Black Magic Gaming

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1. How widespread is belief in magic, sorcery, and witchcraft?

'IN Africa, it is idle to begin with the question whether witches exist or not,' states the book African Traditional Religion, adding that 'to Africans of every category, witchcraft is an urgent reality.' Those who believe in magic, sorcery, and witchcraft include both the illiterate and the highly educated. Religious leaders of Islam and Christendom are also believers.

2. According to popular belief, from where do magical powers come?

2 According to popular belief in Africa, there exists a mystical, spiritual power, or force. God has control over it. Spirits and ancestors can use it. And some humans also know how to tap it and use it, either for good (white magic) or for bad (black magic).

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Outward's magic it more ritualistic in nature than in most games. For example to cast a basic fire spell as anything more than just an equivalent of a match, you have to build a magic circle using enchanted materials. Or you could play with rune magic, which will require you to learn several combinations to cast spells.

3. What is black magic, and what do people believe it can do?

3 Black magic, or sorcery, is directed toward enemies. Those who use it are believed to have power to send bats, birds, flies, and other animals to attack people. Black magic is widely believed to be responsible for fights, barrenness, illness, and even death.

4. What do many believe about witches, and what confessions have been made by some who have practiced witchcraft?

4 Closely related is witchcraft. Witches are said to leave their bodies at night and fly away, either to meet with other witches or to eat away the lives of their victims. Since the bodies of the witches remain sleeping in their beds, support for these tales is mainly supplied by confessions of people who have given up witchcraft. For example, one African magazine quotes ex-witches (mostly teenage girls) as saying: 'I killed 150 people by causing motor accidents.' 'I killed five children by sucking up all their blood.' 'I killed three boyfriends because they jilted me.'

5. What is white magic, and how is it practiced?

5 White magic is supposed to provide protection against evil. Those who practice white magic wear magical rings or bracelets. They drink protective medicine or rub it on their bodies. In their homes or in the ground, they hide articles believed to have protective powers. They trust in amulets containing texts from the Koran or the Bible.

Lies and Deception

6. What have Satan and his demons done in the past, and how should we regard their powers?

6 It is true that Satan and his demons are dangerous enemies of humans. Palace of chance. They have power to influence the minds and lives of men, and in the past they have even entered and possessed humans and animals. (Matthew 12:43-45) While we should not minimize their powers, we should not overestimate those powers either.

7. What does Satan want us to believe, and how is this illustrated?

7 Satan is a master of deception. He fools people into thinking that he has more power than he really does. To illustrate: During recent fighting in one African country, soldiers used sound equipment to terrify their enemies. Before attacking, the soldiers would play loud recordings of heavy artillery and gunfire. They wanted the enemy to think that they were being attacked by an army with many powerful weapons. In the same way, Satan wants people to believe that his power is limitless. His purpose is to frighten people into doing his will and not the will of Jehovah. Let us now consider three lies that Satan wants people to believe.

8. What is one lie that Satan promotes?

8 One lie that Satan promotes is this: Nothing harmful happens by chance; everything bad that is not directly caused by someone occurs through mystical power. For example, suppose that a child dies of malaria. His mother may know that malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes. But she may also believe that someone used witchcraft to send a mosquito to bite her child.

9. How does the Bible show that Satan does not cause every problem?

Max bet slot bonus 2017. 9 While Satan has the power to cause some problems, it is wrong to believe that he has the power to cause every problem. The Bible says: 'The swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.' (Ecclesiastes 9:11) One runner in a race may be faster than the others, but he may not win. Some 'unforeseen occurrence' may make him lose. Perhaps he stumbles and falls or he becomes ill or he pulls a muscle. These things could happen to anybody. They are not necessarily caused by Satan or through witchcraft; they just happen.

