#business and community stories coronavirus

[linghxr]

Tackling abbreviations in Chinese (简称)

Let's learn some abbreviations 简称! A common format you may encounter is ABCD -> AC. AB is one word, CD is another word, and the two can be abbreviated as AC. As a learner, these can be a bit tricky to figure out the first time, but I find that they're usually pretty easy to remember if you know both constituent words.

(1) 家庭教师 -> 家教

家教 jiājiào - private tutor 

家庭 jiātíng - family / household 教师 | 教師 jiàoshī - teacher

I mentioned 家教 in this recent post: Do you really know the meaning of a word?

(2) 环境保护 -> 环保

环保 | 環保 huánbǎo - environmental protection / environmentally friendly

环境 | 環境 huánjìng - environment / circumstances / surroundings  保护 | 保護 bǎohù - to protect / to defend / to safeguard / protection

(3) 科学技术 -> 科技

科技 kējì - science and technology 

科学 | 科學 kēxué - science / scientific knowledge / scientific 技术 | 技術 jìshù - technology / technique / skill

(4) 性别平等 -> 性平

性平 xìngpíng - gender equality

性别 | 性別 xìngbié - gender / sex  平等 píngděng - equal / equality 

(5) 限时动态 -> 限动

限动 | 限動 xiàndòng - stories (on Instagram)

限时 | 限時 xiànshí - to set a time limit / for a limited time / time-limited / limited period of time  动态 | 動態 dòngtài - movement / motion / development / trend

(6) 业务配合 -> 业配

业配 | 業配 yèpèi - writing an article or creating a video favorable to a business in return for payment from the business (Taiwan)

业务 | 業務 yèwù - business / professional work / service 配合 pèihé - to coordinate with / to act in concert with / to cooperate

(7) 客户服务 -> 客服

客服 kèfú - customer service 

客户 | 客戶 kèhù - client / customer  服务 | 服務 fúwù - to serve / service

(8) 新型冠状 -> 新冠

新冠 xīnguān - novel coronavirus (esp. SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19)

新型 xīnxíng - new type / new kind 冠状 | 冠狀 guānzhuàng - coronary / crown-shaped

Commonly see in: 新冠病毒

(9) 初级中学 -> 初中

初中 chūzhōng - junior high school / middle school

初级 | 初級 chūjí - junior / primary  中学 | 中學 zhōngxué - middle school / secondary school

高级中学 -> 高中

高中 gāozhōng - senior high school

高级 | 高級 gāojí - high level / high grade / advanced / high-ranking  中学 | 中學 zhōngxué - middle school / secondary school

And apparently 中学 itself is short for 中等学校!

(10) 国民小学 -> 国小

国小 | 國小 guóxiǎo - elementary school (Taiwan)

国民 | 國民 guómín - nationals / citizens / people of a nation  小学 | 小學 xiǎoxué - elementary school / primary school 

国民中学 -> 国中

���中 | 國中 guózhōng - junior high school (Taiwan)

国民 | 國民 guómín - nationals / citizens / people of a nation  中学 | 中學 zhōngxué - middle school

(11) 科学幻想 -> 科幻

科幻 kēhuàn - science fiction

科学 | 科學 kēxué - science / scientific knowledge / scientific 幻想 huànxiǎng - fantasy

(12) 超级市场 -> 超市

超市 chāoshì - supermarket

超级 | 超級 chāojí - super- / ultra- / hyper- 市场 | 市場 shìchǎng - marketplace / market

(13) 台湾大学 -> 台大

台大 | 臺大 táidà - National Taiwan University

台湾 | 臺灣 táiwān - Taiwan 大学 | 大學 dàxué - university / college

北京大学 -> 北大

北大 běidà - Peking University

北京 | 北京 běijīng - Beijing / Peking 大学 | 大學 dàxué - university / college

(14) 国家安全 -> 国安

国安 | 國安 guóān - national security

国家 | 國家 guójiā - country / nation / state 安全 ānquán - safe / secure / safety / security

(15) 刑事警察 -> 刑警

刑警 xíngjǐng - criminal police

刑事 xíngshì - criminal / penal 警察 jǐngchá - police / police officer

(16) 官方网站 -> 官网

官网 | 官網 guānwǎng - official website

官方 guānfāng - government / official 网站 | 網站 wǎngzhàn - website

(17) 公共安全 -> 公安

公安 gōngān - public safety / public security

公共 gōnggòng - public / common / communal 安全 ānquán - safe / secure / safety / security

(18) 双重标准 -> 双标

双标 | 雙標 shuāngbiāo - double standard

双重 | 雙重 shuāngchóng - double  标准 | 標準 biāozhǔn - standard / norm / criterion

(19) 人物设定 -> 人设

人设 | 人設 rénshè - the design of a character / image in the eyes of the public / public persona

人物 rénwù - person / personage / figure / character 设定 | 設定 shèdìng - to set / to set up / to install / setting / preferences

(20) 家庭暴力 -> 家暴

家暴 jiābào - domestic violence

家庭 jiātíng - family / household 暴力 bàolì - violence / force / violent

Definitions are adapted from MDBG. I initially only planned to include 5 or so abbreviations. Then I got a little carried away...!

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday the Scottish actor Peter Mullan born 2 November 1959 in Peterhead. I love Peter’s work and rate him as highly as Brian Cox and If ever there was a story of rags to riches it is Peter Mullan, born in Peterhead the family later moved to Mosspark in Glasgow. Mullans father was a drunken violent man but despite this Peter did well at school, at least till the age of 14 when the climate at home forced him out onto the streets and into a gang, spending less and less time at school. In his own words he was aggressively lobotomising himself but admitted he kept up his reading on the sly “You couldnae tell the gang you were reading Carl Jung.” he said. I’m not sure his heart was in the gang culture as he says he was “kicked out” after a couple of years, he returned to school and sailed through his Highers and started at Glasgow University at 17. His dad died of lung cancer on his first day. Mullan studied economic history and drama and despite suffering a nervous breakdown in his final year still managed to graduate. He went on to teach drama at Borstals, prisons and community centres while becoming involved in the left-wing theatre movement that flourished in Scotland in the 1980s. In 1987 he made his professional acting debut with the Wildcat theatre company in a political pantomime. Bit parts in Scottish films and TV series followed, The Steamie, Taggart, of course, and Rab C Nesbitt, as well as The Big Man and in Braveheart, he uttered the words, “We didn’t come here to fight for the” Danny Boyle, Shallow Grave and Trainspotting were another two films that Mullan served his apprenticeship in. The breakthrough came when Ken Loach chose him in the title role of “My Name is Joe” he gave a brilliant portrayal Jekyll-and-Hyde character , a recovering alcoholic whose humanity and warmth masked a frightening capacity for brutality. He won his first award at Cannes as Best Actor for the role. Around the same time Mullan was starting to get into directing, three surreal comic dramas set in the Glaswegian working-class world and then his first full length film, he not only directed but wrote the excellent Orphans an odyssey of four working-class siblings roving round Glasgow in the 24 hours after their mother dies. Channel Four, who funded the film chose not to distribute it as they didn’t think it would attract a large commercial audience. The film however was shown at Film festivals around Europe and won numerous awards, in interviews, Mullan has said that once Orphans started winning awards Channel Four apologised and asked if they could distribute it, an offer he refused. Since then Peter Mullan has not looked back, directing and penning The Magdalene Sisters and Neds as well as starring in amongst others, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, War Horse, Hector and Tommy’s Honour, on the small screen he was one of the main characters in ITV series The Fixer, The BBC Two drama Top of the Lake, and in the excellent drama series Gunpowder. More up to date Peter has appeared as Jacob Snell in the first two seasons of the Netflix series Ozark, all three series of the BBC Two sitcom Mum and a recurring role in the popular TV reboot of Westworld. He has also starred in the Netflix fantasy drama Cursed. We will next see Mullan alongside Colin Farrell and Tom Courtney in the BBC series The North Water. Peter was also one of the participants of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes For Survival project, which featured talents from the country’s arts industry making lockdown-related short films as a response to the country’s theatres having to close during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mullan has been busy in the past few years, appearing in TV shows Liaison, Payback, After the Party and LOTR: Rings of Power, as well as the film, Baghead a Horror film which has average reviews on IMDb. Outlander fans look out for him in the spin off series Outlander: Blood of My Blood, a prequel to the popular Starz show, it follows the parents of both protagonists from the original series. Tony Curran is also cast as a younger Lord Lovatt. It is follows the parents of both protagonists from the original series it is expected to premiere in 2025 on Starz. He has a few oter projects on the go, the most hard hitting will no doubt be an ITV mini series called Lockerbie which will focus on the investigation into the crash on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved ones.

