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This is the day: SB19 finally drops debut album ‘Get in the Zone’ – Manila Bulletin

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

SB19

The initial plan was to release the debut album in summer 2020. Well, the pandemic happened and for a time, nobody could say for sure what the new release date of SB19s full-length debut album would be.

Todays the day.

SB19 has finally released the album Get In The Zone under Sony Music. It has six originals, along with the EDM version of fan-favorite Love Goes and two instrumental songs.

According to statement sent to Bulletin Entertainment, Get In The Zone maps the creative and personal journey of the group.

It hasnt been long since we released our debut single Tilaluha, but prior to that, we have been training for years already, says SB19 member Sejun. We wanted to incorporate all the things that we have experienced during trainee days into this album by putting all the emotions that we went through into our music. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but we pulledthrough and we hope that we get to inspire people with our story.

The album opens with their two biggest hits, Alab and Go Up. But the most awaited song in the album has got to be the ballad Hanggang sa Huli. Live versions of the song from last year have amassed millions of views online and fans have been clamoring for a studio version for months. The track talks about allowing a broken person to heal and find comfort in a love that lasts a lifetime.

Tilaluha, the first release from the group that did not get them the attention they deserve, is also in the album, waiting to just be rediscovered. Its a stripped-down ballad that tackles ones remorse over reciprocated romance. Its a refreshing misnomer in a record filled with upbeat jams and shiny pop tunes, and one that blows the roof off, vocal performance-wise.

Will ATIN (name of their fandom) like Wag Mong Ikunot Ang Iyong Noo? Its got to be their more accessible number to date, almost sounding like novelty song. It certainly sounds fun and we learned from a release that the song is Filipino adaptation of the Korean 90s smash, Sarangeun Ya YaYa.

According to Sejun, what sets Get in the Zone apart from other contemporary releases is the collaborative synergy between K-pop producers and Filipino talents, resulting into an exciting yet compelling final product.

Its a great thing to get all the good traits from Korean and Philippine music/culture, and put them together into one. If youll dive deepinto it, youll find a whole new sound rich in both cultures.

The other members of SB19 are Justin, Josh, Ken, and Stell.

SB19 dedicates Get in the Zone to ATIN that continue to help the group get hit after hit, win awards, chart on Billboard, trend on Twitter.

All our achievements to date would not have been possible without you, says Josh. So in return we will work harder and continue to uplift you with more music and content so that we can give back the love weve received from you.

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This is the day: SB19 finally drops debut album 'Get in the Zone' - Manila Bulletin

Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration – The Highland County Press

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

By U.S. Sen. Mike CrapoR-Idaho

Requiring Americans to prove their property should not have been taken by the government, rather than the government proving guilt, undermines our system of justice. Commonsense restraints must be instituted to protect against civil asset forfeiture abuses. I am again backing legislation to address problems with civil asset forfeiture.

According to a March 2017 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General report, the Department seized more than $28 billion over the past ten years via asset forfeiture. Despite the staggering sum collected during that period, the report found that the DOJ does not collect data to measure how often seizures and forfeitures advance or relate to criminal investigations.

I joined in reintroducing S. 4074 the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, led by Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).

This legislation would better protect property owners from wrongful property seizures and decrease potential monetary incentives for agencies to seize assets. I have co-sponsored this legislation in multiple congresses because it would put the burden of proof where it should be on the government, not innocent Americans. The government would have to prove the assets were used to facilitate criminal activity. Importantly, to address unjust incentives, the legislation would require proceeds from the disposition of seized property to be deposited in the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury, instead of going to the agencies seizing property.

Reintroduction of this legislation builds on ongoing efforts to end forfeiture abuses. This includes urging the DOJ to reform its asset forfeiture practices. For example, in a 2017 letter to the DOJ, fellow senators and I requested the retraction of the Departments expansion of its use of civil asset forfeiture writing, Civil forfeiture does not reflect the fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty that is vital to our nations criminal justice system.

Law enforcement can confiscate property from individuals without ever giving them a day in court, and it does so with increasing regularity. . . . In 2014 alone, the federal government took more cash and property from Americans than burglars did. I also joined fellow senators in urging our colleagues in the Senate to deny the use of federal funding for expanding DOJs civil asset forfeiture program.

Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court applied constitutional restrictions to state civil asset forfeiture actions in a 2019 decision determining the Eighth Amendment, our Constitutions protection against excessive fines, applies to the states. The Court found that excessive fines undermine other liberties. This is a step in the right direction as it pertains to protecting property rights, but civil asset forfeitures may still be subject to abuse.

The Fifth Amendment to our Constitution clearly states that no person shall be deprived of life liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

As civil forfeiture and other reforms are discussed in the overall context of rebuilding the lost confidence in many institutions designed for the purposes of keeping communities safe, I continue to maintain that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are hard-working Americans who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe.

Unfortunately, we have seen several instances of horrific and inexcusable conduct by some very bad actors under the guise of law enforcement. Reforms are needed. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and the Administration to end civil forfeiture abuses and continue to support legislation to improve and reform policing practices, accountability and transparency.

Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration - The Highland County Press

Litigating the Federal Government’s Conduct in Portland Protests – Lawfare

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Editors Note: Its possible there is some litigation missing from this roundup. Please email the editors or the author at [emailprotected] with any relevant litigation missing from this summary. This page was last updated on July 28, 2020.

On June 26, President Trump announced an Executive Order instructing the Attorney General to prioritize investigations and prosecutions for the desecration of monuments, memorials and statues and for several other departments, including Homeland Security, to provide personnel to assist with protecting such monuments. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf responded by preparing 2,000 federal agentsincluding Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Coast Guard personnelto assist the Federal Protective Service, the agency charged with protecting federal property.

Soon after, reports began to surface of federal agents in Portland, Oregon pulling protestors into unmarked vehicles, refusing to identify themselves and using indiscriminate and violent tactics against protestors and neutral observers alike. Several lawsuits have been initiated against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other government agencies in response to these events. What follows is a run-through of litigation surrounding the federal governments activity in Portland. While additional litigation has been filed against state and local authorities in Portland, this roundup includes only lawsuits against the federal government. These cases raise a wide range of constitutional and statutory claims, from more standard claims of violations of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the Administrative Procedure Act and civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983 to more innovative claims under the Tenth Amendment, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Appointments Clause.

Woodstock et al v. City of Portland et al (3:20-cv-01035)

On June 28, the ACLU of Oregon and Braunhagey & Borden LLP brought a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against the City of Portland on behalf of journalists and legal observers who were allegedly targeted and attacked by law enforcement. The named plaintiffs are The Portland Mercury, a newspaper and media company, as well as individual journalists and legal observers. U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the City of Portland and officers of the Portland Police Bureau on July 2.

On July 17, following President Trumps Executive Order and the subsequent deployment of federal officers to Portland, plaintiffs amended their complaint adding DHS and the U.S. Marshals Service as defendants and seeking to enjoin DHS, the Marshals and their agents from assaulting news reporters, photographers, legal observers, and other neutrals who are documenting Defendants violent response to protests over the murder of George Floyd. The suit sought a TRO and preliminary injunction, as well as declaratory relief and monetary damages. The amended complaint includes allegations that federal agents shot photographer Lewis-Rolland with impact munitions 10 times as he filmed and photographed them and that local police struck independent attorney and legal observer Kat Mahoney with a truncheon across the back, where the words ACLU LEGAL OBSERVER are emblazoned on her vest.

On July 23, Judge Simon granted a TRO enjoining the defendants for 14 days from arresting, threatening to arrest, seizing any photographic or recording equipment or press passes from or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist or Legal Observer unless the officers have probable cause. The order also exempts journalists and legal observers from an officers order to disperse.

Rosenblum v. John Does 1-10 et al (3:20-cv-01161)

On July 17, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on behalf of the State of Oregon, its agencies and its citizens under the doctrine of parens patriaea type of standing that allows state attorneys general to litigate on behalf of their state citizensagainst DHS, Customs and Border Protection, the Marshals, and Federal Protective Service. The complaint alleged that federal law enforcement officers in military fatigues had been driving around downtown Portland in unmarked vehicles and detaining protestors. It also included specific allegations of the arrest of Mark Pettibone, who was allegedly confronted by armed men dressed in camouflage who took him off the street, pushed him into a van, put him into a cell and read his rights but did not tell him why he was arrested or provide him with a lawyer. He was later released with no paperwork, citation or record of the arrest. The suit consists of claims of violations of the First Amendment rights of Oregonians to protest racial inequality, violations of citizens Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures and violations of due process, and a claim of public nuisance, as well as requested injunctive and declaratory relief.

On July 24, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman denied the states motion for a broad temporary restraining order that would have required federal officers to identify themselves and placed some limitations on their ability to make arrests, finding that the state lacked standing.

Western State Center, Inc. et al v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al (3:20-cv-01175)

On July 21, Western State Center (WSC), a public benefit corporation, First Unitarian Church of Portland, a religious nonprofit corporation, an individual legal observer Sara Eddie and Oregon State Representatives Karin A. Power and Janelle Bynum brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against DHS, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Protective Service, and the Marshals. The complaint describes its purpose as to stop the federal government . . . from depriving Portlanders of the right to be policed solely by those the Constitution permits, and who are accountable to Portlanders and Oregonians and to vindicate the First Amendment rights of a church whose religious practice includes activism and protest in the face of injustice. The complaint alleges that unconstitutional overreach by federal law enforcement has restrained the plaintiffs from exercising their First Amendment rights, violated plaintiffs Fourth Amendment rights and encroached on powers reserved to the State of Oregon in violation of the Tenth Amendment. The plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief. The case is currently assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo.

Paul v. Trump et al (3:20-cv-01188)

On July 21, Jeff Paul filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against Donald Trump, Chad Wolf, and John Does 1-100 after Paul was allegedly beaten by federal agents during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Portland. He stayed overnight for treatment in the emergency room. The complaint alleged violations of Pauls First Amendment right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to petition the government; violations of his Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive physical force and chemical agents; threatened violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights and a conspiracy to deprive him of his civil rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief. The case is currently assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman.

