Emboldening Advice for First Encounters

Tips for small talk and making a first impression

First encounters are often interspersed across our day and careers. Client meetings, trade conferences, networking events, and job interviews provide just a few examples of situations where we’re meeting new people, and need to leave a good impression on them. Two recurring ‘micro-situations’ are very important for first impressions: entering a room, and engaging in small talk. In his book Simply Irresistible, Dr. Raj Persaud discusses these situations, and provides emboldening advice to succeed in first encounters.

Entering a room of people we don’t know can be difficult and scary. It’s often worst for those of us who are more introverted, or who lack confidence in social situations. Surprisingly, Dr. Persaud describes shyness as a bonus because it’s often more appealing to others than extraversion. What advice does he offer for overcoming the nerves and challenges associated with entering a room? Three straightforward tips:

1. Get there early. If you’re nervous about going to an event, or attending a meeting, arrive early and settle into your new location. It tends to be easier to break into conversation with people earlier on at an event where they haven’t yet settled into group patterns;

2. Don’t compare yourself to the most sociable, charming person you know. Take a moment to notice the people in the room who are not lighting it up, and note that you don’t need to be a pro to succeed in social situations; and

3. Before approaching someone new, do some reconnaissance. Take an active interest in what is going on around you in the room, and with the person you are intending to approach, and use it to spark the first conversation.

Once you’ve approached the person you want to speak to, the likelihood is that you’ll need to engage in some form of small talk. Here, Dr. Raj Persaud provides key five tips for those wanting to leave a favourable first impression:

1. Make sure you change the subject as soon as you detect any signs of boredom from the other person;

2. Come armed with a wide range of subjects that you can comfortably talk about to someone you are meeting for the first time (weather perhaps being a stalwart favourite for the Brits!);

3. Work out what you have in common, and steer the conversation that way. This involves you sharing things about yourself with the other person, and as the conversation and relationship builds, there should be a reciprocity to this;

4. Keep things light and humorous, and don’t take yourself too seriously; and

5. Give compliments: a good format is to give a compliment and then ask a follow-up question, e.g. ‘that’s a lovely dress – where did you get it from?’.

Having read that you may see the ways in which you have been ‘small-talked’ in the past. In some ways, it’s a manipulation, or even a seduction. But then again, isn’t it a compliment that someone has made the effort to entertain and engage you?


Five Mistakes that Can Lead to (and then Worsen) Problems with Ants

Noah has recently finished his landscaping project, and his yard looks great. He has put down fresh mulch, and he has planted some beautiful knock-out roses under his windows. To celebrate, he has been inviting his friends over for cookouts, which can run late into the night – so late, in fact, that he often doesn’t clean up the mess until the next day. And now he has ants. He has tried using repellents and off-the-shelf baits, but the problem is only getting worse.

Here are five mistakes he made that led to (and then worsened) his ant problem – and how he can fix them.

1. Out with the old mulch, in with the new mulch.

Every year when Noah puts new mulch down, he puts it on top of the previous year’s mulch, which is a big mistake. As the mulch ages, it dries and hardens so that it flakes apart easily. Ants are drawn to the decaying mulch, and if it’s right up against the house, then you are practically inviting them inside.

Solution: Remove the existing mulch before you put down new mulch. If possible, don’t mulch right up against the house. You might also consider pre-treating the area with an ant repellent.

2. Roses attract aphids and aphids attract ants.

On top of that old mulch, Noah planted knock-out roses, which is an excellent choice – they are beautiful and hearty. But they also attract aphids. Aphids come with their own problems, but they also draw ants. The aphids produce a substance called “honeydew,” which is an excellent source of food for the ants. This “honeydew” is so appealing to the ants that they will actually help to maintain and tend to the aphids in a symbiotic relationship.

Solution: Treat the roses for aphids before they have a chance to attract ants.

3. Ants love leftovers as much as you do.

To get the most out of his yard, Noah has been hosting regular cookouts, which have a tendency to run long into the night – so late that he often doesn’t feel like cleaning up the mess until the next morning. The queen of an ant colony sends out workers in search of food and moisture for the colony, and the baked beans and soda spilled on your counter are as tempting to them as they are to you. Additionally, ants are very good at communicating to other ants using pheromones when they find a good food source. One lucky ant that finds your feast can quickly turn into a supply line “trailing” from your counter to the heart of the colony.

Solution: Avoid leaving food out any longer than absolutely necessary. If the ants have already found the food, then be sure to wipe down the entire ant trail to remove the traces of pheromones that can continue to attract other ants.

4. Repellent can keep ants out – or trap them inside.

When Noah discovered the ants in his house, he used a repellent figuring that it would repel the ants away from his house. Repellents are an effective treatment method when they are used correctly by forming a barrier that the ants are unable to cross. This means that the ants that are inside are trapped inside. The trapped ants will then form a new colony in a process called “budding.” Now Noah is dealing with two or more ant colonies instead of one, and they are appearing in more areas of his house.

Solution: Once the ant problem is the persistent and spreading throughout the house, it might be time to consider professional help to develop a strategy to reign them in and keep them out.

5. Off-the-shelf solutions aren’t long-term solutions.

Now Noah has expanded his arsenal to include a variety of off-the-shelf repellents, baits and traps. However, if they aren’t used properly, the poison won’t make it back to the queen (or queens if the colony has already budded), which means that the colonies will continue sending workers in search of food and moisture. In fact, it’s possible that the colonies are inside the house rather than just around the house. These off-the-shelf products aren’t intended for long-term use, so a persistent problem will require application after application, which will get expensive fast – without solving the problem.

Solution: By this point, it’s clear that the ants have settled in for the long haul, and a long-term, professional solution may be necessary to ensure that the ants are taking the poison back to spread throughout the colony – all the way back to the queen.

Noah could have prevented his ant problem before it started by:

  • Removing the old mulch before adding new mulch to his landscaping

  • Treating his rosebushes for aphids before they attracted ants

  • Cleaning any surfaces that came into contact with food

  • Avoiding short-term, off-the-shelf solutions that require application after application

  • Consulting with a professional to develop a complete strategy

Gladhill Services

Gladhill Services is a family-owned company serving Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, providing pest control, mold removal, duct cleaning and waterproofing services for residential and commercial customers.

Contact us today (or visit us at HomeAdvisor) to discuss how you can prevent ant colonies from taking over your home.


Shock and Skepticism Greet Faster-Than-Light Discovery

TheGran Sasso National Laboratory neutrino detector in Italy.
(Image: © Paolo Lombardi INFN-MI)

The news that particles called neutrinos may travel faster than light has been met with shock, skepticism and excitement from physicists around the world since it was officially announced this morning (Sept. 23).

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, have been running an experiment called OPERA that sends neutrinos 454 miles (730 kilometers) underground to the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy. Neutrinos, tiny, almost massless particles that very rarely interact with normal matter, pass straight through the Earth as if it were a vacuum.

The researchers expected neutrinos to make this trip at about light speed, but found instead that they made it more quickly, arriving 60 billionths of a second before a beam of light would.

'Truly remarkable'

"It's quite astonishing," said CERN physicist Jonas Strandberg, who was not involved in the project. "If it's true it's remarkable, it's something that nobody expected." [Faster-Than-Light Discovery Raises Prospect of Time Travel]

The discovery seems to contradict one of the most cherished laws of physics, Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, which states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.

