Google to Offer Gambling Advert Shield Option to Users
Google to Offer Gambling Advert Shield Option to Users
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CMV: advertising is getting out of hand, and in the method it's used will make me less likely to buy the product.
Lately on many sites for streaming there have been aggressive and intrusive advertising. I get it, taking on ads helps pay the bills for services and content creators, that's good for them. But when I'm listening to a 3 minute song on YouTube and get 2 ads before and after each song it gets a bit frustrating. When I'm watching a video by a creator I enjoy that has ads that stop the video, then during the video, then self promotion I wonder why I'm watching. Companies such as smart TVs that have updating adverts on your already paid for TV, or DVDs that have mandatory ads for something you've paid for is dumb. Going to the cinema and getting they're 30 minutes after the show time and pre movie ads are still running. It's honestly disgusting. These ads that are shown are less likely to get me to buy from then given the negative association I have with the ads and the company doing so, so really it could hurt potential profit. I imagine it's being made back by others who will buy, but that's a different point. Additionally, as someone who made a few searches a while ago for help with gambling addiction, I got online casino ads for the next week. This should not be allowed yet there's really nothing you can do.
FunFair Q2 AMA - Summary from #liveteamchat discord channel
AMA held Friday, April 3rd, 2020 Summary by @dwr (all transcription errors etc. are my own) (Each answer is prefaced with the name of the FunFair staff member that provided the answer) Q: What funding methods will the fiat to crypto mechanism support? Bank transfer? Debit card? Credit card? A: (Lloyd) Funding will be through debit and credit cards only to start with, bank transfer will follow but only in some markets not all. Q: Will fiat to crypto be available in all FF legal jurisdictions? A: (Lloyd) Yes outside of some, the main one being China (where there’s no fiat on ramp to crypto). Q: When the need for separate ETH is removed will players need to pay the equivalent in FUN when opening a session? A: (Lloyd) No, the house will cover the cost of opening sessions. Q: What happens if the transaction takes too long - will there be a way of speeding it up as there is now? A: (Lloyd) No, the server is in control of this. We have quite a lot of experience with making sure our servers can get their transactions mined in a timely manner, including automatically increasing gas price, so I’m not expecting this to be an issue. Q: Any word on developing a pachinko type of game? A: (Geoff) We've had a play around with some ideas, but no definite plan yet. It's a hard game to get right. Q: What is the update on Craps, is it still nearing completion and planned to be released by end Q2 at latest? A: (Geoff) We've been focusing on other games, so Craps hasn't had a lot of love recently. It's not on the immediate roadmap at the moment, but as ever it's on the list of games we would like to get back to. Q: Has there been any contact with Binance to ensure they know the dev is still active of this token? I asked in general for someone to update their info page - https://info.binance.com/en/currencies/funfair it hasn't happened yet. Might be good to get them to list the Q2 update for example. A: (Lloyd) Yes, we have a telegram group with them and converse fairly regularly, we have sent the update through, but they are launching a new way of updating called Binance Info, which we will have full control of and be able to update regularly. Q: Is there any member of staff in charge of updates etc? If so it would be nice if say Monday 9am when they go into work they had 15 mins to do certain things - update https://funfair.io/release-notes/ . Make sure Binance Info was up to date. Ensure twitteTelegram/Discord is all same info in conjunction. A: (Lloyd) We’ve had a few members of staff responsible for those things in the past. As mentioned, Matt C is helping out more in B2C in line with priorities around adoption. To cover that we have taken more of JJ’s time to help out on community and B2B marketing. Between JJ and I, we will make sure all is up to date. Q: What is the update on auto-updating leaderboards for comps, how come it seems to be getting dragged out? A: (Lloyd) We’re not dragging it out - more that we have other priorities at the moment. Q: Has there been any progress on the research into a secure means of handling progressive jackpots? A: (Oliver) Not really, this is a tough one to crack in a trustless way. We are constantly looking around at innovations in the blockchain space that might help us here, as well as continuing our own research. Q: When [will there be] a slot with 20000x win potential? Attract big gamblers. I find most streamers only play these kinds of slots. A: (Geoff) At the moment, that kind of win is very difficult with the current set-up due to the way the bankroll per game works. We're looking into ways we could do this, but nothing to announce here. That said, while streamers do flock to high volatility, high win games, there are plenty of amazing, successful slots that don't have such eye-watering prizes (that you'll never see), and I think our games compare very favorably to most of them. Q: What initiatives have been taken by Kazuma to dominate and take over the Japan casino market? A: (Tom) The marketing team at CasinoFair will be supporting the launch of CasinoFair JP with Kazuma. Due to a highly regulated market, initially it will be led by social and affiliates. Twitter is the most used social advertising platform in Japan with over 70% of college students on the platform, and over 50% of the workforce. Our affiliate team already has a few affiliates on board and drove their first player through yesterday. We are in contact with all the top affiliates (and have been in the months prior) to ensure we are executing on channels we know have delivered in the past for CF. We will be building on from here in the coming months and really pushing the social element Q: Would we be seeing any more Asian style/Homegrown games which would be more appealing to that market rather than western themed games and if so, would they be designed and built in-house or would they be created by an Asian Game/Casino creator? A: (Geoff) I think any game we built towards a specific market would need to take advice from an expert in that market. With that in mind, though, [there is] no reason our internal team couldn't handle such a game. Q: Will the fiat to crypto also include crypto to fiat? and will it be in Q2? A: (Lloyd) Not at this time - our provider is looking into that now, it will only be through bank transfer when it happens, and will be market-specific. Q: Why are we not trying 5 different types of promos at the same time to see which one works? A: (Tom) The immediate answer is Moon Racer 7 will be changing to include a cumulative jackpot prize and a few other adjustments which have been requested in the community. Look out for this very