Wise et al v. City of Portland et al (3:20-cv-01193)

On July 22, Perkins Coie and the ACLU of Oregon brought a lawsuit in the District Court of Oregon on behalf of individual protest medics against the City of Portland, DHS, the U.S. Marshals Service and individual officers. The complaint is brought by four protest medics who typically display large red crosses on their clothing and provide medical services to demonstrators, including: distributing eye wash and eye wipes to protestors in anticipation of tear gas attacks, offering personal protective equipment so that protestors can observe COVID-19 physical distancing protocols, ensuring that protestors remain adequately hydrated and fed, and rendering direct care when police injure protestors. The plaintiffs allege that officers have intentionally targeted and retaliated against protest medics and injured the individual plaintiffs, including shooting rubber bullets at a medic providing aid to a protester on a bench. The complaint includes civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983; First Amendment violations; Fourth Amendment violations due to excessive force, false arrest and unreasonable seizure and an Administrative Procedure Act claim that the federal officers conduct in implementing the Executive Order to protect federal monuments and property was arbitrary and capricious. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut.

Dont Shoot Portland et al v. Chad Wolf et al (1:20-cv-02040)

On July 27, Dont Shoot Portland, Wall of Moms and individual organizers filed suit against DHS, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Protective Service, DOJ, the Marshals and their respective agency leadership in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The complaint alleges violations of the APA by violation of 40 U.S.C. 1315 and by arbitrary and capricious agency action; violation of plaintiffs First Amendment rights to speech, assembly and petition; violation of plaintiffs Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizure and, in the alternative; violation of plaintiffs Fifth Amendment due process rights; violation of the APA by violation of the Constitution; violation of the Appointments Clause (U.S. Const. art. II, 2, cl. 2), unlawful appointment under 6 U.S.C. 112-113 and/or the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and violation of the APA 5 U.S.C. 706(2). The plaintiffs, a diverse group of women-founded organizations and individual women in Portland, Oregon, who are leading, participating, and standing in solidarity with historic lawful protests against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter, request declaratory and injunctive relief. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper.

Litigating the Federal Government's Conduct in Portland Protests - Lawfare

Founding-Era Antislavery and the Overheated Freakout Over Tom Cottons History of Slavery – National Review

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

(Pixabay)

As John McCormack notes, Tom Cotton may have been awkward in his phrasing, but there is nothing shocking in saying of slavery, As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction. Jonathan Chait writes:

Cotton seems not to be saying that slavery was necessary in order to get slave owners to accept the union, but that it was necessary to the development of our country. Here, oddly enough, he is recapitulating one of the most important errors in the 1619 Project itself.

There are two ways to read necessary: that slavery was necessary to build the country, or that tolerating the pre-existing institution was necessary because nationwide abolition was politically and perhaps economically and socially infeasible in 1776 or 1787. I agree with Chait that the 1619 Project is off-base in claiming the former; I do not read Cotton as saying that, and the people who are jumping on him over this are, it appears, just people who already hate Tom Cotton.

The formulation that slavery was tolerated as a necessary evil at the time of the Founding, and that the Founders expected (overoptimistically) that it was on an inevitable path to extinction, is a fairly standard one, and mostly an accurate way of putting the more complicated story of Founding-era slavery and anti-slavery into a nutshell. It most accurately captures the views of the Virginia Founders (such as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and George Mason), who saw slavery as wrong unlike John C. Calhoun and his followers in a later generation, who framed it as a positive good but were unwilling or unable to face the effort to end it. It also accurately captures the view of anti-slavery delegates to the Constitutional Convention, who concluded that it was not worth breaking up the new nation in a vain effort to force the South to abandon slavery immediately.

Was the Constitution designed to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction? Here is where things get much more historically contested, but there is much to be said for Lincolns view. While it was the expressed hope of some of its Framers that the institution would be set on that path, the Constitution did not arm the federal government to do so. The new federal government was empowered only to ban the slave trade (as it did in 1807), ban slavery in new, federally administered territory (as it did immediately in 1787, and again to an extent in 1820 and 1850), and ban slavery in the District of Columbia (as it never did before the Civil War). Abolition would, under the Constitution, have to come state by state.

That process seemed underway in 1787: While slavery was legal in every colony before the Revolution, five of the thirteen states had banned slavery under the Articles of Confederation between 1780 and 1784, as did Vermont (then an independent republic) in its 1777 constitution. Even Virginia, after passing a voluntary-manumission law in 1782, had a serious legislative debate in 1785 over abolition. The one directly pro-slavery provision of the new Constitution, which was not in the Articles of Confederation the fugitive slave clause was added only because, when the Articles were drafted in 1776, there were no free states for slaves to escape to.

As Sean Wilentz details in his deeply researched book No Property In Man, the Framers were very careful to preserve the space for states to abolish slavery, and to refer to slaves at all points in the document as people, not property. One example illustrates how the Constitution protected anti-slavery. The Founders were deeply concerned with the sanctity of private property and private contracts. A significant impetus for the Constitutional Convention was debtors revolts and resulting state laws repudiating contracts.

One of the significant restrictions the Constitution placed on states was the first clause of Article I, Section 10: No State shall . . . pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts. Among other things, the Contracts Clause stood as an obstacle to states immediately freeing indentured servants, who had entered into a relationship of servitude of their own free will (however exploitative) for a period of years. They could agree, in order to repay debts, to extend their term of service. States could ban new contracts of this nature, but they could not free people from previously entered contracts.

Slaves were different: They had not consented to be slaves, they were legally treated as property in the same way a horse or a dog was property, and they were bound for life, not for a fixed term. The Fifth Amendment, added in 1791, protected property rights against the federal government, which could not take a mans property without just compensation or without due process of law. But unlike contracts, states were not in any way restricted from taking property not until the Fourteenth Amendment, passed after the national abolition of slavery. What that meant, in practice, was that a state could destroy property rights in slaves by recognizing the slaves as free citizens without offending the Constitution.

That mattered a great deal in New York and New Jersey, the two Northern states that still had significant slave populations in 1787. The abolition of slavery in those two states took place in 1799 and 1804. In both states, there was fierce resistance by slaveholders, who argued that their property rights were being violated. Had the federal Constitution protected property in the way that it protected contracts, abolition in New York and New Jersey would have been impossible.

As it turned out, unfortunately, those were the last dominoes to fall. New free states would be admitted, but no existing state would abolish slavery again until the Civil War not even Delaware, where free black citizens outnumbered slaves ten to one by 1860. The Founders optimism was misplaced. But they did have a plan; it just didnt work out the way they expected.

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Founding-Era Antislavery and the Overheated Freakout Over Tom Cottons History of Slavery - National Review

Victoria Hannan unpacks the many meanings of love – Sydney Morning Herald

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Hannan has, she says, long been fascinated by the idea that we are compelled to believe that love has to take certain forms, be it romantic or familial love or simply strong friendships. But things dont always turn out the way we expect, often taking on different shapes, and its then that we often feel we have failed or at least are not very good at it.

"But with this story I wanted to explore an unconventional love story and that the love you find in a friendship can often be longer lasting or more important than romantic love or at least serve a different purpose. They should all complement each other and they can all change and evolve over your life too," she says. "I think theres something quite powerful in understanding that love doesnt have to be one thing."

We initially meet Mina expressing love in what Hannan calls a very conventional way. "But every so often she is reconsidering what that idea of love is and towards the end she gets real shock news from her mother and everything is completely blown out of the water."

When Mina returns home, she turns to her best friend Kira for support; re-encounters another old friend; and finally learns the secret at the heart of her mothers life.

Hannan had herself been living in London for 10 years and writing copy at an agency and working as a freelance photographer. But for the entire time, she had wondered what would be the nature of the phone call that would bring her dashing back to Australia. (In the end it was her fathers diagnosis with Parkinsons.)

One day she went to a karaoke party and one of her friends sang the Beach Boys song Kokomo: "Off the Florida Keys, theres a place called Kokomo / Thats where you want to go to get away from it all/ Bodies in the sand, tropical drink melting in your hand/ Well be falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drum band/ Down in Kokomo."

She was struck by the lyrics and subsequently discovered that far from a tropical paradise, Kokomo was actually an unprepossessing town in Indiana notable for its now-demolished gas tower, a significant crime rate and a Starbucks outlet destroyed by a tornado a few years ago.

"I was fascinated by this idea that we readily and happily believe things to be truths and often dont challenge them. When those two ideas the push and pull (of leaving and staying) and the challenge of who we think people are and who they actually are came together, Kokomo really started to form in my mind."

And she was intrigued by the all-too-common tendency for people to ignore the inescapable fact that their mothers had lives, desires and ideas of their own before they had children.

When Mina returns to Australia, she goes on a rapid voyage of discovery that brings her to what Hannan calls rock bottom.

Credit:

"Thats the point where she knows she finally has to talk to her mother. They can dance around it no longer because shes so unsatisfied by all these encounters shes had and what she is really missing is an understanding of her relationship with her mother and how her mothers relationships have affected her."

Hannan is another Australian novelist who has done time in advertising think Carey, Courtenay and, more recently, Robbie Arnott. She found it well-paid but creatively unfulfilling and, at times, morally compromising. She turned to fiction because she wanted to write something on her own terms.

"I felt incredibly lucky to be able to work and write for a living every day and I became so much better at my craft because of it. Robbie Arnott is right about the discipline: you go to work, you have a brief you have to meet, you write a certain number of words to a very strict deadline. I have carried some of that discipline over to my fiction writing, so I have a kind of crazy spreadsheet or word-count targets that I like to hit every day."

When I ask whether Jack, the character Mina is intimately involved with in the opening, is based on a real person he plays a significant albeit distant role in Kokomo she says she has to plead the fifth amendment.

"A lot of those advertising stories have come from real things I either heard about or witnessed in my agency life in London. Id better not say which ones are true because I might get in trouble, but theres definitely some truth in them."

