text:
Can lipstick change your life?
Rosie Green rediscovers why make-up matters.
By Rosie Green
Imaxtree
It can embolden and deliver a direct hit of self-esteem, so why has Rosie Green slackened off on her beauty routine?
Make-up can supercharge your career, make potential dates swipe right and make you look more pulled together than you might feel. It can, in short, change your life. I've not only witnessed this during the course of my career, but learnt how to deploy this fact to maximum effect. My job as a beauty editor means that, thanks to years spent hanging out with mega make-up artists and hair stylists, I know how to achieve the closest approximation to 'supermodel' my genetics will allow (I'll fill you in sometime).
Do I do it, though? Not always. In fact, in recent years, only really when I'm on show. Even then it's mostly a harried approximation of what I would have previously considered groomed. Whereas before I'd have employed multiple concealers, worn liner and mascara daily, I've now joined the 28% of women* who, market research company Mintel says, only wear make-up a few times a week. And, as I say, even then...
There are multiple reasons. I mostly work from home, but still consider days in my study as off-duty, and languish under the illusion I'm just 'resting' my skin and hair (in the manner recommended by beauteous Lily James types, who spend most days being endlessly prettified by pros). And obviously I've got no office buddies to impress (save for two rabbits, who don't notice if I've waxed). Plus that whole it's-cool-to-care-less vibe of Stella and Kate and co I invested in back in the 1990s is a hard ideology to shift.
Then there's the obvious reason: less than zero time. You know the score. Frazzled mother meets hard-working career woman whose laundry basket spews a never-ending stream of dirty clothes like the magic pot does porridge.
But research has got me rethinking my make-up apathy. A group of illustrious academics at Boston University conducted a Procter & Gamble- sponsored study, and discovered that women who wear make-up appear more competent, likeable and trustworthy.
None of this is news to beauty queen Charlotte Tilbury, who's evangelical about make-up's positive power and is never knowingly seen without. "At 13, I started wearing mascara and everyone from seven to 70 reacted differently. I was more popular and felt more confident. Make-up can give you the confidence to go on that date, change your job or get a pay rise!"
Tilbury's teen epiphany and the US study pretty much confirm what I have always known (but somehow forgotten) since the purchase of my first No 17 eyeshadow quad: that make-up greatly affects how we are perceived. Psychologists and beauty companies have recently delved further, researching how even subtle nuances in make-up can send out the most potent of signals. Take, for instance, a crimson versus a nude lip. An Avon survey revealed that only 6% of women would wear bright lipstick to a job interview, while 60% said they would wear a pale shade. This, we all know, is because, as sexy and modern as bright red can be, it can also be seen as a tad dramatic, verging on brazen. Maybe not the impression you want to give in an interview.
So different make-up sends out different signals, accepted. But the focus of recent debate has been on how make-up makes you feel when you are wearing it. And the real sea change is that the pro-make- up camp are not saying the real you is so offensive it needs masking, but that to invest in make-up is about self care. "It's not like 20 or 30 years ago," says US psychologist and author Professor Nancy Etcoff, discussing the P&G study in The New York Times, "when if you got dressed up, it was simply to please men".
Beauty columnist and author of Pretty Honest, Sali Hughes, is firmly in the make-up as 'me-fuel' camp. "It's wholly positive," she says. "Our instinct to groom is innate," and it can bolster self assurance and channel creativity. For her, the ritual of applying make-up is important, too. "For many women, it's the only five or 10 minutes they spend on themselves all day."
"Taking care of your appearance is often a sign of confidence and how you value yourself," agrees psychiatrist Dr Emma Fergusson. "When a depressed person starts to make an effort with their appearance, it's a sign they are getting better."
Even for those who are just feeling a bit crummy, beauty can give a boost. Man Booker Prize winner, social observer and, incidentally, beauty-product junkie Hilary Mantel believes make-up "enhances the joy of life", reminding us that "the art of full make-up was called 'making the best of yourself', till a scowling version of feminism called it 'making a whore of yourself'".
It's all powerful stuff; enough that I resolve to rekindle my relationship with my products. This morning, I apply make-up as if I were going to the office. As I peer properly and analytically into the magnifying mirror (Simplehuman Sensor Mirror – scary but necessary) for the first time in years, I realise that my luminance contrast (the term scientists use to describe how much your eyes and lips stand out from your skin) has, as it does with everyone, dialled right down with the years. This means the addition of eyeliner (Estée Lauder Double Wear Waterproof – seriously smudge-proof), eyebrow pencil (Clarins – very natural) and super-flattering lip colour (Chanel's new balm/lipstick hybrid Rouge Coco Stylo in Conte) is even more prettifying and youth-giving than it was a few years ago. Result.
Later, I spend five minutes trying some lipsticks. And what do you know? MAC's Zac Posen surprisingly face-flattering orange lipstick Darling Clementine delivers a jolt of confidence. People, I rediscover the joy of looking great.
The rabbits are only minimally (okay, not at all) impressed, but I am unburdened from that slobby, vaguely disappointed-in-myself feeling I often carry round all day. Instead I'm focused, more confident and, yes, happier! The pinks and minks and shimmer and sparkle have turned up the brightness dial on life. I'm also more productive, meeting a deadline, replying to emails I'd normally ignore and even getting a backlog of domestic admin cleared – before midday. This makes for a very gratifying lunch break (at the end of which I apply more lipstick).
When it comes to work, should we think of make-up as we do clothes? Is a slick of liquid liner as emboldening and empowering as a killer jacket? Is a bare face the opposite? We wouldn't present to the board in egg-stained tracksuit bottoms, so why would we with a bare, blemished face and Denis Healey brows? Presenting your best face shows drive, focus and capability. Renée Zellweger thinks so. She once told Red's editor-in-chief she considered it impolite to rock up to a meeting with no concealer on a zit.
In a memorable The Sunday Times piece published earlier this year, writer Shane Watson made her position clear: as we age, this make-up apathy is less and less acceptable. "You must groom in your forties," she says. "You will need to ratchet up the effort three more points, minimum. If you're not dealing with the stuff directly in everyone's line of vision" – ahem, a slightly whiskery top lip – "people will think, what's going on out of sight?" As for a no-make-up selfie post-40? Verboten, says Watson.
I'm still undecided on that particular debate but, thanks to this feature, I've joyously rediscovered that a slick of lip gloss or a couple of coats of mascara can't be beaten as a mood boost. Far better than sinking a glass (or three) of wine, or inhaling a packet of Kettle Chips – there's zero post-event self-loathing.
So, to you all, I say: rekindle your romance with lipstick and blusher. Fall back in love with your liner. Make up with your make-up, people. Because the simple truth is that if you look good, you feel good.
This story first appeared in the May 2016 issue of Red Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Rosie Green Rosie is an award-winning journalist and Red's beauty editor-at-large and columnist.
More From In Depth
How to switch up your skincare for winter
The best eyeshadow pencils for effortless make-up
Let's talk about soaps, baby
15 beauty products you can buy on Amazon Prime
This is the best time of day to shower
Here's how to rain-proof your hair
Victoria Beckham eats this fruit four times a day
How to recreate Ellie Goulding's bridal make-up
How to get more from your Jo Malone perfume
How to get amazing hair like the Royals
The appliances that will change your life
The reality of leaving London for the country
Could a date with a money expert change your life?
Mindfulness and meditation can change your DNA
3 journals that will change your life
This eyeshadow will change your life


text:
Q: Pass a string as variable name in dplyr::filter I'm using mtcars dataset to illustrate my question.
For example, I want to subset data to 4-cyl cars.I can do:
mtcars %>% filter(cyl == 4)

In my work, I need to pass a string variable as my column name. For example:
var <- 'cyl'
mtcars %>% filter(var == 4)

I also did:
mtcars %>% filter(!!var == 4)

In both cases, I got empty dataframe.

A: You can use eval(parse(text= to evaluate strings as variables:
mtcars %>% filter(eval(parse(text='cyl')) == 4)

A: I think @snoram's answer is elegant and is dependent solely on dplyr.
var <- c('cyl')
mtcars %>% filter(get(var) == 4)

You can also use this with a list. For a simple example, you can get a count of each filtered column as a new dataset.
#adding car name
mtcars <- rownames_to_column(mtcars, "car_name")

#name your vectors
vector <- c("vs","am","carb")

df2 <- data.frame()
for (variable in vector) {
  df1 <- mtcars %>% filter(get(variable) == 1) %>% summarise(variable = n_distinct(car_name)) %>% data.frame()

  df2<- rbind(df2,df1)
}

A: It is now recommended to use .data pronoun :
library(dplyr)

mtcars %>% filter(.data[[var]] == 4)

#                mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#Datsun 710     22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
#Merc 240D      24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
#Merc 230       22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
#Fiat 128       32.4   4  78.7  66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
#Honda Civic    30.4   4  75.7  52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
#Toyota Corolla 33.9   4  71.1  65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
#Toyota Corona  21.5   4 120.1  97 3.70 2.465 20.01  1  0    3    1
#Fiat X1-9      27.3   4  79.0  66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
#Porsche 914-2  26.0   4 120.3  91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
#Lotus Europa   30.4   4  95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90  1  1    5    2
#Volvo 142E     21.4   4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60  1  1    4    2

A: !! or UQ evaluates the variable, so mtcars %>% filter(!!var == 4) is the same as mtcars %>% filter('cyl' == 4) where the condition always evaluates to false; You can prove this by printing !!var in the filter function:
mtcars %>% filter({ print(!!var); (!!var) == 4 })
# [1] "cyl"
#  [1] mpg  cyl  disp hp   drat wt   qsec vs   am   gear carb
# <0 rows> (or 0-length row.names)

To evaluate var to the cyl column, you need to convert var to a symbol of cyl first, then evaluate the symbol cyl to a column:
Using rlang:
library(rlang)
var <- 'cyl'
mtcars %>% filter((!!sym(var)) == 4)

#    mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#1  22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
#2  24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
#3  22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
# ...

