Daily Archives: January 21, 2022

Best Bitcoin Roulette Casinos Of 2022 – Blog – The Island Now

Posted: January 21, 2022 at 11:48 pm

Hey, is that Vegas-style entertainment right in your living room? Nice job!

So, youre one of those people (one of us) who take comfort seriously, want to stay in their PJs, and place a bet on the Devils Wheel.

Well, the online bitcoin casinos took their services to another level and introduced a whole new experience to their beloved customers, the crypto gambling. But, you know that, right? Thats why youre here. Since you opened our article, youre probably searching for a reliable online casino where you can play crypto roulette or other table games.

Say no more! We found the best bitcoin roulette casinos, did detailed reviews, and prepared this article for all roulette players and crypto enthusiasts.

Well start our article with one of the leaders of the gambling industry in America and around the world, BetOnline. If youre an online casino fan, the chances you know this company are significant.

BetOnline has over 20 years of experience in the gambling business, providing endless fun and the possibility to win a lot of money to its customers. The company is also among the first sites to introduce cryptos. First, they started with crypto for the poker rooms. Now, you can use your digital currencies to bet and gamble on every game you want.

Furthermore, this platform has an already built reputation and is known among gamblers as a transparent, fair and fast-responding online casino and sportsbook. Besides sports betting and casino games, you can enjoy live betting, a racebook, esports, contests and poker games.

BetOnline, over the years, has found the perfect recipe to maintain and keep its clients and attract new people daily. Besides numerous games, the platform offers bonuses, contests, multiple banking methods and supports several cryptocurrencies.

Offered Games

The company started as a sportsbook with several casino games initially. However, after all these years in the business, it developed into an all-in-one place for those who want to have some fun and earn with ease.

Today, BetOnline is one of the best betting platforms that offer odds on every American sports match. Moreover, the site has international popularity because you can bet on almost every worldwide sports game.

When it comes to casino games, BetOnline offers:

If youre a poker player, you can try some of the BetOnline games, such as:

As we mentioned, BetOnline offers a racebook where you can enter horse betting, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Breeders Cup, or Kentucky Derby.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Well, years of experience can teach you how to provide the best to your customers. At least BetOnline has learned that lesson. So, the platform offers one of the most comprehensive banking methods, meaning that clients can select one among numerous payment and payout options.

As with other standard sportsbook and casino platforms, BetOnline also offers debit and credit card and bank wire transactions. However, it also provides person2person, money order, and cashiers check.

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, BetOnline is among a few others with so much extended list of supported coins, including:

Bonuses and Promotions

We have reached our favorite section.

We know that betting and gambling are fun, but sometimes you can lose some money. Thats why your casino or sportsbook has to stimulate your game with bonuses, promotions, and awards.

The list of BetOnlines bonuses is quite long, so well try to single out some of them. e.g., each new member can get a welcome bonus of up to 50%. However, customers with crypto deposits can enjoy a 100% welcome bonus of up to $1000.

Furthermore, casino plates can get reload bonuses of up to 25% and 35%. There are also bitcoin boost gifts, referral programs, and special poker bonuses.

Customer Service and Convenience

An excellent support team stands behind BetOnlines company. You can contact their representatives anytime you want, via email or live chat.

When it comes to user convenience, the platform is beginner-friendly, meaning that everyone can navigate through the site easily. Also, the site is well-optimized to work on multiple devices. From the customer reviews we found online, people are satisfied with BetOnlines service and gladly recommend the platform for a hassle-free gambling experience.

Click Here to Visit the Official Website of BetOnline

Heres one of the youngsters. Wild Casino, managed by the same people that run numerous other reputable gambling platforms, is an excellent place to enter a joyful bitcoin roulette and win money.

Thanks to its extended bonuses list, numerous promotions and a comprehensive range of banking methods, the platform made its way to the top. Furthermore, Wild Casino is among a few other platforms that accept players from the US since it follows strict measures and its compliant with the law.

Additionally, Wild Casino possesses a Panama license which is another feature that makes this company legit and trustworthy.

As stated in its name, Wild Casino doesnt offer a sportsbook or a racebook. However, you can play various exclusive and standard casino games and enter numerous contests to win more money.

Offered Games

As we mentioned, this place isnt a sportsbook. Therefore, well shortly describe the available casino and poker games. First, we have to tell you that Wild Casino offers games from top providers widely-known in the crypto gambling community.

All games are divided into several gambling groups:

The slots come in 3D and conventional versions. You can find even some original fruit machines and slots in a Vegas-style. Furthermore, you can play one of the 30 types of bitcoin video poker games, such as single-hand, pyramid, and multi-hand.

When it comes to table games, Wild Casino offers around 14 types of blackjack and 9 types of crypto roulette. You can also play blackjack, roulette, video poker, and baccarat in live-dealer style.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Wild Casino not only provides multiple banking methods, but it also gives additional information on each method so that customers can learn more. The platform provides support for credit and debit card deposits. Additionally, you can fund your account via money orders, bank checks, and bank wire transfers.

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, Wild Casino accepts several cryptos, including BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, XLM, and USDC. Quite impressive, right?

As far as withdrawals, you can take your money using the same banking methods. However, withdrawals via credit or debit card arent available yet.

Bonuses and Promotions

Its fun to gamble at Wild Casino. However, its also affordable and beneficial. The company offers so many bonuses that its hard to say no.

