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A history of the ’Diplo’ A 70-year odyssey against the tide by Le Monde diplomatique , 23 November 2024 A 70-year odyssey against the tide ↑ 1954 In the 1950s, diplomacy was intensifying due to the cold war, wars of independence, new states and the deployment of international institutions. The editor of the daily Le Monde , Hubert Beuve-Méry, decided to create a monthly entirely devoted to foreign affairs with François Honti, a journalist and former Hungarian consul in Geneva, serving as its editor-in-chief. Subtitled ‘A newspaper for diplomatic circles and large international organisations’ (‘Journal des cercles diplomatiques et des grandes organisations internationales’), Le Monde diplomatique was a modest eight-page supplement which bore little resemblance to the newspaper we have today. An article in the first issue laid out the programme: ‘to provide members of the diplomatic and consular services of all countries and the staff of the main international organisations, as well as their families, with an organ devoted to events and issues of particular interest to them’. Printed alongside long, official-sounding analyses were announcements by social movements and appointments to the diplomatic corps, as well as articles on the fashion shows that season. Here is an article from the first issue, entitled ‘Dance dresses, evening dresses’ (‘Robes à danser, robes du soir’). It reads:‘A parade of dance dresses and grand evening gowns is the collection’s grand finale, its apotheosis: they trumpet not only the couturier’s talent but also the fabric manufacturers’ great artistry, the embroiderers’ skill, the seamstresses’ patience. They combine the most extraordinary colours with the most spectacular shapes in a feast for the eyes.’ If you picked up the ‘Diplo’ in 1955, you could also read an account of the royal wedding of King Hussein of Jordan and princess Dina Abdul Hamid: June 1955 In April 1957, there was a description of the late Elizabeth II and her husband Philip’s visit to Paris: April 1957 Over its first decade, the monthly newspaper, which promised to ‘furnish copious and reliable information’, published — almost exclusively — articles by Le Monde journalists, diplomats and senior officials. Like its daily evening counterpart, Le Monde diplomatique had complete faith in the Bretton Woods institutions. Its conventional approach sometimes earned it the nickname of ‘the voice of the Quai d’Orsay’. November 1955 Winds of change While relations between the two blocs seemed to stabilise in the mid-1950s, history was accelerating across the rest of the world: the period saw the first Indochina war, the Algerian war and the independence of Morocco and Tunisia. In Egypt, Nasser nationalised the Suez canal in 1956. The failure of the French-English-Israeli military effort to stop him marked an epochal change. In China, the Communist revolution of 1949 had rocked the most populous country on earth. In Cuba, young guérilleros fought the Washington-backed dictatorship.In 1955, 29 countries in Africa and Asia — including India and China — met at Bandung. They denounced colonialism and imperialism, proclaimed their ‘non-alignment’ to the two parties in the cold war, and proclaimed their intention to develop autonomously: the ‘third world’, as it was called, was stirring. In the West, too, protests were succeeding, societies were transforming, lines were shifting. Germany was rearming, Europe created a common market, the US reeled under pressure from the civil rights movement. Le Monde diplomatique as we know it was born in this ferment, and its evolution mirrored the changes of the 1960s. 1973 The Claude Julien era In 1969, Hubert Beuve-Méry retired. Jacques Fauvet succeeded him as editor of Le Monde and Claude Julien became the head of the prestigious foreign desk. In 1973, Julien, a journalist and Christian intellectual who was critical of the US and neoliberal economics, took the helm at Le Monde diplomatique . When he was a young man, Julien had been a member of the Résistance in the Tarn department. After the second world war, he studied journalism in the US, then moved to Morocco, where he supported the independence movement and was expelled by the colonial authorities. He joined Le Monde ’s foreign desk in 1951, covering the US during the decade of the civil rights struggle, going to Cuba during the revolution and publishing incisive works like L’Empire américain (1968). 1973 was the year of the energy crisis, the Yom Kippur war, the coup in Chile; Julien would remain in post until after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). Within a few months of his appointment — with the help of the journalist Micheline Paunet and two intellectuals, Ignacio Ramonet then Bernard Cassen — he had transformed the newspaper. The small team changed the page layout, modernised the design, increased the number of pages and widened the purview to include culture, the environment and communication technologies. New sections appeared: film reviews from a political angle, ‘Politics and literature’ etc. Furthermore, Julien established the line of the newspaper to this day: non-alignment. Poster for the May 1985 edition Unlike many media organisations, the ‘Diplo’ decided not to treat ‘third world’ countries simply as actors on a geopolitical chessboard, but to cover them as equal societies, with their own internal political games, culture and social and intellectual movements. Poster for the November 1983 edition Alongside these changes, the paper’s stable of writers became more diverse, and its pages were opened up to historians, philosophers, economists, sociologists, reporters, artists, activists, writers and more. Then came the ousting of far-right regimes in Europe (Portugal, Greece and Spain), the newfound independence of Mozambique and Angola (1975), the coup d’état in Argentina (1976). With each advance and backlash, the monthly newspaper deviated further from the neutral positioning of the daily Beuve-Méry had founded, asserted its ‘third-world’ line and took the side of the periphery over the centre, the dominated over the dominant. In 1982, a little-known episode provoked strong feelings on rue des Italiens, the headquarters of Le Monde . Claude Julien, who had been elected two years before to succeed Jacques Fauvet at the helm of the daily, was fired before he even started as a result of a politically-motivated internal intrigue. At a moment when the left was in power in France — and hadn’t yet given up on changing the economic order — a different Le Monde would have tipped the ideological scales... Julien returned to Le Monde diplomatique , where his freedom was unconstrained and he had the official title of director to guarantee his editorial independence. Poster for the September 1984 edition Over the course of the 1980s, his international analyses and his editorials railing against the French left’s betrayals caused a stir, as did Micheline Paunet’s rigour, which was such that many contributors still remember being confronted with her fatal verdict: ‘This is not very Diplo’ (‘Ça, c’est pas du Diplo’). Seeing things Solange Brand, who was responsible for layout and images, constructed a singular visual identity for the paper and began to trace a subterranean relationship between the articles and images. She would be succeeded by Alice Barzilay, then Maria Ierardi. Asking avant-garde visual artists and photographers to respond to articles by intellectuals resulted in a unique dialogue that made Le Monde diplomatique stand out — though it shocked some readers. The illustrator Selçuk’s drawings, with their hidden meanings, were featured in almost every issue, opening up a new dimension to the articles. They seemed to say: ‘This is not a press cartoon!’ Manière de voir In 1987, the team, now bolstered by the arrival of Alain Gresh, Christian de Brie and Jacques Decornoy, published the first issue of Manière de voir : a quarterly, then bimonthly publication that reprinted articles from the monthly by theme, enhancing them with new material, bibliographical elements, maps and graphs. The second issue of Manière de Voir was published under the title ‘Liberalism against freedoms’. A duty of disrespect In the 1980s, Le Monde diplomatique , which had until recently flourished alongside the political emergence of the ‘third world’ and protests in the West, found itself faced with a brutal ideological reversal. With Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Helmut Kohl, the neoliberal counter-revolution was growing while great revolutionary hopes were ebbing away and the Eastern bloc was disintegrating. From an initial distribution of 5,000 copies, Le Monde diplomatique was now selling 150,000 each month. ‘Produced by a very small team that relies on hundreds of collaborators scattered around the world, Le Monde diplomatique is, and wants to remain, a modest newspaper,’ Claude Julien said in 1984. His collected articles, pieces published in the monthly paper, was published in 1979 and entitled Le Devoir d’irrespect (A duty of disrespect): naming a mission that successive editorial teams have worked hard to bring to life. 1990 As a specialist in theories of communication, the new editorial director Ignacio Ramonet had both a scientific and a literary background. He took the helm in December 1990, on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, US-inflicted shock therapy, the Gulf war, the proliferation of information technology and all things audiovisual. While the mainstream media was united in celebrating a cult of ‘happy globalisation’, hailing the advent of an American century and the Europe of Maastricht, the ‘Diplo’ continued its odyssey against the tide. Its arguments could be heard all the more clearly because the number of critical voices had thinned out, from socialists moving towards the centre to disoriented communists. The ‘Diplo’ stood out in a media-sphere increasingly ruled by money, and its