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McDonald's

Plastic

The tax was introduced to reduce single-use plastics and takeout trash in a small German city in 2022, and the fast-food giant tried in vain to reverse it.

Food packaging

Small City Defeats McDonald's Over Plastic Packaging

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.uTJA7JDoTGKvff5o3jotfg&pid=news

Newsweek

Newell

Ball Corp.

Ardagh Group announced that its subsidiary Ardagh Glass Packaging (AGP) – North America has partnered with Newell Brands to manufacture its Ball Honeybee Keepsake Mason Jars. The beverages sector has already been re-shaped by increasing corporate and ...

Ardagh manufactures Ball honeybee mason jars for Newell Brands

packaging-gateway

Ball

DENVER -- Nikola Jokic and Mat Ishbia had another courtside encounter before Tuesday night's Game 5 -- but this time it was the Denver Nuggets star handing a basketball over to the Phoenix Suns ...

Nikola Jokic gives ball to Mat Ishbia in playful pregame moment

ESPN

One of the most prestigious tennis tournaments outside of the four grand slams, the Madrid Open attracts the biggest names in the sport. However, this year’s edition has drawn as much attention ...

‘Sexist’ ball girl outfits, silencing the women’s finalists and small birthday cakes: Madrid Open causes controversy

There was more drama when Russell was ran out in the penultimate ball as a calm-headed Rinku Singh (21 not out; 10b) once again came to KKR's rescue sealing the win with a boundary off the last ball.

KKR win last ball thriller

The Pioneer

Birthday cake

Madrid Open

On the main court during men's matches, the all-female ball crew wore short skirts and midriff-baring tops − while younger ball boys and girls in more conservative outfits were on duty at the ...

Madrid Open tennis controversy: Ball girls, birthday cakes raise equality concerns

USA Today

Tennis

World

The Madrid Open has appeared to backdown over the backlash regarding their ball women outfits on main court after furore erupted last week. Tennis fans became outraged last week when viewers ...

Tennis world prompts change after 'disgusting' ball girl drama at Madrid Open

Yahoo Sport Australia

Joint

Grease

In other words, that grease you've been using to pack your wheel bearings might not be the best pick for the ball joints. Then again, it might be. You're not here for riddles, though. You just ...

Keep those Ball Joints Moving With the Best Grease

The Drive

NASDAQ

Citigroup

Recommendation

Ball Corporation supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and ...

Citigroup Maintains Ball (BALL) Neutral Recommendation

Nasdaq

Get the most recent info and news about Ball on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products to the beverage, personal care, automotive, paint, healthcare, and household products industries. It operates in four segments: Beverage Packaging, North and Central America; Beverage Packaging, South America; Beverage Packaging, Europe; and Aerospace. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages. It also develops spacecraft, sensors and instruments, radio frequency systems, and other technologies and products for the civil, commercial, and national security aerospace markets, as well as offers defense hardware, antenna and video tactical solutions, civil and operational space hardware, and systems engineering services. In addition, the company designs, manufactures, and tests satellites, remote sensors, and ground station control hardware and software; and provides launch vehicle integration and satellite operational services. Further, it provides target identification, warning, and attitude control systems and components; cryogenic systems and associated sensor cooling devices; star trackers; and fast-steering mirrors to the government agencies and prime contractors. Additionally, the company manufactures and sells aerosol containers, extruded aluminum aerosol containers, and aluminum slugs. The company was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

Great Astronomers by Robert S. Ball is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. Read this book online for free on HackerNoon! : Great Astronomers Title : Robert S. Ball Author : August 1, 2000 [eBook #2298] Most recently updated: October 24, 2010 Release date : English Language Table of Links PREFACE. INTRODUCTION. PTOLEMY. COPERNICUS. TYCHO BRAHE. GALILEO. KEPLER. ISAAC NEWTON. FLAMSTEED. HALLEY. BRADLEY. WILLIAM HERSCHEL. LAPLACE. BRINKLEY. JOHN HERSCHEL. THE EARL OF ROSSE. AIRY. HAMILTON. LE VERRIER. ADAMS. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Robert S. Ball (2000). Great Astronomers. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2298/pg2298-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

Great Astronomers by Robert S. Ball - Table of Links

THE SACRED BEETLE: THE BALL

The Mysterious Balloon 

The Story of the Heavens by Robert S. Ball is...

