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Eve Rickert
Eve joined the Royal BC Museum in 2018 after seven years running a successful communications firm and small press based in Vancouver. As publisher, she oversees all aspects of the museum's book program, from acqusitions to production, distribution and marketing. She is excited to be modernizing the book program with ebooks and audiobooks, expanded international distribution, greater accessibility, renewal of the Royal BC Museum handbook series, and a portfolio of authors and book subjects that is more representative of our province's rich diversity of people and cultures.
Eve is an Editors Canada Certified Professional Editor and has worked in publishing since 2003, including at the journal Environmental Practice, Conservation magazine, High Country News, Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books. With her science and writing background, she has also been involved in content production and editing for numerous museums and cultural institutions, including the Beaty Biodiversity Museum; the Royal Alberta Museum; Parks Canada; the City Museum of Nome, Alaska; the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in New Westminster, BC; and Queen Elizabeth Park in Edmonton, Alberta.
Eve is continuing to build her skills through courses in project management through the BC Public Service Agency and a certificate program in restorative justice at Simon Fraser University.
Certificate in Editing, Simon Fraser University
Master of Environmental Studies, The Evergreen State College
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, The Evergreen State College


What is the difference between 'Use By' and 'Best Before' dates?
We often find that many people get confused between 'Best Before' dates, and 'Use By' dates. They are often aware that there is a difference between two but not necessarily sure what to do when encountering either or. This leads on to our 3rd question in our series of Common Food Safety Questions - What is the difference between 'Use By' and 'Best Before' dates?
A 'Use By' date tells you how long food will stay safe. These dates have to be put on highly perishable foods (like cheese, milk and butter) that spoil quickly – and they aren't just guesswork, the dates are worked out by scientific testing. Don't be tempted to eat food after the 'use by' date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine.
Food that is kept beyond a 'Use By' date should be destroyed without use. This is because once highly perishable foods pass this date, they are likely to be unfit to eat and could even be a hazard to health. Using food that is past its use by date compromises on safety. It is illegal to use food beyond its 'use by' date because it can compromise safety standards.
'Best Before' dates are put on low risk foods (like jams and pickles) and display when the quality of the food will reduce. It is not illegal to serve food past it's 'Best Before' date, however it is common practice to dispose of these foods as they will have reduced in quality.
The best way to avoid being caught out by 'Best Before' and 'Use by' dates it to use a Stock Rotation policy. This means using the First In – First Out rule, also know as FIFO. You should always use your oldest stock first. That way old stock doesn't build up and is used before it loses quality.
Food past its 'Use By' date should never be used.
It is good practice to throw away food that is past its Best Before date.
You discovered you should use your existing stock before new stock.
You learned that FIFO stands for First In – First Out.
"It is illegal to use food beyond its Use By"
"FIFO = First In First Out"


Richard Jones was born in Honor Oak, Lewisham, South East London, on 30 April 1897 and educated at Dulwich College.
When the First World War broke out he was 17 years and 4 months old. He immediately volunteered for active service and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th (Service) Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, in October 1914. Two months later he was promoted to Temporary Lieutenant. He went with the battalion to France in September 1915 and was appointed Sniping Officer.
Richard Jones's body was never recovered. He is one of the 35,000 British Commonwealth servicemen commemorated on the Arras Memorial who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, and have no known grave.
His Victoria Cross is preserved in Dulwich College, London.


Get summer started with a little aloha and alotta fun! These simplistic, stylish and just darn cute anchor swizzle sticks are the perfect way to add that special touch to your event! The attention is in the details and adding a little nautical flair to your drinks is sure to make for memorable decor!


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Vitiligo 101
Help - Discussions - Information
Best Natural Vitiligo Treatment [Options] For 2016
Vitiligo Treatment Options
Conventional Treatment:
There are few conventional modes of treatments available for vitiligo though the effects vary. Some conventional options for treatments are:
+Corticosteroid therapy- This is one of the most popular allopathic modes of treatment and takes place for the duration of three months.
However, there are also reports of relapses where the condition reoccurs in a more aggravated and complex form.
Side effects - Cortisone is a steroid that can have strong side effects such as thinning of the skin, appearance of streaks/lines, lowered immunity and hormonal imbalance.
+Topical Psoralen Plus Ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy- PUVA can be beneficial for small de-pigmented patches.
Side effects - Some of the side effects of this treatment include sunburn, nausea, and vomiting, itching, abnormal hair growth and hyperpigmentation on the target patches or the surrounding skin.
Vitiligo + A well balanced, natural approach:
Mother Nature has an answer for all our physical derangements and systems such as Homeopathy and Ayurveda are reputed to make the most of this.
The common factor between the two systems is that they help the body regain its potential to fight off diseases better.
Vitiligo Homeopathic Treatments:
Homeopathy, diseases occur when the +vital force' (energy that is the cause of life) gets disturbed.
For vitiligo, some of the most popular products of homeopathy are Zincum Metallicum, Natrum Muriaticum, Acidum Nitricum and Ephedra Vulgaris.
Vitiligo Ayurvedic Treatments:
Ayurveda, again a very old reputed school of traditional treatments, differs in its approach to vitiligo. It abides by the laws of 3 doshas: +Pitta+, +vata+, and +Kapha+.
Ayurvedic substances ensure that there is a balance of these doshas through techniques like diet, herbs and yoga.
A characteristic feature of Ayurvedic systems is that they consider the individual as a whole, rather than just the physical issues.
Diet and Treatment are fine-tuned, taking into consideration the individual's Prakruti (constitution), susceptibility, mental make-up, lifestyle and other factors. This has been refined to a very high degree in Ayurveda, with its powerful concept of +Prakruti'.
Check out and see the page: Click Here Now.
The Ayurvedic herbal local application balances the doshas and also stimulates the body to produce melanin. The herbal preparations can stimulate the body to control the de-pigmentation.
Best of both worlds:
It is advised to opt for a combination of the two systems. They could be just the thing to increase the immunity of the body and help it develop a better resistance.
Together, Homeopathy and Ayurveda can contribute to addressing the local and inherent internal factors.
Vitiligo 101 - Natural Remedies for Vitiligo
Psoralen. Psoralen is a compound commonly found in plants that help increase the skin's sensitivity to UVA.
If you have vitiligo, eating psoralen rich foods such as celery, carrots and parsnips can help increase your skin's natural reaction to sunlight. In short, it can help promote skin tanning once exposed to the sun's UVA rays.
Ayurvedic therapy. Ayurvedic is a form of medicine native to India that combines herbal and natural remedies to treat the condition.
To treat vitiligo, diet is strictly monitored to remove all the toxins in the body. The body is then purified with oils, heat therapy, and organic herbs.
Ginkgo Biloba. Ginkgo biloba has been shown to have antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties that can help induce regimentation of the skin. You can take Ginkgo Biloba in supplement form, or you can also take it as a tea.
St. John's Wort. Like psoralen, St. John's Wort also increases the skin's responsiveness to sunlight that can help repigment the affected skin.
This home remedy is not for everyone, however. St. John's Wort should not be taken by women who are pregnant or nursing.
Picrorhiza. Picrorhiza, a herb native to India, has long been used in treating vitiligo and other health conditions. It also helps promote skin regimentation.
Although these home remedies are widely used with no adverse effects being reported, it is still important to consult your doctor first as these natural herbs may interact with the medicines that you are taking.
Side effects and risks may be less frequent than in synthetic medicines, but it is still best to take it with caution.
Get The Natural Remedies For Vitiligo
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Eid –Ul-Fitr was celebrated on 14th of June in our IB PYP Wing. Eid is the festival that upholds the spirit of brotherhood and love. Our open-minded inquirers celebrated this occasion with grace and enthusiasm. Our students of Grades III, IV and V performed a beautiful dance in the spirit of Eid to spread the festive cheer . Our facilitators addressed the students about the significance of this festival and the rituals performed on this day. The assembly went a long way in helping our students understand how we have a lot to learn from the beliefs of cultures different from our own!


Q: Do fisherman need a rod license or permit at your location?
A: NO, everyone may fish freely on the coast and in brackish (salt/fresh) estuary water, although we should all respect notices of no-fishing, private property, fenced off areas, or danger signs.
Q: Should I decide to take a lesson,do I need to bring tackle and waders and so forth?
A: apart from learning about flies, choosing and setting up a balanced outfit, you will get to learn the overhead and roll-cast (initially on the green). There are opportunities to take exercises which you can reproduce and practice in your own time to improve your technique or overcome your difficulties.
Q: Does one have to be Scottish to become a fly fisherman?
Q: I have no fishing experience at all. Is this a problem?