It has a 250% up to $1000 welcome bonus for starters. Moreover, it provides an exceptional crypto welcome bonus with a total of $9000 divided among first-time deposits and the following four times you fund your account.

Furthermore, the platform has numerous active promotions and gifts. Thus you can get a 5% bonus on all bitcoin deposits. Or, you can obtain some of the tournaments prizes.

Wild Casino offers a 10% cashback bonus on your losses, so you can win some back even when you lose money. Moreover, it runs daily tournaments on blackjack, slots, and roulette with enormous prizes.

Customer Service and Convenience

Wild Casinos customer service is available via email and live chat. The representatives work 24/7, so you can find them anytime you have a question or issue.

However, some customers reported that the live chat option is hard to find on the page. Well, for those who had trouble finding it, the button is placed in the banking section.

When it comes to customer experience, Wild Casino has a smooth and functional site. It has a straightforward design so that it provides excellent user convenience.

Click Here to Visit the Official Website of Wild Casino

Trust Dice is a well-known online casino with millions of gamers across the globe. This casino started to operate a few years ago. Regardless of its short experience on the market, Trust Dice has already passed its competition because it offers unmatching services.

Furthermore, Trust Dices state-of-the-art platform allows gamblers to enjoy smooth and convenient gambling. The company offers more than 3000 games, divided into a casino, live casino, sports, dice, and crash. The latter, crash and dice games, were invented and developed from the platform itself.

Trust Dice attracts new customers on a daily basis because, besides the attractive games, it provides outstanding customer services and policies. The company has a 4.8 rating out of 5 at the reputable review platforms, meaning that it has an almost perfect reputation.

There are many features, characteristics, and specifications that make this casino a top-notch platform. Well present you with the most important ones just to give you the big picture.

Offered Games

As we mentioned earlier, Trust Dice offers more than 3000 games to its customers. On this platform, you can gamble, play, and wager on casino games, live casino games, sports, dice, and crash.

Trust Dice casino games are divided into several categories, including:

Of course, this list can go on and on, but you get the idea.

Furthermore, you should know that Trust Dice uses Evolution Gaming, Spinomental, and Ezugi as its major casino providers. This guarantees your ultimate live casino experience. Moreover, 50 live dealer games are also available.

Besides the casino games, Trust Dice offers a very comprehensive sportsbook. You can wager on everything, from football and baseball to biathlon, chess, and squash.

Trust Dice also provides two provably fair games, those being crash and dice.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Trust Dice is a crypto online casino. Therefore, it operates with digital currencies, meaning you can deposit and withdraw money in a secure and straightforward manner. The casino accepts several cryptos for payment, including BTC, ETH, DOGE, BCH, and TRX.

You can use the same currencies to withdraw your earnings, with LTC included.

Bonuses and Promotions

Trust Dice has one of the widest ranges of bonuses and promotions on the market. The casino provides new users with a welcome bonus and free spins. In addition, you can claim free BTC every 6 hours, thanks to the Trust Dices faucet.

Furthermore, the company offers a task, log-in, sports risk-free, and deposit bonus. You can also participate in weekly contests in dice and crash games. The first 10 players in the tournament can win up to 0.2 BTC.

Moreover, Trust Dice knows how to award its loyal users. The company rewards customers with free crypto, springs, cashback up to 20% and more, each time they reach a new level. In addition, you can request a custom bonus based on your favorite games.

Satoshi Club

Trust Dice has a VIP program for its loyal customers. Customers are divided into 5 levels on the program, with each group providing different advantages, benefits, and bonuses.

The Satoshi Clubs levels are Shrimp, Fish, Dolphin, Shark, and Satoshi. The highest-level players enjoy numerous premium gifts and an exclusive VIP assistant.

Customer Service and Convenience

The companys customer service is available 24/7 via live chat and email. The team is highly responsive, meaning that customers get assistance within 24 hours. Additionally, customers can ask for help in multiple languages from the service team.

The platform is relatively easy to use when it comes to user convenience. The website loads quickly and is simple to browse. Furthermore, the platform is optimized to operate on any device. The experience is the same whether youre an Android, iOS, Windows, or macOS user. Therefore, Trust Dice provides a very user-friendly interface.

Click Here to Visit the Official Website of Trust Dice

GTBets is a more sports betting-focused platform. However, we decided to review this site because it offers a wide assortment of casino games too. The company is over a decade in the business, and so far has managed to obtain popularity and stay among the best.

With an 8.9 /10 rating, this US-friendly platform has served millions of customers worldwide. So many people choose this company to play and win because of its easy-to-use page, fast payments, tournaments, and significant number of games.

Additionally, GTBet is licensed in Curacao. Even though you cant find any information on the owners or employees, the license is still No.1 proof of legality. Moreover, the quality of the services and the customer experiences also show that the company is trustworthy and legit.

As we said above, this company forces its sportsbook more, but customers enjoy the plethora of casino games and video poker provided on the platform. Well talk about that and some other excellent features that GTBets provides in this section.

Offered Games

Lets start with the sportsbook.

GTBets has some of the most competitive and attractive odds weve seen lately on any other sportsbook. Were not going to enlist every match and game here, because GTBets has a wide assortment covering almost every sport.

Furthermore, the bookie offers odds on politics and politics future and the Olympics. Moreover, you can place a bet on eSports and horses.

The choice is exceptionally extended for a sports-focused platform when it comes to casino games. GTBets offers 3-reel and 5-reel 3D slots. Also, there are numerous jackpot slots with earning opportunities from $2000 to $55,000.