circulation increased significantly. Each month, the radio show ‘Là-bas si j’y suis’, hosted by Daniel Mermet on France Inter, contributed to making the newspaper’s preoccupations and pursuits known to a wider audience. The team, enhanced by the arrival of Serge Halimi, documented the ravages of the free market, analysed the climate crisis, denounced the hypocrisy of military humanitarianism and described the geopolitics of the chaos created by Western interference. In France, Edouard Balladur’s ideological ice age had frozen public debate to the point where the word ‘capitalism’ had practically disappeared from the media. Le Monde diplomatique was working to provide the tools for a critical renewal. On the one hand, it castigated ‘ la pensée unique ’ and ‘reverential journalism’, and documented the ‘tyranny of communication’. On the other, it explored new forms of resistance, in Latin America in particular . In November-December 1995, France’s great revolt against neoliberal Europe changed the terms of the country’s ideological debate. The shock split the left, unions and intellectuals. Le Monde diplomatique welcomed into its pages proponents of a new radical critique, led in particular by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu , and itself became more present on the activist scene. The edition in English — a concise, translated version of the parent edition — began as an online publication in late 1996, led by the journalist Wendy Kristianasen, to share the paper’s arguments with the English-speaking world. In December 1997, the editorial ‘ Disarming the markets ’ closed on a proposal. ‘Why not set up a new worldwide non-governmental organisation, Action for a Tobin Tax to Assist the Citizen (ATTAC)?’, Ignacio Ramonet suggested. Cue hundreds of letters arriving at the newspaper’s headquarters. So, along with several organisers in the social movement, the newspaper created ATTAC. From Seattle to Larzac via Porto Alegre, from world social forums to counter-summits, alter-globalisation challenged the institutions of free trade and filled the monthly’s pages. In the meantime, the newspaper shook up its shareholder structure. In 1996, thanks to a $1m donation from Gunter Holzmann, a former German resistance fighter against Nazism, the newspaper team bought 24% of the capital from Le Monde , while its readers, under the banner of the organisation Les Amis du Monde Diplomatique, took on 25%. As a legally separate entity from Le Monde , and as it now had (along with its readers) a blocking minority, Le Monde diplomatique enjoyed a form of independence made even more sturdy by the fact that the editorial director, who also chaired the board of directors, had to be elected by all members of the team. This autonomy was particularly in evidence in 2000, when the ‘Diplo’ criticised the decision — made by Le Monde ’s management trio, Jean-Marie Colombani, Edwy Plenel and Alain Minc — to be listed on the stock market. While it refused the ‘financial modernity’ that was all the rage in the media, Le Monde diplomatique was, in February 1996, an internet pioneer. Among the French press, it was the first to have a website. Led by Philippe Rivière, it contributed, via the free software SPIP, to the creation of an ecosystem of alternative publications that would take the top spot on the web at the beginning of the 2000s. In 2006, Mona Chollet worked in the web division before joining the editorial staff. A radical, rigorous and aesthetically pleasing cartography was developing at the newspaper, an initiative driven by Philippe Rekacewicz and Cécile Marin. This provided new ways of seeing the order and disorder of the world, and would lead to the creation of numerous atlases in the 2000s and 2010s. A unique network of international editions was also growing. Until recently limited to English, Italian, German, Portuguese, Greek, Spanish and Arabic, it was beginning to extend to several dozen countries, making Le Monde diplomatique the most translated French newspaper in the world. Between 1995 and 2002, Dominique Vidal (Middle East), Maurice Lemoine (Latin America), Anne-Cécile Robert (Africa) and Martine Bulard (Asia) joined the editorial staff. NATO’s Kosovo war in 1999, the attacks of 11 September 2001 followed by the West’s invasions of Afghanistan, then Iraq , the second Intifada, the red wave in Latin America all provided the team new editorial battles to be waged. While, in the spring of 2005, the fight against the European Constitution Treaty was won, activists had been discouraged and divided by the failure, in 2003, of the long strike against pension reforms and the focus of public debate on issues like the Islamic veil. Sales of the newspaper, which had peaked with the alter-globalisation wave, slowed. 2008 Just as, in 2008, the most monumental global financial crisis in contemporary history hit, Serge Halimi began his mandate as editorial director. Halimi had a specialism in the US, where he had taught political economy, and was the author of works about the media and the great (neoliberal) leap backward. He at once had to answer a vital question: most newspapers, seized by digital intoxication , were choosing to put their articles online for free, in the hope that advertising would be their golden goose; Le Monde diplomatique was one of the first to reserve most of its editorial content for its subscribers, while making a limited number of articles accessible to all. Faced with the rise of social media and rolling news networks, the ‘Diplo’ refused the dictatorship of immediacy and instead used Twitter to post incentives for readers to delve back into its now entirely digitalised archives.Paradoxically, this era of real-time information superabundance saw an increase in confusion. Le Monde diplomatique suggested that its readers ‘stop and think’ about subjects that demand a longer view. There were many such subjects in this period. Between 2008 and 2015, the collapse of financial institutions, the bailout of the banks and the austerity that governments then imposed on the people of Europe, in particular in Greece, were the subject of in-depth analyses, notably by the economist Frédéric Lordon . The newspaper sent young journalists to report on the Occupy movement, popular protests against financial exploitation and burgeoning feminist and LGBT demonstrations throughout the world. At the same time, under Alain Gresh’s initiative, the hopes, victories and setbacks of the Arab Spring were contextualised in history and geopolitical power relations. In March 2010, as Barack Obama was hypnotising the Western world, Le Monde diplomatique invited Noam Chomsky to Paris. In a packed room at La Mutualité, the American linguist and critic analysed US imperial policy. His argument would be strikingly illustrated the following year with the destruction of the Libyan state by NATO powers and in 2013, with Edward Snowden’s revelations on US intelligence agencies’ illegal spying. It had become even more crucial for the ‘Diplo’ not to adopt the ‘ strategy of emotion ’ that served as an editorial compass for the mainstream media — and this was a delicate balancing act following the Islamist attacks of 2015-2016, particularly the one on the Charlie Hebdo team. Through the stream of bloody images and the anti-Muslim atmosphere provoked by the rise of ISIS in Europe, the editorial team tirelessly defended freedom of expression, including the right to blasphemy and the right to protest, and offered an increasingly cross-sectional analysis of international news. In times of data, capital, goods and refugee flows, global phenomena such as global warming broke down the barriers of an editorial team traditionally organised by sector and geographical area. In 2014, the campaign led by the newspaper against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership mobilised the entire team. Le Monde diplomatique ’s circulation began to grow again. In previous years, readers had contributed to the company’s financial health by responding enthusiastically to its fundraising campaigns. Once the coffers were replenished, these campaigns stopped. The workforce — which had moved from its original office on the premises of Le Monde to a building that had formerly been used by a cattle dealer (bought and renovated by the ‘Diplo’ in 2000) — had grown to around thirty employees, as well as several dozen freelance journalists and academics. Over the 2010s, the management and unions developed a salary scale and collective agreements, professionalising what had previously been a ‘family’ style of management of a team with strong personalities. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump to the White House confirmed two editorial axes that have characterised Le Monde diplomatique for decades.First, its analysis of the arrogance of urban Western educated classes living in echo chambers, who were being powerfully rejected. The French bourgeoisie’s reaction to the ‘gilets jaunes’ movement in 2018 provided a further illustration of this. Then, a disciplinary takeover of public space under the pretext of fighting against ‘ fake news ’. Because — from Trump and Putin’s alleged complicity, to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine — liberal elites have also continued to relay false information and censor true information in order to conveniently shape the debate. Fake news and false oppositions In the early 2020s, the editorial battle continued against the military and moral rearmament of a ‘liberal’ West opposed to ‘authoritarian’ regimes. The editorial staff of Le Monde diplomatique was almost alone in a warmongering French media landscape in critically analysing both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Western provocations that preceded it, as well in interrogating the coherence of the ‘ global South that challenged the hegemony of the North. Ultimately, seven decades after the Bandung Conference, the same questions arose in a new global configuration: would the people burst into the sumptuous banquet of the powerful, and how would they manage this? 70 years later On 30 September of this year, the team, its writers and the readers’ organisation came together at the Cité universitaire in Paris to celebrate the newspaper’s 70th birthday, and the publication of its most recent book, which is about history. On that occasion, Benoît Bréville, who was elected editorial director in 2022, pointed out that the very existence of a newspaper like Le Monde diplomatique is an anomaly: Some have judged the newspaper’s tone too critical. But over the last twenty years the ‘Diplo’ has often made proposals: for a tax on financial transactions , maximum wage , universal basic income and to free the fourth estate . We have analysed different strategies for standing up to the European Commission, confronting the euro crisis and the debt crisis, taking power away from the stock market and disarming finance... We await a government willing to implement them. Le Monde diplomatique serves as a compass because, as the right-left divide becomes increasingly blurred and progressive forces are scattered, it works hard to stay on course. It does not abandon its principles, values and struggles the moment they are taken over and distorted by others. We continue to criticise NATO and Atlanticist hegemony even though Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump have positioned themselves in this niche. We continue to denounce the austerity and free-trade dictates of the European Union, even though Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini in turn have adopted this language. Just as we continue to defend freedom of expression and denounce all forms of censorship, even though the fight has been taken up by the far right. Rather than abandoning our principles, we are working to expose these new converts’ hypocrisy and duplicity. When every media outlet seeks social media approval and avoids ruffling its community’s feathers, the ‘Diplo’ does not hesitate to irritate and even upset. What would be the point of a newspaper that only ever confirmed its readers’ assumptions? Today, our publication seems almost alien: most newsrooms are emptying; robots, algorithms and software are replacing humans; our team continues to grow and the newspaper is still produced by hand, ‘the old way’, with a proofreader, photoengraver and iconographer... As power becomes more concentrated and pressure on the media increases, as newspapers are passed from right-wing billionaire to far-right billionaire, the ‘Diplo’ fiercely cultivates its independence, with a shareholder structure that remains unchanged since 1996. As trends dictate that publications use only the shortest and the simplest forms, the ‘Diplo’ publishes long, sometimes difficult, articles on Bangladesh or the Freudian Unconscious. And it seems like, amidst the hubbub, many readers want to stop and think with us. This is what we have observed over the course of the many debates in which the team participates, often with the help of the Amis du Monde diplomatique — when readers thank us or challenge us in sometimes demanding but always enthusiastic, often joyful, ways. In these meetings, the team can measure the very special relationship between the newspaper and its readership — a group of vigilant and attentive, loyal and committed people. They sometimes tell us, in turn, about the moment they discovered the newspaper. For some, it was during the first Gulf war or at the time of the Kosovo war, and they describe the relief of coming across a newspaper that did not relay Western propaganda . For others, it was at a rally. These days, it is often in the context of the killing in Gaza. It was reading an article by Henry Laurens on the end of the Ottoman Empire ; a poem by Mahmoud Darwish ; a letter from John Berger to Subcomandante Marcos; or a short story by Margaret Atwood. One reader is at school, another is a college student. Some landed in Paris after fleeing Iran or Chile. They come to us through an aunt who is a long-time subscriber, or through a history and geography teacher who advised them to read ‘Le Diplo’. So long as this newspaper is able to weave these stories with its readers and collaborators, its future will be in good hands. Le Monde diplomatique Translated by Lucie Elven Share this article × Here is a terrific article you should definitely read: “A 70-year odyssey against the tide”, by Le Monde diplomatique (November 2024) // https://mondediplo.com/10584 This message is too long for Twitter. Copy this message Give this article to a friend

TORONTO - Live streams of Taylor Swift’s sold-out Eras Tour concerts in Toronto have given devoted fans a window into the spectacle of outfits, surprise songs and elaborate stages from one of the biggest cultural events in recent memory. As the massive tour inches toward its final three shows in Vancouver early next month, feeding Swifties’ insatiable appetite has become a nightly tradition for a handful of live stream hosts based all over the world. They act as ringleaders for tens of thousands of viewers witnessing Swift’s constantly evolving show through unofficial channels. “I never saw it being as big as it is,” said Tess Bohne, one of the personalities credited as a pioneer of the Swift live streams. “There is a big idea of community (and) being present without being there.” Broadcasting unauthorized concert live streams on social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, but it’s one that’s been amplified with Swift’s tour. As their popularity grows, the streams are sparking conversations about copyright law and the delicate balance between protecting intellectual property and allowing listeners to embrace their fandom. “We’ve gone beyond art being a one-way conversation from the artist to the audience,” said Jay Kerr-Wilson, an IP lawyer and co-leader of Fasken’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group in Ottawa. “Copyright owners, generally speaking, are being more flexible and they’re not necessarily (thinking) black-and-white.” Representatives for the singer did not respond to requests for comment. For fans, the lines are already blurred. Bohne got wrapped up in the Swift live-streaming phenomenon nearly two years ago after she attended the second night of the Eras Tour, in Glendale, Ariz., and found herself consumed by the experience for days afterward. “(Often) you go to a concert and you’re like, ‘That was great, let’s move on with my life,’” the 33-year-old explained in a video call from Salt Lake City. “But there was something different. It was like, ‘No, that wasn’t enough. I’m not done.’” Eager to relive the high she felt, Bohne chased down the TikTok profiles of fellow Swifties streaming other stops on the tour. With little technical experience, she began rebroadcasting their videos, with credit, on her own TikTok profile. She would place an iPad playing their feed in front of her phone’s camera, and then swap it out with her other iPad when she found a user with a better angle of the concert. The crude setup initially drew a few thousand viewers, she said, and with more effort put into the productionher audience has grown to 100,000 to 200,000 during peak moments. Since her initial broadcast, Bohne estimates she’s streamed more than 110 of Swift’s concerts in a split-screen format, streaming the concert in one corner and munching on snacks in the other while discussing all things Swift with a chat room of strangers. Some fans donate cash, and her social media status has helped attract influencer partnerships. But the stay-at-home mom of three children said this is primarily a labour of love. Bohne is credited by many of her contemporaries as the one who inspired them to take a shot at hosting their own Eras Tour with live commentary. “A lot of people say it’s like religion for them,” explained Lucas Chalub, a Twitch streamer and longtime Swiftie. Chalub first experimented with hosting streams in August 2023. Rumours swirled that the singer might announce the release date for one of her re-recorded albums on stage in Los Angeles, so many Swifties sought out live feeds, which included his impromptu setup that night. “A lot of people joined,” remembered the 27-year-old sports journalist from Argentina. “That’s the first night that I said, ‘Why not do this every night?’” Chalub said he usually draws on streams from 10 to 15 concertgoers who are often aware their recordings might get picked up by the streaming hosts. Many bring power banks to recharge their devices and sometimes a backup phone. “We are not the heroes that people think we are,” Chalub added of his fellow streamers, crediting fans on the ground who do their work pro bono. “The real heroes are the people in the venue spending — or wasting — their time trying to live stream for us instead of enjoying the show.” The legality around live streaming Swift’s concerts is murky. In the simplest terms, the rebroadcasting of copyrighted music without a licence isn’t allowed, and platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have sometimes shut down live feeds mid-stream at the behest of record labels. It happened to Ammir Shar, a 25-year-old streamer from Blackpool, U.K., who saw his YouTube feed for the fourth Toronto concert yanked down while the show was in progress. Hosts say they worry about racking up too many takedown notices, which can risk permanently shutting down their channels. Usually after a live stream ends, they delete the footage from platforms like YouTube. However, they say attempts to silence them won’t amount to much. When one streamer falls, sometimes two others turn up. Copyright owners are still grappling with that perspective, especially when unsanctioned live streams can impact other financial stakes, said Kerr-Wilson. In Swift’s case, she sold the streaming rights to her “The Eras Tour” film to Disney Plus for US$75 million. Arguably, the lawyer suggested, a company might take issue with similar options on the market, such