Group of people having fun together under the sun (image via Pexels)
Having fun at the weekend doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it’s now cheaper than ever for you to have a great time without spending much at all! If you want to find out more about that then take a look below.
Go to the Local Park
Local parks are usually brimming with things to do. It doesn’t matter whether you attend an event or whether you simply go for a walk with your dog because it’s a cheap way for you to enjoy the sunshine, and you never know who you’re going to bump into. If you want to make a family day out of it then consider taking a frisbee with you, or even a football and play around a little. You’re never too old to enjoy the smaller things in life!
Watch the Sunset
Go out for a walk and find a great spot to sit down and watch the sunset. Words can’t say how beautiful this can be, and you’d be surprised at what stunning views are in your local area alone. If you aren’t quite sure where the best spots are, then download a map of the area and pick out some spots that have higher ground. Your next adventure could be just around the corner and it’s a great way for you to spend some time with your loved ones. You can even take a picnic too!
Board games are the best way for you to have fun at the weekend. They don’t cost anything and it’s a great way for you to create a bit of friendly competition. If you don’t have any board games at home then go to your local thrift store. They often have them for a very affordable price and you’d be surprised at how many options there are.
Throw a Party
Throwing a party doesn’t have to be super expensive. In fact, it’s more than possible for you to do it on a very limited budget. Consider having a bonfire in the yard and get everyone to bring something. You’ll be able to talk about the good old times around the fire and you’ll also be able to roast some marshmallows too. If you want to liven up the party even more then download some party tracks and even play some games too so that everyone can join in.
Have a Debate
Debates can be great fun, especially with friends. Check out this guide on arguing with idiots to try and get the edge over your friends. If you are stuck for things to talk about, consider discussing world issues or even your political views. You’d be surprised at how much you can find out about your friends by doing this and it is also a great way for you to share your thoughts on the topic matter. This can be made even more fun by appointing one of your friends as the host so that everyone has equal chance to speak without being talked over.
Award-winning geologist and journalist Neil Bockoven got bitten by the novelist bug while researching what killed off Neanderthals so quickly after they encountered us - Early Modern Humans – in Ice Age Europe. The mystery inspired Bockoven to bring this prehistoric world to life in his powerful and exciting novel Moctu and the Mammoth People, available now in bookstores and on Amazon from Waldorf Publishing.
Set in Paleolithic Italy 45,000 years ago, the compelling coming-of-age story follows a Cro-Magnon youth who fights for leadership of his tribe and the right to mate Nuri, a fiercely independent woman, who is being courted by Moctu's rival, the shrewd and cunning Jabil. Moctu also battles mammoths, wolves and saber-tooth cats as well as his captors, the "Pale Ones," a fearsome group of seemingly cannibalistic Neanderthals known as the People Eaters.
Bockoven took two years to review all the current genetic and archeological research about these primitive people and this attention to detail is reflected in a story line that captures not only Moctu's experiences, but the nature of the physical and tribal world in which he operates. Solid science drives this story and - uniquely for a novel - the research is annotated in an addendum to the book that includes color images.
"During my initial research, I hadn't planned to write a novel, but I realized that there was an incredible story to be told about these early humans – their interaction with a different human species and their struggles for survival in a violent, primitive world," says Bockoven. "I hope people can travel back in time to feel what our ancestors experienced - from having babies in the wild to hunting mammoths. I want readers to identify deeply with these Early Modern Humans; they are, after all, our ancestors. We are family."
Early reviews proclaim:
"Fans of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear . . . will relish Moctu and the Mammoth People . . . an intriguing, exciting and moving saga." DIANE DONOVAN, Editor of California Bookwatch
"Neil Bockoven takes a scientific base and adds inspiration and imagination to create an epic tale of struggle and survival, of passion, betrayal and vengeance. [The book] highlights our ancestors' lives and loves, their fears and feelings - and, yes, their very humanity." KIERAN MULVANEY, Author of The Great White Bear, At the Ends of the Earth and The Whaling Season
"Moctu and the Mammoth People is revolutionary . . . unique, fascinating and deeply-sourced." MARK MCDONALD, Award-Winning New York Times Foreign Correspondent, Author of the Novel Off the X
To help young people understand their origins, Bockoven also has published When We Met Neanderthals, an illustrated children's book.
