#Juniper publishers Address

[youngestrunningleek]

Urchin and the Raven War

I’m running out of things to say about returning to Mistmantle…

You know the drill, by now. This post is reviewing The Mistmantle Chronicles, Book Four: Urchin and the Raven War. It was published in 2008, written by M. I. McAllister and illustrated by Omar Rayyan.

You also know the deal about spoilers. There will be spoilers, as well as discussion of violence and death.

This book jumps forward in time a significant amount (although it doesn’t specify how much). Urchin is fully grown, and Princess Catkin (who was a baby last book) is up and around. She is talking, making decisions, and fed up with boring island life. When swans from Swan Isle come for help, the animals of Mistmantle go to their rescue. Doing that, though, draws the anger of a flock of ravens and Mistmantle is put under siege.

I’ll confess I was pretty anxious about this book. Last one was especially good, worthy of being an ending to the whole series. Luckily, book four delivered. I love that every book has very distinct tension. There’s usually a mix of threats from outside and inside the community.

It’s hard to say if the books are getting better, or if I’m just growing fonder of the series. I’m far from objective at this point. But that’s also a major testament to McAllister’s skill. She makes a world, and characters, that really draw readers in. I think Rayyan’s illustrations continue to improve, too. This is an archetype of the genre. This is what animal fantasy for children should be.

What could be better than a generational story with an ensemble cast? It’s very special to see characters mature and grow in responsibilities. The books were published at a rate of about one per year (which is remarkable) and I’m curious how people who actually grew up with this series felt about seeing characters go from children to being adults. The characters certainly grow up faster than the readers.

I really think that, finally, we got a Mistmantle book without a boring early bit. The other consistent problem, of too many characters, is also slightly improved. I think it helps to have characters who are swans and ravens.

This book has swans shown in a more sympathetic light, after they were kind of empty-headed in the first book and they didn’t even talk in the second. The ravens are pretty flatly dehumanized, though. It’s a common trope with nonhuman protagonists to have another species be monstrous. “Maybe rats and mice are okay, but owls and snakes are even worse!”

One character, Corr, is a young otter who’s searching for adventure. I find his journey interesting because he lives on his own for a while, after leaving home. It makes me wonder— what would society be like, if we could easily go off into nature and live without other people? If a human wants to try being self-sufficient, they’d need a lot of distance from other people, plus clothing, shelter, tools, and training to boot. But couldn’t Corr just hunt fish to feed himself?

Later, the otter Fingal kisses a squirrel on the cheeks because he promised he’d kiss whoever killed the raven prince. That’s the closest the books have gotten to addressing inter-species relationships.

Speaking of… At one point, a healer is urging Urchin to stay alive.

“Stay, Urchin,” she said. “Stay with me. Stay for Mistmantle. Stay for Crispin, for Juniper, for Needle, for all of us. Think of—” Is he in love with anyone? Take a guess. Stay for Sepia. Stay for your friends.”

That cracked me up. And, it made me realize how light on romance the books are. Almost all of it happens offscreen. Usually, we have a couple and then timeskip to them being parents. The most interesting relationships are platonic. I like that.

One thing I admire about this series is the treatment of violence. In the first book, a mole assassinates someone and then is killed himself. This book brings back his brother, seeking vengeance. That made me realize, violence is essentially never the answer in these books. It just begets more violence.

Ultimately, Mistmantle defeats most of the ravens with sticky nets. Plus, leadership struggles make the ravens fight each other.

At the end, even though the Mistmantle animals cut down the surviving ravens, they’re so badly injured that they die within minutes. That detail was so unbelievably convenient that I had to laugh.

Now for some worldbuilding. This book finally made Threadings merit the capital T, in my opinion. We meet a hedgehog who occasionally, unintentionally, includes the future when she’s making the tapestries that tell Mistmantle’s history. It’s pretty cool to imagine someone accidentally including the future in a historical document. Preemptive history.

There’s another kind of prophecy with the Silver Prince. He’s a kind of messiah for the ravens. They used to rule Swan Isle, but after they were defeated they promised never to return unless they had a Silver Prince to lead them. The swans agreed because silver ravens are rare, and only female.

I was wondering if I’d be able to claim him as a trans icon, but it seems like he’s just a grey raven who they got overly excited about. (You can still headcanon him as trans tho.)

Aah, these books make me happy.

I would love to hear any opinions about this series, especially if you read it when you were young!

My personal rating: 4.5 My overall rating: 4

[best-reviews-usa]

GLUCO FREEDOM REVIEWS (WATCH!) Gluco Freedom - Does Gluco Freedom Work?

#glucofreedom #glucofreedomreview #glucofreedomreviews

Welcome to another review on the Beats Fusion channel. If you’ve come this far, it’s because you’re looking for more information about Gluco Freedom.

You want to know if Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, what the side effects are, what the ingredients are, and also where to buy this original supplement.

Stay here in this Gluco Freedom review on Beats Fusion to find out everything about this supplement!

Let’s go to the Gluco Freedom review:

✅ What Is Gluco Freedom? Beats Fusion Review 2024

Gluco Freedom is an all-natural supplement designed to support healthy blood sugar levels and enhance overall well-being. Its blend of 19 plant-based ingredients addresses the root causes of blood sugar fluctuations and metabolic imbalances, helping combat the effects of diabetes and environmental toxins.

✅ How Does Gluco Freedom Work?

Gluco Freedom detoxifies the body, enhances insulin sensitivity, and promotes metabolic health by addressing the toxins that interfere with insulin receptors. This improves blood sugar levels and helps restore overall energy and vitality.

✅ Ingredients Gluco Freedom

Bitter Melon: Detoxifies and helps manage sugar in tissues.

Cinnamon Bark: Controls appetite and supports blood sugar levels.

Gymnema Sylvestre: Reduces sugar cravings by blocking sugar receptors.

Banaba Leaves: Supports heart health and provides metabolism benefits.

Licorice Root: Contains antioxidants for blood sugar, immune system, and digestion.

Juniper Berry: Protects cells and supports glucose levels.

Chromium (from Brazil Nuts): Helps maintain glucose levels and insulin sensitivity.

Cayenne: Boosts metabolism and supports digestion.

These ingredients work together to enhance overall health and help manage blood sugar effectively.

✅ How to Use Gluco Freedom?

To use Gluco Freedom, simply take the recommended dosage as indicated on the product’s label.

🤔 Where To Buy Gluco Freedom?

You can buy Gluco Freedom directly from the official website.

✅ Does Gluco Freedom Work for Blood Sugar Management?

Yes, Gluco Freedom works effectively. Based on personal experiences and customer reports, it helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and enhances metabolism.

✅ Gluco Freedom Customer Reviews

Gluco Freedom has received positive feedback from consumers. For the best results, use Gluco Freedom consistently as part of your daily routine.

You can check more details about Gluco Freedom customer reviews on the official website.

✅ Gluco Freedom Reviews Consumer Reports

Gluco Freedom is formulated with natural ingredients and has been positively reviewed for its effectiveness in managing blood sugar and boosting overall health.

🤔 Does Gluco Freedom Have Side Effects?

Gluco Freedom is made with high-quality, natural ingredients, ensuring safety. No major side effects have been reported when used as directed.

❤️ Gluco Freedom Reviews - Final Conclusion of the Review on Beats Fusion

This was the Gluco Freedom review!

Now you know how Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, its ingredients, and where to buy Gluco Freedom.

I hope you enjoyed the Gluco Freedom Reviews video and that it answered all your questions.

Important Matters!

00:01 - Gluco Freedom Review

00:22 - What is Gluco Freedom?

00:45 - Gluco Freedom Official Website

01:04 - Gluco Freedom Ingredients

01:30 - How to use Gluco Freedom

02:01 - Gluco Freedom Benefits

02:31 - Gluco Freedom Guarantee

02:51 - Gluco Freedom Reviews Conclusion

This is the full review of Gluco Freedom on the Beats Fusion channel.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as possible.

The post Gluco Freedom Reviews was first published on Beats Fusion Channel.

Social Media Links

Mix - Gluco Freedom Review

Plurk - Gluco Freedom

Pearltrees - Gluco Freedom

Twitter - Gluco Freedom

Gab - Gluco Freedom

Acadri - Gluco Freedom Review

Pinterest - Gluco Freedom

MySpace - Gluco Freedom Review

Imgur - Gluco Freedom

Facebook - Gluco Freedom Review

Listly - Gluco Freedom

Flipboard - Gluco Freedom

Diigo - Gluco Freedom Review

Instapaper - Gluco Freedom Review

Reddit - Gluco Freedom Discussion

View HTML Online - Gluco Freedom Video

Video Archive

Web Archive - Gluco Freedom Video

Youtube Redirect Links

Recreation.gov - Gluco Freedom Video

PASDA - Gluco Freedom Video

Pandora - Gluco Freedom Video

Med Jax - Gluco Freedom Video

BBS PKU - Gluco Freedom Video

Moe Gov - Gluco Freedom Video

GetHearth - Gluco Freedom Video

Wei Ltd - Gluco Freedom Video

Soton - Gluco Freedom Video

[tips-from-john]

GLUCO FREEDOM REVIEWS (WATCH!) Gluco Freedom - Does Gluco Freedom Work?

#glucofreedom #glucofreedomreview #glucofreedomreviews

Welcome to another review on the Beats Fusion channel. If you’ve come this far, it’s because you’re looking for more information about Gluco Freedom.

You want to know if Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, what the side effects are, what the ingredients are, and also where to buy this original supplement.

Stay here in this Gluco Freedom review on Beats Fusion to find out everything about this supplement!

Let’s go to the Gluco Freedom review:

✅ What Is Gluco Freedom? Beats Fusion Review 2024

Gluco Freedom is an all-natural supplement designed to support healthy blood sugar levels and enhance overall well-being. Its blend of 19 plant-based ingredients addresses the root causes of blood sugar fluctuations and metabolic imbalances, helping combat the effects of diabetes and environmental toxins.

✅ How Does Gluco Freedom Work?

Gluco Freedom detoxifies the body, enhances insulin sensitivity, and promotes metabolic health by addressing the toxins that interfere with insulin receptors. This improves blood sugar levels and helps restore overall energy and vitality.

✅ Ingredients Gluco Freedom

Bitter Melon: Detoxifies and helps manage sugar in tissues.

Cinnamon Bark: Controls appetite and supports blood sugar levels.

Gymnema Sylvestre: Reduces sugar cravings by blocking sugar receptors.

Banaba Leaves: Supports heart health and provides metabolism benefits.

Licorice Root: Contains antioxidants for blood sugar, immune system, and digestion.

Juniper Berry: Protects cells and supports glucose levels.

Chromium (from Brazil Nuts): Helps maintain glucose levels and insulin sensitivity.

Cayenne: Boosts metabolism and supports digestion.

These ingredients work together to enhance overall health and help manage blood sugar effectively.

✅ How to Use Gluco Freedom?

To use Gluco Freedom, simply take the recommended dosage as indicated on the product’s label.

🤔 Where To Buy Gluco Freedom?

You can buy Gluco Freedom directly from the official website.

✅ Does Gluco Freedom Work for Blood Sugar Management?

Yes, Gluco Freedom works effectively. Based on personal experiences and customer reports, it helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and enhances metabolism.

✅ Gluco Freedom Customer Reviews

Gluco Freedom has received positive feedback from consumers. For the best results, use Gluco Freedom consistently as part of your daily routine.

You can check more details about Gluco Freedom customer reviews on the official website.

✅ Gluco Freedom Reviews Consumer Reports

Gluco Freedom is formulated with natural ingredients and has been positively reviewed for its effectiveness in managing blood sugar and boosting overall health.

🤔 Does Gluco Freedom Have Side Effects?

Gluco Freedom is made with high-quality, natural ingredients, ensuring safety. No major side effects have been reported when used as directed.

