text:
AutoDiscoGraphy
The Musical History of an Ordinary Music Fan
What is an Album of the Year
The List of Albums
1963 – With the Beatles
1964 – Kinks
1965 – Mr Tambourine Man
1966 – Small Faces
1967 – Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1968 – In Search of the Lost Chord
1969 – Yes
1970 – Led Zeppelin III
1971 – Who's Next
1972 – First Base
1973 – Solid Air
1974 – I've Got the Music in Me
1975 – Fish Out of Water
1976 – A Trick of the Tail
1977 – Rumours
1978 – Parallel Lines
1979 – Reggatta de Blanc
1980 – Pretenders
1981 – Face Value
1983 – The Crossing
1991 – Living With the Law
1997 – Attack of the Grey Lantern
2006 – Passing Stranger
2007 – The State of Things
2008 – The Seldom Seen Kid
2009 – The Hazards of Love
2010 – The Defamation of Strickland Banks
2011 – Young the Giant
2012 – My Head is an Animal
2013 – Pale Green Ghosts
2014 – Hozier
2015 – What Went Down
2016 – Chaleur Humaine
2017 – Moonshine Freeze
2018 – Everything is Recorded
2019 – Hypersonic Missiles
2020 – Earth
Porsche Catalogues
Bath's Old Orchard Street Theatre
The Mantis Pact
Confluence – 150 Years of Service
The Apothecary's Hall
Return of the Mac
Live Gigs on DVD
Pop Music on TV
Album of the Year 2016
Posted by Malcolm Toogood on December 22, 2016
Posted in: Albums of the Year, Latest Blog.
My New Year's Resolution for 2017, after a second virtually blogless year, will be to return to writing for pleasure more regularly – a task made easier by the departure from our lives of the near two-year long threat of someone building a shed at the bottom of our garden – something that will be covered soon, but not in this blog. Because the subject matter here is far more pleasurable – my Album of the Year 2016
For my new readers' benefit, I have selected a personal album of the year ever since I started buying vinyl in the early 1960s. During the 'seventies, this singular personal choice evolved into a small-circulation printed newsletter for selected friends, through a wider-circulation email in the 'nineties that contained a top ten, to ultimately, in 2008, this annual blog on my musical experiences throughout the year. For the featured albums, the criteria I use are that I must have a copy in my collection that has been purchased during the year, the album's UK release date has to be in the year being reviewed, and the list can contain no compilations or live albums. Other than that, it's pretty-much open-house.
In amongst the busiest year I have had since "retiring" some dozen years back, I did manage to make some purchases, although not as many as usual, which is probably why it has been so difficult to separate them – circumstance dictating quality over quantity. We did, however, get to more gigs than last year, and among the highlights were a couple of bands from the past – Yes at Bristol's Colston Hall and Simply Red at the NEC. Both indulged themselves in the (almost compulsory these days) performance of a complete album in original playing order, something I find particularly enjoyable, especially if it's an album I consider a classic from my own collection.
The first time I experienced this was ten years ago on a memorable evening at the Albert Hall when John Martyn, on his final tour before he sadly left us, gave us Solid Air so indistinguishably from that first hearing of it on vinyl almost 35 years earlier, that we all completely forgot that he was playing from a wheelchair. Of course, Yes themselves are very much down on original members these days, Steve Howe and Alan White being the only ones on stage from the classic early 1970s line-up. The place vacated through the death of their amazing bassist Chris Squire last year was, however, adequately filled by his old mate Billy Sherwood, and on keyboards was Geoff Downes, who replaced Steve Moraz during the 1980s. Their latest singer Jon Davidson also handled the Jon Anderson-style vocals very well.
Regardless of personnel, Yes have never done anything by halves, so they didn't bother with any support in order to give us two complete albums! The first, Drama, was from the 1980s – an era of theirs I didn't frequent too much – and preceded the interval after which we were treated to one of my all-time favourites from any band, Fragile, an album that only didn't make it to the top of my annual list that year because other new releases purchased during that year included Who's Next, Led Zeppelin 4, The Stones' Sticky Fingers, David Bowie's Hunky Dory, John Lennon's Imagine, Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Pink Floyd's Meddle, The Doors' L A Woman, Jethro Tull's Aqualung, Carole King's Tapestry, Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, Cat Stevens' Teaser & the Firecat, ELP's Tarkus, The Moody Blues' Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Joni Mitchell's Blue, and Deep Purple's Fireball. That was a tough deliberation!
Simply Red chose Stars as their live-play album, which I suspect is most-everybody's favourite – except for me, as I still prefer its predecessor A New Flame, from which they did give us two tracks in the first half: You've Got It and Enough. Again, only Mick Hucknell and keyboard player Ian Kirkham survive from the classic 1980s lineup, but you would never tell as the performance was as tight as ever, with Mick Hucknell's voice especially having survived remarkably unscathed; a good night made better by fantastic stage sets in the background.
But the highlight live performance this year was the support act to Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra at the Colston Hall in November. Taking our seats as the lights dimmed, we didn't even know who that support was going to be. So as this diminutive figure in a long slim skirt almost shyly approached the microphone with her band striking-up the opening bars of Blind Willie Johnson's classic Nobody's Fault but Mine, the immediate thought was 'my goodness, she's going to have to be good to carry this off'. But as her vocals powered, at times almost Joplinesque, around the auditorium, it was obvious this was no ordinary local support act.
Bristolian Beth Rowley is one of Jools' resident singers on this year's tour, and you don't get that berth alongside the likes of Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall unless you know your way around a blues track or three. As this was her home venue, she also did the short support set before the main gig together with her own four-piece band, who are some talented instrumentalists in their own right. Even though her set contained just five songs, varying from the power blues of the opener through the soft soul of Wretched Body and back to the power-builder Princess it was a mini tour-de-force, and as soon as she finished I was immediately on my way to the foyer to buy whatever her latest offering was from the souvenir stand. That turned out to be a 2013 EP, also entitled Wretched Body, which contains just four tracks, but every one a gem. I subsequently discovered that her only album was Mercury-nominated as long ago as 2008, although she is writing some new material, so let's hope that I wasn't the only one on this tour pressing her to get a second album out in the near future!
Before we get to the top-ten shortlist, there are a couple of now-regular categories to deal with. The selection for One That Got Away is for an album that was discovered too late for inclusion during its year of release, but would have been good enough to make that year's shortlist. This year's choice is Ancient Future by Protoje, which was released last year but completely missed my radar. This is one of the first Reggae albums I have purchased for ages, (probably since the days when Misty in Roots were featuring regularly on John Peel's show) as over the last twenty years emerging artists in this genre have generally moved away from the traditional stylee of the sixties and seventies, first towards hip-hop and ultimately nearer to rap.
Somehow, I cannot get on with the latter evolution, it sometimes being almost indistinguishable from its American contemporaries. Some pundits have pointed-out that this has been due to recent increases in drug and gangster influences in Jamaica, but they obviously have not done too much research into what was actually going on around the ska and rocksteady sound systems of fifty years ago run by the likes of Prince Buster, Duke Reid and King Tubby, or paid much attention to the lyrics of some of the classic reggae tracks.
Oje Ken Ollivierre, aka Protoje, is a second generation reggae artist, his mother Lorna Bennett recording the original reggae version of Dusty Springfield's Breakfast in Bed that was later covered by UB40. One of the new wave who has kept more to the traditional style of reggae music, Protoje has made this, his third, album much more listenable than many of his contemporaries, even if the lyrics are still a bit challenging in places, Criminal and Bubblin' for example. If you want to dip-in, the standout track is Who Knows.
Disappointment of the Year is the long-awaited second album from Emeli Sandé Long Live the Angels. For a start it is just too long, and could have made a far better impact if some of the fifteen tracks had been left off. Yes, there are some great tracks on there, such as the absolute standout first single Hurts plus Sweet Architect, but the rest tend to just wash away in the background. Many will love it, I'm sure, but for me maybe it was just too much time in anticipation after that memorable debut album in 2012.
A similar artist whose albums demonstrate initial promise is Laura Mvula. Her first album released in 2013 really boiled down to just one track, Green Garden, that was airplayed to death, plus eleven others filling the rest of its dreary fifty-minute length. The Dreaming Room is an improvement in it is mercifully shorter at 36 minutes, but unfortunately again boils down to the outstanding second track Overcome, featuring Nile Rogers, that fills the listener with anticipation before the album meanders away aimlessly for nearly half an hour before finishing with the upbeat Phenomenal Woman.
The only other to make the long list this year was the latest Wild Beasts album Boy King. This is the fifth album from this fourpiece from the Lake District, and the third in a row to feature in my year-end roundup. However, despite two standout tracks in Alpha Female and Big Cat, it didn't have enough to sustain it through to the Top Ten, which feature a mixture of brand new artists and some established artists who have not been featured here for many years, if at all. In no particular order, they are:
Jack Garratt – Phase
