As a business owner, you can't help but smile when people tell you how much they appreciate your services. By the same token, however, it's rough to hear from people whose experience with your business was suboptimal. Negative online reviews can be especially frustrating and even hurtful.
It's important to remember that bad reviews, posted to sites like Yelp, Facebook, or Google, don't just impact your personal feelings. They can sink your online reputation and cause you to lose business. Thus, you can't just ignore bad reviews. It's important to know how to respond to them constructively.
Here are some steps that service trade business owners might follow to ensure they're properly responding to negative online feedback.
First, practice vigilance. You can't respond to negative reviews if you don't even know those negative reviews are out there. Be aware of any sites where your company gets feedback, and develop a habit of checking your reviews regularly.
Practice gratitude. When you see positive reviews, always take a moment to leave a quick thank-you.
Don't lash out. When you see a negative review — especially one that strikes you as unfair — it's only natural to get angry. However, responding from a place of rage will only make things worse. Take a few hours (or even a few days) to cool off before you do anything else. Maintaining your composure is key!
Offer customer service. Try to make things right, ensuring that everyone reading the review knows you're taking it seriously. You might offer a discount on future work, a partial refund or a redo of the project. Seize every negative review as an opportunity to show customers how much you care, and how much you want them to have a positive experience.
Know when to move on. Frankly, there are some people who just can't be pleased and who may simply want to complain. If your offers of customer service fall on deaf ears, you may need to walk away from the situation and resign yourself to a bad review. At the end of the day, you can't force anyone to take down his or her negative opinion.
Actively seek positive reviews. The best way to deal with bad reviews is to make sure they're crowded out by positive ones. Don't be passive. It's important to actually ask your customers for reviews. Leave links to your review profiles on invoices and in emails. Reach out to loyal customers directly and let them know how much a quick, positive review would mean to you.
Bad reviews happen to most businesses sooner or later. Make sure you know the best ways to deal with them positively and proactively.
Amanda E. Clark is the president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic, a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and she's currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, California and Dublin. Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business, and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects; often engages in content and social media marketing; and drafts resumes, press releases, web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net.


text:
Georgia vs Kentucky preview: Bulldogs look to close out home slate in style against Wildcats
Georgia closes out its home schedule with a match up against undefeated Kentucky.
By Kris Willis@Kris_Willis Mar 3, 2015, 7:35am EST
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Georgia looks for the biggest signature win possible Tuesday night when they face off against undefeated Kentucky at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs put up a valiant effort in a 69-58 loss at Rupp early in February. They played that game without Marcus Thornton, Kenny Paul Geno and Juwan Parker. Kentucky led by double-digits throughout but Georgia closed to within five points with just over five minutes remaining. The Wildcats righted the ship and currently sit at 29-0 and are poised to enter the SEC Tournament with an undefeated record.
It would be an understatement to try and describe just how big a win would be for the Bulldogs who are trying to position themselves with a Top 4 finish in the standings while earning a double bye in next week's conference tournament. Georgia currently sits in a three-way tie for fourth place with LSU and Ole Miss. The Tigers hold the tie breaker over the Bulldogs so Georgia must finish ahead of them in the standings.
Georgia won its third straight game on Saturday defeating Missouri 68-44 at Stegeman. Nemi Djurisic led the way with 14 points and five rebounds. Djurisic scored 17 points in the first meeting against Kentucky while freshman Yante Maten added a career-high 13 points and nine rebounds.
Kentucky downed No. 18 Arkansas 84-67 on Saturday. Andrew Harrison and freshman Trey Lyles led the way with 18 points each. Lyles missed the first match up against Georgia while Harrison scored a game-high 23 points.
For Georgia the game is nothing but an opportunity. A loss won't be damaging to their resume but a win would give them a significant boost. Its the final home game at Stegeman Coliseum this season and is sure to be played in front of a loud and enthusiastic sell out crowd. The Bulldogs need a good start and to avoid the knockout blow that Kentucky will try to deliver early. If they can show some poise and hang around within striking distance they just might be able to put some pressure on the visitors.
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
TV: ESPN
Radio: Bulldogs Radio Network

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Incorporated in South Australia
CDAA.Check
Ewens Ponds
Site Open:
5L159-161
CDAA Site Rating:
Mt. Gambier
Site Owner:
Department for Environment and Water (DEW).
Access Notes:
Bookings must be made via www.parks.sa.gov.au
NOTE: Site is Closed from 5am Sunday 1 September 2019 until Sunday 1 December 2019.
Ewens Ponds is a series of three water-filled limestone sinkholes on Eight Mile Creek 25 kilometres South of Mt. Gambier.
Each pond is a basin-shaped limestone dolineapproximately 9 metres (30 ft) deep and connected to the others by shallow watercourses called "races". The beds are covered with a fine silt layer and the floor of the third pond also contains a natural shallow cave. The ponds are located in a narrow band of native bush land, surrounded by cleared terrain. The landscape is characteristic of karst topography, shaped by the gradual dissolution of soluble limestone to form hollows and small caves, along with numerous large and relatively deep sinkholes (true cenotes).
The ponds contain extremely clear, high quality freshwater in which snorkellers and scuba divers can enjoy the wonder of swimming in a giant 'underwater garden', where the prolific plant life can easily be seen on the far side of each pond, more than 80 metres (260 ft) away in some areas. The clarity of the water also allows sufficient sunlight to penetrate that plant growth on the pond beds can reach up to 6 metres (20 ft) in height. The ponds are also occasionally affected by outbreaks of blue-green and other algae, though testing has found no evidence of health risks. In 2007 the South Australian Environmental Protection Agency suggested the algal blooms may be a result of continued concentrations of soluble nitrogen in both the ponds and the adjoining Eight Mile Creek, arising from infiltration of the groundwater by fertilisers, animal waste or wastewater.
The ponds are open to all open water certified scuba divers.
Address: P.O. Box 544, Mt. Gambier, SA 5291, Australia
Email: media@cavedivers.com.au
Form: All Contacts
CDAA © Copyright 1973-2019. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Sri Lanka Court Bars Rajapaksa From Office, Disputed PM to Appeal
December 3, 2018 04:06 PM
FILE - Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena speaks during a meeting with Foreign Correspondents Association at his residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 25, 2018.
A Sri Lankan court issued an order preventing Mahinda Rajapaksa and his disputed cabinet from holding office on Monday, heightening the island's political drama and drawing an immediate vow to appeal from the prime
minister.
The South Asian nation has been in crisis since President Maithripala Sirisena replaced Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa in October, then issued an order dissolving parliament and called for a general election.
Sirisena's decisions have prompted legal challenges and on Friday the Appeal Court began hearing a petition by 122 legislators challenging Rajapaksa's authority to hold office after he lost two no-confidence votes last month.
"The damage that will be posed by temporarily restraining a lawful cabinet of ministers from functioning would be...outweighed by the damage that would be caused by allowing a set of persons who are not entitled in law to function as the prime minister or the cabinet of ministers," judge Preethipadhman Surasena said.
The judge issued the interim order against Rajapaksa and his cabinet, and asked them to appear in court on December 12 to explain on what basis they hold office. The order will be in place until a final judgement, whose date has not been set.
Rajapaksa said in a statement his government would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The decision puts a further brake on Rajapaksa's disputed government after parliament voted last week to halt payment of ministers' salaries and travel expenses.
The impasse has pushed the island's currency to record lows, caused turmoil on its stock and bond markets and raised fears it may not be able to service debts to finance reconstruction following a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.
The court order also came as Rajapaksa was set to present an interim budget for the first few months of 2019. In the absence of a budget, officials have raised concerns over the payment of salaries and pensions in the public sector and foreign debt repayments.
Rajapaksa is seen as a hero by many among Sri Lanka's Buddhist majority for ending the war but has been accused by diplomats of rights abuses, particularly at the end of the conflict, which he denies.
The Supreme Court is set to begin hearing on Tuesday a petition on whether Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament was constitutional. It is expected to give its verdict on Friday.
Sri Lanka's Top Military Officer Detained in Deaths of 11
A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered the detention of the country's top military officer for investigation in connection with the abduction and disappearance of 11 young people, including ethnic minority Tamils, during the country's civil war that ended nine years ago. Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake ordered that Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne be held until Dec. 5, saying he could obstruct the investigation due to the key post he holds…


text:
Gány (szlovákul Gáň) község Szlovákiában, a Nagyszombati kerületben, a Galántai járásban.

Fekvése
Galántától 5 km-re északra fekszik, Barakony tartozik hozzá.

Története
Nevét a Gan szláv személynévből eredeztetik.

1113-ban villa Gan néven a zobori apátság oklevelében említik először. Már ekkor két része ismeretes. A Szent Család tiszteletére szentelt temploma már a 12. században állt. 1251-ben IV. Béla a znióváraljai apátság számára birtokokat adományoz, melyben Gan mint Kázmér fiainak birtoka szerepel. Gány a következő évben is szerepel a znióváraljai apátság oklevelében. 1277-ben a nyitrai káptalan előtt Menold fia Rúfusz Ábrahám a gányi és galántai birtokait Aba magister fia Abával a berencsi kővárra cseréli.

1317-ben Károly Róbert több más birtokkal a kihalt Vecsei család birtokait hűségéért a Pécz nembeli Ivánka fia Hrussói Lászlónak adományozta. 1324-ben rokonai osztoztak az adományozott birtoktesten, s Gány Ivánka fia Jánosé lett. A pápai tizedjegyzékben Inang néven szerepel.

Valószínűleg 1549-ben 8 portája és 4 újonnan népesült jobbágytelke Bucsányi Zsigmond, Borsy Flórián és Tamás birtoka, melyen 3 zsellér és 2 más jogállású személy is lakott. A 16. században Gányban Bessenyei Tamás, István és György, galántai Lőrinc fia Nagy György és Tharródy Tamás semptei várkapitány birtokos.

