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Traditional financial institutions, primarily banks, are struggling. Interest rates keep falling, margins are shrinking, and new competitors are waiting in the wings. At the same time, they have to comply with a more stringent regulatory framework. If not, they face huge fines. Does digital transformation offer a way out? BDO specialists Laurent Claassen and Dirk de Hen outline the perspectives.
European banks are not in the best position at present. At the end of 2019, the European Bank Authority sounded the alarm in the report 'Risk Assessment of the European Banking System' which concluded that continual low interest rates are undermining income. Dutch banks have to rely on the wafer-thin profits they make on their mortgage portfolios for a meagre margin. But the concerns go deeper. The very business model of traditional banking is under severe pressure, the EBA said. This is partly due to the emergence of fintech and partly due to alternative sources of finance, such as peer to peer lending, crowdfunding and private equity. In addition, banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financials are confronted with increasing regulatory pressure. They have to automate their compliance more efficiently, be transparent toward the regulators, and take on roles which used to be the domain of national government, such as monitoring and reporting unusual financial transactions. If they don't, they face stiff sanctions. Insurance companies and pension providers have also been charged with better screening their clients.
The turmoil, and on occasion, panic, is made complete by the emergence of new digital technologies. These are making traditional services unnecessary, undermining existing earnings models, and streamlining processes which used to be done by entire departments. Take the digitalisation of credit applications and the onboarding of new clients, for example. Last but not least, the coronavirus crisis has proved to be an additional problem.
Screening clients is not easy
All this raises many questions. Do big players still have a future? What will the digital transformation mean for financials? Little can be done about the macro-economic uncertainty and the arrival of new players. But financials can, or rather, should, be pressing ahead with issues such as screening clients, says Laurent Claassen, a BDO specialist in risk, compliance and anti-money laundering. 'Banks,' he says, 'need to thoroughly screen their clients in the wake of several high-profile money laundering scandals. It is tricky to do, all the more so because different units within the same bank work with different IT systems which are not, or only sparingly, linked. The quality of data which emerges is often insufficient. As a bank, you might have great procedures in place, but if your data is wrong or can't be found, then you still have a problem. Insurers also need to screen their clients properly, but run up against the same problem. But they cannot be seen to facilitate criminals or fraudsters.'
Dirk de Hen, a financial forensic specialist and active in fraud investigations via data analytics, points out that many banks and insurance companies cannot link crucial sources of information in their system. 'Financial service providers are often the result of a string of mergers and acquisitions, which have created a spaghetti network of old and new IT systems which do not communicate with each other,' he says. 'And that makes streamlining investigations a real puzzle.' Currently, he says, it takes a lot of manpower to screen data properly, at a time when financial companies face limits in time, budget and people. The consequence of this, he says, is that you end up treating the symptoms but not the root cause. 'You have to be on your guard against this,' he says. 'You need to really get to grips with the underlying systems and technology.'
Dirk de Hen is a partner at BDO Nederland's Forensics & Technology arm. He specialises in the fields of financial economic crime, fraud, integrity issues and international compliance.
Laurent Claassen is a partner at BDO's Risk Advisory Services and part of the Financial Services team. He has worked in the accountancy and consultancy sector since 1985 and is a specialist in risk, compliance, and AML & sanctions.
Work from a central unit
Financial institutions have been wrestling with complex IT systems for years, and usually try to solve it on a project basis. 'So they take the approach of trying to clear it all up in one go,' says Claassen. 'Everything might seem then to be in order, but that is often not the case. The shortcomings which have been found are not translated into improvements in working methods and in systems. And so every clean-up leads to new shortcomings.' Claassen says he would advise tackling such a project from a central base within the company, one which has oversight of the entire operation, and which can adapt and link systems centrally. 'Big banks are increasingly taking this approach,' he says. 'It takes a considerable amount of investment, but it does show you really mean business. Such a team would include data scientists and data analysts but also legal experts, for example.' Centralisation also allows for easier identity management De Hen adds. 'So a customer would be known purely by a client number, and would not appear under different versions of their name in different systems. You can also get a better picture of family relationships. This is where things often go wrong at the moment.'
'You have to report more often, the reporting process changes and the reports themselves are
more in depth'
Dirk de Hen
Regulators are making increasing demands on financial institutions when it comes to reporting. Not only are reporting requirements getting tougher, but banks and insurance companies have to report to more agencies. Reporting is now done digitally, De Hen says. 'It used to be a question of form-based reporting in which you would combine all the results of your reports into standardised forms and hand these over to the regulators. But they now want to see the underlying data as well. They want to better understand how a bank or insurance company came to a given conclusion. In short, you have to report more often, the reporting process changes and the reports themselves are more in depth.' All this means that if you have not organised your systems and data bases properly, something is bound to go wrong at some point. 'Then you won't be able to make good, complete reports,' says Claassen. 'That is why the big banks in particular have set up special teams to manage regulatory reporting procedures very tightly. If you don't do this, you risk a major fine. And a regulator like the Dutch central bank is very critical of how some financials report.'
Think carefully about your data strategy
Banks and insurance companies feel the need to transform digitally, but what about other financial institutions? 'They do, but to a lesser extent,' says Claassen. 'Pension providers have the same problem. They cannot always get the information requested by regulators out of their systems. In addition, they not only have to screen participants, but the asset managers who carry out the investments on their behalf. This is an enormous task and one which the pension sector is behind in. If you compare them with banks, pension providers have some way to go in terms of using technology and fintech-type solutions.' Current regulatory reporting requirements are forcing the entire financial sector to think long and hard about what data they want to record, which datebases they want to keep it in and how accessible that data should be. 'But approach this in a evolutionary way rather than as a revolution,' says De Hen. 'Some companies are too eager to make use of the newest digital tools and they could end up taking the wrong decisions.'
'Tackle such a project from a central base within the company, one which has
oversight of the entire operation'
Laurent Claassen
Bigtechs have more impact than fintechs Another problem facing financial companies is the rise in competition from fintech and giants such as Apple, Google and Amazon. The arrival of PSD2, the new European directive which allows consumers and companies to decide whether to share their bank details with third parties is an added dimension. 'We have been hearing for years that fintechs are threatening the position of the big banks,' says Claassen. 'But I don't really see this happening in the Netherlands. In practice, most fintechs lack clout, particularly when it comes to access to capital. And in uncertain times like these, clients tend to stick to a traditional bank with an established name.' De Hen sees more potential for companies like Apple, Adyen and Google: 'They have their own payment systems and deep pockets, and they are potentially a far greater threat to traditional banks,' he says. 'Apple Pay is doing well, particularly among young consumers. I think the traditional banks will lose a lot of the payment traffic which they have always facilitated. However, I would note that the bigtechs are not as tight about privacy issues as they should be – and they will have to work on that in the coming years.'
So is it better for traditional financial institutions which have been looking to transform digitally to buy promising fintechs themselves or to organise the process better internally? De Hen believes in the latter approach. 'In that way, you keep your expertise in house. Successful banking innovation almost always happens on the fringes of a company. So make new initiatives and innovative projects part of the company, but don't place them at the heart of the operation – because then you run the risk they will suffocate in a blanket of corporate bureaucracy. ABN Amro has a separate floor for digital projects. The coronavirus crisis, however, has added a new dimension to the mix. What is the impact likely to be on the digital transformation process? 'Most businesses have continued to operate, with staff based at home,' says Claassen. 'At the beginning people were understandably concerned about, for example, data security. But that proved to be unfounded. On balance, the coronavirus crisis will speed up the digitalisation of the financial sector considerably.'
