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Thomson Reuters celebrates 150 years: CJ Lechtenberg on customer empathy

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James I. Wise
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Thomson Reuters commemorates 150 years of customer partnership and innovation to honor the 1872 founding of John B. West Publisher and Book Seller. West’s spirit of innovation lives on in Westlaw – a product that still bears his name – and in the AI-powered products and legal research technology tools used by legal professionals worldwide.

Our Legal Current series features voices across Thomson Reuters sharing how West’s legacy of client partnership and innovation lives on today. Today we hear from CJ Lechtenberg, Senior Director of Product Management, Westlaw, who worked at Thomson Reuters for 22 years.

“Many opportunities to seize”

Lechtenberg recalled her first experience of legal research as a law student.

“When I went to law school, there was no Westlaw.com,” she said. “I started researching books, then I was able to use Westlaw after installing the application on my desktop with a CD-ROM.”

At the time, she said it was unimaginable that she would be working at Thomson Reuters 10 years from now, helping to develop WestSearch.

“It absolutely revolutionized legal research,” Lechtenberg said. “And eight years later, I never thought I would lead the team that developed Quick Check, which analyzes legal documents and, without further client intervention, provides highly relevant recommendations. Even with all this innovation, legal research remains incredibly challenging and there are plenty of opportunities to be had. »

“We’ve been where they are”

She said “humanity, empathy and creativity” best characterize her time at Thomson Reuters.

“The human element is absolutely central to everything we do,” she said. “When we think about what we want to do next, the first fundamental questions are: what do our customers need? What are they struggling with? How can we help them?”

Lechtenberg said empathy comes from all Thomson Reuters lawyers who work for and with lawyers and legal professionals.

“We’ve been where they are,” she explained. “We spent hours looking for the perfect case. Or filing a brief and being completely anxious hoping we didn’t miss anything. We can understand all the frustration and jubilation that our customers experience every day. It provides a level of trust and connection with our customers.

She added: “We are constantly solving creative problems to propel our clients further, whether it’s using new technologies to deliver more accurate and relevant results faster or helping to answer to a research question when they call referral lawyers.”

“None of this is lost on us”

Lechtenberg noted that this customer commitment goes back more than a century.

“When you think about how the legal research process has changed over the past 150 years, it’s mind-boggling how we’ve gone from printed case law and John B. West’s categorizations of these cases, to crowds from lawyer editors categorizing case law, to scientific research using these editorial improvements as the basis for our innovative artificial intelligence,” she said.

Of course, the way lawyers conduct their legal research has changed dramatically.

“But what doesn’t has changed is that lawyers are under immense pressure to find documents that will help them better represent their clients,” Lechtenberg said. “And they continue to have only a limited number of hours a day to conduct this research. Being a lawyer is hard and complex work, often with significant, life-changing results. None of that is lost. for us.

She added: “We have never lost sight of the importance of our customers in all aspects of our development. This sometimes means anticipating customer needs before they are articulated.

“Did we all know we needed cell phones in 1980?” asked Lechtenberg. “No of course not. But now we would all be completely lost without them. By nurturing close relationships with our customers, we learn what is difficult and frustrating for them. And we can leverage those learnings and turn them into new innovations that solve their frustrations – with products that do the things they can’t, and free them to do the things they can’t. only they can.”

Staging

Like his colleague Jon Meyer, Lechtenberg said the launch of WestlawNext in 2010 stood out during his tenure at Thomson Reuters.

“It’s so memorable because how we built WestlawNext really set the stage for how we do development now,” she explained. “It was the first major effort and shift to agile development. We co-located our product management, application development, testing, and user experience teams and spent more than four years working on it. C It was intense and stressful at times, but so rewarding. And it has served as the award-winning foundation for every major development since its launch in 2010. That’s what’s so remarkable about Thomson Reuters: our innovations can almost always be used for something even bigger and better in the future.

Lechtenberg said that was true with the recent deployment of Westlaw Precision.

“Building on the excellence of Westlaw Edge, we’ve taken legal research to the next level by giving researchers the ability to research the precise concepts they need in the context they need,” he said. she declared. “This new platform will help researchers be more than twice as fast as they are now and help them find materials they wouldn’t otherwise find.”

It recognizes the impact customers have had on product development efforts over the decades.

“Without our customers, we can make assumptions about what may be useful or successful, but our customers provide the definitive data that tells us the truth,” she said. “By staying customer-obsessed, we stay in touch with our customers and drive the market forward.”

Read more perspectives on Thomson Reuters’ legacy and watch Legal Current for more stories in the weeks to come.

Russ Bell’s album brings vocal and guitar variations in 10 original songs

By
James I. Wise
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0

The first time I heard Russ Bell was a guitarist who was just starting to play live backing a good friend of mine, legendary Irish balladist Vince Colgan. He was, predictably, a little hesitant, but seemed determined enough to improve.

A few years later, he entered a songwriter contest that I was judging. His stuff was cool, but it turns out there were two phenomenal songwriters in the contest who walked away with the top prizes.

Well, Russ has just released his second CD, aptly titled “Russ Bell”, and to say he’s come a long way as a singer, guitarist and songwriter is like saying Aaron Judge is a big guy. This 10-song disc is a stellar achievement, offering a professional-sounding collection of well-performed all-original tracks.

The record was recorded at home, with Bell playing and singing all parts (except Bill Jardinella’s bass part on the initial track).

A common problem with home recordings is a tendency towards sound similarity, but Bell manages to avoid this trap, with variations in vocal sound and guitar sound from track to track, as well as a diversity stylistic.

The CD kicks off fun with “Beer Cans,” a catchy, fun honky-tonk number about an evening spent with friends and paid off with a hangover the next morning.

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In another kind of C&W vein, “Rolling Stone” describes reconnecting with a childhood best friend after many years, while “Stormy Thoughts” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Dylan debut album.

Other moments that stood out for me were the infectious hook of “Never Enough” and “Crisis,” a review of estrangement from a toxic relationship.

Sometimes the genesis of a song isn’t obvious, sprouting the most unlikely seeds.

“A lot of my song ideas come from conversations I have with my family or my friends. I’m always looking for that statement that we sometimes make unknowingly, and then I’m looking for how I can turn it into a song,” explains Bell. “As a songwriter, I like to tell stories, sometimes with a twist. Other times I like to get the listener to understand what the song is about.

One of the smartest choices Russ made while recording this album was to entrust well-known recording engineer Bob Acquaviva with the finishing touches.

“Working with Bob, getting his advice was so much fun and such a learning experience,” notes Bell. “Bob is a master at perfecting tracks from my raw ideas.”

“Russ Bell” is available locally at Reimagine Records, Records and More at the Big Apple Plaza, Off Center Records in downtown Utica and at Chef’s Express where a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Arc Oneida Lewis Chapter. The songs are also available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora and other streaming services.

How to Invest in CDs as the Fed Keeps Raising Interest Rates

By
James I. Wise
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0

Ridofranz / iStock.com

If there’s one upside to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes this year — other than their inflation-reducing potential — it’s that savings account interest rates are also rising. This includes certificates of deposit (CDs), which generally offer higher returns than regular savings accounts.

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The difference with CDs is that when interest rates rise, you have to strategize a bit more to maximize your returns. This means not only shopping around to find the best rates, but also deciding what type of CD to invest in and for how long.

The Fed has raised interest rates by a total of 3 percentage points so far in 2022, CNBC reported. This includes last week’s 0.75% rise – the third consecutive such increase. Some economists expect the Fed to raise rates by at least another percentage point by the end of the year.

One of the results is that CD yields have climbed towards 3% on various maturities after being below 1% earlier in the year. According to Next Advisor, the average annual percentage yield (APY) over a one-year CD term is currently 2.87%. For three-year terms, the average is 2.94% and for five-year terms, the average is 3.21%.

These are the highest yields in years, and for that you can thank the Fed rate hikes. The question is, should you go ahead and buy a CD now, or wait for the next Fed interest rate hike, when yields could rise further?

In an Augusta interview with Forbes, Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts, said the highest yields for five-year CDs could be in the 4.00% to 4.50% range. by the end of 2023, based on the expectation that the Fed would raise a total of seven times this year and three or four times next year. CD yields could even reach 5.00% in 2023 if the Fed remains aggressive and raises rates more than expected.

“If you’re worried about being locked into a low-rate CD if rates start to rise, choose long-term CDs with early withdrawal penalties of no more than six months’ interest,” Tumin said.

CDs with reduced or no withdrawal penalties allow you to move your money elsewhere with little financial hardship if returns increase in the coming months. Some banks and credit unions also offer supplemental CDs that allow you to invest a certain amount now at one interest rate, with the option to add more money at a later date at the same rate.

If you’re determined to go ahead and open a CD account now, with yields already at their highest in years, take the time to research the best rates.

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“Investors looking to get the highest possible rate on a bank CD should look beyond national averages and seek out the best rate,” said Kevin Mirabile, professor of finance and business economics at the Gabelli School. of Business from Fordham University in New York. Forbes.

Here are some of the best CD rates by term and bank this week, according to Next Advisor:

1 year

  • CFG Bank: 3.20%
  • Sallie Mae: 3.05%
  • Allied Bank: 3.00%

3 years

  • Savings on bread (formerly Comenity Direct): 3.55%
  • CFG Bank: 3.50%
  • Sallie Mae: 3.30%

5 years

  • Savings on bread (formerly Comenity Direct): 3.65%
  • CFG Bank: 3.60%
  • Synchronous Bank: 3.50%

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30 years of PC games: Why can’t I play on a CD booklet?

By
James I. Wise
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0

Twenty years of PC gaming is the longest I’ve ever lived. At this point, I can’t wait to look back on my childhood, which was very long, but also long.

It’s Saturday, the fridge is empty, so I have to do the shopping again. Even though I have an uninspired shopping list, I wander unmotivated to the nearest supermarket in my lightest clothes and buy only the right items for you. I walk through the candy aisle and get special offers. My metabolism needs to be able to balance the large amounts of sugar I ate when I was nine. Even though I feel like walking out of the store again, I can’t resist a swerve with the heavy noise. I see this book has an opportunistic look at my heart. As soon as I look at magazine racks, I notice how my simple knitted brain releases dopamine. After women’s magazines and meaningless TV, I move on to gaming magazines. The selection has decreased drastically in recent years, but I only compose a few specimens.

I still can’t grasp this and go home empty-handed. Of course, I receive articles and magazines from my work or write them myself. The most valuable experience I hope to drag on the magazine shelf goes so far.

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Put on what you can get.

My last experience was not as much as I was a kid. See in video game magazines, the best demos available and full versions of what I saw it was. Without real money to earn his own, and without the argumentative skills of a teenager who keeps his parents’ deception a secret, until he finds what he wants, there were plenty of options.

A magazine has always let its own owner out of the ribs of its parents. The question of weekly shopping when I was young was always a new question. What are the best magazines with the best CD-ROM?

I can’t say how many games I’ve tried without having full versions. But what I do know is that I got everything from the demos. Every corner was scrutinized down to the last speck of dust.

Even today, almost twenty years later, I have a detailed scene in mind. I want to unbox the game-related titles again, but I forgot the game names for the stages a long time ago. No wonder they come from a time when the same age as yours was still in single digits. And as far as I can remember the names, the supposed masterpieces don’t seem to be on any gaming charts, and in my professional opinion, they were most definitely genre defining.

To this is added the distorted memory of these which were to be quasi-photorealistic games. If, in the unlikely event that I put games back on the road, I would definitely be disappointed.

Unfortunately, most of the CD-ROMs of the time were victims of relocations, but the parents would have made the unfortunate decision not to need them. Thus, we really have nothing left of the collection.

After my cold dead hands helped me.

Today I call my few records unique. I can’t make some magazines a worn paper cover. The fact that the full version is Rollercoaster Tycoon is surprisingly easy to recognize.

Rollercoaster was a cool game in my day. If I remember correctly, I was playing good art on the park grounds. How far I got the roller coaster gondola, before it hit the ground and burst into flames, certainly didn’t help my parents classify video games as non-violent entertainment.

Next page next page next page.

10 progressive rock bands that went pop

By
James I. Wise
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0

Progressive rock bands going pop are a well-established phenomenon. And it’s one that still happens today, believe it or not.

Do you have a favorite prog band that later dabbled in popular music? While the traditional rock world may seem anathema to progressive rockers, the journey many have taken from side to side seems to betray that notion.

What groups can you think of that made the change? Looking back, there was undoubtedly an era in rock music that apparently saw more proggers go pop than any other.

This would be the 1980s, which was by far the most visible period where progressive rock bands went into mainstream pop. Maybe the lure of ’80s hit music was too much for some progressive bands to bear — it was a decade filled with crossover progressive rockers.

After all, the late ’70s were “a tough time to be a progressive rocker,” as uDiscoverMusic explained. “The delicate time signatures, epic concept sequels, and jaw-dropping riffs that defined progressive rock during its heyday in the early to mid-’70s have fallen out of favor.”

Of course, a progressive rock band doing pop doesn’t mean they can’t go back long-term plan. This is the case with many progressive artists who have tried their hand at pop.

Anyway, without further ado, here are 10 of those progressive rock bands that went pop. Who would you add to the list?

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Advantages of slag waste for soil acidity correction

By
James I. Wise
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0

Structural characterization of slag samples

The FTIR spectra of granulated blast furnace slag (sample 1), landfilled waste slag (sample 2) and the combination of 50% granulated blast furnace slag + 50% landfilled waste slag (sample 3) are shown in Fig. 1 .

Figure 1

FTIR spectra of slag samples.

By analyzing the spectrum (detailed figure) in the range from 700 to 1100 cm−1, it is seen that there are obvious absorption peaks in the spectra of all the slag samples. The granulated blast furnace slag shows the characteristic absorption bands at 3640, 1418, 980, 944, 861, 753 and 710 cm−1. The band at 3640 cm−1 is attributed to the stretching vibration of the hydroxyl group from the weakly absorbed water molecules on the surface of the slag24. The characteristic absorption bands at 1418, 861 and 710 cm−1 are attributed respectively to the asymmetric stretching mode and to the bending mode of the carbonate group and to the band at 980 cm−1 are attributable to the stretching vibrations of Si–O25. The band at 944 and 752 cm−1 represent the internal vibration of [SiO4]4− and [AlO4]5− tetrahedral and arises from the Si(Al)–O-antisymmetric stretching vibration26.

The different vibrational modes of the waste slag sample can be observed in the FTIR spectrum. Absorption bands shown are at 1418, 873, 712, 667 and 419 cm−1. The peak at 1418 cm−1 is attributed to the asymmetric stretching mode and bending mode of the carbonate group. The calcite phase is confirmed by characteristic peaks at 712 cm−1 (ʋ2 CO out-of-plane bending vibration3−2 ions) and 873 cm−1 peak (ʋ2 split the bending vibrations in the CO plane3−2 ion27. The calcium aluminate phase is identified by a characteristic peak at 419 cm−128. Peak around 667 cm−1 is described as an absorption band for different M–O (metal oxide) such as Al–O, Fe–O, Mg–O, etc.29.

In the case of a combination of 50% granulated blast furnace slag and 50% landfill residual slag, the intensity of the absorption peaks is lower compared to sample 1 and sample 2 slag. The characteristic absorption peaks (978 and 753 cm−1) that correspond to characteristic peaks of sample 1 are offset from sample 1, attributed to Si–O stretching vibration and antisymmetric Si(Al)–O stretching vibration, respectively, can provide important evidence of the chemical interaction between Sample 1 and Sample 2. The decrease in the intensity of the bands appearing at 875 and 709 cm−1 can be attributed to CO vibration overlap3−2 calcite phase ion.

Figure 2 shows the SEM micrographs of the slag samples (sample 1 to 3). One can see the characteristic morphology – the sizes and shapes of the slag samples.

Figure 2
Figure 2

SEM images of slag samples.

At higher magnifications, the surface can be observed to be rough and uneven, and jagged formations resembling rounded grains can be noticed. The slag samples show aggregated particles with an average diameter of a few microns. Moreover, in these rounded formations, one can see different morphologies like spheres, rods, planks specific to each compound/phase of the metallurgical slag.

Figure 3 illustrates the EDX elemental analysis of granulated blast furnace slag (sample 1), waste slag dumped in a landfill (sample 2) and a combination of 50% granulated blast furnace slag + 50% waste dumped in a landfill (sample 3).

picture 3
picture 3

Elemental EDX map of slag samples.

It can be observed that the predominant elements in the examined area are found in carbon, oxygen, calcium and iron, confirming the FTIR spectra.

Figure 4 shows the EDX spectra of slag samples recorded on different selected spot areas, to get more information about the elemental composition of specific areas. Because all the slag samples tested have similar element contents.

Figure 4
number 4

Analysis of EDX spectra of slag samples.

The selected point areas are highlighted as follows: the spherical structure is in yellow line and the plank structure is in green line for all the slag samples analyzed. In the case of sample 1 for both structures, the values ​​of the chemical elements present are similar and silicon has a higher value at the spherical structure which can be correlated with the presence of silica (SiO2). The higher calcium content reveals that Sample 1 is a blast furnace slag dominated by calcium and silicon compositions. In the case of the slag dumped in a landfill (sample 2), the carbon content increases for both structures and certain chemical elements like titanium, barium, manganese do not appear in the EDX spectra and the explanation of this phenomenon is that the slag has been dumped in landfill for over 30 years. It can be observed for the combination of 50% granulated blast furnace slag + 50% landfill waste slag (sample 3) that the values ​​of all chemical elements for the spherical and plank structure lie between the first two samples, confirming the FTIR spectra regarding the chemical interaction between sample 1.

The XRD patterns of the slag samples with the identified phases are shown in Fig. 5. Sample 1 shows minor peaks of free CaO and MgO, which can be harmful and cause a reduction in strength. The phases and the amorphous content of the granulated blast furnace slag of sample 1 are generally in accordance with the literature30. Slag sample 3 consists of crystalline phase – Ca2mg2SiOsevenCalifornia2Fe2AlO5CaCO3 and CaO as observed by XRD analysis. From the point of view of phase thermal equilibrium relationships, the identified compounds form an isomorphic series of melilite specific to basic metallurgical slags.

Figure 5
number 5

X-ray diffraction patterns of slag samples.

Table 1 shows the values ​​expressed in ppm of chemical element detected in the slag samples (samples 1, 2 and 3).

Table 1 XRF analysis of slag samples.

The results show a large amount of calcium in all three slag samples. Moreover, the detected elements such as Fe, Al, Mg and Si are consistent with the XRD spectra.

Physico-chemical characterization of soil-slag mixtures

The chemical composition of the main elements that make up the soil, soil slag and slag samples were determined by XRF. The values ​​expressed in ppm of chemical elements are presented in table 2. In the case of a soil sample, the content of the main constituents is iron, titanium, manganese and potentially toxic elements (PTE) such as arsenic, zinc, copper and cobalt. . For soil-slag 1 with a soil:slag weight ratio (1:1), one can observe the disappearance of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) found in the soil sample and the decrease in the zinc concentration value. As the slag weight ratio increases to 3 (soil-slag sample 2), the principal component values ​​increase with the slag sample values, but in the case of soil-slag sample 3 where the weight ratio soil is larger (3 ) the presence of cobalt can be observed. Based on these XRF results, we can say that there is a removal of potentially toxic elements in contaminated soils by applying slag in a greater proportion.

Table 2 XRF analysis of soil-slag samples.

Using a pH meter, CONSORT C 533, important parameters of soil and slag solutions were measured such as: pH, conductivity and salinity as shown in Table 3. The data presented in Table 3 suggest that the sampled soil has pH = 5.2 corresponding to a moderately acidic soil, which does not maintain high fertility and is not able to provide favorable conditions for crops. In addition, soil pH has an important influence on soil fertility, decreases the availability of essential elements and the activity of soil microorganisms that can determine calcium and magnesium deficiency in plants and decreases the availability phosphorus. The pH value of the slag solution (12.5) corresponds to a strongly basic character which is beneficial in the process of improving acidic soils and the presence of this type of slag also supports the improvement of soil characteristics. For soil-slag samples, the pH value increases with increasing slag weight ratio and the resulting soil-slag mixtures can be classified as weakly alkaline soils.

Table 3 Physico-chemical characteristics of soil and slag solutions.

The data presented in Table 4 shows that soil moisture is greater and decreases in soil-slag samples with the addition of slag content. The values ​​of the total soil-slag porosity are between 40 and 50% and depend on the density and bulk density of the soil being influenced by the mineralogical composition, the content of organic matter and the degree of compaction and loosening of the soil. , the crystal structure structure of soil minerals.

Table 4 Physico-chemical characteristics of soil-slag samples.

Considering the structural and morphological characterization of the studied slag samples, we propose a recipe for blast furnace slag and landfill waste slag according to the Waste Directive 2008/98/EC regarding the strategic objective of the of a complete elimination of the elimination. of waste. Galati steel plant slag dump contains a huge amount of unused slag waste which can be mixed with granulated blast furnace slag, to save natural resources used as raw materials in the metallurgical technological process.

The presence of Ca2+ in the composition of slag can maintain high alkalinity in the soil for a long time in the natural environment. Alkaline soil pH can contribute to a decrease in the available concentration of heavy metals by reducing metal mobility and binding metals into more stable moieties. One of the objectives of this research is to improve the quality of the environment by using the mixture between two different slags on agricultural lands and reintroducing them into the agricultural center, especially in acidic soils. Acidic soils are characterized by an acidic pH that has spread in recent years due to excessive fertilizer or overly aggressive work.31. The production is significantly influenced and the treatment of acidic soils is usually done using a series of natural materials (lime, dolomite), the consumption being approx. 20 t/hectare depending on the acidity of the soil and the nature of the plants grown on the respective surfaces.

Our research consists in improving the characteristics and qualities of acidic soils and contributing to their reintroduction into the agricultural circuit by transforming waste into a new environmentally friendly material, the mixture of blast furnace slag and waste slag dumped.

How Charlotte Church spent a fortune of £25m as she faces ‘broke’ after her £1.5m hippie retirement dream hit a major hurdle

By
James I. Wise
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0

She was the star who found fame aged 11, spent her teenage years performing in prestigious concert halls – and amassed a fortune of £25million in the process.

But now singer Charlotte Church is at risk of ‘going bankrupt’ after her dream of turning a £1.5million 16th century mansion into a hippie welfare retreat hit a major snag.

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Charlotte Church, pictured at a festival in AugustCredit: Avalon.red
Charlotte reportedly earned up to £25m early in her career

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Charlotte reportedly earned up to £25m early in her careerCredit: Shiver Production

The 36-year-old has invested “almost” all of her savings in the eco-friendly Rhydoldog House project in Powys, mid Wales – the 47-acre former home of Laura Ashley – which she hoped to open in June.

But Charlotte is said to have faced backlash from Welsh environmental bigwigs over her waste disposal plans for her log cabins in the woods and withdrew her planning application, the Daily Mail reports. .

Charlotte had previously said that failing to complete the project by summer would leave her “broken”, the Times reported – and she filmed a documentary series on The Wall called Dream Build to help fund it.

So where did his multi-million pound fortune go?

Convertible and jewel encrusted bra

Singing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit, Pie Jesu on This Morning, at the age of 11, Charlotte sold more than 10 million records.

Charlotte was able to access her millions at the age of 18 – having accumulated a fortune during her six years of performing around the world and before President Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, the late Queen and King Charles.

In a BBC interview in 2004, when Charlotte was 18, she vowed not to get carried away with her huge fortune – which her mother said was around £7million.

The youngster with mum Maria and stepdad James - his father Stephen died of coronavirus last year

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The youngster with mum Maria and stepdad James – his father Stephen died of coronavirus last yearCredit: Rex Features

Most read in Entertainment

But the singer also claimed he was considering lavish purchases, including a Mini Cooper convertible.

Charlotte also told reporters she fancies buying a £1million ruby-encrusted bra to mark her 18th birthday.

While it’s unclear if she purchased the jeweled item, her parents kept her grounded with modest birthday gifts, including a CD player, clothes and jewelry.

£10,000 Girls Holiday

Charlotte with girlfriends after leaving Ibiza's Pashia nightclub at 7.30am, in 2004

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Charlotte with girlfriends after leaving Ibiza’s Pashia nightclub at 7.30am, in 2004Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
The soprano sunbathes on Platya DeSelinas beach in Ibiza

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The soprano sunbathes on Platya DeSelinas beach in IbizaCredit: Shutterstock
The singer with ex Kyle Johnson on a romantic vacation to the Maldives in 2004

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The singer with ex Kyle Johnson on a romantic vacation to the Maldives in 2004Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

That same year, the singer enjoyed romantic trips to Dubai and the Maldives with her boyfriend Kyle Johnson.

She also took a group of girlfriends for a week’s vacation in Ibiza.

Good morning! The magazine reported that she spent more than £10,000 on the trip to Spain’s party capital where she and her friends enjoyed the nightlife until the early hours.

During the trip, Charlotte didn’t hold back – paying for a private villa for all and a full-time personal driver to take them.

She said at the time: “I’m just here for a girls vacation, having a great time.”

A source told The Sun that Charlotte was ‘very generous’ during the holidays and ‘bought all the drinks’ whenever friends went out.

In the years that followed, she was photographed sipping champagne and on several occasions appeared to fall asleep in bars.

Mansions and a yacht

Charlotte started dating Welsh rugby legend Gavin Henson in 2005 – they split five years later

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Charlotte started dating Welsh rugby legend Gavin Henson in 2005 – they split five years laterCredit: Rex Features
The couple shared this house in the Vale of Glamorgan - which is now said to be worth £2.5million

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The couple shared this house in the Vale of Glamorgan – which is now said to be worth £2.5million

A year later in 2005, while dating former Welsh rugby star Gavin Henson, Charlotte bought a house in Cardiff for around £500,000 which she later sold for £900,000.

The couple then bought a lavish mansion set in 20 acres of land in the Vale of Glamorgan – which is now said to be worth £2.5million.

Charlotte and Gavin, who separated in 2010, had a bar at the bottom of their garden where they indulged in binge drinking, according to the Daily Mail.

They were nicknamed the ‘Posh and Becks’ of rugby and at one time owned an £800,000 yacht, moored at Swansea Marina.

In 2013, Charlotte bought her ex a five-bedroom property so he could live closer to their children Ruby and Dexter, Wales Online reported.

finance the lifestyle

Charlotte shaking hands with the Queen at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance, Cardiff

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Charlotte shaking hands with the Queen at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance, CardiffCredit: Corbis-Getty

After playing for presidents and royalty, it appears Charlotte suffered a mid-career slump in 2014.

The Sunday Times Rich List reported that his wealth fell to £11million that year.

In the documentary Charlotte Church: In Her Own Voice, she explained her concerns about money.

She said: “I will have to work for the rest of my life, not because I want to but because I have to.

“The taxman looks at my accounts wondering where I hide all my money.”

However, during an interview with Stylist, Charlotte claimed it was her expenses that meant she constantly needed to transplant.

She said, “I don’t have a lot of money. I have enough to be comfortable if I was reasonable for the rest of my life.

“But I’m not reasonable, so I’m going to have to find a way to maintain my lifestyle.”

Television works, commercials and books

The singer's Channel 4 show The Charlotte Church Show ran from 2006 to 2008.

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The singer’s Channel 4 show The Charlotte Church Show ran from 2006 to 2008.Credit: Empics
Charlotte returned to fame on The Masked Singer

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Charlotte returned to fame on The Masked SingerCredit: Instagram/therealcharlottechurch

Charlotte’s last album, Back To Scratch, was released in 2010. Since then, she has diversified her sources of income with television appearances.

She starred on The Charlotte Church Show, which aired on Channel 4 from 2006 for two years, and guest-starred on TV shows such as Hospital 24/7 and Under Milk Wood.

The singer has also turned to commercials, notably for Walkers crisps and Virgin Holidays.

Charlotte has also written two autobiographies, her last Keep Smiling came out in 2007 and a number of opinion pieces for The Guardian.

Charlotte married musician Johnny Powell in 2017 and had a daughter, Frida, on August 15, 2020.

Earlier this year, Charlotte returned to the spotlight on The Masked Singer as the Mushroom and came in second.

hippie commune

Charlotte bought this stunning £1.5million country house in Powys last year

15

Charlotte bought this stunning £1.5million country house in Powys last year1 credit
The singer married Jonathan Powell, her longtime musician partner, in 2017

15

The singer married Jonathan Powell, her longtime musician partner, in 2017Credit: Rex Features

Charlotte bought the large Rhydoldog house for £1.5million last year and invested the money to turn the house into a nature-based health and wellness retreat.

The seven-bedroom, three-story mansion has a helicopter landing pad and a 200-year-old barn set on its 47 acres.

Charlotte planned to offer cycling, archery, foraging, hiking and strength and conditioning classes on the estate, according to Wales Online.

The mum-of-three also wants to introduce a hot tub, plunge pool and outdoor cinema to the luxurious Welsh wilderness estate.

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She described the “inspiring wellness project” as “one of the biggest, riskiest and potentially most rewarding challenges” she has ever faced.

With this latest reported setback, this could be his costliest.

Charlotte met King Charles aged 12 at the Prince's Trust Comedy Gala in 1998

15

Charlotte met King Charles aged 12 at the Prince’s Trust Comedy Gala in 1998Credit: PA: Press Association
His last seven-bedroom property belonged to fashionista Laura Ashley

15

His last seven-bedroom property belonged to fashionista Laura Ashley1 credit

StackHawk Launches Deeper API Security Testing Coverage

By
James I. Wise
-
0

StackHawk, the company that integrates application security testing into software delivery, has announced its Deeper API Security Test Coverage release.

This extends StackHawk’s solution to help developers analyze the entire API layer to uncover potential vulnerabilities.

“Today’s application architectures require different approaches to security testing, and legacy security testing tools result in untested parts of the application, or require tedious manual testing and are too slow for most modern publishing schedules,” the company says.

“With this release, StackHawk gives developers the ability to test APIs deeper and faster, so organizations can be confident that every version they release is secure.”

The StackHawk platform makes it easy for engineers to find and fix application security bugs at any stage of software development.

The API layer presents the highest level of security risk for software vendors. Still, API discovery can be a challenge for many security teams. The Deeper API Security Test Coverage version of StackHawk allows teams to leverage existing automated testing tools, such as Postman or Cypress, to guide path and endpoint discovery, provide custom test data to use during analyzes and cover proprietary use cases for security testing.

“Modern API and application security requires tools that integrate with existing engineering workflows and provide in-depth testing coverage for today’s application architectures,” said Scott Gerlach, co-founder and director of StackHawk security.

“With our recent release of Deeper API Security Test features, StackHawk continues to lead the market in the depth and accuracy of real-world API security testing, while staying true to our developer-centric security approach,” it said. -he declares.

Engineering teams have sophisticated automated CI/CD test suites to ensure quality is maintained as they push software changes to production, and security testing should be no different. By integrating with existing testing workflows, StackHawk provides developers with security testing in a familiar way, shifting security to the left.

StackHawk’s comprehensive analytics capabilities have expanded to address several key issues, including:

Custom test data for REST APIs
The ability to use realistic required variables for paths, request or request body is something that DAST tools have always struggled with, as using poorly formatted data can prevent parsing from reach the critical logic of the application.

Custom Analytics Discovery
The ability to use test scripts and data from developer tools such as Postman or Cypress to guide the scanner, resulting in more comprehensive and thorough testing without the need for API docs.

Custom test scripts
The ability to test specific use cases such as business logic, privacy laws, and sensitive data requires custom scripts. This feature also addresses tenancy checks, the top OWASP Top 10 vulnerability, and broken function level authorization tests, which are test cases not covered by the ZAP library.

CD Projekt Says Cyberpunk 2077 Now Attracts 1 Million Players Daily

By
James I. Wise
-
0

Cyberpunk 2077 currently attracts over a million players daily, according to CD Projekt.

“Each day this week, Night City has been visited by 1 million players, new and returning,” reads one. message posted on the game’s official Twitter account on Wednesday.

“We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being with us and playing the game,” he added.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Trailer

Earlier today, Cyberpunk 2077 hit 86,130 concurrent players on Steam, its highest total since January 2021, the month after the game was released.

The recent player spike follows the launch of the game’s 1.6 patch, which added various new features and improvements, and coincides with a half-price discount on Steam.

The Cyberpunk 2077 anime, Edgerunners, also debuted on Netflix last week to strong reviews from critics and general audiences.

Responding to the game’s growing player base, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director Paweł Sasko said this week: “Thank you very much chooms for this second chance.”

Cyberpunk 2077 was touted as one of the biggest titles of the last console generation, but things took a turn for the worse upon release.

After three delays, the highly anticipated RPG was released for PC and consoles with a host of technical issues, resulting in refunds being offered and the game being pulled from the PlayStation Store.

After six months of patches designed to improve the game, it returned to Sony’s online marketplace in June 2021, when CD Projekt said it believed Cyberpunk 2077’s performance had reached a “satisfactory” level.

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In the 15 months since it has continued to deliver title updates designed to improve the experience, and Cyberpunk 2077 also released on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in February.

CD Projekt claimed in April that Cyberpunk 2077 had sold over 18 million copies, up from 13 million reported in the game’s launch month.

Cyberpunk 2077’s first expansion, Phantom Liberty, was announced in early September. It will be released on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia in 2023.

CD Projekt said Phantom Liberty is the only expansion planned for the game, but remains “fully committed” to building the Cyberpunk IP beyond the DLC release.

CD Projekt Says Cyberpunk 2077 Now Attracts 1 Million Players Daily

The company also said it made the “difficult decision” not to develop Phantom Liberty for PS4 and Xbox One “because the expansion’s scope makes its release for previous generation consoles technologically challenging without compromising the player experience”.

Phantom Liberty is billed as “a spy thriller expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 set in an all-new area of ​​Night City.”

VW releases final specs and details for ID. buzz

By
James I. Wise
-
0

Over the past two years, we’ve seen lots of photos and learned lots of little details about Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz. But, the final details were only recently released in A press release by the company. In this article, I will share some of these details with you.

Volkswagen says the ID. Buzz reflects a new era for the automobile. Two versions are available to order: the ID. Buzz MPV for families, and the ID. Buzz Cargo van for commercial users. Sales of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles have started in Europe, with the first vehicles expected to be delivered this fall.

Although it’s relatively big and tall (compared to most EVs), the efficiency picture isn’t great. The tight overhangs of the aerodynamic body (CD 0.29) are visually related to the agile driving characteristics. The 150 kW (201 horsepower) electric motor produces a maximum torque of 310 Nm (229 lb-ft) almost immediately after starting. Because it is rear-wheel drive, the steering is also free from any effect of the power system. To lower the center of gravity and minimize body roll, the 77 kWh (net) battery is embedded deep into the vehicle floor. With the weight evenly distributed throughout the car, handling is more precise. Additionally, with a tight turning radius of just 11.1 meters (36.4 feet), the ID. Buzz is perfect for those who frequently drive around town.

The identity. Buzz’s range on the combined WLTP cycle is 263 miles. The buzz range is up to 263 miles, while the ID. Buzz Cargo has a distance of 264 miles. Using an 11 kW on-board charger, the battery can be charged at home, at work or at public AC charging stations. IDENTIFIER. Buzz can draw up to 170kW from DC fast chargers, charging from 5% to 80% in just 30 minutes. Vehicles also have “Plug & Charge” capability; which enables automatic activation and billing when connected to an electric vehicle (EV) charger (included).

