Amazon ready for SDCC@Home with first-ever virtual con – Amazon Adviser

Posted on by

Upload season 1- Courtesy of Katie Yu/Amazon Studios

SDCC 2020 is going to be very different to what were used to. Amazon Prime Video is trying to make the most of it for fans of The Boys, Upload, and more.

Due to the coronavirus, SDCC 2020 isnt happening. Well, not in the way we know it. Instead of people heading to the convention, its coming to us at home. There will be many pre-recorded panels for fans to watch at home. [emailprotected] is going to be completely free for anyone around the world to watch.

Amazon Prime Video is part of the lineup, but is going one step further to bring the sense of SDCC to us. After all, its not just about the panels. Conventions are about the experiences you can do, including the activations. And we know Amazon loves its activations.

Deadline reports that The Boys, Upload, Utopia, and Truth Seekers will head to [emailprotected] The shows make sense with a new season of The Boys premiering in September, a huge success with Upload back in May, and the chance to promote the two new shows heading to Amazon Prime Video soon.

There will be panels for all four shows. These are pre-recorded but fans have already had the chance to get many questions in. So, there will be some fan Q&As. There will also be some behind-the-scenes stories and breaking news about the shows.

Everything will be available to stream on Amazon. You dont need a Prime membership.

The panel order is:

All the videos will be available until Sunday, July 26.

One of the best things about conventions is the activations. Amazon tends to put a lot on, and this was something many fans were disappointed about missing out on. Well, you dont need to miss out.

Amazon is bringing a range of virtual programming. Its the first of its kind and will be interesting to see if other networks follow suit.

On Saturday, July 25, youll be able to join in the ComiXologys panels and a live drawing session. Theres also a comic book movie trivia night planned.

The movie trivia night is on Friday, July 24 at 5 p.m. PT on comiXologys Twitch channel.

Next up is the Summer Game Fest through Twitch. This is the place to experience the future of gaming, another major part of conventions.

Youll also be able to get your own customizable The Boys promo items completely free! There are two items to choose between and then a variety of pre-set images to pick. The items ship 10-15 days after [emailprotected]

Fans of Hanna will also get an event. Hanna Unlocked is an adventure game powered by The Escape Game. Youll drop into places between the two seasons, becoming a Utrax agent. Its up to you to piece together the events, get the intel, and figure out where Hanna and Clara are. John Carmichael will give you your orders.

Finally, Neil Gaimans Sandman is included in the virtual convention element. Its to celebrate the Audible release of the graphic novel. You can submit a description of a memorable dream via Drawn from the Dreaming or 515-SANDMAN. Selected dreams will be illustrated by some of the top artists around, including possibly one of the original artists of the novel. If you submit a dream, youll get an exclusive free audio episode from The Sandman and an overview of the story so far told by the one and only Neil Gaiman.

Now is the time to get ready and plan for [emailprotected] You can check out all the latest from the first-ever Virtual Con from Amazon Prime Video at the official website.

Go here to see the original:

Amazon ready for SDCC@Home with first-ever virtual con - Amazon Adviser

Atheism | Age of Empires Series Wiki | Fandom

Posted on by

AtheismWonder and Relic victories take +100 years-50% Spies/Treason cost

"[Player name] mocks your puny achievements. Relic and Wonder victories will take longer."

Message when an enemy has researched Atheism

The effect regarding Wonders and Relics affects all civilizations, not just the player who researches it.

Choosing to research Atheism is entirely based on the situation of the game, and is less effective in games where players are opting to win through conquest. In games where players are attempting a Wonder or Relic victory or in the Defend the Wonder game mode, the extra hundred years combined with their special ability to quickly raze enemy structures makes it considerably easier for the Huns to spoil their opponents' attempts for a Wonder or Relic victory.

Secondly, the significant cost reduction for Spies greatly benefits the Huns in their ability to scan enemy bases and observe their activity, especially since most players from other civilizations would likely avoid researching Spies due to its profoundly steep cost (200 gold per enemy Villager).

"The paganism or outright lack of faith of the Huns offended the Romans who came to think of them as truly sub-human. The Huns, in turn, were unencumbered by the laws of structured religions. Laws of social and religious order were too restrictive for a civilization that was constantly on the move. The Huns put little faith in monuments and artifacts, therefore, focusing mainly on the here and now."

See more here:

Atheism | Age of Empires Series Wiki | Fandom

The History of Atheism – dummies

Posted on by

By Dale McGowan

A lot of people think that atheism is a recent idea. But religious disbelief actually has a long and fascinating history. Just as a student of Christianity would want to know about a few rather significant things that happened 2,000 years ago, someone who wants a better understanding of atheism likewise needs to know what atheism has been up to for the past 30 centuries or so.

People tend to think of certain times and places as completely uniform in their beliefs. India is full to the brim with Hindus. The Greeks all worshipped the gods of Olympus. Everyone in Medieval Europe was Christian. Right?

A closer look shows all of these claims to be misleading. Just as political red states (Republicans) and blue states (Democrats) in the United States are really all various shades of purple, every place and time in human history includes a lot of different beliefs including atheism.

Thats not to say all points of view have the same chance to speak into the cultural microphone. Religion in general and the majority religion in particular tend to call the shots and write the histories, especially prior to the late 18th century.

Add to that the fact that atheism has often been punishable by imprisonment or death, and you can see why atheists in certain times and places tend to whisper.

But the voices are there, including some in the distant past and in cultures both in and out of Europe. The thread of atheism in the ancient and medieval world is a story that very few people know. Even atheists are usually in the dark about this part of their history.

By the early 18th century, disbelief was gathering serious steam in Europe. Secret documents challenging religious belief had been circulating for 50 years, just steps ahead of the censors. French parishioners going through the papers of their Catholic priest who died in 1729 found copies of a book, written by the priest for them, telling how much he detested and disbelieved the religion hed taught them for 40 years.

By the end of the century, philosophers in France, Germany, and England were openly challenging religious power and ideas and establishing modern concepts of human rights and individual liberty.

It all culminated, for better and worse, in the French Revolution, when a brief flirtation with an atheist state was followed by the Cult of the Supreme Being and the Reign of Terror at which point atheism went back underground for a bit.

The idea that God didnt really exist never completely went away, even when someone like Napoleon shut it down for a while. It was always bubbling under the surface and occasionally shooting out sideways through someone who just couldnt stand to keep it quiet.

The poet Percy Shelley proved to be one such person, getting himself kicked out of Oxford in 1811 for expressing an atheist opinion. Then the early feminists of England and the United States made it plenty clear that they considered religion to be a stumbling block in the way of womens rights.

Science really put the wind in the sails of atheism in the 19th century. By paying close attention to the natural world, Darwin turned himself from a minister in training to an agnostic and solved the complexity problem that prevented so many people from letting go of God.

As the biologist Richard Dawkins once said, atheism might have been possible before Darwin, but Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. But a flurry of activity after Darwins death tried to hide his loss of faith, including some selective slicing and dicing of his autobiography and a false deathbed conversion story dreamt up by a British evangelist with little respect for the Ninth Commandment.

In Darwins wake, a golden age of freethought opened up in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Atheism also doesnt guarantee good behavior any more than religion does, and Absolute power corrupts absolutely becomes a tragically apt phrase in the 20th century.

There are plenty of examples of corruption and immorality in positions of unchecked power, both by atheists (such as Mao Zedong in China, Joseph Stalin in the USSR, and Pol Pot in Cambodia) and theists (such as Adolf Hitler in Germany, Francisco Franco in Spain, and Idi Amin in Uganda).

But theres also good news, including the growth of humanism as a movement and court victories for the separation of church and state something that benefits both the church and the state.

The 20th century also saw one of the most fascinating developments in the history of religion as two God-optional religions formed and flourished: Unitarian Universalism and Humanistic Judaism.