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TIPS
Set priorities when collecting and analysing information to make sure you don't drown in a sea of data.
Involve staff early on in the digital transformation process. Encourage them to share ideas, to win their support, and train them well and in time.
Companies which are digitally future-proof in terms of the finance department, make more attractive employers.
Go digital, but make sure clients still have the option of personal contact with a member of staff to maintain a strong relationship.
Check out bdo.nl/digitaletransformatie Woud you rather talk to someone? Get in touch with Dirk de Hen: dirk.de.hen@bdo.nl Laurent Claassen: laurent.claassen@bdo.nl


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Q: Proper name for a method that sets a property but also sends a request Hopefully, this won't be a silly question.
Assume I have the following model:
var Appointment = Backbone.Model.extend({

  urlRoot: '/appointments',

  defaults: function() {
    return {
      'Date': new Date(),
      'Status': AppointmentStatus.UPCOMING
    };
  }
});

I want to add a method to Appointment that is purely for updating the Status. This method would do the following:
function(newStatus) {
  $.ajax(this.url() + '/status', {
    data: { status: newStatus },
    type: 'POST',
    success: _.bind(function () {
      this.set('Status', newStatus);
    }, this);
  });
}

The difficult part is determining a semantically correct name for this method. Should it be setStatus, updateStatus, or something else? I'd like the name to be easily differentiated from a regular set (which is why setStatus seems wrong).

A: I agree with you, "updateStatus" makes the most sense to me - it more accurately communicates that there is more involved in its operation than just setting a variable somewhere.

A: You said the answer yourself "...purely for updating the Status." It's a silly question but I think you should go ahead with updateStatus.

A: updateStatus more accurately portrays the method than setStatus, especially since it's making an ajax request and all. I would reserve names like setStatus for when you're initializing something.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Silence of the Kashgar Daughters (Txt ver)
See Photos version>>
Anticipation is to Travel what kisses are for Love. One incites and stimulates the other. Travel without Anticipation would be like the dark sky full of black holes. Deeper and longer the anticipation, brighter and colorful would be the resultant journey. And memorable would be those dreams which take years to fulfill. And even more will be those wishes which apparently stand less chance of coming true.
It was over a decade back I had watched a documentary on the western part of the eastern nation which was described as the starting point of the Silk route trading caravans. The colorful markets with angelic-faced men and women in caps. The bi-humped camels and furry sheep and yaks. Ancient antiques and carpets. A multi-bordered province with icy mountains and rhythmic rivers. Races and faces from different branches of Adamic progeny appeared on the screen. Dry fruits and giant-size breads filled their markets.
What would it be like to set foot on that timeless soil where Past and Present played hide and seek from the other? My head lectured on the impossibilities even as my heart whispered about the possibilities. And I knew Truth would finally triumph even if Falsehood would stage its deceptive dance to snare my dream. Heart got its due, but after patiently knocking for more than ten years at Destiny's doors.
When I came to know about the direct flights to this land from my resident hometown, I immediately recalled the eye-candy documentary which had left my senses craving. I immediately kicked off the travel preparations including documentation and building contacts in the host country. It was no breeze business but I was determined to fight all the obstacles.
And in an unusual departure from my previous travels, I decided to take my son along this historic timeline. For, my ambition soared higher than the 3600m altitude of the mountainous province I was about to step on.
We boarded the morning flight with full of vigor and fervor. The flight was filled with those faces similar to those in the documentary. Men with devout beards and head-veiled women with heavily gold-ornamented hands.
The five-hour something journey was indeed long. But how could Time withstand the onslaught of Heart's anticipation? Body and mind follows one time zone. And heart goes by another. Time is a deceptive drink. It tastes differently in different modes of existence. Time above the soil may not be the same below it.
In the middle of my time-fixing thoughts, I was interrupted by the conversation between my son and the flight attendant of Indian origin. Surprised by the only Indian passengers on the flight, he said were the first Indian passengers he's met since the airline began its flight to Urumqi.
At 6pm, I was all set to stand before the Immigration officer at the airport. They looked tough, if not rough, in their olive-green uniforms with the honorary stars and marks blessed by their Red regime. Men and women inspected the newly arrived passengers and probably wondered what were the Indian father and son doing among the Uyghur natives?
The hotel driver received us with a modest name board and drove us smoothly to the residence. En route, I noticed the tri-lingual signboards. Besides, the English and Chinese, it had the Arabic scripted Uyghur as well.
Yes. I was now officially in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous province. The lengthy description of the locality speaks for itself about the sophisticated socio-political complexity of this Chinese-yet-not-so-Chinese land. Though the name is said to be meant 'beautiful pasture' in Mongolian, Urumqi's beauty is today far from being just another steppe land. Towers and bridges, cars and carts, malls and hotels have filled every available inch in this commercial city which was developed since days of Qing Dynasty.
As the largest city in China's western frontier, Urumqi is home to several ethnic groups including Turkic Uyghurs, the Chinese Han, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Mongols, Uzbek and even Russians, besides other Adamic races. Ürümqi is also notoriously known as the farthest city from any sea in the world.
Formerly an unknown province, Urumqi joined the ranks of Genghis Khan band in 1220 and has been subject of love and hate of several tribal and puppet rulers. It is said Sufis were popular among the traditional Muslims here, just as in almost any other lands ruled by Turkic emperors, as was in the case of Muslim India under the Mughals.
Urumqi which is the capital of Xinjiang, which is said to be the largest political subdivision of China and forms a sixth of China's total area. One can then imagine how well China would be fixing its all-seeing eye on this territory even as every land and resource hungry country would be securing its soil.
Xinjiang is blessed with several mountain ranges including the Pamir and Karakoram and borders several adventure and peace loving peoples, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Karakoram Highway, fondly called the KKH, links China's Kashgar with Pakistan's capital city over the Khunjerab Pass.
Rivers here are endorheic in nature. They die prematurely, discontinuing half way without reaching the seas.
Nevertheless I successfully reached the hotel safely for my stopover stay for the next days flight. The driver could not utter a word to my understanding or vice versa in the twenty-something minutes drive from the airport. The hotel staffs were more than friendly and the interiors of the ballroom made me feel if I had stepped into an Islamic land. Fountains and domes, pillars and cushions, everything there was of Turkic-Persian influence. White marble adorned with Golden metallic fixtures? It looked like a tomb of a wannabe Chinese Mumtaz Mahal, the lady love of emperor Shajahan for whom the magnificent structure was erected, leaving every lover tantalized in want of such a memorial.
In the spacious room allocated for the father & son, the hotel management made sure all requirements were well-placed, including a prayer rug with rosary and a cap. Besides some tourism-arousing brochures, the regime also did not forget to push their economic theology with a leaflet of the region's Hualing international economic zone with its slogan of 'Backyard of God, heaven of peace'. Subhanallah! What was God and heaven doing in the godless State's developmental sermon? No sooner I could manage to solve this semi-philosophical problem, my son called me to watch the TV news of the riot-religious Indian premier's plans to meet his Chinese counterpart in the nearest future. A good sign I thought if such a meet could the god-fearing Indian PM could MODIfy his Chinese disbelief in the Almighty.
A walk around the hotel's halls and floors made me realize that I was chosen to stay in the dry Muslim floor which even had a 'salaam' plate near the lift. The other side of the building had all the duniya-compliant facilities such as bars and night clubs which were categorized based on ethnicity like Chinese and Thai.
Tourists are the unofficial ambassadors of their native cultures. So it was advisable to be good, being good.
