e considered as the place Iranians, or at least some privileged elites, treated and observed European artworks. In other words, since we do not have the particular details of the instance of residence, they may reflect on the presence and influence of these objects among the Iranians in a larger context. In order to see, finally, if, as Khatuna Badi stated, Iranians considered these objects simply as Qal'e, or rather contemplated them, were inspired by them, and took advantage of the aesthetics and techniques. According to the Persian texts, such as the Chronicles or Tasker biographies, or European travel, I guess, all object value, whether Persian, European, Indian, or of any other foreign origin, given as a gift to the royal court, or considered as bounties, and all other important and eonic treasures were conserved either in the Khazane Royal Treasury or in the Jebachane Royal Armory. According to Peder Spedig, who visited Iran around 1674, Sha Salaman's Royal Treasury had at least four sections all supervised by Enix. The fourth one was the Jebachane, the royal arsenal, which, contrary to the first tree, was not located in the royal palace, but in the citadel of the city of Spahan, where it is enclosed in an immense palace. Shardan complies the picture by highlighting the fact that the Safavid court indeed had two Jebachane, the smallest one being located just beside the royal harem, and the greater one, the palace outside the city, is the same as Kassel, Kassel of Tabarrok. Kemfer does not give more details, but mentions that military equipments, as well as all kinds of objects, such as mirrors, paintings, telescopes, and all other similar items, were stored in Jebachane, or arsenal, which is situated in the same Kassel of Tabarrok. Shardan points out that this castle was more like a prison than a fortress, and one entered this dungeon only very rarely and by great favor, because the keys were held by three different persons, the governor of the palace, the vizier of Spahan, and the person in charge of the smaller arsenal, or Jebadar. One must have all trees in order to be able to visit the palace. But contrary to Kemfer, who believed that nobody can either see or use the objects held here, Shardan visited the castle twice and gives a vivid account of its treasures, as he goes. An infinity of clocks, all fine and curious, a large number of cabinets and tables, the most beautiful books and the finest materials of the universe, brought from Germany, Italy, China, and all places. Shardan naturally seeks to know the value of these treasures, and the great master in charge answered him that, we have the account of each piece, but we do not hesitate to know the amount. Which means we have the account of each piece, but we do not really care about how much it all costs. Moreover, Shardan specifies that each piece bears a label showing the place from which it came, who offered it, the date of reception and its value, except for pieces made in the king's workshops. According to Kemfer, the Etamuododole had an inventory of the gifts in order to be able to identify donors at the king's demand. Furthermore, he says that it is the task of Nazare and the chiefs of the royal workshops to make a precious estimate, because for all the prisons that are received by the court, the doubling value is given in return as a present. So the written sources pinpoint the desire of Safavid kings for the golden or precious objects, but we may not be able to know more about the reception of European images at the royal court. This is rather intriguing, since some late 17th century Faranghisazi paintings reflect the European images. The use of shadings, cast shadows and residing perspective and a variety of subject matters rendered the so-called Faranghisazi works clearly distinguishable from Herat, Tabriz or Isphahanisites of painting. But these paintings do not fully adhere neither to the pictorial conventions of European art. As Gari Schwartz remarks, in no particular instance do European travelers find common features between the art of their countries and of Persia. Men and women richly dressed and clothed are portrayed in elaborate settings in the vast open panoramas when the mountains or forests disappear into the distance under pale blue sky. Although these mise-en-scène do not look entirely European, they would offer a new reading as regard to reception and perception in the Iranian court of European artworks. The main question in this regard is whether the artists and patrons who frequented the royal treasury and who were confronted by the European paintings style and techniques began to say their own cultural habits in a different way. In general terms, we could outline two groups of paintings in the Faranghisazi style. One includes the traditional Iranian themes such as the royal gatherings, portals of the kings, among the royal men, or even the illustrations added to ancient manuscripts, such as those added to Shahnameh started at the reign of Shah Abbas first. The second category is the paintings with the Occidental and non-Iranian subject matters, such as biblical sins, portals of European people, and Western mythology. The first group is seen in some folios of album E14 of the Russian Institute of Oriental Manuscripts known as St. Petersburg-Morakia. These represent the assemblies of Safavid kings, mostly Shah Suleiman with their courtiers. The serious tendencies for developing new facial expressions and desire of documenting the court's event are put alongside the traditional Persian treatment of people, animals, landscapes, et cetera. Nundated, two of these paintings are signed Aligoli Jabadar, and two are highly attributed to him due to their several artistic seminities and attitudes. Aligoli Jabadar, one of the major authors of the Faranghisazi paintings, was probably working at Jabahaneh if he was not himself its supervisor since Jabadar signifies actually the keeper of armory. And we know that this title was added to the artist's name during the reign of Shah Abbas II. He kept it during the reign of Suleiman whilst also bearing other royal titles. So could this focus on details of clothing, personalities, and features in a new and non-traditional way have been borrowed from the European majories? Showing the kings and nobles, the St. Petersburg-Morakia's folios illustrates the events that actually occurred in the Safavid court, such as giving an audience, hunting, selecting the best horses for the royal stable, et cetera. The reality of representation of Shah Suleiman and his courtiers, for instance, appears particularly in the reliability of its many details in the historic sources. The scrupulous positioning of Safavid courtiers, the permanent place of the king's most important immediate and influential inter-age, when gathered in the audience, the Corsi or the seat of the king as a small mattress with silver brocade and fine cut and wool, which is held in the two bottom corners with two large apples of solid gold. The wealth of dishes and people's clothes, to name some, are mentioned in every details in Persian chronicles and European travelogues while describing the Majlis-e-Behesht-Oin or the paradisiac image of the assembly at the Shah Suleiman's court. The Hezar Pichet of Mehtar or the master of the royal wardrobe is also brilliantly presented in the painting of the Shah, the Mehtar, and the young man. Literally, the Hezar Pichet means thousand vocations and it was a bag in which were kept the king's indispensable objects such as handkerchief, toothbrush, nail clippers and other essential items. According to Dasuran Malouk, an early 18th century administrative manual, the Mehtar of Rekabkhane, a white eunuch who permanently accompanied the king, always carried his Hezar Pichet. Another example of recording the real might be also seen in the representation of the horses to the king in the presence of Amir al-Khorbasi. Here, we see a king under his golden parcel sitting on a chair looking at the head of white horses and probably listening to the indications of his Amir al-Khorbasi, the master of stables, the third most important office in the Safavid administration. According to Alqab and Mawajib Dorey Safaviyeh, another 18th century manual, and as artists, probably Ali Gholi Jabadar features it clearly, another officer of the royal stables responsible for the new horses offered to the royal court or Amir al-Khorbasi Jolo always carried a pony art attached to his belt as the specific signs of his function. These efforts of documenting real events possibly find some of its roots in various factors, including the European imageries, but also in the popularity of mobile Indian paintings in Safavid Iran too. Moreover, during the 17th century, Reza Abasi and his fellows presented many aspects of the real social life in various single sheet paintings. Mawajib Dorey Safaviyeh, active between 1630 and 90, as the closest artist to Jabadar in terms of time, presents several factual events occurred during his lifetime, certainly with a totally different artistic approach, but with the same recording eye. So this recording, the real, would probably not be exclusively related to the study of European artifacts. We may not, however, underestimate a possible transmission of techniques and styles by this letter. As such, the portrait of Mirza Jalalah, signed by Ali Gholi Ghulam Zadeh Khadeem, son of a former servant, who should be equated with Ali Gholi Jabadar, or the portrait of nobleman signed by Muhammad Sultani, could be considered as a sign of Iranian willingness to being identified with Europeans via an artistic technique which is itself inspired by the European images. The reception and perception of European artifacts held in the royal treasury might be seen more comfortably in the second group of Farangasasi paintings. The European artistic influence is indeed