"Perplexity would be the first word that comes to mind," said Robert Plunkett of Fermilab in Batavia, Ill. "It's perplexing, fascinating. There's also a certain amount of healthy skepticism. Any result like this will be greeted with the need for confirmation."

Even the OPERA scientists themselves admit that it's too soon to know for sure if the findings will hold up. They presented their results today in a public seminar to invite outside experts to inspect their data and suggest errors they might have overlooked. [Countdown: The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]

Other experts also praised the meticulous work and painstaking analysis that went into the OPERA experiment. [Surprising Faster-Than-Light Discovery: How It Works (Infographic)]

The speed of light has been long known to be the fastest possible speed in our universe. So what do you do when scientists catch subatomic particles traveling faster than light?
(Image credit: Karl Tate, Contributor)

Huge implications

If the neutrinos really are traveling faster than the speed of light, which was thought to be a cosmic speed limit, the consequences would be far-ranging. The theory of relativity itself, and many other theories that rest on it, would need to be revised.

The implications could even range to astronomy and our understanding of the universe.

One of the first orders of business, physicists agree, is to try to confirm or disprove the discovery. One of the best ways to do this is to try to reproduce the OPERA finding at other, similar experiments. The MINOS experiment at Fermilab and the T2K project in Japan also send neutrinos over long distances (though the Japanese stretch is shorter than Fermilab's) and may be able to see the same effect.

MINOS, in fact, did find hints that neutrinos may be traveling faster than light in 2007. Yet the experiment's uncertainty, at that point, was too high to rule out the possibility that the signal was merely a statistical coincidence. But recent and planned upgrades to MINOS should allow that experiment to improve its precision greatly, and researchers there are eager to test the OPERA finding.

"Something like this kind of overcomes the normal scientific rivalries — it's that important," said Plunkett, who is a co-spokesman for MINOS. "We will be following up on this as hard as we can here, and we're in an ideal position to do so."


"USyn I" by Almudena Rodriguez

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A particular favorite of artist Almudena Rodriguez, this mixed-media work is first in a series titled Usyn. The title refers to the medical abbreviation for Ulysses Syndrome, a psychological condition suffered by immigrants living in extreme situations. In this compelling work, she explores the worlds from which immigrants must leave behind, the ones that they enter, and those that they long for - as well as the relationships, both hostile and supportive, that they encounter on their journey. Extracting images, logos, and phrases from popular culture, she rearranges these disparate signs to create a single vision determined not by original context, but through aesthetic consideration of the themes of integration and identity. The medium, hand-sewn canvas with metal grommets, suggests the tarps that cover trucks carrying illegal immigrants or comprise the tents of refugee shelters.

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BURLEBO™ is a brotherhood built in the wild. My father taught my brothers and me that being a true sportsman meant being part of an unbreakable brotherhood nurtured by southern roots. Hunting and fishing have always kept us Wildly United. BURLEBO is a combination of the nicknames of my father, “BURLEY” and mine growing up, “Bo” short for Trey-Bo. BURLEBO was created for those who respect the timeless and honored traditions of the outdoors. BURLEBO, Wildly United.


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4th Test: India pip Australia 3-1, win four Test series 3-1

Suhrid Barua
3.44K   //    09 Nov 2014, 18:08 IST
Sardar Singh tries to control the ball during the final match against Australia

India played a positive game throughout

The onus was on Australia to throw a serious fight against India in the fourth and final hockey Test at the Perth Hockey Stadium in Perth on Sunday. The Indians only needed a draw to win the four-match Test series, while Australia were in desperate need of a win to level the series.

The contest was a fast-paced affair as both teams looked to seize the initiative. SV Sunil orchestrated a busy run on the left and created India’s first penalty corner, following a hard tackle by an Aussie defender. Vokkaliga Raghunath unleashed his drag-flick, which was saved by Australian goalkeeper Clemmons and in the ensuing melee Akashdeep Singh lurking near the far post slotted home in the 10th minute as India held the solitary goal lead in the opening quarter.

The Kookaburras tried to summon desperate measures in a bid to get back into the match and forced back-to-back penalty corners, but the Indian defence led PR Sreejesh foiled those efforts with aplomb. Australia failed to make the most of the numerical superiority when India had Harbir Singh and Kothajit Singh being given the temporary marching orders.

Sardar Singh represented India for the 200th time in his career

Australia attacked more in the second half

Australia played with more purpose in the second half, building consistent pressure in the Indian half and were rewarded when they profited from their third short corner. Tommy Craig slammed home after the penalty corner injection was not stopped properly. The Aussies forced two more penalty corners, but the Indian kept them at bay with stout defending – Raghunath’s first running skills helped their side to negate the home side’s fifth penalty corner. India were at a disadvantage in the closing stages of the third quarter after Gurbaj Singh was yellow-carded.

India dominated the last quarter

Having weathered Aussie onslaught in the third quarter, India moved forward with conviction and it was left to Akashdeep Singh to regain the lead for his side. Hardly had they celebrated that goal, Gurbaj Singh set up a nice move for SK Uthappa who banged home to give India a cozy 3-1 lead. The double strike pumped up the Indians as they curbed the Australian raids to ensure another solid win. Thus, India have won the Test series 3-0, having lost the first Test 0-4, winning the second and third Tests 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.


