![]() We can’t accept loan payments and payments into savings accounts without a sort code or account number by cheque at cash machinesĬash machine (deposited on a working day after 8pm or a non-working day)Īvailable by 5pm the next working day from when the cheque is received at our clearing centre, which can sometimes take a little longer to reach us from the Post Office. We can’t accept loan payments and payments into savings accounts without a sort code or account number by cheque in the postīranch counter (deposited on a working day)īranch counter (deposited on a non-working day)Ĭash machine (deposited on a working day by 8pm)
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![]() ![]() The biggest wastage of CPU usage the distributions do is when you play a song using their interface. The value add these distributions do is hide linux from the end user by giving a web interface for the user to play and manage songs/albums using a local library or a service like tidal, qobuz.Īll these distributions can do is make the sound worse IMHO by consuming more cpu than an installation where the user installs the RPI OS from the raspberry pi foundation and installs mpd, shairport-sync, librespotify using apt-get. ![]() The real work is done by mpd, shairport-sync, librespotify or the squeezelite player. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any difference between volumio, moode, dietpi or other mpd based distributions because none of these distributions produce sound. If you don't like their interface you can use any of the clients listed in the link belowĬlick to expand.Everyone hears things differently because what we hear is the ear + brain. You will be better off using moode, picore or other distributions. So some of the crippling of mpd has been done out of commercial interest or something else. The only app that will display all 10 songs is volumio's own web/android/ios app which is a paid app. So if you use any mpd remote or player, it will show only one song. When you add songs to it to play, let say an entire album of 10 songs, it removes 9 songs and adds just the song currently playing. What volumio does is that it has it's own web interface. So if you install mpd without any changes you will be able to use any client. So there are multiple clients written by different people for mac, ios, linux, windows, android, etc. So any client can connect to mpd on port 6600 and issue commands like play, pause, stop, add songs to list, remove songs from list, query what song is playing and is at which position, etc. It doesn't do any album/media management. Unlike other players, mpd is a pure audio player. The sticker support has been removed while compiling. Click to expand.This is what I have found about volumio - They deliberately cripple few features from mpd for example. ![]() ![]() Huntress is a bit trickier to unlock, but again, a bit of experience and you’ll manage it. Goal: “Reach and complete the 3rd teleporter event without dying.” MUL-T can make use of basically any items and deal with any situation, though swapping between weapons and equipment can take a bit of getting used to. MUL-T has a decent (and damaging) area-of-effect stun, a dash that inflicts damage on impact, and both a rapid-fire nail-gun and a long-range precision attack. Not a bad choice as an early character, either, as this little robo-friend is arguably one of the strongest in the game. You’ll manage this pretty quickly simply by playing, so no real guide needed. ![]() Basically, make it to the second level in five games. MUL-T is one of the easiest characters to unlock, and is quite likely one of the first you’ll get. Goal: “Complete the first teleporter event 5 times” From what I can gather the Artificer can only be unlocked by one player in a multiplayer session, so be wary of that. Also, none of these are locked by difficulty, so if you’re having trouble you can play on the easiest setting and give yourself a bit of a leg up.įinally, most of these can also be unlocked in multiplayer. I will say that four of the unlocks can (and, indeed, kinda have to be) done piecemeal over multiple playthroughs, so don’t get discouraged by bad runs. Truthfully, I can’t give much general advice that isn’t just general advice for Risk of Rain 2 – and that’s beyond the scope of this piece. You want to play as someone other than the Commando so that you can experiment with the wildly different abilities and playstyles on offer. ![]() There are some incredibly useful items that you’ll want to unlock as soon as possible, but let’s be honest: you want the characters. Like its predecessor, Risk of Rain 2 starts you off with a very limited number of characters and items available, and completing various tasks and achievements unlocks more for future playthroughs. Considering I love the original enough that I have Risk of Rain socks (no, really) I’m rather impressed. That’s truly no small