text:
People Divulge The Real Reason 'That One Guy' Hasn't Been Fired From Their Job Yet
The Most Depressing Things People Have Ever Heard A Child Say
Bilingual People Break Down What Non-Bilingual Folks Will Never Understand
People Share The Best Video Games For Couples To Play Together
Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash
After a long day at work or school, grown-ups and children alike love nothing more than to unwind by playing a video game.
Though, video games aren't always an activity guaranteed to bring couples and families closer together.
Indeed, parents and spouses are known for occasionally having to pry the game controls out of their spouses' or children's hands in order for them to do their homework and chores... or even simply pay attention.
There are some couples, however, who found a way to ensure that such an occurrence will never happen.
Which is to find a video game the two of them can enjoy together.
Redditor HornedOwlsNest was curious to hear which video games were ideally suited for couples to play together, leading them to ask:
"What is the best video game for couples to play?"
Divinity Original Sin 2
"Divinity Original Sin 2 was perfectfor me and my significant other since we are both intoD&D."-Jurelover
"DOS2."
"My wife and I loved playing through it together."- woogachaka
"Portal and Portal 2"- Pm_me_fluffy_stuff
"My SO and I play 'Dead by Daylight' as survivors."
"We get frustrated together when the killer is good, and we cheer together when the killer is bad."
"Perfect bonding experience."- NihilisticMind
"'Gang Beasts', trust me you will laugh yourselves to death."- CheekyFeller
City Beef GIF by Gang BeastsGiphy
"'Overcooked', if you love a cooperation challenge."
"It could also ruin your relationship."
"Also, for those looking for a similar experience with less stress, you might try 'Diner Bros', though I think it's only on Steam/PC at the moment."- Decimaelstrom
Castle Crashers
"'Castle Crashers'"- OpulentOwl·
Snipperclips
"Snipperclips."
"It's for two people and it's where people work together."- mcboy973
Happy Well Done GIF by LaffGiphy
"My wife and I play 'Dont Starve Together' a lot on the PC."
"We both have our own PCs and it is such a great time."
"Besides DST, my wife and I love playing single player detective games where you need to solve an overarching mystery."
"We get addicted and we must complete it together and she usually watches and helps solve while I do the actual playing."
"They are a slow burn with hardly any action and are great to spend time with a partner on."
"Examples are, 'The Painscreek Killings' and 'Return of the Obra Dinn' as our two favorites we spent dedicated time together on."- LOSTonABC
So Many To Choose From!
"If your SO is into action games: 'Borderlands', 'Sniper Elite', 'Left 4 Dead'."
"Also 'Battle Royales'."
"If your SO is into non-violent games: 'Stardew Valley', 'Factorio', 'Minecraft', 'Terraria, Starbound', 'Don't Starve Together', etc."
"If your SO is not used to videogames: Story driven games you can play together such as 'The Red Strings Club', 'Oxenfree', 'Life is Strange', Telltale games in general."
"If your SO is into board games/party games: 'Monster Prom', 'Tricky Towers', 'Town of Salem', etc."
"Would also recommend: 'Dungeon of the Endless', coop tower defense dungeon crawler, and 'The Escapists 2', silly prison break sim."- Jurelover
They say a little competition is healthy in every relationship.
And is there really a better outlet to take out one's frustrations on your partner than Street Fighter
Then too, if the Black Mirror episode 'Striking Vipers' taught us anything, video games can result in some surprisingly sexy outcomes...
The Greatest Video Game Couples - IGN ›
The 21 Best Nintendo Switch Games For Couples ›
26 Best Couch Co-Op Games to Play With Your Partner | Ars Technica ›
Leveling Up in Life and Love - 10 Best Video Games for Couples ›
The Best Video Games for Couples. Those who play together stay ... ›
18 Best Multiplayer Video Games For Couples To Play Together ›
60 Cooperative Video Games To Play With Your Partner | Bored ... ›
12 Best Co-Op Games To Play On Valentine's Day - GameSpot ›
15 Best Video Games For Gamer Couples (According To Reddit) ›
The 21 best video games for couples to co-op | Mashable ›
Photo by JACQUELINE BRANDWAYN on Unsplash
There are numerous advantages to being bilingual.
Knowing the language of the country you may be traveling to, being able to translate for those who need help, not to mention, knowing what some people might be saying as they are literally talking behind your back.
Indeed, many people wish they could be fluent in at least one other language.
Though these same people likely also wonder, how exactly does the brain of a bilingual person work?
How easy is it to jump between multiple languages?
Is it really as easy as it looks to jump between languages?
Redditor -PatkaLopikju- was eager to know the answers to all these questions, leading them to ask:
"Bilingual people, what is a thing that non-bilingual will never understand?"
They All Blend Together
"The fact that I no longer 'translate' in my head when I use my second language."
"The fact that I can be unaware which language I am reading."
"I have a bit of a stutter in one language but not the other."
"Jokes that work in both languages are the funniest."- Mortlach78
"Speaking two languages at the same time."
"Usually because you forget certain words in one language but remember it in the other or because a word is easier to say."
"'Je n'ai aucune idée what the f*ck you're talking about'."- ctwheels
There's Not A Word For Everything
"Literal translations rarely work."
"A lot of monolingual people seem to think other languages are like their language but with other words, and every word as an equivalent."- TheAmazingKoki
Knowing The Language Doesn't Mean They'll Understand You
"Having an 'accent' regardless of which language you're speaking."
"Learning a language allows you to feel better understood as we interact and build connections with others."
"So it's frustrating when you feel as though you're not communicating as clearly as you would like to express yourself. It's been great to feel understood!"
"I've enjoyed reading through the comments and learning that there's a lot of people that are actively becoming multicultural."- Silv3r_lite
Less Gets Lost In Translation Than You Think...
"Translating is a whole different skill than speaking another language."
"When I first learnt English, I would translate things in my head to understand them."
"As I became fluent, I stopped doing that because I didn't need to."
"When someone speaks to me in English, I don't translate stuff in my head back to french to understand them, I just automatically understand it."
"Cue to if someone speaks English, and another person doesn't, and ask me 'hey, can you translate what he said ?'"
"I completely suck at it, I can ultimately do it but it means I need to take what was said in English, and reprocess it in French and find the most adequate words for translation and it's honestly not that easy to do."- Matrozi
"How near-impossible it is to translate words when there is only one word for something in one language but multiple variants of it in another."
"For instance, the word 'cousin' in English is just 'cousin', but there are eight different words for cousin in Chinese, all extremely specific."
'Older male on maternal side, older female on maternal side, younger male on maternal side, younger female on maternal side, older male on paternal side, older female on paternal side, younger male on paternal side, and younger female on paternal side."
"There is no general cover-all term for 'cousin'."
"So when an English speaker says, 'I was having dinner with my cousin last week', how do you translate that into Chinese, for a Chinese audience, without knowing which of the 8 cousin categories it falls into?"
"It creates a '404 Error: Cannot Compute' in the interpreter's brain."
"If you are ever giving a speech in English to a Chinese audience and want to see a look of crazed terror on your interpreter's face, just use the word 'cousin' and watch the panic and despair unfold."
"Was an interpreter."- SteadfastEnd
There's No Simple One And Done
"That the way language is constructed is not straightforward."
"It's not just a different set of words and rules of grammar, it's kind of a whole different way of processing thoughts into speech."- Peanut_Butter_32
It Ain't As Easy As It Looks
"Real-time translation takes a LOT of mental energy."- selfawarescreen
"Brain fog, when asked to translate, at a critical vocabulary moment."
"You need that one word to make the perfect translation."
"But it is not there."- toyoung
Forgetting Your Native Tongue
"Forgetting words from your native language if you are using the second language too much."
"I have lost count of how many times I knew what I wanted to say in any other language, yet I forgot how to say it on my own native language."
"I end up remembering them later on anyways, but it is such an embarrassing feeling."
" Also, another little thing."
"Accidentally switching languages in the middle of a conversation."
"I may be talking to someone in English, and when I didn't understand something, I would be like 'Qué?'(What? In Spanish), all without even thinking about what I did until I realize that I spoke in Spanish by mistake."
"It's not really common for it to happen, but I do remember each and every single time it does."- AruPeachy
"When some word only comes to mind in another language, and you just can't remember what that word is in your native tongue."- Acceptable-Damage43
Not All Sayings Are Universal
"The struggle of explaining / understanding sayings."
"Americans use a lot of sayings like "'et's play it by ear', and in Spanish we also have sayings that don't quite translate."
"Also when I'm too excited/ angry etc my brain switches to my native language and can't quite express myself correctly the other language."- immigrantme
Humor Isn't Universal
"Some jokes make no sense in other languages."- Dukanduu
The Emotion Behind What You're Saying
"You have different personalities based on the language you're currently speaking, and your native language has emotional ties that aren't always present in other spoken languages."- P-Wizzl
One needs a fairly active brain to be successfully bilingual.
Though, one can only imagine that internally worrying about your everyday problems in French would likely make them seem a little more romantic.
"Qui sait?"
Photo by Israel Andrade on Unsplash
Much as we might try to deny it, who hasn't found themselves dealing with one of "those colleagues" at work?
The sort of colleague where work gets done in spite of them, who doesn't seem to possess any of the basic qualifications their position requires, who uses up all their paid sick days at the very beginning of the calendar year.
The kind of employee where we're often left wondering, "how did they get that job?"
Then, when we actually do a little digging, we might learn the answer to that very question.
Often resulting in our making a surprising, if not downright humbling, discovery.
Redditor LetFreedomRing- was eager to hear stories of why people's seemingly incompetent colleagues hadn't yet lost their jobs, leading them to ask:
"Why hasn't that "one guy" at your job been fired yet?"
Unfortunate Timing
"He ended up leaving work the day management was going to talk to him about his behavior and got into a severe motorcycle accident."- eatsbrainz
Just Not Possible
"Cuz he's the boss."- Hotline-Furi
A Little Manipulation Goes A Long Way
"Because his supervisor is in love with him."
"He's 'charming, charismatic, and everyone loves him'."
"He's really close to the manager and his mom used to work for the company as well."
"She left a path for him to walk on."
"As my co worker once said, 'he harasses us but gets rewards'."
Happy Penn Badgley GIF by LifetimeGiphy
"If you were ever to meet him, he makes you feel like you're the king of the world but he's really scummy."
"He'll make you believe you're incredible and valuable but will talk sh*t about you to other people."
"It's a shame because he's taken advantage of a lot people and a lot of things at work."
"I thought he was the coolest guy around until I started observe him and his demeanor around others."- Low_Excitement_5339·
"We are so short-staffed and ratios need to be met in classrooms."
"A body is better than no body, in the eyes of admin at least."
"Some days I'd rather work short-handed than work around a useless/annoying person."
"I end up doing their job anyway."- quietly_anxious
Just The Way Things Are...
'Office politics."- defensiveminded2020
Bored Season 3 GIF by The OfficeGiphy
...Rather Not Answer...
"What if that one guy is you?"- dizzyrazor
"Because he goes to my boss's church."
"My boss has somehow hired at least 8 people from his church."- SparklesLuvsScotch
"She's the boss's daughter."
"In the past 6 months, they have hired over 100 people, 3 of them are still working there."
"Every one of them quit because of her and very outwardly expressed that but no one will fire her."- Reddit
Veronica Lodge Daddy GIF by Camila MendesGiphy
Do We Really Want Them To Get Fired?
"The one guy at my job just got fired 3 days ago, after years of doing nothing."
"Now I can't use his continued employment as my assurance of job security."- i_make_potholes
"I legitimately don't know."
"I've been sending my bosses emails about her dropping the ball on many things and even causing several catastrophic failures for our customers."
"They promise me they are documenting everything and to be patient but my boss has his head in the sand and is not really doing anything."
"I think it's catching up to him though because corporate is starting to look at this office more closely."- CamStorm
"IDK, he sits and f*cking texts WHEN PEOPLE ARE IN LINE FOR THE REGISTER."
"Pisses me off."- Public_Living_3344
Bored Grocery Store GIF by TravisGiphy
Charisma Overshadows Many Flaws
"He's 'nice' and chatty and gets along really well with our customers."
"He will go into an office, not do anything or make something worse than it was before the repair, bill them hundreds of dollars, someone else will have to go in and fix it right and bill them more, and they'll still request him."
"They're actually more likely to complain about the guy who went in and fixed it correctly and would have billed them half as much and been done in trip had they started the job."- makenzie71
Fear Of Feelings Getting Hurt
"Because his boss avoids conflict."
"So we get to deal with the sh*t for brains creeper instead of him being thrown out on his a**."- No-Patient1365
Hopefully, Just A Matter Of Time...
"You don't get fired for being bad at your job, you get fired for making a scene."- sleekandspicy
Fed Up Reaction GIFGiphy
Everyone deserves a second chance.
But if people are incapable, or worse unwilling, to learn, is there really any chance their work will improve?
When "that employee" is your boss, then the question is ultimately irrelevant.
People Confess Which Things Piss Them Off About Movies Today
Audiences today are too savvy and unforgiving.
There are so many cinematic aspects that leave so many of us irritated.
And one of the big reasons is that they know they can make them better.
Give me a quick million, you won't be disappointed.
Redditor Ecstatictobehere wanted everyone to vent about everything wrong with movies and Hollywood, so they asked:
"What pisses you off about new movies these days?"
I'm exhausted with the lack of originality.
There are too many talented out there for this.
Turn it down...
Race Fans GIF by Formula 1Giphy
"The disparity in volume, explosions are so loud that they hurt and conversations are whispers... I stopped going to the cinema and started waiting for them to be available at any streaming service so I can turn it down or up and so I can enjoy it."
hollowntolerance
LOLs...
"Forced Comedy."
ThorHammerscribe
"I have a bone to pick with comedy in general. I felt that ever since the Anchorman era, we just decided that comedy movies were in the line of sketch comedy."
"Create funny situation, let a comedian riff for 20 minutes, take the best take and move on to next funny situation. Which is why comedy movie plots have SUCKED since the early 2000s."
"Sure I love Kristen Whiig, Will Ferral, John C Reilly, Mellissa McCarthy, etc, but damn, I can't help but think that some comedies that have come out int the last 20 years would be memorable if they wrote a funny script instead of making a 120 min sketch show."
ReferenceError
"Most movies are getting watered down for the sake of mass appeal. I get why, but it just sucks."
Apprehensive_Set300
"Some say this is a result of streaming platforms. People used to be able to take risks on movie making because if they didn't do well in theatrical release, there was still a chance for it to become a cult classic and make money with DVD sales down the road. That is no longer an option because everything is streamed for free so now making a movie that doesn't immediately appeal to a large audience is a bad investment."
KrispyKremeDiet20
"Not just movies but TV shows - they take a book that's got great reviews, make a poor job of translating it on screen and then flip the ending so it's the opposite of what happened in the book. Proceeds to blame the audience when they pan it for being crap."
MissionSorbet2768
"Lack of originality and a reliance on franchises."
811545b2-4ff7-4041
Enough with franchises and reboots. Lord.
Some light please!
jerry cant see GIF by HULUGiphy
"How dark they are. Like literally dark. It's difficult to see what's going on, especially for those of us with vision problems."
Raloris
Break it Down
"For horror and mystery, everything having to be explained."
"A movie like the original Alien would be lambasted by online critics if it were released today, for the simple reason that by the end of it you know next to nothing about what happened. What was the creature? What was the derelict? Why did the company want it, really? The movie has stood the test of time precisely because it avoided answering those and other questions."
stratarch
Too Much Redo
"The overuse of cover songs. Recently been a lot of classic rock songs covered by an artist who recorded a slowed version of it. Just saw the trailer for the new Ant Man. It also does this."
bromygod203
"This has been bugging me lately. They do it in commercials too. The cover is slowed way down with a melancholic, reverb-heavy voice. Extra points if you take a classic 'happy' song and add minor chords to it so it sounds threatening."
fairygenesta
Too Many Cooks
"A lot of movies feel like they were written by a marketing department. It feels like they got 10 execs in a room and everyone wrote down ideas, characters, plot-points, etc that they know will sell - and then tried to organize them into a narrative structure."
"There's no vision. There's no plot progression. Its just one random event next to another random event, and characters delivering sh*tty one-liners. Like writing madlibs. Even B-movies from the 80's and 90's have better narrative structure and story-telling than half the new movies out today."
Ganglebot
Cybill Shepherd Applause GIF by SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAYGiphy
"Trailers. They're always about 4 minutes long, give away the entire plot, show all the best scenes and jokes and basically ruin the movie before you've even watched it."
IJustStoleYourWaifu
Do better filmmakers.
We're watching. Sadly...
The Real Reasons People Cheated On Their Partner
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
There are two groups of people in this world.
Those who believe in monogamy and those who don't.
People cheat. It's just the way some humans work.
If you're an avid soap opera fan, as I am, then you'll understand that infidelity is part of the package.
Redditor zabalansu wanted to know why we cheat, so they asked:
"Why did you cheat on your partner?"
I've cheated. Because I knew it was already over and I was too much a coward to admit it.
Tom And Jerry Reaction GIFGiphy
"I was drinking and doing a lot of drugs... it honestly turned me into a careless piece of crap for a long time!"
Keone_710
You First
"I cheated once, and it was because she'd cheated on me. I'd already been cheated on before so it was like: 'Well: this time I'm getting revenge.'"
"I didn't feel any better. Made me feel almost as shi**y as I thought she was. She was angry as f**k, but I can't honestly say it was any different than any of the other gals that get pissed off when you break up with them. Haven't cheated since."
"If you're getting cheated on, don't demean yourself by sinking to their level. Just give 'em the boot."
JAHNOOSKA
Craiglist People
"Because I truly had no idea what a healthy or functional relationship looked like. My parents were married for almost 30 years and had already started the cycle of cheating on each other well before I was born. My grandma used to tell me stories of being friends with my grandpa's girlfriends 'because she just wasn't toxic and jealous like other women.'"
"In the relationship where I cheated, I was being treated like garbage. Financially supporting us both even though I was ten years younger and a waitress, enduring a lot of abuse from a very broken man. I felt trapped in the same cycle I had watched my mom and my grandma live, I didn't really know better."
"A guy at work started paying attention to me, and I loved it. He was sweet and poetic and romantic, committed to helping his sister raise his niece, was out of the house and working instead of drinking my paycheck away and punching holes in my walls. A little harmless work flirting quickly escalated and before I knew it, I was having a whole a** affair."
"I started to prepare myself to leave my boyfriend for my affair partner, when I found out that my boyfriend had been cheating on me with anyone he could find on Craigslist (including stealing money from me to pay sex workers). Any guilt I felt for cheating evaporated right then."
"I threw all my clothes in a trash bag and drove to my affair partners house, ready to start our new life together. He had another girl over, basically admitted that a lot of what he had said to me was because he thought I would never leave. All in all, it was a mess. If you're unhappy in your relationship, do the work that will either fix it or get you out. That new person is flawed too. They won't fix you or fulfill you, only you can do that."
BeebMommy
"forbade"
"Because my wife told me that she was no longer interested in having sex with me, she didn't want me having it with anyone else, and she 'forbade' me from watching porn (I still did the latter, but we could never discuss it or she'd freak out.)"
"So to get my sexual needs met by someone other than myself, for several years, a few times per year I paid a sex worker for a happy ending massage. This was still cheating, but I rationalized it as the 'mildest form' of cheating possible. No chance of an STI, no chance of an unwanted pregnancy, no emotional involvement. I knew it was wrong, but at the time I felt like it was my best choice out of several lousy choices."
"I realize now I should have just said at the time, 'I want a divorce.' That's where we ended up anyway, and I would have saved myself, my wife, and our kids some needless pain over the years. By cheating on her (and hiding it from her), I made it so much worse when she eventually found out."
"To cheaters on here, I would say: get out of your relationship. If you're cheating, you're clearly not happy. Do yourself and your partner a favor and just end it now, before it all goes to hell."
DivorcingGuy1234
maury GIFGiphy
"Because I wasn't over my ex and when she came knocking I didn't value my new relationship enough and crossed a line I never will lower myself to cross again. You feel like sh*t for years after it, really not worth it no matter how you try to justify it to yourself at the time."
Secret_Guarantee_277
Getting over and getting under... all stressful options.
Steve Harvey Reaction GIFGiphy
"Drunk and being hit on by a bendy yoga teacher. Got caught in the same day. It was a sh**show."
Top-Pin-3520
In the Dark Place
"I came here to try and understand what goes on in someone's head when this happens because I've been cheated on sexually and emotionally. Instead I'm just left feeling sorry for the people in this thread. So many people in such a dark place pulling their partners down to an equally dark place. I hope everyone here that has cheated has grow and gotten help. And that they can pursue a healthy and fulfilling relationship after they've grown past that."
"For the people that have been cheated on, I'm sorry all of you went through that and I hope it never happens again. Sometimes it feels like something I'll never fully recover from and other times I refuse to let past hurts ruin the chance of something good happening. So I want the people who have been hurt by their partners cheating to know just because it's happened once doesn't mean it will again and good things can still happen for you."
UmbraofDeath
"Because I was too chicken s**t to get a divorce because I was wildly unhappy and too proud to go to therapy to fix the marriage. So I cheated, got caught, and have since been to a ton of therapy and am getting a divorce. Even though I'm happy to have this relationship in my rear view, cheating is my life's biggest regret."
RecoverSexAddict
That's messed up...
"This was me a decade ago. It was just one time. I had somehow rationalized if I cheated he could then just hate me. That would hurt less than me telling him I didn't love him anymore and I wanted out. He was a good partner, but I fell out of love with him."
"The latter would've been the honorable thing to do. He was going to be hurt either way! I was just doing mental gymnastics to justify my reasoning - really I just liked the attention that I wasn't getting at home. That's messed up. I worked a lot on myself and go to therapy. I'm a much better partner now, and I haven't done it since."
Ok_Adhesiveness_4321
Worthless
Will Smith Smh GIF by The Academy AwardsGiphy
"Because she cheated on me first. I don't ever recommend such a stupid f**king decision. It isn't worth it, folks. I normally considered myself strong and stoic before that? I don't have a foot to stand on now. It wasn't worth it."
BBQSpareRibMoon
Bad Connections
"I felt an intimacy connection with someone which I'd never had before. In retrospect it's one of the dumbest and stupidest things I ever could have done. It wasn't at all worth what it has now become. I've lost my entire family and have no respect from the people that matter most to me. 10/10 would not recommend and would never do again. I lost it all for something that never even really mattered. I had it all in front of me, I just refused to see it."
WeCanWeWi11
Well, love isn't always forever and intimacy is something we work on every single day.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.