Without further ado, eyes slipped into sleep. And the soul began its usual wandering to anonymous worlds.
We were up quite early, even before sun had opened its starry eyes. I only had only one aim in mind. To be on flight. On time. And what did I ever know about what I was about to know from then on, let alone what I had known till then.
China is one heck of an adamant regime. It's ruthless obstinance has demolished all the tech idols considered indispensable icons of modern everyday tech-living. Besides topping the world's top three industrialized nations and a military superpower with which other mega players don't dare to mess with their conventional sanctions and pre-emptive strikes, China is also a technically advanced society for which world's leading i-companies vie to attract eyeballs and heartbeats. Yet, China showed the way out for three major brands from grazing its internet pastureland. Yes, China's online galaxy is bereft of three major stars who are otherwise considered the backbone of any civilized nation in rest of the world. Chinese are used to, could be read forced to depending on which side of the argument you stand, offering their online 'prayers' without the mantras from Facebook, Twitter and Google. Net users worldwide quench their thirst from these streams originating from the American Silicon Valley. China has successfully withstood the American hegemony, despite being modern and advanced. To cut short, my Chinese days passed by without a single b(i)yte from these brand pies.
However I did not forget to have a bite from the nuru sebi snack from the Urumqi airport along with offering the dawn prayer from the halal-branded restaurant. When all was done and ready for the immigration check, the official refused to stamp the passport as he asked to read the bi-lingual label sticker stuck to his counter which read 'You have a problem with your luggage'. I returned to the luggage counter and upon opening the bag the issue was related to the mobile power bank in the luggage.
Finally all was done and in safe condition as I sat in the Southern Airlines flight. However, the 'safe mode' didn't last long as the flight went to roller coaster mode as the air turbulence became more pronounced.
Life in general is like a flight journey. Our childhood is generally safe and sound stage. The jolt starts as we progress on the timeline of age hitting new roadblocks of ideas and experiences.
The flight was destined to land safely and with a sigh of relief I briskly walked across the miniature airport. The clock read 11.11. But it wasn't so in the Uyghur hearts. Their hearts' notions and hands' actions were two hours earlier. While Mao & Inc. world followed the UTC+8 path, the Uyghur land trod on the UTC+6 hours route.
Welcome to Kashgar, read the name board held by the tour guide waiting for me at the airport exit. The luggage clearance hardly consumed a few handful minutes.
Contrary to my earlier non-seen understanding, Kashgar is a modestly developed city with excellent roads and amenities. One would see more of electric scooters than oiled cars. Men and women, some carrying infants, ride the two-wheeled vehicle on a separate track dedicated specially for them.
There are also electric rickshaws for carrying goods of merchandisers and farmers. Most of the old men wear the jackets and the traditional caps while old women are mostly dressed in full length coats and scarves. Believers are generally practicing lot as I once saw a young entrepreneur offering his prayers as I entered his unguarded store.
'The Han Chinese don't like to come to Kashgar, despite the multi-incentives move by the government, as they get into problems with the Uyghur when they unknowingly flout the local Muslim norms. The communist government has spent millions in investment to attract investors from neighboring countries but results have not been much fruitful.'
Uyghurs here follow the conventional Sunni traditions with the Hanafi jurisprudence. A minority of them adhere to the Ismaili sect, especially in the mountainous region. 'Aga Khan (the leader of the global Ismaili network) has made attempts to impress the people and government with his investments in charitable ventures. But such initiatives have met with cold response from the local Sunni believers.'
'Hotan or Khotan in south west Xinjiang is an extremely hot area in the desert region with several historic places. The Uyghurs there are more pious Muslims than those in Kashgar.'
Though mixed with possible prejudices, I could learn a lot from the 'Local Talkies' of the Kashgar natives. Such talks with the locals would still be far more honest and unbiased than politically or academically brainwashed wise heads. Commoners have no vested interests to impress or depress an outsider with the little experiences they innocently but enthusiastically share with visitors.
And experiences are aimed at the heart while hearts are fuelled by spirituality. So in order to gather some spiritual firewood before heading to the frozen territories, I set out for the northeastern outskirts of the town. The spot is regarded as a key pilgrimage centre in Kashgar and I did not want to wish to break this tradition.
Abakh Khoja
He was a sultan-saint widely popular in Kashgar and neighboring cities historically referred as Altishahr (Turkish word for Six Cities). A strong proponent of the Naqshabandiyya Sufi order, whose spiritual head rests in Bukhara of Uzbekistan whom I had visited in October last year, the 17th century saint's fame had spread across the Uyghur lands winning hearts of commoners and provoking the minds of rulers. His father, Muhammad Yusuf, who was also been initiated in the Naqshabandiyya order, had migrated from Samarkand to Altishahr. The faction of Naqshabandiyyahs order led by fathers' group came to be known as the White Mountain Khojas which was rivalled by the Black Mountain Khojas who had established themselves in Altishahr a century earlier. The society and rulers of the region were split between their loyalties to either of the groups. Afaq Khoja is said to have become the ruler of Altishahr in 1679 with the his controversial collaboration with the then Dalai Lama in Tibet. He breathed his last in 1694 which resulted in a non-stop clashes for domination. Some attribute the current suppression of Uyghurs by Chinese to the noble saint.
I however felt curiously liberated as I approached the gates of the tomb of this royal saint. This was perhaps one of its kind in the whole of this 'godless paradise'.
A forest of leafless trees stood on either side of the pathway to the entrance. The entire area looked ancient and dry with no sign of life. Yet it had a charm of its own. Like in the vicinity of all Muslim tombs elsewhere in the world, a shop was seen selling antiques and semi-religious literatures. The gatehouse was fashioned in amazing Persian design with a harmonious interplay of calligraphy and geometry in white and blue proportions. It reminded of the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum in Samarkand.
The signboard read 'Abakh Khojam Tomb' and Iparhan tomb in brackets. Upon entering, the tomb building was decorated with dark green and yellow stones, a combination rarely seen elsewhere. From the outside, the interior looks like a dark room. Not much is visible to the passerby. The magnificent dome in green is surrounded by four minarets.
Upon entering in, the room is pained in simple white. The tombs are arranged in random order. Khoja's and family members are covered in embroidered green sheets typical of other shrines in Muslim world.
The tomb room is also said to be the home of Iparhan, the fragrant concubine, who was the granddaughter of Abakh Khoja. To the Han Chinese, she was the beloved of the then emperor who missed her Uyghur home. To the Uyghurs, she was a rebel who resisted the Chinese hegemony and was ultimately martyred.
Without taking either side of the conflict, I extended my peaceful greetings to the Khoja and his family members. There are countless hearts who still miss them, whatsoever been their actions in the past. Their thoughts must have been noble even if their expressions were feeble in appearance.
I noticed a mass graveyard outside the mausoleum campus in the shape of large concrete-croissants. A salaam-shoutout to those solitary inhabitants as well. They had already made it to that infinite point of no return. And I, was marching at the destined speed covering the destined distance in the equally destined time. This is the only equation in which all variables remain unknown and unfound. All three would unveil their values only after the Death curtain rises. Till then the Adamic journey continues, swimming through the seas of distraction and confusion. Some see the lighthouse of Truth clearly. Others see it faintly. And many see nothing at all.
'Shall we move? We still have lots to see', reminded the driver. I nodded even as I left the Khoja's garden with half-baked thoughts. I sat in the car while my son kindled further his curiosity to encash on Kashgar's historic wonders.