[kickingitwithkirk]

Greetings from Austin

Summary: Jensen and Jared are at odds over a monumental decision that changes their lives in a way they couldn’t have envisioned.

Pairing: Alpha!Jensen Ackles x Alpha!Jared Padalecki x Omega!OFC

Word Count: 639

Warnings: a/b/o, J2 are married/mated, homophobia, bisexuality, biphobia, angst, cursing, jealousy, depression/anxiety, medical stuff, sexual dysfunction, infertility, IVF, surrogacy

*additional warnings to be added in future parts.

A/N: Here we go again with one my weird as hell dreams, series Inspired by this art.

A/N II: There is no intentional hate or malevolence intended towards any of the Ackles or Padalecki families. This is a purely fictional piece containing real and created persons/names/events set in the fictional A/B/O verse. Some dates/events altered to fit story.

*no beta-all mistakes are mine

*divider by @writeyourmindaway​​​​​​

*images found online

Prologue

Austin, TX

Mid-July

“Babe,” Jensen softly says in a low voice to the person seated next to him in the waiting room, “Babe,” he tried again, still getting no response. Leaning closer, his breath puffing into his ear startled Jared, his what is muted by the finger he’s been chewing on.

“You can’t do that, can’t have you getting sick.” 

Taking his hand, Jensen pulls it away from pretty, pink lips, gently caressing the finger. Jared had finally stopped chewing on his hands when Covid-19 became widespread.

“Where’s your gum?” Jared bites his lip as Jensen retrieves his pack and hands a piece to him. “What’s got you masticating again?” He inquires as Jared pops the stick in his mouth.

Jared chews the gum nervously, weighing how to answer the question knowing Jensen won’t accept anything less than the whole truth. “What if something goes wrong again because of me.”

Jensen’s brow furrowed. He learned years ago that while their relationship was equal, there were times he had to be the lead Alpha due to Jared’s mental state overwhelming him, as it had the last few weeks.

***

After the public announcement in March of 2019 that would be Supernatural's last season, and when finished with pickups, they would take an extended break and concentrate on their marriage.

Jared intended to stop acting indefinitely, pursuing other interests while Jensen concentrated on his music.

Of course, things didn’t end up how they planned.

Jared entered negotiations to star in the Walker, Texas Ranger reboot with being an executive producer, and Jensen collaborated with Kripke to audition for the role of Soldier Boy in The Boys' third season.

But by March 2020, everything halts thanks to the Coronavirus.

The shutdowns left Supernaturals' final two episodes with no definitive filming date while other projects were on pause until finishing that seemingly never-ending last season.

For the first time in years, they had the luxury of leisurely schedules not on a timetable, could communicate with friends and family uninterrupted, and deal with their other businesses and charities, leaving most days free to enjoy being together without constraint.

But even the amazing, mind-blowing vigorous sex on every horizontal/vertical surface that could support the two big Alphas filled so many hours, and, like many couples, they started getting each other's nerves and looked for another way to stay occupied.

By late May, Jared wasn’t sleeping or eating much, and leaving the house had become a chore. When he hit his fourth day in bed, Jensen bodily dragged him into the bath for a shower, then drove to his doctor’s.

During check-in, they informed Jensen only patients were allowed in the facility. Jared started panicking, saying he had chest pains and couldn’t breathe. They rushed him in with Jensen hot on their heels after morphing into an overprotective Alpha mate; no one was stopping.

Jared’s doctor deduced that the lockdowns prohibiting him from his routine checkups and periodic adjustments needed to his medications triggered this episode.

The first step was to wean him off his current prescriptions and change to a newly approved, alternative regime. He was checked in a facility for ten days under observation while detoxing off his meds.

His therapist switched his twice weekly tele-counseling sessions to daily for the foreseeable future, and Koda's certification as his emotional support animal was approved. His progress was slow, but he was returning to his sweet-natured, big-hearted, exceptionally tactical, overgrown puppy self.

When the surprise call from the clinic came a few days ago about an appointment opening, Jensen initially didn’t want it, still in his overly excessive protective Alpha mode. Jared’s outburst made him relent, fearing they were on a collision course for a significant setback if he didn’t.

And Jensen, being Jensen, went overboard to ensure the appointment was one hundred percent private.

tbc

Part I

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva  @b3autyfuldisast3r  @lassie-bird @nancymcl  @spnbaby-67  @leigh70

Sam/Jared:  @idreamofplaid Dean/Jensen:  @thoughts-and-funnies  @stoneyggirl2  @akshi8278  @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl @siospins2

GFA: @babypink224221 @waywardjoy @let-me-luve-you @all-4-wincest

[untilteddocument]

So I've Been Thinking About: Phoenix Point

Welcome to the inaugural So I've Been Thinking About, a journal series where I talk about things I find interesting or appealing about various pieces of media, often video games. This time, I'm gonna talk about Phoenix Point, a very PC-style strategy/RPG (by that, I mean more X-COM than Fire Emblem) designed by none other than X-COM creator Julian Gollop himself.

The basic premise is, you're the last remnants of your organization, some of humanity's finest, navigating a post-apocalyptic world filled with monsters and untrusting people, fighting to survive and end the threat of the monsters. Not all that distinctive, right?

Well...

Has The Sweet Breeze Blown

The actual premise is that of a world still going through the throes of social, political, and environmental collapse. A climate-change-thawed mutagenic pathogen, dubbed the Pandoravirus (the game was released in 2019 with backstory elements written since 2017, so considering that and similar dynamics being observable since at least the Spanish Flu in the early 20th century, I don't believe that the comparison to SARS-CoV-2 being The Coronavirus was intentional), is in the process of rewriting every ecosystem on Earth, impeded in no way whatsoever by the now-crumbled world of neoliberal and neoconservative capitalism, who used it as yet another excuse for its endless rounds of power plays.