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Category Archives: literature
The Portrait (and the devil) by Gogol
Fame can give no pleasure to him who has stolen it, not won it.
The Portrait (1835) is said to be the least Gogolian of all of Gogol's works. It follows a more traditional pattern. It's almost a classic ghost story, in the tradition of Hoffman and Poe. It's also more autobiographical than you would think.
A mysterious portrait
It's the story of a young artist, Chartkov, who buys a mysterious portrait in a shop in Saint Petersburg. Curiously, the eyes of the portrait seem to be alive, they have an evil stare. That same night the portrait comes to life and the stranger steps out of the frame. He starts counting money on the terrified Chartkov's bed. Lots of money. The next day the frame breaks accidentally and it turns out that there was a large amount of golden coins hidden in the frame.
Money and fame
In my previous post I wrote that Gogol's characters are not subject to personal development. In this story they are. When we first meet Chartkov he is a penniless artist who only cares about his art en developing his artistic skills. But as soon as Chartkov has money, everything changes: before he dressed like someone so preoccupied with his work that he pays no attention to his dress and now he dresses in fine clothes. He rents the first fancy apartment on the Nevski Prospect that he sees, and his shabby assistent Nikita is never heard of again. He buys newspaper reviews to get clients. And he turns into an artist who only paints what his clients want him to paint so that he can make easy money.
Possessed by the devil
This change, Gogol suggests, is the effect of the mysterious portrait, that seems to be inhabited by the devil himself. Gogol was very religious, for him the devil was as real as his neighbour. The devil plays a (main) part in the majority of his work. In his work he tried to make the devil less important by making fun of him. Not in this story. He lived at times in a real fear that his work might be(come) possessed by the devil, and this is what The Portrait is about. By keeping the portrait and by taking the money, Chartkov makes a pact with the devil. Chartkov's name even sounds like the word for 'devil' in Russian, 'chort'.
Although it takes Chartkov many, many years, he does eventually come to an insight. This happens when he sees a painting by a fellow artist; the work has a device quality to it. Its beauty moves Chartkov to tears. He realises that he has been driven by financial gain instead of aiming for artistic development. He tries to paint again like before, but it's already too late. Out of jealousy he starts to destroy the most beautiful paintings he can buy at auctions. Luckily for the art world he dies soon. Here is another parallel with Gogol's own life; he used to burn his own work regularly, for fear of it not being good enough, or, indeed, possessed by the devil.
The painter of the portrait and the portrayed
In the second part of the story it is revealed that the portrait depicted an evil loanshark, the personification of the devil. Every person who loaned money from him changed dramatically for the worse. The portrait was so lifelike, that the evil spirit of the loanshark transferred into the portrait. Because the loanshark dies, the painter is stuck with the portrait and soon starts to feel its' evil influence. He tries to destroy it, but a friend buys it from him instead. The painter then flees to a monastery to cleanse his soul. There he lives a reclusive life and finally manages to regain himself. He aks his son to find the painting and to destroy it. He has heard that the painting still exists and that people still get under its' evil influence. The son does find it at an auction. But when he is about to buy it, it suddenly disappears and that's the end of the story.
The devil in Saint Petersburg
In Gogol's earlier Ukrainian works the devil is a tangible figure; in Saint Petersburg he is disincarnate, and all the more scarier for it! He now operates in a much less conspicuous manner.
The Portrait is unmistakably from Gogol, and even if it's not his most Gogolian work, it's still a devilish good one!
°°°°°
By Authors Possessed: The Demonic Novel in Russia – Adam Weiner
Het Portret – Gogol (the by Gogol revised version from 1842), translated by Karel van het Reve
Text and photo collage © Elisabeth van der Meer
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/g/gogol/nikolai/g61my/contents.html
16 July 2019 elisabethm	19th century, ghost story, gogol, literature, reading, realism, stories	22 Comments
Gogol's Plays
Russian Literature is well known for its lifelike characters who usually go through some ordeal and achieve personal growth through that. The base of many a novel, but Russian literature particularly excels in it. The reader is swept along and en passant gains some experience himself. Who has read War and Peace knows that whatever happens, normal life will always take its course again, and happiness will return. Not with Gogol. In his work the end situation is the same as the beginning, the characters are not particularly sympathetic and no-one has learned anything. Yet he is considered one of the founders of the great 19th century Russian literature, together with Pushkin.
Gogol had a particular talent for characterising his protagonists, big and small. We all know the people who walk around in Gogol's fictional world: frauds, vain creatures, people with big plans that never materialise, scroungers and misers. Surely somewhere a miserable civil servant is dreaming of having a bigger car than his boss. But however recognisable they may be, that are the product of Gogol's rich fantasy. He took a character trait and built a character around it.
Gogol wrote three plays, all three are still being performed: The Government Inspector, The Gamblers and Marriage.
The Government Inspector
The Government Inspector (1836) is the best known of the three. In a small provincial town a high ranking inspector is expected. The officials in the town are terrified that their deplorable state of affairs will be discovered and they mistake a young man staying in the local inn for the inspector. As soon as he realises that he can profit from the situation, the young man plays along, not hindered by any lack of fantasy, accepting bribes from everyone. After he disappears it soon becomes clear that he was not the real inspector, and everyone tries to shift the blame for the mistaken identity to each other.
The Gamblers
In The Gamblers (1840) a card sharp becomes the victim of a cunning scam himself. He has just won a lot of money and arrives in a new town hoping to make some more. Unfortunately he meets a couple of clever conmen and he loses all his money even quicker than he had made it.
In Marriage (1832) the protagonist is planning to get married. He has hired a matchmaker to help him find a suitable bride. She finds him several candidates, but Podkolyosin is terribly indecisive. In order to speed things up his friend forces him to to visit the latest candidate with him. There they find several suitors, but the friend manages to close the deal. They are supposed to get married that same evening, the friend will arrange everything. While the bride gets dressed, Podkolyosin climbs out of the window and goes home as fast as he can.
Moral intentions
Gogol had intended to not just entertain the audience with his plays, he also wanted to confront them with what was wrong in society. The audience, however, saw only the satire and humor of the plays and even the tsar himself had a good laugh when he saw The Government Inspector. Gogol was disillusioned. But the society that he depicted was the product of his imagination. He had never visited a Russian provincial town, he wasn't a civil servant. Hardly a reliable witness exposing all kinds of wrongs.
Memorabilty
If we forget about Gogol's moral intentions, we are left with highly enjoyable pieces of literature. Gogol has a unique sense of humor and his characters are as alive today as when he created them many years ago. He has shown his descendants the importance of details when it comes to characterisation. It's the details that make the character universal, alive, and memorable. A young man passing through a provincial town is unremarkable, but a young man who has squandered away all his money and is sitting in his room in the inn with an empty stomach and an obstinate servant promises entertainment.
Text and photo © Elisabeth van der Meer, 2019
24 June 2019 elisabethm	books, classics, gogol, literature, Marriage, Plays, reading, The Gamblers, The Government Inspector	30 Comments
The Kreutzer Sonata by Tolstoy
Let's tackle this weird piece of literature. The most Dostoevskian work by Tolstoy: The Kreutzer Sonata. Why was it written, what did Tolstoy mean with it, and how much of it represents Tolstoy's own views?
A Crime Passionel
It's a murder mystery. We know from the start that Pozdnyshev has murdered his wife, but the tension is kept in the story by the question what drove him to it. Instead of the happy family life that Pozdnyshev was expecting, marriage turned out to be nothing more than alternating periods of arguments and lust. Disillusioned, Pozdnyshev becomes more and more desperate and tense. His dispair culminates when he becomes convinced that his wife is deceiving him with a violinist. Unable to cope with the stress any longer, he murders her.
Confessions of a murderer
For most of the novella we are listening to the monologue of Pozdnyshev. And what a monologue it is! He is obsessed with sex, women and doctors. Sex is portrayed by society as something healthy, women only want to look attractive in order to trap innocent men, and doctors are the promotors and facilitators of sex. STD's are proof that sex is not healthy. Even music is condemned, because it can make people want to have sex. Sex is the root of all evil. 70 pages long.
Tolstoy got the idea from a friend who told him an anecdote about a man in the train who had told him all about his unfaithful wife. He started writing the story in 1887, left it for a bit, and finished it in 1889. He re-wrote it nine times with the help of his daughter Masha, who was then 19. When it was finished, interestingly enough, his wife Sofia read it to the older children. She wanted to publish it in the latest part of Tolstoy's collected works, a project that she had started to generate income for their large family. Tolstoy had by then renounced his copyright and let Sofia and and his friend and follower Chertkov fight over publication. While she was trying to get the novella approved by the infamous censor, illegal copies produced by the Samizdat started circulating, most probably the work of Chertkov.
How was it received?
Tsar Alexander III thought it 'magnificent', but his wife was shocked. It was banned in America. Chekhov initially praised it, but after his epic journey to Sakhalin he changed his mind and said it was ridiculous. The first illegal copies were the cause for gossip about the marital situation of the Tolstoys. This infuriated Sofia, who did not want the world to think that their marriage was celibate. She managed to get an audience with the tsar in 1891 and she got permission to publish it. In 1893 she wrote her answer to The Kreutzer Sonata: Who is to Blame?.
Is it autobiographical?
No. Tolstoy would not likely choose a madman like Pozdnyshev to voice his opinion. He has also put an anonymous narrator between Pozdnyshev and the reader. Does it contain autobiographical elements? Yes, like all his work. He was definitely interested in the idea of celibacy. He had devoured a book about celibacy that was sent to him by Dr Alice Stockham, who promoted celibacy within marriages and Tolstoy wrote back to her to say that he agreed on many points. Tolstoy himself has always struggled with his libido. He was able to give up gambling, smoking, drinking, meat, money, his title; but not sex. As he wrote to Chertkov "I'm a dirty, libidineus old man". As far as we know, and we know a lot through their diaries, Sofia never had an affair.
So what did Sophia make of it?
If she had believed it to be autobiographical she would hardly have read it to her children and put so much effort into getting it published (although she mostly wanted Chertkov not to publish it). She does not mention anything about disliking the story in her diary. It is apparently only when the story causes gossip about their marriage that she gets upset. In that light we should also see Who is to Blame?. The marriage was not particularly good. They both were to blame. One of the main themes of the story is jealousy, and within the relationship Sofia was more jealous than her husband. She was jealous when Tolstoy let Masha help him with The Kreutzer Sonata, and she was extremely jealous of Tolstoy's close relationship with Chertkov.
Tolstoy lets his Pozdnyshev explore the darkest, most hidden corners of his mind. Like Dostoevsky he wants to know what drove him to his deed. What did it feel like to murder? The result is disturbing, confronting and it provocative. The conclusion is almost too simple: If Pozdnyshev and his wife had practised abstinence, the crime passionel would not have taken place.
Text en photo © Elisabeth van der Meer, 2019
Painting by Prinet from Wikipedia
Books read: see photo
Thanks to Karen from https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com for inspiring this post:-)
26 May 2019 elisabethm	books, classics, literature, murder mystery, The Kreutzer Sonata, tolstoy	25 Comments
Turgenev's Smoke
In its own time a political novel, in our time a love story.
Smoke was first published in 1867 in the Russian Messenger, the famous literary magazine in which Crime and Punishment and War and Peace were also published. The political message of the novella made it very controversial at the time. Its pro western sentiment was perceived as being anti Russian, and the satirical depiction of the Russian aristocracy in Baden Baden was not appreciated by that same aristocracy either; after publication Turgenev received considerably less dinner invitations.
It was the 'job' of the nineteenth century Russian realist writer to address social and political issues, and Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Turgenev succeeded extremely well in conveying both their message and writing a great story around it. It is thanks to that, that we can nowadays still enjoy their works, whether or not we have a background knowledge of Russian history.
When we leave the political message out of Smoke, we are left with a love story. A typical Turgenev love story with autobiographical elements. The novella takes place in Baden Baden in Germany. Baden Baden was a popular destination for the Russian aristocracy at the time. Dostoevsky too visited it several times, once with his young bride Anna. At the time he was still addicted to gambling and he gambled away everything they owned in the casinos of Baden Baden, down to the wedding rings.
Turgenev was no gambler; he tried his best his whole life to take as few risks as he possibly could. Marriage comes with risks. If it's a happy marriage, there'll be no more inspiration for writing. If it's a bad marriage, there'll be inspiration, but whether it'll be worth it remains to be seen. And actually, he writes to his friend Leontiev, he doesn't understand how a young girl can evoke passion in a man. A married woman is much more interesting, because of her experience.
Turgenev was in love with the same married woman his whole life: Pauline Viardot. Pauline was a celebrated singer, and when he saw her perform in 1843 in St Petersburg, he was sold for life. When her career took her to Baden Baden, Turgenev followed and even moved into the house next-door to the Viardots. To love and follow a married woman may sound extreme, but for Turgenev it was a safe choice. She would never leave her husband and it doesn't seem as if Turgenev would have wanted her to. He was happy with every scrap that she threw at him.
In 1854 he was temporarily back in Russia and during the summer he met his remote cousin Olga. She was eighteen and he was thirty-six. A romance blossomed and for a while it looked like he was going to get married. But when it came down to it, he didn't choose domestic happiness, but instead, as he described it in a letter to countess Lambert, a gypsy existence abroad, following Pauline wherever she goes, and that shall be his fate. Fate, he said, was invented by weak characters, so that they would not have to take responsibility for the way their lives turned out.
In Smoke the protagonist Litvinov is in Baden Baden to meet up with his fiancé Olga and travel back to Russia with her. While he is waiting for her to arrive, he unexpectedly meets his first love, Irina. Ten years ago the two of them were going to get married, but Irina broke with him when she had the opportunity to get into the highest social circles in St Petersburg through a wealthy relative. Now she is married to some important person. After a few meetings their old love blossoms up again and they have an affair.
Irina tells him she is willing to give up her luxury life for him, and when the sweet, good and wise Olga finally arrives in Baden Baden, Litvinov breaks off the engagement. Then he receives a letter from Irina: she is not going to leave her husband after all and offers Litvinov the opportunity to become her lover. Litvinov does something that Turgenev never did: he thanks for the honour and returns to Russia alone. In the epilogue Turgenev writes that Litvinov did meet Olga again some years later and that she forgave him, suggesting that they may have gotten married.
Turgenev was not unhappy in his strange relationship with Pauline, but here he appears to have been thinking "what if…" Politics may be controversial, love is universal.
Text en photos © Elisabeth van der Meer
Smoke – Turgenjev
Turgenev, His Life and Times – Schapiro
Toergenjev's Liefde – Schmeltzer
22 April 2019 elisabethm	Baden Baden, Dostoevsky, Ivan Turgenev, literature, love stories, Pauline Viardot, reading, russia, Smoke, tolstoy	30 Comments
Denisov, the good guy from War and Peace
The writer Boris Akunin once said in an interview that Tolstoy's characters are as real to him as, and sometimes even more real than, real people. I absolutely agree, and I enjoy exploring the various characters. So for those who also agree, here's yet another War and Peace blog post. About Denisov this time. A favorite of many readers, and one of those characters who one would have liked to have had a bigger part.
The opposite of Dolokhov
Denisov is the complete opposite of Dolokhov. Where Dolokhov is described as handsome, with piercing blue eyes and without moustache, Denisov is hairy, with a disheveled moustache, and eyes as black as coal. Dolokhov usually wins when playing cards (albeit cheating) and Denisov usually loses.
Their personalties couldn't be more opposed either: although Tolstoy describes a rogue who drinks heavily and curses heartily when he introduces Denisov, from the way his eyes light up when he sees Nicholay it is immediately clear that he is a good guy.
Denisov has some endearing characteristics: he can't pronounce the letter 'r'. Everyone in the army calls him 'Waska', a rather childish diminutive of Wasili. He only makes an effort with his appearance when going into battle or in the company of ladies, making it clear where his priorities lie. Although we never find out much about Denisov's background, he has an uncle with a high rank and that's all, he is clearly from the same background as Nicholay, and has for instance had dancing lessons at the same place as all of the young Rostovs. Although he is short, he looks like a fine fellow on horseback and when dancing.
Denisov's mazurka
