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Picture Book Highlights | Father's DayBy Monica C. Thu, June 16, 2022
Father's Day can be celebrated in many different ways – with a day full of activities or as quiet day filled with longing and memories. For all those celebrating Father's Day, together or apart, here's a list of picture books to cherish.
Daddy speaks love by Leah Henderson; illustrated by E.B. Lewis -- A tribute to the joy and grounding that fathers bring to their children's lives. What does a daddy do? From day one, this daddy speaks love to his little one. And along with that love, his words and actions speak many other things, too: like truth, joy, comfort, and pride. Like many dads, he answers a million questions and tries to make sure that days are full of fun adventures, giggles, and hugs. Dads are good at scaring away imaginary monsters, and honest about how to confront the real ones too. They set an example for the future, speaking out for equality and justice, while sharing lessons from the past. But most of all, daddies encourage their young ones to fight for a better world, with the comfort of knowing their dads are right beside them.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Dancing with daddy by Anitra Rowe Schulte; illustrated by Ziyue Chen – Elsie can't wait to go to her first father-daughter dance. She picked out the perfect dress and has been practicing swirling and swaying in her wheelchair. Elsie's heart pirouettes as she prepares for her special night. With gestures, smiles, and words from a book filled with pictures, she shares her excitement with her family. But when a winter storm comes, she wonders if she'll get the chance to spin and dance her way to a dream come true.
Hair twins by Raakhee Mirchandani; illustrated by Holly Hatam – Every morning Papa combs through his daughter's waves like he does his own—parting it down the middle, using coconut oil to get all the tangles out. Some days he braids her hair in two twists down the side of her face. Other days he weaves it into one long braid hanging down her back, just like a unicorn tail. But her favorite style is when he combs her hair in a tight bun on the top of her head, just like the joora he wears every day under his turban. They call this their hair twin look!
Brick by brick by Heidi Sheffield – Papi is a bricklayer, and he works hard every day to help build the city, brick by brick. His son, Luis, works hard too--in school, book by book. Papi climbs scaffolds, makes mortar, and shovels sand. Luis climbs on the playground and molds clay into tiny bricks to make buildings, just like Papi. Together, they dream big about their future as they work to make those dreams come true. And then one Saturday, Papi surprises Luis with something special he's built for their family, brick by brick.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Together we ride by Valerie Bolling; illustrated by Kaylani Juanita – Learning to ride is no easy feat! But with a little courage, a guiding hand from her dad, and an enthusiastic bark from her pup, one brave girl quickly learns the freedom that comes from an afternoon spent outside on a bike. Experience the fear, the anticipation, and the delight of achieving the ultimate milestone in this energetic, warm story that celebrates the precious bond between parent and child.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Juna and Appa by Jane Bahk; illustrated by Felicia Hoshino – Juna enjoys helping her father in their dry-cleaning shop on Saturdays. It's their special time together. One day Juna sees a customer yelling at Appa about a lost jacket. Juna has never seen her father look so worried and becomes determined to help. She sets off on a magical journey in search of the jacket, and along the way meets remarkable animals that show her the different ways that fathers care for their young.
Adventures with my daddies by Gareth Peter; illustrated by Garry Parsons -- A child describes all of the adventures she has with her two daddies. Together, this LGBTQ+ family battles dragons, dodges deadly dinosaurs, zooms to the moon, and explores the world in a hot air balloon, before winding down to sleep in a wonderfully cozy ending.
Ebook available from Edelweiss
Dad bakes by Katie Yamasaki – Dad rises before the sun, goes to work at the bakery where he kneads, rolls, and bakes bread, and as the world starts its day, Dad heads home to his young daughter. Together they play, read, garden, and--most importantly--they bake. This lovely, resonant picture book was inspired by muralist Katie Yamasaki's work with formerly incarcerated people.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Daddy, me and the magic hour by Laura Krauss Melmed; illustrated by Sarita Rich – As twilight deepens, so does the bond between a little boy and his daddy.
After getting home for the day and having dinner, a young boy is ready for some special time outside with his father. It's the Magic Hour, when the sun is going down and day meets night. As Daddy and son walk to the playground for some lively fun, they see their neighbors going through their evening rituals—watering plants, walking dogs, going for a run. As darkness sets in, Daddy and son quiet down and find fireflies, then make their way home to Mommy and bedtime.
Knock Knock: my dad's dream for me by Daniel Beaty; illustrated by Bryan Collier – A boy wakes up one morning to find his father gone. At first, he feels lost. But his father has left him a letter filled with advice to guide him through the times he cannot be there.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Boats for papa by Jessixa Bagley -- Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean.
Ebook available from Overdrive
Be sure to check our catalog and Overdrive Kids eReading Room for these titles and many more being added.


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The Wicked Within
After a year passes since the sudden death of a child, a family gathering takes place whilst unexplainable events occur. Tension over peculiar circumstances cracks the veneer of cordiality and dark secrets emerge.
Average Score : 46
Every family has its demons. The truth will possess us all.
Status: Released
Release Date: 2015-10-16
Geners Horror
Production Companies After Dark Films High Five Films
Production Countries United States of America,
Run time: 91 minutes
Budget: --
Revenue: --
- Sienna GuilloryGianni CapaldiEnzo CilentiMichele HicksSonja KinskiHeath FreemanEric RobertsKaren AustinRECOMMENDED MOVIESNo record found!

subset: commoncrawl


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Taproot Edmonton presents a weekly discussion on key stories in municipal politics. We pay attention to City Council so you don't have to! Join us as we delve into conversations about the context surrounding decisions made at City Hall.
Here are the relevant links for this episode:
Vital Signs
HBO Filming
QR Codes
Downtown Construction
Campaign Disclosures
Housing and Police
Election Rundown
Speaking Municipally is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network: locally grown, community supported.
This week we highlighted ATB which offers "expert and practical advice in everyday banking, and investment planning expertise and management services with ATB Wealth." We also talked about Rumi which "partners with local Alberta businesses and carefully selected vendors to help deliver homeowner happiness."
Speaking Municipally is produced by Taproot Edmonton, a source of curiosity-driven original stories, curated newsletters on various topics, and locally focused podcasts, all in the service of informing Edmontonians about what is going on in their community. Sign up to get The Pulse, our weekday news briefing. It's free!★ Support this podcast ★
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About Piktureperfect
Baljit Kaur is based in Birmingham , West Midlands providing services as a .
Contact Baljit from Piktureperfect
Please feel free to call me on , or use the contact form below to give me details of your event and allow me to quote.
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Forget the secretive Pine Gap… Gnomesville in the Ferguson Valley SW Western Aus is more secretive and holds greater mystique in quiet places. It has a larger population and is the centre-point of 'special powers', those powers common to gnomes. The Man and I found out about Gnomesville quite unexpectedly, sitting over a lovely glass of something on one of those deliciously lazy social afternoons with friends.
Tag Archives: legend
When the Earth Began to Breathe – Stromatalites & Thrombolites
Millions of years ago, when life emerged from the waves it was stromatalites and thrombolites that made it possible. They breathed oxygen into the atmosphere and life eventually moved onto the land once water had begun to fall from the heavens, nourishing the earth. 600 million years ago the ancestors of thrombolites and stromatolites produced the oxygen needed for life on land to exist and their ancient colonies can be found today in only a few rare places around the world.
They look like rocks but are really ancient forms of microbial communities that produce energy from sunlight. These ancient forms of life are found in specialized environments around the world. They require water to survive. Stromatalites need saline water and thrombolites require a greater measure of fresh water.


