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A Heroine of the World
Tanith Lee
Genres: Dark FantasyEpic FantasyMilitary Fantasy
For the first time in e-book format, a harrowing tale of war and survival from a master of dark fantasy.
Aradia is only thirteen when the war begins. The brutal Saz-Kronians have invaded from the North, laying siege to her homeland, and as the war grows ever closer, Aradia's father and mother are called to Fort Hightower to help defend the City. To keep Aradia safe, they send her to live with her Aunt Elaieva, a cold and distant woman, until the danger has passed.
But Hightower falls. Her parents die in the battle. And deeply depressed, her Aunt commits suicide—leaving her home and fortune to Aradia. Unfortunately, inheritance laws mean little in the wake of war. The City has surrendered, and Aradia's home is taken over by Flag Colonel Keer Gurz, an officer of the occupying Saz-Kronian army, who quickly becomes enamored with her.
Yet the war is hardly over. Aradia's homeland joins into the Charvro Alliance, gaining new allies and resources, and Aradia finds herself swept up in the Kronian retreat. In order to survive, Aradia must learn to play both sides of the war, taking on many different roles and identities, but never forgetting her love for Thenser Zavion, a soldier some name traitor and others liberator. Even as circumstances make her a pawn in greater power games, Aradia is destined to be at the center of the shifting tides—destined to be a heroine of the world.
My aunt's house stood at the corner of Hapsid Forum. It was thought unusual, and so it probably was, with its midnight walls, thick scarlet columns and shutters picked out in red. From the garden a gigantic pine thrust its way high over the roof, the branches becoming visible the moment one drove into East Avenue. And, "There is your aunt's pine tree," my mother would say briskly.
"There is your aunt's pine tree."
"Yes, mama."
"The gales have not been kind to it," remarked my mother, with slight malice.
I turned myself in the carriage to see what had happened to the pine.
"Don't wriggle so, child. Did we bring you up to be a stoat?"
"I'd like that. Being a stoat."
"No, you would not. What's worse, you would be shedding your winter coat all over my carriage. That is, if I hadn't already lost patience with you and had you made into a muff."
But my mother, despite this interchange, was preoccupied. My father, a major of the White Lions, had been recalled to the mysterious and valiant war at some hour during the night. I had dimly heard the flurry in my sleep, but he did not come to say good-bye to me. This was a grievance. Also, I suspected that I was to be fobbed off for the day on my aunt, of whom I was not entirely certain. My mother I knew and loved, but she was only mine when she was not being my father's, and the same might be said of him with her. My aunt, though my father's sister, was no one's. She belonged only to herself.
Our carriage turned the corner of the Avenue, was walked across the edge of the Forum, and drew up under a pair of black iron gates.
"Pansy," said my mother to her maid, "get down and ring the bell. Must I tell you everything?"
Pansy, a girl of sixteen, only three years older than I, and looking, I thought, more frightened than was necessary, obeyed. The bell rang, the porter came and unlocked the gate.
The pine, bursting over the rooftop, seemed the same as ever as we went up the steps. The red shutters were wide on the polished windows. Vines crept over the pillars out of their lacquered urns.
"Dia," said my mother, as we waited in the Red Salon, "it's all been a great rush, and I suppose that I should have explained to you earlier. Darling, your father has to go back to Fort Hightower, as you know, and I—I'm to join him."
It was unimaginably worse than I had feared. My mouth dropped open.
"Sweetheart, victory is sure, very soon. I'll be home again with you—oh, long before winter."
Before I properly realized why I should, I began to cry.
My mother held out her arms and I fled into them.
"Don't go! Don't go!"
"I must, I must. There now, is this the proper way for a sensible little stoat to behave?"
At that crucial, personal moment, my Aunt Elaieva entered the room.
Like guilty lovers my mother and I sprang apart. I wondered later if my mother and father had ever had to do so in front of her; there was a sense of repetition in it. But my mother had the wit to keep hold of my hand as, messed with tears, I turned.
I had not met Aunt Elaieva for several months, which interim seemed years to me. She appeared always a stranger. Unlike the fairness of my mother's side, she was, like my father, olive-skinned and dark. Black hair smoothed itself back from her forehead, below which brows and eyes had been marked with such ebony decision. Her clothing was neither in the fashion nor out of it. Really, you could not say where it was exactly. But if her style was ambivalent, also it was bold: a viridian sash, a pair of silver earrings. My mother was like some busy flower before her, a hyacinth or sweetpea.
"Elaieva," she said, in the brisk tone that invested all their dealings, even at the remove of a pine tree, "you'll have heard, he was recalled last night."
"The wide-open gape of war," said Elaieva, in a beautiful, cold, unremembered voice.
"Well, there it is. And here, I'm afraid, are the child and I."
"I received your message. You wish me to take your daughter off your hands."
"To take her rather under your wing," amended my mother, most civilly. "My husband has some claim on me. I believe you'll have been told the strategy—"
"A singularly stupid one," said Aunt Elaieva. She did not look angry, but she had interrupted.
"Dear sister," said my mother, with every ounce of falseness she could summon, "I have only this one morning to arrange it. I'm to have an escort and must be ready to leave—"
"Dry your eyes," Elaieva said to me, interrupting again. "It's useless to cry. She's going."
I turned back and stared at my mother in anguish. To be informed of my defeat by the enemy was more than I could bear. But my mother only bent her hyacinth head to me and retracted me into her embrace. "Sweetest, your things are to come round before midday. Our rooms will be shut up and you are on no account to go there and bother the servants. Pansy is coming with me—" Oh, lucky hateful Pansy, might the earth swallow her—"And you, my dear, must be splendid and make your aunt, who is so kind as to take you in, not regret for a single second that she has done so. Now, have you listened? Do you understand?"
I sobbed that I did. My tears had stained her silk bodice dark as blood. As she left me, I felt bereft beyond words, or thoughts. I seemed to have lost my mind. But I choked down my weeping before my dreadful aunt, not to please her, but because she was an alien.
She allowed me, as if to try to break me nevertheless, a last view of my mother and Pansy being driven away from me across the Forum. My heart strained and cracked within me, but I cannot say it was a premonition. I had no idea at that time I would never see my mother again.
During the next two weeks I settled sullenly into the new temporary life. I had only one flash of respite, when I decided, as my birthday fell in early autumn, and as it was unthinkable my mother should miss it, she was sure to have returned by then. Even so, ultimately, this only made things worse, for autumn was an age away. We had never seriously been parted before. Indeed, I was born in a village in the hills on a long-ago campaign when she had, against advice, gone visiting my father, then a mere lieutenant. Afterward she had had to leave him and bring me home to cheap lodgings in the City. We were poor in those days.
My aunt was very far from poverty. Her black house was filled by efficient and nearly invisible servants, some of whom, when seen, alarmed me, for they acted as if scarcely human, more like ensorcelled dolls. It was these beings who tidied my bed, brought my breakfast, and water for my bath. The midday meal was served for me alone in a small pleasant purposeless chamber on the first floor. This had become for me a sort of playroom, where I might do very much as I wanted. I was also allowed the garden, but to roam the house was discouraged. For my aunt's bedroom, library, study and chapel, they were forbidden and in fact kept locked against the world. I saw my aunt rarely during the day, but at night we would normally eat together in the Sphynx Salon. Elaieva did not bother to keep me to a child's hours of dining, or retiring, which until then I had had fairly rigidly observed on my behalf. At home my supper was presented to me at the fifth hour of the evening, and Pansy would have packed me into my bed by the time the old cracked bell of the Pantheon gave tongue for ten. But in Elaieva's house we took dinner between seven and eight at night, reclining on the scrolled couches of the Sphynx Salon in the classical way my family seldom troubled with. After dinner Elaieva might offer a scatter of sentences to me. My education had been rather random. I was taught to read and thereafter what I learned was largely dependent on what books I chose to put in front of my eyes. Those tutors I had had never properly succeeded in convincing me of the true reality of anything beyond my home life. This had been so happy and comforting, and just strict enough, and just eccentric enough to content me to the exclusion of most other matters. My aunt detected my shortcomings. I could not follow her most ordinary flights. For example, she spoke of the East and at once I saw—and vocalized—golden domes rising from a magician's mist and princesses riding upon flying carpets. She raised her brows, and the conversation closed. I seemed to bore her. And even the treat of falling asleep on the carpet of the first floor room, my head on a game of Temples, at midnight, did not make up for the loss of love and happiness.
There had been, in the apartment below that of my parents, another girl, of fourteen, with whom I had sometimes played, and gone walking in the public gardens. One morning, finding my aunt in a corridor, I suggested I should go to call on this other girl. To add weight, I virtuously murmured she and I might put flowers before the shrine of Vulmartis, at the Pantheon.
"No," said Elaieva, her black eyes already moving by me and the rest of her about to.
"But Litty and I have often done it. My mother always lets me go. Litty will take her maid—"
"I mean," said my aunt, "that your friend's family have left the city."
I was amazed, outraged. Had my and Litty's mother taken her away to the fortress in my stead? Something of this dashed from me.
"Not everyone rushes into the cannon's mouth," said my aunt. "The people you refer to have escaped in another direction."
I could not fathom this. My aunt did not say another word.
That afternoon, sitting under the pine tree in the spring sunshine, I heard male voices very near. Two pairs of army boots came around a lilac hedge with two beautiful uniformed officers in them. I was overcome, and my face caught fire, not being used to sudden meetings alone with exotic unknown young men. Even so, I recognized the insignia instantly. They were captains, and their regiment was the Eagles.
They seemed very much at home in Aunt Elaieva's garden, and had been chatting about gambling, not that I really knew what gambling was. Now they stood above me and exclaimed.
"It's a child."
"Origos! Can it be hers?"
"Don't be a fool," said the shorter of the two. He looked vexed, but then laughed. He had a mane of light-colored hair and unnerving odd-shaped humorous eyes. "Madam," he said to me gravely, "it is a delight to find you so prettily here on the grass. Pray tell us to whom you belong."
Old training not to speak to strangers set in. I held my tongue and gazed at the flowers I had been plaiting.
My aunt spoke from over the hedge. She had come up soundlessly as was her wont. "This is my brother's daughter, gentlemen. Her name is Aradia."
I glanced up proudly at my proper title, and so saw the light-haired young man going as red in the face for my aunt as I had done for him. But he carried it better, seeming amused to blush, and bowing to her soldier-fashion as she moved around the hedge. She gave both men her cold slim hand to kiss. It was not that I had thought her elderly especially, she was only on the timeless plateau of the adult. But it had certainly never occurred to me that, like one of our flighty maids, my aunt received admirers.
She allowed them to walk with her across the lawn to the sundial, and the pond where the marble swan with a woman's head sat stilly in the water.
Curious, nostalgic for the elements of my father's army, I trailed after.
"Finished by the winter?" the second, taller, young man was saying. "High summer should see it out. Half their troops are sick with dysentery. The other half are rebelling and clamoring to go home. I tell you, Elaieva, for us it's just a little holiday. And, as you see, eternal leaves."
"Your brother, of course, the major, is distinguishing himself in all directions," said Fair-Hair, laughing again.
Elaieva seemed not to notice. But I wanted more.
"What is he doing?" I inquired.
Fair-Hair turned round and looked at me intently.
"Why, madam, riding at the head of the charge, making gallant sorties, taking prisoners. And at night, in full dress uniform, he dances with your lovely mother between banquet tables groaning with game and cakes."
This only bewildered me, but since he had been good enough to offer it, I tried to seem enlightened.
"They go to bed," added the tall captain, not to be left out, "at four in the morning, and rise at six to bombard the enemy positions."
"And may we stay to dine with you?" asked the other, gazing at my aunt.
Her assent was indifferent. Yet he sat down at her feet, and they all began to talk of the entire universe I did not know, in forms I could not follow. Presently I left them, having crowned the swan-woman with my flowers.
I went to playdream under the pine. Where my remorseful mother was soon hurrying home and finding me pale and sad, and my father was leading a charge, flying through the air on a horse with wings.
Fair-Hair's name was Thenser, as I found out that evening.
He and his companion lounged elegantly on the scrolled couches and red and yellow wine was served in glass kraters. Otherwise nothing seemed any different. We ate from the Sphynx service, to match the salon, as always, only more of it. There were, as usual, no flowers on the table, and Thenser's companion—whose name I heard but forgot—offered to have some sent my aunt from the hothouses.
"You're very kind, but I prefer not," she said.
"Isn't there anything," said Thenser playfully, "a man can be allowed to give you?"
She sent him one icy stare, and he flushed again.
Greedily intent on my dinner, I did wonder why he should want to visit when she was so unfriendly, or why she let him when she disliked him so much.
After dinner, they played cards, and I joined them for one or two sets of expurgated Red-and-White, but I was not clever at cards, nor very interested. Forgotten Name became rather irritated with me, so I declined another game, though Thenser tried to call me back. My aunt then said that I would probably prefer to go downstairs and draw or read, and this had the effect of propelling me away altogether.
About midnight, still wide awake with my crayons in the first floor room, I thought I heard them leaving, and stole out to catch a last glimpse of Thenser and the army.
Only the lamp in the foyer was burning before the house-god, but by its glow I saw Forgotten Name, sworded, cloaked and helmed, vanishing through the black door, which one of the servants shut behind him. As the servant withdrew, the door of the Sphynx Salon opened wide above and yellow light fanned down the stair.
"There is no point at all," I heard Aunt Elaieva say, "in your remaining to tell me that."
"Perhaps. You knew already," said Thenser. His voice was soft and blurred.
"You should leave now," Elaieva replied.
I could not see them, but abruptly both their shadows appeared in lieu of them, thrown on the damask wall. He was the same height in his boots as she was in her high-heeled slippers, and this did not fit with my notions: The hero should always be some inches taller than the heroine.
No one had told him, presumably, he was disqualified from the role.
His shadow leaned precipitously toward hers, his shadow had got hold of hers, so that they blended and were monstrously one. Save for a very slight flickering, this shadow-beast did not thereafter move for some while.
Then, as quickly as it had joined, it fell away, became again her shadow, and his. And now his shadow was violently agitated, all of it shuddered, gesticulated. Hers did not alter.
"Now will you let me stay?" he said breathlessly.
"No," she said.
At that, his shadow again converged on hers, but now there was an explosion of movement, the monster unable to reform and wildly opening into diamonds and squares, ovals and oblongs of light, before breaking apart.
"No, is what I said."
"Then I'm never to trouble you again." He had got his breath back. His voice was leaden.
"It might save you some annoyance."
"And you. Since apparently I do annoy you, Elaieva."
There was a silence. (Fascinated, I had naturally realized I should not be watching, and was ready to dart into cover.)
"In fact," he said, "my leave's canceled. I'm to go out again tomorrow. These things are minimized, you understand, in case the citizens grow uneasy. But I think you know our danger."
"Of course," she said, "but if you mean I should invite you into my bed because tomorrow you may die, or the day after the enemy may be at the City gate—you'd be very foolish, Thenser."
"Yes, I'm a fool, a fool for you. But I don't expect that. Either you'll have me or you won't."
"Give me up," she said with a brittle lightness I had never heard in her voice before.
"If you tell me to."
"I do tell you."
"Then, I give you up," he said. His voice was suddenly theatrical, eloquent, full of the relish of pain. "And I can die and be damned now. Good night, priestess."
Behind my door, astonished, I heard him run like a cat down the stair and out of the house.


