
That's not even counting people who buy while at work, on their office-supplied Windows machine, while intending to use the games on Mac or Linux. Or those who primarily use Linux or Mac, but dual-boot Windows to play games.
and how many in that market share play games?
probably more that the corporate share which run primarily windows
Actually, as someone who actually BOUGHT the bundle in TFA, I'd like to make note that the OS reporting is voluntary, not linked to the OS running at purchase time, and done when you get the email, not when you're typing in your Paypal/CC info. I registered as Linux, as that's what I have on the most machines, and most care to use, but I probably spend most of my clock time on Windows, either at work (where Windows is mandated), or at home playing the ~50% of games I want to play that aren't available under Linux, or at least not cleanly/easily.
I'm looking forward to this hypothetical Linux Steam client, as it'll let me do more of my gaming on my OS of choice.
Actually, as someone who actually BOUGHT the bundle in TFA, I'd like to make note that the OS reporting is voluntary, not linked to the OS running at purchase time, and done when you get the email, not when you're typing in your Paypal/CC info.
That's interesting. I bought the bundle too, but after about three days, haven't clicked on the email link yet (I already bought most of those games anyway). Seeing as I never saw any "what platform do you use" option, I assumed those stats must have come from browser user-agent IDs.
PC: And I'm a PC
Linux: Whatcha doing, PC?
PC: Playing games.
Linux: Cool, which ones?
PC: All of them.
You joke of course, but with Steam for OSX coming out in, say, 5 days - Mac computers will have several extremely popular games.
Your comment illustrates the problems with top posting, not starting the comment in the subject line. Which in this instance does not notably break the flow because everyone is already familiar with the flow of the commercials. While you could certainly critique starting the comment in the subject line, you'd have to find a different way to do it. But then again, all of us from the Usenet era know this quote, so we can follow your analogy, flawed as it is.
While you could certainly critique starting the comment in the subject line, you'd have to find a different way to do it.
For one thing, it breaks the quote button.
why is it rude?
Linux: Whatcha doing, PC?
PC: Playing games.
Xbox, PS3, Wii in chorus: LOL WUT?
Xbox, PS3, Wii in chorus: LOL WUT?
they also say "roffle" out loud when they laugh, don't mind them, they're just a little retarded. Due to the structure of their brains, games are the only thing they can think of for more than five seconds. PS3 had a side gig for a while, but it was just too hard, and it interfered with playing games. Plus, it was never really very good at it anyway, due to having one hand tied behind its back.
I'm posting just to agree completely. I'm an Ubuntu user who doesn't dual-boot. I'd love to play some nice games. Everything else works nicely, but man I'd love to play some stuff without emulators that never seem to work anyway.
To be fair, I haven't upgraded my computer in years, so maybe I should blame the victim a bit too...
Second theory: a much higher percentage of Windows users paid 1 cent for the games. Kids are less likely to have a more expensive Mac and Linux is much more likely to be installed on an adult's machine. (Might be a stupid theory, feel free to poke holes).
Similarly, we can't forget that the total raised includes donations to EFF and some other charities. It would make sense to me that Linux users are more likely to donate to EFF?
I paid a little more than the average as I downloaded the bundle for all OS's and intended ot install on 4 machines, 1 Windows, a Mac Mini and 2 Linux.
My random guess is because Windows users have a greater amount of games to choose from, they're less likely to consider donating alot of money to a single game making group.
Linux has fewer games than Windows, so games would be more highly valued by Linux users than Windows users.
The Windows gamer also has choices like Gog.com. Classic MSDOS and Windows games. All genres. Ready to Run under Windows 7. $6 to $10. Bundles $10-$15.
Those DOS games mostly run fine under DOSBox, and if someone really wants to run them then FreeDOS runs fine under a VM and games that old are nothing to run on a recent machine. The really classic Windows games should do okay under Wine for the most part, as they're all under 9x or XP. Many of the older Windows games actually run better under Wine than on Windows 7 (unless you use XP mode, but that's virtualizing an OS again).
Indeed, the "Windows" DOS games on Gog.com are pretty much all just bundles of the original DOS game plus a copy of DOSBox anyway. So they work exactly as well on Linux as on Windows; you just need to (apt-get|yum) install dosbox first.
And I can vouch for many of the Windows games running fine in Wine. The Fallout games are perfect on Linux, for example.
It's interesting you mention the Fallout games. Does that include as far back as Fallout 1? I ask because Windows 7, no matter what compatibility settings I try, does not present proper colors for Fallout 1 without XP Mode.