Kashgar City
We moved back to the city across the highway. Manual Bicycles and electric rickshaws flooded the roads. Working mothers carried their infants in one hand and the bike's handle in the other. Mothers will hold onto their children even if they lose grip on their own lives. They will wail to Lord for protecting her babes albeit she may be in her deathbed. She may forget to eat the entire day but not allow her son or daughter to go hungry even for once a day. She would be ready to turn to ashes in order to protect her little ones from approaching from the candle flame. Kashgar's mothers were no different from their counterparts in rest of the world.
Shopkeepers looked outside eagerly for customers. And bike riders waiting at the red signals glanced at their touchscreens. Schoolchildren walked across the streets during their lunch break. And there appeared the statue of the 'godly Chairman' of the 'godless China'. Born to a peasant, it was during his career in the university library that he came across the Marxist gospel for the first time. For years, Chairman Mao and comrades struggled to establish their belly-based creed across the country. They finally succeeded on Oct 1st of 1949 when China finally succumbed to Communism. His 'Cultural Revolution' aimed at eliminating all non-Communist influences in China cost the lives of millions besides destruction of several cultural landmarks. Mao was gone but his iron-fisted regime continued till date. It is not just the compassion of noble souls that thrives. The legacy of heartless tyrants too leave their scars on history.
Idkah Masjid
The car stopped by an old street. As I opened the door to descend, a melodious cry was heard in the air. From where had these God-intoxicating words come in this godless wine shop of Mao? Had Chairman's regime fell in Beijing? For the first time and perhaps the last during my stay in Uyghuristan had I heard the eternal anthem of the Muslim universe. Mao may be great. Marx may be greater. But the Most Merciful was the greatest. 'Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar'. The Idkah Masjid, a grand prayer campus, was perhaps the only registered and authorized venue in this part of the world to invite the believer to prayer. And it was more than a pleasure when I realized I was heading there to offer the mid day prayer.
Trees with almost zero leaves cover the huge pathway leading to the main prayer building. An old man passed tissues to the believers similar to the sight I saw across the land of Amir Timur, Uzbekistan. The carpeted prayer area had huge wooden pillars colored in green. Young and old performed their devotional soul-dance.
After the congregational prayer, there was a call for dhikr followed by dua, a practice common in all traditional Muslim pockets, be it comrade EMS' Kerala or Chairman Mao's Kashgar.
A Uyghur native shared the incident told by the Idkah masjid Imam during a Friday sermon about how a 'masjid was open for prayers in China when a Pakistani nuclear scientist who was the state guest at that time insisted for a place of worship to offer his prayers. People of knowledge are respected everywhere.'
The Idkah sights and sounds quenched the heart for the moment. And it was now time to treat my tastebuds with the Uyghur recipe. Without wasting a minute, we hurried to a local restaurant where I happened to have the best pulao ever during my travels. Run by a father and two sons, the outlet had few choices and tables. The hand wash basin is placed outside. Green tea is kept in the kettle-like mug. The cup is rinsed with the drink itself and the waste is poured into a bucket kept below the table. Delicious lamp soup is served as starter and the main course arrives in no time. Dry nuts and raisins along with other countless spices add to the finger-licking taste of the tender meat pieces. Nothing short of a complete mouth-watering experience, the pulao filled the stomach and heart. The young host spoke English fluently and shared interesting insights on local culture and traditions.
I left for the hotel as my curious eyes could no longer carry the weight of the mighty sleep.
The Sun had began its downward journey as I and Junior began the walk across the Old street where our hotel was located. The roads and pavements, homes and the doors, shops and the goods – there was nothing that was 'new' in this ancient locality. People here, however, seemed to be unusually calm and composed. They lived fully at the present with no backlog of the past worries and carry-bag of future concerns. Face-veiled women and head-covered men walked with their heads and hearts synced with the earth below. No air of pride nor any desire to be money-laid, they appeared content in meeting their ends.
The pathways were narrow. Men and cars, and sometimes animals too shared the available space with minimum friction. Chinese-modeled ornamental lights hung in the middle of the road which added to the festive look of the streets. Fruits and vegetables were sold in open air and so were fish and meat.
A young boy who helped his iron smith father watched us from a distance as I focused him on my phone's screen. Uyghur women hurriedly walked home with the grocery shopping bags while others accompanied their children home. A few young men were seen helping their friend to fix his broken bike. Old men moved slowly with their walking sticks.
Silenced domes and minarets appeared at various corners yearning for the face and voice of the man of God. That eternal love affair between a God-conscious heart and the shrine of God… one craving for the other's companionship to finally cherish their Creator's limitless glory. Kashgar's Old Street had thousand and 1 romantic tales to whisper in my ears. I gave my ear to some and let go many…
The Sun was done with its torching career for the day. Darkness set in the street and my driver, as promised, arrived to drive us to another fascinating venue of Kashgar's nightly attractions.
Night Bazaar
As repeatedly testified by visitors to Kashgar, the night bazaar here is unmissable in sight and taste. Almost the entire Uyghur eatables are available here, from veg to meat to sweets to juices. Besides, garments and accessories also add glamour to this everyday Uyghur shopping extravaganza. Noodles were prepared in large containers and smell of kebabs incensed the whole market. But as advised by a local friend to refrain from eating stomach full from these open outlets with very poor hygiene standards, I reduced my appetite with fresh pomegranate juice which reminded of the scene I witnessed at Palestine soil.
I returned back to hotel embracing the smell of kebabs and noodles. Rising up early the next day was important. For, a bigger and longer journey awaited us. To a destination I had dreamt to reach a long time ago. Very long ago.
That day finally lifted the veil from the grip of Time. Destiny smiled at my hopes. The car moved slowly out of the Old Street.
I expected the most unexpected at my destination. And I wasn't wrong in such anticipation. It is a luxury these days to expect nothing and be rewarded in full. In most cases is the vice versa.
The driver didn't speak fluent English. But that only added flavor to the originality of my Uyghur life. He was nevertheless well-versed in Uyghur and Chinese.
Persian words have been inter-spread in almost every Central Asian language including Uyghur. All of them share a minimum set of common words. I realized this as I spoke to one of the natives here about the river Jaihoon.
Convinced about the Persian connection, I therefore chose to play the Urdu, another Persian derivative, Qawwali while on the seven hour journey. And all the three present in the car enjoyed the enchanting Sufi music.
The highway speed is only 40 to 50 km per hour. Frequent speed RADARS monitor the speed-anxious drivers. We kept our eagerness in chains in obedience to the State's traffic rules.
I was told prior to the journey that there would be almost zero shops on the route in between the mountains. So it would be wise, read sensible, to get hold of as much provisions at the initial stop. Hence, we decided to heed to this advice.
Upal Village
Arrive Upal Village. A small town believed to be named from the Sanskrit word for 'a noble stone'. The tomb of Mahmud Kashgari, the Uyghur scribe who compiled a dictionary of the local language.
The pathways were packed with the electric bikes parked very closely next to each other. Butchers and bakers carried on their usual business. Fruit-sellers bargained their customers. Soft and sweet drinks were kept at hands reach. The bazaar here chiefly focused on the travelers heading to the mountains. Little children assisted their patron-parents to manage the trade. Impatient shoppers sat on their bikes while negotiating prices with the vendors. A few old women sold their merchandise which was kept in large sacks. Those who were done with shopping waited for the public transport. We picked up some bananas, apples and pears besides a handful of water bottles which proved lucky as we discovered later in the journey.
Without wasting much time, we continued our journey. Cultivation is a chief passion here, be it out of choice or force. Endless green columns appear on either sides of the road. Horse carts pass by carrying at least three generations of men, women and children. The oldest is in charge of the reins.