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The Foundation for a Superior Home Inspector Salary
Whether you're just getting started as a home inspector – or you already have an established business – there is no shortage of lessons to learn while you're building your income.
Some lessons only come with experience. Others are lessons you can learn before you leap with just a little consideration, research, and planning. Read on for eight lessons I've learned as a home inspector (and AHIT instructor) building my business and salary over the last 20 years.
# 1 – Know Your Startup Costs
Make sure to get a clear picture of your costs to start a home inspection business before you hit the ground running. These expenses are based on many things, including your state requirements for home inspector training and the costs of your toolkit, inspection report software, business setup, and marketing efforts. I've seen graduates spend anywhere from the low thousands to $15,000 or more for a startup budget (and with home inspection company franchises a whole lot more!).
As a self-employed home inspector, how you run (and grow) your business is completely up to you. Spend some time thinking about the things you need to do for daily operations and the things you want to do to build your business overtime.
For example, buying your home inspector toolkit is a necessity, but you may not need the most upgraded tools to start. You can always upgrade your tools overtime as you start to make more money.
As another example, for marketing, you might decide not to invest as much money in flyers that may not always make it in front of the right people. Instead, you might spring for a good home inspector website that helps with your local visibility and generates the right kinds of leads.
Learn more about how much it costs to start a home inspection business.
#2 – Keep Realistic Salary Expectations
Home inspection is one of those rare fields that gives you complete control over how much you earn each year. It all depends on how many inspections you perform weekly, monthly, and annually – and of course, your operating costs.
Salary-wise, it's not uncommon for a new home inspector to earn $60,000 to $70,000 gross income in the first year. In fact, $70,000 annually is the average home inspector salary. Moving into the second year, you have a clearer picture of how many inspections you can handle each week (250 is the national average). At this point, your full-time income can easily increase to $90,000 to $100,000 gross annually or more. A typical part-time inspector might earn $40,000 to $50,000 per year doing 90 to 100 inspections total for the year.
Get a realistic idea of how much you can earn as a home inspector in your state using our home inspector salary calculator.
#3 – Study Your Local Real Estate Market – and Network!
Knowing your local real estate market and networking are both key to building a successful home inspection business and a handsome income. Before you begin offering your services, spend time researching your locale, your local real estate market, and the real estate brokerages in your area. Doing these things helps you better understand how your services will benefit homebuyers, sellers, real estate agents, homeowners, and even commercial building owners.
Be proactive and network with local realtors to learn the state of the real estate market and better understand what local homebuyers and sellers look for in a home inspector. Great relationships with realtors often lead to regular home inspection jobs for their clients.
It's also helpful to learn the shortcomings of existing home inspectors in your area. What do they do well? What don't they do well? Is there opportunity for you to improve on those areas and fill a need? Plus, think about how you can develop your soft skills – such as communication, networking, and marketing – to stand out from the crowd.
#4 – Promote the Value of Your Inspection Services
One of the most common mistakes a new home inspector makes is "lowballing" home inspection fees. In the first year, you might offer discounts to increase awareness and help establish demand for your services. This works well as a beginning strategy. In the long-term, however, it's important to build on the value of your services versus sticking with the reduced price model. This helps you gradually grow your local market share and revenue over time.
As the years go on, you'll have years of experience on your side and a new perspective on what sets you apart from other home inspectors. You'll know the "why" behind the price of your services, have confidence in charging them, and have successfully established your brand's value in your local area.
#5 – Consider Creating a "One-Stop Shop" of Inspection Services
Offering add-on services can increase your income by $100-$300 per inspection, depending on the service. With so many types of inspections offered for homes today, consider creating a "one-stop shop" with these ancillary inspection services:
- Radon Testing
- Mold Testing
- Indoor Air Quality Testing
- Termite Inspections
- Pool & Spa inspections
- Well & Septic System Inspections
- HVAC System Inspections
- Water Testing
Learn more about different home inspector certifications you can earn to increase your income.
#6 – Find Mentorship to Help You Grow
When you're just starting out, it helps to talk with other small business owners who have walked the road before you. These could be home inspectors or owners of any successful small business in your community. Ask about early issues in their business they had to solve or overcome and what they've learned over the years.
You might even find a business mentor who can help you build a comprehensive business plan for growth and review your plan regularly to see how your actions align with your goals. Many small business owners find mentors or mentor groups through Score.org or their local Chambers of Commerce.
Remember, the lifetime support you get from AHIT beyond graduation can also help steer you in the direction of growth. Use it to your advantage.
#7 – Create Systems to Help You Stay Organized
Staying organized is important for a small business. It saves time, keeps your finances in order, improves your customer service, and can reduce your daily stress. Schedule processes on a calendar to ensure you're "tending the garden" in a timely fashion. For example, schedule when you need to prepare your quarterly tax reports, pay your bills, follow up on leads, work on marketing, etc. Plus, use programs like Microsoft Office or QuickBooks to help simplify your daily operations.
Learn more tips for staying organized and finding success as a new home inspector.
#8 – Re-Invest Profit into Your Business
Re-investing in your business is a great way to grow your business year to year and increase your salary. Here are some things you might do to re-invest for growth.
- Before you legally establish your business, research your options to create a corporate veil to help protect you, limit taxes, and develop a way to re-pay yourself overtime for your initial investment.
- Consider taking a portion of your revenue and re-investing it in your marketing – especially during the early years. Figures show you'll typically spend more time and money marketing your business and establishing your brand during the first 18 to 24 months of operation. Re-invest in your early years for stable success and growth over time.
- When you're just starting out, buy a new tool after each inspection to build your toolkit and save time on inspections. This will pay off handsomely in the long run.
- As you create your budget, consider that you'll need some time before giving yourself a paycheck. One early strategy is to take a minimal salary and quarterly bonuses when cashflow permits and build on it in busier years.
- Remember, a good plan is good enough. Don't fall prey to "Paralysis by Analysis." Keep moving forward, adjust your strategies, and reset based on what works and what doesn't.
Final PRO Tip: Consider getting help from family or friends answering your phone, returning emails/texts, and managing your leads in the early years. This can help you capture missed opportunities as you grow and become busier. One day, you might be ready to hire help with managing your business while still enjoying a lucrative salary.


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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - During Totaline's fifth annual Sales Center of the Year Awards held in Las Vegas, Nev., nine Totaline Sales Centers were honored with the distinction of 2007 Sales Center of the Year: Brownsville, South Texas; Waco, North Texas (three-time winner); Knoxville, Tenn.; Daytona Beach, Fla. (three-time winner); Florence, S.C.; Frederick, Md.; Stratford, Conn. (two-time winner); North Bay, Ontario, Canada; Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Award-winning sales centers were top performers in their regions in six key aftermarket categories, including compressor sales, generic motor sales, thermostat sales, and tool and instrument sales. "The purpose of the Sales Center of the Year Award is to encourage a competitive environment for growing the aftermarket business," said Bob Carre, Totaline business development manager. "It's a prestigious award."
Also during the celebration, the 2007 Totaline Leadership awards were presented to: Roy Tindell, sales center manager for Totaline Waco, North Texas; John Witz, zone sales manager for Totaline; Joe Murley, market manager for Totaline Central Florida; and Brian Power, area manager for Totaline Central North Canada. They were honored for their excellence in building and leading successful Totaline teams.
Awards for the best 2007 Totaline store remodels went to: Totaline Dartmouth, Canada, Crystal Gillespie, store manager; Totaline Tallahassee, Fla., Kevin Calhoun, store manager; and Totaline Harahan, La., Joseph Jones, store manager.
These stores were chosen because their remodeled showrooms allow for additional product displays, promote sales, and facilitate new levels of excellence in customer service.
During the awards ceremony, Greg Deldicque, Totaline vice president and general manager congratulated the honorees.
"Thank you for your hard work and commitment to our customers and to Totaline," he said. "This year's awards are particularly special since we are celebrating Totaline's 20th anniversary commemorated by the slogan: Parts and people. Working together."
For more information, visit www.totaline.com.
Publication Date:06/16/2008


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Magicians Rope - Soft 50 ft - Fluorescent Yellow, + book 42 Amazing Rope Tricks!
Great stage magic rope! 50 foot Fluorescent Yellow rope, specially woven and cored, to give you a thick rope, easily visible and easy to cut, knot, and manipulate. This very special rope has been made in fluorescent colors that appear extra bright under normal lighting, and will glow brightly under black light or light with rich Ultra Violet content (like mercury lights and tube lights). You cannot get this type of neon colored rope off-the-shelf in a commercial store. Works great for stage magic or parlor. Plus the book. 42 Amazing Tricks and Stunts with Rope Book- Soft cover book, 5.5" x 8.5" pocket book size, with 48 printed pages and 193 illustrations. The book contains step-by-step instructions for 42 of the best tricks you can perform with Rope, including Appearing and Vanishing Knots, Cut and Restored Rope Tricks, Flourishes and Penetrations, Stretching and Shrinking Ropes, Ring and Rope routines, and more. Carry the props in your pocket and you are set to perform any time, any place, for any size audience.