Hallowed Ground (2019) Movie Script

- What the hell have
you done, savage?
- My daughter will see her
child with one eye only.
Your son will not
see his with two.
We could not protect our
children from violence.
We must do better.
- Shit.
- You have
arrived at your destination.
- Babe, we're here.
Well, it's lucky
I've seen it
- This looks like
your kinda place.
- Welcome, Alice, Vera.
- Thank you, thank you so much.
This place, it's so beautiful.
- You're kind.
This land has been in my
family for generations.
It's been a blessing.
- And I understand there's a
burial mound somewhere nearby?
- Yes, you have
entered a sacred space.
- It's so quiet.
- We say, listen to the silence.
Let it speak to you.
It can bring you peace.
- I'm gonna go get our bags.
- Then I'll give
you the grand tour.
We encourage our guests
to fish the pond.
It's fully stocked.
We only ask that you
eat what you catch
or return it to the pond.
These fish are not for mounting.
- She said these fish
are not for mounting.
- My wife, she has
the sense of humor
of an eight-year-old boy.
- Mounting, like sex.
Having sex with a fish.
Well, taxidermy is
such a clinical term.
- Mm-hmm.
Who's that?
- Oh, that's Sandy.
He's the custodian
of the property.
You'll see him around.
He's a little eccentric,
but he's been with
me for some time.
He's, well, he's family.
- And he lives here?
- Yes, it's always
good to have someone
keeping a watchful eye.
I encourage you to
explore these woods,
but digging is not allowed,
even for archeologists.
- Of course.
- The bones of our dead still
mingle with the soil here,
and about that fact,
we are deadly serious.
- Oh.
- You got us.
- May I?
Obsidian, it's a truth enhancer.
It's said to bring
to the surface
the purest incarnation
of oneself.
It's beautiful.
- Thank you.
- Well, I'll leave you to enjoy.
You have my cell if
you need anything.
- Thank you.
- I'm sorry, I almost forgot,
and this is very important.
Please be mindful of
the property line.
Our neighbors are
vehemently possessive
of their land, as they call it.
- I assume the line
is clearly marked.
- With barbed wire.
- None of the reviews
mentioned the creep
factor around here.
Well, she wasn't that
weird on the phone.
And what was all that,
the bones of our dead are still
mingling with the soil crap?
I mean, come on.
- Well, it is her belief system,
so I don't know why you have
to be so judge-y about it.
- You mean, observant.
- No, no, I mean judgmental.
I mean, I study these
people for a living,
and you're judging them.
- She had a weird energy.
Okay, that's what
I'm trying to say,
but that's all
I'm trying to say.
You don't have to go all
PC police on me, okay?
Hey, I don't want to
fight about stupid shit.
It's not why we're here.
- No, it's not.
- To not fighting
about stupid shit.
And to some more of that.
- I hope so.
- What time is it?
- Late-ish?
- Hey, do you
know what time it is?
- Ally.
- Hey!
- Ally!
- What?
- The man works
here, give him a break.
- Well, I'm just
trying to listen to silence, V.
- I'm not disturbing
you pretty ladies, am I?
- A little bit, yeah.
- Well, I am so sorry.
See, I got a lotta
property I gotta work on.
Much cooler at night, you know?
Man my age gotta be mindful
of his health in
this thick heat.
That heat'll wear you out.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, I shoulda been mindful
of y'all's privacy too.
Dang me to hell.
- It's okay.
- So, y'all girlfriends, huh?
I mean, uh, you know, you're uh,
y'all are romantically entwined.
- That's really none
of your business.
- Um, we're married.
- No, I ain't got no
problem with it, nope.
I'm a, what'd they call it?
I have smoked
marijuana, I enjoyed it.
I believe folks
love who they love.
Y'all born with
it, I believe that.
Yeah, I believe that.
Well, I reckon I'll go
put the tractor back
up under the shed
and mosey on over to
my old trailer there.
Yes, ma'am.
Y'all holler if
you need anything.
I just wanted to say hidee-doo.
All right, then.
- Thank you.
- Yes, ma'am, my pleasure.
Nighty, night.
- Breathe, breathe,
just breathe.
- Yeah, one big creeptastic
- Shh.
You could be on the next cover.
Take this off.
I told you, you weren't
getting rid of me.
We are not fucking done.
- Stop it, stop it, stop it.
- Oh, I am so bad at this.
- No, you're not.
- Yeah, you know I am.
- Let go, just let go.
- Trying.
- Try harder.
You love me and feel me
The whole night, yeah
I wanna kiss you
- Just be with me tonight.
- I, I, I'm sorry, I, I just
don't think I'm ready, Ally.
Look, maybe soon, okay, I hope,
but just, let's
just talk tonight.
- But we can talk
while we're dancing.
We don't have to be
10 feet apart to talk.
We can be touching and talking.
- Ally, come on, you
know what I mean.
You're, you're trying
to have sex with me,
and you don't really wanna
just talk while we're dancing.
I mean, come on.
- So, is that
what this trip is about?
I don't wanna hate you
- Talk?
All over
- Well, it's about
communication, yes.
Don't want you to hate me
- Well, I'm of the opinion
that you don't have to
talk to communicate.
I wanna fuck you.
That is communication.
I want to embrace you
- In, in a way, yes, you're--
- V, get out of your head!
Please, just be the
emotionally dialed in woman
that I fell in love with
and leave the neurotic
analytical intellectual
at the university.
- But that's me too.
Don't you get that?
And, and emotional?
I don't know what's more
emotional than betrayal.
And with a man.
Do you know how fucked
up that is for--
- For what, for a lesbian?
But I'm not,
I have always been bi,
every day since
the day you met me,
when, by the way,
I was dating a man.
I am bi, whether your community
chooses to accept
such things or not.
- It is not about that.
- It's fucking part of
it, and you know it.
- Look, after,
I became a ghost, emotionally.
- You were a ghost for a
long time before that, V.
- I thought I didn't
have to pretend with you,
to be some kind of cookie
cutter version of a romantic.
I thought we were
beyond this, Ally.
You now, I had my
tenure, I had my--
- Oh, here we
fucking go, tenure.
Do we have to
- Yeah!
- keep talking
- Yeah, me too.
- about the university?
- Just shut up
To feel alone by myself
- Just shut up.
You know what, just,
I wish for like just a minute
that I could make you
understand what it was like
to grow up gay in
the Bible Belt.
You wanna talk
about bi-antagonism,
try homophobia in the South.
You know, to be made to feel
like you've got some
sort of disease,
like, like your cells are
twisted up on the inside
and that's what makes me
like girls instead of boys.
You know, I never,
ever got over that,
just this nagging feeling
that something was wrong
with me physically,
that, that my body
was sick in some way,
and you know, every time
I actually allowed myself
to be with a woman,
I felt dirty,
deep down, I felt dirty.
But then I met you.
And the connection was
more than physical,
and for the first time, I
fell in love with a woman
for more than just her body.
I fell in love with her mind.
And it wasn't dirty anymore.
And then that beautiful,
brilliant woman
chose a man over me.
- Because he studied,
he craved my body,
and I think, I know
that you used to do that
because I felt it.
I'm a carnal person,
V, that's who I am.
And no amount of
talking can change that.
- You gonna answer that?
- Why me?
- 'Cause I'm a photographer,
and you are
incredibly photogenic.
- That's not an answer.
- Sure it is.
I could ask you the same thing.
Why are you doing this?
- It's something different.
My wife won't have sex
with me, and you will.
- Where'd you go?
- Fuck, no where,
I'm, I'm right here.
- You wanna talk now?
- I'm--
- I know, I am too.
