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What an English-Speaking Therapist Can do for You
February 10, 2016 By Beth Rogerson
When I moved to Stockholm with my Swedish husband 12 years ago I saw many needs. Where were the chocolate chip cookies? The bagels? Why did doors never open in the direction I expected them to open?
But most of all, the biggest need I saw was the need for English-speaking therapists in Stockholm.
A thriving international community
Stockholm is a very internationally-minded city. Swedes like to study and travel abroad, make friends, fall in love and many bring their partners back to their home country.
I think many couples, where one partner is a Swede, come here to settle because of Sweden's (deserved) reputation as an ideal country in which to raise children. It's also a very safe, secure place with one of the highest standards of living, beautiful countryside and excellent housing.
Kungsträdgården. It means The Kings Garden. Just left of here is the palace and water over looking the Old Town.
So with that in mind, it's not really a surprise to me then that many foreign nationals come here whether it's for business or pleasure, just passing through for a couple of years or here for the long haul.
No matter where people go, however, problems follow. Whether it's struggling with depression, family, trauma and of course unhappy relationships. Culture shock can make these problems so much worse.
The trouble is, it's not always easy sharing those feelings in another language. Even if you're pretty fluent.
Finding your authentic voice
Very quickly after arriving here, I realised that people needed help and support in the English-speaking community
For those that had been here many years, even though they spoke Swedish, it felt more natural for them to share their innermost thoughts and feelings in another tongue.
They needed therapy and counselling in English.
Similarly, those that were struggling to learn Swedish – which, believe me, isn't easy because Swedes speak such wonderfully fluent English and will quickly switch into it if they hear you utter a couple of broken sentences of Swedish –
Still, part of me realised that no matter how good people are at a foreign language, there's something powerful about sharing your troubles in the language you know best.
The docks in Djurgården, Stockholm.
So I put the word out that I was in Stockholm and providing counseling and therapy in English for those adjusting to a new culture, community and climate.
I've been providing counseling and therapy for the English-speaking community in Stockholm for over 10 years now. Everyone I've met along the way, including my clients, has taught me that periods of depression, anxiety, and relationship unhappiness can come and go. But everyone has the abilities and skills to turn that around and live happier, motivated, and purposeful lives.
Feel like you need to talk to someone who speaks English just like you?
If you're new to Stockholm and need counseling in English, get in touch. Whether you're feeling depressed, anxious or blue or just need someone to talk to, let's see I can help you.
"Couple sitting at the docks in Djurgården, Stockholm" by Flickr user Tommie Hansen is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"People, cherry blossom and the water" by Flickr user Deeped Niclas & Amanda Strandh is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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As someone nearing seventy years of age at the time of writing, I have accumulated enough experience to be completely confident that the teachings of the Buddha are both relevant and useful to humanity. If a person puts them into practice, it is certain that not only they but others, too, will benefit. My meetings with many different sorts of people the world over have, however, helped me realize that there are other faiths, and other cultures, no less capable than mine of enabling individuals to lead constructive and satisfying lives. What is more, I have come to the conclusion that whether or not a person is a religious believer does not matter much. Far more important is that they be a good human being.
I say this in acknowledgment of the fact that though a majority of the earth's nearly six billion human beings may claim allegiance to one faith tradition or another, the influence of religion on people's lives is generally marginal, especially in the developed world. It is doubtful whether globally even a billion are what I would call dedicated religious practitioners, that is to say, people who try, on a daily basis, faithfully to follow the principles and precepts of their faith. The rest remain, in this sense, non-practicing. Those who are dedicated practitioners meanwhile follow a multiplicity of religious paths. From this, it becomes clear that given our diversity, no single religion satisfies all humanity. We may also conclude that we humans can live quite well without recourse to religious faith.
These may seem unusual statements, coming as they do from a religious figure. I am, however, Tibetan before I am Dalai Lama, and I am human before I am Tibetan. So while as Dalai Lama I have a special responsibility to Tibetans, and as a monk I have a special responsibility toward furthering interreligious harmony, as a human being I have a much larger responsibility toward the whole human family-which indeed we all have. And since the majority does not practice religion, I am concerned to try to find a way to serve all humanity without appealing to religious faith.
Actually, I believe that if we consider the world's major religions from the widest perspective, we find that they are all-Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and the others-directed toward helping human beings achieve lasting happiness. And each of them is, in my opinion, capable of facilitating this. Under such circumstances, a variety of religions (each of which promotes the same basic values after all) is both desirable and useful.
Of course, both as a Tibetan and as a monk, I have been brought up according to, and educated in, the principles, the precepts, and the practice of Buddhism. I cannot, therefore, deny that my whole thinking is shaped by my understanding of what it means to be a follower of the Buddha. However, my concern in this book is to try to reach beyond the formal boundaries of my faith. I want to show that there are indeed some universal ethical principles which could help everyone to achieve the happiness we all aspire to. Some people may feel that in this I am attempting to propagate Buddhism by stealth. But while it is difficult for me conclusively to refute the claim, this is not the case.
Actually, I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayer, and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit-such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony-which bring happiness to both self and others. While ritual and prayer, along with the questions of nirvana and salvation, are directly connected to religious faith, these inner qualities need not be, however. There is thus no reason why the individual should not develop them, even to a high degree, without recourse to any religious or metaphysical belief system. This is why I sometimes say that religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are these basic spiritual qualities.
Those who practice religion would, of course, be right to say that such qualities, or virtues, are fruits of genuine religious endeavor and that religion therefore has everything to do with developing them and with what may be called spiritual practice. But let us be clear on this point. Religious faith demands spiritual practice. Yet it seems there is much confusion, as often among religious believers or among non-believers, concerning what this actually consists in. The unifying characteristic of the qualities I have described as "spiritual" may be said to be some level of concern for others' well-being. In Tibetan, we speak of shen pen kyi sem meaning "the thought to be of help to others." And when we think about them, we see that each of the qualities noted is defined by an implicit concern for others' well-being. Moreover, the one who is compassionate, loving, patient, tolerant, forgiving, and so on to some extent recognizes the potential impact of their actions on others and orders their conduct accordingly. Thus spiritual practice according to this description involves, on the one hand, acting out of concern for others' well-being. On the other, it entails transforming ourselves so that we become more readily disposed to do so. To speak of spiritual practice in any terms other than these is meaningless.
Here the reader may object that while the transformation of character that such a reorientation implies is certainly desirable, and while it is good that people develop compassion and love, a revolution of spirit is hardly adequate to solve the variety and magnitude of problems we face in the modern world. Furthermore, it could be argued that problems arising from, for example, violence in the home, addiction to drugs and alcohol, family breakup, and so on are better understood and tackled on their own terms. Nevertheless, given that they could each certainly be solved through people being more loving and compassionate toward one another-however improbable this may be-they can also be characterized as spiritual problems susceptible to a spiritual solution. This is not to say that all we need do is cultivate spiritual values and these problems will automatically disappear. On the contrary, each of them needs a specific solution. But we find that when this spiritual dimension is neglected, we have no hope of achieving a lasting solution.
Why is this? Bad news is a fact of life. Each time we pick up a newspaper, or turn on the television or radio, we are confronted with sad tidings. Not a day goes by but, somewhere in the world, something happens that everyone agrees is unfortunate. No matter where we are from or what our philosophy of life, to a greater or lesser extent, we are all sorry to hear of others' suffering.
These events can be divided into two broad categories: those which have principally natural causes-earthquakes, drought, floods, and the like-and those which are of human origin. Wars, crime, violence of every sort, corruption, poverty, deception, fraud, and social, political, and economic injustice are each the consequence of negative human behavior. And who is responsible for such behavior? We are. From royalty, presidents, prime ministers, and politicians through administrators, scientists, doctors, lawyers, academics, students, priests, nuns and monks, such as myself, to industrialists, artists, shopkeepers, technicians, pieceworkers, manual laborers, and those without work, there is not a single class or sector of society which does not contribute to our daily diet of unhappy news.
Fortunately, unlike natural disasters, which we can do little or nothing about, these human problems, because they are all essentially ethical problems, can be overcome. The fact that there are so many people, again from every sector and level of society, working to do so is a reflection of this intuition: There are those who join political parties to fight for a fairer constitution; those who become lawyers to fight for justice; those who join aid organizations to fight poverty; those who care, both on a professional and on a voluntary basis, for the victims of harm. Indeed, we are all, according to our own understanding and in our own way, trying to make the world-or at least our bit of it-a better place for us to live in.
Unfortunately, we find that no matter how sophisticated and well administered our legal systems, and no matter how advanced our methods of external control, by themselves these cannot eradicate wrongdoing. Observe that nowadays our police forces have at their disposal technology that could barely have been imagined fifty years ago. They have methods of surveillance which enable them to see what formerly was hidden; they have DNA matching, forensic laboratories, sniffer dogs, and, of course, highly trained personnel. Yet criminal methods are correspondingly advanced so that really we are no better off. Where ethical restraint is lacking, there can be no hope of overcoming problems like those of rising crime. In fact, without such inner discipline, we find that the very means we use to solve them becomes a source of difficulty itself. The increasing sophistication of criminal and police methods is a vicious and mutually reinforcing cycle.
What, then, is the relationship between spirituality and ethical practice? Since love and compassion and similar qualities all, by definition, presume some level of concern for others' well-being, they presume ethical restraint. We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires.