❤️ Gluco Freedom Reviews - Final Conclusion of the Review on Beats Fusion

This was the Gluco Freedom review!

Now you know how Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, its ingredients, and where to buy Gluco Freedom.

I hope you enjoyed the Gluco Freedom Reviews video and that it answered all your questions.

Important Matters!

00:01 - Gluco Freedom Review

00:22 - What is Gluco Freedom?

00:45 - Gluco Freedom Official Website

01:04 - Gluco Freedom Ingredients

01:30 - How to use Gluco Freedom

02:01 - Gluco Freedom Benefits

02:31 - Gluco Freedom Guarantee

02:51 - Gluco Freedom Reviews Conclusion

This is the full review of Gluco Freedom on the Beats Fusion channel.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as possible.

The post Gluco Freedom Reviews was first published on Beats Fusion Channel.

Social Media Links

Mix - Gluco Freedom Review

Plurk - Gluco Freedom

Pearltrees - Gluco Freedom

Twitter - Gluco Freedom

Gab - Gluco Freedom

Acadri - Gluco Freedom Review

Pinterest - Gluco Freedom

MySpace - Gluco Freedom Review

Imgur - Gluco Freedom

Facebook - Gluco Freedom Review

Listly - Gluco Freedom

Flipboard - Gluco Freedom

Diigo - Gluco Freedom Review

Instapaper - Gluco Freedom Review

Reddit - Gluco Freedom Discussion

View HTML Online - Gluco Freedom Video

Video Archive

Web Archive - Gluco Freedom Video

Youtube Redirect Links

Recreation.gov - Gluco Freedom Video

PASDA - Gluco Freedom Video

Pandora - Gluco Freedom Video

Med Jax - Gluco Freedom Video

BBS PKU - Gluco Freedom Video

Moe Gov - Gluco Freedom Video

GetHearth - Gluco Freedom Video

Wei Ltd - Gluco Freedom Video

Soton - Gluco Freedom Video

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: DOUBLE APEX BY JOSIE JUNIPER

⭐⭐⭐💫

TROPES

Rivals to Lovers

Sports Romance

Forbidden Workplace Romance

He Falls First

My in-laws watch a ton of Formula 1, so I am trying to get more into it, and I’m doing that through books. As someone who knows the bare minimum, this was a great read in that it gave me exactly what I needed to know and all the points and such made sense. 

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It’s fast paced and because it followed the season, the characters were constantly in new places and having new experiences, which made for a quick read. I liked the dynamic between Phaedra and Cosmin, especially as they finally leaned into it. Both are going through some intense situations in their personal lives, and it’s nice that they let themselves have moments of happiness with each other. 

That said, as much as I enjoyed reading this book, I think the needed character development was shafted to the end of the story. When something came up with 5% left, I was confused because it could’ve been utilized and addressed much earlier in the story. It could’ve made a real impact, and instead was more of a parting note, which I think was a detriment to the character. Honestly, considering the ideas he’s grappling with, it was a bummer not to see more growth in Cosmin. 

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the eARC!

[govindhtech]

Class E IP Address Space Helps GKE Manage IPv4 Depletion

Using Class E IPv4 Address space to help GKE address IPv4 depletion problems. The need for private IPv4 addresses is growing along with the amount of services and apps hosted on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) (RFC 1918). The RFC1918 address space is becoming harder to come by for a lot of big businesses, which makes IP address depletion a problem that affects their application scalability.

This precise address depletion problem is resolved by IPv6, which offers a large number of addresses. But not every business or application is prepared for IPv6 just yet. You may continue to expand your company by entering the IPv4 address space (240.0.0.0/4), which can handle these problems.

Class E addresses (240.0.0.0/4) are set aside for future usage, as indicated in RFC 5735 and RFC 1112, as stated in Google VPC network acceptable IPv4 ranges; nevertheless, this does not preclude you from using them in certain situations today. Google will also provide tips for organizing and using GKE clusters with Class E.

Recognizing Class E addresses

IPv4 addresses

Some typical criticisms or misunderstandings about the use of Class E addresses are as follows:

Other Google services do not function with class E addresses. This is untrue. Class E addresses are included in the acceptable address ranges for IPV4 that Google Cloud VPC offers. Furthermore, private connection techniques using Class E addresses provide access to a large number of Google controlled services.

Communicating with services outside of Google (internet/on-premises/other clouds) is limited when using Class E addresses. False. You may use NAT or IP masquerading to convert Class E addresses to public or private IPv4 addresses in order to access destinations outside of Google Cloud, since Class E addresses are not routable and are not published over the internet or outside of Google Cloud. Furthermore,

a. Nowadays, a large number of operating systems support Class E addresses, with Microsoft Windows being the prominent exception.

b. Routing the addresses for usage in private DCs is supported by several on-premises suppliers (Cisco, Juniper, Arista).

There are scale and performance restrictions on Class E addresses. This is untrue. Regarding performance, there is no difference between the addresses and other address ranges used by Google Cloud. Agents can grow to accommodate a high number of connections without sacrificing speed, even with NAT/IP Masquerade.

Therefore, you may utilize Class E addresses for private usage inside Google Cloud VPCs, for both Compute Engine instances and Kubernetes pods/services in GKE, even though they are reserved for future use, not routable over the internet, and shouldn’t be publicized over the public internet.

Advantages

Class E IP Addresses

Despite these limitations, Class E addresses provide some benefits:

Large address space: Compared to standard RFC 1918 private addresses (around 17.9 million addresses vs. about 268.4 million addresses for it), Class E addresses provide a much bigger pool of IP addresses. Organizations experiencing IP address depletion will benefit from this abundance as it will enable them to expand their services and applications without being constrained by a finite amount of address space.

Growth and scalability: It addressing’s wide reach facilitates the simple scalability of services and apps on Google Cloud and GKE. IP address restrictions do not prevent you from deploying and growing your infrastructure, which promotes innovation and development even during times of high consumption.

Effective resource utilization: By using Class E addresses to enhance your IP address allocation procedures, you may reduce the possibility of address conflicts and contribute to the efficient use of IP resources. This results in reduced expenses and more efficient operations.

Future-proofing: Although it is not supported by all operating systems, its use is anticipated to rise in response to the growing need for IP addresses. You can future-proof your infrastructure scalability to enable company development for many years to come by adopting Class E early on.

Class E IP addresses

Things to be mindful of

Even though Class E IP addresses provide many advantages, there are a few crucial things to remember:

Compatibility with operating systems: At the moment, not all operating systems enable Class E addressing. Make sure your selected operating system and tools are compatible before putting Class E into practice.

Software and hardware for networking: Check to see whether your firewalls and routers (or any other third-party virtual appliance solutions running on Google Compute Engine) are capable of handling the addresses. Make sure any programs or software that use IP addresses are updated to support it as well.

Migration and transition: To ensure there are no interruptions while switching from RFC 1918 private addresses to it, meticulous preparation and execution are needed.

How Snap implemented Class E

Network IP management is becoming more difficult due to the growing use of microservices and containerization systems such as GKE, particularly by major clients like Snap. Snap’s finite supply of RFC1918 private IPv4 addresses was rapidly depleted with hundreds of thousands of pods deployed, impeding cluster scalability and necessitating a large amount of human work to release addresses.

Originally contemplating an IPv6 migration, Snap ultimately opted to deploy dual-stack GKE nodes and GKE pods (IPv6 + Class E IPv4) due to concerns over application readiness and compatibility. In addition to preventing IP fatigue, this approach gave Snap the scale of IP addresses it required for many years to accommodate future expansion and cut down on overhead. Furthermore, this technique was in line with Snap’s long-term plan to switch to IPv6.

Fresh clusters

Requirement

Construct native VPC clusters.

Steps

Make a subnetwork with supplementary ranges for services and pods, if desired. It range (240.0.0.0/4) has CIDRs that may be used in the secondary ranges.

When creating the cluster for the pod and services CIDR ranges, use the previously generated secondary ranges. This is an example of the user-managed secondary range assignment mechanism.

Setup IP masquerading to source network address translation (SNAT) to map the IP address of the underlying node to the source network address.

Migrating clusters

Requirement

The clusters need to be native to the VPC.

Steps

It is not possible to modify the cluster’s default pod IPv4 range. For more recent node pools that support Class E ranges, you may add pod ranges.

Workloads from earlier node pools may potentially be moved to newer node pools.

IPv4 Vs IPv6

Making the switch from IPv4 to IPv6 Class E

For enterprises experiencing IP depletion, switching to dual-stack clusters with the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses now is a wise strategic step. By increasing the pool of IP addresses that are accessible, it offers instant relief and permits expansion and scalability inside Google Cloud and GKE. Furthermore, implementing dual-stack clusters is an essential first step toward a more seamless IPv6-only transition.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[perpetual-peace]

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang

Reading Yellowface is an entirely new experience. That is because I’ve been having this book for 5 months before finally deciding to read it. I've heard many great things about Rebecca F. Kuang regarding her works on The Poppy War Trilogy and Babel, so I put high expectations on this. Should I have expected something great from her? I shouldn't have. Did I regret giving this book a try? Absolutely not.

As I said before, the idea and main plot of this book are genius. Many say that Rebecca F. Kuang's works reflect things around her, and "Yellowface's" plot is surely something that’s close to her because it's talking about book publishing and all the drama involved in it. Rebecca F. Kuang, I must admit, can really create an unhinged character that can set everyone's hair on fire. I couldn't describe how mad I was reading this book. Seeing Juniper Song Hayward's point of view for the entire book really tested all the patience in me. As the NY Times said about this book: "Everything about R.F. Kuang's novel 'Yellowface' feels engineered to make readers uncomfortable."

This brilliant novel should at least get 5 stars, but for some reason, I won't give it 5 stars. Rather, I'll explain to you three reasons why this book is genius:

The satire. As we all know, although the Chinese community has become larger and larger over time due to the mobility of people around the world, and despite how big China is as a state/country right now, this hasn't really reduced the amount of sinophobia that exists in the world, especially in the book publishing sector. The satire in this book is brilliant because Rebecca F. Kuang is not only addressing racism but also the bigotry and Asian-fetishizing that have been happening this past 10 years.

Tension. This book either makes you hate Juniper or pity her. The moment you find yourself pitying her and wishing her not to get caught, that’s the moment you should start booking a session with a therapist. (no judgement, but I just did).

History lesson. This world is fucked up but we are kind of beyond the most fucked up eras: World War 1 and World War 2. This book also brings along a topic and history lesson that not everyone might know. As an IR student, I should thank RFK for her (not so) free lesson.

Reading this book has a similar feeling to riding a roller-coaster. It gave me a wonderfully furious feeling, but at the same time left me with no excitement toward the end of the ride. A solid 3.5 stars for me.

Link to The StoryGraph: Yelloface's review by Isabelle

[jcmarchi]

10 Best Network Monitoring Tools (June 2024)

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/10-best-network-monitoring-tools-june-2024/

10 Best Network Monitoring Tools (June 2024)

Effective network monitoring is crucial for maintaining the performance and reliability of today’s complex IT environments. With the right tools, network administrators can proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact end-users. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the best network monitoring solutions available, including both cloud-based platforms and open-source options.

Auvik is a cloud-based network monitoring and management platform designed to give IT teams full visibility and control over their networks. It automates many complex and time-consuming network management tasks, allowing administrators to work more efficiently. By providing real-time network mapping, detailed device information, and intelligent alerts, Auvik enables IT professionals to proactively monitor network health and quickly troubleshoot issues.

One of Auvik’s standout capabilities is its ability to automatically discover and inventory all devices on the network within minutes of deployment. It creates dynamic, interactive topology maps that visualize physical and logical connections between devices. Auvik also provides in-depth traffic analysis to easily identify who is on the network, what they are doing, and where their traffic is going. With features like automated config backups and an intuitive dashboard to access key network data from anywhere, Auvik is a comprehensive tool to streamline network management.