Hannan grew up in Adelaide. "I feel like the two places where we spent most of the time as a family were the library and the art gallery and maybe the botanical gardens. I used to get so bored at the time, but now Im incredibly grateful that my mum would drag us around to those places."

Her mother apparently knew her daughter was going to be a writer when Hannan was only five: "It took me a lot longer to work that out. Maybe shes just saying that now because its happened."

I wondered whether writing Kokomo had changed Hannan. She concedes she did use it to work out her own ideas about love.

"Weve all made mistakes in love and try to understand how those mistakes have made us who we are and how they affect how we love other people too. I think I just became more grateful for the love that I do have in my life, whether thats my family or my friends and it has just made me start to think differently about what I do actually want and need."

Kokomo is published by Hachette at $32.99. Victoria Hannan is a guest at the online Melbourne Writers Festival, August 7-16. mwf.com.au

Jason Steger is Books Editor at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald

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Victoria Hannan unpacks the many meanings of love - Sydney Morning Herald

The Umbrella Academy Made Me Fall in Love With Ghost Ben – Send Help – MSN Money

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

I can't believe I'm even admitting this, but Netflix's The Umbrella Academy has me crushing on a ghost. Yes, I'm talking about the Ben Hargreeves, aka the scrumptious specter, the sweet soul, the charming apparition - you get it. Although he technically died during a mission when the Umbrella Academy bunch were teenagers, he's been hanging around by way of Klaus's superpowers and is forced to put up with his brother's shenanigans. Still, the two share a special bond and any time they're on screen together, my heart skips a beat (because, let's face it, Klaus is also insanely attractive). But there's just something about Ben that brings me so much joy. Anyway, before I fall too deep into a Ben-centric trance, look ahead to see his cutest snaps from the show!

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The Umbrella Academy Made Me Fall in Love With Ghost Ben - Send Help - MSN Money

Brother of August 3rd victim reflects on one year anniversary, updates on baby Paul Anchondo – KTSM 9 News

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) One year ago, the Anchondo family learned tragic news that two of their own had died in Cielo Vista Walmart shooting alongside his wife, Jordan.

Andre and Jordan Anchondo both died while shielding their 2-month-old baby boy during the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart. Andres brother Tito told KTSM even though nothing can bring him back, his life still goes on through his baby boy.

Sometimes its like this past year with COVID and everything, its been kind of like a trance. Like a dream that Ive been walking through, Anchondo shared.

Its a dark dream many El Pasoans have been battling, but for Tito, the pain and anguish wont end when the pandemic begins to subside.

His brother is Andre Anchondo, who died while protecting his wife Jordan who also lost her life, as they both shielded their 2-month-old boy Paul during the August 3rd mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart.

Sometimes I just want to pick up the phone and call him. I remember Damn, hes not even here anymore, Tito explained, So I think the closer that we get, the more I feel like honestly crying and my heart starts hurting. What can we do but just make sure that hes remembered, be strong, and move on.

As the anniversary of the tragedy arrives, Tito cant help but reflect on a life taken and the void his brothers death leaves behind, Every day theres always a joke about my brother and I think thats the saddest thing is that nothing will ever bring him back but Ill make sure that hes remembered.

While the family continues to mourn, Tito tells KTSM the legacy and impact of the littlest survivor.

Baby Paul has become also a symbol of resiliency. For all we know, something worse couldve happened to him. All he had was a broken finger that day and its a miracle that hes alive right now. Hes such an amazing kid. He runs around, hes a travieso. Hes a little trouble maker. He touches everything that he gets his hands on. I have a year old daughter as well. So when I take him over, theyre just the best cousins of all time, Tito shared.

Tito told KTSM before his wife got pregnant, he was hoping for a baby boy. Now, he says his role as a father includes baby Paul too.

You know, its so strange that it seems that its meant to be that I didnt have a boy because now I have to take care of my brothers son. To me, he is like my son. So its just very strange how life works out, Tito shared, I have to be there for him as a father and thats basically what Im waiting for is for him to get a little older when he can talk and we can talk about everything thats happened to him.

Tito said his brother still lives on through baby Paul, He looks exactly like my brother. Theres actually a picture where he is right next to a baby photo of my brother and they look exactly the same.

While taking it day by day, Tito shared hes been working on a documentary called Triumph Unidos Y Fuerza which focuses on telling the stories of how families are moving on after the attack which investigators believe was fueled by hate.

What were trying to do is to start a movement to spread that uniqueness that El Paso has. And spread it to not only the country, but the rest of the world. Theres no need to be any kind of racist way. Theres no need to be that way, Tito said.

Throughout the last year, Tito and the rest of the Anchondo family told KTSM theyre grateful for the overwhelming support from the community, We thank them so much because theyve really solidified a good future for baby Paul.

Tito said moving forward has its obstacles, but hes driven by the desire to set a good example for baby Paul and his own daughter, Ruby.

Life doesnt stop. To us, getting depressed, just staying at home and feeling sorry doesnt really suit us because we have to continue and whats really important is baby Paul and the kids. We cant be that way for them. We have to be strong and show them to be strong as well, Tito shared.

When asked, If there was one thing you could say to your brother (Andre), what would that be in remembrance of him? Tito took a moment, and said That I miss the heck out of him. Theres time where I wish I can just call him up and tell him Hey Im struggling, arguing with my dad, my wife or this customer. Its very tough. We had a lot of plans to work together. He was such a great Uncle, even though he was only with Ruby for her first couple of months. Even then he treated Ruby so well. I just wish, I would tell him that everythings going to be okay and that I got it.

Tito mentioned when the pandemic hit, it put a halt to any production on his documentary. However, he hopes to start working with other families again as soon as its safe to do so.

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Brother of August 3rd victim reflects on one year anniversary, updates on baby Paul Anchondo - KTSM 9 News

DiCaprio to Produce Island TV Adaptation of Aldous Huxley Book – /FILM

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Acclaimed writer Aldous Huxley is best known for his 1932 novel Brave New World, which you probably had to read in high school. (A new TV adaptation of that book is currently airing on Peacock, NBCUniversals new streaming service.) But while Brave New World explored a dystopian world, Huxleys final novel, the 1962 book Island, served as a counterpoint, diving into the idea of a utopian society instead. Now Leonardo DiCaprios Appian Way production company is set to make an Island TV series. Get the details below.

Variety has the news about the upcoming IslandTV show, and they describe it like this:

[The story] follows a cynical journalist shipwrecked on the fictional utopian island of Pala in the Indian Ocean. Originally tasked with exploiting Palas natural resources, he uncovers an independently developed society and embraces the people, their culture and traditions including psychedelic adventures and alternative social structures. His experience alters the course of his mission.

That sounds a little bit like The Beach, Alex Garlands book which Danny Boyle adapted into a 2000 movie that starred yep Leonardo DiCaprio. Now the actor will executive produce this Islandadaptation alongside his producing partner Jennifer Davisson. Also executive producing will be Roee Sharon(300: Rise of an Empire) and Leonardos father,George DiCaprio, a former performance artist who has since produced several documentaries about everything from global warming toPolish-American artist Stanislav Szukalski.

Ive never read Island, but Wikipedia points out that Huxley used the book as an opportunity to flip the script on Brave New World, using similar plot points but contextualizing them in totally different ways. (Example: Brave New World featured characters getting into a trance-like state for indoctrination purposes, while Island uses the trance-like state for super learning.) The idea of a white guy rolling into a utopian society and inadvertently screwing everything up for its inhabitants is a common trope in literature, television, and film, but I wonder how audiences will react to that idea in 2021-ish, in the wake of Hollywoods reckoning with systemic racism throughout multiple levels of the industry. I dont expect that trope to just disappear, especially given how entrenched it is in literature and how often books serve as fodder for adaptations, but itll be interesting to track the frequency of stories like these in the years to come.

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DiCaprio to Produce Island TV Adaptation of Aldous Huxley Book - /FILM

The 8 Best DJ Sets of July 2020 – Pitchfork

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Every month, Philip Sherburne listens to a whole lot of mixes so you only have to listen to the best ones.

Were halfway through this strange, unsettling year, and the outlook for electronic music isnt looking any better than it was when the pandemic first shut everything down four months ago. Some promoters, festivals, and DJs have tried to pretend things are reverting to normalwhich pretty much everybody agrees is a terrible ideawhile others are crowdfunding just to stay in business. (The Berlin-based DJ Eric Cloutier articulated something thats probably on a lot of musicians minds when he recently predicted, I don't think many, if any of us, will be DJing in clubs ever again.)

Happily, the proliferation of online mix series in the last few years means that the art of the DJ mix itself is more versatileand more portablethat you might expect. This months best mixes encompass sets that, sure, would be more pleasurable if experienced in a sweaty club with a few hundred dancing bodies, but dont lose too much in their transition to 1s and 0s: Just see Juliana Huxtables industrial-strength Dekmantel podcast, or Soso Tharpas homage to riding roughshod over genre boundaries. As usual, theres no shortage of headier, home-listening fare, either, like Mood Hut regular CZ Wangs love letter to trip-hop, or Danish deep-house tricksters Sports and Centrals spin through the corners of the Regelbau collectives archives.

Recorded entirely during lockdown, the UK producer pattens recent album GLOW is pensive and hazy, a collection of contrapuntal synthesizer loops spinning aimlessly in place. His mix for Ransom Notes Monday Is OK series captures a similar mood. Like the album, its entirely drum free, eschewing the tough club rhythms that distinguished pattens 2019 album Flex; its dissonant sonics are even murkier than GLOWs, recalling the low-bitrate collage work of early albums like 2011sGLAQJO XAACSSOand 2014sESTOILE NAIANT. One curious fact about the mix: It was made entirely out of snippets of Ariel Pink songs, processed and re-pitched until they take on a sludgy sort of gleam, like the iridescent surface of an oily mud puddle. Along the way there are nods to the gelatinous textures of GAS and Actress, while the radiant finale sounds almost like an ambient remix of My Bloody Valentine.