Let's go for a walk.
- Here, fishy, fishy, fishy.
Here, fishy, fishy, fishy.
Feedin' the fish.
How was y'all's
evenin' last night?
- Not quite what we'd hoped.
- It was great, this
is a lovely place.
- Yup.
Y'all headed out to the mound?
- Yes.
- I've always been
- Uh-huh.
- Now, be mindful of
that property line now.
- Will do.
Come on.
- Mm-hmm, all right then.
Here, fishy, fishy, fishy.
- Oh, wow.
Hey baby, what are all
these painted rocks?
- Oh, well, this is
still a very active shrine.
- How many people are
buried out here, do you think?
- Could be hundreds.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
See, when a member
of the tribe died,
they would place them
up on an elevated
platform above the mound,
and then family and
friends would leave food,
clothing, sometimes kill
a dog or something--
- What?
- Oh, um, the deceased's dog,
if the deceased had
a companion or a pet,
anything that they believed
would help usher them
on their journey to
the spirit world.
And then, the body would
literally lay above the mound
until the flesh began to rot.
- Gross.
- Yeah.
Well, it gets better.
So, the Choctaw had
what they called
, bone pickers.
See, they would grow the
fingernails really long
because it was their
job to scrape and clean
the decomposing
flesh from the bones,
and then burn it while
friends and family
sang songs of celebration.
- Celebration?
- Well, yes.
You see, with the
flesh destroyed,
the deceased's last
remaining tether
to the material world
would be broken,
and the spirit
could truly be free.
- Hmm.
- So then, they
would take the bones,
and they would place
them inside the mound
and have a great feast with
the bone picker presiding.
- I hope he washed
his hands first.
- Yeah.
- Oh.
You know, I just
don't understand
why anyone would
celebrate death.
I mean, someone is dead,
what's to celebrate?
- Well, I guess that depends
on what you think death is.
You know,
if you just close your eyes
and breathe,
you can really feel
something in this place,
something beyond all this
- Oh.
- What's funny?
- Oh, come--
- What's funny?
- Oh, come on, V,
like you can really feel
something in this place.
- All right, yeah, okay, well,
please don't be
disrespectful, but--
- I'm not being disrespectful.
- Okay, are we done?
Okay, come one.
Ah, you're hopeless.
- Can I have
one of the rocks?
- No.
- The dreaded property line.
Wonder who lives on
the other side of this.
Probably some redneck asshole.
All this beauty grinding
to a screeching halt
with a barbed wire fence
and a cheap Keep Out sign.
- Hey.
- What?
- Kiss me.
Oh my god.
- What the fuck?
- You came onto our property,
and your friend's hurt.
- Baby, that looks bad.
- Yeah, it's probably fine,
but I guess I need a
tetanus shot or something.
- Didn't you see the signs?
- Is that a cat?
- Mm-hmm, came
onto our property,
killed one of our chickens.
- Lonny
Barham, where you at?
Lonny Barham!
- At the property line.
We got trespassers.
- Lonny Barham, what did you do?
- I ain't done nothin', Daddy.
- You cut yourself?
- Um, just on the fence, yeah.
- On the fence, on this fence?
- Yeah, that fence.
Do you, your kid killed a cat.
- That the one that
ate our Dominicker hen?
- Mm-hmm.
- That's my boy.
That cat's been wreaking
havoc like a son of a bitch
on our property killin'
all our chickens.
You know, you might
wanna wrap that up.
- I'll be fine.
- You mighty confident.
You best go ahead and
wrap it up, there you go.
Come on, now.
Don't want it to get infected.
My name's Bill
Barham, this is Lonny.
Pleased to meet y'all.
Y'all be safe now.
Come on, kiddo.
- I think we should go.
This place is off.
- Is it any more off
than anywhere else?
Just please remember why we
came here in the first place.
- I mean, yeah, okay,
it's fucked up everywhere,
but at least at home,
we know the score.
- Right.
I guess call blocking
doesn't work on your phone.
- Did you cross
the property line?
- Nita, I--
- Alice, I thought
you might like to see
the results of our latest shoot.
- I'm calling 9-1-1.
- Wait, just give
me a minute, okay?
I just wanted to talk
about what happened.
I feel we had a
- You've gotta be kidding.
- I was just stopping by to
see how your stay was going,
and I found him here.
- Thatcher, what the
fuck are you doing?
- I called, quite a few times.
I don't know why I had the
tracker put on the car.
I'm troubled, obviously.
- Look, I don't know what
this is, but whatever it is,
it's not worth you
destroying your life over,
which is what you're
going to do here.
- You must be Vera, the
cold fish professor.
I have long waited to meet you.
- Did you hear what I said?
- I think so.
Why would I be destroying
my life?
I'm, I'm here to make amends
with the woman I love.
That is a noble thing.
Isn't that what you're doing?
Let me ask you a question.
Have you ever had
sex with a camera?
Answer the question.
Have you ever fucked a camera?
See, you can take all the
pictures in the world,
people, places, and
capture emotion,
a perspective, a mood,
bottle it up into celluloid,
or nowadays, into thousands
and thousands of digital pixels
and put 'em in this little
device called a camera.
And be celebrated and paid
handsomely for your work.
Some might even call you
the Great Thatcher Vance,
which of course is empowering.
But the device itself,
the instrument of your success,
it doesn't love you.
It's cold to the touch.
It doesn't satisfy your
basic biological needs.
Of course, you'd know something
about that, wouldn't you?
'Cause you sure weren't
satisfying Ally's.
- Damn you, Thatcher.
- I am really tired of
being beat up by women.
Now, I'd like us to just
sit down and converse
while Alice tells me what she
thinks of our latest shoot.
- You're insane.
- You're still wearing
the necklace I gave you.
- You said you got
that at an artisan's market.
- Mm, really, Ally.
These are better
than the first time.
You remember the first time.
- I remember the last time.
- What are you doing?
I said, I love you.
- Don't you ever put
your hands on me again.
- You crazy bitch.
It's gonna take more than
that to get rid of me though.
So do I.
- What is going on here?
- Bill.
- Now, Nita, don't
go overreacting.
We're simply responding
to a complaint.
- We just saw you.
- Did ya?
We're here in a formal capacity,
just so everyone's clear,
you were caught trespassing
on Barham property,
and you were seen by a child
doing some unsavory things,
which, perhaps ought best
be left behind closed doors,
if done at all.
- You mean the psycho
kid with the dead cat.
- Alice.
- You got spirit.
I like that.
But if you wanna get
off with a warning,
your better keep
your mouth shut.
- A warning for what?
- Sir, we would like to
report an unwanted person.
- An unwanted person?
Is that like a trespasser?
Like what y'all are?
- Sir, look, this is
my ex-girlfriend--
- You have got a lot
of fucking nerve.
- I'm here just trying to
figure some things out.
- You are not wanted here.
- I didn't ask you.
- Hey!
- Did you fucking grab me?
- I'll do whatever
the hell I want.
I'm gonna do a
hell of a lot worse
if you don't calm your ass down.
You understand me?
- Yes, sir.
- Now, I don't know
what kinda weird
ungodly sexual proclivities
your degenerates
have goin' on here, but
I'm gonna tell you this--
- Bill!
- Uncle Sandy.
- I got a bone to pick with you.
- That right?
- What you say we walk over here
and have us a little talky talk.
What the hell's goin' on here?
- You know they crossed
the property line,
you know what that gives
me the right to do.
- You gon'
leave these girls alone.
- I'm gonna do what I'm want
to do.
- Well, that's real
nice of you, Bill, Jerry.
- Y'all have a nice one.
- What was that about?
