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The Dark History of Valentine's Day: A Mini History Lesson

Valentine’s Day is often seen as a celebration of love, romance, and overpriced chocolates. But behind the flowers and sweet words lies a much darker and bloodier past. This holiday has its roots in ancient Roman festivals that were anything but romantic. From violent pagan rituals to the execution of saints, the history of February 14th is more sinister than you might think. The Pagan Roots: Lupercalia Festival Long before Valentine’s Day became associated with love, the Romans celebrated Lupercalia . This was a fertility festival held annually from February 13 to 15. The celebrations were wild, chaotic, and often brutal. It was believed that these rituals would purify the city and bring health and fertility. What Was Lupercalia? Originating in ancient Rome, Lupercalia was dedicated to the god Faunus, the god of agriculture and fertility. It also honored Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. The festival began with priests, known as Lupe...
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Bookish Music User Guide

📱 Bookish Music - User Guide Welcome to Bookish Music , your offline-capable Adventist songs lyric companion! This guide will help you get the most out of the app. 🚀 Getting Started First Time Setup Visit the App : Navigate to the Bookish Music website: https://bookish-music.vercel.app/ Install as PWA : When prompted, tap “Add to Home Screen” or “Install App” Initial Download : The app will download all songs (~100 songs, 500KB-2MB) Progress Indicator : Watch the “Downloading songs… X%” progress bar Ready to Use : Once complete, you can use the app offline! PWA Installation On Mobile (iOS/Android): Look for the “Add to Home Screen” prompt Or use browser menu → “Add to Home Screen” App icon will appear on your home screen On Desktop: Look for the install icon in the address bar Or use browser menu → “Install Bookish Music” 🎵 Finding Songs 1. Search Songs Real-time Search : Type in the search bar - results appear as you type Search Fields : Searches song tit...
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Learning Without Thinking Is Labour Lost; Thinking Without Learning Is Perilous

Learning Without Thinking Is Labour Lost; Thinking Without Learning Is Perilous You cannot grow by just collecting information. You also cannot solve real problems by only relying on your own mind. Confucius nailed this balance over 2,500 years ago and it’s more relevant now than ever. Learning without thinking is labour lost You absorb facts, complete courses, read articles. But if you never pause to ask why , how , or so what? , you waste your effort. Passive consumption builds no real skill. You finish a cybersecurity module but never test the concepts in your network. You read about project management but don’t reflect on your last failed deadline. Without reflection, learning stays shallow. You forget it fast or apply it wrong. Thinking without learning is perilous You trust your gut, debate ideas, form strong opinions, but without grounding in evidence or experience, you risk error, bias, or irrelevance. You design a system based on assumptions, n...
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Obedience is not optional

Obedience Is Not Optional, It’s Everything Your mom says, “Wash the dishes.” You sweep the floor, clean your room, make the bed, and cut the lawn but the dishes sit untouched. Did you obey? No. You did good things. Helpful things. Maybe even harder things. But you didn’t do what was asked . This simple truth mirrors a deeper spiritual reality: obedience to God is not replaceable by other good works no matter how sincere, sacrificial, or impressive they seem. God doesn’t need your extras when He’s clearly asked for something specific. He wants your obedience. What Scripture Says 1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV) “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” King Saul thought offering extra sacrifices would cover his disobedience. God rejected it. Obedience > religious effort. John 14:15 (ESV) “If you love m...
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💡 The CML VM Fix: Solving My VT-x/EPT Problem

💡 The Complete Fix: CML VT-x/EPT Error Solved 🛠️ I battled the persistent error: "Virtualized Intel VT-x/EPT is not supported on this platform" while installing CML (Cisco Modeling Labs) on VMware. This problem occurs because the Windows host locks the CPU's hardware virtualization features (VT-x/EPT) that CML needs to run its internal network nodes. I discovered that fixing this requires aggressively disabling Virtualization-based security (VBS) and HVCI across multiple system layers. Here is the definitive, comprehensive guide covering every step necessary to solve this issue. Step 1: The Quick Fix (Disable Nested VT-x in VMware) I found that telling VMware to hide the feature initially allowed the CML VM to boot, but it failed later when trying to run network nodes. This must be reversed later, but it is an important diagnostic step. Power off the CML VM. Go to Settings → Processors . Ensure the box for Virtualize Intel ...
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50 Years of Running Ourselves into the Ground—or 50 Years of Uniting to Put Idiots in Charge

Last year, as we prepared to celebrate 50 years of independence, I wrote a reflection titled “Reflecting on 50 Years of Independence: A Call to Action for Papua New Guinea.” In that piece, I laid out five major challenges that continue to hold us back: human nature, governance, economic struggles, social attitudes, and political influence. I ended with a message of hope—that if we faced these issues honestly and acted decisively, we could unlock our true potential as a nation. Now, one year on, the milestone has passed. The celebrations have come and gone. But when the dust settles, we are left with the same uncomfortable truth: instead of changing course, we continue to run ourselves into the ground while uniting to put the wrong people in charge. From Reflection to Repetition The problems are not new. We know them well: lack of respect among citizens, self-interest over national interest, entitlement without effort, and leaders who operate with little to no accountability. ...
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Antenna Theory Crash Course Part 4: Understanding How Antennas Radiate - Patterns and Directivity

Antennas serve as crucial transitional structures between guided electromagnetic energy (like in transmission lines) and the free space through which radio waves propagate [1, 2]. Understanding how they radiate energy is fundamental to antenna theory, and two key concepts in this understanding are **radiation patterns** and **directivity**. Radiation Patterns An **antenna radiation pattern**, also known as an **antenna pattern**, is defined as a **mathematical function or a graphical representation of the radiation properties of the antenna as a function of space coordinates** [3]. These properties are typically determined in the **far-field region** and are represented based on **directional coordinates** [3]. The radiation properties of concern include **power flux density, radiation intensity, field strength, directivity, phase, or polarisation** [3]. The radiation pattern primarily describes the **two- or three-dimensional spatial distribution of radi...
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