Long overdue but I wanted to write a recap and give some unsolicited thoughts because these posts were immensely helpful to me last year going into the cycle. Anecdotal as this evidence may be, I hope it will help someone and I'm happy to ask questions below or PM me!
A bit about me -
stats: 17low, 3.9high, nURM (mixed asian/white)
kJD humanities major, had part time internships during summer and semesters for all of junior and senior year (one legal one not), decently involved at school
Acceptances: Chicago, Columbia, Harvard (attending), NYU, Cornell, Northwestern, Georgetown, WashU, UT Austin, Vanderbilt, plus 2 local schools I won't include to avoid doxxing myself
Waitlists: Yale, Stanford, Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Boston College
As I prepared my application, the thing I was most focused on was showcasing my strengths as an applicant despite being a kJD. I spent a lot of time thinking about who I was as a well-rounded individual, and what kind of narrative I wanted to craft through my materials so that when someone read my app, they would come away with clear takeaways about who I am. This was incredibly helpful in crafting a genuine and compelling personal statement that was deep and specific.
The biggest piece of advice I would give to anyone, but especially kJDs, is to focus on depth as opposed to breadth, both in what you do in the years leading up to your application and in the crafting of your materials themselves. When I think about what an application of someone who has graduated and worked for a few years must look like, they have the advantage of however many years of full time work experience to write and speak about, whereas a kJD probably has much shorter, more surface-level activities on their resume, whether that's internships, clubs, research, etc. I think it's important to show strong commitment and showcase the hard work you put into whatever you did. I obviously can't prove this, but I do think that is part of why my cycle was successful, because I had a solid resume and PS with depth. With only 4 years of life experience, kJDs have less to pull from, so show what you've got.
Finally, for your own well-being, do your best to limit how much time you spend on this god-forsaken site. Don't download the app on your phone to avoid doomscrolling, and remember that this process does not define you. Feel free to ask questions, and to the class of 2027, you got this!!

I have the studio version of the 18.5 beta and I have an exporting issue that I just couldn't fix. Exported videos would have drifting audio. This issue was only present in the export, and it looked like the framerate was slightly higher in the exported video for some reason.
All framerates were set properly. I tried everything, from using different codecs, all kinds of exporting settings and even replacing the audio and video files but nothing seemed to work. Audio was only drifting in the exported video, not in the timeline as well.
Anyone has a fix?

I'm a 27 year old Canadian who will be moving to Perth in January with my partner to study medicine at UWA.
I'm really excited about moving to Perth. The climate, slower pace, nature, and lower cost of living (compared to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) are a huge draw for us.
I was wondering if anyone could share insights into what to expect relocating to Perth?

• What is the typical monthly rent for a 2-bedroom flat?
• How much do you spend on groceries, phone-plan, internet, etc?
• How multicultural/diverse is Perth? We are visibly Middle Eastern. Is there a Middle Eastern community/presence?
• What is your favorite/least favorite thing about living in Perth?
• Is domestic airfare expensive to/ from Perth? We will want to explore the country in our time off
• Are Sandgropers a friendly bunch?
• Any other tidbits? Climate? Creepy Crawlers?
• We are also considering Brisbane. What makes Perth better?

Thanks in advance for the interview lool

I finally got the controller to work with djay pro and the midi mapping kicked in when I purchased the paid subscription.
But now the sound only outputs through my iPhone. Under settings in the main output option, I don’t see anything but “speakers”. I would like to output through the controllers soundcard so I can put sound through RCA to my studio monitors. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Hello! This may be a niche offering, but it's a market we've found to be overdue for some new blood. We've tried a lot of the tools already available, but just kept being disappointed between pricing, features, and accessibility - so over the past year we've decided to build our own. We'd love for you to test it out and let us know what you think.
ConvoGen is a feature rich dialogue editor designed to provide value across the whole spectrum from AAA studios, to indie developers, and even interactive marketing productions. At its most simple state ConvoGen is a way to write a dialogue driven story using cards connected by actions, choices, or even random events. We built ConvoGen entirely from scratch to include all the features we wanted and regularly used, without the clutter, and we aim to provide it at a fraction of the cost so that it's actually accessible to the whole scope of users. Our favorite line so far about ConvoGen is, "It's only as complex as you need it to be." You can go as deep as you need to with fully customizable conditionals, variables, search and sortable assets for actors or locations, fully integrated localization features to provide multiple languages, even the ability to add custom properties and hooks for your own code - or, if you need something quick and want help generating the backbone of a new story branch, we even added an optional AI writing feature to create dialogue for you while you focus on the nuts and bolts. Additionally, we added in a "play mode" so you can test out your project, and pick up where you left off with save states. When the project is done, the API integrates your work into whatever project you need (full Unity compatibility). We are looking for your feedback - and if you're interested, we are fully functional and looking for beta testers. We know this software is very niche to the interactive media industry, and that's exactly what we set out to do, to provide a powerful alternative to an otherwise top heavy market. However, outside of working on game development, we'd love to see what folks think and if it might have applications for other industries as well. I've personally used this software to help create training materials for customer interaction and sales, but we'd love to know what else is out there. Of course, if you've ever used any of the big name dialogue editors out there for professional/hobby use, we'd be thrilled to have your input too. As mentioned before, we would love to have you in the beta program. Signing up can be done from our website, https://convogen.io/, where you'll then be able to download the software and try it out! We also have a documentation page up, as well, to give you some instruction on how to get started. Thank you so much for checking us out! It means the world to us to get your eyes on our work

He has 10 days of shows in Austin in a row. I know he did JRE and is probably hanging with Joe but still. He isn’t in any other city for more than 2-3 days. Moving to Austin perhaps (puts on tin hat) ?

