Category Archives: Evolution

Electronic music has grown from dark, often literally underground clubs to perhaps the most dominant musicalforce across the globe today. In that time there have been, like all styles of music, progressions, evolutions, and trends, but perhaps no electronic genre has had a more precipitous rise and underlying influence on the popular takeover of EDM than trance.Its ability to convey soaring heights of emotion was critical to the foundation of sounds that fullybroughtelectronic music into the mainstream andintostadiums the world over.

One of trance's most enduring acts is German duo Cosmic Gate. Coming up in the late 90s during the genre's commercial heyday, Claus Terhoeven aka Nic Chagall and Stefan Bossems aka Bossi have beentopping bills and selling out shows for over two decades. Their unique ability to instil music with heartfelt emotion and euphoric builds and releases whilenever loosing that danceable beat has influenced an entire generation of DJs.

Even withthe whole world at a standstill the duo have remained busy, putting out a new single and the fourth instalment of their Wake Your Mind Session series, so we thought it might be fun to catch up with them and see how they're holding up.

This is what they had to say.

Yourlatest single 'Universal Love' seems a very appropriate anthem for these trying times we find ourselves in. Take me through how the song came together and the thinking behind it.

First of all, some background info. The original vocal from 'Universal Love' was written about 25 years ago from the Belgian group Natural Born Groovesand singer Bibi, and it was a popular track in the clubs we used toDJin back in the day in Germany.

About the new version; we started working on beats, baseline, etc, without having the 'Universal Love' vocal in mind at all, so as I said, we started working on the music, literally everything as you know it now, and at some point during the production, we felt the instrumental might need a vocal to fully live up to its potential. So then the search started, and after a while of trying out certain things and ideas, we somehow stumbled over this old tune, which we literallyhadn't listened to for over a decade: 'Universal Love'!

Long story short, we sampled and tried the vocal out, and fortunately it fit into the harmonies like it was literally made for the music. Sometimes you have to be lucky, and we were. Our record company then contacted with the original writers, and fortunately the guys liked what we did, and kindly gave us permission for the use of the vocal. So we'd like to say thank you very much to NBG for the clearing and permission of using the vocal, we hope everyone shares NBG's and our vision when listening to this in the new contextof ourmusic.

A lot of emotion in music gets conveyed through vocals, which you guys utilise a lot very effectively, butyou'realso masters at giving your instrumentals, either underneath vocals or on their own, a lot of emotion too. How do you convey emotion in electronic instrumentation?

Thats avery good question, emotions are something very subjective, two people can listen to one song, and one is totally touched while the other maybe doesn't feel at all what the writer felt when composing the music. And that's what we do, we try to write emotional music, music that touches us personally, something that hopefully goes a little deeper when listening. We try to create melodies and harmonies that speak to people's hearts, hopefully. Melodies that maybe make you want to fly, or dream, or make you want tell someone I love you. We want to write music that makes people feel, start to feel, as we once said and named one of our albums. This is most important to us.

When you started in 1999 stage production was obviously not nearly as big a deal as it is now. How has the dramatic increase of visuals over the years influenced your music?

This is true, back in the late 90s aDJ was playing, and for sure no individual visuals were played, this was unthinkable, as funny as it sounds now. Good visuals now are simply a great support for the music. On a big new album tour as we had with Forward Ever Backward Never or the Materiatour before, the visuals were an important extra to the music. Don't we all love it when music and visuals seem to blend into one? And that's why we like to have this support. Visuals are important, but most important still is the music. Music will always be first, so for us, the visuals do not influence the music we write, but they certainly can lift a show to another level.

I'veread you talking about how 'Exploration of Space' needed some time to really take off. These days it seems like most artists and labels are worried that if a track doesn't take off immediately it'll get lost in theever flowingrelease of new content thanks to streaming. Is this something you think about? Especially when deciding what to release as a single and when to release it?

Yes, we said this, and it is true. The first times we played EOS it went over well, but we sure did not expect it to be our biggest hit maybe ever. What we shouldn't forget here, this was about 20 years ago, is the scene was different, and music sometimes took months and months to build. A tune could be a hit somewhere and it took many months or longer until it developed in another part of the globe, simplybecausethe physical vinyl orCD release in that area had not happened yet.

On top of that, no global radio show like nowadays would reach literally every trance fan on the same day, which is another big difference to how things were. Still, we feel some tracks in 2020 do need longer than others, and the ones that do certainly are not a bad choice. So when picking a single, we certainly do not go for what's obvious, we simply choose a single bywhat we think has the most long term potential, and if it takes a bit longer for some parts of theaudienceto like or understand it, that won't stop us from releasing it.

Trance songs are often quite lengthy to allow for the song to progress and build, but radio often favours short, punchy tracks. How do you balance wanting to be true to your vision with a desire for the music to be heard?

This is actually a very good question, as it's a big problem, not only with trance music. Whoever has seen the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, there is this scene when Queen argue about what their next single should be, and this famous label A&R can't wrap his head around a song over three minutes evenbeing an option to be released as a single. And as you say, it's a big issue still nowadays. For us to get our music to make sense in three minutes is literally impossible, four minutes can even sometimes be a mission.