Those who use windows have less money due to having to pay for geeksquad for cleaning the scumware and viruses off their computers or buying new ones. Which reminds me, my computer is passing that 20 minute boot up time, probably need to buy a new one...
(...Kidding guys, don't flood me with suggestions)
I've been using Windows since 3.11, and I've never used the Geek Squad or a similar service.
If you're competent enough to properly maintain a Linux box, you're competent enough to keep a Windows machine clean.
I use Windows Vista and earlier today I got a virus while looking for porn torrents. The virus disabled taskmanager and the ability to run any other executables and flooded the screen with popups advertising fake virus software. It was easy enough to run HijackThis (after renaming it to iexplore.exe to fool the virus) to identify and delete the viral executable; I had the problem fixed in under 30 minutes.
Windows isn't that bad when you actually know what you're doing. Problem is, most people don't. Do you
I bought world of Goo through Steam for my windows machine and paid more than the average Linux user contributes more for the whole indie bundle. When folks 'contribute' through different sources, these number don't mean much.
Your personal, single, anecdotal experince obviously completely shatters the average of 59955 sales. Really? Why do you think anyone would care about individual peak values. It's the total income that matters, nothing else, when selling software.
Your personal, single, anecdotal experince obviously completely shatters the average of 59955 sales.
I don't see any mention of sales, much less a number, in TFA. They seem to be talking only about the "donation" part of it. Can you provide a reference for your claims?
http://www.wolfire.com/humble [wolfire.com] They keep a running tally of the number of sales on the front page... it's 61606 as I post.
Er, it says "number of contributions", not "number of sales".
Also, that page is only for the bundle. GG...P point was that those games were already available for purchase on Windows separately for quite a while, and specifically via Steam, where indie games generally sell rather well - so a lot of people on Windows already own them and paid for them.
What would be interesting is if they aggregated all Steam sales statistics from all the games in the bundle together with donations.
At the moment, we have about 53,500 donations -- far more than we expected! But where did they come from? Our breakdown for number of donations per platform is: 65% Windows, 21% Mac, and 14% Linux. However, when we look at the amount donated per platform, we see something different. Our breakdown for total donation size per platform is 52% Windows, 25% Mac, and 23% Linux.
I think what we can infer is that the "sales" figure here is the "53,500 donations" figure, since all contributions in exchange for the bundle were chosen by the user. "Number of contributions" = "Number of sales" in this experiment. Maybe some windows users have already bought WoG on Steam...I myself downloaded it from 2dboy directly in their paywhatyouwant sale for both Windows and Linux. I also bought the Penumbra "trilogy" a while ago. But what the hell does that matter? The point of this news story is
And how much of that did the devs actually get?
Who cares if retail gross is higher, if retail net is lower.
No, I don't think I am.
I also had the choice to buying the game cheaper elsewhere, with profits going to the developers. My decision was instead to buy through Steam. I like the Steam distribution model. I trust the Valve folks to Vet stuff more than some indie site, and Valve has a reputation of being decent with developers that want to use their distribution system.
If you are weeding out users who have already bought the game earlier (and paid more when it was offe
And can I just say, what a nice, simple, well laid out and advert-realistic that website from TFA is?
It looks practically the same as all the other blog-type websites I've ever looked at.
But then I use adblock and noscript. Kinda funny how those two can take some many crummy websites and not only remove all the suck, but actually make things look decent.
I like this new world, new kind of culture (yes, the elders would yell "the world is falling down!" anyway), ideas - for which people will pay, if they are worth anything. It's perhaps related to how, apparently, heavy p2p users actually buy a lot of music...only it's not so often from the major labels anymore (but often with "useless" nice physical addons, quite common in indie world).
Two different spheres, but in a way with converging ideas. Hey, RIAA would like us to believe that p2p users are thieves. And why would those hippie Linux users, wanting everything for free and loathing closed source software, pay more in this case?... (and when not being watched)
Why would your typical windows user have heard of these people? Why would they donate?
In short, why do I care?
... from not buying Windows, antivirus software, an office suite,
Buying Windows? The trialware preinstalled on a typical home PC subsidizes that. (Otherwise, how would an Acer Aspire Revo with Windows cost as much as a retail box of Windows?) Buying Antivirus? You can use Avast on a home PC for $0. Office suite? Most people using one on a home PC* don't need Microsoft Access, so OOo will suffice.
