Ugritone has announced the release of KVLT Drums II: Speed Metal, a new expansion pack for the KVLT Drums II virtual drum instrument. For this new expansion, the KVLT Drums II virtual instrument has been updated with improved loading times, less CPU consumption, and tuning options. KVLT Drums II is a Drum Sample Library catered […]

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SampleScience has announced the release of Toy Keyboard v2, a new revamped version of the Toy Keyboard rompler based on the sound of a ’90s Yamaha PSR-78 home keyboard. Version 2 of Toy Keyboard features 72 sounds and 1 drum kit. The plugin has multiple modulation routing possibilities and only weights 39 MB. Toy Keyboard […]

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Monster Sounds has released its new sample pack Hip Hop Acapellas Vol. 2, a new collection of royalty free Hip Hop acapellas by Scor-zay-zee. Following on from the amazing response from the first volume, Monster Sounds put the call in and linked up for a second time with one of the UK Hip Hop Scenes […]

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DDMF has announced the release of MagicDeathEyeStereo, a tube compressor with an integrated EQ circuit designed especially for mastering. A faithful emulation of their stereo master buss compressor and equalizer, MagicDeathEyeStereo is the second product of the ongoing collaboration with MagicDeathEye. We have taken everything we’ve learned from the first version and created a true […]

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Xenos Soundworks has announced the release of Pure 80s, a collection of over 100 presets for that Repro 1/5 software synthesizer instruments by u-he. The pack takes you on a grand tour of the sounds that defined the ’80s decade. Whether you are a producer of Synthwave music or 80s cover songs, or just want […]

The post Xenos Soundworks delivers sounds of the 80s for u-he’s Repro synth appeared first on rekkerd.org.

Prime Loops has launched a collection of over 340 analog Trap drums, samples and loops with its new sample pack titled Bally: Beastmode Trap Beats. With this analog Trap release, we’re giving you some heavy-weight Trap ammunition to load up your arsenal with and create some earth-shattering riddims! Sinister synth melodies, huge music ensembles, tech […]

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Issue #56, Winter 2016 ISSN: 2037-108X

The new Neural issue is hot from the press.

Subscribe now! because only subscribers will get a free foldable “Impossible Escapes” map and essay by Critical Media Lab.

You can also subscribe to the magazine Digital Edition →

Issue #62 Winter 2018 ISSN: 2037-108X

The new Neural issue (co-edited with Rachel O’Dwyer) is hot from the press.

Subscribe now! Because only subscribers will get a free extra 25th anniversary cover sticker.

You can also subscribe to the magazine Digital Edition accessing →

The global spread of COVID-19 since January 2020 is resulting in a slowdown in economic activity across the world. The impact on India has been limited so far, however, increasing spread of the pandemic in the country over the last few days and the preventive measures being taken by the central and various state governments have severely restricted business activities.

"PVR has opted to insist on not paying any rent for the period of closure. PVR does not own properties and all of its screens operate on rent," said a source in Chennai-based SPI Cinemas which was acquired by PVR in August 2018.

Emkay Global expects PVR and Inox Leisure to post steep year-on-year drop in revenues at 19 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.

Mondelez, owner of Cadbury’s, said its sales in the first phase of the lockdown was reduced to nil due to closure of plants, lack of have people from the distribution centers and non-availability of trucks.

The 5.7% stake in Hindustan Unilever that is now on the market, was accepted by GSK as payment for the sale of the malted drink brand and other nutrition brands to Unilever, agreed in late 2018.

These channel partnerships have been done in a phased manner, with Flipkart being the first e-commerce platform to enable the availability of its essential products in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi.

I don’t know the type of person I would be if I were an only child, and honestly I don’t even want to imagine that version of myself. My older sister Isabel has taught me so much in my brief 19 years, both through her successes and her (occasional) mistakes. We weren’t the best of friends as children; my mom always tells me she was legitimately worried we would hurt each other in one of our epic brawls. My dad even started calling family game night “family fight night” because they would usually end with Isabel and me being sent to our rooms. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to understand the complex person that is my sister. Isabel is probably the most courageous, self-sufficient person I’ve ever known. She won’t back down from anyone or anything. At 16 she decided to spend six months in the south of France as an exchange student, despite having taken only two years of French. I can’t imagine taking that chance now much less in high school, but that just shows how different we are.

