It's only February but already there's many a Best Movies of 2016 list taking shape in heads and hearts with The Revenant, Room, Spotlight and The Big Short the stand-outs so far. Making a very strong case for inclusion in that exalted company is Northern Ireland's The Survivalist. It's a ferocious debut from Enniskillen writer-director Stephen Fingleton - so gritty that you might feel you have to wipe your feet after leaving the cinema.

Fingleton calls his film "post-event" rather than post-apocalyptic, but suffice to say Peak Oil and whatever else have had their way with civilisation and now only the most ruthless killers, stragglers and hermits remain. One of them - a man with no name (McCann) - lives on a woodland farm, sleeping with a shotgun and sensing danger every waking second. But when a mother and daughter (Fouéré and Goth) arrive at his door, you're not sure who should be most afraid of whom.

It's nearly 17 minutes in before a word is spoken in The Survivalist and throughout this three-hander of trust, trysts and treachery silence speaks volumes. Your allegiances shift throughout - one minute you're siding with someone on one side of the table, the next you're convinced that they'd take a life if it meant another bowl of soup. When push comes to shove would we be any better?

Fingleton proves himself quite the man for doing doomsday on a shoestring and taking his cast to some very dark places. McCann, Fouéré and Goth are all excellent, bringing out the best in each other as actors and the worst as characters - it would be fascinating to see them reprise these roles in a stage production, such is the intensity on screen. But while The Survivalist is powered by claustrophobia, there are also some moments of wonderful natural beauty, along with great nerve-shredding sequences of outdoors action that show how much Fingleton could bring to that genre. Here's hoping.

The future's a lot brighter than it looks here.

Harry Guerin


The African Elephant Guest House aims to provide our guests with unprecedented levels of comfort and convenience during their stay with us, which is why we offer accommodation that provides for everything our guests need.

From what you’d expect to all those extra creature-comforts, our rooms offer both affordability and luxury, ensuring that your stay with us is as comfortable as possible.

We do this by providing accommodation that offers comfort, luxury, and a traditional setting of African beauty that all work together to create an experience for our guests that is unforgettable, relaxing, and provides for everything they need.

Our on-suite bathrooms provide our guests with unprecedented levels of comfort and relaxation, providing all of the comforts from home that they expect from us, and a little bit extra.

Spacious, stunning, and kitted out with a luxuriously sized bath and shower, as well as all the amenities you need (like towels, soaps, shampoos, and more), each room boasts a bathroom that ensures ultimate levels of comfort for our guests, no matter who they are.

Here at African Elephant Guest House, we accommodate for a variety of different guest-types. From travelling professionals to family’s looking for weekend getaways, or even those travelling alone for a little quiet time.

We understand that different visitors are looking for a different experience, and we cater for all of them. Our rooms are outfitted with numerous amenities to ensure that your stay with us is a comfortable and relaxing or productive one.

To assure this, our rooms provide DSTV with selected channels, a fan and heater, electric blankets, free Wi-Fi, coffee, and tea, as well as a mini fridge.

We take the security and safety of our guests and their goods seriously and ensure that your stay with us provides peace of mind in this regard. Each of our guests benefits from the security of a private and secure entrance, secured parking, and an in-room digital safe for your valued items.

We offer various rooms that differ in capacity to ensure that everyone in your travelling party is comfortable and secure. We have rooms that can either accommodate up to 2 people, or ones that can comfortably accommodate 4.

Each has either a double bed, or a double and a single bed, characterised by comfort and support, to ensure the best night’s rest possible when you stay with us.

To ensure that our guests get the most out of their stay with us, the African Elephant Guest House provides a range of additional services, available upon request from our guests.

These services include on-site laundry to ensure that your clothes, and accessories are kept clean during long-stays with us; a shuttle service to get you and your fellow travellers to and from where you need to go, as well as home cooked dinners and packed lunches, which are made available through request.


Written by 8:18 am Blog

Maintaining Brain Health Through Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Although we are not yet sure how environmental factors affect brain health, there are a number of lifestyle factors that can improve brain function. Eating green leafy vegetables can reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Other healthy lifestyle habits include staying mentally and socially active and ensuring that blood flows freely throughout the body. Here are some tips on maintaining brain health. Read on to learn more. This article also discusses other health-related topics that may be of interest to you.

Stress Affects Brain Health

In our modern world, chronic stress has been associated with many health problems, including reduced cognition, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Toxic stress also weakens the immune system and exacerbates existing illnesses. Stress can cause our brain and body to develop damage due to a buildup of cortisol. The good news is that our brains can repair this damage. We can prevent many health problems by learning to manage stress and avoiding the triggers of stress.

Chronic stress can also have a detrimental effect on the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for emotional regulation. This part of the brain is one of only two places in our body where new neurons are produced. Chronic stress does not seem to affect the formation of new neurons, but during periods of stress, those neurons are at an increased risk of dying. Chronic stress has even been linked to an increased incidence of neurodegenerative diseases in athletes.

While we have a natural tendency to be cautious and avoid situations that can cause us stress, there are also many non-threatening factors that can negatively affect our health. A single traumatic event can wreak havoc on our brain, so it’s essential to take measures to prevent and reduce exposure to traumatic experiences. Stress affects many different organs and systems. Even relatively small stresses can have an effect. However, the effects of chronic stress on our health are not completely understood.

Green Leafy Vegetables

Researchers have found that people who eat green leafy vegetables regularly have a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to people who consume less of them. The higher the consumption, the slower the rate of decline was. People who consume more of these vegetables had a median intake of 1.3 servings a day, which was equivalent to being 11 years younger cognitively. This association was also found to be independent of other factors, including education, smoking, alcohol, and physical and mental activity.

A new study published in Neurology has found that a daily serving of green leafy vegetables is linked to a slower rate of cognitive decline. Researchers believe this is because of the neuroprotective properties of these vegetables. Eating these vegetables could help protect the brain as it ages. The study involved 960 adults aged 58 to 99, who answered a questionnaire about their diets and underwent two cognitive assessments.

In a study of fruit and vegetable intake, green leafy vegetables offered the best protection from cognitive decline. These vegetables contain phytonutrients and antioxidants and are staples of many healthy eating plans. Folate is another component of leafy greens, which may predict the risk of developing dementia. But recent research has cast doubt on these studies. These researchers say there are many other factors that contribute to brain health, so they recommend focusing on foods rich in folate.

Staying Mentally and Socially Engaged

Recent studies show that keeping active and engaged can help preserve brain health and prevent dementia. Research shows that staying mentally and socially engaged can improve older people’s energy levels, moods, and sense of purpose. In addition, being socially engaged can delay the onset of dementia. You can do this by participating in community pursuits. There are many free or low-cost activities available, including volunteering and socializing with friends.

It’s important to stay active, as it stimulates the growth of new brain cells and creates neural connections that improve overall brain health. Exercising and participating in social activities can also increase the amount of mental activity you have, which benefits the rest of your body as well. Taking on new challenges is one way to do this. Whether it’s learning a new skill, taking up a hobby, or taking a class, there’s no time like the present to challenge your mind.

The health benefits of staying mentally and socially engaged extend beyond just mental well-being. The study participants were on average 83 years old. Participants underwent an MRI scan that measured the cellular integrity of the brain cells involved in social interaction. MRIs are very sensitive, which means that they measure the number of brain cells that are responsible for social engagement. These studies demonstrate that staying mentally and socially engaged can improve the function of the brain and prevent dementia.

Keeping Your Blood Flowing Easily

Exercise is very important for boosting your brain’s circulation, especially for the arteries to the head. Even gentle exercise can raise blood flow in the head by 15 percent. Exercise that involves a steady heartbeat and challenging physical activities, like yoga or walking, also increases circulation. The benefits of these activities include enhanced mental clarity and improved memory. You can even consider using brain health supplements to boost the flow of blood in the brain.

The brain is over 70 percent water, and blood is essential for supplying the organ with oxygen and other nutrients. Blood carries neurotransmitters, hormones, and other nutrients. It also helps maintain a constant temperature and pH level. About one liter of blood flows through the brain every minute. If cerebral blood circulation is restricted, brain cells may die, putting you at a greater risk for various mental health conditions.

Improving the flow of blood to the brain is crucial for maintaining its health. The four main arteries supply blood to the brain, and they branch out to smaller blood vessels, including the capillaries, veins, and lymphatic system. In addition, venous sinuses transport waste products away from the cranium, connecting with the veins of the face and scalp. Therefore, a healthy brain requires an adequate blood flow.

Vitamin E Protects Cells

Studies have shown that vitamin E may be useful in treating oxidative stress-induced diseases. Free radicals may damage or even kill brain cells, and many research studies have linked vitamin E with stroke. The biochemical processes associated with stroke further increase the risk of oxidative stress. In addition to its anti-inflammatory effects, vitamin E may help prevent neurodegeneration. For these reasons, the antioxidant benefits of vitamin E can be critical for brain health.

In addition, increased oxidative stress is linked with cognitive decline. This increase is believed to be a cause of the time-dependent accumulation of cellular damage that eventually leads to neurodegenerative disorders. Research on the antioxidant role of vitamin E in brain health has revealed that it is important in preventing cellular damage, signaling, and gene regulation. Although it is not known exactly how it works in brain health, it is believed to be an essential nutrient for maintaining healthy brain function.