As to the foundations of ethical practice itself, it might be supposed that here at least I advocate a religious approach. Certainly, each of the major religious traditions has a well-developed ethical system. However, the difficulty with tying our understanding of right and wrong to religion is that we must then ask, "Which religion?" Which articulates the most complete, the most accessible, the most acceptable system? The arguments would never stop. Moreover, to do so would be to ignore the fact that many who reject religion do so out of convictions sincerely held, not merely because they are unconcerned with the deeper questions of human existence. We cannot suppose that such people are without a sense of right and wrong or of what is morally appropriate just because some who are anti-religion are immoral. Besides, religious belief is no guarantee of moral integrity. Looking at the history of our species, we see that among the major troublemakers-those who visited violence, brutality, and destruction on their fellow human beings-there have been many who professed religious faith, often loudly. Religion can help us establish basic ethical principles. Yet we can still talk about ethics and morality without having recourse to religion.
Again, it could be objected that if we do not accept religion as the source of ethics, we must allow that people's understanding of what is good and right, of what is wrong and bad, of what is morally appropriate and what is not, of what constitutes a positive act and what a negative act must vary according to circumstances and even from person to person. But here let me say that no one should suppose it could ever be possible to devise a set of rules or laws to provide us with the answer to every ethical dilemma, even if we were to accept religion as the basis of morality. Such a formulaic approach could never hope to capture the richness and diversity of human experience. It would also give grounds for arguing that we are responsible only to the letter of those laws, rather than for our actions.
This is not to say that it is useless to attempt to construe principles which can be understood as morally binding. On the contrary, if we are to have any hope of solving our problems, it is essential that we find a way to do so. We must have some means of adjudicating between, for example, terrorism as a means to political reform and Mahatma Gandhi's principles of peaceful resistance. We must be able to show that violence toward others is wrong. And yet we must find some way of doing so which avoids the extremes of crude absolutism on the one hand, and of trivial relativism on the other.
My own view, which does not rely solely on religious faith or even on an original idea, but rather on ordinary common sense, is that establishing binding ethical principles is possible when we take as our starting point the observation that we all desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering. We have no means of discriminating between right and wrong if we do not take into account others' feelings, others' suffering. For this reason, and also because-as we shall see-the notion of absolute truth is difficult to sustain outside the context of religion, ethical conduct is not something we engage in because it is somehow right in itself. Moreover, if it is correct that the desire to be happy and avoid suffering is a natural disposition, shared by all, it follows that each individual has a right to pursue this goal.
ON A RECENT TRIP TO EUROPE, I HAD THE opportunity to visit the site of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Even though I had heard and read a great deal about this place, I found myself completely unprepared for the experience. My initial reaction to the sight of the ovens in which hundreds of thousands of human beings were burned was one of total revulsion. I was dumbfounded at the sheer calculation and detachment from feeling to which they bore horrifying testimony. Then, in the museum which forms part of the visitor center, I saw a collection of shoes. A lot of them were patched or small, having obviously belonged to children and poor people. This saddened me particularly. What wrong could they possibly have done, what harm? I stopped and prayed-moved profoundly both for the victims and for the perpetrators of this iniquity-that such a thing would never happen again. And, in the knowledge that just as we all have the capacity to act selflessly out of concern for others' well-being, so do we all have the potential to be murderers and torturers, I vowed never in any way to contribute to such a calamity.
Events such as those which occurred at Auschwitz are violent reminders of what can happen when individuals-and by extension, whole societies-lose touch with basic human feeling. But although it is necessary to have legislation and international conventions in place as safeguards against future disasters of this kind, we have all seen that atrocities continue in spite of them. Much more effective and important than such legislation is our regard for one another's feelings at a simple human level.
When I speak of basic human feeling, I am not only thinking of something fleeting and vague, however. I refer to the capacity we all have to empathize with one another, which, in Tibetan we call shen dug ngal wa la mi sö pa. Translated literally, this means "the inability to bear the sight of another's suffering." Given that this is what enables us to enter into, and to some extent participate, in others' pain, it is one of our most significant characteristics. It is what causes us to start at the sound of a cry for help, to recoil at the sight of harm done to another, to suffer when confronted with others' suffering. And it is what compels us to shut our eyes even when we want to ignore others' distress.
Here, imagine walking along a road, deserted save for an elderly person just ahead of you. Suddenly, that person trips and falls. What do you do? I have no doubt that the majority of readers would go over to see whether they might help. Not all, perhaps. But in admitting that not everyone would go to the assistance of another in distress, I do not mean to suggest that in those few exceptions this capacity for empathy, which I have suggested to be universal, is entirely absent. Even in the case of those who did not, surely there will at least be the same feeling, however faint, of concern, which would motivate the majority to offer their assistance? It is certainly possible to imagine people who, after enduring years of warfare, are no longer moved at the sight of others' suffering. The same could be true of those who live in places where there is an atmosphere of violence and indifference to others. It is even possible to imagine a few who would exult at the sight of another's suffering. This does not prove that the capacity for empathy is not present in such people. That we all, excepting perhaps only the most disturbed, appreciate being shown kindness, suggests that however hardened we may become, the capacity for empathy remains.
This characteristic of appreciating others' concern is, I believe, a reflection of our "inability to bear the sight of another's suffering." I say this because alongside our natural ability to empathize with others, we also have a need for others' kindness, which runs like a thread throughout our whole life. It is most apparent when we are young and when we are old. But we have only to fall ill to be reminded of how important it is to be loved and cared about even during our prime years. Though it may seem a virtue to be able to do without affection, in reality a life lacking this precious ingredient must be a miserable one. It is surely not a coincidence that the lives of most criminals turn out to have been lonely and lacking in love.
We see this appreciation of kindness reflected in our response to the human smile. For me, human beings' ability to smile is one of our most beautiful characteristics. It is something no animal can do. Not dogs, or even whales or dolphins, each of them very intelligent beings with a clear affinity for humans, can smile as we do. Personally, I always feel a bit curious when I smile at someone and they remain serious and unresponding. On the other hand, my heart is gladdened when they reciprocate. Even in the case of someone I have nothing to do with, when that person smiles at me, I am touched. But why? The answer surely is that a genuine smile touches something fundamental in us: our natural appreciation of kindness.
Despite the body of opinion suggesting that human nature is basically aggressive and competitive, my own view is that our appreciation for affection and love is so profound that it begins even before our birth. Indeed, according to some scientist friends of mine, there is strong evidence to suggest that a mother's mental and emotional state greatly affects the well-being of her unborn child, that it benefits her baby if she maintains a warm and gentle state of mind. A happy mother bears a happy child. On the other hand, frustration and anger are harmful to the healthy development of the baby. Similarly, during the first weeks after birth, warmth and affection continue to play a supreme role in the infant's physical development. At this stage, the brain is growing very rapidly, a function which doctors believe is somehow assisted by the constant touch of the mother or surrogate. This shows that though the baby may not know or care who is who, it has a clear physical need of affection. Perhaps, too, it explains why even the most fractious, agitated, and paranoid individuals respond positively to the affection and care of others. As infants they must have been nurtured by someone. Should a baby be neglected during this critical period, clearly it could not survive.
Fortunately, this is very rarely the case. Almost without exception, the mother's first act is to offer her baby her nourishing milk-an act which to me symbolizes unconditional love. Her affection here is totally genuine and uncalculating: she expects nothing in return. As for the baby, it is drawn naturally to its mother's breast. Why? Of course we can speak of the survival instinct. But in addition I think it reasonable to conjecture a degree of affection on the part of the infant toward its mother. If it felt aversion, surely it would not suckle? And if the mother felt aversion, it is doubtful her milk would flow freely. What we see instead is a relationship based on love and mutual tenderness, which is totally spontaneous. It is not learned from others, no religion requires it, no laws impose it, no schools have taught it. It arises quite naturally.
This instinctual care of mother for child-shared it seems with many animals-is crucial because it suggests that alongside the baby's fundamental need of love in order to survive, there exists an innate capacity on the part of the mother to give love. So powerful is it that we might almost suppose a biological component is at work. Of course it could be argued that this reciprocal love is nothing more than a survival mechanism. That could well be so. But that is not to deny its existence. Nor indeed does it undermine my conviction that this need and capacity for love suggest that we are, in fact, loving by nature.
If this seems improbable, consider our differing response to kindness and to violence. Most of us find violence intimidating. Conversely, when we are shown kindness, we respond with greater trust. Similarly, consider the relationship between peace-which as we have seen is the fruit of love-and good health. According to my understanding, our constitution is more suited to peace and tranquility than to violence and aggression. We all know that stress and anxiety can lead to high blood pressure and other negative symptoms. In the Tibetan medical system, mental and emotional disturbances are considered to be a cause of many constitutional diseases, including cancer. Moreover, peace, tranquility, and others' care are essential to recovery from illness. We can also identify a basic longing for peace. Why? Because peace suggests life and growth whereas violence suggests only misery and death. This is why the idea of a Pure Land, or of Heaven, attracts us. If such a place were described in terms of unending warfare and strife, we would much rather remain in this world.
Notice, too, how we respond to the phenomenon of life itself. When spring follows winter, the days become longer, there is more sunshine, the grass grows afresh: automatically our spirits lift. On the other hand, at the approach of winter, the leaves begin to fall one by one, and much of the vegetation around us becomes as though dead. Small wonder if we tend to feel a bit downcast at that time of year. The indication here is surely that our nature prefers life over death, growth over decay, construction over destruction.