I posted this as a reply to another thread, but thought (thot?) I would share here, too. Please to enjoy my recap of S3 Episode 3. Spoilers (obviously).

1. Starting off in LA. Kim's body guard/ stylist puts them both in black coats and camo pants so she can go meet Scott for pizza and pre-planned gossip. They're both single, so they have lots to talk about. Like how it's too hard for Kim to go on first dates with guys and also too hard for Kim to break up with guys. She did go out with a guy in NYC, but wasn't smart enough to not go to the same place where she used to hang out with Pete, so everyone thought she was getting back together with Pete. Scott recommends she go for an older Italian businessman, but only if he's hot. Kim's not into it. So they talk about Cher and her much younger boyfriend AE. It's the best. But also probably the worst because Cher must be too old to bang him with the lights on. Kim only bangs with the lights off now. You know, because she's shy.

Two. Kourtney is doing a photo shoot for Lemme "Fall in Love" with Travis. Their love was not the result of a Potion No.9, but for people without their chemistry, who have $30, these supplements containing the essence of flowers will open your heart. Domineco Dolce and his dudes stop by so Kourtney can remind everyone she knew them way before her wedding. Also, Kourtney is shy and didn't speak as a child. Until she was a teenager. The stylist puts Travis in no shirt and they roll around together taking pictures very similar to all the other pictures they've taken before.

1. Kris stops by to see Khloe and Rob. I mean Tate. I mean Tatum. Khloe and Tristan are doing great because they are never ever getting back together ever again. They have very good boundaries and Khloe does not want to fall into old habits. Khloe feels guilty she isn't connecting with her second baby -- that she had in secret via surrogate while her ex-fiancee was having his fourth baby with his side chick -- the same as True. So we have to talk about the difficulties of surrogacy/ miracle of being a mother again. Tatem is now on goat milk formula. He might, but does not puke on Kris.
   
2. In NYC, Kendall is getting ready to attend a Marni show at Fashion Week. This is much more fun and relaxing than when she used to walk the shows because now she is good and healthy and has good boundaries. Kris calls and tells Kendall she's the favorite daughter. But we all know it's really Kylie. Kris said so yesterday while taking a lie detector test on TV.
   
3. Back in LA, it's 6 days before the D&G show and Kim's glam team is getting her ready for a pre-show photo shoot. Her role as Kreative Director of the show has involved creating looks. Well, looks D&G originally created in the 90s. They are so cool and Kim-esque. Crystals from head to toe. Kim is worried about how Kourtney will feel about this whole thing. She probably wouldn't mind at all if it was just a little bit later. (Because time heals all wounds?)
   
4. It's stormy in NYC. Kourtney is in town for fashion shows and Lemme press. She has anxiety and PTSD and needs drugs. Or maybe Lemme matcha. Kourtney wants to show how passionate she is about vitamins. She used to hate press because of the criticism and pressure from the family to earn her keep. But now she's married and confident, so she was able to decide on flavors for her vitamins. Kris watched the Today Show interview and gave it a thumbs up, because Kourtney looked beautiful. Simon thinks that's amazing. The team thinks Kourtney did a great job of organically talking about Lemme during the interview about Lemme.
   
5. Still in NYC, Kourtney is making rounds of the magazines, handing out Lemme pills like Halloween candy. Kourtney loves Lemme Focus, but can't remember why. Travis wore no shirt to perform at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show. Kris and Kendall show up. Kris tries out a few tag lines for the next campaign like "Lemme get the hell out of here and get a drink." They talk about Khloe's good test results from her melanoma situation. Which Kendall has diagnosed as a result of Khloe being too tired and stressed. Kourtney is a perfectionist and Kendall is a control freak both because of pressure from Kris. Kris thinks thats hilarious. Kendall suggests if they can channel the baggage of their dysfunctional childhoods into productive work, it's all good. Kris will take the blame for any anxiety she has caused, as long as it results in a successful product release.
   
6. Back to LA. Kim is spending quality time with North by allowing her to do her makeup with special effects makeup while she talks to Scott. Scott pitches an idea for an episode where they pretend to be normies. According to Kim, Kris is sad that she has pushed everyone into being so famous they have no sense of actual reality. But Kim can handle it. She's never been depressed. While her daughter continues to work on turning her into an old lady, Kim talks about being fine when her dad died. North farts. It smelled bad. North walks Kim around the house introducing her to the staff as Anika the Art Teacher. The staff helps Kim make her alone time with North fun by playing along. Kim loves making North happy by playing pranks and hanging out with Scott.
   
7. Kourtney and Trav are walking around NYC. Kourtney's outfit choice -- an oversized Blink-182 shirt and over the knee boots -- can't survive the 12 minute walk because the boots are falling down. Trav thinks she should take them off (And walk around barefoot in the rat feces and period blood covered sidewalk? Khloe would never let her set foot in her house ever again!) They make it to the Matcha shop without Travis needing to carry Kourtney like last time. NYC was a whirlwind, but Kourtney will always put family and husband ahead of work.
   