Washington, DCs Soso Tharpa is all about the drums. His set for Truants mix series takes in house, UK garage, broken beat, techno, acid, electro, and more, yet no matter the style of music hes playing, his selections all feel unusually elastic; his habit of zig-zagging between genres only serves to accentuate all that snap and swing. Tharpa covers a lot of ground in just an hour, mixing up contemporary UK bass with curveballs from Baltimore club legend Rod Lee and punk-disco screamer Mutsumi; beyond the songs percussive punch, the through line drawing many of them together is their ultra-vivid textural sheen. John Roberts Glue sounds like a post-club take on Yellow Magic Orchestra, while you can feel the vibrations of Errorsmith & Mark Fells bizarrely bright Cuica Digitales deep in the fillings in your teeth. Its a party setjust check the cheeky blend of ballroom with Ariana Grandes 7 rings toward the endbut its plenty serious, too. Right after Grandes hair-flipping finale, Tharpa drops LL Cool Js freestyle tribute to George Floyd. For 400 years you had your knees on our necks, the hip-hop veteran raps. Americas a graveyard full of black mens bones. Its a heavy conclusion to a breezy, unburdened houra reminder that the freedom of the dancefloor quickly dissipates once the lights go back on.

Juliana Huxtables set for Amsterdams Dekmantel podcast is not for the faint of heart. Following a brief introductory crescendo of abstracted sound designrustling, murmuring voices, then the metallic crunch of a car crash, or perhaps an artillery barragethe New York DJ launches into thundering, 140 BPM techno and refuses to let up for the next hour. Along the way, she slips between pile-driving four-to-the-floor rhythms and sandblasted breakbeats, drawing energy from trance, industrial, and even alt rock. Nathan Micays streamlined Nightfall in Neo-Tokyo provides a colorful point of contrasta calm before the radioactive stormwhile shoegazers Curves 1997 single Chinese Burn flashes back to the days of The Matrix, when every action film soundtracked its fight scenes with metal guitars and distorted breaks. Scattered throughout are snippets and samples of songs you might recognize, but Huxtables fast-and-furious style of mixing means that theyre often gone before you can identify themor, as in the case of the disco strings at the sets climax, simply obliterated by her drums overwhelming force.

Los Angeles Maral made her name as a DJ by extending the Iranian folk music of her upbringing into new contexts, like ambient and industrial-strength club music. This hard-charging mix for the Arabic-language publication Ma3azef is one of Marals most wide-ranging sets yet. Kicking off with a spoken-word poem by the long-suppressed Iranian feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, it bulldozes through borders to cross Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, South Africa, Mauritania, and more, with heavy bass, churning percussion, and dub effects as the common denominators. Marals own productionsincluding some from her upcoming album on Leavingare the glue that holds it all together. Sometimesoftenits unclear just what youre listening to: A stretch of marimba, breakbeats, trance synths, and Gasolina chants makes for a particularly head-spinning highlight. Maral describes the mood as a combination between melancholy and anger: When she recorded the set in April, she was processing the looming possibility of war between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the ways that American sanctions were putting Iranian COVID-19 patients at risk. That context might explain a particularly blistering stretch featuring Kathleen Hannas Le Tigre, British anarchists DIRT, and Olympia, Washingtons Farsi-language punk rockers ETERAZa display of righteous fury thats equivalent to warming your hands over a pile of burning passports. To finish up with Skeeter Davis tearful 1962 hit The End of the World is a stroke of inspiration; to let the record slowly, eerily drift to a dead halt is genius.

Few mixes hold onto a single groove the way this one from Clevelands adab does, and fewer still do it with a groove this slippery. The tempo is a cool 95 or 96 BPM from start to finisha lazy andante, neither too fast nor too slow: Goldilocks meets rockers uptown, perhaps. Theres more than a hint of dub to their selections, too, albeit more in the reverb and delay than in the beats themselves, which lean toward hand drums and tuned percussion with the deep, resonant ping of water droplets on metal surfaces. Its a heady set that holds its cards close to its chestat least until a little more than halfway through, when a strange, squirrelly classic from Mouse on Mars kicks off a psychedelic stretch that wends through Psychick Warriors Ov Gaias breakbeat trance, DJ Pythons ambient dembow, and the shimmery crunch of Meat Beat Manifesto. In the sets final stretch, the North African reeds of On-U Sounds African Head Charge and DJ Stretch make good on the otherworldly impulses bubbling just below the surface.

Since kicking off its residency on Crack Magazines virtual airwaves a year and a half ago, Anthony Naples and Jenny Slatterys Incienso label has turned in sets from Beta Librae, Nikolajev, and Sleep D, along with the label founders themselves. Now, New Yorks CZ Wang closes out the run with a pleasantly sluggish set thats perfectly suited to summer heat waves. He opens with a real head-turner: a Russian-language ballad for string synths, rain stick, and voice with an almost Lynchian vibe. The surreal mood now set, he sinks into a mix full of trip-hop breaks thats got the mid 90s written all over it. (Indeed, the first such track Shazam successfully identifies is Single Cell Orchestras Transmit Liberation, from 1993.) Its been a long time since these sorts of head-nodding grooves had much cachet, but Wangs forays beyond modish boundaries end up surfacing some gemslanguid tracks full of muted trumpet, hip-hop scratching, and squiggly acid lines, the sort of thing that once flourished on labels like Mo Wax and Ninja Tune. The tempo subtly rises across the sets back half, until suddenly were in jubilant piano-house territory, and a conclusionpitting an alternate mix of Seals Crazy against McCoy Tyners spiritually rich For Tomorrowthat really shouldnt work, but somehow does, wonderfully.

Aarhus, Denmarks DJ Sports & DJ Centralaka brothers Miln and Natal Zakshave kept a low profile over the past couple of years. After Sports 2017 album Modern Species augured an imminent breakthrough for their hometowns Regelbau collective, they retreated into their cozy DIY world, selling vinyl-only singles via Safe Distribution, their mail-order operation, and generally kept an arms distance from most digital platforms. But the two recently turned in an hour-long broadcast for a Dublab showcase from 12th Islethe label that put out Palta Og Ti P Den Tolvte and it makes for the perfect opportunity to catch up with their curious, self-contained universe. The selections flit drowsily between dubby downbeat, deep house, rolling breakbeats, and even the occasional stab at quick-stepping techno. No matter the tempo, the colors are as rich as all-natural pigments, and the mood is laid back and even a little bit whimsical, complete with between-song commentary as reassuring as a therapists voice.

Ben Bondys music tends toward deep abstraction. In the past few months, the Brooklyn electronic musician has put out three releaseshis debut album, Sibling, for Experiences Ltd.; a split EP with Berlins exael on Huerco S.s West Mineral Ltd.; and a self-released mini-albumeach one more ineffable than the last. Shapeless synths jostle and drift, aimless as flotsam in the tide; when there are drums, they burble along, practically out of earshot. He takes his ambient tendencies to an extreme in this set for radio.syg.ma, an online platform run by the like-minded Russian artist Perila. It feels as much like a still life, or a landscape photograph, as music: Theres little in the way of forward motion, just swirling chords, a luminous background glow, and faint rustling sounds. At times, it seems to nod to the textural obsessions of ASMR. Early in the set, a Spanish-language poem by Daniel Rincon deepens the hypnotic mood; toward the end, an unexpected passage of breakbeats from exael flashes back to the liquid drumnbass of the 90sa brief explosion of kinetic energy before the set crumbles into dust.

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The 8 Best DJ Sets of July 2020 - Pitchfork

Revisiting the past life is not everyone’s cup of tea – Tehelka

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

It was autumn, dry multi-hued leaves lined the city roads sitting in neat heaped piles till the wind would pick them up and scatter them around. Always a voracious bibliophile, eclectic reading thrilled me no end. Nowadays I was heavily into Brian Weiss, reading his books and everything I could about past life regression (PLR) therapy. As I walked about in the twilight, I would gaze at the leaves and they would transform and change shapes and hues. I understood I was being sucked into the romanticism only books like Many Lives, Many Masters could conjure! For the uninitiated, Weissis an American psychologist renowned for his research on reincarnation, PLR and survival of the human soul after death.

After a particularly unsettling day, I decided to give in to the urge and googled out a PLR specialist near me. I wanted to know about my past lives. I booked an appointment and awaited the big day. The family, meanwhile, viewed me with marked suspicion. Why do you want to go anyway, someone would invariably ask pretending nonchalance, while I, sensing the hidden disapproval would glare at them and answer defiantly that evolved beings had more to their world than met the eyes. And with a marked sneer, I would add that not everyone could understand deeper callings of the soul. This would shut them up but not without much mirth and eye rolling first!

Finally the big day dawned. I had understood by now that an average PLR session entailed the therapist pulling the patients under a trance and then helping them travel back into time to their previous lives. This journey apparently held the keys to conflicts or blocks in their present lives, which they could unravel after they underwent this soul searching experience. Mostly people who sought out a PLR therapist needed that therapy to ease their lives; it was serious business for them and they werent there for mere curiosity alone.

I climbed the stairs excitedly five minutes before the appointed time given to me. The therapist motioned me into her chamber while she set out some forms before me. Make sure you list your problems here, she said, pointing to a large blank square. Oh, I dont have any, just want to undergo a session, I replied cheerfully. The therapist looked at me with blatant suspicion! Are you sure you want to undergo a session, PLR is not the stuff for entertainment, she said as she looked at me rather piercingly. Refusing to be cowed down, I put on my best earnest expression and said steadily, I assure you, I am not here for amusement, I am very keen to undergo the experience and face my reality.

