There have been a lot of strong words exchanged about Northwest Biotherapeutics (NWBO), a small Maryland-based company developing a brain cancer vaccine. Over at Fierce Biotech, they're wondering why this program was picked by the UK authorities as their first official "Promising Innovative Medicine", given the scarcity of data (and the dismal track record of dendritic vaccines in the field).
Adam Feuerstein has said a bunch of similar things, vigorously, at TheStreet.com over the last few months as well. He's been especially skeptical of the company's own vigorous PR efforts, and in general tends to be unenthusiastic about small go-it-alone oncology programs. The Feuerstein-Ratain rule, that small-cap cancer trials fail, has been hard to refute.
Well, just the other day Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein waded into this story with a piece about how evil short-sellers are hurting promising little biotech companies. That's pretty much the tone of the whole thing, and he uses Feuerstein and NWBO as his prime example, with not-quite-stated allegations of collusion with short-sellers.
My belief is that this is a load of crap, from someone who doesn't understand very much about how the stock market works. Small companies that have been unable to interest anyone else in their technologies have a difficult time of it, to be sure. But we don't need to go to conspiracy theories to explain this. There are indeed short-selling investors who are trying to drive stocks down, but they are absolutely overwhelmed in number by the number of people who are trying to drive stocks up. That's what a stock market is: differences of opinion, held strongly enough for money to be put down on them.
If you look at Feuerstein's most recent column on NWBO, you find that only one other company has even applied for the "Promising Innovative Medicine" designation (and that application is in process). So this is not some incredible milestone. And you also find a lot of useful information on the company's debt structure, the exact sort of thing that an investor in the company should be interested in. Will you get these details by reading press releases from Northwest Biotherapeutics? You will not. You will get them from people who are willing to scrutinize a company, its operations, and its pipeline in detail.
Does Steven Pearlstein think that these details about NWBO's debt deal are false? He should say so. But he also talks about short-sellers crippling Dendreon, which ignores completely the fact that what's crippled Dendreon is that their vaccine doesn't work very well. Wonderful drugs don't get buried by short-sellers. Drugs get buried by data.
Update: TheStreet.com is now seeking a retraction from Pearlstein. One of the key sentences is "Mr. Pearlstein — who said he knew nothing about biotech or medicine . . ." Pretty much had that part figured out already. The letter to the Post goes on to claim a number of other serious deficiencies with Pearlstein's reporting. It's going to be interesting to see where this leads. . .
Don't short-sellers get pillaged, badly, when something actually turns out well that they believed would go badly? The antidote to short-sellers, if that were true, would be 1) holding for the medium-to-long term (and buying more when short-sold, if you think the company is misvalued) and 2) the company showing actual (good) data?
If there were conspiracies against small pharma, why would a bunch of short sellers and stock prognosticators be the primary movers? If bigger pharma (or another interested party) could drive down the stock, either to buy more of it at a lower price than their demand would justify or to prevent a company from getting funding from other sources so as to force it to accept theirs, it would at least make sense. Otherwise, this sounds like an expensive fantasy tale, written poorly, for dumb people (on the other hand, at least it won't kill anyone, probably).
This is a company I have been sort of keeping an eye on. Looks promising, but seems to be slow moving towards trials and development. I know a lot of folks that have been diagnosed with Stage IV colon, lung and breast cancers are following this as many believe immunotherapy might be the only real means towards a obtaining really long term remission or a possible cure. For them its a race to stay stable or at least managed until such treatments become "promising" treatments become available to them. Many would be willing to participate in trials if only they would actually offer them.
As a longtime WaPo read and Steven Pearlstein fan, I was absolutely shocked at the column, which in my view was basically totally ignorant. He just doesn't know anything about science or drug development, but doesn't seem to think it matters in this case. He is wrong. He screwed this one up big time. I guess everyone makes mistakes, but it was an unusually ignorant presentation of the "facts," especially for an otherwise super smart guy.
The best, and perhaps only, way to shut down critics and short-sellers is to conduct properly conducted trials. There is nothing like hard factual data to settle an argument.
However, NWBO goes out of its way to dribble out anecdotal data while avoiding rigorously designed, controlled, statistically powered trials. When that happens a company acquires an unpleasant "aroma" that rapidly turns into a "stench" that attracts short sellers, and the shorts are usually right.
Either NWBO has the courage to perform some decent trials or else they will wind up as yet another biotech zombie. So far they have not had the courage to back up their rhetoric.
Adam Feurestein is the Skip Bayless of biotech. He writes outlandish things and profits by people strongly disagreeing with him. He just wants pageviews and interaction, even if its 100% negative feedback. Seriously, he just trolls for reaction. It's a simple formula.
@6 hmm, 'kay. And what are YOU just trolling for, "Martin Shrekeli" ?
I'm guessing that Pearlstein was probably sitting next to Linda Powers or Melanie Sloan at a DC dinner party, and was deeply concerned at the tales of woe spun out to him. Seriously, wailing about short-sellers is something you expect from crap retail investors, not from a putative authority on business.
I wonder when Skip Bayless has been right about anything though…at least Feuerstein has gotten something right. My feelings about him are summarized well here.
I think your confounding two things. Short sellers are indeed a bane to small biotechs and can cause huge fluctuations in stock prices for no reason other than the greed of the ones who short. Whether that's the case for Northwest, whose CEO has always been controversial (to say the least) is a question. They may indeed just have a lousy product. So maybe Pearlstein didn't pick the best example but he surely highlighted a major problem.
BTW, Pearlstein has some very good rejoinders to Feurestein's accusations. Too bad Adam was to cowardly to talk to him directly and on the record for the article.
Many reasons to doubt dendreon but your link is to actual ex hedge fund person pushing the negative story. As an ex DNDN employee it's dissapointing that the narrative never includes that the data was good and merited approval. That should be considered irrespective of a crappy business model. Was many reasons to be paranoid while at dndn which is why I followed the Mitch gold model of sell early and often.
#12, I would say it's cowardly to refuse to speak directly to a Pulitzer-prize winning columnist who wants to interview you and instead rely on your editor to give you a thumbs up. If Pearlstein was wrong in his assessment then Feuerstein should have been man enough to tell him to his face where he was wrong; you have to wonder why he refused to talk to him.
Well, whoever is on the wrong side of this will not likely fess up when the smoke clears, but will just move on to another battle. In the meantime, damage will be done to bank accounts, reputations & lives.
Short sellers are not a bane to good biotechs, who know what they are doing and just carry on with their work regardless of stock fluctations. But they are a bane to bad biotechs who are just in it for fleecing investors – the Cell Therapeutics, Hemispherx et al of this world. They are also a bane to small investors who go for the hype without doing their due diligence. If you want to talk about cowardice, you could mention the cowardice of losing investors who prefer blaming journalists rather than themselves for their bad decisions.
The failure of Provenge is more due to the cost density (3x $33k over weeks) and community urologists having to risk tens of thousands of dollars they would be reimbursed. The launch of Zytiga, an oral drug with a familiar mechanism and solid data didn't help at all.
Adam is no hero, but no fool. Many that complain don't address points on data, just make ad hominem attacks—which is ironic.
#15, you assume that short sellers aren't also fleecing investors. As Pearlstein (and many others – see the link I posted) make clear, short sellers manipulate markets of small companies whose stock prices can fluctuate widely because of small volumes. They make fortunes over such manipulation. The idea that they are just efficient investors seeking out poorly run businesses is rather naive.
I don't think author of this commentary understand what is the difference between legal short selling and illegal manipulated short selling.
I don't think autor of this commentary understand what is the difference of a proven crime and a suspected crime.
AF has had daily contact with hedge fund managers of whom many are short sellers. Nobody I guess at this point has hard evidence such as email correspondence or telephone recording which shows his guilty of conspiracy with short selling hedge funds. I bet almost nobody is and will be that dumb but illegal activities can easily go "undetected".
Well, from various activities revealed in allegations about AF from CREW and Steven from the Post, AF deserves a thorough investigation from SEC, Justice DEpartment in conjunction with FBI!
The overall tone of discussion here is much less civil than the norm for this blog — but it scarcely holds a candle to the flame fest of comments to Feuerstein's article. I don't have any specific expertise about the company or its product, but I think Derek's view is likely a lot closer to medical reality than the views of some investors.
And flaming critics will not make the drug work any better in the clinical trials. In God we trust, others bring data.
How does short selling hurt small companies?
If a comapny has useful products (or data to suggest that it will), then it doesn't have to get funding from the stock market, although the manipulation may make it harder overall to get funding (by removing an option for funding through the stock market). If a company has such data, then it will likely have access to reasonable sources of VC or investment funding (e.g. not Seaside 88), and it will likely have the chance to prove shorts wrong.
Shorting ought to have different effects depending on investment timeframe. Short-term investors can get hosed, badly, but that seems like the nature of short-term investing. In the long-term, shorting gives people who think the shorts are wrong an opportunity to purchase stock cheaply; since they're not selling, the shorting shouldn't matter.
So I'm not seeing how shorting hurts anyone who doesn't (or shouldn't) know what's coming to them. If the company comes up with something substantiative, shorting will take lots more money and rapidly become unprofitable. If the company doesn't come up with anything, then the shorts were right and the money you invested would have been better elsewhere. What's the problem?
If you want to talk about market manipulation, you should really wonder what prompted a columnist who admittedly knows nothing about biotech, and who had no knowledge of NWBO or of Feuerstein prior to talking to NWBO's CEO, to come out blazing against Feuerstein and short-sellers in general. Or what prompted Melanie Sloan's CREW, a transparency organism that normally focuses on politician shenanigans, to write to the SEC specifically requesting a investigation of a lowly TheStreet reporter. This really smells like a DC-style returning of favors.
Feuerstein's not exactly a lowly reporter, if he's the investigant – I would consider him a rather big target, especially to the people who were part of one of the shoddy biotech gravy trains whose paths he's interrupted.
@22 – Oh I know he's quite prominent in the biotech community; but I meant that for a rather more prominent WaPo columnist, and for a government transparency organization, Feuerstein's work would normally not register at all. Which makes it all the more curious that they should focus their attentions on him.
There's a lot of money in those gravy trains, though, and maybe someone has a friend who has a friend who runs a fund with interests in that area. If you don't know better, biotech companies trolling the shallow end of the pharma investment pool and ones that aren't might be hard to tell apart.
Of course, then, you might want to actually find a disinterested source or two, so if you're going to be someone's axe, you don't end up being used to bang into rebar. Someone in DC ought to understand that.
This, http://www.dbsable.com/-and-other-secrets-of-the-buy-side-blog/better-than-telling-short-sellers-to-go-eff-themselves, has always struck me as how companies should react to short sellers.
I tried to post a few links about short sellers and biotech but the site wouldn't allow it for some reason. Search "short seller manipulation biotech" and you'll see recent prosecutions for 23 firms for market manipulation through short selling, a response by BIO (the biotech lobbying group) to SEC rules explaining why it's necessary to curtail the abuses, etc. Again, the idea that short sellers are just reacting to market forces instead of being a means by which hedge funds manipulate the market is more of an ideal than reality.
As opposed to "pump and dump", which is common enough to have its own terminology? I haven't heard of selling the bejesus out of a stock being banned, however.
How does shorting a stock hurt companies (well, companies with something to sell other than fantasy) and the market?
It takes 10 years to get a product on the market; clinical trials take a year or two before results are known. Heavily shorting a stock with high volatility (as with most small cap biotechs) puts huge downward pressure on the stock price, prevents the company from raising additional capital and becomes a self-fulfilliing prophecy by eventually putting the company out of business. Again, the idea that good companies don't get shorted, that the market is efficient and unmanipulated is just a fantasy. Biotechs are highly vulnerable because of their long product development cycle and cash intense requirements.
The letter from the TheStreet.com brings up another very interesting angle, the rather large amount of paid reporting and message board posting on NorthWest Bio. (I'll include the link, but Corante/spamfilter will probably choke on it… http://moxreports.com/tag/northwest-biotherapeutics/) Do you, Steve, hold shares in NorthWest Bio, or stand to gain if warrants are exercised for NWBO, or have any relationship at all with MDM Worldwide or Redfish Creative, or have other relationships to principals at NorthWest Bio? Not that this message board doesn't get trolls from many other PR departments, and penny stock pumpers, and so on. It tends to be very obvious.
Here's a newsflash: companies aren't prevented from raising capital because the stock price is getting shorted. Companies are prevented from raising capital when potential investors look to see why a stock is getting hammered (that's called due diligence), and find they agree with the negative vision of the company's potential. It's not that Feuerstein and shorts are ruining these companies, it's that he is raising legitimate issues, and these issues explain why those companies are struggling. Of course, after he's published an article, given that he has expertise in the field and is often right, there may be a jump in people looking to short a stock.
While you are shedding big crocodile tears for NorthWest Bio, you are ignoring the fact that its price was pumped up for a time by unscrupulous paid "investment advisors." And you are ignoring (as Feuerstein enumerated) that NorthWest Bio's latest financing round essentially paid its latest group of investors to short its stock (temporarily) for profit. You are ignoring the very real shortcomings in its Phase III trial design, very real questions concerning its therapeutic strategy, and some questions about whether its management was aware about all the dishonestly positive manipulation going on in its behalf. It's rather sad, the company that Pearlstein has chosen to keep.
Pearlstein's take on Dendreon is similarly clueless. The most marked result in a PhIII trial should not be in the control group. If the company chooses to detail the method of action for a drug, clinical results should not directly contradict that. I would look forward to further, more detailed results to put these questions to rest, but I think the market will move on to less questionable medicines.
Full disclosure: I don't have any position, short or long or baby-bear-just-right, on any of these companies.
1) There are lots of places for biotechs to get money, not just the stock market. The people who are likely to invest will likely be doing actual investigation into a company, and shorting will probably make them more likely to invest rather than less if the company's fundamentals are good, because the alternate sources of funding are worse. It would, however, make that funding more expensive, since it would cost more equity to get it, although the funding would probably more secure, since the investors want their money aback and don't want the company to fail if they can avoid it. Of course, the solution to avoiding shorting as a method of fund manipulation, particularly for small biotechs trying to develop products, is probably not to offer stock. If they're working close enough to the edge of available funds that shorting distorts their ability to get working capital, then they're walking dead, anyway.
2) There have been far greater and numerous opportunities to manipulate stock by trying to stimulate interest than in trying to diminish it (the pervasiveness of "pump and dump" as a term of art), yet shorting and not longing seems to be the target. Hyping a stock with PR and without products also hurts companies spending cash on developing tech or products and not spending money on stock advocacy – the ones more likely to produce actual useful things – so the argument that shorting distorts the market overly neglects that fact that going long also does so more often and probably more destructively.
3) Given 1) and 2), shorting doesn't become a fulfilled prophecy unless they have no product. In that case, shorting is irrelevant to the prophecy – having no products other than hype ought to be enough to kill a company. That seems like the way a market is supposed to work – investment flows from useless companies to useful ones. It doesn't always work, but shorting seems to make it more likely to work, not less.
I don't have any stock (that I know of) in any of the relevant companies.
Heavily buying a stock with high volatility (as with most small cap biotechs) puts huge upward pressure on the stock price, aids the company in raising additional capital and becomes a self-fulfilliing prophecy by eventually putting the investors out of business.
#29, thanks for the compliment but I'm not Steve Pearlstein. There are actually other Steve's in the world. I work with small biotech startups, though I have no relationship to Northwest, Pearlstein or Feuerstein. I've just seen this type of stock manipulation up close and personal and know that a lot of big players manipulate small stocks by shorting the hell out of them and then either buying the stock at a low price and watching it go up again or just driving the company out of business. As I mentioned, SEC just sued 23 firms for doing this; I tried to post the link as well as some others but the site didn't let me. Just Google "SEC short market manipulation" (without the quotes) and it will be about the fourth article from the top.
Have you any examples of companies that have been driven out of business by shorting?
Derek's original posting states that "…only one other company has even applied for the "Promising Innovative Medicine" designation (and that application is in process). So this is not some incredible milestone." The PIM scheme has only been in place for about 6 months, so uptake may simply be slow as companies wait to see if it's truly valuable. Also, the MHRA charges 4000 pounds to review the PIM designation application, and small biotechs with limited funding may not feel like spending their money on that.
I'd argue there is no manipulation with NWBO.
It's unfortunate that less sophisticated (retail) investors are less likely to short stocks and more likely to lose money in schemes like the above, or by heeding sell side analysts whose firms are paid banking fees by biotech.
There's no getting around the fact that biotech stocks are a favorite for hedge fund manipulation through shorting. Even Jim Cramer, in a famous CNBC video, admits this is the case and that he did it routinely http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEzsfPmh894. Dendreon is a classic example and the short manipulation (prior to the failed launch, which is another story) almost killed it. See http://www.amazon.com/The-Dendreon-Effect-Manipulate-High-tech/dp/1563431416. (And no, for all you conspiracy theorists out there, I haven't worked for Dendreon either).
BTW, stating the (accurate) fact that there are also pump and dump schemes doesn't negate the widespread manipulation by shorts anymore than saying that there are home burglaries negates the existence of bank robberies.
No, but the presence of a term of art for "pump and dump" (and lack thereof for shorting) says something about relative frequencies of modes of manipulation and that your emphasis on shorting as a method of manipulation is almost certainly misplaced.
Also, as noted at the end of the post, Dendreon is a bad example of the productive end of small pharma – having lots of advocacy for a product that doesn't work (marginally better than control is not working) and is too expensive is not an endorsement of your position. Feeding lots of money to biotechs that are much better at patient PR and complaining that the FDA has it in for them than actually making good products is a way to get more biotechs that can complain about the FDA and be good at PR.
There's also the term "naked short" which shows the frequency of that scheme for all terms are worth. The issue of Dendreon had nothing to do with efficacy but all to do with manipulation; read the book.
Good biotech doesn't care about the mark-to-market before the company has a product to market.
It is a shame that phase III studies cost so much more than the past, and that companies that otherwise would be angel/VC funded now come out to the public markets too early for funding.