There are four epic dance scenes in War and Peace: the old count Rostov, dancing like an 'eagle'; Natasha's Russian dance at Uncle's house; Natasha's dance with Andrey and then there is Denisov's mazurka. He dances such a dazzling mazurka with Natasha, that she nearly falls in love with him. But she is only fifteen then, and Denisov is at least ten years older, practically an old man!
Denisov is, as he puts it himself, bewitched by Natasha and adores the whole family. When he proposes to Natasha, he doesn't just propose to her, but to her whole family. Dolokhov takes revenge on Nicholay after Sonya has refused him; Denisov loves Nicholay more after Natasha's refusal. At some point we can hear him mutter with a choked voice "Ah, what a mad bweed you Wostovs are!". And when he finds Petya Rostov dead, bystanders can hear a yelp like of a dog coming from him.
A heart of gold
Denisov is driven by his care for others. He would give his life twice for any of the Rostovs and risks serious repercussions when he steals a food supply for his starving soldiers. His soldiers in turn like him, and show it by building him an extra nice 'house' during their exploits. He gets gloomy when bored and almost depressed when in hospital, but when he goes into action he is clearly in his element. His bravery does not require recognition from superiors, he would rather be respected by his equals and subordinates. The ones that are lucky enough to be loved by him, can count on his (albeit somewhat sentimental) devotion.
Beneath his rough exterior, but not very deep beneath it, Denisov has a heart of gold.
Text and photo © Elisabeth van der Meer 2019
Book: War and Peace – Tolstoy – the Louise and Aylmer Maude translation
28 March 2019 elisabethm	classics, Denisov, Dolokhov, leo tolstoy, literature, realism, russian literature, tolstoy, war and peace, worldliterature	33 Comments
Six Degrees of Separation – From A Christmas Carol to War and Peace
Inspired by fellow blogger An Argumentative Old Git, I decided to make a #6degrees blogpost too. The idea is that each month there is another book as a starting point, and this month it's A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. From there you can connect to six other books. The meme is hosted by Kate of Books are my Favourite and Best.
So we start with A Christmas Carol (1843), the classic Christmas story.
Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, showing him the past, the present and the future. Scrooge quickly understands that he needs to better his life. The Undertaker by Pushkin (1831) features an un-Dickensian undertaker with a Scrooge-like disposition. He too is visited by ghosts, a whole party of them: they are his dead clients, accusing him of ripping of their next of kin. Unlike Scrooge, Prokhorov does not seem inclined to better his life the next morning; he simply orders tea and calls his daughters. And we can almost hear him think "Bah! Humbug!".
There's a ghostly party in The Master and Margarita (1940) by Bulgakov too. In this satirical novel Satan himself himself has come to Stalinist Moscow to organise a ball on Walpurgis night. The guests are all dead and they have all committed a crime that has sent them to hell. Among the guests are famous people and notorious criminals. They arrive at the party through the fireplace. Sounds familiar, right? But we're not going there. The novel's most famous quote is "Manuscripts don't burn".
In 1852 Gogol famously burned most of the manuscripts containing the second part of Dead Souls shortly before he died in sad circumstances, suffering from depression. Dead Souls (1842) is, contrary to the title, a lively tale. A satire about an aspiring noble man traveling around Russia and the people he meets. Chichikov is accompanied by a faithful servant, Petrushka, who likes a drink and smells peculiarly, but is devoted to his master.
That brings us to another devoted servant: Zakhar. The interfering, lazy, complaining and gossiping servant of Oblomov. Oblomov has perfected the art of procrastinating and famously does not get out of bed for the first 150 pages of the novel. Oblomov was written by Goncharov in 1858, as an example of a 'superfluous man'. Oblomov simply refuses to worry about things that everybody else already worries about, and does not like it when 'things' are expected of him. His home is his safe haven.
From that save haven on Gorokhovaya Street we take stroll to Stolyarny Alley, to the humble quarters of another famous Petersburg hero: Raskolnikov. The protagonist of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1866) doesn't just dream and scheme; he acts out his plan and murders an old pawnbroker. With her money he wants to help the poor, but he becomes consumed by guilt.
Crime and Punishment was first published in episodes in the famous Russian magazine The Messenger. If you were a subscriber to that magazine, you were in for a real treat each month; just imagine, in 1866 it also ran Tolstoy's War and Peace. Of course the reader already knew how the war with Napoleon ended, but what about Natasha, was she going to be reunited with prince Andrey?! The novel is full of cliffhangers and the reason is precisely that: the monthly episodes.
Dickens was immensely popular in Russia, and both Dostoevsky and Tolstoy admired him and were influenced by him. Where would A Christmas Carol lead you?
Text and photos © Elisabeth van der Meer
Books read: all of the above and an article from The Dickens Magazine by George Gorniak about Tolstoy, sent to me by Roger W. Smith.
9 December 2018 elisabethm	A Christmas Carol, Bulgakov, Crime and Punishment, Dead Souls, Dickens, Dostoevsky, gogol, Goncharov, Oblomov, pushkin, The Belkin Tales, The Master and Margarita, tolstoy, war and peace	45 Comments
15 October 2018 elisabethm	a.k. tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, gogol, lermontov, Odoevsky, pushkin, Turgenev	61 Comments
Gogol's Horror Story 'The Viy'
In his unique style Gogol wrote down the story of The Viy. It's a horror story in the style of E.T.A. Hoffmann, but Gogol infused it with humour and irony: horses that out of habit stop at every inn; drunken Little-Russians* that kiss each other noisily when drunk; an old woman trying to seduce a student. Never a dull moment!
The King of the Gnomes
Gogol wrote several horror stories, partly inspired by old folk legends and partly springing from his own rich imagination. This is a folk legend according to Gogol, who describes Viy as a colossal being, with eyelids that hang down to the floor, he's the king of the gnomes. But since no evidence was ever found of a legend starring a certain "Viy", we have to assume that he was a figment of Gogol's imagination. His name he most likely deduced from the Ukrainian word for eyelid: poviko.
A short summary:
The protagonist Khoma spends the night in the stables of an old woman. She turns out to be a witch, leaps on his back and makes him fly through the night. Luckily Khoma remembers his prayers and spells and manages to reach the ground again. Once landed, he takes a piece of wood and beats the witch. She collapses and turns into a beautiful girl. Frightened, Khoma flees back to Kiev. There he soon forgets his scary adventure, until one day he is summoned to the village of a rich Cossack, whose daughter came home one morning more dead than alive. On her deathbed she has requested that Khoma reads the prayers for her soul three nights in a row. Khoma doesn't want to and tries to escape several times, but the Cossacks who came to get him manage to get him to the village anyway. There he sees the father and the by now deceased girl, who he recognises as the witch. Again he tries to escape, but can't. He is locked into the church with the corpse for the first night. He reads the prayers, but suddenly the dead girl gets up from her coffin and starts to wander around with outstretched arms. Khoma draws a circle around himself and the girl can't get to him. When the first rooster crows she retreats to her coffin. The second night is even scarier: the girl summons demons. They fly around the church flapping their wings and screech on the windows with their claws. The third night they even come inside the church and the girl summons Viy. Viy arrives, requests his eyelids to be lifted and sees Khoma. Khoma looks back at Viy, ignoring his inner voice. Once he does, all the demons throw themselves at him and he dies of fear.
Romanticism and Realism
Gogol crosses the boundaries between Romanticism and Realism. The Viy contains elements of both literary movements. The witch and the demons; the flight with the witch; the three nights in the church, they are romantic components that are described in a realistic manner. Gogol repeatedly alternates between the supernatural and the ordinary. This creates contrasts between day and night, ordinary people and supernatural beings, Christianity and magic, and idyllic and horror scenes.
A real Cossack isn't afraid
Khoma is a Cossack, and Cossacks aren't easily scared. When the old woman rides on his shoulders, he isn't scared, he just thinks "aha, so you're a witch!" and does what one does in such cases: say prayers and spells. To punish her for taking him for a ride, he beats her. It's only when she turns into a beautiful girl that he gets scared. But even that doesn't last long: he just needs a good meal to get over it. When he is asked to say prayers for the Cossack's daughter's soul, he doesn't even connect her story with his. But the witch has trapped him, he can't escape because suddenly his legs feel like they're made of wood, or his long coat appears to be nailed to the ground. The witch doesn't want prayers, she wants revenge.
The moral conclusion
Evil was able to conquer because the faith of the people wasn't firm enough. Khoma doesn't always follow the rules of the church, and swears a lot. He has a rather fatalistic disposition. And then there's his name, Khoma, the Ukrainian equivalent of Thomas, as in Doubting Thomas. The church of the rich Cossack has been seriously neglected and it is placed on a remote edge of the village. It's literally a god forsaken place, where evil was able to reign freely.
*In Gogol's time the Ukraine was called Little Russia, and the story is set there.
The Viy is one of the Mirgorod stories and I read the Dutch translation by Aai Prins. You can read it in English online and/or watch the fantastic 1967 Russian film version, links below.
https://youtu.be/1OhQMVvgENM
More Russian horror stories here
5 August 2018 elisabethm	Cossacks, gogol, horror story, literature, realism, romanticism, russian literature, The Viy	35 Comments
Natasha's Russian Dance at Uncle's House
In which Natasha shows that she has pure Russian blood running through her veins
At Uncle's
After the hunt the young Rostovs come along with Uncle to his authentic Russian wooden house. Uncle isn't married and from an impoverished branch of the family. He lives alone with his serfs. As soon as he gets home, he changes into a Cossack coat, blue trousers and boots. Nicholas and Natasha are so full of expectations and in such a happy mood, that they can only look at each other and burst out laughing. Now that the hunt is finished, Nicholas can act normally again with his sister. Petya has fallen asleep on the sofa. The housekeeper Anisya brings in the most delicious dishes, all prepared by herself. From her countenance Natasha and Nicholas soon conclude that she is not just Uncle's housekeeper.
The young Rostovs savour the local dishes while someone in the background is playing on the balalaika. Uncle asks Anisya to bring his guitar and it turns out that he can play very well. His Russian notes hit Nicholas and Natasha straight in the heart. Every time a song finishes, Natasha begs Uncle to play another. The music becomes livelier, and Uncle gets up and challenges Natasha: he expects her to dance Russian style. But Natasha was raised by a French governess and learned to dance at Iogel's*…
Nonetheless she dances as if she has always danced like that, conveying with every movement that Russian feeling, that is inimitable, that you have to have inside you, and that Natasha apparently breathed in together with the Russian air, in spite of her foreign upbringing. Anisya, who is watching from the door opening with the rest of the staff, is moved to tears. "Well, little countess, that's it – come on!" cries uncle with his favourite expression. After the dance there's more singing, but soon, much too soon, the carriage arrives to take the Rostovs home.
On the way home Petya is still sleeping, and Natasha and Nicholas discuss their evening at Uncle's and both agree that it was an excellent evening. Nicholas thinks that that Natasha of his is his best friend, and that he wishes that she wouldn't get married and that they could stay together forever. Natasha thinks that that Nicholas of hers is a real darling.
Domestic happiness and being authentic
This scene revolves around two main themes: domestic happiness and authenticity. Uncle shows the young Rostovs that happiness doesn't mean having a lot of money and status. Real happiness can be found in a pleasant home, comfortable clothes, simple but excellent Russian food, Russian music and dance, and even in a relationship with a simple housekeeper. All those frills that Nicholas and Natasha were raised with don't really matter.
Natasha likes being unconventional: she has been on horseback the whole day, like a man, and at Uncle's house she has shown her true Russian spirit. And although Uncle, Nicholas and Anisya all adore her like this, it remains to be seen if Andrew, her fiancé, appreciates this deeply rooted aspect of her character. Natasha enjoys her position in the Rostov family very much. She realises only too well that the happiness that she feels now won't last and that she has to enjoy it now. At the same time she dreams of her future happiness, but it's the circumstances of her engagement that make her doubt: she is separated from Andrew by the war, and his despotic father is against the marriage. It seems that Nicholas isn't a fan of Andrew either. The Rostov family is close knit and warm; the Bolkonski's (Andrew's family) are distant towards each other and live according to strict protocol.
Most readers will have understood immediately that Natasha won't fit in, but we can certainly understand her getting carried away and thinking perhaps that she can change him. During the course of the novel we follow Natasha from being a thirteen year old to being a married woman with children. There are many defining moments in her young life, but we can be sure that she'll always remember this evening with particular fondness.
This is definitely one of my favourite scenes in War and Peace. What's yours?
*Iogel was a famous dance teacher who held popular balls for the young people. Natasha is one of his favourite pupils, but she certainly didn't learn any folk dances from him.
Photos and text © Elisabeth van der Meer
Tolstoy's War and Peace as translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude
30 July 2018 elisabethm	books, classics, leo tolstoy, literature, natasha rostov, Nicholas Rostov, realism, russian literature, tolstoy, war and peace, worldliterature	31 Comments
Should Sonya have married Dolokhov?
In Tolstoy's famous novel War and Peace bad guy Dolokhov proposes to good girl Sonya. She refuses him, but one of the readers of this blog wondered if she should have married him after all. So let's try to analyse this romantic affair.
Sonya is a poor orphan cousin living with Rostovs. Tolstoy describes her as a promising kitten at the beginning of the novel. She's very pretty, loyal, sweet and has a strong sense of justice. She's her cousin Natasha's best friend and this little kitten is very much in love with her cousin Nicholas.
Dolokhov
Dolokhov is a good looking officer, notorious gambler and duelist. He has no connections or money. Most people consider him a cruel and cold hearted person. In fact the only person who thinks he has a heart of gold is his mother. Dolokhov is an enigmatic character. He seems disappointed in the world and feels a strong need to revenge himself.
Dolokhov tells Nicholas that he will sacrifice anything for the people he loves, but we don't see any proof of that; au contraire, he claims to be Nicholas' friend but not much later tries to steal his girl, and when she rejects him, he punishes Nicholas by cheating him out of 43000 (precisely 43000, because 43 is the combined age of him and Sonya) roubles in a game of cards.
Sonya really does make sacrifices: she risks her friendship with Natasha in order to prevent Natasha from eloping with Anatole. Later she writes Nicholas to forget his promise to marry her, so that he is free to marry Mary.
Does Dolokhov love Sonya?
So why does Dolokhov propose to Sonya? I'm mostly inclined to say out of jealousy. In his mind people like Pierre and Nicholas get all the good things in life because of their name, connections and money, and for the same reasons they get away with anything. Perhaps he has heard or sensed that Sonya loves Nicholas and he wants to take her from Nicholas, who, after all, already has so much good luck*.
When he is recovering from the injuries he suffered in his duel with Pierre he confides in Nicholas, telling him that he is looking for "divine purity and devotion" in women; he needs a woman who will "regenerate, purify and elevate" him. It is technically possible that he saw those qualities in Sonya, and that that's why he proposed to her.
The refusal
Either way, Sonya was right to refuse Dolokhov. His mother may have been blind to his faults, but our Sonya is a smart girl, guided by a strong sense of right and wrong. She inadvertently uses Nicholas as an excuse, probably thinking optimistically that Dolokhov will at least be happy for his friend. Her euphoric state immediately after the refusal speaks volumes; she made the right choice.
In 19th century terms Dolokhov would have been a good match for Sonya; the old countess, who disapproves anyway of a marriage between Nicholas and Sonya, clearly thinks that Sonya should have accepted him. But Sonya is to remain single and together with the old countess she's going to live with Nicholas and Mary. Like a cat, Tolstoy writes, she had attached herself not to the people but to the home.
And as for Dolokhov's need to be purified, regenerated and elevated? Well, he shouldn't rely on a woman to better his life, let alone a sweet seventeen year old girl. He shows his true colours and punishes Nicholas severely for his cousin's love: first by making him lose a fortune and then by not preventing the death of his little brother Petya. Tolstoy doesn't tell us if he ever found the wife of his dreams.
*In the beginning of War and Peace, Dolokhov, Pierre and Anatole tie a bear to a policeman and throw them in the river. For this 'prank' Dolokhov gets reduced in rank to soldier. Anatole, who is rich and well connected, remains an officer. Pierre is a civilian, but doesn't get any punishment because of his dying (and extremely wealthy) father. Nicholas, similarly, seems to have everything going for him, he's a count, wealthy, makes a dashing career in the army, everyone likes him, and he comes from a warm and loving family. He too is protected by his family name: For being Dolokhov's second in the duel, he ought to have gotten punished. Instead he gets a promotion.
Have you read War and Peace? And if so, what are your feelings about Sonya and Dolokhov? Should Sonya have married Nicholas?
© Elisabeth van der Meer / illustration from War and Peace
https://arussianaffair.wordpress.com/2016/03/15/fyodor-dolokhov-the-bad-guy-from-war-and-peace/
https://arussianaffair.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/love-in-war-and-peace-1/
18 March 2018 elisabethm	books, classics, Dolokhov, leo tolstoy, literature, realism, russian literature, tolstoy, war and peace, warandpeace	48 Comments


