#Fruit Battlegrounds 2023 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

trendelyoum · 1 year ago

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رموز لعبة Roblox Fruit Battlegrounds (سبتمبر 2023)

هناك عدد كبير من ألعاب Roblox المستوحاة من الرسوم المتحركة، وFruit Battlegrounds هي واحدة منها. تعتمد لعبة Fruit Battlegrounds على عالم One Piece، تمامًا مثل Blox Fruits في لعبة Roblox . في هذه اللعبة، عليك القتال في ساحات القتال باستخدام قدرات ومهارات خاصة مختلفة. ومع ذلك، للحصول على مهارات خاصة تحتاج إلى تناول فاكهة الشيطان في One Piece التي تساعد على تمديد جسمك مثل Luffy. ومع ذلك، تحتاج إلى…

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#Fruit Battlegrounds 2023 #Roblox Fruit Battlegrounds

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sa7abnews · 4 months ago

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UK far-right riots: Belfast saw what real hate marches look like

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/06/uk-far-right-riots-belfast-saw-what-real-hate-marches-look-like/

UK far-right riots: Belfast saw what real hate marches look like

For hours, the acrid stench of burning rubber filled the Belfast air as a mob of far-right extremists descended upon us.

Muslim-owned businesses were torched and refugees were stabbed. As a Palestinian living in Belfast, the events of August 3 felt like a targeted purge.

Whilst their advertised target was Belfast’s Islamic Centre, every Muslim or individual who wasn’t white soon became prey. Fuelled by alcohol and drugs, they transformed a city into a battleground: they thew projectiles, gave Nazi salutes, screeched “F*k Palestine”, waved Union Jack and Israeli flags, and chanted the name of their patron saint, Tommy Robinson.

Then the pogrom began. Children, holding the hands of their parents, chanted “P*ki’s Out” and hurled petrol bombs into a local Muslim-owned barber shop.

Every Muslim-owned business in the area had been scarred by previous attacks, some had even been burnt down before. But this time was different.

One of their first targets was a local Arab supermarket, run by Syrian refugees. It was the first Arab supermarket I found in Belfast after moving here a few years ago.

I would go there to buy vine leaves, spices, Arabic coffee, and all the things that reminded me of my homeland, Palestine.

I’d often hear racial slurs hurled toward the shopkeeper and customers from across the street or watch as racists threw fruit and vegetables on the floor. This was all considered normal for Belfast. This same supermarket had been attacked twice before, yet the police did not make any arrests nor see it fit to protect this shop knowing its history of racist attacks.

Belfast: Trapped in a cycle of violence?

Then, as now, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) watched on and did nothing. Have they not learnt from history? Police helicopters hovered over us for hours and hundreds of police vehicles were deployed. No arrests were made nor was any racial violence stopped.

It’s not surprising. Days later, it was announced that three PSNI officers who had been deployed had been wearing patches belonging to Amercian right-wing militias on their uniforms, actively on duty.

A symbol, if any more was needed, of a dangerous, fascistic undercurrent in the police force to protect the pogrom.

Belfast’s Multi-Cultural Association, a backbone during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now been burnt not once, but twice. Once again, no arrests and no one was held accountable.

Over the past 300 days, Britain has taken to the streets to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. For our efforts, we’ve been called infiltrators by the British political establishment, including by the former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, who labelled these demonstrations “hate marches”.

Well Suella, what happened in Belfast on August 3 looked, sounded, and felt a lot like a real hate march, in which you and your cronies are directly complicit.

Let’s be clear, the rise in Islamophobia across Britain, and the far-right’s affiliation with Israel, is directly linked to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. As the British & American governments continue to supply bombs that murder Palestinians, media outlets and politicians continue to refer to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as “human animals” and terrorists. Inevitably, citizens will replicate the violence they see perpetrated by the state and media, both in terms of its nature and its targets.

Now I’m forced to witness a terrifying echo of history. A pogrom unfolds in my Belfast home while a genocide rages in my homeland, Palestine.

Both are desperate struggles for survival. The parallels between Belfast in 2024, Huwara in 2023, and Kristallnacht in 1938 are undeniable. Each are different faces of the same ideology: fascism. And until we recognise that, more anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian pogroms will inevitably follow.

Farrah Koutteineh is the founder of KEY48 – a voluntary collective calling for the immediate right of return of over 7.4 million Palestinian refugees. Koutteineh is also a political activist focusing on intersectional activism including, the Decolonise Palestine movement, indigenous people’s rights, anti-establishment movement, women’s rights and climate justice.