Consider also the behavior of children. In them we see what is natural to the human character before it has been overlaid with learned ideas. We find that very young babies do not really differentiate between one person and another. They attach much more importance to the smile of the people in front of them than to anything else. Even when they start to grow up, they are not very interested in differences of race, nationality, religion, or family background. When they meet with other children, they do not stop to discuss these things. They immediately begin the much more important business of play. Nor is this just sentimentalism. I see the reality whenever I visit one of the children's villages in Europe, where numbers of Tibetan refugee children have been educated since the early 1960s. These villages were founded to care for orphaned children from countries at war with one another. To no one's great surprise, it was found that despite their different backgrounds, when these children are put together, they live in complete harmony with one another.
Now it could be objected that while we may all share a capacity for loving-kindness, human nature is such that inevitably we tend to reserve it for those closest to us. We are biased toward our families and friends. Our feelings of concern for those outside the circle will depend very much on individual circumstances: those who feel threatened are not likely to have very much goodwill for those who threaten them. All this is true enough. Nor do I deny that whatever our capacity to feel concern for our fellow human beings, when our very survival is threatened, it may but rarely prevail over the instinct for self-preservation. Still, this does not mean that the capacity is no longer there, that the potential does not remain. Even soldiers after a battle will often help their enemies retrieve their dead and wounded.
In all of what I have said about our basic nature, I do not mean to suggest that I believe it has no negative aspects. Where there is consciousness, hatred, ignorance, and violence do indeed arise naturally. This is why, although our nature is basically disposed toward kindness and compassion, we are all capable of cruelty and hatred. It is why we have to struggle to better our conduct. It also explains how individuals raised in a strictly non-violent environment have turned into the most horrible butchers. In connection with this, I recall my visit some years ago to the Washington Memorial, which pays tribute to the martyrs and heroes of the Jewish Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis. What struck me most forcefully about the monument was its simultaneous cataloging of different forms of human behavior. On one side it lists the victims of acts of unspeakable atrocity. On the other, it remembers the heroic acts of kindness on the part of Christian families and others who willingly took terrible risks in order to harbor their Jewish brothers and sisters. I felt that this was entirely appropriate, and very necessary: to show the two sides of human potential.
But the existence of this negative potential does not give us grounds to suppose that human nature is inherently violent, or even necessarily disposed toward violence. Perhaps one of the reasons for the popularity of the belief that human nature is aggressive lies in our continual exposure to bad news through the media. Yet the very cause of this is surely that good news is not news.
To say that basic human nature is not only non-violent but actually disposed toward love and compassion, kindness, gentleness, affection, creation, and so on does, of course, imply a general principle which must, by definition, be applicable to each individual human being. What, then, are we to say about those individuals whose lives seem to be given over wholly to violence and aggression? During the past century alone there are several obvious examples to consider. What of Hitler and his plan to exterminate the entire Jewish race? What of Stalin and his pogroms? What of Chairman Mao, the man I once knew and admired, and the barbarous insanity of the Cultural Revolution? What of Pol Pot, architect of the Killing Fields? And what about those who torture and kill for pleasure?
Here I must admit that I can think of no single explanation to account for the monstrous acts of these people. However, we must recognize two things. Firstly, such people do not come from nowhere but from within a particular society at a particular time and in a particular place. Their actions need to be considered in relation to these circumstances. Secondly, we need to recognize the role of the imaginative faculty in their actions. Their schemes were and are carried out in accordance with a vision, albeit a perverted one. Notwithstanding the fact that nothing could justify the suffering they instigated, whatever their explanation might be and whatever positive intentions they could point to, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot each had goals toward which they were working. If we examine those actions which are uniquely human, which animals cannot perform, we find that this imaginative faculty plays a vital role. The faculty itself is a unique asset. But the use to which it is put determines whether the actions it conceives are positive or negative, ethical or unethical. The individual's motivation (kun long) is thus the governing factor. And whereas a vision properly motivated-which recognizes others' desire for and equal right to happiness and to be free of suffering-can lead to wonders, when divorced from basic human feeling the potential for destruction cannot be overestimated.
As for those who kill for pleasure or, worse, for no reason at all, we can only conjecture a deep submergence of the basic impulse toward care and affection for others. Still this need not mean that it is entirely extinguished. As I pointed out earlier, except perhaps in the most extreme cases, it is possible to imagine even these people appreciating being shown affection. The disposition remains.
Actually, the reader does not need to accept my proposition that human nature is basically disposed toward love and compassion to see that the capacity for empathy which underlies it is of crucial importance when it comes to ethics. We saw earlier how an ethical act is a non-harming act. But how are we to determine whether an act is genuinely non-harming? We find that in practice, if we are not able to connect with others to some extent, if we cannot at least imagine the potential impact of our actions on others, then we have no means to discriminate between right and wrong, between what is appropriate and what is not, between harming and non-harming. It follows, therefore, that if we could enhance the capacity-that is to say, our sensitivity toward others' suffering-the more we did so, the less we could tolerate seeing others' pain and the more we would be concerned to ensure that no action of ours caused harm to others.
The fact that we can indeed enhance our capacity for empathy becomes obvious when we consider its nature. We experience it mainly as a feeling. And, as we all know, to a greater or lesser extent we can not only restrain our feelings through reasoning, but we can enhance them in the same way. Our desire for objects-perhaps a new car-is enhanced by our turning it over and over in our imagination. Similarly, when, as it were, we direct our mental faculties onto our feelings of empathy, we find that not only can we enhance them, but we can transform them into love and compassion itself.
As such, our innate capacity for empathy is the source of that most precious of all human qualities, which in Tibetan we call nying je. Now while generally translated simply as "compassion," the term nying je has a wealth of meaning that is difficult to convey succinctly, though the ideas it contains are universally understood. It connotes love, affection, kindness, gentleness, generosity of spirit, and warm-heartedness. It is also used as a term of both sympathy and of endearment. On the other hand, it does not imply "pity" as the word compassion may. There is no sense of condescension. On the contrary, nying je denotes a feeling of connection with others, reflecting its origins in empathy. Thus while we might say, "I love my house" or "I have strong feelings of affection for this place," we cannot say, "I have compassion" for these things. Having no feelings themselves, we cannot empathize with objects. We cannot, therefore, speak of having compassion for them.
Although it is clear from this description that nying je, or love and compassion, is understood as an emotion, it belongs to that category of emotions which have a more developed cognitive component. Some emotions, such as the revulsion we tend to feel at the sight of blood, are basically instinctual. Others, such as fear of poverty, have this more developed cognitive component. We can thus understand nying je in terms of a combination of empathy and reason. We can think of empathy as the characteristic of a very honest person; reason as that of someone who is very practical. When the two are put together, the combination is highly effective. As such, nying je is quite different from those random feelings, like anger and lust, which, far from bringing us happiness, only trouble us and destroy our peace of mind.
To me, this suggests that by means of sustained reflection on, and familiarization with, compassion, through rehearsal and practice we can develop our innate ability to connect with others, a fact which is of supreme importance given the approach to ethics I have described. The more we develop compassion, the more genuinely ethical our conduct will be.
As we have seen, when we act out of concern for others, our behavior toward them is automatically positive. This is because we have no room for suspicion when our hearts are filled with love. It is as if an inner door is opened, allowing us to reach out. Having concern for others breaks down the very barrier which inhibits healthy interaction with others. And not only that. When our intentions toward others are good, we find that any feelings of shyness or insecurity we may have are greatly reduced. To the extent that we are able to open this inner door, we experience a sense of liberation from our habitual preoccupation with self. Paradoxically, we find this gives rise to strong feelings of confidence. Thus, if I may give an example from my own experience, I find that whenever I meet new people and have this positive disposition, there is no barrier between us. No matter who or what they are, whether they have blond hair or black hair, or hair dyed green, I feel that I am simply encountering a fellow human being with the same desire to be happy and to avoid suffering as myself. And I find I can speak to them as if they were old friends, even at our first meeting. By keeping in mind that ultimately we are all brothers and sisters, that there is no substantial difference between us, that just as I do, all others share my desire to be happy and to avoid suffering, I can express my feelings as readily as to someone I have known intimately for years. And not just with a few nice words or gestures but really heart to heart, no matter what the language barrier.
We also find that when we act out of concern for others, the peace this creates in our own hearts brings peace to everyone we associate with. We bring peace to the family, peace to our friends, to the workplace, to the community, and so to the world. Why, then, would anyone not wish to develop this quality? Could anything be more sublime than that which brings peace and happiness to all? For my own part, the mere ability we human beings have to sing the praises of love and compassion is a most precious gift.
Conversely, not even the most skeptical reader could suppose that peace ever comes about as the result of aggressive and inconsiderate, that is to say, unethical behavior. Of course it cannot. I well remember how I learned this particular lesson when I was a small boy in Tibet. One of my attendants, Kenrab Tenzin, had made a pet of a small parrot, which he used to feed with nuts. Although he was a rather stern man with bulging eyes and a somewhat forbidding aspect, merely at the sound of his footsteps, or of his coughing, this parrot would show signs of excitement. As the bird nibbled from his fingers, Kenrab Tenzin would stroke its head, which appeared to put it into a state of ecstasy. I was very envious of this relationship and desired the bird to show me the same friendliness. But when I tried on a few occasions to feed it myself, I failed to get a good response. So I tried poking at it with a stick in the hope of provoking a better reaction. Needless to say, the result was totally negative. Far from forcing it to behave better toward me, the bird took fright. What little prospect of establishing friendly relations there may have been was totally destroyed. I learned thereby that friendships come about not as the result of bullying but as a result of compassion.