8. Kim arrives in Milan. However, her stylist does not because she forgot her passport. How is Kim supposed to do her job as Fashion Show Kreative Director without a stylist? How is Kim supposed to know what she likes and doesn't like without Danielle there to tell her? Someone needs to fly to Milan with her passport. There are 3 days left and they have no looks. Kim arrives at the D&G studio where 10 people are there ready to get a room full of D&G pieces into looks. Domineco tells Kim, "Your opinion in this case is very great for us." Kim wants people to think this show of rehashed 90s fashions is "Fresh" and "Cool." But it's going to be problematic for Kreative Director Kim to pull this off without her stylist. She always needs someone to confirm that something looks good. Kim doesn't want to do veils (Because Kourtney?). Kim wants more bedazzles, but also needs to check with Danielle. Domineco isn't crazy about bedazzled glasses with a corset dress, but Kim doesn't know without talking to Danielle. There's that fear people won't like it. (Is Danielle supposed to be the scape goat in case this whole show sucks?) A bad show could hurt Kim's brand. People might say Kim doesn't know how to work on the creative side. (Um... they're sure going to say that now, after she is such a floundering mess without her stylist!). She just doesn't know how she's going to do this without Danielle.
   

Scenes: Kim thinks Danielle not being there happened for a reason. Kendall takes Kylie horseback riding and tries to kill her. Kourtney wants to kill Kim for kopying her wedding. Kim is taken completely off guard by Kourtney's reaction. The producers try to pretend there's going to be a "Kendall is pregnant" story line.

I'm mentally exhausted from talking through options with my husband, and he's really struggling on whether to take a position. He works in HR and unfortunately has made some moves that he regrets up until this point. So we need some unbiased opinions!
Current Role (for almost 3 years): Sr HR Generalist in TN. He recently got a pay bump to $75k/year.
New Role: HR Manager in southern VA. Pay would be $105k/year with $10k relocation reimbursement.
Important notes: 1) He isn't miserable in his current job but has been looking for opportunities due to feeling restless and bored. 2) We have a toddler and a teenager. 3) We would be moving away from said teen's father, but she's actually not that upset...but still... 4) We do not have a lot of family holding us in TN, and VA is closer to my best friend at least. 5) We do own our home and would need to sell. Rent would probably be ~$1k more a month than what we pay in mortgage.
Background: His current job is comfortable. He knows what to expect and likes the people he works with. This new position has a lot of unknowns since they have been doing a complete restructuring of their HR department BUT he did visit and liked the new team. He would have to put in more work, and it could be very challenging/rewarding, but there's always a risk when taking a new position. Now, he thought he was doing the right thing by giving his current job more than a 1 month notice (mistake #1). His boss immediately freaked, posted the job, and verbally offered it to someone else within 2 days - not even joking. Fast forward a week later, and my husband is anxious about whether things will continue without issues/background will cleanew job fears. He voices being scared and the irritation with his job being offered to someone else so quickly to his current boss. She gives him the option to actually stay but says he has to make a decision THAT day. So, I personally told him I would not stay b/c he was looking for a reason, but fully support whatever his decision is. He told her he would stay (possible mistake #2). The new job has countered that they would double relo, now $10k, and really want him to consider taking the job because he would be such a good fit.
Decision Help: He has until end of TODAY to tell the new job if he'll take it. If he does, he will then have to tell his boss, who he has already told he would stay, that he has changed his mind yet again. In doing that, he would have to immediately resign and any reference for this job would go out of the window. He partly doesn't want to deal with the emotional fallout either; he's had multiple people call and voice how excited they are that he's staying after all. We would need to figure out housing and logistics of moving. But he's struggling with the decision of not taking a job with growth since he has the opportunity. What to do?? And are there other things to consider? We've talked about this sooo much for the past 2 weeks; we've looked at every different angle and pros/cons of both. I'm just ready to have the decision made and be done.
Tl;dr Husband wants to take a higher title making more money but is afraid to ruin is reference and lose work/life balance. So, he's at a gridlock of not knowing what to do.
​

My wife and I are on the search for a home and have been seeing some wonderful priced homes in the West Milwaukee area. We have lived on the east side for a long time renting and are now in the process of looking to buy. I'm not to familiar with the West Milwaukee area so looking for some expert Reddit opinions. I personally like the easy access to the highway and the home sizes with a little bit of yard.

Does anyone know if there any rental homes or communities that rent to folks who have plenty of income but credit is not in great shape? Getting kind of desperate. We are currently in a 3 bedroom apartment but the rent is going up to $2700 a month. We would like a townhome or house for around $2000-$2250. Thanks!

I’ve been paying all of my bill late for the last 6 months and I just keep getting father and farther behind. About two months ago, I needed to take out two payday loans to pay rent. And now every paycheck I get is $350 short to pay those off. I was supposed to get my tax refund last week but it’s nowhere to be found and that was going to help get me back on track. I’m lucky if I can afford to eat one meal a day. I have a really good job, making about $1,300 a paycheck, my rent is $985 but comes to about $1175 after utilities and since I’ve had to pay late every month, it’s $1375. I’m always $200 short and if they didn’t charge the late fee, I’d be to totally fine. My job is about an hour away by bus and I work about 40 hours a week. The hunger pains are starting to make it really hard to function day-to-day. I used to Doordash for grocery and gas money, but my car stopped working a few weeks ago. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m looking around to see if I can rent a room in someone’s house, but I haven’t had much luck. If I don’t pay rent by the 15th, they’ll file for eviction. I don’t know what to do. I just need advice. I can’t get any other payday loan to pay rent, it’s just going to screw me over even more.