Jack Garratt has a phenomenal reputation as a live performer, being essentially the 21st century incarnation of the one-man band, playing guitar, drums, keyboards, harmonica and more, often all simultaneously! He won the Critics Choice award at last year's Brits, and was subsequently also named as the BBC Sound of 2016. Phase is his debut album, and features all of the tracks that have become well-known to festival-goers over the last couple of years. He even produced the album himself, and has done a pretty-good job on reproducing his live sound, albeit ultimately not with the full electricity of those live performances.
P J Harvey – Hope Six Demolition Project
An artist who has not made my shortlists for over 15 years, but whose 2000 album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea still makes a regular appearance on the CD player. Polly returns this year with another fine album that is perhaps stronger live than recorded, as anyone who saw her performance of it at Glastonbury this year will doubtless agree. Inspired by a visit to Washington DC where she was shown around a Hope VI Project, where run down public housing is cleared and replaced with new buildings that are considered unaffordable by the original occupants of the area, the writing consists of some fairly concentrated political commentary about such projects. Nevertheless, this is still a great listen that, judging by the equal praise and criticism from opposite political spectrums in the 'States, is also on the money lyrically as well. Checkout The Ministry of Defence and River Anacostia in particular
St Paul & the Broken Bones – Sea of Noise
Following in the footsteps of the likes of Eli Paperboy Reid and Vintage Trouble, this is the latest in a series of artists and bands coming out of the USA in recent years who fall under the heading – white boys CAN play classic soul!
I first saw this six-piece from Alabama on Later, and immediately went online to find tickets. Imagine the delight in seeing they were scheduled to play a small venue in Bristol next year; however, when the tickets finally went on sale they were gone in seconds – I was clearly not the only one impressed with what I had heard. However, the good news is that such was the demand that the gig had to be been transferred to a larger venue, meaning we got tickets in the end; so watch out for the blog around the end of February. In the meantime, if you love the soul of Stax and Atlantic, then you will really enjoy this album, and probably in particular Flow with It (You Got Me Feeling Like) and Burning Rome.
Agnes Obel – Citizen of Glass
This is the third album from Danish singer-songwriter Agnes (pronounced arn-yes) Obel who, like Jack Garrett, also writes, plays all the instruments, sings and produces on all of her tracks. This is a beautiful late-night album that allows her velvety voice to dance over the complex, at times, but predominately atmospheric orchestral backgrounds. Particular tracks to check-out are Familiar and Golden Green.
Steve Mason – Meet the Humans
Remember the Beta Band from twenty years ago? Well if you do, then you will probably recognise that Steve Mason was their lead singer. This is his third solo album and, in my opinion by far and away the best effort of his career, either solo or in collaboration. Most of the tracks are instantly memorable, and the album is well-paced throughout. I recommend Alive!, Planet Sizes and Words in My Head because they demonstrate the varied-nature of the tracks; if you like them you will love the whole album.
The Coral – Distance in Between
Apart from the occasional track, The Coral have never featured highly in my listening preferences. Like many others, I bought their Mercury-nominated self-titled debut album in 2002 primarily because of the hit single Dreaming of You, only to find the rest of that album to be positively average. Which is why this new album came as a huge surprise when I first listened to it back at the beginning of the year. Gone are the poppy beats and chirpy lyrics, to be replaced by a much more mature and varied psych-rock style that contains many references back in time to the sixties and seventies, which is how they were originally-billed – although I somehow didn't get it back then. I do now!
Michael Kiwanuka – Love & Hate
Follow up to his 2012 debut Home Again which made it into my shortlist that year, despite his being a lifelong 'Spurs fan. That album was more of a late-night album, with tracks of a more jazz-folk feel that ostensibly strived to be as inoffensive on the ear as possible. This album, however, is much more confident – the output of an artist who now knows his ability and is not scared to show it – illustrated by the ten-plus minute length of the opening track Cold Little Heart, including a five minute instrumental intro. Nobody does that any more, do they?
Well Michael Kiwanuka disagrees, and more power to his elbow for doing so! On top of which are the lyrics for songs with titles such as Black Man in a White World, Place I Belong and Love and Hate, that are written by a man who no longer feels the need to hide what he truly is – an outstanding singer-songwriter.
And so to the top three:
Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression
You would have thought that any artist who has been around for nigh on fifty years would have made it into my overloaded music racks at some time in the past but, believe it or not, this – his seventeenth solo album (and 23rd in total) – is the first Iggy Pop album I have ever purchased. But what a great album it is, partially thanks to the involvement of Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, who not only produced the album but co-wrote some of the tracks. Add to that mix a band that includes Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders and QotSA keyboard player Dean Fertita, and you have as tight a sound as you could want for any album.
There is a lot of introspection in the lyrics, particularly in German Days which relates to his time in Berlin with David Bowie – a track that is delivered with a very Bowie-esque vocal style. I suppose, therefore, it was no great surprise to hear the near seventy-year-old Iggy, when interviewed recently, relating that the main inspiration for his writing on this album was discussing issues of what happens when your utility is at an end, and what your legacy will ultimately be – thoughts doubtless accentuated by the loss earlier in the year of such an old friend and close collaborator.
Nevertheless, this is a far more uplifting album than its title may suggest and, musically, the tracks are far more accessible than a lot of his back catalogue – including the acrid rant at the end of the final track Paraguay that still, somehow, fits perfectly. Even if his music of old doesn't float your boat, this is still an album to have in any collection.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
Are you, like me, still a fan of the Radiohead from twenty years ago, in the days of The Bends and OK Computer? Did you despair that they had completely lost it when they couldn't even give away an album as awful as In Rainbows? Did you think those early days would never return? Well, despair no more, because A Moon Shaped Pool is a welcome, and long-overdue, return to form for the Oxfordshire superstars.
Yes, some of the tracks are a bit derivative of those early days, but who cares! Here is an album that you can put on when you want an escape route from whatever curve-ball life has just thrown you, and float away to wherever you want Thom Yorke's hypnotic vocals to take you for the 53 minutes you are in his company. Not a bad track in sight, and the only reason it is not album of the year is:
Christine & the Queens – Chaleur Humaine
Let's be honest, not a lot of great music has come out of France, perhaps with the notable exception of Claude Debussy – a composer whose music can also instantly transport you out of yourself. There have been a few Gallic highlights (or lowlights dependent on your taste) in our charts since they started in 1952 – Non, je ne regretted rien, Je t'aime moi non plus, Joe le Taxi – but if you go to the Wikipedia page for French Pop Music and look at the list of more than 150 artists' names there, I doubt you will recognise more than half a dozen of them; even Plastic Bertrand was Belgian!
Those you do recognise will bring back memories of the interminable easy-listening channels all the way across the radio bands we all had to suffer (in the days before the advent of MP3 Players) while we traversed their country on the A10 or occupied a rented gîte. But all of that changes here, because there's something very different that has emerged this year out of Nantes, via Paris; a new name that hasn't even made the Wikipedia list yet – Héloïse Letissier, aka Christine & the Queens.
From the first time you see any of her live performances or videos, particularly if they contain the massive internet hit Tilted (more than 7 million YouTube views for the official video, and counting) there is no doubt that this is someone original, someone who combines catchy pop songs with hip fashion and arty dance routines. A music album cannot bring the full experience, therefore, but it can bring immense enjoyment as one catchy and/or dancey track follows another. From track 1 IT via the aforementioned Tilted through Science Fiction and Narcissus is Back to the last track Here, it makes you happy to be in her musical company and never lets go.
There isn't a bad moment on 2016's Album of the Year Chaleur Humaine – it is all simplement délicieux!
I have compiled a playlist containing fifty of the best tracks from albums purchased during 2016, including some that didn't make the shortlist from Leonard Cohen, Calvin Harris and Jain. To stream the playlist on Spotify, click the logo below:
If you want to download or stream any of the individual albums mentioned, links are provided in the following table:
Artist Album Download Stream
Christine & the Queens Chaleur Humaine
Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool
Iggy Pop Post Pop Depression
Michael Kiwanuka Love & Hate
The Coral Distance in Between
Steve Mason Meet the Humans
Agnes Obel Citizen of Glass
St Paul & the Broken Bones Sea of Noise
P J Harvey The Hope Six Demolition Project
Jack Garratt Phase
Wild Beasts Boy King
Protoje Ancient Future
← and the Stars look very different today
… Sergeant Pepper tought the band to play →
The Lockdown Chain
… no sound but the sound of his feet
Most Memorable Gigs
… lost in a forest all alone
All of my Blogs on other subjects will continue to appear on my website: morethanmyblogsworth.com.
To read them please click here
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Please read our Site Policies & Conditions of Use
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text:
Q: Capture PC sound Using C#, i'm trying to capture the audio that the PC is playing, without using WASAPI and loopbacks, because it appears that my soundcard does not support it. How do programs like TeamViewer do it? As people can hear audio from my PC when I use that.

