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What will success for Paris, COP 21 look like?
Anthony Hobley
First appeared in BusinessGreen
Will the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris later this year be a resounding success? Can we dare to hope that it will meet our expectations?
Entertaining any such aspiration is hard for those of us who attended Copenhagen at the end of 2009 with such (in hindsight) unrealistically high hopes. Certainly many of us who were there, myself included – an experienced lawyer and trained public international lawyer to boot – still carry the psychological scars.
At the G7 Summit in Germany last week, leaders of the world's major industrial economies resolved to wean their economies off fossil fuels by the end of the century. The pledge marked a major step in the fight against climate change and raised the specter of a UN climate deal in Paris.
But what does this drive mean for a global treaty? What should we consider as a success and what should we consider to be a failure? What are the criteria we should judge this against?
As all international lawyers know, public international law generally does not push nations beyond what they are already doing. Except for times of great change such as the end of WWII, it codifies existing state practice but generally does not overly stretch sovereign states to break new ground. Put simply the truth is that nations do not like to commit themselves to "legally binding" international obligations unless they know they can be certain in advance of complying.
In this context we were expecting far too much of international law from Copenhagen. We wanted a possible global treaty on climate change to achieve something it is not designed or equipped to do. So if this is the case, what is a global agreement good for especially if it is not going to be, in the classical international law sense, a legally binding one?
To answer that question and decide if our hope for success in Paris is justified we first have to decide what constitutes success. We have to set out what the benchmark for "real world" success in Paris is at the end of 2015.
What do I mean by "real world" success? I mean an agreement that is relevant to both the World's of business & finance. Particularly the financial markets who both fund the status quo & will need to fund the envisaged transition. It would need to be a high level political & flexible framework:
1. that does not need to be legally binding but it does need to be detailed & robust enough to evolve into a legally binding instrument when the time is right;
2. which both frames and critically links the bottom up Intended Nationally Determined Commitments (INDCs) in the international context;
3. which recognise that all countries of the world need to take action with respect to current and future emissions yet be sensitive to historical contributions;
4. that recognizes it is not all about governments and policy, it is equally about clean technology reaching critical mass, efficiencies and private sector finance;
5. (The politically difficult bit) that addresses climate finance in a way which is satisfactory to both the so called developed and developing countries;
6. that is capable of responding to increased urgency and political will to ratchet up the level of individual and aggregate ambition embodied in the INDCs;
7. addresses integration across other critical regimes. For example, trade/WTO, financial stability, financial regulation, aviation and shipping.
Here I want to focus particularly on why it does not matter if Paris is unlikely to produce a legally binding treaty. In a world where such a treaty would require ratification by the US Congress such expectations are currently unrealistic. But more than that such a rigid legally binding agreement could well be counter-productive right now. It is not unrealistic to contemplate that events and technological developments could change the climate change dynamic quickly. When that happens we do not want to be locked into a legally binding arrangement which lacks the necessary ambition.
Rather what we should be looking for is a political agreement on steroids; a supercharged political framework that can accommodate the bottom-up commitments from sovereign states – the so-called INDCs. This bottom up architecture is an important move away from the top-down architecture previously set out in the Kyoto Protocol and a recognition of geo-politics within which international law must function.
We have to acknowledge now that with currently levels of political ambition (improved as they are on recent years) it is highly likely that sum of all the INDCs will not deliver the 2C ambition we need to deliver us to net zero emissions by 2050. If we are lucky it may add up to something between 3-3.5C. If this is the case, it will be the subject of much justified criticism because we will be storing up trouble and a need for more stringent and expensive action later.
However, whilst such criticism for lack of ambition will be justified we will have a choice. We can choose to label such an agreement as another failure. Or, we can welcome this as a major step forward on the road towards achieving a global 2C framework. This is because a global agreement, even with ambition set at 3-3.5C, will take us a significant distance in the direction of a 2C target. This is because it will essentially remove many of the obstacles to such ambition.
Such an agreement in Paris will mark a critical turning point. A point where most countries in the world have accepted the need to take action regardless of whether or not some other group or block of countries acts first. They will do this in the context of a global political agreement to act. While, bottom up, such commitments within an internationally agreed framework will provide the common norms that will allow these national actions to link up. Through a linked market mechanism for example. Through this country-by-country process the policy and regulatory infrastructure for action and 2C ambition is being built.
It is this global infrastructure that makes such a "political" agreement real. More real than some aspirational "legally binding international agreement". Remember The Kyoto Protocol was binding but it did not stop Canada withdrawing. With such a global infrastructure in place it will then be a much easier process to ratchet up ambition to 2ºC and for such a "political agreement" to evolve into a legal treaty. Remember I outlined above public international law is more often about codifying existing practices of sovereign states than creating new ones.
Think of it in terms of a simple analogy: imagine the world is a home (which of course it is to humanity) of 200 rooms. It is necessary to cool our home to a safe level.Yet our home does not have any kind of cooling system. Kyoto set out to provide some infrastructure but only for about 30 of the 200 rooms. This does not work because even if we cool those rooms heat from the remaining 170 rooms will just heat these rooms up again The Paris agreement is about rolling out the cooling system for all 200 rooms. Such that we we can cool our whole home. Once this cooling system is installed we can turn up the ambition through the global thermostat.
Arguing about the thermostat setting before we have built the cooling system is academic at best, especially if it means we do not get to build the infrastructure needed to deliver the ultimate goal because we are distracted arguing about the temperature setting for the as yet built cooling system.
It is this real world architecture and clear direction of travel that will get the attention of the financial markets and tell them climate change and climate action is in turn real. This will avoid both a potential market mis-read and a disorderly transition in the future. That will be quantified as a risk for business as usual investment in, for example, fossil fuels and increase the cost of capital for investment that does not clearly fit with this direction of travel. The markets will then take a view on when – not if – the thermostat is dialed down from a 3 to 3.5C setting to a 2C setting.
The financial markets will need this to be translated into their language in a way that tells them it is relevant now. In much the same way as Carbon Tracker translated the carbon budget for the financial markets. The energy companies will need a road map or blueprint for the orderly transition to a climate secure global energy system. These two objectives will be the key goals for Carbon Tracker on the road to and beyond Paris.
Anthony Hobley is chief executive of the Carbon Tracker Initiative
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text:
Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson &
Mike Boit
The Interdisciplinary Electronic Journal of African Sports has come at an opportune time–African footballers are making their presence felt at World Championships and Olympics and African runners are taking the world by the storm in various competitions, producing high caliber performances that have sparked controversy on nature versus nurture–and so a time has come for a journal of this nature. The era of globalization where electronic revolutions, including media developments and productions have advanced the creation and sharing of theoretical and practical knowledge almost instantly across continents has arrived thereby making the African continent a part of the global arena. Indeed the explosion in technology, including electronic media has become part and parcel of global society, making it possible for African sports to be known globe-wide.
The journal provides immediate and powerful medium for the promotion of sports development, including the economic sectors in African societies with the idea of transforming the lives of people who would otherwise be left behind with information technology, which has revolutionize global connectivity and made possible global interdependency. The journal publications focus primarily on sports from an interdisciplinary perspective, with contributions from speakers and experts in different academic fields and from conference proceedings and invited lectures and book reviews. The journal embraces diverse theoretical and practical perspectives, and scholars and practitioners from around the world can make their contributions. In many respects, the African continent has been left behind and the journal provides a needed impetus for change that permeates African societies and impacts Africa and global arenas.
Information disseminated through this Journal is useful for researching, policy-making, teaching and curriculum planning, including information for broadening awareness in scholars and expanding knowledge in their respective fields, and for promoting government and private enterprises in education. Making African sports global through this journal brings scholarly writings and participatory opportunities to fruition, thereby creating spaces for scholars and sports participants to engender sustainable development, promote personal and social endeavors, including economic, social and political activities in Africa and beyond. The sport industry is a rapidly growing field and the corresponding need for research publications that reaches the heart of Africa in a timely fashion is greatly needed, particularly given mounting costs for sending journals to Africa. Time is of the essence in the publish or perish nature of the academy, and therefore the employment of a quick turn around in review process and publication, if accepted given the rigorous peer review standards used to filter the best research in this journal, is great. The transmission of the information will happen almost instantly through the journal, which will play and will continue to play a critical role in furthering African sports globally in the 21st century.
The first issue of The Interdisciplinary Electronic Journal of African Sports comprises refereed articles selected from first conference papers, which were submitted for review by scholars. The articles focus on diverse perspectives and address varying issues in African sports. We look forward to reading future issues that focus on research developments and offer practical solutions to issues involving sports and related areas in Africa.
This journal brings our beloved continent–second only to Asia–to a level of global-local connectivity unimagined before. It affirms development and dissemination of knowledge about Africa at a level unheard off in recent times, and joins scholars and practitioners alike to promote Africa to its former glory in pre-colonial times. As Thabo Mbeki, South African President, once said, "let us err today and say 'nothing can stop us now'" (Thabo Mbeki, May 8, 1996, Cape Town, on the occasion of the adoption of the constitution Assembly of "The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill 1996") in this era of global revolution in information technology. Let us make Africa sports global through The Interdisciplinary Journal of African Sports.
Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson, PhD
The University of Georgia, Athens, United States.
Mike Boit, PhD
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Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson & Mike Boit The Interdisciplinary Electronic Journal of African Sports has come at an opportune time–African footballers are making their presence felt at World Championships and Olympics and African runners are taking the world by the storm in various competitions, producing high caliber performances that have sparked controversy on nature versus nurture–and so a time has come for a journal of this nature. The era of globalization where electronic revolutions, including media developments and productions have advanced the creation and sharing of theoretical and practical knowledge almost instantly across continents has arrived thereby making the African continent a part of the global arena. Indeed the explosion in technology, including electronic media has become part and parcel of global society, making it possible for African sports to be known globe-wide. The journal provides immediate and powerful medium for the promotion of sports development, including the economic sectors in African societies with the idea of transforming the lives of people who would otherwise be left behind with information technology, which has revolutionize global connectivity and made possible global interdependency. The journal publications focus primarily on sports from an interdisciplinary perspective, with contributions from speakers and experts in different academic fields and from conference proceedings and invited lectures and book reviews. The journal embraces diverse theoretical and practical perspectives, and scholars and practitioners from around the world can make their contributions. In many respects, the African continent has been left behind and the journal provides a needed impetus for change that permeates African societies and impacts Africa and global arenas. Information disseminated through this Journal is useful for researching, policy-making, teaching and curriculum planning, including information for broadening awareness in scholars and expanding knowledge in their respective fields, and for promoting government and private enterprises in education. Making African sports global through this journal brings scholarly writings and participatory opportunities to fruition, thereby creating spaces for scholars and sports participants to engender sustainable development, promote personal and social endeavors, including economic, social and political activities in Africa and beyond. The sport industry is a rapidly growing field and the corresponding need for research publications that reaches the heart of Africa in a timely fashion is greatly needed, particularly given mounting costs for sending journals to Africa. Time is of the essence in the publish or perish nature of the academy, and therefore the employment of a quick turn around in review process and publication, if accepted given the rigorous peer review standards used to filter the best research in this journal, is great. The transmission of the information will happen almost instantly through the journal, which will play and will continue to play a critical role in furthering African sports globally in the 21st century. The first issue of The Interdisciplinary Electronic Journal of African Sports comprises refereed articles selected from first conference papers, which were submitted for review by scholars. The articles focus on diverse perspectives and address varying issues in African sports. We look forward to reading future issues that focus on research developments and offer practical solutions to issues involving sports and related areas in Africa. This journal brings our beloved continent–second only to Asia–to a level of global-local connectivity unimagined before. It affirms development and dissemination of knowledge about Africa at a level unheard off in recent times, and joins scholars and practitioners alike to promote Africa to its former glory in pre-colonial times. As Thabo Mbeki, South African President, once said, "let us err today and say 'nothing can stop us now'" (Thabo Mbeki, May 8, 1996, Cape Town, on the occasion of the adoption of the constitution Assembly of "The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill 1996") in this era of global revolution in information technology. Let us make Africa sports global through The Interdisciplinary Journal of African Sports. Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson, PhD The University of Georgia, Athens, United States. Mike Boit, PhD Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hidden just under your nose as one of the Central Valley's best-kept secrets is the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Fresno's Woodward Park.
Have you ever thought it would be nice to get away, to find beauty and serenity that takes you outside the mundane surroundings and events of your daily life in Fresno? Sure, we are blessed with the majesty of the Sierras nearby – in Kings Canyon, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite. Yes, the lulling rhythm of waves breaking gently on sandy shores can be enjoyed along the Central Coast just a few short hours away. What if you really need a getaway, though, and don't have hours or days to get to your getaway? What if you are sated with the Sierras and the coast and really desire something more exotic?
The answer could be as close as Woodward Park. Tucked away in the center of the park, easily overlooked if you drive through on your way to one of the many other features of the park, lies Shinzen Friendship Garden – an oasis of elegant natural beauty. Japanese gardens offer a very different form of landscape enhancement than, say, traditional English gardens. The controlling principle in Japanese gardens is beauty and serenity as opposed to the order and uniformity of English gardens. The result is a pocket of tranquility, a place to relax while treating the eyes to a wide array of botanical wonders and enhanced landscape features.
Shinzen Friendship Garden offers all of this, and its origins lie in the pursuit of that central element of its name – friendship. Following World War II, many American cities fostered sister-city friendships with Japanese cities, and Fresno was one of them – choosing Kochi, Japan as its sister city. The most common translation of Shinzen is "goodwill," which reinforces the emphasis on friendship. Shinzen literally means "before god," which can indicate an altar or place of spiritual attention. Once there, you will see how the garden evokes that kind of serenity. The vision for the creation of Shinzen Friendship Garden was born in 1967 and fostered by the donation of land for Woodward Park by Ralph Woodward. The nascent concept was nurtured by the Woodward Park Japanese Development Committee, led by Ben Nakamura. The actual design of the park was accomplished by a succession of contributors – Kodo Matsubara, Paul Saito, and Shiro Nakagawa, with assistance from the City of Fresno. The garden itself reached maturity with its incorporation and dedication in 1981. A Board of Directors for the associated 501(c)3 oversees maintenance and management of services and programs.
In addition to the original features of the garden, the Clark Bonsai Collection has made its home in Shinzen Friendship Garden since autumn 2015. This collection of over 100 miniature trees is an amazing testament to the horticultural art of bonsai, but it is also a "living museum" offering lectures, training, and workshops in the pursuit of bonsai.
There is no better time than now to experience Shinzen Friendship Garden. It is springtime when the garden's year-round beauty is augmented by many fragrant and colorful blossoms. Springtime also marks the seasonal shift in the Friendship Garden's hours of operation. From April 1st through September 30th, the garden is open not only on weekends and holidays (10 am – 7 pm) but also on weekdays Wednesday to Friday (10 am – 7 pm).
Lastly, but most importantly, the advent of Spring is marked by the celebration of the Spring Cultural Festival this April 15th from 10 am to 4 pm. Performances start at 11 am, with Koto (traditional Japanese stringed instrument) in the Tea House and Lusheng/Fashion Show/Dance in the Main Garden.
The performances continue in the main garden throughout the afternoon, with a varied assortment of regional dances, including Hula (Hawaiian), Khymer (Cambodian), Teocalli (Aztec), Polynesian, and Tounkara (Malinese). Simultaneously, there will be a Tea Presentation in the Tea House at noon, followed by an Ikebana (formal flower arrangement) presentation at 2pm.
In addition to expanded awareness of Japanese culture, visitors to Shinzen Friendship Garden during the Spring Blossom Festival this April can expand their knowledge of relatively recent history – McLane High School's current Art Venture Project, "Gaman: Enduring the Seemingly Unbearable with Patience and Dignity — images and stories of the incarceration of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar" will be on exhibit throughout the day.
Should you become hungry in the midst of all this aural and visual stimulation, lunch will be available from 11 am to 2 pm, provided by Taste Catering. For those for whom no outing is complete without an opportunity to shop, the Spring Cultural Festival will be offering a wide array of unique and artful products from independent vendors: Contours in Clay, Fresno Gift Pic, Designs by Camille, North American Satsuki, Bonsai Center Naturals, Hilda Vandergriff, Wired Stone Creations, Chieko's Art, Pastimes Pottery, Partners N Art, Beasley Ono Garden, Soaps N' Stuff, and Lady Heather Soap Company.
So, mark your calendar. Dedicate your Saturday afternoon to experiencing new sights and sounds in an exquisitely exotic locale virtually in your own backyard. The cost of admission ($5 for adults, $1 for students, seniors, and children 4-14) plus parking ($5 per car, $3 for seniors) is well worth it. For that price, you can experience that alternative getaway and absorb new cultural experiences along with your serenity – and without the jet lag and expense of a trip to Japan.
If – as likely will be the case – you are charmed by the Shinzen Friendship Garden and stimulated by the abundance of cultural and historical education provided at the Spring Cultural Festival, you can look forward to more events later in the season.
The Toro Nagashi (Floating Lantern) Festival takes place late in the summer at the conclusion of Obon. Obon is a traditional Japanese celebration in which the souls of the ancestors are honored and are believed to return. Toro Nagashi, in which lanterns are set afloat on a nearby body of water, represents the return of the ancestors' souls to the afterlife. The release of several hundred lit lanterns on Woodward Lake, in this case, will be both a solemn and joyful spectacle well worth experiencing in person and will be held at the Woodward Lake shore adjacent to the Shinzen Friendship Garden on August 11th.
Additional events this year include Art & Music in the Garden on May 5th. For upcoming details on these events and for comprehensive information about Shinzen Friendship Garden and the many opportunities for meaningful getaways that it offers, consult their website (www.shinzenjapanesegarden.org) or give them a call at (559) 840-1264.


