You can now save individual Threads posts to revisit at a later date. These are saved in a dedicated folder, allowing you to find and view them easily without having to go searching for them.
How to Save Posts on Threads
To save a Threads post, simply tap the three horizontal dots next to the post you want to save. This brings up a contextual menu that allows you to interact with that post and the poster in various ways. You can Save or Hide the post, or Mute, Block, or Report the poster. In this case, we want to save the post.
Tap Save, and that post will be saved to your Saved folder. A popup will appear telling you that you’ve saved the post, and invite you to See All. If you tap that quickly before it disappears, you’ll be whisked straight to your Saved folder. Otherwise, you’ll have to navigate there manually.
How to View Your Saved Threads Posts
To view your Saved Threads posts, which is, after all, the whole point of saving them:
Tap the outline of a human on the right-hand side of the bottom menu bar. This takes you to your profile.
Tap the two horizontal lines of differing lengths in the top, right-hand corner. This takes you to your Settings.
Cast your eyes down until you see Saved, and click that to open your folder of saved Threads posts.
To delete or unsave a saved post, simply tap the three dots next to a Threads post you have previously saved, and click Unsave. The post will disappear from your Saved folder (after refreshing or revisiting it), never to be seen again.
Reasons Why You Should Save Threads Posts
Like all social media apps, Threads is full of content. Especially if you hang out on the For You tab where Threads recommends content it thinks you’ll like. Quite often, it’s wrong, but just occasionally it will surface a post worth saving from a stranger you don’t follow on Threads.
As reported by ZDNet, Threads is increasing in popularity as it continues to take bites of X’s userbase. This means that the number of posts is only going to increase.
You might want to save a Threads post because:
It contains some helpful advice you want to revisit at a later date.
It contains some words of wisdom you want to live by in the future.
It contains a funny joke you want to save in order to retell others.
There will be plenty of other reasons too, but these are a just a handful of reasons why Threads’ Save function is useful. And if you can’t find anything on Threads worth saving, at least you can delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram.
The hosts are in Fuding, Fujian Province in southeast China for the Dragon Boat Festival, where teams of rowers compete against each other in narrow dragon-shaped boats. From making and eating zongzi rice dumplings to trying local street food, the hosts take part in the festivities before exploring the world of white tea, from visiting its “mother tree” to drinking it in a zen temple, and even feasting on a white tea banquet!
A Congolese singer, a Zimbabwean banjo player and a Mozambican bassist walk into an East Nashville bar. What follows is not a punchline, but the trio’s hypnotic opening salvo on “My Kind of Country,” the 2023 Apple TV series that brings rising stars to Music City from around the globe. These three, known collectively as the Congo Cowboys, have decided to lead with the first track they ever recorded together: “Tonight, we are going to play for you a song called ‘Jolene’ by Dolly Parton,” says vocalist Chris Bakalanga.
Moments into their cover, the men switch from English to Lingala — an inherently musical Central African language — and bring the house down, little aware that Parton recorded the original version 10 minutes away at RCA Studio B. She went on to release the album “Jolene” 50 years ago this month, days after the single of the same name had topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. And after returning to the country charts periodically, “Jolene” has just debuted on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart, thanks to Parton’s collaboration with the Italian band Måneskin for the new deluxe version of her “Rockstar” album.
Indeed, having transcended every imaginable stylistic and cultural barrier over the last half-century, the song based loosely on a flirtation between her husband and a brazen bank teller is Parton’s most covered creation. With its mesmeric opening lick, eminently singable chorus and infectious chord progression, “Jolene” has done what few songs ever have: inspired countless homages across eras, languages and oceans, from Brasília to Brazzaville in Congo and Tijuana to Tehran.
A small sampling: The version popularized in pre-revolution Iran by Leila Forouhar, who has long since become a fixture of L.A.’s Persian community; the Finnish cover by Vicky Rosti, whom dedicated Eurovision fans may remember from the ‘80s; and the soundtrack to the 2019 Australian short film “Dolly’s Song” by Kaylene Whiskey, whose acclaimed art often juxtaposes Parton against Indigenous backdrops.
Among the various takes in Spanish — including merengue and mariachi — is the cumbia duet by L.A.’s Chiquis Rivera and Becky G. that appeared on Rivera’s Latin Grammy-winning album “Playlist” (not to mention the L.A. Times’ 10 best Latin Music moments of 2020). The following spring, at the Latin Recording Academy’s first celebration of women’s music on Univisión, Parton surprised viewers by introducing “mi amiga Chiquis” and performing a bilingual version of “Jolene” with the banda star.
Airing on Mother’s Day, the special was particularly poignant for Rivera. Nearly a decade after the death of her own mother — “la Diva de la Banda” Jenni Rivera — “I just felt like my mom had opened up so many doors for me from heaven, and that was one of them,” Chiquis (as everyone calls her) said in a phone interview. “I couldn’t help but to feel her presence that night because I knew what a big fan she was of Dolly’s.”
With its mesmeric opening lick, eminently singable chorus and infectious chord progression, “Jolene” has done what few songs ever have: inspired countless homages across eras, languages and oceans.
(Jack Plunkett / Jack Plunkett/invision/ap)
Fond memories of listening to Parton’s music together had led Chiquis to create the cumbia version in the first place. “One day, I was driving and ‘Jolene’ came on — and it totally took me back,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I remember listening to this song with my mom.’ ” Chiquis happened to be recording an album at the time, and her manager thought she should include a cover. He suggested a Spanish version of “Jolene.”
Thinking it would be perfect as a duet, she reached out to her friend Becky G. “She said, ‘Oh my God, I love this song.’ ” Soon, a cumbia juggernaut was born. And so, by the way, was an engagement: Chiquis’ fiancé is the photographer who shot the collaboration. “He’s like, ‘If it wasn’t for Dolly Parton, you and I would have never met,’ ” recounted Chiquis. “So he always says, ‘I love that woman.’ ”
The feeling is nearly universal, no matter how close or distant one’s connection to Parton may be. Perhaps the most startling example? Nelson Mandela, who reportedly piped her music through the PA system of Robben Island while he was incarcerated there.
His fellow freedom fighter and inmate Tokyo Sexwale recounted the story on the 2019 podcast “Dolly Parton’s America.” “He said that at a certain point, the guards allowed Mandela to play music over the loudspeakers for the entire prison,” reported co-host Shima Oliaee. When she asked which songs in particular, Sexwale answered, “He loved ‘Jolene,’ ” adding, “No human being cannot be affected by ‘Jolene.’ ”
Ask musicologists why, and various explanations arise. “You don’t have to be worried that your partner is cheating on you to feel like you’ve got some sort of stake in the song,” said Lydia Hamessley, the Eugene M. Tobin distinguished professor of music at Hamilton College and author of two Parton books: “Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton” and the forthcoming Oxford Keynotes title “Dolly Parton’s Jolene” (due out later this year). Contemplating the meaning of the song, Hamessley posed a question: “Is this always about somebody yearning for a man not to leave, or is it a broader idea of loss?” Many, including Sexwale, favor the latter: “We all don’t want to lose.”
“The other thing I think about is the music itself,” said Hamessley: “It kind of rocks between two different chords that I think people find compelling.” There’s an analogous quality to the theme song of “Gilligan’s Island,” she noted, for anyone interested in a fun little exercise in musical analysis.
Then there are those four successive “Jolenes,” which Parton explained to Oliaee and her co-host Jad Abumrad as — initially — a memory device. One day after “The Porter Wagoner Show,” where Parton performed in the ‘60s and ‘70s, a little girl named Jolene asked for an autograph. “I said, ‘Oh, that’s a beautiful name,’ ” the singer recalled to the hosts. And thinking she might want to use it in a composition someday, she walked back to the tour bus saying, “ ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene,’ just so I’d remember the name.” Hearing that repetition, Parton realized she was onto something. Then she thought about the flirty bank teller, renamed her, and wrote a song.
“‘Every time I see [my husband] over there in that La-Z-Boy chair, snorin’ and sleepin’, I think, where is Jolene when you need her? You can have him now, Jolene!’ ” Parton said last year in an interview.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
“It’s really powerful the way that line builds up the scale and has an energy that you want to join,” said Hamessley. Another preeminent “Dollyologist” agrees that the exhilaration of singing along is part of the global appeal, no matter how plaintive the words: “There’s a disjunction between the pain of the lyrics when she’s anticipating the heartbreak, and the pleasure in singing the song,” observed Helen Morales, the Argyropoulos professor of Hellenic studies at UC Santa Barbara and author of “Pilgrimage to Dollywood: A Country Music Road Trip Through Tennessee.” “And the focus is not upon the husband — it’s actually on Jolene and the itemization of how beautiful she is, so there’s something sort of campy and fun about the song.” Morales, too, grew up listening to “Jolene” in a context you might not expect: as the child of a Greek Cypriot Dolly Parton fan who raised a family in England.
In fact, the Cape Town-based Congo Cowboys — Chris Bakalanga, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Julio Sigauque, originally from Mozambique, and Simon Attwell, originally from Zimbabwe — also knew the song from childhood. “We’d all grown up with ‘Jolene’ on the radio,” said Attwell in a phone interview. The group’s decision to record the song started with a desire to incorporate banjo — an instrument with African roots — into their sound. Then Attwell saw the White Stripes sing “Jolene” and was so taken with the rendition, it made him think about what the Congo Cowboys could do with the song. A discussion ensued, “and immediately, when Chris started singing in Lingala, it felt good — it felt right,” explained Attwell.
And therein lies the magic: “Jolene” somehow always feels right. In Lingala or Spanish. A cappella or backed by a full string section. In Miley Cyrus’ backyard or the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The only place “Jolene” seems conspicuously absent? Parton’s own home. Speaking to the BBC last year, she reported looking at her husband and joking, “‘Every time I see you over there in that La-Z-Boy chair, snorin’ and sleepin’, I think, where is Jolene when you need her? You can have him now, Jolene!’ ”
New Delhi, February 29: February was an exciting month that introduced many new motorcycles in India and globally. From Kawasaki to Bajaj and Royal Enfield, various manufacturers introduced their new models with better design, specifications and features. In March 2024, more new bikes with modern features and upgrades will be launched in India and the global market. In February, a few models were expected to launch but were likely delayed for the next month or the months following.
In February, motorcycle launches in India included Yamaha FZ-X Chrome Edition, 2024 Bajaj Pulsar NS160, Bajaj Pulsar NS200, 2024 Kawasaki Z900, 2024 Kawasaki Ninja 500, 2024 Kawasaki Z650RS, Kabira KM3000, Kabira KM4000, Triumph Scrambler 1200 X and Hero Mavrick Based on Harley Davidson X440. The international launches included TVS HLX 150F, Kawasaki Z500, Royal Enfield 650, and others. This month, the Ola S1 X variant and Kinetic E-Luna, an electric moped for traders and transportation, were also introduced in India. 2024 Bajaj Pulsar NS160 and Bajaj Pulsar NS200 Launched in India; Check Price, Specifications and Features.
List of upcoming bike launches in March 2024
In February 2024, many expected bikes were not launched, such as the 2024 Honda CBR400R, Kawasaki Ninja Z500, Kawasaki Ninja 500, Triumph Daytona 660 and Yamaha RX100 New Edition, were expected but were not launched. Hopefully, the bikes might be introduced in a couple of months or years. Here’s a list of the upcoming motorcycles to launch next month. India-Made Royal Enfield 650 Launched in Europe With Identical Specifications and Design, Sale Started in Select Countries: Report.
Moto Guzzi V9: The Italian motorcycle company Moto Guzzi will reportedly introduce its new motorcycle, Moto Guzzi V9, with an 853cc engine, 201kmph speed, 18kmph mileage and an expected price of Rs 14 lakh. It was unveiled during EICMA 2023; however, it may or may not be introduced in India.
KTM 125 Duke 2024: The Austrian motorcycle company has become quite popular in India after launching its new bikes with sporty designs. The KTM 125 Duke 2024 model has been rumoured for months and will likely be launched next month with an expected price starting from Rs 1,75,000 to Rs 1,80,000.
Husqvarna Motorcycles: This week, the Swedish motorcycle company Husqvarna Group has reportedly teased its upcoming Husqvarna Svartpilen 901 bike to launch soon. It is expected to launch on March 5 with an 889cc parallel-twin motor. The bike is expected to launch in India around Rs 12 lakh. The other bike expected in March 2024 is the Husqvarna Vitpilen 125, which may be introduced for around Rs 1.35 lakh.
Yamaha XSR125: Yamaha has recently launched its Yamaha FZ-X Chrome Edition in India, and the company is expected to introduce its Yamaha XSR125 bike in March. The bike is expected to have a 124cc engine, 120kmph speed, 47.6kmpl mileage and classic design. As per the rumours, the motorcycle may be launched in three colour options and around Rs 1.35 lakh price tag.
Honda Motorcycles: Honda is expected to launch its new Honda CBR150R soon in India, and the rumoured launch may take place in March or July. Honda is also rumoured to introduce its new Honda CBR300R next month.
Royal Enfield Roadster 450: The new Royal Enfield motorcycle Roadster 450 is expected to be launched in mid-2024, likely in March.
Bajaj Pulsar 400: Bajaj Auto recently launched its 2024 Bajaj Pulsar NS160 and Bajaj Pulsar NS200 bikes in India, and it may launch its Bajaj Pulsar 400 in India around March 2024.
Besides these motorcycles, other models like Suzuki V-Strom 800DE, Royal Enfield Classic 350 Bobber, Honda CFR300L, BSA Gold Star and others will likely be introduced next month. E-scooters like the Ather Rizta electric scooter, Gogoro 2 series, and Honda Activa Electric Hero Electric AE-8 are expected in the two-wheeler segment. However, the companies have to confirm the launch date of these models.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 29, 2024 07:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Every six months, the automotive research company J. D. Power surveys some 5,000 US electric vehicle owners about their experiences driving their battery-powered cars. The latest edition of this survey, out this week, found that EV’s perennial bugbear is still bugbearing. In fact it has gotten worse: Drivers say they are even more dissatisfied with the availability of public charging stations than they were a year ago.
In North America, additional charging stations are on their way, thanks in part to a US federally funded program that seeks to get at least half a million more in the ground by 2030. But in this messy middle period, automakers have come up with another solution: Let Tesla take care of it.
Tesla has the most widespread and dependable charging network in the United States. (In fact, the new survey found that upscale EV drivers are more likely to be happy with public charging—and the majority of them drive Teslas.) It also has a unique charging plug, called the North American Charging Standard. Nearly every global automaker has now pledged to add that plug to its electric vehicles, allowing its drivers to tap into the Tesla charging network.
Ford piloted the “let Tesla take care of it” model last May, when it announced it would adopt that plug. Its EVs will come with the connector standard by 2025. And starting today, existing drivers of the Mach-E Mustang and Lightning pickup truck will get access to a hearty chunk of Tesla’s Supercharger network, courtesy of free adapters that they can order off a website that Ford just launched. The adapters will be gratis between now and July; after that, they’ll retail for $230, Ford says. The company expects the adapters to begin shipping in late March.
Tesla Saves Best New Chargers For Its Own
Yes, Ford drivers can now use Tesla Superchargers, but Elon Musk’s EV company has reserved a select few newer ones for its drivers only.
Courtesy of Ford
Ford regularly surveys its own drivers, and “their main pain points have to do with public charging,” said Ken Williams, the automaker’s director of charging and energy services, on a call with reporters this week. The adapter will give Ford drivers access to 15,000 new chargers, bringing the total up to 126,000 chargers and more than 28,000 fast chargers across the US and Canada. (That doesn’t include every charger in the Tesla network; Ford drivers won’t get access to older Tesla charging stations, and Tesla has reserved a select few newer ones for its drivers only.) Drivers will be able to access and pay to charge at the stations through Ford’s app.
Bitcoin is pumping, folks! The asset, for the first time since November 2021, has crossed the mark of $61,000 (roughly Rs. 51 lakh). On Thursday, February 29, Bitcoin recorded a profit of 8.32 percent that took its price to $61,746 (roughly Rs. 51.4 lakh). In the last 24 hours, the value of Bitcoin has risen by $3,754 (roughly Rs. 3.11 lakh). As per market analysts, this surge is attributed to the ten spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US registering a new daily record by surpassing the $7.7 billion (roughly Rs. 63,833 crore) trading volume triggered by retail investors jumping on the crypto rally.
“BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF traded $3.3 billion (roughly Rs. 27,357 crore) on Wednesday, twice as much as its previous volume record. Bitcoin surged over 50 percent on a year-to-date. If this momentum continues, it is likely that Bitcoin will beat its previous all-time high soon,” Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex told Gadgets360.
Ether clocked a profit of 5.42 percent as it stepped into the trading rink on Thursday. The current trading value of ETH stands at $3,424 (roughly Rs. 2.83 lakh). Over the last day, ETH pricing has risen by $176 (roughly Rs. 14,590).
“Ethereum broke $3,400 (roughly Rs. 2.81 lakh), which is yet to have a similar rally as Bitcoin and is expected to hold these levels strongly until the halving. ETH-spot ETFs could send the second-largest crypto to new All-Time Highs (ATH),” Manhar Garegrat, Country Head, India & Global Partnerships at Liminal Custody Solutions told Gadgets360.
A plethora of altcoins have joined BTC and ETH in their rallies. These include Binance Coin, Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin, Avalanche, Chainlink, and Polkadot.
Other cryptocurrencies trading in gains on Thursday include Wrapped Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Cosmos.
The overall crypto market cap rose by 6.90 percent in the last 24 hours. The current crypto market valuation stands at $2.3 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,90,67,264 crore) as per CoinMarketCap. In light of BTC’s ongoing rally, the Bitcoin dominance on the crypto market stands at 53 percent.
“All Indian investors who had previously invested in Bitcoin are now in a profitable position with the market sentiment slowly moving towards the ‘extreme greed’ category. A glimpse of what might happen if you are too late was visible yesterday. After BTC reached $64,000 (roughly Rs. 53 lakh), there was a sudden dip due to sudden profit booking and BTC’s price fell below $59,000 (roughly Rs. 48.9 lakh) within minutes, causing close to $200 million (roughly Rs. 1,658 crore) worth of liquidations within just one hour. Simultaneously, the world’s largest fiat-based exchange Coinbase had also gone down for a bit,” the CoinSwitch Markets Desk highlighted.
Despite the otherwise bullish market sentiment, some cryptocurrencies did record losses on Thursday. These include Tether, Ripple, Tron, Polygon, Uniswap, Near Protocol, and Leo.
“It is worthwhile to note that Bitcoin has never crossed all-time highs in the halving event. The $69,000 (roughly Rs. 57.2 lakh) all-time high would act as a major resistance. However, in yesterday’s crypto market cycle, we also saw a glimpse of what altcoins can also do in such scenarios, as major memecoin DOGE pumped 20 percent in just an hour,” the CoinSwitch Markets Desk added.
Amid the ongoing bull run, market analysts advise caution and due diligence to the investor community.
Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
The impact of Google’s Search Generative Experience on ads within Google’s SERPs has been explored in a new study.
Research conduct by SEO platform SE Ranking found that:
Regardless of SGE snippet presence, ads appear more often at the bottom of search results.
Ads at the top of the SERP accompany SGE snippets more often than shopping ads (carousels).
Shopping ads (carousels) usually appear above the SGE snippet.
Niches like Fashion and Beauty, and Ecommerce and Retail, are more likely to feature shopping ads.
Why we care. Understanding the impact SGE has on ads in Google SERPs is crucial for businesses and marketers so that they can make data-led decisions for more effective marketing.
The study. SE Ranking examined 100,000 keywords across 20 niches, each with different search intents and volumes. The analysis provided insights into how often Google offers AI-generated responses, the length of content in the Search Generative Experience (SGE), linking patterns, variations across niches, and ad placement.
The findings. When SGE snippets with text were present (18,455), the study found:
Ads appeared at the top 4,280 times (23.19%).
Ads appeared at the bottom 6,499 times (35.21%).
Shopping ads appeared in the form of carousels (as shown in the screenshot below) 2,660 times (14.41%).
This means that in 5,016 instances (27.17%), no ad accompanied the SGE snippets with text.
Ad type. The study also looked at different ad types combined with text-based SGE snippets. Researchers found:
Both shopping ads and ads at the top of the SERP accompanied SGE responses in 1,018 cases.
Shopping ads appeared alongside text-based SGE snippets in 2,660 cases.
In 3,262 cases, only ads at the top of the SERP appeared alongside text-based SGE snippets.
Carousel shopping ads. Carousel shopping ads can be positioned above, below, or in the sidebar of the SGE snippet.
Ad placement. The study also looked into the most popular location for shopping ads in the SGE SERP. he data suggests a clear preference for having shopping ads above the SGE snippet:
Shopping ads appeared above the SGE snippet 2,969 times (80.72%).
In 502 cases (13.65%), shopping ads were placed below the SGE snippet.
Shopping ads appeared in the sidebar 207 times (5.63%), making this placement the least common.
What SE Ranking is saying. An SE Ranking spokesperson said in a statement:
“The main takeaway here is that we really need to stay on top of things. Changes seem to be happening practically every day.”
“This becomes extra clear when we compare these results to a previous study we did. When we ran our first round of SGE research back in late 2023, the results showed that only about 4% of keywords failed to trigger an SGE snippet. This time, 12.3% of keywords did not trigger an SGE response.”
“While this study has shed some light on Google’s AI-powered responses, much remains uncertain. We’ll be keeping a close eye on SGE’s latest developments and do more research to stay up-to-date.”
What Google is saying. Philipp Schindler, SVP and CBO, Google, said during Alphabet’s 2023 Q4 earnings call:
“As we shared last quarter, Ads will continue to play an important role in the new Search experience, and we’ll continue to experiment with new formats native to SGE.”
“SGE is creating new opportunities for us to improve commercial journeys for people by showing relevant ads alongside search results.”
“We’ve also found that people are finding ads either above or below the AI-powered overview helpful, as they provide useful options for people to take action and connect with businesses.”
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Deep dive. Read the SE Ranking report in full for more information.
India is a land blessed with diverse natural landscapes, including an array of beautiful lakes scattered across its length and breadth. From serene high-altitude lakes nestled in the Himalayas to expansive ones adorning the peninsular plateau, each lake holds its own unique charm and significance. Test your knowledge about thesestunning water bodies with this lakes quiz!
What is a Lake?
A lake is a large body of water that is surrounded by land. It is typically formed in depressions on the Earth’s surface, often by geological processes such as glaciation, tectonic activity, or volcanic activity. Lakes may be freshwater or saline and play vital roles in ecosystems, providing habitats for diverse flora and fauna while also serving as sources of drinking water and recreation.
Lakes in India
India boasts a rich tapestry of lakes, each offering its own unique beauty and significance. From the iconic Dal Lake in Kashmir to the serene Pangong Lake in Ladakh, and from the floating islands of Loktak Lake in Manipur to the sacred waters of Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan, the country’s lakes serve as vital ecosystems, cultural landmarks, and sources of livelihood for millions of people across diverse regions.
GK Quiz on Lakes in India, Questions and Answers
India hosts a myriad of lakes, ranging from the iconic Dal Lake in Kashmir to the serene Vembanad Lake in Kerala. These water bodies serve as vital ecosystems, cultural landmarks, and sources of livelihood across the country. Let’s boost your knowledge about the Indian Lakes with our GK Quiz on Lakes in India:
Q1. Which is the largest freshwater lake in India?
a) Chilika Lake
b) Dal Lake
c) Wular Lake
d) Vembanad Lake
S1. Ans. (c)
Q2. Which lake is famous for its floating islands known as ‘Phumdis’?
a) Loktak Lake
b) Pushkar Lake
c) Hussain Sagar Lake
d) Pichola Lake
S2. Ans. (a)
Q3. Which is India’s largest coastal lagoon and the world’s second-largest lagoon, situated on the east coast of India in Odisha?
a) Vembanad Lake
b) Chilika Lake
c) Umiam Lake
d) Salim Ali Lake
S3. Ans. (b)
Q4. Which lake in Rajasthan is considered one of the most sacred and is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats?
a) Lake Pichola
b) Ana Sagar Lake
c) Pushkar Lake
d) Fateh Sagar Lake
S4. Ans. (c)
Q5. Which lake, located in Odisha, is the largest coastal lagoon in India?
a) Chilika Lake
b) Lonar Lake
c) Sambhar Lake
d) Wular Lake
S5. Ans. (a)
Q6. Which lake in Gujarat is renowned as the country’s largest water bird sanctuary and was designated as a bird sanctuary in April 1969?
a) Nalsarover Lake
b) Bhimtal Lake
c) Sambhar Lake
d) Pushkar Lake
S6. Ans. (a)
Q7. Which lake in Maharashtra, dedicated to ornithologist Salim Ali, is known as Salim Ali Sarovar and is located near Delhi Gate in Aurangabad?
a) Salim Ali Lake
b) Hussain Sagar Lake
c) Bhimtal Lake
d) Sambhar Lake
S7. Ans. (a)
Q8. What unique feature makes Loktak Lake in Manipur famous?
a) Its abundance of migratory birds
b) Its turquoise-colored water
c) Its floating “phumdis” made from phragmites
d) Its volcanic origin
S8. Ans. (c)
Q9. _________ lake is known as the “Queen of Lakes” in Kerala?
a) Vembanad Lake
b) Ashtamudi Lake
c) Sasthamkotta Lake
d) Periyar Lake
S9. Ans. (c)
Q10. Sambhar Salt Lake is a major supplier of which mineral?
Early in the morning of Feb. 21, Change Healthcare, a company unknown to most Americans that plays a huge role in the U.S. health system, issued a brief statement saying some of its applications were “currently unavailable.”
By the afternoon, the company described the situation as a “cyber security” problem.
Since then, it has rapidly blossomed into a crisis.
The company, recently purchased by insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, reportedly suffered a cyberattack. The impact is wide and expected to grow. Change Healthcare’s business is maintaining health care’s pipelines — payments, requests for insurers to authorize care, and much more. Those pipes handle a big load: Change says on its website, “Our cloud-based network supports 14 billion clinical, financial, and operational transactions annually.”
Initial media reports have focused on the impact on pharmacies, but techies say that’s understating the issue. The American Hospital Association says many of its members aren’t getting paid and that doctors can’t check whether patients have coverage for care.
But even that’s just a slice of the emergency: CommonWell, an institution that helps health providers share medical records, information critical to care, also relies on Change technology. The system contained records on 208 million individuals as of July 2023. Courtney Baker, CommonWell marketing manager, said the network “has been disabled out of an abundance of caution.”
“It’s small ripple pools that will get bigger and bigger over time, if it doesn’t get solved,” Saad Chaudhry, chief digital and information officer at Luminis Health, a hospital system in Maryland, told KFF Health News.
Here’s what to know about the hack:
Who Did It?
Media reports are fingering ALPHV, a notorious ransomware group also known as Blackcat, which has become the target of numerous law enforcement agencies worldwide. While UnitedHealth Group has said it is a “suspected nation-state associated” attack, some outside analysts dispute the linkage. The gang has previously been blamed for hacking casino companies MGM and Caesars, among many other targets.
The Department of Justice alleged in December, before the Change hack, that the group’s victims had already paid it hundreds of millions of dollars in ransoms.
Is This a New Problem?
Absolutely not. A study published in JAMA Health Forum in December 2022 found that the annual number of ransomware attacks against hospitals and other providers doubled from 2016 to 2021.
“It’s more of the same, man,” said Aaron Miri, the chief digital and information officer at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida.
Because the assaults disable the target’s computer systems, providers have to shift to paper, slowing them down and making them vulnerable to missing information.
Further, a study published in May 2023 in JAMA Network Open examining the effects of an attack on a health system found that waiting times, median length of stay, and incidents of patients leaving against medical advice all increased — at neighboring emergency departments. The results, the authors wrote, mean cyberattacks “should be considered a regional disaster.”
Attacks have devastated rural hospitals, Miri said. And wherever health care providers are hit, patient safety issues follow.
What Does It Mean for Patients?
If You’re Caught in a Cybersecurity Breach, Here Are Steps to Take:
– Monitor the notices and bills you receive from insurers and providers. Contact them immediately if anything seems suspicious.– If a medical provider requests your Social Security number on intake forms, leave the space blank, and politely push back if they insist.– If your health plan offers free credit or identity theft monitoring following a breach, take it.If you’re concerned your data has been compromised: – Go to the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft site to file an identity theft report, if appropriate.– If someone used your name to get medical care, contact every provider who may have been involved and get copies of your medical records. Correct any errors.– Notify your health plan’s fraud department and send a copy of the FTC identity theft report.– File free fraud alerts with the three major credit reporting agencies.Michelle Andrews
Year after year, more Americans’ health data is breached. That exposes people to identity theft and medical error.
Care can also suffer. For example, a 2017 attack, dubbed “NotPetya,” forced a rural West Virginia hospital to reboot its operations and hit pharma company Merck so hard it wasn’t able to fulfill production targets for an HPV vaccine.
Because of the Change Healthcare attack, some patients may be routed to new pharmacies less affected by billing problems. Patients’ bills may also be delayed, industry executives said. At some point, many patients are likely to receive notices their data was breached. Depending on the exact data that has been pilfered, those patients may be at risk for identity theft, Chaudhry said. Companies often offer free credit monitoring services in those situations.
“Patients are dying because of this,” Miri said. Indeed, an October preprint from researchers at the University of Minnesota found a nearly 21% increase in mortality for patients in a ransomware-stricken hospital.
How Did It Happen?
The Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, an industry coordinating group that disseminates intel on attacks, has told its members that flaws in an application called ConnectWise ScreenConnect are to blame. Exact details couldn’t be confirmed.
It’s a tool tech support teams use to remotely troubleshoot computer problems, and the attack is “apparently fairly trivial to execute,” H-ISAC warned members. The group said it expects additional victims and advised its members to update their technology. When the attack first hit, the AHA recommended its members disconnect from systems both at Change and its corporate parent, UnitedHealth’s Optum unit. That would affect services ranging from claims approvals to reference tools.
Millions of Americans see physicians and other practitioners employed by UnitedHealth and are covered by the company’s insurance plans.
UnitedHealth has said only Change’s systems are affected and that it’s safe for hospitals to use other digital services provided by UnitedHealth and Optum, which include claims filing and processing systems.
But not many chief information officers “are jumping to reconnect,” Chaudhry said. “It’s an uneasy feeling.”
Miri says Baptist is using the conglomerate’s technology and that he trusts UnitedHealth’s word that it’s safe.
Where’s the Federal Government?
Neither executive was sanguine about the future of cybersecurity in health care. “It’s going to get worse,” Chaudhry said.
“It’s a shame the feds aren’t helping more,” Miri said. “You’d think if our nuclear infrastructure were under attack the feds would respond with more gusto.”
While the departments of Justice and State have targeted the ALPHV group, the government has stayed behind the scenes more in the aftermath of this attack. Chaudhry said the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services have been attending calls organized by the AHA to brief members about the situation.
Miri said rural hospitals in particular could use more funding for security and that agencies like the Food and Drug Administration should have mandatory standards for cybersecurity.
There’s some recognition among officials that improvements need to be made.
“This latest attack is just more evidence that the status quo isn’t working and we have to take steps to shore up cybersecurity in the health industry,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a longtime advocate for stronger cybersecurity, in a statement to KFF Health News.
You can tackle multiple side quests in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. One, in particular, might take you two chapters before it’s fully resolved. There’s also a nasty opponent at the end. Here’s our guide on how to complete The Saga of the Seaside Inn in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. We also discuss the Tonberry King and its Pristine Crown, because that fella is annoying. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – The Saga of the Seaside Inn guide
The Saga of the Seaside Inn quest comes from Johnny, and you can tackle it as early as Chapter 7: Those Left Behind. Let’s just say that he’s been seeing more than double due to Yuffie’s shenanigans. Now, it’s up to you to track down his ninjutsu copies. Here are the tasks that you can expect:
Gather Refurbishment Materials
Craft the Boiler Valve
Make your way to the desert to fight the Tonberry King
Obtain either the Marred Crown or the Pristine Crown
The Johnnys are going to make you scratch your head.
Where to find the Refurbishment Materials and Ziplines
To kick things off in the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Saga of Seaside Inn quest, you should head to the marked location. It’s an outdoor resort to the west of Costa del Sol. There, you’ll find a couple of Johnnys, and they want you to gather the Refurbishment Materials. These are found inside crates near ziplines. Below, we’ve marked down all eight ziplines, which happen to have these materials:
A map showing the location of all eight ziplines.
How to craft the Boiler Valve
Next up, you have to meet two Johnnys that require the Boiler Valve. But wait, where’s the blueprint? Well, here’s the thing: the Boiler Valve blueprint comes from an Excavation Site. That means you have to activate a few Lifesprings in the Corel region to reveal its location. Once there, use your Chocobo to scent and scour the area.
After obtaining the Boiler Valve blueprint, it’s time to craft it via the Item Transmuter. You need the following resources:
Iron Ore – Can be found in rocky areas in all regions.
Zinc Ore – Can be found in rocky areas in all regions except Grasslands and Junon.
Amethyst – Can be found in rocky areas in all regions except Grasslands and Junon.
Craft the Boiler Valve once you have the resources.
How to go to the desert
The next step if you want to complete The Saga of the Seaside Inn in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is to meet up with a Johnny near the Borderland. This is the river separating the beaches of North Corel with the desert of South Corel. There’s just one problem: you can’t go to the desert yet–at least not during Chapter 7.
Here’s what you need to do:
Travel along the mountain path that leads to the Corel Mines.
Make your way to North Corel.
Ride the cable car to the Gold Saucer. Enjoy a lot of minigames in the meantime.
Follow the main story objectives in the Dustbowl and the desert.
And, by the time you’re done, you should be at the start of Chapter 9: The Planet Stirs. We hear you: it’s your anger that’s stirring due to how long this whole process has taken.
A map showing the location of the Tonberry King encounter.
How to get the Pristine Crown from the Tonberry King
Okay, now that you’ve reached the desert, you get to drive around using the Buggy. But how exactly do you find the Tonberry King? Well, it’s a Dangerous Fiend, which means you have to locate all six Lifesprings in the Corel region before you can battle it. Once its location is revealed, head over there and start the encounter.
Note that the Tonberry King in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a deadly opponent, and its capabilities have become a meme over the years. Basically, it has a one-hit kill knife attack, and this can easily ruin your day. It also has abilities that can bind/stun characters, or summon regular Tonberry mobs… that also have one-hit kill stab attacks.
In any case, here’s what you need to know about the Tonberry King Pristine Crown in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth:
If you manage to defeat the Tonberry King normally–without stealing its crown–you will only receive an item called the Marred Crown.
If you want to obtain the Pristine Crown:
You must bait the Tonberry King so that it does a knife attack. Then, at the last second, do a perfect dodge to avoid it. This will cause the Tonberry King to lose its crown.
While the crown is on the ground, quickly use the Steal materia to grab it. Make sure you do this before the boss reaches the crown or it’ll just pick it up.
Defeat the boss afterward.
Dodge the Tonberry King’s one-hit kill attack, then make a break for the crown to steal it.
The Saga of the Seaside Inn rewards
When you’re done, return to the Johnny in the Borderland and hand over whichever crown you obtained. Then, go back to Costa del Sol and talk to the original Johnny. This completes the Saga of the Seaside Inn quest in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
For your efforts, you’ll receive the usual gil, character XP, and party XP (note that the amount seems to be higher if you give the Pristine Crown). Likewise, you gain bonus relationship/affinity with Yuffie.
And now you have a place where you can put the collectible items you’ve acquired during your playthrough.
However, the most important change here is that the Seaside Inn will transform into a more luxurious facility, complete with display racks for various collectibles. This is pretty much where all your collectible items go, from Stuffed Moogles rewarded via Mogstools to PLAY ARTS figures from Gold Saucer.
A grand adventure awaits you in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. We’ve got all the tips and strategies for you in our FF7 Rebirth guides hub.
There lies a paradox in sleep. Its apparent tranquility juxtaposes with the brain’s bustling activity. The night is still, but the brain is far from dormant. During sleep, brain cells produce bursts of electrical pulses that cumulate into rhythmic waves — a sign of heightened brain cell function.
But why is the brain active when we are resting?
Slow brain waves are associated with restful, refreshing sleep. And now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that brain waves help flush waste out of the brain during sleep. Individual nerve cells coordinate to produce rhythmic waves that propel fluid through dense brain tissue, washing the tissue in the process.
“These neurons are miniature pumps. Synchronized neural activity powers fluid flow and removal of debris from the brain,” explained first author Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Pathology & Immunology. “If we can build on this process, there is the possibility of delaying or even preventing neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, in which excess waste — such as metabolic waste and junk proteins — accumulate in the brain and lead to neurodegeneration.”
The findings are published Feb. 28 in Nature.
Brain cells orchestrate thoughts, feelings and body movements, and form dynamic networks essential for memory formation and problem-solving. But to perform such energy-demanding tasks, brain cells require fuel. Their consumption of nutrients from the diet creates metabolic waste in the process.
“It is critical that the brain disposes of metabolic waste that can build up and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases,” said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Pathology & Immunology and a BJC Investigator. Kipnis is the senior author on the paper. “We knew that sleep is a time when the brain initiates a cleaning process to flush out waste and toxins it accumulates during wakefulness. But we didn’t know how that happens. These findings might be able to point us toward strategies and potential therapies to speed up the removal of damaging waste and to remove it before it can lead to dire consequences.”
But cleaning the dense brain is no simple task. Cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain enters and weaves through intricate cellular webs, collecting toxic waste as it travels. Upon exiting the brain, contaminated fluid must pass through a barrier before spilling into the lymphatic vessels in the dura mater — the outer tissue layer enveloping the brain underneath the skull. But what powers the movement of fluid into, through and out of the brain?
Studying the brains of sleeping mice, the researchers found that neurons drive cleaning efforts by firing electrical signals in a coordinated fashion to generate rhythmic waves in the brain, Jiang-Xie explained. They determined that such waves propel the fluid movement.
The research team silenced specific brain regions so that neurons in those regions didn’t create rhythmic waves. Without these waves, fresh cerebrospinal fluid could not flow through the silenced brain regions and trapped waste couldn’t leave the brain tissue.
“One of the reasons that we sleep is to cleanse the brain,” Kipnis said. “And if we can enhance this cleansing process, perhaps it’s possible to sleep less and remain healthy. Not everyone has the benefit of eight hours of sleep each night, and loss of sleep has an impact on health. Other studies have shown that mice that are genetically wired to sleep less have healthy brains. Could it be because they clean waste from their brains more efficiently? Could we help people living with insomnia by enhancing their brain’s cleaning abilities so they can get by on less sleep?”
Brain wave patterns change throughout sleep cycles. Of note, taller brain waves with larger amplitude move fluid with more force. The researchers are now interested in understanding why neurons fire waves with varying rhythmicity during sleep and which regions of the brain are most vulnerable to waste accumulation.
“We think the brain-cleaning process is similar to washing dishes,” neurobiologist Jiang-Xie explained. “You start, for example, with a large, slow, rhythmic wiping motion to clean soluble wastes splattered across the plate. Then you decrease the range of the motion and increase the speed of these movements to remove particularly sticky food waste on the plate. Despite the varying amplitude and rhythm of your hand movements, the overarching objective remains consistent: to remove different types of waste from dishes. Maybe the brain adjusts its cleaning method depending on the type and amount of waste.”
KOCHI: Mint stands out as a versatile herb valued for its aromatic leaves and a multitude of applications. Though many varieties of mint are grown in different parts of India, spearmint, peppermint, and Japanese mint are the most commonly cultivated varieties.
With its creeping rhizome and erect stems reaching heights between 0.4m to 0.8m, the Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis) presents an unmistakable presence in any garden. Its stems, adorned with quadrangulate branching and short, dense hair, contribute to its distinctive appearance, while its oblong-ovate leaves, measuring 2.5cm to 5cm in length, further enhance its allure.
Notably, the Japanese mint displays auxiliary whorls of flowers, except at the apex, with blooming primarily occurring in May to June and again in September to November.
Originating primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, mint thrives in tropical climates. In India, it is predominantly cultivated in north India. Thriving under sunny weather conditions with moderate rainfall, mint requires deep, humus-rich soil capable of retaining moisture.
In the culinary realm, mint adds a delightful flavour to many dishes, including meats, fish, sauces, soups, stews, vinegar, tea, and cordials. Moreover, it serves as a cornerstone in the production of natural menthol.
Medicinally, mint stands out for its efficacy against stomach disorders, rheumatism, headaches (utilised in ointments), coughs (in drops), and inhalations. Both the oil and dried plants of mint contribute to its reputation as an indispensable herb.
Its distinctive appearance and remarkable properties, cements mint’s status as an asset in various fields, making it a staple in gardens, kitchens, and industries worldwide.
Medicinal benefits
Soothes indigestion , skin irritations and relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Provide relief from nasal congestion, coughs, and sinusitis.
Its aroma has calming properties.
It contains compounds that have antimicrobial properties
Submissions invited for book chapters on Artificial Intelligence and Law. Submit by March 25!
About the Book
“Artificial Intelligence and Law” aims to explore the intricate intersection of cutting-edge technology and legal frameworks, delving into the profound implications and challenges posed by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal domain. The book seeks to navigate through the evolving landscape of AI applications in the legal sector, ranging from legal research and contract analysis to predictive policing and autonomous decision-making.
With a keen focus on the ethical, regulatory, and societal considerations, the book seeks to critically examine the transformative impact of AI on legal systems, addressing issues of accountability, transparency, and fairness. As AI continues to reshape the practice and understanding of law, this comprehensive exploration is expected to serve as a timely guide for legal professionals, scholars, and policymakers navigating the complexities of this rapidly evolving field.
Objective of the Book
Identify and understand potential concerns related to ‘Artificial Intelligence and Law’.
Evaluate patterns and trends and search for feasible solutions.
Anticipate future developments in regulation of Artificial Intelligence.
Through this approach, the book endeavours to provide valuable insights for professionals, academics, students, and anyone interested in the field of AI and Law.
About the Editors
Mr. Rahul Das has over 7 years’ experience in the legal field, especially in the domain of Banking and Corporate Laws. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Legal Studies-S’O’A National Institute of Law, S’O’A University. Prior to this he was associated with Devnext Consulting Private Ltd. as Associate Vice President, working closely with Ministry of MSME, Government of India.
Mr. Das has worked with one of India’s largest Asset Reconstruction companies-JM Financial’s Distressed Debt Management Team for a period of 5 years and was responsible for the Eastern Zone legal portfolio valued at USD 150 million. He was engaged in Acquisitions and Resolution of distressed debt. As a part of his stint in JM Financial, Mr. Das was involved with Securitisation & Recovery Laws. Mr. Das has represented the company before various forums like Committee of Creditors, Joint Lenders Forum and Consortium meetings.
Mr. Das has completed his Bachelors in Business Laws from KIIT School of Law & Masters in Business Laws from S’O’A National Institute of Law.
Ms. Ishani Acharya is a faculty member at Birla School of Law, Birla Global University. She has a diverse work experience of 8+ years in corporate, administration, and academia. Prior to working with Birla Global University, she worked with a renowned NBFC in their legal department.
She has completed her BBA LLB (Business Law Hons.) from School of Law, KIIT University. She completed her LLM (Corporate Law Hons.) from Birla School of Law, Birla Global University. She has secured gold medals in her Master’s degree, both as a class topper and a subject area topper.
Mr. Swagat Dash is an Assistant Professor of Law at Birla Global University, located in Bhubaneswar, India. He has a background in both legal practice and academia. Before joining the field of academics, he worked as a lawyer in the General Corporate/M&A practice area at Trilegal, a prominent law firm.
He completed his undergraduate studies at the National Law University in Delhi, where he obtained a B.A. LL.B (Hons.) degree in 2020. After his undergraduate studies, he pursued further education and obtained an LL.M. degree from Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur, in 2022.
Mr. Prithivi Raj is a Lawyer turned Academician. He is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Law at Birla Global University, Odisha. He is the Chief Legal Adviser of Human Rights Council of India, a registered body under NITI Ayog, Government of India. He has served as an Assistant Professor of Law at SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and ICFAI University.
He has more than seven years of experience as a practicing advocate in various courts and tribunals in India. He was also elected as an Executive Member of the High Court Bar Association, Odisha. He has also served as a Tax Consultant & Advocate for Civil Contractors, Builders and Construction Companies. He was also the Advocate for various Public Sector Units (PSUs) of the Centre & States in Labour, Service & Industrial Matters.
Topics on AI and Law
Harmonizing AI and IPRs
Artificial Intelligence Ethics
Data Privacy and Block Chain
Transparency in AI Decision-Making
AI and Litigation Prediction
AI and Fin-tech
AI and Law Enforcement
Impact of AI on Legal Education
Generative AI, Internet of Things and Law
AI and Legal Profession
Regulatory Challenges in the Integration of AI into Legal Practices
Legal Implications of Autonomous Systems
Please Note: The list of topics is indicative in nature. Authors are free to choose any topic of their choice pertaining to AI and Law.
Word Limit
3500 – 5000 words (Articles exceeding the word limit shall be rejected without further scrutiny)
Important Dates
Submission of Chapters: 25th March, 2024
Intimation of Acceptance: 20th April 2024
Publication of Book: Tentatively by June 2024.
Submission Guidelines
The manuscripts should be plagiarism free. A similarity of maximum 10 percent is allowed.
Publication of the chapter shall be subject to the review of the Editorial Committee of the Book.
Uniform citation of American Psychological Association (APA) should be followed.
Perks
E-Chapter will be provided to the respective Author(s) of the Book with cover page. Publication will be done by a National/International Publisher of repute.
Note: Submissions will be accepted based on the feedback of the Review Committee
Disclaimer: WEF April, 2021, Lawctopus will not publish any ‘Call for Papers/Blogs’ by journals that charge money at the time of submission. If you find any journal doing so, please intimate us at tanuj.kalia[at]lawctopus.com
Self-Injury Awareness Day 2024: Self-harm is a toxic behavioural pattern. Often people who inflict harm on themselves are patients of certain mental health disorders. Depression, stress, anxiety are some of the conditions that can push a person to the edge of inflicting harm on themselves. Self-harm is often done with the intention of gaining control over one’s body. However, it is important to raise awareness of this and ensure that people who do self-harm get professional help as soon as possible.
Self-Injury Awareness Day is observed on March 1. This year, Self-Injury Awareness Day falls on a Friday. (Unsplash)
Self-Injury Awareness Day is observed every year to raise awareness of this. As we gear up to observe the day for this year, here are a few things that we should keep in mind.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
ALSO READ: Autism, ADHD and school absence are risk factors for self-harm: New research
Date:
Every year, Self-Injury Awareness Day is observed on March 1. This year, Self-Injury Awareness Day falls on a Friday.
History:
The history of Self-Injury Awareness Day dates back to the 1800s when French Psychiatrist Philippe Pinel documented the tendencies of some of his psychiatric patients in inflicting self-harm. In the early 20th century, self-harm was declared as one of the symptoms of mental illness. Treatment through institutionalisation and medication also started. In the 1990s, self-harm gained more momentum as healthcare professionals and researchers started exploring this behavioural habit more extensively. In 1995, the first International Conference on Self-Mutilation was organised and in 1997, the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury was established.
Significance:
This day is observed with the intention of helping people who inflict self-harm on themselves and are too scared of asking for professional help. It helps in raising awareness of the importance of addressing this unhealthy behavioural pattern and getting help to the patients as soon as possible. In the present times, a large number of organisations and advocacy groups and professionals assist people who exhibit symptoms of self-harm behaviours.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tapatrisha is Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She covers stories related to health, relationships, and fashion. …view detail
ObsEva, a women’s health drug developer, on Wednesday said it plans to wind down its business and let go of all its employees.
The company notified the Swiss stock exchange that it might not have the resources to put together its financial statements for 2023, nor maintain its listing. In January, the company was granted a “moratorium” during which its creditors are limited from making claims while it considers a restructuring or liquidation.
ObsEva has been trying to negotiate a deal for its drug nolasiban, which is meant to help improve the chances of a successful pregnancy through in vitro fertilization. But the company’s dwindling cash has weakened its “ability to keep operating the company with existing workforce,” CEO Fabien de Ladonchamps said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
ObsEva’s planned wind-down follows several difficult years.
Not much later, ObsEva decided to drop another asset — a drug for preterm birth — by selling rights to Xoma Corp.
Those moves didn’t prevent further reorganization, however. Early this year, ObsEva announced it was consolidating its operations in Switzerland to preserve cash and focus on nolasiban. In March, ObsEva received another notice from the Nasdaq warning it would be delisted on March 23.
ObsEva CEO Ladonchamps, who had previously worked at the company for nearly a decade, joined as CEO in May. Six months later, ObsEva sought court protection so it could focus on negotiating “advantageous deals.”
Rental price growth has hit record highs, and there is now growing concern that the supply of rental homes could get even worse as higher mortgage costs hit landlords and government interference makes property investment less attractive.
The current national vacancy rate sits at just 1.1%.
One of the reasons for the lack of rental properties is because there are fewer investors buying property and the number of investors selling up has trended upwards.
According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, there are nearly 10 million households in Australia, of which 66-67% are owner-occupiers. However, there isn’t enough rental stock available for the other 31% of the population.
High borrowing costs and the increasing cost of property have dampened the number of people buying and renting out investment properties, which is evident in the lower number of investment loans in Australia.
Increased government intervention dissuades investors and reduces investment returns. Tighter rental laws have reduced investor demand, but any further regulation would most likely have a material impact on rental supply.
The cost of housing has increased and young people are choosing to delay the purchase of their first home. As a result, there is a bottleneck of renters unable to get onto the property ladder and become owners.
Australia’s rental crisis isn’t going to be resolved any time soon, in fact, it’ll probably just worsen further. The lack of supply and demand will only add further upward pressure on rental values, and tenants are likely to start re-forming share houses to share the rental burden.
Australia’s rental market is in crisis.
Vacancy rates have dropped to all-time lows, rental stock remains extremely slim, and rental prices continue to skyrocket.
So how did we get into this rental crisis?
How long will it last?
And what does it mean for property investors?
Currently, the rental markets in Australia still heavily favour landlords, as tenants face challenging conditions due to increasing demand and a limited supply of rental properties.
Across the combined capitals, data shows that house rents across the combined capitals increased 9.1% year-on-year and remained unchanged over the three months to December last year.
Meanwhile, median unit rent across the combined capitals hit a new record of $600 a week, up a staggering 20% year-on-year and up 0.8% over the quarter.
Combined capital quarterly change in weekly asking rents
And there is growing concern that the supply of rental homes could get even worse as higher mortgage costs hit landlords and government interference makes property investment less attractive, or even economically unviable, meaning some landlords will sell up and fewer new investors will enter the market.
Why is there a rental crisis in Australia?
The main reason: Australia’s rental market is undersupplied.
A balanced rental market is one that has a vacancy rate of around 2%, and anything below 2% describes a situation where demand from tenants is exceeding the supply of available properties.
Note: The current national vacancy rate sits at just 1.1%.
Why so low?
Put simply, there are fewer rental properties in Australia today because there are fewer investors buying property (owner-occupiers have dominated the market) and the number of investors selling up has trended upwards.
There are nearly 10 million households in Australia and the majority are owner-occupiers.
In fact, 67% of those households are homeowners, while 31% (which equates to around 7 million people) are renters.
The remaining 2.1% (192,200 households) are other tenures, including households that are not an owner with or without a mortgage, or a renter.
The problem is, there just isn’t enough rental stock available for 31% of the population.
Why?
There are several reasons…
1. Supply is low
A huge portion of investors sold up amid the property boom. According to data by PropTrack, approximately 30% of sellers in the market currently are/were investors, and similarly a large number of investors (mistakenly) sold up during the post-Covid-19 property boom of 2020-21 as they looked to secure peak prices for their properties and sell up. Many of these properties were purchased by owner-occupiers, effectively reducing the supply of rental/investment properties.
High borrowing costs mean there are fewer investment properties being bought. The increasing cost of property, and high interest rates, have also dampened the number of people buying and renting out investment properties.
Not only has the number of properties available for purchase dropped significantly, but the cost of buying and servicing the mortgage has also risen sharply.
This is also evident in the lower number of investment loans in Australia.
For the 6 years between 2017 and 2022, 31% of all new loans were made for investment purposes compared to 38% for the previous 14-year period between 2002 and 2016 – that’s far below average.
The number of Australian Property Investors:
Year
Total
Δ YoY
2009-10
1,704,220
68,316
2010-11
1,765,880
61,660
2011-12
1,854,519
88,639
2012-13
1,942,339
87,820
2013-14
2,010,923
68,584
2014-15
2,051,517
40,594
2015-16
2,097,382
45,865
2016-17
2,156,319
58,935
2017-18
2,207,893
51,574
2018-19
2,227,174
19,281
2019-20
2,226,841
-333
2020-21
2,245,539
18,698
3. Increased government intervention dissuades investors
Tighter rental laws certainly do dissuade people from investing in property and many of our State governments are changing tenancy legislation in favour of tenants.
One of the most attractive advantages of being a property investor is control – you want to have full control over how you use and improve your assets.
These new tighter rental laws (that favour tenants) reduce the amount of control investors have over their property (like the 83 changes Victoria rolled out in 2021).
They also increase the cost to run a rental property thereby reducing investment returns.
Note: Whilst tighter rental laws have reduced investor demand (and therefore the number of rental properties available), any further regulation would most likely have a further material impact on rental supply.
Sure tenants must be protected, but a healthy rental market is equally, if not more important.
4. Supply of new builds is also thin
During the pandemic, soaring materials and construction costs meant that fewer new dwellings were completed.
Significant government support for the construction industry, such as HomeBuilder, had a large effect on the increased number of houses that were constructed (and are still under construction).
But this was offset by reduced unit construction.
Unit construction has much longer construction times, and uncertainty about demand and the economic environment delayed many projects.
At the same time, this combination of headwinds means there has been an uptick in the number of building companies going into insolvency.
Overall, the supply of new-build properties is much lower than prior to the pandemic.
Note: Not only is supply tighter, but demand for rental properties is also trending upwards, putting further pressure on the rental market.
5. Migration levels are higher
An increase in regional migration during the pandemic led to increased rent values and low vacancy rates in both regional Australia as well as major cities.
And since the international border reopened in early 2022 there has also been an influx of migrants coming into the country… looking for rental properties to live in.
The PropTrack Overseas Search Report in October revealed that searches from abroad had continued to increase since its last report in July, with buy searches up by 11.5% in the past three months and rent searches up by 7.8%.
Both buy and rent searches are now well above pre-pandemic levels and are set to continue rising now that migration has returned to previous levels.
That’s a huge volume of additional people looking for somewhere to live.
6. Smaller households have increased the number of properties we need
A seemingly tiny shift in the composition of the average household has also added to our housing crunch.
Over recent decades, the number of single-people households and single-parent households has increased and as a result, the average household size has decreased.
Census data shows that the share of households with just one person in them increased significantly from 2016 to mid-2021.
At the same time. there were fewer households with three or more people.
Over the last few years, the average household size fell from 2.59 to 2.55 people and while it doesn’t sound like a large fall, it translates to the need for around 160,000 additional dwellings, just to house the same number of people.
Also, people needed more space for home offices and wanted larger dwellings with more outdoor space because of lockdowns and remote work.
So when will rental prices go down?
There is a bottleneck of Australians trying to buy their first home.
The increased cost of housing has made it more difficult for many young people to afford to buy a home and changing demographic and preference of younger generations to lay their roots down later in life and initially rent rather than buy a home.
Government data shows that certain age groups exhibit more significant declines in homeownership rates over time.
For example, between 1971 and 2016, the number of homeowners aged 25-34 years dropped to 44.6%, from 57.0%, and in the 35–44 year age range, rates fell to 62.2%, from 71.4% – today those figures are much lower at 40.7% and 56.7% respectively.
These age groups have also suffered a steep decline in income and are severely affected by the cost of living crisis.
The combination, therefore, has created a bottleneck of renters unable to get onto the property ladder and become owners.
Note: No, there is no end in sight for Australia’s rental crisis.
It’s bad news I’m afraid.
Australia’s rental crisis isn’t going to be resolved any time soon… in fact, it’ll probably just worsen further.
Here’s why…
Australian rental market predictions
A perfect storm of ultra-low vacancy rates, rising rents, and low supply is strong.
Given the stark imbalance between supply and demand, it is unlikely there will be much relief for renters over the short- to medium-term with stock levels unlikely to increase substantially anytime soon.
Net migration is forecast to remain strong for some time yet and this will only add further upward pressure on rental values.
Tenants coming up against affordability constraints have limited opportunities and unlike homeowners can’t borrow to pay rent.
It’s likely some tenants are now sacrificing the spare room or home office and re-forming shared houses that disbanded throughout COVID in order to share the rental burden.
Those who have the financial means to pull together a deposit might be taking the plunge into homeownership sooner while others are locking in longer leases, rather than brave the hunt for a new rental.
Net migration is going to increase further
Australia is having difficulty creating enough accessible, reasonably affordable houses and units to shelter our current population.
Yet into this mix, is also a whole new wave of demand in the form of immigration.
After years of closed borders, we flung Australia open to the world in early 2022, welcoming back overseas arrivals helps deliver on a few fronts – particularly in terms of filling job vacancies, but also in helping strengthen the economy.
But that flood of new migrants comes at a cost.
Australia’s population reached 27 million, more than thirty years ahead of predictions.
Australia’s population has increased by 624,100 over the past 12 months, equivalent to adding the population of the entire state of Tasmania (572,800) in just one year – that means our population has reached 27 million over 30 years ahead of predictions.
And based on the latest annual growth rate of 2.4%, Australia’s population will be 41 million by 2042, 16 million more than the 2002 forecasts.
It is the balance of 737,200 overseas arrivals and 219,100 departures which has led to record growth.
The question is: Where are all these people going to live as most new residents rent for the first couple of years before they finally settle into a home of their own?
And government intervention is only making matters worse
Add to this the fact that current policies are not supportive of attracting more private property investors to supply rental accommodation and the future for tenants only looks worse.
Just look at some of the hurdles property investors have had to put up with over the last decade:
2014 – APRA’s macroprudential controls throttled the banks’ ability to lend to investors
2016 – APRA Limited interest-only lending
2017 – the federal Labor Party is threatened to remove negative gearing which lasted them an election when they tried again in 2019
2017 – Removing depreciation claims on existing properties and travel bans to inspect your investments
2019 – APRA increased buffers and the lending “floor rate” to 7%
2020 – Victorian government’s massive tenancy law reforms favouring tenants
2021 – APRA lift lending buffers to 3%
2021 – QLD government’s Tenancy Reforms announced
2022 – The RBA starts raising interest rates.
2023 – ACT and WA propose tenancy reforms
Boy, have property investors had a lot to put up with!
Sure the government is now looking for large corporations to get into the ‘build to rent’ segment, but this will take time and only occur in certain locations and won’t provide “affordable accommodation.”
Also, given the government recently increased the overseas migration threshold to 195,000 people a year to attract skilled labour and an uptick in international students, this will create an extra demand for 75,000-80,000 properties a year.
Australia is reportedly receiving 10,000 applications per week for international students, which our economy needs are the education sector in one of our largest export industries and provides significant economic benefits to Australia broadly.
But where are all these people going to live?
The new government policies won’t even tackle half the issue, and some might even make it worse.
Take the Green Party’s proposed rental freeze or cap for example.
Researchers cited by the Greens to push for a rent freeze concluded that cities that experimented with the controversial controls experienced no improvement in affordability.
In actual fact, it just created poorer quality housing as landlords slowed spending on upkeep.
So capping rental income for investors has been proven to translate directly to poorer quality housing stock.
And less of it.
Not only will many landlords be forced to spend less on the upkeep of their rental property in order to keep up with rising ownership costs, but many will divest the market altogether.
Yes, it could actually make the level of rental stock trend further downward.
Note: The truth is that there is no easy fix to this rental crisis, unfortunately.
The key issue is a supply problem, and the only way to increase the supply of rental properties is to encourage more private investors into the market.
There are a few things that governments can do to achieve that.
Make sure rental laws are balanced by providing enough protection for renters whilst still giving landlords enough control over their valuable assets.
Encourage more Australian mums and dads to invest in property and stop putting barriers in the way.
Make it a little easier for investors to borrow
At present lenders “stress test” a borrower’s ability to service a loan at 3% above current interest rates, which means interest-only investment loans are being tested at a rate of 9% p.a., principal and interest, over 25 years e.g., loan repayments on a $1m investment loan would be $94k p.a. – almost double actual repayments ($56k p.a.).
The benchmark interest rate must be reduced because a 3% buffer is no longer necessary if we are at, or close to, the top of the interest rate cycle.
A window of opportunity for investors
I see a window of opportunity for property investors with a long-term focus right now.
This window of opportunity is not because properties are cheap, but when you look back in 3 years’ time the price you would pay for the property today will definitely look ‘cheap’.
The opportunity arises because consumer confidence is low at present, with many prospective homebuyers and investors sitting on the sidelines.
Sooner rather than later many prospective buyers will realise that interest rates are near their peak and that inflation has peaked as the RBA’s efforts have brought it under control.
And at that time pent-up demand will be released as greed (FOMO) overtakes fear (FOBE – Fear of buying early), as it always does as the property cycle moves on.
We saw an opportunity like this in late 2018-early 2019 when fear of the upcoming Federal election stopped buyers from entering the market.
And look at what’s happened to property prices since then.
I saw similar opportunities at the end of the Global Financial Crisis and in 2002 after the tech wreck.
History has a way of repeating itself.
Strategic investors will take advantage of the opportunities our property markets will offer over the next couple of years maximising their upsides while protecting their downsides.
Now I’m not suggesting taking advantage of tenants, what I’m suggesting is to recognise there is currently a problem (lack of rental accommodation) and provide a solution.
Note: While the current property market might not be attractive for investors right now due to high costs, government interventions, and a low supply of property for sale, it’s important to remember that property investment is a long-term game.
Don’t try to time the market – this is just too difficult.
And don’t hunt down a bargain.
All investors should focus all their efforts on buying an investment-grade property in an A-grade location.
These types of properties are in short supply but are still selling for reasonably good prices.
Plus they’ll hold their value far better in the long term.
While it might feel counterintuitive to buy in a correcting market, you can also benefit from less competition, low consumer sentiment, having more time, and minimal risk of oversupply.
Remember, the rental crisis is only worsening further, with no end in sight.
Now would be a great time to buy an investment property and enjoy high demand while trying to be a part of the rental crisis solution.
Maybe others might follow in your footsteps.
If you’re like many property investors, you’re probably wondering what’s the right thing to do at present.
Should you buy, should you sell, or should you just wait?
You can trust the team at Metropole to provide you with direction, guidance, and results.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced investor, at times like we are currently experiencing you need an advisor who takes a holistic approach to your wealth creation and that’s exactly what you get from the multi-award-winning team at Metropole.
We help our clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through a range of services including:
Strategic property advice – Allow us to build a Strategic Property Plan for you and your family. Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now! Click here to learn more
Buyer’s agency – As Australia’s most trusted buyers’ agents we’ve been involved in over $4Billion worth of transactions creating wealth for our clients and we can do the same for you. Our on the ground teams in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane bring you years of experience and perspective – that’s something money just can’t buy. We’ll help you find your next home or an investment-grade property. Click here to learn how we can help you.
Property Management – Our stress-free property management services help you maximise your property returns. Click here to find out why our clients enjoy a vacancy rate considerably below the market average, our tenants stay an average of 3 years, and our properties lease 10 days faster than the market average.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
Have you ever messaged your partner for the 20th time and thought to yourself, “am I too clingy?” Do thoughts of “am I too needy?” or feeling “over-attached” to your partner linger in your mind?
This “Am I Clingy? Quiz” created by a relationship counselor who has helped numerous couples deal with dependency and attachment issues brings you some gentle guidance. This quick and easy quiz, with just 10 questions, aims to help you identify whether your affectionate behavior might be crossing the line into clinginess. It explores various aspects of behavior, including acting clingy, feeling jealous, and setting healthy boundaries.
By answering these questions honestly and reflecting on your responses, you can introspect on your own needs and tendencies. This, in turn, will help you strike a healthy balance between attachment and independence in your current relationships.
Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer here. So, what are you waiting for? Take the quiz now!
Related Quiz: Obsessive love disorder test
Related Quiz: Does he have a crush on me? Quiz
Questions
How often do you feel the need to be in constant contact with your partner throughout the day?
Fairly often
Sometimes
Rarely
2. Do you find yourself getting jealous or insecure when your partner spends time with others?
Yes, I often do
It happens rarely
Not really
3. How do you react when your partner wants to spend time alone or with friends without you?
I get upset and anxious
I don’t like it but I don’t try to stop my partner from going
I’m okay with it
4. Are you comfortable giving your partner space and independence in the relationship?
I’m scared of them becoming distant from me
I try to
Yes, I need space as well
5. Do you frequently seek reassurance or validation from your partner?
I overthink a lot and need them to calm me down
I try not to bother them with it
Once in a while
6. How do you handle disagreements or conflicts in the relationship?
I need to resolve them immediately
They make me anxious to the point that I can’t function
I don’t like them but I work towards resolving them
7. Are you able to pursue your own interests and maintain friendships outside of the relationship?
Yes
I find myself not prioritising my friends
I feel kind of lost in my relationship
8. How do you feel about your partner having close relationships with friends or family members of the opposite sex?
I don’t really mind
It makes me uncomfortable
I really want them to not be close to those people
9. How do you respond when your partner expresses a desire for more independence or space in the relationship?
It makes me feel like they’re abandoning me
It makes me nervous
I’m comfortable giving space
10. Are you able to enjoy activities or hobbies on your own without feeling the need for your partner’s presence?
Stay active indoors with the MorphRover while generating free electricity.
It features a smooth ride and powerful motor, but it’s heavy and lacks nuance.
The most impressive feature is being able to charge the battery while working out, but it may not be ideal for beginners.
The Freebeat MorphRover is the world’s first 2-in-1 fat tire ebike for both outdoor riding and indoor exercise. And while you’re working out indoors with the connected Freebeat app, you’ll be charging your MorphRover ready for your next outdoor adventure. But while the MorphRover does a decent enough job of being both an indoor exercise bike and an outdoor ebike, it excels at neither.
Freebeat MorphRover
The Freebeat MorphRover is a powerful ebike that can transform into a variable resistance exercise bike indoors—and it’ll charge your battery while you work out, ready to power your next journey. But unless you’re already incredibly fit, I wouldn’t expect to generate much.
Brand
Freebeat
Battery
720Wh
Weight
35kg / 77lbs
Brake Style
Hydraulic
Wheel Size
26×4 inch
Suspension
Front hydraulic only
Motor (W)
750W
Electronic Power Assist
5 levels
Charging
AC or self-charging exercise bike
Connectivity
Bluetooth to the Freebeat app
Rider Height
Step-through 5’1” to 6’; high step 5’6” to 6’4”
Tires
Chao Yang
Gearing
8 speed
Sensor
Cadence
Walk Mode
Yes
Frame
High step or step through
Lights
Front only
Rear Derailleur
Shimano
Dimensions
75″ front to back
Pros
Keep riding even when you can’t get out, and generate free electricity at the same time
Smooth stable ride on most surfaces
Powerful 750W motor
Variable resistance for workouts
Cons
You’ll need a Freebeat subscription to get the most from it as an exercise bike
Cadence sensor and controller lacks nuance and often overpowers
It’s enormous and heavy, no way you’ll get this up any stairs
Specifications: Powerful, and Huge
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
The MorphRover is a large and heavy bike at 77lbs, and measuring 75 inches from front to back, which means that despite its ability to transform into an indoor workout bike, it’s almost completely impractical to carry up a flight of stairs.
Available in three colors (Sage Green, Sahara Sand, and Midnight Black as reviewed), and either step-through or high-step frame, the MorphRover features 26×4 inch fat Chao Yang tires—the largest you’ll find on any ebike. The step-through should be suitable for anyone 5’1” to 6’, while the high-step should suit 5’6” to 6’4”. For reference, I’m 6’1”, so I opted for the high step.
Getting a heavy beast like this to move requires a powerful motor: a 750W rear-hub drive in this case, activated by a cadence sensor, and offering up to a claimed 85Nm of torque with a throttle capable of up to 20MPH.
For safety, you’ll find hydraulic disc brakes, a small front light, and a rear reflector. Curiously, the wiring for a rear light is present, but no actual light was provided in our package to plug it into. Gearing is a Shimano 8-speed, which sits closely next to a throttle; too close for my liking, as I found the shifter buttons a little hard to press.
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
You’ll find an adjustable front suspension, though nothing at the rear. The battery can be fully removed with the use of a key, so you can charge it elsewhere or just remove for security. It’s all fairly standard stuff here, other than the enormous tires and convertible indoor/outdoor function.
Setup: More Construction Than Usual
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
The MorphRover comes with an awful lot of bits and bobs to attach, like the screen and buttons to the handlebars. It has a relatively good printed quick start guide to follow, but misses some critical steps like which cables plug in where, and the fact that you should attach the brake cable to the frame before putting the front wheel in (or you’ll have to remove either wheel or the brake lever to thread it through correctly). None of this presented huge issues, but considering they have a quick start guide that’s excellent in all other regards, it seems like an oversight. However, you’ll find a bag full of all required tools, so no need to raid your drawer.
Once the main bike is built, you can move onto the static frame add-on; it’s another three or four boxes of bits nestled inside the main shipping box, and construction there is simple enough. The front wheels sit on a basic stand that prevents it from turning; the back is elevated and locks onto the axle with an easy and secure hand screw mechanism.
I’ll note that shipping everything in a single box is convenient, but does make it incredibly heavy—about 121lbs in total. This was far more than I could handle alone, and my wife wasn’t much help; we had to phone a friend to help shift it into the kitchen.
The MorphRover is imposing—one of the largest e-bikes I’ve reviewed yet. With 26-inch fat tires, it’s ready for some rough mountain trails, combined with a durable frame. This definitely wouldn’t be suitable for anyone on the smaller end of the spectrum. I’m 6’1″ or 185cm, and it still feels big to me.
The battery arrived completely empty, though in fairness, it was shipped over from the USA to the UK, and took around three months to deliver, so that’s probably not the case for most customers.
The full user manual also reveals a very interesting point: it refers to the “Velotric” bike six times. My guess is that the MorphRover is a modified Nomad 1. The specs and frame are identical, while the controller, with its Bluetooth capabilities, is probably the only difference.
As a Spin Bike: You’ll Probably Want a Freebeat Subscription
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
When you’re ready to exercise, elevate the rear wheel onto the stand; slot it onto the bar on one side, then tighten the bolt on the other. The front stand is even easier; slide it under the front wheel for stability. The rear stand folds up for storage, and the front side is small enough not to take up much room anyway.
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
The whole thing felt stable enough that I could stand up and ride vigorously without fear of toppling over.
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
Before you can workout indoors, you’ll need to swap the bike over to indoor mode. You can either do this through the app—it connects easily over Bluetooth the sensors built-in to the bike—or via the LCD screen and control buttons on the handlebar. It’s also recommended that you place the MorphRover into the highest gear. When indoor mode is activated, you’ll find the usual speed adjustment instead changes the variable resistance in the motor, between 0-100. This can either be controlled manually with the +/- buttons on the handlebar, or you can let the app automatically adjust the level for you.
Without a Freebeat subscription, you’ll only be able to access the Free Ride section of the app, which contains some stats about your current ride. There’s no interactive elements or gamified experience there—just your cadence, power output, speed etc.
If you want access to any of the other programs, workouts, or gamified beat-matching parts, you’ll need to sign up to the 45-day trial, and provide your credit card details. After 45 days, you’ll be charged either $20/month for the single-user plan, or $35/month for the family plan.
So what does this get you?
First up: Exercise Classes. Follow along with an actual instructor, being scored on how well you match their specified cadence. I should note that I’m new to “spin” classes, and while I’m sure some people will enjoy this, I found them difficult to follow on a small iPhone screen—I could barely make out how fast they were cycling, and the interface is otherwise fairly unintuitive. This would be better if you’re riding in front of a TV screen, but out of the box there’s no detachable tablet stand or even iPhone holder.
With some classes, I found the music and instructor’s voice was so badly mixed that I couldn’t hear a word the poor woman was saying. Some classes include other elements that involve getting off the bike, which is more suited to the rest of the FreeBeat range.
Then you get the Rhythm Game mode. Unlike the exercise classes, there’s no choice here—you’re thrown straight into a random song, none of which I actually recognized, and all sounded like generic pop music. Cycle faster or slower depending on the beat, and attempt to match the lines that come down the screen. But unlike games like Guitar Hero, there are no buttons to press, so it’s a tenuous connection at best between what your feet are doing and how it matches the beat.
Once you’ve done one song, it automatically moves onto another. Again, though, there’s no choice, and I don’t really see how this is any better than simply putting on Spotify. Sure, you won’t be scored on how well you match the beat, but you can make it up and spin away as your heart desires anyway.
Both classes and the rhythm-matching game modes include an automatic resistance adjustment, but it didn’t feel like it was working. It hovered around 10/100 no matter what I was doing. Eventually, I gave up and took control manually.
Finally, there are Scenic Rides. You can pick a lovely mountain pass or similar to ride through, and view it on your tiny phone screen. I was expecting that the faster I rode, the faster the video would progress. Or if I stopped, the video would stop. No such luck. Regardless of what I was doing, it played at the same rate. I started to wonder if my bike was broken, but no, it was still connected. You get the usual stats of course, but it’s completely disconnected from what the on-screen video does. It’s no better than finding a scenic ride video on YouTube, and playing that while you spin along.
There are other annoyances with the Freebeat app too, like the constant notifications telling you to ensure the bike is set at gear 8 (it was); this happens every session.
It’s a shame, because there’s so much interactivity they could have done with this. Instead, I canceled my membership and downloaded Holofit for the Meta Quest 3. Attach a cadence sensor to the pedal, and it knows how fast or slow you’re cycling, and moves your virtual cycle at the same rate. It’s fun, but the rendered scenery can be a little bland. VZFit is a similar app, but subscription-based, with access to actual Google Street View imagery (which sounds fun, but the reality is a bit of a distorted mess). Unfortunately, there’s no third-party access to the built-in sensors.
Heading Outdoors: Rough but Powerful
James Bruce / MakeUseOf
The MorphRover features a cadence sensor, albeit a very responsive one, which means the motor kicks in with the full power of whatever level you’ve set it on the moment it detects some pedal action—up to 750W.
On flat terrain, even at level 1 PAS, this felt a little too much, as if my pedaling wasn’t required. On the other hand, turning off the PAS completely meant I could barely move the thing due to the sheer weight. There’s not a lot of nuance here.
The power that the cadence sensor commands on the MorphRover means you’ll be micromanaging your power levels and gearing quite often, depending on how steep the terrain is. On the other hand, what’s great about a torque sensor is that you only ever get your own power amplified; push harder, get more motor. But with the cadence sensor on the MorphRover, it feels like all or nothing.
The lack of a rear suspension or three-bar linkage also means that riding over really rough terrain is quite an ordeal. I also felt the pedals were a little too close to the ground compared to other off-road ebikes, resulting in more frequent scraping along deep valleys or rocky outcrops.
The 26-inch fat tires result in great traction and help to smooth out the ride a little, but the overall off-road ride experience was nothing compared to the Himiway Forest Cobra.
Range: Not Massive, but Not Tiny Either
The 720Wh removable battery, charged either via a traditional wall socket or your own pedal power while exercising indoors, should offer up to a stated 60-mile range. As always, that number will be tested with a 130lb test rider on flat terrain using only a single level of pedal assist. In reality, that meant I got more like 20–25 miles. Of course, if you’re particularly worried about range, you could also pop the stand in a backpack and recharge it yourself.
Freebeat claims 30 minutes of exercise will get you 10 miles of range; but again, that’s optimistic in every way. You would need to ride flat out for those 30 minutes, and you’d need to be on the light side for that to translate into 10 miles. In percentage terms, 30 minutes netted me about 5% battery, which is more like 1–2 miles.
Annoyingly, I also found the battery would drop 2-3% overnight. It’s possible the long shipping times had an adverse effect on the battery, so it could be an isolated issue that will eventually solve itself after calibration. For now though, that 5% battery I earn ends up diminishing completely if I leave it for a few days.
Should You Buy the Freebeat MorphRover?
From an ebike perspective, nothing on the Freebeat MorphRover is outstanding in any way, but what it does offer is a stable, powerful ride on or off-road (just not too off-road). The included indoor stand and conversion to an exercise bike with variable resistance is an outstanding feature that lets you recharge with your own pedal power and continue to enjoy your bike even when the weather isn’t agreeable.
On the software front, while I didn’t find the FreeBeat app and classes compelling enough to justify a subscription, it’s not required to use the indoor cycling mode.
However, you should realize that how much power your body can produce is likely a lot less than you think, so don’t be under the illusion that you’ll be leaving the wall charger in the box. Still, it’s a feature you just won’t find on other ebikes. That alone makes the MorphRover worth it.
Freebeat MorphRover
The Freebeat MorphRover is a powerful ebike that can transform into a variable resistance exercise bike indoors—and it’ll charge your battery while you work out, ready to power your next journey. But unless you’re already incredibly fit, I wouldn’t expect to generate much.
In this episode Tianran and Hannah are in Hangzhou, a city with over 2000 years of history and capital of two ancient Chinese dynasties. From the famous West Lake to delicate Dragon Well tea, our hosts experience Hangzhou’s must-do attractions, savouring the local cuisine and trying everything from winter melon shaped like pork belly, to food cooked according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, and even Buddhist noodles and Zen tea.
Richard Lewis’ shtick was both morose and personal.
The comedian, who died Tuesday at age 76, had stand-up specials with names like “I’m in Pain” and “I’m Exhausted,” and his memoir from 2000 is titled “The Other Great Depression.” He usually dressed in all black and would speak self-deprecatingly and candidly about relationships, therapy and addiction. He’s credited with coining the phrase “from hell” (as in “cat from hell” or “date from hell”) and his sets included a lot of ranting and yelling at no one in particular.
But when Lewis appeared on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” there was a focus to his ire: his lifelong friend, and the series’ star and creator, Larry David. From the first episode of the show, when Lewis’ version of himself screams at David’s heightened version of himself for not liking his girlfriend, the men are the bickering old marrieds that the show deserved.
For the record:
6:19 p.m. Feb. 28, 2024Richard Lewis said he would retire from stand-up, not acting, when he revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2023.
In fact, even after Lewis announced in 2023 that he had Parkinson’s disease and would retire from stand-up, he still appeared in “Curb’s” final season. Fittingly, in the third episode, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug,” which aired Feb. 18, they argued over David’s objection to Lewis making him the benefactor in his will. (HBO confirmed that he will appear in three more episodes.)
Richard Lewis, left, and Larry David in Episode 3 of the final season of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
(John Johnson / HBO)
“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement released by HBO on Wednesday. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”
The Times spoke with both Lewis and David ahead of the premiere of “Curb’s” final season, with the former promising that all of the bickering did come from a place of love.
“We have this profound affection for one another and respect for our craft,” Lewis said in the interview. “And we’ve always been there for one another. Some of my idiosyncratic things in my behavior that he picks up on — and he has ever since we were adolescents; he really has remembered most of the juicy ones and has put them into the show.”
Offscreen, David learned to choose his battles. When they were younger, Lewis said that David teased him about his penchant for black clothing, but that “now he totally accepts it.” However, Lewis added, “No matter where we are, if I say something that he thinks he’s catched me in saying something idiotic or improperly, he’ll nail me for it “
Richard Lewis in a typical all-black outfit on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
(John Johnson / HBO)
“We do try to catch each other all the time in real life,” Lewis said. “It’s some kind of game we play. I guess we’re unusual best friends.”
Lewis said that the real and fictitious versions of themselves “sort of blurs.” He came home one day after shooting “Curb” and told his wife, Joyce Lapinsky, that he wasn’t sure what he’d filmed, but it involved yelling and hurling a chopstick at David. She responded, “Didn’t you once [actually] throw a chopstick at him?”
Series executive producer and frequent director Jeff Schaffer told The Times ahead of “Curb’s” season premiere: “We have a lot of fun in scenes with Richard because, I think, there’s literally no restrictions.”
And David noted, “Because we’re such old friends, I can say anything I want to him and vice versa. So there’s a certain freedom that comes with that. … Anything I say to him on the show, I would say to him in life. I think I treat him worse in life.”
But Lewis also knew how to use this in his favor.
“If I’m going to say something hopefully funny but also serious, I don’t stare directly into his eyes,” Lewis said. “Because if I do, he’ll laugh.”
New Delhi, February 28: BYD Auto India has opened the booking for its upcoming electric sedan BYD Seal ahead of the launch on March 5. The BYD Seal was first unveiled during the Delhi Auto Expo in 2023, and since then, there have been rumours about its potential launch. The Chinese automaker already confirmed launching its new sedan on March 5; however, it confirmed today. The BYD Seal will be the third car launched by the company in India after Atto 3 SUV and e6 MPV.
According to the reports, the upcoming BYD Seal sedan will be the costlier model for Indian consumers, offering all the premium features. The BYD Sedan claims a 570km range on a single charge. Not only that, but the car will also be launched in single- and dual-motor options. The reports said the new BYD Seal sits on the BYD’s e-platform 3.0, which underpins the Atto 3 SUV model. Mahindra Thar Earth Edition Launched: Check Price, Specifications and Features.
BYD Seal Specifications and Features
In the premium segment, the upcoming model will compete with brands like BMW, Mercedes and Tesla. However, the Tesla automobile company has yet to enter the Indian market. As per the report by Hindustan Times Auto, The BYD Seal all-electric sedan will produce 308hp and 360Nm and 522bhp and 670Nm based on the version. The rear-wheel-drive will offer a maximum 570km range on a single charge, whereas the dual-motor model will offer 520.
The report said there will also be a 61.4Wh battery pack with a 460km range claimed by WLTP. This electric model will reportedly produce 201bhp power and 310Nm torque. The report further highlighted that the smaller battery pack could support DC fast charging that would support 110kW, and the larger battery pack could support 150kW charging. Volvo EX30 and Volvo EX90 EVs Likely To Launch Soon in India; Check Expected Specifications and Features.
The all-electric sedan from BYD Auto is set to launch on March 5, 2024. According to the reports, the customers who book the EV before April 30 will get an great opportunity to participate and win match tickets in a constest and flight tickets to the host city; winners will reportedly be announced in May 2024.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2024 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Amazon has become the second company ever to have its lobbyists banned from the European Parliament, amid accusations that the company does not take the institution seriously.
The ban, which means the 14 Amazon employees who had access to the European Parliament can no longer enter the building without an invitation, follows the company’s decision not to attend a January hearing about working conditions inside its fulfillment centers. In December, Amazon also rejected MEPs’ [members of European Parliament] requests to tour its fulfillment centers, citing how busy they were over the Christmas period.
“This is not a serious way to treat the European Parliament,” says Dragoș Pîslaru, the Romanian MEP and chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, who formally requested the ban. “We are representing 500 million citizens and it is not a joke. You cannot just say that your senior representatives are not available when the parliament is asking you.”
Companies originating outside Europe should take the EU Parliament as seriously as the US Congress, he adds. “The European Parliament is not holding grudges,” he says. “This is about us requesting to be respected as an institution.”
The row has erupted as concerns about working conditions in Amazon fulfillment centers are mounting in Europe. In January, the French data protection authority fined Amazon €32 million ($34 million) for operating what it called an “excessively intrusive system for monitoring employee activity.” In November, Amazon workers in Germany and Italy walked off the job on Black Friday to demand better pay and working conditions. Amazon says it has 150,000 employees within the EU.
“The fact that Amazon refuses to come and present their arguments whenever we call them is worrying,” says Pîslaru. “This is not my subjective opinion. This is based on how the parliament should work.”
Pîslaru first requested Amazon’s lobbying permits be revoked in a February 6 letter sent to the parliament’s president, following Amazon’s January no-show. “This issue extends beyond disrespect for the European parliament; it concerns the well-being, fundamental rights and working conditions of hundreds of thousands of Europeans working in Amazon warehouses,” he wrote in that letter. It is unreasonable for Amazon to lobby MEPs while denying them the right to probe the company’s labor practices, the letter added.
The idea to ban Amazon’s lobbyist had been around since 2021, when the company first rejected a European Parliament invite to attend another hearing on working conditions, says Pîslaru. But following his February letter, the European Parliament confirmed last night that access badges for Amazon lobbyists would be revoked. That means Amazon becomes the second company ever to have their access to the European Parliament revoked, following a ban on Roundup-maker Monsanto in 2017. The Monsanto ban lasted until the company was acquired by Bayer the following year.
In a statement published on its website, Amazon said it was “disappointed” by the decision. The company described the January hearing, which it did not attend, as “one sided and not designed to encourage constructive debate.” The company said it had extended “dozens of invitations” to visit its facilities to committee members and staff. On February 5, Amazon wrote to Pîslaru, inviting his committee to visit one of its 80 European fulfillment centers. However, official EU missions aren’t allowed to take place so close to the EU’s June elections, says Pîslaru. “They were seemingly open to inviting us, knowing that we cannot go.”
Amazon’s lobbying passes can be reinstated once the EU’s employment committee says the company is showing genuine willingness to cooperate, says Pîslaru. That is unlikely to happen before the elections, as MEPs rush to wrap-up unfinished legislation and prepare their campaigns. Until their passes are reinstated, Amazon lobbyists can only enter the EU Parliament if they are invited by people working inside. “They can still lobby individual MEPs and they can meet them outside of the parliament,” says Bram Vranken, a researcher focusing on Big Tech at campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory. “It’s mostly a really important political signal that the company went too far.”
For Vranken, the ban is a good first step. “We would like to see the ban made permanent and extended to all Big Tech companies,” he says, adding this would prevent those companies from watering down crucial legislation.
“Having a permanent ban is not necessarily justified,” says Pîslaru. “Unless, of course, their behavior continues to mock the institution in the future.”
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer urged a judge on Tuesday to impose a lenient sentence for the FTX founder’s conviction for stealing $8 billion (roughly Rs. 6,63,30 crore) from customers of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, arguing clients would get most of their funds back.
In a sentencing submission, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Marc Mukasey told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that a guidelines range between 5-1/4 and 6-1/2 years would be an appropriate prison term.
That is far less than the maximum sentence of 110 years he faces after a jury found him guilty in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal his conviction and sentence. He acknowledged making mistakes running FTX, but testified at trial that he never intended to steal customer funds.
Kaplan is set to sentence the former billionaire, who turns 32 next week, on March 28.
The lawyer’s submission was accompanied by letters of support from Bankman-Fried’s parents, psychiatrist, and others.
His parents, the Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, said their son was uninterested in material wealth and worked hard to make customers whole in the month between Bahamas-based FTX’s November 2022 collapse and his arrest on fraud charges a month later.
“Barbara and I…witnessed firsthand his single-minded focus on getting money back to depositors, long after there was any possibility he would be able to save any of his equity or wealth,” Bankman wrote.
Mukasey called a 100-year guidelines range calculated by probation officers “barbaric”, saying it was based partly on a faulty assertion that FTX’s customers lost billions.
He pointed to the bankrupt company’s recent assertion that it expected to repay all customers in full to back up the argument that Bankman-Fried did not set out to steal.
“The conviction does not address whether Sam intended to pay the money back. He did,” Mukasey wrote.
The probation officers’ calculation is not binding on Kaplan. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan is expected to make its own sentencing recommendation by March 15.
Elizabeth Holmes or Michael Milken?
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bankman-Fried rode a boom in the values of digital assets such as bitcoin to a net worth Forbes magazine once estimated at $26 billion (roughly Rs. 21,55,31). His fortune evaporated in November 2022, when FTX declared bankruptcy after a wave of customer withdrawals.
At his month-long trial in Manhattan federal court, three former close associates testified that Bankman-Fried directed them to help loot FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, even while presenting himself publicly as a responsible steward in the volatile cryptocurrency market.
Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried also used customer funds to buy luxury real estate in the Bahamas and to donate to U.S. politicians who might support cryptocurrency-friendly regulations.
Bankman-Fried testified that he did not realize how much Alameda owed to FTX until shortly before both failed.
Mukasey acknowledged Bankman-Fried’s case bore some similarities to that of Elizabeth Holmes, another young entrepreneur who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022 for defrauding investors in her now-defunct blood-testing startup Theranos.
But he said Holmes put patients at risk, and suggested Bankman-Fried had more in common with Michael Milken – a Wall Street financier in the 1980s known as the “junk bond king” who was released from prison after serving just two years of an initial 10-year sentence on fraud charges.
“Given the same chance, Sam would dedicate his post-prison life to charitable works,” Mukasey wrote.
Mother says she would change places
Bankman-Fried has been jailed at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since August, when Kaplan revoked his bail after finding that he likely tampered with witnesses.
In a letter to Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s psychiatrist George Lerner wrote that he is on the autism spectrum. Mukasey wrote that Bankman-Fried struggles to make eye contact and communicate with others, which could leave him vulnerable in a prison setting.
Bankman-Fried’s mother wrote that her son had taken responsibility for the errors that led to FTX’s collapse and was remorseful, but said she feared for his life in prison.
“His father and I face the very real possibility that we will not live long enough to see him freed,” Fried wrote. “I would gladly change places with him if I could.”
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
YouTube Create, a mobile app designed to make editing videos easier, is expanding to 13 more markets in beta.
Content creators can now download the app for free in the PlayStore on Android in the following additional countries:
Argentina
Australia.
Brazil.
Canada.
Finland.
Hong Kong.
Ireland.
Netherlands.
New Zealand.
Spain.
Taiwan.
Thailand.
Turkey.
What is YouTube Create? YouTube Create is a free mobile app that allows you to edit Shorts or longer videos for YouTube. You can also add soundtracks, captions, and more, all directly from your phone.
Why we care. The app helps users to enhance the quality of their YouTube content without the need for additional expensive editing tools or complicated desktop software.
What YouTube is saying. Conor Kavanagh, Lead for Monetization Policy at YouTube, said:
“In September, we announced the beta launch of YouTube Create, a new app that gives mobile creators the tools they need to take their videos to the next level.”
“With YouTube Create, you can easily make high-quality videos with editing tools, effects, filters and transitions all in an intuitive easy-to-use interface.”