*If you work from home, Microsoft Office is a business expense that you can deduct if your boss doesn't already reimburse it.
I wondered, will people care enough to start making fake donations, i.e. pay 1c, then download the windows version, to make the other camp look bad?
You've got to take these things with a grain of salt anyway. I know I only paid $10 for the bundle because I wasn't sure it was going to work at all on my oldish hardware. I'm likely to "buy" it again for a higher price as a thumbs-up once I give all games a good try and am convinced I like them.
3 days in a row, three slashvertisements for this Humble/Indie Bundle... who's getting their percentage?
It's not an ad. It's a discussion of the indie game house's revenues. Sure it brings people to Wolfire's site, but if the company is providing useful contributions to the game business discussion, they deserve the attention.
NOTE: A slashvertizement would be something like "Wolfire releases new game!"
Unfortunately, two times zero is still zero...
Macs are generally owned by people better off financially
Not sure I agree with that statement. I see a lot of students sporting macs. These students live at home, don't have jobs (well, not one that is required to pay for a roof, food, utilities, etc) and still have their iphones and macs. Financial irresponsibility comes to mind as well.
I know a few that have fulltime jobs, and get the latest revision of macs (at least one every two years) but still live at home because "the baby boomer generation has priced them out of the housing market" and they need to "s
I'm from the Windows piece of the pie and I paid $10 which beats the Windows and Mac averages (if only by a little on Mac)
Ubuntu has about twice the share of all other linux based desktops, combined, it would be nice to give it its own statistical category like mac. You don't just throw mac and 'linux' together as 'unix'. I'm tired of developers thinking they have to target multiple linux desktops with their coding and packaging. If you put out one single file, it should be a
Somebody found an obscure and meaningless way to show Linux is better than Windows. The context is Slashdot where anything pro-Linux and anti-Windows is automatically "stuff that matters", even if it doesn't.
In a sense it's no so much regular donating (as in simply giving money for a good cause) as appreciating something which is given to you for free and paying an amount you see fit.
For example I like to download free audio book episodes through www.podiobooks.com. They have a feature where you can donate money in relation to a specific show.
The majority of that money goes to the author/creator of said show and the rest to the site which provides the service. That way you can give money to the people who decid
The rich get rich, and the poor get poorer. The haves get more, the have-nots die.


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Just a crappy Friday that I thought I'd vent:
I got a promotion I've been wanting for 2 years. I found out on Tuesday of this week. My co-worker and friend found out today that he hadn't gotten the same promotion (apparently there was only one spot) and he didn't take it well (who would?). From what I heard he flew off the handle at my boss though since it's second hand info I don't know the details. But the sad part is our exchange, minutes after he found out the bad news, he was unaware until his review that I had gotten the promotion. I went to him to see if we were getting drinks after work:
Him: "I can't believe they gave you the promotion and not me."
Me: "I take it you just had your review. I'm sorry to hear that man."
Him: "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE AN AP (Associate Producer)
Me: "That's not really a nice attitude to have, there's nothing I could have done about it."
Him: "I'm going to be switching departments as soon as I can."
Me: "That would be a shame."
Him: "You should leave now."
Me: "Then that's what I'll do."
I walked out and didn't see him again since it was about 4pm. I took the high road as you can see from our conversation but the capitalized line left me really shaken up. It's a lot easier said than done to not care what someone says to you, but when you hear something like that capitalized sentence said to me with such malice, it was really a tough moment, emotional for him as it was I'm sure, but it's about the biggest insult I could have heard right then.
Aristotle said that there are two kinds of friends: Real friends, and friends of utility. It's sad that I discovered this guy was the latter. It won't feel good to walk in on Monday and have to deal worry about how to behave around him. Just put me in a real funk. Thanks for reading my vent, hope I didn't you put you in a downer mood too.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Attia, Hamadi
Vol 5, No 7 (2013) - Articles
Study of Proteolytic and Lipolytic Activities of Pseudomonas spp. Isolated From Pasteurized Milk in Tunisia
Abstract PDF
Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN 1916-9752 (Print) ISSN 1916-9760 (Online) E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the 'ccsenet.org' domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.


text:
After decades of caring for women, Tuell Nursing Home in Melrose will close at the end of this week, owner Michael Cummings said.
The big, old Victorian home on Franklin Street lost $100,000 last year, due mostly to low reimbursement rates from state and federal health insurance programs, he said.