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Orizabus cuernavacensis är en skalbaggsart som beskrevs av Juan A. Delgado och Deloya 1990. Orizabus cuernavacensis ingår i släktet Orizabus och familjen Dynastidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Skalbaggar
cuernavacensis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Iran, Oman FMs discuss bilateral ties on phone
Tehran, Karafarinane Eghtesad – Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed bilateral and international issues in a phone conversation on Friday with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.
author: تحریریه Friday 17 June 2022 - 23:00 0
Amirabdollahian described Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's recent trip to Oman as a new turning point in relations between the two countries.
The Iranian foreign minister highlighted the necessity of implementation of agreements between Iran and Oman and welcomed the travelling of an Omani delegation to Tehran to pursue the case.
He also made an important assessment of Oman's role in regional developments and praised Muscat's efforts in establishing peace, stability and cooperation in the region.
Amirabdollahian said that the officials of regional governments shouldn't let foreigners affect the cooperation and stability in the region, referring to the upcoming regional tour by the US President Joe Biden.
"We believe that the people of this region should decide its fate," he emphasized.
Foreign minister Albusaidi, for his part, emphasized the implementation of the agreements signed between Tehran and Muscat during President Raisi's visit to Oman, and said that Oman was ensured about his administration's new approach to expansion of ties with regional states.
Hi said that Oman's government has formed a working group to follow up those agreements.
Both officials welcomed continuation of the ceasefire in Yemen and Amirabdollahian emphasized the necessity of full removal of blockade against the country. He also briefed his Omani counterpart on the latest developments regarding the talks to remove sanctions against Iran.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Apple's Eddy Cue has initiated talks with TV producers and Hollywood studios about developing original TV shows streamed exclusively to iTunes customers, according to a report that appeared on The Street. At the negotiation table we also find Robert Kondrk, vice-president of iTunes content, according to one of the sources.
The article is signed by Ronald Grover, the former Reuters and BusinessWeek Bureau Chief in Los Angeles. He joined Reuters in 2012 after more than 30 years with BusinessWeek covering media and entertainment.
According to Grover's sources, Apple began talks with Hollywood's creative community late last year, but as of now nothing has materialized. Apple's plan is to have agreements in place so it can announce exclusive content for its Internet TV service rumoured to be launching in September when the iPhone 7 comes out, according to one of the sources.
So far, Netflix's and Amazon's business models works just great, so Apple would want to follow those examples, it seems. Amazon produces award-winning shows streamed to Prime customers, such as Transparent and Mozart in The Jungle.
Netflix licences shows such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Narcos from Hollywood producers, Grover highlights.
Rumours of an Apple web TV service gained traction last year ahead of the company's annual WWDC conference. However, apparently the plan was put on hold, as Apple couldn't convince media content owners to offer a skinny bundle of TV channels for up to $40 per month. It is worth mentioning that back then the sources didn't mention anything about original programming.
Groven's report comes shortly after rumours surfaced that Apple may be interested in acquiring Time Warner, which could give Apple exclusive rights to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones.


