Yesterday we went to the local doughnut store for breakfast and then tried a Tex-Mex restaurant recommended by Barb for late lunch. In between we did some hiking in the park. We also did a little shopping yesterday but otherwise it was a quiet day in the park, relaxing. It was a gray cloudy day so not a good day for pictures.
Today was suppose to be better but not so much. We had heavy fog this morning and light rain or drizzle most of the day. Fortunately for us it stopped while we were in Fredericksburg walking around town but started back about the time we were heading back to the truck to drive home. Light rain continues now and the fog is again thickening.
With the drizzle, we decided it was an indoor day and we went to Fredericksburg to tour the National Museum of the Pacific War. This is a very well done museum. We found our experience much like our experience at places like Pearl Harbor. It's a very good experience, well done. We are glad we went. It isn't something you can say is fun. It is very sobering. It is however, very important that we all remember our history. If we do not, we will repeat our mistakes and poor choices.
B-25B – the type of aircraft flown in the Doolittle Raid. That raid cause little physical damage, but proved to the Japanese population they were not immune to attack.
The sobering visit to the museum today reminded a lot of our visit to Pearl Harbor a few years ago.
After the museum we had a great late (3:00) lunch at a local sports bar and grill. The sandwiches were great with a good German potato salad. We saw some more exotics that we have not photographed driving back to Kerrville, but the rain and low clouds kept us from getting any pictures. Maybe another day. Another good day in Texas.


text:
The 1880–81 season is the seventh season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview
Rangers played a total matches during the 1880–81 season.

Results
All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Cup

Appearances

See also
 1880–81 in Scottish football
 1880–81 Scottish Cup

External links
1880–81 Rangers F.C.Results

Rangers F.C. seasons
Rangers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Leading Locations for a Long Run: Manly Dam, Sydney, Australia. | LEADER OF THE TRACK.
Leading Locations for a Long Run: Manly Dam, Sydney, Australia.
The Manly Dam is a hidden Dam in Allambie Heights, which sets the scene for some spectacular trails. The trails are quite technical in some sections but the best thing about this running destination is that when you have completed a circuit around the dam which is roughly 10k you feel like you have had done an amazing workout. Manly Dam offers all types of terrain including creeks, dirt, sand, rocky and hilly trails. Once again, when you run around the Manly Dam it feels like you have escaped the realities of everyday life and you find some zen being amongst the beautiful Australian flora.
Click Here to view a map of Manly Dam.


text:
ArmDot Blog
Obfuscation tips and tricks
ArmDot Home
Does obfuscation affect performance?
On January 8, 2021 By Artem Razin In Uncategorized
Can obfuscation affect performance?
Almost every commercial application nowadays uses code protection. Traditionally, .NET applications are protected by obfuscation. An obfuscator renames metadata, changes the code, making it difficult to decode, hides resources, encrypts string literals, and so on.
This approach looks very attractive, but developers often wonder whether obfuscation affects performance. The question sounds simple, but the answer is not obvious at all. As usual, "the devil is in the detail" what kind of obfuscation has been used.
In this article, using some exact examples, we will have a look at how different obfuscation methods affect performance and draw conclusions about which of them should be used and when.
Although we consider a certain platform, .NET, the findings of this study can be applied to other environments such as Java; that's to be expected because the principles of code protection are platform-independent.
As an example in this article, we will take the implementation of the cryptographic hash function sha256, in C#. The project has four classes that calculate the hash. All the classes contain the same code, differing only in which obfuscation method is applied to the methods.
The project is available on GitHub: https://github.com/Softanics/ObfuscationSpeedTest
The program will calculate the hash 1000 times using each of the classes. Then it will display the execution time of each obfuscation method and the speed difference between the original code and the obfuscated code execution time.
In our test we've got the following numbers:
Without obfuscation: 0.02298607 ms
Names obfuscation: 0.02341139 ms (+1%)
Control flow obfuscation: 0.06654356 ms (+189%)
Virtualization: 1.5812997 ms (+6779%)
Names obfuscation
The very first obfuscators did nothing but change the names of public classes, properties, fields, etc. This method is really simple, but quite effective because the information about the names of classes and methods allows you to understand well what the code is doing. Names such as ShowNagScreen and IsSerialKeyValid speak for themselves!
What can we say about the impact of metadata renaming on the speed of obfuscated code execution? The speed practically does not change, and it is easy to understand why: after all, the method code itself remains the same:
Control Flow Obfuscation
This approach extracts all branches from the original code into separate methods (each is assigned an index). After obfuscation, the method is presented as a loop that calls these methods one in a time.
If this approach it is difficult to restore the original code because it's necessary to find all methods for each branch, as well as to understand the logic of calculating the index for the next method.
ArmDot uses the calli instruction, which slows down the execution (+ 189% in our example), since calling by pointer method is slower than a normal call. In addition, JIT does not have such broad capabilities for optimizing intermediate code, since in this case, the JIT is forced to optimize each method separately:
Code Virtualization
Code virtualization is the most advanced virtualization approach, but also the most expensive in terms of performance. Each instruction of the original code is encoded for execution on a virtual processor. Thus, it turns out that the original code is interpreted, which is always slow. In our example, the speed is reduced by about 60 times. This is the price to pay for the fact that it is almost impossible to deobfuscate the virtualized code:
The more advanced obfuscation is used, the slower the obfuscated code is executed.
Name obfuscation does not affect the performance and should always be used.
You can virtualize methods that are not computationally intensive. Otherwise, control flow obfuscation should be used.
How to write hardware id generator?
How to obfuscate Blazor App?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I'm so excited for Valentines Day because it's another excuse to dress up wear tons of pink and red. Since date night is the route most people take for Valentines Day I used this as my inspiration for this outfit. For this outfit, I actually did something I've never done before, but I've seen been done. This top here is really…a dress. When I first saw this be done I thought I would never bring my self to do it. But here we are, when picking this outfit out I just couldn't resist. All I did was tuck a short fitted dress into a skirt. Then I just paired it with a pair of black heels and there we go. I challenge you to try this to change things up a bit and its a great way to rewear dresses in a new way (we all know we have those dresses we only have worn once but can't find a way to wear them). Also, of course, I couldn't find this dress anywhere (I originally got it from Bloomingdales) but you can really do this with any dress, but I linked another dress any way that I thought would look just as good. Happy Valentine's day!


text:
Missile misfire victim awarded compensation
Highest compensation of the year for relatives of ship captain
(CNA photo)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The relatives of a fishing boat captain who was killed by a misfired missile has been awarded NT$34.84 million (US$1 million), the highest state compensation of the year, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday.
During a drill last July 1, the Navy accidentally fired a Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile which smashed right through a fishing trawler near the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Straits.
The skipper of the Hsiang Li Sheng was reportedly killed instantly, while three members of his crew were injured.
An investigation showed grave negligence in the handling of the missile, which was fired by a lower Navy officer who had accidentally switched the system from simulation mode to combat mode without any supervision.
The Ministry of Justice named the case in its overview of public compensation decisions for the period from January to November. In the 20 relevant cases, the government had to pay up a total of NT$99.96 million (US$3.1 million), with the Ministry of National Defense alone accounting for more than NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) of the total, reports said.
The misfiring of the Navy missile was the single most expensive compensation case for the government this year, the MOJ said.
US nuclear sub could threaten China's area-denial strategy for Taiwan invasion
Taiwan Army confirms order for M136 Volcano mine delivery system
N.Korea fires two ballistic missile from Pyongyang airport, S.Korea says
European Parliament to review policy reports advocating more support for Taiwan
President orders Taiwan defense ministry to investigate cause of F-16 crash


text:
Q: Ko template drop down list in for each remove the selected items in the other drop downs I have drop downs in for each loop inside KO, when I change the value in any one of the Drop down , then other dropdown should not have the selected value.
I used $data to get the values , how to use subscribe along with that

       <select id ="SELECT" data-bind="options: getColumnValues($root.AttributeSpecifications,columnValues), optionsText: 'AttributeName', optionsCaption: 'Select Attribute...', optionsValue: columnValues, value: Attribute"></select>

               with any of the following values:

               List | Range

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


So Enrique is officially gone and a day before we kick-off our new season against Arsenal of all teams, we dont have a senior recognised left-back.
Great. You would have thought a professionally run football club would be only in this scenario if the sale was sudden and out of the blue. But of course, this is Newcastle Utd.
For as long as 6 months we have all known Jose Enrique Sanchez wanted to leave St James Park for pastures new. To hopefully, on his side, a 'bigger' club in Europe. So you would think the football club would have had a tight hold on the situation by having some kind of plan or strategy on the matter.
Did anyone in their right mind think that Enrique was going to sign a new contract?
"I would be asking why hadn't we got a left back in earlier (if I was a fan)", said Pardew. "The difference was that if Jose had signed we would have been left with 2 very, very expensive full backs which we can't afford when we are trying to build the best side possible". "We offered him a deal (back in February) and he didn't want to sign it, so we had no-where to go".
I mean, what is this? Why is he saying these words? Is he really this incompetent?
We all fully understand that he doesn't get any help from the owner and his croney in regards to communication to the fans. But at the end of the day, name how many football club's where the chairman comes out and discussed transfers with journalists...? There's not many.
There is no excuse for this constant tripe.
Erm yes ok, that all makes perfect sense. The club have had a Grade A plan in place for 6 months on this issue then?....do nothing, see what happen's and wait for the inevitable.
So, anyway. Looking forward. We are left with a situation of, who is gonna play at left back on Saturday evening?
I've heard Shane Ferguson is back fit but if it were me I would stick Ryan Taylor in their. After all, he played their for Wigan with relative success (notably against us) and the whole initial reason he came to us in the first place was because he was a direct swap with Charles N'Zogbia, as we needed to fill the left back spot he was vacating at the time. A major point on Ryan Taylor's time at NUFC so far that has seemed to be completely forgotten, or more likely missed, by all associated with Newcastle Utd Football Club.