The Earth's Beginning by Robert S. Ball is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. Read this book online for free on HackerNoon! : The Earth's Beginning Title : Robert S. Ball Author : March 17, 2019 [eBook #59080] Release date : English Language Table of Links FOREWORD CHAPTER I.—Introduction II.—The Problem Stated III.—The Fire-mist IV.—Nebulæ—Apparent and Real V.—The Heat of the Sun VI.—How the Sun’s Heat is Maintained VII.—The History of the Sun VIII.—The Earth’s Beginning IX. —Earthquakes and Volcanoes X.—Spiral and Planetary Nebulæ XI.—The Unerring Guide XII.—The Evolution of the Solar System XIII.—The Unity of Material in the Heavens and the Earth XIV.—The First Concord XV. —The Second Concord XVI.—The Third Concord XVII.—Objections to the Nebular Theory XVIII.—The Beginning of the Nebula XIX.—Concluding Chapter About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Robert S. Ball (2019). The Earth's Beginning. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59080/pg59080-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

The Earth's Beginning by Robert S. Ball - Table of Links

The Story of the Heavens by Robert S. Ball is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. Read this book online for free on HackerNoon! : The Story of the Heavens Title : Robert S. Ball Author : December 1, 2008 [eBook #27378] Release date : English Language Table of Links INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. The Astronomical Observatory II. The Sun III. The Moon IV. The Solar System V. The Law of Gravitation VI. The Planet of Romance VII. Mercury VIII. Venus IX. The Earth X. Mars XI. The Minor Planets XII. Jupiter XIII. Saturn XIV. Uranus XV. Neptune XVI. Comets XVII. Shooting Stars XVIII. The Starry Heavens XIX. The Distant Suns XX. Double Stars XXI. The Distances of the Stars XXII. Star Clusters and Nebulæ XXIII. The Physical Nature of the Stars XXIV. The Precession and Nutation of the Earth's Axis XXV. The Aberration of Light XXVI. The Astronomical Significance of Heat XXVII. The Tides About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Robert S. Ball (2008). The Story of the Heavens. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/27378/pg27378-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

The Story of the Heavens by Robert S. Ball - Table of Links

Experimental Mechanics by Robert S. Ball is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. Read this book online for free on HackerNoon! : Experimental Mechanics Title : Robert S. Ball Author : April 1, 2020 [eBook #61732] Release date : English Language Table of Links LECTURE I. THE COMPOSITION OF FORCES. LECTURE II. THE RESOLUTION OF FORCES. LECTURE III. PARALLEL FORCES. LECTURE IV. THE FORCE OF GRAVITY. LECTURE V. THE FORCE OF FRICTION. LECTURE VI. THE PULLEY. LECTURE VII. THE PULLEY-BLOCK. LECTURE VIII. THE LEVER. LECTURE IX. THE INCLINED PLANE AND THE SCREW. LECTURE X. THE WHEEL AND AXLE. LECTURE XI. THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TIMBER. LECTURE XII. THE STRENGTH OF A BEAM. LECTURE XIII. THE PRINCIPLES OF FRAMEWORK. LECTURE XIV. THE MECHANICS OF A BRIDGE. LECTURE XV. THE MOTION OF A FALLING BODY. LECTURE XVI. INERTIA. LECTURE XVII. CIRCULAR MOTION. LECTURE XVIII. THE SIMPLE PENDULUM. LECTURE XIX. THE COMPOUND PENDULUM AND THE COMPOSITION OF VIBRATIONS. LECTURE XX. THE MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES OF A CLOCK. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Robert S. Ball (2020). Experimental Mechanics. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61732/pg61732-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org, located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