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Q: I cannot importing KERAS tuner using anaconda I am trying to import Keras tuner using anaconda and I think it has some issue with its installation because when I am executing the code it keeps telling me that there is no such a model with this name, and I tried with many other names but not worked, then I noticed that there is some kind of warnings in the installation but not understand it as shown below
when I did each one of these commands
pip install keras-tuner
pip install kerastuner
pip install keras_tuner
the response was:
WARNING: Ignoring invalid distribution -ip (d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages)
WARNING: Ignoring invalid distribution -ip (d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages)
Requirement already satisfied: keras-tuner in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (1.0.4)
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Requirement already satisfied: rsa<5,>=3.1.4 in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (from google-auth<2,>=1.6.3->tensorboard->keras-tuner) (4.7.2)
Requirement already satisfied: pyasn1-modules>=0.2.1 in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (from google-auth<2,>=1.6.3->tensorboard->keras-tuner) (0.2.8)
Requirement already satisfied: requests-oauthlib>=0.7.0 in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (from google-auth-oauthlib<0.5,>=0.4.1->tensorboard->keras-tuner) (1.3.0)
Requirement already satisfied: pyasn1<0.5.0,>=0.4.6 in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (from pyasn1-modules>=0.2.1->google-auth<2,>=1.6.3->tensorboard->keras-tuner) (0.4.8)
Requirement already satisfied: oauthlib>=3.0.0 in d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages (from requests-oauthlib>=0.7.0->google-auth-oauthlib<0.5,>=0.4.1->tensorboard->keras-tuner) (3.1.1)
WARNING: Ignoring invalid distribution -ip (d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages)
WARNING: Ignoring invalid distribution -ip (d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages)
WARNING: Ignoring invalid distribution -ip (d:\aapython3.9\lib\site-packages)

then when I am executing my code I got this:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "ExpMnistTunerE1.py", line 23, in
from kerastuner.tuners import RandomSearch
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'kerastuner'

enter image description here

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Do you have a better photo of Kadeem?
Lost to gun violence on March 19, 2019 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
119 candles have been lit for Kadeem.
Light a candle for Kadeem.
Ask your friends to light a candle or come back tomorrow to light another candle for Kadeem.
4 Ambitous, Very caring, Always put a smile on everyones face.
4 Spend is last dime to buy food for homeless individuals. A heart of Gold.
2 Flanagan High School and Broward College.