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ReelRenkovish
A refuge for film buffs.
Written by Steven Adam Renkovish September 29, 2016
Adam Wingard's sequel to The Blair Witch Project, entitled Blair Witch, has arrived. I just saw it for the first time yesterday – and I can't wait to see it again.
When the original film came out in 1999, I was still in high school. I went to the theatre on a school night to see it not knowing what to expect. I emerged from the theatre that night in a state of near-panic. The film had shaken me. I had never seen anything quite like it. It was the first "found-footage" film that I had ever seen, and the first time that I saw it, I could have sworn it was real. As time passed and I came to realize that it was merely an exercise in unbearably tense, low-budget improvisation and that Josh, Mike, and Heather were alive and well, the film still terrified me. It still worked for me as a singular piece of nerve-shredding cinematic artistry. I remember there definitely being a Blair Witch backlash. Some were merely angry because they felt they had been duped. Some found the lack of traditional cheap scares to be unappealing, even "boring". When the VHS was released soon afterwards, I grabbed one of the first copies that I saw at Wal-Mart. A lady behind me warned, "Put that back down. It's terrible!" When I revealed to her my undying love of the film, she cut me an awkward glance and walked away.
And then the atrocious Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 happened, and like everyone else at the time, I hated it.
Seventeen years have passed since the release of The Blair Witch Project, and I'm still a fan. Critics still laud it as a modern masterpiece, while most detractors of the film remain unconvinced. But Adam Wingard – the director behind such gems as You're Next and The Guest – has arrived on the scene and brought us his sequel. From the early moments until the very end, you can tell that this film is a labor of love.
When the film opens, we learn that Heather Donahue's younger brother, James, has found a video online which hints that his sister may be alive in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland. Immediately, he sets out with three of his friends – Ashley, Paul, and aspiring filmmaker, Lisa – as well as some filming equipment to venture out into those same ominous woods and look for her.
When they arrive in Burkittsville, they meet up with two sketchy locals, Lane and Talia, who are responsible for the aforementioned online video. They end up joining James and his friends on their quest into the forest, and may or may not have ulterior motives. Once the group arrives, it doesn't take long before things take a turn for the worst. One of the girls suffers a severe foot injury – that results in a deep, pulsating wound – and some of the equipment starts acting up. And when darkness finally comes, that's when the fun – and the scares – really begin.
All of this leads up to a terrifying third act, and with that being said, I really don't want to say anymore. If you are a fan of the original film – or even if you are new to the Blair Witch franchise – you need to see this film immediately. As I am writing this article, Blair Witch is underperforming at the box office. It has made back its budget of five million, but not nearly as much as the filmmakers undoubtedly anticipated. That's a shame, because frankly speaking, it's one of the best horror films of the year. Hell, it's one of the best films of the year, period. Everything from the clever use of modern technology to capture the footage, to the nods to the original film, to the meticulously crafted film "score", to the performances – it all works so wonderfully.
Early on in the film, the central characters stay the night in the very same hotel that Josh, Heather, and Mike visited from the original. Once I realized this, I was giddy. I knew that this film was in the right hands. If it had been any other director, it probably wouldn't have worked. Adam Wingard already has a proven track record, and he has taken great care to remain true to the source material and the mythology behind the Blair Witch. Even the score that Wingard created perfectly fits the material. If you listen to the soundtrack from the original film – entitled "Josh's Blair Witch Mix" – there is a track called "The Cellar" that plays over the end credits of The Blair Witch Project. It's an ambient track full of creepy noises, bangs, and claps that gives you the feeling of being trapped in a pitch dark forest in the middle of the night, surrounded by the unknown. The entire soundtrack that Wingard has crafted stays true to the spirit of "The Cellar". It's a work of art apart from the film. You can purchase it off of iTunes, and one can only hope that it will get a vinyl release at some point.
As you can tell, I loved this film. Much credit must also go to the excellent cast, including James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, and Wes Robinson. This ensemble of actors is totally committed and does not disappoint.
Do not miss Blair Witch. Go out and see it now, in a darkened theatre. You won't regret it.
Posted in Film Reviews.Tagged Adam Wingard, Blair Witch, Blair Witch film review, Blair Witch Project, found-footage, horror film, independent film, Indie film, remake, sequel, The Guest, witch, Witchcraft, You're Next.
One thought on "Review: Blair Witch"
James Scott says:
Thought it was a fine follow-up — and a fine review!
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text:
Republican Fringe Ideas Help Obama's Reelection Prospects
September 6, 2011 — Ron Chusid
With Rick Perry moving into a lead for the GOP nomination, there are some conservatives who recognize that his nomination could be a disaster of Goldwater-proportions. Joe Scarborough says there is "No way" Perry could beat Obama. Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review has a realistic column for Bloomberg arguing that Obama's weakness is leading to Republican overreach, making it hard for Republicans to win in a general election. Ponnuru wrote:
Already the Republican primaries have seen candidates take positions that will be hard sells in the fall of next year. Both Bachmann and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, for example, want to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency. Polls suggest that while the public doesn't consider environmental protection its top priority right now, it favors regulation and trusts Democrats over Republicans on the issue. Texas Governor Rick Perry has suggested that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional and that they should be replaced by state-run programs. There's a reason no Republican candidate since 1964 has run on a platform anything like this one on entitlements: Both programs are extremely popular.
Perry has also suggested that he disapproves of the New Deal, seeing it as a moment when the federal government began to exceed the constitutional limits of its power. He hasn't said he wants to undo the New Deal, but it's not out of bounds for Democrats to make the charge, given the importance he attaches to constitutionalism.
In each of these cases, provocative positions have been met by silence from rival candidates. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney hasn't come out in favor of abolishing the EPA or getting rid of federal entitlement programs, but he hasn't denounced these ideas or even used them as an argument against the electability of the candidates who have advanced them. Evidently he believes either that the primary electorate doesn't think these positions are politically toxic, or that it doesn't consider electability a key concern.
If Republican voters had electability on their minds, they would also want to see the candidates address issues that concern the broader public: how to get wages growing again after years when they stagnated even during periods of growth; and what to replace Obama's health-care reform with. But the candidates feel no pressure from primary voters to outline plans on those issues, and haven't done so. Instead, they are focused on issues — such as the alleged threat of "sharia law" and the heavy share of income taxes paid by the rich — that are of interest only to the party faithful.
Ponnuru prefaced this discussion by a discussion of Obama's difficulties in getting reelected, and hopefully underestimated Obama's political skills:
Obama has never had to demonstrate great political skill in his general-election races. During both of them, he was blessed with good luck (a fringy opponent in his Senate race, and a collapsing economy during his presidential run).
To limit the discussion to general-election races ignores a major achievement in defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Although the economic situation made it difficult for a Republican to win in 20o8 (while giving Republicans an edge in 2012 due to the short memories of American voters), Obama still did run an excellent general election campaign. On the other hand, the manner in which the Republicans won the spin wars over health care reform and the stimulus after Obama took office do leave cause for concern. Obama's chances are helped considerably due to his potential opponents being bat-shit crazy. He might also be helped by falling in the polls now, forcing him to campaign more as he did before be was elected.
Posted in Barack Obama, Barry Goldwater, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Politics, Rick Perry. Tags: Barack Obama, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Taxes. RSS feed for comments on this post.. TrackBack URL.
John Sonntag says:
September 7th 2011 at 11:49 pm
RT @ronchusid: Republican Fringe Ideas Help Obama's Reelection Prospects #p2 #p21 #topprog http://t.co/KfnPtBd Obama may win against crazy.
The Spartan Arena says:
September 8th 2011 at 12:29 am
September 14th 2011 at 4:19 pm
As a liberal minded person,the negative conotation of unpopular political ideas as being "fringe" along with the seeming stance that "fringe" ideas should be avoided together with fringe people and groups, frightens me.There once was a time when those who sought to abolish slavery were indeed a minority /fringe group.Where would we be today if that group would not have existed ?
Ideas should not be judged by popularity, but by the rational subtance of those ideas. This is only my humble opinion of course.
I should have made care to add to my previous post that the majority of republican political ideas do in fact lack rational substance,even though many of those ideas are quite popular.For the record,I am not defending the republicans.
Yes, it is true that fringe ideas could sometimes be good ideas. However, I am referring to Republican fringe ideas expecting that readers will generally know what I'm referring to. While not fringe ideas should be viewed negatively, these Repubican fringe ideas should.
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Military watch … idling outside a venue.
A FLEET of armoured personnel carriers with camouflaged 40-millimetre guns quickly surrounded the Olympic venues amid stepped-up security yesterday morning - and suddenly the tone of the Beijing Games took a nasty turn.
These are not the feel-good Olympics the Chinese wanted projected to the world. Yesterday the organisers acknowledged they had faked parts of the openng ceremony, "to provide a theatrical effect", conceded the Games lacked atmosphere, admitted to importing a crowd of volunteers and declared they were preparing to sell thousands more tickets to the Olympic Green to generate enthusiasm.
The president of the Australian Olympic Committee, John Coates, said he was unsure why the tanks had been placed outside the media centre and noted the less-than-euphoric mood.
"I think you have got to put a lot of that down to the preoccupation with security," he said. "And they haven't been able to manage the balance between security and creating that atmosphere, I suppose."
The vice-president of the Beijing organising committee, Wang Wei, said yesterday he did not know why the tanks had been put in place or if it was in response to the murder of an American visitor and the serious assault of his wife on day one of the Games.
"I am not the person to deploy all of this. It is meant to be protective to safeguard the security of athletes and everybody," Mr Wang said. "I have been to different Games. I don't think this is a surprise in Beijing."
Yellow T-shirted volunteers have been shipped in to fill the vacant seats of fickle fans who have bought tickets but have found the weather - either steaming hot or wet - too oppressive. "These are volunteers to lead the cheer squads to create good atmosphere," Mr Wang said.
Despite wanting to fill seats, the authorities have also put security on the alert for scalpers. Touting is banned and organisers have enforced measures to prevent on-selling, including having a second form of identification when entering for the opening ceremony. But yesterday organisers said they would look into the scalping of tickets at highly inflated prices for volleyball, fencing and swimming. It is understood several scalpers were detained yesterday.
Yet while the Games have been sold out, some venues have been embarrassingly bereft of crowds - such as the beach volleyball and hockey stadiums.
Mr Wang said two of the 18 venues had attendance figures of more than 90 per cent, six were more than 80 per cent, eight were more than 70 per cent and two were more than 60 per cent.
This comes as the foreign media has become increasingly hostile toward Beijing organisers as their promises and those of the International Olympic Committee about press freedoms have been discarded. Headlines around the world are reflecting a dour mood.
Yesterday the South China Morning Post reported how the mainland Chinese media had been issued with a 21-point plan to censor their Games coverage. For instance, any political issues that emerged at venues were banned from being reported. Earlier, the Herald wrote how Chinese reporters at the volleyball had notebooks and at least one tape-recording confiscated when the topic of Todd Bachman, the murdered associate of the US volleyball team, was raised. Beijing organisers yesterday said one recorder was taken so another journalist could copy the notes.
At yesterday's press conference, Jill Ku Martin, of Radio Free Asia, a non-profit broadcast service sponsored by the US Congress, demanded to know why her Tibetan colleague Dhondup Dansar had approval from the IOC to cover the Games but was barred from China by its Foreign Ministry. The IOC and Beijing organisers had vowed the accreditation card would guarantee entry to the Games as it doubled as a Chinese visa.
Other restrictions on press freedoms, such as plainclothes security forces photographing reporters interviewing subjects, were raised. "Well, you need evidence of that [occurring]," Mr Wang said.


