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The Dark Prince’ iOS Review – Much Better Than Switch, but Lacking in Two Ways – TouchArcade

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Back in December, I reviewed Square Enix’s monster collecting RPG Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Switch. I loved my time with it despite its many technical issues. I expected it to hit PC like Dragon Quest Treasures, another Nintendo Switch exclusive, but I didn’t expect a mobile release. Square Enix’s newest release of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on iOS, Android, and Steam brings all prior paid DLC into the game at a lower entry point, but removes one feature. This is the online real-time multiplayer battles. Beyond that, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Steam and mobile is already a massively better experience just on value with its lower price point and the content included, but is the game worth your time in this crowded release period and with its premium price? That’s what I aim to answer with my Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince mobile review also covering the game on Steam Deck.

If you aren’t familiar with Dragon Quest Monsters itself, it is a spin-off series of the main Dragon Quest games featuring turn-based combat, but instead of the main player fighting, you capture, breed, and raise monsters to fight for you. When I played Dragon Quest Treasures, I enjoyed it, but was told that it is a “Monsters-lite” game so when Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince was announced for Switch, I was excited to play it. I ended up loving it as you can see from my review linked above, but I think it is a very strong monster collecting RPG with turn-based combat regardless of if you like Dragon Quest or not. What made Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince more interesting, is in how it feels like a side story and prequel to Dragon Quest IV. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince also had a seasonal feature where the monsters changed depending on the season and area you’re in.

When it comes to the story, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, the bits from IV already made it more interesting than the usual spin-off, but I found myself focusing more on getting my own dream monster party rather than worrying about the narrative. I’m super pleased with how well thought out the mechanics are and how the large zones, hundreds of monsters, and combat made me want to keep playing it more even on Switch when I first beat it let alone now on iPhone, iPad, and Steam Deck. Beyond the normal turn-based battles and recruiting new monsters, Synthesis in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is like Shin Megami Tensei’s fusion, and there is just so much you can do with skills here. The seasons here don’t just change monsters, but also areas you can explore with map changes. This means a water body that you can’t cross will be frozen in one season letting you access a new secret.

Combat in games like this can get monotonous so I’m glad to see the many quality of life features here like the tactics menu that plays out similar to the original Persona 3, direct commands, and more. You aren’t here to just defeat enemies, but also scout them to bring to your party and become stronger. I didn’t end up testing the online multiplayer on Switch much, so I can’t comment on how big a loss that is here, but it is a game mode being cut nonetheless. If you did play it on Switch, keep that in mind as it is the only area the mobile and Steam versions are lacking compared to Switch.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince already shipped with a lot of content, but the DLC only elevated the experience. This DLC was sold in the Digital Deluxe Edition or as standalone DLC for the base game. Just the DLC was over $25 on Switch, so having the full base game with all DLC included for $24 on mobile makes it an amazing deal, but I’ll get to that in a bit. This DLC included The Mole Hole, Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym, and Treasure Trunks. The Mole Hole was a dungeon that lets you scout (recruit) monsters you’ve fought before and it made min-maxing a lot easier during the game. The DLC was also good to speed things up since you could also easily scout monsters who only appear during a specific season or through synthesis.

The Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym DLC has randomly generated maps and they are meant to be postgame challenges rather than experienced while playing the game. The final DLC is just a chest that can be opened once an hour with 10 items in total. This is like a cheat DLC if you may. I didn’t think it was good to have useful game modes or content in paid DLC, but that isn’t a problem anymore with all of it included on iOS, Androidl, and Steam in the base asking price.

Now let’s get to the mobile port features. With Square Enix, you can never be sure what features will make it into the final game. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince does not have controller support. This is beyond disappointing since the game is literally a console title ported to mobile. I tried 6 different controllers without any luck to be sure. Aside from controller support, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on iOS has cloud saves and a few graphics options. The cloud saves work well.

When it comes to controls, I was surprised at how well Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince felt with touch controls. It uses a floating joystick on the left for movement and a jump button mainly while exploring. The one minor issue you might run into is some touch targets being a bit small on the non Plus/Max phones. These aren’t an issue on iPads at all though. The controls feel good, but Square Enix should’ve left full controller support in since this is a console game ported to mobile after all.

