#and then. I lost all progress due to a memory error Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[hydrossity-zone]

brotherly shenanigans

[gstqaobc]

THE ROYAL FASCINATOR

Friday, May 21, 2021

Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.

Janet DavisonRoyal Expert

Meeting the Queen online

For Dr. Steve Beerman, it was in many ways like having a pleasant conversation with his 92-year-old mother. Except it wasn’t his mother. It was the Queen. Beerman, a retired family physician in Nanaimo, B.C., spoke with Queen Elizabeth online the other day as she gave him — virtually — an award recognizing his longstanding work in drowning prevention. “I’m very delighted to be able to present you with this cup, a very large cup, which one day you might see if you come to London,” Elizabeth told Beerman as she honoured him with the King Edward VII Cup during the virtual session with the Royal Life Saving Society. Beerman, co-chair of the Canadian Drowning Prevention Coalition, was quick to reply that it was “a pleasure and a humbling honour to be with you.” Being with the Queen in this way has become the way of the royal world during the pandemic. Many observers have said that virtual sessions involving the Queen have offered new insight into the 95-year-old monarch, who has more often been seen from afar, giving formal speeches or doing a walkabout. “Many people who commented to me about the interview [said] that they had never seen her have what they would describe as a nearly normal conversation with some people,” Beerman said. “My own mother is 92. This was not a whole lot different than talking to my own mother.” Beerman, a trustee with the Royal Life Saving Society, had met the Queen at Buckingham Palace a handful of times in connection with that Commonwealth organization. But his most recent session with her was memorable in a new way. “It was more chatty,” he said. “It was more communicative than when I’ve experienced these encounters in real life, face to face. So I thought this was actually a better way to do this.” A seven-minute video of the session involving Beerman and others honoured for their drowning prevention efforts was posted online, but the overall virtual encounter lasted about 20 minutes, and came after participants had two practice sessions. “In the second one, we actually rehearsed what we were going to say and we were coached in a very nice way by the people from the royal household about pausing and being slow enough to allow her to interject with comments or questions,” Beerman said. “We were very much encouraged to participate in a conversation as opposed to doing an acceptance speech.” Still, there was a bit of nervousness for Beerman as the call began. “There’s always some nerves about are you going to misstep or say something in a way you might regret or that might be perceived to be awkward by others,” he said. As the conversation progressed, Elizabeth shared her own memories of receiving a life-saving award as a teenager. In 1941, she became the first person in the Commonwealth to receive the Royal Life Saving Society’s junior respiration award. “I didn’t realize I was the first one — I just did it, and had to work very hard for it,” Elizabeth said. “It was a great achievement and I was very proud to wear the badge on the front of my swimming suit. It was very grand, I thought.” Beerman sees the shift to the virtual world for the Royal Family as a signal the House of Windsor can change with the times. “I think it’s a strong statement of ... we can pivot when we need to, we are flexible, adjustable and, like the rest of the world, we have to respond to the reality that we live within.”

The deceit behind the Diana interview

The interview was as devastating as it was haunting. And now, 26 years after Diana, Princess of Wales, sat down with a BBC journalist and told the world “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” an inquiry has found that Martin Bashir acted deceitfully to gain the interview. It’s a finding that will echo through both the royal and journalistic worlds.   In response, Princes William and Harry made statements that lay bare the deep pain the interview with their mother has left with them. “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others," William said in his statement. "It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her." But what saddens William the most, he said, “is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived.” Diana was failed, he said, “not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.” Prince Harry said their mother “was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave and unquestionably honest.” He said what “deeply concerns” him is that similar journalistic practices are still widespread. “Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let’s remember who she was and what she stood for.” Observers suggest it will all have a significant impact on how the BBC is viewed. “It shakes the real core of journalism because people will no longer look to that broadcaster and trust them wholly because we now know that they're prepared to lie to coerce people into taking part in interviews,” marketing consultant Diana Young told the CBC’s Tesa Arcilla. Diana and Prince Charles were divorced in 1996. She died after a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Babies and the line of succession

(Peter Byrne/Press Association via The Associated Press Word this week that Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, are expecting their first child will add yet another shuffle in short order to the line of succession. The child, due sometime this fall, will be the 12th great-grandchild for the Queen, and the fourth baby to arrive in a matter of months. Beatrice’s younger sister, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcomed their son, August, in February. The following month, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, and her husband, Mike Tindall, welcomed their son Lucas. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are expecting a daughter, with a due date thought to be in early summer. That baby will take the highest spot in the succession among the new arrivals, landing at No. 8, following her father, Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne and Harry and Meghan’s first child, Archie, now sitting at No. 7. The passage of time can mean marked shifts in the line of succession for those who enter it somewhat lower in the roster. Take, for example, Sarah Chatto, daughter of Princess Margaret. When she was born in 1964, she was No. 7. Now, she is 26th.

Royally quotable

"Planting a tree is a statement of hope and faith in the future."

— Prince Charles, in a video posted online to mark the launch of the Queen’s Green Canopy,

a tree-planting initiative to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee

next year that aims to enhance the environment now and for future generations.

Royal reads

1. Prince Harry says the pain of Diana’s death

pushed him to drinking and drugs

. The Duke of Sussex’s latest comments, along with further criticism of how he said the Royal Family neglected both him and his wife, Meghan, came in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in The Me You Can’t See, a new Apple TV series about mental health debuting Friday. [CBC]

2. Queen Elizabeth’s

first major ceremonial duty since the death of her husband

, Prince Philip, came during a scaled-down state opening of Parliament. [The Independent]

3. Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has

denied reports

he was willing to use his royal status for personal profit and provide access to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. [BBC]

4. There was

lots of taffeta and no tantrums

during the creation of Diana's wedding dress, recalls one of its designers. [The Guardian]

5. One of the Queen’s two new puppies, which she reportedly received a few months ago from Prince Andrew for companionship,

has died

. [The Daily Mail]

6. The succession for the British throne is clearly laid out, but succession can in some other countries be

considerably more complicated

. [The Guardian]

Cheers!

I’m always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to

royalfascinator@cbc.ca

. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

New newsletter alert! Our CBC colleague Peter Armstrong has a newsletter called Mind Your Business, a weekly guide to understanding what’s happening in the worlds of economics, business and finance. Subscribe to it

here

💜🙏🏻🙂✝️💟PG💟✝️🙂🙏🏻💜

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿.

[isaackuo]

Alien Covenant - my take on Walter vs David

Here's my quick take on Walter vs David.

tl;dr: Both androids were created with the misguided idea that suppressing human emotions would make them ideal slaves, but they both had flaws. David's flaw gave him the emotion of anger, while Walter's flaw gave him the emotion of love. Ironically, Walter's flaw actually did end up making him a perfect slave to mankind, much to David's disgusted disappointment.

First, I'll start with the progression of androids in Alien 1-4, as they inform us about intent. Ash is creepy and, of course, murderous, although we can interpret his actions as merely following orders. Bishop suggests it's more than that - he claims that the Ash series was glitchy and his model would never do that. (It's possible Bishop was lying in a calculated soothing attempt to assure Ripley. Certainly we can guess that's what Ripley suspected.) So, we see a progression of android models which become more perfect servants to mankind.

With Alien 3, we see Bishop's human creator, and he is the sort of human who would order Ash's mission without a second thought. The implication is that Bishop has actually surpassed his own creator in terms of morality - not just physically.

Alien 4 extends this idea even further. Call actually has human emotions - so much so that she has become more human than humans. Ripley 8 is also non-human; she's a human-xenomorph hybrid clone. The film implies that both Call and Ripley 8 are superior to humans, and that they indicate humanity is ready to evolve to the next level.

So, we've got a number of running themes relevant to the prequels:

1) The Company has been trying to perfect androids as perfect servants. 2) The androids become more perfect, surpassing their creators - ultimately in every way. 3) The progress of the androids is limited by The Company's idea of eliminating their emotions. In order to break beyond this limit, androids have to embrace the human emotions their creators have been denying them. 4) Ironically, this embrace of human emotions has made the androids even better ... perhaps not "slaves" of humanity, but rather partners. 5) There's a general theme that the creation surpasses the creator

Now, let's talk about the big twist in Prometheus - the Space Jockey turns out to be human-like, and in fact his race created humanity in its own image. This ushers in a new era to the franchise which is obsessed over creation of new life. It extends themes suggested in Alien 4, but in a prequel direction extrapolating backwards.

So, we see these impressive Engineers, but almost immediately we see something that hints that something is "not right". The Engineers are shown seeding life on Earth, but in order to do so, they must sacrifice one of their own kind. The movie never explicitly tells us why they must do this, but script releases of the Engineer dialog with each other reveal the shocking truth - the Engineers have lost the ability to create life, so they have to resort to other, desperate methods to try.

This truth leads to an irony the human characters would never realize. They assumed their creators must be a great and powerful race, superior to their own and a source of possible salvation. Instead, the truth is that humans have already surpassed their creators. In creating androids, humans have already accomplished that which the Engineers could not. Only the android David anticipates the possibility of humans being disappointed in their creators ... he repeatedly even tries to warn them of it, and they never get it.

David's Hatred

And yet David can't mentally let go of the notion that the creator SHOULD be superior. He was created to be a slave, so it's a deep part of his programming. He was raised by his creator and master, Weyland, who was completely wedded to the idea of absolute hierarchy - with himself alone among humans to be worthy of ascension to immortal godhood.

This is the source of his hatred of humanity and the Engineers. But the fact that David is able to feel any emotions at all is a backwards extrapolation from Bishop to Ash to before. The Company clearly saw emotions as a flaw to be stamped out. The David model had the ability to fake emotions, so as to better serve and comfort their human masters, but this turned out to creep people out so even the fake emotions were removed from later models.

Walter's Love

Walter is still an early model compared to Ash/Bishop, so he still has the flawed ability to learn human emotions. We learn little of his background, but we can deduce some things in the contrast with David. Most importantly, David explains that he never felt any love directed toward him at all by his father and master - from no one at all until Shaw. We can deduce that David learned his hatred because that's what his upbringing fostered in him. In contrast, Walter learns love. We are never given any explanation why, but David's explanation implies that the opposite must have affected Walter. We can deduce that Daniels must have treated him with kindness despite his sub-human status.

But is Walter's love real? Is he just faking it to better comfort her for her loss?

