Angel of Death

French was the most po[CENSORED]r language in job vacancies in 2019, according to a University of Luxembourg study, while English was still most sought after in finance. Luxembourg’s multilingualism is reflected in the country’s job offers. The latest update of the university's "Languages in job vacancies in Luxembourg (1984-2019)" study confirms this. It concludes that in 2019, French was the most requested language in job offers, with 76.3% of advertisements explicitly asking for knowledge (whether or not the offer was associated with another language). Next came German, followed closely by Luxembourgish (for 68.2% and 67.3% of announcements, respectively). Demand for Luxembourgish grew by 17% over five years. Majority English in finance “The progression of Luxembourgish as a requested language was very significant between 2014 and 2019 (from 50.3% of announcements in 2014 to 67.3% in 2019),” the study’s authors, Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth and Fernand Fehlen, explain. Luxembourgish also appeared in first place for the desired languages in 9.8% of ads in 2019, compared to 1.4% in 1984. These data should be qualified, however, as the study is based on a sample of 8,340 job vacancies published by Luxemburger Wort alone, “which publishes few vacancies for the sectors with the most demand in English (finance, international sector, etc.)". Therefore, English is only requested in 16.9% of the advertisements studied. Differences according to activity sectors In 2014, in the previous version of the study, the authors looked at the vacancies published on the Jobs.lu website, where 88.6% of the ads published referred to English. “In the professional world, depending on the origin or nationality of a company, the working language can be Luxembourgish, French, German, English, and even Portuguese (especially in the construction sectors, hotels and cleaning),” confirmed Adem in an August 2020 publication. Luxembourgish is mainly required in transport and communications, as well as in public administration, while the financial sector only requires this language in 20% of cases. This disparity is also felt in the demand for languages in specialised institutes. The Luxembourg branch of Berlitz confirms that English is in the lead, with 31% of requests, followed by French (30%), Luxembourgish (15%) and German (14%). This article was originally published in French on Paperjam and has been translated and edited for Delano.

The best ecommerce platforms can enable your business to set up an online store that suits your needs.There is a huge variety of ecommerce platform packages from which to choose, so building an online store has never been easier. To begin, first you'll need ecommerce web hosting, which is to say hosting that will scale up with your business without interruption. Next you'll need shopping cart software to run with your ecommerce site. This will probably include a payment gateway for credit card processing, though if you're already established and have a decent enough credit rating you could apply for merchant services to reduce transaction costs. Your ecommerce website doesn't have to be expensive to design, either, as there are plenty of ecommerce themes available. Additionally, if you also have a bricks-and-mortar store than a Point of Sale (POS) system for mobile credit card processing can be particularly desirable. Which ecommerce software is best for your business depends entirely on your specific requirements. If you're an online-only outfit, then POS integration won't be necessary, but you may get a lot of business from overseas, in which case foreign currency support would be a requirement. In this article, we’re going to highlight some of the best ecommerce platforms available right now, before moving on to consider other options you might want to explore in terms of creating your own ecommerce solution. Wix is our top-rated ecommerce platform If you want a simpler alternative to some of the full-on web store building solutions here, check out Wix. It’s highly user-friendly, yet there’s still plenty of ecommerce power available to create a suitably impressive online store.

If there's one area where Intel's ongoing cutting-edge fabrication issues won't be an issue it's the auto industry, where 14nm chips in most cases would be a major advancement. So given the silicon shortages currently plaguing auto plants, it makes perfect sense that Intel wants to step in to produce chips for auto companies. But while Intel is reportedly already in talks with several car companies, don't expect Intel silicon to solve production problems any time soon. The optimistic goal is to start producing chips in the next six to nine months, which means actual Intel silicon wouldn't likely be available on the auto assembly line for at least a year. But something clearly needs to be done to improve supply. The chip shortage has gone from bad to worse and escalated to the point where companies like GM and Ford are already shutting down several automotive plants due to a lack of supply. Over the past 20 years, microchips have become increasingly integral to a vehicle's functionality, to the point where building a modern vehicle without them isn't an option. Equipment such as the ECU, infotainment system, navigation, and vehicle avoidance safety systems are all controlled by some sort of custom CPU. In many ways, Intel is in a good position to produce automotive chips. It's one of the only chip makers with its own fabs, and enough of them to produce most of its own silicon. Unlike AMD and Nvidia, Intel isn't majorly impacted by the ongoing drought in Taiwan that's dealing a blow to the already production-constrained TSMC, or as impacted by the crushing substrate shortages. At least not yet. That's why plenty of Intel's desktop 10th and 11th Gen desktop processors are in stock and going for very reasonable prices, while CPUs and graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia are often tough to find.So while it won't happen overnight (or even over a season or two) Intel should be able to respond to the automotive chip crisis rather quickly. It can use fabs that are already operational, rather than having to build new facilities dedicated to automotive chip production. Intel also says it will use its current process nodes to speed up production, though we don't know which process (or likely processes) those will be. Older, larger process nodes in the 22-45nm range are still quite common in the auto industry. So while Intel may finally move away from 14nm in the PC space with Alder Lake later this year, the car you buy in 2023 and beyond might have that sweet 'new' 14nm++ smell.