One of my only real issues with Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Switch was on the technical side. The frame rate was rough at launch with visuals not being great either. The former got addressed to some degree unlike Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but the latter never got fixed. On iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 12, and even iPad Pro, I had no major issues with the visuals or performance. There are some hiccups on iPhone 15 Pro when running at the highest graphics quality setting and moving through some locations, but it isn’t remotely as bad as on Switch. The game feels massively better to play on iOS. Check out the comparison below for the low and high graphics options on iPhone 15 Pro:

There aren’t specific visual or frame rate settings on mobile outside of the resolution option in display settings. This lets you play at low, medium, or high graphical quality options. These presets also affect other settings like the frame rate limit and post-processing. This setting can only be changed from the title screen on mobile while you can adjust it on the fly on PC. I stuck to the high setting on all my iPhones. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince sadly has some minor performance issues even on iPhone 15 Pro as I mentioned above. The low setting seems unusable with how blurry it gets. On my 2020 iPad Pro, the high preset has more regular frame drops than iPhone, and it also seems to be running with some tweaked settings. Overall, even the older iPad Pro runs it well, but not as good as iPhone 15 Pro as expected. Every device I tested on including the iPhone 12 ran it a lot better than Nintendo Switch.

Visually, it looks a lot cleaner than Switch even on older iOS devices when played at high. Square Enix didn’t just do a bare-bones port here. It has fullscreen support during gameplay on my iPhone 15 Pro, and even has a pattern or artwork to fill the screen during areas with pre-rendered or static 16:9 elements. This pattern or artwork is mainly used on my iPad Pro since it doesn’t support fullscreen there for gameplay. This also applies to Steam Deck to make up for that aspect ratio in parts. I’m glad to see Square Enix put in the work here to make sure it still looks good regardless of aspect ratio.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Steam Deck impressions

On Steam Deck, regardless of my settings, I couldn’t get Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince to run at a locked 90fps even at the low preset when played at 800p. I decided to opt for a 60fps target, and that was a lot easier to achieve. One oddity is the game not letting you adjust resolution when playing on Steam Deck normally. You can do this by forcing the resolution from the game’s properties before launching it. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on PC lets you adjust graphical quality (low, medium, high), anti-aliasing (off, low, medium, high), maximum frame rate (30 to uncapped), toggle v-sync, and adjust display mode (windowed, fullscreen, borderless). If you play at 60fps, I recommend setting your Steam Deck OLED refresh rate to 60 to avoid jitter as well.

Having now played Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on iOS, iPadOS, Steam Deck, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite, there’s no doubt that the Switch version is the worst of the lot despite the online mode being removed from mobile and Steam. The massive increase in performance and better visuals with all DLC included at a much lower asking price only makes it better. One thing to note is that the game is marked as Steam Deck Playable and not Verified because Valve says some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read. I didn’t have any issues with this, and I feel like Valve has marked games with smaller text as Verified before. Either way, you can safely buy this one to play on Steam Deck.

If you skipped Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Switch, the new mobile and Steam ports are the way to go. While the mobile version lacking controller support is disappointing, it is still a game I see myself playing regularly with its improvements over switch and fantastic core gameplay loop. Having all the DLC included means you will have enough content to last you even longer. If you do value controller support in a game like this, the Steam Deck is the way to go. Hopefully we see Square Enix keep bringing more Dragon Quest games to mobile in the future. Right now, the iOS version of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is easily one of the best mobile releases of the year.



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The Pixel 6 is getting its last Android version update. Is it time to upgrade?

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Aside from the launch of the original Google Pixel phone back in 2016, no other release was as important as the Google Pixel 6. It ushered in what became the defacto Pixel design language, launched Google’s own Tensor processor line, and proved that Google could make a truly premium phone without the premium price.

It also marked the first time that Google promised five years of software updates, but that promise came with a catch: it only guaranteed three years of Android OS updates. While the phone will still see security updates for another two years, the release of Android 15 marks the final Android upgrade the phone will ever receive.