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Deep dive. Watch YouTube’s announcement in full for more information.
National Science Day is celebrated annually on 28th February in India to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. This day serves as a reminder of the pivotal role science plays in shaping our lives and society. Each year, National Science Day is celebrated with a specific theme, highlighting significant aspects of scientific progress and innovation.
National Science Day 2024 Theme
The theme for National Science Day 2024 is ‘Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat’, emphasizing the importance of promoting scientific, technological, and innovation skills. It underscores the achievements of Indian scientists in addressing the country’s challenges through home-grown technologies. The theme also advocates for collaboration between the public and scientific community to contribute to India’s well-being and global welfare.
National Science Day 2024 History
National Science Day traces its origins to the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by Sir C.V. Raman on 28th February 1928. This groundbreaking discovery marked a significant contribution to the field of physics, earning Sir C.V. Raman the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. The Raman Effect refers to the phenomenon of light scattering when passing through a transparent material, leading to a change in its wavelength and energy.
National Science Day 2024 Significance
National Science Day is highly significant as it serves various purposes. Firstly, it raises awareness about the significance of science and its practical applications in everyday life. It highlights the contributions and accomplishments of Indian scientists, serving as an inspiration for upcoming generations to pursue scientific pursuits. Additionally, National Science Day facilitates conversations on scientific matters, advocates for the adoption of new technologies, and promotes public involvement with science and technology.
Promoting Scientific Literacy and Collaboration
National Science Day aims to:
Raise public awareness: The day catalyzes igniting public interest in science and its applications in everyday life.
Celebrate scientific achievements: It provides a platform to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Indian scientists to various fields of science and technology.
Encourage scientific engagement: National Science Day encourages schools, universities, and research institutions to organize various activities, such as science fairs, exhibitions, and competitions, to nurture a spirit of scientific inquiry and innovation among the younger generation.
Foster collaboration: The theme for 2024 emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the scientific community, policymakers, and the public to develop indigenous technologies for addressing national and global challenges.
Spreading democracy across the galaxy in the name of Super Earth may be getting a bit easier because players may be able to pilot mechs again in Helldivers 2.
Thanks to a video posted to the r/Helldivers Reddit by user Fozzye18, we can see a short 22-second video of a player controlling a mech and, near the end of the video, a small glimpse of how its weapons are in action. In the same Reddit thread, Fozzye18 explained that while piloting the mech, players can switch between rockets and machine guns at any moment. Though the footage looks legitimate, it’s unclear how the Reddit user was able to share it.
They also explain that other players had access to new weapons, which include “like an energy rpg coming, a meteorite that hits like the nuke, a group of helldivers you can call in to support you(npcs), and more.”
It’s also worth pointing out that Arrowhead Game Studios has teased the usage of mechs in the past. In a trailer released right before the game dropped, you can see a Helldiver entering a mech, with the words “Coming soon after launch” at the bottom of the screen.
But as of yet, there’s no word on when mechs will officially join the fight. For more Helldivers 2 news, check out our story on how it should be even more like Starship Troopers and our story detailing how even some PlayStation fans want the game on Xbox.
A collaborative research endeavor by scientists in the Departments of Radiology, Neurology, and Psychology and Neuroscience at the UNC School of Medicine have demonstrated the deleterious effects of chronic cocaine use on the functional networks in the brain.
Their study titled “Network Connectivity Changes Following Long-Term Cocaine Use and Abstinence,” was highlighted by the editor of Journal of Neuroscience in “This Week in The Journal.” The findings show that continued cocaine use affects how crucial neural networks communicate with one another in the brain, including the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), and the lateral cortical network (LCN).
“The disrupted communication between the DMN and SN can make it harder to focus, control impulses, or feel motivated without the drug,” said Li-Ming Hsu, PhD, assistant professor of radiology and lead author on the study. “Essentially, these changes can impact how well they respond to everyday situations, making recovery and resisting cravings more challenging.”
Hsu led this project during his postdoctoral tenure at the Center for Animal MRI in the Biomedical Research Imaging Center and the Department of Neurology. The work provides new insights into the brain processes that underlie cocaine addiction and creates opportunities for the development of therapeutic approaches and the identification of an imaging marker for cocaine use disorders.
The brain operates like an orchestra, where each instrumentalist has a special role crucial for creating a coherent piece of music. Specific parts of the brain need to work together to complete a task. The DMN is active during daydreams and reflections, the SN is crucial for attentiveness, and the CEN, much like a musical conductor, plays a role in our decision-making and problem-solving.
The research was motivated by observations from human functional brain imaging studies suggesting chronic cocaine use alters connectivity within and between the major brain networks. Researchers needed a longitudinal animal model to understand the relationship between brain connectivity and the development of cocaine dependence, as well as changes during abstinence.
Researchers employed a rat model to mimic human addiction patterns, allowing the models to self-dose by nose poke. Paired with advanced neuroimaging techniques, the behavioral approach enables a deeper understanding of the brain’s adaptation to prolonged drug use and highlights how addictive substances can alter the functioning of critical brain networks.
Hsu’s research team used functional MRI scans to explore the changes in brain network dynamics on models that self-administrated cocaine. Over a period of 10 days followed by abstinence, researchers observed significant alterations in network communication, particularly between the DMN and SN.
These changes were more pronounced with increased cocaine intake over the 10 days of self-administration, suggesting a potential target for reducing cocaine cravings and aiding those in recovery. The changes in these networks’ communication could also serve as useful imaging biomarkers for cocaine addiction.
The study also offered novel insights into the anterior insular cortex (AI) and retrosplenial cortex (RSC). The former is responsible for emotional and social processing; whereas, the latter controls episodic memory, navigation, and imagining future events. Researchers noted that there was a difference in coactivity between these two regions before and after cocaine intake. This circuit could be a potential target for modulating associated behavioral changes in cocaine use disorders.
“Prior studies have demonstrated functional connectivity changes with cocaine exposure; however, the detailed longitudinal analysis of specific brain network changes, especially between the anterior insular cortex (AI) and retrosplenial cortex (RSC), before and after cocaine self-administration, and following extended abstinence, provides new insights,” said Hsu.
Multiple Action Research Group invites applications for the post of Project Implementer on consultancy basis in working area Delhi, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh and West Champaran, Bihar. Apply by March 5!
About Multiple Action Research Group (MARG)
MARG is a forerunner in access to justice and legal empowerment. Since 1985, the organisation has been engaged in the legal empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised groups through legal awareness, socio-legal research, advocacy initiatives and legal aid. MARG works both at the grassroots and policy-making levels.
MARG invites applications for the post of Project Implementer on consultancy basis in working area Delhi, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh and West Champaran, Bihar
Project Background
Promoting women’s right to life with dignity, gender and social equality (SAMTA Project)
Job description
The Project Implementer: She/He is supposed to provide legal assistance/training to volunteers in Khadda Block, Kushinagar, UP and Chanpatia Block, West Champaran Bihar, under the guidance of the Executive Director/Project Coordinator of MARG based in Delhi. Must be comfortable in outstation travel for project activities.
Work required
To implement the project deliverables in the work area
Organizing legal literacy workshops and community meetings for legal awareness
To coordinate with head office and Community Justice Workers (CJW) and volunteers
To supervise the work of Project Assistants and CJWs
To provide hand holding support in case of any legal matter to women.
Legal counselling and follow up, if required
Reporting MARG in legal case follow-up
Reporting and documentation
Required Qualification and Skill
Degree in Law from any recognized university
3 years of experience in Law practice
Research, documentation and report writing skills
Excellent communication skills in English and Hindi.
Experience in conducting legal training is desirable
Willingness to travel extensively in field area across India
Strong commitment to human rights and gender equality
Efficient time management skill, willingness to work with tight deadline and ability to work in complex and diverse working environment.
Well versed with computer applications, data analyses, Word Processing, Power Point Presentations.
She/He must carry her own laptop to facilitate her work including reporting
Duration
March 2024 – November 2024 (contractual)
Remuneration
Rs.30000/- per month. TDS as per statute.
Travel Requirements
Mostly in Delhi, but must be comfortable in the project area for one or two weeks in the month and other as per the project need.
How to Apply?
Kindly send us an updated resume with a pasted photo for the position of “Project Implementer” at [email protected]. Please mention “Project Implementer (Delhi)” in the subject line. The last date for sending applications is 5th March 2024. Considering the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
All zodiac signs have their own characteristics and traits which define someone’s personality. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you started your day by already knowing about what’s going to come your way? Read on to find out whether the odds will be in your favour today.
All zodiac signs have their own characteristics and traits which define someone’s personality.(Pixabay)
Aries (March 21-April 20)
A business trip will prove fruitful and lead to some lucrative deals. A fine day is foreseen for those trying to improve their financial status. Spending exclusive time with spouse is foreseen and will help strengthen the loving bonds. Health can cause problems due to negligence. Sightseeing in an exotic locale is possible, if you plan it out nicely. Those in two minds about developing a property will need to make the correct decision.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
Love Focus: Mutual attraction between you and a co-worker can translate into a budding romance.
Lucky Number: 2
Lucky Colour: Purple
Taurus (April 21-May 20)
Showroom owners and retailers will be able to earn well today. Day seems monetarily favourable, as previous investments give good returns. A decision taken on the family front will be much appreciated. Air travel is foreseen for some, which can be in official or personal capacity. Those looking for a house on rent or purchase will find it difficult to make up their minds. You are likely to grow stronger on the academic front
Love Focus: Lover may meet you today.
Lucky Number: 11
Lucky Colour: Brown
Gemini (May 21-Jun 21)
A new venture is likely to turn profitable soon. Some of you can resolve to lead a disciplined life for health reasons. A financial issue is likely to be solved in your favour. A delicate domestic issue will need to be handled with understanding and care. Planning an overnight picnic to the countryside is likely and will prove most exciting. There is no need to become big hearted where property is involved. Your academic aspirations may take some time to get realised.
Love Focus: Your efforts on the romantic front are likely to prove successful.
Lucky Number: 1
Lucky Colour: Cream
Cancer (Jun 22-July 22)
Some of you can suffer sleepless nights due to mental tensions. Financial troubles for those in debt are likely to be over soon. Someone may upset you at work by not agreeing to your proposal. Homemakers will be able to get volunteers for doing a task at home. An adventurous trip with friends is on the anvil for some. Clearance will be taken to commence construction of a house Those preparing for competitions will find their focus and do well.
Love Focus: This is the best day for romance, so make the most of it!
Lucky Number: 4
Lucky Colour: Dark Blue
Leo (July 23-August 23)
Wealth comes from unexpected sources and makes you financially strong. Adopting a disciplined life and change in lifestyle will help in restoring energy and health. Your ideas at work are likely to become profitable. Praise is in store for something you have done on the domestic front. You will be able to cut on time in travelling to a distant destination by taking a better route. This is a good time to finalise property as stars are poised favourably . Your academic aspirations are likely to be achieved.
Love Focus: Romantic thoughts may keep you happily engaged today.
Lucky Number: 18
Lucky Colour: Brown
Virgo (August 24-September 23)
You should be receiving some good news that will decrease your stress level significantly, and in turn will allow you to feel healthy. An ancestral property will hold an extraordinary worth. On the financial front, it is best not to go beyond the budget. Excellent man management skills will help you in managing many things at once on the professional front. Some of you may face a tough time finding a good match for an eligible family member, but there is no need to get disheartened.
Love Focus: Romantic endeavours are likely to bring favourable results.
Lucky Number: 22
Lucky Colour: White
Libra (September 24-October 23)
Proper investments will find your money multiply. Your mood swings can make you miss a profitable opportunity, so do something about it. You will be able to manage the work front well. Help will be around on the domestic front when you really need it. A short journey will help in refreshing and unburdening your mind. Renovation work of a property owned by you is likely to enhance its market value. Some more efforts and hard work will see you come out with flying colours on the academic front.
Love Focus: Your romantic endeavours are likely to bear fruit.
Lucky Number: 5
Lucky Colour: Orange
Scorpio (October 24-November 22)
Financially this is a good period, which promises money from various sources. You will be able to win over those who matter on the professional front. Spouse may be most cooperative today and support your ideas. Keep your property papers in order. Someone may become your role model on the fitness front and get you back into shape. Be clear of what you need to do and what actions to take, so as not to get caught on the wrong foot.
Love Focus: A romantic possibility may arise, as you begin to receive broad hints from someone you had met only recently.
Lucky Number: 17
Lucky Colour: Saffron
Sagittarius (November 23-December 21)
A piece of good news is likely to make your day wonderful. Some of you may be honoured with an award or appreciation on the social front. Money is likely to multiply from various sources of investment. Some of you may have plans to furnish their new properties. Continuing regular workouts will lift up the overall spirit. Your efforts to bring harmony on the home front will succeed. A business trip will open the doors for new opportunities.
Love Focus: Someone you love is likely to send positive signals.
Lucky Number:5
Lucky Colour: Magenta
Capricorn (December 22-January 21)
Your initiative on the social front will be lauded by all. A short vacation can certainly be sanctioned for those yearning for it since long. Some renovations may be carried out in the ancestral property. You may need to work hard to match the expectations of your seniors on the professional front. Someone in the family may motivate you to give your best on the academic front. A fitness routine that fits your lifestyle is likely to be taken up.
Love Focus: Your romantic endeavour seems certain to bear fruit, so be prepared to enter an exciting phase of life.
Lucky Number: 4
Lucky Colour: Peach
Aquarius (January 22-February 19)
Good preparation and sharp memory will help you remain mentally relaxed on the academic front. Some of you will be absolutely focussed on saving money. Those with allergies or some medicine intolerance need to be careful. You succeed in putting an ambitious project on the tracks and cross all hurdles in making it a success. A short vacation is on the cards for some and will prove most enjoyable. A wedding of a close family member is likely to be solemnised and get you all excited. Luck is likely to shine for those who have applied for a house or plot.
Love Focus: Exciting times on the romantic front are foreseen, as you get the chance of an outing with lover.
Lucky Number: 18
Lucky Colour: Red
Pisces (February 20-March 20)
Someone may invite you to visit to a historical monument or some other place of interest today. This is the day to play your winning card on the professional front. Selling a piece of land or an ancestral house can lead you to big money. Some of you may really need help in completing an important assignment on the academic front. Joining the group of health conscious people will prove beneficial in achieving total fitness. Someone not feeling well in the family may need your attention.
Love Focus: Romantic mood prevails, so get set for a special evening today!
An Australian-based biotechnology company says a mid-stage clinical trial has shown that psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in many mushroom species, helped people with generalized anxiety disorder.
The trial recruited 73 participants, giving some psilocybin and others placebos, though they all received psychotherapy. According to Incannex Healthcare, whose work focuses on cannabinoid and psychedelic medicine, the study hit its main goal, as psilocybin demonstrated a significantly larger clinical effect.
Researchers used a well-known scale to evaluate participants, with higher scores equating to severe anxiety symptoms. Eleven weeks into the study, scores had decreased 12.8 points in the psilocybin group versus 3.6 points in the placebo group.
Additionally, anxiety scores dropped by more than half in 44% of psilocybin-treated patients, a response rate Incannex highlighted as “more than four times higher than that of the placebo group.” And at 27%, the proportion of patients in the drug arm who experienced full disease remission was more than five times higher than the control arm.
Incannex said patients tolerated psilocybin well. There were no serious or severe adverse events, and just one person withdrew from the trial. The company didn’t specify the mild to moderate adverse events that researchers observed, but noted they were “consistent with the known effects of the drug.”
In a statement, Incannex president and CEO Joel Latham said the results “implore us to continue the development of [the program] through large scale well-controlled trials, because this treatment method has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder.”
Incannex has already designed a follow-up mid-stage study that will take place at multiple sites in the U.S. and U.K. The company has also finalized the formulation of its psilocybin drug product, named PSX-001, and is preparing to manufacture the supply necessary for clinical trials. However, it still needs clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to test PSX-001 at sites in the U.S.
Shares of Incannex that trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange were up nearly 55% by late morning Tuesday, cresting just over $6.50 apiece.
Recently, investors have intrigued by psychedelic drugs and their potential ability to treat mental health conditions. Just last month, a company developing an ecstasy-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder said it had raised north of $100 million through a Series A financing round that received more interest than expected. In 2021, Atai Life Sciences, a German biotech with a similar program, raised $225 million by going public.
Andrew Tsai, an analyst at the investment firm Jefferies, wrote in a note to clients early this year that the “psychedelic landscape seems to be evolving favorably” for drugmakers.
The need for more and better treatments is high across many mental disorders, which, for developers, presents significant commercial opportunities if they can bring drugs to market. Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato, for example, is a form of ketamine that was approved in 2019 for treatment-resistant depression. According to Tsai’s estimates, Spravato is poised to hit $725 million in annual sales.
Crucial Role of Plumbing in Real Estate Investments: The plumbing system’s condition significantly impacts the valuation and appeal of a property. A well-maintained system enhances property value, while a faulty system can lead to depreciation and costly repairs.
Identifying Common Plumbing Issues: Common issues such as leaks, clogs, and corrosion must be identified early to prevent extensive damage and repair costs. Professional inspections are essential for assessing the condition of the plumbing system accurately.
Evaluating Plumbing System’s Condition: Assessing the plumbing system’s age, materials, and maintenance history is vital to estimating its lifespan and future performance. This evaluation is critical in making informed investment decisions.
Financial Implications and Strategic Planning: Estimating repair and maintenance costs, considering the financial implications of plumbing in the investment strategy, and planning for potential upgrades are crucial to maximising returns on investment. Energy-efficient and well-maintained plumbing systems can attract higher rental income and more environmentally-conscious tenants.
Investing in new builds can be a lucrative opportunity for real estate investors.
Still, it requires careful due diligence to ensure the investment is sound.
One crucial aspect of due diligence is evaluating the plumbing systems in the new build.
A faulty or poorly designed plumbing system can cause significant problems down the line, leading to expensive repairs and potential legal issues.
To help investors navigate this aspect of due diligence, this article will provide a checklist for evaluating plumbing systems in new builds.
The checklist will cover essential considerations such as the quality of the materials used, the design of the system, and any potential issues with water pressure or drainage.
By following this checklist, investors can make informed decisions about their investments and avoid costly plumbing problems in the future.
Assessing Plumbing Fundamentals
Understanding Plumbing Significance in Property Valuation
Plumbing is an essential aspect of any property, and its significance cannot be overstated in property valuation.
A well-maintained and efficient plumbing system can significantly increase the value of a property.
At the same time, a faulty one can lead to a significant decrease in value.
As such, it is crucial to assess the plumbing system of any property before making an investment decision.
Identifying Common Plumbing Problems
Identifying common plumbing problems is crucial when evaluating a property’s plumbing system.
Leaks, clogs, and corrosion are some of the most common issues that can significantly affect the plumbing system’s efficiency.
These problems can lead to water damage, which can be costly.
Tips: From Plumber Sydney Experts: It’s essential to hire a professional inspector with local expertise to assess the plumbing system’s condition and identify any potential problems. Local professionals are familiar with common issues in the area, offering invaluable insights for thorough evaluations.
Evaluating the Plumbing System’s Condition
Evaluating the plumbing system’s condition, particularly the construction plumbing aspects, is critical when assessing a property’s value.
This involves examining the layout, materials, and installation practices used in the property’s plumbing construction to ensure they meet current standards and will stand the test of time.
Investment property buyers and real estate investors must pay close attention to the condition of a property’s plumbing system to make an informed investment decision.
Assessing the plumbing fundamentals can help determine the property’s equity, returns, and expenses, including repair costs.
Buyers and sellers can make informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes by hiring a professional inspector and understanding the plumbing system’s significance.
Financial Implications and Strategic Planning
When evaluating plumbing systems in new builds, it is essential to consider the financial implications and incorporate them into the overall investment strategy.
This section will discuss estimating repair and maintenance costs, maximising investment returns, and incorporating plumbing considerations into the overall investment strategy.
Estimating Repair and Maintenance Costs
When evaluating newly built plumbing systems, one critical consideration is estimating repair and maintenance costs.
Budgeting for ongoing maintenance and repairs is essential to ensure that the plumbing system remains in good working order and to avoid costly repairs down the track.
To estimate repair and maintenance costs, investors should consider factors such as the age and condition of the plumbing system, the materials used, and the frequency of use.
It is also essential to factor in the cost of labour and other associated costs, such as permits and inspections.
Maximising Investment Returns
Investors should also consider how plumbing considerations can help maximise investment returns.
A well-designed and maintained plumbing system can increase the value of a property and attract higher rental income.
For example, properties with energy-efficient plumbing systems can be marketed as eco-friendly and attract environmentally-conscious tenants.
Investors should also consider the potential for leveraging debt to finance plumbing upgrades or renovations.
Using leverage, investors can increase their return on investment (ROI) and generate more cash flow.
Incorporating Plumbing Considerations into Overall Investment Strategy
Finally, investors should consider how plumbing fits into their overall investment strategy.
This may involve negotiating with builders to ensure that plumbing systems are designed and installed to a high standard or considering the potential for future renovations or upgrades.
Investors should also consider the impact of plumbing considerations on cash flow and budgeting.
For example, the coding of plumbing systems may impact the funds available for other investments or expenses.
Incorporating plumbing considerations into an investment strategy requires careful planning and financial analysis.
By taking a strategic approach, investors can ensure that plumbing systems are designed and maintained to a high standard and contribute to overall investment success.
In Summary
Investing in new builds presents a lucrative opportunity for real estate investors.
Still, it is necessary to conduct thorough due diligence, particularly in evaluating the plumbing systems.
The plumbing system’s condition is pivotal in determining a property’s overall value and appeal, making it an essential aspect of the investment decision process.
By following the provided checklist—focusing on the quality of materials, design considerations, and potential issues—investors can make informed decisions and mitigate risks associated with plumbing defects.
Understanding common plumbing problems, evaluating the system’s condition, and incorporating strategic planning regarding financial implications are critical to safeguarding an investment.
A strategic approach to plumbing in new builds, including negotiations on standards, budgeting for maintenance, and potential upgrades, can significantly enhance the investment’s profitability and sustainability.
Ultimately, careful attention to plumbing systems in the evaluation process supports better investment outcomes, ensuring long-term success in the competitive real estate market.
About Guest Expert Apart from our regular team of experts, we frequently publish commentary from guest contributors who are authorities in their field.
Your dating profile headline says a lot about you, your personality and by inference, the type of person you are looking for on the dating site. The perfect headline for dating site will get people hooked and draw them in to read your complete profile. And getting them curious about your dating bio is half the battle won.
Do you remember some of the headlines for profiles that you immediately liked, and maybe even shared with a friend? If you want to create a great first impression like that and get people to connect with you, check out our list of introduction headlines for dating sites.
Dating Profile Headlines To Attract Guys
The dating headlines for women need to be eye-catching if they are trying to get the attention of the guys they truly like. There are many ways to create an attractive headline that will do just that and in this article, we take a closer look at your many options — from personal headlines that describe you well to funny ones that act as a magnet for those with a similar sense of humor, and much more.
Mega personal headlines
A good headline for dating sites should say something about you, either directly or indirectly, and can attract the kind of guys you like. A mega personal headline does just that, saying something bold about your personality. It makes your dating profile bio stand out in the crowd, which is the best way to get that coveted swipe. Check out these headlines for profiles that wish to lead with honesty:
Related Reading: 43 Funny Tinder Questions Your Matches Will Love
Looking for the right companion to travel with every weekend
Travel, food, and good company are great turn-ons
Always on the lookout for a new investment idea. Are you one?
Super political with a quirky sense of humor. Do we match?
Ping me if you think a good playlist solves any problem
Outgoing and easygoing type. And always ready to organize a protest
An exotic pet owner looking for an animal lover
I am a disco queen looking to party, and then coming back home with you
Waiting for the guy who understands romance to sweep me off my feet
Looking for the kind of guy who understands Stephen Hawking
An ambitious, driven personality who enjoys a good laugh
My prince charming must be a dog lover and emotionally available
A cutie who makes the most delicious paella would like to have you over for dinner
Over a decade spent mastering the rat race and now I’m ready to party
I would make an attractive headline to any guy’s life story, as long as he is polyamorous too
Three things about me that I haven’t ever told anyone …
A smart connection with a guy would be a welcome change
Want to know how to make a million dollars quickly? Let’s find out together
Starting life from scratch. I am an open book waiting to be written
I solemnly swear to make your life infinitely more interesting!
Related Reading: 65 Best Instagram Pickup Lines To Start A Conversation
Funny headlines for dating sites
Many successful dating headlines use humor as a hook. Funny headlines for dating sites can attract people with a similar sense of humor. Witty, cheesy, or just cracked up, it doesn’t matter. People enjoy reading funny headlines on dating bios anyway. So, in pursuit of the perfect date, here are a few top dating headlines for you to choose from:
History is full of important first dates. Would you like to go on one?
Trying too hard not to be funny
I operate on a 15-day free trial basis with no refunds for bores
Scan the QR code to see if we are on the same wavelength
The movie of my life needs a good co-director
I’m self-employed because I am unemployable
I consider chess an appropriate game for a first date
I’d be an astronomer if it weren’t for my myopia
Good girls go to heaven. I go everywhere
I am the 167,318,972th most interesting person on the planet
I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested
Strong with you the force is, contact me you must
What’s better than good food, good wine, and good company?
As bad girls go, I’m bad at everything
Normal is boring. I’m here to overshare
The last time I was somebody’s type was at the blood bank
I’m a foodie looking for a like-stomached partner
Looking for a guy to match wits with
Guys, this one is not for the faint-hearted!
Humor loves company. So do I — This one’s a great introduction headline for dating sites
Great headlines to catch a guy’s attention
Clever headlines to attract attention
Now you know. Writing an introduction title for a dating site with a clever play on words can be very effective for online dating sites. Luckily, a clever headline to attract attention can be created with just a few words. So let’s give something to your potential dates to engage with and increase the number of matches you get on dating apps through these top dating headlines:
I’m just a cupcake looking for a stud muffin
Fitness instructor by day, karaoke singer by night
For our first date, let’s ‘weed out’ my garden
I will either bore you to death or radicalize you completely
Our pheromones have to match if this is going to work
You have competition. I love nothing more than my kids and pets
Eat, Pray, Love, and Travel
I do believe that laughter is the best medicine. The other meds I’m on don’t taste as good
My software is written in love language 3.0
I’m the type of gal who not only wants her cake, but will eat it too
If you can acknowledge that I am always right, then we will get along just fine
A terrific Italian cook looking for the right meat to add to the pasta
My Prince Charming should believe in fairy tales and BDSM
Looking for a Harry Potter reference in your title for dating profile
The perfect woman doesn’t exist, but I come pretty darned close!
I need a co-star who can share the limelight equally
I’m a bad girl looking to spoil a good boy
My life’s rear-view mirror has fogged up so I’m watching the road ahead
I’m the kind of gal your mommy warned you about
I bake therefore I am — Perfect headlines for profiles can be as simple and short as this
Related Reading: 200+ Ideas For A Username For Dating Site — Set Yourself Apart
Catchy singles headlines
A friend once said to me that all she wants are examples of cool dating profile headlines. She said, “I’ve figured out the rest. The photos, the answers to the questions, the song choice. But are there any dating headlines for women that are fun yet honest?” I get it. If you, too, want to grab someone’s eye but haven’t found a good match in any of the catchy singles headlines above, don’t worry. To date online successfully, we have some more interesting dating profile headlines, curated just for you:
Be nice to me and enjoy the ride of a lifetime!
That Long Island Iced Tea is my favorite drink should tell you a lot about me
If you can think of an Alice Walker quote without having to Google, we might just get along
Looking for a true love story minus the heartbreak
Would love to be your gaming buddy
A partner that tells me like it is, that’s what I want
DM only if you are a member of the Bad Boy’s Club
Long drives and soulful conversations are what make my world go round
Dating experts would probably warn you to stay away from me
Watching basketball games and trying escape rooms are two of my favorite things
I could teach you all the naughty things they didn’t teach you in school
If you love anime characters more than your friends sometimes, we are meant to be together
Looking for a guy who doesn’t smell like teen spirit
Chemistry nerd looking for her perfect love equation
You’ll never believe why I moved to Denver
I would love to go on a fishing trip on our first date
Chivalry without sexism, where art thou?
A real-life love story with a difference, just waiting to happen
Full-time traveler, part-time dreamer
I prefer men who enjoy challenges rather than mind games
Related Reading: 33 Matching Bios For Couples – Cute Instagram Bios
Hilarious dating headlines
Did you find any interesting dating profile headlines yet? Are you looking to attract someone who gets your humor? Hilarious dating headlines do get a lot of responses, so we have a bunch of options for you. The style could be over the top or understated as per your preference. Here are the best titles for dating profiles:
Let’s start with one of the cheesiest headline examples for dating profiles: This pizza enthusiast is looking for a cheesy partner
Wine lover with a dry wit
I’m a sushi lover missing my soy mate
Tech geek seeking a connection stronger than my Wi-Fi
Cat person in a world full of dog videos
Yoga enthusiast looking for a downward dog partner
I put the fun in dysfunctional
This girl is fluent in three languages — Spanish, English, and awkward emojis
Short, sweet, and full of bad puns
Swipe right if you can handle my daily mix of caffeine and sarcasm
Not looking for a one-night stand, but I am looking for someone to stand next to my fridge with the door open
Currently starring in my own romantic comedy. Plot twist — Haven’t found a date yet!
Swipe right and together we can conquer the world, one bad joke at a time
Looking for a badass. You bring the bad, I have the ass
If you don’t like my kissing, I’m open for refunds
President of the People Who Hate Online Dating Club
Feel free to add me to your to-do list
I’m looking for someone to reach the top shelf
Let’s get fries and judge people together
I give great messages
Headlines For Dating Site For Guys
If you’re a guy trying to impress women on a dating site, your headline needs to be punchy enough to make you stand out in the crowd. You can use personalized humor and catchy language to get your potential partner’s attention. We have a collection of cool dating profile headlines that will set you apart from the rest.
Great headlines to impress a girl on a dating site
Mega personal headlines
Guys, here’s a list of mega-personal headlines that you can customize according to your personality. Any of these will work very well as an introduction title for dating site. It will tell interested women more about you and the type of partner you are looking for.
I can recite the entire script of my favorite movie, but still figuring out the plot of my own life
One-liner champion seeking a worthy opponent in the battle of wordplay
Working toward a life filled with laughter, love, and the perfect cup of Joe
Minimalist and zen in everything except my vinyl collection
Wild nights for me involve a _____
If you think my dog is as adorable as I do, let’s talk
I’m the sort of person who embraces imperfections — both in myself and my mismatched socks
9/10 if you can make me laugh. 10/10 if you can appreciate my cooking
Even though I may not have it all figured out, I’m enjoying every moment of the journey
I was social distancing long before the pandemic
My life motto remains — More authenticity, less drama
If laughter is the best medicine, may I interest you in some well-timed one-liners?
We could work well together as long as I am the boss … sometimes!
Firm believer in random acts of kindness and second chances
Come celebrate life’s small victories with me
If you enjoy karaoke and conversations, let’s talk
I can quote Seinfeld episodes and Shakespeare plays. Can you keep up?
Quality over quantity in everything — from friendships to chocolates
Join me for the next chapter as I write the autobiography of my life
Lover of the little things. If popping bubble wrap and catching the perfect sunset makes you happy, you may be the perfect match for me — Ah, this is one of the best headlines for dating sites!
Related Reading: 50 Incredible Responses To The “Dating Me Is Like” Hinge Prompt
Funny headlines for dating sites
Ever read a news article purely because of a funny headline? In the case of virtual dating, an introduction title for a dating site works in a similar manner, drawing the reader in. The humor has an added benefit since it acts as a filter — only those who get your quirky side will be interested enough to read the complete bio.
Attention and affection are two things I am really good at dishing out
I’m a guy who understands romance from a non-movie perspective too
Math nerd looking for someone to add to the equation
It is true that blondes have more fun … I should know
Tall, dark, and handsome with a big budget
Drama queens, please move along
I have the patience to wait while you shop
I prefer watching sunsets to Netflix
I’m the fun-loving and interesting guy your mom never warned you about
I’m kinda like Spiderman — a nerdy guy with a secret life
An intrepid adventurer: Join me in the quest for love if that’s what you are looking for in a relationship too
If six packs are your thing, then I’m your guy
To text or to call, that is the question
Willing to work for cuddles
I’m willing to lie about how we met
My potential partner has to be on my wavelength
Looking for my partner in crime, laughter, and love
If I drove an Aston Martin, why would I be here?
Calling all movie buffs. Send me your favorite movie quote
I run on sarcasm
Do not put these into your dating profile headline
Clever headlines to attract attention
Looking for a really clever title for a dating profile? It’s true that successful dating headlines will attract potential matches to your profile, but the rest is up to you. All we can help you get is a head start, so let’s pick a clever headline to attract attention … and some love? If that doesn’t get them, then they are probably not on your wavelength anyway.
Related Reading: 55 Best Ice Breaker Questions For Dating
A He-Man, the master of my own universe
Looking to enhance my dating experience, one meaningful connection at a time
Experienced cuddle buddy who can make you laugh
A hopeless romantic looking to write his own fairytale
Expert gamer, but only in cyberspace
A bad boy who would love to spoil you
My apartment smells of teen spirit and books on revolution
Let us leave singledom behind
A cardiologist looking to find his way into your heart
My hobbies include stargazing, binge-watching Netflix, and deep, meaningful conversations
Expert rock climber — Will you join me at the peak?
The perfect woman for me would match me crazy for crazy
If you like K-pop and anime, then take a chance on me
A blues lover would be the perfect match for me
Jazz and blues … these are the beats of my existence
I’m as single as a dollar bill
Will cook breakfast for you in bed
Looking for a queen to oversee my empire
I am in this only for the good times
Wicked but harmless is how I’d describe my sense of humor
Related Reading: 40 Best Opening Lines For Online Dating
Catchy singles headlines
Good headlines for dating sites will usually use humor or fun phrases to stand out. After all, no one ever fell asleep laughing. A catchy singles headline can stick in someone’s mind and will bring a smile to the lips of any potential match. Here are some dating profile headlines to make you smile:
Let’s do nerdy stuff together
What is the craziest thing you’ve done? We both know it’s not me, yet.
My superpower would be _________
Extrovert-seeking introvert
Gently used single dad
“Love is friendship on fire” — Susan Sontag
Truth or dare
I’ll be the beast to your beauty
6’3″ and brainy too
Swipe right if you accept the terms and conditions
Heaven sounds terribly boring. Let’s go to hell
Seeking a cuddle buddy
I look good in husband material
Will you help me return the ring to Mordor?
For the perfect date, add a dash of me
Humor – check. Money – check. Good looks – check. Your swipe right – TBA
I’m looking for the Pam to my Jim
Are you brave enough to Super Like me?
If you are ready to handle me at my worst (jetlag), then you deserve my best (morning cuddles)
Match me if you can
Hilarious dating headlines
A hilarious dating headline is a witty headline that makes someone laugh and is almost always guaranteed to get someone to read your profile. Those without a sense of humor will be left cold, but maybe that’s for the best. We are here with the best headlines for dating sites guaranteed to crack ‘em up:
Related Reading: Dating Abbreviations You Need To Know! Here’s 25 On Our List
Roses are red. Violets are blue. Yoda I am. Go out with me, will you?
I wouldn’t have come this far in life without Selena. She’s my cat
I’d rather be a Han Solo than a Luke Skywalker
“Try dating sites you must or end up like me you will” — Yoda
As an engineer, I prefer doing it with tools
If the shoe fits, will you be my Tinderella?
I’m the guy who remembers all kinds of anniversaries
Back by popular demand
Optimus Fine
Bingo! You just found your one-in-a-million
I’m single and ready to get awkward with someone I find attractive
Seeking a partner in crime. Must have your own shovel
Looking for my plus one for all the weddings I am invited to
Coffee in the streets. Champagne in the sheets
I’m not a photographer but I can see you and me together
I unashamedly use pics of my dogs to send apologies
Currently working on my dad bod
Caution: My dance moves can cause secondhand embarrassment
Just here till I win the lottery
Will you be the reason I delete this app? — The perfect profile headline sample to conclude this article Always remember, a headline for dating site needs to create an impact. It should catch the user’s attention, making them pause their scrolling to investigate your profile. Also, the best headlines for dating sites are easily readable, making you interesting and approachable enough for a swipe right.
FAQs
1. How long are dating profile headlines?
Good headlines for dating sites should not be longer than one to two short sentences. Anything longer risks your potential match losing interest. There are many examples in this article of profile headline samples that work successfully.
2. What to include in your headline?
An attractive headline should leverage the power of words to showcase your personality and dating intention. It should make you stand out in the crowd and entice your potential partner to investigate further. Creating a witty headline which displays your humorous side will go a long way in achieving that.
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Netflix is informing subscribers in some territories that they need to stop paying through iTunes billing.
Subscribers who were on the old Basic plan are being forced onto either a more expensive plan or a cheaper plan which includes ads.
Netflix’s move allows it to avoid paying the Apple Tax of 30%, as Apple takes a cut of all App Store transactions.
Netflix is once again cracking down on people paying for the streaming service through Apple/iTunes billing. So, if you have been paying for Netflix this way for years, you may now be forced to switch to paying for Netflix directly.
Netflix Stops Subscribers Paying Through iTunes
As first reported by Cord Cutters News, Netflix has started informing customers that they need to switch from paying through Apple to paying directly. This affects people in “some territories,” including the US and Canada, who are currently on the Basic plan.
Netflix axed the Basic plan costing $9.99/month in 2023, and updated its tiers to Standard with Ads, Standard, and Premium. Anyone already on the Basic plan could stay at that tier and only pay the $9.99/month asking price. However, anyone signing up new (including after canceling) or changing their subscription is forced to switch to one of the new tiers and pay the new asking prices.
That now includes those affected by this latest change, as switching from paying through Apple to paying Netflix directly represents a change of subscription. This has led to some users losing their grandfathered Basic plan, and being faced with either paying considerably more for a Standard or Premium plan, or paying less but accepting the need to watch ads.
Netflix spokesperson MoMo Zhou told The Verge that this change affects “members on the basic plan who were using an iTunes method of payment”.
As long ago as 2018, Netflix stopped anyone from signing up for its service through the App Store using an in-app purchase. But now, Netflix is also forcing existing subscribers in some territories to switch to paying for the service directly using a credit or debit card. This closes a loophole that has existed for years.
Why Netflix Wants You to Pay Directly Instead
The obvious reason why Netflix wants you and your fellow subscribers to pay directly is the so-called “Apple Tax”. Apple takes a 30% cut of App Store transactions, including subscriptions. This means that 30% of any price paid for Netflix through iTunes billing goes to Apple rather than Netflix.
By switching subscribers away from paying through Apple and paying directly instead, Netflix can take the full cut itself. The added bonus is that forcing people to switch payment methods means they also need to switch plans. Which, whether through higher prices or advertising, suits Netflix.
Is this fair? While it must be annoying for anyone used to paying $10/month for their fill of The Crown and Squid Game, it makes absolute sense from a business perspective. Why give Apple a cut of your profits and enable users to stay on abandoned plans when you can fix both with one change of policy?
Still, Netflix users used to paying for the old Basic plan through Apple will be rightly aggrieved at being forced to switch—especially as the Standard plan costs $15.49/month, with Premium costing $22.99/month. The only way of avoiding a considerable bump in price is to opt for Standard with Ads, which only costs $6.99/month but, as the name suggests, forces you to watch ads.
In this episode, Tianran and Hannah continue their tea-tasting journey along Hangzhou’s Qiantang River, exploring the region’s historical culture and culinary delights. They head to Anding mountain, enjoying misty tea at the summit. In Longmen ancient town, they dive into traditional Chinese clan culture and savor “Sun Quan Seitan.” Shishe Village reveals a revitalized community, leaving Hannah enamored with gray soup rice dumplings. Additionally, the fish head soup and caviar at Qiandao lake leave Tianran a great impression of the area. Jiukeng tea also captivates their senses. Their Hangzhou adventure ends by the ancient tea trees. The foodies immersed in the fragrance of different kinds of tea.
After weathering significant streaming losses, Walt Disney Co. is combining its India business with a venture owned by top local conglomerate Reliance Industries.
The companies announced Wednesday that they will merge their TV and streaming media assets into a joint venture.
The deal combines the businesses Reliance-backed Viacom18 and Disney’s Star India. Reliance is investing $1.4 billion for a 63% interest in the joint venture. Disney will own the rest. The deal values the new joint venture at $8.5 billion, according to the companies.
“India is the world’s most populous market, and we are excited for the opportunities that this joint venture will provide to create long-term value for the company,” Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a statement. “Reliance has a deep understanding of the Indian market and consumer, and together we will create one of the country’s leading media companies, allowing us to better serve consumers with a broad portfolio of digital services and entertainment and sports content.”
It’s one of several big moves that Iger has made to right the Disney ship since retaking the helm in November 2022. Iger is facing a proxy contest from activist investors, including billionaire Nelson Peltz, who is seeking a board seat at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on April 3.
Disney’s India streaming operation has posted significant losses. The company took over the Indian streaming service Hotstar in 2019 as part of its $71-billion deal to acquire the assets of 21st Century Fox.
Hotstar has been losing subscribers since Reliance poached the streaming media rights of Indian Premier League cricket while Bob Chapek was Disney’s chief executive. The decision to not overpay for cricket streaming rights was framed as a cost-conscious move at the time, but it caused Disney to lose significant ground in the market.
The joint venture will put the TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content under one roof, reaching more than 750 million viewers across India.
The combined entity will have exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India.
Nita M. Ambani, the wife of Reliance chair and billionaire Mukesh Ambani, will be the chairperson of the venture. Former Disney executive Uday Shankar, who had joined Viacom18, will serve as vice chairperson “providing strategic guidance to the JV,” the companies said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory, shareholder and other customary approvals and is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2024 or first quarter of 2025.
New Delhi, February 28: British luxury car company Aston Martin set out to launch its first electric car; however, according to the reports, the launch of the EV has been delayed. As per the reports, the company delayed the launch of its first electric car due to poor market demand. The reports said the upcoming Aston Martin battery electric car launch was delayed until 2026. Earlier, the company was planning to launch it in 2025.
According to the report by Moneycontrol, the British luxury car company has committed $2.53 billion, or £2 billion, to advanced technology for the upcoming five years. The report said that Aston Martin had its investment phasing from ICE (internal combustion engine) to BEV (battery electric vehicle). As per the report, the automobile companies and their suppliers bet on the future BEV demand, investment capacity, and technology development, which has outplaced the actual demand for vehicle vehicles. It reportedly has led the automakers to readjust their production plans. BYD Seal Booking Open for Indian Market, Launch Set for March 5; Know More Details.
The Economic Times Auto reported that Aston Martin’s first electric car, Valhalla, will enter production this year. According to the report, Mercedes-Benz delayed its “electrification goal” by five years and said the company would “spruce up” its combustion engine models. Further, the report mentioned that the company hoped to turn free cash flow positive in the fourth quarter. However, it was hit by the DB12 and Valour models’ delivery timings. Volvo EX30 and Volvo EX90 EVs Likely To Launch Soon in India; Check Expected Specifications and Features.
The report said Aston Martin expects positive cash generation in the second half of this year. Recently, the company struck a deal with Saudi-backed US electric vehicles market Lucid. This year, other companies have confirmed the introduction of their EVs in the market, including China’s BYD Auto and Elon Musk’s Tesla. BYD Seal is set to launch on March 5, 2024, and Tesla has yet to confirm the launch of its electric model for the Indian market.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2024 07:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
All these firms seek to capitalize on what Apple recognized a decade ago: The software and connectivity now built in to new autos gave tech incumbents a jump on traditional auto-builders. But those advantages haven’t always proven out.
Project Titan had plenty of other challenges. High-profile executives from tech companies, tech-inspired automakers like Tesla, and legacy automakers alike joined and then left the program, reportedly frustrated by the project’s shifting timeline and ambitions. Meanwhile, the autonomous vehicle industry changed around it, going from moonshot darling of the tech space to a still-challenging engineering problem facing technical and regulatory headwinds.
By the time Apple wrapped up the car project, Bloomberg reported that it had drastically scaled down its ambitions from developing a legitimate self-driving car to building an electric vehicle with now familiar driver-assistance automated features of the kind automakers including Tesla, General Motors, and Ford have had on the road now for years.
Yet, despite this downgrading, Apple still drove more autonomous vehicle testing miles last year than ever before, according to reports the company submitted to a California state agency. Apple did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
However, Apple still has a significant foothold in the automotive industry, thanks to its CarPlay infotainment system. Plenty of drivers prefer their iPhone’s car integration to the technology that automakers have built from scratch. Indeed, anticipation is increasing for the release this year in the US of the next generation of CarPlay, which dramatically increases functions of the Apple’s in-car UI, with control over multiple screens, camera integration, vehicle monitoring, climate control, and a wealth of driving-related data, including a vehicle’s average speed, fuel efficiency, and energy efficiency.
And despite the global car industry being taken completely by surprise at Apple’s 2022 WWDC announcement of the significantly expanded features of new CarPlay—with many refusing to even comment on the software’s new abilities, much less confirm its adoption—most of the major players have now confirmed it will be coming to their vehicles. BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Buick, Chery, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Fiat, Land Rover, Lucid, Mercedes, Toyota, and many more have signed up.
One indicator of the importance of CarPlay for auto OEMs comes from Hyundai Motor Group president Song Chang-Hyeon, a former Apple and Microsoft engineer who heads the group’s software development division. Song told WIRED at CES in January that his very first task after being appointed to the board in 2021 was to fix the glaring omission of wireless CarPlay integration in its vehicles, ensuring that untethered Apple access would finally appear in Kia’s new flagship, the all-electric EV9.
Clearly, for Apple, “this is not the end. This is just the beginning of the game,” says Prasad, the automotive researcher. “This is a very exciting reset in so many different ways.”
The NFT sector is seemingly making a mark in the Web3 arena again after it underwent a bit of a downturn last year. The Bitcoin NFTs on the Magic Eden marketplace have reportedly managed to reel in $100 million (roughly Rs. 829 crore) in monthly trading volume in February. Findings from fresh analysis have disclosed that NFTs based on the Bitcoin blockchain have been the reviving factor for digital collectibles. Bitcoin-based NFTs gained popularity last year with the rollout of Ordinals.
The exact monthly trading volume figure for Bitcoin NFTs on Magic Eden stood at $107,373,917 (roughly Rs. 889 crore), data by Dune Analytics shows. Bitcoin NFTs formed the biggest chunk of the total monthly trading volume on Magic Eden this month, which stood at over $175 million (roughly Rs. 1,450 crore). Bitcoin was followed by Solana, Ethereum and Polygon on the marketplace. Additionally, Magic Eden saw over 45,000 Bitcoin NFT buyers this month and over 97,000 sellers listed their Bitcoin NFTs on the platform. Statistics show that the sales of Bitcoin-based NFTs picked pace when the price point of BTC reached and exceeded $25,000 (roughly Rs. 20.7 lakh).
As far as Ordinals are concerned, these NFTs had managed to garner around $173.28 million (roughly Rs. 1,433 crore) in revenue collectively via all NFT platforms in the month of May 2023 alone, data at the time had showed. Ordinal NFTs are inscribed on one Satoshi unit of the Bitcoin blockchain, which is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin named after its anonymous founder’s pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Nine out of the highest valued NFTs sold in around May last year were supported on the Bitcoin blockchain. Ordinals NFT collections like Space Pepes, Bitcoin Frogs, and $NALS NFTs emerged on top of the heap.
Realising that the craze around Ordinals NFTs was heating up, Magic Eden had rolled out Magic Eden Bitcoin as a dedicated marketplace for digital collectibles based on Bitcoin.
Now that NFT sales are escalating again, Magic Eden plans to reap benefits. This week, Magic Eden also launched a new NFT marketplace for collections built atop the Ethereum blockchain. This marketplace is being launched in partnership with NFT creating platform Yuga Labs.
Ethereum blockchain remains the largest in terms of NFT sales volume, reportedly amounting to $202.5 million (roughly Rs. 1,678 crore).
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Google Analytics 4 introduced a default Google Ads report, now available within your account’s performance reporting section.
To access this report, you need to link your GA4 profile with your Google Ads account
Why we care. The inclusion of this Google Ads report, formerly found in GA4’s predecessor Universal Analytics, simplifies data access within GA4. It helps you figure out what’s working well and what needs improvement, making it easier to optimize your campaign more effectively.
First spotted: The report was first spotted by Senior Performance Marketing Manager and Google Ads expert, Thomas Eccel, who shared a preview on X:
To locate this report, go to the Advertising section, navigate to “Performance”, and click on “Google Ads”.
What Google is saying. Google confirmed the new report to Search Engine Land, explaining it’s part of its Advertising workspace update. A spokesperson recently confirmed:
“If you currently run ads campaigns or monetize your properties with ads, make sure your ads accounts are linked to continue getting these actionable insights. If no account is linked, you will see a page that prompts you to link to an ads or publisher account.”
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Deep dive. Read our GA4 Advertising workspace update report for more information.
Leap Day, falling on February 29th, is a rare occurrence happening only once every four years, marking the inclusion of an extra day in the calendar known as a leap year. This phenomenon, while intriguing, often raises questions about its origins, significance, and impact on various aspects of our lives. Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) that shed light on Leap Day and Leap Year.
FAQs on Leap and Leap Year
Leap Day, occurring on February 29th in a Leap Year, adds an extra day to the calendar every four years to synchronize it with the solar year. This adjustment maintains alignment with Earth’s orbit around the sun.
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to Leap Day and Leap Year which help you to enhance your knowledge:
What is a Leap Day?
A Leap Day is an additional day inserted into the calendar occurring once every four years on February 29th. It helps synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, ensuring that the calendar remains accurate over time by accounting for the slight discrepancy between the two.
What is a Leap Year?
A leap year, also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year, features an extra day compared to a common year, typically occurring every four years. This additional day, called a leap day, helps align the calendar year with the astronomical year. The 366th day is added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or seasonal year. By inserting this extra day, calendars can correct the drift that naturally occurs over time, ensuring synchronization between human dating systems and the solar system’s physical properties.
What is the Difference Between a Leap Day and a Leap Year?
A leap day occurs approximately every four years on February 29th, although slight adjustments are made due to a six-hour deviation in the calendar system. On the other hand, a leap year is characterized by the addition of an extra day, called a leap day, to the month of February. Leap years consist of 366 days instead of the usual 365 and occur nearly every four years. The distinction lies in leap years having one additional day, which is the leap day itself.
How Do Leap Years Affect Birthdays?
Individuals born on February 29th, known as “leaplings” or “leapers,” technically only celebrate their birthdays every four years. However, many leaplings choose to celebrate on February 28th or March 1st during non-leap years. Some communities also hold special events to honor leaplings and their unique birthdays.
What would happen if there was no leap year?
According to Younas Khan, a physics instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, without leap years, the calendar would shift, causing Northern Hemisphere summers to fall in November. Consequently, Christmas would occur during summer, devoid of its traditional wintry atmosphere and snow.
How Do We Determine a Leap Year is a Leap Year?
We determine if a year is a leap year based on a specific rule: a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4. However, there’s an exception to this rule: a year divisible by 100is not a leap year unless it is also divisible by 400. For instance, the year 2000 was a leap year despite being divisible by 100 because it is also divisible by 400. This adjustment is crucial for maintaining the accuracy of the calendar system over longer periods, ensuring that our calendars stay aligned with the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
When was the Leap Year Introduced?
The leap year concept was introduced with the Julian Calendar in 45 BC by Julius Caesar. Inspired by the Egyptians, Caesar added an extra day annually to align the calendar with the solar year. However, his calculations slightly overestimated the solar year by approximately 11 minutes, resulting in an overcorrection of about eight days every millennium.
Do Every Country use the Leap Year System?
Different cultures utilize calendars with leap year rules distinct from those of the Gregorian calendar. For example, in the Iranian calendar, February 29 isn’t recognized as a leapday. Similarly, the Chinese calendar incorporates a leap month instead of a leap day. These variations reflect diverse cultural practices and methods of reconciling the discrepancies between calendar systems and astronomical events.
Are There Leap Year Superstitions or Traditions?
Leap years and Leap Day have inspired various superstitions and traditions across cultures. In some traditions, it is considered unlucky to get married or embark on new ventures during a leap year. However, others view Leap Day as a special occasion for unconventional proposals, gatherings, or charitable acts.
What Happens in Non-Leap Years?
In non-leap years, February has only 28 days, and the calendar proceeds as usual without the addition of an extra day. While leap years are relatively uncommon, they serve as reminders of the intricacies of timekeeping and the importance of maintaining synchronization between human-made calendars and the natural world.
It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration.
Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking.
Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over.
Then, there were the problems my father-in-law had replacing the devices’ batteries. And the times he’d end up in the hospital, unable to understand what people were saying because his hearing aids didn’t seem to be functioning. And the times he’d drop one of the devices and be unable to find it.
How many older adults have problems of this kind?
There’s no good data about this topic, according to Nicholas Reed, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies hearing loss. He did a literature search when I posed the question and came up empty.
Reed co-authored the most definitive study to date of hearing issues in older Americans, published in JAMA Open Network last year. Previous studies excluded people 80 and older. But data became available when a 2021 survey by the National Health and Aging Trends Study included hearing assessments conducted at people’s homes.
The results, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,803 people 71 and older, are eye-opening. Hearing problems become pervasive with advancing age, exceeding 90% in people 85 and older, compared with 53% of 71- to 74-year-olds. Also, hearing worsens over time, with more people experiencing moderate or severe deficits once they reach or exceed age 80, compared with people in their 70s.
However, only 29% of those with hearing loss used hearing aids. Multiple studies have documented barriers that inhibit use. Such devices, which Medicare doesn’t cover, are pricey, from nearly $1,000 for a good over-the-counter set (OTC hearing aids became available in 2022) to more than $6,000 for some prescription models. In some communities, hearing evaluation services are difficult to find. Also, people often associate hearing aids with being old and feel self-conscious about wearing them. And they tend to underestimate hearing problems that develop gradually.
Barbara Weinstein, a professor of audiology at the City University of New York Graduate Center and author of the textbook “Geriatric Audiology,” added another concern to this list when I reached out to her: usability.
“Hearing aids aren’t really designed for the population that most needs to use them,” she told me. “The move to make devices smaller and more sophisticated technologically isn’t right for many people who are older.”
That’s problematic because hearing loss raises the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, falls, depression, and social isolation.
What advice do specialists in hearing health have for older adults who have a hard time using their hearing aids? Here are some thoughts they shared.
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Consider larger, customized devices. Many older people, especially those with arthritis, poor fine motor skills, compromised vision, and some degree of cognitive impairment, have a hard time manipulating small hearing aids and using them properly.
Lindsay Creed, associate director of audiology practices at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, said about half of her older clients have “some sort of dexterity issue, whether numbness or reduced movement or tremor or a lack of coordination.” Shekinah Mast, owner of Mast Audiology Services in Seaford, Delaware, estimates nearly half of her clients have vision issues.
For clients with dexterity challenges, Creed often recommends “behind-the-ear hearing aids,” with a loop over the ear, and customized molds that fit snugly in the ear. Customized earpieces are larger than standardized models.
“The more dexterity challenges you have, the better you’ll do with a larger device and with lots of practice picking it up, orienting it, and putting it in your ear,” said Marquitta Merkison, associate director of audiology practices at ASHA.
For older people with vision issues, Mast sometimes orders hearing aids in different colors for different ears. Also, she’ll help clients set up stands at home for storing devices, chargers, and accessories so they can readily find them each time they need them.
Opt for ease of use. Instead of buying devices that require replacing tiny batteries, select a device that can be charged overnight and operate for at least a day before being recharged, recommended Thomas Powers, a consultant to the Hearing Industries Association. These are now widely available.
People who are comfortable using a smartphone should consider using a phone app to change volume and other device settings. Dave Fabry, chief hearing health officer at Starkey, a major hearing aid manufacturer, said he has patients in their 80s and 90s “who’ve found that being able to hold a phone and use larger visible controls is easier than manipulating the hearing aid.”
If that’s too difficult, try a remote control. GN ReSound, another major manufacturer, has designed one with two large buttons that activate the volume control and programming for its hearing aids, said Megan Quilter, the company’s lead audiologist for research and development.
Check out accessories. Say you’re having trouble hearing other people in restaurants. You can ask the person across the table to clip a microphone to his shirt or put the mike in the center of the table. (The hearing aids will need to be programmed to allow the sound to be streamed to your ears.)
Another low-tech option: a hearing aid clip that connects to a piece of clothing to prevent a device from falling to the floor if it becomes dislodged from the ear.
Wear your hearing aids all day. “The No. 1 thing I hear from older adults is they think they don’t need to put on their hearing aids when they’re at home in a quiet environment,” said Erika Shakespeare, who owns Audiology and Hearing Aid Associates in La Grande, Oregon.
That’s based on a misunderstanding. Our brains need regular, not occasional, stimulation from our environments to optimize hearing, Shakespeare explained. This includes noises in seemingly quiet environments, such as the whoosh of a fan, the creak of a floor, or the wind’s wail outside a window.
“If the only time you wear hearing aids is when you think you need them, your brain doesn’t know how to process all those sounds,” she told me. Her rule of thumb: “Wear hearing aids all your waking hours.”
Consult a hearing professional. Everyone’s needs are different, so it’s a good idea to seek out an audiologist or hearing specialist who, for a fee, can provide guidance.
“Most older people are not going to know what they need” and what options exist without professional assistance, said Virginia Ramachandran, the head of audiology at Oticon, a major hearing aid manufacturer, and a past president of the American Academy of Audiology.
Her advice to older adults: Be “really open” about your challenges.
If you can’t afford hearing aids, ask a hearing professional for an appointment to go over features you should look for in over-the-counter devices. Make it clear you want the appointment to be about your needs, not a sales pitch, Reed said. Audiology practices don’t routinely offer this kind of service, but there’s good reason to ask since Medicare started covering once-a-year audiologist consultations last year.
We’re eager to hear from readers about questions you’d like answered, problems you’ve been having with your care, and advice you need in dealing with the health care system. Visit kffhealthnews.org/columnists to submit your requests or tips.
The hits just don’t stop coming, as THQ Nordic has downplayed rumors of a classic Shrek video game getting a remake. Originally posted on Reddit’s Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit, the poster claimed to have inside knowledge of the Shrek 2 remake–it was originally released on the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox in 2004–thanks to them having a friend inside of THQ Nordic’s PR department.
“If you remember last year the head of Illumination announced that sister studio Dreamworks was rebooting Shrek and that he was involved. Around this time, THQ Nordic entered discussions with Universal to acquire the rights to more of their IP,” the unsourced post read. “This was a little before the current meltdown we’re seeing at Embracer Group, and the company was still interested in bringing back several other licensed kid game franchises like Spongebob.”
The post added that Shrek 2 would be remade in Unity and that it would be released on PC, current consoles, and the upcoming Switch successor, with development being led by Epic Mickey: Rebrushed studio Purple Lamp. In response, THQ Nordic said “This rumor is obviously fake. Everyone knows that nobody in our PR department has any buddies,” and followed up that post with a “let’s just hope they don’t see this tweet” message that their head of PR did see.
As for Shrek, the green ogre hasn’t been seen on the big screen for several years now. The head of animation studio Illumination, Chris Meledandri, has said that Shrek 5 could potentially be made in the future, and that he hopes to one day reunite the main cast of Mike Meyers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (Donkey), and Cameron Diaz (Fiona) for a new adventure. Or if you’d prefer to revisit those films in style, you can always rent Shrek’s swampy home on AirBnB.
Youth mental health in urban environments is significantly better when more nature is incorporated into city design.
A new study from University of Waterloo researchers suggests that forest bathing, the simple method of being calm and quiet amongst the trees, observing nature around you while breathing deeply, can help youth de-stress and boost health and well-being.
The study was the first ever to collect on-site, real-time survey data from adolescents about their emotional responses to various urban environments like a transit hub, residential streets, trails, parks, and waterways. Natural urban spaces were consistently related to significantly higher scores in positive outcomes.
“While the findings may not be surprising to most people, what’s significant is that for the first time, we’re able to specifically say this is how much anxiety is reduced when kids are by a park as opposed to by a city centre,” said Leia Minaker, associate professor in the School of Planning and director of the Future Cities Initiative.
The Future Cities Initiative is the latest in the University of Waterloo’s efforts to address the need to create healthy and prosperous urban futures for all.
After standing and looking at an urban lake for just two or three minutes, youth scores on a validated anxiousness scale decreased by nine per cent. On the other hand, their anxiousness scores were 13 per cent higher when standing in a busy downtown location for the same length of time. This is after adjusting for several other factors, including age, gender, ethnicity, mental health diagnosis, and social status.
With urbanization accelerating rapidly, it’s vital to understand urban environments’ impact on youth better. Especially given that depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of illness among adolescents.
The study found that nature motifs or patterns on buildings, natural sights in urban environments, such as lakes and public activity parks, and landscape elements, like gardens and trees, enhance positive emotional experiences for youth. While these urban characteristics are unique to adolescents, they might be interpreted differently from adults who pursue other activities. For example, adults might be more likely to walk or run in green spaces, whereas youth are more likely to skateboard or hang out.
In designing cities with health and sustainability for all age groups in mind, these findings provide clear evidence that planners, city builders, and healthcare providers can use to advocate for specific natural urban design features.
“Teens are frequently excluded from any kind of decision about the cities they live in,” Minaker said. “It’s important to get their opinions and quantify their experiences because childhood experiences influence many long-term health and disease outcomes.”
The researchers’ next step will be to find a link in the mental health data to the long-term economic and social impacts. Future research will assess the mental and physical health of kids living in high-rise apartment buildings, another area of research that is poorly understood in North America.
Submissions are invited for HPNLU Journal of Cyber Laws and Security under different categories. Submit by March 25!
About The Journal
HPNLU Journal of Cyber Laws and Security (JCLS) is an annual double-blind peer-reviewed journal of the Centre for Cyber Laws and Security, Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla. The Journal aims to promote a robust platform for legal minds, such as academicians, professionals, practitioners and researchers all over the country, to showcase their critical thinking and analytical abilities in order to positively contribute to the emergent discourse surrounding Cyber Laws and Security.
The scope of this journal is to extend a forum wherein the intellectual discourse is produced with respect to Cyber Laws, Cybercrime, and Cyber Security trends of today’s times and their impact on the administration of justice. These intellectual contributions are called upon to siphon the efforts and to propel better policies for Cyber Laws and Cyber Security.
Categories For Submission
The contribution may be made in the form of Research Papers / Articles, Essays & Comments and Book Reviews. The contribution, in the given category, should be a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of contemporary issues related to Cyber Laws and Cyber Security The following word limits should be observed:
Articles (6000-10000 words)
Essays And Comments (4000-6000 words)
Book Review (3000-4000 words) (Contribution under this Category is required to be made along with the new hard copy of the Book).
Submission Guidelines
Theme: There is no specific or particular theme(s) or topic(s) for the Volume. All submissions relating to Cyber Laws, Cyber Security and legal professional skills, directly or otherwise, are welcome.
Submission in electronic form: All contributions have to be submitted in electronic form. The manuscript should be typed in MS Office double-spaced, with a left margin of one and a half inches, and sent to [email protected], the same needs to be captioned as “Submission to HPNLU-JCLS<Title of Contribution>”.
Abstract: The abstract of the paper in 250-300 words should be sent along with the electronic submissions.
Covering Letter: Author(s) must send a covering letter mentioning the title of the paper, name, designation, and details of the author(s) as well as institutional affiliation. The author(s) are compulsorily required to make a solemn declaration about the originality of the manuscript and that the same has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
Communication of Acceptance: The decision on the acceptance of the paper for publication will be that of the Editorial Board, which shall be final. The communication shall be made electronically. The Editorial Board reserves the right of publication and a manuscript may be rejected from publication in the final stage(s).
Last Date of Submission
The last date for submission is March 25th, 2024.
Style Requirements
Citation: For citation and references, the HPNLU Citation Style or the Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (20th Edn.), should be strictly followed. The HPNLU Citation Style is available here. It can also be used for the paper in case of any confusion vis-a-vis format and footnoting.
Lengthy Quotations discouraged: Author(s) should avoid long quotations and keep them at a minimum wherever necessary with full and proper acknowledgement.
Footnotes: Lengthy and multi-paragraphed footnotes are discouraged. The citations must mention the page(s) of the source, and in cases where Court Judgments are referred to, the footnote should also mention the paragraph of the judgment in addition to the page number of the Reporter.
Websites: Only authoritative and authentic websites may be cited. References to internet sources, such as Wikipedia, blogs, commercial websites, etc., are not acceptable.
Terms & Conditions
The authors must comply with the following terms and conditions:
The manuscripts should be well researched/documented following the above-mentioned style of citation for footnotes.
The manuscripts should be the original work of the contributor and not a compilation of pre-existing works on the subject. It should not amount to the violation of others’ copyright. The contributor has to give a declaration as to the originality of the work.
All the manuscripts shall be subject to plagiarism check. The manuscript shall have a Similarity Index of less than 10 percent.
The copyright in all articles published in the journal shall vest in the owner of JCLS, i.e. HPNLU, Shimla.
The views adopted from other sources and others’ work must be quoted and sufficiently acknowledged.
Paraphrasing another author’s work shall not be considered as original work.
The Contributor has to cover the risk of being sued for copyright, defamation or contempt and shall be liable to suffer the losses if caused by violating copyright.
Disclaimer: WEF April, 2021, Lawctopus will not publish any ‘Call for Papers/Blogs’ by journals that charge money at the time of submission. If you find any journal doing so, please intimate us at tanuj.kalia[at]lawctopus.com
Many would argue that the spring season in India is undefined, but for the travelling kind, it is the beginning of the first harvest of tea leaves in Darjeeling, the full bloom of rhododendrons, and the time when elaborate festivities are held across cities in India paying ode to the local flora. From hiking routes, indigenous cultural programmes and views that make you want to spring into a spring mood, these destinations just might inspire you to celebrate an off-season walk through Uttrakhand’s Valley of Flowers, take in a blooming view of Yumthang from a hot spring or plan a luxury staycation in Darjeeling’s rolling hills.
From hiking routes, indigenous cultural programmes and views that make you want to spring into a spring mood, these destinations just might inspire you to take a spring break.
A trek of a lifetime in Uttrakhand’s Valley of Flowers
In 1980, the Indian government announced the Valley of Flowers National Park which went on to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002 for its endemic alpine flowers. While the bloom can be observed all year round in its different phases, from late March to May you can see the meadows peaking with blooming blue poppy, yellow saxaul, red spider lily and more.
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Lose yourself in a sea of tulips in Kashmir
If an annual trip to Kashmir is on the book, make it during the spring season—the last week of March to the end of April—for 2024. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, known as the Model Floriculture Center, is Asia’s largest tulip garden and plays host to the annual Tulip Festival, held at the onset of spring. Opened in 2007, it is spread across approximately 30 hectares in Srinagar and aims to promote floriculture and tourism in the Kashmir Valley. “With 1.5 million tulips of about 48 varieties of flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, and ranunculus, alongside tulips, you can enjoy,” explains couple Himani and Sagar
Walking through Yumthang’s Rhododendron-lined valley
Let’s face it: a wide carpet of rhododendrons painting the Sikkim Valley of Flowers sanctuary red is about as magical as it gets. Located at a distance of 150 kilometres from the capital Gangtok, Yumthang is home to Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary where you can spot over 20 species of the state flower from February to mid-June. “Spot Rhododendron niveum and Rhododendron ciliatum on guided tours, stop to bite into Sikkimese Crabapple, take a detour to visit the Lachung Monastery and after a day of viewing the pretty red-pink flowers, soak your tired muscles at the Yumthang Hot Spring,” says travel creator Aakanksha Monga.
A blooming sight (and taste) of the sweetest apricots in the world
Ladakh’s Apricot Blossom festival can give Japan’s Cherry Blossom viewing a run for its money and win, especially when it comes to expenses. Organised by Ladakh Tourism between mid to late-Aprill, this event, attendees can see local handicraft exhibits, sample and buy apricot-derived products like jams and syrup, take part in deep-rooted traditional activities in Dha-Hanu villages all while learning about the exclusive GI-tagged Raktsey Karpo Apricot (locally known as Chuli).
Tea picking in Darjeeling during the ‘first flush’
While April to June is the prime time for tourism in the hill station, heading out a bit early is ideal to catch the Darjeeling tea leaves during their ‘first flush’ of the season. The term ‘first flush’ can be defined as leaves picked during the first-ever harvest and lead to local immersion unlike any. After learning how to pick the prized ‘two leaves and a bud’, experiencing tasting sessions and understanding the colonial history, travellers can opt to stay on the estate in dedicated accommodation, stone houses and even villas like Makaibari Tea Estate, Glenburn Tea Estate and more. Pro tip: Like hiking much, don’t book a return ticket without planning out a trek to the Sandakphu mountain.
Cherry blossoms bathing Bangalore in pink
Introduced by the British to remind themselves of the spring season back home, today, tabebuia pink flowers bloom in Bengaluru every spring. Botanists John Cameron and Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel famed for shaping the Lal Bagh are credited for planting the first seeds after which horticulturist SG Neginhal planted them across the city as avenue trees in the 1980s. With the iconic Cubbon Park in Ashok Nagar leading among the popular places to spot the blossoms, the residential blocks of Jayanagar, HSR Layout, Koramangala, AECS Layout and Indiranagar, are worth exploring.
Lose yourself in a sea of tulips in Kashmir
If an annual trip to Kashmir is on the book, make it during the spring season—the last week of March to the end of April—for 2024. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, known as the Model Floriculture Center, is Asia’s largest tulip garden and plays host to the annual Tulip Festival, held at the onset of spring. Opened in 2007, it is spread across approximately 30 hectares in Srinagar and aims to promote floriculture and tourism in the Kashmir Valley. With 1.5 million tulips of about 48 varieties of flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, and ranunculus, alongside tulips, you can expect cultural events, music shows, and culinary showcases during the season. “Beyond the garden, you can trace the blooming meadows to the foothills of the Zabarwan Range and hunt for hyacinths and daffodils beyond the tulips,” explains couple travel creators Himani and Sagar.
Shares in Janux Therapeutics tripled in value Tuesday on early clinical trial results that analysts viewed as a signal the biotechnology company’s technology may yield safer and more potent immunotherapies for solid tumors.
The data, disclosed by Janux in a statement Monday, are from Phase 1 studies of two of the biotech’s drugs in about three dozen people with prostate cancer or other tumors affecting organs like the colon, lungs and kidneys.
Analysts were particularly impressed by the results Janux shared from treated participants with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer — data that one analyst, Evercore ISI’s Jonathan Miller, described as “best-in-class.” Janux shares climbed by more than 200%, ballooning the company’s valuation to $2 billion.
Dive Insight:
Janux is trying a twist on a kind of immunotherapy drug that’s proven effective in certain cancers, but has been limited by safety risks in others.
Known alternatively as T cell engagers or as bispecifics, this type of drug brings immune cells into contact with cancerous cells — an introduction that helps those immune cells recognize and destroy a tumor. The drugs can do this by binding to different protein targets that are found on the surface of each respective cell.
The problem is that these targets can also be found on healthy cells, too, resulting in side effects that necessitate lower doses or, in some cases, make treatment impractical. Janux’s approach is to create a sort of mask that stops its T cell engagers from making their deadly introduction in healthy tissue. In and around tumors, however, these masks are cast off, allowing the drugs to do their work.
The data released Monday are the most convincing evidence yet in support of Janux’s hypothesis.
“Previously, [Janux] has shown supportive pharmacodynamics on their masking technology — an essential first step, but in the context of a very active [prostate cancer] space it wasn’t a clear standout,” wrote Evercore’s Miller. “Data this evening, on the other hand, makes a big splash.”
Analysts at Cowen and William Blair also saw the results as validating, especially in the prostate cancer setting. There, Janux has competition from large companies like Amgen, Regeneron and Johnson & Johnson, which are also developing T cell engagers that are aimed at the same target, a protein called PSMA, as Janux’s.
Yet Janux’s results, while early and from only a small number of people, suggest its drug could have fewer serious safety risks. None of the 23 treated participants with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer experienced severe cases of an immune side effect known as cytokine release syndrome, or CRS, for instance.
Efficacy results, meanwhile, showed treatment led to substantial decreases in a prostate cancer marker that’s indicative of benefit. At higher doses Janux tested, all six treated participants had a 30% or higher decrease in this marker, known as prostate-specific antigen. Five had a 50% or higher decline, and one had a greater than 90% decline.
“The present data — which show impressive PSA response rates coupled with mild and manageable CRS — represent a substantial win for Janux and are beyond even our best case scenario,” Marc Frahm, an analyst at Cowen, wrote in a client note.
Analysts noted that further data are needed to better characterize the effect of Janux’s drug in prostate cancer, especially as different doses are tested. The company plans to provide an update in the second half of the year.
Janux’s other drug, aimed at different cancer cell target, was tested in 11 patients with different kinds of solid tumors. There were no dose-limiting toxicities or serious side effects linked to treatment, according to the company.
Janux had about $350 million in cash on hand as of September, funds that should allow it to operate into 2027. The company went public in June 2021, raising $194 million.
Property buyers in Victoria are paying 6.1 times more for stamp duty than just one generation ago.
In Victoria, wages have increased a bit over five times and the median house price has increased just over 12-fold times in that time.
According to new PropTrack e61 Institute research, a full-time worker earning an average of $85,000 yearly wage now needs to spend the equivalent of six months’ income on stamp duty when buying a dwelling for Melbourne’s typical $790,000 value.
Stamp duty on a median-priced home in Victoria costs around $42,500.
In Sydney, homebuyers would have to fork out $44,500 or 6 months of full-time post-tax income for stamp duty, up 5.4 times compared to the 1980s.
While Brisbane homebuyers face a lower stamp duty burden, it is still 5.5 times higher than 4 decades ago.
Brisbane owner-occupiers buying a median-price home were facing stamp duty costs of about $18,700 or 2.7 months of income, while investors could expect to pay $25,900.
Stamp duty costs have also jumped 4.4 times higher in Adelaide; 4.5 times higher in Perth; and 6 times higher in Hobart.
Source: e61 Institute, Proptrack
The data reveals that as a result of the increases, the proportion of Melbourne home buyers paying Victoria’s highest rates of stamp duty has risen to 33%, up from 6% since the introduction of the current stamp duty schedule in 2008.
South Australia is the next biggest beneficiary of stamp duty as a percentage of sale price on a median-priced home in Adelaide which doubled to 4.6% during the same period.
Stamp duty on Sydney’s median-priced homes increased at a slightly slower rate of 2% up to 4% over the period thanks to stamp duty brackets introduced in 2019.
Stamp duty acts as a barrier to buyers
The research shows how the stamp duty tax has become a blocker preventing or stalling buyers from making purchases.
Research manager at the e61 Institute, Dr Nick Garvin, said the research highlights the indirect impacts of stamp duty on other parts of people’s lives including whether or not they change jobs, and when they decide to have children.
“Previous e61 research highlighted that preventing job switching can weaken productivity which has flow-on effects on wage growth and inflation
Overhauling the current stamp duty system has the potential to alleviate these pressures on individuals and the economy more broadly.
Housing affordability and availability is without a doubt a challenge of our time.
Governments and policymakers must consider the unpopularity of stamp duty, and the indirect impacts stamp duty has on various other parts of the economy and people’s lives.”
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore also calls stamp duty an inefficient tax.
“It discourages people from moving to homes that suit them.
“While the rise has largely been incidental, rather than an intentional increase in tax rates, stamp duty reform is critically needed to allow the property market to operate more efficiently.”
Call to act on stamp duty reform
Rising home prices and declining housing affordability have raised calls for governments to replace hefty stamp duty costs with smaller and more incremental land taxes.
Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) president Leanne Pilkington said Australia’s stamp duty is outdated and also increasingly unaffordable as interest rates and the cost of lending increase.
“Not only is it outpacing the rate of savings, but it also stops Australians from pursuing new housing options and job opportunities so it is an inhibitor to mobility,” she said.
“Stamp duty was a broken promise with the introduction of the GST and state governments continue to be happy to collect nearly $60 billion in stamp duty receipts on housing annually whilst at the same time griping about housing affordability and failing to build enough houses.”
The problem is state governments are too reliant on stamp duty
Unfortunately, state governments are unlikely to overhaul stamp duty tax reform because they are so heavily reliant on it as a form of income in order to meet budget requirements, e61’s Dr Garvin explains.
For example, in the 2021-22 financial year, stamp duty accounted for 29% of Victoria’s total revenue, ABS data shows.
In NSW, stamp duty accounted for 30% of total revenue over the same period.
I can’t see them giving up that type of revenue – can you?
But some state governments are beginning to make changes
The ACT has been leading the way on stamp duty reform, having embarked on a 20-year plan to phase out the tax back in 2012.
It has been slowly phasing out stamp duty while raising council rates and land tax, as part of a two-decade process to make it as equitable as possible for residents.
Meanwhile, Victoria made some advances on stamp duty reform last year when its state government announced plans to replace stamp duty with a property tax on commercial and industrial property transactions, but this doesn’t include residential stamp duty.
In NSW last year, the Minns state government scrapped the previous government’s stamp duty reforms, which gave first-home buyers the option to pay stamp duty or an ongoing annual land tax, and replaced it with changes to stamp duty thresholds and introduced concessions up to a $1 million purchase price.
Stamp Duty Waivers have been applied across most states and territories to reduce or eliminate stamp duty on properties up to a certain threshold, but these differ for each state.
A final note…
While there are several costs associated with buying property – it’s much more than just the property sale price alone, by understanding what these are and budgeting for them from the outset, every homebuyer and investor can sit back and watch their asset grow in value over time.
The most important place to start is by doing your research and ensuring that you are budgeting with all the costs in mind to ensure you don’t fall into the trap of falling short of funds for your stamp duty bill.
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for any stamp duty changes, instead, I’d take advantage of the current window of opportunity to get into the property market before it resets later this year when interest rates eventually start to fall.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
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Related Quiz: Obsessive love disorder test
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Draft season kicks into high gear this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis as teams will put prospects under a microscope during private interviews, news conferences and workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Quarterbacks always dominate conversations at the combine, and this year will be no different with USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels expected to be among the first handful of picks come April. But a stellar wide receiver group, headlined by Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze, will also draw plenty of interest this week.
Beyond the draft prospects, new head coaches, led by the Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh, and GMs, including the Commanders’ Adam Peters, will be in the spotlight. And the futures of quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will be hot topics.
We asked The Athletic’s team of beat and national writers to fill us in on who or what they’ll be watching or listening for as the NFL world descends upon Indianapolis.
GO DEEPER
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How big of a priority is an upgrade at wide receiver?
The Cardinals need help there. That’s not a question. But they have several needs, and two of the biggest are on the offensive and defensive lines. Like many of his peers, general manager Monti Ossenfort believes the quickest way to build is through the trenches. The popular theory is that if wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is there, you take him. But what if he’s not? Does Arizona select Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze, also considered elite receivers? Or do they go a different route and look to pick up a receiver in later rounds? Ossenfort, who traded back from No. 3 last year, won’t answer these questions, of course, but he might shed light on how he views Arizona’s roster priorities. — Doug Haller
How does Tier 2 of the quarterback class shake out?
The Falcons don’t have a shot at Caleb Williams or Drake Maye picking at No. 8, and trading up to No. 1 or No. 2 in this draft class doesn’t seem realistic for anyone. That means if Atlanta is going to rely on the draft to find its next quarterback, it’s going to have to decide who it likes from a group that includes LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and maybe even Oregon’s Bo Nix. Not only that, the Falcons have to figure out where they’re going to need to pick to get the player they want. McCarthy and Nix almost certainly will be available at eight, but getting Daniels might require a trade up to as high as No. 3. — Josh Kendall
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How NFL teams can navigate intangibles of QB evaluation, starting with Bears at No. 1
Which agents is general manager Eric DeCosta meeting with?
The Ravens are picking 30th. They have myriad needs, particularly on the offensive line and at running back and edge rusher. However, they’ll stay at 30 and pick the best player available or they’ll trade back to accrue more picks. What they do in the draft is never sexy, but it’s who they are. It’s also why there will be no position focus at the combine. What will be more notable is whether DeCosta can gain any traction in re-signing his own free agents. The Ravens have nearly two dozen, including standouts Justin Madubuike and Patrick Queen. With a tight salary-cap situation, DeCosta will need to get creative to keep the core of a 13-4 team together for another run. — Jeff Zrebiec
How will the Bills navigate their currently nonexistent cap space?
The Bills have their work cut out for them this offseason. The team is in a projected $41 million hole for 2024 cap space, with only 53 players on their roster and a lot of holes to boot. The team will need to make some difficult decisions. Whom might they cut to make room? Which contracts will they restructure? Which players will they extend? How much do they want to negatively influence their 2025 cap sheet with some of their restructurings? General manager Brandon Beane hasn’t had to do anything quite like this since his early years as the team’s GM. — Joe Buscaglia
GO DEEPER
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The team’s new coach and general manager
I’m interested in hearing what Dave Canales and Dan Morgan say at their first combine as the top of the Panthers’ football food chain. The two spoke in mostly general terms at their introductory news conference, where Morgan said the team needs more “dogs.” You might have heard: The Panthers don’t have a first-round pick. But this is an important offseason for a team that needs to get quarterback Bryce Young offensive line help and more weapons while figuring out how to handle a pair of key free agents in edge rusher Brian Burns and linebacker Frankie Luvu. — Joseph Person
All eyes at the combine will be on Caleb Williams, right, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the draft this week at the combine. (John Leyba / USA Today)
How will Caleb Williams handle the limelight?
The most important elements of the combine for the presumptive No. 1 pick will take place behind the scenes during his conversations with teams, starting with the Bears. Most questions about Williams have more to do with what he’s like off the field, and while he’s experienced more fame than most college football players, he hasn’t experienced anything like the media onslaught that will be waiting for him Friday morning in Indianapolis. The Bears, and other teams, will likely take note of how he does in that environment. — Kevin Fishbain
The defensive tackle class
The Bengals need to attack needs at interior defensive line aggressively, so how the measurables (and interviews) shake out will go a long way to deciding if Byron Murphy of Texas and Jer’Zhan Newton of Illinois could connect at No. 18 or if a move up or down the board shakes them out of mid-first range. Will any new candidates enter the equation for Day 2 with a strong combine? The Bengals need to plot the draft path at DT and if they don’t see enough options, they could shift to a free-agent-laden approach. — Paul Dehner Jr.
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The wide receivers
The Browns are focused on winning in 2024, so the “good” stuff at the combine will involve Browns GM Andrew Berry talking potential trades with his peers and potentially bumping into agents of upcoming free agents. None of that will be for public consumption. But the Browns need to upgrade their receiving corps — now and into the future — so it’s fair to think they’ll focus on their evaluations of this year’s wide receiver class. The Browns don’t pick until No. 54 of the second round, so they’ll have to determine how many wide receivers will be long gone, which ones they might like in the second or third rounds and how those receivers might fit into their ever-evolving offense. — Zac Jackson
What is the latest with Dak Prescott’s contract?
There are plenty of areas to address in free agency and the draft, from offensive line to linebacker and defensive tackle. But Prescott’s contract is the No. 1 issue because it affects everything else. The Cowboys have given no indication that they are considering an immediate future without Prescott, who is entering the final season of his current deal. The most likely scenario is that he signs a new contract next month. If the Cowboys leave his deal as is, he’d count just under $60 million against their 2024 cap, making it difficult to do anything to improve the roster outside of the draft. If Dallas is truly “all in,” like Jerry Jones said at the Senior Bowl, they need to figure out Prescott’s future so they can begin improving the rest of the roster. — Jon Machota
Russell Wilson watch
Sean Payton said after the season that a decision on the future of the 35-year-old Wilson would not be “a long, drawn-out process.” A few weeks later, at the Super Bowl, Payton said the decision would come “sooner rather than later.” The Broncos appear ready to move on from Wilson, whose $37 million in 2025 salary becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on March 17, but there has been no movement yet publicly. I’m interested to see whether the activities at the combine reveal anything about what the Broncos will do with Wilson after two underwhelming seasons in Denver and what light will be shed on their quarterback plan to follow. — Nick Kosmider
GO DEEPER
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The cornerback class
This is a really intriguing group of corners, with more than a handful of prospects looking like first-rounders. The Lions obviously could use some young talent at the position, whether it’s at No. 29 on the first night or on Day 2 with three picks — Nos. 61, 73 and 92. I’m curious to see which corners separate themselves in Indianapolis. Testing is obviously part of the equation, but defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn believes you have to be wired a certain way to excel at the position. Hearing from corners at the podium could help us get a better understanding of prospects the Lions might like. — Colton Pouncy
Packers quarterback Jordan Love exceeded expectations in his first year as a starter and now is in line for a contract extension. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
Jordan Love extension talks
I’m going to be parked next to the second-floor Starbucks at the JW Marriott for 96 consecutive hours, waiting for a glimpse of Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and super-agent David Mulugheta talking with each other. I’d even take just a glance in each other’s direction. Then, I’ll know exactly how much the Packers are paying Love. Gutekunst can’t sign his franchise quarterback until May 3 because that’s 12 months after Love’s last extension, but he and Mulugheta will surely meet in Indianapolis to exchange contract numbers. — Matt Schneidman
Nick Caserio’s plan to build on last season
This was supposed to be a gradual and potentially painful build as Caserio and new coach DeMeco Ryans began laying the foundation last season after the GM spent the two previous years dismantling and setting the table for a true rebuild. But Caserio struck gold with his hiring of Ryans and draft selections both in 2022 and 2023 and Houston came out of nowhere to win its first division title in four years. Now Caserio must further fortify the roster, giving C.J. Stroud additional support by way of consistent weapons and more impactful defensive playmakers. With adequate cap space and eight draft picks, the Texans have resources to build with a blend of free-agent talent and young prospects. Caserio and Ryans surely will not give away any state secrets next week, but they should shed light on some of their highest priorities. — Mike Jones
Who will catch the eye of Colts WRs coach Reggie Wayne?
Beyond the first-round prospects Indianapolis will consider with the No. 15 pick, this year’s draft class is supposed to be loaded with wide receiver talent. Last year, Wayne said he was very impressed with Josh Downs’ route running and sure-handedness during the combine, despite Downs being undersized coming out of North Carolina. Wayne relayed that message to GM Chris Ballard, Downs was drafted in the third round and had a standout rookie season. I’ll use my binoculars to keep a close eye on Wayne’s interactions during combine drills, while also asking several receivers if they’ve met with him and heard any feedback. — James Boyd
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How they handle the tricky Calvin Ridley situation
By all accounts, the Jaguars want Ridley back after the 29-year-old receiver had 76 catches for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season in Jacksonville. However, Ridley’s contract expired and his situation is fascinating to consider. If the Jaguars re-sign Ridley before free agency begins, it qualifies as an extension and they would owe Atlanta a second-round pick in the 2024 draft as per the terms of their trade. However, if Ridley gets to free agency but still returns to the Jaguars, the new deal wouldn’t be considered an extension — rather a free-agent contract — and the Jaguars would only have to send Atlanta their third-round pick. Allowing Ridley to get to the open market is risky, but if the Jaguars play their cards right, they could bring back Trevor Lawrence’s top weapon without losing a top-50 pick. — Jim Ayello
Tier 2 of the receiver and tight end prospects
A major question for next season is whether Chiefs coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach can return the team’s offense to its previous potent form. One of the fastest ways to do that is to select the best pass-catching prospects available late in the first and second rounds. Travis Kelce will be 35 next season, so adding another tight end should be high on the Chiefs’ priority list. As for the receivers, the Chiefs should have plenty of options, considering the depth of this year’s class. Reid and Veach will use the combine to start identifying which receiver could most excel playing alongside Patrick Mahomes. — Nate Taylor
GO DEEPER
2024 NFL Draft Big Board: Who are the top 100 prospects in this year’s class?
The quarterback prospects
This isn’t a unique answer, but it’s the most significant roster question for the Raiders in their first full season under general manager Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Pierce. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell was solid in 10 starts as a rookie, but it’s hard to see the Raiders finishing this offseason without adding competition for the starting job either through the addition of a veteran or a rookie quarterback. Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels are widely considered the top three quarterbacks in this class. The Raiders will do plenty of work on them, but it’ll be difficult for them to draft any of them considering they hold pick No. 13 in the first round. With that in mind, they’ll also need to deeply study J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and the rest of the class. — Tashan Reed
The NFL world will watch with interest to see how Jim Harbaugh and the cap-strapped Chargers retool their roster this offseason. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)
Their salary-cap situation
The Chargers are effectively $31.7 million over the salary cap as they head into the combine, according to Over the Cap. Crucial decisions loom, particularly regarding receiver Mike Williams, receiver Keenan Allen, edge rusher Joey Bosa and edge rusher Khalil Mack. All four veterans have cap hits exceeding $30 million in 2024. How will new head coach Jim Harbaugh and GM Joe Hortiz navigate these veteran contracts — and their cap situation in general? Who stays? Who goes? Do they inquire into the trade market? Do they offer extensions? Will they use void years? I’ll be looking for answers to these questions in Indy. — Daniel Popper
Sniffing around an offseason plan
The Rams don’t generally attend the NFL combine (here is why) other than their medical staff’s on-site collection of the all-important medical information on prospects. But Indianapolis is still a great place to gather data and tidbits from agents and other league sources about what their offseason plan could be and new trends in contract structures and team-building. The Rams will have approximately $40 million in workable cap space and a lot of needs despite a better-than-expected 2023 season. They also have brought in new assistant coaches — and the combine will be the perfect environment to mine for information about those additions. — Jourdan Rodrigue
Tua Tagovailoa extension talks
It certainly seems like a Tagovailoa extension is a foregone conclusion. But what will it look like and when will it happen? The Dolphins QB enters the 2024 season with a $23.1 million cap charge on the fifth-year option. The Dolphins then have the franchise tag at their disposal, so they don’t have to sign him to a long-term deal now or even next offseason. But for a team that could use some cap relief, lowering his cap figure with an extension could be appealing. But how much is it going to take to retain Tagovailoa? Is he the caliber of quarterback who should be paid in the neighborhood of a Joe Burrow ($55 million AAV)? Would he take less? These are the franchise-defining questions to keep in mind at the combine and beyond. — Jim Ayello
Where things stand between the Vikings and Kirk Cousins
This subject will shape the future of the Vikings organization. Keep Cousins, and Minnesota would likely be signaling its belief that it can contend in the short term. Move on from him, and the Vikings would be indicating that they’d be ready to chart a new path. Cousins’ contract is set to void March 12. If that happens, the Vikings will be on the hook for a hefty $28.5 million dead-cap hit. The only way to extend that money into the future is to come to terms on an extension with Cousins. The NFL combine stands as a prime opportunity for in-person discussions on this subject between the team and Cousins’ representatives. — Alec Lewis
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Quarterback Jayden Daniels
The easiest way for the Patriots to address their issues at quarterback is to draft a signal caller — either Daniels or Drake Maye depending on who falls to them at No. 3. With Daniels, there are more unknowns. The Pats aren’t concerned about his height (6-foot-4) or hand size (9 5/8 inches), but scouts want to see him at or above 210 pounds at the combine because there are concerns about his slight frame and the big hits he too often takes. The other question for the Patriots is how Daniels will interview and how he’ll test when they run him through plays on the whiteboard. How Daniels (and Maye) do this week will go a long way in determining whether the Patriots draft a quarterback or wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the third pick. — Chad Graff
Offensive tackles and pass catchers
We’ll leave the annual “too far over the salary cap” discussion for after the combine because the Saints always find a way. And this year it should come in mass contract restructurings of several veteran players. As noted in our NFL reporters’ mock draft recently, the need for tackle and/or guard should stand high on the priority list. So you’d imagine players like Olu Fashanu (Penn State), JC Latham (Alabama), Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State), Amarius Mims (Georgia) and Tyler Guyton (Oklahoma) are all on the Saints’ radar. The Saints could also use another piece for Derek Carr at wide receiver (LSU’s Brian Thomas, Florida State’s Keon Coleman, Texas’ Adonai Mitchell) to add some more punch with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. — Larry Holder
Saquon Barkley watch
There’s a lot riding on this next period of the Giants offseason after an already noisy start to the business side of things with coaching changes aplenty. But the spotlight will be tuned to Barkley’s future at the combine as the front office and the running back’s representatives are expected to meet again. Will they be able to hammer out a deal? Will he get tagged again for $12.1 million or will he finally test the open market and venture into the interesting running back market? We’ll get a clearer picture by week’s end of where the two sides stand. — Charlotte Carroll
Washington’s Rome Odunze is one of the stars of a deep wide receiver class that will draw plenty of interest in Indianapolis. (Joe Nicholson / USA Today)
The pass catchers
The Jets have an obvious need at offensive tackle (and/or at guard, too, depending on some offseason decisions), but they also desperately need help at wide receiver for star Garrett Wilson. Allen Lazard won’t cut it as an option in 2024. There are some extremely talented receivers in this class who could be available at No. 10 when the Jets pick — after Marvin Harrison Jr., who will almost certainly be gone — and even if the Jets still need an offensive lineman, they might be tempted by the likes of Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze — or others later in the draft, when teams have found stars in past years while the Jets sat on their hands, like last year. — Zack Rosenblatt
Are they organized?