GTBets provides numerous table games. Actually, they have a bigger assortment of games even compared to some online casino platforms. On the site, you can find:

This list, of course, continues, but we single out only a few table games to give you a glimpse of the big picture. Moreover, you can play roulette, baccarat, Casino Holdem, and blackjack with a live dealer.

Additionally, GTBets also offers video poker games.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Another reason why we chose GTBets is its support for cryptocurrencies. The platform accepts BTC, BCH, LTC, and XRP for deposits. You can also fund your account via credit, debit and prepaid gift card, or use an instant banking option.

When it comes to taking your money and earnings, you can choose from two withdrawal options. Unfortunately, payout options are limited. You can withdraw funds using instant banking (QuickCash or bank transfer) or bitcoin.

You should know that GTBet has an excellent table with deposit and withdrawal fees and limits. Every deposit option, excluding QuickCash, is fee-free but has a minimum and maximum limit per transaction. Withdrawals have charges, except for bitcoin.

Bonuses and Promotions

GTBet has numerous bonus opportunities. Thus, you can get a welcome 150% bonus with a 12x rollover. The minimum deposit for the welcome gift is $50.

Furthermore, GTBets awards its customers with referral and reload bonuses. The company arranges multiple promotions, like Favorite Teams, Casino Rebate, Horse Rebate, and Casino Game of the Month. Each of these promotions can win you extra money.

GTBet VIP Program

No special requirements are needed for this program. Youll be automatically added upon registering and start earning points right away.

Customer Service and Convenience

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Best Bitcoin Roulette Casinos Of 2022 - Blog - The Island Now

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Amritsar Calling: When on the road, Ambarsaris like to play Russian Roulette – The Indian Express

Posted: at 11:48 pm

Years ago, a delightful German lady visited us. A couple of rides around town and she exclaimed, Why does everyone on wheels and on foot aim for one another and swerve only at the last moment?. All I could say was that we were experts in the art of deception and last-minute avoidance. Perhaps foolhardy as well. The guest, Frauke, was sure that despite the claims by the communists, the Russian Roulette was actually invented in Amritsar and played out on the roads every minute.

As we laughed at her observation, I reduced speed consciously, and secretly shared with her that God lived in India, mostly in this divine city. Therefore, although chaos defined our traffic sense, our accident ratios were tolerable. It took her three days to be able to sit back in her seat and not chew her nails while on the road. By that time, she was ready to depart with the conviction that providence did ensure our persistent existence against all odds.

The maruta

That was a few decades ago. Today the traffic is manifold, and we have graduated from roulette to playing PubG on the streets. The weapons are aplenty, two-wheeled bullets, three-tyred tuk-tuks, meandering cars as well as SUVs jostling for action. They are joined by cycle-rickshaws and the black raven auto taxis. Fancy a cartwheel? Well, we have a cart with a wheel instead. Called colloquially the maruta, the home-crafted, four-wheeled motor craft, has an engineered mind of its own and can be seen painting the town red, laden with bounties from the farm. And do not forget to notice the vegetable vendor with his old motorcycle extended into a makeshift mobile vegetable shop, equipped with a garden umbrella for shade & a speaker to hawk his wares.

Scooterists come in manifold diversity too. Picture this one ridden by a kid drying her luscious tresses in the wind while her dupatta connects precariously with the rear wheel awaiting an execution, or the fat broker on two wheels, head tilted towards his mobile phone, busy cracking a deal mid-street while carrying his inventory of poky aluminium rods, deliverables to the house across the city. Each one of them can nose their way in whether there is space or not, and careen around like snakes in a pit. And of course, the Romeos and Juliets love the gheri, in flirtatious dances, bumper to bumper, romancing and freewheeling to impress.

Heavens forbid you are returning late from an evening with friends; be sure to encounter the racetrack, teenyboppers on a high, astride their papas three stars, Audis, or BMWs, scorching the tar like tornados chasing each other, mindless of the others in commute. And if you happen to engage, out pop the phones with political connects, cops on the take or resourceful wheeler dealers. This, after hurling the choicest invectives and laser stares as if to say lay off or else. Who the devil are you anyway to get in our way? You inevitably retreat as the wife tells you to be mature and forget it. Not worth it, she says.

The invincible pedestrian

The pedestrian is another story altogether. We just believe that it is the duty of the motorised to hold their proverbial horses while on the move. We are indeed kings of the roads and can cross at any point, walk at leisure mid-traffic, even take selfies as we casually hop off the dividers bang in front of the oncoming motorcade. The invincible pedestrian standing mid-street awaiting his opportunity to dash across is another disaster waiting to happen, but this is Amritsar meri jaan, we have Him by our side!

Zebra crossings? Never heard of them. Are they not found in the zoo bro?

The city does give out licences for drivers of all automobiles, but that does not certify that they are able. Most have been informally instructed by siblings in the craft of mobility, have never received refreshers or been tested for their skill. The older generation has just taken to the road and is mostly impervious to road etiquette. The NextGen is resourceful enough to get their papers delivered at home without moving a muscle.

To top it all, everyone wants to have phone conversations, send out the odd SMS and address the compulsion of looking for that particular song. All this while driving. So, when you are walking and see a car heading for you, get into a tizzy and run for it, for the eye is not on the road but on a screen. And dont be surprised if you see a toddler trying his skills on the steering while on the lap of a proud father. Worse still, most kids are unshackled while their mothers are careening around traffic. God forbid the kiddo decides to throw a tantrum, mom will turn her head around, throw up a shindy on the child, all in good motion. This happens, so no surprises here.