text:
Southern Rock Plays a mix from famous and indie southern rock bands.
Drag The River
The Bunch
The Elms
Black Robot
Stations Similar To Southern Rock
Lou Reed Radio
Plays Lou Reed along with similar artists like:
The Velvet Underground, Tim Buckley, Simon & Garfunkel, Stephen Still…
Eagles Radio
Plays Eagles along with similar artists like:
Don Henley, Wings, Aerosmith, Steve Winwood, Meat Loaf…
Bar Rockin
Plays the best Rock bar anthems that you can rock out and sing along to.
Scorpions, Cheap Trick, Godsmack, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin, Molly Hatchet…
Classic Pop Rock: Chapter 4
Plays a mixture of some of the all-time best classic pop rock hits.
Blondie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Echo & The Bunnymen, Fleetwood Mac, Le…
Halloween Rock
It's a collection of scary, disturbing, and ridiculous tracks perfect for Halloween.
Two Door Cinema Club, The Flaming Lips, Michael Jackson, The Black Keys, The Roll…
Plays popular songs from artist of indie rock & pop.
The Wombats, The White Stripes, White Lies, Weezer, The Walkmen, The Vines, Vampi…
Popular Songs In Southern Rock
Hot Child in the City
Walk And Talk It
The Georgia Satellites
Uneasy Rider
The Charlie Daniels Band
Slow Ride
Girl From The City
Spread Eagle
God Gave Me You
Trouble No More