In early press releases, VW promised fully autonomous driving, but the industry has discovered in recent years that the problem is harder to solve than they thought. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have helpful automated systems. Assistance systems include Forward Collision Warning with Pedestrian and Cyclist Monitoring (Autonomous Emergency Braking), which provides automated emergency braking when an accident is imminent. Driver assistance technologies such as Car2X (immediate hazard alert) and Front Assist with pedestrian and cyclist monitoring are now available in Europe.

The ID is the vehicle identification number. The latest Volkswagen ID was installed in all Buzz vehicles during production. Over-the-air software updates allow these technologies to improve for existing cars without the need for modifications or a visit to the dealership.

“L identity. Buzz is aimed at all kinds of different customers – families, people who need a lot of space for their hobby, as well as business owners and manual trades,” says Thomas Schäfer , Board Member of Volkswagen AG and Head of the High Volume Brand Group “People who go for the ID. Buzz will be just as likely to come from an SUV or van world as fans of buses that want to go electric, so this model is of exceptional importance for Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Both vehicles are nearly identical in size. The length of the Buzz models is identical. The wheelbase is also long, at 177.7 inches. The area between the axles is used to its greatest potential. Depending on the variant, the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo has a height of 75.9 to 76.8 inches (excluding exterior mirrors). The threshold for loading the ID. Buzz and ID .Buzz Cargo is weak.

The spacious ID. Buzz is suitable for both leisure and professional use. The driver and front passengers sit in individual seats with standard adjustable interior armrests. The 3-seater bench seat in the rear is split 40/60, with folding backrests. It is also possible to extend the two sections of the bench seat by 5.9 inches lengthwise for more legroom or additional luggage capacity. The MPV comes with two standard sliding doors. When five people are on board, there’s 39.6 cubic feet of luggage space behind the second row which expands to 77.9 cubic feet when the second row is folded down.

VW ID.Buzz

Buzz, on the other hand, is a bit stuffy. It is derived from the German word “buzz” and implies “intellectual buzz”. Originally created by transportation service Uber in 2012, Buzz Cargo was an attempt to merge two distinct ideas: “Uber-like technology for trucks,” according to Fortune magazine. The identity. Buzz is equipped with permanent magnet synchronous motors (PSM), power electronics units, single-speed automatic gearboxes, 12 lithium-ion battery modules and other components integrated into the front of the vehicle. The battery has a net energy capacity of 77 kWh (82 kWh gross). The high voltage energy routed between the motor and the battery is managed by power electronics which transform the stored direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). The on-board electronics rely on a 12V power supply via a DC/DC converter.

The electric motor is located in the driving rear axle and has an output of 150 kW (201 hp). The immediate 229 lb-ft of torque ensures excellent acceleration, with a 0-62 mph time of 10.2 seconds. However, the top speed is electronically limited to 90 mph. In Germany, the ID. Buzz belongs to the highest efficiency class: (A+++, as in A Christmas Story).

The rear of the vehicle has a connection point which is used to charge the high voltage battery. At a charge rate of 11 kW, the battery can be charged from 0 to 100% in 7 hours 30 minutes on a level 2 charger. Identity. Buzz’s battery can be recharged on DC fast charging stations up to 170 kW. In this case, the battery is charged from 5 to 80% in about 30 minutes.

The vehicle is supposed to be equipped with a decent suspension that does not come off the bargain shelf at VW. Up front, there’s a strut-style setup with a sophisticated multi-link arrangement at the rear. Both axles are very compact but have wide track widths of 65.9 and 65.7 inches, respectively. The large track width at the rear provides ample space to pass loads between the wheel arches.

With all of these features, plus its retro look, this should prove to be a popular EV model once it opens to full international orders.

VW ID.Buzz

All images (including featured image) courtesy of VW.


 

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Preserving the History of LU – Journal

By
James I. Wise
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0

Library archives keep Liberty’s history alive for future generations to explore

When Abigail Sattler was hired as the first archivist at Liberty University in 2005, the physical documents that documented the university’s history were hidden away in a room filled with unopened boxes and shelves full of papers.

“They took me to this room on the first floor of the old library in DeMoss Hall, opened the door and said, ‘Here’s all this. Can you organize it? Sattler recalls. “There was a giant pile of cardboard boxes in the middle of the room, some were over my head, and no one knew what was in those boxes. Sometimes I cautiously climbed the mountain of cardboard, opened a box and discovered what was inside for the first time.

Over the years that followed, Sattler and his team sifted through boxes, leafed through pages, and collected significant numbers of memorabilia in a variety of formats to create the Jerry Falwell Library Archives and Special Collections. The assortment is proof of the university’s mission and allows anyone to follow the story of founder Jerry Falwell Sr.’s vision as it came to fruition.

The archive collection proved invaluable as Liberty prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary in the 2021-22 school year. Sattler was able to verify historical information for the anniversary website (Liberty.edu/50) and for a special display on the library’s digital media wall. She served as a source for those exploring the university’s history for anniversary-related projects.

A memorabilia exhibit from Liberty’s history located in the Archives. (Photo by Joel Coleman)

“What Falwell Sr. accomplished was pretty incredible in every way,” Sattler said. “Only a strong faith in God could have led him to boldly start a small Baptist college in 1971 with only 154 students, and that same faith led to a now realized vision of it developing into a world-class university that trains students to live manifest their faith and serve the Lord in various vocations. At the Archives, we want to do our part to embrace and honor this mission by making available to the public documents that trace the history of the university and the ministries This can help us maintain our fundamental roots as we grow and progress as an institution.

The library archives, open to the public, are located on the terrace level of the Jerry Falwell Library. In the Archives Reading Room, visitors can peruse yearbooks, editions of the school newspaper or magazine, and many fascinating documents, such as Falwell Sr.’s notes that he took in preparation for a interview with Ronald Reagan in 1980 just before the presidential election. . There are also records from the Conservative Caucus, the Moral Majority (led by Falwell), and the Thomas Road Baptist Church (where Falwell was senior pastor). Visitors will find treasures as diverse as Liberty sports memorabilia – game books, team stats, schedules, and more. – and other unique items, such as a rare porcelain set bearing the name and logo of Liberty Baptist College (pictured above), the university’s name from 1974 to 1985. Protection for these items is a priority, with many books being placed in custom acid-free boxes and stored in the library’s temperature- and humidity-controlled robotic retrieval system.

Programs and other collectables from the Moral Majority, led by Dr. Falwell. (Photo by Joel Coleman)

The archives also include several audio and video recordings. Visitors can play anything from an LP to CD or VHS to DVD and listen to sermons by Falwell Sr., recordings of college bands or other Christian artists, the video-recorded lessons of Distance Learning Courses (Liberty’s online program predecessor), and Suite.

Several historical resources are publicly available online at Liberty.edu/Library/Archives. Many items from the physical collection have been digitized and uploaded to the site; most are searchable in full text. Select media recordings have also been digitized, including all of Falwell Sr.’s “Old Time Gospel Hour” sermons as well as oral histories of the university told by alumni, staff, and administrators. The collection includes interviews with Liberty co-founder Dr. Elmer Towns, Flames Baseball and MLB alumnus and player Sid Bream, and legendary Bible scholar and teacher Harold Willmington, among many others. There is also a series of veterans who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.

A volume of The Hexaglot Bible (Photo by Joel Coleman)

Beyond the university’s own materials, there is an ongoing effort in the Special Collections section of the Archives to collect hymns, Bibles, and Sunday School lessons from throughout history, some in different languages. . The collection includes a hymn from 1779, an apostolic history book from 1672 and a volume of the Hexaglot Bible with six languages ​​printed in parallel – English, Hebrew, German, French, Greek and Latin. A page from an original 1611 King James Bible is loaned to the Archives and displayed on a wall in the reading room.

The Archives has also amassed a collection of Christian fiction as well as pieces of secular literary history, such as a first edition of Agatha Christie’s novel “The Mystery of the Blue Train” and an original 1891 copy of The Strand Magazine with a history of Sherlock Holmes inside. . Letters and other documents from historical figures can also be found, such as an 1844 letter from Samuel Morse to “the Honorable First Auditor of the Treasury”.

University archivist Abigail Sattler holds an original Strand magazine from 1891, the first publication to feature Sherlock Holmes short stories. (Photo by Joel Coleman)

As an alumnus of Liberty herself, Sattler said she enjoyed collecting and sharing LU’s story. She holds a master’s degree in information science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and is certified as a Digital Archives Specialist by the Society of American Archivists.

“My idea of ​​a good time is to take a random box of papers and organize it, figure out where they came from and where they need to go,” she said. “My family worked at Liberty, I went to Liberty and I think the people here are the best, so it’s really not hard to get involved in the history of the university.”

Sattler understands the importance of his role in preserving LU’s history for future generations.

“These materials can serve as an inspiration to our students as they seek to boldly serve the Lord by setting grand goals, just as Falwell Sr. did.”

Enter for a chance to win a wireless turntable with Bluetooth

By
James I. Wise
-
0

CONTEST: Enter for a chance to win an ION Air LP wireless turntable with Bluetooth




It’s time to collect those dusty vinyl records that are taking up space in your closet/basement/attic/bedroom and actually to play them – after all, they are so much more than just eye candy. If you don’t have a turntable, you might feel a bit…lost.

Enter our new giveaway! One (1) lucky winner will receive a ION Air LP Wireless Record Player with Bluetooth, and will be able to play all their favorite albums on wax. (The turntable is also available in our Rock Cellar store, on sale now — click here).

New and existing Rock Cellar subscribers, enter the contest by joining the Rock Cellar community below – and good luck!

**Note: By entering this contest, you consent to being subscribed to the Rock Cellar Get Up to Speed ​​newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Stay tuned for more news about more giveaways coming soon! **

Please note that entry is limited to one entry per email address – if you see a “value must be unique” message, it means you are already registered.

This little baby is soft, versatile and highly rated by consumer reviews!

Here are some more details about this ION Air LP wireless streaming turntable with Bluetooth, according to its official item description:

With this Ion Air LP turntable, you can stream your records wirelessly to any Bluetooth speaker! Free yourself from the restriction of bulky patch cables. Put Air LP where it’s convenient for you and place your Bluetooth speaker where it sounds best – sound is transmitted wirelessly and your days of fumbling with patch cables are finally over. Air LP is a complete turntable that gets the most out of your records and gives you endless possibilities for enjoyment. It reads 33 1/3, 45 and 78 rpm discs. A quiet belt drive system combines with auto shut-off for convenient operation. A 1/8″ (3.5mm) auxiliary input lets you connect other gear and also wirelessly transmit that sound to the Bluetooth speaker. Air LP comes with our EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter software which converts recordings to digital files when you connect Air LP to any computer with the included USB cable.A hinged protective cover completes the package.

FEATURES

Belt-driven turntable features a convenient auto-stop
Reads and converts 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM records
RCA outputs for connection to a stereo system
1/8″ (3.5mm) auxiliary input lets you connect other gear
Equipment connected to the auxiliary input is also streamed wirelessly
EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter software converts analog material to digital files via USB
45 RPM adapter, felt mat, aux and RCA cables included
Headphone output for private listening

THE PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Air PL
AC adapter
Protective cover
USB cable
RCA cable
1/8″ (3.5mm) auxiliary cable
45 rpm adapter
Felt Felt
Software CD
Quick Start Guide
Safety and Warranty Manual

Contest open to residents of the continental United States only. The contest begins on September 20, 2022 and ends on November 1, 2022. The winner will be selected at random. The winner will be contacted by email. By participating, you confirm that you are over the age of 18 and agree to these terms of use. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Giveaway has no affiliation with ION Audio. Thanks for coming in!

For full terms/conditions click here




The “last floppy disk company” still has about 4 years of life • The Register

By
James I. Wise
-
0

Floppy disks may have gone the way of the dodo and joined other defunct media such as punch cards and paper tape, but some people apparently still use them, and one company even continues to sell them.

Floppydisk.com is an American company specializing in the sale and recycling of floppy disks, and its founder, Tom Persky, describes himself as the “last man standing in the floppy disk business”. The company, which has been around for decades, provides other services such as disk-based data transfers, including CD and DVD duplication, but most of its revenue apparently comes from the sale of blank floppy disks.

Persky features in a recently published book, Floppy Disk Fever: Curious Legacy of Flexible Mediawhich examines how the venerable storage medium continues to be used for certain purposes, even though Sony, the last company to make new floppy disk media, ceased production over a decade ago.

But who on Earth still uses floppy disks? According to Persky, there are industrial equipment using machines that require floppy disks. (This writer remembers visiting a university that had lab equipment that still booted from an 8-inch floppy disk.)

Only last month, it was reported that the Japanese government had to change some laws because it still requires the use of floppy disks and CD-ROM media when sharing data with many government departments.

The airline industry is also a big customer, says Persky in a interview from the book. “Probably half of the airline fleet in the world today is over 20 years old and still uses floppy disks in some of the avionics,” he said.

Some medical equipment in the healthcare industry still requires floppy disks to transfer data, but the biggest customer would be the embroidery industry as there are a large number of embroidery machines still in use that were designed to load designs from from floppy disks.

Other customers include hobbyists, who typically wish to purchase 10, 20, or 50 floppy disks at a time, which may or may not include those involved in projects such as the Floppotron hardware orchestra.

While no one makes the media anymore, Floppydisk.com invested in a large amount – “a few million discs”, according to Persky – when production ended. Since then, the company has lived on this inventory, but is sometimes contacted by organizations that empty warehouses and discover pallets full of diskettes.

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The company now has around half a million discs in stock, comprising various formats including 3.5-inch, 5.25-inch and 8-inch types, as well as “a few rather rare floppy disks”. These are unspecified, but there were other formats available in the past, such as the 3-inch floppy disks used by Amstrad in the UK for its CPC home computers and PCW desktop systems.

The writing must be on the wall for the venerable floppy disk as software support is being phased out and the supply dries up. However, Persky said he expects his business to be in business for at least four years. ®

Released: RetroFlow-Launcher 4.0 for PS Vita

By
James I. Wise
-
0

Developer jimbob4000 released RetroFlow-Launcher 4.0. This new version adds Flycast support for Dreamcast games, as well as quality of life improvements.

RetroFlow-Launcher is a nice little GUI to browse and launch your Retro games on the PS Vita, and is originally a fork of VitaHEX’s HexFlow-Launcher.

What is RetroFlow-Launcher for PS Vita

If you need a nice GUI to browse and run your retro games on the PS Vita, RetroFlow-Launcher is for you. From the readme file:

This is a modified version of HexFlow Launcher; a 3d coverflow like launcher for PS Vita.

This version includes categories of retro games that can be launched without bubbles for RetroArch, DaedalusX64 and Flycast. Playstation and PSP games can also be launched without having to create bubbles for each game!

This version also has categories for favorites and recently played games.

Display and launch your retro and homebrew games in style.
RetroFlow Launcher features a 3D UI to display your games with their box artwork and supports lots of customization options like custom covers and backgrounds.

Launch a game or application from RetroFlow Launcher will close the launcher automatically without asking.

Supported systems:

PS Vita, PSP, Playstation, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Game Boy, Sega Dreamcast, Sega CD, Sega 32X, Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, PC Engine, PC Engine CD, TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx-CD, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, MSX, MSX2, ZX Spectrum, Atari Lynx, Atari 600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, Vectrex , FBA 2012, MAME 2003 Plus, MAME 2000, Neo Geo (FBA 2012) and Neo Geo Pocket Color.

RetroFlow 4.0 – What’s New

New features

  • Dreamcast category added (Flycast must be installed).
  • Change ROM Folders – Go to “Scan Settings” then “Change Game Directories” to change the path to game folders. You can select your folder using the new built-in file browser.
  • Rename games – Press triangle then square on the game. (The file is unchanged, the name is only changed in the application).
  • Rescan function – Added to “Scan settings” menu. Now you can search for new games without restarting the app.

Improvements

  • Replacing games is much faster.
  • Downloading Individual Covers – The cover now updates instantly if found.
  • Bulk upload of covers and snaps in the settings menu – Faster; it now only downloads missing images.
  • Better adrenaline bubble detection using titles. Bubbles are not imported into RetroFlow because iso or eboot is used.
  • Fixed file size information for games using cue files (directory size is now used).

Download and install RetroFlow-Launcher

You can download RetroFlow-Launcher from the project github here.

Reminder: you will need a hacked PS Vita to run this homebrew GUI and the underlying games.

Facility

1. Install RetroFlow VPKs.

Install the latest version of RetroFlow and additional VPK of RetroFlow adrenaline launcher from here.

‘RetroFlow Launcher’ is the application you will use to browse games. ‘RetroFlow Adrenaline launcher’ is required to launch Playstation and PSP games.

2. Rename your PSP games by following the steps below.

Renaming is necessary for coverage matching. RetroFlow will look for a title ID in the filename.

Windows users:

Please rename the PSP ISO and CSO files using Leecherman’s PSP ISO Renamer tool using the following settings:

The result should look like this (please note the square brackets):

Cars 2 (US) [UCUS-98766].iso

Games can also be named with just the title ID like this: “UCUS98766.iso” but this is not recommended.

Mac users:

See the FAQ section for a guide on changing the name on a mac.

More information about PSP and Playstation after the FAQ section.

3. Check that your PS1 and PSP are in the correct folders

PS1 and PSP games with eboot files must be registered here:

PSP ISO and CSO games should be saved here:

uma0 can also be used.

4. Add your retro games to RetroFlow

Option 1 – Use default folders: Launch RetroFlow for the first time, RetroFlow will create the folders where you can save your games.

When loading is complete; close RetroFlow and copy your favorite retro games to the corresponding subfolders below:

ux0:/data/RetroFlow/ROMS/

For PC Engine CD and TurboGrafx-CD, RetroFlow will search for “.cue” files for those CD systems. Please make sure all games are loose with system rom folder with .cue files.

For Dreamcast, both ‘.gdi’ and ‘.cdi’ games are supported.

Option 2 – Use your own game folders: If you don’t want to save your games in the RetroFlow data folder, you can use your own directories.

Go to “Scan settings” then “Change game directories” to change the path to game folders.

Once you’re done, select “Rescan” to find the games.

Point: It is important that your roms are named using the file naming convention with no intro, for example “Game Name (USA)”, otherwise the cover images will not be found.

5. Rescan to find your games

Press “Start” and navigate to “Scan Settings”, then select “Rescan”. Your retro games should now appear when you restart the app. “Startup scan” can be disabled once you are done adding your games, the app will start faster when disabled.

6. Download covers and backgrounds

To download cover images, tap Start, then choose the covers or backgrounds you want to download.

ABBA’s “Slipping Through My Fingers”

By
James I. Wise
-
0

“Slipping Through My Fingers”, from ABBA’s album Visitors, is an indie-meets-folk-pop song that is anything but unknown. Having garnered hundreds of millions of streams, forming multiple TikTok trends, and hailing from one of pop’s most well-known groups, the song is definitely well-loved. Yet the song means more to me than just background music or a catchy melody. When I listen to this song, I can’t help but think of my parents and how they must be feeling now: how, for the first time in 23 years, their two children walked out of the house, when the silence now covers the walls, flowing from the melancholy ceilings. The song is about a mother’s realization of how quickly her daughter is growing up as she prepares for school – how she wishes to reach out and grab what is left of her daughter’s childhood and hold her close to his heart forever, but she can’t. The song reminds me of my own parents, but more specifically my father. Maybe it’s because my mom has always been more vocal about how she feels about us leaving. Maybe it’s because I never thought to ask myself how my father felt. Or maybe it’s just because he’s an ABBA fan. But whatever the reason, for those three minutes and 53 seconds, I can’t stop thinking about my dad and my relationship.

My dad never shared a lot of the music he listened to with us. For as long as I can remember, a silence during our car rides was averted by blasting out all the artists my brother and I had settled on at the time. It all started with the “Barney & Friends” soundtrack. Over time, we went from listening to Hannah Montana to listening to Nicki Minaj, before finally moving on to Faye Webster. My father didn’t complain too much about not having aux. He did, however, comment and criticize every song we played. He would praise my brother’s choice of Kanye West 808 and heartache album until he focused on the lyrics, when he criticized both the explicit nature of the song and us for choosing to listen to it. Other times he drummed forcefully on the steering wheel, missing every beat by a second, overpowering the sound of the actual beat when Selena Gomez & the Scene was on. Occasionally he would nod his head or gently pat his leg, making a crinkling noise from the fabric of his shorts, when I played Katy Perry. He would compliment Taylor Swift’s sweetness too much Folklore and asking him if this was his new album he heard about on the news and complaining about the volume of Icona Pop’s “I Love It” every time I played it in elementary school. But every once in a while he would line up for some Bon Jovi and ABBA, a Michael Jackson CD or some Tamil CDs of a movie he had made us watch many times and refused to change it no matter how much we begged him, pushing our hands away every time we tried to reach for his phone or the CD eject button. We complained, even more than he would about our music. To us, his music was antiquated, older than the second-hand dresser that sat in the guest bedroom my parents bought when they first moved to America. It’s older than the striped green Toyota Camry that sat for years in front of our house with broken brakes and an awfully loud engine that my dad somehow refuses to get rid of, and older than my mother’s collection of crumpled sarees that haven’t been worn in over 25 years, neatly tucked away in broken suitcases that smell of faded mothballs on top of my mother’s closet. It was old, and I, at seven, hated every second of it.

I can’t remember the first time I heard the song. I can’t remember if it was one of the few ABBA songs my dad played on a road trip, if it was on the way home after he picked me up from school. elementary school or if it was a song I stumbled upon on one of my long nights of building playlists, while searching my entire recommended Spotify for the perfect song to fall asleep to. But I remember the first time it meant anything.

I was sitting in my dad’s makeshift office that he first built for my brother and I to do our homework next to him while he worked. My father was cleaning and reorganizing the office, which had spent the last year with almost as much clutter as some of the houses in “Hoarders”. In the back corner of the room, above a huge roll of orange yarn too heavy for me to pick up, was the new vinyl player my brother and I had bought him for Christmas, which he had just to fix to the wall. It was mounted in the perfect spot as it covered all the imperfections in the faded sky blue wall that was painted with the remnants of my brother’s room. I was too afraid of breaking it to play anything. I think he was as scared as I was since he rushed over to show me how to turn it on. As you might guess by the title, “Slipping Through My Fingers” played. And while I’d heard the song a million times, I pretended it was the first, which I did with many songs my dad showed me recently.

The melody cools my skin, freezing it from the heat of the desk and the heat of the socket to which the record player and speaker are connected. It’s light and airy as if the second the fan swung towards me, I could float above the stale air of the office basement and into a blue sky, much darker but less faded than the old paint on the walls. But something comes out of the white carpet beneath me and tugs at my leg, slowly but still fast enough that I have no choice but to sink into it. The lyrics and the pain in the singers’ voices fill my heart with a heavy sorrow, too heavy to float in the carefree air. So I just stand there, half leaning on the table where I grew up writing spelling words next to my dad because my knees are too weak to stand as they flex slightly hearing the first note. The song consumes me, gnaws at me steadily, but not in the way that I can lose myself in the words or melt into the melody, but where the pain in its voice twists my body, twisting it until every drop of reality flows. , enough to get lost in my bittersweet memories. Where my body uses all the energy it has to fight it off and pull me back into the study, but subconsciously refuses the comfort the bittersweet memories bring.

And seconds into the song, I’m transported beneath my pink and purple cheetah print sheets that defined my elementary and middle school experience, where I got mad at my dad as he wiped a tiny little warm water on my face. to wake me up for school even though he was late for work. I’m now sitting in the backseat of the green Camry as it pulls up a few blocks before my elementary school and refuses to drop me off until I’ve finished breakfast which I didn’t touch . I now help him build countless IKEA furniture sets for the home because he lets me drill a nail or two. I cry at the entrance to the airport saying goodbye to him as we leave for India while he stays home to work. We choose paint colors at Walmart for my bedroom which he has repainted too many times since my favorite color changed every year. I pose for the hundreds of pictures he takes of me every time I try to leave the house wearing anything other than old pajamas. He slips packed food into my backpack to take it back to my college apartment because my parents don’t want me to worry about cooking and not eating enough. He helps me memorize my multiplication tables, then years later he helps me draw my physics diagrams, which he studied just so he could help me. He paints my nails because I can’t get the designs right and asks to do my hair or choose my outfit for the day (usually sarcastic to point out that he thinks his style is better than mine). And he constantly drives to Ann Arbor and back just so he and my mom can see me every weekend.

And after three minutes and 53 seconds, I can tear myself away from this now dark and watery place, but a part of me still remains there and always will, just like the residue of every command hook I have tried to tear from my apartment neatly, as the packaging promises, remains partly stuck to the wall for years. Where a part of me will never recover from the painful but oddly comforting experience. But it’s also a reminder that my father is more than my father. With every song he plays for me, I learn a new part of him. And because of that, I ask him to choose the music for our car rides to Ann Arbor, and every song means something. This is where he can choose a song and tell me about its meaning in his life or what the words mean to him. Where I can learn that the first English song he ever heard was surprisingly “Rasputin”, by Boney M., or that he likes the soundtrack of “Grease”, or how he likes “Bee Movie” because it contains “Here Comes the Sun”. “He’s a man with a whole life ahead of my brother and me and even my mum, and sometimes I forget that. And with music being such a big part of my life, being a way I feel and communicate, there’s no better way for us to bond. And since he has spent over 18 years listening to the music I have chosen, I will do the same. So when he plays me another song I’ve heard hundreds of times, I’ll pretend it’s the first.

MiC columnist Roshni Mohan can be reached at [email protected].

Osteogenesis in human periodontal ligament stem cell sheets is enhanced by protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) in vivo

By
James I. Wise
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0

We confirm that all methods have been carried out in accordance with ARRIVE guidelines and relevant guidelines and regulations.

Ethics statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and ethics committee approval from the Ethics Committee Review Board of the University of São Paulo School of Dentistry (protocol number FO-USP 029/2018) was obtained prior to collection of the patient’s teeth at the hospital. clinic of the School of Dentistry of the University of São Paulo (FO-USP). The use of Balb/c nude mice in this research has also been approved by the Board of Directors of the Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals (CEUA) of the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Sao Paulo ( IQ-USP) under protocol number 98/2018.

Cell isolation

Periodontal ligament stem cells were harvested from third molars of 3 systemically healthy individuals (I1, I2, and I3—18-30 years old). The inclusion criteria were: partially or totally erupting third molars and absence of periodontal disease.

Periodontal ligament tissue samples were obtained by scaling the middle third of the root and PDLSCs were isolated using the explant technique12.48 in alpha-modified Eagle’s medium (α-MEM) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA), 100 μg/mL penicillin , 100 μg/mL streptomycin and 0.5 mg/mL amphotericin B (Gibco, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, USA) at 37°C in an atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% humidityseven. After 14 days, cells from the explants reached 70% confluence and PDLSC populations were used at passage 4 for all experiments.

Characterization of pluripotency

In order to identify the mesenchymal stem cell phenotype, approximately 5 × 105 PDLSCs were incubated in 5% bovine serum albumin (BSA)/phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (Gibco, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, USA) 1 × at 4°C in the dark for 1 h with the following monoclonal antibodies: PAR1-FITC (Abcam, Cambridge, UK), OCT4-FITC (Abcam, Cambridge, UK), SOX2-FITC (Abcam, Cambridge, UK), STRO-1-FITC (Abcam, Cambridge, UK Uni), CD14-FITC (eBioscience, San Diego, USA), CD90-FITC (eBioscience, San Diego, USA), CD31-PE (eBioscience, San Diego, USA), CD-44-PE (eBioscience, San Diego, USA), CD34-FITC (Biolegend, San Diego, USA) and CD146-PE (Biolegend, San Diego, USA) for 30 min at 4°C. An uncolored witness was used to define the gates. A total of 10-50,000 events were recorded and the data analyzed via FlowJo (Becton Dickinson, Oregon, USA).

Cell sheet culture and experimental design

PDLSC at 1×106 cells/cm2 were seeded in 100 mm plates for 24 h with α-MEM (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) supplemented with 10% FBS (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) and 50 μg/mL vitamin C to induce cell sheet formation, as previously describedseven. Subsequently, cell sheets were assigned to one of the following experimental groups: (1) control medium (CTRL) composed of α-MEM (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) supplemented with 10% FBS (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) and 50 μg/mL vitamin C (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA); (2) osteogenic medium (OST) (CTRL + 100 nM dexamethasone, 5 mM b-glycerophosphate and 50 µg/ml ascorbic acid (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) and (3) osteogenic medium with the addition of BY1 agonist peptide (100 nM TFLLR-NH2) (Tocris Bioscience Inc., Bristol, UK) (OST + PAR1). The culture medium was changed every 3 days for 14 days.

Alizarin red staining

I2 PDLSCs were seeded in 6-well plates (5 × 104 cells/cm2), in triplicate. After processing with CTRL, OST and OST + PAR1 groups for 14 days, cell sheets were washed with 1 × PBS (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA), fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 15 min at room temperature ( TA), washed with 1 × PBS (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) and incubated with a stirred solution of 2% Alizarin Red S (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) in PBS (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis , USA) (pH 4.2) (A5533) for 30 min at RT. For qualitative and macroscopic analysis, images were acquired using a CDD microscope camera (D7000, Nikon, Minato, Japan). For quantitative analysis, 10% ammonium hydroxide solution (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) was used to dilute the calcium deposits and a spectrophotometer (Biotek, Winooski, USA) was used to measure the absorbance at 405 nm. The quantification of ARS was calculated using a standard curve.

Characterization of the cell sheet

Scanning electron microscopy

Cell sheets at 14 days of treatment were fixed with Karnovsky’s solution (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA) for 24 h. After this period, post-fixation was performed with osmium tetroxide (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 2 h and dehydration, passing the material through an increasing series of alcohol (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, USA) from 70 to 100%. The samples were then dried under critical point conditions and sputtered gold coated. Observations were then made using a scanning electron microscope (S-4800; Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan).

Histological profile

Hematoxylin and eosin (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) staining of cell sheets was also performed. Briefly, after detachment and fixation in 4% paraformaldehyde (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 24 h, specimens were embedded in paraffin and sectioned at 4 µm thickness. After the sectioning process, the histological specimens were placed in a 50°C water bath and captured on a histological slide and stored in a 65°C oven for 12 h to allow removal of paraffin remnants. Sequentially, the paraffin removal dehydration protocol was completed using a sequence of solutions of xylol (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) and alcohol (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) and specimens underwent routine H&E staining according to manufacturer’s guidelines.

Ectopic bone formation assays

Bone formation in vivo was assessed using transplantation of cell sheets pre-incubated with the experimental groups described above. At 14 days of incubation, the cell sheets were detached using a cell scraper (Corning, New York, USA), folded 4 times to acquire a cylindrical shape and each Balb/c nude mouse aged 6 weeks received 2 back grafts from the same experiment. group, bilaterally. A total of 25 mice were divided into the groups as follows: 11 (OST + PAR1), 11 (OST) and 3 (CTRL). After 60 days, mice were euthanized and subcutaneous samples were collected and processed for analysis described below.

Computerized microtomography

After fixation, only the subcutaneous sample from the left side of each animal was scanned using a micro-CT system (Skyscan 1176, Bruker Biospin, Billerica, USA) with the following acquisition parameters: 45 kV, 8.71 μm resolution and 550 μA. The data obtained were processed, reconstructed into three-dimensional images using reconstruction software (NRecon, Micro Photonics, Allentown, USA) and analyzed using system software (CTAn, Bruker Biospin, Billerica, USA).

Immunohistochemistry and histological analysis

Histological procedures were performed as previously described. H&E, Trichrome de Masson, Van Gieson and Von Kossa stains (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) were performed according to the manufacturer’s protocol. For immunohistochemical analysis, after fixation in a 4% paraformaldehyde solution in PBS for 30 min, samples were embedded in paraffin and sectioned at 20 µm. Sections were subjected to deparaffinization, rehydration and permeabilized with 0.2% Triton X-100 (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 10 min. Next, sections were blocked in 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 10 min, followed by antigen retrieval with 10% citrate buffer ( Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for 15 min and blocking in 5% BSA (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, USA) for another 30 min. Then, exposure to specific primary antibodies was performed for: integrin β1 – AB52971 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK), type I collagen – AB34710 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and BSP – AB8448 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK). Slides were then incubated with secondary conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody – AB205718 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) followed by incubation of avidin-biotin complex (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) for 30 min. . Diaminobenzidine (DAB) solution (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) was applied every 2 min and the reaction observed under the microscope. Specimens were dehydrated, cleaned and mounted. Images of the specimens were obtained with an optical microscope (E600, Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) and three images of each sample were acquired and quantified using the J-frame (NIH, Bethesda, USA).

statistical analyzes

Experiments were performed in triplicate and data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Data were analyzed based on the comparison between the experimental group (OST + PAR1) with osteogenic control group (OST) and control group (CTRL). A one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test was used. A meaning P-value of 0.05 was established for all tests and data analysis was performed (GraphPad Prism™ Version 6.0c, La Jolla, USA).

Small Lions tower over Mtn. lions | News, Sports, Jobs

By
James I. Wise
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0

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Altoona Bron Mosley turns the corner against State College’s Will Stone on Friday night.

When he wins the toss, Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer usually likes to pick up the ball and build early momentum, but the strategy didn’t work Friday night against State College.

The Little Lions quickly turned an undefeated battle into a one-sided rout in the blink of an eye for a 55-14 win at Mansion Park. The mercy rule went into effect with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

“A lot of times we start the game with the football, and normally we were able to, if not score, get a few first tries,” Nedimyer said. “We weren’t able to get into any kind of groove, and the reason we couldn’t was because of them. Congratulations to them. They have a good team. »

The teams could possibly meet again in the District 6 playoffs.

“You really want to win your (games with) the opponents from District 6”, said state coach Matt Lintal. “You never know if we’ll see them again, so try to make sure we leave the pitch knowing we were the best team here tonight.”

Game of the game: As the final seconds of the first half ticked away, State College quarterback Finn Furmanek rolled left and threw himself into a crowded end zone for the receiver of Little Lion Michael Gaul invents it – despite the pass interference called on the play. The 35-yard touchdown gave the Little Lions a 35-7 lead.

Player of the Game: State freshman running back D’Antae Sheffy carried 13 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Best run: After Altoona cut State College’s lead to 21-7, Sheffey ran 60 yards for a touchdown with 6:57 left in the second quarter.

Lintal on Sheffy: “D’Antae is special. We are really proud of him. Obviously, he’s very talented, but most importantly, he’s very humble, has a great work ethic and his football IQ is really high for a youngster. He can make games on the fly.

Best catch(es): Besides Gaul’s touchdown, State’s Donte Nastasi made a 30-yard juggle that set up Sheffy’s 60-yard juking TD, and the second student of Altoona’s Mark Harrington hit a fingertip snag on a 34-yard Brennen Freiwald yard in the third quarter.

Welcome back to basics: Furmanek and Nastasi have deep roots in Blair County. Furmanek’s grandfather is Bishop Guilfoyle’s former coach, Tom Irwin, and Nastasi’s grandfather, Joe, was a coach at Northern Bedford and later as an assistant at Altoona.

Furmanek, who completed 6 of 8 for 83 yards, rushed for another 37 and had three touchdowns: “I’m glad I came and I’m glad there are so many of my family here – my grandparents, uncles, aunts. I always remember coming to Mansion Park for the Bishop Guilfoyle games, and I always wanted to be here and play.

