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Post by WingsofCrystal on Mar 25, 2020 11:00:30 GMT
Good morning lovely searchers,
TechXplore
Online gaming booms as virus lockdowns keep millions at home
by Sean Gleeson 25 March 2020
When two Spanish footballers took to the controls of "FIFA 20" after the coronavirus pandemic saw their La Liga match cancelled, a stadium-sized virtual audience watched online.
The huge digital crowd last week is part of a spectacular boom for the digital gaming industry, as record numbers flock to online servers for distraction, entertainment and friendship with the "real world" seemingly falling apart.
Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias kicked the winning goal using his own digital likeness in the 6-5 battle against Sevilla, which was broadcast on popular video game streaming platform Twitch.
It took place at the same time the original derby had been scheduled, before Spain's premier tournament was postponed as part of containment measures that have also seen the country's 46 million people largely confined to their homes.
"We do all of this to entertain all of you, so that you can be at home enjoying it, insofar as it is possible with this epidemic," the host of the broadcast told his audience of 60,000.
Nearly every country around the globe has reported cases of COVID-19 infection, with frantic efforts to contain the disease prompting the near total shutdown of some of the world's biggest cities.
Online gaming has proved a welcome diversion for many people chafing at movement restrictions, the cancellation of countless public events and a relentless onslaught of news about the pandemic.
"It made me feel less depressed about being in a small space for a long time," said Yang An, who was made to quarantine for two weeks in China after returning to Shanghai from her hometown last month.
She told AFP that she passed the time by playing for up to eight hours a day on her Nintendo Switch handheld console.
Surging demand
Internet providers have scrambled to shore up their networks in the face of surging demand.
Gaming traffic on Verizon's network shot up an "unprecedented" 75 percent in the space of a week, the US telco said recently.
Software companies have also rushed to accommodate a record number of users.
Rockstar Games, publisher of the Wild West-themed adventure title "Red Dead Redemption", promised players it would keep its online servers running smoothly after it told its global workforce to work from home.
The company also teased a roll-out of extra in-game activities to keep housebound player glued to their controllers.
Online gaming communities could "go some of the way to create the public space that's been lost" in the wake of the pandemic, said Christian McCrea, a media studies lecturer specialising in games at Australia's RMIT University.
He pointed to Pokemon Go—a smartphone game that became a worldwide phenomenon in 2016 when it lured millions of people onto the streets for a virtual monster hunt—which was this month tweaked by its developer to make it easier for users to play at home.
'Big impact'
McCrea said gaming habits were likely to see a massive transformation in the months ahead, with the prospect of further economic ructions and long stretches of social isolation looming on the horizon.
"Overall the big impact will be younger kids at home for months on end with parents out of work," he told AFP. "Games will be at the centre of a lot of their spare time."
Video games have long been blamed for a causing a suite of health issues, from repetitive strain injuries to eyesight problems.
The World Health Organization classified gaming addiction as an illness in 2018, the same year China launched a crackdown on the industry on concerns that youngsters were spending too much time online.
But veteran gamers now ironically appear among those best-placed to navigate the pandemic and its impact on everyday life.
Twitch streamer "Loeya" told her million-plus fans in a broadcast last week that travel restrictions and school closures in her native Sweden and elsewhere were unlikely to alter her own mostly indoors, game-heavy schedule.
"Technically I self-quarantined myself, like, three years ago," the 22-year-old joked.
techxplore.com/news/2020-03-online-gaming-booms-virus-lockdowns.html
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Mar 25, 2020 11:04:25 GMT
Space.com
UFO 'invasion' of NATO war games revealed in 'Project Blue Book' season finale
By Mindy Weisberger 25 March 2020
Multiple unidentified sightings interrupted the NATO exercise at sea.
When a massive international war-games exercise known as Operation Mainbrace convened in the North Sea in 1952, it brought together 80,000 military personnel, 1,000 planes and 200 ships from nine countries. There were also some unexpected attendees: UFOs.
Multiple sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) during Operation Mainbrace (also known as Exercise Mainbrace) were documented by pilots and naval officers and appeared on radar, according to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), a federal agency that compiled witness accounts of UFO encounters from the 1950s through the 1980s.
This still-unexplained incident inspired the Season 2 finale of the History channel's "Project Blue Book," the dramatic series about the U.S. Air Force program — also named Project Blue Book — that investigated UFO sightings from 1952 to 1969, when tensions from the Cold War were at their highest. Airing tonight (March 24), the episode leads UFO hunters Dr. J. Allen Hynek (Aidan Gillen) and Capt. Michael Quinn (Michael Malarkey) into a tense naval standoff, in which the appearance of unknown flying and diving UFOs nudges edgy military commanders toward the brink of war with the Soviet Union.