After a while the cultivation ends and then on its mountains and mountains and nothing but mountains. Paved highways too end after few hours and then it's a bumpy ride on stony roads crawling in between cliffs and valleys. Mountains range from brown to black and reddish color contrasted with white clouds and blue sky.
Endless stony wasteland in sight and beyond. Waste only by my infantile knowledge. Nothing in this world is waste, is it? Every object in this world, living or non, breathes with meaning and purpose.
The Gaz Dariya River flows seamlessly parallel to our route. At some places it reduces to a tiny stream. At others it becomes a full-fledged lake like body. Life too refuses to give up, completely. It subsides and catapults at different times. It is never stagnant in one state.
As the Qawwali tracks began to conclude, my son began to hum the lyrics of 'Ya Muhammad Noor-e-Mujassam…', the naat song incredibly popular across the subcontinent.
He continued to rehearse the lyrics until we reached the heavily surveilled Gezcun border crossing. The native driver sat in the car as the Indian father and son walked into the passport checking cabin. The military officer looked twice upon seeing our navy blue passports. The air was convulsing in bitter cold. So one can imagine the state of human bodies in such merciless ambiance.
We walked past the barricade where the driver awaited us. The journey continued.
From then on, the mountains replaced the landscape completely and so did the cold. As warned, not a shop was found anywhere in the next few hours. Flock of sheep crossed the road without their shepherd around. Humanity's situation today is somewhat not much different. Individuals and families, societies and nations are endlessly grazing minus an able leader to show them the right direction to the right pastures.
Rivers began to freeze and it was becoming hard to differentiate between the two states of matter. The frozen river and the road's concrete appeared almost lookalike. Appearance may be deceptive and treacherous. One wouldn't know fully until he or she goes nearby. Every other form is today photoshopped to fit today's unfit times.
At random intervals I came across heavy construction related vehicles and laborers. All sorts of infrastructure development were in progress. Some bridges were paused halfway in the air. Megatons of concrete and steel were employed to facilitate travel across this mountainous territory. Mountains were lavishly cut to the liking of the engineers. But Mother Earth may not infinitely put up with the doings of her Adamic children. She is incredibly patient, but one cannot rule out her rare reactions at the reshaping of her landscape.
The chocolate mountains began to turn vanilla in look, if not taste. I realized were slowly approaching the sky limit where clouds and hills shared the same altitude. Cold was at its peak and so was the excitement.
After a while we reached a tourists' rest area where none but air was there. It was newly built and well designed. I climbed up the terrace via the stairs. It was a vast ground with sitting benches around. The air stung with cold. I thought the blood in me would freeze. But it was a challenge and yet intoxicating moment to spread the rug on the ground to pronounce ALLAH is indeed the greatest. Heart shivered in the freezing wind. But the warmth from the fire of HIS remembrance comforted the body and mind.
'O Creator and fashioner of earth and skies. Glory and Perfection are Yours. The cool of our joy and warmth of tears are Yours. Heat and Cold praise Your Infinite Power. Anything and everything You designed are nothing but perfect. Forget us not and forgive our imperfection.'
We continued the journey with renewed rejuvenation. A small township was soon approaching. Schoolchildren walked in blue and white track suit carrying their 'knowledge-load'. It seemed their school was nowhere nearby. They had been walking for not less than an hour as was our car was moving at a modest speed and still they were walking and walking. I could not resist from capturing their angelic frozen faces.
It had been pretty long since we bothered at our stomachs. Therefore it was imminent that we stopped for a bite. The car parked by a street which had lots of kebab and pasta. Freshly barbecued mutton along with soup helped to fight the cold. Tajiks and Kyrgys men and women came to dine at the tiny venue. They did not speak much, perhaps due to the freezing temperature. Chinese military officials along with few tourists from neighboring localities add to the diverse population here.
Tashkurgan
On driving further, many moderately raised tombs were seen around this 'stone city'. This is the area known as Tashkurgan, the border town to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Karakoram Highway (KKH) extends from here connecting China's Kashgar to Pakistan's capital city. As part of Communist China's 'leapfrog development' program, Tashkurgan has attracted several investment plans. But it is yet to been how far would be the consequences on this border town with very less political and cultural accessibility to China's mainland.
The hotel we stayed here belonged to a Han landlord. It was extremely quiet here with hardly a human soul around. Despite the cold, I decided to have a walk outside. It was only 8pm and shops were closed already. A few students still walked to their homes. The street was ghostly and dogs could be heard howling from close by. The icy mountains appeared dark at a distance.
I am told that only one masjid was allowed here for Friday congregational session. The call to prayer is not permitted for fear of endangering the Communist creed.
We left early morning to the peak destination and experience of Uyghur land. The chilling cold continued to bite. And the school children could be still seen walking to their bookish institution. The roads were quite with very little traffic.
And the journey went on. Earth still has a vast area, unexplored and uninhabited. The childish greed conflict for land is really unwanted and uncalled for. Why do its inhabitants quarrel over territories? It is their minds which are narrow, not the land and hence the conflict.
And the journey went on. Mountains are eagerly embracing and welcoming the sun's early days. There seems no friction between the two creations. Sun enjoys its glory during the day and mountains during the night. Sun beautifies the earth while mountains protect it from its own imbalance.
And the journey went on. iPhone isn't china friendly. Or vice versa. Data doesn't seem to flow well on 3G here. Anyway who would want the virtual when Nature is showing off its charisma in full form?
And the journey went on. Our ears were tuned to the royal recitation of Al-Afasi. Sun was getting in form and warm too.
And then the journey ended. At 9am, we stopped the car near a stony yurt, a dwelling used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. The Sun was extraordinarily bright for our sleepy eyes but so was the cold. It was sand all around and a colony of yurt houses. Yes, we were going to spend a whole day in this remote corner of the world.
We were now officially at an altitude of 3600m and the Karakul Lake, known as the highest lake of the Pamir plateau and surrounded by snow-covered mountains throughout the year, appeared at visible distance.
The Yurt
A Kyrgyz man, dressed in entirely furry fashion, came to help us with our baggage. We were directed to the stony house which appeared to be his living space as well. After opening the lock-free wooden door and a corridor of not more two steps, we entered a living room full of immense traditional architecture and artifacts providing both arts and facts to take home.
The house had two women both of them who seemed to be in their late forties. We received a warm welcome, literally.
We were seated beside a 'live and cooking' natural stove. Warm Yak milk was served along with defrost pieces of Naan. The entire house consisted not much more than this single room. Living, cooking and entertainment all happened here.
The boiled water from the kettle placed atop this stove was dearly used for all purposes, including cooking, bathing and other uses including ablution, as I discovered in the course of my stay. The waste water after rinsing the utensils was sprinkled on the stony ground which would dry off in minutes.
The room was decorated in bright fabrics with piercing hues of red and orange. Pillows and cushions were understandably thick and heavy to protect from the merciless cold. Sunlight enters vaguely through the dusty windows.
The Kyrgyz 'yurt-hold' had few chores to perform except look at each other, for no other reason except the icy winds outside. The only other serious source of distractive attraction was the laptop-TV device. Alas! What were they watching in this remote village surrounded by icy mountains? What were Indian saris and sherwanis clad actors doing on the mini screen in this Kyrgyz stone house?
Upon a close observation I realized the Uyghur satellite channel was screening Indian soaps dubbed in the local language. And in the discussion that followed, it was clear that the Bollywood Khans reigned as heartthrobs in Uyghur hearts and minds.
Karakul Lake
The purpose of our 7 hour tiresome journey was not to just stretch legs at this yurt. My son was restless to experience the 'white wonders' of the Black Lake.