Nastasi, who caught six passes for 70 yards: “My teammates really got me excited, and I love that.”

Unsung Hero(es): The State’s Offensive and Defensive Lines.

Statistically speaking: State College racked up 16 first downs in the first half.

Near-perfect: State College kicked once and committed a penalty – both occurring late in the game.

Nedimyer on the slow start: “We didn’t tackle well and we didn’t adjust well. They played with more effort than us. They came here a little more excited than us, and that was the biggest disappointment. And it’s my fault for not preparing the children. We’ll go back to the drawing board.

Lintal on the game as you practice: “Our coaches did a great job preparing us for the triple option. I couldn’t be prouder of our coaches and their kids for their preparation. We had a great week of training and it showed.

Lintal point plug: “Vince is doing a great job and they will only get better. Lots of respect for Altoona.

Take the initiative early: “They can eat a lot of clock with the offense they run, so being able to get the first two touchdowns on the board was huge,” Linthal said. “Then they feel like they’re catching up, and that takes them out of their game a bit.”

Records: Altoona (3-1), State College (4-0)

Next week: Altoona visits Central Dauphin East; State College hosts Central Dauphin. Both games are Friday.

Nedimyer’s rebound mindset: “We have CD (East) next week, so it doesn’t get easier week by week. Much like our first three wins, we can’t be so excited about these. We can’t dwell on that. Obviously it was very unbalanced, but I’m confident in our kids and our coaches that we’ll be back on Monday and ready to go.

Notes: Freiwald hit Jimiere Hardison for 57 yards to set up Altoona’s first touchdown, a 5-yard run by Alex Yost…Colin Hite scored the Lions’ other TD on a 15-yard sweep…Branson Adams intercepted a passes for the Lions in the second quarter … Nastasi wears No. 21 – the same number his father, Joe, wore at Penn State; Joe is an assistant coach on the SC staff…Altoona freshman Julian Hazelwood returned a second-quarter kickoff 30 years…Altoona’s honorary captain was the former teacher of Altoona, Dawn Morden, who passed away in June. Morden founded the Brian Morden Foundation which is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for cancer research.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

State College 14 21 13 7 — 55

Altoona 0 7 7 0 — 14

first quarter

SC – Furmanek 1 run (Kaszubowski kick), 7:48

Race SC – Sheffy 17 (Kaszubowski kick), 3:43

second quarter

SC – Furmanek 1 run (Kaszubowski kick), 8:59

A–Yost 5 run (Palilla kick) 7:45

Race SC – Sheffy 60 (Kaszubowski kick), 6:57

SC – Gaul 35 Furmanek pass (Kaszubowski kick), 0:00

Third quarter

Race SC – Yerka 2 (Kaszubowski kick), 5:22

A–Hite 15 run (Palilla kick), 1:30

Race SC – Wall 43 (missed kick), 0:11

Fourth trimester

SC – Wilson 15 run (Zipf kick), 4:25

SC A TEAM STATS

First attempts 23 11

Total yards 388,172

Rush-yards 34-266 37-112

Passing yards 122 60

Assists (comp-attack-int) 10-14-122 3-5-94

Punts-avg. 1-35.0 6-21.0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 1-15 5-18

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–State College, Sheffy 13-125, Wall 6-53, Furmanek 6-37, Yerka 5-38, Scourtis 1-4, Nastasi 1-2, Stone 2-(-3). Altoona, Freiwald 10-30, Seward 3-22, Patterson 4-18, Hite 2-15, Yost 6-9, Emeigh-Ballos 1-7, Reid 2-5, Hardison 1-5, Dunkle 1-4, Mosley 2-3, Jackson-Shepard 3-1, LaRocco 2-(-7).

PASSAGE–State College, Furmanek 6-8-83, Yerka 4-6-39. Altoona, Freiwald 3-5-94.

RECEPTION–State College, Nastasi 6-70, Gaul 2-23, Scourtis 2-29, Altoona, Hardison 1-57, Harrington 1-34, Reid 1-3.



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Take a tour of this classic 90s AMD desktop PC with Gordon

By
James I. Wise
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0

If you’re too young to remember playing the original Pokémon, you’re probably too young to remember the first generation of ATX tower PC cases and motherboards. For a walk through personal computer history, watch the latest video on PCWorld’s YouTube channel. Gordon has found a state-of-the-art AMD K6-2 system in an InWin A500 case, and he’s giving a history lesson to all of us who can’t remember what computers looked like back then.

There are many differences between the original ATX machines and modern desktop computers. Everything works on a socket that could take AMD, Intel and Cyrix CPUs that didn’t even need a dedicated power rail. The CD-ROM drive had dedicated analog audio lines running on the motherboard. The system uses a single 256-megabyte SDRAM module (and that was roomy enough for the day). Although there is no hard drive in this dinosaur, if there was, it would be connected to huge parallel ATA ribbon cables. Just be sure to disconnect them before using the convenient sliding motherboard tray.

Want to overclock the 350 megahertz single-core processor? Don’t dig into the BIOS for voltage settings. These are controlled via dedicated jumper pins and blockers on the motherboard itself. These are physical connections, manual open and close circuits that controlled CPU voltage, with a table of supported voltages and outputs printed directly on the PCB!

But it’s in the extension area of ​​the board that things get really interesting. The base model of this PC was quite limited, so it had five, count them, five expansion cards, on three different types of connections. A somewhat underpowered SIS 6326 video card was plugged into the accelerated graphics port, which allowed some PCs to share video memory between the graphics card and the main system. No retention clips needed – these cards were light enough not to need them.

The PCI slots (not “Express”) house a 100 megabit Ethernet card and a dial-up modem built into an internal card, so you plugged the phone line directly into the computer. Two other cards are plugged into very old ISA slots, which were compatible with computers released as early as 1981. The cards are a somewhat standard SoundBlaster sound card (note the game controller connection!) and a SCSI expansion port or “scuzzy” for ZIP drives and other devices.

The motherboard’s main I/O panel includes separate PS/2 inputs for mouse and keyboard (forgive Adam for thinking “Playstation 2”, he was a Mac guy), two serial ports to 9-pin (compatible with some hardware dating back to the 1960s!) and an LPT-1 printer port. But it’s not just old technology: this PC was advanced enough to have two USB 1.0 ports, running at a blazing speed of 1.5 megabits per second.

What does Gordon plan to do with this museum piece? You’ll have to watch the video to find out. (It’s just before the 30-minute mark, if you’re impatient.) But let’s just say, you won’t want to miss how he uses it for the next video in this series. To be sure, subscribe to the PCWorld YouTube channel!

10 Best Steam Alternatives for PC Gaming

By
James I. Wise
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0

Steam is undoubtedly the most used platform for buying and downloading video games. It is reliable and well managed, and you can find almost any game you are looking for on this platform. However, there may be times when you want to spice things up and try some new platforms.

Whether your country has blocked access to Steam or you just don’t want to use it to download your games, you might not want to launch Steam for a variety of reasons. Steam also doesn’t typically offer discounts on many newer titles.

If so, there are different alternatives that will allow you to buy and download games even without having to access Steam.

Best Alternatives for Steam

Epic Games Store

Epic Games Store is probably the most popular online game store after Steam. It has games like Valorant and Fortnite, which are growing in popularity day by day, and it also offers several free games at regular intervals (one game per week). If for some reason you don’t want to use Steam or it’s blocked in your region, Epic Games might be the best choice for you.

Epic Games Store has a nice and clean user interface and has almost all popular games available on Steam except for some that are exclusive to Steam or other platforms. The price is also similar. And on top of that, it only takes a 12% reduction in publisher revenue. It also has a section for user reviews for each game, but developers have the option to disable it.

Epic Games Store is a good marketplace for developers and gamers. If you only play truly exclusive titles, the Epic Games Store might have a better alternative.

GOG.com

Officially known as “Good Old Gamers”, it’s owned by CD Projekt, the same company that brought you games like the Witcher franchise and Cyberpunk 2077. Their website isn’t fancy and it doesn’t have much games, especially new titles. However, they have a lot of retro games like Starcraft and Fallout. You will also find many discounts on games on this platform.

go

You can find video games and movies without digital rights management (DRM) here. In terms of privacy, GOG.com is better than Steam or any other digital marketplace because it doesn’t verify or authenticate the games you buy. You can simply pay for the game and download it through your browser. You also don’t need to install their client app to download the game.

Unlike Steam, you can store your games on external drives and even play offline. And since this platform is owned by CD Project, you can buy their games like Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 at very cheap prices. There are also game sales several times a week.

Ubisoft Login

Ubisoft Connect is a digital distribution and digital rights management (DRM) platform owned by Ubisoft. It was developed by Ubisoft with the aim of providing all of their games under one platform so that gamers can find and download their games without much hassle.

ubisoft login 1

They use their own launcher to launch the games, and you can find all of their games here, such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series. It also allows you to add your friends and follow each other’s progress and chat with each other. Ubisoft Connect offers video games exclusive to Ubisoft and not found on Steam, such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and other original titles.

It also has a feature called Ubisoft+, which is basically a subscription package that allows players to play all of their games on release day, as well as opt in to closed beta testing for upcoming games. It also allows you to import Ubisoft games that you have purchased from other platforms such as Steam or Epic Games Store.

The EA app

The EA app is Electronic Arts’ official digital store, where you can find all video games developed by EA Esports. If you are looking for a platform where you can find and buy EA games, there is no better platform than Origin.

EA App 2

It has its own launcher and features, which will allow you to chat with your game friends and join their games directly. It also has other features like cloud save, achievements and cross-platform services.

Users will also be able to subscribe to their subscription service, known as EA Play, so they can play their upcoming games sooner and participate in closed beta testing. EA Play also comes with a bunch of other premium features, like monthly rewards and game discounts, and upcoming game trials without purchase.

Battle.net

Battle.net is a digital platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment to provide easy access to its features and services to users. Here you can find all games and DLC developed by Blizzard Entertainment company. Blizzard’s most notable games are the World of Warcraft and Diablo series that you’ll be able to buy and download right away from a single platform.

battle net

It also offers other Battle.net exclusive games such as Overwatch, Starcraft franchise, Warcraft franchise, etc. You can also download and play Call of Duty: Warzone from this platform. It doesn’t have a large collection of games like Steam and its competitors, but the games on this platform are certainly popular and exclusive.

Like Steam, it provides its own social networking service and you can chat with your friends and join their games. It also has its own forum where you can ask different questions and get answers about them, and also get the latest news about your favorite games.

GamersGate

GamersGate is an online video game store where you can find and buy games from different developers and publishers. What sets GamersGate apart from its competitors is that it offers DRM-free games and also does not require a client application to download its games. You can directly download the games from their website after making a purchase.

player portal

GamersGate has a large collection of games from different publishers, and you can actually find games that aren’t listed on Steam. Of course, you can also add them later to their respective client’s library. GamersGate also offers game discounts from time to time. Even on games like Elden Ring, which has yet to receive a discount on Steam, you can usually find it for sale on GamersGate.

It has surprisingly clean and nice user interface with categories as well. There are separate categories for sales, top sellers as well as new games, so you won’t have to scour the entire site to find a game you’re looking for and end up buying a bunch of other games in the process.

green man game

This is another great website to buy games at a bargain price. It is also a web-based platform that offers DRM-free games, and you will be able to download them immediately after making a purchase. It offers games from multiple platforms such as PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, as well as various publishers.

green-man-gaming

It also offers different payment methods on games, so you don’t have to depend on Paypal or a credit card like on Steam. They have over 10,000 games on their websites, so you will be able to find almost every game available on Steam. Plus, every key they sell comes directly from the game’s publishers, so there’s a small chance you’ll get scammed.

Humble package

Humble Bundle is another digital storefront that offers a variety of games, software, and books to buy and download. It also uses web browsers as its main platform and does not require users to download their client application. You can directly buy games from their website and download them immediately after purchase.

humble package

It offers many games and software, including new AAA titles, on its store. They also sell games at a discount from time to time. Another notable thing about this website is that you can download different packs of the game and pay whatever price you want. They also work for the betterment of society by donating a portion of the sale to various charities.

G2A

G2A is a digital storefront that sells all kinds of electronics as well as video games. They also sell gift cards and software for all platforms. The best part of this website is that there are different sellers selling the same product at different prices, so you can choose the best price among them.

g2a

G2A’s products are also generally less expensive than those of its competitors. And everything is safe and legit as long as you buy from their official website, so there is a small chance of getting scammed as well. It is a good alternative to Steam, especially if you plan to buy different games and software on the same platform.

Fanatic

Fanatical is another web-based digital storefront that sells video games and bundles at a discount price to its users. It also allows you to buy these games using different payment options. Games are usually available at a discount on this website, which can be a good alternative to Steam, where you have to pay full price to download them.

fanatic

It does not provide its own launcher to run the game. However, once you purchase the games, you can easily integrate them into your Steam account and launch them from there. You can also buy other things like software and books from them at cheaper prices.

Where should I store my IaC?

By
James I. Wise
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0

The most successful software vendors rely on repeatability, auditability, and simplicity when building solutions. The emergence of infrastructure as code (IaC) has enabled developers to apply these infrastructure practices allocation. What are the best practices for storing IaC? Should IaC code be stored with the application and feature code? Should it be stored separately in its own application-specific repository? Or must all IaC code for all applications in an organization reside in the same repository?

Let’s explore these questions, determine the trade-offs between each solution, and create guidelines that take your organization’s needs into account.

The problem with IaC storage with feature code

The naive option for storing IaC is to keep all IaC code in the application repository that consumes that IaC code as part of its CI/CD pipeline. It’s easy to set up, doesn’t require complex permission assignment, and will fully visible developers working on this codebase, making it easier to retrieve context. This facility is the reason why 20% of developers surveyed say they always store feature code and IAC in the same repository. However, there are a number of issues with keeping IaC code together with function code.

Software development best practices include minimizing redundancy. Storing all IaC code in the dependent application’s codebase violates best practices by requiring that infrastructure-as-code not only contain application-specific allocation information, but also all of the basic infrastructure. Organizations can classify infrastructure shared between several applications and ecosystems as fundamental infrastructure. Examples of such a basic fundamental infrastructure include Kubernetes clusters and log storage accounts.

Also, storing the IaC code with the function code is risky. Allowing developers admin-level access to all the deployment scripts necessary to bring code to production violates the principle of least privilege and makes it easier for attackers to move laterally. successfully hack a developer account.

Organizations enjoy a degree of secrecy regarding their deployment processes; the deployment pipeline and its configurations are tailored, and attackers who have a map of the services used by an organization can more easily engineer supply chain attacks. Storing IaC with feature code makes a code leak reveal all CI/CD configurations not only for the application, but for the entire organization. The last thing an organization should do is perform recognition of an attacker for them, but that’s exactly what happens in the situation above.

Storing infrastructure as code with product code may be easier to set up initially, but violates the principle of least privilege and zero trust principles. This method of storing code introduces unnecessary risk – there has to be a better way.

Storing all IaC code together is not the solution

Since storing IaCs with feature code in a common repository is not the optimal solution, what about storing all IaCs in a dedicated IaC repository? This would allow DevOps and security teams to implement granular access controls and make code redundancy easily identifiable and avoidable. However, this organizational structure introduces its own problems.

When all IaCs are stored in a separate shared repository, it becomes difficult to match feature changes to IaC changes. This scenario introduces friction into development processes, slows developer velocity, and increases tension between development teams, DevOps teams, and security teams.

Storing all IaCs in a common repository gives developers virtually no control over security decisions affecting their workflows. Between the lack of ownership and the extra steps needed to modify code-specific deployment scripts, storing all IaCs together prevents developers from quickly changing IaCs and hurts the organization unnecessarily.

IaC falls into two categories: basic and feature-specific

IaC and other CI/CD scripts ultimately fall into two categories: base and function.

Basic deployment scripts can be described as code widely used by an organization for, among other things, routine deployment actions or to interface with shared resources. Separating this code allows organizations to assign core IaC ownership and maintenance responsibilities to their DevOps team, which is well suited for maintaining a shared infrastructure.

IaC feature scripts are the pieces of code used to provision and manage the resources associated with specific software. Developers frequently interact with deployment scripts related to their deliverables; changing release stages, changing gateways, updating server configurations, and many other needs require different management protocols for IaC versus base IaC.

Now that we understand the difference between functionality and basic IaC, we can define appropriate management strategies for each.

The Solution: A Hybrid Approach to IaC Storage

Best practices call for categorizing feature IaC and core IaC differently and dividing responsibilities between separate teams to maximize security without adding unnecessary friction to the development and release process. Basic IaC should be handled by DevOps teams, while feature-specific IaC should be handled by code owners of the managed software.

For your organization, it starts with inventorying the organization’s systems and services. Gaining visibility into how these resources are shared helps inform business decisions about IaC code storage, helping to minimize redundancy in deployment protocols. Visibility is integral to the definition of IaC which underlies the software deployed by the organization versus IaC which is specific to certain applications, libraries and other software deliverables.

Help DevSecOps teams manage IaC and more

Best practices mean little if organizations can’t apply them. A few concluding tips:

  • Track assets including registries, repositories, builds, and cloud/IaC deployments
  • Implement granular access controls, allowing appropriate allocations of ownership depending on whether the resource is intended to be shared or application-specific
  • Provide visibility into resource usage that enables organizations to adhere to principle of least privilege without adding unnecessary friction to the development process
  • Provide a asset inventory by integrating directly with your organization’s software supply chain components

These integrations allow for complex insights that simply aren’t possible with other security tools. Additionally, these integrations enable constant monitoring of security updates, reducing the time between zero-day discovery and vulnerability remediation.

On loss and finding a home

By
James I. Wise
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0

We went to the downtown library.

We’re still in Columbus until Friday afternoon, watching my friend’s dog, but we don’t have the money to do anything fun this time. We eat our meals at home and play a little in the yard. McFluff is actually hiding at Holly the Witch’s house because that dog is a squirrel dog that wouldn’t be a very good roommate for a big guinea pig. She puts it outside every afternoon in the old incubator of her hens, where it makes its way through the clover, leaving zigzag tracks.

I was told there was a dinosaur exhibit in the main library lobby downtown, and it was free. Adrienne has a friend just her age and on her exact neurodivergent wavelength who lives down the street from Holly the Witch, and the friend needed to check out some new books from the library, so I offered a round.

I’m still getting used to driving in Columbus, even though it’s a thousand times easier than driving in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a compact triangle-shaped city and Columbus is a sprawling mass that gets bigger every year, but Columbus is laid out on a nice, neat grid. Pittsburgh’s intersections are esoteric hieroglyphs, but every intersection in downtown Columbus is a legible X. Every few blocks in Pittsburgh, you have to duck under a tunnel or cross a terrifying suspension bridge; Columbus has fewer bridges, and the bridges are so chunky it’s easy to imagine you’re still on a normal road. In Pittsburgh, if you forget your parking brake, you could back into a river because everything is on a steep hill. In Columbus, there are practically no hills. If you start driving on North High Street to Whetstone Park, you can see for miles, up to the city center skyscrapers. Orientation is easy.

Still, it’s something to understand the traffic here.

I drove downtown with no more than the usual difficulty, following my phone’s monotonous GPS, while the girls in the back chatted about Minecraft.

Have you ever been to the main library in Columbus, Ohio?

This is about the most beautiful library I can imagine.

Entering through the front door you walk through a gallery with a very strange piece of modern art, a galaxy of giant bronze spheres hanging from the ceiling. When I was a child, I sprinted through this gallery because I was afraid that the spheres would fall and crush me. Then you come to another giant room, a three-story atrium, with a mural painted on the side of the staircase. On one side are the librarians at their desks and on the other is the children’s section. I loved this kids section. When I was a preschooler, there were toys in the corner, a kitchen, and a huge supply of realistic rubber food that I cooked and served to imaginary guests for hours. Then, in the 1990s, they installed computers with the coveted newest CD-ROM technology. I would play The Oregon Trail II and The Lost Mind of Doctor Brain while my dad flipped through the adult books upstairs. Now that children’s computer games are no longer a novelty, the children’s section has comfy chairs and a long school bus-shaped bench.

My dad used to take us to the library to enjoy the computers every Wednesday after daily mass. Sometimes I was taken to the library to play on the computers when my behavior was considered too shameful to be present at these despised charismatic prayer meetings. The library was a refuge from fanatical madness.

I missed it.

Adrienne’s friend did a bee line for a series of high fantasy novels and released volumes three, four, six, seven, eight, and nine.

“It will take me five days,” she explained. “But I have to find book five.”

We returned to the Giant Room, where three life-size rubber dinosaurs were on display. I asked the librarian to have volume five delivered to the branch library closest to the little girl’s house, which she did. Librarians are magical people who know how to do everything.

I stood there for a minute, breathing in the smell of books, crying inwardly for all that was good about a far from good childhood, wondering for the ten thousandth time what my life would be like if I didn’t. never heard of the charismatic Renouveau and I had never, never, never lost my family because of this madness, I had never been to Steubenville, I had never known what it was like to feeling homesick in a place I don’t belong.

Then it was my turn at the librarian’s office. “Could I…could I…I want to see how to get a library card?” I don’t live in Columbus but am an Ohio resident and come here every six weeks or so.”

I have lately. I’ve been home every six weeks this summer and I want to keep it that way if I can. Right now, we don’t even know how we’ll pay the rent for the hated house in Steubenville, but if there’s gas, I can come see my new friends for the weekend as soon as I can, free.

The magical librarian granted my wish. I gave him my name and contact details, and found myself holding a thin plastic talisman.

Adrienne ran and leaned under my arm just then. The children’s librarian who had walked after her, asking if she needed help with anything, laughed. We all laughed. Adrienne is wary of strangers.

“You know,” her friend said, “You come across an average of thirty-five serial killers in your lifetime. Maybe this was one of them!

“Thirty-four more!” I said, clutching my library card like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“You know,” Adrienne’s friend said, shouldering her satchel, “If you don’t have a map with you, they can search the system for you.”

I didn’t know how to explain that it wasn’t about the library system. It’s about losing and finding a home.

We walked back to the Hungarian village on this nice orderly grid with way too much traffic, talking about serial killers.

For a moment, anything seemed possible.

picture via Pixabay


Mercyland Gives Long-Lost Album We’ve Never Lost A Single Game A Proper Release

By
James I. Wise
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0

Myths and legends are often rooted in truth, or at least some version of it. When Chase Park Transduction co-owner, producer and engineer David Barbe asks why the music of his heavily mythologized post-punk trio Mercyland from the mid to late ’80s went unavailable for decades. decades, he doesn’t miss a beat when he explains Why.

“For so long I’ve heard people’s fuzzy, gold-tinged memories of Mercyland that the legend has become too good,” Barbe says. “When I was a kid, I remember my grandfather telling me great stories about growing up in logging camps in Wisconsin in the early 1900s. this is true, but when something is only anecdotally available, it becomes larger than life.

“It’s like Pecos Bill hitting a tornado and disappearing into the sky,” he adds. “I loved Mercyland, so of course we can be someone’s Pecos Bill.”

All of that will change, however, on Friday, September 16, when Propeller Sound Recordings releases We never lost a single gamethe second and final proper album from the long-lost Mercyland, recorded in 1990. The album’s arrival marks the first step in a campaign to preserve and breathe new life into Mercyland’s music, presenting as it was meant to be heard – in reverse chronological order.

We never lost a single game was recorded towards the end of Mercyland’s first five-year run, starting in 1985. Vocalist and bassist Barbe, along with the band’s original drummer Harry Joiner and guitarist Mark Craig, filled clubs from the start. For their third show, they shared the stage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at UGA.

Over the years the band went through a turnover, Barbe later enlisting drummer Joel Suttles and guitarist Andrew Donaldson. By 1990, the group existed in its own self-taught way. After getting close but never getting a record deal, they realized Mercyland was in a state of perpetual near miss. Barbe and his wife had their first child, life was moving on and it was time for the band to break up.

For six months, Mercyland continued to play shows, but only doing what they really wanted to do: playing clubs in New York, shows at the beach or wherever that were fun and well attended, and shows universities where they were well paid. No more banging your head against the wall, routing tour dates and trying to build an audience by playing weeknights in small towns along the way to bigger places.

“There’s a nice line in the Minutemen’s ‘Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing’,” Barbe says. “‘If we heard mortar shells, we would swear more in our songs and reduce the guitar solos.'”

The message being, if the world is coming to an end, we let loose. It is the spirit that is at the heart of We never lost a single game. “We drop everything,” Barbe says.

Along the way, the band further honed their melodic hardcore and Southern alt-rock songwriting, evoking allusions to everything from Mission of Burma and the Buzzcocks to Minutemen and Hüsker Dü.

If songs such as “Guessing Time Is Gone”, “Big Wind From E. Jesus” and “White Cross” by No feet on the hood wind up the meter on the fun and fast-paced energy of Mercyland, We never lost a single game simply and powerfully delivers a deluge of songs honed by Barbe’s infectious vocals and fast beats.

In 1991, four songs – “Minutes And Parts”, “Tough Ass Knives”, “John D. White” and “Freight Truck” – appeared on the Enter the cunning bear 7 inches (planned obsolescence). In 1994, all Mercyland songs were collected for the Spill Compilation CD (Rykodisc), after Barbe joined drummer Malcolm Travis and former Hüsker Dü vocalist and guitarist Bob Mold in the band Sugar.

Here, the album’s nine songs are stripped of their original stark, clean hue. The reissue of We never lost a single game offers a slightly less polished take, as evidenced by the first three singles to surface, “Freight Truck”, “Uncle” and “Service Economy”. Each comes across as full-bodied, more direct and stronger than ever.

Jessica Smith

Since 1997, Beard, Andy Baker and Andy LeMaster have run Chase Park Transduction, where he has produced, engineered and performed on countless hundreds of albums. After working on We never lost a single game nine songs, he handed over mastering duties to Greg Calbi of Sterling Sound in Nashville. Calbi mastered Mercyland’s 1987 debut single, “Black On Black On Black b/w Ciderhead”.

Suttles and Donaldson will round out the band for two upcoming album release shows at 529 in Atlanta on Friday, September 16 and 40 Watt Club in Athens on Saturday, September 17.

“If Mark or Harry showed up and wanted to play a few songs, I would be delighted and they would be welcome,” Barbe said.

In Spring, Mercyland’s debut album, No feet on the hood (Tupelo Recording Company) will receive a proper reissue, mastered by Joe Lambert at Joe Lambert Mastering in Cortlandt, NY. Over the years, Lambert has mastered dozens of Barbe productions, including The Glands’ I can see my house from here box set, Deerhunter’s Summary of Halcyon and Barbe’s solo album in 2017 10th of the seas.

A third version of Mercyland will be mastered by Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction, collecting songs from various singles and time-stamping songs written by both band line-ups.

“What Mercyland needed in his twenties was for David Barbe in his fifties to come and knock this concept out of our heads and make it sound like it’s supposed to sound,” Barbe says. “This is who we are, and this is what it looks like.”

WHO: Mercyland, Elf Power, Nuclear Tourism
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Club 40 watts
HOW MANY: $15 (advanced), $20

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Digital detectors for easy integration of the Envirotech Online system

By
James I. Wise
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0

The white paper of InfraTec is intended to show how to turn on the digital detector with a basic microcontroller board like the Arduino Uno. You will also learn how to configure the detector and retrieve data.

Digital detectors PyrIQ convert the analog signal, which can be filtered and amplified in several stages, directly into a digital signal with 16-bit resolution. All signal processing is performed by an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), in which the analog front end acts as a conventional transimpedance amplifier. Thus, users receive a digital measurement signal that can be read out via an I²C interface and immediately processed.

For high precision measurement, especially in gas analysis, synchronization of the transmitter and detector clock is necessary. For digital pyroelectric detectors, a clock input (pin) is available for this purpose, which is used to specify the exact system clock or sample time. This makes it possible to generate a time signal with a very precise sampling frequency. Another special feature compared to the analog technology of our digital detector is the “fast recovery after saturation”. This function detects an overload due to a faulty operating condition – for example, due to extreme temperature fluctuations or mechanical influences – and automatically resets the analog front end.

Digital Pyroelectric Detectors – What are the Benefits?

Simple integration

The built-in ASIC, which already contains an A/D converter, eliminates complex signal processing steps and the detector can be connected directly to the microcontroller without adjustments. This allows quick and easy system integration. The user is provided with digital measured values ​​with a sampling frequency of up to 1 kHz, which can be read out and processed directly without additional hardware components via the I²C interface.

Improved electromagnetic compatibility

The entire signal conversion of the detector is spatially concentrated and shielded, resulting in higher electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The detector is more resistant to electromagnetic interference, so EMC measurements can be reduced by the user.

Processing of variable signals

The most important characteristics to characterize the performance of a pyroelectric detector are the frequency-dependent sensitivity, the noise density and the detectivity D*. Depending on the measuring system (measuring setup) and the principle, there are different requirements for well-dimensioned signal processing. The digital detector offers complete flexibility in configuring the detector parameters, during development and also during subsequent use. The sensitivity of the digital detector can be flexibly adjusted depending on the radiated power falling on the detector, in order to optimally utilize the next input voltage range of the A/D converter. The Rf feedback resistance and the Cf feedback capacitance can be set individually for each spectral channel of the detector. This allows the user to optimally match sensitivity and stability performance to application requirements.

High energy harvested with nonlinear pyroelectric modules

By
James I. Wise
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0

PST-MLC Manufacturing

In this study, we worked on MLCs in PST. These devices consist of a succession of Pt and PST electrodes so as to obtain several capacitors all connected in parallel. PST was chosen because it is an excellent EC material and therefore potentially an excellent NLP material. It exhibits a sharp ferroelectric-paraelectric first-order phase transition around 20°C, which infers that its entropy varies similarly to what is shown in Figure 1. Similar MLCs have already been described in detail in purposes of EC devices13.14. In this study, we used 10.4 × 7.2 × 1 mm³ and 10.4 × 7.2 × 0.5 mm³ MLCs. The 1 mm and 0.5 mm thick MLCs consist of 19 and 9 inner layers of 38.6 µm thick PST, respectively. In both cases, the inner PST layers are sandwiched between 2.05 µm thick Pt electrodes. The design of these MLCs implies that 55% of the PST is active, which corresponds to the part between the electrodes (Supplementary Note 1). Active electrode area is 48.7mm2 (Supplementary Table 5). PST MLCs were prepared by solid state reaction and tape molding methods. Details of the preparation processes have been reported in a previous article14. One of the differences between the MLC PSTs and this previous article14 is the B-site order, which strongly influences EC performance in PST. The B-site order of PST MLCs is 0.75 (Supplementary Note 2), obtained by sintering at 1400°C followed by a long annealing period of several hundred hours at 1000°C. Details on MLC PSTs are given in Supplementary Notes 1 through 3 and Supplementary Table 5.

Experimental set-up of Olsen cycles

The main concept of this study is based on Olsen cycles (Fig. 1). For such cycles we need a cold and hot heat sink and a power supply capable of controlling and monitoring the voltage and current in the various MLC modules. Two different configurations were used for these direct cycles, namely (1) a Linkam module heating and cooling a single MLC associated with a Keithley 2410 power supply and (2) three prototypes (HARV1, HARV2 and HARV3) based on multiple MLC PSTs connected in parallel to the same power supply. In the latter case, a dielectric fluid (silicone oil with a viscosity of 5 cP at 25°C, purchased from Sigma Aldrich) was used to exchange heat between the two reservoirs (hot and cold) and the MLCs. The hot reservoir consisted of a glass container which contained the dielectric fluid and was placed above a heating plate. The cold reservoir consisted of a heat bath of the fluid tube containing the dielectric fluid in a large plastic container filled with water and ice. Two three-way pinch valves (purchased from Bio-Chem Fluidics) were placed at each end of the harvester to properly switch fluid flow from one reservoir to the other (Fig. 2a). To ensure thermal balance between the PST-MLC stack and the heat transfer fluid, the cycle period was extended until the inlet and outlet thermocouples (placed as close to the PST-MLC stack as possible) read the same temperature. A Python script governed and synchronized all the instrumentation (source meter, pump, valves and thermocouples) so that the proper Olsen cycles were run i.e. the hot fluid loop started flowing through the PST stack after the sourcemeter has charged them so that they are heated to the desired applied voltage of a given Olsen cycle.

Alternatively, we confirmed these direct measurements of harvested energy with an indirect method. These indirect methods are based on the electric displacement field (D)– electric field (E) loops collected at different temperatures and allowing an accurate estimation of the amount of energy that can be harvested by calculating the area between the two OF loops, as shown in Fig. 1b. These OF loops were also collected with the Keithley sourcemeter.

Description of the harvester

HARV1

Twenty-eight 1 mm thick MLC PSTs were assembled in a 4 row × 7 column parallel plate structure following the design described in ref. 14. The fluid gap between the rows of PST-MLC was 0.75 mm. This was achieved by adding strips of double sided tape acting as fluid spacers to the edges of the MLC PSTs. The PST MLCs were electrically connected in parallel with silver epoxy bridges that contacted the electrode terminals. After that a wire was glued with silver epoxy on each side of the electrode terminal so that it could be connected to the power supply. Finally, the entire structure was inserted into a polyolefin pipe. The latter was glued to the fluid tubes to ensure a good seal. Finally, 0.25 mm thick K-type thermocouples were integrated at each end of the PST-MLC structure to monitor the fluid inlet and outlet temperature. To do this, the pipe first had to be perforated. Once the thermocouple was integrated, the same glue as before was applied between the pipe and the thermocouple wire to restore the seal.

HARV2

Eight individual prototypes were built, four of them with 40 MLC PSTs of 0.5 mm thickness each, distributed in 5-column × 8-row parallel plate structures, and the other four with 15 MLC PSTs of 1 mm thick each, divided into 3 columns × 5 rows parallel plate structures. The total number of MLC PSTs used was 220 (160 MLC PSTs of 0.5 mm thickness and 60 MLCs of 1 mm thickness). We call these two subunits HARV2_160 and HARV2_60. The fluid slot in the HARV2_160 prototypes consisted of two strips of 0.25mm thick double-sided tape and a 0.25mm thick wire between them. For the HARV2_60 prototypes, we repeated the same procedure but with 0.38mm thick wires instead. For symmetry, HARV2_160 and HARV2_60 had their own fluid circuit, pump, valve and cold side (Supplementary Note 8). The hot reservoir, a three liter (30 cm × 20 cm × 5 cm) container above two hot plates with rotating magnets, was shared by the two HARV2 subunits. The eight individual prototypes were electrically connected in parallel. In the Olsen cycle which led to 11.2 J of recovered energy, the HARV2_160 and HARV2_60 subunits operated simultaneously.

HARV3

A single 0.5 mm thick MLC PST was placed in a polyolefin pipe, with strips of double-sided tape and wires on the sides to create spaces for the fluid to flow. Due to its small size, the prototype was placed next to the valve that feeds fluid from either the hot fluid reservoir or the cold fluid reservoir, minimizing cycle time.

