Based on guidance from local health officials, the Watauga County Board of Education voted Tuesday to begin the 2020-21 school year with 9 weeks of remote instruction for students.

School officials announced what Superintendent Scott Elliott called a modified Plan B that helps us phase our students and staff back into school while also doing everything possible to protect the health and safety of our community. Previously, school officials announced that students will return under a 23 Flex plan where students attend school in person for two days and work remotely for three days.

Over the past several weeks, weve invested a great deal of time and energy into plans for reopening our schools on the Governors Plan B schedule. Of all the plans available to us, Plan B is the most challenging to implement but it gives us the best opportunity to meet the many different needs of our students. Elliott stated. Unfortunately, right now our local public health trends continue to move in the wrong direction. After extensive conversations with our local public health partners and after hearing the concerns of many of our staff members and parents, I think this modified plan gives us our best chance to get students back into school safely as soon as possible.

Elliott explained that all students in Kindergarten through 12th grade on the 23 Flex plan will start the school year in an all remote format on August 17. If local conditions allow, students will return to in person instruction under Plan B on the 23 Flex plan on October 19.

Families who applied for the all online Watauga Virtual Academy (WVA) will be contacted by school personnel by August 5th and given the option to decline WVA if they have changed their mind since applying. The WVA students will also begin on August 17 and will remain in the WVA through the end of first semester.

We realize the change to remote learning for the first nine weeks will cause some families to rethink their enrollment in the virtual academy, Elliott said. We need to know no later than August 5 if those families want to switch back to the 23 Flex plan now that we are starting remotely. Once those decisions are made, we ask families to stick with those plans for at least the first semester. We will not be able to reschedule students, teachers, and courses once we make those decisions based on start of year numbers.

Elliott went on to explain that, while the school system is starting the year remotely, it is not exactly adopting the states all remote Plan C protocols.

We will continue to operate under the Plan B safety protocols but with an emphasis on serving the students most in need of school based services while most other students are at home full time, Elliott said. Teachers and staff will work from the school building to ensure they have access to all their resources, time to plan together, and the opportunity to see small numbers of students as needed.

School officials will allow small numbers of students to come to the school site by appointment to receive specialized assistance and support. These likely will include support for students with disabilities, students who need counseling and therapeutic services and students who need access to high speed internet to download assignments and upload completed work.

The school system will also allow students in each of the districts eight Pre-K programs to attend school in person.

Board of Education Chairman Ron Henries praised the revised plan.

We think this plan strikes the right balance between protecting our staff and students while also providing some much needed services to students who really do suffer through remote instruction. I applaud Superintendent Elliott and his staff for listening to all the concerns and considering all the options. There are some students who need support that can only be provided at school, and hopefully conditions will allow those students to be served in a safe way.

Elliott commented on the monumental task ahead.

The guidance we have received from the Department of Health and Human Services is intended to help protect our students and staff, but it is going to be difficult to implement, Elliott said. Also, the guidance seems to be changing daily. This phased reopening will give our staff the opportunity to slowly implement those protocols while giving public health officials more time to monitor changing conditions in the community.

The decision comes after a recommendation from Watauga Countys local health department, AppHealthCare, that schools consider delaying the start to in-person instruction for students while the county monitors what has been an upward trend in COVID-19 cases.

We continue to see our numbers of positive COVID cases going up, stated AppHealthCare Director Jennnifer Greene. While we currently have a lower impact from cases than in other areas of the state, these are the kinds of decisions which will hopefully keep our community from becoming one of those hot spots.

Superintendent Elliott and I agree that the best thing for students is for them to be in school. We are seeing many different health concerns emerging among children in our community because of this interruption to their lives. School is a safe and healthy place where so many needs are met. We will continue to support the school system to move forward with their plan to get students back into the school buildings as soon as possible.

Greene also acknowledged the COVID cases among young adults aged 18 to 24 and concerns about the return of students to Appalachian State in the coming weeks. The nine week remote start for the school system will allow us to monitor changing community spread of the virus and determine the impact on our school families.

Watauga County Schools Superintendent Scott Elliott said the boards decision to begin schools with a period of remote learning was difficult, but necessary in light of the countys COVID-19 metrics and guidance from AppHealthCare.

Elliott said that while the system preferred to have students back in school buildings, he was confident that lessons learned over the remote learning period this Spring would ensure that students would have better experience in the coming nine weeks.

When we entered remote learning in March, our teachers had only a few days to prepare, Elliott said. Given that immense time constraint and workload, they did an outstanding job. As we go into remote learning this fall, Im confident that our teachers and students will be even better prepared to have a positive and productive remote learning experience.

Related Articles

Read the rest here:

WCS to Open School Year with 9 Weeks of Remote Learning After a Vote at Tuesday Night Meeting - High Country Press

Isaac Newton has a strong claim to be one of the greatest men who ever lived, but he was not a very nice one. His Principia established the laws of motion and gravity, his Opticks did the same for light and he was the first mathematician to use a version of differential calculus. But his pride in his own priority and suspicion of plagiarism led him to behave like an absolute monarch in what was known as the Republic of Letters.

As President of the Royal Society, Newton used his institutional power to crush his rivals and trash their reputations, pursuing them beyond the grave. As Master of the Mint, he was even more ruthless: he used his judicial power to ensure that forgers who came before him were executed. His pathological vindictiveness and paranoia embroiled him in lifelong disputes and litigation.

And Newton had much to hide. His secretive experiments in alchemy were eccentric enough, but his voluminous researches into theology and ecclesiastical history led him to a unitarian theology that risked professional suicide. Denial of the Holy Trinity was heresy and, had it become public, would have destroyed his academic, scientific and social status.

Newtons own reputation has now come under the spotlight again. One of several long-running disputes which absorbed his time and energy involved the Secretary of the Royal Society, Robert Hooke. Hooke was a great polymath in his own right. He is immortalised by Hookes Law, which governs elasticity, and helped Christopher Wren to rebuild London after the Great Fire. Hooke is celebrated above all as the discoverer of the cell, thanks to his pioneering use of the microscope. Indeed, his engravings of the flea and other denizens of the microscopic world in his Microcosmographia remain one of the great revelations of the 17th century scientific revolution.

Hitherto, it had been thought that no portrait of Hooke had survived. According to Professor Larry Giffing, an American biologist, such a likeness exists and was sold to a private buyer at Sothebys in 2006. Dr Giffing argues that this image of an anonymous mathematician is by the well-known artist Mary Beale and depicts Hooke at the age of 50. He argues that this was the portrait that hung in the Royal Societys original meeting room at Gresham College. More provocative and speculative is his claim that Newton deliberately suppressed the portrait when he took over as President in 1703, the year of Hookes death. Dr Giffing believes that the picture includes an orrery and a drawing embodying Hookes theory of the elliptical orbits of the planets the very subject of his dispute with Newton.

Such a pictorial reminder of his rivals claims might indeed have triggered Newtons paranoia and he was quite capable of going to almost any lengths to assert his own priority. The Royal Society moved premises to Fleet Street soon after Hookes death and no more is heard about his portrait. But there is no proof that Newton would stoop so low as to consign his rivals only likeness to oblivion. At most, the evidence against him is circumstantial. And even if Dr Giffing is right, it does not prove that Hooke really was plagiarised by Newton or vice versa. A leading article in the Times goes too far when it asserts: Had Newton and Wren never lived, we might be accustomed to Hookes picture on British banknotes.

That was never likely to happen. Hooke was a great scientist and perhaps an underrated one. Newton, though, was a scientific genius, perhaps the greatest of all time. As his contemporary Alexander Pope put it: Nature and Natures laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be and all was light.

The truth is that the author of the Principia deserves his preeminence. He almost certainly did discover the inverse square law of universal gravitation before Hooke, just as he worked out his version of calculus, known as fluxions, before the great German philosopher and mathematician Leibniz although the latter devised a better form of notation that is still used today. Newtons obsessive campaigns against these competitors merely diminish him in the eyes of posterity.

Why, then, did Newton mind so much about priority? The answer seems to be that he was a perfectionist who waited many years before committing his results to print. By then, others had already published theirs with the predictable consequence that disputes abounded. Hooke was a victim of the inevitable imperfections of early modern science, which often proceeded informally. Hooke undoubtedly grasped the ideas that underlay Newtons laws, without being able to demonstrate them. But Newton ought to have been more generous in acknowledging his contribution in the Principia, as he did those of others.

Today, it is easy for scientists who are impatient with learned journals to create their own home pages, using sites such as academia.edu , where they can upload their papers and make them accessible to their peers. This ease of publication has not abolished arguments over priority or plagiarism, though it has made them easier to resolve. Today, Newtons disputes with Hooke, Leibniz and Flamsteed might have caused less bitterness.

But there is a new problem. There are thought to be more than 100 million published scientific papers. Nobody can read them all, nor even all that is published in their own fields. It is a good thing that no scientist now has the power once wielded by Newton for such intellectual power may corrupt just as surely as political power. Yet the possibility remains that a Hooke may languish somewhere, neglected and unjustly maligned, because he or she has defied the consensus. If at last we can put a face to Hookes name, it is time to do him posthumous justice.

See the original post here:

Science and skulduggery: Newton, Hooke and the missing portrait - TheArticle

Right now, my Amazon Echo speaker is looking a lot uglier than usual.

Protruding from the top of the speaker is a three-inch-tall cylinder of yellow plastic, with a sunburst pattern around the edges. When its plugged in and turned on, an array of ultrasonic speakers on the devices underside confuse the Echos always-on microphones, rendering Alexa inoperable until I either clap three times or triple-tap the top of the cylinder.

The device, called Alexagate, is the latest effort from MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based startup that makes limited-run products with a rhetorical flourish. In this case, MSCHFs point of view is that Amazon is snooping on users through its Echo speakers, and that users should have an easier way to turn off the mics. Kevin Wiesner, MSCHFs creative director, calls Alexagate an aftermarket privacy adjustment with an adversarial bent.

We have a device, its in our homes, its essentially a wiretap sitting on a coffee table, he says. Lets retrofit it, essentially, so it behaves the way we would want it to, and not necessarily the way Amazon wants it to.

Alexagate is more of a stunt than a legitimate gadget. MSCHF is only selling a small batch of themWiesner wont say how manyand my experience using the device has been iffy. But even if youre not among the group of people who buy one, you should hope that its ideas gain traction.

Contrary to popular belief, Amazons Echo and other smart speakers do not constantly upload audio. They do, however, constantly listen for a wake phraseAlexa, in the Echos caseusing an on-device processor. You can disable the mics on these devices, but only by walking up to them and hitting a mute button. Most people wont bother to do that, so the mics are effectively on all the time, always listening for your commands.

Alexagate isnt an entirely original idea. In early 2019, Tellart designer Bjrn Karmann and Topp designer Tore Knudsen showed off a set of Amazon Echo and Google Home speaker covers that resembled parasitic fungi. The project, called Project Alias, used white noise to deafen Alexa and Google Assistant until users activated their speakers with a custom wake word. In February, Ben Zhao and Heather Zheng, computer science professors at the University of Chicago, showed off a bracelet of silence that used ultrasound to jam nearby smart speakers.