Or use as.symbol/as.name from baseR:
mtcars %>% filter((!!as.symbol(var)) == 4)

mtcars %>% filter((!!as.name(var)) == 4)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


City Sightseeing + Hill Ride with Cograilway and Downhill Biking!
Start with our quality KTM cross bikes with 24 gear in Budapest Down Town from famous Andrássy street.
See the beautiful Opera, the Basilica, the Parliament and the Danube Bank.
We cross the Margit-Bridge to the Buda-side, follow the Danube.
We turn to Városmajor and take the legendary Cog Railway - an experience in itself. The train takes us with our bikes in approx. 20 minutes up the hills.
We leave at the final station and continue on bike for approx. 4km before we reach Normafa and take a brake. Time for a meal or the option to see Elisabeth lookout and the incredible view over Budapest. Or you lay in the grass in, listen to the sound of nature.
We start the downhill part on a paved road, closed for traffic through the forest to János-Hill and from there back to the busy city.
We make a turn around the Castle Hill - enjoy the view on the Budapest castle from the 1. district and pass the newly renovated Royal Gardens before we reach the Danube and return to Andrássy street over the famous Széchenyi (or chain) Bridge and Roosevelt Square.
Do not be afraid of the hills, we go up by train!


My darlingest favoritest baby sister got me a copy of Leviathan for Christmas. If you've somehow managed to not hear any of the hype about it the premise can be summarized as such: Steampunk WWI where the Germans and allies fight with clanker bots and the British fight with genetically engineered animals including but not limited to a blimp bred out of whale. I called one of the twist-like reveals way early on, but not in a bad way which is always impressive. Aside from that the book was downright fun. The teen protagonists were each made of nifty, the adults did not suffer stupid-grownup syndrome (and were frequently badass), and the world was thoroughly delightful. Best of all, despite being the first of a planned trilogy, the ending was actually satisfying and felt appropriate. There's lots more story to tell, but I don't feel like I got an incomplete first third of a much larger book.


text:
El Reticle (Reticulum) és una petita constel·lació de l'hemisferi sud. Fou introduïda per Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille fent referència al reticle, un instrument científic utilitzat per mesurar les posicions de les estrelles.

Estrelles principals

α Reticuli
L'estrella principal de Reticulum és α Reticuli, una estrella gegant de la magnitud aparent 3,33. És una estrella gegant distant 160 anys-llum, 100 vegades més lluminosa que el Sol i 20 vegades més grossa. No sembla voltar sobre ella mateixa, la seva rotació és massa feble per ser mesurada.

Té un company de magnitud aparent 12, distant 2.450 ua que descriu una òrbita en 60.000 anys.

Altres estrelles
ζ Reticuli és una estrella doble que pot ser resolta a l'ull nu amb les condicions de tenir una vista excel·lent i de disposar de bones condicions d'observació car les dues estrelles que la componen estan al límit de la visibilitat: ζ² Ret és de la magnitud 5,24 i ζ¹ Ret és de la magnitud 5,54.

HD 23079 té un planeta 2,61 vegades més massiu que Júpiter, i que orbita en 738,459 dies a la distància d'1,65 ua. HD 27442 (una estrella doble) també té un planeta d'1,28 vegades la massa de Júpiter que volta seguint una òrbita gairebé circular d'1,18 ua en 423,841 dies.

Taula de recapitulació de les estrelles de Reticulum

Nota: Els valors numèrics provenen de les dades mesurades pel satèl·lite Hipparcos

Objectes celestes
Les galàxies espirals NGC 1313 – una radiogalàxia – i NGC 1559 es troben igualment en aquesta constel·lació. El supercúmul Rellotge-Reticle és un supercúmul de galàxies que oscil·la entre els 700 milions i els 1.200 milions d'anys llum de la Terra.

Història
La constel·lació fou creada per Jakob Bartsch al  qui l'anomenà el Rhombe. Reintroduïda per Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille el 1752, amb el nom de Réticule Rhombique abans de ser anomenat simplement Reticle en el . Com moltes altres constel·lacions modernes, porta el nom d'un aparell científic, un reticle, un instrument que permet mesurar la posició de les estrelles.

Referències

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
How to Create QR codes on DuckDuckGo
By Deepanker in Web. Updated on December 13, 2013 .
DuckDuckGo is the less popular search engine that focuses on the privacy of its users. Although, it is not quite popular among users. But it claims to give a private search to users. While most search engines track your search history, DuckDuckGo does not. A few days back, it added one more feature that gives users another reason of using DuckDuckGo. Now, you can create QR codes directly from the DuckDuckGo search.
QR code is also abbreviated as a Quick Response code. It is a matrix code attached to an item that also records information related to the item. It is popular due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity. QR code is the black and white square matrix with many small square grids inside it. It can be scanned by any imagining deice and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction. Read More about QR codes on Wikipedia.
If you want to create QR codes from DuckDuckGo, follow these steps.
1. Visit the DuckDuckGo website.
2. Here type "QR" followed by the text that you want to include into QR code. See the example and snapshot below:
qr http://techlomedia.in
Once, QR code is ready, you can share it, save it as an image or just share the search URL.
You can use a mobile device to scan the QR code. Be sure not to put the mouse cursor on QR code before scanning.
Use this new feature of QR code and share how you feel about this. Is it working fine for you?
Tags: DuckDuckGo | internet | QR code
How to disable Facebook's new Pop-Up Posts Tab Option
How to share Google Maps location using QR code?
15 Best Free DNS Servers For Faster Internet Speed
7 Google Translate Features You Might Have Missed
How to Remove Your Number From TrueCaller – TrueCaller Unlist
3 Online Tools to Download Vine Videos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The watch that really has connected - to several million wearers. From $949.
Marks the brand's invention of the two-button chronograph 100 years back. Just under $12,000.
New rounded model with keylike winder, variety of complications and sizes. From around $11,000.
A 50mm, bejewelled planetarium for the wrist, time-telling its most modest function. How much? Don't ask, but think small apartment.
New hue. And a new movement, too, this year: a chronometer-certified selfwinding calibre offering a handy 70 hours' power reserve. $5250.
Bring together an amazing 57 complications this is, without any doubt, the timepiece of the year. Only one was made, which is priceless.
2015 will go down as the year Vacheron Constantin celebrated its 260th anniversary by producing the most complicated watch ever made.
The Reference 57260 is a double-dialled wonder that took three watchmakers eight years to calculate and construct, and brings together 57 complications.
In all there are six time functions, seven perpetual calendars, eight Hebraic calendars, nine astrological calendar features, four chronograph options, seven alarms, eight striking (chime) modes, half a dozen settings covering power-reserve, winding and setting, and a lunar calendar that requires correction only once every 1027 years.
Which watch will be the best of 2015?
It's the timepiece of the year without any doubt, but there was plenty else to get excited about. Look lovingly through our top 50 releases in the gallery.
The Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 represents a remarkable achievement.


The social Web-empowered consumer's dilemma: talk too much about poor service and you're branded a troll and ignored.
Say nothing and poor service goes unchecked and unchallenged and all consumers are forced to abide mediocrity, at best, or consumer rights violations, at worst.
Of course there are also brands that just don't care one way or another.
Don't use that ATM, there is a snake trapped in it!


text:
Council votes to annex fairgrounds
By Lisa Stringer
Despite overwhelming opposition voiced by those who attended Thursday night's meeting, the majority of the Tulsa City Council voted 5 to 4 in favor of annexing Expo Square. The move will allow the city to collect an additional three percent sales tax on goods and services provided at the recently updated facility.
Councilor Roscoe Turner, who assumed chairmanship at the meeting, made an attempt to limit discussion, but was overruled. A significant number of the 20 citizens who addressed the council used their allotted five minutes to express concerns that a vote on the issue was premature and urged councilors to consider further study before making a final decision.
Many said they believed the three percent sales tax increase would have a negative effect on the facility's events and visitors – and eventually on the city's already burgeoning budget deficit. Others stated their concerns that security and safety might be compromised if the Tulsa Police Department – and not the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department – was responsible for the area's law enforcement.
Tulsa resident Dan Hicks said that in recent weeks, he took a petition door to door in several neighborhoods, asking the council to table the annexation until more definitive numbers are evident – and said most of the people he spoke to didn't want to see Expo Square annexed. "It wasn't a scientific poll," he conceded, "but I wanted you to have these petitions. I don't think people signed them because of my good looks and charm."
Carla Gregory, who has worked with the Citizen's Crime Commission for a decade, praised the county for doing an "amazing job" so that city police could do their jobs. She expressed concern that the Tulsa Police Department might not have the manpower to provide comparable services.
Joe Wanenmacher's annual gun and knife show – known to enthusiasts as the "Superbowl of gun shows" – lures 7,000 exhibitors and 15,000 spectators each year, 95 percent of whom are from out of town. He said he fears annexation will deteriorate the shows to the point that it will eventually affect sales, as well as increase the city's workload unnecessarily. "What I'm telling you won't happen overnight," he said, "but it'll happen. If you do this, the buck stops with you."
"Ninety percent of the people I talk to are against [annexation]. I've talked to people all over town and it's been the same. As far as the [Tulsa State Fair] goes, TPD can't handle this problem – they are shorthanded and they're needed in other areas of the city," said an emotional John Remington. Referring to the shooting in Crawford Park last weekend, Remington continued, "We've got kids getting shot in our parks. We don't need them getting shot at the Fair."
"We need more facts and study before rushing into this," added Lacy Lamb, president of the Tulsa Hotel and Lodging Association, after reading a statement from the group regarding the impact they feel annexation may have on them.
While all parties agreed that Expo Square is a "jewel in Tulsa's crown," others questioned the city's perceived windfall from annexation.
Jim Rice said, "I personally don't believe the increase in sales tax is going to make much of a difference. Last year when the Fair was on, gas prices were at an all-time high and that didn't stop anybody. Turkey legs and a drink cost $7, and that didn't stop anybody. I don't see that annexing the fairgrounds is the big fix. I know we need the money, but let's look into this."
Councilor Eagleton confers with staff
Only the county's continual critic, though, expressed unabashed support for the proposal, painting a picture of inequity. "There's a loophole in the heart of our city where the rules don't apply," Michael Bates stated. "I would ask you to close that loophole. It is crucial for the fairgrounds to have the same laws as the land that surrounds it."
Tulsan Bernice Alexander acknowledged the city's need for more revenue, but asked the councilors to do their most basic function – listening to their constituents. "You all don't listen to the people," she said. "I'm asking you to open your ears and listen to the people who have come here tonight."
In the end, the councilors found the possibility of an estimated $338,000 in annual revenue from the annexation too tempting for them to consider postponing the vote. Councilor Bill Martinson blamed the media and county officials for "blowing things out of proportion," and several councilors expressed regret that the issue had become so divisive.
Council Chairman Turner closed discussion before the vote, saying, "We're doing something that's tough to do. We don't have animosity toward the County – we're just trying to locate funds that should have been coming to the City."
Lisa Stringer is a native Tulsan who received her bachelors in journalism from the University of Tulsa. She has worked for Neighbor Newspapers throughout the metropolitan region and has been a contributing writer for Oklahoma and Vintage magazines.
Last Updated ( Friday, 06 April 2007 )
This entry was posted in Local on April 6, 2007 by Admin.
← Approaching Tulsa's 130 birthday Google builds Tulsa's regional market →