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Onderscheiding voor Trouwe Dienst (Denemarken)
 Onderscheiding voor Trouwe Dienst (Oldenburg), een onderscheiding ingesteld in Oldenburg
 Onderscheiding voor Trouwe Dienst (Pruisen), een onderscheiding ingesteld in Pruisen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The item I want is out of stock. Will you restock?
For reference, Topspin is a software platform that helps artists connect with their fans and sell to them directly.
Unfortunately, we don't have information as to whether particular products will be restocked. Please check back to the artist's website for any updates regarding future availability or contact the artist's management directly for further information.


text:
Only at Melfort!
A Saturday at Melfort always contains a certain amount of stress where we have to get 32 cottages ready for our new guests and this Saturday started with the extra excitement of an extremely low weather system moving in from the Atlantic.
It was getting to around 3 o'clock when on my way to our Pier cottages I noticed the above mentioned Atlantic was making its way gaily across the field opposite the Farms and heading for the road, so I took a quick detour and headed off along the road to the village hall to see what my possibility was of getting home that evening. I got about halfway and knew that further progress would be risky as waves were lapping around my wheels and a couple of locals were watching me with the usual expressions of mild amusement reserved for lost tourists.
One of the wags said it probably wasn't that bad as "it only seemed to be coming half way up those ducks"!
It was obvious that with the imminent arrival of our guests and owners there could be trouble ahead.
After executing a million point turn in the sea, I returned to the office and was immediately called to a huddled meeting where I was told that the first guests had arrived at the hall and were waiting for us to turn the tide back so they could complete their journey.
A plan was formulated and John the Head gardener and myself set off up the old
Melfort pass which runs behind the field opposite the club, passing the hydro-electricity station it winds its way up the precipitous river gorge to the main Oban road just above our boating loch. We got up and back down the main road to the village hall and greeted our first arrivals.
John was stationed at the hall to meet, greet and explain the situation to arrivals and my job was to assemble a convoy of about five or six cars a time and lead them back up the road and through the pass back to Melfort. On one particular visit to the hall, John told me an intrepid family had decided that they would attempt the journey without waiting for the convoy. I made a couple more circuits and the lone explorers still had not turned up at Melfort. They did eventually turn up and while the arrival committee were checking their temperatures for our pandemic procedures the driver was heard to say that it was a good thing we didn't have to take their blood pressure as well!
Through the next three hours I made the journey about six times. It got darker and darker and at one point the rain was lashing down as well just to make things a little more exciting. But by about seven o'clock we got the last guests safety to their cottages and as far as I know, there was no damage to the cars and nobody took an unexpected flight down into the murky depths of the gorge. Next morning many of the guests expressed their thanks and most said they had enjoyed the adventure.
It could only happen at Melfort but let's hope it doesn't happen again soon!
Self-Catering Cottages for Christmas & New Year at Melfort Village
Luxury Self Catering Holiday Cottages for Christmas in Scotland, explore our range of cottages available for a wonderful self catering Christmas Break with the Family.
Only at Melfort
Ian Brown recounts his adventure when a low weather system hit Kilmelford alongside high tide, resulting in adventure, convoys and a great sense of achievement.
Wildlife at Melfort
If you just stop and be still for a moment, breathe in the pure clean air and simply listen, a whole world of wildlife will make itself known…
Our Booking Pledge
We're committed to making things as easy as possible so you can book with confidence this year at Melfort Village.