Experimental Mechanics by Robert S. Ball - Table of Links

Time and Tide: A Romance of the Moon by Robert S. Ball is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. Read this book online for free on HackerNoon! : Time and Tide: A Romance of the Moon Title : Robert S. Ball Author : January 10, 2008 [eBook #24236] Release date : English Language Table of Links Lecture I Lecture II About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Robert S. Ball (2008). Time and Tide: A Romance of the Moon. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/24236/pg24236-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

Time and Tide: A Romance of the Moon by Robert S. Ball - Table of Links

Tapping into the Power of AI: Go Mobile's Blueprint for Winning the Battle for Customer Attention Welcome to our latest installment of "Behind the Startup," where we dive into the world of mobile marketing with Andrey Bluemental, Worldwide Managing Director. Discover the innovative strategies and technologies that set this agency apart from the rest, and learn how AI and predictive marketing are revolutionizing the industry. Join us as we explore the future of mobile marketing and uncover the trends that will shape 2023 and beyond. Behind the Startup: Meet Andrey Bluemental, the Mobile Marketing Maestro Taking Businesses to New Heights Hi Andrey Bluemental, great to have you here for our "Behind the Startup" series. What inspired you to create Go Mobile, and how did you get started in the field of global marketing? Ishan Pandey: We can see that there is a constantly growing trend for mobile marketing. That’s why we founded an agency specializing in mobile tools, specifically performance and media. Client requirements are getting stricter in matters of business KPIs, so we started investing in the development of our own technology that would meet this growing trend, and the purpose is to achieve higher effectiveness and automation of marketing. Andrey Bluemental: : Vested Interest Disclosure The author is an independent contributor publishing via our . Be it through direct compensation, media partnerships, or networking, the author has a vested interest in the company/ies mentioned in this story. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR brand-as-author program How does Go Mobile differentiate itself from other mobile marketing companies in the industry? Ishan Pandey: First off, we use a combination of creativity and technology to achieve maximum performance for our advertising campaigns. Though we place our bets on attracting experts for select tasks, we invest in technologies a lot as well. This way, we guarantee not only a high degree of expertise on the team and excellent client service, but also the efficiency that only technologies can provide. Andrey Bluemental: Secondly, we are more like business partners for our clients than just another marketing agency. Our goal is to make their businesses grow. Can you provide an overview of the services that Go Mobile offers to businesses looking to improve their mobile marketing strategies? Ishan Pandey: Modern digital marketing is a set of activities aimed at promoting a product or service. It may sound easy, but in practice, many entrepreneurs focus too much only on social networks, mobile advertising, or offline activities. This is understandable, since not every business has access to a wide range of on-staff specialists. Our agency employs more than 300 professionals responsible for various domains, including user acquisition (Web + App), advertising strategy & data analytics, retargeting, our own innovative tech solutions like Go NET & Go Predicts, KOL projects, and design. We work in each of these areas with full dedication and the same level of passion. More than so, our AI tools help us perform tasks 24/7. Andrey Bluemental: Can you discuss the technology and tools that Go Mobile uses to help businesses optimize their mobile marketing campaigns? Ishan Pandey: One of our products is the Go NET programmatic platform, developed by our specialists both for internal use and for other marketing agencies. The platform consists of a large toolkit, including instruments for quick setup and launch of new advertising campaigns, support for all types of creatives, predictive tools, contextual targeting, and brand lift methodology. Andrey Bluemental: Another B2B product is our Go Predicts solution that uses predictive analysis to improve the key metrics of ads. With the help of Go Predicts it becomes possible to rank consumers based on their potential business value in the future. This way, companies can focus on the audience that is most attractive to them. How does predictive marketing work? Is it possible to build an accurate marketing strategy and predict the campaign's result in a changing market? Ishan Pandey: Predictive marketing uses advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms to analyze large amounts of customer data and predict future outcomes. This approach can help businesses identify new opportunities, improve targeting, and optimize marketing campaigns to achieve better results. Andrey Bluemental: The predictive marketing process typically involves several steps, including data collection and preparation, feature selection, model training, and deployment. Data sources can include customer demographics, behavior, and transactional data, as well as external factors like economic indicators and market trends. That being said, predictive marketing can be a powerful tool for businesses to optimize their marketing strategies and improve their chances of success on the broader market. By leveraging the latest technologies and techniques, businesses can gain valuable insights into their customers' behavior and preferences, and make data-driven decisions that help them attain better