Happy Button-versary Billi! 1 year ago today I received some buttons in the mail after being inspired by @hunger4words , and I cant believe the ride we've had! ⠀
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Billi has grown so much, and an already solid relationship has become even more incredible. ⠀
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She's progressed to the point where she initiates comversations, uses multiple words in a row, and consistently answers my questions!⠀
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"Mad" will always be her favorite word, but she has so many more things to say now!⠀
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I've learned she actually still loves to play despite her advanced years, and she's learned the art of manipulation in a foreign language 😹⠀
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Here's to many more years Billi! Can't wait to hear what else you have to tell me 💕⠀
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Billi is a female domestic shorthair, she's 12 years old, her favorite word is mad. Inspiration from Hunger4Words (check her out on IG).
Link for buttons, food puzzles, Instagram, and TikTok 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
linktr.ee/BilliSpeaks
Want to learn more about the research study Billi and many other animals are in? Check it out here:
www.theycantalk.org/research
I think about Billi criticizing your music taste multiple times a week. Always makes me smile.
😹😹😹
Ouch, noise, later >:3
I watched that vid so many times 😁
I think about it every time my daughter blasts Hamilton while taking a shower. I don’t think Billi would like anything about that!
I knew you were gonna put that Hamilton video in this montage
Year later Billi: mom look Billi want laptop go school zoom zoom 3 years later Billi's tweet: I am happy to announce that I successfully defended my PhD thesis today and am Dr. Billi now. How mad is that?! #billirocketscientist #stillmadbutitsdifferent
extraordinary mad😂😂yhh it's possible tho
Man that was a fun thing to imagine lol. Thanks.
hahahaha the hashtags tho
That's mad ouch
Billi the 'mad' scientist
I definitely have noticed that she now presses ‘mad’ a lot less than she did when there were only a few buttons. Really shows that she likes having such a big vocabulary, bc now she doesn’t have to be frustrated that she can’t properly express her wishes :3
you spelled "demands" wrong ;)
She was probably frustrated, so she said "mad".
@@namenloses95 it doesn’t say demands anywhere?
The 50 iq kitty it frickin adorable
@@BisexualPlagueDoctor that's the joke, they probably meant that 'wishes' should be replaced with 'demands'
Billi has come along way from "Mad" to "Now" and "Zoom Zoom." I still think it's cute when she presses the mad button with her tail swishing furiously.. 😂😂
Me too 😂 she pressed “mad” today and I was like awww nostalgia!
@@BilliSpeaks 😂
@@BilliSpeaks 😆🤣😂🥰
I mean it's technically true, cuz her tail goes wild
I mean that is what the tail moving like that typically means regards of kitty body language!
The Hamilton one is still the funniest thing I've ever seen. Just seeing someones taste in music getting burned by a cat is something that will never get old.
I swear, by year two Billi is going to voice her own Autobiography. That is gonna be lit!
And it shall be called “Mad!”
Mad, Happy Billi? Owners survival guide to a happy Billi? I like the one above too
Great channel name 😊
Narrated by the buttons on Audible!
Mad Later Look
I love Billi's thousand yard stare so much
As I commented on the Dodo’s video about Billi: I love how Billi is constantly teetering on the line between looking like a wise elder with amazing knowledge, and looking like she has wii music playing in her head 24/7 xD
deep thought
Riiight???!!!! 🤣😂
@@irishuisman1450 ah the Wii music comment. I couldn’t think of a better description for her look, well done!
@@sleinzer2302 thanks xD
I was pretty surprised to realise that I had actually started watching this channel only a couple of months into Billi's button journey, I thought she had been doing it for years already by then!
Crazy it’s only been a year right?!
Same. I thought it was the kind of thing you had to start as a kitten.
My thoughts exactly, such a progress in such a relatively short period - amazing
@@BilliSpeaks I too was impressed on how quickly Billi could use words.
@@ashleywalker3813 and to think, Billi is a senior kitty too! She was 11 or 12 when she started with the buttons.
“food” and “mad” were her first words. Why am I not surprised. I just realised Billi and contractors have diagrammatically opposite concepts of “soon” for Billi it means within 30 seconds, for the contractors it meant three days.