text:
Pearl Jam Wine Sells Out in Just 15 Minutes
Pearl Jam...
Want some wine with your jam? Legendary Seattle grunge band Pearl Jam recently collaborated with Washington state winemakers Mark McNeilly and Trey Busch on a special limited-quantity red wine that will benefit charities helping the homeless.
The wine, dubbed Idle Hands, is a blend of 90 percent syrah and 10 percent cabernet sauvignon. It was sold only in four-bottle boxed sets that cost $150, with each bottle featuring a different label designed by the band. The labels show the skylines of the four cities the band will play on its upcoming "Home X Away" tour - Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and Missoula, Montana.
McNeilly, of Mark Ryan Winery, and Busch, of Sleight of Hand Cellars, are donating 100 percent of the proceeds to The Home Shows, Pearl Jam's first concerts in Seattle in five years, which will be held August 8 and 10. The Home Shows are a program of the band's Vitalogy Foundation, and the proceeds will go to help fight homelessness. As Seattle has boomed, its homeless population has swelled to become the nation's third largest, with over 12,000 people living without shelter.
Pearl Jam announced the wine in a fan newsletter sent out July 10 at 10 a.m., and all 450 boxed sets sold out by 10:15 a.m.
"We were slammed with emails asking if we are making more," Busch told The Daily Meal in an email. "It was very humbling, and we wish we could have made more, but we really did not know if we were going to sell everything that we made. I had a hunch it would go quickly, and I was right."
Don't give up completely, wine-loving fans. Busch says the winemakers are talking to Pearl Jam about doing a yearly project "to keep the fundraising momentum going."
And Seattleites have a few other chances to snag the wine. Busch says 20 of the Seattle bottles will be for sale at Sleight of Hand Cellars in Seattle's SODO neighborhood starting at 11 a.m. on August 7. Another 120 of the Seattle bottles will be sold at the Museum of Pop Culture's Pearl Jam exhibit, which opens August 9. Also, those dining at the 14 Seattle restaurants owned by chef Ethan Stowell can buy the wine by the glass and bottle until they run out.
In case Pearl Jam fandom isn't enough to make you uncork a bottle, here are 20 reasons why you should drink a bottle of wine every day.
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Yep. It pays well and it isn't too hard. Even if you're used to writing for magazines, your skills are transferable to this type of work. And, there's plenty of it available. Think how many badly-written websites you've encountered in the last few weeks. Some of those were business websites, and many of those businesses know their website copy isn't doing them any favors.
It sounds obvious but many writers don't think to identify a problem, and offer the solution. When you're working with magazine editors, you come up with a story idea, and try to find it a good home. This works the other way around: find a home that needs work, then come up with the story of how your rewriting skill will improve it, and pitch that thought to the website's owner.
It's not only poorly-written copy for small businesses that needs rewriting. Big-budget businesses rewrite web pages all year 'round. For example, the launch of a new flagship product often leads to a copy revamp across a brand's other web pages. So, keep an eye out for product announcements, and consider pitching your rewriting service to those businesses.
When you approach someone about the possibility of rewriting their web copy, you don't want to offend them by criticizing their existing website too harshly. But, at the same time, you need to make it clear that you can make improvements worth paying for.
The best way I've found to get through to potential clients is a demonstration of my interest in their company.
Start by explaining why you were on their website, or how you noticed the news of their new product line (unless you were purposely hunting for clients; "I was looking for people who might pay me and I found you" isn't going to make your prospects feel good). Then, explain the two or three most obvious ways you could improve their web copy. Focus on what you can do for them rather than what's wrong with their existing copy, and they won't be offended. If you've done copywriting or editing work of any kind before, be sure to mention that. If you've never worked on web copy, mention what writing or editing work you have done; journalism, a published book, or a successful blog will impress potential clients, too.
Set up routes for new website rewriting clients to discover you so you won't have to spend as much time on outbound marketing. Your LinkedIn profile is a good place to start by adding web copy rewriting into your professional headline and summary section. Search engines love LinkedIn so now you'll be more likely to show up in relevant organic search results.
If you've got a website of your own, add website rewriting to your service list there, too. The main difference between bringing in copy rewriting clients and bringing in magazine or copywriting clients is that your inbound leads have a different problem: they don't need content, they need improvements.
There's usually a specific measurement they're hoping to change so they may be searching for "landing page optimization" or "reader engagement" rather than "website copywriting". If you use typical phrases like these in your own copy when you describe your services, you'll make it easier for people to find you.
Always ask for a testimonial at the end of each project, ideally via LinkedIn; these happy customer stories help bring new clients to your door. Word-of-mouth referrals are the best source of big-budget new clients so let your existing clients know you'd be delighted if they suggest you to anyone they know who might want a rewrite.
What are they trying to achieve with these web pagesósales, subscriptions, or clicks to another page?
What do they like and dislike about their existing web copy?
Who will be your point of contact: the Web Developer? Marketing manager? CEO?
Will you be given a detailed brief and resources to work from, or simply handed a URL and asked to "rewrite this"?
How fast do they need the work completed?
Once you have all the information, you'll be able to give a realistic quote, and plan your workload productively. On large jobs, you should consider charging an hourly rate.
Don't get stuck in your writing niche. Breaking in to web copy rewriting will give you something to fall back on when other assignments are in short supply. If you don't feel confident enough, read some books and websites on copywriting to pick up the jargon and basic principles.
You're a writer. You know how to forge a psychological connection out of words. That's all it takes to become a web copy rewriter, so give it a shot!


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how do pro cyclists train
sitting down at the beginning of a training block and deciding what it is you want to achieve in cycling, with focus on long and short-term goals, is one aspect of training that often gets pushed to one side. "the amount of hours, rest and intensity required in training is different from person to person, but making it specific to you is what i believe to be training like a pro — probably best put as the 'ethos of training like a pro'," explains gallagher. do you have a job that is most stressful at a certain time of year, for example? your responsibilities off the bike are likely greater and spread over different aspects of life, meaning you need to make recovery a priority, even if you're training for fewer hours.
ensuring you have a good relationship with your local bike shop can go a long way to improving this aspect of non-pro life. to avoid frustration it might be better to plan for eight to nine hours of training, for example, and have a set one hour each week or fortnight when you know you'll be doing bike maintenance. pros also tend to have a more long-term view of training and racing which affects their day to day decision making. seeing a physiotherapist if you have aches and pains, getting a bike fit to ensure you and your bike are working optimally together and asking experts about areas such as stretching and general body maintenance are all part of the pro attitude to training.
how many hours a week do they train? perspective on how pros train v what amateurs tend to do. while most of us will never be as fast as the pros, that doesn't mean we can't train like one. whether at a recent ef education first pro cycling team camp lim organized in andorra, retired professional, how many miles do pro cyclist ride a week, how many days a week do pro cyclists train, how to train for cycling, how to train for cycling, how to train like a pro cyclist.
for the most part, a pro cyclist's training is centred around their race objectives for the year. riders sit down with coaches and team management before the start of the season to identify the races they'll take part in, and the training that will prepare them. in purely distance metrics, most professional strava profiles i've seen were around 13,000-16,000 km's ridden this year so deciding how much to train pro cyclists often ride 20-30 hours a week. riders training for ultramarathon events may, how to train for a cycling event, pro cyclist training plan, cycling training plan, how to be a pro cyclist
When you search for the how do pro cyclists train, you may look for related areas such as how many miles do pro cyclist ride a week, how many days a week do pro cyclists train, how to train for cycling, how to train like a pro cyclist, how to train for a cycling event, pro cyclist training plan, cycling training plan, how to be a pro cyclist. how do professional cyclists train? how much do pro cyclists ride? how are pro cyclists so fast? how much do pro cyclists sleep?