In the face of destruction, humanity retreated to havens, small settlements where they can exist without attracting too much attention from the eerily-conscious mist and the creatures it made out of family and fauna. Precarious though they are, enough havens hold. People make it through each day as best they can, slowly reaching out via long-distance communication and careful trade by aircraft, and they spend the next 25 years coming together into three relatively solid factions:

---------------------------------------------

The right-wing militarists of New Jericho, led by soldier-businessman-business, man-philosopher-king Tobias West. Hammered out of his pre-collapse PMC, Vanadium, Tobias West seeks to claw normality and humanity back from the jaws of the alien...at the very least, what he deems normal and human.

---------------------------------------------

The anarchist assemblies of Synedrion, who coalesced from refugees, revolutionaries, and independent scientific groups who were trying to share data on the mist that was being hoarded and used for saber-rattling by the governments of the world. At once insular and forward-thinking, they seek to realize their dreams of a world without hierarchies...if they can all agree on how.

---------------------------------------------

The mysterious and obscurantist Disciples of Anu, a radical transhumanist cult born from the shards of doomsday cults that had seen the world die, and, at long last, see an opportunity to birth a better one in its place. Led by an ecclesiastical hierarchy culminating in the enigmatic Exalted, they accept the vast waves of change enveloping the world while rejecting its more destructive effects...but secrets are ever present in their halls.

---------------------------------------------

Dealing with all, any, or none of them is the player's group, the Phoenix Project, the latest iteration of a long but often-broken chain of secret societies that had stumbled upon the same information and dared to know (their motto, in fact: Sapere Aude) and prepare for what was coming.

---------------------------------------------

It's The World I Know

Let's go over a few details there and how they change the tone of the story as a whole. In post-apocalyptic scenarios, there is, of course, the apocalypse to explain. What caused it, how people reacted, what replaced the old world, what the new environment makes possible and impossible.

Going through the in-game snippets as well as the short stories included with the game and on the official site, Phoenix Point is clear on what led things to where they are. Yes, the Pandoravirus mist, the people it took control of, the monsters it made of them and the ecosystem itself, those were all horrific force majeure that no ready-made solution would have easily solved.

However, no solution was ready at all, because nobody in power cared. This is one of two things that all factions agree on. The Powers That Were saw Tobias West as a dumb hick with soldiers they could use for their squabbles. The Powers That Were saw the Firebird Initiative and the people of their own countries as greater threats to their power than the mist. The Powers That Were ignored the sick and suffering who then, bereft of hope, sought to find it in cults and from anyone else who promised it. When The Powers That Were at last saw that the mist was an actual problem...they tried to leave the rest of the world to die.

I'm just going to...leave that there, and...let people chew on that for a bit.

Every faction is a response to this last severing of ties. Tobias West let his customers throw their bought-and-paid-for rocks at each other while he focused on solidifying his holdings, crafting Vanadium into a force that could weather the collapse. The Firebird Initiative and the various refugees and revolutionaries that would become Synedrion didn't even have to change their strategy; they defied the governments of the world and worked on technologies to save others outside the grip of monetization and weaponization. The Disciples of Anu reached out to the infected, those abandoned by everyone else as lost causes, and gave them a way to live.

---------------------------------------------

And I Laughed At Myself While The Tears Rolled Down

I do mean live, by the way. Distinct from mere existence. The mood of the game is so powerful in part because of the care it takes to be so deftly unambiguous about what people are looking for, even staring out at a wasteland. People need to have fun.

People need humor.

People need lives outside of survival.

The factions feel so much more real because the writers understood how to make them feel like they're populated with characters rather than plot devices. It goes into the factions' overall characterization as well. The leadership of New Jericho and the Disciples, despite their moments, often seem reluctant to accept the frivolous (in the former's case) or the unsanctioned (in the latter's case) as part of what they are. By contrast, Synedrion is full of jokes and memes, though in turn the other two factions would probably say that this and their tendency to argue distracts them from important work. That factional interplay is a big part of what helps me care about the world, because I can imagine these people being the ones to inherit it.

---------------------------------------------

Has All Kindness Gone

The big uniting concept that gets me about Phoenix Point is that despite being a horror story and a war story, it never ends on the more unsavory conclusions that often arise in those stories. It is true that times are grim, and trust is scarce, but Phoenix Point reinforces that people have to care. Fiercely, bravely, people have to care.

Care about our memories.

Care about each other, even if it's not safe.

It's a bit of a read, but "The Interrogation" is one of my favorite short stories for the insight it offers.

Quick note: Spoilers ahead

Despite it being the "wrong decision," I don't think Lt. Petyaeva was wrong for reaching out to Amanda whether by my standard or the narrative's. Despite being unable to countermand the Pandoravirus's orders, interrogating her while denying her personhood would not only have been outright useless, it would have been a denial of Lt. Petyaeva's humanity as well. In a way, both of them were denied personhood. "Subject 16 is not a person." "We don't get to choose our fate anymore. We all have to do our part." What's more tragic is, considering the short story "Harbinger," which is likely about "that woman in Greenville," if Amanda had been picked up by the Disciples of Anu rather than New Jericho, she would have had a chance to live.

End spoilers

It's not just that story either. Hell, Citizen Zhara of Synedrion outright voices her thoughts on the matter in-game.

This sort of sentiment isn't unheard of in other stories, of course, but oftentimes, it's presented as foolish naivete that will only get them killed, or at best a tragic dream that is chosen in the place of survival.

What does Phoenix Point have to say about it?

---------------------------------------------

Hope Still Lingers On

Quick note: Spoilers ahead

In the end, Zhara's hopes are proven not only well-founded, but reachable, and the game lets you do so. In her specific ending scenario (Synedrion has two subfactions you can support; hers is the Polyphonic tendency, which refuses all hierarchies, including man vs. nature), Synedrion is able to break the mind control on the Pandorans, freeing them as well as humanity and allowing for true coexistence. They do gloss over the method somewhat, but what we are given seems plausible enough, certainly no less believable than New Jericho's idea that nuking the final boss will be a permanent solution. Either way, rather than promoting detached cynicism disguised as stoic realism, the devs emphasize the importance of the player caring enough to take a side. The absolute worst ending you can get comes when you don't make a choice, just hedge your bets until the end. You end up resolving to commit a genocidal atrocity, the factions put their differences aside to try and stop you, you wipe out 90% of the population of the world, and end up taking authoritarian control over everyone left because no other option exists at that point. Even the New Jericho ending, which results in a war of extermination even in the face of evidence that the Pandorans aren't essentially hostile but enslaved and mind-controlled, at least leaves more people alive. (The same consideration for the enemy is present in some measure in XCOM 2, where the Elders are shown as having to put their entire faction, ranging from their vat-grown ADVENT soldiers to their elite alien troops, under constant mind control or else many of them would surrender or turn on their masters. It was a nice touch, and part of why I also hold XCOM 2's story in high regard.)

End spoilers

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Why Am I Even Using Collective Soul Lyrics For This

This has been meandering and probably incoherent, and believe me, I could go on, but I think that's enough for now. There's plenty of words out there about the gameplay, but not many about these aspects of the story and general mood, as far as I've found. This game had so much I've been looking for, and I hope I've managed to explain why.