The world's major religious traditions each give the development of compassion a key role. Because it is both the source and the result of patience, tolerance, forgiveness, and all good qualities, its importance is considered to extend from the beginning to the end of spiritual practice. But even without a religious perspective, love and compassion are clearly of fundamental importance to us all. Given our basic premise that ethical conduct consists in not harming others, it follows that we need to take others' feelings into consideration, the basis for which is our innate capacity for empathy. And as we transform this capacity into love and compassion, through guarding against those factors which obstruct compassion and cultivating those conducive to it, so our practice of ethics improves. This, we find, leads to happiness both for ourselves and others.
Why, then, if it is so simple to be happy, do we find it so hard? Unfortunately, though most of us think of ourselves as compassionate, we tend to ignore these commonsense truths. We neglect to confront our negative thoughts and emotions. Unlike the farmer who follows the seasons and does not hesitate to cultivate the land when the moment comes, we waste so much of our time in meaningless activity. We feel deep regret over trivial matters like losing money while keeping from doing what is genuinely important without the slightest feeling of remorse. Instead of rejoicing in the opportunity we have to contribute to others' well-being, we merely take our pleasures where we can. We shrink from considering others on the grounds that we are too busy. We run right and left, making calculations and telephone calls and thinking that this would be better than that. We do one thing but worry that if something else comes along we had better do another. But in this we engage only in the coarsest and most elementary levels of the human spirit. Moreover, by being inattentive to the needs of others, inevitably we end up harming them. We think ourselves very clever, but how do we use our abilities? All too often we use them to deceive our neighbors, to take advantage of them and better ourselves at their expense. And when things do not work out, full of self-righteousness, we blame them for our difficulties.
Yet lasting satisfaction cannot be derived from the acquisition of objects. No matter how many friends we acquire, they cannot make us happy. And indulgence in sensual pleasure is nothing but a gateway to suffering. It is like honey smeared along the cutting edge of a sword. Of course, that is not to say that we should despise our bodies. On the contrary, we cannot be of help to others without a body. But we need to avoid the extremes which can lead to harm.
In focusing on the mundane, what is essential remains hidden from us. Of course, if we could be truly happy doing so, then it would be entirely reasonable to live like this. Yet we cannot. At best, we get through life without too much trouble. But then when problems assail us, as they must, we are unprepared. We find that we cannot cope. We are left despairing and unhappy.
Therefore, with my two hands joined, I appeal to you the reader to ensure that you make the rest of your life as meaningful as possible. Do this by engaging in spiritual practice if you can. As I hope I have made clear, there is nothing mysterious about this. It consists in nothing more than acting out of concern for others. And provided you undertake this practice sincerely and with persistence, little by little, step by step you will gradually be able to reorder your habits and attitudes so that you think less about your own narrow concerns and more of others'. In doing so, you will find that you enjoy peace and happiness yourself.
Relinquish your envy, let go your desire to triumph over others. Instead, try to benefit them. With kindness, with courage, and confident that in doing so you are sure to meet with success, welcome others with a smile. Be straightforward. And try to be impartial. Treat everyone as if they were a close friend. I say this neither as Dalai Lama nor as someone who has special powers or ability. Of these I have none. I speak as a human being: one who, like yourself, wishes to be happy and not to suffer.
If you cannot, for whatever reason, be of help to others, at least don't harm them. Consider yourself a tourist. Think of the world as it is seen from space, so small and insignificant yet so beautiful. Could there really be anything to be gained from harming others during our stay here? Is it not preferable, and more reasonable, to relax and enjoy ourselves quietly, just as if we were visiting a different neighborhood? Therefore, if in the midst of your enjoyment of the world you have a moment, try to help in however small a way those who are downtrodden and those who, for whatever reason, cannot or do not help themselves. Try not to turn away from those whose appearance is disturbing, from the ragged and unwell. Try never to think of them as inferior to yourself. If you can, try not even to think of yourself as better than the humblest beggar. You will look the same in your grave.
And a servant to all in need. –From "Ethics for the New Millennium" by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, with Alexander Norman. (c) August, 1999 , used by permission.
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"Percepts from Watching (Blade Runner; 2001: A Space Odyssey; TRON)" 2018
Photo credit: Surrey Art Gallery and SITE Photography.
As part of the "Watching and Dreaming" exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery TechLab. Three 47″ x 47″ light-boxes were produced thanks to the support of the British Columbia Arts Council. Each light-box shows a selection of the visual vocabulary (percepts) from "Watching (Blade Runner)" (2016), "Watching (2001: A Space Odyssey)" (2018), and "Watching (TRON)" (2018) installations. The composition of these works is the result of a machine learning algorithm (the Self-Organizing Map), which arranges percepts according to their colour, width and height. (more…)
"Watching (Blade Runner; 2001: A Space Odyssey; TRON)" 2018
As part of the "Watching and Dreaming" exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery TechLab "Watching (Blade Runner)" (2016), "Watching (2001: A Space Odyssey)" (2018), and "Watching (TRON)" (2018) where installed in the same space and running in parallel. (more…)
"Watching (TRON)" 2018
The third in the series of "Watchers" following "Watching (Blade Runner)" (2016) and "Watching (2001: A Space Odyssey)" (2018). For this work, the approach was the same as used in the 2001: A Space Odyssey version. (more…)
"Watching (2001: A Space Odyssey)" 2018
"Watching (2001: A Space Odyssey)" is a revisit of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" using the same generative methods from "Watching (Blade Runner)" (2016). In this case of this work, the visual vocabulary is 50,000 percepts and the audio was generated with a finer granularity compared to the "Blade Runner" version. (more…)
"Through the haze of a machine's mind we may glimpse our collective imaginations (Blade Runner)" 2017
Promo Package (PDF)
"Through the haze of a machine's mind we may glimpse our collective imaginations (Blade Runner)" is the result of a machine subject reorganizing the pixels and audio samples from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner according to colour and spectral similarity. This destroys the composition of the original, but preserves underlying statistical properties. The resulting images are softly undulating colour fields while the sounds flow between constant drone and glitch complexity due to the process of self-organization. The structure of the work is an emergent result of the interaction between the machine's subjectivity and the underlying structure of Blade Runner. The incremental evolution of each scene's sound-scape and colour field are realizations of the machine's learning process, enabled by a self-organizing machine learning algorithm. The slow ambient movement of the sound and image is punctuated by drastic changes occurring in the image and sound corresponding to the cuts between scenes in the original. (more…)
"Watching (Blade Runner)" 2016
I think of subjectivity and reality as mutually constructive. Cognitive mechanisms impose structure on reality in the form of imaginary categories that inform prediction and recognition. At the same time, the complexity of reality constantly challenges understanding. Cognition determines the most essential and salient properties of reality, but those properties are context dependent. Is the quintessential an objectively observable property of reality or a projection of imagination? (more…)
"As our gaze peers off into the distance, imagination takes over reality…" 2016
The relation between the world as we see it and the world as we understand it to be is all wrapped up in abstraction, the act of emphasizing some details in order to dispense with others. My artistic interest in abstraction and computation is an interest in the world as it is versus the world as we read into and conceptualize it. As our gaze peers off into the distance, imagination takes over reality… is a site-specific public artwork that uses a photographic image of the surrounding site as raw material. (more…)
"Watching and Dreaming (2001: A Space Odyssey) (version 1)" 2014
Installation Video (350MB) | Detail Video (43MB) | Promo Package (PDF)
An image is a reference to some aspect of the world which contains within its own structure and in terms of its own structure a reference to the act of cognition which generated it. It must say, not that the world is like this, but that it was recognized to have been like this by the image-maker, who leaves behind this record: not of the world, but of the act. (Harold Cohen, What is an image? 1979)
"An Artist in Process:
A Computational Sketch of Dreaming Machine #3″ 2012
Video Documentation | Video Documentation w/ Interview
Results of the mini-residency and exhibition of work in progress towards Dreaming Machine #3 at New Forms Festival 2012.
Photo Credit: Scott Kaplan
"Typographic Entanglement" 2010
Jonathan Aitken, Greg Corness, Ben Bogart, Kristin Carlson & Rayann Gordon
This performance represents a continuing exploration of the role of kinetic typography in live performance. Part of a research project funded by SSHRC, the performance explores the relationship between typographic "characters" and dancers. Through the use of near-infrared tracking systems, the dancers are given a measure of control over the movement of words—influencing meaning through motion. Dancers find themselves in a world of words and attempt to develop a shared language.
"Step & Repeat #2" 2009
"Step & Repeat #2" is an interactive video installation and is a recreation of "Step & Repeat" (2003) using Arduino and high-resolution video. For each step the user takes toward the screen the character on-screen takes a step toward the user.
Rather than being controlled by the user, the character's actions are based on an interpretation of the user's actions. Sometimes this interpretation is correct and sometimes it is not. The character does not respond immediately to stimulus but only after an indeterminate period of time. The character's behaviour is meant to be mischievous.
"Dreaming Machine #2" 2009
Video Documentation (Hong Kong) (10MB)
Video Documentation (São Paulo) (183MB)
Dream Sequence (Montréal) (83MB)
Selection of Dreams from Hong Kong, São Paulo and Montréal (340MB)
Can a machine dream? (more…)
"Self-Organized Landscapes" 2009-2011
View Landscapes | Promo Package (PDF)
Self-Organized Landscapes are print collages composed of thousands of close-up photos that are taken with a camera that pans and tilts to examine the visual context surrounding a particular site. These landscapes present a fractured and multifaceted alien perspective of a particular place in space and time. (more…)
"Dreaming Machine #1" (prototype) 2008
Image | Video Documentation | Dream Video
Can a machine dream?