Olsen cycles

A constant electric field was imposed in the MLC PSTs by applying a constant voltage along the heating leg. As a result, a negative pyroelectric current was generated and energy was harvested. After the MLC PSTs warmed up, the field was removed (V = 0), and the energy that was stored there was brought back to the source meter, which corresponds to another contribution of the recovered energy. Finally, at the applied voltage V= 0, the MLC PSTs have been cooled to their initial temperature so that a cycle can start again. In this step, no energy was recovered. We ran Olsen cycles with a Keithley 2410 source meter charging the PST MLCs to the voltage source and setting the current compliance to the appropriate value so that enough points in the charging step were gathered to allow a reliable calculation of energy.

Stirling Cycles

In Stirling cycles, PST MLCs were charged in voltage source mode to an initial electric field value (initial voltage VI> 0), a desired compliance current so that the charging step lasts about 1 s (and enough points are gathered for a reliable energy calculation), and a cold temperature. Before the MLC PST was heated, the electrical circuit was opened by imposing current compliance I= 0 mA (the lowest current compliance value our source meter could take was 10 nA). As a result, the charges were retained in the MLC PSTs and the voltage increased as the sample was heated. In segment BC, no energy was recovered because I= 0mA. After reaching the hot temperature and the voltage in the MLC PSTs having been amplified (in some cases it was more than 30 times, see Supplementary Fig. 7.2), the MLC PSTs were discharged (V= 0), and the electrical energy stored there is brought back to the meter-source with the same current compliance with which they were initially charged. Due to the voltage amplification, the energy stored when hot was greater than the energy supplied at the start of the cycle. Thus, energy was recovered by converting heat into electrical energy.

Calculation of recovered energy and power

We monitored the voltage and current applied to the MLC PSTs with a Keithley 2410 source meter. The corresponding energy was calculated by integrating the product of the voltage and current read by the Keithley source meter over time, (E={int }_{0}^{tau }{I}_{{rm{meas}}}left(tright){V}_{{rm{meas}}}

6 In-game: Intense Xbox Ones | Hype games news

By
James I. Wise
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0

The use of CD-ROM in the late 1990s dramatically improved the quality of music played. With this improvement, many game engineers came out to combine game and music world by creating the genre of rhythm games.

Unfortunately, this created many great rhythm games on the first PS3, which was amazing. One of them, Parappa, the rapper, was very influential. She became an additional mascot for Sony some time ago as the rap dog played various games on the system. However, not all games have become as good as they are. There are plenty of weird and wonderful rhythm games that haven’t had the same impact.

spice world

While the PlayStation dominated the gaming charts, the Spice Girls dominated the music charts, especially in their native UK. It seems that the studio, in London, was the perfect opportunity to combine these two things. The film Spice World was released in 1998. In fact, this film became the group’s first album.

The result is probably the weirdest real-world musician in video games, as the girls all turned into big-headed Bratz dolls. It was weird because it offered simple dancing and the ability to make music videos while the girls were dancing. The game was popular back then, but since the Spice Girl mania died down in the 2000s, it has also passed from memory to the game itself.

Fluid

Fluid is one of the weirdest games on the original PlayStation. It was so weird that North America bypassed it with just Japan and Europe. Players control dolphins swimming through seascapes where the goal of finding artifacts in different locations is to collect items. Each of these artifacts has a specific sound, and these sounds are now part of the sample library.

In fact, the game was only half the game when the dolphin was in control. The other half is the Groove Editor, where samples can be put together to create music and the dolphin can improvise with the sound on the fly. Music creation possibilities were limited so that a player would only create accessible new-age ambient music with limited playing capabilities.

Music 2000

Most games, especially those for the PlayStation, are codemasters’ music games. Taking advantage of a limited supply of music production software in the home market, music gaming has had a huge impact. It gave PlayStation owners an integrated AV component that included its own sample library, sequencers, and tons of built-in effects.

With which he was limited, he could not export his music, and so it remained locked to the PlayStation and could not be burned directly to a CD. The 2000 music tracks were also from the 90s, creating something that wasn’t moody and limited its potential. This program is largely forgotten today, since more flexible PC-based DAWs became available and affordable, but that was only right away.

Bust-a-Groove has closed.

The first game to bring dance gameplay to PlayStation was Bust a Groove. To keep this business in line, a dance mat is not used like a popular contemporary. Rather, the game featured elements that imitated Parappa the rapper, while a group of odd characters held dance competitions.

The characters were absolutely bizarre – from a singer-songwriter who in the 1970s, to a hip-hop singer and dancer, through the streets, to the man who took pictures of the girl in the theme of the chat to the girl’s glamorous girlfriend, as well as a girl dressed as a child and a couple of aliens. It was bizarre and received rave reviews, but proved unpopular in the West, where the second game was played against Europe and the third was never released in Japan.

Sorry Lamy

Although Parappa the Rapper still receives a lot of attention today due to his influence and uniqueness, the immediate spin-off, Um Jammer Lammy, tends to be nearly ignored. Parappa got a PS4 remaster, while Am Jammer Lammy was the case of the past.

Players must use their guitar skills in bizarre situations like putting out a fire, piloting a plane, and leading children. The game gets a bit more complex than its predecessor and retains the tone and simplicity that made it so beloved in its day.

Ribbon Vib

Vib-Ribbon was created by the same people who gave the world Parappa and Lammy. The player controls a vector art oxball, the creature, walking around the same line with a cross section, with a shape in mind, each representing a different button. These characters will stand to beat the music, and the bunny should jump over them so he can’t die.

The game was already a simple concept, but that makes it special because its levels were procedural based on whatever audio cue the game gave. In other words, the game disc could be swapped out for any other audio disc, and the songs on the disc created a series of new levels for the game.

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CD Projekt Q2 Earnings: Still a “Show Me” Story (OTGLF)

By
James I. Wise
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0

MOZCO Mateusz Szymanski/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

CD Projekt (OTCPK:OTGLF) (OTCPK:OTGLY) may have added to its “Witcher” gaming IP series with the recently released AAA title, “Cyberpunk 2077”, but its finances have been mixed. The second quarter was more or less the same, with annual revenues and profits are falling despite efforts to cut costs. The biggest disappointment of the quarter, however, was the announcement of the “Cyberpunk 2077” expansion, with the direction guiding towards a single paid downloadable content (DLC) pack for the game through 2023. That seems a rather disappointing result to me. , given the untapped monetization potential. and the considerable time lag from the AAA game’s next release (likely after 2023).

Additionally, CD has yet to address its consistent delays for new product releases (e.g., the multi-quarter delay of next-gen “Witcher 3”), leading to investor skepticism about its ability to recover from creative obstacles all along the line. While the stock price has been beaten since the start of the year (now at multi-year lows), the valuation multiple remains at a premium of around 35x the current P/E and could come under further pressure. Until visibility on improving AAA game development using the new engine (Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 technology) and the next strategy update in October, I would stay away.

Chart
OTGLY PE Ratio data by YCharts

Another quarter of annual decline

In Q2, CD recorded ~ZL1.62 million in revenue, down 41% YoY from a strong 2021 base and a worrying decline of around 25% QoQ. Given the advantage of the weaker PLN, which depreciated >15% YoY against the USD in Q2 2022, the disappointing revenue result likely also implies lower “Cyberpunk 2077” copies. Echoing the first quarter of 2022, additional detractors include the continued decline in revenue from GWENT (i.e. “The Witcher Card Game”) following the termination of the consortium agreement, the decline in revenue from the digital store from new releases due to launch delays and the suspension of CD operations in Russia and Belarus. .

Despite revenue headwinds, CD increased Q2 EBITDA margins by ~6% YoY on lower “Cyberpunk 2077” service costs (~ZL18m depreciation recognized during of the quarter under the revenue cost line). While SG&A cost reductions also helped margins, CD’s reported net profit of ZL44.8 million was still down -51% on an annual basis (-35% QoQ). In turn, its operating cash flow also disappointed at ZL0.5m, impacted by high cash taxes as well as a QoQ acceleration in new project spending to ZL62m (from ZL28m). ZL in the first quarter of 2022). Overall, the net cash position decreased slightly sequentially to ZL 1.18 billion, although the ability to pay dividends remains intact (recall, the company paid > PLN 100 million in dividends in July).

Cash Flow H1 2022

CD project

Short-term orientation offers little joy

Worryingly, CD management is seeing continued salary pressure in the coming quarters as changes in post-COVID work preferences create new challenges for talent retention. In particular, developers are increasingly able to work from Poland for higher global salaries, creating upward pressure on CD’s salary structure. That said, the company also sees opportunities to hire overseas – quality is a big concern here, but if successful, CD could see some labor inflation offset while building capacity. to develop more AAA titles in the future. Management guidelines have already pegged 2022 salaries at last year’s levels at around 23%, so the bar is not low.

On the revenue side, CD cited a limited impact on sales so far amid weaker consumer/macro spending, although the continued sequential decline in revenue and earnings remains a concern. Additionally, the impact of the suspension of its operations in Russia and Belarus will remain a headwind for YoY comps throughout the year. There will be a strategy update in October, but given the uncertainties my base case does not foresee any major changes from the previous one, although additional color on key issues (e.g. new system incentive) would be welcome.

Cyberpunk Expansion Slowed Amid ‘Unreal Engine’ Transition

Along with the earnings report, CD also announced Phantom Liberty, the first “Cyberpunk 2077” expansion, slated to launch in FY23 on next-gen consoles and PCs. Management sees this as an important step to support long-term sales of the “Cyberpunk” title, devoting most of its development capacity to expansion. Even though management calls it a major expansion, the price remains undisclosed, so it’s hard to determine the specific revenue opportunity here. On a positive note, the launch of the “Cyberpunk 2077” expansion pack will see a boost on the media side, with a new Cyberpunk anime series coming to Netflix in conjunction (created by CD and Japanese studio Trigger). That said, the company’s plan for just one big expansion pack in 2023 leaves a significant gap between product cycles and is therefore a disappointment on the monetization front.

Cyberpunk Expansion

CD project

For context, one of the main reasons for the limited release schedule is the company’s move from its in-house game engine to the Unreal Engine 5 platform. Future games, including the next addition to the Witcher saga ( currently in pre-production), will use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. In the long term, the transition should pay off – the advanced capabilities of the new engine will not only enable more efficient development but also make it easier to attract and retain new talent. Thanks to the strategic partnership with Epic, CD will also be able to exploit Android for its future games, effectively reducing the risks of the development process (a sore point so far). In the meantime, CD development issues continue – after suffering numerous delays since the initial Q2 2022 launch, the next-gen version of “The Witcher 3” (free for players who already own it) is now slated for launch in Q4 2022.

Witcher 3 target launch

CD project

Always a “show me” story

CD’s lackluster financial performance in the second quarter aside, the outlook for its next-gen console content remains far from rosy, even with upcoming ‘Cyberpunk’ updates and the next-gen ‘Witcher’ edition. . While the new expansion pack is a step in the right direction, the limited content mailing list is a short-term concern, especially given the scale of the planned investment. Additionally, the monetization of “Cyberpunk 2077” was disappointing, failing to bring the CD back to its previous expectations on units sold. Upside development over the pending Unreal Engine 5 platform transition should also be treated with some skepticism, in my opinion, due to CD’s past runtime issues and difficulty in attracting talent after COVID.

The share price has been downgraded to multi-year lows accordingly, but its P/E valuation remains at a premium. This makes it vulnerable, in my opinion, to further decline in future execution delays or disappointments in the strategy update next month.

SH Jazz Festival highlighted by a nationally renowned trumpeter | Local News

By
James I. Wise
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0

A trumpeter, whose solos can be heard on films such as the popular 2021 remake of West Side Story, Minions 2: The Rise of Gru, Jersey Boys and Despicable Me 1, 2 and 3, will be the star artist of the South Haven Jazz Festival.

Wayne Bergeron from Los Angeles, Calif., is one of seven bands performing at this year’s festival, Friday and Saturday, September 16-17 at the Huron Street Pavilion and Dyckman Park in downtown South Haven.

The South Haven Jazz Festival is somewhat rare in West Michigan, according to organizer Larry Brown.

“We’re one of the few jazz festivals in West Michigan,” he said. “There are more jazz festivals in Detroit and upstate.”

This year marks the jazz festival’s fifth anniversary, after it was canceled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sponsored by the cultural arts organization Foundry Hall, the festival is presented free of charge. Donations are however encouraged.

“The festival has been free so far thanks to our incredible corporate sponsors, donations from festival attendees, the South Haven Area Community Foundation and the South Haven/Van Buren Visitor’s Bureau,” Brown said. “Together they help cover the cost of local/regional bands. The lead actor, Wayne Bergeron, is being paid this year by a special grant from the John Stites Jazz Awards Committee of Kalamazoo. Later we may have to charge an admission fee, but so far the community has been very supportive.

Bergeron’s career began in 1986 when he landed the first trumpet chair with Maynard Ferguson’s band. According to his website, a lot can be heard on Maynard recordings such as Body and Soul, Big Bop Nouveau and Brass Attitude.

He went on to be a session musician for musical artists such as Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Michael Buble, The Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Lee Ann Womack, Lou Rawls and Kenny G.

Over the years, he has also worked on over 500 TV and movie soundtracks including The Lion King, Bob’s Burgers, Ford v Ferrari, Toy Story 4, High School Musical 3, Superman Returns and Mission Impossible 3.

However, he says, his greatest love is starring in big bands. He has recorded and played with several Los Angeles bands, including those led by Sammy Nestico, Bob Curnow and Quincy Jones.

He then earned a Grammy nomination in 2004 for his first solo CD, “You Call This a Living?” His most recent CD is “Full Circle”, released in 2016. Bergeron is currently a national artist for Yamaha Corp. of America and co-designer of Yamaha’s trump YTR-8335LA and YFH-8315G bugle. He has also designed a series of trumpet mouthpieces with Gary Radtke of GR Technologies.

The jazz festival opens at 5:30 p.m. Friday with a return appearance from Kalamazoo-based quartet Ivan Akasiima. Ken Cooper & Friends will follow at 6:30 p.m., while the Holland Concert Jazz Orchestra will close the evening with a performance at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s lineup begins at 4:30 p.m. with the southwest Michigan-based Jim Cooper Quartet. Minor Element will then take the stage at 5:30 p.m., followed by Grand Rapids artist Edye Evans Hyde and the Terry Lower Quartet at 6:30 p.m. The evening will end at 7:30 p.m. with Wayne Bergeron and the Lake Effect Jazz Big Band.

Winamp 5.9 Final Released after years of development

By
James I. Wise
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0

Two months ago, the developers of the Winamp audio player released a first release candidate of Winamp 5.9. The player, who many thought was dead and buried, has come back to life and users have started noticing him again.

This week, Winamp 5.9 Final was released. If you’ve taken the release candidate review written by Ashwin, you already know all the things that are new and changed. If you are new, the following summary may be useful to you.

First, you can download the final stable version of Winamp 5.9 from the official forum. There you will also find the changelog, list of known issues, and other release information. You can also download Winamp from third-party sites, such as our parent company Softonic (still needs to be updated to the new version).

Winamp 5.9 final

The last official version of Winamp before 5.9 dates back to 2018. Windows 11 was not released then, and many Windows users thought that Microsoft claimed that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows.

Last year saw the release of Windows 11, and one of the major changes in Winamp 5.9 is improved compatibility with Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system. If you’re having trouble running older versions of Winamp on Windows 11 or can’t get some features to work properly, you’re probably fine with running the latest version of the media player.

You may also notice that Winamp 5.9 requires a new Visual Studio runtime, which can be installed during installation if it is missing. The change is bad news for pre-Windows 7 devices, as Winamp 5.9 is no longer compatible with devices running Windows Vista or XP.

Another major feature is support for HTTPS streams. More and more sites and services migrated to HTTPS, and the lack of support meant that Winamp users could no longer connect to these streams because there was no support for it. Now that is a thing of the past.

Other improvements include updated libraries and support for new formats that have grown in popularity over the past couple of years.

The list of known fixes is long, but most will be addressed in Winamp 5.9.1 according to the release notes. It is not known when the intermediate version will be available. The main issues include problems playing some high resolution FLAC files and using an older version of OpenSSL due to development issues.

As for features that are still in development, there are a few. The development team plans to add native support for multiple formats, replace “old Gracenote features (CDDB, Autotag, etc.) with e.g. MusicBrainz or MusicStory”, add more default services and other improvements.

Closing words

The new version of Winamp works well. Although the developers have a hard time convincing new users to try and ditch their favorite audio player, they may have better luck convincing old Winamp users to try it again.

Now you: what is your favorite audio player?

Summary

Winamp 5.9 Final Released after years of development

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Winamp 5.9 Final Released after years of development

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Winamp 5.9 Final is now available. The first major release after four years brings support for Windows 11, https streams and more.

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Martin Brinkman

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Ghacks Technology News

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The Role of AI in RAN Automation

By
James I. Wise
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0

5G represents a tipping point in the telecommunications industry where networks are becoming too complex for humans to operate profitably without the use of automation tools and technologies. The complexity is partly due to 5G itself, which uses a much wider set of frequency bands, can prioritize latency-based services and supports huge increases in the number of network elements and end-user devices. But there are a plethora of other changes that further increase the complexity.

These include the evolution of physical hardware to virtual and cloud-native networks, end-to-end network slicing, adoption of Open Radio Access Network (RAN) technologies, and the addition of new enterprise business services. . There are also multi-technology networks with some communications service providers (CSPs) running 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G networks in parallel, as well as multi-vendor networks with typically two to four different RAN providers deployed in the network.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are becoming commonplace in the telecommunications industry and are often the only way to manage the complexity we see in today’s multi-vendor, multi-technology networks. today. This complexity becomes even more apparent in RAN which is one of the most difficult areas to tackle due to its distributed nature, number of network nodes and proximity to end users, making it, not surprisingly , a major consumer of OPEX. .

The evolution of RAN incorporates automation

Telecommunications industry automation is strongly tied to the ubiquitous use of AI – but where it makes more sense depending on the use case. For example, improving CAPEX/OPEX rationalization and performance requires large-scale network actions. The good news is that the latest network technologies – 5G and Open RAN – were designed for large-scale automation. In fact, the O-RAN Alliance defines a new Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) architecture specifically designed to enable better RAN automation.

The key to success then is for network providers to automate the right things and aim to continually improve performance, which requires applied intelligence. When it comes to the evolution of RAN automation, we can see AI and ML technologies used primarily in three specific areas.

  • SMO platform – the SMO platform itself is designed to integrate AI technologies. At its core, it has a built-in AI/ML runtime environment. The platform is designed to connect to large external data sources as well as support north and south interfaces.
  • Life cycle management – we see an urgent need to make greater use of AI in the lifecycle management of virtual and cloud native network software components. One of the primary goals of RAN automation is to replace the manual work of developing, installing, deploying, managing, optimizing, and retiring RAN functions. Because AI and ML have proven to be effective tools for developing RAN automation functionality, the use of AI and ML to drive lifecycle management and CI/CD tools is obvious. . It is expected that AI and ML will be widely used in the training and retraining of deployment models, from using a generic and global model to a much more self-contained integrated model with self-retraining. Data collection and management is one of the biggest challenges for scaling AI/ML software and tools in CSPs. It is quite relevant to know how the data is managed in the life cycle of the algorithm.
  • RAN Automation rApps – In the O-RAN SMO paradigm, RAN automation use cases are implemented in applications called “rApps”. rApps rely heavily on the use of AI and ML technologies simply to manage the large number of variables within the network. For example, you may have an rApp designed to detect and compensate for cell failures on the network. In the event of an outage, the rApp automatically extends coverage to neighboring cells to minimize the impact of an out of service cell, while maintaining acceptable service levels. The actions are then undone once the cell returns from the failure. The ability to automatically compensate for cell failures eliminates manual labor and increases resolution speed, improving user satisfaction. But AI technologies are needed to make this possible.

AI and ML are essential in modern mobile networks and any service management and orchestration system must use and support the use of AI. AI is in everything we do.

About the Author

Peo Lehto, OSS Solutions Area Manager, Ericsson Digital Services. Ericsson Digital Services provides solutions that realize the digital transformation of customers, including software and services in the areas of monetization and management systems (OSS/BSS), telecommunications core (packet core and communication services) and cloud infrastructure and NFV (network function virtualization). Peo also led Ericsson’s IP and Transport practice in North East Asia, led Fixed Broadband Convergence for Ericsson in Japan, as well as the Node Development Organization EPG for Ericsson in Sweden. Peo was born in Sweden in 1968. He holds an Ms.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Industrial Marketing and Purchasing from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.

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Polarization probe polarization imaging system in the near infrared regime using a polarization grating

By
James I. Wise
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0

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    • CD Projekt has released an official modding tool for Cyberpunk 2077

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    CD Projekt RED has released an official modding tool for Cyberpunk 2077.

    Released as “DLC” for the game, it will not only allow you to use, modify and create experiences, but will add built-in support for installing and loading mods into the game.

    This means that you will be able to create custom sounds, animations, scripts, etc.

    REDmod is a command line app that will apply and remove compatible mods, as well as check for conflicts, and it has a friendly user interface that will have an on/off toggle for all installed compatible mods, as well as launch the game.

    CDPR promises that it will be continuously updated with game patches to ensure compatibility and has guaranteed that current mods will still work with the tool.

    New mods will require a specific format to be compatible, and while current mods using the old format will still work, they will not appear in the REDmod menu.

    “The only change to consider when modifying your game is whether the mods you add are REDmod compatible or not – if they are then they will create their mod entries with toggles in the REDmod/ REDlauncher,” NexusMods said. “If not, they will still work fine when installed via Vortex or manually, but they won’t show up when using the new REDmod/REDlauncher.

    If you’re a Cyberpunk 2077 modder, you’ll want to read up on how it all works via the Cyberpunk modding support page, or click the NexusMod link above.

    You can download REDmod, which is an optional DLC, via Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store or via the Cyberpunk modding page.

    Yes, unplugging your devices really saves money

    By
    James I. Wise
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    This story is part Tips for the houseCNET’s collection of handy tips for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.

    Just because you’re not actively using a household device or device does not mean that it does not consume energy. In fact, many devices around your home, your printer to your laptop charger to your Coffee machine, perform certain functions while they are still plugged in. This means that they continue to consume energy, which unnecessarily increases your monthly electricity bill. But there’s a simple solution: just unplug devices when you’re not using them. Unplugging them will prevent the power from draining silently and increasing your bills, thus saving electricity and silver long-term.

    CNET Home Tips Logo

    But how much money does unplugging devices save? Are the energy savings you get from unplugging appliances even significant? And is it worth constantly plugging and unplugging devices?

    Below, we’ll explore why unplugging devices can save money, how much you could save, and ways to make it easier to turn off plugged-in devices. (We also have tips on how to lower your water billthe best temperature to set your thermostat this summer to save money and the energy efficient way to do laundry to reduce utility costs.)

    Read more: Best smart thermostats for 2022

    How can unplugging your devices save you money?

    It seems counter-intuitive to unplug devices. After all, they are extinct, so why would they suck energy?

    The fact is, your devices are still consuming power even when they’re turned off but still plugged in, according to Energy.gov. Whether the device is off or in sleep mode, some of the worst offenders are:

    • A device that may still consume power in the form of permanently on lights or other displays indicating that the device is off
    • Computers that have simply been put into sleep mode
    • Chargers that still consume power even when the device is not connected
    • Media players that continually consume power, especially those that may still check for updates in the background
    • Phones with screens that show up when not in use, such as cordless phones
    • New smart home appliances like refrigerators, washers and dryers with always-on screens, internet connectivity and electronic controls

    The energy that is used by these devices when not in use is often referred to as standby power, but it also goes by other names such as phantom load, phantom loads, quiescent current or even vampire power.

    Read more: Save money by placing your thermostat in the right place

    Save electricity and money with standby power control

    Many people are shocked to realize how much standby power can add up. Standby power accounts for 5-10% of residential power consumption, according to the US Department of Energy. Unplugging appliances could save the average household up to $100 a year.

    However, the amount you save may depend on the number of devices you use and your habits with them. For example, a Colorado State University educational experiment found that a combo radio/CD player/cassette player used 4 watts continuously whether it was in use or not. Unplugging it when not in use would save 100 times more energy over the lifetime of the device.

    A study published by the Natural Resources Defense Council (PDF) found that reducing the load of always-on devices would save consumers a total of $8 billion per year and avoid using 64 billion kilowatt hours. of electricity per year. It also has environmental benefits, such as preventing 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution. The NRDC has estimated the cost of always-on appliances at up to $165 per household per year on average.

    Read more: Best Air Purifier of 2022

    Here are 23 ways to save on your electric bills right now

    View all photos

    How to control standby power

    The first step is, of course, to unplug anything that isn’t actively in use or isn’t used often. An example of devices that could easily be unplugged include televisions and set-top boxes in bedrooms. It’s also usually easy to unplug media players when not in use, such as a radio or CD player. When you remove your device from its charger, it can also be helpful to get into the habit of unplugging that charger as well. You might also be surprised at how many devices we’ve plugged in that we don’t even use anymore. Examples might include old cordless phones, old media players, or lamps that are more decorative than functional.

    However, unplugging everything and plugging it back in can become very tedious, especially if your outlets are in hard-to-reach places. If the socket is inaccessible, it will be difficult to follow. So you can also implement ways to make the phantom load shutdown process more automatic. You can plug devices into power strips. In this way, a single press of the power switch button can turn off multiple devices. You can also get timers for plugging in appliances or smart plugs so you can automate when power is connected to a device. For example, you can set the TV’s power-on time so that it’s only connected during peak hours like evenings or weekends.

    You can also consider getting Energy Star products. Many of these products are rated to have lower standby power consumption than products that are not rated by Energy Star.

    More resources to save electricity

    As electricity bills rise and become more erratic over time, finding ways to save on electricity costs is more vital than ever. For example, in addition to unplugging appliances in the house, you can consult our guide on turn off the lights when not in use. Another key way to improve your electricity/heating bill is to know the ideal temperature you need to set for your home. You can also check our guide on Quick tips to save on your gas and electric bill, like turning down your water heater or changing your air filters.

    More money-saving tips:

    ‘Metal Gear Solid’ Creator Hideo Kojima Just Launched His Own Podcast, ‘Brain Structure’

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    James I. Wise
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    Of course, the first question is how the metal gear the series was born. Kojima explains that his parents lived through the war and he always had problems with war games. Players are placed in a war-torn world where no one knows why they are shooting each other. This doesn’t happen in the real world – or at least it didn’t happen back then. Also, not all forms of warfare are about outgunning your opponent, so Kojima set out to create a game that gave context to the conflict in question and allowed players to win that conflict in a different way.

    Konami

    In a hilarious way.

    Also, the MSX, the Japanese computer as the original metal gear was made for wasn’t powerful enough to depict intense firefights. Kojima goes on to explain that his previous attempt to make a game had been a disaster, so it was pretty hard to convince people to join the failed guy who wanted to make less action-y action games. Even a decade later, during manufacture Solid metal gear for the PS1, people still didn’t care about the idea of ​​stealth in games. Kojima says what really got the ball rolling in the game was the direction and depth he gave to all the characters.

    Kojima then evokes the origins of Solid Snake, the main character of the Solid metal gear series. Kojima chose that name because snakes are quiet, and also because, well, he’s obviously a fan of Snake Plissken from Escape from New York.

    Comparison Naked Snake/Snake Plissken

    Konami, new line

    But as with everything Kojima, it couldn’t be that simple. Snakes are also restless and certainly not very tough creatures – something his main character absolutely had to be, so Kojima took inspiration from a song called Solid State Survivor to come up with the contradictory contrasting name.

    CASE Equipment unveils new excavators

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    James I. Wise
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    The final preparations are in place for the 2022 edition of scrap metal fair, which is hosted by the Recycling Today Media Group and will take place September 13-14 at the Kentucky Exhibition Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

    Billed as a live equipment demonstration event, Scrap Expo will also feature programming offering updates and information on processing techniques and panel discussions on preparing ferrous and non-ferrous scrap for the evolving scrap metal market. 2020s.

    Expo attendees come from the scrap metal recycling, demolition, auto salvage and other industry sectors that generate, prepare and sell scrap metal products.

    The nearly 50 exhibiting companies at Scrap Expo will include manufacturers of scrap material handling, shearing, baling, shredding and sorting equipment and companies that offer recycling-specific services and software.

    “It’s gratifying to see the support we’ve received from exhibitors and sponsors,” said Jim Keefe, publisher of Recycling Today Media Group. “Every business involved is eager to connect with the people who buy and buy their services. We really want both days to offer a lot of those kinds of connections.

    There are six levels of sponsorship related to the event, with two companies involved in the first level of Titanium sponsorship: Alter Trading Corp., a scrap processing and trading company based in Saint Louis, and Sennebogen LLC, a material handling equipment supplier based in Stanley, in North Carolina.

    Republic, a Charlotte, NC-based material handling equipment distributor, is the event’s platinum sponsor, while Scrap Expo’s gold sponsor is USA-based multi-line and multi-site equipment dealer Company Wrench. Ohio.

    When attendees are not actively purchasing equipment, they may choose to attend scrap-related podcast sessions and recordings.

    Scrap Expo Programming includes two sessions dedicated to the preparation and marketing of scrap metal, one on ferrous materials and the other on non-ferrous ones. Panelists for these sessions were chosen from Alter Trading, Coremet Trading, Davis Index, GLE Scrap Metal, SA Recycling, Smart Recycling Management and United Metals Recycling.

    Each day at lunchtime will feature a live podcast recording. On Tuesday, September 13, Brett Ekart of Idaho-based United Metals Recycling is recording an episode of his popular podcast “A Scrap Life” with guest Norman Wright of Colorado-based Stadium Auto Parts. The next day at noon, John Sacco of California-based Sierra International Machinery takes the stage to interview Alter Trading CEO Jay Robinovitz for a recording of his “Pile of Scrap” podcast.

    The remaining Scrap Expo sessions will add to the experience of buying and finding equipment. A series of technicians from the following companies will provide insight into developments related to several types of processing equipment or services: Company Wrench, Genesis Attachments, GreenSpark Software, Sennebogen LLC and Sierra International Machinery.

    Although on-site registrations are accepted, those interested in pre-registering may still have time to do so. here.

    New Cyberpunk 2077 Update Adds Cross-Platform Saves, Mod Management, And More

    By
    James I. Wise
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    CD Project Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 gets a new performance mode for Xbox Series S, an official tool to install and create mods, and a big upgrade to outfits via 1.6 edge runners update, which was announced alongside the phantom freedom DLC pack. Like the DLC, it looks like most future game updates will be for next-gen consoles only; the company says 1.6 will be “the last major update” for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

    The update is available for download today for all platforms (though modding tools are limited to PC), including last-gen consoles. On Xbox Series X, it’s a 39.6GB download.

    You can create up to six outfits and switch between them in wardrobes.
    Image: CD Projekt Red

    The new wardrobe feature — which some players will know as the “transmog” system — lets you change outfits without changing your armor rating or other stats. This could help avoid a common problem with RPGs, where the player is forced to choose between an outfit that looks cool and one that has better stats. (And I certainly welcome it as someone who almost always picks first.) You’ll also be able to preview clothes when you buy them from a vendor.

    The patch also adds cross-platform saves for logged in users. This means you can load your Steam Deck save file from your PS5 and pick up where you left off. (Although there are some caveats if you live in a place where some of the game content is censored, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Japan).

    For PC players, CD Projekt Red is releasing a tool called REDmod with the update. While the game has supported mods for over a year, the company says the official tool will help people manage and install mods as well as create them. According to the REDmod site, it will allow you to add your own sounds, animations and scripts to the game.

    The update also includes a variety of small additions. The Xbox Series S gets the Performance Mode setting from the Series X, allowing the game to hit 60fps while keeping the resolution between 800p and 1080p. Some of the content added in patch 1.6, including “new gear and photo mode features”, will be linked to the next Cyberpunk: Edge Runners anime which will be released on Netflix next week.

    For fans of CD Projekt’s other great franchise, the witcher, there’s now an in-game arcade that lets you play a game featuring Geralt’s horse. It looks very similar to Google Chrome’s dinosaur game, where you constantly run, jump and dodge to avoid obstacles, and the company is releasing it as a separate app for Android and iOS.

    Screenshot of Cyberpunk's photo mode, with controls for changing a cat's pose and position.

    So many chat options.
    Image: CD Projekt Red

    For details on the new weapons and gigs that have been added to Cyberpunk 2077, you can check out the CD Projekt Red stream above. The stream also includes a nice demo of how you can add a cat to the game’s photo mode.

    Updated September 6, 4:31 p.m. ET: Clarified that the wardrobe feature adds transmogrification to the game.

    TWICE Tops Billboard’s Album Sales Chart With “Between 1&2”

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    James I. Wise
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    TWICE scores their second No. 1 on BillboardChart of best-selling albums by (dated September 10) as Between 1&2: 11th Mini Album debuted atop the tally. The set enters with a career-high 94,000 copies sold in the United States in the week ending September 1, according to Luminate. This sum also marks the fifth biggest sales week of any album in 2022.

    The South Korean group was previously number 1 with The taste of love: the 10th mini-album in 2021.

    More from Billboard

    Like many K-pop releases, the CD setup of Between 1&2 was released in deluxe collectible packages (17 in total, including versions sold exclusively through Target, Barnes & Noble and the band’s official online store), each with a standard set of randomized items and items (such as photo cards, posters and stickers); 96.5% of the album’s first week sales were on CD. The remaining 3.5% were digital album sales (just over 3,000). The set was not released in any other physical format, such as vinyl or cassette.

    Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales: Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and Big Steps and Silk Sonic An Evening with Silk Sonic both re-enter the chart (at numbers 2 and 3) after their vinyl releases (the latter setting a new modern-era vinyl sales record for an R&B album); Muse’s new album will of the people bows out at No. 4, Casting Crowns’ Healer reached the top five for the first time (reentering the chart at No. 5) after its deluxe re-release with additional tracks; and the stars of DJ Khaled God made bows at No. 6.

    BillboardThe Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based solely on traditional album sales. The history of the chart dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began compiling tables with information on electronically controlled room counts from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the only metric used by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated December 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that mixes album sales with album units track equivalents and streaming equivalent album units. The new chart dated September 10, 2022 will be published in full on Billboard‘s on Wednesday, September 7 (one day later than usual, due to Labor Day in the United States on September 5). For all charting news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Twitter and Instagram.

    Between 1&2The launch of 94,000 copies sold is the fifth biggest sales week for any album in 2022, after the first images of Harry Styles. Harry’s house (330,000), BTS’ Evidence (266,000), that of Beyoncé Renaissance (190,000) and Stray Kids Stray Kids Mini Album: Oddinaire (103,000).

    by Kendrick Lamar Mr. Morale and Big Steps re-entered Top Album Sales at No. 2 with 38,000 copies sold (up 2,408%), following its vinyl release on August 26. Of that sum of sales, vinyl sales include nearly 36,000 – Lamar’s best selling week ever on vinyl. (It debuted at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums Chart, which ranks the best-selling vinyl tracks of the week.)

    The No. 2 rank is a new high for the album, which previously debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the chart dated May 28 only for digital download and CD sales. Additionally, the 38,000 copies sold mark the album’s best selling week to date, surpassing its launch by 35,000 copies.

    Mr. Morale and Big Steps also records the third-biggest sales week for a rap-on-vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The single biggest weeks were recorded by the opening footage of Tyler, the Creator’s Call me if you get lost (50,000; chart dated April 30) and Kid Cudi’s The Man on the Moon 3: The Chosen One (42,000; chart dated Jan. 1). (Rap albums are defined as those that hit Billboardof the chart of the best rap albums.)