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Jamaa Aliye Na Bahati Ya Watu Kushinda Greencard – DV Lottery Questions Mushenee

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Join me and Ajanga to talk about the DV Lottery applications and process.

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Cartoon

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The post Cartoon appeared first on The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News.



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New Flat-Fee AI-Powered Real Estate Buyer Agent Service Called Landian Launches

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What’s better than taking on the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and winning?

Well, launching your own flat-fee, AI-powered real estate service just months after of course.

In the wake of the new real estate commission rules, which were born from the Sitzer-Burnett class-action lawsuit, a new service called Landian has launched.

The word is a play on land and guardian and aligns with their mission to “safeguard homebuyers from the excessive fees typically charged by real estate agents.” Shots fired!

And yes, Josh Sitzer is one of the company founders, along with Bryce Galen and Neal Batra, per TechCrunch.

Why Landian?

Per their mission, they want to bring down what they refer to as “excessive fees” charged by real estate agents.

In the not-too-distant past, it wasn’t uncommon for a seller to pay 6% of the sales price, with 3% going to both listing agent and buyer’s agent.

This fee structure was the focus of the NAR lawsuit, and because of it, agents can no longer advertise compensation via the MLS. However, for many transactions it’s still business as usual, just a little different procedurally.

Going a step further, Landian wants to bring down the buyer’s agent fee instead of sellers simply baking it into the sales price.

The company aims to save home buyers a year’s worth of mortgage payments with pay-as-you-go fees.

Instead of the usual 2.5% to 3% commission a home buyer must cough up, the newly-launched proptech (still in beta) charges as little as $199 per offer. And $49 per home tour.

They argue that this could save a home buyer on a typically priced $500,000 home around $15,000, less their fees.

For example, a home buyer could pay just $643 if they took five guided home tours and made two offers. That’s $14,357 less than the typical 3% buyer agent commission.

At the moment, Landian is available in both the United States and Canada.

How Landian Works

The process is fairly straightforward.

Once you find a property you like on a website such as Zillow or Redfin, or a real estate brokerage site, simply copy and paste the URL of the listing into Landian via the “import listing” tool on their homepage.

From there, it will pull up the listing to ensure it’s the correct property, including address, listing price, square footage, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, etc.

It took a couple minutes to load for me once I pasted a sample listing from Redfin, but it did indeed work.

Once it finishes loading, you’ll see two buttons at the top of the page, including “Schedule Tour” and “Make Offer.”

If you select one, you’ll be asked to register with Landian. I went ahead and registered to see how it worked.

After I did, it took me to the tour page where I could pick a tour time and date. Of note is that you do need to pay $49 upfront for the tour and they require a credit card to do so.

They said this “shows your Landian agent you’re a real buyer.” Speaking of, you’ll be paired with an actual real estate agent for the tour.

The Landian agent you meet up with may also suggest that you sign up for the Landian Exclusive Package, which includes up to 5 tours and 2 offers for $1,799.

It’s payable at closing and if you sign up, they’ll refund the $49 tour fee. However, it puts you in a 90-day exclusive buyer representation agreement.

And it could be significantly more expensive than the à la carte services. For example, five tours and two offers only costs $643.

Of course, this might mean be paired with a new agent each time. But since the process is fairly bare-bones and streamlined, that might not matter much.

Once you tour, you can submit an offer from the Landian website as well by clicking on that “Make Offer” button. You and your agent will draft a written offer and submit it to the seller.

At the end of the day, it’s a kind of do-it-yourself model with some guidance from an agent. You can also bring in other assistance you might need along the way, such as a closing attorney.

And Landian says it “will refer you to a top-rated closing attorney” to handle your closing, including the signing of final documents. Note that those fees are NOT included in the fees charged by Landian.

Why Use Landian Instead of a Traditional Real Estate Agent?

Landian fees

Money. That’s pretty much the argument. As noted, a buyer’s agent can cost as much as 3% of the home purchase price.

On a $500,000 home that’d be $15,000. And while this fee used to be paid by the seller, due to the real estate commission changes, many sellers are opting to offer nothing to buyer’s agents.