shortly. However, a much larger piece of work on promotions to encourage new users and manage VIP racers has been investigated. These however require technical changes to automate as they can’t scale manually. We are quite excited to test some quite different metrics once these are delivered by dev in Q2. Q: Will the removal of the need for separate ETH for gas come in Q2? A: (Oliver) Yup! Q: Any news about the Isle of Man license? A: (Lloyd) We’re still working on bus dev with the IOM operators - however we are working towards the B2C licensing conditions on the platform - you will have seen this from recent responsible gaming releases. Q: Will you be able to withdraw from CF to your bank afterwards? A: (Lloyd) Not yet Q: What steps are FunFair taking to ensure enforcement of responsible gaming laws? A: (Lloyd) B2C operations does everything they should be doing in line with licensing conditions Q: Would FF spend money on Instagram or YouTube stars to promote the casinos? A: (Tom) Unfortunately Facebook and Google are very specific about who they will work with. Their gaming policies and Crypto policies make it very hard to advertise on their platforms. Even twitch won't allow us to run pre-roll in Canada. This has meant I have had to change tack in a few markets, and we are looking at the slower build around our own streamer and the strategy is to be finalized by EOM to then deliver. This unfortunately won't have an immediate impact as its going to be a slow build for our own channel. But we did a bit of analysis and believe our core market is more likely found there than on YouTube by comparison. Q: Will there be purchasing limits for converting fiat into crypto? A: (Lloyd) These are set by the payment processing partner Q: Do you have a target for the quantity of games you would like to achieve by the end of 2020? Or is it a case of developing according to demand etc.? A: (Geoff) Well, 2019 was the year of filling up the portfolio. 2020 will probably see fewer, but bigger games. I don't have a number I can give, but we think you guys will like the results. Q: What about some advertising on Binance? A: (Lloyd) If you can get us a deal we'll happily do that :wink: Q: Would FunFair play any part in defining fiat to crypto limits? Sounds like the payment processing partner is very experienced in Casino related affairs, am I right? A: (Lloyd) They know what they are doing, and their limits are set by them in line with the card issuers. Q: Have you considered allocating some cash to a significant one-time marketing promotion with billboards or, better, television commercials in ANY of the countries you operate in so as to potentially get some awareness of the product? If so, what’s the thought of whether it will be done? A: (Tom) When I was working with Experian and providing targeting data for television, i.e. target households that have 4 children, high income etc. etc. It became quickly apparent TV doesn't like to do this. They don’t want to be clever, they want mass market. So, they want to show your advert to as many people as possible. However, CasinoFair are very much in a world we need to have people that are crypto aware which isn't national TV. Furthermore, the average cost is $342,000 per 30 second national TV advert. - https://www.webfx.com/blog/business-advice/the-cost-of-advertising-nationally-broken-down-by-medium/ Whereas I can target users online at a cost of about $6 per 1000 users on coinmarket cap. Which is much more likely to be our target market and will be able to understand how crypto works. And to put this is apples for apples comparison, I can serve an advert to every person in the entire country of Canada for almost half the price of one 30 second TV ad spot. So yes, thought about it, and decided we can get better access to our target market in other mediums. Q: Oliver - what big project are you working on at the moment? A: (Oliver) Death to Gas Q: What is Jeremy up to? A: (Oliver) Jeremy spends most of his time down a big dark R&D hole, trying to solve some of the problems that have been mentioned in other questions. Q: Will joejoe adams be on the FunFair staff page now? A: (JoeJoe Adams) :soon: ™️ Q: Does Jez still remain active at FunFair? A: (Oliver) Yeah, he's around a lot. We might even summon him if we're lucky. Q: Can you give more details on marketing? A: (Tom) You can get a lot of insight from the Q2 updates which I suggest you read through though to see what marketing has been up to and our focus. However, to give you some insight. I joined in January where I can see that a lot of advertising was executed across many sites, particularly around OctobeNovember. Traffic was increased 10-fold. However, none of the traffic converted to long term players. There are a few reasons for this, retention marketing, funnel friction, educational onboarding, USP identification, and site personalization just to name a few. I could repeat the process and purchase more traffic and throw loads of advertising, but I fear a similar result may occur. As such, lots of work have been invested in all those aspects above in Q1. Per my Q2 update we are now ready to retest traffic in our Tier 1 markets to see how users react to the improved user experience, retention marketing etc. Also in Q2 we are going to be working with our marketing partner to provide personalization and a unique site for every user on site depending on the last game played, if they are new users or if they are VIPs. All features we currently can't do. Q: Is the UK Government giving any help to FunFair during these hard times? A: (Oliver) We're in a fortunate position, we're well used to remote working so the current situation isn't causing us any particular problems. Q: Did anyone reply to my suggestion about purchasable FUN (Scratchable Voucher Cards) an hour ago? A: (Lloyd) Like a prepaid crypto card? We've not looked into that yet, the fiat to crypto on ramp is step 1 Q: With Japan now localized, could you say if FunFair would be strictly serving Japan or would any surrounding areas be able to participate and if so could you name the neighbors? A: (Lloyd) We've localized into Japanese, we do not block most Asian markets, including Japan’s neighbors although have not decided to localize for any of them Q: Refresh me, to be localized in Japan it would have needed a license from the regulators, could you state the name of the regulator if possible? A: (Lloyd) Online casinos are not regulated in japan, in fact they have only just approved land-based casinos to be built in the country - planned for first one to launch in 2024 or so Q: But are you talking to anyone on that front in regard to online casinos? In case laws change. A: (Lloyd) Not yet [AMA ending…] (Lloyd) Thanks guys!
Do you guys think that when Rockstar inevitably announces GTA VI that they will also put in teases in GTA Online (e.g. TV adds promoting Vice City, cars to be featured in the game, radio adverts etc.)? GTA Online's world is dynamic or continuously changing unlike Single Player where its static and minor teases can be added. On a related note, I think the Vice City P.I. slot machine in the casino is already a tease. Thoughts?