    As Mr Moraleboth Call me and Man on the Moon III saw their vinyl releases arrive after the album was initially tipped through streamers and through other formats available at retail. Mr Morale was released on streamers and on CD and digital download on May 13 – three months before its vinyl release. Both Call me and Man on the Moon III released on vinyl almost a year after their first releases.

    Silk Sonic is also returning to top-selling albums after a delayed vinyl release, as the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak see their An Evening with Silk Sonic re-enter at No. 3 with 38,000 sold (up 4,595%). Its vinyl dropped on August 26 – nine months after the album’s initial airplay and retail release (both as a download and on CD).

    The album’s 38,000 copies sold in the week ending September 1 marks the album’s second-biggest sales week to date, only surpassed by its opening week of 42,000 (digital download). and CD, painting dated November 27, 2021).

    During the week ending September 1, An Evening with Silk Sonic sold 37,000 copies on vinyl – prompting its debut at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums Chart. Further away, An Evening with Silk Sonic marks the biggest week of sales for an R&B album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The previous biggest week for an R&B set on wax was earned by the vinyl debut of The Weeknd’s Dawn FM earlier this year. (R&B albums are defined as those that hit Billboardof the Top R&B Albums chart.)

    Muse’s new album will of the people debuted at No. 4 on the album chart with 20,000 copies sold. This is the sixth effort in the top 10 of the group. On the vinyl albums chart, the set launched at No. 3 with 8,000 sold – the act’s best sales week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking data in 1991.

    Throwing crowns’ Healer returned to Top Album Sales, re-entering the chart at No. 5 with 10,000 sold (up 3,335%) after the album was reissued with seven additional tracks. This is another chart peak and strong sales for the album, which had already debuted and peaked at No. 9 with 7,000 sold on the chart dated January 29. CD sales of the deluxe album were bolstered by its availability in a signed edition on the act’s official online store which retailed from $5.

    DJ Khaled’s new guests God made enters the top-selling album chart at No. 6 with 10,000 sold – largely from digital downloads. (88% of its first-week sales were digital album sales; the remaining 12% include CD sales.) God made is Khaled’s 11th top 10 on best-selling albums. His first came just over 15 years ago, with We the best (beginning and peaking at #8 on the chart dated June 30, 2007).

    The former leader of ENHYPEN Manifesto: Day 1 falls 6-7 on top selling albums with 8,000 sold (down 22%) and tops the Harry Styles charts Harry’s house plunges 7-8 with nearly 8,000 (down 20%).

    Five Finger Death Punch Life after death dropped 2-9 in its second week with 6,000 sales (down 75%) while Madonna Finally enough love down from 1 to 10 in its second frame with nearly 6,000 (down 81%). In the week ending September 1, 1.758 million albums were sold in the United States (up 1.3% from the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyls, cassettes, etc.) accounted for 1.382 million (up 2.5%) and digital albums accounted for 377,000 (down 3%).

    There were 669,000 CD albums sold in the week ending September 1 (up 5% week over week) and 702,000 vinyl albums sold (up 0.3%) . Year-to-date CD album sales were 22.870 million (down 8.5% from the same period a year ago) and vinyl album sales year-to-date the year amounted to 25.868 million (up 0.1%).

    Total album sales year-to-date were 62.884 million (down 8.1% from the same period year-to-date a year ago). Year-to-date, physical album sales totaled 49.085 million (down 4%) and digital album sales totaled 13.799 million (down 20.1%).

    Click here to read the full article.

    [Journalism Internship] Younger generations find retro is back in the roaring 2020s

    By
    James I. Wise
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    [Journalism Internship] Younger generations find retro is back in the roaring 2020s

    Choi Ye-jin, 20, a sophomore in college, has always embraced the latest fashion trends. However, these days, as she walks the streets and observes the way people dress, she can’t help but notice that people are indeed wearing flared pants again, which goes back a long time. long line of fashion trends up to the end of the 90s.

    Choi, at first, assumed it was still out of fashion and found it rather odd that people were bringing back items from the past. However, over time, the professed retro style approached her as an unusual and effective means by which she could express herself.

    “The retro style is a way to connect past and present,” Choi said.

    After decades, with considerable transformations in the trends of wearing, looking at and consuming, the objects and products forgotten from the childhood of past generations are gradually returning to the mainstream market to be adored by the younger generations.

    Take a look at the supposed vintage clothing sensation as the best example of the growing demand for nostalgia-infused older pieces. Preeminent in the late 90s, the so-called flared pants, or flared pants, were once the go-to item for the young, hip crowd. Korea was no exception to this phenomenon. From subway stations to schools, many of those who were fashionable wore their fair share of such clothes back then.

    Many television programs have paved the way for retro clothing and clothing inspired by the past. With the nationwide success of the dance survival show “Street Woman Fighter”, which aired in 2021, department store Shinsegae announced that it has seen an increase in the popularity of street fashion brands in its apparel sectors, including a 61% growth in sales of streetwear clothing, which was primarily consumed by the younger population. The streetwear category included baggy jeans, oversized t-shirts and other soft items lapped up with major decades-old fashion trends, emphasizing the return of past sensations.

    Along with the return of fashion trends, the treats and snacks enjoyed by older generations in the 90s have also seen a resurgence in popularity due to the retro revival.

    “I feel like the Pokemon bread is an escape from reality,” said Lee Ji-youn, 46, recalling her memories of eating the snack when she was a teenager. “I go back to when I had no worries in high school.”

    Pokemon

    Pokemon bread was loved by many and was prevalent in the 90s. SPC Samlip, the maker of Pokemon bread, re-released the baking product earlier this year with the same stickers and bread as before. According to SPC Samlip, Pokemon Bread sales topped 10 million within 43 days of its relaunch.

    Pokemon bread hasn’t been the only successful case of a retro comeback in 2022. The alleged “old but golden” enthusiasm has also touched popular culture. With a succession of retro-inspired pop cultures, such as TV shows, dramas and songs, antiquated forms of media are once again gaining popularity with the public.

    For example, “Twenty-Five, Twenty-one” is a Korean TV show set in the late 90s. In the show, viewers can find various props from the distinct period, with a detailed description of the mode life of young people at the time. For example, the show’s protagonist and ambitious fencing player Na Hee-do listens to music with a walkman and cassette tape, a favorite music player that has inspired many listening gadgets in society. ‘today.

    Additionally, products such as “bbibbi”, green payphone, and CD players appear on the show. For those who were there and active in the 90s, the drama “Twenty-Five, Twenty-one” immerses them in nostalgia, allowing them to reminisce about their memories and see how much everything has changed since then.

    On the other hand, the drama tends to be full of surprises for those who haven’t lived through that era directly. As such, it presents the distinct viewpoints of different age groups.

    “I remembered my high school life when I watched Twenty-Five, Twenty-One,” said Choe Hansel, 45. “I loved it because what Na Hee-do is doing in the drama is the same as what I did in high school, young and ambitious. I thought I could achieve anything in the world at that time. -the.

    18-year-old high school student Oh Soo-min finds the drama touching and realistic. “Since I was born in 2004, I’ve been through what many call the digital generation,” Oh said. “So the human analog brings a warm embrace into the harsh digital age.”

    BY JE GANG-HYUN, HONG HYE-SEO AND OH SANG-HOON [[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]]

    Nissan Livina – First impressions

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Competition in the automotive industry is important because it keeps the industry alive and vibrant. In fact, the more competing cars and brands there are, the more options customers have. Example: the local MPV segment, which includes the Toyota Avanza, Suzuki Ertiga and Mitsubishi Xpander. Hyundai has announced that it is bringing its competitor this year, the Stargazer.

    But before that happened, Nissan took the first step and introduced the Livina to Filipino car buyers. Born of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, the Livina is based on the Xpander and that should explain the undeniable similarities between the two.

    But why would you choose the Livina over the Xpander? There may be compelling reasons, which may not be valid for everyone. The new Livina is a great vehicle, just as the Xpander was great when it hit the market four years ago – and that’s not exactly a good thing.

    Exterior design

    If you’re familiar with the Xpander, then the Livina should be no stranger to you. The new Nissan MPV shares the same shell as the Mitsubishi, but with minor deviations apart from badging.

    Up front, Nissan brings out its distinct V-Motion grille on the Livina. The MPV retains the split lamp configuration, with the upper section reserved for the LED daytime running lights, while the middle and lower sections house the multi-reflector halogen headlights and fog lamps respectively. Only the top-spec VL variant comes with silver accents, including chrome side mirror covers.

    From the side, the Livina looks almost exactly like an Xpander, save for the 16-inch alloys and character lines on the front doors. The rear is where the Livina seems to be a little quirky. It retains the vertical taillight housing, but Nissan changed the LED graphic to match what you’ll see in the Almera subcompact sedan.

    For what it’s worth, Nissan has made the Livina its own, at least front and rear. I like the styling, although I wish Nissan had gone LED, especially given the price.

    Interior oh so familiar

    If you think the Livina looks too much like the Xpander on the outside, wait until you see the inside. The layout of the dashboard, the display of the instrument cluster, the layout of the seven seats, the multitude of plastics used, even the climate controls and the odd location of the parking brake lever – all of these things have been removed from the Xpander when it first arrived on our shores.

    Of course, there are a few differences such as the badges, the faux wood trim on the dash and the touchscreen head unit differ a bit. That’s not entirely a bad thing as the Xpander’s practicality, ergonomics and durability have made the Mitsubishi model popular among those looking for a seven-seater MPV.

    That said, you’ll never run out of storage and cubbyholes inside the Livina, although the second row can still use a pair of cupholders on the fold-out center armrest – something that’s present in the Refurbished Xpander launched this year.

    Dated technical and safety information

    With the adopted Xpander come the technical and safety features… also from 2018. The Livina’s head unit lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but at least it has Bluetooth and a function smartphone mirroring that never worked in my tests. Plus, the head unit surprisingly still has a CD drive (time to blow dust on your favorite CD collection).

    No automatic headlights here, the wipers are only set to intermittent mode, only dual front airbags are fitted and there’s no rear defogger on the HVAC – it looked like the Livina was a little dated, especially compared to the mainstays of the segment. Even for the high-end VL, cruise control is not standard, which will be a bit of an inconvenience for those looking for this feature at this price (like me).

    But at least the Livina VL and VE are equipped with rear parking sensors right out of the showroom, as well as vehicle dynamic control, traction control and a reversing camera. The latter, however, does not have the best display on the planet.

    Ride, handling and initial fuel economy

    The Livina’s only power plant option is also shared by the Xpander, which is the normally aspirated 1.5-litre DOHC petrol engine, capable of producing 104 brake hp and 141 Nm of torque. This is connected to a 4-speed AT (with OD switch), sending power to the front wheels.

    Apart from the powertrain, the Livina uses the same oily elements as the Xpander, such as the McPherson strut with coil spring suspension at the front and the torsion beam at the rear. The braking power is also the same: discs on the front wheels, drums on the rear.

    That said, the Livina’s on-road handling was pretty much what you’d experience in the Xpander. Finding the right driving position was child’s play, thanks to the tiller’s tilt and telescopic adjustment. The wide driving visibility made the small minivan easy to maneuver through the claustrophobic lanes of Metro Manila, while the power was enough to easily move seven occupants. Acceleration needed a bit of refinement, but I wasn’t expecting much from the aging torque converter box.

    On the bright side, the Livina is stable on the highway despite the somewhat vague steering feel at mid and low speeds. It was also able to absorb road imperfections within reason with minimal jerkiness.

    In less than 100 kilometers of driving to and from the office (and for filming), I got 11.7 km/l. Take note that I live in the infamous Bicutan area of ​​Parañaque and my office is located in Ortigas, so I’ve covered all the bases – bumper-to-bumper traffic, fast speeds on Skyway and an inevitable fate on the famous EDSA.

    Initial verdict and price

    The 2023 Nissan Livina starts at P1,029,000 for the base E MT variant. The EL AT is priced at P1,109,000, while the VE AT has a list price of P1,149,000. The top-end VL AT I tested here can be had for P1,209,000.

    Bringing the Livina here to compete with the hugely popular Mitsubishi Xpander might sound like Nissan going Livina Vida Loca. It may even seem crazier that Nissan has priced its competitor relatively higher – at least with the top-of-the-range VL (compared to the Xpander GLS), while being less equipped.

    But from a business perspective, it makes sense. It’s a way for Nissan to cover its bases in hopes of selling more into the market. Simply put, if you’re wondering why Toyota is number one in the Philippines, it’s because there’s basically a Toyota for every type of vehicle buyer – that plus the esteemed reputation it’s built. over the years, but I digress.

    However, there will always be a Livina buyer despite its drawbacks and flaws. Whether that’s for the distinct V-Motion grille or because of the Nissan badging is entirely up to the market. Whether you opt for the Xpander or the Livina, it’s a win-win for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance in which the two brands are part. Business within dealerships, however, is another story.

    Strategies for testing continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Many companies leverage continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) to quickly deploy high-quality products.

    Today, DevOps teams leverage the CI/CD Pipeline approach to rapidly develop applications, updates, and patches. However, developing a CI/CD pipeline can be a complex task and can be a challenge without an effective automation strategy and tools. It is crucial to test continuous integration and continuous delivery approaches to reduce bugs and ensure that the application serves its purpose. Here are some ways to run continuous tests in CI/CD pipelines to ensure DevOps efficiency:

    DevOps needs to evaluate Application Programming Interface (API)

    Companies around the world are focusing on APIs to create more value in their business processes. As APIs provide streamlined communication between enterprise-wide applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT), systems, and other tools. They are considered restful or soap-based terminals that allow universal interaction as long as all parties are in agreement. DevOps teams must ensure that the contract remains consistent and delivers the desired results. There are many tools on the market that CIOs can consider integrating into the CI/CD pipeline that runs API tests directly from the pipeline. These tools allow companies to verify that APIs are behaving as expected during the software development and deployment process.

    Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) Testing Approach

    Similar to an application programming interface, the GUI streamlines the application delivery process. If the GUI components do not perform as expected and DevOps does not recognize this before the application is delivered, the user’s access to applications of its various features will be restricted. After deployment, it can be difficult to troubleshoot issues because these issues remain hidden in individual environments. Designing an effective GUI test suite that assists customers and browsers will allow DevOps teams to identify the error before the deployment stage. Robust graphical user interface frameworks will help developers simulate potential user clicks in their systems to perform a series of actions and gather expected results into actual results.

    Integrating best-in-class GUI tools will allow companies to embed testing into the automated application release cycle to ensure the CI/CD pipeline runs as expected.

    Read also : Four strategies for using DevOps to reduce technical debt

    Non-functional tests

    CIOs should consider building DevOps teams to effectively handle unplanned outages. Businesses today need robust CI/CD pipelines to stay functional even during unexpected traffic spikes. Non-functional testing allows companies to run broad subcategories of testing approaches that understand how the application behaves in external and controllable environments. Like load, stress, volume and unplanned interruptions. There are more chances of problems with non-functional areas during the development phase of the application. Network disruption and other environmental triggers in the data center will cause traffic to spike. If the CI/CD pipeline is not able to handle the substantial increase in traffic, it could lead to unnecessary crises. Such events can have a disastrous impact on businesses, from which it will be difficult to recover. Integrating non-functional testing into the CI/CD pipeline will allow companies to prepare for unexpected events by predicting how the application might perform during traffic spikes and unexpected outages.

    Discover the new Enterprisetalk Podcast. For more such updates, follow us on Google News Company News.

    Félix Desmarais: the pronunciation of “helicopter” makes my head spin

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    I tried, among my colleagues, to revise the pronunciation of helicopter. My thesis is that it should be helicopter-ter. It never took off, writes Félix Desmarais. Photo/NZME

    OPINION

    Did you know that the word helicopter is made up of two words?

    Ok, you probably knew that one. But did you know it’s not a helicopter and a helicopter?

    I say. It’s hard to accept.

    It’s not helic and opt either, sorry.

    It’s helicopter and pter.

    Yeah. I’ll give you a minute while your whole world crumbles around you.

    It’s understandable. I needed a cup of tea and lay down for a whole week for this one. My coffee table almost collapsed under the weight of the teapot.

    These are two Greek words – helico means a spiral (propeller), or the sun, and pter comes from pteron, which means wing, in the same vein as pterodactyl.

    Learning this, I tried, among my colleagues, to revise the pronunciation of helicopter. My thesis is that it should be helicopter-ter. It never took off.

    English, the real empire where the sun has never set, has consumed everything in its path. It’s hardly its own language anymore – and it dates back long before colonialism.

    He took bits and pieces from almost every other language in the world and made them his own. Even the phrase to explain how ubiquitous English is was taken from another – lingua franca.

    This borrowing makes English both beautiful and ugly, a staggering Frankenstein monster of disjointed verbiage.

    I’m leaning towards beauty – I’ve had a love affair with English ever since I received an Encyclopaedia Britannica CD-ROM in a cereal box when I was 9.

    His dictionary had a feature where I could look up the etymology of words, and I soon learned hundreds of Latin, Norse, or Germanic root words that explained English words.

    This meant that I would later read a word that I did not know, but extract its meaning by knowing its components. It was an amazing gift.

    With that in mind, I really should have known how the helicopter was made up, but even insufferable nerds who spend hours reading dictionaries have their faults.

    I may have been immersed in a sea of ​​European words as a child, but that was not the case when it came to New Zealand’s native language.

    I certainly gleaned more than my parents’ generation – I have fond memories of teaching mum and dad E Ihowā Atua (the national anthem) around 1999.

    It probably wasn’t a coincidence, it was around the same time Dame Hinewehi Mohi bravely sang it in the 1999 Rugby World Cup opener.

    I remember being disappointed and embarrassed at rugby games in the early 2000s when the te reo version was sung in a stadium – it was so quiet, then booming in the English version.

    That doesn’t happen so much anymore, because people like me who learned it in school populate those stadium seats. We both sing with such pride now. It adds to our pride. We are all united in being collectively incapable of hitting the notes, in both languages. It’s a beautiful thing.

    Learning another language – not necessarily to fluency, even in part – has, in my experience, greatly improved my understanding, fluency and appreciation of my mother tongue, as well as the language I was learning.

    Language reaches across barriers and cultures to our mutual humanity. The ability to speak, after all, is what differentiates us from other animals.

    As an adult, I had the privilege of learning a bit of te reo Māori. What I learned, which I wouldn’t have fully understood without learning a few, is the real beauty of te reo Māori.

    It is, for me, the language of a poet. It is not just the words, but the way it is said, often with real brilliance, that makes te reo Māori such a treasure.

    How amazingly beautiful is the “tēnā koe” greeting? It means, literally, you are there. I see you, I recognize you.

    It makes me proud to be a Pākehā, it makes me proud to be New Zealander, that we can share this land and its treasures.

    More than celebrating, it is worth protecting. Every week of the year.

    – September 14, 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Maori Language Petition. Maori Language Week – te wiki o te reo Māori takes place from 12 to 18 September.

    Félix Desmarais is a journalist and above all a former comedian who sold at a very low price.

    Visit the perfect town of Mahone Bay in Canada

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Nova Scotia is a dream destination with many pretty places. Mahone Bay is indeed a charming hamlet on the south coast of Nova Scotia. A triad of towering cathedrals and charming Victorian residences line Mahone Bay’s rugged coastline, creating a postcard scene. A modest but exceptional way of life can be found there, from the past to unique boutiques, artists and gourmet delights along the lively and picturesque streets. Mahone Bay’s tranquil seas are filled with hundreds of islets and a wide variety of birds and other aquatic life, making it a fantastic place to view wildlife. Let’s see what visitors can do in Mahone Bay now that it’s the perfect place for a relaxing weekend.

    THE TRIP VIDEO OF THE DAY

    Discover Mahone Bay

    Mahone Bay Museum

    Despite its modest size, the museum housed in the historic Begin House in the heart of town does a decent job of illuminating the historical context of the area during colonization and settler expansion in the mid-17th century, as well as the subsequent reputation of the city in terms of shipbuilding. The three notable cathedrals, the neighborhood during World War I and the mysterious Oak Isle are covered. Particularly intriguing is the map which shows the routes taken by more than 500 ships built in Mahone Bay. In addition to the Begin house, there are exhibits of early kitchen utensils, vintage toys, and more. The museum is a great place to learn about a new culture while traveling.


    Tin of Amos

    In a sprawling studio in Mahone Bay, Amos Pewter creates handmade pewter accessories, home decor, trinkets and tableware. Visitors can watch craftsmen in action as they construct beautiful handmade objects from melting pewter. Tourists can take a guided tour or stop at the interpretive workshop to observe the skilled craftsmen. Tourists can watch how wares are meticulously cast by carefully pouring hot, free-flowing molten pewter from the melting kettle and trapping it in a rotating mould. Each item is meticulously finished by hand after being extracted from the molds, a procedure that guarantees superior craftsmanship. After completing the tour, visitors can participate in the hands-on activity and create and customize their personalized tin sand dollar.


    St. James’s Anglican Church

    Among the three churches known as Mahone Bay’s Three Churches is St. James’s Anglican Church. The church is colored in a stunning combination of yellow ochre, red and brown and is built in Victorian Gothic Revival architecture with an impressive altar. It is recognized as a historic landmark, for its connection to the work of architect William Critchlow Harris, for its function as a place of worship, and as the center of neighborhood activity for so long.

    St. John’s Lutheran Church

    St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church appears to be a white-colored wood-frame building with sparse black trim that was built in a simple Gothic Revival architectural style. The church regularly participates in community service and religious activities, and it works with other parishes in the area on ecumenical programs and initiatives such as the food bank. It has a robust music department and serves as one of the venues for the “Music at the Three Churches” summer event.


    RELATED: Nova Scotia Vs. New Brunswick: What’s Worth It?

    Eat in Mahone Bay

    Mateus Bistro

    The Mateus Bistro is the best place for an elegant yet welcoming drink and meal. Seasonal cuisines are made possible with locally grown produce, fresh seafood and charcoal-smoked steaks. In the summer, on the sail-covered terrace, you can enjoy a refreshing craft beer paired with small plates, while in the winter, you can warm up with a hearty stew with Eastern European influences.

    Rebecca’s Restaurant

    The ocean can be seen beautifully from Rebecca’s restaurant, and her extensive menu includes plenty of choices. Substantial attention is given to vegan and vegetarian meals in addition to pleasing the taste buds of their sea and land lovers. The wide selection of locally produced beverages and artisan baked goods offered by Rebecca will have guests coming back for more.


    Grand Banker Bar & Grill

    A truly Nova Scotian feel is guaranteed by the fresh regional menu, extensive list of regional wines and craft beers on tap, which includes the on-site Shipwright Brewery and coastal views. House specialties are traditional dishes with a modern twist, such as Blue Rock Fish pastries, Adam & Knickle shellfish, Banker Size Lobster Roll, the famous lobster burger, seafood gumbo and fish broth Acadian Cajun, made with the best seafood from sea and land.

    RELATED: From Nova Scotia to Ontario: A Guide to This Three-Day Road Trip

    Accommodation in Mahone Bay

    Fisherman’s Daughter’s B&B

    Televisions are available in guestrooms at this bed and breakfast hotel. Free internet access is available and a buffet breakfast is served. The vintage-themed rooms at Fisherman’s Daughter have a private bathroom with free toiletries and a hairdryer. A fridge stocked with breakfast items and a coffee machine are available for visitors to eat in their accommodation.

    River Ridge Lodge

    River Ridge Lodge provides accommodation, free bikes, a common lobby, a lawn and a patio. The b & b has free internet access and parking. Each apartment has a television, a refrigerator and an adjoining bathroom with a bathtub. Breakfast is available on site as a buffet or à la carte.


    Fairmont House Bed and Breakfast

    The Fairmont House B&B offers accommodations with ocean views and free internet access. Each room has a CD player and a TV. There is an en-suite bathroom in each accommodation. The accommodation also offers entertainment choices like a playground, a shared lounge and a patio.

    One of Canada’s prettiest towns, Mahone Bay is the perfect place to enjoy a quiet retreat from city life, even if it’s not very big. So get ready for your Nova Scotia vacation.

    How to remove bloatware from Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Many modern Android flagship phones come with bloatware. It’s not exclusive to one or two particular manufacturers, as most of the popular devices mentioned in our best Android phone collection come with pre-installed apps that you didn’t ask for. It’s not a pleasant experience to see bloatware on your shiny new $1,000 flagship device and it’s certainly not acceptable on one of the most expensive flagship phones on the market right now – the Galaxy Z Fold. 4. Yes, this particular phone comes with lots of pre-installed apps ready to use. In this article, we will show you how to remove bloatware from Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

    These pre-installed applications do not interfere with the daily use of your phone. However, they take up space in your phone, take up storage space or even use system resources in the background. It’s best to get rid of them if you don’t see yourself using these apps. Here are some simple steps using which you can clean your new Galaxy Z Fold 4 and remove “uninstallable” bloatware.

    To note: You can also follow the steps mentioned in this article to clean your other Android smartphones.

    How to uninstall Bloatware from Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 without root access

    How to remove bloatware from Galaxy Z Fold 4

    In this tutorial, we will explain how to remove bloatware from your phone using ADB GUI and ADB App Removal, such as “Universal Android Debloater”. One of the best things about using these methods is that they don’t require root access to the phone, which means you should be able to do it without much hassle.

    Caution: Uninstalling system apps essential to a phone’s proper functioning can be extremely dangerous and can lead to malfunctioning or even a bricked smartphone. We recommend that you remove only those that you consider absolutely unnecessary and that will not affect the functionality of your device.

    Step 1: Enable USB debugging on your Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

    Step 2: Remove installed packages using ADB

    • You will need ADB installed on your computer for this particular step, so make sure you have it sorted before continuing. You can check our guide “how to install ADB” to do it very easily.
    • The next step is to plug the Galaxy Z Fold 4 into your computer and change the USB settings of Charge phone only fashion to Files transfert mode when prompted.
    • Those using a Windows computer for this process can navigate to the directory where ADB is installed and press Shift + right click on the directory name and open the command/PowerShell window there.
    • Mac users will need to launch a terminal window and navigate to the ADB directory using cd . Just to give you an idea, it’s cd /Users/karthiksmac/Desktop/platform-toolon my Macbook.
      terminal mac galaxy s22
    • Once logged in, just type adb devices and press enter to see your phone’s serial number. On a Mac you will need to enter ./adb devices to see the serial number.
    • This code will trigger a prompt on your phone, asking for permission to continue. you can hit Allow to go to the next step.
      A screenshot showing the Settings page on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
    • After that, restart the adb devices Where ./adb devices code to see the serial number.

    Step 3: Remove bloatware

    Proceed to find the correct package name of the bloatware using the Package Name Viewer 2.0 app and uninstall them. There you go, you have now successfully uninstalled the bloatware from your Galaxy Z Fold 4. It is not very complicated to remove the bloatware but it will take you some time to go through the app and manually type the names of the packages.

    If that’s too tedious and you don’t want to go through each app individually, you can also use an App Removal GUI to remove bloatware in one batch. You can go to our “Universal Android Unlock” from XDA Forums thread to download and learn the steps involved in using this particular GUI.

    Universal Android Unlocker

    It’s relatively easier to use a GUI to remove bloatware because you can select a bunch of packages and just press a button to erase them from your phone. It will also give you the option to restore them at the touch of a button, which is very handy in case you end up deleting a package by mistake.

    Final Thoughts

    It’s still quite annoying to deal with bloatware but, luckily, it’s a fairly simple task. You can also use the same methods mentioned in this article to remove bloatware from other Android smartphones, so don’t hesitate to start and clean your Android phone.

      The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has fewer compromises, is more durable, and overall a much better smartphone than its predecessors.

    If you just bought a brand new Galaxy Z Fold 4 for yourself, you might want to check out our collection of the best cases for it. It’s an expensive phone, so why not protect it with a case if you haven’t already? We’ve also rounded up some of the best chargers if you want to buy a new fast charger for the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

    Vinyl Word – La Presse

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    New University Avenue record store is out of this world

    By Tom Smith
    Corresponding

    Normally in the Vinyl Word I’d review a recently released record (sometimes a compact disc), but this month I’m writing about something that will not only have a big influence on future topics in this column, but something that will impact players’ vinyl buying options.

    As Press Times readers know, I was employed for thirty-four years at the Exclusive Company in downtown Green Bay, a record store that sadly no longer exists due to the death of the owner.

    The absence of the Exclusive Company left a big void in the retail music scene in Green Bay, not to mention that it made me unemployed and without a career.

    Luckily for Green Bay and myself, outstanding Green Bay citizen Pierre Jacques (also a former employee of The Exclusive Company) is opening the Green Bay UFO Museum Gift Shop and Archives, located at 2248 University Ave.

    This is the building where Guitar Cellar used to be, downstairs from Blue Gem Tattooing (which does high quality work).

    The grand opening will take place from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday, September 28.

    As the name of the business suggests, this is a UFO museum gift shop that also has records.

    Inferring from the company name that you will find UFO and sci-fi related gifts and other such items is a 100% correct assumption.

    Items you’ll find include trading cards of all kinds, sci-fi magazines, mystery magazines, pulp sci-fi books, sci-fi and comic book action figures; other action figures from professional wrestling, sports entertainment, film and television, rock bands and, last but not least, Olympic athletes.

    The inventory is supplemented with unique novelty items, toys, buttons, stickers, rubber chickens and t-shirts.

    As for the record aspect of the store, new and used vinyl will be stocked.

    They’re becoming a record store that gets all the limited exclusive vinyl that comes out on Record Store Day and Black Friday.

    Many record stores across the country open early for Record Store Day, but the Green Bay UFO Museum Gift Shop and Archives will remain open later than regular business hours on Record Store Day.

    There will be compact discs, but they will encourage customers to pre-order the new releases if they want them on CD.

    The inventory will also include 45s, cassettes, vinyl care kits, cleaning solutions, headphones, record covers and occasionally mini-discs.

    The store will have a VHS rental section – that’s not a typo – the store will have a VHS rental section curated by its owner, Pierre.

    The store will host in-store performances from bands, solo artists and DJs.

    I asked Jacques a few questions about his new business.

    What do you like about the neighborhood so far?

    Jacques: The dirt bike wheelie guys (in reference to a group of dirt bike enthusiasts who do wheelies almost daily in the parking lot of the University Square shopping center located in front of the Museum. To be honest, I love that too, c became my 5 o’clock Charlie). Also the taco truck that is in the far left corner of University Square, El Pastorcito (good food, I’ve eaten some myself).

    If you could listen to records with any dead musician, who would it be?

    Jacques: David Bowie

    If you could listen to records with any alien, real or fictional, who would it be?

    Jacques: David Bowie

    Yes folks, I think I would love to work for Pierre Jacques at the Green Bay UFO Museum Gift Shop and Archives.

    Live long and prosper.

    dBpoweramp Music Converter R2022.8.9 – Neowin

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    Advanced audio conversion, effortlessly convert between formats. dBpoweramp contains a multitude of audio tools in one: CD Ripper, Music Converter, Batch Converter, ID Tag Editor and Windows audio shell enhancements. Preloaded with essential codecs (mp3, wave, FLAC, m4a, Apple Lossless, AIFF), additional codecs can be installed from [Codec Central], as well as utility codecs that perform actions on audio files. After 21 days, the trial will end and revert to dBpoweramp Free edition (learn the difference between Reference and dBpoweramp Free, here). dBpoweramp is compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, 32 and 64 bits.

    dBpoweramp Music Converter Features:

    • Convert audio files with elegant simplicity. mp3, mp4, m4a (iTunes / iPod), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC) to name a few!
    • Support for multi-processor encoding
    • Rip digitally recorded audio CDs (with CD Ripper)
    • Batch convert large number of files in 1 click
    • Windows Integration Contextual Info Tips, Audio Properties, Columns, Editing ID Tags
    • DSP effects such as volume normalization or graphic equalizer [Power Pack Option]
    • Command line encoding: invoke the encoder from the command line
    • DSP effects – process audio with volume normalization or sample rate/bit conversion, with over 30 effects dBpoweramp is a complete mp3 converter
    • dBpoweramp integrates into Windows Explorer, an mp3 converter as simple as a right click on the source file >> Convert to. Contextual information tips, Change ID-Tags are all provided.

    dBpoweramp CD ripper

    dBpoweramp Music Converter R2022.8.9 Changelog:

    • Windows 11 added native shell menus
    • Manual search for additional source album art
    • Better upgrade process, dBpoweramp Control Center keeps track of your order number and is able to download updates automatically
    • Added Wavpack DSD support
    • ALAC fixed buffer overflow bug
    • Ogg Vorbis and FLAC: can read an album name ‘=’ (previously tags starting with = were filtered out due to bad vorbis taggers writing == separators in vorbis comments
    • Opus Encoder updated to 1.3.1
    • m4a AAC decoder, DRC volume decoding fix
    • Support WAVE RF64 decoding
    • CD Ripper: metadata all works with proxy settings
    • CD Ripper: manual metadata review page, size of replacement boxes increased
    • Bug fix: CD Ripper did not cross-calculate AccurateRip on pass 2
    • Bugfix: Ogg Vorbis, Opus tags could contain an “Album Artist” tag that could not be edited or deleted, resulting in duplicates

    To download: dBpoweramp R2022.8.9 Music Converter | 61.8 MB (shareware)
    See: dBpowerAMP Music Converter Website

    TwitterGet notified of all our software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

    Why Developers Need Passwordless – The New Stack

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Over the years we have seen a series of attacks on systems due to passwords. Passwords are leaked, reused or phished – the vulnerable entry point into the system.

    Ben Arent

    Ben has been in developer tools for a decade, helping to deliver tools that have been used by over 100,000 developers. At Teleport, he thrives on helping keep enterprise and developer networks and machines secure.

    The solution: get rid of passwords.

    Password replacement is often called passwordless, but it’s a confusing term because it doesn’t describe what is replacing it. Basically, passwordless is an authentication method that combines proof of identity (biometrics / Touch ID) and proof of presence (attestation for Secure Enclave on Mac). Both of these are all integrated with modern web technologies such as Web Authentication (WebAuthn) to make things simpler and provide a smooth user experience for users. For example, when you sign in to your iPhone with Face ID, it’s password-free; You do not belive it.

    In addition to user passwords, there are other password-type credentials scattered throughout your infrastructure. These are sometimes explicitly referred to as passwords, such as a username and password for a MySQL server, but can also take the form of long-running Kubernetes configurations that have a very long secret that is only ‘a password. It can also be an SSH configuration, used by CI/CD servers to communicate with other machines. We’ll cover machine-to-machine communication and authentication later in this article.

    Problems in Dev Paradise

    In recent years, developers have been the target of multiple attacks, as most developers need access to simulation, construction or production environments. Having access to sensitive systems, they are prime targets for hackers or even nation-state attacks. The SolarWinds hack showed “phenomenal craftsmanship” – once the attacker gained a foothold in the system, a backdoor was placed in the build system and then eventually deployed to customers.

    Other companies such as Twilio and Cisco have been attacked with sophisticated attacks that can even bypass single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Cisco recently observed advanced circumvention of MFA via voice phishing or “vishing”. These incidents highlight that even SSO and MFA might not be strong enough to protect against the most persistent attacks.