feat: 2D to 3D jumps are some of the hardest to make. It’s perhaps a little lacking in content and balance right now, but it manages to feel like Risk of Rain despite making a transition from side-on 2D to full 3D. It’s also staggeringly good, to the surprise of me. Last week, Risk of Rain 2 suddenly appeared in Early Access to the surprise of basically everyone. ![]() ![]() Because you can't play these original files when they are separated from a CD. However, simply copying files from a CD to a computer won't get things done. Thus, if you want to avoid data loss, you should copy the CD to another device, generally a computer. When it is snapped or scratched, the files stored on the CD may get damaged. *Note: DRM-protected audio files (M4P - protected AAC audio files) and VOB files cannot be converted.As you know, CDs are easy to snap or scratch. If you like “To FLAC Converter”, a review at the App Store would be very appreciated. We always glad to improve our applications for you. Please, email to about any problems or feature requests. Encoding in separate processes makes it reliable and “crash-free”. To FLAC Converter fully utilizes all CPU cores. To FLAC Converter extracts all soundtracks from videos so that you can choose the most suitable one at the end of conversion. Sometimes movies contain a few audio tracks - such as multi-language tracks, or soundtracks for different playback devices. To split audio with the CUE file, drop the whole folder or just the CUE file to the app. To FLAC Converter can split music albums and DJ sets to separate tracks and import tags from CUE file. To FLAC Converter will identify songs by their “fingerprints”, and search correct tags for those songs in online databases, such as MusicBrainz, AcoustID and CoverArt. If you would like to organize converted the music in a more sophisticated way, or if you convert songs from a CD, we recommend enabling the option ‘Load tags and artworks from network’ in Preferences. You can customize audio effects to improve the quality of output sound: adjust the volume of quiet tracks, trim silence, and apply fade in and fade out effects for smooth playback.īy default, To FLAC Converter transfers all tags from source files and creates missing tags and artworks based on filenames, paths, and images in local folders. Or you can set particular Bit Depth, Channels, and Compression level in Preferences / Format. It guarantees the best possible sound quality, saves your time and hard drive space. To FLAC Converter can estimate Bit Depth and Channels to apply optimal settings to output FLACs automatically. You will be informed when the conversion of all files is finished. To FLAC Converter will estimate conversion time, and provide details of the conversion of every source file. To start the conversion, just drop files or folders to the app’s window or icon. It is especially convenient if you need to encode the entire music collection to FLAC. If you convert a batch of folders, To FLAC Converter will replicate the structure of source folders. To FLAC Converter allows to convert the unlimited number of files and folders in one click, and supports multiple conversions simultaneously. Please, note: to convert online content you have to download it to your computer first, using the browser or another software. ![]() To FLAC Converter accepts and processes more than 200 audio and video formats, including but not limited to: WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, AIFF, MP4, VID, FLV, WMA, AVI, MPG, ASF, MPEG, MPE, MOV, 3GP, M4V, MKV, MOD, OGM, CAF. The trial version is available at /to-flac-converter. Pleasant features like automatic volume adjusting, audio effects, tags, and artworks loading, CUE splitter, settings customization**, easy interface and batch processing will allow you to convert your favorite media such as music, clips, video, and others to FLAC format quickly and with excellent quality of output audio. "To FLAC Converter" converts easily and quickly any video and audio formats*, including WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, AIFF, as well as CDs. ![]() ![]() What I did was, I went and talked to the manager and told her I wanted a "used" bed. Yes it is just an air mattress but it darn sure is comfortable and I didn't have to worry about the hard and soft or getting satisfaction when it does not live up to what was sold to me. I should state that I have no ties to Select Comfort. It's darn near impossible to actually want to plunk down money. Then throw in I like hard and my DH wants soft. ![]() ![]() Then when you finally figure out how to do it, the game changes from what you seen and felt in the store might be different then what you actually get. First you can't compare apples to apples. Sorry I don't know anything about that brand however I just went thru the great mattress buying drill a few months ago. But I wouldn't trade this thing for anything. It