MSCHF, however, is the first company to ship these ideas as a real consumer product. A clear plastic ring sits between the speaker and the Alexagate unit, with curved spokes on one side and flat ones on the other to fit different types of Echo devices. (Its compatible with the first- and third-gen Echo, all Echo Dot models, and the second-gen Echo Plus.) It uses ultrasound, Wiesner says, because its more directional than white noise, which would have fooled the triple-clap detection that Alexagate uses to turn Alexa on or off.

[Animation: courtesy of MSCHF]How well does it work? Not great. The first review unit that MSCHF sent died in less than a day, and while a replacement unit is working fine, clapping to trigger the device requires precision and practice. Also, asking my original Echo speaker about the weather caused Alexagate to activate itself, apparently due to the percussive tone of Alexas speech patterns. Clearly consumer electronics are not MSCHFs core competency. (In case anyone else experiences similar hardware failures, MSCHF says it will offer a three-month warranty.)

But on some level, Alexagate is as much about form as it is about function. The first thing you see when opening the box is Bye Bye Bezos, which is printed on the instruction manual. The design, meanwhile, is intentionally conspicuous, Wiesner says, because MSCHF wants it to be a conversation starter. Even if you were to leave Alexa on most of the time anyway, itd have a harder time blending into the background.

Its a bit of a virtue signal where privacy is concerned, he says. If I visit someones apartment and I see this, part of the implication is they would like me to know that they are actively pursuing a greater protection with their home.

Although MSCHFs solution is literally over-the-top, it does call out a couple of underlying issues with smart speakers.

The first is that theres no easy way to mute them remotely. Instead of having to hit a physical mute button, perhaps Amazon, Google, and others could allow users to shut down their microphones with a voice command or a toggle in their assistants mobile apps. They could even let users synchronize these settings across multiple smart speakers, so that setting the home to a more private state would be as frictionless as playing music or checking the weather.

On a more fundamental level, Alexa and other devices just need to get better at understanding when theyre not being spoken to. Too often, these devices misinterpret similar-sounding phrases as wake words, and they have no understanding of intonation, which means even in-passing mentions of Okay Google or Alexa get picked up as triggers. The response can be unnerving for users, especially when it results in an unwanted action such as sending out private conversations as text messages.

[Photo: courtesy of MSCHF]Steve Teig, the CEO of voice and video recognition chip maker Perceive, says accurate wake word detection is less of a challenge than it might seem.

I definitely think these guys with the noise generation are solving a real problem, but it could also be solved in the wake word itself if you simply had enough horsepower in the gadget and a little bit more sophistication in how you build the model, Teig says.

In lieu of more steps taken by Amazon and others, were likely to see more aftermarket products beyond MSCHFs Alexagate. A firm called Paranoid is working on several smart-speaker blockers, including one that physically pushes the mute button on Echo speakers, another that emits white noise, and a professionally installed circuit modification that physically cuts access to the speakers microphone. In all cases, saying the phrase Paranoid disables the blocking. A Paranoid spokeswoman says the products are six to eight weeks away from shipping.

Wiesner says he wouldnt mind if other companies carried the torch, even if their designs ended up looking like MSCHFs.

Were not going to make more of them, he says, so in that respect, if someone else does, and that distributes privacy protection across a significantly larger number of peoples households, I kind of think thats a cool outcome.

Read the rest here:

You can now buy an Amazon Echo add-on that stops Alexa from listening - Fast Company

Employers are increasingly experimenting with creative methods to find and attract workers.

Thats where virtual career fairs come in.

They are definitely a win-win for both job seekers and employers. They can be nationwide, on-demand and discreet. They can also reach new audiences that might not be able to make it to in-person events. The best part? You dont have to travel for either.

I might not be able to get away from my office for a full day or half day, says Gayle Oliver-Plath, CEO and founder of CareerEco, a virtual career and graduate-school events website. But I may be able to get away for an hour or two.

Discretion is crucial for job seekers who are currently employed and feel uncomfortable attending a job fair physically, says Laurie Vicente, senior marketing director for the recruitment firm Brilliant.

Oliver-Plath predicts the trend will continue to grow and that job seekers should expect virtual job fairs to be the new norm.

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is one university that has jumped on the trend. In addition to its normal career fairs, it hosts three to five virtual career fairs through CareerEco each academic year, says Richard South, an employee relations manager at the universitys career center.

South says in-person fairs have limitations due to budgets and physical space, while virtual fairs offer a more level playing field for both employers and job seekers.

Many companies that frequent the virtual fairs dont have recruiting personnel, South says. So its engineers logging on to a virtual fair speaking to other engineers.

While the perks of online job fairs are plentiful, there are a few things to keep in mind before logging in and nabbing a job. Heres what you can do to stand out as a candidate. Much of this advice can also be applied to general virtual job interviews.

Its easy to overlook preparation for an interview or event that youll be attending via computer, probably from the comfort of your home. But dont mistake the convenience for insignificance; attending one could actually take a little extra planning and practice. Heres how to stand out from the virtual crowd.

Do the Proper Legwork

Just because the job fair is online doesnt make it any less important.

There is that misconception, South says, that if youre doing a virtual fair you dont need to prepare.

Dont fall into that trap. You still have to research the companies beforehand and have your tailored resume and cover letter ready to go just as you would at an in-person event. Instead of doling out your documents, youll typically need to upload them on the website. (The trees will thank you.)

To cater to employers on both Macs and PCs, Vicente says to save your documents as PDFs.

For overachievers who want some bonus points, try writing a couple of cover letters one general cover letter and another that is tailored to your favorite employer at the event. (Weve got your back if you need some help crafting your resume or cover letter.)

Yeah, multiple cover letters may be overkill for some, but Oliver-Plath recommends at least coming up with tailored questions for the employers. She says virtual events give you more power to investigate the company since information should be readily available on the event page.

But beware information flows both ways. The employer is also at the computer and can just as easily look you up. Vicente recommends a pulse check on your social media to be safe.

Make sure all of the privacy settings are set to the highest level, she says.

The exception, of course, is LinkedIn. Vicente says to show off your profile and customize the URL, too. Just keep it professional. Shes almost numb to the amount of 420s and other embarrassing things applicants leave attached to their URLs or email addresses. Almost.

Take Care of Technical Issues Before the Event

When the internet is involved, be prepared for problems. The best time to consider them is before the event.

The night before is a great time to make sure everything is ready to go. Is your virtual career fair profile properly registered? Are your web browser and flash player up-to-date? Are your documents organized and ready to go?

And dont forget the motherlode of technological issues: Wi-Fi. It has a way of cutting out at the most inconvenient times. The best way to skirt that problem is to expect it. Hard-wire your ethernet cable into your computer. That way your connection will be faster and more stable.

Technology also has a way of bringing out our worst tendencies. Its not a technological issue in the strictest sense, but be aware of how you type when youre at a virtual career fair since a lot of the communication will be done through a messaging system.

No yups, Ks or sups employers keep an eye on things like grammar and tone.

You have to be concerned with how youre coming through in writing, Oliver-Plath says. Do not use any language that you would use in a text.

Be Interview-Ready

You did your homework. You nailed the small talk with employers. Now you might just get an invitation for an interview on the spot. That may not always be the case, but it certainly doesnt hurt to be prepared. At a virtual event, that could mean being ready to go on camera.

South says one of the biggest complaints from employers is that candidates attend virtual fairs from public spaces. So make sure youre in a distraction-free environment for the interview.

And if youre not used to interviewing through Skype or FaceTime, it could take a little practice. Trial runs are your saving grace.

I think its absolutely necessary that you treat it like an in-person interview, Vicente says. Dress to impress; dress just like you would [at] a regular interview.

Some people dont take this part seriously, or they try to find ways to cheat the system.

Weve unfortunately had people that have put on a buttoned-up shirt, Vicente laughs. But the phone fell, and we saw that they were wearing boxers.

So yeah. Dont do that. Recruiters really want to see that youre taking the video interview seriously.

Vicente says that Brilliant uses an appearance rating system during video interviews that takes into consideration your aesthetic and professionalism, not just your outfit. That means the recruiter is going to be taking note of everything in the frame food, cans, towels on the floor, children running frantically, boxer briefs. Its all fair game.

Another element to keep in mind is eye contact. You might naturally want to look at the interviewers face on the screen, but if you do that, you will appear to be looking down since most webcams are slightly above the monitor.

Vicente shared these additional tips to nail the video interview:

Oliver-Plath also had some tips of her own. Her biggest piece of advice?

Absolutely never interview on a handheld device.

Its very obvious to the interviewer, usually low-quality and takes up one or both of your hands. But what if youre checking into the virtual job fair from your car during lunch break? A phone is all you might have.

Not to worry. Oliver-Plath says its better to tell the employer that youre not in the best environment for an interview and offer alternative times.

If you cant do an impromptu interview, she says, no one is going to hold it against you.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, a personal finance website that empowers millions of readers nationwide to make smart decisions with their money through actionable and inspirational advice, and resources about how to make, save and manage money.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

Go here to read the rest:

These Tips Will Help You Prepare for a Virtual Career Fair - Yakima Herald-Republic

Not many people have heard of the term photogrammetry, or they have, but they dont really understand what exactly this discipline of geography entails. Cartography, on the other hand, is a well-known profession of creating geographical maps. Both cartography and photogrammetry have professionals working in the same field geography, however, their approaches to achieving their end goals, and sometimes, their ends goals itself, are entirely different. Were going to delve into the lesser-known field of photogrammetry and everything you need to keep in mind if youre considering a career in this esoteric field.

Photogrammetry is the process by which metric information about an object or the Earths surface is derived through measurements such as shape, volume and depth, made from a photograph of the same surface or object. The method uses the parallax obtained from several images, of an object or terrain, taken from different angles. This allows photogrammetrists to get reliable information about the environment or physical objects through several processes such as recording, measuring, and interpreting photographs.

This process is actually as old as photography itself since it was first developed around 150 years ago. At the time of its inception, photogrammetry was a purely analogue technique, however, over the years, it has transcended to become an analytical process based on computer-aided mathematical algorithms. At its current stage, photogrammetry is purely digital and based on soft-copies of photographs where digital imagery and computer vision is used to map the Earths surface or other physical objects with no optomechanical hardware.

The images can be satellite imagery, aerial photographs or even regular handheld or tripod-taken photographs. It has multiple applications such as the measuring of coordinates, quantification of distances, creation of topographic maps, digital elevation models, and even orthophotographs.

A photogrammetrist specialises in the practice of utilising satellite images, aerial photographs, GPS, an array of software catered to this field, and even LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to create 3D models of the Earths surface or a variety of other objects such as stones, buildings, interiors and more. They work on compiling and analysing spatial data such as distance and elevation to create maps and models. They collect all this information in order to create or update maps for regional planning, education and other purposes. Their target is designing user-friendly maps which can be accessed and understood by the masses easily and can also have GIS (geographic information system) overlayed on top of these maps.

A photogrammetrist usually spends a good chunk of their work lives in their office, analysing and interpreting images to create 3D models or maps out of it, however, they can be required to extensively travel as well to the locations that are being mapped. Some photogrammetrists will have to plan aerial and satellite surveys so as to ensure complete coverage of the area they are working on.

Photogrammetrists are increasingly working on online and mobile maps, and advanced ones, such as interactive maps are becoming exceedingly popular as well. It is essential that new-age photogrammetrists learn new techniques and software to help them collect data and design maps for mobile phones and navigation systems.