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Live For This
Giro Sport Design
Photography Credits: Elliot Layda,
For over 35 years people have loved Giro for its best in class products. However, in focus groups it became clear that many people didn't have the same strong emotional connection to the brand that the internal team has always felt. I was part of a small in-house team at Giro decided to tackle this challenge head on. In 2021 Giro set out to define a new Northstar to guide the brand internally and externally in the next decade. The goal was to create an answer to the question "Why Giro?" that felt authentic in every customer category. In the end the answer was right in front of us the whole time.
The thing that everyone who loved Giro had in common was dedication. Our customers, just like our internal team, prioritized skiing, snowboarding, or riding bikes in their life. For them, the ride was more than just a hobby it was a way of life. The motivation that drives the Giro product team to obsess about design is the same thing that motivates our customer to buy premium Giro products. They both want to make sure that they have the absolute best experience possible. With the new Live For This positioning the goal is clear. We want to make the Giro brand a way to signal that dedication to the world.
Contact me at email@example.com
or use the social media links
right here >
or use the social media links
right here >


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Jan. 16, 2022
"Ten days ago, I began my Great Wall Adventure in Jiayuquan-- at the western end of the Great Wall. For many reasons, today was an extremely hot and difficult day. With the shadows of darkness overpowering my last glimpse of daylight, I knew it was time to shut-down. My body was tired; I felt overheated; my body was trembling- shaking.
Back in Houston, with little time, I'd briefly studied the aerial maps of the Great Wall provided by NASA but--- somehow-- I'd overlooked the section of Wall that crossed the Gobi Desert. For the past five days I've been overwhelmed with a relentlessly-glaring sun-- impossible ankle-deep sand---while being ruthlessly 'whiplashed" with dry, gritty winds. From the map it appears that (barring any unforeseen accidents), I'll be out-of-the-desert by late tomorrow afternoon.
I simply didn't have enough energy to open my tent tonight. Besides, with nothing but sand and high winds, I was afraid I couldn't anchor the tent sufficiently. I couldn't take the chance the tent might "take flight" with me in it!
"Unpacking" my body took almost thirty minutes: I wore a classic runner's backpack—plus 15 different canvas packs of supplies-- tied around my waist. And—I wore multiple pairs of extra shoes--all looped together by shoelaces—hanging around my neck, both front and back! Finally-- I carried a large, rolled-up tent in one hand and a full-sized, rolled-up sleeping bag in the other hand. Both were bound-securely in customized nylon bags with straps--for handles.
Taking out a large polyurethane bag from my backpack, I carefully placed my paraphernalia—like camera, sunglasses, and various medications--inside-- then folded it several times before tying it securely with an extra shoelace. It was important to keep the outside elements away from my equipment, necessities, and limited food supply. My compass, whistle, Swiss Army knife, and small flashlight hung on chains around my neck. Those items never left me, for any reason!
I had eaten an energy bar almost one hour earlier and now I eagerly drank one of my thermos of water. Tomorrow, it was essential I find extra water. Only two 16 oz. Thermos fit in my backpack with very-limited room for any extra bottles of water.
I hurriedly unrolled my sleeping bag and sat down, too exhausted to care that I was alone in the middle of a huge desert but, what did it matter?!?!? There weren't any trees, or grassy areas, even sand dunes to use for shelter. Besides, why would any wild animals or mean people choose such a wasteland for late-night exploring?!?!?!
I had barely removed my tennis shoes, tucked them beside me--snuggled lengthwise in my sleeping bag before--I was asleep. Then, suddenly--- I was awake---but why?!?!?
Everywhere I looked was blackness. I'd never experienced such complete darkness and-- for a minute or two-- I feared I might have a panic attack but—there was strange activity--all around me— and---I had to know "what!" Cocooned in my sleeping bag-- I felt small "things" running up, down, and across, my wrapped body! Oh, no! Something caught in my hair-- I must find my flashlight! This is so scary!
Struggling to unzip enough material to release one arm, I grabbed my flashlight from under my chin, pointed it down the front of my sleeping bag and clicked. It's difficult to describe the horror of that moment. I thought my heart would stop because everywhere I looked, there were millions of white mice-- jumping and running-- across my sleeping bag!!!
Only after I finished the Wall and returned to Beijing --would I learn about these rare albino mice-- documented as nightly travelers on the Gobi Desert. Daylight blinded them so they could only move-freely under cover of Darkness. Now, Aiming my flashlight in every direction revealed the alarming facts: The Gobi Desert was alive with massive numbers of stampeding white mice and--for thousands of miles in all directions---I was the only human.
Believing this frightening nightmare would end with the morning light, I grabbing a scarf from my down vest, wrapped my head with my one free arm, and quickly tucked/zipped/ myself deep-down in the sleeping bag. I prayed for daylight to come quickly. I vowed, regardless of what happened tomorrow--this would be my last night in the desert.
In the many days to come, I would always remember this night as the most frightening and most challenging night of my Great Wall Journey until----the night I encountered The Black Leopard."
But--- I'll save that breathtaking experience to share with you-- next time.
Latest comments
17.10 | 01:42
I miss being Facebook friends with you! Hope you are well and happy.
Tammy Brookover Jay
15.10 | 01:28
Love all of this. I'm so lucky to be your neighbor,
30.08 | 16:26
Sally, my friend, I love your writings and sometimes they make me cry and then smile. I love you as if I had known you all my life. God Bless you each and every day in all you do.
29.08 | 19:19
Lol, I loved reading this story! As a female that dated a couple men with Harleys, I totally understand and met Harley Guy myself, many times over!
I hope you get your 3wheels someday soon!


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Boker Plus Cowboy Crossdraw Fixed 2.875" Blade, Brown Jigged Bone Handles, Don Hethcoat Design, Leather Sheath
Boker Plus Cowboy Crossdraw Fixed 2.875″ Blade, Brown Jigged Bone Handles, Don Hethcoat Design, Leather Sheath
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- Can't find what you are looking for? Please don't hesitate to contact us and an expert associate will be happy to meet your needs.
Out of stock


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The COVID-19 disease model from Imperial College shocked politicians around the world into shutting down economies and throwing hundreds of millions of people out of work. It predicted millions of CoV-19 deaths in the US alone. Its author, Neil Ferguson, was recently forced to resign from a government post as a result of breaking his own "shelter in place" recommendations to carry on a liason with a married woman. If you think that is sleazy, consider the following takedown of the "upgraded" computer code for his disease model:
Imperial finally released a derivative of Ferguson's code. I figured I'd do a review of it and send you some of the things I noticed. I don't know your background so apologies if some of this is pitched at the wrong level. It isn't the code Ferguson ran to produce his famous Report 9. What's been released on GitHub is a heavily modified derivative of it, after having been upgraded for over a month by a team from Microsoft and others. This revised codebase is split into multiple files for legibility and written in C++, whereas the original program was "a single 15,000 line file that had been worked on for a decade" (this is considered extremely poor practice). A request for the original code was made 8 days ago but ignored, and it will probably take some kind of legal compulsion to make them release it. Clearly, Imperial are too embarrassed by the state of it ever to release it of their own free will, which is unacceptable given that it was paid for by the taxpayer and belongs to them.
Due to bugs, the code can produce very different results given identical inputs. They routinely act as if this is unimportant.
This problem makes the code unusable for scientific purposes, given that a key part of the scientific method is the ability to replicate results. Without replication, the findings might not be real at all – as the field of psychology has been finding out to its cost. Even if their original code was released, it's apparent that the same numbers as in Report 9 might not come out of it.
In issue 116 a UK "red team" at Edinburgh University reports that they tried to use a mode that stores data tables in a more efficient format for faster loading, and discovered – to their surprise – that the resulting predictions varied by around 80,000 deaths after 80 days…
Imperial admit there's a bug by referencing a code change they've made that fixes it. The explanation given is "It looks like historically the second pair of seeds had been used at this point, to make the runs identical regardless of how the network was made, but that this had been changed when seed-resetting was implemented". In other words, in the process of changing the model they made it non-replicable and never noticed.
Why didn't they notice? Because their code is so deeply riddled with similar bugs and they struggled so much to fix them that they got into the habit of simply averaging the results of multiple runs to cover it up… and eventually this behaviour became normalised within the team.
In issue #30, someone reports that the model produces different outputs depending on what kind of computer it's run on (regardless of the number of CPUs). Again, the explanation is that although this new problem "will just add to the issues" … "This isn't a problem running the model in full as it is stochastic anyway".
Although the academic on those threads isn't Neil Ferguson, he is well aware that the code is filled with bugs that create random results. In change #107 he authored he comments: "It includes fixes to InitModel to ensure deterministic runs with holidays enabled". In change #158 he describes the change only as "A lot of small changes, some critical to determinacy".
Imperial are trying to have their cake and eat it. Reports of random results are dismissed with responses like "that's not a problem, just run it a lot of times and take the average", but at the same time, they're fixing such bugs when they find them. They know their code can't withstand scrutiny, so they hid it until professionals had a chance to fix it, but the damage from over a decade of amateur hobby programming is so extensive that even Microsoft were unable to make it run right.
… All papers based on this code should be retracted immediately. Imperial's modelling efforts should be reset with a new team that isn't under Professor Ferguson, and which has a commitment to replicable results with published code from day one. __ Ferguson Code Review
And so on, follow the link above and read the whole thing. The world-devastating Imperial College disease model is crap.
Sadly, modelers at the University of Washington seem just as eager to use sensationalist public pronouncements to sway policy as was Neil Ferguson's team at Imperial. But fortunately, many other epidemiologic modelers are far more modest:
The point of flattening the curve isn't to eliminate transmissions. It's to let the transmissions happen slowly. Unless we get lucky, we are going to have a similar amount of cases, the same area under the curve. It's a matter of pacing these cases out over the next 3 months so that our healthcare system can handle them."
… In reality, we don't know when we go back to our normal lives after social distancing, the rate of infection will go up or not. We don't know whether we will have a spike in the number of cases again. __ https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/05/08/rethinking-our-societys-immune-system-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#561acfba5ec5
The lockdowns that resulted from the "Imperial model panic" are not cost-free. Sadly, politicians and newly empowered public health officials and academics do not seem to understand the life or death tradeoffs involved. Nor are they qualified to deal with them if they were aware.
Crappy Computer Models have Real World Consequences
Apparently the majority of voters in western countries were panicked enough to allow their democratically elected leaders to imprison them in their homes, and take away their ability to provide for themselves and their loved ones. But now a large proportion of them are reconsidering the aftermath of these draconian lockdowns.
73% say that it's important for their mental wellbeing to be able to see people face-to-face again. 61% are concerned about the health risks associated with prolonged isolation.
The awareness comes from firsthand experience. 33% of voters have close friends or family members who have been severely depressed during the lockdown. Additionally, 23% know people close to them who have been drinking too much. On a personal level, 35% have gained weight or experienced other health related problems as a result of the shutdown.
Many people with heart disease, cancer, and other potentially fatal illnesses have been unwilling or unable to get vital therapies or interventions as a result of the media/political hysteria over Wuhan CoV-19.
There will be excess deaths with lockdowns and there will be excess deaths without lockdowns. It is not as if one approach will lead to the saving of more lives. Over the long run, many more will die as a result of lockdowns than would be saved by them.
Lives are being lost to the lockdown, a toll that will mount the longer the economy remains shuttered. Some doctors estimate that the closure of hospitals to non-coronavirus cases and the reluctance of patients to burden 911 have increased mortality as much as the virus. The global depression will devastate life expectancies in the less-developed world. Overdose deaths and suicides brought on by joblessness and loss of hope will rise, as more and more businesses fold permanently.
The rhetoric of lockdown proponents is growing more apocalyptic. "A Virus Tightens Its Deadly Grip" announced the lead print headline in Wednesday's New York Times — even as the data keep reinforcing the case against universal shutdown. Infection outbreaks are occurring in highly specific locales, not universally: nursing homes, meatpacking plants and prisons. Deaths are tragically concentrated in the former.
On Wednesday, Cuomo announced the "shocking" news that 84 percent of all hospital admissions were either people sheltering at home or nursing home residents. He shouldn't have been surprised. The risk of coronavirus infection occurs overwhelmingly indoors. Researchers in China identified only one outdoor outbreak of infection among over a thousand cases studied. Most transmissions occurred at home, rendering the close-down-all-businesses-and-shelter-in-place rule contraindicated. __ https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/496586-the-burden-of-proof-lies-with-economic-lockdown-proponents
Should people wear masks in public?
I recommend wearing a mask for shopping and other close activities in the public sphere. But I do not recommend that authorities throw people in jail for not wearing masks. A lot of people inside government are allowing all of this newfound power to go to their heads. If they are not more careful, those heads may find a different resting place than their shoulders. 😉
Big government figureheads are always looking for an opportunity to expand the size of corrupt government. Call it job security. But there are some times when it would be best to forego the temptation.
Robots Work 24/7 and Don't Get Sick
The Wuhan CoV-19 government debacle is adding more incentive for employers to speed up the switch-over from human employees to robots:
JBS SA, the world's largest meat producer, is preparing to install robots in slaughterhouses to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among human employees working on the production line.
JBS SA CFO Guilherme Cavalcanti recently said the Brazilian processing company expects to expand automation at its facilities across the world.
… CNN reports that grocers – big and small chains alike – are turning to robots for performing various tasks like cleaning floors, stocking shelves and delivering groceries to shoppers. The covid crisis could even prompt online retail warehouses like Amazon to invest more into automation technology as well.
The New York Times reported that the outbreak is boosting demand for Zhen Robotics and its RoboPony, a self-driving cart that is sold to retailers, hospitals, malls and apartment complexes.
A group of scientists on the editorial board of Science Robotics are further calling for robots to do the "dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs" of infectious disease management by replacing certain hospital jobs like disinfecting robots combing rooms/floors and working in labs.
A recent report by A3, Association For Advancing Automation, further details all the ways that artificial intelligence and automation is being used in different industries to combat the coronavirus. __ ZeroHedge and Source
Perhaps half of all small businesses in the US will disappear as a result of this lockdown madness. That will lead to significant hardship. But perhaps the saddest outcome of this political disaster is that most of the citizens who passively went along with the dictatorial stripping of their freedoms, will never understand that they were ever wrong, or what an intelligent and free person might have done differently.