results. How does Go Mobile help businesses measure the success of their mobile marketing efforts, and what kind of metrics do you track? Ishan Pandey: We put a lot of emphasis on measuring the success of marketing efforts, since that is an integral part of delivering great quality of service. Our team delivers regular reports about ad campaign performance for each client, holds regular meetings to stay tuned with the clients’ team and discuss every aspect of the strategy, campaign optimization, and hypothesis testing. We share our expertise and help clients understand which marketing tools and approaches can grow their business and what could reduce marketing effectiveness. Andrey Bluemental: As for metrics, we work with any of them — CPI, CPA, CAC, LTV and classic CPC and CPM, as well as business metrics like the number of new clients, retention rates, and others. What kind of customer support and resources does Go Mobile provide to its clients? Ishan Pandey: We assemble an individual team for every client based on the company’s goals and objectives. The team usually includes a media buyer, personal account manager, strategist, creative, finance and legal teams. Andrey Bluemental: We also use our native technologies — a creative approval system and real-time dashboards customized for every client. The technology helps us collaborate with clients effectively and transparently, doing it like business partners, not on a client and a performer basis. How does Go Mobile stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in mobile marketing? Ishan Pandey: In marketing, you are always in need of testing a new hypothesis. It relates to sources of traffic, marketing tools, new strategies and approaches, design, metrics, and so in. In some way, staying up-to-date with trends and best practices is our job. That is why we attend industrial conferences, organize webinars and meet-ups, and run collaborations with other agencies. All in the name of staying on par with global practices and accumulating experience. Andrey Bluemental: I also believe that the community plays an important role in improving the quality of products and creating new ones. GoMobile has its own digital community. We resort to our LinkedIn group to share experiences with marketing experts and thus propel ourselves to the next level with every acquired feedback. What tools are most effective for companies that seek to increase product sales? Has anything changed in the last 2-3 years? Ishan Pandey: The trend is apps nowadays, so it’s important to create connections between the web and mobile in terms of the target audience, communication channels, budget allocation and traffic sources for achieving more efficient business growth. Andrey Bluemental: The personalization of advertising has reached a new level and it is becoming more challenging to achieve that level due to the phasing out of cookies. Advanced analytics and an understanding of user behavior thus come to the forefront as the countermeasure. Businesses collect user information through their products and create more cases of real-time marketing — when marketing strategies adjust to the current agenda and news backgrounds, applying them in the favor of the brands. Two or three years ago, companies couldn't use AI and chatbots to improve customer service and increase their sales. Today, these tools are must-haves. Tools such as co-op websites and social networks remain unchanged, since they are still the first point of contact with potential clients, so the site must be optimized, and social networks must be filled with useful content and focus on consumer interests. What are your thoughts on the current status of artificial intelligence, and how do you see it evolving in the coming years? Ishan Pandey: I would say that artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changing technology that has already made a significant impact on the marketing industry. AI has enabled us to automate many repetitive tasks, analyze large amounts of data, and provide personalized recommendations to customers, all of which have helped improve marketing efficiency. Andrey Bluemental: In the coming years, I believe that AI will continue to evolve and become even more sophisticated. We will see more businesses adopting AI-powered solutions, such as personalized chatbots that can provide a more human-like experience, and AI-powered recommendation engines for analyzing customer data to deliver hyper-personalized content and product offers. What will be the marketing trends in 2023? Do you advise your clients to use tools like ChatGPT? What should companies pay attention to if they want to win the battle for customer attention? Ishan Pandey: The key to surviving through 2023 is using the available marketing channels effectively. I expect that advertising will become more personalized, and video content will continue to be a reliable format for offering goods and services. Also, with the proliferation of smart speakers, voice search will be gaining prominence. The growing commitment of consumers to environmentally friendly products and production methods will also play a major role in shaping demand. Andrey Bluemental: Tech development is advancing at a rapid pace, but we see that truly impressive results can be achieved only through the collaboration of humans and AI. For example, ChatGPT is really changing the world, but it can solve real tasks only once very strict specifications have been provided. It’s just a system that belches out random results without the involvement of human expertise on the input end. The AI needs to be set up and applied correctly to be of maximum use and turn into a significant competitive advantage,  one that would allow a business to earn more. Don’t forget to like and share the story! Image credits: MidJourney.