text:
Recovering from NotPetya. State-actor seen behind wiper attack. Ukraine mulls criminal negligence charges. Documents behind US Congressional wariness of Kaspersky.
Dave Bittner: [00:00:01:01] When you're done chowing down on your leftover hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw and deviled eggs from the 4th of July, head on over to patreon.com/thecyberwire and see how you could help support our show. Thanks.
Dave Bittner: [00:00:14:20] Affected enterprises are restoring services after last week's NotPetya pandemic. Maersk's experience prompts some introspection in the logistics sector. Ukraine prepares to charge ME Doc's maker with criminal negligence for allowing the infection to take hold. NotPetya's tied to BlackEnergy and thence to a "state actor" (NATO's not saying it's Russia, but Ukraine is). FSB certificates allegedly express links between FSB and Kaspersky.
Dave Bittner: [00:00:46:20] It's time to take a moment to tell you about our sponsor, Recorded Future. Recorded Future is the real time threat intelligence company whose patented technology continuously analyzes the entire web to develop information security intelligence that gives analysts unmatched insight into emerging threats. And when analytical talent is as scarce and pricey as it is today, every enterprise can benefit from technology that makes your security teams more productive than ever. We at the CyberWire have long been subscribers to Recorded Future Cyber Daily and, if it helps us, we're confident it will help you too. Subscribe today and stay a step or two ahead of the threat. Go to recordedfuture.com/intel to subscribe for free threat intelligence updates from Recorded Future, and we thank Recorded Future for sponsoring our show.
Dave Bittner: [00:01:41:06] Major funding for the CyberWire podcast is provided by Cylance. I'm Dave Bittner in Baltimore with your CyberWire summary for Wednesday, July 5th, 2017.
Dave Bittner: [00:01:51:23] Yesterday marked the passage of the first week in the NotPetya disruptive malware pandemic. It's taken most affected enterprises, from Maersk to DLA Piper to Ukraine's banking systems, just about that amount of time to restore a tolerable level of service.
Dave Bittner: [00:02:07:21] Maersk announced Monday that it was finally able to bring its major systems back online after sustaining a hit to global operations from the NotPetya wiper attack. Port services reopened Sunday, many of them using manual operations, and other aspects of recovery continue. The hit was substantial. Maersk, which is by no means an inattentive or poorly resourced outfit, is working through a six-day backlog. Among the ports that returned to operation in substantially manual mode are Gothenburg, Sweden and the US ports of Los Angeles, Mobile and Port Elizabeth, all big cargo handlers.
Dave Bittner: [00:02:45:09] The NotPetya attack and its effect on Maersk has led the shipping and logistics industry to some security introspection. Self-examination leads to uncomfortable insights. We heard from Lars Jensen of the maritime cybersecurity company, CyberKeel, who summarized some of those insights as follows: "A top-20 carrier allows shippers using their eCommerce platform to use "x" as their password. A port terminal has a server running the access to their eCommerce tools which is so old that it can be readily taken over using tools one can download directly from the internet. A top-5 carrier claims that the password '12345' is of "medium" strength. 10% of carriers and 20% of the sampled ports and terminals have still not patched the vulnerabilities related to the 'Poodle' and 'Heartbleed' cyber threats which emerged more than 2½ years ago."
Dave Bittner: [00:03:39:04] Jensen also notes that the apparent ease with which the attack propagated laterally across infected networks is a disturbing indicator that security levels are generally too low for comfort.
Dave Bittner: [00:03:51:11] Returning to Ukraine, where the infestation began, authorities are moving forward with their investigation. Police have seized servers belonging to Intellect Service, the small "family owned" software outfit whose ME Doc tax accounting product appears to have been the initial source of NotPetya infestations. A high-ranking official in Ukraine's police unit charged with investigating cybercrime says that Intellect Service should expect criminal charges.
Dave Bittner: [00:04:19:14] Intellect Service, which says it's cooperating fully with the police, denies having anything to do with the attack and says their code was clean when they released it.
Dave Bittner: [00:04:29:11] It seems fair to say that NATO's statement on the attack represents at this point consensus: NATO thinks the attack was the work of a "state actor" but the Atlantic Alliance's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn declines to say exactly which state that would be. The statement about the attack mentions, in passing, that cyberattacks with physical consequences could trigger NATO's Article 5 - collective defense - but was silent on whether this would be one of those cases.
Dave Bittner: [00:04:58:18] Almost certainly not, but the statements do suggest the rough area where NATO will draw its Article 5 line: somewhere on the side of physical consequences.
Dave Bittner: [00:05:09:23] The NotPetya attack on Ukraine with either intentional or collateral damage throughout most of the rest of the world, has been tied more closely to Russian services as researchers at Kaspersky, ESET and elsewhere find links to the BlackEnergy APT group. That APT has long been suspected of being a Russian cat's paw. In fairness to Kaspersky and ESET, neither draw that explicit conclusion, but Ukraine's government certainly has. They're convinced the incident is another shot in Moscow's hybrid war aimed at re-engulfing Ukraine.
Dave Bittner: [00:05:10:09] It's probably safe to say that one thing we all wish we had more of is time, and when it comes to security investigations time is of the essence. The folks at Splunk recently sponsored an IDC info brief titled "Investigation or Exasperation? The State of Security Operations." Haiyan Song is SVP and General Manager for Security Markets at Splunk.
Haiyan Song: [00:06:08:11] We always talk about the ideal situation; security needs to be proactive. Unfortunately, one of the things we have found is that in security investment in tools and technology, even operations, only 70% of the companies actually do that after a serious breach. It's still good to do it, but I think it would be much better if we took a proactive approach. Further, since we're in security information event management analytic space, one of the interesting things we found is that 72% of US companies are not fully taking advantage of the capabilities in connection with the skill shortage and the fact that we have to deal with a lot of sophisticated attacks which are morphing all the time.
Haiyan Song: [00:06:58:01] We also should have surveyed how people are using machine learning, advanced data, science, and technology machine learning. Certainly, we're still in a very early stage, but only 81% of US companies are not at all or not extensively leveraging that. That's interesting because for a lot of the new sophisticated attacks you really cannot use known patterns or rules, you've got to look for anomalies, look for the base lining to start with and, using threat modeling, bring out some of the anomalies. That is really the biggest challenge for a lot of security operations.
Haiyan Song: [00:07:43:23] There is still a lot of time that the security analysts have to invest even to just take care or address one security incidence or alert. Some of them will turn out to be real. It's still days and hours - that's the granularity we're looking at - but for security, in the computer world, minutes can be a long time, let alone hours or day. 39% report that it takes, on average, two to four hours to resolve an incident and we need to get them to minutes. Therefore, investigation, forensics and automation becomes really key in improving that statistic.
Dave Bittner: [00:08:26:12] That's Haiyan Song from Splunk. The report is called Investigation or Exasperation? The State of Security of Operations, you can find it on the Splunk website.
Dave Bittner: [00:08:37:24] Two cryptocurrency services have come under attack, the Bithumb exchange and client-side Ethereum wallet, Classic Ether. Bithumb users lost both Bitcoin and Ethereum; Classic Ether Wallet's website was hijacked.
Dave Bittner: [00:08:53:00] Researchers at Sucuri have found an SQL-injection flaw in a widely used WordPress plugin: WordPress Statistics. Look to your blogs, bloggers.
Dave Bittner: [00:09:04:00] Kaspersky, which has responded to US Congressional suspicions of its connections to Moscow by offering to show the US its source code, remains under scrutiny. McClatchy is reporting on certificates Russia's FSB issued to the company that appear to associate it with an intelligence program. While connections among security companies and intelligence services are far from unusual, experts consulted by McClatchy think that the certificates appear at the very least to be odd ones, and worth further scrutiny. The Bear suspected of consorting with Kaspersky, by the way, would be Cozy Bear, not her sister Fancy.
Dave Bittner: [00:09:41:08] Russian authorities aren't happy with the suspicions and tell the US to expect blowback. Maybe, the Communications Minister suggests, Russia will stop using Microsoft and Cisco products.
Dave Bittner: [00:09:57:16] Now I'd like to tell you about some research from our sponsor, Delta Risk. We all depend on the power grid, you've heard a lot over the last few months about the grid's vulnerability, crash override, in particular through a scare into the energy distribution sector. It's a real threat and its masters demonstrated what they can do last December in Ukraine. Even a minor disruption to the power grid could be devastating to all of us. Download Delta Risk's new white paper Cybersecurity and the Grid, the Definitive Guide for insight into how the North American power grid works, an overview of current regulations and a look at potential cyber threats. You'll find the guide at deltarisk.com/grid-whitepaper. Delta Risk LLC, a chaired-off group company, is a global provider of strategic advice, cybersecurity and risk management services to commercial and government clients. Learn more about Delta Risk by visiting deltarisk.com and while you're there get that guide The cybersecurity for the grid. It's deltarisk.com/grid-whitepaper, and we thank Delta Risk for sponsoring our show.
Dave Bittner: [00:11:09:06] Joining me once again is Professor Awais Rashid, he heads the Academic Center of Excellence in cybersecurity research at Lancaster University. Professor, welcome back. You know with this recent high profile ransomware attack, WannaCry and the disruption it did to the NHS in England, you wanted to talk about the anatomy of attacks and getting back to the basics.
Professor Awais Rashid: [00:11:31:15] Thank you very much for having me again. Indeed, I think the ransomware attack that disrupted many different systems across the world, but most notably the National Health Service in the UK, just simply demonstrates what is effectively a fairly simple type of attack in the sense that it's an attack that blocks out your files and access to your disk. However, it can disrupt one of the largest organizations in the world. To look at the causes of this disruption, we need to really look back at the anatomy of an attack and normally what would happen is that an attacker breaches the system, for example, through a weaponized document or a payload which could come via a phishing attack or any other means to deliver it into the network and then the goal tends to be to get some kind of command and control infrastructure set up and also do lateral movement and move across the network.
Professor Awais Rashid: [00:12:31:19] What we can see in the case is that that has happened with relative ease in the sense that, yes, we don't really know what the initial point of breach was, but once the initial point of a breach had been reached by the attacker, the attack moved very quickly, not only within a particular part of the organization but across many National Health Service Trusts across the country. That leads to the very fundamental question as to how basic security practices can actually disrupt different types of attack. What we know in this case is that some of the systems were based on Windows XP, which is an outdated system and is not supported currently by Microsoft, but also that that particular vulnerability has been known since March and patches were available but they weren't applied. That leads to the particular question about security investment, good security practices and good security hygiene.
Professor Awais Rashid: [00:13:28:06] Also, another really fundamental thing which I often teach my students on a regular basis is that it's not only what you do to keep an attacker out - and in this case clearly things could have been done by patching systems to at least make it harder for the attackers to breach the system - but also what happens once a breach has occurred. What kind of recovery plans are in place and, for a complex and highly critical organizations such as the National Health Service, for it to be disrupted on a large scale for such a long period of time is a big problem. Therefore, one of the questions we have to ask is what kind of recovery plans were in place? What kind of backup systems were in place? And why did it take so long for the system to come back online but, equally, why was it so easy in terms of what kind of network isolation was put in place or not that made it possible for the attack move laterally across the organization very quickly?
Dave Bittner: [00:14:26:10] One of the things I've heard about these sorts of attacks, particularly when it comes to health care, and I'm not sure this is the case with the NHS, is that sometimes restoring from backup can take more time than simply paying the ransomware and having the files unlocked.
Professor Awais Rashid: [00:14:41:04] Yes, that might be the case but, first of all, one would never condone paying the ransom for a ransomware because, ultimately, the attacker's motives are economic and that simply plays into the attacker's motivation. Equally, in this case, a lot of these systems are not always set up with, for example, local files. Therefore, they are often delivered from a server and we just do not know, in this case, what the scale of the infection was. For example, did the ransomware also lock key servers within the organization that were delivering those files to the terminals? If you think about it, the ransomware is a fairly simple attack. A vulnerability may have been exploited here; it was a fairly simple attack that simply encrypts your disk. If you have effective backups and you can restore them quickly then the attacker's purpose is defeated because their purpose is to get money to unlock your data. But if you can restore your data fairly quickly then their purpose is defeated. Therefore, I do think that an effective recovery plan, in such cases, is actually very important.
Dave Bittner: [00:15:46:04] Alright, good information. Professor Awais Rashid, thank you for joining us.
Dave Bittner: [00:15:52:09] And that's the CyberWire. Thanks to all of our sponsors who make the CyberWire possible, especially to our sustaining sponsor Cylance. To find out how Cylance can help protect you using artificial intelligence, visit cylance.com. The CyberWire podcast is produced by Pratt Street Media. Our Editor is John Petrik, Social Media Editor is Jennifer Eiben and our Technical Editor is Chris Russell. Our Executive Editor is Peter Kilpe and I'm Dave Bittner. Thank you for listening.
Delta Risk
Delta Risk LLC, a Chertoff Group Company, is a global provider of strategic advice, cyber security, and risk management services to commercial and government clients. Learn more about Delta Risk by visiting www.deltarisk.com.


"No future with Russia," president says after talks over terms for $500m loan fail.
Alexei Kudrin, Russia's foreign minister, on Thursday described Belarus' planned economy and stiff control of its currency as a "meaningless policy" and said the country was taking a "parasitic" attitude towards Russia.
The exchange reflects growing tension between the two neighbours and long-term allies.
Belarus' Soviet-style economy has been propped up in part by cheap Russian gas and oil and Lukashenko has called for his country to reunite with Russia.
It secured the $2bn loan from Russia last year as well as a deal for Russian gas at a lower price than that paid by other former Soviet republics.
But in recent years, the two countries have clashed over the fees Russia pays to Belarus for the transport of Russian oil to Europe.
The Kremlin is also impatient with Lukashenko's resistance to Russian attempts to take control of key industrial assets.
Russia had also been expecting Belarus to quickly follow its example in recognising Georgia's breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations, which Russia did following its war with Georgia last summer.
With the global financial crisis pinching Belarus' economy, Lukashenko has looked to improve ties with the United States and the European Union as his country sought loans from international lenders, other than Russia.
Kudrin, who was accompanying Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, on a trip to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, on Thursday also warned that the Belarusian government might go bankrupt this year or next.
Lukashenko accused Kudrin of sowing panic in Belarus.