My name is Mark and i'm a compulsive gambler. My last bet was April 2nd 2019. Step 1 of the GA programme is "we admitted we were powerless over gambling - that our lives had become unmanageable". I have heard many times in GA that this is the most important step on the road to recovery and I agree. One thing I don't agree with is the wording because for me it's not gambling I am powerless over, it's the addiction. As a problem gambler I am in the minority compared to the millions of people who can gamble without it becoming a problem. Being open and honest to other people is vital on my recovery journey but it's also important that I am open and honest with myself. When I look back at the 14 years I was gambling there is one person and one person only responsible for my gambling and that's me. No one ever forced me to deposit money into an online account, I did that. No one ever forced me to sit up all night betting on ITF tennis, I did that. No one ever forced me to raise my stakes past a comfortable level, I did that. No one ever forced me to try out the casino section of a sportsbook, I did that. No one ever encouraged me to lie to cover up my gambling, I did that. No one ever forced me to take out loans so I would have money to gamble, I did that. Those are just a few examples, I could probably write a page full of things no one ever forced me to do. The brutal, honest fact is that for me to continue in recovery I have to take responsibility for my actions in the past. I made the decision to immerse myself in gambling above everything else to the point it was the main focus in my life. Gambling went from a hobby or form of entertainment and I cultivated an environment for it to become an addiction and I allowed it to thrive and grow, no one else. There are calls for the gambling industry to be responsible for stopping people becoming addicted to gambling which I feel is not fair. As I said at the start of this blog, there are millions of people who can enjoy gambling without it developing into a problem, I am in the minority. I know for a fact that when I was gambling if an operator had tried to stop me gambling I would have been livid and just taken my business elsewhere. I was the one who had to decide that enough was enough and I needed to be the on who wanted to stop gambling and enter recovery. Now there is something I believe that the gambling industry could do to help people currently in recovery. The relentless advertising needs to stop. That for me is the biggest thing I've noticed, it is everywhere. Daytime TV shows being sponsored by bingo companies, betting adverts before, during and after sports events, advertising on sports tops, the list goes on. It's laziness on the part of the bookmaker and damaging for those in recovery. Even when I was gambling I thought there were too many adverts to the point it was annoying. There also needs to be more awareness of the support networks that are available out there if people are suffering with a gambling addiction. I had a preconception of what GA would be in my head, a bunch of old men sitting round dying to have a bet, but that couldn't be further from the truth. GA is an amazing place filled with people who are further down the road of recovery than I am and I get so much from them. Maybe GA needs to be marketed slightly better and that will only come from people in recovery spreading a positive message. For those that gamble currently without it being a problem or those who are new to gambling I feel the gambling industry could educate them more on "responsible gambling". Although the burden doesn't just land at the feet of the gambling industry, parents, schools etc should be educating people on the potential dangers of a gambling addiction, the same way I was taught about the dangers of alcohol addiction and drugs addiction. For me this is my approach in recovery - I've accepted I have a gambling addiction and I am unable to bet as it will end in disaster. For that reason I go to GA, I've signed up to GAMStop and I've put many other barriers in place. I am also aware that gambling isn't going anywhere and nor should it. Millions of people are able to gambling without it becoming a problem, I am not one of them, I am in the minority. I need to learn to co-exist with gambling, not the other way round. Mark
Varmuuskopio "FIN: Finnish Addition to Easylist" -mainostenestolistasta (adb.juvander.net, kuului aiemmin uBlock Originin filtterilistoihin)
Ylläpitäjä harjoitti poliittista sensuuria, lista poistettiin uBlock Originista ja joistain muista ohjelmista. Lista on nähtävästi poistettu myös kotisivuilta, tässä todennäköisesti viimeisin versio (suomalaisille sivuille ei ole tietääkseni ollut toista kattavaa listaa vuosiin):
I’m ex-journalist and UK poker pro Jeff Kimber with over $1.5m in career earnings. AMA.
I trained as a journalist and have previously worked at the Sunday Times, The Guardian and the Press Association before focusing on poker full time. At the minute I’m working as a sponsored pro for Grosvenor Casinos in the UK and they’ve just launched a competition to find someone who deserves a really lucky day (you can enter here http://www.luckiestday.com). My poker career began online but I play in a variety of tournaments now – both offline and online in the UK and abroad. Ask me anything – I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can! Should be online from 1pm onwards (UK time). EDIT: Proof here https://twitter.com/jeffkimberpokestatus/567666359904264192 EDIT: I'm heading off for a bit now, thanks for all the questions! Will check back later and reply to some more ;) EDIT: The story I've contributed to is now live as well.. "Better an Ounce of Luck than a Pound of Gold: The story of luck vs. skill" http://content.grosvenorcasinos.com/luck-vs-skill/ plus the Grosvenor TV advert
So last weekend I ordered online some magic truffles (fresh) and they arrived yesterday. I went out and brought a cherry yoghurt and dumped 60g of them into it (one of the big ones) and noshed down. Now having read up online about this sort of thing I thought I was going to be okay. Quarter of an hour passes, and I'm sat there watching House MD feeling fine so far, thirty minutes pass start to feel odd, so I go and lie down. Hour passes and the party starts, slow at first (light sensitivity, things coming in and out of focus) Then I look at the ceiling. Now my ceiling is covered in the sand paint texture stuff, and I know that it's white, but the longer I stared at it the more colours started to appear blue and gold start to drip upwards, and it looked like the bottom of a pool with water shimmering and moving across it. I had prepared some music I wanted to experience with it on youtube, and by 2 hours in I had closed my eyes and felt like I was in a casino light show, and the music washed over me and I felt quite literally at one with the universe and everything made sense. I'd even come up with a tv show idea of a character that breaks the fourth wall, and after every ad break, he says something about like them (like i've stood here for 5 minutes whilst washing machines got more screentime, or bloody adverts). Eventually the other characters start to worry about him and think he's having a mental break down, until he manages to convince one of them that they are in a TV show and that he can predict what is going to happen next. 4 hours in, I'm sweating like crazy, the music is flowing through me but everything is starting to patter out to nothing. So I put a shirt and jeans on and go and sit downstairs... crack open a can of cola sit down and look at the curtains... I'm still tripping because curtains change into something completely different and the patterns start to revert back on themselves. Just want to talk to someone about this :) Thanks for reading.