Mathematicians like to be thorough and find all the connections between things. So just being able to go from an algebraic rule to drawing the graph isn't really good enough for them. They want to be able to go the other way, too. Going from the graph to the rule isn't too bad because you can just pick out the information you need. But sometimes the picture isn't always going to be given and only small pieces of information will be given to you, and it's up to you to fill in the gaps.
There's a lot of different kinds of information that could be given. The most common is that you'll be given two points. Maybe they'll ask you to find the equation of the line between the points (3,4) and (6,-2).
For any linear equation, the two things we need to know are the slope and the y-intercept . The slope is every time going to be the first thing we should try to find. Once we know the slope, it's a lot easier to find the y-intercept.
I personally like to find the slope when I'm given two points just using the logic that I know because I know the slope is the rise over the run, which means how much it goes up and down over how much it goes left and right. I know the rise is the change in y. So in this one, I see the y starting at 4 and going down to -2, which means the rise is -6. The run, the left and right, is x, and I see it start at 3 and go up to 6, which is a change of 3. And so I can get the slope right from this, which is -2.
A lot of people like using the formula, which is the x1, y1, x2, y2 formula. If you do it this way, you'll get the exact same answer. You plug in numbers y2 minus y1 over x2 minus x1 (y2 - y1 / x2 - x1). You do -2 -and get -6. And 6 - 3 = 3. And again, we end up with a slope of -2.
Like I said earlier, the two things we need are the slope and the y-intercept. We now know what the slope is, which means the y-intercept is the only thing left to find. Because I know m (-2) and because it gave us a sample x and y (3,4), I can substitute in everything I know and I'm left with an equation with only one variable in it (4 = -2 3 + b).
First, I do the operation it asks us to: -2 3 = -6. Then, I have to get the b by itself, which means I undo the -6. I undo subtraction with addition because of inverse operations. I end up with b = 10. Now that I know m and I know b, I'm done, and my answer is y = -2x + 10. That means that this linear equation begins at 10 and is decreasing by 2 every step of the way.
So that' s just one example of some information you may be given. But there's a lot of different things that could be given to you and we've only touched on one of those things.
Another very common thing to see is that instead of you getting two points, you only get one point, but they tell you that your line is either parallel or perpendicular to other sample line that they tell you. In order to solve this question, you have to know what the deal with parallel and perpendicular lines is. Parallel lines are two lines that kind of look like train tracks. They go in the same direction that ends up meaning that they have the exact same slope. They go over and up the exact same amount. So parallel lines have the same slopes.
Perpendicular lines , on the other hand, are two lines that intersect each other at right angles. Perpendicular lines' slopes are what we call opposite reciprocals . One line is going over a lot, and up a little and one line is going over a little and down a lot. That has to do with the reciprocal part, which essentially means that if you have a fraction (1/4), you flip it (4/1).
So opposite reciprocals are numbers where one is positive (1/4) and one is negative (-4/1), and one is one fraction and the other is the flipped fraction. Don't forget to do both. It's really common to just make it negative or just make it positive, or forget to flip it or flip it but forget to change the sign. It's both.
Again, the two things we need to find are m and b, the slope and the y-intercept. We always want to find the slope first, so now I have to go about finding the slope in a slightly different manner than we did earlier. I can no longer use the slope formula, because it only gives us one point, so I have to use what I know about parallel lines.
The other half that I still need is to find the b and I'm going to do this in the exact same way that we just did. I now know a sample x (-3), a sample y (6), I know what m is (3), all I have to do is find b. I can substitute in what I know (6 = 3 -3 + b). I can solve the equation for b by doing inverse operations to get the b by itself, and we find that b = 15. Now that we know b and m, we have our answer, which is y = 3x + 15.
Similarly, you could be asked to find the equation of the line that is perpendicular to this one through this point. We've got the same equation (y = 3x + 2) and the same point (-3,6), but now instead of it being parallel, it's perpendicular.
I still need to find the m and the b, just like before, and again, I cannot use the slope formula because I only have one point. That means we use what we know about perpendicular lines and how their slopes relate. I know that the slope of y = 3x + 2 is 3, but because it's perpendicular, I can't simply steal that.
I have to first take the opposite reciprocal of it. The opposite part means that it changes from positive (3) to negative (-3). The reciprocal part means that it changes from -3/1 to -1/3. And now, we have the slope (-1/3) of our line, which means that we have half our answer (y = -(1/3)x + b) and all that's left to find is b.
We find b in the exact same way we found b in every other problem in this video. We substitute in our sample x (-3), our sample y (6), what we know m is (-1/3) and we solve the equation for b (6 = -(1/3)(-3) + b). I multiply what I can and I undo to get b by itself, and this time we find that b = 5. This means my solution is y = -(1/3)x + 5.
To review, we learned that for any equation, we need to know what is the slope and what is the y-intercept. Once we know those two things, we're done and we can substitute them into y = mx + b .
The way we actually find m and b differs depending on the information that's given. We like using the slope formula (y 2 - y11 / x2 - x1) if it gives us two points. Or, we might have to use what we know about parallel and perpendicular lines . We always find m first and then substitute in to find b.
You need to remember that parallel lines have slopes that are the same, whereas perpendicular lines have slopes that are opposite reciprocals .
درس 1 : What is a Linear Equation?
درس 3 : What is a System of Equations?
درس 4 : How Do I Use a System of Equations?