What we do is we go as far as we can, but if a song makes senseat 4.20 and not 3.40, to give an example, then we go for the longer version, knowing we take away the chanceofcertain stations playing the song just for these stupid reasons. But we think emotions can't be cut too short, sometimes a good story simply needs time to be told.

What is the division of labour between you two? How do you divide what aspects of the music each of you are responsible for?

Back in theday we literally did everything together. DJ, production, interviews, living on the same street, we would even start our travels togetherby pickingeach other up and heading towards the airport together. These days we do not live next door anymore, on top of that, somehow the amount of work around what we dobecamemore intense and time consuming. Producing takes way more time than back in the day, social media and media presence in general is more important, the radio shows come on top and so for all these reasons, we step by step divided certain aspects a little more. Work on music at first happens more individually on the road, not in the home studio as much anymore, the radio show or some written interviews get done individually, just some small examples how it's different now, than it used to be when we started.

Having performed all over the world several times over, do audience reactions vary from country to country or does music hit everyone similarly?

Yes, we feel music hits everyone similarly somehow. To say Australians outparty Europeans, or Americans go harder than Asians wouldn't be fair. There are amazing crowds all around the globe, and we are in the lucky position that our fans follow us to our shows, they come for our specific kind of sound, which turns most shows, no matter where we are, literally into kind of home games if we might say so. This is very special and unique and we very much appreciate our fans for being so loyal to what we do for so many years.

Obviouslymost of the world is currently stuck at home. How are you spending your unexpected free time? Following the trend of trying to learn a new skill?

It's kind of funny, but still without shows happening and flying around the globe as we were used to, therearestill so many things to do. Write and produce new music, each our own productions too, remixes, we did the WYMS004 Mix Album, the weekly radio show, interviews like here, we do liveDJ mixes from our homes, etc, etc. We are everythingbutbored while surely being at home more than we've ever been in the last 20 plus years, so this is also a time of resting up, reflecting and recharging our batteries for a bit, if this will result in some new skills, let's see!

Theresa lot of looking back these days while we're all at home. Can you choose one of your favourite festival experiences and tell us about it?

Fortunately, therehave beenso many of these experiences, one of the most recent ones was A State Of Trace 900 in Mexico City last year in September. Long story short, the crowd was simply electric, still now thinking about it, the feeling up there on stage was unreal. No DJ could ever wish to play for such an amazing crowd. We are thankful for such an experience to lift us that high after so many years on the road.

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Cosmic Gate on Emotion in Music, Evolution, and New Music - Festicket

Former WWE Superstar Maryse appeared on this weeks episode of WWEs The Bump. Maryse joined her husband The Miz on the WWE Network show to discuss a number of topics from their careers, in and out of the ring. One of the points looked at was the difference between the Womens division in WWE back when Maryse was an active in-ring performer and now. When Maryse was part of the Divas division, it was relegated to shorter matches and barely any TV time for promos.

Isnt it crazy how much its changed Maryse would begin on the show. Back then just having two minutes on TV, and how much we fought and how much it was a war backstage for us to get the time to be able to connect with the crowd? To just have a microphone? To be able to just, you know, get your character out there?

Maryse would elaborate further, discussing emotionally how the Evolution all womens PPV was a dream for her and her colleagues in the WWE at the time. If you would have told us that one day Evolution was gonna be a pay per view that was just all about the Womens division? I think we wouldve all cried, because we were fighting so hard to get that spot, that time.

The former Divas Champion would then talk about the difficult times she had in WWE but also being proud of where the Womens division has go to. But seeing how it is now today? Im proud. I really enjoyed my time, even though it was the very difficult at times? I really enjoyed the years that I was there, maybe I think it really shaped the person I am today. You know were all fighters I think. We created a sisterhood, you know? These girls they will talk to each other and were allits justwe all get very emotional when we talk about that. Because it was the thing that we were fighting for every every single week for years.

The WWE Womens division has certainly had more visibility over the past couple of years, with Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair main eventing WrestleMania 35 the start of a major shift in perception for the company. Whether WWE continues to push the divisions in way they should be remains to be seen.

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please creditThe Bumpwith a h/t toWrestlingNews.cofor the transcription

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Maryse talks the evolution of Womens wrestling in WWE - Wrestling News

It was barely over a decade ago that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) exposed the brittle, crisis-ridden, and polarising edifices of economic, political and cultural power that structure our lives. Marx was read widely again; the Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring movements captured the imagination of a new generation of young people and the term crony capitalism was mainstreamed. And at the end of it all, we got Trump, Boris Johnson, Narendra Modi, Sisi, Imran Khan and others whose leadership or lack thereof has been exposed, once and for all, over the past few weeks. But COVID-19 can prove to be a very different shot in our collective arm. Historians use the term contingency to refer to the outcomes in social life triggered by unpredictable events, which end up shaping the future in profound ways. As we speak, people in Pakistan and the rest of the world are breaking out of their alienated shells to do whatever they can to stem the virus; offsetting ruling establishments without the ability or willingness to respond to a burgeoning human catastrophe. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases have passed the 2.9 million mark throughout the world, and the death toll stands at over 203,000.