If you have a passion for aerial photography, geography and map-making, you may want to look into the field of photogrammetry. However, it is essential that you work to keep yourself updated with the advancements in technology. Typically, an aspiring photogrammetrist must hold a bachelors degree in geomatics, geography, and cartography or surveying. Sometimes, individuals holding bachelors degrees in computer science, engineering and forestry are also given the pass. It is integral that you familiarise yourself with certain tools and software utilised for image processing, light imaging detection and ranging technology (LiDAR), and remote sensing.You must also have some knowledge about web-based mapping technologies, as well as new methods of compiling data that incorporate the GPS capabilities of smartphones and in-car navigation systems. The exact qualifications for becoming a photogrammetrist vary from place-to-place and country-to-country, however, experience in working with computer data, coding and critical thinking skills, as well as an affinity for creating maps, signify that you may be able to pursue a career in this field.

Software for photogrammetry must be cautiously selected depending on your expectations. Do you need to upload multiple images? Are you focusing on aerial images? Are you a novice or experienced? Questions like these must be answered and you will be able to pick the software best-suited to your specific needs. Lets have a look at a few conventional software.

This is a stand-alone software which offers useful features such as photogrammetric triangulation, point cloud data, measurements for distances, volumes, areas, 3D model generation and textures, and more. You will have to choose between the standard and professional version. If you are a beginner or have limited needs, the standard version of Agisoft features all the basic software tools that you could possibly need which is why it is one of the most widely-used software for photogrammetry. However, if you need the ground control point option, you should upgrade to the professional version.

This software is lauded for being able to process data much quicker than its competitors. It can also handle a sizeable number of images on a regular-powered desktop as long as it comes equipped with an Nvidia GPU. Its quick align feature is extremely convenient since it allows you to align images in a few seconds, and while this feature is on Agisoft as well, Reality Capture is much faster.

This software is primarily dedicated to drone-based mapping. It has an advanced digital reconstruction technology that can turn images into precise geo-referenced 2D maps or 3D models. You can also render your project and work on textures on this software. Pix4Dmapper is quite versatile as well since it works well on both aerial images as well as close-ranged images.

Previously known as Autodesk Remake, Autodesk ReCap Pro is a reality capture software that allows users to create accurate 3D models using reality captures. It lets you work with aerial photogrammetry and measure and edit point cloud data. There is an array of tools present such as clearing unwanted objects to work specifically on a precise object.

Context Capture assists in creating complete 3D models using photographs with no human intervention whatsoever. This software also includes the ContextCapture Editor which allows users to edit meshes, generate cross-sections and extract ground and break-lines.

Read the original post:

What is a photogrammetrist and what do they do - Digit

A forgotten Easter egg from Captain America: The First Avenger could play a role in the resurrection of Vision in Marvel's Disney+ shows.

A forgotten Easter egg from Captain America: The First Avenger could be the key to Visions return in Marvels WandaVision. The Star-Spangled Avengers MCU debut featured a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo from the original Human Torch, a character whose history in the comics goes all the way back to 1939. The Torch had a deep connection to the Vision in the pages of The Avengers and this could carry over to the MCUs Vision (Paul Bettany).

The Vision met his end in Avengers: Infinity War at the hand of Thanos (Josh Brolin). Earths Mightiest Heroes tried desperately to protect Vision from Thanos and the Black Order at the battle of Wakanda, but it was to no avail. Once Thanos had the Time Stone, he was able to kill Vision and take the Mind Stone. Since Vision was killed before the snap, he was one character who wasnt brought back to life by Smart Hulks snap in Avengers: Endgame. Regardless, Visions time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isnt over just yet. Somehow, hell be making a return in Marvels second Disney+ series, WandaVision. The upcoming series, which will parody various popular sitcoms from different eras, will bring Wanda and Vision together in a suburban setting.

Related: How Marvel Phase 4 Can Replace MCU's Quicksilver With X-Men's

Its possible that Visions mysterious resurrection will have something to do with his comic book origin story from the 1970s. After seeking out the truth about his origins from the Mad Thinker, Vision learned that he was created from two separate sources: the brain patterns of Wonder Man and the body of the original Human Torch. The first character to use the Human Torch name wasnt Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, but Jim Hammond, an android superhero and longtime ally of Captain America. It was revealed after Hammonds mind was wiped, his body was transformed into the Vision, complete with a new set of abilities. What this means is that the original Human Torch and the Vision were the same person. This was a neat twist, but it was retconned in the 1990s so that the two characters could coexist.

Could Visions original backstory be incorporated into the MCU? Jim Hammond exists in the MCU, but so far hes only been utilized as an Easter egg at the Stark Expo in Captain America: The First Avenger. It could be that Marvel can finally do something with this character in WandaVision. If the Human Torch is indeed a functioning (or at least partially functioning) android in the MCU, his body would certainly have its uses, either to SWORD, Scarlet Witch, or someone else entirely.

The body of Jim Hammond wasnt used to create Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it could be how Vision will be reborn in WandaVision. If its possible for Visions mind to be restored, theyd still need an android body to upload his consciousness into. That could be where Jim Hammond comes in. After recovering his body, Marvel can adopt his 1970s origin story and revive Vision in a new body. It could then be upgraded to look and function like Visions, just like what they did to the Human Torch in the original comic.

More: Marvel Theory: WandaVision's Villain Is Scarlet Witch's Comic Book Mentor

Key Release Dates

Avatar 2: All 6 Times James Cameron's Sequel Has Been Delayed Explained

Nicholas Raymond is a staff features writer for Screen Rant. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo. He is the author of the psychological thriller and time travel novel, "A Man Against the World." Nicholas' love for telling stories is inspired by his love for film noir, westerns, superhero movies, classic films, foreign cinema, and wuxia. He also has interests in ancient history. His favorite actors are Tyrone Power, Charlton Heston, and Eleanor Parker. His favorite film is Casablanca, and his favorite director is Alfred Hitchcock. He can be reached by email at cnrmail@bellsouth.net and on Twitter at @cnraymond91.

Original post:

Forgotten Captain America Easter Egg Could Be The Key To Vision's Return - Screen Rant

On the second day of Comic-Con At Home activities, a panel was held dedicated to the original Amazon Prime Video series. Upload, whose first season premiered on May 1.

Created by Greg Daniels (The Office), Upload is a science fiction comedy that is about a future where people can avoid natural death by transferring their consciousness to a virtual world, developed by highly advanced technology, although not accessible to the entire population.

The protagonist of the story, Nathan, is a young programmer who, after a fatal car accident, chooses to migrate to virtual terrain; specifically (and thanks to the support of his wealthy girlfriend) to Lakeview, one of the most sought-after artificial paradises on the market.

The series is based on all the technological aspects that define our life and current interactions (apps, social networks, mobile devices), diverting them to the point of satire and applying them to completely unusual situations; many of them related to the particular functioning of the digital beyond.

However, in the days when Upload was conceived, dependence on technology was nowhere near as intense as it is now

In the first few minutes of the Upload panel in Comic-Con At Home, Greg Daniels He was questioned about the divergences between the finally released show and the projects management idea, since it began to circulate in the writers mind since the 90s (when he works on Saturday Night Live).

[Upload] its not as much as the original idea, said Daniels. The original idea was really inspired by ads for CD players that were barely hitting the marketSo it was a long time ago. It was the idea of going digital from analog.

And jokingly added:

Im a very old comedy writer. The original idea was conceived when I realized that you could have a gramophone without the wax cylinder to record sound. That opened my eyes.

It was not until fifteen years later that the project would begin to take on greater shape, based on the technological advances of the new century.

I did not start with this version [la definitiva] but until 2014 , stressed Daniels. Then I had a chance to include all the big tech companies that are probably still around. In fact, the last time I did one of these panels at a Comic-Con, I was hosting the People of Earth show. They asked me what I was doing there and I said, Well, Im practicing directing for this other science fiction project Im working on. This [Upload] It turns out to be THAT another sci-fi project.

Enter here to see the full panel for FREE, where the cast of the series also met: Robbie Amell (Nathan), Andy Allo (Nora), Kevin Bigley (Luke), Allegra Edwards (Ingrid) and Zainab Johnson (Aleesha).

The ten episodes of the first season of Upload are available through Prime Video Mxico.

Comic-Con Upload

Too Guzmn I have a very bad memory. In solidarity with my memories, I choose to lose myself too. Preferably in a movie theater.

Continued here:

Greg Daniels talks about the origins of Upload - Explica

Never failing to amaze us with meticulous design and quality, while packing a virtually endless amount of incredible features for your ultimate comfort, the Foremost in luxury motor coaches have masterfully applied their expertise to the ultimate in excellence, Prevost H3-45 VIP.

The magnificent Prevost chassis and shell is made available for a limited number of motor coaches per year, and it sure made a sound landing in the hands of Foretravel.

I dont really even know where to start talking about this H3-45 Emperor Sauna Suite (45ESS) floorplan. Its simply mind-blowing! The spec list goes on forever and every one of the features is worth pointing out.

In case youre in need of some fresh air but dont want to miss the game or your favorite show, it also comes with a 32 Samsung LED 1080P Exterior TV to top things off.

A multicolored, decorative ceiling lighting package gives the living area the mood and look of your choice. Just to make yourself extra cozy, youll be accompanied by the 18 Amantii fireplace for a welcoming ambiance and even a Meural Digital Art Display, giving you access to over 10,000 works of art from museums and galleries around the globe.

For a more personalized approach, the Meural display also enables you to upload and display your own library of photographs or images.

But its the master bathroom and its sauna facilities that really start to heat things up (get it?). The glass-frosting feature, water or steam settings, temperature and sound system can all be controlled digitally with a couple of swipes on the touchscreen.

A hand shower and multiple water tiles compose the Kohler DTV+ system, fitted as an overhead rain shower and side body-sprayers thatll be sure to give you a good scrub, while the Kohler Invigoration 9kw steam generator will turn the master bathroom into your privatespa retreat. Oh, and because there can never be too many LEDs, youll find them here too.

Floors are heated, the ECOsmarte filtration tanks ensure top water quality and Total Visions rear view camera helps you maneuver this splendid home on wheels with additional ease. Powered by an EPA compliant 500HP Volvo D13 engine, the 45ft-long machine runs on Allison 5th Generation 6 Speed automatic transmission.

What else could you possibly want? With a current asking price sitting at only $1,850,000, Foretravels Prevost H3-45 Emperor Sauna Suite will undoubtedly remain an exquisite pleasure to be enjoyed by a very select few.

Link:

This Is Not an Executive Suite, It's Foretravel's Prevost H3-45 ESS Floorplan - autoevolution

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

I think about May 31, 2020 every day. It was my son's 16th birthday and my wife and I helped him make it into a socially distant celebration in a park.

But that's not what I think about.

What I think about every day happened a few hours later: The pop of a police weapon that launched a projectile in my direction while I finished an interview with a kneeling protester.

I wonder whether I saw the trajectory of the round. I can't remember.

I wonder whether others shot at protests -- and in other circumstances -- also wonder whether they saw the projectile coming at them.

I wonder if my eyes could have seen the round's straight line from the muzzle, flying at fastball force and ending up striking the bottom of my throat, where it would rattle my body and my life.

And it strikes me that it's part of a rattling many of us are going through, a rattling of long-held beliefs, a rattling of our public institutions.