Iskolájának legkorábbi említése 1877-ből származik. A község fejlődésére serkentőleg hatott, amikor 1881-ben bekapcsolódott a Galánta–Szered közötti vasúti közlekedésbe. A vasút sok helybelinek adott munkát és a könnyebb közlekedés révén közeli városokban munkalehetőséget.

Vályi András szerint "GÁNY. Tót falu Posony Vármegyében, földes Urai Gróf Battyányi, és más Urak, a' kiknek lakó helyeikkel ékesíttetik, lakosai katolikusok, fekszik Barakonytól, és Dudvág vizétöl sem meszsze, Galantának szomszédságában, határja középszerű, vagyonnyai is olly formák, második Osztálybéli."

Fényes Elek szerint "Gány, vegyes magyar-tót falu, Pozson vmegyében, ut. p. Szeredhez egy órányira; 265 kath., 16 zsidó lak. Van egy kastélya, kertje, termékeny határja. F. u. többen.
"

A trianoni békeszerződésig Pozsony vármegye Galántai járásához tartozott. 1938-ban  az I. bécsi döntés nyomán  magyar fennhatóság alá került, de a magyar kormány Barakony, Barancs, Cseklész, Mikszáthfalva, Nandrás, Velejte és Zsitvaújfalu társaságában más falvakért 1939 márciusban Szlovákiával elcserélte.

1947-ben itt épült fel a Galántai járás első kultúrháza. 1957-ben a szomszédos Barakony faluval Brakoňská Gáň néven egyesítették. 1960 óta ismét Gáň a hivatalos neve.

Népessége
1880-ban 216 lakosából 18 magyar és 183 szlovák anyanyelvű. Barakony 140 lakosából 124 szlovák és 5 magyar anyanyelvű.

1890-ben 298 lakosából 32 magyar és 248 szlovák anyanyelvű. Barakony 185 lakosából 170 szlovák és 6 magyar anyanyelvű.

1900-ban 330 lakosából 68 magyar és 257 szlovák anyanyelvű. Barakony 167 lakosából 145 szlovák és 22 magyar anyanyelvű.

1910-ben 363 lakosából 224 magyar, 139 szlovák anyanyelvű. Barakony 144 lakosából 98 szlovák és 46 magyar anyanyelvű volt.

1921-ben 410 lakosából 70 magyar és 332 csehszlovák. Barakony 162 lakosából 148 csehszlovák és 14 magyar.

1930-ban 474 lakosából 50 magyar és 424 csehszlovák. Barakony 194 lakosából 180 csehszlovák és 5 magyar.

1970-ben 888 lakosából 50 magyar és 836 szlovák volt.

1980-ban 706 lakosából 42 magyar és 661 szlovák volt.

1991-ben 593 lakosából 38 magyar és 551 szlovák volt.

2001-ben 632 lakosából 600 szlovák és 28 magyar volt.

2011-ben 696 lakosából 624 szlovák és 53 magyar volt.

2021-ben 870 lakosából 807 szlovák, 37 magyar, 1 ruszin, 4 egyéb és 21 ismeretlen nemzetiségű.

Nevezetességei
 A Szent Család tiszteletére szentelt római katolikus temploma a 12. században épült. 1735-ben barokk stílusban építették át.
 Szent Anna kápolna.

Neves személyek
 Itt született 1940. január 15-én Vladimír Filo rozsnyói koadjutor-püspök.

Jegyzetek

Irodalom
Nevizánszky Gábor - Prohászka Péter 2020: Honfoglalás és kora Árpád-kori soros temetők és leletek katasztere - Szlovákia. Budapest, 42-43 No. 75.
Gáň 1113-1993 - Bulletin k 880. výročiu prvej písomnej zmienky o Gáni v Zoborskej listine kráľa Kolomana I. z r. 1113. Gáň.
Csapodi Csaba 1943: Az északnyugati magyar-tót nyelvhatár megváltozása és a katolikus restauráció. Regnum - Egyháztörténeti évkönyv 5, 120.
Dedek Crescens Lajos 1899: Nyitravármegye története, 487.
Pesty Frigyes 1888: Magyarország helynevei történeti, földrajzi és nyelvészeti tekintetben. Budapest, 111-112.

Külső hivatkozások
 Községinfó
 Gány Szlovákia térképén
 E-obce.sk
 Vladimír Filo életrajza

Gany
Gany

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Samsung Notebook 9 Pro (15-Inch) Review
By Joel Santo Domingo
The 15-inch Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is a powerful Windows 10 laptop with a versatile multimode display that you can draw on.
Bright touch screen.
Built-in S Pen storage.
IR Camera for Windows Hello.
14 hours of battery life.
No 4K screen option.
Bulky in tablet mode.
No Thunderbolt 3.
Smaller SSD than rivals.
Slippery keys.
The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro has a nice price compared with competitors, but a 15-inch 2-in-1 with a multimode hinge isn't as easy to grasp as smaller alternatives.
The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro ($1,299) meets most of our expectations for a high-end convertible laptop. It offers premium metal construction, a Full HD touch screen, a USB-C port (but not Thunderbolt 3), a powerful Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and excellent battery life. But the competition among 2-in-1 laptops is intense, so there are a few missing features we'd like to see, like a 4K display and a larger-capacity SSD, at least as options. Think of it as a powerful Windows 10 laptop with a versatile multimode display that you can draw on, making it a good choice for digital artists who want a larger screen and are unwilling to leave their keyboard and touchpad behind.
A Sizable Convertible
Measuring 0.67 by 13.7 by 9.4 inches (HWD) and weighing 3.79 pounds, the Notebook 9 takes up about as much space as other 15-inch laptops like the non-convertible Dell XPS 15 and the convertible HP Spectre x360 15 ($1,169.99 at HP) , though the Samsung is about a half-pound lighter than those. Its silver alloy top and bottom panels have a premium look and feel, which contrasts well with the black surface on its keyboard deck and bezel surrounding the screen.
As a 2-in-1 convertible laptop, the Notebook 9 Pro's screen can pivot 360 degrees on its dual hinges, allowing you to use the touch screen in four modes. In addition to Laptop mode, there's Stand mode (which has the screen facing you, and the keyboard facing the table), Tablet mode (in which you fold the keyboard a full 360 degrees away, with the screen facing you), and Tent mode (which has the hinge pointing upward, and the screen angled toward you). Since it weighs almost 4 pounds, the system is heavy to use in Tablet mode perched in your arm for more than a few minutes, but you can share the screen easily with the system resting on a flat work surface.
The concept of a 15-inch convertible-hybrid laptop is actually a bit hard to grasp. Most of the 2-in-1 laptops we've seen lately have 13-inch or smaller screens, making them easier to carry and use in Tablet mode. Nevertheless, 15-inch screens are the most popular screen size for traditional laptops. Above all, the larger screen gives you more physical space to work on your illustrations or edit pictures. On a laptop of this size, the multimode hinge should be considered a fringe benefit rather than the main focus.
$1,169.99 at HP
Best for Creative Professionals, Travelers
$899.99 at HP
Dell XPS 15 Touch (2017)
$999.99 at Dell
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (9365)
Microsoft Surface Book (2016, Intel Core i7)
HP Spectre x2 (2017)
VAIO Z Flip
Best for Tablet/G Suite Users, Value Seekers
Asus Chromebook Flip (C302CA-DHM4)
$949.99 at Lenovo
Dell Inspiron 13 7000 (7378)
Best for Business Users
Best for Tablet Users, Value Seekers
Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 320
Best for Creative Professionals, Business Users
Best for Value Seekers
Acer Switch 3
Dell Latitude 5285 2-in-1
$899.00 at Dell Small Business
Best for Students, Budget Buyers
Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Series 2-in-1 (3179)
Good Touch Screen, So-So Keyboard
The 15-inch screen has a Full HD (1,920-by-1,080) resolution, the minimum we'd accept for a system that costs more than $1,000. It is bright, rated at 350 nits in normal mode, and 450 nits in outdoor mode. Both the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 ($999.99 at Dell) , which is rated at 400 nits, and the Notebook 9 Pro are readable outdoors and in a sunlit room. Full HD is fine for most users, yet Samsung positions this laptop as an artist's tool. For that niche of users, we recommend a 4K (3,840-by-2,160) resolution screen so you can view 4K videos and raw photos without having to scale images or zoom in. The HP Spectre x360 13 and the HP Spectre x360 15 both have that option, but it's not offered on this model.
The Notebook 9 Pro comes with Samsung's S Pen, a boon for the digital artist. The S Pen has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and stows in a compartment in the bottom panel so it's always conveniently located. Unlike the Surface Pen on the Microsoft Surface Book ( at Amazon) or HP Active Pen on the Spectre x360, you don't need to recharge the stylus or replace its disposable batteries, since it doesn't need them. The S Pen is a bit narrower than the pencil-sized Surface Pen, which may involve a period of adjustment, but that's forgivable since that makes it easy to stow. It works well in Adobe Creative Cloud apps, and is fully compatible with the Windows Ink apps built into the operating system.
The one-piece touchpad reacts to multitouch gestures quickly and accurately. However, the flat and slippery key caps on the backlit keyboard are harder to type on than the comfy keys on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 or the two HP Spectre x360s. Also, the key travel is shallow, though not as fingertip-jarring as the keyboards on the current Apple MacBook Pros.
The Notebook 9 Pro's downward-firing speakers are located in the bottom panel, and produce clear music and sounds from videos. They're excellent for Skype calls, but are a little light on bass during music-listening and movie-viewing sessions. They play loud enough to fill a medium-sized room.
Both Old-School and Modern Ports
With all the area that the large chassis affords, it's no surprise that the Notebook 9 Pro has a good mix of current and legacy ports. There is a microSD card slot on the right side, along with two USB 3.0 ports. On the left, there is a headset jack, an HDMI port, the power port for the included AC adapter, and a USB-C port. It's notable that you can use USB-C to recharge the laptop from an external battery pack or a third-party AC adapter, but it doesn't include Thunderbolt 3 technology. Thunderbolt 3 lets you take advantage of faster throughput for speedy SSD drives and external 4K or 5K displays. It's another one of the advantages the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and the HP Spectre x360 laptops have over the Notebook 9 Pro. 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 handle wireless connections.
The Notebook 9 Pro comes with 16GB of RAM, matching the HP Spectre x360 13, but it only comes with 256GB of SSD storage, half that of the HP. The system has a few Samsung utilities pre-loaded, including those (Samsung SideSync and Simple Sharing) that help you transfer files wirelessly to and from your Samsung Galaxy phone. There is an IR camera integrated with the 720p HD webcam that works with Windows Hello so you can log into Windows 10 with a glance at the screen. Images from the webcam were clear in our testing. Samsung includes a "beauty mode" by default, which modifies the picture in real time to widen your eyes and narrow your face, but you can turn this off in a Samsung control panel. You may want to budget a half hour to go thorough the Start menu to disable this mode and see if there are other settings and apps you don't want, as the system is preloaded with a lot of extra software. A standard one-year warranty is included.
Excellent Everyday Performance
An Intel Core i7-7500U CPU and AMD Radeon 540 discrete graphics power the system to a top mark of 3,317 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test. That result shows the system is excellent at day-to-day tasks like editing office documents, web browsing, and video conferencing. It beat the HP Spectre x360 15 (3,281), the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (3,003), and the VAIO Z Flip ( at Amazon) (3,011) fairly handily at this test. Multimedia test results like Handbrake (2:34), Cinebench (301 points), and Photoshop (4:52) were closer to average for this esteemed company, but certainly fast enough to keep a graphics maven happy. 3D gaming scores were better than most of the competition with integrated graphics. We consider a score of more than 30fps (frames per second) to be playable, and the Notebook 9 Pro exceeded that in the Heaven (45fps) and Valley (48fps) tests at medium-quality settings. However, if gaming is tops on your must-have list, then the pricier Microsoft Surface Book is a better alternative, as it had a much smoother frame rate at both tests. You're better off with a specialized gaming laptop if you're a hardcore gamer, though.
See How We Test Laptops
The Surface Book also won our battery rundown test, lasting 19 hours, 16 minutes. The Notebook 9 Pro wasn't too shabby, lasting 14 hours, 3 minutes. That was ahead of the VAIO Z Flip (12:11), the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (11:46), and the HP Spectre x360 15 with its 4K screen (10:17). The Notebook 9 Pro is one of the better choices if you like to use your laptop untethered.
A Large-Screen Convertible at a Good Price
The 15-inch version of the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is an attractive option for a high-end 2-in-1 with excellent computing speed, 14-hour battery life, and eye-pleasing screen quality. The larger display gives you more room to work on your art projects, though it is heavier and larger than compact convertibles. It also has a reasonable price point, undercutting rivals like the HP Spectre x360 15 by $200. However, the 13-inch version of the HP Spectre x360 ($899.99 at HP) remains our Editors' Choice for its 4K screen, ample storage space, better connectivity (two Thunderbolt 3 ports), and comfortable keyboard, making it worth its higher price ($1,599). If you must limit your budget to $1,299, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is another recommended alternative.
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About Joel Santo Domingo
Joel Santo Domingo joined PC Magazine in 2000, after 7 years of IT work for companies large and small. His background includes managing mobile, desktop and network infrastructure on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Joel is proof that you can escape the retail grind: he wore a yellow polo shirt early in his tech career. Along the way Joel earned a BA in English Literature and an MBA in Information Technology from Rutgers University. He is responsible for overseeing PC Labs testing, as well as formulating new test methodologies for the PC Hardware team. Along with his team, Joel won the ASBPE Northeast Region Gold award of Excellence for Technical Articles in 2005. Joel cut his tech teeth on the Atari 2600, TRS-80, and the Mac Plus. He's built countless DIY systems, including a deconstructed "desktop" PC nailed to a wall and a DIY laptop. He's played with most consumer electronics technologies, but the two he'd most like to own next are a Salamander broiler and a BMW E39 M5.
Read the latest from Joel Santo Domingo
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text:
Gregor Kobel, né le  à Zurich, est un footballeur international suisse qui évolue au poste de gardien de but au Borussia Dortmund.