What is the cost of weak POS security?
In 2013 the EPOS system of US retailer Target was hacked, exposing 70 million customer records to criminals. With around 60% of all EPOS transactions paid by an electronic card the consequences of a security breach are potentially spectacular.
First, a criminal must contaminate your EPOS system with a specific type of malware. With retailers and hospitality firms operating from multiple locations and various employees and third-party IT professionals accessing EPOS systems, this is a lot easier than you would imagine. Hackers can also attempt to do this remotely by hacking one of your online servers. Once malware has been introduced to your EPOS system it can automatically begin to harvest your customers' card data as it passes through your system. The hacker can either use this information themselves or sell it on.
Use end-to-end encryption: Leading EPOS terminal suppliers provide software designed to ensure your customers' data is never exposed to hackers. It encrypts credit card details as soon as it is received by the POS device and again when it is despatched to the software's server. This means your customers' data is never vulnerable no matter where a hacker may install malware.
Installing endpoint protection software on your device will ensure malware doesn't breach your system. Antivirus software will scan your device, identify suspicious files or apps and alert you immediately so you can remove them.
There are lots of ways terminals can find themselves in the wrong hands: they can be stolen, lost by employees or simply left unattended. Hackers can then break into the device and view and steal customers' details, especially if end to-end encryption hasn't been used. To avoid this, account for every terminal at the end of the day and store them in a secure location.
We make PCI DSS compliance easier: Vodat International's payment solution deploys a managed firewall at each merchant site, segmenting the PIN entry devices (PEDs) from the rest of the merchant's network and reducing cardholder data from the POS environment. This technique reduces scope for PCI DSS compliance, as PEDs are controlled from Vodat's data centres.
We can also study your network: For an annual subscription, we can carry out a comprehensive assessment of your system, searching for weaknesses and ensuring you have unlimited PCI compliance.