- Nita, you all right?
- What did you tell him?
- Well, I told him the
truth, that he's an asshole.
- We're leaving.
- I'm afraid that's
not possible.
For any of you.
At least not for now.
We made deals with
devils, heinous men.
- The Barhams?
- They'd encroached on our land.
Our little sliver of the world
seemed to recede
further each season.
We had survived
the Trail of Tears,
but my people had no delusions
about their security.
The mounds themselves
were threatened,
the very soul of our people.
After the war, their
Dark Dragon cult grew,
fueled by fear and blood.
Fear that they would lose the
choke hold they had on power.
- The war?
- Between the States.
- There's a cult?
- My great-great-grandmother,
Coahoma Anoche,
was walking with her dog
in the woods one night
when she stumbled onto their
land, or so they claimed.
The line was muddy then.
One of them saw
her, used some slur.
She didn't back down.
She was a very powerful woman.
Coahoma means red
panther in our language,
and she was worthy of
that name, so strong,
but her strength cost
her dearly that night.
Three of them, sons of Curtwell
Barham, beat her horribly.
She lost an eye.
One of them raped
her, impregnated her.
They left her for dead
at the foot of the mound,
killed her dog,
hung him from a
tree by his tail.
- That's awful.
- Her father, my
was a bone picker, Nashoba
Nawa, the walking wolf.
He was a deeply spiritual man,
but he lost his mind at what
they did to his daughter.
He took his revenge on
Coahoma's attackers.
With his great long fingernails
he ripped their throats
from their bodies
so they couldn't scream
as he peeled their
flesh from their bones
and burned it in the
field behind their barn.
But a baby with Barham
blood was to be born,
the only thing preventing
immediate retaliation.
When the child was born,
Old Man Curtwell Barham
approached Nashoba
with a proposition.
If Nashoba would offer his
life freely to the Barhams,
they would make no claim on
the child and do no violence
to any other members
of our family or tribe.
The slate would be wiped clean,
provided no Choctaw
or guest thereof
ever trespassed on
Barham property again,
for to him, that most
innocent act of Coahoma
resulted in the
deaths of three sons.
Nashoba agreed.
They hung him on a
cross, set fire to it,
and a pact was forged in blood.
- Why have we never
heard any of this before?
- The slate was indeed wiped
clean, just as Curtwell Barham,
then Judge Curtwell
Barham, had promised.
The story exists
now only in memory.
- And we can't leave because?
- The Barhams have
a claim on you now.
You and your guest.
According to the
rules of the pact,
they have 48 hours to decide
whether or not assert it.
But if you leave our land,
I assure you, they will.
- What the actual fuck are
we talking about right now?
- We're talkin' about the
spillin' of your blood,
possibly in a
particularly painful way,
but I mighta warded
off that possibility
if you stay where ya are
and don't trouble the
waters any further.
- Okay, I'm outta here.
Look, get outta my way, old man.
- Name's Sandy, but you right,
I am old, even got a little
bit of sense for all my years.
- So, you're saying we can't
leave for at least 48 hours,
but we may not
even be safe here?
- That's correct.
But I believe this
place will protect you.
It has protected others.
There are many
powerful spirits here.
- I'll take my
chances on the road.
- Thatcher, let's just have
drink and think this over.
- You have done well, my son.
To spill the blood to still
the heart of this invader,
this murderer who has
trespassed our land
and taken what was ours.
We protect our sacred soil
and every living thing
that inhabits it.
Those who defile our land
become an offering in blood.
Give me your hand.
Life is suffering, life is pain,
but there is also glory on
the other side of that pain.
May your blood co-mingle
with this offering,
may it become an
offering in and of itself
acceptable to our Master,
our Lord, the Great Dragon
whose blood has given us life.
Before the staff of our
enemy say what must be said.
- Amen.
- Say it like you mean it.
- Amen.
- Take this vile creature
and hang it by its
tail from a tree
so that every
passerby will know,
so that every passerby
will understand.
Gentlemen, tonight we
have the opportunity
for sacrifice far
greater than a cat,
and we shall not allow
some Injun burial mound
to stand in the way of that.
- Can
I smoke in here?
- No.
- Who's gonna
fuckin' know or care?
- I care.
It stinks and it's offensive.
You cheated on me with a smoker?
- I used to smoke,
did you know that?
- No.
- Maybe you don't know
me as well as you think you.
Many a wild smile
That made us lost
- So, what's the
plan here, ladies?
Maybe a hot threesome
before we die?
- Oh, fuck off.
- Look, I want to
leave, I really do, but
I'm just so fucking intrigued
to see how this turns out.
- My romantic getaway.
- Why are you lyin'
to yourself, Ally?
You're a city girl.
What are you doin' out
here in bumblefuck?
I found a path
to our salvation
- Don't call her that
May be blind,
but you're still
- What?
The blush found in your eyes
The candle on the wind
- Stop calling her that.
- What?
- Ally, you can't call her that.
In the space between
It's too far to go
- I can do whatever
I damn well please.
And now, I'm gonna
have a cigarette.
That I bring forth
Oh oh
Oh oh
- I, seriously, I mean, really,
what did you see in that guy?
- You don't wanna know.
Oh oh
- Look, if you still have
feelings for him, just tell me.
Just be honest with me.
- I don't, V, he's not
what I thought he was.
I, I don't know what
I thought he was,
but he is not that
thing, that person.
He isn't anything to me.
- Then why do you still
wear his necklace?
- It's not his
necklace, it's mine.
When something is given
to you, it's yours.
It's mine, and I like it.
And like Nita was saying,
it makes me feel, I
don't know, something.
- So, suddenly you found
you inner spirituality?
Oh oh
Oh oh oh
- Leave with me, right now.
I mean, most of this stuff
has to be bullshit anyway,
so let's just go right now.
- What about Thatcher?
- What about him?
I mean, he can do whatever
he damn well pleases, right?
And he doesn't mean
anything to you.
That's what you said, isn't it?
Look, you want me
to be spontaneous.
This is me being
spontaneous, so let's go.
Alice, what are you doing?
- Get in the car, now!
- What?
- I forgot my phone.
- Well, you
can get another phone.
- What the fuck?
- Oh my god.
- The Dragon desires blood!
- They're not
gonna let us leave,
and they took Thatcher,
V, they fucking took him.
- Oh, okay, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna call somebody.
- V.
- I don't have my phone either.
- What the fuck, Alice?
Come on, take this thing off.
What is this?
- This is the beginning of
your purification, my friend,
so that you may become
a living sacrifice
acceptable to our
mighty Dragon Lord
whose death gives
life to his chosen.
- You can't, you can't do this.
You, you can't, somebody,
somebody'll find out.
- Everyone who matters in
this place stands at my side,
and the rest cower in fear.
- Why me, though?
- As opposed to your
dyke friends, you mean?
Well, the short answer is,
they're better
people than you are.
You are and always have been
a self-serving manipulative
lascivious prick
bent and driven only
by your own lusts,
by your insatiable
carnal predilections.
I am right about that, am I not?
- You don't know me.
- I know many things,
but don't worry.
Your girlfriend and her
are not out of the
woods just yet.
- What do you mean by that?
- You did get those bitches'
phones, did you not, Jerry?
- Mm-hmm.
- Good deal.
Good deal.
- Ooh, whoa, ooh, okay.