    Developers’ dirty secrets

    In the daily work of developers, they come across many secrets. These can range from API keys for services to AWS credentials and kubeconfigs. There are two problems with most of these secrets:

    1. Most are long-lived credentials.
    2. They are stored on disk.

    Long-lived credentials can pose many risks. For example, a developer might have a Twilio API key that sends SMS, but is it the same key as production? Is this API key rotated when someone leaves the company? Having long-lived credentials opens up the possibility of lateral movement and possible privilege escalation. Two open source solutions for managing secrets are Blackbox and sops. These tools encrypt secrets, which means that even if they are leaked, attackers will not be able to use them.

    Using short-lived, temporary credentials is ideal for protecting developer accounts. AWS users can use temporary security credentials in IAM in combination with AWS SSO and profiles, aws sso login --profile, to retrieve short-lived credentials. If a machine was compromised, there would be a limited window in which an attacker could actually use a secret. Another interesting open source project, aws-vault, helps solve this problem in development environments.

    Finally, it is important to use a dedicated service account for machine-to-machine communication. For example, a CI/CD service should have its own service account with limited permissions and credentials. It’s worth evaluating whether you can completely remove secrets, such as using OIDC for GitHub workflows to eliminate the need to store long-lived secrets. For other systems, it’s worth investigating the open source Teleport Machine ID as a system that will continuously obtain short-lived certificates for server, Kubernetes, and database access.

    How does passwordless work?

    The basics of passwordless rely on a few standard web standards. For a deep dive, I highly recommend this article, “How Passwordless Works,” for an in-depth look at how WebAuthn works as well as Passwordless. An interesting detail that makes passwordless secure is the fact that identity verification, either through biometrics or a personal identification number (PIN), never leaves the user’s device. This makes remote phishing attempts impossible, as the attacker would need access to the device.

    What makes developers unique?

    It goes without saying that developers are experienced users of their work machines. They often switch between integrated development environments (IDEs) and terminals to do their jobs. They use command-line tools rather than browser-based applications, and these CLI tools often require some form of authentication.

    This is where the password can get tricky. WebAuthn was primarily designed for browsers, and some security features such as attestation are not fully implemented. For example, Chrome relies on self-attestation for Touch ID because it can’t safely use a different format.

    The next issue is being able to support passwordless authentication methods in the CLI. When developing the open source tsh client, the binary needed to be packaged with the correct provisioning profile in order to work. For other open source developers, this means an Apple developer account is required to create a Touch ID compatible CLI.

    Why Developers Need Passwordless

    This article has described some of the risks associated with passwords and points us to a future in which passwords are a thing of the past. By switching to passwordless authentication methods, the risk of attacks is greatly reduced. Teleport is one of the first developer-focused tools to bring a password to the terminal without the need for a username or password.

    Call to Action for Passwordless for Developer

    Audit your developers and systems: To better understand your current security posture, it’s helpful to identify all of the different authentication tools and methods used for developers and developer-related services. If you’re using a centralized password manager, it might be worth researching the date the password was last rotated and exploring other options.

    Upgrade U2F to WebAuth: If you are working on a product that provides authentication, start by upgrading your old U2F and second factor to WebAuth; Several libraries are available to facilitate this:

    Invest in hardware tokens: Start by purchasing your team’s hardware tokens, either YubiKeys, Google Titans, or SoloKeys

    Upgrade machine-to-machine communication without password: Look for ways to remove infrastructure service passwords. For example, if you currently use Postgres username and password, consider switching to using TLS to connect to your MySQL, then use certificates instead of passwords.

    The future of passwordless with access keys

    Apple, Google, and Microsoft have collaborated to improve the passwordless user experience for the general public. Currently, users must register and enroll each device they have. For example, a Touch ID registration made on your MacBook will not transfer to your iPhone.

    Passkeys is the solution to this problem, a FIDO2 enhancement that will allow users to easily and securely access passwordless systems on all devices and operating systems. FIDO2 authentication standards are based on public key cryptography for more secure authentication than SMS passwords and one-time passwords. FIDO2 authentication helps replace password-only logins with secure and fast login experiences on websites and apps.

    The owner of TNS, Insight Partners, is an investor in: Teleport.

    Feature image via Pixabay.

    A Brief History of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Trading Cards

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Everyone loves dinosaurs! And, if there was a real Jurassic Park, if you’re reading this, chances are you’ll be first in line. Apparently, map companies are following the same path as they continue to produce sets based on the Jurassic Park movie franchise.

    With the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, it’s a good time to look back at the various makers who have turned the world of dinosaurs into fan-favorite cardboard creations. Topps was the most prolific with no less than four sets based on the film franchise, along with a number of comic adaptations and the insert cards included. As for creativity, Inkworks provided a series of 3D cards, including a number of hunting cards.

    Classic Jurassic

    One of the first cards in production was released by Weston Bread as a promotional item in 1992. There were a total of 24 cards featuring scenes from the film on the front, while the reverse had English text and in French.

    Another promotional trading card game was actually produced to promote the opening of Jurassic Park: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, in 1996. The six-card game was distributed with Pepsi merchandise and at retail outlets. Dairy Queen.

    Another unique product came from Bulls-i-Toys – Jurassic World Dog Tags. The entire collection consisted of 24 basic dog tags, 24 foil chase dog tags, 24 sticker cards half of which were lenticular, and 10 movie prop dog tags featuring actors of the film, including Chris Pratt and Vincent D’Onofrio.

    Promo cards were also produced for Samsung/Universal Studios in 1995 to promote Jurassic World. The eight cards revolved around the movie’s dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. The cards were distributed at select Best Buy stores across the United States.

    The first collection of related cards produced by Topps, Jurassic Park, arrived in time for the release of the first film in 1993. Consisting of 36 eight-card decks and a sticker, the set included a standard 88-card base with dinosaurs, the park, characters, history and the film. It also had a 13-card subset with Crash’s artwork. Eleven puzzle stickers and four chase card holograms were also available.

    In addition to the cards, Topps Comics produced a four-issue film adaptation in comic book form, which was bagged with promotional cards. Of the nine promos, two contained film footage, with the rest consisting of illustrations from the comic books. A promotional five-card cello pack was also available.

    Not one to rest on its laurels, Topps followed a few months later with the Jurassic Park Series 2 cards. The per-pack and per-box configurations were the same as the first, with cards featuring more dinos and more in behind the scenes. The numbering resumed from the first set and ran from #89-154. There were also 11 stickers and the same four holograms.

    But Topps wasn’t done with its Jurassic Park release for 1993, launching the Jurassic Park Gold Series. The cards were the same as cards 1-88 of the first series but with a gold embossed JP logo on the front of the cards. The series was rounded out with four action holograms and ten art cards from Arthur Adams, Howard Chaykin, Joe Quesada, Mark Schultz, Kent Williams, and more.

    Kenner supplemented the collection of dinosaur-related cards in late 1993 with a 67-card deck based on the film while featuring artwork on the front and dinosaur information and trivia on the back.

    Topps has returned with another prehistoric adventure through the Jurassic period with their Jurassic Park: Lost World cards in 1997. The 72-card set included Artifacts, Diorama Showcase, Behind the Scenes, and Dinosuar Gallery cards along with the usual intro and checklist cards. There were 36 packs per box with six cards and one sticker per pack. A promotional card of an embossed Stegosaurus completes the set.

    One of the most ambitious companies probably started in 2001 when Inkworks launched Jurassic Park III 3-D in the world. Consisting of 36 decks of seven cards per box, the breakdown was as follows: 1–36 miscellaneous story and character cards, 37–45 Jaw 2 Claw, 46–54 Dino Discoveries, and 55–72 Field Guide cards. This set included chase cards including 3D viewing glasses (or mail-in offer card), CD-ROM game cards, four Jurassic X-treme die-cut cards, and Ragin’ Refractor Prismatic Foil cards (six ), with blue backgrounds. and green funds. Mega Mayhem Foil Embossed and Reptile Rumble cards were also included in the chase sets.

    Bulls-i-Toys have also returned to the Jurassic Park playground with their own offering: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The series had 24 seven-card decks and contained scenes from the film. Although a little weird, most of the cards didn’t have titles on them. There were also 15 Dino Pursuit cards, nine Heat ‘N Reveal, nine Glow in the Dark, nine 3-D Action Dino, and seven Costume cards.

    Not available in the United States, but produced for Australia and New Zealand, were the Jurassic Park maps based on the first film and produced by Dynamic Forces. The cards contained images not easily seen in the United States and also included Prism and 3-D Pop-Up cards.

    fantasy jurassic

    With the inclusion of the latest film, it’s obvious that the dinosaur appeal is here to stay, and the plethora of card games makes it easy for fans to collect and relive all the excitement of the original and new. Jurassic Park/World movies.

    Chapter Raptor

    In the 1990s, Topps licensed properties for trading cards and comic books, through their Topps Comics division. After the theatrical success of Jurassic Park in 1993, as well as Topps’ release of trading cards and a four-issue film adaptation, the company expanded the story with a follow-up comic series featuring original stories. One such comic was the two-issue Jurassic Park Raptor spin-off by Steve Englehart and Armando Gil. Topps, globally known as a confectionery and trading card company, sold its comics in polythene bags with trading cards inserted. One of the most memorable card games was renowned artist William Stout’s series of six decks. Three cards were inserted in each of the two numbers.

    Call of the Wild: The Angler: Launch with Power Bar

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    In this guide we will discuss the fifth and last level of tinykin in which we must collect the last component named “Thingy” from Wolter who challenged us.

    Celerion Park

    At the start of the level, Wolter will chat with us and he would agree to give us the thingy if we pass the challenge he set up. He told us to find special things for the race and he gave us the thingy. We would need a piece of track, a car, a cup and spectators to start the race.

    Catch the red Tinykins initially then shoot the block to create silk for the dragon. Use the soap board on the silk then use the glider to descend on the flour. Once you’re on the ground, you need to get as many Tinykins as possible. Circulate on the tracks and inside the structures to collect all the colors of tinykins. After getting about 40 yellow Tinykins and a fair amount of other Tinykins, return to the ground near the dragon toy. Create a bridge to the platform, then create another bridge to the shelf. Go to the shelf and you will find the car. Shoot little pink roses on the car to carry it, then build bridges for them to knock the car down. Follow them and you will need to lift the frame. To lift the frame, there will be a plinth next to the frame, bridge it and climb up. Go up the slide and enter the structure on the right. Use the ropes to climb to the top level of the structure, then pull 10 small pink pots on the weight to lift the frame. The Tinykins will bring the car to the race track.

    Now get on the rail right next to the slide you went on and get on the shelf. Create bridges to reach the shelf and when you enter the shelf you will find the track piece. Shoot it to catch it, then help them by clearing the way so they can put the track back in its place. Move the box and make bridges for the Tinykins. After that, go under the slide and you will need to light the train to attract spectators. Go inside the area and lift the frame by shooting the pink minikins, then go up and shoot the red minikins to break the wooden block and you will see the power switch. Start placing the little bruises a good distance away and go down to the power outlet to power up the spectator train.

    Now for the last thing which is the trophy you can find it directly from the starting point of the track. Go around the corner of the track and there will be a guy who will let you keep the legendary sword if you lower it. Shoot 10 pink tinykins then make a path for them and they will go to the castle area of ​​the level, you will need to bring them a bridge and you can do this by moving forward through the area and opening all the doors then moving a box which will reveal a power switch. Place the blue Tinykins up to the switch in front of the castle area and turn on the switch to bring the bridge for the Tinykins. The Tinykins will bring the sword to the dinosaur and kill the dinosaur with the sword and a door will open where you will find the trophy. Pick up the trophy and place it on the stage near the microphone.

    Tinykin: Level 5: Celerion Park - Walkthrough

    After that the race will start and Wolter will give the Thingy, then just shoot the pink Tinykins on the Thingy and they will bring it to the Chrysal workshop. The last component will be placed in the device and the project will be complete. Milo will enter the device but the device will not work properly and a rope will descend from a well.

    Tinykin: Level 5: Celerion Park - Walkthrough

    Climb silks then climb this rope that goes into the attic. You’ll find Solaria and Meneth near the radio playing a song. There will be a small house in front, climb over the house and you will find Ardwin but he won’t speak or anything, pick the red Tinykins behind him then break the tape playing on the radio. Then go back to the house and a cutscene will start and Ardwin will talk to you. After the dialogues, Ardwin will help Milo to return home and enter the device and teleport to planet Aegis and the game will end.

    The Best Small Business Accounting Software 2022

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    What is accounting software and how does it work?

    Gerri Detweiler

    Accounting software allows small business owners to record their business’ financial transactions for tax and accounting purposes. More importantly, it can help you produce financial statements, cash flow information, and other tools to help you understand the financial health of your business.

    Most accounting software today allows you to import transactions from your business bank account and automate certain tasks. You will be able to create and track invoices, inventory, and accounts receivable or payable. Many will offer additional services such as payroll and the ability to accept online payments (ACH or credit cards) from customers.

    If your accounting is up to date, you can produce financial statements to gain insight into financial performance or to help your business qualify for small business loans.

    Note that even though we use the word “software” here, most of these programs are cloud accounting programs, which means that there is no software to install on your computer and you can access your accounts from anywhere. Mobile accounting apps can make it even easier to stay up to date on

    Why does every small business need accounting software?

    It is possible for a very small business with few expenses and little income to do without accounting software. Tax preparation software may be sufficient to report a company’s profits and losses on tax returns. And other tasks, like creating and tracking invoices, can be done manually.

    But this creates extra work and you risk making mistakes.

    For the vast majority of small businesses, accounting software will be essential to ensure income and expenses are tracked correctly. Tax time will also be much easier whether you do it yourself or hire an accounting professional. The sooner you set up your accounting software, the easier it will be for you to track your business performance.

    You can hire a bookkeeper or accountant to set up accounting software for you, but it’s a good idea to keep control of the account so you can review the information and retain the ability to switch accountants if you wish.

    There are many accounting software packages available, some of which specialize in specific industries. However, most small businesses will be able to find a good solution among the following 5 best accounting software. The best small business accounting software is ultimately the one you use.

    Quickbooks

    Intuit Quickbooks is popular accounting software and it comes in several flavors including Quickbooks Online, Quickbooks Self Employed, and Quickbooks Online Advanced. You can also purchase additional products such as payroll, payments, and time tracking.

    Although the learning curve may be steeper, many accountants and bookkeepers use Quickbooks, and the company can refer you to certified professionals who can help you set up your chart of accounts, complete your bookkeeping, or provide additional information. other accounting services.

    Advantages

    • Used by many accounting professionals
    • Robust mobile app
    • Wide range of accounting features and add-ons (may require upgrading)

    The inconvenients

    • Can be difficult to set up
    • Fees may add up with additional services or access
    • Online synchronization not always reliable

    Professional Small Business Accounting Software by Intuit

    QuickBooks Pro makes bookkeeping easy – with tools to organize your finances all in one Learn more

    Xero

    Popular with very small businesses, Xero is an affordable accounting program with a robust mobile app.

    Advantages

    • Pricing starts at just $12 per month
    • Robust mobile app
    • Quotes and invoicing, basic inventory management

    The inconvenients

    • Your accountant cannot use
    • Xero Limited Features on Basic Plan
    • Limited phone support (24/7 online customer support)

    Sage Accounting

    Sage is one of the original accounting software and offers plans for very small businesses as well as growing and medium-sized businesses. It is based in the UK, and although it has many users in the US, there are times when it can be somewhat confusing for those users. Your accountant, on the other hand, may know and love Sage.

    Advantages

    • Unlimited users
    • Quotes and follow-up of invoices
    • Integrates with Stripe for payments

    The inconvenients

    • No integrated payroll
    • Time Tracking Interface/Support for
    • US companies less robust

    Sage Accounting

    Sage aims to transform the way people think and work, enabling organizations to thrive. Each Read more

    fresh books

    Freshbooks is known for its robust invoicing tools, but it’s also an affordable cloud-based double-entry bookkeeping solution that’s popular with freelancers and independent contractors. But it can also be used by businesses with employees, and it has added features like a customizable chart of accounts.

    Advantages

    • User-friendly interface and robust mobile app
    • Quotes, proposals and invoices
    • Time tracking and mileage tracking included

    The inconvenients

    • No integrated payroll
    • Time Tracking Interface/Support for
    • US companies less robust

    FreshBooks: cloud accounting software for small businesses

    The best cloud-based small business accounting software. Send Invoices, Track Time, Manage Receipts, Expenses, Learn More

    Vague

    Offering free billing and accounting has helped Wave stand out from the competition. Wave earns money with optional paid products: payroll, payment processing and consulting. It’s easy to use and can be a solid option for startups and very small businesses.

    Advantages

    • Free invoicing software
    • Free and unlimited income and expense tracking
    • Free and unlimited bank connections and credit cards

    The inconvenients

    • Limited functionality for growing businesses
    • No time tracking
    • No phone support for accounting

    Zoho Books

    Zoho Books is an online accounting software focused on automation and workflow. It offers many pricing plans, including a free tier for businesses with annual revenue of $50,000 or less. The free tier is quite robust and includes tools like automated payment reminders, online payments, and bank reconciliation. Zoho Books can also integrate with Zoho CRM, a customer relationship management system.

    Advantages

    • Integrations with over 50 third-party apps
    • Sales tax audit reports
    • Generous number of invoices, even on the free tier

    The inconvenients

    • Your accountant can’t use Zoho Books
    • Customer support is email only on the free plan
    • Plans cap out at 25 users

    Cheapest Small Business Accounting Software

    The cheapest accounting software for small businesses is Wave or the free Zoho Books plan for businesses with annual revenue under $50,000. Both are free unless you need to add paid services (such as payroll) or upgrade to a paid plan (in the case of Zoho Books).

    Of the two, Zoho Book’s free plan offers more accounting tools and app integrations, but Wave doesn’t cap the earnings of the free plan. While both are a good choice for some micro businesses and sole proprietors, growing businesses may find they need a more robust solution.

    It will be easier to upgrade from Zoho Books free accounting plan to a paid version. If your company’s accounting needs become more sophisticated and you outgrow Wave, you may need to switch accounting software.

    The Easiest Small Business Accounting Software

    Freshbooks, Wave, and Zoho Books are all known for their ease of use. They have easy-to-use interfaces that make it easy for entrepreneurs (including new business owners) to get started.

    If you’re going to hire an accountant or bookkeeping professional to help you with bookkeeping or taxes, they’ll need to be familiar with the bookkeeping software you’re using, so be sure to talk to them about the right solution for your business. . It is also possible to hire a professional to help you set up your accounting software and provide basic training if you prefer to do your own accounting.

    FreshBooks: cloud accounting software for small businesses

    The best cloud-based small business accounting software. Send Invoices, Track Time, Manage Receipts, Expenses, Learn More

    The Most Complete Small Business Accounting Software

    Quickbooks is probably the most complete and scalable accounting solution for small businesses. It offers a variety of upgrades to provide the business with the solutions it needs as it grows.

    Professional Small Business Accounting Software by Intuit

    QuickBooks Pro makes bookkeeping easy – with tools to organize your finances all in one Learn more

    Can you use Excel for accounting?

    If you have very simple and limited business income and expenses, know accounting principles, or work with an accountant who will enter your information into accounting software, you may be able to work from Excel. or Google Sheets.

    For most small businesses, however, it’s wise to start with accounting software that will allow you to track your business’s financial activities and monitor your business’ financial health.

    Making CD-i games in 2022

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Earlier this year, developer Jeffrey Janssen released Nobeliaa new game for Phillips CD-i, an early 90s hardware platform best remembered for hosting a handful of ill-regarded Zelda and Mario games.

    Talk with GamesIndustry.bizJanssen answers the most pressing question: Why?

    “My dad worked at Phillips when I was a kid and he brought home a CD-i player,” Janssen explains. “We didn’t have any other game consoles, so we had a lot of fun with them.”

    While Janssen’s family owned a PC, they did not own many games for it, and they found the pioneering disc-based CD-i’s video and music set it apart from other entertainment options. He remembers playing Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, the football/soccer game Striker Pro, and an Asterix board game as a kid.

    “The pandemic hit and I was looking for something to do when I remembered the CD-i player in the attic”

    “When I was an adult, I found a player maybe ten years ago with a lot of games on a local second-hand site,” Janssen explains. “Then the pandemic hit and I was looking for something to do when I remembered the CD-i player in the attic.”

    He tinkered with the system a bit, researched the specs, and built a USB to CD-i controller converter.

    “It was a fun project,” says Janssen. “And around that time, I also found a community around it, I met a few people there, and I was like, ‘Well, how hard is it to program for this? Can I create something that will work on
    CD-i?'”

    Janssen is a software developer by trade, but not in the games industry. Other than a couple of small projects in the past, he says he’s never done any game development. So aside from his childhood nostalgia, what made CD-i the platform to change that?

    “What I really like about CD-i programming is that it’s limited,” he says. “You can’t do anything. If you’re making a game for the modern PC, the sky’s the limit. You can do pretty much anything you want. I find it very rewarding and challenging to work within certain limits.”

    Fortunately, the CD-i does not lack limitations.


    “I think it gets a lot of flak for being the CD-i, and I think most people who talk about it have never really seen the system or played with it,” Janssen says. “That being said, as a game console, the hardware isn’t really designed for that.

    “It was designed as a multimedia machine, and you can see that it supports all kinds of controllers. When we didn’t have one of the game controllers, we did everything with the remote, or a trackball, which isn’t really the best thing to play games with. But we managed.

    “Hardware-wise, there’s no hardware acceleration for games. Like, even the old Nintendo had support for sprites and tiles and so on. Everything [with CD-i] you have to do in the software. So it’s a bit slow. You have to do a lot of laps. There’s a lot of input lag.”

    Even something as simple as playing a sound effect while background music played required some work around.

    “There are a lot of cool things that have been done with it that suit a system like this”

    “It’s not a very good game system,” Janssen concedes. “But I think there’s a lot of cool stuff that’s been done with it that suits a system like this.”

    It didn’t take long for these limitations to show up. Janssen set out to create a game that would have involved screen scrolling, but soon found that was harder to do on the CD-i than he was prepared to tackle.

    He reduced the concept to a Bomberman clone, just a static screen where the player walks around planting bombs and blowing things up.

    The concept of the game would once again change, but this time it would be about Janssen’s own limitations rather than those of the hardware.

    “I’m not really a graphic designer, so I started looking for graphics online,” he explains. “I didn’t really find anything that I liked that fit the theme of Bomberman, but I found the tileset I used in Nobelia and I really liked it. It didn’t really look like to Bomberman; it was more Zelda-ish, so I thought why not do a crossover? And that’s why Nobelia is Nobelia.”

    And of course, even a solo developer often counts on help along the way. The CD-i homebrew scene may not be exactly thriving, but it does exist and there is a community around the system that has proven useful for Janssen.

    “In the community, there’s this guy called CD-i Fan, who used to be a CD-i developer,” Janssen explains. “He developed professional software for the system and some games. He is very passionate about the system; he is also the guy who developed the CD-i emulator. He was a great help. He knew about it still a lot on this since he was working on and he was always very helpful. When I was stuck he gave me advice. Without that help I wouldn’t have gotten this far I don’t think. Or as quickly.

    When he shared a demo of Nobelia in development, it was the community that asked Janssen about a physical release for the game. He looked into the matter, discovered that a series of professional discs would cost less than expected, and committed to producing a series of discs with packaging he designed himself.


    Nobelia physical packaging

    “At first I was really scared,” recalls Janssen. “Will I get a return on my investment by printing it?”

    Fortunately, it got its money back in about two weeks, thanks to strong early interest and a US dealer who placed an order for double-digit copies.

    Although Janssen isn’t about to make a living from full-time CD-i development anytime soon, he’s making another CD-i game in his spare time. This game, SkyWays, is inspired by an older DOS title called Sky Roads, and aims to take advantage of CD-i’s video streaming strengths to mimic a 3D effect in a kind of action racing game.

    And while Janssen enjoyed his early experiences developing homebrew games in Nobelia and SkyWays, he doesn’t plan to branch out to work on other systems.

    “I like the limits of this one,” he explains. “We didn’t really have any other game consoles when I was growing up, so none really appealed to me enough to start making a game for it.”


    Skyways Demo
    A first demo taken from SkyWays

    What are traded CDs? – Best Wallet Hacks

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Millions of American investors buy certificates of deposit (CDs) at banks and credit unions. But did you also know that you can buy them through investment brokers? They are called traded CDs.

    At their core, bank CDs and traded CDs are the same product. But on closer inspection, there are several key differences. These include how they are purchased, options for maximizing FDIC coverage, and other provisions. This article covers broker CDs and how they work to help you decide if they’re right for your portfolio.

    Contents
    1. Bank CDs
    2. Traded CDs
    3. How do traded CDs work?
    4. Callable or non-callable CDs
    5. Are traded CDs risky?
    6. Comparison of traded and bank CDs
      1. Traded CDs
      2. Bank CDs
    7. Is a negotiated CD the right choice?
    8. The Basics of Traded CDs

    Bank CDs

    Bank CDs are locked savings accounts provided by a bank or credit union. It is a savings contract in which the bank agrees to pay a fixed interest rate for a fixed period. Considered a safe investment, terms can range from three months to five years, although some banks go up to ten years. You can buy bank CDs in denominations of $100 to $100,000 or more.

    Although the bank will pay full interest if you hold the certificate until maturity, you can withdraw the funds sooner. But if you do, there will be early withdrawal penalties. However, the bank will usually refund your full principal amount.

    Bank CDs are often recommended for balances below $250,000, as that is the maximum amount the FDIC will cover. (FDIC insurance coverage has a maximum of $250,000 per depositor, per bank limit, for all funds held on deposit at a single institution.)

    Traded CDs

    Traded CDs are bank CDs purchased by brokerage firms and other financial institutions (including financial planners, advisers, and consultants) and then resold to consumers. Since these are bank CDs, they are covered by full FDIC insurance of up to $250,000.

    But because a broker can offer investors CDs from multiple banks and credit unions, investors can benefit from effectively exceeding the total FDIC limits of $250,000 while benefiting from insurance protection.

    Because they are held in brokerage accounts, traded CDs can be bought and sold on the secondary market, just like stocks and bonds.

    How do traded CDs work?

    Traded CDs can be purchased as a new issue or on the secondary market in the case of existing certificates. Brokers find the highest rates, buy large amounts of each CD, then sell portions to consumers at slightly lower interest rates.

    Traded CDs may have longer maturities than bank CDs. However, your money is not locked in and you can recover your funds by selling the CD in the secondary market through the broker at the then prevailing interest rate.

    Brokers will set minimum investments, which can be $1,000, $10,000 or another denomination. And while interest on bank CDs is paid at maturity, brokers typically pay the interest earned on the CD monthly.

    Brokers can earn commissions on traded CDs in two ways. The first is through an interest rate spread. In a typical example, the broker will offer CDs paying 2.00% to its clients at a rate of 1.75%. The 0.25% difference between the two rates is a commission for the broker.

    The second scenario is a package. The broker may charge a very small fee per CD. It can be a flat rate of $1, $10 or another amount when you buy a CD up to a certain dollar amount. Or it can be a percentage of the CD purchase, like 0.10%.

    Callable or non-callable CDs

    Because brokerage firms sell them, traded CDs have provisions that bank CDs do not. Traded CDs can be either callable Where not callable. This is an important distinction you should be aware of before investing in a traded CD.

    Callable CDs may require the issuing bank to terminate the CD before its maturity date. This can happen if interest rates drop to a certain point, usually below the rate on the CD. If the CD is redeemable, the bank will refund your original investment, plus any accrued interest, from the date the CD is called. If you’re considering investing in a traded CD, find out if it will be redeemable and if it’s a feature you’re comfortable with.

    Non-callable CDs allow a fixed interest rate over the full term of the CD, ensuring that the CD will perform exactly as it was issued. This is the most predictable option since the bank cannot redeem the CD before maturity.

    Are traded CDs risky?

    When buying CDs, the main rule is to avoid risk. Most traded CDs are covered by FDIC insurance up to $250,000, making it easy to split multiple CDs between different banks.

    However, if you invest in a CD for an institution that the FDIC doesn’t cover — and it does happen on rare occasions — you could lose your entire investment if the issuer goes bankrupt. Make sure the institution is covered by the FDIC; otherwise, don’t invest in the CD. The FDIC provides recommendations on what to look for when buying traded CDs.

    The most common risk is that if you sell early, you may lose money. It all depends on the current interest rate on the secondary market. If you sell a CD at 2.0% when the current rate is 2.5%, you will likely sell the certificate for less than you paid.

    Also be aware that selling a CD on the secondary market is not always easy. Unlike stock and bond markets, the secondary market for CDs is minimal. There may be no buyers for your CD if you want to sell it before it matures. This is more likely to be a problem if interest rates have risen since you invested in the CD.

    Comparison of traded and bank CDs

    Below is a summary of traded and banked CDs. This will help you get a clearer picture of how they work and the pros and cons of each.

    Traded CDs

    • Offered through a brokerage firm, financial advisor or financial planner who arranges the purchase of your CDs.
    • Technically not insured by the FDIC, but the banks through which the CDs are issued are (or should be), and your broker or financial institution is responsible for confirming this.
    • You may have to pay a fee to open a broker account, as well as a small fee for buying and selling each CD.
    • With access to the vast pool of banks and credit unions offering CDs, you can get better interest rates than dealing with just one financial institution.
    • Longer maturities are available on traded CDs, allowing you to take advantage of higher rates on longer terms.
    • Traded CDs can be redeemable, which benefits the bank, but not you.
    • Possibility of losing part of your investment if the CD is sold on the secondary market.

    Bank CDs

    • CDs will be limited to what is available at each location.
    • Banks and credit unions rarely offer the highest rates on CDs.
    • You must open your CD(s) at a bank or credit union.
    • You are responsible for ensuring that your bank or credit union is FDIC insured.
    • There is usually no charge to open a CD with a bank or credit union.
    • The issuing bank or credit union guarantees your investment principal, and ultimately through the FDIC in the event of the institution’s bankruptcy.
    • You will pay an early withdrawal penalty if you liquidate your CD before the stated maturity date.
    • Interest earned on the CD will only be available at maturity.
    • Interest rates are fixed for the duration of the CD.

    Is a negotiated CD the right choice?

    Traded CDs work best for investors with large investment portfolios. Since the FDIC insurance limit is $250,000 per depositor per bank, you will need to open CDs with four different banks to get full insurance on a $1 million CD portfolio. But you can buy multiple CDs from a broker, up to $250,000 per bank, and be fully covered by the FDIC.

    In theory, you could invest $25 million in CDs at 100 banks, each fully FDIC insured.

    Traded CDs also offer the possibility of earning higher interest than you earn at an individual bank or credit union. You can shop for banks and credit unions that pay the highest rates on CDs, but brokers offer a one-stop shop advantage. And since brokers actively search for the best paying CDs, you’ll be able to figure out where to invest your money quickly.

    A negotiated CD can also allow you to lock in a higher interest rate for a longer term. While individual CDs from banks or credit unions often have terms of up to five years, traded CDs often have terms of 10 years or more.

    The Basics of Traded CDs

    Regular CDs purchased from a single bank or credit union will be more than enough to satisfy most investors. The big question they need to answer is whether a CD is the best investment given the limited growth potential.

    On the other hand, if you’re looking for a CD but want to invest over $250,000 with the potential for higher rates, traded CDs are worth looking into.

    Don’t throw away this DVD player

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    For years, audiences have slowly moved away from physical media, increasingly relying on on-demand video streaming to provide their entertainment. The most virulent recalcitrants were divided into two groups: older and/or rural consumers, who are reluctant or less able to switch completely; and movie buffs who appreciate the picture quality and bonus features available on disc, which are often not comparable for digital copies of the same films. But as we can see from the ever-decreasing number of physical video rental stores in the United States, these groups are largely starting to pop up.

    Still, there are some very good reasons not to throw away this DVD player just yet, and one of them has come into sharp relief lately. Let’s break it down.

    A key element to examine is the still existing VHS user base. As the dominant home video medium for 20 years, videotapes (VHS and Betamax) represented a seismic shift in the way audiences consumed movies. There were a few early attempts at home entertainment on disc, such as DiscoVision and RCA’s Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED), but none took off like tapes. For the first time, not only could people take movies home, but with the advent of video cassettes, viewers could also record television shows, allowing them for the first time to shift their viewing.

    The ensuing home video boom not only brought just about every major studio film to VHS, but also created a healthy direct-to-video market, creating a niche for content that would not otherwise be produced. As big-box video rental stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video popped up everywhere, there was an almost insatiable appetite for content to fill shelves and keep customers coming back week after week.

    Chances are you know all or most of this, but what a lot of people don’t know is that there are hundreds (probably thousands, really) of pre-recorded titles that were commercially available on VHS. , but which were never released on DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming. In some cases, the movies are in the public domain or have confusing rights issues, and so there’s no incentive for anyone to spend money marketing them. Even in some cases where ownership of a movie is clear, sometimes the studio doesn’t see a path to profitability. This is why there is still a fairly active VHS collecting and preservation community, as detailed in books like He came from the video aisle and documentaries like Rewind that!.

    This is not a problem exclusive to VHS. There were movies released on CED and Betamax that were never released on VHS either. And there are (as most people reading this probably know) movies on DVD that never came to Blu-ray or streaming. There are also movies and TV shows that never had a commercial release and only exist on home-made VHS recordings, and some that got very short-term releases through specialty imprints like Shout! Factory and now cost hundreds of dollars to acquire as they are sold out.

    This brings us to the next major problem, which has been helpfully illustrated to us over the past few weeks by Warner Bros. Discovery.

    The headlines focused on bat girl, Scoob! : The Holiday Haunt, and the other projects that have simply been canceled and will be shelved, but CEO David Zaslav’s dismantling of HBO Max had a much bigger impact on consumers than that. A number of HBO Max Originals have been removed from the platform, with their “free” episodes also removed from YouTube.

    In the case of Infinity Train, the show had already seen a physical release – and those records, now out of print, are now selling for huge sums of money on eBay.

    And that’s the thing: now is not the time to harass fans of the series who haven’t thought to buy a DVD copy. After all, for years we’ve been conditioned to believe that on-demand video streaming means an ever-growing catalog of content will be available forever at a reasonable price. The problem is, that’s just not how businesses operate.

    The same companies that decide not to officially release cult classics on DVD because they don’t know how to sell them, are now choosing to remove “underperforming” titles from their streaming platforms to save pennies on the internet. ‘server space, or just to avoid paying the talent their residuals. It’s a loss for the consumer, especially when – as Zaslav promised in the case of HBO Max – it comes with a price hike, but if it brings in a few extra pennies for shareholders, that’s what that really matters to a public-traded company at the end of the day.

    It’s not just about Warner Bros.’ cost-cutting spree. Discovery. The idea is applicable more broadly to the streaming ecosphere. For years, this happened with Netflix where audiences were lulled into deals that made it seem like a show or movie would be available to them forever at the cost of membership. Then, suddenly, Netflix’s contract with the distributor ends, and the programming is gone. Often it heads to another streaming platform, especially in the case of content owned by WB, CBS, or NBC, all of which have huge platforms to fill. But sometimes, if there’s no one bidding on it, the content evaporates for a while.

    And in a bit of symmetry, not everything available for streaming is backwards compatible, so to speak. Only the highest-grossing streaming originals get a physical release from companies like Netflix and HBO Max, and in the Disney+ cast, it seems nothing does. In these cases, the public is more or less beholden to the whims of the companies creating the content. And this is likely to become more prevalent over time. For now, however, nearly every major studio release and pretty much every popular streaming movie and show will be getting some sort of disc release. We recommend picking it up, because really, owning something tangible and tamper-proof is the only way to really be sure it’ll work the next time you hit play.