Dale McGowan, PhD, writes the popular secular blog The Meming of Life, teaches secular parenting workshops across North America, and is executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief, a humanist charitable organization. He has been interviewed in major publications, such as Newsweek and the New York Times, and was 2008 Harvard Humanist of the Year.

More here:

The History of Atheism - dummies

Key Differences Between Atheism and Agnosticism

Posted on by

The words atheist and agnostic conjure up a number of different perceptions and meanings. When it comes to questioning the existence of gods, the subject is a tricky one that is often misunderstood.

No matter what their reasons or how they approach the question, agnostics and atheists are fundamentally different, but also non-exclusive. Many people who adopt the label of agnostic simultaneously reject the label of atheist, even if it technically applies to them.

In addition, there's a common misconception thatagnosticismis somehow a more reasonable position while atheism is more dogmatic, ultimately indistinguishable fromtheismexcept in the details. This is not a valid argument because it misrepresents or misunderstands everything involved: atheism, theism, agnosticism, and even thenature of beliefitself.

Let's explore the differences between being an atheist and an agnostic and clear the air of any preconceptions or misinterpretations.

An atheist is anyone who doesn't believe in any gods. This is a very simple concept, but it's also widely misunderstood. For that reason, there are a variety of ways to state it.

Atheism is the lack of belief in gods; the absence of belief in gods; disbelief in gods; or not believing in gods.

The most precise definition may be that an atheist is anyone who does not affirm the proposition "at least one god exists." This is not a proposition made by atheists. Being an atheist requires nothing active or even conscious on the part of the atheist. All that is required is not "affirming" a proposition made by others.

An agnostic is anyone who doesn't claim to know whether any gods exist or not. This is also an uncomplicated idea, but it may be as misunderstood as atheism.

One major problem is that atheism and agnosticism both deal with questions regarding the existence of gods. Whereas atheism involves what a person does or does not believe, agnosticism involves what a person does or does not know. Belief and knowledge are related but nevertheless separate issues.

There's a simple test to tell if one is an agnostic or not. Do you know for sure if any gods exist? If so, then you're not an agnostic, but a theist. Do you know for sure that gods do not or even cannot exist? If so, then you're not an agnostic, but an atheist.

Everyone who cannot answer "yes" to one of those questions is a person who may or may not believe in one or more gods. However, since they don't also claim to know for sure, they are agnostic. The only question then is whether they are an agnostic theist or an agnostic atheist.

An agnostic atheist doesn't believe in any gods while anagnostic theistbelieves in the existence of at least one god. However, both do not make the claim to have the knowledge to back up this belief. Fundamentally, there is still some question and that is why they're agnostic.

This seems contradictory and difficult, but it's actually quite easy and logical. Whether one believes or not, they can also be comfortable in not claiming to know for sure that it's either true or false. It occurs in many different topics as well because belief is not the same as direct knowledge.

Once it is understood thatatheism is merely the absence of belief in any gods, it becomes clear that agnosticism is not, as many assume, a third way between atheism and theism. The presence of a belief in a god and the absence of a belief in a god does not exhaust all of the possibilities.

Agnosticism is not about belief in god but about knowledge. It was originally coined to describe the position of a person who could not claim to know for sure if any gods exist or not. It was not meant to describe someone who somehow found an alternative between the presence and absence of some particular belief.

Yet, many people have the mistaken impression that agnosticism and atheism are mutually exclusive. But why? There's nothing about "I don't know" which logically excludes "I believe."

On the contrary, not only are knowledge and belief compatible, but they frequently appear together because not knowing is frequently a reason for not believing. It's often a very good idea to not accept that some proposition is true unless you have enough evidence that would qualify it as knowledge.Being a juror in a murder trial is a good parallel to this contradiction.

By now, the difference between being an atheist and an agnostic should be pretty clear and easy to remember. Atheism is about belief or, specifically, what you don't believe. Agnosticism is about knowledge or, specifically, about what you don't know.

An atheist doesn't believe in any gods. An agnostic doesn't know if any gods exist or not. These can be the exact same person, but need not be.

In the end, the fact of the matter is that a person is not faced with the necessity of only being either an atheist or an agnostic. Not only can a person be both, but itis, in fact, common for people to be both agnostics and atheists or agnostics and theists.

An agnostic atheist wont claim to know for sure that nothing warranting the label god exists or that such cannot exist. And yet, they also dont actively believe that such an entity does indeed exist.

Read more:

Key Differences Between Atheism and Agnosticism

Fay Moves Out, Tropical Air Sticks Around – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

Posted on by

July 11, 2020

7Weather- Fay continues to move north today, but were left with the tropical air, and the threat for rip currents on our beaches.

There will be a mix of clouds and sun at the beach today with high surf, and a moderate to high risk of rip currents. If you get in the water, be very careful, and swim close to a lifeguard. There is a high surf advisory in effect today for seas between 5-7 feet for southern Bristol, Dukes, and Nantucket counties.

Temperatures will be in the upper 70s to low 80s at along the coast today. Sunday is looking like the better beach day. Skies will be mainly sunny and highs along the beach will be in the low and mid 80s.

The rest of today has a mix of clouds and sun and it will be very humid. Temperatures reach into the mid and upper 80s, and it will be breezy with gusts between 25-30 mph. Theres also the chance for an isolated storm in central Mass and southern New Hampshire.

Clouds gradually increase tonight and there will be patchy fog. The fog might stick around early Sunday morning, but it quickly burns off. It wont but as humid as Saturday, but it remains hot with highs close to 90.

See original here:

Fay Moves Out, Tropical Air Sticks Around - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

GE2020 official results: PAP slate helmed by Masagos retains Tampines GRC with 66.41% of votes – The Straits Times

Posted on by

SINGAPORE -The People's Action Party (PAP) has retained Tampines GRC, scoring 66.41 per cent of the votes against the National Solidarity Party (NSP).

This is lower than its score in 2015, when it won 72.1 per cent.

In 2011, it took 57.22 per cent of the vote.

This round, the NSP won 33.59 per cent of the votes.

This election, the PAP team did battle without its former anchor minister, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, at the helm. Mr Heng, who is also the Finance Minister, left to strengthen the slate at the adjacent East Coast GRC, facing the Workers' Party.

The five-member PAP team is led by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, 57. The others on it areSenior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng, 49; Mr Desmond Choo, 42; Ms Cheng Li Hui, 44;and Senior Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon, 48, who was previously in Ang Mo Kio GRC .

The NSP slate for Tampines includesparty president Reno Fong Chin Leong, 51, Mr Eugene Yeo Ren Yuan, 43, and Mr Choong Hon Heng, 44. This is the second Tampines GRC outing for Mr Fong and Mr Choong , while Mr Eugene had competed in Sembawang GRC previously.

They were joined by two new faces: senior manager Mohamad Ridzwan, 58, and broker and recruiter Vincent Ng, 48.

The GRC expanded slightly this GEby taking in parts of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, and now boasts some 151,708 registered voters - up from 143,518.

The PAP team there had largely campaigned on national issues, focusing on jobs amid the Covid-19 storm. For instance, Mr Masagos pledged that Dr Koh, who is deputy secretary general of the labour movement, will work with unions to preserve workers' job security.

NSP had put forward 14 proposals, including constituency-specific issues such the building of more amenities for the disabled and the elderly.

On the national front, it called for the abolition of the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) if it is found to disadvantage local PMETs; and lower HDB flat prices.

Speaking to the media, Mr Fong addressed the higher vote share that his party had received in this election, commenting that the ruling PAP party "has not done as well as it should have over the last five years".

He added: "Of course, we are not happy about the result but we respect the will of the voters, and we, of course, thank those who have voted for us."

The use of new media to conduct the election did not help, he said, adding that the NSP still prefers the traditional rallies which are "closer to ground".

Speaking to the media after the results were out, Mr Masagos said that the team is "not done building Tampines yet".