Looking for a vanilla PC Livonia server? Peter's Pure Vanilla Extract brings the vanilla experience of Official to a no-mods privately owned community server available to the public! Come and enjoy all that DayZ has to offer, from the throes of surviving the fields and forests to the depths of navigating the underground bunker on Livonia.

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By popular request we have enabled the in-game map that Bohemia included with the server config files to allow our newer players an easier time orienting themselves while playing. Players will still need to rely on their survival instincts to figure out where they are, but now they can pull up the map by pressing "M" in-game.
Now with build anywhere enabled via in-game config files, you can base anywhere you please with more options to build your ideal survivor's home. Explore, build, fight, and join a group of players ranging from totally new to long-time veterans of the game to play DayZ in all its vanilla glory. Friend and foe await you!

SERVER INFO:
Server name: Peter's Pure Vanilla Extract - Livonia (Z Team) 1PP / Bases / PvP&RP
Server IP: 192.154.229.177:2302
Server info: 30 player slots, no mods, build anywhere enabled via gameplay files, cheats not permitted, DALLAS, TX server location.

If anyone has a spare bike and is looking for someone to ride with, I wasn’t able to rent a bike and I am really hoping to get out on the track. I’m from Canada and it’s my first time here. Just thought I’d throw it out there cause it’s looking unlikely that I’ll be able to bike the track

Hello to you, fellow ingrates.
Year 6 of DABR Defends the New York Giants from Criticism has arrived.

Season Recap

tl;dr: The Giants had their most successful season since 2016, and arguably since winning the Super Bowl in 2012 (if the draft spot/playoff success is the measurement) and went into draft night with the latest selection they've had since 2012, the first outside the top 11 since 2016.
Giants fans didn't really expect to win that many games this year. There were still some hopefuls for Daniel Jones but most people had come to terms with new GM Joe Schoen and new HC Brian Daboll pretty much setting up to replace him, declining his 5th year option.
It was the first year of this regime, they hadn't really been able to fix up the roster fully, etc. Most Giants fans I know were expecting a 4-7 win season, not sniffing the playoff race. Ha.
It all started week 1 vs Tennessee. It was honestly a story Giants fans have gotten familiar with. Look absolutely horrible in the first half of the game, but somehow struggle back into it in the second half, only to be dramatically disappointed at the end of the game. After Daniel Jones threw a red zone interception with just under 9 minutes to go, we thought that was pretty much it.
But then with 4 minutes left, Saquon Barkley rips off a 33 yard run, Daniel Jones converts a 4th and 1, and the Giants score a TD to pull them to just a 1 point deficit. Most Giants fans are thinking "okay he's gonna kick it, play for overtime, I respect that, we didn't think it would be that close anyways."
And then we see the offense staying on the field...uh oh. The offense wasn't exactly clicking on all cylinders to that point in the game, having been shut out in the first half. If we don't get it, the game is pretty much lost. Daboll calls a shovel pass, Saquon gets it, it looks like it's completely doomed...I'm thinking "here we go again, his first game and the media is already going to be all over him for going for it"...but Saquon fights his way in! Giants take the lead for the first time in the game. We're feeling good, Daboll's huge balls in that situation giving us some confidence.
Then the Titans methodically work the ball down the field (along with a couple of assists from Austin Calitro and Darnay Holmes), setting up a 47 yard field goal for Randy Bullock to win the game.
Now, I'm thinking, "of course this is what happened, they gave us some hope, now it's going to get ripped away from us, just like always. Story of the last few years at times."
...and then Bullock missed the kick. That was the start of what turned into a magical first half of the season, the Giants getting off to a 7-2 start, all 7 wins coming by a 1 score margin (though the Bears and Texans games were a bit cleaner than the final scoreline suggests), and 5 of them really coming down to big time plays in the last 5 minutes of the game.
The Titans story, taking the lead with 3:38 left in the 4th quarter and Julian Love sacking Baker Mayfield to force 4th and 15 the next drive against Carolina, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Xavier McKinney batting down Aaron Rodgers' passes in London, Love intercepting Lamar Jackson to set up the game winning score against Baltimore, McKinney and Love stopping Christian Kirk at the 1 yard line on the last play against Jacksonville.
All of those games are games that go against us in previous years. But this year was just different. And somehow through it all, there were Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones as well. Saquon was the focal point of the offense early in the season, Jones being efficient in a heavy, limited, play action focused passing attack.
All thoughts of the Giants earning a top pick and replacing Daniel Jones pretty much went out the window by week 4, and hope for Jones maybe finally becoming the QB he was drafted to be started to blossom in some parts of the Giants fanbase.
Things came crashing down a bit the next 4 weeks. Awful losses to Detroit, Dallas, and Philly, with a tie against Washington in there too that many Giants fans felt they deserved to win capped off a 1-4-1 stretch where the Giants simply did not look good. They looked more like what we expected the team to look like coming into the year. The playoff spot was no longer guaranteed, at 7-5-1. But a flexed SNF game against Washington would pretty much decide the season.
And the Giants took that win against Washington and ran with it. A close loss against the Vikings that was probably the best passing attack game of the season to that point, a dominating win against the hapless Colts that locked the Giants into the playoffs, and a surprisingly tight and scrappy game between the Eagles starters and the Giants backups gave Giants fans some hope headed into the playoffs. We didn't expect to win a Super Bowl, but the matchup against the Vikings seemed winnable.
And winnable it was, as in classic 2023 Giants fashion, they took a lead about halfway through the 4th quarter, and a couple of clutch plays on defense by Cordale Flott and Xavier McKinney ended the game.
Then we went to Philly and got absolutely ass blasted, ending our season.
That left the Giants with the 25th pick in the class, entering an offseason with a lot of business to take care of.