Biographie

En club
Le , Kobel signe un contrat de quatre ans avec le VfB Stuttgart.

Borussia Dortmund (2021-)
Lors du mercato estival de 2021, il signe en faveur du Borussia Dortmund et quitte Stuttgart seulement 1 an après son arrivée. Très vite, il devient titulaire devançant ses deux compatriote suisse, Marwin Hitz et Roman Bürki, dans les cages.

En sélection

Avec les espoirs
Avec les moins de 17 ans, il participe au championnat d'Europe des moins de 17 ans en 2014. Lors de cette compétition, il joue trois matchs, avec pour résultats deux défaites et un nul, et un total de cinq buts encaissés.

Le , il reçoit sa première sélection avec les espoirs, lors d'une rencontre amicale face à la Russie (victoire 1-2).

Avec l'équipe première
Le , il figure pour la première fois sur le banc des remplaçants de l'équipe nationale A, sans entrer en jeu, lors d'un match amical face à la Biélorussie (victoire 1-0).

En , il est sélectionné en équipe première mais, à la suite de douleurs au dos, il déclare forfait et est remplacé par le gardien de Young Boys David von Ballmoos.

Il honora sa première sélection le , lors d'une rencontre amicale contre la Grèce soldée par une victoire 2-1. Grèce

Il disputa sa première compétition internationale lors de l'Euro 2020, les suisses iront jusqu'en quarts-de-finale éliminés par l'Espagne aux tirs-au-buts.

En mars 2022, il est sélectionné en équipe de Suisse pour participer à l'un des deux matchs amicaux : Angleterre et le Kosovo. Il joue le match contre le Kosovo, qui se termine 1-1.

Le , il est sélectionné par Murat Yakın pour participer à la Coupe du monde 2022.

Statistiques

Références

Liens externes

Footballeur international suisse
Joueur du TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Joueur du FC Augsbourg
Joueur du VfB Stuttgart
Naissance en décembre 1997
Naissance à Zurich


text:
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Greek hippeis and hoplite (ἱππεῖς) and Roman eques  and centurion of classical antiquity.

In the Early Middle Ages in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins in the 12th century until its final flowering as a fashion among the high nobility in the Duchy of Burgundy in the 15th century. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry, cavalier and related terms. In that sense, the special prestige accorded to mounted warriors in Christendom finds a parallel in the furusiyya in the Islamic world. The Crusades brought various military orders of knights to the forefront of defending Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land.

In the Late Middle Ages, new methods of warfare began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but the titles remained in many countries. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I is often referred to as the "last knight" in this regard. The ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature, particularly the literary cycles known as the Matter of France, relating to the legendary companions of Charlemagne and his men-at-arms, the paladins, and the Matter of Britain, relating to the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Today, a number of orders of knighthood continue to exist in Christian Churches, as well as in several historically Christian countries and their former territories, such as the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Protestant Order of Saint John, as well as the English Order of the Garter, the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim, the Spanish Order of Santiago, and the Norwegian Order of St. Olav. There are also dynastic orders like the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of the British Empire and the Order of St. George. In modern times these are orders centered around charity and civic service, and are no longer military orders. Each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state, monarch, or prelate to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement, as in the British honours system, often for service to the Church or country. The modern female equivalent in the English language is Dame. Knighthoods and damehoods are traditionally regarded as being one of the most prestigious awards people can obtain.

Etymology
The word knight, from Old English cniht ("boy" or "servant"), is a cognate of the German word Knecht ("servant, bondsman, vassal"). This meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages (cf Old Frisian kniucht, Dutch knecht, Danish knægt, Swedish knekt, Norwegian knekt, Middle High German kneht, all meaning "boy, youth, lad"). Middle High German had the phrase guoter kneht, which also meant knight; but this meaning was in decline by about 1200.

The meaning of cniht changed over time from its original meaning of "boy" to "household retainer". Ælfric's homily of St. Swithun describes a mounted retainer as a cniht. While cnihtas might have fought alongside their lords, their role as household servants features more prominently in the Anglo-Saxon texts. In several Anglo-Saxon wills cnihtas are left either money or lands. In his will, King Æthelstan leaves his cniht, Aelfmar, eight hides of land.

A rādcniht, "riding-servant", was a servant on horseback.

A narrowing of the generic meaning "servant" to "military follower of a king or other superior" is visible by 1100. The specific military sense of a knight as a mounted warrior in the heavy cavalry emerges only in the Hundred Years' War. The verb "to knight" (to make someone a knight) appears around 1300; and, from the same time, the word "knighthood" shifted from "adolescence" to "rank or dignity of a knight".

An Equestrian (Latin, from eques "horseman", from equus "horse") was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. This class is often translated as "knight"; the medieval knight, however, was called miles in Latin (which in classical Latin meant "soldier", normally infantry).

In the later Roman Empire, the classical Latin word for horse, equus, was replaced in common parlance by the vulgar Latin caballus, sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos. From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate with the (French-derived) English cavalier: Italian cavaliere, Spanish caballero, French chevalier (whence chivalry), Portuguese cavaleiro, and Romanian cavaler.  The Germanic languages have terms cognate with the English rider: German Ritter, and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder. These words are derived from Germanic rīdan, "to ride", in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *reidh-.