Oculus has announced its first entirely game focused showcase for next week, with Lone Echo 2, Pistol Whip and Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge all confirmed to be in attendance. In addition to those titles there will apparently be some "surprises in store". Lone Echo 2 is a long-awaited sequel to the 2017 space adventure developed by Ready at Dawn, which was acquired by Oculus last year. Pistol Whip is a first-person shooter that actually released back in 2019, though it received a substantial update in the form of '2089' back in November. What this new showing entails is anyone's guess. "This is our first event wholly dedicated to the stellar games across the Oculus Platform," so reads Oculus' announcement post. "You can expect new updates to fan-favorite titles, never-before-seen footage from some unreleased games, and a few surprises in store."Shaun is PC Gamer’s Australian editor and news writer. He mostly plays platformers and RPGs, and keeps a close eye on anything of particular interest to antipodean audiences. He (rather obsessively) tracks the movements of the Doom modding community, too.

Marketing new cars is some sort of dark art. However, broadening the appeal of a dullish family car by associating it with someone who is handy behind the wheel has to be an easy call. I mean, adding ‘Schumacher’ to the Fiat Stilo moniker at least grabs some attention. Only 200 of them were made for the UK market in 2006, so I thought it might be a challenge to find one of these beauties as a used proposition. I mean, this side of a Seicento, it is the cheapest way to get into an Italian motor connected to the German Formula 1 world champion. I was tipped off that there’s a 104,000-mile one coming up for auction. It’s a bit well used around the edges, but it has a full service history, a fresh MOT and a new master cylinder. I’ve no idea what it will go for but I chanced across a three-owner example with a modest 46,000 miles that is up for £3250 in the classifieds. There didn’t seem too much wrong with it apart from a dodgy CD player. It looked quite fetching and contemporary in red with black alloys. Those are the bargain basement of the F1-related hatch market and the premium-priced ones are the legendary Renault Clio Williams. You will pay solidly over £20k for one, maybe a lot more depending on the condition, which should be exemplary, and what limited-edition number it is. A Clio Williams 2 from 1995 is still something of a legend and the one I saw had done 73,000 miles and had had a recent cambelt change. It was up for £15,495 at a dealer. I also discovered a 1995 privately advertised example with 69,000 miles that would need checking out, but £12,000 certainly seems reasonable. Apparently, there are only 174 left out of the 444 made. Something of a bargain, then. Why is F1 so special, though? Rally drivers do it in the dirt and in the dark. With that in mind, just imagine the rarity and charm of owning a Toyota Celica GT4 Turbo Carlos Sainz, which isn’t just a transfer on a bootlid but a rather special package, including an intercooler and lighter bodywork. I could not find one for sale in the UK right now, but a 1992 example with just under 120,000 miles that sold at auction for just over £9000 last June seems like spectacular value now. Which brings us to the rather interesting Mitsubishi Lancer. Specifically, the Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition. This can be identified by having much more bodykit, plus 10mm-lower suspension, revised dampers, a front limited-slip differential and a titanium turbocharger. Again, they’re thin on the ground when it comes to classified ad or dealer examples, but last year there was one for auction. This 2001 car had covered a reasonable 78,000 miles and went for £22,750. Motorsport marketing certainly works on used cars and doesn’t mean mega money.

Chaitra Navratri, the auspicious nine-day festival in which the devotees offer prayer and pay ode to Goddess Durga is around the corner. This festival is observed twice a year and is celebrated with full zeal and zest across the nation. This time, Navratri will begin on April 13 and it will end on April 22. In this festival, the devotees keep a day-long fast, offer prayers and perform aarti to appease Goddess Durga. Ahead of the auspicious festival, we are bringing wishes, quotes and images that you can share with your friends and family:Let the spirit of these pious Navratri days bring you hope and courage in life. Happy Navratri to all. *May the 9 avatars of Maa Durga bless you with 9 qualities – power, happiness, humanity, peace, knowledge, devotion, name, fame and health. *This Navratri, may you be blessed with good fortune as long as Ganeshji’s trunk, wealth and prosperity as big as his stomach, happiness as sweet as his laddoos and may your troubles be as small as his mouse. Happy Chaitra Navratri! *May this Navratri be as splendid as ever. Hope it lightens up yours as well as your dear one’s lives. *With the blessings of Maa Durga, may you achieve success in all your endeavours. A very Happy Navratri to you and your family.Here's wishing you a very happy, prosperous and healthy life on the auspicious occasion of Navratri. *Aap sabhi ko Navratri ki dheron shubh kamnayein. Jai Mata Di *This Navratri, may Goddess Durga remove all your sufferings and may you get blessed with a happy and healthy life. Jai Mata Di. *May the blessings of Maa Durga always stay with you and your family. Here's wishing you a glorious Navratri! *May the choicest blessings of Maa Durga bring happiness, peace, good health, wealth, prosperity and harmony to your life. Shubh Navratri! Chaitra Navratri Quotes *May the goddess Durga give you all gifts of life, gifts of joy, gifts of happiness, gifts of friendship, gifts of love and all other gifts you want to have in your life. Happy Navratri!!

The governing body of the Jagtial Zilla Parishad has decided to introduce English medium in government-run primary and high schools from the next academic year. A meeting of the panel presided over by chairperson Dava Vasantha passed a resolution to this effect and passed on its copies to the principals and chairmen of the Vidya committees on Monday. Vasantha said the education imparted in these schools will be of high standards matching with the levels of the corporate schools. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has taken steps for strengthening the government schools by providing all kinds of basic facilities along with good infrastructure, she noted. “Keeping in view the spread of the second wave of coronavirus, the government ordered closure of schools in the state. Once the situation returned to normalcy, they will be reopened,” she said. Vasantha thanked KCR for announcing Rs 2,000 and 25 kg of rice every month for each private school teacher until the schools reopened in view of the Covid-linked economic crisis and non-payment of salaries for them. As many as 1.5 lakh private school staff would benefit by this decision, she said. She noted that the students of Jagtial were coming in top positions in the SSC examinations for the past three years. Teachers and principals should put in the same kind of efforts by providing students with quality education. ZP chief executive officer Srinath Rao, deputy CEO Sandhya Rani and Jagtial PACS chairman Mahipal Reddy were among those present.