definitely helps to have two people involved). I turn it, but not as often as they recommend (I turn maybe once every six months, mainly because it's so heavy, it's kind of a major thing to do it. It looks virtually the same today as the day I got it. I really look forward to climbing into bed at night. And it hasn't changed over time-it stills feels as wonderful today as it did when I first got it. The very first instant I get on the mattress I notice it. This is without doubt the most comfortable mattress I've ever had. (Plus it seems I can lay in one position for a lot longer without having to change positions.) I don't know whether I somehow changed my turning habits to accommodate it, or whether something in the mattress itself adapted. Well, all I can say is that after a short time, that issue seemed to resolve. The only issue was with the depression & repositioning. ![]() It also helped that from the very first, it was the most incredibly comfortable mattress I had ever been on. I first thought "uh-oh, this was a big expensive mistake." But I decided to stick with it for a while, to see if somehow I could get used to it. Then when you went to turn or reposition yourself, it seemed like you now had to crawl out of a hole, and lay slightly unevenly for awhile before the new depression formed. When I first got it, I wasn't so sure I liked it, because you sort of sank in & formed a depression where you lay. Here at Good Morning Mattress Center we carry all 9 TLC Mattresses - the Peacock, Cloudwing, Longtail, Goldleaf, Admiral, Gullwing, Lady Lark, Glidder and Monarch.Ĭall us today for more information or post your comments below - we would love to do some research if you have any other questions about Latex Mattresses.I got a Jamison mattress about 4-5 years ago, and I love it. True Talalay latex mattresses made by Jamison Bedding provides outstanding "breath-ability" even over other latex mattresses! Latex is a phase change material that will cool down a warm body and warm up a cool one, so if you sleep warm - We would strongly recommend looking into purchasing a Latex Mattress.įor a general reference the Jamison TLC Collection mattresses run between $1299 to $2699 in a Queen Set and are available in 30% - 100% Latex composition. Last but not least, Jamison TLC Mattresses are naturally temperature regulating. you would qualify for a FREE replacement! Which would then also probably last another 20+ years, taking you up to around mid-century! Thats a good quality mattress! That means - If you ordered one today and it started sagging around the year 2030. You may be tempted to ask - Well how long do these mattresses last? Jamison offers a 20 Year Non Pro-rated Warranty on all of the TLC mattresses. When it comes to durability Latex Mattresses simply cannot be beat. Latex is renowned for its superior pressure-relief qualities, uplifting support that helps to maintain proper spinal alignment and natural "springiness" that prevents these mattresses from bottoming-out or sagging prematurely. Furthermore it is dust-mite resistant and bed bugs cannot live within the foam layers making these mattresses ideal for anyone who suffers from allergies. Latex is an all natural product that is hypo-allergenic. Latex, after undergoing the Talalay manufacturing process utilized by Jamison Bedding, does not induce any of the allergic responses caused by medical latex products. In this post we've highlighted three reasons why we believe Latex Mattresses are some of the best mattresses out there. What makes the TLC Collection so amazing however are the natural properties of the Latex these mattresses are made out of. The new covers are stretch-knit giving these mattresses a sleek, contemporary look without any of the seams, buttons, or quilting that can often be a source of discomfort for some. ![]() The TLC Collection features nine premium Talalay Latex Mattresses ranging from Extra Firm to Plush in feel and even has several Double-sided options so you can choose between a Firm or Plush level of comfort. ![]() ![]() ![]() At first I thought it was malicious until I started reading the reports. I was on the free version of 5.43 and woke up one morning last week to find that I ad been silently updated to 5.46. Last week Piriform, in their wisdom, decided that everyone (free or pro) who is not on 5.46 need to be updated to 5.46 as it met their definition of an “emergency” update (for reasons that are debatable to be honest). This executable runs a few times a day to check for “critical updates” and is able to silently and force-ably update CCleaner regardless of whether you have the free or the pro version, or what update settings you have. An executable called “ccupdate.exe” is installed and added to Task Scheduler (even in the free versions). This article is about the “emergency updater” that is installed with ALL versions of CCleaner (except the portable versions). The auto-update