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @key48return

Have questions or comments? Email us at: [email protected]

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

#Unfiltered

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kathardman · 11 months ago

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Hairy Situations:

Biotextile Electronic Instruments in performance/body art.

Kathrine Hardman, MA

Master's Thesis, Kunstuniversität Linz, 2023

Abstract and link to the full thesis after the jump...

Abstract

"Over the course of the past years of my education at the Kunstuniversität Linz, I have worked with a distinct focus towards works speaking about, or utilizing as a medium, human hair. Throughout this thesis, I seek to explore and explain this particular artistic practice, with an eye towards contextualizing my own practice in light of historical artistic activity on the same subject. I do this in three chapters: the first two deal with different artistic historic backgrounds, each intended to shed light on different aspects of my practice. A third, final chapter, serves as a selection of my works that engage with these backgrounds, framing my (re)discoveries and contributions to this ongoing artistic dialogue.

Throughout this thesis, I pay special focus to include and address works from marginalized artists. While it is my belief that a diverse knowledge-base offers significant benefits generally speaking, my focus on diversity is also highly personal. An indelible aspect of my work, research, and writing is my identity as a transgender woman. This context has shaped my work (as if it could possibly be removed from it), and has driven my interest towards these picked-apart-pieces, the objects of marginalization. Significant for my own interest has been the body.

The following thesis serves to document my process with applying this critical lens to hair. Hair, like so much else, serves as a battleground between the marginalized and western cultural hegemony: My own hair rejected for improper femininity, the hair of people of color judged when its’ texture is not violently worked into compliance with white aesthetics, etc. I begin my thesis with intensive research into hair as it has already been used in the artistic space, looking for themes, methodologies, and inspirations in the works of both the western cultural hegemon, and from rebels to it. With this as a thematic background, my second chapter focuses on exploring the body as a tool of social critique in modern/postmodern art. There, I seek inspiration from these nonhair body practices that can inform and explain my process with my own practice in creating interactive hair-based electronic instruments. I discuss the inspirations, methodologies, and results of my various works, following my progress from body-practices towards hair as a primary, powerful subject matter, utilizing a concept I’ve termed corporeality."

Special thanks to everyone at Kunstuni, particularly my thesis advisor Manuela Naveau, Laurent Mignnoneau, Gebhardt Sengmüller, and all my fellow students! Without you all, I would probably still be struggling to find my way. The fruit of my labor, in this thesis, is yours to share!

#kathrine hardman #my art #master's thesis #hairy situations #long hair #new media art

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level999comtr · 1 year ago

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Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü kodları Aralık 2023

Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü kodları Aralık 2023 ••• ••• Kaynakça: https://level999.com.tr/blog/2023/12/12/anime-sampiyonlar-simulatoru-kodlari-aralik-2023/ ••• 10 Aralık 2023: Galaxy 2 güncellemesine iki yeni Anime Şampiyonu Simülatör kodu eklendi. En son Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü kodları nelerdir? Bu Roblox deneyiminde yeniyseniz, size bir avantaj sağlayacak bazı bonus kaynaklara ihtiyacınız olacak. Buna, takımınızı güçlendirecek ve daha zorlu rakiplerle daha erken savaşmasını sağlayacak elmaslar, jetonlar, madalyalar ve güçlendirmeler dahildir. Yani, biraz güncel olmak istiyorsanız Anime Şampiyonu kodları, şu anda alabileceğiniz tüm ücretsiz şeylerin bir listesine sahibiz. Alternatif olarak, Blox Fruits kodları, Fruit Battlegrounds kodları ve şu anda platformdaki en popüler oyun olan Blade Ball kodları gibi kendi kod kümelerine sahip, ilginizi çekecek çok sayıda başka anime Roblox oyunu da vardır. Yeni Anime Şampiyonları Simülatör kodları İşte mevcut tüm Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatör kodları: KirliGalaxy – biraz daha ödül (YENİ) Galaxy2Hype – bazı ödüller (YENİ) Kış Geliyor – ücretsiz ödüller Sıfır nolu hasta – ücretsiz ödüller Bana Şans Ver – Küre Güçlendirici ve Kozmik Çağırma TYBurger – sınırlı sayıda cilt Türkiye Günü – Şükran günü cildi WaitingGiantsTM – ücretsiz ödüller ACSFYemek Etkinliği – ücretsiz ödüller Turnuvalar – ücretsiz ödüller WOW100milyon – üç gelişmiş kart, altı t2 kartı, her güçlendirme, bir baskın anahtarı ve 2,5 bin elmas SevenUp kapatma7052 kapatma705 Gecikmiş Devasa Testere Baskını – 2k elmas 100kFavoriler – ücretsiz ödüller teşekkürler50mil – ücretsiz ödüller Süresi dolmuş kodlar BekleyenDevler – ücretsiz ödüller TrickOrTreat – 50 bin şeker Motorlu testereler – 2,5 bin elmas HappyHalloween – ücretsiz ödüller Şimdi Kullan Klas kal Gummybear – ücretsiz ödüller FixerUpper – ücretsiz ödüller SpookyGremlins – ücretsiz ödüller WoodBall – ücretsiz ödüller FreeKeys – 1.000x elmas, iki baskın anahtarı oTMSaveUs – şans artışı güncelleme3 – ücretsiz ödüller updateshutdown – ücretsiz ödüller Erimiş Dondurma – 1.000x elmas Raidbuff – 100x yetenek jetonu güncelleme2 – 3.000x elmas, 100x yetenek jetonu güncellenmiş gecikme – 5.000x elmas, 1x jeton takviyesi, 25x premium madalya, 1x düşme takviyesi, 3x hareket jetonu, 1x EXP artışı, 1x hasar artışı kapatma3 – 5.000x elmas, 1x şans artışı, 25x premium madalya, 50x yetenek jetonu 100bin – 5.000x elmas güncelleme1 – 1x jeton artışı, 1x şans artışı ve 1x hasar artışı. 1 milyon – 5.000x elmas, 50x yetenek jetonu ve 25x premium madalya. sürüm – 5.000x elmas ve 50x premium madalya. kapatma1 – premium madalyalar ve şans artışı. kapatma2 – 5.000x elmas, şans artışı, 25x premium madalya ve 50x yetenek madalyası. Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü kodları nasıl kullanılır? Anime Champions Simulator kodlarını kullanmak için aşağıdakileri yapmanız gerekir: Resmi Roblox sayfasından Anime Champions Simulator'u açın. Ekranın solundaki alışveriş sepeti simgesini tıklayın. Mağaza ekranının sağındaki kuş simgesine tıklayın. Kodu girin ve ücretsiz öğelerinizi almak için kullan'a tıklayın. Kod çalışırsa ücretsiz öğelere hemen sahip olacaksınız. Çalışmıyorsa veya süresi dolmuşsa, kullan düğmesine tıkladığınızda kırmızı metinle bunu bildiren bir mesaj alırsınız. Daha fazla Anime Şampiyonu Simülatörü kodu nasıl alınır? Daha fazla Anime Şampiyonu Simülatörü kodu almanın en iyi yolu, bu kılavuza yer işareti koymak ve sık sık geri dönmektir. Yeni kodlar bulduğumuzda bu sayfayı güncelleyeceğiz, böylece bunları aramanıza gerek kalmayacak. Alternatif olarak resmi kontrol edebilirsiniz. Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü Roblox sayfası veya takip et @realdaireb Ve @clock_wisdom Kodları göründükleri şekliyle görmek için eskiden Twitter olarak bilinen X'te. Bir sonraki Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü güncellemesi ne zaman? 9 Aralık Cumartesi, ACS UPD 9'un geldiğini görüyoruz. Bununla birlikte, başka bir çok popüler Roblox oyununda aralarında bir işbirliği geliyor. Gelecek olanı daha iyi anlamak için Blade Ball kodları kılavuzumuza göz atabilirsiniz. Ekibe göre ACS güncellemesi Galaxy 2'yi oyuna getirerek daha fazla zorluk, daha iyi ilerleme ve "10/10 animasyonlar" vaat ediyor. Bir sonraki Anime Champions Simulator güncellemesi saat kaçta? Anime Champions Simulator Galaxy 2 güncellemesi 9 Aralık 2023, 20:00 GMT'de başlayacak. Bu, 15:00 EST veya 12:00 PST anlamına geliyor. Bunların hepsi aktif Anime Şampiyonlar Simülatörü kodlarıdır. Temel oyun için daha fazlasını istiyorsanız platformdaki en yeni ve en harika deneyimleri görmek için en iyi Roblox oyunlarına göz atın. Ayrıca büyük ödüller almak için kullanabileceğiniz en yeni Roblox promosyon kodlarına ve oyun oturumlarınızı renklendirecek Roblox müzik kodlarına da sahibiz. Kaynak: pcgamesn

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thegamerstationn · 1 year ago

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Roblox Fruit Battlegrounds Kodları (Ekim 2023)

Oyunda mücevher içinde yüzmek ve diğer ödülleri kovalamak istiyorsanız, bu Roblox Fruit Battlegrounds kodları listemiz tam da size göre!