Key features of Auvik include:

Automated network discovery and inventory that provides a complete view of all network devices

Dynamic network mapping to visualize physical and logical network topology

Intelligent network traffic analysis to monitor bandwidth usage and identify traffic patterns

Automated configuration backups and easy restore to quickly recover from network issues

Extensive integrations with popular IT platforms and a powerful API to build custom workflows

Visit Auvik →

SolarWinds is a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software. Their flagship product for network monitoring is called Network Performance Monitor (NPM). NPM is designed to provide comprehensive network monitoring capabilities that allow IT professionals to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues and outages.

SolarWinds NPM can automatically discover network devices and start monitoring them within hours of deployment. It provides real-time visibility into the health and performance of routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, wireless access points, and any other SNMP-enabled devices. NPM uses a web-based interface with customizable dashboards, views, and charts to present critical performance metrics at a glance. It also includes advanced alerting capabilities to notify administrators of issues before they impact end-users.

In addition to NPM, SolarWinds offers several other tools that extend its network monitoring capabilities. NetFlow Traffic Analyzer provides detailed visibility into bandwidth usage by application, protocol, and IP address group. Network Configuration Manager automates network configuration and change management. IP Address Manager streamlines IP address management with integrated DHCP and DNS servers. Taken together, these tools provide a comprehensive and scalable network monitoring solution.

Key features of SolarWinds network monitoring tools include:

Automated network discovery and mapping to quickly inventory devices and visualize topology

Customizable dashboards, views, and reports to present key performance metrics and health data

Over 1200 pre-built templates for monitoring Cisco, HP, Dell, Juniper, and other network device vendors

Advanced alerting with dynamic baseline thresholds and dependencies to reduce false alarms

PerfStack performance analysis dashboard for easy cross-stack data correlation and root cause identification

Visit SolarWinds →

LogicMonitor

LogicMonitor is a SaaS-based infrastructure monitoring platform that provides unified visibility into complex and hybrid IT environments. It offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities across networks, servers, cloud resources, applications, and more. By collecting metrics, logs, and traces through an agentless collector architecture, LogicMonitor delivers real-time insights into the health and performance of the entire technology stack.

One of LogicMonitor’s key strengths is its ability to automatically discover and monitor devices within minutes of deployment. It creates dynamic topology maps to visualize relationships between critical resources. LogicMonitor also leverages AI and machine learning for advanced capabilities like anomaly detection, forecasting, and intelligent alerting. With customizable dashboards, pre-configured alert thresholds, and extensive integrations, LogicMonitor optimizes digital experiences while consolidating tools and reducing operational overhead.

Key features of LogicMonitor include:

Automated discovery and monitoring of devices, cloud resources, and applications

Dynamic topology mapping to visualize relationships and dependencies

AI-driven insights for anomaly detection, forecasting, and smart alerting

Customizable dashboards and reporting for tailored views of key metrics

Extensive integrations with 2000+ technologies and open API for custom data sources

Visit LogicMonitor →

Nagios

Nagios is a powerful open-source IT infrastructure monitoring tool that enables organizations to identify and resolve problems before they impact critical business processes. Originally developed under the name NetSaint in 1999, Nagios has evolved to become one of the most widely used monitoring platforms, with thousands of projects and plugins extending its core functionality. Nagios runs natively on Linux and other Unix-like systems but can also be deployed on Windows using virtualization.

At its core, Nagios is designed to monitor hosts, services, and network devices. It uses a server-client architecture where plugins run on remote hosts to collect data and send it back to the Nagios server for processing. When issues are detected, Nagios can send alerts via email, SMS, or other notification channels to IT staff, allowing them to quickly respond to outages or performance problems. Nagios also provides a web-based interface for viewing monitoring status, generating reports, and managing configuration.

Beyond its core monitoring engine, the Nagios ecosystem includes several other tools to extend its capabilities. Nagios XI provides an enterprise-grade web interface, advanced visualizations, and features like capacity planning and audit logging. Nagios Fusion allows centralized viewing of multiple Nagios instances. Nagios Log Server enables log monitoring and analysis, while Nagios Network Analyzer provides NetFlow-based traffic analysis.

Key features of Nagios include:

Comprehensive monitoring of IT infrastructure components including servers, network devices, applications, and services

Flexible, plugin-based architecture that allows monitoring of virtually any resource

Centralized view of monitoring status via web interface with user-specific views and dashboards

Proactive alerting via multiple channels to ensure rapid response to issues

Extensible ecosystem with add-ons for log monitoring, network analysis, configuration management, and more

Visit Nagios →

Zabbix

Zabbix is a mature and feature-rich open-source network monitoring solution designed for monitoring the availability and performance of IT infrastructure components including servers, network devices, virtual machines and cloud services. It provides a centralized monitoring system that enables real-time monitoring of thousands of metrics collected from servers, network devices and applications.

One of Zabbix’s key strengths is its flexibility and extensibility. It can monitor a wide range of devices and systems using multiple methods including Zabbix agent, SNMP, IPMI, JMX and custom checks. Zabbix also provides powerful data visualization capabilities including custom graphs, network maps, dashboards and reports. With features like anomaly detection, predictive analytics and auto-discovery of devices, Zabbix helps IT teams proactively monitor their infrastructure and quickly troubleshoot issues.

Key features of Zabbix include:

Distributed monitoring with support for remote Zabbix proxies for monitoring across multiple locations

Agentless monitoring using multiple protocols including SNMP, IPMI, JMX, SSH and Telnet

Powerful data visualization with custom graphs, network maps, dashboards and slideshows

Flexible alerting with customizable escalation scenarios and multiple notification channels

Auto-discovery for automatic registration of new devices and application of appropriate monitoring templates

Visit Zabbix →

Datadog is a comprehensive cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform designed to provide real-time visibility into modern IT environments. It enables organizations to monitor their entire infrastructure, including servers, databases, applications, network devices, and cloud services. By collecting, searching, and analyzing metrics, traces, and logs across fully distributed architectures, Datadog empowers IT teams to proactively detect and resolve performance issues before they impact end-users.

Datadog supports over 600 technologies and services out-of-the-box. This allows seamless data collection from various sources, providing a holistic view of the IT ecosystem. Datadog also offers customizable dashboards, intelligent alerts, and collaboration features, enabling teams to efficiently monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize their systems. With its scalable architecture and flexible deployment options, Datadog caters to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.

Key features of Datadog include:

Real-time monitoring of servers, containers, databases, and cloud services, with auto-discovery and detailed performance metrics

End-to-end tracing of requests across distributed systems, identifying bottlenecks and optimizing application performance

Centralized log collection, indexing, and analysis, with powerful search and filtering capabilities 

Visibility into network traffic, analyzing communication between services, containers, and cloud environments 

Customizable dashboards for visualizing key metrics in real-time

Visit Datadog →

AdRem NetCrunch is a comprehensive network monitoring and management solution designed to provide real-time visibility into IT infrastructure. It offers a wide range of features to streamline network monitoring, including auto-discovery of devices, performance monitoring, customizable dashboards, and an intuitive alerting system. NetCrunch runs on Windows and provides an agentless approach to monitoring, making it easy to deploy and scale.

NetCrunch automatically discovers and maps network devices, creating a dynamic, interactive network atlas. This allows IT teams to visualize their network topology, identify dependencies, and quickly locate the root cause of issues. NetCrunch supports monitoring of various devices and systems, including servers, network devices, applications, virtual environments, and cloud services.

Key features of AdRem NetCrunch:

Agentless monitoring using protocols like SNMP, WMI, and SSH

Automatic network discovery and interactive topology mapping

Customizable dashboards and alerts for tailored network insights

Supports monitoring of servers, network devices, VMs, and cloud services

Extensive reporting and integration with IT management platforms

Visit NetCrunch →

Observium is an open-source network monitoring and management platform that offers auto-discovery capabilities to automatically detect and monitor devices on the network, including servers, switches, routers, and more. Observium supports a wide range of device types and operating systems, such as Cisco, Windows, Linux, HP, Juniper, Dell, and others.

Observium boasts a user-friendly web interface, which presents network data through customizable dashboards, graphs, and reports. It collects data using SNMP and stores it using RRD (Round-Robin Database), enabling efficient storage and retrieval of historical performance metrics. Observium also provides alerting features to notify administrators of potential issues or performance degradations.

Key features of Observium:

Automatic discovery of network devices for easy setup and monitoring

Support for a wide range of device types and operating systems

Customizable dashboards and graphs for data visualization

Alerting system to notify administrators of potential issues

Scalable architecture to monitor large and complex network environments

Visit Observium →

Domotz is a comprehensive cloud-based network monitoring and management software designed for MSPs, IT professionals, and enterprises. It provides real-time visibility and control over IT infrastructure, enabling users to work more efficiently, increase productivity, and resolve issues faster. Domotz offers a user-friendly interface and automated features such as network discovery, topology mapping, and device inventory.

Domotz can monitor a wide range of devices, including servers, workstations, printers, routers, switches, firewalls, and IoT devices, regardless of the manufacturer. It supports various monitoring protocols like SNMP, WMI, and SSH. Domotz also provides secure remote access to devices for troubleshooting, as well as network configuration management with backup and restore capabilities.

Key features of Domotz:

Automated network discovery, inventory, and topology mapping

Supports monitoring of diverse devices across multiple sites and networks

Secure remote access for troubleshooting and issue resolution

Network configuration management with backup, restore and change alerts

Intuitive web-based interface with customizable dashboards and reporting

Visit Domotz →

AKIPS

AKIPS is a powerful and scalable network monitoring software designed to provide comprehensive visibility into large enterprise network infrastructures. It offers a fully-featured, fast, and cost-effective solution for monitoring network performance, enabling network engineers to proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact business operations. AKIPS can monitor over one million interfaces and 500,000 flows per second from a single server, making it one of the most scalable network monitoring tools on the market.

One of the standout features of AKIPS is its ability to provide real-time insights and historical data down to one-minute granularity for up to three years. This allows network administrators to quickly identify the root cause of issues and make informed decisions. AKIPS also offers automated device discovery, adaptive polling, syslog and SNMP trap management, NetFlow analysis, and configuration management capabilities, providing a comprehensive toolkit for network monitoring and management.

Key one-line features of AKIPS:

Scalable architecture monitoring over 1 million interfaces from a single server

Real-time insights and 3 years of historical data at 1-minute granularity

Automated network discovery and adaptive polling optimizing SNMP traffic

Advanced syslog, SNMP trap management and alerting for proactive issue detection

NetFlow analysis with up to 500k flows/sec and configuration management tools

Visit AKIPS →

The Bottom Line

Choosing the right network monitoring tool is essential for keeping your IT infrastructure running smoothly. Whether you opt for a comprehensive cloud-based platform, a flexible open-source solution, or a combination of tools, having real-time visibility into your network’s performance is crucial. Consider your organization’s specific needs, budget, and existing IT ecosystem when selecting a monitoring solution. By implementing the right tool or combination of tools, you can proactively identify and resolve issues, optimize network performance, and ensure a seamless experience for your end-users.

[livingfictionsystem]

Review for 'Yellowface' by R.F. Kuang

June Hayward, an aspiring author with only scarce flops to her name, best friends/frienemies/rivals with Athena Liu, successful Asian-American Indie darling, has a lot of possible reactions to witnessing Athena's sudden and accidental death. Stealing Athena's unpublished draft about Chinese labour camps and claiming it was her own was certainly a *choice.* This book was honestly a treasure. It's a blunt, biased, yet uniquely savage view into the world of cultural appropriation, media backlash, and publishing. It's also a treat for anyone who loves to follow petty cancellation deep-dives and general drama; I was reacting verbally like I was watching a football game for my entire listen-through.