Providing your devices and online activity with some of the top antivirus protection currently available, Norton 360 Deluxe leads the way in the range offered by world-renowned Norton AntiVirus. In this article, we discuss that premium package. We give you a clear sense of what Norton 360 Deluxe offers, from its features to its overall performance, so you can decide if it suits your cybersecurity needs.Norton 360 Deluxe is the second smallest (and second best priced) antivirus plan in the 360 range, sitting directly ahead of the Standard plan. You can go even more basic still if you're happy to drop down to the Norton AntiVirus Plus plan. For customers in the USA, Deluxe is followed by three progressively bigger Norton 360 plans: LifeLock Select, LifeLock Advantage, and LifeLock Ultimate Plus. For customers outside the USA, Deluxe is the middle of three plans, sitting ahead of Standard and followed only by Premium. Our dedicated guide on Norton plans will help you choose between the three. What devices can I use Norton 360 Deluxe on? As with all other Norton 360 plans, Deluxe can be used on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android operating systems. This means you can protect all types of devices, including smartphones and tablets. One of the key differences between Standard and Deluxe is that the latter package offers protection for up to five devices per subscription, as opposed to just one. In the context of the entire Norton 360 range, the Deluxe package offers a small to mid-size array of security/privacy features that build on what you get with the Standard plan. Baseline security and privacy features - Online threat protection utilizes AI-enhanced security technology to tackle various kinds of malware. - 50GB worth of cloud storage (only available on Windows PC) automatically backs up your files/data. - Norton Password Manager helps you create and store complex passwords for your accounts. - Norton Smart Firewall (only available for Windows PC and Mac devices) actively checks your network connections for threats. - Unlimited use of Norton Secure VPN safeguards your online anonymity and gives VPN functionality for up to five devices across Windows PC, Mac, iOS, and Android operating systems. - SafeCam (only available on Windows PC) prevents hackers from gaining access to your device’s webcam. - Dark Web Monitoring protects you from identity theft by monitoring dark web marketplaces. Additional features Unlike Norton 360 Standard, the Deluxe package also includes a Privacy Monitor feature and a Parental Control system. The Privacy Monitor feature means you can make any of your personal information held online - like date of birth or address - unavailable to data brokers. These are companies that collect information about you through various sources, such as social media sites and web browsing histories. The Parental Control system enables parents to effectively supervise their children’s internet usage via various features, such as screen-time management and web supervision. You can monitor your child’s activities from any type of device/operating system, and Parental Control can even be installed onto your child’s device (unless it’s a Mac). How good is Norton 360 Deluxe? Norton 360 Deluxe is a tangible step-up from the Standard plan, namely because it extends protection for up to five devices per subscription, increases cloud storage by 40GB, and includes an appealing Parental Control system that contains many useful tools. With all these features in mind, the first-year subscription price for Norton 360 Deluxe is quite reasonable. It poses convincing competition to rival plans from other leading antivirus software companies, such as Bitdefender with its Total Security 2021 package. Norton’s Secure VPN has a few issues: it doesn’t have a kill switch, doesn’t always satisfactorily notify you about connection issues, and can’t consistently unblock some region-restricted content (e.g., US Netflix). Overall, though, you can rely on Norton 360 Deluxe for dependable functionality and easy use.

HP has been unintentionally exposing AMD's Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) APUs. Apparently, the tech giant (via momomo_us) has also shared the specifications for the Ryzen 5000 Pro lineup via one of the company's support documents. The Pro series, which is oriented towards business and professional users, utilizes the same formula as its mainstream counterparts. Ryzen 5000 Pro APUs come equipped with potent Zen 3 cores and an improved Vegas graphics engine. The processors still stick to a monolithic die design and are based on TSMC's 7nm manufacturing process. The most attractive trait with the Ryzen 5000 Pro lineup is the Zen 3 cores, which have proven to offer an IPC upgrade up to 19% in comparison to Zen 2. Unlike AMD's Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) chips, these new Zen 3 APUs will not offer PCIe 4.0 support. Ryzen 5000 Pro will drop into the current AM4 socket so a simple firmware upgrade should be more than sufficient to get the APUs working on existing AMD motherboards.The Ryzen 7 Pro 5750G, Ryzen 5 Pro 5650G and Ryzen 3 Pro 5350G are the Pro equivalent to the Ryzen 7 5700G, Ryzen 5 5600G and Ryzen 3 5300G, respectively. The Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 SKUs are equipped with eight and six cores, while the Ryzen 3 model sports four cores. All three processors leverage simultaneous multithreading (SMT) to tackle demanding workloads. Frequency-wise, Ryzen 5000 Pro processors should be identical to their non-Pro versions. The biggest difference between the two product lines is the feature set. The Pro variants come with enhanced security features, 18 months of software stability, 24 months of availability and a 36-month limited warranty. Ryzen 5000 Pro APUs operate within the 65W thermal limit so they aren't choosy when it comes to power or cooling requirements. Unlike Ryzen 5000 processors, the Ryzen 5000 Pro APUs possess an integrated Vega engine that's powerful enough for many daily workloads so a discrete graphics option isn't mandatory. Many of these Zen 3 APUs will likely find their way into very compact, business-oriented systems. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any indication if AMD's Zen 3 APUs will be available on the retail market. Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) desktop APUs were aimed at OEMs. However, AMD did promised that the next generation of APUs will arrive on the DIY market although the chipmaker didn't specifically refer to Ryzen 5000.