The world after Covid-19 is heading somewhere completely different. It seems inevitable that we will see radical changes in several spheres, such as territorial nation-states, globalisation, the global economic order, diplomatic and military relations, national interests and social life. The differences between poor and rich countries, the criteria for being considered developed and under-developed, and even domestic policies and political systems will change this pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic will have a massive impact on globalisation and from now on, countries will follow a more sovereign policy where they meet their own needs through domestic production. This will change Chinas approach that they will supply everyone.

The survival of the fittest mentality that dominates the world must give way to an organised politics to transform ourselves and the planet

Chinas position as a centre of trade attraction will be open to debate. There will be large-scale changes economically and, as a result, an economic crisis will affect the whole world. There will be fundamental changes in the fields of education and healthcare. There will be a new culture of a more inward-looking social life and social distancing.

That the rich and powerful are calling this a global crisis betrays the everyday crises experienced by the poor, oppressed ethnic/racial communities, women, and religious minorities in countries like ours. They navigate unaccountable states and brazen class privilege, let alone successive imperialist wars, perpetual state/non-state terror, and ecological breakdown. Capitalism as it plays out beyond the glam and glitter of shopping malls, gated housing communities and the fetish of commodities is a crisis, a scandal, a blot on our collective conscience. Indeed, in the event that the virus spreads in the slums, markets and farms of South Asia and Africa, the wretched of the earth will again carry the heaviest burden. Second, even if this mass pandemic does not do as much damage as is feared, it is apparent that corporate agricultural and industrial practices along with a reckless financial sector will generate more existential moments whether pandemics or fallouts, caused by global warming.

The US, the UK and other governments bailing out big business confirm that the free market is a sham. Spain has nationalised private hospitals; France waived utility bills and Europe is in the throes of an unprecedented push for indiscriminate basic income schemes to get working people through an impending economic recession. The fact that public health infrastructures in rich countries like the US, the UK and Italy are buckling demolishes whatever claim to legitimacy neoliberalism had left. Nation-states will become much more isolationist while developing economic policies to meet their own needs. The survival of the fittest mentality that dominates the world must give way to an organised politics to transform ourselves and the planet. For Pakistanis, it is prime time to perform our social responsibilities, not as a party worker as a nation for the development of the socio-economic structure.

The whole world is now looking inward and isolationism which is likely to be a driver for both economic and foreign policy. The global effects of the coronavirus show that the post-coronavirus world order will not be the same. We are entering a period when the phenomenon of globalisation has, in a way, collapsed; even the most democratic countries have closed their borders, and cautious, introverted nationalism has come to the fore once again. In particular, each state will learn to stand on its own two feet on the matter of healthcare. The coronavirus has started to make a profound impact on individuals, communities, and countries. What matters the most is that leaders who reach information first, manage it transparently, and invest in people instead of maintaining narrow policies, will be the winners.

The writer is a legal practitioner and columnist. He can be reached at shahrukhmehboob4@gmail.com

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Evolution of the New Global System - Daily Times

The original fieldwork for the annual BFPG Survey of Public Opinion on the UKs Role in the World report was completed in January and February 2020 in the early spectre of the Coronavirus crisis, but before it had been declared a pandemic and any restrictions on daily lift had come into force. There was no sense at this time that the disease would escalate as rapidly and dramatically as came to pass, and it therefore did not enter into our survey as an explicit nor implicit force. Some three months on, the national and global landscape has been utterly transformed.

One of the most challenging aspects of researching the social and political consequences of the crisis has been the volatile and nebulous nature of public opinion. The pandemic could provide the grist to the mill to accelerate existing trends; equally, it could diffuse the salience of certain issues. There is also every chance that much of the movement we see in public opinion during this time will re-stabilise in the aftermath of the pandemic and the age of our new normal.

At the end of April and the start of May, we re-ran a portion of the survey selected to identify areas of fluctuation in public opinion. These questions are on the frontline of issues brought to focus in the pandemic, and address how the COVID-19 crisis is being assessed against other issues, citizens instinctive preferences for the UKs role in the world, their trust in the government, and our relationships with other nations.

In this paper, we set out the evolving nature of UK public opinion on international affairs during the coronavirus pandemic, mapping the shifts taking place and emerging trends since we benchmarked citizens attitudes in January and February 2020. We conclude that it will be necessary to treat this data-set as a kind of time-series analysis, with future data points in the Summer and the Autumn of 2020, and beyond. Understanding the evolution of public opinion on these issues will continue to be critically important to formulating the strategies by which to engage the British population and build public consent around the Integrated Review and the Governments vision for a truly Global Britain.