A: you could try to use the Expression Encoder SDK: http://www.microsoft.com/de-de/download/details.aspx?id=18974 I'm not completely sure if you are allowed to redistribute it and it might need to be installed on the target computer. But you can very easily use it to record Audio and Video from your Desktop:
        var j = new Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.ScreenCapture.ScreenCaptureJob();
        j.OutputScreenCaptureFileName = @"C:\Users\Dominik\Desktop\test.wmv";
        //j.AddAudioDeviceSource(Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDevices.FindDevices(Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDeviceType.Audio);
        var audioDevices = Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDevices.FindDevices(Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDeviceType.Audio);
        var videoDevices = Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDevices.FindDevices(Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices.EncoderDeviceType.Video);
        j.AddAudioDeviceSource(audioDevices.ElementAt(1));
        j.Start();

You need to add references to the .dll-files inside C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Expression\Encoder 4\SDK to use the Encoder SDK.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package com.gitblit.manager;

import java.util.List;

import com.gitblit.models.ProjectModel;
import com.gitblit.models.RepositoryModel;
import com.gitblit.models.UserModel;

public interface IProjectManager extends IManager {

	/**
	 * Returns a list of project models for the user.
	 *
	 * @param user
	 * @param includeUsers
	 * @return list of projects that are accessible to the user
	 */
	List<ProjectModel> getProjectModels(UserModel user, boolean includeUsers);

	/**
	 * Returns the project model for the specified user.
	 *
	 * @param name
	 * @param user
	 * @return a project model, or null if it does not exist
	 */
	ProjectModel getProjectModel(String name, UserModel user);

	/**
	 * Returns a project model for the Gitblit/system user.
	 *
	 * @param name a project name
	 * @return a project model or null if the project does not exist
	 */
	ProjectModel getProjectModel(String name);

	/**
	 * Returns the list of project models that are referenced by the supplied
	 * repository model	list.  This is an alternative method exists to ensure
	 * Gitblit does not call getRepositoryModels(UserModel) twice in a request.
	 *
	 * @param repositoryModels
	 * @param includeUsers
	 * @return a list of project models
	 */
	List<ProjectModel> getProjectModels(List<RepositoryModel> repositoryModels, boolean includeUsers);