text:
Egypt's future crude oil import requirements for 3 population scenarios
– July 6, 2013Posted in: Egypt
Egypt sits on a key strategic location between North Africa and the Middle East, where almost 4 mb/d of oil transit through the Sumed pipeline and the Suez canal.
Shipping firms brace for Suez disruption as Egypt turmoil mounts
http://www.voanews.com/content/shipping-firms-brace-for-suez-disruption-as-egypt-turmoil-mounts/1690698.html
http://www.sumed.org/docs/front.aspx
20 years after its oil peak this country is now embroiled in a serious energy crunch. Crude oil production will decline between 3 and 4 % pa while population may grow from 80 million to 100 million by 2030. It is in the world's interest to make sure that Egypt does not descend into chaos which will impact not only on global oil markets but also on neighbouring countries. This will require to help Egypt with importing crude oil. Here are some simple calculations what kind of quantities would be involved:
In this graph we have plotted
3 population scenarios (LHS scale) for 3 different fertility levels from the UN Population Division
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm
actual crude oil production (dark blue line, RHS scale)
crude oil production projection from Jean Laherrere (red line)
2012 production level (horizontal dashed line)
and calculated until 2050
Cumulative domestic production of 4.2 Gb
Crude imports to offset decline and maintain current levels: 3.7 Gb
Additional import requirements of 1.7 Gb for the lowest population scenario in order to keep current consumption levels
Further additional import requirements of 0.7 Gb each for the higher population projections
We translate this into daily oil requirements:
In the next years increasing quantities up to 200 kb/d by 2020 are needed.
This graph shows uneven distribution of population and crude oil production in Egypt and neighbouring countries between Libya in the West and Iran in the East. Egypt with the highest population is more vulnerable than Iran. Note that the total population of this group of countries is 266 million.
Oil production per capita is an important parameter for wealth creation. The most populous countries Egypt and Iran are at the bottom of the scale. Yemen is the last in the list.
So where will the oil come from to help Egypt? This article gives us a foretaste of what is to come:
Egypt closer to sealing $1 billion Libya oil deal
CAIRO — Egypt is inching closer to getting a letter of credit to back a $1-billion much-needed oil supply contract with Libya, but the deal still faces a stumbling block in Tripoli, which fears being dragged into Cairo's economic woes, officials said.
State-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC) has asked the National Bank of Egypt for a $1 billion guarantee that will allow it to complete its side of the oil deal with Libya, a bank official said. However, the Libyan government has yet to decide that a letter of credit from that bank is strong enough to overcome the risk of any losses if EGPC is unable to pay for the oil, said a government official.
Failure to agree the deal would be a significant blow for Eqypt because it is seen as vital for easing the country's fuel shortage. An even bigger oil supply deal with Iraq has faltered due to similar concerns over financial guarantees.
"We have asked EGPC to give us first a guarantee from the finance ministry before we study its request since its loans have exceeded 20% of our capital base, or about 22 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.13 billion)," Mahmoud Montaser, NBE's corporate banking and syndicated loans senior group head told <em>The Wall Street Journal
"We got the guarantee from the finance ministry and hopefully the letter of credit will be issued soon," Montaser, who is also a board member of the state bank, said.
Egypt has been facing a diesel shortage since last year, leading to rising food costs, long queues at filling stations and electricity blackouts. Egyptians have also taken to the Internet and streets to protest daily power cuts that they say are getting more frequent and lasting longer.
Neighboring Libya, an OPEC member, had agreed in March to supply Egypt with up to 1 million barrels a month of crude oil, with a generous credit term of up to a year, which would help Egypt with both its fuel shortage and its cash flow problems.
Egypt has so far been unable to provide a guarantee for the payments to Libya, which is concerned about the political and economic turmoil in the country. Even with a letter of credit from the NBE, Libya is still reluctant to give a stamp of approval.
"The National Bank of Egypt. It's not a triple A bank," said a Libyan official familiar with the deal. This means that going through with the deal on that basis, "will require…guarantees from the central bank of Libya," the official said.
The official said the Libyan Foreign Bank–in charge of providing a $1-billion credit line for the country's National Oil Co.–was concerned that exposure to such large risks in the EGPC deal would impede its own financial flexibility, especially when it comes to issuing letters of credit to other commercial partners.
The Egyptian fuel crisis has compounded broader economic problems in the country, which in 2011 overthrew the government of President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. Egypt's current government, which is dominated by Islamist party the Muslim Brotherhood, is short of funds and has been negotiating a $4.8-billion loan with the IMF, which analysts and investors say is critical for the country. IMF officials left Cairo in April without agreeing on the terms of the loan.
Iraq has also offered 4 million barrels of oil a month to Egypt, with payment deferred for three months with no interest incurred. However, the country's oil minister, Abdul Kareem Luaiby, said last month the deal will be completed only if the North Africa country provided a letter of credit "opened in internationally recognized banks prior to the supply, but Egypt has so far [been] unable to open such letter of credit."
Egypt's energy import needs are rising because of a drop in its own hydrocarbon production, stemming from a slowdown in exploration over several years of civil unrest. EGPC has also been paying hefty premiums to import fuel because of the weaker Egyptian pound. It is struggling to pay debts of about $5 billion to foreign energy companies, according to officials familiar with the situation.
http://www.worldoil.com/Egypt_closer_to_sealing_1-billion_Libya_oil_deal.html
Whoever comes to power now faces the same situation. If the problem of fuel shortages in Egypt cannot be resolved by oil imports, violence may impact on other countries and there is the prospect of one the world's chokepoints in serious danger. In the end there will be no other choice than OPEC supplying as much oil as is needed to keep Egypt going, on credit or at discounted rates. That oil of course will not be available to those who thought they can always buy oil for their pleasure.
4/7/2013 2/3 of Egypt's oil is gone 20 years after its peak
http://crudeoilpeak.info/23-of-egypt%e2%80%99s-oil-is-gone-20-years-after-its-peak
31/1/2011 Egypt – the convergence of oil decline, political and socio-economic crisis
http://crudeoilpeak.info/egypt-the-convergence-of-oil-decline-political-and-socio-economic-crisis


text:
Son of the People
The following happened while Chairman Kim Jong Il and his fellow students from Kim Il Sung University were taking part in a project to widen the road between Wasan-dong and Ryongsong, Pyongyang, in 1961.
One day an old woman appeared at the site, carrying an empty bucket and a shovel. She was planning to dig up the pieces of coal that were sometimes discovered at the site.
A student approached her, and asked her whether she had run out of coal.
The old woman replied, "No, I haven't. But it would be a waste to leave them here."
The student arranged for an excavator to dig up the coal and move it to a safe place so that people could collect it and take it to their houses. Then he personally shovelled some into the old woman's bucket.
The old woman, when she discovered later that the student was President Kim Il Sung's son, came back and said, "You did such menial work for an ordinary old woman."
Holding her two hands, Chairman Kim Jong Il said:
"I am also a son of the people. How can I mind doing such menial work if it is for them? There is nothing more worthwhile in the world than working for the people."


After we said farewell to ladies, our last chickens, in the fall we started daydreaming about starting again. In the winter, amidst snow storms and with our not-quite-so-newborn in my arms, I placed our order for a new batch of chickens. After fewer than half arrived alive (snowstorm after they'd shipped) I was reluctant to post. And then we almost moved to Bahrain but didn't.
Since then, we've received replacements that all arrived happily. The big girls (and guy!) are out in the big coop and within a week or two we will put the new girls out in their own space inside the large coop for them all to get acquainted.
When the time comes to finally merge the flock, we will move along a couple of the "hatch day mystery" chicks we ordered to fill in the required number to ship in early February. But for now we have happy peeping in the dining room, and scratching and pecking in the back yard.
It's good to have chooks again. And not just to hear C talk to Missser Roosser.


This week, we are heading to Chesham for a 4 mile (6.4km) gentle walk takes you through the beech hangers on Chesham's doorstep enabling you to appreciate their beauty.
There is an option to swap 'fields and views' for more beech woodland halfway round, but none of the paths are arduous. History hides away along the route. The remains of mills along the River Chess take one back to early times. Lord's Mill was a corn mill in Saxon times when they farmed the Chess Valley. Chesham harboured nonconformist Lollards and Thomas Harding, the 16th-century martyr, was arrested in Aldridge's Dell in 1532 and burnt at the stake as a heretic on White Hill, where there is a memorial stone. Along the route there is a wide range of wildlife to be enjoyed. Look for egrets and herons on the Chess. On the Chess lakes there are wildfowl including unusual ducks, grebes, geese and swans. Look out in the woods for woodpeckers, nuthatches and, in the spring, a profusion of wildflowers including wild orchids. Autumn will bring out its crop of fungi amongst the beautiful leaf colours. You might even glimpse a deer in the woods or the blue dart of the kingfisher along the Chess.
CLICK HERE for full walk details.
* please note this is not a guided walk.