Predictive Marketing: Crystal Ball of Digital Advertising Unveiled by Go Mobile's Andrey Bluemental

Meteors, Fire-Balls, and Meteorites

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🪐 has got you covered with fresh content from our top 5 stories of the day, every day at noon your local time! Set email preference . What's happening in tech this week: The Noonification by HackerNoon here The Hunt for Data: Creating a Computer Vision Dataset for Road Safety By [ 6 Min read ]
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The previous post was about Phantom Metrics: Why Your Monitoring Dashboard May Be Lying to You . On this post we’ll look at Expensive Metrics and how our bill quickly gets out of control. We all collect logs, metrics, traces, and possibly other telemetry data. Yet, this can get expensive pretty quickly, especially in today’s cloud-native and microservices-based systems. Why is that? How is it related to the “cardinality problem”? And how can we proactively manage this data surge and keep the associated costs under control? I decided to delve into this intricate cost challenge in a recent episode of , with the help of my guest Ben Sigelman, co-founder and the GM of Lightstep. Ben architected Google’s own planet-scale metrics and distributed tracing systems (still in production today), and went on to co-create the open-source OpenTracing and OpenTelemetry projects, both part of the (CNCF). OpenObservability Talks Cloud Native Computing Foundation Cost factor #1: A multitude of microservices Regardless of whether you’re using a commercial vendor or deploying open source tools, the cost for observability ends up being dominated by the collection and long term storage of the raw data itself, that’s used for observability. It is quite reasonable to expect that the amount of telemetry data being generated from your application will be proportional to the number of business transactions, which ultimately translates to the amount of revenue that an application is generating. If you were to increase the load on an application by 10X, it’s fair to assume that the amount of data it generates will increase by roughly 10X, broadly speaking. In microservices based systems, however, there is another significant factor on your data volume, one that people often don’t take into consideration in their preliminary cost assessment. That is the number of services deployed. We need to monitor each service, as well as the interaction between the services, and adding new services inevitably results in extra telemetry data. The reason that cost has gotten so unwieldy for cloud native is that as the application grows, it increases the top line in terms of application use, and then also increases the number of services that are involved, which drives a surge in the data volumes. Cost factor #2: High cardinality In monolith systems life was simpler, as these systems failed in pretty predictable ways, which helped us determine what we need to monitor, and we built dashboards to capture these known failure modes. The introduction of cloud native systems complicated things. Now I may need to investigate my microservice’s performance per pod, per node, per namespace, per deployment version, and so on. These additional dimensions increase the cardinality of my infrastructure monitoring. Moreover, unlike infrastructure monitoring, such as CPU, memory and disk utilization, application monitoring is very open-ended, which causes a surge in failure modes. In order to ensure your application’s availability and reliability to your customers, you need to