10. What is said about witches, and how do we know that this is a lie?

10 A second lie that Satan promotes is this: Witches leave their bodies and travel through the night to meet other witches or to suck out or eat away the life of their victims. Now ask yourself: ‘If witches can do that, what is it that actually leaves the body?' As we have seen, the soul is the person, not something that can depart from the person. Moreover, the spirit is the life-force that powers the body but is unable to do anything apart from the body.

11. Why do we know that witches cannot leave their bodies, and do you believe this?

11 Neither the soul nor the spirit can leave the body to do anything, either good or bad. Thus, witches cannot leave their bodies. They do not really do the things that they claim to do or think they have done.

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12. How does Satan make people believe that they have done things that they have not?

12 How can we explain the confessions made by those involved in witchcraft? Satan can make people believe that they have experienced things that they have not. By means of visions, Satan can cause people to imagine that they have seen, heard, and done things that they have not. In this way, Satan hopes to turn people away from Jehovah and to make them think that the Bible is wrong.

13. (a) Is white magic good? (b) What do the Scriptures say about magic?

13 A third lie is this: White magic​—magic that is supposed to counter black magic—​is good. The Bible does not make a distinction between black magic and white magic. It condemns all magic. Consider the laws Jehovah gave to the nation of Israel concerning magic and those who practiced it:

  • 'You must not practice magic.'​—Leviticus 19:26. Gold club reviews.

  • 'As for a man or woman in whom there proves to be a mediumistic spirit or spirit of prediction, they should be put to death without fail.'​—Leviticus 20:27.

  • 'There should not be found in you . . . a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium.'​—Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

14. Why did Jehovah make laws against magic?

14 These laws made it clear that God did not want his people to practice magic. Jehovah gave these laws to his people because he loved them and did not want them to become enslaved to fear and superstition. He did not want them to be oppressed by the demons.

15. How does the Bible show that Jehovah is more powerful than Satan?

15 Though the Bible does not go into detail concerning what the demons can and cannot do, it does show that Jehovah God is far more powerful than Satan and his demons. Jehovah had Satan cast out of heaven. (Revelation 12:9) Notice, too, that Satan asked permission to test Job and obeyed God's warning not to kill Job.​—Job 2:4-6.

16. To whom should we look for protection?

16 Proverbs 18:10 says: 'The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.' So we should look to Jehovah for protection. God's servants do not look to charms or medicines to protect them against the evil deeds of Satan and the demons, nor do they fear the spells of sorcerers. God's servants believe what the Bible says: 'As regards Jehovah, his eyes are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.'​—2 Chronicles 16:9.

17. Of what does James 4:7 assure us, but what must we do?

17 You too can have this confidence if you serve Jehovah. James 4:7 says: 'Subject yourselves, therefore, to God; but oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you.' If you serve the true God, subjecting yourself to him, you can be sure that Jehovah will protect you.

In early 1977, 14 suspected witches were burned to death near Pietersburg, South Africa. In response, South Africa's Drum magazine commented: 'Tribesmen and women are gripped with fear. They fear being bewitched and struck with lightning Deep rose lipstick shades. . . .

'Something has to be done . . . For this reason DRUM issues this challenge to all witchdoctors: There is a quick R5 000 [$5,750 (U.S.) at that time] waiting in our offices for you if, during March 1977, any one of you can strike Stanley Motjuwadi dead with lightning. If you can't, let everyone know that the pretence of being able to control lightning is silly, murderous rubbish.

'So, you phoney witches, start bubbling your cauldrons. We dare you to take up this challenge.'

Were the witches able to silence this bold challenge with bolts of lightning? No, they were not. Mr. Motjuwadi, a writer at Drum, survived and prospered, eventually becoming editor of the magazine.

Box: How did a writer in South Africa challenge witches, and what was the outcome?

There are many criticisms of Apple's Mac products, but one of the most commonly cited is that they often don't have graphics power that's comparable to what you'd see in similarly priced Windows machines. Unfortunately, the company currently offers no desktop tower in which you could, say, slot two super-powerful gaming graphics cards, either.