Evolution of medieval knighthood

Pre-Carolingian legacies

In ancient Rome, there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (order of mounted nobles). Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, and some armies, such as those of the Ostrogoths, were mainly cavalry. However, it was the Franks who generally fielded armies composed of large masses of infantry, with an infantry elite, the comitatus, which often rode to battle on horseback rather than marching on foot. When the armies of the Frankish ruler Charles Martel defeated the Umayyad Arab invasion at the Battle of Tours in 732, the Frankish forces were still largely infantry armies, with elites riding to battle but dismounting to fight.

Carolingian age
In the Early Medieval period, any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin. The first knights appeared during the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century. As the Carolingian Age progressed, the Franks were generally on the attack, and larger numbers of warriors took to their horses to ride with the Emperor in his wide-ranging campaigns of conquest. At about this time the Franks increasingly remained on horseback to fight on the battlefield as true cavalry rather than mounted infantry, with the discovery of the stirrup, and would continue to do so for centuries afterwards. Although in some nations the knight returned to foot combat in the 14th century, the association of the knight with mounted combat with a spear, and later a lance, remained a strong one. The older Carolingian ceremony of presenting a young man with weapons influenced the emergence of knighthood ceremonies, in which a noble would be ritually given weapons and declared to be a knight, usually amid some festivities.  These mobile mounted warriors made Charlemagne's far-flung conquests possible, and to secure their service he rewarded them with grants of land called benefices. These were given to the captains directly by the Emperor to reward their efforts in the conquests, and they in turn were to grant benefices to their warrior contingents, who were a mix of free and unfree men. In the century or so following Charlemagne's death, his newly empowered warrior class grew stronger still, and Charles the Bald declared their fiefs to be hereditary, and also issued the Edict of Pîtres in 864, largely moving away from the infantry-based traditional armies and calling upon all men who could afford it to answer calls to arms on horseback to quickly repel the constant and wide-ranging Viking attacks, which is considered the beginnings of the period of knights that were to become so famous and spread throughout Europe in the following centuries. The period of chaos in the 9th and 10th centuries, between the fall of the Carolingian central authority and the rise of separate Western and Eastern Frankish kingdoms (later to become France and Germany respectively) only entrenched this newly landed warrior class. This was because governing power and defense against Viking, Magyar and Saracen attack became an essentially local affair which revolved around these new hereditary local lords and their demesnes.

Multiple Crusades & Military Orders

Clerics and the Church often opposed the practices of the Knights because of their abuses against women and civilians, and many such as St. Bernard, were convinced that the Knights served the devil and not God and needed reforming.
In the course of the 12th century knighthood became a social rank, with a distinction being made between milites gregarii (non-noble cavalrymen) and milites nobiles (true knights). As the term "knight" became increasingly confined to denoting a social rank, the military role of fully armoured cavalryman gained a separate term, "man-at-arms". Although any medieval knight going to war would automatically serve as a man-at-arms, not all men-at-arms were knights.

The first military orders of knighthood were the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights Hospitaller, both founded shortly after the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Order of Saint Lazarus (1100), Knights Templars (1118), the Order of Montesa (1128), the Order of Santiago (1170) and the Teutonic Knights (1190). At the time of their foundation, these were intended as monastic orders, whose members would act as simple soldiers protecting pilgrims.

It was only over the following century, with the successful conquest of the Holy Land and the rise of the crusader states, that these orders became powerful and prestigious.

The great European legends of warriors such as the paladins, the Matter of France and the Matter of Britain popularized the notion of chivalry among the warrior class. The ideal of chivalry as the ethos of the Christian warrior, and the transmutation of the term "knight" from the meaning "servant, soldier", and of chevalier "mounted soldier", to refer to a member of this ideal class, is significantly influenced by the Crusades, on one hand inspired by the military orders of monastic warriors, and on the other hand also cross-influenced by Islamic (Saracen) ideals of furusiyya.

Knightly culture in the Middle Ages

Training
The institution of knights was already well-established by the 10th century. While the knight was essentially a title denoting a military office, the term could also be used for positions of higher nobility such as landholders. The higher nobles grant the vassals their portions of land (fiefs) in return for their loyalty, protection, and service. The nobles also provided their knights with necessities, such as lodging, food, armour, weapons, horses, and money. The knight generally held his lands by military tenure which was measured through military service that usually lasted 40 days a year. The military service was the quid pro quo for each knight's fief. Vassals and lords could maintain any number of knights, although knights with more military experience were those most sought after. Thus, all petty nobles intending to become prosperous knights needed a great deal of military experience. A knight fighting under another's banner was called a knight bachelor while a knight fighting under his own banner was a knight banneret.

Page
A knight had to be born of nobility – typically sons of knights or lords. In some cases, commoners could also be knighted as a reward for extraordinary military service. Children of the nobility were cared for by noble foster-mothers in castles until they reached the age of seven.

These seven-year-old boys were given the title of page and turned over to the care of the castle's lords. They were placed on an early training regime of hunting with huntsmen and falconers, and academic studies with priests or chaplains. Pages then become assistants to older knights in battle, carrying and cleaning armour, taking care of the horses, and packing the baggage. They would accompany the knights on expeditions, even into foreign lands. Older pages were instructed by knights in swordsmanship, equestrianism, chivalry, warfare, and combat (but using wooden swords and spears).

Squire
When the boy turned 14, he became a squire. In a religious ceremony, the new squire swore on a sword consecrated by a bishop or priest, and attended to assigned duties in his lord's household. During this time, the squires continued training in combat and were allowed to own armour (rather than borrowing it).Squires were required to master the seven points of agilities – riding, swimming and diving, shooting different types of weapons, climbing, participation in tournaments, wrestling, fencing, long jumping, and dancing – the prerequisite skills for knighthood. All of these were even performed while wearing armour.

Upon turning 21, the squire was eligible to be knighted.

Accolade

The accolade or knighting ceremony was usually held during one of the great feasts or holidays, like Christmas or Easter, and sometimes at the wedding of a noble or royal. The knighting ceremony usually involved a ritual bath on the eve of the ceremony and a prayer vigil during the night. On the day of the ceremony, the would-be knight would swear an oath and the master of the ceremony would dub the new knight on the shoulders with a sword. Squires, and even soldiers, could also be conferred direct knighthood early if they showed valor and efficiency for their service; such acts may include deploying for an important quest or mission, or protecting a high diplomat or a royal relative in battle.

Chivalric code

Knights were expected, above all, to fight bravely and to display military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights (archers, peasants, foot-soldiers, etc.) who were often slaughtered after capture, and who were viewed during battle as mere impediments to knights' getting to other knights to fight them.

Chivalry developed as an early standard of professional ethics for knights, who were relatively affluent horse owners and were expected to provide military services in exchange for landed property. Early notions of chivalry entailed loyalty to one's liege lord and bravery in battle, similar to the values of the Heroic Age. During the Middle Ages, this grew from simple military professionalism into a social code including the values of gentility, nobility and treating others reasonably. In The Song of Roland (c. 1100), Roland is portrayed as the ideal knight, demonstrating unwavering loyalty, military prowess and social fellowship. In Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival (c. 1205), chivalry had become a blend of religious duties, love and military service. Ramon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry (1275) demonstrates that by the end of the 13th century, chivalry entailed a litany of very specific duties, including riding warhorses, jousting, attending tournaments, holding Round Tables and hunting, as well as aspiring to the more æthereal virtues of "faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, moderation and loyalty."

Knights of the late medieval era were expected by society to maintain all these skills and many more, as outlined in Baldassare Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier, though the book's protagonist, Count Ludovico, states the "first and true profession" of the ideal courtier "must be that of arms." Chivalry, derived from the French word chevalier ('cavalier'), simultaneously denoted skilled horsemanship and military service, and these remained the primary occupations of knighthood throughout the Middle Ages.

Chivalry and religion were mutually influenced during the period of the Crusades. The early Crusades helped to clarify the moral code of chivalry as it related to religion. As a result, Christian armies began to devote their efforts to sacred purposes. As time passed, clergy instituted religious vows which required knights to use their weapons chiefly for the protection of the weak and defenseless, especially women and orphans, and of churches.

Tournaments

In peacetime, knights often demonstrated their martial skills in tournaments, which usually took place on the grounds of a castle. Knights could parade their armour and banner to the whole court as the tournament commenced. Medieval tournaments were made up of martial sports called hastiludes, and were not only a major spectator sport but also played as a real combat simulation. It usually ended with many knights either injured or even killed. One contest was a free-for-all battle called a melee, where large groups of knights numbering hundreds assembled and fought one another, and the last knight standing was the winner. The most popular and romanticized contest for knights was the joust. In this competition, two knights charge each other with blunt wooden lances in an effort to break their lance on the opponent's head or body or unhorse them completely. The loser in these tournaments had to turn his armour and horse over to the victor. The last day was filled with feasting, dancing and minstrel singing.

Besides formal tournaments, they were also unformalized judicial duels done by knights and squires to end various disputes. Countries like Germany, Britain and Ireland practiced this tradition. Judicial combat was of two forms in medieval society, the feat of arms and chivalric combat. The feat of arms were done to settle hostilities between two large parties and supervised by a judge. The chivalric combat was fought when one party's honor was disrespected or challenged and the conflict could not be resolved in court. Weapons were standardized and must be of the same caliber. The duel lasted until the other party was too weak to fight back and in early cases, the defeated party were then subsequently executed. Examples of these brutal duels were the judicial combat known as the Combat of the Thirty in 1351, and the trial by combat fought by Jean de Carrouges in 1386. A far more chivalric duel which became popular in the Late Middle Ages was the pas d'armes or "passage of arms". In this hastilude, a knight or a group of knights would claim a bridge, lane or city gate, and challenge other passing knights to fight or be disgraced. If a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way.