"Most nursing homes are losing up to $10 per day for every day they have a Medicaid resident in the house," Cummings said. "In 2011, the federal government cut nursing home rates about 30 percent. Those two events proved devastating."
Medicaid, the state's health insurance for low-income residents, provided 75 percent of revenues at the 28-bed nursing home, Cummings said.
Medicare, the joint federal and state health insurance program for low-income seniors and others, made up the balance, he said.
"If Medicare had made an increase, we might have been able to handle it," he said. "But without any increase from either, we absolutely couldn't handle it."
Cummings said his father purchased the nursing home, which only accepted women residents, in 1973. But Tuell existed for many years before that, he said.
"I believe a woman started it, some time around 1940," he said.
The state Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes, requires a 60-day notification before a nursing home may close. The operator must submit a plan to relocate residents and provide written notification of the closing to their families, according to state law.
"There is a whole set of procedures meant to protect the residents," Cummings said. "That's the good thing."
Cummings said he and his sister, Nancy Lordon, called the families of 26 residents who were living at the home when the closing was announced two weeks ago. Since then, all but six have moved to other homes. The rest should move by the end of this week, he said.
"Nobody ever wants to move out of their home," Cummings said. "But we don't have a choice."
Cummings owns three other nursing homes, located in Dighton, Fall River, and New Bedford. Those homes will stay open, he said.
"They're financially in better shape," he said. "The homes are close together. We can share labor costs across them, and other efficiencies, that we can't with Melrose."
'Nobody ever wants to move out of their home. But we don't have a choice.'
Tuell had about 35 employees, including nurses, aides, dishwashers, and other staff. "They're very talented, skilled people," Cummings said. "Some have indicated they'll retire."
He credits the staff for the five-star ratings Tuell received this year in US News & World Report's annual ranking of the nation's top nursing homes. A nursing home comparison published on medicare.gov also gave Tuell five-star ratings.
"You need people to provide good care," Cummings said. "The staff has done an unbelievable job there over the years. Some of them have been there since my father bought the place. That's what makes closing so painful."Kathy McCabe can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKMcCabe.


text:
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Chris Paul scored career preseason high of 40 points and added 11 assists to lead to the Los Angeles Clippers to a 118-111 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.
Paul's layup with 22 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime. He played 42 minutes, adding seven rebounds and going 12 of 13 at the free-throw line.
Denver had a chance to win in regulation, but JaVale McGee's 6-foot jumper from the right side was short at the buzzer.
Darren Collison had 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting for the Clippers (4-2), who outscored the Nuggets 14-7 in overtime.
Blake Griffin added 17 points and eight rebounds in 39 minutes for Los Angeles, which trailed 104-100 with 47 seconds left in regulation.
Evan Fournier and Anthony Randolph scored 16 points apiece for the Nuggets (2-3) and Andre Miller added 15 as Denver had seven players score in double digits.
Paul had 15 points by halftime, when the Clippers trailed 47-46.
The Clippers shot 52 percent from the field and the Nuggets were at 49 percent.
This is the second straight year the Clippers played at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Last year, the first time the Clippers hosted a game in Las Vegas, Ty Lawson's layup at the buzzer gave Denver a 106-104 win.
The teams played the fourth game on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Los Angeles Lakers played the Sacramento Kings nine days earlier at the MGM Grand Arena. The Lakers also played the Philadelphia 76ers on the Strip in 1981.
By ADAM SOBOLESKI, Associated Press
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
The Best "I Am Not A Slut" Tweets
Are you confused about whether or not using birth control makes you a total slut? Stop being confused about that, and stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. You have a right to take whatever family planning steps you want without crazy people judging you. And if you self-identify as a slut (although personally I really, really hate that term) then good for you for using birth control. Way to be responsible. Jessica Scott will help you remember that with the #iamnotaslut tag, wherein people explain their reasons for using birth control other than being total godless sluts. Here's Jessica's take on the situation:
Calling me and every woman who chooses when to have children a slut will not change the fact that we are responsible citizens who opt to plan their families, who opt to take responsibility for their lives as women and members of our society. And yes, call me a whore because I still expect Tricare to cover my birth control and my pap smear and my government mandated annual std exam.
There are other things I would prefer to be called. You may call me many things but that does not negate the things I call myself.
You could call me a Mom, because I have two beautiful daughters who I want to grow up knowing their full potential is between their ears, not their legs. You could call me Soldier, because I love wearing my nation's uniform and it is an honor to serve. You could call me Author, because I managed to write a book that people read. You could call me a Wife, because I've been with the same man for fifteen years. You could call me a Friend because I'm there, for laughs or for tears. Any of those things define me so much better than the singular hatred of calling me a slut because I use birth control.