Research has shown that taking vitamin E supplements helps protect brain cells from oxidative stress, and a large majority of Americans do not consume enough of it. In fact, most people consume less than half of their RDA. Nonetheless, vitamin E has many benefits, and it has been associated with improved cognitive performance. Research on vitamin E has also shown that it improves the functioning of neurons in the cerebellum, including the cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

Sleep is Vital for Brain Health

The brain undergoes a number of processes during sleep. While we’re asleep, nerve cells communicate, the brain cleans itself, and brain toxins are removed. The quality of sleep we get affects nearly every tissue in our body. It’s essential for immune function, mood, and disease resistance. Poor sleep is linked to an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and obesity. Researchers are not quite sure how sleep helps our brains, but they believe it does.

When we sleep, our brain prepares for the next day. Without proper rest, it’s harder to make decisions, cope with change, and come up with brilliant ideas. Lack of sleep can cause your brain to go haywire, and it’s easier to make stupid mistakes. It’s no wonder people often choose sleep overwork or exercise. But if you’re like most people, your brain is essential to your mental health.

Researchers have studied the relationship between sleep duration and cognitive function. In one study, those who sleep between six to eight hours a night were more likely to have higher brain volumes than those who slept more than seven hours a night. The study also showed that individuals who had poor sleep quality had higher amounts of grey matter in the frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of the brain. In other research, researchers have linked sleep duration and brain volume to Alzheimer’s disease risk.


Now that's dense —

Researchers hit record storage density by writing bits with single atoms

New system has a density of 500 terabits per square inch.

A passage of one of Feynman's lectures, written in individual atoms.
Enlarge / A passage of one of Feynman's lectures, written in individual atoms.
TU Delft

Last week saw researchers figure out how to make circuitry that's only a single atom thick, and this week we're pushing the physical limits on what we can do with data storage. While the ultimate limit is probably going to be a single atom, a procedure presented in a new paper is slightly less efficient in that it requires the space occupied by two atoms. Even so, and even after accounting for the equivalent of bad blocks in the storage media, the data density is enough to fit the contents of the Library of Congress within a 100 micrometer cube.

The approach, developed by a team of Dutch and Spanish researchers, has so many ingenious features that it's difficult to know where to start describing it all. But since we have to start somewhere, we'll begin with the medium itself.

The researchers first evaporated some chlorine and allowed it to settle on a copper surface. Given enough time, a single-atom layer of chlorine will fully coat the copper surface. But if you cut the process short, you end up with a mix of chlorine atoms and vacant spaces on the surface. With a scanning-tunneling microscope, which registers the electronic state of the surface, you can easily detect the difference between a chlorine atom and the hole where one could be.

The location of the chlorine atoms also remains stable at temperatures above 70K, which means you can preserve the data in liquid nitrogen rather than relying on the more expensive liquid helium. The authors found that their data remained stable for at least 44 hours.

It might be possible to coat the whole surface and then write bits into it by popping chlorine atoms off. But doing so is rather challenging; instead, the authors decided to write bits by pushing atoms around, which can be done easily and with an error rate of less than one percent. To store a bit, they simply use a neighboring atom and vacancy. If the atom is at the "top" in their frame of reference, the bit stores a 1. If it's at the bottom, it stores a zero.

On their chlorine-copper medium, the researchers divided the data up into blocks of eight bytes, separated by four atoms. The location of each block is signaled by a specific arrangement of atoms to the upper left. If there are insufficient atoms or holes in a given block, it can also be marked as bad and not be used.

As if this weren't enough, the authors also wrote the equivalent of a disk operating system for their hardware, as shown in the video below. Without any human involvement, the system scans the surface of the copper, figures out where every atom and hole is, and then calculates the optimal way of putting blocks in place—one that gives the greatest number of blocks with the minimal number of moves. When data is stored, the system simply goes through and pushes atoms around until everything in a block is given its intended value, and then it moves on to the next block. Blocks can later be erased or written over.

A video of the system in action.

This system isn't incredibly efficient, as it takes two minutes to write a single block and another minute to read it out. Even with a high-frequency scanning-tunneling microscope, the bandwidth would max out at 1Mbit/second. Still, the whole thing works, as the authors encoded a message that was about a kilobyte long. The data they wrote was part of the text of a Richard Feynman lecture that's called "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" (along with the proper attribution, naturally). It reads:

They then went back and overwrote it with a passage from Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

On average, 12 percent of the blocks would be unsuitable for storing data. Even accounting for those blocks, however, the system is able to store just under a bit per square nanometer, leading to a density of 500 terabits per square inch. Assuming you stacked layers of copper, you could come up with the ability to store the entire Library of Congress in a microscopic cube.

Obviously, the need for a scanning-tunneling microscope to read the data—as well as a steady supply of liquid nitrogen—drops the overall storage density of the system pretty considerably. Those limits and the bandwidth issue also limit the practicality. But the system is still pretty impressive, and it highlights what can be achieved now that we're able to control individual atoms.

Nature Nanoscience, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2016.131  (About DOIs).

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Channel Ars Technica


Johanna von Monkiewitsch at Kunsthalle Bremerhaven

Artist: Johanna von Monkiewitsch

Exhibition title: from different places

Venue: Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, Germany

Date: March 29 – April 25, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, Kunsthalle Bremerhaven and Berthold Pott

Shortly before the end of her twelve-month ‘Bremerhaven Fellowship’ (Bremerhaven Stipendium), Johanna von Monkiewitsch presents her solo exhibition from different places at the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven. Previous fellows include, among others, Gregor Schneider, Ceal Floyer, and Alicja Kwade.

Von Monkiewitsch works with incidents of light, which she photographs, films, and reproduces in various ways. To do this, she uses diverse media such as photography, panel painting, sculpture, installation, and video.

On view in the foyer of the Kunsthalle are two photographic works by the artist: Cologne and Jaffa. For this series, the artist photographed one and the same empty picture frame in different lighting situations and at different locations (Cologne and Tel Aviv/Jaffa). The empty frame itself becomes the subject of the picture, again framed and hung. In it, time and space become visible, whereby location and light constellation create different images of the frame’s interior.

In the entrance hall of the first floor of the Kunsthalle, visitors are greeted by three canvas works that reach almost to the ceiling and have only minimal, nearly white surfaces. The artist placed the untreated canvases in the sun with only individual geometric areas exposed to light. After several weeks, the bleaching power of the sun left a delicate but distinct image on the canvas: compositionally controlled by the artist but created by the decomposing energy of sunlight. Von Monkiewitsch reverses the classical painting process: Something is not ‘applied’ to the canvas as in the conventional sense (i.e. paint), but rather something is ‘taken away’ (i.e. the natural colour of the canvas) – and this by the power of the sun. In this context, the artist also speaks of a process of exposure, a term generally applied to photography.

Von Monkiewitsch placed four sculptures in the main space of the Kunsthalle. For the first time, the artist is presenting sculptures composed of both material and immaterial elements. The sculptures reveal different materialities, such as large foam cuboids shrink-wrapped in plastic, a black MDF board, and a block of marble, which von Monkiewitsch stages/arranges together with light projections as elements on equal footing. Projectors are mounted under the ceiling and on the walls, casting the videos from the sunlight mostly as static surfaces directly onto the foam elements or MDF surfaces. Although the projection is usually aligned centrally with the sculptural bodies, it also touches surrounding surfaces such as the wall or the floor in a stepped manner. Planar and three-dimensional, material and immaterial, direct or indirect images of light create a complex, multi-layered installation in the space. Light seems to materialise, while analogue bodies seem to dissolve or appear virtual. Here, the bodies lie not only in the light, but in a certain way also in another time that repeatedly ‘passes’ over them, abducting them from the present moment.

Among these works in the main apace is also Restructure, consisting of a white marble cuboid lying on the floor, which is also ‘illuminated’ by a projector. In this case, the projected video is not static, but shows a movement of light, suggesting an incidence of light on a cloth swaying in the wind. Lightly and almost dance-like, the depicted light moves across the heavy marble, the original material of ancient sculptural art, transforming heaviness into playful lightness and the analogue into the digital.

In the back room of the Kunsthalle, the so-called ‘graphics cabinet’, von Monkiewitsch positioned a black molleton cloth on the wall, onto which a video depicting light (black out, 2021) is projected. The black fabric, however, seems to completely extinguish or neutralise the light, for only the video image areas overlapping the edge of the black cloth can actually be perceived as light, allowing flashes and incidents of light to flicker on the wall.

What is real, what is reproduced, what is extinguished, what is actually present, what is happening at this moment, and what merely repeats the past? With the ‘light works’ in her exhibition from different places at the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, the artist confronts us with such philosophical questions – timeless and yet quite topical!

Johanna von Monkiewitsch (b. 1979 in Rome) lives and works in Cologne. Her works have been exhibited or are

currently on view at, among others, the Kunstverein Bochum (solo exhibition May/June 2021); the Kunstmuseum Bonn (presentation of the museum’s collection 2020–22); the Leopold-Hösch-Museum, Düren (beginning in September 2021); the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven (solo exhibition); the Photographisches Museum Braunschweig; AK Raum, Cologne (solo exhibition); Kunstraum Alexander-Bürkle, Freiburg; the Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt; Berthold Pott, Cologne; the Museo Ca’Rezzonico, Venice; and DAMA – Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana, Turin.


Bill Harris

How Are Trench Boxes Used?

The digging of trenches is an essential part of many constructions and engineering sites. They are utilized to lay telephone lines and pipes. Sometimes, trenching can become a difficult work due to the fact that the soil used in these areas is characterized by significant levels of moisture, which makes it difficult not only to remove all dirt and debris around objects but also to ensure yourself secure during the process since accidentally exposing the skin could cause severe injuries.