Dışarıda One Piece’ten ilham alan bir oyun denizi var ve hepsini denemek, nihai hazineyi aramak için Grand Line’ı keşfetmek kadar zorlayıcı. Fruit Battlegrounds hepsinin arasından sıyrıldı ve basit ama eğlenceli oynanışıyla beni kazandı. Mükemmel olanı bulmak için meyveleri döndürmek ve seviye atlamak beni bir süre eğlendirdi ama sonra bir sorunla karşılaştım. Herhangi bir ilerleme kaydetmek…

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thetoxicgamer · 1 year ago

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Elemental Dungeons Codes October 2023

Do you want to know the most recent codes for Elemental Dungeons? This popular new Roblox game is attracting many players who are discovering their magical talents as they delve into dungeons filled with treasures to loot and face colossal boss battles. While you can wield your sword, the most effective techniques are magical in nature. If you aim to impress your friends in this action-packed Roblox adventure, you can utilize gems to summon new abilities to dispatch your enemies quickly. Elemental Dungeons shares similarities with various anime-inspired Roblox games, such as Anime Champions Simulator, Blox Fruits, and Fruits Battlegrounds, all of which have separate code lists and are among the most popular options. Here are the current Elemental Dungeons codes: - ATLANTIS212 – 100 gems - BETA – 60 gems - SORRY:( – 45-minute experience boost (depletes while active in dungeons) - 10MVISITS – 30 gems - SubToToadBoiGaming – 30 gems - NEWCODE – 50 gems - TYFOR20KPLAYERS – 100 gems and a skill point refund - RefundSP – one skill point refund Expired codes: - BrokenGameMeSorry123 – gems To redeem these codes, follow these steps: - Open Elemental Dungeons through the official Roblox page. - Click on "Codes" in the main menu. - On the premium shop screen, select the "Codes" tab. - Enter your code and click "Redeem" to claim your rewards. Alternatively, while in the main hub area, clicking the "shop" button on the left side of the screen will bring up the premium shop screen, where you can access the codes tab. A successful code redemption will trigger a chime sound, along with a message informing you of the rewards. If the code is invalid, you'll receive an error message explaining the issue. To stay updated with the latest Elemental Dungeons codes, it's convenient to bookmark this page and revisit it regularly. We'll take care of finding the codes for you, making it as simple as copy-pasting them into the game. If you prefer to do the searching yourself, monitor the official Elemental Dungeons website, check in-game, or join the community Discord channel. These are all the currently active Elemental Dungeons codes. If you're interested in personalizing your wizard or giving your avatar a unique look, consider redeeming the latest Roblox promo codes for exclusive items, or explore Roblox music codes for the latest tunes. Additionally, if you're looking for a different gaming experience, we also provide the most recent Blade Ball codes.Elemental Dungeons Codes October 2023 Read the full article

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zathong · 1 year ago

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Hey, I’m Zathong and this guide is about Fruit Battlegrounds tier list 2023. I will help you choose the best fruits in the current meta and ranks every fruit in Fruit Battlegrounds from the least viable to the best.

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khogamemoitop · 2 years ago

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Nguồn: https://khogamemoi.top/code-fruit-battlegrounds-moi-nhat-2023-codes-game-roblox/ Xem thêm tại: https://khogamemoitop.tumblr.com

#khogamemoi #khogamemoitop

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gatekeeper-watchman · 2 years ago

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Daily Devotionals for May 6, 2023 Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 15:28-29(KJV): 28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. 29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Thought for the Day

Verse 28 - The righteous are not quick to answer, but ponder how they should reply. The wicked allow the evil stored in their hearts to pour out of their mouths, not caring if they sin. Having an evil thought is not a sin; it is not a sin to be tempted. It is a sin, however, to act out the evil thought in our imaginations, even if we never act it out in reality (Matthew 5:27-28). This is why pornography and masturbation are affairs of the mind. Our minds are a spiritual battleground. A thought is like a seed. If watered with our thoughts and attention, it grows and bears fruit. This is why it is so important to submit our minds to God and resist the devil, "...bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

We can gain victory over evil thoughts! First, we must submit to God, asking Him to cleanse our minds. Next, we must cleanse our hands; getting rid of anything that supplies our evil thought life, and replace all such things with God's Word and whatever is noble and wholesome (Philippians 4:8). Finally, when the devil tempts us, we must resist, using Scripture. When we choose what is right, the Holy Spirit will empower us. As we draw close to God, He will draw close to us (James 4:8), enabling us to break free of sin's bondage. We must not be discouraged if it takes some time before we are free. God never becomes impatient, no matter how many times we confess the same sin while struggling against it.