Known as the Whisky Kid, Sammy Karachi has been drinking single malts since he was 7 years old. Since then his passion as taken him around the world, exploring and drinking whisky across the globe. Sammy's first love - Macallan. His second love - Bow Ties. This stylish young lad is back at Gordon's Main St to show case some of the newest Macallan that has hit our shelves.


After 18 months, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover's onboard laboratories are back online. Thanks to over a year's work by engineers at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, the unmanned explorer has been taught a new way to use its crippled drill so that it can resume taking soil samples and conveying them to its robotic labs for analysis.
One of the primary tasks assigned to Curiosity since its touchdown on the Red Planet in 2012 has been to carry out extensive drilling operations with its robotic arm. This is part of its mission to seek out sites where life could once or still may contain life. For the first four years, the nuclear-powered rover operated longer and better than expected, but in December 2016, a problem occurred.
The key technology for Curiosity's soil sampling is its robotic arm, specifically its robotic hand, which is a complex assembly of sensors, drilling apparatus, and a system for accepting, grading, and conveying soil and rock powder to the laboratories located inside the body of the rover.
For drilling into rock, the hand's drill is placed over the desired spot, where it rests on two metal pins. Between these pins, the drill is extended, bores into the rock, and then recesses back into the hand to place the sample into the Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) sorting and transporting system. But in 2016, the drill malfunctioned and wouldn't extend properly on command, so drilling operations had to be suspended.
Using a duplicate rover at JPL, engineers studied the problem and came up with an alternative drilling method called "feed extended drilling," which was used for the first time on May 20 of this year. In this technique, the drill is fully and permanently extended and locked in place beyond the pins. The drill is then placed over the sample site and pressed down by the robotic arm like a person would with a power drill. Meanwhile, a force sensor lets the rover's computer know how far the drill is digging and how difficult the job is.
The second phase of the new operation was tested on May 31. This is "feed extended sample transfer," where CHIMRA is bypassed and the drill is suspended over the inlet to the laboratory to allow the sample to trickle down for later delivery to the analysis section.
According to JPL, the technique is not as simple as it sounds because the much drier conditions on Mars and the thin Martian atmosphere causes the powdered rock to fall out of the drill differently than on Earth. As a result, the engineers had to use images sent back by Curiosity to estimate how to get the proper amount of sample, which is in the milligram range, into the laboratory so that it's enough to work with, but not enough to clog the mechanism.
So far, results have been promising and mission control has even ordered Curiosity to return to old sites that it visited while the drill was unserviceable.
"The science team was confident that the engineers would deliver – so confident that we drove back to a site that we missed drilling before," says Ashwin Vasavada of JPL, the mission's project scientist. "The gambit paid off, and we now have a key sample we might have never gotten. It's quite remarkable to have a moment like this, five years into the mission. It means we can resume studying Mount Sharp, which Curiosity is climbing, with our full range of scientific tools."
The video below demonstrates the new drilling technique.


As we discussed in part I of this article, many companies are still in the process of modernizing their legacy apps. There are a number of reasons to do this, but securing your environment is typically the main goal. We've already identified that a (software) token-based system as essential. Let's continue with a couple more best practices.
An application needs user data — not for authentication, but because it needs to know the role and responsibilities of the person logging in so that privileges inside the app can be managed and regulated.
With "Just-in-Time" provisioning, a user arrives at the application with an identity token. While the app may have no previous experience with or knowledge of the user, the token acts like a driver's license, verifying that they are who they say they are and confirming that they're allowed access to the application — just like a driver's license verifies your identity and confirms that you're allowed to drive.
The benefit of this method is that no action needs to be taken before the visitor arrives and no resources are required to build a database of user information.
Alternatively, some organizations choose "explicit provisioning" for a more structured, pro-active provisioning process. When a person is hired, their information is entered into an identity service which, in turn, directly communicates that information to all the internal and external apps that person should need access to.
For example, a newly hired salesperson's information is entered into the identity service. The service will deduce that a person in the sales department will need access to Salesforce.com. It will then automatically communicate with Salesforce to create a user account and provision it for the new hire. This way, an account is created and privileges are defined before the new hire ever logs into the system.
While slightly more complicated to set up, this method enables the identity system and the application to have a more sophisticated conversation about the user. And the more detailed the information that's shared, the more efficient the user setup and provisioning will be.
Both of these systems offer value. If you have a very simple set of requirements, use Just-in-Time provisioning. If you need extended and precise provisioning, then use explicit provisioning through an identity management system.
Some organizations — especially those with a handful of legacy apps — feel they need a customized solution to fit their specific needs and so they opt to build their own. They believe that by using secure, proven technologies like SAML or OpenID Connect, that developing a system and designing their own tokens won't be difficult.
The problem is that both SAML and OpenID Connect are relatively complex technologies designed to powerfully solve critical security challenges. You cannot develop your own SAML system and make it secure, usable and scalable without expending massive resources.
I met with a pharmaceutical company recently that had been attempting to modernize 20 different applications, each of which had its own identity database. Despite a number of misgivings, they'd decided to invent their own token management system, which proved to be far more challenging than they'd anticipated.
A further obstacle was the fact that one of their primary goals was to merge their existing identities into one system. Identity consolidation is much more than switching from usernames and passwords to a token-based login. There is the migration, consolidation and management of existing identities to consider. The company eventually abandoned the project and came to us.
The truth is, we meet a lot of customers that have tried to save money by designing their own systems. And after spending copious amounts of time, money and development resources, they all end up with a patchwork solution that simply doesn't work as effectively as they need it to. By the time they come to us, they've spent significantly more modernizing these apps than they would have if they'd come to us in the beginning.
The bottom line is that there are myriad challenges to address when you're modernizing applications. It's an important project, and one that companies should absolutely be focused on. But using a well-designed, well-thought-out solution is essential.
Boost your security with Centrify Identity Service.


Published 04/26/2019 12:13:41 am at 04/26/2019 12:13:41 am in Ikea Cabinet Installation Tips.
ikea cabinet installation tips kitchen kitchen cabinets ikea assembly tips chantalism ikea kitchen cabinet installation galleryikea ideas.
ikea cabinet installation tips,ikea kitchen cabinet installation tips, ikea kitchen cabinets sektion bodbyn kitchen appliances tips and ikea kitchen cabinet installation kitchen cabinet installation service beach ikea kitchen cabinets sektion bodbyn , ikea pull out cabinet zef jam best ikea kitchen installation tips tricks images on, ikea kitchen cabinet installation video and tips for assembling ikea kitchen cabinet installation video and ikea kitchen installer in florida ike apro of, kitchen cabinet installation tips how to design and install ikea kitchen cabinet installation tips how to design and install ikea sektion kitchen cabinets, kitchen cabinet installations kitchen cabinet tools kitchen cabinet kitchen cabinet installations kitchen cabinet installation tools tools for kitchen cabinet installation ikea kitchen cabinet installation , ikea sektion cabinets cabinets rust mode high gloss paint high gloss ikea sektion cabinets kids bathroom after the cabinets are ikea kitchen cabinet installation tips , ikea kitchen sink cabinet installation how to design and install tips for assembling and installing ikea kitchen cabinets, tips for installing an ikea kitchen az diy guy we chose ikea cabinets for our kitchen remodel because they are super cost effective ingeniously designed and good looking the obvious concern about the , install ikea kitchen cabinets instructions kitchen appliances tips cost to install ikea kitchen cabinets inspirational ikea kitchen installation guide cabinets cabinet island instructions .


Popularity - 0 views, 0 views per day, 268 days on eBay. 1 sold, 0 available. 1 bid.
0 views, 0 views per day, 268 days on eBay. 1 sold, 0 available. 1 bid.
Seller - 331+ items sold. 1.6% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.
331+ items sold. 1.6% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.
Pendulum, new small metal for miniature novelty key wound cuckoo clock.
NEW "Nido" Modern Cuckoo Clock in White Progetti STUNNING! £280 Retail BARGAIN!!
Hubert Herr, lovely Black Forest made chalet type 1 day cuckoo clock as shown.
Dials for small novelty cuckoo clocks, all wood Black Forest made, variations.
Hubert Herr, lovely Black Forest 1 day mechanical weight driven cuckoo clock.
Hubert Herr new genuine new Black Forest hand carved cuckoo clock pendulum (9).
New white cuckoo clock hands to suit small novelty type clocks, variations.
Cuckoo clock hands new white to suit various Regula movements & dial sizes.
Cuckoo clock bellow tops, semi trapezoidal, old type ( Leather ) Large size.


Veteran Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, would host the maiden edition of the stakeholders and users forum, organised by the Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS), Nigeria's primal and sole Collective Management Organisation (CMO) for cinematography and films.
Scheduled to hold at 10am on March 27 at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos, the award-winning actor would moderate and serve as compere at the event aimed at sensitising prospective licencees of the AVRS and other stakeholders in the Nigerian creative space on the nature and functions of the organisation.
The forum was also conceived to sensitise the licencees on their roles as partners and the need for them to meet up their obligations.
A statement by Chairman of the AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, indicated that the event would have the former director general of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba as Chairman, while the newly-appointed Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), John Asein, would deliver the keynote address at the event expected to attract the who-is-who in the creative industry, particularly the motion picture sector.
Also expected as speakers and panelists are the Chief Executive of Dragon Africa and Chairman Social Media Week Nigeria, Obi Asika; the Chief Executive of ACC Broadcast Multimedia Limited, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki; Sandra Oyewole, partner at Olajide Oyewole LLP and Chijioke Uwaegbute of Pricewaterhouse and Cooper.
Licenced by the NCC in 2014, in pursuant to Section 39 of the Nigerian Copyright Act and the CMO Regulations 2007, the AVRS is the only company authorised to licence public and commercial use of cinematograph and video works in Nigeria.