text:
FirstWebdriverTest
==================

Getting Started with Selenium Webdriver

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
S.D. McPhail
Writing, history, books, fantasy, and sci-fi. Not necessarily in that order.
Silver Sucky Award
No need for the (karma) police here: Radiohead comes to Camden
Posted on June 15, 2012 by S.D. McPhail
Reviewed by Laura Kate
Radiohead is one of those bands that everybody seems to know of at least one song in their discography, and just based on that one song, they become enthusiastic fans…or loathe their existence. I happen to fall in the former category. The first time I heard "Creep" waaay back in the day, I just knew this was a band I would follow for a long time. You know, you hear those opening notes repeat over and over in a meandering kind of way and when you are convinced this is what the whole song will be, BAM!–lead singer/guitarist Thom York says "F–K." Of course, this makes the song that much cooler in your teenage mind and then BAM! a raucously nasty chord bursts out and the song begins to rock. And just when you are preparing to risk slipping a disc in your neck (an unfortunate side effect of head banging), then BAM…everything goes quiet again. Ever since then I, along with many of my generation, was sucked in by the unique sound this British band produced.
"Pablo Honey" album cover
So it was with high anticipation that I made my way across the Benjamin Franklin bridge over to the New Jersey side of the Delaware River to see Radiohead at the Susquehanna Bank Center for the final show of their American tour. This is not my favorite of venues, but it's also not the worst I've ever been in. We had lawn tickets, which wasn't bad because the music was just as good up on the hill where we were standing, perched behind the rail that separates the lawn from the drop into the walkway to concessions and bathrooms. There were screens that showed the action from the stage and seriously, everyone was very relaxed and completely nice where we were at. In fact, the couple next to us brought a huge bag of glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets and just gave them out to everyone around and even threw some of them to random strangers coming back with pretzels and popcorn. How generous!
I think the crowd there was a good reflection of the band's following: a little strange and definitely uncommon, but overall very nice and generous with their talents. Radiohead did not play their most widely known singles, such as "Creep" and "Karma Police," but did a good job of highlighting selections from each of their many albums. At first, I felt a little salty about not hearing the popular favorites, but a short while later I didn't care because I was being reminded of the prolific catalog of music they have recorded since the 1992 breakout debut of "Creep." They had a strong opening with "Bloom" and flowed right into "There There." Standout songs for me were "Lucky" and "Nude," both of which were sung with such raw emotion that I was completely swept up in the musical experience and everything else was tuned out. The visuals were nice accents that added to but didn't distract from the music–in fact, they were quite beautiful, even from the lawn.
Thom York (Photo by Elizabeth Robertson)
The fans were in complete harmony with the band, something that rarely ever happens. In fact, they were so appreciated, that the band came out for two encores for a total of seven songs. Many bands have tried to emulate Radiohead (usually with dismal results) and when someone tries to describe a song that has a few quirky electronic loops or high male vocals singing with lament, they might throw out the standard, "You know, like Radiohead. But different." However, I think Radiohead has proven their worth as a stand-out band with a unique sound and plush lyrics that make fans stand by them through the years.
Final thought: If you get to a chance to see Radiohead, please do. It is like a musical communion between the band and the crowd.
Set list (Susquehanna Bank Center, June 13, 2012):
Kid A
Morning Mr. Magpie
Like Spinning Plates
Paranoid Android
I Might Be Wrong
Bodysnatchers
Encore 2:
This entry was posted in Music and tagged Camden, Karma Police, Paranoid Android, Radiohead, Susquehanna Bank Center, Thom Yorke by S.D. McPhail. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Giancarlo Erra - Departure Tapes - 5.1 DVD-A surround release
Italian composer, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist, Giancarlo Erra, started his career in 2005 with his one man studio project Nosound. After releasing a slew of albums under the Nosound name, Erra subsequently released "Ends" in 2019, the first album under his own name. Two years on, and he now returns with "Departure Tapes," reflecting what has been a difficult year with the loss of his father to cancer. In Erra's own words "The end result is the most experimental (and darkest at times) material I ever wrote, without compromise or set plan. It contains all the elements of my music in a very unconscious free flow way. It's the first album I wrote without knowing I was writing it, intrinsically linked to one of the hardest and yet more healing parts of my life. "
Written while travelling between his homebased of the UK and his heritage country of Italy, Departure Tapes is an album of contemplative recordings. Since the vast majority of the songs were recorded live by Erra in his studio, they are totally unique and hold a sincerity which cannot be replicated, offering a depth that is truly original. Erra employed his analog synthesizers, piano, computer, sequencers, even AI algorithms to improvise over, blending them together as they were all recorded live.
Erra further comments, "Of all the albums I wrote in my career across my projects, Departure Tapes is arguably the most deeply personal I ever did. And the one that was at the same time the most difficult and the most easy to come out." During his travels and visits with his father, Erra always had his OP1 or his computer on which to process all his feelings. For Erra these emotions come out in music, and in streams of consciousness he wrote the songs to the Departure Tapes, saving sounds, chords, all expression of the situation that was tearing himself apart, yet divided between the joy of recovering his relationship with his father and the pain of knowing it was going to end soon.
For high resolution audiophiles, the CD + DVD-A (NTSC 0) digipack edition contains stereo 48kHz / 24-bit LPCM, 5.1 surround DTS 48kHz / 24-bit and Dolby AC3, along with a 5.1 surround 48kHz / 24-bit LPCM codec too. There also is an oxblood red colored 200g Vinyl edition, and when ordering from his official shop fans will receive a Hi-Res 48kHz / 24-bit FLAC in both stereo and surround as a bonus download.
Released July 2, 2021.
CD + DVD-A with 48kHz / 24-bit stereo and surround in DTS, Dolby AC3, and LPCM. Also available on 200g Vinyl, and through streaming services.
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat - 5.1 DVD surround review
Alex de Grassi - Clockwork
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love


At the Urban Cabaret on Friday evening put on by the Urban League of Greater Madison, Cedric Dale Hoard performed this powerful spoken word. He brought together race, God and hope. Here's a video he made with a musical intro and the words of Dr. King at the end.


L'Oreal will expand a media ownership strategy it piloted in Mexico to other Spanish-speaking countries to generate first-party cookies from its customer base.
The idea is similar to sponsored content, but instead of working with a brand-name media company on a story package, for the past year L'Oreal has developed fiufiu, a kind of pop-up media brand that turns out social media aggregated lists, influencer columns and work by the content generation startup Cultura Colectiva.
Fiufiu has a website and a Facebook presence. During some months it generates unique visitor numbers on par with well-known beauty magazines, said L'Oreal Hispanic countries CMO Andres Amezquita.
The company could generate page views and engagement if it paired social influencer campaigns with beauty magazine sponsored content deals, but with fiufiu L'Oreal gets first-party cookies and the opportunities to request email addresses that come with page ownership.
Recent policy changes at the government and operating system levels, such as GDPR in Europe and Apple's Safari Intelligent Tracking Prevention, block access to cookie data for marketers.
Younger customers, who make up most of the social-driven L'Oreal site, also respond better to in-article recommendations than the hard sell of ads on the page, Amezquita said. and every page is another chance to gather an email address or send someone to a L'Oreal product page.
Consumer brands need first-party cookies to advance their online advertising. Since ad tech companies that do audience targeting or retargeting are losing access to first-party data, brands will need to bring their own data to continue running data-driven campaigns.
For instance, L'Oreal can use fiufiu to generate retargeting audiences and extrapolate its first-party data through lookalike models scaled for programmatic, Amezquita said.
"If you look at industry right now, it's a moment where content, CRM and digital advertising are becoming one," he said.


text:
» Naruto art exhibition coming to Tokyo and Osaka with free, new manga for all attendees
Naruto art exhibition coming to Tokyo and Osaka with free, new manga for all attendees
The rumors of Naruto's death have been greatly exaggerated. Sure, last November marked the end of creator Masashi Kishimoto's manga, after an amazing 15 years of serialization collected into 72 volumes. But while manga fans no longer get to see their ninja pals in the pages of weekly anthology Shonen Jump, elsewhere Naruto and company have been popping up all over the place.
The anime TV series is still ongoing, and last December's The Last: Naruto the Movie isn't as conclusive as it sounds, as there's another Naruto theatrical feature scheduled for release in August. Then, of course, there's the highly anticipated stage adaptation of the series.
And if all that's still not enough for you, there's an exhibition of Naruto artwork set to open in Tokyo and Osaka soon, with a sneak peak just a week away.
Over 150 pieces of artwork from the series will be displayed at the event, which is set to open April 25 at the Tokyo Mori Arts Center Gallery, which is part of the Roppongi Hills entertainment complex.
In addition to the two-dimensional artwork, visitors will also be able to see famous scenes form the anime and manga franchise recreated in three-dimensional space.
The exhibition's website also promises a special video, exclusively viewable at the event, which will be played on a 10-meter (32.8-foot) screen.
At just about any art museum, you'll find a souvenir shop selling merchandise featuring the pieces currently on display. The Naruto Exhibition is no different, as its map shows the very last stop before the exit to be a store that will be selling Naruto straps, folding fans, bags, and T-shirts specially designed for the event.
Even if you're not in the mood to drop some extra yen at the store, though, you won't be going home empty-handed. All attendees will receive the Naruto Exhibition Official Guest Book, which contains a 19-page non-serialized Naruto manga drawn by Kishimoto himself. Purchasers of premium advance tickets (which are just 100 yen [US $0.85] more than regular advance tickets) will also receive the Naruto Exhibition Premium Fan Book, featuring yet another 19-page non-serialized manga.
▼ Naruto Exhibition Premium Fan Book (left) and Naruto Exhibition Official Guest Book (right)
The exhibition officially opens at the Mori Arts Center Gallery on April 25, but if you can't wait that long, a portion of the featured artwork, including pieces autographed by Kishimoto, will be on display in Roppongi Hills' West Walk section, where it can be viewed free of charge, from March 2 to 4. On June 28, the Naruto Exhibition packs its bags and moves to Osaka, where it opens at the Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan on July 18 and runs until September 27.
Ticket prices are as shown below in the handy illustrated chart.
Advance tickets for the Tokyo event can be purchased between now and April 24 at Lawson and Mini Stop convenience stores, or online here through Lawson's La Ticket network. Using your ninja stealth powers to sneak in without paying is, of course, prohibited.
Related: Naruto Exhibition website, Mori Arts Center, Osaka Culturarium
Source: Fashion Press
Images: Naruto Exhibition website (edited by RocketNews24)
(anime • art • events • manga • museums • Naruto)
World celebrates ninja manga Naruto's 18th anniversary with "Naruto Runs"
Naruto's son gets a voice as lead roles cast for Boruto –Naruto the Movie-
Join the "Live Spectacle Naruto" viewing experience in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong!
Six new cast photos from Naruto play released as Teams 8 and 10 get ready to take the stage
Craftsman combines old and new with Naruto-meets-Yukio-e woodblock print
Japanese female bodybuilder could kick your butt, break your heart at the same time
Japan: Where even milk and toilet paper are courteous
Hot springs website reveals the most popular user-picked onsen in all of northern Japan 2 views
Hot springs website reveals the most popular user-picked onsen in all of northern Japan
There's a touching reason it took so long for samurai and ninja to show up in One Piece
Believe it! Naruto's creator Masashi Kishimoto comments on plans for new manga at New York event
Naruto Manga Gets Kabuki Play in August 2018
Tickets on sale for exhibit of every book Ghibli producer has ever read, boyhood room recreation
Tokyo indoor anime theme park launches new cosplay rental service
"Selfish" Studio Ghibli producer apologizes while announcing price reduction for art exhibit
Soak in the art literally and figuratively at TeamLab's and TikTok's new collab sauna exhibit
Tokyo's Cardcaptor Sakura exhibition has giant Kero-chan, free cosplay, and English signage
Spirited Away meals and merchandise coming to new Studio Ghibli exhibition in Tokyo
Nagoya store's lanky mannequin gets Naruto makeover
Summer Comiket is sizzling hot this year, and it's not because of the weather 【Pics】
Half-dozen of manga's greatest creators have at-home drinking party, make one-of-a-kind artwork
Lotteria's lucky bag opened: even if you're not a Naruto fan you'll come out ahead!
Believe it! Naruto Shippuden bags are the perfect accessory for every occasion
Canada-based artist stuns with new realistic take on Naruto characters