text:
Ukraine: a Puzzling Leader in Women's Reproductive Rights
by Hannah Leibson
in Featured, World
Ukrainian flag in central Kiev. Photo: Maria Michela D'Alessandro
An unlikely state has seemingly emerged as the global leader in women's sexual and reproductive autonomy – Ukraine.
Last month, the United Nations Population Fund released their comprehensive State of World Population 2019 report, aptly titled, Unfinished Business: The Pursuit of Rights and Choices for all. For the first time, this annual report examined data on three areas of women's choice: sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care.
For access to women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, the data suggests that women in Ukraine and the Philippines enjoy the most empowerment, with 81 percent of women able to make these choices for themselves.
The Guttmacher Institute, a leading institution examining women's reproductive rights, found similarly high levels of women's reproductive rights in Ukraine across a variety of related factors.
Notably, the report found that 90 percent of women in Ukraine demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention methods. According to Judyth Twigg, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, there were zero cases of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in 2016.
Ninety-three percent of women in Ukraine have their demand for contraception satisfied and 82 percent of women were able to make an informed choice about their contraceptive method as a result of the information they received from their health care providers.
"By 2007 Ukraine had adopted a very progressive National Reproductive Health Programme and had been making considerable progress in decreasing maternal and new-born mortality and abortion rates, and in increasing contraceptive use as well as awareness and information availability regarding modern contraception methods and reproductive rights," Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, UNFPA Regional Communications Adviser for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told The Globe Post.
In #Ukraine, teen girls use #Skype to access free counseling services on reproductive rights — http://t.co/uKQXU58Xwb #GirlsinICT Day
— Beyond Access (@Beyond_Access) April 24, 2014
Limitations of the Data
Despite Ukraine's progressive agenda for women's sexual and reproductive rights, it is important not to lose sight of the big picture when taking a note of the U.N.'s leading designation.
Previously, the U.N. HeforShe initiative has cited Ukraine's "systematic gender inequality," due to "deeply rooted systematic gaps," including "weak rule of law, low capacity of the institutional mechanisms for gender equality and lack of political will."
And just this year, Freedom House, a research and advocacy organization on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, cited Ukraine's challenging civil society climate, noting that "Attacks against journalists, civil society activists, and members of minority groups are frequent and often go unpunished."
It may seem counterintuitive that a nation with limited civil liberties and pervasive gender inequality should serve as one of the two global leaders in women's access to reproductive justice.
A closer look at the UNFPA data, however, reveals that Ukraine cannot accurately hold that title, and neither can the Philippines.
The data for the indicator called "Decision making on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, per cent" was conducted by Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from the United States Agency for International Development, and excluded all high-income countries, as well as many middle-income ones.
And according to Eschenbächer, the 81 percent figure cited in the UNFPA report "is over ten years old and would have to be verified to be meaningful in the current context."
The UNFPA claim in the press release that "Women's sexual and reproductive autonomy was greatest in two countries: the Philippines and Ukraine, where 81 percent of women are empowered to make these decisions for themselves," should have included an explanation of the methodology to avoid misrepresentation of both the nations surveyed and the data's tenure.
Our collective challenge is to finish the #UnfinishedBusiness of ensuring rights and choices for all.
Check out our newly released State of World Population 2019 Report for more: https://t.co/J0NsAo8zA2#StandUp4HumanRights #SWOP2019 pic.twitter.com/ehJqz1KRL7
— UNFPA (@UNFPA) April 10, 2019
While the status of Ukraine as the leader in women's sexual and reproductive rights and health may invite some questions, the 81 percent figure should not be understated.
Ukraine continues to expand its healthcare sector to better suit the needs of women.
"The development of a new comprehensive reproductive health programme is an important step that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is currently undertaking, which will help to build on the achievements made so far to improve the quality of reproductive health services," WHO Representative Everard said.
With a first phase roll out in 2018, under the leadership of Acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun, monumental new reforms seek to restructure and refinance the healthcare industry to better incentivize citizens to seek primary, secondary care; and tertiary care as needed. Medical aid related to pregnancy and labor is expected to be covered by the state beginning in 2020.
Adjacent to the rise of greater wrap around medical services to Ukrainian women, the rise of civil society in recent years has improved access to information – a key determinant of women's sexual and reproductive rights and health. Some 49–52 percent of 15-19 year old women enjoying weekly exposure to family planning message in the media and a steep 85 percent of Ukrainian women attend secondary-school, a key source of sexual education.
"Women in Ukrainian society traditionally assume key decision-making roles with regard to all aspects of family health, in comparison to men who tend to display more limited health-seeking behavior patterns," Eschenbächer explained.
Ukraine Wrestles With Measles as Cases Rise 300 Percent Worldwide
Hannah Leibson
Why is the UN's Response to Myanmar's Rohingya Persecution so Powerless?
by Max Pensky
African Nations Should Invest in Young People to Tackle Terrorism: UN Chief
by Imogen Francis
Latin American Countries Develop Plan to Integrate Venezuelan Migrants
Sudan Protesters Ready to 'Pay Price of Change' as Military Attempts Provocations
UN Climate Talks Limp to Close as Europe Sizzles
Elections in Spain: Regime Maintenance Disguised as Democratic Vitality
My Burqa is a Reminder of the Freedom that Has Always Been Mine


Can You Prepare a Nutritionally Adequate Homemade Diet for Your Dog?
Are you feeding your dog a homemade diet? Many pet owners have elected this option so, if you are, you are not alone. There are lots of reasons people decide to prepare their dog's food at home; many of them are valid reasons. But how sure are you that you have prepared a nutritionally adequate homemade diet for your dog? Is it providing him with all of the nutrients he needs?
Disclosure: Animal Bliss is an Amazon.com affiliate and will earn a (very small, teeny tiny) commission from purchases made through links on this website at no extra cost to you.
A recently completed study collected 200 recipes from textbooks, pet care books, and various websites. These recipes were evaluated for nutritional adequacy and balance. Because previous studies have shown that many home-prepared diets are not nutritionally balanced and may lead to detrimental effects when fed for extended periods of time, this study intended to be the first large-scale study to evaluate published recipes for home-prepared diets for dogs. To date, it is the largest ever evaluation of homemade recipes for canine maintenance. The 2016 AAVN Clinical Nutrition and Research Symposium presented the results of the study.
● Of the 200 recipes evaluated, 129 were written by veterinarians, and non-veterinarians wrote 71.
● Computer software was used to assess all 200 recipes, while laboratory methods were used to analyze 15 of the diets prepared as directed by the recipes. The computer-based analysis was found to be highly predictive of nutritional inadequacies as measured and compared to laboratory analysis of the 15 selected diets.
● Nutritional profiles of each diet evaluated were compared with the National Research Council (NRC) recommended allowances and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) minimum nutrient concentrations for adult dogs.
● 92% of the recipes contained incomplete instructions that required assumptions to be made by the owners.
● Only three recipes met or exceeded the NRC recommended allowances and an additional two met or exceeded the NRC minimum requirements. Veterinarians wrote all five of these recipes.
● Only nine recipes met or exceeded the AAFCO profiles. Veterinarians wrote eight of the nine.
● A whopping 95% of the analyzed recipes contained at least one essential nutrient deficiency. Many of them contained more than one deficiency.
● Zinc, choline, copper, EPA + DHA, and calcium deficiencies were the most commonly identified inadequacies.
● Periodic ingredient and/or recipe rotation was not shown to be an effective means of balancing the overall diet because so many contained similar deficiencies.
● Four recipes evaluated were written by board-certified veterinary nutritionists. All four met or exceeded the AAFCO nutrient profiles for canine maintenance.
Does this mean that a homemade diet for your dog is ill-advised? No, not necessarily. It does mean, however, that choosing a generic recipe from a book, a magazine, or a website is not the best choice. Veterinarians, pet experts and pet owners alike, based on the results of this survey, may find preparing a nutritionally adequate diet challenging. Working with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist is your best option should you elect to feed a home-made diet.
Do you prepare a homemade diet for your dog?
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!
Bearded Dragon Brumation Symptoms, What should I do?


Lancet. 2014 Aug 9;384(9942):523-31. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62418-6. Epub 2014 Jun 18.
The expanding universe of disorders of the basal ganglia.
Obeso JA1, Rodriguez-Oroz MC2, Stamelou M3, Bhatia KP4, Burn DJ5.
Movement Disorders Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Area, Clínica Universitaria and Medical School, and CIMA, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Centro de Investigación en Redes sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jobeso@unav.es.
Centro de Investigación en Redes sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Donostia and Neuroscience Unit BioDonostia Research Institute, San Sebastian, Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain.
Movement Disorders Clinic, Second Department of Neurology, Attiko Hospital, University of Athens, Greece; Sobell Department of Motor Neurosciences and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
Sobell Department of Motor Neurosciences and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
The basal ganglia were originally thought to be associated purely with motor control. However, dysfunction and pathology of different regions and circuits are now known to give rise to many clinical manifestations beyond the association of basal ganglia dysfunction with movement disorders. Moreover, disorders that were thought to be caused by dysfunction of the basal ganglia only, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, have diverse abnormalities distributed not only in the brain but also in the peripheral and autonomic nervous systems; this knowledge poses new questions and challenges. We discuss advances and the unanswered questions, and ways in which progress might be made.


