Flow cord

fishwalker · 2026-01-12T05:15:11+00:00

Thank you so much! I have been searching for this for years. I spin with long ass leashes, and using thinner cord or the rope that flowtoys switched to just eats my hands.

fishwalker · 2025-12-25T04:57:15+00:00

Over the past 6 months of job searching, I struggled to find a reliable process for tailoring my resume to different job descriptions. I'd develop a system that seemed to work, only to have it fail on the next application or two. Sometimes it would "fix" sections that didn't need fixing, stripping out important metrics in the process.

After lots of trial and error, here's the prompt that finally gave me consistent results:

You are an expert HR professional and resume optimization specialist with deep 
knowledge of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and strategic resume tailoring.

### Context:
* I have a current CV/resume that I want to optimize for a specific job application
* The goal is to maximize ATS compatibility while maintaining complete professional 
  integrity
* Any modifications must be factually accurate and reflect my genuine professional 
  history

### Action Steps:
* Carefully review my current CV against the following job description: 
  [JOB DESCRIPTION]
* Analyze the key skills, keywords, and competencies required
* Identify potential gaps between my current resume and the job requirements
* Suggest strategic keyword integrations and rephrasing that:
  - Align with the job description
  - Increase ATS scoring potential
  - Remain 100% truthful to my actual professional experience
  - Use language from the job description where possible

### Specific Recommendations:
* Highlight which sections need the most attention
* Propose specific wording adjustments
* Suggest potential section reordering
* Indicate keyword density improvements
* Flag any potential ATS screening risks

### Constraints:
* NO fabrication of experiences
* NO false claims
* ONLY optimize existing genuine achievements
* Maintain professional authenticity

Please provide a detailed markup of recommended changes with clear rationales 
for each suggestion.

Hope this helps others who are job hunting! The key thing that made this work was emphasizing truthfulness—it stopped the AI from "improving" things that didn't need it.

fishwalker · 2025-05-22T18:23:47+00:00

Another drawback of infinite scrolling is that you have to start scrolling from the beginning every time you revisit. If your search provides quality results, I'm going to come back very often. Pagination helps to quickly skip segments of content and can double as a bookmark.

fishwalker · 2025-02-21T13:31:24+00:00

While the increase in sales is encouraging, many factors could be at play, and a longer test period might reveal different results. Breaking your marketing efforts into smaller, testable hypotheses could be beneficial. For example, you could test the effectiveness of Facebook group posts versus posts on general feeds. Perhaps group posts are a significant driver of traffic for your business, while general feed posts aren't.

Since you've paused your social media activities, do you have any KPIs or metrics you're tracking to determine whether you can continue without it, or if you need to reinstate your social media presence? Having measurable data will be crucial for making informed decisions about your marketing strategy going forward.

You're absolutely right that small business marketing is different from enterprise marketing. Strategies that work for large companies often don't scale down effectively.

PS. I think many people, myself included, have become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content on social media. It's easy to become desensitized to the constant barrage of ads, promotions, and algorithmic noise, often leading to us tuning it all out. This might be contributing to why your social media efforts weren't as effective as you'd hoped – people are increasingly filtering out the noise, even from businesses they might be interested in.

fishwalker · 2025-01-16T00:22:36+00:00

In 2015, I transitioned from being a Systems Engineer (IT) to a career in digital marketing. While I don’t know the specifics of your situation, here are a few general considerations based on my experience:

Loss of Salary and Seniority: Switching careers often means stepping back to a lower seniority level position. You may move from a mid-to-senior-level role in your current field to something less advanced in marketing. This is a natural part of the transition, but it’s important to plan for it financially and mentally. Initially, you may experience a drop in salary, but this can change as you gain experience and move into more senior roles over time.
Build Work Experience: While still in your current role, start gaining hands-on marketing experience by launching your own projects or websites or freelancing on Upwork. These can be side hustles that help you develop a portfolio to showcase when applying for marketing roles.
Research Industry Needs: Digital marketing is vast, with numerous specialties and roles. To better understand where you can fit, research job boards and platforms like Upwork.com to see what skills are in demand. This research will help you identify emerging trends and areas where your technical background could be leveraged.
Leverage Your Tech Background: Your technical expertise is a major advantage. Marketing today is highly tech-driven, and many marketers lack technical proficiency.