FIELDWORK: Conducted by Opinium Research, 29 April to 1 May 2020. Sample: 2,000 UK adults aged 18+. Survey results are weighted to nationally and politically representative criteria.

The full annual report will be published later during May 2020.

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The Evolution of UK Public Opinion in the COVID-19 Pandemic - BFPG

Digital TV Europe is partnering with Teleste to present a webinar on the topic of what operators must do to future-proof their networks in the face of growing capacity needs.

Join Stuart Thomson, editor of Digital TV Europe, as he discusses the issues surrounding distributed access networks with a number of senior figures from Teleste on May 19 at 3pm BST.

The webinar focuses on the cable industrys biggest challenge for the 2020s: the ongoing network transformation and how to answer the growing need for network capacity generated by consumers and businesses alike. The key issues highlighted will revolve around distributed access networks as well as higher data transmission frequencies enabled by the DOCSIS 4.0 specifications:

In addition, the webinar also provides latest news and product launches from Teleste, introduced by the companys leading experts:

WEBINAR SPEAKERSHanno Narjus, Senior Vice President, Network ProductsOlli Leppnen, Vice President, Distributed AccessJulius Tikkanen, Vice President, Video Service PlatformsRami Kimari, Vice President, HFC ProductsVesa Veijalainen, Vice President, Passive and Indoor Network Products

MODERATORStuart Thomson, Editor, Digital TV Europe

Register for the webinar now

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Digital TV Europe to host webinar on network evolution Digital TV Europe - Digital TV Europe

Investors in Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:EPM) had a good week, as its shares rose 5.8% to close at US$2.93 following the release of its third-quarter results. It looks to have been a decent result overall - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$7.7m, statutory earnings beat expectations by a notable 154%, coming in at US$0.11 per share. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Evolution Petroleum

AMEX:EPM Past and Future Earnings May 9th 2020

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus, from the three analysts covering Evolution Petroleum, is for revenues of US$24.6m in 2021, which would reflect a concerning 33% reduction in Evolution Petroleum's sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to crater 87% to US$0.047 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$29.2m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.14 in 2021. It looks like sentiment has declined substantially in the aftermath of these results, with a real cut to revenue estimates and a large cut to earnings per share numbers as well.

It'll come as no surprise then, to learn thatthe analysts have cut their price target 18% to US$4.50. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Evolution Petroleum at US$5.50 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$3.50. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with the forecast 33% revenue decline a notable change from historical growth of 11% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 9.2% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that Evolution Petroleum's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for Evolution Petroleum. Unfortunately, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates revenues are expected to perform worse than the wider industry. Even so, earnings per share are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. The consensus price target fell measurably, with the analysts seemingly not reassured by the latest results, leading to a lower estimate of Evolution Petroleum's future valuation.

Story continues

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Evolution Petroleum. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for Evolution Petroleum going out to 2021, and you can see them free on our platform here.

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Evolution Petroleum (of which 1 is significant!) you should know about.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Evolution Petroleum Corporation Just Beat EPS By 154%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next - Yahoo Finance

Football has changed dramatically even in my life time. I remember as a young boy attending my first ever game at Highbury, to watch David Seamans testimonial against Barcelona. Although the result didnt go the way of Arsenal, I recall feelings of excitement, anticipation and pure unrelenting passion for the game. Highbury was a cauldron of noise, and the players on show were some of the best I have ever seen live or on television. My footballing appreciation began at the end of the 1990s and through to the present day. Along this journey I was lucky enough to witness the greatest period in my teams history, and perhaps that in itself swayed my opinion on when the golden years of football began and ended. Despite my loaded opinion of the facts, I want to review the evolution of football in the last 25 years and create an informed argument for which changes were for the better, and which changes fuel the nostalgia of all football fans to this day.

Undoubtedly, the first thing all football fans recall when they reflect on their teams history is the players. This is perhaps the most perceptive topic up for debate in this discussion. This was made very clear recently by Gary Lineker, Ian Wright, and Alan Shearer on BBC Ones MOTD: Top Ten series. Although we can all agree there are certain players who will remain in premier league folklore for all eternity, many of whom played for my beloved club, the apparent lack of agreement from some of the great pundits (and ex-players) demonstrated how much of a challenge it is to definitively choose the best.

Nevertheless, one clear settlement between these footballing minds was that the majority of the greatest players in Premier League history played in the era I personally describe as the golden years (1995-2005). Upon closer examination of the lists chosen by Wright, Shearer and Lineker, it became obvious that they also favoured the titans of this period. The lists consisted of Schmeichel, Vieira, Cantona, Henry and obviously Shearer himself, all of whom helped to shape the game through their pure class and skill. I am prepared to accept however, that there may have been a hint of bias involved in the selection process. When you consider the age of the pundits broadcasting their picks, and the teams they played for, you can make a solid argument for some element of favouritism. Despite this, a number of modern players made their lists too, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Petr Cech receiving honourable mentions and praise. Dont get me wrong, the players mentioned, along with many other incredible talents (for example Drogba said through gritted teeth after he single-handedly destroyed my dreams of seeing Arsenal win a trophy at the 2007 League Cup Final in front of my very eyes), deserve their place in the history books just as much as the old school players. The argument I am making is that, despite their undeniable talent, they dont have the same raw emotion; they dont have the same warrior like attitudes; they dont have the same chemistry with me as a football fan.