I am an addict. Well, I was. Then, I wasn’t. Then, I was again. I thought I was over it, but it just hides itself. It hides at the back of your mind until the opportunity arises to manifest itself again. I have recovered too many times to count, but from there it is always a downward spiral. I tell myself it will just be for fun this time, a social event. It never is. Tobacco is terrible for your health and cancer will surge through your body. Alcohol will destroy your liver. Drugs can kill you instantly or cause a slow and painful death. It is constantly hammered into you anywhere you turn. I enjoy all of these vices, but none of them give me a high close to the obsession I have. I am a gambler. Gambling does not have the same stigmas attached as these physical dependencies. There are casinos in every major city and town. There are adverts constantly plaguing late night TV, endless emails and promotions online. It is impossible to get away from. The adverts make it sound like an endless pile of cash will just be flowing through your bank account. This is rarely ever the case. I first started gambling when I was around 16 years old, just with friends and the like. However, when I was 18, online gambling started to become popular and that’s when I really felt the thrill. I remember the first time I deposited funds in my account, I had a relatively large win and the high I felt was like no other I ever felt before. The feeling of wanting more soon took over and I had an invisible target I was aiming for. That was the problem. I started off wanting to win money like any gambler. If I suffered a loss, I would be devastated. After a while though, I realised that winning money was no longer my only objective. I mean, sure, when I had a big win, the adrenaline would course through my veins and I would have a high like no drug I had ever taken. When I lost, it was worse than any come down I ever had. I realised, however, that merely taking part was the real thrill for me. Win or lose, at least I felt something. I was on a particularly bad losing streak a couple of evenings ago. Well, actually, it had been going on for a while. I had almost drained my entire bank balance on blackjack and rent was due. There was around £150 left on my online casino account. I had to win, I just had to. I am far too proud to ask for money from my parents, especially as I had a decent paying job. I would have to explain that I was gambling again. I was about to click the button of despair for another round of cards when a notification popped up on my screen. “Your luck is about to change” “Download now” Great, this is all I need. I muttered to myself. I hated these fake, shiny gambling advertisements. They were about as real as an email I received recently, regarding inheritance from a relative I had never heard of. I had a great uncle, who had no living relatives but me. I was to inherit over a million pounds but of course needed to pay the legal fees upfront. I found this strange, as I have a brother and very alive parents. I obviously contacted my parents immediately asking for a DNA test. I have also not looked at my brother in the same light ever since. This was different though. It would not disappear from my screen and I could not click anything around it. I figured it was a virus that infected my computer. I would just turn the computer off and all would be right with the world. I was itching for another round of cards, so I was slightly agitated. I reset the computer and when it turned on the notification appeared once again. I was frustrated at this point and figured what is the worst that can happen. It has obviously already infected my computer. I clicked on the download link. “Thank you for downloading. We will be in touch” I was slightly confused. The notification had disappeared though and I immediately opened the casino platform again, to get my long awaited fix. It had been at most a couple of minutes but it felt like an eternity. The table loaded up and I decided to put the whole amount I had available on the next hand. I play a live casino online and I anxiously waited for the cards to be dealt. The problem with being at this point in the addiction, is that dread settles in your stomach long before excitement or anticipation. I silently screamed in excitement, almost waking my partner sleeping beside me, as the dealer turned over Blackjack. If you are not aware, Blackjack is a game where the objective is to reach 21 with the cards you are dealt. Here is a dictionary definition which I feel sums it up perfectly: “a gambling game at cards in which any player wins who gets cards totalling twenty-one points or less while the dealer gets either a smaller total or a total exceeding twenty-one points” I decided that tonight was my lucky night after all and decided to put the total I had won on the next hand. This continued for quite some time, until I hit the table limit per hand. I was hitting either blackjack or better than the dealer each time. I could not lose. The other people at the table were commenting on it, congratulating me. The dealer, who I muted due to frustration of his perkiness was also commenting about something or another. I was in a fantastic mood but still can not take the running commentary after every hand that I won. I moved over to roulette, where there were a lot more people at the tables and I would be more anonymous. I put £500 on the number 31 as it is my birthday date and waited in anticipation. The ball whirled around the edge of the table, then bounced around some numbers before coming to a halt. The dealer called out “31”. It hit immediately. This never happens I thought to myself. I placed the same bet and once again I won. I woke my partner up excited with wide eyes as she stared at me in shock. “I have won big” I said. “That’s great” she groggily sighed before falling back to sleep. She was aware of my addiction and had no intention of encouraging it. I do not think she was aware of exactly how much I was winning though. She told me to come to bed now and with that I realised tonight I had for once had enough. The whole of my body was shaking in excitement. The hairs on my arms were standing tall and I had a huge lump in my throat. I was not sure I would be able to sleep but I was getting tired and for once, I was excited at what tomorrow would bring. I woke up to my partner kissing me goodbye and realised it was time to start my morning routine. I worked from home two days out of the week and one of them was today. I immediately opened up the laptop and waited for the screen to turn on, hoping that I had not dreamt the winnings of the previous night. I immediately opened my casino account and there it was, enough to put a large deposit down on a house. Why stop there though. I thought. Why not have enough to buy a house outright? That’s when another notification popped up on the screen, followed by more. “You have started the game, so you will finish” “There are rules to this game” “The luck that you will continue to have, will have direct consequences on others” “If you win, everyone wins. If you lose, everyone loses. If you do not play on, you lose.” “Each hand, or roll of the dice or spin of the ball from now on. If you do not win. The corresponding number. That amount of people will die”. “Choose your fate. Will you continue?” The final notification lingered on the screen, the same as the first one I had received. There was not a yes or no button. There was just that final message with a star filled background, as you would see on a banner advert for a casino. This shook me to my core. I figure that it is probably just a sick prank but it seems like too much of a coincidence, considering my ridiculous string of luck. I had completely forgot about the first notification from last night, until this. I left the screen open and went to pour a coffee. I checked my phone for any messages but I could not get past the lock screen. The same message was also on my phone, blocking me from using it. It was getting late. I had to start work and only have this laptop, so I hastily clicked the link to hopefully get rid of it. “We appreciate your continued service. We will be in touch” showed up on the screen before disappearing on both my phone and computer. I understand that I am an addict but I would hope that I would never put anyones life in jeopardy. I write this here because I can not contact the police. I willingly accepted that download. I benefited from the rewards. I am not sure if this is even true. I would sound insane. I have worked throughout the day attempting to focus on anything else. I had dinner with my partner and watched films but now she has fallen asleep. I am terrified to sleep but hope that tomorrow will bring a brighter day. If I do not continue to play, I will suffer the consequences. If I do continue to play this game, innocent people like yourselves could suffer the consequences because of my actions. I need to know who or why someone is sending me these notifications. I have decided that I am going to go to sleep and not gamble tonight even with the itch manifesting. I hope that this will all blow over. I will let you know if I receive any more notifications.