Verse 29 - The Lord hears the prayers of His children. Our Father loves us. When we fall into sin, He desires that we call upon Him, that He may deliver us. We must not allow the enemy to discourage us from coming to God when we have fallen, but immediately repent, receive God's forgiveness, and go on with the Lord. The devil seeks to keep us out of fellowship with our Father by making us feel unworthy of forgiveness. He is cruel, first tempting us to sin, and then tormenting us. He tells us that we are unworthy of God's grace after God has been so patient with us. Satan then continues his assault by telling us that God is angry and we have no right to communicate with Him. We must recognize Satan's lies. Our guilty consciences will agree with the devil, so we must also reject our feelings. If we have asked God to forgive us, then we must choose to believe the truth that we are forgiven and that even when we fail, God is on our side. When we sin, we must run to Him, not away from Him. God's mercy endures forever. It is new every morning and is greater than our sin! "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin" (Psalm 32:5).

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for Your abundant love and mercy that You have shown to all of us. I have needed Your mercy on many occasions. When I have called out to You, you have never failed to reach down and restore me when I have failed You and sinned. I am grateful for Your unchanging love. Help me to be like You and show mercy and love to those around me, even when they have failed me. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness in my heart. May Your love manifest in the body of Christ, so that we truly love one another and serve one another. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

From: Steven P. Miller @ParkermillerQ, Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Friday, May 5, 2023 Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sparkermiller.JAX.FL.USA Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, https://twitter.com/StevenPMiller6 Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman, https://www.tumblr.com/gatekeeper-watchman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StevenParkerMillerQ #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller,#Eldermiller1981