But what, exactly, was Operation Mainbrace, and what really happened there?
In the fall of 1952, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an international military alliance, staged a 12-day exercise in waters near Norway and Denmark. Dubbed Operation Mainbrace, the exercise brought together naval forces from nine countries, with most of the might represented by the navies of the United States and the United Kingdom. It was "the largest and most powerful fleet that has cruised in the North Sea since World War I," The New York Times reported on Sept. 27 of that year.
"The whole point of Operation Mainbrace was to flex NATO's force and show the Russians that we would be prepared for a battle at sea," David O'Leary, "Project Blue Book" creator and executive producer, told Live Science.
"Tensions were already high," O'Leary said. "This was a training exercise, but it was also a flex of muscle. And then, in this exciting and tense situation, there were these unexplained UFO events."
A roaring Arctic gale and high surf hindered some of Mainbrace's planned maneuvers, according to the Times. And then, there were the UFOs.
"Someone in the Pentagon had half-seriously mentioned that Naval Intelligence should keep an eye open for UFOs, but no one really expected the UFOs to show up," Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, a U.S. Navy officer and director of the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book from 1951 to 1953, said in his account of the Mainbrace sightings.
"Nevertheless, once again the UFOs were their old unpredictable selves — they were there," Ruppelt added.
more after the jump:
www.space.com/ufos-invade-nato-war-games-project-blue-book.html
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Mar 25, 2020 11:26:59 GMT
New York Post
Nevada governor bans malaria drugs for coronavirus patients
By Tamar Lapin March 24, 2020
Nevada’s governor on Tuesday banned the use of anti-malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s executive order came after President Trump touted the medication as holding promise for combating the illness.
Sisolak said there was no consensus among experts or Nevada doctors that the drugs can treat people with COVID-19.
His order also limits a prescription of the medicines — which are also used to treat illnesses like lupus and arthritis — to a 30-day supply to ensure it’s available for “legitimate medical purposes” and so people don’t stockpile the drug.
Trump helped create a recent flurry of demand for the drugs when he announced last week that chloroquine “could be a game-changer” and that the FDA had approved it as treatment for coronavirus sufferers, which it has not. Trump also said hydroxychloroquine could be used in prevention.
But the country’s leading infectious-disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, said there is no substantive proof, at least yet, that either drug works in the battle against the deadly pandemic, only anecdotal information.
Sisolak’s order came a day after a Phoenix-area man died and his wife was in critical condition after taking an additive used to clean fish tanks called chloroquine phosphate, similar to the drug used to treat malaria.
As of Tuesday, New York hospitals have federal permission to give patients a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to desperately ill patients on a “compassionate care” basis.
nypost.com/2020/03/24/nevada-governor-bans-malaria-drugs-for-coronavirus-patients/
Crystal
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2020 11:33:11 GMT
Space.com
UFO 'invasion' of NATO war games revealed in 'Project Blue Book' season finale
By Mindy Weisberger 25 March 2020
Multiple unidentified sightings interrupted the NATO exercise at sea.
When a massive international war-games exercise known as Operation Mainbrace convened in the North Sea in 1952, it brought together 80,000 military personnel, 1,000 planes and 200 ships from nine countries. There were also some unexpected attendees: UFOs.
Multiple sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) during Operation Mainbrace (also known as Exercise Mainbrace) were documented by pilots and naval officers and appeared on radar, according to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), a federal agency that compiled witness accounts of UFO encounters from the 1950s through the 1980s.
This still-unexplained incident inspired the Season 2 finale of the History channel's "Project Blue Book," the dramatic series about the U.S. Air Force program — also named Project Blue Book — that investigated UFO sightings from 1952 to 1969, when tensions from the Cold War were at their highest. Airing tonight (March 24), the episode leads UFO hunters Dr. J. Allen Hynek (Aidan Gillen) and Capt. Michael Quinn (Michael Malarkey) into a tense naval standoff, in which the appearance of unknown flying and diving UFOs nudges edgy military commanders toward the brink of war with the Soviet Union.
But what, exactly, was Operation Mainbrace, and what really happened there?