text:
{-# language CPP #-}
-- | = Name
--
-- VK_KHR_image_format_list - device extension
--
-- == VK_KHR_image_format_list
--
-- [__Name String__]
--     @VK_KHR_image_format_list@
--
-- [__Extension Type__]
--     Device extension
--
-- [__Registered Extension Number__]
--     148
--
-- [__Revision__]
--     1
--
-- [__Extension and Version Dependencies__]
--
--     -   Requires support for Vulkan 1.0
--
-- [__Deprecation state__]
--
--     -   /Promoted/ to
--         <https://www.khronos.org/registry/vulkan/specs/1.2-extensions/html/vkspec.html#versions-1.2-promotions Vulkan 1.2>
--
-- [__Contact__]
--
--     -   Jason Ekstrand
--         <https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Docs/issues/new?body=[VK_KHR_image_format_list] @jekstrand%0A*Here describe the issue or question you have about the VK_KHR_image_format_list extension* >
--
-- == Other Extension Metadata
--
-- [__Last Modified Date__]
--     2017-03-20
--
-- [__Interactions and External Dependencies__]
--
--     -   Promoted to Vulkan 1.2 Core
--
-- [__IP Status__]
--     No known IP claims.
--
-- [__Contributors__]
--
--     -   Jason Ekstrand, Intel
--
--     -   Jan-Harald Fredriksen, ARM
--
--     -   Jeff Bolz, NVIDIA
--
--     -   Jeff Leger, Qualcomm
--
--     -   Neil Henning, Codeplay
--
-- == Description
--
-- On some implementations, setting the
-- 'Vulkan.Core10.Enums.ImageCreateFlagBits.IMAGE_CREATE_MUTABLE_FORMAT_BIT'
-- on image creation can cause access to that image to perform worse than
-- an equivalent image created without
-- 'Vulkan.Core10.Enums.ImageCreateFlagBits.IMAGE_CREATE_MUTABLE_FORMAT_BIT'
-- because the implementation does not know what view formats will be
-- paired with the image.
--
-- This extension allows an application to provide the list of all formats
-- that /can/ be used with an image when it is created. The implementation
-- may then be able to create a more efficient image that supports the
-- subset of formats required by the application without having to support
-- all formats in the format compatibility class of the image format.
--
-- == Promotion to Vulkan 1.2
--
-- All functionality in this extension is included in core Vulkan 1.2, with
-- the KHR suffix omitted. The original type, enum and command names are
-- still available as aliases of the core functionality.
--
-- == New Structures
--
-- -   Extending 'Vulkan.Core10.Image.ImageCreateInfo',
--     'Vulkan.Extensions.VK_KHR_swapchain.SwapchainCreateInfoKHR',
--     'Vulkan.Core11.Promoted_From_VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2.PhysicalDeviceImageFormatInfo2':
--
--     -   'ImageFormatListCreateInfoKHR'
--
-- == New Enum Constants
--
-- -   'KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME'
--
-- -   'KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION'
--
-- -   Extending 'Vulkan.Core10.Enums.StructureType.StructureType':
--
--     -   'STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO_KHR'
--
-- == Version History
--
-- -   Revision 1, 2017-03-20 (Jason Ekstrand)
--
--     -   Initial revision
--
-- == See Also
--
-- 'ImageFormatListCreateInfoKHR'
--
-- == Document Notes
--
-- For more information, see the
-- <https://registry.khronos.org/vulkan/specs/1.3-extensions/html/vkspec.html#VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan Specification>
--
-- This page is a generated document. Fixes and changes should be made to
-- the generator scripts, not directly.
module Vulkan.Extensions.VK_KHR_image_format_list  ( pattern STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO_KHR
                                                   , ImageFormatListCreateInfoKHR
                                                   , KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION
                                                   , pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION
                                                   , KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME
                                                   , pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME
                                                   ) where

import Data.String (IsString)
import Vulkan.Core12.Promoted_From_VK_KHR_image_format_list (ImageFormatListCreateInfo)
import Vulkan.Core10.Enums.StructureType (StructureType(STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO))
-- No documentation found for TopLevel "VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO_KHR"
pattern STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO_KHR = STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_CREATE_INFO

-- No documentation found for TopLevel "VkImageFormatListCreateInfoKHR"
type ImageFormatListCreateInfoKHR = ImageFormatListCreateInfo

type KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION = 1

-- No documentation found for TopLevel "VK_KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION"
pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION :: forall a . Integral a => a
pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_SPEC_VERSION = 1

type KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME = "VK_KHR_image_format_list"

-- No documentation found for TopLevel "VK_KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME"
pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME :: forall a . (Eq a, IsString a) => a
pattern KHR_IMAGE_FORMAT_LIST_EXTENSION_NAME = "VK_KHR_image_format_list"


text:
La Creu de Cames és una creu de terme del municipi de Valls (Alt Camp) inclosa en l'Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya.

Descripció
La Creu de Cames era la creu de terme de l'antic camí de Valls a Montblanc. Actualment presenta forma de I, en haver perdut els dos braços. La pedra està molt desgastada pel pas dels anys i la seva ubicació a l'aire lliure. Difícilment s'aprecien ja les figures de Jesucrist i de la Verge Maria que hi ha esculpides.

Història
Documentada ja en el , els testimonis s'hi refereixen amb el nom de la "Creu escapçada", pel fet que estava sense cap, és a dir, en forma de T. El nom de "Creu de Cames" té, probablement, el seu origen en el . Francesc Cames, apotecari jurat de la Universitat, que organitzà la defensa de Valls l'any 1709 i que fou també batlle de la Vila, era propietari de la finca on es troba la Creu. No és arriscat deduir que posteriorment s'arribés a associar el nom de la Creu amb el cognom del propietari del terreny. Avui en dia aquesta propietat allotja una fàbrica de ceràmiques i s'ha respectat una zona ajardinada al voltant de la Creu per a facilitar-ne la visió.

Referències

Patrimoni monumental de Valls
Edificis de Valls
Cames


text:
Q: How can i get image from another site with nginx for resizing? Hellow!
I have site http://example.com with api /image
And i have some imagestore on http://myimagestore.com/my/image/1.jpg
I need to get image from imagestore when anybody call http://example.com/image
it easy configurated by ngixng like that:
location = /image {
         rewrite ^ http://myimagestore.com/my/image/1.jpg;
    }

But now i need resize this image.
For that i'm trying to work with http://nginx.org/ru/docs/http/ngx_http_image_filter_module.html like that:
location = /image {
    if ($arg_filter = "x200_180") {
        error_page 418 = @resize_200_180;
        return 418;
    }
}

location @resize_200_180 {
    image_filter resize 270 -;
    image_filter_buffer 20M;
    image_filter_jpeg_quality 75;
    rewrite ^ http://myimagestore.com/my/image/1.jpg;
}

But rewrite return 30X with Localion header and image_filter resize can't work with it and return 415. It needs 200 with real content from http://myimagestore.com/my/image/1.jpg
How can i get it withiut getting real content in the backend of my api?
Thanks for your attention.


text:
Q: Symfony 3.4/routing: Urlencoded "/" in the parameter value cause not matching the route So, I will explain the problem and actual question will be if it's a Bug:
$routes = new RouteCollection();
$context = new RequestContext('/');
$matcher = new UrlMatcher($routes, $context);

$route = new Route('/foo/{name}');
$routes->add('route_name', $route);
$parameters = $matcher->match('/foo/somedata%2Fblax');

This gives an exception 'No routes found for "/foo/somedata%2Fblax"'
if remove  %2F (url encoded slash) from the path like:
$parameters = $matcher->match('/foo/somedatablax');

then everything works fine, $parameters:
array (size=2)
  'name' => string 'somedatablax' (length=12)
  '_route' => string 'route_name' (length=10)

So going further set the url pattern to be /foo/somedata/{name}:
 $routes = new RouteCollection();
 $context = new RequestContext('/');
 $matcher = new UrlMatcher($routes, $context);

 $route = new Route('/foo/somedata/{name}');
 $routes->add('route_name', $route);
 $parameters = $matcher->match('/foo/somedata%2Fblax');

This will return:
array (size=2)
  'name' => string 'blax' (length=4)
  '_route' => string 'route_name' (length=10)

Which means url encoded slash was treated as a regular slash when matching pattern which seems to be wrong (isn't that one of the reasons why url encoding exists?)
I made some investigation and found why this works that way (not easy to fix though)
To is this a bug or is there any flow in my logic? It clearly looks like a bug but it seems like it is there for a long time now (from the very beginning may be?)
Also there is a kind of solution(which actually is not and it doesn't meant to be a solution for this particular problem but still relevant): symfony4 and the same for symfony2.