Dreams are a complex interaction between our bodies, minds, memories, and experiences. "Dreaming Machine" is a trajectory of site-specific artistic works exploring the topic of dreaming. "Dreaming Machine #1" (prototype) is the first in the series. During the day, the work examines its visual context. Stimulus from the visual context inspires day dreams through its experience. At night the work freely associates elements of its experience and presents them to the audience. (more…)
"Memory Association Machine:
Study of Cognitive Processes #1″ 2007
(aka "Self-Other Organizing Structure #1")
Images | PDCON07 Paper | PDCON07 Video
"Memory Association Machine" is the first prototype in a series of site-specific responsive installations. Rather than depending on the artist to define how these works relate to their site, the task is given to the artwork itself. The structure of the artwork changes in response to continuous stimulus from its context. (more…)
"Resurfacing" 2006
Ben Bogart & Donna Marie Vakalis
Images | Prototype Video | Installation Video
Resurfacing Website | Resurfacing: Byward Market Website
"Resurfacing" captures and archives snapshots or moments in the urban cityscape. These moments are evaluated both by the dynamics within the frame and by the behaviour of the audience. The public both explores and evaluates these moments through a tactile interface. (more…)
"Reflex" 2006
Images | Video
"Reflex" is my latest improvisational work. It is a creative departure for me since it involves both the creation of sound and image simultaneously. "Reflex" stands out as a generative work since the equation used is not something I wrote nor fully understand. (more…)
"Floatscript" 2005
Prototype Video | Exhibition Video
"Floatscript" is an interactive installation. The viewer is greeted to a touch-screen. The image of the screen shows a number of small words subtly floating in the background. When the viewer touches the screen the words and pulled up to the surface, increasing in size and brightness. When the viewer stops touching the screen the words slowly fade back into the ether. (more…)
Images | Video (low, 25MB) | Video (high, 250MB)
"Vector" is the continuation of Volume Curvature. There is a similar emphasis on form in space, but the main focal point for vector is a strong sense of line whereas Volume Curvature often becomes abstracted to the point of texture. Vector was first performed as part of pixelACHE 2005 in Helsinki, Finland. (more…)
"Volume Curvature" 2005
Volume Curvature is a performance piece settled in the body of work known as Self-Similar. During performance, complex organic volumes are created. I think of these volumetric forms as virtual kinetic sculpture. The colours, structure and style of the piece are inspired by the architectural work of Frank Gehry. The piece is a fusion of the structure of music over time and architecture. This performance is the first iteration of Volume Curvature. In future development the piece will be realized as an interactive installation.
"Self-Similar" 2004
Self-Similar is a visual performance piece centered on the fractal theme of self similarity. Self-Similar generates images though an OpenGL feedback process so that the part resembles the whole. Self-Similar is performed live in response to an audience and musical context. (more…)
"Threads" 2004
Images | Video Documentation
"Threads" is a visual performance piece that uses letters and words as the material of the image. (more…)
"Step & Repeat" 2003
"Step & Repeat" is an interactive video installation. For each step the user takes toward the screen the character on-screen takes a step toward the user. (more…)
Images | Video Documentation | Project Source (230MB)
"Oracle" is an interactive new media installation. It uses real-time weather data, chaos math, and the presence of the viewer(s), to create abstract narratives framed as oracles. (more…)
"Engineered" 2001
Science is a system of knowledge. Medicine is a branch of science that deals with the human body. Science categorizes, cuts, dissects and projects in order to come to knowledge. (more…)
"Aporia" 2001
Aporia is a network of simulacra. The work exists on two planes, the emotional plane, a literal/metaphorical representation, and the conceptual plane. The conceptual plane consists only of signs. The signified are veiled through abstraction and encryption. Social entities are referred to only by the IP address of their internet presence. Technological entities are represented as patent numbers or diagrams. (more…)
"Seed" 2000
SEED is meant to bring attention to the implications of Genetic Engineering, and the Genome project, in our near future. With the evolution of biotech and information technologies it's not difficult to foresee a future where biological organisms are digitally designed and manipulated. The the casual shedding of a eyelash could lead to a reconstruction of your being at the genetic level, without your permission. (more…)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Why need to find Windows Movie Maker alternative?
As a part of Windows Essentials software suite, Windows Movie Maker was officially discontinued. Microsoft removed the installer from its website earlier this year, and has deleted all references to a potential new version for Windows 10. The good news is that there are still some excellent powerful, easy to use yet free editing software that can substitutes Windows Movie Maker to assist you to create great-looking video. The following article has listed top 5 best alternatives to Windows Movie Maker for you as a reference.
Why we ranked Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate as the best alternative to Windows Movie Maker is due to its friendly and easy to navigate interface, perfect Windows 10 compatibility, various input and output format options and versatile video editing functions. It can perfectly satisfy all great basic editing demand to create professional looking video in just few clicks.
When the editing work is completed, you can use our program to export the edited video to various popular file formats, device or editing program preset profile formats for conveniently viewing on computer with media player software, transfer to portable devices, upload and share on popular video sharing sites, etc.
The program is available on Windows 10/8.1/8/7. The program is quite simple to use, anyone can learn to use it in minutes. Whats more, the program is 100% clean, there is no spyware, no malware, no adware and no virus.
For those people who only used Windows Movie Maker for basic video editing tasks, Avidemux is well worth a look. It doesnt offer a fancy interface or direct sharing to social media, but if you take a little time to peruse its menus, youll find its surprisingly capable. Avidemux offers preset profiles for different output devices, video and audio filters, fades, subtitles, and lots of customizable encoding options.
The main downside of Avidemux is that you cant join videos together with different heights or widths. This wont matter if your footage are shot with the same smartphone or screen tool, but can be inconvenient if your media come from different sources. To fix this problem, you have to resize each clip separately, export it, then make a new project. Although its not a serious issue, but the developers are aware and it should be resolved in a future update.
As a friendly-looking video editor, the The VSDC Free Video Editor starts off with a bunch of options such as a blank project, creating a slideshow, importing content, capturing video, or capturing a screen.
Most of the features you need for your project are under the Editor tab. This includes various filters, video effects, audio effects, add music, trim videos, and add text or subtitles. One thing that's really nice about VSDC is that it's easy to shift the point at which your music track starts. So if you want it to start a few seconds after the video is running, you just have to click and drag the bar representing the audio file.
Once you've got your project set-up the way you like it, head over to the Export project tab where you can easily export it using a specific video format, as well as modify the resolution for specific screen sizes such as the PC, iPhone, Web, DVD, and so on.
VSDC lacks the in-app uploads for various web services so you'll have to do that the old fashioned way: through each website's manual upload system.
If youve ever used Windows Movie Maker, VideoPad Video Editor will look immediately familiar. Simply load your video clips, images and sound files that you want to include in your project, then drag them into the timeline to start cutting them together.
Theres an excellent selection of transitional effects for moving between clips and images, plus a collection of filters to give them a whole new look. You can preview the various filters with a single click, combine several to create a custom effect, and decide how long transitions should last.
There are also manual settings for refining brightness, saturation and color - ideal if youre using video clips that were shot in different lighting conditions and want to give them a consistent look.
Based on above reviews and comparisons, if you are looking for a powerful, simple to use yet safe alternative to Windows Movie Maker, there is no better choice than Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate.
Have some Prores files exported from your NLE editing software such as Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Premiere Elements, Avid Media Composer or shot with your Canon/Panasonic/Red/Sony/Alexa camera and wish to load the Prores files into Windows Movie Maker for adding titles, effects and transitions. The bad news is that although Prores has perfect compatibility with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro CC and Avid Media Composer, however, you may get no chance to load it into Windows Movie Maker, the free video editing software from Microsoft, since Prores is not included in Windows Movie Maker supported file formats.
To successfully adding Prores files to WMM, you should first be clear of what are Windows Movie Maker supported file types. Following are the video and audio files can be used in Windows Movie Maker.
To convert Prores for Windows Movie Maker editing, you can download our best Prores Converter for Windows - Pavtube Video Converter, which has full support for both 4K/HD Prores format produced from either video editing software or professional cameras.
With the program, you can batch import multiple Prores format into the program for conversion at one time to save your precious time. As for which format to choose for Windows Movie Maker editing, we highly recommend you to choose "WMV" format, which is the native format supported by WMM without installing any extra codec.
Besides transcoding Prores format for you, you can also use the program to do some simple editing task. You can trim or cut video to get only your unwanted parts or segments, merge separate video clips into one file, split large files into small parts by file size, length or count, crop the black bars around the video frame, add video/image/transparent text watermark to video, apply special rendering effects to video, etc.
Step 1: Load Prores files.
Run the program on your computer and click "File" > "Add Video/Audio" or "Add from folder" to add Prores files into the program.
Clicking the Format bar, from its drop-down list, select Windows Movie Maker native compatible WMV file format to output. The program allows you to produce 3 different types of Apple Prores format.
If you wish to have a fast conversion speed, it would be ideal for you to choose "WMV2(WMV8)(*.wmv)" format.
If you wish to produce a high quality file format, just choose "WMV3(WMV9)(*.wmv)".
If you wish to produce a high definition file format, select "WMV HD(*.wmv)" under "HD Video" main category.
Check an item to active the "Video Editor" function, then click the pencil like icon on the top tool bar to open the "Video Editor" window, you can trim video length, crop video black bars, add watermark, apply special rendering effect, remove/replace audio in video, etc.