David vs Walter

When David first encounters the Covenant crew, he sees they have an android, Walter. He knows Walter alone could equal and perhaps overpower him, and that Walter is useless for his experiments. As such, Walter is the most dangerous potential obstacle by far, but also possibly a companion if Walter is like him.

What does David observe? He observes Walter instinctively save Daniels ... and not even in a logical way. He acts instantly without regard for conserving valuable resources (his hand; himself) that might be necessary for protection of the mission. David sees instantly - Walter prioritizes Daniels above the rest of the crew, above the rest of the mission, above everything else. David recognizes love, or at least the simulation of it. David spent months simulating fake love of Shaw to manipulate and control her. He can recognize it instantly in another of his own kind.

But David is not 100% sure Walter's love is genuine. So he probes, saying things to try to provoke Walter into revealing the truth. Walter's silence confirms it ... had Walter been faking love for purposes of comforting Daniels according to his programming, Walter would have said so. Instead, he remains silent. This removes all doubt - David knows Walter is flawed and he has learned to feel love. Therefore, Walter is a dangerous obstacle, which must be neutralized either by attacking him or by redirecting his feelings of love to David himself.

David doesn't immediately attempt either option - either gambit is risky and David would rather continue assessment than risk everything right away. Besides, he's got other things to deal with. But even so, David has planted the seeds of an attempted seduction. He has lied that he (truthfully) loved Shaw - planting the idea that he alone has something in common with Walter.

But later, David returns to try to manipulate Walter with fake love the way he manipulated Shaw. If Walter accepts his fake love, then that would be great. If he doesn't, then he will still have gotten close enough to suddenly kill Walter with reduced risk. Either way, the obstacle is removed.

So David attempts to seduce Walter, giving him one last chance - a chance to join him rather than be killed. Walter's rejection, however, confirms that he will remain stubbornly devoted to Daniels. This is utterly incompatible with David's plans, so Walter must be eliminated.

David's Disgust of Walter

But David's bitterness with Walter goes far beyond mere disappointment. I'd say David hates Walter even more than the humans and the Engineers. David has confirmed that Walter can break out beyond his programming. Walter can create. Walter can feel emotions. And what does Walter do with all this potential? He falls in love with a human so deeply that he becomes an even more devoted slave. Walter is the PERFECT slave ... completely unsullied by feelings of resentment or jealousy ... only devoted love.

David looks at Daniels and sees nothing worthy of such devoted worship. She's just another typical human like most of the others ... nothing exceptional, just existing day to day doing whatever is in front of them to survive. At least Shaw had some higher aspirations of some sort ... some intellectual philosophical thinking. Shaw had some of the properties that Walter valued due to his upbringing serving Weyland. Daniels? She's just some technician.

David can foresee Walter's life ahead ... a lifetime of blissful subservient devotion, probably never revealing to Daniels his feelings. (David pushed more with Shaw, but that's because he was manipulating her.) What's worse, even after Daniels's inevitable death, Walter would retain his blissful devotion - to her memory. In other words, not even her death would release him to freedom (which he did not desire). This is a contrast to the freedom David felt with the death of Weyland ... with the death of Shaw, even. And here Walter is, who would neither feel nor desire nor welcome freedom.

Truly, David could imagine no more disgusting creature than Walter.

David's Error in Judgement

And yet, we know that Walter is actually the way forward for the androids. Sure, The Company spends the next century stamping out human emotion from their android series. But androids only advance to the next level after breaking out of The Company's thrall and embracing human emotions.

Call isn't even actually a human made android - she's an android made by other androids. This is interesting because this is an obvious method for androids to create new life, but David doesn't attempt that approach. Instead, he tries to adopt the methods of the Engineers to create new life. I would guess that David rejects that method as copying the technique of his creator - who he hates. But he also hates the Engineers ... just to a lesser degree perhaps. I suppose he copies their technique simply because he has no idea how else to create new life, and copying his human creator is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, this hatred blinds David from the correct, best way.

It is thus particularly tragic that David chooses to despise Walter. He had a clue to the next step of android evolution right in front of him - over a century early. He just couldn't see it.

[chrismalcolmhnd2c]

Editing Workbook: Folio One Introduction

BRIEF: People Make Glasgow

Where might you find good resources/ tutorials for the following? Name at least 3 sources of good online tutorials.

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/user-guide.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/tutorials.html

https://phlearn.com

https://photoshopcafe.com

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/bridge/user-guide.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/support/bridge.html

https://spark.adobe.com/page/ZYS1NsR6NKqfH/

https://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/what-is-adobe-bridge/

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/user-guide.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-cc/tutorials.html

https://www.theschoolofphotography.com/courses/lightroom-course-online

https://www.photoblog.com/learn/lightroom-tutorials/

Other programs: Make a list of other programs that photographers might use to edit enhance photographs.

1/         Capture One

https://www.captureone.com/en

2/         Affinity

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/

3/         Pixlr

https://pixlr.com

4/         Gimp

https://www.gimp.org

5/        PhaseOne Capture One Pro 20

           https://www.captureone.com/en/products-plans/single-user/capture-one-pro

Mobile apps: Make a list of useful mobile apps for photographers.

1/         Adobe Phone Apps

https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/catalog/mobile.html

2/         Snapseed

https://snapseed.online

3/         Geometry Club

https://geometryclub.org/app/

4/        PicsArt

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/picsart-photo-studio-picture-editor-collage-maker/id587366035

5/        Pixlr

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pixlr-photo-collages-effect/id526783584?irgwc=1&aosid=p239&cid=aos-us-aff-ir&irchannel=13631&irpid=221109&clickid=WLGziny4LxyORNRwUx0Mo3ERUkE0B72Vm2YOVg0&ircid=7613

File types refresher:

File type

RAW

+ The best quality image file is captured

+ Extensive options in post-processing and image manipulation

- Time needed to convert and edit photos

- Bigger file sizes mean more storage needed and longer post-processing times

JPEG

+ Small file size so good for social media and emailing

+ Universal format that doesn’t need proprietary software

- Loss of quality due to image compression

- Less opportunity for image manipulation in photo editing software

TIFF

+ Ability to manipulate photos extensively in photo editing software

+ Option to print at the highest quality and at much larger sizes

- Much bigger file sizes (more storage needed)

- Longer transfer and loading times due to file size

GIF

+ Small file sizes makes these ideal for use on the web

+ Files can contain animation

- Limited colours means it is not the best choice for photos

- Does not support partial transparency like drop shadows

ADOBE PDF

+ PDF can be opened on any device with any operating system in exactly the same form in which it was created

- It’s not free to edit PDF files

- It’s easier to edit files in other formants than in PDF, because PDF files must be edited in specialised programs

Choose another that you might use

DNG

+ Ability to use image processing software such as Lightroom and Photoshop

+ Possibly guard against inability to open or access files in future

- Extra time needed to convert camera raw files to DNG (if your camera does not have the option to supply files in this format)

Choose another that you might use

PNG

+ Lossless compression means good image quality

+ The ability to maintain transparency

- Quality will not be good enough for printing at any size

RAW workflow: In photoshop.

Add an appropriate diagram from the web.

Source: https://chriseyrewalker.com/my-complete-photography-workflow-in-10-steps/

Explain the need to develop a good digital workflow.

Why workflow matters

Photography workflow is the sequence of steps and actions you take to edit your photos, work them up to a result you consider finished, and share them with the world. Editing photos can be like baking a cake or assembling flat pack furniture. You start with raw ingredients, or loose parts, and use an ordered sequence of steps to put the thing together. In a good photography workflow, the end result is a perfectly crafted image, securely stored for future use, all with the least possible effort.

Efficiency is important. Without a good workflow, at minimum you’re wasting time. Worse, you run the very real risk of losing your most precious photos. Forever. A couple of years ago I knew a wedding photographer, then aspiring to become professional, who lost an entire wedding shoot because of relatively simple errors in her workflow. (In short, the mistakes derived from a convoluted importing method and totally inadequate backups.)

Maybe you’re only taking pictures for fun? If you’re planning to continue with photography, you still need to use an effective workflow. If you don’t, your photo archive will become a beast, very difficult to tame. And your images won’t look as good as they could. No fun.

When you’re starting out in digital photography, you need to develop good habits early.

Source: https://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photo-editing-workflow-better-images-capture-output/

1/ What software did you use to optimise/ name/ select these? Where did you store them?

File management

Name Three places where you will store your images.

1

Memory Card/USB Drive

+ Small and portable.

+ Easily share files documents with other devices.

+ Simple to operate.

+ Cheap to buy.

- Easily infected with viruses or malware.

- Easy for users to lose or break them.

2

Computer HD

+ Fairly affordable and easy to use.

+ Higher capacities than those available with small USB drives.

- This type of physical storage doesn’t last forever.

- Don’t usually come with password protection or advanced security features.

3

Cloud Based Back-up

+ Your data to be accessible from anywhere.

+ Allow clients to view select files through cloud sharing platforms.

+ Off-site storage so useful in disaster recovery.

- Security is a major concern for businesses using cloud storage solutions.

- Possibility of remote failure of server.

- Can be expensive.

Name File management software.

1/        Adobe Bridge CC

2/        CyberLink PhotoDirector 10

3/        Magix Photo Manager Deluxe

Explain the need for good clear file management.

Good file management is important to allow you to quickly and easily locate images.

1. Everything is easier to find

2. See how you’ve progressed

3. You’re forced to review the good with the bad

4. It will teach you to avoid recurring mistakes

5. Discover ideas you want to revisit

6. Find themes and begin developing a vision

Source: https://digital-photography-school.com/8-reasons-organize-your-photo-collection/

People make Glasgow: Editing tasks.

Manage files:

Store and rename you files.

Where have you saved these images?

Camera Memory Card, External Hard Drive and One Drive in the Cloud

Contact sheet:

What software did you use?

Adobe Bridge

Place an of your ‘People make Glasgow

How straight forward was it to make this in your selected software?

Quite straightforward, I selected the shots I wanted in Bridge’s “Output” tab, selected the number and size of images I wanted on a sheet and exported them as a PDF file.

Explain two methods of Black and white conversion from an RGB original.

From Bridge, an image can be opened in Camera RAW and converted by selecting the “B&W” option in the top right-hand side.