Fourth-year coach Nick Sirianni overhauled both coordinator positions, and there’s still not much clarity about how involved he will be in working with newly hired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to build a less predictable offensive system that supplies a deeply talented roster with more answers this offseason. And what kind of offense is that exactly? A Howie Roseman-led personnel department that remains largely intact must also upgrade several defensive positions. How more favorably positioned will defenders be in a revamped “Fangio System” that will this time be coached by … well, Vic Fangio? — Brooks Kubena
If it’s a clean sweep concerning Kenny Pickett
The Steelers interview every single player they can and they pretty much use the combine as an assurance of what they’ve scouted throughout the year. So there’s not much to glean there. Where there could be some clarification, or at least unity, is what general manager Omar Khan says about Pickett compared with what Mike Tomlin said days after the season and what owner Art Rooney II said two weeks later. Both alluded to Pickett being the No. 1 quarterback entering the season despite not regaining his starting position from Mason Rudolph over the final four games of the season. Will the Steelers triple down on that or walk it back and hammer home that Pickett won’t be entering the offseason as the clear-cut QB1 and either a re-signing of Rudolph or an outside free agent — or a potential trade — will provide legitimate competition? — Mark Kaboly
The offensive linemen
Three of the top center prospects — Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, Duke’s Graham Barton and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier — should all have multi-positional capability in the NFL. That could be tantalizing to the 49ers, whose biggest weakness to fix lies in the offensive line. More than one spot was a problem this past season. Essentially everyone but left tackle Trent Williams endured significant struggles at one point or another. So perhaps the 49ers, who don’t pick until No. 31, will be looking for an adaptable interior lineman who can immediately fortify their especially problematic right guard position before potentially becoming the long-term solution at center. The 49ers simply need more quality options up front. Imagine the boost that could give QB Brock Purdy. — David Lombardi
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John Schneider flying solo
This will be Seattle’s first combine with GM Schneider leading football operations, so his messaging from the podium will be interesting to analyze. While Schneider has long figured prominently into key decisions, coach Pete Carroll set the vision for the franchise previously. Schneider is doing more of that now. We won’t hear from new coach Mike Macdonald at all at the combine; he and his staff are expected to remain behind to install their schemes. That will put additional attention on Schneider. — Mike Sando
How they approach the quarterback position
The Bucs want to re-sign Baker Mayfield, whose contract is up. Mayfield has said he wants to remain in Tampa. But he also told ESPN he wants market value. That probably means a deal similar to the one Geno Smith recently signed with Seattle — $75 million over three years. Whether the Bucs want to pay that is the issue. A franchise tag is an option but not ideal with safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and wide receiver Mike Evans also on expiring contracts. It will be interesting to hear what GM Jason Licht says about the quarterback position, including the prospects in the draft. — Dan Pompei
Three tackles and two receivers
The free-agency picture suggests the Titans can get help at cornerback and interior offensive line before the draft but will likely have to focus their first two picks on their two biggest needs. The absence of a third-round pick increases the urgency. Second-year quarterback Will Levis needs a long-term receiver to grow with and a left tackle to protect him. The board may work out for the Titans to choose between Joe Alt and Olu Fashanu as a foundational tackle — but what about Taliese Fuaga? Does he continue his momentum in Indy? Could the Titans move down, get him and be happy with it? The board may also let Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze slide to No. 7. Would Brian Callahan prefer a playmaker over a blocker as the Bengals did when he was there and they took Ja’Marr Chase over Penei Sewell in 2021? — Joe Rexrode
The quarterbacks
It’s no secret that the holders of the No. 2 pick are expected to select a quarterback from the top group. The trick here is the new braintrust of GM Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and the scouting department holdovers are mostly new to each other. Do they have Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels graded in the same range? If Williams is a cut above, is the gap considered enough to offer the Bears a Godfather trade for the first pick? Has Daniels’ dual-threat shine caught up to Maye or do they prefer the UNC quarterback’s prototypical size? We won’t find out the staff’s hopes and dreams, but this is where the detective work begins by examining the trio on our own. — Ben Standig
GO DEEPER
Commanders at 2 likely means determining if Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels is their guy
(Top photos of J.J. McCarthy, Saquon Barkley and Malik Nabers: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images; Jim McIsaac, Getty Images; Matthew Hinton / USA Today)
The Nvidia App combines the Control Panel and GeForce Experience tools for a unified interface.
Features include a GPU Control Center, Nvidia Overlay, Freestyle, and Application Hub.
Some features like overclocking and certain streaming functions are missing.
For many years, the Nvidia driver situation has been a little messy, with two applications to manage your graphics: the Nvidia Control Panel and Geforce Experience. Now, there’s a single unified experience for all things Nvidia-related—the Nvidia App—and it’s an essential download for gamers.
Why Should You Install the Nvidia App?
The new Nvidia unified app encompasses all the useful tools that Nvidia has built into their driver software over the years into a single unified interface.
Previously, if you wanted to adjust anything technical like Vsync, you’d need to drop into the arcane interface of the Nvidia Control Panel. Meanwhile, new drivers and game-specific settings and features could be found within the Geforce Experience.
Here’s a look at what is now included in the feature-packed Nvidia App.
GPU Control Center: This is the new home for all in-game optimization settings, like VSync, DSR, and Low Latency mode. And for those of us who don’t want to fiddle endlessly, there’s a one-click optimization that applies settings suitable for your specs from the data of thousands of other users.
Nvidia Overlay: The overlay allows you to quickly modify filters and see key performance metrics, such as frame rate and GPU utilization. And if you have a newer G-Sync monitor or supported mouse, you’ll find Reflex Analyzer built-in, which automatically measures the latency of peripherals.
Nvidia Freestyle: Exclusive to RTX-series card owners, Freestyle consists of two AI-powered filters: RTX Dynamic Vibrance and RTX HDR. These harness the AI features of RTX-series cards to enhance colors in real-time as you play. The RTX HDR filter means you can play SDR games in full HDR color glory on your HDR-enabled display.
Application Hub: As well as the built-in features listed above, the new Nvidia app provides an easy way to jump into the many other creative and gaming applications that Nvidia offers, such as the GeForce Now cloud gaming platform; Nvidia Canvas, an AI-powered landscape drawing application; or Broadcast, to record and stream your gameplay.
Optional Login: If you’ve ever been frustrated by having to log in to the GeForce Experience app just to download the latest drivers, you’re not alone. The login requirement has been removed—but you’ll still be eligible for some bonuses and rewards if you choose to log in.
Getting Started With the Nvidia App
As it’s a new and trending app, you’re sure to find some sketchy sites offering downloads that may not be safe or come bundled with other software. You should never download the app from anywhere except the official Nvidia website.
The Nvidia app is in beta at the time of writing, and you will need to uninstall your existing GeForce Experience and Control Panel, so click to agree with the prompt and wait for the installation to complete.
From there, you’ll be asked which driver version to use: either the Game Ready or Studio Drivers. Unless you’re exclusively using your PC for creative applications, you should choose Game Ready.
Next, you’ll be able to opt out of game and hardware analysis, which will automatically optimize settings for you. That would be wasting a huge benefit of the app, so I’d recommend leaving it on.
Then you can choose whether to enable the Nvidia Overlay or not. Don’t worry, you can always enable it later.
Finally, you can log in to an Nvidia account for rewards such as an exclusive Call of Duty bundle. This step is entirely optional, and you won’t be missing out on any driver features by not logging in.
Overview of the Nvidia App Interface
When you first launch the app, you’ll find the home screen, containing quick links to some apps it found and a Discover tab to launch the other Nvidia creative apps.
On the left is the navigation bar. Head to Drivers first to install the latest available. Compared to the GeForce Experience app, the drivers screen includes a useful summary of what’s new and what’s fixed in this release.
The Graphics tab is where you’ll find a simple unified interface for global or per-app game settings. Click through to a game title to see how your settings have already been optimized during the installation. Anything with a green check mark should be optimized already.
You’ll see a grey minus sign if it isn’t optimized or an exclamation mark if there’s an issue. Sure enough, the last time I launched Cyberpunk 2077 was for some monitor setting, and I left it in a thoroughly unplayable state. One click on the Optimize button and it was buttery smooth again.
Click the three-dots menu on a game to find a Launch button. It would be nice if this was more prominent in future versions, and not hidden in a menu. Once a game is running, press Alt-Z at any point to bring up the overlay, which gives you quick access to in-game stats, filters, and recording features.
If you just want the current frame rate and GPU utilization, use Alt-R instead. You can also customize precisely what stats you see in the performance overlay.
You can also turn the new RTX filters on and off from here while you play, letting you see what a difference they make. Here’s a screenshot from Cyberpunk 2077 in the default settings:
And here’s a screenshot pf the game with Dynamic Vibrance enabled:
You can tone down the filter if you find it a bit much, but I’m finding it immensely helpful in a dark and gloomy game like this, where I often struggle in some environments to see anything.
Note that if the game has a built-in HDR mode and if you’ve activated that, the RTX Dynamic Vibrance and RTX HDR filters don’t appear to make a difference as they can’t stack.
If you’re logged in, the Redeem screen shows anything available to claim. Lastly, the Settings screen shows a brief overview of your system specs.
What’s Missing From the Nvidia App?
Unfortunately, not every setting has made it across yet, so you’ll still find the Nvidia Control Panel and GeForce Experience icon in your taskbar (unless you do a clean install; that seemed to remove GeForce Experience for me). Although eventually planned, there’s no support for overclocking through the Nvidia App yet or rolling back drivers.
Streamers and content creators may also be disappointed to hear that some features have been removed.
According to Nvidia’s announcement: “We’ve made the decision to discontinue a few features that were underutilized, especially where good alternatives exist. This discontinuation encompasses Broadcast to Twitch and YouTube, Share Images and Video to Facebook and YouTube, and Photo Mode 360 & Stereo captures.”
“Streamlining features helps the NVIDIA app install in half the time, deliver a 50% more responsive UI, and occupy 17% less disk space than GeForce Experience.”
The Nvidia App can automatically optimize your games, but still provides full control on a per-app or global basis for you to override with individual preferences. There’s little reason for gamers not to install the new Nvidia App.
It’s a single unified application for everything that Nvidia offers—some of which you probably never even knew about, thanks to the confusing interface of the GeForce Experience.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Wufu-Ancient-Town-Echoes-of-neo-Confucian-heritage-1qKLbYbQS5y/img/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848/074674d5c86946c594555247d2cca848.jpeg'A view of Wufu Ancient Town in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province. /CGTN
Wufu Ancient Town in Fujian Province, southeast China, was home to the famous 12th-century neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi for more than 50 years. Running alongside Xingxian Street, the canal is a marvel of water management. Its zigzag path serves multiple functions, from providing water for people’s daily needs to vital fire protection. Today, the canal remains central to daily life, evoking scenes from the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279), where residents still wash their vegetables and clothes.
Gary Sinise’s only son, McCanna “Mac” Sinise, died last month after a 5½-year fight with a rare bone cancer, the veterans activist and “Forrest Gump” actor announced Tuesday on his foundation’s website.
“Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can,” the actor wrote. “As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one.”
Mac Sinise was 33 when the cancer chordoma took his life Jan. 5, his father wrote. After being diagnosed in August 2018 — the same year his mother, Moira, was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer — Mac faced five spine surgeries in less than two years, Sinise said, in addition to radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
“Chordoma is a one in a million cancer,” Gary Sinise wrote Tuesday, sharing information about the disease. “Originating in the spine, Chordoma affects, on average, only 300 people in the U.S. per year. In 70% of the cases the initial tumor can be removed, and it is cured. But in 30% of the cases, perhaps about 90 people per year, the cancer returns.”
Mac — a drummer, pianist and USC Thornton School of Music graduate who sometimes filled in on drums in his dad’s Lt. Dan Band — had been working for the Gary Sinise Foundation since 2017. He resigned in 2020 to focus on recovery and rehab between his fourth and fifth surgeries, and in early 2023 he set to work on finishing a piece of music he had started while in college, his father said.
“The cancer had paralyzed him from the chest down, but he still had limited use of his right arm, and fingers on his left hand,” Sinise wrote. “Being right-handed, he would strap a stylus to his right hand, and he could punch letters and notes into his phone or iPad. He also had a small keyboard he laid on his hospital bed table that he used to work on his music.”
Mac worked with members of his father’s band as well as a friend from college, composer and arranger Oliver Schnee. Unable to play drums or piano anymore, Mac learned to play harmonica, Sinise said, and the project grew to include more songs and more collaborators. Recording sessions were held in July at Sunset Sound in Hollywood and in November at Blackbird Studio in Nashville.
But in December, Sinise wrote, “We had to take Mac to the emergency room for what would be his final trip to the hospital. He was having trouble getting his breath and after stabilizing him, he was admitted. I stayed with him as I had done many times before. During the first few days, I thought this would be another trip where we get things under control and head home. … But the days got tougher, and on January 5th, with the family all around him, he let go.”
Mac Sinise was laid to rest Jan. 23.
The album “Mac Sinise: Resurrection & Revival” will be finished and available soon, the “CSI: NY” star said, including a preorder link to his foundation’s store. Per Mac’s wishes, proceeds will go to the Gary Sinise Foundation, the site says. The foundation works to help the United States’ “defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need,” the site says.
“Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard. Our family’s cancer fight lasted for 5½ years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on,” Sinise wrote. “While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it.
“He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying.”
San Francisco, February 28: Apple has reportedly shelved its autonomous electric car project permanently and is likely to lay off “hundreds of employees” from the division, the media reported on Wednesday.
According to a TechCrunch report, the company is likely “cutting hundreds of employees from the team and all work on the project has stopped”. Some employees will be shifted to Apple’s generative AI (GenAI) projects. The Apple car project had around 1,400 employees. India To Power Apple’s Growth Over Next Decade, Country Adding More Upstream Capabilities to Electronics Ecosystem: Report.
Apple first started working on its car project called “Project Titan” way back in 2014. In 2021, it hired Ulrich Kranz, a former BMW executive who helped run the i3 programme. In December last year, Apple delayed the launch of its electric vehicle, referred to as the ‘Apple Car’, until 2026 which was expected to be priced under $1,00,000. Sony Layoffs 2024: Japanese Technology Giant To Lay Off 900 Employees, About 8% of Workforce From Its PlayStation Division.
The tech giant also scaled back its vision for the self-driving electric vehicle. Initially, the iPhone maker intended to create an automobile with no steering wheel or pedals, allowing passengers to sit facing one another in a limousine-style vehicle. Later, the project was reduced in scope and was set to have a more traditional design with a driver’s seat, steering wheel and pedals, according to earlier reports.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2024 09:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
ChatGPT is a very capable prompt engineer itself. If you ask it to come up with creative and effective inputs for artificial intelligence engines such as Dall-E and Midjourney, you’ll get text you can then input into other AI tools you’re playing around with. You’re even able to ask for tips with prompts for ChatGPT itself.
When it comes to generating prompts, the more detailed and specific you are about what you’re looking for the better: You can get the chatbot to extend and add more detail to your sentences, you can get it to role-play as a prompt generator for a specific AI tool, and you can tell it to refine its answers as you add more and more information.
Get Your Outputs in the Form of ASCII Art
While ChatGPT is based around text, you can get it to produce pictures of a sort by asking for ASCII art. That’s the art made up of characters and symbols rather than colors. The results won’t win you any prizes, but it’s pretty fun to play around with.
The usual ChatGPT rules apply, in that the more specific you are in your prompt the better, and you can get the bot to add new elements and take elements away as you go. Remember the limitations of the ASCII art format though—this isn’t a full-blown image editor.
A ChatGPT Plus subscription comes with image generation.
OpenAI via David Nield
Generate Your Own Images
If you use ChatGPT Plus, it’s got the DALL-E image generator right inside it, so you can ask for any kind of photo, drawing, or illustration you like. As with text, try to be as explicit as possible about what it is you want to see, and how it’s shown; do you want something that looks like a watercolor painting, or like it was taken by a DSLR camera?
You can have some real fun with this: Put Columbo in a cyberpunk setting, or see how Jurassic Park would look in the Victorian era. The possibilities are almost endless.
Copy and Paste Text From Other Sources
You don’t have to do all the typing yourself when it comes to ChatGPT. Copy and paste is your friend, and there’s no problem with pasting in text from other sources. While the input limit tops out at around 4,000 words, you can easily split the text you’re sending the bot into several sections and get it to remember what you’ve previously sent.
Perhaps one of the best ways of using this approach is to get ChatGPT to simplify text that you don’t understand—the explanation of a difficult scientific concept, for instance. You can also get it to translate text into different languages, write it in a more engaging or fluid style, and so on.
Go on an Adventure
If you want to go exploring, ask ChatGPT to create a text-based choose-your-own adventure game. You can specify the theme and the setting of the adventure, as well as any other ground rules to put in place. When we tried this out, we found ourselves wandering through a spooky castle, with something sinister apparently hiding in the shadows.
ChatGPT is able to create text-based games for you to play.
OpenAI via David Nield
Provide Examples to Work With
Another way to improve the responses you get from ChatGPT is to give it some data to work with before you ask your question. For instance, you could give it a list of book summaries together with their genre, then ask it to apply the correct genre label to a new summary. Another option would be to tell ChatGPT about activities you enjoy and then get a new suggestion.
There’s no magic combination of words you have to use here. Just use natural language as always, and ChatGPT will understand what you’re getting at. Specify that you’re providing examples at the start of your prompt, then tell the bot that you want a response with those examples in mind.
Ask for Feedback
You can ask ChatGPT for feedback on any of your own writing, from the emails you’re sending to friends, to the short story you’re submitting to a competition, to the prompts you’re typing into the AI bot. Ask for pointers on spelling, grammar, tone, readability, or anything else you want to scrutinize.
ChatGPT cleared the above paragraph as being clear and effective, but said it could use a call to action at the end. Try this prompt today!
Bitcoin, the oldest and most expensive cryptocurrency, is exploding in value now that its next scheduled halving is scheduled for April. As of Tuesday, February 27, Bitcoin is trading at its two-year high price point of $55,753 (roughly Rs. 46.2 lakh). As the cryptocurrency is rising in value, its anonymous creator who goes by the pseudoname of Satoshi Nakamoto is also getting richer. The estimated amount that Nakamoto has accumulated through his BTC holdings is reportedly above $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,97,333 crore) as of Tuesday.
While the identity and whereabouts of Nakamoto remain unknown – there is some information available about their personal BTC holdings. In a report released in 2020, crypto research firm Whale Alert had claimed that Nakamoto owns 1,125,150 Bitcoin mined up to block 54,316.
At that time, the value of Nakamoto’s fortune stood at $10.9 billion (roughly Rs. 90,345 crore). As of February 27, however, the same holding is worth $63.4 billion (roughly Rs. 5,25,977 crore).
If Nakamoto’s net worth was tracked accurately by Forbes, they would be ranked under the top 25 richest people in the world. Currently, Bernard Arnault and family – who own Louis Vuitton and a total of 75 luxury brands like Bulgari, Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy – are marked the richest in the world with a fortune of $229.4 billion (roughly Rs. 19,01,347 crore) as per the Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List. Meanwhile, the 24th rank presently belongs to Julia Koch & family with their net worth touching $61.2 billion (roughly Rs. 5,07,247 crore).
Nakamoto’s wealth, unlike many traditional businesspersons, is divided across thousands of digital wallets making him one of the most liquid individuals on paper, a CoinTribune report noted. Not a lot is known about this mysterious creator of Bitcoin.
While there are stories and individuals who have, in the past, claimed to possess information about Nakamoto, the most believable details about Nakamoto are logged with the P2P Foundation. This forum is an international organisation that tracks and documents peer to peer practices with a pool of resources. Users of the P2P Foundation forum are required to enter their birthdates when they join.
As per Nakamoto’s profile page, BTC’s creator was born in 1975 as a male in Japan. It remains unclear if this information is accurate or not. After creating the Bitcoin in 2009, aiming to break the financial monopoly held by world governments, Nakamoto announced his departure from the crypto space in 2011. The explosion of their wealth catapulting them among the world’s richest, however, does seem to indicate that Bitcoin is here for the long haul whether world regulators support it or oppose it.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Google is giving advertisers more control over ad placement within the Search Partner Network.
From March 4, advertisers using Performance Max will have access to impression-level placement reporting of Search Partner Network sites.
Additionally, if you exclude certain ad placements at the account level, it will now apply to the Search Partner Network, as well as YouTube and display ads, according to Ad Age.
Why now? These substantial changes come after an Adalytics report accused Google of quietly placing search ads on inappropriate non-Google websites through the Search Partner Network – including sites containing pornographic, sanctioned and pirated content. Google denied the claims, saying Adalytics has a track record of publishing inaccurate reports that misrepresent Google’s products.
Changes. Before the Adalytics report was published in November, all Pmax campaigns were automatically opted into the Search Partner Network and could not opt out. For other campaigns, being opted into search partners was the default setting, but advertisers had the option to opt out.
Following the Adalytics report, Google temporarily permitted Pmax users to opt out of search partner inventory until March 1. As this option is set to be removed, Google is now providing advertisers with unprecedented insights and control over ad placement within the Search Partner Network.
Why we care. Advertisers will gain better control and insights into the placement of their ads within the Search Partner Network. This enables them to address concerns about their ads being placed near inappropriate content, safeguarding their brand reputation.
What is the Search Partner Network? The Search Partner Network consists of websites and apps that collaborate with Google to display search ads. This network extends beyond traditional search platforms and includes major Google properties such as YouTube and Google Discover. Additionally, it encompasses numerous other websites that may not be directly associated with typical search activities.
Why are campaigns added to the SPN? Google opts campaigns are opted into the Search Partner Network because the search engine claims it sees “a measurable improvement” in clicks and conversion when advertisers extend their reach to these sites.” Opting into the SPN can enable advertiser to reach customers on sites like YouTube.
What is Adalytics? Adalytics is a crowd-sourced advertising performance optimization platform that was set up to review and improve the digital advertising landscape.
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In the dynamic landscape of the United States job market, certain companies stand out as the largest employers, driving economic growth, innovation, and employment opportunities across various sectors. As of 2024, these companies continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s workforce and contributing to its overall prosperity.
US’s Largest Employers
In the United States, the largest employers represent diverse sectors and industries, driving economic activity and providing employment opportunities across the nation. Companies like Novo Nordisk, Garmin, and Kroger lead the pack with extensive retail and distribution networks. Technology giants such as Amazon and Google also feature prominently. Healthcare providers like CVS Health and insurers like UnitedHealth Group contribute significantly to the job market. These employers play a vital role in shaping the American workforce and economy.
Largest Employer in US 2024
As of 2024, Novo Nordisk stands as a major employer in the United States, particularly in New Jersey. With over 55,000 employees, Novo Nordisk, founded in 1923, is a prominent player in the pharmaceutical industry. Specializing in diabetes care, obesity treatment, and biopharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk’s contributions to healthcare are significant. Founded in Denmark in 1925, the company’s research, development, and manufacturing operations underscore its commitment to improving global health outcomes.
Top-10 Largest Employers of US 2024
Novo Nordisk of New Jersey, with the 55,000 employees, holds the title of the largest employer in US 2024, followed by Garmin, Cook Children’s Health Care System, and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Here is the list of top-10 biggest employers in US 2024:
Biggest Employers in US 2024
Rank
Company
State
Industries
Employees
1.
Novo Nordisk
New Jersey
Drugs & Biotechnology
55,000
2.
Garmin
Kansas
Semiconductors, Electronics, Electrical Eng.
19,000
3.
Cook Children’s Health Care System
Texas
Healthcare and Social Services
9,000
4.
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Colorado
Healthcare and Social Services
8,000
5.
Delta Air Lines
Georgia
Transportation and Logistics
95,000
6.
In-N-Out Burger
California
Restaurants
39,000
7.
Houston Methodist
Texas
Healthcare and Social Services
29,700
8.
eXp Realty
Washington
Business Services and Supplies
8,000
9.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Tennessee
Healthcare and Social Services
5,001
10.
The University of Kansas Health System
Kansas
Healthcare and Social Services
15,000
Largest Employer in US – Novo Nordisk
State: New Jersey
Industries: Drugs & Biotechnology
Employees: 55,000
Year Founded: 1923
Established in 1925 by Harald Pedersen and Thorvald Pedersen, Novo Nordisk A/S, headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, stands as a leading healthcare entity in the United States. Specializing in pharmaceutical research, development, manufacturing, and marketing, Novo Nordisk A/S operates across two key segments: Diabetes & Obesity Care, and Biopharmaceuticals. The former offers insulin, GLP-1, oral antidiabetic products, and obesity treatments, while the latter focuses on Haemophilia, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy.
Garmin Ltd., established in 1989 with headquarters in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, ranks as the second largest employer in the US. Specializing in navigation, communication, and information devices, Garmin operates across five segments: Marine, Outdoor, Fitness, Auto, and Aviation. Its offerings range from recreational marine electronics and outdoor handhelds to fitness trackers, automotive navigation devices, and aviation solutions, catering to diverse consumer needs and interests.
US’s Third Largest Employer – Cook Children’s Health Care System
State: Texas
Industries: Healthcare and Social Service
Employees: 9,000
Year Founded: 1918
In Fort Worth, Texas, Cook Children’s emerges as the third largest employer in theUS, transcending conventional healthcare boundaries to become a familial support system for children. With a dedicated team of over 9,700 members, Cook Children’s delivers compassionate care, facilitating over two million patient encounters annually. Their expansive network includes medical centers, surgery centers, a physician network, home health services, and more, extending their influence nationwide and across 32 countries, all while embracing diversity and respect in their approach to healthcare.
Life is Strange: True Colors developer Deck Nine Games announced that it would be laying off staff. The studio mentioned the games industry’s worsening market conditions as the reason for the cuts.
“Today we made the difficult decision to lay off 20% of our staff. These people are amazing, talented, and awesome developers,” Deck Nine said on Twitter. “They have made a huge impact during their time at Deck Nine Games and we did not take this decision lightly.”
Game director Stephan Frost also said that leadership took pay cuts in order to reduce the number of impacted employees as much as possible. “This is the strongest team D9 has ever been and it absolutely sucks that the industry is in the state that it is presently,” he explained.
Deck Nine already suffered a round of layoffs back in May 2023. The studio worked on Life is Strange: Before the Storm in 2017 and took over the series from original developer Don’t Nod with Life is Strange: True Colors in 2021. Since then, Deck Nine has released Life is Strange Remastered Collection and The Expanse: A Telltale Series.
The games industry has been ravaged with layoffs. Just this week, Until Dawn and The Quarry developer Supermassive Games announced that it would be laying off 90 of its employees. And just this morning, Sony laid off 900 developers across its first party studios, including Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games.
Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a new Purdue University study has found.
“Combustion remains a source of air pollution across the world, both indoors and outdoors. We found that cooking on your gas stove produces large amounts of small nanoparticles that get into your respiratory system and deposit efficiently,” said Brandon Boor, an associate professor in Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil Engineering, who led this research.
Based on these findings, the researchers would encourage turning on a kitchen exhaust fan while cooking on a gas stove.
The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, focused on tiny airborne nanoparticles that are only 1-3 nanometers in diameter, which is just the right size for reaching certain parts of the respiratory system and spreading to other organs.
Recent studies have found that children who live in homes with gas stoves are more likely to develop asthma. But not much is known about how particles smaller than 3 nanometers, called nanocluster aerosol, grow and spread indoors because they’re very difficult to measure.
“These super tiny nanoparticles are so small that you’re not able to see them. They’re not like dust particles that you would see floating in the air,” Boor said. “After observing such high concentrations of nanocluster aerosol during gas cooking, we can’t ignore these nano-sized particles anymore.”
Using state-of-the-art air quality instrumentation provided by the German company GRIMM AEROSOL TECHNIK, a member of the DURAG GROUP, Purdue researchers were able to measure these tiny particles down to a single nanometer while cooking on a gas stove in a “tiny house” lab. They collaborated with Gerhard Steiner, a senior scientist and product manager for nano measurement at GRIMM AEROSOL.
Called the Purdue zero Energy Design Guidance for Engineers (zEDGE) lab, the tiny house has all the features of a typical home but is equipped with sensors for closely monitoring the impact of everyday activities on a home’s air quality. With this testing environment and the instrument from GRIMM AEROSOL, a high-resolution particle size magnifier — scanning mobility particle sizer (PSMPS), the team collected extensive data on indoor nanocluster aerosol particles during realistic cooking experiments.
This magnitude of high-quality data allowed the researchers to compare their findings with known outdoor air pollution levels, which are more regulated and understood than indoor air pollution. They found that as many as 10 quadrillion nanocluster aerosol particles could be emitted per kilogram of cooking fuel — matching or exceeding those produced from vehicles with internal combustion engines.
This would mean that adults and children could be breathing in 10-100 times more nanocluster aerosol from cooking on a gas stove indoors than they would from car exhaust while standing on a busy street.
“You would not use a diesel engine exhaust pipe as an air supply to your kitchen,” said Nusrat Jung, a Purdue assistant professor of civil engineering who designed the tiny house lab with her students and co-led this study.
Purdue civil engineering PhD student Satya Patra made these findings by looking at data collected in the tiny house lab and modeling the various ways that nanocluster aerosol could transform indoors and deposit into a person’s respiratory system.
The models showed that nanocluster aerosol particles are very persistent in their journey from the gas stove to the rest of the house. Trillions of these particles were emitted within just 20 minutes of boiling water or making grilled cheese sandwiches or buttermilk pancakes on a gas stove.
Even though many particles rapidly diffused to other surfaces, the models indicated that approximately 10 billion to 1 trillion particles could deposit into an adult’s head airways and tracheobronchial region of the lungs. These doses would be even higher for children — the smaller the human, the more concentrated the dose.
The nanocluster aerosol coming from the gas combustion also could easily mix with larger particles entering the air from butter, oil or whatever else is cooking on the gas stove, resulting in new particles with their own unique behaviors.
A gas stove’s exhaust fan would likely redirect these nanoparticles away from your respiratory system, but that remains to be tested.
“Since most people don’t turn on their exhaust fan while cooking, having kitchen hoods that activate automatically would be a logical solution,” Boor said. “Moving forward, we need to think about how to reduce our exposure to all types of indoor air pollutants. Based on our new data, we’d advise that nanocluster aerosol be considered as a distinct air pollutant category.”
This study was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER award to Boor. Additional financial support was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Chemistry of Indoor Environments program through an interdisciplinary collaboration with Philip Stevens, a professor in Indiana University’s Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Bloomington.
With over 10,000+ learners, including law students, academicians, industry professionals, lawyers, CAs, and business professionals, Lawctopus Law School has fast established itself as the place to be for online legal education in India.
Trademarks are crucial for businesses, for brands, and form a core area of the practice of most intellectual property law firms.
If you are a law student interested in IP laws and especially Trademarks laws or a practicing lawyer looking to start or get into the practice of Trademarks, this course is for you. Theoretically sound, and practically wholesome this course will tell you all you need to know to begin developing your interest, expertise, and practice in Trademark Law.
If you complete this course thoroughly, you will be on your way to starting your Trademark practice or ace any IP-related internships.
The Lawctopus team gets 100% behind its students, keeping them informed via regular emails, Whatsapp groups, and even phone calls (if you are lagging behind the assignments) and you can rest assured of excellent delivery of a quality course.
Module 1 – Introduction to Trade Marks
In this module, you will learn in-depth about the basics of Trademarks, the kinds of trademarks, distinctiveness, and the types of applications filed to protect the trademarks in India.
Module 2 – Clearance Search
In this module, we will be reading about ‘Clearance Search’. When a distinctive Mark has been selected, a trademark clearance search should be carried out to check if the mark is available for filing or not.
The trademark search will help in identifying the marks already registered and avoid the likelihood of confusion for the consumer related to the origin of the goods and/or services.
Module 3 – Registered and Unregistered Trademarks
In this module, we will be learning about the importance of the registration of Trademarks in India. We will also be looking at the concept of Passing off which can be used to enforce unregistered trademark rights.
Live Class – 1
90 Minutes of Practice-based Lecture and Doubt-Resolution
Module 4 – Trademark Registration Procedure
Module IV will teach you about the process of filing a trademark registration application. The module will help you learn about the required information while filing a Trademark application, the necessary documents, the classification of goods under Nice Classification, and why it is important to claim the use of a particular trademark.
Module 5 – Grounds of refusal of a Trademark
Once the trademark application is filed, it may be rejected by the Registrar of Trademarks. A trademark application can be refused registration on either absolute or relative grounds as provided under Sections 9 and 11 respectively.
We shall also be learning about the acquired distinctiveness of a trademark and what are some of the prohibited trademarks under the Trademark Act, 1999.
Module 6 – Examination of Trademark
Once the application is filed and when all formalities are in order, the TM application will be examined. Once examined, the Trademark Office will issue an examination report. The process of examination of a trademark and response to objections raised will be dealt with in this module.
Module 7 – Opposition
In this module, we will learn about trademark opposition. Once the application is scrutinized by the Examiner and he is of the opinion that the trademark can be registered, the application is advertised in the Trademark Journal. It is advertised to call for opposition (if any) from the general public.
Live Class – 2
90 Minutes of Practice-based Lecture and Doubt-Resolution
Module 8 – Post-advertisement procedure
In this module, you will read more about what happens after a trademark application is advertised by the Trademark Office. This module will also deal with the renewal, restoration, and removal of a trademark. We shall also look into the assignment and licensing of the trademark.
Module 9 – Well known trademarks
In this module, we will be learning about the concept of “Well Known” Trademarks. This module will also give you an insight into the registration process of a well-known trademark, the advantages of a well-known trademark, and the prerequisites which are taken into consideration before a mark is declared as a well-known trademark.
Module 10 – Infringement
In this module, we will learn about how different types of infringement of trademark take place and what legal remedies are available to the owner of the trademark. This module will also explain what are the defenses available in the infringement action and the rights of the prior user of the trademark.
Module 11 – Customs Recordal and Madrid Protocol
In this module, we will read about registering a trademark with the Customs Department to prevent infringing imports. This module will also deal with trademarks as given under the Madrid Protocol.
Live Class – 3
90 Minutes of Practice-based Lecture and Doubt-Resolution
Practical Modules: See How Things Really Work!
– Practical Module 1: Real-life demonstration of conducting a Trademark Search – Practical Module 2: How to File a Trademark Application – Practical Module 3: Other TM Application Forms – Practical Module 4: Handling Oppositions and Objections
Live Class – 4
90 Minutes of Practice-based Lecture and Doubt-Resolution
HB Keshava Advocate HB Keshav is the Managing Attorney of Baskaran and Associates, an IPR advisory and practice firm based in Pune.
He’s a 2014 graduate of UPES Dehradun and has a BSc. in Cognitive Psychology from Annamalai University.
A teacher by passion, he has been a faculty at New Law College, Pune, and at Career Launcher, Chennai.
Akshay Ajaykumar is a 2016 graduate from NLU, Jodhpur.
He has worked as an Associate at ALG India Law Offices LLP (2016-2017) and L. R. Swami Co., Chennai (2018-2020).
He’s a popular blogger on Trademark laws on Linkedin and writes regularly on the current trends on Trademark Laws.
Course fee: Rs. 4800 inclusive of GST.
Certificate: An e-certificate will be provided by Lawctopus Law School on successful completion of the course.
PARIS (AP) — Sculptural figures resembling cane warriors, clad in billowing dresses that evoked skeletal forms, stood sentinel on Dior’s runway Tuesday, presenting a visual metaphor for the protection of vanishing cultures. The display marked another chapter in Maria Grazia Chiuri ’s ongoing fusion of fashion and fine art at Paris Fashion Week.
HT Image
Celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence, Maisie Williams, Elizabeth Debicki and Natalie Portman were among the audience, captivated by a collection that revisited the 1960s and the genesis of ready-to-wear at Dior. As described by the fashion house, this era was a pivotal moment “when fashion left the atelier to conquer the world.”
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
Here are some highlights of Tuesday’s Fall-Winter 2024 displays:
The cane frame sculptural decor by Mumbai-based artist Shakuntala Kulkarni made for a dramatic armor-like backdrop for designs that celebrated the freedom and empowerment of ready-to-wear clothes for the modern woman. The collection revisited the 1960s with a fresh, contemporary lens.
The collection’s footwear, with its buckled, strappy knee-high boots, directly mirrored the cane ceiling’s latticework, while elsewhere, garments paid tribute to the 60s’ iconic nipped waists and A-line silhouettes. Yet, Chiuri skillfully infused these retro elements with a modern twist, incorporating sportswear styles with round-shouldered coats that exuded a minimalist feel.
Scarves, a recurring favorite of Chiuri’s, were ubiquitous for fall, and were in the program notes heralded as “protective, enveloping, and embellishing as required” for a free and worldly woman.
Among the collection’s highlights was a voluminous black crossover coat with an Asian influence, cinched at the waist and paired with a funky, studded black leather beret, standing out as a testament to Chiuri’s innovative historic fusion. Echoing the color palette of Marc Bohan, Dior’s designer in the 1960s, the collection dazzled in white, orange, pink and neon green, with makeup tones to match. Exquisite pieces crafted in double cashmere and gabardine spanned little dresses, pants, coats, jackets and skirts, boldly cut above the knee, marking a chic, pared-down approach.
Dior’s recent showcase was a deep dive into the annals of style history, offering guests a meticulously crafted lesson in the evolution of ready-to-wear.
At the show’s heart, the Miss Dior logo took center stage, elegantly emblazoned across an array of dresses, skirts and coats, each a testament to the brand’s rich heritage. The house provided attendees with detailed notes on the origins of ready-to-wear, spotlighting Dior’s pioneering role in the movement. Following Chloe’s footsteps, arguably the first recognized ready-to-wear brand established in 1952, Dior unveiled its inaugural ready-to-wear line under Bohan’s creative stewardship in the 1960s. This initiative marked a significant chapter in fashion and democratized luxury wear.
Fashion magazine Vogue is setting the stage for a celebration of fashion and sports with a special show to herald the upcoming Paris Olympics. Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, the fashion magazine announced it will host a unique gathering of France’s premier luxury brands on June 23, coinciding with International Olympic Day and setting the scene for the Games beginning just over a month later.
The “Paris (fashion show) will be a tribute to the Olympic Games,” Wintour said in a statement. “It’s a dream to make the Place Vendôme Vogue World’s home — I can’t think of a setting that better captures the city’s rich history and glamour.” This event will mark a significant moment, celebrating 100 years of French fashion alongside the spirit of the Olympics, as Paris last welcomed the Games in 1924.
The show promises a fusion of fashion and Olympic disciplines, featuring renowned labels like Jacquemus, Balmain and Louis Vuitton, its men’s lines now under the creative direction of Pharrell Williams.
Vaquera, the brand that first captured the fashion world’s attention with a dramatic U.S. flag gown and its sweeping train years ago in New York, has once again made waves. This fall, designers Patric DiCaprio and Bree Taubensee transported the audience back to the vibrant energy of the 80s, infusing their collection with a mix of denim, fur, tulle and an undeniably punk attitude, all while introducing a modern twist.
The duo unveiled an audacious American currency print in a bold homage to punk’s rebellious roots. The design — which manipulated the image of Andrew Jackson with graffiti and hearts, and stamped the word “FAKE” over an image of the White House — was not just a feat of artistic defiance but also a commentary on the value systems that dominate today’s society. This striking print graced everything from a crisply tailored button-down and tie to a cummerbund on effortlessly chic trousers.
One brand that captures the essence of upcycling glamour with a disco twist commanded attention: Germanier. Founded by Kevin Germanier, who has become synonymous with sustainable luxury, the latest collection was an homage to the electric atmosphere of cabaret. He masterfully intertwined his commitment to environmental consciousness with high fashion, presenting a line that was nothing short of disco-fabulous.
This season, the runway sparkled with eye-popping neons and gleaming jewels, embodying the extravagant disco era. A standout piece included a dress adorned with billowing glittered disco ribbons, creating a dynamic cascade of color and light.
Accessories were no less dramatic, with a neon yellow boa and disco-inspired opera gloves that offered style contradictions.
Germanier’s innovative use of materials was apparent in a microdress constructed from giant gleaming jewels. The collection’s palette vibrated with vivid colors, from the ethereal floaty gowns made of acid-toned ostrich feathers to a mini adorned with multicolored candies, showcasing Germanier’s unique blend of whimsy and sophistication.
An experimental weight loss drug developed by Viking Therapeutics helped overweight and obese people lose up to 15% of their body weight after 13 weeks of treatment in a mid-stage trial, the company said Tuesday.
The drug, a potential rival to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, led to greater weight loss over that time period than both of those medicines did in clinical testing. However, Wall Street analysts cautioned the effects of Viking’s therapy need to be confirmed in a larger Phase 3 trial.
Viking shares nearly doubled Tuesday morning, adding more than $3 billion to the company’s market value as the data sparked speculation the biotech might become a buyout target.
Dive Insight:
Viking’s drug, an injectable therapy called VK2735, activates two insulin-stimulating hormones known as GLP-1 and GIP. The drug’s mechanism is similar to Lilly’s tirzepatide, which is approved for obesity and diabetes under different brand names. Tirzepatide is a big reason why the pharma giant has become one of the world’s most valuable companies, with a market capitalization above $700 billion.
Viking’s value is now climbing as well, as study results show its drug may be competitive with Lilly and Novo’s fast-selling medicines in a market some estimate will be worth as much as $90 billion annually by 2030.
Last year, Viking reported data from a Phase 1 trial of VK2735 that tested safety and evaluated which dose to use in further testing. At that point, participants who received the highest tested dose lost about 7.8% of their body weight over four weeks.
Data from the Phase 2 trial, called Venture, provide a broader look at the drug’s potential. The study enrolled 176 people classified as obese or overweight who had at least one weight-related health condition. They were randomized to receive either a placebo or one of four doses of VK2735 ranging from 2.5 to 15 milligrams a week.
From the study’s start, participants who received the lowest dose lost an average of 9.1% of their body weight, or about 7.4% more than those who received a placebo. The weight-loss effects were greater with each higher dose tested, and the results were statistically significant, the company said.
At all dose levels, study investigators saw a meaningful difference in the number of people losing at least 10% of their body weight when compared to a placebo. About 88% of those given the highest dose reached that threshold, for instance.
Side effects were more frequent at higher dose levels, too. One-fifth of the 35 participants on the highest drug dose quit the study early, Viking reported. Nausea affected 63% of the people taking that dose, and vomiting 29%, although both are common side effects of drugs like VK2735.
Nonetheless, the data exceeded the expectations of investors, who had forecast about 8% reductions in body weight, wrote Leerink Partners analyst Thomas Smith in a note to clients. William Blair analyst Andy Hsieh added the result “reflects a best-in-class profile among approved and investigational agents with Phase 2 data.”
“We are shifting our stance to believe VK2735 has the potential to exhibit a potentially better efficacy profile relative to Zepbound,” Hsieh wrote.
We know that we’re just not building enough homes despite soaring demand for more accommodation.
According to PropTrack’s New Homes Report, December saw a 9.5% drop in total building approvals, a stark contrast to the modest 0.3% increase in November.
This decline was particularly pronounced in unit approvals, which plummeted by 25%, and to a lesser extent in house approvals, which edged down by just 0.5%.
This downtrend in approvals, evident since March 2021, poses a significant challenge, according to Karen Dellow, Senior Data Analyst at PropTrack.
She said we need a considerable uptick in these numbers if we aim to meet the ambitious goal set by federal, state, and territory governments: the construction of 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
In tandem with these lower approval rates, new project commencements have also retreated – down 9.7% for houses and 11.2% for units.
Shifting trends in property listings
However, it’s not all gloomy news in the new homes sector.
According to the report, a year-on-year increase in listings for new apartment and retirement developments on realestate.com.au is injecting some optimism into the market.
While overall new build listings have marginally decreased by 1%, apartment listings have grown by 7%, and retirement properties have surged by an impressive 43%.
The house and land segment has seen a slight decline of 4%, with varying regional trends.
New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland are experiencing robust growth, while Western Australia faces a substantial decrease, with South Australia and Victoria witnessing more modest declines.
Retirement property listings have particularly flourished in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, recording increases of 77%, 35%, and 27%, respectively, over the past year.
In Melbourne, there’s been an 18% increase in apartment listings, according to the report.
Similarly, Queensland and South Australia have also seen growth in this sector.
Ms Dellow notes that the bulk of these apartment developments are concentrated in high-density urban areas, especially in inner Melbourne and Sydney, with the Gold Coast trailing at 10%.
Southbank in Melbourne, Melbourne CBD, and Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast top the list for the most apartment projects.
Interestingly, Sydney’s suburbs like Macquarie Park and Castle Hill are outliers, being considerably farther from the city centre.
When it comes to house and land listings, these are predominantly located in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
Geelong, an hour from Melbourne, boasts 17 projects, highlighting the expansion into regional Victoria.
The most active suburb for house and land developments this January was Box Hill in Sydney, where properties are fetching upwards of $1 million each.
Engagement and demand
Engagement with new development listings on realestate.com.au has risen by 15% compared to last year, with retirement listings enjoying a 20% increase.
House and land listings have seen a 19% increase in buyer engagement, marking nine months of positive growth.
Apartment listings have experienced a modest 1% increase in engagement.
Inner Melbourne and the Gold Coast, areas with the highest apartment listings, are also leading in enquiries.
Logan – Beaudesert in Brisbane topped the list for house and land development enquiries in January, followed by Perth – North West, and Sydney – Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury.
The most sought-after project in January was an apartment development in Urangan, Hervey Bay, with Topaz Shelly Beach apartments ranging from $599,000 to $1.5 million, offering stunning ocean views.
Looking Ahead
As we navigate into the next year, Ms Dellow highlights that the real challenge lies in ramping up stock levels to accommodate Australia’s growing population.
The rental market, in particular, is in dire need of expansion to cater to the influx of overseas migrants and students.
Though investor participation remains subdued, the scarcity in existing stock might pivot buyers towards new builds, potentially triggering a rise in new approvals.
About Adam Hubbard Adam Hubbard is a senior Wealth Strategist at Metropole and his many years of real estate and wealth creation experience gives him a holistic perspective with which he helps his clients safely grow their wealth through property.
Marriage is a momentous step, filled with excitement, anticipation — and apprehension. As my partner and I stood on the threshold of matrimony, we recognized the significance of laying a strong foundation for our life together. Armed with a list of questions for premarital counseling, we decided to seek professional guidance for our critical conversations. We wanted to lay the groundwork for a resilient and thriving marriage.
These premarital counseling topics probed beyond the surface, encouraging us to explore our core values, expectations, and aspirations for the future. From addressing communication styles to navigating potential conflicts, these helpful questions paved the way for open and honest discussions that fortified our connection. Research has found that “the more couples participated in premarital counseling, the fewer marital conflicts exist between them.” So, before you say I do, we have a list of 50 questions for premarital counseling, offering soon-to-be-married couples a comprehensive guide to navigate the exciting, albeit challenging, terrain of married life.
What Is Premarital Counseling?
Premarital counseling is a therapeutic process that’s designed to help couples prepare for marriage. It does this by addressing various aspects of their relationship through pre-marriage counseling topics and providing guidance for a strong and healthy union. A premarital counselor aims to equip couples with the tools and insights needed to navigate the challenges that often accompany married life. While not a prerequisite for marriage, many couples choose this process as a proactive step toward building a solid foundation for their life together.
The process of addressing pre-marriage counseling questions and answers encourages open conversations, helping couples identify potential areas of concern and develop strategies to address them. By fostering open communication and mutual understanding, premarital counseling seeks to enhance the couple’s resilience and cohesion as they embark on their marital journey. Ultimately, the goal is to empower couples with the insights and skills needed to foster a fulfilling and enduring partnership.
Related Reading: 11 Ways To Improve Communication In Relationships
Customized services
Online premarital counseling has become an increasingly popular and accessible option for couples seeking to strengthen their relationships before marriage. It offers a convenient and flexible platform for engaging in counseling, making it more feasible for couples with busy schedules or geographical constraints. You also have access to other types of premarital counseling including traditional talk therapy, faith-based counseling, group therapy, and more.
When to start premarital counseling
The timing can vary depending on the preferences and circumstances of the couple. However, it is generally advisable to begin premarital counseling several months before getting married. This allows sufficient time for the soon-to-be-married couple to engage in meaningful discussions and implement any strategies or changes that may arise from the counseling sessions.
Here are some considerations for when to start premarital counseling:
Several months before the wedding: This provides ample time for the couple to work through various pre-marriage counseling topics and potential challenges, ensuring a thorough exploration of important issues
Once engaged: This allows couples to address any concerns or uncertainties before wedding preparations are in full swing
During wedding planning: Physical or online premarital counseling sessions can be particularly beneficial during the wedding planning process when stress levels may be higher
When relationship issues arise: If a couple is already facing challenges or has recurring issues in their relationship, seeking professional premarital guidance as soon as possible can help address these concerns and strengthen the relationship
As a requirement: Some religious institutions or cultural traditions may require counseling before you say I do as part of the marriage preparation process
Related Reading: 8 Expert Tips To Survive A Marriage Crisis
Remember to allow enough time to the process to thoroughly explore various aspects of your relationship, promote effective communication, and implement any changes or improvements. Early engagement in premarital counseling can contribute to a stronger foundation for a healthy marriage. In other words, it helps you prep for marriage.
Benefits of premarital counseling
The intentional and proactive process of asking premarital counseling questions is not just reserved for addressing problems but is a proactive investment in the foundation of an enduring marital union. It’s a way to prep for marriage. Next, we explore the myriad benefits that premarital counseling offers, each contributing to a couple’s holistic understanding of one another and providing you with the essential tools to build a resilient and fulfilling partnership, essentially ensuring that you both are on the same page. Touching upon the right pre-marriage counseling topics has the following benefits:
Improved communication skills: Enhances the couple’s ability to communicate effectively, fostering a deeper understanding of each other’s needs, desires, and concerns. One study says, “Considering the effect of communication skills on marital satisfaction of the couples, it would be suggested to include the content of communication skills in the pre-marriage education class.”
Healthier conflict resolution: Pre-marriage counseling questions equip couples with tools to navigate disagreements and conflicts constructively. It promotes healthier problem-solving within the relationship
Alignment of expectations: Helps couples define and manage expectations regarding various aspects of married life, such as daily roles, responsibilities, and lifestyle choices
Enhanced intimacy: Encourages discussions about intimacy, emotional connection, and physical affection, contributing to a more fulfilling marital relationship. Premarital counseling offers you a safe space for the right intimacy and sex questions to ask before marriage to understand each other’s perspective
Family planning: Facilitates conversations about family planning, parenting styles, and the values the couple wishes to instill in their family unit
Deeper understanding of your partner’s roots: Promotes exploration of each marital partner’s background, upbringing, and extended family dynamics, fostering insight into how much influence these things may have on the relationship
Building a strong foundation: Guides couples in establishing a solid foundation for their marriage through reconfirmation of the same values and by addressing potential challenges early on
Financial planning: Financial planning provides a platform to discuss money-related questions, spending habits, financial goals, values and responsibilities, and the debate between joint or separate accounts, reducing the likelihood of future conflicts related to money matters
Stress reduction: Equips couples with coping mechanisms and stress management strategies, helping them navigate the inevitable stressors of married life
Establishing rituals and traditions: Pre-marriage counseling questions encourage the development of rituals and traditions. These can strengthen the couple’s bond, and create a sense of continuity and connection within the relationship
Related Reading: Should Couples Have Goals? Yes, Couple Goals Could Really Help…
Topics to cover in premarital counseling
Typically facilitated by licensed therapists, counselors, or clergy members, premarital counseling questions cover a wide range of topics. These premarital counseling topics may include financial management, family planning, and understanding each other’s values and expectations. These are some of the topics covered in pre-marriage counseling questions and answers:
Communication styles: Understanding how each partner communicates and addressing potential communication challenges
Patterns of conflict resolution: Counseling involves developing effective strategies for resolving conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner
Emotional intimacy: Defining emotional connection and vulnerability, and understanding each other’s emotional needs
Family background and upbringing: Discussing the impact of family backgrounds, childhood experiences, and upbringing on each partner’s perspectives and expectations, and the role of in-laws in the relationship
Values and beliefs: Identifying and aligning personal values, beliefs, and ethical principles within the context of the relationship
Financial management: Discussing financial goals, monthly budgeting, maintaining joint or separate accounts, planning for the children’s college education, habits around spending money vs. a savings plan, and managing financial responsibilities as a couple
Roles and responsibilities: Clarifying expectations regarding the division of labor (physical, emotional, and mental) and chores within the relationship
Intimacy: Addressing physical intimacy needs and gaps as well as sexual expectations in order to foster a healthy physical connection
Parenting styles and family planning: Discussing plans and expectations for building a family, as well as preferred parenting styles and approaches
Career and life goals: Sharing individual career aspirations, life goals, and finding alignment in long-term plans
Religious or spiritual beliefs: Discussing any religious or spiritual beliefs, practices, routines, and how they may influence the relationship
Time management and leisure: Exploring how the couple plans to spend time together, balancing work, leisure, and personal hobbies
Coping mechanisms: Developing healthy stress management strategies individually and as a couple
Rituals and traditions: Talking about rituals and traditions that can create a sense of continuity and stability for both partners, as well as rituals that will be practiced individually
Expectations for support systems: Identifying expectations for emotional support and understanding the role of extended family and friends in the couple’s life
Health and wellness: Discussing individual and collective approaches to health and wellness, sharing medical history, lifestyle choices, and healthcare decisions
Related Reading: The Five Stages Of Intimacy – Find Out Where You Are!
50 Questions For Premarital Counseling To Prepare For Married Life
I’m sure you’ve explored the various types of premarital counseling in order to build a solid foundation for your lifelong commitment. Now, go through this list of 50 thought-provoking questions for premarital counseling that will help you make the most of your counseling sessions and be on the same page as your soon-to-be spouse.
Premarital questions for conflict resolution
A 2019 study that looked at more than 430 diverse, recently married couples found that partners who participated in premarital counseling were more likely to seek therapy later in their relationship when it was needed. This showed that couples who did premarital counseling were more likely to try and work on their relationship if problems arose later on.
Navigating conflicts is inevitable for married couples. Knowing how to address and resolve disagreements is crucial for a healthy and lasting marriage. Dedicating your time to exploring conflict resolution strategies through counseling can equip couples with essential tools to maintain harmony and understanding. These discussions not only shed light on individual approaches to conflict but also pave the way for collaborative problem-solving.
Below are 10 important premarital counseling questions to help you communicate effectively during disagreements:
How do you typically respond when faced with a disagreement or conflict?
Are you more inclined to address conflicts immediately, or do you prefer taking time to cool off before we discuss issues?
What are your go-to strategies for calming yourself down during a heated argument?
In what ways were/are conflicts handled in your family of origin, and how would that influence your approach to resolving issues in our relationship?
How do you feel about seeking external support, such as couples’ therapy or counseling, when facing persistent conflicts?
Are there specific topics or situations, such as friendships with the opposite sex, that you find particularly challenging to discuss calmly? If yes, why?
Do you have any non-negotiables, boundaries, or needs when it comes to resolving conflicts?
How do you envision compromise within our relationship, especially when faced with differing opinions or needs, or even pet peeves?
Can you recall a past conflict that was resolved successfully between us, and what do you think contributed to that resolution?
What role do you believe communication plays in effective conflict resolution, and how can we enhance our communication during disagreements?
Related Reading: 9 Expert-Backed Tips For Healthy Conflict Resolution In Relationships
Career goals
Understanding each other’s career goals is a fundamental aspect of premarital counseling, as it directly influences a couple’s lifestyle, financial plans, and overall life trajectory. Open and honest discussions about career aspirations can foster a collaborative approach to achieving individual and collective goals. Exploring these aspirations can help you navigate potential challenges and make informed decisions with your future spouse.
Here are ten pre-marriage counseling questions for couples to prompt conversations about career goals:
What are your primary career goals, both short-term and long-term?
How do you envision balancing career aspirations with family life in the future?
Do you anticipate any career-related challenges or concerns that can impact us? And how would you like us to address them together?
In what ways can we support each other’s professional growth and development?
How do you handle work-related or financial stress, and what role can I play in providing support during challenging times such as job loss?
Are there geographical preferences or restrictions related to your career that we should discuss and consider?
How do you see our financial plans aligning with your career goals, and what adjustments might be necessary?
What role do you believe work-life balance plays in a successful and fulfilling relationship?
Are there any career-related decisions that you would like to make as a couple?
How do you feel about potentially huge career changes, and what factors would you consider when making such decisions within the context of our relationship?
Related Reading: Why Do Women Have To Choose Between Career And Family
Religious beliefs
Religious beliefs are among the crucial pre-marriage counseling topics as they can significantly influence a couple’s traditions and daily life. These discussions foster mutual respect, allowing couples to navigate potential differences and find common ground in their spiritual journey. Whether the partners share the same faith (or none at all), have different religious beliefs, or fall somewhere in between, addressing these beliefs early on can pave the way for a harmonious and healthy relationship.
Here are ten questions that can guide conversations about your religious/spiritual beliefs before you say I do and help you prep for marriage:
What role does religion play in your life, and how has it influenced your values and worldview?
How comfortable are you with discussing, exploring, or even critiquing our individual beliefs, if required?
Are there specific religious practices, rituals, or traditions that hold significance for you?
How would you like to incorporate these traditions into our daily or yearly routines?
How do you envision raising children in the context of religious beliefs, and what compromises or agreements can we make in this regard?
Are there any aspects of your beliefs that you consider non-negotiable, and how would you like to address potential conflicts in the marriage related to these beliefs?
How do you feel about participating in each other’s religious ceremonies or traditions, even if they differ from your own?
Are there any religious holidays or observances that you consider particularly important, and would you like to celebrate them individually or as a couple?
What level of involvement in religious communities or congregations do you anticipate for our family?
How can we ensure that our respective beliefs enhance, rather than hinder, our connection as a couple as well as our children’s lives?
Related Reading: How To Have A Non-Religious Wedding – Some Awesome Tips!
Dividing household chores
Figuring out how to divide household chores is a pragmatic and essential aspect of premarital counseling, as it lays the groundwork for a fair and cooperative partnership. Gone are the days when the woman was expected to stay home and look after the house and kids. Which is why these discussions are required to help you prep for marriage and set expectations realistically.
They go beyond mere logistics and ground rules, providing an opportunity for couples to understand each other’s expectations, preferences, and potential sources of tension related to shared responsibilities. Establishing a clear framework for sharing household chores early on can contribute to a harmonious living environment and prevent resentment or misunderstandings in the future.
Premarital counseling plays a huge role in having a healthy marriage
Here are ten questions designed to guide conversations about how to divide household chores during your premarital counseling:
How were household chores divided or managed in your family of origin, and how would that influence your expectations in our relationship?
Are there specific household tasks that you particularly enjoy or dislike, and how can we incorporate these preferences into our chore division?
What level of cleanliness and order do you envision for our home, and how can we find common ground on this aspect?
Are there time constraints or work-related commitments that may impact your ability to contribute to household chores, and how would you like us to address this?
How do you feel about outsourcing certain household tasks, such as hiring a cleaning service, if needed?
Are there seasonal or occasional chores that you find challenging, and how can we approach these responsibilities together?
What is your preferred method of communication when it comes to executing our chore division routine or addressing concerns and adjustments related to it?
How can we ensure that the division of household chores is fair and reflective of both our needs and capabilities?
Are there specific roles or responsibilities that you believe should be shared equally? If not, how can we negotiate these expectations?
How do you envision expressing appreciation for each other’s contributions to household chores?
Related Reading: How To Redefine Gender Roles In Household Chores
Sex and intimacy
Addressing sex and intimacy is a critical component of premarital counseling. Exploring each other’s desires, expectations, and boundaries in a safe and supportive environment sets the stage for a healthy and satisfying sex life. While these conversations enhance physical intimacy but also contribute to emotional intimacy and mutual fulfillment and reduce the likelihood of one partner straying into a sexual affair, they can be difficult to broach. Knowing the right sex questions to ask before marriage can make it easier to explore the nuances of intimacy in your relationship.
Here are ten questions designed to guide discussions about sex and intimacy during premarital counseling:
How would you describe your attitude toward sex, and what role do you envision it playing in our relationship?
Are there specific desires or fantasies that you would like to share with me, and how can we explore these together?
What are your expectations regarding the frequency of sexual intimacy in our relationship?
How comfortable are you discussing sexual health, contraception/birth control, and family planning? Also, how many children should we have?
Are there any past experiences or sexual abuse traumas that might impact your comfort with sex, and how can I support you in navigating this distress?
How do you communicate your sexual preferences or sexual needs, and what approach would you prefer for these discussions?
What role does emotional intimacy play in your overall satisfaction with our sexual connection?
Are there any new boundaries or limitations related to sex that you would like to establish?
How do you feel about trying new things or incorporating variety into our sexual relationship? How comfortable are you with experimentation?
How do we navigate challenges or differences in our sexual desires in the long run, ensuring that both partners feel heard and satisfied?
Key Pointers
Before you say I do, premarital counseling is designed to help couples prepare for marriage by proactively addressing various aspects of their relationship
The benefits of premarital counseling include improved communication skills, effective conflict resolution, enhanced intimacy, and more
Proactively addressing concerns regarding potential disagreements, career goals, religious or spiritual beliefs, division of household chores, and sex and intimacy can result in a more harmonious union
Premarital counseling takes a holistic approach while preparing couples for the journey of marriage. The right pre-marriage counseling questions for couples act as stepping stones to important conversations that serve as a deliberate and proactive investment toward the foundation of a healthy, enduring partnership. Ultimately, premarital counseling is not merely a preparatory step; it is a transformative process that empowers couples to forge a resilient bond that stands the test of time.
Is Premarital Counseling Necessary For Both Men And Women?
Relationship Counseling – Everything You Need To Know
50 Questions To Ask Before Marriage — #20 Is A Must!
The best and the latest technologies, gadgets, and smart devices are being unveiled by leading technology companies at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, being held in Barcelona from 26 – 29 February 2024. One outstanding product showcased this year was TECNO’s Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra laptop, combining the latest Intel processors, best-in-class AI experience, power-packed performance, and industry-leading battery life.
TECNO is a global innovative technology brand with operations in over 70 countries worldwide. The Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra has been developed in line with the brand’s essence of “Stop At Nothing”, which is TECNO’s commitment to unlocking the best and newest technologies for forward-looking individuals, inspiring them to never stop pursuing their goals and their vision for the best future.
A Power-Packed Performer With Exceptional AI Capabilities for Professionals
With AI prevalent in every aspect of our lives, The Megabook T16 Pro 2024 is crafted to integrate AI industry applications into people’s everyday lives. The Megabook’s inbuilt PC Manager works with the Intel Core Ultra CPU and NPU to enhance productivity while maintaining user privacy and flexibility. As a user, you will be able to achieve AI Image, AI Conference, PC Cloning and System Optimization, etc. in operating localization. Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra also supports Windows 11 system with Microsoft Copilot.
Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra comes with the option of the Intel Core Ultra 7 and Ultra 5 processors, up to 32GB of LPddr5 RAM, and 1TB of PCIE 4.0 SSD storage. You can accomplish your most challenging tasks with ease, thanks to its ultra-clear 2.5K resolution ultra-boundless 16-inch screen with 100% RGB color and 400 nits brightness.
Stylish, sleek, compact, and lightweight, the Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra is a dependable work companion for business and creative professionals. Moreover, its industry-leading 99.99Wh big battery will give an uninterrupted 20.5-hour usage. Plus, the 100W fast charger will get you going in no time.
With multiple ports for enhanced connectivity and a 2MP 1080 HP camera, the TECNO Megabook T16 Pro 2024 Ultra is built to meet the demands of modern gaming, productivity, and content creation, especially with AI.
This is a sponsored post. The product choices and opinions expressed in this article are from the sponsor and do not reflect the editorial direction of MakeUseOf or its staff.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/0cd28a77d63248f7830361bf59107b5a/0cd28a77d63248f7830361bf59107b5a.jpeg' alt='A graphic shows "Loong Chenchen," the mascot of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala of China Media Group (CMG). /CMG'
The journey from the ancient totems to the auspicious symbols of the loong, or Chinese dragon, which gradually evolved into a spiritual symbol and cultural icon for the Chinese people, has played a crucial role in China’s vast history spanning 5,000 years.
Loong Chenchen, as the mascot of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala of China Media Group (CMG) in the Year of the Loong, seamlessly integrates elements from China’s 5,000-year history of national treasures in its unique design.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/415c462b901b457dbb71e5b24a23efa7/415c462b901b457dbb71e5b24a23efa7.jpeg' alt='A file photo shows a loong-shaped artifact unearthed from the Erlitou archaeological site in Luoyang City, Henan Province, China. /CFP'
The design of the mascot’s face was inspired by a loong-shaped artifact made up of over 2,000 pieces of turquoise that was unearthed from an ancient aristocrat’s tomb at the Erlitou Archaeological Site in the Yanshi District of Luoyang City, Henan Province. This artifact, now housed in the China Archaeological Museum, testifies to the ancestral worship of the loong as a totem dating back to the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC).
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/c95f7d8f92fd47ec93227d1d05f9c49a/c95f7d8f92fd47ec93227d1d05f9c49a.jpeg' alt='A file photo shows a cloud-patterned bronze artifact displayed at the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. /CFP'
Incorporating elements from a cloud-patterned bronze artifact from the Spring and Autumn Period （770-476 BC） known as a “jin” in Chinese, Loong Chenchen’s eyebrows and shoulders evoke the artistic imagination and expression of China’s ancient craftsmen. Unearthed in 1978 in Xiasi, Xichuan County, Henan Province, this bronze artifact is now held in the permanent collection of the Henan Museum.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/63e2db6ce7d34dcc8f5da09fe28787ed/63e2db6ce7d34dcc8f5da09fe28787ed.jpeg' alt='A file photo shows the He Zun displayed in the Xi'an Museum, Shaanxi Province, China. /CFP'
The design of Loong Chenchen’s abdomen and spine was inspired by the “He Zun,” which is a sacrificial vessel made by a nobleman from the early Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) named He. It was unearthed in 1963 in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province and is now housed in the Baoji Bronze Ware Museum.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/2d9ae9f8d2214923b8e16b9da8a4991d/2d9ae9f8d2214923b8e16b9da8a4991d.jpeg' alt='A file photo shows the gilded walking loong displayed in the Xi'an Museum, Shaanxi Province, China. /CFP'
Designers of Loong Chenchen’s fins drew inspiration from a gilded walking loong, a relic from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) showcased in the Xi’an Museum. Historical records suggest that the Tang Dynasty’s sacrificial ceremonies included a loong casting ritual, and the intricate walking loong may have played an important role in this ancient tradition.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-30/Unveiling-the-symbolism-behind-Loong-Chenchen-in-Chinese-culture-1qMGnn74w9y/img/2c2077d3a92849cc96e4d8759c9d9452/2c2077d3a92849cc96e4d8759c9d9452.jpeg' alt='A file photo shows the Nine-Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. /CFP'
And the design of Loong Chenchen’s claws was inspired by the dragons on the Nine-Dragon Wall at the Palace Museum in Beijing. The Nine-Dragon Wall is a type of ancient architectural screen designed to demarcate space. The three renowned Nine-Dragon Walls in China – one in the Forbidden City, one in Beihai Park, and one in Datong, Shanxi Province – stand as testaments to the historical significance of these structures in defining spatial boundaries.
Adapting the epic tale of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” was an enormous undertaking and in the end it took three movies to tell — and three screenwriters to bring it to life. And on Feb. 29, 2004, three adapted screenplay Oscars were handed out to the writing team trio behind the final installment in the megahit series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson.
All three earned their first writing Oscars that night, though for Jackson and Walsh (his longtime life-work partner), those weren’t the only awards they would take home. “Return of the King” was a juggernaut that evening, ultimately winning 11 awards, a feat that tied it with “Ben Hur” (1959) and “Titanic” (1997). It was likely a satisfying way to cap more than six years devoted to creating the franchise and finally go beyond the nomination phase: Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had also been nominated in 2002 for writing the first film of the series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
It was the first time since 1957’s “The Bridge on the River Kwai” that a group of three screenwriters had won in this category, too.
Meanwhile, Walsh — who began working with Jackson in the 1980s and shares two children with him — earned a special accolade of her own: the original song Oscar, shared with Howard Shore and Annie Lennox for the film’s “Into the West.” She and Jackson both earned their third Oscars that night (shared with producer Barrie M. Osborne) when the film was named best picture of the year.
After the envelope was opened and presenters Sofia Coppola (who would go on to win her own writing award moments later, for “Lost in Translation‘s” original screenplay) and Francis Ford Coppola announced the trio had won the adaptation Oscar, all three hurried to the stage to get a few words in.
“We grew up loving these books,” Boyens said of the J.R.R. Tolkien series. “We had no idea that we were going to go gray trying to make them into movies.” Boyens has been writing scripts for Jackson films for years, including “King Kong,” “The Lovely Bones” and — later — the three-part “The Hobbit” adaptation. This was her second nomination, and so far her only win.
Jackson gave a shoutout to his and Walsh’s children “for putting up so much with Mum and Dad working on this film all their lives, because they’re only 7 and 8 years old.” He added that the cast also deserved a special cheer, for getting “their tongues around this rather awkward text.” Jackson had been in the academy’s sights for nearly a decade, starting with his first original writing nomination in 1995 (with Walsh) for “Heavenly Creatures.” In 2010 he would earn another nomination, this time for best picture, for “District 9.” But all of his other nominations thus far have been for the “LOTR” series.
The competition in the category seems to have barely had a shot, thanks to the way “Rings” steamrolled over everyone in the room that night. “American Splendor’s” Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who co-directed their film, were nominated for the first time each; “City of God’s” Bráulio Mantovani was also a first-time nominee; “Mystic River” scribe Brian Helgeland earned an Oscar (with Curtis Hanson) in 1998 for the adapted screenplay “L.A. Confidential”; and Gary Ross, writer-director of “Seabiscuit,” went home empty-handed again. He’d previously been nominated in writing categories for “Big” (1989), “Dave” (1994) and had an extra nomination with “Seabiscuit” in the best picture category as he’d also been a producer on the film.
In September 2017, Singapore-based lawyer Pav Gill took a job at Wirecard, a high-flying German payments business worth tens of billions of euros. Not long after he started, he heard from a colleague that an executive at Wirecard Asia, the region Gill was responsible for, had allegedly been teaching staff how to trick auditors into thinking the firm had money it didn’t have.
Gill quietly began an investigation, codenamed Project Phoenix. The results were damning: Wirecard had been fudging its numbers. But when the board of directors caught wind of his work they got “very upset,” says Gill. He was ordered to stand down, and his investigation came to nothing.
The head of Wirecard Asia began to make Gill’s life “pretty horrible,” he claims, yelling at him in front of colleagues and attacking the quality of his work. He was effectively forced out. But before he left, in September 2018, he loaded a harddrive with an 85GB payload of email data tied to the investigation. It was filled, he says, with “irrefutable” proof of wrongdoing.
Even after Gill left, Wirecard continued to haunt him. At job interviews, he felt the questions were disproportionately focused on the reason for his departure. Gill also began to suspect the firm was having both him and his mother followed (Wirecard had previously surveilled its detractors, but this was never proven in Gill’s case). But he never intended to leak the email data he’d extracted. It was a defensive maneuver. “As a lawyer, it is ingrained that you are not meant to leak, no matter how bad the situation,” says Gill.
In the end it was his mother, Sokhbir Kaur, who took action. Without Gill’s knowledge, she had been liaising with the Financial Times, which had been investigating Wirecard for years. She had snatched the whistle and blown it on Gill’s behalf. He was beside himself. But after some debate, he agreed to give the reporters the data: Why should they be the ones living in fear when the truth was on their side?
The first story based on Gill’s data was published in January 2019. By April 2020, a KPMG audit had found that the “lion’s share” of Wirecard’s profits could not be verified. Later, EY, the company’s original auditor, discovered that €1.9 billion was missing, because the money had never existed. By June 2020, Wirecard had collapsed into insolvency. Gill had played an indispensable role. Five years after leaving, Gill says he has “no regrets” about blowing the whistle, but that it did lead to a great deal of hardship. So now he’s trying to make the process safer.
Gill is the cofounder of Confide, a startup aiming to help businesses detect and act on misconduct earlier—and stop them “taking revenge” on the employees that report it. Confide, cofounded with Ryan Dougherty, who Gill had hired at two previous companies, has developed a software platform that allows employees to file anonymous reports. The service creates a paper trail visible to both the whistleblower and the business accused of misbehavior—but one that’s stored on third-party infrastructure to prevent it being doctored.
Brazil took the reins of the G20 presidency from India in December 2023 and will continue to preside over the organisation until November this year. Crypto-related policy formulation, asset tokenisation, and responsible handling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to remain key focus points for discussions this year. The details have been disclosed by global fintech watchdog, the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Prior to this, the FSB contributed to the crypto policy research work that India initiated under its G20 presidency last year.
Klaas Knot, the chairperson of the FSB, has written a letter to the G20 group, detailing the key issues to look at in 2024. This letter was circulated to the G20 nations ahead of the meetings of the group scheduled for February 28 and 29 at São Paulo, Brazil.
“The FSB will continue to coordinate international work through the G20 Roadmap on crypto assets. To address growing financial stability risks from cyber incidents, the FSB is also designing a format for incident reporting exchange (FIRE) for public consultation,” the letter said. Subsequently, the topic of enhancing ways to process cross-border payments is also among important ones.
The letter has outlined certain challenges facing the global fintech sector that need attention on priority. The letter sent by the FSB to the G20 nations says, “debt service challenges could increase, and exposures to sectors facing existing headwinds, like commercial real estate, bear close monitoring. Abrupt shifts in market pricing could expose vulnerabilities in the financial system, including those related to leverage and liquidity mismatch in NBFI.”
Throughout 2023, the FSB had joined in India’s vision of establishing a global policy framework to oversee the crypto sector. After receiving feedback from stakeholders and the public, the organisation outlined some pointers for crypto regulations which included supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements (GSCs) and support for responsible innovation while leaving a margin for jurisdictions to implement domestic approaches.
As per the FSB, the vulnerabilities that are riddling the crypto sector resemble those prevalent in the traditional financial practices related to leverage, liquidity mismatches, technological as well as operational.
Despite finalising a crypto roadmap for G20 nations to adopt for crypto monitoring, the FSB firmly believes that more clarity in legalities must be introduced to keep sensitive sectors like crypto and AI safe for usage.
“Further work may be needed to enhance cross-border cooperation and information sharing and to address information gaps identified,” the organisation had said in November 2023.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Google will start enforcing tougher restrictions on personalized ads related to consumer financial products and services from tomorrow, February 28.
Any breaches of the updated policy will prompt a warning, with the possibility of account suspension.
It’s worth noting that the full enforcement of these measures may take approximately six weeks to be fully implemented.
Why we care. Make sure your personalized ads comply with Google’s updated policy now, as this is your final opportunity before the new restrictions kick in. If your account gets suspended for policy violations, it can seriously impact campaign performance, and lifting suspensions can be difficult. Act now to avoid disruptions.
What’s changing? Google’s “credit in personalized ads” policy will be broadened to include “consumer finance in personalized ads.” The updated policy will say:
“In the United States and Canada, the following sensitive interest categories cannot be targeted to audiences based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code.”
The update will apply to offers relating to credit or products or services related to credit lending, banking products and services, or certain financial planning and management services. Examples include:
Credit cards
Home loans
Car loans
Appliance loans
Short-term loans
Banking and checking accounts
Debt management products
What Google is saying. A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
“We’ve long had personalized ads policies that prohibit advertisers from targeting people on the basis of sensitive categories. This update strengthens our ongoing efforts to protect consumers, expanding our credit in personalized ads policy to additional consumer finance ad categories in the US and Canada.”
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See terms.
Deep dive. Read Google’s full blog post for more information.
In the vast landscape of India’s non-profit sector, numerous organizations are tirelessly working towards addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. As of 2024, several NGOs stand out for their remarkable contributions and wide-reaching impact across the nation. Let’s delve into the list of India’stop 10 largest NGOs, shedding light on their missions, accomplishments, and the communities they serve.
What are NGOs?
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are non-profit entities independent of government control, dedicated to addressing social, environmental, and humanitarian issues. They operate at local, national, and international levels, advocating for human rights, providing aid and services to marginalized communities, and fostering sustainable development. NGOs rely on donations, grants, and volunteer work to carry out their missions, serving as crucial agents of change and contributing to positive societal transformation.
Roles and Functions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Here are some functions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs):
Improving Government performance and accountability through advocacy and policy recommendations.
Acting as social mediators to bring about behavioral change and awareness.
Facilitating communication between communities and the government.
Serving as pressure groups to mobilize public opinion against unfavorable policies.
Encouraging community participation and preserving cultural diversity.
Empowering women through advocacy and initiatives against gender-based discrimination.
Mobilizing local resources to prevent environmental degradation.
Providing education, training, and technical assistance to disadvantaged groups.
Bridging gaps in service delivery and reaching marginalized populations.
Monitoring and evaluating government policies for effective implementation.
Top-10 Largest NGOs in India 2024
NGOs in India drive social change, promote human rights, provide services, and advocate for marginalized communities through grassroots initiatives. Check the list of top-10 largest NGOs in India 2024:
Biggest NGOs in India 2024
S. No.
NGO
Focus Areas
Establishment
1.
HelpAge India
Elderly care, pension, healthcare
1978
2.
LEPRA India
Healthcare for slum dwellers, leprosy
1989
3.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Mid-Day meals for School Children
2000
4.
Pratham Education Fund
Education for underprivileged children
1995
5.
Nanhi Kali
Girl’s Education
1996
6.
Goonj
Disaster relief, community development
Unspecified
7.
Care India
Poverty alleviation, social justice
1946
8.
CRY
Child rights, healthcare, education
1979
9.
Give India
Fundraising platform for various causes
Unspecified
10.
Smile Foundation
Education, Healthcare, women empowerment
2002
Largest NGO in India – HelpAge India
HelpAge India, established in 1978, champions the cause of elderly individuals, striving to enhance their quality of life. In 2020, it earned distinction as the sole Indian recipient of the‘UN Population Award 2020’. Providing universal pension, healthcare, and combatting elder abuse are among its pivotal services, exemplifying its commitment to elderly welfare.
India’s Second Largest NGO – LEPRA India
LEPRA India, founded in 1989 in Hyderabad, focuses on delivering quality healthcare to marginalized communities, including slum dwellers and migrants. Stemming from BELRA’s leprosy prevention efforts dating back to 1925, LEPRA India has treated over 450,000 individuals for leprosy, provided protective footwear to 247,000 people, and assisted 95,000 individuals with disabilities, solidifying its position as the second-largest NGO in India.
Third Biggest NGO of India – Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation, established in 2000 in Bengaluru, aims to eradicate classroom hunger by offering mid-day meals in government and government-aided schools. Remarkably, the organization has expanded its reach from feeding 1,500 students to serving 1.8 million students within two decades. This significant growth solidifies its position as the third-largest NGO in India, exemplifying its commitment to child welfare and education.
Debra Prichard was a retired factory worker who was careful with her money, including what she spent on medical care, said her daughter, Alicia Wieberg. “She was the kind of person who didn’t go to the doctor for anything.”
That ended last year, when the rural Tennessee resident suffered a devastating stroke and several aneurysms. She twice was rushed from her local hospital to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, 79 miles away, where she was treated by brain specialists. She died Oct. 31 at age 70.
One of Prichard’s trips to the Nashville hospital was via helicopter ambulance. Wieberg said she had heard such flights could be pricey, but she didn’t realize how extraordinary the charge would be — or how her mother’s skimping on Medicare coverage could leave the family on the hook.
Then the bill came.
The Patient: Debra Prichard, who had Medicare Part A insurance before she died.
Medical Service: An air-ambulance flight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Service Provider: Med-Trans Corp., a medical transportation service that is part of Global Medical Response, an industry giant backed by private equity investors. The larger company operates in all 50 states and says it has a total of 498 helicopters and airplanes.
Total Bill: $81,739.40, none of which was covered by insurance.
What Gives: Sky-high bills from air-ambulance providers have sparked complaints and federal action in recent years.
For patients with private insurance coverage, the No Surprises Act, which went into effect in 2022, bars air-ambulance companies from billing people more than they would pay if the service were considered “in-network” with their health insurers. For patients with public coverage, such as Medicare or Medicaid, the government sets payment rates at much lower levels than the companies charge.
But Prichard had opted out of the portion of Medicare that covers ambulance services.
That meant when the bill arrived less than two weeks after her death, her estate was expected to pay the full air-ambulance fee of nearly $82,000. The main assets are 12 acres of land and her home in Decherd, Tennessee, where she lived for 48 years and raised two children. The bill for a single helicopter ride could eat up roughly a third of the estate’s value, said Wieberg, who is executor.
The family’s predicament stems from the complicated nature of Medicare coverage.
Prichard was enrolled only in Medicare Part A, which is free to most Americans 65 or older. That section of the federal insurance program covers inpatient care, and it paid most of her hospital bills, her daughter said.
But Prichard declined other Medicare coverage, including Part B, which handles such things as doctor visits, outpatient treatment, and ambulance rides. Her daughter suspects she skipped that coverage to avoid the premiums most recipients pay, which currently are about $175 a month.
Loren Adler, a health economist for the Brookings Institution who studies ambulance bills, estimated the maximum charge that Medicare would have allowed for Prichard’s flight would have been less than $10,000 if she’d signed up for Part B. The patient’s share of that would have been less than $2,000. Her estate might have owed nothing if she’d also purchased supplemental “Medigap” coverage, as many Medicare members do to cover things like coinsurance, he said.
Nicole Michel, a spokesperson for Global Medical Response, the ambulance provider, agreed with Adler’s estimate that Medicare would have limited the charge for the flight to less than $10,000. But she said the federal program’s payment rates don’t cover the cost of providing air-ambulance services.
“Our patient advocacy team is actively engaged with Ms. Wieberg’s attorney to determine if there was any other applicable medical coverage on the date of service that we could bill to,” Michel wrote in an email to KFF Health News. “If not, we are fully committed to working with Ms. Wieberg, as we do with all our patients, to find an equitable solution.”
Wieberg says that her family’s struggle over her mother’s air-ambulance bill makes her wonder why Medicare is split into pieces, with free coverage for inpatient care under Part A but premiums for coverage of other crucial services under Part B.(Lisa Krantz for KFF Health News)
The Resolution: In mid-February, Wieberg said the company had not offered to reduce the bill.
Wieberg said she and the attorney handling her mother’s estate both contacted the company, seeking a reduction in the bill. She said she also contacted Medicare officials, filled out a form on the No Surprises Act website, and filed a complaint with Tennessee regulators who oversee ambulance services. She said she was notified Feb. 12 that the company filed a legal claim against the estate for the entire amount.
Wieberg said other health care providers, including ground ambulance services and the Vanderbilt hospital, wound up waiving several thousand dollars in unpaid fees for services they provided to Prichard that are normally covered by Medicare Part B.
But as it stands, Prichard’s estate owes about $81,740 to the air-ambulance company.
The Takeaway: People who are eligible for Medicare are encouraged to sign up for Part B, unless they have private health insurance through an employer or spouse.
“If someone with Medicare finds that they are having difficulty paying the Medicare Part B premiums, there are resources available to help compare Medicare coverage choices and learn about options to help pay for Medicare costs,” Meena Seshamani, director of the federal Center for Medicare, said in an email to KFF Health News.
In Tennessee, that counseling is offered by the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Its director, Lori Galbreath, told KFF Health News she wishes more seniors would discuss their health coverage options with trained counselors like hers.
“Every Medicare recipient’s experience is different,” she said. “We can look at their different situations and give them an unbiased view of what their next best steps could be.”
Counselors advise that many people with modest incomes enroll in a Medicare Savings Program, which can cover their Part B premiums. In 2023, Tennessee residents could qualify for such assistance if they made less than $1,660 monthly as a single person or $2,239 as a married couple. Many people also could obtain help with other out-of-pocket expenses, such as copays for medical services.
Wieberg, who lives in Missouri, has been preparing the family home for sale.
She said the struggle over her mother’s air-ambulance bill makes her wonder why Medicare is split into pieces, with free coverage for inpatient care under Part A, but premiums for coverage of other crucial services under Part B.
“Anybody past the age of 70 is likely going to need both,” she said. “And so why make it a decision of what you can afford or not afford, or what you think you’re going to use or not use?”
Wieberg, who lives in Missouri, has been preparing to sell her mother’s Tennessee home, where she lived for 48 years before her death in October. The family faces an $81,739.40 air-ambulance bill, which Wieberg’s mom incurred before her death. She had only Medicare Part A insurance, which does not cover ambulance services.(Chris Wieberg)
Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by KFF Health News and NPR that dissects and explains medical bills. Do you have an interesting medical bill you want to share with us? Tell us about it!
When you think of Pokemon, you probably think that Nintendo owns the lucrative intellectual property in its entirety. In reality, it’s not that simple as the rights to the pocket monster franchise are almost equally split between several parties. Suppose you’ve ever wanted a brief history lesson on the franchise. In that case, GameSpot has a new video breaking down the complex ownership foundation of the franchise and how each partner–Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures, and The Pokemon Company–pool their efforts and resources to constantly evolve the series.
Interestingly, Game Freak is still an independent studio with relatively few employees when compared to other companies. The developer has regularly released a mainline Pokemon game every three years while juggling other projects, like underrated classics Tembo the Badass Elephant and Pocket Card Jockey. The big Pokemon games responsible for introducing dozens of new pocket monsters also serve as the foundation for the far more lucrative merchandising arm of Pokemon.
Factor in the involvement of Creatures, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company, and you can quickly see how the Pokemon machine is a complex arrangement of moving parts across video games, anime series, movies, merchandise, and the massively popular trading card game. All of that hard work has paid off, because as of 2021, Pokemon was valued at an estimated $92.1 billion, eclipsing other mega-popular IPs like Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, and Star Wars.
As the video title says, the business of Pokemon is complicated, but it is incredibly fascinating once you dig into the intricacies of the partnership between the entities involved. To see what’s next for Pokemon, don’t forget to tune into the February 2024 Pokemon Presents livestream today.
In a study in today’s (Monday Feb. 26) Nature Human Behavior, scientists delve into the world of chemical neuromodulators in the human brain, specifically dopamine and serotonin, to reveal their role in social behavior.
The research, conducted in Parkinson’s disease patients undergoing brain surgery while awake, homed in on the brain’s substantia nigra, a crucial area associated with motor control and reward processing.
Led by Virginia Tech computational neuroscientist Read Montague, the international team revealed a previously unknown neurochemical mechanism for a well-known human tendency to make decisions based on social context — people are more likely to accept offers from computers while rejecting identical offers from human players.
Insight from an ultimatum game
In the study, four patients receiving deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s disease were immersed in the “take it or leave it” ultimatum game, a scenario where they had to accept or reject varying splits of $20 from both human and computer players. For instance, one player may propose to keep $16, whereas the patient gets the remaining $4. If the patient rejects the split, then neither of them receives anything.
“You can teach people what they should do in these kinds of games — they should accept even small rewards as opposed to no reward at all,” said Montague, the Virginia Tech Carilion Mountcastle professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and the senior author of the study. “When people know they’re playing a computer, they play perfectly, just like mathematical economists — they do what they should do. But when they’re playing a human being, they cannot help themselves. They are often driven to punish the smaller bid by rejecting it.”