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Home » Entertainment » Game of Thrones: Why did Brian Cox turn down this key role?
Game of Thrones: Why did Brian Cox turn down this key role?
Published by Romaincharp10 on January 15, 2022 at 11:54 a.m. .
Credits: "Putting the Rabbit in the Hat", autobiography by Brian Cox.
There are certain choices, for an actor, which always seem somewhat… debatable, with hindsight. Brian Cox could have been consecrated in Game of Thrones but he refused the role. He explains why in his recent biography.
"Dying at the start of the Game of Thrones series was not interesting for me."
For many he is the face of the horrible Colonel Striker who wanted to eliminate all the mutants in the film X-Men 2. For fans of Jason Bourne, Brian Cox was also Ward Abbot, in the memory in the skin and the death in the skin. He also played the ambitious and belligerent King Agamemnon in Troy, alongside Brad Pitt. Roles with a fairly small sympathy capital for the 75-year-old Scottish actor. It's finally with the series Succession that he knows a certain consecration by receiving a Golden Globe. He does not mince his words in his recent biography where he reveals certain anecdotes of films/series in which he has played… or refused to play, such as Game of Thrones…
Was refusing a seat on the Game of Thrones cast really a good choice? — Credit(s): hbo
Games of Thrones is THE series of superlatives, the one that has established itself with a new rhythm of narration, breathtaking twists and a gallery of iconic characters. So, when an actor admits having refused a role in the series, it is difficult to understand why. Brian Cox had previously worked with David Benioff on the 25th Hour. He had been offered a role when the latter launched Game of Thrones of which he is one of the creators. Cox refuses, not seeing the interest of a limited role and faced with a salary which, at the time, was far from reaching the heights that the series could generate thereafter.
Brian Cox writes that the role of King Baratheon, killed by a boar, did not seem to him frankly attractive either in terms of performance or financially. He also readily criticizes the American habit, he says, of "underpaying British actors compared to Americans". At the time, the risk of not seeing the series continue was real. Something to make you smile when you know the rest. Brian Cox says first of all that he did not watch the series, nor even look for information about the role he could have had… But like everyone else, it is difficult to remain completely hermetic at the tidal wave. Game of Thrones and finally, wouldn't we be tempted to say "You know nothing, Brian!"
Batgirl: a first official photo of the superheroine
UPTET Environmental Studies Practice Set 06: Before appearing in the exam, study these 30 important questions