A 20-year-old man from the RM of Rockwood is facing charges after police seized a quantity of drugs from a home on Thursday.
RCMP executed a search warrant on the Stonewall residence, where they located 348 grams of marijuana, 14 grams of powder cocaine, two grams of crack cocaine, three firearms, and more than $3,000 in cash.
Dylan Karlenzig remains in police custody pending a court appearance in Winnipeg on November 18.


text:
The Jackson Hole Aerial Tram, known as Big Red, takes about nine minutes for it to climb 4,139 feet to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, which sits at 10,450 feet in elevation.
22 Nov Big Red
Posted at 23:57h in Feature Stories, Winter 2020 | Written By: Kristen Pope 0 Comments
On big powder days at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, no matter the day of the week, you can count on the fact that skiers and snowboarders will be in line for the tram even before the sun rises. Some hooting and hollering may be heard, depending on how many inches were received, and the line for a turn to ride "Big Red" — also nicknamed "The Red Heli" — builds further out as the morning goes on. Those waiting are eager to rise 4,139 feet above the valley floor, to an elevation of 10,450 feet, for first dibs on fresh tracks. And the camaraderie is evident, as people chat with friends and decide where they'll head first. When Big Red finally opens for business — after the ski patrol has completed avalanche control — the first 100 people shuffle in for a ride.
Big Red is a legendary part of the resort, an iconic symbol of Jackson Hole's regular powder dumps, steep and deep terrain, and overall dynamic vibe. It's also a key part of the ski area's history. Built in unison with the development of the resort in 1964, the tram was part of founder Paul McCollister's vision of bringing a European-style skiing experience to North America. The original 52-passenger Jackson Hole Aerial Tram opened in 1966, and, reaching the top of Rendezvous Mountain in 10.5 minutes, it opened up access to vast amounts of terrain.
The original cars were updated a few decades later, with similarly sized, more modern versions. But despite the changes, the tram couldn't last forever, and it was retired in 2006. Bill Lewkowitz, who's worked at the mountain since 1984 and serves as the resort's business development director today, explains that when it was time to replace it, they considered a number of other options, ultimately deciding on a 100-passenger tram that could ascend Rendezvous Mountain in just nine minutes. Lewkowitz says the resort's leaders "realized that the tram was iconic," noting that "to put in any other lift to the summit would not be the same."
The tram passes Corbet's Couloir, one of the most renowned in-bound expert ski runs in the world.
Construction on the new tram began in April 2007, the towers were erected and the cables were installed in the summer of 2008, and the new cars were delivered that November. On December 20, 2008, the new Jackson Hole Aerial Tram opened to riders. In total, the project cost more than $32 million.
Big Red has a cable span of approximately 2.5 miles, making it a continuous loop of nearly 5 miles. Both cars are connected to the same cable, and when one leaves the top, the other leaves the bottom, crossing beside each other halfway up the mountain.
In the winter, on the ride up from the resort's base at 6,300 feet to the top of Rendezvous, riders can watch skiers and snowboarders drop into Corbet's Couloir — an extreme chute located beside the tram's path. Once up top, some choose to fill up on waffles at Corbet's Cabin before enjoying 4,139 feet of continuous vertical. Then it's time to hop in line for another lap.
The tram can run in extreme conditions; during winter storms when the wind is blowing hard, it typically keeps spinning even when other lifts are forced to close. While it does shut down, it's usually for skier safety as opposed to mechanical limitations. "Our shutdown is usually [when winds are] at about 65 to 70 miles per hour," says tram maintenance manager Mike Vase, who has worked at the resort since 2009. "And it's not because the tram can't handle it, it's because people can't walk. They'd get blown away."
On powder days, Jackson Hole skiers and snowboarders line up hours before the tram opens, hoping to ride the first car and enjoy fresh tracks
In the summer months, the tram runs for sightseeing and also to provide access to hiking, backpacking, and paragliding. With a lighter load of 65 passengers, it runs at a slower pace, allowing people to move around the car to take in the views. When wildlife is spotted, the operators tend to slow it down even more to give visitors an opportunity to watch the animals from above.
To keep the tram running safely, Vase, along with his team of three year-round mechanics, conducts daily checks, and performs weekly, monthly, annual, and multi-year inspections and maintenance. And their work is crucial to the resort's overall operations. "The mountain doesn't run without ski patrol, but ski patrol can't run without the tram," Vase says.
While the tram is iconic to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, a symbol of sorts, the ride itself is a memorable experience. "The vibe has always been huge inside the tram," Lewkowitz says. "People are excited about what they just did or what they're about to do. It just has an aura about it that's incredible. … There was a whole culture built around it."
On some days, the tram flies high above the valley clouds, revealing bluebird ski conditions up top.
A number of diehard Jackson Hole skiers are devoted to the early morning, powder-seeking tram ride, and Otto Graves is one of Big Red's biggest fans. He's been skiing the mountain for 35 years during his winters in Jackson. Hitting the slopes around 100 days each season, he estimates he rides the tram about 500 times a year, and counts more than 8,000 rides over his lifetime. "In my opinion, there's really no mountain like it in the U.S.," Graves says. "It has so much variety: the mountain itself as well as all of the backcountry and side-country, and easy access to all of those things."
For Graves and other Jackson Hole skiers, the camaraderie is a big part of Big Red's allure. "A lot of my friends, we're on the tram dock together chatting, we get on the tram chatting," he says. "We'll talk about where we might be skiing, what we did ski. On a big powder day, someone will say, 'Go ski this or that, it's really good.' There is a gigantic amount of camaraderie."
The Jackson Hole Aerial Tram is also a symbol of the changing seasons, and it marks the passage of time. Open for the winter and summer tourist months, locals know that when the tram is running, everything will be busier in town, and when it's closed for maintenance in the off-season, it's time to rest. "It feels like this tram is the heartbeat of the valley," Vase says.


Dahl-Vaughn, Inc. is proud to announce the addition of two new principals.
Validyne Engineering manufactures high quality pressure transducers Differential Transducers and General Purpose Data acquisition systems. They are located in Southern California and offer excellent support.
Shortall Meter Sponsler Turbine Meters have gone out of business and ShortAll Meter was formed by many of the old employees. They manufacture Precision Turbine Meters with sizes from 1/4" to 12" Covering flow ranges from 0.1 to 15,000 GPM. They also manufacture Low Flow Precision Pelton Wheel meters with Flow ranges from 0.004 to3.0 GPM.
Dahl-Vaughn, Inc. is happy to announce that it has added Rich Adena to cover Northern California for all of our products. Like myself, Rich is a Vietnam Veteran. Rich is located in Redding, CA. and can be reached at 530-243-4914.
We would be happy to meet with you and review your application and advise on the best product for you. Please contact us for catalog information or Application assistance.


Active noise-cancelling headphones can help reduce background noise by sampling ambient noise and adjusting the audio to help drown it out. But in order to do that, headphones or earbuds with noise cancellation features need more power than a traditional set of headphones. That's why they usually have a battery compartment.
JBL's new Reflect Aware C noise-cancelling earbuds are designed to plug into a USB Type-C port on smartphones, laptops, or other gadgets rather than a 3.5mm jack.
Since USB Type-C can deliver both data and power, that means the Reflect Aware C headphones don't need a battery.
JBL and HTC unveiled the Reflect Aware C headphones together in the official announcement for the new HTC 10 smartphone. But the earbuds actually made an appearance on the Red Dot 21 design award website recently.
While the USB C model is new, JBL had previously introduced a version of the earbuds with an Apple Lightning connector for use with iPhones. They're available for pre-order for $160 and there's an estimated ship date of June 19th.
I like the idea of noise-canceling headphones that don't need recharging. But it'd be nice if they were a little more affordable.
I have a pair of cheap Audio Technica earbuds that I use when traveling by bus, train, or airplane. The noise cancellation technology isn't that great, but the price was right. While I can use them without noise cancellation if the battery dies, they sound awful when used without it.
So you need drivers and/or an app for them to function? I could see that limiting their lifespan.
Doubtful. USB audio devices are a well established and standardized thing. As long as you aren't trying to connect them to a Windows host it should be reliable and driver free.
Since it is a USB audio device, one side effect is that 100% of the audio specs will be determined by the product and none by the host device since uncompressed digital audio will be sent over the USB port.
Any particular reason why not Windows machines? I've got a USB DAC attached to my workstation and it's never had any problems, just gets detected as a USB S/PDIF device and that's it, functions perfectly.
It might work but historically Windows has had the annoying habit of insisting on vendor drivers for pretty much everything, even items that 'just work' elsewhere. Haven't played with 'doze seriously since 7 though, maybe they finally got tired of being behind the times?
Ah, historically yeah that's a problem though USB audio devices have had a stock driver. Windows 10 is a different beast though, if it can get an Internet connection it will install drivers. It's impressive, I set up a machine recently that needed audio, NIC and graphics card drivers so I hooked up a phone to give it network access via USB and waited while things just burst into life. Half an hour later all those parts had drivers and worked perfectly.