She thought for a moment, then nodded and beckoned me to follow. She lead me to the hypnosis couch and began the session confidently with some instrumental music. Being a music buff, I became more attentive and listened to the soothing notes joyfully and intently as is my wont. After a few minutes of observing me enjoying the music she switched it off. Ok, this is not working on you, let me use story-telling to put you in a trance, she said. I listened as intently to the story as I had to the music, showing no signs of going under. Soon she switched that off too. Now a tad irritated, the hypnotist picked up a pendulum and bade me stare at it. I could sense the undercurrent of her displeasure by now and I stared at the pendulum, dutifully following it swing, willing my eyes to shut and my mind to swoon with all my might. But despite all my earnestness it was in vain! I was much present in the clinic, both physically and mentally.

Finally the therapist burst out exasperatedly, this session has lasted thrice its normal time, you are not willing to let go, you should have been in a trance by now, you are not letting yourself go under. Sensing a sense of defeat in her I pleaded anxiously I am trying very hard, I want to continue, please dont give up, lets give the pendulum another try. Warily the therapist started swinging the pendulum again in front of my face. Scared she would give up on me, I begged my mind to go to sleep. Sleep, sleep, I anxiously whispered to myself, annoyed at the stubbornness of my mind. However, despite all my coaxing, it kept wide awake, standing between me and the miracle of witnessing my past lives. I was nowhere close to a trance like state. At the end of her tether, the therapist was tight lipped as she tapped a finger trying to retain her composure. I stared at the pendulum intently even as I felt sweat form on my forehead.

Leave it, the therapist muttered and put down the pendulum. Scared of looking at her I kept staring at roof steadfastly. I will talk to you now and as I speak try and picture in your head the things I am talking about, she said in a voice devoid of any emotion. Eager to please, I nodded my approval vigorously. Stony faced, the therapist now bade me paint a picture in my head of a line of doors and relate what I saw as I opened one of my choosing. Try as I might I could only see doors and could visualize the motion of opening them but nothing further.

I now knew this was a do or die moment for me. If she realised that my mind was still literally obeying her instructions but refusing to dive deeper, it would be the end of the road for me. My story telling skills now came into full form. Desperate to conform, I dished out fantastical stories pretending to be drowsy. Every time she paused her questioning at a turning point to ask what I saw further, I would whip up another imaginative episode slureddly. My, the stories I told her that afternoon! I think it didnt take her long to realise I was faking it but she patiently bore with me as a last resort.

Each storyline got longer and longer and taller and taller till I could also sense the blatant insincerity in my voice. Almost teary eyed, she finally made me sit up and follow her back to her office sadly. She opened a drawer and took out some money. As I started to protest she motioned me to be quiet. Thrusting her fees back into my hands, she led me hastily to the door saying, you dont need therapy, in fact, it would be better therapy for you if you could take to a full time career as a story teller. I dont know what your past lives may have revealed about you, your present reveals exceptional powers of churning out fiction. Fiction is all about imagination and yours seems to be rather good. Yes, I would certainly recommend fiction writing.

I didnt come here for fiction; I replied ashamedly very conscious of the fact that I had been caught out, I only wanted to experience my reality. She looked at me in the face and smiled, the first time ever since I stepped into her office. Sometimes our fiction is stronger than our reality, just accept it! With that she gently shut the door at me. And that, my friends, marked the end of my soul-searching quest.

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Revisiting the past life is not everyone's cup of tea - Tehelka

Garmin outage: what’s next for Garmin Connect after the ransomware attack? – T3

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

The panic is over: Garmin Connect is back online and most subsystems are working properly too, after some of them going offline at the end of last week. And although it's great to have our Forerunner and Fenix watches working properly again, it would be great to know what exactly happened during the 'Garmin outage' event and how will Garmin ensure this won't happen in the future.

We can only assume the major shareholders of Garmin must know more than us regular people as the share prices are pretty much where they were before 23 July, after the dip in interest during the first few days of the alleged attack. Despite what Bleeping Computer says, the site that originally reported on the alleged ransomware attack, until Garmin actually puts out a statement saying "our systems have been hijacked by Russian hackers", we can only speculate what really went on and how the issue was resolved eventually.

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Truth to be told, the combination of secrecy and recovery was probably the best thing Garmin could do to avoid panic and make sure people won't abandon their Garmin running watches after hearing the bad news. That said, now that the issue has been resolved, Garmin should to do at least these three things:

Given the size of the company and its reputation, we are sure all this information will be released eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later.

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(Image credit: Future)

As relieved as we all are, we can't help but wonder: did Garmin pay the $10 million ransom, as requested by the 'Evil Corp', or have the developers found a way to eliminate the threat somehow without paying the money? The Times suggests "Garmin must have paid a large ransom to recover computer files stolen by hackers", but until any official communication is received from Garmin, we can't be sure.

How much the outage has actually affected Garmin we might never know, although it is clear that the issue had a broader effect on the company's broader ecosystem, including the aviation services, such as flight planning and mapping, Wired writes.

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The Garmin outage has been a hot topic two weeks ago in running and cycling circles but not long after the rumours started circulating, Garmin announced on Twitter that "many of the systems and services affected by the recent outage, including Garmin Connect, are returning to operation".

However, at the time, the company also added that "some features still have temporary limitations while all of the data is being processed".

The ransomware attack on Garmin thought to be the work of 'Evil Corp', a group of Russian hackers who allegedly mainly targets US corporations, The Guardian reports. Garmin services started to go offline Thursday 23 July 2020 and many of the most popular services, including Garmin Connect and most of the Strava integrations, were unavailable to users over the weekend period.

Check out Garmin's 'Outage FAQ'

As reported by The Independent on the morning of 27 July 2020, Garmin Connect was supposedly coming back to life, although at that point most users still reported issues with Garmin Connect. The website and the Garmin webshop was available, however.

Garmin issued a few statements on Twitter, stating the outage also affected its call centers and that they were unable to receive any calls, emails and also couldn't fire up online chats either, making a lot of Garmin watch users rather anxious.

In case you are worried about your personal information being leaked due to the attack, on its FAQ page, Garmin reassured users that there has been "no indication that this outage has affected [the users] data, including activity, payment or other personal information." That is not the same as saying your data definitely hasnt been stolen, but its a lot better than nothing. But never mind that, what about your run and cycle data? Is it lost forever?

The following services and features are online:

The following services and features are online but might have limited functionality:

Strava services are back online, including:

(Image credit: Garmin)

As many people also pointed out, workouts can be directly uploaded to Strava using a USB cable but we wonder how many people actually went through the hassle of manually uploading their workouts this way when they could have just waited five days for the issue to be resolved.

Despite the fact you can't upload data to Garmin Connect, most Garmin watches have the ability to store training data on the device so you can still log exercises and sync them with Garmin Connect once you can.

The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, for example, has 32GB of internal memory, plenty of space to store hundreds of workouts. Cheaper Garmin watches have way less, of course, so maybe dont try for any personal bests until this gets fixed.

(Image credit: Garmin)

The Garmin Outage has been going on since last Thursday when initially users noticed that certain Garmin online services are unavailable (making my life harder too as I was halfway through writing up my Garmin Instinct Solar review). Since then, Garmin issued the following statement on its Garmin outage FAQ page:

"Garmin Ltd. was the victim of a cyber attack that encrypted some of our systems on July 23, 2020. As a result, many of our online services were interrupted including website functions, customer support, customer facing applications, and company communications. We immediately began to assess the nature of the attack and started remediation.

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We have no indication that any customer data, including payment information from Garmin Pay, was accessed, lost or stolen. Additionally, the functionality of Garmin products was not affected, other than the ability to access online services. Affected systems are being restored and we expect to return to normal operation over the next few days.

As our affected systems are restored, we expect some delays as the backlog of information is being processed. We are grateful for our customers patience and understanding during this incident and look forward to continuing to provide the exceptional customer service and support that has been our hallmark and tradition."

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Garmin outage: what's next for Garmin Connect after the ransomware attack? - T3

Green Hills Software Welcomes Argus Cyber Security into Its Rich EcoSystem of Automotive Partners – PRNewswire

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

The partnership follows a successful automotive customer collaboration in which the Argus Control Flow Integrity product has been jointly integrated to work with Green Hills Software's industry-leading optimizing C/C++ compiler. The joint solution will be securing safety-critical ECUs in vehicles of a major European OEM starting in Calendar Year 2021. As vehicles become increasingly dependent on software and connectivity, their exposure to cyber-attacks increases. Leveraging the existing security and safety capabilities of the Green Hills C/C++ Compiler, theArgusControl Flow Integrity integration supports AUTOSAR classic devices running on the Renesas RH850 processor family, providing protection from cyber attacks such as buffer overflows with zero false positives.

"By optimizing Argus Control Flow Integrity for the Green Hills Compiler, we have succeeded in reducing the complexity and time involved for automotive software developers to enhance cyber security in their platforms," said Nir Rozen, VP Product Management, Argus Cyber Security.

"We are excited to be working with Argus Cyber Security and have them join our rich ecosystem of best-in-class technology providers," said Chris Tubbs Business Development Director EMEA, Green Hills Software.

Argus Control Flow Integrity is one layer in Argus' multi-layered Connected ECU Protection and Argus Core ECU Protection product offering. Compliant with ISO 26262 ASIL B, Argus Control Flow Integrity protects also safety-critical ECUs in the vehicle, such as braking, ADAS and more, from cyber-attacks. In addition, Argus Control Flow Integrity will work with ECUs running high-level operating systems, AUTOSAR Classic, and bare metal ECUs.

Green Hills Compilers have led the embedded industry by generating the fastest, smallest, and most reliable code for over 35 years. Certified to ISO 26262 ASIL D, they are heavily used in safety systems and ECUs running bare metal, AUTOSAR Classic, OSEK, or higher-level operating systems. Green Hill Compilers provide support for C, C++11, C++14, C++17, Embedded C++ and GNU C/C++ extensions across a broad range of processors.

About Argus Cyber SecurityArgus, a global leader in automotive cyber security, provides proven in-vehicle solutions, professional services, and an automotive security operation center (ASOC) to protect connected cars and commercial vehicles against cyber-attacks. Customers include car manufacturers, their suppliers, and fleet managers.