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (December 23) – The executive committee of United World Wrestling this week approved a pre-selected list of referees for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.
The Refereeing Commission, an independent group of officials led by Antonio SILVESTRI (GER), compiled the pre-selections by reviewing the performance of referees from around the globe.
The number of referees headed to the Olympic Games was reduced from 80 in 2012 to only 50 for the 2016 Games. That cutback meant a need for increased accountability for many referees, who are subject to reviews and re-classifications based on their on-the-mat performance.
In order to ensure the quality of refereeing through the 2016 continental championships and Olympic qualifying events the referee commission was also given the opportunity to replace referees who make significant errors during those events. Referees must also retain good standing and stay current with their licenses.
تعداد داوران المپیکی از 80 داور در المپیک 2012 لندن به 50 داور کاهش پیدا کرد. این کاهش به معنی نیاز به احساس مسئولیت بیشتر و بررسی عملکرد داوران در هنگام قضاوت بر روی تشک است.
برای این که کیفیت داوران در مسابقات قاره ای 2016 و همچنین رقابتهای گزینشی المپیک تضمین شود، کمیسیون داوری نسبت به جایگزینی داورانی که اشتباهات فاحش داشته باشند، تصمیم گیری می کند. داوران همچنین باید موقعیت خوب خود را حفظ کرده تا همچنان صاحب این مجوز باشند.


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Volunteer Jim Walsh mans the outreach booth at UC Davis Whole Earth Festival!


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Q: Check if webpage is closed and run process I have a function that needs to know if the user has closed a page (either by tab, or backing out, or whatever) and run a MVC Controller so I can run a few internal processes. Is this feasible with Javascript or AJAX or impossible? I have the following code:
$(window).bind('beforeunload', function (e) {
    // code to execute when browser is closed
    e.$.post("/Functions/Left" });

});

But its not doing anything as far as I can see. The Controller processes some database information, and yes it has HTTPPOST.
EDIT: Tried out the following:
var unloaded = false;
                        $(window).on('beforeunload', unload);
                        $(window).on('unload', unload);

                        function unload() {

                            if (!unloaded) {

                                $.ajax({
                                    type: 'get',
                                    async: false,
                                    url: '/Function/Left/@ViewBag.ID',
                                    success: function () {
                                        unloaded = true;
                                        $('body').css('cursor', 'default');
                                    },
                                    timeout: 5000
                                });
                            }
                        }

Its not firing anything though, and I changed the controller to GET.

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Reuters Reporter On The Rise Of Single-Use Plastic During The Pandemic
Published October 12, 2020 at 4:03 PM EDT
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Face shields, takeout food containers, bubble wrap for online orders, plastic bags from grocery deliveries - think about how much people around the world are relying on mountains of plastic to get through this pandemic. Well, much of that plastic is not recyclable. And even if it were, the demand for recycled plastic is down. Plastic is made from petrochemicals, and the price of oil is so low that the price of brand-new plastic, known as virgin plastic, is low, too.
Reuters investigative reporter Joe Brock has been connecting the dots in this other pandemic, this plastic pandemic. And he joins us now. Welcome.
JOE BROCK: Glad to be here.
CHANG: So paint us a picture here. What was the trend for single-use plastics before the coronavirus pandemic?
BROCK: Before the pandemic, the demand for single-use plastic was was going up but particularly the case in developing countries where you've got a rising middle class - the pandemic only exacerbated that trend.
CHANG: And one thing that your investigation found was that big oil companies are hoping for a continually rising demand for new plastic, which is also made from fossil fuels. So they see that as a growth opportunity for their industry, right?
BROCK: That's correct. You know, you've seen oil and gas companies struggling during the pandemic as the oil price has dropped. But there's also a longer-term trend as we move towards electric vehicles, greener energy. There is an abundance of cheap oil and gas, and that needs to go somewhere for these companies to remain successful. And one of the key growth areas is new plastic for developing economies. And that's why we're seeing huge amounts of investment, hundreds of billions of dollars, in new petrochemicals plants as they try and take advantage of that.
CHANG: Are these same companies that are investing in producing more new plastic, are they also investing in recycling efforts?
BROCK: So these companies absolutely say that they take the waste crisis extremely seriously and that they want to be part of the solution. What our investigation was intended to do was to interrogate that claim. And what we found was the investments they are making in recycling are vague. And those ones that could be calculated are a fraction of the money that they're spending on expanding plastic production. So the situation you have is you're trying to mop up a floor with a hand towel while the bath is overflowing. Then, instead of turning the tap off, you start increasing the water pressure.
CHANG: OK. Well, your investigation also found that the price of new plastic had dropped significantly during this pandemic as a result of these cheaper oil prices. So what does that mean overall for the business of recycling?
BROCK: This has been catastrophic for some smaller recycling firms because COVID has led to a flood of new single-use plastic, but also it's dropped the price of new plastic. So it's very difficult for those companies to compete, and they're already operating on extremely fine margins.
CHANG: I mean, we should remind everyone that recycling was never going to be the solution to all the excess plastic trash produced worldwide. Right?
BROCK: Exactly. And I think what's important for people to understand is that only a fraction of plastic gets recycled. And also, most plastic cannot be recycled. Since 1950, 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste has been produced. Ninety-one percent of that has not been recycled.
CHANG: So can I just ask you then, what do you think is the answer to all of this?
BROCK: So recycling is certainly part of the answer. But a huge amount of investment needs to go into that from governments, from consumer goods companies to the plastic producers themselves. But there's another elephant in the room here, which is we need to stop producing so much single-use plastic. And ultimately, what it comes down to is profit margins versus the good of the planet, the climate and some of the poorest communities in the world.
CHANG: Right. That is reporter Joe Brock from Reuters. Thank you very much for joining us today.
BROCK: Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Hacker Steals $1 Million In Chinese VC Funding Meant For Israeli Startup, Check Point Reveals
By Simona Shemer, NoCamels December 10, 2019
An illustrative photo depicting a hacker. Deposit Photos
Israeli researchers at Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a leading cybersecurity provider, revealed that hackers were able to steal $1 million from a Chinese venture capital firm earlier this year through a targeted business email compromise (BEC) scam. The money was intended for an Israeli startup.
In a detailed incident response case file this month, Check Point Incident Response Analyst Matan Ben David shared neither the name of the Chinese VC that was targeted nor the one of the Israeli startup that was supposed to be collecting the money as seed funding.
Neither party thought anything was wrong until the Israeli company realized it had not received the funds.
SEE ALSO: Israeli Researchers Discover Fortnite Flaw That Lets Hackers Take Over Accounts
"A Chinese venture capital firm was alerted by their bank that there was an issue with one of their recent wire transactions. A few days later, a young Israeli startup realized they didn't receive their one million dollars seed funding," Ben David wrote in the case file, "Both sides got on the phone and quickly realized that their money was stolen."
As the companies realized the money was gone, they also noticed emails between the two parties that were altered and some correspondence that was fabricated.
It was at this point that they reached out to the Check Point incident response team about the money transfer and the Tel Aviv-based security firm began to go through emails, computers, and server logs.
The hackers had actually done more than just monitor the emails through an auto-forwarding maneuver as is usually seen in traditional BEC cases, Ben David wrote. Check Point said they had actually registered two lookalike domains — one which looked just like the Israeli startup, but which had an additional 's' added to the end, and the other which looked like the domain of the Chinese VC, but also with an 's.'
The attacker sent two emails with the same headline as the original thread, with the first sent to the Chinese VC from the Israeli lookalike domain, through a spoof of the email address of the Israel startup's CEO, according to the research. The second email was sent to the Israeli startup from the Chinese VC's lookalike domain through a fake email address from the VC account manager handling the investment.
It's a strategy that gave the attacker the ability to conduct the ultimate Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack, Ben David said.
A diagram by Check Point of the threat. Via Check Point.
Every email sent by each side was actually sent to the attacker first, who then reviewed the email, decided if content needed to be modified and forwarded the email from the relevant lookalike domain to its original destination, according to the post.
"Throughout the entire course of this attack, the attacker sent 18 emails to the Chinese side and 14 to the Israeli side. Patience, attention to detail and good reconnaissance on the part of the attacker made this attack a success," Ben David wrote.
The attack, which may have originated in Hong Kong, according to reports, successfully used the MITM strategy to scam the companies and steal funds. The attacker even went as far as sending emails to both parties to cancel a scheduled meeting in Shanghai, which had it occurred, would likely have thwarted the whole scheme.
The attacker, who has yet to be identified, took things further by asking for more money. The Israeli startup's CFO continues to receive an email a month from the fake CEO account urging him to make a wire transaction, Ben David said.
SEE ALSO: Check Point Finds High-Risk Bug That Exposed DJI Drone Visuals, User Data
Check Point offered a number of ways to avoid situations like the one they discovered in a "Lessons Learned / Key Takeaways" portion at the end of the report. These include adding a second verification mechanism by calling the person or calling the receiving party to guarantee the transaction arrived at the intended party and ensuring email infrastructure is able to keep audit and access logs.
Above all, prevention is key, says Check Point. "Email is by far the number one vector for attackers to infiltrate business networks," according to Ben David.
Phishing emails baiting users to expose organization credentials or click malicious link or files are "the number one threat in the email space."
(The most famous case of this in recent history is the email hacking of the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and the subsequent event it unleashed.)
"Organizations must always incorporate an email security solution, designed to prevent such attacks automatically utilizing continuously updated security engines," he wrote.