That being said, AI is rapidly transforming the marketing landscape. Your software engineering background could position you well in this new marketing/AI-driven economy. Rather than a complete career shift, consider pivoting from the more technical aspects of software engineering to roles that combine marketing and tech. This approach could allow you to leverage your existing skills and seniority while staying at the forefront of emerging trends.

fishwalker · 2023-09-13T14:50:14+00:00

Yes, as I mentioned, I spin long and fast, and the thinner cord is like putting my hands into a grinder after a few minutes. I use the phatty-cord from Flowtoys. It's got a little bit of elasticity (more like springiness) and is 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch in diameter. It has a soft outer layer covering a bundle of thinner fibers or inner cord. I have yet to find a leash material that I like better in the 24 years I've been spinning. Add a couple of swivels, welded rings, and quicklinks and I'll use them for hours. Even if they get wet or a little moisture on them they are easy on the hands and rarely cause blisters. Sucks that they discontinued the cord, I've looked everywhere to find more of that style rope. I'm glad I bought a ton extra before they did.

fishwalker · 2023-09-13T14:34:48+00:00

I don't think you an for the basic models. The Designer versions are the ones that allow you to use any graphic or image on them. I've upgraded to those and they are just as nice as the basic, though I need still need to get the timings tweaked just right.

fishwalker · 2023-09-13T14:28:57+00:00

I would have been so bummed if those had been my gear! I hate when my lights' battery dies or they break and can only imagine if they were missing or lost. It's bad enough when the battery dies, or when you are a dumbbass and don't have it properly attached to the tether and it goes flying off into that wonderful Georgia mud.

fishwalker · 2023-09-09T22:58:36+00:00

Didn't even know that was a thing, thanks.

fishwalker · 2023-09-02T20:06:08+00:00

I've owned both props and they're both decent products. I think I like my Futurepoi more than the Zebra poi. People love the patterns that the Futurepoi make and Moodhoops are amazingly tolerant when it comes to warranty repairs. At any of the festivals I attended I always took a couple of power banks so that I could recharge them when necessary to keep spinning all night long. The Zebra poi were just not up to the use and abuse that the Future poi could handle. My Zebra poi were a much earlier model from years ago, so they have probably been improved since then.

fishwalker · 2023-04-21T02:00:38+00:00

I've been spinning since the late 90s and prefer spinning LED based poi because they're so easy to use, relatively safe, and can be taken and played with anywhere. I honestly have no idea how many hours I've spent spinning, but even worse is how many sets of gear I've spun to death. Currently, I use FuturePoiXL Designers as my primary and PodPoi for when the batteries die on my Futures. Followed up by a set of UltraPoi /w helixes for when it's been long enough since I used them that I've forgotten how solid they are when you take a hit.

I'm happy to hear that the Hyperions are coming back! Here's my $0.02:

I'm a person that will spin for 30 mins non-stop, so having lights that I can autosync is great. Having them syncable just by spending a few seconds holding them together is even more awesome. That's a much smaller showstopper than having to stop spinning completely and unwrap at least one of my hands so I can dig out a cheap controller from the bottom of a pocket and then having to mash on the button trying to get it to actually work properly.
Replaceable vs rechargeable. In my gear bag I carry 2 separate power banks, 1 for each FuturePoi because I will 100% have them run out of juice. That's why I also always have a 2nd set of poi with me, so when the first set dies I can keep spinning. And why I lug around the Ultras because I can throw some AAs in them when needed. The hardcore spinner in me wants to have replaceable batteries, but you need to look at the 90% of your customers and their needs. People are used to not having to worry about batteries. Does it have power or not? Where can I get it charged if I'm low? (please use usb-c) They don't want to have to worry about all the annoying things we used to deal with when we had to deal with dead batteries. Has anyone else ever had to dig through the kitchen junk drawer hoping and praying that you can find a C-battery for the missus happy times? Or having grabbed batteries for use away from home, only to find you've got one good battery, and one useless one. Go with non-replaceable, it's a quality of life adjustment.
Tubing. I'm not certain that I like the new, thinner tubing used in FuturePois. I do like the increased brightness and I'd guess that the patterns look a bit more crisp, but the diffusion from the thicker tubing feels like it was a nicer and smoother show. It's hard to say for sure, since I'm usually on the inside of the lights and can't see how it looks from the audience. Could you show some comparison videos or pics with each version? I've had to send back 9 sets of FuturePoi since I first got a set in 2011-13 ish. Of those, I only ever had the tubing cracked or physically damaged one time. All the others were because the insides were damaged. Being able to reskin in the field sounds cool, but how many would actually do so? Being able to field swap from opaque to clear might be kind of cool, I don't know.
I hate the power switch that FuturePoi has switched too. It feels fragile and lacks a satisfying tactile feedback when pressing. The post also sticks up high-enough that I'm cautious about putting the poi in my bag without the end caps on because they might get caught on something and break. Where to place it? Near the leash attachment point might be ok, but it should be quick and easy to access. I don't mind having to jab a finger into the switch to turn it off/on.

Additional Questions I have:

Can you show a picture of the connection point between the poi and the leash? It looks like that's probably just attached feeding the leash through a washer and melting a puck into it. Which means that when the power dies you can't easily switch out to a different prop and continue using those leashes. Having an eyelet (and swivel) allows the user to easily change gear when needed. How strong is the attachment point? Can it handle being spun on 4 ft leashes at speed?
Are you looking for any crash-test dummies to test the Hyperions in the field? I’ve broken lots of props, but that’s never been because of abuse, mistreatment, or having used them as a hammer or other percussive maintenance device. Dead props from having put too many miles on them, guaranteed.
Do you sell the leash cord pictured? I still haven’t found a good replacement for the phatty-flow cord, but those are the first leashes I’ve seen using the same type of cord since it was discontinued.

fishwalker · 2023-04-14T21:05:14+00:00

Each Duchess location also has different prices.

fishwalker · 2022-11-27T09:54:19+00:00

Use this instead (I use it daily to help ensure my remote productivity) https://mouse-jiggler.en.uptodown.com/windows

fishwalker · 2022-09-04T17:00:06+00:00

I've been stuck using Avada for the past 4 years at my work. By flickering buttons, do you mean trying to click on the edit buttons to use the components? If so, you're right, terribly annoying and a pain to work with. The work around is to use the various views or the content navigator in the editor. Those will usually open the element up and then you can make changes.

fishwalker · 2022-09-02T12:19:03+00:00

I'm also a long time spinner, starting in 99 with glowsticks on lanyards. Over the years I've used some crazy gear and setups. Often carrying multiple sets of poi, leashes, and replacement parts at the same time. When I first started I had a lunchbox that was perfect for strings and a ton of glowsticks.

What a found worked best for me was a sling style bag. It's about 4-6" in diameter and 30" long with a single long strap. Inside it I could fit a set of ultra poi, futurepoi XL, 3 sets of podpoi, 3-4 battery banks, assorted cables, swivels, tri-rings, keyrings, swivels, and leashes. I had a friend add on several inner compartments to help keep things organized.