I love how many infinite shades of grey there are in June Hayward's first person POV. On one hand, fellow struggling creatives could understand the bitterness at being overlooked and the temptation to launch oneself dishonestly into notoriety on a wave of trends. Fame-hungry creatives can be absolute sharks. Her sarcastic and exasperated take on everything is jarringly relatable and actually pretty witty. She wasn't completely irredeemable; she did write supposedly half of the book based on Athena's notes and 'unreadable draft,' did extensive research herself, and even donated money to related charities. On the other hand, you see June change her name to 'Juniper Song' ("Hey, it *is* my legal middle name!"), using phrases like "reverse racism", and thinking things like, "Oh, I think have some Cherokee genetics on my mom's side I could use for a new book idea."

It really has a Bojack Horseman-esque way of exploring how publicists twist things for 'the right spin.' How commodifying everything from diversity to drama is just part of the game, some sort of socio-political mental chess.

The POV followers the MC's reputation's endless rollercoaster rising and falling as her house of cards collapses. Multiple angles are addressed on both sides, anything from claiming that Asian trauma is being 'gatekept' from the poor misunderstood white writers, to digging up June's 5 year-old posts responding positively to a Wonder Woman film and saying it was 'proof of a white savior complex.' Then you have elderly Chinese immigrants thanking June with tears in their eyes about how much her book means to them, while the right wingers are defending her on Twitter.

It was all incredibly realistic and modern, to the point of my leaving a review of a book on Goodreads is feeling extremely meta. No one is likeable or sinless---only fascinating and multi-faceted. The POV leaves room for the reader to pivot from having anxiety about June getting caught, to looking forward to the truth being revealed.

June's racism is also extremely well-written and just as contemporary. You see her trying to unlearn, correct herself, pay her dues, even try to protect Athena's memory, but then she'll get desperate and go on an internal rant about how "Karen" is used to discriminate against white women. And the thing is, June's not written as a stereotypical bigot or right-winger. The book has her probably about left-of-centre. She's the kind that's on the side of the disenfranchised until it's time to get defensive about micro-aggressions. The kind who uses the term 'Cis-het' but gripes about how minority creators have this conspiratal advantage.

Definitely read this book. I loved it. An easy 10/10.

Also, with how intimately and accurately R.F. Kuang wrote about experiencing mass cancellation, I have to ask them---are you okay? Show me on this doll where Twitter hurt you.

One of my favourite parts was when June was being cancelled one time and someone stood up for her, calling the mass pile-on a 'lynch mob.' Then there was discourse about whether or not using 'Lynch mob" in this context was racially insensitive, and then there was discourse about race of the person who started the discourse---IT WAS SO REALISTIC.

There's also another really good scene where June sits down with film execs and tries to insist; "I need actual Asian people playing the Asian characters, though. Representation is important." And one of the producers makes a racist joke about Asian accents and the other one playfully scolds like "LOL you can't say that!! :)"

It really had a 'As long as we're all white here, we have a little racism, as a treat. Just to make you feel like you're part of the gang' vibe.

-Xanthe

[allthatisleftinthedark]

A letter is presented to Estranha, and once it's open, it has a familiar handwriting, that of one Nelia Zarin.

Hey, Es. It's been a while, I know, usually we have time to talk or we meet up a lot more often, but ever since the start of this journey, things have been going so fast it makes my head spin. From the moment I set out, I've been drugged, knocked out, got the boat i was traveling on smashed by a dragon...Caught in explosions, it's been a mess. Feels like I can't take a minute to catch my breath.

That's just the external stuff. I had a dream about an old friend and his little brother. I couldn't save the kid, he had a knife that cut holes into the elemental planes...At the end of the day, he was a scared kid with a shitty father. I should've been able to do more, should've saved him. Now he's scattered across the planes. Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop, I'll bring him back, no matter what it takes. You know me, I got a hard head that I'll keep banging against the wall until it breaks.

There's another dream I had. You were in it, and it was just us talking and hanging out while I worked out. And I...Gods, I'm so sorry I've been pulling you around for so long. I'm so afraid of losing you that I don't even know how to begin talking about how I feel about you. I've always been so damn uncertain, but now? After all of this? Nearly dying a few times, visions where you wind up dead...Or hell, even experiencing the feeling of seeing into other worlds and feeling my arm getting flayed to the point of uselessness...I know now.

Oh, and don't even get me started on meeting an ice dragon, or getting eaten by a Gibbering Maw, it's so fucking horrible on the inside of those things and I punched my way out with the help of my master, Ramona Hammerfist. I've seen things that people would only see in nightmares, and the cult...Let me tell you, I don't think I can take enough baths or showers to ever get the smell of rotting meat outta my clothes. I swear I can even smell the shit in my dreams.

I want to be with you. Every second of every day for the rest of my life. I'm supposed to be a wanderer, but I don't want to travel around for the rest of my life, and not have a home. Or at the very least, if I gotta travel for the rest of my life, I want it to be with you.

I want you to meet my friends, to meet Cassius when we get him back, he's such a good kid, and he just needs someone to encourage him. I want you to meet Junie, she's been the closest thing I've had to a mom, and Aika, she's a little serious sometimes, but she's got a curiosity about things that's pretty adorable. I don't know if you'd get to meet them, but the Crownswatch has been nice to know too, Dejin's kind of the serious type, but he knows good food and drink, Khiye, a little spooky, but she's good in a fight, I mean, she bashed a mound of flesh so hard the damn thing was knocked stupid. Garur, I think you'd look at them and then you'd understand why we get along so well. Nowhere...well, I might have to work to be her friend, I kinda can't translate her way of speech yet. I don't know when we'll meet again, but when we do...I'm gonna be a woman worthy of being your girlfriend. With love, Nelly

unprompted asks! | always accepting | @offrozenmemoirs

A/N's note: Any mentions of "Juniper" are replaced with "Ghost Whisker." Only Creed knows her private name and refers to her by that name one-on-one; everyone else knows her as Ghost Whisker and addresses her as such (Creed included when in public/group conversation).

Sheltered by the canopy of a weather-worn canvas tent, Estranha peruses speculative fiction of the to-be future during the 4000s from a tome published circa 3200 PC. Their roosting spot is on a sturdy wooden crate adorned with crimson-painted words. As alien as the language on the box is, its definition is meaningless. 

With weighty volume, they perch upon a sturdy wooden crate with painted crimson words on one side. Alien is the language to them, but its definition is meaningless. In this instance, this serves as a "seat" and nothing more. 

As their gaze skims across the printed character, a slender finger idly twirls a plum-purple stray lock. A sudden snort, reminiscent of crackling flames, disrupts the silence. Aimless exploration constitutes a significant portion of Estranha's scholarly pursuits. Uncovering peculiarities and pockets of amusements are commonplace amidst their research. Of course, these are abrupt conclusions in their currently fruitless endeavors. But not every dead end heralds a soured conclusion. Rather, they often encounter unexpected delights along the winding search of inquiry, each revelation saccharine in an otherwise dried pool. 

Upon the page from Grand Magister Salazar Silverwinds's The Revolution of Magicracy, Estranha's soft green irises race over the words, over and over, "Under the harmonious collection of the magically inclined and gifted, the natural world and humanity unite. The future order may see that those bestowed with gifts of casting would be better attuned to granting and guiding individuals into an enlightened society that bolsters and salvages the new world." They place their thumb on the tome's pages and ponder the publication details. Interestingly, it was not produced by any Graneyean territory or ally of the era. 

Besides the thinly veiled hierarchal oppression in the text, exciting sections recount the prestige of the fabled ancient era. Without a doubt, there are continuous odes to the times before from this book published over a thousand years ago. Still, the modern-day sees toward the future and ignores the possible reaches of civilization before the "Dark Days." Advancing past the point of where society was once at? That query died on the tongues of philosophers hundreds of years ago. 

As Estranha reads further into Grand Magister Salazar Silverwinds's work, an unforeseen event suddenly interrupts their scholarly pursuit.

A russet-haired man with lengthy curls tied into a neat ponytail peers into the tent. His hazel eyes twinkle in quite an ensemble of clothes—a uniform fitting any Four Seasons United Postal Service worker. The heat on the Nihiranian deserts must have had his sleeves rolling and hat slightly disheveled as if he were fanning himself with it before.

"Telegram for a Miss Extraña?" He calls out, looking around the barren tent before his eyes finally land on Estranha. 

The recipient closed the book and cast it aside when the man poked his head in. They approached, giving a dull nod before plucking the missive from his hands. They turned the envelope over. "I never realized you reached this far."

"Well," he speaks as his chest swells with pride, "it is a recognized global service." He removes his hat, placing it over his heart. "From the head of Rivera to the feet of Nihiran, we can be found anywhere across the world, through sleet, storm, sand--"

Estranha turns on their heel, squinting at the crimson seal. Two bare arms cross over the other; it is definitely Nelia's seal. "Mhm," they nod as their hand reaches out, grabs one fold of the tent's canvas, and closes it back up. 

Unfolding the letter, a several-month estrangement between "friends," as colloquially as Estranha can define, meets its end. All they recall was the tiefling mentioning a journey overseas on a boat to another continent like Tahrea. Creed never considered setting a hoof outside of Nihiran; her thirty and more years were spent in the red dunes. Though, anyone can change. Il'Surrish is the Wanderer; paths treaded, and new is how her worshippers go. 

Estranha's thumb guides their reading and marking of the paragraph. Returning to their perch on the crate top, they criss-crossed their legs. The twinkling mischief in their eyes fades further down as they read the letter. Hesitation draws the corners of their ever-smiling expression lower and lower. Two years after that conversation, Estranha still could not ascertain its intention.

A letter was drafted and sent within a few days of the initial telegram's receipt. It would only take some weeks before Nelia received a letter back. 

Hi Nel,

It is wonderful to know you are in one piece despite the destroyed ship, the hungry, hungry Gibbering Maw, and a suspicious number of assumedly extinct dragons on your latest travels. For someone who always enjoyed a surprise and a show, that was a lot, even for you. 

Tahrea brought on much more than I anticipated in a letter; I expected much more debauchery and other rendezvous with other women at the encampments along the dirt roads. As I reread each line before getting to the climax of my thoughts, everything is happening or has happened in a compressed and narrow time frame. Now, you are at the apex of it. From what I hope, you just survived another scrap on the long road and plan on continuing. 

On my side of this expansive pond, what remains true of the sands is that it brings me excitement and new ideas, but nothing that progresses my ongoing research. The tracks behind me will soon meet their end. The civilizations beneath the dunes and what came before the city that was a black speckle in the sun serve nothing to me. But are they fascinating tales? Of course. But the sea salt gales shall take me elsewhere after three years. Where they may take me, I have mapped out some alternatives and continents, but I cannot return to the university without any proper advancement in my thesis.  

Foregoing the timeline of when this chapter will come to a close is something I cannot bring myself to do. For as long as I have been at this, there is nothing else I can do until I accomplish this entirely. One may compliment my tenacity for conclusions rather than jeering it as aimless stubbornness or pride. 

It is at least a concrete resolve, no matter which direction I may go. 

Sifting between what I share and what you've shared, you now have a new conclusion, a revelation, about us coming together and going somewhere. But a question continuously spurs me as much as it has you. Your answer leaves only further queries on my end and our relationship. What else springs from this drive to be together besides the glaring external variables that are beyond stressing you out? 

Nelia, you remain seeking yet are convinced in this letter that you have something in mind. I entrust your goals to be well-meaning, and I ask what is there in the long run beyond doing things on account of other relationships? 

How much will you risk for the boy you dream of saving? Is guilt rooting you down to attempt to reverse a mistake you feel can be undone? As far as I understand from this letter, that is your current goal. That has been the clearest I have understood of what you have wanted to do. This is past starting a career in labor law and your past training in the Mduara Kuona. 

Become the woman you want to be, which will steady your future's compass. The arrow keeps turning and turning, unnecessarily working like a poor-functioning clock and needs calibration. You will soon find the direction you need to take. 