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Advocates Call for Landmark Ontario Human Rights Commission Inquiry into Discrimination and Denial of Needed Health Care for the Elderly
By: Financial Post
TORONTO — Ontario's Human Rights Commission today is being urged to undertake what could be a landmark systemic public inquiry into age discrimination in the provision of health care in the province. In their letter (http://bit.ly/OHRC-letter-210316) to the Commission, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Advocacy Centre for Elderly (ACE) outline the long-standing policies of 'de-hospitalization' and rationing of access to care and woefully inadequate care levels in long-term care that disproportionately affect the elderly. COVID-19 has made the effects of these policies starkly evident.
Thousands of elderly patients have been subject to transfers out of hospital often without due regard to their right to consent and care needs. Long-term care residents have been left with horrifically inadequate care and nearly 4,000 long-term care residents – many of whom were not transferred to hospital for care despite being acutely ill — have died. However, the problem of age discrimination in health care predates the current crisis and will persist long after it has passed unless it is addressed on a system-wide basis.
Section 31 of the Human Rights Code affords the Commission the power to conduct an inquiry for the purpose of carrying out its functions if it believes it is in the public interest to do so. The Commission's functions include identifying and promoting the elimination of discriminatory practices. The Commission has recently convened inquiries to address racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service and human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities. The OHC, OCHU and ACE are calling on the Commission to use its powers, resources and expertise to similarly address age discrimination in health care.
Ontario has cut 20,000 hospital beds in the last 30 years. It now has the fewest beds per capita of any province in Canada. During this same period, Ontario's population grew by 4 million people and aged – with a large increase in those over age 65. Ontario's long-term care capacity is 2nd lowest in Canada and waiting lists are interminable. It has become normalized to treat older Ontarians in hospital alternate level of care (ALC) beds as "bed blockers", although studies show that a significant percentage actually require ongoing hospitalization.
How successive provincial government governments managed health care demands, coupled with a dramatic reduction in capacity – the OHC, CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), and ACE – charge, was by denying essential care to the elderly, something the groups see as unethical, discriminatory and wrong.
Provincial health policy choices have resulted in the wait lists for long-term care homes exceeding 38,000 people and wait times ranging up to 3 – 5 years in most regions with the longest more than 8 years. In Toronto alone provincial health policy choices have resulted in chronically overcrowded hospitals across the city, offloading of patients to retirement homes and transitional care facilities; and long-term care wait lists that range up to 6.2 years (2,260 days).
The OHC CUPE and ACE are also calling on the Ontario government to immediately correct the legacies of discriminatory policies in health care, of which it is by no means the sole author.
Specifically, they ask the provincial government to:
1. Commit that everyone will have access to the hospital and long-term care or they require, free from discrimination based on age
2. Prohibit the transfer of Alternate Level of Care patients who are awaiting hospital care to non-hospital facilities.
3. Ensure that Alternate Level of Care patients who are awaiting placement in a long-term care home to facilities are not coerced to go to facilities that are not long-term care homes.
4. Restore the capacity needed to meet the demographic health care challenges we face in the short term by:
– Restoring hospital capacity by re-opening and staffing closed beds
– Building 50,000 public, not-for-profit long-term care beds
– Hiring 34,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) long-term care staff (including RN, RPN, PSWs) fast tracking that hiring wherever possible
5. Provide emergency aid and funding to public hospitals.
The OHC, CUPE and ACE are also calling on the federal government to increase its share of health care funding to support these vital services.
"Successive Ontario governments' policy choices have resulted in the most radical hospital downsizing in Canada and woefully inadequate long-term care. The pandemic has laid bare for all to see the human suffering that is the consequence of these policy choices. After years of advocating for urgently needed changes that have not happened, we are requesting an inquiry into the violation of fundamental human rights of the elderly. We demand our provincial government take seriously the suffering of the elderly and take action to provide safety, dignity and care."Natalie Mehra, Director, Ontario Health Coalition (OHC)
"As the Ontario population has grown and aged, health care costs are restrained by denying essential health care services to the elderly. At no time has this been more starkly apparent than during the pandemic, when thousands of critically ill residents were not transferred to hospitals and left to die in long-term care. But the ugly truth is that every day the elderly are turned away, pushed out or deprived of access to health care because it is being rationed. We deplore this discrimination in the provision of health care services on the basis of age and demand that the government act to bring it to an end." Michael Hurley, President Ontario Council of Hospital (OCHU/CUPE)
"Ontario's seniors have borne the brunt of Ontario's lack of health care planning, by denying seniors care and services based solely on their age. Seniors who require long-term care admission are systematically lied to when it comes to their choices, forced into for-profit and unregulated facilities, when they are not only legally entitled to, but very much require, publicly funded hospital or long-term care. COVID-19 has simply drawn open the curtain on the age discrimination that exists in our healthcare system. We demand that this stop now." Jane E. Meadus, Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE)


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Euro area's inflation hits highest level in 25 yrs
Brussels, Jan 8 (IANS) Inflation in the eurozone hit a new record of 5 per cent in December 2021, the highest level since recordkeeping began in 1997, the European Union's statistical arm Eurostat said.
Preliminary data from Eurostat on Friday revealed shows that the latest figure broke the record of 4.9 per cent set in November, reports Xinhua news agency.
The increase was mainly driven by the spike in energy costs, which shot up again in December, jumping at an annual rate of 26 per cent. However, that was somewhat lower than the previous month.
A sharp rise in the cost of food, alcohol and tobacco contributed to the overall increase in inflation, picking up pace to 3.2 per cent. This was higher than the 2.2 per cent rate posted in November.
Non-energy industrial goods saw prices increasing by 2.9 per cent (compared with 2.4 per cent in November), while the cost of services decreased to 2.4 per cent from 2.7 per cent in November.
Among the countries which saw steep increases in inflation were Estonia, with the highest rate at 12 per cent, followed by Lithuania with 10.7 per cent and Latvia with 7.7 per cent.
Spain posted an inflation rate of 6.7 per cent, while Germany had a rate of 5.7 per cent.
The smallest price increases were in Malta (2.6 per cent) and Finland (3.2 per cent).
These figures are well above the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of 2 per cent inflation in the euro area. However, ECB said this inflation is transitory and should decrease in 2023, after peaking in 2022.
According to ING expert Bert Colijn, eurozone inflation is actually at its highest since 1985.
Real wages remain under pressure, he said, as second-round effects from high inflation on wage growth remain mostly absent.
This dampens GDP growth somewhat, but also means that the European Central Bank still has time to see how quickly the current supply-side inflation declines over the course of the year before deciding on further action.