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Home > Conversions (Computer data storage) > Conversion tables from/to terabyte > TB to Mb Conversion Cheat Sheet (Interactive)
Get 100+ conversion tables in a PDF book!!!
Terabytes to Megabits Conversion Table
How to convert from Terabytes to Megabits
Since 1 terabyte is equal to 8388608 megabits, we could say that n terabytes are equal to 8388608 times n megabits. In other words, we could use the following formula:megabits = terabytes x 8388608
For example, let's say that we want to convert 2 terabytes to megabits. Then, we just replace terabytes in the abovementioned formula with 2:megabits = 2 x 8388608
That is, 2 terabytes are equal to 16777216.0 megabits.
More Computer data storage conversions
Other conversions


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Leeds United have made a move in their bid to bring Arnaud Kalimuendo to Elland Road this summer.
That's according to a report by French outlet Media Foot, who claim that, following weeks of interest in the Paris Saint-Germain centre-forward, Victor Orta has now submitted an official €20m (£16.8m) offer for the 20-year-old.
The report goes on to state that this is the minimum figure Luis Campos would be willing to accept for the France U21 international, with the Portuguese director of football hoping to receive between €20m and €25m (£21m) for the striker.
Finally, it is said that Kalimuendo will be aware his path to regular first-team football at PSG is blocked by the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Pablo Sarabia and Hugo Ekitike – with Olympique Lyonnais, Stade Rennais and Inter Milan also thought to be happy to offer the attacker a route out of Le Parc des Princes this summer.
Considering the calibre of clubs interested in Kalimuendo this summer – with both Rennes and Inter being able to offer the forward European football next season – coupled with the abundance of ability the 20-year-old clearly possesses, the argument that landing the PSG starlet would be a coup for Leeds is an easy one to make.
Indeed, over the course of his two season-long loan spells at RC Lens in the last two campaigns, the £16.2m-rated forward has consistently proven that he is a player who knows where the back of the net is, scoring eight goals over 30 appearances in all competitions back in 2020/21, as well as bagging 13 over 35 fixtures for Franck Haise's side last time out.
Furthermore, the £6.5k-per-week attacker who Jacek Kulig dubbed "deadly" has also posted incredibly impressive numbers throughout the various youth age groups with the French national team, scoring one in three for the U16s, five in seven for the U17s, four in five for the U18s and four in 12 for the U21s.
As such, it is clear to see that the addition of Kalimuendo to a side who scored just 42 Premier League goals last season – the joint fifth-worst record in the top flight – would be a very welcome one indeed, especially considering that the only player to break double figures in league goals last season, Raphinha, has departed Elland Road this summer.
So, taking into account his clinical nature in the final third, his exponential potential for future development and the fact that Inter, Rennes and Lyon are all interested in his services, it is evident that the signing of the French starlet would not only represent a coup for Orta, but also an extremely exciting one for the future of the club.


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Dub's Garage did an excelent job repairing my Jeep. They were professional abd timely and always contacted me if something outside of the esrimate needed work. I have ever seen a more detailed report on what they felt was needed as well as inspected the Jeep and told me what systems were in good shape and other work that was optional if I wanted it done.
Feeling like you are here to be able to make the best decision for your vehicle is top priority. We want to make you feel as comfortable as possible with the decision you are making. Car repairs are not only inconvenient, but can be expensive. We want you to know where your vehicle stands to assure a seamless experience and to be able to save for possible future concerns. Thank you David for taking the time to let us know how we did! We will let the team know to keep us the great work 😃
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Thank you Christine and Ken for your loyalty throughout the many years! Appointments for state inspections has made the process quick and painless. We are so happy that you're happy! Happy Fourth of July to you and yours!! 😎
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As the rise of open-access learning opportunities through technology -- including massive open online courses (MOOCs) -- continues, it becomes essential to understand both their strengths and limitations as educational experiences. To open that discussion, Adjunct Lecturer Justin Reich, Ed.D.'12, is teaching a new course this semester, Massive: The Future of Learning at Scale, in which students explore these environments and the technologies being used by "creating [their] own networked learning community."
In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Reich -- the Richard L. Menschel HarvardX Research Fellow, based in the Office of the President and Provost at Harvard University -- reflects on the design process of his new course and what makes it unique.
About the Harvard EdCast
The Harvard EdCast is a weekly series of podcasts, available on the Harvard University iTunes U page, that features a 15-20 minute conversation with thought leaders in the field of education from across the country and around the world. Hosted by Matt Weber, the Harvard EdCast is a space for educational discourse and openness, focusing on the myriad issues and current events related to the field.