[90363462]

NEWS

Home › Race Matters

D.C. Becoming ‘Chocolate City’ Again After Pandemic ‘White Flight’ Reverses Gentrification Trend

The Census Bureau released new data this week.

Written By Bruce C.T. Wright

Posted July 1, 2022

@bctw

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Double dutch jump roping is shown during D.C.’s Chocolate City Experience around Black Lives Matter Plaza on June 27, 2020. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty

There are now fewer white people who call the nation’s capital home than there were before the pandemic in a demographic shift that is helping to restore the “Chocolate City” nickname that had increasingly become a misnomer in recent years.

During 12 months in the middle of the COVID-19pandemic, more than 10,000 non-Hispanic white people fled Washington, D.C., according to the Washington Post, which cited newly released Census data. Those findings show a serious reversal of white people moving to the city that is part of a larger heated debate about the effects that gentrificationhas had on the District of Columbia’s Black population.

MORE: The Fight For D.C. Statehood Is A 21st Century Civil Rights Issue

Related Stories

Charlottesville City Council Vote To Melt Down Robert E. Lee Statue And Hire Black Artists To Rebuild New Monument

“In the four years preceding the pandemic, the city had been adding non-Hispanic White residents at a rate of around 4,000 to 5,000 each year,” the Post reported. “But between July 2020 and July 2021, it lost 10,285 people from that group, according to the bureau’s annual population estimates for the nation, states and counties by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin.”

The apparent so-called “white flight” — the phenomenon of white people fleeing urban areas in droves — was consistent with trends in other major cities ravaged by the coronavirus.

Those numbers may not be reflected on the official Census Bureau page for Washington, D.C., which shows the city has a Black population of 45.8% compared to a white population of 45.9%.

While that margin is as slim as can be, the number of white people eclipsing Black people in a city renowned for its Black population has prompted a number of questions.

Back in the 1980s, as much as 70% of the city’s population was estimated to be Black people. Decades later, that majority was threatened before finally being eclipsed by white residents in 2015.

The number of white people living in D.C. had been steadily increasing until the Census Bureau released its new findings Thursday.

A glaring example of the surge of white people living in Black D.C. neighborhoods came in 2019 when Howard University students and community residents attended an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting to voice concerns with white, local residents using the historically Black college campus to walk their dogs.

And separately nearby, new residents living in a luxury apartment building complained about a decades-long tradition of a store on the corner of Florida Avenue and 7th Street in the Shaw neighborhood playing go-go music from speakers outside the business.

A 2017 study published by Georgetown University analyzing the impact of the district’s booming economy on Black residents painted a picture of profound economic disparities between the city’s Black and white residents. The average net worth of a white household was $284,000 compared to just $3,500 for Black households.

There was also a huge gap in median annual incomes: Whites with $120,000 and Blacks with $41,000.

The disproportionate number of new jobs in D.C. requiring at least a bachelor’s degree stood in stark contrast with the 12% of Black D.C. residents being college graduates as of 2014, the study noted.

Consequently, White residents were able to pay more for housing, which has driven up costs and reduced available affordable housing.

Those types of inequalities stem from a history of discrimination that pushed the District’s Black residents to the fringes of the economy, the study said. Historic discriminatory practices have ranged from segregated schools to redlining, a racist practice in which banks refused to lend money to Black entrepreneurs and home buyers.

SEE ALSO:

‘New Soul Of Harlem’: Restaurant Ad Showing Only White Patrons Sparks Outrage, Briefly

Gentrification In Detroit: Non-Black Residents Sue For Housing Discrimination

Watch Gentrifier Whitesplain Why He Wants D.C. To Lose Some Of Its Black Culture

15 PHOTOS

BLACK PEOPLE , CENSUS , DC GENTRIFICATION , GENTRIFICATION , NEWSLETTER , WASHINGTON D.C. , WHITE PEOPLE

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[mediamonarchy]

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240821_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Moneypox for nothing, the ice cream machine conspiracy and hemp seed meal for egg-laying hens + this day in history w/the FBI’s ATM heist and our song of the day by Remy on your #MorningMonarchy for August 21, 2024. Notes/Links: Some (Soccoro) county (NM) residents have stopped paying property taxes https://www.dchieftain.com/news/some-county-residents-have-stopped-paying-property-taxes/article_b4da344c-54e1-11ef-ab29-67137c961559.html Modern aircraft create longer-lived planet-warming contrails; The result means that although modern planes emit less carbon than older aircraft https://www.techexplorist.com/modern-aircraft-create-longer-lived-planet-warming-contrails/86997/ US Plans to Start Recycling Nuclear Waste; ‘Used nuclear fuel is only waste if you waste it,’ the communications director at a recycling company says https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/us-plans-to-start-recycling-nuclear-waste-5707349 Bayer wins US legal victory against Roundup cancer claims https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bayer-wins-victory-us-legal-184753409.html Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna Have Lost a Combined Market Capitalization of $418,887,461,200 https://dailyclout.io/pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-have-lost-a-combined-market-capitalization-of-418887461200/ WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency for second time in two years; The declaration followed an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighboring countries. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/who-declares-mpox-global-public-health-emergency-second-time-rcna166601 Will the New Monkeypox Scare be Used Against Us?; A Misunderstood Virus and the 2024 Election https://vigilantnews.com/post/will-the-new-monkeypox-scare-be-used-against-us/ Video: Government Reviews Mpox Preparedness Post WHO Warning | CNBC TV18 (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ2x5L7-oy8 #PumpUpThaVolume/#TruthMusic: Dominic Frisby – “It’s All True – A Song About Conspiracy Theories” https://youtu.be/VwSz1AF8lVM Harris campaign mandates COVID-19 vaccine for employees; If one has an accommodation, they must speak to human resources about it. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/harris-campaign-mandates-covid-19-vaccine-employees Video: Harris on taking a COVID vaccine: If Trump tells us to take it, I won’t (Oct. 7, 2020 // Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40eZeXPyJ0g Video: VP Kamala Harris Releases Message To The Unvaccinated (May 21, 2021 // Audio) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pOHXFMZx8nc Science journal buries high myocarditis risk from COVID vax, claims shot reduces heart attacks https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/science-journal-buries-high-myocarditis-risk-covid-vax-claims-it Harris-Walz campaign tells @teenvogue nearly $1 million worth of camo hats were bought yesterday, an initial run of 3000 hats sold out in 30 minutes https://x.com/versharma/status/1821257750904475879 What Is Dumb May Never Die; Kamala Harris’ price-control gambit has been tried before—and found wanting https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/gfile/what-is-dumb-may-never-die/ 🛍️ Walmart’s cart conquest https://sherwood.news/snacks/newsletters/walmarts-cart-conquest/ How Food Prices Have Changed Over the Past Four Years https://www.yahoo.com/news/food-prices-changed-over-past-112929026.html Mars gobbles up maker of Corn Flakes and Pringles for £28bn https://news.sky.com/story/mars-buys-maker-of-corn-flakes-and-pringles-for-16328bn-13197007 The $5 footlong is now the $15 footlong. Customers want Subway’s old deal back.; The five-buck deal, made famous by a memorable jingle, ended in 2014. Subway’s footlongs can now run anywhere from around $8 to $15. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-5-footlong-is-now-the-15-footlong-customers-want-subways-old-deal-back-87ceee90 Sugar substitute erythritol may increase risk for heart attack and stroke, study finds https://www.cbsnews.com/news/erythritol-he...