text:
Jon Rahm Survives Penatly, Muirfield, To Win Memorial By 3 Shots
By Matt McCoy Jul 20, 2020
A week ago at Muirfield, Jon Rahm finished in only 27th place at the Workday Charity Open. He struggled most of the weekend but found his game for Sunday's final round when he had the low score of the day, an 8-under par 64. As it turned out, that was a precursor of things to come. Playing at Muirfield for a second week in a row--this time under much more difficult conditions with a much more difficult set-up, Rahm played consistent golf for four rounds, made the occasional spectacular shot and won the 45th Memorial Tournament by three shots.
"I'm incredibly proud to sit here and be the Memorial Tournament champion," the 24-year old Rahm said. "There's a lot of accomplishments that are hard to believe I've done so early in my career. This is one of the best performances in my life."
Officially, Rahm finished at 9-under par but when he walked off the green at 18 Sunday, he thought he had shot 11-under and won by five shots. Rahm ended up being penalized two shots by PGA Tour rules officials for a violation moments before he holed an amazing shot from off the green on the par three 16th hole. As he put his club behind the ball before making his swing, the ball moved ever so slightly. After viewing replays, Rahm was accessed a two shot penalty and the shot that appeared to be a miraculous birdie became a spectacular bogey.
"I'm still confused. I didn't see that ball move at all," Rahm said after the round. "It barely moves at all, but the rules of golf are clear and the ball did move. Unfortunately it's going to have a bitter-sweet feeling to possibly one of the greatest shots of my career."
In the end, the penalty is a footnote on Rahm's weekend. He took control of the tournament with a 4-under par 68 on Saturday, when he moved to 12-under par overall and opened up a 4-shot lead. The lead swelled to 8-shots at one point Sunday and despite some struggles on the back 9, Rahm was never in serious jeopardy. Ryan Palmer finished second at 6-under par, with Matthew Fitzpatrick winding up third at minus 5. Fitzpatrick shot a 4-under par 68 under the extremely difficult Sunday conditions. It was the low round of the day and the only round in the 60's. By contrast, nine players had rounds in the 80s. The average final round score Sunday was 75.96--essentially 4-over par, which is exactly what Tiger Woods shot. Woods finished 6-over for the weekend and was tied for 40th place.
Westerville's Jason Day had another nice weekend. Day tied for fourth at 4-under par. It's his best Memorial finish and Day, who was seventh at last week's Workday Charity Open, is the only player to finish in the top 10 in both of the back-to-back events at Muirfield.
As for Rahm, he not only takes home a $1.7 million winners check, but he also vaults to the top of the World Golf Rankings. He becomes the fourth youngest player in history to climb to No. 1 and joins the legendary Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to accomplish the feat. Rahm spoke about the win, the penalty, the conditions at Muirfield, Jack Nicklaus and more following the championship trophy presentation. You can check out his press conference here.


Here we would like to share our building process with you. We believe that our clients should have a full understanding of all the stages involved in building a log and timber home. Beginning with the sustainable harvest of logs and ending with the delivery of a world class log and timber home.
Follow along to gain an understanding of all the steps involved in building a log and timber home.
Each home begins with the harvesting of the logs. When deciding to build with timber and logs it is important to understand where the raw materials come from and the manner in which they are harvested. It is a priority at West Coast Log Homes to ensure logs are harvested sustainably and environmental impacts are mitigated. Our buyers work hand in hand with logging companies to make sure these goals are met.
West Coast Log Homes has pioneered the process of pressure washing logs in order to remove the bark. Traditionally a drawknife is used to cut away the bark along with the outer layer of wood growth. This process unfortunately removes all the natural character that can be found just under the bark layer. By using high pressure water these characteristics are maintained allowing the natural beauty of the log to show.
At the core of every West Coast Log Home lies the skill and craftsmanship that goes into each piece. Inspired by traditional joinery techniques, every log and timber is precisely cut according to detailed shop drawings. By using dovetails and mortise and tenon joinery we are able to avoid the need for metal fasteners that often cause long term maintenance problems.
After each piece in the project is cut the stage is set for delivery and assembly. West Coast Log Homes has shipped projects all over the world, sending a crew with each project to ensure the structure is assembled correctly. Houston foundation repair take great care when shipping logs and timbers to prevent any damage that might occur during transit whether by truck, train, or ship.