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What Makes Hurricane Harvey So Potentially Deadly
August 25, 2017 - Hurricane… more
August 25, 2017 - Hurricane Harvey is showing the signs of a catastrophic storm. Harvey's top winds have reached 130 mph, which make it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The storm is expected to bring 25 inches of rain that will last up to five days. And Harvey will linger, moving only a few miles an hour, which will increase the potential of flooding. The combination of intense rain and high winds could lead to severe damage throughout the region.
Read "Why Hurricane Harvey May Be Deadlier Than Other Storms."
Hurricane Harvey is showing the signs of a catastrophic storm.
Harvey is going through rapid intensification.
This means its maximum sustained winds have increased at least 30 knots per hour in a 24-hour period.
Harvey's top winds grew from 60 mph to 120 mph on Friday.
Top winds have reached 130 mph, which make it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
The storm is expected to bring 25 inches of rain that will last up to five days.
And Harvey will linger, moving only a few miles an hour … which will increase the potential of flooding.
The combination of intense rain and high winds could lead to severe damage throughout the region.
Florida Is So Cold, Iguanas Are Falling From Trees
Why Niagara Falls Doesn't Freeze Solid
How to Save Your Pet's Life in a Natural Disaster
Old Crow Medicine Show—'I Hear Them All'
Photographing in Fog
Travel Category:
Nat Geo Channel
Expedition Amelia
Yellowstone Live
A brief history of Yellowstone National Park
Discover the Pristine Natural Ecosystem of the Galapagos
Explore a Ghost Town in Southern Italy
Discover How Conservation is Being Redefined in Gorongosa National Park
Illegal marijuana farms endanger wildlife on California's public lands
Destinations: San Francisco
A brief history of Grand Canyon National Park
A forest garden with 500 edible plants could lead to a sustainable future
Go behind the scenes with illustrator Christoph Niemann
Reflections: New Zealand's Welcoming Spirit
Kaikōura: Adventures Wild & Inspiring


Get prepared on your AP examination with this simple and easy-to-follow research advisor, up-to-date for all of the most modern examination changes!
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Jewish american citizens produced essentially the most vital writing within the U. S. within the 20th century. This better half addresses the exact Jewish American contribution to American literary feedback, poetry and pop culture.
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What your older sister will not inform you . . . What your mom and dad do not know . . . Where's the cafeteria? How do i am getting to my subsequent classification, with the entire correct books, in lower than 5 mins? How do I take care of standardized assessments? Which golf equipment should still I sign up for? am i able to carry my iPod to college? If i am getting crammed in my locker, how lengthy will it take for somebody to discover me?
Nothing" Faced with the task of professing her love for her father, Cordelia proves unable to utter the expected speeches of praise that Goneril and Regan have so expertly pronounced. F 38 4/7/00 3:35 PM Page 38 Act I, Scene 1 CliffsComplete King Lear Cordelia says a single word — "Nothing" (90). Lear's pride — both as king and as father — is injured to the extent that he disinherits Cordelia. Kent berates the king for making such a foolish decision, but Lear refuses to listen to his loyal advisor and goes so far as to banish Kent from the kingdom.
64 Cordelia It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness, No unchaste action or dishonoured step, That hath deprived me of your grace and favour; But even for want of that for which I am richer — A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue That I am glad I have not, though not to have it Hath lost me in your liking. F 4/7/00 3:35 PM Page 27 CliffsComplete King Lear Act I, Scene 1 Act I, Scene 1 27 This scene introduces most of the major characters. We find that King Lear divides his kingdom between his older daughters Goneril and Regan, disinherits his youngest daughter Cordelia, and banishes the loyal Earl of Kent.
F 4/7/00 3:35 PM Page 37 CliffsComplete King Lear Act I, Scene 1 37 COMMENTARY n King Lear, Shakespeare names for us 21 characters, along with an assortment of officers, knights, messengers, and so on. In this first scene, you meet 11 of these characters in Shakespeare's setup, or exposition, of the play. The introductions include all but one member of the two primary families of the drama: the royal family of King Lear and the family of the Earl of Gloucester. I The first players to enter the stage are the Earl of Kent, the Earl of Gloucester, and Edmund, Gloucester's son.


Keep Reading "Purslane or Verdolagas"
Its name, Cascabel, which translates to rattle, comes from the sound it makes when you shake it. With its sphere, globe-like shape, the dried seeds have a lot of room to play and make noise in. Sometimes, because of that shape it is also called Chile Bola, as in ball. Different from most fresh chiles that are dried, it retains its shape and doesn't flatten out once it is dry. Also, different from many chiles, it maintains the same name when fresh or dried.
It's hard to think of Mexico without images of cactus plants. From landscapes to murals, to paintings, photos, plays, songs… and namely to the Mexican flag! Mexico's coat of arms has an eagle eating a snake triumphantly standing on a cactus plant. As legend goes, that sign led the Aztecs to their promised land, Tenochtitlán.
Keep Reading "Cactus Paddles or Nopales"
Mexican chocolate is quite different from regular bittersweet chocolate sold throughout the world. It is sweeter, yet with contrasting layers of flavor that seem to sweep your tongue in waves as you take a bite. It is also grainy, practically gritty. It is traditionally made from a mixture of toasted cacao beans, ground almonds, regular sugar and cinnamon.
Don't let their size fool you. These chiles pack a punch of flavor and more importantly, they have been spicing up Mexico's taste buds for a long time in many ways. Different varieties of Piquín grow in bushes that have small and pointy leaves. The chiles are adorably cute!
The name Hoja Santa translates to "sacred leaf." The leaves of the hoja santa plant are heart-shaped with a thick velvety texture. These leaves can grow up to a foot and sometimes more. I find them to be truly beautiful. Though hoja santa is found throughout Mexico, it is mostly used in the south. Mexican cooks use hoja santa judiciously not only because of it's strong, unique, unexpected taste, but also because too much of it is not good for you, just like epazote.
Keep Reading "Hoja Santa or Hierba Santa"
It's hard to think of Mexico and not think of limes. In Mexico, limes are everywhere and served with everything from peanuts, to fruit, to tacos, to a steak dinner. So, it's hard to believe that limes did not originate in Mexico and were brought over by the Europeans from the Indo-Malaysian region. Yet, the fruit was eagerly embraced and incorporated into Mexican cuisine, so much so, that it has become a necessity in the Mexican kitchen.
Keep Reading "Pumpkin Seeds or Pepitas"
Keep Reading "Allspice or Pimienta Gorda"


The 10 pair vertical dumbbell rack is designed with cradle-style slots, which provide a secure area to hold your rubber hex style dumbbells. Great for commercial, or personal training centers, This amazing rack is everything that you could want.
Assembled Dimension: 52cm (L) x 52cm (W) 1215cm (H).


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First Sentence: Mary O'Donoghue
Mary O'Donoghue
'It's the small stuff – and here I mean the odd particulate matter of daily life – that lets me access the sprawl of a place that wasn't mine but has incrementally become so.'
'Kiddio was between shoe sizes when we went to my cousin's wedding in a superannuated church that smelled of cooked dust.'
I suppose the first sentence of any story is a stone-cold delivery of formal consequences: writing the sentence calls down a penalty which the story must serve out. I don't mean in the responsibility to plot construction or character development; I mean the obligation to voice. The first sentence of 'Kiddio at the Wedding' arrived shrilly, as unmitigated as the mockingbirds squabbling for sex-attention outside the window where I am writing this. I straightaway disliked this sentence. This brashness? I shoved it aside for some time.
Truculent as its rhythms first seemed, though, I recognized that the sentence came with certain sonic arrangements, and they goaded more work. Here was a narrator, itching for a hearing. And I'm devoted to sound and to listening. I'm also very keen on what's unbefitting or foolhardy in language: in this case the immodesty of a word like 'superannuated'. I tried to use other words in its place, words more miscible with fiction. But nothing struck quite the same blow for unseemliness.
And then, absolution, by way of Eudora Welty. In 'The Reading and Writing of Short Stories' (1949), she bids a writer, 'Beware of tidiness.' I write at a morbidly tidy desk. My longhand is clerically neat, and undistinctive as a five-year-old's. My orderliness has its procedural and mechanical outlets, the better to behave profligately once inside language. And so I made peace with 'superannuated', and gauged I might also care for the stroppy consciousness that cooked it up.
The narrator inaugurated herself early in the writing. She was vexed with her lot, biggity, and in need of something to give and do. I started to enjoy sentence-time spent in her prickly company. In the story she has come home to a town in the American south. The town is fictional, but likely – its details distilled from places I know. She makes an alliance with a child who has shown up from 'one of the most terrible places on earth'. Another unspecified but likely place.
I grew up in the Irish countryside, on the edge of the Burren. If we're measuring by the mega-annum, it's as fixed a place as can be. I have lived many years in the United States: for a long time in Massachusetts (where I continue to work), and now in the American South, specifically Alabama. This is home. In the past few years I have written short fiction set in the south, but 'Kiddio' is where I gave myself most go-ahead to scrutinize the stinging newness of this place. Joy Williams (in a writing lecture quoted in the Paris Review's 'Art of Fiction No. 223') says American writers ought to 'reflect the sprawl and smallness of America, its greedy optimism and dangerous sentimentality', and lately I think her directive gives a pleasurable, liminal responsibility to the interloper, the visitor, the non-native-but-long-resident writer. For it's the small stuff – and here I mean the odd particulate matter of daily life – that lets me access the sprawl of a place that wasn't mine but has incrementally become so.
Finishing this long thought on that first sentence, I'm tuned to spring in the window. Alabama in April is blowsy with growth, and a person might blush for its boisterous fertility. But mainly I hope it gives pluck to new sentences.
Photograph © oliver.dodd
Mary O'Donoghue grew up in County Clare; she now lives in Alabama. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Irish Times, Stinging Fly, Dublin Review and elsewhere.
Kiddio at the Wedding
'If he fell in I would jump straight after, I would plumb through water not cold so much as oily, and dark as a dirty wine bottle.'
Best Story of 1992: 'Mlle. Dias de Corta'
Mary O'Donoghue on why Mavis Gallant's 'Mlle. Dias de Corta' is the best story of 1992.
Protected: First Sentence: Javier Zamora
Javier Zamora
Going Diamond
'In Amway, there's no such thing as contentment.'
Essays & Memoir | Granta Books
The White Bloc
James Pogue
'This election made clear that white people in this country have begun to vote how Southern whites always have: as a bloc.'
Poetry | The Online Edition
Coming Night
'what did you think of, / how long did you wait'