In the fall of 1952, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an international military alliance, staged a 12-day exercise in waters near Norway and Denmark. Dubbed Operation Mainbrace, the exercise brought together naval forces from nine countries, with most of the might represented by the navies of the United States and the United Kingdom. It was "the largest and most powerful fleet that has cruised in the North Sea since World War I," The New York Times reported on Sept. 27 of that year.
"The whole point of Operation Mainbrace was to flex NATO's force and show the Russians that we would be prepared for a battle at sea," David O'Leary, "Project Blue Book" creator and executive producer, told Live Science.
"Tensions were already high," O'Leary said. "This was a training exercise, but it was also a flex of muscle. And then, in this exciting and tense situation, there were these unexplained UFO events."
A roaring Arctic gale and high surf hindered some of Mainbrace's planned maneuvers, according to the Times. And then, there were the UFOs.
"Someone in the Pentagon had half-seriously mentioned that Naval Intelligence should keep an eye open for UFOs, but no one really expected the UFOs to show up," Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, a U.S. Navy officer and director of the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book from 1951 to 1953, said in his account of the Mainbrace sightings.
"Nevertheless, once again the UFOs were their old unpredictable selves — they were there," Ruppelt added.
more after the jump:
www.space.com/ufos-invade-nato-war-games-project-blue-book.html
Crystal
Great episode, one more, is the captain alive?
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Post by SysConfig on Mar 25, 2020 14:03:41 GMT
Key provisions via Bloomberg: Big Businesses: About $500 billion can be used to back loans and assistance to companies, including $50 billion for loans to U.S. airlines, as well as state and local governments. Small Businesses: More than $350 billion to aid small businesses. Hospitals: A $150 billion boost for hospitals and other health-care providers for equipment and supplies. Individuals: Direct payments to lower- and middle-income Americans of $1,200 for each adult, as well as $500 for each child. Thats Us!
Praise Gawd Do You Just Not Love This President?
This means Swamp can replace his lawn chair, go to some UFO conferences he's always wanted to go to. Cliff can replace that cracked lens on his telescope, with Zeiss german lens, Moksha & Zetar can get some new instruments for their band, Crystal can get her toenails and fingernails done , even get that Bufont hairdo shes been dreaming about Gort can get that elusive Drone that was out of his reach, ..I can go on and on..all boosting the economy!
Hallelujah!
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Post by SysConfig on Mar 25, 2020 14:25:23 GMT
For years, scientists have sought to understand the mystery behind supercentenarians, or people who live more than 110 years. Now, researchers have overcome the first obstacle in cracking the secret code of long, healthy life. For some as yet unknown reason, supercentenarians are resistant to diseases such as Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer. In an effort to emulate this apparent medical miracle, scientists successfully reprogrammed cells from a 114-year-old woman, the first time such a feat had been managed in history. “Why do supercentenarians age so slowly?” says study author Evan Y. Snyder. “We are now set to answer that question in a way no one has been able to before.” The team of scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys and private company AgeX Therapeutics reprogrammed blood cells from a 114-year-old woman, a 43-year-old individual and an 8-year-old child with progeria, a condition which causes rapid aging, in order to unravel the mystery mechanics behind the aging process. “Now we have shown it can be done, and we have a valuable tool for finding the genes and other factors that slow down the aging process,” says study author Evan Y. Snyder. In their study, Snyder's team first created a general purpose kind of stem cell known as pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from the blood cells before transforming them into a more specific kind of stem cell known as mesenchymal stem cells, which help maintain our bodies' structural tissues like bone, cartilage and fat. Much to their pleasant surprise, the researchers found that all three participants' cells transformed as easily as each other. Furthermore, they found that the telomeres (protective DNA caps that shrink as we age) from all three cell sample sets were also reset, including the supercentenarian telomeres which were reset to levels normally associated with young people, or even further, to infancy, as if the biological clock had been reset to day one. However, the researchers admit that telomere resets occurred less frequently among the supercentenarian cells than the others. Still, having overcome this key technological hurdle, scientists will now shift their efforts to unlocking the secrets of supercentenarians’ longevity by comparing muscle cells between the different age groups to reveal genes or molecular processes which might explain their hardiness and survivability. The pharmaceutical industry could then concentrate on developing drugs to thwart these particular processes or mimic the patterns exhibited by the supercentenarian cells.
we've heard this before
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Post by swamprat on Mar 25, 2020 14:41:44 GMT
WHERE IS CAPTAIN QUINN?!
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Post by nyx on Mar 25, 2020 14:50:37 GMT
We may never know swamprat!