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text:
15 Best Horror Games Releasing in 2016
Updated: 13 May 2016 3:45 am
It's all about surviving with your sanity intact.
BY: Jessie McEwen
Keep the Fear Alive 365 Days a Year
Can't wait until Halloween season to get your horror fix? 2015 has changed how we look at horror survival games with hits like Until Dawn and Soma. We have taken a look at the gaming forecast, and it looks like 2016 will be another excellent year for the horror game genre.
Not a fan of games featuring monsters? Not a problem. I have taken care to scour the latest news for games across all sub-genres of horror. From ghostly supernatural specters to personal demons, we have a little something here for everyone.
Turn down the lights and turn up the volume everyone. Here is a list of 15 amazing horror video games to get excited about in 2016:
1. Layers of Fear
Would you sacrifice your sanity for the sake of your art?
Layers of Fear is a first person psychological horror game developed and published by Bloober Team. You play as an insane painter who has returned to his studio after a long absence. And when I say this character is nuts, you have to listen to his raving in the teaser to truly understand. He is intense when it comes to fine art. The goal of the game is to make it through six chapters and collect the six items he needs in order to finish a masterpiece.
Upon first inspection the house appears normal, but then everything gets turned on its head. The environment will gradually begin to twist and distort as the player progresses through each chapter. Peel away the layers one by one and explore the scars left by depression and alcoholism. Playing through just a few hours of this game will gave you wondering if you are the one who needs to be committed to a mental institution.
Layers of Fear was released on February 16th of 2016, and is available to play on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Jessie McEwen
Professional writer, artist and gamer
Gamer Since: 1999
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Borderlands the Pre-Sequel
Top 3 Favorite Games:Outlast, BioShock, Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Explore the cursed Finch family history with Giant Sparrow's upcoming game.
100%sad
This article makes me feel:
Indie Game "The Darkside Detective" Features 6 Cases About The Paranormal
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Subnautica Lets Players Discover What Horrors Lie Beneath the Ocean
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Top 15 Free Horror Games for PC
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5 Best Online Zombie Survival Games
Ready to band together with the rest of humanity to fight the legion of the undead? Not sure where to start your noble zombie slaughter? Check out these great online zombie survival games and get your supplies ready—the fight for humanity is raging on. 5. DayZ If you're...
25 Best Korean Horror Movies of All Time
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Psychological Horror Game "Firewood" Is About a Man Who Lost His Wife
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Top 25 Best Horror Animes With Great Storylines
November is always a let down for me after Halloween and the 31 days of October which I pack full of Horror movie marathons. But never fear, with these 25 gruesome offerings you will be sure to have a happily horrific holiday season. What's that you say? "This is suppose to be the time of giving...
21 Indie Horror Games You Probably Don't Know About
What is the "Golden Rule" of any good horror game? The unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. In other words, fear. While some try to avoid it, others seek it out. Horror games have become the go to...
Top 10 Games Like Friday the 13th (Games Better Than Friday the 13th in Their Own Way)
The Top 10 Games Like Friday the 13th If you have enjoyed playing as Jason or a number of counselors in Friday the 13th: The Game, then you will be delighted to know there are other games out there that are similar. Sometimes it is difficult to find game similar to the ones we most love....
10 Best Free Horror Games to play in 2015 (for PC)
Here's Our List of 10 Best Free Horror Games To Play in 2015 Is spending money a horror game in itself? Do you find yourself just a little too well rested at night? Does screaming alone in your room and throwing your keyboard at your screen sound like a good time? If this sounds like you,...
Top 25 Horror Movies Based on True Stories
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10 Genuinely Frightening, Fresh Horror Movies
Looking to get scared by something new? Look no further. Don't look behind you, though… Let's face it: not all horror films nowadays can give us that genuine feeling of dread and terror. In a rush to be the next Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, many films resort to jump scares or other...
Prey: This new horror game will have you questioning what's real
Prey is here, and it's everything we hoped for The latest survival horror game is here, and it's making waves. Prey is a first person horror game set aboard the Talos I, a space station that orbits the moon in the year 2032. Players take the role of Morgan Yu, the key subject in an experiment...
Top 11 Best VR Horror Games 2018
This list of the 11 best VR titles is sure to give you a blending of reality and fiction so vivid, you'll have to check your own limbs to make sure you've still got them. 11. Don't Knock Twice "Don't Knock Twice | Launch Trailer" Are you brave enough to search your decrepit...
10 Best Zombie Survival Games To Prepare You For a Zombie Apocalypse
It's never too early to prepare for the end of the world. Check out these games and begin constructing your zombie survival strategies. It'll be a bumpy ride. 10. State of Decay What's going to get you places when the zombie apocalypse hits? Influence, and lots of it....
Critters Television Show Announced in 2014 May Never Come To Screens
There hasn't been an outbreak of the Critters since Critters 4 premiered in theaters in 1992. It was announced by Warner Brothers that their shortform series production unit - known as Blue Ribbon Production - would take on the creation of a Critters Television show in 2014. Supposedly the new show...
The 10 Best Horror Games of 2018 (PC)
What Are The Top 10 Horror Games Released in 2018? Its past midnight and you know you shouldn't be awake still, but you can't seem to tear yourself away from your computer screen and the terrifying scene that is playing out on it. One more level. One more night. One more page. This is what you...
System Shock Remastered: Release Date, Trailer, Gameplay and Latest News
System Shock revived The original System Shock was released back in 1994 and was continued was continued five years later by the iconic System Shock 2. Since then, the System Shock series has been put on hold and in its place was the spiritual successor BioShock. Now in 2016 the System Shock...
Watching scary movies alone is one thing. Watching exorcism movies alone...now that, you may not want to do! The grotesque, the realm of the unknown, and lots of screaming make exorcism films a go-to if you're looking to get spooked. Be afraid, for demons will stop at nothing to destroy those...
10 Upcoming Horror Games To Be Released in 2015 and 2016
10 Upcoming Horror Games To Be Released in 2015 and 2016 For some strange reason people love to get scared. For years, the horror game industry has been provided people with the frights and giggles they've been wanting. If you've never played a horror game before or you're simply looking...
Top 10 Best PS4 Horror Games To Play in 2019
Chills, thrills, and jump scares - horror video games come in all different shapes and sizes. There's something for everyone - whether you prefer grizzly death scenes or mysteries that make your skin crawl. Explore dark winding corridors, abandoned space ships, and characters minds' in these...
IT 2017 Horror Film Release Date, Trailer, and Story
Release Date Emerging from the sewers once again on 8 September 2017, Stephen King's It will be mortifying us like never before. Taking place in the 1980's, this new adaptation of the demonic clown known as Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) will be a two-part movie confirmed by the producer, Dan Lin....
For the First Time Ever, You Can Play as Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Game
The horror saga continues - in a fresh new way Fans of 80s horror movies rejoice as Friday the 13th: The Game nears its release date at the end of this month. The game has been highly anticipated, and so far, it looks like it will not let us down. It is intended to be a horror game similar to...
The Top 15 Indie Horror Games for PC
Independent developers put their hearts and souls and all their spooks and creeps into these games, and it shows by the great reception the gaming community has had with them. Some of these utilize a pixelated style and some of them are in vivid 3d, but one thing remains the same: They're all...
10 New Horror Games To Scare Your Pants Off In 2015
Looking For a New Horror Adventure? Horror fans across the board, 2015 is in full swing! It brought with it a slew of horror games just ready to eat you alive and keep you awake forever. If you'd been putting off washing your pants, there are plenty of PC games ready to get you motivated...
Top 15 Upcoming Horror Movies of 2018
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Top 25 Best Horror Movies 2017, Ranked Good To Best
Let's Countdown The Best Horror Movies of 2017 25. Mayhem Mayhem Official Trailer An office building is overrun with an airborne virus that makes everyone go crazy and drop their inhibitions. Basic instincts like fighting and sex take over. Starring Steven Yeun and Samara...
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12 Best Japanese Horror Games for PC
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The Secret World: Review and Gameplay
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The 15 Best Horror Mangas Loved by Millions Worldwide
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The greatest horror films transport us into different worlds and never quite let us go, even after we've left the movie theater. Here are 21 horror films that keep us coming back for more Few genres of film are quite as diverse as horror, running the gamut from comedy to action-adventure to...
12 Most Horrifying Horror Game Antagonists
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The 25 Best Ghost Movies of All Time, Ranked Good To Best
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The Best Funny Horror Movies To Watch Right Now 50. Shaun of the Dead Shaun of the Dead Official Trailer When a zombie apocalypse takes over London, Shaun must step up to save both his relationships and his life. This classic horror comedy suggests we all just go to the pub...
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Outlast Movie: 10 Movies Like Outlast You Need To Watch
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Routine Gameplay - A New Game For Horror Fans. Here Are 5 Things You'll Love
Space Horror Is Screaming Back Routine is an upcoming survival horror game that will really get fans of the genre excited. If you loved the Dead Space series I believe that you will love Routine. So far the developers have only released some alpha footage to be marveled at by fans. The Routine...
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expounded on the role of design in society with urbanist Charles Landry, an international authority on imaginative urban change, and founder of Comedia, a network of experts who focus on creativity, culture and urban changes. Belgian architect Hilde Daem related her works to a wider cultural context of science and the arts, stating "We make conversations with the world, the people and the music." Deyan Sudjic presented a sensational discussion on his career in journalism, academia and as the director of the Design Museum in London. Daan Roosegaarde had the audience mesmerized by his speech that explored his range of high tech designs and projects. In the other morning session 'Product & Design, Australia-born, Belgium-trained Danny Venlet attracted great interest with his contemporary style in interior projects like the Burdekin Hotel in Sydney and Q-bars, an Australian chain of nightclubs.
Zhang Lei, the lone Chinese member of the design trio PINWU, lectured on his ecologically inspired work in contemporary furniture and objects using traditional techniques and materials such as bamboo, porcelain, water silk floss and paper. Belgium native Pierre Leclercq talked about the high-octane auto industry in China as the Vice President and head of design Great Wall Motors. Tomek Rygalik and Gosia Rygalik of Studio Rygalik offered great insight on the relationship between food and design in their furniture, products and interior spaces, saying they hope their food design can gather creative people with tasty food and interaction. Rounding up the session was Alain Gilles whose fascinating personal approach to product and furniture design, art direction and interior architecture, has won him a number of international awards, including the coveted Red Dot Award.
The conference closed with the afternoon session of 'Culture & The City' (Part 2) featuring Lars Nittve, executive director of M+, museum for visual culture of the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong whose highlighted its development. Other speakers were Colin Fournier, co-architect of the Kunsthaus Graz in Austria and partner in architectural, design and consulting firm TETRA. Christine Conix, manager of CONIX RDBM Architects, articulated her philosophy on adjusting to open spaces to create identity and enduring value. Wim Pijbes, general director of the Netherlands' Rijksmuseum Amsterdam home to one of the world's most celebrated art collection, enthusiastically detailed the reopening of the museum this year after a 10-year, US$489 million refurbishment.
Wrapping up the event was Ascan Mergenthaler, senior partner at Herzog & de Meuron. Mergenthaler is known for his high-profile international projects such as The Tate Modern in London. He said he is excited about his work on the Central Police Station, the new development to conserve and revitalise the historical site in Hong Kong. It was also announced with much excitement that the partner country for BODW 2014 will be Sweden. BODW culminated with the HKDC Annual Awards Gala Dinner in the evening. Organised by HKDC, the awards are dedicated to design, innovation and brands. It is a major platform to celebrate design excellence with the Design Leadership Award, World's Outstanding Chinese Designer Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Close to 1,000 guests attended the event including business leaders, design masters, professionals and friends of HKDC from Hong Kong and abroad.