as a live stream. But even that seems to be an evolving conversation. “People have realized that social media and user-generated content isn’t the enemy, and, in fact, can be a powerful way to engage with fans and to be part of the conversation,” he said. “I think the trend is going to continue.” While Swift hasn’t publicly said much about the streams, several streamers believe she is aware of them. They also argue the vast majority of people tuning into their feeds already have an investment in Swift’s success. Last November, a group of technologically savvy Swifties launched Swift Alert, a phone app that sends out alerts for the highlights of each Eras Tour show. Inside the app, the creators also launched a game called Mastermind — named after a Swift song, of course — where fans can win prizes by guessing which of Swift’s rotating selection of outfits she’ll wear for each “era” of her performance. Using Swift Alert in tandem with the live streams, many fans tune in for the standout moments of the three-hour concert. “A lot of people compare it to fantasy football,” Shah said. “This kind of stuff brings us closer together.” With the Eras Tour set to end in Vancouver on Dec. 8, many live streamers say they’re uncertain how the future looks. Recently, Bohne experimented with a live stream from pop singer Meghan Trainor’s concert to see if there’s similar interest. While it was enjoyable, she said the experience wasn’t quite the same. Others have started streaming Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour. They say her shows are closest to Swift’s because Carpenter is a natural at witty banter, performs nightly surprise songs and changes up her outfits. “I’ve considered doing a few other (musicians, but they) are more like normal concerts — the artist on the stage with a microphone in one outfit, just singing their songs,” said Shah. “It’s not something that people at home will be like, ‘What outfit is she going to wear?’” Some wonder how live streaming will look without the intrigue of Swift’s tour. Added Bohne: “No concert is like The Eras Tour.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.Gujarat Titans Squad for IPL 2025: Nishant Sindhu Sold to GT for INR 30 Lakh at Indian Premier League Auction

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Lere Oyewumi has urged Nigerian elites to take a keen interest in and actively participate in the electoral process to combat the prevalence of vote buying and other malpractices that characterise the country’s electoral system. Oyewumi made this appeal while hosting the Youth Electoral Reform Project (YERP-NAIJA) team at his Ikire country home on Saturday. In his address to the delegation, Senator Oyewumi emphasized the transformative role that elite participation in elections could play, stating that collective effort is essential to ensure a smooth electoral process. He expressed concern over the attitudes of elites toward the electoral system, highlighting that they possess the power to use their influence to mitigate some of the challenges threatening the integrity of elections in the country. “If individuals engaged in vote buying and selling encounter well-dressed, dignified voters at polling units, they are likely to feel deterred from offering money and that’s the role our elites must play” he explained. “When this pattern repeats across polling units, they will have no option but to return the money to those who sent them.” The senator stressed that increased participation by elites would help promote transparency and integrity in Nigeria’s electoral process, ultimately reducing electoral malpractice. While commenting on the five priorities reforms contained in the YERP-NAIJA document, Senator Oyewumi commended the team for working in line with the of Nigerians from different sectors. The Osun West Senator called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reform the voter registration process. He suggested that voter registration should become a continuous process, similar to the National Identification Number (NIN) registration. “Voter card registration should not be restricted to election periods. It should be accessible at any time,” he concluded. Earlier at the meeting, the leader of the team, Jare Tiamiyu urged the lawmaker to ensure members of the minority caucus in the Senate support the recommendations as they will help in redefining the Electoral Process. “We’re here on behalf of our partners the National Democratic Institute and the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative to present to you recommendations of the Nigerian youths on the electoral reform. “Shortly after the 2023 general elections, young people from across Nigeria include Osun youths met to discuss the challenges faced during the last elections and put forward recommendations towards reforming the process. We believe we can’t just continue to be onlookers, hence the process supported by the NDI. “Here are the top five priorities reforms that Nigerian youths are recommending to the National Assembly,” Tiamiyu, who is the Director of Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development said. READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE Get real-time news updates from Tribune Online! Follow us on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive stories and interviews, and much more. Join our WhatsApp Channel nowTaylor Swift gives pal Ashley Avignone a big hug while celebrating her 40th birthday in NYC Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com By SONIA HORON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 21:55 EST, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 21:58 EST, 29 December 2024 e-mail View comments Taylor Swift made some time in her busy schedule to celebrate her friend Ashley Avignone's birthday. The Bad Blood hitmaker, 35, was among the guests at the stylist’s 40th birthday celebrations in New York City on Saturday. Avignone shared a few snaps from the festivities to her Instagram on Sunday, including one photo of her and the superstar sharing a warm hug in front of a birthday cake. The pals both matched in long-sleeve black looks, with Taylor — who attended the bash with her boyfriend Travis Kecle , 35 — rocking her signature red lipstick. Swift also wore a chic Cartier Santos Demoiselle gold diamond watch, retailing for up to $31,000. Another photo showed Ashley blowing out her birthday candle. The writing on the colorful cake humorously stated, 'Ash is 25 (again).' Taylor Swift, 35, made some time in her busy schedule to celebrate her friend Ashley Avignone's 40th birthday 'Happy birthday to me, emphasis on the *happy*' the designer captioned her post. The birthday bash was held on Saturday at the exclusive members club Chez Margaux in the Meatpacking District, according to People . Read More Taylor Swift holds hands with Travis Kelce as they enjoy another date night in NYC Swift and Avignone met through mutual friend Emma Stone, and have been friends for 16 years. Avignone has accompanied Swift to a number of Kansas City Chiefs games to cheer on the pop star's tight end boyfriend. Avignone also recently supported Swift at her own birthday party , an Eras Tour-themed bash thrown by Kelce. Earlier on Saturday, Swift and her boyfriend were seen holding hands as they made their way to Avignone's birthday dinner. Despite the chilly temperatures, Swift put on a leggy display wearing a black minidress that contained a hem that stopped inches above her knees. Taylor layered the ensemble with a long, black coat that had sparkling, silver embellishments embroidered throughout the warm material. The songstress slipped into a pair of open-toed, black heels to coincide with the monochromatic color scheme of her look. Swift's long blonde locks were parted in the middle, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders in elegant waves. The Bad Blood hitmaker was among the guests at the stylist’s birthday celebrations in New York City. Avignone shared a number of snaps from the party to her Instagram on Sunday The writing on the colorful cake humorously stated, 'Ash is 25 (again).' The designer captioned her post: 'Happy birthday to me, emphasis on the *happy*' Taylor attended the bash with her boyfriend Travis Kecle, 35. The party was held on Saturday at the exclusive members club Chez Margaux in the Meatpacking District Swift put on a leggy display wearing a black minidress that contained a hem that stopped inches above her knees The performer carried a small, bedazzled purse in her right hand to hold a few items she needed during the night out. Taylor further glammed up the outfit by adding a pair of dangly, silver earrings as well as a silver-chained necklace. Kelce sported a vibrant look wearing a red, denim jacket that was unbuttoned at the front as well as a pair of matching, loose-fitting trousers. The professional NFL star added a printed, white shirt underneath and donned a pair of black shoes that were secured with laces. To complete the stylish ensemble for the evening, Travis added a cap on top of his head and also opted for a pair of shades. The couple - who were first romantically linked last year - were seen lovingly holding hands as they made their way across a busy street upon arriving to the restaurant. Just one day earlier, the lovebirds were previously spotted out in the Big Apple for a double date with producer Jack Antonoff and his wife, Margaret Qualley. Swift and Kelce matched in coordinating looks as she donned a $5,500 wool, Stella McCartney blazer that contained dazzling embellishments. Social media users soon jumped to X to share their thoughts on the couple's ensembles, with one penning, 'THE MATCHING COLOURS AHHHHHHH TAYLOR AND TRAVIS YOU GUYS LOOK INCREDIBLE!!!' Avignone (R) also recently supported Swift at her own birthday party, an Eras Tour-themed bash thrown by Kelce; They are seen with Chiefs WAG Lyndsay Bell (L) and Brittany Mahomes Avignone has accompanied Swift to a number of Kansas City Chiefs games to cheer on the pop star's tight end boyfriend; they are seen with Blake Lively in February at Super Bowl 58 Swift and Avignone met through mutual friend Emma Stone, and have been friends for 16 years; Taylor, Emma and Ashley seen in 2010 Another added, 'Taylor & Travis' matching outfits are so cute [sobbing emoji],' while one shared, 'Both outfits really are incredible! Taylor and Travis look amazing together.' Earlier this week, an insider for the Chiefs opened up about Kelce's plans with Swift amid his team's short break on the New Day With SSJ podcast . The Chiefs competed against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day - which resulted in a 29-10 victory for Kansas City. While mentioning Chiefs coach Andy Reid, the insider named Pete Sweeney stated, 'Andy I believe got done with the [Steelers] game and gave the guys some time to go do what they want to do.' 'A tight end might be going to New York with his girlfriend, a quarterback might be hanging out with his kids. Who knows what everybody else is doing.' 'But I think it's a nice reset for these guys. All these guys will practice next week, but I have a zero percent feel that any starter of any significance will play in this game.' Kelce will join the Chiefs on the football field next year on January 5 as they take on the Denver Broncos. Taylor Swift Share or comment on this article: Taylor Swift gives pal Ashley Avignone a big hug while celebrating her 40th birthday in NYC e-mail Add comment