Free Agency Recap

The Giants had a lot more room to operate in free agency this year than last year, and Schoen was relatively creative in how he wanted to go about it.
The first step in that process though was figuring out the status of his pending free agents; most notably, the two who led the way on offense most of the year: Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. The Jones negotiations were tense, Jones asked for the moon and the team was not having it. Eventually (literally right before the tag deadline) they settled on a 4 yr, 160m extension with 82m fully guaranteed and a boatload of incentives that could push the value up to almost 200m. That allowed the team to tag Saquon Barkley, whose extension talks are reportedly still stalled, as Barkley declined an offer worth almost 14m during the Giants' bye week, and continues to find the Giants' offer(s) unpalatable.
Speculation is that Barkley is seeking more guaranteed money from the Giants (greater than the sum of 2 franchise tags), but Barkley's camp is not leaking much (reportedly because Saquon doesn't want them to). And according to most reporters, Saquon is too competitive to actually sit out the season, removing his last bit of leverage.
Possibly the biggest addition of the Giants' free agency period was actually a trade: The Giants traded the Chiefs' 3rd rounder (acquired for Kadarius Toney) for TE Darren Waller. This is a huge move because the Giants were dead last in explosive pass play rate by a WIDE margin. Only like 6 individual team seasons since 2010 had fewer explosive passing plays than the 2022 Giants. That's something that Schoen and Daboll immediately set out to fix, and Darren Waller is one of the best explosive pass weapons in the league, leading all TEs in explosive pass plays this season despite playing just 9 games this year. Reports out of OTAs are that the Giants are expecting Waller to basically fill a "WR1" role for them; not necessarily in alignment but being the focal point of the offense, high target share, etc.
Schoen and Daboll followed that addition up with two more explosive pass play options: retaining Darius Slayton, and adding Parris Campbell to the room. Slayton is a solid WR, he's good for 600-700 yards when he gets run. His hands are inconsistent, but he makes up for it often. Campbell finally broke out having a healthy season for the Colts this season. I think Campbell is mostly insurance for Wan'Dale Robinson, who is coming off of a torn ACL, but if healthy should get primary run in the slot.
The Giants' other two main moves came on the defensive side of the ball, adding LB Bobby Okereke to a LB room that comprised of: Jarrad Davis, Micah McFadden, and Darrian Beavers (coming off a torn ACL). Much needed improvement in that room. The Giants also added Rakeen Nunez-Roches and A'Shawn Robinson to the DL room to improve the depth there; Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams were playing too many snaps, and the Giants were really bad against the run last year.
In the process though, the Giants lost both of their starting centers from 2022, Nick Gates and Jon Feliciano, as well as S Julian Love, who had been a consistent staple of the defense the last few years.

Draft Needs

The Giants roster was in much better shape this year than last year, but the team still had a number of problems:

1. CB was still a HUGE need for the Giants, and one that had not been properly addressed yet. Adoree' Jackson had another very good year in 2022, but the spot across from him had been a mishmosh of misfit toys: Fabian Moreau had a nice little run, but struggled down the stretch. Nick McCloud got a lot of run at CB2 after being claimed on waivers from the Bills. Cordale Flott had been drafted as a nickel defender but got some run there. And the slot position wasn't much better, as Darnay Holmes continued to be a liability there. This position needed reinforcements. I've been a relatively vocal minority in the Giants fandom saying this has been the BIGGEST need the team had for a couple of years now (basically aside from the one year that we had Bradberry and Jackson both on the team).
2. Despite adding Slayton, Campbell, and Waller, WR was still something the team needed. Specifically someone who could develop into a WR1 type player. The Giants WR room is relatively deep, but just adding Campbell and Waller and running back last year's group didn't feel sufficient. The team clearly was putting an emphasis on speed, separation, and yards after the catch ability.
3. Center was a massive need. The Giants basically didn't have a center on the roster who had played meaningful NFL snaps. Ben Bredeson could move to center if needed, but it wasn't that solid of a plan. And in what seemed like a good center class, this seemed like a good way to solve that problem.
4. LB. The LB2 spot currently will be either Jarrad Davis, Micah McFadden (who basically lost the job last year to Jarrad Davis), or Darrian Beavers (who tore his ACL last year). I think that says it all.
5. RB: Saquon is on the tag, so you feel okay here, but the team has been seeking a solid compliment for him for a while. They were in on a few of the RBs last year and the value never lined up, and Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell didn't really cut it last year. They don't want to run Saquon into the ground early in the year like they did last year, so having a compliment for him is big.
6. S: Losing Julian Love is a tough one. He played a lot of snaps and wore a lot of hats for this defense last year, especially with McKinney missing time with a hand injury. The team likes Jason Pinnock, and drafted Dane Belton in the early 4th last year, but more depth and competition here would be very welcome.