most striking in paintings with Western subject matter, such as, as I told, the Occidental mythology, biblical sense, or European people. However, up in a closer examination, the European models are not faithfully copied here. With some profound modifications in details and semantic alterations, these paintings are depicted in an aesthetically Iranian ambience with a traditional Iranian treatment of color and space. The second group's paintings are mostly dated between 1673 and 89, and contain a considerable number of European women. For a period of 15 years, at least 13 paintings represent three different categories of Zane Faranghi or European women. The biblical sense, such as the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth, and Judith, the individuals with Faranghi fashion and European outfits, and finally the pathers, or as I call them, Shirin, in the form of Venice and Susanna. It is highly probable that the patrons who commissioned these images had a semantic understanding of the European images. The artists, readers, or patrons of these paintings were probably neither the simple admirers of European works of art, nor passive toward Western cultural novelties. The emergence of their new subjects is effectively in a sort of selecting and choosing the important images, probably in order to achieve a synthesis. In some cases, as Susanna or Venice, for example, we may perhaps be able to identify them as the new interpretation of Shirin taking a bath. Considering the postures of Susanna and Venice and neglecting their nakedness, we observe that these women share some points in common. The general poses of the characters are certainly identical to the European models, but the overall composition of the pictures and the backgrounds are all deeply modified. These women under three and next to a spring or a lake may remind us of Shirin taking her bath several times in Iranian paintings for centuries. It therefore seems important to ask the question whether there is a contagion of classical imagery of Shirin extending to the late 17th century paintings. In parallel, it should also be considered as the acclimatization and its integration of Susanna and Venice into a new Iranian context. This idea is particularly supported by 18th or 19th century representations of Shirin. Other Faranghi women represented in Faranghi's as a painting seem likely not necessarily to refer to a specific person, but rather to European people and their clothing culture in general. Kempfer von Isnes reported the kidnapping of eight Faranghi women in Nisbahan neighborhoods in 1685. The reason given by the Royal Court was the desire of the harem's women to see the culture and clothes of the Faranghi ladies. Some other paintings depict some unusual aspects of a strange and alien world, a Western environment where houses and landscapes are totally new and different from what was to be seen in Iran, where men and women wear attractive dresses and capes, while behaving quite differently from what is known as being considered traditional and legitimate conduct between different sexes in 17th century Iran. These paintings reveal a new Iranian vision of the Western people, which was additionally recorded in written texts, such as Safinei Soleimani, or the ship of Soleimani, one of the few Safavi travelers during Soleimani's reign. The author points out that it is another of the European roads that the degree of friendship one has for a person is expressed by the amount of affection one shows that person's wife. So, to whom very address these paintings? Who commissioned the paintings in the Faranghi-Sazi style in general? As the Datings of Signature testifies, the number of paintings with subjects related to the European culture and women increased notably in the second half of Soleimani's reign. These, I believe, is probably not a question of quantity of European works already in the royal treasury from at least the beginning of the 17th century, nor Iranian artists' access to them. It seems rather to reflect a change of context probably related to historical factors and not exclusively to artistic concerns. A change within the patronage itself. The most significant point about the so-called Faranghi-Sazi paintings is actually their lifespan. They were more prolific during the reign of Shah Soleimani than in the reigns of Shah Abbas II and Shah Sultan Hossain's respectively. It is curious to note that the reign of Shah Soleimani witnessed a rivalry opposing the treasury, the equivalent of the high administration and the royal household headed by the king's mother and senior annex. According to Dastur al-Malukh, the Khages or Yonix institution, especially the high-ranking annex, including the treasurer, bypassed Shaykh Ali Khan, the Tamad-O-Dole, governors, emirs and other men of the court in various state matters. Due to Soleimani's several seclusions, this complicity grew to the point of making some annex indispensable intermediaries between the sovereign and the outside world and thus the true leaders of this state. Demonstrating the real facts, the subject matters of the first group of paintings may indicate the patronage to be either by the king or one of his immediate inter-age. As such, we may suggest that depending of the Shah, the Mehtar and the young man has been made for the Mehtar, whose apartment, according to Dastur al-Malukh, was one of the confidential places of the royal court. Likewise, the integration of the dress codes of the major figures of the royal stable raised the assumption of patronage from the noble family of Zangene, the same as the powerful Eta Maddodole of Shah Soleiman, who occupied the major positions of the royal stables from the reign of Shahapa's first. It is interesting to know the distinguished place occupied by the two officers in the painting. They are both forming the vertices of a triangle, which the king occupies the third pick. Other novels such as Mirza Muhammad Ali, Mirza Jalalah or Mirza Ali Ali could also being considered as a patron since their names are mentioned in some portrait paintings. On the other hand, Persian and European reading sources describe the creation of a hidden state with the royal harem. Composed of the queen mother, the principal annex and the Shah's favorite female concerts, the assembly of the private council became the ultimate decision-making body and increased further the power and influence of women and annex. So, I wonder, and I ask a question, that if this private council commissioned a representation of Judith, a biblical hero who played a decisive role in governing her country. The majority of biblical illustrations in Iranian manuscripts often portrayed men. It is not only the new biblical characters who appear in the firing-guessing paintings, but the role they play is also apt to change. The Iranian traditional biblical illustrations concerned the battle between good and evil, emphasizing the responsible role of prophets leading their people on the path of good. The biblical women of firing-guessing, however, do not represent this battle. The stories of Judith or Susanna are clearly far from the battles of prophets symbolizing the Divan victory. The moral issue of firing-guessing paintings is rather secular, showing the bravery and loyalty of women. The formation of a private council in the harem with the queen mother as the head could favor the female representations. Both the Iranian and European sources indicate the influence of the queen mother, not only on the king, but on diverse state matters. Could this explain the raison d'etre of three representations of the Virgin Mary? Eventually, it is interesting to note that the queen mother actually visited the castle of Tabarak, at least once, Shassoleiman ordered the Korok or reservation exclusively for his mother, who, without participation of other women from the Sarailo, wished to visit the castle of Isfahan and its treasures. So finally, as my conclusion, because I really respected 13 minutes, dating from the second part of the 17th century, the so-called firing-guessing paintings adopt a new pictorial language, most likely by observing European works of art. This latter was stored in the Jeba Khanate, the armory situated in the Tabarak Castle, as one of the four sections of the royal treasury. But relying on the foreign object, the late 17th Safavids selectively chose and adapted the most striking and fascinating aspects of the Western world, mixing them more often with their own taste, aesthetics, and techniques, and created a new genre in Iranian painting. The so-called firing-guessing paintings are not numerous, and the number of artists barely exceeds five. The patrons of these works, I believe, are as few as the number of works and artists limited to some very influential person in the court and the king's household. The Safavid courtiers and nobles who often occupied royal functions for several generations, or in the case of Enoics and women, those who had the most significant position in Shah Suleyman's household and diplomatic rank. Addressing a new audience, the firing-guessing paintings may be considered as a singular reading, precisely tailored to the personality and the social position of their patrons. Ultimately, the Occidentalist characters of some late 17th century Iranian painting is borne by the presence of European cultural elements, not in an exhaustive or scientific way, but rather in order to capture some poignant traits and fantasies. These paintings alter, I think, our idea of Iran in the late Safavid period by providing a window into the Iranian perception of the West in the second half of the 17th century, and also by taking advantage of the social and political messages conveyed by the foreign imagery, those who serve the purpose for Iranian patrons and their local interlocutors. And thank you for you. That's it.