I wish I could find a contractor that interprets "soon" like that. :)
@@hillie47 😄
soon is like 2 minutes for bili, if she’s in a good mood
3 week day or working day or 3 days = 72 working hours i.e. 9 work days i.e. 2 weeks?
Three days would be quick for Florida.
The flashback to 1 month after starting this thing and you get: "Mad" "You only have to press it once" "Mad x2" 100% on-brand
Soon billi will be using a computer making dank cat memes 😳
We can only be so lucky
What walks on two legs and is never arund when you need it. A can opener! probably gonna be human memes
@@Quast what comes next human music?
I love when Billi asks to go outside to play soon. Demonstrates clear intention. To think we've been missing out on this kind of communication with our pets all this time. I think Billi, Stella, Bunny, and all the others on vcd social media are revolutionizing the world for pets!
Oh, yes, Mimi! I wish I could do this with my furballs.
give dogs the right to vote
It’s so incredibly exciting, yes. I really hope more people try this with their pets.
I agree! I'm currently not able to get a pet, but when I can finally get myself a cat again, I plan to train them to use these buttons right away. I struggle enough to read nonverbal cues on *humans* lmao, I'd love to allow my future cat to communicate exactly what they're thinking and feeling to me.
Hi ! I’m trying it with my cat too ! It’s not easy, but he already understood he has to press the button ! The problem is, he still don’t press it… he just put the paw on it… then I press it for him… until he presses the button…
Mad ouch later is just priceless.
"later noise" was pretty good to. She wants a break from the music.
"Mad ouch later" sounds like a threat
I didn't watch the first few videos: I must, I think. From this excellent clipshow, not only is Billie's progress clear, but it seems to me Billi has a different look on her face... More confidence.
Yes! Confidence, that’s it! She looks, stands & hovers over which button with so much more confidence. Her actions & word choice have deliberate intention. She knows what to say, how to say it & knows her human listens & will be attentive, every time. The trust & bond with her mom has increased tenfold I think. It’s a beautiful thing to see. I wonder how many animals would have positive mental health & confidence benefits from being able to successfully communicate more easily & accurately with us humans.
@@TreebeardsHome note that she used the word mad a lot in the beginning, but now she knows when to use it! She’s also not that bad when asking for stuff. She used to say one word and another to summarize what she wants, but now she’s forming her sentences which is such an achievement!
The more I watch these the more I'm convinced. In addition, I can't help but note that although there may indeed be variation in the abilities of animals the defining difference between both you and Bunny's teacher compared to others are your patient commitment to proper modeling and teaching, that gives the animal time to respond on their own terms, plus a solid prior understanding of the body language to get a good guess in lots of situations beforehand and allowing for proper modeling. The biggest barrier to animals reaching this point appears to me to be the humans. Many of the people who are struggling to have your same success are not engaging in the proper modeling at anywhere near the same consistency, are too distracted or impatient, or simply got stuck on the food button and gave up. I do expect there to be some limits hit somewhere because humans really are built for language in a way that most animals are not and maybe we have already hit them to some extent in some specific areas? But at this point it is hard to judge where the limits really are properly, I'm looking forward to finding out!
Me too!! I can’t wait for more information 🤗🤗
Oh, please check out Hunger4Words, Christina Hunger and her dog Stella. She is the speech pathologist who developed these button-pressing technique. Sadly, she has 1000% more content on Instagram than on KZhead, but still, check her out, it's the OG, absurdly amazing!
@@t_y8274 come to think of it, corvids don’t need buttons-they can voice human words, like parrots. But I don’t know of any corvid work similar to Irene Pepperberg’s work with Alex and other parrots...
@@amanitaeater4376 no i really think we could get somewhere using buttons for parrots and corvids. they're mostly... parroting things, when they speak. i think a bird would pick up on the idea of 'button=meaning' better than they would 'word=meaning', at least i think buttons would be a very good starting place for furthering language for birds because buttons hold very clear meanings that can then be changed as their vocabulary grows. (ie, bunny's 'settle sound' as a stand in for 'be quiet') alex had some extrinsic dialogue but her area of expertise was mostly general intelligence and not strictly language itself, and her personal questions did not appear to happen very often or regularly.