Verdict A win for the team we will refer to as the Nostalgia Generation 1995-2005.

If I was asked to name the most successful managers in Premier League history, three names immediately come to mind. Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Now, evidently these managers had extremely successful careers that spanned both the Nostalgia Generation and the Modern Generation. This makes a reasoned argument more challenging and perhaps individual reviews in a later blog post would help to provide clarity. However, in the spirit of making an informed choice, we can begin to consider other managers that helped to shape football both positively and negatively. The 1996 European Championships gave England fans perhaps their fondest memories of near success, until the most recent 2018 World Cup campaign. Terry Venables manufactured a team of superstars to challenge the old foes Germany, with a penalty shootout again proving to be our downfall. Perhaps, based on the players reviews of Terry as a manager in a recent ITV documentary on the tournament, we can add El Tel to the list of success stories.

It is also worth mentioning at this point that some of the greatest managers in Premier League history are still plying their trade there now. Pep Guardiola and Jrgen Klopp are dominating a league now fuelled by the super-rich, super stadiums and super television coverage. This evolution for football fans is undoubtedly a positive one, but can their success be compared to the success of former greats like Ferguson and Wenger, when you consider the differences in budgets and facilities. The argument I am trying to make is if Jrgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola managed Manchester United in 1999 would they have won the treble? If Jrgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola had managed Arsenal in 2004 would they have achieved the invincible season? My overall feeling based on the copious matches, interviews and new stories I have observed regarding these two giants of football management is yes, they may well have done.

Verdict A win for the Modern Generation when you consider the Ferguson, Wenger and Mourinho also creep into this catchment along with the Pep and Jrgen.

As an Arsenal fan I experienced the full spectrum of emotions that comes with moving from a smaller, more intimate ground, to a bigger super-stadium. The memories of Thierry Henry kissing the turf after scoring a hat-trick on the Gunners last ever game there, or my first ever visit to the magnificent home of Arsenal will always make me miss Highbury. I do however understand why we had to move. In the evolving world of football, money is king and if you want to compete you need to generate and spend currency wisely. Despite this fact, does it mean that moving stadiums was the right thing to do?

Anfield is perhaps one of the greatest and most iconic stadiums in English football. Steeped with history and success, an away game at Anfield under the lights is something a lot of teams still fear to this day. This stadium has a capacity of 54,074, significantly lower than the Emirates Stadium or Old Trafford, and yet it inflicts fear in the hearts of players and fans alike. Some of the greatest atmospheres I have experienced at football stadiums in my life have come from the lower leagues. Passionate fans, for whom their season ticket is their pride and joy, automatically renewed and never forgotten. In the 1990s and the early 2000s iconic English stadiums had that same buzz. Players-turned-pundits like Gary Neville, Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher openly admit the intimidation they felt travelling to away games at the countries big sporting venues. If I ask myself whether players feel that way now, in the super stadiums, with the vastly expansive high-tech changing facilities and platinum level service, my response would be I doubt it.

Verdict A win for the Nostalgia Generation what I wouldnt give for one more end of the season title decider at Highbury.

Everybody remembers the walk to their famous ground, the half time food and the programme stalls. Our footballing memories fuel our passion for game and create an unbreakable bond with the sport that we love. I remember attending another game as a young man, in a lower league play off, where the songs that the fans were singing were definitely more entertaining than the football on show. The songs were a connection between home and away, often taunting but usually in good spirits. The language was often colourful and not often repeated to your grandparents when you saw them for Sunday lunch. However, the character created the atmosphere, and this created the memories for me. Football has always been about the fans, and that is why it can be difficult to see the super stadiums of today often empty. Super wealthy season ticket holders who dont attend, overpriced match day tickets that dont sell, or a global audience that has grown so far that fans cannot geographically commit to match days.

Living close to Leeds, my local team is Leeds United. This is an example of a club that still retained the fan base of their glory years. They have a stadium which is definitely still intimidating, and an atmosphere still revered throughout English football. So why is this? I can tell you from the experiences of close friends who follow Leeds, it is because it is so difficult to get a ticket for a match day. Leeds United sell out their 37,890 seater stadium regularly. Admittedly, it needs some renovation and the burgers there are absolutely abysmal, but it feels like a traditional football stadium. It feels like the memories I have of football growing up. I am sure this can also be said for many grounds around the country, ones I am yet to visit and hope to see in the future. There is no substitute for live football, in a packed stadium, with noisy fans and a great atmosphere. This is definitely an area that the bigger clubs could learn a thing or two about, including my beloved Arsenal in their new super stadium. Dont get me wrong, the facilities nowadays are fantastic, the food exceptional and the views incredible, but this doesnt substitute for an atmosphere where the hairs on the back of your neck stand up for the full 90 minutes.