Despite the icy winds outside, we stepped outdoor. A vast expanse of steppe appeared before us. Icy mountains covered all six sides of the view. The atmosphere was dry with not a drop of moisture. And sun was bright and handsome. The winds became stronger as we began to walk towards the water body. The distance seemed longer than we thought as if the Lake moved farther as walked closer. Cold pierced deeper into our bodies and for a moment we thought we'd give up our passion for the Lake.
After a long battle between internal ambition and external condition, we reached a little but active stream. The Sun superimposed itself on its surface. The stream was brownish with sand underneath and there were some waste items which required a cleanup.
Tiny fishes swam diplomatically against the mild water currents. For, there are different ways to fight the unfavorable conditions. Not all enemies need to be confronted directly. Well-planned strategies help to avert causalities and save lives.
The stream water finally led to the grand Lake. But before reaching the lake, certain parts of the stream betrayed its original shape and color. Water lost its liquid softness turning to angelic white ice.
Crystal like ice formation makes this area look like a massive showroom of expensive diamond collection. The huge sheets of ice on the surface, impenetrable as it may seem, would tempt any onlooker to run wildly despite the shivering wind chill. The tundra biome in this thick blanket of ice is haunting but then Death too is a form of life.
As I walked further, I noticed another marvelous phenomenon in between the chunks of ice. Icicles, the cute-looking ice spikes of the portion of water, which froze as they struggled to join their liquid cousins in the lake.
And then not far away is the amazing sight of water silently seeping under the glass-like ice tiling. The walk finally led to the 'Black Lake' whose color spectrum ranges from dark green to azure and even light blue.
After enjoying the ice walk and Lake view, while pretending to ignore the violent winds, we decided to call it a day.
On our way back, we met a student scientist, wearing a 'weather professional' sweater, studying the environmental impact of the sun on the icy landscape. Beauty is different for different minds. Some appreciate its experience while others anticipate it in figures. Some absorb while others observe. Nevertheless, the human mind is eternally wedded to Beauty.
After reaching the yurt, lunch was served in a bowl along with green tea. A mix of vegetables, rice and boiled meat pieces was essential to fight the chilling enemy.
The hosts advised to offer the midday prayer at the yurt as foreigners are forbidden from attending the Friday congregational prayer. Mao's earthly men keep a close watch over the spread of Heaven's influence here.
We kept the conversations as much as we could while the content and commercials continued to sound and shine on the mini screen. All nations today share the same creed, including the godless China. Commercialism has won the hearts irrespective of gender or race.
The man in the house was absorbed in an anthology of a local poet. His two children were studying at Kashgar city. The girls here get married at the age of 20, said he with a smile.
Morning. Sleep was seldom. The heavy blankets weighed on the body though it helped to beat the freeze. A lamb from somewhere nearby had cried all night. It was only in the morning that I realized it was sleeping in the same room as ours. In a cardboard box that is.
After a breakfast of warm yak milk and Naan pieces, we sped to Kashgar. Light battled to pass through as the magnificent mountains covered the sun's rays. Would it be this gigantic mega matter that shall flow around like cotton on the Final hours? Indeed the children of Adam are in the constant struggle to humanize these mount forests. Nevertheless, it is the Glory of Lord which is present in every mountain as well as every rock that falls from it.
Nature and its wonders innocently proclaim that the purpose of Life is far more important than Life itself. Purpose, the Pearl. Life merely the shell. And travel is an excellent endeavor to discover that Pearl.
We reached Kashgar town in the afternoon. It was dusty and misty that day.
Check posts & unrest
On the way we passed through several check posts. Who would like barricades, thorny wires and armed gunmen in their dear neighborhood? Not me. Not even my son would like to be told what to do, where to move and how to run. So do the Uyghur people being checked and stopped at various border crossings and barricades setup around their locality. The result is hatred and suspicion giving rise to conflict and confrontation.
Shipton's Arch
Following a light lunch, we rushed to the last adventure venue near the city. The road leading to this natural wonder is passing through a rich fertile land. The border to Kyrgystan is nearby. The Shipton's Arch, with steep canyons over a river bed terrain, is among the least kown natural destinations in the world. We walked on the gravel land and played with the ice pockets in the canyons.
Our final program for the day was supper at a native Uyghur home. Dry fruits, dates, naan bread, fresh fruits and green tea was just the starters.
'Guests are baraka. Abundance of guests is a sign of a good family. Uyghur people prefer lower floors than higher to make it easy for guests to visit'
Deliciously boiled lamb, chicken and mutton arrived subsequently one after the other. And my host went mouth-watering when he learned I live in a region close to the Hijaz, for, one of their greatest wish is to visit the two Holy Shrines there.
'The Hajj journey is permitted for Uyghurs who are between the age of 40 to 60 years. And obtaining a passport costs up to Thirty Thousand Yuan in bribe. '
The young girl of the household approached us and sang a melodious song of 'Asmaul Husna' as she had a bite from the apple in the fruit basket. When I asked if she learned it from the school, her father replied, 'Madrassahs are banned here in Kashgar. Only Mao's creed is taught in schools here. She learns her songs from iPad watching online videos. Children not to be taught religion from home either. Teachers regularly spy on them to monitor any religious influence from their homes'.
Kashgar's daughters are dreadfully silenced too, not just the minarets.
The little girl's Arabic-Uyghur song continued to echo in my heart as I went to sleep that night. How far could a people go on, suppressed and repressed in this fashion? When would this culture of forced silence come to an end? When would she able to openly sing her love for the Beautiful Names of the Merciful Creator ? That night the sleep was heavy.
The next day we left for the airport and on the way had a brief visit to the Livestock market. There was a huge delegation of Uyghurs in the waiting area who were traveling to Turkey for ziyara via Sharjah.
Finally, all done and said, when I was about to ascend the stairs to the flight, the Chinese security official asked me to step aside. There was an immigration issue as informed from the airport. All the passengers in the long queue entered the flight while I and son remained outside soaked in the light rain. I thought Mao's men had the better of me. My son grew worried about this last minute twist in our Kashgar adventure.
And then they let us in. It was someone else they were looking for whom they tracked in the flight.
We thankfully bid farewell to Kashgar, the land of silenced minarets and censored joy.
Silence of the Kashgar Daughters
Of Bukhara's Brides & Babar's Belligerence : A Travel Tale to Timur's Towns
The Noor of Tavanoor
Of London Saints and Cambridge Rebels
Tbilisi: Land of the She Saint and Kickass Lady King
Allama Iqbal and Umar Qazi: Two lovers of the Holy Prophet
To Travel is a virtue. Stillness, hence, a Sin: Jaihoon
Pilgrimage of Love: Day 01 (Umra 2011)
TAGS: Jaihoon-essaysTravel
Voyages surge Knowledge : Jaihoon

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The remote service supports the use of SSL Cipher Block Chaining ciphers, which combine previous blocks with subsequent ones.
The remote host supports the use of SSL ciphers that operate in Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode. These cipher suites offer additional security over Electronic Codebook (ECB) mode, but have the potential to leak information if used improperly.


text:
TuSimple completes its first driverless autonomous truck run on public roads
Rebecca Bellan
Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple has completed its first autonomous truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle, according to the company. TuSimple's Autonomous Driving System (ADS) navigated 100% of the 80-mile run along surface streets and highways between a railyard in Tuscon, Arizona and a distribution center in Phoenix, which took place with no human intervention, marking a milestone for the company that aims to scale its technology into purpose-built trucks by 2024, says president and CEO Cheng Lu.