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LAST CHANCE RIDE:
Looking to explore historic ghost towns? Here's your opportunity to explore some of the richest historic ghost towns in Placer County. Michigan Bluff to Last Chance Dual Sport Adventure, explores remote dirt mining roads and single-lane forest service roads to remote historic ghost towns from the early days of the California Gold Rush. This dual sport adventure ride begins in the city of Folsom on the edge of Sierra Nevada foothills and ventures east into the scenic American River Canyon in search of one of the most historic mining routes and one of only a few toll-tails in the state of California.
Riders will have the opportunity to explore historic town sites and historic cemeteries of Michigan Bluff, Deadwood and Last Chance. Riders will also experience rugged canyon views fun single-lane forest service roads and remote dirt mining roads through thick pine forest in search of historic ghost towns. Michigan Bluff to Last Chance Trail, was built in 1850 and later became a maintained toll-trail and one of only a few toll trails in the state. As early as 1850 pack-trains carried supplies up and down the rugged trail connecting the historic mining camps of Michigan Bluff, Deadwood, and Last Chance. Michigan Bluff the town, first settled in 1850, was originally known as Michigan City. In 1858 the land began to slide into the river, so the town was moved higher up on the mountain side and became Michigan Bluff. Hydraulic mining began here in 1853, and the district soon became highly productive. During the middle and late 1850s, the gold output averaged $100,000 per month. Leland Stanford, Governor of California and one of the builders of the Central Pacific Railroad, operated a store here from 1853 to 1855. His old home still stands.
Activity in the area declined during the 1870s, but some work continued intermittently through the early 1900s and again in the 1930s. Much of the region was devastated by fire in 1960. Deadwood was founded in 1852 when gold was found in the area. It had 500 people living there in its heyday. Deadwood was also for a time the home of gun maker Sam Colt. Deadwood was in a decline by 1855, although mining with moderate returns was carried on in the vicinity for many years. The town of Deadwood is situated upon a high narrow ridge of land, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the eastern part of Placer County, between El Dorado Canon on the north, and the north fork of the Middle Fork of the American River on the south-east, at an altitude of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Last Chance is situated high up in the mountains, on a ridge south of the main branch of the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American river, at an altitude of nearly five thousand feet. Diggings were discovered in the canons and gulches in the section of country in which Last Chance is situated, in the spring of 1850, but there was no permanent settlement made there until 1852.
The general topography of the country is of the roughest description; the hills being precipitous, with here and there a large space of nothing in sight but bluff rocks, with scrub timber or chaparral growing out of the crevices. High on the ridge is the Last Chance cemetery which became the final resting place for some of the survivors of the historic Donner party. Gold was discovered in the Last Chance diggings by a mere accident; the singularity of which is worth recording. A party of prospectors had en-camped upon a small stream near where the town now stands, and having fire-arms with them, one or more of the party were generally sent out each day to hunt, and thus keep the party in meat, the balance of the company being engaged during the day in examining the gulches, ravines and canons, and prospecting for gold. After being upon the ridge for several days, and they want of success having discouraged them, they were about to break up their camp and return to Bird's Valley, from whence they had set out on the tour, one of them remarking that that ìwas the last chance they would have to find gold on the west slope of the mountains, for they were so near the summit, he thought if they went further up they would have to pass over to the eastern side of the mountains before they could find any more auriferous soil. While this counsel was being held, one of the hunters, on his return to camp, and but a few hundred yards distant from it, finding a flock of grouse, fired at and killed one, which had taken refuge in a tall pine. The bird fell to the ground at the crack of the hunterís rifle, who after re-loading his piece, proceeded to bag his game. On reaching the place where the bird lay be discovered that in its dying struggles it had scratched away the leaves, leaving the ground bare. In stooping down to pick up the bird he noticed a rock which drew his attention, and picking it up, on examination, discovered that it contained gold. He proceeded to the camp to report to his companions the success with which he had met, when, remembering the remark of one of the party who was in a most desponding mood during the consultation, they agreed to call the place Last Chance.
RIDE DETAILS:
Single-Day Ride (20 rider max)
This dual sport adventure ride is perfect for medium to large dual sport adventure bikes.
Off-road terrain is rated "mild to moderate" with some challenging and lots of adventure.
Ride distance: 200+ miles round trip (75+ miles dirt roads)
One gas stop (125 mile range required)
Bring water & lunch
MEETING TIME: 9:00 am
MEETING LOCATION: Folsom Starbucks
195 Placerville Road Folsom CA 95630
Ride returns to Folsom CA (approx 5pm)
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Reading returned to winning ways this afternoon thanks to a different line-up and a star performance from Sammy Igoe who returned to the starting eleven. Igoe created both Reading's goal in a superb performance in which the whole team played well to deservedly take the full three points and move back into the First Division play-off positions. Butler and Cureton were the starting two up front with Tyson and Igoe put in the team to play on the wings - and the result was a much more positive attacking Reading side. The Royals took an early lead when Igoe did all the hard work to cross to Tyson who took it well. Igoe handled the ball in the area to allow Derby to pull level a couple of minutes later from the penalty spot. Reading continued to look the more likely side, but needed a late winner and a mistake from the Derby keeper to win the match. Igoe passed to Salako who crossed to the right, Newman knocked the ball back across and the keeper failed to hold it. Cureton made no mistake to blast the ball home from close range and make it 2-1 in the dying minutes.
Another club leap-frogged Reading in the table on Boxing Day to push Reading out of the play-off positions and into seventh place in the First Division table. Coventry were the latest side to defeat Reading by two goals to nil to increase Reading's run of 0-2 defeats to three straight league games. The Royals were once again second best against a Coventry side that enjoyed most of the game in front of their home fans. Reading struggled to create many opportunities up front with the unusual pairing of Hughes and Cureton, with Forster out injured. Brown made his Reading debut in the centre of defence, and despite a good showing, was unable to keep City out as they continued to look dangerous coming forward. Coventry took the lead just before the half time break when a cross from the left was headed home past Hahnemann. City extended their lead after the break with a superb solo goal that left the Reading defence standing and was finished with style to earn the three points. Pardew introduced Tyson and Henderson in the second half in an attempt to give Reading something in attack - but we failed to put the Coventry keeper under any pressure in a weak attacking performance.
Reading striker Nicky Forster is expected to be out for two weeks after limping off during the first half of Reading's 0-2 away defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Forster has become a vital player for the Royals this season playing as the only striker in a 4-5-1 formation. The lack of Forster will force Reading manager Alan Pardew into changing the way Reading have been playing after a successful few months with Forster up front by himself. On Saturday Nathan Tyson came off the bench to play up front - but it seems unlikely that he would continue that role and Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler may have the opportunity to renew their partnership up front for the Royals. Forster is expected to miss the Christmas and New Year fixtures with his confirmed hamstring injury.
Reading suffered another Division One defeat this weekend with a conclusive defeat at play-off rivals Nottingham Forest. The home side entirely outplayed Reading throughout the game - and Reading can consider themselves lucky to escape with just the 0-2 lose. The defeat cemented the end of Reading's recent run of good form - the run has suddenly reversed itself with Reading unable to find the net and starting to leak goals. After a run of seven games without conceeding a goal and the departure of Matthew Upson, Reading have let in four in the last two games. The Royals have also failed to find the back of the net in the last three fixtures. Forest got off to an excellent start, putting Reading under instant pressure, and going a goal up after just three minutes. Reading lost possession in midfield and the defence fell to pieces when the ball was crossed from the right and hit home from the middle. Reading managed just a single shot on target during the whole first half when a Salako free-kick was easily saved. Further bad news followed when Nicky Forster limped off during the first half to be replaced by Tyson up front. Tyson worked hard but suffered from lack of service up front. The second half saw Reading struggle to make any impression on the game with Forest in full control as they always looked likely to extend their lead. It was 0-2 with 67 minutes on the clock and all over for Reading who failed to find a single meaningful shot during the entire second half.
Reading have filled the gap in the squad left by the departure of loan player Matthew Upson by completing the signing of Charlton's Steve Brown today. Central defender Brown signs on a free transfer with a contract that will keep him at Reading until the end of the 2004/2005 season. Thirty year old Brown has been at Charlton for the entire of his professional career - he signed a professional contract in 1990 after joining the club as a trainee. Brown is well known by Reading manager Alan Pardew as the two were former team mates during Pardew's Charlton playing days. Brown has played Premiership football with Charlton and made approaching 300 appearances for the side (including well over 200 starts) before signing for the Royals. He also managed to score 11 goals during his career with the Addicks. Brown started the season making appearances in the Premiership before getting edged out of the starting line-up in favour of players brought in to strengthen the squad. His last appearance was during September 2002 when he came off the bench during a 2-0 away defeat at Aston Villa. Brown will be available for immediate selection and could appear on Saturday as the Royals travel to Nottingham Forest for the First Division fixture.
John Mackie has publically apologised for his comments made to Sheffield United's Carl Asaba following Saturday's 0-2 home defeat. Mackie admitted that he launched a verbal attack on Asaba after the game - an attack that included racial abuse in the heat of the moment. In a press conference held this morning at the club Mackie was flanked by John Salako and Tony Rougier as he read a statement that concluded he regretted his comments and was taking a two week wage fine that will be given to the Kick Racism Out of Football campaign. The action follows Sheffield United's statement yesterday that they were reporting Mackie to the FA and the PFA. The fine should allow Mackie to continue in the centre of defence without the risk of being dropped, which is good news for the team after Upson returned to Arsenal last week. Hopefully Mackie has learnt his lesson and can continue in the professional light in which he was regarded prior to his outburst at the weekend.
Reading defender John Mackie has been reported to the FA by Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock after incidents during and after the Royals 0-2 home defeat on Saturday. Mackie was called straight into the Reading side after Matthew Upson returned to Arsenal at the end of his loan period. Mackie had an excellent first half, despite his recent lack of first team action, before Reading's defence crumbled in the second half under pressure from the visitors. United are claiming that Mackie directed racial abuse towards ex-Reading player Carl Asaba after the game. The players appeared to clash in the tunnel at full time following an earlier incident between the players on the pitch when Asaba appeared to elbow Mackie in the head. Perhaps Mackie was unable to control his reaction to the incident after the game - but it would be no suprise to hear from Mackie that the incident went both ways.
Reading's unbeaten run finally came to an end today with a home defeat against play-off rivals Sheffield United at the Madejski Stadium. United won the match with the first goals scored against the Royals in well over 700 minutes of First Division football. After Reading's defence was finally beaten on the hour, the visitors sealed the win with a simple goal, with fifteen minutes left to play, when a cross provided a free header that was well taken, making it 0-2. The defence would be disappointed with their second half performance but Reading defended well during the first half but struggled against a well organised Sheffield United. Reading failed to find any space coming forward and passes failed to find their targets as chances were very few and far between. Reading improved at the start of the second half with a Hughes header and a Forster effort just wide - but couldn't respond to United taking the lead. Pardew put Butler and Cureton on in an attempt to get into the game but Reading were caught on the break as United continued to look by far the more dangerous side.
Reading have been matched against First Division rivals Walsall in the draw for the third round of the FA Cup made today. Earlier this season Reading managed a 2-0 victory at the Bescot Stadium with two goals from Andy Hughes - something we'll be hoping to repeat after getting drawn away. The game will take place in Walsall on Saturday 4 January 2003 - just 14 days before Walsall are due to visit the Madejski Stadium for the return league fixture. The last time the two sides met in the FA Cup was in 1951 when Reading were 1-0 winners at Elm Park.
Reading completed another league fixture without conceeding a goal this afternoon and extended the perfect defensive record to seven games, as Matthew Upson played his last game on loan for the Royals. But the clean sheet wasn't enough to earn a victory as the winning run finally come to an end with league leaders Portmouth claiming a point in a 0-0 draw at the Madejski Stadium. The biggest crowd ever to watch Reading play at the Madejski, a huge 23,462, was treated to a lively fixture between two sides determined to play football. Although the game turned scrappy at times, and wasn't blessed with a massive amount of chances, it was good entertainment for a sold out Madejski Stadium, as Reading put in another solid Division One performance. Reading had the better chances overall and could well have taken the lead during the last ten minutes of the first half when they controlled the game with Forster and Harper both coming close to finding the net. Hislop needed to pull off an excellent save to keep the scores level, while Hahnemann wasn't troubled down the other end with a series of weak Portsmouth free-kicks. The second half saw fewer chances despite Reading ending the game with Forster, Cureton and Butler all on the pitch as they attempted to find the late winner. In the end it was a good point for both sides but Reading may consider themselves unlucky not to take the full three points.
Saturday's top of the table clash against Portsmouth at the Madejski Stadium has nearly entirely sold out. There are now just a handful of tickets available for the Upper West stand which are expected to sell out today. Portsmouth sold out their full allocation early last week to make sure that Saturday should see a full house at the Madejski and perhaps the Stadium's biggest ever attendance watching the Royals. Reading will be looking to extend their run of wins to seven straight games, meanwhile Portsmouth will be on the hunt for their fifth consecutive victory to extend their lead at the top of the First Division table. Game, and atmosphere, of the season so far is expected.
As expected, and rightly so, Alan Pardew has picked up the November Nationwide Manager of the Month award for Division One. The award comes after an amazing month for the Royals under Pardew's management, which has seen us take five wins from five during the month without letting a single goal in. Reading started the month in tenth place and finished the month well inside the play-off positions after climbing to fifth in the table. Reading top the form table in the Division with table toppers Portsmouth the only side close to matching Reading's recent unbeatable form. Reading's defensive record remains the best in the Division with just 14 goals conceeded in twenty league fixtures. Saturday sees the Division's two most in form sides clash at the Madejski Stadium as Portsmouth visit with Reading looking to make it seven straight wins.
Alan Pardew successfully completed a perfect November for Reading Football Club this afternoon with yet another 1-0 away victory, to cement Reading's position in the First Division play-off places. This latest win, which puts Pardew as firm favourite for manager of the month, made it six straight wins from six league fixtures - without conceeding a single goal in the process. Five of the run have come in November - and three of them have been away from home. It's an amazing run of form. Brighton were the latest team to find no way past Reading's unbeatable defence after John Salako scored Reading's only goal mid-way through the first half.