text:
Q: How to block advertisements using Awesomium in WinForms? This issue contains a couple of issues regarding use of Awesomium 1.7.4.2 for WinForms on Visual Studio 2012 using VB.NET as the host language and x86 release mode on framework 4.0 / 4.5

*

*Click events, etc, do not fire.

*Lots of "unhandled exception" messages from javascripts trying to open windows, etc.

*Advertisements are not blockable (or do not seem to be)

I would like to gain control over this control to be able to tell it simple commands which I am able to do with the horrifying control (IE WebView). Basically, I want to be able to do the following :

*

*Detect when a user "clicks" a link (by keypress, also by mouse click, also by touch), and intercept it using code in the .NET application.

*I wish to completely block Javascript from redirecting the browser on click or otherwise.

*I wish to prevent meta-refresh redirects.

*I would like to have access to the source, and modify it before it is rendered in the WebView -- For example, remove certain blots of code -- However, I do not wish to load the source locally. This means that I do not wish to obtain the source from the site, and set the view to a file/memory containing that source without actually BEING on that site. The webbrowser must be Navigated to the site, using that sites cookies/sessions/etc.

I have this simple snippet which took a while to figure out, and it seems to show the events that actually ARE firing, however, not sure how to send back a "do not complete this command", in the event of types like "popup".
What would be super cool, is if I could load a crx file as an addon since this is a native Chrome browser component --- the addon being  "AdBlock Plus" of course, which would then handle all the advertisement blocking and such. And then I would just have to deal with handling popup windows -- not the inline advertisement crap.
    Public Class Form1

        Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
            WebControl1.Source = New Uri("http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html")
        End Sub

        Private Sub WebControl1_ConsoleMessage(sender As Object, e As Awesomium.Core.ConsoleMessageEventArgs) Handles WebControl1.ConsoleMessage
            If WebControl1.HasTargetURL = True And e.EventType = Awesomium.Core.WebViewEventType.ConsoleMessage And e.LineNumber = 1 Then
                WebControl1.Source = WebControl1.TargetURL
            End If

            If e.EventName = "popup" Then

            End If
            Debug.Print(e.EventName & " - " & e.Message & " - " & e.EventType & " - " & e.LineNumber)
        End Sub
    End Class

Here is a sample output from the console loading this page.
ConsoleMessage - Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'style' of null - 15 - 166
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=27&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match.   - 15 - 1

And when you "click" on the page anywhere (no hyperlink areas)
ConsoleMessage - Uncaught TypeError: Object #<HTMLHtmlElement> has no method 'webkitRequestFullscreen' - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1
ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1

And when you "click" on the "Continue to Video" link
    ConsoleMessage - Uncaught TypeError: Object #<HTMLHtmlElement> has no method 'webkitRequestFullscreen' - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'style' of null - 15 - 166
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=31&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=29&target=_blank. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://highspeedtesting.com/adserver/300.html from frame with URL http://divasroom.com/adserver/300.html. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://highspeedtesting.com/adserver/300x.html from frame with URL http://divasroom.com/adserver/300.html. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://xp2.zedo.com/jsc/xp2/ff2.html?n=2702;c=20;s=18;d=9;w=300;h=250 from frame with URL http://divasroom.com/adserver/300.html. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://cdn.adnotch.com/www/delivery/afr.php?zoneid=35&target=_blank from frame with URL http://divasroom.com/adserver/300.html. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://divasroom.com/adserver/300.html. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://vidbull.com/k1ie8l9kchme.html from frame with URL http://nym1.ib.adnxs.com/if?enc=tD2ZBQvEwj-O3GWIECa8P5zEILByaOE_jtxliBAmvD-0PZkFC8TCP3nb6L0gRkwUCMjmCLympnU4lshTAAAAAKjyLQBNBQAAsQAAAAIAAAABbNsA7soGAAAAAQBVU0QAVVNEACwB-gA_fQAAj6QAAgUAAQIAAJIAOSc8aQAAAAA.&cnd=%21PiQwywj7gVMQgdjtBhgAIO6VGzAAOABAAEixAVCo5bcBWABgWGgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJABAZgBAaABAagBA7ABALkBtD2ZBQvEwj_BAbQ9mQULxMI_yQEsvFQJvUbvP9kBAAAAAAAA8D_gAQDqAQD1Ac3MTD4.&ccd=%21CgaxNQj7gVMQgdjtBhjulRsgAA..&udj=uf%28%27a%27%2C+379%2C+1405654584%29%3Buf%28%27c%27%2C+1360123%2C+1405654584%29%3Buf%28%27r%27%2C+14380033%2C+1405654584%29%3Bppv%2810929%2C+%271462621085427620729%27%2C+1405654584%2C+1405654644%2C+1360123%2C+445166%2C+0%2C+0%2C+10368000%29%3B&vpid=366&apid=415585&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fdivasroom.com%2Fadserver%2F300.html&media_subtypes=1&ct=0&rsrc=2&dlo=1. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL http://nym1.ib.adnxs.com/if?enc=tD2ZBQvEwj-O3GWIECa8P5zEILByaOE_jtxliBAmvD-0PZkFC8TCP3nb6L0gRkwUCMjmCLympnU4lshTAAAAAKjyLQBNBQAAsQAAAAIAAAABbNsA7soGAAAAAQBVU0QAVVNEACwB-gA_fQAAj6QAAgUAAQIAAJIAOSc8aQAAAAA.&cnd=%21PiQwywj7gVMQgdjtBhgAIO6VGzAAOABAAEixAVCo5bcBWABgWGgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJABAZgBAaABAagBA7ABALkBtD2ZBQvEwj_BAbQ9mQULxMI_yQEsvFQJvUbvP9kBAAAAAAAA8D_gAQDqAQD1Ac3MTD4.&ccd=%21CgaxNQj7gVMQgdjtBhjulRsgAA..&udj=uf%28%27a%27%2C+379%2C+1405654584%29%3Buf%28%27c%27%2C+1360123%2C+1405654584%29%3Buf%28%27r%27%2C+14380033%2C+1405654584%29%3Bppv%2810929%2C+%271462621085427620729%27%2C+1405654584%2C+1405654644%2C+1360123%2C+445166%2C+0%2C+0%2C+10368000%29%3B&vpid=366&apid=415585&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fdivasroom.com%2Fadserver%2F300.html&media_subtypes=1&ct=0&rsrc=2&dlo=1 from frame with URL http://rc.rlcdn.com/281411.html?redirect=1. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Given URL is not allowed by the Application configuration.: One or more of the given URLs is not allowed by the App's settings.  It must match the Website URL or Canvas URL, or the domain must be a subdomain of one of the App's domains. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL about:blank from frame with URL https://www.facebook.com/plugins/share_button.php?app_id=172525162793917&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FbLBBWlYJp_w.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df2ee32fd0%26domain%3Dvidbull.com%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvidbull.com%252Ff3f898cf4%26relation%3Dparent.parent&href=http%3A%2F%2Fvidbull.com%2Fk1ie8l9kchme.html&locale=en_US&ref=.U8iWPV60qZs.share-button&sdk=joey&type=button_count. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - Unsafe JavaScript attempt to access frame with URL about:blank from frame with URL https://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?action=like&app_id=172525162793917&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FbLBBWlYJp_w.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df20b111a24%26domain%3Dvidbull.com%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvidbull.com%252Ff3f898cf4%26relation%3Dparent.parent&font=arial&href=http%3A%2F%2Fvidbull.com%2Fk1ie8l9kchme.html&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&ref=.U8iWPb73hFo.like&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=90. Domains, protocols and ports must match. - 15 - 1