feature in the pro version is a little different different. No farces with phoning home and unwanted updates, and no spoiled joy. My view is that the only sensible reaction to events like this is : keep enjoying the benefits of clean versions of programmes that once were acclaimed, and systematically block all programs in a decent firewall, that don’t really need internet for their functioning. Although I systematically refuse all cookies everywhere (except 3 or 4 whitelisted sites where they are indispensable), I noticed that some dirt like that google’s had still found its way… and had not been cleaned… I rediscovered a detail that I had long forgotten : it has a nicely detailed list of cookies that you can individually set to delete or not, a feature that I did not see in other cleaners. Why not keep making use of them ?Īt the occasion of this article, I went back to my CC version (that I had still kept despite using Care now), to check whether it had actually been affected. Now you: do you still use CCleaner? (via : do think twice though before too categorically ditching things : not two programmes are really identic, and one has one or more features that the other has not. Piriform had to pull two releases in two months and there seems no end in sight. Reports suggest that the preference was the usage sharing privacy option. In other news: CCleaner updated to version 5.47 today but the update was pulled again later today "because of a user preference that would not save correctly when changed. While you can block CCleaner in the Task Manager, on the hard drive, and in the firewall so that it won't auto-update the program again, you have to ask yourself if you want to keep using a program that disregards user preferences. I think that option two is the best course of action. Revert to an older version and block the program's critical updating functionality.Uninstall CCleaner and use an alternative.Accept it, make the necessary changes to the program and forget all about it.What can you do about it?ĬCleaner users who were affected by the forced update to the new version of the program have three options to deal with it: Obviously that was the problem.įorced updates or critical update features are not something that is unique to CCleaner. ![]() So what was causing this change? Well I was using an older version of CCleaner, for good reasons, and despite the fact it was still showing as that yesterday when I booted it this morning what do I find? I'll tell you what: it had been updated, against my express wishes in the settings to the latest version: 5.46.whatever. A user on the official Piriform forum reported on Septemthat CCleaner had updated itself automatically ignoring the user's configuration which was set to not check for or install updates. Integration made it near impossible for users to disable the collecting and Piriform/Avast had to retract the version eventually because the issue boiled over.ĬCleaner 5.46 was released at the end of August 2018 but things have not calmed down a lot since the release. It culminated in the release of CCleaner 5.45 in August that collected more Telemetry. ![]() Avast Free Antivirus in the past, recent updates introduced advertising popups and privacy options that free users could not really configure. While there has been some bundling with third-party offers, e.g. The popular Windows program to delete temporary files and data to free up disk space went through a series of program updates that many users of the software opposed. 2018 has been a troublesome year for users of the computer program CCleaner. ![]() ![]() The response: 4014 bytes, meaning that this character does not appear in the query. With this in mind we performed the following query to see what response we would get: If((SUBSTR(query,from,length)=CHAR()),true,false)įollowing a search on Google, we then found that “37514065” is a valid server code. ![]() As a result, one of the limitations placed on us was the inability to query several system tables (such as “information_schema” tables).īut what if we could use the System Variables Indeed, it seemed someone had forgotten about their existence as it worked better than we could have ever wished for! The research revealed that there was a WAF product, working with black lists rather than white lists that we would first need to deal with. This was certainly a good breakthrough as we realized this could well have the potential for an SQL Injection (at this stage, our assumption was that we are dealing with MYSQL database). Well, the response was: “Server database error”! What were to happen, we asked, if a ‘ sign were to be added to the request? The sub-domain, ‘ ’, led us to an interesting GET request with the following path: “/serverstats.php?server=”. It is at this location that our story begins. ![]() Once clicked, with no need even for them to enter any login credentials, their Fortnite username and password could immediately be captured the attacker.