In response to a question on the decease in its vote share this year and whether DPM Heng's move to East Coast was a factor, Mr Masagos said: "We will analyse the impact that this general election has been to Tampines particularly, but more importantly 2015 was an extraordinary year."

Read more:

GE2020 official results: PAP slate helmed by Masagos retains Tampines GRC with 66.41% of votes - The Straits Times

Arrested Professor Xu Zhangrun Was a Voice for Chinese Culture and a Threat to Xi Jinping – Foreign Policy

Posted on by

The knock at the door came Monday morning for Xu Zhangrun. The Beijing-based legal scholar had long anticipated such a day would come, writing more than once that an essay might be his last and keeping a fresh change of clothes by the door of his home. A score of police officers surrounded and seized him, reportedly with an accusation that he had solicited prostitutesa charge so commonly trumped-up against dissidents that Xu himself previously warned it would be used against him. Until recently, he was a well-connected scholar at one of the countrys preeminent universities, Tsinghua. Now he is in the opaque world of the party-state legal system, meaning months of detention without formal charge followed by a brief show trial.

It is perhaps easiest to define Xus place in the tradition of dissent to Chinese authoritarianism by first stating what he is not. Xu Zhangrun is not an ethnic or religious minority. He is not a human rights lawyer. He is not a feminist activist. He is not an artist. He is not known to have been a participant in the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement. All these groups, and many others, have been targeted in Chinese President Xi Jinpings many strikes at opposition, real and imagined, to absolutist rule since his ascension to power in 2012.

Xus role in the vanishingly thin network of resistance to the Chinese Communist Partys spreading social control is different than leaders in each of those laudable groups. Xu is a scholar and critic seeking reform, not revolution. He clearly sees himself in the tradition of reformist personages going back to the imperial era. Figures such as Zhang Zhidong (1837-1909) remained loyal to China but sought to reform the Qing empire and reconcile Chinese sociopolitical traditions with the impositions of foreign thought. This tradition is perhaps vaguely similar to the notion of the loyal opposition in Europe. Xus writings are critical of Chinese political power structures but always evince a care for the well-being of the Chinese nation. It was this visible affection for his native land that allowed him to initially thrive as a scholar.

Xus first monograph, which began as his doctoral dissertation, provides a clue to his character. He discusses the thought of Liang Shuming, a notable scholar and official in the 20th century whose criticism of Mao Zedong in the early 1950s drew a sharp rebuke from Mao himself. Xu openly admires Liang, writing that he was m by rooting it within Chinas cultural heritage. Liang did not call for the end of the Communist Party or flee the country. As Xu explains, Liang criticized Mao and others not only for the mistakes of the early years after the revolution but for seeking social transformations by locating modernity only within external traditions of thought, whether of the Euro-American variety or later Soviet.

Xu and Liang both view communism as foreign to Chinese culture, despite all efforts by the party to weld itself to Chinese nationalism and social traditions. Can groups of humans who were bounded with home-grown traditions survive by totally shifting to those of others, after they have destroyed their own traditions? Xu asks, noting the risk of social dysphoria caused by the broad application of any system not rooted within Chinas own culture, whether liberal or socialist in nature. Without deep roots in the solid meaningful soil of Chinese culture, he argues, the legitimacy of any legal system is questionable.

While Xu praised the reforms of the early 1980s, his suggestion in his work on Liang Shuming that the legal systems legitimacy requires a deeper foundation in Chinese culture is different than the partys oft-touted Chinese characteristics. Xu finds in Liangs work and in the Confucian tradition a basis for equality before the law, and the law standing above any person or movement. Further, he argues that a central tenet of Chinese tradition is that a contemporary political authority may not so dominate as to impede the processes of human reason. This is quite different from the partys notion of Chinese characteristics consisting of an overwhelming central authority, a mixed economy with market and socialist aspects, and Han favoritism.

Just as Liang did not reject the Communist Partys rule outright, even in his harshest criticisms, Xu does not call for an end to the party-state nor even directly call for democracy. Instead, in the 2018 essay that brought him much greater prominence, Imminent Fears, Immediate HopesA Beijing Jeremiad, he offers a series of reforms that he says would improve the social harmony and well-being of the Chinese nation. Perhaps Xus most penetrating insight in this essay was to dissect just how toxic Xis abolition of presidential term limits was. Xu argues that a limit of 10 years on a leaders term meant greater tranquility for the Chinese peopleone less thing to worry about as the chances of yet another period of political instability were reduced. Despite all the vacuous hoopla about other kinds of political reform initiatives, Xu contends, the establishment of term limits in the 1980s had been the only tangible example of real political reform and progress in China in three decades that was actually meaningful to ordinary Chinese people. By further concentrating power, China risked returning back to the Dark Ages of personality cults ruining the lives of ordinary Chinese.

As his own freedoms were relentlessly curtailed, this year Xu allowed himself to admit his own emotions were closest to righteous indignation (a term he carefully delineated as Western) when he considered the political system that had allowed the coronavirus to flourish while stripping him of his occupation for merely writing an essay. Though he despaired that scholars such as himself were useless, he still called on fellow Chinese to rage against this injustice. In his last missive, he even dared to call openly for independent political parties to be formed.

What happened to Xu on Monday is part of the larger constriction of political, social, and cultural thought occurring in China under Xi. Mirroring the aggressive maneuvers Xi has pursued at Chinas periphery while the world is distracted with the coronavirus, it reaches nearly every corner of society. It is becoming more formalized with each passing day.

Late last year, the party removed the phrase freedom of thought from the charters of several major universities, replacing it with language insisting upon allegiance to the party. It remains to be seen how successful the party will be at erasing every smudge of dissent. So far, no force of sufficient power has resisted it. The link that once led to Xus biographical page on the website of Tsinghua University now leads only to an error message stating that the page cannot be found.

See original here:

Arrested Professor Xu Zhangrun Was a Voice for Chinese Culture and a Threat to Xi Jinping - Foreign Policy

Started with Rs 51, this Indian jewellery brand now designs for Oscars, is worn by Olivia Wilde, Sonam Kapoor, – YourStory

Posted on by

In 1932, Ambalal Chokshi was contemplating if he should join his fathers jewellery business or start one of his own. The Vadodara-based man, realising he had a penchant for Indian jewellery, decided to put his knowledge to maximum use and launch a business.

With just Rs 51 in his pocket, Ambalal started a wholesale jewellery business under his name. In 1940, he transitioned to a retail model to sell directly to customers.

Ketan Chokshi, coowner, Narayan Jewellers

Today, the family business is a success, adorning the likes of Olivia Wilde, Sonam Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Shilpa Shetty, etc., with its jewellery on red carpet occasions. It has also collaborated with Forevermark to design jewellery for celebrity attendees at the Academy Awards (the Oscars) for seven years.

Narayan Jewellers has a 5,200 square foot flagship store in Vadodara, Gujarat, showcasing gold, polki, diamond, and jadau jewellery. It also has 35 employees on its payroll.

In an exclusive interview with SMBStory, Ketan describes how Narayan Jewellers became a success and explains its business model.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

SMBStory [SMBS]: How did Ambalals business grow into a large, family-run jewellery company?

Ketan Chokshi [KC]: Being young and new in the business, my grandfather had limited resources and no help or assistance. Right from sourcing raw material at the best price to identifying the right logistics for transport, he had to do it all by himself. His sincerity, hard work, and honesty paved the path towards becoming a trustworthy name in the business.

Between 1997 and 1999, my brother Jatin and I joined the business and brought in our design intellect and management expertise. We grew it into a leading designer jewellery brand, won numerous awards, and launched our flagship store.

SMBS: Where does manufacturing happen? Do you own the manufacturing units?