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This Week in Security: Next-Gen Casino 'Fishing' Attack...
FEATURE / 08.04.17 / The Cylance Research and Intelligence Team
Casino Data Leakage via Next-Gen 'Fishing' Attack
Our industry is continuously inundated with new and innovative offensive techniques. Or, in this case… off-FIN-sive. While leveraging typical Internet of Things (IoT) devices has become commonplace, seeing atypical devices leveraged in novel attacks is something of a treat from our research teams' perspective.
This week, news broke of an attack focused on an American casino. The result of said attack was ultimately the exfiltration of ~10GB of sensitive company data.
What makes this interesting is the particular connected device leveraged in the attack. The attackers behind the campaign were able to compromise a connected fish tank as a bridgehead of sorts. Once the connected fish tank was compromised, they were able to use it to gain persistence and perform further actions within the targeted environment (internal scanning, lateral movement, data manipulation and movement).
In the end, the attackers were able to move the near 10GB of company data to an external server in Finand (of all places). The actual need for a smart/connected fish tank may be open to debate, but in this case, the off-FISH-al purpose of the Internet connectivity is reported to be specific to remote monitoring and management. Not at all dissimilar from various SCADA, ICS and similar systems.
The lessons gleaned from this attack are also similar. When dealing with these types of devices, we need to be highly aware of the points of exposure and properly manage any associated risk. Mitigate or remove exposure and ingress/egress points where possible, and do not take any of these technologies for granted when it comes to patching/firmware/updates, etc.
Vendors can carp on about the convenience of Internet connectivity as much as they like, but the more we connect to the external world, the more we have to stay on top of the associated risk.
Voting Machine Security: The Never-Ending Saga Continues
Last week, much of our industry was enveloped in the annual Black Hat and DEF CON conferences in Las Vegas. Covering all the valuable research that was shared between these two conferences (as well as BSidesLV and others) will have to be reserved for another blog and another time. However, one very important event that occurred at DEF CON this year was the first ever Voter Hacking Village.
Similar to other events (Car Hacking Village, etc.) the goal here was to create a totally open and rich environment for researchers to attempt to hack/exploit/break current voting machines and systems. All of these systems are currently in use in modern elections within the United States.
As could be predicted, researchers were able to compromise various machines/systems within the first 90 minutes. This is a subject near and dear to Cylance, and the criticality cannot be stressed enough.
Voting machine and system security has been a hot topic for many years and in every review, study and test, the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities continue to be exposed. So far, little has been done to fully overhaul the systems, let alone the overall guidance and requirements around how these systems are to be secured at the universal level.
We have yet to see a binding and required standard for how these systems are to be secured, and there are no standards that any of these manufactures are held to. The most current 'Guidelines' (Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Version 1.1) are exactly that - voluntary.
We still have a long way to go with regards to the security of these systems. Cylance has recently been at the forefront of research behind these systems. Some of our current research (including specific compromises on Sequoia Voting machines) can be found here:
Cylance Discloses Voting Machine Vulnerability
Newsweek - How Easy Is It To Hack A Voting Machine?
Cybersecurity and U.S. Voting Systems The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology hosted a series of discussions on Cybersecurity threats.
Efforts like the Voter Hacking Village should be applauded. Allowing researchers and engineers full access to these systems can go a long way to both expose vulnerabilities, but also foster and environment of remediation and mitigation - especially when the actual manufacturers are both involved and supportive.
The more we (the industry) can get the likes of Dominion, Sequoia, Diebold, WinVote and others to participate, the better off we will be both as an industry and as a secure nation, able to increase and extend our 'faith' in the voting infrastructure going forward.
Beware of Malicious npm Packages!
We are all familiar with typosquatting-type attacks when it comes to URL/DNS hijacking and similar. However, a recent wave of said attacks recently targeted npm (the users of it, rather). It was recently discovered that approximately 40 malicious packages were made available via npm's repository.
Upon discovery, the packages were quickly isolated and removed. However, it appears as though they were present for close to two weeks before they were removed. The malicious packages were published on July 19 and removed on August 1.
According to a statement on npm's blog, a user named 'hacktask' posted the packages with the intent to collect and exfiltrate data from "tricked" users. Based on information relayed in the same blog, there were 2770 total downloads spanning the 38 malicious packages.
For users and environments that were potentially exposed/compromised, it is recommended that the malicious packages be removed and promptly replaced with the legitimate pages, followed by a review and reset of any potentially exposed credentials.
The bigger lesson here is that attacks like typosquatting are absolutely not exclusive to the tried and true environments (URLS and similar). Software repositories, app stores, and beyond can all be used as attack vectors for this style of attack. A full list of the malicious packages can also be found on npm's blog.
What can be done to protect against these types of attacks? With attackers and package spammers becoming more adept at these systems, it's becoming more and more difficult to prevent and rapidly react. There is no single silver bullet.
It is always a good idea to double and triple check package names and download counts for anything you are installing. As per Ivan Akulov's blog post, "If a package is popular but the downloads number is low, something is wrong." npm is currently evaluating new and innovative measure to curtail this type of malicious activity.
About The Cylance Research and Intelligence Team
Exploring the boundaries of the information security field
The Cylance Research and Intelligence team explores the boundaries of the information security field identifying emerging threats and remaining at the forefront of attacks. With insights gained from these endeavors, Cylance stays ahead of the threats.


Join CNFAIC forecasters for a FREE hands-on and in-the-snow avalanche beacon practice!!!
This 1.5 hour informal beacon practice is geared for all user groups. Grab your friends and join us before hitting the hills!! Great intro or refresher!
WHERE: Turnagain Pass (motorized parking lot) – Look for the blue CNFAIC Avalanche trailer.
We will focus on practicing with your avalanche beacon, probe and shovel. We'll also talk and work on strategic shoveling techniques and common mistakes.
This session is open to everyone and anyone, novices and experts, who like to recreate in avalanche terrain – snowmachiners, skiers, kicker-builders, etc!! Practicing our rescue skills is a must for all of us. This will be a fun hour and a half that could help save a life in the future. See you there!
**Don't forget to bring your rescue gear: avalanche beacon, shovel, probe. We will have a few extras to borrow as well. Demo gear supplied by Black Diamond.


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TokuNet Film Club: Zeiram
Life-Sized Replica Of Shin Godzilla Coming To Japan
Toho Releases New Godzilla Puppet Series "Gojiban" On YouTube
Premium Bandai Announces Shin Godzilla Second Form Figure
Keita Amemiya X Games Glorious Collaboration Announced
Keita Amemiya's Zeiram takes the classic story of the unstoppable killing machine, inserts two electricians and lets the sparks fly.
Zeiram's plot is pretty standard. The titular creature is an intergalactic murder machine on its way to Earth, pursued by a no-nonsense bounty hunter. During their fight, stuff blows up, people get hurt and innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire. It's the kind of thing anyone who's seen an 80's movie would recognize, so Zeiram heavily leans on Amemiya's personal style to set itself apart.
The best thing about the film is Zeiram itself. Modeled after Komusō monks, the ones with the straw hats, Zeiram's iconic look is aided by the fact that for much of its screentime, Amemiya shot it in silhouette. Its stark outline is much more effective than any of the details we can see when it isn't backlit. The look plus the ominous chanting that plays whenever it's onscreen creates a memorable villain in the absence of dialogue or dramatic gestures.
Zeiram's opponent, bounty hunter Iria, is a confident veteran played by Yuko Moriyama. I get the kind of character Moriyama was going for, but I felt her attempts at confidence fell a little flat and crossed too far into apathetic territory. The two electricians, Teppei and Kamiya, were integrated into the story nicely. There is a point in the film where it looks like they will get the chance to be more important to the plot, but then the film backtracks and creates something of a gaping plot hole.
I usually don't care about plot holes when they seem like the film sacrificed logic for the sake of drama. As far as I'm concerned, drama should always take precedence. The problem in Zeiram is that the hole both calls the film's logic into question and misses out on an important dramatic opportunity. The end of the film attempts to fix it by recreating the situation it reneged on earlier, but by then I was just waiting for it to be over.
Zeiram is an okay action film at the end of the day. There isn't much room for impressive hand-to-hand choreography, so the film makes up for it with an abundance of practical creature effects. Amemiya's talent for atmospheric direction is on display here, at the expense of narrative skill. Overall, the film is a nice distraction and it's worth it for the Zeiram itself.
Let us know how you liked the film and come back next time for Zebraman!
Related Topics:Film Club, Keita Amemiya, review, Toho, Zeiram
TokuNet Film Club: Mechanical Violator Hakaider
TokuNet Film Club: Zebraman


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PSU researchers awarded $1 million federal grant to develop 'open knowledge network'
A $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation will help Portland State provide better information to agencies that manage wildfires, water quality and biodiversity conservation.
The grant will pay to conduct user needs assessments and develop prototype technologies to support an "open knowledge network," which builds the framework behind search engines and online platforms. Companies like Google, Apple and Amazon use these systems to provide search results that are more tailored to the search question. For example, the system can help identify the difference between the noun "building" and the verb "building" and provides additional related levels of information based on the search.
Sean Gordon, a research assistant professor with PSU's Institute for Sustainable Solutions, will lead a team of 13 researchers and practitioners from 10 different institutions and organizations collectively focused on spatial decision support systems.
Spatial decision support systems combine computer mapping and algorithms to help people make decisions. Google Maps, for example, uses these systems to build the most efficient routes from one place to another.
"The proliferation of online mapping technologies has greatly increased access to and utility of these kinds of tools, and a logical next step is increasing our ability to find the appropriate data and tools for your problem and link these together for more complex analyses," Gordon said.
The team will focus on three applied case studies — management of wildland fire, water quality and biodiversity conservation — and develop automated methods to collect and share relevant information.
With wildfires, for example, the utilities may need to shut off electricity in a localized area, as seen recently in California as PG&E turned off power for more than 2 million residents in an attempt to minimize fire damage.
Utilities have to make decisions that consider a medley of factors, including the location of customers, transmission lines, and fire risks based on the impact of bad weather and what the local landscape looks like.
"The idea is to make this information better related and easier for people to navigate when they have these kinds of complicated questions or complicated tasks that they have to carry out," Gordon said.
After the first phase of the project, researchers intend to submit a proposal for up to $5 million in additional NSF funding for fuller implementation of the prototypes developed in phase 1.
How Wily Teens Outwit Bathroom Vape Detectors
New laser opens up large, underused region of the electromagnetic spectrum