Ĭheck Point Research informed Epic Games of this vulnerability and a fix was responsibly deployed, ensuring their millions of players can continue their gameplay in a secure environment.Įpic Games was found to have several old sub-domains, such as ‘ ’. By discovering a vulnerability found in some of Epic Games’ sub-domains, an XSS attack was permissible with the user merely needing to click on a link sent to them by the attacker. Our team’s research, however, relied on a far more sophisticated and sinister method, that did not require the user to hand over any login details whatsoever. ![]() These sites promote players to enter their game login credentials, as well as personal information like name, address and credit card details and are spread via social media campaigns that claim players can “earn easy cash” and “make quick money”. These scams previously took the role of deceiving players into logging into fake websites that promised to generate Fortnite’s ‘V-Buck’ in-game currency, a commodity that can usually only be acquired through the official Fortnite store or by earning them in the game itself. With such a meteoric rise in fortune, it is no surprise then that the game had already attracted the attention from cyber criminals who set out to con unsuspecting players. In the last few weeks, however, Check Point Research discovered multiple vulnerabilities in Epic Games’ online platform that could have allowed a threat actor to take over the account of any game player, view their personal account information, purchase V-bucks, Fortnite’s virtual in-game currency and eavesdrop on and record players’ in-game chatter and background home conversations.Ĭreated by Epic Games, an American video game developer, Fortnite is the game responsible for almost half of their $5bn-$8bn estimated value. Played in a virtual world, players of ‘Fortnite’, the massively popular game from game developer Epic Games, are tasked with testing their endurance as they battle for tools and weapons that will keep them secure and the ‘last man standing’. Research by: Alon Boxiner, Eran Vaknin and Oded Vanunu ![]() ![]() "Each time you activate the posterior chain muscles you create a protective casing around your spine," says strength and conditioning coach Reda Elmardi, founder of The Gym Goat. This is especially important to people with lower back pain, as a strong posterior chain helps protect your spine. your glutes, hamstrings, calves, lats, and shoulders). They're particularly great at working your posterior chain (i.e. ![]() ![]() They can be made more challenging with heavier weights or scaled down with lighter bells for beginners or anyone working on their form. Kettlebell swings are a great exercise for anyone regardless of fitness level or strength. Most popular, however, is the kettlebell swing, an exercise that works your entire body. Vector Illustration.With movements like the snatch, goblet squat, and farmer's carry, there's a variety of exercises to do with a kettlebell. Exercise illustrations Clip Art Vector by Slobelix 41 / 7,252 Fitness silhouettes Vector by rosym 275 / 22,471 Athletic Gym Gymnasium Exercise EPS Vector by leremy 81 / 11,295 People Athletic Exercise Stretch Vector Clipart by leremy 52 / 6,729 Kids Exercise Vector Clipart by lenm 41 / 8,894 Family Exercise Vector Clip Art by lenm 29 / 3,497 Pilates Exercise Vector Illustration by Kakigori 45 / 5,680 Kids Exercise Vector Illustration by lenm 25 / 3,007 Fitness and exercise icons Vectors Illustration by soleilc 26 / 3,825 woman exercising Vector Clip Art by nebojsa78 28 / 3,168 Woman exercise in gym Clipart Vector by Artisticco 15 / 2,265 Gym Gymnasium Fitness Exercise Vector Illustration by leremy 64 / 7,638 Exercise Kid Vector by lenm 6 / 1,108 Heart carton exercise Vector Clip Art by putut 8 / 1,094 funny boys doing fitness Vectors by lagartija 60 / 8,205 exercise and yoga silhouettes Clip Art Vector by Slobelix 4 / 1,207 Exercise Stick Figure Set Vector Illustration by cteconsulting 17 / 2,983 People exercising Vector Clipart by soleilc 11 / 949 Pictograms EPS Vector by dejanj01 123 / 975 fitness women exercise Vector Clipart by robin2 5 / 1,025 Exercise-stamp EPS Vector by carmendorin 3 / 132 Complex-Exercise-for-women Vector Illustration by antoshkaforever 4 / 643 People practicing yoga, 25 poses for your design EPS Vectors by Kudryashka 33 / 4,185 people jumping Clip Art Vector by jameschipper 148 / 10,284 I love yoga! Heart shape for your design Vector Illustration by Kudryashka 95 / 7,719 Runner icon / logo Vector Clip Art by marish 64 / 4,569 Aerobic Exercise Clipart Vector by Kakigori 6 / 3,250 Fitness icons - 2 Vectors Illustration by marish 106 / 12,411 Gym foreground EPS Vector by Tawng 76 / 3,550 EXERCISE heart word cloud EPS Vectors by dizanna 2 / 20 People practicing yoga, seamless background for your design Vector Clipart by Kudryashka 66 / 4,928 