KC: We deal with a variety of products and jewellery designs, and so, sourcing from one unit does not happen. Further, the jewellery industry in India is skills and talent-based. We need a Marwari kaarigar (worker) for jadau jewellery, and a Bengali kaarigar for diamonds and gold jewellery. The industry is skill-driven rather than volume-driven. Every skill has a particular style and strength of workmanship, hence the idea of having everything in-house does not work.

Our designs are our strength, and we get the jewellery articles manufactured from the best craftsmen of Bikaner and Jaipur in Central India, Chandigarh and Delhi in North India, Kolkata in East India, and Mumbai, Rajkot, Surat, and Vadodara in Western India.

About 30 to 33 percent of these facilities are controlled by us, and the rest is outsourced. The model depends on the manufacturers capacity this is the standard business arrangement in the jewellery industry so far in India.

Bridal Earrings by Narayan Jewellers

SMBS: What is your business model?

KC: A systematic and engineered approach to design, as well as the USP of not creating a second piece of the same design, has made us a preferred brand. A brand with a lineage of 80 years, we have been conducting continuous research and working on innovative designs to meet global standards and trends.

Besides our flagship store, we are working towards being present globally, and are going omnichannel with the launch of our online store this year.

Narayan targets a varied audience, as we cater to everyone, right from the niche and high-end customers to the masses. We have jewellery that starts from a few thousand rupees and goes up to crores.

SMBS: How is the company raising brand awareness and handling its marketing?

Narayan Jewellers has been a part of celebrity weddings such as of Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra. Weve also styled Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities. Our collection has been showcased at the New York Fashion Week for five seasons, including February 2020, in association with Forevermark and Bibhu Mohapatra.

We are active on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and WhatsApp, where we interact with our customers and understand their needs regularly. We will also be launching our ecommerce website soon.

SMBS: What are the toughest moments the company has faced?

KC: Before the abolition of the Gold (Control) Act in 1990, no one was allowed to keep 24 carats of gold in their home, and it was not easy to do business during the time. We faced it with a strong attitude until it was abolished.

We became the first family jewellery brand to get the BIS Hallmarking License in Vadodara when it was introduced in India in 2000. Other tough periods included the global recession in 2008, demonetisation, implementation of GST, and now, the COVID-19 pandemic. We have stuck with a positive attitude through the tough times, and come out as a winner.

Two-finger diamond ring by Narayan Jewellers

SMBS: How has COVID-19 affected the business, and what is being done to address it?

KC: COVID-19 has put the entire world on pause. People are still scared to go out of their house. Footfalls are limited. The jewellery that has been ordered is not getting picked up right now. Everyone is taking their own time to settle with this new scenario that has been created around us.

Usually, April to mid-July is the lowest quarter of the year, and COVID hit us exactly then. It resulted in business going down by 30 to 40 percent. By Diwali, we should be in a better situation.

Our store resumed operations just 20 days ago, and I believe people will slowly come back to the jewellery sector. I am sure that the future holds good things for us. The wedding season has also been postponed by three to six months, so there are challenges in that aspect.

But being in a high-end, niche designer jewellery segment, we will definitely sail through this. Lifestyle customers for whom jewellery is a part of their lives are our biggest strength.

Want to make your startup journey smooth? YS Education brings a comprehensive Funding Course, where you also get a chance to pitch your business plan to top investors. Click here to know more.

See the original post here:

Started with Rs 51, this Indian jewellery brand now designs for Oscars, is worn by Olivia Wilde, Sonam Kapoor, - YourStory

Finding Hope in Americas Pandemic Dystopia – The American Prospect

Posted on by

The Open Mind explores the world of ideas across politics, media, science, technology, and the arts. The American Prospect is republishing this edited excerpt.

Heffner: We seem to be living through a dystopia for realists now with the Iran-U.S. confrontation, the global pandemic, and now worldwide protests. Is that a fair way to look at it, or are we going to come out of the dystopia into a utopia?

Bregman: You know its very understandable if people are pessimistic right now. I always like to make a distinction between optimism and hope. I mean, you certainly dont have to be an optimist right now. But I think there are some reasons to have hope because hope is about the possibility of change, right? I think that this moment gives us a lot of reasons for hope as well. I mean weve seen that ideas that just a couple of years ago were dismissed as quite unreasonable and radical and crazy have been moving into the mainstream. Now they still have a long way to go yet, Im talking about ideas like universal basic income or higher taxes on the rich or you name it. But that gives me some hope.

Heffner: Is there a reason to be more cynical about the condition of humankind in the United States right now?

Bregman: Institutional racism and racism and discrimination, these are not uniquely American phenomena. It exists everywhere in the world and in Europe, sadly as well. There are some things though that we can learn from other countries. In the book, Ive got one example of how prisons in Norway are organized. The U.S. could learn quite a bit from that. So what you have in the United States are sort of taxpayer-funded institutions that are called prisons, where you have citizens who go in there for small crimes I dont know, small drug offenses and they come out as criminals. They create this kind of bad behavior.

Now in Norway, they have the opposite. They have an institution where people go in as criminals and they come out as citizens. If you look at these prisons, theyre very strange. Actually theres one prison called Bastoy, a little bit to the South of Oslo. It basically looks like a holiday resort. Inmates have the freedom to relax with the guards, socialize with them to make music. Theyve got their own music studio and their own music label called Criminal Records.

So sort of your first intuition is like these small regions have gone nuts.

Like this is very crazy, but then you look at the statistics, you look at the numbers, it turns out this is the most effective prison in the world because it has the lowest recidivism rate in the world, the lowest chance that someone will commit another crime once he or she gets out of prison. So investing in these kinds of institutions, you will actually get a return on investments. These things save money in the long term because the chance that someone will find a job actually increases with 40 percent.

Your donation keeps this site free and open for all to read. Give what you can...

SUPPORT THE PROSPECT

Now, its just unimaginable that this will ever happen in the United States. But, I try to show that actually it wasnt just the U.S. that was the first country that experiments it with these kind of prisons in the sixtiesjust as the U.S. was almost about to implement a universal, basic income to completely eradicate poverty at the beginning of the seventies. Thats where historians may be useful. They just can show that, you know, things can be different, you know, they can be much better.

Heffner: Those solutions that you describe are innovative and imaginative at a time when this country couldnt even honor the commitment of frontline essential workers.

Bregman: The country is capable of the compassion because we see so much compassion. We see millions of very courageous protesters in the streets. Its just that we need a political revolution here. The short summary of my book would be something like most people are pretty decent, but power corrupts.

For the vast majority of our history, when we were still nomadic hunter gatherers, there was a process going on that scientists call survival of the friendliest, which means that actually for millennia, it was the friendliest among us who had the most kids and so had the biggest chance of passing on their genes to the next generation.

Then you look at current policies and it seems like, well, thats not survival of the friendliest, this is survival of the shamelessand its not only the case in the U.S. its also the case in the UK with pretty shameless politicians like Boris Johnson or in Brazil with [Jair] Bolsenaro. Its a real indictment of the so-called democracy we have created that [its] somehow not the most humble leader [who] rise to the top, but the most shameless leaders.

Heffner: Does your book advocate for a specific tactic that can be used by protestors to try to in this new tech age to actualize their movement for reform when the political means to achieve it really dont seem apparent.

The country is capable of the compassion because we see so much compassion. We see millions of very courageous protesters in the streets. Its just that we need a political revolution here.

Bregman: Its not up to me as a white European to say, I know this tactic is better or that that, that tactic is better. Or if they say that people shouldnt try it or whateverlike Martin Luther King said a riot is the language of the unheard. But it is interesting though, that if you look at the scientific evidence that the approach that the vast majority of protesters are taking right now, very courageously so, the peaceful approach is also the most effective one.

Weve got the work of sociologist called Erica Chenoweth whos built this huge database of protest movements since the 1900s. She discovered that actually peaceful protest movements are twice as successful as violent ones. The reason is that they bring in a lot more people on average 11 times more, right. You bring in children and women and the elderly and older men, and you name it, so everyone can participate in these more peaceful protest movements.