WHY I'M WRITING THIS

That weekend I was shot, there were many other people injured by police as protests over the killing of George Floyd took place in Southern California and across the country. I'm writing this because I owe it to myself, to you, and to the others injured to document the impact. Not because my injury is among the most severe. It's not. I owe this account because I believe that examining our stories will help answer this question: how much force should police officers be empowered to use?

Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.

It's been seven weeks since my injury. I was off work for four weeks. The first week was the hardest physically and mentally. Then the slow gears of workers' compensation in the time of COVID-19 stretched the time off even longer. One week I had three different medical appointments. Then I took a week off with my family. And now I'm back in the reporting saddle.

Writing this has allowed me to gather my thoughts and fold in more information about what happened on May 31. I may be one of the more well-known people in Southern California injured by police but that shouldn't keep us from asking who else was hurt and push to find out why.

The Long Beach Police Department is investigating the circumstances of how I was hit and has released some of the results of that ongoing investigation. The department doesn't investigate every less than lethal shooting this way. If you haven't already, please read my colleague Aaron Mendelson's thorough report about their findings. It's important to know what the police department says.

READ: Why Did Police Shoot An LAist Reporter With A Foam Round In Long Beach?

Regardless of whether I was targeted or not, being shot by a police foam round shook my life. Others suffered more severe injuries. Some have written about their ordeals. Lexis-Oliver Ray's photos make his account mesmerizing. I humbly add my story to their written, spoken and unspoken stories.

I see you KPCC/LAist journalists Chava Sanchez, Josie Huang, and Emily Guerin, and fellow Los Angeles journalists who endured police force from pointed guns to tear gas and batons to dodging foam rounds. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors named some of those journalists in a recent resolution. And I see everyone else who was tear-gassed or shoved with a baton or arrested. For you whose pain is ongoing, I send thoughts of love and healing.

WALKING TOWARD THIRD AND PINE

By three o'clock in the afternoon on May 31, my wife and I were sitting down on a picnic blanket at a park in East Long Beach. We set up a table with drinks and birthday cupcakes for my son and his friends and placed our lawn chairs far enough apart that neither he nor his friends would think we were ready to helicopter in and break up their fun. Two of our friends and their baby joined us on their picnic blanket to talk. I took a nap on the grass.

As I woke up at about four o'clock, I thought: there's a protest in Long Beach today. Where's my phone? Sure enough, my editor had called me about 15 minutes before to ask if I could check it out. After a quick stop at home to gather my equipment and fill a backpack with a bottle of water and a power bar, I was on my way to downtown Long Beach.

As I walked to 3rd and Pine, and wondered what this protest would be like, I remembered lessons from protests I've covered. I remembered the abundance of stories unionized janitors told me about their decades of low-paid work at a peaceful march in downtown L.A. five months ago. The May Day Melee in MacArthur Park in 2007 taught me to keep a distance from advancing police in riot gear.

Photojournalists are often a good barometer of being too close to the action. I learned that while watching L.A. Times photographer Luis Sinco in 2002 at an Inglewood march where protestors demanded discipline against a police officer who punched an African American teenager in the face. Sinco was up against the banner at the front of the march to get the shot and was jostled out of the way by some of those in the front. He gave back as much, if not more, than what he got.

The protest at 3rd and Pine would turn out to be like all those protests, and more, rolled into one.

In the space of an hour, the 100 or so protestors doubled in number. There was little social distancing but most people wore some kind of face mask. Their energy ranged from subdued and focused on the message that police killings like that of George Floyd needed to stop, to pockets of people breaking into stores and stealing clothes and hats.

Within that hour, I'd walked around the intersection, called in two news reports, took photos on my phone, and tweeted accounts of the protests.

At 6:09 p.m., Tony Marcano, my editor for my regular beat covering higher education tweeted at me:

I captured the chanting of protesters on video:

And then, a few minutes before 6:30 p.m. I'd just conducted an interview with a protester and was typing his name into my phone when I heard a loud pop.

The pop was followed (this is where the fluidity of time kicks in) by an impact at the place where my neck meets my collarbone, followed by a nearly instantaneous reaction to run.

Pop. Impact. Run.

I ran in the opposite direction of the shot with a lot of other people. We passed a fence and got to a parking lot and stopped. I looked back and saw that the cops weren't running after us. I felt my throat. My fingertips had blood on them when I pulled my right hand away. I asked a few people around me to look at my neck and tell me what it looked like. Some cringed, others said it wasn't too bad.

A few yards away I saw a man with a long-lens camera. His name was Jorge Roa and he said he was there to document police actions. I asked him to take a picture of my wound.

I threw a lot of F-bombs as I called my editor and my wife. Most of those were versions of, why the [bleep] was I shot? Look at Roa's photo. That dazed look on my face is me wondering what the hell had just happened to me and playing and rewinding in my head the mental video of the pop, the impact, and the running.

In my car, I looked back at the photos, videos, and text that I had posted in the hour before I was hit with the foam round. Protesters held signs that read, "No lives matter until Black lives matter!" and "Latinos 4 Black lives." The videos I posted showed protestors chanting "We love Long Beach! Please don't hurt us!" as well as people breaking into a store and stealing clothes.

I didn't think much about the next post to upload, it would be the latest information: police had fired foam rounds into the crowd and I had become part of the news because I had been hit. So I took a couple of selfies and enlarged one to better show my wound. I posted it on Twitter at 6:40 p.m.

I still had work to do. Our newsroom's Larry Mantle, the longtime host of KPCC's AirTalk, was anchoring special coverage of the day's protests and I went on the air to describe what had happened. He asked me if I felt I was targeted. I didn't say yes, but I did say that I did not see anything around me that could have prompted an officer to fire a foam round. So I felt that I was shot for standing in the middle of the street talking to another person. Read Aaron Mendelson's story to see what the video gathered by police showed was happening around me at that time.

WE LOVE U!

My wife and my 9-year-old daughter were pulling into our driveway as I was arriving from the protest. I'd called my wife to tell her what happened. My daughter had heard the conversation on the car speaker, but the reality of what happened to me didn't become clear to her until she saw me.

When she stepped out and saw the wound on my neck, which I had not yet cleaned, she cringed and she said, "No, no, no," as if she was seeing something that she didn't want to but which she couldn't control. She didn't cry, but her voice became high pitched and she shook her hands as if she'd burned herself on a pan. I told her I was going to be OK. She walked into the house as I talked to my wife.

When I walked into my house my daughter handed me a drawing she'd made. It was two stick figures. She'd boiled down me and her to two recognizable traits: my square glasses and her long, curly hair bulging like puffed-up quilt squares. Here it is.

Art is her superpower. That's the ability she summoned to make sense of and resolve what her mind and body were feeling. My eyes welled up.

LIKE A LEAD BLANKET

On the way home from the protests I had called a family friend who's a doctor. He said my injury was probably only a superficial wound and that it may not need urgent care if I was still able to talk. At about 7:20 p.m. my wife sent him a picture of the wound. He hadn't seen the injury. When he did, he changed the recommendation and said, yeah, go to the emergency room.

My wife drove me to Long Beach Memorial Hospital and I told her I'd call her when they released me. Because of the pandemic, she couldn't come with me. The CT scan ordered by the emergency room doctor didn't show any damage to my larynx or other internal parts but suggested just how powerful the impact was. "Artifact from scattered dental fillings," is what the report said.

In other words, I was hit hard enough to rattle my teeth.

Luckily, I didn't lose my voice. My wound scarred over within a week. A doctor prescribed a steroid for the inflammation in my throat and told me to rest my voice. I've been mostly functional since the injury.

At 10 o'clock I was sitting in the hospital lobby calling home to say that I was done. When I hung up I looked up at the television screens. They showed businesses engulfed in flames on 7th Street and Pine Avenue in Long Beach. That's just four blocks from where I'd been reporting. Neither me nor that part of Long Beach ended the day as we had started it.

WHEN IS VIRAL GOOD, WHEN IS IT BAD, OR IN BETWEEN?

The tweet of my injury was on its way to getting tens of thousands of likes, retweets, and comments. I became another reporter injured -- in my case, a radio reporter, whose voice is essential for the job -- hit in the throat with a rubber projectile, on a weekend of national protests sparked by the killing of an African American man who died when a police officer placed his knee on the man's throat for nearly nine minutes.

Texts and other messages began to stream in stronger by the hour. Generally they fell into three categories: those who didn't mention the injury and sent good vibes, love, and healing wishes; people who were angry at police as a result of my injury and officers' use of force against others; and messages from people who said they'd heard my voice or read my reports for a long time and that they couldn't believe such a thing could happen to someone they knew.

A woman said she'd been listening to me all her life. I'm hoping she's in her 30s and maybe started listening in the backseat of her parents' car as a kid.

I'd pledged to disconnect from work for a week while I recovered and processed my trauma. But I broke that pledge. I felt a responsibility to respond to colleagues, former colleagues, friends, family, and Long Beach neighbors.

None of the messages had ill will -- but it all felt like a eulogy.

If the dead had to go through all this praise and comments and well wishes, I'm sure it would kill them.

But in all seriousness, it felt like my mind and body were pressed under a lead blanket like the one the dentist puts on you when you're having x-rays taken. It was too much. I've been lucky enough to find a therapist who's listening and guiding me.

Before my injury, I'd wondered at times to what extent the journalism I've produced has made a difference. I've earned awards and have received praise for my stories from listeners and colleagues over the years. But doubt still creeped in.

This experience put a big exclamation point on "yes, it does" make a difference. Given a choice, though, I'd rather not have gone through this experience to reach this understanding, but I recognize this is a way to get there.

THE MAYOR AND THE RABBI

I'll highlight two messages. In a video call a few days after, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia apologized to me.

And Stephen Einstein, the founding Rabbi of congregation B'nai Tzedek in Fountain Valley, wrote this email to Mayor Garcia:

Einstein didn't do this out of the blue. He and I have had deep conversations about religion. I am not Jewish but my wife is, and we're raising our kids Jewish, so I met Rabbi Einstein through our congregation in Long Beach.

I asked him why he wrote that email. He said he was shocked that a journalist would be injured by police while conducting an interview. He also said he was motivated by the biblical dictum, "justice, justice shall you pursue." It was an unjust act, he said, and he called on the mayor to investigate.

WE ARE ALL RUBEN SALAZAR

When we are all able to move about as before in Southern California, take a trip to the Cal State Northridge campus. There's an important plaque out there. It's dedicated to the Los Angeles journalists who've died on the job. I thought about it when L.A. Times reporter Daniel Hernandez wrote about my injury. A fellow reporter told him that seeing my injury reminded him of what happened to Ruben Salazar, an L.A. Times journalist killed during a large protest in East L.A. in 1970.

I told Daniel the comment may be part of unresolved trauma in Los Angeles among those who remember Salazar's shooting or know that there were conflicting accounts about whether the Sheriff's deputy who killed Salazar targeted him or not.

If plaques are still how we honor significant events, let's take a lesson from artist Sandra de la Loza. She's been creating plaques for alternative and often ignored events in Los Angeles history, like the displacement in the late 1950s of working-class people from Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers would build their stadium there years later.

There should be alternate plaques put up where people suffered police use of force on the weekend of May 31, 2020. Yeah, the 3rd and Pine intersection would be one place. It can be a real or virtual plaque.

For me, the plaque there would be a reminder to see my life and work differently, be grateful, and do more to help connect our disparate Southern California communities.