Yoga poses Clip Art Vector by lindwa 25 / 3,679 Gymnast icon / logo - 1 EPS Vectors by marish 18 / 1,614 black fitness people icons set Clipart Vector by huhulin 34 / 3,691 Heart on a treadmill Vector by marish 27 / 1,667 Man doing hip thrusts exercise with barbell Clip Art Vector by artinspiring 1 / 11 Gym Gymnasium workout Exercise man Vectors by leremy 17 / 5,192 gymnastics man and woman Vector Illustration by draganmilenkovic 26 / 7,264 people in all types of activities Clip Art Vector by mike301 8 / 1,057 Yoga Women EPS Vectors by Kakigori 45 / 3,814 Senior Exercise Vector Illustration by lenm 5 / 181 Enthusiastic swoosh people as set of symbols EPS Vectors by michaeldb 31 / 3,586 Fitness exercises Vector Clip Art by oorka 7 / 2,496 Abstract dancers 2 EPS Vector by marish 55 / 15,342 dumbbell exercise Vectors Illustration by ankomando 2 / 157 Splashy Runner Vector Clipart by vectomart 112 / 4,943 Woman workout fitness, aerobic and Clip Art Vector by graphixmania 7 / 282 Women gym fitness exercise workouts EPS Vector by michaeldb 13 / 4,329 Kids exercising and playing different sports Clip Art Vector by colematt 15 / 3,128 Exercise Crystal Icon Set Vectors by cteconsulting 3 / 616 Heart Monitor Pulse Vector Clipart by cteconsulting 7 / 929 abstract ballet dancer Clip Art Vector by dagadu 120 / 20,239 Deep breathing EPS Vectors by ankomando 14 / 1,512 outline illustration of girl doing yoga exercise Vector Clipart by sannare 5 / 912 A red cartoon heart lifting weights depicting exercise for a healthy heart Vector Illustration by mhprice 11 / 1,972 Man Gym Fitness Ball Training Vectors by leremy 11 / 2,733 Woman workout fitness, aerobic and exercises. ![]() ![]() ![]() With its 5K resolution, 120-degree field of view and Hi-Res certified headphones, the HTC Vive Pro 2 is a must-have when it comes to playing the Xbox One games! Will Microsoft’s Xbox One fully Support Any VR Headsets In The Future? These particular headsets support the gaming console, as well as wireless connectivity, so you should be able to stream your Xbox One games through the Vive Pro and Pro 2 without the need for cables. HTC Vive Pro and Pro 2Ī: HTC VIVE Pro Virtual Reality Headset : Video GamesĪ: HTC Vive Pro 2 Headset Only : Everything ElseĪs with the other headsets, the HTC Vive Pro and Pro 2 are able to be connected to an Xbox One through the Xbox One streaming app on your PC. While this is one of the more difficult ways to get a VR headset to work with Xbox One (and not all of the games and apps will be able to stream on the Quest 2), this is the closest this particular headset is getting to the Xbox One. If you connect your PC to your Xbox, and then install and connect ‘Virtual Desktop’ to your Oculus Quest 2, you will be able to stream your Xbox games from your Desktop screen onto your Quest 2. This will work if you have the ‘Xbox Console Companion’ and ‘Virtual Desktop’ installed on your PC. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed any attempts to make the Oculus Quest 2 compatible with the Xbox One, unlike the Oculus Rift, but there are ways to get around this and still use some Xbox apps with your Oculus Quest 2. You will also need access to the Xbox Streaming App on your PC to be able to view the game through your headset.Īlthough the GenBasic Quad HD is currently unavailable to buy, you will still be able to use this headset if you already own one! Oculus Quest 2 This means that your VR experience will be limited unless you get the motion sensors separately. While the GenBasic headset does work with an Xbox one, the main issue is that motion sensors aren’t included. ![]() With its 1440p resolution and a wide field of vision (110-degree), you know you are going to get a pretty good quality video for your gameplay on the Xbox One. The GenBasic Quad HD is a brilliant standalone VR headset, but as an even better perk, it can be plugged into any PC or gaming console via an HDMI cable – making it the perfect choice for an Xbox One. Now all you have to do is follow the instructions on the screen to add your Xbox One controller, and you’re good to go! GenBasic Quad HD Next, you will need to find the option that says ‘Rift S and Touch’, and click ‘Pair Device’. Then follow the instructions to create your account and set up your headset.