The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Chrysler bankruptcy deal, less than 24 hours after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a temporary stay. The two page decision notes that a stay "is not a right" but "an exercise of judicial discretion." The decision also quotes precedent that "in a close case it may be appropriate to balance the equities" and consider the "interests of the public at large."
In other words, this isn't a matter of fundamental rights, as Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock asserted, but just a matter of balancing competing interests. Mourdock complained that, as a holder of secured debt, the pension funds he manages should have trumped all other claims.
Holders of 92 percent of that debt agreed to accept 29 cents on the dollar, which sounds harsh. But then, there has been plenty of pain to go around. By the way, the New York Times reports, Mourdock bought the debt last July for 43 cents on the dollar. He may have thought buying distressed debt was a reasonable bet at the time, but it strikes me as a rather speculative play for public pension funds.


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+32 2 880 7297 brussels@ceep.be
CEDE CONFERENCE
Nord Stream 2 –Energy Union at the crossroads
The European Commission has taken note of the plans of gas undertakings to build Nord Stream 2. If built, Nord Stream 2 would have to fully comply, as any other infrastructure project, with applicable EU law, including on energy and environment. In May 2014, the European Commission set out in its Energy Security Strategy how the EU remains vulnerable to external energy shocks. It called on policy makers at national and EU level to diversify and reduce our dependency on particular fuels, energy suppliers and routes. The Energy Union builds on this strategy. Energy security, solidarity and trust constitute a key dimension of our framework strategy of 25 February 2015. The key drivers of energy security remain the completion of the internal energy market and more efficient energy consumption. But events over the past years have also shown that diversification of energy sources, suppliers and routes are crucial for ensuring secure and resilient energy supplies to European citizens and companies. More transparency and solidarity between the Member States are equally important. At the same time, the EU's energy security is closely linked with its neighbours. It is in this spirit, that on 16 February of this year, the European Commission presented its Security of Supply Package, which responded to many calls of this house. I believe that this package sends a strong signal that we are building a secure and resilient Energy Union, based on competition and cooperation for the benefit of EU citizens and companies. Let me just recall that the package proposes a revised Security of Gas Supply Regulation, an LNG and storage strategy, changes to the [...]
The Energy Charter and its implications for the EU's Energy Union
May 20th, 2015, was a historic day for international energy co-operation. After many years of planning, discussions, diplomatic effort and, finally, negotiation, the International Energy Charter was adopted at a Ministerial Conference in The Hague.
The 4th Annual CEEP Energy Summit: "29+1"
With the topic "Energy Meets Digital. Digital Economy: A Technology Driver for an Energy Union", this year's 29+1 edition focuses on the game-changing interaction between the energy and digital realms. '29+1' Annual Energy Summit takes place on June 15 and 16, in Warsaw. The '29+1' Summit brings together a distinguished and knowledgeable group of decision-makers to allow them to discuss the major challenges and opportunities in the field of energy. As in the past three years, the summit will once again provide the opportunity for representatives of Central European energy and energy-intensive companies to come together and voice their interests. On June 16, the roundtable meeting, with the participation of Mr. Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy & Society, and the European Commissioner for Energy in the years 2010-2014, will be held. Issues related to the energy sector and digital economy at local and regional level are expected to feature strongly. The summit will also allow us to present, for the first time, a report drafted by CEEP and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, which indicates the way forward in proceeding with the key infrastructural projects for the full integration of the EU, complementing the existing and planned infrastructural networks. This event is one of our flagship projects, where '29' stands for 29 CEOs or Board members of the biggest Energy Sector companies from Central Europe and the '1' stands for the EU's Commissioner. The first such Energy Summit was held in Budapest under the Patronage of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, Waldemar Pawlak, and the Cypriot Presidency to the [...]
Rafał Trzaskowski: "We have changed the way of thinking about energy in the EU"
For Poland, is the Energy Union Package a success? It is a success, no doubt about that! We have managed to change the way of thinking about energy security in the European Union. I believe there is no way back to the situation where energy was being treated purely from the perspective of national interests, away from climate and economic challenges. We did succeed in placing energy on the right track , where the EU's common, strategic, geopolitical goals matter more than regional aspirations and where external energy suppliers cannot play us against each other, in line with a 'divide and rule' strategy. . This long-term change in the EU's philosophy is as important as practical legislative proposals. Almost all the solutions from the original proposal by Donald Tusk, the then Prime Minister of Poland, are now in the Energy Union Package. All agreements, commercial ones too, will have to be transparent, which means: fully compliant with EU law and EU energy security provisions, without prejudice to the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information. That is a Copernican shift to what we have at the moment. The Commission will be finally able to verify whether EU laws and energy policies are being obeyed. It is very important that it also concerns the EU's policies, as some contracts do not explicitly break the EU laws, but go against the philosophy of the single market. Also, collective purchasing will be possible, in line with EU competition law and WTO rules, although it will not be compulsory. Is Poland planning to build an inter-governmental platform for such collective purchasing of gas? [Tweet "So [...]
Jan Woźniak: an Energy Union could strengthen our bargaining power
"Imposing further restrictions on industry, without parallel moves in other parts of the world, will lead to the ultimate slow death of the EU's industry." Jarosław Adamowski (JA): Impexmetal is active in the non-iron metals industry, with more than 30 subsidiaries in Poland and abroad. What has been the impact of the EU regulations on the emissions of CO2, on the sector in which Impexmetal operates? Jan Woźniak (JW): The EU regulations related to the emissions of CO2 have a major importance for all industrial sectors, not just Impexmetal. On the one hand, given the high dependency of Poland's energy sector (and energy is one of the key costs incurred by the metals industry) on coal, these regulations are a major handicap to our competitiveness, and yet, on the other one, they foster innovativeness. So, in this sense, they are both a barrier and an incentive for development. In the long-term, the regulations which limit CO2 emissions will positively impact on economic development, but they are currently limiting the possibilities of competing against companies from outside of the EU, which are not bound by such restrictive regulations. JA: The ongoing negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) by Brussels and Washington could have a significant impact on the competitiveness of the EU's industry. Is Impexmetal hoping that this will lead to a facilitation of Europe's access to the US market? Would such a development be beneficial to the non-iron metals sector? JW: Impexmetal has been present on the US market for many years. With regards to our volume of sales there, it is not an important market [...]
We represent the widely understood Central Europe energy sector (electricity generation, distribution and transmission, renewables, gas, oil, heat generation and distribution, chemical industries, etc.), universities and scientific institutions.
19jan - 22All DayThe fifth annual Global Energy Forum
19 (Tuesday) - 22 (Friday)
The Atlantic Council
The Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum is the premiere international gathering of government, industry, and thought leaders to set the energy agenda for the year. Now in its fifth year, the Forum has emerged as the go-to energy conference to discuss the geopolitical and market issues confronting the energy industry in the coming year, develop new partnerships, and demonstrate thought leadership on global energy trends.
The 2021 Forum will have a special focus on the post-pandemic energy system, emerging net-zero carbon goals, the role of the Middle East in the energy transition, and the US's energy and foreign policy priorities in the Biden administration.
Offered in a new virtual setting, the 2021 Forum will feature our Atlantic Council conference app that allows participants to network directly with one another, ask questions during live events, post on virtual boards, and connect with featured sponsors. The latest agenda is posted on the website and the list of confirmed speakers can be found here
Energy solidarity principle at the core of the January 13th ECJ hearing on OPAL pipeline January 19, 2021
The largest photovoltaic plant of Central and Eastern Europe is to be built in Poland January 19, 2021
CEEP's feedback to the Commission's IIA on the revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives January 14, 2021
The latest CEEP Policy Paper, discussing prospects for offshore wind development in Central Europe, is out! January 12, 2021
Central Europe Energy Partner's feedback to the Taxonomy criteria December 23, 2020
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Come join us and make some games for this year's Global Game Jam! We'll be kicking off the game jam on Friday at 18:00 with the keynote and theme announcement. You're very welcome to join if this is your first time making a game or your 100th!
Open for entire 48 hours. Site will open at 18:00 on Friday and remain open until 20:00 on Sunday.
Clothes have a lot to do with where we feel at home.