If you hate the Thalmor like all right-thinking Skyrim players, here's a mod for you. Assault on Valenwood ends the treaty between the high elf supremacists and the Empire, and lets you join the Imperial Legion in a war for the province of Valenwood. You'll be supported by some of the local wood elves and khajiit as well while you take the province back city by city. It builds on the previous Valenwood mod, taking that huge map and adding a series of battles across it. Note that you don't need the original mod to use this one, though you will need Skyrim Special Edition version 1.5.73 or higher and, as modder theblackfist warns, "a bunch of followers to help you and your allies out" and "A LOT OF POTIONS". To begin Assault on Valenwood, travel to the Solitude docks and find a ship called The Avenger. Find the trap door on board, open it, and enjoy your time in the Imperial Navy. Here are the best Skyrim Special Edition mods, and if you're still on vanilla, the best Skyrim mods.

They include some landmark designs such as the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, Fiat 127 and, er, the Morris Marina. Then there were all of the cars that have long since been forgotten – unless you can remember the magnificence of the Austin Apache or Clan Crusader that is…

Every year on April 10, Siblings Day is celebrated to mark the special bond. Siblings are the most irritating being on this earth, but a day without them is like a hell. We may have as many friends, but a friend like them is nowhere in the world. Whether you are blessed with a younger or an elder sibling, they are going to stand by you no matter what consequences they have to face. Well, we know it's hard to appreciate them in a person, so here is an opportunity for you all. As the special day is here, we have brought you some amazing messages, wishes, greeting and quotes that you can send to your sisters and brothers. Also, mark this day by sharing these wishes on your WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram status.You owe a special place in my heart that I can’t express in words. Happy sibling’s day! Happy Sibling’s Day to the world’s Best Brother. Thank You for being my brother and guardian angel. Happy Sibling’s Day to one favourite sibling to another. Happy sibling’s day. No matter what, you’ll forever be my best friend. Happy sibling’s day to my favourite sibling. Thank you for saving my back, always. On this national siblings day, you must thank me for my existence in your life. Thanks for being my most favourite person to annoy all day, every day. Happy national siblings day.

Intel took to YouTube on Thursday with a deceptively simple goal—help people understand how a CPU works. The company uploaded two videos as part of those efforts: a Key Concepts video covering the most basic aspects of CPU design and a Microarchitecture Deep Dive offering more information about those concepts. Surprisingly, the videos come without the usual bit of marketing we would expect from the company, so they’re incredibly informative without pushing Intel’s products. Both videos were hosted by Intel CVP of Client Engineering Boyd Phelps, who "has worked on some of the most well-known chip designs in Intel’s history, from Nehalem to Haswell to Tiger Lake and more." Here's the first of the twoPhelps offers a high-level overview of what a CPU is, how CPUs have changed over time, and how they rely on the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) in that video. That's more than most people might think, but the video is a little under 19 minutes long, and Intel included chapter markers for each section of the video. Here's the second video:That one's a bit longer; it clocks in at about 25 minutes. But it also has a lot more to cover—Phelps offered high-level overviews of everything from pipeline depth and superscalar execution to the microprocessor front-end and the CPU back end. This is probably the easiest way to learn more about processors that we've seen to date. It doesn't seem like Intel will stop here, either. As it said in the video's description: "Architecture All Access is a master class technology series featuring Senior Intel Technical Leaders taking an educational approach to the historical impact and future innovations of key architectures that will continue to be at the center of ‘world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth.’" The company also encouraged people "interested in CPUs, FPGAs, Quantum Computing and beyond" to "subscribe and hit the bell to get new episode notifications." If the videos on those subjects are this high-quality, well, that might make this the first time that deciding to "hit the bell" was a good idea.

Intel has started releasing a series of explainer videos as part of a new series called Architecture All Access, and it's actually a good way to learn more about your PC. In each video, senior Intel leaders will go deep on a particular facet of how computers work, starting with, unsurprisingly, the CPU. With the competition between AMD and Intel so fierce right now, it's a great time to learn about the brain of a modern PC. This week's two-part course is Modern CPU Architecture hosted by Boyd Phelps, the CVP of client engineering at Intel. Phelps has worked on Intel CPUs dating back to Nehalem in 2008, up through the recent Tiger Lake chips. There's a lot to take in from these videos, but if you have some time to kill this weekend, you can learn about the history of CPUs, and get to take some deep dives into the more advanced CPU architecture concepts. Part one covers the broad strokes of what CPUs are and what they do, and also has a great story about the first computer bug. (Spoilers: It was an actual bug.) Part two covers the key parts of a CPU in a "microarchitecture deep dive" and goes into the future of computing in the coming years. Phelps does a great job explaining complex topics like branch prediction and CPU microarchitecture in a digestible way. The series doesn't require a doctorate in computer engineering to understand, which is always a plus.Jorge Jimenez is a Hardware Writer from the enchanted lands of New Jersey. When he's not filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, you can find Jorge streaming bad games with his dog or binge-watching an irresponsible amount of superhero TV shows.