Reading extended their amazing First Divsion record this season last night with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. We're starting to get all too used to winning - and what a superb feeling it is. This latest victory made it our fifth straight win without letting a goal in - and made it eight league victories from ten fixtures. It really is championship winning form - and with nineteen games of the season played Reading are now riding high in fourth place in the table with the best defensive record in the Division. With only four teams in action last night, Reading leapt above Sheffield United, Wolves, and Nottingham Forest - and we still have a game in hand over the three teams above us. Palace, who had previously lost just four league fixtures all season, we're beaten by a Nicky Forster goal after 39 minutes after the striker made an impressive return from injury to start the game. Forster's low shot from the edge of the box was a rare chance during the first half for the Royals who looked well organised against a Palace side that were restricted to long range efforts. The second half saw another excellent performance from Hahnemann in the Reading goal as Reading held on to the single goal lead.
Martin Butler and Jamie Cureton are set to continue up front tonight as the Royals travel to Crystal Palace for the re-arranged league fixture. Nicky Forster has recovered from a knee problem and could start - but he seems likely to being on the bench with Butler and Cureton keeping their place in a possible 4-4-2 line-up. Ricky Newman will also be available for selection as he returns from his one game ban that saw him left out of action during Saturday's 1-0 home win over Watford. Reading remain the most in-form side in the First Division, however Palace have only lost four league fixtures all season long compared to Reading's six.
On-loan player Matthew Upson may be set to return to Arsenal before the end of his loan period. Arsenal are set to be without Sol Campbell who picks up a two game suspension and still have Martin Keown sidelined through injury. Meanwhile, it could be argued that Upson is in far better form than current Arsenal first choice Pascal Cygan. Rumour has it that Wenger may bring back Upson, who has made over 20 premiership starts for Arsenal in the past, to provide cover for his missing players. Upson has been superb during his time at Reading - making ten league starts and turning Reading's defensive record to the best in the Division.
Reading made it a stunning seven wins from nine league fixtures at the weekend with a 1-0 home victory over Watford. The game saw the Royals fourth straight win without conceeding a goal - and they had Marcus Hahnemann in goal to thank for that, after another excellent performance. Hahnemann saved a powerful first half penalty after Upson handled in the area and he dominated the Reading area as Watford threatened to take the lead. Reading's winner came on the hour after Watson eventually found the back of the net with his fourth or fifth long range effort of the game. His other attempts all flew high or wide or both - but this one found a Watford defender and deflected into the back of the net. Reading increased the pressure and saw Butler hit the crossbar after a period of pressure inside the Watford area, but the single goal was enough to win it.
With Christmas 2002 coming up, the full range of URZ products has now been reduced to provide a range of inexpensive stocking fillers! The URZ Promotion t-shirt is now available at half price - selling at just �4 per t-shirt. All hats and caps have also been reduced and are just �4 per item. Orders placed now will be delivered well before Christmas. The purchase of any of these URZ products will automatically give financial support to our very own Reading FC Academy - the price of any of these products includes a cash donation to the Academy.
Reading are expecting the biggest home crowd of the season, and one of the Madejski Stadium's biggest gates, on Saturday 7 December when Portsmouth visit the Royals. The game is perhaps the biggest local derby for Reading this season and is sure to pull a huge crowd with Portsmouth currently seven points clear at the top of the table and Reading being in excellent recent form. Portsmouth have already fully sold out their allocation for the game ensuring a full away end. The game has been made all-ticket, with all stands reserved seating, and will kick-off at the earlier time of 12 noon on police advice. Reading's biggest home attendance so far this season was the 19,524 that saw the Royals stuff Ipswich Town 3-1 in October.
Adrian Williams has been called into the Welsh International squad after a player was forced to drop out giving Williams the chance to add to his total of twelve caps for Wales. The last time Williams appeared for his country was in 2000, and he will be hoping to keep his place in the squad after recent improvements in his club performances. Wales face Azerbaijan in their European qualifying group on Wednesday having already won their opening two games so far (against Finland and an impressive home win over Italy).
Reading's game against Sheffield United, at Bramall Lane, was called off just an hour before kick-off this afternoon. A 2pm pitch inspection declared the pitch waterlogged - much to the massive disappointment of the travelling Reading team and supporters that had already arrived in Sheffield. There were huge question marks over the late postponement - and it was hard to imagine that the pitch really was unplayable with all other games in the area taking place. If the pitch really was flooded then the game should surely have been called off earlier and Sheffield United need to look seriously at their drainage. It was a normal wet November day and as we began our walk to the ground after parking up it had already stopped raining, making it a real shock to hear the game was off. Although Reading missed out on the chance to continue their excellent run of form, the Royals sunk just one place in the table as Wolves jumped to sixth place on goal difference. Reading are now seventh in the table but have two games in hand over the majority of the rest of the Division. Rather than simply turn around and drive another three and a half hours back to Reading we burnt it over to Millmoor to watch Rotherham take on Burnley - on a pitch in excellent condition despite being just ten miles away from the "flooded" Bramall Lane. The game was an interesting investigation into the teams just below Reading in the table - and gave us massive confidence that we'll be above both these sides come the end of the season.
Reading moved into the Division One play-off positions this weekend with yet another league victory - winning 1-0 away at Gillingham. The win was Reading's sixth win in eight fixtures - and our third consecutive win without conceeding a goal. Reading's sixth place in the table is the highest we've been all season and is a massive achievement when you consider the positions of Stoke City (22nd) and Brighton (24th) who were also promoted from Division Two last season. Tony Rougier scored the only goal of the game at Gillingham with less than ten minutes left to play when Nicky Forster provided the cross which gave Rougier a simple finish six yards out from goal. Rougier's fifth Reading career goal was enough to win a fairly even encounter in which Reading's defence held out well against a few periods of Gillingham pressure. Reading, the most in form side in the Division, travel to Sheffield United next Saturday in what could now be considered a promotion clash.
Reading made it five wins from seven league fixtures this afternoon with a 2-0 victory over Millwall at the Madejski Stadium in front of just over thirteen thousand fans. The Royals put in another excellent performance to pull off another home victory and keep yet another clean sheet. Reading's defence looked solid throughout with Upson having perhaps his best game yet for the Royals. A packed Reading midfield allowed the Royals to prevent many dangerous Millwall attacks, and Nicky Forster again worked hard up front. Forster put Reading ahead after just five minutes when he headed home an excellent James Harper cross. Forster had other chances to increase the lead in the first half before Millwall enjoyed a better second half as Reading failed to finish them off. However, Andy Hughes put the result beyond any doubt in injury time with a great finish and matching goal celebration after a well worked free-kick.
Nicky Shorey popped up to score his first ever league football goal and earn the full three points for the Royals at the Madejski Stadium tonight. The only goal of the game came deep within the second half with Reading desperately trying to find the net to grab the victory they deserved against a poor Bradford City side. After a scrappy start Reading settled down to create a whole series of chances for Nicky Forster up front. Forster lacked the support and failed to find the net despite a series of shots across goal and a couple of efforts that were saved by the keeper. Forster earnt a penalty in the second half but his bad luck continued with the keeper pulling off a great save from the resulting spot-kick. Butler had a chance to put Reading ahead before Shorey eventually came to the rescue - scoring from his second chance after continued Reading pressure. Bradford went close in the dying minutes as Reading held on to the slim victory that took them back to tenth in the first Division table.
Reading will be looking to bounce back from Saturday's 0-1 away defeat at Preston, with the visit of Bradford City to the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off). Reading went down to a single Preston goal midway through the first half on Saturday, that was scored against the run of play with Reading getting off to a decent start. Despite the goal Reading still looked likely to take something from the game against a very average Preston side, but failed to take hold of the game in the second half. Reading appeared to run out of ideas to break Preston down and fizzled out towards the end. Despite the defeat Reading remain in the top half of the table. Meanwhile, Bradford City managed a 2-1 home win over Norwich to go just a single place in the table behind the Royals. The game is now a real mid-table fixture - but with the home advantage Reading should be looking for the full three points to cement a place in the top half of Division One.
As expected, the Division One home fixture against Millwall has been made all ticket to prevent travelling fans from picking up tickets on the day. No tickets will be available to buy on the day of the game - so you must remember to buy your ticket in advance from the Madejski Stadium ticket office. The match takes place at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday 2 November and will also kick-off at the earlier time of 12 noon after police advice, to ensure that the game finishes in daylight.
Anthony Rougier has been ruled out for approximately two weeks after confirmation he broke a toe during Saturday's 3-1 victory over Ipswich Town. Rougier limped off during the second half after spending a good five minutes gesturing to the bench that he couldn't continue. Rougier's injury was allegedly caused after an Ipswich player "stamped" on his right foot. Scans performed this morning confirmed the injury, although the club are confident on a quick recovery. The injury remains a big blow for Rougier who had managed to earn himself a regular place in the starting eleven, and after finding the net during Reading's 1-1 draw against Stoke City last month. Rougier seems likely to miss Saturday's trip to Preston North End as Reading hope to continue their excellent league form.
Reading over-powered Ipswich Town at the Madejski Stadium this afternoon in front of a huge crowd of nearly 20,000 - and had Nicky Forster to thank for three goals that earnt the victory. Reading's 3-1 win, against a side that were in the Premiership last season, cemented tenth place in the table for the Royals and made it four straight games unbeaten in the league. During a relatively even first half Reading went ahead just before the half hour when Forster put his head on a free kick at the far post to make it 1-0. Forster doubled the lead five minutes before the break with a fantastic goal from well outside the area wide on the right. His shot from distance flew across the face of the goal, beat the keeper, and powered into the far side of the net. Down the other end Marcus Hahnemann, back in goal for Reading, made a string of excellent saves to keep Reading ahead. Ipswich pulled one back in the second half from a free-kick but lost the game on 67 minutes when they were rightly reduced to ten men when Counago appeared to punch Adrian Williams. The rest of the game belonged to Reading who looked by far the better side, taking full advantage of the extra man. Forster wrapped up his hat-trick, and the win for Reading, with twenty minutes left to play when his pace cleared the defence and he broke into the area to score from the right. Reading were happy to play the ball around with time running out with Ipswich a well beaten side. This was an excellent win in front of a big crowd and Reading's season continues to go from strength to strength.
Reading stayed in the top ten in the First Division today - despite the game against Crystal Palace being called off due to Palace's international call-ups. Six games in the Division did go ahead, which saw wins for Burnley, Watford, and managerless Ipswich Town - who the Royals face next week at the Madejski Stadium. Millwall remain in the bottom five in the Division after only managing a draw at home against fellow strugglers Wimbledon. The Royals now have a game in hand over a selection of teams in the Division and remain in the top half of the table with a quarter of the season already behind us.
Adrian Viveash's talks with Oxford United about a permanent move have "been going on all week" according to the Third Division club. Oxford are keen to bring Viveash back to the Kassam Stadium for at least an extended loan period - and were hoping to extend the loan to enable Viveash to stay on after his loan period ended last weekend. Viveash is contracted to the Royals until the end of the season and Reading may wish Viveash to remain under that contract. As it turns out Viveash is extremely unlikely to play for Oxford in their game this weekend after returning to Reading during the week. Viveash played eight straight games for Oxford including their League Cup victory over Premiership Charlton at The Valley.
Reading manager Alan Pardew has claimed that midfielder Andy Hughes is a man wanted by at least half the Premiership, after his recent impressive performances for the Royals. Rumour has it that there were 10 Premiership scouts at Grimsby on Saturday watching Andy Hughes as he played a big part in Reading's 3-0 away victory. Hughes had another excellent game with a superb goal, after running through from the middle of the field, that put Reading on their way to picking up the three points. The rumours have been enough to link Hughes with West Ham United, Charlton and Aston Villa. It is very unlikely that Reading have received any potential offers leading Pardew to state that Hughes is definately not going anywhere.
Reading pulled off an excellent 3-0 away victory this afternoon to topple Grimsby Town at Blundell Park and leap-frog Derby County to go ninth in the First Division table. Reading's excellent recent away from continued as Reading knocked up their third away victory of the season with a solid performance. The result seemed never in doubt with Reading getting stuck right into the game and outplaying the home side during the opening 45 minutes. Reading, who reverted to a 4-5-1 formation, went 1-0 up after just 13 minutes when Hughes ran through the middle and put the ball under the goalkeeper. The lively Nicky Forster, playing up front, made it 2-0 with 32 minutes on the clock when he took the ball round a defender and past the keeper before putting it into the back of the net. Grimsby enjoyed a better game in the second half but still failed to trouble the Reading defence. Reading sealed the win with a bizarre goal with the final piece of action of the game. Henderson was tackled just inside the Grimsby half and the ball flew off the defender and looped all the way into the back of the net flying over a confused Grimsby keeper. It was an amazing freak goal that gave Reading a superb away victory.
Third Division Oxford United are aiming to complete the permanent signing of Adrian Viveash next week when his loan period comes to an end at the club. Viveash has made seven starts for Oxford since joining on a months loan - five of those games coming in the league. Adrian has impressed throughout, and is certain to start tomorrow for his final game on loan as Oxford take on Scunthorpe. The Oxford manager has stated that Viveash has been "excellent" and that the club would "love to make the move permanent". It remains to be seen if Reading would be interested in disposing of Viveash's services. However, the full signing of Matthew Upson from Arsenal could signal the completion of Viveash's move to the inferior Thames Valley side.
Despite some doubt over the appearance of Marcus Hahnemann for the trip to Grimsby tomorrow, the American keeper remains confident he should make a start. Hahnemann has been struggling this week with an injury to his calf muscle - but it's not too serious and Marcus hopes to shake it off in time for the trip up North against the side just a place off the bottom of the Division. If Hahnemann does fail his late fitness test, Reading could see the appearance of Ashdown between the sticks after his return from loan at Bournemouth. Meanwhile, Mackie is out suspended which means Nicky Shorey should get a recall to the starting eleven as Reading revert to the 4-4-2 formation. Reading will be looking to take at least a point from Grimsby. The last time the two sides met was in the 1996/1997 season when Reading managed a point at home but went down 0-2 at Blundell park.
Reading's trip to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday 12 October, has been called off due to Palace's international call-ups. The game will now kick-off on Tuesday 26 November with an 8pm kick off.
"The Whiff is obviously a satirical magazine, intended to amuse not offend. If swearing and general piss taking are not to your liking, don't buy it. Similarly, if you don't think it's funny, well written, interesting etc then don't buy it. Every national newspaper now prints swear words in full but you're not forced to buy them. Personally, I thought the most offensive headline this weekend was about John Major shagging Edwina Currie but I didn't demand that all newspapers were removed from sale."
"Contrary to what some people seem to think, the Whiff is not a huge money making scam. Any profit we do make goes back to the club when we sponsor a match ball or something similar. We can certainly ill afford to lose �300 and I guess if we are prosecuted, we'll call it a day. I've got better things to do with my time than be taken to court because someone doesn't agree with my sense of humour."