Trenches are essential for any kind of construction, or repair that must be done on the ground. They also serve as a safeguard against collapse, based on the soil’s condition and the material thicknesses used to construct them. Trench boxes being made out of steel framing or aluminum to temporarily secure it prior to construction begins within them, and then finalizing the installation by affixing grout between two layers so no cracks will form once they’ve been properly placed at site the level, which can lead to expansion in time due to.

Pre Installation

Before you start digging prior to digging, it’s important to understand the potential hazards. This means knowing what equipment is required and how many people will have access. It also allows you to contemplate alternatives to accomplishing the job without putting your life at risk. An assessment of risk must be completed prior to the excavation surveys so that all possible dangers are easily discovered prior to the project; this will minimize the risk of unexpected problems later on.

The depth of the trench is important to consider too. A 5-foot concrete strip can support you. If the trench is more than it, then shoring, or sloping may be needed. But, if the 20-foot deep trench does not have straight sides, the building above it must be prepared for the chance of foundation movement.

The trench should be accessible through a ladder or steps or ramp. In case in an emergency it is essential to have the trench accessible within 25 feet. There may be a need to assess low oxygen levels and toxic gases by using specially designed boxes known as “trench box”. The setup of these articulated devices is easy, but they may increase the risk of stacking them on top of one another because you don’t know how high the piles can reach to their weak bottom.

Care: Caring to the trench

1. Check the trench box and support every day for any signs of damage, and any motion.

2. If working on site employees must wear their safety gear and have a steel-toed boot along with high-visibility clothing.

3. It is essential to keep tools and heavy equipment at least three feet from the trench’s edge.

Because the earth surrounding a trench box moves which makes it more difficult to install than it is to remove it. Chain slings can be used to remove it or three ways to help , one of them being with an overhead crane.

1. Straight Pull Straight Pull: This is the most basic of all extraction methods. Simply attach your sling at two points and then pull it out.

2. Half Pull Half Pull one side of the trench box, and then move it as far as you can before moving on. This should help you remove any dirt or debris from inside the trench box without causing any damage to your lawn.

3. Single Pull One Chain sling leg to the extraction/lifting point to move the trench box. Then raise each of the panels by pulling a single lever. Use your pull to remove the trench box.

For more information, click shoring boxes


Guide: How can I understand the experiment structure?

When creating a complex analysis, it can be easy to lose track of the channels, conditions, and statistics that you’ve created in your workflow. In order to give users both a quick overview of their experiment and allow them to “drill down” into their experiment structure, Cytoflow includes an Experiment Browser.

Consider the experiment outlined in Tutorial: Synthetic Gene Logic Network – five channels, three experimental conditions, two conditions added in the analysis, and a number of statistics. It’s a lot to keep in your head! However, if you select the last operation in the workflow, the Experiment Browser shows this:

If the Experiment Browser isn’t visible, you can show it by selecting it from the View menu or clicking the corresponding button on the button bar.

Here, you can see the channels, conditions, and statistics in the experiment in a tree view. If you open one, by clicking the caret or double-clicking the name, you are shown additional information about each. Let’s walk through all three below.

Each channel is shown in the experiment browser. When you open a channel, additional metadata about the channel is visible, such as the original name in the .fcs file and the range of the channel. Additionally, if the channel has been manipulated in any way, or is a “synthetic” or derived channel, the operations that did so leave some metadata as well. For example, if you create a new channel with the Ratio operation, the numerator and demoninator are show.

Remember, conditions – either experimental conditions or conditions that were added by operations – are how you control the plotting and statistics. You can view the conditions in the browser as well. When you open them, you can see the type of condition, the condition’s type (boolean, numeric, categorical), and the values of that condition.

Remember, statistics are summaries of the data that are computed by an operation. The statistics that have been added to the experiment are also shown by the browser window, including the facets over which the statistic was computed and the various values of those facets.


Opportunities for marine species and site conservation

Protecting and preserving the biodiversity of ocean ecosystems require access to a broad range of  knowledge about the marine environment. CLS provides services, tools and data to enhance understanding of the challenges involved.

The study of highly migratory species or animal populations living in extreme environments can in fact only be done from space. In 1978, CNES, NASA and NOAA created the ARGOS satellite location and environmental data collection system. Data from the system is acquired, processed and shared by CLS with the international scientific community.

Each month, the company tracks over 8,000 animals. More than 100,000 have been monitored since the 1980s. Merging this tracking data with earth observation data gives a complete picture of animal habitats and living environments to better understand animal behavior.


forefront wealth

by Jeff Deiss

CFP, AEP, Wealth Advisor

With the equity market indices (Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 index) hitting all-time highs recently, most investors are feeling good financially.

We’ve been writing recently about the behavioral aspects of investing and how our emotions play a role. Why? As a reality check and a reminder that things may not always be as good as they are now. That’s life, and both our lives and the economy and the markets have their cycles.

There are certain things that we can control in life, like how much we save and spend. And there are things that we can’t, like the economic cycle and stock market volatility. For the latter, however, we can control how we respond to them.

We are wired to find the wrongs things tempting at the wrong times like buying at market highs when we are feeling good or when we feel like we are missing out and selling at market lows when we are overly pessimistic and fearful that we’ll lose all our money. In the long run, both are common investor mistakes and a recipe for underperformance.

So here are a few things that hopefully we can refer back to when our instincts kick in and have the potential to undermine our long-term investment success.

Remember that the stock market goes up over time, but that it doesn’t go up in a straight line.

In the short run, each new high in the stock market is not automatically replaced with another new high. The value on your account statements only tends to feel good when it’s the same or more than the last. Those months, or even years, where it’s worth less do not feel good and we need to remind ourselves that, like it or not, this is just a normal part of investing.

Not every market and economic cycle is the same length or reaches the same height or depth. But the average length of economic expansions has always exceeded the length of recessions and the markets ultimately return to new highs at some point.

forefront wealth graph

Consider that over the course of the last century, the Dow moved from 68 on January 2, 1900, to 10,987 at the end of December 2000. This happened through multiple recessions, a depression, two world wars and other international conflicts, an energy crisis, the cold war and nuclear threats, disruptive inventions, and so much more.

Nineteen years later, and including the tech bubble, the financial crisis, ongoing conflicts in the middle east, government shutdowns and ongoing trade wars, etc. and the Dow is now at 27,000. Nineteen years is less than an average retirement today and so some historical context is a good reminder that consistent investment in a diversified portfolio of stocks works.

Investor behavior – not the markets – primarily determine an individual investor’s wealth prospects and financial outcomes. When the market sells off or experiences normal volatility, which it will, the best thing to do for most investors who have a long term plan is nothing.  This is easier said than done. For investors, any drop in value feels scary and the time near a market bottom can be an emotional low. Even if you have stuck with your investment plan, you may feel defeated, even paralyzed at that point.

At this point, however, perseverance is key. As bad as it feels in the moment, remember that this too shall pass. On the way down, stick to your plan – invest and rebalance—and try not to succumb to the temptation to go to cash, which effectively means locking in your losses.

At the bottom of the cycle, stocks are on super sale. We’ve all heard stories of investors who have the perspective and fortitude to buy at the point of maximum fear and who have done very well when prices begin rising again. They know that, historically, powerful rebounds have followed some of the deepest market drops.  At the inflection point, many investors are feeling regret and have already checked out. We don’t even want to look at our statements and perhaps have not done so in a long time. And as the market eventually rebounds, many remain skeptical and will sit on the sidelines long enough to miss the early, often powerful, rebound.

After the bottom comes the beginning of the bull market. The economy is showing signs of a rebound, employment is ticking up, interest rates are low, and corporate profits are beginning to increase. So are stocks: The average increase in the S&P the year after the bottom of a market cycle is 47%. Participating in these rebounds is an important part of your long term investment success. And chances are that you won’t if you were scared away on the way down and sitting in cash.

When the market goes down, think like a contrarian. The stock market will rebound, often sharply. If you stay invested, you eventually will see that your statement balance is coming back. If your allocation to stocks has fallen below your long-term goals, now is the time to steer your all-too-human nerves and bring your portfolio back to your long-term target rather than to run for a safer place to hide.

Successful investors stay on track by making a plan and sticking to it (and maybe by turning off the TV too). What this really means is choosing an investment strategy and asset allocation that considers your goals for retirement and income, your time horizon, and your ability to take on risk at stages or your life and through different stages in the market and economic cycle.

To stick to your plan, it’s helpful to work with a financial advisor to keep you focused on your goals and plan and to rebalance your asset mix as needed, adding to losing investment classes, and lightening up on the winners. Over time, that discipline helps successful investors—despite emotions—avoid the buy high/sell low temptation, and build wealth.

The pain of loss is said to be 3x the joy of any gains. So, by all means, enjoy times like now while they are good. But keep some perspective and avoid becoming complacent and thinking that they will last forever. Your long-term investment success will more likely depend on how you respond and control your emotions when the economy looks perilous and markets are volatile.


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Tensorflow Keras Implementation of Named Entity Recognition using Transformers.

This repo contains code using the model. Named Entity Recognition using Transformers.

Credits: Varun Singh - Original Author

HF Contribution: Rishav Chandra Varma

Background Information

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is the process of identifying named entities in text. Example of named entities are: "Person", "Location", "Organization", "Dates" etc. NER is essentially a token classification task where every token is classified into one or more predetermined categories.