What's going on everyone? Sam here with late in sports cards. We are rip in 22 Panini select football hobby six box half case break number 45 Random team style got a look at our random results again As always you can find those on the website under the results tab as well as the link in chat Good luck guys. That's fine with me Someone's got to be number one That's gonna be me Well, yeah in 2022 Panini paramount signature couldn't find anything like the one you pulled in lot 15 Paramount was that a penny one heavy. Oh the Cooper rush. Well, all right, so Trey Hendrickson to 49 Silver Kyler, so if you look at the checklist heavy, there's what's called the update So cards from previous years can be inserted into this year. So that Cooper rush wasn't in any That was not in any like Pro that wasn't in any Panini one before this It's called like the updates that field level AJ Brown is 75 J Herbo Sylva gave Davis and Luke DK Silver Malik Willis in the on-icons silver Kevin Harris Jonathan Taylor or no Peyton Manning on the field level It was his hat mr. Krabs to 99 DK mech after as he card So by deck and in Hutchinson rookie It was his hat mr. Krabs. He was number one Traylon Burke silver Tyler Lockett and Silver Jaylin Say I'm more Marlon's I'd say cool. I'm not Yeah Silver Jack Jones transure not to try color is kind of Murray to 149 Silver Tom Brady there's hutch phenomenon silver David Bell and Gina DJ Morse to 199 65 of 99 Tyler Higby nice one there for the Rams Contrary swift I can only imagine Xrc and icons Malik silver Deontre swift Xrc is QB three gonna be Anthony Richardson nice one there for the Colts Eric W. Congrats on that one. I think a mag that one too Colts Son Haskins to 99 prime selections jumbo a rookie Jersey up and shannington down Very math is 22 is 75 CD lamb white Jersey. Nice one there for the Cowboys Silver Roger McCreary and CD lamb again when you get a chance when you just talk out check the email again Triple Nick Benito to 75 Silver Josh Allen and Logan Thomas Resol Trevor Lawrence silver Dante Foreman and March on Latin one. I see em see sick or yeah six at 25 Going to the Niners nice one there. Congrats San Fran silver Kyler and a Brian Burns Desmond Ritter rookie tri-color Derwin James to 149 Brady sweet level Vaginolani Woods rookie and a Jalen Warren Resol phenomenon Jordan Davis 71 or no 17 of 199. I saw in there for the Eagles Jersey Rookie Jersey on and Austin Echler Silver a notch and some snapshots silver Jalen Hertz and Josh Allen Silver Evan Neil back is shot She is emic one bow to 75 you got a mouth breather next. Yeah, I say likely silver Covered in chrome dust Joe mix and silver Aaron Rodgers Jalen Hertz Darian Mathis to 99 and a Cedric Wilson to 299 for the Dolphins silver autumn So in there mine XRC prism redemption QB six gonna be Jake Hainer Going to the Saints QB six on the XRC That's on that Saints. Yes, sir To a silver Traylon Berks and James Conor. I'm just gonna double check that Young Stroud Richardson. Love is hooker. Yep. Jake Hainer Explain Randy Thielen breeze Hallfield level rookie another XRC QB five gonna be Henden Hooker going to Lions. Nice one there to get her off Silver nausea Harris silver breeze. So I'll and Devon Bush. That's going Devontae Wyatt try color to 1 9 and I'm Jedis so the Traylon Berks and Kevin Harris tomorrow chase to 2 49 Not necessarily. It's like three or four case usually three, so we haven't hit three in the first three boxes kind of wild Yeah, not every box though. No John Mechie 58 is 75 jumbo wait Jersey for the Texans So the bow Oh, oh, got you got you Randy Rocker mix in Silver Mahomes field level and Sam Donald's field level try Hendrickson to 49. Is he bringing his coffee in there? Josh Allen silver Silver Garrett Wilson neon icons silver Jair and Derek Carr That's the whole process Really James Conner to 149 it's gonna be Alan Robinson 42 or 49 for the Rams nice one there in the red order a Rob Breeze Hall Phenomenons rookie here's 12 of 25 Danny Gray going to the Niners on the tie-dye rookie order That's on that nice bring your coffee To 149 to Sean Watson So buzz the mirror white George Kittle to 249 really cool one here is gonna be again Dwight Freeney Super Bowl auto for the Colts That's on that one Indy Tua to 149 silver Zeke Naji Harris redemption Reese Hall rookie signatures prism go to the Jets nice one there Jets Congrats on that one and why J? CMC tie-dye Jamar Chase phenomenon 12 of 25. That's when they're sincey Silver Jalen Hertz AJ Dillon reg Juan brisker to 149 maroon, I should say Silver borough Deandre Swift Derek Stingley junior field level rookie. Yeah, I was a nice though. They're really nice tomorrow really nice tomorrow for sure Absolutely field level Romeo Dobbs to 75 tri-color Don Franklin Myers Silver Jonathan Taylor and CJ Moseley Brock Purdy rookie Silver Eddie Jackson and Aaron Rodgers. Oh Jack Sticky notes 12 and 75 sauce Gardner jumbo white Jersey Nice one there for the Jets silver Baker and Joe Nixon blue Jared Goff to 99 for the Lions Silver CMC JK Dobbins JK all day Bailey Zappie sweet level rookie Echler Silver Jamar Chase field level and Tua I'm a cook silver Shawn white and Josh Jacobs. Josh Yacobes. Yeah, I knew Spencer was gonna be there for the golf Redemption coming up here That is gonna be Brian Robinson junior jumbo rookie signature swatches white prism go to the commanders Nice one Washington, Washington. I'm always lurking up God Tied I to Shawn Watson going to the Browns. It's gonna have Shawn white that off really quick gonna be to 15 of 25 Ronnie lots 56 of 199 Pat or Jersey Auto for the Niners nice one there and Kevin Harris Jones the 149 Hot Cherokee silver Matt Ryan at Ingram Spencer's in the walls. Oh God Cold strange blue to 199 for the Patriots silver Kaleel Shakir breeze Hall rookie Zebra Brian Robinson junior nice one there on the sweet level for the commanders Here you go, Washington. That's gonna be Eric S. Congrats Eric I sold Zebra for you my friend can you pick it silver Roku on and Von Miller and DK? Got a gold coming up here And in green. That's nasty 10 of 10 Kyle Hamilton On the rookie patch nice one Baltimore Manuel P. Congrats Manuel. I So I'll Kyle Hamilton patch for you there silver Trayvon Kyle Phillips Blee is Kenneth Walker to Silver Jamo and Devin Bush So Bob Rissal Silver Jude on and Jair Alexander Jair Purple Tyler Linderbaum for the Ravens to 75. That's cool This one there in the color match for Baltimore from Poyer silver Tressin Ebbner and Derek Carr DC Pat Mahomes Silva Derek Carr and AJ Last box of the break here guys good luck Lou Devin white to 99 Devin Devin white right behind the other Devin white Super Bowl auto going to Tampa nice one their bucks Greg L in Hutchinson rookie all their wheel Aaron Donald go into the Rams Jeffrey H. Congrats, man That's nasty three up ten AD. Oh, yeah, dude Three NL Westeams. Yeah, forget it. Silver Darius slayton Saturday morning Kyle, I think Kyle or Matt. I'm assuming sake one to 199 Derek Stingley Silver Darren Bland Trey Hendrickson Yeah, that's nasty. I will the color wheels are awesome Algiers sauce gardener Silver AJ Brown and Bo Jackson. I know Kyle pulled a Lebron color wheel out of select basketball earlier tonight silver Tom Brady sensations a team Hicks and Stefan digs Romeo Dobb's 38 of 99 jumbo rookie Jersey for the Packers Silver Malik Willis Channing Tindall Try color John Runyon to 199 on the sweet level for the Packers Silva Seyquan and Pat Mahomes There's Daniel Bellinger to 249 silver LaVisca Chanel and a Brock Purdy base rookie in Hutchinson Silver Silver AJ Dylan and AJ Tyrell kind of Walker snapshots rookie silver Javante base Silver Russ and Cortland Sutton B. Wags to 199 Jay Jettus silver DeMarvin Liao and base do a quick recap here of our hits guys We had a Romeo Dobbs Kyle Hamilton gold to 10 saws gardener John Matthew CD lamb DK mecca Devin white Ronnie lots Brian Robinson jr. Bree Song Dwight freening Alan Robinson jr. Danny Gray XR C QB 5 Henden Hooker Sacha Wilson jr. Jordan Davis XR C QB 6 Jake Hainer for the Saints Tyler Higby and Hassan Haskins mags. We had QB 3 Anthony Richardson Go into the Colts and Aaron Donald's color wheel 3 of 10 for the Rams that'll do it for the break guys. Thanks again for the pill up next number 46


Okay, so Psalm 33 and verse 3, sing to him a new song, play skilfully with a shout of joy. So an exhortation to all those involved in the worship, music, ministry to play skilfully. So we see that being mentioned there. So no doubt worship is a spiritual act, but the Lord, the exhortation from the Samas is to play skilfully. So the Lord is not against skill or against the utility of our skill in a spiritual service, the spiritual act or spiritual service like worship. So the Lord is not against the use of skill. Many times we see skill as something of the flesh, something that is natural and we look at, we tend to put that away, but we see here the exhortation, play skilfully because it is unto the Lord. So whatever abilities we have, so what is the inference here? So you have a skill, if you're going to play skilfully, you need to work at the skill. You need to be good at it, which means it involves some practice, it involves some time, it involves some investment and all that, which goes into playing skilfully, doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of behind the scenes that happens before we can actually play skilfully. Just want to point that out that the Lord is not against skill, to play skilfully or to use our skills in a spiritual act is not something that is contrary to scripture. As long as we are using it as unto the Lord and in an act of worship, unto the Lord, in an act of service, unto the Lord. So let's pray and then we'll continue. Father, we thank you Lord, we thank you Lord that you've exhorted us, you invited us to use our skills, you've invited us to use everything, God, soul and body, God, in order to serve you, in order to worship you, Lord, we thank you God for this exhortation, we thank you that you enable us by your spirit, we thank you that you enable us by your word, quickened word to get better and to be excellent