Your donation keeps this site free and open for all to read. Give what you can...

SUPPORT THE PROSPECT

Im not saying that a certain amount of rioting or violence [should not occur]. Im very hesitant to sort of condemn that when we see sort of the horrific brutal savage police violence, thats the real story. Thats what we should really be talking about. Im hopeful and Im so impressed just to see this for ordinary uprising of so many peaceful protestors who are against all odds keeping their self control and doing whats right. Its, its very, very impressive.

Heffner: Do you think that in the wake of the pandemic our economy can recover in a more equitable fashion?

Bregman: Every historian knows that throughout history, crises have been abused by those in power. Think about the burning of the Reichstag and then you get Adolph Hitler, think about 9/11, and then you get two illegal wars and massive surveillance of citizens by the government. This is an old playbook.

But weve got other examples as well. The New Deal, they came up with it in the midst of the Great Depression. Think about the Beveridge Report, the primal text of the welfare state in Great Britain was not written after the war, but in 1942, when the bombs were falling on London. So now is the time to do something like that.

Heres my hope: If you, again, zoom out and you look at the past 40 years, I think you could describe it as the era that was governed by the values of selfishness and competitionthe greed is good mantra. My hope is, and I do sense a shift in zeitgeist here, is that we can now move into a different era thats more about solidarity.

Read more:

Finding Hope in Americas Pandemic Dystopia - The American Prospect

I Couldnt Do Anything: The Virus and an E.R. Doctors Suicide – The New York Times

Posted on by

In 2011, Dr. Breen was promoted to the helm of the emergency department, where colleagues said she tended to solve problems with systematic precision and preferred concrete solutions.

She liked structure, said Dr. James Giglio, who was then her boss. She liked working in an organized world.

That world would later distort and crumple. By early this year, the coronavirus was slipping into New York, undetected and underestimated.

In late February, as elected officials were still assuring the public that the virus did not pose a serious threat, Dr. Breen sat down at her computer and updated a contingency plan addressed to her family. It was a compilation of instructions on where to find her passwords, routes she would use if she had to get out of the city and how family members should contact one another.

She had created it after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and revised it after Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 it was her methodical response to calamity.

The coronavirus, she was convinced, would catch hospitals off guard.

A week later, she went on a planned vacation with Ms. Feist, her sister, in Big Sky, Mont. They sat in a hot tub and mused about going to Italy in a few years. By the time Dr. Breen returned from the trip, a state of emergency had been declared in New York.

At the Allen, discussions about staffing and supplies escalated. A lawyer from New Rochelle, N.Y., had been diagnosed recently with Covid-19 even though he had not traveled to any areas where the disease was known to be spreading. It was one of the first indications that the virus had already taken hold in the state, and a red flag for the NewYork-Presbyterian system, where he was a patient.

Link:

I Couldnt Do Anything: The Virus and an E.R. Doctors Suicide - The New York Times

USC to Allow International Students to Take Free In-Person Class to Keep Visa – California Globe

Posted on by

University of Southern California grabbed headlines last year over the Varsity Blues college admissions scam, billed as the biggest evercollege entrance scandal, including several high-profile Hollywood parents. Additionally, the former USC medical school dean was linked to drugs and prostitutes, and was forced to resign in 2018. His successor was ousted less than a year after being appointed following revelations of a sexual harassment settlement from 15 years earlier.

Now, the University of Southern California is offering international students a free class in order to maintain their Visa, while charging domestic students for classes.

What is behind this odd policy? A new Trump administration policy which could force international students to leave the country is being met with opposition, CBS Los Angeles reported. In response, USC announced a plan that would allow those students to remain at the school.

As California Globe reported Thursday, The newICE orders announced on Monday specifically target international students not going to physical classes. Those attending universities under hybrid online/in-class models will be allowed to stay.

Almost immediately, the University of California announced it would sue the federal government over the ICE order to stop international students from staying in the United States if they attend universities that offer online only courses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

James Lacy, a Southern California attorney and USC alumnus, had a very interesting reaction to this: Im no immigration lawyer but it seems to me if USC is offering a class for the sole reason of accommodating a visa rather than for its sole academic value, it is engaging in a conspiracy to violate our nations immigration laws. Sad for the ongoing embrace of the Left at my alma mater; they have had enough screw ups.

Its also discrimination to charge the domestic students but offer for free to the international ones, weighed in California attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon.

This isnt USCs first rodeo. The private university has been mired in scandal after scandal in recent years.

Lacy has been keeping track of some of USCs issues, and it isnt pretty.

In sum, USC has the admission scandal, bribery issues, poor receipt and management of distribution of donated funds (Womens sports) and brewing class action lawsuits and other litigation pulling resources away from its mission, Lacy says.

But wait! Theres more!

-Business School dean controversy rising to the Board of Trustees level;

USC gynecologist George Tyndall sexual abuse

-The Womans Health Center sex abuse went on for decades, and lawsuits have been eating up funds. The court granted preliminary approval for the $215 million federal class action settlement that will compensate individuals who received womens health services from former USC gynecologist George Tyndall at the Student Health Center.

-Tyndall was arrested by LAPD, and the District Attorney announced criminal charges 6/25/19. Tyndall was charged with 29 felonies.

-Former USC gynecologist George Tyndall was also charged with sexual abuse of patients, and sold photographs and sex videos he took of young women he lured to his hotel rooms while traveling outside the U.S.: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-usc-gynecologist-tyndall-20190709-story.html

-USC was warned about gynecologist https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=30d0d6c5-cbf9-44a9-8069-c6f69effdf52

-The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday it found systemic failures in the University of Southern Californias treatment of allegations of sexual abuse by a longtime campus gynecologist and ordered the school to overhaul its procedures for preventing sex discrimination and to conduct a formal review of how employees responded. This total and complete failure to protect students is heartbreaking and inexcusable, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement.

Dr. George Tyndall, who treated USC students for nearly three decades, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office regarding 16 patients. Civil litigation involves thousands of former patients.https://apnews.com/1f1cb20ba227f235126976b1b351258c

New criminal charges against USC doctor. $215 million class action.https://apnews.com/56cd8afb1746c81b22a4b27c8cf36567

Varsity Blues Scandal

Criminal complaint filed by FBI saidAgustin Huneeus paid $250,000 to William Singers Foundation and a coach at USC to get his daughter on water polo team, even though she was not a top athlete and it was understood she would not have to play, as California Globe reported. Huneeus was sentenced to five months in prison.

-Admissions official admited and plead guilty for accepting bribes. https://www.dailynews.com/2020/06/15/former-usc-official-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-get-unqualified-applicants-admitted/

-Douglas Hodge, once the leader of an international bond manager and now an admitted felon, was ordered to spend nine months in federal prison for paying bribes totaling $850,000 to get four of his children into USC and Georgetown as fake athletic recruits.

Self-aggrandizing leadership culture on campus

-Lacys own view of a self-aggrandizing leadership culture on campus allowing Administrators to actually name structures after themselves and wives.

-Poorly advised Commission to change names of structures because of alleged and dubious racist past;

More college admissions and sex scandal

-Rick Caruso, Board Chairman, caught with young sorority girls, as well as his daughters friends, including one associated with bribery on his 200 foot yacht in Bahamas during 2019 Spring break. What do sorority girls do on a 200 foot yacht in Bahamas during Spring break? Lacy asks. (Caruso didnt exactly treat them to a visit to the British Museum.)

-Nikias, discredited President, still on campus. Million dollar salary. Represented in exit negotiation by a trustee lawyer. Ethical questions. Not appropriate discipline. Buys $4.1 million home in Manhattan Beach. How many University presidents do that? Lacy asks.