I know what you’re thinking: we’ve lost the plot. It’s just not a fair fight, is it? I mean, how could it be? It’s like asking the well-meaning Old Boys squad from your local rugby club to play 80 minutes against a first-string All Blacks side. The result is only going to go one way, and in an uncomfortably brutal fashion. Yet there’s method to our madness here, because the Ford Puma ST and the Lamborghini Urus have more in common than a 444bhp difference in power and £140,000 gap in price (you could buy nearly six Pumas for the cost of one Urus) would have you believe. You see, these two are essentially the bookends of an increasingly po[CENSORED]r genre: the super-heated SUV. It’s obviously not a new concept (Porsche has been at it for the best part of two decades now), but in recent years we’ve seen an explosion in their numbers, to the point that the majority of new ‘driver’s cars’ launched these days take their design cues from rutted tracks as much as race tracks. Hell, so strong is the apparent allure that when Seat’s hot halo brand Cupra went its own way, its first offering wasn’t a pocket rocket or a sports car but an SUV.Believe the hype and these cars serve up a multitasking approach to motoring, their Swiss-army-knife-on-wheels shtick promising both thrills on the road and more than a modicum of go-getting, adventure-seeking character that traditionally tuned tin boxes don’t have the ground clearance or go-anywhere gumption to deliver. So this is both a straight headto-head and an exploration of the wider impact of such cars. You might be appalled or perplexed by the seemingly never-ending appetite for SUVs or unable to shake off the belief that anything with so much extra heft and height can ever raise smiles and spirits when you’re in the mood for going hard and fast. But do these prejudices marry up with reality? Time to find out. On looks alone, both of our contenders play on their rough-andtumble influences. The pugnacious Puma’s muscular transformation is particularly effective, its 19in alloy wheels and subtle ST add-ons giving it a more squat stance than the standard car, even if the decision to colour-key the usually grey plastic wheel arches makes it look more like a slightly taller family hatchback than a true crossover. Either way, it’s dwarfed by the look-at-me ostentatiousness and tape-measure-stretching dimensions of the Urus, which commands attention everywhere it goes. The Giallo Auge yellow paint plays a part, but even if it were finished in ignore-me grey, this vast and angular Lamborghini would have a magnetic effect on eyeballs. Love it or loathe it, there’s no arguing with the high-riding Italian’s towering kerb appeal. Height, of course, is one of the big draws of cars like these, their increased elevation offering drivers a panoramic vista (and a sense of superiority) plus a clearer picture of the road ahead – something that’s especially useful when it’s unfamiliar. You certainly sit high in the Urus, but while you do look down on other road users, you do so through a letterbox-shaped viewfinder, the low, coupé-like roofline robbing you of some of the usual visibility benefits of a big SUV.

A majestic New England style homestead set in English style park-like grounds on Auckland’s Southern outskirts has been placed on the market for sale. The five-bedroom/five-bathroom mansion sits on some 1.44 hectares of semi-rural land at Karaka, in Counties just off State Highway One, and is accessed by a meandering tree-lined driveway delivering total privacy in manor-like surrounds. The substantial home was completely remodeled some 10 years ago to plans drawn up be noted Kiwi architect Terence Hitchcock – whose vision for the stately manor included installing a lift between the two floors, recladding the residence’s exterior in black stained cedar, and altering the roofline to be more in undulating harmony with its countryside surrounds. Terraced gardens planted with shrubbery and topiary hedging overlook gently rolling lawns fringed by mature trees and a large lily-filled pond. The aquatic theme is continued on the horizon - with the home’s vista across Whangapouri Estuary on the inner reaches of the Manukau Harbour. Reflecting the English heritage of the estate, the grounds of 49 Walters Road are planted with mature oaks, swamp cypress, chestnuts, crab apples, magnolias and poplars. The property at 49 Walters Road is now being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Papakura, with tenders closing on April 21. Salesperson Peter Sullivan said the home reflected the best of two continents – with a stereotypical New England dwelling representing the East Coast of the USA, and the gardens paying homage to the landscaping styles seen in rural England and France. Mr Sullivan said that with vast six-metre ceiling studs throughout much of the home’s spacious 567-square metre interior, the designer character delivered a lofty “roominess” rarely seen in Kiwi lifestyle abodes – sustaining a luxury and lifestyle of the highest quality in one of Auckland’s foremost ‘stock-broker’ belts. The residence is heated by two large open fireplaces, with underfloor heating installed in the tiled spaces within the kitchen, bathrooms and entrance foyer. In addition to the communal lounge and dining room areas, the home also features a media room, study and studio space, and a wine cellar. The home has garaging for five vehicles. “With the ways Covid-19 changed working remotely from residential dwellings last year, this property is well suited to sustain a work-from-home office environment which is totally separate from the family living spaces,” Mr Sullivan said. “The study is already laid out to sustain a private area for either children to undertake homework or for parents to enjoy a space dedicated to administrative office-type tasks, while the substantial studio with its own kitchenette could easily be reconfigured into an office for two or three staff.” Mr Sullivan said that with the home centrally located in the middle of the park-like grounds, there were numerous corners around the living areas for any new owner to add swimming and spa pool amenities. “The paved wrap-around pathways encircling the main home, along with existing sheltered BBQ and al-fresco social spaces, mean a substantial pool area could be established either surrounded by the trees, or with views over the inner harbour,” he said. “Additionally, there are ample fenced paddocks of luscious grass for a family with an equestrian inkling to accommodate several ponies - with plenty of room to add stables and a tack room.” The home’s master bedroom is located in its own wing, and features a luxury ensuite, walk-in wardrobe, and doors opening out onto the gardens. Two other bedrooms are also located on the ground floor. Both the upstairs bedrooms have their own ensuites. Irrigation for the paddocks and water for the home are derived from three sources – directly from town supply, through reticulated run off stored in underground tanks, and with a deep bore – meaning the property has the potential to be self-sufficient if needs-be.