I believe in thank you notes. I believe in sending them and in receiving them. Absolutely for gifts – every gift REQUIRES written acknowledgement – but also for random acts of kindness or thoughtful behavior and for hospitality. Ask anyone, “Hey, how are you doing?” and they will most likely respond, “Busy. I am SOOO busy. There is just too much going on.” People are busy. Everyone is busy. Work. Play. Shopping. Recreation. Family. Cooking. Errands. Laundry. School. Housework. Social commitments. Yard work. Commuting. Volunteering. It’s hard to make time for yourself, much less for others. That’s why it is so darned special when someone takes the time to do something nice. It may be something small, such as checking to see if you have books that need to be returned to the library since they are going. Or something bigger, like inviting you over for dinner because they know you’ve spent the day carting around mulch in the yard and will be too tired to cook. I believe people who make the

I cry every day. My tears are tears of anguish but also tears of the most intense joy. I don’t think I am depressed. I think I am responding appropriately to our contradictory and often terrifying world of conflict and violence. I think I am also in a constant state of amazement and wonder at the many quotidian miracles I witness…and how astonishing is Mother Nature’s delicate balance. Recently my husband and I saw a tiny baby black bear chasing a newborn spotted fawn dashing precariously across South Atherton Street, just before the town of Boalsburg. We still cannot believe it happened. I have discovered that some of us have been nourished by a profound sense of beauty and empathy at life on Planet Earth. This doesn’t mean I don’t also feel repelled by institutional racism, rampant cruelty, indifference, and denial. It’s hard work, but I am learning to reconcile these extremes and keep repugnance at bay—enough so that I am still under the magical sway of precious life. I believe the

I believe in Jeopardy. Growing up, my family had a dinnertime routine. No matter what food we were eating or who was sitting around the kitchen table that night, we would always watch Jeopardy! at 7 o’clock. As Alex Trebek read the questions (or, as they’re known in Jeopardy terms, answers), we ate leftover lasagna and tried to remember facts about world geography and Shakespeare. The first person to shout out the correct answer was the winner. There was never any prize for us playing along at home, but that didn’t matter to me; being smarter than my parents and my sister was all the reward I needed. It was during these nightly viewings of Jeopardy that I first realized I didn’t like not knowing things. Nothing was worse to me than watching an entire category of clues go by while I knew nothing. I devoted my time to reading almanacs, newspapers, and even the dictionary in an attempt to learning everything about, well, everything. I don’t consider myself a competitive person; I lose

I believe in party dresses. My mother and I both use clothes to make a statement. For 26 years, my mother, Margaret Simmons, worked as a high school home ec teacher. She can sew anything: business suits, wedding dresses. She must have altered a hundred prom dresses over the years for her students who were not conventionally sized. My mother loves fabric in bright colors, purples and reds. But she went to work every day in rather conservative business suits. That was her cry for some modicum of respect from school administrators who thought nothing of interrupting her class to get a cup of coffee from the home ec room kitchen. My mother started college in the 1950s. Teaching and nursing were pretty much the only fields that were open to her. Like most of her female classmates, she dropped out to get married. Three kids later, she finished her degree at the age of 40, staring down the difficult reality of single parenthood. She needed respect and a living wage. She didn’t get either.

I believe in mental health awareness. I believe that one cannot be physically healthy without being mentally healthy. Mental health has always been something I take very seriously. One’s emotions and mental stability can change their whole life, for better or for worse. And in doing that, it can change the lives of individuals around them. After being diagnosed with anxiety in the summer of 2017, I was immediately put on medication and placed into therapeutic and psychiatric help. Once I started talking things through and getting used to my medication, I realized that this thing called “anxiety” had been living in me for longer than I thought. I always assumed it was normal to have trouble breathing before major events, while meeting new people, or in a situation of sadness or stress. It was what my mind and body were used to. Once I found myself not being able to leave my dorm room, excessively sweating through the night and losing my appetite, I knew that this had gone way beyond a

I believe in movie theaters. The first time I went to a movie theater, I was about 6 years old. My parents took my brothers and me to the Rowland Theater in Philipsburg to see the original Disney version of 101 Dalmatians – it was around 1969. I remember sitting in the balcony. I remember a night scene where a car was barreling down a road with a network of dogs barking. I was scared and I was fascinated, and, doggone it, I couldn’t see the whole screen. There was a bar that ran across the front of the section, and it cut through the middle of the screen blocking my view. I had to keep scooching down in my seat, trying not to spill my popcorn. Cruella DeVil terrified me, and yet I wanted to see everything. I grew up going to matinees at the theater, as did almost everyone in my generation who grew up around Philipsburg. We all have memories of the 102-year-old movie palace that still draws people to our beloved town. This theater ties us together. The years have flown by since that