Verdict A win for the Nostalgia Generation bring back Final Countdown Europe sung across the North and South Terrace any day of the week.

Conclusion

Whilst I am aware this is probably still totally biased, I am unapologetically crowning the Nostalgia Generation of 1995-2005 as the winners of this review. The Golden Years for me, as an Arsenal fan, but also as a football fan, coincided with a group of players who gave everything on the pitch; when the game was not dominated by cash and mega-rich owners; when managers wore the hearts on their sleeves and often had them ripped off on the touch line; when stadiums were smaller, more intimate and packed to the rafters with true football fans who gave up every weekend in devotion to their team. Although I love football now, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life, I will always have a special place in my heart for the Nostalgia Generation and I thank them for the joy they gave, and continue to give, to me.

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FOOTBALL'S EVOLUTION: WHEN WERE THE 'GOLDEN YEARS'? - SportingFerret

As motor vehicles became more popular between the wars, segregation of traffic flows in towns, cities, trunk roads, and their junctions became necessary to prevent drivers of private vehicles, buses and lorries migrating from the established left lane driving. Driving on the left had originated from the leading of a horse with the right hand!

In 1935, a driving competency test was introduced to mitigate the rising incidents from drivers reverting to free spirit driving, occasionally cutting corners on either two wheels or four.

The pavements were in many cases non-existent. Kerbs and drainage were developing with carriageway design improvements. The pedestrian crossing, the roundabout and other traffic segregation systems were to come later driven by the alarming injury statistics particularly among children and cyclists who shared the carriageway with the increasingly popular motor car.

The first bollards were often boulders, rocks, wooden or cast iron posts, on the verge to prevent the vehicles from moving off the metaled surface to the soft undulating surfaces at the edges of the road.

The explosive volume of vehicles registered for road use in the post-war years has meant an almost constant review of the segregation of road users. With its densely populated geography, each decade the UK is challenged with having to adapt it's traffic separation technologies to suit the new world of developing vehicle technology.

The transition from boulder or post with the words' keep left' written on them to a fully interactive driverless vehicle interface is within reach and could only be limited by a pedestrian's or a driver's understanding of whether the third party can recognise their presence and what their likely corresponding actions might be.

Cast iron bollard frames with glass prism reflectors inset within 'keep left' wording, progressed to illuminated and legislated directional sign traffic signs within sheet steel shells.

These, in turn, gave way to base lit trans-illuminated rotationally moulded box type bollards that were initially frangible and latterly deformable in response to impact.

Illuminated panels with appropriate signage were key to visibility at night where the roads were suitably illuminated. Though curiously bollards did not have to be illuminated when the need was greatest when there was no street lighting.

The current library of bollard products available to a traffic engineer is varied and can be confusing to most. An innovation that gained in popularity around the time of the millennium was the advent of the retroreflective self-righting bollard (RSRB).

This development was being influenced by the preceding advances in retroreflective materials as found on most traffic signs. The prime requirement for traffic signs is that they should be visible and readable both from a distance and at speed, particularly when picked out by the approach of vehicle headlights.

The micro prismatic capture and bounce back of light from vehicle lights back to the eye of the driver via the sign face are fundamental to the operation of the modern signs. It is therefore not surprising that the technology should migrate from the road sign to the bollard.

The challenges of the retroreflection in relation to the position of the driver in the vehicle are relevant here.

The entrance and exit angle of light impacting the sign face material is about two degrees. Due to the integrated prismatic structure of the material, the reflection can work over a range of about + or- 15 degrees.

A number of manufacturers make materials with slightly different performance, but they are all generically similar, as the production processes and the standards typically lead manufacturers to solve the same challenges with very similar solutions.

The challenge with a two-degree entrance and exit for light transmission and return is that the drivers of many commercial vehicles can typically sit more than two metres away and above their downward optimised headlights. This means that when they approach a hazard, like for instance a roundabout or a pedestrian shielding island, they may see an intense reflection from 200 metres away as they approach, but if they are examining a complimentary sign, such as navigation or directional sign on a roundabout they may drive beyond the narrow reflective window of the RSRB.

The reading of a sign may take two seconds, during which the vehicle will have travelled 25 metres at circa 30 miles per hour and out of the illumination zone as they get closer to the navigational object. In that time they may miss an important complementary instruction or worse still a person or child who is alongside. Clearly, the faster the approach the proportionally, more distance is travelled.

Recent improvements of LED headlights with corresponding reflector improvements have reduced the amount of stray light. This may result in the reflection of the sign or bollard to the driver occurring later and so may lead to more stories to the constabulary of 'well it leapt out in front of me officer' when the intense reflection is then seen.

Modern retroreflective self-righting bollard design tends to follow one of two methodologies. The first is a deformable shaped bollard where the body is rotationally moulded using a polymer with a 'memory'.

