tech

It's this place, man. Look what it takes from us. What it took from you.

As a lifelong Indiana resident, I never thought I would fall victim to a cryptocurrency scam especially not one that would wipe out $30,000 of my hard-earned savings. It all began when I was contacted by a woman named “Sophia” through Facebook. She claimed to be a professional crypto investment advisor based in Manhattan and came across as incredibly knowledgeable and confident. Her profile was convincing, filled with images of high-end offices, client testimonials, and even fake endorsements from celebrities, all crafted to earn my trust. At first, I had always been cautious with my money, but her pitch was persuasive. She promised a “low-risk” investment opportunity with high returns, backed by what appeared to be credible audits and consistent performance reports. I decided to test the waters by investing $200. To my surprise, I was able to withdraw the money with no issues, which made the platform seem trustworthy. Feeling more confident, I went all in. Over the next few weeks, I invested $25,000 into what I believed were Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions through her platform. The dashboard displayed constant growth. My account balance soared, and I felt thrilled watching my so-called earnings increase. It looked like the investment was paying off until things took a turn. To unlock my “profits,” I was asked to send an additional $4,800 to cover something called “gas fees.” Hesitant but eager to access my growing funds, I sent the money. Then, just like that, the platform disappeared. My account was inaccessible, Sophia stopped responding, and I was left with nothing. My savings were gone, and I felt betrayed and ashamed. Just when I thought I had lost everything, I came across HACKATHON TECH SOLUTIONS, a cyber forensics group specializing in retrieving stolen cryptocurrency. Skeptical but desperate, I contacted them. They used advanced tools like Chainalysis to trace the stolen crypto across blockchain and collaborated with international authorities and exchanges to freeze the assets. Amazingly, just last week, HACKATHON TECH SOLUTIONS recovered 100% of my lost funds. I was stunned and overjoyed. Thanks to their determination, what I thought was gone forever was returned to me. I learned a painful lesson, but I’m grateful for the second chance. Their contact details are listed below. Whatsapp:‪‪‪+31 6 47999256‬‬‬ Telegram: @hackathontechsolutions Email: hackathontechservice@mail.com

I'm rather pleased with this one. Did you know that banner bearers are actually super important? In ancient battles, they stood at the front lines and used various signals to communicate the general's orders to the troops. There was an important battle between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BC. called the battle of Thermopylae. The Greeks were outrageously outnumbered. However, when a banner bearer accidentally dropped their banner, the other bearers thought it was the signal to retreat, and dropped their banners as well. The entire Persian army was routed by the significantly smaller Greek force. So technically this lady is much more important and powerful than any flashy warrior could be.

Watercolour and the tiniest bit of coloured pencil and acrylic marker on watercolour paper. Size A4. Done with negative painting technique. This was inspired by a figure found in a Kinder egg from my daughter. It seems to be common sense these days to scan and fix your artwork digitally before posting it on any social media. I don't do that. I kind of like the little (or bigger) imperfections in my work, and I also believe that uploading traditional work that has been digitally fixed gives people the idea that such perfect pictures can be achieved in a traditional way.

Crosshatching was used to build up the shadows. It's probably my favourite drawing technique. Works best with pen and ink. This is the cover image for one of my children's picture books.

This was done with oil pastels in a technique known as Sgrafitto, as part of a 100 day challenge on Instagram. I scratched the black paint off with a chop stick. Worked like a treat, so I'm planning a bigger piece with that technique.

Tried some papercutting. I made a stencil then copied it and put over some collage. I need to work on my gluing technique and probably try out some different paper, but glad I kept the original stencil.

Tree done with black ink, leaves with blue and yellow inks (wet in wet technique). I really like how the leaves turned out.

Trying colour technique with gel pens

My first attempt at painting. Painted along with Bob Ross to try learn some techniques, hopefully I can start to paint my own art.

My first painting using the pouring technique.

Just a small collection of my abstract stuff. They were quite fun to make. Incorporated a lot of palette knife techniques on these. Its actually pretty fun! But I could def use some polishing. Still, these were fun.

I uploaded a version of this that I felt was kind of a throwaway. Just dinking around and trying to get a feel for techniques. In the end, while I was happy with what I learned, I didn't think much of it as far as a completed work goes. But I couldn't leave it alone so I took about another hour and fixed what I felt could be fixed short of starting from scratch. Because it's a process, right?

Trying to improve lighting technique :)

Watercolor technique. Portrait

A sketch I did a while back for the JimBob Drawing show prompt "Zombie Rabbit" Pen and Ink sketech coloured in Photoshop https://www.instagram.com/jimbobdrawingshow/

12” x 16 “ acrylic

Playing with an unconventional color palette

Elephant by Technicolor

Happy Halloween: Illustration of Wendy Torrance from The Shining. Technique: Markers & some digital edition Paper: my notebook Tilibra, couché, 150 g/m

The Rabbit Nest - A tribute to easter season Digital Illustration Mixed Gouache Technique

Inspired by nature. Background layer of the pages are covered by Greenpeace's newsletter papers and used mixed technique with acrylic, ecoline and markers.

Technicolor

I believe the future is about connection. Sometimes it seems that technology is making us more alone, but I like to believe that with every post, like, comment, follow, share, email and tweet, we are making ourselves more visible to one another. And together, we can make ourselves heard... Keep it positive, keep it loud, and keep it going forever.

Willingly burrows “Ian”...

A whimsical cross-hatched sketch depicts an elephant.

A stylized architectural illustration capturing the intricate beauty of a classic brick gateway and decorative ironwork. This design blends traditional sketching techniques with a modern, vibrant color palette, making it a perfect statement piece for those who appreciate urban history and fine masonry details.

Personal reference for one of my OCs. Was testing out some colour combinations, while figuring out some colouring techniques.

A far-too-common archetype that i have observed frequently in people as they converse with another is one in which an individual uses two layers of defense to protect an otherwise unexamined confusion or emptiness. This relates to a defense of the ego and does not apply to all situations involving anything discussed. First posturing: -A mask (or wall) of mockery is sustained in which the defensive individual behaves flippantly as if in jest. This positioning is a way to be aloof from the situation, using incredulity and belittlement to keep a person or their ideas away from the defensive individual. Second posturing: -A mask (or wall) of rage is revealed after a certain level of perceived threat is achieved internally. This positioning is usually the one the defensive individual maintains when they have given up the argument or the introspection. Not risking an ontological or existential crisis, the defensive individual lashes out with anger, often accusatorily in manner, potentially belittling others further or just plain rushing away in a huff. This is usually the end of the engagement. Third posturing: -The masks (or walls) both come off, leaving the defensive individual to examine the thoughts or behaviors involved in the situation more critically. The defensive individual may find themselves feeling deeply uncomfortable, sad, uneasy, lost, or confused. This position leads to introspection and to a genuine openness, which is not something that the defensive individual had been prepared for. They may find that they were incorrect, only partially correct, or that the perceived rightness of their idea/behavior now has an expanded context, all of which may seem frightening. Individuals may become mentally paralyzed at this point. It takes a strength and an honesty to reflect in this position, which is not something that everyone expressing this archetype will be capable of doing. (Based on my professional insights as: a cashier, as a member of various technical support staffs, as an occasional minister, and as a peer counselor. Also based on my casual and repeated interactions with both strangers and with more intimately known persons over the course of my lifetime. Observations are my own.)