But go ahead. Call me a slut. It doesn't make me one.
We couldn't have said it better. Look! And here are some pretty strong reasons for wanting birth control that should be obvious to people of either political party:


text:
|2012-06-11, 11:44
|Link #441
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Europe
Iron Maw@ I'm say monster in general. if i recall right they already say about them in ch 1. The monster that devour human.(though ...i do mean something else as well).
About Tatsumi and Akame that can take after the boss I say this because....
Akame have the exp while Tatsumi have the potential power that is need in the future.
Also seem to me that i'm the only one that a realize what the author have done.
Spoiler for just in case:
|2012-06-11, 11:52
|Link #442
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Earth
how should we put it... hmmmm....
It's not just seniority... especially to Main (from our view point)...
especially if we are to consider how she comment in c17
There's also the case of Tatsumi's naivety...
It can also be seen in c26 on how he is still not ready to take up the post...
|2012-06-11, 11:55
|Link #443
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Europe
I think I explain this wrong ..when I say that them take after the boss if the boss die. I mean more on the line of what we see with the boss and Akame. If you think about it seem that the boss trust more on akame that other member.But maybe I'm wrong.
|2012-06-11, 12:02
|Link #444
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Earth
Oh i see... seems like we misunderstood...
From how we understand the earlier post we took it as if by chance boss and Akame aren't present
from the... boss and Akame and Tatsumi... line
Not certain about the trust level but Raba or some one did commented whan Akame as appointed that
'She takes her orders very seriously at least, so there won't be any problems there'
|2012-06-11, 12:17
|Link #445
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Europe
Not worry it's me that don't explain this in the right way.
About the trust I think there is if you think about the first time we see the boss was with Akame in ch 2. And they eating together ,also even If Akame take the oreders very seriusly you don't give the comand to some one you don't trust. No to mention we know that was the boss to convince Akame to become one of their group. Another good exaple is ch 2 when the boss chose Akame to train Tatsumi or better learn thing that he need to survive.When was better chose Barth or Leona (with Tatsumi have a better relationship at that time).And I don't think the boss miss that Tatsumi don't like much Akame at that time(though the boss don't miss the chance to teaste Tatsumi a little that time XD) .I mean you don't give some one like Tatsumi that have soo much potential to some one like Akame when you have some one like Barth there that is a better choice. That's why I think the boss trust Akame more that the other...but I can be wrong in this is just reasoning from what we know so far.
|2012-06-11, 12:29
|Link #446
Join Date: Feb 2006
Akame also more experienced than anyone in Nightraid outside the Boss and Braht. It's so really just a logical choice here.
Last edited by Iron Maw; 2012-06-11 at 12:53.
|2012-06-12, 14:47
|Link #457
Join Date: Feb 2006
|2012-06-13, 12:47
|Link #458
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Europe
Iron Maw @ That's true. Plus if I remember right Tatsumi itself point out something like this. But the way he thought that was more like he was worry about her..her past.Though ,maybe it's just me to think like this.
Last edited by Soji; 2012-06-13 at 17:06. Reason: some corrections
|action, blood and gore, crazy author, dead protagonist, death, edgy, fantasy, happiness?, revolution, sadistic author, shounen, tragedy, we're all gonna die!
|Thread Tools


text:
Withholding (taxes) is an amount of an employee's income that an employer sends directly to the federal, state, or local tax authority as partial payment of that individual's tax liability for the year. When a person starts a new job, he/she is required to fill out a W-4 form on which she/he can indicate her/his filing status and the number of allowances she/he is claiming that affects the withholding amount.
See Also:
Does Your CPA Pass the Quarterly Tax Test?