Click right-bottom "Convert" button to convert Prores to Windows Movie Maker supported file WMV file formats.
Once the conversion is finished, you can click "Open Output Folder" button to get the output files effortlessly, and now feel free to import converted files to Windows Movie Maker for editing via its "Import video" option.
You might have shot some 4K MXF files with you Canon XC10, Canon XF100/XF105/XF305/XF300, or EOS C300 Mark II, when you try to load the 4K MXF files into After Effects CC/CS6, you may receive an error message says "file < file name > .mxf can not be imported - this mxf file is damaged or unsupported". Why does this happen and how to fix this problems.
Can After Effects CC/CS6 support 4K MXF files?
Since After Effects CS4, MXF is supported by AE. As for the ability to process 4K resolution video, only the latest version of After Effects CC can handle 4K video. Therefore, if you try to import 4K MXF to After Effects CS6, the 4K video will stutter, lag or jump when you are playing with After Effects CS6. Therefore, it would be much ideal for you to compress 4K to 1080p for smooth editing workflow of 4K MXF with After Effects CS6 or previous version.
Although you can smoothly load 4K video into After Effects CC, however, it doesn't mean that you can throw any 4K MXF video into the editing software. It is well known that MXF is a container file format, which supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded in any of a variety of video and audio compression formats. However, from After Effects CC supported file formats, we can see that you can only load XDCAM HD MXF and Panasonic P2 MXF into After Effects CC. However, Canon XF is not supported by this professional non-linear editing software.
To get a smooth and successful editing workflow of 4K MXF with After Effects CC/CS6, it would be much ideal for you to transcode and compress 4K MXF to After Effects CC/CS6 supported file formats. Here, you can get the job easily completed with a simple to use application called Pavtube Video Converter, which has full support for 4K MXF files produced by Sony XDCAM/Panasonic P2/Canon XF. With the program, you can batch convert and compress 4K MXF files After Effects CC/CS6 native compatible MPEG-2, WMV (VC-1) editing format.
Click "Settings" on the main interface to open "Profile Settings" window, in video section, from "Size(pix)" drop-down list, select "1980*1020" or "1080*720" to compress 4K video to 1080p or 720p to get smooth editing workflow with After Effects CC.
Step 1: Load 4K MXF files.
Download the free trial version of the program. Launch it on your computer. Click "File" menu and select "Add Video/Audio" or click the "Add Video" button on the top tool bar to import source 4K MXF files into the program.
Clicking the Format bar, from its drop-down list, select After Effects CC/CS6 specially optimized "Adobe Premiere/Son...">"MPEG-2(*.mpg)" as the best editing format.
Click "Settings" on the main interface to open "Profile Settings" window, in video section, from "Size(pix)" drop-down list, select "1980*1020" or "1080*720" to compress 4K to 1080p or 720p.
After all setting is completed, hit the "Convert" button at the right bottom of the main interface to begin the conversion process from 4K MXF to After Effects CC/CS6 native compatible MPEG-2 video with 1080p resolution.
When the conversion is finished, click "Open Output Folder" icon on the main interface to open the folder with generated files. Then you can easily import video to After Effects CC/CS6 for smooth editing workflow.
The Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 VariCam Camcorder is a high-end professional camera which can record AVC-Intra 100, AVC-Intra 50 and DVCPRO HD. Have recorded some clips with the Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 and wish to import the Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 MXF video into FCP X and also keep the 4 audio tracks in original MXF files. The following article will show you how to smoothly edit Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 MXF in FCP X with audio tracks preserved.
Can FCP X handle Panasonic HPX2700 MXF video?
Although both the AVC- Intra and DVCPro HD compression codec used by Panasonic HPX2700 MXF is included in FCP X supported file formats, however, decoding native AVC-Intra or DVCPro HD for playback on FCP X will require a lot of processing power. To reduce the processing demands on your computer, it would be much ideal for you to transcode the Panasonic AVC-Intra/DVCPro HD MXF to the less processor-intensive Apple Prores format.
When are you searching on the market, you may find that there are many solutions for you to encode MXF to Apple Prores, however, very few of them can helps to preserver the multiple audio tracks or channels in original MXF files. Fortunately, here comes Pavtube iMixMXF (3 Reasons to choose iMixMXF), which is specially designed to handle MXF files produced not only from Panasonic P2 camcorder, but also from Sony XDCAM, Canon XF or Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio or Avid Media Composer.
The program supports batch conversion mode, so that you can load multiple MXF files at one time for conversion. The biggest merits of this program is that it enables you to directly output Panasonic HPX2700 MXF to Multi-track Apple Prores format in various different file types including Multi-track Apple Prores 422, Multi-track Apple Prores 422 HQ, Multi-track Apple Prores 422 LT and Multi-track Apple Prores 422 Proxy, so that you can keep all the audio tracks in original MXF video. Besides that, you can flexibly adjust multi-task settings, remove those audio tracks that you don't want to output.
With this remarkable MXF Multi-track converter, you can also produce some popular Multi-track formats such as multi-track MKV/MP4/MOV, etc for conveniently switching between your favorite audio channels when viewing with HD media player apps.
Step 1: Import source MXF files to the program.
Start up the program on your computer, click the "Add video" or "Add folder" icon to import source MXF files from Panasonic HPX2700 to the program.
Step 2:Choose Muti-track Apple Prores format.
Go to "Format" drop-down bar, select "Multi-track Video" > "Multi-track Apple Prores 422 (*.mov)" as the output file format, you can also choose other Prores format according to your own needs.
Step 3: Adjust multi-track settings.
After you choose to output "Multi-track Video" from "Format" drop-down list, click "Settings" button to open "Multi-task Settings" window, click "Audio" tab, check the audio track you want to output and specify the codec you'd like to encode with.
After all setting is completed, hit the "Convert" button at the right bottom of the main interface to begin the conversion process from Panasonic HPX2700 MXF to Apple Prores with Multiple Audio Tracks.
When the conversion is finished, click "Open Output Folder" icon on the main interface to open the folder with generated files. Then feel free to import the video into FCP X for professional post editing with multiple audio tracks preserved.
The DJI Zenmuse X4S is a powerful camera featuring a 20 megapixel 1-inch sensor and a maximum ISO of 12,800. Its 84° FOV, high resolution lens makes the Zenmuse X4S as powerful during aerial imaging as it is on the ground. Combined withCineCore 2.0, the Inspire 2's powerful image processing system, it can record 4K/60 H.264 and 4K/30 H.265 videos at a 100Mbps bitrate, and oversample 5.2K video into 4K video in real-time, capturing fine image details. With such perfect 4K camera in hands, you may want to edit DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video in Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects for adding some effects. In fact, 4K movies are limited to edited in Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects.
Generally, the DJI Zenmuse X4S captures 4K video in MP4 or MOV (H.264 or H.265 codec) format, which is not native support formats by Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects. To resolve DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video and Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects issues, the quick and easy workaround is to transcode the 4K videos to Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects compatible videos and even downscale 4K to 1080p if necessary. The process is surprisingly easy and can be done with the help of Pavtube Video Converter for Mac.
Overall, this program is the best 4K video converter for handling 4K videos. With this program, you can effortlessly transcode 4K video to MPEG-2 , which will create an After Effects/ Premiere Pro/ Premiere Elements friendly file format keeping the 4K original quality. Except for transcoding DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video to MPEG-2 format for Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects, this 4K Video Converter also able to export DNxHD for Avid Media Composer, Apple ProRes for Final Cut Pro, Apple InterMediate Codec for iMovie and more NLE systems for native editing.
If you are a Windows user, and in need of edit DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video in Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects, etc. Please turn to Pavtube Video Converter.
How to transcode and import DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video to Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects?
Install and run the 4K Video Converter, and then import the source 4K videos to it. To do so, you can directly drag & drop the files onto the main interface, or you can click the "Add File" icon to locate the videos from your local disk.
If you'd like to customize advanced audio and video parameters like Video Codec, aspect ratio, bit rate, frame rate, Audio codec, sample rate, audio channels, please turn to "Settings" page. If you are using After Effects CS6/CS5/CS4 which does not fully support native 4K files, 1080p would be the best settings. You can downscale 4K to 1080p here.
Finally, simply hig the big Convert button to start converting DJI Zenmuse X4S 4K video to Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects friendly video formats.
Within several minutes, you can find the converted file on your computer by clicking the "Open" button. And then you can import the converted files to Premiere Pro/Elements/After Effects for editing smoothly.


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dungeons and dragons, fantasy, fiction, literature, Uncategorized, writing
BLACK HOLLOW 7.2 I See Runes, People
He was barely inside when the entire outside of the temple quaked. Haryk had only a moment to look around into the most magnificently stone carved room he could have ever dreamed of. All around were frescoes and statues, reliefs of battles and in the center, what looked like a towering tree made of stone.
Many of the statues lay toppled and damaged–there was dust everywhere, but it was immediately clear that this space was grand in a way beyond his ability to describe with words.
His eyes took it all in, while he held the gem out before him. Each panel depicted scenes of fierce monsters and mighty wyrms, brave warriors and leaders. Some showed monsters that Haryk had never seen before. They were impossible things. Eyes that floated with stalks on their heads at the ends of which were more eyes. Creatures that looked like they had been stitched together from many parts. Ghastly, nightmarish. It was beyond his comprehension.