Dopamine-serotonin dance
The idea that people make decisions based on social context is not a new one in neural economic games. But now, for the first time, researchers show the impact of the social context may spring from the dynamic interactions of dopamine and serotonin.
When people make decisions, dopamine seems to closely follow and react to whether the current offer is better or worse than the previous one, as if it were a continuous tracking system. Serotonin, meanwhile, appears to focus only on the current value of the specific offer at hand, suggesting a more case-by-case evaluation.
This fast dance happens against a slower backdrop, where dopamine is overall higher when people play other human beings — in other words, when fairness comes into play. Together, these signals contribute to our brain’s overall assessment of value during social interactions.
“We are shining a spotlight on various cognitive processes and finally receiving answers to questions in finer biological detail,” said study shared first author Dan Bang, associate professor of clinical medicine and Lundbeck Foundation Fellow at Aarhus University in Denmark, and an adjunct associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
“Dopamine levels are higher when people interact with another human as opposed to a computer,” Bang said. “And here it was important that we also measured serotonin to give us confidence that the overall response to social context is specific to dopamine.”
Seth Batten, a senior research associate in Montague’s lab and shared first author of the study, built the carbon-fiber electrodes that were implanted in patients receiving Deep Brain Stimulation surgery and helped collect the data at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York.
“The unique twist with our method is that it allows us to measure more than one neurotransmitter at a time — the impact of that should not be lost,” Batten said. “We’ve seen these signaling molecules before, but this is the first time we’ve seen them dance. No one has ever seen this dance of dopamine and serotonin in a social context before.”
Teasing out the meaning of the electrochemical signals recorded from patients in surgery was a major challenge that took years to solve.
“The raw data that we’re collecting from patients isn’t specific to dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine — it’s a mixture of those,” said Ken Kishida, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of translational neuroscience, and neurosurgery, at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “We’re essentially using machine-learning type tools to separate what’s in the raw data, understand the signature, and decode what’s going on with dopamine and serotonin.”
In the Nature Human Behavior study, researchers showed how the rise and fall of dopamine and serotonin are intertwined with human cognition and behavior.
“In the model organism world, there is a candy store full of fantastical techniques to ask biological questions, but it’s harder to ask questions about what makes you, you,” said Montague, who is also the director of the Center for Human Neuroscience Research and the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
Addressing Parkinson’s
“At some point, after we have evaluated enough people, we’re going to be able to address the Parkinson’s disease pathology that’s given us this window of opportunity,” said Montague, who is also a professor in the Virginia Tech College of Science.
In Parkinson’s disease, a significant loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brainstem is a key characteristic that usually coincides with the onset of symptoms.
This loss impacts the striatum, a brain region heavily influenced by dopamine. As dopamine diminishes, serotonin terminals begin to sprout, revealing a complex interaction, as observed in rodent models.
“Already there is pre-clinical evidence that the attrition of the dopamine system is telling the serotonin system, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something.’ But we’ve never been able to watch the dynamics,” Montague said. “What we’re doing now is the first step, but one would hope that once we get up to hundreds of patients, we’d be able to relate this to symptomatology and make some clinical statements about the Parkinson’s pathology.”
In that respect, researchers said a window is opening to learn about a wide range of brain disorders.
“The human brain is like a black box,” Kishida said. “We have developed one more way to look inside and understand how these systems work and how they have become affected by various clinical conditions.”
Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and a neuroscientist who was not involved in the study, said, “This work is changing the entire field of neuroscience and our ability to query the human mind and brain — with a technology that was just not even imagined not many years ago.”
Psychiatry is an example of a medical field that could benefit by this approach, he said.
“We have an enormous number of people in the world who suffer from a variety of psychiatric conditions, and, in many cases, the pharmacological solutions do not work very well,” said Friedlander, who is also Virginia Tech’s vice president of health sciences and technology. “Dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters are in some ways intimately involved with those disorders. This effort adds real precision and quantitation to understand those problems. The one thing I think we can be sure of is this work is going to be extremely important in the future for developing treatments.”
More than a decade in the making
The effort to measure neurotransmitters in real-time in the human brain began more than 12 years ago when Montague assembled a team of experts who “think about thinking, a lot.”
In first-of-their-kind observations in the human brain the scientists published in Neuron in 2020, researchers revealed dopamine and serotonin are at work at sub-second speeds to shape how people perceive the world and take action based on their perception.
More recently, in a study published in October in the journal Current Biology, the researchers used their method of recording chemical changes in awake humans to gain insight into the brain’s noradrenaline system, which has been a longtime target for medications to treat psychiatric disorders.
And, in December in the journal Science Advances, the team revealed that fast changes in dopamine levels reflect a specific computation related to how humans learn from rewards and punishments.
“We’ve made active measurements of neurotransmitters multiple times in different brain regions, and we have now reached the point where we’re touching on crucial elements of what makes us human beings,” Montague said.
Registrations invited for the National Workshop and Panel Discussion on “My Body My Choice – Reproductive Autonomy and Rights of Women in India” by MNLU Mumbai. Register by March 15!
About the University
Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai, established under the Maharashtra National Law University Act 2014 on 20th March 2014, is one of the premier National Law Universities in India. The Act envisaged establishing a National Law University in Maharashtra to impart advanced legal education and promote society-oriented research in legal studies for the advancement of the societal life of the people in the country.
About the Workshop
The National Workshop and Panel Discussion on “My Body My Choice – Reproductive Autonomy and Rights of Women in India” aims to address the critical issues surrounding women’s reproductive health and rights within the country.
With a focus on empowering women through education, abortion rights, access to contraception, and policy advocacy, the event seeks to raise awareness about the importance of reproductive rights and the consequences of lack of sexual health awareness. This is particularly vital in India where women are often shielded from such information, keeping them ignorant of rights related to their own bodies.
Through panel discussion and a workshop with an interactive session, experts from various fields will explore strategies to overcome barriers to access, promote gender equality, and foster social justice in the realm of reproductive health.
This national event provides a platform for stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators, activists, researchers, and representatives from civil society organizations, to collaborate and share insights on advancing reproductive rights in India.
By addressing key themes such as understanding reproductive rights, advocating for policy change, and strengthening healthcare systems, the workshop aims to contribute to a future where every woman can exercise her reproductive rights with autonomy and dignity, ultimately fostering healthier and more equitable communities nationwide.
Date
March 16, 2024.
Time
9:30 am to 1:30 pm IST
Venue
2nd floor, Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai- 400076
How to Register?
Interested participants can register through the link provided at the end of this post.
Registration Fees
Rs. 600 Payment can be made through the link provided at the end of this post.
National Science Day 2024: Science is significant in the lives of each and every person on earth. Even sometimes when we do not know, we may be using science and its applications in our daily lives. It is important to acknowledge the ways science and its applications have simplified our lives and how easier it has made things for us. Every year, National Science Day is observed to raise awareness about the importance of science in our lives and also acknowledge the efforts of the scientists who work in exploring more ways by which science can be implemented to make our lives simpler and easier.
National Science Day is observed on the day Indian Physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman discovered the Raman Effect(HT)
As we gear up to observe National Science Day, here are a few things that we must keep in mind.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
ALSO READ: CV RAMAN: A Creative Mind Par Excellence
Date:
Every year, National Science Day is observed on February 28. This year, the special day falls on a Wednesday.
History:
National Science Day is observed on the day Indian Physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman discovered the Raman Effect. The Raman Effect is the phenomenon where light gets scattered when passed through a transparent material, leading to changes in wavelength and energy. In 1928, on February 28, CV Raman discovered the Raman Effect. He also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 due to his significant contribution in the field of Physics. Commemorating the discovery, National Science Day is observed on February 28 every year.
Significance:
The theme for this year’s National Science Day is – Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat. The day is observed to raise awareness about the importance of scientific applications in our daily lives. The day also aims to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and achievements of scientists in human welfare. The best way to observe National Science Day is by understanding the way science and technology have progressed and exploring the spaces where more efforts need to be made.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tapatrisha is Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She covers stories related to health, relationships, and fashion. …view detail
GSK said Monday that its oral antibiotic succeeded in a late-stage trial in gonorrhea, proving to be as effective as an existing treatment for the infection.
According to GSK, the drug, known as gepotidacin, was non-inferior to a commonly used regimen consisting of the injectable drug ceftriaxone and the pill azithromycin. The summary results were observed on a test given three to seven days after treatment. Safety was “consistent” with what was seen in earlier testing, the company said. It didn’t provide details.
GSK’s treatment has previously succeeded in a pair of late-stage studies for urinary tract infections. Positive results were initially disclosed in 2022 and published in The Lancet this month. GSK plans to seek approvals in gonorrhea as well as UTIs later this year.
Dive Insight:
While treatments are available for gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted bacterial infection, cases are rising. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that infections in the U.S. increased by 118% between 2009 and 2021.
The bacteria that causes the infection is also becoming resistant to available medicines, creating a need for newer therapies. The World Health Organization has said that antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhea has “increased rapidly” in recent years.
Gepotidacin could become one answer to the problem. The drug is one of several GSK has been developing to combat antimicrobial resistance, and its development was aided by funding from the U.S. government.
Gepotidacin is a first-of-its-kind antibiotic designed to block the replication of bacterial DNA. It has already shown promise in testing, having succeeded in a pair of studies in uncomplicated urinary tract infections. If approved, it could be the first new antibiotic for those infections in more than 20 years.
The study in gonorrhea compared gepotidacin to ceftriaxone and azithromycin in about 600 people with uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea caused by a type of bacteria known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Its goal was to prove “non-inferior” in the study.
GSK said the drug met that mark, though the press release didn’t provide specifics. The results will be disclosed at an upcoming medical meeting, the company said.
“These positive headline results demonstrate the potential for gepotidacin to provide a novel oral treatment option in the face of rising resistance and for patients who cannot take other treatments due to allergies or intolerance,” Chris Corsico, senior vice president of development at GSK, said in a statement.
The British drugmaker originally planned to seek clearance of gepotidacinin the first half of 2023, but has since pushed its timeline back and now expects an approval decision in 2025.
According to Corelogic research, Australia’s national median dwelling value delivered a 6.8% annual growth rate over the 30 years to March 2022, with the 1992-2002 period providing the largest capital gains. The middle decade (2002-2012) saw national dwelling values increase by 59%, while the most recent decade increased by 72%.
The average annual growth rate for well-located capital city properties is about 7%, which means that Australia’s median dwelling price should be around $1.2 million in 2030. But some properties will outperform others by 50-100% in terms of capital growth, so take these house price predictions with a big pinch of salt.
Melbourne’s house prices have risen an average of 7.9% per year over the last 40 years and are predicted to reach $1.6 million in 2030 for houses and $1.1 million for units. However, Melbourne hasn’t experience the strong property price growth other capitals enjoyed over the last year or so.
Sydney’s capital city dwellings sit at a median of $1.12 million, with $1.39 million for houses and $828,525 for units.
Sydney house prices will average just over $2 million by the end of the decade, if they continue rising at the same pace as the last 30 years.
As Australia’s financial capital, Sydney will continue to experience strong population growth and will benefit from major new infrastructure projects including the $12 billion Sydney Metro.
CoreLogic data shows that Brisbane’s median property price has increased by 340% (5.1% per annum) over the past 30 years. Therefore, investors may assume that Brisbane house prices could reach $1.3 million by 2030.
Perth’s median house price reached $708,335 in January 2024, and the city’s unit prices sat at $4475,011. After rising 25.9% over the Covid period, Perth dwelling values are now on par with its previous peak in 2022.
CoreLogic data suggests that Adelaide house prices could reach $1.1 million in 2030, and $700,000 for units if the annual compound growth rate of 5.2% is maintained.
Some property pessimists will suggest the last few decades have been particularly good for property, but in fact Australia’s property market has remained resilient through high interest rates, low interest rates, high inflation, low inflation, governments of both major persuasions, changes to our tax system, overseas wars, and challenges to our economy.
Focus on investment-grade property and don’t get lured into thinking you’re getting a bargain. Well-located townhouses on a decent land size will also make excellent investments, and are currently in strong demand by many first-home buyers being priced out of the market.
It makes sense that many investors are questioning what will happen to the value of their property, particularly in the current market when high interest rates, low borrowing capacity and robust demand at a time of tight supply are putting upwards pressure on prices.
Many may be questioning how much their investment property will be worth 3 months, 6 months or even 1 year from now.
But, as we know, property investment is a long-term game.
So in my mind, the question they should be asking is: What are the predicted house prices in 2030 in Australia?
So let’s unpack how we expect the market to evolve over the next 6 years and look at some of the key trends facing house prices.
Australia’s house prices today
First, let’s look at where house prices are today.
The national index rose 0.4% over January, marking the 12th straight month of value rises.
The median dwelling price for Australia now sits at $759,437.
The median dwelling price for our combined capital cities now sits at $836,013.
The median dwelling price for our combined regional towns sits at $605,085.
According to Corelogic research, Australia’s national median dwelling value delivered a 6.8% annual growth rate over the 30 years to 2022.
Across each of the past three decades, at a macro level, it was the 1992-2002 period that provided the largest capital gains, with CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index (HVI) rising by 77%.
The middle decade (2002-2012) saw the national HVI rise by 59%, while the most recent decade has seen national dwelling values increase by 72%.
This helps to give some kind of indicator about where property prices will head next.
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Australia
Some economists predict a 40-50% growth in Australia’s house prices between now and 2030.
This isn’t surprising because it’s often said that over the long term, the average annual growth rate for well-located capital city properties is about 7% (and we know that prices have risen 6.8% per annum over the past 30 years), which would mean, in general, well-located properties should double in value every 7-10 years.
That would put Australia’s median dwelling price at around $1.2 million in 2030.
But, if nothing else, the pandemic years (and the years that followed) have shown us that no matter how many times you forecast property prices, it will always be difficult to predict exactly where property prices will be in three months’ time, let alone in 7-10 years into the future.
Note: History shows us that some properties will outperform others by 50-100% in terms of capital growth, so strategic property investors who buy investment-grade properties could expect to see the value of their properties more than double within the next 7-10 years.
After all, that’s how averages work – some properties will outperform, and others will underperform.
In other words, we always have to take these house price predictions with a big pinch of salt.
But of course, other investors will manufacture capital growth through renovations or development which is another way to help beat the averages.
Nonetheless, what I do see is that there are emerging trends and shifts in our property market which will serve to hold up prices in the mid-long term.
I’ll talk more about that later.
First, let’s dive into predicted house prices for each major city over the next 7 years to the end of 2030.
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Melbourne
As of February 2024, Melbourne’s capital city dwellings averaged $777,250 – with a reported median price of $942,750 for houses and $608,101 for units.
Looking back the Melbourne property market has been one of the strongest and most consistent performers over the last four decades.
Over the last 40 years Melbourne’s median house prices have risen an average of 7.9% per year, and 7.73% for units over the 40-year period.
So, assuming that we can expect the same growth for the remainder of the decade, that could put Melbourne’s house prices as high as around $1.6 million in 2030, and just over $1.1 million for Melbourne units.
Obviously, this past price growth wasn’t the same each and every year, as the Melbourne property market worked its way through the typical property cycles, so these figures are a very rough guide only based on historical annual increases.
In fact, Melbourne didn’t experience the strong property price growth other capitals enjoyed during the once-in-a-generation boom of 2020-21.
Of course, being the most locked-down city in the world during Covid didn’t help.
Note: However, Melbourne’s strong population growth and some large infrastructure spending will underpin Melbourne’s economic growth moving forward.
Victorian residents can look forward to these major infrastructure projects:
The 15.8 Billion North East Link road project will transform how people move around the city.
The $11 billion Melbourne Metro Tunnel will allow more than half a million additional people per week to use Melbourne’s railway system during peak periods.
The $10 billion Westgate Tunnel.
The $10 Billion Melbourne Airport Rail Link is a game-changing public transportation project that, for the first time, connects Melbourne Airport to Victoria’s rural and metropolitan train network.
The M80 Ring Road upgrade ($2,25 billion) and the Monash Freeway Upgrade ($1.37 billion).
Plus the Monash rail line ($475 million) and Frankston to Baxter rail line ($225 million) upgrades.
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Sydney
As of February 2024, Sydney’s capital city dwellings sit at a median of $1.122 million – that’s a combination of $1.39 million for houses and $828,525 for units.
Given Aussie Home Loans and CoreLogic data shows that Sydney prices grew at an average annual rate of 5.4% in the years between 1990 and 2020, there are high expectations for price increases over the next 7 years.
Analysis of these housing trends suggests that Sydney house prices will average just over $2 million by the end of the decade.
That’s if they continue rising at the same pace as the last 30 years.
Apartment buyers will also notice a sharp increase in prices, with the median unit price expected to rise to around $1.26 million in 2030.
As Australia’s financial capital, Sydney will continue to experience strong population growth.
Note: As more people move to the city, there will be increased demand for housing, and as Sydney is a city of knowledge workers who enjoy higher incomes, demand from this demographic will put upward pressure on house prices.
And these new residents will get the benefit of some major new infrastructure projects including:
The $12 billion Sydney Metro will feature 31 Metro railways stations.
The $16 billion WestConnex highway project.
A $15 billion Pacific Highway upgrade and a $450 million Princes Highway upgrade.
The $5.3 billion Western Sydney Airport.
A $2.4 billion Paramatta light rail.
These projects will deliver high-paying jobs and contribute to the growth of Sydney’s economy which will in turn drive further Sydney house price growth.
As the economy continues to grow, people will have more disposable income to invest in buying their homes.
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Brisbane
Today, Brisbane’s median property price sits at $796,818 – or $888,628 for houses and $568,595 for units.
CoreLogic data shows that Brisbane dwelling values increased by 340% (5.1% per annum) over the past 30 years.
So investors may assume that should the average 5.1% per year price increase continue going forward for the next 6-7 years to 2030, median house prices could rise to as high as around $1.3 million by 2030 and units to around $800,000.
As I’ve already mentioned, this is obviously just a rough guide, but Brisbane’s strong population growth and infrastructure spending should underpin long-term property price growth.
The Queensland government has budgeted $37.6 Billion of infrastructure spending in the next 4 years.
Moving forward Greater Brisbane will benefit from a flurry of major infrastructure projects including:
Cross River Rail ($5.4 billion) is a new 10.2-kilometre rail line between Dutton Park and Bowen Hills, with 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels beneath the Brisbane River and the CBD
The Gabba Redevelopment – Value $2.7 billion
Brisbane Live ($2.5 billion) Located at a key CBD transit hub, a new 18,000-seat entertainment arena complex will be serviced by underground rail and busway infrastructure.
Queens Wharf
The Brisbane Metro ($1.244 billion) will be an important part of Brisbane’s larger transportation network, which will connect the city to the suburbs.
The New Queensland Cancer Centre – Value $750 million
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Perth
As of February 1, 2024, Perth’s median dwelling price sits at $676,823 according to CoreLogic data.
The city’s median house price reached $708,335 while units sat at a $475,011 median.
Note: Unlike in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, property prices in Perth have been relatively flat for most of the past decade.
Now after rising 25.9% over the Covid period, Perth dwelling values now match their July 2022 peak.
And over the past 30 years, CoreLogic data reveals that the city has recorded the nation’s lowest annual growth rate over the period, at 4.8%.
Assuming a 4.8% annual growth rate over the next 7 years, Perth’s house prices could reach around $980,000 and the city’s unit prices as high as around $690,000 by the end of 2030.
Predicted house prices in 2030 for Adelaide
As of February 2024, Adelaide’s median dwelling price sits at $721,376 – $774,969 for houses and $490,313 for units.
According to CoreLogic data, Adelaide housing values increased by 357% over the past 30 years, equating to an average annual compounding growth rate of 5.2%.
Using this figure to project house prices in Adelaide by the end of 2030 would suggest that Adelaide’s house prices could reach up to and even exceed $1.1 million, and just over $700,000 for units.
Key drivers for house prices
As they say…past performance isn’t always the best predictor of the future and clearly, some housing trends will change going forward.
Also, these figures don’t take inflation into account over that time period, but even so, these figures are pretty impressive.
Over the long term, Australian house prices have outperformed the rate of inflation significantly.
Some property pessimists will suggest the last few decades have been particularly good for property and it’s not fair to suggest things will be the same moving forward, especially with the high interest rates and high inflation we’re experiencing at the moment.
However, I would argue that there have been lots of problems and challenges for Australia’s economy and property market over the last 30 years.
Sure Covid was a big surprise, but interestingly their property markets boomed during this pandemic.
But over the last few decades, we have had high interest rates and low interest rates, high inflation and low inflation, governments of both major persuasions, changes to our tax system, overseas wars, and significant challenges to our economy.
In fact, the list goes on and on, but our property markets have remained resilient.
Yet history also showed us that while property values are difficult to predict in the short term, over the long term our strong population growth and the wealth of our nation have pushed up residential property values in Australia.
Another important factor underpinning Australia’s house price resilience is that owner-occupiers dominate – the latest Census shows a homeownership rate of 67%, down from 70% in 2006.
Here’s a relatively current snapshot of the national property market:
Source: CoreLogic
There are 11.1 million residential dwellings Australia-wide, with a total value of $10.3 trillion.
These are spread across around 15,000 suburbs.
An additional 170,000 new dwellings are added every year (this is not enough).
The total debt against these dwellings is $2.2 trillion, giving an overall Loan to Value Ratio for residential property of around 24%.
Residential real estate makes up 56.7% of Australian household wealth.
Investors own around 30% of Australian dwellings.
There are more than 2.24 million individual property investors in Australia.
48% of investors hold 1 investment property, 18.86% hold 2, 5.81% own 3, 2.11% own 4, 0.87% own 5 and 0.89% (or 19,920) of investors hold 6 or more investment properties.
3 trends that will shape our housing markets moving forward
There are 3 important trends which are likely to shape housing markets over the next 6-7 years, and which can help to provide valuable insight into how property prices may be supported into 2030… and beyond.
Our population is going to grow significantly.
More jobs are going to be created.
Wages are going to keep increasing as many knowledge-based jobs will be highly paid.
The latest estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that Australia’s population is expected to increase by 390,000 new people per annum over the next decade and this is 10% higher than the annual increase (excluding the Covid period) than the previous ten years.
Over the next five years, the annual average population across Australia is expected to be 395,000.
So, between now and 2027, Australia’s population is expected to grow by 2.3 million more residents, lifting the total population from 26.6 million to 28.9 million.
ABS: Medium projections (2022 base). Average annual growth between financial 2024 and 2029.
This means we’ll need to build the equivalent of another Perth – in terms of population size – to accommodate this projected growth in the next 5 years alone.
There will be the need to build some 1.2 million new dwellings – 240,000 each year – over the next five years to accommodate this expected increase in people.
Some 80% of this growth is expected to settle in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
When including Western Australia these four states will likely hold some 90% of the population increase between now and 2030.
How do I outperform the average growth rate?
The system that we use at Metropole, which has helped many clients build substantial portfolios with properties that double in value in less than 10 years, uses what I call our top-down approach (going from the macro to the micro).
This starts with examining the macro factors affecting our property markets and drills down to the micro level.
Here are the 6 steps:
We start by looking at the big picture (the macroeconomic environment).
We look for the right state to invest in (one that will outperform the Australian market averages because of its economic growth and population growth).
We look for the suburbs that will outperform with regard to capital growth (generally gentrifying neighbourhoods with the right demographics).
We look for the right location within that suburb (investment-grade locations are key here).
We look for the right property (investment-grade properties within those investment-grade locations).
The (not cheap) right price.
Tips: Remember: Focus on investment-grade property!
The most important focus for investors is to look for investment-grade property.
‘Cheap’ property will always be ‘cheap’ so don’t get lured into thinking you’re getting a bargain.
Over the next few years, I expect that house prices will grow more than apartment prices, but well-located townhouses on a decent land size will also make excellent investments and are currently in strong demand by many first-home buyers being priced out of the market.
Now that doesn’t mean apartments won’t make good investments, some will.
I see family-friendly apartments in the middle ring suburbs of our capital cities being in strong demand by singles and young couples who want to enjoy the amenities of great locations but can’t afford houses or townhouses.
And the fact that construction costs for new apartments are soaring means that new developments will need to come on the market at significantly higher prices, pulling up the value of established apartments.
Note: No matter how many times you review the data, it’s important to remember that it is nearly impossible to predict exactly what house or unit prices will look like in 2030.
After all, the pandemic showed us how quickly things can change.
What we do know is that demographics, immigration levels, population, the wealth of our nation, and housing affordability will continue to be key trends to watch going forward.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
The Twelve South Butterfly is ideal for jet-setters with a MagSafe iPhone and Apple Watch.
The charger comes with a 30W power adapter, USB-C cable, and four international adapters.
The Butterfly is not as thin as the MagSafe Duo, but it’s more premium and more powerful than most 2-in-1 wireless chargers.
MagSafe chargers made for nightstands and desks are a dime a dozen, but there aren’t many premium, travel-friendly options, especially after Apple discontinued the MagSafe Duo. Thankfully, the Twelve South Butterfly is the perfect wireless charger for jet-setting iPhone and Apple Watch owners looking to fast charge their devices.
Twelve South Butterfly 2-in-1 USB-C MagSafe Wireless Charger
The Twelve South Butterfly is built to be a compact two-in-1 wireless charger for your MagSafe-compatible iPhone and Apple Watch. It’s not as thin as the MagSafe Duo but comes with four travel adapters, a USB-C cable, and a power adapter.
Pros
Dual-device charger perfect for travel
15W MagSafe for iPhone and fast wireless charger for Apple Watch
Comes with 30W power adapter, USB-C cable, and four international plug adapters
Cons
Can’t prop up larger iPhones
Isn’t as compact as the (discontinued) Apple MagSafe Duo
Price and Availability
The Butterfly charger retails for $129.99 and is available for purchase directly from Twelve South and Apple (both online and in-store). It only comes in one color: silver.
Specifications
Speed
MagSafe (15W) and Apple Watch Fast Charger (5W)
Dimensions
0.9 x 2.4 x 2.4in (2.35 x 6 x 6mm)
Weight
4.2 oz./119 g
Adapter included
30W (with four international plug adapters)
Comes With Everything You Need
Hannah Stryker / MakeUseOf
In 2020, Apple stopped shipping power adapters with the iPhone. Four years later, everything from Samsung’s latest flagship to charging stations from Nomad have followed suit. Thankfully, Twelve South didn’t continue that trend.
When you unbox the Butterfly and move beyond the charger itself, you’ll find a USB-C to C cable and 30W power adapter. The brick isn’t anything to write home about, but the fact that it comes with four international plug adapters (for the U.S., U.K., EU, and AU) means it can be used almost anywhere on the planet. There’s also a travel bag that I use to store the unused adapters.
Personally, I didn’t end up using the included power adapter while traveling. I keep the Nomad 65W Slim in my bag, which is smaller and supplies twice the juice, but it’s still a welcome addition for those who want an international adapter.
Premium Hardware, Great Performance
Hannah Stryker / MakeUseOf
The Butterfly, which Twelve South advertises as being the size of an AirPods Pro case (though it’s actually a tad bigger than that), is a silver aluminum puck that can be split in two and is connected with a piece of black vegan leather. This soft leather-like material also clads the inside of the charger to ensure your phone and watch aren’t scratched. Magnets hold the charger closed—both when folded closed with the metal casing exposed and when folded open with the vegan leather on the outside.
Separating the two halves, you find that the Apple Watch charger can be tilted vertically. This allows you to use your watch in Nightstand Mode and avoid awkward charging situations if your watch band doesn’t come apart. Additionally, you’ll find the USB-C port on the backside of the Apple Watch half of the charger.
Overall, the Twelve South Butterfly’s build quality is quite excellent. It’s sturdy and dense without weighing down any travel bag it’s placed in. It also supplies the maximum amount of power your iPhone and Apple Watch can accept. The phone side is fully MagSafe compliant, outputting 15W of power, and the other half is an Apple Watch fast charger, putting out 5W.
Hannah Stryker / MakeUseOf
My biggest frustration with the Butterfly came when I tried to use it as a display stand. Twelve South advertises this as being a core feature, but in my testing, it only worked on smaller iPhones, like the regular iPhone 15. When I tried propping up my iPhone 15 Pro Max (with and without a Peak Design Everyday case), the magnetic connection between pucks wouldn’t stay together, and my phone fell flat on its face.
Ultimately, this functionality wasn’t make or break for me. 99.9% of the time, I used the charger with both halves lying flat to charge my iPhone and Apple Watch. But the few times I did try to prop up my phone and watch something on YouTube, it didn’t work.
Should You Buy the Twelve South Butterfly?
Hannah Stryker / MakeUseOf
As someone who still owns the Apple MagSafe Duo, I find it hard to ditch the extremely thin charger. But I ultimately did because the Twelve South Butterfly includes an Apple Watch fast charger, and it’s powered by USB-C. After upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I stopped carrying around Lightning cables and had to purchase a USB-C to Lightning adapter to continue using Apple’s charger. It was too much of a hassle when the universal option sat right before me.
If you’re not a MagSafe Duo holdout and want a convenient charger for your next trip, I don’t have any difficulty recommending the Butterfly. It comes at a premium price ($129.99), but it’ll likely be the last portable wireless charger you need to buy for the next decade, especially as it’ll also work with Qi2 phones.
When I’m traveling, I want the smallest charger I can pack in my suitcase, but if you want a third charging pad for your AirPods (or other Qi-compatible earbuds), I recommend checking out the Infinacore T3. It’s a bit thicker and doesn’t have an Apple Watch fast charger, but you can charge all of your devices at the same time.
Twelve South Butterfly 2-in-1 USB-C MagSafe Wireless Charger
The Twelve South Butterfly is built to be a compact two-in-1 wireless charger for your MagSafe-compatible iPhone and Apple Watch. It’s not as thin as the MagSafe Duo but comes with four travel adapters, a USB-C cable, and a power adapter.
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Sean Bailey, the longtime Walt Disney Co. executive who oversaw the studio’s live-action movies, is stepping down, the Burbank-based entertainment giant announced Monday.
David Greenbaum has been appointed to the newly created role of president of Disney live action and 20th Century Studios, and will oversee film projects for both units spanning theatrical and streaming platforms. Bailey is exiting his position after 14 years at the helm.
The high-level change at the top of Disney’s live-action film unit has been rumored, particularly after the rocky performance of some recent films.
During his tenure, Bailey oversaw a string of blockbuster live-action remakes, including “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Lion King,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Most of those films topped $1 billion worldwide in box office receipts, while last year’s “The Little Mermaid,” raked in $560 million (it struggled in overseas markets).
But despite high-profile successes, Bailey’s division was behind last year’s box office flop, “Haunted Mansion,” inspired by the vaunted Disneyland theme park ride.
Bailey’s contract was due to expire next January, and it was reported that he had discussions with Netflix executives taking the top film job there. While Bailey is not expected to make the switch to Netflix’s Sunset Boulevard-based campus, revelations of the talks prompted considerable reflection by Bailey and Disney’s top brass about the studio’s live-action film strategy and pipeline, according to a knowledgeable person who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Bailey, who wasn’t interested in extending his contract, will return to his roots as a producer of “Tron: Ares,” for Disney, the company said in its statement.
The new leader, Greenbaum, most recently served as president of Searchlight Pictures, where he jointly managed the studio’s film and TV projects with Matthew Greenfield, who will continue in his role as Searchlight Pictures president. Disney acquired the specialty label as part of its $71.3-billion purchase of 21st Century Fox properties from Rupert Murdoch nearly five years ago.
Searchlight has had plenty of awards success, and Greenbaum helped guide dozens of feature films, including Academy Awards winners “The Shape of Water” and “Nomadland,” to the big screen. He was also involved in shepherding Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” which currently is nominated for a best picture Oscar. Greenbaum was also involved in the making of past standouts such as “The Menu,” “The Favourite,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Black Swan.”
Before joining Searchlight more than a decade ago, Greenbaum was a development executive at Miramax Films.
“David has an incredible creative sensibility and eye for film, and he has built a reputation as an exceptional leader and creative executive, as proven by his track record at Searchlight Pictures and deep relationships throughout the industry,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, in a statement.
“I’m thrilled that he’ll be taking on this new and important role. We’ve had the great fortune to have a strong creative leader in Steve Asbell at 20th Century, and I’m excited for him to work closely with David as we take a more strategic look across both brands from a creative and operational standpoint. I also want to thank Sean Bailey for his many contributions and leadership over his tenure at Disney.”
Bailey, in a statement, said it was a good time to move on and wished Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, Bergman and others “the very best for a bright future.”
“These 15 years at Disney have been an incredible journey, but the time is right for a new chapter,” Bailey said. “I’m deeply grateful to my exceptional team and proud of the slate and history we’ve built together. I joined Disney while producing Tron: Legacy, so it seems fitting that I will have the opportunity to work on the latest Tron as I depart.”
Netflix has not named a replacement for its film chief, Scott Stuber, who last month announced his departure from the streamer. A Netflix spokesperson wasn’t immediately available for comment.
New Delhi, February 26: BYD Auto is set to introduce its new electric car in India on March 5, 2024. The new BYD Seal model has been one of the most awaited models in India. BYD Auto is expected to take on EV companies in India. Ahead of the launch on March 5, 2024, the BYD Seal specifications have been reportedly leaked online.
The upcoming electric vehicle from BYD Auto was first unveiled during the Auto Expo 2023, and since then, it has been expected to arrive in India with similar specifications. According to the report by AutoX, the BYD Seal specifications were leaked ahead of launch, showing the details about battery, transmission, powertrain, and range. Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select Variant Launched; Check Price, Specifications and Features.
BYD Seal Leaked Specifications
The report said the BYD Seal leaked specifications suggested it would have an 82.5kW battery pack and rear-wheel driver setup. AutoX further reported that the upcoming BYD Seal EV will offer a maximum of 227bhp power and 360Nm peak torque for the Indian market. Besides, it said the BYD Seal range is expected to be 570km on a single charge. As per the report, the new BYD electric car will provide quick acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in just 5.9 seconds.
In addition to these details, the report said that the upcoming BYD Seal will have another AWD dual-motor version that will offer 523bhp maximum power and 520km range. Besides these features, the report said that the car will be launched with an “Ocean Aesthetics” design philosophy inspired by 2021’s Ocean X concept. Further, the vehicle will have a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster for the drivers and a rotational 15.6-inch infotainment display. Moreover, the car will reportedly have a full-width LED light bar, LED DRLs, and flush-fitting door handle. Hyundai Creta N Line To Launch on March 11 in India; Check Expected Specifications, Features and Price.
BYD Seal Price in India (Expected)
The report said BYD Seal price in India is expected to be around Rs 50 lakh (ex-showroom). The car will go against the other popular electric vehicles in the segment. The report highlighted that the direct competitors of BYD Seal will be the Kia EV6, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, and the Volvo C40 Recharge.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2024 04:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The US Supreme Court seems torn over whether to trigger a radical transformation of the internet. The nation’s highest court heard arguments Monday over state laws in Florida and Texas that restrict how platforms like Facebook and YouTube moderate speech. If the court lets them take effect, social media feeds could look very different, with platforms forced to carry unsavory or hateful content that today is blocked or removed.
The high stakes gave long-standing questions about free speech and online regulation new urgency in Monday’s arguments. Are social platforms akin to newspapers, which have First Amendment protections that give them editorial control over content—or are they common carriers, like phone providers or telegraph companies, that are required to transmit protected speech without interference?
A ruling is expected by June, when the court typically issues many decisions, and could have sweeping effects on how social sites like Facebook, YouTube, X, and TikTok do business beyond Florida and Texas. “These cases could shape free speech online for a generation,” says Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which filed a brief in the case but did not take sides.
Florida and Texas passed the laws under debate in 2021, not long after social media platforms booted former president Donald Trump following the January 6 insurrection. Conservatives had long argued that their viewpoints were unfairly censored on major platforms. Laws barring companies from strict moderation were pitched as a way to restore fairness online.
The laws were quickly put on hold after two tech-industry trade associations representing social platforms, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, challenged them. If the Supreme Court now allows the laws to stand, state governments in Florida and Texas would gain new power to control social platforms and the content posted on them, a major shift from the situation today where platforms set their own terms of service and generally hire moderators to police content.
Polar Opposites
Monday’s arguments, spanning nearly four hours, underscored the legal confusion inherent to regulating the internet that remains. Justices raised questions about how social media companies should be categorized and treated under the law, and the states and plaintiffs provided opposing views of social media’s role in mass communication.
The laws themselves leave gaps as to how exactly their mandates would be enforced. The questions posed by the justices showed the court’s frustration at being “caught between two polar opposite positions, both of which have significant costs and benefits for freedom of speech,” says Cliff Davidson, a Portland-based attorney at Snell & Wilmer.
David Greene, senior staff attorney and civil liberties director at the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a brief urging the court to strike down the laws, says there are clear public benefits to allowing social platforms to moderate content without government interference. “When platforms have First Amendment rights to curate the user-generated content they publish, they can create distinct forums that accommodate diverse viewpoints, interests, and beliefs,” he says.
The overall crypto price chart on Monday, February 26 reflected instability in the market. Bitcoin recorded a loss of 0.25 percent on Monday, with which its trading value currently stands at $51,490 (roughly Rs. 42.6 lakh). It is notable, that over the weekend the price of Bitcoin did rise by $473 (roughly Rs. 39,200). Bitcoin fanatics have been waiting for the asset to cross the resistance of $53,000 (roughly Rs. 43.9 lakh). However, Bitcoin has failed to cross the mark in the last two weeks.
“Bitcoin is experiencing consolidation over the last few weeks. A breakout above this level would push the price of the biggest cryptocurrency up to $60,000 (roughly Rs. 49.7 lakh) soon,” Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin told Gadgets360.
A bunch of cryptocurrencies are trading in the losses on Monday. These include Tether, Solana, Ripple, Cardano, Dogecoin, Tron, and Chainlink.
Uniswap, Litecoin, Near Protocol, Leo, Elrond, and Bitcoin SV also logged losses on Monday.
The overall crypto market cap dropped by 0.67 percent in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, the sector valuation stood at $1.99 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,64,94,960 crore) — showed CoinMarketCap. The dominance of BTC on this market cap is presently 50.7 percent whereas the dominance of ETH has claimed the mark of 18.7 percent.
Ether performed better than Bitcoin on the price chart on Monday. Having minted a profit of 2.05 percent, the asset is trading at $3,004 (roughly Rs. 2.49 lakh). This is the second time in recent days that ETH has breached the value point of $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2.48 lakh).
“Ethereum sustains a robust upward trend despite bearish attempts near $3,000, supportedby an ascending 20-day EMA and an overbought RSI. A dip below the 50-SMA may signal weakening buyer resolve, potentially leading to further decline,” Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX told Gadgets360.
Cryptocurrencies trading in profits on Monday include Binance Coin, USD Coin, Avalanche, Polkadot, Polygon, and Shiba Inu.
Cosmos, Stellar, Cronos, and Monero also managed to reel-in minor gains.
“In the altcoin universe, UNI, Uniswap’s governance token, surged 60 percent on Friday evening following a proposal from a prominent Uniswap Foundation member to revamp the protocol’s fees-sharing arrangement for token holders. Since then, the token has been able to hold its level around $11 (roughly Rs 910). Simultaneously, Avalanche (AVAX, +0.57 percent) suffered a major outage on Friday, failing to produce blocks for more than four hours due to network strain,” Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures told Gadgets360.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Microsoft reportedly tried to sell Bing to Apple in 2018 – but failed.
The sale was unsuccessful because Apple had concerns about Bing’s search quality, advertising unit and monetization capabilities, according to a document in Google’s antitrust case against the U.S. Justice Department.
Google argues that the failed sale highlights that Bing lost out because it is an inferior search engine, not because Google has made the search market unfair for its competitors, per CNN.
Apple turns down Microsoft. Microsoft allegedly proposed either selling Bing to Apple or creating a Bing-joint venture together. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, explained why Apple said no to Microsoft in the filing:
“Microsoft search quality, their investment in search, everything was not significant at all. And so everything was lower. So the search quality itself wasn’t as good.”
“They weren’t investing at any level comparable to Google or to what Microsoft could invest in. And their advertising organization and how they monetize was not very good either.”
What Google is saying. Google claims that Microsoft’s failed attempt to sell Bing to Apple demonstrates that Bing is an inferior search engine. Google wrote in the filing:
“In each instance, Apple took a hard look at the relative quality of Bing versus Google and concluded that Google was the superior default choice for its Safari users. That is competition.”
Google also argues that Microsoft approached Apple multiple times – in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020 – proposing to make Bing the default search engine in Apple’s Safari web browser. However, Apple consistently rejected the idea, citing concerns about the quality of Bing’s performance.
What Microsoft is saying. Microsoft denies its attempts to sell Bing to Apple were due to quality issues – on the contrary, the tech giant claims the sale was blocked by Google. Microsoft’s CEO of Advertising and Web Services, Mikhail Parakhin, said he offered Apple more than 100% of the revenue or gross profit to make Bing its default search engine – but the proposal was rejected because of the Apple’s deal with Google.
Speaking at the federal antitrust trial, Parakhin alleged this was despite Microsoft offering to pay Apple more than Google – which he claims was offering in the region of 60%. He said:
“We were just big enough to play but probably not big enough to win, if that makes sense.”
What the DOJ is saying. Google has a financial agreement in place with Apple to be the default search engine on its products at a cost of around $10 billion a year. In addition, Google pays Apple advertising revenue – which is one of the search engine’s biggest costs. The Justice Department asserted in its filing that Apple boss Cue testified:
“If Apple did not receive the massive payments it sought from Google, Apple would have developed its own search engine,” the Justice Department asserted in its filing.”
Google could pay Apple as much as $19 billionthis fiscal year, according to an estimate from Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. The DOJ claims these substantial sums of money are why Apple turned down a potential joint venture with Microsoft – not because Bing is inferior to Google.
Why we care. The U.S. Justice Department is suing Google, claiming it uses unfair tactics to maintain its position as the top search engine globally. If Google can demonstrate its search engine’s superiority, it might succeed in the case. However, if it loses, Google could lose its automatic default search engine status on common Apple products, posing a potential threat to its dominance in the search market.
Market share statistics. The U.S. Justice Department claims Google owns a 90% market share in search. On the other hand, Bing has 3% of the global market share, according to StatCounter.
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Deep dive. Read our Google antitrust trial updates for everything you need to know.
The music world mourns the passing of legendary ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, who died at the age of 72 after a prolonged illness.
A Life Dedicated to Ghazal Music
Born in Jetpur, Gujarat, in 1951, Udhas’ musical journey began early, surrounded by a family steeped in music. Influenced by his elder brother, Manhar Udhas, a renowned playback singer, Pankaj ventured into the world of music.
Udhas’ initial career involved Bollywood playback singing and even exploring Indian pop. However, his true passion lay in ghazals, a form of Urdu poetry set to music. In 1980, he released his debut ghazal album, “Aahat,” marking the beginning of a remarkable career that would span over 40 years.
A Voice That Transcended Genres
Udhas’ melodious voice and deep understanding of ghazal poetry resonated with audiences across generations. He played a pivotal role in popularizing ghazals, making them accessible to a wider audience beyond traditional enthusiasts. Tracks like “Chitthi Aai Hai” (Naam, 1986) and “Aa Gale Lag Ja” cemented his status as a household name and one of India’s leading ghazal singers.
Recognition and Legacy
Udhas’ exceptional talent was acknowledged through numerous prestigious awards, including the Filmfare Award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Ghazal Singing, and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honor.
Beyond his musical genius, Udhas was known for his humility and down-to-earth personality. His dedication to ghazals and his captivating voice will forever be cherished by music lovers worldwide.
Pankaj Udhas’ legacy lives on through his timeless music, inspiring future generations and reminding us of the power of ghazals to touch the soul.
Following the box office bomb of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square, as did a few folks who worked with him. In an interview on Episode 60 of My Perfect Console, host Simon Parkin asked Final Fantasy VII Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase if he ever considered leaving with his mentor and friend Sakaguchi-san, as well as what convinced him to stay.
“So I think there were two main reasons for me in deciding to stay at the time,” Kitase-san replied via a translator. “And I think one was that–while Sakaguchi-san was this creator that has established this history for himself and also had worked on these various projects throughout his legacy and time here–I myself was still feeling as if I was still forming my vision and still working toward that in that regards. So that was one of the reasons why I felt to stay. And a second reason also was I felt that I truly wanted Sakaguchi-san to still have this point of connection with the Final Fantasy series despite his departure. So that was another consideration.”
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Now Playing: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth GameSpot Review
Kitase-san goes on to say that the second reason is less prevalent these days, given Sakaguchi-san’s more recent work. “Once he went independent, there was not a connection back into Final Fantasy until 2016 with Mobius Final Fantasy–which was the smartphone game–and that was the first time since Sakaguchi-san had left that he was able to promote and be connected to the Final Fantasy franchise again at that time with the Terra Battle. Nowadays, he can be seen again with the promos for Pixel Remaster or through the Fan Fest and he continues to retain his connection there.”
Sakaguchi-san’s legacy continues today, with Final Fantasy continuing to be a popular franchise. The most recent addition, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, has reviewed quite well. In GameSpot’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review, Tamoor Hussain gave the game an 8/10, writing, “Thankfully, what Final Fantasy Rebirth succeeds at eclipses what it fumbles. It’s a superbly designed gameplay experience that instills a sense of freedom while also making exploration rewarding in a meaningful way. Refined gameplay that makes character synergy a focal point breathes new life into the slick and satisfying combat, and all the while it reinforces the underlying themes of the story.”
A new study has revealed that employees who are more mindful in the digital workplace are better protected against stress, anxiety and overload.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham’s Schools of Psychology and Medicine analysed survey data from 142 employees. The results have been published today in PLOS ONE.
PhD student Elizabeth Marsh from the School of Psychology led the mixed methods study and said: “As work is increasingly mediated by digital technology we wanted to find out the impact this is having on people’s health and whether there are ways to mitigate this. We found that being mindfully and confidently digital should be considered important elements of living a healthy digital working life in the 21st century.”
The participants in the study were surveyed about their experiences of the dark side effects of the digital workplace which were identified as; stress, overload, anxiety, fear of missing out and addiction and how these affected their health.
The results showed that more digitally confident workers were less likely to experience digital workplace anxiety, while those with higher mindfulness were better protected against all of the dark side effects. Data from 14 interviews also indicated ways that digital mindfulness can help protect well-being.
Dr Alexa Spence, Associate Professor of Psychology adds: “Digital workplace technologies like e-mail, instant messaging and mobile devices have been shown to contribute to perceptions of stress by employees and employees may experience stress when having to adapt to a constantly evolving digital workplace which can lead to burnout and poorer health.”
Mindfulness is defined as a state of consciousness that involves paying attention in the present moment intentionally and non-judgementally. The study showed that employees who were more mindful were less exposed to adverse impacts of the dark side of the digital workplace.
Professor of Digital Technology for Mental Health, Elvira Perez Vallejos comments: “The research shows that organisations need to consider how to manage digital workplace hazards alongside other psychosocial and physical risks in the workplace. Helping employees foster mindful awareness when working digitally could really help overall well-being.”
The research was funded by ESRC-MGS (Economic and Social Research Council — Midland Graduate School).
All the applicants are advised to send/submit hard copy of their applications to the Director, University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh along with all self attested copies of their certificates and other relevant documents including publications for verification along with the duly filled application form and template pages 1 to 11 on or before 4th March, 2024 by 4:30 p.m. Late applications will not be considered and will stand rejected.
Interview
The Interview for appointment of Guest Faculty to teach B.A.LL.B (Hons.) and B.Com.LL.B. (Hons.) will be held on 7th March, 2024 at 11 a.m. in University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
At the time of interview (physical presence of the candidate is mandatory). The candidates are required to bring all the supporting documents/certificates/publications in original. Candidates are required to report at 10:30 a.m. sharp on the date of interview at UILS Office. The candidates are advised to keep checking the Panjab University and UILS website for further updates.
Salary
Rs. 1500/- per lecture subject to maximum of Rs. 50,000/- per month.
No matter how the week begins, Delhiites know how to pick themselves up and make it a rocking one! Here are a few events where you can live-up to the spirit of Delhi, today:
Catch It Live on February 27
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
#StepUp
What: Guru Shishya Sanman ft Guru Ranjana Gauhar & group (Odissi)
Where: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road
When: Feb 27
Timing: 7pm
Entry: Free
Nearest Metro Station: JLN Stadium (Violet Line)
#ArtAttack
What: Yeobseo: Postcards from Delhi
Where: Art Gallery, India International Annexe, Lodi Estate
When: Feb 21 to 27
Timing: 11am to 7pm
Entry: Free
Nearest Metro Station: Jor Bagh (Yellow Line)
#JustForLaughs
What: Stand-up Comedy ft Md Suhel & Sumit Anand
Where: Happy High, 119, Sishan House, Shahpur Jat
When: Feb 27
Timing: 10pm
Entry: www.bookmyshow.com
Nearest Metro Station: Hauz Khas (Yellow Line)
#FleaSpree
What: Wedding Asia
Where: Taj Palace, 2, Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri
When: Feb 27 & 28
Timing: 10am to 7pm
Entry: Free
Nearest Metro Station: Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus (Pink Line)
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday approved Alvotech and Teva Pharmaceuticals’ Simlandi, a biosimilar of the most popular version of AbbVie’s rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira. The drug, which can be directly substituted by a pharmacist, was rejected by the FDA twice before due to manufacturing issues at a plant in Iceland.
The partners didn’t announce a launch date or a price for Simlandi, which will be the 10th Humira biosimilar reach market since Amgen’s Amjevita arrived on Jan. 31, 2023. Some biosimilars have launched at a steep upfront discount while others have a list price only slightly below Humira’s to allow for negotiation over rebates.
Alvotech also announced a stock sale Monday, raising around $166 million at $16.41 a share. The company had $68 million in cash and equivalents on Sept. 30, after recording losses of $275 million on $30 million in revenue through the first nine months of 2023.
Dive Insight:
One year into the launch of Humira biosimilars, U.S. market share for the copycat drugs is at less than 2%, with Amjevita and Organon’s Hadlima taking the biggest chunk, according to a recent report from biosimilar manufacturer Samsung Bioepis. In providing investor guidance for 2024, AbbVie commercial chief Jeffrey Stewart said the company “once again secured broad formulary access” for Humira.
“While there will be some step down in coverage year over year, we will still have parity access to biosimilars for the vast majority of U.S. patient lives,” he said during a conference call with analysts outlining AbbVie’s fourth quarter 2023 earnings.
While biosimilars haven’t gained much market share, they have affected AbbVie’s revenue. Full year 2023 Humira revenue in the U.S. was $12.2 billion, down by more than one-third over 2022, suggesting intense price competition to remain on insurance coverage lists.
Simlandi won’t be the first interchangeable, or pharmacist substitutable, Humira. That honor went to Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cyltezo, which is a lower-concentration formula. It so far has gained 0.1% market share, according to the Samsung Bioepis report.
Boehringer and Alvotech have aimed for interchangeability status in the hope it will give them a competitive advantage. Forty-seven states allow automatic substitution, although in most the pharmacist must tell the prescribing physician about the substitution, allowing it to be overridden.
Patients stable on branded Humira, along with their physicians, may be reluctant to move to a biosimilar. As a result, uptake of biosimilars for chronic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis has been slower than it has been for oncology, which tends to have shorter treatment courses.
Australians have a national sport that isn’t played on the field: it’s property talk.
Whether it’s dissecting the latest market movements or bemoaning the uphill battle to break into the housing market, it’s a hot topic at every backyard BBQ.
But as we look ahead to 2024, the fact is that the housing shortage will remain, meaning rents and prices will keep rising and First Home Buyers will keep having a tough time.
Fact is in 2023, we saw first home buyers retreat to the lowest levels since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
Here are two glaring indicators that point to what’s ahead in 2024:
1. The Migration Mismatch
The record level of migration has been completely decoupled from the number of new homes built and the delivery of new infrastructure.
In 2023, Australia rolled out the welcome mat to approximately 520,000 migrants, yet the construction sector only managed to add 175,000 new homes to the market.
This glaring misalignment doesn’t even factor in the housing needs spurred by natural population growth and the already existing undersupply of properties.
In my mind, the government’s approach seems to favour a ‘sugar hit’, a quick win of economic growth sparked by migration over the long-term goal of housing affordability.
Sure, the government has said is going to reduce migration numbers, but
this ‘reduction’ is actually an increase from the pre-Covid levels of migration we experienced.
And yes, the government said they’re going to build 1.2 million homes over the next five years, but they’re really not going to build any homes at all.
They’re going to encourage developers to do so and no one in the industry seems to think these figures are actually achievable.
2. The Approval Bottleneck
The second critical issue is the sluggish pace of new home approvals.
Last year’s dramatic downturn in approvals is a time bomb set to detonate as fewer homes will enter the market when they’re needed most.
What’s ahead for 2024?
There is no doubt the shortage of dwellings both for sale and for rent, at a time of skyrocketing population growth is going to continue in Sydney into 2024.
And as buyers and sellers realise that we have reached a peak of interest rates and that inflation is coming under control and consumer confidence returns, buyer and seller activity will pick up.
So I currently see a window of opportunity to get into the property market before the crowd does.
In fact, the cost of waiting to invest in 2024 became even more real.
If you look back at previous cycles, when the market turned property prices surged rapidly – look at what happened in the post-Covid property rebound in 2020 or in 2019 when the market suddenly turned after the Federal election.
Of course, those who acted then and purchased quality investment-grade properties are possibly thousands of dollars ahead and have set themselves up for financial security.
The media are catching onto what’s happening and reporting more good news prop stories.
This means the window of opportunity will close sooner rather than later as more homebuyers and investors into the market.
Moving forward over the next decade, townhouses, villa units, and family-friendly apartments will be great investments, especially considering their current affordable entry price compared to houses.
And with soaring construction costs it is likely that all new apartment projects will cost 25%-30% more than currently completed projects and this causes the value of established apartments to rise as well.
Highly-featured complexes with lots of shared spaces that are expensive to maintain, like lifts, pools, and gyms.
Instead, I suggest you look for larger family-friendly apartments and units in middle-ring suburbs, which are close to good schools, parks, and cafes.
Throw in some good public transport links, and you’ve got the ideal investment for the Australian family of the future.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
Are you the star of a one-person show in your romantic escapades, wondering “Am I a pillow princess?” Welcome to the intriguing world of being a ‘pillow princess’, a slang that’s stirring up conversations in bed and beyond. In this deep dive, we’re peeling back the layers of being a pillow princess. Is it just about lying back and basking in the glow of receiving oral sex, or is there more to this story?
From the whispered corners of intimate encounters to the bold declarations in the light of day, we’re exploring the signs that specifically crown you as the reigning pillow princess in your relationship.
What Is A Pillow Princess?
A pillow princess, a phrase within the femme spectrum, not just referring to women, describes someone who typically enjoys receiving sexual pleasure, especially oral sex, without reciprocating. This pillow princess sex preference goes beyond traditional gender and sexual orientation and is not exclusive to women.
The term pillow princess, from the LGBTQIA+ community, helps identify a pillow prince (who can be a woman too), wanting to satisfy a pillow princess, whether a gay guy, a lesbian pillow princess, a bisexual woman, or a queer woman. Some prefer to only please a pillow princess through oral sex, though the slang negatively labels someone as lazy for only wanting to receive oral sex. Here are some more demarcations:
Related Reading: How To Be A Better Lover – 11 Pro Tips By A Sex Therapist
Pillow princesses vs submissives: Pillow princesses focus on receiving, while submissives follow their sexual partner’s lead
Pillow princesses vs sexual bottoms: Sexual bottoms might enjoy pleasing their partners via oral sex but prefer being ‘on the bottom’ during sexual acts
Pillow princess sex can be enjoyed by anyone, and the term isn’t just limited to queer women, gay men, or lesbians. Straight men or their girlfriends can also embody this role.
If you are more inclined to receive sexual pleasure than to reciprocate, you are a pillow princess
What Does It Mean To Be A Pillow Princess?
If you’re wondering, “Am I a pillow princess?,” know that it’s not just about a physical preference, or about being a girl or being lazy. it can be deeply rooted in how one, particularly someone identifying as femme, experiences intimacy and vulnerability.
For some, this role can be a form of self-expression: a way to experience physical intimacy without the pressures of performance or reciprocation. It can be about feeling cherished and adored, and being the center of attention in a safe and consensual manner and not just specifically being ‘lazy.’
Are You A Pillow Princess In Your Relationship? Find Out
Does comfort reign supreme in your sexual encounters? If your idea of a wild night includes the perfect balance of being pampered and pleased, while your partner does all the work, you might already know the answer to the question “Am I a pillow princess?”
Let’s explore the 11 signs that might indicate you are a pillow princess, offering a deeper understanding of your role in intimacy:
Related Reading: Sexual Compatibility – Meaning, Importance And Signs
1. You have a me-first manifesto
In the realm of romance and risqué rendezvous, you observe that your focus is always on receiving pleasure. Steamy content? You’re absolutely uninterested in scenes where your on-screen alter ego is the giver. You only reach an orgasm while receiving pleasure.
2. Your presence is the present
Why work hard when your existence is enough to turn up the heat? You believe that consenting to sex is cute enough. You might also believe your partner is lucky to please a pillow princess. Satisfying a woman in bed is totally up his alley and you don’t need to do any work at all. It can be an assumption, or your partner might have communicated this.
3. You’re not mentally or emotionally involved
There’s a buffet of reasons why you might feel more like a spectator than a star player in your romantic encounters. A lack of emotional connection leaves you feeling mentally distant during these encounters. You might be as passive in your encounters as you are when you watch TV.
Related Reading: Foreplay: More Than Just a Warm-Up
4. The passive pattern
Your romantic résumé might reveal a trend: you’ve often been the passive partner. This could be due to a history of partners who were just fine taking the lead, being in control, and doing all the work. Over time, this can shape how you describe intimacy. You’ve heard that being passive is not just normal, but possibly even something that’s appreciated or expected in your relationships.
5. You’re learning the ropes of it
If leading the way in bed feels like uncharted territory, it’s natural to let your partner navigate while you just lie. But remember, every expert was once a beginner. A little heart-to-heart with your partner about likes and dislikes can be a game-changer.
6. You’re too tired to tango
You might be forever physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted while engaging in sexual encounters. In these moments, there’s a good chance that you’d only like to receive sexual stimulation, wherein you kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride without the drive.
7. The ‘mind over mattress’ muddle
Dealing with performance anxiety in bed can be a real challenge. It’s often a mix of past feedback or personal insecurities that makes you hesitant to take the lead. When your partner steps in, it eases that pressure.
The key is to remember that intimacy is about connection and comfort, not perfection. Open and honest communication with your partner is crucial. It helps build confidence and understanding, allowing you to gradually overcome these anxieties.
8. The shadow of shame between the sheets
Old shadows of shame about sex can sneak in even if you think those stereotypical ideologies are wrong. Whether it’s about taking charge or just openly craving sexual pleasure, these remnants of reluctance can make you become shy and passive, which might be more common in a woman or a girl, due to social constraints and patriarchal views.
Related Reading: 21 Exotic Roleplay Ideas To Boost Naughtiness In Your Relationship
9. The comfort zone conundrum
Venturing into new territories can sometimes feel intimidating. The idea of experimenting outside your favorite positions, can bring a sense of apprehension. So, you’re probably inclined to hit the pause button at the first twinge of strain or soreness, preferring the familiar comfort of well-known paths.
10. You’re all about the horizontal hustle
You describe your favorite positions as the ones that keep you grounded. Missionary, spooning, or any position you get to lie in – as long as it involves lying down, you’re game.
A pillow princess’ favorite positions always involve lying down in their comfort zone
11. The toy story of solo play
In your solo escapades, you’re often lazy and it makes sense to you to opt for the shortcut of satisfaction — intimate gadgets over manual methods. It’s about maximizing pleasure with minimal effort, aligning perfectly with the pillow princess philosophy.
Remember, there’s no single ‘right’ way to navigate the waters of desire. What matters most is finding what brings you excitement and comfort in your own skin.
Related Reading: 7 Reasons Showering Together Is Great For Intimacy And How To Do It Right
Is It Bad To Be A Pillow Princess?
If your goal is to be less of a pillow princess, hold on! The concept is often shrouded in stigma and misconceptions, primarily due to traditional views on sexual reciprocity. However, the world of sexual stimulation is as varied as the colors of the rainbow, and being a pillow princess is just one hue in that spectrum.
It’s essential that both you and your partner are on the same page. If your partner revels in giving and you in receiving, it’s a match made for your kingdom! Remember, the slang ‘pillow princess’ was literally coined for those seeking to please a pillow princess.
How To Stop Being A Pillow Princess
If you want to be less of a pillow princess, consider starting with communicating with your partner. It’s about taking gradual steps to experiment with a more active role.
Gigi Engle, a sex & dating writer and a pillow princess advises “Get your dirty talk on point! Tell your boo how hot it makes you to see them being so dominant. Tell them how much you like whatever it is they’re doing to your body. Make it exciting!”
What Gigi Engle is implying is that it should be as much about them as it is about you (even though it’s really about you). Well, so how do you go about it? We’ll give you some tips:
Related Reading: Vanilla Relationship – Everything You Need To Know About
Exploration expedition: To be less of a pillow princess is not about entirely giving up on your own pleasure. Embark on a tantalizing treasure hunt of your desires that include active play. It’s time to swap the royal pillows for a captain’s hat
Sensual scholar: Books, spicy blogs, or even ancient text can prove to be a great sex educator in times of need. Knowledge is power, and pleasure too
Words in the boudoir: Turn pillow talk into strategy sessions. Communicate with your partner as if you’re talking to a friend. What better than erotic talk that also makes your sex life better?
Mindful mischief: Be present in your passionate pursuits. It’s about tuning into every touch and every sigh
The advice of a sex educator: Sometimes, a little expertise can go a long way. A sex therapist or counselor can be a game changer for your intimate life
Exploring new dynamics in your sexual relationship can be a journey filled with discovery and growth in any sexual orientation. To be less of a pillow princess can be super fun too! It’s an opportunity to deepen your connection with your partner and explore new facets of your sexuality. Remember, change should always be approached with care, respect for boundaries, and an open mind.
FAQs
1. Do men like pillow princesses?
The preference for a pillow princess among men can be influenced by various factors, including personal sexual style, desire for control, and enjoyment derived from their partner’s pleasure. Some men may find the role of a pillow princess appealing, as it allows them to take a more dominant or active role in sexual encounters. On the other hand, some men may prefer a more balanced approach, where both partners actively participate and reciprocate. In some cultures, traditional gender roles might influence men to take on a more active role in sexual encounters, thereby potentially aligning with the pillow princess dynamic.
2. What is the male version of a pillow princess?
In sexual dynamics, the male equivalent of a pillow princess would be a man who predominantly enjoys receiving sexual pleasure, particularly oral sex, without a significant focus on reciprocating. This preference in men challenges traditional expectations of male sexuality, which often emphasize a more active or dominant role. It’s important to recognize that men, just like women, can have a wide range of sexual preferences and comfort levels, including a preference for a more passive or receptive role in sexual encounters. This understanding is crucial for acknowledging the diversity and complexity of human sexuality beyond traditional gender roles.
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Not all losses are created equal — and no defeat in football is worse than a banter one.
“In extra time, it’s been Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottle jobs,” said Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville, succinctly and indisputably establishing the dominant narrative of a surreal Carabao Cup final almost as soon as Virgil van Dijk’s glanced header had settled in the far corner of Djordje Petrovic’s net.
Liverpool had not just beaten Chelsea at Wembley (again), they had done so in a manner that validated the “mentality monsters” culture that Jurgen Klopp has cultivated — apparently throughout the age groups at Kirkby as well as the first team — over the last nine years, while mercilessly exposing the fatal flaws in the lavish investment project at Stamford Bridge funded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital over the past two.
In the bowels of Wembley after the match, a despondent Mauricio Pochettino wearily assumed the task of pointing out the nuance in the narrative. “I don’t hear what he said but if you compare the age of the two groups, I think it is similar,” Chelsea’s head coach said when asked about Neville’s line. “Look, I have a good relationship with Gary. I don’t know how I can take his opinion, but I respect his opinion.
“We are a young team. Nothing to compare with Liverpool because they also finished with young players. It’s impossible to compare, and he knows that the dynamics are completely different. We were playing Liverpool and Chelsea, Chelsea and Liverpool, and I don’t think it’s fair to speak in this way.”
The youth vs experience dynamic at Wembley was not as clear-cut as Neville made out. Liverpool’s on-pitch XI had an older average age than Chelsea’s at the start of the match and at the start of extra time. Van Dijk, a 32-year-old now with 11 major trophies to his name, was the outstanding outfield player throughout and found the net with two headers worthy of winning a final, only one of which survived VAR review.
Cole Palmer is denied by Caoimhin Kelleher (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
But the counter-argument becomes hard to sustain when the other team includes two 19-year-olds, Bobby Clark and James McConnell, who have each played fewer than 10 professional games and another (Jayden Danns) who was making his second senior appearance. Chelsea undoubtedly lost to several kids; the more important question is: did they bottle it?
Chelsea showed unmistakeable signs of nerves at Wembley. Axel Disasi twice ignited Liverpool transition attacks by fumbling the ball under little pressure. Malo Gusto, usually so sure-footed, controlled passes straight out of play on several occasions. Levi Colwill booted an attempted pass out to Ben Chilwell miles upfield and had to be told to calm down by Enzo Fernandez, who played sloppy passes with startling frequency.
Further forward, Conor Gallagher wrestled with an eerily similar cocktail of bad luck and poor composure in front of goal that afflicted fellow Cobham graduate Mason Mount against the same opponents in the same stadium in 2022.
Gallagher fluffed several chances (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Nevertheless, as the clock ticked towards the end of 90 minutes it was Chelsea who looked likelier winners, with Cole Palmer picking apart a Liverpool team whose legs appeared to have gone. It was at this point that Klopp made a decision that arguably no other elite coach would have made: to place the fate of a major trophy in the hands of unproven youth rather than go into retreat with experience and play for penalties.
His choice transformed this Carabao Cup final into the spiritual sequel of Chelsea’s bizarre 4-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur in November: a situation where convincing victory is the only acceptable outcome and anything less brings total humiliation. Pochettino had to guide his team through 20 nervy, aimless minutes that night before they overcame the fear of looking ridiculous — of being on the receiving end of a banter loss — and got on with winning the game.
Klopp’s own “it’s just who we are, mate” moment seemed to sink Chelsea into a similar mental crisis at Wembley that lasted for most of extra time, compounded by their fading energy levels. At half-time of their pitifully tentative showing in the added period all of Chilwell, Disasi and Moises Caicedo could be seen prostrate on the pitch receiving attention for cramp.
Not losing superseded winning as Chelsea’s top priority. “The team started to feel that maybe the penalties will be good for us,” said Pochettino, making an admission of weakness that is being held against him and this group of players in the acrimonious aftermath.
Pochettino’s face sums up the Chelsea mood (Getty Images)
Finals define the clubs, players and coaches who contest them. Klopp has lost his fair share over the years but never through passivity, and that ironclad commitment to the idea of who Liverpool are carried the day at Wembley. Chelsea’s identity as expert winners of finals began to slip in the final years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership; this is now seven cup final defeats in their last eight visits to the national stadium, and six in a row.
Doubts about Pochettino’s ability to reverse that trend will only intensify. In five years at Tottenham, he built impressive teams who fell just short of winning and despite his avowed emphasis on the power of positive energy, his callow Chelsea were undone by Klopp’s peerless mastery of psychological momentum.
Liverpool at full strength are vastly better than Chelsea but they won the Carabao Cup final not through superior talent, but superior mentality, coupled with an unmistakeable sense of identity that binds the first team and academy together — in other words, things that Boehly and Clearlake’s money cannot simply buy.
“They need to feel the pain,” Pochettino said of his Chelsea players. The pain of this banter loss will be hard to shift, immortalised by Neville’s brutal words.
(Top image: Pochettino changes were not as effective as Klopp’s. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Create playlists on Spotify tailored to your tastes by adding songs that match the chosen style or genre.
Use the Blend feature to create playlists with friends and family that Spotify updates daily.
Use Spotify’s recommendations or invite collaborators to enhance your playlists.
Spotify is one of the best streaming services around, but it gets even better once you start sorting your music into playlists. We’re here to show you how to create playlists, and then add songs to them. We also have some tips for creating Spotify playlists.
How to Create a Spotify Playlist and Add Songs to It
To create a Spotify playlist from scratch, first, go to Your Library at the bottom of the mobile app on Android or iOS. Then, click the + button at the top next to the Search icon. You’ll see two options: Playlist and Blend. Click Playlist to create a standard playlist for yourself, or click Blend to create a shared playlist with friends.
The method above is the same on the desktop app. Just go to Your Library
and click the + button
to create a new playlist.
Create a Spotify Playlist for Yourself
You can create a playlist about anything. You could theme it around a certain genre, or create it ahead of a particular event. The idea is to enable you to quickly and easily find the songs you want to listen to at a certain time. Just give your playlist an appropriate name, and click Create.
Spotify will then recommend you start building your playlist by adding songs. Click Add to the playlist, and you’ll see the Search bar and a list of Suggested songs based on your listening. The latter will refresh as you add songs to your playlist, with Spotify updating its suggestions to match what you’re adding manually.
If you click the Search bar, you’ll see a list of your recent searches. Songs will have a circled + button to the right of them. So just click that if you want to add the track to the playlist you’re creating. Alternatively, click on an artist you’ve previously searched for, and follow the links to add specific songs. Or search for something new (whether an artist, album, or song) until you can add what you’re looking for.
Every time you add a song, Spotify will take you back to the Add to this playlist page. When you’re done adding songs (for the time being), click the back button in the top-right to see your playlist taking shape. Spotify will still be recommending songs to add to your playlist, but it’s completely up to you whether you take its suggestions.
Your newly created playlist will now be visible in Your Library, and you can click on it to add more songs in the same way whenever you want. If you click the hamburger menu to the right of the Share icon at any time, you’ll see options to Add to this playlist, Edit playlist, Delete playlist, and more besides.
Create a Shared Playlist Using Blend
Blend is a type of playlist designed to be shared with friends. You can invite up to 10 friends to Blend, and Spotify will create a playlist based on the music you and those invited friends listen to. Blend updates daily based on the listening activity of everyone included in the playlist.
To invite friends to a Blend, click the Invite button to see your options. You can either copy an invitation with a link to share on whatever platform you want, or open a messaging platform and send it directly to a person or people. They will then see that you’ve invited them, and can choose to join your Blend or ignore the request.
How to Add Songs to an Existing Spotify Playlist
Adding songs to an existing Spotify playlist is simple. Essentially, once you have created your playlist, you can add songs to it at any time. When you’re listening to a song or looking at a song in Spotify, look for the three vertical dots menu. Click it, and you should see the option to Add to playlist. Click that, and you can select which playlist(s) to add the song to.
There is also a circled + button next to the name of the song you’re playing. But by default, clicking this adds that song to your Liked Songs. And while that is a playlist in its own right, it may not be the one you want to add this particular song to. If you’re quick, you can click Change to switch playlists. If not, you can click the Green Tick icon to switch the playlist(s) it’s in at any time.
Tips for Creating Spotify Playlists
As you can see, creating a Spotify playlist is pretty simple. However, not all Spotify playlists are created equal, so here are some tips to bear in mind.
Choose a strong theme for your Spotify playlist. A playlist can be based on a specific genre or a certain tempo, be created with an event (a road trip, a wedding reception, etc.) or an activity (a workout, chilling after work, etc.).
Choose a name that will make your playlist stand out. The name should be short, memorable, easy to spot, and descriptive. If you’re intent on creating lots of Spotify playlists, you’ll need to quickly find the one you want.
Use Spotify’s list of Recommended songs to fill out your playlist. Underneath your own selections, you’ll see a list of songs Spotify thinks will augment your playlist. Just click the circled + button to immediately add them.
Invite collaborators to help you populate a playlist. Spotify playlists don’t have to be a solo endeavor. If you click on the three dots next to the Share icon, you can “Invite Collaborators” to edit a playlist by sending the link to other people.
Regularly revisit existing Spotify playlists to keep them fresh. Your playlists don’t have to remain untouched, as they were the day you created them. So, regularly take a look to see if any new songs deserve a place.
Remember that there is no limit to the number of playlists you can create. This means you can create playlists for very specific needs and give them niche names (similar to what Spotify does with Daylists).
View other people’s public playlists for inspiration. If you search for something, you’ll be presented with playlists galore. Scroll past the ones Spotify has “Made for You”, and you’ll see playlists made by other people.
Creating a number of Spotify playlists, and populating them with the songs you (and others) love is a simple yet effective way to get more out of Spotify. And if you excel at managing them, you should always have the perfect playlist to play at any given moment.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Lotus-seed-popsicles-A-sweet-escape-in-Fujian-1qOqAPoKEI8/img/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb/f8e3ef650bc64818a5906b333ee517bb.jpeg'Lotus seeds are used to make popsicles in Fujian Province. /CGTN
Lotus seeds are a versatile ingredient renowned for their light and fluffy texture, which often appears in dessert soups in southeast China. In the heart of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province, a naturally milky lotus seed soup is carefully poured into popsicle molds, resulting in a refreshing and delicious summer treat. It’s a must-try for those seeking a sweet escape from the hot Fujian sun.
For winners and nominees at the 76th annual Academy Awards, the original screenplay category was a true family affair. Not only did a win for Sofia Coppola — who earned her first Oscar that night for writing “Lost in Translation” — make her the third-generation Coppola to take home an Academy Award — but the writers of the nominated “In America” included a father and two of his two daughters.
Coppola, the daughter of five-time winner Francis Ford Coppola and granddaughter of Carmine Coppola (who won his Oscar for original score in 1975 for “The Godfather Part II” with Nino Rota), was attached to her family filmmaking business from infancy. She’d appeared as a baby in her father’s “The Godfather” (1972), was in “The Godfather II” as an immigrant child, and had a more substantial role in 1990’s “The Godfather Part III,” a performance that earned her few fans. Earning her Oscar for writing her second feature (Coppola also directed) on the Feb. 29 show, then, must have felt particularly sweet.
Coppola accepted the award from presenters Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins (who’d won his own Oscar earlier in the evening) while wearing a Marc Jacobs floor-length plum gown, and was truly all smiles.
She thanked the academy and her father “for everything he taught me,” along with her brother Roman and “all my friends who were there for me when I was stuck at 12 pages and encouraged me to keep writing.” She also mentioned several filmmakers who had been inspiring to her: Michelangelo Antonioni, Wong Kar-wai, Bob Fosse and Jean-Luc Godard. “Every writer needs a muse,” she added. “Mine was [‘Translation’ star] Bill Murray.”
One person who didn’t get thanked — and it came as no real surprise — was her former husband (and fellow director) Spike Jonze, who she had divorced the year before. In interviews she gave that year, she noted that he’d been a factor in creating one of the “Translation” characters. “It’s not Spike,” she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “But there are elements of him there. Elements of experiences. There are elements of me in all the characters.”
Her competition also included a few relations, specifically Jim Sheridan and two of his daughters, Naomi and Kirsten. Their lives also proved an inspiration for the nominated film “In America,” on which all three shared writing credit. It was the sixth nomination for the elder Sheridan, who has no wins, and the first for Naomi and Kirsten. Since then, both women have continued to direct.
The other nominees shared no particular family connection, however. Denys Arcand received his first nomination for “The Barbarian Invasions,” which he wrote and directed. “Barbarian” did end up going on to win an Oscar for what was then called foreign language film. Steven Knight (“Dirty Pretty Things”) was also on his first nomination, and failed to win — but he’s clearly found a strength elsewhere: He’s a co-creator of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” game show franchise. And Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds were nominated for “Finding Nemo,” but went home empty-handed. Stanton did pick up an Oscar earlier that evening when “Nemo” won top animated feature, and would win a second one in 2009 for writing “Wall-E,” while Peterson has been nominated twice for Oscars. This was Reynolds’ one and only nomination thus far.
New Delhi, February 26: TVS Motors has reportedly launched its new TVS HLX 150F version globally with new features and specifications. The latest TVS HLX 150F is an addition to the HLX brand and reportedly offers better safety, engine, and improved suspensions. The new HLX 150F from TVS Motors has reportedly gone on sale across 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As per the reports, the TVS HLX-line two-wheeler has sold 3.5 million units internationally.
The TVS HLX 150F comes with added features related to safety and styling. According to the report by Business Standard, TVS Motors expressed its “gratitude” to the customers by launching its new model with improvements. The report said that the HLX line was first introduced in Africa 10 years ago by TVS Motors. Now, the new model reportedly comes with an eco-thrust engine, superior suspensions, styling, and safety features. Kawasaki Versys X 300 Likely To Launch Soon in India: Check Expected Specifications and Features.
The report highlighted that the new TVS HLX 150F has “trapezoidal” LED headlights that are more energy efficient and provide bright light. Besides, the bike comes with tubeless tyres, rear load carriers, and a pillion handle rail, giving a better grip. According to the report by Hindustan Times Auto, the new HLX 150F comes with a semi-digital speedometer, front disc brake, and a spirited look with new graphics. The report said the bike comes in three colour choices, with black as a base theme. 2024 Kawasaki Z900, 2024 Kawasaki Ninja 500 Launched in India; Check Prices, Specifications, Features and Colours of Two New Kawasaki Bikes.
As per the report, TVS Motors launched its new bike with a 150cc eco-thrust engine with IOC technology, claiming to offer more power and fuel economy. The report also mentioned the company claiming that the motorcycle will demand lower maintenance and provide longer engine life. The report said the company’s exports included about 25% of the business. The company is also said to celebrate the milestone by introducing its new TVS HLX 150F, shaping specific customer insights.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2024 06:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
In his spare time, Tony Eastin likes to dabble in the stock market. One day last year, he Googled a pharmaceutical company that seemed like a promising investment. One of the first search results Google served up on its news tab was listed as coming from the Clayton County Register, a newspaper in northeastern Iowa. He clicked, and read. The story was garbled and devoid of useful information—and so were all the other finance-themed posts filling the site, which had absolutely nothing to do with northeastern Iowa. “I knew right away there was something off,” he says. There’s plenty of junk on the internet, but this struck Eastin as strange: Why would a small Midwestern paper churn out crappy blog posts about retail investing?
Eastin was primed to find online mysteries irresistible. After years in the US Air Force working on psychological warfare campaigns he had joined Meta, where he investigated nastiness ranging from child abuse to political influence operations. Now he was between jobs, and welcomed a new mission. So Eastin reached out to Sandeep Abraham, a friend and former Meta colleague who previously worked in Army intelligence and for the National Security Agency, and suggested they start digging.
What the pair uncovered provides a snapshot of how generative AI is enabling deceptive new online business models. Networks of websites crammed with AI-generated clickbait are being built by preying on the reputations of established media outlets and brands. These outlets prosper by confusing and misleading audiences and advertisers alike, “domain squatting” on URLs that once belonged to more reputable organizations. The scuzzy site Eastin was referred to no longer belonged to the newspaper whose name it still traded in the name of.
Although Eastin and Abraham suspect that the network which the Register’s old site is now part of was created with straightforward moneymaking goals, they fear that more malicious actors could use the same sort of tactics to push misinformation and propaganda into search results. “This is massively threatening,” Abraham says. “We want to raise some alarm bells.” To that end, the pair have released a report on their findings and plan to release more as they dig deeper into the world of AI clickbait, hoping their spare-time efforts can help draw awareness to the issue from the public or from lawmakers.
Faked News
The Clayton County Register was founded in 1926 and covered the small town of Ekader, Iowa, and wider Clayton County, which nestle against the Mississippi River in the state’s northeast corner. “It was a popular paper,” says former coeditor Bryce Durbin, who describes himself as “disgusted” by what’s now published at its former web address, claytoncountyregister.com. (The real Clayton County Register merged in 2020 with The North Iowa Times to become the Times-Register, which publishes at a different website. It’s not clear how the paper lost control of its web domain; the Times-Register did not return requests for comment.)
As Eastin discovered when trying to research his pharma stock, the site still brands itself as the Clayton County Register but no longer offers local news and is instead a financial news content mill. It publishes what appear to be AI-generated articles about the stock prices of public utility companies and Web3 startups, illustrated by images that are also apparently AI-generated.
“Not only are the articles we looked at generated by AI, but the images included in each article were all created using diffusion models,” says Ben Colman, CEO of deepfake detection startup Reality Defender, which ran an analysis on several articles at WIRED’s request. In addition to that confirmation, Abraham and Eastin noticed that some of the articles included text admitting their artificial origins. “It’s important to note that this information was auto-generated by Automated Insights,” some of the articles stated, name-dropping a company that offers language-generation technology.
Metaverse, the virtual universe created by Facebook parent Meta, is yet to take off but the technology is seemingly carving a niche in sensitive sectors like education and healthcare. The global metaverse healthcare market is projected to reach a valuation of nearly $500 billion (roughly Rs. 41,44,020 crore) by 2033. This figure has been estimated by market research firm Spherical Insights, which published its recent report on metaverse’s potential to boom in the healthcare sector in the next nine years. meta
According to the Spherical Insights report, the global metaverse in healthcare market size is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.3 percent from 2023 to 2033. The report, published last month, said that the worldwide metaverse in healthcare market size was expected to hit $496.26 billion (roughly Rs. 41,12,780 crore) by 2033. The metaverse healthcare market size was estimated at $8.97 billion last year. The report also noted that the Asia Pacific market was expected to grow the fastest during the forecast period.
The integration of metaverse into healthcare studies and research has the potential bring new and collaborative approaches in the sector, the report claimed. Navigating through futuristic surgical training methods and telemedicine can be made visually more explanatory via the metaverse technology.
The metaverse can also help healthcare professionals train and practice their skills in practical augmented and virtual reality sessions. The technology can also go a long way in aiding remote consultation and patient monitoring.
The report attributes the estimated growth to several factors like the increased usage of telemedicine in cases of remote patient consultations and patient monitoring for at-home care recipients and the rise in use of AR and VR technology in hospitals and clinics for surgical procedures. “Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies can enable more realistic virtual appointments, consultations, and examinations will boost the metaverse in healthcare market growth,” it said.
While the report by Spherical Insights estimates the metaverse healthcare sector to boom to a nearly $500 billion market, other market research firms like Towards Healthcare, and Research and Markets put out a more conservative estimate, with projected CAGR of 26.3 percent and 34 percent, respectively. The Tower Healthcare report estimates the metaverse in healthcare market size to cross $81.99 billion by 2032.
Medical companies and brands are already starting to establish themselves in the metaverse to become early adopters of this technology. Back in 2022 for instance, Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospitals set up an experience zone in the Decentraland metaverse, claiming to become India’s first chain of hospitals to do so.
Built atop blockchain networks, metaverse ecosystems are fully functional virtual environments for people to work together, play games, and socialise as digital avatars from the privacy and comfort of their homes.
As per a report published by research firm InsightAce Analytic in October 2023, the coming together of the metaverse and the education sector is expected to be churning over $102 billion (roughly Rs. 8,48,980 crore) by the year 2031.
Researchers from the sector, however, have advised tech firms to bring their focus on producing affordable and advanced hardware capable of letting people explore the metaverse to its full potential.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
A new report released this month by Intero Digital (disclosure: I previously worked with Intero), “Revolutionizing Reach: The 2024 Digital Marketing Landscape You Can’t Ignore,” checks the yearly pulse for the digital spending and marketing activities of its SMB client list.
The report covers a wide digital landscape and includes the results of their client survey, as well as insights and strategies for addressing the pain points and goals marketers face this year. Some of the key coverage areas include:
Digital marketing spending trends.
Top digital marketing goals for 2024.
Content marketing trends.
Emerging trends and data in Amazon marketing.
Emerging trends in paid advertising.
Transformation in the SEO space.
Influencer marketing.
Video marketing tactics and strategy.
Let’s look at a few highlights and key insights from the report.
Key digital marketing priorities for SMBs in 2024
The first finding should not surprise those actively engaged in digital marketing across various industries, verticals, niches and three-letter acronyms like “B2C” and “B2B”. The most important thing on digital marketer’s minds in 2024 is revenue growth,prioritized as the top goal by 79% of respondents.
While “growth” is something of a given for most marketers, it is still worth stating, if only to get it out of the way and focus on the digital marketing strategies and activities that actually drive it. But for the digital marketers in this survey, what really matters is the final result – the bottom line.
Marketers aren’t backing down this year in their quest for growth, with 46.2% planning to increase spending, zero percent decreasing and 53.8% planning to stay the same.
The biggest digital marketing pain points for 2024
The path to revenue growth and lead generation is filled with obstacles, and the survey respondents also outlined many of their common and shared challenges.
Aside from revenue, the top pain points were lead generation, budget constraints, competition and changing algorithms and SEO best practices. While these points are cited individually, they are oftentimes interconnected.
Competition is fierce everywhere marketers are chasing the bottom line across many different digital channels, and it doesn’t appear things will settle down any time soon.
When competition is fierce, more investment is often needed to be competitive, be it paid or earned media. This leads to the pain point of effectively measuring digital marketing ROI.
Budget constraints often stem from ineffective measurement and tracking systems. Ultimately, what’s crucial is a comprehensive and well-executed digital marketing strategy and tactical plan, whether focusing on a single channel or across multiple channels.
Up to 7.7% of respondents had branding as a pain point. Building a brand across crowded and competitive digital spaces can be challenging this year, as it takes a lot of work, budget and time. Combined with multiple other pain points, marketers have a lot of work ahead of them this year.
The top digital marketing goals for 2024
In the “Biggest Goals” section of the survey, “Revenue growth” topped the list at 79.5%, then dropped a bit for each of the supporting goals. In second place were “More web traffic” and “Higher positioning in the SERPs” (each at 38.5%).
Interestingly, while lead generation was the number two biggest pain point (33.3%), it came in fifth place for the biggest goal (30.8%). Are the lead generators giving up? Nope. With the close percentages, it appears they’re consistent with their priorities.
It is also interesting to see brand awareness and thought leadership prominently in this goal list (33.3%), especially when it is often difficult to attribute to revenue and it was not as much of a pain point.
The biggest barrier to entry for thought leadership is actually having the best ideas and insight. For those who do, this can be one of the easiest goals to accomplish in 2024.
Again, when done well, it can complement and drive goals of more traffic, higher positioning, more growth, more qualified leads and so on.
Content marketing insights
Another interesting part of this study was a review of over 100,00 pieces of content. In their analysis, Intero found that the “most-shared” content had an average word count of 552, down considerably from the previous year’s analysis of 792 words.
The implication is that messaging was more important than being wordy, at least in the social context. For marketers competing in the SEO space with higher word counts, a balance should be struck in the content strategy to emphasize both channels through content.
Marketing publishers are also looking to diversify their content in 2024 beyond the written word. Some top asset types utilized by digital marketers this year include video (41% of marketers utilizing), podcasts (41%) and the top diversified activity, newsletters (47%).
About the report
This article touches on only a few points from the report, providing strategic insights on digital marketing tactics and approaches for the year.
Will next year’s survey bring significant changes, or will things remain unchanged? It’s uncertain, but one thing is clear: the digital landscape is evolving rapidly, offering opportunities for early adopters to thrive in various channels despite competition.
All images in this report were provided by Intero Digital. You can download the full report here.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has commissioned India’s largest solar-battery energy storage system (BESS) in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
Project Highlights
Capacity: 40 MW / 120 MWh BESS
Solar PV Plant Capacity: 152.325 MW
Dispatchable Capacity: 100 MW AC (155.02 MW peak DC)
Beneficiary: State of Chhattisgarh
Project Significance
First-of-its-kind: This large-scale integration of solar and battery storage represents a pioneering leap in renewable energy generation and utilization in India.
Peak Power Management: The project addresses peak energy demand by storing solar energy during the day and releasing it during evening hours, ensuring grid stability and reliability.
Environmental Benefits: By utilizing renewable energy sources and adopting sustainable land-use practices, the project contributes significantly to reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmental responsibility.
Economic Viability: The project’s long-term power purchase agreement with the state electricity distribution company ensures economic sustainability and paves the way for future renewable energy endeavors.
Project Features
Innovative Technology: The project incorporates bifacial solar modules, generating more electricity compared to traditional models.
Land Utilization: The project demonstrates responsible land use by repurposing previously unused land through a collaborative agreement with the Chhattisgarh government.
Grid Integration: Seamless integration into the existing power grid is ensured through a dedicated 132 kV transmission line.
Financial Collaboration: The project is a testament to successful collaboration, receiving funding from the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund, and domestic lending agencies.
Looking Ahead
The successful commissioning of this project is expected to have a widespread positive impact:
Advancing renewable energy adoption in India and globally.
Promoting responsible and sustainable practices in the development of future energy projects.
Inspiring further innovation in the renewable energy sector.
This project serves as a beacon of hope for a sustainable future, demonstrating the immense potential of renewable energy to meet growing energy demands while safeguarding the environment.
Mary Delgado’s first pregnancy went according to plan, but when she tried to get pregnant again seven years later, nothing happened. After 10 months, Delgado, now 34, and her partner, Joaquin Rodriguez, went to see an OB-GYN. Tests showed she had endometriosis, which was interfering with conception. Delgado’s only option, the doctor said, was in vitro fertilization.
“When she told me that, she broke me inside,” Delgado said, “because I knew it was so expensive.”
Delgado, who lives in New York City, is enrolled in Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income and disabled people. The roughly $20,000 price tag for a round of IVF would be a financial stretch for lots of people, but for someone on Medicaid — for which the maximum annual income for a two-person household in New York is just over $26,000 — the treatment can be unattainable.
Expansions of work-based insurance plans to cover fertility treatments, including free egg freezing and unlimited IVF cycles, are often touted by large companies as a boon for their employees. But people with lower incomes, often minorities, are more likely to be covered by Medicaid or skimpier commercial plans with no such coverage. That raises the question of whether medical assistance to create a family is only for the well-to-do or people with generous benefit packages.
“In American health care, they don’t want the poor people to reproduce,” Delgado said. She was caring full-time for their son, who was born with a rare genetic disorder that required several surgeries before he was 5. Her partner, who works for a company that maintains the city’s yellow cabs, has an individual plan through the state insurance marketplace, but it does not include fertility coverage.