Dr. Neil Bockoven, author of Moctu and the Mammoth People, holds a saber-toothed cat skull...
About the Author
Neil Thomas Bockoven is an award-winning PhD geologist and journalist with 35 years of experience in minerals exploration.
He has been featured in Geological Society of America Bulletin, Virginia Journal of Science and other scientific publications.
Bockoven is a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, the Archeological Conservancy and is an Impact Member of the Center for Study of the First Americans.
Tourists bathing elephants. (Credit: World Animal Protection / Nick Axelrod)
World Animal Protection, a global animal welfare organization with offices in 14 countries, is praising the decision by JPMorgan Chase to suspend its advertising campaign featuring direct contact with captive elephants. The "Plan Yourself Free" campaign for Chase Private Client featured a couple's direct contact with elephants on a volunteer vacation. In the ad, the couple are seen washing an elephant by hand, a harmful, but common practice at some captive elephant venues.
The elephants are also seen walking in a line holding the tail of the elephant in front, which is not a typical behavior of mature elephants in the wild, but of elephants who have been tortured into that behavior.
Following discussions with World Animal Protection, JPMorgan Chase will cease the ads in July 2019.
"JPMorgan Chase made a responsible decision to remove these ads which sent a dangerous message that direct contact with wildlife is acceptable," said World Animal Protection Executive Director Alesia Soltanpanah. "Elephants are trained using harsh and cruel methods to perform unnatural behaviors and interact directly with people in the manner portrayed in this ad. When people see elephants used in live shows, offered for rides, used for selfie props, or washing interactions, these elephants have been cruelly abused and forced to perform these actions."
"We thank World Animal Protection's leadership for reaching out to us," said Jeff Pilarcik, a managing director in marketing at Chase. "While we took great care in the filming, we learned more about the other side of elephant tourism and have ended the ad campaign."
World Animal Protection's, Taken for a Ride report found that up to 550,000 wild animals are exploited in the tourism industry worldwide. Three out of four venues studied found conservation and welfare issues including damage physically and psychologically to elephants. Tourist demand for direct interaction with elephants such as riding and feeding leads to a lifetime of abuse. Elephant washing as shown in the ad forces elephants to remain in water longer than they would naturally and reinforces demand for elephants in captivity. The constant presence of strangers requires elephants to be controlled by keepers through harsh obedience training from a young age that includes severe restraining, pain and discomfort.
Elephants forced into direct contact with people are anything but free. Taken from their natural environments and exploited for entertainment and profits, captive elephants tamed for entertainment never truly experience a life free from suffering and cruelty. Close interaction with captive elephants also regularly leads to injuries and fatalities of keepers and sometimes of visitors.
Through its Wildlife. Not Entertainers campaign, World Animal Protection engages with travel companies around the world, revealing the hidden cruelty behind the scenes at wild animal entertainment venues, to help bring about a world where animals live free from suffering.
To date, more than 220 travel companies around the world including Education First, Thomas Cook, TripAdvisor, World Expeditions, and Extraordinary Journeys have ended sales and promotion of elephant rides and shows by signing World Animal Protection's elephant-friendly pledge or making a commitment to wildlife-friendly travel policies.
In November 2018, health worker Nsiri Lowoso vaccinates 3 months-old baby girl with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, and the polio vaccine at Coopérative Solidarité Santé le Rocher, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),10 November 2018. (CNW Group/UNICEF Canada)
Health workers are urgently rolling out a complex measles vaccination campaign targeting 67,000 children in Ituri, northeast DR Congo, a region ravaged by armed conflict that is now also the hub of the second deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.
At least 1,981 deaths due to measles have been reported across DR Congo this year, over two-thirds of them among children below 5 years old. As of 23 June, nearly 115,000 cases of suspected measles had been reported, far more than the 65,000 recorded in all of 2018.
Ituri, one of the two provinces (the other is North Kivu) struck by Ebola since the outbreak began nearly a year ago, has recorded over 5,400 cases and 50 deaths.