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Privatdozent
The Best Books on: The Golden Age of Quantum Physics
www.privatdozent.co
Jørgen Veisdal
Although a lot of my writing about physics has been about Einstein and his work, the history of quantum mechanics comes up quite often as well. This not necessarily intentionally. Although generally associated with the names Heisenberg, Born, Schrödinger and Dirac, there is a lot of overlap in the history of quantum mechanics with other historical figures and topics. For instance, von Neumann is perhaps best known as a brilliant mathematician who did work on computing, game theory and AI—less so for being the person who formulated much of the mathematical foundation for quantum mechanics. Similar for Oppenheimer, who is known as the Head of the Manhattan Project and the Director of the IAS, not as a brilliant researcher on quantum mechanics in Göttingen in the 1920s—and one of Dirac's closest friends. Indeed, as I tried to convey in my essay The Center of the Mathematical Universe, quite a few of the figures featured prominently in the history of 19th and early 20th-century mathematics and physics spend time in Göttingen during the time of the invention of quantum mechanics. Norbert Wiener even visited in 1925-26.
The Mathematical Center of the Universe
The inception of quantum mechanics can essentially be traced back to a single "Golden Age" in the mid-1920s at one university: the Georg-August University of Göttingen, in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Home to many notable scientists, the university is associated with no less than 45 Nobel Prize winners. Included in this group are many of the figures …
a year ago · 3 likes · Jørgen Veisdal
The following are the books I would acquire if I wanted to absorb the history of quantum mechanics as thoroughly and enjoyably as possible.
1. The Heroic Age: The Creation of Quantum Mechanics, 1925—1940 (2018)
by Robert D. Purrington
This is a beautiful book that anyone should want on their bookshelf. It covers the history of quantum mechanics through the lens of the scientific achievements from 1925-40.
Type: Narrative | Years: 1925-40 | Price: $82
* This is an Amazon Affiliate link
2. Quantum. Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality (2007)
by Manjit Kumar
There are a lot of different versions of this book. Considered a bible of sorts, it captures the history of quantum mechanics from the early breakthroughs of Planck and Einstein at the turn of the century up until second world war. Although the title emphasizes The Bohr-Einstein Debate, the book captures a much wider narrative.
Type: Narrative | Years: 1900-1940 | Price: $31
3. The End of the Certain World. The Life and Science of Max Born (2005)
by Nancy Thorndike Greenspan
It is difficult to overestimate the impact of Max Born in the quantum revolution. Although it was Heisenberg who formulated matrix mechanics, Born was the one to see the larger implications and include Heisenberg's breakthrough in a larger research program at the University of Göttingen. Written by Nancy Thorndike Greenspan, this is a genuinely well crafted biography of one of science's most influential yet often forgotten names.
Type: Biography | Years: 1880-1970 | Price: $15
4. Erwin Schrödinger and the Quantum Revolution (2012)
by John Gribbin
Schrödinger is one of those names, like Einstein, who is intimately associated with quantum mechanics for his formulation of the Schrödinger equation and the thought experiment Schrödinger's cat. Yet, as you can imagine, his influence on the development of quantum theory ran both wider and deeper. This is the best biography of his life, in my opinion.
5. Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory (1966)
by George Gamow
This books, like Quantum, tackles the history from Planck and Einstein's early discoveries through the 1920s. Like Quantum, the narrative is presented through the lens both of the discoveries and their discoverers. A much shorter, yet very accessible read.
There are of course, many other good books on the history of quantum mechanics. Below, some are listed. As a writer, The Born-Einstein Letters are incredibly fascinating to me, as is the biography of Oppenheimer by Bird & Sherwin. Heisenberg's book Physics and Philosophy is much more accessible than one would imagine.
The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo
Paul Dirac: The Man and his Work by Pais, Jacob, Olive & Atiyah
American Prometheus by Bird & Sherwin
The Born-Einstein Letters by Max Born
Physics and Philosophy by Werner Heisenberg
* These are Amazon Affiliate links
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Imran M.A. Imam
Dec 5, 2021Liked by Jørgen Veisdal
Thank you for the wonderful selection. I have read the one by Kumar.
Michael DAmbrosio
Thanks for the list! Picked up #3 and #5 to start with. #1 on wishlist but hope to skim through it first.
1 more comment…
© 2023 Privatdozent


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Q: Did it create VM? So i'm new to Azure - Registered about a hour ago.
I created Free Trial account but connected my Card to it so i could get 200$ for Trial.
+++
I tried to create UbuntuNC24 VM - Wanted to see its hash rate (NOT for CryptoCurrency).
Its very expensive VM ~ 9$/h but I got that 200$ for testing so I wanted to see how would it perform.
But when I created everything and clicked "Finis" or however that last button is called I got some API error.
After that I refreshed page and it was on "Dashboard" as creating/starting... And then it disappeared from there.
I looked under VM in menu and on all Resources and its not there. Like I did not created it.
My question is - Did i create it and if I did where did it go?
I guess it would be very expensive mistake to just leave it..
Its debit card with 2$ balance on it but I don't want to hog on VM if I'm not using it or to go in debt with Azure (if it's possible).