Hi all, Below is a short story I've been working on that has taken what we have seen in the streams (up to #4) and those posted by Sjin and AngoryTom (not including Mysteries.) Please enjoy, or don't. Feedback welcome! “Come to Mars,” The advert said, “Start a new life, on a new planet.” The advert showed a pond with a large tree next to it and several people relaxing on the lush grass surrounding it. “Meet new people, and enjoy the Martian landscape from the safety of a dome.” The view changed to people working a farm land, “Work for the greater good of yourself and your neighbours, by working the land to produce food,” the view changed to the inside of an infirmary, “Or assisting with medical procedures,” the view changed again to two people enjoying each other’s company and holding hands, “Or even help expand our population.” The view changed to an overview of several domes, “Sign up to the International Mars Mission today, and live a new life…on Mars.” The day had finally come. The hatch to the Williamina Fleming, named after the discoverer of the Horsehead Nebular, closed behind us. Our last view of Earth was the summer sun, what little there was of it this far North, shining brightly across the Swedish landscape. The launch site, chosen by the International Mars Mission, a conglomerate of space agencies and private investors, had chosen the site as it had no previous connections to one nation or another, like Cape Canaveral, the Kennedy space center, or Baikonur did. The site was in North East Sweden, near Kiruna, which meant the launch windows were more limited, but the view was beautiful, and brought tears to my eyes. The site was originally built in 1972, primarily for stratosphere research balloon launches and low orbital launches. The IMM heavily invested in the site in early 2018 and it was finally ready to support interstellar launches, such as the Williamina Fleming, in mid 2020. A few test launches were completed and the site was running at 89% success rate, prior to our launch. We strapped ourselves in, the reclined seats, facing up. Like the original shuttles used by NASA, we were all looking forwards out of the window towards the sky. Launch was all remotely operated, nothing for us to do inside. This was mostly so the ships could be recalled from Mars once the ship was refuelled, so it could be reused. This was it, we would be leaving Earth and, most likely, never coming back. The IMM had picked the perfect site to launch from, the backdrop for all the publicity shots, footage and streams would be spectacular. It felt bad to leave it all behind, but I was excited to be heading to Mars. The ship began to rock and move, as the engines ignited. I was forced back into my chair, it was alarming at first, but the training we had received, and breathing exercises meant that as much as the air was being forced out of my lungs by the G forces of launch, I was able to overcome this and remain conscious during the whole thing. We passed from the blue of the Earth sky, into the black abyss of space and began our six-month journey to Mars. The Williamina Fleming was one of four ships, owned by the IMM. Currently one was on a return trip to Earth, having delivered the drones, rovers and initial supplies to Mars. There was a second ship on Mars, delivering further supplies, the ship we were on and the fourth held in reserve on Earth. There wasn’t much to do on the ship during the six-month flight. All the ships were dual purpose, cargo or passenger ships. This meant everything that was put in just for us to endure the flight, was usually taken back out again if the ship was used for cargo. Likewise, anything put in to secure cargo and RC units could be taken out for our benefit. We passed the time by exercising, chatting, getting to know each other, and planning with Earth control who would be carrying out what jobs once we got to Mars. The things people forget is that it isn’t scientists and astronauts who make a colony, but it’s everyone else who carries out the more mundane tasks, such as the service jobs and catering. The twelve of us had a variety of skills and backgrounds. There was myself, Michael Wolf. I was a trained medical professional and lead medic, Ulrich Becker was the other medic, Sarah Bennett and James Fredrick were our botanists, Claire Woods was one of our scientific researchers, with her husband Steve; who previously owned a bar. Paul Gregory was a geologist, Daisuke was the other researcher, Fiona had been a teacher on Earth, and finally Fleur, Jenni and Cho who had all worked in service industries. They were mostly to fill catering or service area’s in the colony, or so we had been told. They seemed fine with this, being as they were still going to be amongst the first humans to walk on Mars. It was the final week before we were due to arrive, Earth control advised us that the dome was finished and everything was ready for our arrival. All we had to do was choose who was going to be the first to set foot on Mars. Had we not spent the previous months discussing this issue, as well as many others, the process could have been more difficult. As it was we drew pieces of wire. Sarah pulled the shortest piece and would be the first person to set foot on the surface of Mars. We arrived in orbit around Mars, but our landing was to be delayed by a day, due to a dust storm rolling through the colony area. This could present a risk to us and the ship, but we suspect the delay was also to do with the view of the landing being obscured too much for any good publicity shots. The delay presented us with an opportunity to take photos of Mars from space, as well as Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two moons, as they orbited around. We couldn’t see the colony from orbit, it was still far too small to see from here, but we could just about make out some of the nearby features that we would start getting to know more closely. The delay lasted around a Martian day, which we’d been instructed to refer to as Sols to avoid confusion as Martian days were roughly an hour longer than an Earth day. We received the command from Earth to buckle up and prepare for landing. There was a rush of excitement and anticipation as the ship began to manoeuvre into its landing pattern. The ship descended towards the surface before slowing and touching down. The compartment we were in filled with cheer as we realised we’d reached the surface. It was another hour before we’d all got ourselves geared up, putting on the specially weighted suits. The suits were weighted to compensate for the lower gravity on Mars than on Earth. This was in case we really didn’t settle on Mars at all, or the whole project was aborted and we were to return to Earth. If we didn’t have the weighted suit there was a risk that a return to Earth could kill us. Once we had those suits on, we donned the air tight suits that would enable us to get from the ship to the dome. The ship far enough away from the dome that the landing didn’t just cover it in dust, but close enough that we weren’t on the harsh Martian surface for too long. As the disembarkation ramp lowered, we were all gathered around the top of it. The view was amazing, a lot more barren than the view we’d left on Earth, but we could see across the dome from where we were. Way off, the other side of the dome, was the wind turbines and solar panel used to generate electricity. We