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
@doc """
# Description
Constructor for the Polynomial kernel (covariance)

k(x,x') = σ²(xᵀx'+c)ᵈ
# Arguments:
* `lc::Float64`: Log of the constant c
* `lσ::Float64`: Log of the signal standard deviation σ
* `d::Int64`   : Degree of the Polynomial
""" ->
type Poly <: Kernel
    lc::Float64      # Log of constant
    lσ::Float64      # Log of signal std
    deg::Int64       # degree of polynomial
    Poly(lc::Float64, lσ::Float64, deg::Int64) = new(lc, lσ, deg)
end

function kern(poly::Poly, x::Vector{Float64}, y::Vector{Float64})
    c = exp(poly.lc)
    sigma2 = exp(2*poly.lσ)

    K = sigma2*(c+dot(x,y)).^poly.deg
    return K
end

get_params(poly::Poly) = Float64[poly.lc, poly.lσ]
num_params(poly::Poly) = 2

function set_params!(poly::Poly, hyp::Vector{Float64})
    length(hyp) == 2 || throw(ArgumentError("Polynomial function has two parameters"))
    poly.lc, poly.lσ = hyp
end

function grad_kern(poly::Poly, x::Vector{Float64}, y::Vector{Float64})
    c = exp(poly.lc)
    sigma2 = exp(2*poly.lσ)

    dK_c   = c*poly.deg*sigma2*(c+dot(x,y)).^(poly.deg-1)
    dK_sigma = 2.0*sigma2*(c+dot(x,y)).^poly.deg
    dK_theta = [dK_c,dK_sigma]
    return dK_theta
end


text:
Q: Find a monic polynomial with a cos root. Find a monic, irreducible polynomial with a root at $\cos (π/5)$

A: The question is not precise but I think you want to find  polynomial with integer coefficient. Assuming that:
$\frac{\pi}{5}$ is a solution of trig equation $\cos(5x)=-1$. Now you expand $\cos{5x}$ in terms of powers of $\cos x$. You can use Euler's formula and show this :
$$\cos{5x}=16\cos^5{x}-20\cos^3x+5\cos x $$
After that put $x=\frac{\pi}{5}$ and $t=\cos x$.
Finally note that $16t^5-20t^3+5t+1=(t+1)(4t^2-2t-1)^2$ and take it from here

A: If $5x=(2n+1)\pi,5\nmid(2n+1)\implies\cos x\ne-1$
$$\cos(3x)=-\cos2x$$
Expand both sides to form a cubic equation is n $\cos x$
Divide both sides by $\cos x+1$ as $\cos x\ne-1$