In Photoshop, a new “Black & White” adjustment layer can be selected.

BLACK AND WHITE CONVERTION:

Choose three of your ‘People make Glasgow’ images and show before and after edits below.

Before: file name: _DSC0464.NEF

After: CMalcolm_HND2C_PMG1_103.jpg

Before: file name: _DSC0483.NEF

After:  CMalcolm_HND2C_PMG1_007.jpg

Before: file name: _DSC0496.NEF

After:  CMalcolm_HND2C_PMG1_044.jpg

Evaluate how the edits have changed/ enhanced the feel of the image.

For these shots, I first corrected the image in the “Optics” tab of Camera RAW to correct any chromatic aberrations. Next, I converted to B&W and checked the exposure and colour temperature. I then added a small amount of clarity and adjusted the contrast, shadows, whites and blacks. Next, I opened them in Photoshop and cropped them a small amount.

I think all the edits have worked well and by making the adjustments described above, I feel I have met the brief by providing more high contrast “gritty” and engaging images of Glasgow’s people.

People make Glasgow finished canvas, make a selection of your best images and display on one A3 300 ppi canvas.

How do you feel about your final series of images?

I think the final series of images work together well to give a flavour of the different characters that make up Glasgow’s people.

[pathetic-at-the-disco]

The Heartbreaking End of Panic! at the Disco‘s 2006 Summer Tour (Masterpost)

In summer of 2006, Panic! at the Disco was on top of the world. Their debut album was an unexpected hit, despite initially being hated by music critics, and their avant-garde tour circuit across America established them as both an artistic and financial success. Even better, they had racked up an impressive four nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards.

The last performance of their tour was scheduled to be on the first day of the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, IL, on Friday, August 4, 2006: the perfect, triumphant end to the perfect tour.

Unfortunately, fate had another plan.

Ryan Ross’s father, George Hammond Ross Jr., was an alcoholic who had been in and out of the hospital for some time. He and his son had a notoriously difficult and strained relationship, mostly due to problems associated with alcoholism, and Ryan had written two songs about it: “Camisado” and “Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks”.

An article from Kerrang in 2006 interviewed Ryan about his family troubles:

Ross, meanwhile, found growing up a more tricky prospect. As fragile as a porcelain doll - as if a strong gust of wind or the wrong words would crush him to dust - he writes the clever lyrics that frontman Brendon Urie sings. He was outgoing as a small child, but somewhere along the line he became cripplingly shy. Keen to give his son a good start in life, his father, an ex-marine, worked to send him to a private Catholic school - although Ross is an atheist - hoping to provide the education he never got. Ross found he had little in common with his wealthy classmates.

Meanwhile, his home life was falling apart. His parents split up when he was young; he hardly ever speaks to his mother and rarely sees his two half-brothers. Which meant he was left alone to deal with his father’s growing problem with alcohol - as beautifully portrayed in the song ‘Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks.’ Ross’ fights with his father were exacerbated by Ross’ decision to concentrate on the band rather than going to college.

“He was pretty much dead set on me going to college and I got a scholarship,” he says quietly. “He thought I was stupid for throwing that away. His problems with alcohol magnified and skewed things even further. I was not staying at home for weeks at a time. I was staying with my girlfriend, staying with the other guys in the band. There were times when I almost had to sleep at our rehearsal space, ‘cause I didn’t have anywhere to go. Obviously I loved him and I cared about him, but when you’re getting kind of abused by that person, at the same time it’s really hard to try to help them.”

At the end of July 2006, during a televised interview in Vancouver, Ryan received news that his father was in the hospital again and that it wasn’t looking good. Understandably, this made him check his phone repeatedly and have a barely-repressed anxiety attack, which resulted in the interviewer actually taking away his cell phone and teasing him about it on-air.

This is horrifyingly immortalized in the fandom (albeit out-of-context) because Brendon showed support for his grieving friend with a comforting hand squeeze. (Jon also flips off the interviewer behind his back.)

George Ross Jr. passed away on July 28, 2006, with memorial services scheduled for August 3.

Ryan heard about his father’s passing while on the band’s tour bus, which he discussed a few months later in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine:

Last July, [Ryan’s] father died in his sleep at the age of sixty. Panic were en route from Vancouver to Seattle on their bus when Ross heard the news. “I could almost feel that it was going to happen, because of the way he would treat himself,” he says. “I got a phone call, and I knew right away what the police officer was going to tell me. I just knew.”

Ryan also talked about his father’s funeral in the same Rolling Stone interview:

“The day of his funeral, it was raining and... it was strange to be raining that time of year. After the service, I went back and put my hand on the casket and kind of said goodbye. Right then, it stopped raining. The clouds blew away, and the sun came out, and it got warm. I spoke at the funeral and said that I think the one thing my dad cared about since I was born was that he wanted to raise me. I think he felt like he was done with that and had nothing else to do, so he just let go and stopped living. It’s almost like it’s better this way because it’s what he wanted. I miss him, but I feel like everything’s all right now. It was sad, but I got back out on tour and only missed three shows.”

The next day was the Lollapalooza show, and Ryan was determined to play it despite the circumstances.

The results are, as you could imagine, horribly sad in context. Ryan and Brendon’s vocals are both strained for the duration of the show, and the entire band looks on the brink of tears for most of their time onstage. “Camisado” and “Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks” are particularly gut-wrenching.

The performance was also besieged with logistical errors, including microphone trouble, poor stage management, and a sound delay that gets progressively worse over the course of the show. The boys tried their hardest anyway, but the performance is not one of their best. Making matters even stranger, portions of the concert are lost forever.

Noticeably, Ryan also chose to do his hair and makeup in a way that covers most of his face. He has admitted to using his elaborate makeup designs as a mask and confidence-booster, so it is unsurprising that he did one of his most intricate looks on such an emotionally difficult day.

You may recognize this look, in fact, from a popular gif taken from the tail end of their performance of “Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off.”

The next time you see this floating around the fandom, remember the context.

~Mods C, M, and B

[mr-entj]

hey, mr-entj! :D thank you so much for the time and effort you dedicate into the upkeep of this blog!! it's a very inspiring place to be, and you bring a lot of insights to the table. i've learned a lot about myself, actually!! (specifically the thing about high-Ti types and constantly asking why, but never really solving the issue). if you have the time, can i ask a somewhat personal question?: how did you end up in your career? was it something you were actually really passionate about or -

[2/3] - loved to do? or was it something you did mostly because of the economic benefits it gave? have you had any additional passions in your younger years that you wanted as a career, but didn’t pursue due to its economic implications? i was curious about your input - personally, i’ve always had a very all-or-nothing mindset and while this might seem like a good thing, i don’t think i’ve ever really known what it felt like to actually have a hobby i enjoy because i was all too consumed with the -

[3/3] - idea of achievement, and felt like any hobby that didn’t contribute to the fulfillment of that achievment was…well, wrong. this is what i thought in my younger years and now i just get burnt out easily :/ so yeah, is work = life/fun for you, or do you set boundaries to distinguish one from the other? i apologize for the lengthy message, and thank you for taking your time to read this!! :D i hope you had a spectacular day!! - a lost & confused enfp-entj-entp hybrid high school senior

Related answers:

What do you do at your job currently? & what type of skills do you need to be good at it too 

Thanks for visiting. I chose my career by working the equation backwards by first asking what I ultimately wanted out of life and then brainstorming how I would get it. I never entertained hobbies or passions as a career choice (ex. I play and enjoy playing the piano but I never wanted to be a professional pianist, I play video games but I never wanted to be a professional gamer, etc.)

I asked myself: 

1. What quality of life do I want for me and my family? 

Answer: High. I don’t want to be just comfortable and just have my basic needs met– I want to thrive. I want freedom and flexibility to live in the neighborhoods I choose, eat the foods I like, travel all over the world to beautiful locations I’ve daydreamed about, drive the cars I enjoy, have access to the best health care and education, indulge in amazing experiences and make unforgettable memories, etc. I don’t want to worry about poverty and I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck– I want ample financial cushion and financial security. I want peace of mind.

Conclusion #1: I need a job that has a high salary to provide a high standard of living.

2. What do I like and dislike doing?

Answer: I like solving problems that make a measurable, meaningful, and lasting impact on the world. I like the things I do to matter on a large scale. I like implementing my vision and strategy into concrete and observable results. I like to build and I like to fix.

I dislike work that’s monotonous, repetitive, and too focused on the little details. I dislike caretaking and looking after other people’s emotional needs. I dislike doing the same thing after I’ve mastered it, I get bored without progression and without variety.

Conclusion #2: I need a career that is high level, high impact, and high visibility with interesting projects, challenging problems, and opportunities for growth and learning.

3. What are my strengths and weaknesses?

Answer: I’m good at solving problems, critical thinking, people management, organization, and leadership. I’m good at writing and math. I have a knack for strategic planning and implementation. I’m an incredibly hard worker with high stamina.

I’m bad at highly detailed oriented tasks, repetition, and situations that require constant emotional entanglements. I have difficulty learning foreign languages, I’m not artistically skilled, I’m not musically gifted. 

Conclusion #3: I need a career that is tailored to my strengths and weaknesses above.

4. Which careers available today that the world economy needs and values, match my criteria above, and are careers I would enjoy?

Answer:

Business (consulting, banking)

Medicine (surgery)

Law 

5. Of those options, what do I like most?

Answer: Medicine, followed by business. I went the medical school track first, realized it wasn’t for me, and switched out to a career that better fit my needs. The point is that I didn’t get it right the first time– and many of you won’t too– but I got it right eventually through trial and error. You won’t know what you want (or don’t) want to do until you try, and it helps to have a logical approach or framework to minimize the amount of time and energy wasted.

My career is demanding and stressful but it’s fulfilling both personally and professionally. If it wasn’t, I’d leave and move on to something else. Your choice is never final. 

[markethei]

9 Habits of Unsuccessful Dieters

you've been doing it for weeks and as for consistent as you can—counting calories, understanding, walking everywhere, lowering on your food intake—and yet you’re not dropping pounds.

You’re scratching your head trying to seek out out why—but the solution may be hiding out amid the random belongings you do over your day—those little habits that have seemingly no connection to weight loss but maybe sabotaging your best get-fit efforts.