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From the North Clinton-Route 78/22 Area
Follow Route 31 South toward Flemington. At the Flemington Circle, take the first exit onto Route 12 West. Stay on Route 12 past 2 more circles. The Route 12 Complex is on the left, approximately 2 miles from the last circle (Follow signs for individual buildings & Departments).
From the South Trenton Area
Follow Route 31 North to the Flemington Circle. Go 3/4 of the way around the circle and get onto Route 12 West. Stay on Route 12 past 2 more circles. The Route 12 Complex is on the left, approximately 2 miles from the last circle (Follow signs for individual buildings & Departments).


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Five Christians Killed for Their Faith in India
A young woman in the Khunti district of Jharkhand has become the fifth victim in a string of Christians killed in India because of their faith.
The woman, 25-year-old Suman Munda, was found dead on July 19 in a deserted place near her home, according to Vatican News. Just one month earlier, on June 24, another Christian, 27-year-old Ramji Munda, was killed outside a village in the Khunti district.
Speaking out about Munda's murder, Bishop Binay Kandulna said, "It is a matter of serious concern because the state witnessed a Christian man killed only last month in the same district." Faithwire managing editor Dan Andros spoke with Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs, who recounted stories of the murders of some of the believers.
"Persecution is on the rise all over India," Nettleton said. "If it was one village or one state, and you could kind of say, 'Yeah, things are really hard there, but look at these other places,' but when you see people in four different states within such a span of time being killed, it really reflects the attitude and the atmosphere for Christians all over India."
"They are under pressure," he continued, "and the government — the national government — is led by Hindu nationalists, people who believe that Indian soil is Hindu soil, every person in India should be a Hindu."
As a result of that overarching philosophy, the VOM executive explained to Andros, bad actors feel they can "get away with" these fatal persecutions of Christians.
As for Bishop Kandulna, he is calling for religious tolerance across India.
"Persons of faith," he said, "are a creation of God and we have to respect all." The bishop added, "Some vested interests groups are trying to target minorities in the state to spread hatred among various faiths who are otherwise peace-loving people."
The killing of Christians in India is on the rise.
In 2019, Persecution Relief, a group dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in India, recorded 527 cases of persecution against Christians, compared to 447 cases in 2018.