This means that when it is impacted, the polymer shape deforms and collapses as a vehicle passes over the unit in the same way any plastic might deform when impacted. Once the vehicle has passed, then the bollard returns to its original form. These units can, if required, be illuminated from within the sign or from a conventional base lit system.

The second method, a knuckle joint bollard, has had more than one iteration. One version was developed in the United States using a pair of flexible cables tensioned against a spring mechanism to give a universal joint with limited rotational movement. A similar version was developed in Australia using a flexible polymer joint. Both systems sold very well and are still available today.

These have now been surpassed by dense polymer springback knuckle type joints attached to a more rigid lozenge blade type bollard.

The standards that retroreflective bollards are designed to are BS 8442 and BS EN 12899. These refer us to the international passive safety standard BS EN 12767 of which many readers will be familiar. In simple terms, the standard is designed to measure the deceleration of a car on impacting an installed piece of street furniture while the impacted structure deformed.

However, in the case of bollards impacted at the speeds of 50kph up to 100kph, this impact on a passenger is barely measurable. The tests take place on an open carriageway with the road clearance as per the design of the car.

Unfortunately, very few bollards are in fact set in the open carriageway. Most will be set up onto islands, which can give very different results when a vehicle impacts the installation.

One particular difficulty can be when the vehicle straddles the island so that the sump of the engine acts as a shearing surface and consequently the bollard may become detached. This can be exacerbated as the front of the car typically compresses downwards under hard braking.

The other enemy of the modern bollard is the scrubbing action of the multiple rear wheels of an articulated vehicle when turning sharply over a bollard installation. The resultant actions may obliterate a costly and highly relevant strategic road installation in seconds.

Solar-powered bollards are an additional tool in the traffic engineers armoury of products. These are not fit and forget solutions like the retroreflective models, and careful selection is needed as they may not be as robust in their capabilities as their specifications might suggest. Serviceability is an important factor for both the engineer and the suppliers in this field. Some products have the ability to be warranted for up to five years.

But is the future for bollards, as with traffic signs, in jeopardy?

Autonomous vehicle deployment is inevitably going to gain in popularity. The consequent improvement in pedestrian and animal detection is part and parcel of this technology, and so maybe the bollard has had its day. If the driving system navigates the protected obstacle, then is there really any need for a bollard?

The confidence and the experience of the adult pedestrian who wishes to navigate safely across the carriageway is second nature, but when the child who is obscured behind the lighting column base or other piece of street furniture steps out into the road in front a vehicle at literally no notice, then an autonomous system fails. Perhaps the jaywalking regulations of the USA may become necessary here on this side of the Atlantic.

The positioning of the bollard in the middle of the road may, however, be its saviour though. Much has been said, during this recent coronavirus crisis, about air quality. Where better to measure air quality than in the middle of the road? Road surface temperature can be recorded for gritting purposes.

Other possibilities for extending the use of the bollard exist; traffic counting with interactive signage could divert traffic to a secondary lane, or even close the lane while the traffic density reduces.

Modular microphones, loudspeakers and cameras could be integrated as either permanent or temporary inclusions. Radar reflection from the bollard structure by internal radar signal enhancement could be used to assist the other driving technologies.

Whatever the advances, if we knew the answers before others, we would be millionaires. The challenge with all technologies is twofold. Cost and robustness are key, but with the many advances in smart technologies all around us, the sustainability and advances of the surrounding technologies need to stabilise to allow for a considered approach.

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ARTSM: The evolution of traffic bollards technology - Highways Magazine

Editors note: We have received some queries as to whether this post is true or a gag. While liberally mixing in truth (see the hyperlinks), it is indeed an April Fools Day joke!

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) was founded in 1976 by a prominent American atheist and abortion advocate. As the foundations website explains: The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion.

The website also features a quote from Charles Darwins unabridged autobiography: I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true this is a damnable doctrine. Appropriately, FFRF has in the past honored prominent Darwinists Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Lawrence Krauss (among others) with its prestigious Emperor Has No Clothes award.

Although FFRF devotes most of its energy to stamping out public displays of Christianity, it has also opposed the teaching of intelligent design (ID). According to ID, it is possible to infer from evidence in nature that some features of the world, including some features of living things, result from intelligence rather than unguided natural processes. Since ID contradicts Darwins core (and atheism-friendly) belief that evolution was unguided, FFRF has long regarded ID as a form of religious creationism. As such, FFRF argues that ID cannot legally be taught in publicly funded institutions.

The crowning achievement in FFRFs crusade against ID was its 2013 takedown of Professor Eric Hedin (pronounced he-DEEN) at Ball State University (BSU) in Indiana. Evolutionary biologist and FFRF Honorary Board member Jerry Coyne led the charge. Up until 2013, BSU physics professor Eric Hedin had taught an interdisciplinary honors elective that emphasized the relationships of the sciences to human concerns and society. It explored differing viewpoints on a number of issues, including intelligent design, and the assigned readings included critics as well as defenders of ID. Hedin had prepared the class in accordance with university regulations through the usual processes.