Which then opens the video page which has advertisements layered over the video / etc that when clicked to close them:
    ConsoleMessage - Uncaught TypeError: Object #<HTMLHtmlElement> has no method 'webkitRequestFullscreen' - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1
    ConsoleMessage - event.layerX and event.layerY are broken and deprecated in WebKit. They will be removed from the engine in the near future. - 15 - 1

On some pages, clicking to close them, simply redirects back to the "View Video" page.  I am sure you have all experienced this type of nuissance advertising before, however since using AdBlock, I have had the pleasure of not noticing how bad things have really become.
It is imperative that any new browser system that is used for general navigation of the web have some form of blocking controls in place to prevent wacky stuff from happening, and more so, to ensure a clean user experience.
Of all the "Chrome" projects, (including CefSharp, etc), Awesomium is THE ONLY one that actually renders a page out-of-box, without endless hours of fixing stuff, only to still be no further ahead.  I have looked at EssentialObjects webbrowser control as well, however it too has limitations that even the IE WebView control has overcome.
If someone could please assist me with these issues (which really all surround taking the trash out of the browser -- ads -- not clean nice ads.... forced ads that interfere with the user experience)
Thanks in advance.
P.S.
The following code is a workaround for "click" "mousedown" "mouseup", etc ... not working ... in order to actually handle that action and navigate the browser to a new page.  If you look at the logs, you will see it is actually an error that I am using for the hack as that error seems to fire with those conditions only on a "click".
        If WebControl1.HasTargetURL = True And e.EventType = Awesomium.Core.WebViewEventType.ConsoleMessage And e.LineNumber = 1 Then
            WebControl1.Source = WebControl1.TargetURL
        End If

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


When Vatican II promoted change in the Catholic Church the changes seemed to be external. Language used during Mass no longer was Latin but the "mother tongue" of the people; the main altar looked more like a table where the priest faced the faithful; large areas in church were renovated and the people were closer to the Table of the Lord on three sides; the Font for Baptism moved to the front and had more prominence; the Blessed Sacrament in its tabernacle was given a place of its own where people were more inclined to make frequent visits.
There were changes that were disturbing to Catholics: statues were displaced and banks of lighted vigil candles were removed; the Calendar of Saints was streamlined and even omitted some saints revered by the Catholic population. Funeral Masses went from black vestments and sung Latin chants to white vestments signifying the Resurrection of the Lord and hymns that were often chosen by the family of the deceased. I think of these changes as the "external reformation change" in the Catholic Church.
Many Catholics felt pain and anger during this "changeful time." The internal change of this reformation took a very long time. The Sisters stayed among the people to accompany and guide people they had grown to love through the changes occurring in schools, parishes and hospitals where the Sisters worked. I think of the Sisters in this time as the "yeast" in the slow baking of new bread in this period. The Church was the Sisters' Kitchen and they had always been familiar with families and their children; they shepherded through illness and death in hospitals; they stood by the disturbed and distressed faithful, gathering all to the family table for nourishment, talk and patience with the change. The Sisters gave them the food they needed for their spirits.
Perhaps we have not thought of Catholic Sisters as agents for reform, but that is what they did. The Sisters were visible in Church works and had always stood with the people during crises. Sisters brought their feminine strength when it was needed in the Church. They held the people close as the generation of Catholics found new footing in the midst of change.
Sisters gave their lives to full Gospel living at the core of the Catholic Church and yet at the time were hidden from view in their educational and medical works of mercy. The work was daily. The work was humbling. Silently the Sisters imagined the new Church forming. They imagined lay leadership that would multiply the works of mercy in the Church; they understood when Scripture was studied how the life of Jesus would energize their family life; they imagined a new balance of gender in parish staff, councils and faculties that incorporated women that would show needed relationships in addition to the role of the priest. The Sisters imagined a thorough reformation for the Church they loved without an excess brought by revolution. Their prayers and sacrifices, their age and wisdom, their trust in the Holy Spirit have brought this reforming strength to the Catholic Church.
I lived in Texas during the time of many changes. I worked for a Lay Missionary group and many of my friends were priests, nuns, and brothers. We rejoiced at the changes and all tried to help people understand the reasoning behind them. The nuns prominently were in the forefront of assisting, especially when their garbs changed and instead of the full uniform of a nun they were now in street clothes. It was a trying time for some but we all grew through it!