We will train a simple Transformer based model to perform NER. We will be using the data from CoNLL 2003 shared task. For more information about the dataset, please visit the dataset website. However, since obtaining this data requires an additional step of getting a free license, we will be using HuggingFace's datasets library which contains a processed version of this dataset.

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Unable to determine this model’s pipeline type. Check the docs .

Space using keras-io/ner-with-transformers


0101-assistant Manager

Job Description
Job Description By working at CosmoProf, you would be part of the largest hair and beauty supplier in the world and we are on a mission to empower our customers to express themselves through hair - and we need passionate and talented people to make this happen!! At CosmoProf, we dedicate ourselves to licensed professionals in the Beauty Industry and are committed to making our salon professional customers feel inspired to be their best! We don't just service the customer - we connect to provide an EPIC experience based on our four pillars of Education, Product, Inspiration and Community. Are you a person looking to grow in an exciting industry and company? Do you have a strong drive to succeed? Do you believe it is important to work hard but also have fun doing it? As an Assistant Store Manager, we want you to bring your leadership, talents, and experience to a team-oriented and dynamic environment. We believe that our success is based primarily on the advice and hard work of our valued team members to bring the Hair and Beauty world to our professional customers. Our assistant store managers are innovators, role models and coaches who drive results and the development of our team associates. As an Assistant Store Manager, you will lead a team of associates in a dynamic environment dedicated to servicing customers in the hair and beauty industry. We believe that our success is based primarily on the quality and hard work of our valued team members, dedicated to providing our customers with the product knowledge and education needed to enhance their own success in the Hair and Beauty World. Your role as an Assistant Store Manager: When it comes to the customer experience - it all starts with you. Your role is to assist in managing talent, inspire your team and make sure every customer comes away with a great experience. You will assist in ensuring that each customer receives an unforgettable experience and a custom-fit solution for their hair and beauty needs. You will aid in training, developing, and leading a staff to ensure that team members are upholding Company Culture and Values by working together to provide superior customer service and performing to the Team's highest potential You will support the Store Manager in effectively overseeing store operations with an emphasis on maintaining an assigned budget, controlling expenses, growing sales, and managing inventory You will protect customers, associates, and store assets by ensuring that all staff follows safety and security rules and procedures, as well as Company policies. You will make sure your store always looks its best! Qualifications to be a Store Manager: At least 3 years of customer service/retail sales experience, preferably in a lead role. Ability to multi-task, problem-solve, act independently, and give direction Cosmetology license is a plus - but not required. Self-starter attitude with a drive to continuously learn, develop and educate store personnel and customers to enhance success. Must be 18 years of age or older. Passion for all things hair and beauty! Why you'll love working here: The team and customers you would be working with are creative, fun and passionate about hair and beauty. Generous product discount and free sample products. You will receive great training and education regarding our products. You will have ample opportunity for career growth within the company. We have a range of different working schedules and hours to suit everyone's needs. You may qualify for one or more of the following - medical, dental, vision, 401k, vacation, sick and holiday time depending on the average hours worked.


Molecular Biology: A Transgenic Mice Tale

Advances in 21st century research and genetic engineering have made it possible to create new genetically modified organisms (GMO). This new technique of manipulating genetic material is known as recombinant DNA technology. In a biotech lab, a molecular biologist (Science Investigator) selects specific genetic information that will either be added to an organisms DNA and/ or knocked out of the DNA. An organism that has newly inserted DNA, or genetic material removed and/ or replaced, is called transgenic.

Many of the mice, rats, monkeys, and other animals used in scientific research are transgenic species. This multi-lesson unit will follow a transgenic mouse’s tale from genetic manipulation, to the birth of founder mice, lab research, then ultimately to the end and sacrifice of the animal for scientific research.

Author: Martha Tedrow

Published in Uncategorized.


Sports:CAF postpones Afcon 2021 qualifiers due to coronavirus

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has postponed this month’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The continent’s football governing body made the decision on Friday in order to protect the health and safety of stakeholders including players, sponsors, match officials and broadcasters.

The games were initially fixed to take place between March 25 and March 31 across various countries in the continent.

The postponement comes in the wake of the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and following strict travel restrictions by some African countries to contain the spread of the virus.

“Coronavirus has been declared as a pandemic by WHO. In Africa, only few cases have been reported, but the situation could evolve negatively. Several players, who are supposed to play the next Afcon qualifiers, come from countries which have been severely affected by the virus (Europe, Asia),” the statement read.

“Several African governments have taken strong restrictions on travels; lock down, quarantine for people coming from countries affected by the virus. Several clubs refuse now to release their players for the next international matches.

“For the above reasons and after studying carefully the current situation, Caf has decided to postpone the Total Africa Cup of Nations 2021 qualifiers, scheduled from 25 to 31 March 2020.”


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One school’s solution to the one-day first week problem

What does a school do when the first day back is a Wednesday, but students have the rest of the week off?

While some parents and students are threatening to boycott the first day of school, one school has found a different way to use the day, though not for instruction.

The Beacon School, a selective high school on the Upper West Side, is using tomorrow as a purely administrative day. According to the school schedule posted online, most students will report to an advisory session for a little over an hour. Freshmen will get their photo IDs and all students can stay for an activities fair and lunch, but it’s not required, making the day more of an official check-in than a school day.


Kitano 2007 Variability

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  • 7/25/2019 Kitano 2007 Variability

    Variability v.s. synchronicity of neuronal activity in local

    cortical network models with different wiring topologies

    Katsunori Kitano & Tomoki Fukai

    Received: 10 August 2006 /Revised: 14 February 2007 /Accepted: 9 March 2007 / Published online: 6 April 2007# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007

    Abstract Dynamical behavior of a biological neuronal

    network depends significantly on the spatial pattern ofsynaptic connections among neurons. While neuronal

    network dynamics has extensively been studied with simple

    wiring patterns, such as all-to-all or random synaptic

    connections, not much is known about the activity of

    networks with more complicated wiring topologies. Here,

    we examined how different wiring topologies may influ-

    ence the response properties of neuronal networks, paying

    attention to irregular spike firing, which is known as a

    characteristic of in vivo cortical neurons, and spike

    synchronicity. We constructed a recurrent network model

    of realistic neurons and systematically rewired the recurrent

    synapses to change the network topology, from a localized

    regular and a small-world network topology to a

    distributed random network topology. Regular and small-

    world wiring patterns greatly increased the irregularity or

    the coefficient of variation (Cv) of output spike trains,

    whereas such an increase was small in random connectivity

    patterns. For given strength of recurrent synapses, the firing

    irregularity exhibited monotonous decreases from the

    regular to the random network topology. By contrast, the

    spike coherence between an arbitrary neuron pair exhibited

    a non-monotonous dependence on the topological wiring

    pattern. More precisely, the wiring pattern to maximize the

    spike coherence varied with the strength of recurrentsynapses. In a certain range of the synaptic strength, the

    spike coherence was maximal in the small-world network

    topology, and the long-range connections introduced in this

    wiring changed the dependence of spike synchrony on the

    synaptic strength moderately. However, the effects of this

    network topology were not really special in other properties

    of network activity.

    Keywords Computational model .Neuronal wiring .

    Small-world network. Synchrony . Irregular firing

    1 Introduction

    The spatial or topological pattern of neuronal wiring

    determines how neurons communicate with one another

    and may be important for information processing performed

    by neuronal networks (Buzsaki et al.2004). Our knowledge

    on the details of cortical neuronal wiring is rapidly

    accumulating (Gupta et al. 2000; Holmgren et al. 2003;

    Sporns and Zwi2004; Stepanyants et al. 2004; Foldy et al.

    2005; Kalisman et al. 2005; Song et al. 2005; Yoshimura

    and Callaway2005; Yoshimura et al.2005). However, such

    knowledge is limited on the synaptic contacts among a

    small number of neurons, and the topological pattern in

    which thousands or tens of thousands of neurons are wired

    together remains unknown. Different wiring topologies give

    rise to different degrees of clustering among neurons (how

    densely a population of neurons is mutually connected) and

    different mean path lengths (on average, how many

    synapses are present along the shortest path connecting a

    neuron pair), both of which can influence the temporal

    structure of synaptic inputs to each neuron in a population

    J Comput Neurosci (2007) 23:237250

    DOI 10.1007/s10827-007-0030-1

    Action Editor: Xiao-Jing Wang

    K. Kitano (*)

    Department of Human and Computer Intelligence,

    Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu,

    Shiga 525-8577, Japan

    e-mail: [email protected]

    T. Fukai

    Laboratory for Neural Circuit Theory,

    RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako,

    Saitama 351-0198, Japan

  • 7/25/2019 Kitano 2007 Variability

    and hence that of the output spike sequences. The

    connection probability between a pair of pyramidal neu-

    rons, for example, drops below 50% of the maximum

    possible value, typically when the distance between the pair

    becomes greater than 200300 m. The volume of such a

    small local region contains 10,000100,000 neurons, a

    sufficient number of neurons for making different network

    topologies meaningful.In the present study, we investigated how different kinds

    of network topologies influence spike statistics of individ-

    ual neurons and spike coherence between neuron pairs in

    the model cortical network. In vivo, spontaneously firing

    cortical neurons are considered to be in a high conductance

    state, a condition generated by continuous bombardment of

    background synaptic inputs (Destexhe et al. 2001). This

    state typically exhibits high coefficient of variation (Cv)

    values that are close to, or even greater than, unity (Shadlen

    and Newsome 1998; Softky and Koch 1993). Attempts

    have been made to clarify the source of such variability,

    since it occurs ubiquitously in various regions of thecerebral cortex (Shinomoto et al. 2005) and may play an

    active role in cortical computations (Destexhe and Par

    1999; Fukai 2000; Maass et al. 2002; Wolfart et al. 2005).