text:
The Hypocrisy of the Anti-vax Patriot
Stopping the spread of COVID-19 is a great way to help U.S. military families.
By Julie Bogen
Sgt. Kaden D. Pitt / U.S. Army / DVIDS
Molly didn't feel particularly patriotic as she said goodbye to her husband, a Navy doctor, early one morning in September. He was leaving on his second deployment in nine months, with just four days' notice (he'd gotten only 36 hours' notice ahead of his previous operation). And although his initial mission had been to the Middle East—on an aircraft carrier as a critical-care physician in case of a COVID-19 outbreak on board—this time he was deploying within the continental United States to support a hospital that was overwhelmed with unvaccinated COVID patients.
The pandemic had been raging in the United States for almost a year and a half. He was leaving behind five children, including his 10-month-old daughter, during a time when support for parents was particularly hard to come by. "The civilian world is asking a lot of the military world right now," Molly sighed. "And … really, it's hard." (I agreed to withhold Molly's last name, and those of several other military spouses in this story, because the military discourages service members and their families from discussing their deployments with the public.)
Molly's husband is one of 4,700 military medical personnel who have deployed for COVID-relief purposes since March 2020 (another 5,100 have deployed to aid vaccination efforts). They are doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and administrative workers, and they've shown up at 81 hospitals in 60 cities, in 19 states and the Navajo Nation. My husband is training to join them. As an internal-medicine resident at a Navy facility, he won't be eligible to deploy until 2023 at the earliest, but these days he is frequently in close contact with contagious COVID patients. His colleagues are similarly exposed, especially the hospital nurses and attending physicians. We've spent the past 18 months watching our friends work impossibly hard at home, only to see many of them sent far away as the coronavirus spirals out of control in areas with low vaccination rates. It's hard to avoid the feeling that, by refusing to do something as simple as getting a shot, people are taking advantage of the military community's altruism. Families like Molly's, and mine, want to serve our country and care for people in need. But deployments to help people who have decided not to help themselves or their communities—and who simultaneously claim to be patriots—can leave us feeling conflicted.
Tom Nichols: Following your gut isn't the right way to go
Molly's husband's first COVID deployment, early in the pandemic, "had a very patriotic feel," she told me. He was going to serve his country, to face a common, looming enemy with the sense that we were all in this together. But since then, vaccines have become widely available, and many of the most overwhelmed hospitals are now being filled by those who have chosen to forgo vaccination while less than 66 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. "I don't fully blame" unvaccinated people, Molly said, "because I think that there is so much misinformation out there." Military doctors and their families "respond to the call when it comes." And yet this time, her husband isn't focused on protecting fellow soldiers or leading a charge into the great unknown. He's being sent away from his family, his friends, and his own patients to aid a mission fueled in part by a blatant rejection of his expertise. "People say—especially a lot of conservatives say—'Oh, we support our military,'" Molly said. "They wave their flags. They wear the red, white, and blue. But then what are they doing to help [stop] the … spread of this disease?"
"I remember the vivid moment he told me" he was redeploying, says Jennifer, a former Army spouse, of her husband's COVID mission. He'd been home from his previous deployment for only 18 months, and she had just started to get their daughter to trust that he was going to come home after taking a run. "Of course, I got upset and cried," she told me. But she also felt confident that he was the perfect person for the job. Their family had already been sick with the virus, and his specialty as a nephrologist made him a valuable asset for treating this particular disease. Still, the goodbye was hard, and the deployment had no clear end date. It was early in the pandemic, and Jennifer had two children at home, but without the typical support systems. No family visits or babysitters or special activities. The kids got clingier, "which is fair," she said, "but not being able to take a shower by yourself … My escape was putting [them] to bed and then just watching Netflix." When she looks back on that time, "I definitely do not feel like I was a victim," she said. "I definitely supported all of his deployments. But I can't lie … It's a sacrifice for the family." Earlier this year, Jennifer's husband left the military. "No deployments was a perk," she said.
Captain Tracy Koblinski, a nurse and individual-ready reservist in the Air Force, has traveled to six hospitals in 19 months to support COVID-relief efforts. Folks will "throw out there, 'Well, you chose to'" become a nurse and join the military, Tracy told me. "'That was your choice.' And it's like, But if I didn't choose to do it, and you surely didn't, then who would be there to help?" She's been struck by the lack of respect and understanding for her sacrifice and that of her colleagues. For one thing, "you don't have your normal life," she said—no family, no pets, no sleeping in your own bed (many deployed health-care workers spend multiple months living alone in hotels). And lots of life happens only once: People get married, babies are born, you miss graduations and anniversaries and recitals and games. Your kids learn to walk. Older generations pass away. And those waiting for the deployed to finally return home—partners, children, colleagues, extended families—are forced to manage life during a pandemic alone. So when people say things like, "Hey, I am patriotic, but it's not my job to go and [get vaccinated] even though I support the military," Koblinski said, "they say one thing but the actions show differently." The fact that so many Americans are refusing to get vaccinated is "making the job a lot harder for us," she added.
Read: The dismal career opportunities for military spouses
Chaplain (Captain) Scott Edwards of the Mississippi National Guard has been providing emotional and spiritual support to military-readiness teams in Tupelo—counseling soldiers, helping them find religious leaders, and talking through what they're feeling. And despite the fact that the North Mississippi Medical Center has some of the best resources and facilities in the state, Edwards described the soldiers as experiencing Iraq War levels of stress. "The reality is that many of these COVID patients that come into the ward, they don't leave," he told me. Witnessing that level of grief and loss is profoundly painful. And although typical doctors and nurses would have strong bonds with their colleagues to support them during difficult days, "our active-duty component, well, they've only been there for a couple weeks or a couple months," Chaplain (Major) Caleb Clark of the 172nd Airlift Wing, also in Mississippi, explained to me. "They don't have those relationships." People like Edwards and Clark, who are working hard to keep up morale and offer guidance, are "carrying a lot of burden for a lot of people, all the time," Clark said.
Despite what's being asked of them, and the pressure, and the anguish, every single person I spoke with for this story said some version of the following: We chose this path. We joined this fight. We love our country and we're ready to help. Chaplains and mental-health providers step in to alleviate the burden on the providers, as the providers step in to alleviate the burden on the patients. "Yeah, we're tired," Clark said, "but we're going to keep running toward the fire. That's what we want to do."
"The people that buy into the military are doing it because we live in a society where we care about each other," Molly reminded me. If only the civilian world felt the same about us.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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South Fork Flambeau
Submitted by karl norskie on Thu, 08/31/2017 - 20:50
US›Midwestern region
Karl Smithback
Access to Put-In Information:
73 miles, 5 days, Class I-III. Put in: Round Lake Logging Dam, Take-out Beaver Dam Landing.
The South Fork Flambeau, is seldom paddled from the headwaters at Round Lake past the confluence with the North Fork and onto the flowages above Ladysmith. Places to camp are also very sparse and takes a fair bit of planning to understand where the state/national forests start and end, as they are largely fragmented. There is such a lack of information on paddling its length, I would in fact venture to guess we were one of maybe 2-3 groups to have ever paddled the entire length in a single trip in the last 50 years. Mike Svob even warns, "there is no camping along the South Fork Flambeau". Not a true statement. The locals seemed to further confirm this presumption with their surprise that we were planning to descend the entire river.
There are no dams on the South Fork Flambeau, which is one of the reasons I was so eager to paddle it--Okay there is one dam. Out of Round Lake at the put-in is a restored wooden logging dam, which does not regulate flow and provides for an interesting historical put in.
There is also no gauge on the South Fork, which makes guessing runnable rates pretty difficult from the couch. Local whitewater paddlers use the stairs at a put-in at highway M to estimate runnable levels. Well, this doesn't help with guessing levels on the upper reaches, and as I learned, isn't a good reference for fully laden open-boaters. Having all of last winter to daydream and put-together data driven spreadsheets correlating google images marked with known dates with area gauges, I managed to beat the system and discovered an incredibly reliable USGS gauge for the South Fork.
The Bear River gauge, located near the Lac du Flambeau reservation drains a similar area (albeit less water), and drains from a meteoroligically proximite location. SO--when the bear is up, the South Fork is up. Specifically, when the bear is at or above 150 cfs, the South Fork is eminently runnable--notwithstanding the stair gauge indicating otherwise.
We in fact left when the Bear River gauge was approaching 200 cfs. 210-220, I believe, is an optimum level for a tripping boat and gear, with 250-300 cfs being some significant swamping in Slough Gundy, and as low as 100-120 cfs for boulder dodging and maybe some butt scooting here and there but otherwise enjoyable.
So after a high water spring, we departed for the put-in at Round Lake Logging Dam on June 1. There is a trail from the parking area that leads down to the river about 100 yards below the dam. We had left a car at the Beaver Dam Landing above Ladysmith, and were on the water at 1:00pm. I was concerned some of the rapids in the upper reaches would be drags, but with the water levels they were all fun splashy Class Is. The Smith Rapids campground comes fairly quickly in the trip, and apparently is closed for an undetermined amount of time. The local wardens explained we would be free to camp in the grassy overflow parking area to the east of the road....We were not about to camp in an overflow parking lot, and intended to go further until a suitable campsite revealed itself. We did stop, however, to admire the covered bridge.
We ended up stopping at a site dubbed "Treasure Point" at mile 9.5. An easy 1st day. The promontory consists of a ridge of woods that approaches very near the river and is topped with Norway Pines. It is fairly obvious amongst the tag alder swamp, and marsh grasses. You'll know you are there if you happen to find the geodesic survey marker in the ground, and a hollow sound beneath your feet when unloading--hence "Treasure Point" since it obviously isn't a hollowed rotted root, but must be a buried chest of treasure....A couple scotches and you'll be convinced of this anyway.
The campsite is quite beautiful and has the feeling of a more remote site. We retired after steaks, corn on the cob, and some trivial pursuit played on the underside of my wannigan lid where I've painted a playing board.
After a quick and cold dip in the morning we continued on, planning to make it to Fifield to eat at the supper club there--I know, really wild country. Despite the scattering of vacation cabins in the first part of the river, it really does have the feel of a more remote river, and compares with the perceived remoteness of the more frequented North Fork. The Sugar Bush area in particular where the river ponds up amongst the alders and muskeg was a scenic change of pace. We also noted for future trips, that at Mile 17 a stairway leads up from the river to the Sportsmans Lounge, almost in the perfect spot for an early lunch and brewskies. We did not stop however, and continued onto Blockhouse Dam to eat. Blockhouse dam, is not a true dam. In fact, there are many dams along the length that are remnants of rock dams used during the logging era, and are easily run. There is a very interesting academic article written by someone at the UW on the logging history of the area. Apparently many of these dams were built by a man known only as "The Beaver". Dam building at that time was more folk art than engineering.
Anyway, Blockhouse dam (not really a dam) looked a tad daunting after the 2' drops and riffles that had preceeded, but anyone with fair boat-handling skills would barely sneeze at this. In lower water, it's probably a drag. Worth noting further down, is Boar's Rapids. Not by any means big, but one of my favorites--A fun Class II, that surprises you around a corner and with the pool at the top, and sharp gradient feels a bit like a log flume.
We continued on to Fifield and pulled off in the park there. Two of us ran up to the supper club to get fish fry and old fashions to go in styrofoam cups, while the rest watched the boats. We ate in the park, swam in the rapids there and continued on later that evening. By the time we reached camp we traveled 24.3 miles and averaged a little over 4 mph--a pace which we kept or surpassed for the remainder of the trip.
Finding a campsite this night is a tad more difficult. There are a few isolated tracts of public land that should be lawful to camp on, but the first few we came across were overgrown and/or partially flooded. We passed a wayside park at Highway 13 with grills, a pit privy, picnic tables and potable water. Not ideal, but we were spent and camped along the trees as far from the road as possible. We later discovered the no overnight camping signs facing away from the river....We figured nobody would kick canoeists off back into the river in the middle of the night. Ultimately, I would camp here again if I had to. It was nice to have potable water and a clean throne. That being said, downriver there was a suitable crash-site on public land. Much beyond the wayside, you're stuck with wooded private property, and logging tracts for another 20-some miles.
The third day on the water we planned to make the 23+ mile trip to the State Forest where we knew we would find camping again. This beautiful stretch was punctuated by plenty of fun easy rapids. No surprises, nothing above a class II. (I should qualify--novices would have a bit of a tough time navigating boats through some of the narrow rapids and boulder gardens, I could see a lot of low-consequence carnage with inexperienced boaters. But with intermediate handling skills, you should be fine).
I won't share the campsite this night, because it was too good to be true and among the best I've seen elsewhere in Canada, the Rockies, Arctic or elsewhere--just uniquely Northwoods Wisconsin and well-situated. If you're looking around the 54-59 mile mark, you'll probably happen across it.
Day 4 was the first day of serious rapids. Mostly class II-III and portage around little falls, which was running a strong III+, and unrunnable for open 17' boats loaded down with wannigans, etc.--(or runnable if you're okay with swamping and losing much of your gear). All were run without consequence, with the exception of some swamping on the crux of slough gundy. A very beautiful stretch of water with rapids, falls, granite cliffs, and some great wave trains. We all had whitewater helmets, throw bags, appropriate gear for this. I would not advise doing days three and four without a helmet, and whitewater skills. In lower water this section becomes benign to downright boney. I later looked, and the gauge on the bear river this day was 185ish, and I could have stood for another 4-6" of water. (For the whitewater boaters: the water was 3/4 of the way to the top of the bottom stair).
We ate lunch at the forks, and camped that night at Cedar Rapids on the North Fork of the Flambeau.
The following day we paddled the North Fork to Beaver Dam Landing where we took out and drove the 5 hours home. We arrived at the landing at about 10:30am after a 9:00am start.
This trip report might lead one to believe the river is in a fairly developed area, but for the upper midwest it has the feel of being no more populated than most of the North Fork, and is a far more varied and scenic river. Plus, given there are no impediments on the way down, it has the feel of a much wilder river. Of all the trips I've done, the South Fork Flambeau rates very high for being a remaining vestige of Wisconsin's wild past. I would even say this is the best 5 day run in the upper midwest if one excludes BWCA. If planning to run the length, go early in the season with appropriate boats, gear, and whitewater abilities--or of course, portage. Make sure the Bear River gauge is 200-300 cfs, and no lower than 150 the day you put in. County web maps are invaluable for identifying public land. My group plans to alternate doing this "home river" on odd number years, and doing more adventurous 8-14 day trips in the James and Hudson Bay basin even numbered years. At least that's our plan until the next big idea.
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Name: Fantastic Trip! - Email
Post date: Thu, 08/31/2017 - 20:51
Fantastic Trip!


Bear Hybrid and Serta Reedman Plush belong to the same product category. These two mattresses can easily fit on adjustable bed bases. US residents can enjoy hassle-free shipping on both beds. These models come with an exceptional warranty.
Bear Hybrid offers incredible motion isolation in comparison to Serta Reedman Plush.The perfect blend of layers ensures an uninterrupted rest all night long. This mattress is a good choice for couples or pet owners as you feel minimal motion transfer.


Pointers are a more powerful (but potentially unsafe) alternative to references. As compared to references, pointers have these superpowers: they support pointer arithmetic, they are never constrained by lifetimes, permissions or allocators, and they are always nullable. However, being freed from these constraints means that pointers may be used in unsafe ways, such as accessing memory locations that are invalid or protected. Using pointers safely is solely the responsibility of the programmer.
Note: Since pointers (unlike references) don't belong to an allocator, if the pointer has been obtained via memory allocation (e.g., malloc), the programmer is responsible for ensuring that the memory segment is properly freed.
Unlike references, pointers are not a stand-in for the value they point at. Thus, operations on a pointer typically affect the pointer itself. This is true for pointer arithmetic and comparisons.
Note: Although the above example increments the pointer by "one", the effect is to actually point to an address that is 4 bytes after. This happens because it increments (or decrements) by the size of the type it points to. Since a 32-bit integer is 4 bytes large, any value added to such an integer pointer is effectively multiplied by 4.
Pointer comparisons work just like they do for references. So long as two pointers have the same type, they can be compared for equality. It can also be valuable to know when some pointer's address is greater or less than another pointer's address.
As with references, the * operator is used to access the value the pointer points to. However, such pointer dereferencing may only be done within a trust block. This requirement signals to the programmer that such de-referencing may be potentially unsafe.


So I know that I have not blogged for quite some time. In fact, I thought I was done blogging altogether. A lot has happened in the last 6 months and I just did not have the energy to even think about writing. A couple weeks after my last blog post, I was informed that my husband was being transferred for work and we were moving to Northern California. After some careful thinking, I resigned from my teaching position, and then, within a couple weeks of moving discovered that I was PREGNANT. I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least. Mostly, I was overjoyed. A baby is something my husband and I have wanted for a long time. And now we are expecting a little boy to arrive around July 14th, which happens to be the day before my birthday. Best. Present. Ever.
I was pretty sick for the first 16 weeks of my pregnancy and then spent the next 4 weeks overwhelmed by the profound changes my body was experiencing. During that time I was upset with the fact that we do not have any friends living up here and pregnancy is not exactly the best friendship maker in your 20's. Again, I was not really feeling going to back to blogging. Then suddenly something changed in me. I started feeling comfortable and beautiful in my new shape (gotta love that second trimester). I am proud of my new round belly–and nothing beats the feeling of those first baby kicks. I knew that the experience of being pregnant with my first child was something I wanted to share with my family and friends who now live far away. I wish I had started earlier but better late than never I suppose. So here I am, at 22 weeks ready to write again. I am really excited because I really do love blogging but I think that until now I had not found the right focus. After all, I think the best blogs are the ones where the writers are truly passionate and excited about their subject. I am thrilled to have finally found mine.
So going forward there will be some changes. As much as I love reading food blogs, I have decided that blogging exclusively about food is not something I want to pursue. I will continue to write about food and my jewelry but they will no longer be the sole focus. This blog will now become a place to simply share all the things I love, including all things baby.