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Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing. – PETER DRUCKER
It seems there is a new buzzword coined every week in the IT industry.
It may be fun asking average people on the street "What is DevOps" – "US Military operation?!" or "Some spy movie?" or "a Robot?"
However, when the term "DevOps" was introduced to IT people, they said, "we have been doing this for years – code merging, configuration management, release management, deployment using automated tools."
What's new in it? Is it a marketing gimmick of sorts? Is it a sledgehammer to kill a fly? Let's park these questions for now. In this post we're comparing DevOps methodology versus traditional Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
What to Explore
Traditional Software Development Life Cycle Challenges
Requirements to Production deployment of any business need or story (in Extreme programming) is an interesting journey with a lot of human intervention at different milestones.
Predicting where things may go wrong even when risks are identified and mitigated is challenging for any software project. The basic thinking is to code; once ready after system and integration testing is released to the Operations team for install.
Things can be fine and dandy if there is utmost synchronization between the Development team and Operations team but more often there are challenges:
- The operations team deploys it but with a possibility that whatever was working in Development, environment does not work in a Production environment. The response from the development team usually is, "It works just fine in development…" The reason for the failure is that these two environments are different or are not periodically synchronized.
- New development tools make coding faster but sometimes the operations team is not able to cope with frequent changes and releases.
- Production servers may need some tweaking or fine-tuning at the database or OS level. If there is a lack of skill or expertise then the deployment is at a risk.
- Developers usually do not have access to Production servers to check how the application is behaving so there is a need of feedback from end-users, which, is not often received by the Developers for obvious reasons.
In some instances, there are no clear instructions/details of the deployment. Ops team has to figure out some things based on their experience/skill – poor transition.
With traditional SDLC approaches, companies may regret the complexity to bridge the gap between Developers and the Operations team; production systems are at stake no matter what.
Such challenges have a greater impact on the cost, schedule, and reputation of the organization.
To help illustrate these complexities, Lori MacVittie talks about the butterfly effect to demonstrate effects of not addressing challenges in terms of time, money, and risk.
DevOps Provides a Solution to Traditional software development
These challenges seemed like they would continue to remain part of the development lifecycle until Patrick Debios decided to take these up.
This initiative formed the basis of DevOps – a term coined by combining Dev(elopers) and Op(erations)s.
is a philosophy to bring in cultural change aiming to deliver functionalities faster at a higher rate of quality. It is a way to bridge the gap between Developers and the Operations team for frequent deployments. It could be called "Near Real-Time" development or "Elastic" deployment cycle because you can automatically deploy as soon as a change is committed by the developers. Human intervention is minimized wherever possible. Automation throughout the development life cycle, continuous feedback, and process improvement is the key for adopting DevOps.
The following are some of the DevOps principles:
- Create production-like systems for development and testing environment
- Deployments need to iterative and frequent. Ensure a reliable and repeatable process
- Continuously monitor and validate operational quality characteristics
- Amplify feedback loop
Automation tools are helping companies adopt DevOps. These tools include Jenkins, GitHub, Chef, Puppet, SaltStack, New Relic, Nagios, Ganglia, Munin, Splunk, Rundeck, to name a few.
Coming back to our parked questions: DevOps – What's new in it? Is it a marketing gimmick? Is it a sledgehammer to kill a fly?
Typically we have planned releases that are deployed through a toolset – some may be automated but you need to enter commands to invoke it. A tool by itself would not mean anything but the utilization of it and Integration of all automated tools right from check-in to deployment is offered by DevOps.
Frequent or continuous deployments (e.g. 10 per day) need discipline at all levels and commitment to make it happen. You may also be having war room meetings between developers and the operations team prior to deployment. What if the development and operations teams are geographically dispersed (i.e. thousands of miles away and there is the challenge of time difference to conduct phone meetings). The operations team's agenda is to keep the system down to a minimum time and in this process, some critical errors are not resolved in a timely manner or are ignored. DevOps once in place can take all these factors out and make the deployment journey as smooth as silk.
Using individual automated tools in a sporadic manner is trying to bring in efficiency (i.e. you are doing things right but DevOps brings in effectiveness ensuring you are doing the right things and cannot be sniffed at). Before you jump on the DevOps bandwagon there is a lot of thinking, planning, and work that goes into it. There are challenges right out of the gates – from choosing the right tool to change management, but the payoff, in the long run, may enable you to scale to heights.
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Pancrepes: somewhere between crêpes and pancakes
Serve these with sweet (maple syrup) or savoury (hard cheese and bacon) toppings.
Donna's Cheesecake
Crust 2 1/2 cups graham crumbs 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 cup butter Filling 2.5 x 250g cream cheese 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1/3 cup… Read More »Donna's Cheesecake
Bliss Balls
Blend all ingredients except dates in food processor until smooth. Add pitted dates (better with mejool) until it's sweet enough. Then add a little bit of water until it is sticky enough to form balls…
Ragged Robins
Ragged Robins Prep time: 10 mins Total time: 10 mins Grammy says: "This is my grandmother's recipe that my mother would make for us kids."… Read More »Ragged Robins
Lemon Pie
Lemon Pie Makes enough for 3 pies Ingredients Juice and rind of 3 lemons 6 tbsp corn starch Butter, size of 3 eggs 3 cups… Read More »Lemon Pie
Rickety Uncle
Rickety Uncle Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 20 mins Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar 2 cups of… Read More »Rickety Uncle
GG's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
GG's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 45 mins Ingredients 2 cups of sugar 2 eggs 3 tbsp… Read More »GG's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Mom's Banana Bread
Mom's Banana Bread Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 20 mins Ingredients 2 large ripe bananas 1 tsp baking soda 5 tbsp milk 1/4… Read More »Mom's Banana Bread
GG's Strawberry Shortcake
GG's Strawberry Shortcake Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 30 mins Ingredients 2 cups sifted flour 1 tsp baking powder 1… Read More »GG's Strawberry Shortcake
GG's Gingerbread
GG's Gingerbread Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 40 mins Ingredients 1 cup molasses 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup butter 1 cup milk 2… Read More »GG's Gingerbread
Grammy's Perfect Brownies
Grammy's Perfect Brownies Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 35 mins Ingredients 2 chocolate squares (1 oz each) 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2… Read More »Grammy's Perfect Brownies
Shortbread Ingredients 3/4 lb butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup icing sugar 2 1/2 cups flour Instructions Work well, roll in balls and press… Read More »Shortbread
Zucchini Cookies
Zucchini Cookies Ingredients 3/4 cup butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups green zucchini 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder… Read More »Zucchini Cookies


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|After School Storytime
Event Type: Story Time
Age Group(s): Pre-schoolers, Family
Date: 9/22/2022
Start Time: 4:30 PM
End Time: 5:30 PM
Help your baby to 6 year old get ready to read in an interactive storytime. Our storytellers practice "Every Child Ready to Read" pre-reading skills including talking,singing, writing, playing and reading with participants. Plus we always have fun. For ages 0 to 6. Registration required.Library: Great River Regional Library - Rockford Map
Status: Closed
In accordance with Minnesota Statute 13.40 Subd. 2. all Great River Regional Library circulation and other records which indicate the identity of library users, especially as they connect library users with materials or services used, are confidential. This confidentiality extends to information sought or borrowed, database search records, Internet sites, reference interviews, circulation records, registration records (except name), and all other personally identifiable uses of library materials, facilties or services. A library may release reserved materials to a family member or other person who resides with a library patron and who is picking up the material on behalf of the patron. A patron may request that reserved materials be released only to the patron.
Contact information you provide here is protected under Minnesota Data Practices statutes. Providing this information is strictly voluntary and will be used only for the specific GRRL program or service advertised. It will be available only to authorized library personnel.