“For all of you out there, there’s an old cliché: Go out on a limb—that’s where all the fruit is.” I listened to Colin Cowherd say this years ago, right after he left ESPN to work at Fox Sports. As an aspiring sports broadcaster, I’ve always loved watching Cowherd, but I never bought that dumb saying. However, it’s turned out to be a saying that’s defined much of my life. My family moved around a bit when I was young, but when I was six, my parents settled us down in Horsham, Pennsylvania. I loved Horsham. It was the first place I lived where I could make friends with neighbors, classmates, and not fear having to leave them in a few months. I was able to create a life for myself, and it was a life that was very comfortable. Then in middle school, my parents’ marriage started to fail. In the 8th grade, my father told me he was moving to Charleston, South Carolina because he’d accepted a teaching job there. He also told me the time had come for him and my mother to split. Where I fit

I believe in running. If you asked me how I felt about running five years ago, I would have laughed at you. My feelings about running? Pure, undeniable disgust. Coupled with my asthma and general lack of motivation, I considered running as one of my worst enemies. When I was younger, I always dreaded the days in gym class when the teacher announced that we would be running the mile. I would drag myself to the starting line, a little behind everyone else, and wait for the whistle to blow. After the whistle blew, I started off in step with my classmates, but felt an all too familiar pit in my stomach as my classmates pulled ahead. My lungs began to burn, and my legs felt like they’d give out any minute. My breath would hitch in my chest as I slowed to a walk, shamefully looking up to see my classmates run past. My mind would race, and I’d constantly berate myself for walking. Why can’t I just run like everyone else? I’d ask. My lungs wouldn’t allow it, and I felt like they held me back.

I believe in empathy. Part of empathy is understanding that every life we meet goes beyond the small part we see. One day, seven years ago, my family and I learned this life lesson together while on a family walk. To everyone outside, it looked like we were on an idyllic family stroll. In truth, we were walking to the hospital where we would learn whether I could survive my brain cancer. Just like the people who saw us, we too had no idea about the invisible struggles anyone else on the sidewalk faced. This experience has helped us have empathy for others. Before that, when I was wronged, my knee-jerk reaction was judgment. But now, I’m learning to have patience and to imagine what the other person might be going through, from roommate conflicts to a lost internship. This new perspective saves everyone involved unnecessary grief and bitterness, leaving room for happier things. Many behaviors change from condemnable to understandable with additional information. For example, a misdeed

I believe in Bunco. As a trailing spouse, I’ve lived in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Morocco, Boston, New York City, and Jacksonville, North Carolina. What’s a trailing spouse? Well, I followed my husband around the world for his career. We took our possessions, worked, traveled, and had children in these places. While it sounds exciting, when we arrived in a new city or country, I felt apprehensive about meeting new people. But through a game called Bunco, I was able to make life-long friends and gain valuable knowledge about the local community. Bunco is a dice game. It requires little skill, except the rolling of dice. It’s mostly a lot of gabbing, chatting and maybe a glass of wine…or two. It’s a great excuse to get out of the house for a few hours, away from chores and child rearing. The first time I played Bunco was in Jacksonville. One day when I was at the grocery store, I met a woman named Jen. We bumped into each other while scouring the shelves for gnocchi, and we struck

I believe in good parenting. Since before I can remember, my cousin, Chase, has lived with my family. Our birthdays are twelve days apart and we have always been inseparable. We went to school together, had joint birthday parties, and basically lived our lives as twins. Although his last name isn’t Fleece, he did not know a life apart from me and my siblings. Chase’s mom had not particularly lived in a way that valued Chase or his brother, Brandon. She had them at a very young age and their dad was not in the picture. She was not sober and needed a little bit of help to get her back on her feet. Brandon, who lived with his mother, got in trouble constantly. He did not receive discipline or consequences, so he continued to misbehave. My mom stepped in when Chase was born to make sure he would get off on the right foot and to give his mom some time and space to sober up. Brandon is now living life in and out of jail and on drugs. Chase is now playing hockey in college and working two