So let's get into the picks:

1.24: Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

Seems like maybe Schoen agreed with me!
It was a lot harder to try to predict what the Giants would do this year, just by virtue of having a later pick. But the general consensus among the beat seemed to be that the team wanted to get a CB or an offensive playmaker with that first pick. I was a little skeptical of CB being an option, seeing how many mocks had all 5 of the top CBs off the board, but that often left WRs available.
So right after the Jets took Will McDonald at 15, if you looked at the board, only 1 CB had been taken and no WRs had been taken. That felt pretty good for the Giants.
Then Forbes and Gonzalez come off the board, and the top 4 WRs come off the board from 20-23.
That left the Giants feeling a little antsy. They had one guy they really wanted left, and negotiated a trade up one spot with the Jaguars to secure their guy: Deonte Banks.
This pick is perfect for what the Giants want to do on defense. Wink Martindale's reaction should say it all, if you go watch the Giants' behind the scenes videos on the draft process.
Banks is a tall, long, and athletic corner, which are all important traits for Wink's press man heavy defense. He's super fluid and smooth in his hips. He tested absolutely crazy. He also plays with a swag that I think Wink and Giants fans will come to really appreciate. He plays confident, he plays fast in terms of processing, and he plays physical.
He still has some development to go, I'm not saying he's going to be a top CB in the league from day 1. He wasn't a super ball productive corner, but that's not something Wink necessarily needs. It will take some time for him to get comfortable with the complexity of route runners in the NFL. But the tools are all there, and the Giants get a perfect scheme fit.
Banks will come in and immediately be the starter at CB across from Adoree' Jackson, and the trickle down effect that will have on the Giants depth chart at CB will be tangible.

2.57: John Michael Schmitz, OC, Minnesota

As this pick was coming up, Schoen and Daboll were discussing who to pick, and basically said "okay we're either going with Schmitz or (we'll get to that later ;) )".
Then the Bears traded up to the pick before the Giants pick. And Joe Schoen said "oh fuck." Daboll tried to calm him down and said "well I guess we're getting ."
Then the Bears took Tyrique Stevenson (good pick!), leaving the Giants the choice between the two players. And the Giants went with Schmitz.
Full disclosure: I was not a huge JMS fan in the draft process. I thought he was super solid all around, but he wasn't really impressive to me, there weren't a lot of overwhelmingly positive reps or traits in my eyes. I thought he was maybe a little heavy footed, especially in pass pro, and his testing kind of backed that up, and I didn't really see full unlocked power either.
I was probably a bit harsh on him in terms of the grade though. Like I said, he's a super solid player. There's relatively little to really complain about. He's smart, he's experienced, and he made few mental mistakes. His snaps were consistent. He is pretty strong though not crazy so. His anchor is really good, and he plays nasty and competitive, which is something the Giants are definitely looking for. It helps he had a really good Senior Bowl week too.
Was Schmitz my favorite center in this class? No. But he was for many people, and for some good reasons. Schmitz will come in and immediately start at center for the Giants, bringing the dead snap with him. If he can be the 3rd best player on this unit (behind Andrew Thomas and hopefully Evan Neal taking a step forward this year and being healthy), it'll be an immensely calming and steadying presence that should raise the OL play of the whole unit.

3.73: Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee

So you may be wondering: Who was Player X?
Well immediately after drafting Schmitz, Schoen looked around the room and pretty much said "what if we can still get ?" He decided that the price he was willing to pay was the Giants 4th round pick. And he and everybody else in the room started calling.
That included Brian Daboll, who leaned over and said "hey should I text [Rams HC Sean] McVay?" Schoen said "yeah sure go for it." And Daboll officially negotiated the Giants trading up from 89 to 73 to select Player X: Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt
Hyatt is a really fun player to watch. The speed blows you away on tape. It's the kind of speed that even if you're not throwing it to him all the time, defenses have to take note when he comes on the field and play him differently. He's not necessarily slippery or elusive after the catch but (and I'm scared to frame it this way but I'm doing it anyway) the speed and acceleration gives him credibility there, the way that Odell was such a YAC threat on slants just getting to full speed and outrunning everyone.
He's a little high cut I think, and that leads to a little bit of trouble with crisper routes. He wasn't asked to run a very complex route tree at Tennessee, though I do think he has the skills to improve in that sense. The biggest concern for me is just how quickly we can get him up to speed beating press and playing through physicality. When he has room to work, he can beat CBs in a few ways, but NFL DBs will knock even very good WRs off their routes at times. And that follows through to contested catches.
The Giants' WR room is so crowded it's hard for me to say exactly what Hyatt's role will be starting out. The Giants started last year trying to use different WRs in different ways on a game to game basis. Then the wheels fell off obviously, with Shep, Wan'Dale, and Toney being hurt and Golladay stinking and all that. So I wonder if we see a return to that.
Hyatt can be a threat in a lot of ways, end arounds, screens, etc in addition to the obvious "go long" situations. Just how many reps he can carve out will be fun to track in training camp.