HOLDING A FOAM ROUND LAUNCHER IN MY HANDS AND PULLING THE TRIGGER

Last Wednesday, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna talked to me and my newsroom colleagues about his department's findings in an investigation of how I got shot.

He apologized and invited me to the department's police academy to hold a foam round launcher in my hands and fire it.

Luna said, based on the investigation, that the foam round bounced off something or someone before hitting me. What evidence is there to support that, I asked. He said: We don't train officers to shoot people in the neck or head. And, he added, despite how bad my injury was, if it was a direct hit the injury would have been a lot worse.

The round carries the force of a 100 mile-an-hour fastball, he said. Shooting a foam round on a mannequin would demonstrate to me how much damage one of these rounds leaves behind, he said. I neither accepted nor declined the invitation during that Zoom meeting.

I've been thinking about that invitation. Maybe holding the launcher would have put me, for a moment, in the police officer's place at the intersection of 3rd and Pine. But what about putting the officer in my place, going about your work collecting information then finding yourself with a bloody wound at the bottom of your throat?

On careful consideration, I don't want to hold and fire a foam rubber launcher like the one that fired the round that hit me. And I do not want to see how much greater the physical impact could have been on me.

I already know the actual impact. It has affected my body and my emotions and challenged me in ways I hadn't expected.

J Michael Walker's illustration for this story is so on point. See how the figure after being shot (it's me and it's everyone else who was hit in some way by police force) is made up of different parts, Cubist-style? That's what police use of force does, it breaks the person up physically and psychologically. And with the help of others the person will come back together and continue working and living.

See more here:

A Cop Shot Me With A Foam Projectile And I'm Still Feeling The Shock - LAist

Your website is your online business card and the most important marketing you have at your disposal. Customers will decide whether to do business with you based on the quality and performance of your website. It pays to get it right.

Many businesses use the excellent WordPress platform to host their website, but without the right care and attention, a WordPress website can be slow, buggy, and insecure. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep a WordPress website running smoothly. Managed WordPress hosting is a type of web hosting service that does this for you, leaving you time to focus on your core business.

In this article, we take a look at some advantages of managed hosting with a particular focus on managed hosting for WordPress.

Lets break down the concept of managed WordPress hosting into its composite parts.

Hosting refers to storing a website on a publicly-accessible computer server so that anyone can visit it using a web browser. You rent some server space, upload your website, and point your domain name to it. This is also known as unmanaged hosting, as youll handle all of the maintenance, security, and backups yourself.

Managed hosting is the next step up and means the web hosting company will perform some of the day-to-day duties for you. The provider will take an active role in securing your server, updating software, taking backups, and making performance tweaks.

Managed WordPress hosting is a specific type of managed hosting that focuses on WordPress websites. On top of handling day-to-day server management tasks, a managed WordPress hosting service takes care of administering and optimizing your WordPress software. You dont have to worry about any of the underlying nuts and bolts and can instead focus on providing great content for your visitors.

Today's best InMotion WordPress Hosting deals

Managed hosting clearly has several benefits. Lets look at some of the reasons you might choose managed hosting over unmanaged hosting.

1. Simplicity

Certainly, the most noticeable benefit of managed hosting is how simpler your life is if you choose it over an unmanaged solution. If you have an existing website, the support team will help migrate your website across to your new host.

Managed hosting is particularly useful for beginners. Setting up an entire website on an unmanaged hosting environment is too complicated for people without existing experience in the field, and youll spend days or weeks trying to get up to speed on how to control and manage everything.

As technical challenges are handled by the web host, you can do more with your website hosting. For example, you could run several websites targeting different customers without having to think about how it all works under the hood because the managed hosting company will take care of the details for you.

2. Speed

Modern Internet users do not tolerate slow websites. If a web page takes longer than a few seconds to load, visitors will head elsewhere with their business. Its bad enough youll lose their custom, but Google will also interpret the visitors actions as disapproval of your website, downgrading your website in search engine results. So, you should always be taking pains to make sure your website is running as quickly as possible.

If youre managing your own website, you have a mountain of things to do to keep your website running quickly. Youll need to ensure the server configuration is sound, theres a caching solution in place, and that your website is free of superfluous code, plugins, and images.

Managed WordPress hosting takes care of this for you, keeping your WordPress website running fast at all times.

3. Support

If you choose managed hosting, youll have a team of technical experts at your beck and call. Many managed hosting companies have 24/7 support and can be contacted through email, phone, and live chat.

Unmanaged hosting typically has much weaker support and it's certainly less personalized. Youre expected to fix most issues on your own, with the hosting company setting limitations on what theyll help with and what they wont. If you dont come from a technical background, managed hosting makes much more sense.

4. Additional services

Besides giving you increased support, managed WordPress hosting will offer a range of extra services that make your website run more smoothly. For example, most managed hosting companies will handle your backups and software updates for you. Managed WordPress hosting will update your WordPress sites, maintain your file caching system, and perform a range of administrative tasks that keep your WordPress site secure and performing well. Without managed hosting, your in-house team will have to spend their precious time on these mundane but important tasks.

5. Increased security

Attackers are constantly trying to compromise the security of websites to access private customer information or to use the website as a launching point for further attacks. Keeping your website up to date and patching any potential security holes is a full-time job.

Managed hosting greatly simplifies this task, as the web hosting company will implement a security strategy for you. Theyll make sure there are preventative measures in place, monitor your website for any suspicious activity, and be ready to restore your website from a recent backup if a significant breach were to occur.

6. Scalability

One of the most important web hosting considerations is scalability. Many business websites have relatively low traffic throughout the year but experience huge spikes of visitors around holidays or during sales events. A website hosting service that runs fine when you have few visitors but crashes when youre busy is completely useless.

Massive surges in traffic are hard to handle on your own. Managed hosting takes the problem off your hands, as the website host will respond to any traffic surge by allocating more resources to your website. Managed WordPress hosting usually includes a service where your popular pages and files are cached automatically so that the stress on your WordPress database is reduced. Good managed hosting companies have the staff and infrastructure to take care of any expected or unexpected surges in traffic promptly and effectively.

7. More value for your money

Companies on a budget often gravitate towards unmanaged hosting as they assume managed hosting is expensive. In fact, managed hosting is almost on a par with unmanaged hosting in price, with some managed hosting packages costing less than $10 per month.

Considering the enormous amount of extra value you get from managed hosting, its now a really compelling choice.

Managed hosting doesnt require technical know-how and saves you from having to worry about cyber-attacks, bugs, crashes, and a whole heap of potential performance issues that can tank your website. Managed hosting doesnt cost much more than unmanaged hosting and offers you peace of mind.

Choose managed hosting for a faster website that can easily scale when you experience traffic spikes. Save yourself from having to worry about the minutiae of running a website by opting for a hosting solution that takes care of it for you.

See the original post:

7 great reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting - ITProPortal

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

Airbnb

If you asked me a few months ago where I'd travel this summer, I would have answered easily: Greece, to reschedule my spring trip that was canceled due to the pandemic. Or, as a domestic back up, I was ready to compromise on Hawaii. Big of me, right?

Now, of course, I see the naivety and hopefulness in thinking normalcy would return so soon.

Sadly, the novel coronavirus continues to hit the US with record force. As a result, I, along with many others, have spent months sheltering in place, practicing social distancing, and wondering if it will be safe to travel this summer, or anytime soon.

But with summer in full swing, even the most vigilant are feeling the effects of cabin fever. Many are choosing to travel locally where infection rates are slowing, with key modifications in place to foster health and safety.

For example, I may cover travel for a living, but I'm not yet comfortable entering an airport or booking a crowded resort. Instead, I plan to drive to Cape Cod and stay in a cottage with a private entrance that closely follows COVID policies.

And I'm not alone. My colleagues at Insider Reviews are also considering safer vacation alternatives to traditional travel during COVID, from navigating road trips to trading hotels for campsites. These might not be the places we originally planned to visit, but we've discovered a few gems on the way, and there's no compromise on quality.

However, it's important to remember that what feels comfortable to one of us might not be right for you. It's crucial to assess your own risk and understand that without a vaccine, it's impossible to guarantee safety. Also, consider whether you're leaving or traveling to a hotspot, so as not to contribute to infection spikes. And follow guidelines from the CDC and WHO such as wearing a mask, washing your hands, and social distancing, no matter where you go.

Still, it's summer, and that conjures images of precious PTO reserved for sunkissed vacations and sacred time with loved ones exploring new places or returning to nostalgic favorites.

Read more:

Here's how we're deciding where to travel this summer - Business Insider - Business Insider

How We TestedThe Tester

My name is Holly Aguirre. I have years of experience torture-testing hardware peripherals at the PC Magazine labs, as well as all things home office, including cyber security. As of late, Ive been covering the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein saga for Vanity Fair and Lifetime Networks, and consequently found myself in need of a reliable VPN. One good hacking will do that to you.

A good VPN has a number of elements, some of which we considered essential and some we considered as nice-to-haves. Data security is, of course, the chief priority. Its also the most difficult to verify in any absolute sense. While we established some minimum requirements for consideration to our list256-bit encryption, kill switches, and compatability with Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, and Linuxtheres no getting around the fact that your data has to pass through servers somewhere in the world that you dont have control over. Theres a certain amount of trust involved.

We, therefore, looked for VPN services that are based in countries with strong privacy laws, that make commitments to transparency, and that allow 3rd-party audits to verify their security.

Secondly, we considered the various use cases for a VPN and created tests to evaluate them. VPNs with more features, like geo blocking and more servers went to the head of the class, even if they were more expensive.

Speed was another vital ingredient in a good VPN. Faster connections prove valuable for gaming, torrenting, streaming and much more. We used download, upload, and ping times to gauge speed, but with the full understanding that any number of other factors, such as location, time of day, and network capacity, can impact the speed in your home. For a better understanding of other people's experiences with the VPNs we tested, we looked to reviews from sites such as PCMag, Toms Guide, and CNet.

Finally, we took a hard look at customer service, payment options, cancellation policy, the number of devices allowed per account, ease of use, the number and location of servers, and other factors.

Each VPN was installed and tested on five or more devices: a blend of Windows and Mac OS, including laptops, iPads, and smartphones.

VPNs, while simple to use, can be fairly technical to explain. Here's some useful terminology:

In addition to safe surfing, there are myriad reasons to use a VPN. Due to the global pandemic, telecommuting is a new reality for many office workers, and earlier this year IT departments were left scrambling to provide workers remote security solutions they once controlled in-house. Any one of the VPNs featured here is an easy fix to some of the more common data privacy issues. And in turn, a personal VPN can hide your online activity from your boss.

Additionally, you might use a VPN to stream geo-blocked content or improve online speeds.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

Our winner, ExpressVPN, won us over with its ease of use, reliability, and commitment to privacy.

Netflix and BBC iPlayer are just two streaming services in which your global location determines the content that you can see. Since a VPN spoofs your location, the right one can also unlock a whole new world of shows and news.

Perhaps youve settled in for movie night only to have Jason Bateman freeze in mid-sentence over and over. This may be happening because your ISP is allowed to throttle your connection speed whenever it likes, probably when everyone else is getting comfy, too. Connecting to a server via a VPN in a different time zone may increase your home internet speeds for content viewing and gaming alike.

Lastly, your web surfing habits, ad clicking and/or purchasing history could make you the victim of price gouging. Some shopping sites charge based on geographic location, perhaps to offset free shipping. Utilizing a good VPNwhile it takes more timecould potentially save you a lot of money on travel and other goods and services.