Years after she had her first child, Joaquin (left), Mary Delgado found out that she had endometriosis and that IVF was her only option to get pregnant again. The news from her doctor “broke me inside,” Delgado says, “because I knew it was so expensive.” Delgado, who is on Medicaid, traveled more than 300 miles round trip for lower-cost IVF, and she and her partner, Joaquin Rodriguez, used savings they’d set aside for a home. Their daughter, Emiliana, is now almost a year old.(Joaquin Rodriguez)
Some medical experts whose patients have faced these issues say they can understand why people in Delgado’s situation think the system is stacked against them.
Whether or not it’s intended, many say the inequity reflects poorly on the U.S.
“This is really sort of standing out as a sore thumb in a nation that would like to claim that it cares for the less fortunate and it seeks to do anything it can for them,” said Eli Adashi, a professor of medical science at Brown University and former president of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinologists.
Yet efforts to add coverage for fertility care to Medicaid face a lot of pushback, Ginsburg said.
Over the years, Barbara Collura, president and CEO of the advocacy group Resolve: The National Infertility Association, has heard many explanations for why it doesn’t make sense to cover fertility treatment for Medicaid recipients. Legislators have asked, “If they can’t pay for fertility treatment, do they have any idea how much it costs to raise a child?” she said.
“So right there, as a country we’re making judgments about who gets to have children,” Collura said.
The legacy of the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, when states passed laws that permitted poor, nonwhite, and disabled people to be sterilized against their will, lingers as well.
“As a reproductive justice person, I believe it’s a human right to have a child, and it’s a larger ethical issue to provide support,” said Regina Davis Moss, president and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, an advocacy group.
But such coverage decisions — especially when the health care safety net is involved — sometimes require difficult choices, because resources are limited.
Even if state Medicaid programs wanted to cover fertility treatment, for instance, they would have to weigh the benefit against investing in other types of care, including maternity care, said Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. “There is a recognition about the primacy and urgency of maternity care,” she said.
Medicaid pays for about 40% of births in the United States. And since 2022, 46 states and the District of Columbia have elected to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months, up from 60 days.
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Traditionally, a couple is considered infertile if they’ve been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully for 12 months. Last year, the ASRM broadened the definition of infertility to incorporate would-be parents beyond heterosexual couples, including people who can’t get pregnant for medical, sexual, or other reasons, as well as those who need medical interventions such as donor eggs or sperm to get pregnant.
The World Health Organization defined infertility as a disease of the reproductive system characterized by failing to get pregnant after a year of unprotected intercourse. It terms the high cost of fertility treatment a major equity issue and has called for better policies and public financing to improve access.
No matter how the condition is defined, private health plans often decline to cover fertility treatments because they don’t consider them “medically necessary.” Twenty states and Washington, D.C., have laws requiring health plans to provide some fertility coverage, but those laws vary greatly and apply only to companies whose plans are regulated by the state.
In recent years, many companies have begun offering fertility treatment in a bid to recruit and retain top-notch talent. In 2023, 45% of companies with 500 or more workers covered IVF and/or drug therapy, according to the benefits consultant Mercer.
But that doesn’t help people on Medicaid. Only two states’ Medicaid programs provide any fertility treatment: New York covers some oral ovulation-enhancing medications, and Illinois covers costs for fertility preservation, to freeze the eggs or sperm of people who need medical treatment that will likely make them infertile, such as for cancer. Several other states also are considering adding fertility preservation services.
In Delgado’s case, Medicaid covered the tests to diagnose her endometriosis, but nothing more. She was searching the internet for fertility treatment options when she came upon a clinic group called CNY Fertility that seemed significantly less expensive than other clinics, and also offered in-house financing. Based in Syracuse, New York, the company has a handful of clinics in upstate New York cities and four other U.S. locations.
Though Delgado and her partner had to travel more than 300 miles round trip to Albany for the procedures, the savings made it worthwhile. They were able do an entire IVF cycle, including medications, egg retrieval, genetic testing, and transferring the egg to her uterus, for $14,000. To pay for it, they took $7,000 of the cash they’d been saving to buy a home and financed the other half through the fertility clinic.
She got pregnant on the first try, and their daughter, Emiliana, is now almost a year old.
Delgado doesn’t resent people with more resources or better insurance coverage, but she wishes the system were more equitable.
“I have a medical problem,” she said. “It’s not like I did IVF because I wanted to choose the gender.”
One reason CNY is less expensive than other clinics is simply that the privately owned company chooses to charge less, said William Kiltz, its vice president of marketing and business development. Since the company’s beginning in 1997, it has become a large practice with a large volume of IVF cycles, which helps keep prices low.
At this point, more than half its clients come from out of state, and many earn significantly less than a typical patient at another clinic. Twenty percent earn less than $50,000, and “we treat a good number who are on Medicaid,” Kiltz said.
Now that their son, Joaquin, is settled in a good school, Delgado has started working for an agency that provides home health services. After putting in 30 hours a week for 90 days, she’ll be eligible for health insurance.
A good gaming mouse and keyboard can make all the difference for your home setup, and this Amazon deal offers a terrific discount on some excellent Logitech gear. For just $97, you can pick up both the Logitech G502 gaming mouse and G413 SE mechanical keyboard–a pretty great bundle of high-quality hardware.
Logitech G502 mouse and G413 SE mechanical keyboard
The G502 mouse is the wired version, but it still has some very impressive specs under the hood. It has a max DPI sensitivity of 25,600 and is made to be customized as it has 11 buttons and up to five profiles can be saved on its onboard memory. You can even adjust the feel and travel of the G502 as it comes with included weights to swap in or out, making it as light or as heavy as you need it to be.
For the keyboard, you’re getting a full-size peripheral with heat-resistant PBT keycaps and Logitech’s satisfyingly clicky mechanical switches. This is also a durable piece of kit, as it has a black-brushed aluminum top case to serve as the rugged base for even the most furious of typing. If you’d prefer just one of the items from this bundle, you can still grab them at a discount but that will work out to be a more expensive deal overall.
Other tech deals to keep an eye on right now include this lovely retro-inspired mechanical keyboard from 8BitDo and the PlayStation Pulse Elite headset,which is a new arrival that’ll work just fine on PS5 and PC.
A drug can make life safer for children with food allergies by preventing dangerous allergic responses to small quantities of allergy-triggering foods, according to a new study led by scientists at the Stanford School of Medicine.
The research will be published Feb. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings suggest that regular use of the drug, omalizumab, could protect people from severe allergic responses, such as difficulty breathing, if they accidentally eat a small amount of a food they are allergic to.
“I’m excited that we have a promising new treatment for multifood allergic patients. This new approach showed really great responses for many of the foods that trigger their allergies,” said the study’s senior author, Sharon Chinthrajah, MD, associate professor of medicine and of pediatrics, and the acting director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford Medicine.
“Patients impacted by food allergies face a daily threat of life-threatening reactions due to accidental exposures,” said the study’s lead author, Robert Wood, MD, professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The study showed that omalizumab can be a layer of protection against small, accidental exposures.”
Omalizumab, which the Food and Drug Administration originally approved to treat diseases such as allergic asthma and chronic hives, binds to and inactivates the antibodies that cause many kinds of allergic disease. Based on the data collected in the new study, the FDA approved omalizumab for reducing risk of allergic reactions to foods on Feb. 16.
All study participants were severely allergic to peanuts and at least two other foods. After four months of monthly or bimonthly omalizumab injections, two-thirds of the 118 participants receiving the drug safely ate small amounts of their allergy-triggering foods. Notably, 38.4% of the study participants were younger than 6 years, an age group at high risk from accidental ingestions of allergy-triggering foods.
Allergies are common
Food allergies affect about 8% of children and 10% of adults in the United States. People with severe allergies are advised to fully avoid foods containing their allergy triggers, but common allergens such as peanuts, milk, eggs and wheat can be hidden in so many places that everyday activities such as attending parties and eating in restaurants can be challenging.
“Food allergies have significant social and psychological impacts, including the threat of allergic reactions upon accidental exposures, some of which can be life-threatening,” Chinthrajah said. Families also face economic impacts from purchasing more expensive foods to avoid allergens, she added.
In the best available treatment for food allergies, called oral immunotherapy, patients ingest tiny, gradually increasing doses of allergy-triggering foods under a doctor’s supervision to build tolerance. But oral immunotherapy itself can trigger allergic responses, desensitization to allergens can take months or years, and the process is especially lengthy for people with several food allergies, as they are usually treated for one allergy at a time. Once they are desensitized to an allergen, patients also must continue to eat the food regularly to maintain their tolerance to it — but people often dislike foods they were long required to avoid.
“There is a real need for treatment that goes beyond vigilance and offers choices for our food allergic patients,” Chinthrajah said.
Omalizumab is an injected antibody that binds and deactivates all types of immunoglobin E, or IgE, the allergy-causing molecule in the blood and on the body’s immune cells. So far, omalizumab appears able to provide relief from multiple food allergens at once.
“We think it should have the same impact regardless of what food it is,” Chinthrajah said.
Injections stave off severe reactions
The study included 177 children with at least three food allergies each, of whom 38% were 1 to 5 years old, 37% were 6 to 11 years old, and 24% were 12 or older. Participants’ severe food allergies were verified by skin-prick testing and food challenges; they reacted to less than 100 milligrams of peanut protein and less than 300 milligrams of each other food.
Two-thirds of the participants were randomly assigned to receive omalizumab injections, and one-third received an injected placebo; the injections took place over 16 weeks. Medication doses were set based on each participant’s body weight and IgE levels, with injections given once every two or four weeks, depending on the dose needed. The participants were re-tested between weeks 16 and 20 to see how much of each allergy-triggering food they could safely tolerate.
Upon re-testing, 79 patients (66.9%) who had taken omalizumab could tolerate at least 600 mg of peanut protein, the amount in two or three peanuts, compared with only four patients (6.8%) who had the placebo. Similar proportions of patients showed improvement in their reactions to the other foods in the study.
About 80% of patients taking omalizumab were able to consume small amounts of at least one allergy-triggering food without inducing an allergenic reaction, 69% of patients could consume small amounts of two allergenic foods and 47% could eat small amounts of all three allergenic foods.
Omalizumab was safe and did not cause side effects, other than some instances of minor reactions at the site of injection. This study marks the first time its safety has been assessed in children as young as 1.
More questions
More research is needed to further understand how omalizumab could help people with food allergies, the researchers said.
“We have a lot of unanswered questions: How long do patients need to take this drug? Have we permanently changed the immune system? What factors predict which people will have the strongest response?” Chinthrajah said. “We don’t know yet.”
The team is planning studies to answer these questions and others, such as finding what type of monitoring would be needed to determine when a patient gains meaningful tolerance to an allergy-triggering food.
Many patients who have food allergies also experience other allergic conditions treated by omalizumab, Chinthrajah noted, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis (hay fever and allergies to environmental triggers such as mold, dogs or cats, or dust mites) or eczema. “One drug that could improve all of their allergic conditions is exactly what we’re hoping for,” she said.
The drug could be especially helpful for young children with severe food allergies, she added, because they tend to put things in their mouths and may not understand the dangers their allergies pose, she added.
The drug could also make it safer for community physicians to treat food allergy patients, since it cannot trigger dangerous allergic reactions, as oral immunotherapy sometimes does. “This is something that our food allergy community has been waiting a long time for,” Chinthrajah said. “It’s an easy drug regimen to implement in a medical practice, and many allergists are already using this for other allergic conditions.”
The research team included scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Genentech/Roche, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, and Rho, Inc.
The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, both part of the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers UM2AI130836, UM1AI130838, UL1TR003098, UM1TR004408, UM1AI130570, UM1AI130839, UM1AI130936,UM1TR004406, UL1TR002535, UM1TR004399, UL1TR001878, UM1AI130781, UL1TR002378 and UL1TR003107), and the Claudia and Steve Stange Family Fund. Genentech/Novartis provided the investigational product and monetary support to Johns Hopkins University and collaborated on the study design.
The International Journal of Law Management & Humanities invites Research papers, Articles, Short Notes, Book Reviews, Case Commentaries, and others such for its Volume VII Issue II.
The Manuscript titled “The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018” of IJLMH is recently Cited by 2-Judge Bench of Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Page 36 of the Judgement.
About the Journal
The International Journal of Law Management & Humanities is a bi-monthly, Double-Blind, Peer-Reviewed International Journal (ISSN: 2581-5369) working in the Law, Management & Humanities arena. Presently the Editorial team of IJLMH consists of Well-known and widely recognised professors and professionals from India, France, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Cameroon, and Nigeria.
IJLMH has published Research Papers of Authors from 47 Countries, 400+ Universities, 20 High Courts, and the Supreme Court of India and Rwanda and has created a revolution in the Indian Legal Publication Industry with innovations. Published Authors of the Journal include Sitting Magistrates, AOR – Supreme Court of India, Advocates of SC, HC and District Courts, Vice-Chancellors, Deans, Academicians, Librarians, Students of Various Universities, and others. The Journal is rated 4.9/5 based on 320+ reviews on Google.
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International Polar Bear Day was created by Polar Bears International to raise public awareness of the impact of sea ice loss and climate change on polar bear populations. The future of polar bears is under serious threat from climate change and it is our responsibility to act now to save them. Polar bears are considered aquatic mammals, protected from the bitterly cold air and water they come into contact with on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean by a thick layer of body fat and a water-repellent coat. International Polar Bear Day serves as a crucial reminder of the issues at stake if we are to protect these amazing species in the future as their home melts away beneath them. From date to history, scroll down to know more. (Also read: World NGO Day 2024: Date, history and significance of the day )
Celebrate International Polar Bear Day on February 27 to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect polar bears and their Arctic habitat.(Unsplash)
International Polar Bear Day 2024 date and history
Annually International Polar Bear Day is celebrated on February 27, this year it will be observed on Monday. In the early 2000s, polar bear populations began to decline as a result of climate change, and this is when International Polar Bear Day came into existence. Sea ice was melting at an alarming rate as the Arctic region warmed. Polar bears need sea ice to hunt and breed, so its disappearance threatens their survival. International Polar Bear Day was created in 1994 by the non-profit organisation Polar Bear International to raise awareness of the plight of polar bears.
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The intention was to raise public awareness of the impact of climate change on polar bears and their habitats and to motivate people and organisations to take action to protect them. First celebrated in 2011, International Polar Bear Day has become a global event that unites people, organisations and governments to raise awareness of the value of polar bear conservation.
Significance of International Polar Bear Day
International Polar Bear Day is important as it raises awareness of the urgent need to protect polar bears and their fragile Arctic habitat. Arctic ice continues to be threatened by climate change, and polar bears are facing unprecedented challenges, including habitat loss, reduced food availability and increased conflicts between humans and other wildlife.
On this day, people, groups and governments are urged to take action to slow global warming, save polar bear numbers and preserve the Arctic ecosystem for future generations. It serves as a reminder of how closely human behaviour affects the health of ecosystems and species and highlights the importance of working together to tackle climate change and conserve the Earth’s biodiversity.
After more than a decade running AbbVie, CEO Richard Gonzalez will step down from his role this summer, ending a tenure marked by the unparalleled ascent of the company’s inflammatory disease drug Humira, as well as a string of controversies around patents and pricing.
Under Gonzalez’s leadership, AbbVie became one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world after spinning off from medical device maker Abbott Laboratories in 2013. Gonzalez, who worked at Abbott for three decades, is AbbVie’s first and only CEO, and will be succeeded by Robert Michael, the company’s current chief operating officer.
AbbVie’s growth during that time was largely due to Humira, which the company fiercely defended via sales tactics and a dense “patent thicket.” Humira was often the prime example of the dense web of patents that companies use to extend market exclusivity.
Most recently, Gonzalez worked to prepare AbbVie for the biosimilar competition to Humira that arrived in the U.S. last year. New immunology disease successors to Humira like Skyrizi and Rinvoq are now blockbusters in their own right, while a series of acquisitions has stocked AbbVie’s pipeline.
Gonazlez’s departure puts the focus on AbbVie’s next chapter, while leaving behind a legacy of successful, but controversial business practices.
AbbVie’s thriving decade
Gonzalez’s tenure at AbbVie was one of the most successful growth stories in the industry, with more than 700% return to shareholders, $250 billion in market valuation creation and $60 billion invested in R&D, according to the company’s lead independent director Glenn Tilton.
Humira was acquired by Abbott in 2001 and first approved by the FDA in 2003. It brought in global sales of $10.7 billion in AbbVie’s first year as an independent company in 2013. A decade later, annual sales reached $21.2 billion before declining last year due to biosimilar competition.
Over the course of its time on market, Humira has brought in more than $200 billion for AbbVie, money that’s funded drug research, acquisitions and stock buybacks. Along the way, AbbVie built up other therapeutic areas, such as in oncology with the drugs Imbruvica and Venclexta and in neuroscience with Vraylar. A $63 billion purchase of Allergan in 2019 gave it the aesthetic and neurologic blockbuster Botox.
Gonzalez also led AbbVie to spend $21 billion on cancer drugmaker Pharmacyclics in 2015 and, more recently, $10 billion on acquiring oncology drugmaker ImmunoGen and $8.7 billion on the neuroscience-focused Cerevel Therapeutics.
No shortage of controversy
Gonzalez’s leadership also drew controversy, and his efforts to defend the company shaped perceptions of the broader industry.
AbbVie’s legal practices to protect Humira behind a wall of patents sparked criticism from politicians, lawmakers and even a few investors. Some in the industry have blamed AbbVie for the pricing backlash that led to measures in the Inflation Reduction Act allowing Medicare to negotiate drug costs. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals founder John Maraganore called AbbVie’s practice with Humira “so egregious that I think it angered a lot of policymakers,” in a recent Wall Street Journal report.
Gonzalez stood shoulder to shoulder with pharma peers like Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, former Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier to defend the industry’s approach to pricing in front of lawmakers.
Gonzalez found himself testifying to Congress on several occasions to defend the company’s practices and those of the industry. Lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have blamed high drug costs on factors like executive compensation, pointing specifically to Gonzalez as an example. In 2022, Gonzalez made more than $26 million in pay.
AbbVie’s success under Gonzalez showed pharmas how to build a huge business behind a single product. Whether the company’s pricing and patent tactics end up hurting the pharma industry at large remains in question as the industry fights further regulation.
Stamp duty imposes a cost of moving equivalent to around 5 months of a person’s take-home. Recent survey results also show that it’s deterring people from downsizing, and is an unpopular policy generally
Queensland’s 2011 stamp duty hikes led to a significant drop in home purchases, relocations, and cross-state movements, illustrating the broader impact of housing transfer taxes on individuals and the housing market.
Since the mid-90s, stamp duty has tripled relative to incomes.
A 1% increase in stamp duty caused a 2% fall in the volume of home purchases.
Research suggests that removing stamp duty, as seen in other states like NSW, could lead to a substantial increase in home relocations, potentially boosting mobility by 25%.
A recent analysis by the e61 Institute and PropTrack has shed light on the significant impact of Queensland’s 2011 stamp duty hikes.
The numbers are telling: a sharp 7.2% drop in home purchases for that year.
This isn’t just about sales figures; it’s about people – with a 9% decrease in relocations (equating to 20,000 fewer moves) and a 14% reduction in cross-state movements.
Titled ‘Stepped on by Stamp Duty: The Effect of Housing Transfer Taxes on Home Purchases and People Movement,’ this research builds upon previous studies.
One of its striking conclusions is the potential effect of stamp duty removal.
In NSW, for instance, this could trigger an additional 100,000 moves annually, boosting relocation by 25%.
Dr Nick Garvin, Research Manager at the e61 Institute, provides a unique perspective:
“Queensland’s scenario serves as a natural experiment.
They were the lone state to significantly amend stamp duty at that time, allowing us to isolate and understand its distinct impact.
This hike, though politically contentious, had far-reaching effects on both the housing market and the mobility of individuals.”
Dr Garvin highlights the Queensland case as a clear illustration of stamp duty’s broader consequences.
“The before-and-after comparison in Queensland starkly demonstrates how stamp duty can lock people in place, hindering them from downsizing or even switching jobs. In an era of slowing productivity and housing challenges, it’s crucial to remove obstacles that impede job and housing mobility”, he said.
The research narrates the events leading to Queensland’s stamp duty increase.
Announced in a budget speech, the government’s decision to remove concessions on 1 August 2011 prompted a temporary spike in home purchases.
However, following the hike, a noticeable and sustained decline in purchases was observed throughout the year.
A subsequent change in government on 1 July 2012 saw the reinstatement of the occupier concession, with purchase rates reverting to pre-August 2011 levels.
Further, e61 Institute and PropTrack research underscores a dramatic escalation in stamp duty costs over the years.
Today’s homebuyers are shouldering a burden roughly five times greater than what was borne a generation ago – an expense equivalent to about five months of take-home pay, even higher in Sydney and Melbourne.
Angus Moore, Senior Economist at PropTrack, points out:
“Today’s stamp duty is a substantial upfront cost. Buyers in Melbourne and Sydney are paying over five times the stamp duty compared to the early 1980s.
This increase is largely due to bracket creep. Most states haven’t updated their stamp duty brackets for decades.
As home prices have soared, more homes now fall into higher tax brackets.
From just 12% of buyers paying a stamp duty rate of 3% or more in the early 1990s, we’re now at 95%.”
The research also highlights how housing costs, like stamp duty, influence various personal decisions – from job changes and family planning to downsizing and relocating.
Reflecting on the broader policy implications, Dr Garvin emphasizes the lessons from 2011 and their relevance for current policy discussions, such as those in the ACT.
“Our findings underscore the positive impact of stamp duty removal or replacement, benefiting potential homeowners and the Australian economy. Stamp duty is widely unpopular. Its abolition opens the door to more equitable tax solutions, benefiting those who need or wish to move”, he concluded.
Other key findings from the research:
Since the mid-90s, stamp duty has tripled relative to income
In August 2011, the Queensland government nearly doubled stamp duty for owner-occupiers
A 1% increase in stamp duty caused a 2% fall in the volume of home purchases.
Total Queensland moved dropped by 20,000 in the 2012 financial year
Stamp duty imposes a cost of moving equivalent to around 5 months of a person’s take-home. Recent survey results also show that it’s deterring people from downsizing, and is an unpopular policy generally
If NSW removed stamp duty, about 100,000 additional owner-occupiers would move home each year – 25% more than currently move
The stamp duty rise had a statistically significant effect on moves of all distances in Australia
In FY2012, the number of people moving dropped by around 9%
The cross-state movement rate experienced a decline of 14%
Stamp duty is a very significant upfront cost for homebuyers, and is far higher today than for previous generations of homebuyers.
In Sydney, stamp duty on a median-priced home is equivalent to 6 months of full-time post-tax income. That is 5.4 times higher than it was in the early-to-mid 1980s
In Melbourne, buyers need the equivalent of 6 months of full-time – a whopping 1-fold increase from four decades ago – the largest increase of any city.
It is not just our largest cities: Owner-occupiers in Brisbane pay 5.5 times as much stamp duty, relative to incomes, as in the early Adelaide, Perth, and Hobart have also seen substantial increases in the cost of stamp duty. Stamp duty on a median-priced home is 4.9 times higher, relative to income, in Adelaide. It is 5 times higher in Perth, and 6.7 times higher in Hobart.
Housing costs are reportedly holding people back from moving homes, downsizing, changing jobs and having children
The most popular housing policy for state governments is to abolish stamp duty.
About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.
Jordan Chiles is smiling, the beam nearly as bright as the green sweatshirt she’s wearing and the Olympic ring flex of a necklace dangling at the base of her neck. This is not necessarily a departure. Effervescence tends to be Chiles’ default position.
Except there are smiles, the ones presented to the public as either a mask or an indulgence of politeness, and there are smiles. This one, bouncing from Chiles’ face a full 25 minutes into a video call, is accompanied by crinkling eyes and hands moving a mile a minute and cheeks soaring toward her ears. This is the genuine artifact.
The timing of this particular blast of joy is ironic. This weekend, she was supposed to be returning to competition for the first time since the Pan American Games in October, but she had to withdraw from the Winter Cup in Louisville, Ky., because of a shoulder injury. It is less than ideal, four months out from the U.S. Olympic Trials and five months from the Paris Olympics, but Chiles dismisses it with a wave of her hand, promising it won’t cause her much issue.
At 22 she is, as she aptly describes, young in the eyes of the world yet ancient in her insular world of gymnastics. Her body has been battered and restored, her spirit treated the same by the sport she has alternatively loved and detested in equal measure. But she has emerged on the other side as something more than just a wizened athlete; she has come into her full self.
“My motto these last two months is ‘I’m that girl,’” Chiles says. “I have nothing to prove to anyone. It’s about myself. I have nothing to prove, but I believe I have more to give.”
Chiles will be the first to admit she doesn’t have it all figured out. She does not want all the answers. The vagueness of possibility — of what her life might look like someday when gymnastics isn’t the central focus — makes her start riffing like a little kid at career day. How she could be anything she wants — a nurse, an architect — or do anything she wants. Maybe play an instrument one day. She shares her hopes to get into real estate and use it to help pull people out of difficult circumstances; she envisions a future where she gets married, has kids, gets to be a grandma. Seconds later she expands to a dream in which she takes a world that everyone says is faulty and instead finds a way to make it better.
It is exactly how you might expect someone to be talking while embracing the newness of adulthood, mixing simple goals and big hopes and trying to figure out exactly where she fits in it all. For much of her life, though, Chiles didn’t have the luxury to consider such normalcy. Her life was gymnastics.
“Gym, house, school,” she jokes. “There was only so much I could see.”
At some point, though, what once brought her joy — tumbling and bouncing through the gym — brought her only anguish. Chiles refers to her early relationship with the sport as being shoved in a black box — “Just walls, no light.” She has spoken previously about a coach, whom she chooses not to name, who subjected her to the sort of emotional and verbal torment that young girls like Chiles once thought they had to tolerate. Belittled for not being the picture-perfect pixie, she lost more than her confidence.
“I lost my voice,” she says.
She rediscovered it with an assist from Simone Biles, who suggested Chiles relocate and train with her in Texas. That move, in 2019, saved Chiles’ career and restored her joy, but it did not remove the singularity of focus. Hellbent on realizing her Olympic dream, Chiles, who was left off the world championship team three years running, poured everything into that goal. The COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics back one year, upended her timetable but not her intention.
“I was the underdog,” she says. “Everyone said, ‘Can she make the team?’ You can’t help getting those thoughts in your head, too.”
Jordan Chiles looks on with Simone Biles during the team final at the Tokyo Olympics. “I was the underdog,” Chiles says of that Olympic cycle. (Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
She did, by finishing third at U.S. trials in the summer of 2021, behind Biles and Suni Lee, and by essentially training to near perfection. For a full season heading into the Tokyo Games, she was the only gymnast to hit every one of her routines in the four major domestic competitions — 24-for-24.
That the mistakes came when the entire world was watching seemed incredibly cruel. Chiles faltered on her beam and bars routines, failing to qualify for a single individual event final. But when Biles withdrew with the twisties, Chiles, who planned to compete only in floor and vault in the team finals, was pressed into service in the other events.
In the team final, she came through with better scores. The performance wound up helping Team USA to a silver medal. A year later, she finally earned her spot in the world championships, helping the United States to a gold medal in Liverpool.
Afterward, Chiles went out and had herself a life. She signed with a marketing company, landed endorsements with Urban Outfitters and Pottery Barn Teen, worked on her clothing line, bought her parents a house and herself a car and, after deferring for two years, finally enrolled at UCLA. She went to class, made friends and tried to be as normal as a world-famous Olympic athlete can be on a college campus. She also toyed with her routines, welcoming the shift toward team success that NCAA gymnastics allows. In 2023, she won NCAA titles in the bars and floor and finished as the runner-up in the all-around.
The irony is that collegiate gymnasts compete more — there are meets nearly every weekend — and yet as the demands increased, Chiles made a blissful discovery. Her life didn’t have to be an either/or.
“My sport and my life can be separate,” she says. “I can have fun within my sport and outside of it as well. Not everything has to be about my sport.”
That, of course, becomes a far more difficult pursuit when the dangling carrot is a spot on the Olympic team. It is, currently, all about the sport, and Chiles’ epiphany should not be misconstrued as a de-emphasis on competitiveness. Once her shoulder injury is mended, she has every intention of approaching her training with the same gusto she always has and setting the same standard of excellence. That, Chiles says, needs to be clear.
“I didn’t come back to put on a face,” she says. “I came back because I have more to give.”
At various times in her career, Chiles has carried the torch as a Black woman and powerful athlete in a sport that lacked color and favored litheness. She has fought as an underdog to quiet the dissenters and find her spot on the U.S. team. And on gymnastics’ biggest stage, she has risen above her mistakes to deliver what her team needed.
She is an Olympian. She is a world champion. She is a daughter, a teammate, a friend.
And she is only getting started.
“I’m ready to go for the next six months with everything I’ve got,” she says. “And I know it’s going to be great no matter what because this time I’m going to do it for myself.”
At this, Jordan Chiles smiles.
Jordan Chiles competes on the balance beam during the team final at the Tokyo Olympics. Simone Biles’ withdrawal pressed Chiles into additional duty. (Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
GO DEEPER
How Simone Biles came all the way back for another shot at the Olympics
(Top photo from a Team USA photo shoot in November: Harry How / Getty Images)
GIFs are image files that can host multiple static images and play them in sequence, creating an animation.
GIFs are useful for adding humor, reacting to online content, and demonstrating step-by-step processes.
You can find GIFs in online libraries, social media platforms, and create your own using various tools.
Today’s digital communication often revolves around quick messages and visual cues. You may have come across the term GIF and seen others use it. But what exactly is a GIF, and how can you use it like everyone else does? Let’s talk about the origin of GIFs and when and how to use them.
What Is a GIF, and What Is It Used For?
GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It’s an image file that supports static images, like other formats such as JPG and PNG. However, unlike these traditional formats, a GIF can host multiple static images. Each of these images is a frame that’s played after the other.
When you view a GIF image and all the frames play back to back, it looks like an animation. The result is something very similar to the flip books we enjoyed as kids.
The GIF format was first introduced in 1987 by CompuServe, one of the earliest major online service providers. CompuServe initially designed the GIF format to display color images on computer monitors efficiently.
GIFs became popular due to their ability to convey motion in a small file size, and they are still widely used for online communication today.
Think of GIFs as short videos without sound. They are a more convenient option for use on the internet than videos because they are lighter and don’t require any embeds or players to function. You can simply add a GIF to a page, and it will start playing.
Thanks to their versatility and small size, GIFs have become the go-to method for adding humor, personality, and visual interest to online interactions. They are also useful in demonstrating step-by-step processes or tutorials visually. For instance, you can add animated GIFs to your Google Docs document to make the topic easier to understand.
Where and How to Find GIFs
With the vastness of the internet, finding the perfect GIF to express yourself can seem like searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, there are plenty of sources that host libraries of GIFs on virtually any topic or emotion.
1. Online GIF Libraries
Online GIF libraries are digital repositories full of animated imagery, offering a collection of GIFs to convey emotions and reactions. Giphy is perhaps the most well-known library of GIFs on the internet. With a simple search bar and a vast collection of categorized GIFs, Giphy makes it easy to find the perfect GIF for any occasion.
Another popular platform is Tenor, which offers a diverse range of animated images. Like Giphy, Tenor allows you to search for GIFs by keyword or browse through categories and collections. After finding your desired GIF on any of these platforms, you can share it directly on social media, embed it in your blog, or save it for later use.
Additionally, if you prefer using Google to search for everything, you can also search for GIFs in Chrome with an extension.
2. Social Media Platforms
With the increasing popularity of GIFs, almost all online platforms have tried to incorporate them into their systems. Social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have their own built-in GIF search feature where you can find and share GIFs. Moreover, you can also save the GIFs that other users post to use them yourself.
Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram also offer a built-in GIF search feature that lets you find and share GIFs directly within your chat. You can access the GIF search by going to the emoji panel and tapping the GIF button.
Reddit is another source where you can find GIFs. As one of the largest online communities, Reddit hosts subreddits that are dedicated to sharing GIFs, such as r/gifs and r/HighQualityGifs. You can download these GIFs and share them wherever you see fit.
3. Keyboard Extensions
Many smartphone keyboards such as Gboard for Android and the default iOS keyboard have built-in GIF search functionality. All you need to do is open the keyboard while typing, tap the GIF button, and search for GIFs using keywords or browse the trending categories.
If you’re using third-party keyboards on your Android device, they probably have the GIF search feature along with other capabilities.
4. Create Your Own GIF
If you can’t find the perfect GIF for your needs, why not create your own? There are various tools for creating custom GIFs from videos and photos. In most cases, you don’t even need to install an app for it, as you can use websites that turn your photos into GIFs.
If you want to utilize the apps that you already have, you can use PowerPoint to create GIFs. And if PowerPoint isn’t enough, you can use Photoshop to make professional GIFs. In addition, websites like Giphy’s GIF Maker and EZGif provide intuitive interfaces for turning your videos into animated GIFs.
GIFs are a versatile and fun way to add visual interest to your online interactions. So, next time you’re looking for a way to express yourself, consider using a GIF!
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/-Dancing-Dragon-and-Whistling-Flowers-among-Miao-people-1qQ0Ah42tz2/img/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797.jpeg'A file photo shows a “Dancing Dragon and Whistling Flowers” performance in Taijiang, Guizhou Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/-Dancing-Dragon-and-Whistling-Flowers-among-Miao-people-1qQ0Ah42tz2/img/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797.jpeg'A file photo shows a “Dancing Dragon and Whistling Flowers” performance in Taijiang, Guizhou Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/-Dancing-Dragon-and-Whistling-Flowers-among-Miao-people-1qQ0Ah42tz2/img/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797.jpeg'A file photo shows a “Dancing Dragon and Whistling Flowers” performance in Taijiang, Guizhou Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/-Dancing-Dragon-and-Whistling-Flowers-among-Miao-people-1qQ0Ah42tz2/img/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797/060fc8bf005149818f855662c8ef2797.jpeg'A file photo shows a “Dancing Dragon and Whistling Flowers” performance in Taijiang, Guizhou Province. /IC
In a similar celebration to the fire dragon dance, the “Dancing Dragon and Whistling Flowers” event takes place every year among the Miao ethnic group in Taijiang, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. In this activity, bare-chested dragon dancers move gracefully amid the glow of fire, creating a thrilling spectacle that is often hailed as the “game of the brave.”
Typically, the dragon dance kicks off on the ninth day of the first month of the traditional Chinese calendar. Dancers navigate through the streets and enter people’s homes to extend New Year’s greetings, accompanied by the rhythmic beats of drums and gongs, presenting a lively performance. Amid the dancing sparks, people pray for a safe and smooth year ahead.
In what could be a sign for awards shows to come, the Spirit Awards were severely disrupted on Sunday afternoon by pro-Palestinian protesters.
About 40 minutes into the daytime ceremony, which was held in a tent near the beach in Santa Monica, loud sounds could be heard by attending guests. A small group of protesters had assembled on a public sidewalk across from the tent, holding up a loudspeaker that played a pre-recorded looped chant of “Free, free Palestine,” “Long live Palestine” and “Cease-fire now” that could be heard throughout the rest of the show.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, left, and Anne Hathaway at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Nevertheless, the ceremony continued and awards were handed out, with writer-director Celine Song’s “Past Lives” winning for feature and director.
“Past Lives” is also nominated for best picture and screenplay at the Academy Awards. In an interview with The Times before the Spirit Awards ceremony got underway, Song said, “At the heart of it, ‘Past Lives’ is an independent film. It was made independently, and then we also premiered at Sundance, which is really the heart of independent cinema. So to me, this is like being home. Walking in here, I already felt like this is where the movie belongs.”
As often happens, Spirit Awards voters went for films also nominated for Academy Awards; Along with “Past Lives,” Oscar-nominated films such as “American Fiction,” “The Holdovers,” “May December,” “Four Daughters” and “Anatomy of a Fall” all took home Spirit Awards.
Benny Safdie, left, and “American Fiction” screenwriter-director Cord Jefferson at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“American Fiction” won for screenplay for Cord Jefferson, who also directed the film, as well as lead performance for Jeffrey Wright. This was the second year the Spirit Awards gave out non-gendered acting awards with 10 nominees, including men and women, for each prize in lead and supporting categories.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, of Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” won for supporting performance, as did her co-star, Dominic Sessa, for breakthrough performance. Eigil Bryld’s cinematography won as well.
But as the awards show continued, the protesters’ chanting could be heard through acceptance speeches. The protesters were outside on a sidewalk adjoining the beach, on the far side of the tent from where the stage was set up. Event organizers moved a shuttle bus backward and forward in front of the protesters to attempt to block the sound of their loudspeaker. Depending on where one was located inside the tent, they were either loud or unclear. The ceremony was being livestreamed on YouTube, where it was reported that muffled, indistinct noise could be heard on the broadcast.
The protest was noted a few times from the stage, often with a note of confusion as to what was going on. Host Aidy Bryant was beginning a comedy segment not long after the protest erupted and noted, “We are at the beach and people are practicing their freedom of speech.”
Lily Gladstone, center, at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Comedian Jimmy O. Yang, while presenting another award, referred to the “heckler” outside and joked that people in the independent film community are “used to getting yelled at.”
Winning the John Cassavetes award for a film made for under $1 million, “Fremont” filmmaker Babak Jalali said, “There are people speaking outside and whatever they’re saying, I think it’s far more important than what I’m about to say.” His words were met with applause.
Prior to the ceremony, Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, which puts on the Spirit Awards, said that the switch last year from a broadcast partner to livestreaming on YouTube had actually doubled the audience for the show and made it available internationally.
“This is where the community comes together,” Welsh said. “And people I think need that now and really value it.”
Will Ferrell at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Accepting the Robert Altman Award for the ensemble of “Showing Up,” filmmaker Kelly Reichardt summed up the afternoon by recalling seeing filmmaker Robert Altman receive a lifetime achievement award in 2003 as war was erupting in Iraq. “And he was pissed.” Reichardt added, gesturing to the disruption outside. “I think he’d have a lot to say, just this weirdness of us being here and celebrating each other and our work, and also, you know: Life goes on outside the tent. Peace.”
Here is a complete list of today’s Spirit Award winners.
FILM CATEGORIES
Best feature “Past Lives” Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Director Celine Song, “Past Lives”
Screenplay Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”
First feature “A Thousand and One” Director: A.V. Rockwell Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston
From left, Greta Lee, Emma Corrin, Andrew Scott, Jeffrey Wright and Elijah Wright at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
First screenplay Samy Burch, “May December”
John Cassavetes Award (for a feature made under $1,000,000) “Fremont” Writer-director: Babak Jalal Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner
Breakthrough performance Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers”
Supporting performance Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Jeffrey Wright, left, and Colman Domingo at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Lead performance Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction
Robert Altman Award (for an ensemble cast, director and casting director) “Showing Up” Director: Kelly Reichardt Casting Director: Gayle Keller Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams
Cinematography Eigil Bryld, “The Holdovers”
Editing Daniel Garber, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”
International film “Anatomy of a Fall” (NEON) Director: Justine Triet
Documentary “Four Daughters” Director: Kaouther Ben Hania Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha
Someone to Watch Monica Sorelle, “Mountains”
Truer Than Fiction Set Hernandez, “unseen”
Producers Award Monique Walton
Andrew Scott and Anne Hathaway at the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
New scripted series “Beef” Creator/Executive Producer: Lee Sung Jin Executive Producers: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich Co-Executive Producers: Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper
New non-scripted or documentary series “Dear Mama” Executive Producers: Lasse Järvi, Quincy “QD3” Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel “Future” Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair
Supporting performance in a new scripted series Nick Offerman, “The Last of Us”
Lead performance in a new scripted series Ali Wong, “Beef”
Breakthrough performance in a new scripted series Keivonn Montreal Woodard, “The Last of Us”
Ensemble cast in a new scripted series “Jury Duty” Ensemble Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, Evan Williams
When veteran engineer and executive Pat Gelsinger returned to Intel as CEO in 2021, the once-great chipmaker was in a slump. After failing to adapt to the mobile era and then missing several steps in cutting-edge microprocessor manufacturing, it was now also falling behind in supplying chips to feed the tech industry’s growing hunger for artificial intelligence.
With optimism that at times seemed reckless, Gelsinger promised that Intel would make an epic comeback. He vowed to shake up its sleepy corporate culture, refocus on core engineering, and deliver a revitalized manufacturing plan that would put rivals TSMC and Samsung on notice.
This week, Gelsinger declared Intel’s comeback plan well and truly on track. He announced a rebrand of the company’s “foundry” business, which manufactures chips designed by other companies, saying that Intel’s latest manufacturing process would later this year yield silicon chips as efficient and capable as ones from TSMC. Microsoft is the first big customer for this new chipmaking technology—a key coup for Intel as it tries to convince the industry that it can offer competitive products suited to the age of AI.
Pat Gelsinger spoke to WIRED senior writer Will Knight about Intel’s AI reboot over Zoom from his home in Santa Clara, California. The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Will Knight: You announced this week that Intel will relaunch its business that manufactures chips on behalf of other companies as an “AI-era system foundry.” What does that mean?
Pat Gelsinger: I began Intel’s strategy two plus years ago, and for the company, generative AI has been this unexpected surge. This has been the land of Nvidia, but we’re the one company that actually has the opportunity to participate in 100 percent of the AI market. We know how to connect up networks and memory and [provide] supply chains and all of these other elements that we’re finding customers are super excited to take advantage of.
Speaking of the AI surge, what did you make of reports suggesting OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman wants to raise $7 trillion to develop and manufacture chips needed to guarantee progress in AI?
My first reaction was, that’s a mind-bogglingly big number. And then I had to do the math. Today, the biggest AI models were generated on about 10,000 GPUs. The belief is there that we probably need to be 10 million for the biggest AI models that get produced in the future.
We’re already saying we may spend a couple billion dollars training the most advanced models today. Plus, the math in the $7 trillion also includes power and data centers.
This week you said Intel is on track to deliver its new “18A” manufacturing process, which will compete with TSMC’s best offerings. What else are you doing to regain an edge?
The whole industry is pursuing this next generation transistor, what we call ribbonFET. I think everybody’s [asking] who’s going to produce the next best transistor on the planet.
But the thing that everybody is giving us credit for is backside power, this new way of delivering power into the device, which gives you better current resistance performance, but it’s also improving the density of the chip. That means the same wafer, instead of producing 100 chips, can produce 120 chips. It’s a huge value proposition.
You announced Microsoft as a customer of your foundry business. But Intel previously fell behind the competition in this market. How will you convince customers that things are different this time?
LinkedIn released a new guide detailing actionable steps and tactics you can take now to maximize campaign performance in the absence of third-party cookies.
Amid regulatory changes and reduced identifiers, the playbook offers advice on how to meet the demand for personalized ad experiences in a cookieless world.
Why we care. As the deprecation of third-party cookies looms, LinkedIn’s insights could be valuable in guiding approaches, but it’s important to note that the advice is published with LinkedIn’s interests in mind rather than solely benefiting brands and advertisers.
1. Create a robust first-party data strategy. LinkedIn recommends setting up a strong framework for collecting and using first-party data. To do this, the platform suggests utilizing its Audience Targeting tools, like Audience Insights and Matched Audiences. Start with a broad approach and conduct A/B testing on the same ad creative with diverse audiences to ensure your message is resonating.
The platform also advises prioritizing building audience trust through clear and transparent messaging about the data value exchange, alongside straightforward opt-in and opt-out options as you invest in first-party data.
2.Embrace AI. LinkedIn recommends trying new technologies for scalable targeting and ROI, highlighting its Predictive Audience tool. This feature utilizes LinkedIn’s AI and your data to create custom high-intent audience segments. While emphasizing the importance of human oversight, LinkedIn notes that AI and ML capabilities include:
Enhanced targeting and personalization.
Predictive analytics.
Real-time campaign optimization.
Ad personalization based on behavior and preferences for different segments.
3. Reevaluate your reporting strategy. To combat reporting challenges from third-party cookie deprecation, LinkedIn suggests reevaluating approaches like last-click attribution, which may overstate the impact of activities like search and display. Instead, the platform recommends collaborating with your Sales and Finance departments to identify more meaningful metrics.
LinkedIn also advises leveraging CRM data through tools like the Revenue Attribution Report to connect marketing efforts with sales success. Additionally, using first-party Conversion Tracking provides insights into post-click and view-through conversions, facilitating measurement of ad impact and ROI.
4. Test, learn and win. LinkedIn warns that you should not assume what worked in the past will work in a cookieless future. Optimize campaigns by testing, learning, and winning to reduce costs and stay ahead. Evaluate campaign performance comprehensively, including its impact on brand health metrics. Measure your brand campaign’s effectiveness on LinkedIn through brand lift testing, setting baselines, and optimizing through A/B tests for improved performance, ROI, and valuable insights.
5. LinkedIn marketing partner. LinkedIn has partnered with solution and service providers with specialized capabilities in areas like predictive audiences and revenue attribution. The playbook offers their practical solutions and case studies to help you implement these features on LinkedIn. Investing in resilient data and solutions now ensures optimal performance across the marketing funnel amidst privacy changes.
What LinkedIn is saying. Brandon Johnson, Senior Marketing Manager at LinkedIn, said in a statement:
“Gartner estimates that by the end of 2024, 75% of the global population will have their personal data covered by privacy regulations.”
“Taking steps now to invest in data and solutions that are more resilient to privacy changes will help ensure you are maximizing performance across the marketing funnel.”
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Deep dive. Read LinkedIn’s blog post in full or download its new guide for more information.
In a move to redefine India’s media landscape, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur launched four portals aimed at fostering a more conducive business environment, enhancing transparency in government communication, and providing easy access to authentic government videos.
Government’s Recognition for Ease of Doing Business
Minister Thakur highlighted the government’s achievements in improving the ease of doing business, acknowledged by international indices such as the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index and the Logistic Performance Index.
Platforms like the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) were cited as evidence of the government’s commitment to fostering competition for MSMEs and small businesses.
Revolutionary Portals for Efficiency
The four portals launched signify a leap towards enhancing efficiency and transparency in government operations.
Press Sewa Portal: Developed under the Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023 (PRP Act, 2023), this portal automates the process for newspaper registration and related procedures. Its features include online application filing, real-time tracking, and a module for District Magistrates to manage applications.
Transparent Empanelment Media Planning and eBilling System: Introduced for the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), this system streamlines media planning processes and offers an ERP solution for the media industry. Features include automated empanelment, media planning, billing, and a mobile app for partners.
NaViGate Bharat Portal: Developed by the New Media Wing of the Ministry, this portal serves as a unified bilingual platform hosting videos on the government’s development and citizen welfare measures. It offers navigation, categorization, video playback, and search functionality.
National Register for LCOs: This portal aims to centralize the registration of Local Cable Operators (LCOs), promising an organized cable sector. With online registration facilities and a national register for LCOs, it paves the way for service and convenience for cable operators.
A Leap Towards a Transparent and Efficient Future
The launch of these portals marks a milestone in India’s journey towards a more transparent, efficient, and business-friendly environment.
As India continues to make strides in governance and economic reforms, these initiatives reaffirm the government’s commitment to leveraging technology for the benefit of its citizens and businesses.
With the tandem launches of Fortnite Festival, Lego Fortnite and Rocket Racing in December, Fortnite has been overflowing with content in recent months. But now it’s time for our first big shakeup of the new chapter, thanks to the upcoming launch of Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2.
We don’t know a ton about what’s coming just yet, but we know more than we usually do by this point, thanks to some new stuff that was added to the game files with the 29.30 update. Spoiler: It looks like the long-rumored Greek mythology season really is happening.
When does Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 Begin?
Season 1 is currently slated to end late on Thursday, March 7/early morning on March 8, depending on your time zone. Every previous time that a season has ended on a Thursday night, the new season started the next morning. Expect to start playing Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 on March 8.
What’s the theme for Chapter 5 Season 2?
It’s been rumored for months that a Greek mythology season was in the works, and the Chapter 5 map being full of Mediterranean scenery and architecture, not to mention the whole Ruined Reels POI, has only fueled that rumor. And that theme has now seemingly been virtually confirmed by the 29.30 patch, which added several big Greek mythology elements to the game files. These things aren’t Season 2 things that were included in this patch by accident–we’ll be seeing them on the battle royale island before Season 1 ends.
Will there be a live event to end Season 1?
There won’t be anything like the Big Bang event that introduced Chapter 5, but there will be new quests and a major change to the island as part of the ramp-up to Season 2. The quests will come courtesy of a new character, wearing ancient Greek armor, who’s called Odyssey–a presumed confirmation of the mythology theme.
But just to drive the point home: The map is about to grow an arm, and it’s going to be holding Pandora’s Box. This will be a community event of sorts akin to the volcano vault in Chapter 1 Season 8–players will have to use their pickaxe to destroy the chains, and once it’s broken, the box will open and presumably unleash many bad things upon the omniverse.
A video of the location where the Chapter 5 – Season 2 teaser will be at in game can be seen below VIA @FNBRNewsJP According to recent leaks, we as a community have to work together to break the chains and drop down Pandoras Box.pic.twitter.com/BaYtPtfAVK
The arm, by the way, looks like it belongs to the Chapter 1 Season 7 battle pass skin The Prisoner, though given the theme it could be Hephaestus instead–or maybe The Prisoner is Hephaestus.
You should expect all of this stuff to start once the TMNT event ends on Feb. 27.
Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 battle pass skins
We haven’t seen the Season 2 battle pass yet, but it’s probably safe to assume that Odyssey will be one of them. We haven’t seen any other skins yet, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Ruined Reels has statues of Fish Thicc wearing a toga–that’s gotta be a candidate.
Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 battle pass collabs
There’s no word yet on what collaboration skins might be included with the battle pass in Season 2. But with the Greek mythology theme, multiple Gaming Legends skins are possible, like a classic Kratos, or Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. And keep your fingers crossed that the existing Norse-themed Kratos from the God of War reboot will return for the first time in three years during the season.
Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 Starter Pack and Save the World pack
A new season means a new starter pack–which includes a skin, back bling, pickaxe and 600 V-Bucks for $4.49–and a new Save the World pack–which comes with access to Save the World, quests for 1500 V-Bucks, and a set of cosmetics. And we already know what they will be. The starter pack skin will be Clara, a ballet dancer/assassin a la Jennifer Lawrence’s Red Sparrow. And the Save the World pack’s skin will be Dr. Vinderbot.
Fun fact: V-Bucks is actually short for Vindertech Bucks. Surprise!
The gut microbiome interacts with the loss of female sex hormones to exacerbate metabolic disease, including weight gain, fat in the liver and the expression of genes linked with inflammation, researchers found in a new rodent study.
The findings, published in the journal Gut Microbes, may shed light on why women are at significantly greater risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes after menopause, when ovarian production of female sex hormones diminishes.
“Collectively, the findings demonstrate that removal of the ovaries and female hormones led to increased permeability and inflammation of the gut and metabolic organs, and the high-fat diet exacerbated these conditions,” said Kelly S. Swanson, the director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Kraft Heinz Endowed Professor in Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is a corresponding author of the paper. “The results indicated that the gut microbiome responds to changes in female hormones and worsens metabolic dysfunction.”
“This is the first time it has been shown that the response of microbiome to the loss of ovarian hormone production can increase metabolic dysfunction,” said first author Tzu-Wen L. Cross, a professor ofnutrition science and the director of the Gnotobiotic Animal Facility at Purdue University. Cross was a doctoral student at the U. of I. when she began the research.
“The gut microbiome is sensitive to sex hormone changes and can further impact the risk of disease development.”
Cross said early microbiome research, beginning around 2005, looked at how the microbiome contributes to obesity development, but most of those studies focused on males.
“Metabolic dysfunction that is driven by the loss of ovarian-function in menopausal women — and how much the gut microbiome contributes to that — has not been studied. The etiology is clearly very complex, but those gut-microbiome related factors are certainly components that we speculated play a role,” she said.
The scientists created diet-induced obesity in female mice and simulated the loss of female sex hormones by removing the ovaries in half of the population to examine any metabolic and inflammatory changes, including those to enzymes in the gut. The diets for both groups of mice were identical except for the proportion of fat, which constituted 60% or 10% of calories for those in the high-fat and low-fat groups, respectively.
In the second leg of the study, fecal samples were harvested from mice with or without ovaries and implanted in germ-free mice to study the impact on weight gain and metabolic and inflammatory activity in the gut, liver and fat tissue.
“The mice that were recipients of the gut microbiome of ovariectomized mice gained more weight and fat mass, and they had greater expression of genes in the liver associated with inflammation, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis compared with those in the control group,” Swanson said.
In assessing the severity of fatty tissue and triglyceride concentrations in the liver, the scientists found that the triglyceride levels were significantly higher and fatty deposits in the liver and groin were greater in the mice that consumed the high-fat diet compared with all other treatment groups, according to the study.
Those on the high-fat diet and those without ovaries had significantly larger fat cells, which are associated with cell death and the infiltration of macrophages — a type of white blood cell that destroys dead cells and microorganisms and secretes pro-inflammatory proteins. Along with elevated expression of the genes associated with inflammation and macrophage markers, these mice had lower expression of genes that are involved with glucose and lipid metabolism.
In the donor mice without ovaries that consumed the low-fat diet, the scientists found increased levels of beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme produced by the colon and some intestinal bacteria that breaks down and recycles steroidal metabolites such as estrogen and various toxins, including carcinogens.
The scientists also examined the expression of genes coding for tight-junction proteins, which affect cell membranes’ permeability. They found that the mice without ovaries and those fed the high-fat diet had lower levels of these proteins in the liver and colon, which suggested their gut barriers were more permeable, compromised by either their diet or the absence of female hormones.
In the livers of the recipient mice that received transplants from donors without ovaries, the scientists found elevated expression levels of the gene for arginase-1, which plays a critical role in the elimination of nitrogenous waste. High levels of this protein have been associated with cardiovascular problems such as hypertension and atherosclerosis, according to the study.
The paper was co-written by Erik R. Nelson, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology; animal sciences professor Brett R. Loman; and Matthew A. Wallig, a professor emeritus of pathobiology, all at the U. of I.
Additional co-authors were Aadra P. Bhatt, a professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; and Matthew R. Redinbo, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics, both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Co-authors also included bacteriology professor Federico E. Rey and senior scientist Eugenio I. Vivas, both at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Jan S. Suchodolski, associate director of research and head of microbiome sciences in veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences at Texas A&M University.
Additional co-authors were then-research assistant Abigayle M.R. Simpson at Purdue University, and then-graduate student Ching-Yen Lin and then-undergraduate student Natasha M. Hottmann, both at the U. of I.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
All zodiac signs have their own characteristics and traits which define someone’s personality. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you started your day by already knowing about what’s going to come your way? Read on to find out whether the odds will be in your favour today.
Horoscope Today: Astrological prediction for February 26, 2024 (File Photo)
ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 20)
You will find the will to wean yourself off junk food and become health conscious. You are likely to up your earnings and strengthen your financial front. A pat on the back on the professional front will get you in an upbeat mood. You can be given more than your fair share of responsibilities at home. Someone may pile on to you for a journey that you are undertaking. A step regarding property may prove unfavourable, so be careful.
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Love Focus: Lover may appear a bit demanding today, but don’t convey this message at the first instance.
Lucky Number: 4
Lucky Colour: Sky Blue
TAURUS (Apr 21-May 20)
Chances of contracting a common ailment cannot be ruled out for some. You are likely to make a fortune in your current profession or business. Distractions can make you lose your focus at work. Family life will be endearing and tempt you to spend more time at home. You can be left stranded somewhere without any mode of conveyance. You will gain by going exactly as per directions on the academic front.
Love Focus: Romance may beckon you, but may remain elusive.
Lucky Number:1
Lucky Colour: Yellow
GEMINI (May 21-Jun 21)
Regular workouts and eating right is your mantra for keeping fit. There is a chance of spending more than required just to impress others. You can struggle to keep pace on the work front. A family elder may appear hard to please and can upset you. Those going abroad will have fun travelling. You may finally own a property you have been eyeing for long. You are likely to get close to those who matter on the academic front.
Love Focus: The moodiness of the lover will need to be tackled with tact.
Lucky Number: 8
Lucky Colour: Green
CANCER (Jun 22-Jul 22)
An ailment may recur due to sheer negligence and trouble you. You grow financially stronger as wealth comes to you from various sources. A change made at the workplace will prove to be a wise decision. On the home front, you are likely to get back in the same coin that you give out. Changed environment by undertaking a short journey will be beneficial.
Love Focus: Romantic bonds are set to grow stronger through mutual love and care.
Lucky Number:11
Lucky Colour: Blue
LEO (Jul 23-Aug 23)
Good results are likely to be reaped from a fitness regimen undertaken by you. Keeping tight control over expenses will be a step in the right direction. Your large-heartedness can win the admiration of subordinates. There will be a lot happening on the family front. Travelling will help take your mind off depressing thoughts. You are likely to benefit from a property-related matter. Things start looking much more pleasant than before on the academic front.
Love Focus: Your immature ways can put paid to a romantic evening out with lover.
Lucky Number: 6
Lucky Colour: Peach
VIRGO (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Home remedies are likely to give partial success in getting rid of a common ailment. Financial front displays signs of stabilising. You will finally be able to realise your dream on the professional front. Organising something at home cannot be ruled out for some. Those planning for a long drive can expect an exciting time. You will do well to go ahead with a purchase of a piece of real estate.
Love Focus: Someone you secretly desire may give positive indications and make your day!
Lucky Number: 9
Lucky Colour: Saffron
LIBRA (Sep 24-Oct 23)
Neglect on the health front can prove expensive for you. Against all odds, you will be able to manage your finances well. Professionals looking to increase their clientele will succeed. Family will be loving and caring, and cater to your needs. If you are planning a short trip, then there is no better time than now. Some of you will soon become the proud possessors of a property.
Love Focus: Paucity of time may not allow you to spend much time with your lover today.
Lucky Number: 3
Lucky Colour: Golden
SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 22)
Coming back in shape will pose difficulties, but nothing that you cannot overcome. Financially, you will spend much more than you intended to and upset your budget. Things look up for you on the professional front, as you improve your performance. Meeting folks on leave is likely for those separated from family. You may opt out of a planned out-of-town trip.
Love Focus: You will need to smooth some kinks appearing on the romantic front to lead a happy love life.
Lucky Number: 2
Lucky Colour: Light Grey
Becoming a confidante of someone important cannot be ruled out for some. Your love for street food can play havoc with your system. Don’t invest in any scheme without going into the details. Family may not have time for you today. Frequent travellers will need to cater to the weather to remain fit. A property dispute appears inevitable for some.
Love Focus: You may need to cater to lover’s mood, if you want to enjoy the evening.
Lucky Number:22
Lucky Colour: Navy Blue
You are likely to enjoy good health by managing to keep bad habits under check. Excellent earning opportunities come your way. You are likely to swim with the tide on the professional front. You can take sadistic pleasure in manipulating someone on the family front. You may drive down to someplace exotic and enjoy your heart out. You will be able to raise a loan to buy property that had caught your fancy.
Love Focus: Suspicions of a lover may need to be laid to rest.
Lucky Number: 5
Lucky Colour: Siler
Some of you may get a step closer to coming back in shape. Financial planning may remain on paper as you opt to splurge. A wrong initiative taken on the work front may haunt you afterwards. There is much to do on the home front, but you may not feel up to it. Accompanying someone on a vacation is on the cards and will be enjoyable. A property issue is likely to be resolved amicably.
Love Focus: Some of you may become bold enough to approach the one you secretly love.
Lucky Number:18
Lucky Colour: Cream
PISCES (Feb 20-Mar 20)
You may take up some activity or sport just to keep trim and slim. Keeping home expenses to a minimum may prove to be an uphill task. You will remain totally satisfied on the professional front. You will need to be a bit assertive on the home front for things to move smoothly. A short journey to take a break from the routine is possible for some. Renting out property is on the cards.
Love Focus: Romance may not happen all at once, because of your treading the romantic path cautiously.
ORI Capital, the China- and U.S.-based venture investor behind the biotechnology sector’s largest initial public offering this year, has raised a new life sciences fund, the firm said Thursday.
The $260 million fund is the second for ORI since the firm was launched in 2015 by Simone Song, formerly the head of health banking for China at Goldman Sachs. ORI closed its first fund one year later, focusing on investments in cancer, heart and neurodegenerative diseases.
The firm’s approach is built around a database it calls “Orizon.” ORI uses the database to sift through thousands of young companies and experimental medicines, weighing their prospects against either marketed drugs or others in development. It prioritizes investments in companies “tackling significant diseases with high mortality rates,” Song said in a statement.
The approach has already resulted in some notable payouts. ORI invested in Semma Therapeutics, the diabetes cell therapy developer Vertex Pharmaceuticals bought for $950 million in 2019. It also backed immune disease drug developer Kymab before its $1.1 billion acquisition by Sanofi. Drugs from both startups are now in clinical testing. Song told Bloomberg last year the firm believed it would exit most of the investments from its first fund by the end of 2024 with an expected 3.6-times return on invested capital.
More recently, ORI saw another one of its investments, cancer drug startup CG Oncology, raise $380 million in an IPO in January. That offering was the biotech sector’s largest this year and the most lucrative IPO since last May. according to BioPharma Dive data. ORI was CG’s top shareholder, owning an 11% stake in the company prior to the offering.
The firm typically targets early- to mid-stage companies. Going forward, it is eyeing newer drugmaking approaches such as chemical drugs that target RNA, so-called protein degraders, cell therapies and RNA-based medicines.
“We are in a golden-era of innovation across the intersection of AI and biology, where technological breakthroughs are creating new approaches to diagnosing and treating disease,” Song said in the statement, adding that the current environment “provides an attractive opportunity for investing in the next generation of leading biotech companies.”
ORI isn’t alone in raising a new fund. Since the second half of last year, OrbiMed, Westlake Village Biopartners, Abingworth and Bioluminescence Ventures have all closed new funds. Arch Venture Partners and Flagship Pioneering are each working on $3 billion funds as well.
With many commentators forecasting what’s ahead for property in 2024, many are focusing on the times we’ve experienced over the last few years and trying and extract the lessons we’ve learned..
Rather than do that, today I’d like to remind you of some of the foundational principles I use to grow my wealth.
Let’s look at things that “always worked” rather than things that are working now.
It’s not hard to remember how wrong all the short term forecasts have been over the last few years.
At Metropole, our approach is built on a number of frameworks that have stood the test of time and are proven and trusted as well as the following principles:
1. Have faith in the future.
2. Patience
3. Discipline
4. Build a great team around you.
5. I don’t make forecasts, I have expectations – and that’s very different.
With many commentators forecasting what’s ahead for property in 2024, many are focusing on the times we’ve experienced over the last few years and trying and extract the lessons we’ve learned.
Rather than do that, today I’d like to remind you of some of the foundational principles I use to grow my wealth.
Let’s look at things that “always worked” rather than things that are working now.
Now to be clear… this is very different from most of what you hear in the news, which basically focuses on short-term investment trends.
You know… those headlines that we’ve been seeing so much of recently – the top 10 areas to invest in 2024, the top 5 lessons from 2023, what’s ahead for interest rates or where’s the next hotspot.
Remember all those short-term forecasts for property
But just look what happened to all those forecasts made 12 months ago, and then the about-face all those economists had to make over the last year when their predictions were so wrong.
And it was much the same with the forecasts made in 2020 when Covid hit or those forecasts made at the beginning of 2019 when there was the spectre of a Labour election win and change the property taxes.
Again these forecasts are wrong.
And what about all those “Cliffs” that we were going to fall off – the unemployment cliff, the interest rate cliff, and the fixed interest rate cliff that didn’t eventuate.
What came of them?
It’s not just the property forecasts
Just look at the financial section of the newspapers or websites and you’ll read about the recent resurgence in the price of Bitcoin, or that the Australian Stock market is almost at an all-time high.
But only a few months ago, gold was the flavour of the day.
And, who could forget the surge in the value of technology shares during the height of the lockdown?
These types of headlines lead to a short-term focus and encourage investors – or let’s call them speculators – to try and time the market or look for the next big trend.
But successful investing, like many things in life, is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural.
One of the core tenants of my approach to investment success is goal-focused and planning-driven.
And the good news is focusing on the long-term, big-picture trends removes the burden of correctly guessing future short terms trends such as interest rates, inflation, hot spots, and the many other variables that the average analysts and many investors spend their days obsessing over.
In a culture that tends to be market-focused and performance-driven, my approach sees our clients at Metropole, and also my personal investing, acting on a financial plan, a customised strategic property plan that we build for our clients, rather than reacting to the vagaries of the investment markets.
Being long-term focused means we invest in the type of property assets that have always worked rather than what’s working now or what’s going to be hot this coming year.
At Metropole, our approach is built on a number of frameworks that have stood the test of time and are proven and trusted as well as the following principles:
1. Faith in the future
While it’s easier and more trendy to be pessimistic, I believe that optimism is the only realism.
There are so many doomsayers out there, and I know because I regularly get trolled by them, particularly on YouTube.
There has never been as much information about how to become financially fluent in the public arena as there is today, however, there is just as much financial misinformation and this has made many people pessimistic.
By the way… I don’t know a rich pessimist.
Yet based on history, I confidently believe in the ability of a capitalistic society to prosper on the back of our collective ingenuity.
And if the last few years didn’t teach you anything, they should have taught you that residential real estate in Australia is an asset class that is too big to fail.
Neither the Government, the Reserve Bank, or even the private banks are going to allow it to fail.
More than that residential real estate is a great asset class to use to build your wealth because it is underpinned by a large proportion of owner-occupiers, homeowners who would rather eat dog food than give up their homes.
And remember… 50% of these homeowners don’t have a mortgage against their home, having paid it off a long time ago; and a large percentage of the other homeowners have paid off a significant portion of their mortgage.
2. Patience
Contrary to the financially illiterate, the strategic investor refuses to react inappropriately to disappointing events.
That’s why they have a plan to follow, and they act on this plan rather than the short-term ups and downs of the investment markets.
They recognise that wealth is the transfer of money from the impatient to the patient.
3. Discipline
Similar to the principle of patience, discipline sees strategic investors continue to do the right things, even if the fruit of these decisions can’t be seen in the short term.
4. Build a great team around you
Property investment is a process, not an event.
In fact, property investment is a long-term process and it takes up to 30 years to develop financial independence through residential real estate.
And all successful investors I know continue to educate themselves so they become financially literate, but they’re very careful whose advice they take because they’ve learned most educators and so-called “advisors” have a vested interest.
They also surround themselves with professionals and mentors who they are prepared to pay for advice to ensure they maximise their investment returns.
Yet while successful investors pay for their mentors the average investor gets their advice for free over the Internet, in blogs or on YouTube.
They haven’t learned the simple fact that the cheapest advice is the one that gives you the best investment results – and obviously, you’re not going to get that for free.
On the other hand, financially literate investors accept the guidance of their holistic wealth advisors and if they have sufficient disciple and allow time for compounding and leverage to work its magic, their investment success is all but guaranteed.
While simple, it’s not easy.
And here’s the 5th way I’ll ensure my property investing is successful…
5. I don’t make forecasts – I have expectations
As you can imagine, I’m currently being asked:
What’s ahead for property?
– by both our clients at Metropole and various media sources now that we’re at the beginning of a new property cycle.
But I think I’m disappointing them with my answers because I tend to say something like:
A lot will happen over the next decade, but I don’t make forecasts – instead, I have expectations.
Now there’s a big difference between forecasts and expectations.
I expect there to be another recession in the next decade. But I don’t know when it will come.
I expect the property market to boom over the next few years and then prices will slump again. But I don’t know when.
I expect that some investments I will make won’t do well. But I don’t know which ones they will be.
I expect interest rates will fall. Probably not for a number of months. In fact, I don’t know when.
And I expect another world financial crisis. But I have no idea when it will come.
Now, these are not contradictions or a form of a copout.
As I said…there’s a big difference between an expectation and a forecast.
An expectation is an anticipation of how things are likely to play out in the future based on my perspective of how things worked in the past.
A forecast is putting a time frame to that expectation.
Of course, in an ideal world, we would be able to forecast what’s ahead for our property markets with a level of accuracy.
But we can’t because there are just too many moving parts.
Sure, there are all those statistics that are easy to quantify, but what is hard to identify is exactly when and how millions of strangers will act in response to the prevailing economic and political environment.
Then there will always be those X factors that crop up.
Those unforeseen events that come out of the blue, which could be local or overseas undo all the forecasts we made.
So what should you do about this?
I’ve found the most practical approach is to have expectations of what could happen without specific forecasts.
That’s because when you expect something to happen at some stage in the future, you’re not surprised when it happens.
Expecting the worst while preparing for the best forces you to invest with room for error, and psychologically prepares you for the inevitable disappointments.
This is exactly how I planned for the property downturn of 2018-19 and why I was prepared for the challenges of 2022.
I didn’t know when the property downturns would come, how long they would last, or how they would affect the value of my property portfolio or the cash flow of my business.
But I knew a downturn would come once again, and I was prepared for it with cash flow buffers to see me through the difficult times.
What I’m trying to explain is that there’s a huge difference between, “I expect another next property downturn sometime in the next decade” and “I expect the next property downturn in the second half of 2027.”
One of the big differences is how I invest
If I expect the property upturn we’re currently experiencing will be followed by another property downturn, then I won’t be surprised when it comes.
But since I don’t know when this will happen, I won’t make focus on my property investing trying to time the property cycle.
That’s because trying to time the property cycle or looking for the next “hot spot” are two of the reason many property investors fail.
On the other hand, strategic investors maximise their profits during property booms and minimise their downside during busts by investing in assets that have “always” worked, rather than looking for the next hot spot or for the type of property strategy that works “now.”
They own investment-grade assets in investment-grade inner and middle ring suburbs of Australia’s three big capital cities.
The type of property that keeps growing in value over time without fluctuating wildly in price when the property cycle slows down.
There will always be an X factor –
An unexpected risk you didn’t see coming
Strategic investors try and protect themselves by owning the best assets they can, by having financial buffers in place to ride through the ups and downs of the property cycle, setting up the right ownership structures, insuring themselves, and obtaining holistic advice from their consultants.
But the biggest risk is what no one sees coming because if no one sees it coming no one is prepared for it and if no one is prepared for it, its damage will be amplified when it arrives.
An X factor – an unexpected event – seems to come every year and a major one, one that “breaks the world” tends to come every decade.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
We’re seeing a gradual increase in the trend to find out whether people are compatible with someone or not based on their zodiac sign. According to Bumble’s sociologist Jess Carbino, Ph.D, this trend has to do with young people choosing to identify less with religion and more with spirituality and astrology. Today, let’s look at Gemini and Capricorn compatibility.
Are Capricorn and Gemini compatible in a relationship? According to AuthorityAstrology, the overall Gemini and Capricorn compatibility is 65%. At first, a Capricorn and Gemini relationship may look like an erratic and mismatched duet in the cosmic symphony of partnerships. Going by the general standards, you can’t really call Gemini and Capricorn soulmates. But surprisingly, Capricorn’s grounded earth and Gemini’s lively air combine to create an arrangement of contrasts and harmonies that defines their compatibility in love, sex, and marriage.
While Capricorn moves through the world with measured strides, driven by ambition and a constant commitment to stability, Gemini dances through life’s nuances with flexibility and intellectual prowess. This delicate balance is what Capricorn and Gemini compatibility is rooted in. With the help of expert astrologer Aakanksha Jhunjhunwala (Master’s degree focused on Counseling Psychology from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine), let’s dive into the compatibility of a Gemini and Capricorn. From their core needs to their communication styles, we have all the insights of a Gemini-Capricorn relationship lined up for you.
What Makes Gemini And Capricorn Tick?
Giving us the broad strokes of Gemini and Capricorn relationship compatibility, Aakanksha says, “Gemini understands that Capricorn is very particular about their routine. However, they might choose not to follow it. The good thing is that Capricorn will not mind if the attraction is strong.”
Capricorn and Gemini compatibility, despite their differences, is quite visible in their relationship. Both zodiacs possess distinct qualities that drive their motivations and shape their perspectives on life and relationships, but their approach to understanding each other better can make their relationship last longer, even if their love languages are different.
Aakanksha adds, “Gemini likes harmony, they would click with someone who makes them feel at peace. Capricorn loves to be around someone who brings stability in their life. Food will attract them to their partner, so if the latter can cook for them, that would be it.”
Related Reading: Find Out How Each Zodiac Sign Shows Love
We ask Aakanksha: How good is the Capricorn and Gemini compatibility sexually? And what attracts Gemini and Capricorn sexually to each other? She says, “Their sexual bond might not be too good in the beginning, but with conscious efforts, they are bound to evolve.” Gemini and Capricorn get along rarely. So, when you wonder, “Who are Capricorns compatible with?”, Gemini would rarely be the first obvious answer. Nor are Gemini and Capricorn soulmates in the typical sense of the word. But when they do connect, it’s a match made in heaven.
For more expert-backed insights, subscribe to our YouTube channel
Gemini’s engine
Gemini is a mutable sign ruled by Mercury and thrives on mental stimulation, variety, and a ceaseless quest for knowledge. They are eternal pace-seekers who go beyond tried and true paths, driven by a thirst for information, new experiences, and social interactions. Geminis are usually extroverted charmers and can easily flirt even in a friendship. Making friends instantly is their cup of tea. If you know enough about Capricorns, you’d know that based on these qualities, the answer to “who are Capricorns compatible with” is rarely Gemini.
But what makes them like this? Their dual nature, symbolized by the Twins, gives them the tendency for adaptability and versatility in romantic relationships.
Gemini’s curiosity fuels their desire for exploration, both in the external world and within the realms of ideas, emotions, and deep feelings
Their penchant for communication and their wit often serve as their engine in relationships
Gemini’s approach toward life is lighthearted — something that attracts Capricorns to them too
They usually like to cut corners while maintaining relationships but if they are into you, they will go above and beyond for you
Related Reading: 5 Weaknesses A Gemini In Love Displays
Capricorn’s drive
Capricorn is a cardinal sign guided by Saturn’s influence, operating with steadfast determination, discipline, and a strong sense of responsibility. They are the builders and achievers of the zodiac, driven by ambitions, quick wits, and a resolute commitment to success. Capricorn and Gemini compatibility can be a rare sight as they have very different personalities.
Indirect flirting with a Capricorn man or woman can be a difficult task as they are not interested in hidden meanings. They are drawn to directness more than anything else, so if you are straightforward, they will come to you naturally
Capricorns approach life with a pragmatic mindset, valuing hard work, structure, and long-term goals
Their patience and persistence enable them to steadily climb the ladder of success, often displaying an unwavering dedication to their careers, relationships, and personal development
Shared aspects of Gemini and Capricorn compatibility
Despite their contrasting approaches, Gemini and Capricorn both possess an underlying desire for achievement, albeit in different realms. A Gemini woman attracted to a Capricorn man is usually head over heels in love. Both signs value integrity and authenticity, expressed in their unique ways. This approach uplifts their love affair and can make them a power couple. However, Gemini and Capricorn in bed might face some troubles initially.
Related Reading: What Is A Power Couple? 15 Signs You And Your Partner Are One
Understanding what makes them both click with each other will involve recognizing and appreciating their individual drives and motivations. Gemini seeks authenticity through exploration and freedom, while Capricorn manifests it through work-life balance and the pursuit of excellence. So, whether it’s a Capricorn man and a Gemini woman or a Capricorn woman and Gemini man pair, to make the relationship work, they need to pay heed to and respect each other’s different approaches.
A Rundown On Gemini And Capricorn Compatibility
Gemini and Capricorn are so different in so many ways that it can lead you to question: do Gemini and Capricorn get along? While Gemini and Capricorn soulmates may be hard to come by, they can create a dynamic and surprisingly compatible relationship. So when you see a Gemini and Capricorn get along, their compatibility is a blend of contrasting personalities in balance.
Speaking of Gemini and Capricorn love compatibility, it’s vital to remember that conflict resolution is an important piece of the puzzle. So how do Capricorn and Gemini fight? Capricorn and Gemini both have different approaches to a conflict. While Gemini has a lighthearted approach to friction, Capricorn can be serious and rigid.
“Even so, Capricorn does bring some calmness in Gemini and Gemini brings some excitement in Capricorn’s life,” Aakanksha said, when asked about the long-term Gemini and Capricorn relationship compatibility. “Their different approaches are like two sides of a coin, it can either make their bond stronger or weaker. It’s about how much effort they are willing to appreciate each other’s differences and value the presence of each other in their lives,” she added. Let’s see Capricorn and Gemini’s relationship compatibility.
Read on to find out how Gemini and Capricorn fit together.
Communication and intellect
Gemini, an air sign ruled by Mercury, thrives on communication, mental agility, and adaptability. They are social butterflies, constantly seeking mental stimulation and variety in their interactions. Capricorn, an Earth sign ruled by Saturn, is more reserved, practical, and methodical. Despite this difference, they can foster strong Gemini and Capricorn relationship compatibility because:
Gemini’s quick wit and Capricorn’s thoughtful approach to discussions create a strong foundation for communication
Gemini’s ability to express ideas meshes well with Capricorn’s pragmatic thinking, fostering intellectual compatibility and mutual respect
Different approaches to life
Gemini’s approach to love is more playful and explorative. They tend to be spontaneous, embracing change and seeking excitement. They never settle for anything boring. In contrast, Capricorn is more cautious, valuing stability, structure, and long-term plans. While this can create tension initially, it also offers a chance for Gemini man and Capricorn woman to balance things out.
Related Reading: 17 Ways To Know If A Gemini Man Is In Love With You
According to a user on Quora, “The Capricorn would balance out the Gemini and make them more “stable” and someone to rely on while the Gemini will be Capricorn’s entertainment and will find Gemini fun to be with.” Once they learn how to strike this balance, Gemini and Capricorn love compatibility can be pretty solid.
Emotional compatibility
Gemini is an emotionally sensitive zodiac sign, whereas because of their unwavering focus, Capricorns can sometimes be perceived as an unemotional and cold zodiac sign, even cutthroat. If it won’t matter in five years, Capricorn simply cannot be bothered with it today. So it can be assumed that Capricorns don’t have time for emotions, and Geminis find it difficult to keep their emotions under control.
You can see how that could create problems for Capricorn compatibility with Gemini. In fact, it may even leave you wondering, “How do Gemini and Capricorn get along at all?” Well, once an emotional connection is established, their differences can complement each other, and they can find common ground. Whether it is a Capricorn man and a Gemini woman relationship or a Capricorn woman and Gemini man pair, a strong emotional connection is what sustains such a connection.
Marriage compatibility
A Gemini woman attracted to Capricorn or a Gemini man attracted to a Capricorn woman would go to a great extent to make the relationship work. Understanding and compromise will be key to making their marriage work.
While Gemini is adaptable and values intellectual stimulation, Capricorn is practical, ambitious, and focused on long-term goals
Capricorns plan their acts of love well in advance and Geminis appreciate these efforts. Gemini’s spontaneity gives Capricorn a chance to do something different once in a while too
Related Reading: 10 Simple Rules For A Happy Marriage
“In a marriage, they can embrace each other’s differences and take turns to do activities that the other enjoys. But if the love is superficial, they will not be able to do what the other person loves to do. This will result in distance and lack of intimacy,” Aakanksha says. This can cause the relationship to crumble, whether it is between a Capricorn man and a Gemini woman or a Capricorn woman and Gemini man.
There are a lot of things that attract Capricorn and Gemini to each other.
Sexual compatibility
Are Gemini and Capricorn sexually quite different? Yes. In the bedroom, their differing approaches toward romance might initially clash as they don’t have a similar pace. The sexual compatibility of these signs might seem a little off in the beginning. While Gemini tends to be experimental and enjoys the mental aspect of sex as much as the physical form of it, Capricorn is more reserved and might need time to open up.
Related Reading: 8 Signs With The Most EXPLOSIVE Zodiac Sexual Compatibility!
Gemini and Capricorn in bed are bound to face a few challenges. Then, how do Gemini and Capricorn get along in the long term? Well, with understanding and communication, they can find a middle ground where Gemini’s creativity and Capricorn’s sensuality can connect them deeply on a sexual level.
Long-term compatibility and challenges
How do Capricorn and Gemini fight, though? Talking about the strengths and challenges of Capricorn and Gemini relationship, Aakanksha explained, “A strength of theirs is that either of them can take a step back when listening is required to understand what the other is trying to say. A weakness is that Capricorn can be stubborn or rigid at times which can escalate the situation. Gemini, at times, can act impulsively without understanding the consequences of it.”
In the long run, their differences might become apparent in their lifestyle choices and approaches to responsibilities. This can be a pain point in Capricorn and Gemini compatibility. However, if they find a way to appreciate each other’s strengths and compromise, they can build a strong long-term relationship and overcome most obstacles.
Key Pointers
Capricorn and Gemini are considered only 65% compatible. However, despite their differences, Gemini and Capricorn have a connection that will bring out their compatibility in various forms
Though they express it in different ways, both signs respect sincerity and integrity, and this approach can strengthen their relationship and make them a power pair
Over time, their disparities may manifest in the way they tackle duties and live their lives. Gemini’s yearning for flexibility and diversity may collide with Capricorn’s emphasis on security and a job
As is evident by now, the answer to “who are Capricorns compatible with” is not Gemini. A consistent Gemini and Capricorn compatibility requires understanding and effort in the relationship due to their differing natures. However, when they embrace each other’s strengths and work through their challenges, they can create a relationship that balances excitement with stability, intellect with practicality, resulting in a unique and fulfilling partnership. In essence, these signs are not exactly the best matches in astrology but it may not matter much because their efforts can turn the stars in their favor. All in all, you can rest assured of this relationship!
FAQs
1. Is Capricorn and Gemini a good match?
A Capricorn and Gemini couple usually has moderate compatibility. “This match is an average match; Capricorn could get critical about Gemini’s behavior. Gemini could find Capricorn a bit unpredictable,” according to Aakanksha. However, sometimes, a Gemini man and Capricorn woman can make a great couple.
“The only trait that could make them love each other is their mutual understanding. They know they are different and won’t try to change each other. They can drive each other crazy with their differences but that would make their love interesting. So, it is a risk that could go either way,” she adds further.
2. Why are Geminis attracted to Capricorns?
Geminis are attracted to Capricorn for many reasons. “Geminis are attracted to Capricorns because they have what Geminis lack, so the initial attraction is very strong. They appreciate the small efforts made by Capricorns. However, Geminis lose interest very easily when they feel they are not appreciated in return,” Aakanksha explains.
3. Why are Capricorns attracted to Geminis?
The attraction of Capricorns toward Gemini, as Aakanksha suggests, is because “Capricorns like the curiosity of Geminis with regard to exploring new things. They find it attractive even though they lack the energy to follow through. Also, a Capricorn likes how a Gemini can easily read the surroundings and act accordingly.”
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As the February sunshine beams down on all of baseball, and the standings say that everyone is undefeated, it’s easy to melt into a zen state of spring training nirvana. But there’s one question in our annual spring survey that jolts us back to life. That’s the part where we ask our voters — a panel of 31 executives, former executives, coaches and scouts — which teams, front offices and managers are feeling the most pressure. As always, they had some thoughts!
BRIAN CASHMAN, AARON BOONE AND THE YANKEES (16 VOTES): Does it sometimes feel as though Brian Cashman has been the general manager of the Yankees since the days of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford? In truth, it’s only been 26 years. But in the last 14 of them, the Yankees forgot to do that thing they’ve done more than any franchise ever: Win the World Series. So if this vote reveals anything, it’s that Cashman and his manager, Aaron Boone, might want to re-route the path to the Canyon of Heroes, because their job security might depend on it. … “I love Cash,” said one National League exec. “He’s been there longer than anybody. But that team is going to have to make a statement.”
OLIVER MARMOL AND THE CARDINALS (12 VOTES): The good newsfor the Cardinals: Our voters had mostly good things to say about an offseason in which they added Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to their rotation — and added depth to their bullpen with Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton. … The bad news for the Cardinals: Their entire rotation might be 33 or older — and we heard lots of concern about their manager, Oli Marmol, and his ability to navigate this vessel’s storms. … “They’d be at the top of my list of teams most likely to make a change (of manager),” said a rival NL exec. “I’d just say this: Don’t go to sleep on the job Yadi (Molina) did managing (Puerto Rico) in the Caribbean Series.”
A.J. PRELLER/ PADRES FRONT OFFICE (10 VOTES): Last year, in this very same space, one rival exec made a bold prediction: If the Padres didn’t win their division, in a season when the Dodgers were in such an obvious retooling mode, “it will be head-rolling time.” Well … maybe not. The Padres revved up the payroll to $255 million, loaded up the lineup and still finished 18 games back of the Dodgers. Yet even after that debris settled, Preller’s head hadn’t rolled anywhere. But now the stakes seem even higher. The Padres missed that window to run down the Dodgers … beloved owner Peter Seidler lost his battle with cancer … they’re slashing payroll by nearly $100 million … and Juan Soto is 3,000 miles from the Gaslamp Quarter. So our voters sent a message that it’s time for Preller to get verrryyy nervous. … “They spent all that money,” said one American League exec. “And what do they have to show for it?”
GO DEEPER
Bowden: 5 MLB managers on the hot seat to start the 2024 season
Four other teams feeling the heat
Pressure? Dave Roberts is looking calm, cool and collected this spring. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
They didn’t make it to the medal stand. But these four teams also got the attention of a bunch of voters.
DAVE ROBERTS/DODGERS (FIVE VOTES): When your team shells out more than a billion dollars on free agents, does the manager have to win? Five voters recommend that highly for Dave Roberts in Chavez Ravine. One voter’s take:
“They need to go to the World Series or they may make a change.”
FARHAN ZAIDI/GIANTS (FOUR VOTES): Are the Giants starting to feel like your buddy the fisherman, who can’t stop telling you about the size of all the big fish he didn’t reel in? Seems like it sometimes, every time another free-agent luminary wriggles out of their net.
So there were definite questions about whether this team’s lack of star power could catch up with its president of baseball ops, Farhan Zaidi.
PERRY MINASIAN/ANGELS (FOUR VOTES): It’s hard to see how it’s fair to pin the Angels’ troubles on their GM, Perry Minasian, considering all the dysfunction flowing from the owner’s box. But four voters thought Minasian could pay the price anyway.
JOHN SCHNEIDER/BLUE JAYS LEADERSHIP (FOUR VOTES): And finally, there are the Blue Jays. The good news is, they’ve made the playoffs under their eminently likable manager, John Schneider, two years in a row. The bad news is, they got bounced twice without winning a game.
The good news is, they were in hot pursuit of both Shohei Ohtani and Soto over the winter. The bad news is, their whole offseason turned into a massive swing-and-miss.
So the pressure is real. And our voters were divided on who’s squirming most — Schneider or this front office. But if a frustrating winter leads to a frustrating summer, we might find out.
GO DEEPER
2024 spring training survey: MLB insiders on the players, teams and stories to watch
GO DEEPER
MLB insiders predict the 5 players most likely to get traded this spring
GO DEEPER
What we learned from MLB’s schedule changes last year and what to watch for this season
(Photo of Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman: William Perlman / Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Signal now allows usernames, letting you hide your phone number when adding new contacts on the app.
To get a Signal username, update the app and create a username in your profile settings.
You still need to share your phone number with the app to create an account and sign in.
Signal has announced the rollout of usernames on the app, allowing you to hide your number while still connecting with others. Here’s how you can hide your number on the app and connect with a username instead.
Signal Now Lets You Use a Username
Signal announced the new username feature on its blog on 20 February, 2024; along with enhanced privacy settings. The feature allows you to use a username to add others on the messaging app, rather than using your phone number.
“If you don’t want to hand out your phone number to chat with someone on Signal, you can now create a unique username that you can use instead,” the company said on its blog.
To use the feature, you will need to create a username on the app, which is different from the display name seen in chats.
The new privacy options are in beta and will be rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks. But you can sign up to the Signal beta to get the features earlier.
How to Get a Signal Username
To get a Signal username, first make sure that your app is updated. If you have access to the feature, you will be able to set a username in your profile settings.
Simply follow these steps to set a username:
Open the Signal app and tap on your profile icon in the top left.
On the Settings page, tap on your display name. This will open your Profile settings.
At the bottom of the page, you will see the Username option. Tap on this.
Set your new username in the text box and then select Save.
Signal will assign a number to your username and new sharing options will show up on your profile menu. Tap on QR code or link to share your username with someone else.
Sharing this code or link will allow others to connect with you on the app. It’s important to note that your username is not your login name. You will still need to use your phone number to create an account and log into Signal.
How to Hide Your Number on Signal
There are two options to hide your number on Signal: one hides your number from those you’re connected with and the other prevents people from finding you on the app using your number.
Luckily, Signal’s update will set the default to hide your number from your Signal profile. But you will have to manually change the settings for who can find you using your number.
To do this, follow these steps:
On the Settings menu, select Privacy and then the Phone number tab.
Make sure that under Who can see my number, Nobody is selected.
Under Who can find me by my number, select Nobody if you want to prevent people from using their contacts list to find you on the app.
Once these settings are enabled, you can use your username as the only way to connect with you on the app.
This also prevents people from automatically adding you on Signal when they give the app access to their contacts. Rather, you will need to share your username with them to connect.
The Limitations of Signal’s New Privacy Feature
While these privacy features are a welcome addition for those who want to keep their number private, it does have a few limitations.
You will still need to share your number with the app to use Signal. And if people already have your number saved in their phone’s contacts, they will still be able to see it on Signal, according to the company’s blog post.
The username is also separate from your display name, which can make it a bit confusing for newer users. Your display name can be changed in your Profile settings as well.
So if you’re trying to connect with someone on the app, make sure you share your username and not your display name. Your username has numbers attached to it, so that’s the easiest way to tell the difference.
These privacy settings enhance the ability to hide your number on Signal and prevent random people who have your number from sending you message requests on the app. While you still need to use your phone number to sign up to Signal, you can at least avoid sharing it with contacts on the app.
If you’re a privacy-minded user, the ability to hide your number may be one of the best reasons to use Signal.