"The combined threat of Ebola and measles for the thousands of families living in overcrowded and unsanitary displacement camps is unprecedented," said UNICEF DR Congo Representative Edouard Beigbeder. "We have a small window to prevent a potentially massive loss of life."
The first sites targeted for measles vaccinations are four displacement camps in Bunia, Ituri, that have seen a huge influx of families forcibly uprooted by fighting in recent weeks. The boundary of one camp, located alongside Bunia's General Hospital, is less than 100 metres away from an Ebola treatment center. It is also less than 3 kilometers away from parts of Bunia that have seen 5 Ebola cases since the start of the outbreak, 2 of them in the past three weeks.
The Ebola outbreak means the measles vaccination campaign must incorporate extra measures to protect against infection and meticulous triage. Health workers will need to wear gowns to prevent contact with blood or other body fluids. Teams will include an additional health worker who will evaluate and refer suspected Ebola cases, check temperatures and oversee handwashing and other safety measures.
An additional layer of complexity is that some of the early symptoms of Ebola – fever, redness around the eyes, diarrhoea – are virtually indistinguishable from those of measles, malaria or cholera – all of which are prevalent, especially in severely congested displacement sites.
Up to 400,000 people are thought to be internally displaced across Ituri, the vast majority of them women and children. Many live in about 35 camps scattered throughout the province, in territory that is virtually inaccessible due to insecurity. Fighting among various armed groups has damaged or destroyed up to half the health facilities and schools in the province.
"The northeastern part of DR Congo is home to one of the worst humanitarian crises today. Whether it is from measles, Ebola, or the reality of living in a displacement camp, children are at grave risk. We must do everything we can to protect them," Beigbeder said.
Measles campaigns are also being planned for Tchomia and Nyankunde health zones.
As of 8 July, there were 2,428 cases of Ebola, with 1,641 deaths. Almost 30 per cent of cases are among children.
Sometimes those of us with a little more life experience do better when it comes to running our own enterprises because we have been around the block a few times and have the smarts that go with that. However, running a successful business isn't particularly dependent on age, meaning you can be 20 or 80 and still start up a profitable company. In fact, what really matters here is smart leadership, something that you can find out all about in the post below. Keep reading to discover more.
Have a clear plan for success
To get where you want to be, you need to know where you are going, and this definitely applies to succeeding in the business world. That is why having a clear plan for success is something that is essential when running your own company.
What this means is as well as all of the detailed, dated breakdowns of weekly and monthly targets, you also need to have a very definite idea what your business represents and what its mission statement is as well. In fact, by defining this information from the outset and then adjusting it as your company develops, you can not only improve your marketing efforts but also ensure that your business is always focused on what really matters too.
Get to know their competition
Competition is healthy is the business world, and successful leaders don't try and quash it, but embrace it instead. This is because having other similar products to your own out there encourages competition in price, as well as a refinement of both products and the services you offer to your customers. Something that can help you to make sure you are the most desirable brand on the market.
To that end, getting to know your competition almost as well as you know your own products is a crucial part of leading a successful business. Of course, this means that both you and your staff need to get well acquainted with your competitors' products and that you also need to put some time and effort into understanding how they operate and relate to their target demographic. Something that using a market research firm can help you achieve.
Of course, there are negatives sides to competition when you are in business, and one of the most problematic is when you have a fantastic product that then gets copied and sold at a lower price.
In fact, this is a widespread practice nowadays because overseas factories located in places like China are often happy to ignore any trademarks and IP, reproducing products cheaply and then selling them onto unsuspecting or unscrupulous distributors.
However, it is worth bearing in mind, that a truly stellar product will stand up to this copycat behavior without suffering any significant decreases in revenue. The reason being that it will be so well matched to its target demographic, and so well marketed and packaged, that those you are aiming to sell it to will nearly always pick your offering over a cheaper knock off. Something that it is imperative for a leader to ensure they focus on developing.
Embrace tech
Other things business leaders do to succeed no matter what their age is to embrace the use of technology in every part of their company, from the office, the shop floor, warehouse, and even beyond.
This is because by using the myriad of tech solutions that are now on offer, it is possible to increase productivity and save money as well. A particularly smart example of this is using something like this Sling Scheduling App to make assigning shifts and contacting employees much quicker and more effective. Something that means more of the leaders' time will be freed up to focus on other tasks essential to the success of their business.