Some of that could change soon when Apple moves to its own silicon on Macs or when it introduces a new Mac Pro. But for now, the company's official answer to this line of criticism is doubling down on external GPU support in macOS. Support for this began during the High Sierra cycle and was expanded upon in some helpful ways in last year's Mojave OS release.

Gaming

Outward's magic it more ritualistic in nature than in most games. For example to cast a basic fire spell as anything more than just an equivalent of a match, you have to build a magic circle using enchanted materials. Or you could play with rune magic, which will require you to learn several combinations to cast spells.

3. What is black magic, and what do people believe it can do?

3 Black magic, or sorcery, is directed toward enemies. Those who use it are believed to have power to send bats, birds, flies, and other animals to attack people. Black magic is widely believed to be responsible for fights, barrenness, illness, and even death.

4. What do many believe about witches, and what confessions have been made by some who have practiced witchcraft?

4 Closely related is witchcraft. Witches are said to leave their bodies at night and fly away, either to meet with other witches or to eat away the lives of their victims. Since the bodies of the witches remain sleeping in their beds, support for these tales is mainly supplied by confessions of people who have given up witchcraft. For example, one African magazine quotes ex-witches (mostly teenage girls) as saying: 'I killed 150 people by causing motor accidents.' 'I killed five children by sucking up all their blood.' 'I killed three boyfriends because they jilted me.'

5. What is white magic, and how is it practiced?

5 White magic is supposed to provide protection against evil. Those who practice white magic wear magical rings or bracelets. They drink protective medicine or rub it on their bodies. In their homes or in the ground, they hide articles believed to have protective powers. They trust in amulets containing texts from the Koran or the Bible.

Lies and Deception

6. What have Satan and his demons done in the past, and how should we regard their powers?

6 It is true that Satan and his demons are dangerous enemies of humans. Palace of chance. They have power to influence the minds and lives of men, and in the past they have even entered and possessed humans and animals. (Matthew 12:43-45) While we should not minimize their powers, we should not overestimate those powers either.

7. What does Satan want us to believe, and how is this illustrated?

7 Satan is a master of deception. He fools people into thinking that he has more power than he really does. To illustrate: During recent fighting in one African country, soldiers used sound equipment to terrify their enemies. Before attacking, the soldiers would play loud recordings of heavy artillery and gunfire. They wanted the enemy to think that they were being attacked by an army with many powerful weapons. In the same way, Satan wants people to believe that his power is limitless. His purpose is to frighten people into doing his will and not the will of Jehovah. Let us now consider three lies that Satan wants people to believe.

8. What is one lie that Satan promotes?

8 One lie that Satan promotes is this: Nothing harmful happens by chance; everything bad that is not directly caused by someone occurs through mystical power. For example, suppose that a child dies of malaria. His mother may know that malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes. But she may also believe that someone used witchcraft to send a mosquito to bite her child.

9. How does the Bible show that Satan does not cause every problem?

Max bet slot bonus 2017. 9 While Satan has the power to cause some problems, it is wrong to believe that he has the power to cause every problem. The Bible says: 'The swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.' (Ecclesiastes 9:11) One runner in a race may be faster than the others, but he may not win. Some 'unforeseen occurrence' may make him lose. Perhaps he stumbles and falls or he becomes ill or he pulls a muscle. These things could happen to anybody. They are not necessarily caused by Satan or through witchcraft; they just happen.

10. What is said about witches, and how do we know that this is a lie?

10 A second lie that Satan promotes is this: Witches leave their bodies and travel through the night to meet other witches or to suck out or eat away the life of their victims. Now ask yourself: ‘If witches can do that, what is it that actually leaves the body?' As we have seen, the soul is the person, not something that can depart from the person. Moreover, the spirit is the life-force that powers the body but is unable to do anything apart from the body.

11. Why do we know that witches cannot leave their bodies, and do you believe this?

11 Neither the soul nor the spirit can leave the body to do anything, either good or bad. Thus, witches cannot leave their bodies. They do not really do the things that they claim to do or think they have done.

Black Magic Casino

12. How does Satan make people believe that they have done things that they have not?

12 How can we explain the confessions made by those involved in witchcraft? Satan can make people believe that they have experienced things that they have not. By means of visions, Satan can cause people to imagine that they have seen, heard, and done things that they have not. In this way, Satan hopes to turn people away from Jehovah and to make them think that the Bible is wrong.

13. (a) Is white magic good? (b) What do the Scriptures say about magic?

13 A third lie is this: White magic​—magic that is supposed to counter black magic—​is good. The Bible does not make a distinction between black magic and white magic. It condemns all magic. Consider the laws Jehovah gave to the nation of Israel concerning magic and those who practiced it:

  • 'You must not practice magic.'​—Leviticus 19:26. Gold club reviews.

  • 'As for a man or woman in whom there proves to be a mediumistic spirit or spirit of prediction, they should be put to death without fail.'​—Leviticus 20:27.

  • 'There should not be found in you . . . a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium.'​—Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

14. Why did Jehovah make laws against magic?

14 These laws made it clear that God did not want his people to practice magic. Jehovah gave these laws to his people because he loved them and did not want them to become enslaved to fear and superstition. He did not want them to be oppressed by the demons.

15. How does the Bible show that Jehovah is more powerful than Satan?

15 Though the Bible does not go into detail concerning what the demons can and cannot do, it does show that Jehovah God is far more powerful than Satan and his demons. Jehovah had Satan cast out of heaven. (Revelation 12:9) Notice, too, that Satan asked permission to test Job and obeyed God's warning not to kill Job.​—Job 2:4-6.

16. To whom should we look for protection?

16 Proverbs 18:10 says: 'The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.' So we should look to Jehovah for protection. God's servants do not look to charms or medicines to protect them against the evil deeds of Satan and the demons, nor do they fear the spells of sorcerers. God's servants believe what the Bible says: 'As regards Jehovah, his eyes are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.'​—2 Chronicles 16:9.

17. Of what does James 4:7 assure us, but what must we do?

17 You too can have this confidence if you serve Jehovah. James 4:7 says: 'Subject yourselves, therefore, to God; but oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you.' If you serve the true God, subjecting yourself to him, you can be sure that Jehovah will protect you.

In early 1977, 14 suspected witches were burned to death near Pietersburg, South Africa. In response, South Africa's Drum magazine commented: 'Tribesmen and women are gripped with fear. They fear being bewitched and struck with lightning Deep rose lipstick shades. . . .

'Something has to be done . . . For this reason DRUM issues this challenge to all witchdoctors: There is a quick R5 000 [$5,750 (U.S.) at that time] waiting in our offices for you if, during March 1977, any one of you can strike Stanley Motjuwadi dead with lightning. If you can't, let everyone know that the pretence of being able to control lightning is silly, murderous rubbish.

'So, you phoney witches, start bubbling your cauldrons. We dare you to take up this challenge.'

Were the witches able to silence this bold challenge with bolts of lightning? No, they were not. Mr. Motjuwadi, a writer at Drum, survived and prospered, eventually becoming editor of the magazine.

Box: How did a writer in South Africa challenge witches, and what was the outcome?

There are many criticisms of Apple's Mac products, but one of the most commonly cited is that they often don't have graphics power that's comparable to what you'd see in similarly priced Windows machines. Unfortunately, the company currently offers no desktop tower in which you could, say, slot two super-powerful gaming graphics cards, either.

Some of that could change soon when Apple moves to its own silicon on Macs or when it introduces a new Mac Pro. But for now, the company's official answer to this line of criticism is doubling down on external GPU support in macOS. Support for this began during the High Sierra cycle and was expanded upon in some helpful ways in last year's Mojave OS release.