Currently in production, Argus products and services help prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks targeting in-vehicle components, networks, and post-production fleets. Argus professional services help our customers comply with existing guidelines and regulations, such as UNECE WP. 29, through a suite of tailored consulting services that help integrate cyber security practices and processes into the entire product lifecycle. Argus' innovative methods and solutions are based on decades of cyber security and automotive research and have culminated in over 66 granted and pending patents.

Founded in 2013, Argus is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in Michigan, Stuttgart, Tokyo, and Korea. Argus is an independent subsidiary of Elektrobit, a leading provider of automotive software products and services. Visit Argus Cyber Security at https://www.argus-sec.com.

@ArgusSec| LinkedIn

About Green Hills SoftwareFounded in 1982, Green Hills Software is the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security. In 2008, the Green Hills INTEGRITY-178 RTOS was the first and only operating system to be certified by NIAP (National Information Assurance Partnership comprised of NSA & NIST) to EAL 6+, High Robustness, the highest level of security ever achieved for any software product. Our open architecture, integrated development solutions address deeply embedded, absolute security and high-reliability applications for the military/avionics, medical, industrial, automotive, networking, consumer and other markets that demand industry-certified solutions. Green Hills Software is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with European headquarters in the United Kingdom. Visit Green Hills Software at http://www.ghs.com.

Green Hills, the Green Hills logo, and INTEGRITY are trademarks or registered trademarks of Green Hills Software, in the U.S. and/or internationally. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Green Hills Software

http://www.ghs.com

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Green Hills Software Welcomes Argus Cyber Security into Its Rich EcoSystem of Automotive Partners - PRNewswire

To oblivion and back – CBC.ca

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Now that more is known about the returning otters' impact, biologists and other advocates believe it will be widely seen in a positive light overall, much like the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the U.S., where the predators helped rebalance the complex ecosystem.

Mike Willie, a hereditary chief from the coastal Kwikwasut'inuxw Nation, says he has heard some negative talk about the otters, but he sees them as a long-term benefit for the region.

He spoke to the CBC on board his boat in the waters off northern Vancouver Island, on the way to see his latest venture at an old village site on Hope Island, called Place of the Otter.

It's an idyllic spot, with a sheltered bay wrapping around a gravel beach.

Willie's company, Coastal Rainforest Safaris, was set to help revive the site as a high-end camping, or glamping, outpost this year. Large tents were to be erected on top of a new boardwalk, with tourists paying $1,000 a night to experience the region's wilderness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed those plans, but it hasn't dampened Willie's enthusiasm.

"I'm excited about it. Sea otter viewing is giving First Nations a chance out here to take part in the mainstream economy."

He said with other local industries such as logging and fishing in decline, tourism is one of the few long-term bright spots.

Others share his enthusiasm. Veteran scuba diver Jackie Hildering works with the Marine Education and Research Society in Port McNeill, B.C. She specializes in photographing kelp and was keen to explore the waters near Hope Island for the first time.

As she put on her scuba gear, she promised to quickly come back with a kelp-eating sea urchin. Thirty minutes later, she returned to the surface after spotting plenty of other sea life but no urchins.

"The otters have done their work here," she said while still in the water.

"I went down thinking I'd be back in a minute. How crazy is it not to be able to find a purple urchin?"

Hildering detailed how the waters near Hope Island differ from areas where there are still no sea otters. She saw expansive kelp forests close to shore, sheltering a wide variety of fish including herring, different types of rockfish and swimming scallops.

"What I just experienced as a diver, was diversity.

"If only those worried about otters could see this," she said, connecting the underwater dots linking kelp beds to a wide variety of sea life.

It's a phenomenon that's been documented by Linda Nichol, the lead sea otter research biologist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.

"It's an interesting story. It's a quite complex story, she said of sea otters.

"They have this profound and incredible role in the ecosystem where they can literally flip the ecosystem from one system to the other."

Nichol said the otters are simply playing out their evolutionary role, but it "creates conflict with people who want shellfish."

"It's a very complex issue and we'll see how it unfolds," she said.

The interaction between species was on full display as CBC News tagged along during Erin Foster's otter survey in the Queen Charlotte Strait near the northern tip of Vancouver Island in early July.

As the boat moved slowly along the shoreline, more than once those on board were caught off guard by the sudden rush of air from the lungs of a humpback whale surfacing nearby. A huff or two of breath and it would dive back into the deep in search of food.

Small bait fish such as herring and needlefish popped from the surface as they attempted to evade attackers below. Salmon, too, were jumping as they made their way along the coast to freshwater to spawn. What was seen on the surface only hinted at what was happening below, out of sight.

Relatively few people venture this far north, past the end of the roads on Vancouver Island, where the coast is harsh and wind-blown seas batter the coastline. The landscape is mostly steep and rocky, often appearing monochromatic, framed by a grey sky overhead and steely ocean below. The trees fighting for survival are stunted and gnarled, branches flattened by all-too-frequent gale-force winds.

It's a place where the constant churn of water from the open Pacific meets land, sparking countless interactions between plants, animals, algae, fish and birds. A balance where the sea otter is once again part of the mix after a long absence.

What happened to the digital ecosystem of Mexican tourism a week ago? – Explica

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Only God knows, also the Mexican tourism secretary, the agency Braintivity, S.A. seven secret partners, according to the shareholder of Tecnosen, S.A, supplier and former partner of Braintivity, S.A. what really happened to the Mexican digital ecosystem in the last thirty days. It is a kind of postmodern melodrama. As a Latin Netflix plot that makes you laugh and embarrass others for one of the countries that is a world tourism power and that has one of the largest infrastructures in terms of service and resources on the planet.

It is something like a smoothie and a sad plot where we mix politicians, corruption, lawsuits between individuals, little transparency in concessions or tenders, juniors, some urban tribes such as Mirreyes, Fresters, Tuluminatis (strawberries-hipsters of Tulum), perhaps children of negligent government officials and cadres.

I will try to explain this tragicomedy of Mexican tourism. Although it is a complex issue and a long time ago. I must give credit to who deserves it. I understood a lot from the great journalistic coverage of this particular topic that has been done in the digital forum on Facebook of Altavoz Turismo where journalists Marco Daniel Guzmn and Jos Antonio Lpez Sosa exercise LIVE every Thursday. They interviewed everyone involved in this laundry lawsuit except the people from the tourism ministry. And so one joins parts of this Latin American soap opera. That it is interesting and generates morbidity and sadness at the same time.

Once upon a time there was a digital ecosystem of various portals that were dedicated to promoting tourism in Mexico, which were called visitmexico.mx, visitmexico.com.mx, and visitmexico.com, among other pages of tourist content that since the 1990s have been groped between private initiative and governments to promote tourism in Mexico with more failures than successes.

The strongest portal, with the highest real organic traffic and which reached between 600 thousand and one million visits per month was visitmexico.com. Thus alone, almost by divine miracle, by work and grace of our Virgin of Guadalupe. For more mismanagement and corruption of previous administrations, despite everything, this portal took her there. It generated its organic traffic.

A year ago, it was awarded under a direct concession and with a self-sustainability regime which means that it is only given permission to use the portal, the ecosystem, the name of Mexico and visitmexico (which by the way Ana has registered Maria Olabuenaga in her name at the IMPI) in exchange for marketing the content and generating traffic to the ecosystem and activations for between 40 million dollars each year. This is that the Secretary of Tourism would not pay Braintvity, S.A, nor a penny to the agency in this case in exchange for obtaining the permits and the contract. Furthermore, I would not pay him the 600 pesos that it costs to pay the annual domain of http://www.visitmexico.com.

The face in all this was always given by Carlos Gonzlez and Marcos Achar as directors of Vistmexico. They were always good Prs with specialized media and projected credibility until just under a month ago. That rumors began to emerge about the stagnation of the portal, that if they had, they no longer had money, that if they were not managing to market it well, etc. Anyway, just under a week ago Boom! They stop your commercial liquid sleep.

They download their content and Tecnosen, SA, their former partner (in theory, hosting provider and IT consultancy) or friend or it is not well known what type of interpersonal relationship they had before, hijacks their domain and begins to carry out a large campaign of public relations through the hijacked portal and with good phrasing begins to telegraph how things are according to their version and reality. From film. It got really good.

What we intuit many that happened is that it is a problem for money and business between individuals and I hope not also between politicians involved as well. But while what happens? The obvious. That Mexico is badly stopped. It hurts us in our brand as a country. My humble opinion as a marketing consultant is that they have to start again, make a tender and call more transparent to form a more winning shared economy tourism ecosystem. Beyond a content generating blog portal or a travel quote. A true ecosystem of branded content with a Market Place to sell shared economy experiences that we really need to sell more than ever in such recessive years to come.

As for the Ministry of Tourism. Gee, I dont know what to think. So much distance and silence makes us think very badly. There are already many rumors. And all of this can project neglect. It is necessary to go out to deny false information with facts and content. It is rumored that one of those seven mysterious and anonymous frester partners of the founder of Tecnosen S.A. (Sergio Loredo Foyo) is Mike Jr. himself, the son of the main tourism team in Mexico. It is essential that the tourism secretariat faces this problem that goes beyond online communication. Tourism will be one of the most important businesses in our country in the very near future. And the heritage of many Mexicans.

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What happened to the digital ecosystem of Mexican tourism a week ago? - Explica

Enabling Business Success Through Reliability, Professionalism and Agility – Developing Telecoms

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

The recent Huawei Better World Summit set out to explore how ICT can be used to contain the spread of COVID-19 more effectively and boost post-pandemic economic recovery.

The pandemic has changed the world around us, touching on every aspect of work and life. With a wide range of participants including telecom carriers, regulators, analysts, media, and partners from around the globe joining online, the Better World Summit delved into how ICT is creating new value in a wide range of fields, including telemedicine, remote education, teleworking, and public health services.

During the Summit, Developing Telecoms had a virtual meeting with Wang Yifan, President, Service & Software Marketing & Solution Sales Department at Huawei. We started with an overview of Huaweis service and software business.