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Robo Advisers Get the Human Touch
More automated advisory services are giving clients the chance to consult with financial planners and investment counselors.
Photo Illustration by C.J. Burton
By Nellie S. Huang, Senior Associate Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance, September 2017
Robots can do almost anything: drive a car, mix a cocktail, vacuum the house and even manage your investments. What they can't do, however, at least when it comes to investing, is give you individual attention. And many investors want a small dose of human contact from their robo adviser, especially as their financial lives become more complex. So an increasing number of automated offerings now include a real person. In the growing world of hybrid services, which marry digital advice with human advisers, here's how to find the combination that suits your portfolio and your pocketbook.
See Also: Protect Yourself from Adviser Conflicts of Interest
Booming business. When robo advisers first became popular five years ago, they were hailed as transparent, low-cost investment solutions, especially for investors just starting out. Answer a few questions online and the automated services, using complex algorithms, would match you with an appropriate, diversified portfolio of low-fee, exchange-traded funds tailored to your time horizon and tolerance for risk. The robots monitored and rebalanced your investments in tax-efficient ways, all with almost no human interaction.
Young investors and the tech-savvy gobbled it up. (The rising popularity of indexing and ETFs, the bedrock of most robo portfolios, helped.) Assets swelled at robo outfits, such as Betterment, Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. In its first two years, from March 2015 through March 2017, Schwab's service amassed $16 billion in assets.
At the same time, a regulatory sea change was channeling advisers toward robo technology. The Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, in effect since June, requires anyone giving investment advice regarding a 401(k) or an IRA—including, for the first time, securities brokers—to act in the client's best interest. (Previously, brokers simply had to recommend suitable investments.) Brokerage firms revamped their practices to comply with the new rule. Some firms swapped their commission-based pay structure for one that charges clients a fee based on a percentage of assets under management. At the extreme, some brokers and money managers have raised their minimum investment requirements or asked clients with small balances to rely on customer call centers instead of a dedicated adviser. Says Juli McNeely, a former president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors: "Those small accounts will have to find another place to get advice."
Enter the hybrid. All kinds of financial-services firms have launched robo offerings or partnered with shrewd financial-technology firms to deliver hybrid advisory services. In recent months, Betterment and Schwab introduced services that combine robo advice with input from certified financial planners. Citizens Investment Services, a unit of Citizens Bank; Wells Fargo Advisors, the investment arm of the banking giant; and UBS Wealth Management Americas have partnered with robo adviser SigFig to pair their in-house human advisers with robo technology that's tailored to each firm's clientele. Over the past year and a half, E*Trade, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade and T. Rowe Price have started their own robo services, with licensed representatives ready to chat.
Pioneers such as Vanguard's Personal Advisor Services and Personal Capital have offered hybrid advice since their debut. Both programs start by taking a digital accounting of your cash and investments. Then comes a consultation with a certified financial planner (by phone or via computer), who will craft a strategy to meet your goals.
Although many traditional financial-services firms have adopted the eye-catching digital technology of the robo world, including graphics-laden, interactive websites and mobile apps, not all robo advisers plan to add the human touch. "Our clients don't want that," says Kate Wauck, a spokeswoman for robo adviser Wealthfront. "They consistently tell us, 'We pay you not to talk to us.' "
For investors looking for high tech and a heartbeat when it comes to advice, we think services from Schwab and Vanguard stand out. Schwab Intelligent Advisory is a bargain—charging just 0.28% of assets per year in fees and requiring a $25,000 minimum. Plus, it offers well-diversified portfolios that hold a variety of assets, from large-company stocks (U.S. and foreign) to small-company stocks, U.S. and foreign bonds, high-yield debt, and even gold. And it's a plus that it has a certified financial planner on hand. Intelligent Advisory uses the same technology behind Schwab's robo service, Intelligent Portfolios. But Intelligent Advisory doesn't generate a computer-prescribed portfolio until after you have a consultation with a financial planner. Every year, you'll get a "check-in and update" with one of the 30 CFPs who work exclusively for Schwab Intelligent Advisory. And you can talk to a planner midyear if you need to.
Vanguard's Personal Advisor Services charges low fees, too—0.30% of assets a year. You do need $50,000 to start, but for that you get access to one of the hundreds of certified financial planners employed by Vanguard (by phone, video or e-mail). The planners can customize your portfolio, which might include holding on to those General Electric shares that Grandpa gave you, for example, if that's in your best interest. And they can give you planning advice on all aspects of your financial life.
Once you throw a human into the mix—even if you don't ever meet with one in person—the job of picking an adviser becomes more about personal preference than about fees or minimums. And anyone evaluating a hybrid advice model should keep in mind its limitations.
Far from perfect. Hybrids come with some downsides. For starters, there's a higher minimum investment to get in the door, and you'll pay more for advisory services than you would for a robo-only model. Betterment Premium, for example, offers unlimited consultations with certified financial planners for a $100,000 investment minimum and charges 0.50% in annual fees. That's less than the typical annual rate of 1% for a money manager. But it's more than Betterment's Digital service, which offers no consultations, has a $0 minimum and costs 0.25% per year.
And you won't develop an ongoing relationship with a dedicated adviser with these hybrids, as you would at a traditional money-management firm. When you call, you'll talk to the first person available. The advice you get won't be customized, either. With almost all hybrids, you're stuck with the model portfolios on offer.
What's more, the advice itself can be formulaic. Say you're a 45-year-old woman who will retire in 20-odd years and has a host of career, family and personal issues affecting your financial life. "You're going to get generic advice for a generic 45-year-old," says McNeely, a certified financial planner in Spencer, Wis. The hybrid won't take into account whether you have significant health issues, for instance, or a job that generates uneven income.
The level of advisory expertise varies, too. Some services hire certified financial planners, who are qualified to give you investment advice and help you with other aspects of your financial life, from banking and insurance to when to claim Social Security benefits. Such planners must pass a rigorous seven-hour exam and complete an apprenticeship before they earn the CFP designation.
Other hybrids hire so-called investment adviser representatives, who have passed tests, such as the Series 65 or Series 66, that show a command of general investing topics, portfolio strategies, taxes and regulations. (Some have also passed the Series 7 exam, which allows them to serve as brokers.) These reps can give you investment guidance—say, walk you through the differences between two portfolios. They can even talk you down from the ledge when you're panicking about market turmoil. But they cannot advise you to choose one course, or one investment, over another. And they can't help you with broad financial-planning questions.
Finally, hybrid advisory services are only as good as the advice they deliver. And for now, that's hard to measure. Many offerings are new, and few have records of as long as five years. Condor Capital Management, a Martinsville, N.J., adviser, has started to keep tabs. The firm has opened a taxable account and an IRA (where possible) using real money at more than a dozen robo services. In the Robo Report, published quarterly, it recounts the performance of each account, as well as how investments are divided among major asset classes (U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, bonds and cash). "The report allows people to know what's under the hood," says Condor's Michael Walliser.
But many of the accounts tracked in the Robo Report have been open for less than a year, so there's not much of a track record to analyze yet. What's more, it's difficult to compare results from different services. Some robo IRAs, for instance, hold stocks and cash; others hold stocks, bonds and cash. For what it's worth, the Robo Report shows that in the first three months of 2017, Schwab-managed IRAs returned 5.2%, and SigFig accounts earned 7.1%, compared with 6.1% for Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. Both accounts had more than 90% of their assets in stocks, but SigFig got a boost from having a surprisingly high 55% of its stock allocation in foreign firms, compared with 47% in Schwab's portfolios.
How to choose. New robo and hybrid services launch every month. More than 80 emerged between 2015 and 2016, according to BlackRock, the money-management giant. With so many outfits to choose from, how do you winnow the list? First check whether your online broker offers a hybrid robo service. Otherwise, as you sift through offerings, focus on fees. After all, that's the biggest advantage that these hybrid services have over traditional money managers. Bear in mind that with most hybrids, you'll pay an annual fee plus the underlying fund expense ratios.
Next, determine what level of expertise you need—whether an investment adviser representative will suffice or whether you need the overview of the big pictures that a certified financial planner can provide. If you're willing to spend a little time, fill out the online questionnaire at one or two hybrids to compare their recommended portfolios. Transparency is a big selling point for robos, so they will often show you how they will invest your money—by asset class or by particular ETF—before you even open an account.
Finally, consider your personal preferences. Although most robos rely on index-based ETFs, for instance, fans of actively managed funds have hybrid options, too. T. Rowe Price's Active Plus portfolios hold only actively managed Price funds. You won't pay an annual fee for Active Plus, but, reflecting the additional costs of active management, the portfolios' average expense ratios are higher than those of typical packages that are based on index funds. And TIAA Personal Portfolio offers two robo portfolios that hold actively managed funds, as well as a third option comprising ETFs and low-cost index funds. One active portfolio, called Impact, even focuses on funds that follow socially responsible investment strategies. As robos evolve and proliferate, chances are you'll eventually find a service that's right for you.
See Also: 8 Steps to Be a Better Investor


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Discourse and Oppression in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale
Categories: OppressionThe Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Story picture of a (like a terrible, scary world) (community of people/all good people in the world) named the Republic of Gilead, where a bunch of religion-driven (people who strongly believe in a powerful central government) take complete control and resort to (dishonest and wrong) means to get what they want. In order to increase the number of the white population, new laws are set which take away from the women in Gilead, of their rights and reduce their roles to mothers and servants.
" Discourse and Oppression in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale "
Young and life-giving women are the "handmaids", and they are needed/demanded to live with an important official such as the Commander in chief. Every month, they go through an impregnation (formal, special event or series of actions). These women are also robbed of their names (before marriage). The most easily understandable references are the ways people are named in Gilead. Men are thought of as more important and respectable, namely 'Guardians of the faith' or Commanders of the Faithful'.
writer-marian
Proficient in: Oppression
" Writer-marian did a very good job with my paper, she got straight to the point, she made it clear and organized "
Members of the police force are seen as 'Eyes of the Lord'. Soldiers who fight on the battlefields are called 'Angels of the (the terrifying end of the world)'.
The spies who keep tabs on the people of Gilead and make sure no one commits sneaky, criminal behavior, are called the' Eyes'. Meanwhile, the women in Gilead have names according to the classes they belong to. They are name 'Wives', 'Econowives', 'Handmaids', 'Martha's' or unwoman', Martha refers the sister of Mary, who served Jesus Christ.
The state of Gilead uses religious (strictly following religious laws) to give a good reason for male politically, Gilead social policies are based on the from the Bible. By saying certain passages from the Bible to the women, they are made to feel like whatever would be done to them would not be cruel and dishonest. More than that, abuse/mistreatment of the Bible is seen in the story when the Commander walk into the room and says the Beginning/creation 30: 1-3 " And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel was jealous of her sister; and said unto Jacob, give me children, or else I die." much like Jacob (unhappy disappointment) at Rachel's inability to bear children, the Commander blamed his wife.
In the (community of people/all good people in the world) of Gilead, men used to pass the blames on their wives instead of calling themselves unable to have children/grow crops or (having no germs/unable to have children). Beginning/creation 30: 1-3 has a connection with the story in the sense that the Commander's wife is suddenly made very sick with frustration because she cannot understand/create and she would have Offred carry her husband's baby if requred, like Rachel would have her sister do.
The name of the state itself is taken from the Bible. Gilead is a very peaceful, clean and life-giving place in Palestine according to the Old Testament. The people in power want to call them/label themselves as a life-giving and strong (community of people/all good people in the world) just like it is represented in the Bible. In reality, they are a (not totally pure/not totally correct) terrible, scary world full of (dishonest actions that ruin your trust), pollution and terribly unfair treatment.
Only certain set phrases, taken from the Bible, can be used to communicate with another person. These include " May the Lord open". "Praise be", and the like. Their conversation should be laced with religious overtones. (in almost the same way), reading and writing is also prohibited in Gilead.
When Offred is listening to the Extreme happiness or blessednesss along the other Handmaids, she knows that the (public speech or performance) is being edited and the original passage is not the same in the Bible. However, she cannot be sure exactly what was being left out as they were not allowed to read. The only person who could get their hands on the Bible was the Commander himself. This way none of the Handmaids could question anything, has an idea that there is something wrong.
There are prayer machines in Gilead which print out an endless long, rolled-up written document of prayers every day. These are ordered by the Wives of Commanders to reward thie faith. Strangely enough, they are not allowed to read these prayers. These papers re constantly recycled and ordered again. This is a further example of how religion is taken advantage of and used for personal benefit rather than religious belief.
Offred practices her own form of prayer where she uses the (Bible-related) words and twists them to bring across her feelings of love, hate, fear, etc. and speak to God. While praying, she says that she has enough bread and her hunger is not the main issue; it ws the swallowing of the bread without choking on it, which was (irritating/making worse) (in an unexpected yet interesting way (where something happened that's the opposite of what is expected)), the word 'bread' as a polite word for her troubles and feelings that there is no hope.
Offred cannot escape Gilead even if she wants to as she is bound by strict rules and regulation which give a good reason for themselves through (Bible-related) passages and references. Events like public execution are called ' Saving (from the trash)s'. Also, the 'Eyes' spy on the people and this act is a seen/obvious analog of the passage in the Bible which said that the Lord has all seeing eyes, which travel throughout the world, keeping human in check and making sure that they provide their services to him. The Commander reads this passage at the monthly prayer (formal, special event or series of actions), Gilead literally translate the meaning as the Eyes keeping the person (who lawfully lives in a country, state, etc.) under control so that they go along with their daily lives exactly following the law.
The theme of Beginning/creation 30: 1-3 runs throughout the story. As talked about/said in the bible, women in Israel lost their honor of they were unable to provide a child to their husbands. Their young women/cleaning women would help by being their substitutes.
Gilead readopts this practice and gives the Handmaids their roles in the (community of people/all good people in the world) by repeatedly teaching this law with religion and giving them a false sense of purpose. The Handmaids are educated at the Rachel and Leah Centre, named after the characters in Beginning/creation 30: 1-3.
Even the appearances of the Handmaids have to be religious looking. They have to sport red gown with white wings, much like nuns. Offred refers to her fellow Handmaids as "sisters dipped in blood". The law states that a Handmaids should not go wandering about without a fellow Handmaid by her side. They have to live in tiny rooms without any mirrors.
At an impregnation (formal, special event or series of actions) and birthing (formal, special event or series of actions), the Handmaid has to lie on the Commander's wife's stomach, with the wife's knees around her. This fellows Rachel's words "she will bear opon my knees." Her other words, "Give me children else I die", also rings true, as any Handmaid who does not understand/create after being sent to three houses would be sent to the (groups of people or other living things), where she would die at a certain point.
During the women's 'Prayvaganzas; the Commander (in a picky way where only certain things are selected) says certain parts of the Bible to convince the women that their (state of mind where someone will definitely do something if needed) to obey the rule would grant them peace in the time after death. He controlled/moved around/misled the Handmaids to get them to do what he wants. Using religion as a tool to (change someone's mind through force and tricks) them.
"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection? All? But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to forcefully take authority over the man, but to be silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve?"
It is not just the name of the people (who lawfully live in a country, state, etc.) which have been changed to sound more Christian; objects and shops have also gone through the same treatment. Shops have names such as 'All flesh; 'Milk and Honey; and 'Loaves and Fishes; A clothing sore names 'Lilies' is a reference to a line in a passage titled Mathew 6:28.'Milk and honey is a reference to the description of the Promised Land, which read" A land flowing with milk and honey". All Flesh' is the name of a butcher shop, and it from Isaiah 40:5 but the original phrase is 'All of people/(the kindness of people)"
When the Handmaid eat lunch, they always listen to a recorded tape of a prayer. It is always a man voice because the Aunts are not allowed to read the prayers. It further shows/indicates the authority men hold over women in Gilead.
The prayer blesses the people who are poor in spirit, the Kind, the shy and weak, the silent and the ones who silently suffer (because of death), so that these people are gifted with the good qualities/the advantage of Heaven. In this picture/situation, the Handmaids are the (talked-about, but possibly not true/real) ones who are poor in fairy, kind, shy and weak, silent and suffering (in sadness). Gilead twists this prayer to bring across the message in a way that the Handmaid are condition to be those weakened and (always following all orders and rules) so that they are 'blessed' by the Lord
The whole story highlights the how words can be twisted and understood/explained in exact
Discourse and Oppression in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. (2019, Dec 04). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/discourse-and-oppression-in-margaret-atwoods-the-handmaids-tale-essay
How does Margret Atwood use language as a tool of oppression in the novel 'the Handmaid's Tale'? Pages: 5 (1406 words)
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Pages: 2 (312 words)
Oppressed Rights by the Oppressive Regime in Margaret Atwood's the Handmaid's Tale Pages: 5 (1379 words)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: Analysis Pages: 4 (960 words)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Pages: 8 (2204 words)
Themes in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Pages: 8 (2154 words)
Demonstration of Power in Margret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' Pages: 8 (2191 words)
Ending of Atwood's Novel The Handmaid's Tale Pages: 3 (675 words)
Message of Atwood's Novel The Handmaid's Tale Pages: 9 (2551 words)
The Opening of The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood Pages: 4 (1009 words)