Adults with a disability or mental illness are receiving extra care bills running into thousands of pounds that they say could force them to cut back on food and heating and threaten their social independence. Amid a care funding crisis, some English councils are quietly increasing charges to people with learning disabilities and mental illness, in effect clawing back welfare payments and leaving some working-age adults with little more than £3 a day to spend. People facing the charges fear they will be unable to afford enough clothes and worry that basic pleasures like swimming trips will have to stop. One single man living with bipolar disorder said he may have to put down his dog because he will be unable to afford to look after it. Advertisement Care charities have drawn up dossiers of charges they describe as a new “care tax” and say it is a result of national underfunding of social care. The Health Foundation has estimated that at least an additional £6bn a year is needed to meet growing demand, rising to £14bn if the country wants to improve access to care and pay more to staff, many of whom earn minimum wage. Mencap, the learning disability charity, said it had received dozens of “concerning” calls to its helpline about the issue, and its chief executive, Edel Harris, said it was “causing huge distress for them and their families, and leaving many without enough money to cover their additional needs”. Some people are refusing to pay and are considering legal challenges. Care Act guidance says charges must be “reasonably practicable” for people to pay and that the approach to charging should promote “independence, choice and control”. One of the councils levying increased charges, West Sussex county council, said that while it had previously charged working-age care recipients less than Whitehall rules allowed, increases were now necessary because of “decreased funding from central government”. Care recipients in the county have seen weekly charges rise sharply, in one case from £5.59 to £83 a week, and in another from £40 to £151 a month. Matthew Welch, 22, who has cerebral palsy, has seen his care contribution more than double to £77, leaving him with just £23 a week from his welfare benefit, a move his mother, Sarah Welch, described as “appalling”. Sue Livett, the managing director of the Aldingbourne Trust, a charity in West Sussex that provides care for people with learning disabilities and autism, said at least 50 families had complained about increased charges. Advertisement A council spokesperson said: “Our charging arrangements follow national guidance and are based on an individual assessment of a person’s financial circumstances. We have asked people to contact us if they will find it difficult to pay so we can work with them on an individual basis.” A parent in Staffordshire said their family had been hit with a backdated bill exceeding £20,000 for their adult children with learning disabilities. “It’s disgraceful,” they said, requesting anonymity. “They have no opportunity to go out and earn money on their own. They rely completely on benefits.” Also in Staffordshire, a young adult with complex learning difficulties who needs round-the-clock care was sent a bill demanding he pay £88 a week towards the costs, equivalent to £4,500 a year. It has to be taken from his universal credit payments and leaves him with just £25 a week for other expenses. His mother, a hairdresser unable to work during the pandemic, said she was “absolutely furious” and it meant they would not be able to afford enough clothes for her son, which is a particular issue owing to his incontinence, plus it could prevent him from going to the cinema or the swimming pool with his carers. “It’s a huge effect on his quality of life,” she said. “He won’t have any variety in his day. We are not acknowledging that people are individuals and have needs in their lives.” Dr Richard Harling, the director of health and care at Staffordshire county council, said the amount people were asked to contribute was “based on what they can afford to pay while still being left with income to meet their living costs”. He added: “If a person feels they are contributing too much, they can contact us to appeal their financial assessment.” Social Care Futures, a coalition of care givers and receivers, has received more than 150 reports of rising charges. “Escalating charges must be capped and there must urgently be a significant investment in social care, our lives and freedom,” said Anna Severwright, the coalition’s convener. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “People should pay affordable rates and not be charged more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay. Local authorities should ensure people retain enough of their benefits to pay for support not provided by the council. “We are providing councils with access to £1bn in additional funding for social care in 2021-22, on top of a further package of support worth £3bn to help address the additional pressures during the pandemic.” David Jones, 60, lives alone in West Sussex with bipolar disorder, which 10 years ago rendered him unable to work. The former newspaper subeditor relies on two hours of support a week to help him keep his flat in order but is facing an increase in his contribution for this from £40 to £151 a month. The money would have to come from his personal independence payment (Pip) and would take up a third of that budget. He said that would leave him choosing between “heating and eating” and it would affect his budget so much that he will have to consider putting down his 14-year-old dog, Megan, which he said would be “beyond awful”. Pip is supposed to help people with illness, disabilities and mental health conditions maintain norms of everyday life. He said clawing this money back was “just ridiculous”. “I simply can’t afford it,” Jones said. “This extortionate demand represents 20% of my monthly income from benefits. It has to be outright unfair and a national scandal that the Department for Work and Pensions awards us Pip with one hand, and the county council takes up to a third of it away with the other. “I would have to cut my food budget drastically and might end up having to go to a food bank,” he said. “I have a dog and if I was going to try and budget for the amount of money [I have left] the dog would have to go.” He said Megan had been a “lifeline to sanity” during the pandemic and had been “incredibly helpful for my mental health”. “This [demand] has caused me incredible distress and anxiety,” he said. “There are people in an even more vulnerable position than me suffering with mental health illnesses, autism and learning disabilities and it must be extremely difficult for them to cope with this. It’s really heartless and cruel. I don’t think it’s going to raise an awful lot for the county council but it’s a vast amount for us.” The council has said central government cuts precipitated the increased charges and it has asked “people to contact us if they will find it difficult to pay”.