As a result, buyers must now either pay this commission themselves out-of-pocket, or ask for seller concession to cover the fee.

The problem with seller concessions is they typically increase the sales price by the same amount. So the home might now need to sell for $515,000 (and appraise at that price also!).

This would mean that the home buyer would effectively pay for that representation for as long as they had the home, via a higher loan amount and/or purchase price.

Instead, they could pay as little as $199 for an offer and $49 for a tour, plus whatever settlement fees/services they required.

In fact, you could even pay just $99 for an AI-powered offer, which uses technology to draft and submit your offer.

So it really comes down to savings. You just need to make sure to look at the big picture. If your agent does a poor job negotiating, you could possibly pay more, even with the big commission thrown out.

The good agents will tell you that they can get you a good deal that absorbs their fee in the process. Whether that’s true is another story.

Granted the seller might like your offer since it won’t require anything be paid to the buyer’s agent from their own pocket.

Does This Cut Out Real Estate Agents?

At the moment, no. Landian still relies upon human real estate agents to take you on tours and make offers.

So an agent can make money by doing tours and writing offers, instead of doing these things for free upfront and possibly never getting anywhere with a client.

They can also get their buyers to sign that Exclusive Package, which gives them 90-day exclusive buyer representation for a slightly higher fee.

Landian argues that working with them will also make complying with the new rules easier, given all the moving parts and uncertainty ahead.

The bigger question is could it evolve further and shut out more agents, or simply steer some out of the industry if the lower fees aren’t worth the work.

That remains to be seen, but it’s clear change is coming to the real estate industry one way or another.

Though it wouldn’t be the first time a low-cost disruptor has attempted to enter the challenging real estate space.

Colin Robertson
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Titan desk by Bancci

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Dezeen Showroom: British furniture brand Bancci aimed to combine strength and elegance in its wooden Titan desk, which features concealed storage in the form of drawers and compartments.

The Titan desk channels the strength and authority of Greek mythological Titans – a concept that is bolstered by its responsibly sourced walnut materiality.

Titan desk by Bancci
The Titan desk intends to convey strength and elegance

At the same time, its form features multiple curved components, creating a natural flow that stimulates productivity and calm energy.

“The Titan desk is more than just a piece of furniture — it is a powerful statement of purpose and sophistication,” said Bancci.

Titan desk by Bancci
It contains concealed storage, including a printer drawer

Functionality is also a priority with the Titan desk, whose pedestal hides a printer drawer and cable management compartments, creating a clutter-free work area.

The desk is topped with a linoleum or leather writing surface, which Bancci says is hardwearing and adds to the feeling of understated luxury.


Product details:

Product: Titan
Brand: Bancci
Contact: [email protected]

Material: solid American walnut wood, walnut veneer, leather, brass/steel
Colours/finishes: Sand, Walnut, Bleached Oak, Truffle, Cinder, Nutwood
Dimensions: 2000 x 800 x 750 millimetres

Dezeen Showroom

Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email [email protected].

Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.



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7 Best Practices for Market Segmentation That Batman Didn’t Know

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Batman was great. But he never would’ve survived in 2024. 

Think about it: If Batman categorically segmented his audience, he could target their nefarious ploys and coordinate efforts against common threats, building crime-fighting efficiency, better protecting the citizens of Gotham City and enhancing the overall Batman experience. 

He might use more intimidation and psychological tactics to deter small-time criminals. For crime bosses and their networks, he could gather intelligence over time and systematically dismantle their operations. Batman could segment his public outreach, using targeted messages to reinforce his position as a symbol of hope across Gotham.

With a segmented audience, he could save — and leverage — so many resources. And while Batman isn’t likely to adopt market segmentation 80 years into the game, you can achieve equally heroic results by incorporating it into your strategic toolkit. 

So, here are the best practices nobody told Batman about to address the targeted needs, behaviors and motivations of different groups within your market. 

Market Segmentation 101

Market segmentation separates your audience into smaller groups based on demographics, goals, common interests and other psychographic or behavioral criteria. This allows your brand to connect with audiences at a personal level, catering to their specific needs and building trust.