Treat their employees well
Next, successful business leaders and leaders nearly always make a point of treating their employees well. This means is that they not only offer them a decent living wage to start with, but they promote a culture of respect in the workplace as well.
Of course, this means that leaders need to have strong communication skills and be able to offer not only chastisement but praise and encouragement too.
Additionally, offering extra rewards such as access to benefits schemes and even commission on sales can be a useful approach for business leaders to take. The reason being that this will help to keep everyone as productive as possible with the minimum amount of emotional effort needed from the leader themselves.
Know their strengths and weaknesses
Successful business leaders are also really good at identifying their own strengths and weaknesses too. In fact, by being able to do this, they can not only focus there time and effort on things that will best affect their company but also delegate stuff that they aren't the best at.
Now, many people think delegation is only about saving time, but this isn't necessarily the case. In fact, delegating or outsourcing, where necessary is also something that can quickly and easily improve the quality of the job getting done. This being something that business leaders who want their company to be as successful as possible need to bear in mind.
Manage their stress/health right
No matter what your age, your health, is important. In fact, if a leader is struggling with a physical or mental health issue, then it can absolutely affect their ability to succeed. With that in mind, it's absolutely vital that when leading a business, you take the best care of your health possible.
What this means is that you take vacations regularly, leave the office at a regular and reasonable time each day, and don't end up doing overtime cleaning up everyone else's mistakes.
It's also a smart idea to have a hobby that takes you away from your business and provides you with something else to focus on. In fact, doing this can be a great stress buster, even when things are tough at work because it will remind you that while running your business is essential it's not the only thing that you have going on in your life.
Smart and successful business leaders will also have an excellent grasp of the financial side of things as well. In fact, it will be up to them to keep running costs low and ensure that as much of their revenue translates into profit as they can.
Of course, the most successful business leaders will be adept at being able to tell the difference between a valid opportunity to reduce costs, and a situation where the quality or the reputation of their company could be damaged by doing so.
In fact, it is often such high level, high-risk decisions made in the right way by those in charge that can really help to propel a business to the upper echelons of success.
Stay vigilant for new opportunities
While you may be happy to keep on working and leading your business until you are well over 100, not all companies have a long and productive lifespan. Of course, a smart business leader will always be looking for new ways to diversify or expand their enterprise and so ensure that it can survive as long as possible.
In fact, often the most successful leaders will stay vigilant for new business startup opportunities as well. Something that can help them to maintain their success over the long term, albeit in a different form to their original business venture.
The History Of Propaganda Posters In The US And Their Role In Highlighting Social Issues - Infographic title
Propaganda is by no means a new development in the history of human society. Research suggests that the Ancient Greeks, 16th-century Spanish monarchs and kings and queens of England used propaganda long before posters were released to highlight social and political issues in the US.
In the USA, propaganda really only began in earnest in the run-up to World War One. The first poster of note was an open criticism of capitalism entitled ‘The Pyramid of the Capitalist System.’ This poster was designed to make people think about the hierarchy present in society and to question the merits of a capitalist system.
Later, as war broke out, propaganda was used widely across the world to support home troops and further their cause. In the US, posters appeared encouraging women to join the workforce. Between 1940 and 1945, the percentage of female workers in the US workforce increased by 10 percent.
Propaganda posters were also used to sell products, most notably, Liberty Loans, after the First World War, and to highlight issues that permeated society. Perhaps the most significant was racism. In the 1940s, a poster brandishing the slogan, ‘Keep Your School All-American’ was circulated with a view to ending racism and promoting harmony.
More recently, propaganda posters have been used to drum up support for presidential candidates. The Daisy Girl image shown in the infographic below was designed to encourage voters to back Lyndon B Johnson, while Ray Noland’s ‘Go Tell Mama! I’m For Obama’ poster urged people to vote for Barack Obama in 2008.
Super Girl Gamer Pro returns for its third year as part of the 13th annual Nissan Super Girl Pro Festival, July 26-28, 2019. Held at the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, Calif., Super Girl Gamer Pro is the only multi-title all-female esports tournament in the U.S. Pictured: esports star Stephanie
ASA Entertainment announced today that Super Girl Gamer Pro will return for its third year as part of the Nissan Super Girl Pro Festival, July 26-28, 2019.