Sender Policy Framework, also abbreviated as SPF. SPF is a framework designed to prevent email phishing/forgery. With SPF, if a spammer attempts to send emails with a faked "from" address, the message will be rejected by mail servers that use SPF verification.
An SPF record is a single TXT entry in the DNS for each domain. This TXT record contains information such as the mail server's outgoing IP address, which can be used to verify the authenticity of the email messages that claims to come from the domain name in question. If the email message comes from an IP that is different from what is specified in the SPF record, it will be rejected.
Hard fail – This means that if the sending server is not on the allowed list then we want the receiving server to not accept the message at all.
Soft fail – The receiving server would then usually accept the message but tag it as 'suspicious' and warn the recipient.
By default, CPanel will create SPF records when an account or domain is added. But, when there is migration involved, SPF record need to be edited to tally with the new server or email will start getting bounced back.
Where 1.1.1.1 is your mail server's outgoing IP address.
4. Kindly allow at least 24 hours to verify whether the records propagated successfully or not.
6. Below is an example SPF records that propagated for our domain.


Coming from Munich: A12 motorway via Kufstein, exit (toll road) Hall West. At the roundabout make a left towards Thaur.
From Munich via Kufstein to Innsbruck. Take bus D or E to Hotel Stangl in Thaur. Taxi: approx. EUR 30 for 1-2 persons.
Munich airport: 200km From there you can take an airport taxi (booking required). Cost: approx. EUR 40 per person (one way) Salzburg airport: 180km Innsbruck airport: 15km From the airport Innsbruck you can take the bus line F. Get off at Marktplatz bus stop and change to line D/E.