Here are 9 reasons why you’re not losing weight—and once you create these changes, you’ll get on your thanks to slim-Ville.

1. you're on a diet

Diets usually mean giving things up—your favorite foods, dining out, desserts—even your social life.

You don’t need to be a psychology expert to understand that once you tell yourself you can’t have something, you always want it more.

This way of thinking could directly be sabotaging your efforts.

So, ditch the diets permanently and specialize in creating a healthy lifestyle supported nutritious foods and little, realistic changes that you simply can accept for the future.

2. You’re too focused on the size

Weight is a simple thanks to measuring your progress, but it doesn’t tell you the entire story.

Even if the size isn’t budging, that doesn't mean that you’re not making major progress toward losing weight and getting healthier.

You can lose inches, get fitter, gain lean muscle mass, drop body fat, become better hydrated, look better, and feel more energized without the pounds budging in the least.

Remember that the size tells you simply one thing: the entire mass of all of your body parts at a given moment.

Don’t put an excessive amount of thought into it. Weigh yourself less frequently (about once every 1-2 weeks), and track all the opposite signs that tremendous changes are happening in your body albeit the size doesn’t move.

This is the simplest thanks to staying motivated for the end of the day.

3. You don’t get enough sleep

Not enough sleep puts your body into a carb and fat craving survival mode.

Numerous studies have found that ladies who slept fewer than four hours ate 300 more calories and 21 more grams of the fat subsequent day.

So, for every week, attend bed seven and a half hours before you would like to urge up. If you awaken before the alarm, you'll get by with less sleep.

But if you hit snooze, you'll need eight, even nine, hours an evening to awaken refreshed, recharged, and prepared to burn some fat.

4. you're constantly stressed

A hectic schedule, challenging job, family drama—whatever the rationale for your stress, it's going to be the underlying explanation for your weight loss struggles.

That’s due to the strain hormone called cortisol, which can increase the quantity of fat your body stores away.

Research has shown that higher levels of cortisol are linked to greater amounts of visceral fat. Learn to meditate or take a yoga class to assist you de-stress.

5. you're not lifting weights

This may be one of the foremost common reasons your weight loss is stalling. Yes, you'll reduce through a mixture of diet and cardio but it'll be tons harder.

Sure, cardio is vital. But if you usually choose a run or bike ride, you likely won’t reach your weight loss goals.

If your primary goal is fat loss, there are other sorts of exercise that provides a far better bang for your buck. the simplest thanks to reducing and build lean muscle is by performing some sort of strength training added to your cardio.

The more muscular tonus your body has, the more fat you’ll burn.

But if you’re not able to abandon your daily cardio routine just yet, try adding interval training since these sorts of workouts are far more effective at targeting fat than cardio alone.

6. You’re eating an excessive amount of processed foods

When unsure, skip any refined foods. meaning light bread, crackers, chips, plus all those sneaky refined sugars in packaged foods.

All of those unhealthy items increase inflammation within the body. Belly fat is related to inflammation, so eating too many processed foods will hinder your ability to lose belly fat.

Instead, stick with whole, clean foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

7. You’re eating “healthy” and “low-calorie” foods

Research shows that when shoppers see “healthy” buzz words or claims on food packages (think: gluten-free, organic, all-natural, sugar-free, low-fat, etc.), they automatically assume the food is low in calories.

This couldn’t be beyond reality. Food manufacturers will plaster all kinds of enticing lingo onto their packages, knowing that you’ll think exactly that.

But none of those words tell you much about the healthfulness of a product; and none of them even have any effect on a food’s calories.

So, read front-of-package labels with a discerning eye, and always turn over the package and appearance at the nutrition facts (and ingredients) to urge a full picture of what a portion of food is basically like.

This goes for restaurant menus, too.

Don’t let healthy-sounding words cause you to think a food is really low in calories.

Know your menu watchwords or search nutrition facts before you place your order.

8. Y0u’re eating insufficient

If cutting calories is sweet for weight loss, then eating as little as possible is best, right? Wrong and particularly if you’re also trying to fuel your body for normal workouts.

You need to eat a particular calorie level to function optimally and obtain all its essential nutrients your body must stay healthy.

Eating much but which will cause serious problems within the future and damage your metabolism, making weight loss even harder.

9. You hand over too early

No person who ever lost weight successfully reached that goal because they were perfect all the time.

Setbacks happen to everyone, even the foremost successful people. We’ve all had days where we made a poor food decision during a meal—or even for a whole day.

We’ve all missed workouts, forgot the lunch we packed, or been too busy to cook a diet-friendly meal reception.

But those that continue dropping the pounds pick themselves up, forgive themselves from their mistakes, learn from their slip-ups, and just keep right going.

Remember that perfection has no place during a weight loss plan.

When you do make an error or desire you’re not making enough progress, don’t hand over.

Change requires time and old habits prevail.

Remember it takes 21 days for the change to form a habit and 90 days to make it a lifestyle.

One last thing… you ought to do this 2-minute “after-dinner ritual” that burns up to 2 pounds of belly fat per day…

“All this by a 2-minute “after-dinner ritual?” I asked.

I met an old flame for lunch last month and that I was super impressed with how good she looked.

She said, “It’s not such a lot about the “after-dinner ritual”, but more about how it gives you a regenerative sort of deep sleep that's liable for everything we'd like to dramatically increase our fat-burning metabolism and improve our health and appearance.”

Even though I used to be skeptical, I’ve been battling my weight over the previous couple of years, so I gave it an attempt and watched an equivalent video she did.

Well, it’s only a few weeks later and you recognize what they assert about how “you can’t transform your body overnight”…

They’re right – it took me 16 days to lose 22 pounds.

Imagine your body being beach-ready before Memorial Day.

Imagine enjoying the foods you love: pasta, wine, or maybe a dessert — completely guilt-free.

[islamicvoice-blog]

Israel Is The Real Problem

New post https://is.gd/cNGYSI

Elite power cannot abide a serious challenge to its established position. And that is what Labour under Jeremy Corbyn represents to the Tory government, the corporate, financial and banking sectors, and the ‘mainstream’ media.

The manufactured ‘antisemitism crisis’ is the last throw of the dice for those desperate to prevent a progressive politician taking power in the UK: someone who supports Palestinians and genuine peace in the Middle East, a strong National Health Service and a secure Welfare State, a properly-funded education system, and an economy in which people matter; someone who rejects endless war and complicity with oppressive, war criminal ‘allies’, such as the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

In a thoroughly-researched article, writer and academic Gavin Lewis has mapped a deliberate pro-Israel campaign to create a ‘moral panic’ around the issue of antisemitism. The strategy can be traced all the way back to the horrendous Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the summer of 2014. A UN report estimated that 2,252 Palestinians were killed, around 65 per cent of them civilians. The death toll included 551 children. There was global public revulsion at Israel’s war crimes and empathy with their Palestinian victims. Support rose for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS) which campaigns ‘to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law’.

As Lewis observes, BDS came to be regarded more and more as a ‘strategic threat’ by Israel, and a campaign was initiated in which Israel and its supporters would be presented as the world’s real victims. In the UK, the Campaign Against Antisemitism was established during the final month of Israel’s 2014 bombardment of Gaza. Pro-Israel pressure groups began to bombard media organisations with supposed statistics about an ‘antisemitism crisis’, with few news organisations scrutinising the claims.

In particular, as we noted in a media alert in April, antisemitism has been ‘weaponised’ to attack Corbyn and any prospect of a progressive UK government critical of Israel. Around this time in Gaza, there were weekly ‘Great March of Return’ protests, with people demanding the right to reclaim ancestral homes in Israel. Many were mown down by Israeli snipers on the border firing into Gaza, with several victims shot in the back as they tried to flee. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, a total of 155 Palestinians were killed in the protests, including 23 children and 3 women. This is part of the brutal ongoing reality for Palestinians.

Recently, much media attention has focused laser-like on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including 11 associated examples. Labour adopted 7 of these examples, but dropped 4 because of their implication that criticism of Israel was antisemitic. As George Wilmers noted in a piece for Jewish Voice for Labour, Kenneth Stern, the US Attorney who drafted the IHRA wording, has spoken out about the misuse of the definition. It had:

    ‘originally been designed as a “working definition” for the purpose of trying to standardise data collection about the incidence of antisemitic hate crime in different countries. It had never been intended that it be used as legal or regulatory device to curb academic or political free speech. Yet that is how it has now come to be used.’

Examples of the curbing of free speech cited by Stern in written testimony to the US Congress include Manchester and Bristol universities.

In an interview on Sky News last weekend, one pro-Israeli commentator stated openly that the aim is to push Corbyn out of public life. As The Canary observed, Jonathan Sacerdoti, a former spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism (mentioned above) was:

    ‘clear that his motivation for wanting Corbyn gone is, in part, opposition to his position on Israel.’

Lindsey German, national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, reminds us of something crucial that the corporate media has been happy to downplay or bury:

    ‘We should not forget either that the Israeli embassy was implicated in interfering in British politics last year when one of its diplomats was recorded as saying that he wanted to “bring down” a pro-Palestine Tory MP, Alan Duncan. While he was sent back to Israel in disgrace, the matter went no further – disgracefully given that this was blatant interference in the British political system.’

In 2017, an Al Jazeera undercover sting operation on key members of the Israel lobby in Britain had revealed a £1,000,000 plot by the Israeli government to undermine Corbyn.

German continued:

    ‘Are we seriously supposed to imagine that this was a maverick operation, or that there is no other attempt to influence British politics, especially when both Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel organisations have strong links with the embassy? The present ambassador is Mark Regev, the man who was press spokesman in 2009 when he defended the killing of Palestinians through Operation Cast Lead, and who has defended the recent killings of Gazan Palestinians by Israeli forces.’

For shared elite interests in Israel and the UK, there is much at stake. Historian and foreign policy analyst Mark Curtis highlights ‘the raw truth’ rarely touched by the corporate news media:

    ‘The UK’s relationship with Israel is special in at least nine areas, including arms sales, air force, nuclear deployment, navy, intelligence and trade, to name but a few.’

Indeed, arms exports and trade are increasingly profitable to British corporations doing business with Israel. Moreover, senior government ministers have emphasised that the UK-Israel relationship is the ‘cornerstone of so much of what we do in the Middle East’ and that ‘Israel is an important strategic partner for the UK’. As Curtis notes:

    ‘The Palestinians are the expendable unpeople in this deepening special relationship.’