More than two months after a violent incident at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center left two correction officers stabbed and three others injured, officers and inmates alike say the prison is still too dangerous. It wasn't always like that, according to Dan Flynn, who started working inside the maximum security prison in 1998. “It was a different place,” Flynn said. “We basically ran the institution.” But Flynn says that began to change. Inmates started using synthetic drugs, like K-2. “They had superhuman strength,” Flynn said. “We had one where a guy was biting the other one, he was trying to rip pieces of flesh off of this guy.” Flynn also began seeing more homemade weapons and assaults. “We had had a major assault in 2012 where an officer was stabbed through the neck,” he said. Flynn retired in 2018, but the violence inside Souza Baranowski hasn't let up. Correction Officers Union President Dennis Martin wants the State Department of Correction to focus less on inmate programs and freedoms and more on security. “These are violent people. They come in violent, and they’re continuing this violent behavior,” Martin said. “If there is an uptick in violence or an uptick in drugs, we need a cleanse in that institution.” Officers are facing more dangers, Martin said, from being sprayed with bodily fluids to being attacked with homemade weapons. And, Martin said, is inaction from the Department of Correction. “We've been complaining about this month after month after month,” he said. “We're not seeing the inmates being held accountable.” Jesse White, legislative director at the inmate advocacy group Prisoners’ Legal Services, said harsher conditions aren't the answer. “Incarcerated people want to feel safe, too,” she said. “If we want to make a safer environment for people, and I think we all do, what we need to do is make sure that we are giving people access to programming, to education, to vocational training opportunities, adequate mental health care, medical care.” Contributing to the violence, according to White, is abuse by staff. The number of excessive force complaints to Prisoners’ Legal Services jumped from 18 in 2022 to 94 so far in 2024. “When the Department of Correction fails to create a culture of accountability within the prison system, incarcerated people and correctional officers alike are less safe,” she said. As the state's only maximum-security prison, Souza-Baranowski is home to the most violent offenders. Data shows there are far more assaults and weapons confiscated here than in any other Massachusetts prison, and it's getting worse. Assaults on staff rose from 118 in 2021 to 187 just through September of 2024. In the same timeframe, the number of weapons found skyrocketed from 52 in 2021 to 186. 5 Investigates’ Brittany Johnson sat down with DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins. Jenkins said the Department of Corrections is using a multi-layered approach to reducing violence, including using the latest technology to screen for contraband and training staff to search for drugs and weapons. Jenkins said the DOC is also sending more inmate assault cases to district attorneys’ offices for prosecution, 41 percent more from 2021 to last year. Both the correction officers’ union and Prison Legal Services have made pleas to the governor for help making Souza-Baranowski, now the only maximum security prison in Mass., safer. One surprising source of contention is the computer tablets that inmates use for education and to communicate with the outside world. But the correction officers' union says inmates are taking them apart and turned into weapons. Dennis Martin, the correction officers’ union president, showed 5 Investigates photos of homemade knives that he said are made from pieces of the tablets. “The DOC has provided us information that these tablets were indestructible that has been proven wrong,” Martin said. “So we've asked them to renegotiate with the vendor or possibly choose another vendor to make these tablets unbreakable.” According to the DOC, just 41 out of the 4,650 tablets issued at its state facilities have been turned into weapons. “The vast majority of these people are using tablets for the right reasons. They're using them for programming, they're using them for education, they're using them to keep in contact with their family, and that's critical to the mission that we're trying to accomplish. And so I don't look at those numbers and say that we need to take or remove all the tablets,” Jenkins said. “I look at those numbers and saying, we have a small group of people that have misused those tablets, and when they misuse them, they're held accountable for it, and they lose, in some cases, they can lose their ability to access these tablets.” Jenkins said the tablets are part of providing "good rehabilitative services" to inmates, which is crucial for safety not just inside the prison, but outside as well. The Department of Correction says the recidivism rate — inmates who are re-incarcerated after release — is actually dropping in Massachusetts. But Prisoners’ Legal Services says inmates coming out of Souza-Baranowski are far more likely to re-offend. They say this is evidence that more needs to be done at the state's only maximum security prison.Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins extend Patriots' misery in Miami5 big analyst AI moves: Nvidia earnings good for TSMC, Apple gets new bull-case PT

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I don’t imagine many people would contradict me if I said that Halcro’s Eclipse power amplifier – in either its or stereo version – is the most immediately recognisable amplifier in the world. It is so recognisable that in a pitch-black room it can quickly and easily be identified by touch alone. The Halcro Eclipse is also – albeit this time arguably – the most beautiful amplifier in the world, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons it has featured on the front covers of so many hi-fi magazines around the world, including here in Australia. The story behind the amplifier’s design is also one of the most interesting and unusual in audio. The intellect behind Halcro’s creation, and indeed the brand’s name, was South African physicist and engineer Dr Bruce Halcro Candy (you can see why he used his middle name!), who after founding the company and becoming world-famous for the very first amplifier he built (the Halcro dm58) was then head-hunted by Minelab, famous for its hand-held metal detectors, after which the company languished as no more than a listing in the Australian government’s official register of company names. It languished on that list until one sunny Saturday morning, when Lance Hewitt, who had been Candy’s lead engineer, was adding to his collection of vinyl at a South Australian record store. The store’s owner, who knew that Hewitt had formerly worked for Halcro, introduced him to Mike Kirkham of Magenta Audio, an Australian audio equipment importer, retailer and distributor who also happened to be at the record store buying vinyl that very same morning. Hewitt told Kirkham not only that he had been personally responsible for building and testing Halcro amplifiers but also that he happened to know that all of the circuit diagrams, PCBs and tooling required to build them were gathering dust in a storage facility ­– indeed, one not far from where they were chatting. The result of this serendipitous Saturday morning meet was that Halcro became resurrected as a going entity. Kirkham contacted Dr Peter Foster, a friend of his who holds a PhD in physics from the University of Adelaide and was formerly a Senior Laser Physicist at Norseld Pty Ltd and a Guest Scientist at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. The result was the trio founding a new company, Longwood Audio, which in 2015 acquired all of Halcro’s assets, including the brand name, the company’s portfolio of patents and the all-essential machine tooling along with a batch of unsold mothballed stock. Foster is now Longwood Audio’s CEO; Kirkham is its Head of Sales and Marketing; and Hewitt is in charge of development and manufacturing. Build & technology The ‘look’ of the Eclipse Stereo is directly copied from the design of the original Halcro dm38, which was the work of Adelaide designers Tony Kearney and Max Dickison. Candy’s brief to them was that, to ensure the correct operation of the amplifier, the electronics had to be separated into four heavily shielded