text:
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
Cardboard Children: Libertalia
"booty comes in many shapes and sizes"
Feature by Robert Florence Contributor
Published on 2 Sep, 2012
Hello youse.
This week I can finally talk about Libertalia, and that's exactly what I intend to do. It's the strongest game of the year contender so far, so I'll whip through this and then you can get on with ordering it and stuff. If it's tl;dr then just take this away with you – BUY THIS GAME. Let's not beat around the bush. Even James Purefoy liked it.
I thought that the best way to get across my enthusiasm for Libertalia would be to show you the transcript of a conversation I had with James Purefoy when we first played it together. I think you'll be able to see my passion coming through.
JAMES: Libertalia. What does that mean?
ME: It's just a name. It's the name of the ship you're stealing from. We're pirates.
JAMES: Why didn't they call it "Pirates"? Libertalia sounds like something boring, like a statue or an opera.
ME: There are things called "Pirates" already.
JAMES: Libertalia sounds like a trading and commerce game where you buy and sell boring statues and art crap in 18th Century Venice, like a boring middle-aged dick.
ME: You can call it whatever you like, Jimmy. I'm going to explain the rules now, okay?
JAMES: Okay.
ME: Do not look at your iPhone during this.
JAMES: No phones. Got it.
ME: Okay, so here's how it works. Each player has a deck of cards. And each card is a different member of the pirate crew. In the middle of the table, there's a ship called "Libertalia". On that ship there is a lot of booty. On each day of our campaign of piracy, there will be as many booty tokens as there are players, and we'll all be trying to get our hands on the ones we want. Booty gives you doubloons, and the player with the most doubloons at the end of three campaigns wins.
JAMES: Hey, Solomon Kane is on iTunes. Nice.
ME: No phones!
JAMES: Sorry.
ME: Now here's the interesting thing. At the start of a campaign, one player draws a hand of cards. He then announces the characters he has in his hand, and every other player takes the same characters. So, you only ever have the same characters as your opponents. The player who uses those characters most effectively will win.
JAMES: So what do they do? These characters?
ME: I'm glad you asked that, James. Each character has different abilities. Abilities activate at different times of the day. Some activate while on the boat, stealing booty. Some activate at night, when the characters are back in the pirates den. Some activate at the end of each campaign. You have to know exactly when and how to play them. It's a thrill.
JAMES: You'll have to give me an example, for crying out loud.
ME: Okay. Let me first explain about character rank. Each character has a different rank. When you choose your character and play it onto the ship, it will take its place according to its rank. The abilities will activate from low rank to high, and the characters can take booty from high rank to low. So if you play in a low ranker, you know his ability will activate early. And if you play in a high ranker, you can expect a reasonable shout of your choice of booty.
JAMES: Can't stop thinking of arses whenever you say "booty". Why the big deal about choice of arses?
ME: Well, booty comes in many shapes and sizes. Some will give you doubloons. There are maps that reward you handsomely if you manage to collect a set, and give you nothing if they don't. There are cursed idols that will lose you doubloons. There are sabres that let you kill characters in other players' dens.
JAMES: Oh right. So you can kill opponents' characters?
ME: Sometimes, yes. And there are also Spanish Officers on some booty tokens too. And those bad boys will kill your character if you are forced to take that token. Your character card won't return to your den, and you'll never see his night-time ability, if he has one.
JAMES: Do you need to take arses?
ME: Yes. You can't choose to turn an arse down. You just have to position yourself to get your hands on the arse you want, and that's a major part of the game.
JAMES: So you'd just play a high ranked card every time then? To get your preferred bum?
ME: It's not that simple. Remember that the abilities activate first. So you have to try to bluff and outwit your opponent. The Beggar, for example, is a very low ranked character whose ability will kick in early. He lets you take 3 doubloons from the highest ranked character on the ship. The Brute, a medium ranked character, attacks and knocks out the highest ranked character.
JAMES: The Brute rules.
ME: He does. Although, weirdly, I've seen boats FULL of Brutes on a few occasions now. And that's a lot of fun. They just brawl and knock each other out. No-one gets any booty.
JAMES: If a particular day had a lot of bad booty on the boat, cursed stuff and so on, why couldn't you all agree to play your Brutes, and just have a big fight? Diplomatically agree on a play so no-one has to take bad arses?
ME: You could do that. But would you trust every opponent not to play in a low ranked sneak who doesn't fight, and then has his pick of those bad tokens?
JAMES: Why would you want bad tokens though?
ME: You might have a Monkey in your pirate crew. He can carry cursed items to an opponent's den.
JAMES: OUCH.
ME: Or you might have a Spanish Spy. Those Spanish Officer booty tiles that kill your character? The Spy can use them, trading the hostages for nice rewards.
JAMES: This game sounds amazing. Up there with Solomon Kane maybe.
ME: Exactly.
JAMES: So everyone plays a character, abilities happen, people choose their booty. Then what?
ME: Then it's night. The characters come back to the pirate dens, if they're still alive. And then, night-time abilities kick in. Your Barkeep generates money. A Waitress who loves the illustrations on the maps will take them off your hands for 3 doubloons. She's a great character for making those worthless maps matter when you fail to complete a set. The Mutineer will make one of your characters vanish during the night.
JAMES: That's a bad thing, right?
ME: Sometimes. It might be. But it might be a good thing too, depending on how you play. The Quarter-Master, for example, is a great character. He's high rank so chooses booty early, and he will also give you a bonus for the booty you already have. But at the end of each week, each campaign, he will cost you 8 doubloons. You have to pay the guy. So you might want to stick your Mutineer into the den, and let Mutiny take its course.
JAMES: So much to think about here. If I wasn't hyper-intelligent I might be struggling. So this stuff at the end of the campaigns – important?
ME: Hugely. Your Topman loves a small crew. At the end of each campaign, you'll get five doubloons from him if you're the player with the smallest den of characters. That will inform much of your strategy. The Gambler costs money to play, but he will return 8 doubloons at the end of the week. If he survives.
JAMES: Ah, so people might want to choose one of those Sabre booty tokens during the day, to let them kill your Gambler?
ME: Sure. Or play a Gunner during the day, pay him, and have him shoot your Gambler straight in the head. One of my favourite characters is the Governor's Daughter. I mean, she LOOKS like the Governor's Daughter. And if you're the only one who has her in your den at the end of the campaign, it turns out she IS her, and you get a fine ransom. If more than one player has her, she was just a local prostitute, and she costs you money.
JAMES: This is a French game, right?
ME: Indeed. Now, I've just told you about a handful of the characters. There are thirty of them. And every time you play the game it's a random selection. And they all interact with each other in different ways. When I first read the rulebook, I just didn't feel anything. It just looked like a Euro-style role selection bidding game thing. Nothing jumped out to me saying YOU ARE READING THE RULES OF A POTENTIAL GAME OF THE YEAR. It's so weird. But the minute you start playing, the table just explodes with excitement. The possibilities just rush through your head like crazy. I love Cosmic Encounter because you have these random powers, and you have to work out how best to play your power to win you the game. In Libertalia, you're having to work out how to make a whole hand of powers work for you. And everyone is in WAIT FOR IT the same BOAT, all trying to make smarter choices. The game also scales ridiculously well, from two players right up to six. But with a good number of you, it really shines. There's tension in every single play. The fate of an entire game can spin on one choice. One smart bluff can get you right back in the running. There is high drama on that ship. It's beautiful to see players' reactions when the game finally clicks for them. Every expression saying the same thing. This. Is. IN C R E D I B L E.
JAMES: You okay?
ME: What?
JAMES: You weren't talking to me there. Who were you talking to?
ME: The readers of the column. I really need to get across how great this game is. I worry that people might let this one pass them by, because it's not some Kickstarter darling stuffed full of unnecessary toys. It's a beautiful design, with beautiful artwork, full of smarts and joy.
JAMES: You're talking to them again. While I'm sitting here! A bit rude.
ME: Sorry.
JAMES: A bit rude.
ME: I was summing up.
JAMES: Have they seen Solomon Kane?
ME: Well, I should expect so. We keep telling them to watch it.
JAMES: Mm.
ME: When do you traditionally stop a transcript of a conversation?
JAMES: Usually when it stops being relevant.
ME: So I should have ended it a few lines ago?
JAMES: Yes.
ME: I'd expect people will just stop reading anyway.
JAMES: Yeah. Will I put some tea on? Then I'll tell you about this model I've been seeing while you've been assembling plastic robots for board games.
ME: I think they're still here, by the way.
JAMES: Can't you say that thing you say? To end it?
ME: I hate it.
JAMES: Then I'll say it. "See you next week. Buy Libertalia. And STAY DICEY!"
ME: Ugh.
JAMES: I did cringe a bit there, actually.
Cardboard Children
Support Rock Paper Shotgun
Subscribe and get access to supporter-only articles, an ad-free reading experience, free gifts, and game discounts. Your support helps us create more great writing about PC games.
Please enable JavaScript to see comments.
Crossfire: Legion is the future of the RTS as it was in 1999
There's pedigree and resources behind this offshoot from the world's biggest FPS
Jeremy Peel an hour ago
Kick Blue Monday up the bum with the games that make you smile
Alice Bell 17 hours ago
Nvidia DLDSR tested: better visuals and better performance than DSR
How Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution looks and runs on RTX graphics cards
James Archer 17 hours ago
When will video games give me their sad murder mums?
It's complex, Oedipus
Wordle's app store namesake is donating its proceeds to charity
Older game called Wordle has benefitted from new viral hit
Graham Smith 10 hours ago
Diplomacy Is Not An Option delays its hordes until next month
More time to plan your castle
Ubisoft are making a VR escape game set inside the burning Notre Dame
In partnership with a docudrama
We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes
Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes
Buy RPS stuff here


Supplying a entire examine the continent of Africa and the nations that contain it, this booklet describes its peoples and cultures, track and artwork, exchange and economic climate, vacations and gala's, tribal teams, ecology, faith, fossil and skeleton discoveries, the land and its background, artwork and structure and everyday life. It examines Africa from prehistoric occasions to the current day.
An illuminating and well timed synthesis of methodological and medical reports exhibiting how scientific charges will be validated, how the worth of scientific results may be assessed, and the way tough offerings might be rationally made. The methodological chapters evaluate the conceptual and useful concerns excited about estimating and reading wellbeing and fitness care expenses, making healthiness prestige and software exams, and statistically studying cost-effectiveness and scientific trials.
Quantitative tools have revolutionised the world of buying and selling, legislation, chance administration, portfolio building, asset pricing and treasury actions, and governmental task akin to primary banking. one of many unique contributions during this quarter is the vintage by way of Cootner entitled 'The Random Nature of inventory marketplace Prices'.
The urban centers were bulging with refugees from the countryside who lacked the skills and the education needed to obtain jobs in the cities. Boumédienne proposed programs to improve services and living conditions for the people. In 1978 he introduced a new constitution, establishing the FLN as the sole legal party. However, Boumédienne died suddenly and was replaced by Colonel Chadli Benjedid in 1979. When Benjedid assumed leadership, many Algerians felt that the promise of independence remained unfulfilled.
The Romans built roads and military posts, introduced Christianity, and provided a market for Algerian grain. But as the Roman Empire declined, its control over Algeria weakened. For a time the members of a Christian group known as the Donatists led an independent state in Algeria. This fledgling state fell to the Vandals, who invaded North Africa from Europe. The Vandals, in turn, were driven out of Algeria by the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the former Roman Empire. Arab Invasion. In the 600s invaders from the Arabian peninsula attacked and conquered Algeria.
The many breeds of African cattle are put to various uses. Some herding peoples keep the animals mainly for milk, while other groups eat the meat as well. Cattle are frequently used to pull plows, turn waterwheels or grain mills, and carry loads. Sometimes cattle are ridden. In many herding societies, cattle are regarded not only as a convenient source of food but also as a living symbol of well-being and prosperity— both spiritual and economic. The pastoral peoples of Kenya do not kill their cattle for food, although they consume milk and blood from living animals and use the hides of dead ones.