The 13th annual event, held at the iconic Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, Calif., provides opportunities for women in areas where they're traditionally underrepresented, and includes the largest female surf competition in the world.
Admission is free.
The only multi-title all-female esports tournament in the U.S., the Super Girl Gamer Pro was developed to provide a safe platform for female gamers and inspire women to take a larger role within esports. Its mission is to facilitate a future where women have equal opportunities within gaming and esports.
The event will host open tournaments and dedicated game play in popular game titles: Fortnite, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Counter-Strike: GlobalOffensive.
CS:GO will be a professional All-Star match featuring some of the best female players in the U.S.
Schedule:
Friday, July 26: Fortnite Friday
Saturday, July 27: League of Legends + Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Sunday, July 28: Hearthstone + Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Registration for all tournaments is free.
Gameplay from the Super Girl Gamer Pro will be live-streamed on the industry's biggest distribution platforms: Twitch, Facebook Gaming, YouTube, and Mixer.
Tournament winners will receive new gaming laptops from Lenovo Legion. The Lenovo Legion Y540 Laptop is a step-up for mainstream gamers on-the-go with a slim, light and sleek design, enhanced thermals and the latest NVIDIA GeForce GPUs and Intel processors. Lenovo Legion will also provide PCs and monitors for the tournaments.
Turtle Beach is a proud partner of the event, providing their award-winning gaming headsets, ROCCAT keyboards and mice. "At Turtle Beach we design products to help all gamers perform at their highest level, so we're honored to support ASA Entertainment in producing an event that inspires female gamers and showcases their amazing talents," notes Turtle Beach CEO, Juergen Stark.
Turtle Beach is providing its Elite Atlas PC gaming headsets with customized Super Girl speaker plates, as well as ROCCAT's award-winning Vulcan 120 AIMO gaming keyboards and Kone AIMO gaming mice, and will have the all-new Recon Spark gaming headset and other products available in the Free Play Zone and as giveaway prizes.
N3rd Street Gamers, a national esports infrastructure company, will produce the live webcast. N3rd Street Gamers prides itself on providing greater access to esports and championing diversity in the industry.
The event is also supported by the U.S. Air Force, DXRacer and Nissan.
In addition to this important esports platform and the top female surfers, the Festival features 20 live concerts (headlined by Natasha Bedingfield), an all-female DJ contest, 20 free classes, speakers, autographs, a Celebrity Surf Invitational, shopping, and much more.
"We're excited to expand Super Girl Gamer Pro as part of our mission to provide opportunities for women in male-dominated industries," said Rick Bratman, CEO of ASA Entertainment, the event's owner. "This is an exceptionally important initiative given the lack of opportunity and general toxicity towards women in esports, and the Super Girl Gamer Pro is the perfect platform to help propel this movement towards inclusion."
Super Girl Gamer Pro returns for its third year as part of the 13th annual Nissan Super Girl Pro Festival, July 26-28, 2019, at the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, Calif. Super Girl Gamer Pro is the only multi-title all-female esports tournament in the U.S. It was developed to provide a safe platform for female gamers and inspire women to take a larger role within esports.
Coverage Ink Films' 2-D animated horror film "To Your Last Death," starring the voice talents of Morena Baccarin, Dani Lennon, Ray Wise, Bill Moseley, and William Shatner, will premiere at the 20th anniversary celebration of London's Frightfest, the UK's largest international genre festival, Friday, August 23rd, 2019
"To Your Last Death" is the first-ever US-made 2-D animated horror movie. The indie production took years to produce and was painstakingly hand-drawn. This groundbreaking animated horror/sci-fi mash-up starts where many horror films end: with the final survivor working her way out of the wreckage after a night of terror – only to be sent back in time to do it all over again by a mysterious, supernatural entity known only as the Gamemaster (Baccarin.) Only this time, our survivor has foreknowledge to give her a fighting chance to save her family.
Morena Baccarin as the Gamemaster.