could make out the Moxie units, for oxygen, and the moisture vaperators, which drew moisture from the atmosphere to create water. They didn’t, individually, produce much but enough of them could sustain us for a while. We could also make out an automated fuel refinery within the area and a large dust cloud, we could only assume was the concrete extractors. Martian concrete, for Martian homes. Straight ahead of us, from the ramp, was one of the airlocks to get into the dome, and one of the semiautonomous drones, which we guessed was watching us for publicity shots. The drones were about the size of a small car, with six wheels, three on each side each with independent steering and suspension, two hands at the front on arms, a small head at the front which housed sensors and most of the systems. The cameras were mounted on the head in such a way they looked like eyes. The bulbous back of the drone was for holding resources for transport to where they were needed, it was designed to open backwards on hinges enabling the hands to load objects in easily. Sarah looked back at us, the weight of what was to come clearly weighing on her as she took a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling, before she bounded down the ramp towards the red surface. She paused for a moment at the bottom of the ramp, as if deciding what to say. As she leapt off the end of the ramp, we could all hear her transmission to Earth control. “It’s taken us many years to reach beyond our moon. But together, as a community of nations, we have reached Mars.” She didn’t linger at the bottom of the ramp once she’d said this. She calmly bounded her way to the airlock. The rest of us followed her down the ramp and into the airlock. Several of the drones made their way up the ramp and reappeared with the supplies we’d brought with us, which was mostly food. After we’d taken the airtight suits off, and passed through the airlocks inner doors, we were free to explore the dome. The dome was laid out with six triangles arranged from the edge to the center, segregated by paths. Three alternating paths led to airlocks, the other three led to utility hubs, where power, water and air came into the dome. Each of these hubs had a green and red light on, presumably to let us know if they were working or not. We all had other priorities over exploring the dome. First task was to claim a room in the living quarters. The living quarters were three structures, two that were three stories tall and one, nearest the middle of the dome, which was two stories. The two taller structures had large windows on the top floor, facing out of the dome, with double beds, large TVs and a large round table. There was also a single bed in a partitioned area. The second floor had two single beds, and large sofa, with a balcony facing into the dome that had two sun loungers on. The ground floor had a kitchen and utilities area for us to shower, wash our clothes and everything else. The two-story structure had the same balcony as the three-story structures, with two single beds and a large sofa, with a large flat screen TV. Claire and Steve, naturally, took one of the double beds. Sarah and Daisuke, who had been building a relationship together, took one of the other double beds. Leaving the rest of us to take the various single beds. After the bed claiming was completed we all made our way to the bar, conveniently placed right next to the living quarters. We celebrated arriving on Mars in one piece, and the IMM seemed happy for this to happen, it was a good opportunity for them to capture some promotional shots for social media and posters. Our first full day in the dome was spent exploring. Going clockwise from the living quarters, there was the bar, then a nursery, where Fiona would be working when Children arrived at the dome, playground, and research labs, Claire and Daisuke would be working there. Next there was the farm, which would produce food and some oxygen for us if we tended it. By we, I mean Sarah and James as they would have some idea what they were doing. Next to this there was the diner, the infirmary, where myself and Ulrich would be working, and a small garden with several trees in it, and finally the open gym, which comprised of an oval track, several pull up bars and half a basketball court. There wasn’t much to do for some of the jobs, as there were only twelve of us. The jobs where we had two people were split down to half a day each, but even then, there wasn’t much to do in the infirmary, unless someone hurt themselves or became ill. After the first couple of sols, once Sarah and James had tended the farm, prepped the land and planted the soy beans, it became apparent that boredom was going to be our biggest issue. We decided that the diner would become a communal thing, with those of us that had had an easy day taking a turn to cook for everyone. In the first week Fleur discovered that you shouldn’t try to ride the drones around. Simple reason being, if Earth control was commanding the unit, it would be at least thirty minutes before they realised you were nearby and took corrective measures, which would take another thirty minutes. If Earth wasn’t in control of it, it was running automated processes and was probably running unmonitored. When Fleur came to the infirmary with a broken leg and jaw, having been swatted and almost run over by one, we had to make a rule of no riding the drones. To help us alleviate some of the boredom, from around the second Martian week, we began to hold competitions at the track. Who could get around the fastest, which pair could relay the fastest, who could shoot the most hoops from furthest away, who could perform the most pull ups in one visit. Scoreboards were left up and it was all good humoured and honest. Hoop shooting wasn’t as easy as everyone imagines. The lower Martian gravity meant more, often than not, we put too much force behind the ball and threw it halfway across the dome. We started to create new games that took advantage of the lower gravity on Mars, the only issue being that we had to take our weighted suits off to take full advantage of it. The IMM seemed concerned that we were spending more time on recreation than on doing anything productive, but the objective was still survival so they couldn’t push us too hard. Claire and Steve spent a lot of their down time in the garden, relaxing, Daisuke spent a lot of time at the bar, drinking, usually accompanied by Sarah. James, seemed to spend a lot of time on his own, Paul was the only one who seemed disgruntled because, as a geologist, he was expecting to be made use of with rock samples and so forth, but there wasn’t any need for this in the colony, as we weren’t set up to mine anything and were still in the “proof of survivability” stage. Somewhere around sixty sols after we had landed, after the soybeans had been harvested and potatoes planted, we were woken by the sounds of several of the drones racing through the dome, accompanied by the larger transport loader, carrying supplies. They appeared to be gathering them outside our dome, adjacent to where the ship had landed. It was a large collection of assorted supplied, presumably something was under construction. We started to bet on what it was that was being built. Idea’s ranged from a second dome, to a mine. The IMM weren’t telling us what was going on, they seemed satisfied that we were