While there are free VPN options from a handful of reputable companies, this is one category where a little money goes a long way. The free options tend to be very slow or severely limited in the number of options they offer. And as youre not a paying customer, youre also subject to the very ads that youre trying to avoid being tracked by. The one exception here is TunnelBear, which offers a free and robustly-featured version of its VPN capped at 500MB per month.

We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. If youve found different results in your own research, email us and well compare notes. If it looks substantial, well gladly re-test a product to try and reproduce these results. After all, peer reviews are a critical part of any scientific process.

Read more here:

The Best VPNs of 2020 - Reviewed

By: Kat Cary, FL voter in Edinburgh, Scotland

Can I tell you a secret? Its quite easy to vote overseas nowadays. I was active duty military for over a decade, and I have voted more times overseas than I have under them. Its gotten so much easier over the years, and Id like to share some tips on voting from overseas, and ensuring your absentee ballot arrives on time.

First things first, register and request your ballot athttps://www.votefromabroad.org. I recommend using your mobile device, as long as you have a pen and piece of paper handy, you can take a photo of your signature and get it done in one sitting. It takes about the same amount of time as reading this article. Make sure to check submission rules, primary and general election deadlines for your state or territoryhttps://www.votefromabroad.org/states/to identify the best voting option for you.

I recommend requesting ballot delivery by email you can even leave two email addresses to ensure you receive your ballot I have received both an early sample ballot, and my election ballot by email for the last 4 years and I have never had an issue with it. Election officials are required to send out ballots 45 days before the day of the general election. Primaries, special, and run-off elections generally arrive 30 days prior to the election date. Requesting a ballot via email ensures you will receive your blank ballot with the maximum time to return it within the required timeframe.

Its so important to turn in your completed absentee ballot as soon as possible. My voting state emails sample ballots, so I am ready to fill in my ballot as it arrives, but you can also access a sample ballot via Ballotpedia.

Concerned you havent received your blank ballot in time? You can fill out a back-up ballot, officially called a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) by following the instructions atwww.votefromabroad.org/fwab.

There are currently 29 states that accept voted ballots by email, fax, or online upload. This eliminates a lot of hassle of relying on the postal services, paying for expensive courier fees, or using the services at your local US embassy, but there are a few things to keep in mind for submitting a ballot electronically:

No matter what method you choose to vote from abroad, you should receive a confirmation email that your ballot has been received and counted. I love receiving that email I consider it a personalised I Voted sticker. Voting from overseas is really rewarding. Staying involved in the democratic process while living overseas has given me greater perspective in these troubled times. I find it very empowering when I make my voice heard by taking part in the democratic process.

Related: Donald Trump wishes Ghislaine Maxwell well ahead of high-profile trial

See more here:

Tips from Scotland - on how to make sure your absentee ballot arrives on time for the US election - The London Economic

SHP Meets

SHP speaks to Ian McKinnon, Managing Director, of CHAS, about how the supply chain risk management firm has been supporting the construction industry in getting back to work safely from helping members demonstrate they are COVID Secure to enabling organisations to monitor worker health.

How did CHAS cope as a company during lockdown?

Ian McKinnon (IM): It was a test of our business continuity plan and it passed with flying colours. We were able to continue to offer all of our services effectively. CHAS has a reputation for excellent customer service so we were delighted when our Feefo scores actually improved during the lockdown period.

CHAS is going through a period of rapid growth, transforming from a health & safety accreditation specialist to encompass a broader supply chain risk management offering did you have to put the brakes on in response to the coronavirus outbreak?

(IM): No, thankfully weve been able to do everything we planned and more. This was really important because strengthening our own organisation has meant we have been in an even better position to support our members and make sure they come out of the crisis in the best possible shape to build their businesses.

We have developed new services, adapted existing products and made several key appointments. We were also in the process of agreeing a number of collaborations many of which have now come to fruition, including agreements with the construction software specialist, Causeway Technologies, the cloud-based supply chain platform, Local Supply Chain and the trade directory Checkatrade. This will further enhance employment prospects for our members and ensures contractors who are committed to operating to high standards of health & safety have the best employment opportunities which is only right.

How do you think the construction industry coped with the coronavirus?

(IM): The response from the construction industry has been excellent. The Construction Leadership Council quickly produced clear and detailed guidance on how the industry could operate safely which has been regularly updated and is complemented by more bespoke guidance from other trade bodies. Combined with the Governments guidance for the construction sector and advice from the HSE the industry has a thorough framework for operating in a way that is COVID Secure.

What has CHAS been doing to help?

(IM): As well as keeping our members up-to-date with the latest industry guidance, we have added a Statement of Best Practice (COVID-19) to our member packages so CHAS contractors can quickly and easily demonstrate that they are COVID-Secure and clients have an efficient way of sourcing compliant contractors.

For contractors to comply they simply need to login to the contractor portal and upload and submit evidence to show they meet the necessary requirements. Meanwhile CHAS clients log on to the CHAS Client Portal and they can instantly see whether a contractor has completed their Statement of Best Practice (COVID-19).

For organisations who arent already CHAS Clients who would like to access our database of COVID-Secure contractors, it is quick, easy and completely free to register to become a CHAS Client and includes a range of business benefits.

We have also extended our CHAS People worker verification tool to include a Health Wallet so that the industry can track workers symptoms and upload COVID-19 antigen or antibody test results to track their fitness to work if and when this is required.

What issues are front of mind as the construction industry adjusts to a post-lockdown world?

(IM): While infection rates have dropped, experts believe further outbreaks in the future are likely so the industry must stay firmly focussed on remaining COVID-19 Secure. Close attention to health & safety in general is also paramount because history tells us that when the economy picks up, accidents rise.

The coronavirus crisis has also highlighted the need for the industry to be able to quickly and easily demonstrate and share evidence of compliance so we will likely see a further increase in uptake in accreditation schemes. The Common Assessment Standard, which is a streamlined industry-led system that was introduced in 2019, is fast becoming the gold standard for third-party accreditation in the construction industry and is already being specified by leading employers including the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and HS2.

The Common Assessment Standard also has the benefit of covering other compliance areas which are rising up the agenda such as financial stability, sustainability and modern slavery which has been making the headlines recently. In fact businesses can expect to see closer scrutiny around the issue of modern slavery as we have seen increased demand for our worker verification tool, CHAS People, in recent weeks which can help with compliance in this area.

What is encouraging is that in general the construction industry is seeing much closer attention being paid to how workplaces can be kept safe and hygienic with an increased focus on whether people feel safe at work so the challenge now is to make sure this is sustained through the post-lockdown period and beyond.

Coronavirus has become a top priority for employers all over the world. The pandemic event is putting pressure on already stretched employers to do more to keep up to date and protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees. Download this free legislation update to understand all the latest guidelines, laws and regulations. The eBook covers:

Fast tracking the construction industry back to workSHP speaks to Ian McKinnon, Managing Director, of CHAS, about how the supply chain risk management firm has been supporting the construction industry in getting back to work safely from helping members demonstrate they are COVID Secure to enabling organisations to monitor worker health.

Safety & Health Practitioner

Draft Building Safety Bill announced by UK government

Coronavirus: Safety screens developed for taxis

Coronavirus advice for employers

See the article here:

Fast tracking the construction industry back to work - SHPonline

By Danielle Elton

With many of us working from home and staying connected online over recent months, our broadband connections have been pushed to the limits.

You could be realising your current package isn't up to the job, if losing connection while sending urgent emails or the sound dropping out during a video call have become all too familiar.

Those little niggles have definitely shown many of us that it's time to switch providers but with finances also pretty tight at the moment, getting the best deal is as important now as it's ever been.

When it comes to broadband, the cheapest deal doesn't necessarily mean the you're getting the most for your money but Cable.co.uk has revealed all you need to know about getting the best value broadband.

You can often save money by switching your broadband provider and Cable.co.uk can help you do just that.

Most people dont realise they could save money by switching their broadband provider, especially if theyve been with their existing supplier for a while.

The first thing you should do is check your contract.

Thanks to new regulations put in place this year by Ofcom, suppliers now have to tell you when your contract is up and let you know what their best deals are.

Whilst this is the regulation it is always worth checking your contract just in case.

If you're out of your contract then doing a comparison check and switching providers is a no brainer as some providers will only notify you annually, so it's always worth having a check for deals.

Most contracts range anywhere from one month to 24 months. If you're still tied in your current contract then you might have to pay a leaving fee - the sum of the remaining payments of the contract.

This does however vary from each different provider so again it's always worth checking your contract.

But something that some people might be unaware of is if your provider has increased prices mid-contract you might be able to leave without paying a penalty they have to give you at least a months notice.

There may also be other instances where you can terminate your contract such as a fault that is unable to be fixed or if you are not getting the speed that you pay for.

You can't go wrong with a bit of haggling - you have nothing to lose and if you don't ask, you don't get.

If you think youre not getting the best price, call up your supplier and haggle with them for a better price.

Haggling tends to work best when youre at the end of your contract and looking to renew or your provider has notified you about a price hike - you can use this as leverage.

Make sure you do your homework before you call so that you know what you want to ask and speak to the right department theres no point wasting your time with the customer service team when you want to speak with the retention team who can make you an offer

It's also worth mentioning any problems you've experienced - you can use past problems as leverage.

If you are going to haggle then it's always worth being armed with information on the best deals to give you the most leverage. You can find all the information you need by visiting Cable.co.uk.

Sometimes you may not get a price reduction but see if they can throw in any added extras and you might get more for your money this way.

As well as those additions, some providers also throw in some freebies with your broadband deal. These range from ultra-cheap monthly payments to gift vouchers (anything from 25 to 275) or free gifts such as a smart speaker, TV or games console.

You obviously need to weigh up the free gift with the cost of the plan to decide if it offers good value for you.

If you want to see which providers are offering free gifts then visit Cable.co.uk.

It's important to know what you need from your broadband deal to make sure you get the most value from it.

When it comes to broadband speed, as a general rule youll need around 10Mbps per person using the internet on a device.

Keep in mind there are loads of ways were using the internet. The more you use the faster speed you need.

The most speed-intensive things you do online include streaming video content so if you're an avid Netflix, Amazon or iPlayer viewer then you might be best with a faster speed.

All of the following has the greatest impact on your broadband usage:

For low usage households, browsing or shopping online then 10 or 11Mbps should be fine.

If your broadband connection needs to handle lots of devices, streaming and more than two people, Cable.co.uk would recommend a minimum of 30Mbps.

It's also important to look at what upload speeds you could be getting too.

Upload speeds are important if you are into your gaming so you can avoid any frustrating lag, or if you want to live-stream your gameplay.

A stable 1080p broadcast would require an upload speed of 6Mbps but most entry level fibre packages offer upload speeds of between 9-10Mbps.

Click here to find out more about which broadband provider is best for gaming.

Have a budget in mind and try to stick to it, but consider the upfront costs and contract length and work out the total cost of the contract.

Like any product with a wide range of pricing available, it's easy to get carried away if you don't set out a figure you'd ideally like to pay each month. Plus you don't want to end up paying for data you're not going to use.

You should be able to find deals that have no upfront costs, which will ensure you dont go over budget when setting up your broadband

As with a lot lot of things, buying in bulk often gets you a better price per item and the same can be said for broadband.