    Stochasticity in spike generation (Chow and White1996) is

    an unlikely source, since the neuronal spike generator

    faithfully converts input current to output spike trains

    (Mainen and Sejnowski 1995). Irregular output spikes of

    cortical neurons, therefore, reflect a certain stochastic

    nature of noisy synaptic inputs, such as independent noisy

    excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs (Destexhe et al.

    2001) or transiently synchronous synaptic inputs super-

    posed on noisy background inputs (Stevens and Zador

    1998). However, the influences of neuronal wiring structure

    on the temporal structure of synaptic inputs have not been

    extensively studied.

    Synchronization of output spikes is another important

    measure that characterizes the dynamical states of a

    neuronal network. For instance, in a randomly connected

    network of integrate-and-fire neurons and delta-function

    synaptic transmissions, the stable network state exhibits

    asynchronous spike firing in a regime of weak synapses,

    whereas it displays synchronous spike firing in a regime of

    strong synapses (Brunel 2000). The transitions occur

    sharply between the two types of the stable states (we note

    that the network also has other types of the stable state),

    when the synaptic strength crosses a certain critical value. It

    is intriguing to study whether and/or how such a state

    change may occur with other types of neuronal wiring,

    using realistic models of neurons and synapses.

    To investigate how sensitive the variability or the

    synchronicity of neuronal activity is to local network

    structure, we systematically changed the topology of

    neuronal wiring in a two-dimensional model neuronal

    network. By rewiring synaptic connections, we varied the

    network topology from a locally clustered, regular network

    pattern to a randomly connected pattern. In an intermediate

    kind of topology, the network remains in a high-clustering

    arrangement, with a small fraction of long-range connec-

    tions. These connections make the average path length

    between arbitrary neuron pairs sufficiently short. Such a

    network topology is called a small-world organizationand appears in many biological and real-world networks

    (Watts and Strogatz1998) including the functional network

    between various cortical regions (Achard et al. 2006).

    2 Materials and methods

    2.1 Neurons

    Our model of cortical networks consisted of two types of

    neuronsexcitatory and inhibitory. Both types of neurons

    had single compartments that were modeled by conductance-based membrane dynamics. Each excitatory neuron had a

    leak current (IL), spike-generating sodium and potassium

    currents (INa and IK), and a non-inactivating potassium

    current (IM), all of which followed the channel kinetics

    formulated by Destexhe and Par (1999). The dynamics of

    the membrane potential obeyed the following equation:

    CmdV=dt IL INa IK IM IsynIbg;

    where Isyn and Ibg represent synaptic input from other

    neurons and background synaptic input, respectively. These

    currents are defined below. The conductance densities of

    these currents were set togL=0.045 mS/cm2,gNa=50.0 mS/cm2,

    gK=5.0 mS/cm2, and gM=0.07 mS/cm

    2. The reversal

    potentials were set to EL=80 mV, ENa=50 mV, and

    EK=90 mV. Fast-spiking interneurons (FS neurons) were

    modeled as having Kv3.1Kv3.2 potassium channels

    (Erisir et al. 1999),

    CmdV=dt IL INaIK IsynIbg;

    where Isyn and Ibg were similar to those in the excitatory

    neuron model. These neurons could fire at high frequencies,

    even frequencies greater than 200 Hz. The activation and

    inactivation functions for the gating variables were shifted

    by 1 mV in both the sodium and potassium channel model

    components, as given in Erisir et al. (1999).

    2.2 Synapses

    The excitatory synaptic currents were mediated by compo-

    nents modeled after characteristics of AMPA (IAMPA) and

    NMDA (INMDA) receptors, and the inhibitory currents were

    mediated by components modeled after characteristics of


how do composters work minecraft

How Do Composters Work Minecraft?

Composters are blocks that, when provided with Bonemeal, will convert nearby plant life and foodstuffs into Compost. This compost can be used as an alternative to Stone Fertilizer, dropped from tall grass, or dropped by a Parrot.Aug 4, 2021

How do you use a composter?

7 Easy Steps to Composting
  2. Choose Your Composter Location. …
  3. Alternate Layers. …
  4. Add Kitchen and Yard Waste as They Accumulate. …
  5. Continue to Add Layers Until Your Bin is Full. …
  6. Maintain Your Compost Bin. …
  7. Harvest Your Compost.

Do composters make crops grow faster in Minecraft?

Thankfully, the Composter can help you generate a steady supply of Bone Meal to get your crops growing faster. … It also helps find a use for certain items you may have way too many stacks of.

Can you automate a composter in Minecraft?

You have to put your items in the chest to use an automatic composter. … An automatic composter converts the organic materials into bone meals. Adding an automatic composter to your Minecraft inventory will be helpful to enhance the growth rate of your Minecraft gameplay.

Should I pee in my compost?

Recipe 3: Compost pee Urine can be composted. It’s very high in nitrogen, so it counts as a “green” in the compost, and shouldn’t be added to a compost bin that is already high in nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps. Be sure to add plenty of carbon-rich materials, like dry leaves, sawdust, straw and cardboard.

Can you compost bamboo Minecraft?

You can’t compost bamboo in a composter. Right-clicking a composter with bamboo in hand does nothing.

What is the best thing to put in a composter Minecraft?

Smaller pieces (individual pieces of wheat, melon slices, etc.) produce more compost than the blocks or other items that can be made from them. The exception is cookies, because each recipe produces 8 cookies, and together those give more than 3 times the compost.

How do you use the compost glitch in Minecraft?

How do you make a Java composter in Minecraft?

To make a Composter, you will need to place seven of any type of wooden slabs in a U shape on your Crafting Table, leaving the top and middle squares open. You can make wooden slabs by placing three wooden planks in the Crafting Table, along the bottom row. Composters can also spawn in all villages.

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Can you put a hopper over a composter?

Composting spreader

Items can be inserted into the composter by placing a hopper on top of a composter. … The items are taken out of the hopper minecart and into the composter, and composted automatically. When the composter is fully fertilized, the bone meal is taken into the bottom chests.

How do you turn seeds into bonemeal?

Do composters give XP?

What I suggest is that once the composter is filled, a small amount of XP is given. This would give players much more of a reason to use this item regularly.

Can I put dog poo in my compost?

Dog poop is organic waste, fully compostable when placed in the right conditions. For a normal, well-managed home compost, home compostable poop bags will fully decompose after approximately 1 year.

Is female urine good for plants?

Is human urine good for lawns?

Urine contains a number of beneficial nutrients also found in commercial fertilizer, such as “nitrogen, a little bit of phosphorus and potassium, which are all needed for a healthy lawn,” Owen Duckworth, associate professor of biogeochemistry at North Carolina State University, told Popular Mechanics.

how do composters work minecraft
how do composters work minecraft

Can you compost eggs in Minecraft?

Yes, composting eggs is a bit weird, but eggs are spam food. … P.S. Real advantage of heaving so much food in the game (considering, you can eat only steak to keep yourself full) is to put it all to composter and get bone meal out of it.

Do fish drop bonemeal in Minecraft?

Bone meal used in water of warm ocean biomes now has a chance of growing coral. Cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish now have a chance of dropping bone meal upon death.

READ:  what causes a water main break

How do you farm bone meal?

What is a bone meal in Minecraft?

Bone Meal is a substance Crafted from Bones dropped from killed Skeletons. It can be used either as a Dye or a fertilizer. To fertilize a crop, hold the Meal and right click on the desired crop. Keep in mind, however, that Bone Meal fertilization is not a sure thing, and may fail several times.

Can you put kelp in a composter Minecraft?

Can you compost Cactus Minecraft?

Placing a cactus into a composter has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.

Is there an xray command in Minecraft?

How do you turn on xray in Minecraft?

minecraft folder and then to the resource packs folder. Put the zip file of the x-ray texture pack (according to the version of Minecraft you are running), into the folder and restart Minecraft. Load up your x-ray pack in options and you are good to go.

How do you use xray in Minecraft?

How do you make a Fletcher in Minecraft?

What is Hopper Minecraft?

A hopper is a block that players can use to transfer items in Minecraft. … In Minecraft, a hopper is one of the most important items that you can have in your inventory. It is a block that can be used as a minecart delivery system. You can also use it to create automatic furnaces and even breweries.

Can you dispense seeds into a composter Minecraft?

How do you get infinite bone meal in Minecraft?

How do you get a bone in Minecraft?

For quite a while, killing skeletons was the only way to get bones. But in Java edition 1.3. 1 they begun to be found in desert temples, allowing them to be acquired on peaceful difficulty. Today, you can also find them in various treasure chests and also when fishing.

READ:  does where you live matter

How do you sit in compost in Minecraft?

In Minecraft, the composter takes compostable items and turns them into bone meal.

Steps to Use a Composter
  1. Place the Composter. To use a composter, first, select the composter in your hotbar. …
  2. Add Compostable Items. Next, add compostable items to the composter. …
  3. Collect the Bone Meal.

How do you find diamonds in compost in Minecraft?