Okay, ooh.
- Do you like my saber?
It's a family heirloom.
My great-great-great-granddaddy,
Judson Barham
wore and wielded this sword
in the War of
Northern Aggression
as lieutenant in Perrin's
Regiment, 11th cavalry.
And with this sword,
he spilled the blood
of vile Yankee
trespassers and usurpers,
and now, all these years later,
it will spill yours.
Isn't that glorious?
Shall we get started?
- Can we talk about this?
You are blessed, my child.
For blood is life and
blood must have blood.
Tonight, you will
know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.
X marks the spot.
- Glorious night.
- Yeah.
- Husband.
- Wife.
- I brought your wine.
- Two glasses?
- I, I thought I
might have a little,
that we might celebrate together
what is to come tonight.
- That's mighty
presumptuous of you.
- Then the shame is mine.
- But tonight
our son will see his
first human sacrifice,
and that indeed is
worthy of celebration,
so by all means,
pour two glasses.
To you, Mother.
- They must have been
inside the house.
They were inside
the house with us.
- What are they gonna do to him?
What have they done?
So much for this place
protecting us, right?
I mean, isn't that
what she said?
- I said this place would
protect you, not him.
The ancestors know the
character of souls.
Tonight, your friend will die.
Their thirst for blood
will be satiated.
This will be over,
and you'll be safe.
It is what has to be now.
- We can't let that happen.
I don't care who he is
or was to you,
he's still a human being.
- Do you know where
they took him?
- I feared you might
respond this way.
- What is this?
- This is your only hope.
- Y'all ever shot a gun before?
- Yeah.
- These are the shells here.
I can tell y'all where
you goin' and what to do,
but I can't help you
once you get there.
- So, if he's one of them,
why would he help us?
- Sandy's only one
of them by blood,
and that tie is strong,
impenetrable at times,
but his heart is good.
- They kill people and
he allows that to happen.
How do you call that good?
- You don't know what
Bill Barham is capable of.
His father, Sandy's brother,
died a relatively young man.
Bill inherited
his position at 18
and was drunk on power and
blood from the beginning.
These last years would
have been far worse
without Sandy to
mitigate the damage.
He's more capable of doing
that from the inside.
This is as far as I go.
I'll pray the ancestors
watch over you.
- Come with us,
don't you want this to end?
- Of course, I do,
but my birthright was an
oath, sealed with blood,
and I cannot betray that.
If you get the chance
to kill Bill Barham,
whatever the cost,
you must take it.
He does not know the
meaning of mercy.
Do you understand?
- Yeah.
Holy shit.
- Behold, my husband,
my priest, my lord.
- No, no, no, no.
- You are blessed, you
are a living sacrifice.
Your blood is food
for the Dragon,
the dying and
rising Lord of all.
Come, my son.
- Don't come after me.
- What are you gonna do?
- I did this, do
not come after me.
I love you.
- It's okay.
Try again.
- Let him go, take me instead.
- And here I was gonna
let you off scot-free.
- Do whatever you want
to me, just let him go,
and let my wife go.
- Whatever I want?
That's tempting, it truly is,
but you are standing on my
land, and for that reason alone,
I can do whatever the hell
I want to you regardless.
You're not a killer.
A moral reprobate maybe,
a doer of unnatural deeds,
but not a killer, I know.
You wanna take his
place, I can accept that.
Give me the gun,
or you can shoot me
and ensure that you, he,
and your pretty girlfriend
end up strung up on a cross!
Saved by a woman, disgusting.
Untie him.
Get off my land.
Friends, we have
new blood, take her.
I hope you fully appreciate
what you've done.
If not, you will soon.
- No!
- No, damn it, Vera!
Run, run!
- You missed!
Go get her.
- No, no, that wasn't the
deal, please, leave her, no.
- Wait.
- Damn it.
- We'll just take
this hero here.
Take her to the stall.
- Come on, get up.
Okay, let's just.
You're too heavy,
I don't know if I.
- She, she never loved me.
She never stopped lovin' you
and that got to me.
- Why me?
- Because I'm a photographer,
and you're incredibly
- That's not an answer.
- Sure it is.
I could ask you the
same thing, why me?
You're not even into dudes.
- I used to be into guys, but
I needed something different.
My wife won't have sex with me,
but that doesn't mean
I don't love her.
She's the only person
I could ever really see
myself loving in that way.
But this is about one thing.
- Okay, we gotta go.
We gotta go, come on.
Come on.
- It's a big deal to
postpone the ritual,
but for you, I'm
making an exception.
But how to purify for the
glorious death that is to come?
With a blade?
A whip?
A cane.
There are so many options.
Go see about my wife and child.
You too, Winslow.
Now that I think about it,
there is another option.
it might even fix you,
purge you of your aberrant
desire for the same sex.
You have, of course,
been with men,
but you have never
been with one like me.
- You have a wife, a child.
- King Solomon had 700
wives and 300 concubines.
You, of course, would fall
into the latter category,
if I were to let you live,
if I were to let her live.
What would you say if I
offered you such a proposition?
- If you let her live.
- Deal.
- Untie me.
- I am man, superior
in every way to woman.
Inside me lives a dragon,
and now, I shall show you
the meaning of suffering.
Get up.
- Nita, Nita!
He's lost a lot of
blood, he needs a doctor.
- He's lost too much
blood, I'm afraid.
- Do something, damn it!
How are you gonna just let these
monsters do this to people?
- Let me make a call.
- I'm sorry.
- It doesn't take much of a man
to torture a helpless victim.
- Oh, you're
helpless now, are ya?
You mean, you're to my equal.
Isn't that what you
feminists think?
That a woman is somehow
the same as a man?
I would imagine that belief
is prevalent among your kind.
You're gonna like this
better from behind.
You know, in certain
Asian countries,
caning is a punishment
reserved for men only.
Since you wanna be one so badly,
I figured it was a
good place to start.
- Bill.
- What?
Can't you see I'm in
the middle of somethin'?
- I can see that.
You need to go see to your son.
He's all shook up about
what he's seen earlier.
I don't think he's ready for it.
- You presume to educate
me about my own son?
He's got a stronger
stomach than that.
Anyway, Jerry's
seein' about him.
- He ain't never seen a man's
flesh fallin' from his bones.
He ain't never been asked
to nail a human being
to a board before.
That's a long way from
a 'possum or a cat.
He needs his father to
help him understand better
what it all means.
- Can you take over here?
Can ya?
- Yup.
- All right, then.
I'm gonna stick around
for the first lick
just to make sure you're
not holding somethin' back.
Get on with it, I'm tryin'
to go see about my son.
Good, carry on.
- This is gonna
cost me, you know?
Nita's my daughter.
Her mama died havin' her.
I insisted she keep her mama's
name, good Choctaw name,
so she wouldn't be polluted
by the Barham name.
Take her away from here.
She's got a.
- A what?
- Well, you best
better be goin'.
Go on!
- Your technique
needs a little work.
- Bill!
- I always wondered what it
felt like to wear this thing.
- Bill's gonna get
his saber back.
- Ally!
Oh my god, are you,
how did you even?
Baby, are you okay?
- I don't know, no, yes,
we don't have much time.
Her, she's his daughter.
- What?
- Sandy, motherfucking
Sandy, she's his daughter, V.
- Oh, okay, we need
to get you inside.
- What is going on
with this fucked up
incestuous family?
- Ally, Ally.
- What?
- This is Nita's family,
and um, Thatcher didn't make it.