FFRF wrote a letter to BSU complaining that Hedin was engaged in religious proselytizing. BSU ended up cancelling Hedins course.

The following September, University of Washington evolutionary biologist David Barash published a piece in the New York Times titled God, Darwin, and My College Biology Class. Barash wrote:

Every year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isnt, as you might expect, about sex, but about evolution and religion, and how they get along. More to the point, how they dont.

He continued:

The more we know of evolution, the more unavoidable is the conclusion that living things, including human beings, are produced by a natural, totally amoral process, with no indication of a benevolent, controlling creator.

According to one student, Barash then had his class of 200 undergraduates sing his version of a Hank Williams classic:

Ive wandered so aimless, life filled with doubt.I didnt know what truth was about.Then Darwin came like a stranger in the night.Praise evolution, I saw the light!

I saw the light, I saw the light.No more darkness, no more night.No higher power, but Im oh so bright.Praise evolution, I saw the light!

Inspired by Barash, FFRF added the following logo to their stationery, Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief. Two members of FFRFs Executive Board of Directors had misgivings about adopting the logo. It looks too much like religion to me, one of them said privately. But the logo remained.

Two years later, Darwinian philosopher Michael Ruse published Darwinism as Religion, which pointed out that Darwinian evolution has always functioned as much as a secular form of religion as anything purely scientific. Two more Executive Board members became uneasy at FFRFs position on evolution. But the four dissenters were in the minority, and FFRFs position remained unchanged.

Then, early in 2020, FFRF received word that a high school student had secretly taped a biology teacher making disparaging comments about the theory of evolution. Outraged, an attorney for FFRF wrote to the school district that no controversy exists in the scientific community regarding the fact of evolution, and the teaching of alternative theories or a controversy is not only inappropriate and dishonest, it is unconstitutional. The tiny rural school district lacked the resources to challenge the FFRF, which has a legal staff of ten attorneys and two legal assistants. So the superintendent merely replied that the teacher in question would comply with the New York State Education Law and the U.S. Constitution.

On February 28, 2020, the FFRF issued a press release announcing: N.Y. public school reins in proselytizing teacher, per FFRF advice. According to the press release, the teachers anti-scientific rant was both unconstitutional and pedagogically deplorable.

The incident was subsequently reviewed by an FFRF Executive Board member (not one of the four original dissenters) who had training in both biological science and constitutional law. She knew that controversy over evolution does exist in the scientific community. Furthermore, she noted that FFRFs letter to the school district cited several court decisions but left out the most relevant one: Edwards v. Aguillard (1987). In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that teaching creation science in public schools is unconstitutional, but questioning the scientific validity of evolution is not unconstitutional and may in fact be encouraged. FFRFs criticism of the teacher had been dead wrong. The board member agreed with the four dissenters who had already concluded that Darwinism was functioning as a religion.

At an emergency meeting a week ago, a majority of the members on FFRFs Executive Board of Directors voted that Darwinian evolution is, in fact, a religion. The board resolved that FFRF would henceforth oppose public funding for it and work to prohibit its teaching in public schools and universities.

Yesterday, FFRF issued a brief press release confirming the boards decision:

After long and careful deliberation The Freedom from Religion Foundation has recognized that Darwinism, like Christianity, is a religion. So the foundation now opposes the teaching or even the mention of Darwinian evolution in publicly funded institutions. Let freedom ring!

In other news: Today is April Fools Day.

Photo: A (genuine) sign in Harrisburg, PA, from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, by Jason / CC BY-SA.

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Breaking: Freedom From Religion Foundation Opposes Teaching Evolution in Public Schools - Discovery Institute

Forget the simple out-of-Africa idea of how humans evolved. A huge array of fossils and genome studies has completely rewritten the story of how we came into being.

By Graham Lawton

The Natural History Museum/Alamy

JEBEL IRHOUD, Morocco, 1961. In a barium mine in the foothills of the Atlas mountains, a miner makes a ghoulish discovery: a near-complete human skull embedded in the sediment. Archaeologists called in to investigate find that the skull is old, but not that old. It is filed away and largely forgotten.

Hinxton, UK, 2019. Robert Foley, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Cambridge, is giving the opening address at a three-day conference on human evolution. What Im pretty sure of is that, by the end of the first day, something like 20 per cent of what I say will be wrong, he says to the hall. By the end of the second day, something like 50 per cent will be wrong, and at the end of the conference, Im hoping that something I said at the beginning still holds true.

Until recently, the story of our origins was thought to be settled: Homo sapiens evolved in eastern Africa about 150,000 years ago, became capable of modern behaviour some 60,000 years ago and then swept out of Africa to colonise the world, completely replacing any archaic humans they encountered. But new fossils, tools and analyses of ancient and modern genomes are tearing apart that neat tale. The Jebel Irhoud skull has turned out to be a key to a new, slowly emerging paradigm. With the dust yet fully to settle, the question now is how many, if any, of our old assumptions still hold. Should we be thinking of a completely

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Human evolution: The astounding new story of the origin of our species - New Scientist