finding entertainment in guessing. Whatever kept us sane was in their interests I guess. Two weeks after the drones started to gather supplies, Claire announced that she was pregnant. This led to a huge amount of interest from the IMM, they wanted to conduct interviews with her and Steve and get some publicity photos using the drones. The extra interest brought in more funding for the IMM, which meant they could send another rocket of supplies to us. It was a welcome relief, although we weren’t knowingly low on anything, we were low on meat, and since we had no source of meat on Mars, we were reliant on Earth to send some. Meat and alcohol were the only things we asked for. The IMM advised us that the supply ship would not be landing near the dome, and that the drones would bring supplies to us when it landed. But they were impressed that a baby was on its way already. This was a huge milestone for them and would almost certainly prove that humans could survive on Mars. At least in this colony, which we had started to call Primus dome, after the first Roman numeral. As the sols went by the IMM wanted a closer eye kept on Claire, any physical abnormalities or odd blood test results, they wanted to know about. But she seemed to be a picture of health. The drones seemed to have gathered all the supplies they wanted and were beginning to build the foundations for, we were still guessing, another dome. It appeared to be much larger than our own if it was, perhaps twice the size, it was hard to tell. It was another few sols before it became obvious that this was going to be a larger dome, the IMM must have had a lot of faith in us to be building a larger dome already. From what I could remember of the briefing, we still had almost ten Earth months left of the survivability phase of the colony, and the second supply craft was at least five months away now. The weeks passed quietly, and we became more out of sync with Earth. We watched the second dome being built, it was a spectacle to sit at the diner, look out across the Martian landscape, and see the drones construct the second habitat. It was strange to think the IMM trusted us enough that they were considering sending more humans, after such a short time frame. That being said, the word from Earth control was that we were still on the survivability phase of the colony, but they were hopeful that a birth would mean this phase would be accelerated and that they could get on and get more applicants to us, people who probably knew more about what they were doing than we did. We’d lasted this long, but we still had months of work ahead of us to keep ourselves sane and alive. The dome was the only thing keeping us from freezing or suffocating on the cold harsh surface. Every so often, one of the drones would come away from the new dome and carryout maintenance on our dome. As we watched they would peel off and disappear off towards the solar panels to clear them or realign the wind turbines. It was a marvel to watch, during the down time. Soon the new dome was built, it dwarfed ours, but it wasn’t connected to any utilities. Earth control advised us not to enter the dome as there was no oxygen or power connected. This would mean that the heating wouldn’t be on, and the air wouldn’t be breathable, yet. It was pure speculation what was going to be built, but Sarah and Daisuke were conducting research that was going to help Earth install blueprints on the drones to build bigger living quarters, or apartment blocks. They were only allowed to discuss so much with us, as these were just research projects and were uncertain what would become of them. Fleur was the first of us to celebrate her birthday on Mars, this was according to Earth time, as oppose to Martian time, but Earth control had provided extra provisions for us all to help us to celebrate. The drones rolled in with birthday cake and alcohol, which had presumably been stored away from us for this occasion. The drones continued to carry supplies through into the new dome, structures started to take shape and rose from the ground. Some of the structures were familiar, such as the apartment block that Sarah and Daisuke had been working on, there looked like a school was under construction, another infirmary, three tall cylindrical structures, which looked like the hydroponics we had been expecting instead of the farm. There was a large structure, on the other side of the dome, which appeared to be a casino, it looked like the new dome was going to be a mixture of everything we didn’t have, as well as some duplications of what we did have. Maybe they were planning on moving us into a new dome as oppose to bringing new colonists up. Earth control were being allusive about giving us any answers regarding the second dome. It didn’t help us to stay settled as we weren’t sure if we would be moving or not, but they had built three of the apartment blocks in a row, the three hydroponic farms, the casino, the second infirmary and another bar. It was the duplicate bar that made us feel we were going to be moved. The interior of the new dome was looking better, after a couple of months, they’d constructed a lake and another garden, along with a tall cylindrical tower with a control room at the top, I recognised this as a probable structure from our mission briefing. This was a security station, so they must have been planning to bring more colonists to join us. Time passed further and the next piece of excitement was when the drones began to connect utilities to the new dome. I say it was excitement, but it was terrifying. The new dome was connected to the water supply without any issues, but when they connected it to the oxygen supply the utility hub on our dome switched from green to red. We were experiencing an oxygen shortage. The problem was exacerbated when the drones attached power to the new dome, before resolving the oxygen issue. When the power went live to the new dome, the lights dimmed in ours. Seemed as though the new dome was putting too much strain on the power network. It wasn’t long before we started to see frost forming on the glass of the dome, the heating system must have gone off with the power. The harsh Martian surface meant the temperature was dropping and it wasn’t much longer before we all started to feel it. Our breath was starting to hang in the air ahead of us. Before Earth control would have seen this, we gave up on the idea of work and retreated to the living quarters, huddled together in one of the rooms for warmth. This was a situation we had been briefed on in case a large cold wave came through and the power systems couldn’t keep up with demand. For the oxygen situation, we’d grabbed the oxygen tanks from the airlock and were rationing their usage along with what was in the dome. The dome probably had enough air captured in it to last through the problem, but we didn’t want to risk it. It was obvious when Earth control realised they had made a miscalculation on the second dome, when all the drones raced through towards the utilities area, taking supplies and resources with them. The issues persisted for most of the night and half of the following day, when suddenly the lights all came back on and air began to circulate again. We didn’t know at the time, but we had come close to completely failing the survivability stage. Fortunately, the ship we’d arrived on was still parked outside and had been