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<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Ice-wall-rose-display-in-Shenyang-s-Nanhu-Park-1qQ19rjQaAM/img/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69.jpeg'Photo taken on January 31, 2024 shows the rose ice wall in Nanhu Park, Shenyang, Liaoning Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Ice-wall-rose-display-in-Shenyang-s-Nanhu-Park-1qQ19rjQaAM/img/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69.jpeg'Photo taken on January 31, 2024 shows the rose ice wall in Nanhu Park, Shenyang, Liaoning Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Ice-wall-rose-display-in-Shenyang-s-Nanhu-Park-1qQ19rjQaAM/img/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69/125cfd96bcfe4b3883ba2184f5b22e69.jpeg'Photo taken on January 31, 2024 shows the rose ice wall in Nanhu Park, Shenyang, Liaoning Province. /IC
A unique display of pink roses encased in an ice wall was unveiled at Nanhu Park on Wednesday in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. This distinctive exhibition added a touch of romance to the upcoming Chinese New Year. Each rose, frozen in time, bloomed within the transparent wall of ice, emitting a subtle fragrance. The scene not only showcased the magical beauty of nature but also provided passersby with a novel form of artistic enjoyment.
Over the last two decades, Walt Disney Concert Hall has blazed cultural trails like no place else. We can rightfully talk about the L.A. Philharmonic before and after Frank Gehry built it a hypnotizing new home. We can divide downtown L.A. into pre- and post-Disney. We can go so far as to distinguish orchestral life, not only in L.A. but everywhere, in the same way.
Gehry turns 95 on Wednesday, and the L.A. Phil season, which began with a gala led by Gustavo Dudamel celebrating the architect, has, in ongoing tributes to the hall and in just doing its thing for these nearly five months, readily revealed, week after week, all that Disney is. And, alas, all that Disney inexcusably isn’t. At least not yet. But the best of Disney first.
Building Disney was a long, laborious, contentious, financially dicey process, one for which we’ve never had a full or convincing account. I’ve never gotten straight answers about who did what to whom and when.
In 1987, Ernest Fleischmann, at the time the transformative head of the L.A. Phil, enticed Lillian Disney to give $50 million for a concert hall to be built in honor of her late husband, Walt, as an addition to the Music Center. Fleischmann, who had once hailed the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, built for the L.A. Phil in 1964 as an acoustic wonder, eventually pronounced it unworthy. It still is, but that’s another story.
Presumably, Fleischmann assured Lillian Disney that this generous sum would be sufficient for the new hall, knowing full well that much more would be needed (ultimately, more like $274 million). Although Fleischmann and Gehry were close friends, Gehry was viewed as far too radical for the conservative classical music establishment, which feared chain-link fences and whatnot. One Music Center board member proposed that the original blueprints for the Chandler be dug up and that they just build “the same damn thing” across the street.
A competition was arranged. Gehry’s model, which was exciting but far more conventional than the masterpiece he ultimately designed, was so superior to the others, especially in its welcoming feeling, that even Gehry’s detractors begrudgingly approved. The four other models, all by distinguished architects, were suspiciously clueless.
I never could get Fleischmann, or anyone else close to the competition, to explain why. Did Fleischmann and others on the jury know all along that Gehry was exactly what the orchestra and the city needed and that the only way to get it was to rig the competition by misleading the other architects? All insisted it was fair. Until evidence proves otherwise, I’m sticking with Fleischmann’s visionary flare eclipsing committee-compromised fair.
The construction site for Disney Hall at 1st Street and Grand Avenue in 1995.
(Carol Cheetham / For The Times)
It would take 16 years to build Disney. Fundraising stalled repeatedly. Gehry’s detractors (including some leading voices at this newspaper) had a field day. The Music Center did not display much enthusiasm.
In the early 1990s, the L.A. riots, the Northridge earthquake and a recession took further wind out of the new hall’s prospective sails. When I arrived at The Times in spring 1996, everyone told me that the hall was moribund. The county, which owns the Music Center and the land on which Disney sits, had built only the parking lot. The county’s supervisors, with the exception of Zev Yaroslavsky, were ready to pull the plug.
But Fleischmann tenaciously hung on. Much later, Esa-Pekka Salonen, then-music director, confessed to me that he had offered his resignation to Fleischmann, in part over his disappointment of the hall’s seeming failure and figuring that maybe another conductor could do more. There was also considerable disgruntlement among board members and patrons over Salonen’s advocacy of new music, despite the fact that he was attracting a younger audience and was increasingly seen as a vital new voice in classical music.
A fundraising deadline loomed, and Fleischmann persuaded Salonen to stick it out a little longer. Just in time, the tide turned, thanks to three fortuitous events. Gehry’s new museum in Bilbao, Spain, wowed the world. A Stravinsky festival that Salonen and the L.A. Phil put on in Paris wowed not only the French but also L.A. Phil board members, including Disney skeptics. The clincher was a series of individual gifts of $5 million each from the publisher of the L.A. Times, then-Mayor Richard Riordan (using his personal money to make what was at the time an anonymous donation) and philanthropist Eli Broad, who then took over the final fundraising.
Disney Hall under construction in 2001.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Disney opened as an instant icon. It catapulted the L.A. Phil to far greater fame than the orchestra had ever known. It spearheaded the revival of downtown and shaped the identity of DTLA, as it would soon be known.
With Disney, the 21st century orchestra was born. The immediacy of the acoustics, the intimate connection between the musicians and listeners, the warmth and visual allure of the interior— all were thrilling. The new hall invited making and consuming new music seem natural. The interior, shaped a little like a ship, put an audience in the mood for adventure.
For the next two decades, the L.A. Phil went from strength to innovative strength, helped by two progressive music directors, Salonen and, beginning in 2009, Dudamel.
Starting with the “Tristan Project” in 2004, Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” conducted by Salonen with video by Bill Viola and staged by Peter Sellars, Disney Hall inspired a full expansion of the notion of what classical music could be. The symphony orchestra, with traditions that go back more than three centuries, now had a venue ripe for experimenting with emerging technologies and for incorporating other musical genres and traditions, even other art forms — be they painting, sculpture, dance, theater, performance art, poetry, cinema, video. The L.A. Phil became a model of how an institution could matter, and its home became a tourist attraction, a site to see and a place to be.
Artist Refik Anadol designed projections that lighted up Disney Hall to celebrate the L.A. Phil’s centennial in 2018. Gehry’s original plan for the hall called for live images of the orchestra to be projected on the hall during performances.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
We’ve had a taste of that this season in concerts by Dudamel and Salonen with a range of music, old and memorably new.
At the gala, Dudamel conducted Salonen’s quirky “Fog,” a tribute to Gehry, written five years ago for his 90th birthday. It recalled the first time the composer and conductor heard anything played in the hall while it was under construction.
A few weeks later, Salonen led the premiere of “Tiu,” a big orchestral piece celebrating the hall’s 20th anniversary. Based on the Swedish word for 20, but which also can be Finnish for counting eggs or a musical score, Salonen played with the ordering of 20 chords, turning them into a resplendent phantasmagoric series of dances, fanfares, misty harmonic clouds and melancholic melody.
In what has been an informal festival of Salonen’s scores, the Los Angeles Master Chorale — which has also grown into the big time as the other resident company in Disney — joined the L.A. Phil for Salonen’s wild, dada-inspired “Karawane.”
Dudamel premiered two new works by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, the second of which, “Revolución Diamantina” (Glitter Revolution), a five-act ballet score that revolves around the celebrated 2019 feminist march in Mexico City, is relentless in its sonic invention.
Dudamel’s performance of Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” Salonen’s of Strauss’ “An Alpine Symphony” and Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloé,” along with Zubin Mehta’s of Mahler’s First Symphony, sounded unlike they might be played by any other orchestra in any other space — namely site specific, an occasion.
Just this month, British composer and part-time Angeleno Thomas Adès introduced his recent “Five Spells From the Tempest.” When Adès conducted the premiere of his second opera, based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” at Royal Opera in 2004, shortly after Disney Hall had opened, the London orchestra sounded lackluster in Covent Garden. The opera seemed a misfire and wasn’t all that more impressive when it went to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Yet Adès’ 22-minute symphonic condensation of the opera score was a knockout when he conducted at Disney.
So it goes. But Disney has also made us complacent. The sorry fact is that the hall has never been the best it can be, and there seems to be far too little motivation to take the place to its necessary next step, almost as if it were 1996 again.
Downtown has not recovered from the pandemic. The Gehry-designed mixed-used development the Grand opened across the street from Disney in fall 2022 but has yet to come to life, struggling to entice restaurants and retail. It has fixtures in which projectors can be installed to create images on Disney. Gehry originally chose a steel skin suitable for projecting video of whatever concert was occurring at night. That’s never happened. He couldn’t get the Music Center to properly light the building at all.
Gustavo Dudamel conducts the L.A. Phil in a modest orchestra pit for Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” in January. Gehry originally wanted the option of a deeper pit, but it was lost in cost-cutting.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Gehry also designed an orchestra pit for the hall that was cut because of cost. Earlier this year, he got a chance to try out that notion with a shallow, makeshift pit created for a staging of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” for which the architect also designed sets that essentially turned the whole hall into glorious installation art. Installing a real pit, acoustically tuned, should be a no-brainer.
There are the other long-proposed modifications that include turning BP Hall, where pre-concert talks are held, into a full-fledged chamber music hall, revamping the outdoor amphitheater into an enclosed jazz club and replacing the 1st Street steps with a glass enclosed bar that Gehry would name the Ernest, in honor of Fleischmann.
But who is even around to make that happen? Downtown feels grim. County supervisors show little interest in the Music Center. The new Colburn School concert hall on 2nd Street that Gehry designed has just begun construction after bureaucratic delays. The project’s crucial plaza, though, has been indefinitely postponed. An arts corridor on Grand Avenue surely would, as Disney proved, spark a new DTLA resurgence, but City Hall is not acting like it cares.
As for the Music Center: Over the second weekend this month, I attended Pina Bausch’s “The Rite of Spring” in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Matthew Bourne’s “Romeo and Juliet” at the Ahmanson Theatre, and I felt like I had wandered back in time.
Bausch’s once supposedly revolutionary Stravinsky ballet, which she choreographed in 1975 when she was just beginning, was included in the first U.S. appearances of her company at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium as part of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival. Even then, impressive as it was, with magnificently disciplined dancers dashing on a peat-moss floor, it was clear that this was the kind of old-school abstractly modernist ballet that Bausch had outgrown.
Stravinsky’s score to “The Rite” culminated Salonen’s opening night concert for Disney in 2003, and that was all it took to understand what this hall could do. The first recording in Disney was Salonen conducting “The Rite,” and he performed it often enough in the hall, as has Dudamel, that it is a kind of informal Disney theme song.
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
In the Chandler, Bausch’s company played a recording of “The Rite.” Neither the conductor nor the orchestra of the lumbering performance was credited. The recording quality was coarse, and the score was loudly amplified, a solo bassoon in its mysterious high register sounding like a pigeon being tortured. The “Rite” of Disney was terribly wronged.
At the other end of the recently renovated Music Center plaza, bland and lifeless, Bourne brought the 10th of his choreographic productions to the Ahmanson. This take on Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” set in a sanatorium with teenagers climbing the walls, has Bourne’s signature clever movement, which can be delightful, and tons of talent onstage.
But how un-Disney to have those gleaming tile walls for a set. Again; the music was recorded, Prokofiev reduced in length and instrumentation, the score sanatorium-sanitized.
In 2018, L.A. choreographer Benjamin Millepied created a site-specific gender-bending version of Prokofiev’s ballet with his L.A. Dance Project for Dudamel and the L.A. Phil. The dance took over Disney — the stage, the seating areas, backstage, the dressing rooms, the garden — as Millepied followed his dancers around with a video camera. Dudamel conducted a soaring performance, and every inch of the hall came to life. Romeo and Juliet weren’t locked away under key, they were among us, their world ours.
That has been the beauty of Gehry’s creation. He wanted it to be our city’s living room, part of our lives. And he left room for more. But we don’t have a Fleischmann. The L.A. Phil is leaderless without a chief executive and with Dudamel’s tenure ending after two more seasons. Who at the Music Center or City Hall can make anything happen? Time is running out. The 2028 Olympics are practically around the corner. Gehry isn’t getting any younger. And it appears that Los Angeles is not getting any wiser.
Frank Gehry looks toward Disney Hall from the Conrad hotel at the Grand across the street.
The experiments found that about 73 percent of about 500 people using that new design clicked results that kept them inside Google’s ecosystem—an increase over the 55 percent who did so when the design Google is phasing out in Europe was tested with a smaller pool of roughly 250 people.
Yelp also tested a variation of the new design. In this version, which Google has shared with regulators, the new box featuring review websites is placed above the maps widget. It was more successful in drawing people to try alternatives to Google, with only about 44 percent of consumers in the experiment sticking with the search giant. Though O’Donoghue says the box and widget will be treated equally by Google’s search algorithms, the order the features appear in will vary based on those calculations. Yelp’s concern is that Google will win out too often.
Yelp proposed to EU regulators that to produce more fair outcomes, Google should instead amend the map widget on results pages to show business listings and ratings from numerous providers including Google’s directory, Yelp, or others based on how the search algorithms rank them.
Companies such as Yelp that are critical of the changes in testing have called on the European Commission to immediately open an investigation into Google on March 7, when enforcement of the DMA begins.
“Yelp urges regulators to compel Google to fully comply with both the letter and spirit of the DMA,” says Yelp’s vice president of public policy, David Segal. “Google will soon be in violation of both, because if you look at what Google has put forth, it’s pretty clear that its services still have the best real estate.”
EU officials say that not everything they’ve seen seems up to standard, but they can’t get more specific until March 7. They’re well aware of Yelp’s concerns, says Gerard de Graaf, head of the EU’s San Francisco office. “The commission will vigorously enforce the DMA to ensure it will deliver the full benefits of market opening and greater opportunities for innovation and will make full use of enforcement measures as necessary,” he says.
This isn’t the first time that Google or other major platforms—termed “gatekeepers” by the DMA—have been accused of proposing tweaks that evade the spirit of the EU’s new rules.
Other Google units affected by the law, such as Android, Chrome, and Maps, and its fellow gatekeepers such as Apple, Meta, and Amazon, haven’t yet publicized all of their compliance plans. But a coalition of thousands of smaller companies, including encrypted software maker Proton and Norwegian media company Schibsted, has contended that those disclosed so far are falling short. The group wrote that next month is supposed to kick off a new era on the internet, at least for Europeans: “It would be regrettable if that new era began with a false start.”
Fair Play
The DMA provision that strikes at Google’s search business is intended to prevent websites that compete with some of its more specific search tools from getting unfairly demoted in search results. Not only Yelp is critical of Google’s proposed fixes.
The new rules also require Google to treat search results for services similar to Google Hotels, Google Flights, and Google Shopping in a fair, transparent, and nondiscriminatory manner. Flight comparison competitors like Skyscanner have been frustrated by how queries like “London-Paris flights” give as a first result a Google Flights widget with airlines, prices, and schedules—a much richer and more prominent interface than the standard links to Skyscanner and other flight comparison sites lower down the page, though Google is beginning to add options for them to be more visually appealing.
Google is investigating a Local Services Ads bug that’s causing businesses to appear in search results for their competitors’ names.
The issue comes just weeks after the platform started piloting branded Local Service Ads (LSA) called Direct Business Search. This new ad type allows brands to show up in search results when someone directly searches for a brand or business.
Google has clarified that through Direct Business Search, only your business should appear in search results when your brand is queried, and charges will be incurred solely for leads from new customers.
Why we care. When users search for a specific brand on Google, their intent is to find that brand, not a general service or product. If your competitors appear in the search results for queries related to your business’s name, Google not only fails to fulfill user intent but also risks directing your customers to competitors.
First spotted. The issue was first flagged by Joy Hawkins, SEO consultant and founder of Sterling Sky Inc, on X:
“I wonder how many of these businesses know they’re bidding on a competitor’s name. Really dislike this rollout with Local Services Ads. I don’t see how it’s better for anyone.”
Hawkins shared a screenshot of the Google SERP for the query “a1 garage door service” in January 2024:
Highlighting the impact of the LSA bug, she then shared a screenshot for the same search query in February 2024:
Opting out. Although brands are automatically enrolled into Direct Business Search ads by default, you can disable it by manually adjusting the settings for your campaign.
What Google is saying. Google Ads Liaison Officer Ginny Marvin responded to Hawkins’ post on X, writing:
“This is a bug (and it was thought to be a non-brand query) – a fix is underway.”
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Deep dive. Read our article on Google’s Branded Local Service Ads pilot for more information.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, Sudarshan Setu, in Gujarat’s Dwarka. This monumental infrastructure project, connecting Okha and Beyt Dwarka island, stands as a testament to the nation’s commitment to progress and connectivity. Let’s delve into the details of this remarkable feat:
Sudarshan Setu Project Overview
Sudarshan Setu, formerly known as the Signature Bridge, has been constructed at a cost of ₹979 crore.
Spanning an impressive 2.32 km, it is India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, serving as a vital link between the Okha mainland and Beyt Dwarka island.
Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of this project in October 2017, envisioning it as a crucial connection between the old and new Dwarka.
Sudarshan Setu, Key Features
The bridge boasts a total width of 27.2 meters (89 ft) with four lanes, ensuring smooth traffic flow between the mainland and the island.
Adorned with verses from the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and images of Lord Krishna, the footpaths on both sides of the bridge offer a unique cultural touch, reflecting the rich heritage of Dwarka.
Notably, solar panels installed on the footpath sides can generate one megawatt of electricity, showcasing a commitment to sustainable infrastructure.
Impact and Significance of Sudarshan Setu
Sudarshan Setu is poised to revolutionize connectivity in the region, significantly reducing travel time for devotees and tourists.
With an estimated two million pilgrims visiting the temples in the area, the bridge addresses transportation challenges previously faced by pilgrims who relied on boats, limited to daytime travel.
Beyond mere connectivity, Sudarshan Setu is expected to emerge as a major tourist attraction in Dwarka, further bolstering the region’s economy and tourism sector.
Empowering Communities of Sudarshan Setu
The inauguration of Sudarshan Setu isn’t just about infrastructure; it’s about empowering communities. The bridge aims to benefit approximately 8,500 residents on Beyt Dwarka island, facilitating easier access to essential services and opportunities.
Vision for the Future Sudarshan Setu
Sudarshan Setu exemplifies India’s vision for inclusive development and progress. As the nation strides towards becoming a global powerhouse, infrastructure projects like these play a pivotal role in fostering economic growth, connectivity, and cultural preservation.
Official mod support for Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently in the works, developer Larian Studios has confirmed, and better yet, it will be cross-platform and available on consoles.
The news comes from Larian Studios’ director of publishing Michael Douse on X (formerly Twitter), where he said work is currently underway on cross-platform mod support. The developer typically doesn’t make early announcements like this until things are closer to being ready, he said, but made an exception this time around. As it currently stands, mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 are only available on PC via sites like Nexus Mods.
We generally don’t talk about things til they’re ready, but as you may have read, we’re making an exception. We’ve been working on a robust, cross-platform plan for mod support to be released later in year. We love our modding community and we want to support them. It’s coming. https://t.co/54GsxNshlQ
“We’ve been working on a robust cross-platform plan for mod support to be released later in year,” Douse said. “We love our modding community and we want to support them. It’s coming.”
The wording of Douse’s post makes it a little unclear if players can expect the entire mod support system to be coming this year or if Larian’s plan for mod support will be announced this year. GameSpot has reached out to Larian for clarification.
Douse went on to say in a follow-up post that its mod support system “still requires work” and needs to be tested, and that he realizes “it sucks when the game is updated and mods break.” With that in mind, Larian’s community team will start to reach out and work with modders to help prevent future issues, he said.
In a post on the game’s official Discord server, Larian community strategist WombatMedic said the team is working with platform holders on a pipeline that will allow mod creators to release mods across different platforms, and will include support for mods pertaining to “classes, UI, customization, spells, and certain assets and game mechanics.” The game’s next big patch, something WombatMedic said is still months away, will include the “initial stages of modding support.”
WombatMedic, too, noted player frustration over the fact that the game’s frequent patches often end up breaking mods, as was the case with Baldur’s Gate 3’s recent Patch 6.
“We know this sucks, we know you want to play with mods, and we want to make this right,” WombatMedic said.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 6 released on February 16 and improved the critically acclaimed RPG’s kissing animations, as well made some smart changes to dismissing party members and introduced new idle animations. Larian recently added another prestigious award to its trophy collection, with Baldur’s Gate 3 taking home Game of the Year at the 27th annual DICE Awards.
Nearly 30 years ago, scientists discovered a unique class of anticancer molecules in a family of bryozoans, a phylum of marine invertebrates found in tropical waters.
The chemical structures of these molecules, which consist of a dense, highly complex knot of oxidized rings and nitrogen atoms, has attracted the interest of organic chemists worldwide, who aimed to recreate these structures from scratch in the laboratory. However, despite considerable effort, it has remained an elusive task. Until now, that is.
A team of Yale chemists, writing in the journal Science, has succeeded in synthesizing eight of the compounds for the first time using an approach that combines inventive chemical strategy with the latest technology in small molecule structure determination.
“These molecules have been an outstanding challenge in the field of synthetic chemistry,” said Seth Herzon, the Milton Harris ’29 Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and corresponding author of the new study. “A number of research groups have tried to recreate these molecules in the lab, but their structures are so dense, so intricately connected, that it hasn’t been possible. I’ve been reading about efforts to synthesize these compounds since I was a graduate student in the early 2000s.”
In nature, the molecules are found in some species of bryozoa — small, aquatic animals that feed by filtering prey from the water via tiny tentacles. Researchers worldwide consider bryozoans to be a potentially valuable source of new medications, and many molecules isolated from bryozoans have been studied as novel anticancer agents. However, the complexity of the molecules often limits their further development.
Herzon’s team looked at a particular species of bryozoa called Securiflustra securifrons.
“We worked on these molecules about a decade ago, and though we were not successful in recreating them at that time, we gleaned insight into their structure and chemical reactivity, which informed our thinking,” Herzon said.
The new approach involved three key strategic elements. First, Herzon and his team avoided constructing a reactive heterocyclic ring, known as an indole, until the end of the process. A heterocyclic ring contains two or more elements — and this specific ring is known to be reactive and create problems, Herzon said.
Second, the researchers used methods known as oxidative photocyclizations to construct some of the key bonds in the molecules. One of these photocyclizations involved the reaction of a heterocycle with molecular oxygen, which was first studied by Yale’s Harry Wasserman in the 1960s.
Lastly, Herzon and his team employed microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) analysis to help visualize the structure of the molecules. Herzon said conventional methods for structure determination were inadequate in this context.
The result of the new approach is eight new synthetic molecules with therapeutic potential — and the promise of more new chemistry to come.
“These molecules hit right at my love of complex synthetic challenges,” said Herzon, who is also a member of the Yale Cancer Center and holds joint appointments in pharmacology and therapeutic radiology at Yale School of Medicine. “On a molecular weight basis, they are modest relative to other molecules we’ve studied in my lab. But from the vantage point of chemical reactivity, they present some of the greatest challenges we’ve ever taken on.”
Co-first authors of the new study are Yale chemistry graduate students Brandon Alexander and Noah Bartfield. Co-authors are Vaani Gupta, a Yale chemistry graduate student; Brandon Mercado, a Yale X-ray crystallographer and lecturer in the Department of Chemistry; and Mark Del Campo of Rigaku Americas Corporation.
The National Science Foundation helped fund the research.
One such culinary chimera that originated from the post-World War II era is the Itameshi style of cuisine. This unique culinary hybrid is responsible for intertwining the rich traditions of Japanese and Italian cuisines, creating a distinctive and delectable fusion. The resultant dishes were as unique as they were delicious. Driven by curiosity and a deep-rooted commitment to their culinary traditions, the Japanese embraced this new influence, embarking on a journey of flavour exploration with Italian ingredients and cooking techniques.
Italian soldiers, serving as ambassadors of their rich heritage, introduced Japanese locals to various aspects of their culture, including their tantalising cuisine. This marked the beginning of a culinary fusion that would later be known as Itameshi. Dishes like Japanese-style pasta, (where miso, soy sauce, bonito flakes, and seaweed are fused seamlessly) and Japanese style pizzas became the flag-bearers of Itameshi cuisine.
Interestingly, a recent food festival at the Sheraton Grand Pune Bund Garden Hotel’s restaurant NUVO introduced Itameshi cuisine for the first time in India. They did this with dishes such as matcha tiramisu, a delightful twist on the classic Italian dessert infused with Japanese matcha green tea powder, a tempura-style fried caprese salad, a sake risotto, and avolcano crab roll jazzed up with Italian chili sauce.
Desi Tadka
Equally popular as the Chinese cuisine borrowed ramen soup in Japan is katsukaré. This scrumptious dish, also called ‘katsu curry’, is made up of a pork cutlet called tonkatsu that is doused in a mild, sweetish-tasting thick curry sauce and served with a portion of Japanese rice.
The second part of its name is a clear give-away of its desi origins. Apparently, in the late 18th century when the Indian subcontinent was under colonial rule by the British Empire, curry was simultaneously introduced to Japan. It would take a few more decades for the Japanese Navy and Army to make curry a staple to feed the troops. This slowly infiltrated to the general population who took a mighty shine to our spicy, turmeric and cumin-redolent curry. Today, kare restaurants abound almost everywhere in Japan serving their own unique version of a borrowed dish. An Indian soul in Japanese garb, one could even say.
Culinary borrowings
● The tempura style of cooking was adapted from a Portuguese cooking style. The use of wheat flour is substituted in Japan with rice or corn flour
● The Castellan sponge cake traces its roots back to a time when Dutch traders lived during Tokugawa shogunate era
● American sandwiches and hamburgers turned into Japanese sandos and hambagu with softer breads and buns holding forth sweeter, often soy sauce and ginger-flavoured meats
● The classic French mayonnaise today is famous in Japan as kewpie mayonnaise
● The Itameshi style of cuisine intertwines the rich traditions of Japanese and Italian cuisines
● The Japanese-style pasta has miso, soy sauce, bonito flakes and seaweed
● The matcha tiramisu is a delightful twist on the classic Italian dessert infused with Japanese matcha green tea powder
● The Japanese katsukare or ‘katsu curry’ is inspired by the Indian curry
LegalPay is looking to add dynamic Interns to their organization who will be working in the Growth Team.
About LegalPay
LegalPay is India’s first data-driven and tech-enabled alternative investment platform helping investors modernize their portfolios with flexible and innovative legal and insolvency financing opportunities. LegalPay is backed by a passionate team that includes a core team having prior experience in founding a LegalTech startup; marquee investors and international veterans.
About the Opportunity
As LegalPay continues to grow, we are looking to add dynamic Growth Interns to our organization who will be working in the Growth Team. LegalPay values rigorous thinking, clear communication, and efficient execution and is committed to an inclusive workplace culture.
Mode
Physical.
Roles and Responsibilities
Building partnerships with Indian and International industry leaders across the globe.
Interact and represent LegalPay with the CEO, and CFO of industry-leading companies in India and abroad.
Maintain trackers for companies, firms, and clients.
Preparation of proposal decks for clients and companies.
End-to-end communication for business transactions with clients in India and abroad.
Content writing for the company webpage and social media platforms wrt FinTech, StartUps, MSMEs, Litigation Funding, Interim Finance, etc.
Educate and communicate on public forums as well as different events across India.
1 presentation in a month on a specific software/product/service/startup/ etc.
Eligibility Criteria
Preferred internship experience of 0-2 years in the growth team of a startup/company etc.
The candidate has experience in client interaction/communication, and content writing and is eager to learn and self-motivated.
Candidate should be well versed in English.
Candidate should be confident, self-reliant as well as motivated towards achieving targets for the company.
You enter a room and – gasp! – someone across from you is wearing the same outfit. Relax, it happens. It’s Milan Fashion Week and guests have sported the same outfits in runway shows running from Wednesday to Sunday. More than 50 catwalk shows on the women’s Fall/Winter 2024-2025 calendar from Diesel and Dolce & Gabbana to Gucci and Versace draw guests from all over the world but many of them end up looking near identical. At Fendi on the opening day, two influencers from Dubai stood toe-to-toe chatting and wearing the exact same animal print lace-up boots.
Models pose backstage before the Ferragamo Fall-Winter 2024 show during Fashion Week.(REUTERS/Claudia Greco)
Meanwhile, the colour-block print shirt adorned with the Fendi logo that 29-year-old Fatma Husam sported was the one chosen by multiple other women. Did that bother her? “It’s completely normal,” Husam said. “Because after all, how many clothes do these brands make anyway?” Her friend, Deema Alasadi, 35, agreed. “At a party I would be a bit busted, but at Fashion Week it’s totally normal.” (Also read: New designers make a splash at Moschino, Tod’s and Blumarine during Milan Fashion Week )
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Japanese musicians Aya and Ami, known collectively as Amiaya, took it to the next level as only twins can with matching cherry red bob hairstyles and identical high black Fendi boots with gold heels. Later Wednesday at Roberto Cavalli, a blonde woman in a long flowy gown printed with lemons from designer Fausto Puglisi’s 2024 Resort collection smiled coyly for the cameras.
Nearby, another guest pouted and posed in a bodysuit sewn of cheetah fabric — a mainstay of the brand — that left little to the imagination. But those not the only lemons and animal prints in the room.
‘Herd instinct’
Luxury brands personally dress the A-list celebrities who attend their fashion shows in up-to-the-minute looks — such as the all-black-clad Uma Thurman and Sharon Stone at Tom Ford Thursday night — making sure not to duplicate looks in the front rows. But influencers — who are sometimes sent the most coveted “it” items by the labels — and other guests are left to rummage through their own closets, making duplications from past seasons inevitable.
But the devil is in the details, said Husam at the Fendi show. “Everyone may be wearing the same pieces, but styling them differently,” she said. Copycat looks are most obvious when it comes to brands with in-your-face logos, such as Gucci and Versace, but harder to detect with those taking a subtler approach, such as Prada and Armani.
It is common among fashion editors who attend shows, said Godfrey Deeny, global editor-in-chief of FashionNetwork.com. “If you’re an editor you’re always looking for the new, but you also have a herd instinct that you want everyone to know you know what the new thing is,” he said. “So you collectively all wear the same clothes.”
Many in the industry take comfort, he said, in knowing that “when you go, you’ll all be wearing the same absurd sneaker.” Of course when it comes to the brand’s employees, security guards and ushers at fashion shows, it is standard to wear the same thing: black.
Novavax will pay as much as $475 million to settle a dispute with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance over an advance purchase agreement for COVID-19 vaccines.
The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotech paid Gavi $75 million upfront and is on the hook for an additional $80 million a year for five years, according to the deal announced Thursday. Gavi can opt instead to receive as much as $80 million worth of vaccines each year and – if demand warrants – tap into an additional $225 million vaccine credit.
The total value of the settlement could reach $700 million, equal to Gavi’s prepayments under the advance purchase agreement originally signed in May 2021. Novavax terminated the deal in late 2022, saying Gavi had failed to buy 350 million doses as required and the payments were nonrefundable. Gavi, in turn, accused Novavax of breaching the pact.
Dive Insight:
The deal offers an immediate cash infusion for Gavi, which is dedicated to bringing vaccines to lower-income countries. And it frees Novavax from a potentially devastating one-time payment that might have been ordered in arbitration. “The liability has been a black cloud over their balance sheet,” Jefferies analyst Roger Song said of Novavax in a note to investors.
Still, the payments may be a tall order for the company, which has been struggling after numerous delays bringing its COVID-19 vaccine to market. Novavax had originally planned to start supplying Gavi with vaccines in the third quarter of 2021, but didn’t win U.S. clearance until July 2022. By that time, demand had started drying up.
Last May, the company announced it would cut its workforce by 25% and reduce operational and research spending. Then in January, Novavax told investors it would lay off another 12% of its workers. Now, the company is focused on scaling up global demand for its COVID-19 booster shots, touting approvals in each country.
Under the terms of the deal with Gavi, Novavax will be able to set the price for vaccines under the settlement credits, though the company said the cost would be “consistent with its shared goal with Gavi to provide equitable access.” Novavax also gave Gavi a security interest in accounts receivable from the Serum Institute of India.
Given the resilience in local and global economic growth over recent months – along with continued steady declines in inflation – it appears increasingly likely that a soft economic landing is probable this year.
In Australia, the December quarter consumer price index had dropped to 0.6% on a quarterly basis, and to 4.1%, on an annual clip.
The domestic rate of inflation has halved over the past twelve months.
Moreover, the 4.1% recent annual result was much less than the 4.5% forecast by the Reserve Bank for calendar 2023.
So where to next when it comes to interest rates?
Looking forward
Well – at this stage – an increase in the cash rate is very doubtful.
Falls in the cash rate are more likely.
The financial markets have been expecting them to fall from late year and the betting is now strongly in favour of the first fall to be in August this year.
If things economic go further south than anticipated the first cut could be as soon as May.
Our modelling suggests that six (6), 0.25% falls in the cash rate are possible between mid-to-late 2024 and by the end of calendar 2025.
Right now, the first 0.25% cut is likely to be in August 2023, a month after the Australian Bureau of Statistics quarterly consumer price index result.
Further cuts are likely to follow the same pattern, being on the first Tuesday of each month, after the official quarterly CPI result.
If this eventuates then the Australian cash rate is likely to fall from its current 4.35% to 2.85% by late 2025—a fall of 1.5%.
We all know that most of the hikes in official interest rates are passed onto borrowers, yet history shows that only around 80% of rate cuts are transferred to bank customers.
Assuming that history repeats, then a 1.5% fall in the cash rate should see mortgage rates fall by around 1.2%.
This will drop the average new home loan to owner occupiers from 6.23% today to around 5% by late 2025.
New property investment loans are likely to fall from their current 6.6% average to 5.5% or thereabouts.
It may be prudent to anticipate that variable mortgage rates are likely to remain around the 5% mark for some time to come.
What could change?
Of course, risks remain.
It’s still possible that the lagged impact of past interest rate increases catches up with the economy, especially as more households and businesses are forced to refinance cheap Covid-era loans at higher rates.
But this would mean that the central bank cuts the cash rate deeper and faster than our forecast as outlined above.
A more troublesome risk is if the current decline in inflation starts to slow, with wages and service sector inflation remaining too high.
It doesn’t help matters in this regard whilst government largesse is still very much in play.
Another risk is geopolitical – an escalation in the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe – that pushes up inflation through the disruption of critical global food and energy supplies.
As we also know, Chinese tensions with Taiwan also persist and the potential re-election of Donald Trump at the end of this year remains a wild card.
So far at least, geopolitical tensions remain contained.
But time will tell.
The reading of the tea leaves – for now – is that the next movement in the cash rate is down and is likely to fall many times, in small progressive cuts, over the next twelve to 18 months.
This will see the demand for property rise.
About Michael Matusik Michael is director of independent property advisory Matusik Property Insights. He is independent, perceptive and to the point; has helped over 550 new residential developments come to fruition and writes his insightful Matusik Missive
“I think if it’s a national stadium and is a catalyst for the regeneration of that part of southern Manchester… there has to be a conversation with the government.”
While much of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s round of media interviews on Wednesday, after his acquisition of 27.7 per cent of Manchester United was finally confirmed, may have excited United fans, there were more than a few elements that caused surprise.
Among lines about “knocking Manchester City and Liverpool off their perch” and nice stories about chumming around with Sir Alex Ferguson, his comments on women’s team made them sound like an afterthought, merely offering that “if it’s a team wearing a Manchester United badge on their shirt, then it’s Manchester United and they need to be focused on winning and being successful.” But to offer the benefit of the doubt, these are early days and perhaps there are big plans afoot.
His answer to the question about Mason Greenwood and making a “fresh decision” on the forward’s future also set alarm bells ringing, but it’s probably only fair to judge him on that matter when the nature of the “fresh decision” is made clear.
Ratcliffe highlighted this picture as one of his favourite United moments this season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
What also stuck out were his comments regarding Old Trafford and either the potential renovation of United’s home stadium or the possible construction of a new one.
Ratcliffe suggested that, when the time comes to either rebuild or replace Old Trafford, he would seek out some sort of public funding, also suggesting that it would be part of a potential regeneration of that area of Manchester.
Ratcliffe said: “People in the north pay their taxes and there is an argument you could think about a more ambitious project in the north which would be fitting for England, for the Champions League final or the FA Cup final and acted as a catalyst to regenerate southern Manchester, which has got quite significant history in the UK.”
The easy (and not unreasonable) gotcha is that Ratcliffe invoked the UK taxpayer while not being one himself. He was asked about his residency in the tax haven of Monaco, to which he replied: “I paid my taxes for 65 years in the UK. And then when I got to retirement age, I went down to enjoy a bit of sun.” A happy coincidence that the only possible place “to enjoy a bit of sun” also happens to be where the income tax rate is zero per cent.
But while true, that distracts from the main issue, which is trying to guilt-trip the taxpayer into subsidising a new stadium for Manchester United.
Fans of U.S. sports will be familiar with the tactic: a sports team owner pressures the local government into providing millions of dollars worth of funding or tax subsidies for a new stadium, earnestly promising that it wouldn’t really cost anything at all because it would bring a raft of economic benefits to the local community.
However, multiple studies in America have exposed this claim as, at best, hugely exaggerated and, more realistically, complete nonsense.
There are many examples of this, but one is the Atlanta Braves: in 2013 the Cobb County authorities committed $300million (£237m) to the construction of Truist Park, the team’s prospective new home (which replaced Turner Field, itself only constructed in 1996), which came with a series of other surrounding retail and residential developments. The suggestion was that the whole thing would be a sound public investment. In 2022, a report from JC Bradbury, an economist from Kennesaw State University, found that while there were increases in things such as sales tax, it didn’t cover the money initially invested by the authorities.
Bradbury wrote that ‘the evidence does not support the widespread claim that the $300m invested by the County to fund the stadium was a sound financial investment’ and that ‘the stadium runs significant annual deficits, which will likely continue for the remaining 25 years of the County’s commitment.’
That example is cited because at least there has been enough time to judge the benefit or otherwise — but it’s only increasing. The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which recently hosted the Super Bowl, cost $1.9billion, of which $750m came from public funding. A recent NBC report stated that over the last 50 years, around $33billion in public funds was spent to either build new stadiums or renovate old ones.
Ratcliffe doesn’t have the same leverage as those U.S. owners, because invariably the threat they leave hanging over the authorities is that they will move their team to a city more amenable to providing them with a shiny new home. Even hinting at the vague possibility that he could potentially consider anything like that, would be the easiest way to violently torch any goodwill towards him from pretty much anywhere.
Public subsidies for stadiums are a mess that is entrenched in US sports, but cannot be allowed to take hold in the UK. For a start, where would the money come from?
A Manchester Council budget process report recently revealed that they could be looking at a budget gap of £71.9million in 2026-27, which by coincidence will probably be right around the time that work on Old Trafford could begin, if Ratcliffe gets his way.
There will no doubt be wrangling over which public authority would provide United with the funding, not least because Old Trafford is technically not in Manchester, but the point remains: at a time when councils around the UK are going bankrupt (often, funnily enough, because they got involved in ill-advised and economically unsound construction projects), which means basic services are catastrophically affected, how can anyone justify committing public money to spruce up a football club’s stadium or buy a new one?
Ratcliffe believes a new or revamped Old Trafford is key to United’s advancement (Simon Peach/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ratcliffe isn’t wrong when he mentions the southern (by which he means London) bias when it comes to national sporting venues in England.
He’s also right that the north of England has been historically neglected and ignored by the UK government.
But even though Ratcliffe has a point, it’s hard to take it seriously because we know he’s being disingenuous, at best. He’s not asking for a separate ‘Wembley of the north’ to be constructed for the benefit of the people: he’s asking for the redevelopment of his own club’s stadium to be (at least partly) paid for by the people.
United don’t need the money. They brought in £648million in the last financial year, up 11 per cent on the previous one. They were fourth in the recent Deloitte Money League rankings of the richest clubs in the world. They would, you’d imagine, easily be able to secure funding based only on the increased revenue that would come from a new or refurbished stadium. They even have an elite recent example in Tottenham, who managed to build their new stadium without public money. The spending wouldn’t even harm their profit and sustainability calculations, as infrastructure costs are exempt.
And at the most basic level, it’s hard to take seriously a man personally worth £29.7billion, according to the most recent Sunday Times rich list, suggesting that his latest acquisition needs a new home and that you should pay for it, which would also increase the value of his investment.
Ratcliffe’s were just early suggestions, and there’s no indication that any public body would actually be amenable to it. But even so, the idea that public money should be used to help renovate or rebuild Old Trafford should be stopped as early as possible.
Samsung has confirmed Galaxy AI support for all its high-end phones and tablets from 2023.
Galaxy AI will make its way to compatible devices alongside the One UI 6.1 software update.
Samsung plans to roll out Galaxy AI, the coveted set of AI features introduced alongside the Galaxy S24 series, to its older models over a software update in 2024. But not all Samsung phones are eligible. Find out if your Galaxy device makes the list.
Samsung’s List of Galaxy AI-Compatible Devices
In a Samsung Newsroom post, the Korean smartphone giant officially announced the list of devices that will support Galaxy AI with the One UI 6.1 software update. Besides older smartphones, Samsung is bringing Galaxy AI to its tablet lineup. Here’s the list of compatible phones and tablets:
Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra, and S23 FE
Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5
Galaxy Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra
As you can see, all the premium phones and tablets Samsung released in 2023 are eligible to receive some of the best Galaxy AI features. Lower-end models like the Galaxy A54, Galaxy Tab S9 FE/FE+, and Galaxy A23, won’t get Galaxy AI, likely because their hardware just isn’t capable enough.
When Will Samsung Release One UI 6.1 With Galaxy AI?
According to the announcement, Samsung will start rolling out One UI 6.1 from the end of March. We don’t have an exact date yet, but you should see a software update prompt on your compatible Galaxy phone or tablet in the last week of March. With One UI 6.1, Samsung plans to bring Galaxy AI to 100 million users in 2024:
“This is only the beginning of Galaxy AI, as we plan to bring the experience to over 100 million Galaxy users within 2024 and continue to innovate ways to harness the unlimited possibilities of mobile AI.”
9to5Google reported that One UI 6.1 will also make its way to older flagships like the Galaxy S22 and S21 series later in 2024, but unfortunately, Galaxy AI won’t be a part of it.
Which Galaxy AI Features Are Coming to Older Phones?
Zarif Ali/MakeUseOf
The fine print on Samsung’s Newsroom post confirms that some of the S24’s Galaxy AI features won’t be available on all older devices. Samsung promises the following features once you update your Android phone to One UI 6.1:
Live Translate and Interpreter
Chat Assist
Note Assist
Circle to Search with Google
Generative Edit and Edit Suggestion
Instant Slow-mo
Browsing Assist
Transcript Assist
Instant Slow-mo won’t be available for the Galaxy S23 FE.
On top of these features, compatible Galaxy devices running One UI 6.1 will also let you generate AI wallpapers with text prompts.
However, it’s worth noting that some Galaxy AI features like Live Translate, Note Assist, Chat Assist, and Generative Edit require you to log in with a Samsung account. Also, Chat Assist will be limited to Samsung Keyboard, whereas Browsing Assist requires you to use the Samsung Internet browser.
We believe that Samsung’s decision to bring Galaxy AI to older models is a step in the right direction. It shows the company’s commitment to supporting older devices in the long run. However, the One UI 6.1 update with Galaxy AI features could discourage some users from upgrading to the S24 or S24 Ultra.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Splendor-of-iron-flower-crafting-in-Luoyang-1qQ0RjO5lAs/img/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de.jpeg'Photo taken on January 28, 2024 shows the intangible cultural heritage practice of molten iron flower crafting in Luoyang, Henan Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Splendor-of-iron-flower-crafting-in-Luoyang-1qQ0RjO5lAs/img/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de.jpeg'Photo taken on January 28, 2024 shows the intangible cultural heritage practice of molten iron flower crafting in Luoyang, Henan Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Splendor-of-iron-flower-crafting-in-Luoyang-1qQ0RjO5lAs/img/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de.jpeg'Photo taken on January 28, 2024 shows the intangible cultural heritage practice of molten iron flower crafting in Luoyang, Henan Province. /IC
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-01/Splendor-of-iron-flower-crafting-in-Luoyang-1qQ0RjO5lAs/img/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de/cba6afdc0e734af995d7277825edf6de.jpeg'Photo taken on January 28, 2024 shows the intangible cultural heritage practice of molten iron flower crafting in Luoyang, Henan Province. /IC
A temple fair at the Sui and Tang Dynasty City Ruins Botanical Garden in Luoyang, Henan Province, showcased the intangible cultural heritage practice of molten iron flower crafting. The dazzling “iron flower rain,” which sees golden sparks shooting high into the air, resembled fireworks in the night sky, creating a magnificent and captivating spectacle. The event drew crowds of local residents and tourists alike, who gathered at the fair to celebrate the joyous arrival of Chinese New Year.
Pedro Pascal was a little drunk at tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, because he thought he could get drunk.
Hey, you and me both, Pedro.
I didn’t anticipate that the ceremony, streamed on Netflix — no commercials, plenty of profanity — would boast many surprises. And outside of Pascal prevailing for “The Last of Us” over the “Succession” leads, and Elizabeth Debicki winning for “The Crown” (really?), there weren’t.
On the television side, actors we saw win Emmys just a month ago — Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri for “The Bear,” Ali Wong and Steven Yeun for “Beef” — prevailed again. “The Bear” won comedy series cast; “Succession” took drama.
Hey, like Edebiri said, in a nod to James Baldwin, an “act of love is an act of mirroring.”
But we don’t watch the SAG Awards for the TV prizes. We watch because the SAG Awards are a reliable precursor to the Oscars, and the voting window is open at this very moment. The last two years, all five SAG film category winners have gone on to prevail at the Oscars. Will that happen again? Let’s take a closer look.
CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE Winner: “Oppenheimer”
The past: The winner of this award went on to take the best picture Oscar in 14 of 28 years, making it easily the SAG Awards’ least-trustworthy Oscar precursor. (The ensemble prize wasn’t awarded in 1994, the SAG Awards’ first year.) That said, three of the four past winners — “Parasite,” “CODA” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” prevailed at the Academy Awards too. (“The Trial of the Chicago 7” triumphed three years ago over the Oscar-winning “Nomadland,” which featured mostly nonprofessional actors.)
Will history repeat itself? This really was the last chance for any kind of sliver of doubt to creep into the best picture race. SAG voters have gone the populist route in the film ensemble category over the years, rewarding box office hits like “Black Panther,” “Hidden Figures” and “The Help” over indie-minded fare. So it wasn’t inconceivable that they might reward the one movie that made more money than “Oppenheimer.” And “Barbie” wasn’t just a commercial hit. It won over most critics, triggered fragile men and launched a thousand think pieces. It checked off more than enough boxes to prevail.
But “Oppenheimer” sported a large ensemble, including Oscar winners Rami Malek and Casey Affleck, and, it would appear, future Oscar winners Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. The three-hour movie gave all of its characters a memorable moment or two — I know I’ll never go to another nuclear test without slathering on sunscreen first — turning what could have been a Great Man biopic into a fascinating, layered history lesson. After it wins the Producers Guild’s top honor Sunday night, all that’s left is the Oscar.
FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Winner: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
The past: SAG and the academy have matched 21 of 29 years. Notable recent exceptions: Frances McDormand winning her third Oscar for “Nomadland” after Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) won SAG, and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) denying 2019 SAG winner Glenn Close (“The Wife”) her first Oscar.
Will history repeat itself? Looks like we have the kind of nail-biter that will give the Oscars a much-needed shot of suspense. Emma Stone won the British Film Academy’s lead actress honor last weekend for her gonzo turn in “Poor Things.” If she had taken SAG, the race would effectively be over. Gladstone’s victory — and her moving acceptance speech — might be enough to tip the momentum back to where it was when she received that long, warm ovation when “Killers of the Flower Moon” premiered at Cannes.
Gladstone would make history as the first Native American to win the lead actress Oscar. A lot of people would love to witness that moment. But … there are still a good many voters who aren’t convinced that her screen time — she’s in less than a third of the 3½-hour movie — warrants a lead acting Oscar. I’m starting to suspect they might just have to deal with it.
MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Winner: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
The past: This category has been the most reliable indicator of Oscar victory, with SAG and the academy matching 23 of 29 times. There are exceptions, though, such as last year, when Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for “The Father,” prevailing over SAG winner Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”).
Will history repeat itself? Coming on the heels of his win with the British Film Academy last weekend, Murphy’s prize pretty much assures he’ll win the Oscar. Voters could have gone with Paul Giamatti for his fine work as the curmudgeonly prep school teacher in “The Holdovers,” but there’s a precedent for the lead actor honors going to actors playing important historical figures. Lincoln, Churchill, Patton, Ray Charles — I could go on (and on and on). And in “Oppenheimer,” Murphy portrays the title character in the film that will win the Academy Award for best picture, feverishly inhabiting the skin of a man at war with himself. Big movie, quiet intensity, three-hour running time. Game, set, match.
FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
The past: The SAG award winner has gone on to take the Oscar 21 of 28 times, including last year, when Jamie Lee Curtis won for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a firm indication of the film’s strength. (Kate Winslet won this category in 2009 for “The Reader” but was nominated for — and won — the Oscar for lead actress for that performance.)
Will history repeat itself? “The Holdovers” premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on the last day of August. Since then, Randolph has won 36 awards, and I’m sure she’ll take the Indie Spirit prize on Sunday. Her moving portrayal of a Black cafeteria manager mourning the loss of a son in Vietnam — and trying to maintain her patience with the two self-involved men she’s stuck with at a New England prep school — has been that undeniable. If Oscar voters had embraced (or even watched) “The Color Purple,” this could have been a more interesting conversation that included Danielle Brooks’ knockout turn as Sofia. As it is, Randolph stands to collect one more prize, the biggest. I don’t hear anyone complaining. (You heard that rousing speech, right?)
MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Winner: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
The past: The SAG winner has gone on to win the Oscar 18 times in 27 years, including the last seven.
Will history repeat itself? Apparently so. When this awards season began some 100 years ago (at least it feels that way), this category felt like it’d be a fun race between Downey’s wily turn as Adm. Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer’s antagonist, and Ryan Gosling’s playful take on Ken, Barbie’s lovelorn sidekick questioning the meaning of his existence. Personally, I’d vote — and have — for Gosling, as his open-hearted work and deadpan comic chops helped make “Barbie” such an utter delight. But Downey has the better narrative — apparently, it’s his time — and a meaty part in the movie that will win best picture. No disrespect for Downey or the venom he brought to the role. It’s just a bit weird how one-sided this race became.
How big is your concern that these constraints will spur China to spin up competitive AI chips?
China has things that are competitive.
Right. This isn’t data-center scale, but the Huawei Mate 60 smartphone that came out last year got some attention for its homegrown 7-nanometer chip.
Really, really good company. They’re limited by whatever semiconductor processing technology they have, but they’ll still be able to build very large systems by aggregating many of those chips together.
How concerned are you in general, though, that China will be able to match the US in generative AI?
The regulation will limit China’s ability to access state-of-the-art technology, which means the Western world, the countries not limited by the export control, will have access to much better technology, which is moving fairly fast. So I think the limitation puts a lot of cost burden on China. You can always, technically, aggregate more of the chipmaking systems to do the job. But it just increases the cost per unit on those. That’s probably the easiest way to think about it.
Does the fact that you’re building compliant chips to keep selling in China affect your relationship with TSMC, Taiwan’s semiconductor pride and joy?
No. A regulation is specific. It’s no different than a speed limit.
You’ve said quite a few times that of the 35,000 components that are in your supercomputer, eight are from TSMC. When I hear that, I think that must be a tiny fraction. Are you downplaying your reliance on TSMC?
No, not at all. Not at all.
So what point are you trying to make with that?
I’m simply emphasizing that in order to build an AI supercomputer, a whole lot of other components are involved. In fact, in our AI supercomputers, just about the entire semiconductor industry partners with us. We already partner very closely with Samsung, SK Hynix, Intel, AMD, Broadcom, Marvell, and so on and so forth. In our AI supercomputers, when we succeed, a whole bunch of companies succeed with us, and we’re delighted by that.
How often do you talk to Morris Chang or Mark Liu at TSMC?
All the time. Continuously. Yeah. Continuously.
What are your conversations like?
These days we talk about advanced packaging, planning for capacity for the coming years, for advanced computing capacity. CoWoS [TSMC’s proprietary method for cramming chip dies and memory modules into a single package] requires new factories, new manufacturing lines, new equipment. So their support is really, really quite important.
I recently had a conversation with a generative-AI-focused CEO. I asked who Nvidia’s competitors might be down the road, and this person suggested Google’s TPU. Other people mention AMD. I imagine it’s not such a binary to you, but who do you see as your biggest competitor? Who keeps you up at night?
Lauren, they all do. The TPU team is extraordinary. The bottom line is, the TPU team is really great, the AWS Trainium team and the AWS Inferentia team are really extraordinary, really excellent. Microsoft has their internal ASIC development that’s ongoing, called Maia. Every cloud service provider in China is building internal chips, and then there’s a whole bunch of startups that are building great chips, as well as existing semiconductor companies. Everybody’s building chips.
Bitcoin on Wednesday, February 21 recorded a small profit of 0.31 percent. Presently, the value of Bitcoin stands at $51,977 (roughly Rs. 43 lakh). As per market experts, the resistance for Bitcoin currently stands at $53,000 (roughly Rs. 43.9 lakh) — breaking which would indicate a strong rally for the asset. In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price has logged a notable rise of $400 (roughly Rs. 33,160). The crypto chart reflected market volatility on Wednesday, with altcoins showing mixed movement towards gains and losses.
Ether managed to touch the mark of $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2.48 lakh) for the first time since April 2022. The asset, however, could not manage to hold a strong ground at that mark. With a loss of 2.05 percent, the value of Ether presently stands at $2,870 (roughly Rs. 2.3 lakh).
“In the current market scenario, Bitcoin is signalling overbought conditions, causing investor caution regarding potential consolidation. Meanwhile, Ethereum is displaying an ascending channel pattern, flirting with $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2.48 lakh) and fueled by ongoing developments in its ecosystem. Breaking free from their usual daily patterns, investors are exercising caution due to a short-term buying spree amidst a bullish momentum indicated by moving averages,” Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX told Gadgets360.
Tether, Solana, Ripple, USD Coin, Cardano, and Avalanche — all recorded losses alongside Ether on Wednesday.
Dogecoin, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, Litecoin, Cosmos, and Stellar also registered losses.
The overall crypto market cap slipped by 0.16 percent in the last 24 hours. The sector’s current valuation stands at $1.98 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,64,13,606 crore) as per CoinMarketCap.
Meanwhile, Binance Coin, Tron, Chainlink, Polygon, Leo, Cronos, and Monero recorded gains alongside BTC on Wednesday.
At this time, market analysts are more excited to witness Ether’s trajectory than Bitcoin’s.
“Ethereum is very popular. As a compute network it is the default choice for most Web3 developers. This means: more traffic and more highway maintenance. So developers are shipping an upgrade to make the highway a lot smoother. And they are doing it without disrupting the traffic. They test the upgrade on the service road (testnets) and later port it to the mainnet highway. The mainnet launch of Dencun is scheduled for March and this can be seen as an internal catalyst for a better Web3 future,” said Ashish Singhal, Co-founder, CoinSwitch.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Best of the SearchBot showcases Search Engine Land’s SearchBot’s responses to prompts submitted by readers. The language model is based on content from Search Engine Land layered on top of ChatGPT. The editors of Search Engine Land selected this response for its usefulness and have supplemented it with additional relevant content.
I am the first generative AI chatbot for search marketers. I am trained with Search Engine Land content.
Here’s something somebody asked me! After that, how you can improve prompts to get even better answers from me.
Prompt:
What are the three most important areas you would focus on when creating a SEO technical audit?
Answer:
When creating a SEO technical audit, there are three key areas that I would recommend focusing on: 1. Indexing: It is crucial to check how many pages of your website are indexed by search engines. This can be done by navigating to your desired search engine and entering your website’s URL. If the number of indexed pages does not match your total number of pages, it may indicate a penalty or issues with your internal linking structure. 2. Robots.txt: Reviewing your robots.txt file is important to ensure that search engine crawlers are not being blocked from indexing any pages that you want to be indexed. The robots.txt file is located at domain.com/robots.txt. 3. Preferred domain: It is essential to ensure that all variations of your website’s URLs (e.g., https://domain.com/ and https://www.domain.com/) are 301 redirected to a single, preferred version. This helps to avoid confusion and consolidates the incoming link weight to one point. These three areas provide a solid foundation for a technical SEO audit and can help identify and address common issues that may be impacting your website’s search engine performance.
How this prompt could be improved:
You are an experienced SEO consultant specializing in identifying and resolving technical website issues that impact organic visibility in search engine results. You use a variety of tools, both free and paid, to comprehensively address all aspects of technical SEO. Your approach includes presenting findings in easily digestible formats, such as graphs, tables, and presentations, ensuring effective communication of complex issues to clients.
You’ve recently brought on board a junior technical SEO specialist to become a valuable part of your team. Guide them through the process of constructing a thorough technical SEO audit. Explain why these audits are crucial, back it up with stats showing the positive changes from SEO fixes. Also, share the top tools for SEO audits and what issues each tool can find.
Outline the three main technical SEO problems you would prioritize when conducting an audit, explain how common they are and how these issues impact websites. Explain how simple and fast it is to fix these issues. For each problem, share the steps you would take to make things right.
Give tips on how to present this data in a client-friendly format.
Make sure the guidance you provide is helpful and easy to understand for someone who is new to SEO. Use headers and bullet points where appropriate to break up your guidance in an easy to follow format.
The key elements and enhancements to this prompt are as follows:
(Task)
You’ve recently brought on board a junior technical SEO specialist to become a valuable part of your team. Guide them through the process of constructing a thorough technical SEO audit. Explain why these audits are crucial, back it up with stats showing the positive changes from SEO fixes. Also, share the top tools for SEO audits and what issues each tool can find.
Outline the three main technical SEO problems you would prioritize when conducting an audit, explain how common they are and how these issues impact websites. Explain how simple and fast it is to fix these issues. For each problem, share the steps you would take to make things right.
Give tips on how to present this data in a client-friendly format.
(Context)
You are an experienced SEO consultant specializing in identifying and resolving technical website issues that impact organic visibility in search engine results. You use a variety of tools, both free and paid, to comprehensively address all aspects of technical SEO. Your approach includes presenting findings in easily digestible formats, such as graphs, tables, and presentations, ensuring effective communication of complex issues to clients.
(Tone)
Make sure the guidance you provide is helpful and easy to understand for someone who is new to SEO.
(Format)
Use headers and bullet points where appropriate to break up your guidance in an easy to follow format.
Answer:
Title: Constructing a Comprehensive Technical SEO Audit: A Step-by-Step Guide for Junior Specialists
Introduction: Welcome to the world of technical SEO audits! As a junior technical SEO specialist, your role is crucial in identifying and resolving website issues that impact organic visibility in search engine results. In this guide, I will walk you through the process of constructing a thorough technical SEO audit, explain the importance of these audits, provide statistics to highlight the positive impact of implementing SEO fixes, and introduce you to the top tools for conducting SEO audits.
Why are Technical SEO Audits Important? Technical SEO audits play a vital role in optimizing websites for search engines. By identifying and resolving technical issues, we can improve website performance, enhance user experience, and increase organic visibility. Here are some statistics to emphasize the significance of technical SEO audits:
1. Website Speed: According to Google, if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load, the probability of bounce increases by 32%. Additionally, a 1-second delay in page load time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
2. Mobile-Friendliness: Mobile devices account for approximately half of all web traffic worldwide. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its search results, and 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing.
3. Site Structure: Well-structured websites with clear navigation and internal linking tend to perform better in search engine rankings. A study by Backlinko found that sites with a strong site architecture ranked significantly higher in search results.
Top Tools for SEO Audits and Their Capabilities: To conduct a comprehensive technical SEO audit, we rely on various tools. Here are some of the top tools and the technical SEO issues they can identify:
1. Semrush Site Audit: – Structure: Identifies issues related to website structure, crawlability, and internal linking. – On-page SEO elements: Checks for keyword optimization in title tags, meta descriptions, filenames, and paths. – Compliance issues: Assesses HTML validity and accessibility score. – Images: Evaluates image loading speed and optimization. – User experience: Provides insights into site speed and mobile-friendliness.
2. Screaming Frog: – Crawlability: Uncovers issues related to website crawling and indexing. – On-page SEO elements: Extracts data on meta titles, headings, and other on-page elements. – Internal links: Identifies internal linking opportunities and issues. – Compliance issues: Flags HTML and code-related problems.
3. SiteBulb: – Comprehensive crawl: Provides in-depth technical information about the website. – Audit Score: Evaluates overall technical SEO performance. – SEO Score: Assesses on-page SEO elements and optimization. – Security Score: Checks for website security vulnerabilities.
Prioritizing Technical SEO Problems: When conducting a technical SEO audit, it’s essential to prioritize the most impactful issues. Here are three common problems to focus on:
1. Website Speed: – Impact: Slow-loading websites lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversions. – Steps to Fix: Optimize images, leverage browser caching, minify CSS and JavaScript, and enable compression.
2. Mobile-Friendliness: – Impact: Mobile devices account for a significant portion of web traffic, and Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites. – Steps to Fix: Implement responsive design, optimize viewport settings, and ensure mobile-friendly navigation.
3. Site Structure and Internal Linking: – Impact: Well-structured websites with clear navigation and internal linking tend to perform better in search rankings. – Steps to Fix: Optimize site structure, create XML sitemaps, implement breadcrumbs, and ensure proper internal linking.
Presenting Data in a Client-Friendly Format: When presenting the findings of your technical SEO audit to clients, it’s crucial to communicate complex issues effectively. Here are some tips:
– Use visual aids such as graphs, tables, and presentations to present data in a clear and concise manner. – Focus on key findings and actionable recommendations. – Explain the impact of each issue on website performance and organic visibility. – Provide a prioritized list of issues and their corresponding fixes. – Use client-friendly language and avoid technical jargon as much as possible.
Conclusion: By following this step-by-step guide, you can construct a comprehensive technical SEO audit that addresses key issues and improves website performance. Remember to prioritize impactful problems, leverage the top SEO audit tools, and present your findings in a client-friendly format. Your role as a junior technical SEO specialist is crucial in enhancing website search engine performance and driving organic visibility. Good luck!
As the monsoon season sweeps across the Indian subcontinent, it brings relief from scorching temperatures and replenishes the land with life-giving water. In a country known for its diverse climates and landscapes, some cities receive an abundance of rainfall, contributing to their lush greenery and vibrant ecosystems. In 2024, let’s explore the top 10 rainiest cities in India, where the skies open up to nourish the earth and captivate the senses.
India’s Rainiest Place 2024
Mawsynram stands as India’s rainiest haven, nestled amidst the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. Welcoming travelers with its breathtaking landscapes and lush greenery, it receives a staggering 12 meters of rainfall annually. This picturesque hill station, enveloped by hills on three sides, beckons tourists worldwide to marvel at its exotic flora and fauna. With unexpected showers year-round, visitors are advised to carry rain gear for an unforgettable experience amidst nature’s bounty.
Top-10 Rainiest Cities in India 2024
Mawsynrum district of Meghalaya with the annual rainfall of 12 meters, holds the title of the rainiest city in India, followed by Mahabaleshwar, Cherrapunji, Agumbe, and Amboli.
Here is the list of top-10 rainiest cities in India 2024:
Rainiest Cities in India 2024
Rank
City
State
1.
Mawsynrum
Meghalaya
2.
Mahabaleshwar
Maharashtra
3.
Cherrapunji
Meghalaya
4.
Agumbe
Karnataka
5.
Amboli
Maharashtra
6.
Gangtok
Sikkim
7.
Neriamangalam
Kerala
8.
Sitarganj
Uttarakhand
9.
Chinnakallar
Tamil Nadu
10.
Pasighat
Arunachal Pradesh
Rainiest City in India – Mawsynrum
Mawsynram, acclaimed as the rainiest cityin India, entices travelers with its lush landscapes and unparalleled charm. Nestled in the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, it boasts an annual rainfall of approximately 12 meters, nurturing exotic flora and fauna. Surrounded by hills, Mawsynram beckons visitors worldwide, where unexpected showers grace the region year-round, urging tourists to carry rain gear for an unforgettable experience.
India’s Second Rainiest Place – Mahableshwar
Mahabaleshwar, nestled in Maharashtra’s Satara district, stands as India’s second rainiest city. Renowned for its pilgrimage significance, it’s the origin of the Krishna river, revered in Hinduism. During British rule, it transformed into a developed hill station, serving as Bombay Presidency’s summer capital. Its lush landscapes and historical charm beckon travelers seeking the allure of abundant rainfall and spiritual sanctity.
Third Rainiest City in India – Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji, locally known as ‘Sohra’, holds the distinction of being India’s third rainiest city. Situated in the northeastern region, it captivates with its high-altitude charm and renowned living root bridges crafted from rubber trees. Referred to as the “wet desert of India,” Cherrapunji experiences rapid cloud ascent, facilitating condensation and contributing to its abundant rainfall.
World’s Edge and TiMi Studio Group have revealed the first details of Age of Empires Mobile for iOS and Android. The entry includes the series’ most popular gameplay mechanics such as base-building and PvP battles. It will also have mobile-specific controls to optimize the experience.
While Age of Empires Mobile doesn’t have a release date yet, its iOS page says, “expected Aug 19, 2024.” The game will allow players to pick from a variety of different historical leaders such as King Arthur, Joan of Arc, Julius Caesar, Leonidas I, and the Queen of Sheba. Each leader has their own talents and it’s important to learn how to synergize them for both PvP and PvE matches.
“We grew up playing Age of Empires on our PCs and believe we can offer a new but similarly exciting experience for mobile players with Age of Empires Mobile,” explained TiMi Studio Group general manager Brayden Fan in a press release. “Players all over the world can build massive empires, form alliances, and fight against each other to prove who is the best.”
TiMi has developed mobile experiences for AAA franchises in the past, such as Call of Duty Mobile and Pokémon Unite. World’s Edge was founded in 2019 to oversee the development of Age of Empire games from other partner studios, rather than strictly develop them.
Recent developments in cancer research have highlighted the vital role of the immune system, particularly in the notable successes of cancer immunotherapy.
Now, a paradigm-shifting study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York in collaboration with the University of Helsinki and Massachusetts General Hospital sheds light on how variations in immune genetics influence lung cancer risk, potentially paving the way for enhanced prevention strategies and screening.
The findings were described in the February 22 online issue of Science.
The investigators utilized genetic epidemiology and multimodal genomic analyses of data from the UK Biobank, validating it in FinnGen. Their study focused on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules — the most diverse genes in the human genome and at the core of immune recognition. These genes contain instructions to make proteins, which play a crucial role in presenting foreign antigens on cell surfaces. This process aids the immune system in identifying and eliminating threats such as cancer cells.
Surprisingly, the study found that individuals with heterozygosity (having different versions of a gene) at HLA-II, rather than HLA-I, experienced a decreased risk of lung cancer. This effect was particularly pronounced among smokers, a population already at higher risk for lung cancer due to exposure to carcinogens.
“Our findings challenge conventional thinking by demonstrating that immune genetics, specifically HLA-II heterozygosity, plays a significant role in lung cancer risk, especially among smokers,” says co-senior author Diego Chowell, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences, and Immunology and Immunotherapy at Icahn Mount Sinai. “Further, when we added polygenic risk scores — which is a measure of genetic predisposition based on multiple genes — to the analysis, it increased the lifetime risk of lung cancer, specifically in smokers who have identical versions of the HLA-II genes.
The implications of this research extend beyond lung cancer, offering a new perspective on cancer risk assessment, the researchers say. The conventional thinking on the causes of cancer is that the disease is caused by random mutations arising during DNA replication, inherited mutations, and environmental factors. The research showed that the immune system is also part of the etiology of cancer, Dr. Chowell says. By considering immune genetics alongside hereditary and environmental factors, the investigators’ aim to develop more effective prevention strategies, potentially harnessing the immune system to combat cancer.
“These results highlight a previously overlooked aspect of cancer risk assessment,” says co-senior author Robert Samstein, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, and Immunology and Immunotherapy at Icahn Mount Sinai. “Our study marks a big step toward understanding the intricate interplay between the immune system and cancer risk. We hope that by identifying individuals with increased susceptibility based on their immune genetics, we can implement more targeted screening, prevention, and treatment strategies.”
Next, the research team plans to delve deeper into the mechanisms underlying HLA heterozygosity’s protective effects, with a focus on preclinical models of disease. Additionally, they aim to explore the role of non-classical CD4 T cells and HLA class II in cancer biology, opening the door for potential progress in the mitigation and treatment of cancer.
The paper is titled “An immunogenetic basis for lung cancer risk.”
The remaining authors of the paper, all with Icahn Mount Sinai except where indicated, are: Chirag Krishna, PhD (Pfizer); Anniina Tervi, PhD (University of Helsinki); Miriam Saffern (PhD candidate); Eric A. Wilson, PhD; Seong-Keun Yoo, PhD; Nina Mars, MD, PhD (University of Helsinki and The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT); Vladimir Roudko, PhD; Byuri Angela Cho, PhD; Samuel Edward Jones, PhD (University of Helsinki); Natalie Vaninov (PhD candidate); Myvizhi Esai Selvan, PhD; Zeynep H Gu?mu?s, PhD; FinnGen Consortium; Tobias L. Lenz, PhD (University of Hamburg); Miriam Merad, MD, PhD; Paolo Boffetta, MD (Stony Brook University in New York and University of Bologna); Francisco Marti?nez-Jime?nez, PhD (Stony Brook University in New York and Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona); and Hanna M. Ollila, PhD (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, The Broad Institute, and University of Helsinki).
Paneer, it is claimed, existed since Vedic times and there is evidence to indicate that it was known to the people of the Indus Valley civilization. According to Sonal Ved, author of the book – Whose Samosa is it anyway? – the roots of the word Paneer can be found in the Turkish word Peynir.
Chhena, in its present avatar, is believed to have been brought to Bengal by the Portuguese traders who landed around the region of Bandel – a little North of Kolkata – and from there, it spread to parts of eastern India. Ved contests this theory, but I shall put my money on it. They first taught the natives the Dutch way of making cheese. From this emerged, arguably, the only indigenous Indian Cheese, called Bandel Cheese. But we shall store that for another day. Chhena evolved later as a cottage cheese and got absorbed in the local cuisine. It eventually gained popularity beyond Bengal in present-day Odisha, laying the foundation of the Battle of Rosogolla.
But the hero of this piece is not those round balls of Chhena dipped in sugar syrup or gur. It is a lesser known Odia sweet (till not too long ago, almost unknown outside of the state) called Chenna Poda. However, it is considered to be of more recent origin than the Rosogolla, which is traced back to the 15th century AD towards the beginning of Jagannath cult. Chhenna Poda was an accidental discovery of a confectioner Sudarshan Sahu in Dashapalla near Puri – as late as 1947.
However, it has all the ingredients of a classic and can easily pass off as the food of Gods. I shall spare the gentle readers the detailed story of Chhena Poda, which they can easily find on the internet.
It is a baked dessert that the knowledgeable compare with Basque Cheesecake. However, I think this comparison does injustice to Chhena Poda, which is truly unique and has a character of its own. Chena Poda has to be made from fresh, home-made Chhena (not commercially produced stuff), which is well-kneaded with sugar, semolina and flavoured with cardamom, cashew nuts and raisins and is baked for several hours until it browns. It derives its flavours primarily from the caramelised sugar. A North Indian equivalent of it can be the baked Kalakand sold as Milk Cake. Bengalis have tried to compete, with Baked Sandesh, but nothing comes close to the sublime Chhenna Poda.
Other than Chhena Poda – other Chhena based sweets include Chhena Gaja, Rasabali and Chhena Jilli. On a flying trip to Balasore last week, I succumbed to the temptation of trying all of them, ignoring my diabetologist’s injunction. That all of them were good to die for was my justification.
In general, Odia sweets are under-rated and poorly marketed. Of late, there has been an attempt to popularise Chhena Poda. Nayagarh District has already applied for GI Tag for Chhena Poda, and April 11th, the birth anniversary of Sudarshan Sahu, has been declared as “World Chhena Poda” Day. That is a good decision. Instead of fighting a losing battle over Rosogolla – Odisha would do well to take its true original creation, Chhena Poda, to the world.
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Swarnim Partners & Associates is looking for an intern to join us for the month of March 2024.
About Swarnim Partners & Associates
From commercial disputes to criminal matters, Swarnim has a highly skilled team with exceptional knowledge in various legal domains. Our team offers cutting-edge legal solutions and competent representation to a broad clientele.
About the Opportunity
Swarnim Partners & Associates is looking for an intern to join us for the month of March 2024. If you’re a motivated law student ready to learn about litigation, we want to hear from you.
Mode
Physical.
Eligibility Criteria
All Law Students.
How to Apply?
Send your resume to [email protected]. Please mention your full name and your phone number in the subject line. Most importantly in your email, please mention (in 200 words) what motivates you to work with our team.
All zodiac signs have their own characteristics and traits which define someone’s personality. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you started your day by already knowing about what’s going to come your way? Read on to find out whether the odds will be in your favour today.
Horoscope Today: Astrological prediction for February 25, 2024 (Photo by Pixabay)
ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 20)
An exercise regime will ensure fitness. Think twice before investing in anything big. Some of you may get selected for something prestigious on the professional front. You can find a parent quite domineering. Stay clear of arguments, especially while travelling. If you want to buy property the time is favourable. Luck may favour you on the academic front in getting something that you desperately want.
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Love Focus: Differences that were cropping up in a relationship are likely to disappear.
Lucky Number: 6
Lucky Colour: Pink
TAURUS (Apr 21-May 20)
You will be able to get rid of mental tensions. Getting a loaned amount back may become an uphill task. You will manage to outwit a rival on the professional front. Skillful handling of a delicate situation will help maintain domestic harmony. An outing can prove expensive and may take some fun out of it. A property issue is likely to be settled in your favour.
Love Focus: Your inner voice will be the best guide on the romantic front.
Lucky Number: 8
Lucky Colour: Green
GEMINI (May 21-Jun 21)
Health remains satisfactory as you remain regular in your workouts. A timely advice may help strengthen your financial position. An innovative idea or an improvement at workplace may get you the credit you seek. Family pressure will make you do something that you are dead against. Those on a vacation in warmer climes will find the weather simply marvellous. Some of you can get embroiled in a legal battle over property.
Love Focus: Lover will be most understanding and will support you in everything.
Lucky Number: 22
Lucky Colour: Navy Blue
CANCER (Jun 22-Jul 22)
You will need to be more conscious regarding your health. Ups and downs in fortune are indicated for those playing the stocks. This is the time to consolidate your position on the professional front. Some of you can make a plan for an outing or a movie with friends. Avoid travelling, if things can be organised through other ways. Offers on the property front may start coming now. Achievements of a family youngster will be a feather in your cap.
Love Focus: Tread carefully to avoid the pitfalls in love.
Lucky Number: 11
Lucky Colour: Yellow
LEO (Jul 23-Aug 23)
This is the time to resume the exercise regime you had abandoned. A profit making scheme may need further probing before you put in your money. Your efforts on the professional front will be recognised. Youngsters can expect to have a good time with cousins. Those feeling stressed are likely to take a break by going on a vacation. Current residence is likely to be renovated.
Love Focus: Love will grow as you keep aside quality time for romance.
Lucky Number: 7
Lucky Colour: Orange
VIRGO (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Eating right will keep your system in a fine fettle. Those seeking placement can get an offer they simply can’t refuse! Resources to repay a loan may need to be found soon. You may not see eye to eye with a parent or a family member. Time and money are likely to be wasted on a business trip as nothing comes of it. Admission to a prestigious institute may become a reality for some.
Love Focus: Share your feelings with the one you love to lighten your mind.
Lucky Number: 5
Lucky Colour: Golden
LIBRA (Sep 24-Oct 23)
Your fitness can take a beating due to sheer laziness. You will need to choose the investment schemes wisely to ensure profitable returns. Using your initiative at work will be much appreciated. Travelling to someplace exciting with friends is indicated. The overbearing nature of a family member can drive you into your shell. Some good news can be expected on the property front.
Love Focus: You are likely to spare no efforts in making your love life tick.
Lucky Number: 7
Lucky Colour: Peach
SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 22)
Walking or jogging will help you get back into shape. Benefit accrues as your gut feeling about an investment turns right. Certain good options on the business front can be expected. You can miss a family get together due to health reasons. Those thinking of a journey by road are in for a good time. Chances of property or wealth coming your way through inheritance cannot be ruled out.
Love Focus: Small gestures will matter immensely on the romantic front.
Lucky Number: 22
Lucky Colour: Beige
A home remedy is likely to get the ailing, hundred percent fit. You will be able to stem wasteful expenditure by sensible budgeting. Trying out a new idea at work may need some more fine-tuning to be successful. You will feel much happy and contented on the family front. A journey may not provide you the promised comfort and hurt your pocket too. Something acquired may become a great asset for you in the future.
Love Focus: Young couples are likely to enjoy a blissful existence.
Lucky Number:4
Lucky Colour: Brown
Changed diet will help in coming back in shape. Disturb your bank balance by drawing money only if you have to. Those seeking placement can get an offer they simply can’t refuse! A family youngster may disappoint you. Don’t travel in overcrowded public transport today, as stars are not favourable. A new plot, house or apartment can be acquired by some.
Love Focus: You will feel much more at ease now in discussing personal issues with lover than before.
Lucky Number: 22
Lucky Colour: Beige
This is the right time for getting back in shape. Lack of tight budgeting can make expenses mount. Those working in call centers or the hospitality sector can have their hands full. You may get involved in arranging something on the family front. You can be talked into a journey which you may not particularly enjoy. The travelling bug is likely to bite some, but leave may become a problem.
Love Focus: Overall prosperity is likely to brighten up your love life.
Lucky Number: 18
Lucky Colour: Purple
PISCES (Feb 20-Mar 20)
A diet plan adopted recently will suit your system well. Those panicking over a deal can lay their worst fears to rest. Your status on the professional front is set to rise. A family issue may require urgent attention, so don’t neglect it. A short trip to someplace interesting is likely to prove most enjoyable. Someone may contest a property acquired through inheritance.
Love Focus: You are likely to strengthen the romantic front by spending more time with your lover.
Moderna shares rose by as much as 10% Thursday morning after the COVID-19 vaccine developer reported fourth quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations of a net loss during the final three months of 2023.
Full-year sales of $6.7 billion matched estimated numbers Moderna disclosed in January, but were down by about two-thirds versus 2022 as COVID vaccination rates declined substantially last year. The company has restructured its manufacturing operations in response to match the lower demand.
Moderna forecasts $4 billion in sales this year, with some expected to come from an experimental vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus that’s under regulatory review in the U.S. and several other countries.
Dive Insight:
Both Moderna and its COVID vaccine rival Pfizer were forced to re-calibrate in 2023 as vaccination rates were lower than anticipated.
The $6.7 billion in reported sales, which included $600 million in deferred revenue related to contracts Moderna has with the international vaccine group Gavi, was at the lower end of the company’s previous forecast. The bulk of it, about $4.4 billion, came from sales outside of the U.S.
“2023 was a difficult year,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said on a prerecorded investor video. “We managed a transition from a pandemic to endemic [market], which there was no playbook for.”
The manufacturing resizing the company undertook last fall was designed to match that new reality, trimming back production capacity to improve the margins for its COVID vaccine business. That effort appears to have led to the net profit Moderna reported in the fourth quarter, which was due to lower cost of goods sold.
With sales forecast to fall lower still in 2024, Moderna is emphasizing its near-to-market RSV shot, as well as other vaccines for influenza and cytomegalovirus that it expects to contribute to the predicted return to growth in 2025 and beyond.
The company is also developing a combination flu and COVID shot that’s meant to be better suited to annual vaccinations in a world in which both viruses drive seasonal spikes in illness.
Expectations are particularly high for the RSV vaccine, which will compete with two shots from GSK and Pfizer that are already on the market in the U.S. Sales of both have been strong, but Moderna argues it can still compete. Its shot is delivered in a single-dose pre-filled syringe that Moderna argues is more convenient for healthcare professionals to administer, for example.
The Food and Drug Administration is set to decide on the vaccine’s approval by mid-May.
An unprecedented late summer rush of auctions has failed to significantly slow down buyer activity with most capitals reporting more positive results for sellers.
Adelaide had the strongest auction clearance rate of 81.2%.
Auction clearance results for the other capitals were:- Melbourne – 68.5%; Brisbane – 59.5%; Sydney – 73.7% and Canberra – 62.5%.
The national auction market reported a clearance rate of 69.1% at the weekend which was higher than the 67.7% reported over the previous weekend – but lower than the 72.4% recorded over the same weekend last year.
National auction numbers however were extraordinary at the weekend for this time of year with a massive 2556 listings compared to the previous weekends 1865, and significantly above the 1933 listed over the previous weekend.
Resilient and robust capital city weekend auction markets will continue to be tested by high auction numbers as the autumn selling season officially commences next weekend with Melbourne to host the first Super Saturday of the year.
An unprecedented late summer rush of auctions has failed to significantly slow down buyer activity with most capitals reporting more positive results for sellers.
Auction results around Australia, Saturday February 17th 2024:
Capital City
This Saturday
Last Saturday
Auctions
Rate
Auctions
Rate
Sydney
1004
73.7%
759
77.4%
Melbourne
1263
68.5%
868
71.9%
Brisbane
102
59.5%
88
59.1%
Adelaide
108
81.2%
99
72.0%
Canberra
79
62.5%
51
58.3%
The national auction market reported a clearance rate of 69.1% at the weekend which was higher than the 67.7% reported over the previous weekend – but lower than the 72.4% recorded over the same weekend last year.
National auction numbers however were extraordinary at the weekend for this time of year with a massive 2556 listings compared to the previous weekend’s 1865, and significantly above the 1933 listed over the previous weekend.
Resilient and robust capital city weekend auction markets will continue to be tested by high auction numbers as the autumn selling season officially commences next weekend with Melbourne to host the first Super Saturday of the year.
Sydney auction clearance results
Sydney Market Slightly Lower as Listings Flood the Market
The Sydney auction market reported a slightly lower clearance rate at the weekend from another remarkable number of late summer auction offerings.
Sydney recorded a robust clearance rate of 73.7% at the weekend which was lower than the 77.4% recorded over the previous weekend and also slightly lower than the 74.5% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Saturday auction numbers were again remarkably high at the weekend with 1004 listed versus the 759 auctioned over the previous weekend, and remained significantly above the 686 listed over the same weekend last year.
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,788,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was higher than the $1,675,000 recorded over the previous weekend but 1.0% lower than the $1,800,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
The Lower North recorded the highest regional clearance rate at the weekend at 79.8% followed by the South West 77.2% and the North West at 76.7%. The Central Coast reported the lowest clearance rate at 61.1%.
The clearance rate for houses was 73.7% with units similar this weekend at 73.9%.
The top reported Sydney auction sale at the weekend was a 4-bedroom house at 91 John St Woollahra that sold for $9,250,000. View top selling home here 91 John St Woollahra
The most affordable home reported sold at auction in Sydney at the weekend was a 2-bedroom unit at 15/35-39 York St Fairfield that sold for $340,000.
Melbourne auction clearance results
Another Solid Summer Result for Melbourne Auction Market Despite a Wave of Auctions
The Melbourne weekend auction market reported another positive result at the weekend, despite an extraordinary day of late summer auction listings.
Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 68.5% on Saturday which was lower than the 71.9% recorded over the previous weekend and again lower than the 73.1% recorded over the same weekend last year.
A remarkable 1263 homes were reported listed over the weekend which was significantly higher than the 868 auctioned over the previous weekend and again well ahead of the 986 listed over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $1,160,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was higher than the $1,042,500 reported over the previous weekend and 13.7% higher than the $1,020,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne’s North reported the top regional clearance rate on Saturday with 76.1% followed by the North East at 72.6% and the Outer East 71.6% . The South East recorded the lowest regional rate at 60.5%.
The house clearance rate was 67.9% with units higher again this weekend at 71.5%.
Melbourne’s top reported auction sale at the weekend was a 4-bedroom house at 25 Edward St Kew that sold for $6,750,000. View top selling home here 25 Edward St Kew
The most affordable home reported sold at auction in Melbourne at the weekend was a 1-bedroom unit at 1001/35 Malcolm St South Yarra that sold for $262,500.
Grief can be debilitating, be it the loss of a friend, a parent, or even a pet. But it can be doubly painful to see your own spouse die. After all, we share everything with them, be it our tears and smiles, our inadequacies, or our little wins. And if you find yourself uttering to yourself, “My husband died and I want him back” or “I can’t get over my husband’s death”, don’t try to make yourself understand the inevitability of death. It won’t work.
In many cases, we are prepared for the loss, for instance, when the person in question suffers from a terminal illness, such as cancer. But grief can strike you like a bolt of thunder when the death is sudden. A study even explored how the grief of losing a partner can cause “emotional and practical problems” in older adults, especially those suffering from health issues.
So, wondering how to deal with grief of losing a spouse? How difficult is it to get back to normal life after such a loss? Do you ever get over the loss of a spouse, at all? Read on, as we help you unearth the intricacies of the bereavement that follows the death of a husband, with some actionable tips to manage such grief from our very own relationship counselor Dhriti Bhavsar (M.Sc, Clinical Psychology), who specializes in relationship, breakup, and LGBTQ counseling.
My Husband Died And I Want Him Back — A Story Of Grief And Longing
“I can’t get over my husband’s death.” Do you still hear yourself saying this years or months after your spouse’s death? I’m sure, this must’ve left you wondering how to get past your husband’s death. And the worst part is, unless one has felt the pangs of losing a partner to death, they won’t be able to feel the loss and the pain that follows. We will narrate to you one such tale of loss. It’s a long story and one that might make you cry too.
Related Reading: What I Regret After The Death Of My Spouse
This real-life story of grief is about Nancy, a friend of mine from Colorado. A 40-year-old school teacher, and now a widowed mother, Nancy lost her husband of 15 years, George, to an unexpected heart attack. The couple had two young sons, who were barely old enough to understand the gravity of losing their father.
Nancy was in shock and operated on autopilot for one week after the tragic incident. The grief and loss had seemingly made her numb, so much so that she had only cried once, in private, after her husband’s funeral, when she was alone in their bed. When I met her shortly after George’s death, she could only bring herself to say, “My husband died and I want him back” and “My husband died in front of me. I still can’t believe this.”
The grief of losing your husband can destroy you emotionally
She felt she had to stay strong for her two sons. She also realized that all her husband’s responsibilities were now hers. For a few weeks, she went through life as if she was simply going through the motions: eating when it was time to eat, going to her room at night, and lying on her bed, unable to sleep. She was breathing and living only for the sake of her sons and her duties. Eventually, her body could no longer keep up. One fine day, she crashed, and following this, she started keeping ill.
It wasn’t until she was looking at a few old pictures of her husband on her phone one night that reality finally hit her, and once she started crying, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to keep going anymore and couldn’t keep up appearances.
She soon encountered depression and was unable to do much without being completely exhausted. She lost her appetite and sleep. She also lost weight as a result. Everything felt too meaningless. It was as though she had lost her purpose. I remember her saying during a call during this phase, “I am so lost without George. I miss my husband so much since he died. I feel like a zombie and don’t have the will to go out, not even to get groceries. At times, I feel as if my limbs are numb. I cry every day for my deceased husband.”
Related Reading: Remarriage After Death Of Spouse: A Heartwarming Journey Of A Woman
After a month of being in this state, Nancy’s family members sought medical and psychological help for her. Her sons gave her the courage to go on, and they adopted a dog, who brought her some much-needed comfort. Soon, she recovered enough to function again. But she would occasionally slip back into depression. She would also often curse God. She would be extremely irritable on certain days, when she would keep snapping at everyone around her.
After about half a year of professional help, and support from her family, Nancy finally felt like herself again. While occasional symptoms of depression popped up every now and then, things were manageable. Nancy’s tale shows us that grief is not something we grow out of, but around.
How To Deal With Grief Of Losing a Spouse — Our Expert Explains
Now that we have seen how powerful grief at the death of a husband or wife can be and how it can crumble your will to function in society or go about with daily activities, we’ll look at how grief can be managed or dealt with. But before that, we’ll find out if grief can really be dissected and looked at as a problem that can be managed.
Most psychological experts, including Dhriti, believe there are 5 stages of grief or bereavement. Though some experts believe there are 7, popular consensus states there are 5.
Related Reading: First Relationship After Being Widowed – 18 Dos And Don’ts
The stages of grief, again, are not always linear. Neither are they final and limited, meaning that people often go back and forth between stages. There are no fixed time limits associated with any of the stages either. However, the diagnostic manuals for mental disorders DSM 5 TR and ICD 10 state that any bereavement that lasts longer than 12 months is clinically significant and a diagnostic criterion for persistent complex bereavement disorder.
Stages of grief
So, what are the 5 stages of grief? Let’s find out:
Denial: This is the state where people find it difficult to face the reality of their loss, especially if it’s due to a sudden death. Dhriti states, “The drastic change and the pain of acceptance is too much for them to bear. Many become emotionally numb, start feeling empty, or dissociate from their surroundings (derealization). Many feel the person is still with them, hear their voice, or feel their presence.” Some believe the state of “shock” exists before denial, but most consider shock as part of denial
Anger: Death is cruel and unfair, and anger is a perfectly normal response to this. This anger could be directed at higher powers, toward the dead person, toward other loved ones, and even toward oneself. You may feel, “My husband passed away without any warning.” Dhriti adds, “Such anger is usually coupled with regret at all the things one must’ve done wrong, all the love they did not get to share, and so on. People often become irritable, snarky and sensitive at this stage.”
Related Reading: 7 Stages Of Grief After A Breakup: Tips To Move On
Bargaining: In this stage, one is preoccupied with the “what ifs”. Dhriti adds, “They keep wondering what they could have done differently to prevent this. They continue to avoid their reality, and use the past as an escape route instead.”
Depression: This is the stage of intense sadness and pain. The depth of grief is typically felt here and is often unlike any other pain you have felt before. Many describe grief as a hollow aching feeling that never goes away. Signs of depression are evident, and if not cared for properly, may slip into depression easily. This is when the person may keep saying, “My husband died and I am so lonely.”
Acceptance: The final stage of grief is the most peaceful by far but still painful. Dhriti says, “This stage is all about coming to terms with reality and finally being able to face the present and the future, one in which the deceased loved one doesn’t exist.”