The other day a horse-drawn tonga clobbered my car bonnet. He simply backed into me. Red-eyed with fury, I confronted the devil at the reins. Amused and showcasing his brown teeth he simply laughed my theatrics off. He has no brakes, he stated matter-of-factly, and since my vehicle had them, I should in future keep fair distance from animal-driven carriages and use my foot in time to halt. Now who can counter that argument? Chastised, I retreated behind the wheel to call in for insurance and the haulers to undo the damage.

The garbage collection system in the city is semi-privatised, so if you are tailing one of the open trucks carrying refuse to the dump, you perhaps ought to leave your sensibilities as well as your sense of smell home. They potter along, dropping headloads of stink along the road. I am serious when I say I even saw a bloated body hanging precariously, one that had been recovered from a sewage drain by the bypass. Makes you wonder, as you dodge the next heap that slithered onto the road ahead of you, whether this was any better than the earlier garbage carts called Viceroy di gaddi? These were driven by white oxen and would always maintain bang centre, much as the English Viceroy who had right of way against Indian commoners. That was the time the English also ran a garbage train along the periphery of the walled city. Neat indeed.

While on garbage, you may well watch out for the missiles that emit from window panes of cars. After all, the disposables have to be disposed of the moment the food is consumed while on a drive from one eatery to the next, and definitely before you hit home. Try and stop the guy to reprimand him, for throwing the soiled food tray and plastic spoons that flew onto your windshield, and the baseball bat is sure to emerge to hammer you with, a call made to trigger-happy cronies, and the constable cousin thrice removed.

The cacophony

Oh yes, we just love to play our tunes. One-two, cha-cha-cha for the pretty damsel who you wish would turn and look at you, the-lean-on-it when you want someone to give you way regardless of the fact that you are all in the same jam, the siren just because your friends uncle is a politician, the fire-engine blast since you own the street on your new Thar with shining alloys and big tyres. Well, what can you say, its a cacophony out there and the decibel levels beyond compare!

Frankly one has nothing against the biker or the car owner for coming down the wrong way of the street or the highway. He is obviously troubled both by the persistent hikes in fuel prices, as well as the wrath of his wife, who wanted the vegetables yesterday. Not to mention the poor sod who on a two-wheeler is balancing an empty gas cylinder on his pillion and a kid in front of him.

Governments are also so very demanding on their personnel. Look at the electricity repairman who races on his motorbike with his assistant on the pillion who, in turn, is holding onto a 24-foot wooden ladder scraping the tar and surprising the lady driving her car while admiring her newly coiffured hairdo in the rear-view mirror. Or the garbage collector who has a six-foot broom contraption attached to his bike looking like a witch on wheels with a broom attachment for flying. Picture this.

Not to mention the guy who comes to your left, awaits the signal to go green, and as you accelerate to head straight, cuts you in, in an effort to take the right turn. Indicator lights, what the devil are they for? Traffic cops are of course there to catch the sun, have their cuppa delivered free from the tea stall close by, and ignore the traffic jam as well as the disorder. Blind eyes do not see. But they go rapt attention the moment they hear an official siren, slipping back into leisure the moment it passes.

And have we forgotten the other species? All the other animals are on our streets as well. Hundreds of canines, families of live pork, emaciated cattle and horny bulls, even the odd rooster or two. The other day, there was this poor, flustered horse which galloped the metalled road in peak traffic while its owners, a pair of Nihangs, chased it on motorcycles, much as those Texans would lasso stallions in Texan movies.

In this disorder and mayhem, we keep adding scores of vehicles by the day. And the bigger the better. Everyone seems to be graduating to MUVs & SUVs, would rather drive to the nearby store than walk a mile, care not for cyclist or pedestrian passerby, weave in and out from any which way. We drive the night with blinding headlights, striving to get the strongest beams to have a blinding competition on the highways. Stunning that these are the same drivers who obey all traffic rules the moment they step into the limits of the state capital, Chandigarh.

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Amritsar Calling: When on the road, Ambarsaris like to play Russian Roulette - The Indian Express

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Let’s not play Russian roulette with Omicron and embrace it as inevitable – CBC.ca

Posted: at 11:48 pm

This column is an opinion from Dr. Cory Neudorf,an interim senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. For more information aboutCBC's Opinion section, please see theFAQ.

Waves of COVID-19 keep coming with disturbing frequency, wearing down even those who have followed public health advice up to now. Despite warnings that the pandemic would likely last twoto threeyears with multiple surges requiring an ebb and flow of restrictions,many people feel we should be back to normal with the availability of vaccines, and are feeling something akin to buyer'sremorse at this stage.

More transmissible COVID-19 variants have poked holes in our layers of defence, finding ways to get around masks and vaccines in some cases and taking advantage of our need for increased social connection. Due to its billing as a less severe form of COVID-19, is it any wonder that the Omicron variant wave is tempting us to just "get it over with already" and resign ourselves to getting sick?

Unfortunately, science and sober second thought shows us that is likely not a good idea. Eventually, we hope to be able to live with COVID-19 in a more endemic state, with some combination of a less severe variant and sufficient population immunity but we aren't quite there yet.