[systemtek]

NASA Space Tech Spinoffs Benefit Earth Medicine

As NASA innovates for the benefit of all, what the agency develops for exploration has the potential to evolve into other technologies with broader use here on Earth. Many of those examples are highlighted in NASA's annual Spinoff book including dozens of NASA-enabled medical innovations, as well other advancements. This year's publication, NASA's 2024 Spinoff, features several commercialized technologies using the agency's research and development expertise to impact everyday lives, including: - Spherical "squishy" robots capable of dropping into dangerous situations before first responders enter - "Digital winglets" aircraft-routing technology that's enabling increased fuel efficiency and smoother flights  - Lighter, more durable disc brake designs that produce less dust than traditional disc brakes - Computer software to help businesses and communities cope with and recover from natural disasters like wildfires - New 3D printing methods to additively manufacture rocket engines and other large aluminum parts  Squishy Robotics' Tensegrity Sensor Robots help first responders determine their approach to a disaster scene. Firefighters used the robots during a subway attack exercise at the 2021 Unmanned Tactical Application Conference to detect gas leaks and other hazards. Credits: FLYMOTION LLC "As we continue to push new frontiers and do the unimaginable, NASA's scientists and engineers are constantly innovating and advancing technologies," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "A critical part of our mission is to quickly get those advances into the hands of companies and entrepreneurs who can use them to grow their businesses, open new markets, boost the economy, and raise the quality of life for everyone." The medical innovations include the first wireless arthroscope – a small tube carrying a camera inserted into the body during surgery – to receive clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which benefited from NASA's experience with spacesuits and satellite batteries. Technologies for diagnosing illnesses like the coronavirus, hepatitis, and cancer have also stemmed from NASA's space exploration and science endeavors. Even certain types of toothpaste originated from the agency's efforts to grow crystals for electronics. Additional 2024 Spinoff highlights include developments under NASA's Artemis campaign, like a small, rugged video camera used to improve aircraft safety and a new method for detecting defects or damage in composite materials. Meanwhile, another spinoff story details the latest benefits of fuel cell technology created more than 50 years ago for Apollo, which is now poised to support terrestrial power grids based on renewable energy. The book also features several technologies NASA has identified as promising future spinoffs and information on how to license agency tech. Since the 1970s, thousands of NASA technologies have found their way into many scientific and technical disciplines, impacting nearly every American industry. "As NASA's longest continuously running program, we continue to increase the number of technologies we license year-over-year while streamlining the development path from the government to the commercial sector," said Daniel Lockney, Technology Transfer program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "These commercialization success stories continually prove the benefits of transitioning agency technologies into private hands, where the real impacts are made." Spinoffs are part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and its Technology Transfer program. Tech Transfer is charged with finding broad, innovative applications for NASA-developed technology through partnerships and licensing agreements, ensuring agency investments benefit the nation and the world. To read the latest issue of Spinoff, visit: https://spinoff.nasa.gov Read the full article

[borissimon]

Best Apps For Students With Special Needs

Best Apps For Students With Special Needs https://ift.tt/F9VSBDQ Due to the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the increasing number of closed schools, and the resulting lack of resources, special education faces a significant challenge in delivering effective and differentiated instruction. This is why teachers and administrators must rethink their approach to teaching.  One of the most critical factors that parents and teachers consider when implementing an Individualized Education Program is ensuring their students are on track to reach their goals. This is because, in some cases, they are already accustomed to having their aides. In addition to being able to provide a consistent and comprehensive education, teachers also need to work closely with their caregivers to support their students. Fortunately, various digital tools can now help them manage their time and keep their students focused on their goals. Free Apps My PlayHome A free app called My PlayHome allows kids to interact with various people of different skin tones through play, exploration, and the sharing of stories. This activity can help children develop their early language skills and social and emotional awareness. SoundingBoard A free app called SoundingBoard is designed to help children with limited speech and other communication needs communicate using their mobile devices. It features preloaded message boards that have recorded messages. To prompt a verbal message, students press images on the boards. LetterSchool Children can develop their early reading and math skills using the LetterSchool app, which encourages them to touch, trace, and tap animations. It also helps them learn letter sounds and names and other essential skills such as counting and sorting. Tales2Go A complimentary audiobook service known as Tales2Go provides a one-month trial to help students who struggle with reading. It features a wide selection of books and stories for children and adults, with prominent narrators who bring a variety of genres to life. Paid Apps Busy Shapes The game known as “Busy Shapes” is based on the work of Piaget, and it encourages children to develop their fine motor skills and solve problems through various puzzles. Edoki Academy The Edoki Academy offers various math apps to help children develop their math skills step-by-step. It also helps them improve their fine motor skills. Math Drills Kids tend to love math drills because they can compete with themselves to improve their accuracy and speed. This app features basic math operations such as addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. It also has advanced options that allow teachers to customize their settings and track their students’ progress. Phonics Genius Children can learn how to speak, recognize, and read using letter sounds with the help of the Phonics Genius app. It has over 6,000 words, and various games encourage children to practice their skills. The post Best Apps For Students With Special Needs first appeared on Boris Simon | Education. via Boris Simon | Education https://borissimon.net January 13, 2024 at 04:14PM

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on https://yaroreviews.info/2023/08/virgin-atlantic-pilots-consider-strike-over-fatigue

Virgin Atlantic pilots consider strike over fatigue

Getty Images

Pilots at Virgin Atlantic have indicated they would consider going on strike following “serious concerns” about fatigue and their wellbeing.

Union Balpa said that in a recent vote, 96% of Virgin Atlantic pilots supported a ballot on industrial action.

At issue are scheduling and rostering arrangements that were put in place during Covid which will come to an end in December.

Virgin said it was willing to enter into talks in the coming weeks.

The airline said the existing pay and lifestyle agreement was “agreed, developed and supported by Balpa pilot representatives within Virgin Atlantic, and our pilot community”.

A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said: “We continue to honour all agreements and have offered to enter formal pay and lifestyle negotiations with Balpa’s pilot union representatives in the coming weeks, well in advance of the agreement expiring in December.”

Airlines were one of the worst hit industries during the pandemic after international travel came to a standstill to stop the spread of Covid.

Virgin Atlantic employs 835 pilots and it is believed the majority are members of the Balpa pilots’ union.

A spokesperson for Balpa said: “Our members have registered a trade dispute with Virgin Atlantic arising out of serious concerns relating to pilot fatigue and wellbeing around scheduling and rostering arrangements, implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

It said that 81% of its Virgin Atlantic union members voted in the ballot which its said gave Balpa “an overwhelming mandate to pursue this dispute”.

The maximum flying time for a commercial pilot is 900 hours per calendar year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

It is understood that the rostered average for Virgin Atlantic pilots is around 750 hours.

Virgin Atlantic is part of Virgin Group, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson.

The billionaire recently told the BBC that he feared losing his entire business empire, which also include gyms and hotels, during the pandemic. He said the shutdowns cost him £1.5bn personally.

Sir Richard had asked the UK government for help in 2020 but was rejected. In the end, Virgin Group injected £200m into the airline and secured other investment to keep the business afloat.