X-rays are one of the oldest and most useful glitches in the game that players can use to see through walls of caves and locate diamond ores. To do this, players need to stand in a composter and push themselves downwards using a piston.

Is it OK to flush dog poop down the toilet?

And this week’s query is this: “Is it safe to flush your dog’s poop down the toilet?” The answer is yes, if it’s not in a bag. “Never flush plastic bags or any kind of plastic down the toilet. … The Environmental Protection Agency endorses flushing as a safe way to dispose of dog feces.

Is human poop good fertilizer?

How To Use The New Composter In Minecraft

How To Use A COMPOSTER In Minecraft 1.16

All About the Composter in Minecraft

Minecraft Fully Automatic Composter Compost to To bonemeal farm 1.14+

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Dangers of cyberattacks in digital commerce

For E-commerce sites, hackers and cyberattacks will always be a risk to the job. For thieves and their technical know-how, E-commerce sites are gold mines of personal and financial data. In addition to this, for businesses of all sizes, the cost of a breach both in loss of data and customer trust can be hugely damaging. Yoav Kutner, Co-Founder and CEO of Oro Inc, explains why E-commerce business owners need to remain vigilant.

Cybersecurity is essential for E-commerce, as it is the combination of people, policies, processes, and technologies employed to protect its cyber assets.  Cyber attacks result in loss of revenue, data and overall viability for businesses. For online sellers especially, it is not just their physical computer systems which are at risk of E-commerce security breaches, but also their software, networks, and infrastructure.

Are there different types of cyberattacks? The answer is yes – which is why it’s more important than ever to have security measures in place. Here are three of the most common attacks to be aware of.

DoS attack

A denial-of-service (DoS) attack is designed to overwhelm the resources of a system to the point where it is unable to reply to legitimate service requests. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is similar in that it also seeks to drain the resources of a system. A DDoS attack is initiated by a vast array of malware-infected host machines controlled by the attacker. These are referred to as “denial of service” attacks because the victim site is unable to provide service to those who want to access it.

With a DoS attack, the target site gets flooded with illegitimate requests. Because the site has to respond to each request, its resources get consumed by all the responses. This makes it impossible for the site to serve users as it normally does and often results in a complete shutdown of the site.

MITM Attacks

Man-in-the-middle (MITM) types of cyber attacks refer to breaches in cybersecurity that make it possible for an attacker to eavesdrop on the data sent back and forth between two people, networks, or computers. It is called a “man in the middle” attack because the attacker positions themselves in the “middle” or between the two parties trying to communicate. In effect, the attacker is spying on the interaction between the two parties.

In a MITM attack, the two parties involved feel like they are communicating as they normally do. What they do not know is that the person actually sending the message illicitly modifies or accesses the message before it reaches its destination. Some ways to protect yourself and your organisation from MITM attacks are by using strong encryption on access points or using a virtual private network (VPN).

Whale-phishing Attacks

A whale-phishing attack is so-named because it goes after the “big fish” or whales of an organisation, which typically include those in the C-suite or others in charge of the organisation. These individuals are likely to possess information that can be valuable to attackers, such as proprietary information about the business or its operations.

If a targeted “whale” downloads ransomware, they are more likely to pay the ransom to prevent news of the successful attack from getting out and damaging their reputation or that of the organisation. Whale-phishing attacks can be prevented by taking the same kinds of precautions to avoid phishing attacks, such as carefully examining emails and the attachments and links that come with them and keeping an eye out for suspicious destinations or parameters.

When it comes to security, Oro is the optimal choice – it allows you to focus on growing your B2B E-commerce business safely and worry-free. Oro applications are built from the ground up to support sizable B2B enterprises and complex, multi-level organisational hierarchies with thousands of employees and millions of website customers.

The post Dangers of cyberattacks in digital commerce appeared first on Logistics Business® Magazine.


FULL LIST: FBI Ranks Nigeria 16th Worst Affected By Internet Crimes

Nigeria has been ranked the 16th worst affected country by internet crimes in 2020.

The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation released the ranking in its annual report made public today.

According to the report, Nigeria is among the top 20 international victim countries of online-based crime.

Other countries that ranked better than Nigeria are Pakistan, China, Columbia, and Hong Kong.

Apart from Nigeria, South Africa was also listed among the ‘worst’ 20. South Africa rated sixth with 1,754 victims while Nigeria had 443 victims.

The report noted that the top three crimes reported by victims in America in 2020 were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and extortion, adding that victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams, romance, and confidence schemes, and investment fraud.

“IC3 received a record number of complaints from the American public in 2020: 791,790, with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion. This represents a 69 per cent increase in total complaints from 2019.

“Business E-mail Compromise schemes continued to be the costliest: 19,369 complaints with an adjusted loss of approximately $1.8 billion. Phishing scams were also prominent: 241,342 complaints, with adjusted losses of over $54 million. The number of ransomware incidents also continues to rise, with 2,474 incidents reported in 2020,” Deputy Director of FBI, Paul Abbate, added.

The top 20 countries and their number of victims are:
1. United Kingdom 216,633
2. Canada 5,399
3. India 2,930
4. Greece 2,314
5. Australia 1,807
6. South Africa 1,754
7. France 1,640
8. Germany 1,578
9. Mexico 1,164
10. Belgium 1,023
11. Brazil 951
12. Philippines 898
13. Italy 728
14. Spain 618
15. Netherlands 450
16. Nigeria 443
17. Pakistan 443
18. China 442
19. Colombia 418
20. Hong Kong 407.

READ ALSO! Is N-Power Truly Empowering Nigerian Youths?

READ ALSO! TraderMoni: Poverty Alleviation Or Political Leverage?

READ ALSO! Is N-Power Truly Empowering Nigerian Youths?


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Read these three books to master the art of money management

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The three nonfiction books listed below have all the necessary information to turn you into a money management pro. You can find the detailed version of these books on various book summary apps.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad, Poor Dad written by Robert Kiyosaki is a value-adding self-help guide that offers insights to attain financial independence and financial literacy at a very early age.This book is fully loaded with important nuggets of information and experiences to meet the financial goals. The author has intentionally shared some teachings and experiences that only rich parents impart to their kids that help them attain financial independence at an early stage in life. This gift of financial literacy later makes them wealthier and more successful.

Robert Kiyosaki also placed strong emphasis on the importance of financial literacy or financial intelligence. It is often believed by schools and parents that if a person is smart and intelligent, then he must be good with money too. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Financial intelligence is a full-fledged course in itself. It needs to be learned. The result of lack of financial intelligence is not just seen in budding entrepreneurs but is also a problem for many wealthy and successful entrepreneurs. It’s high time that schools come up with some courses on it.

If you want to make yourself financially educated, then you can read book summaries and audiobook summaries which are available on various book summaries websites

Kiyosaki offers a Rich Dad, Poor Dad overview by stating that a rich person always makes the money work for him/her rather than the other way around. He has also placed prime focus on the importance of financial independence, financial literacy, and various other types of investments. Another key point is to choose if you want to play safe, comfortable, or rich. The moment you start prioritising is when your mindset starts transforming. Shifting your focus from accepting that you can’t afford something to thinking about how you can afford it makes all the difference.

The Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage

The Financial Diet is a self-improvement book and will come in handy if you lack the money management skill. You must have observed that the age we live in today (digital era) has only taught us to feel inadequate about our life. It only teaches us how to spend money on maintaining an extravagant lifestyle. But what we are never taught is how to manage our personal finances or how much a person must save from their total revenue. This is where The Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage comes in handy.

The authors Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage have put in all the efforts to make it an interesting as well as enriching read. It works as a holy book if you are struggling to find a way to save and invest your money.

Key takeaways from The Financial Diet summary are: Work on fulfilling your long-term dreams with money that you save today. Don’t spend it on unnecessary cravings. Follow the basic 50/30/20 rule if you are still in the process of understanding financial stability. Invest the 20 percent in reliable sources and reap the benefits of your investment in future. Make sure to always keep aside some money for tragedies or emergencies.

Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing is a book inspired by Robert Kiyosaki’s real life story. He talks about his two dads- first one poor (his own dad) and the other one rich (his friend’s dad) He jots down their stories and how each one had an impact over his life. He also mentions the ways in which they carved his thoughts about money and investing.

This book also works as a guide to attain financial independence at an early age. It is loaded with information and experiences to achieve the goals. The author has specifically shared the teachings that only rich people impart in their kids that help them become wealthier and more successful.

If you want to learn about investment techniques, then you can read audiobook summaries available on various book summaries websites.

Have you ever thought about why some people are so rich and some do not even have the means to cover basic expenses? The author explains this by stating a fact. He says 90% of people earn 10% of wealth while 10% of people own 90% of it. The reason being these 10% of people focus on making themselves financially literate. The author wants to etch financial education in the minds of budding investors. The earlier you start the journey of self-education and setting financial goals, the better! All this comes down to looking at your income and setting goals based on that income.

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What Is Easter In Spanish

Do the Spanish have Easter eggs?

Easter eggs Known in Spanish as huevos de Pascua or huevos de chocolate they are given to children as gifts at Easter and often have a little present inside just like in many other countries.

How is Domingo de Pascua celebrated?

Easter Sunday – Domingo de Pascua This is generally a day when people attend mass at a Catholic church and celebrate quietly with their families. However in some places festivities include fireworks and jubilant processions with music and dancing.

How do you say Happy Easter in Egyptian?