Wow, seeing her progress over time really highlights how evolved her communication abilities have become. Lately she seems to be settling into a sentence structure she prefers, which I find really interesting as I would have not expected it.
Yes, such as using repetitive structures to affirm her answer to a question instead of "yes" for example!
Can you tell me more, or give an example? I haven’t picked up on this. Thank you!
Yep, I've seen this too. Billi joining words together to communicate more complex tasks, feelings and emotions It's fascinating and a joy to watch ♥️♥️♥️
@@amanitaeater4376 When billi is asked if she wants to play she often answers “want” or “play” or a combination of the two instead of “yes”
It is mindboggling to think she learned this much IN A YEAR while she is 12 years of age. Another thing that I noticed is that she looks so much healthier than she did 1 year ago? I don't know how but she looks like she de-aged somehow.
She’s 12? Mine are 8 and 10 and I was thinking it was too ⏰! 🤔
I legit cannot believe I've been watching Billi learn to speak every day for over 6 months. No way the time has gone by that fast
We have the year 2035, talking cats have conquered earth. Humans now serve as slaves but a few live in the underground and try to sent a dog back in time
Feeling emotional, since this is kind of a document of our collective attempt to keep it together during the pandemic.
Billi is a welcome diversion from a year that definitely required a mad button!
WANT. PETS. (remembers social distancing) MAD.
@@dxtxzbunchanumbers **thinks about everything going on in the world** MADMADMADMADMADMADMAD
Does she still have the ‘happy’ button? It was so sweet watching her press ‘Billi happy’. 😺😻
She does!
Still hoping to see Billi review different genres of music.
Yes! It’s on my list when I have some free time 😹
I think she just hates all "noise" she needs to know if other billi's try to ambush them
The Hamilton mad-ouch-later made the cut! 5:50 I'm so happy. 🎶
Yep, the Hamilton soundtrack video is one of my favourites too! ♥️♥️♥️
definitely a clear example of intent...simple and direct
Billi not liking Hamilton is the funniest thing!
That's by far my favorite interaction. I keep going back to rewatch it.
Cats have far more sensitive hearing than humans, so it's entirely possible certain notes might be painful or unpleasant to them. Dogs often don't like noisy electrical appliances because of their sensitivity either. My present cat has very definite "musical preferences" or rather the opposite, music he dislikes, as did my previous cat. Thumbs down for Lana del Ray, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and most rock, thumbs up for cat relaxation music and sleep music on KZhead and he also takes no offence to James Taylor.
How long did it take for Billi to select buttons with deliberation? She seems to pick up new words pretty quickly now but I imagine it took a while to get the basic concept of pushing a button to 'button x leads to reaction y from the human'. You've done an amazing job teaching and documenting.
I feel like it wasn’t until about 4 months in that I was convinced there was intent behind the presses. Now I have trouble being skeptical because it really is consistently meaningful!
@@BilliSpeaks I can see how initially you might have been sceptical - I was at first. Now, having watched many of Billi's vids, I'll totally convinced of her intelligence and ability to learn. It's been an absolute pleasure following the journey of Billi and her Mom ♥️♥️♥️
@@BilliSpeaks Specially when she insulted your taste in music lmao
@@insertcreativityhere7747 what completely convinced me was a video where Billie seems to accidentally press "pets" and then is like "yes, pets"
@@insertcreativityhere7747 I think Billi just doesn't have a word for" it hurts" as we know cats' hearing is way better than ours, so I guess any loud music would not be so pleasant.
She was mad because that cat on the wall was giving her the fingers
🤣
A year from now Billi will cure COVID and build a spaceship to terraform Mars.
More like 6 to 9 months max. :)
In an alternate timeline, we develop advanced language systems for our pets and made machines for them to use to build and drive things. But as we coddled them with the gift of human technology, we also planted them seeds of dissent and rivalry, as a response, we launch all ultra intelligent animals to a remote base set on Mars. As the years go by, the exiled animals with the technology we gave them begin to develop newer technologies on their own and build a true civilization for themselves. But it is clear that Mars can’t be truly sustainable in the long run, so they begin to draw plans against humanity that gave them the technology to do so. And soon began to construct large cannons to launch new invasive forces to reclaim earth after their ancestors were launched up to Mars.