Taking out more than one service with a provider such as your phone or TV package could provide you with a huge saving, and some providers even allow you to bundle discounted mobile SIMs.

There are various different lengths of contract from one month rolling contracts to more long term 12, 18 and 24 month deals.

Think about your circumstances and how they might change during the length of your contract.

Would you be better suited to something shorter or are you happy to commit long term? It's a matter of personal preference as to which one best suits you.

Long term contracts can give you peace of mind, without having the worry of switching your broadband contract for a while. This does however mean that you will have to commit to a deal that you could be locked into for at least a year.

Short term contracts like one month and rolling contracts give you a lot more flexibility but these often come with higher set up fees. You are also unlikely to get the same perks that are offered on longer term contracts.

Although quite rare, there are deals that limit the amount of data you can use.

If your household uses very little data each month and doesn't stream movies and TV, or download games and apps, then you may be able to save a few pounds by opting for a limited package.

However, Cable.co.uk does advise against them as most households use more data than they assume.

The vast majority of broadband deals available are unlimited but can be affected by traffic management and fair use policies.

Traffic management means that some providers can slow down your Internet speeds on purpose to allow other customers to have a stable connection. Whilst this is rare it's always worth checking the small print.

Fair usage policies only apply to people who use up an excessive amount of bandwidth by heavy downloading or file sharing software.

Your provider will generally let you know if you are using your broadband excessively but you can find out more here.

Do you need a better value deal on your broadband? Cable.co.uk makes it easy to look through broadband deals and you can filter your search by speed, price and most popular.

Make sure to use the post code checker to check whats available in your area.

Read more from the original source:

Everything you need to know about getting the best value deal on your broadband - In Your Area

In todays technological era, we have a lot of documents in PDF format. We use Adobe Acrobat Reader or any other similar application to read these documents. Many times, we need to edit a PDF file, but we are not able to do it. To edit a PDF file, we must subscribe to the paid version of Acrobat Reader. Its subscription is quite expensive. Taking a subscription of Rs 1014 per month to edit just one file cannot be called a prudent decision. Also Read - J&K: Months After Detention, Two Kashmiri Leaders Shifted to Their Houses From MLA Hostel

If you follow some simple steps, you can edit your PDF files without Adobe Acrobat. To edit, follow the steps- Also Read - In a first, Indian AMC adopts CFA Institute's Global Investment Performance Standards

However, in adopting this method, you must keep some things in mind. This method is appropriate for PDF files that contain only text. If you are editing a form, then it is very likely that some fields in it are missed after editing. Also, if there is an image or decorative text in your PDF file, it will also disappear after editing it. Also Read - Chandigarh: Sikh women exempted from wearing helmets

There are various PDF converters available online that you can use to convert it into word file.

Investintech Free Online PDF to Word Converter

Investintech Free Online PDF to Word Converter supports Windows, Linux, and macOS browser and helps in converting PDF files with no limitations. It is free and maintains original format. The other feature of this converter includes saving and preserving the texts as well as images. It is not required to create an account or submit an email ID on this PDF converter. The process of converting a PDF file into a Word file is very simple. Open the website on your browser. You will see an option of Upload your PDF File. The next step says download the converted DOCX file.

PDF TO DOC

You get lots of features from this website. for example- pdf to doc, pdf to docx, pdf to text, pdf to jpg, pdf to png, xps to pdf, pdf compressor, combine pdf, jpg to pdf, any to pdf etc. A PDF file can be very easily converted into Word. With this, you can also work out the size of any IDF file.

PDFelement

PDFelement is an all in one PDF Editor which can edit text, images, pages, links, etc directly. It enables you to convert Pdf in to Word, Excel, EPUB, PPT, Pages, HTML, RTF, and text formats. Unlike other converters available online, this one is easier to use with its simple user interface.

SmallPDF

Small pdf in another powerfull pdf to word converter which is available for free online. Its drag and drop feature enable user to easily convert pdf into doc in seconds. Not only pdf, it also supports and enable you to convert and scanned pdf file and converts it into doc in seconds.

Nitro PDF to Word Converter

The Nitro PDF converter supports Windows and is easy to learn and use. This PDF converter is a good choice for text. But if you want to convert heavy image file, then it might not be a good option. The process of converting PDF file into Word file is as following:

Other than converting file, Nitro also Organize File, Scan and edit, Review and Annotate, Protect and secure your file, Share and Store your file, Apply and request eSignatures.

ILove PDF

ILove PDF is one of the simple PDF Converter that is available online. The features available in this converter are Merge, Split, Compress, PDF to Powerpoint, PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, Unlock PDF, Protect, Organize, and various others.

Go here to read the rest:

PDF Converter in India: Best PDF to Word Converter Online - India.com

No one wants to wear a mask. Seriously, no one. So believe me when I tell you that from the most defiant of naysayers to the pro-mask wearing front-runners, no one is wearing them because they enjoy it. Masks serve a purpose, and whether you want to wear one or not, it's easy to follow the logic in them, especially if you have seen any 1 of the 50,000 Facebook memes explaining it.

While I am not able to leave Australia at the moment to come back to the parks, a mask wouldn't be the first uncomfortable thing I've had to wear. Those warmer Florida months can be stifling and I am rarely a fan of any backpack in the heat, or hat for that matter. And while we are on the subject of uncomfortable things we persist with, hands up those of you who enjoy the feeling of that metal underwire in your bra wrapped against your chest on those over-100-degree days. Anyone? No.

Yet still, I wear all of the above for the good of my family, and those around me on that last one.

If you are planning on returning to the parks and are struggling with the idea of wearing a mask, I thought we might quickly run through a few ways to reshape your thinking. Not as to whether or not you should have to, or need to, but to make you feel better about the fact that you will have to.

It's not a debate, or a question, or any single opinion, just a different way to look at the situation that might help your overall outcome if you are wanting to get back into the Disney action.

It's easy to fall into the trap of rigid thinking, telling yourself that you don't have a choice, and becoming outraged. The truth is, you do have a choice. Your choice is expressed in either your decision to visit during these times or your preference to put off your trip until things have improved.

Think less about the fact that you will need to wear one and take comfort in knowing that everyone else will be too. Think of all the germs you could be stuck with if others were not wearing a mask, and I'm not just talking about this pandemic we are facing. Have you ever had a tummy bug while traveling? Or suddenly come down with a debilitating, flu-like cold, or any one of the many things that negatively affected us before COVID-19?

There is nothing magical about it. Masks, however, mean that all of those nasty germs might just stay out of reach, or better yet, out of the parks entirely, leaving you with that stress-free vacation you've always wanted.

Start focusing on the benefits to your family that come from others wearing them and less on the inconvenience that you will be too.

If the heat is what is deterring you from making peace with the idea of wearing a mask, then take the opportunity to book now for those cooler months ahead.

If you picture yourself and your family walking around in more relaxed conditions, you might find the idea of wearing one less intrusive. In less-stifling temperatures, your mask is sure to be a little more comfortable, and less likely to feel so overwhelming and irritating.

If you suffer from allergies or anything that affects you on a seasonal basis, avoid visiting in times where you would be tempted to remove your mask. Sometimes my allergies equal itchy skin, watery eyes, and sniffing, all of which make masked life more difficult. Take out the variable and give yourselves the best chance at a less irritating time in the parks.

We know that you will need to keep your mask on at all times other than when you are actively eating or drinking (while stationary, that is!). With this in mind, take the time to spend a few extra dollars to get masks that express your personalities. Just like our choice in MagicBands, accessories, and apparel, what you wear to the parks can make you feel special and part of the magic.

Take some time to really choose the right mask for each member of your family. Something that reflects who they are and will make you giggle looking back at goofy photos. Try shopDisney.com masks or our very own DIS masks where you can upload your own designs!

I actually saw just the other day that some companies are now making special masks that look almost identical to the bottom half of your face, appearing as though you are wearing nothing but your usual smile, even if you aren't underneath. Some of them are so convincing they can even unlock the facial recognition on your smartphone.

Who knows, instead of mouths open and screaming faces, you might even end up with that perfect ride photo after all!

Okay, okay, I can hear some of those eye-rolls from down under. Seriously though, if you are heading to the parks and wondering how you will cope wearing a mask most of the time when you don't at home, give it a try before you go. Especially if you have children. Get them used to how it will feel ahead of time to save any difficult meltdowns for first-time wearing in those days to come.

Make a game out of it. See who can leave their mask on the longest to earn $10 spending money towards your trip. Or practice using them when everyone is distracted while watching a movie or TV show. If your child is struggling, try starting the process while doing something they love that usually captures their attention.

I know what you are thinking; if you hate using them why would you do it more than absolutely necessary? And you aren't wrong in theory, but in practice; it's the same reason we train for anything: to get better at it.

If you all of a sudden had to wear an eye patch or a cast on your arm, it would feel awkward and incredibly uncomfortable, but in time, you get used to it - wearing a mask will, too. Preempt that difficulty by getting past the hard part in your own time, making your days in the parks less challenging with those early annoyances.

Many of the people I speak to feel their biggest concerns are for their children. One thing I know for sure is that your children will look to you for how they should feel. Whether you are down for the greater good or forced to wear them against your will, make sure that you keep those feelings out of your children's reach if you expect them to wear one amicably when you arrive.

Our kids absorb everything around them. If you give them an example of defiant, difficult behavior, they are sure to mimic that and find fault with wearing a mask themselves. Instead, try to put on a happy face. Make it fun for them (this is where those two suggestions above come in), making practicing at home into a game and letting them choose a design they think is fun and exciting to wear. Just like any other Disney accessory.

I am not saying you have to like it, but to make it easier for your children, if you plan on visiting the parks, fake it.

Once you are onsite, those little changes you have made along the way might help you to feel more at ease with the process. And while you are totally within your rights to despise the practice as much as humanly possible, the end goal is to make your time in the parks as enjoyable as possible. Let that be your focus, not using this time to rebel and lament, but to do your best to let go of any reservations and enjoy your visit.

Even with your mask in place, don't forget to keep a social distance from others. One of the perks of being in the parks at the moment is much lower crowd numbers, so there is no excuse for not making use of all the extra space.

If you still decide not to go, I completely get it, it is an added complication that isn't for everyone, however, if you do venture out to the magic of Disney, I hope you enjoy every moment of it.

Link:

Five Ways to Ease into Masked Life at Disney - The DIS

Choosing your NBN speed is one of the most important factors to your internet connection, and also one of the few that you have control over. The speeds your internet can achieve will dictate how many people can comfortably use your connection at the same time.

The speed required for your household is determined by the activities you do online, how many people are in the house, and your connections typical evening speed.

Your internet speed is a shared resource meaning that every online activity on the network will diminish the remaining speed available. Three simultaneous video streams will use around 15Mbps of speed, so an NBN 25 connection will only have around 10Mbps left for any other online frivolities.

Some activities like streaming video or gaming occupy more speed than others, such as browsing social media. Yet on average, Aussies use the internet primarily to stream video, music and browse social media, which combined uses approx 6.5Mbps per person.

For simplicitys sake, we are recommending NBN speed based on the aforementioned usage. If you work from home or tend to use your connection for more data-intensive pursuits such as video calling and gaming then you may need faster speeds to keep up.

If its just you at home then you can probably get away with an NBN 12 plan, but wed still recommend an NBN 25. Typical evening speeds for NBN 12 plans sit between 7Mbps and 10Mbps, which is cutting it very fine for the 6.5Mbps per person range.