I believe in getting in the zone. The air around the swimming pool was still. Suddenly, an earsplitting “BEEP” pierced the silence, and the entire natatorium exploded with the sound of hundreds of cheering fans. SPLASH! The swimmers hit the water and the race began. With lactic acid throbbing in my arms and determination set in my mind, I had only one goal: to push my body and mind so vigorously that the only thing capable of stopping me would be that wall ahead. Underneath the surface of the water, I heard no cheering. I heard only the sound of my rapidly beating heart. Under the water, I saw nothing but that wall. I was focused on achieving my goal. I was focused on winning. That experience was the first time I can remember being in the zone. I believe experiences that put you in the zone are important to human development. Growing up, I was always a competitive swimmer, but I didn’t take the sport too seriously until 8 th grade. At that point in my life, I was a teenage boy going

I believe in staying young. Middle school is different than elementary school. There’s a sudden weight of responsibility on my shoulders. I am no longer shepherded from class to class by a chaperone. My peers expect me to be older and different than I was in elementary school, even though it’s just the difference of one summer. But there are some parts of me that remain the same, that still dream of playing with dolls and talking about my favorite Disney princess. There’s also a part of me that still wants to use tiny plastic figures to build worlds with my sister. Some kids experience this as only a small melancholy tug in the back of their mind. Some kids, on the other hand, experience it a bit more deeply, but pretend to ignore it. On the first day of middle school, recess was uncomfortable. Nobody knew anyone and I, like many others, just awkwardly sat with the kids who went to the same elementary school as me. Nobody played. We just all sat like zombies and made small talk,

I believe immigrants make America great. My maternal grandparents were refugees from an area in Syria that later became Lebanon. In the early 1900s they escaped a drought, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and relentless poverty to pursue a better life in America. My grandfather, we called him “Jiddu,” which is Arabic for “my grandfather,” was employed in a shoe factory and spent his spare time hanging out on his friend’s vegetable farm. Neither of them achieved prominence. They lived their lives contributing to industrial America and raising their children. I could not communicate with my grandparents because of the language barrier. I was told that Sittu, my grandmother, learned to read the destination on the bus she needed to take, but other than that could not communicate in English. I wish I had been able to ask them about their lives in the old country and why they left. Like other immigrant groups, they took a risk in coming to America’s shores. I believe those risk-takers

I believe in being true to yourself. I’ve spent my entire life as a younger sister. My older sister was the tall one, the academically gifted one, and the soccer prodigy. People saw me as a smaller, lesser-than version of my sister. Everyone loved her and I wanted to be her. Without realizing it, I constantly put myself in her shadow. I allowed my identity to be connected to hers. I was comfortable there. We overlapped in high school for one year. She was the senior soccer captain; I was the freshman with something to prove. But, our coach made it clear I was not proving I deserved to be on the field in my own right, instead I was proving I could be as good as my sister. During this time, I felt trapped. There were expectations thrust upon me which were unattainable simply because we were two different people. When she graduated, I hoped the comparisons would end. That didn’t happen. During a soccer game my senior year I made a really good pass that was headed in for the game-winning

I believe in b lack c louds. My official job title while I was i n the Marine Corps was “ Crewmaster .” That means I was an enlisted aircrew member who took part in logistics and combat support missions on the Marine Corps’ largest aircraft , the C-130 , also known as the “Super Hercules.” I could spend hours describing the various aspects of my job, but in summary the Crewmaster is responsible for nearly all aspects of aviation on the Super Hercules, short of actually flying the plane. The community of Marine Aviators, including Pilots and Aircrewmen, is tight knit. Every body knows every body , and m any of us receive a nickname, or what we refer to as “ c all s igns.” My call sign was Black Cloud ; a nickname I received because nearly every time I set foot on an airplane, something went wrong. Usually, these were relatively minor issues, such as erroneous alert messages or radios that weren’t working properly. But sometimes I brought bad luck in more serious ways. On ce , a liquid

I believe in abandoned buildings. The first thing you need to know about me is that I am a terrible driver. If I drive past something that I think is interesting, I will turn my eyes away from the road and look at that thing for a potentially dangerous amount of time. I'll be like, “Oo, look at that field!” Or, “Oo, look at that sunset!” And passengers in the car will be like, “No, look at the road!” And eventually I will, but I will always look at an old abandoned building. I'm not sure exactly what about dilapidated buildings intrigues me. Maybe it's tactile, when I look at one I can't help but imagine walking on the soft, creaky floorboards while looking up at the exposed rafters as sunlight rushes in through the dusty windows. As I walk, I inhale the air that feels uniquely musty, yet safe. I trust it like I'm breathing in an old familiar book. Maybe the thing I love about old buildings is that they have so much history. You know that something has happened there, perhaps so many