TuSimple's one-hour and 20-minute drive along the I-10, which is a major freight route that runs from Los Angeles, California to Jacksonville, Florida, fits naturally into the company's future commercial operations, in part because it has parking facilities set up in Tuscon, Lu said. While the truck did carry pre-loaded cargo, the focus of the pilot run was technological, rather than commercial. Over the last one and a half years, the company has performed 1,800 runs to the tune of 150,000 miles on this stretch of highway, and plans to continue testing its driver-out program into 2022.
"It's the logical next step and a key part of this evolution of our technology to have full commercial scale deployment," Lu told TechCrunch. "We have to have on one route and one type of vehicle the ability to have all the features that you can operate without a driver on the road, and to have the level of reliability that's required to take the driver out. And that's significant R&D engineering work. When you can demonstrate that you can safely remove the driver, even on one commercial operator route, it's no longer a science project. It's engineering work, and it takes time and capital and a lot of hard work from our team, but we're very confident that we'll be the first to have full-scale commercial deployment of autonomous trucks."
The autonomous trucking startup isn't the first company to achieve driver-out operations in Arizona, a state with favorable AV testing and commercializing regulations that is trying to position itself as the leader in autonomous driving. Waymo, for example, the autonomous driving arm of Alphabet, has been running driverless robotaxi operations in Phoenix since October last year. Lu reckons highway driving is more challenging than urban driving, where reaction times and abilities to operate the vehicle safely are much simpler because of the slower speed limits.
"The challenge of a truck, if you think about an 80,000 pound Class 8 vehicle, it drives on the highway at much faster speeds, like 65 miles per hour, and it's significantly more heavy and harder to control, harder to break," he said. "The safety implications, the reliability, are much higher."
TuSimple's pilot demonstrates that for at least this operational design domain, the company has achieved Level 4 autonomous technology, which SAE defines as a system that is able to drive itself completely and will not require a human to take over. TuSimple's Class 8 truck operated under favorable weather conditions between the hours of 9 p.m. and midnight, which Lu says is when many trucks actually do operate. The ADS navigated surface streets, traffic signals, on-ramps, off-ramps, emergency lane vehicles and highway lane changes in open traffic, according to the company.
As a safety precaution, unmarked police vehicles followed at about a mile behind the truck in the event the truck came to an emergency stop. In addition, TuSimple implemented a survey vehicle to look for anomalies operating five miles ahead, as well as an oversight vehicle a half-mile behind that could put the autonomous truck in a minimal risk condition.
"I think what's important for this industry to move forward is public opinion and our comfort with driverless trucks on the road, and that takes time to build," said Lu. "To take that first step, it's important to have a lot of safety precautions."
TuSimple is currently operating retrofitted base trucks from Navistar, one of the company's OEM partnerships which was announced last year, but it plans to jointly develop semi trucks specifically designed for autonomous operations by 2024 that it can sell to third parties, says Lu.
"Commercializing driver-out technology means to create a holistic solution that allows autonomous trucks to move freight from terminal to terminal at scale," said Lu. "We are leveraging autonomous trucks today to move freight with safety drivers and running on fully autonomous mode. This achievement allows us to show we can do so without a safety driver on one route (no human at all). Our next step in commercializing is to add more reliability, which requires purpose-built trucks with OEM partners in order to be able to scale the number of trucks on the road without a driver."
As of mid-December, DHL Supply Chain has reserved 100 of these autonomous trucks to integrate into its operations, bringing TuSimple's total reservations order to 6,875 trucks. The Traton Group, Volkswagen AG's heavy truck business, has also penned an agreement with TuSimple to co-develop self-driving trucks. Both OEM partners own minority stakes in TuSimple.
The first generation of the trucks will be built with a steering wheel for certain operations in the yard, like shifting, or the process of separating and shifting the tractor and trailer, which will initially still need to be done by hand, says Lu.
"Ultimately, [reaching L4 capabilities] is what's required for us to solve the very big problem we're facing in the freight industry, which is the lack of freight capacity," said Lu. "On the one hand, the demand for truck drivers and trucks continues to increase with e-commerce and the on-demand economy, but the supply side of things isn't looking pretty. We have a driver shortage, significant driver turnover, safety costs are getting higher and of course, environmental concerns. All these things are leading to a bottleneck of the supply chain.
"If you play this out without new technology, it's not getting better, and you and I don't want to be truck drivers, our kids don't want to be truck drivers. So we really need to achieve Level 4."
Tonga tsunami: Australia and New Zealand send planes to assess damage
Up to 80,000 people are thought to be affected but communication has been cut off with the Pacific nation
Injured man in Glasgow was shot in targeted attack, police say
A man was found seriously injured in Baillieston during the early hours of Saturday.
Londoners working from home on a Monday skip exercise and feel less motivated, according to research
Londoners working from home on a Monday are skipping exercise and feel more demotivated and stressed as a result, research has found. The introduction of Plan B restrictions last month saw most workers return to their homes, though Boris Johnson has been urged to scrap working from home guidance at the end of the month to boost London's economic recovery. According to a study conducted by Fitness First, nearly half (45 per cent) of Londoners said that exercising on a Monday made them more productive.
Two teenagers held in Manchester after 'act of terror' at US synagogue
President Joe Biden branded the hostage-taking a terrorist incident and UK police are working with authorities in the US on the investigation.
Paris Fashion Week gets back on the catwalk after almost two years online
The city may still be deep in the throes of the Omicron surge and adapting to the latest Covid restrictions, but Paris Fashion Week will nevertheless launch Tuesday. The industry is determined to get back on the catwalks after nearly two years during which most brands were forced to retreat online.Despite the complications caused by the pandemic, the fashion community is stepping out regardless. Most fashion houses are returning to live shows as the menswear week kicks off, followed immediately
Australia Sends Surveillance Aircraft to Assess Damage From Tonga Volcanic Eruption
The Australian Defence Force sent an aircraft to Tonga on Monday, January 17, to assess the damage caused by an undersea volcanic eruption near the South Pacific island on Saturday.The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption triggered tsunami warnings for Australia, New Zealand, US, Japan and several South Pacific islands.Communications were still down as of Monday in Tonga, according to reports, making it difficult to know the impact the eruption had on the island."A Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon Aircraft will conduct an assessment of damage to critical infrastructure such as roads, ports and power lines, which will determine the next phase of the response effort," the Australian Defence Force said.Footage released by the Australia Defence Force shows the surveillance plane leaving an air base in Amberley, Queensland. Credit: Australia Defence Force via Storyful
Great Britain's Medallists On 'Super Sunday'
A Team GB record for an "away" Olympics.
SWAT team and FBI called to hostage situation at Texas synagogue
A SWAT team and FBI officers have been called to a hostage situation in a Texas synagogue, where a man is reportedly holding members of the congregation. The incident at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville is ongoing. Dara Nelson, a police sergeant for Colleyville Police, said there were no injuries to report and that officers had evacuated the area.