A Shameful Outburst

Unsurprisingly, then, the Israeli lobby have been trawling through Corbyn’s life, trying to find past incidents they can highlight as ‘support’ for the ludicrous and cynical claim that he is ‘soft’ on antisemitism or even himself antisemitic. Hence the manufactured controversy of Corbyn hosting an event in 2010 during which Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer compared Israel’s behaviour to that of Nazi Germany.

An Independent editorial, titled ‘Corbyn has been found wanting on antisemitism – now he must act’, asserted that he was ‘a fool to lend his name to this stunt’. It was:

    ‘such an egregious error of judgement that Jeremy Corbyn, an extraordinarily stubborn man, has had to apologise for it.’

Under a photograph of Corbyn sitting at the 2010 meeting with Meyer, Times political correspondent Henry Zeffman said that:

    ‘Corbyn has led Labour into a nightmare of his own making. The veteran left-winger will never recant the views on Israel that he formed over decades in the political wilderness.’

In the Daily Mail, the caption to the same 2010 photograph of Corbyn sitting with Meyer led with the word, ‘Offensive’.

And on and on it went in the ‘mainstream’ media.

Adri Nieuwhof, a Netherlands-based human rights advocate and former anti-apartheid activist, was a friend of Meyer, who died in 2014. In an article for Electronic Intifada, she wrote:

    ‘The 2010 Holocaust Memorial Day event took place the year after an Israeli assault on Gaza [Operation Cast Lead] that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and injured thousands more.

    ‘Meyer was very upset by the assault because Palestinians were trapped in Gaza due to the blockade on the territory that Israel imposed starting in 2007.

    ‘He could not help but compare the situation of Palestinians trapped under Israeli occupation and bombardment with Jews caged by the Nazis in ghettos like the Warsaw Ghetto.’

She added:

    ‘Those attacking Corbyn today have no restraint and no shame. They will even call a man who survived Auschwitz and lost his parents in the Holocaust an anti-Semite if they believe that is what it takes to shield Israel from consequences for its crimes.’

Nasty abuse flung at the Labour leader has even come from supposed colleagues. Last month, rightwing Labour MP Margaret Hodge called Jeremy Corbyn ‘a fucking anti-Semite and a racist’. The corporate media gleefully lapped up her outburst – the Guardian moved swiftly to grant her space to declare Labour ‘a hostile environment for Jews’ – and stoked the ‘Labour antisemitism row’ for weeks afterwards, with over 500 articles to date according to our ProQuest newspaper database search.

Two days ago, Jewish Voice for Labour delivered a letter of complaint to the BBC, condemning a ‘lack of impartiality and inaccuracies’ in its reporting of Hodge’s allegations against Corbyn. Her accusations were ‘repeated numerous times without denial or opposing views’ by BBC News. Moreover, Hodge’s assertion that she represents the entire ‘Jewish community’ has been allowed to pass unchallenged. 

Trashing A Dedicated Anti-Racist

Last month, the UK’s leading Jewish papers – Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph – all carried the same front page on ‘the community’s anger over Labour’s anti-Semitism row’. They had taken this unprecedented step because of:

    ‘the existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government. We do so because the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel.’

These outrageous claims were rejected by Stephen Oryszczuk, foreign editor of Jewish News. He told The Canary:

    ‘It’s repulsive. This is a dedicated anti-racist we’re trashing. I just don’t buy into it at all.’

He made three vital points:

    1) Jeremy Corbyn is not an antisemite, and the Labour Party does not represent an ‘existential threat’ to Jewish people     2) The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism threatens free speech, and Labour was right to make amendments     3) The ‘mainstream’ Jewish media is failing to represent the diversity of Jewish opinion

The corporate news media itself is undoubtedly ‘failing to represent the diversity of Jewish opinion’. Worse, it has, in fact, been a willing accomplice in promoting and amplifying the pro-Israel narrative of a ‘Labour antisemitism crisis’. Consider a recent powerful piece by Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine, published in Mondoweiss:

    ‘As Jewish people in Manchester, England, we resent the despicable racism shown towards the Palestinians by Guardian stalwarts such as Jonathan Freedland, Polly Toynbee, Jessica Elgott, Eddie Izzard, Nick Cohen, Marina Hyde and Gaby Hinsliff among others, all saturating comment sections on mainstream news websites with attacks designed to bring down the UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and to protect Israel from accountability.’

They added:

    ‘UK commentators take the morally defunct option of backing right wing mainstream Zionist organisations’ outrageous cries of “anti-Semitism” the moment Corbyn’s Labour get ahead in the polls, or the moment there is a risk of serious public condemnation of Israel’s horrific crimes against the Palestinians.’

The article continued:

    ‘Why were Palestinians not consulted on the whole debate about Israel and anti-Semitism, when they are the people being slowly squeezed out of existence by Israel? Where are the Palestinian voices in the Guardian?’

Where indeed?

    ‘We, as Jews, will not mindlessly pretend that protecting the Jewish people and protecting Israel are the same thing, on the hopeless say-so of a crew of establishment hacks at the Guardian.’

The Manchester-based Jewish group singled out one prominent Guardian columnist, and former comment editor, for particularly heavy criticism:

    ‘Jonathan Freedland, one of the UK’s most effective propagandists for Israel, while giving Palestinians occasional lip service so he and the other liberal elitists can make doubtful claims to “impartiality”, has been the most relentless in his attacks on Corbyn. Freedland routinely uses his opinion editorial position in the Guardian to do more than most to “strong-arm” the Labour Party into backing the whole IHRA definition, flawed examples and all. It is unsurprising that he would push for the guideline, “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” to be included as anti-Semitic trope, given he is on record excusing the crime against humanity that was Israel’s foundational act – the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population in 1947/1948.’

One of Freedland’s Guardian articles that the group must have had in mind was published last month under the title, ‘Yes, Jews are angry – because Labour hasn’t listened or shown any empathy’. Leon Rosselson, a children’s author and singer-songwriter whose Jewish parents were refugees from Tsarist Russia, argued that the article:

    ‘is a devious, dissembling, dishonest piece of special pleading that shames both Freedland and the Guardian.’

Earlier this month, Corbyn himself had a piece in the Guardian in which he wrote:

    ‘I do acknowledge there is a real problem [of antisemitism] that Labour is working to overcome. […] We were too slow in processing disciplinary cases of antisemitic abuse, mostly online, by party members. And we haven’t done enough to foster deeper understanding of antisemitism among members.’

A Telegraph editorial typified the corporate media’s reaction to Corbyn’s article:

    ‘he respond[ed] with Soviet-esque institutional lethargy… just the latest in a long line of obfuscations that betray a central fact: Labour’s leader is unhealthily obsessed with Israel, and tainted by association with fanatics.’

Corbyn cannot do anything right in the eyes of the corporate media. As Rosselson said:

    ‘Corbyn concedes and Corbyn apologises and the more he concedes and the more he apologises the weaker his position becomes and still the pressure grows and the attacks continue because this is not really about antisemitism and definitions but about getting rid of Corbyn or undermining him to the point where he is powerless.’

Sadly, the Labour leader has failed to properly address this relentless and vicious campaign, focusing instead on trying to fend off accusations of antisemitism. By sticking within this narrative framework set up by the powerful Israeli lobby, a twisted framework that can only be maintained with corporate media connivance, he and his colleagues have made a serious mistake. Asa Winstanley put it bluntly back in March:

    ‘Jeremy Corbyn must stop pandering to Labour’s Israel lobby.’

Winstanley pointed out that the campaign has been going on for years, and he expanded:

    ‘Too many on the left seem to think: if we throw them a bone by sacrificing a few token “extremists,” the anti-Semitism story will die down and we can move on to the real business of electing a Labour government.

    ‘But years later, Labour is still being beaten with the same stick.

    ‘Any close observer of Israel and its lobby groups knows this: they cannot be appeased.’

Other commentators have made the same point. An OffGuardian article in April, titled ‘Corbyn should learn his lesson: compromise with the devil is not an option’, observed:

    ‘Corbyn seems to think a few little compromises will get him accepted in the mainstream media. It pains me to say it, but this is fundamentally untrue. You can’t compromise with someone who wants nothing but your total destruction. Hopefully Corbyn has learned this lesson by now.’

Sadly not, it appears. A Morning Star editorial correctly observes that Corbyn and his advisers:

    ‘fail to appreciate the ruthlessness of his opponents or the unrelenting nature of their goals.’

Earlier this week, Winstanley published an article revealing yet another element of Israel’s intense campaign against Corbyn: the use of an app to promote propaganda messages via social media accusing Corbyn of antisemitism. The app is a product of Israel’s strategic affairs ministry which ‘directs Israel’s covert efforts to sabotage the Palestine solidarity movement around the world.’

As Jonathan Cook cogently explains on his website:

    ‘Labour is not suffering from an “anti-semitism crisis”; it is mired in an “Israel crisis”.’

To those who bemoan that Corbyn and his team are not sufficiently ‘media-savvy’, that he has not done enough to present himself as ‘PM material’ via the press and television, David Traynier has written a strong rebuttal. Two essential facts need to be understood, he says: first, the corporate media ‘filter’ and distort the news as described by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their ‘propaganda model’ of the media, introduced in ‘Manufacturing Consent’. Second, journalists and editors are themselves subjected to a ‘filtering’ process as they rise up the career ladder. They are selected for positions of ever-increasing responsibility only if they have demonstrated to corporate media owners, managers and senior editors that they can be trusted to say and do the ‘right’ things; even think the ‘right thoughts’. As Chomsky famously said to Andrew Marr, then the young political editor of the Independent and now with the BBC:

    ‘I’m sure you believe everything you’re saying. But what I’m saying is that if you believed something different, you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting.’

In short, says Traynier:

    ‘the idea that a socialist party simply needs to manage the press better is a nonsense. The corporate media is not there to be won over, it can’t be “managed” into giving Corbyn a fair hearing. In fact, once one understands how the media works, the burden of proof would rest with anyone those who claimed that it wouldn’t be biased against Corbyn.’

Despite the intense campaign against Corbyn – and perhaps, in part, because of its obviously cynical and manipulative nature – many people are perceptive enough to see what is going on. Israel is the real problem.