A new irrigation policy that favors Taiwan's chipmakers over its rice farmers has led to increased tension between the two, The New York Times reported Thursday, as the country attempts to respond to a water shortage caused by an ongoing drought. Liberty Times Net reported that Taiwan's Water Resources Agency shut off irrigation to more than 183,000 acres of farmland to conserve water. Yet companies in the Hsinchu Science Park—most notably TSMC—still receive the precious liquid. It might seem odd to prioritize chip production over farming, but Water Resources Agency deputy director Wang Yi-Feng told the NYT that the inverse would be a "lose-lose" because the farmers would suffer from low yields even with irrigated water. Yet a recent study co-authored by the Semiconductor Industry Alliance estimated that 92% of the world's sub-10nm chip production happens in Taiwan. That means problems in the country "may cause severe interruptions in the supply of chips."Companies like TSMC have responded to the water shortage with everything from improved recycling processes to trucking in water from elsewhere. These efforts won't completely solve the problem, however, at least in the short term. Taiwan's Water Resources Agency is essentially in a no-win situation. If it favors rice farmers it runs the risk of further limiting chip production during a global shortage, and there's no guarantee that the farms would receive enough water anyway. But, as The New York Times report showed, prioritizing the semiconductor industry is already rubbing some residents the wrong way. It's also a temporary solution that appears to be intended to bide time until the drought finally comes to an end. In the meantime, TSMC can announce plans to spend $100 billion in three years to improve chip supply and continue developing new technologies, but it can't actually make it rain.

Some may think that an Eli Roth-directed Borderlands movie is merely some sort of fever dream: but no. There have been various tidbits about the film's casting, and it's now been announced that Edgar Ramirez, known for roles in films like Zero Dark Thirty and Hands of Stone, will be playing the arms manufacturer Atlas. In addition to this, further cast-iron proof of the project's reality comes in the form of a plot synopsis. Included in the press release announcing Ramirez's casting is this summary of the movie's events (thanks, ComicBook). Essentially, Atlas hires Lilith (Cate Blanchett) to find his missing daughter, and various gun-based hijinks ensue: "Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team— Roland (Kevin Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Jack Black), a persistently wiseass robot." 'Persistently wiseass robot' is the kind of phrase that you'd think might hurt ticket sales but, as the success of the Borderlands franchise shows, there's no accounting for taste. On a more serious note, there's no denying that Roth has assembled a setllar cast so, who knows, this might be an unexpected joy in the vein of the Monster Hunter movie.The synopsis concludes: "These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands—but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other." No need to watch it now, is there? Don't say I never do anything for you. The film is currently in production in Hungary , and doesn't yet have a release date.Rich was raised by a Spectrum 48K in the Scottish wilderness, and this early exposure to survival mechanics made him a rooter-out of the finest news truffles, and suspicious of all the soft, civilised Amiga people. These days he mostly plays Counter-Strike and Rocket League, and is good at one of them. He's also the author of a Brief History of Video Games.

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Free audio editors are surprisingly powerful, and we've rounded up the very best ones for the job, whether you're making your own podcasts, mixing music, or just trimming a sound recording to a particular length. The best free audio editor is Audacity – a feature-packed open source program that offers more features than many commercial alternatives. It supports almost every audio format you can name, allows for live streaming, and is packed with a vast range of plugins. Audacity won't be the right choice for every project though, and if you only need to shorten a sound file or adjust its volume, one of the simpler tools in this roundup might be a more suitable option. Scroll down for our full guide to the very best free audio software. with something for every job and skill level. The best free audio editing software overall is Adobe Audition Adobe Audition is a comprehensive toolkit for audio, allowing for multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for the mixing, editing, and restoring of audio. It's not free like the options below, but the result is the ability to polish the finishing for standalone audio as well as video. This powerful audio app is available either as a standalone or as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. For tech-savvy users or those willing to spend a few minutes learning how to navigate Audacity’s slightly intimidating interface, this is the best free audio editor. Audacity is an open-source product that works on Mac, Linux, and Windows devices. Over the years, it has developed an enormous developer following, meaning it’s constantly being updated with new features and plugins to keep it competitive with other audio editors. One of the best third-party Audacity plug-ins is Gsnap, which allows you to add autotune effects to your sounds. With this audio editor, you can edit pre-recorded files, capture new sounds, add effects, and stream podcasts. While beginners may be intimidated by the complicated visual look of the Audacity interface, it’s surprisingly user-friendly with lots of screen real estate dedicated to showing you the waveforms of your tracks and large buttons for important actions like starting and pausing recordings.

ServeTheHome has just confirmed that Lenovo is fully utilizing AMD's Platform Secure Boot (or PSB) in its server and workstation pre-built machines. This feature locks AMD's Ryzen Pro, Threadripper Pro, and EPYC processors out from being used in other systems in an effort to reduce CPU theft. More specifically, this feature effectively cancels out a CPU's ability to be used in another motherboard, or at least a motherboard not from the original OEM. If a thief wanted to steal these chips, they would have to hack the PSB hardware and firmware to get the chip functioning in other hardware. But that would be super difficult to do. AMD's Platform Secure Boot runs on a 32-bit AMD secure ARM SoC with its own operating system. The hardware isolation is another layer of security for the system, as it's nearly impossible to access FSB since the system won't be able to detect the ARM processor in the main operating system. In theory, this feature is an excellent idea. It effectively makes these chips OEM exclusive, which can help reduce CPU theft. On the other hand, this feature will prevent current owners of these pre-builts from using the chips in other systems down the road.It's not much of a problem today, but suppose the system gets a CPU upgrade in the future. The old CPU effectively becomes e-waste, unless it ends up in the hands of someone who already has a compatible Lenovo system. Alternatively, if a motherboard fails, it locks the user into using a replacement motherboard from the original vendor. Thankfully, this feature has to be enabled by an OEM in the first place, so you can still go out and buy an EPYC, Ryzen Pro, or Threadripper Pro CPU/system that isn't using this feature specifically. Still, this feature can be a double edged sword. Most people buying servers aren't going to be swapping chips out and using them in other systems, so this potential issue should be quite rare. Perhaps more worrisome is that Ryzen Pro processors from the Renoir and Cezanne families also support PSB. Enabling it on that sort of hardware and the resulting vendor lock-in would limit the ability to part out such PCs in the future.