For around the same price you can get an NBN 25 plan with typical evening speeds of around 20Mbps, giving you a comfortable speed buffer for any online activities.

Tangerines Standard Speed UNLIMITED plan is a stand out NBN 25 deal, offering unlimited data at typical evening speeds of 21Mbps for just $49.90 per month. This promotional pricing expires after six months at which time the plan goes back to $59.90, but Tangerines plans are contract-free so you can always leave once the discount runs out.

Theres plenty of other NBN 25 deals out there for around the same price, tap or click on any of the buttons below to find out more.

Dual person households would need an absolute minimum speed of 13Mbps to browse comfortably alongside one another. For many households an NBN 25 plan will suffice but if youd rather have a bit more room to breathe then an NBN 50 plan is the way to go.

NBN 50 plans will cost around $10 extra per month than an NBN 25 option. This extra charge gets you an average of 40Mbps typical evening speeds which is fast enough to handle eight Netflix streams simultaneously.

Belong is currently offering unlimited data on its NBN Starter plan for just $55 per month on a 12-month contract. Its the cheapest NBN 50 option on the market but your speeds are limited to 30Mbps. For around $5 more you can opt for Tangerine or Internode, both which are slinging a six-month promotional discount. Youll need to sign a six-month contract with Internode but Tangerine is once again contract-free.

Click or tap on any of the plans to learn more.

For any household with more than three people, we would suggest an NBN 100 plan. As with any other household, you could probably get away with a speed tier below but for peace of mind, its worth opting up.

Most NBN 100 plans are now 100 / 20 plans, meaning youll have maximum download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 20Mbps. 100 / 40 plans used to be more common but the change has made this speed option more affordable with only a marginal difference in overall performance for most users.

Only people who routinely send large files are likely to notice the change in upload speeds, but everyone notices the change the cost makes to your back pocket.

Typical evening speeds for NBN 100 plans sit at around 80Mbps with prices at around $90 per month. Plenty of providers are offering timed promotional discounts bringing the cost down to around $80 per month for the first six months. Tangerine, Vodafone and Southern Phone are all sitting in this category and represent great value.

If youd rather shy away from promotional pricing then Superloop has the fastest typical evening speeds at 90Mbps. For $89.95 per month on a no lock-in contract this is the quickest NBN 100 plan available right now.

Read more from the original source:

How to choose the right speed NBN plan for your home - 7NEWS.com.au

YOURSAY | So, if I take a video of my childrens birthday party, I need to get a licence?

Spotlight on Al Jazeeras filming licence may open a Pandoras Box

Vijay47: If somebody wants to shoot a movie or documentary in Malaysia, he must first get a permit from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas). That is pretty clear and understandable as there are local sensitivities of race and religion to be considered.

In fact, if he wants to make any form of video recording, he must get a permit. That is equally clear. As clear as high-definition.

Let us fade to black and cut to Scene 2. Al Jazeera comes in and tells Finas it wants to shoot a documentary on undocumented migrants in Malaysia. What will the chairperson say, that is, when he has recovered from his shock? Sure, brother, its camera, lights, action all the way for you?

Assuming that Finas does give its approval, we will still have the next issue. Will it demand a final cut that overrides the directors cut?

And just like the authority to reject an application without offering any reason, they can also censor as their discretion dictates?

I think we can guess what the response would be to any film where those in authority are not quite presented as vestal virgins.

Who knows, we might yet see the return of Al Jazeera, with an application to shoot parliament and parliamentarians. Tissues recommended. Art is not always truth.

Hmmm: The kerfuffle generated by the government's move, coming at the same time as the rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove affair, may make other foreign media organisations interested in the plight of migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia, which to my mind would be a very good thing.

We might hope to see even more documentaries and investigative reporting on this issue. And hopefully an improvement in labour rights in Malaysia as a result, or at least greater awareness of the issue, which would be the first step towards improvement.

As the government clamps down on the media locally, Malaysians will be increasingly reliant on foreign media to reveal what is happening on the ground on this and other issues.

My personal hope is that it won't be just Al Jazeera but also regional media (Indonesia, Philippines, etc) who will come in to give us a helping hand during this dark period.

Fair Malaysian: "Usually, we are not that strict," Finas chairperson Zakaria Abdul Hamid said when asked if the law (for a Finas licence to film) applied to ordinary citizens who might upload their videos.

But the law is there in the books and as long as it is there, it can still be used/applied. I hope he can give a better answer.

I have come to a point where trust is a double-edged sword and ambiguity can mean anything. It is all well and good until what goes around comes around.

BH Yap: You must wear a helmet while you ride a motorcycle. The law is clear on this one. There is no ambiguity. But the enforcement officers turn a blind eye all the time. Then they get picky when things don't go their way?

Kamrul: Wonderful. Now we can show the world our power to use the law accordingly as and when it suits us. Even though it may look dictatorial.

Cogito Ergo Sum: So, if I take a video of my childrens birthday party, I need to get a licence? This is like the good old BN days when one could be charged for letting off yellow balloons.

Only a system that is afraid of the truth, suppresses it.

Astro fined by MCMC for re-airing Al Jazeera's 'Murder in Malaysia' film

Malaysian1: Sometimes, I get caught in my own world. I see myself as the best person, which sometimes makes me arrogant as if I am infallible. I am, however, open to criticism and rebuke. I appreciate it as it makes me a better person.

The same analogy can be extended to governments.

CNN can openly criticise their president without fear. Its this criticism and openness that improves the governing process. People listen to the criticism and make changes.

We all know foreign workers, despite the hard work they put in, are not having the best life. Their living conditions and general welfare leaves much to be desired. I believe it is this frustration and anger that makes them voice their views so daringly.

Relevant stakeholders should give this a deep thought. While the government actively defends the labour practices of some companies on the international scene, domestically it needs to scrutinise these companies to ensure things are indeed right and if not, make improvements.

We don't want another documentary, this time about workers in glove factories. With modern devices and apps, making documentaries is not difficult, with or without a licence.

True Blue: So the murder of the Mongolian woman (Altantuya Shaariibuu) has been an annoyance to the Malaysian public? We might as well close all news media and only use Bernama.

Free Thinker: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) suddenly realised a programme by Al Jazeeras 101 East that aired five years ago is deemed indecent.

Coincidently, the programme then aired another documentary episode which did not speak well about a country. So, whats been all the while considered okay, suddenly became not okay.

Citizen 5354: The more you bury the news, the more publicity you generate. In the world of globalisation, we can get news elsewhere.

YellowCougar9709: Indeed, trying to quarantine the news will only deepen the suggestion that something is amiss.

There are broadcasters here and overseas who will escape the dragnet. The result is a further loss of confidence in Malaysia.

We cannot be seen to be welcoming favourable news only.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 500,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.

View original post here:

YOURSAY | Al Jazeera faces the blunt side of the law - Malaysiakini

Photo: Sean Gladwell | Getty Images

Planning to Self-Publish Your First Book? Avoid These 6 Rookie Mistakes at All Costs

Writing a book mightnot be the first thing that comes to mind for growing your business, but this can go a long way in helping entrepreneurs establish their credentials and industry expertise. It helps get your name out there, and can even lead to media coverage for you and your company.

Best of all, the rise of self-publishing has made authorship more accessible than ever for entrepreneurs. You dont need to seek out a deal with a major publisher. Instead, you can self-publish and start selling your book on Amazon or promoting it through your site.

While self-publishing allows you to get your book to market quickly, self-publishing is rife with potential pitfalls. Avoiding these sixrookie mistakes will ensure that you look like a professional, not a novice.

You arent done with your book once you type the end or its equivalent. Books published by major publishers go through several rounds of revisions and edits before they hit store shelves. If you neglect editing your self-published book, you risk coming across as sloppy and unprofessional.

Editing should cover grammar and spelling issues, but it can also reveal flaws in the structure or organization of your book. You might not have put enough emphasis on certain topics, or maybe you repeated certain points multiple times in the text. Enlist the help of a few beta readers to go through your manuscript to get an idea of what is or isnt working.

Related: Why Every Entrepreneur Should Write a Book

A title can make or break any piece of entertainment be it a book, newspaper article or movie. Your title needs to grab the audiences attentionwhile still giving them an idea of what to expect in your book.

One common suggestion for business and other nonfiction books is to combine a creative title with an indicative subtitle that tells readers what your book is about.

As one example, Greenville Universitys Deloy Cole explains, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation,is a masterful combination of creative title with meticulous, content-oriented subtitle. The title alone wouldnt make a reader aware of the books subject (apart from actually reading the book), but the subtitle turns the book into something other than an ambiguous scene of gustatory violence.

Few things will drive readers away like an ugly front cover. The visual elements of your books cover will often catch a readers eye before the title does. Unless youre a professional graphic designer, this means you should turn this job over to a professional who will design an engaging cover that matches the content of your book.

Just how important is a book cover, exactly?

A survey by The Book Smugglers found that 79 percent of readers reported that book covers played a decisive role when deciding to buy a book, with 48 percent saying the cover played a major role. With hardcover books, 40 percent said an ugly cover would even keep them from buying a book they were previously interested in.

Many entrepreneurs self-publish a book as a form of marketing for their business. But your book also needs to be marketed to make an impact. In an email conversation, J.J. Hebert, president of MindStir Media, a self-publishing services company, explained, Every book needs a marketing plan that starts before releaseand continues for at least a few months after the book releases. Hundreds of thousands of books are self-published every year. A few social media posts arent going to get you the traction you need to stand out and get meaningful sales numbers.

In addition to social media campaigns, self-published authors should use email lists and newsletters to tell subscribers about the book. Actively participating in online industry groups will ensure that when you talk about your book, you wont come across as spammy. Media outreach (especially on a local level) can also drive momentum for your book release.

Self-publishing is very much a DIY endeavor and that often includes formatting the book. Even if youve thoroughly edited your books content, it will still look sloppy and unprofessional if the text isnt formatted properly. Even seemingly minor details like section breaks or the type of file you upload can make a difference.

Authors should be mindful of all formatting guidelines for the program they are usingand carefully review the text for any issues before publishing. Remember, ebooks and print books often have different formatting standards. Youll want to review all versions of your book to ensure that digital readers dont get an inferior experience.

Related: 3 Lessons Youll Learn by Writing a Book About Your Business

Be careful to avoid overpricing or underpricing your book. Pricing a self-published ebook for over $10 will seem too expensive for many buyers. On the other hand, underpricing could indicate to readers that your book isnt very good. For ebooks, the self-publishing sweet spot is usually around $2.99 to $5.99, depending on the length of the book.

For print books, you can (and should) go higher to cover the related printing costs. Many full-length paperbacks will sell for $14.99, and some business books are even more. Find a good balance between profitability and an attractive price point.

When done right, self-publishing can make a big difference for your personal brand. It can even serve as an additional source of revenue that earns money on its own in addition to driving new leads to your business. By taking the time to do self-publishing right, you will make more sales and make a strong, positive impression on your readers.

Related:8 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A ConsultantPlanning to Self-Publish Your First Book? Avoid These 6 Rookie Mistakes at All Costs'Brands Are Investing In Technology' - Q&A With Richard Huang

Go here to see the original:

Planning to Self-Publish Your First Book? Avoid These 6 Rookie Mistakes at All Costs - Thehour.com