@@darthplagueis3488 haven’t you seen Rick and Marty? If they got that far they would take over and make us there pets 😂
@@darthplagueis3488 I enjoyed reading this XD. Thank you.
Hahaha XD.
There is a person whom I love very much, and every day, I want to send them a clip of Billi pressing 'Love you' repeatedly, because it so accurately describes how I feel about them. Billi's emotions are unhindered-- if she is mad, she is mad; if she is happy, she is happy. And if she feels love, she presses 'Love you' over and over again. I look forward to another year of Billi's progress :)
Billi is one of the cutest things alive. Period...
She's so smart, sassy, and cute
I must confess I teared up, a bit... Your patience, persistance and persuasion led us to where we are now. You and her Madjesty have come so far! Day by day both of ya amaze me with new keen minded conversations, it's mind-baffling
A year communicating with an ancient goddess is pretty awesome to witness.
I've never loved a cat that I've never met so much. Seeing Billi every day during this past year has been a highlight of my day. Even on the worst days, Billi is there to make me smile and say "Awww....I love her so much!" at pretty much every video. Also, if I could find out who downvotes these videos, I'd want to make them pay. lol
😹😹
People can write and publish a few thesis from these interaction. Also, Billi hates Hamilton is always funny. Also, also, Billi repeatedly pushing "Mad" button confirmed that the existence of the character Dex-Starr The Rage Cat, a prominent member of The Red Lantern Corps, was(is ?) not at all an exaggeration on the writers part.
Girl loves her food. Billi’s my spirit animal.
- what do you want Bili? - 😳
If you stand for nothing, what'll you fall for? Sorry-- I couldn't resist! ;-D
We love you too Kendra and Billi! Here's to many more years ahead!
I KNEW the Hamilton video had to be in here hahaha! Billi has come such a long way in a year!
Do you have a video outlining how you started modeling and getting Billi to press the buttons? I would love to see a video explaining how you started and when you managed to establish the meanings. I would love to do this with my cat, I already feel like she understands a lot of what I say and I want to give her the tools to respond 🥺
Yes! Check out our training playlist and website 🤗
@@BilliSpeaks thank you!!!
It's amazing how much cats truly understand, and I'm glad you are sharing Billi's adventures in communication with us!
Also dogs lol
I love how happy Billi seems because she can just... You know, *communicate*. EDIT: You know, I'm actually gonna take this as proof that cats DO care and DO love, it's just that they're wired to communicate it differently to us. By bridging that communication gap, a cat is gonna feel a lot better about the person they're communicating with.
Billi: Mad Mama: You only need to press it once Billi: (Once is NOT ENOUGH to convey my rage) Mad Mad I can't believe she made this much progress in only one year!!
How it’s going: cute pets talking with buttons How it will progress: that one episode of Rick and Morty with the dogs
"Where are my testicles, Summer?"
Billi you only need to press it once... Billi : Mad . Mad. Mad.
Watching you and Billi has helped me understand my little furry girl better. Your relationship with her is beautiful.
I see Billi’s training of you is coming along nicely! 😹
Billi is phenomenal. I love her irritated wagging tail. And how much she loves her mama. She’s so precious.
Wow! I kinda forgot this was all within just one year! Billi is amazing!
So amazing. Thanks for sharing with us. My favourite was 'Billi pets mom'.
Omg YES. That was so good 😭
I hope the darling Billi feels all the love! I know she has no concept of KZhead or the thousands of people who watch her learn and communicate every day, but I hope she can somehow sense that so many people out in the world (from all over the world) genuinely love her and are amazed by her.
Billi needs more buttons to express herself now, cant believe how much she developed in a year.
Maybe my imagination but Billi's eyes seem different now. At the start of the learning, they were normal cat eyes. Now they seem different, as if the language learning and communication ability acquired, has raised Billi to a higher state of consciousness/mental processing
How far she has come in a year. Amazing clever girl
Hamilton clip is still my favourite, I just can't help but laugh at Billi, so cute!
I watched one of your videos earlier this week and I called bull, I mocked how she was just interpretating random button mash from a cat wanting food, but know that I see this, and how you do it and I'm amazed, this is genuinely great.