    Dallas Brass to Host Artist-in-Residence Program and Concert in Hastings

    By
    James I. Wise
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    Dallas Brass, one of America’s premier musical ensembles, is coming to Hastings, Nebraska, September 12-13 to serve as artist-in-residence at Hastings Public Schools, conduct masterclasses with students from Hastings College and perform, both alone and in concert with the students.

    The band, founded by Michael Levine in 1983, play traditional horns with full drums and percussion, giving them access to a wide range of styles including classic masterpieces, Dixieland, swing, Broadway , Hollywood and patriotic music. They have performed for Presidents Gerald Ford and George HW Bush, appeared on CBS’ “Early Show” and their music has been used on a television show several times. Levine played trombone for the band until he became manager in 2015.

    The set includes Graham Taylor and Brian Neal on trumpet; Juan Berrios on horn, alto horn and flugelhorn; trombonist John Wasson; Paul Carlson on tuba; and percussionist Craig Hill.

    During the day on monday september 12 Dallas Brass members will work with students from Hastings Middle School and Hastings Senior High School, participating in their artist-in-residence program.

    Then at 6:00 p.m., the band will hold a mini-performance and informal question and answer session at First Presbyterian Church (621 N. Lincoln Avenue), in conjunction with Hastings Community Music Academy. Desserts will be offered to those present. This event is free and open to the public.

    On tuesday september 13, the Dallas Brass will host masterclasses for music students at Hastings College. They will perform, teach and talk about entrepreneurship, and share their philosophy of music education.

    The Dallas Brass in Concert begins at 7:00 p.m. September 13 at Hastings Senior High School Auditorium (1100 W. 14th Street). It will feature the Dallas Brass and include special performances by students from Hastings Middle School, Hastings High School and Hastings College. The concert is free and open to the public.

    Sponsors supporting Dallas Brass events in Hastings include Hastings Public Schools Foundation, Hastings Community Arts Council, Nebraska Arts Council, Hastings Public Schools Music Department, First Presbyterian Church, Parents of the Hastings Band, Hastings College Music, Coaches Corner, Hastings College Foundation and Hastings Community Music Academy.

    More information about the Dallas Brass can be found online at dallasbrass.com.

    Artist biographies

    Michael Levin (director) hails from St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He first attended the University of Minnesota and then the Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree. For three years, he held the position of assistant principal trombone at the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Israel). He continues to be the master of ceremonies and artistic director of the ensemble. Levine recently created a program called Harmony Bridge, which is designed to connect students in school groups with people in senior communities across the country.

    Brian Neal (trumpet), originally from Miami, Florida, returns to the Dallas Brass after being a member of the ensemble from 1999 to 2011. During his hiatus, he has toured, composed, recorded and is currently Director of Instrumental Studies and Trumpet Teacher at Miami Dade College in Miami. Neal received his training at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He was principal trumpet for the Miami City Ballet and also released a solo CD with organist Thomas Schuster titled “Reflections”.

    Graham Taylor (trumpet), originally from Orange County, California, is currently principal trumpet of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra (Wisconsin) and the Mankato Symphony Orchestra (Minnesota). Taylor received a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Taylor has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony and many others. He can be heard on recordings with Hiss Golden Messenger as trumpeter and arranger. Taylor has served on the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy, the University of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Day School.

    Juan Berrios (horn; alto horn; flugelhorn), originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, is a passionate pedagogue. He works with countless students of all ages across the country each year as a visiting clinician, conductor, chamber music coach, marching band instructor, and private instructor. He holds degrees in horn performance and wind instrument conducting from the University of Central Florida and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, respectively. Berrios is currently a horn instructor at Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts.

    John Wasson (trombone), born in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a founding member of the Dallas Brass, having played bass trombone in the original ensemble. Wasson went on to pursue a career as a freelance writer, producer, and bass trombonist and tuba player. He returns to the Dallas Brass this season on tenor trombone. He was also one of the main arrangers and composers of the Dallas Brass repertoire over the years. His accomplishments outside of Dallas Brass include hundreds of published arrangements and compositions, including an arrangement of Caravan heard in the final scene of the 2014 Academy Award-winning film “Whiplash.”

    Paul Carlson (tuba) grew up in Illinois and started playing tuba in his sixth grade band. He completed studies in tuba performance at the University of Illinois, the University of New Mexico and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His experience includes the New Mexico Brass Quintet, Santa Fe Symphony Brass Quintet, King’s Brass, Walt Disney Collegiate All-Star Band, Harvey Phillips Tuba Company, as well as a number of symphony orchestras.

    Craig Hill (percussion) hails from Youngstown, Ohio. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Youngstown State University, majoring in percussion performance and music education. Hill has performed extensively in the United States and internationally with the Broadway show Swing!, Tokyo Disneyland, Grand World Voyages Cruise Lines, Billboard Media Group, and a special production featuring Grammy Award winners. Currently residing in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, the “Craig Hill Presents” concert series features local musicians and interdisciplinary artists focused on improvisation.

    Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on academic and extracurricular student success. Hastings’ student-centric initiatives include providing books, an iPad, and a two-week study experience at no additional cost. A block-style semester schedule allows faculty and students to focus on fewer courses at a time and promotes hands-on experiences. Find out more at hastings.edu.

    CD Rate Trends This Week – Forbes Advisor

    By
    James I. Wise
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    Editorial Note: We earn a commission on partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect the opinions or ratings of our editors.

    Average rates on certain certificate of deposit (CD) terms have fallen this week.

    One year CD this week

    The typical APY, or annual percentage yield, on popular one-year CDs is 1.36%, down from 1.37% last week. A month ago, one-year CD yields averaged 1.25%.

    CDs are savings accounts with fixed interest rates that are generally higher than those paid on other savings products. The catch is that you have to keep your money in the account for a certain period of time, called the CD term. The longer the duration, the better the performance.

    CD 3 months, 6 months, 9 months this week

    On CD terms of less than a year, rates are mixed this week.

    APYs on three-month CDs are averaging 0.33%, down from 0.32% last week. A month ago, the typical three-month CD yield was 0.24%.

    For six-month CDs, the typical APY this week is 0.90%, down from 0.91% last week. A month ago, rates for the six-month term averaged 0.81% APY.

    The average yield on a nine-month CD this week is 0.90%, stable with last week’s average of 0.90%. A month ago, nine-month CDs had an average APY of 0.61%.

    18 month CD this week

    CDs that last a year and a half this week have an average APY of 1.99%.

    That’s down from 2.02% a week ago. Last month around this time, the typical 18-month CD had an APY of 1.91%.

    Rates on CDs are usually expressed in APY and not simple interest, because an APY more accurately expresses the annual yield of a CD. It takes into account compound interest, which is earned by both your deposit, or principal, and the interest you have already accrued.

    5 year old CD this week

    The average APY on a five-year CD – a favorite choice for investors looking for higher yield – fell to 1.86% from 1.88% last week. Rates are higher than a month ago, when five-year CDs were offered for an average APY of 1.84%.

    You can face hefty penalties if you withdraw from a CD before it has “matured” or reached the end of its duration. Take your money out of a five-year CD too soon and you could easily lose a full year of interest.

    CD of 2 years, 3 years and 4 years this week

    For other multi-year CD terms, rates this week are lower.

    APYs on two-year CDs are averaging 1.56%, down from 1.58% last week. A month ago, the typical two-year CD yield was 1.47%.

    On three-year CDs, this week’s average is 1.68% APY, down from 1.70% last week. A month ago, rates for the three-year term averaged 1.62% APY.

    And the average rate on a four-year CD this week is 1.76% APY, down from last week’s typical APY of 1.78%. A month ago, four-year CDs averaged 1.75%.

    How do CDs work?

    Once you’ve chosen a financial institution that offers a CD rate and term that aligns with your financial goals, you buy your CD. In other words, you make a lump sum deposit to open the account, and that money becomes your CD principal.

    But before you make your purchase, make sure you understand the early withdrawal penalty for your CD. Penalties vary by CD length and can bite into your principal if you’re not careful.

    As soon as you deposit your capital, the countdown begins for your timed investment. You will earn the fixed interest rate for the term of the CD. As with other deposit accounts, the bank or credit union will send you regular statements telling you how much interest your principal is earning.

    Avoid penalties with a CD ladder

    Longer-term CDs are attractive for their higher yields, but they require you not to touch your money for a longer period or incur penalties. Building a CD ladder is a way to reap the benefits of a longer term while having access to more of your money.

    You stagger your investment by spreading your money across different CDs with varying terms. You put some in short-term CDs and you put some in longer-term CDs.

    As the short-term CDs mature, you reinvest that money in new five-year CDs. Eventually, you’ll have five-year CDs maturing every year. Your investment will seem more liquid and you will get higher returns.

    To find the best CD prices, you have to be prepared to shop around. Competition in the CD market is fierce between banks and credit unions, and they offer attractive returns to earn your business. Comparison shopping is essential before purchasing a bank CD or credit union stock certificate.

    Fandom-esque | Keep physical copies of your favorite shows, or risk losing them forever

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    Fandom-esque is a bi-weekly blog about fandoms from the pop culture sphere and their latest happenings in TV, movies and more.

    Have you ever met one of those guys who proudly wears his thousand-dollar entertainment system, complete with a towering stack of Blu-ray discs? He insists having them is worth it, even if you can’t remember the last time you put a disc in a machine to watch your favorite show. Turns out, those enthusiasts might be right.

    These days, it’s better to own a physical copy of your favorite show, than to lose it to the mercy of streaming services like HBO Max. HBO’s streaming platform has come under intense scrutiny over the past few months, most recently for removing more than 37 of its titles, especially the animated ones.

    Shows like “Aquaman: King of Atlantis,” “Infinity Train,” “Tig N’ Seek,” “Summer Camp Island,” “Esme and Roy,” “The Fungies!” and others have been cancelled. Some of these shows, like “Tig N’ Seek,” an animated children’s show featuring an 8-year-old detective, were not only canceled but removed from the platform overnight and without warning on August 18.

    “Tig N’ Seek” artistic director Levon Jihanian made a distressed tweet early the next morning after finding the show gone. He pointed out that the show could not be found anywhere else, not in physical form like a DVD, but on illegal pirated sites.

    The risk of streaming services is not new to members of the industry. While Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and what seems like 10,000 other streaming options have made TV and film more accessible, many of their original titles are only accessible digitally.

    Alena Smith, creator of “Dickinson” tweeted on August 3 about her last day on set, where she begged the Apple TV+ studio manager for a physical copy of her show. She said she owned the only physical copy in the world, and if the platform ever went down, no one else would ever be able to see it.

    The question remains, why did HBO remove these titles? The answer is what you expect from any big business: money.

    Parent company AT&T merged HBO and Discovery, which has its own streaming platform called Discovery+. Following the announcement in April, progress has begun in merging the companies, as well as their streaming platforms.

    As part of this merger, HBO and Discovery took stock of their upcoming and ongoing projects and decided to cancel movies like “Batgirl” for tax benefits. According to The Hollywood Reporter, new WarnerBros Discovery CEO David Zaslac will prioritize theatrical releases. “Batgirl,” which was to be released online, had acquired an additional $90 million in COVID-19 charges.

    “Batgirl” was going to be another entry in the DC Extended Universe with Leslie Grace in the lead role. Michael Keaton, who held the role of Batman in the late 1980s, was returning to the film role, setting the stage for future appearances in movies like “The Flash.”

    If things couldn’t get any darker for the film’s creators, “Batgirl” was almost completely done. And the cut of the film that existed was completely erased from Warner Bros. computer servers, according to director Billal Fallah.

    The film no longer exists in any accessible form.

    While I can logically recognize the executive’s decision to cut movies like “Batgirl” or the plethora of other animated shows that HBO Max has recently dumped – money makes the world go round is a saying that never loses. never its shine – that doesn’t make the impact on the creations any less heartbreaking.

    Streaming platforms pose many problems, but the fact that they allow creators to be more inventive with their stories may outweigh the disadvantages. The reality is that more diverse and groundbreaking shows often find their way onto these platforms when they’re not squeezed by prime-time cable TV slots.

    These shows include HBO Max’s “Our Flag Means Death,” a fictional romantic comedy about the life of Stede Bonnet, also known as the “Gentleman Pirate.” The show is explicitly queer and BIPOC-friendly and has amassed a dedicated fandom online in just a few months.

    Fans of the show expressed their fear and concern on Twitter’s trending section after HBO began cutting the shows. Thankfully, “Our Flag Means Death” remains in production and will return next year for Season 2.

    For bewildered fans, Warner Bros. Discovery provided some insight, besides monetary value, into why those shows were canceled. According to pop culture news site The Mary Sue, during Warner Bros. Discovery on August 4, the company included digital slides that showcased the platforms’ supposed “biases.”

    Apparently HBO Max is for “boys” and Discovery is for “girls”. Guess I’ll have to take all my Game of Thrones posters off the wall and replace them with the House Hunters logo.

    The sad truth is that there’s not much fans can really do to fight blatant misogyny or money-driven cancellations, but there are creatives like the folks at Sesame Street who have put all the shows in the series episodes on youtube for free in response to HBO.

    Not everything can be saved – the internet is a black hole that gnaws, spits out and swallows what it wants. But if a show or movie you love is coming out on DVD, you should splurge, even if you don’t have a DVD player – it could be a worthwhile purchase.

    Roscosmos Enterprise presented a plan for unhindered navigation along the Northern Sea Route at the Army-2022 forum – Parabolic Arc

    By
    James I. Wise
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    This image visualizes winter sea ice change in the Arctic using data provided by the “SHIZUKU” satellite of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Global Change Observation Mission, which is part of of a NASA-led partnership to operate several Earth observation satellites. The full video can be accessed at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4985. (Credit: NASA Science Visualization Studio)

    Rendered in English by Google Translate

    MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) – Russian Space Systems Holding (part of Roscosmos State Corporation) presented complex solutions based on satellite navigation and Earth remote sensing services for the development of unhindered navigation along of the Northern Sea Route at the Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum.

    The solution is based on an anti-interference navigation module developed by the RKS, installed on a seagoing vessel. The product is about the size of a CD and two centimeters thick, equipped with eight flat antennas, each the size of a two-ruble coin. The main task of such a module is to determine the position of the user in space up to one meter, even under the influence of interference, the power of which exceeds the power of weak satellite navigation signals.

    The new RSS technology combines navigational data and Earth remote sensing satellite information into a single digital link. The combined information is transmitted to the ship’s navigation equipment and enables real-time route planning, taking into account surrounding ice and weather conditions.

    The interaction between the on-board navigator and the complex of satellite solutions of the RCS is managed by the software of the company Space Communications (part of the RCS). A simple and understandable interface of the program provides the user with detailed information about the navigation situation and gives recommendations for maneuvering the vessel in the current conditions. The user program is integrated into the subscriber’s system and allows you to interact with other users of the navigation solution.

    “Imagine that an icebreaker is sailing in the Arctic Ocean, with impenetrable ice in front of it. In what direction should the captain steer the ship, how to maneuver to reach the end point of the route? One of the satellites surveillance, through the “vision” of the RKS’s onboard multi-area scanning devices, will see from orbit where the ice on the route is thinnest, combine that with navigational data on the ship’s current position, and build a geometrically complex route,” said Mikhail Kirechko.

    “This information will be displayed in the ship’s navigator in the form of the following algorithm: swim 270 meters straight, turn left 90 degrees and swim another 70 meters, turn 30 degrees right, go straight forward for 3 kilometers , etc. From the captain’s bridge, the ice thickness will appear uniform, but the satellite data will help to cross the road safely and without hindrance,” Kirechko added.

    All technical solutions of the RCS are delivered in a secure form, information between the ground and space segments of the complex is transmitted via secure communication channels insensitive to noise via relay satellites of the Luch and Gonets series.

    CD One Price Cleaners expands to Lake Zurich

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    LAKE ZURICH – CD One Price Cleaners, Chicago’s largest dry cleaning and laundry franchise, has announced that it will open its 36th store this fall at 488 S. Rand Road in the Jewel-Osco Mall of Lake ZURICH. Zürich.

    The franchise will be owned and operated by Vik and Arpita Dewanjee, owners of CD One locations in Libertyville and Downers Grove.

    “As people return to the office, dine out, attend formal events and regain a sense of normalcy, we are excited to help our new customers look their best for one low price,” said Vik Dewanjee.

    The Dewanjees joined the CD One system when they opened their first store in Downers Grove in 2006. The first Chicago-area CD One Price Cleaners store opened in suburban Lincolnwood in 2001. opened 35 Chicago-area stores and those in Minneapolis and St. Louis.

    The company offers dry cleaning services, shirt washing and pressing, washing and folding of personal laundry by the pound, and cleaning of household items such as comforters and blankets. Recently, the chain has also started offering the preservation of wedding dresses.

    The galloping return of the “Horse Game”

    By
    James I. Wise
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    0

    As a little girl growing up in the 2000s, the gaming industry still felt a bit unreachable, and often games were uncharted and unknown territory. All guns, detectives and – gasp! – the swear words were a bit too much for my single-digit brain to handle. However, I still thought they were cool, because, duh, games are cool. And watching my siblings go to town in a video game made me crave gaming experiences that spoke to me.

    Fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, I had a genuine interest in pop culture’s most maligned animal: the horse. Yes, I was a “horse girl”. I loved these things more than life itself, and since horses were often too expensive to even dream of, I would have been adrift in the Wasteland of No-Horses-Having had it not been for the horse game market designed to play on just exactly that fact.

    Yes, there was a whole market for horse games back then, often with a championship rider’s name attached to them. Petz Horsez. Championship driver. Let’s roll. The secrets of the barn. These were the most common titles, often repurposed depending on who was licensing the game, as they were distributed as cheap money by studios like THQ and EA. In the eyes of a “hardcore” gamer, they would probably be considered shovels by modern standards.

    But for me ? They were home – the ultimate wish-fulfillment. In those games, you could own a shitload of horses in your own barn, on your own property, and all you had to do was brush them, ride them, and live your shitty life. Heaven. In what world can you do that, unless you’re like a nepotistic baby or something?

    Sadly, not everyone’s wishes come true through virtual animal care, and I totally get it: a lot of those games were janky and poorly made, with no lasting power beyond their core mechanics. Compared to other games at the time, like Oversight Where Mass Effectthere was no way this kind of niche could continue to survive.

    Thus ended the era of horse racing.

    …until recently.

    A league apart

    A few years ago, I discovered a blog called The Mane Quest, which is dedicated to representing and surviving not just the horse games genre, but horses in games in general. Alice, the person who runs the blog, is a game developer herself, so her commentary is knowledgeable and informative, especially for people like me, who have noticed the same sort of thing in games with horses and are happy to have a community to talk about them in.

    What prompted me to write this article was when a representative from the Microids studio contacted me about their upcoming game, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch. I had heard about this game before on TMQ, since Alice is the game’s creative producer, and the fact that I kept hearing about it signaled to me that it wasn’t just a lukewarm move to ignore, it is a move in earnest, to bring this genre back not just for the cheap kids game market, but for everyone to enjoy with authenticity and quality.

    (Microids)

    Doesn’t that look absolutely delicious? This is Stardew Valley but with a stronger emphasis on horses. It feels so relaxing and sweet, the kind of thing that in my mind should have been seriously exploited by now while from.

    Alice had this to say about the project in her blog post about it:

    I’m incredibly excited for all of you to see what we’ve come up with and try it out for yourselves. I am of course biased here – I am directly involved and I absolutely want this project to succeed so that I can make more good horse games at Aesir in the future – but I sincerely believe that Horse Tales – Emerald Valley Ranch has a chance to catapult the oft-neglected horse games genre to a whole new level and show the market just how much untapped potential there is for peaceful open-world games with premium equestrian components.

    TMQ

    And for those who still doubt the ability of horse games to relax and captivate the player, I must point out that a really good horse game is not that different from a really good farming simulation. They both involve a level of relaxation and engagement that stimulates the human brain in a very peaceful, yet productive way. For the lazy, here are the highlighted features of the game:

    Stable Expansion and Resource Gathering: Your dilapidated family estate is a blank canvas: as you progress through missions and explore the world, you’ll find blueprints for buildings that will unlock horse care and customization features. To construct the buildings on suitable building slots, you will need resources such as different types of wood and stone, which you will discover in the open world.

    Characteristics of the horse: Horses have personality traits that influence their behavior in the world: some horses prefer forests to fields or vice versa, others are afraid of heights. Some of these traits can be trained for enhancements, others are unchangeable personality quirks.

    Horse breeding : Our horses have a genetic pattern very closely based on actual horse genetics. Although it is not a 100% accurate simulation, Horse Tales – Emerald Valley Ranch will certainly be able to satisfy players interested in strategic breeding for color, stats, and traits. To breed horses (or tame wild horses!), you need enough resources on your estate – that means constructing buildings for food, shelter, and activity to support your animals.

    Make a name for yourself: By helping people, participating in races, and exploring new areas of the world, you earn renown, which will allow you to access more building space on your base and properties in Cape Emerald. You can optimize this in several ways: Gaining fame through horse racing, for example, is directly influenced by your horse’s Charisma value as well as its current state.

    Personalization: You are able to embody a male or female character. The dialogues are as gender-neutral as possible and all clothing and hairstyle options are available regardless of which character model you choose to start with, giving you plenty of room to role-play as main character of any genre and expression you like.

    A lush and expansive open world: This part might be the most obvious of the announcement teaser, but it’s still worth saying: Our team at Aesir has created an absolutely beautiful and colorful open world with dozens of cute places and little secrets to discover.

    TMQ

    For those who are unfamiliar with horse games, these are fairly sharp qualities that we have been looking for for a long time! Often the horses in the games are quite pristine and uninteresting, whose only real qualities are their speed and the color of their coat. games like breath of the wild and Red Dead Redemption 2 have upped their game, sure, but it’s still not “horse games”. Sometimes a female dog just wants to fuckin’ ride her horse without caring about the O’Driscolls or the Guardians, yanno?

    Little champions, new and old

    Artwork by Star Stable (Star Stable Entertainment)
    (single sign-on)

    Of course, it’s not the only horse game to come out to keep your ears pointed out. Many teams and/or individuals have worked hard on their own projects; Whether or not these plans will bear fruit remains to be seen, but they are certainly indicative of current market desires.

    Unbridled: this horse game has gained a lot of fanfare, and if you join their Patreon you can see how the game is developing in real time. For a project that was really left to one person, it looks awfully good.

    So there is Rivershine Ranchwhich I’m particularly excited about, because it’s made by Cozy Bee Games, the creators of games as cozy as Lemon cake and alchemy story. The horses look a little stiff, sure, but the aesthetics are on point, and at the end of the day, isn’t that all we want, guys?

    Of course, I couldn’t end this article without paying homage to my favorite horse game series. star stable is a Swedish horse game series that I first encountered as a young girl, and was mesmerized by the funky graphics and weird sci-fi storylines. The original games Starshine’s Legacy series, have all been configured to be compatible with browsers (click on this link to access it). They’re incredibly fun and silly, and only take a few hours each, so I highly recommend giving them a try at least.

    But they have since been expanded to a larger franchise, star stable, which started out as CD-ROM titles where you could buy and compete with horses in the fictional world of Jorvik, and have now branched out into an MMORPG. I had no idea this MMO existed until my early 40s, and like many wayward college grads who suddenly had no parties or offices to go to, I started looking for memorabilia from my youth. Full disclosure, I’ve since played shit out of this MMO which, for all intents and purposes, is aimed at kids. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to fulfilling my wish of owning multiple horses without paying rent or even having to care for them.

    To end this article, however, I would like to pay tribute to horse island, a flash game from the olden days, which tried to teach children about economics while doing very little to prevent cat crimes. It was the first time I was ignored by strangers, and I miss it so much. There were all kinds of awesome quests to complete, and the wild horse mechanic – where you just have to stand on a tile that has a wild horse on it – still occasionally pops up in my dreams.

    I mean, it’s not gone forever, but I refuse to download shady flash plugins, so in my heart, here we go. Rest in Palomino, horse island. Thank you for giving me my first lesson in the horrors of virtual capitalism. Cremello Server 4 Life.

    Anyway, I’m pretty excited about this turn in the market, and I can’t wait to see and support all the great new projects coming out. Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch releases November 15 in North America, for PC, Switch, PS4, and PS5. I hope to see all your beautiful virtual horses, alongside mine!

    (featured image: Microids/Aesir)

    —The Mary Sue has a strict commenting policy that prohibits, but is not limited to, personal insults towards somebodyhate speech and trolling.—

    Do you have a tip we should know? [email protected]

    Jazz saxophonist Grace Kelly returns to the Berkshires to perform her latest album ‘All That I Need’ | Berkshire landscapes

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    LEE – Half her life ago, in 2006, a young alto saxophonist named Grace Kelly stood alongside veteran saxophonist Phil Woods on stage at the Colonial Theater as part of the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival. At only 14 years old, with several albums already to her credit, Kelly has established herself as a jazz prodigy.

    The two saxophonists played jazz favorite “I’ll Remember April”, taking turns soloing. At the end of the number, Woods removed the signature leather cap he always wore and placed it on Kelly’s head – a spontaneous gesture of admiration that has gone down in jazz tradition.

    Five years later, Kelly headlined the festival, with Woods as a guest. She recorded the CD “Man With The Hat” in honor of her mentor. Five more years, and she led her group in a tribute to her late friend, a year after his death in 2015.

    On Sunday, August 28, Kelly returns to the Berkshires at Lee Meeting House to perform her latest album ‘All That I Need’, completing the first leg of her 28-date ‘Good To See You Again’ US tour, which includes stops at renowned venues up north. -is Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, Infinity Hall in Hartford, Connecticut, and Le Poisson Rouge in New York.

    This is Kelly’s 14th album as the band’s frontman, with many more as a guest artist. As a teenager, she made a record every year from the age of 12 – ‘songs I was learning, lots of jazz standards, also my own songs,’ she said over the phone as she drove at a rehearsal in New York.

    “I love recording,” she explained. “Live performances happen so quickly, you play something and it’s done. With register [can] really think about it, feel the nuances, the details that really stand out. In live shows, it may get lost in the sound.

    Receiving the hat from Woods had a profound impact on his career. “The moment was recorded by my dad, and Phil gave us his blessing to put it on YouTube. It started circulating in the jazz community, getting tens of thousands [of views] and 10 years later, over 100,000 views.

    Suddenly, jazz musicians and people she had never met were thinking, I heard about you, I saw your clip, she recalls. “It was huge for me and my career, for Phil to take me under his wing. I was blessed with incredible mentors and alto sax heroes, [such as] Lee Konitz, Frank Morgan. I wouldn’t be the musician I am today without learning from them.




    Grace and Phil.jpg

    14-year-old Grace Kelly performs with Phil Woods at the 2006 Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, after receiving the jazz musician’s legendary cap.




    Now 30, Kelly has grown into a confident and dynamic performer, songwriter and performer. In addition to leading her own band, she has performed with notable artists from Wynton Marsalis to Esperanza Spalding, and international orchestras including Boston Pops and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. In recent years, she’s become more active writing and performing songs for film and TV, including the Amazon series “Bosch,” and dazzled fans with her music video styles.

    One of the highlights of his career was performing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for six months, as part of Jon Batiste’s “Stay Human” band.

    “Jon is a dear friend, I’ve been a fan of his for over ten years when he was playing in smaller clubs,” she said.

    She knew her former alto saxophonist Eddie Barbash from teen jazz camp and had seen Jon on the jazz scene.

    When Barbash invited her to a party where Batiste was playing, “we all started jamming and had so much fun,” she recalled.

    They started doing jam sessions after her stage shows, and she invited him to Blue Note and the Newport Jazz Festival. Six months into his Late Show gig, “He called me and said, how many saxophones do you play? Do you play clarinet? What are you doing on Monday?” A two-week booking turned into six months.

    “I learned so much from Jon,” she said, “he’s such an amazing, talented leader and musical director.”

    “We recorded my song called ‘Lemons Make Lemonade’ which I wrote with Jon in mind,” she added. “It was a pleasure to have him on my project.”

    Currently, she plays with Ross Pederson, her drummer for a decade; pianist and Berklee College of Music classmate Devon Yesberger; and bassist James Dale.

    Before the pandemic, she toured extensively. “Playing in the Hollywood Bowl was amazing, in front of all of those people, it was a real treat. Scullers in Boston was definitely a home for me,” she recalled.

    International travel has included several visits to his ancestral home in South Korea. “We toured all over Germany and Italy, France, Uruguay and even Madagascar, which was super cool.” she says.

    “After my first album release party when I was 12, I got a call from a music producer in Norway. It was my first time outside the country, I was 13 in Grade 8. I really realized early on that this music could literally take me all over the world, I didn’t know what a career in music would be like, I just knew I loved it.

    In 2006, legendary Boston jazz impresario Fred Taylor of famed club Scullers brought the then 14-year-old Kelly to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival to perform at a media night – she performed at the Jazz Café l next year – where she spoke with Pittsfield CityJazz Festival founder Ed Bride. . Six weeks later, she was performing there with Phil Woods.

    “It was like passing the torch,” Bride recalls, “she wore that cap for years and always told the story.”

    “She has quite a history with us and the Berkshires,” added Bride, “so it will be great to see her again after all this time. She’s 30, too old to be a child prodigy, now she’s a young lioness .

    Since Lee’s Congregational Church was turned into a performance hall, the town has hosted Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend each spring, Bride said. “We also organize one-off events there, it’s an ideal acoustic place for small ensembles.” And the benches are padded, he assured.

    Bride sees jazz rising in the Berkshires. “It’s becoming more and more part of the landscape, you can see jazz every weekend at the Gateways Inn in Lenox, every Monday at Mission in Pittsfield. It’s a growing scene and it’s important to feature younger artists like Grace Kelly to appeal to younger audiences.

    Kelly has won numerous awards during her career. Downbeat Magazine named her in its back-to-back Critics’ Poll from 2009–2017 and its Readers’ Poll from 2012–2017; and she won a dozen Student Music Awards from 2006 to 2009, from soloist to composition.

    Her memorable nickname is no showbiz affectation. Born Grace Chung, when she was little, her mother remarried Robert Kelly.

    “It’s a beautiful story of how this name was given to me by my stepfather, who adopted me when I was 8 years old,” she said. “I’ve loved Grace Kelly since I was little, she was the epitome of so much elegance. I used to watch her old movies and always wanted to be a princess.

    His parents, who now live in Lenox, are actively involved in supporting his career. “I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so we work well together,” Kelly said.

    Raised in a Brookline home filled with excellent jazz, classic film, and art recordings, her first introduction to sax was Stan Getz playing “The Girl From Ipanema.”

    “My parents used to exhaust those recordings, they played them all the time,” Kelly said. “To this day, it’s one of my favorite sounds on the saxophone.”

    After piano and, briefly, clarinet lessons, his first saxophone teacher encouraged him to improvise. “He said, play whatever you want. At 10, that’s all I wanted to do. I loved writing my own songs, inventing things, and that’s jazz.

    “I thought it was my calling and I wanted to play all the time. I practiced until midnight, my parents had to tell me to go to bed.

    His new album — his first self-produced — has been recorded over the past few months. It all happened so quickly, she says.

    “It’s quite a diverse range of songs. The initial inspiration [was]what does the feeling of courage sound and mean?”

    She asked her fans and friends to send her poems and writings by favorite female authors.

    “I wanted to draw inspiration from the female voice, from strong women. One track was inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem “And Still I Rise”, its spirit really touched my heart. I let feelings of courage be my compass throughout the record.

    After several years in New York, Kelly now lives with her companion in Los Angeles.

    “New York is awesome, it’s very lively, very bustling,” she said. “Now we live in a beautiful Zen zone, and we can spend time with the birds, go hiking. It balances our lives.

    IF YOU ARE GOING TO …

    What: Grace Kelly Quartet with Devon Yesberger, keyboards; James Dale, bass; Ross Pederson, drums and Grace Kelly, saxophone/vocals

    Who: Berkshires Jazz, Inc. & PAZZ Productions present

    Where: Lee Meeting House, 25 Park Street, Lee

    When: 7 p.m. Sunday, August 28

    Admission: $35, general; $55, premium seats

    Tickets and information: berkshires-jazz.ticketleap.com

    Earn Eagle Review: The Eagle Has Landed

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    Verdict

    An excellent DAC with a balanced and neutral approach to sound, the EarMen Eagle enhances your music on any device you listen to at a relatively affordable price.

    Advantages

    • Compact size
    • Plug in and use
    • Balanced and neutral sound
    • Good file compatibility
    • Affordable upgrade

    The inconvenients

    • A little too pumpy at higher volumes

    Availablity

    • UKMSRP: £109
    • UNITED STATESMSRP: $129

    • PlatformSupports Android, iOS, Mac and Windows

    • audioPlayback up to 32-bit/384 kHz in PCM, DXD and DSD

    Introduction

    Most people don’t realize that with a USB drive they could improve the sound of their mobile and desktop devices, but EarMen’s Eagle DAC/Headphone Amplifier has handed in its resume for supercharging your sound.

    The Eagle supports playback from iOS, Android smartphones, Windows and Mac computers, covering a wide range of devices and file resolutions up to 384kHz.

    Pocket friendly and capable of amplifying sound for a range of devices. Is this DAC a hi-fi bargain?

    Design

    • Premium look (for a USB stick)
    • Lightweight
    • Seems sturdy

    The Eagle’s USB appearance means it simply needs to be plugged into a source with a USB port and away you go.

    The glossy black casing is made of aluminum, which keeps it light at 15g, and with dimensions of 55 x 22 x 8mm it’s perfectly compact. If anything, it’s so small you could lose it if you’re not careful.

    Support Armen Eagle PCM
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    The face/helmet logo is an LED indicator that flickers when the Eagle is plugged in. A white light means a connection has been made, red means it is not connected, and green indicates a PCM, DXD, or DSD signal is being fed to the Eagle, while purple indicates the jack MQA support for tracks such as those from music streaming service Tidal.

    At one end is a 3.5mm jack and at the other end is the USB-A input with the option to add a USB-A to C adapter. Small in size, this DAC/headphone amplifier seems more expensive than it is. And with a solid build quality, the Eagle should be able to withstand some bumps and scrapes when being transported.

    Armor Eagle Hi-Res Audio Badge
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    Features

    • High resolution support
    • Low noise circuit
    • Extensive source support

    In terms of audio formats and resolutions, the EarMen Eagle can play PCM, DXD, and DSD at up to 32-bit/384kHz, 384/352.5kHz, and 64/128 DSD respectively, which means it can eat most high resolution files for breakfast lunch and dinner.

    While it can play MQA content, it’s not an MQA-certified renderer like the more expensive Sparrow, so it can’t unfold and unlock the additional information present in an MQA file beyond of the initial unfolding. You can learn more about how MQA works here.

    Exclusive Armor Eagle Tidal Mode
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    It achieves take-off with Hi-Res Audio thanks to its ESS ES9280 C PRO DAC (digital audio converter), which EarMen claims delivers a total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) figure of

    This is further aided by the Super LOW ESR tantalum capacitors, which form the high-quality components in the power supply design, as well as the 4-layer gold-plated PCB technology used in PCs and smartphones. Again, the goal here is to reduce signal noise.