This vintage Talavera pottery trinket box is not too big and not too small and super lovely. It has a simple design, the golden yellow large sunflowers against a dark blue background. Wonderful for holding jewelry, or possibly supplies like paper clips. Because sometimes it just feels good to hold your most utilitarian items in a most lovely box.
Measures about 5" in diameter by just over 2-1/2" tall. No chips nor cracks. In good condition.


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Fintech is on the fast track but so is cybercrime
Back to Opinion and Analysis
By Kirsten Kern,Matthew Purchase Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Bitcoin is now worth more than gold, and internet banking and mobile money usage globally has rocketed by 34% in the past six years. One thing has outpaced this growth, however: the rate of online fraud.
"Cyber fraud is growing even faster than the move to digital. According to the FBI, losses from online fraud have grown by around 55%," said Matthew Purchase, partner at pan-African law firm Bowmans. "United Kingdom crime statistics show that one in 10 people in the UK have been affected by online fraud, which is now the most common crime in the UK."
South Africans were just as vulnerable to cybercrime - if not even more so, he said during a session on Fintech risks and fallout at the "Fintech in Africa: unpacking risk and regulation" conference held at Bowmans in Johannesburg in May 2017.
While the tone of the conference was generally upbeat, with speakers expressing excitement about the possibilities Fintech opens up for Africa, Purchase warned of the increased fraud risks for both businesses and consumers arising from, among other things, the rapid pace of innovation, the demands for immediate transaction settlement, and the challenges around customer verification in the Fintech space.
Almost 9 million South Africans affected
"The same online fraud trends we are seeing in the US and UK are applicable in South Africa and Africa, and some aspects are exacerbated."
He referred to the findings of the Norton Cyber Security Insights report for 2016, which showed that cybercrime had affected 8.8 million South Africans in the past year and was costing the economy an estimated ZAR 3 billion a year.
The statistics are even worse for Africa as a whole, with 67% of Africans surveyed saying they had been affected by online fraud. "In Africa, a number of jurisdictions have leapfrogged landline and gone straight to digital," Purchase said, adding that the digital revolution had largely taken place in a regulatory vacuum.
"In South Africa, we don't yet have the legislative framework to deal with cybercrime. We have the Cyber Crime and Security Bill but it is not yet in effect. But dealing with cybercrime is not only about the legislative framework; it is also about capacitation and implementation," he said, referring to the gap between South Africa's anti-corruption law and the difficulty of effective enforcement in practice.
Cybercrime was being launched on a wide front, with many prevalent "species" of online fraud occurring, including identity theft, phishing, vishing, hacking, malware, SIM swops and data breaches - it is estimated that one in every 200 emails received in South Africa is a phishing attempt. The risk of data theft or loss is also material, Purchase said, and the average loss from an organisational data breach is estimated at ZAR 20 million.
One of the biggest risks facing all companies, large and small, is pressure from consumers for real-time transactions. "This drive creates a very real risk," he said, noting that while traditional fraud is local, slow, methodical and manual, online fraud is "global, real-time, changing and automated".
The risk in real time
Market demand for real-time transactions was also fuelling a proliferation of online lending, bringing with it the prospect of a surge in harmful lending practices, said Kirsten Kern, also a partner at Bowmans.
"But harmful lending in the Fintech space is likely to happen through cutting corners and speeding things up rather than being a case of online lenders not being subject to regulation," she said. "Traditional players argue that Fintech innovators are not subject to the same rules - but that is not entirely correct. If one focuses purely on the act of consumer lending, online lenders are as much bound by the National Credit Act as anyone else."
Problems can occur when shortcuts are taken to save time and improve user experience, such as when conducting compulsory affordability assessments. "Consumers might think online lending is a fast, hassle-free way to borrow money but be unaware of the pitfalls."
Kern referred to a spate of high-profile cases of online lenders falling foul of the authorities in the UK and the US, but pointed out that credit providers in South Africa do not have much leeway in the conduct of affordability assessments. They must adhere to the Affordability Assessment Regulations issued by the National Credit Regulator in 2015.
"The regulations put in place are administratively intensive but serve an important consumer protection ideal. But does this model make sense in a society like South Africa? Are we regulating the consumer out of the market? A lack of access to well-regulated credit can be catastrophic to the most vulnerable members of our society. There is a fine line, a delicate balance, and it may be that the regulator hasn't yet gotten it quite right in spite of its best efforts," she said.
"The South African regulator is not anti-innovation. It is clear that the authorities will continue to scrutinise online lenders and their business models, as they are alive to the fact that corners are often sought to be cut in this space. The National Credit Regulator has long maintained that reckless lending is a major concern, so Fintech lenders will have to be cautious."
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