There, you can see who you want to become. There, you can figure out what you want and why. 

Time will only make us lose opportunities, but it will not lose us. I will still be here, as you will, accomplishing what we want to do. As you discover what you wish to do, I still have my fair share of goals. That remains something I still have to accomplish, but I at least know my calling. 

The duress you are under, with these new obligations and the people you are around, complicates many things. Do not abandon it, but remember that under such stress, one cannot ascertain what one wants. The mind focuses on the present and current fixes to a problem; the life of another, or your own, is not considered when solving things. 

When we meet again, it may not be at the right time and place, but we will be in another person's company again. When we meet after that, some things may even be wrong, but there are still us. So on and so forth, our paths will cross repeatedly because we desire it. 

Maybe then, we will both have the answers we want. 

Give yourself a break, Nel, and don't get in over your head. 

Until we meet again, Estranha Extrana 

[requiesticat]

Life update: drama, job, new pets

Back from hiatus

I took a break from social media for awhile. This was due to mental health, as well as other reasons

Drama/unemployment

A few months ago, I made a character analysis to support a user who was getting harassed for making one. This lead to me getting targeted instead. OP didn't respond to my post, or address that targeting, so I decided to private it.

This isn't the first time I've experienced harassment. Different instances have occurred over the years, with the most prominent one happening on Furvilla. Updated my about page to address it in general:

In March, a few weeks before publishing the post, I quit my job. The position was retail, but it proved to be too demanding. Now I'm unemployed, and unsure if I'll be able to find fulltime work. May start taking commissions.

Things sort of went downhill from there. The aa drama happened. A falling out with a friend lead to our relationship deteriorating. For awhile, it was like I had the worst luck imaginable, and I've been spending more time alone, isolating myself as a result.

So I might leave twitter. The only reasons I've stayed is because all my mutuals use it. Elon Musk's ownership as well as anti/proship discourse has put me off the site entirely; honestly feel more comfortable using mastodon. I'll probably be more active on tumblr as well.

Pets

Some good news: my cats are doing fine. I haven't posted about them much, but their names are Sophie and Milo. They're siblings that come from the same litter

Since 2019 I started taking care of fish, mainly bettas. Right now I own a female koi betta (Pippa), a male platy (Nougat), and an ivory mystery snail (Perry).

Last week, I adopted a jumping spider who kept showing up on my back porch. Not sure about the gender yet, but it's a bold jumper/phidippus audax. I got them a terrarium as well as some crickets for live food.

Its name is Juniper. Jumpy for short, after the protagonist of 999. They're wary of me, but curious and spend a lot of time making webs at the top of the terrarium. I've always wanted a tarantula, so this is sort of the next best thing.

(Sorry for blurry photo)

[thesecrettimes]

Central Bank Digital Currency Transactions to Reach $213 Billion Annually by 2030, Research Shows

A new study shows that payments via central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are expected to reach $213 billion annually by 2030. Furthermore, 92% of the total value transacted via CBDCs will be paid domestically, the research found.

$213 Billion Annually

Research and market intelligence firm Juniper Research published a report on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) Monday. The firm wrote: The value of payments via CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) will reach $213 billion annually by 2030; up from just $100 million in 2023. This radical growth of over 260,000% reflects the early stage of the sector; currently limited to pilot projects. “Adoption will be driven by governments leveraging CBDCs to boost financial inclusion and increase control over how digital payments are made,” the firm added. “CBDCs will improve access to digital payments, particularly in emerging economies; where mobile penetration is significantly higher than banking penetration.” Furthermore, Juniper Research detailed: The research found by 2030, 92% of the total value transacted via CBDCs will be paid domestically. This reflects a change from almost 100% during current pilot stages, as of 2023. Initially, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will be primarily focused on addressing domestic payment challenges due to their issuance by central banks, while cross-border payments are expected to follow subsequently “as systems become established and links made between CBDCs used by individual countries,” the study shows. “While cross-border payments currently have high costs and slow transaction speeds, this area is not the focus of CBDC development,” report author Nick Maynard said, elaborating: As CBDC adoption will be very country specific, it will be incumbent on cross-border payment networks to link schemes together; allowing the wider payments industry to benefit from CBDCs. The research firm also noted that the absence of commercial product development for CBDCs is a primary constraint for the current market, adding that there are few well-defined platforms for central banks to utilize. According to the Atlantic Council’s central bank digital currency tracker, 114 countries, representing over 95% of global GDP, are currently exploring a CBDC. In addition, 11 countries have fully launched a digital currency. Do you think CBDCs will dominate digital payments? Let us know in the comments section below. Read the full article

[juniperpublishersoceanography]

Assessment of Centurial Extreme Coastal Climate of Bethioua Algeria- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

Nearshore marine climate at the Port of Bethioua, located on the west of Algeria, were studied using real-time field data and climatological offshore data obtained from the UK Met Office. Total waves, swells in the offshore are hind-casted separately and were validated using buoy measurements were supplied by UKMO at a nominal cost. Shallow water wave transformations are modelled using the Teluray wave-current model to calculate shoaling, depth refraction and current refraction taking bathymetry and tidal flows from the TELEMAC flow model as inputs. The results are of particular importance in the context of planning of port and safe anchorage and movement and anchoring of vessels in the harbour area, in addition, for future developmental programs at the port of Bethioua.

Introduction

Waves are of varied forms, frequencies and directions. To arrive at their climatological picture has always been a challenge to harbour engineers from strategic, economic and commercial points of view. The knowledge of sea state is essential in all operational activities in the marine environment, for the safety of public and for design of coastal and marine engineering structures. Efficacy and life of both floating and fixed marine structures and their cost analysis require good estimates of the extreme sea states [1]. Careful assessment of the wind and wave climates, employing good data and reliable analysis techniques, is necessary for the design of all modern deep and coastal ocean infrastructure systems [2]. Height and period of waves are the most important parameters required in ocean engineering designs [3].

In connection with the future developmental programs at the port of Bethioua, studies were carried out on the offshore wind and wave conditions and nearshore wave transformations in the sea off Bethioua to assess the navigation and berth operability perspectives. This paper presents the results of investigations on the winds and temporal and spatial distribution of waves in the nearshore waters of Bethioua, Algeria for 100 years. Wave activity in the port and its environs is of particular importance in the context of design of port, its operation, ship navigation, safe mooring of vessels and transport of cargo in the harbour area.

Materials and Methods

Algeria is in the Maghreb region of North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. The port of Bethioua is located on the west of Algeria. It has a gas terminal, petrochemical facilities and a desalination plant. Figure 1 gives the location of the port of Bethioua. Long term Offshore data were obtained from UK Met Office was used for the coastal process and nearshore wave data analysis. UKMO provides Wave data from operational wave forecasting model re-run in a hindcast mode with calibration against measured data from weather ships and satellites. The model results were also validated using the real-time wave rider buoys measurements. Different components of the wave energy spectrum, for example wind-sea and swell, can propagate naturally and separately, each responding realistically to changes in the wind fields. The full wave directional spectrum, which automatically includes both wind-sea and swell, can be re-constituted as required at each time step and at each grid point. Time series data were collected from offshore observation point located at 36.0 °N, 0.46 °W for twenty-year period from March 1987 to Feb 2006. Three-hourly data on wind speed and direction, significant wave height, mean wave period and mean wave direction are analysed. Data on swells generated by remote storms have been analysed separately as long period swell waves are of particular importance in the movement of moored ships. A similar attempt has earlier been successfully carried out around the Korean peninsula [4] and for the northeast Atlantic European coast [5].

The Met Office (UKMO) Global and European Wave Models represent the ocean surface's elevation due to wind stress as an energy spectrum which parameterizes the non-linear interactions in the wave spectrum. The behavior of the individual spectral components (i.e. their growth and dissipation) can be computed. In each 30 minute time step, the wave energy components move in their respective directions through the a directional spectrum which has 16 and direction (θ m) at each grid point can be integrated out from direction and 13 frequency grid. The significant wave height (Hs), mean wave period (Tm) components.

Shallow water transformations of waves consist of refraction, depth induced breaking and shoaling. Shoaling involves changes in wave height due to the waves slowing down as they travel through water of decreasing depth. Refraction involves gradual change in wave direction as waves travel towards the coast, with the wave crests tending to align more nearly parallel with the seabed contours [6]. Added to these are the influences of tidal currents causing changes in wave height. The current effects on waves are likely to be important where peak tidal velocities exceed about 2m/s [7]. In regions where there are strong tidal currents, the influence of tidal currents on waves (current refraction) is just as important as depth refraction and shoaling. An accurate prediction of the combined effects of depth refraction and current refraction is important in engineering studies in harbours.

Generally, in wave transformation studies selected offshore wave conditions from the probability estimates will be transformed using standard numerical models to study the nearshore wave parameter, which gives biased results. Ultimately, it may cause overestimation/underestimation, hence it increase the error in planning and cost estimation.

The present study makes use of the Teluray wave-current model to calculate shoaling, depth refraction and current refraction taking bathymetry and tidal flows from the validated TELEMAC2D flow model as inputs. The Teluray model predicts nearshore wave activity by representing the effects of refraction and shoaling on all components of the offshore spectrum using a backtracking ray method. It employs an unstructured finite- element model mesh, which allows the dynamic variation of resolution, so that better resolution can be achieved in areas of particular importance. Figure 2 shows the model mesh for Bethioua.

By this approach, we are transforming each offshore wave ray to the corresponding wave at a neashore point of interest with the influence of all corresponding possible natural agents like wind, tidal variation and processes like shoaling, diffraction etc. Sensitivity tests were conducted to test the model sensitivity to different parameters in the numerical model and were calibrated with available in-situ measurements. Result of the study is a nearshore time series to the corresponding offshore time series at a point of interest. The resultant nearshore time series will be further utilised in estimation of wave parameters for next 100 years using a Weibull fit.

Results and Discussion

Offshore winds

Spatial and seasonal variations in wind and wave conditions are of particular interest when considering safety and ease of manoeuvring and mooring of vessels in the harbour area.

(Data in parts per hundred thousand; U is the hourly averaged wind speed in m/s; P(U>U1) is the probability of U10 exceeding U1).

(Total number of hours in period = 166560).

Wind conditions offshore of Bethioua are presented in Figure 3 as a rose diagram. The area is mostly influenced by westerly and northeasterly winds. Winds blowing from the sector centred at 270 °N are the strongest having speeds in the range 24-26m/ s. The most frequently occurring winds are from 240 °N, which account for 18% of records. Table 1 gives the annual average wind climate offshore of Bethioua. Table 2 presents the average monthly probability of exceedence of wind speeds offshore of Bethioua for all the months based on wind data for March 1987 - February 2006. The wind climate of the region consists of two seasons. The winds are strongest during winter months (October-April) and relatively calm during summer months (June-September). Figure 4 presents the diurnal variation of average mean wind speed for all months at the observation point located at 36.0 °N, 0.46 °W. The wind speed shows higher variations during summer with average mean speed reaching a maximum in the afternoon (15:00 GMT) with slower wind in the early morning (06:00 GMT). The greatest variation in mean speed is seen in August with mean speeds ranging between 4.0m/s and 6.0m/s. Diurnal variations are much lower in mean offshore wind speed during winter months.

Offshore waves

The offshore wave climate is presented in Tables 3-5 as scatter tables of significant wave height (Hs) in metres against mean wave direction, significant wave height against mean wave period (Tm) and significant wave height against hourly averaged mean wind speed (U) in m/s respectively. The data, in parts per hundred thousand, are based on 166560 hours of UKMO predictions for March 1987 - February 2006. Table 3 shows that the wave climate is dominated by waves from the 30 °N sector, which accounts for 39% of wave conditions and waves from the 270 °N sector which accounts for a further 24%. This is consistent with the geometry of the offshore wave generating area in this region. The largest waves occur in the 30 °N sector with waves having Hs 6.5 to 7.0m. The average annual distribution of significant wave heights for total sea offshore of Bethioua is illustrated in the rose diagram presented in Figure 5.