Here are a few reasons why it may not be a great idea to "get it over with" and catch the Omicron variant of COVID-19:

Intentionally exposing yourself to any disease is like playing Russian roulette. You don't know if you or those more vulnerable around you will get complications. While it is more transmissible, the Omicron variant is still stopped by the measures that have worked for previous waves, we just need to be more vigilant.

In addition, we are fortunate to have vaccines that are effective and safe against all current COVID variants with a booster dose, protecting many against infection and protecting most from severe disease if they happen to get breakthrough illness.

There is no need for returning to the full lockdowns that were required prior to vaccines, as long as people adhere to public health measures during these resurgences and get booster doses as needed.

Eventually, these waves will recede. They will resolve faster if we continue to use common sense, and think beyond ourselves for the good of our community, especially as more of the global population is immunized. We have come too far to quit before we get to the finish line.

Do you have a strong opinion that could add insight, illuminate an issue in the news, or change how people think about an issue? We want to hear from you. Here'show to pitch to us.

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Let's not play Russian roulette with Omicron and embrace it as inevitable - CBC.ca

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Low-priced stocks: A roulette that may well be a losing bet, say experts – Business Standard

Posted: at 11:48 pm

Many have weak fundamentals to back share price rise and may not live to see the next bull run: Experts

Topics Markets|Share price

Stocks trading at a low price denomination have risen sharply, largely due to speculator interest or new investors trading actively during the pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex has gained 135 per cent from the lows it hit on March 23, 2020. And 666 of the 833 stocks trading at Rs 20 or below in March 2020 have outperformed the index.

Even from a one-year perspective, 657 of these stocks have outperformed the Sensex in 2021. In fact, some of these stocks have seen gains between 50x and 80x in less than two years. Of the 508 stocks trading at Rs 10 or below (popularly known as ...

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First Published: Sun, January 16 2022. 23:26 IST

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Low-priced stocks: A roulette that may well be a losing bet, say experts - Business Standard

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Rising Star to Red Roulette Here is what you need to read on China – ThePrint

Posted: at 11:48 pm

On popular demand, heres a shortlist of books on China that can help you to understand the country. The list isnt exhaustive, and there are plenty of other great books about China out there.

The list also includes some books on Tibet.

Governing China: From Revolution to Reformby Ken Lieberthal

The Third Revolution; Xi Jingping and the New Chinese Stateby Elizabeth C. Economy

Chinas Futureby David Shambaugh

Politics in China: An Introductionby William Joseph

Internationalizing Chinaby David Zweig

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of Chinaby Ezra Vogel

The Chinese Economyby Barry Naughton

The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China? by Susan Shirk

Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflationby Victor Shih

Also Read: Our pick of top 10 books in 2021

Chinas Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalismby Rana Mitter

The Cambridge History of China (volumes)by John Fairbank

Great State: China and the Worldby Timothy Brook

Wealth and Power: Chinas Long March to the Twenty-first Centuryby Orville Schelle and John Delury

The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947by Tsering Shakya

Zhang, Y. and Buzan, B. (2012). The Tributary System as International Society in Theory and Practice.The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 5(1), pp.336.

Active Defense: Chinas Military Strategy Since 1949by Taylor Fravel

Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in Chinas TerritorialDisputes by Taylor Fravel

Junbo, Z. and Yunzhu, Y. (1996). Differences between traditional Chinese and Western military thinking and their philosophical roots.Journal of Contemporary China, 5(12), pp.209221.

Scobell, A. (2012). Learning to Rise Peacefully? China and the security dilemma.Journal of Contemporary China, 21(76), pp.713721.

Mastro, O.S. (2018). In the Shadow of the Thucydides Trap: International Relations Theory and the Prospects for Peace in U.S.-China Relations.Journal of Chinese Political Science, 24(1), pp.2545.

China Goes Global: The Partial Powerby David Shambaugh

Yan, X. (2014). From Keeping a Low Profile to Striving for Achievement.The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 7(2), pp.153184.

Chinas Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacyby Peter Martin

Rising star: Chinas new security diplomacyby Bates Gill

Feng, H., He, K. and Xuetong, Y. (2020).CHINESE SCHOLARS AND FOREIGN POLICY: Debating International Relations.Oxford: Routledge.

Also read: The 10 best books we read this year

India Versus China: Why They are Not Friendsby Kanti Bajpai

Indias China Challengeby Ananth Krishnan

The Fractured Himalaya: India Tibet China 1949-1962by Nirupama Rao

India and Asian Geopolitics: The Past, Presentby Shivshankar Menon

Powershift: India-China Relations in a Multipolar Worldby Zorawar Daulet Singh

Fateful Triangle: How China Shaped USIndia Relationsby Tanvi Madan

On Chinaby Henry Kissinger

The Long Game: Chinas Grand Strategy to Displace American Orderby Rush Doshi

Two Kinds of Timeby Graham Peck

Mearsheimer, J. (2010). The Gathering Storm: Chinas Challenge to U.S. Power in Asia.The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 3(4), pp.381396.

Fardella, E. (2009). The Sino-American Normalization: A Reassessment. Diplomatic History, 33(4), pp.545578.

Red Roulette: An Insiders Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Todays Chinaby Desmond Shum

Land of Big Numbersby Te-Ping Chen

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century Chinaby Jung Chang

The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionageby Mara Hvistendahl

Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Townby Barbara Demick

Also Read: T20 to coronavirus to RSS 6 books you need to read in self-quarantine

Thisbook list was originally published on Aadil Brars newsletter Asia Communique.