modules – an audio power module, an audio drive module, an inductor module and a power supply module – and that, in order to remove the heat passively without using fans, the heatsinks for the output devices had to be extraordinarily large. Those very design elements have been incorporated in the Eclipse Stereo. One important change, however, has been in the execution of the heatsink design. the original’s design was microphonic so that at certain frequencies it could vibrate so significantly that its resonances were audible in the listening room. The heatsinks on the Eclipse Stereo, however, are non-resonant by virtue of being completely redesigned. The new design sees each section fabricated from up to 10mm-thick folded aluminium, with the winged sections fully damped and the joins connecting the horizontal chambers to the wing sections. The non-wooden sections of the chassis now come in either a ‘Standard’ powder-coat finish or a premium hand-painted ‘Signature’ finish, too. If you are at all familiar with Halcro amplifiers, you will already have an inkling of how large the Eclipse Stereo’s chassis is; if you’re not, let me point out that a person of average height, when standing upright, will not need to lean down to touch one of the amplifier’s vertical wings. Checking out the amplifier’s proportions in the images accompanying this review should also give you an idea of how wide the amplifier is, but just to make it perfectly clear, the Halcro Eclipse Stereo power amplifier is not only 79cm tall but also as wide as it is deep (40cm). It’s not lightweight either, tipping the scales at 62kg. (And, when eyeing the images, don’t miss the fact that the shape of the chassis actually forms the capital letter ‘H’, which is pretty clever!) The internal circuitry of the Halcro Eclipse Stereo inherits DNA from the original Halcro dm38, as well as from the , but according to Hewitt, while some things have been lost (such as the current mode inputs), many other aspects of the circuitry have been improved – some are the natural result of improvements in technology, some are the result of improvements in circuit layouts, and some are the result of research and development by Longwood Audio itself, for which Hewitt says the company has been awarded four patents. Candy was always secretive about the circuitry of the Halcro dm38, and Longwood Audio is continuing this tradition. CEO Peter Foster told Paul Miller of : “We never release schematics [and] every circuit has the component designators engraved off and the boards are coated in an epoxy layer to further mask what’s going on”. he was nonetheless able to glean the following information about the Eclipse Stereo: “ ” Further details of how the circuit might work are revealed in US Patent 6,600,367, which was granted to Candy and is currently assigned to Longwood Audio: " " Also interesting are some of the patent’s citations, which reference an active bias circuit for operating push-pull amplifiers in Class A mode (granted to one Nelson Pass), a distortion-free complemented error feedback amplifier method (granted to James Strickland), and reducing amplifier distortion by comparison of input and feedback from output (granted to Barry Elliot Porter). The patent also directly cites one Douglas H. Self. (For readers who are unfamiliar with these names, any audio engineer asked to name the world’s top five audio amplifier designers of the last 50 years would include three of those names.) Input and output connections are made on the module at the top of the amplifier, at the rear. The Eclipse Stereo has both unbalanced (via gold-plated RCA) and balanced (via gold-plated XLR) inputs, plus a ‘low gain’ unbalanced input. The speaker cable terminals are absolutely huge, and while they’re supposed to be combination spade/banana types, the only way I could see to use banana plugs was to remove the rubberised cap on the knob – but I wasn’t prepared to risk damaging it trying to pry it off! Halcro has built several sophisticated automated protection systems into the Eclipse Stereo to prevent it from being damaged by a variety of issues that could impact its performance, covering everything from power supply stability to problems that could affect the output stages. Longwood Audio says that the Halcro Eclipse Stereo amplifier “ ”. Even the standby switch is air-pressure activated rather than a traditional electrical switch, to minimise interference. It’s good that there’s such a high level of overkill on the protection front, because the company’s secrecy about its circuits, including the values of the components used in those circuits, would mean that any fault could only be addressed by a technician with insider knowledge. Otherwise, the amplifier would need to be returned to South Australia – and given its size and weight, that would be rather an expensive exercise! Listening sessions My first audio experience of the Halcro Eclipse Stereo during testing was by way of an initial warm-up using music from a band with which I have a love/hate relationship: GoGo Penguin. Delivering amazing sound for what is essentially just a trio (percussion, bass and keys), the band’s music has been described as a form of jazz for the modern age – but then again, is it? I love the sound but hate not being able to define exactly why it’s so mesmerisingly great, and find the group hard to recommend to others because their music is so polarising. What I can say with certainty is that it really helps if you are listening to their music through an amplifier with the high performance of the Eclipse Stereo. For example, the double-bass on (from the album ‘A Humdrum Star’) is not only beautifully captured in terms of sounding just like a double-bass should, but it’s also just a lovely bass line – so inventive that you really can’t foretell the next note, as you can with performances by many lesser bassists. In delivering this line so well, Nick Blacka provides a unique counterpoint to Chris Illingworth’s gloriously grand pianism, even though you can sometimes foretell what note Illingworth is going to play next because he plays so many that are the same! The complexity of the sound is jaw-dropping, and the scattergun drumming of Rob Turner (who’s since been replaced by Jon Scott) is epic, and beautifully delivered by the Halcro. On , the following track, you’ll hear Blacka’s double-bass sounding like nothing you’ve ever heard before, as he delivers miraculous high-frequency overtones that make a mockery of the instrument’s normally accepted frequency range. The Eclipse Stereo delivers the entire gamut perfectly – the delivery is sonically contiguous, despite the rarity of the nature of the sound. When the drum kit comes in, at about 1:30, the accuracy with which the amplifier delivers the kick drum sound in exact syncopation with the high-hat strikes, all while keeping each in its own sonic envelope, and with no unwanted overhang, is an object lesson in the importance of state-of-the-art amplification in an audio reproduction chain. The Halcro Eclipse also maintained the ‘airiness’ of the acoustic as a constant throughout – a subtlety that eludes lesser amplifiers. The buzzy, insect-like opening to highlighted for me the complete lack of background noise from the Eclipse Stereo’s circuitry – the amplifier makes no noise at all other than what is actually in the audio signal delivered to it. There is no low-frequency hum, no high-frequency hiss, and absolutely no modulation of the lowest-level background sounds on a track. Such sounds issue from an inky-black silence that is so silent it’s almost mesmerising in and of itself. The simplicity of the percussion and piano on this track is a musical antidote to what has gone before, and the crystalline clarity of the sound I heard from the Eclipse Stereo was simply amazing, a testament to the complete lack of audible distortion. I do need to warn you that I think GoGo Penguin has gone somewhat off-piste with their latest album, ‘Everything Is Going To Be OK’ – both sonically and musically – so if you want to hear what I heard, I recommend sticking with the four albums the band recorded with Blue Note, which include ‘Man Made Object’ and the aforementioned ‘A Humdrum Star’. If you’d rather test out the Halcro Eclipse Stereo’s enormous power reserves and bass delivery with music that’s not so ‘out there’, I recommend revisiting – or listening to for the first time! – Talking Heads’ 1983 classic album ‘Speaking In Tongues.’ The funky bass sound is deep and tight, and Chris Frantz’s drum, beautifully captured on this recording, sounds as real as can be. Obviously, you’d listen to opener at a high volume, but you should also crank up the dial while listening to in order to hear how well the Eclipse Stereo can deliver the eclectic and varied synthesizer sounds on this track at any volume level you care to listen at. Listen, too, to how well the left and right channels are separated. Indeed channel separation is so complete that I could easily have been convinced that I was auditioning a pair of Eclipse Monos instead! You can hear not only the channel separation but also the beautiful stereo imaging of the Eclipse Stereo on where the vocals are trademark Talking Heads timbre and the purity of the percussion sound is exemplary, particularly the ‘found instrument’ sounds delivered by David Van Tieghem. I had lots of fun working out the various ‘found instruments’ he was playing. I have often written in the pages of magazine that the piano is the best instrument with which to evaluate audio components due to its enormous pitch compass, supreme dynamics and the fact that it’s a stringed percussive instrument, and you could have no better music to hear all of this than that on French pianist Alexandre Tharaud’s 2009 recording of more than 70 works by Erik Satie. This, of course, includes the famous Gnossiennes, but here they are strangely interwoven with other lesser-known works, in such a way that it’s as if you’re hearing them for the first