Heraldry

One of the greatest distinguishing marks of the knightly class was the flying of coloured banners, to display power and to distinguish knights in battle and in tournaments. Knights are generally armigerous (bearing a coat of arms), and indeed they played an essential role in the development of heraldry. As heavier armour, including enlarged shields and enclosed helmets, developed in the Middle Ages, the need for marks of identification arose, and with coloured shields and surcoats, coat armoury was born. Armorial rolls were created to record the knights of various regions or those who participated in various tournaments.

Equipment

Knights used a variety of weapons, including maces, axes and swords. Elements of the knightly armour included helmet, cuirass, gauntlet and shield.

The sword was a weapon designed to be used solely in combat; it was useless in hunting and impractical as a tool. Thus, the sword was a status symbol among the knightly class. Swords were effective against lightly armoured enemies, while maces and warhammers were more effective against heavily armoured ones.

One of the primary elements of a knight's armour was the shield, which could be used to block strikes and projectiles. Oval shields were used during the Dark Ages and were made of wooden boards that were roughly half an inch thick. Towards the end of the 10th century, oval shields were lengthened to cover the left knee of the mounted warrior, called the kite shield. The heater shield was used during the 13th and the first half of the 14th century. Around 1350, square shields called bouched shields appeared, which had a notch in which to place the couched lance.

Until the mid-14th century, knights wore mail armour as their main form of defence. Mail was extremely flexible and provided good protection against sword cuts, but weak against blunt weapons such as the mace and piercing weapons such as the lance. Padded undergarment known as aketon was worn to absorb shock damage and prevent chafing caused by mail. In hotter climates metal rings became too hot, so sleeveless surcoats were worn as a protection against the sun, and also to show their heraldic arms. This sort of coat also evolved to be tabards, waffenrocks and other garments with the arms of the wearer sewn into it.

Helmets of the knight of the early periods usually were more open helms such as the nasal helmet, and later forms of the spangenhelm. The lack of more facial protection lead to the evolution of more enclosing helmets to be made in the late 12th to early 13th centuries, this eventually would evolve to make the great helm. Later forms of the bascinet, which was originally a small helm worn under the larger great helm, evolved to be worn solely, and would eventually have pivoted or hinged visors, the most popular was the hounskull, also known as the "pig-face visor".

Plate armour first appeared in the Medieval Ages in the 13th century, plates were added onto the torso and mounted to a base of leather. This form of armour is known as a coat of plates. The torso wasn't the only part of the knight to receive this plate protection evolution, as the elbows and shoulders were covered with circular pieces of metal, commonly referred to as rondels, eventually evolving into the plate arm harness consisting of the rerebrace, vambrace, and spaulder or pauldron. The legs too were covered in plates, mainly on the shin, called schynbalds which later evolved to fully enclose the leg in the form of enclosed greaves. As for the upper legs, cuisses came about in the mid 14th century. Overall, plate armour offered better protection against piercing weapons such as arrows and especially bolts than mail armour did.

Knights' horses were also armoured in later periods; caparisons were the first form of medieval horse coverage and was used much like the surcoat. Other armours, such as the facial armouring chanfron, were made for horses.

Medieval and Renaissance chivalric literature

Knights and the ideals of knighthood featured largely in medieval and Renaissance literature, and have secured a permanent place in literary romance. While chivalric romances abound, particularly notable literary portrayals of knighthood include The Song of Roland, Cantar de Mio Cid, The Twelve of England, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Tale, Baldassare Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier, and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, as well as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and other Arthurian tales (Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, the Pearl Poet's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, etc.).

Geoffrey of Monmouth's  Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), written in the 1130s, introduced the legend of King Arthur, which was to be important to the development of chivalric ideals in literature. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur), written in 1469, was important in defining the ideal of chivalry, which is essential to the modern concept of the knight, as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honour.

Instructional literature was also created. Geoffroi de Charny's "Book of Chivalry" expounded upon the importance of Christian faith in every area of a knight's life, though still laying stress on the primarily military focus of knighthood.

In the early Renaissance greater emphasis was laid upon courtliness. The ideal courtier—the chivalrous knight—of Baldassarre Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier became a model of the ideal virtues of nobility.  Castiglione's tale took the form of a discussion among the nobility of the court of the Duke of Urbino, in which the characters determine that the ideal knight should be renowned not only for his bravery and prowess in battle, but also as a skilled dancer, athlete, singer and orator, and he should also be well-read in the humanities and classical Greek and Latin literature.

Later Renaissance literature, such as Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote, rejected the code of chivalry as unrealistic idealism.  The rise of Christian humanism in Renaissance literature demonstrated a marked departure from the chivalric romance of late medieval literature, and the chivalric ideal ceased to influence literature over successive centuries until it saw some pockets of revival in post-Victorian literature.

Decline

By the mid to late 16th century, knights were quickly becoming obsolete as countries started creating their own professional armies that were faster to train, cheaper to equip, and easier to mobilize. The advancement of high-powered firearms contributed greatly to the decline in use of plate armour, as the time it took to train soldiers with guns was much less compared to that of the knight. The cost of equipment was also significantly lower, and guns had a reasonable chance to easily penetrate a knight's armour. In the 14th century the use of infantrymen armed with pikes and fighting in close formation also proved effective against heavy cavalry, such as during the Battle of Nancy, when Charles the Bold and his armoured cavalry were decimated by Swiss pikemen. As the feudal system came to an end, lords saw no further use of knights. Many landowners found the duties of knighthood too expensive and so contented themselves with the use of squires. Mercenaries also became an economic alternative to knights when conflicts arose.

Armies of the time started adopting a more realistic approach to warfare than the honor-bound code of chivalry. Soon, the remaining knights were absorbed into professional armies. Although they had a higher rank than most soldiers because of their valuable lineage, they lost their distinctive identity that previously set them apart from common soldiers. Some knightly orders survived into modern times. They adopted newer technology while still retaining their age-old chivalric traditions. Examples include the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, Knights Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights.

Radiance of knighthood into the 21st century
When chivalry had long since declined, the cavalry of the early modern era clung to the old ideals. Even the first fighter pilots of the First World War, in the 20th century, still resorted to knightly ideas in their duels in the sky, aimed at fairness and honesty. At least; such chivalry was spread in the media. This idea was then completely lost in later wars or was perverted by Nazi Germany, which awarded a "Knight's Cross" as an award. Conversely, the Austrian priest and resistance fighter Heinrich Maier is referred to as Miles Christi, a Christian knight against Nazi Germany.

While on the one hand attempts are made again and again to revive or restore old knightly orders in order to gain prestige, awards and financial advantages, on the other hand old orders continue to exist or are activated. This especially in the environment of ruling or formerly ruling noble houses. For example, the British Queen Elizabeth II regularly appointed new members to the Order of the British Empire, which also includes members such as Steven Spielberg, Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates, in the 21st century. In Central Europe, for example, the Order of St. George, whose roots go back to the so-called "last knight" Emperor Maximilian I, was reactivated by the House of Habsburg after its dissolution by Nazi Germany and the fall of the Iron Curtain. And in republican France, deserved personalities are highlighted to this day by the award of the Knight of Honor (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur - Legion of Honour). In contrast, the knights of the ecclesiastical knightly orders like the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of Saint John mainly devote themselves to social tasks and care.

The journalist Alexander von Schönburg dealt with nature and the possible necessity of chivalry. In view of the complete social disorientation of the people he diagnosed, he calls for a return to virtues such as modesty, wisdom and, above all, loyalty. For, according to him, the common creed today is roughness, ignorance and egocentrism. Vinzenz Stimpfl-Abele, Procurator of the Habsburg Order of St. George, goes back to Bernhard von Clairvaux to consider the importance of knights in the 21st century. Accordingly, knights must take an active part in the fight against misery in society, especially today. The current activities of the Knights of the Order of Malta and the Order of St. John, who since the beginning of the 20th century have increasingly provided extensive medical and charitable services during wars and peacetime, have also developed in this direction.

Types of knighthood

Hereditary knighthoods

Continental Europe
In continental Europe different systems of hereditary knighthood have existed or do exist. Ridder, Dutch for "knight", is a hereditary noble title in the Netherlands. It is the lowest title within the nobility system and ranks below that of "Baron" but above "Jonkheer" (the latter is not a title, but a Dutch honorific to show that someone belongs to the untitled nobility). The collective term for its holders in a certain locality is the Ridderschap (e.g. Ridderschap van Holland, Ridderschap van Friesland, etc.). In the Netherlands no female equivalent exists. Before 1814, the history of nobility is separate for each of the eleven provinces that make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In each of these, there were in the early Middle Ages a number of feudal lords who often were just as powerful, and sometimes more so than the rulers themselves. In old times, no other title existed but that of knight. In the Netherlands only 10 knightly families are still extant, a number which steadily decreases because in that country ennoblement or incorporation into the nobility is not possible anymore.

Likewise Ridder, Dutch for "knight", or the equivalent French Chevalier is a hereditary noble title in Belgium. It is the second lowest title within the nobility system above Écuyer or Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw and below Baron. Like in the Netherlands, no female equivalent to the title exists. Belgium still does have about 232 registered knightly families.

The German and Austrian equivalent of an hereditary knight is a Ritter. This designation is used as a title of nobility in all German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" (noble) and below "Freiherr" (baron). For its historical association with warfare and the landed gentry in the Middle Ages, it can be considered roughly equal to the titles of "Knight" or "Baronet".

In the Kingdom of Spain, the Royal House of Spain grants titles of knighthood to the successor of the throne. This knighthood title known as Order of the Golden Fleece is among the most prestigious and exclusive chivalric orders. This order can also be granted to persons not belonging to the Spanish Crown, as the former Emperor of Japan Akihito, Queen of United Kingdom Elizabeth II or the important Spanish politician of the Spanish democratic transition Adolfo Suárez, among others.