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64bitgamer · 2 years ago

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biglisbonnews · 2 years ago

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How a Lone Researcher Faced Down Millions of Army Ants on the March in Ecuador Excerpted with permission from Of Cockroaches and Crickets: Learning to Love Creatures That Skitter and Jump, by Frank Nischk. Published February 2023 by Greystone Books. All rights reserved. Nischk is an entomologist and filmmaker whose fieldwork includes research at Reserva Otonga in the Ecuadorian Andes, where this story takes place. One afternoon, I was sitting on the veranda at the small research station in the reserve. I was alone, because my botanical colleagues were busy with their work in the forest. I was sorting and preparing my collection: dried crickets, the fruits of two weeks’ work in the cloud forest. Then I heard a swell of rustling and murmuring, and knew immediately what was moving toward me. The spectacular behavior of army ants means they have been very well researched. A large number of scientific publications cover their biology, and especially their ecological significance for other life-forms in tropical rainforests. The role they play in the interactions of the forest is truly astounding. Let’s stick with the military analogy. Every human army used to be accompanied by a huge number of civilians that traded with the soldiers. Craftspeople, bakers, and butchers all offered goods and services. There were thieves, scribes, battleground artists, translators, and much more. It’s very similar with army ants advancing on their prey. They are escorted by an entourage of life-forms looking to profit from the ants. For over 50 years, American biologists Carl and Marian Rettenmeyer researched army ants and the creatures that followed them as they marched. The scientists sent their own army of undergraduate and postgraduate students to South America over the years. With every expedition, their list of animal species with a direct relationship to army ants grew. Up until his death in 2009, Carl Rettenmeyer collected more and more astonishing information about the ants he studied—after which his wife, Marian, completed his life’s work. The couple counted a total of 557 animal species whose fate depended to a greater or lesser extent on Eciton burchellii. Over 200 species of birds were observed around army ant swarms in Central and South America, picking off the insects scared up by the six-legged warriors. Carl Rettenmeyer suspected that 29 of these species are regular followers of the army ants, making them true companion species to Eciton. These birds depend completely on the ants doing the laborious work of driving the insects they eat out of their hiding places. Many of these prey species hide in the leaf litter on the forest floor and come out only at night—unless the ants flush them out. Flocks of birds eat their fill as the ant army advances, taking some of the ants’ victims for themselves. Behavioral scientists call the ant birds’ strategy kleptoparasitism—freeloading through theft. Army ants are not only accompanied by ant birds. A multitude of butterflies flutter around the ants’ feathered followers. The ant birds’ droppings are a nutritious, and therefore much sought-after, resource for the butterflies. In the vicinity of the ant swarm, spider wasps, relatives of tarantula hawks, are on the lookout for spiders. Parasitic wasps and tiny flies lay their eggs and deposit their larvae on insects that came within a hair’s breadth of succumbing to the ant army. Other fly larvae feed off the victims the ants leave in their wake—frogs, for example, which the ants can kill with their sharp mouthparts but cannot cut up and carry away. The biological research station in Otonga was a wonderful wooden building supported by eight thick posts about the height of a person. There were large rooms inside, including a dormitory where scientists and students could spend the night. At the time, there were five of us in the reserve. But I was alone as I waited for the ants to attack. I knew that the army ants are not interested in mammals and especially were not interested in me, an adult Homo sapiens. The ants are equipped with large cutting mouthparts shaped like shears. These do a great job of chopping hard-scaled insects into bite-sized pieces, but they are no good for cutting into the muscular flesh of mammals. The only things I was afraid for were our provisions and, most of all, the crickets I had so painstakingly collected as part of my thesis research. I therefore decided to confront the advancing army and defend the station against the ant invasion. I looked around the research station. Were there any weapons I could use to ward off the impending attack? I decided on a wide broom with a long handle and positioned myself where one of the eight posts was attached to the building’s floor. I chose the post closest to the advancing ant army. My fears were realized. The army ants climbed the post as though it were an ancient tree. A stream of hard, small bodies welled up through the cracks in the floorboards like water in a flood. I began to sweep as thoroughly and as quickly as I could. The list of life-forms with which E. burchellii is associated includes a few that are truly tiny. Some creatures take advantage of the fact that army ants build a kind of field camp—a bivouac—in a hollow tree trunk to house their brood and their queen. An Eciton colony goes through sedentary stages in the course of the year, during which the ants return home to the same bivouac every evening. The colony also goes through nomadic phases when the worker ants carry the larvae through the forest. Army ants on the move overcome obstacles such as small streams by forming a living bridge with their bodies. Every evening in a nomadic stage, the huge ant colony sets itself up in a new bivouac. This type of accommodation is a paradise for mites. Some species sit on adult ants like eight-legged pimples and suck their hemolymph. Others parasitize the ant brood. Yet others fall on the waste that the Eciton worker ants take out to a kind of trash pile right next to their bivouac. The German ant researcher Stefanie Berghoff once counted the mites that live together with E. burchellii: about 20,000 of these little arachnids live as tenants in an army ant colony. It’s also amazing how many species of insects—including a few beetles—manage to live safely in the middle of the bivouac of these insect-eating ants. The beetle species seem to share an unusual behavior. To avoid being eaten by the ants, they camouflage themselves—as ants. They copy the shape and color of their hosts; they also repeatedly touch the ants with their antennae, stealing some of the Eciton scent for themselves. The beetles rub themselves with the ant perfume and this grooming behavior then masks them chemically as well. Just in case the camouflage and “Eau de Eciton” fail them, most of the bivouac-dwelling beetles have an extremely flat, round exoskeleton, perfectly shaped so the mouthparts of the predatory ants cannot gain purchase; they simply slip off. But why do the defenseless beetles put themselves in such danger by venturing right into the lion’s den? The answer is clear. The squatters are living in a land of plenty. A constant stream of worker ants keeps bringing new supplies of food for the ant brood from the forest to the bivouac. All the beetles need to do is help themselves. And that’s not all. As long as the beetles’ cover is not blown, the army ants’ bivouac is one of the safest places for otherwise-defenseless beetles to be. Thousands of soldier ants are defending their brood and, in so doing, are also unintentionally defending the beetles from attack. More and more ants were streaming out of the cracks between the post and the floor. I speeded up my sweeping to return the creeping critters to whence they had just come. But no matter how hard I swept, the flow of ants just would not stop. I imagined the ants would soon take over the building as my muscles gradually started to burn. But then—relief. The rush of small bodies suddenly slowed, and the ever-diminishing numbers of invaders turned around as soon as they reached the floor. My heroic sweeping seemed to have made a lasting impression. The most important means of communication for ants is scent. The ants attacked by the broom seemed to have left a chemical warning: “Danger! Squad retreat! Flee!” Exhausted, I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down for a moment. My colleagues would never believe what I had just been through. But I had let down my guard too soon. A few minutes after I had seen off the first attack, the besieging forces were climbing post number two. Whether I wanted to or not, I had to grab my bristly weapon for a second time and continue sweeping. “Danger! Squad retreat! Flee!” Of the 557 animal species that researchers have observed near Eciton colonies, about 300—so Carl Rettenmeyer and his team estimated—are at least partially and temporarily dependent on the ants. The researchers described this as “the largest animal association centered on one species.” The authors of the study also warned: “The extinction of E. burchellii from any habitat over its vast area of distribution is likely to cause the extinction of numerous associated animals at that site.” The swarm of army ants attempted to invade the small research station three more times. Every support post appeared to them to be yet another tree to be conquered for food. Every time I had to sweep like mad or surrender to the million-strong army of ants. At the end of the afternoon, when the last ant had realized that I was not going to give up, I rested against the wall of the building, completely exhausted. I was relieved that the storm had moved on. Luckily, I had brought a bottle of aguardiente, Colombian schnapps, along with me to Reserva Otonga. I sat down with the bottle in front of the building, took a long swig, and waited for dusk. I couldn’t help but think of a sentence from One Hundred Years of Solitude, a novel by the Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez: “The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants.” So reads the grim prophecy in Márquez’s novel, which prefigures the rise and fall of the Buendía family in the rainforest settlement of Macondo. In the end, it is indeed the ants that seal the family’s fate when they kill a newborn. I had always understood the gruesome ending of One Hundred Years of Solitude to be a fantastic exaggeration and a metaphor for what happens when you give up and let yourself go. In the Reserva Otonga, I revisited this thought. Now I understood why people who live in the forests of Ecuador regularly remove even small plants that grow under their dwellings. This lessens the likelihood of uninvited insect guests coming to visit. That evening, I sat on the steps of the research station even longer than usual. As though to make it up to me, nature put on an unforgettable spectacle that night. Usually the reserve was swallowed by a cloud every morning and shrouded in thick fog for the remainder of the day. Not so on the evening of the ant attack. The clouds parted, opening up a view to the two craters of the twin Andean volcanoes, the Illinizas. It’ll probably sound like something out of a kitschy Hollywood movie, but on that evening, the first without a curtain of cloud since we had climbed up to the reserve, a full moon rose in the sky. Now, even though night was falling, it was brighter than during the foggy hours of the day. The moonlight woke cicadas and birds that I had otherwise heard only in daytime. Neon-green points of light flitted from tree to tree—fireflies in the mood for love looking for mates. I took another couple of sips of Colombian firewater. At first tentatively, and then with increasing intensity, the moon changed color, its yellowy gold gradually turning blood red. Was the aguardiente working its magic? No. Not only had the curtain of cloud been drawn back, but now a special performance was playing out on the sky’s stage: an eclipse of the moon in the starry skies over the Andes, The botanists were already asleep, likely dreaming of orchids, mosses, and ferns. I took a final sip of aguardiente and was happy to be exactly where I was right then. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eciton-army-ants-ecuador