And um, I tried, I'm sorry.
- May I tend to your wound?
- I don't know.
- Minco's a nurse.
- Thank you.
They're coming.
- Get your traitorous
ass down.
- Oh, goddamn.
- Tonight has been unexpected.
We have traveled from the
verge of glorious sacrifice
to the loss of two of our own.
For this, I shoulder
my share of the blame.
But a society that has
normalized debauchery,
women and men embracing unnatural
desires and inclinations,
this too must be
taken into account.
But more importantly,
betrayal, deep, disgraceful,
and familial has branded
our tribe tonight.
I only kept you close, hell,
perhaps even kept you alive
out of respect for my father.
I see now that was a mistake.
But maybe,
maybe you might help me
achieve my end tonight
before you receive
your just desserts.
Won't be long now, Uncle.
- Go to hell, Bill.
- Daddy, Daddy!
- He, he was goin' crazy,
wanted to be with his daddy.
- I wanna come with you!
I wanna see you purify them.
- Thought you was
all shook up earlier.
- I'm better now.
- What you think, Mama?
- The decision is yours,
my husband and my lord.
- You need to learn
to control your son.
He ain't a man yet.
You understand me?
- Yes.
- You wanna come, boy?
See your legacy up
close and personal?
Come on.
You go home, prepare.
I truly do not know what
is to come of tonight.
May the Dragon purify this
world with fire and blood
and may we be his instruments.
Give me that.
Get up, get your ass up.
- Drive as far and as fast as
you can, and don't look back.
- What will you do?
- Trust the ancestors.
- I admire your faith.
- What else is there now?
- I'm afraid you can't leave.
- What?
- They're here.
- Minco, take our
daughter away from here.
- I won't leave you.
- You must and you will.
I'll handle my family,
you protect ours.
Go out the back.
- Get the shotgun and the sword.
- You gonna regret this, nephew.
- How in the hell you
think that's gonna happen?
You send those depraved
murderous dykes out here
right now with my saber
or I'm gonna put a bullet in
your daddy's traitorous brain!
You hear me?
- Don't you worry about me,.
Don't you worry about me.
- You shut your
treacherous mouth!
Fox King, bring my pistol.
- I'm gonna go talk to him.
- You're not the one he wants.
I should go.
- If you go, I'm going with you.
I just got you back, I'm
not leaving your side again.
- I want you to pay close
attention now, Nita.
- Son of a bitch.
- Please, don't do anything
until I've exhausted
all options.
- What options?
- I shall not ask again, Nita.
- No.
We can solve this.
- I told you how we solve it.
- This has to end, Bill.
So many of our own have
suffered, and for what end?
- How can you say that to
me after what Nashoba did?
To take our precious Barham boys
from their own beds on
their own sacred soil
and to massacre them like
hogs to the slaughter.
- They were not innocent,
and Nashoba gave
his life as surety.
Cousin, our blood
is co-mingled now.
We are the same.
And the soil, whether
here or there,
never belonged to
either of us anyway.
We have the power
to lay this to rest.
- I have the power!
The Dragon gave it to me.
Goodbye, Nita.
- No!
You son of a bitch.
You son of a bitch.
- Shut up.
I wanted you to
see your daughter
bathed in her own
blood before you died.
How does it feel?
You take the Dragon's
prize, he takes from you.
Now, maybe you understand,
actions have consequences.
- Wait.
You were right.
Actions do have consequences.
I'm to blame.
I manipulated Sandy because
I couldn't manipulate you.
I'm the one you want.
I'm the vile thing that
set this all in motion.
- Yes, you are,
but so what?
You belong to me, and so
does your pretty wife.
- Please.
We made a mistake.
We never meant you or
your family any harm.
We didn't even know that
we crossed the line.
We only came to this place
because we just wanted
to find some peace and.
- There is no peace here,
only fire and blood.
- I can't breathe.
- That's the idea.
- Stop!
- Bring me my saber.
Kneel and place
it on the ground.
I see now it should have
been you from the beginning,
but that's all behind
us, isn't it, Alice?
Know this, your wife will
suffer horribly for your sins,
and we shall rejoice
in her suffering.
Watch closely, son, do
not avert your eyes.
- I am woman, you
son of a bitch,
and a fuckin' dragon
lives inside me too.
- Come.
I told you about this place.
- But they didn't protect
you, the ancestors.
- Protected you.
It is said
our , Nanishta
gave hearts to women
closer to its own
than those that it gave to men.
I see that in the two of you.
- This is over right now.
Y'all hear me?
I'm next in line, I'm
callin' a halt to it.
- Traitor, Lonny is the heir!
- When he's of age, he is,
but he ain't there yet.
I'm the only Barham
standing here right now,
and I'm tellin' you, it's done.
I made my decision, I made it.
Bill didn't agree, but
he ain't around no more.
Barham blood must hold the
priesthood of the Dragon.
Ain't that the way it goes?
Y'all gonna leave these ladies
alone to go their own way,
and y'all gonna help me
clean up this god-awful mess.
And I know you
know a thing or two
about cleanin' up messes, Judge.
You too, Mayor.
Or y'all can try to kill me.
You can sure try.
But you gonna go ahead and
make a decision right now.
Go on.
- Everyone.
- It'll be dawn soon.
- Longest night of my life.
- Look, let's just get a motel,
something so we
can sleep, regroup.
- Yeah.
- Once we're far, far
away from here, obviously.
You okay?
- I'll live.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- We're gonna make this work.
Let's go home.
- Yeah.
I'm sorry about Nita.
We slept late.
- Guess we were worn out.
- Coffee?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I fixed that busted
pipe underneath the house.
Shouldn't have no
more problem with it.
I gotta go to the
other property.
Stella, you know it was
the right thing, don't ya?
Whatcha drawin' there, Lonny?
- You won't be around forever.
Here the soil runs
thick with memory
Of folks long dead and gone
Here a wolf howls
at a blood red moon
And a night bird
screams a song
There's a glory
in recollection
And a wound that lingers on
And the earth shall
hold the story
Here and yon
Well, we packed our
bags and hit road
On the trail to the redeemed
But blistered feet
and hardened hearts
Are harder to heal
than they seem
There's a poverty
of forgiveness
In a world that's
cruel and mean
But there's somethin'
in the water here
That might wash it clean
Well, we searched
for sanctuary
Past trailer parks
and power lines
But beauty stained
with danger here
In these woods
time left behind
Still history
spins a tale of
A belief that was sublime
Of a place where the dead
and the living intertwine
When the cicadas
sing their dusky hymn
And the night falls
black and long
We steel ourselves
against the dark
We need each other
to keep us strong
When fire and blood
rain down on us
We'll hold each
other all alone
'Cause love is
like a shotgun
In a world gone wrong
'Cause love is
like a shotgun
In a world gone wrong
Walkin' wolves
howl in this place
A warning or a battle cry
There are souls
harbored in this place
Where the good
just had to die
But here we find
our fighting song
Hold each other
through the night
In the morning, the
sun will beat down
Through a magnum sky
Well, we packed our
bags and hit the road
Back up the trail
of the redeemed
Knowing blistered feet
and hardened hearts
Are harder to heal
than they seem
There's a poverty
of forgiveness
In a world that's
cruel and mean
But there's somethin'
in the water here
That might wash it clean
Well, we packed our
bags and hit the road
Back up the trail
of the redeemed
With calloused feet
and altered hearts
Not near as hard
as they may seem