Ways to Reduce Taxes on Investments


text:
Status Report
From: NASA MODIS Web
Posted: Thursday, November 29, 2012
According to tradition, the first Thanksgiving celebration was held under sunny autumn skies as the English settlers and native Wampanoag tribe celebrated good fellowship and a plentiful harvest in their Massachusetts home in 1621. But November weather, especially in the northeastern United States is notoriously changeable, with storms and snow possible at any time. On November 22, 2012, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA�s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of a clear Thanksgiving morning along the eastern United States. Clouds cover the Atlantic Ocean, approaching but rarely touching the coastline. To the west, smoke and haze covers parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. But from Maine to the tip of Florida, the sunny weather was favorable for the family feasts, football, and travel that mark the American holiday. Only three weeks before this region was harshly impacted by the largest storm ever to strike the eastern United States. On October 29, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, leaving thousands homeless and hundreds of thousands without power. It also was responsible for 132 deaths in United States and Canada. Despite sunny skies, thousands of New York and New Jersey residents remained without power, and many were still coping with losses of loved ones and homes. According to Reuters an emergency shelter in a church in Belle Harbor, Queens, offered a traditional feast of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pies for those who remained displaced. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted as saying that the city, in partnership with local community organizations and businesses, were providing 26,500 Thanksgiving meals for people hardest hit by the storm.
More images
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Fresno, Santa Ana, Ripon, Santa Rosa, San Diego, San Francisco, Hanford, Los Angeles, Coachella, Dinuba, Salinas and Concord - These are just a few of the communities across California represented at our annual GSA Activist Camps held this summer.
For over 10 years, GSA Network has hosted GSA Activist Camps as part of our mission to transform California's schools into safe and accepting learning environments for all students regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity. In this decade, through our GSA Activist Camps we have trained hundreds of youth activists who have gone on to fight to end harassment and discrimination in their schools.
All GSA Activist Camp participants learn how to:
- strengthen their GSAs through better organization and fundraising
- understand the ways that homophobia and transphobia are connected to racism, sexism and classism
- use their legal rights to protect themselves and their peers from bullying and discrimination
- build coalitions with people and groups outside of the LGBT community
- successfully lobby their school administrators and local school boards to fight homophobia and transphobia
The Southern California/Central Valley (SoVal) GSA Activist Camp was held at the University of Southern California from July 23rd to July 25th. SoVal GSA Activist Camp was led by veteran GSA Network Youth Trainers including: Isaiah Baiseri (Glendora), Glenna Colerider-Krugh (South Pasadena), Charisse Delk (San Dimas), Rene Franco, (Los Angeles), Pablo Ramirez (South Los Angeles), and Aye Robin (Granada Hills).
Northern California GSA Activist Camp was held at the Headlands Institute in Marin, from July 30th to August 1st. NorCal GSA Activist Camp was led by GSA Network Youth Trainers including: Lexi Adsit (San Leandro), Logan Cuevas (San Jose), Karissa Doll (San Jose), and Olivia Tennant (Sonoma).
We asked some GSA activists what they learned and experienced at GSA Activist Camp this summer. This is what they shared with us!
Becca Rodriguez (Hanford High in Kings County) came to Activist Camp to learn the basics to GSA organizing so she can make her new GSA grow. Becca shared, "I came because I just started my GSA this last year. I wanted to take back how to make my GSA work and how to recruit more straight allies like me. My goal is to make a change at my school."
Activist Camp participant Violet Guardado (Maywood Academy in Los Angeles County) gained valuable skills at camp and is ready to put them to use back at her school. She says, "I learned about effective strategies that would allow me to convey lessons about LGBTQ issues and oppression to students in my school. I also learned about proper organizing strategies and coalition building, which are important parts of activism."
Victor Romos (Santa Rosa High in Sonoma County) built a powerful network of friends that will help support his activism long after camp is over. He says, "The thing I'm going to miss the most are the other students I met. The students are what make Activist Camp: how you interact with them, what you all share, how you help support each other at camp and after."
Youth who attend GSA Activist Camps leave with a community that crosses all types of boundaries and helps them to continue making change in their schools and communities. Some find acceptance that is missing in their schools. Becca shared, "I felt very accepted. Even though I'm straight, usually at my school people think I'm a lesbian because I lead the GSA. Now I know that I'm the A (Ally) in the LGBTQA movement! I'm an activist fighting for equal rights!"
Other youth find a renewed sense of commitment to fighting for equal rights for everyone that is oppressed. Victor shared, "I hope not to forget why I came to camp in the first place – to learn how to fight for justice with my GSA. I made friends who I can work with to create a safe space in our schools and focus on the rights of transgender students and make sure that my GSA works for them too."
All 56 youth activists that came to one of our camps this summer are now ready to make change and fight homophobia and transphobia at their schools and communities! GSA Network will continue to support them throughout this school year and beyond!
We want to thank our trainers, mentors, staff, and everyone who donated time and space to make this event happen! We also want to thank all of our participants and wish them the best of luck in their school campaigns in the upcoming year!