text:
The Playgoer
Theatre News, Reviews, Commentary
Space for the Arts
The Ford Foundation is back.
The mighty philanthropy org that helped spark the regional theatre movement back in the 60s and 70s is announcing a $100 million in grants for artist work and living space.
As part of an effort to increase the impact of its giving, the Ford Foundation is to announce a plan on Monday to dedicate $100 million to the development of arts spaces nationwide over the next decade. The plan is by far the largest commitment the foundation has ever made to the construction, maintenance and enhancement of arts facilities.
The plan, called the Supporting Diverse Art Spaces Initiative, is one of several large financing projects that have resulted from a strategic overhaul of the foundation's operations since its president, Luis A. Ubiñas, took over in 2008. He has moved the foundation in the direction of bundling its hundreds of millions of dollars in grants — which have traditionally varied widely in their focus — into large programs oriented toward specific issues.
Way to go, Luis!
Nice to see that old Hitler-loving anti-semite's cash going to something good.
Posted by Playgoer
Playgoer
Email Playgoer
Follow @theplaygoer
Playgoer Archives
Playgoer Archives February 2015 (1) April 2013 (1) March 2013 (1) February 2013 (5) August 2012 (1) June 2012 (2) May 2012 (1) April 2012 (1) March 2012 (7) February 2012 (6) January 2012 (6) December 2011 (6) November 2011 (9) October 2011 (12) September 2011 (15) August 2011 (4) July 2011 (18) June 2011 (25) May 2011 (27) April 2011 (22) March 2011 (21) February 2011 (16) January 2011 (13) December 2010 (10) November 2010 (18) October 2010 (21) September 2010 (25) August 2010 (25) July 2010 (27) June 2010 (29) May 2010 (26) April 2010 (29) March 2010 (25) February 2010 (24) January 2010 (22) December 2009 (34) November 2009 (34) October 2009 (42) September 2009 (39) August 2009 (33) July 2009 (28) June 2009 (25) May 2009 (31) April 2009 (34) March 2009 (36) February 2009 (22) January 2009 (22) December 2008 (24) November 2008 (19) October 2008 (30) September 2008 (23) August 2008 (38) July 2008 (36) June 2008 (33) May 2008 (48) April 2008 (51) March 2008 (45) February 2008 (35) January 2008 (36) December 2007 (35) November 2007 (46) October 2007 (59) September 2007 (46) August 2007 (58) July 2007 (48) June 2007 (55) May 2007 (60) April 2007 (58) March 2007 (50) February 2007 (46) January 2007 (48) December 2006 (39) November 2006 (68) October 2006 (64) September 2006 (50) August 2006 (57) July 2006 (60) June 2006 (70) May 2006 (45) April 2006 (84) March 2006 (113) February 2006 (28) January 2006 (26) December 2005 (22) November 2005 (26) October 2005 (39) September 2005 (35) August 2005 (33) July 2005 (28) June 2005 (47) May 2005 (18) January 2004 (1)
Published Reviews (71)
Poster of the Day (15)
published articles (10)
Scholars Corner (8)
Tony Awards Blogcasts (6)
Public Theatre Shakespeare in the Park (4)
My Complete Village Voice Archive
Theatre News/Reviews/Resources
All That Chat
American Theatre Web
American Theatre Web Newsclips
American Theatre Wing
Broadway League
Broadway Stars
Brooklyn Rail
Guardian (UK)
Indie Theater Now
Internet Broadway Database
Internet Off Broadway Database
LA Stageblog
LA Times theatre page
League of Resident Theaters (LORT)
Michael Riedel (NY Post)
Minnesota Playlist
NY Post (Elisabeth Vincentelli)
NY Theater Now
NY Times theatre page
New York 1: On Stage
New York 1: On Stage America
NewYorkTheatre.com (archive)
Official London Theatre
Playbill.com
Stage Directions magazine
Stage Source (Greater Boston Theatre Alliance)
StageGrade
Talkin' Broadway
The Stage (UK)
Theatre Bay Area
Time Out Chicago
Variety "Legit"
Yale "Theater"
About Last Night (Terry Teachout)
An Agry White Guy in Chicago (Don Hall)
Bitter Lemons
Cara Joy David (at HuffPo)
Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune)
Culturebot
Elisabeth Vincentelli (NY Post)
George Hunka
Guava Puree (David Hancock Turner)
Lies Like Truth (Chloe Veltman)
London Theatre Blog
Matthew Freeman
Obscene Jester
Parabasis (Isaac Butler)
Producer's Perspective (Ken Davenport)
That Sounds Cool (Aaron Riccio)
The Clyde Fitch Report
The Drama Teacher (Australia)
The Feminist Spectator (Jill Dolan)
The Wicked Stage (Rob Weinert-Kendt)
Theatre Bay Area Chatterbox
Too Frank? (Frank Episale)
Travalanche (TravSD)
West End Whingers (UK)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
Writing in Books!


text:
Q: What are the differences between the two lerp functions? In Floating point linear interpolation one user proposed this implementation of lerp:
float lerp(float a, float b, float f)
{
    return (a * (1.0 - f)) + (b * f);
}

While another user proposed this implementation of a lerp:
float lerp(float a, float b, float f)
{
    return a + f * (b - a);
}

Apparently the latter implementation is inferior due to floating point precision loss.
I then looked on Wikipedia and it said for the former implementation:
// Precise method, which guarantees v = v1 when t = 1. This method is monotonic only when v0 * v1 < 0.
// Lerping between same values might not produce the same value

and for the latter:
// Imprecise method, which does not guarantee v = v1 when t = 1, due to floating-point arithmetic error.
// This method is monotonic. This form may be used when the hardware has a native fused multiply-add instruction.

This gives me a few questions:

*

*Wikipedia states that "Lerping between same values might not produce the same value" I thought that except for floating point accuracy the functions are identical. Isn't
(a * (1.0 - f)) + (b * f)=a + f * (b - a)

a mathematical identity?
If not what would be values that would give different results in both functions?

*What does Wikipedia mean by monotonic? Why is one implementation monotonic while the other is not?

*Are there other common implementations of lerp?
Edit:
If the latter implementation suffers from floating point imprecision issues while not being really faster why does it even exist?

A:

*

*Wikipedia states that "Lerping between same values might not produce the same value" I thought that except for floating point accuracy the functions are identical. Isn't
(a * (1.0 - f)) + (b * f)=a + f * (b - a)

a mathematical identity?
If not what would be values that would give different results in both functions?

a • (1.0−f) + (b • f) = a + f • (b−a) is a mathematical identity, but the result of computing a*(1.0-f) + b*f is not always equal to the result of computing a + f*(b-a).
For example, consider a floating-point format with a decimal base and three digits in the significand. Let a be 123, b be 223, and f be .124.
Then 1.0-f is .876. Then a * .876 would have real-number-arithmetic result 107.748, but 108 is produced since the result must be rounded to three significand digits. For b * f, we would have 27.652, but 27.7 is produced. Then 108 + 27.7 would produce 135.7 but produces 136.
On the other side, b-a produces 100. Then f*100 produces 12.4. Then a + 12.4 would produce 135.4 but produces 135.
So the results of the computations of the left and right sides, 136 and 135, are not equal.

*What does Wikipedia mean by monotonic?

A function f(x) is strictly ascending if greater arguments produce greater results: x0 < x1 implies f(x0) < f(x1). It is weakly ascending if x0 < x1 implies f(x0) ≤ f(x1). It is strictly or weakly descending if x0 < x1 implies f(x0) > f(x1) or f(x0) ≥ f(x1), respectively. A function is strictly monotonic if it is strictly ascending or strictly descending. It is weakly monotonic if it is weakly ascending or weakly descending.
When a function is said to be monotonic, the author means it is strictly monotonic or weakly monotonic, but it is not clear which without context or explicit statement. In the context of floating-point arithmetic, weakly monotonic is usually meant, as floating-point rounding commonly breaks strong monotonicity.
In this use, Wikipedia means that, when considered as a function of t, v0 + t * (v1 - v0) is monotonic and (1 - t) * v0 + t * v1 is not.

Why is one implementation monotonic while the other is not?

To see why v0 + t * (v1-v0) is monotonic, consider that v1-v0 is fixed as t changes. then t * (v1-v0) is t * c for some constant c. This is monotonic in t due the nature of floating-point rounding: If t increases, the real-number-arithmetic result of t * c increases (for positive c; there is a symmetric argument for negative c), and the number it must round to either stays the same or increases. For example, if we were rounding to integers and considering 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, and so on, those would all round to 3. Then 3.5 rounds to 4 (using round-to-nearest, ties-to-even), 3.6 rounds to 4, and so on. The result of rounding always increases as its argument increases; it is monotonic. So floating-point multiplication is monotonic.
Similar, floating-point addition is monotonic; v0 + d always increases as d increases. So v0 + t * (v1-v0) is monotonic.
In (1-t) * v0 + t * v1, 1-t is monotonic, but it is descending. So now we are adding a descending function, (1-t) * v0, to an ascending function, t * v1. This opens the door for opportunities where the descending function jumps to a new value but the ascending function does not, or not by as much. With our three-digit format, an example occurs with v0 = 123, v1 = 223, and t = .126 or .127:

t = .126
t = .127

1-t
.874
.873

(1-t) * v0
107.502 → 108
107.379 → 107

t * v1
28.098 → 28.1
28.321 → 28.3

(1-t) * v0 + t * v1
136.1 → 136
135.3 → 135

*Are there other common implementations of lerp?

As noted by njuffa in a comment, some implementations may use a fused-multiply add, which computes a•b+c with only one rounding error, in contrast to a rounding error for the multiply and another for the add. Such an operation is defined in the standard C library routine fma, although it may be slow on platforms without hardware support for it. So the linear interpolation may be computed as fma(t, v1, fma(-t, v0, v0)), which nominally computes t*v1 + (-t*v0 + v0).
Algebraically, that would be equivalent to t*v1 + (1-t)*v0, but I do not have at hand any comments about the mathematical properties resulting from this fma computation.

If the latter implementation suffers from floating point imprecision issues while not being really faster why does it even exist?

Both methods experience floating-point rounding issues. v0 + t * (v1 - v0) has the problem that it may not equal v1 when t is 1, since a rounding error may occur in v1 - v0, so that v0 + (v1 - v0) does not restore v1. The other has the problem that it may not be monotonic, as shown above.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange