![]() Starfall’s emphasis on phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity has proven effective in teaching emergent readers. Since then it has expanded to include language arts and mathematics for preschool up to fifth grade. ® opened in September 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies and updated Privacy Policy OK At Starfall, children have fun while they learn. I highly recommend The Starfall Home Membership for your family.Starfall has no advertising, does not collect personal information from children, does not sell any information, and uses cookies only for internal website management. This program is an amazing resource that can be used for a variety of subjects and for a variety of ages. I plan to try the pre-k curriculum with our 2.5 year old and use the Grade 1 resources with my 5 year old. I are looking forward to continuing to use The Starfall Home Membership with all my children. The Printable Downloads section is full of some wonderful printables for learning to read and there is a great listing of various activities align with the grades from pre-k to Grade 2. We briefly used the amazing worksheet generator for math and English Language Arts and we look forward to using this feature more in the future. You can access curriculum resources for pre-k and Kindergarten English Language Arts and mathematics. The Starfall Home Membership includes access to the Parent-Teacher Center. We then had the opportunity to talk about Earth Day and learn about what products can be recycled. My 5 year old hasn’t use our laptop computer too much yet so this program provided the perfect opportunity to learn how to use a mouse. I also really like that we can take it with us in the vehicle on our phone or tablet and work on school when we are out and about. One of the wonderful things about this membership is that it also includes some science and social studies throughout the activities and incorporates music into many. He also learned more about colours and numbers and loved the math songs. The Wheels on the Bus was a definite favourite. My 2.5 year old decided that he didn’t want to miss out so he started listening and following along with the motion songs. We have been working together on learning his phonics and rhyming so the Learn to Read section helped him learn his sounds and Backpack Bear’s ABC rhymes helped him with his rhyming. We were able have a great discussion about my grandfather’s favourite song to sing to me when I was a child, Home on the Range. He had fun practising his counting to 50, singing math songs and even learning American Folk Songs. He also worked his math skills and learned more about patterns, 3D shapes and symmetry in the geometry and measurement section of the app. ![]() He enjoyed the talking library, where he could choose from non-fiction, fiction and poetry books. My oldest son, who is 5 years old, started using the Starfall FREE App on our tablet. The Starfall Home Membership is $35 per year and your entire family can have access. The are so many activities included with this membership and my boys have been able to learn lots and have fun while doing so. We used it on our laptop and tablet at least 3 times a week for the past 6 weeks. We have been very fortunate to be able to review this amazing interactive program for preschool to grade 2 English Language Arts and mathematics. I am in absolute awe with The Starfall Home Membership from Starfall Education Foundation.
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![]() Payments can be made through US issued Credit Card/Debit Card or through Paypal. Sales tax is charged for items shipping to California and Kentucky. Convenient shopping that will save you time and money.Friendly customer service you can trust.Our goal is to make your product shopping a pleasant and simple experience.Requests for replacement parts will be processed as quickly as possible but expect them to take 1 to 3 weeks to be received. PLEASE do not refuse any shipments as this limits our options in getting you a perfect item. ![]() Please be sure to inspect your item(s) for concealed damage even if you do not plan on using it immediately and always keep all packaging until you are satisfied with your item. If your order arrives at your door damaged, broken or defective, we will either replace the broken parts if possible or ship out a new one at our discretion and completely at our expense. Unfortunately, packages can be damaged during the shipping process after leaving the warehouse. In the unlikely event that your item arrives damaged or is missing parts please email us the details at Contact our customer service department within 7 business days of the delivery date to report any damage. Contact at (650) 292 4445 or email for making arrangements to return items for repair or service. EquipMaxx is not responsible for any shipping cost to or from our facility. Be sure to include in the box all your contact information including name, phone number, email address and shipping address along with a prepaid return ship tag from UPS or FedEx. Carefully pack returning items for repair to avoid damage in transit. The customer is responsible for all shipping fees to and from our facility. This warranty is extended to the original purchaser only and excludes all other legal and/or conventional warranties. This warranty does not cover any shipping fees to or from our facility. This warranty is void if damage is resulting from accident, misuse, improper operation, unauthorized repair or alteration, tampering, commercial or other than home use, or damages accruing in transit. The liability under this warranty is limited solely to the cost of the replacement parts or the complete unit at the discretion of Maxxus. Should any defect covered by the terms of this lifetime limited warranty be discovered, our team will repair or replace any defective part provided the unit is returned by the original purchaser on file with the warranty form information. This does not include replacement of items due to wear.