#Frank Nischk #Atlas Obscura

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sheminecrafts · 5 years ago

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5G is now live in 24 markets, GSMA predicts it’ll be 20% of global connections by 2025 — and eyes a big tech break-up

The next-gen flavor of mobile connectivity, 5G, is now live in 24 markets globally, according to GSMA’s annual state of the global mobile economy report.

The cutting edge network tech is capable of supporting speeds up to 100x faster than LTE/4G and delivering latency of just a few milliseconds, as well as being able to connect many more devices per cell site. As it rolls out, it’s expected to underpin a new wave of “smarter” digital services which bake in real-time AI assistance and help drive the digitization of legacy industries.

In last year’s report the carrier association didn’t break out a firm figure for markets where 5G is live — but dubbed the tech “a reality” after commercial launches in the US and South Korea towards the end of 2018. It also said it was expecting 16 more “major countries” to have launched 5G networks by the end of 2019.

It’s now touting “significant traction” for 5G — saying 79 operators across a further 39 markets had announced plans to launch commercial 5G services as of January 20, 2020.

As it stands actual 5G connections remain a fraction of the connectivity pie vs current (4G) and previous gen cellular favors. Per the report, 4G became the dominant mobile tech globally in 2019 — with over 4BN connections, accounting for 52% of total connections (excluding licensed cellular IoT).

The GSMA expects 4G connections to continue to grow for the next few years, peaking at just under 60% of global connections by 2023.

For 5G its forecast is that it will account for a fifth (20%) of global connections by 2025, with the carrier association expecting “particularly strong” take-up across developed Asia, North America and Europe.

(For wider context, almost half of the global population (3.8BN people) are now users of the mobile internet as a whole (2G-5G), per the report — which is forecast to grow to 61% (5BN people) by 2025.)

It’s worth emphasizing that the presence of 5G in a market does not mean universal coverage.

On the contrary, 5G rollouts have tended to be targeted on urban centers. Which means 5G availability in the 24 markets that have launched commercial networks so far is likely highly limited vs population. There are also still relatively few 5G smartphones vs non-5G handsets (though since this time last year more are being unboxed; Sony, for example, just announced its first 5G handsets).