monitor business related metrics, such as the amount of time it takes a user to log into the system or check out with his shopping cart, or similar . With each incident you investigate, you discover a new failure mode you need to track, and after the postmortem developers add metrics or tags to increase observability coverage for these cases. product observability This is a really slippery slope and a difficult thing for developers to estimate. Developers oftentimes aren’t aware that this well-intentioned action of adding a tag in fact means adding a dimension to the metric, one that each and every time series will be impacted by. This is how dimensions keep building up, which quickly becomes a high cardinality challenge, which ends up extraordinarily expensive. As Ben shared on the podcast: I talked to economic buyers of metrics tools, where they’ve had single developers add in one line of code, that’s costing them $200,000 a year, steady state of. And that’s totally typical. Cost factor #3: Wide-range dimensions It’s not just about the number of dimensions but the size of these dimensions. If the dimension is your number of endpoints, it makes sense. But what if you choose as a dimension your user ID? You can have millions of these in B2C applications. Choosing a dimension with such a wide range of values, or maybe even an open-ended range of values, is an anti-pattern, and can drive your data volume up very quickly. Remember that this is combinatorics of all the different dimensions that determines the total cardinality. Ben said that back in his days at Google they had a few core latency metric for all Gmail use which ended up with 300 million time series values! “That’s why I remember it so clearly, because we had to do a lot of work to support that. We had situations where a single metric wouldn’t even fit in memory in one of the shards of the Monarch system.” Cost factor #4: Collecting but not using Interestingly, in many production deployments, many of these tags and labels aren’t actually put to use. In my company Logz.io, when we help our users analyze their metric data costs, we often find between 60%–80% of the anywhere, not in dashboards nor in alerts. Time and time again I see users amazed to discover metric they’ve been collecting but but not using, metrics with dozens of labels that take up storage that eats up their bill. Here's a screenshot of a typical system with collected but unused metrics  (source: Data Optimization Hub): metrics that aren’t used Logz.io Ben shared a similar experience from Lightstep’s users, where the discovered that only is ever queried for any purpose over its entire lifetime. That means 90% of the data is literally never accessed. one in 10 metrics Endnote We collect metrics for our monitoring, but it quickly gets unwieldy. It’s the multiplication factor, the combinatorics of many dimensions and high cardinality, that quickly causes data to explode, and the metrics bill to get out of control. It’s not easy for the developer to see the combinatorial impact of adding that one line. You might have several dimensions that seem independently okay, with just a hundred or a thousand values each. But if you add all of those attributes up, the combinatorics of those values can quickly get you way up into the hundreds of thousands, or millions of distinct time series. Liked it? Check out the OpenObservability Talks episode: on , or . Expensive Observability: The Cardinality Challenge Spotify Apple Podcasts other podcast apps

The Ballooning Costs of Metrics: Why Your Monitoring Data and Bill Get Out Of Hand

So, my younger brother’s Secondary School Cert exam is over, and he needs my old box built in 2013. Pentium G2020 It was December 2022 when I was rambling about the medical cost of my family members. Meanwhile, I needed a Personal Computer urgently to do my professional and geeky tasks smoothly. I needed to build the PC, not the , under a ball-busting tight budget by the shortest possible time during the ongoing fluctuation of local currency value. best dream one Being True to the Necessity I need full control over a toolbox to accomplish my tasks with efficiency and smoothness. The task list is given below: Professional Software Testing Running Testing Tools/Frameworks/Virtual Machines Moderate Bash/Python Scripting Writing Articles, Reports, and Documentation Online meetings and screen sharing with multiple browsers and tabs opened Geeky Audio Production A little bit of Video Editing** Programming Problem Solving [ 🙃] Irregularly Savoring Movies All of my audio-visual productions released as of the date had been mixed on the aforementioned box, now extended to . A high-end workstation is an overkill for my needs whereas a cheap one will be a waste of the base budget I borrowed from one of my friends. G2020 + 4GB DDR3 8GB present Building the Box Like a Hacker I could have made a high-end workstation from a reliable vendor by adding some extra money. But I had to consider buying some future equipment apart from the aforementioned inevitable family needs, for example, an audio interface with a microphone for better audio productions. So I observed the market for the past six months, looked for a cheap build as a baseline, and phoned a moderately reliable local vendor. The vendor was sensible enough to respond to my urge, ‘Please cut down these RGB things and ensure that the Motherboard, RAM, and PSU are not refurbished.’ I headed for an ‘E-Waste Bazar’ like a cyber junkie on a post-apocalyptic Friday morning of December 23, 2022. Finally, the moderately good build took a form with a bit of addition of money. Components to Consider After some research on the internet, I found that a lower mid-range i5 chipset would be the perfect fit for my needs. So, I looked for a cheap baseline i5 sixth-gen build where investing some more money can ensure a bit better motherboard more memory an SSD and a PSU with a stable power supply As i5-6600 is a discontinued chipset, a tray CPU along with a refurbished motherboard is inevitable. The shop owner assured me of a new H110M-K Asus motherboard, although I am not 100 per cent sure whether it was a good refurbished one. Anyways the following components were new in my new build two 8GB ddr4 RAMs with 2666 MHz bus speed Speed a 128GB Kingsman sata SSD a Revenger 350w power supply a micro ATX casing Note: Asus H110M-K can handle only 2133 MHz bus speed for each RAM. So, I had to sacrifice some 533 MHz bus speed. I had never heard of a RAM brand by the name of , nor found it on the internet. Most probably it is a generic or wanna-be player in the market. However, I did not face any issues with any of the components mentioned above. The final build cost BDT 23,500/- or US$220.97 as of January 02, 2023. Speed Shortcomings . So, the system can run Windows 10 at best. I kept a hard disk installed with the NT version for official work. However, Linux serves most of my personal and official tasks. The minimum support for Windows 11 is an i5 eight-gen chipset The built-in GPU is not powerful enough for video editing. Heavy Benchmarking Bunch of Open Tabs and Online Meeting I assume an extreme rush during work-from-home when I need two browsers – one for testing different tasks in the agile board and another for communicating with the dev team or clients. To simulate the closest scenario, I let the browser give some scope to consume system resources. The following bash script opens 30 Chromium tabs of my latest composition on YouTube #!/bin/bash 

output=$(printf 'https://youtu.be/1LfbLjmGXZk %.0s' {1..30})
chromium $output Meanwhile, a Google meet session is sharing the whole screen. The test ran for 31 minutes. I found a moderately OK environment for chasing a tight sprint from home and doing basic to moderate audio-visual editing for my future productions. You can listen to the composition while reading this article further https://youtu.be/1LfbLjmGXZk?embedable=true Sysbench Benchmarking A single threaded sysbench test for 1000000 prime numbers gave the following stats total time:                          10.3825s
events per second:                   1.93
total number of events:              20
events (avg/stddev):                 20.0000/0.00
execution time (avg/stddev):         10.3822/0.00 And a 4 threaded test for the same range gave the following result total time:                          10.4319s
events per second:                   7.57
total number of events:              79
events (avg/stddev):                 19.7500/0.43
execution time (avg/stddev):         10.3310/0.15 I am not a benchmark veteran, but I assume the system is powerful enough to handle multitasking as per my present needs giving some performance penalties as the single core performance I can’t boast of. Wrapping it Up Thank you for reading this write up this far. Have you noticed that I have not mentioned any conventional “hacking related” tools or activities? To me, hacking is a subset of testing and tweaking things by looking at them from a different point of view. In this case, the human brain is the most active thing to consider while a workstation is one of the tools to realise its thinking. So, such a lower mid-level Personal Computer is enough for a hacker if s/he is not going to test blockchain or quantum things . But this configuration is a good starting point indeed! right now Yes, there are still some scopes of fine-tuning, my learned hacker friends might argue over a better build and find some bottlenecks also. But one thing I believe from my heart is that tooling does not make a hacker. It is the hacker who invents or develops tools to achieve her/his goals.