Once famous for sweet onions, a burgeoning wine industry now casts a prominent grapevine-shadow over Walla Walla's celebrated crop. This reputation started in the late seventies and has grown into an industry that not only supports multiple award winning vineyards and shops catering to the trade, but an institute dedicated to Enology and Viticulture as well.
The newest sprout of Walla Walla is Chillville – a community located a mellow jaunt from the award-winning, both civil and culinary, Main Street. It is here that CampeReparadise's freshly refurbished 1964 Barth now resides. Joining multiple, hand-selected campers spanning sixty years of American travel-trailer history, this Barth's dinette with distinctive wraparound windows now provides a panoramic view of Washington's wine country.
The vintage camper community is hosted by a food and wine editor delighted in offering both regional and culinary advice. We're more than happy seeing this Barth join the character, charm, and culture of a premier destination, within an equally premier city.


text:
Look: Bride widowed just nine months after wedding as husband dies of cancer
Tragedy hits Solihull couple within a fortnight of tying the knot on 'perfect day'
Hannah Jennings Parry
David Jenkins, from Solihull, sadly passed away before his first wedding anniversary leaving behind his widow Ava and two children Nathan and Isabel.
A bride was widowed just nine months after her wedding – after her husband was struck by cancer within a fortnight of their marriage.
David and Ava Jenkins, from Solihull, tied the knot following a ten-year love affair.
But the joy of what Ava called their "perfect day" was to be tragically short-lived.
After returning from their dream wedding in Devon, the car valet's persistent cough was diagnosed as lymphoma.
He underwent several rounds of chemotherapy but died nine months later, aged just 28.
Mum-of-two Ava, also 28, said: "Our whole married life was spent in and out of hospital.
"It was a massive shock when the doctors told us he wouldn't make it.
"It doesn't feel real. I see pictures of him and I get upset – I can't believe he's gone."
Solihull dad David Jenkins sadly passed away before his first wedding anniversary
The couple met on a night out on Broad Street in Birmingham city centre in 2003.
David popped the question four years later and they married in Woolacombe, Devon, on July 5, 2012.
Marks & Spencer worker Ava said David was first told he had a virus when he fell ill.
She recalled: "He'd had a cough for several weeks and was going to and from the doctors but they thought it was a virus.
"But when we got back from the wedding his heart rate was found to be high and he was referred to Solihull Hospital.
"He was finally diagnosed with lymphoma. At first they said it was treatable and they could cure it.
"But whenever he had chemo it kept coming back. He fought it for nine months. He was given a last-chance treatment from America so all our hopes were on that but he was already very poorly."
David died on April 27 last year.
"It was a real shock," said Ava, who is mum to children Isabel, eight, and Nathan, four. "He always made everyone laugh.
"He would do anything for anyone, he was just that sort of person."
To support David's family, friend Adrian Court has entered an off-roading obstacle race on Weston-super-Mare's beachfront on October 17.
"David was into his motorsport so I can't think of a better way to remember him," said Adrian, from Shirley.
"I wanted to do something to help his children so all the money raised will go into a trust fund for them when they are 18.
"Hopefully he'll be looking down on us and smiling."
Ava added: "I think it's a wonderful thing to do for the children and Dave would be really proud.
"I can't thank Adrian enough."
Sponsor Adrian at www.GoFundMe.com/a7ufsk.
M42Live updates as multi-vehicle smash on M42 causes delaysQueues are expected in the area


text:
Neptune Aviation eyes proposal to add surplus Air Force planes to fire fleet
published by www.ravallirepublic.com
USA–– Congress may consider a bipartisan bill to add surplus Air Force cargo planes to the Forest Service firefighting fleet.
Missoula-based Neptune Aviation officials supported the move this week, provided they get to operate the planes.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., authored the bill to transfer 14 C-27J Spartan planes to the Forest Service for use as large air tankers dropping retardant. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., are cosponsors.
The Department of Defense ordered 78 of the twin-engine planes for use in Afghanistan, although only 52 were built, according to the aerial firefighting website Wildfire Today.
The Spartans resemble a two-engine version of the C-130 cargo planes now modified for fire retardant drops. The military started acquiring them in 2008, which would make them the youngest airframe in the firefighting fleet.
By comparison, Neptune's seven P2V tankers are all more than 50 years old. An eighth P2V crashed on June 3, killing its crew of two.
Last summer, Neptune added a BAe-146 four-engine jet to its fleet, which is a 20-year-old passenger/cargo design. Neptune expects delivery of a second BAe-146 next week, and a third before the end of the 2012 fire season. Three other companies are adding another five next-generation air tankers this year and in 2013.
Wildfire Today noted that the C-27Js have a smaller retardant capacity than the BAe-146, hauling 2,000 to 2,500 gallons. Forest Service next-generation tanker specifications call for a minimum load of 3,000 gallons.
"Our position is if the Forest Service acquires any aircraft, we want to operate and maintain those aircraft," Neptune vice president Ron Hooper said on Friday. "We won't object or try to block the transfer, but we want the opportunity to provide that service."
The Forest Service has the largest non-military air fleet in the U.S. government. Over the years, it has experimented with several management forms, including letting contractors own and operate the planes, owning the planes but contracting with pilots to fly and maintain them, and handling all operations in-house.
It also has arranged to use military C-130 planes fitted with removable retardant tanks. One of those planes, belonging to the North Carolina Air National Guard, crashed on July 1 in South Dakota, killing four and injuring two.
"We have an opportunity to take the C-27J, an aircraft the Pentagon no longer wants, and give it to the Forest Service to enhance aircraft safety and lower existing maintenance costs," McCain said in a news release. "The C-27J should be kept in the service of the American people to help our brave fire crews, rather than sit in an airplane boneyard."
Hooper said Neptune had briefed the Montana congressional delegation about the bill, repeating its preference to provide private ownership and contracting of retardant bombers. Sen. Jon Tester's spokesman, Dan Malessa, said the office was researching McCain's proposal.
"Jon is interested in the bill, but needs more information about its costs and benefits to the Forest Service," Malessa said in an email Friday. "Before making a decision, he needs to hear from the Service about how much it will cost the Service to operate the C-27Js, as well as how they'd fit into the Forest Service's missions."
The nation enjoyed a brief slowdown in firefighting tempo this week, according to National Interagency Fire Center spokeswoman Jennifer Jones. The Forest Service reduced its preparedness level from 4 to 2 on a scale of 5, and has sent home two of the four military C-130s it brought on during the busy early July fires.
"But I don't think it's going to last," Jones said of the respite. "We've got way too much fire season ahead of us."