So what exactly do Egyptians say for Easter greetings? Christians tell each other “`Ied Qiyama Magid ” “Happy Feast of the Resurrection.” But all Egyptians can wish each other: “Kulle sanna wa enta tayyeb.” May you be well every year!

What Spanish speaking countries celebrate Easter?

What is la Pascua?

Tradition Country/Region
Sprinkling colorful sawdust in intricate patterns to form alfombras (carpets) El Salvador Guatemala Honduras
Taking a vacation to the beach during Holy Week Latin America
Exchanging chocolate Easter eggs and going on Easter egg hunts Argentina

See also What Is Loess In China?

How is Easter celebrated in Latin America?

In Latin America Easter week is called Semana Santa and it’s the annual Christian commemoration of the passion death and resurrection of Christ. … Everything revolves around Jesus during these days towns squares religious centers and people in their homes make altars processions and prayers.

What do you say for Easter?

Happy Easter Messages

  • “Happy Easter and God bless.”
  • “Happy hoppy Easter to you!”
  • “Hoping your Easter is extra bright and happy this year.”
  • “Wishing you sunshine good times and a very happy Easter!”
  • “Happy Easter to the whole family! …
  • “Just wanted to say a warm springtime hello and wish you a happy Easter!”

Easter in Spanish Grades 2 and 3

How To Say (Easter) In Spanish

What is La Pascua?

The Spanish word for Easter Pascua which is usually capitalized did not always refer to the Christian holy day commemorating the Resurrection of Christ. The word predates Christianity and originally refers to a holy day of the ancient Hebrews.

Do Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. … May 5 marks the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862. Mexico’s Independence Day is celebrated on September 16.

How do you say Easter in different languages?

How to say Happy Easter in 10 languages

French Joyeuses Pâques
Italian Buona Pasqua
Spanish ¡Felices Pascuas!
Dutch Vrolijk Pasen
Polish Szczęśliwej Wielkanocy!

How do you say Pascua Florida?

Pascua Florida

  1. pahs. – kwah. floh. – ree. – dah.
  2. pas. – kwa. flo. – ɾi. – ða.
  3. Pas. – cua. Flo. – ri. – da.

Why is Semana Santa celebrated in Mexico?

For Mexico Easter is a combination of Semana Santa (Holy Week – Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday) and Pascua (Resurrection Sunday until the following Saturday). For most Mexicans this two week period is the time of year for vacations. Semana Santa celebrates the last days of the Christ’s life.

What do Mexicans say on Easter?

Someone in our office said Happy Easter was “Feliz dia de conejo ” but we think he is pulling our leg. Conejo means rabbit.

What is La Semana Santa in Spain?

The Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday is a time of celebration all throughout Spain. This mesmerizing cultural event is known around the world for its unique beauty and mystery.

What is La Pascua Florida?

Pascua Florida (pronounced [ pas-kua ] is a Spanish term that means “flowery festival” or “feast of flowers” and is an annual celebration of Juan Ponce de Leon’s arrival in what is now the state of Florida.

Where does La Pascua happen?

Understand that Pascua is a highly revered holiday in Spain and that people take their traditions seriously. Even if you do not share their religious beliefs hold their rituals sacred.

How is Pascua celebrated?

Easter Sunday (Domingo de Pascua) is celebrated with mass at the local church. Churches will be filled to capacity with parishioners in a good mood celebrating the rise of Christ.

How do you say Happy Easter in Argentina?

Who celebrates Dia de Santiago?

SpainJames known in Spanish as Santiago Apóstol is the patron saint of Spain and is especially loved in Galicia and the city of Santiago de Compostela in the north of the country. The festival that is held in his honour lasts for fifteen full days and involves fireworks and fiesta in Santiago in July. See also why did the colonists revolt against england

How to say “Happy Easter!” in Spanish.

What is celebrated on Corpus Christi?

The festival of Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist as the body of Christ. … This jubilant festival is celebrated by Roman Catholics and other Christians to proclaim the truth of the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the actual body of Christ during Mass.

What holiday is Florida named after?

Pascua Florida
Florida was named for the day on which it was discovered by Spanish explorer Ponce de León who called it La Florida in honor of Pascua Florida the Spanish Feast of the Flowers at Easter time.

What is Easter called in Spain?

Semana Santa
The Easter period in Spain is known as Semana Santa or Holy Week and events in many cities around the country really do last a whole week.Mar 17 2018

How do Spanish celebrate Easter?

Families will usually get together for a big lunch or dinner on Easter Sunday and a meal of seafood and sometimes a sopa de ajo (garlic soup) with an egg bake into the centre. Although you might be seeing more and more chocolates and bunnies around Spain these are not the typical treats eaten at Easter.

Is it appropriate to say happy Easter?

What are Spanish traditions?

Best known among Spain’s folkloristic traditions are certainly Flamenco and bullfights. … But bullfights are part and parcel of any Fiesta. Flamenco on the other hand is the musical tradition in the country’s south in particular in Andalusia.

Why does Spain celebrate Corpus Christi?

1. What is Corpus Christi? On Corpus Christi Spain celebrates the transformation of the bread and wine into the Body of the Lord. It was the religious Santa Juliana of Liège who proposed this Festival at the beginning of the thirteenth century because of her devotion to this sacrament.

Does the devil dance on Good Friday?

Good Friday is when apparently the Devil goes out dancing so presumably Emmanuel’s granny had good reason to insist he didn’t go outside — an instruction he betrayed obviously which brought him face-to-face with the Devil.

What food is eaten during Semana Santa?

The ultimate food for Semana Santa in Seville is torrijas. These delicious treats are essentially Spain’s answer to French toast bread soaked in honey eggs and white wine and lightly fried. Some of our favorite torrijas also have a dash of cinnamon.

What is the Spanish name for Florida?

Pascua FloridaFlorida. In the beginning Florida was named Pascua Florida by explorer Ponce de Leon on Easter in 1513. This expression means “Flowery Easter” or “Flowering Easter” due to Spain’s Easter celebration.

What is Feliz Pascua?

“¡Felices Pascuas!” in English Happy Easter!

What is Corpus Christi in Spain?

Jun 3Corpus Christi Observances

Year Weekday Date
2021 Thu Jun 3
2022 Thu Jun 16
2023 Thu Jun 8
2024 Thu May 30

Easter in Spanish | Spanish Children Afterschool Course

Does the devil dance during Holy Week?

The Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday (April 10) with the traditional blessing of the Palms and a procession that commemorates Jesus Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem. … On Sunday Easter (this year on April 17 20210) the Dance of the Devils is celebrated with the Devils and Death wandering in the streets.

Does Mexico Celebrate Easter Bunny?

One thing to note: Easter in Mexico is generally not celebrated with Easter Bunnies and Easter Egg hunts. That’s more of a tradition in the U.S. and Canada.

Is it Felices pascuas or Feliz Pascua?

Pascua” is the Christian celebration that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Spain we usually say “Felices Pascuas” (also “Feliz Pascua de Resurrección” or simply “Feliz Pascua”) after the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday) and during Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

How is Easter celebrated in Mexico?

Across the country Mexicans celebrate the last days of Christ during Holy Week with elaborate and much anticipated processions ceremonies and rituals. Most of the larger Semana Santa celebrations include a dramatic reenactment of the capture the trial and the crucifixion of Jesus. See also how minerals are formed


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Essay Example on IT Failures and Trends

2021-07-14 09:49:50
5 pages
1147 words
University of Richmond
Type of paper:

Managing IT failures is a context of the development of information system that has received little attention.This failure is associated with the new trends in technology.Specifically, modern system that is characterized by systems of unpredictability composition that are caused by new processes arrival.

Examples of IT Failures and Trends

IT failures are caused by an application program or terminal user error, media failures, network transmission error, environment error, catastrophe or mischief error, operator error, or loss of data validity. However, there are four main types of failure that result from software or hardware malfunction they include media, transaction, communication and transaction failure(Senft, Gallegos, and Davis, 2013).

Examples of IT failures in management perspective is evident in lack of insufficient computer memory in a $2 billion system of air traffic control that led to cancel and delay of flights in Los Angeles. Delta Airline also suffered this failure which was due to malfunction in a piece of equipment that was aging thus it caused a fire that hit its primary backup systems; this failure led to $ 100m off its revenue In August.HSBC bank suffered this failure which was as a result of information flaw that was included in a submitted file to bacs, the system used by British bank to process millions of direct debit and credit and the wage payments.This failure affected the customers and prevented them from completing payments thus affecting the companies to pay wages.The other failure occurred in New York stock exchange after a technology upgrade frozen one of the biggest financial markets in the world.St George's bank an Australian lender suffered from a routine computer systems upgrade this resulted to customers shut out their online account.

Trends in IT continues to affect more organizations in the world, as there is the emergence of application and new technologies.The trends may include blockchains, controversial systems, Service architecture and Mesh app, Digital technology, Adaptive security, Digital Twin, Machine learning and AL, Intelligent apps, Intelligent things and Augmented reality and Virtual reality.

Whether There is Any class of System More Prone to Each Other

IT in nature appear to be difficult in large scale engineering.However, there ought to be an insatiable demand for the well engineered and sizeable software.Project management mistakes cause a lot of this failures. (Hutchison et al., 2009) .The reason why components that attack prone are associated with the customer is that the components are the most important and the customers are the reason why the software is created. It is hard to determine which class of system is more prone to IT failure than the other since all the system class uses this system.Nowadays, IT systems are everywhere, and business is becoming more dependant on technologies.This has resulted in computer systems becoming more complex due to the growth in IT trends. Therefore, the rate of failure is increasing continuously.