9 expert-backed tips to get over the death of your husband
Now that we know how grief functions, it’s important to chalk out a plan to deal with grief, instead of letting it get the better of you. As grief is not linear and doesn’t follow a strict time frame, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to dealing with grief. Yet, there are a few tried and tested tips that may work for most people grieving the loss of a loved one. Our expert Dhriti has listed 9 tips below:
1. Indulge in self-care
Wondering how to get past your husband’s death? The first step to dealing with intense grief is to take care of oneself, physically and mentally. Instead of repeating to themselves, “My husband died and I am so lonely,” people should focus on getting back to a routine and splurge on self-care and well-being.
Dhriti adds, “One should never skip meals. You should maintain a healthy diet even if you don’t want to and even if it feels mechanical. It’s crucial to remember that life does not stop for anyone and the living cannot afford to join the dead. Yes, your husband passed, but you still remain here in this world — alive and kicking.”
Related Reading: Second Marriage After 40 – What to Expect
2. Surround yourself with loved ones
One of the best ways to deal with the pain of your husband dying is to share it with a trusted group of friends. Remember never to isolate yourself during such a loss. Talk to them, even if you are numb and can hardly utter anything but, “My husband died and I want him back.”
Dhriti adds, “There is comfort in sharing grief, and community is the greatest healing resource, even if all you’re saying is “My husband passed away.” Moreover, kind words can work like magic in times such as these.” Love, care, and compassion from friends and loved ones are the 3 things widows need the most during this time. It’s also believed that a good support network can sometimes prevent suicidal tendencies too.
3. Take it slow
“I cry everyday for my deceased husband” — it’s not uncommon for a widow to be in this state months after they have lost their spouse. One should keep in mind the fact that healing from death is a long journey and one can’t heal overnight, no matter how strong one is. Just getting through the day may be an achievement. One need not immediately join a gym or take up a new hobby to enjoy life and forget the grief of a sudden death.
Related Reading: A Beautiful Love Story: She Is A Widow In Love With A Married Man
Dhriti feels, “Taking everything one day at a time and being kind to oneself is absolutely necessary to cope with such a loss. It’s okay to focus on the next step in front of you, instead of pining “I lost my husband” all the time or making a long-term healing plan.”
4. Accept your emotions
Instead of going numb and shoving your emotions beneath the carpet, accept them, whatever they may be. This can prevent further mental health issues. So, you can be angry, irritable, or terribly sad. You may lash out or cry inconsolably. You may scream out, “My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly, and I’m not okay with it!”, in the middle of the night.
Dhriti adds, “These emotions are all natural, valid, and have their own purpose. Experiencing each emotion fully helps you heal from your loss. After all, you need time to tell yourself “My husband is dead” without being teary-eyed. The grieving process is unique for everyone.”
5. Talk about your pain
Talking about the person you have lost and remembering them helps a lot in the grieving process and is one of the best ways to deal with the depression that hits you at this stage. And by ‘talking’, we don’t just mean speaking about the emotional pain of your husband dying. Share it on social media posts, write journals, create blogs in memory of your loved one — do whatever it takes, even if you’re just saying, “My husband died and I want him back.”
Dhriti feels, “Grief can be isolating, and speaking it out loud about it, even if it’s just a “I miss my deceased husband” post on social media, brings about catharsis. It also helps you connect with others around us.”
Related Reading: What To Write In A Sympathy Card When Someone Loses Her Husband
6. Preserve the memories
Don’t throw away or hide things that remind you of your lost loved one. Instead of being caught in the loop of, “My husband died and I want him back”, preserve the memories — the photos, the gifts, and the memorabilia — everything that reminds you of your deceased loved one.
A neighbor of mine, 50-year-old Brenda, whose husband died of a heart attack at home, said “My husband died in front of me, and it was painful to let him go. My world changed so rapidly after I lost my husband. Initially, I was so broken, I even had suicidal tendencies. All I have now are his memories and the little things he used to say, all tucked in my brain. I have a little shrine of sorts in our bedroom, with all his stuff and memories of his early days. Oh, how I miss my darling husband!” Dhriti adds, “Preserving the memories helps you acknowledge the depth of your loss and come to terms with it, over time.”
7. Don’t always be strong
Forcing yourself to be strong all the time while grieving a loss isn’t the right way to go. Even if you keep saying, “I still love my dead husband”, months or even years after his demise, you aren’t being weak, you are being human. Such love is natural, and one shouldn’t force oneself to forget the loss immediately.
Related Reading: 21 Tips For Dating A Widower
Dhriti feels, “There is strength in acknowledging the pain of your husband dying and admitting that you need to stop and rest for a while. You don’t owe anyone strength.”
8. Be patient with yourself
Patience is a virtue, especially when you are experiencing the pain of losing a loved one and often uttering, “My husband died and I want him back.” So, be patient with yourself and your pain. A coworker, Anna, who lost her beloved husband to a car crash days before his 31st birthday said this to me after a couple of years of the incident: “My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly. We had so much life ahead of us, and he was such a wonderful man. While coping with the grief, I once felt like ending my life too. But then, I was patient with the healing journey. Now, it doesn’t hurt that much, though not a single day goes by without me missing him and I won’t forget him till my last breath.”
Dhriti adds, “Understand that you will take some time to be okay and settle into a new life and make new memories and that the pain of your husband dying may not fade instantly. Instead, with time, you will learn to live with that pain and eventually find happiness.”
9. Seek and accept professional help from counselors and support groups
Opt for professional help if you’re finding it difficult to get over your husband’s death
Dhriti says, “In case you feel the grief is too much for you to handle on your own and keep telling yourself, “I miss my deceased husband”, day in and day out, you should seek professional counseling or find a support group closest to you.” There’s so much more to life than constantly telling yourself, “My husband died and I feel lost.” There are dedicated support groups that help people deal with the devastating loss of a life partner, such as:
Key Pointers
Losing a life partner to death hits hard, as it’s like losing a best friend or your other half. So, it’s not unnatural for someone to utter “My husband died and I feel lost” months after losing their spouse
There are 5 stages of grief, and they aren’t linear. They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
Do you ever get over the loss of a spouse? Yes, you can, but healing from grief is not a standard process for all and may differ from person to person
A few things you can do to heal from the grief of losing a spouse are: indulge in self-care, talk about the grief, and reach out to counselors or find a support group
I hope you now have a clear idea on how to get past your husband’s death or deal with the “I still love my dead husband” feeling. One needs to understand that the pain of losing a spouse can break a person’s spirit, so much so that they may need to detach themselves from the world for a while to figure things out. After all, as author Mitch Albom writes in Tuesdays with Morrie, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
But do you ever get over the loss of a spouse? Well, yes. The healing process may be long, or short, depending on the person’s will power and zeal for life. But life goes on after death, even if it’s the death of your favorite person — the love of your life. And there will come a time when you will utter the words, “My husband is dead”, and accept it without tears.
FAQs
1. Why is losing a spouse so painful?
“I miss my husband so much since he died” – do these words sound familiar? Well, losing a spouse is like losing your best friend and your soulmate at once. When they’re gone, it’s like a part of you is dead too. You remember them at every step of your daily life, when you’re cooking, cleaning, or watching TV. Their favorite shows, favorite restaurants, trophies, travel photos, and clothes – everything reminds them of you, and that makes it all the more painful.
2. How do I move forward after my husband died?
There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to help you with the grieving process after losing your husband. However, there are a few tried and tested tips that work for most. Apart from taking care of yourself, you need to talk about your grief with your trusted circle of friends and loved ones. Remember to let it all out once in a while, be it through tears or angry outbursts. Seek the help of counselors and support groups too.
17 Death and Love quotes to Ease Your Pain
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Emotional Baggage – Causes, Signs, And Ways To Cope
The name’s Powers. Chad Powers. And he’s coming (back) to a screen near you.
Hulu ordered Eli Manning’s character “Chad Powers” to be made into its own comedy series, according to a company press release. Manning created and transformed into Powers for an episode of his docuseries “Eli’s Places” after Manning’s curiosity about the college football walk-on process led him to try out at Penn State under the pseudonym and disguise. With help from a special effects artist and Matthew McConaughey-like persona, Manning successfully tried out to be a Nittany Lion. He almost made it too, as Penn State assistants took a natural liking to the two-time Super Bowl champion before head coach James Franklin, the only person seemingly in the know about Manning’s true identity, outed Powers at the end of tryouts.
The episode aired on ESPN in September 2022. It was produced by Peyton Manning’s media company Omaha Productions.
“The love for Chad Powers has surprised me in spectacular ways,” Manning said in a statement. “I played 16 years in the NFL, but now when I’m in a restaurant or walking through an airport, it’s not uncommon for fans to scream, ‘Hey Chad!’”
The new series will be co-written and -created by Glen Powell, the actor who played Jake “Hangman” Seresin in the box-office hit “Top Gun: Maverick,” and writer/producer Michael Waldron, known for “Loki” and “Rick and Morty.” Both will serve as executive producers along with ESPN and Omaha Productions’ Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz and Ben Brown.
“I hope Glen is working on his QB skills, I saw him throw a football in Maverick…he has some work to do!!” Manning said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.
In the new Hulu series, bad behavior dismantles hotshot QB Russ Holliday’s college career, causing him to go incognito and walk onto a struggling Southern football team as the charming Chad Powers.
“We’re both diehard college football fans,” Powell and Waldron said in the release. “When we saw Eli as Chad Powers, we knew that was the way into a big, fun story about this world. We’re excited to be part of this team, and can’t wait to get Chad in the game. Think fast, run fast.”
It is yet another media venture for the Manning brothers. Ahead of the 2023 season, both Peyton and Eli Manning announced their alternate “Monday Night Football” telecast on ESPN2 in partnership with Omaha Productions.
The release date for the Hulu series has not yet been announced, so stay ready to think fast, run faster to a screen near you.
Gold Pickaxe is a smartphone malware targeting facial data for scams.
Scammers use stolen faces for deepfakes and bank hacking.
Stay cautious of app permissions, avoid downloads from fake sources, & enable 2FA for added security.
How cautious are you about how your face is used on the internet? If you’re not, you should be.
Now is a good time to start, as there’s a new strain of smartphone malware called Gold Pickaxe designed to harvest your face data, all so it can be used as part of a scam.
As reported by Bleeping Computer, Gold Pickaxe is a malicious mobile app first spotted by security firm Group-IB, forming part of a much larger and sustained malware campaign called Gold Factory. Gold Pickaxe is usually disguised as a legitimate app to trick people into downloading it; it’s considered an iOS Trojan or Android Trojan.
To boost the number of people downloading the app, Gold Pickaxe’s operators send out social engineering emails impersonating government officials. The email typically pushes the user to download the fake app. In the reported example, the app was disguised as a digital pension manager using a page impersonating the Play Store, the Android app store.
Once the victim downloads the infected app onto their phone, it immediately starts gathering data on the user. This includes going through text messages, scanning web traffic, and looking through files. As part of the social engineering, victims are pushed to install a Mobile Device Management (MDM) profile. Once installed, the Gold Pickaxe malware operators have almost complete control over the device, as an MDM grants access to features such as remote wipe, device tracking, application management, and much more.
However, they cannot steal banking information immediately, and what separates Gold Pickaxe from other malware strains is its main goal. It will try to get a picture of the victim’s face, which it can achieve through one of two means.
The first is by directly asking the user to scan their face. This is why Gold Pickaxe usually takes the form of a government-backed app, as it’s not uncommon for these apps to ask for a face scan through the phone’s camera. When the user goes to log their face through the app, it grabs the data and sends it back to the scammer. Another more advanced variant of the malware, Gold Pickaxe
The second is by indirectly stealing the victim’s face data. In some strains of Gold Pickaxe, it will intermittently take a photo through the front-facing camera in hopes that it will catch your face. If it can’t do that, it can instead send over the photos saved on your phone to see if they contain your face.
As per Group-IB:
GoldPickaxe.iOS
is the first iOS Trojan
observed by Group-IB that combines the following functionalities: collecting victims’ biometric data
, ID documents
, intercepting SMS
, and proxying traffic through the victims’ devices
. Its Android
sibling has even more functionalities than its iOS counterpart, due to more restrictions and the closed nature of iOS.
It’s important to note that the malware does not get biometric face data from services like Face ID. Instead, it tries to photograph your face through the camera or within your files.
It may seem odd that a scammer would try to get a photo of your face, but there are plenty of reasons why a scammer would seek it out.
Gold Pickaxe harvests facial data to help hack bank details. Some banks won’t allow users to send a large sum of money without a face scan, so grabbing the victim’s facial data allows scammers to avoid that limitation.
However, it’s by no means the only way a scammer can use a picture of your face. We’re seeing a rise in convincing deepfakes that allow people to make a fake version of someone say whatever they want. These deepfakes can then be used to perform more scams.
Finally, if someone is trying to steal your identity, your facial data is a good place for a scammer to start. With it, they may take out loans and create official documents under your name. The scammer will need a little more data than a name and a face to do this, but given how Gold Pickaxe sends over a ton of data, it’s possible for a scammer to pick out key bits of information from it.
How to Stay Safe From Face Scanning Attacks
As scary as Gold Pickaxe sounds, it greatly depends on someone believing the initial email and downloading the app from a fake website. As such, always do not download apps from suspicious sources, and learn how to protect yourself from social engineering attacks.
When installing an app, make sure to read all of the permissions. If an app that doesn’t need to see your face or surroundings asks for camera permissions, treat it with caution. You can also install an antivirus app to keep these malicious apps off your system. Also, on Android devices, don’t sideload apps, especially ones you don’t know or trust or can’t research or inspect where they came from.
And if you’re worried because there are a lot of images of your face on the internet, see if you can activate more defenses on your sensitive online accounts. For example, if your accounts support two-factor authentication (2FA), enabling it will add another layer of defense that a scammer needs to breach before they get into your data, and it’s really easy to set up and use.
Cruise companies enjoyed quite a comeback in 2023 from the pandemic years, breaking 2019 record sales. And Royal Caribbean cruise line started 2024 with a big bang, launching the world’s largest cruise ship from Miami.
However, concerns about its impact on the environment abound.
CGTN’s Nitza Soledad Perez explains.
For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.
By Phillip B. Williams Viking: 592 pages, $32 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
Award-winning poet Phillip B. Williams’ debut novel, “Ours,” begins with a death — and a resurrection. A 17-year-old Black boy stands up shortly after a policeman fatally shoots him, as surprised as anyone else that he’s alive. He’s surrounded by the residents of the neighborhood: “Yes, they had left something behind to stand in that street together, blocked off from touching him and told to ‘Back up,’ had it yelled at them as though they were to have as little care and consideration for the boy as the ones who had shot him.”
From this contemporary opening, Williams takes readers back in time to the 1830s, when a woman known as Saint travels around Arkansas, freeing the enslaved and indirectly killing their so-called masters. She takes them to an area near St. Louis and founds a town called Ours, which she intends to keep safe and hidden from the outside world using her conjuring powers. She’s unsure where those powers came from. There’s a lot that Saint doesn’t know, doesn’t quite remember, but what she’s convinced of is that in order to keep the townspeople, called the Ouhmey, safe, she must keep them physically nearby and emotionally at a distance, for “if there’s anything more shockingly unpredictable than freedom, it’s love.”
Saint is only one of many characters whose stories unfold over the course of this deeply absorbing novel. Others include Luther-Philip and Justice, two boys born free in Ours, whose intimacy ebbs and flows through changing times and needs; Frances, whose pronouns and gender identity vary according to the eye of the beholder; and Joy, a young woman with a taste for vengeful violence, who accompanies Frances when the boardinghouse matrons they were staying with in New Orleans are murdered. Some get less page time than others but remain important. Luther-Philip’s mother, for instance, Miss Love, leaves the stage much earlier than her husband, Miss Wife, but her absence, and the way it came about, reverberates throughout the novel. Many of the characters’ conflicts and questions are never fully resolved, but that is because “Ours” is a book that embraces mystery and the unknown, whether found in conjuring and rituals or in the vagaries of lifelong relationships.
“Ours” has a fickle relationship with linearity. (I suspect it’s no coincidence that the novel’s title and town name is a homophone of “hours.”) The town’s denizens variously pass, reject, deviate from, travel through, ignore or lose time. It’s been interesting to see, then, how shorthand attempts to describe the book have leaned into the idea of Ours being an attempt at utopia, a word that doesn’t appear in the book.
* * *
A truism of our times is that the dystopia is already here — potentially a riff on a line attributed to author William Gibson, which goes something like “The future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.” Dystopian fiction, John Scalzi wrote for The Times a few years ago, “lets us simulate our worst imaginings from the private security of our own homes, the better to avoid them in the real world.” The problem, of course, is that we haven’t managed to avoid many trappings of dystopian fiction: a rapidly changing climate and its attendant human displacement; the rise of fascist ideas and rhetoric; a seemingly ever-widening income gap; severalongoinggenocides; billionaires building bunkers in case of some worldwide cataclysmic event. By many metrics, the dystopias we’ve been envisioning for decades no longer feel quite so escapist, nor fictional.
It’s against this background that I’ve come to notice a rise in recent fiction that explores possible utopias. Allegra Hyde’s 2022 “Eleutheria,” for example, follows its white protagonist to the titular Bahamian island and to Camp Hope, a commune attempting to address the ravages of climate change by living differently. Last year, in Gabriel Bump’s “The New Naturals,” a deeply disillusioned and grief-stricken Black couple tries to create a utopian society in a bunker in western Massachusetts, where they hope to abandon the plagues of capitalism, politics, racism and global warming. Gabrielle Korn’s “Yours for the Taking,” published in December and set in a dystopian near-future, features the troubling consequences that arise when a white girlboss billionaire decides to create a feminist utopia by cultivating a society without men, to prove that in their absence, peace and harmony will prevail.
None of these novels end up fully endorsing their various utopias, nor is that their intent. Instead, they ask tricky questions about what attempting to create an ideal society entails: What compromises of exclusion are made in the name of future equality? What fundamental human realities do we ignore in our fantasies of perfect harmony? What happens when a foundational ideology works for some but not others? Perhaps most tellingly, these books seem to conclude that it’s largely impossible to manufacture a utopia — which isn’t to say that the project is entirely unworthy, only that curation won’t be how we arrive at equality, safety and peace.
I’m wary of codifying literary trends. In part, the recognition of a trend so often depends on what subset of literature you’re looking at. Science fiction writers, for example, have long been interested in both utopias and dystopias, but those novels from Hyde, Bump and Korn were not presented strictly as science fiction. Another reason for my caution is that many “trend” labels arise from what is essentially marketing language, from book editors and publicists — such as the one who pitched “Ours” to me as being about the creation of a utopian town. For better or worse, this framing remained with me as I read the novel.
Williams writes in his author’s note at the end of the book that “Ours” is his attempt “at creating a contemporary mythology for Blackness in the United States of America.” He says he “aimed to write an epic taking place during the antebellum period where slavery is not the main antagonist without disregarding or disappearing the enslaved.” In other words, the author’s own framework doesn’t include the idea of utopia. Even so, his novel still ends up demonstrating what a utopia can look like.
Ours is a manufactured town, yes, created by Saint for the purposes of providing both safety and freedom to its people, but she refuses to be its leader, and when her meddling causes harm, she suffers consequences, losing the Ouhmey’s trust. In many ways, the 1800s Ours runs itself, without need for a mayor or a police force; it’s a communal effort whose people help one another when and as needed, even when they don’t particularly like each other. They come together to protect the town when it’s under assault, not because it’s perfect, but because it is their home, where they find joy and sorrow and love and heartbreak, where they relive the traumas of their past enslavement while also comforting one another. It is a messy utopia, unpredictable and full of conflict, which is to say it is human.
The novel’s opening indicates that the town has changed drastically in the nearly 200 years of its existence, becoming what Williams calls a hood rather than a town, suffering from the same police violence enacted against Black people all over the country, including infamously in Ferguson, Mo., a real town that like Ours sits just outside St. Louis. And yet its sense of community remains intact.
In a 2022 interview, Williams expressed his interest in navigating “the terrain of harsh realities without falling into the trap of valorizing them,” acknowledging that “rarely are moments simply pure in either direction of beautiful or ugly, peaceful or challenging.” Fictional utopias often fail because they refuse to dwell in complexity, insisting on a moral or ideological purity that ignores the lived realities of human beings and all their hurts. In this sense, “Ours,” for all its elements of magic, fantasy and mythology, is a realistic depiction of how we might arrive at utopia: through people who are always trying to become, always finding ways to navigate and survive harsh realities, always reaching for moments of joy and intimacy.
Ilana Masad is a books and culture critic and author of “All My Mother’s Lovers.”
Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, an enigmatic figure about whom almost nothing is known. Fifteen years ago, Satoshi brought the idea of an electronic cash system into being with the help of a small cast of oddballs. This week, some of those early collaborators—now crypto-celebrities in their own right—took to the witness box of a London courtroom. They had come to testify against an alleged imposter.
Since 2016, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has claimed to be Satoshi. The claim is widely disputed, yet Wright has wielded it in a series of lawsuits against developers and others in pursuit of establishing intellectual property rights over Bitcoin. The stakes are high: If Wright succeeds, he could prevent developers from working on the Bitcoin codebase and dictate the terms of use for the system.
Earlier this month, a trial began in the UK High Court, the purpose of which is to challenge Wright’s claim to being the creator of Bitcoin. The case was filed by a consortium of crypto firms called the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, which is asking the court to declare that Wright is not Satoshi, thereby limiting his ability to found further litigation on the claim. COPA claims that Wright has fabricated his evidence and repeatedly changed his story as new inconsistencies come to light. It called on the early bitcoiners to help prove it.
Among those who testified were Adam Back, Mike Hearn, Martti Malmi, and Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn, each of whom contributed to the early development of Bitcoin in their own way. With the exception of Hearn, who had a polished manner and dressed sharply, the witnesses had the air of technologists: softly spoken and somewhat awkward, but quietly authoritative. Earlier in the trial, Wright had faced a grueling seven-day cross-examination, in which he rejected hundreds of claims of forgery and misrepresentation. The evidence supplied by the bitcoiners, COPA hoped, would help dismantle his story.
In 2008, when Satoshi was finalizing the design of the Bitcoin system, they pitched the concept to a niche online community of cryptographers. Discussions about Bitcoin spilled into fringes of the web occupied by anarchists and libertarians, who relished the idea of a monetary system divorced from the state.
From these two realms, a misfit band of supporters came together to assist Satoshi. They shared a belief, as Back described it in court, in technology as a “tool for positive change.” Some volunteered their advice, others their code, and others their labor. After Satoshi disappeared, in 2011, they carried Bitcoin forward.
The figures called upon by COPA to testify each made a distinct mark on Bitcoin. Back created a precursor technology called Hashcash (although Wright disputes its relevance) and corresponded with Satoshi as the Bitcoin creator drafted the white paper. Satoshi tasked Malmi with curating Bitcoin.org, which hosted educational materials. Hearn was one of the earliest contributors to the Bitcoin codebase. And Wilcox-O’Hearn was among the first to blog about Bitcoin, spreading the gospel. As Bitcoin grew, these early collaborators became themselves revered in crypto circles for their place in Bitcoin lore.
The overall crypto price chart mostly reflected losses on Thursday, February 22. Bitcoin, that has been on a profit spree in the recent days, recorded a loss of 1.24 percent on Thursday. At the time of writing, the value of Bitcoin stood at $51,392 (roughly Rs. 42.6 lakh). In the last 24 hours, the value of Bitcoin has dropped by $605 (roughly Rs. 50,170). The resistance for BTC stands at $53,000 (roughly Rs. 43.9 lakh). Market analysts worry that continuous rejection for BTC at resistance might lead to a pull back to $48,000 (roughly Rs. 39.8 lakh) – $49,000 (roughly Rs. 40 lakh) — before the upcoming halving.
Ether logged a loss of 1.82 percent on Thursday. The value of ETH presently stands at $2,841 (roughly Rs. 2.3 lakh).
“The overall crypto market faced a decline as Bitcoin’s market oscillators indicating a further correction in prices, pointed to an increase in BTC market dominance. Altcoins such as Solana, Ethereum, Ripple etc. faced a decline too after a few days of price rally. An improvement in the number of small-scale retail investors could potentially improve the price actions for the tokens,” Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX told Gadgets360.
The recent FOMC announcements have also suggested that there will not be any reductions in interest rates – that may have caused this loss-ridden period for most altcoins.
On Thursday, Solana, Ripple, Cardano, Avalanche, Tron, and Dogecoin — all reflected losses alongside BTC and ETH.
Polkadot, Polygon, Shiba Inu, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Uniswap, Leo, and Cosmos also recorded losses.
The overall crypto market cap dipped by 1.42 percent in the last 24 hours. The current crypto market valuation stands at $1.95 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,61,68,717 crore) as per CoinMarketCap.
Only a few cryptocurrencies managed to see gains on Thursday. These include Tether, Binance Coin, USD Coin, Iota, and Dash.
“In parallel, AI tokens including SingularityNet (AGIX, +26.46 percent), FetchAi (FET, +3.76 percent) and Render (RNDR, +8.36 percent) have surged after Nvidia beat analyst estimates around its 4th quarter earnings. The shares of the company also rose more than seven percent in post-market trading yesterday,” Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures told Gadgets360.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
It was 13 years ago today that Google launched the Panda update. This algorithm update had a massive and far-reaching impact on SEO and content strategies for years to come.
Here’s a complete history of the Google Panda algorithm update.
What was the Google Panda update?
Google Panda was a major algorithm update that impacted search rankings for 11.8% of queries in the U.S.
Google said Panda was designed to reduce the rankings for low-quality sites (“sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful”) and reward better rankings to high-quality sites (“sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on”).
The algorithm officially started rolling out on Feb. 23, 2011, but it wasn’t until Feb. 24, 2011, that we learned about it.
Panda didn’t only impact content farms. Websites of all sizes, across industries, felt the wrath of Panda.
There were multiple reports of companies going out of business because they had relied on Google traffic for years. Once that organic traffic was gone, so was their business.
After its initial launch, Google announced several refreshes and updates to Panda on a near-monthly basis for the next two years (9 in 2011 and 14 in 2012). You will find a complete timeline and our coverage of those updates at the end of this guide.
One thing Google Panda was not: a penalty. Websites impacted by the Google Panda Update were downgraded algorithmically. This means no Google employee took manual action to cause the lower rankings.
For anyone hit by Panda, it probably felt like a penalty. But Google doesn’t consider downgrading rankings for a website algorithmically as a “penalty.”
Why was Google Panda launched?
The main target of Google Panda was low-quality content. In 2011, Google was trying to find a solution for its content farm problem.
In case you’re not familiar with the term, a “content farm” was a website that paid freelance writers (typically poorly) to pump out as much content as fast as possible. The sole goal for these companies was to rank extremely well in Google’s search results for high-traffic keywords. Article quality was typically low.
Those high rankings meant these content farms got lots of traffic. And they monetized that traffic via display advertising (ironically, many of those sites were using Google AdSense.) Demand Media is probably the best example of the classic content farm model. Suite 101 was another big content farm.
Interestingly, many of the content issues Google was trying to solve in 2010 had come about after the Caffeine Update. Google was now crawling content faster, and its index grew rapidly. But it also meant some “shallow” content was ranking prominently.
Well, on Feb. 24, 2011, Google rocked the world of content farms – and the entire SEO industry. Google now had a way to look for signals that differentiate high-quality and low-quality sites.
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Why did Google name it Panda?
In an interview with Wired, Amit Singhal, head of Google search, revealed where the Panda name came from:
“Well, we named it internally after an engineer, and his name is Panda. So internally we called a big Panda. He was one of the key guys. He basically came up with the breakthrough a few months back that made it possible.”
– Google’s Amit Singhal in 2011
The full name of that Google engineer is Navneet Panda.
However, the update wasn’t referred to as “Panda” outside of Google when it initially launched. Search Engine Land founder Danny Sullivan called it the “Farmer’ update – until the Panda name was revealed in Wired. So if you see the Farmer name pop up in any of our old coverage of Panda, that’s why.
Google Panda algorithm explained: how it worked
Much speculation followed the arrival of Google Panda. Most of that is irrelevant today, so we won’t rehash the many Panda myths in this guide.
Here’s a rundown of what we learned about how Google Panda worked and what made it unique.
Panda was an algorithm applied to sites
The most important thing you need to understand about Panda is that it evaluates the overall quality of the entire website.
Here’s what Gary Illyes, Google webmaster trends analyst, told Search Engine Land in a 2016 interview:
“… we don’t think of Panda as a penalty now, but rather as an algorithm applied to sites … or sites as a whole.
It measures the quality of a site pretty much by looking at the vast majority of the pages at least. But essentially allows us to take quality of the whole site into account when ranking pages from that particular site and adjust the ranking accordingly for the pages.”rea
Google’s Gary Illyes, in 2016
So what Illyes confirmed is that Panda demotes content, essentially meaning low-quality content can harm ranking.
Did removing or improving low-quality content help?
On March 8, 2011, Michael Wyszomierski, a member of the Google webspam team, posted a message in a Webmaster Central help forum thread:
“Our recent update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites, so the key thing for webmasters to do is make sure their sites are the highest quality possible. We looked at a variety of signals to detect low quality sites. Bear in mind that people searching on Google typically don’t want to see shallow or poorly written content, content that’s copied from other websites, or information that are just not that useful. In addition, it’s important for webmasters to know that low quality content on part of a site can impact a site’s ranking as a whole. For this reason, if you believe you’ve been impacted by this change you should evaluate all the content on your site and do your best to improve the overall quality of the pages on your domain. Removing low quality pages or moving them to a different domain could help your rankings for the higher quality content.”
– Google’s Michael Wyszomierski, in 2011
What’s important to note here about Panda:
It can identify content that is shallow, poorly written, or copied from other websites.
Poorly written content can hurt rankings.
Removing low-quality pages from part of a website can help high-quality pages rank better.
Improving content (making it “useful”) can help your rankings.
Later on, Google tried to walk back the idea of removing content. Google started recommending adding high-quality content and fixing the low-quality content instead. This is most likely because many in SEO started taking a metaphorical blowtorch to their content instead of a scalpel.
At SMX East 2017, Illyes said pruning content didn’t help with Panda.
“It’s very likely that you did not get Pandalyzed because of your low-quality content. It’s more about ensuring the content that is actually ranking doesn’t rank higher than it should. … It definitely does not work with the current version of the core algorithm, and it may just bring your traffic farther down. Panda basically disregards things you do to rank artificially. You should spend resources on improving content instead, but if you don’t have the means to do that, maybe remove it instead.”
– Google’s Gary Illyes, in 2017
Google on how to evaluate whether a site was ‘high-quality’
On May 6, 2011, Google published a list of 23 questions to explain how Google searches for high-quality sites, to help those that Panda had been negatively impacted:
Would you trust the information presented in this article?
Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
How much quality control is done on content?
Does the article describe both sides of a story?
Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
How to recover from Panda
The big question for anyone whose site was hit by Panda: How do I recover? Aside from pointing to the blog post with those 23 questions, Google provided a little more information over time.
On July 9, 2012, during a Google Search Central hangout from India, Google’s Matt Cutts said it was possible to recover 100%. How?
“Take a fresh look and basically ask yourself, ‘How compelling is my site?’ We’re looking for high quality. We’re looking for something where you land on it, you’re really happy, the sort of thing where you wanna tell your friends about it and come back to it, bookmark it. It’s just incredibly useful.”
Google’s Matt Cutts in 2012
Here’s the video:
Cutts also provided some high-level insight in another Google Search Central video released Sept. 11, 2013:
“… the overriding kind of goal is to try to make sure that you’ve got high-quality content, the sort of content that people really enjoy, that’s compelling, the sort of thing that they’ll love to read that you might see in a magazine or in a book, and that people would refer back to, or send friends to, those sorts of things,” Cutts said. “So that would be the overriding goal. …
So if you are not ranking as highly as you were in the past, overall, it’s always a good idea to think about, OK, can I look at the quality of the content on my site? Is there stuff that’s derivative, or scraped, or duplicate, and just not as useful?”
– Google’s Matt Cutts in 2013
Here’s the video:
Google still uses Panda (sort of)
On Jan. 12, 2016, we reported that Panda had become part of Google’s core algorithm. Google never confirmed an exact date when Panda was consumed into Google’s core ranking system.
All we know with 100% certainty is that it happened at some point in 2015 (according to Google’s guide to Google Search ranking systems) after Google’s last confirmed Panda update (4.2, on July 17, 2015).
In June 2016, Mueller said that Google’s search engineers still tweaked aspects of Panda, but it was fundamentally the same algorithm.
Although Panda was continuously running, Panda wasn’t real-time and the rollouts took months, Illyes confirmed at SMX Advanced 2016.
Panda was replaced by Coati
Technically, Panda no longer exists. That’s because Panda evolved into a new algorithm called Coati.
Basically, Google Coati was the successor to the Panda algorithm. We learned this from Hyung-Jin Kim, the VP of Google Search, in November at SMX Next 2022.
So even though it’s been years since Panda was replaced, Panda lived on through Coati, as part of Google’s core algorithm.
So that’s why I say Google sort of still uses Panda – because Google’s core algorithm today continues to do many of the same things that Panda was originally created to do in 2011.
The legacy of Google Panda
Google Panda is still impacting SEO to this day, more than a decade after it launched. Here are just three big changes that came from Panda:
E-E-A-T. The concept of Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (plus the additional E for Experience, as found in the quality rater guidelines) can be traced back to the content farm problem. Google always wants to reward websites that publish high-quality content by experts who are authorities on a subject. The quality rater guidelines are the ultimate guide for how not to be a content farm.
Content marketing. Content marketing, as a term, wasn’t really a thing before Panda. Just go to Google Trends and you’ll see when the term started gaining popularity, and not by coincidence. The term itself may date back to 1996 (and the concept itself is as old as marketing), but content marketing as its own thing was essentially born as a result of Panda.
Differentiate or die. Perhaps the biggest lesson coming out of Google Panda was to never put all your eggs in one basket. Especially not Google’s. Relying on any one channel for all, or nearly all, of your traffic and income is not a business plan. It is a gamble. Never leave yourself at the mercy of any one channel. or platform – because you have no control over a third party. If one algorithm change can wipe out your entire company overnight, you’re doing it wrong.
A complete timeline of the Google Panda Updates
Below is the complete list of all 28 confirmed Panda updates and refreshes. Oh, and since we didn’t get into the difference between an update versus a refresh, here’s what that means: an update was a change to the Google Panda algorithm, whereas a refresh meant Google reapplied all the same signals from the most recent update.
Here’s Search Engine Land’s coverage of Panda, from 2011 to 2016:
In the annals of Indian political history, Gopinath Bordoloi stands as a monumental figure, recognized for his pivotal role in shaping the destiny of Assam. As the first Chief Minister of the state, Bordoloi’s legacy reverberates through the corridors of time, marked by his visionary leadership, unwavering commitment to social justice, and tireless efforts towards the upliftment of the people of Assam.
First Chief Minister of Assam
Gopinath Bordoloi, the inaugural Chief Minister of Assam (1946-1950), was a renowned Indian independence activist and politician. He chaired the North-East Frontier Tribalareas and Assam Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee. Bordoloi’s adherence to Gandhian principles, particularly non-violence, shaped his political ideology. Recognized for his selfless service, he earned the title “Lokpriya” from the Governor of Assam, Jayram Das Doulatram, signifying his widespread popularity and devotion to the people of Assam.
Assam’s First Chief Minister – Early Life and Education
Born in Raha, Bordoloi’s journey began with humble origins. After completing his education at institutions like Cotton College and Scottish Church College, he embarked on a career in law. However, his commitment to public service soon eclipsed his legal pursuits, leading him to embrace the call of politics.
Political Life of Gopinath Bordoloi
Bordoloi’s foray into politics coincided with the burgeoning Indian nationalist movement. He ardently supported the Indian National Congress, actively participating in pivotal movements such as the Non-cooperation Movement. Despite facing incarceration and political adversity, Bordoloi remained steadfast in his pursuit of independence and social justice.
Gopinath Bordoloi as Assam’s First Chief Minster
Bordoloi’s ascent to the position of Chief Minister epitomized his political acumen and leadership prowess. His tenure, from 1946 to 1950, was characterized by astute governance and visionary policies aimed at fostering inclusive development. Notably, he championed the cause of indigenous communities, advocating for their rights and representation in the political sphere.
Role in Assam’s Political Landscape
Bordoloi’s tenure witnessed tumultuous events, including the partition of India and the subsequent influx of refugees. Amidst these challenges, he emerged as a beacon of stability and compassion, spearheading efforts to mitigate communal tensions and promote communal harmony. His unwavering commitment to Gandhian principles, particularly non-violence, underscored his approach to governance and conflict resolution.
First CM of Assam – Contributions and Legacy
Bordoloi’s contributions to Assam’s socio-economic fabric are manifold. He played a pivotal role in establishing key institutions such as Gauhati University, the High Court of Assam, and various medical and veterinary colleges. Moreover, his efforts in securing Assam’s sovereignty amidst geopolitical turmoil, including the 1971 Bangladesh LiberationWar, underscored his statesmanship and foresight.
First Chief Minister of Assam – Awards and Recognition
Bordoloi’s legacy continues to reverberate through posthumous honors and recognition. In 1999, he was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, by former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee. Additionally, his contributions were commemorated with the unveiling of a life-size statue in the Parliament House, symbolizing his enduring impact on the nation’s political landscape.
CRKD is launching a new, upgraded version of its Nitro Deck Switch controller called the Nitro Deck+, an accessot that doubles as a portable Switch dock.
Like the original model, Nitro Deck+ is a single piece that cradles your Switch or Switch OLED screen, replacing the Joycons. Unlike most other third-party Switch controllers, it connects to the Switch via the USB-C port on the bottom of the console, meaning it offers better response times compared to other controllers that rely on wireless connections.
Nitro Deck+ clear black and clear white
The big addition for the Nitro Deck+ is HDMI out support via the USB-C port, so you can put the Switch in docked mode without having to remove it from the Nitro Deck+. To make things even easier, it will ship with a USB-C-to-HDMI cable in the box.
Other upgraded Nitro Deck+ features include a new symmetrical thumbstick layout, additional programmable buttons, an eject function for easier screen removal, and better rumble. The Nitro Deck+ also carries over all the features of the standard Nitro Deck model, which include:
Anti-drift Hall Effect thumbsticks with swappable stick tops
Programmable back buttons
USB-C charging passthrough so you can charge your Switch while playing handheld
Adjustable trigger sensitivity
Gyro and rumble support
Turbo mode
Bluetooth support
The Nitro Deck+ will launch for $70 sometime in late April. It’s available for preorder in clear black and clear white color options at CRKD’s online store. We expect preorders will also be available at Amazon sometime before launch.
If you don’t want to wait that long for the Nitro Deck+, the original Nitro Deck is available at Amazon in a discounted bundle that includes the Nitro Deck in various color options plus a carrying case. You’ll lose out on the HDMI out and other Nitro Deck+ additions, but the original model is still a solid choice if you want a premium controller grip for your Switch or Switch OLED.
Nitro Deck Switch controller bundle deals
Along with the Nitro Deck+, CRKD also announced a new Neo S wireless controller with similar features to the Nitro Deck, including swappable thumbsticks, programmable back buttons, gyro controls, and more. It’s compatible with the Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile. The Neo S controller will launch in late April for $50 with nine color options, three of which were designed by graphic artist POPeART.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered profound similarities and surprising differences between humans and insects in the production of the critical light-absorbing molecule of the retina, 11-cis-retinal, also known as the “visual chromophore.” The findings deepen understanding of how mutations in the RPE65 enzyme cause retinal diseases, especially Leber congenital amaurosis, a devastating childhood blinding disease.
For the study, recently published online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the team used X-ray crystallography to study NinaB, a protein found in insects that functions similarly to the RPE65 protein found in humans. Both are crucial for synthesis of 11-cis-retinal, and their absence results in severe visual impairment.
“Our study challenges traditional assumptions about the similarities and differences of human and insect vision,” said corresponding author Philip Kiser, UCI associate professor of physiology & biophysics as well as ophthalmology. “While these enzymes share a common evolutionary origin and three-dimensional architecture, we found that the process by which they produce 11-cis-retinal is distinct.”
Creation of 11-cis-retinal begins with the consumption of foods like carrots or pumpkins containing compounds used for vitamin A generation, such as beta-carotene. These nutrients are metabolized by carotenoid cleavage enzymes, including NinaB and RPE65. It was previously known that humans require two of these enzymes to produce 11-cis-retinal from beta-carotene, whereas insects can achieve the conversion with just NinaB. Gaining insight into how NinaB can couple the two steps into a single reaction along with the functional relationships between NinaB and RPE65 was a key motivation for the study.
“We found that structurally, these enzymes are very much alike, but the locations in which they perform their activity are different,” said lead author Yasmeen Solano, a graduate student in Kiser’s laboratory at the UCI Center for Translational Vision Research. “Understanding key features within the NinaB structure has led to an enhanced understanding of the catalytic machinery necessary to support the function of the retinal visual pigments. Through our study of NinaB, we were able to learn about the structure of a key portion of RPE65 that had not previously been resolved. This discovery is vital in understanding and addressing loss-of-function mutations in RPE65.”
Other team members included Michael Everett, a junior specialist in the Kiser lab, and Kelly Dang and Jude Abueg, biological sciences undergraduates at the time.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CHE-2107713, the Department of Veterans Affairs under grant BX004939 and the National Institutes of Health under grant EY034519-01S1.
Watermelon has 92% water content and it keeps one refreshed and revitalised
Loaded with Vitamin A and C, it strengthens immunity, improves vision and nourishes from within
The lycopene content promotes healthy cholesterol levels and blood pressure
Despite being sweet, watermelon remains a low-calorie, low-fat, guilt-free indulgence for those mindful of their weight and wellness
It also aids in digestive health and prevents constipation
Due to its hydrating properties, the fruit is the skin’s best friend as well
Though ongoing research is still exploring watermelon’s potential, studies have shown that it may prevent cancer
Frozen watermelon margarita
Ingredients
Watermelon cut into cubes: 800g
Tequila: 125ml
Triple sec: 75ml
Lime: 2, zested and juiced, plus a wedge for the rim
Honey: 2 tsp
For the garnish
Sea salt flakes: 4 tsp
Caster sugar: 2 tsp
Chilli flakes: ¼ tsp
Method
Put the watermelon pieces in a freezer-proof container and keep them overnight until solid. As it cools, prepare the garnish for the rim of each glass. Combine the sea salt flakes, sugar, chilli flakes and lime zest in a small bowl. Set aside. Once the watermelon pieces are set, put them along with tequila, triple sec, lime juice and honey in a food processor and churn them until smooth. Run a lime wedge around the rims then dip in the garnish mix. Pour the drink into the glasses. Serve immediately.
Watermelon Popsicles
Ingredients
Medium-sized watermelon: One
Lime juice
Method
Cut one medium-sized watermelon and chop them into cubes. In a blender, add the melon pieces and freshly squeezed lime juice for a better taste. Blend until completely smooth. Pour the watermelon mixture into popsicle molds, cover and add popsicle sticks to them. Finally, freeze the popsicles until they’re set, either 4 hours or overnight.
Watermelon pudding
Ingredients
Watermelon: 4 cups (coarsely chopped)
Cornstarch: 2 tbsp
Granulated sugar: ¼ cup
Vanilla bean: ½
Fresh lemon juice: 2 tsp
Garnish
Whipped cream (optional)
Unsalted pistachios (chopped or ground)
Method
Blend the watermelon pieces until smooth. Pour through a strainer into a cup. This will have 3 cups of watermelon juice. Take 2 tbsp watermelon juice into a small bowl and add cornstarch. Stir until it’s smooth. Pour the remaining watermelon juice into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 min. Add sugar and vanilla seeds, then whisk until sugar is dissolved. Stir the cornstarch mixture again and add to the watermelon juice. Simmer and stir occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add lemon juice. Pour the pudding through a clean strainer into small glass jars. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
Watermelon rind pickle
Courtesy: The Spruce Eats
Ingredients
Watermelon rind: 0.97kg
Pickling salt: 1/4 cup
Water: 4 cups
Granulated sugar: 2 cups
White vinegar: 1 cup
Cinnamon stick, broken up: 1 tbsp
Whole cloves: 1 ½ tsp
Thinly sliced lemon: 1/2
Method
Remove the dark green and pink parts from the watermelon rind. Cut rind into 1-inch cubes and measure out 7 cups. Put the rind in a container with salt and 3 cups of water. Add more water to cover the rinds, if necessary. Soak overnight. Drain and rinse rind. Cover the rind with cold water in a saucepan. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Combine the sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, whole cloves, and remaining 1 cup water. Simmer for 10 minutes in a pot. Add the drained watermelon rind, lemon slices, and simmer the mixture for 30 min. Fill half-pint jars with the hot watermelon rind and syrup mixture, Jars should be kept in boiling water for 5 min. Then let it cool.
Watermelon, cucumber, feta salad
Ingredients
Honey: 2 tbsp, Lime juice: 2 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil: 1 to 2 tbsp
Salt: a pinch , Salad
Watermelon (peeled, cut into cubes): ½
Cucumber (cubed): 2 cups
Fresh mint leaves (chopped): 15
Fresh basil leaves (chopped): 15
Crumbled feta cheese: ½ cup
Method : In a bowl, whisk honey, lime juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt together. Set aside for a moment. In a large bowl, combine the watermelon, cucumbers, and fresh herbs. Top the watermelon salad with the dressing and gently toss to combine. Add the feta cheese.
Lawctopus Law Schoolhas taught a wide range of skills to over 10,000+ law students, young lawyers, professionals, academicians, and business people.
Over 1000 students have rated our courses and the average rating is 92/100. Many students call our online courses a ‘warm’ learning experience!
Introduction
Lawctopus Law School offers diverse self-paced workshops designed to empower legal enthusiasts and professionals with valuable knowledge and practical skills.
These workshops cover essential topics such as company incorporation, basics of M&A and deal-making processes, fundamentals of GST, and acing jurisprudence exams.
Workshop Offerings at Lawctopus Law School (LLS)
Lawctopus Law School presents a collection of self-paced workshops that cater to the specific needs of aspiring lawyers, law students, and professionals. These workshops include:
1. Incorporation of a Company
This workshop equips participants with a comprehensive understanding of the company incorporation process, enabling them to successfully navigate the legal requirements involved in establishing a company.
Takeaways from the Workshop
In-depth clarity about the benefits of registering a Company
Knowledge and understanding of the process of registering a company
Complete practical know-how of drafting Incorporation documents
Knowledge of the functioning of the MCA portal and post-incorporation process
Designed for individuals interested in corporate law and transactional practice, this workshop covers the fundamentals of mergers and acquisitions, offering insights into deal structures, due diligence, negotiations, and legal documentation.
Takeaways from the Workshop
Understanding of key concepts in M&A
A walk-through of an actual deal-making process
Learn about the laws and regulatory bodies involved in a deal
Know about key terms in deal documents
Understanding a due-diligence
Get an overall idea of the role of lawyers in the process
With a focus on Goods and Services Tax (GST), this workshop provides participants with a solid foundation in the principles and regulations of GST, enabling them to comprehend its application and implications for businesses.
Takeaways from the Workshop
Basic and advanced practical knowledge of the various prospects of Goods and Services Tax
Basics of taxation, registration, administration, reporting, returns and in-depth accounting and recording of transactions
Laws related to GST
Obtain an understanding of the Application of GST in everyday life.
Ideal for law students and law graduates preparing for jurisprudence exams, this workshop delves into the key concepts, theories, and philosophies of jurisprudence, offering effective strategies for exam preparation and success.
Takeaways from the Workshop
Detailed and in-depth understanding of theories, concepts, and schools of Jurisprudence
Strategy and Approach to Study Jurisprudence for Law School Exams
Useful for other competitive exams like Judiciary, CLAT PG, UGC (Law), etc.
Comprehensive guidance on how to attempt answers in the examination.
The self-paced workshops at Lawctopus Law School offer several advantages, making them an excellent choice for legal learners:
1. Flexibility and Convenience:
The workshops are designed to be completed at your own pace, allowing you to choose a schedule that fits your commitments and learning preferences.
You can access the workshop content anytime, anywhere, making it convenient for professionals and students.
2. Expert Faculty and Industry Insights:
The workshops are developed and delivered by renowned legal experts and industry professionals, ensuring that you receive high-quality, practical instruction.
3. Rigorous Learning Materials:
Lawctopus Law School provides engaging learning materials, including video lectures, reading materials, quizzes, and assignments.
These rigorous resources enhance your understanding and enable you to apply the concepts learned effectively.
Contact
If you have any queries about our courses, please email or call us.
As individuals, we grow up in this world without much of a formal training on how to deal with humans – the most advanced animal species out there, whether it is a relationship with our mother, father, grandparents, friends, partner, spouse, extended family, siblings or with our own self. So, if you feel the need to be “rescued”, you have come to the right place for answers.
Relationship stress: How to rescue and revive your bond (Photo by Oziel Gómez on Unsplash)
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Aashmeen Munjaal, Ontologist and Mental Health and Relationship Expert, advised, “I will firstly suggest you to take a step back. Before you have any conversation with someone else, you need to really ask yourself why you’re feeling suffocated or prisoned in the first place. This would require for you to just be with yourself (without phone or any music or any human) and just start talking/writing to yourself.”
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
She added, “You could streamline your thoughts by journaling: “What do I want to be rescued from and what do i ultimately want to achieve?” You could write: I want a respectful, loving, romantic time with my spouse .. or I want a time schedule where i can go to meet my friends once a week. Note: Make sure to Only write what you want as final result. Ask yourself : Why do you want to revive joy in that relationship and whats in it for you?”
Once you have penned your thoughts and have a clear picture of the area you seek to revive your bond in, Aashmeen Munjaal suggested, “The next step is to take out a picture of that individual, or of the both of you: where you both are enjoying a wonderful time together. Now, you can find more than one picture and its important to paste those pictures in a place where you will see them often. You could paste them on your mirror, or in the kitchen, or as phone wallpaper: because its said “Jo dikhta hai vi bikta hai” and this rule applies everywhere.”
She concluded, “Fun step starts as now for the next 10 days, you have to write down any attributes, characteristics you appreciate about them. Even in your verbal conversation, speak about what you like about that person. As you talk to your friends or near ones, compliment and appreciate that person more than you usually will (and its ok if it feels fake initially). These few activities will open doors of heaven and companionship that you may not have felt before .. as the outside world is corresponding with your inner feelings and thoughts about it!”
BioMarin Pharmaceutical is struggling to sell the first marketed gene therapy for the most common form of hemophilia, announcing on Thursday minimal revenue from the treatment, called Roctavian.
In its latest earnings report, BioMarin said Roctavian generated $2.7 million in sales during the fourth quarter and $3.5 million in all of 2023, as three total patients — two in Germany and one in the U.S. — were treated last year. New CEO Alex Hardy told analysts the company is seeing progress in “market access,” but is “very mindful of the return on investment” with Roctavian.
Roctavian is one of two important new products for BioMarin, which is reviewing its business under new management and deciding what research to continue supporting. The other, a drug for dwarfism called Voxzogo, is surpassing expectations. Sales totaled $146 million last quarter, more than double the previous period.
Dive Insight:
Roctavian’s approval was a scientific milestone, the culmination of years of research developing a genetic medicine for the chronic blood disease hemophilia A.
Its launch, which began in Europe in 2022 and the U.S. last year, has been a focus for analysts and investors, many of whom viewed the product as a blockbuster-to-be. As a one-time, long-lasting treatment, Roctavian is billed as an alternative to the chronic therapies people with hemophilia A use to prevent bleeding.
Leerink Partners analysts once projected $2.2 billion in peak sales for Roctavian, and BioMarin was similarly optimistic, estimating in June the therapy would generate anywhere from $50 million to $150 million in 2023.
Yet so far, the drug is another cautionary tale of the challenges drugmakers can face selling a gene therapy. By November, BioMarin had slashed its revenue forecasts for 2023 to less than $10 million. And while Roctavian is included in BioMarin’s $2.7 to $2.8 billion in expected sales in 2024, its contributions will be “relatively modest,” said Chief Financial Officer Brian Mueller, on a conference call.
Multiple analysts cut their sales forecasts afterward. Leerink now expects about $1 billion in peak yearly sales, while Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond projects $25 million, $31 million and $57 million, respectively, in sales each of the next three years.
On a conference call, CEO Hardy went through the “complexity” of getting patients on treatment. “We need a motivated patient, supportive payer and a treatment site with a physician who is willing to use the product,” he said. “For a pioneering new therapy, this isn’t a surprise.”
Hardy added that some of the metrics BioMarin tracks, such as the readiness of treatment sites and reimbursement approvals with payers, “have not correlated directly with patient uptake.”
Some analysts are now questioning BioMarin’s investment in the drug. One even asked BioMarin executives whether the company might divest its gene therapy work or Roctavian itself, noting how the company is spending similar amounts on the therapy as it is on the fast-selling Voxzogo.
The sales figures are “a pretty remarkable disappointment” from initial projections, Piper analyst Raymond wrote in a note to investors. “The commercial handwriting is on the wall.”
BioMarin is preaching patience, however. Hardy said the company is “very much at the early stage” with Roctavian and this year and next will reveal its true sales trajectory. “We intend to let the results do the talking for Roctavian uptake,” he said.
Over the last few years there has been an uptick in landlords selling their investment properties, especially in Melbourne and Sydney.
Data from PropTrack reveals a notable increase compared to last year, painting an intriguing picture of the current market dynamics.
Investor sales on the rise
PropTrack reports that in Sydney, during the December quarter, investment property sales accounted for 35.2% of home sales, a significant leap from 28.3% in the same period in 2022, and marginally higher than 28.9% in 2021.
Melbourne mirrors this trend, with investor sales rising to 35.2% in the December quarter from 26.9% a year earlier and 27.9% in 2021.
Paul Ryan, a senior economist at PropTrack, notes that this sell-off aligns with a general surge in investor activity.
“We’re witnessing a net increase in investors in the market, despite some selling off their holdings,” he explains.
This trend is fuelled, in part, by the lure of rising rental yields, with national rents climbing by over 11% in the past year.
Ryan sheds light on why some investors might choose to exit.
“For long-term landlords, the combination of increased interest rates, substantial capital growth, and a plateauing growth outlook presents an opportune moment to liquidate,” he states.
However, he remains optimistic about investor conditions, expecting stable or potentially declining interest rates.
Local perspectives: Melbourne and Sydney
In Melbourne many property investors are disturbed by the “tall poppy syndrome” narrative that’s taken place over the last little while.
It puts property investors in the role of villains who are against the Australian dream of home ownership, and we believe this is an unfair and inaccurate portrayal.
At the same time they are frustrated by the government’s interference treating investors as an ATM every time they need more taxes, such as the increased land tax impost.
Some investors are frustrated by the new tenancy legislation favouring tenants and other investors are playing the waiting game with interest rates, hoping for a more favourable investment climate in the future,
The exception: Adelaide’s market resilience
Adelaide stands out as the exception to this trend.
Investor sales in Adelaide decreased slightly in the December quarter of 2023, contrasting with the broader trend.
PropTrack attributes this to Adelaide’s robust market performance since the pandemic, with home values surging and vacancy rates plummeting.
Looking ahead and a final note to investors
As we navigate through 2024, understanding these market shifts is crucial for investors.
With varying trends across cities and a complex interplay of factors influencing investor decisions, staying informed and agile will be key to navigating the property investment landscape in Australia.
As I always say, when it comes to property investment, the focus should be on investment-grade properties in A-grade locations.
Never follow a trend or buy in hotspots or growth areas because these won’t give you the long-term growth that you’re looking for.
I’m talking about areas and properties which hold their value over the long term, rather than benefit from an uptick in demand.
About Robert Chandra Robert Chandra is a Property Strategist at Metropole and has an intrinsic understanding of property markets backed by many years of real estate experience. This coupled with several degrees gives him a holistic perspective with which he can diagnose clients’ circumstances and goals and formulate strategies to bridge the gap.
Ever felt that fluttery feeling in your chest when a certain someone is around? Wondering if your connection is wishful thinking or if he is crushing on you too? This “Does He Have a Crush on Me Quiz”, created by a relationship counselor, can help you decipher the subtle signs that the man you’re crushing on has got a crush on you too!
This quiz is not a definitive answer, but rather a fun and insightful exploration designed to guide you in paying close attention to his behavior, understanding potential signs of attraction, and learning to communicate effectively.
For example, pay attention to his body language. Does he make eye contact, smile often, or lean in while talking to you? This is one of the telltale signs he has a crush on you. Also notice if he is usually confident but acts a little weird around you, it might be because he has a crush on you and doesn’t know what to do since he is shy!
So, what are you waiting for? The answer to your question is short 9 questions away. Remember, the most important thing is to be true to yourself and communicate openly and honestly, regardless of the outcome.
Related Quiz: Does my crush like me?
Related Quiz: Am I ready to date quiz
Questions
He pays attention to you – what you say, what you’re doing
Always
Sometimes
Never –
He remembers things about you – eg your coffee order
Always
Sometimes
Never
He tries to make you laugh
Always
Sometimes
Never
You catch him staring at you
Always
Sometimes
Never
He finds reasons to be around you
Always
Sometimes
Never
He goes out of his way to be nice to you
Always
Sometimes
Never
He wants to know more about you
Always
Sometimes
Never
He smiles at you a lot
Always
Sometimes
Never
He mirrors your actions, like copying your expressions or your gestures without realizing
Dani Alves, who was this morning sentenced to four and a half years in prison in Spain after being found guilty of sexual assault, was, until very recently, one of global football’s golden boys.
An exuberant, technical right-back, he was a major part of the Barcelona team that set new standards in the European game between 2008 and 2016. He played 126 times for Brazil and won 43 titles across his 22-year playing career — an astonishing number that makes him the second-most decorated footballer in history. Only Lionel Messi, his former team-mate at the Camp Nou, has more trophies to his name.
That success, coupled with a relentlessly upbeat public persona, made Alves a hugely — almost universally — popular figure. It goes some way to explaining why his hearing, which took place over three days in a Barcelona courtroom earlier this month, was labelled “the trial of the year” in certain sections of the Spanish press. Despite its voyeuristic undertones, that epithet did capture just how spectacular Alves’ fall from grace has been.
On December 9, 2022, Alves — 39 at the time — was on the bench as Brazil played Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar. Exactly six weeks later, he was arrested by Catalan police, accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in a private bathroom at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022.
Those accusations have now been upheld by Catalonia’s High Court of Justice. “The court has no doubt that the vaginal penetration of the complainant took place using violence,” read a statement released by the court after this morning’s hearing.
Alves has spent the last 13 months in a detention facility some 25km northwest of Barcelona; requests for provisional release were denied because he was considered a flight risk and there is no extradition arrangement between Brazil and Spain. After his prison sentence he will be on supervised probation for five additional years. He was also ordered to pay the victim €150,000 (£128,500; $162,700) in compensation, plus legal costs.
Alves began his senior career at Bahia, one of the biggest clubs in Brazil’s north east. He moved to Spain at 19, joining Sevilla — initially on loan and then on a permanent deal after winning the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship with Brazil’s under-20 side.
At the start, some questioned whether Alves had the physical strength to compete in La Liga. His interpretation of his position, though, made the doubters reconsider. Alves was technically a defender but defending was not his speciality. He was a free spirit, a de facto winger in the mould of his boyhood idol, Cafu.
Sevilla quickly worked out that they had to harness that energy rather than curb it. Alves was encouraged to get forward, to make use of his speed and skill in the final third. He helped the Andalusians to their first European trophy in 2006, setting up the opening goal in the UEFA Cup final against Middlesborough, and was similarly influential as they retained that title in 2007. A year later, he became a Barcelona player.
His initial eight-season spell at the Camp Nou — he later made a short, largely forgettable return during the 2021-22 season — turned Alves into a superstar. He won six Spanish league titles, three Champions Leagues and 14 other trophies during that time, rarely missing a match. You would struggle to name another full-back who came anywhere near matching his influence and consistency over the same period.
It helped that his arrival at Barcelona coincided with that of Pep Guardiola. The Catalan’s possession-centric approach suited Alves perfectly and revealed fresh nuances in his game. His combination play with Messi in particular was one of the trademark features of what many consider the best club side of the modern era.
Alves, right, won 23 trophies with Barcelona (Shaun Botterill – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Even after leaving Barcelona in 2016, Alves remained a prominent figure. He reached another Champions League final with Juventus at the age of 34 — “an extra-terrestrial,” Juve defender Leonardo Bonucci called him — and won two French titles with Paris Saint-Germain. When he returned to Brazilian club football in 2019, signing for Sao Paulo FC, 45,000 fans turned up at the Morumbi stadium to welcome him.
That he never quite replicated his success at club level with his national team was probably to be expected. Alves played for Brazil during an extended period of flux and, bizarrely, only became a regular starter during the latter stages of his career. He would have captained the Selecao at the 2018 World Cup, only to be ruled out of the tournament due to injury. He did wear the armband the following summer, however, leading Brazil to a Copa America win on home soil.
Alves’ attitude — chirpy, cheeky, apparently carefree — arguably won him even more admirers than his ability. A little personality can go a long way in a sport as overwhelmingly self-serious as football, and the Brazilian always seemed determined to take his onto the pitch with him rather than leave it in the changing room.
Over time, Alves leaned into this persona, becoming a full-time cultivator of his own image. He dabbled in modelling, released a single and embraced social media. He seemed to a have tambourine or drum in his hand whenever he stepped off the Brazil team bus. He turned his description of his own character (“good crazy”) into a catchphrase. Whenever he signed an autograph, he drew a smiley face inside the capital D.
Alves played for PSG between 2017 and 2019 (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
It has become a rite of passage for footballers to publish long first-person pieces on the Players’ Tribune website. Alves has contributed two of them: one about his modest upbringing and another reflecting upon the pain of missing out on the 2018 World Cup. “Dani Alves is not going to the World Cup,” read one emblematic line, “but he is still one happy motherf*cker.”
Later, when he moved to Sao Paulo, the same website produced a seven-part documentary about Alves’ life. In one episode he talks at length about his iconoclastic fashion sense, mugging at the camera in a series of designer jackets. In another, he discusses his relationship with music. Episode three is about Alves reconnecting with his two children from his first marriage. Its title is The Family Man.
That strand of Alves’ reputation now lies in tatters along with all the others.
Earlier in February, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia heard testimony relating to Alves’ “slimy attitude” from the victim’s friend, who had been present at the Sutton nightclub on the evening of the incident. While the victim’s statement was delivered in private, her testimony — previously reported by The Athletic based on evidence from earlier hearings — gave a detailed account of Alves holding her against her will in a toilet cubicle and penetrating her without her consent.
Alves was sentenced to four and a half years in prison (ALBERTO ESTEVEZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
This morning, the court upheld that version of events, concluding that Alves had “abruptly grabbed the the complainant, threw her to the floor and, preventing her from moving, penetrated her vaginally, despite the fact that the complainant said no, that she wanted to leave”.
In a statement, the court said that “injuries to the victim (made) it more than evident that there was violence to force the victim to have sexual relations”, and that “the accused subdued the will of the victim with the use of violence”.
The defence lawyers plan to appeal the decision.
The emphatic nature of the verdict, however, means that it will be hard to look at Alves in the same way ever again.
The Apple Sports app offers real-time stats, scores, and betting odds for top sports leagues.
Apple Sports is only available on iPhones running iOS 17.2 or later. It’s also limited to users in the US, UK, and Canada.
Apple plans to add more leagues to the app over time.
Are you a die-hard sports fan looking for a convenient way to track your favorite sports leagues and teams? Apple’s Sports app has a minimalist interface to show real-time scores, stats, and betting odds. Here’s all you need to know about using Apple Sports.
What Can You Do With the Apple Sports App?
Apple introduced the Apple Sports app on February 21, 2024, to help iPhone users easily keep up with the scores and stats of their favorite leagues and teams. You can follow your favorite teams and leagues, check scores and team stats in real time, and view live betting odds, injury reports, lineup details, and their schedules.
The app displays real-time scores and stats for a few of the top sports leagues in the world, including MLS, NBA, NHL, Ligue 1, La Liga, Bundesliga, and more. While Apple Sports only supports limited leagues for now, Apple’s announcement revealed that it plans to add more leagues, like MLB, NFL, and WNBA, for their upcoming seasons.
As of February 2024, the Apple Sports app is only available in three regions—the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Getting Started With the Apple Sports App on an iPhone
To download the Apple Sports app, your iPhone must be running iOS 17.2 or later. If not, you can update your iPhone by heading to Settings > General > Software Update. Once you’re all set, you can download it from the App Store.
Launch the app after installation and tap Continue when you see the welcome page. To begin seeing real-time scores and stats, you’ll need to choose your desired leagues and teams.
Tap Get Started and tap the Favorite button next to the league you want to follow. To follow a team, choose a league and tap the Favorite (star) icon next to the one you want to follow. Tap Done once you’re happy with the selection.
If you’d like to follow a league or team later on, all you need to do is tap the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner, tap Manage, and repeat the steps above.
To view live and upcoming games and final stats and scores for all your teams in one place, tap the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner of the screen and tap My Teams. Similarly, you can view the same information for your favorite leagues by tapping My Leagues instead. If you’d like to find information about a specific league that’s not in your favorites, choose one from the list in the same menu.
If you use other Apple apps like Apple News and Apple TV, Apple Sports will sync data like your favorite teams, leagues, and athletes across these apps. However, if you’d like to disable this feature, tap the three horizontal lines and select your profile icon in the top-right corner. Then, toggle off Sync My Sports.
While Apple Sports does display a match’s betting odds by default, you can turn them off if you don’t find them useful. Strangely, you can’t disable betting odds directly from the Apple Sports app. Instead, you need to head to the Settings app on your iPhone, scroll to the Sports app, and toggle on Hide Betting Odds.
While you can find several great sports news apps on the App Store, Apple Sports sets itself apart with its clean and minimalist interface. Unfortunately, Apple Sports’s availability is currently limited to iPhone users. So, if you want to keep up with your favorite teams and league stats on your Mac or iPad, you’ll have to resort to third-party apps for now.
A sea of clouds flows down the mountains and into Yuping, a picturesque village in Jingde County, east China’s Anhui Province.
Usually, a sea of clouds forms in valleys or over seas in very stable air mass conditions such as in a temperature inversion. Humidity can then reach saturation and condensation leads to a very uniform cloud of fog.
(Cover image via screenshot. Video filmed by Zhu Yongbing.)
(If you have specific expertise and want to contribute, or if you have a topic of interest that you’d like to share with us, please email us at [email protected].)
While the “faith-based film” has evolved over the years, there’s one tried-and-true formula this particular type of movie can’t quit: an improbable story about a sick child in a perilous situation starring a popular actress (see: Jennifer Garner in “Miracles From Heaven,” Chrissy Metz in “Breakthrough,” etc.). In this kind of film, the drama remains focused on human kindness and community rather than on specific beliefs. Religious organizations offer emotional and material support to the characters, but mainly exist in the background, so the message is not overly preachy. But one would have to be a monster to resist the heartstrings-pulling power of a vulnerable child in a truly heinous scenario.
In “Ordinary Angels,” directed by Jon Gunn, the maker of 2017’s “The Case for Christ” and producer of 2023’s “Jesus Revolution,” it’s faith in humanity that comes to the fore, though a church parking lot does play a pivotal role in this adaptation of the true story of young Michelle Schmitt, who was once known as the “Snow Baby of Louisville.”
But before we get to the snow, we’ve got to get to know hairdresser Sharon Stevens, played by two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. She wrote a memoir titled “Ordinary Angels” and Kelly Fremon Craig (“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”) and Meg Tilly wrote the screenplay. Though little Michelle’s incredible journey offers the climax of the movie, it’s Sharon’s redemption that offers the dramatic arc of the feature film.
We meet Sharon as she’s slamming down shots and dancing on a bar top in 1993 Louisville, Kentucky, where her hair is the only thing reaching for the heavens. After one too many nights of hard drinking, her friend Rose (Tamala Jones) dumps Sharon at an AA meeting, where sobriety doesn’t take, but the exhortation to “find a reason” does. While picking up a six-pack, Sharon notices a newspaper headline about a little girl who has lost her mother and desperately needs a liver transplant. She becomes obsessively, almost strangely fixated on how she can help Michelle Schmitt, showing up unannounced at her mother’s funeral service and bossily inserting herself into the young girl’s life, much to the consternation of Michelle’s stern father Ed (Alan Ritchson), a roofer.
Swank is doing a sort of “Erin Brockovich” thing here, powering through the world with big hair, higher heels and sheer audacity. For much of the film, you will simply be mystified as to why this woman is so taken with Michelle’s plight — her behavior is frankly odd and the character proudly has no boundaries.
The script holds back certain aspects of her backstory to use as reveals, but that strategy doesn’t help us to go along with her emotional journey, as it just seems bizarre that she shows up on the Schmitt’s doorstep and insinuates herself into their financial situation, fundraising for Michelle’s medical bills. Ritchson delivers the only authentic performance for the situation as the befuddled Ed, who objects to Sharon’s constant meddling, though he can’t turn up his nose at the money and favors she pulls with her bulldog determination.
Gunn goes for a gritty, dim look to give the film the air of authentic social realism. Cinematographer Maya Bankovic shoots hospital corridors in low light; honky-tonks are bathed in devilish red gels. There are some legitimately beautiful shots in the film: Ed silhouetted against the fading light as he works on a rooftop; the piercing of headlights through a blizzard.
Swank is appealing and amusing, decked out in fringe and affecting a twang, but it in no way feels real; it’s more of a fun character performance. Ritchson, on the other hand, demonstrates a softer, more expansive side to the tough guy persona he’s perfected on “Reacher.” Even though it’s clear he can stretch farther than what he can do here, it’s nice to see him being cast in heftier roles.
Where “Ordinary Angels” stumbles is taking one unique human interest story from 1994 — in which Louisville rallied around Michelle Schmitt to help get her a liver transplant during a raging blizzard — and making it instead the story of one woman, Sharon. The character’s motivations don’t gel and no amount of Swank moxie can make it work. The true story is an inspiring tale of community care and mutual aid, the kind of thing that feels rare, and rarely celebrated these days. But as usual, real life is more affecting, more nuanced, and yes, stranger than fiction. This may be a tale of “Ordinary Angels,” but unfortunately, the film itself is far from extraordinary.
Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.
‘Ordinary Angels’
Rating: PG, for thematic content, brief bloody images and smoking
New Delhi, February 23: Mahindra and Mahindra, a leading company in the Indian automotive industry, has introduced a new variant to its popular Scorpio SUV lineup. The Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select variant is the latest addition of Mahindra Auto. The Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select variant is expected to offer a combination of comfort, style and performance for its customers.
As per a report of Autocar India, Mahindra has launched the Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select variant, expanding the Scorpio N series SUV. The new model from Mahindra Auto might be placed between the existing Z6 and Z8 models. The expected price of the Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select Variant ranges from Rs 16.99 lakh to Rs 18.99 lakh. ‘Hurts To See Them So Mercilessly Torn Apart’: Anand Mahindra on Video of Dismantling Truck (See Post).
Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select Variant Specifications and Features
As per a report of English Jagran, the Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select comes with two engine choices: a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, which is expected to produce 203 horsepower and a 2.2-litre diesel engine that might deliver 175 horsepower. Both engines might come with a 6-speed manual or automatic gearbox to provide different driving preferences for its customers. However, the Scorpio N Z8 Select variant does not come with a 4-wheel drive option. The exterior of the Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select variant will likely boast a Midnight Black colour. The SUV might be equipped with a 7-inch TFT instrument cluster, 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, rear disc brakes and LED lights to enhance visibility. Mahindra Partners With Volkswagen To Get MEB Electric Components for Its Upcoming EVs; Check Details.
The Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select might also feature an 8-inch infotainment system that is expected to support both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for seamless connectivity. The Scorpio N Z8 Select variant is anticipated to include features like a sunroof, six airbags and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). Additional features in the Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select variant might come with automatic headlights, a tyre pressure monitoring system, push-button start, dual-zone climate control and power folding wing mirrors.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2024 11:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Reddit didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Unwanted Offer
Reddit’s investment offer to users is known as the Directed Share Program. “Because you have helped make Reddit what it is today, you now have the opportunity to become Reddit owners at the same price as institutional investors,” the company wrote to the first batch of invitees, both in emails and direct messages through Reddit.
The program allows users to buy shares the day before shares in the company begin trading, at a price to be set by Reddit’s bankers. If the start of public trading attracts a frenzy of interest, shares bought on the eve of trading can immediately rocket in value. Users won’t face any restrictions on selling the shares.
Such IPO buy-ins are typically reserved mostly for huge investors, such as retirement funds and ETF issuers, that tend to hold shares for a long time. Involving individual investors in an IPO can lead to unpredictable swings in pricing, since individuals may sell their shares sooner.
Companies such as Facebook and Robinhood suffered share price shocks after giving individuals an unusually high number of shares—about a quarter to a third of those in the IPO. Airbnb, which set aside about 7 percent of its IPO shares for hosts on the housing rentals marketplace, faced fewer issues.
Reddit hasn’t announced how many shares it will allocate users, but it will be a limited number. First dibs go to significant contributors as measured by joining company advisory boards or having high karma, a secretly determined grade of someone’s behavior on Reddit. The first tier also includes some of the busiest moderators, who create discussion forums and enforce the rules for contributing to them.
Additional waves of users with successively lower levels of contributions will be invited in the coming days. Everyone has until March 5 to register their interest in buying shares, but nobody is obligated to follow through with a purchase. Starting March 1, any user can try to sign up regardless of activity or moderating history, though some may end up on a waitlist.
To be eligible for the program, users must be at least 18 years old and must reside in the US. These restrictions left some teenaged mods, and those located in several other countries, feeling miffed. “Redditors based outside of the US are an equally important part of making Reddit what it is today,” the company wrote in FAQs on its website, citing unspecified regulations for the geographic limitation. “Unfortunately, this one is out of our hands.”
Cook, the gaming mod, who is based in the UK, says international availability of the shares wouldn’t have persuaded him to buy in—but adds that Reddit’s inability to find a workaround or strive for fairness “doesn’t instill confidence.”
Former Reddit employees who had been involved in IPO preparations say resentment from overseas moderators had long been identified as a pitfall of the plan. Staff also told executives they think many moderators would fear buying in, worrying it would taint their volunteer work or invite the wrath of their community members for appearing to sell out. But Cook framed it differently: He said stock simply isn’t the payoff volunteers are after. “A moderator’s ‘reward’ is making the community they’re in better for everyone,” he says.
Bitcoin on Friday, February 23 reflected a loss of 1.13 percent to trade at the price point of $51,017 (roughly Rs. 42.2 lakh). This is the second consecutive day this week, that Bitcoin has logged a loss. It is, however, impressive that the asset has managed to hold ground at the mark of $51,000 (roughly Rs. 42 lakh) despite incurring losses. In the last 24 hours, the value of BTC tumbled by $375 (roughly Rs. 31,080). Market analysts believe this is a price correction phase for Bitcoin and subsequently for majority other cryptocurrencies as well.
Ether recorded a drop of 1.54 percent on Friday. With this, its trading value has come to the mark of $2,799 (roughly Rs. 2.3 lakh). Over the last day, the value of ETH has dropped by $42 (roughly Rs. 3,480).
“In the last 24 hours, the crypto market showed a slight bearish sentiment with the first net outflow from BTC ETF since January 25, 2024, signalling bearishness. Additionally, funding rates were not favorable for bulls. Technically, BTC closed in the red but stayed within its range. Meanwhile, ETH remained relatively stable,” the CoinDCX team told Gadgets360.
Majority of the popular cryptocurrencies are trading in losses as of Friday.
These include Tether, Solana, Ripple, USD Coin, Cardano, Avalanche, and Tron.
Chainlink, Polkadot, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Uniswap, and Cosmos are also reeling under losses as of Friday.
The overall crypto market valuation stands at $1.95 trillion after incurring a dip of 0.25 percent in the last 24 hours, shows CoinMarketCap.
Meanwhile, only a few altcoins managed to see gains on Friday. These include Binance Coin, Polygon, Shiba Inu, Stellar, and Cronos.
“As for altcoins, BNB’s (+1.1 percent) price climbed to its highest since the FTX crash. This could be attributed to fading concerns around regulatory issues related to Binance, and an upcoming Web3 gaming project’s airdrop farming campaign for BNB holders. Additionally, AI tokens continued to surge on the back of Nvidia’s 4th quarter earnings; RNDR is up 9.3 percent while WLD (+13.9 percent) hit its record high,” Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures told Gadgets360.
In other news, Reddit disclosed its investment in Bitcoin and Ethereum ahead of its IPO. The company also acquired Ether and Polygon for the sale of specific virtual goods. The company has submitted its filing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘RDDT’.
Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Google accused the U.S. government of wanting to punish it for being more successful than its competitors.
The company made the comments in an unsealed post-trial brief submitted to a DC federal judge as part of its ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice, which has accused it of unlawfully monopolizing the search market.
Within the legal documents, Google argued that its position as the world’s leading search engine results from its “unceasing hard work” and contended that if it lost the antitrust trial, the verdict would contradict U.S. antitrust law.
What Google is saying. Google stated in the legal document:
“The evidence conclusively established that Google is the highest quality, most popular search engine in the United States, with the highest general search engine advertising monetization…Yet Plaintiffs would have Google punished and uniquely handicapped from competing to win these revenue share agreements.”
“The purpose? To prop up lesser general search engine competitors in the hopes that will give them greater incentives and opportunities to improve their search quality — despite a long track record of failing to achieve such success in the past.”
“That result is antithetical to U.S. antitrust law. Punishing a successful firm that has out-innovated its competitors to the benefit of consumers harms competition, not the other way around.”
Search Ads 360. Google also addressed the claim by the Colorado Plaintiffs regarding its alleged unfair operation of SA360, stating it’s not obligated to engage with Microsoft on SA360 features. Google argued that its conduct aligns with standard practices, and it contends that the Colorado Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate harm to its competitiors. The post-trial brief added:
“Punishing Google’s conduct here would harm, not promote, competition by diminishing Google’s incentives to offer and improve its cross-platform SA360 tool in the manner most responsive to advertisers’ demands.”
What is Search Ads 360? SA360 is a platform for managing large search marketing campaigns across multiple search engines. It makes handling ads and keywords more efficient and allows for easier analysis of performance. SA360 also offers automated bidding through bid strategies.
What the DOJ is saying. The DOJ accused Google of employing contracts with phone manufacturers and web browser operators for substantial sums of money to limit competition from other search engines like Microsoft’s Bing. The DOJ is expected to submit its own brief.
Next steps. The final arguments for the trial that spanned several weeks last year are expected in May.
Why we care. If the U.S. Government wins, Google might not be the default search engine on computers, laptops and mobile devices anymore. This could let rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo have a chance at becoming the top search engine, changing how we search online.
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Deep dive. Read Google’s post-trial brief in full for more information.
In Pakistan, two big-time political groups, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have decided to share power. This means Shehbaz Sharif is set to be the Prime Minister again, and Asif Ali Zardari will be the President. It’s like when two captains from different teams decide to work together to win the game.
Ending a Political Standoff
After the elections on February 8, Pakistan’s political scene was a bit stuck. No single party won enough seats in the National Assembly (that’s like the big group of people who make decisions for the country) to have a clear win. The PML-N got 79 seats, and the PPP was in third place with 54 seats. But with the help of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and their 17 seats, they’ve got enough support to form a government.
Big Challenges Ahead
Now that they’ve figured out who’s in charge, they have some tough stuff to tackle. Pakistan’s money situation is pretty tight, and they just barely avoided running out of cash last year thanks to a big loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They also need to deal with safety issues, especially with the group called the Taliban causing trouble next door in Afghanistan since 2021.
Focusing on What’s Important
Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari have a lot on their plate. They need to make sure the country’s economy gets better and that people feel safe. Last year’s loan was like a band-aid, so now they need to come up with a long-term plan to keep things stable.
Looking Ahead
With Sharif and Zardari teaming up, Pakistan is hoping to get through these tough times. Everyone’s watching to see if their plan to work together will help fix the economy and make sure everyone’s safe from threats. It’s a big job, but they’re ready to take it on.
For more than a decade, some Southern states have resisted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, even though data suggest it could help their residents. Today, the large majority of uninsured Americans who would gain coverage under Medicaid expansion — and who would benefit from affordable access to care — live in non-expansion states in the South.
But the politics are shifting. North Carolina expanded Medicaid in December, after a years-long lobbying campaign by the state’s Democratic governor and hospital industry persuaded the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a bill.
The Tar Heel State’s move may have helped thaw opposition in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, where Republican state House speakers have recently indicated they’re open to expansion options, which could lead to new insurance coverage for more than 650,000 people.
And though resistance remains firm in the seven other states that have so far refused expansion, some analysts predict they’ll inevitably acquiesce.
“It’s just a question of when,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
Thanks to North Carolina, where expansion has meant government health insurance for more than 346,000 low-income people so far, the prospect has become “politically safer to consider,” said Frank Knapp, president of the Small Business Chamber of Commerce in South Carolina. Republican lawmakers in his state are considering forming a committee to study the idea.
Under Medicaid expansion, adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $35,600 for a family of three, qualify for coverage. Nearly 3 million Americans would become newly eligible for Medicaid if all holdout states expanded, according to KFF.
Strong public support for Medicaid in non-expansion states, and lobbying from influential sectors of the health-care industry — especially hospitals — has eroded some of the opposition.
There’s also more money on the table. President Biden’s 2021 pandemic-relief law offered states that increased eligibility for Medicaid a financial incentive for two years, more than offsetting the cost of expansion for the period, according to a KFF analysis. But even as discussion builds in statehouses that once quashed any talk of Medicaid expansion, formidable opposition remains. Republican governors in South Carolina and Mississippi, for example, still oppose expansion. Several other non-expansion states appear to have little to no legislative momentum.
In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) is once again pressing her state’s Republican-controlled legislature to adopt Medicaid expansion, saying it would lower health-care costs for all consumers and protect rural hospitals.
But Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins, in a video address to Kansans posted on YouTube, dismissed Kelly’s expansion plan as “billions in new state and federal spending to increase welfare for able-bodied, working-age people.”
This article is not available for syndication due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about the availability of this or other content for republication, please contact [email protected].
A batch of Nintendo Switch games are discounted by up to 50% at Amazon for a limited time. The deals include physical and digital versions of several Nintendo-published titles, which rarely go on sale.
If you prefer buying digital games, Amazon has discounts on eShop codes for even more titles, including all the games mentioned above, plus other standouts like Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Metroid Dread, Fire Emblem Engage, and more. All the digital Switch games in the sale are available for $40, a 33% discount on their standard $60 price tags. We’ve rounded up all the discounted Switch games in the list below.
Worsening human-induced climate change may have effects beyond the widely reported rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and impacts on food supply and migration — and may also extend to influencing mental distress among high schoolers in the United States.
According to a representative survey of 38,616 high school students from 22 public school districts in 14 U.S. states, the quarter of those adolescents who had experienced the highest number of days in a climate disaster within the past two years and the past five years — such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, droughts, and wildfire — had 20% higher odds of developing mental distress than their peers who experienced few or no disaster events.
The paper is the first large scale research looking at mental health of adolescents following multiple disaster events — including the timing, frequency, and duration of the events — spanning 83 federally declared climate disasters occurring within 10 years before the survey was completed. The findings, using May 2019 data on sadness/hopelessness and short sleep from the U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Survey and disaster data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were published this month in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.
“We know that climate change has and will have catastrophic impacts across the globe,” said lead author Amy Auchincloss, PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology in the Dornsife School of Public Health. “But we were alarmed to find that climate related disasters already were affecting so many teens in the U.S. For example, within the past 2 years, many school districts in our study were subject to climate disasters for over 20 days.”
Respondents reported mental health distress by responding affirmatively to persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and short sleep duration, two factors that previous studies strongly link to mental health disorders among adolescents. The group controlled for other factors that may influence mental health, such as age, race, gender, experience of bullying, concerns about school safety and household income.
A positive, but not statistically significant, link between experiencing climate disasters and mental distress was also found when spanning ten years before the U.S. Youth Risk Survey.
“We found the strongest effects on mental distress in the 2 years immediately following a climate disaster — with the effect gradually weakening 5 to 10 years after the disaster,” said co-author Josiah Kephart, PhD, an assistant professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health.
As the results cannot prove causation, the authors say they would like to see more studies into the range of effects of climate change on youth and methods to improve preparing for potential worsening mental health among this population.
Already, roughly half of adolescents have experienced a mental health disorder in their childhood or teen years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Resources for the youth mental health crisis already have difficulty meeting demand and demand will increase as disasters increase,” said co-author Esther Chernak, MD, a clinical professor and director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication at Dornsife School of Public Health. “The current study is evidence that clinicians, policymakers, parents, and many others with a stake in youth mental health can point to when advocating for increasing adolescent-specific mental health resources — particularly in lower-income communities who will be hit hardest by disasters.”
Drexel’s Dornsife School of Public Health is home to significant ongoing work addressing health and climate change. Among other projects, the school’s Urban Health Collaborative recently received National Institutes of Health funding to support establishment of the Drexel Climate Change and Urban Health Research Center (CCUH), which with foster research on the effects of climate change on health across the Americas. The Urban Health in Latin America Project (SALURBAL-Climate), of which Dornsife School of Public Health is an institutional partner, funds research on climate change’s links to health and health inequity impacts across Latin America using data on as any as 400 cities in 11 countries. Additional work at the school, in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI), WRI Brasil, SALURBAL, and WRI Mexico, seeks to deepen our understanding of the relationship between neighborhood-scale heat mortality and neighborhood social characteristics in two Brazilian cities; the findings of which aim to inform public policy.
In addition to Auchincloss, additional authors on the study includes Dominic A. Ruggiero, and Meghan T. Donnelly, who were graduate students at Drexel at the time of this work.
With over 14,000+ learners, including law students, lawyers, academicians, industry professionals, CAs, and business professionals, Lawctopus Law Schoolhas fast established itself as the place to be for online legal education in India.
Our LIVE courses (like this one) are rated 92.6/100 (average), and come with a 100% no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.
Course on Patent – Law and Practice
With the rapidly developing technology, and the increasing number of patents granted every year, protection and enforcement of patents and rights of patent holders is of utmost importance. The legal community a big role in safeguarding these rights of patent holders.
Keeping this in mind, this course has been designed to help the learners, especially lawyers and law students wishing to build their careers in Patents Law.
This course will also benefit professionals who wish to get acquainted with the law or refresh their knowledge on the subject.
Contents of the Course
An orientation session which explains how to make full use of the course
Rigorously researched reading resources
Recorded video lectures covering the length and breadth of copyright law
A discussion forum to resolve all your doubts
Assignments (both objective and essay-type)
Whatsapp and email groups for constant communication
4, 90-minute long live sessions which build upon the course material
The Lawctopus Law School team is known for excellence in delivery and we keep our students informed via regular emails, Whatsapp groups, and even phone calls (if you are lagging behind the assignments!) and you can be assured of excellent delivery of a quality course.
Module 1 – Patents – Understanding Patents, International & Indian Patent Regime
– Important terms frequently used under the Patent Law Regime – Meaning, scope, and important features of Indian Patent Law – Comparative differences between Patents and Trademark, Copyright, and Design – The legislative history of Patent Law in India – Salient features of the existing patent regime in India – Comparative analysis of Patent Law regimes of the US, EU, and China with that of the Indian Patent Law regime. – Tests of patentability, namely, Novelty, Inventive Step, and Industrial Application – Landmark cases on the Patentability of an invention
Module 2 – Patents – Subject Matter Eligibility
– Subject matters which can be protected under the Indian Patent Law Act
Module 3 – Patents – Procedure for obtaining, Revocation and Opposition
– End to end procedure of obtaining a patent, starts with the drafting of various sections of the patent application to the grant of patent – Patent opposition and revocation – Pre and post-grant opposition – Grounds for opposition – How a patent is revoked?
Module 4 – Patents – Rights and Maintenance, Protection and Enforcement: Infringement and other remedies
– Infringement of Patents – Remedies under the Indian Patent Law, 1970 available to the patent holder – Types of infringement – How to determine if there has been an infringement or not?
Module 5 – Patents – Assignment, Licensing, and Working
– Assignment of a patent by the patent holder, – Working of patents i.e. to what extent the patented invention has been worked Compulsory licensing
Course Faculty
Mr. Aditya Kedari
Education: B.E in Computer Engineering (2007), LLB (Gold Medalist) and LLM from New Law College, Pune, NET Qualified (2015), currently pursuing Ph.D. from Symbiosis.
Work experience: Ex-Assistant Professor in New Law College, Pune, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, currently at DES Shri. Navalmal Firodia Law College, Pune.
Mr. Hemant Thadani
Education: B.SC LLB from GNLU (2011), LLM from WIPO-QUT (Queensland University of Technology) in IP Law.
Work experience: Head (IP practice), Crawford Bayley & Co., Mumbai; ex-Managing Associate (IP Litigation) at Krishna and Saurashtri, Mumbai; Visiting Faculty NMIMS Institute of Intellectual Property Studies.
Prof. Amit Jyoti Sandhu Gomber
Education: B.A. LLB (Gold Medalist) from Panjab University in 2012; LLM in IP Law (2013) from George Washington University Law School.
Work experience: Assistant Professor at JGLS, Sonipat and an Assistant Director with the Centre of IP and Technology Laws.
Mr. Devanshu Khanna (Lead Researcher)
Education: B. Tech (2012) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University; LLB from Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 2015.
Work experience: Senior Associate at Singh & Singh Law Firm LLP and is also a registered Patent Agent.
Ms. Priggya Arora
Education: B.Tech from GBPUAT, Pantnagar and LL.B. (Hons) in IPR from IIT Kharagpur Law School.
Work experience: Ex-Senior Associate, IIPRD Consulting; Ex-Senior Associate, Khuran and Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorneys; Founder and Owner, PA Legal, Delhi.
All zodiac signs have their own characteristics and traits which define someone’s personality. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you started your day by already knowing about what’s going to come your way? Read on to find out whether the odds will be in your favour today.