įor this warranty to apply the original purchaser must email the date and place of purchase along with a copy of the original purchase receipt. This tool will help you keep all areas of your business that are prone to dirt and dust cleaner and more appealing.(Overview and Terms of Limited Lifetime Warranty)ġ: All internal electronic parts are lifetime warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship when utilized for normal use by the original purchaser only.Ģ: One (1) year parts and labor on accessories and housing.Īccessories are warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase when utilized for normal household use by the original purchaser only. ![]() Hydro-broom will work well to clean any receiving area or warehouse floor as well. You employees will thank you because you’ve made their job easier, and your customers will be impressed with the neat and clean look of your establishment. Hydro-broom takes a 2-step job and turns it into 1. The water flowing through the head of the broom will remove the dust and dirt from your sidewalk or parking lot area. Regular broom and dust pan combinations can work well, but with a hydro-broom you won’t have to worry about using both. Hydro-Broom is perfect for these areas and will allow the sweeping to get done quickly and effectively. That can mean keeping your sidewalks and entryways clean or sweeping areas of your parking lot that get a lot of traffic. If you’re a business owner, then you always want to make the best impression on your customers. ![]() ![]() My perspective about “buy once, play anywhere” is not shared by everyone in the music industry, so you’ll be using these sort of software on your own recognizance. That’s an easy fix that would help with usability.Īnd I also want to come back and address intellectual property and digital rights management. The only complaint I have about Apple Music Converter is that once you’ve converted the selected tracks, there’s no easy way to “unselect all” so that if you don’t quit the program and restart it, you’ll find that your previous tracks are still in the queue the next time you click “start conversion”. A preview of the non-DRM MP3 file from Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children Original Motion Picture Soundtrack shows what I mean: Once they’re converted you can see that everything is copied across, including all music meta-data. The conversion zips along pretty darn fast too, so you won’t have time to pop into the kitchen and grab a cup of tea. Ready to convert everything? Double checked that the output folder is correct? Then click on “ Start Convert” on the top bar and it starts to chug along… Heck, you can even extract just the audio track from an MP4 movie if you desire. Once you do you can dig through your iTunes library and pick more, from a single track to dozens of them from widely disparate spots. One thing to realize is that you have to actually check the checkbox adjacent to the track or tracks you want converted. No worries, Apple Music Converter can handle that too: What about if you just need to convert an audio file without digital rights management? Well, I often record meetings with the useful iPhone app Voice Memos and those all end up in Apple’s AAC format. The above shows how to split out the DRM. Don’t know what’s what in this alphabet soup? No worries, just pick Mp3 and know you’ve got the right format for 99% of use cases. The full list of output formats is longer than this and includes: MP3, M4A, AC3, AAC, AIFF, AU, FLAG, M4R and MKA. The lower region shows the output parameters: I’ve chosen MP3 which is really “MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3”, with normal quality (high quality produces bigger files and I can’t really differentiate, personally), specified my output folder and the name of the resultant file.Īll looks good, but what other audio formats are available? Glad you asked! A click reveals: If it’s already in MP3 format, of course, no conversion is needed and it’s ready to copy onto my microSD card. In this case, it’s “ Purchased AAC audio file“. The program shows the cover art, genre and kind. In the above, notice on the left that I’ve chosen my “Purchased” playlist, and from that I’ve clicked on the title track. To be fair, it’s not particularly elegant with its interface, but everything you need is shown. I opted for Mac and here’s the main window once launched: There are versions for either Mac or Windows PC systems, both available through a quick download from their site. No bueno for this particular use case.Įnter the easy to use Apple Music Converter program. It is, of course, important to support musicians, composers and production companies so that we will continue to have great music down the road too, but that means all the music I’ve purchased is locked down and only playable within iTunes, and only that after I’ve logged in to my Apple Music account. The idea of copying my favorite 100 albums onto a flash drive and then having them always available for listening, whether I have my phone or not, is very appealing.īut all my recent music are purchases from the iTunes Store. On the Mazda the slots were just tucked in a recess of the dashboard, next to the microSD card reader (that’s only for the navigational system data, unfortunately): Look at all modern cars and you’ll find a USB 3.0 slot or two where you can plug in your phone and charge it, or you can plug in a device that just contains your music collection. And yet this issue came up again when I was test driving the brand new 2016 Mazda CX-5, because it has support for something that is only usable if you have music without DRM: USB plugs perfect for a flash drive full of music! Rent a movie on your Apple TV and it’s no big deal: you rent it, watch it, and you’re done.īut what if you want to listen to that brand new album on something other than an Apple product? To do that, you need to defeat what’s known as the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system, and that’s a bit of a gray area unfortunately. I’ve always been a proponent of buy once, play anywhere with my music and movies, but unfortunately most of the digital distribution systems have a very different philosophy, choosing to dramatically limit the functionality of the music, audio books and even movies and TV shows you purchase to within their own little world. How would you like to go jogging with three big dogs who are not really obedient? Believe it or not a teacher did and told her story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul story. CAST: 4-5 TONE: humorous, light READABILITY: grade 3.6 (Note: We have this script in two other versions for three readers or three choral groups.) Struggling readers, ELL, and ESL students will particularly enjoy this real life script. This light-hearted script is based on a true story that is guaranteed to make people laugh–or groan! Complete with annotated curriculum links for easy lesson plans, "Dog Jog Adventure with the Sisters" is perfect for students in grades 3-8 because the main characters are older girls and the vocabulary is slightly advanced. "Dog Jog Adventure with the Sisters" was requested by a Script Buffet Club member for an all girl cast. (2–3 pages) CAST: 2-4 (or choral) TONE: light, fun READABILITY: grade 1.0 (easier without the word "narrator")ĭog Jog Adventure with the Sisters (R = 3.6) This fun script comes in two font options and includes annotated curriculum links for easy lesson plans. ![]() You may use it as a "hook" for a science unit study of sound, the ear, and hearing. Since this short Readers Theater script is easy to read it's appropriate for struggling students in grades 1-8 and even adults. Perfect for partner plays or small groups, "The Hose Phone" would work well for short performances IF you train your readers to not speak when the audience is laughing. Students of ALL AGES will enjoy practicing this script with different voices. Based on a true story, "The Hose Phone" shares the light side of a common experience: not hearing exactly what someone else says. GIGGLE WARNING! I read this simple script to three adults and all three chuckled several times. TIME: less than a minute CAST: 2 or 2 choral groups TONE: light, fun READABILITY: grades K-1 (Flesch-Kincaid scored this script at Grade 0.4 however, some of the vocabulary includes two-syllable words.) ![]() Of course, it comes with annotated curriculum links for easy lesson plans. Perfect for primary students and English Language Learners this poem is fun for all ages. NOTE: To see the rest of the list, click "more articles >" at the bottom of the page.ĭo most students know how to play tag? How about animals? This Readers Theater poem is based on a true story from when I was growing up–with a donkey! "Tag–You're It!" tells the story of a game of animal tag with a surprise ending. ![]() = exclusive for Script Buffet Club paying members R = Readability grade level (based on Flesch-Kincaide Readability Formula)īelow are script titles in order of publication, most recent first. IMPORTANT: Most of our scripts are available to our paying Script Buffet Club members only. ***Consider having students create their own short, two-part humorous Readers Theater scripts with knock knock jokes! )Ĭlick on a Readers Theater script title below to read an excerpt from the script and access the printable PDF(complete with annotated curriculum links for easy lesson plans). Many of our scripts have humorous elements, but may not be listed below. Choose scripts related to a specific subject (e.g., health, history) or fun stories to read aloud from our growing buffet of scripts. Your students will have fun while building important life skills (e.g., confidence speaking in front of a group, teamwork, focus, and fluency). Motivate your students with humorous Readers Theater scripts. ![]() Share any type of Internet connection with all your devices.Eliminate all game consoles (Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox) and smart TV issues with your home WiFi network! Easily bridge other devices onto your home network with WiFi Bridging Mode.Save up to 60% of Internet bandwidth by using the built-in universal ad blocker. ![]() Boost your WiFi range with WiFi Repeater Mode in your dorm room or office and getting full coverage in your dorm room.These include strict NAT levels, peering issues, Chromecast and Apple TV incompatibilities, etc. Connectify Hotspot is actually the best WiFi hotspot that also allows you to: Some “best” WiFi hotspot software programs “help” you share Internet from your laptop. NetSpot gives you a unique opportunity to get insight into your WiFi network and the surrounding ones. Looking at dedicated WiFi hotspot devices or apps to share Internet from your smartphone? You will be limited to sharing only the cellular Internet connection that comes with your MiFi or smartphone. Discover mode: Scan, Analyze, and Fix WiFi issues. Any WiFi enabled devices can connect to your hotspot!Ĭonnectify Hotspot Best WiFI Hotspot Software Can Also Provide a Secure Internet Connection Prevent silly system limitations and safeguard your personal privacy while browsing general public Wi-Fi systems. Connect your devices to the best WiFi hotspot. Is Wifispoof App Safe For Mac Addresses ArenWiFiSpoof For Mac addresses aren’t protected while you browse the web, departing your pc as a possible focus on for unwanted monitoring.Make sure you have the ad blocker option selected, to save bandwidth, money and battery life. Press the ‘Start Hotspot’ button to share your Internet connection.If you have a cellular connection (built-in or via USB cellular dongle), select that under ‘Internet to Share’. In addition to, whenever you click with the computer mouse on the standard equipment take care of key, the software will stimulate a small key that makes it possible for you to quickly go back the modify. Offers an extremely clear and ergonomic interface that is easy to use. WiFiSpoof Mac provides you limitless prospective final results with respect to your techniques management options. Enables you to monitor the actual state of your device network. Allows you to overview and change MAC address of your Mac. An impressive application to keep your privacy private and secure. Choose the Internet connection you want to share. Simple to use program for keeping an eye on your networks.Give your Hotspot a Name (SSID) and Password. Start the program and go to WiFi Hotspot.Download and install Connectify Hotspot on your PC or laptop.Here’s how you can turn your laptop into the best WiFi hotspot: The most popular functionality for Connectify is sharing your Internet connection over WiFi. These include smartphones, tablets, media players, game consoles, e-readers, other laptops or computers, and even your nearby friends. It allows you to share your Internet connection with other devices. Connectify Hotspot is a true virtual router software app for Windows computers. ![]() ![]() ( Fanbyte) It’s possible this also played a part in the decision to modify the box art. ![]() It is also worth noting that part of the Western gaming community has expressed dissatisfaction with Ryuji’s role as a punching bag throughout the series. It also specifically lists “violent blows to the head” as one such restriction, meaning that even if this particular punch was meant to be comedic in nature, the fact that he is being hit in the face may be a problem. One section in particular lays out the restrictions on depictions of violence, listing items such as torture, excessive use of blood, and setting people on fire. The ESRB rating system used in the United States establishes guidelines not only for a game’s content, but for the advertising material used as well. Ryuji not punched anymore in the West box art /G9NaIzqLKl- Pan-hime – (mental hiatus) Persona stan December 8, 2020 So why exactly was the decision made to redraw him at all? Well, Twitter user Alex points out that the problem may lie in the actual moment of contact. It’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to swing fast enough to avoid the inevitable fist to the face, but the fact remains that we don’t actually see him getting punched. Instead, he can be seen brandishing a weapon overhead, mere moments before enemy contact is made. Or to be more precise, his face has not yet met with fist. That said, take a look at the Western box art and you will see that Ryuji is no longer getting punched. And since he’s so good at sacrificing his body for the sake of setting the mood, it’s probably safe to assume this was the reason the design team decided to portray him this way on the Persona 5 Strikers cover. Ryuji is the athletic type and possesses a well-toned body, so players can rest assured that he’s able to take a few extra punches now and then without any lasting damage. Scenes of him taking things a bit too far, followed by him getting hit or injured in one way or another, are a repeat occurrence throughout the games, offering a bit of comedic relief in an otherwise tense story. Having a hot-blooded nature has its drawbacks, however, and Ryuji often finds himself in comical situations. Though he can be rather inflexible and quick to anger, he plays an important role as one of the Joker’s companions. ![]() In the Persona 5 series, Ryuji Sakamoto is one of the protagonist’s closest friends, and although he is known as a delinquent student at school, he is both straightforward and kind when it comes to his friends. For some reason, Ryuji is the only one actually getting punched, and straight to the face no less. Amidst all of the chaos, however, a single character is depicted in a somewhat comical moment. Yusuke, Futaba, and a few new characters can also be seen grappling with enemy Shadows. The lower left is dominated by the Joker wielding a pistol, while the background is filled with characters prepared for battle, including Makoto, Ann, Morgana, and Haru. Japanese Box Artįirst, let’s take a closer look at the box art from the original Japanese version. However, look carefully at the game box’s cover art and you might notice a small detail that was changed for the Western release of the game. This exhilarating gameplay, paired with the signature visuals from Persona 5, earned this latest entry into the series high praise after it was released in Japan, and it all comes wrapped up in a package with the laudable Joker’s infectious grin front and center. When a team like Omega Force is involved with a game’s development, you can be sure it will come packed full of action and aerobatics. However, after an incident results in them being dragged into another Jail in the Metaverse, the Phantom Thieves depart on a trip across Japan to once again save the world. The game begins six months after the events of Persona 5 with the members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts meeting up to spend their summer vacation on a camping trip. Persona 5 Strikers was developed jointly by P Studio, a subsidiary of Atlas Co., Ltd., and Omega Force, a division of Koei Tecmo Games, and is the first hack and slash entry in the series. ![]() S coping through making sure that the names of objects are unique and don’t clash.