A: As default any route parameter match the character "/" although you can use the parameter requirements which sets the regular expression to match what you think it is suitable.
https://symfony.com/doc/current/routing/requirements.html
$routes = new RouteCollection();
$context = new RequestContext('/');
$matcher = new UrlMatcher($routes, $context);

$route = new Route('/foo/{name}', [], ['name'=>'.+']);
$routes->add('route_name', $route);
$parameters = $matcher->match('/foo/somedata%2Fblax');

Now it should match your route.
Although you are right. The symfony router does a rawurldecode before matching the route:
vendor/symfony/symfony/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Matcher/UrlMatcher.php
    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function match($pathinfo)
    {
        $this->allow = array();

        if ($ret = $this->matchCollection(rawurldecode($pathinfo), $this->routes)) {
            return $ret;
        }
        [...]
    }


text:
Donald Trump Lampoons Himself (With Help) in SNL Monologue (watch!)
Donald Trump had no problem being the punch line in his 'Saturday Night Live' monologue. After all, he is the greatest. (Photo: ScreenCap)
Donald Trump was the punchline in his own monologue on "Saturday Night" Live last night. The Donald had a lot of material to work with, from his own pomposity to his over-weaning ego. With help from impersonators Taran Killam and Darrell Hammond, how could he miss?
Trump, the current front-running Republican presidential candidate, has long been a caricature of himself. And, he stayed right in character.
Trump has Larry David to thank, however, for the best moment in the bit. While Trump was talking, a voiced shouted out of camera range, "You're a racist!"
The camera panned to the audience; the protester was David. In his best deadpan he added, "I heard if I yelled that, they'd give me $5,000."
He was referring to offers earlier in the week from Latino protesters who offered the bounty to anyone in the audience who protested Trump's stand on immigration. He's promised to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.
The move helped defuse some of the tension when protesters were vowing to disrupt the show, sparking rumors that security was ramped up considerably.
Trump's best moment came when he tried to explain his relationship with comedian Rosie O'Donnell. The two have feuded famously for years. Trump pointed out that he didn't hold grudges against anybody.
"People think I'm controversial, but the truth is, I'm a nice guy," he said. "I don't hold grudges against anybody… like Rosie O'Donnell.
"The fact is when I showed up her for rehearsal, Rosie was here to support me. Come on out Rosie!" he shouted.
But it wasn't Rosie. "Sir, as I have told you several times, my name is Aidy Bryant and I'm a cast member on this show!"
"Isn't she great," said Trump, totally oblivious to her protest. "She just seems like a totally different person."
Then, Trump impersonators Killam and Hammond joined The Donald. Both tried to out-boast him–no small feat.
"Now that I'm here, this is actually the best monologue in 'SNL' history; can you believe it" Killam aka Donald, crowed.
See if you agree. Check out the video below and be sure to follow IM on Twitter for the latest in late night comedy.
Follow TheImproper
Tags:Darrell Hammond, Donald Trump, Donald Trump monologue, Larry David, Saturday Night Live, SNL, taran killam
Woman With Carrie Power Wrecks Coffee Shop… Kinda (watch!)
Keith Girard October 8, 2013
Kate McKinnon Trashes Laura Ingraham Fox News 'Feel Facts' in SNL Cold Open
Keith Girard November 18, 2018
Ali Wentworth Pulls a Miley Cyrus on Jimmy Kimmel: Flashes Puppies! (see!)
Jimmy Fallon Takes Prize for Obama-Romney Debate Humor (watch)
Michelle Obama Hilariously Whups Jimmy Fallon (watch)
Jimmy Kimmel Asks Celebs to Read Their Hateful Tweets (watch!)


text:
Understating Environmental Liabilities
Tronox Litigation
A historic case against Kerr-McGee highlights the potential for a company to understate liabilities to spin them off and how such a scheme can lead to a multibillion-dollar liability.
Over several decades, oil and gas, coal, and petrochemical companies have amassed significant environmental liabilities. They have also amassed significant debt, creating unique financial pressures on the industry amid challenges created by coronavirus and pressure to obtain relief. As companies struggle with legacy liabilities, accumulated debt, and new challenges, they may be tempted to try to obscure environmental liabilities to mislead investors or to use bankruptcies – or spin-off companies designed for bankruptcy – to shed these liabilities.
To ensure that investors and creditors have accurate information regarding these liabilities, several securities regulations and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require that issuers disclose environmental liabilities in their public filings. Without inside information, however, it can be difficult to identify inaccurate disclosures.
To identify companies who may be misleading investors or creditors, the Dodd-Frank SEC Whistleblower program allows whistleblowers to make confidential reports about misleading disclosures. Whistleblowers can also report companies who are fraudulently avoiding paying penalties owed to the federal government or certain state governments under the False Claims Act. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, whistleblowers who provide original information that leads to successful prosecution can receive between 10% and 30% of monetary sanctions. Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers are eligible for 15% and 30% of the monetary sanctions.
Tronox Inc., et al., v. Kerr-McGee Corp., et al.
In recent years, a series of significant cases against oil and gas and petrochemical companies has drawn attention to how companies may be understating their liabilities, particularly through bankruptcy proceedings. A previous case against Kerr-McGee illustrates how a company might attempt to understate liabilities to spin them off into a company designed for bankruptcy and how such a scheme can lead to a multibillion-dollar liability.
By 2000, the petrochemical company Kerr-McGee had accumulated substantial environmental and tort liabilities over the past 70 years through its previous wood-treating, uranium mining and processing, thorium processing, and chemical manufacturing businesses. In 2001, with two successful remaining oil and gas and chemical businesses, the company was looking for a buyer. The remaining liabilities associated with its legacy businesses, however, made it difficult to attract potential purchasers.
In 2001, Kerr-McGee initiated "Project Focus," a plan to separate its profitable oil and gas business from its legacy liabilities. Kerr-McGee formed a new parent company, along with a new oil and gas subsidiary, to which it transferred the valuable oil and gas assets, while leaving behind the liabilities in the old company, renamed Tronox. After an initial public offering (IPO) of Tronox stock, Kerr-McGee spun-off the company in 2006, and Anadarko Petroleum acquired Kerr-McGee for $18 billion.
Unable to cope with the burden of liabilities it had inherited from Kerr-McGee, Tronox filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. In May of 2009, Tronox commenced litigation in which the United States and the bankruptcy estate (represented by a litigation trust), intervened, filing a complaint against Kerr-McGee and related subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum corporation. The complaint alleged that the defendants fraudulently transferred assets to the new Kerr-McGee while imposing the legacy liabilities on Tronox, leaving Tronox without sufficient funds to pay environmental and tort claimants.
On December 12, 2013, the Court decided against Kerr-McGee Corporation on charges of both actual and constructive conveyance, noting "clear and convincing evidence" that the defendants intended "to hinder or delay creditors when they imposed all the legacy liabilities on Tronox." On November 10, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced an agreement to resolve the claims of fraudulent conveyance requiring Anadarko Petroleum to pay $5.15 billion plus interest to a litigation trust. The EPA describe the award as the "largest award ever in a bankruptcy for governmental environmental claims and liabilities, and one of the largest environmental enforcement awards ever."
Tronox shareholders also filed a consolidated class action complaint in the U.S. District of New York against defendants Tronox Inc., Kerr-McGee Corp., and Kerr-McGee successor-in-interest Anadarko Petroleum Corp., along with certain officers and directors of Kerr-McGee and Tronox, and Tronox's auditor, Ernst & Young. The complaint alleged that defendants made material misstatements and omissions in their filings in order to defraud investors.
In particular, by only disclosing and setting reserves for costs it knew or was certain it would incur, the complaint alleged that the defendants had violated SEC regulation S-K, which requires issuers to disclose contingent liabilities when they are "probable" or "reasonably estimable." While company had reserved approximately $200 million for environmental remediation reserves, the complaint alleged that they actual amount approached $900 million.
The parties agreed to a $37 million settlement, of which Tronox's auditor at the time, Ernst & Young, agreed to pay $2 million.
A series of similar securities class action lawsuits against oil & gas and petrochemical companies highlights ongoing concern about the potential for fraud in spin-offs. In December 2017, a complaint alleging fraudulent conveyance was filed against Noble Corporation plc and certain of its current and former officers and directors related to the spin-off of Paragon Offshore and Paragon Offshore's subsequent bankruptcy. In 2019, complaints alleging fraudulent conveyance were also filed against Dupont, Chemours, and 3M.
Analysts have recently highlighted the potential for companies to use the "bankruptcy as bailout," by using the Bankruptcy Code to legally avoid billions of dollars in environmental liabilities. The Kerr-McGee case highlights the potential for "bankruptcy as bailout" to also serve as a potential indicator of fraud and suggests that, even without more stringent environmental disclosure requirements, there could be a growing disclosure risks related to environmental liabilities. While proving this type of fraud can be challenging, whistleblowers with original information could play a pivotal role in bringing successful prosecutions and significant penalties and awards.
To learn more about how whistleblowers can use the Dodd-Frank Act and the False Claims Act to report fraud, read The New Whistleblower's Handbook, the first-ever guide to whistleblowing, by the nation's leading whistleblower attorney. The Handbook is a step-by-step guide to the essential tools for successfully blowing the whistle, qualifying for financial rewards, and protecting yourself.


text:
Der Worldloppet Cup 2019 ist eine vom Weltskiverband FIS sowie dem Worldloppet-Verband, bestehend aus sieben Rennen, ausgetragene Wettkampfserie im Skilanglauf. Sie begann am 4. Januar 2019 mit dem Vasaloppet China in Changchun und endete am 6. April 2019 mit dem Ugra Ski Marathon in Chanty-Mansijsk. Die Gesamtwertung der Männer gewann der Franzose Damien Tarantola; bei den Frauen wurde die Schwedin Maria Gräfnings, die fünf der sieben Rennen gewann, Erste in der Gesamtwertung.