Smart Cities

Silicon Valley startup SkyRyse is working to take humans out of the pilot’s seat.

The news: The company began testing an assisted-flying helicopter equipped with its sensing hardware in Tracy, California, last week. The copter is on track to be deployed in January 2019 to respond to local 911 calls.

The tech:  SkyRyse tricked out the helicopter with equipment similar to what you would see on a self-driving car (including radar, cameras, and more onboard computers). While humans are still at the helm for this initial test, SkyRyse is using it as a data-gathering opportunity. The information obtained by the sensors will be fed to pilots to make flying in dangerous conditions, like fog, easier. It’ll also help craft simulations to further refine its AI algorithms.

Why it matters: Creating autonomous helicopters is in many ways easier than making self-driving cars (there are a lot fewer obstacles to run into in the sky). Proving to regulators that they’re safe is the real challenge. This project will help build up the data SkyRyse needs to prove it can fly. “This is not just about building something that can fly by itself,” Dan Patt, who previously worked on autonomous flying with Sikorsky, told the New York Times. “It is about building a body of evidence that this is a safe way to fly.”


Why the Rule-based approach to Spear Phishing is failing

Introducing Defender

Business Email Compromise scams were responsible for over $5.3 billion in global losses from 2013 to 2017. According to the FBI, these types of attacks are also becoming more prolific, jumping 2,370% from 2015 to 2016 alone.

Most enterprises have anti-spam and anti-phishing filters in place to protect their emails. Unfortunately, bad actors are outpacing these safeguards and are finding more intelligent ways to break through to their targets.

This is where Tessian comes in.

Since 2013, we have been developing machine intelligent technology to prevent threats that rule-based legacy gateways and platforms cannot. Tessian Defender is our latest advancement.

Defender protects from threats executed by humans rather than just code, using the Tessian's Parallax Engine and natural language processing technology to keep the most sensitive data and systems private and secure.

The Problem

Spear phishing is effective because of its highly targeted approach. When it successfully dupes individuals into sending money, sharing data, or downloading malware, it brings significant reputational and monetary risk. Defender protects against these threats through comprehensive safeguards against weak and strong-form impersonation alike.

Weak-form impersonation can generally be detected and prevented through the rule-based controls that many enterprises already use. Often this is done by authenticating SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to estimate the legitimacy of the sender. This entails cross-referencing IP addresses, scouring for invisible signatures, and linking senders to their domain names and broader email protocols. Rule-based defences also perform checks to find matches with known display names, modifications to “reply-to” addresses, and newly registered domains.

Unfortunately, this is not enough. These systems are limited in scope and not always implemented. DMARC authentication, for example, only protects a domain against direct impersonation, where a bad actor is trying to spoof someone’s actual email address. It fails to address domain or display name lookalike impersonation. Furthermore, global DMARC adoption rates are low.

Legacy technology stacks find it difficult to query large datasets in real-time, which means it is often a challenge for systems to quickly recognise and filter phishing emails. Even where these systems are sufficient, weak-form spear phishing is now evolving into a more advanced threat: strong-form spear phishing. This type of spear phishing subverts legacy email security systems by turning to tactics that are difficult for humans and rule-based email security processes to detect. Traditional, pre-defined rule sets cannot fend off strong-form spear phishing because of the almost infinite number of domain and sub-domain, display name and address, and freemail permutations impersonation allows for.

Even where they do detect certain impersonations, legacy systems cannot capture the evolving dynamics of email networks, with enterprises developing new relationships every day over email. A rule set would need to constantly be updated in order to remain effective. This is time consuming and resource intensive and inefficient.

The Solution

Tessian Defender is specifically designed to tackle strong-form impersonation spear phishing. Due to the complexity of strong-form impersonation techniques, having an understanding of email relationships based on historical data and user behavior is critical.

Using stateful machine intelligence, Tessian has developed a new approach to thwart spear phishing. Tessian’s Parallax Engine can predict for this user, at this point in time, does this email look like a security threat? Tessian Defender also uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand content within an email and will automatically classify its intent, so it can provide more context to the end user within a warning message, and also highlight the specific risk to security teams.

Book a demo to learn more about our email security platform.


As sanctions become increasingly complex, checking watch lists is no longer enough to protect your business.

Sanctions Diligence

On the surface, sanctions are simple. Blacklisted companies, individuals and countries are off-limits to business.

The reality is far more complex. Potential partners might not be listed as sanctioned, but be prohibited by virtue of their cumulative control or hidden beneficial ownership. Sanctions policy shifts rapidly as political winds change. The applicability of certain sanctions to your organisation may differ based on where you do business and your risk appetite. Meeting these challenges requires nuance, judgement and deep local knowledge.

For over a decade, our analysis has helped clients understand sanctions exposure, anticipate changing policies and safeguard their investments in high-risk jurisdictions.


September 4, 2018

Biometrics in Hospitals

by tpcoto in Xesol Biometrics

Long waiting times in hospitals plague healthcare systems worldwide in terms of efficiency and steal patients’ valuable time which can result in frustration for both medical staff and patients. However, as the biometric sector continues to grow, and its applications proceed to diversify, the benefits of biometric identification within hospitals are becoming clearer and hospitals worldwide are beginning to implement it.

According to the ECRI, an independent non-profit that specializes in patient care research, approximately 13% of identification errors happen upon patient registration which can range from duplicate patient entry, misspelling or name initial confusion. The report also relays that over 33% of patient mix-ups occur during diagnostic work and approximately 22% are associated with treatments or procedures.

These situations of patient mix-ups or incomplete data due to duplicate files can have detrimental and tragic consequences.

The Benefits

Biometrics in hospitals can help ensure that each patient has one file with all their patient history and that they won’t be misidentified. Hospital staff will be able to identify and manage patients with more accuracy.

Biometric identification check-in and registration can also help streamline the process. Whenever there is any type of confusion or potential problem at check-in or patient registration, the front desk has to check the information multiple times or try to resolve the problem. This can take time, worsening the patient experience and lowering patient confidence.

Furthermore, biometric identification can help emergency room staff and doctors treat unconscious victims of car crashes or other accidents when brought in without identification. Doctors can address the patients’ needs right away by quickly identifying the individual through biometric identification to bring up all medical history and allergies.

Biometrics in hospitals can also lead to better patient data protection. According to IBM’s 2018 data breach study, on average, the world’s healthcare systems spent approximately 406 USD per capita due to data breaches in 2018. In general, 27% of all breaches are due to employee error, 25% are due to glitches and 48% are from malicious or criminal attacks. These figures prove the case that the healthcare system’s capacity to ensure data protection needs to be improved.

The implementation of biometric verification to take the place of normal passwords or keys for physical building access and document/data access could help reduce the rates of data breaches and unauthorized individuals accessing hospitals and sensitive information This could also help fighting against medical fraud which can cost a healthcare system like that of the USA billions of US dollars a year.

Hospitals already benefiting from biometrics

Various hospitals have already implemented or are planning to implement biometrics into their healthcare facilities. Just recently in early August, Cox health in Missouri, USA, announced that they will be integrating biometric verification for patient check-in to help improve patient care. The Cox health management will be using palm vein identification as a way to improve their services with the ultimate goal of protecting their patients and saving lives.

Another example is Northwell Health in New York who uses iris scanning and plans to implement facial recognition in the future to fight against fraud and unpaid medical bills.

Biometrics can help increase patient trust within hospitals. Doctors and medical staff will be able to guarantee that patients are who they are claiming to be, doctors and nurses can be sure that they are working with the correct medical information, and access to sensitive information will only be given to those who should; all factors that help build trust and confidence between patients and healthcare systems.