The Royal House of Portugal historically bestowed hereditary knighthoods to holders of the highest ranks in the Royal Orders. Today, the head of the Royal House of Portugal Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, bestows hereditary knighthoods for extraordinary acts of sacrifice and service to the Royal House. There are very few hereditary knights and they are entitled to wear an oval neck badge with the shield of the house of Braganza. Portuguese hereditary knighthoods confer nobility.

In France, the hereditary knighthood existed similarly throughout as a title of nobility, as well as in regions formerly under Holy Roman Empire control. One family ennobled with a title in such a manner is the house of Hauteclocque (by letters patents of 1752), even if its most recent members used a pontifical title of count. In some other regions such as Normandy, a specific type of fief was granted to the lower ranked knights () called the fief de haubert, referring to the hauberk, or chain mail shirt  worn almost daily by knights, as they would not only fight for their liege lords, but enforce and carry out their orders on a routine basis as well. Later the term came to officially designate the higher rank of the nobility in the Ancien Régime (the lower rank being Squire), as the romanticism and prestige associated with the term grew in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Italy and Poland also had the hereditary knighthood that existed within their respective systems of nobility.

Ireland
There are traces of the Continental system of hereditary knighthood in Ireland. Notably all three of the following belong to the Hiberno-Norman FitzGerald dynasty, created by the Earls of Desmond, acting as Earls Palatine, for their kinsmen.
Knight of Kerry or Green Knight (FitzGerald of Kerry) — the current holder is Sir Adrian FitzGerald, 6th Baronet of Valencia, 24th Knight of Kerry. He is also a Knight of Malta, and has served as President of the Irish Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Knight of Glin or Black Knight (FitzGerald of Limerick) — now dormant.
White Knight (see Edmund Fitzgibbon) — now dormant.

Another Irish family were the O'Shaughnessys, who were created knights in 1553 under the policy of surrender and regrant (first established by Henry VIII of England). They were attainted in 1697 for participation on the Jacobite side in the Williamite wars.

British baronetcies
Since 1611, the British Crown has awarded a hereditary title in the form of the baronetcy. Like knights, baronets are accorded the title Sir. Baronets are not peers of the Realm, and have never been entitled to sit in the House of Lords, therefore like knights they remain commoners in the view of the British legal system. However, unlike knights, the title is hereditary and the recipient does not receive an accolade. The position is therefore more comparable with hereditary knighthoods in continental European orders of nobility, such as Ritter, than with knighthoods under the British orders of chivalry. However, unlike the continental orders, the British baronetcy system was a modern invention, designed specifically to raise money for the Crown with the purchase of the title.

Chivalric orders

Military orders

Order of the Holy Sepulchre, founded very shortly after the First Crusade in 1099
Sovereign Military Order of Malta, also founded after the First Crusade in 1099
Order of Saint Lazarus established about 1100
Knights Templar, founded 1118, disbanded 1307
Teutonic Knights, established about 1190, and ruled the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia until 1525
Other orders were established in the Iberian peninsula, under the influence of the orders in the Holy Land and the Crusader movement of the Reconquista:

Order of Aviz, established in Avis in 1143
Order of Alcántara, established in Alcántara in 1156
Order of Calatrava, established in Calatrava in 1158
Order of Santiago, established in Santiago in 1164.

Honorific orders of knighthood

After the Crusades, the military orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, as reflected in the chivalric romances of the time. The creation of chivalric orders was fashionable among the nobility in the 14th and 15th centuries, and this is still reflected in contemporary honours systems, including the term order itself. Examples of notable orders of chivalry are:
 the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325/6
 the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, founded by Count Amadeus VI in 1346
 the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England around 1348
 the Order of the Dragon, founded by King Sigismund of Luxemburg in 1408
 the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430
 the Order of Saint Michael, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469
 the Order of the Thistle, founded by King James VII of Scotland (also known as James II of England) in 1687
 the Order of the Elephant, which may have been first founded by Christian I of Denmark, but was founded in its current form by King Christian V in 1693
 the Order of the Bath, founded by George I in 1725

From roughly 1560, purely honorific orders were established, as a way to confer prestige and distinction, unrelated to military service and chivalry in the more narrow sense. Such orders were particularly popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, and knighthood continues to be conferred in various countries:

 The United Kingdom (see British honours system) and some Commonwealth of Nations countries such as New Zealand;
 Some European countries, such as The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain among others .
 The Holy See (see Papal Orders of Chivalry).

There are other monarchies and also republics that also follow this practice. Modern knighthoods are typically conferred in recognition for services rendered to society, which are not necessarily martial in nature. The British musician Elton John, for example, is a Knight Bachelor, thus entitled to be called Sir Elton. The female equivalent is a Dame, for example Dame Julie Andrews.

In the United Kingdom, honorific knighthood may be conferred in two different ways:

The first is by membership of one of the pure orders of chivalry such as the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle and the dormant Order of Saint Patrick, of which all members are knighted. In addition, many British orders of merit, namely the Order of the Bath, the Order of St Michael and St George, the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of the British Empire are part of the British honours system, and the award of their highest ranks (Knight/Dame Commander and Knight/Dame Grand Cross), comes together with an honorific knighthood, making them a cross between orders of chivalry and orders of merit. By contrast, membership of other British orders of merit, such as the Distinguished Service Order, the Order of Merit and the Order of the Companions of Honour does not confer a knighthood.
The second is being granted honorific knighthood by the British sovereign without membership of an order, the recipient being called Knight Bachelor.

In the British honours system the knightly style of Sir and its female equivalent Dame are followed by the given name only when addressing the holder. Thus, Sir Elton John should be addressed as Sir Elton, not Sir John or Mr John. Similarly, actress Dame Judi Dench should be addressed as Dame Judi, not Dame Dench or Ms Dench.

Wives of knights, however, are entitled to the honorific pre-nominal "Lady" before their husband's surname. Thus Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife was formally styled Lady McCartney (rather than Lady Paul McCartney or Lady Heather McCartney). The style Dame Heather McCartney could be used for the wife of a knight; however, this style is largely archaic and is only used in the most formal of documents, or where the wife is a Dame in her own right (such as Dame Norma Major, who gained her title six years before her husband Sir John Major was knighted). The husbands of Dames have no honorific pre-nominal, so Dame Norma's husband remained John Major until he received his own knighthood. Since the reign of Edward VII a clerk in holy orders in the Church of England has not normally received the accolade on being appointed to a degree of knighthood. He receives the insignia of his honour and may place the appropriate letters after his name or title but he may not be called Sir and his wife may not be called Lady. This custom is not observed in Australia and New Zealand, where knighted Anglican clergymen routinely use the title "Sir". Ministers of other Christian Churches are entitled to receive the accolade. For example, Sir Norman Cardinal Gilroy did receive the accolade on his appointment as Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1969. A knight who is subsequently ordained does not lose his title. A famous example of this situation was The Revd Sir Derek Pattinson, who was ordained just a year after he was appointed Knight Bachelor, apparently somewhat to the consternation of officials at Buckingham Palace. A woman clerk in holy orders may be made a Dame in exactly the same way as any other woman since there are no military connotations attached to the honour. A clerk in holy orders who is a baronet is entitled to use the title Sir.

Outside the British honours system it is usually considered improper to address a knighted person as 'Sir' or 'Dame' (notable exceptions are members of the Order of the Knights of Rizal in the Republic of the Philippines.) Some countries, however, historically  have equivalent honorifics for knights, such as Cavaliere in Italy (e.g. Cavaliere Benito Mussolini), and Ritter in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (e.g. Georg Ritter von Trapp).

State knighthoods in the Netherlands are issued in three orders: the Order of William, the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and the Order of Orange Nassau. Additionally there remain a few hereditary knights in the Netherlands.

In Belgium, honorific knighthood (not hereditary) can be conferred by the king on particularly meritorious individuals such as scientists or eminent businessmen, or for instance to astronaut Frank De Winne, the second Belgian in space. This practice is similar to the conferral of the dignity of Knight Bachelor in the United Kingdom. In addition, there still are a number of hereditary knights in Belgium .

In France and Belgium, one of the ranks conferred in some orders of merit, such as the Légion d'Honneur, the Ordre National du Mérite, the Ordre des Palmes académiques and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and the Order of Leopold, Order of the Crown and Order of Leopold II in Belgium, is that of Chevalier (in French) or Ridder (in Dutch), meaning Knight.

In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth the monarchs tried to establish chivalric orders, but the hereditary lords who controlled the Union did not agree and managed to ban such assemblies. They feared the king would use orders to gain support for absolutist goals and to make formal distinctions among the peerage, which could lead to its legal breakup into two separate classes, and that the king would later play one against the other and eventually limit the legal privileges of hereditary nobility. But finally in 1705 King  managed to establish the Order of the White Eagle which remains Poland's most prestigious order of that kind. The head of state (now the President as the acting Grand Master) confers knighthoods of the order to distinguished citizens, foreign monarchs and other heads of state. The order has its chapter. There were no particular honorifics that would accompany a knight's name, as historically all (or at least by far most) of its members would be royals or hereditary lords anyway. So today, a knight is simply referred to as "Name Surname, knight of the White Eagle (Order)".

In Nigeria, holders of religious honours like the Knighthood of St. Gregory make use of the word Sir as a pre-nominal honorific in much the same way as it is used for secular purposes in Britain and the Philippines. Wives of such individuals also typically assume the title of Lady.