Perhaps, most importantly, consumer demand for the next-gen flavor of connectivity has yet to be robustly stood up. The GSMA’s report poses the (existential, for telcos) question of: “Will they pay for it?”

“The number of live 5G markets is increasing by the day and consumers’ awareness of the technology is also growing as hype makes way for reality. However, there is wide variation across the globe in terms of intentions to upgrade to 5G and the willingness to pay more for it,” it concedes.

“In general, consumers in South Korea and China – having witnessed some of the earliest launches – appear to be the most excited by the prospect of upgrading to 5G, while those in the US, Europe and Japan seem more content with 4G for the time being,” the GSMA adds, before striking an upbeat note: “5G is still in its infancy though; as more tangible use cases are deployed, more consumers will appreciate the benefits of 5G.”

Aka, 5G needs a killer app. But one has yet to emerge. (Edit note: A global pandemic that triggers a mass transition to remote working and virtualized socializing could have potential though. After all, concerns about the corona virus did force the GSMA to cancel its own annual shindig, MWC, just last month.)

Despite the report’s prediction that consumers will, down the line, be sold on 5G’s “benefits” another graphic in the report maps out the current reality — that “awareness of 5G does not necessarily translate into an intention to upgrade”.

It shows adults in markets including the UK, Australia, Spain and Italy having high awareness of the tech but low intent to pay for 5G, with less than 35% saying they want to upgrade. The US market also has a similarly high level of awareness of 5G — and only a slightly higher intention to upgrade (~40%+).

The GSMA writes that more needs to be done by carriers to “raise awareness” of other “benefits” than just higher data speeds, touting claimed advantages such as “improved mobile service coverage”, “innovative new services” and “connectivity for previously unconnected devices” as having 5G marketing potential.

However, on the latter point at least, the report also chronicles variable and often low appetite — certainly outside China — for a range of ‘smart’ devices…

Still, the GSMA predicts billions more IoT devices will be coming on stream over the next five years — saying that between 2019 and 2025 the number of global IoT connections will more than double to almost 25 billion, while it expects global IoT revenue to more than triple to $1.1 trillion.

Another segment of the report deals with the perennial issue of stagnant operator revenue growth vs Internet companies, with the GSMA noting telcos continue to lag tech giants and major device makers.

“For many operators, revenue growth as a percentage is in the low single digits, if that,” it writes. “As core telecoms revenue stagnates, a common strategy now for major operator groups is to seek revenue growth from adjacent services. Pay TV, media, IoT, enterprise solutions and the broader array of digital services still only account for a minor share of operator revenues (10–20% for most), although there are a few notable exceptions, largely enabled by M&A activity.”

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that top of the GSMA’s 2025 prediction/wish-list is a bold one that one of the GAFA companies (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) will be broken up. (It makes not suggestion of which — though plenty of American eyes are now on Google.)

Other near-term hopes on the GSMA’s list are that “AR eye glasses reach the mass market with a form factor from at least one global OEM”; health wearables become “part of the solution to overburdened public health systems”; and “private enterprise networks explode and become a battleground between telcos and cloud companies” (we don’t think they mean explode literally).

There’s also another 2025 prediction for 5G — that the technology becomes “the first generation in the history of mobile to have a bigger impact on enterprise than consumers”.

Which is certainly one way to silver-line a low-demand ‘cloud’ and hedge (hopefully) for business buy-in to make up for lacklustre consumer desire to pay more to do the same stuff slightly faster* (*depending on network conditions).

“Governments and regulators must play their part to help propel 5G into commercial use by implementing policies that encourage advanced technologies (e.g. AI and IoT) to be applied across all economic sectors,” the GSMA writes elsewhere in the report — a call to action that aligns exactly with policy priorities recently set out by the new European Commission, suggesting telco lobbying in Brussels has borne fruit.

Thierry Breton, the Commissioner for internal market — who’s now driving a pan-EU strategy to encourage the pooling and reuse of industrial data that leans heavily on the deployment of what’s he’s called “critical” 5G networks — is also a former chairman and CEO of France Telecom.

You can download the full GSMA report here.

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computer-basics · 5 years ago

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The next-gen flavor of mobile connectivity, 5G, is now live in 24 markets globally, per global mobile industry association the GSMA — which has just published its annual state of the global mobile economy report.

The cutting edge network tech is capable of supporting speeds up to 100x faster than LTE/4G and delivering latency of just a few milliseconds, as well as being able to connect many more devices per cell site — which means that, as it rolls out, it’s expected to underpin a new wave of ‘smarter’ digital services which bake in real-time AI assistance and help drive the digitization of legacy industries.