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Dara Shikoh and the Upanishads
by Satya Chaitanya
Dara Shikoh, Emperor Shah Jahan's son and brother of the much hated Aurangazeb, believed that the mystical traditions of both Hinduism and Islam spoke of the same truth. Unlike Aurangazeb, whose spiritual and religious views were fundamentalist, Dara Shikoh, who was a follower of the Qadiri order of Sufis and a disciple of Miyan Mir, devoted much of his time to the study of ancient Indian spirituality along with Islamic traditions and felt that the search for God was one all over the world and at all times. In his search for truth, Dara Shikoh tried to find the common ground between Upanishadic and Islamic spirituality believing that there was no need for spiritual traditions to live in isolation from each other and their mingling could produce a tradition that is healthier than either.
As the eldest son of Shah Jahan, and as the emperor's and his wife Mumtaz Mahal's favorite, the Mughal empire should have gone to him. But that was not to be, mostly due to the ambitions of the younger Aurangazeb. There were continuous power struggles among the royal brothers and much of Dara's time was spent in these struggles and the battles that they lead to. In the middle of it all, though, he amazingly found time to pursue his quest for the common mystical heritage of Hinduism and Islam, particularly as taught by the Sufis. He believed that what is referred to in the Quran as Kitab al-Maknun [The Hidden Book] is actually the Upanishads. It was inspired by this belief that he spent whatever time he could find in translating the Upanishads into Persian, with the help of several pundits of Banaras. His translation of the Upanishads is appropriately called Sirr-i-Akbar, 'The Greatest Secret.' Before Sirr-i-Akbar he had written several other books, the most famous of which is Majma ul-Bahrain ['The Mingling of Two Oceans'], an independent work devoted to discovering the affinities between Vedantic and Sufi perceptions of the Ultimate Truth.
However, the spiritual stand that Dara who hated the rigidity of religious fundamentalists took did not go well with Aurangazeb who had by then managed to come up in the struggle for the throne and had all the power of the empire firmly in his hands. Partly because of his fundamentalist faith and partly from political compulsions, he called for a council of nobles and clergy to decide the fate of Dara Shikoh - and the council promptly declared Dara Shikoh a threat to public peace and a traitor to Islam, exactly as Aurangazeb had desired. Dara was put to death on the night of August 30, 1659.
While it is certain that Indian history would have taken a different turn had Dara, who was in the middle of all literary, spiritual, and intellectual movements of his time, come into power instead of Aurangazeb, many people of the past shared the belief that the end of the Mughal empire in India came because of the curse of killing Dara Shikoh and the great Sufi sage and Persian poet Sarmad, whose disciple Dara Shikoh had become towards the end of his life.
Dara Shikoh completed his translation of fifty-two Upanishads in 1657, two years before he was executed. Such was his devotion to the goal he had set for himself, discovering the common ground between Hindu and Islamic spiritual traditions, that in order to do the work, he learnt Sanskrit. Apart from the Upanishads, Dara had, with help from Sanskrit scholars, translated into Persian two other classics of Indian spirituality - the Bhagavad-Gita and the Yoga Vasishtha.
The following is from Dara Shikoh's introduction to his work on the Upanishads, in which he refers to himself in the third person.
"Whereas this unsolicitous fakir Muhammad Dara Shikoh in the year 1050 after Hijra [AD 1640] went to Kashmir" And whereas, he was impressed with a longing to behold the Gnostics of every sect, and to hear the lofty expressions of monotheism, and had cast his eyes upon many books of mysticism and had written a number of treatises thereon, and as the thirst of investigation for unity, which is a boundless ocean, became every moment increased, subtle doubts came into his mind for which he had no possibility of solution, except by the word of the Lord and the direction of the Infinite.
"And whereas the holy Quran is mostly allegorical and at the present day persons thoroughly conversant with the subtleties thereof are very rare, he became desirous of bringing in view all the heavenly books, for the very words of God themselves are their own commentary; and what might be in one book compendious, in another might be found diffusive, and from the detail of one, the conciseness of the other might become comprehensible. He had, therefore, cast his eyes on the Book of Moses, the Gospels, the Psalms, and other scriptures but the explanation of monotheism in them also was compendious and enigmatical, and from the slovenly translations which selfish persons had made, their purport was not intelligible.
"Thereafter he considered, as to why the discussion about monotheism is so conspicuous in India and why the Indian theologians and mystics of the ancient school do not disavow the Unity of God nor do they find any fault with the Unitarians, but their belief is perfect in this respect; on the other hand, the ignoramuses of the present age " the highwaymen in the path of God " who have established themselves for erudite and who, falling into the trances of polemics and molestation, and apostatizing through disavowal of the true proficient in God and monotheism, display resistance against all the words of Unitarianism, which are most evident from the glorious Quran and the authentic traditions of indubitable prophecy."
Dara Shikoh here mentions the four Vedas by name and states their hoary age. He quotes the Quran to say that prophets could be found in every tradition, and then continues:
"And the summum bonum of these four books, which contain all the secrets of the Path and the contemplative exercises of pure monotheism, are called the Upanekhats [Upanishads], and the people of that time have written commentaries with complete and diffusive interpretations thereon; and being still understood as the best part of their religious worship, they are always studied. And whereas this unsolicitous seeker after the Truth had in view the principle of the fundamental unity of the personality and not Arabic, Syriac, Hebrew, and Sanskrit languages, he wanted to make without any worldly motive, in a clear style, an exact and literal translation of the Upanekhats into Persian. For it is a treasure of monotheism and there are few thoroughly conversant with it even among the Indians. Thereby he also wanted to solve the mystery which underlies their efforts to conceal it from the Muslims.
"And as at this period the city of Banaras, which is the centre of the sciences of this community, was in certain relations with this seeker of the Truth, he assembled together the pundits and the sannyasis, who were the most learned of their time and proficient in the Upanekhats in the year 1067 after Hijra; and thus every difficulty and every sublime topic which he had desired or thought and had looked for and not found, he obtained from the essences of the most ancient books, and without doubt or suspicion, these books are first of all heavenly books in point of time, and the source and the fountainhead of the ocean of unity, in conformity with the holy Quran.
"Happy is he, who having abandoned the prejudices of vile selfishness, sincerely and with the grace of God, renouncing all partiality, shall study and comprehend this translation entitled The Greatest Secret [Sirr-i-Akbar], knowing it to be a translation of the words of God. He shall become imperishable, fearless, unsolicitous, and eternally liberated."
Dara Shikoh's translation of the Upanishads into Persian was to play a very significant role in awakening the west to the wisdom of the Upanishads. Fourteen years after Dara Shikoh completed the translation, in 1671, Francis Bernier, a French traveler, took the translation to France. Interest in Indian philosophy was awakened in France. Later Victor Cousin, a French Philosopher of high repute, stated in words of high admiration that Vedanta, the philosophy of the Upanishads, is the highest philosophy that mankind has ever produced. The Upanishads and their philosophy soon became very popular in the intellectual circles all over the west.
German scholars like Friedrich Von Schelling (1775-1854), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Paul Deussen (1854-1919) were fascinated by the Upanishads. Schelling's admiration for the 'Oupnekhats' led him to ask Max Mueller to translate them, for he ardently felt that the Upanishads deserved wide circulation in Germany and every member of the German intelligentsia need to know of them.
Schopenhauer was among the greatest admirers of the Upanishads in the west. His magnum opus The World as Will and Idea strongly reflects the power influence of the Upanishads on him. He felt that no other thought of humanity ever came near the Upanishads in the depth of their wisdom and in the service it can provide mankind. Speaking of the wisdom of the ancient sages of India as contained in the Upanishads, the German philosopher said that "it has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death."
Sir William Jones (1746-94), who founded the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784 felt that "one correct version of any celebrated Hindu book would be of greater value than all the dissertations or essays that could be composed on the same subject."
It is interesting to compare this with what Lord Macaulay had to say about eastern wisdom. The man who is credited with the founding of European education in India had expressed his view that if you put on one side of a balance a single rack of English literature and on the other all the literature of the east, English literature would weigh heavier.
But of course, Macaulay's statement was motivated by his political agenda as is evident from his own statement on February 2, 1835 in the British Parliament, Macaulay had said:
"I have traveled the length and breadth of India and I did not meet a single person who was a thief. I have seen such affluence in that country, such competent individuals and such talent that I do not think we will be able to conquer that land so long as we do not break its cultural and ethical backbone. I therefore state that we change the ancient education system and culture of India because if the inhabitants of India begin to think that the ideas and thoughts of foreigners, of Englishmen, are better than and superior to their own, then they will lose their culture and self-respect and they will become a dependent nation, which is what we need."
Dara Shikoh sought for and found the common ground between Upanishadic and Islamic spirituality. But it was not for himself alone that he sought it, but for all, particularly for all Indians. We today require the truth that Dara Shikoh found as much as his times needed it, perhaps more.
More by : Satya Chaitanya
Views: 13703 Comments: 10
is any publication available on Dara Shikoh's works
The information is amazing. Previously i simply knew that prince Dara managed to compile Upanishads, nothing more. Thanks for the article.
I have almost no knowledge about Sanskrit, Still I am very much interested in Upanishads. A spiritual Master, listening my incapability he blessed me and said - ' you will understand , but do not ask more. If you are interested for sadhana, you will understand or some body, some situation, some experience may lead to the core of the teaching of Upanishad to enhance your Sadhana."
He has left his body. I am not a realized man. Sometimes his blessing works wonderfully, but Mostly i fail to keep up the spirit.
I expect on line guidance if I want to understand a particular portion of Upanishad.
Spiritually yours
ujan
Sujan Ratanpura
Thanks for this informative article. Truly the Upanishad path of Advaita is the only way out of the suffering of the common man. I found it finally, and luckily, in the Bhagavad Gita. I've explained the Upanishad path along with a scientific explanation of it in a YouTube video "Bhagavad Gita's Directions For Attaining 'Amrit': Sensitivity Training" that I hope everyone benefits from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbI4t8X1WKU
Be Happy!!
Rajiv Eknath Bhole
Amazing!!!! so many innformations about Upanisads, Darashikoh, his work on its translation and other European thinkers. Being a researcher on Upanisadic Philosophy, this is helpful for me..
Please in the interest of history be accurate when you quote. Macaulay's statement is apocryphal - its language too modern, its tone too obviously arrogant. Macaulay in other quotes says quite the opposite. He did not have much use or respect for Indian ideas, literature and history and felt that by making brown sahibs of us all, the English could rule India.Also he was not in Britain, let alone in the British jParliament on the date you have mentioned.
S. Nair-Pal
Baruch Spinoza was one of the earliest European thinkers to be influenced by
the French translation of the Upanishads.
C. J. Singh
drcj@berkeley.edu
Vedas, Holy Quran,Bible all lead to the same TRUTH
L N Induria
eye opening. there are sane muslims in this world but try to seek truth.
MOTIRAM LALWANI
God never left the man with out guidence
akhter husain
This is a very informative article and adds a great deal to my own information about Dara Shikoh. Now in my seventies, I have been a student of Vedas and Upanishads from the age of 22 and find a great deal of similarity between the views expressed by Dara Shikoh and those by European thinkers.
Mahmud Iqbal Baig