By segmenting customers, you can formulate tailored sales and marketing messages and hone product development cycles according to your customer base. This gives you the keys to: 

  • Stronger messaging: Want a higher conversion rate? Say goodbye to vague messages targeting everyone (and yet no one in particular), and speak to your audience as though you’ve been living inside their head for years. 
  • Niche market opportunities: Segmentation identifies underserved markets and new ways to serve existing markets. Hit two flocks of birds with one stone — and use this to leverage growth. 
  • Optimized campaigns: If your marketing campaign flags aren’t fluttering, improve response rates by tailoring your language and products to the audiences that resonate with them most.
  • Addressing customer needs: You offer great solutions but you don’t have everybody’s solution. Find the people who need what you’re selling, then help them to get it.
  • Enhanced digital marketing strategies: When you know your audience, you can learn which tactics have worked for them in the past and build from the shoulders of giants, rather than figuring it out from scratch.

I could go on. The bottom line is this: If you want to ramp up customer engagement, boost the impact of your data analytics and add to your marketing essentials toolkit, a customer segmentation strategy is the way to go. 

How To Segment Customers

The following shows the core approaches to market segmentation. Remember, the goal here is to understand how people respond in a given situation, such as which segment is likely to purchase specific products or engage with your brand. 

By segmenting your email audience, for instance, you could craft high-value subject lines to improve open rates, pack in more resources to enhance CTR and polish your call to action to strengthen conversions. Here are a few ways to segment your audience:

Demographic Segmentation

Demographic segmentation classifies markets based on individual attributes. What we buy, how we buy it and the messages that resonate with us are often driven by demographics. Grouping customers by personal characteristics lets you reach them with the right messages and products according to their needs. 

This is a sound approach for small B2C businesses or those embarking on early projects. To gather demographic information, create surveys for your audiences or lean into reliable, available third-party data. You can segment customers based on their: 

  • Age.
  • Gender identity.
  • Household income.
  • Education.
  • Marital status.
  • Nationality. 

Demographic segmentation can also help predict future behaviors since groups with similar characteristics often behave in like-minded ways. 

Firmographic Segmentation

The firmographic segmentation model follows a similar classification to the above, although it focuses on organizations rather than employees. This helps B2B marketers understand identifiers like company size, number of employees, industry and revenue. It should identify how serving a corporate enterprise would differ from a small startup. 

You can find this information in public listings, trade reports or undertake audience surveys to beef up the data.

Behavioral Segmentation

Customer behavior can be distinguished by purchase intent, benefits sought and response or engagement. It requires a more nuanced approach and can be used by B2B and B2C marketers to target audiences based on their purchasing and engagement activities. By zeroing in on what you know they’re searching for, you can target them with products and services they’re more likely to buy. 

Transactional Segmentation

As a subset of behavioral segmentation, this focuses solely on transactional data, rather than website browsing and engagement. Understanding how often a user purchases, items bought and average total spends helps personalize the customer experience. It can also optimize sales cycles, improve brand loyalty and reduce attrition rates. 

Your audience’s behavioral and transactional characteristics can come from data in your existing customer base. You can also reach out to third-party databases or software (for example, Google Analytics provides behavioral insights on your website) to predict future purchasing behaviors. 

Psychographic Segmentation

Here’s where you dive into your customers’ minds — whether individuals or corporations — by categorizing their behaviors based on their motivators. Psychographic segmentation teaches you why they behave the way they do. This could cover anything from personality traits and lifestyle preferences to personal values and opinions.

To segment customers based on psychographics, you’ll need to gather information directly from them through surveys or other feedback mechanisms. Aim for a qualitative focus to understand what drives them. 

Geographic Segmentation

Defining your audience by geographic location can also offer insights into their specific needs, such as: 

  • Environmental.
  • Legal.
  • Economic.
  • Linguistic.
  • Cultural.
  • Urban vs. rural.

While understanding the geographic limits of your audiences helps target products, messaging and solutions, it can also guide market opportunities, such as strategic locations to expand operations. B2B and B2C marketers can discover where their audiences are based via surveys or accessible third-party data and software.