Who says you can't teach an old cat new tricks?? 😂 amazing job billi!!
I SO LOVE that she understands “happy” and readily uses “love you”.. now if anyone ever doubts that cats really do have emotions (positive emotions no less) and are very intelligent, they only have to see Billi for proof! This compilation is amazing evidence! Thanks for sharing Billi and your work! God Bless you both. 🙏🏼❤️🐾 PS. I definitely shared this!
Wow, she's come extremely far in just one year! That's amazing! This is kind of like making a scrapbook for your child. 🤭
the patience and dedication alone is incredible congrats to the owner
One day, she'll learn how to turn her zoom-zoom on herself! I love the names for her toys =D
She did! It's on the record now!
Billi will make a fine Earth Emissary.
Mad Ouch Later is the best critique of Hammilton I’ve ever heard.
I always find these kinds of things cool it shows how much our pets can rly understand
Billi getting mad at your music and telling you to turn it off is the highlight of my life.
Me too 😂
You've inspired me to teach my cats Comet and Pluto how to use buttons! I got the buttons in yesterday, just gotta go out and get some batteries because I thought we had some AAA but I guess I was mistaken hahah. Thank you for sharing your journey with Billi!
‘Mad ouch later’ sounds like a threat
She really loves the mad& catnip button she is such a sweet little fur angel
There is something truly amazing for an animal to explain that they're upset they had to come inside and wanting to go back out soon. Such a smart little angel.
Thank you keeping us posted on her progress and adventures.
6:10 oh hey Hamilton
shes gna start writing poetry soon i love her sm 🥺
i've been following the channel since the first lockdown, and Billi brought me so much joy! it's amazing to see her learn and communicate!
She's such an amazing kitty. Love you, Billi!
I love this progression!!!
„Want want want want...... FOOD“ - yes Billie, preach! 🙌🏼
thank you for blessing us with 10 minutes of Billi!
The way she looks at you when she's pressed a button makes it clear she's doing it with intent and trying to communicate. She really is amazing! I'd love to get speech buttons for my cats. I love that she had a 'happy' button.
The "Happy Billi" part should be illegal, because that just about slayed my heart with its cuteness. The absolute sass at the start where she petulantly spammed the mad button was also brilliant
I think this is crazy how much Billi can communicate He actively questions the environment around them and shows emotions for compassion its like your talking to a human toddler
The way Billi and other animals have taken to communicating their wants and mood via soundboard clearly shows we have underestimated their intelligence. Especially when simple sentences and conversations start emerging.
Nothing brought me as much joy as watching that pissed off cat hit the mad button over and over.
Love Billy so much. She is soooo precious and smart girl!
Thank you for the look back, and for sharing your language adventures with the world. Billi is a clever old girl, and these little clips bring joy to many 😺
"Mad ouch later" "Did I stutter?"
This is where I've seen other pet owners give up. The pet is obsessed with the food button and the owner doesn't help them progress beyond it. Billi has a really impressive ability to communicate now all because you persevered and worked with her to move beyond food in her communication. ❤️
Oh boy does this really make me uncomfortable. Billi has such a rich and complex thought pattern which is very clearly not simply based on mirroring or reading "mom." And if this is true for a cat, how much are we missing from all of the other animals out there? Seems to me like this kind of thing makes it harder and harder to justify eating meat if there's a chance those animals we eat have this kind of self awareness and thinking. What a terrific window to allow us all to look through! Thanks so much for posting.
Well I would still eat meat but I get your point. Animals can be smarter when they are able to speak out on buttons with our language. The reason we eat meat is because of the food chain, it’s tasty, and gives good nutrition as a source of protein. another important REASON is because a lot of countries are in poverty so they need meat to sustain themselves. Like some countries eat cats and dogs which can be understandable because that’s how they would get their food from mostly. It would be hypocritical of us to curse them out when we eat cows and pigs. Other places would eat rabbits too. In all honesty we humans eat variety of animals. Now there’s a lot of problems of eating meat which is giving greenhouse gases because animals contain methane from farms. Also, deforestation and some health problems. There’s more but you could search it up, there’s a lot of reasons.