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The new Leica V-Lux 5 is a super-zoom camera with a 1-inch sensor with 20 megapixels. Additionally, it has a 16x optical zoom lens that has an equivalent focal range of 25-400mm with maximum apertures that vary from f/2.8-4.
Other important features include a 2.36-megapixel OLED electronic viewfinder with 0.74x magnification, a touch-sensitive LCD screen, high-speed autofocusing, continuous burst shooting at a rate of 12 frames per second, 4K/30p video recording, 4K photo modes, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity through the use of the Leica FOTOS app. Since the previous generation, a new feature called Zoom Compose Assist has been included to assist while shooting with longer focal lengths, and the layout of the buttons has been altered.
Leica V-Lux 5 Body & Control
Because of its price tag, which, while not inexpensive at £1,050, is nonetheless one of the cheaper routes to owning a Leica-badged camera, and partly because the standard-issue bridge model layout and design make for more intuitive handling than we're used to from this manufacturer, Leica is pitching the V Lux 5 as the ideal camera for "all" photographers. This is partial because its price tag is one of the cheaper routes to owning a Leica-badged camera.
We'd make that idea even better by developing a camera that's adaptable to a wide variety of shooting conditions and doesn't require you to change the lens that's attached to it (since you can't do that here) or move forward or backward to get your subject to fill the frame. To put it succinctly, the selling feature is its adaptability.
When held in the palm, the V-Lux 5 has a comfortable and reassuring feeling. Its plastic (yet not overly plastic-y feeling) frame, as opposed to Leica's more usual metal, build, suggests a deliberately budget-conscious approach this time around – and, more obviously, another collaboration with Panasonic, whose own original Lumix FZ1000 and its more recent Mark II successor this most closely resembles in terms of core lens and sensor specification. The Leica X-U is available in black and silver.
As is customary, we are required to pay a premium for the Leica brand name; specifically, around $280 more compared to the comparable model offered by the electronics manufacturer at the time of this writing. Having said all of the above, it appears that the Leica V Lux 5 has been properly constructed, to the point that it wouldn't break apart with only a few accidental hits.
Leica V-Lux 5 Image Quality
The colors are as vibrant as we would anticipate seeing from a Panasonic camera—oops, I meant a Leica camera. Detail, too, is on par with what we'd expect a bridge camera to deliver. This means that, while it's perfectly acceptable, it's not quite a match for what we'd expect a compact system camera or DSLR in this price range to deliver. However, it is on par with what we'd expect a bridge camera to deliver.
Neither of those choices could provide the same focal range or lens "poke" as this camera at the same budget, so we will need to anticipate some sacrifices.
In terms of ISO performance, here the combination of a large lens, a decent maximum aperture, and a large sensor has come up trumps, providing a surprisingly good showing as we dial upwards through the range. It is only at the top two settings, including the maximum ISO 25000 equivalent, that we see an obvious degradation in the image when viewing it on screen. This is because the combination of a large lens, a decent maximum aperture, and a large sensor has come up trump
This indicates that the V-Lux 5 is excellent at providing the goods, whether we are talking about day or night, as long as a stable surface is given. What we are paying for in this situation is versatility in the capturing of images.
In a nutshell, the Leica V-Lux 5 delivers superior performance to that of a point-and-shoot compact camera or an average smartphone. Still, it cannot compete with the capabilities of a compact system camera or the results obtained with a DSLR that can be purchased for a comparable price.
However, if you want a camera that is simpler to hold and quicker to get the hang of than what Leica is accustomed to delivering, then you may want to consider making some sacrifices in this area. The camera in question has a broader lens reach than most Leicas, and its handling is more convenient.
Leica V-Lux 5 Noise
The V-Lux 5 features 10 different sensitivity levels, ranging from ISO 80 to ISO 25000, all of which are accessible at full resolution. These may be chosen in increments of 1EV or 1/3EV, and the user can also set the maximum value that Auto ISO will utilize.
Leica V-Lux 5 Night Mode
When the Handheld Night Shot mode is engaged on the V-Lux 5, the camera can rapidly take many exposures of a night scene and combine them into a single image that has improved clarity and decreased noise.
Considering they are often photographed at ISO 3200, the final images have an appealingly bright and detailed appearance. Alternatively, you may change the mode of your camera to shutter priority and take pictures with a slow shutter speed and a low ISO sensitivity; however, this will require a tripod.
Leica V-Lux 5 Specs
|Body type
|SLR-like (bridge)
|Max resolution
|5472 x 3648
|Image ratio w:h
|1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9
|Effective pixels
|20 megapixels
|Sensor photo detectors
|21 megapixels
|Sensor size
|1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm)
|Sensor type
|Auto, 80-12500 (expands to 25000)
|Boosted ISO (maximum)
|White balance presets
|Custom white balance
|Yes (4 slots)
|Image stabilization
|Uncompressed format
|Focal length (equiv.)
|24–400 mm
|Optical zoom
|Maximum aperture
|Contrast Detect (sensor)Multi-areaCenterSelective single-pointTrackingSingleContinuousTouchFace DetectionLive View
|Manual focus
|Normal focus range
|30 cm (11.81″)
|Macro focus range
|3 cm (1.18″)
|Number of focus points
|Articulated LCD
|Fully articulated
|Screen size
|Screen dots
|Touch screen
|Screen type
|Live view
|Viewfinder type
|Viewfinder coverage
|Viewfinder magnification
|Viewfinder resolution
|Minimum shutter speed
|60 sec
|Maximum shutter speed
|1/4000 sec
|Maximum shutter speed (electronic)
|1/16000 sec
|Aperture priority
|Shutter priority
|Manual exposure mode
|Subject / scene modes
|Built-in flash
|Flash range
|13.50 m (with Auto ISO)
|External flash
|Yes (via hot shoe)
|Flash modes
|Auto, auto w/redeye reduction, auto w/slow sync and redeye reduction, on, off
|Continuous drive
|12.0 fps
|Metering modes
|Exposure compensation
|±5 (at 1/3 EV steps)
|AE Bracketing
|±3 (3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps)
|3840 x 2160 @ 30p / 100 Mbps, MP4, H.264, AAC3840 x 2160 @ 24p / 100 Mbps, MP4, H.264, AAC1920 x 1080 @ 60p / 28 Mbps, MP4, H.264, AAC1920 x 1080 @ 30p / 20 Mbps, MP4, H.264, AAC
|Storage types
|SD/SDHC/SDXC card
|USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
|USB charging
|Yes (micro HDMI)
|Microphone port
|Headphone port
|Wireless notes
|802.11b/g/n + Bluetooth
|Remote control
|Yes (via smartphone)
|Environmentally sealed
|Battery description
|BP-DC12 lithium-ion battery and charger
|Battery Life (CIPA)
|Weight (inc. batteries)
|812 g (1.79 lb / 28.64 oz)
|137 x 97 x 132 mm (5.39 x 3.82 x 5.2″)
|Orientation sensor
Leica V-Lux 5 Conclusion
Although it is not a "pure" Leica in that it shares so much with a more mass-produced Panasonic model that costs almost £300 less, the Leica V-Lux 5 is one of the more affordable ways to own a Leica camera. It is also one of the more accessible ways to own a Leica camera.
We do receive the coveted red Leica insignia on the front, as well as lenses that are branded with the Leica name.
Image quality, while not up there with the best of what compact system cameras or DSLRs can currently offer, is nonetheless pretty decent in terms of both the colors and definition delivered, with the Leica V Lux 5 being capable of better results than expected in challenging conditions, such as low light or even night time shooting. Image quality, while not up there with the best of what compact system cameras or DSLRs can currently offer, is nonetheless pretty decent in terms of both the colors and definition delivered (as long as the camera is resting on a steady surface).
The maximum aperture of f/2.8, which does not appear to be all that impressive on paper, fortunately, seems to deliver in practice. At the same time, the broad lens range, which reaches from a 35mm equivalent ultra-wide angle of 25mm up to 400mm at the telephoto end, is very useful, as it eliminates the need to shuffle forward or back to achieve the framing you were going for. It is much simpler to zoom in rapidly to accomplish that "catch" that you would have otherwise missed.
Since we can shoot 4K video and 20-megapixel stills and do so with a sensor that is larger than average, the "one camera fits all" approach that we have taken here may very well be sufficient for the majority of photographers.


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( 0 Review )
Investing in the Stock Market has never been more easy than it is today. With the plentiful digital tools and online brokerage platforms from which to choose, you can be up and ready to begin your investment journey in no time! Though there are many different (and risky) strategies used to invest in the Stock Market, this course will teach you how to do so as safely as possible. Index investing is one of the oldest strategies around, and it always works long term! Moreover, it requires only very little effort and management on your part. If you are interested in forging a very fruitful financial future for yourself, then this is the course for you!
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Multi-protocol Instant Messaging clientsPosted by: Andrei in Gadgets, Personal
I just want to give a quick review on two of the new multi-protocol IM clients, clients you can use for Yahoo, Gtalk, MSN, etc, without keeping a separate client for each one of them.
I will start with Pidgin, because it's my preferred one:
+ easy to install, small installation footprint
+ stable, just few crashes in almost a year of intensive usage
+ lots of protocols know, more than Digsby
+ a Portable Pidgin is available, for running directly from pen drives.
– your status is across all acounts, so you cannot be invisible in YM and Busy in Gtalk
– not the best-looking client
A new-comer, still beta, is Digsby :
+ easy to install, not so tiny installation footprint
+ very nice interface, skins and color themes
+ email and social networking support
– fewer protocols support than Pidgin
– probably because it's still beta, i experienced lot of crashes
– installation took very long even on a very powerful machine
My opinion is that Digsby is designed for teenagers who are chatting a lot and are intensively using social networking. Pidgin is just a tool that is joining all the accounts within one client. I am successfully using even my corporate Oracle IM within Pidgin.