(P(H>H1) is the probability of Hs exceeding H1).

(P(H>H1) is the probability of Hs exceeding H1).

(P(H>H1) is the probability of Hs exceeding H1)

Table 4 indicates that the waves have mean periods mostly in the range of 3 to 7 seconds, although mean periods in the range 7 to 12 seconds are also noted on isolated occasions. The largest waves in the data set have mean periods in the range 8 to 10 seconds. Table 5 shows the concurrence of waves with wind offshore of Bethioiua. As expected, there is a general trend towards larger waves when wind speeds are high. However, there are few occurrences of high waves without high wind speeds suggesting that sea conditions dominated by large swell components are rare. Wave conditions above 4.5m are generally accompanied by winds of 12m/s or greater. Such winds can also be accompanied by significantly lower waves.

Offshore wave scatter tables

Offshore two-way scatter plots of significant wave height against direction and significant wave height against wave period are given in Tables 6 & 7 respectively. In 41% of the records, the wave climate is heavily dominated by swells from the 30 °N direction sector. This direction sector also produces the largest swells with significant wave heights reaching 4.5 to 5.0m. Figure 6 presents a clear picture of the annual average wave rose for swells offshore of Bethioua. Wind wave periods are in the range of 2 to 10s. The largest swells fall in the range of 10 to 14s. There are also some very long period swells in the range Tm = 14 to 26s, although these have relatively low wave heights (Hs < 1m).

Based on UKMO predictions for March 1987 - February 2006; P(H>H1) is the probability of Hs exceeding H1.

Extreme offshore conditions

Extreme wind and wave conditions offshore of Bethioua are obtained by fitting probability distributions to the data. It is well accepted that the three-parameter Weibull distribution generally fits this type of data. Extreme conditions have been derived by fitting Weibull distributions to the sectors of interest for return periods of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 years. Table 8 presents the estimated extreme wind speeds offshore of Bethioua. The most severe winds are predicted in the sector centred at 270 °N. Estimated wind speed of return period one year is 19.2m/s and 25.1m/s is the corresponding wind speed for the return period of 100 years.

Total extreme offshore sea waves at Bethioua are presented in Table 9. Most severe waves approach from the sector centred at 60 °N. The 1-year return period for this direction is predicted to be Hs = 4.6m, increasing to 7.7m for the 100-year event. For the higher return periods, similar wave heights are indicated from the 30 °N sector. Extreme swell conditions offshore of Bethioua are presented in Table 10. The most severe swell components occur in the 30 °N sector, giving a 1 in 1-year component of Hs = 3.0m, rising to a 1 in 100-year swell component of Hs = 4.9m.

Shallow water wave transformations

As waves propagate from deep water into the shallow water, all the wave parameters, except wave period get modified by shallow water processes including refraction, and shoaling [8]. The sheltering effect of the surrounding coastline may also be important in determining nearshore wave climate. The Teluray wave transformation model provides and effective and convenient tool to model these processes. This model predicts wave activity at nearshore sites by representing the effects of refraction and shoaling on all components of a given offshore wave spectrum by using an efficient backtracking ray method. This method involves the tracking of wave rays from the nearshore point to the offshore boundary of a grid system covering the area of study. Since the ray paths are reversible, each ray gives information on the energy propagation towards the shore. This method is used to transform long-term offshore wave time series data to nearshore time series in presence of tidal variation and natural wave transformations as it travels from offsh0re to nearshore.

Figure 7 shows the model bathymetry for Bethioua extracted from a digitised global bathymetry database based on latest navigation charts. The Teluray model uses dynamically varying unstructured finite-element model mesh that provides greater resolution in areas of particular importance. Figure 8 shows the model mesh for Bethioua. The co-ordinate system for the model is UTM Zone 30N (WGS84). The nearshore refraction point for Bethioua was located at 749723mE, 3967867mN in a depth of -30mCD. The wave transformation simulations for Bethioua are carried out using a still water level of +0.5mCD, approximately equal to the local mean sea level with corresponding tidal current. The JONSWAP spectrum was assumed for the offshore wave conditions. This is a reasonable assumption for an enclosed sea area such as the western Mediterranean where local winds are dominant. Peak period for the standard JONSWAP spectrum is given by 1.28 times Tm.

The total wave climate nearshore at Bethioua is dominated by waves from directions between 10°N and 30 °N (Figure 9). These waves account for about 50% of the wave records. There is a secondary peak from around 330°N. The largest wave approach is from directions between 10 °N and 20 °N, having Hs between 5.0 and 5.5m predicted in the 20-year data set. Nearshore peak periods are typically around 1.38 times Tm.

The swell wave component nearshore at Bethioua is presented in Figure 9 as a wave rose plot. Again, the climate is dominated by waves arriving from 10 °N - 30 °N which account for about 45% of nearshore wave records. The largest swell components also approach the Port of Bethioua from 10 °N - 20 °N, reaching the range Hs = 3.5 to 4.0m in the 20-year data set. To validate the teleuray results we have considered extremes. Calculated offshore extremes are modelled with help of wave propagation model SWAN. SWAN results are then compared with nearshore extremes from the teluray model.

To compare the validity of nearshore extremes estimated after transforming the entire. In addition to transforming the time series wave data, the Teluray model is used to transform the extreme wave conditions to nearshore. For each offshore direction sector, the predicted extreme wave condition is applied with directions corresponding to the centre of the sector and 10 degrees on either side. The largest resulting nearshore extreme waves for each sector are then selected. The near shore extreme wave conditions are presented in Table 11 for total sea conditions. The most severe near shore waves are those arriving from the sector centred at 30 °N. For this sector, a 1-year return period wave height Hs = 3.0m is predicted with a near shore direction of 13 °N, increasing to Hs = 5.9m with near shore direction of 15 °N for a return period of 100 years. Nearshore extreme swell component predictions are presented in Table 12. As expected, the largest extreme swell components are caused by offshore waves from the directions centred at 30 °N. For this sector, a 1-year return period swell height Hs = 2.5m is predicted with nearshore direction of 17 °N, increasing to Hs = 4.2m with a direction of 16 °N for a return period of 100 years.

Conclusion

Transformation all offshore time series wave data to nearshore point of interest gave more realistic and reasonable results compared to the conventional practice of transforming selected wave rays to nearshore for estimating long-term extremes. The method adopted considered all time-dependant metocean parameters to transform offshore time series waves to nearshore time series. Offshore wind and wave data obtained from the UK Met Office are analysed for a point at 36.0 °N, 0.46 °W. The offshore wind climate is dominated by westerly and northeasterly winds. The strongest winds come from the sector centred at 270 °N, with maximum speeds in the range 24-26m/s.

The waves offshore at Bethioua are dominated by waves from the sectors centred at 30 °N and 270 °N. The largest waves occur in the 30 °N sector with waves predicted up to Hs=6.5 to 7.0m. The waves have mean periods in the range of 3-7 seconds. Mean periods in the range 7 to 12 seconds are also observed on isolated occasions. In the nearshore at Bethioua, the largest extreme wave heights are predicted in the sector centred at 60 °N. The 1-year return period condition for this direction is found to be Hs = 4.6m, increasing to 7.7m for the 100-year event.

The most severe nearshore waves are caused by offshore waves arriving from ~ 30 °N. These waves have a 1-year return period wave height Hs = 3.0m with a nearshore direction of 13 °N, increasing to Hs = 5.9m with near shore direction of 15 °N for a return period of 100 years.

To update

I. Graphs with Teluray and direct Teluray exceedance

II. Downtime estimate with two methods

III. Sensitivity and validation tests

IV. About the friction terms

V. Telemac-teluray coupling

VI. Update the write-up with graphs

VII. Literature

For more about Juniper Publishers please click on: https://twitter.com/Juniper_publish For more about Oceanography & Fisheries please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/ofoaj/index.php

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GLUCO FREEDOM (WATCH!) Does Gluco Freedom Work? Gluco Freedom Reviews 2024

#glucofreedom #glucofreedomreview #glucofreedomreviews

Welcome to another review on the Beats Fusion channel

If you’ve come this far, it’s because you’re looking for more information about Gluco Freedom.

You want to know if Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, what the side effects are, what the ingredients are, and also where to buy this original supplement.

Stay here in this Gluco Freedom review on Beats Fusion to find out everything about this supplement!

Let’s go to the Gluco Freedom review:

✅ What Is Gluco Freedom? Beats Fusion Review 2024

Gluco Freedom is an all-natural supplement designed to support healthy blood sugar levels and enhance overall well-being. Its blend of 19 plant-based ingredients addresses the root causes of blood sugar fluctuations and metabolic imbalances, helping combat the effects of diabetes and environmental toxins.

✅ How Does Gluco Freedom Work?

Gluco Freedom detoxifies the body, enhances insulin sensitivity, and promotes metabolic health by addressing the toxins that interfere with insulin receptors. This improves blood sugar levels and helps restore overall energy and vitality.

✅ Ingredients Gluco Freedom

Bitter Melon: Detoxifies and helps manage sugar in tissues. Cinnamon Bark: Controls appetite and supports blood sugar levels. Gymnema Sylvestre: Reduces sugar cravings by blocking sugar receptors. Banaba Leaves: Supports heart health and provides metabolism benefits. Licorice Root: Contains antioxidants for blood sugar, immune system, and digestion. Juniper Berry: Protects cells and supports glucose levels. Chromium (from Brazil Nuts): Helps maintain glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. Cayenne: Boosts metabolism and supports digestion. These ingredients work together to enhance overall health and help manage blood sugar effectively.

✅ How to Use Gluco Freedom?

To use Gluco Freedom, simply take the recommended dosage as indicated on the product’s label.

🤔 Where To Buy Gluco Freedom?

You can buy Gluco Freedom directly from the official website.

✅ Does Gluco Freedom Work for Blood Sugar Management?

Yes, Gluco Freedom works effectively. Based on personal experiences and customer reports, it helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and enhances metabolism.

✅ Gluco Freedom Customer Reviews

Gluco Freedom has received positive feedback from consumers. For the best results, use Gluco Freedom consistently as part of your daily routine.

✅ Gluco Freedom Reviews Consumer Reports

Gluco Freedom is formulated with natural ingredients and has been positively reviewed for its effectiveness in managing blood sugar and boosting overall health.

🤔 Does Gluco Freedom Have Side Effects?

Gluco Freedom is made with high-quality, natural ingredients, ensuring safety. No major side effects have been reported when used as directed.

❤️ Gluco Freedom Reviews - Final Conclusion of the Review on Beats Fusion

This was the Gluco Freedom review!

Now you know how Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, its ingredients, and where to buy Gluco Freedom.

I hope you enjoyed the Gluco Freedom Reviews video and that it answered all your questions.

Important Matters!

00:01 - Gluco Freedom Review 00:22 - What is Gluco Freedom? 00:45 - Gluco Freedom Official Website 01:04 - Gluco Freedom Ingredients 01:30 - How to use Gluco Freedom 02:01 - Gluco Freedom Benefits 02:31 - Gluco Freedom Guarantee 02:51 - Gluco Freedom Reviews Conclusion

Surveys Gluco Freedom Reviews (Beats Fusion Update 2024): glucofreedom, gluco freedom review, gluco freedom reviews, gluco freedom ingredients, gluco freedom benefits, gluco freedom supplement, gluco freedom does it work, gluco freedom buy, gluco freedom official website

This is the full review of Gluco Freedom on the Beats Fusion channel. I hope you enjoyed this review!

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as possible.

The post Gluco Freedom Reviews was first published on Beats Fusion Channel.