refuelled. If the need arose, we could have evacuated there. We had no idea what impact this would have had on the results of this phase. But if it was serious enough, the IMM could recall us to Earth before there were any fatalities. Claire came to term with her baby, we were regularly growing food now from Potatoes and soybeans to corn and wheat. Claire gave birth early one morning, as the sun peeked over the horizon. We’d convinced Earth that it would be best to leave interviews and promotional photographs for a couple of days to allow Claire to recover from the first birth on Mars. The lower gravity may have caused complications that were not apparent in the first moments. News had spread quickly that there had been a birth on Mars, which not only boosted interest and applicants to come to Mars, but also increased funding. Even though we had a couple of months left on the survivability phase, it was decided by the IMM that we could proceed with full colonisation of Mars. Within a month of Claire giving birth, another ship was launched with passengers, just as the ship launched months ago arrived with meat, alcohol and other supplies needed around the colony. Life became easier as the sols rolled passed. The new dome had taken shape and was starting to look more like a small town. The new dome also had a structure attached, just outside on the Martian surface, which we believed was an extraction facility for pulling metals from underground, so we weren’t reliant on Earth for providing these resources to carry out repairs or new construction projects. This proved to be where Paul would be of most use. As a Geologist, he would be able to extract samples and find exactly what metals were needed, and be able to study any strange rocks brought up by the extractor. He seemed to have a spring in his step, when the IMM instructed him to commence working there. Because it was outside of the shelter of the dome, there was a limit to how long he could spend out there, and one of us would be inside the dome nearby, in case of any accidents or issues. But with Pauls mood lifted, we were all feeling more buoyant about the new arrivals, due in two months’ time, but Paul wanted to establish the extractor before they arrived. He started to work double shifts, coming in only to grab some food and swap air tanks. It was concerning, but he was happy, so no one took too much notice. The problem was, when he came to the end of these shifts on the extractor, he would head straight to the bar and drink himself to sleep. I was concerned he was developing an alcohol addiction, but again, it wasn’t impeding his work and he seemed happy enough. I asked Ulrich to keep an eye on him though, in case he was becoming an alcoholic. The new dome also meant we had new facilities. We’d spread out into it and commandeered the casino, Hydroponics were setup and running, Sarah and James were doing a good job on those and the farm. Claire and Daisuke seemed to have had a falling out, they were now working in separate buildings, but on the same projects. It was odd and couldn’t have been that efficient, but we didn’t want to ask in case it all blew up and caused us all issues. It was two weeks before the new colonists arrived. We decided to clear the air and ensure that we were all in a good place for when the new arrivals got here. We’d all gathered in the bar in the original dome. Claire had brought her chid, Brian, with her, even though he was contently asleep. The IMM had thought of everything, even the baby’s clothing was weighted to match Earth, supposing we had to evacuate back to Earth. It would cause issues, given that Brian’s birthplace was Mars. We all hoped it wouldn’t happen, but it was nice to see the IMM had thought about it. Daisuke and Claire made up, they’d fallen out over different theories on how best to recycle water, to help with the preservation of water supplies. The discussion was heated, but led to a constructive conversation and an agreement between them to allow a cool off period, if they disagreed on anything, but take things constructively rather than as an attack on their idea. Because there were only the twelve of us, small issues could quickly snowball into catastrophic issues. Because workloads were still light, we began working on welcome packages for the new arrivals. These mostly consisted of small things that we had made ourselves. Much like the Hawaiian Lei, given to new arrivals, we handmade small crowns from the flowers that had grown in the garden. We wanted to start a tradition of peace and welcoming to the colony. Even though decades old treaties had determined that no state could claim territory on a celestial body, we wanted to form our own society on Mars, that could live in peace and not be held by “international policies or disputes”. The International Mars Mission was a great foundation for this, as by its very nature it was multi-cultural and multi-lingual. The day came for the new arrivals to land. It was strange, mostly because we hadn’t been advised that there were two ships. This meant there were twenty-four new colonists arriving in one go. Fortunately, the IMM advised us of this with enough time for us to make more flower crowns. The first ship landed, near to the ship we had arrived on. There was enough distance between them for dust and debris to not be an issue. We watched the disembarkation process from a new angle, a single drone was hanging around taking publicity shots of the new arrivals. The first of the new twelve colonists waved at us as they made their way down the ramp. Pausing at the bottom to leap off onto the surface. It was a strange feeling to know that these were our new neighbours, these were complete strangers, who we now relied upon to keep us alive, as much as they relied on us. We’d formed a bond between the twelve of us that was built on trust and knowing each other’s skills and weaknesses. These twelve strangers would take us time to build trust with, even if they had formed a bond amongst themselves, we would all be reliant on each other to survive. As they came out of the airlock into the dome, we presented them with the flower crowns. It was a warm welcome, some of them were overwhelmed by the experience of arriving on Mars and now being welcomed to their new home. Tears were shed, hugs were shared and eventually they were released to claim their own apartments, while we walked across the dome to greet the second ship. The first day with the new arrivals was spend in the bars and the casino, no one wanted to start work straight away today. With twenty-four more people to interact with, life became more complicated. Food wasn’t a concern, as the same as when we arrived, they had brought food supplies with them, plus Sarah and James had done a really good job on keeping the farm going and getting the hydroponics online. They handed the hydroponics over to some of the new colonists, who had been recruited because they were botanists as well. Sarah and Daisuke began to work and mingle with the new researchers that had arrived. Ulrich and I took the three new medics on a quick tour of the domes and the two infirmaries. The new colonists, who had been assigned to security, seemed to keep themselves to themselves mostly. Nothing like making people feel like they’re being watched and judged to build bonds with new people.
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