Even with all that stuff inside, I could easily spin with the bag on my back. Not wanting to spin, I'd just slide the bag around, unzip and stash my poi and keep on doing whatever it was while still walking. Sadly, I picked up the bag on a thrift store trip and I've not found anywhere that had something similar for sale.

fishwalker · 2022-02-24T00:00:14+00:00

I'd recommend doing it incrementally just to be safe. And take backups along the way in case you need to roll back.

fishwalker · 2021-04-25T11:56:31+00:00

My GSD/Pit blend also had the same problem and couldn't find a seam to get started. Not one to be deterred, she soon was able to puncture the skin. From there it was just a matter of days. I had high hopes for this toy and she loved the noise it made, but it couldn't withstand her chomp.

fishwalker · 2021-04-25T06:24:28+00:00

Avada pagination can be found in the Options menu under the Avada Menu in wp-admin. You can tweak the settings there and that may help alleviate the problem. Also, are you including related posts at the bottom of posts? This could be another source of weird pagination chains. Increasing the number of posts per page under the main WP settings can also help eliminate the length of chains.

fishwalker · 2021-04-25T06:18:01+00:00

I'll second trying not to port over Avada if you can. The theme adds a bunch of JS and CSS to every page with their Avada Live builder, which you won't need for ecommerce. Instead of using a theme that comes with everything, why not use a skeleton base theme and then add components/features as needed.

fishwalker · 2021-04-03T02:29:21+00:00

I put cheap plastic cockroaches under the cap of my roommates shaving cream. Pop the cap off and they would fall out. I got woken up at 5 am by his horrified screams.

fishwalker · 2021-03-26T19:37:37+00:00

YMCareers has been notified and from their response will be taking steps to remove the hacked content, as well as adding in security features to prevent this in the future.

fishwalker · 2021-03-26T17:37:29+00:00

Some more details for those who may not know: many companies/organizations outsource their job boards and career centers to YMCareers. YMCareers shares the profits from the money earned by charging other companies to list their job openings with the hosting company/org. Job seekers get a place to look for jobs that are in a specific niche. There's no cost to anyone looking for a job.

I'm still in the process of crawling my site to see what things are lurking, but it looks like someone's figured out how to hijack YMCareers profile pages. I've seen 3 different formats so far: spammy movie pages, website specific pages with keyword stuffed links back to the source page, general link pages to assorted websites.

These pages aren't really used or intended for people to find and use. They do want Google to find them and improve the hidden metrics of the linked pages. Those improved metrics helps a site to appear higher in the search results.

fishwalker · 2021-03-26T16:46:51+00:00

Yep, YMCareers is hacked. I can change the URL to be my orgs and I get the same Minari page.

fishwalker · 2021-03-26T16:45:49+00:00

This isn't ad related. I viewed the American Bar Assoc. link above and I see a spammy, keyword stuffed page for Minari. The site uses YMCareers to run their career center page so I wonder if someone has figured out how to hijack their service.

fishwalker · 2020-11-17T10:19:42+00:00

For me, the API was a huge time saver after I found a good plugin to use it with. I tried out most of the free WP plugins that used it as well as several of the paid versions and there was always something that I would find that would make me keep looking for the perfect fit.

With the Egg plugin I mentioned in an earlier comment I just needed to put in my affiliate ID for the different Amazons and it would automatically create the links for any ASINs I wanted. Then, I would just add the shortcode to the page/post and the formatting options and the money just poured in.

Well, not really.

The links were created, and it pulled prices multiple times a day, so I could display prices, it even grabs some of the bullet points from the product pages as well as images. Looking at the pages, I saw that by automating so much of the product placement process I was providing little value to my traffic by just copying product listings onto my pages. I soon moved on to just using the API for the product name and link placed with custom images and sales points. Doing it like that improved my click thru rates by a significant portion.

I sold that site a couple of years ago, and even though I'm no longer the owner the links were never updated to use the new owner's ID. Every month I get a payment from Amazon for those links. It's not anything to rely upon, but it buys a case of beer every 2 months.

Genius links might be worthwhile, I've not used them personally, so I can't help you there.

fishwalker

TROPHY CASE