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GLUCO FREEDOM (WATCH!) Does Gluco Freedom Work? Gluco Freedom Reviews 2024

#glucofreedom #glucofreedomreview #glucofreedomreviews

Welcome to another review on the Beats Fusion channel

If you’ve come this far, it’s because you’re looking for more information about Gluco Freedom.

You want to know if Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, what the side effects are, what the ingredients are, and also where to buy this original supplement.

Stay here in this Gluco Freedom review on Beats Fusion to find out everything about this supplement!

Let’s go to the Gluco Freedom review:

✅ What Is Gluco Freedom? Beats Fusion Review 2024

Gluco Freedom is an all-natural supplement designed to support healthy blood sugar levels and enhance overall well-being. Its blend of 19 plant-based ingredients addresses the root causes of blood sugar fluctuations and metabolic imbalances, helping combat the effects of diabetes and environmental toxins.

✅ How Does Gluco Freedom Work?

Gluco Freedom detoxifies the body, enhances insulin sensitivity, and promotes metabolic health by addressing the toxins that interfere with insulin receptors. This improves blood sugar levels and helps restore overall energy and vitality.

✅ Ingredients Gluco Freedom

Bitter Melon: Detoxifies and helps manage sugar in tissues. Cinnamon Bark: Controls appetite and supports blood sugar levels. Gymnema Sylvestre: Reduces sugar cravings by blocking sugar receptors. Banaba Leaves: Supports heart health and provides metabolism benefits. Licorice Root: Contains antioxidants for blood sugar, immune system, and digestion. Juniper Berry: Protects cells and supports glucose levels. Chromium (from Brazil Nuts): Helps maintain glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. Cayenne: Boosts metabolism and supports digestion. These ingredients work together to enhance overall health and help manage blood sugar effectively.

✅ How to Use Gluco Freedom?

To use Gluco Freedom, simply take the recommended dosage as indicated on the product’s label.

🤔 Where To Buy Gluco Freedom?

You can buy Gluco Freedom directly from the official website.

✅ Does Gluco Freedom Work for Blood Sugar Management?

Yes, Gluco Freedom works effectively. Based on personal experiences and customer reports, it helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and enhances metabolism.

✅ Gluco Freedom Customer Reviews

Gluco Freedom has received positive feedback from consumers. For the best results, use Gluco Freedom consistently as part of your daily routine.

✅ Gluco Freedom Reviews Consumer Reports

Gluco Freedom is formulated with natural ingredients and has been positively reviewed for its effectiveness in managing blood sugar and boosting overall health.

🤔 Does Gluco Freedom Have Side Effects?

Gluco Freedom is made with high-quality, natural ingredients, ensuring safety. No major side effects have been reported when used as directed.

❤️ Gluco Freedom Reviews - Final Conclusion of the Review on Beats Fusion

This was the Gluco Freedom review!

Now you know how Gluco Freedom works, how to use it, its ingredients, and where to buy Gluco Freedom.

I hope you enjoyed the Gluco Freedom Reviews video and that it answered all your questions.

Important Matters!

00:01 - Gluco Freedom Review 00:22 - What is Gluco Freedom? 00:45 - Gluco Freedom Official Website 01:04 - Gluco Freedom Ingredients 01:30 - How to use Gluco Freedom 02:01 - Gluco Freedom Benefits 02:31 - Gluco Freedom Guarantee 02:51 - Gluco Freedom Reviews Conclusion

Surveys Gluco Freedom Reviews (Beats Fusion Update 2024): glucofreedom, gluco freedom review, gluco freedom reviews, gluco freedom ingredients, gluco freedom benefits, gluco freedom supplement, gluco freedom does it work, gluco freedom buy, gluco freedom official website

This is the full review of Gluco Freedom on the Beats Fusion channel. I hope you enjoyed this review!

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as possible.

The post Gluco Freedom Reviews was first published on Beats Fusion Channel.

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Dead or Alive? A New Dilemma of Probiotic Skin Care for Healthier Skin

Abstract

Our microbiota, a collection of micro-organisms is a living ecosystem inside (gut) and outside (skin) of our body. As a part of the inner and outer barrier of the body, it plays an important role in maintaining health. One attractive approach to enhance health and combat certain gut and skin inflammatory diseases is to modulate our microbiome using probiotics (live bacteria). Probiotics benefits on gut health is widely accepted, but we just started to understand health benefits of their use in skin care formulations. The formats already adopted in topical applications are live bacteria (probiotic) and dead bacteria, either inactivated or homogenized or ferments (postbiotics, or also called lysates or ferments). It is still a dilemma which format is the most suitable for skin care inventions but considering challenges in formulation design, development, manufacturing, and life cycle management of live bacteria in topical formulation, the focus is now shifted more toward postbiotic research to obtain similar claims as their alive counter partners. But still, the question remains, what are these additional benefits of having live bacteria in skin health care and if this is something worth the extra effort? Our first comparative study on both dead and live L. reuteri DSM 17938 indicated that probiotic in both formats could be used in management of skin inflammation related to photoaging and skin barrier claims like dry/sensitive skin. Additionally, the live format could be suitable for the management of pathogenic bacterial overgrowth such as in acne/sensitive skin conditions.

Keywords: Skin Microbiome Probiotics Postbiotic Ferment UV Inflammation Skin Barrie Lysate Health Aging Bacteria

Abbrevations: S.A: Staphylococcus Aureus; C.A: Cutibacterium Acnes; L Reuteri: Lactobacillus Reuteri; UV: Ultraviolet; UVB: Ultraviolet B

Introduction

Our microbiota, a collection of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi are a living ecosystem inside (gut) and outside (skin) of our body. As a part of the inner and outer barrier of the body, it plays an important role in maintaining health [1,2]. Microbiota impact in gut health and disease is widely accepted, but we are just starting to understand the role of cutaneous microbiota and its influence on skin health and aging. Clearly, there is a strong tête-à-tête between our gut and the skin, where healthy gut contributes to beautiful skin appearance too [3]. A recent study showed interesting inverse relation, where skin exposure to external stressor, such as Narrow Band Ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) light impacted the human intestinal microbiome [4]. This novel study opens a new vision between two barrier organ bidirectional interactions. How does the microbiota influence our skin health? As an outermost layer of the skin barrier, our microbiota is involved in regulating host inflammation, skin barrier, wound healing and premature skin aging process [5-8]. There are many skin concerns associated with dysbiotic (imbalanced) microbiota such as psoriasis, rosacea, atopic dermatitis, acne [9,7]. Thus, keeping the microbiota diverse and in a good balance is crucial for maintaining healthy skin. One attractive approach to enhance health and combat certain gut and skin inflammatory diseases is the use of probiotics [10], defined as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host” [11].

Probiotics, when taken orally, can transiently colonize the human gut mucosa, influence the intestinal microbiota and exert their effects not only in the gut [12], but also impact on overall skin health [13]. Based on recent in vivo studies, oral probiotics could be considered for the management of acne, rosacea, and as a protection against photodamage/premature skin aging [10, 14,15]. Due to these effects, it was reasonable to consider that the same/similar probiotics could also benefit skin when administered topically. The formats already adopted in topical applications are live bacteria (probiotic) and dead bacteria either inactivated or homogenized or ferments of probiotics (postbiotic, or also called lysates or ferments). It is still a dilemma which format is the mostsuitable for skin care inventions, but considering challenges in formulation design, development, manufacturing, and life cycle management of live bacteria in topical formulation, the focus is now shifted more toward postbiotic research to obtain similar claims as their live counter partners. To date, many skincare brands have started to incorporate lysates and ferments in their formulations with skin health claims such as strengthening skin barrier, boosting skin´s natural defense, support healthy microbiome growth, photo/ pollution protection, soothe the skin and etc. But still, the question remains, what are these additional benefits of having live bacteria in skin care and if this is something worth extra effort? To tackle the dilemma, we have performed the first comparative study of dead and live bacterias´ of L. reuteri DSM 17938 using skin equivalent ex vivo models [16]. This specific strain of L. reuteri is widely studied for gut health improvement [17-19], but there are limited studies in topical applications for cutaneous health. Interestingly, our results showed that live both forms of L. reuteri, dead and live, possessed anti-inflammatory effects toward UV induced inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-8) at protein level and a positive impact on skin barrier. Additionally, and differently from lysate, live L. reuteri had an inhibitory action against pathogenic skin bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (S.A) and Cutibacterium acnes (C.A) [16]. In conclusion, both dead and live formats of L. reuteri DSM 17938 could be used in management of skin inflammation related to photoaging and skin barrier claims like dry/sensitive skin. Additionally, the live format or probiotic ferments could be suitable for the management of pathogenic bacterial overgrowth such as in acne/sensitive skin conditions due to the anti-microbial activity of such formats [16].

Conclusion

Based on consumer’s growing interest in having natural, probiotic derived active ingredients in skin care formulation, we performed the first comparative study on a dead and alive bacterial strain of L. reuteri DSM 17938 and propose the use of dead (lysate, postbiotics) bacteria of L. reuteri in topical applications when UVB protection and skin barrier improvements are desired. However, live bacteria, probiotics, exert additional anti-microbial effect toward pathogenic/opportunistic bacterias´ on the skin, compared to postbiotics. Our findings open for more exploration to consider probiotics for enhanced skin health to mitigate or treat diverse skin inflammatory conditions and/or dysbiosis.

For more Open Access Journals in Juniper Publishers please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/

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Spermidine for a Long, Dementia-Free Life?

Authored by Tsikas D

Abstract

Spermidine, N-(3-aminopropyl) butane-1,4-diamine, is an endogenous basic compound known for more than 90 years. The biosynthesis of spermidine, its pharmacological properties including distribution, metabolism and excretion have been thoroughly investigated. Spermidine and other polyamines have been early associated with growth and aging, and were found to stabilize various cellular and subcellular components including nucleic acids due to their polyvalent cationic structures. Polyamines including spermidine have been found at elevated circulating and urinary concentrations in a variety of diseases including cancer and psoriasis. Thus, decreasing the concentration of polyamines mainly by inhibiting their biosynthesis is regarded as a realistic therapeutical strategy. Yet, more recent studies suggest that exogenous spermidine exerts beneficial effects on the brain where it protects from age-induced memory impairment, protects the heart and extents lifespan.

Supplementation of the natural compound spermidine has emerged as an autophagy and mitophagy inducer in a mice model of aging and hypertension and lowered high blood pressure. In humans, high dietary spermidine intake was found to correlate with reduced blood pressure and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and related death. Scientists in this area of research suggest that integration of spermidine in common diets may represent a cardio- and vascular-protective autophagy inducer in humans. The present article provides a brief review of the recent literature reporting on spermidine and takes the chance to make a first evaluation of the pharmacological potential of spermidine to reverse age-induced memory impairment, to protect the heart and to extent lifespan.

Keywords: Aging; Autophagy; Cancer; Dementia; Helicobacter pylori; Memory, to Mitophagy; Polyamines; Supplementation

Abbreviations: DMFO: α-difluoromethylornithine; GABR: Global Arginine Bioavailability Ratio; NOS: Nitric Oxide Synthase

    Introduction

Spermidine, N-(3-aminopropyl) butane-1,4-diamine, is a low-molecular-mass organic base (C7H19N3, CAS 124-20-9) and belongs to the polyamine family which includes spermine and putrescine, the direct precursor of spermidine (Figure 1).At ambient temperature (22-25 °C) spermidine is a colorless liquid or a white powder. In biological samples, the two primary amine groups and the secondary amine group of spermidine are protonated so that the spermidine molecule is a polyvalent cation. Spermidine is a natural compound and widely distributed in plants, animals and humans. Scientific reports on spermidine and putrescine exist for more than 90 years, whereas articles on spermine appeared 25 years earlier (Table 1).