in what we do. And so God, we commit ourselves, Lord, into your mighty hands today and Lord, we also commit this course and this time, Lord, that we're going to be spending this semester, Lord, we pray that there will be much change in us, Lord, as you lead us from where we are, Lord, from the place of strength where we are to another level of strength, God, as your word declares, strength to strength and glory to glory, Lord, maybe be transformed, to be more like you. We thank you Lord, we give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, so last year, final year and yeah, two more semesters to go. Yeah, glad to see you all making this journey right from first semester till now and right, wonderful. Okay, so I'm sure you have your notes. Maybe you've downloaded the notes on life skills. Okay, let me present the notes here. Just a little bit. Okay, right. Okay, is that coming up? No, nothing yet. Okay, yeah. Okay, some things. Okay, so just by way of introduction about life skills, this course is a very practical course, as the name suggests. And as far as assessment goes, we will have a 50% assess 50% as one of the quiz and 50% so we'll have two quizzes with 50% marks and we'll add both for the final marks, right, final course marks. So just two quizzes and this is how it is for the in-person, online, as well as e-learning students, right. Okay, so we're going to look at all these topics, personal development, personal planning, goal-setting, communication skills, managing time, managing money, how to manage people, resolution of conflicts, creativity and critical thinking, team decision-making, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, change and continuous learning. So it looks a bit like a management course on the face of it, but we will also look at some scriptural examples and scriptural braces for doing it the way God intends for us to do, right. So we're going to look at that. Okay, so when we look at the term life skills itself, so we see that these are some skills, abilities. The word skills just means ability. Okay, so all of us, we pick up skills on the way, right, and these skills are useful for our daily living. Almost every environment that you could be in, you know, there's always an opportunity to learn a particular skill or increase our ability in a particular area. And these are very useful for us.  The fact is this, that as we are training ourselves spiritually, you know, these are some practical aspects for us to be exposed to, for us to pick up skills in, which really come and come alongside and really give us a boost in our ministry, right. Because today's environment and scenario is ever changing. And when we are skilled in some of these things, it could be people, it could be technology, it could be, it could be related to finances, it could be anything, you know, it could be communication. When we utilize, pick up these skills, get exposed to these skills, and when we utilize these skills or use these skills, it is to our benefit personally, and it is definitely to the benefit of the ministry. Right. We're not, again, substituting these skills with or for the work of the Holy Spirit, you know, never. Permanent change, deep change, or any kind of transformation comes from God, comes from the hand of God, comes from the work of the Holy Spirit. So we're not, we're not even suggesting that. Okay. But we are looking at skills in the right perspective. We're looking at these things that really enable us to live life optimally, to use this in our ministry, and to really use it for the benefit of God's kingdom. So I'm sure that all of us could be skilled in various things. You know, our levels of skill could vary. We could be skilled maybe when it comes to people, or we could be low in skill when it comes to, you know, technology, right? Or we could be high in, or vice versa, right? So we're going to look at a few things. And like we said, you know, all these different topics and see how we can, you know, we can use these skills. And so this is what we call as personal development, or, you know, how I as a person develop myself, skill myself, you know, increase in the ability myself. There's nothing wrong, right? There's nothing wrong as long as we don't rule out God. Okay, there is a right way to look at it. There's a, there's a wrong way to look at it. Well, the, you know, if you look at some of the personal development input that we receive, or that is available there, it completely rules out God. Okay, it's a very narcissistic view in the sense the focus is on I, me, myself. Okay, the focus is on me and how the world revolves around me. Right? Now that is a wrong view of personal development, you know, how I can be, how I can reach the potential within me, all that is fine. But then if it's going to be a replacing God, if it's going to be replacing my dependence on God, and, you know, if you look at some of these personal development things, it's, it's, it points to the fact that, okay, you just need to realize, or, you know, come to that place of realization that you are in the center of the universe. Right? So that's how personal development, you know, is portrayed and personal development is pursued as well. Right? But, you know, when we, when we look at it, we know that that is, that is the wrong view. We know that does God want the best for us? Of course. In fact, in Jeremiah 29 verse 11, it says, the very thoughts that he has for us is to give us a hope in the future. Okay, is to give us hope. It is give us future. The Lord Jesus, John 10-10 about the good shepherd, he has come so that we might have life and life in its fullness. Right? And when we look at the work of the shepherd, not typically, scripture talks about the fact that David, shepherd of the people, according to the integrity of his heart and the skillfulness of his hands. Okay, the integrity of his heart and the skillfulness of his hands. So when we look at how did David do it, he was dependent on God. Right? He received impartation spiritually from God, the blueprint for the house of God, he received from God. But he also shepherd of the people by the skillfulness of his hands and where did that skill come from? Again, the source is God Himself. So when we look at personal development, we are looking at it that way. I'm developing myself so I can be all that God wants me to be. Okay. So when we look at spiritual development, we see that it is not a one day thing. It is not even one season of my life I invest and then the development comes to an end. No, it is a lifelong thing. It is a continuous thing. I know some of us might have that that mindset, I spend this time maybe in school, college, university, whatever, or I do something during that time. That's the time for development. That's the time for training. That's the time for learning. So I pass that phase and then that's it. I don't want to go back to books anymore. I don't want to listen to any kind of input. If that's our mindset, we need to change because that was my mindset as well. I said, okay, I'm not, I'm never going back to books. I'm done. Graduation, post graduation, done. I had enough of exams, I had enough of books and that's it. I don't want to get back. Now is the time to relax. Now is the time to chill. Now is the time to just take it easy. In all our taking it easy and chilling, personal development has to be there. Our life is a life of one of going from strength to strength, going from glory to glory. Never forget that. And it's an enjoyable thing. It needn't be something that is something that is to be endured. It needn't be. Well, there will be some areas which are not our comfort zones. There will be some skills which are not our comfort zones, which don't come naturally to us, which our mind rebels and saying, don't get into these areas. Just forget it. But those are something, that's when we stretch. That's when we go beyond what we are used to, what is convenient, what is comfortable and we learn and utilize those skills. Why is this important? Because let's look at this theory which Maslow, I think all psychology students or management students would have studied this. Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So let me just show that diagram. So this is what Maslow talks about. He says, in people, there are these needs starting with basic physiological needs, food and nutrition and sleep, something that the body needs. And then he goes on to several other needs, higher than that. Once that is satisfied or even while that is being satisfied, there's a need for safety, there's a need for security and health and so on, money. And then goes on to love and fellowship and belongingness and self-esteem and respect. And then also this desire for knowledge and understanding and desire for beauty and creativity. And then goes on to talk about reaching that full potential and self-actualization as he puts it. Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It's good to see this. It's good to see that. People have needs and it's good to see the category of needs. So the fact is that when we develop ourselves, it is in all these areas, when personal development addresses all these areas and therefore we see that we go from one level to another addressing and coming to a place of actually satisfying these needs, fulfilling these needs. Is there anything wrong in fulfilling these needs? Well the answer is no. Is there a right way of fulfilling the needs? Is there a wrong way of fulfilling the needs? Yes. So that is the thing. If my self-esteem for example, if it is going to come from a place of skill, it is going to come from a place of the possessions, it's going to come from a place of knowledge alone, then there's something wrong. We know that because this can go up and down and along with that, our self-esteem, our self-worth will keep fluctuating. Whereas if it's based on the truth of who we are, then our self-esteem doesn't have to go up and down every time the material things or the temporal things change. Every time relationships change or there's something challenging in the relation, it doesn't our self-esteem and self-worth doesn't have to go up and down. But this whole thing of these category of needs and this listing of needs, well every human being has them. There's something that we need to acknowledge. So what are some practical steps? What are some things that we can do to develop ourselves? Very simple. We're not going to do in-depth, each of these, but simple ways are to develop ourselves. The basic ways to start actually getting into that area is one is how we need to manage our time. Very important because time is a resource, time is it's a limited resource. So when we're looking at time on earth of course, so how do we organize that time? How do we utilize that time? So that's the first thing. Second thing is when it comes to personal development, when it comes to stepping into new opportunities, is to actually put together our resume or CV or curriculum vitae. Just to list down, these are the, especially for new opportunities, right? These are the learnings, these are the courses, these are my experiences and this is my experience with regard to actual work or actual ministry and so on, right? To actually put that together. While we might have it in our minds, but to put it in a chronological, it's a simple thing. Many of us would have done it. Maybe there are some of us who may be not done, you know, putting that together, a CV or a resume. The third thing is to overcome barriers when it comes to learning a skill. There are certain barriers and we look at that. Barriers within barriers, outside. So we need to consider them, be aware of them and to overcome them. Okay, so let's look at time. Organizing our time, you know. So if you're going to make changes in life, if you're going to develop ourselves, we need to recognize that or acknowledge that it's going to take time. Okay, while I might have wonderful plans or, you know, maybe about doing a course, maybe about, you know, maybe about, you know, going to a particular place and maybe spending a time there, ministering there and therefore getting the required experience and so on. I might have all these beautiful thoughts and plans, but if I do not organize my time, then it's going to be a problem because all of us have 24 hours and in that 24 hours there are several things competing for each of those hours.  Okay, so we need to have time, adequate time. We need to invest our time. So as we're investing time in developing ourselves, here are some things, right?  Those are things that we need to do. So if you're studying, devoting time to education, so how can I allocate adequate time, right? If I'm in a class, if I'm a student, then yes, I spend three or four hours in class and then I need to spend maybe the same amount of time, if not more, learning or studying whatever time that I put in class, right? Maybe an equal amount of time. So where is that going to come from? It's going to come from that 24 hours and unless I plan, unless I organize it, then it is not going to, it is not going to help, right? So which means that I need to keep track of time. Okay, sometimes we say, okay, did Jesus ever do that, right? Well, he went three days late, but still he was on time. Well, the thing is that, yes, we are trying to be, you know, growing in our Christlikeness, but Jesus was very aware of the times and seasons, right? He was very aware of the times and seasons. In fact, he tells Mary at the wedding, my time is not yet come. Very aware of the Father's timing, very aware of what he needs to do and when.  You know, he knew about his timing. So he had a sense of internal, you know, sense of internal clock or timing that according to which just the Father's time, according to which he conducted his life and ministry. So, yeah, at a very basic practical level, how are we spending our time?  Where am I spending my time? So just encouraging us to take some time to write down when, what time do I start my day? What time do I end my day? What do I do during that time? Very simple task, right? But it can be something that that reveals a lot about us. Okay, so that reveals a lot about how we spend, how we don't spend or how we waste this wonderful resource call time. So if we need to spend time effectively, okay, here are some things. We need to say no to certain things. Okay, if it is work, if you're in a formal job, even ministry, we need to learn to say no to certain things which are not directly, you know, what you're recruited for or which is not directly your primary area of responsibility, right? Which is drawing you away from the main thing. We need to be able to say no.  Let's say I'm called to be a teacher and if there are activities in my life or, you know, there's this draw that is pulled that is taking me away from investing time in preparation or investing time in the actual teaching. If it's going to draw me away, if my classes get canceled over and over again due to some other thing, you know, certain things could be unavoidable, but if it's going to result in that, that means that I need to evaluate and say, hey, this is taking me away from the main thing, right? So I need to say no to this. So I need to prioritize. Okay, learning to delegate, learning to delegate certain things, you know, what is it that you can actually hand over to others? Maybe you're in a place of work, maybe in a workplace ministry, what is that main thing that you are called to do? And what are those things that you can actually hand over to others? When you delegate to others, you're actually creating an opportunity for that person to serve, for that person to help, for that person to learn. Think of it that way, not as something that you're offloading, you know, and kind of burdening someone with. It's not necessary. You don't have to look at it that way. The person gets an opportunity to serve, to minister, to learn new things and so on. Okay, so do you have a to-do list? Third thing, a to-do list for the day, a to-do list for the week. And if so, how do you, how do you, you know, how do you do that? Is it something that you write? Is it something that is on your phone? Is it something, you know, so I put it on my phone and it looks very intimidating at times. And, but yeah, I, so here's a list of some, I don't know if you can see it, okay. Here's a list of some things. I think one, two, three, five, ten, some 11 tasks that I need to complete in addition to spending time here at the Barber College. So I just put it there so that it doesn't weigh heavily on my mind. I try it, you know. Maybe there's something which is over and over again, you know, this thought, I need to do this, I need to do that. Just put it on paper or put it, record it somewhere. You'll realize that that is not bothering you anymore, right? You've put it, you've recorded it. Now your mind is clearer to concentrate on other things, right? To think about other things. So yeah, so having a to-do list helps, having it on maybe a gadget that you can refer to time and time again or on a notebook is very, very important, okay. Give up things that you don't want to do, okay. When are you the, when are you most fresh, most alert, okay? Is it post lunch or is it early in the morning or is it late night, right? Late in the evening, whenever the time for work is. Now let's say you have eight hours for which to do these tasks daily. During these eight hours, when is it that you find yourself dragging? When you find yourself, you know, there's a lot of things required.  When is it that you are the most alert and most fresh? You know, try and do the most demanding tasks then, right? Okay, so here are some things about our time. Putting together a personal CV or resume, okay, we won't go into too much of details of it, but best thing is to do it in a chronological manner. I'll also put a post, a couple of samples that you can look at and consider, you know, consider tweaking, fine-tuning your resume or also, you know, if you've not started on it, you can actually do that, right? So a resume typically has your list of learnings, formal, informal. So formal education would be school, college, the courses that you enrolled in to do. Informal would be something that you picked up, maybe some workshop that you attended, maybe some online thing that you did on your own time, right? So it could be something informal. It could also list down some skills. It could also list down some experiences that you have and also formal work experience or ministry-related experience, you know. It's good to put that in a way that communicates it effectively. So within a short time, people are able to get, if it's in reverse chronological order, that would be best, starting with what you're doing at present to what you did or how you started off five years before or 10 years before, right? Okay, so when it comes to learning a new skill, we're talking about personal development, when it comes to learning a new skill, okay, what are some barriers, what are things that really help us or, I'm sorry, hinder us from learning these things, okay? Some things are internal. For example, lack of confidence or self-esteem. Okay, we look at a task, you look at the skill level or what is required of us to learn that skill. Maybe it's a language skill, okay? And it looks very daunting and you feel that you don't have the confidence to go through it, confidence, so we don't even start, right? So we don't even start, but so once we make that attempt and cross that hurdle, then as we try it out and we realize that, hey, I can actually do that, okay? So it could be internal. Secondly, it could be an economic situation, which is more of an external thing, you know? We know that things come at a cost. If there's a course that we need to enroll in, maybe there's a cost to it monetary, right? And so maybe we need to kind of research and find out, you know, what is it that I can do at something that I can afford now? And nowadays, there are a lot of things that we can do for free, where it doesn't involve any expense from our side, right? Of course, it involves some kind of maybe digital investment in a sense. Maybe you have a laptop or something, or a phone, smartphone, etc. But