įrom here, you can set up your Xbox One controller by opening the Oculus app on your PC and selecting ‘Devices’ in the left menu. To do this, you will first need to download the Oculus app on your PC (you will need at least 4GB of disk space available). You can connect to an Xbox One through an app that fully supports the Oculus Rift, and is one of the only VR headsets that is entirely compatible with the Xbox One. These connect seamlessly with an Xbox One, so you’ll be able to play whatever game you wish with the built-in motion sensors. The Oculus Rift comes with a pair of touch controllers that you can accurately throw and attack things with, in your chosen virtual reality setting. ![]() Although it has been discontinued, those who already own a Rift (or buy one from Amazon) will still be able to connect their headset to an Xbox One. The Oculus brand is well-known for its advanced VR headsets, and the Oculus Rift is no exception to this. Now let’s get on to the headsets! Oculus Rift And Rift S The main feature that will be affected is the 3DVR (360-degree virtual reality), as the 2D games won’t have been adapted to match this. Although these headsets will be able to connect to the Xbox One and stream the games, some of their features may not be able to work as well. ![]() ![]() ![]() Or for many millions more lives ended or blighted by “gentle commerce” and “free trade,” which as we’ll see could materialize at your border in the form of a genocidal corporate army bent on “premium-empathy”-ing your way of life into your own blood-soaked dust.Ĭonsider what classical-liberalism’s gentle-commerce blessings brought to the basic business of staving off starvation. For all of Pinker’s elegant-stats-wielding elite-soothing sermons that “in fact a free market puts a premium on empathy,” there was little empathy, empirically evident, for the likes of the Banda Islanders. ![]() One reason this hushed-up history matters is that even today economic “rationality” and plunder often remain partners in crime. Economist Albert Hirschman, in The Passions and the Interests, an influential book on the long process of alchemizing the once-deadly vice of avarice into plainly-rational “self-interest” during the rise of early capitalism, confirms there was “much talk… about the douceur of commerce.” Douceur translates to “sweetness, softness, calm, and gentleness… the antonym of violence.” Hirschman and Pinker cite a long list of Enlightenment luminaries, for instance, Kant in 1795 wrote that “The spirit of commerce … can not exist side-by-side with war.” Pinker concurs, “commercial powers …tended to favor trade over conquest.”īut this majestic myth-making of modernity-the Enlightenment as a triumph of rationality and humanism-must not be allowed to mask that the Age of Reason ran parallel to and often justified the vast violent plunder of imperial economics (now often euphemistically called “free trade”). Pinker isn’t wrong in reporting Enlightenment views. The cursed spice of Ghosh’s title was so valuable that a handful of nutmegs “ could buy a house or ship.” which sadly meant Coen’s gentle-commerce genocide made greedy profits even at the cost of 5,000 slaves per year (“labor” didn’t last long under gentle-commerce conditions). This involved 50 vessels, and 2,000 men (including 80 Japanese ronin, masterless samurai mercenaries) who displaced, “ killed, captured, or enslaved” 90% of the 15,000 indigenous “trading partners.” This “almost total annihilation of the population of the Banda Islands clearly a genocidal act” (concluded a 2012 paper in the Journal of Genocide Studies). He ordered a monopoly-securing massacre of the Banda Islanders. Unlike Pinker’s, Coen’s words weren’t abstract theorizing, and he concretely came to the opposite conclusion on the value of trading “partner” lives. That’s a quote from Amitav Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse (an eloquently alarming book about gigantic ideological gaps in climate crisis discourse). In it Pinker preaches thinking “like an economist” using “the theory of gentle commerce from classical liberalism,” under which trade becomes “more appealing than … war.” Rationally-enlightened leaders reasoned that your “trading partner suddenly becomes more valuable to you alive than dead.”Ĭompare that glorified life-affirming tradeoff to the views of a frontline practitioner of that so-called gentle commerce: “ There can be no trade without war,” declared Jan Pieterzoon Coen of the Dutch East India Company. This essay will walk you through why the “liberal world order’s” free markets are not really remotely in the business of maximizing flourishing-to rightly judge their track record requires reckoning with the greedocracy’s glossed-over genocides and hushed-up holocausts.Ĭonsider how “rational optimist” Steven Pinker paints the history of trade in his billionaire-beloved good-news-bearing bible, The Better Angels of Our Nature (its “ the most inspiring book I’ve ever read” gushed Bill Gates, the prominent predatory philanthropist). But the grand narrative usually used to justify this world-shaping greed-is-good creed vigorously ignores salient history, and disingenuously suppresses data on greed’s present-day harms. ![]() ![]() Gussied-up as the only rational way, greed has become the guilt-free guiding star of global elites. I’d argue that we live under “greedocracy” disguised as a form of liberalism. What role should greed play in how we run the world? Should it rule us and shape all that we do? ![]() |
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