Best Practices For Market Segmentation

Wanna know how to become more efficient in your marketing efforts than Batpeople? We’ve got the goods here. The following best practices will help you tune into your customers faster than an FM modulator — and make about as much impact as they did when our favorite superhero first crashed the party. 

  1. Let your market segment itself: Implement market research from day dot. As soon as a new lead gives you their contact information, ask a few extra questions about where they heard about you, company size, location or which products and services they’re more interested in hearing about. 
  2. Follow the data: You may have an inkling that your customers are middle-income earners, but if their feedback puts them in the high-income brackets, listen to the numbers and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. 
  3. Develop buyer personas: Once you’ve identified subsections within your target market, develop customer archetypes showing demographics, motivators, earnings, engagement habits and any other relevant information to standardize and direct targeted messaging. This not only creates consistency in cross-functional efforts but takes the guesswork out of future projects. 
  4. Define clear audience segmentation criteria: When you start sifting through customer data, you’ll find patterns — but not every pattern deserves to be a segment. To identify winning groups in your customer segmentation analysis, look for:
    • Sufficient data to substantiate behaviors or characteristics of the group.
    • Accessibility to reach them affordably. 
    • A high enough volume of customers in this audience to add value through your efforts, but not so high your targeting becomes crowded or vague. 
    • Responsiveness, because what good is an unresponsive customer segment? 
  5. Position your brand: Now that you know who your audience is and why they’re here, how can you position your brand and its offerings to address their needs? For example, gyms may target health and wellness with one audience, and bodybuilding with another. 
  6. Know when to segment: Market segments are impacted at different times of the year — and across the years. Spending frenzies are rife around Christmas time, and people have a greater need for heating solutions in winter. Meanwhile, FM modulators are not as popular as they once were. Refreshing your market segmentation seasonally, annually or in times of rapid change helps you stay on top of shifts and trends. 
  7. Remain flexible and open: One thing I will hand to Batman is that he didn’t hang on too tightly to the Joker or organized crime syndicates; he remained open to refereeing new shades of villainous acts constantly. It’s necessary to stay adaptive over time because various internal or external factors can present opportunities and natural dead ends. Either way, these make room for new growth. 

Speak To Your Market Directly Through Segmentation

When objectives and audiences are strategically aligned, marketers and vigilantes can address segments’ needs and motives directly, achieving justice with email open rates, continuing the fight against vague messaging and combatting supervillains in triumph. 

So, take these best practices for market segmentation for a spin and see whether you can one-up Batman to create a holistic approach, addressing your audience exactly where they’re at. 





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Orange Skies in NYC – Climate Generation

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The summer of 2023, New York City woke up to a weird sight.

The sky, usually a bright blue canvas, had transformed into a foreboding shade of orange. It was a color more reminiscent of autumn leaves than the summer sky. The strange sky was not a local phenomenon but a distant one: wildfires raging across the forests of Canada. The wildfires had started in early June in Canada, heatwaves and dry conditions fostered forests of Quebec and Ontario. As the fires spread, they released tones of smoke that drifted southwards, carried by the wild winds. By mid-June, the smoke had traveled thousands of miles, reaching the northeastern United States and enveloping cities like New York. 

I was caught off guard. The air, thick with particles and pollutants, created a haze that blurred the skyline. The air became very humid and my neighborhood seemed dulled, the orange skies felt more like a scene from a dystopian novel with its trees and pathways shrouded in a smoky veil. I had to continue to go to school even though the air quality was in bad condition. Walking outside I instantly felt shortness of breath, the air was so dense and thick taking deep breaths was the only way to not feel suffocated. Unfortunately I do have asthma, so as if breathing through a mask wasn’t hard enough wearing thick air through a mask was absolutely frightening.

While in school talk about the orange skies came up, as a class we realized that the wildfires were a part of a bigger crisis, that being climate change.

Fellow students pointed out that the wildfires were part of a larger pattern of extreme weather events exacerbated by global warming. They believed that urgent actions were needed to reduce carbon emissions and invest in sustainable practices to prevent future disasters. 