time. Indeed some of these works you may actually be hearing for the first time, because it was Satie, not John Cage, who invented the ‘prepared piano’, and unlike many pianists, Tharaud follows Satie’s instructions to the letter in by placing sheets of paper on the upper octave strings. I can’t say I liked the result, but the Eclipse Stereo certainly reproduced it faithfully. Elsewhere on this recording, Tharaud’s playful execution of Satie’s more conventional scores is certainly more entertaining than the performances delivered by more sedate pianists. Verdict The Halcro Eclipse Stereo is not only the most recognisable amplifier in the world, along with being one of the most beautiful, but it is also the quietest and has the lowest distortion of all. If you think that is part and parcel of what makes it one of the best-sounding amplifiers in the world, I’m not about to disagree. You may, however, be surprised to learn that the Eclipse Stereo is not one of the most expensive hi-fi amplifiers in the world. In fact, it’s not even close – dozens of its competitors have price tags in excess of $150,000! In light of this information, you should realise that the Halcro Eclipse Stereo could be considered good value even at twice its price. Laboratory Test Report Steve Holding, Newport Test Labs. Halcro rates the per-channel power output of the Eclipse Stereo as 180 watts into eight ohms and 350 watts into four ohms. With the Eclipse Stereo on its test bench, measured the 1kHz power output at 202 and 386 watts per channel into eight and four ohms respectively, so the power amplifier bettered its specification for both test loads. As you can see from the tabulated results, power output dropped to 196 watts into eight ohms when the test frequency was dropped down to 20Hz (when driving two channels), and to 365 watts when both channels were driven into four ohms at this same 20Hz frequency. While these are lower than the 1kHz power output results, they’re still comfortably higher than Halcro’s specification. measured the frequency response of the Eclipse Stereo as being 3dB down at 3.5Hz and 280kHz, so this is a very wide-band amplifier design. It’s also a superbly linear one, as evidenced by the 1dB down-points of 6.5Hz and 90kHz, meaning the normalised frequency response is 6.5Hz – 90kHz ±0.5dB. As you would expect, the frequency response was even flatter across the audio band. This response (Graph 1 above) shows that it’s around 0.1dB down at 20Hz and 20kHz, for a normalised response of 20Hz – 20kHz ±0.05dB. This frequency response was, as per industry standards, measured when the Eclipse Stereo was driving an eight-ohm test resistor. On this graph you would normally expect to find a second trace showing the amplifier’s response when driving a more complex load, one that simulates the load that a loudspeaker would present. In fact, that trace is there – you just can’t see it because it perfectly overlays the response into a resistor. This is the first time has ever measured this theoretically ‘perfect’ result! Separation between the two stereo channels was outstandingly good, as you can see from the accompanying result table – 86dB at 20Hz, 101dB at 1kHz, and 78dB at 20kHz. Also outstandingly good was the level matching of the two channels, with measuring a difference of just 0.01dB. Inter-channel phase accuracy was also exceptionally good, with errors of only 0.02° at 20Hz, 0.08° at 1kHz and 1.17° at 20kHz. The result at 20kHz may seem to be an outlier, but you should bear in mind that a result of 1.0° at this frequency would be a world-beating achievement. Measuring the level of distortion on an audio signal that is introduced by a Halcro amplifier is a near-impossible task because it is so low that it is supremely difficult to measure. You not only need a test instrument capable of making the measurement but also a signal generator that has lower distortion than both the amplifier and the test instrument. To illustrate the difficulty, look at Graph 2 above, which shows the distortion components inherent in the output of ’ best signal generator. You can see that there’s a second harmonic distortion component at –117dB (0.00014%), a third HD component at –122dB (0.00007%) and a fifth at –128dB (0.00003%). So if we used this generator to provide the signal to measure the Eclipse Stereo’s distortion and saw a result that exhibited these same distortion components, at around the same levels, we would know only that the Halcro was not adding unwanted distortion. Indeed this is exactly what we see in Graph 3, which shows the output spectrum of the Eclipse Stereo when it’s delivering this same 1kHz signal but amplified to a level of one watt into eight ohms. Essentially, the only difference is that the amplifier has added just a little distortion at 3kHz, so that it is at –120dB instead of –122dB. (The result was exactly the same when the Eclipse Stereo was driving a four-ohm load.) The other thing to note with Graph 3 (because it will be significant later) is that there is some noise visible at the bottom of the graph, however as you can see from the scale at the left, the noise is 140dB below the one-watt reference level, which is so low that it would be totally and completely inaudible under any conditions. Graph 4 shows distortion (and noise!) levels measured by when the Halcro Eclipse Stereo was delivering 1kHz into eight ohms at a power level of 20 watts. Again, you can see that the distortion ‘signature’ is essentially that of the test signal generator, so the Eclipse Stereo is not adding any distortion to the test signal itself. Note, too, that there is now no audio band noise visible on the graph, so the Halcro’s audio band noise is now well below 140dB. There is some noise visible (the single narrow peak at the extreme left of the graph), which is from the amplifier’s power supply, but it’s more than 120dB down. Again, the result when the Eclipse Stereo was tested into a four-ohm load at this frequency and power output was exactly the same as it was into the eight-ohm load. Graph 5 shows an extreme test case for distortion, which here is shown when the Eclipse Stereo is delivering 1kHz into an eight-ohm load at its full rated power (180 watts). The result is mind-bogglingly (and I mean that in its truest sense) good. As you would expect, there is absolutely zero noise in the output other than that tiny leakage from the power supply, and the distortion levels are almost unchanged from that shown in the one-watt and 20-watt graphs. The level of the third harmonic has risen slightly so that distortion component is now sitting at –117dB, which is 0.00014%. The fifth-order component has also risen by 1dB to –127dB (0.00004%). The result of ’ testing aligns with Halcro’s claims that the Eclipse Stereo’s THD levels are “better than –120dB”, a lever that it points out is “lower than 1000 parts per billion”. The distortion result shown in the accompanying test result table tells the THD story in an easily understandable numeric form: 0.00006%. The level of intermodulation distortion (CCIF-IMD) measured by is shown in Graph 6 above, when the Eclipse Stereo was delivering twin 19kHz and 20kHz test signals at a level of 20 watts into eight ohms. There are only two high-frequency sidebands, at 18kHz and 21kHz, that are each 110dB down and so would contribute 0.0003% to the output – insignificantly small. There is a tiny regenerated signal down at 1kHz too, but it is also insignificantly small – 117dB down, contributing only 0.00014%. All other signals are more than 120dB down, which is the level specified by Halcro for this particular test. The overall wide-band signal-to-noise ratios measured by were, as we’re sure you’ve already guessed from the noise floors shown in the graphs, spectacularly low. Noise relative to an output level of one watt was measured at –101dB unweighted, and –107dB A-weighted. We can’t think of a single amplifier the lab has measured that has ever come within cooee of returning a noise figure better than 100dB when referenced to this power level. The noise figures were better again for the measurement at rated output, with the Halcro returning results of –124dB unweighted, and –130dB A-weighted. As one who is ‘experienced in the art’ would expect from Graph 1, the output impedance of the Eclipse Stereo was incredibly low, with measuring it as 0.002 ohms at 1kHz, which is an order of magnitude better than almost all other amplifiers and means a damping factor of 4,000! Square wave testing reflected the results returned when measuring the Eclipse Stereo’s frequency response, with the tilt on the 100Hz square wave reflecting the –3dB point of 3.5Hz (Halcro specs it at 3Hz). There’s no bending so there’s no low-frequency phase shift. The waveform at 1kHz is so squared-off and clean that it may as well have been issued directly from the lab’s function generator, and is therefore a perfect result. At a 10kHz test frequency there is some rounding evident on the leading edge of the waveform, reflecting the high-frequency 3dB down-point of 280kHz, but the overall rise time shows a very, very fast slew rate. The Eclipse Stereo’s ability to drive extremely demanding loudspeakers, as well as electrostatic designs, is shown by its performance when delivering a 1kHz square wave into an eight-ohm resistor paralleled with a 2μF capacitor. That performance was outstandingly good, with the initial overshoot being less than one-quarter wave height, and the small amount of resultant ringing being damped within five cycles. This amplifier will be completely stable into any loudspeaker. We rather hope that this test report gives the average non-technical reader an appreciation of just how well this amplifier performed on test bench, but we suspect that ultimately it will be only those readers with a degree in electrical engineering who will truly appreciate the outstandingly high levels of performance delivered by Halcro’s Eclipse Stereo. It is a truly mind-bogglingly good amplifier!