So the Giants come out of the first 3 rounds with 3 players who were commonly mocked to them at 25. Pretty good business! But let's get into day 3:

5.172: Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma

The Giants traded away their 4th round pick to get Hyatt so they went 99 picks without making a selection.
Like I said earlier, the team has been looking for a compliment to Saquon Barkley for a long time, and they find it here with Eric Gray.
Schoen said he sees Eric Gray as a 3 down back. And you can definitely see why. He caught 88 passes over the last 3 years at Oklahoma and only dropped 2. He's also strong and physical, willing to pass protect. That physicality carries over into his running style, he runs hard and is willing to run through guys. He's bursty in short areas and has pretty solid vision in my opinion.
He's a compact guy, just 5'9 207. He's not super slippery or elusive, and he's not really a home run hitter. But in terms of finding a backup RB on day 3 to feed some of those tough yardage carries to and keep Saquon fresh, you could do worse than Eric Gray for sure.
The Giants ran a fair bit of "Pony" type formations in 2022, using 2 or even 3 RBs at times. The competition between Gray and Matt Breida for the true RB2 spot will be fun to see. Breida brings a little more explosiveness to the table, but Gray will certainly give him a run for his money. And depending on what happens with Saquon Barkley's contract situation, we may see even more of Gray down the line.

6.209: Tre Hawkins, CB, Old Dominion

When asked about what is different this year from last year, what improvements or what has gotten easier now that he's been in the chair for a full year, Joe Schoen talked a lot about really getting a good handle on what his coaches look for in players. And he singled out Wink in that respect because him and Daboll have worked together so much.
The Giants selection of Tre Hawkins really highlights that. Like with Deonte Banks, Hawkins brings a ton of physical traits. He tested through the roof. He has the length that the Giants look for. He's also super physical in both phases, run and pass, which Wink loves. ODU let him just play press man, so he's comfortable doing that.
He's a little slim still, so his frame needs some reworking, but that's common with CBs and especially ones from outside the P5 schools. He also has a lot of technique and FBIQ stuff to clean up. His footwork is messy, he's not always patient enough with his punch. His ball skills still leave something to be desired. He's still learning to read routes and manage space both in man and zone.
I figure Hawkins will come in and be a depth player and core STer for the Giants. If his play strength holds up against NFL scrutiny, he can definitely be a day 1 punt gunner. Wink has started calling Jerome Henderson the best DB coach in the league, so it'll be fun to see what Henderson can do with a ball of clay like Hawkins. Even if he ends up just being a STer and CB5 type guy, that's still a pretty good pick in the 6th round like this.
Also, sorry Patriots writer :)

7.243: Jordon Riley, DL, Oregon

Beating a dead horse at this point, but this is another pick Schoen highlighted as an example of his understanding of what Wink is looking for.
Obviously Riley is a flawed prospect, it's the 7th round. He was a 6th year senior who spent time at 4 different schools, starting at UNC, then going to JUCO for a year, then Nebraska for 2 years where he barely played, and finishing his college career at Oregon. PFF lists him as having just 534 career snaps in college despite the 5 years he spent at the P5 level. He wasn't very productive, partly because he barely played and partly because he's just not very good. He's not a good athlete.
What Riley does have, though, is size, strength, and knockback power. And that's what Wink is looking for in a depth NT. He eats blocks, stuffs up lanes, and just is hard to move.
Schoen put it this way:
"It’s hard to find these guys. When you get into the seventh round, you are looking for guys that maybe it will be hard to get at different areas. And another guy we spent time with, big run stopper in there, 6-foot-5, 330.
You walk out to practice, and there’s this 6-5, 330-pound guy, who piques your interest right there. Again, some of these guys in different schemes may not have the production, the tackles, the sacks. But for what Wink looks for in terms of size, length, knock-back — he possesses those traits.”

7.254: Gervarrius Owens, DB, Houston

Last pick in the draft and the Giants go back to the DB room. They took two CBs already, but some depth/developmental guys at safety would help. Enter: Gervarrius Owens.
Owens is a former CB turned S from Houston. The CB in him flashes to me on tape, I thought his ball skills as a safety were good. He's athletic enough to play pretty much any safety spot, including that single high spot that teams find difficult to fill. He's super physical and willing to play downhill and tackle. He's super experienced, he was a team captain and 4 year starter for Houston.
He makes a lot of mistakes, however. The angles he takes to the ball in both phases are super inconsistent. He missed a ton of tackles in college, so that technique needs to be worked on. The ball skills turned into PBUs rather than INTs; Wink won't mind that but some of them were like "he really should have just caught that."
Owens is another guy like Hawkins who looks primed to earn his roster spot on special teams and provide solid depth for the team's DB room. Wink likes to play 3+ safety sets, especially when he feels like he has a good group there. And the Giants' S room right now is basically Xavier McKinney and a bunch of question marks, so it's entirely feasible that Owens can come in and beat Dane Belton, Jason Pinnock, and Bobby McCain to earn playing time early on.

UDFAs

The Giants UDFA class included a few notable names. 5 total players who got 100k+ in guarantees:

1. Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR, WVU: The Giants gave Bryce Ford-Wheaton a LOT of guaranteed money for a UDFA: 236k, which is the full season PS salary plus 20k. BFW was one of "my guys" this year I was hoping for the Giants to get. He's got the size and athleticism to be really good, but he's a little one note right now. In a crowded WR room, I kind of doubt he'll make the roster without some injuries (or Wan'Dale/Shep being on PUP) but like other late rounders/UDFAs, if he can find some value on special teams, he's a fun upside swing.
2. Dyontae Johnson, LB, Toledo: Another guy who got a lot of guaranteed money. The Giants needed some reinforcements at LB and clearly didn't find them in the draft. Super productive in college, very instinctive player, but I'm not sure if he can run with the league. He'll compete with the Giants mishmosh of LBs to play on special teams.
3. Ryan Jones, TE/FB, East Carolina: The Giants have been searching for a kind of H-Back type for a while now. Last year they brought in Jeremiah Hall from Oklahoma, that didn't stick. Andre Miller, who was a WR at Maine, seemed like he was getting run at that spot in camp last year, but a broken arm ended his season. Chris Myarick ended up taking some of those reps. Ryan Jones kind of fits that mold as well.
4. Habakkuk Baldonado, EDGE, Pittsburgh: The Giants' pass rusher depth is...not great. Behind Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari, it's Jihad Ward, Oshane Ximines, and Tomon Fox. And Ojulari missed a lot of time last year. Baldonado could potentially come in and earn a spot over Ximines/Fox. He's got good play strength and power and fits what the Giants would need as more of an edge setter and run defender to give Thibodeaux/Ojulari a rest rep before letting them loose to rush the passer.
5. Gemon Green, CB, Michigan: Another tough and physical corner. I don't think there's really a spot for him on this roster with the additions of Banks and Hawkins, and I think he's not quite the athlete the Giants look for at CB, but as a last resort/STer he can potentially get somewhere.

Final Takeaways

I did this last year because it was Schoen's first year here, but I like the idea of doing it every year. What can we learn from the way Schoen drafted this year that we can file away and learn for the future? What can mockers learn from this to inform them of who makes sense for the Giants.
And it's pretty similar to last year:

1. Athleticism. Once again, pretty much every player the Giants drafted, and the UDFAs generally, were excellent athletes who tested well. The main exceptions being JMS (who was still a solid athlete) and Jordon Riley this year; where the exception last year basically was just DJ Davidson. This team has faith in its coaching staff and wants to give them players they can work with.
2. Scheme/Roster Fits. I talked about it a lot with the defensive picks, but every single one is a "Wink Martindale" guy. What does Wink want for his system? This can be a little dangerous considering Wink was in the running for a HC gig last year, and another strong year might finally get him the HC job he has been looking for. If he leaves and the scheme changes, these players need to be able to match the new scheme too. But it's clear that the FO values the input of the coaching staff and there's really clear communication there. This also applies to the offensive side of the ball, where it's super clear that the team wanted more speed on offense, which pointed to Hyatt a little bit.
3. Youth. This one is a little less applicable this year as they did draft a few older players, like JMS and Riley, even Eric Gray who turns 24 in November or Tre Hawkins who turns 23 over the summer. But Banks just turned 22, Jalin Hyatt will turn 22 in late September. It feels like maybe they felt more attached to the age stuff when they thought this was a full on rebuild, but now that they're hoping to be a playoff team again, they need some more instant contributors.
4. Aggressiveness/willingness to trade. This is a newer one, as last year the Giants only traded back. But this year the Giants traded up twice, giving up 3 day 3 picks in the process. Schoen is not afraid to make trades in either direction. Up to secure guys he really wants (Banks/Hyatt), or down if there's nothing there. Schoen talked about having trades lined up in both directions with the first round pick, he had a trade down ready if there was no one he wanted left.

The Giants went into the 2022 draft clearly rebuilding, 5 picks in the top 81 and making 11 selections. This year, the team came into the draft with 10 picks and came out with just 7. Clearly the team thinks the depth is improving and wants to focus on building the championship contender they are looking to be.

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Hi folks, I'm trying to make drinking my home well water a more enjoyable experience. I rent, so investing in an RO system is not feasible. Just for fun, I'd like a DIY way to deal with this rather than an expensive off the shelf solution.
Like a lot of well water, mine is very high in dissolved iron and smells like rotten eggs. I bought a cheap aquarium air pump/bubbler and that does a great job stripping out the H2S and oxidizing the iron. However, the iron stays suspended in the water.
What's a cheap and food-safe way of encouraging the iron oxide to settle out of suspension?

I joined in November and quit 2 months ago and joined Life Time instead, so I don’t have a use for the HR monitor anymore. It’s like essentially brand new. It has only had to be charged once (maybe twice), so the battery life lasts a long time and it works perfectly.
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Okay here is the situation, i bought a maisonette cheap which somehow has lots of land (belonging to my flat only) but on the leasehold agreement. The freeholder is pretty hands off and just takes £10 rent a year. The area has crazy house prices and think it would be crazy not to enquire about buying the land freehold (if possible) to attempt at getting future planning for 1-2 properties.
Can this be done or would i need to buy the other flat and then try to buy the freehold for both?

So my Mom (75 years old) received a notice about the current value of her last months rent (LMR). It’s about $193 lower than her current monthly rate. By law, it should be 1:1.
The current owners (Briarlane) purchased the property in 2018. They’re saying the value of her LMR that they received when taking over was lower than what it should have been at the time, so the missing money is from the previous owner (unless they’re lying).
She never received any payments from the previous owner for the interest either.
That means the previous owner either never applied the interest to her LMR or at the very least miscommunicated her balance when transferring ownership.
So now the question is, who is responsible to resolve the missing money? Does she need to contact the previous owners and shake them down or is it the responsibility of the new owners to get their affairs in order?
Note: She just told me that the previous owner bought the property because the building used to be excluded from rent increase restrictions because of some odd reason (e.g. when the place was built) and would increase rents at whatever amount he wanted. The loophole was then closed so he sold the place.
If true, should the LMR have gone up in line with his randomly chosen amounts that he increased the rent by, or was he only required to apply the provincial rate to the LMR, making it now lower than her current rental amount?