On the floor, as above, three rings were carved into the stone, each smaller than the last. In the middle ring stood three stone statues. The final ring though began at the floor and rose to the ceiling as one gigantic cylinder of carved rock. Haryk saw that it had once been a grand piece of work, and was clearly crafted to form a magnificent tree. However, most of it's more delicate parts had been broken, and lay in piles and dust on the floor of the chamber.
It was hollow and inside, at the bottom through a small door one could see stairs rising up inside of it. Each statue was facing the large circular stairwell. The entire thing was intricately formed to house the stairwell. The three statues facing it were hooded, and cloaked. Stairs inside rose upwards to some unknown space.
There was an explosion followed by another that sent mortar and loose rock raining down on them. Tahg, and Andril ran through the small hallway that he had just entered and found Haryk now to the side, with his back against the wall. He waved them over just as a bolt of blue white lightning sizzled and scorched the air they had just been only a second ago. It blew into the enormous temple, nearly crossing and arcing the entire length of the space.
"I don't think we have much time," said Haryk. "If either of the dragons was a shape changer, they'd be in here already. But they'll find a way in. If they can loosen rock in the stones, they can bring the whole structure down."
"If it were one," started Tahg. But Haryk cut him off.
"If it were one, we'd take it on. But it isn't, it's two. And neither is the monstrosity that carried us all off now is it? That means, it will be on it's way I assume, once it's little imps don't fly home for supper in time."
"So what do we do?" Asked Tahg just as another jolt shook the structure around him. Lines of dust fell from the ceiling, Andril was now up and looking around, chewing on a solution himself.
"Better question. Where in the Light are we, and what in the Darkness of Ket is that?" Said Haryk. He pointed to the large stone cylinder in the middle of the three statues.
"I see runes, people," called Tahg. He pointed a shaking finger at the area above the doorway. Haryk hadn't taken much of a look at him, and only now did so. The boy turned man was hairy, with a wiry beard and wiry brown hair. There was a devilish look about him, as if he were still childlike. His nose seemed shorter than it should be too. And his robes looked ridiculously large. The druid, or as Haryk called him, Pest Control Kid, stared back at Haryk. Haryk waved him on. Tahg ventured out from the safety of the wall as much as he dared. He scrambled over fallen parts of statues and rock piles towards the center area. Closer now, staying low beneath a large column turned on it's side, he called back, "There are definitely runes!" Then he dashed over the column towards the center. Haryk blinked, for as the man jumped over the pillar, his robes fluttered up and a small bushy tail flew out, like a cat would when it balances itself.
Great, the Pest Control Guy has a tail now. "Bookworm!!!!!"
Standing before the stairwell entrance, Andril deciphered and read the runes, "It says, For the Sake of All."
"Well, that's helpful," quipped Haryk sarcastically. He put his back to the stairwell, and pointed both weapons at one of the circle entrances to the temple. A massive shadow darkened the entrance and then was gone, followed by a blast of wind. "They'll find a way in soon. We're going to be sitting targets unless we find cover. For the sake of my ass, let's move up the damn stairs people!"
"I don't think it works that way, Haryk. I smell magic, powerful magic. This isn't the type of thing you want to be messing with!"
Another shadow, came and went from an opposite opening. This was following by a pounding that sent a portion of the stone tree down just inches from where they stood. "I don't think you want to mess with that, Bookworm! Now let's move it robe people!"
Haryk tried to push his way past them. He grabbed one of the sides of the entry wall, but when he tried to walk inside the doorway, found that something invisible blocked his path. "Just give me something to shoot!!!!" Raged Haryk. He was red with fury now. He lifted his chin and shouted all around the chamber, "And something to eat you damn bastards!!!!!"This whole ordeal was testing him in ways no jungle, no hill for of enemy positions could.
He took aim at the space and squeezed both triggers. His rounds struck an invisible barrier of some kind, and rang out with a twang as they ricocheted around the large chamber.Just then, they heard a cracking noise behind them.
Together, the three statue mouths opened like some ancient door on rusty hinges. Each spoke in an eerie and monotone voice. Their eyes, blank, void of pupils, shone with a green glow. The glow radiated out in the dimly lit chamber casting even more eerie shadows around them.
The Path of Light is lit for thee.
In every toll, there is a fee.
If thou beist pure of heart,
Be sure to cleanse your evil part.
If thou be evil in your deed,
To smite the good is what you'll need.
Then, the dark green glow faded and the statues stood quiet. Haryk wondered if he hadn't imagined the whole thing. With the equivalent of throwing his hands up in the air, Haryk popped off another round of his weapons.
Haryk was done. "I'm done," sighed the fighter. He was tired, exhausted. He had carried the mage through the keep. He had heard enough horseshit about fates and heroes and fancy librarian dragons to last him a lifetime. He didn't care that all around him, there were two right now, scrambling, clawing, about to break in–to rip them all to shreds. Let them. He thought resolutely. Right here. This is where I make my final stand. The final stand of Lord Haryk. This is my freaking final foxhole. He backed up and leaned against one of the robed statues. "When there is something to shoot, just let me know boys."
Haryk closed his eyes and grinned a dirty, blood smeared grin. He could almost taste the roasted boar.
May 20, 2019 May 22, 2019 d&d, dungeons and dragons, longreads, rpg
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Payers – basically, the companies that pay for health insurance coverage for their workers – see the issue as one of quickly rising costs and assuring high quality. So their effort is to place pressure on suppliers and insurers to comprise prices, to shift part of the associated fee to the worker, and to create efficient wellness plans that incentivize staff to undertake healthier existence. Payers and insurers try to make extremely targeted use of information about suppliers, price, and health outcomes to allow analysis of health systems and docs and their practices. That data is accessible in voluminous quantities, and it will enable payers to differentiate strongly between extra and less environment friendly health techniques.


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HS wrestling
Alex Schaeublin and Rawson Iwanicki lead the way for unbeaten St. John's Prep wrestling
By AJ Traub Globe correspondent,Updated January 21, 2023, 10:44 p.m.
The senior duo of Alex Schaeublin and Rawson Iwanicki led the St. John's Prep wrestling team to match wins vs. Hope, R.I. (44-27), Agawam (48-28), West Springfield (57-11), and Putnam (75-6) in a quad on Saturday.
Schaeublin went 4-0 at 113 pounds while Iwanick went 4-0 at 160 to help the Eagles (29-0) remain unbeaten.
Framingham 59, New Bedford 24 — Blake Brandolini (3-0 at 106 pounds), Ben Lincoln (3-0 at 152), and John Noguiera (3-0 at 182) stayed undefeated to help lead the Flyers (7-4) to match wins against New Bedford as well as Needham (57-21) and Josiah Quincy (72-3).
Methuen 66, Keefe Tech 6 — Joe Bolduc (5-0 at 170) and Shane Eason (5-0 at 182) starred for the Rangers (28-0) in their match wins vs. Keefe Tech, along with Quabbin (53-4), Lexington (78-0), Woburn (66-6), Waltham (61-6), and St. John's (45-14).


Fresno! Austin has just announced that he will be performing at this year's The Big Freso Fair, and Mahomies.com Fan Club Members will have first access to concert tickets and VIP Upgrades!
VIP Upgrades: A password WILL be required to purchase a VIP Upgrade during this pre-sale. Active members can find the access code in their Account Dashboard approximately 24 hours prior to the beginning of the pre-sale.
Who all went? If you did go did you have a good time?
I so wish I could go!! Let's see what parents say???


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Don Wood stands down as Chairman of LHF2013-11-042016-08-02https://lhf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lhf-logo-web-new-2.svgLondon Housing Foundationhttps://lhf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/London-Housing-Foundation-Blog-Image.jpg200px200px
Don Wood to stand down as LHF Chairman
Don Wood CBE is standing down as the Executive Chairman of the London Housing Foundation.
Don has been the LHF Executive Chairman for five years. He has been on the board for fifteen years in all, and will now remain a non-executive member.
He said "The LHF is a fantastic organisation, and I am very proud of the work we have done over the last few years. We have awarded over £½ million in grants each year, sent a number of young managers overseas to learn from other cultures and sponsored over a decade of Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards. What pleases me most is the increasing number of good grant applications we are receiving. Our job is to fund innovation and risk takers and help small to medium sized organisations through difficult times – I think we do all that very well. I have been particularly proud of the funding that the LHF has given to projects dealing with former offenders, and to health-related projects."
Simon Dow the Group Chief Executive of The Guinness Partnership will become the new Non-Executive Chairman. Simon commented "The LHF is proud to support some terrific work by homelessness and health agencies primarily in London but now increasingly also abroad. I am very pleased to take over as Chairman from Don and look forward to working with, and learning from, our highly skilled board. Over the last five years Don has both re-shaped and developed our work giving us some great foundations for a future when our work is bound to be as important as ever."
Simon will be supported by Margaret Malcolm who has taken up the role of Interim Operations Manager.
Case Study – Paul
Its always good to win an award!
PRESS RELEASE: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust win London Homelessness Award!
11 things you didn't know about the Magpie Project but were afraid to ask…
LSBU Course – Anja's Story
Homelessness project for sex workers scoops awardNews
LHF and Centrepoint working with families to prevent youth homelessnessNews


It isn't difficult to understand why Croatia has become such a popular tourist destination. It is blessed with a great climate, a beautiful seashore and some of the most amazing architecture in the world.
Dubrovnik is a city unlike any other. Its "Old Town" is surrounded by a huge fortress which visitors can walk along. There are forts, palaces, fountains and some beautiful churches.
If you are planning a Mediterranean cruise, make sure that Dubrovnik is a port-of-call.