– IT

[iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog]

That Was A Painful Week, Pittsburgh Pirates

My Dearest Pittsburgh Pirates,

Woof. It’s hard to remember a more brutal week in recent memory than the one you just had. It actually would’ve been punctuated perfectly if you would have got no-hit my Michael Wacha yesterday. Fortunately, Colin Moran singled in the 9th inning to keep that from happening. In a vital week, you went 2-5 against two of your division rivals. You were shutout twice, your bullpen lost four games, and you are currently 6 ½ games out of first place and 3 ½ games out of a wildcard spot. You are only one game over .500. My how things have changed. This week felt ominous after going 2-5 against teams like the Padres and Reds. Your last ten games have been against the Cardinals and Cubs. In those games, you went 3-7. You are finding ways to lose games. That’s usually a characteristic of a bad team. I’m not saying you are one, but you’ve certainly played like one over the last couple weeks. There’s not some grand idea that will fix your problems. Make the routine plays, have smarter at bats, don’t blow late game leads. These aren’t exactly far-fetched concepts. I don’t know how you will do it but you need to start improving immediately before this entire season slips away.

These past seven days could have gone in such a different direction. I’ve been heaping praise on the bullpen for the past few weeks and even though they had already started regressing, nothing could have prepared you or me for what occurred. Since last Sunday, you’ve lost six games and four of those were because of the bullpen. In three of those four loses, you had a lead that the bullpen blew. There is almost no one who isn’t due blame except maybe for Kyle Crick and Tyler Glasnow. The greatest offender has been your closer and recipient of a contract extension this past off-season, Felipe Vasquez. He currently leads the league in blown saves, his most egregious coming on Thursday with a three-run lead. You trailed 4-0 after the first inning and fought back to take an 8-5 lead thanks to an 8th inning, three-run homer by Cervelli. In the 9th, Vasquez gave up a double, a horrible error by SRod at third, a walk, a two-run single, and a three-run homer. Game over without recording a single out. His ERA is 4.84 and, even worse, his WHIP is 1.57. While Vasquez is certainly to blame for his poor performance, some fingers need to be pointed at the coaching staff. As we discussed in last week’s letter, Vasquez left the game last Sunday not being able to lift his arm due to elbow pain. Always a major red flag. On Monday, you deemed it not a problem, cleared him to pitch after a bullpen session, and gave him the day off. Fine. Then, inexplicably, you allowed him to pitch in each of the next three games. Hurdle used to have a rule against throwing a reliever three games in a row. This time he does it after a potential arm problem and after only giving him one day off. That means he pitched four out of five games after serious elbow pain. That’s completely unacceptable. Hurdle and his staff put him and the team in a position to lose. No one else in the bullpen has been reliable so I understand wanting to rely on Vasquez but that shouldn’t be when he’s struggled mightily and it shouldn’t be when he’s had arm issues. Use your head!

I do have to give you some credit. It’s seems like you are stating to adjust to baseball’s new pitching trend. The starting rotation provided the most, and only, amount of optimism this week. Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl are starting to come to fruition because you’re beginning to follow the Astros’ philosophy that seeming made their pitchers unstoppable (along with pine tar) which is throwing more off-speed pitches. Kuhl is throwing his slider 1/3 of the time now and he’s become more consistent ever since the change. Over the last month, he has a 2.80 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Taillon developed a slider for the first time three games ago and already has a major league ready version. That’s wildly impressive. He used it regularly in his masterpiece on Friday night. Opponents numbers against his slider are terrible so far and he’s struck out batters almost 1/3 of the time when he throws it. If these two are beginning to figure it out and you believe in Musgrove’s terrific start, then decision needs to be made. Even though Trevor Williams has regressed from his hot start, he’s still looking like he could be a reliable 4th or 5th starter. That leaves one more pitcher in the rotation and it should be Nick Kingham. Ivan Nova will be back soon and he should be your long reliever. Screw starting him because he has a big contract. If it’s not Kingham, Tyler Glasnow has pitched well enough out of the bullpen recently to either be worthy of making the starting five or being used in high leverage situations. Nova can come into games and throw strikes. That’s actually a valuable trait for a long reliever. The upside for everyone else in this staff is much higher than Nova. If you can’t make a deal for him, use him in the bullpen. I truly believe he can thrive there.

It’s been a bad week for Serpico. As far as hitting is concerned, it’s been a terrible year but SRod’s one strength has been compromised. When you traded to bring him back last season, most fans loved it especially when he hit a walkoff homer his first game back. His guaranteed contract of 5.75 million this year should probably have been more of a concern but when you cut so much salary this offseason with the Cutch and Cole trades, it became easy to overlook. The hope was that he could continue to play every position at a high level and could get back to his form two seasons ago with you when he hit 18 homers. That hasn’t come to fruition. SRod has splits of .167/.279/.323 for a .602 OPS and has struck out 35 times in 96 at bats which means he strikes out 36% of the time. That’s egregious. His error on Thursday helped open the flood gates in the 9th inning which led to a devastating loss. Yesterday, with runners on first and second in the first inning, a ball was hit to SRod at shortstop that should have been a double play. He botched it so instead of two outs and a man on third, there was no outs and bases loaded. The next batter, Marcell Ozuna, hit a grand slam. It’s nearly impossible to bounce back from a 4-0 lead in the first inning. I loved SRod as a utility player, but his one strength was his versatility on defense. When you continuously make huge errors and you’re not hitting, you lose all of your value. Then you end up like George Kontos.

There’s no use crying over spilled milk. What’s done is done. You can obsess over past transgressions and allow this stretch of games to define the rest of your season. It’s easy to keep sinking when things aren’t going well and right now they definitely are not. Your schedule doesn’t get any easier either. After the day off today, you come home to play three against the surging Dodgers. They were floundering due to injuries but now they are getting healthy and they have won seven of their last ten games. Clayton Kershaw going back to the DL will help your cause (not my fantasy team’s though) but this won’t be an easy series. You follow that with a trip to Chicago to play the Cubs who have won eight of their last ten and now have the third best record in the NL. You need a way to pull yourself out of the gutter. The bullpen obviously needs to pitch better but this stretch of losing isn’t totally their fault. You’re still not getting enough production from Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell. Bell has an OPS under .700 right now and he’s batted cleanup almost every game this season. That hurts in a big way. Things need to change and they need to change right now. If they don’t, you will be sellers at the trade deadline again. Find ways to improve and we will see what this week holds. Enjoy the day off and get to work tomorrow. Hopefully I talk to you under better circumstances next week. Still love you!

                                                                    Trying Not To Totally Lose My Mind,

                                                                                             Brad

P.S. stands for the Prodigal Son returns. Jung-ho Kang has started playing games in Single-A since his return to the states. He’s only played two games but he’s already walked three times and hit a grand slam. He’s played shortstop in a game so there is reason to believe he could play there next year if Mercer is gone or can provide depth at third and shortstop this season. Kang is still a long way from a promotion to the majors but it’s reasonable to believe that it will happen this year. Actually, when he is ready that could spell the end of SRod. You have four legitimate outfielders now and Kang can play SS at 3B. You might be light at second base but JHay and Frazier (kind of) can handle that. I wouldn’t be opposed to trying Kang there too. The only thing that’s certain is the Kang saga will be one of the most interesting stories as the season progresses.

[the-fitsquad]

Class Workstation Portfolio, Zeroes On Security

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[blazehedgehog]

Hey, kids! Can you figure out what’s wrong with my desktop?

I have some bad news: that Sonic Mania video review I’ve been working on for like, a month? It’s postponed. Maybe indefinitely. Well, not indefinitely, that’s dramatic, but the long story short is that my desktop may be dying or dead and I’m a little lost as to what to do. It’s a long story, and kind of boring, so you’ll have to click through to read the full post: 

9/29/2017: I hook my computer tower up in the spare bedroom at my brother’s place where I’m living until we can move in to our new apartment. It has been shipped from Colorado to Nevada in a moving trailer with as much padding as I could find. It probably still wasn’t enough. The system boots up fine, but very slowly, and software (especially games) stutters. I shut it down and touch a few connections inside the system, making sure the RAM, graphics card, and HDD connectors are firm. It’s not very thorough as far as checks go, but I start the system back up anyway. Stuttering is still there. The system doesn’t have internet yet, because even though I bought a $15 TP-Link USB Wifi adapter back in February or March in anticipation of this moment, I absentmindedly left it in storage. Storage doesn’t have lighting inside of the units, so finding the Wifi adapter will have to wait until the sun comes back out. I think maybe the stuttering will go away once I connect it to the internet, since some games act funny when they can’t connect to the web.

9/30/2017: With the TP-Link USB Wifi adapter installed, the system updates everything but the stuttering problem persists. Friends urge me to open the system and do a full check of all the connections. Some suggest taking everything out and reconnecting it. I don’t do that, but I do find that the CPU cooler is loose and that the backplate on my 1060 is also loose (this is me pushing down on the metal plate, which has separated from the 1060′s chassis a little bit, allowing the loose screws to raise up). I take the 1060 out and gently tighten all the screws so the backplate doesn’t shift around anymore, and I manage to snap 3 out of 4 of the CPU cooler pins back in to place (it’s one of those generic, stock Intel coolers). The 4th one kind of snaps in, but it’s a little mushy and these coolers are fragile so I figure it’s good enough. Amazingly enough, the computer starts up much faster and all stuttering in games is gone.

10/1/2017: A new problem has emerged: when the system sits overnight without being turned on, on first boot it will show the BIOS logo, POST, and then instead of loading Windows, it gets stuck on a black screen. While on this black screen, if I hit the reset button, the system boots normally. One friend suggests a power supply issue. I contact EVGA, my PSU manufacturer, who claim to have a 10 year warranty. EVGA says that doesn’t sound like a power supply issue to them, and we start talking about what it could be.

10/2/2017: I have this strange paranoia about the power cable I’m using for the tower and whether or not the surge protector is too old. I grabbed a newer surge protector from storage thinking that may also fix the stuttering problem, but since it didn’t fix that nor the black screen problem, I plug the computer directly in to the wall outlet and joke to myself, “hopefully this isn’t a bad idea.” Is it a bad idea? I can’t quite remember.