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Home Trade News Archive by category Inbound
7-Day Mandatory Home Quarantine For All International Arrivals In India
TBM Staff | Mumbai Friday, 7 January 2022, 6:18 PM
According to a NDTV report, people flying in from abroad will need to home quarantine for a week after landing in India and test on the eighth day, in new rules that take effect on January 11 (Tuesday) to tackle a huge Omicron-driven surge in Covid cases in the country. The number of Continue Reading
Foreign Tourist Arrivals reduces in India between January and September 2021
TBM Staff | Mumbai Friday, 10 December 2021, 10:15 AM
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in India between January and September 2021 have reduced even further by 73.4 compared to the same time last year. As per information received from the Bureau of Immigration, FTAs during the full year 2020 were 27,44,766 as compared to 1,09,30,355 in 2019 registering a negative growth of 74.9 per cent. […]Continue Reading
Maharashtra woos medical, wellness tourists from UAE, Gulf region
TBM Staff | Mumbai Tuesday, 23 November 2021, 10:06 AM
The state, home to the best clinical outcomes in India, has positioned itself as the national leader in healthcare services guiding hopeful patients towards a better clinical experience. Addressing a media roundtable in Dubai, Aditi Tatkare, Maharashtra's Minister of State for Tourism said, "The Government of Maharashtra provides world-class health amenities with 50 per Continue Reading
India reopens to fully vaccinated foreign travellers after 18 months
TBM Staff | Mumbai Tuesday, 16 November 2021, 12:47 PM
India began allowing fully vaccinated foreign tourists to enter the country on regular commercial flights, in the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions as infections fall and vaccinations rise. Tourists entering India must be fully vaccinated, follow all Covid-19 protocols and test negative for the virus within 72 hours of their flight, according to the health […]Continue Reading
Over 15,000 free tourist visas issued till now
TBM Staff | Mumbai Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 10:19 AM
According to a report in The Business Line, international travel to India is a bit slow to pick up with just a little over 15,000 free tourist visas being issued so far out of the five lakh visas that were provisioned by the centre. In June 2021, the Ministry of Finance had announced a scheme […]Continue Reading
India to lift quarantine requirement for international travellers from today
TBM Staff | Mumbai Monday, 25 October 2021, 10:09 AM
Fully vaccinated travellers, who are coming from a country with which India has reciprocal arrangements for mutual acceptance of World Health Organization (WHO) approved Covid-19 vaccines, shall be allowed to leave the airport and need not undergo home quarantine and testing from Monday, according to the revised guidelines for international arrivals released on Wednesday. Continue Reading


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Q: Httpruntime cache keys not unique? Although i have specified a unique key, it seems the following code will return one value for 5 requests, then another for the next couple, then revert back to the value saved in the original request and just continue until there are 10's of different objects all stored under the same key.
It then seems almost random which of these values it will return from the cache.
string strDateTime = string.Empty;
string cachename = "datetimeexample";
object cachedobject = HttpRuntime.Cache.Get(cachename);
if (cachedobject != null)
    strDateTime = (string)cachedobject;
else
{
    strDateTime = DateTime.Now.ToString();
    HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert(cachename, strDateTime, null, DateTime.MaxValue, TimeSpan.FromDays(10), CacheItemPriority.NotRemovable, null);
}
Response.Write(strDateTime +"        keys:"+ HttpRuntime.Cache.Count);

Very confused, is this because of threading or something?

A: Ignoring the possibility of a server farm and load balancing, this behaviour can be caused by the application pool running as a web-garden. To quote the relevant section from MSDN:

Because Web gardens enable the use of
  multiple processes, each process will
  have its own copy of application
  state, in-process session state,
  caches, and static data. Web gardens
  should not be used for all
  applications, especially if they need
  to maintain state. Be sure to
  benchmark the performance of the
  application before deciding whether
  Web garden mode is appropriate.

This will cause it to appear as if caching is storing multiple values for the same key, effectively having duplicate entries in the cache.
To resolve this in IIS 7, open the application pool's Advanced Settings and set Maximum Worker Processes to 1. For IIS 6, see the MSDN article (With pretty screenshots).
Albeit 8 months late, I'm answering this question because I found it long before I found this decent article on web-garden gotchas. Hopefully this answer will save future searchers a chunk of time. :)

A: Your cachekey is always 'datetimeexample', therefore, you will always have one object in cache; and you will always receive that object back.
I am not quite sure what you are trying to accomplish here, as far as I'm concerned, this behaves exactly in the way it's supposed to do.


Set in London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar who transforms his uncle's run-down laundrette into a thriving business. After being confronted by a fascist gang, Omar recognises school-friend Johnny and uses their history to diffuse the situation. As they renovate the laundrette together, love blossoms between them. This culture clash comedy is also a subversive work of social realism, sprinkled with magic and joy running through the rich veins of Kureshi's writing.


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Economic crisis affects charitable organisations - Daily News Egypt
Business Economic crisis affects charitable organisations
Economic crisis affects charitable organisations
Egyptian charitable organisation were also hit by the Egyptian economic crisis
Sara Aggour July 18, 2013 1 Comment
The Egyptian children's cancer hospital (57357), whose budget derives solely from donations, has also been affected by the economic slowdown in the country.
Charitable organisations in Egypt have not been immune from the economic difficulties facing the nation; many struggle with gathering donations to maintain their operations. The Daily News Egypt spoke to a number of organisations to investigate the problems they face.
The Wataneya Society for the Development of Orphanages, established in 2008, aims to develop and implement a unified and integrated mechanism for Egyptian orphanages. Yasmeen Hegry, the external relations manager, said they have witnessed a major drop after the 2011 revolution, from both corporations and the individual donors: "Both donations dropped by 60%."
Hegry added that the decrease continued in 2013: "we can still feel the consistency of the drop. The crisis has definitely taken its toll on us."
"The economic crisis has affected the amounts of donations the hospital receives… however, it's visible that Egyptians are trying to participate with all their resources and zakat (alms-giving) in the organisation," said Hanaa Farid, manager of the financial resources.
Farid added that the visiting rate has also changed during the past years: "We used to receive visitors all the time. People liked to pass by and check on the kids and see the development of the hospital that they helped build."
"But the lack of clear vision and security during the current circumstances led the number of visits to decrease," she said.
Farid stated that the hospital maintains a financial sustainability plan that permits it to function in lean times: "we put a clear running cost plan to rationalise the hospital costs. This strategic plan, which includes making bank endowments, allows us to continue offering the medical assistance the children need."
Mostafa Zamzam, the spokesman for Dar El-Orman, a charity that supports the hospital, said that the number of visitors only decreased in the Cairo and Alexandria branches. "The remaining branches for the orphanages and the projects in south Egypt still receive the same number of visitors," he said.
Zamzam added that the financial situation actually improved in 2013. "The amounts donated exceeded all expectations and increased by 30% compared to 2012."
"It seems that the harder the situation gets for Egyptians, the more they give away", he said.
He explained that this increase was encouraged by ability for contributors to donate online to Dar El-Orman.
"We also send our employees to receive any payments and this offers the donor an alternative to coming in," he added.
Another organisation that seems to be suffering is the Resala foundation, which has been rumoured to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose donations have suffered.
Resala denied any association to the Brotherhood adding "we did not, do not and we will not affiliate with any organisation that has religious direction," to their television advertisements.
Topics: charity economic Economy Resala
Sara Aggour
More in Sara Aggour
Property tax: Will it reach government's expectations?
EGX-30 to range between 7,600 points and 8,100 points
Implementation of VAT to generate EGP 35bn in FY 2016/2017: Ministry of Finance official
The Egyptian real estate leaders: how well are they doing?
Saudi officials meet with Saudi, Egyptian businessmen
EPPC plans an IPO in mid-2017: Amwal Al-Khaleej executive
https://wwww.dailynewssegypt.com/2013/07/18/economic-crisis-affects-charitable-organisations/