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Try these hidden Netflix features to get the most out of your subscription – New York Post

Posted: at 11:48 pm

If you have a Netflix subscription, you may be missing out on some fun features without realizing.

Netflix has a series of games that you can access via the Android or iOS app.

Open your app and type games into the search tool.

You should notice a selection of games pop up.

Theres even a Stranger Things 3 game.

Click the game you want to play and click Get Game to install it.

This tip is great for watching your favorite Netflix shows at the exact same time as your friends or family even if theyre not in your household.

Netflix Partyis a handy Google Chrome extension that allows you to watch Netflix with anyone.

Once you have downloaded the extension, you can create a shareable link, which all your friends can click on for the same-time viewing experience.

Netflix Party even comes with a chat feature so you can easily discuss whats happening.

If youre struggling to find something to watch on Netflix, a random button may be the answer.

An online tool called Netflix Roulette picks out a show or movie so you dont have to.

It even lets you filter bygenre and IMDb rating to help hone your searches.

You can even add other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video to search through all your viewing options in one place.

You can find the Netflix Roulette wheelhere.

There are a selection of codes you can type into the Netflix search bar that will bring up hidden categories.

Anime fans will be pleased to know code 7424 does still bring up lots of anime content.

You may see different codes suggested online, but Netflix changes codes regularly, so some of them may no longer work.

If you type the code 47465 into your Netflix search bar, you will see some classic Westerns pop up.

The code 48744 should bring up classic war movies.

This article originally appeared onthe Sunand was reproduced here with permission.

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DVLA Covid row as Government is accused of playing ‘Russian roulette’ with staff – Wales Online

Posted: at 11:48 pm

The Government has been accused of playing "Russian roulette" with the safety of DVLA employees as the infectious Omicron variant of coronavirus rages around Swansea, after claims that it has limited the number of people who can work from home.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the DVLA has had 1,700 staff who have tested positive for the virus, and has taken measures to ensure 2,500 of its 6,000 staff have been able to work from home.

But Swansea MP Geraint Davies and workers' trade union PCS feel that is not enough, and say they feel there should be more investment in home working to ensure the safety of more staff. There is currently 45 or fewer staff members who have the virus at present.

READ MORE:Coronavirus infection rates, cases and deaths for all parts of Wales

At the beginning of the first lockdown, the DVLA ran with 250 people on site, and the rest from home, Mr Davies said, adding that he felt a report on working from home produced by Deloitte had been "suppressed" by the Department for Transport and that level of home working precaution was therefore less than anywhere else in the civil service, such as the Department for Work and Pensions or the HMRC.

He said: "Obviously we all accept some work has got to be done at the office, but the issue is, the more people, the less social distancing, amidst a continuous eruption of Covid, even though they are claiming Omicron is not as serious to your health.

"Even though management agreed a system with the union PCS of more home working at the end of last year, after infection rates were again surging, the Government again has intervened and this is the second time the secretary of state for transport Grant Shapps has intervened to stop civil servants from the department introducing common sense precautions to keep people safe and to give them confidence and give them peace of mind to boost productivity.

"It is playing Russian roulette with the latest variant. We're now in the situation where the amount of people who have had coronavirus at the DVLA (over the course of the pandemic) is at 1,700.

"Thankfully, because of vaccination, we are not seeing death of the scale we saw before, but I think the attitude of the Government and in particular Grant Shapps, with the endorsement of Boris Johnson, who I've raised it with twice now, is placing fast and loose recklessly with people's safety.

"I guess they take the view that, oh it's alright, in all probability if they do get Omicron, they'll survive and go back to work, but the truth is, some people are more vulnerable than others and some people are in contact with family members who are more vulnerable than others.

"It's wrong from a management point of view, a business point of view, and from a human point of view, to be taking risks with the workforce."

National officer for PCS, Andrew Lloyd said it had been a "long running situation" with the DVLA, adding in the last month, there has been 291 new cases.

"We have been in a long running trade dispute about the way that the DVLA management has handled Covid in the workplace," he said.

"We think that they have never done enough to protect employees and more than that, they have mismanaged the situation. In comparison to the rest of the civil service, they have been the outlier in their approach on how to deal with Covid.

"The DWP and HMRC, the two bigger civil service departments, have had people working from home since the start of the pandemic and that has meant that they have been able to pay benefits and furlough payments for people working from home. The DVLA has never been prepared to do that.

"When there was an enforced lockdown at the start, they had most of their staff at home but doing no work, because they had not invested in technology. When they began opening things up they rushed people back into the offices and hence that's why it started a Covid crisis in the offices in Swansea, and that resulted in us taking industrial action to persuade them to do more. That resulted in a bit more, but never enough in our opinion."

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Mr Lloyd said that a recent measure brought in has seen staff getting a day off every week on top of their normal holidays, so that there are less people on site than normal.

"That's clearly better, but it does not go far enough in our opinion. It's an improvement but falls short on where they need to be," he said.

"There has got to be more investment to allow hybrid working. They have never been prepared to invest in that so they have been uniquely different to the rest of the civil service and they are still failing to keep pace with other private sector organisations. Our main concern of all is it puts our members at risk.

"It's the highest number of Covid cases at any one workplace in the UK. Our members go into work and the anxiety levels are just enormous. We have people ringing me and ringing our offices over their anxiety about being forced to go into work. People are still anxious because you just do not know how you are going to be hit with the illness.