History Channel claims season 2 Project Blue Book had about 30% less viewers.
So far, season 3 has not been talked about.
I assumed that the Captain was transported to Antarctica by the way the ending looked.
I thought the first part of season 2 was so-so.
The last part of season 2 was better.
🙁
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Post by swamprat on Mar 25, 2020 16:25:19 GMT
And starting next week, 10:00pm Eastern, History channel presents The Skinwalker Ranch!
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Post by nyx on Mar 25, 2020 17:01:48 GMT
So, The Skinwalker Ranch takes Projects Blue Book time slot.
I hope it is a good series.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2020 19:21:00 GMT
WHERE IS CAPTAIN QUINN?! The captain, at first was kind of a jerk, anal-retentive, but as his relationship with Hynek developed as did his views on UFOs, he became a real hero. Hynek obviously thinks he’s still alive and I hope he is. That Adm. was a real twert. I think the captain is in Antarctica, when they find him, he will have no recollection of his immediate past or how he got there but some of it will surface into his consciousness. He will choose to remain a recluse, now that he has vague recollections of the truth. Season 3 YES YES or the movie.
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Mar 25, 2020 23:24:14 GMT
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Post by plutronus on Mar 26, 2020 0:50:14 GMT
That business about the "bedroom invaders" reminds of the time I had a broken arm, in a cast and a lady friend came to visit me in my apartment. I was unable to defend myself from her unsavery advances. I mean, really! Ever try to prevent an agressive lady working to get her way? And have a broken wing? It was, well, quite frankly, against my will!!! No means No! But that didn't matter. Nope!
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Post by SysConfig on Mar 26, 2020 1:36:22 GMT
RIP Bob
www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/breaking-us-hostage-robert-levinson-reportedly-dead-in-iranian-prison-hillary-clinton-called-off-his-rescue-attempt-in-2010/US Hostage Robert Levinson Reportedly Dead in Iranian Prison - Hillary Clinton Called Off His Rescue Attempt in 2010In 2010 and again in 2013 the Iranian regime released photos of Levinson. He looked thin and haggard. In 2009 and 2010 there was discussion of a rescue plan to save Robert Levinson. Hillary Clinton called if off. They said FBI agents courted Deripaska in 2009 in a series of secret hotel meetings in Paris, Vienna, Budapest and Washington. Agents persuaded the aluminum industry magnate to underwrite the mission. The Russian billionaire insisted the operation neither involve nor harm his homeland. “We knew he was paying for his team helping us, and that probably ran into the millions,” a U.S. official involved in the operation confirmed. One agent who helped court Deripaska was Andrew McCabe, the recently fired FBI deputy director who played a seminal role starting the Trump-Russia case, multiple sources confirm. Deripaska’s lawyer says the Russian ultimately spent $25 million assembling a private search and rescue team that worked with Iranian contacts under the FBI’s watchful eye. Photos and videos indicating Levinson was alive were uncovered. Then in fall 2010, the operation secured an offer to free Levinson. The deal was scuttled, however, when the State Department become uncomfortable with Iran’s terms, according to Deripaska’s lawyer and the Levinson family. FBI officials confirmed State hampered their efforts. TRENDING: Nevada’s Democrat Governor Issues Emergency Order Barring Use of Anti-Malaria Drugs For Coronavirus Patients Today US officials told the Levinson family that Robert Levinson is dead and died in Iranian custody. The Levinson family reported the news earlier today. John Solomon: The lawyer for the family told me they had a deal. Deripaska came back. We were sending a plane to the tarmac, we’re going to rescue him. There’s a statement that the Iranian government wanted saying, “We really weren’t involved.” And Hillary Clinton was unwilling to give them that, a sort of absolution. So the deal fell apart. The plane left and he was never rescued. Did you get that? ** The Russian oligarch helped secure the release of US prisoner Robert Levinson from the Iranian regime using HIS OWN MONEY. ** The oligarch Deripaska secures the release of the American Robert Levinson. ** And then Hillary Clinton refuses to read the Iranian statement and so the entire rescue was nixed.
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Mar 26, 2020 12:39:15 GMT
That business about the "bedroom invaders" reminds of the time I had a broken arm, in a cast and a lady friend came to visit me in my apartment. I was unable to defend myself from her unsavery advances. I mean, really! Ever try to prevent an agressive lady working to get her way? And have a broken wing? It was, well, quite frankly, against my will!!! No means No! But that didn't matter. Nope!
You can run with a broken arm
Crystal
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