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The missioneries, especially from USA, France and European countries, helped in the growth of Madras Presidency, especially in the fields of healthcare and education; Tamil Nadu, which was part of the Presidency, benefited from their contributions, says Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, said here on Saturday. In his inaugural address at the Distance Education Convocation 2024, which was organised by Distance Education Unit of CMC at CMC campus here, Mr. Rajan said that even today, Kanniyakumari remains one of the most literate districts in the State because of the education institutions run by missionaries during those years. Their [missionaries] work to the society is clearly visible in the State’s development, he said. The Minister applauded the contributions made by Ida Scudder, founder of CMC, as she was the earliest missionary to provide medical education for women in the Madras Presidency. This decision of Ms. Scudder has also ensured the inclusion of marginalised sections in the society to gain medical education and restored social justice. Referring CMC as the centre for culture of excellence, Mr. Rajan said that CMC was successfully able to provide distance education in medicine for two decades to students from various parts of the country and overseas. Such distance education, especially in medicine, is challenging because such learning also includes hands-on training for which physical presence is required. However, CMC was able to conduct distance learning courses successfully all these years, he said. Highlighting the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in day-to-day lives in future, the former Finance Minister said that young doctors should not be reluctant in adapting to latest technology, including AI, especially in healthcare. They can use emerging technologies like AI and data analysis in their profession. For example, they can store history of patients’ interactions with them and other data, using such advanced technologies, he said. Of total 465 graduates, 262 graduates have received their degrees in person at the convocation. On the occasion, Rev. Mathew Abraham, Director-General, Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), Senior professor Solomon Sathishkumar, principal, CMC, and I. Rajesh, medical superintendent, CMC, were present. Published - November 23, 2024 11:48 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit

Trump's casting call as he builds out his administration: TV experience preferred

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• I found a certain amount of irony and hypocrisy in the front-page article in the Christmas Eve edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune, “37 of 40 U.S. death row inmates spared.” I am not here to debate whether the death sentence is a justifiable consequence for criminals who commit horrific crimes. That is a subject of significant ethical, moral and legal debate. What I did find troubling was the statement, “Some pleas also invoked Biden’s Catholic faith.” It is well known that President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion has evolved over time. Early in his career following the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion, Biden, a practicing Catholic, expressed reservations. He believed the court’s ruling was too expansive and he supported measures that allowed states to overturn Roe. Fast-forward to his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden fully embraced a pro-choice platform and ensured that there was federal funding for abortion services. In fact, in July 2022 he signed an executive order aimed at safeguarding access to reproductive health care services, including abortion and contraception. So, in essence, he has spared people guilty of serious crimes from the death penalty but continues to support abortion and terminating a pregnancy and an innocent baby before the fetus can survive outside the womb. I don’t believe these actions are congruent in the Catholic religion. Tim Rubash, Apple Valley The DOJ is also culpable I woke up early on Friday, and as one of those people who deliberately avoided cable and network news after the election and is not a user of social media, I decided to read about the House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. And lo and behold, there were multiple letters in the Strib Voices section that day that commented on the report, with all three writers commenting on Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s cowardice in voting to keep the report private ( Readers Write , Dec. 27). After reading about Gaetz’s “exploits” — all seemingly well documented in the report — I came to the conclusion that this cowardice extended to the Department of Justice by refusing to indict this guy back in 2020. After reading the report and its conclusions, it seemed pretty clear to me that charges could have been brought, even notwithstanding the character of the potential witnesses. Aside from the appalling conduct of Gaetz and his “bros,” his behavior in blocking, ignoring and obfuscating the committee was all par for the course in the last eight years. If any readers decide to read the report, my advice is to prepare to take a shower and wash your hands after reading about the disgusting activities it describes. As for Fischbach, don’t think too badly of her. After all, it’s likely any of Minnesota’s other three Republican House members, had they been on the committee, would have also voted not to release the report. Mike Cassidy, Wayzata ••• Gaetz isn’t quite there yet. But if he can get convicted of some financial crimes, bankrupt a few companies and try to overturn a free and fair election, he could become presidential material. Karl Karst, Woodbury ‘Vindicated’ isn’t quite the word Thursday’s 2024 in review article states that Rep. Dean Phillips was vindicated by President Biden ultimately stepping aside from this year’s campaign, with Donald Trump subsequently ascending to the presidency ( “Year was defined by Walz’s VP bid, legislative chaos,” Dec. 26). Aside from the question of however much or little effect Phillips’ efforts actually had on the results of this year’s election, as compared to the achievements of the Trump fog machine and a complicit corporate media, “vindicated” is a narrow and limited word to apply to such substantial results. A more comprehensive and accurate adjective might be “culpable.” Peter Hill, Minnetonka It’s not that serious Editors: What is the purpose of “ ‘We hate them, they hate us’ ” — a really inflammatory headline in the Dec. 27 paper? Is it to encourage some nut case to do some mayhem on either the Vikings or Packers? Football is only a game. We have enough violence in our country and we surely don’t need more. Trash talk like that should never appear in a newspaper like the Star Tribune. Florian Lauer, St. Paul Help us out here We’re feeling more division than ever in our local politics, and I’m writing to suggest the Star Tribune play a bigger role in brokering true objectivity through some kind of weekly “Fact Check” column. It’s going to be especially important as we head toward what could be the most important local elections in the history of Minneapolis next fall. Case in point: the completely different “facts” shared by Mayor Jacob Frey and our Ward 7 representative Katie Cashman in their weekly newsletter updates. The newsletters are generally a great way to stay up-to-date on local happenings — but the versions they each shared about the recent 2025 budget details could not have been more confusing to unpack. The mayor made very convincing points about the unhealthy depletion of rainy day funds, cuts in police-recruiting budgets and other safety programs that have been proven for years. Cashman claimed no cuts were made to MPD policing and safety, and asserted the council’s budget increased that support. Who to believe — especially without time in the day to dig into the nuances of all those claims. But you, the Star Tribune, can do just that — and we need the help! The key to a functioning democracy (do we still have one?) is everyone debating from a core set of actual facts. Hope is all but lost nationally on this topic — but locally, the Strib could be a powerful force for clarity and objectivity as we deal with a radical left steering us closer to a Portland-esque dumpster fire and a real need to get our city back on track. It is likely both sides are cherry-picking, exaggerating or obfuscating important facts we need to understand, so please help shine a less-biased light! Starting with that budget that just passed despite the mayor’s veto — was recruiting for critically needed police recruiting actually cut or not? Did we dive into a critical budget reserve that may be needed should the new federal administration cut us deeply next year? It would help to see a side-by-side comparison by line item of the mayor’s budget and the one the City Council passed, with highlights of the biggest differences. Doug Moore, Minneapolis ••• I have friends and family who get all their information from FOX News. When they share tidbits with me, I wonder if any mainstream media bother to shed daylight on the outrageous commentary. The latest is that President Biden sold Trump’s wall materials — materials Trump would use during his second coming ... the analogy intentional on my part — for pennies on the dollar to spite the president-elect, wasting our tax dollars. The reality is that the sale of those leftover materials was included in the Department of Defense budget prepared by the DOD and approved by Congress in 2023. The sale was not ordered by President Biden. It seems silly that the mainstream media needs to counter this nonsense but somebody has to do it. JoAnn Wright, New Hope5 big analyst AI moves: Nvidia earnings good for TSMC, Apple gets new bull-case PT