At the time, it cut 3,500 staff, leaving it with 6,500 employees.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said that the airline “underwent a radical transformation as a result of the impact of Covid-19, which was possible due to the collective effort of our amazing people”.

They said: “This was fundamental to our survival and our steadfast commitment to returning to sustainable profitability. We’re grateful to them all, including our pilots who play a pivotal role in the success of our operation.”

Balpa said its members “feel very strongly” about pilot fatigue and wellbeing.

The union said it prefers to address matters through “negotiation and industrial compromise and will only countenance industrial action as a last resort”.

It added: “We remain ready to commence negotiations to find an acceptable way forward and urge Virgin Atlantic to listen to its staff and put forward an acceptable offer that our members could support.”

Related Topics

Air travel

Virgin Atlantic

Coronavirus pandemic

More on this story

British Airways workers to get 13% pay rise

2 days ago

Branson feared ‘losing everything’ in pandemic

3 May

[lizseyi]

Business Travel ‘Not Set To Recover To Pre-Pandemic Levels’  -  TS Partners

Although there has been a theme of sustained recovery for many businesses since the lows of the coronavirus pandemic, that hasn’t automatically been the case for everyone. 

Indeed, according to one recent story from Consultancy.uk, there are indications that airlines previously dependent on business travel may be required to adapt their business models to help ensure their longer-term survival.  

As the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, airlines can’t depend on the old certainties 

For decade after decade, airlines have counted on business travel for a significant chunk of their revenue. Although there have always been fewer business travellers than those travelling for other reasons such as holidays, the tendency for business travellers to pay higher rates and travel more frequently meant they accounted for as much as three-quarters of airlines’ profits. 

Historically, the tax-deductibility of business travel has also meant that firms have often been prepared to continue paying high prices even during times of economic uncertainty in order to secure last-minute flights that don’t present the need to stop anywhere mid-journey. 

So, during a cost-of-living crisis like the present, one might have imagined that even as recreational travellers cut back on their spending on flights, airlines would still be able to depend on sustained demand from those embarking on business trips. 

However, this is where the ‘COVID-19 factor’ comes in. With closed borders and national lockdowns around the world at the height of the pandemic having forced businesses and independent professionals alike to adapt to alternative ways of communicating and collaborating, those habits are relatively ‘baked in’ now. 

It means that amid the coming recession, there seems a fair prospect that levels of expenditure on business travel may never return to what they were immediately prior to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Indeed, spending by business travellers across the globe reached approximately $1.4 trillion in 2019, but the subsequent lockdowns saw such expenditure plummet to its lowest level since 2005. Expenditure on business travel did increase by 5.5% on a year-on-year basis since borders were reopened, to reach $697 billion in 2021, although this naturally paled in comparison to the figure for just two years earlier. 

Many adults look increasingly likely to abandon business trips altogether 

To gain an insight into attitudes towards business travel in a ‘post-COVID-19’ world and during the cost-of-living crisis, the global decision intelligence company, Morning Consult, polled over 16,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region between autumn 2021 and the summer of 2022. 

What the organisation discovered was that across all markets, an ever-higher proportion of adults now believed they had taken their last business trip. This attitude was especially pronounced in France, where 58% said they would no longer travel for work, followed in the ranking by the UK (55%) and Germany (50%). 

Morning Consult indicated that this likely reflected the different ways in which work was done in the post-lockdown world. Professionals may now once again be able to travel across national borders, but many of them have found they can provide effective services – for example, through the use of video-conferencing software – without the need to be present on-site. 

On a backdrop of continued high levels of digital home working even after the coronavirus situation has long receded from much of the news agenda, 76% of those questioned by Morning Consult indicated that from now on, they would only travel for leisure purposes. Meanwhile, the number of people travelling for business declined by 10 points in the spring of this year. 

Is your firm looking to tap into the maximum benefits of ‘the cloud’ across all aspects of its operations, including its accounting? If so, please don’t hesitate to enquire to the TS Partners team to learn more about the help with Xero in Plymouth, Wellington, and Newton Abbot we can provide. 

[etstratpr22]

Blog #2 - Steve's Burgers and Authenticity Relationship Management

Steve's Burgers is a locally-owned New Jersey restaurant with two locations in the city of Garfield and a third in North Bergen. Opened in 2011 by Stephen Chrisomalis, a graduate of the prestigious Johnson & Wales culinary school (Ung, 2017), Steve's Burgers has been voted one of the best burger joints in the nation by Yelp (Davidowitz, 2019) and in New Jersey, it's been named best burger in Bergen County (King, 2019).

However, Steve's Burgers is not only known for its menu items. Several news articles about the restaurant highlight owner Chrisomalis' regular acts of kindness to customers and people in the community, and the restaurants' own digital media presence highlights these efforts. In this blog post, communications from Steve's Burgers are analyzed through the lens of relational authenticity in CSR and its three dimensions: genuineness, reflection of true identity, and consistency.

Relational authenticity in CSR communication deals with the perceived sincerity of a company’s CSR initiatives (Lim & Jiang, 2021) through the three aforementioned perspectives. An organization is seen as genuine when its actions do not appear to have ulterior motives, such as seeking financial rewards. The messaging and/or actions must make its intentions clear in the communications, and must be open and truthful. For example, to celebrate the second anniversary of his North Bergen location, Chrisomalis invited customers to stop by to say hello and get a free burger. No purchase was required to get the free item, which could have signaled an ulterior motive to make sales. Thus, this could be perceived as a genuine action by the business.

Steve's Burgers also showcases its true identity through its communications. This dimension of authenticity emerges when an organization's communications is linked to the "existential essence of the company as claimed" (Lim & Jiang, 2021). Basically, the organization is seen as authentic when it appears they are being true to themselves, and "does not change its positions or views to appease different audiences in different situations." Indeed, after being named on several "best of" lists, Steve's Burgers could have revamped its menu and charged higher prices since they became more popular, but Chrisomalis did not. It also appears that the philanthropic nature of Chrisomalis and Steve's Burgers is part of its true identity. In fact, the owner was recently honored with the Community Service Award by Elmwood Park Mayor Robert Colletti and Chief Michael Foligno. In the Instagram post sharing the news, Chrisomalis wrote, "The best part of owning Steve's is the doors it opens to help those in the community and those in need."

Finally, consistency is a dimension of authenticity that is reflected in Steve's Burgers. In the press, Chrisomalis is regularly lauded for offering one promotion or another that helps those in need. For example, at the onset of the pandemic, he invited those in need to order a "cheeseburger special with love" to get a signature burger and drink, free of charge. That offer still exists today. In addition, Steve's Burgers also has an "Inflation Buster Special" where customers can get a cheeseburger, fries and drink for $9.99.