Männer

Resultate

Gesamtwertung

Frauen

Resultate

Gesamtwertung

Weblinks
Worldloppet Cup Herren

Worldloppet Cup Damen

Worldloppet Cup
Sportsaison 2019


text:
abc11 together perspectives
ABC11 Together Perspectives for December 24, 2022
ABC11 Together highlights the strength of the human spirit, good deeds, community needs, and how our viewers can help.
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- ABC11 Together Perspectives for December 24, 2022 contains segments on dealing with depression and anxiety during the holiday season, the NC Chinese Lantern Festival, and Fayetteville's New Year's Eve Night Circus Celebration.
Mental Health & the Holiday Season
While the holiday season is often a fun and festive time, many people struggle with mental health this time of year. Dr. Nerissa Price, a psychiatrist at WakeMed, talks about ways you can cope with depression and anxiety during the holidays.
The NC Chinese Lantern Festival
The Triangle's most spectacular holiday tradition is back! For a seventh year, Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre is hosting the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival. This year there are more than 40 new displays. ABC11 Together is a proud sponsor of the NC Chinese Lantern Festival that runs through Sunday, January 8.
Fayetteville's Night Circus New Year's Eve Celebration
For a second year, Fayetteville's Cool Spring Downtown District will sponsor a unique New Year's Eve Celebration. It's called Night Circus: A District New Year's Eve Spectacular Featuring Tony! Toni! Tone! The Night Circus is free and begins at 7:30PM in Festival Park on Saturday, December 31. ABC11 Together is a proud sponsor of Night Circus.
ABC11 TOGETHER PERSPECTIVES NEW YEAR'S EVE EVENT CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL ABC11 TOGETHER MENTAL HEALTH
ABC11 Together Perspectives for January 8, 2023
ABC11 Together Perspectives for November 13, 2022
ABC11 Together Perspectives for October 9, 2022
Perspectives for September 11, 2022


Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected a request from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to cancel the punitive measures he has imposed on the Gaza Strip, Israeli TV claimed yesterday.
The Israeli state-owned TV Kan published excerpts from the phone call made between the two presidents, pointing out that the request was made on the basis that the punishments pose threats to the Egyptian national security.
"More punitive measures against Gaza would undermine Egypt's national security," Al-Sisi told Abbas during the call.
Israeli TV claimed that Al-Sisi stopped speaking after Abbas' reply and reported a Palestinian official describing the phone call as "highly tense".


text:
Andrei Găluț (* 2. August 1984 in Arad, Rumänien) ist ein rumänischer Rockmusiker.

Karriere
Nachdem Andrei Găluț im Jahr 2008 bei Megastar, der rumänischen Version von American Idol auf Prima TV, gewinnen konnte, wurde er in seiner Heimatstadt zum Ehrenbürger ausgezeichnet. Als Gewinner der Staffel erhielt er einen Vertrag von Universal Music für die Produktion eines vollwertigen Albums. Dieses wurde jedoch nie veröffentlicht, da die Zusammenarbeit zwischen ihm und dem Label nicht gepasst hat. Als Begründung nannte Galut, dass er nicht der "typische Talent-Show-Teilnehmer" sei.

Găluţ spielte in der rumänischen Metalcore-Band Goodbye to Gravity, welche 2011 aus den Überresten der Band Thunderstorm entstand. Das gleichnamige Debütalbum erschien bereits im Jahr 2012.

Am 30. Oktober 2015 erlitt Găluţ bei einem Brand im Club Colectiv in Bukarest schwere Verbrennungen. Die Band Goodbye to Gravity feierte am 30. Oktober in dem Club die Releaseparty ihres letzten Albums Mantras of War. Seine Bandkollegen kamen direkt bei dem Brand ums Leben beziehungsweise starben Tage später an ihren Verletzungen.

Diskografie

Mit Goodbye to Gravity
 2012: Goodbye to Gravity (Eigenproduktion)
 2015:  Mantras of War

Einzelnachweise

Rockmusiker
Rocksänger
Metal-Musiker
Metal-Sänger
Rumäne
Geboren 1984
Mann


text:
← Mesheau & Aiken in the running to become Sackville's next mayor
Canada Safety Council warns Sackville not to allow skateboards on town streets →
Aiken points to 'seamless transition' if he's elected Sackville's next mayor
Deputy Mayor Ron Aiken
Ron Aiken says he's hoping to be elected as Sackville's next mayor on May 10th so he can continue in the job he's been performing since October when John Higham left office.
"Obviously it would be a seamless transition," Aiken said during a telephone interview.
"Given what we're up against with health reform, municipal reform and all the other stuff, that's quite useful. I wouldn't have to sit down and re-learn a bunch of things."
Aiken also points out that he has served on council for more than a dozen years, the last three as deputy mayor.
"I've seen a lot of things that can be done in the town and gained an appreciation of actually what we have to overcome to get things done."
Aiken points, for example, to the recent "vision statement" he submitted to the provincial health minister.
"Our main focus is keeping the hospital in its present state or even improving it," he says, while the province seemed to be proposing last year to change Sackville Memorial into "some sort of glorified first aid centre."
Aiken acknowledges that his suggestion to install an MRI machine in Sackville may have been a bad example because of how much it would cost.
"What I wanted to do is illustrate that Sackville could be almost a diagnostic centre or a triage centre for the bigger hospitals in Moncton."
He adds, for example, that his statement also mentioned a CT-Scan — a cheaper machine than an MRI — that could be a useful diagnostic tool here.
"I wanted to get away from the notion that patients had to go to Moncton for everything."
Municipal reform
Aiken says he gets the impression that the province isn't sure yet where it wants to go in reforming local government.
Plans call for local consultations with a provincial discussion paper by the end of March, then further consultations and a more formal government white paper by the end of the year.
Aiken says that as mayor, he would not favour a centralized, regional approach such as the one proposed in the 2008 report by Jean-Guy Finn. That would have combined the town of Sackville with the villages of Port Elgin and Dorchester along with the nine rural service districts to form a single municipality in the Tantramar region.
"The province always seems to want to go to centralize things," Aiken says. "To me, as soon as the control gets away from the local, then it starts to get less responsive to what the local concerns are," he adds.
"There's nothing cast in stone as far as I can see, the new minister Daniel Allain is a former councillor from Dieppe, so he has a real appreciation of what municipal affairs are all about," Aiken says, adding that the minister has assured municipalities there will be no forced amalgamations of local governments.
Aiken says he would like to see further development in the TransCanada Exit 506 area now that the town has improved and widened the Cattail Ridge roadway and has installed storm sewers and sidewalks in the area.
He's also hoping the province will approve the town's application for completion of the Lorne Street flood control project including the addition of a second water retention pond behind the Charles Street community garden and a third one in the old Pickard quarry near Mount Allison University.
He says the province has intimated it will install a new aboiteau in the dike near the town's main sewage lagoons, but even without it, the retention ponds and the old aboiteau should be able to handle floodwaters from major storms.
Research bent
Aiken says his previous leadership positions would be assets if he becomes Sackville's next mayor.
He served for six years as head of the biology department at Mount Allison and for one year as President of the Canadian Council of Biology Chairs, which involved lobbying in Ottawa.
"Professionally one of my big things was research," he says, "so one of my bents is to go and look at problems and analyze them in detail."
He points to his analysis of how the province calculates municipal equalization payments — calculations which, Aiken argues, have denied Sackville its fair share of provincial transfers.
"That took a lot of looking at the legislation, working out the problems with the formulas they use, and I've asked them several times [and] they don't have answers for me on why they're doing it the way they're doing it," he says.
"I intend to bring that up again with the minister when we meet with him next week," he adds.
"So, that's the kind of thing I bring to the table."
Aiken council highlights
January 2021: Aiken writes "vision statement" on health reform
November 2020: Aiken reacts to provincial statements about municipal reform
August 2020: Aiken expresses misgivings about new town sculpture
July 2020: Aiken opposes $80,000 dog park
December 2018: Aiken complains about lack of information on flood control project
August 2018: Aiken votes against hiring outside consultants to draft business development strategy
January 2018: Aiken votes for property tax hike to close budget gap
October 2017: Aiken calls for more restrictions on glyphosate spraying
February 2017: Aiken votes against 5-year strategic plan calling it "elitist"
This entry was posted in Town of Sackville and tagged Municipal election 2021. Bookmark the permalink.
3 Responses to Aiken points to 'seamless transition' if he's elected Sackville's next mayor
Not for me says:
Wouldn't have to sit down and re-learn a bunch of things? That's kind of a weird statement. I guess I don't understand his thought process regarding provincial control when to me it appears that the current mayor relies so heavily on provincial rules and regulations. If you want to get away from provincial control how about not following their instructions to a tee.
Jerry Hicks says:
I found this interview informative! Thanks! One comment is that I totally agree on his views on how the Sackville Hospital could be used more efficiently. As a matter of fact it was his alert on a facebook site that got me very involved in the protests to save the hospital over a year ago and for that I am very grateful because it opened my eyes to what can happen very quickly if we are not vigilant. I also agree with his statement wholeheartedly that that Sackville Hospital can be used much more efficiently and rather than be dismantled it should be enhanced! The only thing I disagree on is WHY NOT an MRI machine here and a CTSCan machine. I am amazed how Sackville as a community is capable of raising money for our hospitals. If we set our sights on these things things we are more than capable. Lets do this! It would be a great way to shock the government and let them know we mean business and its hands off when it comes to our hospital!
My two cents! Our hospital and our health are number one! Thank you Mr Aiken for 'getting that' all else pales!
Jerry Hicks
M. Lynn mcGrath says:
The Sackville hospital should be the satellite hospital for Horizon east/est. We have an ER, OR, Lab.,Radiology etc. that can and does lighten the load for the Moncton Hosp. The town folks have been most generous over the years in fund raising and always reach their goals. Thank you folks. i concur with Jerry Hicks, "Why not an MRI and a CT Scan for here." Even an ultra sound would be a good start…The possibilities are endless and if we all put our heads together and brain storm…more initiatives will come to fruition. We have to change and do things better and more efficient.
Regards, M. Lynn McGrath