I believe in the telephone. In today's hyper connected world, personal communication is an incredibly easy task with the ubiquity of social media and instant messaging. But, a downside of these new methods of communication is that they can sometimes be overwhelming. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say the swarms of notifications on my phone and computer cause me to waste more time than I'd like to admit. On Instagram, for instance, I've wasted countless hours scrolling through my feed and messaging. Last month, when I checked how much time I spent on that app, I was downright embarrassed. So, how can we improve the quality of our social interactions rather than the quantity in 21st centuy life? I believe a way to address this is by taking a step back in time to another piece of technology, the telephone. The telephone remedies the issue of focus that I and many others often deal with online. The voices of thousands are present on social media and the internet, but in a phone conversation

I believe in being in the right place at the right time. Several years ago, my husband and I were traveling through Italy and stopped in Venice for a couple of days. Anyone who’s ever been to Venice knows about the maze-like streets and how easy it is to get lost. On this particular day, we were on a crowded narrow street consulting our map when I happened to look up and see a 4-year-old Asian girl wearing a red dress coming toward us on the other side of the street. As she looked around bewilderedly, I knew this little girl was lost. In the next instant, a tall man wearing a belted brown raincoat swept up beside her, grabbed her hand, and continued walking. Immediately, and without thinking, I ran across the street and stopped right in front of him. I pointed my finger in his face and shouted, “NO!” He was at least three inches taller than me and powerfully built, but I was totally fearless. His mouth dropped open as he gaped at me. He let go of the child’s hand and I quickly pulled

Billed as a roundtable of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Wednesday's hearing included some of the nation’s most prominent dissenters on mainstream measures like business closures, stay-at-home orders and calls for widespread testing.

President Trump excoriated the administration of President Barack Obama as “human scum” who attempted to undermine him by “targeting” former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

Tara Reade, a former Senate aide to Joe Biden who has accused him sexual assault, told Megyn Kelly in a new interview that she wishes the former vice president would end his bid for presidency.

Former President Barack Obama, talking privately to former members of his administration, said Friday that the “rule of law is at risk” in the wake of what he called an unprecedented move by the Justice Department to drop charges against former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

With this partnership, MTR products such as masalas, spices, Ready-To-Eat meals and breakfast mixes will be accessible through MTR stores and kirana tabs on Swiggy.

Restaurants in the city are looking to slash in-house dining capacities by 40 per cent to ensure social distancing norms are followed and also ramp up their tech infrastructure to handle more orders online.

“There is absolutely no income coming our way due to the Covid-induced lockdown for over a month. As a result, most companies are facing the problem of paying the employee salaries in full for the month of April,” said National Restaurant Association of India president Anurag Katriar.

The staff delivering the meals wear protective gear like masks and gloves to ensure safety. Since Covid – 19 outbreak, Burger King says that it has further strengthened its restaurant procedures around food safety, cleanliness and hygiene and increased its sanitization frequency in all restaurants across the country.

The company said it would announce the locations of the restaurants next week, with plans to open them on May 13.

The association has stated that allowing liquidation of the unsold stock will minimize the losses and introduce working capital by encashment of the existing liquor stock.

As per industry estimates, any standalone restaurant from an established chain could have alcohol inventory of ₹10-25 lakh lying with it. For five-star chains, the stocks are worth much more.

Impossible Foods expects to expand its retail footprint fifty-fold this year, it said, as demand for plant-based meat soars both in retail and restaurants among health and environment conscious customers.

"We believe that a technology-enabled home delivery based solution can promote responsible consumption of alcohol," Mohit Gupta, Zomato's CEO for food delivery, wrote in a business proposal to ISWAI.

The order directed pubs, clubs, bars and lodges to allow only one customer to enter their respective premises at a time and leave soon after purchasing liquor at the maximum retail price (MRP).

J&J, already the world's biggest maker of health-care products, is fulfilling its goal of gaining a new drug category with the transaction and dealing a blow to France's Sanofi, which had also courted Actelion.

The company has also built up an auto referencing system for its stores to stock inventory based on target group and purchasing power of customers in a given location.