WYF: Over the past 30 years, Huawei's service and software products have provided professional services for 1,500 networks of more than 300 telecom carriers worldwide. Currently, we maintain over 18 million network elements, handle over 200 major events every year, provide over 600,000 technical support events, and resolve over 1 million support tickets annually. Huawei provides assurance for internet services and voice calls for 3 billion people worldwide.

DT: What impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on telecom operators?

WYF: During the COVID-19 epidemic, operators experienced rapid changes in traffic hotspot areas as many customers switched to working or studying from home rather than at offices and colleges. The movement of traffic from CBDs and college campuses to residential areas within a short time period has posed a big challenge for carrier networks.

Fortunately, Huawei has the expertise to handle this. For example, after the Mexico earthquake in 2017, Huawei helped operators restore telecom services quickly in the disaster area. Huawei has also worked with operators for more than 15 years to provide reliable network assurance for the Hajj pilgrimage when more than 3 million Muslims visit Saudi Arabia every year.

DT: What are the most important factors in providing reliable service assurance for operators?

WYF: Huawei believes that it is only possible to ensure stable network operations if you deliver a reliable and professional service system on an open and agile digital platform. Huawei provides global operators with five services to keep their operations continuous. These are rigid maintenance services backed by a good rapport with customers, uninterrupted network operations, continuous spare parts supply and 24/7 Technical Assistance Centre (TAC) response.

DT: Many telecom software and services vendors would claim to provide a similar level of support. What makes the services offered by Huawei different?

WYF: There are five key factors to support the reliable services from Huawei. First, Huawei has well-established management systems, certified by a host of international standard organizations including ISO/TL/IEC/OHSAS and others. Second, Huawei has 22,000 frontline employees and 120,000 from partners across 170 countries and regions to provide on-site services in a timely manner.

Third, Huawei has a comprehensive spare parts support system, including five global spare parts supply centres, nine global spare parts operation centres, and 16 global spare parts maintenance centres. These are critical to supporting operators, particularly in the most remote areas, and we do not believe other vendors can match the scale and reliability of this network.

Fourth, Huawei has a three-level technical support system consisting of global Research and Development, GTAC/TAC, and project maintenance team.

Finally, Huawei encapsulates and builds a large number of successful experience and knowledge assets accumulated over 30 years in the telecom industry on the platform together with models generated through machine learning. Moreover, Huawei opens its digital platform to customers and partners to continuously improve service quality and efficiency.

DT: How important are open systems?

WYF: Huawei Service and Software has been building its knowledge and machine learning models in the telecom industry on a digital platform that is open to the entire industry based on our more than 30 years experience. This platform is continuously evolving and the operators' teams and ecosystem partners are able to develop their own applications through this open platform to achieve business agility.

DT: In what ways is this digital platform an open system?

WYF: We believe that real value creation is based on the Experts + Engineers + Platform +Knowledge Assets + Ecosystem Partners" model, which is a truly open system. Huaweis digital platform provides open APIs that can be invoked by other systems and partners; it also provides an application development centre (ADC) that enables partners and operators' in-house teams to develop versatile Apps.

DT: How much do developers contribute to the Huawei open system platform?

WYF: Currently, Huawei has developed 80% of common applications (Apps), including network planning, construction, maintenance, optimization, and intelligent operation. The other 20% of customization requirements are met by our ecosystem partners. This open multi-ecosystem partnership platform will benefit the entire industry and continuously create value.

DT: Are there other areas where Huawei Service and Software is creating value for operators?

WYF: Huawei has developed AI applications such as a digital survey App which improves site survey efficiency by 30% and requires only consumer-level cameras. And in the environment and green energy area, which is of very great concern to operators, Huawei reduces operators energy consumption with innovative technology. The PowerStar solution saves 15% power consumption for wireless networks and 9% to 17% for data centre PUE optimization.

DT: The Better World Summit sets out to explore the strategic foundations that ICT lays for a brighter, more prosperous future. How would you sum up the way in which software and service will contribute to this in the post COVID-19 world?

WYF: Huawei Service and Software will rely on our professional and reliable global service team, an open and agile digital platform, powerful R&D innovation resources, and ecosystem partners to help the telecom industry achieve digital transformation during and following COVID-19. We believe in enabling business success through reliability, professionalism and agility and in working with telecom carriers and ecosystem partners to achieve sustainable development and win-win outcomes.

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Student Information System Market Analysis Highlights the Impact of COVID-19 (2020-2024) | Growing Demand for Embedded Analytics to Boost the Market…

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the student information system market and it is poised to grow by USD 5.35 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 17% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied. While a few industries will register a drop in demand, numerous others will continue to remain unscathed and show promising growth opportunities. Technavios in-depth research has all your needs covered as our research reports include all foreseeable market scenarios, including pre- & post-COVID-19 analysis. Download a Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impacts

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Eduware ntc, Ellucian Company LP, Illuminate Education, Jenzabar Inc., Oracle Corp., PowerSchool Group LLC, Skyward Inc., Tribal Group Plc, Unit4, and Workday Inc. are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

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Growing demand for embedded analytics has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct & indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations.

Student Information System Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Student Information System Market is segmented as below:

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40518

Student Information System Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The student information system market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies the adoption of curriculum management solution as one of the prime reasons driving the student information system market growth during the next few years.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavios in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.

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Student Information System Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by End-user

Market Segmentation by Deployment

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendor Analysis

Appendix

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Student Information System Market Analysis Highlights the Impact of COVID-19 (2020-2024) | Growing Demand for Embedded Analytics to Boost the Market...

How Ice Scouring in the Antarctic Disrupts Ecosystems – State of the Planet

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Along the Antarctic coast, icebergs regularly break away from glaciers and plunge into the nutrient-rich waters below. Carried by currents and wind, these icebergs then scrape along the bottom of the seafloor, wiping out the marine communities in their paths. These powerful events throw marine ecosystems into chaos, causing massive die-offs in the affected areas. Researchers recently dove into this hostile environment to record the stunning ecological transformations taking place. Their findings were published in Marine Environmental Research earlier this year.

The study examined the shallows adjacent to the western Antarctic Peninsula, an area highly disturbed by ice scouring when icebergs break off from glaciers and gouge the seafloor. It presents the connections between these ecosystem disturbances and the structure of assemblagesthe groups of organisms which live in the surrounding community.

Map of Antarctica (Source: Wiki Commons/Mschlindwein)

Disturbances have been widely studied and are recognized as a crucial determinant of an areas species richness and diversity. However, this study stands out in its approach. Speaking with GlacierHub, lead author Ben Robinson explained how the research team built upon previous studies to develop a more comprehensive understanding of what factors influence the repopulation of an area following a disturbance.

Although Antarctica might be thought of as a hostile environment, the Southern Ocean is actually nutrient-rich and home to diverse marine life. To study how disturbances shape these marine communities, scuba divers and remote-operated robots dipped into the icy waters of the Southern Ocean. They collected data on how two different groups of species that live along the seafloor respond to ice scour disturbances. One group is mobile, and the other group, bryozoa, is stationary. Bryozoa are interesting little invertebrates, known to be filter feeders and hermaphrodites. Photos of Robinsons research expeditions show starfish, which prey upon bryozoa, scattered across the rocky seafloor.

A remote operated vehicle (ROV) moves through the water collecting samples (Source: Ben Robinson)

Guiding the ROV from the boat (Source: Ben Robinson)

The study found that the mobile and stationary species were impacted differently by ice scour. Robinson and his coauthors concluded that three disturbance factors must be studied to fully understand how disturbance influences the organisms in a community. These disturbance factors include the time between disturbance events, and whether disturbance events occur in close proximity to one another or across a wider area.

Robinson believes that understanding disturbance and assemblage structure provides insight into the workings of an ecosystems food web. He explained that disturbance events are potentially linked with lower species richness. When there are fewer disturbances and prey is abundant, more predator species move in; conversely, when disturbances cause die-offs of prey species, predator species are also affected.

The rocky seafloor where Robinson and his crew collected data (Source: Ben Robinson)

Robinson lived in Antarctica for three years, working as a marine biologist for the British Antarctic Survey. The research he conducted during this time resulted in this article, which was pulled from one chapter of Robinsons PhD dissertation, and contributes to a wider discussion of disturbance. While no longer living in the frigid Antarctic, he still plans on continuing to analyze his data, this time considering how disturbance impacts a wider range or deeper parts of the ocean.

Robinson is hopeful that the results of this study will help researchers understand other disturbance events. He and his co-authors think the way marine life in the Antarctic respond to ice scour differently provides insight into the way a forest ecosystem may respond to fire. The authors believe their results provide further evidence for a hypothesis published in a 2017 article, which explained how only considering the time-since-fire in forests will not capture the full impact of disturbance. They hope to see their method of studying multiple disturbance factors applied to other events such as forest fires.

Speaking with GlacierHub, Robinson also highlighted the importance of understanding disturbance events and assemblage structure in light of climate change. Climate change is drastically altering the Antarctic landscape. However, these alterations are not just aesthetic retreating glaciers are likely to cause significant changes to disturbance regimes.

Image from one of Robinsons research expeditions (Source: Ben Robinson)

Its not just glaciers that are impacted; sea ice is also dropping as a result of changing wind patterns and climate change, Robinson explained. He described how normally when the sea ice freezes over there isnt much disturbance, but sea ice has been decreasing. With less sea ice to prevent icebergs from plunging down into marine ecosystems, Robinson says in the short term, youre getting a lot more disturbances.

Brian Buma, a biologist at the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center at the University of Alaska, confirmed that climate change makes understanding disturbance events more urgent because we cannot assume typical disturbance-and-then-recovery processes. In other words, climate-induced changes in disturbance make the resilience of ecosystems much more uncertain.

Icebergs float in the Gerlache Strait near the Antarctic Peninsula (Source: Wiki Commons/W. Bulach)

Andrew Constable, a marine ecologist for the Australian Government, and a lead author on the IPCCs sixth assessment report, raised some concerns about the methodology employed by Robinson and his co-authors. Constable thought the studys use of two highly distinct species one mobile and one stationary made it more difficult to understand.