Spermidine is biosynthesized by microorganisms, plants and animals including humans [1-3]. Two possible biosynthetic pathways are illustrated in a simplified form in Figure 1. Hydrolysis of L-arginine by arginase yields L-ornithine which is decarboxylated by ornithine decarboxylase to form putrescine (butane-1,4-diamine or 1,4-diaminobutane). Putrescine can also be formed by hydrolysis of agmatine which is produced from L-arginine by the action of arginine decarboxylase. Putrescine is alkylated by the decarboxylated S-adenosyl-methionine which regularly serves as the major methyl (CH3) group donor for methyl transferases. Spermidine and other polyamines have been and are still subject of continuous scientific research from many different disciplines (Table 1). Spermidine's pharmacological properties including distribution, metabolism and excretion have been thoroughly investigated. A major fraction of injected spermidine is excreted in the urine [4]. Spermidine and other polyamines have been early and widely associated with growth (Table 1) and aging. They were found more than 50 years ago to stabilize various cellular and subcellular components including nucleic acids due to their polyvalent cationic structures.

Several analytical methods have been reported for the simultaneous measurement of spermidine, spermine and putrescine in human biological samples, including HPLC and GC-MS [5,6] and LC-MS/MS [7]. Polyamines including spermidine have been found at elevated circulating and urinary concentrations in a variety of diseases including cancer and psoriasis (Table 1). In plasma spermidine concentration was found to be 220 nM in healthy humans and 200-800 nM in cancer patients. Mean spermidine concentrations in urine were found to be also in the nM-range, e.g., 130 nM in healthy subjects, 186 nM in diabetic patients and 680 nM in patients with severe complications [7].

Measurement of elevated spermidine concentrations in subjects suffering from various diseases has early prompted research on developing drugs to inhibit polyamine biosynthesis. One of these drugs is α-difluoromethylornithine (DMFO) [2]. More recent studies suggest that spermidine supplementation may exert beneficial effects on the brain and the heart, and can even extent lifespan. A selection of these studies is provided in Table 2 [8-31] and is briefly reviewed and discussed in the section that follows. Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been very often associated with polyamines (Table 1). The pathogenic Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) from subjects infected with the bacterium produces large amounts of spermidine and histamine in culture [32]. The potential implication of H. pylori-derived spermidine in diseases remains to be investigated. Spermidine is considered an inducer of autophagy. For recent reviews and commentaries to autophagy and longevity and underlying mechanisms see References [33-42]. For the polyamine content of food see the recent review by Kalač [43].

    Discussion

Spermidine and other polyamines are biologically active compounds and have numerous biological activities in humans. More recent non-human studies suggest polyamines as potential candidates for diseases associated with autophagy or impairment of memory due to advanced age. Due to their pharmacological potential, their toxicity and health risks have been thoroughly investigated twenty years ago. Oral acute toxicity of spermidine was determined to be 600mg (4.1mmol)/kg body weight in Wistar rats, with the no-observed-adverse-effect being 83mg (0.57mmol)/kg body weight [43]. Pharmacokinetic data for spermidine and other polyamines in humans are very scarce and need to be generated in carefully performed studies. The toxicity and health risks data observed in animals and the polyamine concentrations measured in healthy and diseased subjects provide an approximate idea of the dose regimen for spermidine supplementation in humans.

Despite the long interest in polyamines, reference values and intervals have not been established thus far. Moreover, reported circulating and urinary polyamine concentrations vary considerably. As an example, plasma spermidine concentration lies between 0.2μM (healthy subjects) and 0.8μM (cancer patients) [6]. Spermidine concentration seems to be ten times higher in packed red blood cells (5-8μM) [43-45] compared to plasma, suggesting accumulation of spermidine in human erythrocytes. To our knowledge, there is only a single paper reporting on circulating spermidine concentration in healthy humans of both genders aging between 31 and 106 years. In the Group 1 (age range, 31-56 years) the spermidine median [95%CI interval] concentration was approximately 63 [48-100] pmol/mg whole blood proteins. In the Group 2 (age range, 60-80 years) the spermidine concentration was approximately 23 [20-30] pmol/mg protein, i.e., about three times lower than in Group 1. In the Group 3 (age range, 90-106 years) the spermidine concentration was approximately 70 [48-81] pmol/mg protein, i.e., even higher than in Group 1 [18]. This is a very important but also surprising observation and needs evaluation in forthcoming studies.

Eisenberg et al. [31] reported that "In humans, high levels of dietary spermidine, as assessed from food questionnaires, correlated with reduced blood pressure and a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease."

As the authors acknowledged in their paper, estimation of dietary spermidine intake on the basis of food-frequency questionnaires is an indirect method. In our opinion, this estimation is not eligible to draw far reaching conclusions that spermidine is the elixir for cardioprotection and lifespan extension. This must yet be demonstrated in further studies. In this context, we should remember that the mean daily dietary intake of spermidine in Western countries ranges between 7.9mg (54μmol) and 12.6 mg (87μmol) [43]. Even if these dietary spermidine amounts would be completely absorbed, the spermidine concentrations that would occur in blood and tissue would be not high enough to exert the reported effects in the majority of the studies in which spermidine was used mostly in the lower mM-range (Table 2). Eisenberg et al. [31] assumed that the blood pressure lowering effect of polyamines is presumably due to an increase of the bioavailability of L-arginine, but not data were reported about the nitric oxide (NO) synthesis from L-arginine. Based on the same thoughts and estimations stated above, dietary spermidine, and most likely other dietary polyamines, cannot considerably contribute to the global arginine bioavailability ratio (GABR), especially in regard to the about 1000 times higher dietary intake of L-arginine. Thus, food is likely to contribute to polyamines via bactericidal metabolism of exogenous L-arginine.

Therefore, if spermidine and other polyamines can indeed lower the blood pressure in humans, the underlying mechanisms are unlikely to be enhancement of the GABR. In mice, spermidine supplementation (3mM spermidine in drinking water for 4 weeks; 3mM in vitro in cultured aortic rings) has been reported to improve arterial aging in terms of a normalization aortic pulse waive velocity, endothelium-dependent dilation, autophagy, and even to reduce oxidative stress (based on nitrotyrosine measurement) in the older animals [46]. Unfortunately, in this paper no circulating concentrations were reported for spermidine and for the NO metabolites nitrite and nitrate. Very recently, the L-arginine metabolism has been investigated in rat vestibular nucleus and cerebellum. Measured biomarkers included arginine, citrulline, ornithine, glutamine, glutamate, GABA, spermidine, spermine, putrescine and agmatine and NOS activity by measuring the 3H-L-arginine to 3H-L-citrulline conversion rate [47].

This assay is associated with remarkable pitfalls, most notably with unspecificity, in tissue homogenates because of their capacity to produce and utilize L-citrulline by alternative pathways [48]. The study revealed that brain L-arginine metabolism is influenced by age. With regard to spermidine, age-related differences were found in the cerebellum but not in the vestibular nucleus complex of the rats (age, 4 v. 24 months), and not between middle-aged and aged rats (12 vs. 24 months). With minor exceptions [11,15], reported effects of exogenous spermidine have been observed at very high concentrations, mostly at 3mM (435mg/L) to 5mM (725mg/L). These concentrations are three and four orders of magnitude higher than spermidine concentrations found in plasma and red blood cells of humans, respectively. Although supplementation of high amounts of spermidine, putrescine or spermine is feasible from a pharmaceutical point of view, it has first to be demonstrated that supplementation of polyamines to reach concentrations that were turned out to be effective in flies, worms and small animals (mice and rats), is safe in humans.

Unfortunately, in the majority of the studies reported in the last decade, drug safety has not been implemented. Also, the potential formation of catabolic and metabolic reaction products of polyamines has not been considered at all. However, catabolism of polyamines produces many toxic compounds including H2O2 and aldehydes [43,49]. And last but not least important, spermidine can be nitrosated to N-nitrosospermidine which is further converted by cyclisation to N-nitrosopyrrolidine [50] which is classified as a possible carcinogen. Formation of nitrosopolyamines from polyamines and inorganic nitrite, that is abundantly present in human saliva, is favored under acidic conditions as they prevail in the stomach. In this context, a possible involvement of H. pylori which produces spermidine in large amounts [8] is worthy of investigation

A first research paper on spermidine and spermine in tissues of rats of increasing age revealed that the spermidine content decreased in all tissues with increasing age, with the fall being most marked during the first month of life [51]. The spermidine/ spermine molar ratio in the tissues was highest immediately after birth. In contrast to other tissues, in rat brain the spermidine/ spermine increased from 1.3 to 2.1 during the first 9 months. Similar results were found in liver and kidney of rats aged 1, 3, 6, 13 and 22 months [52].

In human brain, polyamines are heterogeneously distributed [53,54]. The highest spermidine levels were measured in white matter (20nmol/mg protein) and thalamus (9.3nmol/ mg protein) [29]. In contrast to rodents, spermidine levels in occipital cortex of neurologically normal human brain were found to increase markedly from birth, to reach maximal tissue content at the age of about 40 years and not to decrease up to senescence [53]. Spermidine tissue content was found to correlate positively with age from birth to adulthood (p=0.71, P<0.01, for day 1 to 50 years; p=0.40, P<0.01, for day 1 to 103 years). In contrast to spermidine, putrescine and spermine tissue concentrations were found to be independent of age. In older adults (mean age, 58-85 years), spermidine content in several brain regions was found to decrease with age [54]. Among the degenerative movement disorders investigated (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease to Progressive supra nuclear palsy), only spermidine putamen content was lower compared to healthy controls.

H. pylori has been declared as a definite gastric carcinogen [55]. The prevalence for H. pylori is about 50% around the world. This bacterium is considered to be responsible for about 90% of noncardia gastric cancer. The precise molecular and cellular mechanisms of gastric cancer development associated with H. pylori infection are still elusive. One possible mechanism could involve misregulation of p27 expression by H. pylori [55]. In cultures of this bacterium isolated from subjects infected with the H. pylori we measured large amounts of spermidine and histamine [8]. High circulating and urinary concentrations of polyamines are found in cancer patients [6]. One may therefore ask the question whether spermidine produced by H. pylori might be involved in gastric cancer. The potential implication of H. pylori-derived spermidine in diseases remains to be investigated. A very recent study revealed that spermidine, spermine and putrescine at very low concentrations (range, 8nM to 10|iM) induced proliferation and migration of certain cancer cells by up regulating among others ornithine decarboxylase and by down regulating p27 [56].

    Conclusion

Since the fall of mankind, human beings strive for longevity in good physical and mental health. Can Science, the modern Prometheus, disclose us the secret of the Gods? Are natural polyamines the elixir for long life and against dementia? Might spermidine be the core-polyamine for a long and dementiafree life? Many sophisticated studies published in the last decade suggest that spermidine exerts beneficial effects in the cardiovascular system and in the brain, at least in yeast, flies, worms and small animals. Yet, in many respects human biology differs from that of rodents behave. With exception of isolated cells, where spermidine exerted remarkable effects at concentrations of the order of 20nM, too high spermidine concentrations have been supplied to achieve measurable biological effects.

Within a few years, there is already a general belief that spermidine is an inducer of autophagy and that this prolongs life. Spermidine, being an L-arginine metabolite, seems to be associated with NO which plays multiple roles in the renal, cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Yet, can the results observed in microorganisms and small animals be translated to man? Is high dietary spermidine intake a risk-free option for good physical and mental health? Data from human studies on spermidine are very rare, contradictory and not convincing for example with respect to the inverse correlation between spermidine and blood pressure or risk of cardiovascular disease and related death. In the past, observations from the use of many antioxidants at high concentrations in vitro and in vivo animal experiments raised the expectations for health-promotion in humans, but large clinical studies were very disappointing [57]. For the same reasons, most notably use of irrelevantly high concentrations/doses and disregard of health-risk effects, this may also happen to the use of spermidine and/or other polyamines as supplements. It’s a long way to Longevity!