Īn important tool used by developers and data scientists is virtual environments. R eusability to avoid duplicating lines of code. M aintainability in making it easier to update a programme, which is less likely to break with small changes. Simplicity in breaking down a larger programme into steps. The advantage of modularising a larger application is: NumPy (comprehensive mathematics) and pandas (data analysis and manipulation using dataframes - a useful type of table) are also often referred to as libraries, due to their wide-ranging applications. Some that you will likely come across in the context of data science are Matplotlib (for generating visualisations) Beautiful Soup (for gathering data from the web), and sci-kit-learn (for machine learning). ![]() There are literally THOUSANDS of useful libraries available. However, it is often assumed that while a package is a collection of modules, a library is a collection of packages. In practice, this term is often used interchangeably with “python package” because packages can also contain modules and other packages (sub-packages). Usually, a python library is a collection of both modules and packages. ![]() Whilst modules and packages have specific definitions, a library is an umbrella term referring to a reusable chunk of code. Modular programming: The process of breaking down a large programming task into small, separate, manageable chunks or modules. Typically accessed with import statement, in the current directory. A module can define functions, classes, and variables. Modules: A file consisting of Python code. It's possible to put several modules into a single package. Packages: A directory with python files (modules) and a file with the name _init_.py. Just like we organise our files and documents on our computer into folders and subfolders, we can organize our modules into packages. Modules allow us to be well organised, grouping related code saved in a file with the extension “.py”. Packages and Modules are two mechanisms that facilitate modular programming in python. When a module from an external package is required in a program, that package can be imported and its modules can be used. Modules that are related to each other are mainly put in the same package. This post will summarise the key terms in working with packages, how conda and pip can work (and not work) together.Ī python package is a collection of modules. It allows you to install and manage additional packages that are not part of the Python Package Index ( PyPI). Pip is the standard package manager for python, meaning you can use it both inside and outside of Anaconda. In introductory data science and python courses, you will often work with Jupyter, loaded through Anaconda Navigator ( Check out this post for a visual explanation of how these fit together).īuilt into Anaconda, conda is a powerful package manager and environment manager that you use with command-line in the Anaconda Prompt for Windows, or in a terminal window for macOS or Linux. When getting started with programming it can be difficult to understand how we install and work with packages using the multiple tools at our disposal. The SOFTWARE and related documentation are provided "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind. You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of the SOFTWARE is at your sole risk. This permission to re-download shall not limit in any manner the disclaimer of warranty set forth in Section 5 below. If you believe that the downloading process was faulty, you may contact Yamaha, and Yamaha shall permit you to re-download the SOFTWARE, provided that you first destroy any copies or partial copies of the SOFTWARE that you obtained through your previous download attempt. Upon such termination, you must immediately destroy the licensed SOFTWARE, any accompanying written documents and all copies thereof. If any copyright law or provisions of this Agreement is violated, the Agreement shall terminate automatically and immediately without notice from Yamaha. The encryption of data received by means of the SOFTWARE may not be removed nor may the electronic watermark be modified without permission of the copyright owner. ![]()