Trends in Information Technology

In the recent years, a new market has been observed, and new technology is being introduced every day, there is a need for companies to adopt this trends to act on the rapidly changing markets.The change will, however, be brought by adopting to this inform, action technology trends in the market.

(Panetta, 2017) Identified the IT trend of 2017 as follows Blockchain: This is a type of a distributed ledger that groups sequentially exchange transactions into blocks.The transaction includes bitcoin and other tokens.This concept is gaining traction because it holds the promise of transforming models of operating industries such as title registry, verification, and music distribution.Controversial systems: they range from voice conversations, bidirectional text or even a simple informal.This systems shifts from where people adapt computers to where the computer hears and adapt to person.this systems do not use voice or text but enable machines and people to use modalities to communicate across device known as digital device mesh example: systems sensors, IOT systems.Service architecture and Mesh app: this is a multichannel solution of architecture, its work is to leverage serverless computing and leverage cloud, microservices containers and events it delivers flexible, modular and dynamic solutions that support multiple users in various roles using this multiple device and thus communicating with multiple networks.Digital technology: This is the digital business's building blocks that are necessary to break into digital.The five mix that every organization will have includes customer experience, information systems, business ecosystem and IOT and the analytical and intelligence.Adaptive security: The development and evolution of digital technology and mesh and application architecture have enhanced security to become adaptive and fluid. Use of user and ]multilayed security and entity behavior will, however, be a requirement for every enterprise.Digital Twin: Combines skilled people and traditional control and devices for monitoring such as pressure gauge.This digital twins and digital representation enable a detailed digital representation for simulation of the digital world, control, and analysis.Machine learning and AL: Includes natural language processing, Neutral network and deep learning technologies can change behaviors.In the bank, they can be used to model current time transactions.Intelligent apps: They include virtual personal assistance they prioritize emails and highlights important interactions and contents.They transform workplace by making work easier.Intelligent things: They are categorized in an autonomous vehicle, drones, and robots.They may act in concert or may communicate with each other to accomplish tasks.Augmented reality and Virtual reality: changes the way in which people interact with software systems and with each other thus creating an environment which is immersive. Example virtual reality can be used in remote experiences and to train augmented reality helps to blend the virtual and real world.

Provision of a better quality information technology system remains a problem and is seen to be getting worse. The IT is getting worse as it is known to be the single largest unplanned downtime source and system failure (Babaolu, 2005).As software is increasingly becoming more complex, it is, however, becoming more difficult and complex to manage and thus becoming prone to bugs. (Stowell, 2012). States that there is doubt in avoiding future IT failures because there is little to suggest and a lot has been learned from past. Reductionist paradigm underpinning this design method is lacking whenever its confronted by requirement and processing that are complex in modern information technology.

Hutchison, D., Zannone, N., Weikum, G., Mitchell, J., Mattern, F., Steffen, B., Kanade, T., Kittler, J. and Kleinberg, J. (2009). Engineering Secure Software and Systems. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Panetta, K. (2017). Gartner's Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017. [online] Smarter With Gartner. Available at: [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017].

Babaolu, O. (2005). Self-star properties of complex information systems. Berlin: Springer.

Senft, S., Gallegos, F. and Davis, A. (2013). Information technology control and audit.

Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p.501.

Stowell, F. (2012). Systems approach applications for developments in information technology.

Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

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Celebrate Holi 2022 with these mouth-watering sweet delicacies

ANI | Updated: Mar 17, 2022 12:49 IST

New Delhi [India], March 17 (ANI): The festival of colours is just a day away and all Holi-enthusiasts have started their preparations for celebrating the auspicious festival.
Tales in mythology recount the origins of this festival which is celebrated with colours, forgetting social differences and enjoying good food. With vibrant colours of gulal making the air jazzy, Holi is also a festival when people savour on a gamut of scrumptious sweet dishes.
So, if you are planning to treat your family members with signature sweet delicacies, we have several suggestions.
1. Gujiya: It is a signature Holi dish, which is also known as Karanji. These are deep-fried dumplings prepared with maida, or suji with the stuffing of meva, crushed dried fruits, jaggery, and khoya. This appetizing dish is enough to satisfy your taste buds it is accompanied by a hot cup of masala chai (tea).

2. Puran Poli: An authentic Holi sweet, Puran Poli is a sweet buttery flatbread made with chana dal with the stuffing of jaggery, coconut, cardamom, and butter or ghee. When you return home after playing Holi, the heavenly bite of this piping hot scrumptious dish is enough to satisfy your cravings.

3. Bhaang (hemp) laddoos: This is one of the most loved and famous dishes of Holi. To prepare these at home, heat ghee in a pan and then add sugar along with mawa to it. Keep stirring the mixture until the sugar dissolves completely. Add almonds, cashews, pistachios along with hemp powder (not too much as it is an intoxicant) on top of the mixture and keep it to cool. When the mixture cools down completely, prepare it in the shape of laddoo balls. Put them in the fridge for two to three hours and enjoy them later.

4. Thandai: Made from full-fat milk, sugar, almonds, kalimirchi, fennel seeds and little saffron, Thandai is also one of the most famous dishes enjoyed on Holi. This cold milk drink is prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, watermelon kernels, rose petals, pepper, poppy seeds, cardamom, saffron, and sugar. You can prepare it in different flavours like coffee, rose, vanilla, or chocolate.

To prepare this dish, first, fry all the spices in a pan. After this, keep them soaked in water for approx two hours. Grind it in a mixer and make a paste. After that add full-cream milk to it. Prepare the liquid by pouring it in a muslin cloth and filtering it. Use rose leaves to garnish and serve chilled.
5. Ras Malai: Known as one of the yummiest sweet dishes to feast on the festival of Holi, Ras Malai is prepared by dipping spongy chenna balls in Rabri milk mixture. To prepare it, pour milk in a thick bottomed pan and heat it over medium flame. When it comes to the boiling point, reduce the flame to low and add saffron strands. Stir it for around 15 minutes. Mix 1-teaspoon of cornflour with 1 tablespoon water and stir to avoid any lumps. Add 3-tablespoons sugar, corn flour-water mixture and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder. Cook it until sugar dissolves. Add the chenna balls and chopped dry fruits and cook for 4-5 minutes over a medium flame, so that the chenna absorbs the milk and gets the flavour. Turn off the flame and cool it to room temperature. Place it in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours. Serve chilled by garnishing the dish with rose petals or saffron strands.

Now that we have got you all covered, feast and indulge in your favourite delicacies for this Holi and play safe. (ANI)


Water shortage hurting war on disease

Water shortage hurting war on disease. FILE PHOTO | NMG

A friend reminded me of a clarion call in the country several years ago relating to water provision, Water for all by the year 2000. It hit me that we are 20 years off target but not any closer to making this promise a reality for most Kenyans. Government documents confirm that despite progress being made the country is still a water scarce country with demand outstripping supply.

By the time we entered the 21st Century, Kenya’s scorecard on the water front was still below par. A raft of legal and institutional reforms were commenced to ensure we move from talk to action.

These led to the enactment of a new water Act in 2002 and establishment of a raft of water institutions. In urban areas the changes were geared towards ensuring that the hitherto obtaining reality where taps were dry due to inefficiency of the then municipal and city councils in handling water supply became a thing of the past.

However, water rationing in urban areas became a norm in the first decade of the 21st century. Many rural areas continued to look up to water provision since access to clean and adequate water never stopped being more than just a desire and aspiration. Piped water for many rural folks across the country was a pipe dream. Consequently, when the 2010 Constitution was adopted solving the water problem became a constitutional priority.

Ten years after the Constitution guaranteed every citizen a right to clean water in adequate quantities and vested the national and county government with designated responsibilities to ensure the realisation of this right, a situation arose that tested the state of implementation.

No vaccine has been discovered to treat the coronavirus disease. Instead countries across the world are focusing on a few preventive measures such as social distancing, washing hands frequently, wearing masks and mass testing.

When the Kenyan government started issuing advisories and directives to citizens to help stop the spread of the virus in the country, the issue of water availability quickly became an issue. It is one thing to ask all Kenyans to ensure they wash their hands regularly with soap and water. It is quite another for people to comply with the requirement.

Civic education can deal with awareness. However, compliance requires access. Unfortunately, there are parts of the country that still do not have access to reliable and clean water. For these categories complying with the requirement to wash their hands becomes an impossibility.

Take the case of the informal settlements in most urban areas. The complaints that water in these places is more expensive than middle to high income residential parts of urban centres is not new. However, not much has been done by subsequent administration to solve this problem.

Instead of long-term solutions politicians are wont to provide short-term and populist measures. A bowser here and there, for example. In addition to other challenges, therefore, for residents in these areas to have water to wash their hands leave alone for other basic purposes in their households became problematic.

Even policy options being discussed to have water companies waive bills during the coronavirus pandemic proceed on the assumption that there is water supply from these companies. This is not true for most informal settlements.

Moving forward it is important that practical measures be put in place to ensure that the clarion call ensuring every Kenyan has access to water stops becoming cliché. First, the continued contestation between national and county governments over the water sector must be resolved.

Secondly, the question of equity and access. It is important that every part of the country get supplied with water. Water is essential for most life processes.

In addition, questions of costs must be dealt with. For a commodity that is part and parcel of domestic and industrial processes, its cost should be affordable for most citizens. We must deal with the issue of water cartels and ensure public provision of this critical service.