@@Mike-kl5yc You'd eat an animal that was self aware and had complex emotional expressions and complex thoughts just because it tasted good? What if you learned that people tasted good too? I know you see the difference here but there are some similarities too. What if a smart animal was as intelligent as a 5 or 6 year old human child? Would that animal still be a legitimate food source? That's my point: at some level of intellect, it's just not morally justifiable to me regardless of that being something we've "always done" or someone being "too poor" to do anything else. (And it actually costs a lot of money to eat meat compared to the same amount of calories from a plant based diet.) Like I said, seeing this is a bit troubling because it makes me wonder about how much suffering the other animals we eat experience and how aware of their fate they truly are.
@@a24396 Well if an animal was that smart, we shouldn't kill them. Like monkeys and apes unless you need to survive or poachers because they are assholes who want to sell the skin. I hate poachers... If people tasted good... Well that's cannibalism and that's wrong for humans because I feel that in the West, cannibalism has negative connotations and is visualized as occurring more like the cannibal ravenously murdering and devouring the flesh of another human being. Even if you take away the murder from the cannibal, you are left with a scavenger who eats the dead much like a pack of rabid dogs. The connotations of cannibalism change as you go from culture to culture going from viscous animalistic behavior to a sacred ritual to honor the dead. That to be said, other places like Africa do this in their tribes. Where eating the dead is ok for funeral cultures. Also PSYCHOPATHS who do this, are crazy. Here's the thing, it is a lot of money to buy meat so someone can eat it. It's not that, it's the fact that the economy would go in shambles because meat balances it. If we did not buy meat as much, Fruits and vegetables would change into more money we have to spend into. If people did not eat meat, we could have vitamin deficiency. Not that I'm saying that plant-based can help you too, but it would be much harder for you because you might need pills to get the vitamins. I always thank the animal I'm eating. I eat animals because it helps my body and if I didn't eat animals, my health would be terrible. I don't have the ability of being able to go vegan or vegetarian. I always thought it was weird we ate animals at first, but that's life. Animals eat other animals, and we do too. THE PROBLEM is that we make them suffer. We should be having clean farming to humanely kill them and have clean meat, not making them go through factories, where they know they will get slaughtered. If I was a human that was captured by aliens, only to be killed for food, then I would want a quiet death and a good life to live. I can only imagine how much pain animals go through in factories when they are cramped against each other and feed unnatural foods to grow larger.
'Later' 'Noise' that's so far from just saying 'meow' and biting. Wish I could have this much determination.
This channel is an absolute treasure
🥰🥰
She’s precious and your time and commitment are amazing! Keep up the communication!
From MAD to HAPPY in one year, amazing progress Billi!! 😻😻😻
I’m just so impressed. It shows cats are way more intelligent then a lot of people assume. I underestimate my cat on a regular basis.
2 years later billie went off to college to become a computer programmer and A professor to teach people meow language!
Hey Kendra, would you consider doing a monthly "highlights" compilation? I don't end up being able to watch every video that comes out (or most of them), as adorable as they are, but I would especially love to see your favorites on an ongoing basis, if possible. I bet it would be really popular! She's just the cutest. ❤️
“Mad ouch later” sounds like a threat lol
This has been such an amazing journey to experience in real time, I can't imagine how proud you must be, of yourself & Billi! 💕 Thank you for sharing these snippets with us.
Of course! It was so fun to go back through all her videos 😻 I’m exceedingly proud!
EverytimeBili goes for "I love you" or "Mom" buttons, it just warms my heart.
It's so amazing how they do understand. That's why not a day goes by I don't talk to all my furbabies or any furbabies I come across too. They are more than just what they are, they do have hearts with a soul.
HAPPY BUTTON- VERSARY Mom * Billi !!! Thank you so much for this video showing the journey to where she is now.
Absolutely remarkable! I was a bit skeptical when I first started watching, but now I’m convinced she is deliberating choosing her words and intentionally communicating. Amazing!
This channel is so interesting. Its really cool to see the progress Billi makes when more buttons are added. Such a lovely kitty.
I look forward to seeing you & Billie interact, it's amazing how much she has learned in a year. She is such a beautiful cat & her personality really comes through using the buttons.
thanks for putting this together. I just discovered you today and found myself wondering how it all began. Pretty amazing.