After such a fascinating but scary time I realized that the world needs all the help it can get. From that moment on I have gone out of my way to contribute to as few pollutants as possible in hopes that by doing my part the air quality won’t hit as bad as it was.

Loraine Brown was a summer intern through Solar One’s Summer Youth Employment Program with Climate Generation during August, 2024. She is based in New York, and during her internship she studied activists and organizers her age who are taking action on climate change. She also reflected on her own experience through her climate story.





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Solar Power For Albuquerque Nonprofits: Habitat For Humanity ReStore

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Affordable Solar has partnered with Unirac, a leader in solar racking solutions, to bring clean, renewable energy to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Albuquerque. This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to the local community, demonstrating over 25 years of dedication toward supporting the people of Albuquerque and Habitat for Humanity’s mission.

 

Starting on February 12, 2024, a state-of-the-art $150,000, 43kW solar panel system is being installed on the ReStore building. This powerful system is projected to save Habitat for Humanity an estimated $11,000 in yearly energy costs.

 

Words From Habitat for Humanity, Unirac, and Affordable Solar

“We are grateful to partner with Unirac and Affordable Solar on this solar initiative. The installation of a state-of-the-art solar panel system at the ReStore marks a step towards reducing our carbon footprint and redirecting savings back into our core mission of building affordable housing and supporting our local community. Our heartfelt thanks go to Unirac and Affordable Solar for their dedication and generosity in making this project a reality.” — Doug Champlin, Executive Director, Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity.

 

“At Unirac, we believe in the power of solar energy to transform communities, and this project aligns perfectly with our commitment to help create a sustainable future for all. By providing our innovative racking and mounting solutions, we aim to make solar a reality for Habitat for Humanity, allowing them to save money on energy costs and further amplify their impact in the community.” —Sean Linn, COO at Unirac.

 

“At Affordable Solar, our commitment to the community is not just a mission; it’s in our DNA. We have proudly served New Mexico for over 25 years, and this partnership with Unirac and Habitat for Humanity is a testament to our unwavering dedication to making a positive impact on our local community. This solar project with Habitat for Humanity reflects our values and showcases how we strive to reduce carbon footprints while simultaneously reducing energy expenses for organizations that do such essential work in our community.” — Wayne Stansfield, General Manager at Affordable Solar.

 

Community Impact

While our most recent collaboration has certainly made an immense impact on Albuquerque, this isn’t the first time Affordable Solar and Unirac have prioritized our community. Our solar and storage donation to Roadrunner Food Bank allows the organization to serve an additional 160,000 meals each year. Unirac similarly spearheaded a solar donation effort for Joy Junction in 2020, yielding annual savings of $4,000 for their vital community programs.

 

About Affordable Solar

Since 1998, Affordable Solar has established itself as a leading provider of residential and commercial solar solutions in New Mexico. Our unwavering commitment to exceptional customer experiences and a passion for driving the state’s renewable energy transition are the foundations of our success. We are deeply invested in the New Mexico community, as shown through our long-standing history of service, dedication, and charity.

 

About Unirac

Unirac stands as a seasoned veteran in the solar racking industry. With a track record spanning over 25 years, they have consistently held the position of North America’s top manufacturer of solar PV mounting systems. Unirac’s substantial experience—encompassing over 25 GW of installations and surpassing 2.5 million projects—further solidifies their reputation for superior engineering and supply-chain management. Unirac prioritizes a partnership approach throughout the entire project lifecycle, ensuring a seamless experience for those seeking solar solutions.

 

About Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity

Since 1987, Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity has partnered with local businesses and volunteers to empower low-income families through affordable homeownership. Expanding into southern Sandoval County in 2022, Habitat homeowners actively work alongside volunteers in building their own homes and benefit from zero-interest mortgages.

 

How You Can Help

Our collaboration with Unirac and Habitat for Humanity illustrates the power of teamwork for positive environmental and social change. Each and every one of us cares deeply for our Albuquerque community and ensures that more collaborations are soon to come.