"THE STORY: The play begins in the present, with the meeting of Emma and Jerry, whose adulterous affair of seven years ended two years earlier. Emma's marriage to Robert, Jerry's best friend, is now breaking up, and she needs someone to talk to.... Thereafter, in a series of contiguous scenes, the play moves backward in time, from the end of the Emma-Jerry affair to its beginning, throwing into relief the little lies and oblique remarks that, in this time-reverse, reveal more than direct statements, or overt actions, ever could."---From Dramatists Play Service, Inc.


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I was hoping to post this on the first of March but the day just kept passing and here I am posting after midnight, so technically on the 2nd of March. However, it is still the first in the United States, which is the country that has inspired this post, sort of.
That's because in the United States there's this thing called March Madness that everyone gets excited about and I think it has to do with some basketball league finals, something like their Superbowl. It is a big deal. I don't watch basketball so I don't really know who is playing whom or what, but it is big. Still not as big as the Superbowl, and certainly not with performances by Beyoncé insofar as I know.
At any rate, everyone ends up doing some sort of March Madness type of activity, whether it is a recycling drive in a neighborhood or a series of concerts or a fundraiser or really anything one can imagine which would be remotely appropriate to title with March Madness, so I heard about it a lot growing up. Schools love this kind of stuff.
As I was thinking about madness and March the other day, because I've recently placed a calendar in front of where I practice and then of course as I was playing scales I kept going over how many weeks there were left in February, it struck me that something remotely like March Madness for me would be a series of works, serious classical works, which are in fact mad.
Mad cool.
As in hardcore dancing or rocking or something totally epic.
And I will not sit here and subject you to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture (click the white text for a YouTube link, cannons around 2:50), which is in fact supposed to be grand and a bit crazy with canons and all, or necessarily even to something totally mad like The Rite of Spring (tee hee...), but rather to works that are for all effects and purposes not performed as anything but serious repertoire, and for the most part, the composer didn't write simply for the effect of getting their audience to start head-banging.
However, these works definitely give me that feeling. Moreover, I don't think they are works that necessarily need an awful lot of musical training in order to understand the head-banging, rocking, or just downright cool aspect.
So, to start us off, Johannes Brahms.
Brahms was an extremely serious sort of composer, who could hardly bear the sight of his own compositions till he was a middle aged man, and who never ever sent his music quickly off to the publisher. He would struggle and puzzle and rewrite, and destroy first drafts even, just so that the final copy was as perfect as he could manage. Hence why it took him so long to get started. And why historians have barely found any of his first drafts.
Even though he was slow getting things off the ground, he made up for it with hard work, and this allowed him to compose a respectably large body of works in his 63 years of life. Certainly not the likes of Mozart, who popped a song off every time he saw a pretty girl or had a drink, or Haydn, who was commissioned to write so much music in such a short amount of time that he became a master at recycling his own tunes, but quite a bit anyway.
One of his wonderful works is the Piano Quintet in F minor, opus 34. There are four movements in this work, but the third movement is the one I want to share with you. (please start playing it, and then read on!)
The audio recording provided is one I own and is not meant to be downloaded or distributed.
It begins with a mysterious, if not somewhat ridiculous, pizzicato C string in the cello (you may have to turn up the volume to hear it), which would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that the piano comes in soon after with a decidedly sinister little melody. This melody might even be scary if it wasn't for the rest of the strings who come in before things get too serious and introduce, quietly and carefully at first, what will by the end become enough to make you (yes you, my dear reader) ready to JUMP UP AND DOWN VIOLENTLY.
I highly recommend patiently waiting for the end of the 7 minute work to get the full effect. But meanwhile...
There is a beautiful trio section in the middle filled with classic Brahmsian harmonies that just make you want to melt with joy or love or something incredibly happy. It is a gorgeous work, really, but part of me is always jarred a bit thinking about how Brahms thought up something quite like the sawing, repetitive pattern that comes up at the end, which I would consider pretty hard rock-y and head-banging-worthy.
In case you weren't convinced by the Amadeus Quartet and Eschenbach, here is a clip I would have used from YouTube to introduce this altogether if it weren't for the fact that the very very beginning is most unfortunately cut off. Do enjoy this version with Pinchas Zukerman and Ida Kavafian on violins, Paul Neubauer on viola, Gary Hoffman on cello, and David Golub at the piano.
You can tell this is what they do for fun! The energy level just skyrockets and all of a sudden it doesn't matter that they're in a concert or in dress clothes or playing for people. They are just having a blast playing super cool rockin' music.
I think the most important thing to realize is that for most of these poor wonderful musicians, this may even have been the closest they've been to a rock concert (joke!). Musicians have always been fantastic at juggling intensive classical music study/work with incredibly crazy parties involving plenty of alcohol, pop/rock/etc. music, going out for drinks, dancing at clubs, etc. The thing is, they just might really be dancing to this at house parties (or the aforementioned Rite of Spring. And I'm not referencing PSY like I did last time. If you didn't click to it before, you should now...) while a non-musician might never even know this piece exists, let alone pull out one of their 2+ recordings excitedly to play it after a few drinks.
The other thing musicians, string players in particular, like to do is to have "sight reading parties" where everyone brings all the sheet music they own and invites all of the musicians they can think of and then plays through music as long as people are still up for it. Sometimes these are impromptu when musicians gather at other musicians' homes, particularly when there is a piano and sheet music collection available. The vast majority of such parties also involve growing states of inebriation, but this isn't a necessary requirement for a good time, especially when there are movements, such as this one, to read through. Musician karaoke, if you will. And this is definitely a great song to belt out!
So, next week I will have another bit of music ready for you... and a little info to go with it. Hope you enjoyed this Brahms work as much as I did, and listen to the whole thing when you have the chance!