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Regenerative Agriculture
Danone is working to develop and promote regenerative models of agriculture that protect soils, empower farmers and promote animal welfare.
At Danone, agriculture is at the heart of what we do. We are proud to maintain close relationships with over 58,000 farmers worldwide.
Agriculture is at the center of a number of major challenges today, from economic development and climate change to water scarcity and biodiversity loss. Danone is determined to help overcome these challenges by developing new agricultural models that can regenerate the planet while feeding a global population that is set to surpass 9 billion people by 2050.
In November 2017, Danone announced its intention to sharpen its focus on regenerative agriculture, our term for a combined set of practices that strengthen agricultural resilience. We see regenerative agriculture as resting on three pillars: protecting soil, empowering a new generation of farmers, and promoting animal welfare.
Danone worked with WWF France, technicians, and a diverse group of environmental and agricultural experts, to create the Danone Regenerative Agriculture Scorecard, and the Danone Environmental Handbook, to define regenerative best practices. This is a fundamental step toward ensuring that we are transparent about what regenerative farming is and how it is being implemented.
In June 2021, Danone launched the Danone Regenerative Agriculture Knowledge Center, an open source website dedicated to sharing the wealth of regenerative agriculture knowledge we have at Danone, irrespective of type of production (dairy, plant-based, fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc.), with our farmers, farm advisors, field technicians and technical partners.
Available in 10 languages, the Danone Regenerative Agriculture Knowledge Center showcases regenerative agriculture projects and best practices Danone and its partners are implementing in the field, as well as thematic factsheets, case studies, web-talks and testimonials from the farmers we work hand-in-hand with everyday!
Protect soils
A thin layer of topsoil is responsible for 95% of all the food produced for human consumption. Yet soil is a resource that we have taken for granted; an estimated 33% of land worldwide* moderately to highly degraded. By transforming agricultural practices, we can begin to reverse this situation and build healthy and resilient soil.
*source: Main report of FAO - Status of the World's soil ressources, 2015
Healthy soil is a carbon sink, storing a vast amount of carbon withdrawn from the atmosphere by plants via photosynthesis. That is why we promote agricultural practices which enhance soil organic matter content and help sequester more carbon, such as limiting chemical inputs, rotating crops, reducing soil tillage, and using crop residues as compost.
Studies have also shown that healthier soils are more resistant to both drought and erosion from heavy rainfall. Healthy soil is able to retain more water, energizing its ability to support microorganisms and plant growth.
Representing a full quarter of the world's biodiversity, the microorganisms present in healthy soil nourish and protect vegetal and animal biodiversity, creating healthy ecosystems that are more resilient to the stresses of climate change.
Watch 'The Soil Story' to discover the role soil plays in combatting climate change.
Danone is working with a number of partners to help improve global understanding of how agricultural practices can help nourish and protect soil health.
Since 2017, we have launched ambitious projects supporting farmers in the development of sustainable agriculture practices. Whether it is through worldwide initiatives (such as COP21's 4 for 1000), through our projects with farmers and suppliers, or collaborative partnerships with peers throughout the supply chain (e.g. Farming for Generations, OP2B, SAI), we are committed to taking responsibility and doing our part to respond to this global challenge.
Today, regenerative agriculture is one of the KPIs we follow as part of our Entreprise à Mission journey.
Empower a new generation of farmers
Because of our close links to farmers, we know how indispensable their work is to the global economy and food system — smallholder farmers in particular. Farmers know their land best; they are the lead actors in a transition to regenerative agriculture. Our goal is to support the ability of farmers to make these shifts, and to accompany them as they pass along their craft to the next generation.
One way we do this is by developing durable relationships with farmers, often over multiple generations. These close relationships allow us to put into place long-term contracts, and a new price management system according to the evolution of production costs rather than the market. Contracts like these help guarantee stable profit margins and mitigate the effects of fluctuations in the market price of goods, giving farmers the stability that allows them to project and invest in the future — including investment into sustainable and regenerative practices. In Europe, for instance, we have established long-term contracts with 40% of our farmers.
Another way we are working to empower farmers is by helping them access training, equipment and financing. Through projects supported by the Danone Ecosystem Fund and the Livelihoods Funds, Danone has provided financial and technical support to over 100,000 farmers worldwide.
In Madagascar, for instance, the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming is working with 3,000 vanilla farms, helping farmers improve the quality of their products so that they can sell them at a better price. At the same time, the Livelihoods project is empowering farmers with agroforestry techniques, with the aim of converting 6,0000 ha to sustainable farming.
In France, Danone announced in 2018 that it would be supporting farmers in developing and implementing effective soil health practices, with the ambition of sourcing 100% of ingredients produced in France from regenerative agriculture by 2025. Danone France plans to donate one day of sales turnover (roughly 5 million euros) as part of this effort, in order to fund projects like "Programme Les Deux Pieds sur Terre", which uses innovative financing tools to help farmers reduce their carbon footprint.
We are also working closely with dairy farmers through Farming for Generations (F4G), a global alliance* led by Danone, with the goal of promoting regenerative farming practices that have a positive impact on nature while ensuring long-term economic viability of dairy farming businesses.
In essence, F4G is working to speed up the transition towards regenerative agriculture, test innovative solutions and adapt them based on the feedback and inputs from participating farms. Since its creation in 2019, F4G worked with 30 pioneer farms across 8 different countries and proved many solutions to be viable.
In Spain, F4G worked with 4 farms which needed to optimize nutrient supply to achieve greater yield and quality, and to meet their environmental targets. In 8 months, they achieved an increase of 11% in yield, a reduction of 2.7% of their GHG emissions, all while increasing their milk production by 17%.
In Germany, F4G supported 14 farms in improving their homegrown feed management practices. We implemented new ways for cultivating, harvesting and storing roughage, based on the farms' specific situation. Just two years after implementation, the homegrown feed's silage protein content increased by 10% and the yearly milk production increased by 4%, on average. As a result of the project, GHG emissions also fell by 25%.
See the F4G section of the Danone Regenerative Knowledge Center for more farmers testimonials, best practices and tools developed by F4G partners and farmers.
*Led by global food industry leader Danone, Farming for Generations draws on the expertise of leaders from the whole agricultural value chain: animal health and welfare companies MSD Animal Health, Neogen and FutureCow; animal nutrition and health company DSM; crop nutrition leader Yara; crop science company Corteva Agriscience; and artificial intelligence agri-food start-up Connecterra. Netherlands-based Wageningen University and Research, renowned for its food and food production research, supports the project in a research and advisory capacity. The NGOs WWF France, a national organization in the WWF Network, and Compassion in World Farming also provide guidance to help the project reach its goals.
Respect animal welfare
Animals are an integral part of regenerative agriculture. We believe a high level of animal welfare is key to the regeneration of farms, reinforcing their economic sustainability, performance and competitiveness. Dairy farms with improved animal welfare standards show significantly higher milk production and milk quality.
Our animal welfare approach, developed in cooperation with Compassion for World Farming (CIWF) and other animal welfare specialists, is based on the internationally recognized Five Freedoms developed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council. We are working to ensure these freedoms are upheld for all species, across our full supply chain.
See our animal progress report - 2020 (click here)


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This turquoise and gold Indian picture frame can hold 3 of your favorite pictures, while adding an Oriental touch to your home interior.
Ideal size of the pictures: 10 x 15 cm
The frame is handmade of scap wood.
The frame can be hung horizontally of vertically - see back of the frame.
Size of the frame: 44 x 24 cm approx.
Origin: India
This frame is handmade, minimal deviation in size may occur.
Although we do our very best to provide clear pictures, minimal differences in color may occur.


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I know it's been quite awhile since anyone's heard a peep from me but, I have been busy. The "day" job has been pretty good at taking up most of my free time. However, in my free time I have worked on some effects that I created while working on demonstrations to support how to use my FPVP Tools. The development of those new effects are now mostly done complete. However, I'm in the testing and demo developing phase and that can take some time (due to the limited free time, doggone it). At present there are 4 basic effects that are comprised of some 44 styles. So, hopefully I'll finish the fine tuning and tweaks soon. Then, i can start releasing them. I think you'll like what you see when you finally see them.
I've also been hard at work improving and tweaking the Full version of my FPVP Tools. A substantial number of changes were made to the tool set last released. Importantly too, switching languages does not impact column widths as much as what occurred previously. As of now though, I believe that testing is mostly complete. I hope to have and an update in the near future.
Recently, someone asked me whether my Excel worksheet (in which the FPVP Tools were developed) would work in OpenOffice. I'd forgotten completely about that choice. A quick check revealed that every time I imported the Excel worksheet into OpenOffice, it acted a little differently. Seems the translation is not perfect. Further, Microsoft does not support a number of features that I used in the worksheet … effectively crippling the utility of any export to an OpenOffice format from within Excel (at least, for now).
All is not lost however. OpenOffice 4.1.1 imported most of the worksheet intact. I just had to figure out what it was not translating or was not translating correctly. Once I figured that out, it turned out the fix wasn't anywhere nearly as bad as it initially appeared to be.
The FREEBIE version of FPVP TOOLS – Basic now includes an OpenOffice compatible worksheet.
The full version of the FPVP Tools still requires some tweaking to deal with some formatting issues and such. But, the main issues appear to have been resolved. I hope to have an OpenOffice compatible version of the FPVP Tools – Full available with next release. Hopefully I can do that in the not too distant future.
Keep tuned!