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text:
@felix_schwarz
@iospirit
Indie Notes
7 things I learnt creating an App Preview video for Apple TV
by Felix Schwarz / Apr 5, 2016 / in App Store, Marketing, tvOS
Between the initial release of Remote Buddy Display in November 2015 and the first update, Apple has added App Previews to the tvOS App Store: short videos, between 15 and 30 seconds in length, that allow potential new users to see an app in action before installing it.
While I'm pretty happy with how the introductory video for Remote Buddy Display turned out, it's more than twice as long as the maximum permitted length for an App Preview video.
So I accepted the challenge of the format and its constraints and jumped in. Here are a few things I learnt and thought about while creating the video:
1. App Previews on Apple TV are a big deal
First, literally, App Previews on tvOS are shown on what is probably the biggest screen in the home.
Second, the way App Previews are integrated into the tvOS App Store differs greatly from the iOS App Store. If you add an App Preview to an iOS app, it's poster frame dominates what people see of your app in search and on the app's page in the App Store.
Search result on the iOS App Store
On tvOS, App Previews are a much less risky proposition: the app's icon continues to be shown in search — and the video does not occupy the place of the first screen shot.
Instead, the poster frame of the App Preview now fills the right half of the page (blank otherwise) and a dedicated "Preview" button invites users to play the App Preview right away.
Third, the emphasis on paid content is stronger on the tvOS App Store: according to Apple data from early 2016, only 50% of tvOS apps can be downloaded for free (vs. 82% on iOS). That's a good thing for indie developers, but I'd still expect users to hesitate before spending their dollars on an app they can't try beforehand. A captivating App Preview, then, may be just what's needed to convince them.
iOS and tvOS App Store Catalogs by Business Model. Source: Apple TV Tech Talks
2. Deciding on a storyboard & soundtrack early on helps immensely
When I do a new video for one of my apps, one of the first and most important things I do is to brainstorm what I want to show, bring these ideas into a logical order and — if possible — find a continuous stream of actions I can show.
From this, I write a storyboard that contains all text titles, speech and scene contents in written form.
Finally, I look for a soundtrack that fits the pace of the story I'm about to tell in my video.
I found that writing a storyboard and deciding on a soundtrack early on really helps to keep production time to the minimum while making sure that the video I record fits the pace and special features of the background music.
3. Focus or die
At first, the 30 second limitation of App Previews gave me the horror. Now I appreciate it, because it rewards all the right things and discourages everything that might shy away new users.
It forces me to focus. Focus on the best parts and meaningful interactions that best represent my app's purpose.
I simply don't have the air time to show endless navigation through menu hierarchies. I need to get to the point. And fast. That's a good thing.
4. Don't layer text on top of video
In the past, I have often layered text on top of video to annotate and explain what is being shown. This can work well if what is shown takes long enough for the viewer to have a chance to both read the text and re-focus on and follow the action.
In a 30 second video, however… forget it: the moment a viewer has completed reading the text, the action that's been annotated has ended, too.
So in the name of not letting anything happen concurrently in this video, I ended up alternating full screen text titles with video recorded from the Apple TV.
The end result is just so much better.
5. Final Cut Pro X can animate Photoshop layers
When it comes to titling a video, my usual process is to create them with Keynote and export them as QuickTime file, which I then feed in Final Cut Pro X.
This time, however, since I didn't think I'd need any text transitions, I quickly threw some titles together in Photoshop and dropped the PSD files directly on Final Cut Pro X.
Much to my surprise I found that Final Cut Pro X would turn every layer in the PSD file into a track of its own and allow me to apply transformations and transitions on them — just like with any other object.
When I wanted one text transition later on, I could just create it right in Final Cut Pro X and skip Keynote entirely this time.
6. Keep the use of transitions and effects to a minimum
There is no shortage of wild, impressive transitions and effects in Final Cut Pro X and Keynote. Yet I have kept my use of transitions in the App Preview to a bare minimum (variations of simple cross fades, really).
First, transitions eat time — and time is a particularly scarce resource in an App Preview video.
Second, transitions and effects, if overused, can at best just be distracting — and at worst be damaging: after all, a beautiful frame around a bad photo doesn't improve the photo. Instead it amplifies how bad the photo is.
Or, put more positively™: if you have a great app, let is shine and speak for itself. Avoid ridiculing it through the overuse of transitions and effects.
7. The App Store adds a one-second transition at the beginning
Visiting Remote Buddy Display's App Store page after the update went live, I noticed that the App Store had overlaid the first second with a transition: audio fades in slowly and the video fades in from black.
As a result, the first full screen text title at the beginning of the video is only briefly visible, giving the video an abrupt start. It's not a complete deal breaker, but I wish I had known of this beforehand.
For the next update, I'll account for this by inserting a second of silence and black at the beginning of the video.
This is the first App Preview video I've made, and it will be interesting to see how and if it will affect the bottom line.
However the result may look like, I'm already glad I made the video, because the process taught me some important lessons about making (hopefully) more impactful product videos.
Here's the result of roughly a day of work: Remote Buddy Display: control your Mac with Apple TV and Siri Remote (App Preview video) (YouTube)
Using letsencrypt with nginx to obtain, install and automatically renew SSL/TLS certificates
How to use the OS X 10.9 SDK with Xcode 7.3
© 2018 Felix Schwarz. All rights reserved.


Conveniently architect sticky customer service and compelling leadership. Dynamically myocardinate value-added imperatives after parallel web-readiness. Efficiently architect leading-edge methods of empowerment and collaborative platforms. Enthusiastically cultivate timely scenarios whereas value-added networks. Conveniently innovate functional technology whereas premium communities.
Distinctively synergize B2C growth strategies before B2B action items. Distinctively repurpose unique technologies vis-a-vis cross-unit e-tailers. Rapidiously.


SA8000 is an international Standard published in the year 1997 by the non-profit organization SAI (Social Accountability International). Companies choose audit and certification according to SA8000 because they want to demonstrate the social responsibility inherent in their management system. This involves top management taking into account the rights of employees, the working environment, and basic human rights.
The essential requirements of SA8000 relate to the subject areas of: child labor, forced labor, health and safety, freedom of assembly, discrimination, punishment, working hours, pay, and the management system.
SA8000 is the first auditable standard in this area. It is based on the conventions established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Convention for Children's Rights.
DQS conducts assessments and certifications to SA8000 on behalf of IQNet, the world's largest network of management system certification bodies. IQNet is accredited for this social standard by SAAS (Social Accountability Accreditation Services).