"It's (coronavirus) going to be with us for a while yet. It just makes sense for people to be able to work from home. Part of the DVLA's reasoning is that they have sensitive data which can only be accessed from the site. But when you compare the sort of data that the DVLA and the HMRC hold, that's on a different level yet they are allowed to work from home.

"It's the lack of investment that has put the DVLA in this position."

The claims were put to The Department for Transport, which was contacted for comment, but it referred WalesOnline to the DVLA.

DVLA has spent over 5.7m to help keep staff safe on site, introducing safety measures including leasing two new building, fitting perspex screens, temperature check stations, increased and enhanced cleaning throughout the day, and regular on-site testing.

A spokeswoman for the DVLA said: "The number of positive cases at DVLA mirrors infection rates in the local community. There are currently fewer than 45 members of staff who would normally work on site that are self-isolating due to testing positive.

The safety of our staff is paramount and colleagues whose work does not require them to be on site will continue to work from home, as they have done throughout the pandemic.

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What Will Our Virtual Reality Be? – Metropolis – Metropolis Magazine

Posted: at 11:47 pm

Though the metaverse often loosely mimics the organizational mores established by the physical world, the buildings themselves routinely deviate from what might be considered feasible real-world design. In the metaverse, gravity doesnt exist, nor do material constraints. Things like structure, materiality, and cost, for that matter, all go out the window, says Leon Rost, a principal at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), who has worked on a handful of virtual projects for clients. This lack of stylistic constraint has attracted architects who are interested in pushing the formal boundaries of what space can look like. BIG partnered with UNStudio to develop a virtual meeting platform called SpaceForm, where people can collaborate in real time inside futuristic rooms featuring holographic tables that display 3D renderings and data visualizations. Beneville, meanwhile, has built hovering performance stages for clients like iHeartRadio that float in outer space like satellites. Jose Sanchez, a professor of architecture at the University of Michigan Taubman College who designs highly immersive multiplayer videogames through his studio Plethora Project, is designing a videogame where collectives of players can build their own structures that drip in greenery. From a design standpoint, you have to think very differently, because the samerules dont apply in the virtual world as they do in the physical world, Rost says.

In a recent project, Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg of Space Popular, an architecture studio based in Spain and London, created a virtual gallery for the Spanish organization Fundacin Arquia modeled on the layout of Barcelona. Digital avatars can wander through seemingly endless labyrinths of sunrise-hued rooms whose architectural features look as if they were pulled from an M.C. Escher drawing. The rooms were designed with a misty softness that Lesmes says is helpful for loading times and for easing screen-addled eyes into a new environment. Lighting is incredibly important; it can make a virtual space feel a lot better, she says.

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‘We Met in Virtual Reality finds love in the metaverse – Engadget

Posted: at 11:47 pm

Mark Zuckerberg's vision of a sanitized, hypercapitalist metaverse will likely never be as compelling or idiosyncratic as VRChat, the virtual reality community that's been home to anime fans, Furries and a slew of other sub-cultures since 2014. That's my main takeaway from We Met in Virtual Reality, the first documentary filmed entirely in VRChat, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival today.

There's no chance Zuck's metaverse would let people wear trademarked avatars without paying a ton, attend exotic clubs to receive (or give) virtual lapdances, or allow users to build whatever the hell they want. VRChat, as portrayed by director Joe Hunting, is basically a proto-metaverse where anything is possible. And for many, it has served as a crucial social hub during the pandemic, a place where they can forget about the world, relax with friends and maybe find love.

But of course, that's been the nature of practically every online community. We're social animals people have always been able to connect with each other over BBS, IRC, Usenet and the plethora of forums and chat services that populated the early internet. I spent most of the '90s hanging out in anime and gaming chat rooms, the sorts of places that today's connected youth would probably find quaint. Still, the people I met there helped me survive the worst parts of middle and high school. Those relationships, and the internet itself, shaped me into who I am (for better or worse).

We Met in Virtual Reality proves that the unbridled, experimental sense of online community is still alive and well today, despite relentless consolidation from Big Tech. But now, instead of staring at tiny CRT monitors, people are slapping on VR headsets to explore fully realized environments. Hardcore VRChat users are also investing in powerful computing rigs as well as upgrades like finger and whole-body tracking. In the '90s, I was grateful to get another 16MB of RAM so that I could have more than one browser window open. Today, VRChat devotees can communicate using American Sign Language, or have their anime avatars show off their belly dancing skills.

Hunting approaches his subjects with the eye of an anthropologist, without any judgment towards their sometimes ridiculous avatars (do all the anime ladies need to have jiggly, Dead or Alive-level boob physics?). We Met in Virtual Reality begins as a chill hangout flick we follow a group of friends as they have virtual drinks and go on joyrides in crudely-built VR cars but it quickly moves beyond the novelty of its setting. One person credits their VRChat girlfriend for helping them to "unmute" after being silent for two years. An exotic performer explains that being able to dance for people in VRChat helped her grieve with a family tragedy and manage a bout of alcoholism.

Joe Hunting

The film chronicles how that exotic dancer, a young woman based in the UK, formed a romantic relationship with another VRChat user in Miami. These sorts of cyber relationships arent anything new, but the VR platform allowed them to do much more than trade links and memes over IM. They could exist in a space together, go on dates to new environments every night. I wont spoil where things end up for the couple, but I can say that it wouldnt have been nearly as effective outside of VR.