text:
Invocation and Dance (Hommage À Manuel de Falla)
Julian Bream 18 hours ago
Fantasía para un gentilhombre: IV. Fanfare de la Caballería de Nápolés
Fantasia Para Un Gentil Hombre: IV. Canario
Symphony of the Air & Vladimir Golschmann 19 hours ago
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral Symphony": IV. Finale, Extract
Rebecca Chambers 21 hours ago
Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 in D Minor: Presto; Allegro assai
Arturo Toscanini & Arturo Toscanini Orchestra 21 hours ago
Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16: I. Allegro molto moderato
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra & Bystrik Rezucha 22 hours ago
Concierto para piano y orquesta in A Minor, Op. 54: III. Allegro vivace
Henry Adolph, South German Philharmonic Orchestra & Hans Gösser 22 hours ago
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 54: I. Allegro affettuoso
Evgeny Kissin 23 hours ago
Don Juan, Op. 20
George Szell & Cleveland Orchestra 23 hours ago
ABC Classic FM
Klassik Radio Live
Venice Classic Radio - VCR Auditorium
KUSC Classical 91.5 FM KDB
Amazing Blues
America's Country
1000 Goldschlager
Hit Radio FFH
Radio Swiss Classic FR
Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio
Klassik Radio - Pure Mozart
BR Klassik
Klassik Radio - Pure Bach
Klassik Radio - Piano
ABC Classic 2
Oldies Hits - Hits Radio
Classical Oasis Live
Classical music where entire albums are played
Classical Oasis is an online radio station based in Lawrence, Kansas, from where it live streams globally through the internet. It broadcasts the best and highest quality classical music 24/7, including full albums.
Kategorien: Classical
Frequenzen Classical Oasis
Lawrence: Online
Letzte 7 Tage:
1. London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Catherine Pierard, Susan Bickley, Howard Crook, Mark Padmore, David Wilson-Johnson, Schütz Choir of London & Richard Wistreich - Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68, 'Pastoral': II. Andante molto moto (Scene By the Brook)
2. Trevor Pinnock - Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord in B Minor, BWV 1030: I. Andante
3. Jean-Pierre Rampal, Milan Munclinger, Josef Hála, Ars Rediviva Orchestra Of Prague, František Pošta & František Sláma - Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord in C Major, BWV 1033: I. Andante - Presto
4. Jean-Pierre Rampal, Milan Munclinger, Josef Hála, Ars Rediviva Orchestra Of Prague, František Pošta & František Sláma - Partita for Solo Flute in A Minor, BWV 1013: I. Allemande
5. Glenn Gould - Sonata No. 6 in D Major for Piano, K. 284: I. Allegro
6. Glenn Gould - Sonata No. 7 in C Major for Piano, K. 309: III. Rondo. Allegretto grazioso
7. Sir Roger Norrington & Camerata Salzburg - Symphony No. 1 in C Op. 21: I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
8. Sir Roger Norrington & Camerata Salzburg - Symphony No. 1 in C Op. 21: II. Andante cantabile con moto
9. Sir Roger Norrington & Camerata Salzburg - Symphony No. 1 in C Op. 21: III. Menuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)
10. Glenn Gould - Piano Sonata No. 6 in D Major, K. 284: II. Rondeau en Polonaise (Andante) [Remastered]
Letzte 30 Tage:
1. Munich Symphony Orchestra & Hans Swarowsky - The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297, Op. 8 No. 4, "Spring": I. Allegro
2. Hans Vonk & Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra - The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act II: 12e. Divertissement V. Dance of the Flutes
3. Rebecca Chambers - Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral Symphony": IV. Finale, Extract
4. Orchestra Filarmonica Ucraina - Tosca: "Vissi d'arte" (Instrumental Version)
5. Boston Symphony Orchestra - Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19: I. Allegro con brio
6. London Concertante & Nicholas Jackson - Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter), Largo
7. Raymond Leppard & English Chamber Orchestra - Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson
8. Wynton Marsalis - Sonata À 5 for Trumpet and Strings, T.V.3
9. Raymond Leppard & English Chamber Orchestra - Entrada from the Indian Queen (excerpt)
10. Alexander Von Pitimic - Concerto No. 1 in E Major, Op. 8, RV 269, "La primavera" (Spring): I. Allegro
Webseite: classical-oasis.com


Today is the last day of the month of April and so I've started the process of pulling together my metrics for the month with respect to Casual Marketer so I can see how I'm doing against my KPIs.
Even before I started this process, I kind of knew that April was going to be ugly – I had a hunch about a week ago that things were not trending in the direction where I wanted them to go, so as I started to dive into the numbers more this afternoon, I wasn't surprised.
I'm not going to get too into it today, tomorrow or the next day I'll write up my monthly report where I go into it in a bit more detail, but I thought I'd walk you through some of how I think about things when stuff doesn't meet expectations.
Let's start by owning the outcome. It's important that you always acknowledge that everything is your fault. There are things like bad luck or events beyond your control that can blindside you, but your job is to mitigate those risks, so you can't treat these things as an excuse.
The month of April from a performance perspective in Casual Marketer is purely on me, so there's no point in trying to make excuses.
Once you take responsibility, you need to look at where you came up short and what was the cause of that.
Again, the beauty of these things are that they are all on me. When there are issues that you identify that you ultimately have control over, it makes them easier to fix if you have the desire to do so.
I'm not prioritising things correctly to get the outcomes I'm looking to achieve, I'm not focused enough on the things that matter to be successful in this business and as a result of those two things, my execution is poor.
They are all vastly different problems, but they are entirely interconnected when you think about it.
But here's a tricky one… What happens if you've incorrectly set your expectations?
That's something that I'm starting to contemplate with my own stuff (Casual Marketer in particular) is that maybe, with the benefit of hindsight and context, I've set some unrealistic expectations for myself.
The easy answer is to say, "Yeah, you're just quitting" and that's my initial thought process when I contemplate the question myself. Even thinking about it makes me think that maybe I'm making an excuse for myself and giving up.
But let's put that aside for a second.
I used the phrase, "benefit of hindsight and context" to frame this idea on purpose because it's always important to view things within the overall framework of everything else that's going on.
There is an element of truth to this. With our other businesses, some projects that I have on the go, family life and a full-time job, perhaps I have set some goals for myself that were a bit TOO audacious.
Having said all that, in my case, it's too early to give up or even reset the targets. There's still a good eight months of the year left, so I am confident I can get my focus, prioritisation and execution sorted out and get back on track.
But you shouldn't be afraid to reset expectations.
If you've set some goals or targets for yourself and it is clear that you've made them unachievable, it's probably in your best interest to make some kind of adjustment. One of the most depressing thing in the world is to be behind the eight ball early with no chance of recovery.
This is where you need to put your big boy or big girl pants on and figure out what your next move is.
On one hand, the easy decision is to lower expectations and reset what "victory" looks like under the new circumstances.
On the other hand, you can dig in, try to fix what's broken and push a bit harder.
The choice is yours, but personally, I don't like to give up on something until I know that it is utterly hopeless and that picking a new target will actually improve my odds of further success. Pursuing an unachievable goal actually blunts your progress, whereas setting a target you can achieve with a bit of extra effort tends to motivate you.
The last thing I'd say here is, don't let the calendar become your enemy.
That's something that I've thought a lot about over the last week or so when I realized this month had gotten away from me.
I started thinking about how my annual targets were going to be harder to achieve now and that I was staring down the barrel of eight months of tough slog not being where I wanted to be.
But that "annual" thing is totally arbitrary.
Don't get me wrong, having time boxed targets is vital to being successful, but one lever that you can pull is just resetting the clock rather than changing the target.
If you wanted to have 25,000 people on your email list by the end of 2018, well, maybe you can push that out three months rather than lowering the target.
This gives you the ability to rethink your plan and reset your thinking around how you execute which opens up a lot more possibilities for success.
What you're trying to do is maximise your chances of being successful more broadly – it's not just about hitting some arbitrary goals. Those targets are there to keep moving you forward, but if you're missing them and they have become an impediment to your success, then you need to adjust and reset expectations.
In fact, I empower you to do it!
Now that you have my permission, go forth and prosper.