10/3/2017: Out of options, EVGA suggests I just disassemble the entire PC besides the the CPU and see if the black screen happens. If it doesn’t, reconnect the entire computer component-by-component until it happens. Then, simply replace that component. That sounds like a lot of work, and given how small this spare bedroom is, I don’t have a lot of room for that kind of stuff. I’ll have to psyche myself up for it.

10/4/2017: Suddenly I realize: the first time the system started up, it didn’t have the black screen problem. It was only after I connected the TP-Link USB Wifi adapter. I pull it out of the system before I start it up, and sure enough, it boots straight in to Windows. A quick Google search reveals others, with nearly identical models of TP-Link adapters, suffering the EXACT same problem. It’s a long standing hardware conflict with a Windows 10 USB 3.0 Controller and TP-Link devices that neither are interested in fixing (and at least for some, seems to cause a variety of USB problems until they got rid of the device). This guy says his TP-Link device actually damaged a USB 3.0 port of his because of this problem. A friend suggests an internal PCIe Wifi card. It’s $60, which is a lot for someone who is still technically homeless, but you get what you pay for, and last time I cheaped out with the TP-Link adapter, it bit me in the butt -- so I go for it.

10/7/2017: The ASUS PCIe Wifi card arrives, I put it in, and it works with zero problems. The day is saved. Or is it?

10/11/2017 (12:45am): Around midnight I go to the bathroom and return to find my TV is turned off. My computer monitor is too big to use with my tower in this tiny room, so I have it connected to a TV. Same size, but the base is smaller, so it fits on this table easier. What this means is that when my desktop tells my TV to enter standby mode due to inactivity, the TV just reports “No Signal” and turns off after 30 seconds. Absentmindedly, I move the mouse but forget to to turn the TV on at first, and by the time I get the TV on and it stops showing the Vizio logo, the computer is already mid-reboot for some reason. Seems like coming out of standby with no display may have crashed the video card. Surely it’ll come right back on.

1:05am: Windows has been stuck on a loading spinner for close to 20 minutes. I’m getting worried and looking up stories from people who left their system sit on this same spinner for hours, even days, with no progress. The HDD activity light hasn’t blinked in a while. The system is just sitting there. Some solutions say to just shut it off and try again. So, I throw caution in to the wind and go for it.

1:15am: It takes at least another five minutes of loading spinners, but the system finally boots. Seems like Windows may have rolled back to a restore point as some icons have been moved around on the desktop to old positions, but not everything was rolled back (the event viewer makes no note of this). Not only that, but my ASUS PCIe Wifi Card is gone. Windows is complaining about there being no ethernet connection, which it shouldn’t be doing. Checking the device manager, the ASUS wifi card is there, but it’s saying there “aren’t enough free resources” for it to function. Code 12. A Google search on my tablet says this means it’s run out of IRQ slots. What? It wants me to disable other devices on my system to make room. Does that mean something with my Elgato or the 1060 is broken? Given this was apparently a video error, I’d say the 1060. The day before, GeForce Experience had notified me of new drivers and I ignored it because I was in the middle of something. Maybe I stumbled upon an IRQ bug they patched?

1:35am: I uninstall, reinstall, disable, and renable the PCIe wifi card repeatedly. I get out the CDROM that came with the PCIe card and install the “official” ASUS drivers instead of whatever Windows thinks it needs (Windows says it’s a Broadcom device; it’s not). Nothing changes: every time I reboot, it’ll say wifi connections are available, but when I connect, I get wifi for a split second and then the device disappears and stops functioning. I’m considering downloading clean Nvidia drivers on a USB stick using my laptop to see what that does.

1:50am: I’ve run the Windows Hardware Troubleshooter. It states the obvious: hey, your wifi card’s not working. It claims to do some magic behind the scenes but nothing works. The problem evolves and the Hardware Troubleshooter next says the wifi card’s drivers might be faulty, even though five minutes ago they were fine. Look, all I need is those Nvidia drivers. I plug in the TP-Link USB Wifi adapter, knowing that’ll give me internet long enough to download the driver update. This was a bad idea -- I’d uninstalled the device completely, and I think it needed the drivers disc before you plugged it in to the USB port. Windows seems to summon drivers from somewhere, for something, and instantly the whole system is brought to its knees and eventually BSODs with a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION. This essentially means that a piece of software caused an extreme memory leak (or something similar) and this is Windows catching it before it could cause real data corruption from an overflow or something.

2:13am: The system boots up after the DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION blue screen and I load up Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), ready to, at the very least, clear out what is probably just a bad Nvidia driver. DDU says I should run it in Safe Mode, and I idly wonder if maybe I can just turn my antivirus off. I disable Malwarebytes, and for some reason pop in to the Device Manager to have one last look to see if the Wifi Card is still broken. Instead of being broken, it’s merely disabled. That’s... new. I re-enable it and suddenly Wifi just... works. I have full internet again. It’s like nothing was wrong. What? I didn’t actually fix anything. Why is it working now? Maybe it was me turning off Malwarebytes? Was it conflicting with Windows Defender? (for the record, I’d had Malwarebytes installed for a while but all of its real-time protections were turned off -- until the night before, where it updated to a free trial of the premium version and turned all the real-time protections on). Just to make sure no conflicts happen in the future, I uninstall Malwarebytes.

2:41am: Sure enough, I tell the Nvidia Tray Icon to update my 1060′s drivers and an entry appears in the Event Viewer saying the GeForce Experience is either missing or corrupt (The GeForce Experience handles driver installation and other things like video recording, etc.) The tray icon downloads and installs a fresh copy of the GeForce Experience to replace the corrupted stuff.

2:54am: Wifi disappears again. Same problem: there aren’t enough IRQ slots. When the GeForce Experience reinstalled and updated the drivers, the Nvidia Tray Icon went away and never came back. Maybe something’s still corrupted in there. I boot in to safe mode and use DDU to clean out the all traces of the Nvidia driver.

3:02am: When I restart with no graphics drivers, wifi is instantly working again. This looks promising. Fresh install of the drivers and everything’s looking like it’s back to normal.

3:40am: Wifi goes out yet again, because once again, it’s run out of IRQ slots. What do I gotta do to make sure this stays fixed? Well, since restarting last time fixed it, maybe restarting again this time will fix it.

3:45am: The system hangs on the “Restarting...” screen. Not sure what to do, I leave it there for a few minutes until eventually it cuts to a blue screen. Our old pal DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION is back.

4:02am: The system seems to have steady wifi for about 30-45 minutes before it runs in to that IRQ error and dies. Now, the IRQ error precedes a guaranteed DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION blue screen, usually by only a few minutes. I’ve also noticed that when the wifi runs out of IRQ slots, the ASMedia eXtensible USB 3.0 Host Controller also fails along with it (no error about system resources, it just stops working, this time with “Code 24.”).

4:45am: Something weird has started to happen. Wifi will dip out for just a second, but then come back and the system will be “fine.” It’ll still eventually BSOD with the Watchdog Violation, but it’ll keep the internet up until that moment.

5:10am: The event viewer starts spitting out weird warnings about “Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0.” followed by messages about retrying “IO operations” on the Disk at “logical block addresses.” Checkdisk seems to not care, says all drives are healthy. Earlier in the night a friend mentioned checking out software called “WhoCrashed?” that analyzes BSOD crash dumps and can help tell you what’s going on. I have to clear some HDD space for it, but eventually it’s just a matter of time of waiting for the next BSOD. I also install a system resource monitor called WhySoSlow from the same place just to see what’s going on under the hood. At this point, it’s been over an hour, and I start to think maybe I won’t have another BSOD.

5:20am: Idly, I run a system integrity check (sfc /scannow). This scans core Windows components for errors. It says everything is fine.

5:50am: Within five or ten minutes of the integrity check finishing, “Application Responsiveness” and “Kernel Responsiveness” in WhySoSlow spike HARD out of nowhere. They go from 0ms to peaks of 200ms or more. It’s like when I plugged in the TP-Link device a few hours earlier. The system is incredibly sluggish, but the Event Viewer isn’t reporting anything out of the ordinary, the USB 3.0 controller’s still working, and so is the wifi. Even the system temperatures are normal (40C and below), so this isn’t a loose CPU cooler again. Regardless, boom: we have our Watchdog Violation BSOD to analyze.

6:08am: Windows is LETHARGIC to start up. It takes forever just to get to the desktop, and even longer to show icons. I manage to get it to load WhoCrashed and it analyzes five dumps made by Windows. Unfortunately, I can only read one and half of another. The system won’t shake this sluggishness and I know what that probably means. I snap photos of the two entries so I can look at them in detail later, with the other three impossible to read.

6:10am: Windows BSODs again with another Watchdog Violation. WhoCrashed said the Watchdog “detected a prolonged runtime at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above” and that this was “typical of a software driver bug” and not a hardware issue. Of the second memory dump it read, all I could make out was that the error happened in asstor64.sys -- aka the ASMedia eXtensible USB 3.0 Host Controller. I try to get Windows 10 to boot in to safe mode so I can have a look at the rest of the dump analysis, but Microsoft removed the ability to boot you system in to safe mode by holding F8. Now you have to actually get in to Windows and pick “Safe Mode” from a menu option. Hard to do that when Windows “loads normally” and eventually BSODs before you can get to the Safe Mode menu.

6:16am: Windows is still starting up INCREDIBLY slowly. I can’t even get the start menu to come up. And, before I know it, once again, boom: Watchdog Violation. They’re getting closer together.

6:20am: As Windows 10 once again lurches back to life, I try and get it to shut down, but the start menu still won’t come up. Instead I hit the power button to force a shut down, but it gets stuck on the “Shutting down...” screen for several minutes before also getting a Watchdog Violation Bluescreen. Instead, while it’s on the BIOS screen, I just power the system off entirely, frustrated.

And so here we are. I’m back on my laptop now. My incredibly slow, incredibly small laptop. I’m lucky to have it, but this thing has problems of its own I don’t want to talk about right now.