Directed by Jason Axinn, "To Your Last Death" features a cast of genre luminaries including Emmy nominee Baccarin ("Gotham," "Deadpool," "Homeland,") Ray Wise ("Twin Peaks," "Robocop",) Bill Moseley (Rob Zombie's upcoming "3 from Hell," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre II") and the legendary William Shatner ("Star Trek,") who acts as guide through this harrowing journey.
"You have no idea what you're in for," said Axinn. "This film will knock you on your ass."
"If you can make people feel that they could die horribly," said Shatner, "that's scary. That's close to the bone."
A Barbie Astronaut Doll reached new heights as she was launched to space on Friday, July 5, 2019 in London, Ontario. The launch was held in partnership with STEM Camp and was designed to inspire a new generation of girls, who will pursue STEM careers, to reach their limitless potential. #YouCanBeAnything (CNW Group/Mattel Canada, Inc.)
This year marks Barbie's 60th anniversary, and with over 200 careers and counting, there isn't a plastic ceiling she hasn't broken. On Friday, July 5, in London, Ontario, a Barbie Astronaut Doll surpassed those ceilings to reach new heights.
Held in partnership with Canadian not-for-profit STEM Camp, campers experienced space-related programming and counted down Barbie's launch to space on a high-altitude weather balloon. Her three-hour journey to space and back was captured on live action camera.
"STEM is all about science, exploration and discovery. We were so excited to send Barbie to space, so kids could learn the science and technology behind making this magic happen," explained Lisa Perry, Barbie Brand Manager at Mattel Canada. "For the first time, Barbie went to space and we hope this inspires a new generation of girls who will pursue STEM careers."
In addition, young girls were given the opportunity to hear directly from a successful female role model, Aerospace Engineer, Natalie Panek, who offered her insight into a career in aerospace engineering and how she continues to pursue her dream of exploring space. Natalie is a rocket scientist, explorer and champion for women in STEM. Natalie's dreams began at a young age with Barbie by her side to spark her imagination.
Today, SQUARE ENIX launched FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers, the latest expansion for the critically-acclaimed MMORPG that recently celebrated more than 16 million registered accounts.
The enthusiasm for Shadowbringers has brought FINAL FANTASY XIV to new heights, with the active player base reaching its highest mark in the game's nearly six-year history.
Shadowbringers marks a bold new beginning, taking players beyond the world of Hydaelyn for the first time as they journey to the First and the realm of Norvrandt. The Warrior of Light must become the Warrior of Darkness to restore night and save the world from the apocalypse the Flood of Light promises.
Shadowbringers adds a wealth of new features to the game, including:
New Jobs: Gunbreaker and Dancer –The Gunbreaker is a new tank role who wields the iconic gunblade, utilizing ammo cartridges to protect their party from harm. The Dancer, a ranged attacker, not only unleashes powerful attacks using throwing weapons, but also dances to execute abilities which provide beneficial effects to their party.
New Player Races: Viera and Hrothgar – The rabbit-like Viera are joined by the burly and lion-like Hrothgar, both with unique, customizable features specific to their races.
New Game+ – This brand-new system will allow for replay of previously completed quests while retaining one's current progression and job level.
Level Cap Increase – The level cap will be raised to 80 with the release of Shadowbringers. With this will come new actions for classes and jobs—as well as new foes against which players can hone their skills.
Trust System – In Shadowbringers, players will have the opportunity to challenge dungeons with a party of trusted non-player characters, including members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Traditional party matching systems will remain available.
New Beast Tribes and Primals – Players will encounter the carefree but cruel pixies in Il Mheg alongside their mighty regent Titania, along with other beast tribes including the Nu Mou and the Dwarves.
New Content and System Upgrades – Battle system changes, new equipment, crafting recipes and more.
Players can also look forward to a variety of additional content that has been announced for release in upcoming patches:
New Alliance Raid: "YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse" - This exciting new 24-man raid written by guest creators Yosuke Saito and YOKO TARO will see FINAL FANTASY and NieR come together as never before.
New High-End Raid: "Eden" – This new high-end raid will feature a new character designed by KINGDOM HEARTS director and FINAL FANTASY series veteran, Tetsuya Nomura. The content is schedule to become available on July 16, 2019 with the release of Patch 5.01.