USC gave nearly $1 million to medical school dean linked to drugs

-The University of Southern California paidDr. Carmen Puliafito, its former medical school dean, nearly $1 million in severance along with a bonus, according to tax filings disclosed.

Puliafito was the subject of LA Times investigationin 2017 that revealed he used drugs and partied with young addicts while running the Keck School of Medicine.

In a settlement after USC banned him from campus, Puliafito was allowed to resign in September 2017, with the university giving him a $875,000 payout. That year, USC also paid him a $124,000 bonus.

USC Online degrees Social Work School scandal

-School of Social Work on-line degree scandal the start-up the university partnered with years ago. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usc-social-work-20190606-story.html

USC pays up for poaching a star UC scientist

-Unethical poaching under USC President of other professors https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=e4beee68-3140-4df8-a831-96b13ed49d22

Ex-USC assistant coach said he was forced out after reporting NCAA violations

-lawsuit by USC Assistant Coach for NCAA violation whistleblowing. Former USC Trojans defensive quality control assistant Rick Courtright alleged in a lawsuit Monday that undergraduate students were paid to pose as graduate assistants from the team to take online classes and receive graduate degrees, according to a 2019 report by the LATimes.com.

Courtright is informed and believes that USC banned him from the football department so that he would no longer be privy to multiple illegal activities in the department and therefore would not be able to report these activities, Lacy reported the lawsuit said.

NCAA hits USC with big punishments

-The NCAA threw the book at USC in 2010 with a two-year bowl ban, four years probation, loss of scholarships and forfeits of an entire years games for improper benefits to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush dating to the Trojans 2004 national championship, Fox Sports reported in 2010. USC was penalized for a lack of institutional control in the ruling by the NCAA following its four-year investigation. The penalties include the loss of 30 football scholarships over three years and vacating 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season.

UCLA epidemiologist calls out USC med school professors on big money research used to establish EPA regulations

Go here to see the original:

USC to Allow International Students to Take Free In-Person Class to Keep Visa - California Globe

Class of 2020 Outcomes: Emily Hahn Navigates to Nursing – High Point University

Posted on by

Click here to view more graduate profiles

With another successful Commencement behind us, High Point University graduates are commencing prestigious career paths around the world at Fortune 500 companies, international service programs, public school systems, top-tier law, medical and graduate school programs, and many other esteemed organizations thanks to their journey at HPU. Heres a glimpse of one extraordinary senior from the Class of 2020:

Name: Emily Hahn

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

Major: Biology with a minor in psychology

Post-graduation plans: Hahn will be attending Belmont University for their Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in Nashville, Tennessee.

How HPU helped you get there: The summer after freshman year I was blessed to be granted a position in the SuRPS program. This summer, I got a wonderful opportunity to partake in undergraduate research. During this time, I received the training necessary to carry out research throughout the rest of my college career. Being able to say I conducted cancer research from the time I was 19 definitely boosted my resume. Having a good resume was an extremely important part of being competitive in the graduate school application process. The Office of Career and Professional Development was an extremely helpful resource that I used to get help with my resume.

Most impactful mentor at HPU: I could not possibly narrow it down to one most important mentor. There are SO many people at HPU who have helped me grow and supported me every step of the way! Thank you to my second mothers Ms. Vernell and Ms. Melissa! These women made me feel at home from the second I walked onto this campus as a high schooler. They offered hugs and advice any time I needed it. In the biology department, Dr. Suh and Dr. Vigueira answered countless questions patiently. Dr. Vigueira was a different kind of science professor. He made students think about our futures. We didnt all have to be doctors or nurses. Science encompasses so many things and he stressed the importance of finding what you love. The last group of people that impacted me were the people at every restaurant on campus. They saw me at my most stressed and tired and somehow knew my bad days and made sure I took an extra dessert or some Cocoa Puffs for the road.

Most impactful moment at HPU: I would say my most impactful moment at HPU was the day I found out that we would not come back for my final two months of senior year. This moment made me realize how fulfilling the past four years have been. I look back at how afraid, young and immature I was and think, wow. I look back and know Ive blossomed into someone I consider extraordinary. I have met so many wonderful people who will push, even as an alumni. I have learned the skills necessary to be a competitive, kind, understanding, valuable member of society. I have had memories that could last a lifetime.

Advice for underclassmen: One piece of advice I would give to underclassmen is to not feel like you have to carry out your original plan. I began college with the goal of going to medical school. However, listening to medical students and being in a hospital setting made me realize that wasnt necessarily the right thing for me. I think a lot of students, myself included, get hung up on their plan. Deciding something isnt right for you now, is better than deciding something isnt right for you in 10 years! Dr. Qubein teaches us that if you want something you have to go out and get it; its not going to be given to you! That is true of your happiness too.

See original here:

Class of 2020 Outcomes: Emily Hahn Navigates to Nursing - High Point University

CD Projekt Red has no Game Pass plans for Cyberpunk 2077 – VentureBeat

Posted on by

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the biggest games coming this year for consoles and PC. But one platform its not headed to any time soon is Microsofts Xbox Game Pass. Thats according to developer CD Projekt Red lead PR boss Radek Grabowski.

During a conversation on Twitter, I used Cyberpunk 2077 as an example of a big-name game that Microsoft could potentially try to get on Game Pass soon after release. That prompted a reply from Grabowski.

You have to pick another example, Jeff, reads his message. No Game Pass plans for Cyberpunk 2077.

This isnt surprising. Anticipation for Cyberpunk 2077 is sky-high, and that is likely going to mean blockbuster sales for the open-world sci-fi role-playing adventure. Agreeing to put Cyberpunk 2077 on Game Pass could eat into some of those sales. After all, thats the idea. You pay $10 per month to get games as part of a subscription instead of spending full price on them.

But Game Pass could also start to erode the value perception of major video games. A PlayStation owner might hesitate on spending $60 on Cyberpunk if they know that their Xbox counterparts are getting the game as part of a Netflix-style service. Protecting the perception that games are worth $60 at launch is crucial to the long-term viability of big-budget projects that CD Projekt Red specializes in.

So then why are we even talking about this? Ive heard unsubstantiated rumors that Cyberpunk could end up on Game Pass soon after release. And Microsoft has a co-marketing deal for the game. This is also a strategy that makes sense for Xbox. But if a marquee, third-party release ends up on Game Pass near its release, its not Cyberpunk.

See the original post:

CD Projekt Red has no Game Pass plans for Cyberpunk 2077 - VentureBeat

Cyberpunk 2077 to run only on DX12 but Win10 is not required – AltChar

Posted on by

Cyberpunk 2077 looks gorgeous from what has been shown to the public so far but the graphics coupled with the game's intricacy had fans wondering how base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One would be able to run it.

According to Jakub Knapik, the lighting and FX art director, and Marcin Gollent, the lead graphics programmer, this will be partially possible due to the game running only on DirectX 12. The API has proven to be somewhat problematic with other games but there is no doubt that performance gains are significant when it works.

In an interview with PC Games Hardware, the duo mentioned the benefits of raytracing and the four raytraced effects that are used in CP2077:

As a result of the heavy investment in DirectX Raytracing, CDPR decided to go with DirectX 12 only, meaning there would be some limitations for certain setups. For example, Windows 8 does not support DX12 and as such, Cyberpunk 2077 will not be available on that operating system.

Thankfully, Windows 7 SP1 included DX12 support so those who still have it as their favourite OS will be able to play CP2077. Other than that, Windows 10 will be needed.

As for the GPUs, Gollent stated that DX12 Ultimate and Cyberpunk 2077 "will work absolutely fine with all DX12-compatible GPUs" so if you keep wondering if your rig is good enough for CP2077, it might be good to check its API compatibility.