    Earn Eagle USB C Extender
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    There’s an included USB-C adapter that works with my iPad Pro’s USB-C port, but for other iOS devices without USB-C, an Apple Lightning to USB adapter is needed. USB-C also works for Android devices and you can use any USB OTG (On-the-Go) cable. There is additional support for MacOS and Windows PCs, so most if not all avenues are covered.

    Sound quality

    • Balanced performance
    • Increased headroom
    • Consistent performance across multiple sources

    For this test, I used the Sivga Robin SV021 closed headphones with the Eagle DAC, listening to Qobuz and Tidal on a Lenovo laptop and an iPad Pro. The benefits of the EarMen Eagle are simple: the sound is clearer, bigger, more defined and with more depth compared to a simple headphone connection.

    With a 24-bit/44.1 kHz file of Gaal Leaves Synnax from Foundation: season 1 on Qobuz, the Eagle stands out as a clear, neutral and precise performer. There’s an extra ounce of sharpness and clarity across the entire frequency range, a finer feel to define the orchestral elements of the track. The dynamic range of the track is also better showcased – basses are expressed with more purpose, while high notes are brighter with more sparkle. The Eagle’s dynamic headroom delivers music with more range and impact.

    Earn Eagle USB-C connection
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    Similar conclusions are drawn from London Grammar’s California Soil (24-bit/44.1kHz). The bass is louder and tighter in description with the Eagle; vocals occupy a greater presence at the center of the soundstage, with Hannah Reid’s vocals being louder and endowed with more definition, clarity and expression. This makes listening to the headphone output less colorful in comparison.

    The detail the Eagle finds is far superior to that of the laptop’s internal DAC, and that helps produce a stronger, more defined stereo image. The Eagle amplifies the track’s sense of energy and attack though, perhaps a bit too much, with the track’s booming bass sometimes dominating and with vocals a bit thin and spare in tone. – there is a bit of subtlety traded for energy and impact at higher volumes. If you find this to be the case, the best solution is to reduce the volume to more comfortable levels.

    With Rey’s theme from John Williams’ The Force Awakens, there is greater recovery of detail from the orchestral instruments. The opening oboe is articulated and defined with wonderful clarity. The track’s sense of rhythmic flow is more engaging and fluid, the orchestra’s swells as they move from fast to slow carry more verve and momentum, emphasizing the track’s peaks and dips with more confidence . It’s an altogether more incisive and neutral sonic performance than the smoothness of the laptop’s headphone output.

    Reading the Earn Eagle Tidal Masters
    Image Credit (Reliable Reviews)

    Moving on to Tidal and Anderson Paak’s Fire in the Sky (Master), and everything previously mentioned is transplanted here. The bass is more emphatic and heavier in its characterization, the piano notes at the start of the track offer more brightness and variation in tone, while Paak’s voice is wider and more expressive. It’s a balanced, cohesive sound that conveys the song with more nuance and fidelity.

    Going back to the opening paragraph of this section, the attributes of the Eagle are simple and many: the sound is clearer, bigger, more defined and with more depth. As a simple and fairly affordable way to upgrade audio, the Eagle is an accomplished and entertaining way to do it.

    Latest offers

    Should I buy it?

    If you want a simple audio upgrade: Plug in the EarMen Eagle and you’re on your way, retrieving more detail and clarity from your music than your home/mobile device’s internal DAC can’t muster.

    For optimal MQA performance: The Eagle can play Tidal’s MQA tracks, but it’s not an MQA renderer like the more expensive Sparrow. This ensures its best playback when listening to Tidal and is worth considering if Tidal is your primary music service.

    Final Thoughts

    Clarity, detail and neutrality – I can sum up the Eagle’s performance in these three words. Music is made even more enjoyable with the Eagle DAC, and with good device compatibility and file support, it’s a clear and reasonably priced upgrade. Whether you’re at home or away, this pocket-sized companion will make your music collection shine.

    How we test

    We thoroughly test every DAC we review. We use industry standard tests to properly compare features and use the tablet as the primary device during the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever accept money to review a product.

    Learn more about how we test in our ethics policy.

    Tested over several months

    Tested with Hi-Res Audio Streaming Services

    FAQs

    Does the EarMen Eagle support iOS devices?

    The Eagle comes with a USB-C adapter, so it works straight away with iOS devices like the iPad Pro, but for devices with a Lightning connector, you’ll need the Lightning Camera adapter to connect the ‘Eagle.

    Does the EarMen Eagle support Tidal Masters?

    The Eagle can play Tidal Masters tracks, but it doesn’t fully support Master tracks like the more expensive Sparrow DAC does.

    ‹

    UK RRP

    US Recommended Retail Price

    Maker

    lester

    A SIN

    CAD

    Release date

    Connectivity

    Colors

    Ear Men Eagle

    £109

    $129

    Listeners

    15G

    B08TX24GXX

    ESS ES9280 C PRO

    2021

    USB-A, 3.5mm

    Black

    ›

    Jargon Buster

    Hi-Res Audio

    High-Resolution Audio is considered a standard as well as a marketing term that describes digital audio files that are higher than CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz).

    How unauthorized access to Git became a big headache for Twitter

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    You would think that organizations would want to know when ex-employees have access to the crown jewels.

    No one wants to end up in the news like Twitter has due to lack of access controls for repositories containing source code just as they are locked in a battle of wits and a high profile lawsuit over a acquisition gone wrong.

    The software supply chain has become one of the main attack vectors. Attackers will find any way to gain access to repositories where source code is stored. Additionally, today’s software is often built through a combination of internally developed code, open source code, or code developed by third parties. All of this code usually resides in git repositories.

    These repositories also contain Infrastructure as Code and git configuration rules to make it easier for developers to move their code through the CI/CD development pipeline. People with unauthorized access to these repositories may not be looking to steal code. They may be after something far more sinister.

    While everyone is worried about source code being stolen by people with unauthorized access, the real danger is that the code can leak a blueprint of the application’s architecture. Where critical information is stored and what other resources are leveraged. This information can be used to mount devastating asynchronous attacks that result in the exfiltration of large volumes of PII or cause debilitating operational disruptions.

    In an article published by Wired magazine on August 23, 2022, the author notes: “Al Sutton, co-founder and chief technology officer of Snapp Automotive, was a software engineer on the Twitter team from August 2020 to February 2021.”

    The article also contained a tweet from Al Sutton himself which stated, “One aspect that I haven’t talked about much about my long time membership in the GitHub Twitter group is that it let me access to private and public members. group list that could have been used as a social engineering starter list (33 public, 267 private).

    The Wired article further mentions that Twitter never removed it from the GitHub group of employees who can submit software changes to code the company maintains on the development platform. Sutton had access to private repositories for 18 months after being fired from the company.

    Access to repositories by developers and operations teams is a key principle for developing a more comprehensive view of code security. In order to understand code risk, BluBracket believes that enterprise teams should seek answers to three key questions:

    What high-risk content is in your code?

    Who has access to your code?

    Where is your code going?

    It is clear from above that unmonitored access to code repositories can lead to both external and internal threat. Malicious code can enter repositories and become a threat to the organization’s most critical assets.

    In addition to identifying exposed secrets such as passwords, credentials, and API tokens in source code, BluBracket enforces secure repository access policies. BluBracket also monitors developer access to repositories – with built-in support for single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

    BluBracket’s solutions help application development and security teams identify who has access to what, calling best practice configuration of everything from git hooks to branch protection rules, helps guide teams toward improvement continuity and continuous operational security. When teams know they can automatically and continuously audit access, they are both more productive because they can more easily grant access, and more secure because they have tools to revoke access when Employee roles change whether they leave or are laid off.

    For more information about BluBracket code security solution, please visit https://blubracket.com/products/enterprise-edition/

    To get started with BluBracket for free, please visit https://blubracket.com/contact/get-started/

    *** This is a syndicated blog from the Security Bloggers Network of BluBracket: Code Security & Secret detection written by Pan Kamal. Read the original post at: https://blubracket.com/how-unauthorized-access-to-git-became-a-big-headache-for-twitter/

    Capital One Bank Review 2022

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0
    We want to help you make more informed decisions. Certain links on this page – clearly marked – may direct you to a partner website and allow us to earn a referral commission. For more information, see How we make money.

    Good for hybrid banking

    Capital One Bank Review

    Capital one

    Editor’s note: (3.93/5)

    Good for hybrid banking

    Capital One Bank Review

    Editor’s note: (3.93/5)

    Insight:

    Capital One is a good bank if you are looking for a one stop shop for deposits and loans. Capital One’s online banking division offers a suite of account options with competitive pricing and features. It even offers an interest checking account, but you’ll find fewer CD options to choose from than some other banks.

    NextAdvisor review

    Advantages

    • Competitive interest rates
    • Good feedback from customer service
    • Online and in-person banking options

    The inconvenients

    • Branches are not located all over the country
    • Other banks may have higher APYs
    • Lacks some of the different account types offered by other banks

    Additional details

    • Bank online via web or mobile app, or visit a Capital One location in person
    • High yield savings, money market account, traditional CD and checking accounts
    • Two different bank accounts for children: Kids Savings Account and MONEY Teen Checking
    • CD terms range from six months to five years
    • Auto loans, business banking, and strong credit card portfolio available
    • No ATM access for savings or CDs, but you can use an ATM to check
    • Capital One deposit accounts are FDIC insured

    Editorial independence

    We analyze and review banks without the influence of partnerships or advertising relationships. For more information on our scoring methodology, click here.

    Full Capital One Bank Review

    Capital One has plenty of accounts for full-service banking, but lacks the variety of some other banks we’ve reviewed. Its competitive high-yield savings and wide range of CD durations are two excellent choices. And the bank’s checking account option is unique among many other online banks, especially since it also earns interest on your balance.

    Savings account

    Capital One’s 360 Performance Savings requires no minimum deposit or balance, and charges no monthly or maintenance fees to maintain your account. It consistently offers a very high APY among savings accounts, although it’s not quite at the highest point on our list of best savings rates.

    Capital One allows you to open multiple Performance Savings Accounts for different savings goals, which you can access under one account. For transfers and withdrawals, you can make electronic transfers between Capital One accounts or external bank accounts, and automate regular transfers. However, there’s no ATM option, no debit card or checks, and Capital One limits six transactions per month to or from your account.

    Another unique savings option from Capital One is its Children’s Savings Account, which parents or guardians can open jointly with children under 18. It has a lower APY, no fees or minimums, and allows parents to transfer money from their own accounts.

    Certificates of deposit

    Capital One only has traditional CD options, but they all come with solid interest rates.

    You can choose between terms ranging from six months to 60 months. Remember that CDs have a fixed interest rate for the entire term you lock in at opening, which you will earn at maturity. There is no minimum deposit required to open a CD with Capital One, which can be useful if you are not starting with a large sum.

    If you withdraw your certificate of deposit early, you will pay a penalty. For CDs with a term of 12 months or less, the penalty is three months interest, and for CDs with a term longer than 12 months, you will pay six months interest.

    Verify Accounts

    Capital One’s online checking account option is an interest-bearing account. You won’t earn as much as you can with savings products, but you can earn a bit more than with a traditional checking account.

    There are no monthly fees, but you may incur charges for certain activities, including cashier’s checks, wire transfers, chargebacks, and more.

    You’ll receive a Mastercard debit card for transactions and withdrawals, and you can also order paper checks through your online account and get your first checkbook free. ATM withdrawals are limited to $1,000 per day. There is no minimum to open your account, but you must make a deposit within 60 days to keep the account open.

    Others products

    Capital One is a large financial institution with many products and services beyond its online banking division, including auto loan financing and small business banking.

    However, you may be more familiar with Capital One credit cards. The bank offers several credit card options, ranging from high-end travel cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card to cash back options with no annual fee such as the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards credit card.

    Client experience

    Capital One ranks highly in our rating categories for customer service and transaction options.

    You can access your account and make transfers online, in person at a branch, or through Capital One’s mobile app, which has solid customer reviews. It is rated 4.9 out of 5 on the App Store and 4.6 on the Google Play Store.

    Additionally, Capital One receives an above average rating in the JD Power Direct Banking Satisfaction Study for 2022. The study rates online banks based on criteria such as customer service, level of trust, management accounts, etc.

    Accessibility

    Capital One also gets high marks from us for its accessibility efforts. The bank highlights its “digital accessibility team” on its website and discussions with advocacy groups and experts. And he accepts accommodation requests by phone or live online chat. Finally, Capital One has an onsite section dedicated to accessibility support information you can use onsite, such as how to use a screen reader or find accessibility tools on mobile devices.

    Is Capital One Bank for you?

    Capital One is one of the best hybrid banking options for people looking for the high-yield online banking offering without giving up an in-person banking experience.

    You can choose from high-yield savings accounts, CDs, and interest-bearing checking accounts, all at rates competitive with what other online banks offer today. Each of these accounts also enjoys no minimum deposit, no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fees. Additionally, Capital One offers a robust online account and mobile app experience to manage your account without having to visit a branch.

    However, although its rates are competitive, Capital One does not offer the highest interest rates today. If you’re more interested in scoring the highest APY available, you might want to consider more options.

    You should also consider the different types of accounts not available from Capital One. For example, a wider variety of CDs, such as no-penalty CDs or replacement CDs, can add flexibility that makes CDs more liquid.

    Finally, you might want to consider Capital One if you already have a credit card account with Capital One, if you like the idea of ​​streamlining your banking without giving up interest benefits. You can access each of your accounts online or through a mobile app, and manage them all in one place.

    Capital FAQ

    How much money do I need to open a Capital One bank account?

    There is no minimum deposit or minimum balance required for any Capital One online banking account. However, you must deposit a certain amount within 60 days of opening to prevent your account from closing.

    Is Capital One a safe bank?

    Capital One deposit accounts are FDIC insured, so your balances (up to $250,000 per account type) are insured against bank failure.

    Does Capital One have a real bank?

    Capital One offers in-person banking options at its Capital One branches and cafes. You can use the bank location tool to find the location closest to you.

    A company provides an alternative to the disappearance of the optical drive

    By
    James I. Wise
    -
    0

    Optical drives have been nearly eliminated from all modern computers. A DVD player can be too heavy, bulky and consumes too much power. A company has started planning to replace the optical drive.

    Let’s face it: CDs and DVDs can be too large and not durable. If you have recordable media, you may be concerned that UV light will damage the data.

    The discs are nearly five inches wide and weigh nearly five inches. They are also much slower than other storage media. The dimensions of the optical drive are optimized to the smallest possible and the lightest. But this is not enough to guarantee that it can be used in laptops.

    Today’s laptops are extremely small and light. You can use the space provided by an optical drive for more convenient components. This space can be used to store larger batteries, which will increase performance, or for more powerful graphics cards to satisfy graphic designers and gamers. A laptop should deliver maximum performance in the smallest possible form factor.

    All that said, it is impossible to use outdated technology such as an optical drive.

    Optical discs, whether CDs or DVDs, have some very valuable features that should not be overlooked. A company works hard to keep those memories alive.

    Nexcopy is a California-based company that specializes in feature-rich USB flash drives. It offers advanced configurations and functions. Its main purpose is to offer almost identical optical disc alternatives in flash storage.

    The company offers five options

    The autorun features, along with the read-only feature, are the two most requested features on an optical disc.

    Everyone loves the autorun feature of an optical disc. Software may be provided by companies that automatically install software when an optical disc is accessed. Standard USB flash drives cannot run automatically and cannot be mounted on computers like optical discs.

    #1 Disc License

    Nexcopy responded to this problem by creating a product dealing with the autorun feature. When connected to a host computer, the USB device that appears as a USB CD-ROM device. Full autorun functionality remains intact and the device works just like an optical disc.

    For example, a disc duplication house might use its ISO files that were previously used for CD and DVD duplication to create USB CD-ROM flash drives. Even though the optical disc is on the verge of extinction, that doesn’t necessarily mean the concept is dead.

    The other most popular feature of an optical disc is its read-only option. This feature ensures that data on optical drives cannot be altered, cannot be altered, and will always remain the same as when it was written.

    Standard USB flash drives do not have a read-only feature. The universal method to make flash drives read-only or write-protected is not available. This makes the feature harder to find. Flash memory is like a mini hard disk. Since flash memory has a default nature to read and write, it can be difficult to configure this “mini hard disk” so that the data cannot be modified.

    Many companies struggle to find optical drives in computers. Therefore, they can no longer offer optical discs to customers. Clients no longer have the ability to read the disc. These companies are looking for alternatives to optical media because the read-only functions are as important as the content.

    #2 Lock the license

    Nexcopy has created a product that solves the USB flash drive read-only problem. The Lock License Drive is a USB flash drive that can be read only by default.

    In other words, the USB lock license does not allow a user to write to the USB drive, but can only read from it. To force the USB license lock to become writable, you must force it first.

    Locking license readers have a unique approach that prevents content from being modified or copied. Also, viruses cannot jump on the USB drive because the USB drive can only be read at any time. This combination makes the Lock License USB Key the perfect solution for anyone looking to write protection with a USB flash drive.

    It should be noted that you can remove USB write protection and make it writable. This process is secure and requires the content owner to grant specific write access privileges.

    The subtle and beautiful feature of Lock License Drive is that even after unlocking and writing the device, the default state of USB drive returns to read-only state when disconnected from PC. It is impossible to make the lock license reader readable. This is an extremely secure solution for anyone who wants to create content permanently on a USB flash drive.

    #3 USB Copy Protection

    It used to be very common to share video via optical media such as DVD or CD without worrying about sharing it with others. There are tools available to “rip” video from a disc. However, this is a complex process that most non-technical people wouldn’t care about. With the optical drive gone, what options do you have for transferring video to a USB flash drive? It is sure to be copied.

    We have already established that a USB flash drive works like a mini hard drive, which is by default a writing and reading device. Now the question is: how to share an audio or video file from a flash drive that cannot be copied?

    Nexcopy offers USB copy security with the Copy Secure flash drive. The flash drive only allows access to the file. The flash drive cannot be used to save, copy, transfer, share or broadcast the file.

    Copy Secure is similar to an encrypted file, but it does not require a password to view it.

    Copy protection can be achieved with optical media using the DVD Copy Control Association protocol. This system linked the playback chipsets of a DVD player to the encoded content of a disc. This system allowed software publishers and major studios to purchase a security system that protected their intellectual properties. However, USB drives are not subject to a universal security screening system.

    Nexcopy solved this problem by allowing common file types, such as MP3, MP4, HTML and PDF to be copy-protected when playing from a flash disk. Content can be viewed on an Apple or Microsoft Windows computer. Although the solution is not universally compatible with devices such as televisions or car stereos, copy-protected content will play in the two most popular operating systems.

    Like lock and license drives, secure copy drives can be read-only (write-protected), so users can’t claim “a file was deleted, can I get another one?” to get a second copy for free.

    #4 USB encryption

    Copy Secure discs can be used as encryption. However, they do not require passwords. There is a subtle distinction between encryption and copy protection. Encryption works by scrambling data. Once the password is entered, the content will be played. An encryption password can only be used to protect honesty. This means that once a file has been decrypted, it is open to anyone who wants to print, copy or share the file.

    What if the password is shared with others? This is what copy protection does.

    If you want to ensure that the data is secure on your disk, an encryption solution can be used.

    Nexcopy is a solid choice. It will place the encrypted data on the USB drive and only display the contents after entering the correct password.

    For example, the accounting department of a large company stores financial documents on a flash device for transport between home and office. This trust is maintained, but it is necessary to protect the USB key in case the USB key is lost in the garage or stolen. The files will be protected by encryption.

    Like previous products, it is impervious to formatting or deleting disk contents. The person who discovered the drive couldn’t put a virus on it (perhaps trying to hack the company) and return it pretending to be innocent.

    #5 Safe Disk

    Hidden partitions that hold data are a feature that CDs and DVDs did not offer. An optical disc is a product that writes data linearly. The data writing process begins inside the disk and moves outward.

    Note: Mass-produced DVD and CD media are “stamped”, so the preceding sentence only refers to recordable discs and DVD media.

    Secure Disk hides most USB memories from users who connect the device to a PC. It is very unlikely that the user will be able to access the hidden area of ​​memory if he is not aware of his capabilities.

    If the Secure Disk connects to a Windows system, it will only allow a 20MB partition. This 20MB partition can read and write any information. However, the space in the cached memory area is also available to users who know how to access it.

    For example, the USB could be a 32 GB flash drive. The 20 MB partition is not visible to the user. The 20MB public partition will disappear if the login.exe file was accessed with the correct password.

    Once connected, the 32 GB private partition is readable and writable and can store any type of data. This private partition is neither encrypted nor copy-protected.

    Secure Disk was originally designed to be a HIPAA-compliant flash drive. HIPAA compliance means patient records, information and history must be kept in a secure place. Secure Disk is HIPAA compliant as it is password protected. Access to the secret memory area can only be done with the correct password.

    Secure Disk has more uses than HIPAA medical records. It’s worth considering for international travelers who need to carry sensitive data.

    Although Secure Disk cannot replace some optical media technologies, it shows that Nexcopy is a forward-thinking company.

    Since so many flash drive products have been developed, it was important to also create data loading products that could be mass-produced efficiently. Nexcopy was founded in 2004 with its original offering of the USB200PC, a PC-based twenty-target USB flash drive duplicator. Since then, many other products have been added to the Nexcopy product line, including USB flash drive printing systems, standalone USB systems and other data loading products.

    Senior Software Engineer – IT-Online

    By
    James I. Wise
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    One of our solutions customers is looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to join their team.
    Job description:

    • A senior engineer on design, development and sustaining engineering tasks, on product development and/or maintenance projects.

    Responsibilities:

    • Assume primary technical responsibility within a team of engineers for the design, implementation, debugging, and testing of new product features and new products.
    • Assume primary technical responsibility for maintaining implemented functionality once the product goes live.
    • Act as design authority or reviewer during the peer review process.
    • Mentor less experienced team members.

    Technical Skills and Competencies Required:

    • In-depth knowledge of MS C# and MS SQL. Able to perform code reviews on other team members’ code.
    • In-depth knowledge of the implementation, debugging, and testing portions of the product/software development lifecycle.
    • In-depth knowledge of the design portion of the product/software development life cycle (including test design).
    • In-depth knowledge of Windows Server and MS SQL configuration.
    • Reasonable knowledge and experience of Agile SCRUM methodology.
    • Thorough knowledge of CI/CD processes and tools.

    Terms:

    • Minimum 8 years of relevant experience
    • B.Sc Eng or Comp Sci
    • (MSc, PhD)

    Only selected candidates will be contacted

    Desired skills:

    • engineer
    • software development
    • MSSQL
    • VS#
    • coding

    Find out more/Apply to this position

    August 22, 2022 – Forbes Advisor

    By
    James I. Wise
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    Editorial Note: We earn a commission on partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect the opinions or ratings of our editors.

    Today’s best interest rates on CDs (certificates of deposit) are as high as 3.25%, depending on the term of the CD. In addition, average yields are climbing. Find out the highest rates and typical returns offered on CDs of different durations.

    Related: Compare the best CD prices

    Highest CD rates today: 1 year, 6 month, 9 month terms

    The highest interest rate currently offered on a one-year CD — one of the most popular CD terms — is 2.85%, according to data from Bankrate.com. If you discover a 12 month CD with a rate in that vicinity, you get a good deal. A week ago the best rate was the same.

    The average APY, or annual percentage yield, on a one-year CD is now 1.37%, down from 1.32% a week ago. APY provides a more accurate picture of the annual interest you’ll earn with a CD because it takes compound interest into account. This is the interest you earn not only on your deposit (or principal) but also on account interest.

    If you’re interested in a shorter-term CD, today’s best six-month CD rate is 2.25%. That compares to 2.25% a week ago. The current average APY for a six-month CD is 0.91%, down from 0.88% last week at this time.

    On nine-month CDs, the highest interest rate is now 1.98%; last week at the same date, it was higher, at 2.57%. Nine-month CDs are offered today at an average APY of 0.90%, up from 0.78% a week ago.

    Highest CD rates today: 15 month, 18 month and 2 year terms

    On a 15-month CD, today’s best interest rate is 2.66%; you’ll do well if you can find a rate in that range. A week ago, the highest rate was also 2.66%.

    The highest rate on an 18-month CD is currently 2.76%, the same as a week ago. The average APY is 2.02%, down from 1.96% a week ago.

    If you can hold out for two years, 24-month CDs are offered today at interest rates as high as 2.96% APY. The highest rate last week at this time was similar at 2.96%. Two-year CDs now have an average APY of 1.58%, up from 1.56% last week.

    A CD is a type of savings account with a fixed interest rate and lock-in term. You are not expected to touch your deposit until the end of the CD term, whether in six months, one year or five years. Your patience is rewarded with interest that is usually better than what you would earn with a regular savings account.

    If you withdraw money from a CD before ‘maturity’ – when it reaches the end of its term – and you can be slapped with hefty penalties. For example, you can lose up to six months’ interest if you pre-withdraw a one-year CD.

    Highest CD rates today: 3-year and 5-year terms

    CDs with longer terms often have some of the most attractive interest rates and APYs, if you’re willing to keep your money locked in for years.

    The average APY on a three-year CD is now 1.70%, down from 1.64% a week ago.

    On a five-year CD, the highest rate today is 3.25%, down from 3.20% a week ago. APYs are averaging 1.88%, down from 1.83% in the same period last week.

    The longer the duration, the more severe the early withdrawal penalty. It’s not uncommon to lose a full year of interest or more if you open a five-year-old CD too soon. Be absolutely certain that you understand the penalty before making your investment.

    How CDs Work

    You “buy” a CD from a financial institution by opening the account with a lump sum deposit, which becomes the principal of the CD. CDs and stock certificates (the credit union equivalent of bank CDs) often require you to make a minimum deposit. Minimum requirements vary by institution and range from one dollar to tens of thousands of dollars. Some institutions do not require a minimum.

    Once you have deposited your capital, you start the countdown to your timed investment and start earning interest. The bank or credit union will provide you with regular statements showing the amount of interest you are accumulating.

    Remember, you must avoid the temptation to dip into your CD before the end of the term. Early withdrawal penalties can be so severe that they take over your interest and then start eating away at your capital.

    The benefits of CD laddering

    Want to earn a higher return, but worry about keeping your money shackled for years? A CD ladder can help you get good returns and make your investment more liquid.

    You build a ladder by investing your money in multiple CDs with different duration terms. You can buy a one-year CD, a two-year CD, a three-year CD, a four-year CD, and a five-year CD. As each of the short-term CDs matures, you replace it with a new five-year CD.

    Follow this plan, and in a few years you’ll have a better-yielding five-year CD that matures every year. If you ever have a bad year, you can take some of the money from the expiring CD and use it to pay bills instead of pouring it all into a new CD.

    You need to shop around to find the best CD rates. Banks and credit unions compete by offering attractive returns to earn your business, so shopping around before buying a bank CD or credit union stock certificate is a must.

    10 Best Geralt Quotes From The Witcher 3 That Sum Up His Personality

    By
    James I. Wise
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    Author Andrzej Sapkowski’s franchise has never been more popular with mainstream audiences, with the Netflix series set for a third season and CD Projekt Red gearing up to remaster the highly acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The titular monster hunter has many great moments throughout his quest in the dark fantasy world of The Continent, several of which provide iconic quotes from him.



    Many of Geralt’s quotes have something deeper and more interesting to say about him, whether he realizes it or not. From its signature line on the ill-fitting of the books to the game’s original intimate quotes, they most often shed light on its characteristics.

    VIDEO OF THE DAY

    11 “This world doesn’t need a hero, it needs a professional.”

    Geralt de Riv’s quote about what he believes to be the cure for this troubled world was part of CD Projekt Red‘s marketing materials. It has just the right balance of sharp, eye-catching, and character fidelity. The concept of “hero” is loaded with preconceived ideas, nostalgic and rosy.

    RELATED: Best Video Game Trailers of the 2020s (So Far)

    But for someone like Geralt, this hero idea is a fantasy and a professional is what it takes to get results. Geralt is something of a hero character when it comes to fictional media (even if he doesn’t think highly of himself), but he doesn’t subscribe to this romanticized idea of ​​it.

    ten “Why do men waste their lives attacking an armed witcher…I’ll never know; something about my face?”

    Despite the dark world of The Continent that Geralt is subjected to as a monster hunter, the Witcher still manages to retain a dark, witty sense of humor. And, in the case of The Witcher 3 specifically, this little quote also has a bit of revolutionary meta-humor.

    The blood and wine The expansion is one of the best DLC stories of the last decade in gaming, but this line stems from a minor run-in with some bandits. Along with the meta-joke of the obviously stronger player being mugged by much weaker enemies, it’s also a good example of the dark sense of humor Geralt had to maintain to stay calm on those long journeys, bloody and often lonely. .

    9 “You don’t need mutations to strip humans of their humanity; I’ve seen plenty of examples of that.”

    One of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s many plaudits is to have one of the best storytelling in video games. And throughout Geralt’s journeys in some of the game’s most compelling questlines, the witcher encounters one of King Radovid V’s cruel witch hunters named Graden.

    Graden, however, unironically believes his work is essential to keeping the peace of the people. He remarks to Geralt that he had thought his mutations stripped him of everything that makes them human, with the witcher responding with this dark but poignant quote. In people like Radovid’s sadistic pursuit of persecution, this quote shows how Geralt’s experience showed him all the ugly sides of people who willingly give up their humanity.

    8 “Who taught you to fight like that?” “The witcher you killed.”

    At least in the modern age of gaming, Vesemir’s death at the hands of the titular Wild Hunt’s Imlerith is one of the most emotionally impactful in the medium. Doubtful for long-time fans of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, and Geralt is making sure this crime doesn’t go unpunished.

    RELATED: 10 Most Complicated RPGs For Role-Playing Veterans

    The Battle of Kaer Morhen left Geralt and company little time. to mourn, with the witcher tracking down the remains of the wild hunt. Imlerith, of course, couldn’t help but brag about the consequences of the fight, but as tough as he was, he wouldn’t survive Geralt’s brand of justice. His words to Imlerith before killing him were simple, but the context and weight behind their delivery was all that was needed to show Geralt’s anger and love for his surrogate father.

    seven “Evil is evil.”

    Geralt’s quote about his take on the concept of evil is arguably the most iconic of them all. Witcher-related media. It’s a bit technical, because this line of dialogue was originally authored by Andrzej Sapkowski the last wishbut it was voiced by The Witcher 3‘s Doug Cockle for promotional material for the game.

    It’s a bit misleading as the larger quote is emblematic of how far Geralt has come as a character, rather than still believing in the tenet of that ancient cynical bloodline. He believed that any evil is as bad as another, but after his arduous journeys he learned that morality is much more nuanced than that and he cannot spend his whole life refusing to take a stand on serious questions.

    6 “You better pay, or the invisible hand of the market will hit you so hard you won’t sit down for a week.”

    It’s another bit of dark humor from Geralt, though it also shows how tough he had to be with the people he had to deal with. Humans sometimes looking more like monsters is a recurring theme in the franchise, and part of their conniving nature is how they constantly bite the feeding hand.

    RELATED: 10 Best Armor Sets In The Witcher 3

    People need Witchers, but they despise them and simultaneously look for ways to scam them for their work. From poor villagers to arrogant wealthy aristocrats, Geralt isn’t afraid to get aggressive once he feels he’s being had.

    5 “Don’t blame yourself; no witcher has ever died in bed.”

    Vesemir is undoubtedly one of the The Witcher 3popular supporting characters. In a world where even wizarding origins are purposely ruthless, Vesemir served as a surrogate father for the boys he raised.

    Ciri feels guilty for Vesemir’s death, as she felt leading the Wild Hunt in Kaer Morhen had put her fate on her shoulders. Geralt tries to console her, admittedly ineffectively, but that quote worked as a melancholy reminder of the reality that wizards face. Geralt can at least understand his pain, while showing off that unmistakably battle-scarred interior.


    4 “Witch hunts will never be about witches; a scapegoat is the key.”

    One of the many reasons why The Witcher 3 is revered as one of the greatest fantasy RPGs for the gripping attention to detail in the writing department. Strong storytelling is essential to the genre, and The Witcher 3 was, in part, known for his poignant fantasy-themed social commentary.

    Fear and persecution of “the other” is one of the most notable themes, and Geralt gives this dark quote highlighting the reality of how evil thrives on this mentality. He says this as he enters Novigrad, which is ruled by a fanatical religious cult, as he passes burning corpses on display at the entrance to the city.


    3 “I traveled half the world to find you, but I never intended to impose anything on you.”

    The game’s rewarding role-playing elements were also highlights, and The Witcher 3 has three possible endings. With Ciri becoming a witcher considered the “best” ending and her death the worst, the Empress’ ending is something in between.

    Ciri chooses to become Empress of Nilfgaard, seeking to usher in an era of peace. It’s a bittersweet ending, with Geralt responding to her with this quote after she wonders if he’ll try to stop her. Geralt shows his maturity and developing fatherly instincts, and even though Emhyr is Ciri’s biological parent, he would still be her real father.


    2 “I run into dilemmas all the time… This is not one; you disgust me and you deserve to die.”

    blood and wine was a gripping way to end Geralt’s story in a satisfying way, but it wasn’t without encountering some truly sinister characters. The witcher is summoned to the land of Toussaint to investigate a mysterious series of brutal murders while introducing vampires into prominent roles.

    Many of the main vampiric characters are aristocrats, including Orianna. After finding out she was hoarding orphans for food, Geralt delivers this blunt line. He has certainly shown bitterness towards people he considers vile, but generally understands the moral ambiguity of the world around him. However, it was a clear line crossed and the assurance in the delivery of this quote shows that even Geralt has limits.

    NEXT: The 10 Best Video Games To Play This Month

    1

    Jankcore is the new aesthetic

    By
    James I. Wise
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    Shortly after starting The Druid Mystery, my caustic detective character, Brent Halligan, steals money from a tramp after mixing medical-grade ethanol in his flask. Once the guilt subsided, I put my little moral mishap behind me, and over the next few hours realized I was playing a work of art: a rich point-and-click assortment of glitches, gorgeous backgrounds, 90s desktop devices, and painfully obtuse puzzles, all covered in generous helpings of cheese. Later, I was forced to find a patch to fix a game-breaking bug during simple dialogue. No problem. Nothing would prevent me from seeing the story of Halligan, an ugly little wretch in a trench coat, through to the end.

    In 2001, The Mystery of the Druids was not well received (opens in a new tab) by gaming press (opens in a new tab) (with one reviewer complaining that the graphics were “straight out of 1996 (opens in a new tab)“. His unjustly tarnished image was partially rehabilitated in 2019 in this now archived piece. (opens in a new tab)). He finds himself in a pantheon of forgotten, flawed adventures that were too crazy to live, but too weird to die. The appeal of these games is kept alive today thanks to retro enthusiasts and low-poly enthusiasts who remain enchanted by one of the trickiest periods in video games, those past the end of technology. full-motion video and fleeting experiences in the graphics that don’t have it doesn’t end up sticking.

    “It’s less about nostalgia and more about the cycle of their actual creation,” says Vohyak, a content creator who runs the popular low poly depression (opens in a new tab) account on Twitter. “They don’t feel like commodities and more like obscure love projects that have built cults.” Vohyak, who works full-time in games (and prefers to keep his online persona separate), posts a mixture of vapor