we can actually research and find out, right? Third thing could be also a family commitment. We know that, like we said, all these activities, you know, when it comes to, you know, spending of our time, there are some commitments, there are some, which really restricts our time, you know, because these are important things. So that could also be a barrier or something as a constraint, right? So we need to work around these things, right? So we can't fully neglect it. We need to work around it. We need to see how best can I do it. And it's really the life of some of these people that we have studied, very inspirational, especially, you know, if you look at William Carey, William Carey actually came to India as a missionary. He did the work of translation. But if you actually study, he worked as an apprentice for a cobbler, you know, and it was during his free time that he studied the scripture, it was during his free time that he learned the Greek. Of course, he had a flair for languages, but it was during his free time as he worked as an apprentice for the cobbler, you know, make putting together the shoes and all that. So can it be done? Yes. But will it require something out of us? Yes. Right. Okay. So any questions or anything that you may want to add here? Okay. So feel free to do that, right? Okay, is there somebody putting on a hand? Okay, fine. Right. Okay, let's look at, okay, this is something that we looked at, right? So have a personal development plan. So I just want to ask us, you know, do you have an idea, or maybe this year, you know, I want to grow in these skills. Okay. Maybe there is a thought, you know, I want to enroll somewhere, I want to study, and I want to do these things, and maybe there's no timeframe to it, right? It's a desire, it's a wish. Okay. It's a thought. But unless it is developed into a plan, then we will not actually execute it, right? So it could be a desire. I wish I could do that. I wish I could play that instrument. I wish I could learn that language.  I learned to play that instrument, whatever, right? So it is in the wish level, right? It is at the desire level, which is good. This is important. But it needs to come to the level of a personal plan. Okay. So that is what we are going to look at. When it involves a personal plan, then there are certain, there's a certain factors which go into it. Okay. One is clarity, clarity of what I want to do, or where I want to be. Why is it that I want to do that? Okay. Because this will actually enable us, fuel us to pursue it, a clear vision. And it is, of course, important to add a timeframe to it. So let's say in the next six months, or in the next few weeks, put a timeframe to it. And if it's a course that you want to do, you know, when do you want to do it, right? So unless we do that, it doesn't, we will not actually pursue it because it's still there. When do you want to do it? I don't know, sometime in the future, right? I'm sure you've had that experience of, you know, hey, we need to meet, you tell your friend, hey, we need to meet sometime, or you tell your relative, we need to meet sometime. And then that person also says, yeah, yeah, we need to meet sometime. But unless you say, put the date down and say, you know, let's meet next Tuesday, 8am, let's meet for breakfast, it never happens. And same thing, you know, I've experienced, you know, I've just said, we need to get together, we need to meet. But unless, and that always remains, you know, there are some, there are some people to whom I've said, we need to meet, we need to meet, and then it's gone. 2021 went, 2022 went, and then we're still talking about, hey, we need to meet sometime, right? But to those people where we said, hey, let's meet next week. And let's meet at this time. The likelihood of that happening, even if there is a change in, you know, that particular thing, maybe you were busy or something didn't work out, and you kind of had to change that date, the likelihood of that happening is far, far higher. Right? So that is why, you know, whenever we have these things, okay, I want to develop myself in this area, I want to learn this, I want to do this, put a date and time, put a time frame. In the next one month, I want to do it. How do I, how do we do it? I want to enroll here. Okay, have I done it already? No. Well, the month is, you know, we've already, you know, into two weeks of the month. So we better do it fast. We better do it so, right? So a clear vision plus putting time frames, okay? Okay. Then the second one is a clear understanding of the skills we need in order to develop that vision or achieve that vision, right? Maybe we want to get into this job, maybe we want to get into this, we want to live in a certain place, we want to do this particular course in this university, etc. You know, what does it involve? What does it take? Right? Does it involve a certain skill? Does it involve a certain resource? Right? So we need to have a good understanding of that, which means when we have an understanding of it, when we perceive it, then we even utilize those skills, then we will be actually doing it, right? Okay, a clear idea of the standard, right? So which means that, okay, I'm working at this level right now, but in order to get a different output, I need to up my standard, right? I'm getting this done with the current level of work, current level of output. Now, I cannot do the same thing and expect a much higher level, a much excellent output, right? It's going to change the way I, I need to change the way I work, right? If I want to do 10 things, or if I want to do 20 things, and right now I'm only doing five things with the current skill level and current, you know, at the present way in which I work, right? I cannot expect to be, to have completed 20 things by the end of next month, right? Because if my input, if my effort, and if the nature of input is going to be the same, right? Very simple. I need to change. There has to be some change. So I need to have an idea of what I need to change and how I need to do it, right? So, this is the level of input. I get a certain output. Do I need to change it? Do I need to, you know, what is the output involved, right? Do I need to change it? Do I need to up my game? Do I need to increase it? I need to do that. It need not be just, you know, it may not be just the effort. It could be something else also. You know, it could be a different area of learning, a different skill, for example. If my standard requires that, then if my current standard, I have this, but if my output requires that, I need to learn that as well, okay? Okay. Prioritizing. We looked at that, you know, what are some things that I need to prioritize?  I might have 20 things, but in that, what is, what is it that, you know, we're going to learn some more on that when we look at time management, the management of, you know, you already know what is urgent, what is important, and what are some things that I need to, you know, address first. So, that's how I arrive at a priority, right? That's how I prioritize. Urgent, important, and then we come at, arrive at something. So, we can say, okay, this is important, and it is urgent also. So, let me, let that be the first task that I start off, and the other things can be much later. So, when we are thinking in terms of timeframe, like years, we could say, okay, this not right now, okay? Not right now. This is not important right now. Maybe I could defer it to a later month or a later year also, right? Okay. Several things listed here, but I just want to, you know, just make mention of this fact that, you know, take it one step at a time. Okay. Take it one step at a time. Yes, it can be, it can seem very daunting. It can seem very overwhelming when you look at things. Okay. How do I reach that place? Okay. How do I reach that destination? Okay. The way seems so long. It seems so complex. How do I reach that? Right? We take it one step at a time. Everything that seems very, very complex, complicated, and so intertwined, it starts with the first step. Right? The more complex the thing is, you need to understand that it looks complex because we have not really broken that down to a series of small steps. Okay. So, don't worry about it. Take it one step at a time. Okay. Whatever is complex, in terms of learning, you know, it seems complex. Take it one step at a time. Okay. Okay.  This is something which is of priority. Maybe you can share that. You know, what is it that that you're looking at? Is there anything that you're saying, okay, I want to learn this skill? Maybe even talking about it will help you to get started. Right? Like, for example, you know, I came across a course on Udemy. A good course was spoken Kannada. Right? Here in Karnataka, we speak the language. Most people speak Kannada. I don't know Kannada. I come from another state, so I don't know Kannada. So, I just felt that I need to know in order to engage, in order to interact at a better level with people. So, I found this pre-course on Udemy. So, I'm just telling you guys right now. So, you can actually ask me, you know, did you enroll for the course? Did you start? Right? So, I can hold myself accountable and really start and finish that off. It's not a long course. It's a few hours only but, you know, I can start it. So, okay. Is there anything that you feel is stirring? I need to, you know, start something. I need to learn this. Yeah. Okay. So, planning of finances. Okay. Yeah. Right. Right. Okay. Okay. Right. Right. Right. Right. So, Jeff has talked about how getting organized with generally about her things, her personal, you know, belongings, etc., and also finances. Right. Learning, maybe saving investing and also tracking. Right. That's, that would, tracking is a first step and then we can, you know, you can move into how to save and then once you're saying, okay, this is the amount that I have, then you can go into investing and so on. Right. So, okay. So, we'll stop here and we'll meet next class where we develop things further. Right. Okay. Thank you so much. God bless you. Bye-bye. Thank you, Buster. Thank you, Buster.