We Met in Virtual Reality effectively conveys why people would gravitate towards VRChat, especially during a pandemic. But it doesn't fully capture the wonder of exploring these environments yourself. Seeing people hop on a virtual rollercoaster isn't nearly as thrilling as doing it, where your entire field of vision is covered and you can easily get vertigo. But I don't blame Hunting too much for that; his job was to boil down the VR experience so people can enjoy it on a 2D screen, and the film is mostly successful in that respect. The film was shot using a virtual camera that could mimic all of the functionality of a typical shooter, from focus points to aperture levels. So even though it's produced in an alien environment most people aren't familiar with, it still feels like a traditional documentary.

Hunting has spent the past few years making VR documentaries, starting with a few short films, as well as the series Virtually Speaking. Its clear from We Met in Virtual Reality that hes not just dropping into the community for a quick story. Instead, he sees the humanity behind the avatars and virtual connections. These people aren't just escaping from their lives with VR their lives are being made richer because of it.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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2 Stocks to Invest in Virtual Reality – Motley Fool

Posted: at 11:47 pm

Virtual reality (VR) is one of the hottest trends in tech right now, thanks to the growing popularity of concepts such as the metaverse as well as the utility of this technology in popular niches such as video gaming.

Mordor Intelligence estimates that the virtual reality market could clock a compound annual growth rate of 34% through 2026, pointing toward a sharp increase in sales of VR hardware. More specifically, VR device shipments are expected to jump to 112.6 million units in 2026 compared to just 13.5 million units in 2020.

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors can take advantage of this fast-growing market through Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). While Meta is already taking advantage of the VR opportunity, Apple is rumored to be joining the fray in 2022. Let's see why investors looking to buy VR stocks shouldn't overlook these tech giants.

Social media giant Facebook announced in October last year that it would be rebranding itself as Meta Platforms to reflect its focus on developing the metaverse. This concept is aimed at helping people collaborate in a three-dimensional virtual world to work, study, play, or work out, among many other activities.

Meta points outthat virtual reality will be a key building block of the metaverse, which explains why the company will be investing significantly in this technology in the future. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the October 2021 earnings conference call that the company is "building multiple generations of our VR and AR products at the same time," and it was on track to invest $10 billion on these technologies last year.

Meta plans to increase its investment in this area in the long run, so it won't be surprising to see it dominate a market where it already has a head start. For instance, Meta leads the VR headset market by a huge margin. Counterpoint Research estimatesthat Meta's Oculus VR headset controlled 75% of the market in the first quarter of 2021, recording a massive increase from its market share of 34% in the prior-year period.

This puts Meta in a terrific position to benefit from the augmented reality (AR) and VR headset market that's expected to grow nearly tenfoldin the next four years. Counterpoint Research estimates that AR/VR headset shipments could jump to 105 million units in 2025 from an estimated 11 million units last year.

Meta is pulling out all stops to capture this massive growth. The company is reportedly working on the next generation of its Oculus Quest VR headset projected to hit the market in 2023. However, analysts expect Meta to launch another VR headset in the second quarter of 2022 that could give users a more immersive experience.

What's more, Meta has partnered with Ray-Ban parent EssilorLuxottica to offer smart glasses. The two companies launched the Ray-Ban Stories series of smart glasses in September 2021 at a starting price of $299. This could unlock another opportunity for Meta as Mordor Intelligence expects the smart-glass market to generate almost $8 billion in revenue by 2026 compared to $3.9 billion in 2020.

All this indicates that Meta could turn out to be a top VR stock in the long run. Its annual earnings could grow faster than Wall Street's projectionof 21% for the next five years as the VR market continues to expand. That's why investors looking to make the most of this market should consider buying Meta stock as it is tradingat 24 times trailing earnings -- a discount to the S&P 500's multipleof 28.5.

Apple is a consumer electronics giant that sells popular products ranging from iPhones to iPads and MacBooks. So, it is not surprising to see reports of the tech titan entering the AR/VR headset market.

Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saidin December 2021 that Apple could launch its first-generation headset in 2022, followed by another device in the second half of 2024. Naturally, Apple hasn't officially confirmed the existence of such a device, but there are further indications that the iPhone maker looks set to make the jump into the lucrative AR/VR headset space.

Citing anonymous sources aware of Apple's headset development plans, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 14 that the company's first mixed reality headset -- supporting both AR and VR -- could hit the market in 2023 instead of this year. The report points out that Apple was originally planning to reveal the device this year at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Development challenges faced by the company have probably led it to delay the release by a few months.

While that may be a near-term setback, the important thing to note here is that there is now more evidence of Apple being in the mix for AR/VR headsets. It is also worth noting that Apple is working on a mixed-reality device combining both AR and VR. This could be an important selling point for Apple's device since it can give users the best of both worlds.

Apple is reportedly looking to price its headset at $2,000 at least. That may seem expensive, but investors should note that the average selling price (ASP) of an AR headset stoodabove $1,800 in 2020, while that of a VR headset was $357. So, Apple's mixed-reality headset could find takers since consumers won't have to spend on two different devices.

Apple reportedly expects to sell 7 million to 10 million units of its headset in the first year, which indicates that this could turn out to be a multibillion-dollar product for the company given the estimated price point. Additionally, it won't be surprising to see Apple achieve its sales target, given the massive iOS ecosystem with an installed base of 1.65 billiondevices at the beginning of 2021.

Apple is in a terrific position to cross-sell its anticipated headset to a huge customer base, and that could make it a top tech stock to benefit from the VR space.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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