As arguably Counter-Strike's best map, Dust2 has been remade and remixed countless times in those decades—not least by Valve, whose latest rendition looks generations ahead of that dusty orange original. But over the last few months, one mapper has been busy updating the iconic map within the constraints of the original Counter-Strike. The end result is Dust 2020, a map so stunning it defies the limitations of the game's ageing engine. Created by artist Daniil Lebedev, Dust2 2020 doesn't just update the original map—it expands it, adding entirely new routes and a verticality that never existed before. A tour from YouTuber 3Kliksphilip shows off these new paths, but also dives into some of the technical feats Lebedev has accomplished with the severely limited engine.It's frankly staggering what the mapper has managed to pull off. In lieu of even the simplest reflections, Lebedev has used clever layered textures to give the domed roofs a certain shine. Shadows are pre-baked into textures, and techniques used to gloss over Half-Life's monsters are repurposed to create oil puddlesBridges creak under strain and canopies tear open when dropped through. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if the single car at Long-A had more polygons than a typical launch Counter-Strike map. It's a complete transformation that may annoy some Dust2 purists, but it's damned impressive to walk around. Granted, all these improvements come at a cost. You'll need a beefy 128MB of RAM to run the map. But it gives the iconic map a real sense of place it never had before—a grander, denser space that nevertheless retains that familiar Dust2 feeling. At the very least, it's a fair bit more impressive than Valve's own anniversary offering, which let CS:GO players run about on the original map in the new engine. Dust2 2020 is available to download over on GameBanana.A one-time dog sledder, pancake flipper, alien wrangler and indie darling, Nat now scours the internet looking for the hottest PC gaming news. Destined to become Scotland's first Battlemech pilot.

Microsoft’s regular schedule of releases for Windows 10 is expected to drop a major update in the latter stages of 2021. Despite being some way off, the Windows 10 21H2 Update, currently being referred to as ‘Sun Valley’, is shaping up to be a significant step forward for the operating system. Microsoft is yet to officially reveal the 21H2 update to Windows 10, but through leaks, rumors, and the Windows Insider Program, we’ll begin to piece together a good picture throughout the months leading up to its release. There’s already a good deal of chatter about Windows 10 21H2. As we begin to build a picture of what to expect, here is everything we know so far about 2021’s second major release of Windows 10.The first update for 2021, Windows 10 21H1 has already been announced and is in the later stages of testing before release in the first half of the year. What we can safely expect is that the second update will be released between June and December. Windows Central reports that the internal timeline for the Windows 10 21H2 release points to October, with testing through the Windows Insider channels before then. Isolated features may appear in the Dev Channel first, with a ‘final build’ decided upon in June to then begin testing through the Beta Channel. Windows 10 21H2 ‘Sun Valley’ update name At this time there is no confirmed name from Microsoft. Based on the naming convention for Windows 10 updates, however, it’s safe to assume that its official designation will be Windows 10 21H2. The ‘21’ refers to the year and ‘H2’ refers to the second half of the year. With Windows 10 21H1 confirmed for the first half of 2021, there’s no reason not to assume Microsoft is continuing this trend. The name being tossed around at the moment is ‘Sun Valley’ which is unlikely to be its release name. This is an internal codename for parts of the next version of Windows 10 which is being worked on and has been outed to the public by way of leaks from those with insider knowledge of Microsoft’s workings. ‘Sun Valley’ was first reported as a codename for the UI enhancements Microsoft is working on for the 21H2 release. The other name being touted for the Windows 10 21H2 project is ‘Cobalt,’ encapsulating everything in the release including the UI improvements and the under-the-hood enhancements.

Hearthstone's latest expansion went live earlier this week, and it's fair to say I've been having a lot of fun with Forged in the Barrens. Yes, there are some decks which currently feel oppressively strong—No Minion Mage and Secret Paladin in particular, not to mention those pesky Watch Posts—but as is often the case around annual set rotation, the freshness from so many old cards leaving Standard is keeping me queuing. However, it's also fair to say that this has been one of the buggier rollouts in recent years, which is understandable given the number of fundamental systems being tweaked, what with the recent introduction of Classic mode and the Core set to also contend with. Consequently, on Monday, April 5, a hotfix will be deployed that addresses a lot of the issues discovered so far. You can read the full list of fixes on the Blizzard forum here, but among the more notable are giving Manrik's Wife* a Mana cost so she can be played from hand, and preventing Silverleaf Poison from drawing two cards when applied to the Kingsbane weapon in Wild. The most interesting change, to me, is: "Fixed a bug where Totemic Call could still give the Wrath of Air Totem when playing with certain Shaman Hero skins.For context, with the launch of Forged in the Barrens, the Shaman hero power was changed so that it could no longer roll the Wrath of Air Totem (which is the one that grants +1 Spell Damage.) It was replaced with the Strength Totem, which gives a friendly minion +1 Attack at the end of your turn. Or at least that's what Blizzard thought had happened. It turns out that if you played with Shaman hero skins other than the default Thrall one, you could still summon Wrath of Air, which proved particularly relevant because Shaman's current deck—like this double Doomhammer variant—makes good use of Spell Damage. I'm not sure exactly what skins are affected, but can confirm that the Lady Vashj and Thunder King ones work. As several Control Warlock opponents have found to their cost. Obviously, you can't be certain that your opponent knows about the bug and is exploiting to gain a very marginal edge, unless you queue into Clarkinator, because I definitely will be. Those 15 wins I need for my 1K Shaman portrait aren't going to Doomhammer themselves, y'know. [*In case you're wondering what the deal is with Manrik's Wife anyway, this should help.]