References

Davidowitz, E. (2019, October 21). Yelp names Steve's Burgers in Garfield among best burgers in the nation. North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.northjersey.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/10/21/steves-burgers-garfield-nj-named-among-best-in-usa-yelp-best-burgers/4051967002/

King, R. (2020, March 16). Steve's Burgers to offer free meals to families in need during coronavirus outbreak. North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.northjersey.com/story/life/food/2020/03/13/coronavirus-steves-burgers-offer-free-meals-families-need/5045335002/

Lim, J. S., & Jiang, H. (2021). Linking authenticity in CSR communication to organization-public relationship outcomes: Integrating theories of Impression Management and Relationship Management. Journal of Public Relations Research, 33(6), 464–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726x.2022.2048953

Ung, E. (2017, November 17). Steve's Burgers in Garfield review: A roadside attraction. North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.northjersey.com/story/life/food/2017/11/17/steves-burgers-garfield-review-roadside-attraction/869548001/

Steve's Burgers [@stevesburgers_]. (2022, November 13). It was an honor and privilege to be presented the Community Service Award in Elmwood Park by Mayor Robert Colletti [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck6H9BTrxI9/

Steve's Burgers [@stevesburgers_]. (2022, December 5). Free Steve's Burger until 7pm at our North Bergen location for our 2nd anniversary stop by saying hi and enjoy [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cly5NtLuv0Y/

[metablockx]

What is the Metaverse? Explain why it attracts attention and what you can do with the Metaverse

What is the “metaverse” that has been a hot topic lately? And how is it different from VR? I will explain the definition of words, what can be done in the metaverse space, and why it is attracting attention now.

In 2021, Facebook announced that it would change its company name to Meta, and “Metaverse” attracted a lot of attention. However, there are probably still few people who know exactly what the Metaverse development company is. How is it different from existing VR content, and what is the new value brought by Metaverse? In addition to why the Metaverse is attracting attention, we will explain its essential significance, advantages and disadvantages, as well as future changes.

Metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual space constructed on the Internet.

Metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual space constructed on the Internet, and is a coined word combining “meta” and “universe”. The term Metaverse comes from Neil Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. The fictitious virtual space service that appeared in the novel was named “Metaverse”.

In the Metaverse, an alter ego called an avatar enters a virtual space, communicates with others, and enjoys games and events. It is said that in the future, it will spread to the level where part of life, including work and economic activities, is performed in the Metaverse space.

Examples of existing games and services that are close to the Metaverse include:

Collect Animal Crossing

virtual market

Final Fantasy XIV

Fantasy Star Online 2

fortnite

VRChat

maple story

mecha verse

Strictly speaking, however, the definition of the Metaverse is rather ambiguous, and different experts interpret it slightly differently. Therefore, it is better to recognize the above example as “a part of the Metaverse” or “a game or service in the middle stage of the Metaverse that will spread in the future”.

How is it different from VR?

What is the difference between the Metaverse and conventional VR content and services?

VR is an abbreviation for Virtual Reality, and in Japanese it is translated as “virtual reality” or “artificial reality”. If you wear VR goggles, you can get an experience as if it were real. On the other hand, the Metaverse is a word that refers to a world where you can communicate and enjoy yourself with various people in a three-dimensional virtual space. Therefore, VR can be distinguished from immersive means and devices, and Metaverse from virtual spaces that are entered using VR technology.

Essential Significance of the Metaverse

There are already many games, training software, and services that use VR. However, when most people hear the word VR, they probably think of wearing goggles and watching videos or playing games by themselves.

An important point in the Metaverse is to interact not only with one person but with others. It is not simply “three-dimensional space = metaverse”. We exist as avatars in the digital space, and we all come up with ideas, exchange opinions, and gather information. Being able to communicate with others in the same way as in the real world is the essential significance of the Metaverse development services.

What you can do with the Metaverse

What kind of things will we be able to do in the Metaverse? Here are three specific examples.

You can experience events held in virtual space

You will be able to participate in concerts and events online without having to go to the site. As avatars, participants will be able to have fun together with others in the same virtual space and experience a sense of unity.

Can be used in business

Due to the influence of the new coronavirus infection, telework has spread at once. On the other hand, there is also the problem that “telework tends to lead to lack of communication.” If you use the Metaverse as a virtual office, you can easily share information even when teleworking, and it may be easier for employees to communicate with each other.

Space can be freely constructed

Since the Metaverse is a virtual space, you can freely construct buildings and venues. It is possible to produce a space that suits the purpose, such as a concert or business.

Why is the Metaverse so popular?

Why is the Metaverse attracting attention now? There are three reasons for this:

Due to the corona disaster, the digitization of communication methods has progressed

Due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection, events where people actually gather have been canceled or severe restrictions have been placed on holding them. In addition, telework has progressed, and the opportunities for people to go out have decreased sharply. Along with this, the digitization of communication methods has progressed. Since the pandemic, the number of people using online meeting tools and chat tools has increased dramatically, and the Metaverse is an extension of that.

With the Metaverse, it is possible to hold events without crowds and easily increase business communication.

Advances in VR technology

Early VR goggles were very heavy and did not have a high level of representation in 3D space. However, in recent years, VR technology has evolved, such as the weight reduction of goggles and wireless. In addition, it has become possible to communicate close to reality by operating avatars, such as visual experiences, gestures, and facial expressions. The improvement in the quality of content and services that use VR is another reason why the Metaverse is attracting attention.

Impact of the NFT boom

NFT is an abbreviation for Non-Fungible Token, and is called “non-fungible token” in Japanese. To put it simply, it is “digital data with an appraisal that cannot be forged or duplicated”. In 2021, the NFT market expanded rapidly.

Conventional digital data could easily be copied or tampered with. However, by using NFT, it cannot be easily tampered with and uniqueness can be proved. Therefore, it is safe to own and buy. By combining NFT and Metaverse, it is expected that large-scale economic activities will be possible even in the virtual space.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Metaverse and the Future

How will our lives change when the Metaverse permeates? Let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages.

Merit

Eliminates transportation costs and increases work efficiency

Make it easier to get extraordinary experiences such as music events and attractions

Information can be delivered quickly and accurately because communication is close to reality

Demerit

The more time you spend in the metaverse, the less you communicate in the real world

Due to the high degree of immersion, there is a possibility of becoming an “addiction” as seen in online games

The Metaverse development solutions is still under development, and new technologies and services will likely emerge in the future. There is a possibility that the Metaverse will enrich our lives, but on the other hand, we must also consider whether we can use it correctly.

With the Metaverse, part of real life will be replaced in virtual space…?

Along with basic information about the Metaverse, I explained why it is currently attracting attention, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.

As the technologies and services of the Metaverse develop, there is a possibility that part of our real life will be replaced in the virtual space. On the other hand, when large numbers of people participate, it is expected that comprehensive rules will be required. Seeing the increasing number of companies entering the Metaverse business, some people seem to be skeptical that it may be a kind of bubble state.