Women

England and the United Kingdom
Women were appointed to the Order of the Garter almost from the start. In all, 68 women were appointed between 1358 and 1488, including all consorts. Though many were women of royal blood, or wives of knights of the Garter, some women were neither. They wore the garter on the left arm, and some are shown on their tombstones with this arrangement. After 1488, no other appointments of women are known, although it is said that the Garter was conferred upon Neapolitan poet Laura Bacio Terricina, by King Edward VI. In 1638, a proposal was made to revive the use of robes for the wives of knights in ceremonies, but this did not occur. Queens consort have been made Ladies of the Garter since 1901 (Queens Alexandra in 1901, Mary in 1910 and Elizabeth in 1937). The first non-royal woman to be made Lady Companion of the Garter was The Duchess of Norfolk in 1990, the second was The Baroness Thatcher in 1995 (post-nominal: LG). On 30 November 1996, Lady Fraser was made Lady of the Thistle, the first non-royal woman (post-nominal: LT). (See Edmund Fellowes, Knights of the Garter, 1939; and Beltz: Memorials of the Order of the Garter). The first woman to be granted a knighthood in modern Britain seems to have been Nawab Sikandar Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Bhopal, who became a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) in 1861, at the foundation of the order. Her daughter received the same honor in 1872, as well as her granddaughter in 1910. The order was open to "princes and chiefs" without distinction of gender. The first European woman to have been granted an order of knighthood was Queen Mary, when she was made a Knight Grand Commander of the same order, by special statute, in celebration of the Delhi Durbar of 1911. She was also granted a damehood in 1917 as a Dame Grand Cross, when the Order of the British Empire was created (it was the first order explicitly open to women). The Royal Victorian Order was opened to women in 1936, and the Orders of the Bath and Saint Michael and Saint George in 1965 and 1971 respectively.

France

Medieval French had two words, chevaleresse and chevalière, which were used in two ways: one was for the wife of a knight, and this usage goes back to the 14th century. The other was possibly for a female knight. Here is a quote from Ménestrier, a 17th-century writer on chivalry: "It was not always necessary to be the wife of a knight in order to take this title. Sometimes, when some male fiefs were conceded by special privilege to women, they took the rank of chevaleresse, as one sees plainly in Hemricourt where women who were not wives of knights are called chevaleresses." Modern French orders of knighthood include women, for example the Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor) since the mid-19th century, but they are usually called chevaliers. The first documented case is that of Angélique Brûlon (1772–1859), who fought in the Revolutionary Wars, received a military disability pension in 1798, the rank of 2nd lieutenant in 1822, and the Legion of Honor in 1852. A recipient of the Ordre National du Mérite recently requested from the order's Chancery the permission to call herself "chevalière," and the request was granted.

Italy
As related in Orders of Knighthood, Awards and the Holy See by H. E. Cardinale (1983), the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded by two Bolognese nobles Loderingo degli Andalò and Catalano di Guido in 1233, and approved by Pope Alexander IV in 1261. It was the first religious order of knighthood to grant the rank of militissa to women. However, this order was suppressed by Pope Sixtus V in 1558.

The Low Countries
At the initiative of Catherine Baw in 1441, and 10 years later of Elizabeth, Mary, and Isabella of the house of Hornes, orders were founded which were open exclusively to women of noble birth, who received the French title of chevalière or the Latin title of equitissa. In his Glossarium (s.v. militissa), Du Cange notes that still in his day (17th century), the female canons of the canonical monastery of St. Gertrude in Nivelles (Brabant), after a probation of 3 years, are made knights (militissae) at the altar, by a (male) knight called in for that purpose, who gives them the accolade with a sword and pronounces the usual words.

Spain

To honour those women who defended Tortosa against an attack by the Moors, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, created the Order of the Hatchet (Orden de la Hacha) in 1149.

Notable knights

 Adrian von Bubenberg
 Andrew Moray
 Baldwin of Boulogne
 Balian of Ibelin
 Bertrand du Guesclin
 Bohemond I of Antioch
 El Cid
 Francis Drake
 Francisco Pizarro
 Franz von Sickingen
 Gerard Thom
 Geoffroi de Charny
 Gilles de Rais
 Godfrey of Bouillon
 Götz von Berlichingen
 Henry Percy (Hotspur)
 Heinrich von Bülow (Grotekop)
 Heinrich von Winkelried
 Hernán Cortés
 Hugues de Payens
 Jean III d'Aa of Gruuthuse
 Jean Le Maingre
 Joanot Martorell
 John Hawkwood
 Philip Riedesel zu Camberg
 Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard
 Raymond IV of Toulouse
 Roger Bigod
 Roger Mortimer
 Ruggero di Lauria
 Simon de Montfort, the Elder
 Simon V de Montfort
 Stibor of Stiboricz
 Suero de Quiñones
 Vincenzo Anastagi
 William Clito
 William Marshal
 William Wallace
 Zawisza Czarny

See also

 Accolade
 Auxilium ad filium militem faciendum et filiam maritandam
 Chivalric orders
 Christian state
 Christian nationalism
 Military order (religious society)
 Spanish military orders
 Destrier
 Heavy cavalry
 Knightly virtues
 Knights of Alleberg
 Knight-errant
 Knight banneret
 Knight bachelor
 Black knight
 Imperial Knight
 Medieval warfare
 Nobility
 Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom
 Papal Orders of Chivalry

Counterparts in other cultures

 Aswaran
 Baghatur
 Boyar
 Cataphract
 Condottieri
 Conquistador
 Eagle warrior
 Equites
 Eso Ikoyi
 Furusiyya
 Housecarl
 Hwarang
 Janissaries
 Juramentado
 Kshatriya
 Kheshig
 Legion of Honour
 Maharlika
 Medjay
 Mujahideen
 Myinsi
 Pasha
 Praetorian Guard
 Rajput
 Samurai
 Shi
 Sipahi
 Timawa
 Youxia

Notes

References

 Arnold, Benjamin. German Knighthood, 1050-1300. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.
 Bloch, Marc. Feudal Society, 2nd ed. Translated by Manyon. London: Routledge & Keagn Paul, 1965.
 Bluth, B. J. Marching with Sharpe. London: Collins, 2001.
 Boulton, D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre. The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325–1520. 2d revised ed. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2000.
 Bull, Stephen. An Historical Guide to Arms and Armour. London: Studio Editions, 1991.
 Carey, Brian Todd; Allfree, Joshua B; Cairns, John. Warfare in the Medieval World, UK: Pen & Sword Military, June 2006.
 Church, S. and Harvey, R. (Eds.) (1994) Medieval knighthood V: papers from the sixth Strawberry Hill Conference 1994. Boydell Press, Woodbridge

 Edge, David; John Miles Paddock (1988) Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight. Greenwich, CT: Bison Books Corp.
 Edwards, J. C. "What Earthly Reason? The replacement of the longbow by handguns." Medieval History Magazine, Is. 7, March 2004.
 Embleton, Gerry. Medieval Military Costume. UK: Crowood Press, 2001.
 Forey, Alan John. The Military Orders: From the Twelfth to the Early Fourteenth Centuries. Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Macmillan Education, 1992.
 Hare, Christopher. Courts & camps of the Italian renaissance. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908.
 Kaeuper, Richard and Kennedy, Elspeth The Book of Chivalry of Geoffrey De Charny : Text, Context, and Translation. 1996.
 Keen, Maurice. Chivalry. Yale University Press, 2005.
 Laing, Lloyd and Jennifer Laing. Medieval Britain: The Age of Chivalry. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
 Oakeshott, Ewart. A Knight and his Horse, 2nd ed. Chester Springs, PA: Dufour Editions, 1998.
 Robards, Brooks. The Medieval Knight at War. London: Tiger Books, 1997.
  (Republished Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970).
 Williams, Alan. "The Metallurgy of Medieval Arms and Armour", in Companion to Medieval Arms and Armour. Nicolle, David, ed. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2002.


KOSIS, 10 JUN (NAMPA) - A communal farmer at Kosis village in the Karas Region has suggested that Government should consider providing feed for livestock as farmers are losing animals due to a lack of grazing caused by the drought conditions.
Bernardus Patrick Siebert is the principal of the Jan Samuel Herero Primary School at Kosis near Bethanie, but he also farms with goats, sheep and cattle.
Siebert told Nampa at the school on Thursday that the village has been hard-hit by drought, and farmers are losing livestock because of a lack of vegetation.
?People can always make a plan to get food when there is drought, but the situation is different for animals because when there is no food, and the owners cannot afford to buy feed for them, they will die. So, I think Government must identify communal farmers here who do not have an alternative income, and assist them with livestock feed,? he suggested.
Siebert said the drought situation is especially bad for those beneficiaries who received goats from the Namibia-German Special Initiative as they have already lost a number of goats, and this could drive them back into poverty.
?People received goats for self-empowerment, but that purpose will not be served if all the animals die because of drought. Something urgent must be done to keep things under control,? the farmer added.
Siebert said he has so far lost two goats, three sheep and two cows, despite constant efforts to buy feed for his animals.
?I am now buying milk to bottle-feed the calves left behind by the cows. I do not even know if they will survive. It is really tough for everyone here, the going has gotten tough in this village,? he stated.
This news agency also learned that one farmer here lost a whole herd of 50 sheep since the beginning of the year to the drought.
Asked whether relocating the livestock to other areas is not an option, Siebert said it is not easy to relocate animals in the communal areas, especially this year, when every traditional authority is trying to conserve grazing for their own people.
?We have nowhere to go because most of the villages have not received rain. Those who received a bit of rainfall are also cautious about welcoming us because then the area will be overgrazed,? he explained.
Last month after repeated calls by farmers for fodder subsidies from Government, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said Government is not in a position to provide fodder for all animals in the country.
He, however, stated that Government had decided to make subsidies available for those who may decide to sell off their animals.
Pohamba also appealed to farmers and other individuals who still have grazing to assist others, and said water should be made available in areas where grazing is still available.
» "Plan in advance to deal with future droughts and floods": Poham » Fans disappointed by Uhuru no-show » Water experts discussing groundwater resource governance » AfricAvenir presents Namibian Premiere of 'Behind Closed Doors' » Hundreds of people pay homage to Matongo » Enjoy freedom and peace: McLeod-Katjirua » Agricultural census commences » Chief Kapika retains his throne » Winter Knights campaign in full swing » Why do we let these oddballs dictate what women wear?