I'd like to welcome on stage Ted Meng, the CEO of the Science Center of Singapore. A very important member of this science community. And so as CEO of the Science Center and Vice Dean of NUS, Ted Meng, Lim Ted Meng, promotes STEM as an engine for knowledge-based innovation, engages in stakeholders to share the mission and champion the creative science communications. So his goal is to inspire the youth and to see STEM as a powerful means to create their own future. So science is to be shared openly. The mission of the Science Center is about science communication, with the purpose of opening the minds with evidence-based information. Ted Meng will give a reflection on how CSC started supporting FOSAsia and brought benefits to this community. So Ted Meng. Thank you for the introduction. I stood up because I wanted to cut.  And it's okay. I will keep your tea break because I haven't got any slides. No. Okay. In fact, when I was sitting there, I was just roaming through my mind. How can I condense what I'm going to say so that won't into your tea break? Well, first of all, I want to thank Mario and Humphuk for inviting me, especially on your 10th anniversary of FOSAsia. And I came here, first of all, to congratulate and also to congratulate the team for putting in this effort, sharing the same conviction and commitment to come in to do this year after year. And if you saw all the slides earlier, you must have come across Science Center. I think it was 25, 36, 27 that FOSAsia was hosted at the Science Center. Now, when I was first introduced, I was impressed, first of all, by the motivation behind. And also, it was a timely thing because the whole idea of digital transformation, although it was not used yet at that point in time in 2015, Singapore now is really engaged during all the public service division to move on to digitalization, digital transformation, and so on and so forth. So in a way, Science Center, as Science Center should be, is always looking forward to the horizon of what could be. And then I also realized that this FOSAsia is actually a network of experts, a network of people, some people really very formal, some people put on hats all the time, and some people come in in a very crazy fashion, and some people come in, they talk about technology which was beyond many of us. But we all know that the digital technology will be transformational in terms of how impact on our world. And Science Center is very happy, was very happy, and is still happy to be part of this movement. And I was just looking at the FOSAs, right? And I'm a scientist, and Science Center is to be shared openly. And that's why when I was told that it's an open source kind of thing, I said it fit our ethos. That's the whole purpose of Science Center, we want to open up science to as many people as possible to open their minds, to let them see the impact of science and how without science, probably there would be technology. I mean, you can argue with me later whether you agree on that. To me, science is the foundation for what we call knowledge-based economy. Because of science, we understand scientific phenomenon, and from there we derive application and technology. That's my view. As a Science Center, I must put science in front first. And when we look at science in the past, science is in a way locked up in the ivory towers, and it's only for the learned. For the learned, and sometimes the scientists may look down on people who don't understand science.   It's not the concern for them to communicate openly. It's more of showing off how much I know that you do not know. And a peer review is just to up one another, and then in competition our purpose is to suppress your paper because I know I'm going to do a big tool before you publish. I mean, all these are the so-called not open but closed competition. And now with the explosion of a platform to share information freely in all kinds of social network, internet, and the famous Dr. Google or Mr. Google, it's important that science is now really open as truthful as possible and also as transparent as possible. Otherwise, if science is only manipulated and monopolised by so-called experts, science is not doing what science should be. It's to benefit the whole of mankind. And we are talking about sustainable development goals. We talk about climate change. We are talking about science as evidence-based. And it's very important to have this openness. Otherwise, you can get pseudoscience, you can get fake news. You can even use science as a political tool to twist and turn things around. So, therefore, I was impressed with this openness. And therefore, when I was asked whether we could host, I said yes. I mean, one thing good about being a CEO, I just make the decision. And because I did tell the Minister for Education long time ago when he invited me to take on this role and borrowed from the university. I didn't ask about this job. I should ask this question. Where is my boundary? They couldn't tell me. I just pushed the boundary until they slapped me. I was slapped a few times. And this is something that I think I almost got slapped because what is this, you know? Especially, we bring in international people coming in. But anyway, we have very fruitful three years. Very exciting three years. And in the three years, we have joy and agony because Science Centre is not really a conducive place for this kind of gathering because we have our public's gallery and so on and so forth. But it was a good experiment. And then later, we had to discuss with Hong-Fuk and Mario that how can we sustain this? And that's when our good friends, Leibang University, the institution came in because soon after that, we started to work closely with LLI and LLI started to come into the scene for education to really educate our public about the future of work, skills, future and so on and so forth. And literacy in terms of coding, in terms of tech is very important. So we became the matchmaker. And this is the second time we are running in LLI. And this brings me to the next part that is the word F-free. I don't know how you think that word free. Do you think the word free for granted? And we all know that whatever organization of events and so on and so forth, nothing is free. Somebody got to pay for something. And at the Science Centre, we always believe in doing good and doing well. My staff always complained to me, why are you talking about we have to bring in revenue? Aren't we a government agency? Government should fund us. But I told them, you know that government will not fund you forever and ever and the government will expect you to be standing on your own feet somehow. It won't be 100% funding. And therefore I told our people that in some things that we do, we can go free, but in certain things we need to recover costs. Otherwise, how can we grow? So I'm very impressed by the business model. So I'm learning. I'm trying to learn how to force Asia. I look at the registration fee. It's actually very, very cheap. I got a ticket and so on and so forth. So it is an interesting model and I also told this back to you. When you say free, what does it mean? Somebody got to pay for the venue. Somebody got to pay for the food. Somebody got to pay for something. So how free is free? So this balancing do good and do well is something that we as a learning institution, as a Science Centre, that's a mission-driven institution that's not for profit. We are also trying to learn. What do you mean by free? So I really want to learn from you. If you have something interesting to share with me, I'll be very happy to really, what the Chinese say, I call you sifu. I'll call you the master. Teach me how to do free at the same time, do good, do well. I think this is something that all organizations are struggling. And finally, I also want to open to all the experts here because one good thing about being involved in the force Asia, we also understand how we can use technology to do hackathon and also use technology to do special offerings and work processes and engagement in the Science Centre. So last year, we hosted the hackathon to ask our people, can you cover the solutions? Look at Science Centre in 2030. And if you can come in with the solutions, you are also embarking on a worldwide journey because the whole world is asking the Science Centre, is it relevant? We don't want to go to Science Centre to see a certain science demonstration. Now YouTube can tell you everything. And all the information are now freely available. In the past, Science Centres are so-called authority of scientific facts and know-how. But now, the visitors coming to Science Centre probably know more than you do. So how do we reinvent the Science Centre? What is Science Centre version 2.0? And also from Singapore's perspective, in line with the digital transformation, we are looking at how to use smart technology to make seamless journey before the visitors come in during the journey in the Science Centre and after leaving the Science Centre, what kind of engagement, what kind of platform, what kind of learning tool and so on and so forth. So in the hackathon, we had very interesting students who came up with projects and we were going to embark on a journey with them to see how we could help Science Centre transform it. Some of them could be free, some of them may turn out to be something very interesting that you can actually act as a consultant to move towards other Science Centre. So I want to freely open the invite to you that if you think that Science Centre did help Force Asia grow in Singapore and you want to give back to the Science Centre and then indirectly giving back to live-long institutions because we tap on them to do events with them. You know where to contact me. If you do not know where to contact me, follow Hong Fu and Mario. They are very good in making the initial contact and then how by the communication and conversation we struck off, I think it's remarkable that over the past years we have grown to a good understanding. There is mutual trust and respect and also openly telling them the agony we had on the word free, what in by free. So I throw that back to you and maybe later if you have some answers or you're going to share with me your perspective of free, I'll be what I call, I wash my ears to listen to you and under Chinese Proverbs. I wash my ears to listen to you because I really want to learn from you. So with that, I want to just end off by saying once again congratulations and Open Science, Open Mind is indeed very important and because they opened my mind to what the tech world is and we began to see a lot of possibilities otherwise untapped. Thank you very much.


Item Number – SCP-331 Object Class Safe Special Containment Procedures When not being used, SCP-331 is to be kept within a typical electronic 7-digit metal safe in Dr. Warren's office. The code is to be changed on a monthly basis by said doctor. People who wish to examine SCP-331 must ask for authorization beforehand. As of date undisclosed, SCP-331 is worn by SCP-331-1. Description SCP-331 is a red plastic cat collar, approximately 23 cm in length. Metal studs surround the collar in intervals of 1 cm. Testing has confirmed the metal to be nickel. The bell consists of stainless steel, electroplated with 24 carat gold. Ringing the bell has no distinguishable effect, adverse or otherwise. The word Tumbles has been painted on the back of the collar in yellow paint. Testing has confirmed that there is nothing unusual about the paint. SCP-331 exhibits no abnormal tendencies when worn by a living cat. When SCP-331 is fastened around the neck of a deceased cat, hereafter SCP-331-1, SCP-331-1 is resurrected with no initial adverse effects. The collar does not halt the decomposition process, however. Fur and skin still rot at a regular pace. Organs are unaffected by the decomposition process. Testing has yet to determine the exact cause for this. SCP-331-1 shows no signs of distress during the decomposition process. SCP-331-1 can be killed by conventional methods, whereupon it remains deceased. The separation of SCP-331 and SCP-331-1 data expunged, unless SCP-331-1 is deceased. It should be noted that SCP-331-1 always answers to Tumbles and has an amiable personality, despite what it was called or how it behaved pre-mortem. SCP-331 was discovered when reports reached a Foundation agent of a zombie cat, witnessed around G. Park. Said agent immediately alerted the Foundation of a possible outbreak of SCP-8. MTF-1 was dispatched and neutralized SCP-331-1, whereupon it was transported to Site-1 after no trace of SCP-8 was detected. Upon arrival, research was conducted on SCP-331 that confirmed its properties. Lesson complete. If you missed the previous orientation, go watch SCP-331-1 take only two, right now. Or for the complete course, watch this playlist.