However, Buma found their methodology to be straightforward, saying it will be wonderful to see how long the authors can keep the study going. Buma said the results were consistent with what you would see in any other more typically studied disturbance system. He also thought it was appropriate that Robinson and his co-authors drew connections between ice scour and forest fires. He said by doing so they connect their study to broader theory. He appreciated that the authors linked different types of disturbance, saying it should be common practice to compare disturbance types, because only by unifying across disturbances can we ever get to a theory of disturbance ecology. That is still elusive.

The results of chilly dives into the blue waters of the Southern Ocean have the potential to inform relationships between disturbance events and assemblage regimes in lands with vastly different climates and ecosystems. As climate change threatens ecosystems around the world, this study serves as an important reminder of the beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness of this planet.

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B3i announces first live partner application on Fluidity platform – Reinsurance News

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i) has partnered with Reinsurance Technical Accounting Blockchain (Ritablock) to launch the first live partner application on its B3i Fluidity platform.

B3is Fluidity platform is designed to facilitate and accelerate the development and deployment of partner applications, interoperable within B3is distributed ecosystem.

This gives partners access to the B3i network while providing B3is customers with additional technology to help increase the efficiency of their business networks and transactions.

The partnership will enable B3i customers to make use of Ritablocks technology within the B3i Reinsurance solution, or as a stand-alone CorDapp (Corda Distributed Application).

We are delighted to announce this partnership with Ritablock, as we continue to extend and enrich our ecosystem to cover the full insurance value chain, said John Carolin, B3i Chief Executive Officer.

This is yet another example of how B3i is enabling market-wide transformation through innovation relevant to our customers.

We are delighted to announce this partnership with Ritablock, as we continue to extend and enrich our ecosystem to cover the full insurance value chain. This is yet another example of how B3i is enabling market-wide transformation through innovation relevant to our customers.

Ritablocks partner application will give our customers the ability to seamlessly integrate their existing off-ledger Reinsurance systems with a DLT-native ecosystem. This provides our customers with access to a widernetwork of their peers, the ability to transfer data securely, using a common language, and a more efficient way of doing business.

Partnering with Ritablock is a great fit, as their application leverages the technology of our platform, B3i Fluidity and provides Ritablock access to the B3i network. We look forward to working with partners to accelerate the deployment of end-user functionality to our growing network, benefitting customers, partners and B3i alike.

Matthias Gler CEO of Ritablock, added, Todays announcement is the result of a great pairing between B3is Reinsurance solution and Ritablocks capability in the area of exchange of reinsurance technical accounts and claims information.

We are very happy to partner and integrate with B3is business network and wider ecosystem. This partnership will provide customers with easy access to the value of distributed ledger technology, with a dedicated CordApp that enables integration with multiple Reinsurance administration systems, considerably reducing the reconciliation efforts within Reinsurance accounting.

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DIA Launches Governance Token Distribution to Create the Decentralised Wikipedia for Financial Data – GlobeNewswire

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

Zug, Switzerland, Aug. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DIA, (Decentralised Information Asset) the open-source data and oracle platform for the DeFi (Decentralised Finance) ecosystem, announces the first step to decentralise its governance by public distribution of its governance token on Monday, August 3, 2020. The highly anticipated event will give participants the opportunity to acquire DIAs Governance Token (DIA).

Founded in 2018 as a Swiss Association, DIAs vision is to make validated and auditable financial market data accessible and open-source to both traditional and decentralised financial markets. Rather than sourcing and providing data itself, the DIA platform sets crypto-economic incentives that drive the sourcing and validation of data by the community.

The exponential growth of DeFi calls for more resilient data solutions

Financial data is the critical foundation of any financial market. Both in traditional and digital asset markets the cost of bad data has become tragically apparent in the wake of scandals surrounding manipulation and a lack of transparency, causing severe loss of funds and calling for more trustworthy and transparent solutions.

In particular, the recent exponential growth of DeFi applications have sparked a new interest in the data architecture that supports this ecosystem. While a range of providers are already catering to the increasing demand for data, DIAs approach fuels the hope that the ecosystems data providers will leverage the benefits of decentralised governance to provide the highest quality data and make it accessible to all market actors.

DIAs co-founder and Association President Michael Weber explains, With a DeFi industry already worth $5 billion and growing at a rapid pace, trusted data will become the most crucial building block for the DeFi economy. We believe that data needs to be community-driven, decentralised, and transparent. The DIA Association will be positioned to provide the best possible oracles by leveraging the decentralisation of DIA as an organisation and a community that is incentivised at each step the process.

DIAs Governance Token Distribution

Following its private sale which sold out in just 3 days, DIA will make its governance token accessible in a novel allocation mechanism dubbed bonding curve distribution. This will be the first public distribution of DIAs governance token and aims to decentralise governance to the broader DeFi and blockchain ecosystem and raise funds for the continued development of the platform. The distribution will be publicly accessible via DIAs website starting today, Monday, August 03, 2020 at 3 pm CET. The full process is explained in greater detail on DIAs official Medium blog.

DIAs team brings extensive experience in blockchain and finance

DIA is run by a team of experienced web3 founders and financial market experts and is backed by notable venture capital funds, including Outlier Ventures (OV), Continue Capital,and TRG Capital as well as angel investors from the traditional financial space. As one of the star performers to emerge from OVs Base Camp Accelerator, DIA has received praise as one of the most promising upcoming DeFi projects, dedicated to the democratisation of data and company transparency.

Following the upcoming distribution, DIA is planning several other mechanisms to allocate its governance tokens to key DeFi market actors and innovators as part of the DIA Ecosystem Token Pool and DIA Labs. DIAs goal is to reach a full DAO implementation by 2025. More details will be announced soon.

Jamie Burke, Founder of Outlier Ventures, explains, DIAs unique proposition is to democratise the provision, access, and usage of financial information by leveraging the wisdom and power of the crowd. Their mission is to make financial data standardised, open-source and accessible to everyone and under the same terms. We believe that decentralised finance will be a multi-billion dollar industry and that DIA are leading the innovation that will secure a solid and fair foundation for this industry.

About DIA: DIA (Decentralised Information Asset) is an open-source, financial information platform that utilises crypto-economic incentives to source and validate data. Market actors can supply, share and use financial and digital asset data. Based in Switzerland, DIA operates as a non-profit association.

Press contact: Carl Bruns (carl.bruns@diadata.org)

Website: https://diadata.org/Token Website: https://token.diadata.org/Medium: https://medium.com/dia-insightsTelegram: https://t.me/DIAdata_org

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DIA Launches Governance Token Distribution to Create the Decentralised Wikipedia for Financial Data - GlobeNewswire

Cryptocurrency Market Analysis: Running as if to meet the moon? – CryptoTicker.io

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Danzig

The cryptocurrency market is running as if to meet the moon. Almost all the coins are performing well. The Bitcoin price has already crossed the $11,000 mark. Many othercryptocurrenciessuch as Ethereum, Ripple, and Chainlink are performing exceptionally well. Lets take a look at it in more detail.

As mentioned earlier, theBitcoin pricehas already crossed $11,000. On Thursday, it again encountered a rejection at $11,129. The Bitcoin price trend is bullish but it could remain upward as the BTCs percentage share of the total circulating market cap is 63%. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is $11,216.89 (+1.76%).

The trading volume is now decreasing but its still higher than in June 2020. The FOMO is too high now but the most important resistance level in the short-term is $11,379 and the daily RSI is still overextended. The key metrics are as follows:

Price $11,211.5224hr Change +1.71%24hr Vol $1,729,107,620Liquid Marketcap $206,991,157,063Liquid Supply 18,446,889Max Supply 21,000,000

Five years ago,Ethereumgenesis block markedtheapproved network launch. TheEthereumhas beenthecentral driving forceformany notable blockchain variations. The Ethereum price is showing a bullish momentum and it could be on the path of gains that could beat the prior 2020 high ($334) to develop a new yearly high at $340. At the time of writing the Ethereum price is $342.96 (+7.58%).

The Ethereum price has increased by more than 40% in the last 7 days. One of the reasons for the price increase could be a significant increase in trading volume. The 24 hr volume is $1,161,906,111. The key metrics are as follows:

Price $342.9624hr Change +7.59%24hr Vol $1,161,906,111Liquid Marketcap $38,372,964,599Liquid Supply 111,417,686

The Ripple price could be developing a bullish bias. At the time of writing, the XRP price cracked the intraday high at $0.2473 and declined to $0.245. Overall, the Ripple price could be in the green zone and if you closely observe then you will find that the price is mostly unchanged since the beginning of the day. The XRP price withdrew from the current recovery high at $0.2500 and this could create a strong barrier that could isolate XRP from an upside movement towards $0.3000.

The resistance level for Ripples price could be $0.2500. The current price is $0.245 (+1.16%). The key metrics are as follows:

Price $0.24524hr Change +1.05%24hr Vol $173,699,547Liquid Marketcap $7,760,677,274Liquid Supply 31,496,039,694

Thechainlink pricehas gained almost 5% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $7.67 at the time of writing. The LINK/USD price climbed above $7.65 and this price move changed the technical depiction and delivered a subjective $8.00 price target. Overall, the recovery may be prolonged and the price could approach $9.00.

If the Chainlink price declined from here and touched $7.57 then it could increase the short-term selling pressure. The key metrics are as follows:

Price $7.6724hr Change +4.75%24hr Vol $200,552,720Liquid Marketcap $7,642,024,307Liquid Supply 1,000,000,000Max Supply 1,000,000,000

The cryptocurrency market is in the green zone and as mentioned earlier almost all cryptocurrencies are performing well. Still, it will be a good idea to check all the key metrics of all cryptocurrencies before thinking about taking any further steps. We wish you happy trading!

In order to support and motivate the CryptoTicker team, especially in times of Corona, to continue to deliver good content, we would like to ask you to donate a small amount. Independent journalism can only survive if we stick together as a society. Thank you

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