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#dailynews60 : Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik Tuesday said he remained confident about his selection in India's World Cup squad despite being dropped for the ODIs against Australia, attributing his inclusion to consistent performances over the past two years.
In an otherwise predictable squad, Karthik's selection over the young Rishabh Pant became the talking point after the team was announced on Monday. Chief selector MSK Prasad said the more experienced Karthik was preferred over Pant because of his better wicket-keeping skills.
Now that the squad selection is over and done with, Karthik is a happy man and for the next one month, remains focused on captaining KKR in the IPL.
It had seemed Pant was ahead in the race considering that the 21-year-old was picked for the ODIs against Australia, the last series for India before the World Cup. Karthik, who had done a decent job in Australia and New Zealand, was a bit shocked at not being picked for that home series but remained optimistic, having done "the best that he could" over the past two years.
"There was no interaction with the selectors just before team (for Australia ODIs) was announced. But much before that they made it clear that they wanted to give me ample opportunities and also to the others who were competing for the same spot. That was communicated well in advance and we were all aware of it," said the 33-year-old, who has made the World Cup team for the first time since 2007.
"Honestly, between Australia series and now, I have not played any international cricket. It is what I have done over the past two years that has helped me get into the team.
"The Indian cricket team is in such a strong place right now that there will always be handful of cricketers who will be disappointed after missing out.
"We have so much talent, I don't how to even put it. It is a period where so many players are competing for the same spot but you know when you can only pick a squad of 15, there will always be people disappointed.
"Everybody who has been part of the Indian set up knew this was going to happen when the team will be announced. Some will be happy and some will be not. Credit to Indian cricket for having so many cricketers to choose from," he added.


Twitter user APISAK is at it again with more hardware leaks, and this time the rumors surround AMD's next generation mobile 3000U-series "Picasso" APUs which will replace Raven Ridge in 2019. The new APUs were reportedly spotted by APISAK (@TUM_APISAK on Twitter) as reported by Hexus in two HP laptops in 14" and 17" form factors and offer power efficiency and performance improvements over Raven Ridge's CPU cores along with Vega-based graphics. Searching around online and parsing the various conflicting rumors and speculation on Picasso, I think it is most likely that Picasso is 12nm and utilizes Zen+ CPU cores though it remains to be seen how true that is.
Based on previous roadmaps, AMD's APUs have trailed the desktop CPUs in process technology and architecture instead opting to refine the previous generation for mobile rather than operating at its bleeding edge so while 2019 will see Zen 2 architecture-based CPUs and GPUs built on 7nm, APUs in 2019 are likely to stick with 12nm and Zen+ tuned for a mobile power envelope with tweaks to SenseMI and technology like mobile XFR and dynamic power delivery.
In any event, Picasso APUs are rumored to include the Ryzen 3 3200U, Ryzen 3 3300U, and Ryzen 5 3500U based on Geekbench results pages as well as the low-end [Athlon?] 3000U and the high-end Ryzen 5 3700U - according to the source. The 3000U and 3700U are known in name only, but the middle-tier APUs have a bit more information available thanks to Geekbench. The Ryzen 3 3200U is a dual core (four thread) part while the Ryzen 3 3300U and Ryzen 5 3500U are quad core (eight thread) CPUs. All Picasso APUs are rumored to use Vega-based graphics. The dual core APU has the highest base clock at 2.6 Ghz while the 3300U and 3500U start at 2.1 GHz. The Ryzen 5 3700U allegedly clocks from 2.2 GHz to 3.8 GHz and likely has the highest boost clock of the bunch. The parts use the FP5 mobile socket.
Picasso APU Geekbench scores based on HP Laptop 17-ca1xxx except 3200U Compute which is from HP Laptop 14-cm1xxx. Carrizo APU scores based on HP Pavilion. The i5-8359U CPU scores are from. HP Elitebook X360 and Compute score from Dell Latitude 7490.
Looking at the Geekbench results (which you should take with a grain of salt and as just an approximation because final scores would depend on the platform, cooling, and how it ends up clocking within its power envelope) it seems that AMD may have a decent chip on its hands that improves the performance over Raven Ridge a bit and significantly over its older Excavator-based pre-Zen designs. A cursory comparison with Kaby Lake shows that AMD is not quite to par in CPU performance (particularly per core but it comes close in multi-core) but offers notably better compute / GPU performance thanks to the Vega graphics. It seems that AMD is closing the gap at least with Zen+.
I am remaining skeptical but optimistic about AMD's Picasso APUs. I am looking forward to more information on the new chips and the devices that will use them. I am hoping that my educated guess is correct with regard to Picasso being 12nm Zen+ or better as rumor is mainly that Picasso is a Raven Ridge successor that offers power and performance tweaks without going into further detail. I expect more information on Picasso (APU) and Matisse (CPU) to come out as soon as next month at CES 2019.
What are your thoughts on Picasso?


text:
Kevin Cullen
Artist draws inspiration from rich palette of dual heritage
By Kevin Cullen Globe staff,April 15, 2016, 10:57 a.m.
Richard Hearns in Ballyvaughan.Eoin Collins
BALLYVAUGHAN, Ireland — Sometimes, when the sun sets, lighting the hills in the Burren on fire, Richard Hearns puts his paintbrush down and allows himself to wonder: What if?
What if Sister Patrick didn't persevere?
What if Irish Army Commandant Frank Hearns didn't listen to Sister Patrick?
What if he never left Beirut?
Richard Hearns, at 36, is one of Ireland's premier contemporary artists. His studio, here in one of the most picturesque regions in the west of Ireland, has become a tourist destination. But as rich and as colorful as his work is, his life story rivals his vibrant art.
As an infant, he was spirited out of a civil war in Lebanon, where he was born, and adopted by an Irish couple. His father, commanding Irish peacekeepers for the United Nations, was trying to save lives en masse when a nun asked him to save just one life. A little boy.
Frank Hearns and his wife, Margaret, already had adopted two girls, Sarah, from Bethlehem, and Claire, from Lebanon. There was a nun from Donegal, Sister Patrick, working in Beirut with orphans from the civil war and when Frank Hearns, on his last peacekeeping mission, said he and his wife were thinking about adopting another girl, Sister Patrick had other ideas.
"What about a boy?" she asked.
Some months passed. Sister Patrick's place had been shelled. She saw Hearns before he returned to Ireland and reminded him about that boy. The nun later called Hearns and asked for a name for the child, because they had to baptize the boy and get him out of Beirut. The situation was perilous. Frank Hearns gave her the names of his father, Richard, and Margaret's father, Cornelius, and they picked up their 11-week-old son, Richard Cornelius Hearns, in London and brought him home to Malahide, a comfortable coastal town just north of Dublin.
He grew up like any other suburban Irish kid, playing Irish sports, cultivating an unmistakable Dublin accent.
"If I had grown up in Lebanon, I could have been easily caught up in the conflict there," he says. "If not for my parents, if not for Sister Patrick, I don't know where I'd be."
Hearns says he believes his art is inextricably linked to his dual heritage, but says he hasn't quite figured it out yet.
"We carry our heritage with us, like a passport," he says. "I'm interested in my Lebanese roots, but it's something I know very little about. I don't know how it affects my practice. My dad says I have a lot of Lebanese traits. When I read Khalil Gibran's poetry, I feel very close to Lebanon. Lebanese and Irish are similar. We live all over the world, we have been exiled. We wander. I think all my experience feeds into what I do in the studio."
Richard Hearns with his works Affluare Nox and Ares in his studio.Eoin Collins
He spent a year painting at Boals Head, in Kerry, on an isolated peninsula below the more famous Dingle Peninsula. But in 2009 a post-graduate arts program opened up in County Clare, so he moved up one county, to study and paint.
"I just absolutely fell in love with the Burren," he says. "The light in this part of the west of Ireland is unique. There's a softness to the landscape and to the people. The further north or south you go, the more rugged the people are. This is in a bay, there's protection from the hills."
Hearns is inspired by the musicality of the place. This part of Clare is a hotbed of traditional Irish music. He and his wife, Boo, whom he met in 2002 on a small Thai island near Cambodia, regularly retire to nearby pubs to hear the impromptu seisuns of local musicians.
"The house we live in, this studio, was a place where people met for dances. There's music in the walls, in the floors. I have a great feeling in the house. Locals have told me that the lady who lived here in the cottage, years ago, when children passed the wall on the way to school, she would have brown bread with jam waiting for them. There's just a lovely feeling here in this house."
His house doubles as a gallery, and an adjoining cottage is one of two studios, all of which is open to tourists. You would think a brooding artist would resent frequent intrusions by tourists, especially Americans with loud pants and louder mouths. But Hearns does not brood, and he is energized by the regular visits. Besides, he sells quite a few paintings that way. A professional cook, Boo feeds the visitors while his paintings feed something else.
"I see being a painter as being a privilege," he says. "I have to participate as an artist. Having people visit allows me to develop as an artist, and as a person, more holistically. To be visible and approachable is important."
More and more of that visibility is taking place outside of Ireland. Last year, he was in Barcelona for seven weeks, then the United States, including Boston, on a two-month tour, six weeks in Southeast Asia. More recently, he's been in Paris, where he is represented by Mark Hachem.
"Mark is Lebanese and grew up in Paris. He has galleries in Paris and Beirut, and he wants me to exhibit in Beirut, which is something I really want to do."
Since leaving as an infant, he returned to Beirut only once, as a young teenager, and he was overwhelmed by the smells, the spices. They triggered something deep in his subconsciousness.
"Dad really introduced me to travel. He was always overseas," Hearns said. "I don't think I've ever lost the wanderlust. It's a catalyst for my work. It's so Irish. Or Lebanese."
Or, more likely, both.
Richard Hearns with his painting "Ovid."Eoin Collins
Kevin Cullen can be reached at kevin.cullen@globe.com.


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