Okay, now that you know about different environmental monitoring solutions offered by OISOM, let's get into the data accessibility part. All the OISOM equipments are smart and connected systems. It sends the real-time environmental data to OISOM IoT platform, which can be hosted on OISOMs or the customer's infrastructure. The data communication is possible using various wired and wireless communication protocols. For wireless communication, all types of generations of GSM, like 2G, 3G, are pretty standard, but it also has the capability to communicate through LTE, Wi-Fi, LORA, SigFox and NarrowBand IoT. While for wired communication, users can choose from Ethernet, RS485 and RS232. In any case, the data can be routed to the target database server using secured HTTP, MQTT or COAP protocols, depending upon the solution architecture. To keep the hardware network agnostic, the equipments are capable to push the data on specific configurable intervals to the IP of a host server, or the server can demand for the data on a pull request to the device IP. There are some key functionalities, like firmware updates, calibration and remote diagnosis, which are done through OISOM Cloud. That's why we recommend to keep the devices connected to OISOM Cloud via a standby GSM or GPRS connectivity. Once data communication is through, there are various possibilities to access the data based on solution requirements. If the data is collected into a third-party infrastructure and database, the raw data can be further processed, visualized and analyzed on the third-party application. Else, the data can be harvested on OISOM Cloud for further accessibility. OISOM Cloud is trained to process the data by considering the effect of meteorological conditions for improved stability. It has capabilities to derive various environmental indexes and generate alerts based on custom thresholds. All such process data is available to be integrated into a third-party application using secured endpoint APIs. The process data is also integrable into an outdoor display for public events. The data is also available on OISOM Terminal for better visualizations and analytics. OISOM Terminal is our proprietary data platform which can extract actionable alerts, print-ready reports and historical data analytics. The data is also accessible using our mobile app on the go. The process data can be published on third-party web applications using an iframe-based environmental widget by OISOM. There is also a possibility to access the data using voice-activation-based assistant systems like LXI and Google Hope. Based on the historical trend analysis, the platform can offer pollution forecasting as well. By enabling our environmental AI capabilities, city-scale pollution maps can be generated. Such maps are highly essential for source appointment studies. By applying dispersion modeling using meteorological data, environmental impact assessment is possible. By applying relevant modeling and prediction algorithms, several such environmental applications can be fulfilled in a scalable manner. If you want to talk more on environmental data and its possibilities, get in touch using the email in the description below.


Good afternoon Foundation staff. This is level 4 researcher Theron Sherman and today's broadcast illustrates Well, I don't know what it illustrates. We're talking about SCP-5665 object class Keter Special Containment Procedures Safe containment of SCP-5665 instances is unviable due to their tendency to spontaneously combust Due to this containment efforts ought to be focused on spreading disinformation regarding the existence of the anomaly and preventing discovery by the public Description SCP-5665 is an anomalous variant of dairy cow capable of producing massive amounts of methane within their digestive system through an unknown source Additionally, they can expel this gas through their anuses and ignite it presumably using an anti-identified flame producing organ located within the lower digestive system SCP-5665 instances are able to move in the same manner as a non anomalous cow However, they've been observed to instead favor propelling themselves via combustion of their anomalous flatulence Despite the high temperatures and pressures SCP-5665 are subjected to they appear to be unaffected physically by this method of transportation SCP-5665 generally exist in herds of between five and ten instances and are able to reproduce using the same methods as mundane cattle Analysis of tissue gathered from deceased instances reveals that female instances are capable of producing non anomalous milk Instances also require similar amount of food and drink to standard cattle Attempts to contain or otherwise intentionally restrict the movement of SCP-5665 instances have invariably resulted in the spontaneous combustion of the entity Often causing massive collateral damage or if additional instances are in close proximity chain reactions Due to this accurate observations or analysis of SCP-5665 instances on a small scale are functionally impossible Addendum 5665 point zero zero one incident may 26 2020 at 0900 hours 46 minutes a large congregation of approximately 40 SCP-5665 instances formed over a field in Cornwall, England This collection attempted to attach themselves together using legs and tails before Simultaneously beginning to produce explosive flatulence this propelled the entity's upwards at a rapidly accelerating rate Which reached speeds in excess of Earth's escape velocity The group of SCP-5665 instances is believed to be traveling in a direction that will cause it to make contact with the moon on June 2nd 2020 well hey diddle diddle am I right You get it because the cows jumped over the moon All right staff that ends our broadcast use your foundation encrypted YouTube account to like comment and subscribe and hit the Bell and support our broadcast at patreon.com that site 42


Wow, that's cool. Hello. Hello. So who are you? This is Brandy from Movie Power. So Movie Power is a company to make this kind of machine? Yes. Like this? What is this product? This is standing rear eyes. So using rear glasses to watch movies. Our company is making the rear game machine actually. So this is a right now Transporting and moving around. This guy is going to play the game, the car. This is for the car racing. Alright. How soon is it going to start? So what game is going to play here? It's launching. It's loading on windows computer. Yeah, loading in the game. This is car racing. It's using rear glasses to watch movies. Can you talk about the price for this and that approximately? I think the price is about $9,500 and the standing rear price is around $6,500. And you already sell many? Yeah. All over the world? We sell a lot all over the world. I would like to show you this is all our products. All using rear products. So you have VR family? Yeah, VR family. So the whole six people together? Yeah, the whole one. Do you show it over there? Yeah. It's over there, yeah? Yeah, over there. So are you the leader in this kind of machine? The world best company to do this? Actually, we are the... You are the leader or no? We are the leader company in China. In China. So some other company in other country, they do similar product. Japanese company, American company? How to say... There are some companies in USA, but the most companies in China. Making this kind of machine. And how about the VR solution? This is 3D glasses. This guy, yeah. Hey, hello. Hello. So you make the VR solution? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is your company name? Our name is 3 glasses. This is our brand name. 3 glasses? What is this? We made this VR headset. This is PC connected VR headset. So right here it's connected? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you can show it? Yeah, I can show this. This way. Okay. Where I see? Where I see? And shoot. See and shoot. This is the same resolution as Oculus? Yeah, yeah, but we have... You can see the specification. We have a higher resolution. Higher resolution than Oculus? Oculus is not this? Yeah, Oculus is lower. And so it's better than Oculus? Yeah, yeah. So we can see it... 110 inch, 110 inch is quite good. And it can do 120 hertz. Yeah, this is the first VR headset with 2K resolution. Our 3 glasses, our company, already we have 10 years, more than 10 years experience in VR industry. 10 years? Yeah. All right. And this is instant. Very responsive. And this is the one they use over there? How much does it cost? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the price? This one, retail is $429. That's cheaper than Oculus. How much is Oculus? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know Oculus. I don't know. This one, if you buy 10 piece, it's $379. Wow, for 10 piece. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's very good for this machine over there? Yes, we must match there. And we are partners. They use many companies. And they produce VR machine. And they use our headset to... Only in China or around the world? Around the world. Yeah. We are the top companies in China to do VR industry. And this is connected to Intel PC right here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. With HDMI? Yeah. DP. DP. Display port. Display port? And USB. USB for controls? And a big computer for good quality? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Expensive computer? No. Maybe about... $500? No, no. $1,000. More than $1,000. Minimum $1,000? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you considered to make all-in-one VR? To put CPU in here? Yeah, maybe in the future. Maybe in the future. Right now, you know, we must use the better performance computer. We think why all we are right now is not that good. Thank you.