More:

Cyberpunk 2077 to run only on DX12 but Win10 is not required - AltChar

ClearOne Unite 20 Pro Webcam review The Gadgeteer – The Gadgeteer

Posted on by

REVIEW Ive been following ClearOne, Inc. and its predecessor companies for over 20 years (back when they supplied both Oprah! and The White House with switchboard / call management hardware and software), so when I was offered the chance to review one of their Unite 20 web / conference cameras, I jumped at the chance to see how their new desktop-level cameras would work in our new work-from-home reality (well, not really new to me, Ive been working from home for many years).

The ClearOne Unite 20 Camera is a USB 2.0 web / desktop conferencing camera. The Unite 20 differs from many other cameras in the it offers not just 1920 x 1080 resolution, but a 120 degree horizontal field of view. This wide angle capability allows the camera to serve as both a personal conferencing camera and conferencing camera for small meeting rooms.

As the Unite 20 is targeted for business-to-business sales or through integrators, the packaging is utilitarian: a simple brown box with the product name, part number, and serial number on a small sticker.

Once you open the box, you are greeted with a packing system that values function over flash.

The Unite 20 camera ships as just a camera with integrated USB cable, a removable monitor grip / friction mount, a tethered lens cover, and a quick start card.

The ClearOne Unite 20 cameras hardware specifications are (lifted from the technical datasheet on ClearOnes website.

Setting up the Unite 20 involves nothing more than

The Unite 20 camera has performed flawlessly over the past month. I have run into intermittent problems with certain video conferencing solutions not wanting to recognize the camera and instead trying to use the camera integrated into my 4-year-old Thinkpad. This problem has been limited to web-based solutions, such as Jitsi and the online classrooms of Wyzant. Both of Jitsi and Wyzant have caused me problems in the past and often switching browsers from Firefox to Chrome or vice-versa will solve the problem. I have had no problems with either WebEx or Zoom.

I have been able to record some instructional video for some of my tutoring students using the Unite 20 and a whiteboard (Im an old-school engineer, I have to draw things out) for times when my students platform of choice didnt support live annotations or have a digital white-board. These videos are too dull to share with a wider audience for safety reasons (I dont want people nodding off and falling out of their chairs), but I did record a brief video showing the low-light capabilities of the Unite 20.

Unfortunately, my computer / software combination doesnt support recording from this camera at full 1920 x 1080 resolution. he Unite 20. I apologize for my presentation in the video. I dont regularly appear on camera, so my delivery is a bit uneven.

Because of my current monitor / speaker setup, it was not practical to mount the Unite 20 on the top of my monitor, so I removed the monitor bracket from the bottom of the camera (one screw) which reveals a standard receiver screw for a small tripod / other mount. I could have used the screw receive on the bottom of the bracket, but I didnt care for the aesthetics.

The ClearOne Unite 20 camera is an excellent addition to my home office communications suite. Both the audio and video features for web conferencing are the best that Ive encountered for a device at this price point. I did have to dial the wide angle settings back for video conferencing so I didnt have to de-clutter so much of my workspace.

My wife was an employee of one of ClearOnes predecessor companies, and she still holds ClearOne stock. She does not hold a significant amount of stock, nor is she involved in either tactical or strategic planning for ClearOne.

Price: $ 129.99 MSRPWhere to buy: AmazonSource: The sample of this product was provided by ClearOne.

Read the rest here:

ClearOne Unite 20 Pro Webcam review The Gadgeteer - The Gadgeteer

Bill Gates: Coronavirus medicine and vaccines should not ‘go to the highest bidder’ – Washington Examiner

Posted on by

Philanthropist Bill Gates said market-driven factors should not guide who gets medication or forthcoming vaccines for the coronavirus.

Gates, the billionaire founder of tech giant Microsoft, spoke about the need for equity when it comes to treating COVID-19 and argued that resource allocation should give preference to places and people in need, not just those willing to pay the highest price.

If we just let drugs and vaccines go to the highest bidder, instead of to the people and the places where they are most needed, well have a longer, more unjust, deadlier pandemic, Gates said in a video statement on Saturday. We need leaders to make these hard decisions about distributing based on equity, not just on market-driven factors.

Gatess remarks came during a virtual conference about the coronavirus hosted by the International AIDS Society. He noted how the HIV/AIDS crisis forced countries to work together to make medications accessible to those who needed them, including in Africa.

One of the best lessons in the fight against HIV/AIDS is the importance of building this large, fair global distribution system to get the drugs out to everyone, Gates said.

Gates has been one of the most outspoken figures in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and has donated some $300 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for coronavirus relief.

Go here to see the original:

Bill Gates: Coronavirus medicine and vaccines should not 'go to the highest bidder' - Washington Examiner

‘We will get over this’ | Baylor College of Medicine doctor discusses antibodies, testing for COVID-19 – KVUE.com

Posted on by

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, people are wondering about antibodies and immunity. Dr. Pedro Piedra, a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, weighs in.

AUSTIN, Texas Pedro Piedra, M.D., a professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, sat down with KVUE to discuss COVID-19 antibodies and testing.

Ashley Goudeau: Let's first talk about testing. Capacity has increased dramatically in Texas. But some doctors and scientists say it's still not enough. What's your take on that?

Pedro Piedra, M.D.: "I think we can do better. Diagnostic testing by PCR is the cornerstone of understanding how much virus is in the community, how many people are infected and what control measures can be implemented. And we have, I would say, a good amount of testing at the Medical Center. But when you go outside the Medical Center and go out to the communities at large, then it becomes more difficult."

Goudeau: And when you say the Medical Center, do you mean there in Houston?

Piedra, M.D.: "Here in Houston, yes. And I would expect that in many other cities around the United States you're going to see centers or areas where testing availability is going to be better as compared to out in the communities."

Goudeau: There are cases of people contracting coronavirus more than once. So when it comes to fighting the virus, how big of a role do antibodies play?

Piedra, M.D.:"So, I would take a broader view and it's not just antibodies. It's your immune response, and that consists both of antibodies and your cellular cells also develop an immune response to the virus. And both, it's a complex system and it's going to be hard to describe. But your body will respond in a number of ways to try to battle the infection. Antibodies is one of them. A cellular response is another. And both go hand in hand. And they're both needed. Reinfection will occur. When will reinfection, what is the time period when reinfection is likely to occur? We don't know. Or how long do you remain protected or partially protected after the initial infection? We don't know. And do antibodies predict how long you will be protected? We don't know. So there are a lot of things that we're going to be learning. If you think about back in March, we didn't know how to take care well of individuals that were infected with SARS-CoV-2 because it had not reached our community. But we've learned much better how to take care of sick individuals with SARS-CoV-2. And so there are many questions that right now we don't know, but we need time to pass so that we have time to generate the information and be better informed as to what to expect, especially with the issue of reinfection."

Goudeau: There's some concern among people that things will just never go back to normal because this is a virus with no cure, you can contract it multiple times. What do you say to people who are struggling with those feelings?

Piedra, M.D.: "Our population over time has been faced with pandemics, for which it has been difficult to cope with. And what I would say is to be patient, understand that this virus will be here with us. Eventually, several years down the road, it will become like other viruses, let's say, like an influenza virus, where the full picture on epidemiology will become known. Right now, because everybody is so naive, everybody has the potential to be infected and reinfected. That will change with time. And generally speaking, these respiratory viruses will adapt more and more to humans, which means that they generally become less virulent. They become more attenuated. They become weakened."

Goudeau:Doctor, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us today. We certainly appreciate it.

Piedra, M.D.: "You're most welcome. So I say be optimistic. We will get over this."

See the original post:

'We will get over this' | Baylor College of Medicine doctor discusses antibodies, testing for COVID-19 - KVUE.com

Yes, Light Is A Form Of Medicine: Here’s Why + The Dosage You Need – mindbodygreen.com

Posted on by

As Lugavere notes, light has a huge impact on our sleepand, transitively, our health. "Bright light at the end of the day can have an opposite effect," he explains. Meaning, while light may be considered a form of medicine, when used at the wrong time it can have the opposite effect, he says. That's not to say you need to wear an eye mask everywhere you go once the sun goes down; dim light is totally fine. After all, "A hunter-gatherer would be exposed to a campfire and the moon and stars in the sky," Lugavere notes. That dim light won't reach 1,000 lux, so it shouldn't be cause for alarm.