In addition to providing software support for eGPUs, Apple has developed what is more or less its official-ish eGPU solution, in much the same way that a couple of LG's monitors have been Apple's recommended external displays for a while now. The company did so by partnering with hardware-maker Blackmagic Design, an Australia-based company that specializes in products for video professionals. The first eGPU from Blackmagic included an AMD Radeon Pro 580 and was priced at $699. We reviewed it late last summer and found that—while it was quiet and easy to use, and the GPU was a big upgrade over the integrated graphics in many Macs—we wished a higher-end GPU option was offered for creative professionals and hardcore gamers who needed more.

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Enter the Blackmagic eGPU Pro. At $1,199, it includes a Radeon RX Vega 56. And in theory, that's a big upgrade. So we recently ran some basic benchmarks to see if this new offering justifies the gigantic leap in price and satisfies wishes for a higher-end version of the previous model.

Specifications

As noted already, the most important spec to consider here is the GPU itself: a Radeon RX Vega 56 with 8GB of HBM2 memory. That's a high-end workstation GPU designed for tasks like video editing and 3D modeling, and it's faster than even the top Vega GPUs available in the MacBook Pro or iMac (the mid-range Radeon Pro Vega 20 and 48, respectively).

Blackmagic eGPU Pro

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It's the same GPU (memory included) as you'll find in the base iMac Pro, which starts at a wallet-busting $5,000. The only way you're getting a faster GPU than this in today's Macs without an eGPU is by buying that iMac Pro and adding on another $550 or $700 for the Radeon Pro Vega 64 or 64X with 16GB of HMB2.

Black Magic Gaming

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro will work with any Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac, and it has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, four USB 3 ports (Type A), an HDMI 2.0 port, and a DisplayPort 1.4 port. It's capable of 85W of power delivery to the attached Mac, which is good enough to keep any Mac laptop running. For a hot minute, some macOS releases supported eGPUs over Thunderbolt 2. But that brief moment has long passed.

The box includes the eGPU itself, a half-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable, and a power cable—there's no external power brick. As for dimensions, the enclosure itself comes in at 11.59 x 6.96 x 6.96 inches (29.44 x 17.68 x 17.68 cm) and weighs 9.92 pounds (4.5kg).

Black Magic Gaming

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Design

There's not much new to add here on top of what we said about the Blackmagic eGPU last August. As far as we can tell, the chassis is the same. It's just the GPU inside that's different.

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro attempts to minimize its footprint on your desk by being tall. Its obelisk-like design is unusual; folks passing by your desk might have to venture a few guesses before figuring out precisely what it is. The Pro's design can definitely be described as minimalist, but it's at the same time just a touch too flashy for my tastes. That's subjective, though. Casinos like hallmark casino. Despite these efforts to lower its footprint, the overall volume is a little bulkier than we'd like. There are actually smaller eGPU enclosures on the market. But Blackmagic prioritized quietness above all else.

And as was the case with the slower model last year, Blackmagic has succeeded on that front, and that's really what you're paying for. If there's an eGPU enclosure that runs quieter than either of Blackmagic's eGPUs, I've never seen it myself. The eGPU Pro is only audible in an otherwise silent room, and even then, it's subtle. In fact, it's appreciably quieter than a MacBook Pro with fans fully revved up. Chances are, if you've got a desk covered in computers and peripherals, this is going to be one of the quieter devices sitting there.

There's another positive to consider here. This thing has a ton of ports, and the Thunderbolt ports can be daisy-chained to a point. So odds are you'll end up having only one wire connected to your Mac: the Thunderbolt 3 port from this eGPU. That makes this not just an eGPU enclosure but a decent port hub.

Given that the best powered Thunderbolt 3 and USB hubs can run more than $300, that value proposition softens the blow of this eGPU's price just a bit. That's obviously no consolation if you've already invested in a setup that works for you.





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