[ledenews]

Oglebay’s ‘Jingle That’ Dinner Show Adding Festive Flair in Wilson Lodge

There are a million bright lights celebrating the holidays, and Wilson Lodge is beautifully decorated, so what could Oglebay add to enhance the holiday season even more? A dinner show? Sure, why not? “Jingle That” is a theatrical performance offered in Wilson Lodge’s Glessner Auditorium on Sunday through Thursday evenings, and the two-hour event includes dinner and begins at 5:30 p.m. It is $59 for adults and $49 for children under the age of 12. “’Jingle That’ is a show that is put on by the West Virginia Public Theatre that we started it last year and we made the decision to offer it again this holiday season,” Faulkenberry explained. “Per my request, they put together a Christmas show so we could increase the number of motorcoaches that travel through the park. "It’s really a heartwarming, festive production that features stories and songs that are performed by the four cast members, and each of them has experience with Broadway shows,” he said. “It takes place in one person’s apartment, and that apartment could be anywhere, and it’s a show that involves some audience members, as well.” The stage show is an idea that was implemented last year during the annual “Festival of Lights,” an attraction that began in the mid-1980s and one that attracted thousands of visitors during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-21. “During the pandemic, our bus business dropped very significantly, and those buses were allowed only 50 percent of the normal number of passengers on them,” Faulkenberry recalled. “We know of a few different companies in the bus business that went out of business because that kind of travel just went away. “Then, in 2021, we returned to some normalcy and that’s why we offered our first show during the ‘Festival of Lights,’ and it was an overwhelming success,” he said. “The same show runs from Sunday night through Thursday night, and we’ve from 50 people to 350 people attend the show.” 'Jingle That' is performed during the evenings at Wilson Lodge from Sunday to Thursday. A Sparkling Park From early November through early January, visitors from as many as six states visit Oglebay and cruise the six-mile lights cruise that includes most areas of the 2,000-acre public park. This year’s Festival of Lights route, in fact, includes three new displays and holiday music now can be heard near 15 of the illuminated features. “I cannot imagine this park with the Festival of Lights. It’s my understanding that back in the 1980s the Festival of Lights was just an idea on the back of a dinner napkin, and what an idea it has turned into,” the marketing director insisted. “From the beginning, it engaged the community and it has provided an economic impact to the city of Wheeling and surrounding areas for decades. So many people come through the lights every single year. “I ran into one couple at the dinner show who told me they have come to the Festival of Lights every year since 1987,” he reported. “They raved about the dinner because they thought it was a great addition to what we offer, and it’s great to hear from our visitors how much they appreciate their experiences here. The best part is they are now bringing their grandchildren.” Those visitors who reside at Wilson Lodge also enjoy the elaborate decorations that are put in place each and every holiday season, and “Jingle That” has added to the festive atmosphere. “There’s really nothing like a favorite Christmas carol to get you into the spirit, and ‘Jingle That’ is filled with those songs, and the audience really enjoys when the show includes a few people to answer questions or to simply sing along with them,” Faulkenberry said. “Every aspect about it concerns Christmas and what we have all experienced at one time or another. “One of the first things that impressed me when I first came here to Oglebay was when the staff started decorating for Christmas on the first of October,” he explained. “We have a team that comes in every single year to decorate the Lodge from top to bottom because it all has to be ready for Light Up Night which is in early November. They transform Wilson Lodge into a Christmas wonderland. It’s really, really magical.” Read the full article

[fabulousraven]

Different then, Different now. (Kabataan Essay)

It was a wonderful day when the officials announced that the classes were suspended. A day that turns into a week and a week that turns into months. A day that the students did not expect to not see their friends, classmates, teachers, and their relatives for a long time. A day that changed the life of some.

“March 13, 2020” is the exact date when our school announces that the classes were suspended as per the Department of Education (DepEd) due to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) surge, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

If I'm being completely honest, I was pleased at the moment. After all, who wouldn't be happy if classes were suspended? Up until the community quarantine turned it into weeks and even months. It was like being on a roller coaster; there were days when I felt elated, stressed out, and worried. For us, or rather for everyone, it was not simple. Everyone at the moment was concerned about how they would get by and where they could buy their necessities, and several jobs had been lost.

My father, who works abroad, spent a year with us due to a trip or company cancellation. My mother, who works, was also barred from going to work, but after a month she was given it back. She now risks her life to go outside, just like my father does whenever he picks her up. In order for us to survive the pandemic, my parents decided to look for a business. We started selling face masks in our place, then later on, online.

Some people might judge me if I say this, but to be honest, I enjoyed the months of being at home. It might be hard, but it was the first time I felt complete. What could I ask for? My father is with us for a year, which rarely happens for someone who is working overseas. Even if it is depressing at times. I am complete, we are complete.

It makes me feel nostalgic every time I reminisce about those times. Due to social media, particularly the app TikTok, which allows users to create and share short videos, there were trends that developed and which everyone tried, as well as music and movies that became well-known. Suddenly, a coffee that not everyone wants is desired. A pandesal with a twist. Some of the folks become more enlightened and open minded. To make a long story short, during those times, things occurred that no one anticipated.

The idea of staying at home, spending time with family, taking care of oneself, and so forth., appealed to my introverted self, which I believe is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed it. All of the things I wanted to happen in a day took months, or rather a whole year. However, I also became aware of something during those days when the pandemic started to gradually return to normal. I acknowledge that the feeling is different from before. It is not the same, as it was.

When DepEd stated that classes will resume in August, I began worrying excessively about how I would handle the stress once the classes began, and the lessons in particular. Especially if you're a slow learner. It did not process me at all, I just thought of it everytime. I also remember how sad I felt when I learned that my friend would temporarily stop studying due to financial concerns. It reminded me of how the government had failed to consider the underprivileged citizens and students.

The government did not even have a specific plan for all the students, teachers, and educational staff so that no one would be left behind; if they had merely taken action in advance, it would not have been as difficult for everyone. It is tiring to observe that, when people need them the most, they do not listen or show. The pandemic vividly revealed the corrupt nature of both the government and the educational system. Once more, I'm asking the inevitable question, what else can I expect?

The online classes have now officially begun after several months. I had first assumed that I would enjoy the year even though I would not be seeing them in person, but as soon as it began, I just felt uneasy, burdened, and anxious. It is kind of odd because many of my current classmates were formerly my colleagues, and my best friend is even in my class. Why do I feel that, then? I should be grateful.

In those months of being in online class, the entire month lasts with me feeling afraid and worried about how people will react to what I say, how I respond, and how I appear. That led me to the conclusion that what people think of me now matters more to me than it did in the past.

I believe the pandemic has had a significant impact on my interpersonal relationships. Because of how isolated we were with the people during the lockdown, I became distant from them. When my family would urge us to go outside, I can still clearly recall refusing because I did not want to be seen and did not enjoy being outside. Usually, I would rather be at home.

Being in this position is frustrating; not because I hate who or what I am, but because it hinders me from taking advantage of my possibilities and from conquering my shyness. Even if I am making every effort to get better, there are times when I did not give it my all and failed to conquer my weaknesses.

How ironic that the strand I took at UPHSL (University of Perpetual Help System Laguna) after high-school is HUMSS (Humanities and Social Sciences) which required a lot of interpersonal interaction. But I also kind of like it because I believe that writing is one of my interests. I want to express my desires, but I also want to keep them to myself and not be heard by anybody else. Additionally, since no one would immediately judge me if I wrote something, it would help me express myself.

When the Face-to-Face Classes began, I had a mixed feeling of wanting it and not wanting it. I did it because I believed it would help me regain my previous level of socializing. And now that I have used it, I believe it to be somewhat effective. Naturally, there is still some holding back, but I believe there has been progress. Hopefully.

I would like to just go with the flow for the time being; I just want to enjoy my Senior year of High-School and give it all I have got before heading off to college, so that I would not look back with regret. Some people might find it challenging to adjust. The way of life before the pandemic has changed significantly and is no longer the same.

I want to look back on this essay in the future to see how far I have come in the last seven years after I finish writing this. To see how different I was then, how different I am today, and how different I will be in the future.

[thenextrush]

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At the same…