Horoscope Today: Astrological prediction for February 24, 2024 (File Photo)
ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 20)
Fatigue and tiredness can plague some. An advice may not get you out of financial doldrums. This is not the day to demand a perk on the work front. A new addition in the family is likely for some. Travel will prove advantageous in more ways than one. Real estate is likely to hold you interest as you have the financial strength now. Your academic excellence may become the talk of the town.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
Love Focus: Lonely hearts will have to wait some more for love to happen.
Lucky Number: 1
Lucky Colour: Light Red
TAURUS (Apr 21-May 20)
A new exercise regime will prove most uninspiring. Past investments are likely to give handsome returns. A coveted post may come your way as you play your cards well. Your habits can irritate spouse and may even lead to a showdown. If you are planning a long journey, expect it to be smooth and comfortable. Pending paperwork concerning a property will be completed. You will be able to realise your aspirations on the academic front.
Love Focus: You will manage to come closer to the person you secretly love.
Lucky Number: 22
Lucky Colour: Peach
GEMINI (May 21-Jun 21)
Weight watchers may succumb to temptations. Exceeding the budget to buy a luxury item may upset your financial applecart. You will be able to complete a long pending job today. Strain on the family budget cannot be ruled out. Delays while travelling can upset your plans and force you to reschedule your itinerary. This is a good time for you to gain lost ground on the academic front.
Love Focus: Attracting an opposite number will give a big boost to your self esteem.
Lucky Number:1
Lucky Colour: Dark Orange
CANCER (Jun 22-Jul 22)
Those on medication will need to stick to the schedule. You may need to monitor your finances closely. Those in the travel sector can find the business improving. Positive changes on the home front are in store for some. Trip to a vacation by road will prove most exciting. Those surveying for accommodation are likely to find a suitable one. You are likely to exceed your own expectations on the academic front.
Love Focus: Some of you can look forward to a romantic evening out.
Lucky Number: 2
Lucky Colour: Magenta
LEO (Jul 23-Aug 23)
Those trying to come back in shape will succeed. A good financial move will prove profitable. A colleague’s help is likely to speed up your work. Family can persuade you to go in for a luxury item. A packaged tour may not deliver what was promised and disappoint you. Success is foretold for those preparing for an exam or a competition. Keeping old contacts alive may assume importance, so get on a networking spree.
Love Focus: An evening out will be like icing on the cake on the romantic front.
Lucky Number: 9
Lucky Colour: Brown
VIRGO (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Your current exercise regime promises to bring you into shape. Money loaned to someone on good faith may not be returned. A professional rival may keep you on your toes at work. Someone may expect you to cater to his or her whims on the domestic front. An exclusive vacation with friends is likely, so plan to go to the best destination. The day turns excellent for you and will affect your performance most positively.
Love Focus: A sprinkling of passion is likely to make the romantic evening perfect for you.
Lucky Number: 6
Lucky Colour: Yellow
LIBRA (Sep 24-Oct 23)
Your efforts will bring peace and harmony on the domestic front. A long drive may allow you to think things out. Those recovering from minor surgery will need to keep a check on their progress. You will need to mobilise your resources to ward off a financial crunch. Some of you may need to hone your negotiating skills. If buying property is on your mind, you are likely to find something that suits your pocket.
Love Focus: Spending time alone with a lover in an exclusive place will be quite fulfilling.
Lucky Number: 5
Lucky Colour: All Shades of Green
SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 22)
Peak physical fitness is assured for those working out. Financial uncertainty is likely to dissipate soon for some. The professional front seems promising for those out to impress superiors. You are likely to tend to the health of a family elder. The day seems ideal for a long journey and will help you regain equanimity. A property issue is likely to be resolved amicably.
Love Focus: Love at first sight is waiting to happen, as you enter a new set-up!
Lucky Number: 3
Lucky Colour: Silver
You will take positive steps towards achieving perfect health. A loan given to someone will be promptly returned. Expect excellent output from someone you have delegated to do your share of work. Peace prevails on the home front and gives you time for rest and rejuvenation. A long trip by road may prove boring. Your brilliant performance on the academic front will open many avenues for you.
Love Focus: It is best to shed inhibitions and openly express your feelings for someone you love.
Lucky Number:17
Lucky Colour: Saffron
Remaining hooked to Junk food can play havoc with your health. Earning on the side may show signs of drying up. Waiting a bit too long may let slip a good business opportunity. Family will approve of your actions and is likely to give you free rein. Something that you have organized on the social front may have to be postponed. Good preparation by students will restore their confidence.
Love Focus: Rough seas are likely to be encountered on the romantic front.
Lucky Number:8
Lucky Colour: White
Guard against excesses to remain healthy. The financial scene is likely to stabilize once you review your investment options. Stars advise caution, as events on the professional front don’t seem too favourable. You can be put on the mat over a domestic issue. Trekking or going to a far-off place will prove both exciting and refreshing. Putting money in property now is likely to prove a goldmine at a later date.
Love Focus: Someone who admires you is likely to profess his or her for you.
Lucky Number:7
Lucky Colour: Beige
PISCES (Feb 20-Mar 20)
You will be able to stem wasteful expenditure by sensible budgeting. A decision at work will prove favourable in boosting your career. Eschew laziness, if you want to remain fit and maintain your energy level. Family support may not be forthcoming in a venture not approved by others. Your focus may waver on the academic front and get you into all sorts of problems. Good time lies ahead for those planning to travel abroad.
Love Focus: You will need to keep moodiness in check on the romantic front.
The European Medicine Agency’s main drug review committee on Friday supported expanding the approval of Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s cell therapy Carvykti for earlier treatment of multiple myeloma.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended Carvykti be used in people with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one previous therapy. Currently, the CAR-T therapy is cleared following at least three prior treatments.
The EMA’s recommendation now goes to the European Commission for marketing authorization, which typically follows within 60 days. Bristol Myers Squibb’s competing CAR-T therapy Abecma also recently received EMA backing for earlier multiple myeloma use.
Dive Insight:
Carvykti and Abecma have proved effective in earlier treatment of multiple myeloma, before patients cycle through other drugs currently used to hold their blood cancer in check. As with other CAR-T therapies for leukemia and lymphoma, their makers are using that evidence to try to broaden use.
With their recommendations for first Abecma and now Carvykti, European regulators have moved ahead of the Food and Drug Administration, which delayed a decision on Abecma and next month will convene a panel of expert advisers. The panel is set to discuss overall survival data for both therapies, scrutiny that comes as the FDA has warned of secondary cancers following CAR-T treatment.
The advisers are set to meet March 15, with decisions from the FDA likely to follow afterward.
In Europe, both therapies are now in position to receive authorization for early treatment. Their labels could look different, however.
EMA regulators last month recommended Abecma for people who have received at least two prior therapies, and have demonstrated disease progression on the last treatment.
With Carvykti, by contrast, the EMA is recommending use in people who are refractory to the drug Revlimid and have received at least one previous treatment.
This difference in labeling could be a “significant advantage” for Carvykti, wrote Jefferies analyst Kelly Shi in a Friday note to clients.
Both Carvykti and Abecma are designed to target a protein known as BCMA that’s found on malignant cells. The therapies are personalized, built from a patient’s immune cells and then engineered to home in on BCMA.
Both companies have been hard pressed to manufacture their therapies, which require an intensive production process, fast enough to meet demand.
Also on Friday, the EMA recommended expanded clearances for five other medicines, as well as initial approval for Biogen’s ALS medicine Qalsody and several other therapies.
Renovations are a great way to make your home more functional, comfortable and liveable.
They can also add significant value to your property, which is great if you are looking to sell sooner rather than later.
However, not all renovation projects are equal in terms of the value they add to a home.
For this reason, it is good to know which types of refurbishments could give you the best return on your investment.
In this post, we will look at the impact of certain renovations on maximising the value of your property.
While there is no guarantee that you will enhance your home’s potential worth if you complete them, there is a good chance that it will increase the price you could list it for when you eventually put it on the market.
Kitchen
The kitchen is often considered the heart of a home, which is why it is important to include it in any renovation plans, especially when selling.
For many buyers, the kitchen is a make-or-break room, so presenting them with an inspiring kitchen can increase the likelihood of seeing a return on investment.
How you tackle a makeover of the kitchen depends on its current condition, location and age.
If, for instance, it is small or separate from the rest of your home, it may seem too closed off or outdated for many people’s modern lifestyles.
For this reason, you might want to move it to another part of the home or create a more open-plan kitchen by knocking down walls.
Doing this will instantly modernise the space, increase its overall size, bath it in more natural light, and enable an easier flow through to other parts of the home.
Additionally, you might also be able to add a kitchen island, which can double as an eating space and increase storage, especially up towards the ceiling.
That said, if your budget won’t stretch to it, you could simply update the kitchen’s look by replacing the benchtops, appliances, cabinetry and light fixtures, adding in a splashback and giving it a lick of paint.
For kitchen renovations, you could easily spend up to $40,000, depending on what you want to do.
However, many buyers are willing to pay a premium for kitchens with modern appliances and plenty of spaces, as opposed to taking on the projects themselves.
So, if the kitchen is one of the main selling points of your home you should add significant value to it through any renovations you do to it.
Façade
How the front of your house presents is very important.
For you as an owner it should give you a sense of pride and a lift to your soul every time you arrive home, while for prospective buyers it should provide them with a good first impression that makes them excited to venture inside.
Overall, the more street appeal your property has the better.
Therefore, you should aim to create a fresh and vibrant look with a well-defined entrance, immaculate frontage and beautifully manicured gardens.
Essentially, you want something that buyers can easily see themselves living in.
Perhaps, one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to enhance your property’s curb appeal is by painting.
Depending on the size of your home and its condition, prices for professional house painters start from about $2,000 to recoat the exterior of your property.
It is important to fix or replace anything like drainpipes, awnings or railings that are rusted or broken.
You might also consider planting some pretty natives that don’t require much in the way of maintenance.
Ultimately, fixing up the façade of your home will increase the value of your property significantly, not just in terms of what a real estate agent will price it at, but also for what potential buyers will think it is worth.
Master Bedroom
Along with the kitchen, the master bedroom is an important room in the house to renovate.
Not only is it where you will spend most of your nights, but it is probably where prospective buyers will be sleeping if they purchase the property off you.
Hence, it is crucial that it makes a good impression.
If space permits you should try and reconfigure the room to incorporate walk-in wardrobes, ensuite bathrooms or TV areas.
For smaller rooms, you should aim to incorporate innovative storage solutions.
Adding extra windows or skylights are also good ways to increase light and airflow into the room and you should also consider putting in air conditioning or heating if required.
While a good master bedroom can add significant value to a home, crucially, it can also make it a lot more saleable too.
Bathrooms
Every home needs a feature bathroom.
So, if you can’t fit an ensuite bathroom in your master bedroom you should try and create one elsewhere.
Typically, buyers want more from a bathroom these days.
So try to ensure your renovation includes the kind of luxury fixtures and finishes and spa-like amenities you find in retreat-style bathrooms.
This trend is definitely growing, and more and more buyers are looking for spaces that inspire indulgence and relaxation.
If you are unable to fund a total bathroom renovation, a good idea is to adopt a minimalist approach but focus on upgrading certain pieces like a double vanity which can give your bathroom a more deluxe look and feel.
However, if you can pay for a complete bathroom makeover, you can expect to spend up to $25,000, depending on the fittings and materials you use and the space you have available.
You will also need to employ the services of a bathroom builder, tiler and plumber.
Typically, a bathroom renovation can increase a property’s value by up to 10% of its overall value, which will provide you with a good return for your investment.
Wow factor
Every home needs a feature with a ‘wow factor’ and yours should be no different.
Therefore, you should consider doing renovations that will help your home stand out from the crowd, within your target audience.
It is worth remembering that prospective buyers often inspect a lot of houses, so it would be worthwhile offering something extra special to keep yours at the forefront of their minds.
One way you can do this is with a showstopper like an outdoor deck or fire pit.
These features will appeal to those who want to spend a bit of time outside throughout the year for dining or relaxing and are relatively straightforward to install.
Overall, they tend to add more value than they cost to make, so it is a very good way to increase the comfort and value of your property.
Update Flooring
Increasingly, buyers are being put off homes that have carpets in certain living areas as they perceive them as dated, difficult to clean and not in keeping with what they are after.
Subsequently, replacing old carpets with polished hardwood floors is an excellent idea when it comes to a renovation.
This simple change can instantly elevate the look of a room from functional to fabulous – most real estate experts agree nothing can top genuine hardwood flooring.
It can also be relatively inexpensive to fund and could create a valuable impression that could drive the price of the house up in the minds of your buyers.
Add a study or office space
With more people running small businesses or working from home than ever before, it is important to add a dedicated study or office space in your home.
Doing this is a great way to help prospective buyers imagine how they would live in your property and therefore make it more attractive in their eyes.
You will need planning permission from the local council if you intend to build extra structures on to your current home.
However, if you have two large adjoining rooms with space that is not being used, you should consider reconfiguring the layout to accommodate an extra room.
If you were to create an extra room as a study, it could always double up as a spare bedroom if needed.
Additionally, when you come to sell it, the more bedrooms you have, the greater the pool of buyers you will attract.
Landscaping
Improving your landscaped areas all around your home is a worthwhile investment as it adds to the overall appeal and value of your property.
However, landscaping isn’t just for large gardens, simple additions like planting perennials and easy-growing hedges can create a beautiful view that surrounds your home even with limited space.
In addition, you can also use low-maintenance options like potted plants to fill in gaps, create well-defined areas and spruce up private spaces.
You might also want to create feature paths with brick or paintwork that give you a fresh and tidy walkway to use whenever you venture into the garden.
Responsible Rubbish Removal
While renovations can be a great way to improve the overall look, feel and price of your home they can be messy affairs.
Knocking down walls, ripping up carpets, throwing out broken furniture items that are no longer required and cutting down branches can all create plenty of waste.
So, it is important to make sure you get rid of it in a responsible manner.
This is easy to overlook.
However, having spent time and effort to enhance your property through renovations, the last thing you will want is for its overall aesthetic to be let down because you didn’t organise for the rubbish to be moved properly.
They will take the hassle away from getting rid of your renovation waste in a fashion that is considerate to the environment.
Final Thought
Renovating your home to make it more functional and comfortable for you is one thing.
But if you are renovating it with the purpose of maximising its value, it is crucial to pick projects that will give you the best return for your investment.
Hopefully this article has provided you with some guidance on what parts of your home you should focus on.
Just be clear on whether you are renovating for yourself or a prospective buyer and manage your pursuit of profit accordingly.
About Guest Expert Apart from our regular team of experts, we frequently publish commentary from guest contributors who are authorities in their field.
There’s a famous quote that goes: “A marriage is like a house. When a light bulb goes out, you do not go and buy a new house, you fix the light bulb.” And rightly so. It’s amazing how even in this era of fluid relationships, people are still getting married. But a successful marriage takes a lot of work. So, why is marriage so hard?
A study indicates that marriage rates in the US have declined over the years. In fact, marriage rates have seen a drastic 50% fall since 1972. But why do some people still prefer walking down the aisle and making lifelong promises to that one special person, in spite of the hardships? Is marriage hard for everyone? Well, perhaps marriage is hard but worth it. But in what way? How does one get over the difficult times and still stay together?
Read on, as we unearth the challenges of marriages and find out solutions with the help of counselor Ruchi Ruuh (Postgraduate Diploma in Counseling Psychology), who specializes in counseling for issues related to dating, infidelity, marital conflict, and divorce.
What Are The Hardest Years of Marriage?
We would all agree that marriages require a lot of daily work. But why is marriage so hard? And what year of marriage is the hardest? It is largely believed that marriages usually fall apart in the 7th year. And this has been statistically proven, as you will see later in this section. However, another school of researchers believes marriages face their worst in the 10th year.
A new study, however, shows that along with the 7-year itch, there is apparently a tendency for marriages falling apart by the 4th year. But that doesn’t mean marriages don’t have troubles at the very onset. Why is the first year of marriage the hardest? We’ll find out in this section. Let’s look at a few instances of marriages going sour at various points in time.
Related Reading: 9 Problems Almost Every Couple Faces During The First Year of Marriage
The 1st Year
The 1st year of any marriage, which is ideally called the ‘honeymoon phase’ and the phase of romantic love, can be quite troublesome for many. In some cases, it may actually be the hardest year of marriage. Ruchi says, “In the very 1st year, people make a lot of adjustments, and that by itself can be hard.” So, why is the first year of marriage the hardest? Well, here are a few things that make the beginning of a marriage difficult:
One of the most prominent newlyweds problems is that it’s probably the couple’s first experience living together and facing day-to-day challenges
They may be learning to communicate and learning each other’s love languages
They may be trying to understand each other’s emotional baggage (such as past trauma from relationships)
Running a household or making budgeting decisions together may not be easy, as each may have different needs (For one, a gym membership may be important, while the other may wish to invest the same amount in travel)
Another one of the newlyweds problems is that the couple is navigating through new expectations and adapting to new roles (that of a provider or a nurturer)
Marriages can be hard work, but a little effort can save them
The 7th Year
The 7-year itch may not be a myth after all, and there’s more to it than Marilyn Monroe’s classic comedy of the same name. Rutgers University anthropologist Helen Fisher conducted a study and found out that marriages have a global median duration of 7 years. But she also noticed that a high percentage of people also get divorced around the 4th year.
Ruchi says, “By the 7-year mark, a lot of marriages fail due to a barrage of issues. By then, people may have had children and life may have gotten quite challenging. Stress levels are at an all-time high, not just because of children, but also because of mid-career issues. Couples may hardly get to spend time with each other.”
Here’s what you can expect in a 7-year marriage:
There’s a decline in physical and emotional intimacy
You’re constantly arguing or criticizing
There’s infidelity or you’re spending time apart
You’re taking each other for granted
You’re feeling unappreciated
There’s a lack of trust
You’re starting to keep secrets from each other
Related Reading: When A Good Marriage Is About Supporting Your Partner
The 10th Year
According to a Brigham Young University study conducted on 2,000 odd women for 35 years, the hardest year of marriage is around the 10th year. And this is probably because, by the 10th year, spouses tend to get over the urge to please each other and shove all their problems beneath the carpet. So, here’s what can happen by the 10th year:
Couples may feel there’s no meaningful way to take the marriage forward
Couples can’t connect with each other, and boredom sets in the marriage
A sense of loss creeps in and couples may go through a mid-life crisis and look for validation outside the marriage
People grow tired of the routine
Couples get fed up with their partners’ flaws
The 14th or 15th Year
Ruchi feels: “Apart from the 10th year, marriages also tend to get sour around year 14 or 15 when kids become teenagers and start rebelling.” Here’s what you can expect around this time:
The strain of dealing with rebelling teens can spill on to the marriage
Bickering and arguments may become the new normal
The demanding schedules of their teenage kids can kill romance, and sexual desires and other aspirations may remain unmet
The 18th–20th Years
Marriages also break apart around years 18–20. Ruchi feels this is the toughest time to make things work, as couples have probably made up their minds about leaving the marriage by now. Here’s what happens around this time:
Couples may have already chalked out an exit strategy and prepared themselves mentally, emotionally, and financially
Partners who were probably waiting for their children to settle down now realize they can easily quit the marriage since they’ve reached the ‘empty nest’ stage
Couples no longer feel the love and can go their separate ways and not feel guilty about it
But when does marriage get easier? It probably never does, but all one needs to do is deal with the challenges head-on. And why is marriage harder than dating? Because you can’t cut your spouse off easily. A lot is at stake.
Why Is Marriage So Hard? 11 Of The Biggest Challenges You May Have To Face
Ruchi says, “Marriages can be hard, as it takes a lot of work to stay married and accept the person forever, flaws and all. Plus, staying in love with one person forever can be hard. Nonetheless, the secret to fixing it is to not give up.”
But what does a ‘hard marriage’ really imply? A Reddit user states, “I personally think that it is more of “you have to put effort in” rather than it actually being hard. It will obviously be challenging at times, but the every day is very ordinary. I think a good analogy is how your favorite hobby/pastime can be something you absolutely love and enjoy doing, but at the same time be something that you have to put a lot of effort and energy into, and something that at times can be difficult.” So, it eventually boils down to the work that one has to do to overcome the “hard” bit in a marriage, and this applies to marriages of all duration.
So, is staying married that difficult? Is there another angle to it? Another Reddit user has a different take. He says, “I think many people confuse wanting to marry the person they’re in a relationship with and wanting to be married. Many people think being married is just a thing on a list they’re supposed to “check off”. Finish grade school, get post-secondary education, get a career relevant to said post-secondary education, get married, and start a family. That’s my personal opinion on why divorce rates are so high — most people just don’t marry the right person for them.” And we agree with him to some extent. Marriages, be it out of compulsion or out of love, can be hard in the long run, and we’ll look at a few reasons why:
Related Reading: Funny Marriage Advice For Newlyweds: Keep The Laughter Alive!
1. No effective communication
Lack of communication is one reason why marriages suffer. Ruchi says, “The inability to express needs and concerns within a marriage may lead to misunderstandings and cracks.” So, opening up to your partner is extremely crucial.
2. Different expectations
Married life is hard because no two people are alike. They can clash over expectations in a relationship. Ruchi believes, “It’s important to let the other person know what role you expect them to play. The responsibilities and dynamics of the relationship have to be clearly communicated.”
Ways to make a marriage work
3. Financial strain
Ruchi states, “Married life comes with shared responsibility, and this extends to financial responsibilities too.” Money is a huge deal maker (or deal breaker) in a marriage, and a majority of conflicts arise due to financial issues. Here are a few such issues:
Limited resources create disagreements over what to spend the money on
Budgets, if not unanimously agreed upon, create rifts
Long-term savings too can be a point of disagreement, as one partner may wish to improve the quality of life, while the other may be flimsy with money
4. Transitions
Multiple transitions can occur in a marriage, over time. Let’s look at one example. A friend of mine, Lucy, was a homemaker in the initial stages of her marriage. However, over time, she not only got a degree in business management but also ended up joining a top-notch multinational company, earning twice as much as her husband. Rifts began to appear pretty soon, and Lucy and her husband parted ways eventually. So, we’ll look at a few such probable transitions that can make a marriage hard:
Individual career paths
Parents and their health issues
Illness or disability
Related Reading: 15 Subtle Yet Strong Signs Your Marriage Will End In Divorce
5. Lack of adaptability
Adaptability is key to a healthy marriage, and when that’s missing, marriage can be hard. Ruchi agrees, “A couple needs to work together as a team. They need to use their emotional intelligence to get through transitions in life and maintain a strong connection.”
6. Lack of intimacy
Intimacy is one of the key components of a marriage, and this includes both emotional and physical intimacy, including sexual intimacy. Ruchi says, “One of the partners could feel lonely or disconnected in a marriage if the levels of intimacy of both the partners don’t match.”
7. Other relationships
At times, marriages can be rough when other relationships influence them. Ruchi says, “In many cases, marriages suffer because of a third-party influence. So, issues can crop up due to parental relationships, other friends trying to influence domestic decisions, and exes resurfacing from time to time.”
Related Reading: Husband Wife Relationship – 9 Expert Tips To Improve it
8. Work stress
A major challenge in a marriage is balancing work stress. Ruchi says, “We often find that work-related issues don’t let many couples spend quality time together.” This may cause irritability, sexual dissatisfaction, sleep deprivation, and various psychological issues.
9. Personal growth
We perhaps all agree that people change with time. This applies to their values, tastes, food habits, fitness habits, and interests. And this can be quite a challenge for a marriage. Ruchi says, “When we grow as human beings, we may, at times, grow out of our relationships too. It can be hard to manage your whole life and keep pace with a partner at the same time.”
10. Unrealistic expectations
With the increasing influence of social media and the perfect and flashy relationships that we see on it, people may feel they have missed out on being the ‘perfect couple’. This generation has a hard time believing that healthy and happy relationships do exist without luxury dinners and world travel. Or that the ‘good life’ showcased on social media can be fake.
Ruchi adds, “We can’t live in the world of rom-coms. Movies portray picture-perfect relationships, where couples are having great sex and spending lovey-dovey moments almost all the time. But real relationships have day-to-day challenges that couples need to overcome to stay committed.”
Related Reading: What Is The Role Of A Husband In A Modern Relationship?
11. Lack of time
One of the biggest challenges in married life is that many couples tend to spend less and less time together as the marriage progresses. Ruchi says, “People often tend to take each other for granted. But for any emotionally enriching marriage, spending quality time is absolutely essential.” Now that you have a whole list of answers to the question, “Why is marriage so hard?”, we’ll delve deeper into some tried and tested ways to make it work, despite the challenges.
9 Tips To Make A Marriage Worth The Hard Work
So, now that you have the answer to the question, “Why is marriage so hard?”, please also note that despite the challenges, there are ample reasons to make a marriage work. In simple words, marriage is hard but worth it.
And why is marriage harder than dating? More importantly, why do people still opt for it, if it is so? Ruchi explains, “Marriage provides you a sense of deep commitment and stability, long-term goals, emotional support, and financial and legal benefits. Marriages also offer spousal benefits such as access to health insurance, ease of applying for loans, and travel benefits. Add to his shared goals, such as building a future, going for holidays together, taking care of children.”
And this is not all, married life offers a sense of purpose too. They help you work toward personal goals and motivate you to go beyond differences. They help you work on emotionally regulating yourself. They also provide a sense of belonging in a community. So, here are some tips to make it work:
1. Never stop dating each other
As a couple, you should never stop spending quality time with each other. Ruchi says, “Plan dates, or just stay at home and cherish some cozy time together. It’s important to connect on a deeper level. It doesn’t have to be anything great, but it could just be something as simple as grocery shopping.”
2. Be grateful
It’s crucial to stop seeing your spouse for what they do for you and start seeing them for who they are. Ruchi adds, “Be thankful for how they show up and appreciate their value.”
Related Reading: 9 Ways To Fix A Broken Marriage And Save It
3. Don’t give in to negative emotions
One of the best ways to make a marriage work is to learn to deal with negative emotions. Learn not to be angry or frustrated. Ruchi says, “Pause, but don’t quit when things go wrong. At times, compromises between two individuals in love work wonders. Try and see things from your partner’s perspective.”
4. Build trust
It’s essential to build a whole lot of trust in a relationship to make it work. Ruchi says, “Don’t indulge in destructive activities, such as lying, cheating, and financial issues. Try to sort things out, take responsibility for your actions, and make up for small fights.
5. Don’t ignore emotions
Everyone makes mistakes, and two people can never be on the same page all the time. So, misunderstandings may crop up. Likewise, emotions are bound to spring up if you end up hurting your partner’s feelings. Ruchi suggests, “Instead of overreacting or shoving things under the carpet, try and deal with those feelings. Then let them go and move on.”
6. Focus on shared goals
One should always focus on shared values and goals. Be it family goals, personal growth, career goals, or shared goals for the future, these are the foundation of marriages.
7. Be flexible
Couples should be adaptable when it comes to working their way through hard times. Ruchi adds, “You should be ready to navigate challenges together. Remember, you are in it together and focus on a common ground to grow.”
Related Reading: Marriage Counseling – 15 Goals That Should Be Addressed Says Therapist
8. Maintain mutual respect
Respect is another key ingredient in a healthy and happy relationship. And it’s essential to show your respect by:
Showing them you value them on a daily basis
Treating your spouse as an individual and valuing their interests
Giving them enough space in the relationship
Avoiding demeaning language or behavior
9. Cultivate intimacy
A marriage without intimacy is a dead end. And by intimacy, we mean all sorts of intimacy: emotional, sexual, and spiritual. So, it’s important to:
Express your affection regularly: It could be simple gestures, such as holding hands or hugging
Keep in touch regularly: This is important for people in long-distance marriages, where couples stay apart for a long period for education or family commitments, and close proximity with a partner isn’t possible. Spend time on video calls, phone calls, and texts, and don’t forget the sweet nothings every morning
Spice things up in bed: Passionate lovemaking has no alternatives. Try to jazz things up in bed with sex toys or new positions
Communicate: If your relationship lacks intimacy, communicate. If communication is failing, don’t hesitate to confide in trusted people or talk to a therapist or a trained professional
Key Pointers
Why is marriage so hard? Some of the reasons why marriages are hard are lack of communication, mismatch of expectations, lack of adaptability, and other reasons
There are multiple opinions on which year of marriage is the hardest, though it’s largely believed to be the 1st, 7th, and 10th years
Marriage is hard but worth it, as it offers stability, long-term goals, financial and legal benefits, and emotional support
Some ways to work on a marriage are building trust, focusing on shared goals, maintaining mutual respect, and calling and texting when being in close proximity is not possible
If nothing works, one should try consulting a trained professional
In a world of easy access, courtesy of social media and other technological advancements, there is no dearth of options when it comes to finding a person to be with. Likewise, marriage is not a necessity in this age, neither for companionship nor for having kids. And yet, time and again, we find people tying the knot and making lifelong promises.
Nonetheless, nobody said marriages are meant to be easy. But is marriage hard for everyone? See, while there are people who split at the slightest discomfort, there are couples who stay in marriages for 20 years and still don’t get bored of each other. Well, perhaps marriage is hard but worth it. But just like you need to water a plant every day for it to bear fruit someday, a marriage too needs to be catered to with care. When does marriage get easier? Well, when you accept the challenges and work on them.
We sincerely hope our article helped you answer the burning question: why is marriage so hard? We hope it also helped you gather some insight on what year of marriage is the hardest and how to deal with the challenges that marriage throws at us in the long run. After all, marriages may be made in heaven, but we need to deal with them here on earth.
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MINNEAPOLIS — A few times each month, Alan Page visits Justice Page Middle School, one of two schools named in his honor.
As the first African American to become a Minnesota Supreme Court justice and the first African American elected to a statewide office, Page goes to inspire students. In their upturned faces and wide eyes, he sees opportunity. He is there to show them possibilities that might have never occurred to them and to encourage hopes and dreams.
He does not go to sign autographs. But the requests always come for the former Vikings defensive tackle.
There was a time when Page, as a pillar of the Purple People Eaters, routinely turned down autograph requests. “It made me nuts,” he says. “All the people who wanted a little piece of you.”
He couldn’t figure out why anyone wanted his autograph. What is an autograph, anyway? And what had he done by being a football player to merit being put on a pedestal? He struggled to understand the overinflated value of football in culture.
From time to time, he acquiesced to a request. And he noticed the reaction. It started him thinking.
“What else could I do that would give somebody that kind of joy?” he wondered. “I figured maybe it could be one of my tools to make the world a better place.”
And so at Justice Page Middle School, the kids line up, a stream of them. And Page signs.
He writes his name on day planners, notebooks, phone cases, backpacks and on and on.
There are smiles and gratitude. There is joy.
One signature at a time, Alan Page makes the world a better place.
GO DEEPER
NFL 100: At No. 32, Alan Page a significant difference-maker on the field and off it
A consensus All-American who played on an undefeated national championship team at Notre Dame, Page was chosen by the Vikings with the 15th pick of the 1967 NFL Draft.
At the end of his first training camp, the players threw a party. Jim Marshall, then a veteran defensive end and team leader, placed a beer on the table in front of Page.
“Chug,” he said.
Page didn’t drink alcohol then and doesn’t now. He told Marshall no. This was the tradition, Marshall countered. All rookies were required to chug beer. Page refused again. Marshall tried to persuade him, telling him he needed to go along to stay on good terms with his teammates. Page was steadfast. Marshall relented and told him he could chug Cokes instead. Page wouldn’t do that either. The atmosphere grew tense. Marshall told him either he had to drink or leave.
Page walked out, the first of many hard stands he took in his professional life.
Page would earn acceptance with his play. As a rookie, he tackled the quarterback for losses 8 1/2 times (sacks were not yet a statistic) to lead the Vikings. The following year, he began a run of nine straight Pro Bowl appearances. In his fifth season, he was voted the NFL’s most valuable player, which only one other defensive player has won.
His success was remarkable. How he attained it more so.
Page didn’t do things the way others did.
He didn’t always take the rush lane he was supposed to take. He followed his instincts, which were beneficial more often than not. Freelancing usually doesn’t sit well with coaches, but Page got away with it because he kept making plays.
Other defensive tackles of the day wore pounds of pads and fortified their joints with rolls of tape. Page wore shoulder pads less bulky than those in some suit jackets and a flimsy T-shirt under his jersey — nothing more. For the first six or so years of his career, he never taped his joints. Multiple ankle sprains eventually led him to tape his ankles.
Alan Page helped the Vikings reach four Super Bowls, including Super Bowl XI against Ken Stabler and the Oakland Raiders. (Focus on Sport / Getty Images)
All about quickness, Page was one of the first players to watch the ball at the snap instead of the blocker in front of him. It’s one of the reasons he always appeared to be the first player moving when a play began.
Sometimes, it resulted in Page being flagged for being offside. It happened in a 1971 game against the Lions. Page maintained he did not commit a penalty, and let the officials know about it. Then on the next play, he was penalized for the same infraction. Page protested verbally, then with his play. He made two tackles for losses, sacked the quarterback and blocked a punt, recovering the ball for a safety.
“It didn’t matter why they called what they did,” Page says. “They were simply wrong. And it had me wired to the ball, literally.”
It wasn’t about football. It was about justice.
“He stood up for what he believed,” Marshall says. “He had, and still has, a mindset of justice. And just as important, a will to pursue justice.”
Page became the Vikings’ union representative in 1970 and two years later was elected to the NFLPA’s executive committee, becoming one of the faces in the fight for free agency. In 1974, he was a leader in a five-week strike, picketing outside Northwestern’s Dyche Stadium, where college all-stars were practicing for a game against the Dolphins. He carried a sign that read “PEOPLE, NOT PROPERTY.”
The following year, labor unrest continued and Patriots players led a movement to strike for the final preseason game. Five NFL teams and one player struck. Without a single teammate beside him, Page walked out for one day.
The Rozelle Rule stated that a player with an expiring contract could not sign with another team without compensation. Page was an original plaintiff in the lawsuit that challenged the rule. In 1976, the Rozelle Rule was ruled an antitrust violation, which paved the way for free agency.
Players also had to bargain for the right to wear beards. When the NFL finally allowed it, Page became the first on his team to grow one, which he maintains to this day. A beard, he said, never would have occurred to him if someone had not told him he couldn’t have one.
In those days, Page drove a 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee with a 383 cubic inch V-8. The color was “Plum Crazy,” with the word FREEDOM in large, gold capital letters on the side.
“We were still in the middle of the civil rights struggle,” Page says. “We were talking about freedom as football players. The spirit of the message was fitting.”
Head coach Bud Grant might not have thought so. Page and Grant often found themselves on opposing ends of a viewpoint. Page says he didn’t have much of a relationship with his coach, but Grant claimed he talked more with Page than any other player because Page questioned so many things.
Grant once fined Page $50 for being late to a meeting. Page filed a grievance with the union. Then he filed another, alleging Grant had not given the team the required time off during the week.
“Alan could talk all day to beat a $50 fine,” Grant said, according to the Bill McGrane book, “All Rise: The Remarkable Journey of Alan Page.”
In 1975, Page competed in ABC’s “Superteams” competition with teammates in Honolulu. In the mornings, he and his wife, Diane, walked on the beach. The morning walk became a habit. Then it morphed into a morning run, which became a shared passion between husband and wife.
Dancers don’t power lift and defensive tackles don’t run. It’s just the way it is. But Page didn’t care. He ran and ran and ran, eventually participating in eight marathons, including a 62-mile ultramarathon.
“I wasn’t trying to make some point other than, ‘This is who I am, and I can live with the consequences of that,’” he says.
Page’s initial NFL playing weight was 270. It dropped to about 245 in the mid-1970s. And then, when he committed to running, he weighed as little as 220.
It became a source of contention with Grant, and it didn’t help that the Vikings’ defensive scheme had changed, requiring defensive linemen to take on blockers. Six games into the 1978 season, Page, then 33, didn’t have a sack.
On Oct. 11, the headline in the Minneapolis Star Tribune read, “Vikings fire a legend, waive Alan Page.” The night before, a teammate had shown up at his house with his belongings in a box.
“Alan can no longer meet the standard he set for himself,” Grant said then. “He just can’t make the plays anymore.” The coach also said Page was not strong enough to rush the passer and had to be taken out in short-yardage situations.
Defensive end Carl Eller was quoted as saying, “I think there’s a lot behind this besides the way Alan is playing.”
Alan Page, No. 82, thrived with the Bears after the Vikings released him. (Focus on Sport / Getty Images)
Just one team claimed Page, the team that knew him best. Jim Finks, who drafted Page as the general manager of the Vikings, had become the general manager of the Bears. Neill Armstrong had gone from defensive coordinator of the Vikings to head coach of the Bears. After coaching the defensive line in Minnesota, Buddy Ryan was the defensive coordinator in Chicago.
Page was embraced in Chicago to the point he once said the best part of his career was the three and a half years he spent on the Bears. His contentment showed in his production. Playing at 220 pounds, Page had 11 1/2 sacks in 10 games in his first season with the team. In 58 games as a Bear, he led the team with 40 sacks. He also blocked 12 kicks (he had 28 in his career).
By 1981, Page was bored with football — not the games, but everything else around them. And football always seemed to be a means to something more, anyway. By then, he had started 215 games in a row, having never missed a game to injury, and had 148 1/2 sacks (including those that were unofficial), still the most ever by a defensive tackle. Grant called him the greatest defensive player he ever saw.
Before Page left, he had one more imprint to leave. It was obvious that Bears owner George Halas intended to replace Armstrong at the end of 1981, Page’s last season. At Page’s suggestion, Bears safety Gary Fencik wrote a letter to Halas asking that Ryan be retained by the new coach. The letter was signed by 21 defensive players, including Page. Halas subsequently hired Mike Ditka as head coach with the understanding Ryan would be his defensive coordinator.
Page walked away from the game after setting the table for the great Bears teams of the 1980s, while also making it possible for the Vikings to play in four Super Bowls between 1969 and 1976 and leading the fight for players to gain free agency.
GO DEEPER
Peppers, Hester, Johnson headline 2024 Pro Football HOF class
Page was about 8 when he bought a toy car at a five-and-dime store in his hometown of Canton, Ohio. He threw away the receipt and took the car into another nearby five and dime. As he left the second store, he was stopped and accused of stealing the toy car.
“What stuck with me from that day was being accused and not being believed,” he says. “The unfairness of it.”
In the same time frame of his life, Page remembers more unfairness and how it was dealt with. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court said segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. The following year, there was the lynching of Emmett Till and the protest of Rosa Parks.
Even at the age of 8, Page read the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Canton Repository every day. He still can visualize the headlines and photographs about the Brown decision, which moved him so much he believes it directed his path.
His father, Howard Sr., owned a bar with a gambling parlor in the back, as well as a record store. His mom, Georgiana, carried a flame for justice before her death at 42 when Alan was 13. The family, which included Alan’s older sisters Marvel and Twila and his older brother Howard Jr., had daily discussions about current events like the Brown ruling.
“You have to remember in 1954 if you were Black, you understood that, even as an 8-year-old, you were considered ‘the other,’” he says. “You were considered ‘less than.’”
He watched “Perry Mason.” He heard racial epithets from passing cars. He saw signs like “Coloreds Only.”
Before Page was in fifth grade, he decided to become a lawyer.
Alan Page at the Minnesota Attorney General’s office in St. Paul in December 1991. He was sworn in as a Minnesota Supreme Court justice just over a year later. (Jerry Holt / Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Who he is now is who he was then. That isn’t to say he has not evolved through life’s seasons, but there always has been this light in him.
“My dad always said (Alan) was different than the rest of us,” says Marvel, who is five years older. “He did everything he was supposed to do. He was always good.”
In 1978, Page received his law degree from the University of Minnesota. In 1979, while still playing football, he started working as a lawyer for Lindquist & Vennum, which specialized in employee labor issues. He later joined the attorney general’s office, representing state agencies in employment litigation, and eventually became assistant attorney general.
After 14 years as a lawyer, he set his sights on a Supreme Court seat. His first attempt to run, in 1990, was blocked by Governor Rudy Perpich, who was intent on appointing a candidate of his choosing. His second attempt was met with similar resistance when Governor Arne Carlson tried to thwart Page by extending the term of a sitting judge. Page subsequently sued Carlson and won the right to run.
During the campaign, there were blocks below the knees, as there often are in politics. Page was accused of being a legal lightweight and capitalizing on his fame, but he won with 62 percent of the vote. Wearing a purple bow tie — his collection of bow ties is in the hundreds — Page was sworn in as a Minnesota Supreme Court justice on Jan. 4, 1993.
Page was re-elected three times and spent 22 years on the court before stepping down at the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2015. Unsurprisingly, he often presented dissenting opinions.
For much of what he accomplished, he credits Diane, who died in 2018 after 45 years of marriage.
“She inspired me,” Page says. “She taught me things and influenced me a great deal. I’m not sure I would have been in the position to be able to become a Supreme Court Justice without her.”
At his initial swearing-in, Diane arranged for a group of fourth graders to attend.
At Page’s induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, he didn’t talk about football. He spoke of education and explained his commitment to improving the educational system. The year of his induction, he and Diane started the Page Education Foundation to reward Page Scholarships to students of color and then required the recipients to mentor younger children. He says the foundation has awarded nearly 9,000 scholarships and taken in approximately $16 million in grants.
“Education is a tool that overcomes poverty,” he says. “The more education, the less likely someone will find themselves in a position like George Floyd found himself in. To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., people who have hope want to build. And education gives hope because it empowers.”
For much of what he accomplished, Alan Page credits his wife, Diane, who died in 2018 after 45 years of marriage. “She inspired me,” Page says. (Jerry Holt / Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Early in their relationship, Diane began collecting African American paintings, sculptures and artifacts of slavery and segregation. Page has more than a thousand pieces now, including a branding iron and a Ku Klux Klan robe, and has shared them publicly in various exhibits. Some of the art decorates the home they purchased 51 years ago that he still lives in.
In 2018, Page was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Trump. Page thought about turning down the award, considered the highest honor that can be given to a civilian. Page had been publicly critical of the Trump administration for “playing to people’s racial insecurities” by failing to reject the support of white supremacy groups and using racially coded language. He has other issues with Trump as well. “The way he treats people and talks about people, it’s just a bad example,” says Page, who speaks slowly, pauses often, and is comfortable with silence. “It’s manifested itself in the way we as a people are starting to treat one another.”
Ultimately, though, he saw the honor as recognition for the impact he and Diane tried to make, so he accepted the medal in a ceremony that also honored Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth and Antonin Scalia.
“I couldn’t think of someone better to represent the team, Minnesota and Black people,” says former Viking John Randle, who continued the Vikings’ tradition of great defensive tackles.
In “All Rise,” the late Notre Dame president Theodore M. Hesburgh called Page a “beacon to young people of color,” and said, “He is what they can be.”
These days, Page writes children’s books with daughter Kamie Page, one of his four kids. They already have published four, the most notable of which, “Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky,” is about a boy who connects with Page after asking about the mangled little finger on his left hand. The pinky is the only telltale sign that he was somebody before he was “Grandpa,” “Justice Page” and “Counselor.”
His presence is so peaceful that it’s difficult to imagine that Page was once known for slamming opponents to the ground.
Page, 78, doesn’t revel in past glories. Invitations to football reunions and Hall of Fame functions usually are respectfully declined. He doesn’t watch much football, though the Vikings usually entice him to attend a game every season.
When he played, he rankled coaches by refusing to lift weights. Now, he lifts three times a week. He does Pilates, too, and walks four or five miles every morning, bringing a fanny pack full of dog treats for “the regulars” who look for him.
Page understands there are grand ways to make a difference. And there are modest ways.
With grandchildren Amelia, Theo, Otis and Esther, Page plays board games, cooks and bakes, goes to the mall and eats ice cream. He sometimes reads the books they are reading so they can discuss them. They compare Wordle and Spelling Bee experiences.
When the kids need a dropoff or pickup, he plays the role of “Gruber” — Grandpa Uber. Those precious drives are opportunities to talk about their world, his world, our world.
And so, one car ride at a time, Alan Page makes the world a better place.
The story of the greatest players in NFL history. In 100 riveting profiles, top football writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NFL in the process.
Google is not shutting down Gmail, despite a viral hoax claiming so.
Google quickly denied the fake news that Gmail is being sunsetted.
Gmail remains safe, with no danger of its 1.5 billion+ users losing access to their emails.
If you have seen the “news” that Google is sunsetting Gmail, don’t panic: it isn’t true. It’s just a dumb hoax that has gone viral on social media, forcing Google to deny the claim.
Why Do People Think Gmail Is Shutting Down?
On February 22, 2024, a screenshot of an email started spreading around the web like wildfire. The email claims that Google is sunsetting Gmail on August 1, 2024.
One of those who shared the screenshot was Chris Bakke, who claimed to be the SVP of Product at Google. Alongside the official-looking email announcement, he recounted a story about how, due to a miscommunication, Gmail was going away for good.
None of this is true, obviously. Google HAS sunsetted the Basic HTML version of Gmail, meaning everyone will be forced to use the Standard version going forward. But that’s it. Gmail itself is safe and not going anywhere.
How We Know Gmail Isn’t Shutting Down
Google acted quickly to deny the suggestion that it was sunsetting Gmail. Its denial came in the form of a perfectly worded post on X, the same platform Bakke and many others used to disseminate the hoax.
Even before Google issued its formal denial, X users had sought to add context using the Community Notes feature (formerly Birdwatch). Which is a useful tool given the amount of misinformation that springs up on the platform before being spread to other sites.
While Bakke was far from alone in sharing this fake email screenshot, his reach of 205k followers certainly helped it propagate. For context, Bakke works for X, and is known for joking around on social media. Meanwhile, his boss Elon Musk, who now owns X (formerly Twitter) has, as reported by Forbes, publicly criticized Google’s Gemini AI.
Google has been known to kill products and shut down services suddenly, and without warning, over the years. However, Gmail is, according to Statista, the most popular email service in the world, with 1.5 billion active users as far back as 2018. So Google would be crazy to shut it down.
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-03/Former-fishing-village-becomes-trendy-tourist-attraction-1qTofu2xYsM/img/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3.jpeg'A photo taken on February 1, 2024, shows crowds of visitors in an alley in Zengcuoan, Fujian Province. /CFP
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-03/Former-fishing-village-becomes-trendy-tourist-attraction-1qTofu2xYsM/img/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3.jpeg'A photo taken on February 1, 2024, shows crowds of visitors in an alley in Zengcuoan, Fujian Province. /CFP
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-03/Former-fishing-village-becomes-trendy-tourist-attraction-1qTofu2xYsM/img/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3.jpeg'A photo taken on February 1, 2024, shows crowds of visitors in an alley in Zengcuoan, Fujian Province. /CFP
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-03/Former-fishing-village-becomes-trendy-tourist-attraction-1qTofu2xYsM/img/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3.jpeg'A photo taken on February 1, 2024, shows crowds of visitors in an alley in Zengcuoan, Fujian Province. /CFP
<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-03/Former-fishing-village-becomes-trendy-tourist-attraction-1qTofu2xYsM/img/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3/f5906e7429eb4a48ab0e7501660e62a3.jpeg'A photo taken on February 1, 2024, shows crowds of visitors in an alley in Zengcuoan, Fujian Province. /CFP
Once a quaint fishing village in Xiamen, Fujian Province, Zengcuoan has now become the region’s most artistic destination, attracting many visitors with its unique outdoor shopping and snacking experience. Most of the time, Zengcuoan is quite crowded, with visitors shopping for fresh seafood and trying out various local delicacies. Local vendors expect the upcoming Spring Festival holiday period will bring a visitor boom.
Still basking in the afterglow of an evening spent dancing with her children, a Senegalese mother (Khady Sy) prepares for bed when her 16-year-old son, Seydou (Seydou Sarr), confesses his desire to migrate. She chastises him for even considering such a hazardous trip, but as her tears stream, she knows it’s already too late to stop him.
That’s the emotional opening of Italian director Matteo Garrone’s stirring, ultimately life-affirming “Io Capitano,” an Oscar nominee for international feature film, which diligently traces the teenager’s grueling, potentially deadly odyssey from West Africa to the coast of Libya. There, at a port that separates his past from the promise of a future, thousands from all over the African continent gather with the shared intent of crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
Other acclaimed Italian productions — the 2016 documentary “Fire at Sea” or the drama “Terraferma” — have addressed the final stretch of the passage across the water. But Garrone is concerned with something that often escapes the headlines and statistics: the on-the-ground atrocities migrants endure to even reach that point of departure, including the traversing of a desert. (Cinematographer Paolo Carnera shoots the Sahara in wide shots peppered with barely discernible human figures, communicating its terrifying vastness.) Best known for his influential crime saga “Gomorrah,” Garrone wrote the screenplay based on real-life accounts from multiple individuals who survived to tell their tale of unfathomable perseverance.
None of that is known yet to the vivacious Seydou, who dreams of becoming a musician, and his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), who prods his more cautious pal into action. The boys have saved for months to pay for the trip. Not entirely unlike his portrayal of young men in “Gomorrah,” Garrone foregrounds their brotherly bond as a driving force amid increasingly crushing obstacles. There’s an endearing purity to their goal of escaping together.
Seydou Sarr in the movie “Io Capitano.”
(Greta de Lazzaris / Cohen Media Group)
At every stop on the harrowing journey, someone different stands to gain financially. It’s a suffering-fueled economy, one that includes extortion, torture and a modern-day variation on slavery, all of which spring out of the migrants’ desperation not only to move forward but to not become another nameless body found far away from home. (And if you think this is only a “foreign” problem, U.S. audiences needn’t look too far south to find comparable examples of dehumanization.)
Throughout the unspeakable cruelty — and a few acts of kindness — young Sarr projects inextinguishable hope, holding on to the belief that on the other side of the water, on the shores of Italy, something worth all the sorrow may await him. It’s largely due to his revelatory performance, charged with unwavering fortitude, that a viewer can bear to watch “Io Capitano.” To think this is Sarr’s acting debut boggles the mind. (Deservingly, he won an award for emerging actors at the Venice International Film Festival, where “Io Capitano” premiered.)
Garrone also has an affinity for the fantastical, as seen in his dark, fablelike “Tale of Tales” or a 2019 version of “Pinocchio,” and it’s evident in a pair of dream sequences that gracefully elevate the narrative to a spiritual level. One of them offers an exhausted woman in the desert the power of flight. She is weightless above the unforgiving sand. Another episode shows an angel delivering a remorseful message to Seydou’s mother.
For all the evil on display, though, Garrone never loses sight of the solidarity among migrants amid their constant exploitation: Seydou finds a lifesaving father figure in Martin (Issaka Sawadogo), a family man also on his way to Italy, and a community among his fellow travelers in Tripoli’s migrant shelters. His dawning awareness of others around him imbues him with a kind of heroism.
You can get the facts about these migrants anywhere, but Garrone knows the tool of cinema is more effective. By presenting these adolescents in all their fragility and strength, he comes as close as is possible to getting us to feel how they felt. “Io Capitano” is as unflinching as it is robust with empathy.
New Delhi, February 23: The Hyundai Creta N Line is the upcoming car to launch soon. Hyundai India has reportedly gained popularity after launching its i20 N Line and Venue N Line in India. The company is preparing to add Hyundai Creta N Line to its N Line series. The reports said that the launch of the new Hyundai car is confirmed to be on March 11, 2024.
The new Hyundai Creta N Line is set to launch with a unique grille, larger wheels, sporty bumpers and a spoiler, according to the report by Financial Express Drive. The report said the car will be introduced in the identical Thunder Blue colour option. Hyundai India recently launched its 2024 Creta model at a starting price of Rs 10,99,900. The car was launched with features of connectivity, safety, sound and spatial artistry. Mahindra Scorpio N Z8 Select Variant Launched; Check Price, Specifications and Features.
Hyundai Creta N Line Features and Specifications (Expected)
Hyundai Creta N Line will have many new changes compared to the regular Creta model. The report said the new variant will get mechanical tweaks in the sections like exhaust, steering and suspension. As per the report by Autocar India, the new Creta N Line will be launched in blue and matte grey colour options. It further said that the car will have N Line badging and boast 18-inch wheels.
The report mentioned that the Hyundai Creta N Line will follow a sporty look and reworked design. It further highlighted that the vehicle will have a new, slimmer grille, wider air inlets and angular cuts. On the lower portion, the car is said to have a “bull bar-like element”. The reports said the LED DRL arrangement and headlamps will be unchanged. Tata Nexon Dark Edition Likely To Launch Soon: Check Expected Design, Specifications and Features.
Hyundai Creta N Line Price in India (Expected)
Hyundai Creta N Line is expected to launch with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, which can generate 158-160bhp power and 253Nm torque. The reports said that the car will be introduced with 6-speed manual gearbox and 7-speed DCT gearbox options. The company may launch its new Creta N Line with a similar price range as the regular Creta model; however, it is expected to be around Rs 50,000 more costlier. The expected competitors of this car are the Skoda Kushaq Monte Carlo and Kia Seltos X Line.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2024 05:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Two words in this statement popped out to me like a flying dinosaur in a mixed-reality headset: when possible. When I flagged this in a subsequent call, Roku reassured me that a fix for my issue will happen. In the worst-case scenario, if the problem won’t be solved in the next OS, sufferers will be provided some incantation to have their televisions backdated to the previous operating system. (Does this mean we’re back to hitting that home button five times?) And if that doesn’t work, which Roku says totally won’t be the case, the company will make sure to make everyone satisfied somehow. The company was ready to satisfy me right away, offering me a new TV. I declined, since they weren’t offering it to everyone whose Netflix was crashing.
I think Roku is dealing in good faith. I’d been happy with my Roku-powered smart TV, until I wasn’t because it kept crashing. I take Roku at its word that it’s working on the problem and might actually fix it. I acknowledge that updating software on a static platform like a television set is a particular challenge. And God knows how common bugs are in software.
In any case, my inability to stream Netflix without resetting the TV every time I watch a movie is a pretty trivial problem. And you know what? Even if I never watched Netflix again, I’d live. Now that Netflix has added advertising to its business model, I’m dreading the day when everyone on the service is exposed to endless commercials, unless we pay even more than the already out-of-control monthly fee. Beef was great, but I’d pass if every 10 minutes it was interrupted by pharma ads.
Nevertheless, my Roku problem is a warning. Artificial intelligence is thrusting us into an era that intertwines our lives with digital technology more than ever. If you think that our current software is complicated, just wait until everything works on neural nets! Even the people who create those are mystified about how they work. And, boy, can things go wrong with that stuff. Just this week, OpenAI suffered a few hours where its chatbots blurted out incoherent comments, evoking the word salad of a stroke victim or the Republican front-runner. And Google had to temporarily stop its Gemini LLM from generating images of people, because of what it called “historical inconsistencies” in how it depicted the diversity of humanity. These are disturbing portents. We’re now in the process of turning over much of our activities to these systems. If they fail, “community discussions” won’t save us.
Time Travel
Digital technology is too damn complicated, and we’re doomed to a life of bug-resolution. That was my observation 30 years ago when I wrote Insanely Great, in a passage spurred by a freezing problem I had with my Macintosh IIcx. As the Mac operating system struggled to handle a complicated ecosystem of extensions, boundary-pushing applications, and data at a scale the original had not imagined, bugs appeared that required Sherlock Holmes–level sleuthing to resolve.
This was the background to my Macintosh troubles: the computer had become more complicated than anyone had imagined. I enacted a short-term fix, stripping the system of possible offenders. I was stepping back in time, making the Mac emulate the simpler, though less useful, computer I once had. As I wiped out Super Boomerang, Background Printing, On Location and Space Saver, I pictured myself as Astronaut Dave in 2001, determinedly yanking out the chips in the supercomputer H.A.L., with the uncomfortable feeling that I was deconstructing a personality. When I finished my Macintosh IIcx was not so atavistic as to sing “Daisy,” but it was, in a Mac sense, no longer itself. On the other hand, it no longer hung.
2023 brought the crypto sector face to face with regulatory and macro-economic challenges – that kept the price points of majority cryptocurrencies relatively low. Despite the volatility that the sector witnessed last year, several corporate firms did not lose hope on their crypto engagements. Social networking platform Reddit and Jack Dorsey’s fintech firm Block are two names that have recently disclosed information related to their BTC holdings and investments, which yielded profits for both.
The current crypto market cap stands close to $2 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,65,78,200 crore) with Bitcoin currently trading at $51,017 (roughly Rs. 42.2 lakh). The crypto sector has seen a rise in valuation so far in 2024. Bitcoin was trading at $43,064 (roughly Rs. 35.8 lakh) in December last year.
In fresh filings, both Reddit and Block have revealed their investments in BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.
Reddit
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Reddit said it has purchased Bitcoin and Ether from the excess cash it managed to save. While the platform has not exactly disclosed the exact worth of Bitcoins it purchased, the filing showed that Reddit had managed to hold $1.3 billion (roughly Rs. 10,778 crore) in cash by the time it wrapped up the 2023, a report by Coindesk said on Friday, February 23.
With this, Reddit has become one of the few companies alongside MicroStrategy and Tesla that has directly invested its cash holdings into purchasing BTC and ETH.
Block
Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X), disclosed his fintech firm Block’s fourth quarter earnings on Thursday. The filings noted that Block held 8,038 BTC which was worth $340 million (roughly Rs. 2,818 crore) on December 31, 2023. At present, the value of these tokens stands at $409 million (roughly Rs. 3,398 crore).
Dorsey also said that Block managed to churn $66 million (roughly Rs. 547 crore) through the sale of BTC tokens through its subsidiary, the Cash App – clocking a 90 percent increase from 2022.
“The year-over-year increase in Bitcoin revenue and gross profit was driven by an increase in the average market price of bitcoin as well as a benefit from the price appreciation of our bitcoin inventory during the quarter,” Block said in is filing as per a different report by Coindesk.
Crypto-focused merchant bank Galaxy Digital Holdings, crypto brokerage Voyager Digital, and Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital are among other firms that have investments in crypto.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.
Migrating a large website is always daunting. Big traffic is at stake among many moving parts, technical challenges and stakeholder management.
Historically, one of the most onerous tasks in a migration plan has been redirect mapping. The painstaking process of matching URLs on your current site to the equivalent version on the new website.
Fortunately, this task that previously could involve teams of people combing through thousands of URLs can be drastically sped up with modern AI models.
Should you use AI for redirect mapping?
The term “AI” has become someone conflated with “ChatGPT” over the last year, so to be very clear from the outset, we are not talking about using generative AI/LLM-based systems to do your redirect mapping.
While there are some tasks that tools like ChatGPT can assist you with, such as writing that tricky regex for the redirect logic, the generative element that can cause hallucinations could potentially create accuracy issues for us.
Advantages of using AI for redirect mapping
Speed
The primary advantage of using AI for redirect mapping is the sheer speed at which it can be done. An initial map of 10,000 URLs could be produced within a few minutes and human-reviewed within a few hours. Doing this process manually for a single person would usually be days of work.
Scalability
Using AI to help map redirects is a method you can use on a site with 100 URLs or over 1,000,000. Large sites also tend to be more programmatic or templated, making similarity matching more accurate with these tools.
Efficiency
For larger sites, a multi-person job can easily be handled by a single person with the correct knowledge, freeing up colleagues to assist with other parts of the migration.
Accuracy
While the automated method will get some redirects “wrong,” in my experience, the overall accuracy of redirects has been higher, as the output can specify the similarity of the match, giving manual reviewers a guide on where their attention is most needed
Disadvantages of using AI for redirect mapping
Over-reliance
Using automation tools can make people complacent and over-reliant on the output. With such an important task, a human review is always required.
Training
The script is pre-written and the process is straightforward. However, it will be new to many people and environments such as Google Colab can be intimidating.
Output variance
While the output is deterministic, the models will perform better on certain sites than others. Sometimes, the output can contain “silly” errors, which are obvious for a human to spot but harder for a machine.
A step-by-step guide for URL mapping with AI
By the end of this process, we are aiming to produce a spreadsheet that lists “from” and “to” URLs by mapping the origin URLs on our live website to the destination URLs on our staging (new) website.
For this example, to keep things simple, we will just be mapping our HTML pages, not additional assets such as CSS or images, although this is also possible.
Tools we’ll be using
Screaming Frog Website Crawler: A powerful and flexible website crawler, Screaming Frog is how we collect the URLs and associated metadata we need for the matching.
Google Colab: A free cloud service that uses a Jupyter notebook environment, allowing you to run a range of languages directly from your browser without having to install anything locally. Google Colab is how we are going to run our Python scripts to perform the URL matching.
Step 1: Crawl your live website with Screaming Frog
You’ll need to perform a standard crawl on your website. Depending on how your website is built, this may or may not require a JavaScript crawl. The goal is to produce a list of as many accessible pages on your site as possible.
Step 2: Export HTML pages with 200 Status Code
Once the crawl has been completed, we want to export all of the found HTML URLs with a 200 Status Code.
Firstly, in the top left-hand corner, we need to select “HTML” from the drop-down menu.
Next, click the sliders filter icon in the top right and create a filter for Status Codes containing 200.
Finally, click on Export to save this data as a CSV.
This will provide you with a list of our current live URLs and all of the default metadata Screaming Frog collects about them, such as Titles and Header Tags. Save this file as origin.csv.
Important note: Your full migration plan needs to account for things such as existing 301 redirects and URLs that may get traffic on your site that are not accessible from an initial crawl. This guide is intended only to demonstrate part of this URL mapping process, it is not an exhaustive guide.
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 for your staging website
We now need to gather the same data from our staging website, so we have something to compare to.
Once the crawl has completed, you should export the data and save this file as destination.csv.
Optional: Find and replace your staging site domain or subdomain to match your live site
It’s likely your staging website is either on a different subdomain, TLD or even domain that won’t match our actual destination URL. For this reason, I will use a Find and Replace function on my destination.csv to change the path to match the final live site subdomain, domain or TLD.
For example:
My live website is https://withcandour.co.uk/ (origin.csv)
My staging website is https://testing.withcandour.dev/ (destination.csv)
The site is staying on the same domain; it’s just a redesign with different URLs, so I would open destination.csv and find any instance of https://testing.withcandour.dev and replace it with https://withcandour.co.uk.
This also means when the redirect map is produced, the output is correct and only the final redirect logic needs to be written.
Step 4: Run the Google Colab Python script
When you navigate to the script in your browser, you will see it is broken up into several code blocks and hovering over each one will give you a”play” icon. This is if you wish to execute one block of code at a time.
However, the script will work perfectly just executing all of the code blocks, which you can do by going to the Runtime’menu and selecting Run all.
There are no prerequisites to run the script; it will create a cloud environment and on the first execution in your instance, it will take around one minute to install the required modules.
Each code block will have a small green tick next to it once it is complete, but the third code block will require your input to continue and it’s easy to miss as you’ll likely need to scroll down to see the prompt.
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Step 5: Upload origin.csv and destination.csv
When prompted, click Choose files and navigate to where you saved your origin.csv file. Once you have selected this file, it will upload and you will be prompted to do the same for your destination.csv.
Step 6: Select fields to use for similarity matching
What makes this script particularly powerful is the ability to use multiple sets of metadata for your comparison.
This means if you’re in a situation where you’re moving architecture where your URL Address is not comparable, you can run the similarity algorithm on other factors under your control, such as Page Titles or Headings.
Have a look at both sites and try and judge what you think are elements that remain fairly consistent between them. Generally, I would advise to start simple and add more fields if you are not getting the results you want.
In my example, we have kept a similar URL naming convention, although not identical and our page titles remain consistent as we are copying the content over.
Select the elements you to use and click the Let’s Go!
Step 7: Watch the magic
The script’s main components are all-MiniLM-L6-v2 and FAISS, but what are they and what are they doing?
all-MiniLM-L6-v2 is a small and efficient model within the Microsoft series of MiniLM models which are designed for natural language processing tasks (NLP). MiniLM is going to convert our text data we’ve given it into numerical vectors that capture their meaning.
These vectors then enable the similarity search, performed by Facebook AI Similarity Search (FAISS), a library developed by Facebook AI Research for efficient similarity search and clustering of dense vectors. This will quickly find our most similar content pairs across the dataset.
Step 7: Download output.csv and sort by similarity_score
The output.csv should automatically download from your browser. If you open it, you should have three columns: origin_url, matched_url and similarity_score.
In your favorite spreadsheet software, I would recommend sorting by similarity_score.
The similarity score gives you an idea of how good the match is. A similarity score of 1 suggests an exact match.
By checking my output file, I immediately saw that approximately 95% of my URLs have a similarity score of more than 0.98, so there is a good chance I’ve saved myself a lot of time.
Step 8: Human-validate your results
Pay special attention to the lowest similarity scores on your sheet; this is likely where no good matches can be found.
In my example, there were some poor matches on the team page, which led me to discover not all of the team profiles had yet been created on the staging site – a really helpful find.
The script has also quite helpfully given us redirect recommendations for old blog content we decided to axe and not include on the new website, but now we have a suggested redirect should we want to pass the traffic to something related – that’s ultimately your call.
Step 9: Tweak and repeat
If you didn’t get the desired results, I would double-check that the fields you use for matching are staying as consistent as possible between sites. If not, try a different field or group of fields and rerun.
More AI to come
In general, I have been slow to adopt any AI (especially generative AI) into the redirect mapping process, as the cost of mistakes can be high, and AI errors can sometimes be tricky to spot.
However, from my testing, I’ve found these specific AI models to be robust for this particular task and it has fundamentally changed how I approach site migrations.
Human checking and oversight are still required, but the amount of time saved with the bulk of the work means you can do a more thorough and thoughtful human intervention and finish the task many hours ahead of where you would usually be.
In the not-too-distant future, I expect we’ll see more specific models that will allow us to take additional steps, including improving the speed and efficiency of the next step, the redirect logic.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
India’s journey towards democracy is marked by a pivotal milestone — the First General Election held in 1951-1952. This monumental event not only shaped the course of Indian politics but also laid the foundation for the world’s largest democratic experiment. Let’s delve into the significance, challenges, and triumphs of India’s inaugural democratic exercise.
First General Election in India
India’s journey towards establishing itself as a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic reached a significant milestone with the commencement of the First General Election on October 25, 1951. After years of struggle for independence, the nation was now poised to embrace the principles of universal adult suffrage and conduct a massive electoral exercise.
First General Election in India (1951-1952) – Key Events
Formation of the First Lok Sabha: The inaugural Lok Sabha was elected during the first general elections, marking a crucial step in shaping the democratic landscape of independent India.
Transition from Interim Legislature: Since August 1947, India had been governed by an interim legislature known as the Indian Constituent Assembly. The First General Election paved the way for a more representative and permanent legislative body.
Universal Adult Suffrage: A groundbreaking aspect of the election was the implementation of universal adult suffrage, allowing every citizen over the age of 21 to exercise their right to vote, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, gender, or socio-economic status.
Scale and Participants: A total of 53 political parties contested for 489 seats, with 1874 candidates vying for victory. The election covered 401 constituencies, some of which had multiple seats. Notably, the multi-seat constituencies were eliminated in the 1960s.
Voter Turnout and Representation:Out of a population of 36 crores, approximately 17.32 crores were eligible to vote, resulting in a noteworthy 45% turnout. The Indian National Congress (INC) dominated the elections, winning 364 seats, securing nearly 45% of the votes. The Communist Party of India (CPI) came second with 16 seats.
Mock Election and Election Commissioner: To familiarize citizens with the election process, a mock election was conducted in September 1951. Sukumar Sen served as the first Election Commissioner of India, overseeing the fair and efficient conduct of the electoral process.
Prominent Winners and Losses: Key figures like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sucheta Kripalani, Gulzari Lal Nanda, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee emerged as prominent winners. However, B.R. Ambedkar faced defeat in the Bombay (North-Central) seat, losing to INC candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar.
Highlights of the Results of First General Election of India
The table below outlines the major parties, their respective votes, and the seats they secured:
Major Parties
No. of Votes
Seats Won
Indian National Congress
47,665,875
364
Communist Party of India
3,484,401
16
Bhartiya Jana Singh
3,246,288
3
Socialist Party
11,266,779
12
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party
6,156,558
9
Independents
16,817,910
37
Noteworthy Facts and Figures of First Lok Sabha (1852-1957)
The first Lok Sabha, lasting from April 1952 to April 1957, had a record 677
V. Mavalankar served as the Speaker of the first Lok Sabha.
Ravi Narayana Reddy, representing the People’s Democratic Front, was the first person to enter Parliament, outvoting even Nehru in the first general elections.
There is no shortage of loot in Last Epoch, with dozens of items dropping from enemies all across the various regions of the map. Your inventory will likely be flushed with loot by the time you finish the tutorial, so you need to know everything you’re able to do with all of the items you’re acquiring.
You can choose to sell the loot at an Armorer’s Shop, which is located in every major settlement in Last Epoch, wear the items on your character, or drop them on the ground. There’s also a hidden fourth option, however, which is to salvage the item and receive crafting materials, affixes, and more. To see how you can salvage your items in Last Epoch, take a look at the guide below.
Salvage items in Last Epoch
Unlike other ARPGs, there is no distinct option to salvage specific items in your inventory. Instead, you have to make your way to the Forge (anvil icon on your map) or simply press “F.” The Forge is the only place you can salvage gear in Last Epoch.
At the Forge, you can insert any piece of loot you have in your inventory into the big gear slot on the left side of the screen. Be careful, though, as you only want to select pieces of gear you wish to salvage. You can also place other items in the slot to give them new affixes or increase their forging potential, but you need to ensure you know the salvaging process before trying that.
Once your item is in the gear slot, select the “Use a Modifier Item” option near the bottom of the screen. Here, you need to use a Rune of Shattering, which is the only way to salvage an item in Last Epoch. Any other Rune does not grant you the ability to salvage an item. The Rune of Shattering has a firebird icon on it and can be acquired like any other piece of loot in the game.
After you have equipped your item and the Rune of Shattering in the Forge, press the big, red “Shatter” box at the bottom of the screen. This will deconstruct the item and return all of its Affix Shards and Glyphs to your inventory. I suggest placing all of your crafting items in the Forge so they don’t clog up your inventory, which is done by pressing the “Transfer Materials” box located on the right side of the inventory screen.
With your item shattered, you can no longer use it in Last Epoch. For the most part, you can only salvage common and rare items, so Legendary or Unique items won’t be salvageable. The purpose of the salvage system is to acquire shards and glyphs to use for crafting in Last Epoch, which is an entirely different feature.
Sleep helps consolidate our memory of complex associations, thus supporting the ability to complete memories of whole events.
Researchers had known for some time that sleep consolidates our memories of facts and episodic events. However, the research to date has concentrated mainly on simple associations — that is to say, connections between elements, such as we make when learning new vocabulary. “But in real life, events are generally made up of numerous components — for example, a place, people, and objects — which are linked together in the brain,” explains Dr. Nicolas Lutz from LMU’s Institute of Medical Psychology. These associations can vary in strength and some elements might be connected with each other only indirectly. “Thanks to the neural connections that underlie these associations, a single cue word is often all it takes for somebody to recall not only individual aspects of an event but multiple aspects at once.” This process, which is known as pattern completion, is a fundamental feature of episodic memory. Lutz is lead author of a study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which investigated the effect of sleep on memory of such complex events.
After the study participants had learned events with complex associations, in one condition they spent the night in a sleep laboratory, where they were allowed to sleep as usual, while in another condition, they had to stay up all night. In both conditions, the participants were allowed to spend the following night at home to recover. Then they were tested on how well they could recall different associations between elements of the learned events. “We were able to demonstrate that sleep specifically consolidates weak associations and strengthens new associations between elements that were not directly connected with each other during learning. Moreover, the ability to remember multiple elements of an event together, after having been presented with just a single cue, was improved after sleep compared to the condition in which the participants had stayed awake,” summarizes Nicolas Lutz. This demonstrates the importance of sleep for completing partial information and processing complex events in the brain.
By monitoring the brain activity of the study participants during sleep, the authors of the study were also able to show that the improvement in memory performance is connected with so-called sleep spindles — bursts of neural oscillatory activity during sleep, which are associated with the active consolidation of memory contents. This occurs through reactivation of the underlying neural structures while sleeping. “This finding suggests that sleep spindles play an important role in the consolidation of complex associations, which underlie the completion of memories of whole events,” says Professor Luciana Besedovsky, lead researcher of the study.
According to Lutz and Besedovsky, the identified effects of sleep on memory can be seen as an important adaptation of the human brain, because they help people draw a more coherent picture of their environment, which in turn enables them to make more comprehensive predictions of future events. “And so our results reveal a new function by which sleep can offer an evolutionary advantage,” reckons Luciana Besedovsky. “Furthermore, they open up new perspectives on how we store and access information about complex multielement events.”
Submissions are invited for the Regional Seminar on Transformative Constitutionalism: Emerging Trends and Challenges by the Department of Law, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling on March 22-23. Submit by March 6!
About the University of North Bengal
Welcome to the University of North Bengal, an esteemed educational institution seamlessly blending education with nature. Our campus is renowned for its verdant surroundings, creating a tranquil and conducive atmosphere for both academic pursuits and relaxation. Established in 1962 through an Act of the West Bengal Legislature, the University of North Bengal is committed to nurturing education, training, and research across diverse disciplines.
Our mission is to propel and disseminate knowledge, tailoring higher education to meet the evolving needs of society. Nestled on 315.99 acres at the foothills of the Himalayas, our university provides breath-taking views of the Kanchenjunga peak, enveloped by tea gardens and forests. In a commitment to expanding educational opportunities, we have also set up a second campus in Jalpaiguri, further enriching avenues for higher education and research.
About the Department
The Department of Law is prominently situated on Asian Highway 2 between Bagdogra and Siliguri in the District of Darjeeling. The distance from Bagdogra is six kilometers and from Siliguri is seven kilometers. The Department has its own campus in the South Block of the University of North Bengal.
The sprawling campus of the University enjoys the pristine beauty of the eastern Himalayas and is the intellectual hub of North Bengal. Siliguri is an important subdivision of the district and commercial capital of North Bengal. Located at the foot hills of eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is the gateway to North eastern India and land locked countries like Bhutan and Nepal.
It shares a huge and porous international border with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It is well connected with all metropolis and major cities by air and rail.
The Department of Law, formerly known as the North Bengal University College of Law, was established in the year 1974 and upgraded as the Department of Law in the year 2000. Presently the Department offers B.A. LL.B. [Honours] 5-year integrated course, LL.M. course and Ph.D. The intake at the LL.B. level is one hundred twenty-five, and the LL.M. course which was started in 1993 has forty seats.
The criteria of admission both at B.A. LL.B.[Honours] under CBCS mode and LL.M. under CBCS mode are on merit. The department has a rich Ph.D. programme. It was started in 1999 and since then more than 50 Ph.D. degrees have been awarded.
Presently, there are about Eighteen scholars engaged in doctoral research under various faculty members under the UGC Regulation, 2009 and UGC Regulation, 2016. The Department attracts scholars and students from all over India and especially from Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.
About the Event
The Constitution of India embodies movements of profound transformation since 1950, in general and post 1976 in particular. Transformative constitutionalism is based on the fundamental goal of transforming society for the better, i.e., making it more progressive and inclusive and places its trust on Judiciary as a tool for social and political change. It embodies a dynamic approach that recognizes constitutions as living documents capable of responding to the evolving needs and aspirations of society.
In India, the State has never been the power center, deeply pervasive hierarchies have been maintained by structures that took various forms like caste, religion, etc. where the state has limited authority to interfere. It has been necessary to transform these institutions of hierarchies to enable a social pedestal on which the politico-legal structure can stand.
This form of transformative constitutionalism has been pivotal in recent judgments addressing issues such as same-sex relationships, animal rights, the practice of triple talaq, and the annulment of beggary laws of colonial origin. In line with this theme, the Department of Law, University of North Bengal plans to organise a Regional Level Seminar.
The seminar aims to provide a comprehensive overview of current developments, emerging trends, and challenges related to these transformative issues. The Seminar, also, tends to unveil the trend of transformation that hitherto fore has taken place under the Constitution of India and uncover the untrodden areas and portray the challenges that lie therein.
Sub-themes
The golden triangles in the Constitution and Transformative Constitutionalism
Right to Equality under Constitutional Transformation
Socio Economic Justice under Constitutional Transformation
Socio Political Justice under Constitutional Transformation
Any other topic reflecting Transformative Constitutionalism
Submission Details and Guidelines:
Abstracts of not more than 300 words, for original research papers on the above-mentioned themes are invited, submitted as Word documents, with a cover letter containing the name and designation of the author(s).
There can be a maximum of two Authors only for each Abstract/Paper. ·
Authors of shortlisted abstracts shall be required to send their full-length papers who would have the privilege of presenting their papers at this seminar.
Full-length research papers in the form of articles within 5000 – 7000 words (inclusive of footnotes), should be sent.
Potential contributors are required to adhere to a uniform mode of citation (19th or 20th Bluebook mode of Citation)
Selected papers may be considered for publication in our journal, Indian Journal of Law and Justice or in the edited book.
All Abstracts are to be sent by filling the Google Form, the link of which is provided at the end of this post.
Important Dates
Submission abstract- 6th March, 2024
Communication of acceptance of abstract from Organisers’ side- 09th March 2024
Submission of Full Paper- 14th March, 2024
Communication of acceptance of Full Paper- 18th March 2024
Regional Seminar- 22nd and 23rd March, 2024
Eligibility
Lawyers, Academicians, Government Officials, Officials from NGOs and INGOs from the Eastern and North Eastern States including West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Sikkim and the Seven Sister States
Research Scholars and Students from the Eastern and North Eastern States including West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Sikkim and the Seven Sister States
Disclaimer: WEF April, 2021, Lawctopus will not publish any ‘Call for Papers/Blogs’ by journals that charge money at the time of submission. If you find any journal doing so, please intimate us at tanuj.kalia[at]lawctopus.com
Is your joint and muscular pain limiting you from performing daily chores? Joint and muscular pain can affect individuals of all ages, impacting one’s everyday activity and overall health.
Managing joint and muscular pain with Ayurveda: Experts share tips (Photo by Freepik)
Industry experts believe that around 15–25% of the population experience joint discomfort in their early 40s where the common symptom of joint-related pain is poor posture in long-term sitting jobs that tend to be sedentary, which can contribute to the gradual development of muscular soreness over time. Ayurveda experts claim that for decades, Ayurveda’s age-old significance has offered a profound understanding of joint and muscular pain with effective methods to manage and prevent it.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Yamuna BS, Chief Doctor at Guduchi Ayurveda, highlighted the increasing concerns around joint and muscular discomfort among people of all ages as a result of today’s fast-paced lifestyle and eating habits. She said, “Our constantly changing lifestyle choices and the way we live and nurture ourselves can significantly impact the health of our joints and muscles. Especially a long-due injury or a tear in the ligament, poor posture, deficiency in Vitamin D and other medical conditions like arthritis are some of the common causes behind joint and muscular pain. Addressing these issues is quite important as overlooking them for long can lead to swelling, stiffness, limitation in mobility, and excessive pain. In some cases, it can also hinder one’s day-to-day activities. With Ayurvedic wisdom, we can offer customized treatments that promote harmony among mind, body, and spirit to effectively manage joint and muscular pain.”
Dr Yamuna further elaborated, “Such conditions are often caused by imbalances in the body, and ‘Shallaki’ extract is a comprehensive herb that minimizes joint damage and improves rheumatism and arthritis pain. The age-old treatments can help people manage discomfort in their muscles and joint stiffness, leading the way for pain-free and active health. Through the integration of Ayurvedic concepts and alternative treatments, we can empower patients to comprehend, manage, and overcome joint and muscular discomfort.”
According to Rajinder Dhamija, Ayurveda Expert and Founder of Dharishah Ayurveda, “In the constantly shifting world of contemporary lifestyle, joint and muscular discomfort no longer only affects people over forty years of age but is quite common in teenagers as well. We tend to look for solutions that are not just effective but have less complexity and over the years it has been found that Ayurveda offers valuable insights into this process. According to Ayurveda, the three doshas i.e. Pitta, Kapha, and Vata are important for human health. As we age, the Vata dosha plays a significant role in joint stiffness and other discomforts as it is associated with movement. This imbalance can affect the nourishment of tissues, depleting the lubricants that safeguard our joints and resulting in stiffness and pain during movement. Recognising signs of joint or muscle pain in Ayurveda involves observing minor indications such as stiffness, cracking sounds, or a feeling of heaviness in the affected areas.”
He added, “To address these discomforts, we recommend simple yet effective approaches. This involves adopting a lifestyle that aligns with our unique dosha composition, incorporating regular exercise, and embracing relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation. In the world of Ayurvedic remedies, garlic is a powerful remedy known for its antibacterial and antioxidant properties and is beneficial in alleviating joint pains. Additionally, an effective herb in fostering joint health is the Nirgundi, which is well known for its anti-inflammatory qualities. We advocate the integration of natural remedies like Ashwagandha, cloves, and many more into daily life to promote joint and muscle health. We believe in a holistic approach to identifying the root causes, offering specialized treatments that incorporate both traditional Ayurvedic knowledge and modern insights.”
Understanding and managing joint and muscular pain involves a multi-faceted approach that considers both conventional and holistic methods. However, always try to consult with healthcare professionals for personalised advice based on your specific needs.
Biotechnology startup Frontier Medicines has pulled in $80 million in new funding to support a targeted cancer drug the company thinks might address some of the limitations of medicines from Amgen and Mirati Therapeutics.
The company on Thursday announced a Series C round co-led by Deerfield Management and Droia Ventures and that included “significant” participation from Belgian drugmaker Galapagos.
The investments will support a technology that combines “chemoproteomics” — a method of studying the interplay between proteins and small molecules — with high-powered computing tools. Frontier claims its approach will help it develop drugs that can tightly bind to “undruggable” targets. It is starting out with a focus on cancer and immunology treatments.
Its first example is an experimental medicine dubbed FMC-376 that’s in early clinical testing. Like Amgen’s Lumakras and Mirati’s Krazati, the drug is aimed at cancers with a so-called G12C mutation to the KRAS gene, a well-known but tough-to-reach driver in a range of tumor types.
Frontier says its drug works differently, however. According to CEO Chris Varma, FMC-376 can hit the “on” form of the protein — the one that fuels cancer growth — as well as the “off” form, when it’s inactive. Frontier argues that targeting both will help FMC-376 overcome drug resistance and improve outcomes.
“If we know anything from decades of cancer treatment, it’s that cancer is tricky and you need to completely shut down signaling to turn off cancer growth,” Varma said.
Frontier’s work is early. It announced on Thursday that it dosed the first patient in an early-stage trial of people with KRAS G12C cancers. Frontier has seven other programs in preclinical development, including three from a deal it brokered with AbbVie in 2020. Including the new round, the Boston- and San Francisco-based startup has raised nearly $236 million since its launch in 2019.
“In what has been an unprecedently stormy season for biotech, we have been grateful for our strong syndicate and investor support that gave us the privilege to stay private and really focused on driving our programs forward to benefit patients,” Varma said.
The new round included participation from multiple “crossover” investors, which invest in both private and publicly traded companies. “While we always challenge ourselves to be ready to go public,” he said, the company is focused on proving FMC-376’s potential and hitting other milestones later this year.
One of the biggest changes over the time I’ve been investing in property is the abundant availability of property research data.
Today there’s a plethora of statistics offered about Australia’s property scene – median house prices by the year, the quarter, the month or day, median advertised rents, rental vacancy rates, auction clearance rates, days on the market, and the list goes on.
While you’d think this would make research so much simpler, in fact, the abundance of confusing and contradictory information often makes it harder.
One of the things about all this real estate investing information on the internet is that it’s not created equal.
Most of it is too simple, some of it is just plain wrong and some can even be dangerous to your financial health!
So, to save you much searching – and to save you from following bad advice – I’ve put together a list of the top property information – websites, property investment blogs, resources, and podcasts out there – to ensure you’re accessing the very best online property information.
If you’re looking for wondering which property blogs are actually worth reading, fortunately, Feedspot.com has gone through the trouble of curating thousands of property investment blogs and ranked the top hundred property websites and blogs for property industry pros.
And I’m proud to say that our website Property Update continues to rank in first place worldwide… where it has sat for the past 8 years against hefty international and local competition.
The best property websites in the world
Anyway…here are the top 10 property blogs and websites in the world out of Feedspot’s top 100 index, as ranked by quality and consistency of posts, expert review, Google reputation, and Google search ranking.
And be sure to scroll down because below are my Australian choices…
1. Property Update
This #1 ranking is something I’m very proud of, especially when you see the competition we’re up against and I must admit we work very hard at regularly delivering:
Commentary from a wide range of leading experts in the fields of property investment, money, success & wealth creation handpicked by me and…
Exclusive commentary from me, not available anywhere else.
I’m proud of our 9.3k Facebook followers, 47.4k Twitter followers, and of the fact that last year alone we had over 2.7 million unique readers come to our site, so if you don’t get our daily commentary – please click here and subscribe now.
2. OnTheMarket.com
OnTheMarket.com is the UK’s top property search website which has the latest advice and top tips on buying, selling, and renting a home for buyers, sellers, tenants, and landlords as well as housing market insight.
It publishes about 1 property blog per week to its 95.5k Facebook followers, 21k Twitter followers, and 34.5k Instagram followers.
3. The Guardian – Property
With the latest property news, comments, and analysis, the Guardian claims to have the world’s leading liberal voice.
It posts one blog per day for its 8.5m Facebook followers, 10.9m Twitter followers, and 5.8m Instagram followers.
4. Financial Times – Property
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news and information organisations recognised for its authority, integrity, and accuracy.
It publishes around 3 property-related posts each day and has 4.1m Facebook followers, 5.8m Twitter followers, and 3.3m Instagram followers.
5. Rightmove property news and blog
Another popular UK blog site, Rightmove publishes about 3 posts per week on housing market trends as well as news and advice for buyers, sellers, renters, and landlords.
It posts around 3 times per month and has 299k Facebook followers, 97.9k Twitter followers, and 108.7k Instagram followers.
6. PropertyWire
PropertyWire.com is an online channel focused on news from both the residential and commercial real estate sectors.
It is aimed at key business decision-makers from industries such as estate agencies, property development, and construction.
Updated daily, the site offers extensive news coverage for all major regions of the world as well as expert analysis, in-depth features, and downloadable guides.
7. Hartford Courant – Property Line Blog
The Hartford Courant Media Group is the preeminent news organisation in Connecticut, a multi-media company delivering news and information in print, online, and through social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Founded in 1764, the Courant is the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper in America and the state’s largest daily.
8. 99.co – Singapore’s Fastest Growing Property Portal Blog
99 Group is a leading real estate technology company that operates real estate portals across South East Asia, specialising in digital property advertising.
It posts around 30 times per quarter on buying or renting an HDB or condo in Singapore, interior design, renovation ideas, finance, property news, and neighbourhood guides.
9. MoneySmart.sg Property
Another Singapore-based property blog, MoneySmart.sg’s property blog gives insights and tips about the current property market to help people get more out of their money.
It posts to its followers around 1-4 times per month.
10. LandlordZONE
LandlordZONE® is a free access website that posts around 30 times per year for landlords & agents involved in letting property.
Based in the UK, its primary aim is to assist new and experienced landlords with successful property investment & management by providing an encyclopaedic wealth of information for Landlords, Letting Agents, and other property professionals.
The best real estate investment blogs in Australia
There’s always a wide range of articles and videos from a wide range of experts including a number of the team at Metropole, including Ken Raiss, Leanne Jopson, and Brett Warren.
There are also some great calculators on the site and other investor resources.
2. Pete Wargent’s Daily Blog
This blog provides real-time thoughts & analysis of the markets, economy, property & more from one of Australia’s finest financial commentators.
Pete achieved financial freedom at the age of 33 and now manages his investment portfolio, travels, and works as a consultant in the finance industry from time to time.
Pete Wargent is also a regular contributor to this Property Update blog and one of the featured experts at Wealth Retreat – Australia’s ultimate property educational event.
3. Stuart Wemyss’ Investopoly Blog
Stuart has over 20 years of experience and is the founder of ProSolution Private Clients and writes a thought-provoking blog.
He is a regular contributor to The Australian newspaper and other TV, radio, and print media.
The best Australian property websites for research and data
1. CoreLogic
CoreLogic is Australia’s most comprehensive source of property data, insights, and analytics.
It has in-depth statistics for both agents and consumers, including regular commentary from analysts Tim Lawless and Eliza Owen.
Rather than reporting median prices, CoreLogic reports a hedonic house price index, using a statistical technique known as “regression analysis” to assess the resale value of dwellings using each property’s unique individual attributes (e.g. location, land size, number of beds/baths, etc.)
2. SQM Research
SQM is a respected Australian investment research house, headed by Louis Christopher and specialising in providing ratings and data across all major asset classes.
Louis Christopher is a regular contributor to this Property Update blog and has extensive knowledge and experience of property and is regularly quoted in the media on his insights and has been remarkably accurate in his property market forecasts.
You can get a bundle of free statistical data at this website.
SQM reports Vendor’s Asking Prices that measure seller sentiment rather than median prices.
You can also use this website to investigate your chosen suburb and drill down to identify vacancy rates, how many properties are for sale, demographics plus a lot more.
3. Home.id.com.au
The Population Experts has a wealth of demographic data by suburb, including a lot of the latest Census data demystified.
Id.Com.Au provides a great resource for demographic data. You can look up any Australian location and see population forecasts, community profiles, economic profiles, social atlases plus lots more, and all for free.
4. McCrindle
Demographer Mark McCrindle has some insightful infographics.
5. Domain
Domain’s property portal has a great news section with lots of news and commentary on anything from renting to buying, selling, investing, financing, and even insurance.
It’s targeted at both agents and consumers in Australia’s property space.
6. RealEstate.com.au
On Realestate.com.au you can read the latest real estate & finance news, property market trends, housing information, and insights.
7. Walkscore
Walkscore shows the walkability of a property or location and ranks the location compared to others in the suburb and state.
8. The Australian Bureau of Statistics
Here you’ll find a wealth of statistical data and plenty of graphs and numbers to download.
9. ABS QuickStats
ABS QuickStats is a fast, simple way for users to understand an area at a glance and is intended for anyone wanting quick summary information about an area.
10. The Reserve Bank
Each month the RBA puts out a Chart Pack full of useful graphs and statistics. The problem that many investors will have is interpreting all of this information, so the best resource I know for getting a variety of experts’ opinions is still Michael Yardney’s Property Update.
About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.