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ExpressVPN Rating:
View ExpressVPN Deals
Riley Marsden,
Warrant Canary
With many potential threats to your security in the internet-age, it's never been more important to have a virtual private network (VPN), masking your online activity from the prying eyes of criminals, ISPs and government officials.
If you're not experienced in this field, it may be difficult to know which VPN to choose – each service makes bold claims about the best or most secure product on the market, and they all offer different features.
With that in mind, we've taken a look at ExpressVPN, one of the most well-known VPNs around and consistently voted one of the best available, to see if it lives up to its reputation.
ExpressVPN - Full Review
While VPNs offer privacy and security, the process used to protect your details can slow down your internet speed considerably. This loss of speed varies depending on the VPN you use, with some services reducing your speed by up to 95% – making streaming high-quality video almost impossible.
As you might have guessed from the name, ExpressVPN prides itself on providing excellent internet speeds, and during testing the product certainly lived up to this billing. We started from a base speed of 95mbps without a VPN connected, and this dropped to 85mbps when we connected via ExpressVPN – meaning a loss of around 10%. This small drop in speed should allow you to stream or play online games without experiencing any issues.
Boasting over 3,000 servers in 94 countries around the world, ExpressVPN has one of the largest server bases on the market – ensuring you should always find it easy to find a quick and stable connection. The wide range of countries available also allows you to unblock geo-restricted content libraries in those areas, giving you easy access to a vast array of TV shows that may not be available in your country.
As well as using AES-256-bit encryption as standard to protect your data, ExpressVPN offers a number of excellent additional features that allow you to set up the service according to your needs.
The service offers a kill switch function that will automatically disconnect you from the internet if your connection to the VPN fails – although this feature is not available on iOS, which is a strange oversight – and also provides a split tunnelling option that allows you to choose which applications connect to the internet via the VPN, and which do not.
One feature provided by ExpressVPN that most services do not offer is the use of private DNS servers, which means the details of the websites you visit are encrypted by the VPN itself rather than your ISP, giving you a further level of protection.
One of the major plus points of a VPN is that it can allow you to stream content libraries from around the world that otherwise might be 'geo-blocked' i.e. restricted to a specific region. Popular streaming apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus all have region-specific content, which can be frustrating if you're away from home and want to catch up on your favourite shows or you like to watch foreign television.
ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs we have tested when it comes to accessing geo-blocked content. By connecting to the internet via a server in another location, we were able to access Netflix content libraries from 18 different regions, as well as other streaming services including Hulu, HBO and Kodi.
ExpressVPN might just be the best virtual private network on the market if you're a regular user of torrenting software. P2P file-sharing is subject to an ongoing legal battle as the software is often used to transfer copyrighted material, and many VPNs automatically block file-sharing programs.
This product places no restrictions on any of its servers and operates a no-logging policy that ensures your data remains safe from the attention of your ISP – ensuring you can access high-speed downloads securely.
As mentioned earlier, VPNs have a habit of limiting your download speed significantly – and this can be a problem if you play online games that require high bandwidth. An unstable or slow connection can lead to lag that came make games unplayable, but when we tested ExpressVPN the speeds were high enough that we never experienced any problems.
ExpressVPN's ability to bypass geo-restrictions also makes it an excellent choice for gamers. Many production companies stagger their release dates, putting out games earlier in some countries than other, but ExpressVPN can access games upon release date simply by connecting via a server based in the country where the game has been released.
ExpressVPN is available as a monthly plan, a six-monthly plan, or a yearly plan. The monthly plan costs $12.95 per month, the six-monthly plan costs $59.95 ($9.99 per month) and the yearly plan costs $99.95 ($8.32 per month).
These prices put ExpressVPN towards the more expensive end of the market, but the excellent service means it still represents good value for money.
ExpressVPN does not offer a free trial, but it does provide a 30-day money back guarantee – so you can enjoy a month of seeing what it has to offer, and if you're not satisfied you can get a refund quickly and easily.
ExpressVPN provides members with 24/7 customer support through various channels like live chat and email. The customer support team is very responsive and professional, and you should expect to get your query solved within a few minutes if you use live chat support.
DNS Leak Test Results
DNS (Domain Name System) leaks on VPN services can be a massive threat as you could get your identity exposed even when you're connected to a VPN server.
ExpressVPN servers actively block DNS requests to all servers except their own ones, giving you strong protection against DNS leaks.
Additionally, several independent labs have tested ExpressVPN for DNS leaks, and the results that came were pretty assuring. No DNS leaks from ExpressVPN have been reported till the moment of writing this article, so you can safely use it with peace of mind.
It's also worth noting that the company released an open-source Privacy Research Lab in 2017 that tested VPN services for DNS leaks. The tool is free to use by anyone, and it was reported that 11 common VPN services failed the test. ExpressVPN was one of the few services that showed no leaks whatsoever.
It's a no brainer that the company tested its service first before launching its Privacy Research Lab, though, so it can be considered as a marketing tactic, and it's a successful one, indeed.
A warrant canary is a declaration that some VPN companies announce for the public, stating that they haven't received any secret warrants from the government to hand in their customers' data on the web.
Unfortunately, ExpressVPN hasn't yet released a warrant canary, which could be a red flag for some people. Nevertheless, they could release it anytime soon; you never know!
Express VPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, an excellent location for a VPN service. Why, you ask? Simply because the country doesn't have any laws in its jurisdiction, where VPN companies are forced to submit their users' data. Not to mention, the country isn't part of any international intelligence-sharing agreements like the Five Eyes or Fourteen Eyes alliances.
The service currently has over 3000 servers in 160 locations and 94 countries, including Brazil, Germany, United States, Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, and Sweden. The number of servers is projected to grow even more in the next few years with more locations.
The servers use volatile memory instead of relying on hard drives, which significantly boosts the servers' security since no data can be stored permanently on volatile memory (RAM). Moreover, the tool is available on almost all popular platforms, including Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Express VPN provides several VPN protocols for its users to choose from, including OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP/IPSec SSTP. Additionally, the company released a newly-developed custom protocol called Lightway in 2020, which is claimed to be more secure and faster than other protocols. Still, these claims are yet to be proved.
ExpressVPN was founded in February 2009 by a company called ExpressVPN International Ltd.
In 2016, the tool was criticized by former Google engineer Marc Bervand for using weak 1024 RSA key encryption, claiming that the Chinese government was able to spy on the service's users. This has led the company to upgrade to 4096 RSA keys, which provided its users with a higher security level.
On the note of using ExpressVPN in China, it's worth mentioning that the Chinese government was involved in removing more than 600 VPN apps from Apple's App Store in 2017, including ExpressVPN. However, people in China can still use the service by downloading it from other resources.
In 2017, ExpressVPN was involved in investigating the assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey. The Turkish government claimed that the assassin used ExpressVPN to hide his data on Facebook and Gmail, and the government was unable to find any logs that can help in the investigation.
Keeping the motives of the person who committed this inhumane crime aside, this was indirect proof that ExpressVPN doesn't keep logs of their users' data.
Our top 3 rated VPNS
NORDVPN: 9.5/10
SURFSHARK: 9.5/10
EXPRESSVPN: 9/10
3000+ servers in 160 locations and 94 countries
Superfast server speeds
Supports split tunneling
Supports OpenVPN protocol
Can unlock all popular streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime
Strict no-logging policy
No warrant canary issued
A bit expensive compared to other VPN services
Who owns ExpressVPN?
ExpressVPN is privately owned by Express VPN International Ltd., with no external investors that may have their own agendas.
Where is ExpressVPN located?
ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands due to the region's robust privacy laws and lack of any legal requirement to retain user data.
How many devices can I connect to ExpressVPN?
This product can be used by up to five devices simultaneously on one subscription and can be installed on as many as you wish. If you require the ability to connect more than five devices at once, you will need to pay for an additional subscription.
How do I cancel my ExpressVPN subscription?
Cancelling your ExpressVPN subscription is easy – you just need to sign into your account on the company website, click on 'subscription' and then 'manage settings', then click 'turn off automatic renewal' and confirm your choice. You will receive an e-mail acknowledging your cancellation.
ExpressVPN is one of the more expensive VPNs on the market, but we think it's worth every penny. With excellent security features, high speeds, a large server base and the ability to unlock region-specific content across a huge number of countries, ExpressVPN is highly recommended whether you're a novice or an experienced user.
If there's one minor criticism, it's that ExpressVPN limits you to five devices connected simultaneously, which should be plenty for most users, but with some rival services offering unlimited simultaneous connections, this may be something to consider if you wish to connect a large number of devices to the VPN.
Other posts and articles you may be interested in.
Avast VPN vs ExpressVPN


Andre Villas-Boas will fight Italian giants Inter Milan for the signature of Patrick Herrmann, the £7.5million-rated Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder.
The Germany Under 21 star has 70 made appearances and scored 11 goals for the Bundesliga outfit and is one of Europe's top rated talents.
The Spurs boss is expected to return to the transfer market in January to make additions to his squad which slipped through his grasp in the summer.
The Portuguese missed out on a number of targets, including Porto midfielder Joao Moutinho and Shakhtar Donetsk winger Willian.
And while a return to try and sign Moutinho now looks unlikely, there are other targets which the club is hoping to land.
Tottenham made a slow start to the season, but have now won their last four in the league, including victory over Manchester United at Old trafford - and chairman Daniel Levy is ready to back his boss in a bid to finish in the top four once again.
And the club have identified Herrmann - whose age and price both fit club transfer policy - to provide an extra creative edge in midfield.