 

If you are interested in receiving a free quote and consultation on your residential or commercial solar project, contact Affordable Solar today!

 

Click here to support the Habitat for Humanity ReStore solar project!



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WonderWorks Myrtle Beach Offers Exciting Event and Fundraising Opportunities – Chris Cruises

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Whether you’re planning a private party, team bonding experience, or fundraiser, WonderWorks Myrtle Beach has everything you need to host a fantastic event. The upside-down house at Broadway at the Beach is known for working with local event organizers and meeting planners to create the perfect experience for their attendees. They offer various group visit options, including private room rentals, outdoor deck space, and the chance to take over the whole facility with a full-building buy-out.

“Take your event to the next level! Whether you’re a local elementary school or a team of corporate executives, we want to create an exciting event for you,” said Angela Stinnett, hospitality sales manager at WonderWorks Myrtle Beach. “Guests of all ages will have a blast at our indoor amusement park for the mind!”  

WonderWorks offers unique opportunities that provide an excellent experience for events of all kinds. Those looking for team building and corporate events will find that WonderWorks presents the perfect place to have fun while boosting company morale and fostering collaboration and communication. Adults love attending events at WonderWorks, because it gives them a chance to play like a kid while they build stronger relationships with their peers. Groups of 15 or more can choose from different team building packages and add-ons, including a scavenger hunt, meeting space, food, team photos, retail keepsakes, discounts, and more. 

WonderWorks also makes an ideal partner for those looking for successful fundraising opportunities. They regularly work with local schools and nonprofits to give back to the South Carolina community. The sales team works closely with each organization to help create an exciting fundraiser that is in line with their goals and overall mission. WonderWorks has partnered with organizations like Special Operations Wounded Warriors, Make-A-Wish South Carolina, Helping Hand of Myrtle Beach, The Florence Area Humane Society, and many more.

“Our team is very passionate about helping the community, and it definitely shows in the amazing fundraisers they have set up throughout the year! You’re in great hands when you host an event with us in the upside-down house,” said Robert Stinnett, general manager at WonderWorks Myrtle Beach. 

To further their mission of spreading knowledge and giving back, WonderWorks Myrtle Beach is gearing up to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. There will be fundraising opportunities benefiting Caring in Our Lifetime, including a Climb for a Cure challenge at the ropes course, pop-up labs, social media giveaways, special merchandise, and more. Guests should watch the WonderWorks social media pages for more information and announcements on how they can get involved. 

To learn more about planning private events at WonderWorks, visit the site at: https://www.wonderworksonline.com/myrtle-beach/groups/corporate-events/.

To get more information about planning team-building events, visit the site at: https://www.wonderworksonline.com/myrtle-beach/team-building-activities-myrtle-beach/.

To obtain more information on fundraising opportunities at WonderWorks, visit the site at: https://www.wonderworksonline.com/myrtle-beach/fundraisers/.

WonderWorks Myrtle Beach offers over 100 fun and interactive exhibits focused on space, sound, light, weather, and more. Guests can play laser tag, face their fears on the Soar + Explore zipline, challenge themselves on the ropes courses, play arcade games and simulators, experience the 6D XD Motion Theater, and so much more. Guests should watch the attraction’s Facebook page for discounts, events, and special offers. Located at 1313 Celebrity Circle, WonderWorks Myrtle Beach is open daily. For more information about tickets, visit the site at: https://www.wonderworksonline.com/myrtle-beach/location-info/ticket-prices/. 

About WonderWorks

WonderWorks, a science-focused indoor amusement park, combines education and entertainment. With over 100 hands-on exhibits, there is something unique and challenging for guests of all ages. Feel the power of 84-mph hurricane-force winds in the Hurricane Shack. Make giant, life-sized bubbles in the Bubble Lab. Get the NASA treatment in the Astronaut Training Gyro and experience zero gravity. Conquer your fear of heights on our indoor Glow-In-The-Dark Ropes Course. Nail it by lying on the death-defying Bed of Nails. WonderWorks is open 365 days a year and hosts birthday parties and special events. https://www.wonderworksonline.com/myrtle-beach/.