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Metal fasteners, stampings and electrical items are examples of products cleaned in a rotary drum washer. System designs include one, two or more process stages, depending on the cleaning application.
The purchase of a wash system, as with any capital equipment expenditure, should be closely analyzed to make certain maximum value is gained at minimal cost. However, this does not necessarily equate to the lowest cost equipment yielding the best cleaning results. System types designed for the processing of high volume, small parts include continuous drum, batch drum, rotary basket, dunk tank and conveyor belt systems. Each system type can vary greatly in size, features, material handling complexity and process enhancements such as ultrasonic and mass solution flow.
Cleaning equipment projects for small parts can sometimes be viewed as lower budget projects. To budget funds appropriately for this type of project, it is important to first carefully evaluate the best possible cleaning system that will sufficiently meet the cleaning and drying objectives of the application. Other factors that can impact the selection of a cleaning system type are process flow and the availability of plant space. Consequently, it is of utmost importance that the cleaning and drying requirement are fully understood, and a basic understanding of the process flow and facility considerations should be defined prior to deciding what cleaning system type is best for a project.
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The following key project details need to be clearly communicated to cleaning equipment suppliers quoting a project.
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From This Issue
Why the Chinese love Trump, Paul Manafort and the corruption of U.S. politics, how we will feed the new global middle class, and why you should boycott the GOP. Plus, Mark Bowden revisits the world's most body-conscious man, Caitlin Flanagan on Modesty Blaise, the failure of American democracy, fiction by Will Mackin, and more.
Paul Manafort, American Hustler
Decades before he ran the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort's pursuit of foreign cash and shady deals laid the groundwork for the corruption of Washington.
Franklin Foer
Diego Patino
China Loves Trump
The people love a winner. The leadership loves a dupe.
Benjamin Carlson
Ulises Fariñas
Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People?
Humanity has 30 years to find out.
Matt Dorfman
America Is Not a Democracy
How the United States lost the faith of its citizens—and what it can do to win them back
Rib Night
Will Mackin
Edmon de Haro
Boycott the Republican Party
If conservatives want to save the GOP from itself, they need to vote mindlessly and mechanically against its nominees.
Jonathan Rauch and Benjamin Wittes
Christopher DeLorenzo
What Makes Something Funny?
There are a lot of theories.
Ben Healy
Nick Ballon
'Humorless Politicians Are the Most Dangerous'
Armando Iannucci, the creator of Veep, answers questions about satire in the time of Trump and his new film, The Death of Stalin.
Julia Ioffe
Esther Aarts
Your Dog Feels No Shame
The myth of canine guilt
William Brennan
Geoffroy de Crécy
How WeWork Has Perfectly Captured the Millennial Id
The company sells a somewhat uneasy combination of capitalist ambition and cooperative warmth.
Laura Bliss
Alex Wong / Getty; Zak Bickel; The Atlantic
How to Talk Like Trump
A short guide to speaking the president's dialect
Kurt Andersen
John Cuneo
The Man Who Saw Inside Himself
For years, Larry Smarr has used a supercomputer to monitor his health and peer at his organs. Recently, he used his knowledge to help direct his own surgery.
Mark Bowden
James Graham
The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery
"Anyone who pays for more than half of their stuff in self checkout is a total moron."
Rene Chun
A very short book excerpt
Nirmala Nataraj
The Culture File
WG600*
The Comic-Strip Heroine I'll Never Forget
Modesty Blaise was something like Wonder Woman meets James Bond—but she was so much more, too.
Caitlin Flanagan
Jamie Coe
How Superhero Movies Became Escapist Fun Again
The self-seriousness of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and its imitators has finally given way to films that embrace the genre's comic potential.
Christopher Orr
Tyler Comrie
The Devastating Paradox of Pakistan
How Afghanistan's neighbor cultivated American dependency while subverting American policy
Margherita Morotti
Fire Sermon Is a Profoundly Strange Meditation on Desire
Jamie Quatro's new novel offers deeply uncomfortable, but startlingly original, insights about human yearning.
Claire Dederer
Educated Is a Brutal, One-of-a-Kind Memoir
Tara Westover's coming-of-age story follows her upbringing in a survivalist family, and her decision to leave that life behind.
Ann Hulbert
The Conversation: Conservatism Without Bigotry
Readers respond to December and January/February stories and more.
Graham Roumieu
What Was the Most Influential Act of Protest in History?
A big question
Goat on a Pile of Scrap Lumber
Michael Collier
Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Atlantic's journalism, starting at less than $1 per week.
More Back Issues
Klara Auerbach / The Atlantic
The Disintegration of the American Presidency
Susan Hennessey
Benjamin Wittes
The president's job is to oversee the whole of the executive branch, but under Trump the inverse is happening.
On January 13, 2020, a political scientist named Daniel Drezner tweeted a screenshot of a Washington Post article, along with a cheeky comment: "I'll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops talking about him like a toddler." The screenshot showed a quotation about handling the president from a former senior administration official: "He'd get spun up, and if you bought some time, you could get him calmed down, and then explain to him what his decision might do."
Drezner's tweet was part of a lengthy thread. A very lengthy thread. The tweet, in fact, was the 1,163rd entry in a thread that began back in April 2017, with the same comment appended to a screenshot from The Washington Post: "Trump turns on the television almost as soon as he wakes, then checks in periodically throughout the day in the small dining room off the Oval Office, and continues late into the evening when he's back in his private residence. 'Once he goes upstairs, there's no managing him,' said one adviser." Drezner had highlighted the quotation from the adviser.
David Ryder / Getty
Two of the world's richest humans, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, were allegedly having a nice chat on WhatsApp in 2018 when the latter sent Bezos an infected file that exfiltrated data from the CEO's phone. That's according to a new report in The Guardian, which detailed the exchange according to anonymous sources.
In the shadow of the new report, there is an indication of the murky reality of the network of the uber rich. The Bezos phone data may or may not have sparked the National Enquirer's look at Bezos's romantic life. Bezos may or may not have been targeted because he is the owner of the Washington Post, which had run critical editorials by the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was later murdered.
Don Cravens / The Life Images Collection / Getty; Bettmann / Getty
Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'
"We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom."
In April 1963, King was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, after he defied a state court's injunction and led a march of black protesters without a permit, urging an Easter boycott of white-owned stores. A statement published in The Birmingham News, written by eight moderate white clergymen, criticized the march and other demonstrations.
This prompted King to write a lengthy response, begun in the margins of the newspaper. He smuggled it out with the help of his lawyer, and the nearly 7,000 words were transcribed. The eloquent call for "constructive, nonviolent tension" to force an end to unjust laws became a landmark document of the civil-rights movement. The letter was printed in part or in full by several publications, including the New York Post, Liberation magazine, The New Leader, and The Christian Century. The Atlantic published it in the August 1963 issue.
Pool / Reuters
Britain Could Be Canada
Tom McTague
Ottawa's ability to balance its interests and partners offers lessons for London.
In the scramble to find a model for its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union, Britain has considered a series of options: the Norway model, the closest of all trading relationships available absent actual membership of the bloc; the Swiss model, more complicated but with more sovereignty; and the Canada model, the loosest of all.
But perhaps this has been the entirely wrong way of looking at the challenge. For too long, Brexit has been viewed as an end in itself, not a beginning. At the root of much of the back-and-forth between Brexiteers and Remainers has been the fallacy that whichever model is chosen, that will be the end of the matter—that the politics of Britain's relationship with its continental neighbors will come to an end, the new state of affairs locked in from then on.
Jonno Rattman
The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?
The epidemics of the early 21st century revealed a world unprepared, even as the risks continue to multiply. Much worse is coming.
Image above: Workers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's biocontainment unit practicing safe procedure on a mannequin
At 6 o'clock in the morning, shortly after the sun spills over the horizon, the city of Kikwit doesn't so much wake up as ignite. Loud music blares from car radios. Shops fly open along the main street. Dust-sprayed jeeps and motorcycles zoom eastward toward the town's bustling markets or westward toward Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital city. The air starts to heat up, its molecules vibrating with absorbed energy. So, too, the city.
By late morning, I am away from the bustle, on a quiet, exposed hilltop some five miles down a pothole-ridden road. As I walk, desiccated shrubs crunch underfoot and butterflies flit past. The only shade is cast by two lines of trees, which mark the edges of a site where more than 200 people are buried, their bodies piled into three mass graves, each about 15 feet wide and 70 feet long. Nearby, a large blue sign says in memory of the victims of the ebola epidemic in may 1995. The sign is partly obscured by overgrown grass, just as the memory itself has been occluded by time. The ordeal that Kikwit suffered has been crowded out by the continual eruption of deadly diseases elsewhere in the Congo, and around the globe.
A 97-Year-Old Philosopher Ponders Life and Death: 'What Is the Point?'
Emily Buder
Herbert Fingarette once argued that there was no reason to fear death. At 97, his own mortality began to haunt him.