What does reach 1,000 lux is that artificial, fluorescent light we expose ourselves to every time we watch Netflix or scroll through social media before bed. According to Lugavere, that's the type of bright light that interrupts our circadian rhythms: "By exposing your eyes to extremely bright light at night, you're actually pumping the brakes on melatonin at the time of the day when you want melatonin to be properly expressed. That's how light can act as a pro-aging agent," he says.

If that doesn't make you want to rethink your nighttime routine (or, at the very least, invest in a pair of blue-light-blocking lenses), we don't know what will. If light is a form of medicine, make sure you have a healthy doseand remember to always strive for balance.

Read the rest here:

Yes, Light Is A Form Of Medicine: Here's Why + The Dosage You Need - mindbodygreen.com

Trends of Occupational Medicine Market Reviewed for 2020 with Industry Outlook to 2025 – Cole of Duty

Posted on by

The Occupational Medicine market research report is latest addition by Market Study Report, LLC, that elucidates relevant market and competitive insights as well as regional and consumer information. In a nutshell, the research study covers every pivotal aspect of this business sphere that influences the existing trends, profitability position, market share, market size, regional valuation, and business expansion plans of key players in the Occupational Medicine market.

This recent study of the Occupational Medicine market contains a thorough evaluation of this industry vertical. According to the report, the market will record decent returns by the end of the forecast period, while registering a substantial growth rate throughout this duration.

Request a sample Report of Occupational Medicine Market at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/2468658?utm_source=coleofduty.com&utm_medium=SP

The report uncovers important insights of the Occupational Medicine market and includes projections with respect to revenue, industry size, and sales volumes over the study period. Additionally, the Occupational Medicine market report provides detailed information regarding industry segmentations as well as the driving factors that will propel the profitability graph of the industry.

A glimpse of the Occupational Medicine market with respect to the geographical landscape:

Other important inclusions of the Occupational Medicine market are listed below:

Ask for Discount on Occupational Medicine Market Report at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/2468658?utm_source=coleofduty.com&utm_medium=SP

Important Features that are under Offering and Occupational Medicine Market Highlights of the Reports:

The Questions Answered by Occupational Medicine Market Report:

For More Details On this Report: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-occupational-medicine-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers:

Chapter 1: Methodology & Scope

Definition and forecast parameters

Methodology and forecast parameters

Data Sources

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Business trends

Regional trends

Product trends

End-use trends

Chapter 3: Occupational Medicine Industry Insights

Industry segmentation

Industry landscape

Vendor matrix

Technological and innovation landscape

Chapter 4: Occupational Medicine Market, By Region

Chapter 5: Company Profile

Business Overview

Financial Data

Product Landscape

Strategic Outlook

SWOT Analysis

Related Reports:

1. Global Ortho and Osteobiologics Market 2020 by Company, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025The Ortho and Osteobiologics Market Report offer the complete scenario of the industry and valuation of upcoming Trends for future market. It also gives the analytic of enduring growth factor, trends and statistic of Ortho and Osteobiologics Market industry. The Ortho and Osteobiologics Market has been outlined by overall information and analysis.Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-ortho-and-osteobiologics-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

2. Global Orthostatic Hypotension Market 2020 by Company, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025Orthostatic Hypotension Market report starts from illustration of Industry Chain structure, and portrays industry condition, at that point investigations advertise size and figure of Orthostatic Hypotension by item, district and application, likewise, this report presents showcase rivalry circumstance among the merchants profile, plus, advertise value examination and esteem chain highlights are canvassed in this report.Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-orthostatic-hypotension-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

Read More Reports On: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/worldwide-formic-acid-market-size-to-reach-usd-11986-million-by-2026-2020-07-10

Contact Us:Corporate Sales,Market Study Report LLCPhone: 1-302-273-0910Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: [emailprotected]

Originally posted here:

Trends of Occupational Medicine Market Reviewed for 2020 with Industry Outlook to 2025 - Cole of Duty

At 26.9% CAGR, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market Size is Projected to be Around US$ 2172.1 million by 2025 – Cole of Duty

Posted on by

Market Study Report, LLC, has recently added a concise research on the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market to depict valuable insights related to significant market trends driving the industry. The report features analysis based on key opportunities and challenges confronted by market leaders while highlighting their competitive setting and corporate strategies for the estimated timeline.

The global Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market size is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2025, with a CAGR of 26.9% in the forecast period of 2020 to 2025 and will expected to reach USD 2172.1 million by 2025, from USD 837.2 million in 2019.

Request a sample Report of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/2468855?utm_source=coleofduty.com&utm_medium=SP

The report exemplifies industry tendencies as well as presents revenue forecast, sales volume, market size and upcoming opportunities. In addition, information pertaining to the market drivers that will positively affect the profitability graph and the respective segmentations influencing the market size during the study period is delivered in the report.

The Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market study provides a comprehensive analysis of the industry vertical. As per the report, this market is poised to acquire commendable returns and record a significant growth rate during the estimated timeframe.

Major takeaways from the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market size report on the basis of geographical landscape:

Ask for Discount on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market Report at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/2468855?utm_source=coleofduty.com&utm_medium=SP

This report considers the below mentioned key questions:

Q.1. What are some of the most favorable, high-growth prospects for the global Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market

Q.2. Which products segments will grow at a faster rate throughout the forecast period and why

Q.3. Which geography will grow at a faster rate and why

Q.4. What are the major factors impacting market prospects What are the driving factors, restraints, and challenges in this Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market

Q.5. What are the challenges and competitive threats to the market

Q.6. What are the evolving trends in this Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market and reasons behind their emergence

Q.7. What are some of the changing customer demands in the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Industry market

Key aspects of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine market entailed in the report are listed below:

For More Details On this Report:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-artificial-intelligence-in-medicine-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers:

Chapter 1: Methodology & Scope

Definition and forecast parameters

Methodology and forecast parameters

Data Sources

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Business trends

Regional trends

Product trends

End-use trends

Chapter 3: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Industry Insights

Industry segmentation

Industry landscape

Vendor matrix

Technological and innovation landscape

Chapter 4: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market, By Region

Chapter 5: Company Profile

Business Overview

Financial Data

Product Landscape

Strategic Outlook

SWOT Analysis

Related Reports:

1. Global Automotive Geospatial Analytics Market 2020 by Company, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025The Automotive Geospatial Analytics Market Report offer the complete scenario of the industry and valuation of upcoming Trends for future market. It also gives the analytic of enduring growth factor, trends and statistic of Automotive Geospatial Analytics Market industry. The Automotive Geospatial Analytics Market has been outlined by overall information and analysis.Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-automotive-geospatial-analytics-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

2. Global Automotive Digital Mapping Market 2020 by Company, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025Automotive Digital Mapping Market Report covers the makers information, including shipment, value, income, net benefit, talk with record, business appropriation and so forth., this information enables the buyer to think about the contenders better. This report additionally covers every one of the districts and nations of the world, which demonstrates a provincial advancement status, including market size, volume and esteem, and also value information. It additionally covers diverse enterprises customers data, which is critical for the producers.Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-automotive-digital-mapping-market-2020-by-company-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2025

Read More Reports On: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/halal-foods-and-beverages-market-size-growing-at-56-cagr-to-hit-usd-1958210-million-by-2025-2020-07-10

Contact Us:Corporate Sales,Market Study Report LLCPhone: 1-302-273-0910Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150

See the article here:

At 26.9% CAGR, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market Size is Projected to be Around US$ 2172.1 million by 2025 - Cole of Duty