1. What could possibly go wrong? Just quietly ponder that on your own for a moment.
2. Have you ever done something like this on your own before? Although Microsoft has made it appear to be a very simple process, the potential consequences are significant. Seriously – this is the Operating System for your computer. It's like the techie version of open-heart surgery.
3. Will your mission-critical software still work? Even after success during beta testing, some software does not work properly yet with the current release. It's only a matter of time, but don't jump off the bridge before checking with your providers to make sure your stuff is compliant.
4. Are you concerned with privacy? If so, you might want to pay close attention to the License terms, along with some of the options and choices. Failure to do so may compromise your (and your clients') data. In the legal profession, that may somewhat less than ideal. Pay extra attention to how (or if) you configure Cortana.
5. Do you have an extra computer? If so, this would be a good place to do your own testing and training. See if you're comfortable with how it works before locking yourself into an uncomfortable working environment.
6. Do you have some free time? If you're in the midst of an important project, the answer is probably no. You should expect to spend several hours with the upgrade, and then several more learning and working with it.
8. Can you wait, or do you have to upgrade now? There is no urgent rush, although according to Microsoft "you must upgrade to Windows 10 within one year of availability." At this point, that would appear to be July 28 of 2016.
9. What can you do if you upgrade and then find some of your software no longer works? According to the FAQ page, you will have one month after upgrading to revert back to the previous version, although I have heard of problems continuing even after a rollback.
10. Should you have someone else do this for you? If you're in a large firm, you probably won't see a firm-wide rollout for at least a few months – and for good reasons (see above). For smaller firms, if you have an IT person or service, you should consider having them handle the upgrade for you. If you're independent and on your own, then you're independent and on your own.
I've gone through a number of major software upgrades over the years, and I would say Windows 10 is certainly going to be worth every penny - especially for those getting the free upgrade (currently running Windows 7 or 8). How quickly you jump in is up to you (or those upon whom you depend to manage these things for you). I personally found one specialized software issue which will prevent me from rolling it out to my "money-maker" machines right now, but overall, the system looks very nice and is simple to use.
I am a huge fan, going from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 yesterday.
Speed and boot up are now incredible, all software works, and the text is much crisper.
Unless you are using Boot Camp on Mac (which I am, since I love the hardware but use only Windows because of Case Map and my archaic billing software), you hopefully have no problems.
Do a thorough search for your particular software if you are concerned but be comforted if you are a Windows 7 or 8 user now. There is a one button rollback to your version.
But if your experience was like mine, you will not want to go back.
Thanks for sharing your experience, and good to know it seems to be working well with Boot Camp. There many options during setup that could compromise your system and data, which is a serious concern for those in the legal profession. Wi-Fi sharing and Cortana are a couple that come to mind, and although we already share some of this via Siri on our iPhones, at least we're not storing everything there. Just something to think about.
For me, after testing my trial presentation software, I found the current version has some issues that need to be resolved, limiting functionality. Until then, Windows 7 runs the business while Windows 10 stays only on a test machine. I can't afford to quit working yet!
I hear you clearly. I will not be using Cortana (the children tell me that I butcher Siri quite enough), and I am on a secure network.
I am a legal nurse consultant, so all of my work is with attorneys, and I am always concerned about security with Dropbox and Hightail. Many DA offices send me files with USAFx so perhaps that has better security.
Sadly (okay, I am not sad, I am angry), none of us are ever truly secure.
I hope you will be able to post any weaknesses that are peculiar to Windows 10.
I updated my personal computer (not touching my work laptop until they say to update) and have had issues with accessing certain directories and with some apps that require elevated administrative privileges. After the initial update and the required updates after Windows 10 updated, I had a flickering that almost had me roll back. I managed to figure out what was conflicting and disabled those apps, including Cortana and iCloud. If I can't resolve the current issues, I will probably roll it back and hope it will work. I'd rather keep Windows 10 because it is the best of both Windows 7 and Windows 8, but we'll see.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Kim. Cortana and Wi-Fi network sharing seem to be a couple of things causing the most concern. I've also heard of some problems persisting even after a rollback. I agree that it does look like it should be a good system, once the kinks get ironed out.
I'm still sticking with my laptops on WIN XP & WIN 7 -- especially TrialDirector. I've learned being an early adopter with Windows & also TrialDirector is not always a good thing. I give it 8-12 months before I start transitioning.
inData has just released the Win 10 update for TrialDirector, and it seems to work fine so far. You should get a notice when you try to launch the program, or you can go the the Help menu, and click "Check for Updates."
First, since I needed to use some other software that would not run in Windows 10, I decided to do a rollback. Sounds simple enough, as long as you do it within the 30-day test drive, right? WRONG. After a couple hours of rolling, the poor laptop had been lobotomized. No possible recovery for this soldier. Fortunately, I was able to locate a Dell emergency recovery file, which worked - although restoring to factory specs, sans any added software. Oh well, added my other program and put the thing back to work.
Another person I know tried the upgrade and ran into some out-of-network login issues (he said make sure you have a local login set up) and some driver compatibility issues. He also found some new TrialDirector issues with depo clips.
Bottom line - If you need the machine, don't do it yet. If you're trying this on a retired machine, happy testing, and please share how it goes for you!
I am a freelance court reporter and had little issues with 8, so I thought 10 would be the fix...Boy, was I wrong!
I have a Toshiba Satellite and the first "little" thing was it disabled my trackpad. I could never get it to enable, so had to use up one of my USB ports for a wireless mouse. okay, no biggie.
I run Advantage Software's Eclipse reporting software, and I found "little" problems with that. okay, I'll deal with that.
By the next morning, my Eclipse still worked, but I was feeling uneasy so I thought I better do another quick backup of my current files. it wouldn't let me...uh-ohhhh.
Then within an hour, I realized I had no menu list to shut down. I tried to get into Chrome to find Microsoft's tech support phone number, and I couldn't get on the Internet. Big problem!
After one entire day of tech support, I rolled back my system to 8.1.
I pulled the trigger again last week, as most of my software concerns seem to have been addressed. At this point, things appear to be running well for the most part, although I have noticed some file sync issues with Dropbox and OneDrive. It appears that Microsoft is working on updates to improve OneDrive, but it seems to be a little rough around the edges yet. This forces some additional manual backup effort, but overall, Win10 seems to run pretty smoothly now.
Windows 10 is nothing more than a vehicle to sell product...a marketing device. Way too much advertising and "come-ons" - full of peddlers and "gimme your money". There are a lot of young fools today so it will probably be welcome among those but for serious folks, save your money and read a good classic instead of the ephemeral crap being peddled.