The design of fishing boats is dependent on the tasks they are to perform and the conditions in which they will be used. For example, boats that are operated from beaches are generally lighter and have a more rounded hull than boats used in harbours. Inshore vessels operating among rocks and skerries must be more manoeuvrable than those that are designed to withstand the force of the open sea.
The design of sailing boats continued to be developed and refined throughout the 1800s when the main types were the Scaffie, Fifie and Zulu on the east coast and the Loch Fyne Skiff in the Clyde area. However, the efficiency of these vessels was still dependent on an uncontrollable factor - the power of the wind.
The mid 19th Century saw a breakthrough when steam-powered marine engines, powered by coal from Scotland's large reserves in Fife and the Lothians, were developed. From the 1880s, steam-powered trawlers were adopted in Aberdeen where their steady pulling power was a great advantage. The introduction of steel hulled vessels led to even larger boats; many (the so-called standard drifters) built by the Admiralty to replace those lost during the First World War. However, the increased reliability of steam-power (which could get a boat back to port even against the wind) had to be balanced against the space taken up in the hold by coal and the extra purchase and running expenses of the boats.
Even as steam power was taking a hold on the Scottish fleet, experiments with diesel and petrol powered engines paved the way for motorised fishing vessels (MFVs). The fuel was cleaner and less bulky so leaving more space below deck for the catch. It was also easier to convert existing sailing hulls to motor than to steam and many fishermen did just that. The number of steam vessels rapidly declined and new designs of boat were developed to take advantage of ever more powerful engines for propulsion and gear handling.
Motor power came to be applied to almost every aspect of fishing until modern vessels with their hydraulic winches, refrigeration units and powerful engines are unrecognisable in comparison with their counterparts of 100 years ago.


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Veros Data Indicates the Real Estate Market Has Hit Bottom, is in Full Recovery Mode
VeroFORECAST quarterly update indicates top 100 markets nationally will see 1.2% average appreciation over next 12 months; first time since 2006 the top market is forecast to appreciate over 10% annually
SANTA ANA, Calif. – Jan. 2, 2013 – Veros Real Estate Solutions (Veros), an industry leader in enterprise risk management, collateral valuation services and predictive analytics, has announced that analysis of its data shows compelling evidence that the national real estate market has hit bottom and is now in a full recovery. This is the conclusion of the company's VeroFORECAST real estate market forecast for the 12-month period ending December 1, 2013, updated quarterly and covering 975 counties, 335 metro areas, and 13,586 zip codes.
The forecast update shows significant improvement on a national basis, indicating that on average the top 100 metro areas can expect 1.2 percent appreciation over the next 12 months. This is the second quarter in a row where this index has shown forecast appreciation. Highly notable is the re-emergence of several very strong market forecasts, with Phoenix appearing again as the top market with over 10 percent annual appreciation predicted. This is the first time since 2006 that Veros has forecast double-digit annual appreciation in any market. In addition, the depreciating markets are becoming less severe, with the worst markets in the -2 to -3 percent range, which is a typical level of depreciation of the poorest performing markets even during healthy market periods. For the first time since the recession began, on a national level, two-thirds of all markets are expected to either be flat or appreciating during the coming 12 months.
Phoenix, one of the markets hit hardest during the downturn, continues to show strength in this quarter's forecast, building on its top ranking from the past two quarters to be the market leading the recovery. This revival is a result of its drastically reduced housing supply, which has plummeted by 70 percent from its peak. "Great affordability and low interest rates are also causing significant demand," states Eric Fox, Veros' vice president of statistical and economic modeling. "The low supply and high demand, in conjunction with the Phoenix area's lower unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, compared to the national unemployment rate of 7.9 percent, sets the stage for it to be 2013's top performing market."
Following Phoenix, the second strongest forecast market is Midland, Texas, where a forecast appreciation of 9% is expected during 2013. The Midland unemployment rate is a very low 3.4 percent, indicating a booming economy primarily due to the oil sector, and record low interest rates are also contributing to the market's price increases. Third is Miami at nearly 8 percent appreciation, where the housing supply has also dropped nearly 70 percent from its peak, making affordability better than it has been in nearly a decade and ushering in demand from international buyers and from population growth. Rounding out the top five are Tampa and Denver, both expected to appreciate between 6 and 7 percent during the next year. "The Tampa housing inventory has dropped over 60 percent from its peak in 2007, while the Denver housing supply has dropped 70 percent from its peak in 2006, accelerating demand," Fox says. He notes that the activity in Denver is enhanced by an economy that is attracting growth in the energy and technology startup sectors, although unemployment is only slightly better than the national average.
Florida and Texas are looking particularly strong for appreciation with Midland, Miami, Tampa, and Cape Coral in the top 10. California is again showing improvement, with San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles also appearing in the top 10 once more.
Projected Five Strongest Markets*
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ +10.5%
Midland, TX +9.1%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL +7.8%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL +6.5%
Denver-Aurora, CO +6.2%
Projected Five Weakest Markets*
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY -3.1%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ -2.6%
Norwich-New London, CT -2.5%
York-Hanover, PA -2.5%
Trenton-Ewing, NJ -2.0%
*Markets demonstrated are for residential real estate in major metro areas (typically greater than 300,000 residents) among single-family homes in the median price tier.
The majority of the markets expected to perform poorly are in the Northeast portion of the U.S., with much of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and downstate New York among the weakest areas. Unemployment remains a key discriminator between the top 10 and bottom 10 markets, as illustrated by the jobless rate in Poughkeepsie, above the national average at 8.3 percent. With unemployment, increases in the foreclosure inventory generally follow. The unemployment rate in Allentown, Pennsylvania is above the national average at 8.7 percent and has been rising recently, while the supply of homes remains relatively high. The unemployment rate in Norwich, Connecticut, is above the national average at 9.2 percent and has risen to record high levels in the last decade. The foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates have increased during the previous one-year period, although they have recently flattened.
"Overall, the recovery in the housing market is forecast to continue to accelerate," says Fox. "We have been consistent in saying that the recovery will be lengthy and gradual, and market-by-market. Now we are finally 'over the hump' at a national level with appreciation being the forecast norm instead of depreciation, although some markets are still forecast to show signs of weakness."
About Veros Real Estate Solutions
Veros Real Estate Solutions, a proven leader in enterprise risk management and collateral valuation services, uniquely combines the power of predictive technology, data analytics and industry expertise to deliver advanced automated decisioning solutions. Veros products and services are optimizing millions of profitable decisions throughout the mortgage industry, from loan origination through servicing and securitization. Veros provides solutions to control risk and increase profits including automated valuations, fraud and risk detection, portfolio analysis, forecasting, and next-generation collateral risk management platforms. Veros is headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif. For more information, please visit www.veros.com or call (866) 458-3767.
About Eric Fox, VP of Statistical and Economic Modeling:
Eric Fox received his M.S. in Statistics and B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Purdue University, and has more than 22 years of industrial experience in statistical and econometric modeling, probabilistic life methodology development, statistical training, probabilistic design software development, and probabilistic financial/competitive analysis. Fox has published more than 20 technical papers on probabilistic and statistical methods.
Additional forecasts for other U.S. markets available to the press upon request
Category: Press Releases


I've now found the website for the North Tyne and Redesdale churches – http://sites.google.com/site/ntyneredesdalechurches/home – it is not linked from the Newcastle Diocesan Website.
Susan has a four-wheel drive car and we headed out of Bellingham along the North Tyne (and the line of the Border Counties' Railway) to the village of Greenhaugh, which has a school but no church. Another mile or so, across Tarset Burn, to St Aidan's church at Thorneyburn NY786876. Susan told me that in the snow she and her four-wheeler got through the snow to find two visitors had come to church – another local came when she heard the bell ringing, and one woman walked through the snow from village and got there in time to make the coffee. That's dedication – I felt guilty that one of my churches had closed for three Sundays.
Like Humshaugh, the church was built by the Greenwich Hospital Commissioners in 1818 to provide a living for Naval Chaplains after the Napoleonic War. What on earth did a retired naval chaplain make of being sent to the middle of nowhere – sorry, I'm using that phrase too often. It makes you wonder why they built so far from the village – presumably they owned a plot of land here, or it was cheap. The original name was Draper Croft but, as the Commissioners had a Parliamentary Bill prepared for a parish elsewhere in the country called Thorneyburn and did not proceed to build it, they used the Bill and the name! We assume these hatchments have a Greenwich link – Susan did refer to the "mermaids", I pointed out the man with a beard was no maid!
Susan says that the school walk to church a couple of times a year – they always arrive late as they stop to look at things en route – and there's a lovely poster of their "thank you's". Also pictures of the annual lambing service.
When the youngsters came in they understood sowing and reaping – and pointed out that sowing is in spring, reaping in autumn, and that the young man is sowing and the old man is reaping. Bet you hadn't noticed that!
Do you have any information on Rev. William Elliot, vicar of Thorneyburn February 1819 to June 1829, or know where I could find anything? I am researching his life on behalf of the RN Archives at Portsmouth, to which a journal of his years as a naval chaplain has recently been donated. Any information most gratefully received!


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Home » Business » Top 5 business influencers in Africa
Top 5 business influencers in Africa
Ahead of the awards ceremony and final unveiling of winners in each of the categories, we shall be profiling the nominees, starting with those nominated for the Business Influencer of the Year Category. Keep reading to learn more about how you can vote for your preferred nominees.
Meet the top 5 business influencers in Africa
Mr Thembekwayo is a South African national and the Chief Executive Officer of MyGrowthFund Venture Partners. But is also an accomplished author, having published many books and sold lots of copies of his work across Africa and beyond. Beyond these, a lot of people know him as a notable internet personality who influences business across social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. You have probably seen one of his widely-circulated short video clips where he talks about money, wealth creation and such related topics.
The jury of the Business Insider Africa Awards nominated him for the business influencer of the year category mainly because of his immense contributions. Now, it is up to Africans to decide whether he deserves to win in this category. You may vote for him by clicking here.
Dr Brown is many good things wrapped into one. First, she is a medical doctor and economist. And she is also the CEO of Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company, an African healthcare and wellness investment firm based in Lagos.
More so, she is an executive director at Greentree Investment Fund, a Nigerian venture capital firm. When you combine all these impressive qualities into one person, what you have is a fire-brand professional. And that's exactly what she is.
But besides her accomplishments with regards to healthcare provision and investments, Dr Ola also finds time to engage with the thousands of people following her across social media platforms. On a daily basis, she posts statistics, insightful analysis and explanations about business in Africa. This is why she was nominated for the business influencer category.
Mr Omokri is a UK-trained Nigerian lawyer. But in recent years, he's been doing a whole lot of other amazing things besides lawyering. For one, he is a human rights activist, an accomplished author, a pastor, a former Special Assistant to a Nigerian President, and of course a notable Twitter Influencer.
His tips on how to make money, manage money, advance one's career and other general advice have helped a lot of his over 1 million followers to better their lives. This is why he was nominated for the Business Insider Africa Awards as a business influencer of the year.
If you need daily insights about business in Africa and in-depth analysis of the tech/startup ecosystem, then Victor Asemota is the right person to follow. Many Africans know this, which is why he currently has over 200, 000 followers on Twitter alone.
But besides business influencing, Asemota is also an entrepreneur, an investor, a Board Member at EdoInnovates and a Growth Partner at AnD Ventures.
If you will like to see him win the business influencer of the year award, then do well to vote for him by clicking right here.
A lot of people know Tony Elumelu is the notable Nigerian billionaire businessman who serves as the Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Holdings. Many others know him for the pivotal role he is playing, investing in thousands of African businesses through his Tony Elumelu Foundation. But what some people do not know is that he is also a notable business influencer.
The truth is that business influencing comes naturally for Mr Elumelu. This is because by virtue of his immense success in business, a lot of Africans (especially the youths) look up to him for business advice and tips. And with the advent of social media, he has positioned himself as a notable voice on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and of course LinkedIn where he posts daily tips for his thousands of followers. This is why we nominated him in the business influencer of the year category.
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The hotel is directly connected to Tokyo Station and only a one-minute walk from the Shinkansen Nihonbashi exit. Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Marunouchi is leaps and bounds ahead in convenience while also featuring unbeatable support for business and sightseeing. Isolated from the hustle and bustle in a high-rise space, you can enjoy the high-quality food, and a bustling night scene that spreads under your view.
Our website exclusive offers! Get special discounted prices and our best available rates. Here you'll find our best possible rates, which are only available via our Ginza hotel website.
In the Marunouchi district, this hotel near Tokyo Station provides guests with superior Tokyo accommodations, and relaxed and quiet interiors with chic décor and a mature atmosphere. From the minute you step into our hotel, the stress of Tokyo's noisy and energetic streets is replaced by a feeling of serenity.
The hotel's entrance is directly linked to Nihonbashi Exit of Tokyo Station, with an elevator exclusive for hotel guests, leading directly to the Concierge Desk for added convenience and security.
The hotel offers magnificent skyline view of the city right next to Tokyo Station. The hotel rooms are designed in contemporary and modern decor, creating a relaxing atmosphere for hotel guest.
Perched at a lofty 120 meters overlooking the Tokyo skyline, TENQOO restaurant and bar serves flawlessly executed gourmet Japanese French cuisine, using carefully selected local ingredients, stunningly prepared with French flair.