text:
Secure Tech
1. What features do Citium provide?
Citium app allows you to communicate securely and deniably from anywhere with anyone in uncensored or even in censored (or firewall-ed) regions, such as, China, Russian and almost all other censored regions. You can communicate with other Citium users in secure text, voice clip, image and video message through 1-on-1 and group chat interfaces. A disaster control button, Pulverizer, can wipe out all your communications records in case of emergency. Once pressed, Pulverizer will irreversibly remove all text, voices, images, and video content from Citium. Apart from the Citium app, we also provide an untempered Android phone (with iOS coming soon) with in-App one click on off camera and mic and hardware NFC RFID block to upkeep the integrity of your device. (*Check out the bundle pack here*). We also send out global roaming SIM cards without any personal identifier attached. It will come with a Faraday phone bag that blocks all phone signals (e.g. 2G to 5G, WiFi, GPS, bluetooth, and NFC) to add an extra layer of security for your privacy and to ease your mind.
2. Can Citium free users from eavesdropping and surveillance?
No, because eavesdropping and surveillance are everywhere. For instance, in 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the US NSA PRISM surveillance program (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program) to the world. We cannot face the reality without learning a lesson from it that everyone is subject to eavesdropping, surveillance and even coercion. What Citium does, paradoxically, is to offer deniability so that eavesdropping and surveillance is rendered meaningless because no one knows for sure who sent what from which devices in the vast ocean of "bottles of messages'' hidden in the plain sights of the Citium network of nodes. In other words, Citium utilizes a blend of deniable encryption schemes so that eavesdropping and surveillance become innocuous if not entirely inconsequential. **In most circumstances, coercion is tantamount to total defeat. Your attempts to protect the confidentiality of your communications have been in vain.** The purpose of deniability is not at all to "convince" the coercer that any surrendered transcript is real; indeed, it is common knowledge that transcript can easily be faked. Instead, **the goal is to preempt coercion in the first place by making surrendered transcripts useless**. Citium user(s) simply have to "stick to their stories". No data analyst or forensic expert can irrefutably prove who is involved in which message in Citium. The use of Citium has enabled a major paradigm shift to deniable encryption schemes as the last defense of confidentiality. Simply put, as long as you communicate through Citium, you are free to deny every evidence against you. It is not your duty to prove that you are innocent. It is someone else's duty to prove that you have done something wrong that leads to your charges. But rest assured that no one is capable of doing so.
3. If someone has unlimited time and resources, could they take down the whole Citium network and pose user(s) into a risky situation?
No, because Citium client app messaging is always available even if all the other Citium nodes have been taken down because **dynamic transmission of Citium data piggybacks on BitTorrent and Bitcoin networks**. Yes, you heard correctly. Not only that Citium has no central servers, which essentially renders raiding, shut down, or forces to turn over data impossible, but also that its data transmission relies on someone else's P2P network infrastructures. Thus, say goodbye to the server and node outages! A threat actor needs to physically seize ALL devices, such as phones, routers and content servers in ALL countries, where the Citium nodes are situated, to hamper the performance of the Citium network in transferring large files, such as image, voice and video. Not to mention that the takedown is not only highly improbable but a glaring act bound to draw attention. It is just too Pyrrhic for most of the threat actors to contemplate. In contrast, law enforcement who is targeting popularized secure chat service, such as EncroChat, would only require a one-time, yet discreet, takedown of their centralized messaging relay or contact directory servers. Most users may unknowingly continue to use the service while their IDs and data have already been covertly compromised. Luckily, Citium users never have to worry about this kind of mishaps. The number of connected device nodes in the Citium network are only growing day by day because every online Citium client app is an active node that serves itself as well as everyone else in the decentralized network. Therefore, **crippling or compromising the Citium decentralized network is only getting geometrically harder and harder as time passes while centralized service providers, such as SkyECC, inevitably heighten their data breaching risk as they gain in popularity**. Technically, in the Information security sense, the decentralized network of Citium nodes is a layered defense on top of the PGP-encryption scheme, making Citium communications deniable and quantum-safe. This is a unique service unavailable by any other provider.
4. Will I expose my IP location or conversations when using Citium?
No, because we have IP obfuscation technology to mask your IP and location. But if you are too careless, your device could still be traced by Stingray phone tracker. For example, someone could use Stingray and pretend to be your mobile cell phone tower, intercept and obtain your device identifier like IMSI and ESN to calculate your real location or tap into your conversations. The safest practice for you is to use a Citium App + Citium secure phone and sim + Citium Faraday bag. When you are done with your Citium communications, put your secure phone back into the Faraday Bag to minimise the time your device is exposed to cell phone signal. Citium is designed to keep you safe from harm when things get heated . Ever heard of someone walking out of court with all charges dropped? That is how Citium could help. Of course, a good lawyer always helps, too.
5. Where and when could you use Citium App? Where does Citium secured phone and SIM and Faraday Bag be shipped to?
You could use Citium App in ALL countries at ALL times with local internet connections, be it 2, 3, 4 and 5G or even open WiFi inside or outside of Information Great Firewall. Citium secured phones and SIM and Faraday Bag are shipped worldwide with the shipping charges included in the price tag. We offer you non-name bearing SIM that covers countries and areas as follows: Aland Islands, Australia, Austria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Chile, China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France (Inc. Corsica, Mayotte & Reunion ), French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece (Inc. Crete & Rhodes), Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy (Inc. Sardinia & Sicily), Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Madeira, Malta, Marie-Galant, Martinique, Mayotte, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Republic of Ireland, Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, United States (Inc. Florida Keys), Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Vatican City, Vietnam. China user could only receive sim card that work only in PRC China, user of all other regions will receive Global roaming sim card work in all above regions except in China. But even without our sim card(s), all users in all countries could still use Citium and Citium+ safely under any Wi-fi environments, be it public or private Wi-fi. Any user could choose to receive sim card(s) by filling in Profile Details page in our CMS system. If user do not update shipping detail in our CMS, by default he/she gave up the rights of receiving sim card(s), it is up to user's own choice to decide within his/her subscription period.
6. Can I still surf the web and use other apps when I use Citium?
Yes, you could open Citium App and keep it running on the background of your device. In any environment you could connect to any Wi-Fi, Citium user have 100GB per month for any 1, 3 or 6 months plan, Citium Pro user have unlimited traffic for a 1, 3 or 6 months plan. With Citium running, we need your VPN permission on your device to run our app that means you are not allowed to use other VPN service when Citium is uprunning. All plans come with one free 12GB data roaming sim card per month, that means you will get 1 sim card for your 1 month subscription, 12 sim cards for your 12 months subscriptions, those sim card(s) is disposable and you cannot keep the number carried by the sim card when each month ends, it is for your security sake. Of course, if you decided not to tell us your shipping address you could choose not to receive it, in this case, you gave up your rights of owning the sim card and you could not claim your sim again in the future. Please make payment, register your Citium account and fill in your shipping detail when you login Citium Membership system (CMS) if you wish to receive our non-name bearing sim card(s).
7. Why build this Citium network and is it legal to use it?
Kudos to all journalists, scientists and everyone who upkeep the truth out there. We believe the rights of information should be owned by all. There is nothing illegal to protect your information rights with Citium away from prying eyes.
8. Is there a chance that Citium could be used illegally?
Likewise, with or without Citium, all communication tools could be used illegally. It is much easier to get caught on streets than get caught by using Citium. It is the Mens Rea and Actus Rea that matters, not the tool itself.
9. Why should you trust Citium, how could Citium proof its technical integrity?
No proof is better than what the online communities say about us. Our design is fully open source in GitHub for anyone to review. You could find it here. Our published research result on Cryptography and Security could also be found here. Our App and networks are battle-tested in many countries and optimized after extensive testing, our untempered secure phone keep you updated with the best security updates and is safe to use in extreme environments.
10. Why does Citium charge at this price?
There is no price tag for freedom, while we strive to bring down the cost of service in the future there is still some way to go. We are a group of fervent information scientists and enthusiasts who have been both in the lab and on the street and know how to get things done right.
11. How would Citium compare to other Instant Messenger(s) in the markets?
Free apps, such as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat, obtain and make use of at least one personal identifier(s), such as through email, SMS or phone, to keep track of you. They can lead back to your real identity. Privacy policies of these companies dictate that their user information is insecure. To make matters worse, their centralized-managed business models make them vulnerable to coercion. It means that they are more than ready to give away your information for their own sake as they have the right to release user information to third parties without user permission. On the other hand, paid apps, such as SkyECC, assign user ID to you so anyone with your ID could potentially locate you and try knock on your door. Citium guarantees your privacy by absolutely NOT ASKING for anything about you from the process of payment, installation and to customer service. Our customer service agents do not know about your existence unless you reach out to us, which means no one in the world could contact you without your permission. A private e-cert is generated and welded to your phone device when you first launch Citium, instead of using old-schooled user ID and password which proven its weakness. It will free you from username and password combination leaks, ID theft, phishing, malicious random ping of messages hack and trash ads. We have no central server so any DDoS attack or attempt to data kidnapping is, by design, impossible. You are the only one who controls when, how and with whom you are chatting.
Apart from privacy issues, from the encryption algorithm point of view, all those free apps on the market issue the public keys that their users use to encrypt the messages so that the those free apps companies know who the users are simply by knowing who's using which public key. In contrast, each Citium user issues his/her own public key. In fact, every one of your Citium Contacts are communicating with you through some proxy accounts which Citium created for your Contacts individually during out-of-band verification. Your Contacts do not know if the accounts are only for them or they're for someone else as well. This scheme essentially disallows your Contacts from turning against you in the future because they cannot prove irrefutably that they are talking to you. Everyone talks through "sockpuppeting accounts" which no one knows for sure who's talking through them so that everyone in Citium can maintain plausible deniability at all times.
12. Why do I observe occasional delay sending and receiving message(s) thru Citium?
The short answer is that the occasional delay is the price we pay for the extra peace of mind in security. The extent of a delay highly depends on the size of a message. If it is a text message, which is small in size, the delay will normally be resolved in a few seconds. But if it is a picture, voice clip or video, which is large in size, the delay will be slightly longer but not longer than a couple of minutes. While you are waiting, Citium is busy encrypting your message with a triple layer of encryption, namely ECDSA, BLOWFISH, and XXTEA. Notably, ECDSA is the encryption scheme used by the Bitcoin network, which has stood the test of time. As the market capitalization of Bitcoin is already in the hundreds of billions of dollars, cracking even a fraction of it means jackpot or attestation to a hacker's ability. In spite of the incentives, no one has been able to crack it. The only reason why ECDSA has not been adapted more widely is due to its hunger for computational power. Mobile devices need time to process the encryption which contributes to the occasional delay. Furthering the delay is the casting of sliced ciphertexts to the P2P networks (i.e. Citium, BitTorrent, Bitcoin) because the ETA in decentralized systems is not as predictable as those in centralized ones. Not to mention, all the while the recipient end is busy fetching these tiny encrypted pieces of message, then decrypt and reassembling them back to the original, readable format. The transmission process is slower than most of the other instant messengers but it is the necessary performance and security trade-off for Citium users who value confidentiality above all. Technically, the slicing of messages is a concept in threshold cryptography which makes Citium post-quantum resistant. In plain English it means that even threat actors who come back from the future, armed with quantum strength deciphers, cannot reveal the original text.
13. Okay, I am sold by your pitch, close my deal by saying what Citium cannot do?
Citium does not support real time live-stream data, such as VoIP voice chat, FaceTime and video-conferencing because point-to-point real time connections pose insurmountable privacy risk, potentially compromising your identity and geographical location, defeating the purpose of plausible deniability. But that is all right because there is no preventing you from switching to another app or device to go live-stream for your casual communication. Also, note that the polar opposite of deniability is non-repudiation, which Citium cannot offer. Non-repudiation is an InfoSec feature required by the kind of communication whose accountability supersedes confidentiality.
14. What is Citium's privacy policy, could you get a refund if you think Citium does not fit your needs?
Citium server nodes are open source, allowing you to view the source code, and is monitored by the open source community to ensure that the source code is free of Trojan and does not reveal any user information. When you contact one of our customer service representatives, please do not leave us any personal information. Our customer service representatives will not ask for any personal information about you. Your e-Cert is you, and you are the e-Cert. We only communicate with the holder of the e-Cert, and only through the LIVE CHAT interface within the Citium client. Likewise, if you lose your e-Cert, your account loses any chance of recovery and all information is lost forever. All transaction payments are final and non-refundable under ALL circumstances. This is to eliminate any refund phishing attempts that may reveal user information.
15. What happens to your account when you decide to stop paying for service renewal?
We respect your decision of not renewing further. While you could still gain access to your Citium e-cert and account, you will see a prompt saying your communications and traffic is NOT going to be secure anymore. You will also NOT be able to receive, download or install our updated version of Citium app which contains important features and device compatibility updates. You also cannot open Citium and Citium+ App in your device. Your in-app contacts and messages are permanently unrecoverable. Citium is, by design, permissionless so that it is impossible for us to delete your account remotely. Only you can delete your account by pressing the disaster control button in your Citium app which will eliminate all communications and contacts in Citium. The other way to look at it is that if you lose your device or accidentally press the disaster control button, you will lose access to your account and everything inside, such as contacts messages. There is nothing we could help about that.
16. Could Citium revive or restore messages and contacts that users have deleted in Citium's app, what is Citium's data privacy policy?
No, Citium cannot revive or restore messages and contacts that users have deleted or lost access in Citium's app. Citium does not keep any of your data, you do not need to provide phone number, sms or even email for registration and subscription so that is truly an anonymous account. We do not keep any messages you sent and receive, this is to make sure both you and us are safe when we are forced by someone to give out any data. We cannot give out any data simply because by design we do not have the ability to keep your contacts and communications at all. For contact verification, everytime you add someone into your contact, a single time disposable encrypted key is generated so you could send it over to someone, no key is used twice, without the key, you cannot add someone, same goes, without the key, no one could add you. Even if a key is presented by someone, you could still choose to accept the invitation or not. You could set and keep the same username or set a different username to be shown for each individual contact, someone could also rename in their Citium contact about how they liked you to be called. Our metadata policy is simple and straightforward, we do not keep your data.
17. What if Citium's network is slow or down, could the user claim for loss and/or damages or file complaints, or where should the complaints go?
When you use Citium, you are granted automatic waiver from any claim of direct and/or indirect loss and/or damages in all circumstances. Our goal is to maintain Citium uptime to at least 99.9%, but you should understand that the Citium network is decentralized and affected by open network performance, policies and many more conditions in different countries. Network congestion or failure may occur at some points. Please report your connections downtime or improvement suggestion to [email protected] or tell us what you think via our social media channels. We are always listening. Our team always strives to serve the user community better.
18. I heard some rumors in social media, hacker "%xyz#" successfully breached the secure conversations between Citium users.
Mazel Tov! We truly appreciate hacker "%xyz#" talent which throttle the development of a more secure communications technology and will always make sure his/her effort is fairly compensated, thus we have placed many bitcoins wallets private keys with a lot of real money in-between Citium team own conversations. Please go ahead claim your reward for any successful hacking attempt, please swipe the bitcoin and claim the prize and prove your success, you are permitted to do so and pardoned of responsibilities. Better still, text us afterwards and join our Github community, we truly believe in everyone's talent and you are cordially invited to join us and make contributions to the development of the Information Security community.
19. Could I resell Citium or become a distributor of Citium?
Please reach us out at [email protected]
A faster and yet more responsive approach, please reach us out via Citium in-app CS. We apologize for any delay or even lack of response to social media posts. We are putting all resources to build a better service and taking good care of our existing users. We prefer organic growth, such as word-of-mouth, and decide to keep it this way in the foreseeable future.
**Citium is a SPICED instant messaging platform**, where SPICED is a mnemonic that stands for
Secure, Piggybacking, Impervious, Circumventive, Ephemeral and Deniable.
Secure. Use time-tested and provably secure encryptions that are used in open-source high-stakes asset finance, namely Bitcoin, to ensure confidentiality.
Piggybacking. A unique feature that enables inconspicuous transmission of data through BitTorrent and Bitcoin networks, which are the world's most popular P2P protocols with millions of active nodes.
Impervious. You can send and receive messages even if all Citium nodes are removed. Service availability of Citium is impervious to takedown.
Circumventive. No one can stop you and your contacts from communicating even if you are situated in the most pervasive level of Internet censorship.
Ephemeral. Cleartext messages self-destruct, which preempts spoliation of evidence and data breach due to devices fallen into the wrong hands.
Deniable. The last line of defense of communicating on Citium is its technically feasible/plausible deniability, which preempts coercion, eavesdropping, such as man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, and post-quantum computing cryptanalysis of archived surveillance data.
©2021, sup pyr (uk) ltd
Location: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, UK
For business, please reach out to [email protected]
For complaints, please reach out to [email protected]
Your privacy is 100% guranteed
__CONFIG_colors_palette__{"active_palette":0,"config":{"colors":{"9b988":{"name":"Main accent","parent":-1},"5b927":{"name":"Accent Light","parent":"9b988","lock":{"lightness":1,"saturation":1}}},"gradients":[]},"palettes":[{"name":"Default","value":{"colors":{"9b988":{"val":"var(--tcb-color-22)","hsl":{"h":0,"s":0.01,"l":0.01,"a":1}},"5b927":{"val":"rgb(248, 241, 242)","hsl_parent_dependency":{"h":359,"l":0.96,"s":0.33}}},"gradients":[]},"original":{"colors":{"9b988":{"val":"rgb(47, 138, 229)","hsl":{"h":210,"s":0.77,"l":0.54,"a":1}},"5b927":{"val":"rgb(243, 246, 249)","hsl_parent_dependency":{"h":209,"s":0.33,"l":0.96,"a":1}}},"gradients":[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__
__CONFIG_colors_palette__{"active_palette":0,"config":{"colors":{"3e1f8":{"name":"Main Accent","parent":-1}},"gradients":[]},"palettes":[{"name":"Default Palette","value":{"colors":{"3e1f8":{"val":"var(--tcb-local-color-9b988)","hsl":{"h":210,"s":0.78,"l":0.01,"a":1}}},"gradients":[]},"original":{"colors":{"3e1f8":{"val":"rgb(19, 114, 211)","hsl":{"h":210,"s":0.83,"l":0.45}}},"gradients":[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__
We Offer Secure Payment For
free Shipping for all purchase
English 繁體中文	 简体中文	 Nederlands (Formeel)	 Français	 Deutsch (Sie)	 Italiano	 日本語	 Polski	 Português	 Русский	 Español