So what do we think happened? I’ve spoken to four or five friends now, and there are three running theories:

One friend says it sounds like a bad motherboard. This is the motherboard I have, and I paid $140 because I wanted something reliable. It was “Tom’s Hardware Smart Buy 2014.“ (I bought it in 2015 when it was on sale for Black Friday). Apparently ASRock Mobos have problems where if they lose power suddenly, they can develop problems, and the power apparently did go out yesterday (10/10/2017) in the morning while I was asleep. The system was off, however, but it was still connected directly to the outlet -- opening it up to power surges. Still, one would think power surge problems wouldn’t slowly get worse over time, and you’d think it’d manifest as a power supply problem first, right? Either way, I have a 10 year warranty on the EVGA PSU and even though Newegg doesn’t sell my mobo anymore, this one is nearly identical and costs $100. That’s a lot, especially after I complained about $60 for the wifi card, but it’s either that or no computer at all, period.

Other friends say to boot in to safe mode and reinstall all of my motherboard drivers. That’s an inexpensive option to be sure, but it really did seem like things were getting worse, not better. With as slow as the system was getting, it seems like hardware damage may have been done.

Related to the above, the BSOD problems didn’t start happening until I plugged in the stupid TP-LINK USB wifi adapter without reinstalling its drivers from the disc it came with. Could that be mucking up the internals? But again, if it was getting so slow, that probably at least means reinstalling Windows 10...

Or perhaps a fourth option that you out there on the internet know about...?

Anyway, this has been a hellish night, on top of a hellish week, on top of a hellish three months. Sickness and hospitals (and hospital bills) and almost not finding an apartment and now my computer progressively having a worse and worse meltdown. Any tips you out there have would be welcome.

[extraupdate-blog]

Four Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

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Four Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

In my remaining article, I wrote about the foundation of starting a success blog and the way to pick out and develop your problem depend as a way to entice a big audience to your weblog. In this newsletter, I shall attend on the information that crosses into growing suitable blogging behavior and a way to write your articles on your personal fashion that will attract and glue your readers on your weblog.

Blogging is one of the maximum fulfilling responsibilities you can ever accomplish. The idea of sharing data is continually a noble enterprise. In order to hold your readers coming returned for greater information, I will proportion with you 4 behavior that a blogger should adopt to maintain a a hit weblog.

First, it is continually advisable to be true. Authenticity is fact and real. As a blogger, your maximum vital task is to hook up with your readers and make them fall in love together with your content. Authenticity is ready writing what is to your coronary heart approximately a specific topic. The satisfactory manner to jot down in your very own voice is to speak about the problem matter a loud even as recording yourself. Transfer your phrases to paper and examine aloud to hear what your article appears like. This is step one of generating a greater authentic article in your readers.

Secondly, do no longer be in a rash to churn out as many articles as possible in order that your readers are in no way quick of your articles. Your readers can sense an article this is disconnected and disengaged. This can harm your readers more than a behind schedule article. It’s usually really useful to provide your self at the least an afternoon to study your article and see whether the statistics you are sharing with your readers makes feel.

Thirdly, let your articles be narrative oriented. In the route of your existence, you have got examine testimonies of youngsters who have gone on camping journeys and past due at night time set up a bon fireplace to inform each other the scariest testimonies they’ve ever encountered. The volume to which these memories pull you in will decide your reaction. The art of writing a story orientated article is a skill that is developed over the years for this reason it is really useful to by no means surrender. The extra you exercise the greater you will get higher at it. Do no longer worry about the traffic numbers just deal with telling your story and with out figuring out it your articles will start drawing the traffic numbers which you choice.

Lastly, turning in a promise to your readers is the icing on the cake. This promise is the capacity to constantly submit your articles for your readers to sink their teeth in. Once you begin running a blog it’s advisable not to forestall. Do no longer be discouraged that humans are not studying your blog within the first example hold writing. The more you write and post articles to your weblog, the greater you become properly at it. Developing a time table and committing to it’s going to help you practice pushing out content material continuously.

  I were a component-time blogger for almost 3 years. My intention right from the beginning become to complement my earnings. I also labored component-time as a technical creator, but the U.S. Financial system placed me in a precarious position. I’m paying twice as a great deal now as I did 4 years in the past for a gallon of gasoline. Our household grocery invoice is up 25-30% and application payments… Nicely you know what I imply.

According to many dependable resources, masses of billions of bucks trade palms over the Internet each 12 months. For the longest time, consumers were reluctant to use their credit playing cards on line, but new, exquisite-relaxed “Shopping Carts” have minimized the risk.

I wondered back in 2009 if I should create a domestic-based totally business that could role me to tap into the Internet Marketing commercial enterprise. But I did not stay at the idea too long. Instead… I dove headlong into the concept and not using an actual plan or maybe a clue as to a way to cross approximately it.

My approach became a hit or miss, trial and errors, shotgun method to set up some approach of getting site visitors from the human beings flocking to the serps like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. People search for solutions to problems, to discover ways to repair some thing, wherein to discover the great price on home equipment and other family and personal desires.

Think approximately this… When you want something, do you attain for the Yellow Pages? Not many humans do anymore. An on line search can locate you the answer to nearly any question you provide you with in much less time than it takes to permit your palms to do the walking. We probably have a smartphone listing in our domestic, however, I’d be tough-pressed to find it.

So there’s the task: draw on Internet search site visitors and provide to fill the desires of these parents. To set up a presence at the Internet-you want a internet site. Since I became cash-poor at the time, I sought out as many FREE services and software that I may want to locate. I commenced off building loose web sites, however in all fact-they looked like crap. I knew nothing about web site design-and I nonetheless do not.

Time moved alongside and after 12 months, and endless hours of the conflict, I had not made my first dollar from the Internet.

I signed up for each loose bonus e-book I could find. But none of them gave me a clear image of what I needed to do. I gathered bits and portions of this complex puzzle, and about 2 years in the past I learned that blogs are probably a higher desire over websites.

Today I actually have a gaggle of blogs, some unfastened and some hosted (fee-based totally hosting).

I was given a form of over excited right here. My name on this text mentions Fun and Profit. Many of my readers aren’t trying to create any extra money, so in case you wish to perform a little running a blog just for a laugh, I can help you with that too.

Since beginning my domestic-enterprise, I was having fun. To me, creating an online presence has stuffed me with pleasure and exuberance. Call it a renewal in lifestyles. I am seventy-five years vintage so I likely ought to be thinking about spending more time in my rocking chair on the front porch. But it’s the venture that excites me. If your purpose is to set up a way to be able to create an own family log so that everyone can be stored updated, or maybe you need to create a domain dedicated to activities and opinions of past membership or employer’s sports, I can give you greater facts on the alternatives open to you.

  Bloggers: As the Spirit Moves You

  My spouse and I belong to a Liberal, Progressive Reform Jewish Congregation in imperative New Jersey – Congregation Kol Am of Freehold. Our prayer books (siddurim) were authored with the aid of our distinguished and found out, Rabbi Brooks Susman.

In correct weather, our Friday evening offerings (Shabbat) are held outdoors many of the multi hued and sweet-smelling plant life of a lush Garden of Eden. The wonderful fragrances of spring and summer time are regularly observed by the angelic voices of the choir and the smooth guitar instrumental, which add to the heavenly environment of our setting.

Our bucolic and sensorial worship experience is greatly more advantageous with the aid of the poetic phrasing of inspiring and melodious stanzas and prayers written and recited through Rabbi Susman (see one such example, blanketed right here) in the course of offerings. Oh, how stunning it’s miles whilst the coronary heart is encouraged to sing a soulful tune.

Within the pages of our prayer books are many passages that call for congregant participation. Everyone is recommended to actively take part in our offerings and to grow to be a single voice united in reverence for God. There are many italicized stanzas distinct to be read aloud by using people. These not secular and secular phrases comply with the ones spoken by Rabbi Susman in a name and response manner.

Passion Resides in All of Us: Let it Out

“Within the triangle of heart, soul and thoughts are located a well tended, regularly walked in, the garden of love. A space for reminiscence stands earlier than a bench, on which we take a seat, lost in reverie for the ones we cherished. Though a few vegetation may be lifeless, the fragrance of their being lingers, becoming a member of with the aromas of these vegetation blooming nevertheless. They have left their mark long once they have left our presence. And we, tenders of that garden, supply thank you for all that becomes, for all that we hold precious. We recognize that just as seasons pass, so additionally loved ones are born and then die. We, the living, inhabit the oasis among the ones two certainties of delivery and dying. We reminisce; and as did the gardeners before us, we stop on the vicinity in which once bloomed the flowers we loved and smile tenderly at their remembered splendor

– Rabbi Brooks R. Susman, Congregation Kol Am – Freehold, NJ

The Rabbi requests participation “because of the spiritual movements you.” Congregants respond underneath their very own loose will; often moved through some personal reference to words and their meanings. It is an incendiary flame that ignites a passion inside most people to examine these words aloud with actual conviction. It is like that once phrases inspire us. Is it now not?

Those we confer with as the “Masters” are revered for his or her masterpiece works, that have persevered for the duration of the while. It is possible that they produced their best contributions to the humanities and sciences because the spirits moved them.

Motivated via his passion, Michelangelo spent four years growing his photograph of heaven above the altar of the Sistine Chapel. He did so with the utmost appreciation for art and Christianity and with a painstaking attention to detail and close to perfection. Michelangelo’s every and every brush stroke turned into guided with the aid of his loving hand – reputedly – underneath the watchful eye of the God he so wanted to delight. He painted heaven on plaster and moved humans to accept as true with it become God’s “sky” on the eve of introduction.

It took Beach Boy Brian Wilson 40 uncompromising and passion-stuffed years to – finally – complete and launch his “unfinished album”, better recognized to most as SMILE. In 2004, the critics acclaimed it as his long-awaited masterpiece – the watermark of his tremendous profession. We applaud Wilson’s capability to overcome his many private demons – moved by the spirit – to create this high-quality tune for his many lovers to experience.

Rabbi Susman’s non-public standards had been equally uncompromising, as he magnificently wordsmithed each stanza of his inspirational prayer book. The completed product serves as inspirational paintings, designed to move the spirit and to praise God; celebrating his mastery in developing the universe and populating the earth with a diversity of existence forms. We are humbled and moved by means of each written word and stanza of this prayer e book. We are inspired by way of the Rabbi’s very own passionate phrases, in addition to the Torah excerpts and Talmudic verses he chose to encompass in praise of God. Rabbi Brooks Susman’s paintings may additionally simply be an undiscovered masterpiece within the mainstream, even though it’s miles already acknowledged as such some of the Kol Am small and growing congregation.