![]() Built from sandstone, the Roman city gate of Porta Nigra, is the most striking landmark in Trier. It is the oldest city in Germany, one of the largest cities of its time, and takes visitors on a fascinating adventure through the era of the mighty Romans. On the other hand, the place to find ancient civilisations is Trier. Visitors can enjoy unique insights into these two advanced cultures of the Middle Ages. The synagogue was consecrated in the same year that the second phase of construction of the cathedral was completed. The expert builders working on the cathedral were also partly responsible for the design of the synagogue and the mikveh. The mighty Romanesque cathedral with its crypt and the tombs of eight emperors and kings is just a stone’s throw from the ShUM sites, including the mikveh (ritual baths), which date back to the heyday of Ashkenazi Judaism in the Middle Ages. Speyer is the only city in the world with both Christian and Jewish UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Set near St Martin’s Cathedral, the Gutenberg Museum and the banks of the Rhine, Kirschgarten, with its cobbled streets and pristine half-timbered houses, is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque spots in the old town of Mainz. Find out more!Ī walk through the old town of Mainz is a stroll through the varied history of the city. The WeinSpaziert interactive tour transforms this unique man-made landscape into a feast for all the senses. Today, Koblenz boasts a total of six wine-growing areas. Even the Romans managed to defy the extremely steep slopes. And this despite the fact that the slopes on the Moselle are so steep that the grapes only grow on narrow terraces held up by dry-stone walls. The only city on both the Rhine and the Moselle has long been associated with wine-making. ![]() The Historic ‘Weiherschleife’ Cutting Mill demonstrates the back-breaking work of the gemstone polishers using state-of-the-art methods. Of the 56 polishing works said to have once lined the Idarbach in the industry’s heyday, only two are still standing to this day: the Asbacherhütte and the Weiherschleife. ![]() Some 270 million years ago, agate, rock crystal and amethysts grew in bubbles of cooled molten lava near what is now a charming city on the Nahe, thus laying the foundations for a gemstone industry that is unique anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, each city has a unique character and features all of its own.Ī journey through the Romantic Cities begins in Idar-Oberstein. Together with the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Rhineland ‑ Palatinate, they combine the charm of an imperial history with world-famous wines and heartfelt hospitality. The Romantic Cities are Idar-Oberstein, Koblenz, Mainz, Speyer, Trier and Worms. These stories are set in stone in a remarkable way in six important cities between the Rhine and the Moselle. ![]() These are all milestones in and witnesses to the history of our Earth. “Welcome to the biggest treasure trove in the world!” Covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres, it is dotted with sparkling gemstones, red sandstone, rough slate and impressive rock formations. Koblenz – According to the dictionary definition, a treasure trove is a “space in which the national treasure is stored”.Īnd Rhineland ‑ Palatinate can justifiably claim to be just that. ![]() “I think it was meant to attest to his energy and his vigour – it was meant to show that he is a very capable, well-rounded person who has some kind of natural leadership,” C Harrison Kim said. Folklore deems it the birthplace of Dangun – the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom – and North Korea propaganda has since named it the birthplace of the country’s second leader, Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. Mount Paektu is regarded as sacred land in Korean history. It says, ‘I am going to seek prosperity by myself, without Moon’.” “This time around, I think it was really deliberate to have Kim Jong Un on the horse by himself. “The last time Kim Jong Un had been on Mount Paektu was with Moon at the Pyongyang Summit back in September 2018, and it was to create the optics that North and South Korea were going to build prosperity together,” said Jenny Town, a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and managing editor of North Korea analysis website 38 North. In these images, Kim rides solo for a reason, experts say: He is trying to show that he can stand alone despite souring relations with Seoul and Washington. Experts say such photos are released to show him as a man powerful enough to bring prosperity to his country without anyone else’s help ![]() Kim Jong Un rides through snow-covered landscapes on Mount Paektu. ![]() The recent photos of Kim Jong Un riding a white horse across Mount Paektu, for example, evoke far more than a strongman reminder of a shirtless Vladimir Putin astride a stallion. “Kim Jong Un clearly has been clear about it – he has a deadline.” “North Korea has left room for what exactly has to happen, but they said the US needs to make a concrete proposal to them,” said John Delury, an associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul. The North has carried out a number of missile tests in recent months in contravention of United Nations sanctions, and experts fear the next move will probably not be more of the “beautiful letters” exchanged between Trump and Kim. North Korea and the US are just days away from Kim Jong Un’s end-of-year deadline for progress in denuclearisation talks, which have fizzled since the Hanoi summit collapsed in February. With diplomacy so uncertain, analysts are parsing through North Korea’s state media for hints of what the world can expect in 2020. “And still, there are many long-term goals that are left to achieve.” “Historically speaking, it has been a long, incredible past year,” said C Harrison Kim, a professor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The images might appear absurdly staged, but they are vital clues to experts who use them to decipher Pyongyang’s hidden messages – especially in 2019, a year of tough diplomatic ups and downs between Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump. Seoul, South Korea – Images from North Korea have a near superpower ability to go viral, whether it be a photo of Kim Jong Un watching shirtless men soak in luxury hot springs or a shot of the North Korean leader riding a white stallion through the snow. |