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A new feature on the Sparkling Apple website is the addition of our Horror Stories section, in which you, the unsuspecting reader, can find out just what it was like in the Daze of Yore. Most touring bands of the 70s and 80s (or any era, come to think of it) have a pantload of recollections about life on the road — and of course Sparkling Apple is no exception. We've got plenty of Touring Tales and Addled Anecdotes to share with you, so in our next installment, put yourself in the front seat of the Hayride to Hell!
(No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.) More to come, I promise. ("Oh, didn't we TELL you?")


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""The Gene" is a magnificent synthesis of the science of life, and forces all to confront the essence of that science as well as the ethical and philosophical challenges to our conception of what constitutes being human."--Paul Berg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry"This is perhaps the greatest detective story ever told a millennia-long search, led by a thousand explorers, from Aristotle to Mendel to Francis Collins, for the question marks at the center of every living cell. Like "The Emperor of All Maladies, The Gene "is prodigious, sweeping, and ultimately transcendent. If you re interested in what it means to be human, today and in the tomorrows to come, you must read this book."--Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See"
Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction, and The Laws of Medicine. He is the editor of Best Science Writing 2013. Mukherjee is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician and researcher. A Rhodes scholar, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. He has published articles in Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, and Cell. He lives in New York with his wife and daughters. Visit his website at: SiddharthaMukherjee.com


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Fast and Furious star Ludacris has opened up about the feud between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. The infamous clash between the two actors started with Fast Five after The Rock took to his Instagram to call out the unprofessionalism shown by unnamed actors on the film's set.
The now-deleted post mentioned how some people were not conducting themselves properly. Though no name was mentioned, it was later revealed that Johnson was calling out Diesel. After that, The Rock went on to not reprise his role as Luke Hobbs in F9 but instead worked on the spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw.
Many fans wondered whether the absence of Dwayne Johnson was due to the feud with Vin Diesel. Even though now the two actors have buried the hatchet, Ludacris, who plays the role of Tej Parker, has opened up about the "delicate situation" between the two stars. While speaking to Us Weekly, the rapper said, "All I can say is that, from what I understand, I know those are two grown men.
He then mentioned that he wouldn't like to speak for either of the two men and added that Dwayne Johnson recently discussed the clash with Vin Diesel. "I believe The Rock has spoken on that, and I don't want to speak for either one of them. So, I would leave it to whatever their words are and keep it that way, because it's a delicate situation," Ludacris added.
However, allegedly the matter became worse when the feud was fresh, leading to the pair never appearing in the same scene in 2017's The Fate of the Furious. Johnson, who spoke about it recently with Vanity Fair said, "It caused a firestorm. Yet interestingly enough…[it was] as if every single crew member found their way to me and either quietly thanked me or sent me a note."
"But, yeah, it wasn't my best day, sharing that. I shouldn't have shared that. Because at the end of the day, that goes against my DNA," the Jungle Cruise actor continued, "I don't share things like that. And I take care of that kind of bullshit away from the public. They don't need to know that. That's why I say it wasn't my best day."
Even though Ludacris has decided to stay out of the feud, he did acknowledge it, and while the fire seems to have died down, the possibility of Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel working together looks slim.
Must Read: Quentin Tarantino Puts 'Spaghetti Western' On His Wish List But Wait, It's Possibly Not His Last Film As He Hints About 'Kill Bill 3' Too
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An Underrated Hugh Jackman Movie Just Hit Netflix
Unknown actor Hugh Jackman lucked out big time when he was cast as Wolverine two weeks after shooting on Bryan Singer's X-Men had already started thanks to scheduling conflicts with Mission: Impossible II forcing Dougray Scott to drop out, and the Australian was recommended to the studio by Russell Crowe, who turned down the opportunity to step in.
It would be an understatement of massive proportions to say that it worked out pretty well for all parties in the long run, with Jackman going on to play Logan for the next seventeen years and become an A-list movie star. However, there were doubts surrounding him right up until X-Men was released, but after it became a critical and commercial success, doors in Hollywood suddenly flew open.
His first effort after the movie saw him play a supporting role as a womanizer in forgotten romantic comedy Someone Like You opposite Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear, but following that it was right back into blockbuster territory. John Travolta may have taken top billing in Swordfish, but it's Jackman's Stanley Jobson who powers the narrative, after his infamous hacker is recruited to steal billions of dollars from a government server.
It's a fairly formulaic techno thriller with a couple of decent set pieces, of which there were many at the turn of the millennium, but it's a stylish enough effort that boasts plenty of star power through the central trio of Travolta, Jackman and Halle Berry. It's exactly the sort of disposable genre film that regularly finds itself troubling the Netflix Top 10 most-watched list, too, so don't be surprised if Swordfish follows suit now that it's been added to the library as of today.


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- NRI Herald
Is it time to make Taiwan and Ukraine Nuclear powered?
Opinion by Anubhav Singh from USA published by NRI Herald Australia 14 December 2021
Last week satellite images of Chinese submarine in Taiwan straits is the latest attempt by China to stoke tension in east Asian nation after it was revealed Taiwan has stealthily sourced technology, components and talent from at least seven nations to help it build an underwater fleet with the potential to exact a heavy toll on any Chinese attack.
The unexpected appearance of an alleged Chinese submarine in the Taiwan Strait this week has highlighted the dangers posed by the frequent presence of military vessels in the narrow waterway, which analysts warn could ultimately spark an unintended conflict.
The Taiwan Strait is just 110 miles (180 kilometers) across at its narrowest point. It has become one of the world's military hotspots as China puts increasing pressure on self-governed Taiwan, which Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring under Beijing's control. In response, supporters of the government in Taipei, including the United States, have stepped up their military presence in the region.
As per the report published by CNN, In the last few months, Chinese jets have breached Taipei airspace multiple times. The biggest challenge for Taiwan is its small military of 175,000 personals and dependence on foreign powers for military aid despite being technical superpower for almost 3 decades. The biggest challenge for India and the west is over dependence on semiconductor from China and Taiwan. Almost 90% of total semiconductor comes from these 2 countries and if China acquires Taiwan, it will lead to China dominance and making it even more powerful. Even Russia has been provoking Ukraine since last few months.
The biggest challenge for US and NATO nations is the distance in case of full blown war against these smaller nations. If either Russia or China attack their opponents, that will instigate the other to follow the same route and if the two superpower simultaneously attack Ukraine/Taiwan it might be difficult for the NATO to defend their allies on two front. This poses the big question.
How about making Taiwan and Ukraine nuclear powered to keep the superpowers at bay.
Its high time US and Europe should start pondering at other ways of making these nations militarily strong by secretly providing them nuclear arsenals or intercontinental ballistic missiles as for China it's a bigger risk as all the developed cities are on the Southeastern region of China which is close to Taiwan.


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Soccer is a very popular and exciting sport throughout the world. It is played by both men and women, and it's played in many different countries. Some soccer players are famous for their skill and speed on the field, while others are known for their impressive physiques.
Soccer Players Must Be Able To Maneuver About The Pitch Fast And Easily
Soccer players must be able to move quickly and easily on the field to get past defenders and score goals. They need to be able to run quickly for long periods without getting tired, which means that they must be physically fit. Good soccer players also have good vision so they can see where other players are moving relative to them on the field at any given moment in time. Because soccer requires quick thinking as well as physical prowess, it takes years of practice before one can become an accomplished player. It takes lots of hard work!
Soccer News, The Most Recent Football News, And Updates Are Available Here
Soccer news, the latest football news, and updates are here. Find out more on the latest transfer rumors, fixtures, and results on daily football news page.
The soccer highlight news, from the most trusted source in the industry is the latest football news is committed to providing you with a high-quality source of information and entertainment. The latest football news is Barcelona has been crowned champions of the league in the latest football news. The team won their match against Real Madrid on Sunday and was able to claim the title. This is the first time in five years that Barcelona has won the championship.
In other news with soccer highlight, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal of the season during Real Madrid's match against Athletic Bilbao. This is a new soccer highlight record for the most goals scored in one season by one player in La Liga history.
With the 2019 international break coming to an end, bringing you the hottest football news from around the world. First up, latest football news has news from Premier League giants Liverpool, who are in the midst of a crisis. After losing 2-0 to Manchester United this weekend, they're now only 4 points off the relegation zone. Manager Jurgen Klopp is reportedly considering resigning his post—but what would that mean for Liverpool? And will it even happen? soccer highlights keep you updated as more information becomes available.
In other soccer highlight news, Chelsea star Eden Hazard has denied reports that he's considering leaving Chelsea this summer and joining Real Madrid as part of an enormous transfer deal. The Belgian star has faced criticism from fans and pundits alike after a slow start to the season, but he says it's just a matter of time before he gets back on track: "I don't know what people want from me," said Hazard after Sunday's loss to Arsenal. "they say I'm not good enough for Chelsea anymore—well guess what? I'm going to show them."
The final bit of soccer highlight news comes out of Italy, where Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has announced that he will be leaving the club once their current campaign ends in June 2020.