Restoration of the Holy See of Ishgard – End-game content for crafters and gatherers.
The FINAL FANTASY XIV free trial invites new players to access content up to level 35, create up to eight playable characters, and experience the different playable races, classes, and jobs with no restrictions on playtime. New players who wish to experience the free trial may register here: sqex.to/FFXIVFreeTrial.
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers is rated T (Teen). Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings.
Second Galaxy: A new era of intergalactic warfare is about to begin!
ZLONGAME announced the global launch of its new open-world sci-fi MMO, Second Galaxy, is coming soon. To prepare for its full release, an official website and Facebook page have been created, while a soft launch is scheduled to begin on July 5, 2019.
Second Galaxy is set three thousand years in the future in an alternate world where humanity's civilizations have formed their own empire among the stars called "Second Galaxy" with the intent to further colonize the universe.
A total of five emerging regimes populate the stretch of space humanity finds itself in, each of which has an ever-evolving relationship with one another that has them cooperating while also keeping everyone in check.
As the player adventures through deep space, they'll come across these five regimes and must form unique relationships by taking up allegiances. Through a combination of constant combat, exploration, trading, and strategy, the player will end up playing a critical role in the game's ever-evolving narrative.
At its core, Second Galaxy is truly an open world game as players can take on any role they desire, be it a merchant, transporter, bodyguard, poacher, warlord, miner, manufacturer, patroller, new world explorer, and more. They can be whoever they like in a world that consists of 4,961 galaxies filled with dark matter, wormholes, space stations, and all manner of celestial bodies to explore.
If players require assistance during their travels, they can team up with other players to form corporations to secure scarce resources or launch epic intergalactic battles.
When they're not fighting or exploring, players can take advantage of Second Galaxy's dynamic trading system where they can buy, sell, and barter with other players.
Players can take advantage of Second Galaxy's dynamic trading system where they can buy, sell, and barter with other players.
The cosmic world of Second Galaxy is massive, as it features over 50,000 stars, a diameter of more than 1,000 light years, over 150 classes of spacecraft across five unique types, 1,000+ types of tactical equipment, 3,000+ spacecraft components, and more than 5,000 technological upgrades. This near endless amount of customization is advanced by Second Galaxy's intuitive industrial development system, power control system, and dynamic economic system.
Behind the scenes, ZLONGAME has made significant breakthroughs to overcome many technical barriers to support half a million concurrent online players, and thousands of players on the same screen engaging in real-time combat. This makes ZLONGAME's Second Galaxy the first mobile game in the world to achieve such a feat.
Sending ghost emojis and using #McGhoster, the public are calling out McDonald's on Twitter for not signing the Better Chicken Commitment. (PRNewsfoto/The Humane League)
The Humane League's #McGhoster campaign is acting as a wake-up call to the fast-food industry leader McDonald's, with more than 21,000 signatures already on the petition.
Thousands of conscious consumers across the US and the UK have taken to Twitter to grab the attention of McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook. Sending ghost emojis and using #McGhoster, the public are calling out McDonald's for not signing the Better Chicken Commitment, and criticising them for 'ghosting' their animal welfare responsibilities, unlike their competitors.
Public protests, billboards, and ad vans have been popping up across the UK to further spread the word and build as much pressure as possible; followed by an online brand-jacking film that's racked up over 700,000 views already (on Facebook and YouTube).
The Video
McDonald's is one of the biggest restaurant chains in the world with a net income of $5.877B. Yet, as companies like Pret A Manger are making concrete, meaningful changes to chicken welfare, McDonald's is lagging behind; despite previously facing criticism for the treatment of its chickens. What's more, The Humane League argues that eating poor chickens raised in cramped and confined factory farms have potential health risks for the public.
"Although McDonald's has taken progressive steps on some animal welfare issues, the truth is that when the suffering of millions upon millions of chickens—the most numerous animals in McDonald's supply chain—is at stake, McDonald's fails to live up to the upstanding image it portrays," said Pru Elliott, Head of Campaigns at The Humane League UK.
#McGhoster van
The Humane League is calling on McDonald's consumers and the wider public to demand improvements to its supply chain, and appreciates any support people are able to give to shine a light on their bad practice.
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