ISLAMABAD – Pakistani cinema made us proud once again as Mehreen Jabbar's short film Lala Begum bagged the award for best screenplay at the 6th Annual Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF).
Hosted by the not-for-profit DC South Asian Arts Council, DCSAFF is one of the most celebrated screen events on the Washington, D.C. cultural calendar. The festival takes place annually in the heart of America's capitol, showcasing the best in alternative cinema from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Syed Mohammad Ahmed, known for writing contemporary screenplays, is the name behind the 40-minute-long short film Lala Begum.
The film revolves around the relationship between two estranged sisters, Meher (Marina Khan) and Seher (Sonia Rehman Qureshi) in the 1970s who hadn't spoken to each other over two decades. Meher begrudges Seher her disregard of the family's wishes and marrying Ahmed, a man outside the family. The two meet decades later when Seher returns home claim her share of the family estate after her husband dies, a tiff that caused nothing but an overwhelming sense of loneliness.


As manager of McLean Micro, it is my job to ensure that our customers receive the best products, service, and support that is available. Whether you need a multi-processor enterprise level server and a dozen workstations for your business, or a single entry level home system to surf the web with, our commitment is the same: we will provide you with quality, service, and support that is second to none.
As a locally owned and operated company, McLean Micro has been serving southern New Brunswick (and far beyond!) since 1993. And as a small business, we understand how important our customers are, and how valuable a happy customer is. This philosophy is the key to our success!
At McLean Micro, we custom build our computers, rather than purchasing mass produced systems built on an assembly line to re-sell. This gives us complete control over every aspect of our computers, from component selection and system design to quality control and after-the-sale support.
Our expertise goes beyond building computers. McLean Micro has extensive experience in networking. We can provide everything from a simple home network and router to allow shared Internet access, to design, cabling, and configuration of your business network, to wide area solutions that integrate separate networks in distant locations.
In addition to providing corporate networks secure Internet access, our firewalls can be configured to provide additional services such as VPN and remote access, email, web, ftp, and more. All while protecting your internal network from outside intrusion.
As with any other complex machine, computers sometimes break down or don't work properly. When this happens, you can count on our technical services department to diagnose the problem and provide a solution quickly and efficiently. With years of troubleshooting and problem solving experience, our technical staff has the resources and skills to make your computer do what it is supposed to do.
I am confident that no matter what your computer needs are, McLean Micro is ready, willing, and able to provide you with the products you need, and the service and support that you deserve.