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American Jewish Umbrella Group Files Lawsuit to Avoid New York Covid Restrictions
Group seeks to fight restrictions set by Gov. Andrew Cuomo closing schools and businesses and capping religious services at ten individuals
Danielle Ziri
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File photo: Orthodox Jews gather for prayers on Sukkot on a neighborhood lawn to avoid over-crowding at a synagogue, in the New York City suburb of Monsey, New York, U.S., October 5, 2020.Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar
NEW YORK - The Orthodox umbrella organization Agudath Israel of America filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, asking to bar the State of New York from enforcing its restrictions on attendance in houses of worship in designated areas.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the new limitations earlier this week in areas of the state experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland County and Orange County. They include a cap on religious services set at ten individuals, school and business closures. The new restrictions will go into effect by Friday, as Jewish communities begin celebrations of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, the last of the fall holidays, which are generally celebrated with large gatherings and dancing. The rules will be in effect for 14 days. If the infection rate diminishes at the end of the designated period, they will be eased.
But for weeks, Orthodox community leaders have expressed frustration with city and state authorities for their failure to do meaningful outreach in the community, and imposing measures they say are singling them out. Frustrations reached a peak on Tuesday and Wednesday nights with hundreds of orthodox Jews protesting in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. Both nights, demonstrations turned violent with the burning of masks and physical attacks on counter-protester Berish Getzon on Tuesday and a journalist, Jacob Kornbluh, on Wednesday.
Agudah's Chairman of the Board Shlomo Werdiger said that the lawsuit is "a last resort." "We would have been able to accomplish much more for these critical public health needs had the governor's administration worked together with us more closely beforehand," he added. "Unfortunately, the Governor's new executive order makes it impossible for us to practice our religion, and we really had no choice but to seek relief in the courts."
Agudath's complaint argues that Cuomo's restrictions "unconstitutionally discriminate against religious practice while simultaneously permitting comparable secular conduct." "Moreover, the restrictions violate Free Exercise rights because they appear to target conduct due to their religious motivation," the group said.
File photo: Andrew Cuomo delivers a COVID-19 update during a briefing in New York City, July 13, 2020.Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar
With the upcoming holidays, the restrictions, the group said, "disrupt the religious observance of tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews, depriving them of their religious worship and holiday observance."
The lawsuit also states that although the caps apply to "house of worship" in general, the governor's measures are disproportionately impacting Orthodox Jews, who cannot drive to a synagogue out of a "red zone" on Shabbat or holidays.
New York officials, Jewish groups condemn Brooklyn attack on Orthodox journalist
Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn burn masks during massive protest against New York's new COVID rules
I just moved from New York's COVID ground zero to Israel's. It's much worse here
Agudath is requesting that the court immediately grant a temporary restraining order preventing the state government from enforcing the new limits to allow for holiday services to take place. It also asks that the court find the restrictions unconstitutional.
"Social distancing, masking, and all health precautions must, of course, be observed," Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel, said. "However, we think that it is possible to stay safe and at the same time have more than ten people in a Shul building that is meant to hold hundreds."
Jewish Diaspora


Join Maine Historical Society for a guided tour to the city's waterfront highlighting Portland's history, maritime heritage, and authentic character. Learn how Maine's largest city evolved from a small British colony to a booming center of American culture and commerce. Famous city residents, industries, architecture, historic landmarks, social history, and the Great Fire of 1866 are among the topics covered.
Tours offered Monday through Friday at 1:30pm, weather permitting, and on select special weekend dates.
Tours leave from the MHS museum store and are approximately 75 minutes in length. Tours are limited to 12 guests and are first-come, first-served.
Free for children six years old and younger, but tour is recommended for ages 12 and older.
Call Visitor Services Manager for more details and group bookings: 207-774-1822 x212.
Trail brochures are available in the MHS museum store or download here.


Scam emails, also known as Phishing, is the most common way fraudsters trick you into providing personal or financial information.
These emails are designed to look legitimate, impersonating legitimate businesses or even government agencies with urgent content to entice you to open attachments, click on links, or provide information. Phishing is also the main source of malware infections.
Clicked on a link or opened an attachment in a suspicious email?
If you believe your security has been compromised, or notice a transaction you did not make, contact us immediately on 132 032.
Do not use your Online Banking until you have up-to-date security software on your computer. If you don't have such software, we have partnered with security specialist McAfee. Once you have installed security software on your computer, ensure you perform a thorough scan of your system.
Remember, Westpac will never send you links to sign in pages, or ask you to update, verify or correct any Online Banking details directly into an email reply.
If you receive an email requesting you to make an payment to a new BSB and account number, or an urgent payment on behalf of a senior staff member, always check the request is legitimate before making a payment.
Even if you know the sender of the email, it's possible that your contact's email account has been compromised, so always call the sender (using a trusted phone number, not one contained in the email) to verbally validate the request.
In 2017, Australian businesses were targeted by business email compromise scams with this trend continuing in 2018. Reports to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) about this scam exposed that over $22.1 million has been transferred from businesses to scammer accounts during this period.
Always verbally confirm BSB and Account number changes using a trusted phone number. Confirming a change via email is not a secure method of validation.
If you are unable to contact the requestor, contact the recipient bank to confirm if the BSB and Account number matches the name on the account.
Think you received a scam email?
If the email scam is Westpac related, report it immediately to hoax@westpac.com.au and delete it from your inbox and sent folder if you've forwarded it. If you have opened any attachments or links, or been prompted to sign in to online banking after clicking a link, please call us immediately on 132 032.
Which Government agencies or Not Profit business should I report this information to?
IDcare toll-free on 1300 432 273.


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Q: Get Host-IPs of wireless network
Possible Duplicate:
Get all IP-Hosts in Lan from mobile device

How can I get programmaticaly all the hosts in a wireless network?
I know the wlan I'm working in and I am connected to it. Now I want to show a list of the hosts (or at least their IP-Addresses).
How can I accomplish this, and are there special points if I work on windows mobile with compact framework and want to do that?

A: There are lots of ways.  For example:

*

*ARP:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366358%28VS.85%29.aspx

*

*WMI:

http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp/archive/2010/11/04/find-only-physical-network-adapters-with-wmi-win32_networkadapter-class.aspx

*

*ICMP:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/netfxnetcom/thread/8a528983-915b-4d94-836e-804b03e6261f
Etc

A: The easy answer is: You can't. Going more in detail: you can't unless you have a protocol to discover your hosts, for example, NetBIOS. You can call NetBEUI (NetBios User Interface) through pInvoke. Look at this previous post:
Netbios support in .NET?
Another approach you can use is to ping all the IP addresses in your WLAN range and wait for responses. This is not a good approach as it is very resource consuming.

A: The only way to get all the hosts in a network is to use network scanning.
You could ping all the valid IPs of the network the device is in.
Or you could check every valid IP of the network on the local DNS service for a name and list the different names you found with corresponding IP.
An IP would be valid if the Bits corresponding to the subnet mask are the same to the IP the device has.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Model PSZ-SA25 comes with a 256GB SSD drive, while models PSZ-HA50 and PSZ-HA1T have traditional hard disk drives with 500GB and 1TB. All three models come with USB 3.0 and FireWire interface for fast data transfer. SSD model is rated for speeds of 400Mbps, while traditional hard drives have a transfer speed of 120MBps.
All three models are protected with silicone protection that protects them from bumps and drops from up to 2 meters height. Silicone protection also additionally protects all the connectors from dust and water.