I Made The 'Best' Hacking PC Under a Ball-Busting Tight Budget

This post looks at how you could integrate your GitHub repo with Google Sheets in Ballerina, so that every time a particular event occurs in your GitHub repo, you would have it documented in a Google Sheet of your own. How cool is that! Be it an issue created under a label, a PR opened or even a commit to the repository, you could have it all recorded in a Google Sheet with Ballerina in a few simple steps. End goal The end goal would be to populate a Google sheet as below, on the fly as Github events are triggered! The source code of this project can be accessed on GitHub through link! this What is Ballerina? Ballerina is an open-source programming language for the cloud that makes it easier to use, combine, and create network services. For someone new to Ballerina, refer to for steps about getting started. In order to continue, you need to have Ballerina installed. Follow these steps for the installation. ballerina.io The following implementation uses the Swan Lake version of Ballerina. : Configure a GitHub webhook to listen to events Part 1 Initially, you need to expose the subscriber service in your local machine for the server to be able to access the URL. Therefore, we will use which allows exposing a web server running on your local machine to the internet. ngrok Step 1: Once you have ngrok, all you have to do is to run the following command to tell ngrok what port your web server is listening on. installed In our case, it is port 9090. ngrok http -bind-tls=true 9090 Once you have ngrok up and running, it'll look like this: We will be using the ngrok URL highlighted above, as the callback URL of the subscriber service. In our case it is, https://b3e0–112–134–171–11.ngrok.io Step 2: Next, we will register a GitHub webhook for the repository where we want to receive notifications. On the repository homepage, navigate to -> -> Settings Webhooks Add webhook Set the Payload URL to be the ngrok callback URL followed by the service path name of the ballerina service. In our case it is, https://b3e0–112–134–171–11.ngrok.io/events Set the Content type to and click on . application/json Add webhook Next, you should create a , which will be used as an alternative to using passwords for authentication to GitHub when using the GitHub API. Personal Access Token Login to your Github account and go to . Under click on , which will take you to an interface as below. https://github.com/settings/tokens Personal Access Tokens Generate new token For your new PAT, set an expiry date as you wish, and then select the scopes to specify exactly what type of access you need. For this application, we will select the scopes of and generate the token. Once created, make sure to copy your PAT since you won’t be able to see it again. repo, write:packages, admin:repo_hook, notifications, Now we write our code in Ballerina! First, create a ballerina project by running the following code in your terminal. We’ll call our project . gsheet_github_integration tharushijayasekara@Tharushi Test % bal new gsheet_github_integration
Created new package 'gsheet_github_integration' at gsheet_webhook_integration. This creates a project with a which contains our main method and a which includes the configurations of our project. Add the following code into the . main.bal Ballerina.toml main.bal import ballerina/websub;
import ballerina/io;

// Create a subscriber service to listen to Github events
@websub:SubscriberServiceConfig {
    target: [
        "https://api.github.com/hub", 
        // Set the path to your Github repository
        "https://github.com/TharushiJay/helloworld/events/*.json" 
    ],
    // Set the ngrok callback URL 
    callback: "https://6671-2402-d000-811c-7b4a-18dd-31bd-21f7-f9b2.ngrok.io", 
    httpConfig: {
        auth: {
            // Set your GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT)
            token: "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" 
        }
    }
}

service /events on new websub:Listener(9090) {
    remote function onEventNotification(websub:ContentDistributionMessage event) 
                                                                returns error? {

        var retrievedContent = event.content;

        if (retrievedContent is json) {
            if (retrievedContent.action is string){

                Details details = { number: check retrievedContent.issue.number,
                                    action: check retrievedContent.action,
                                    url: check retrievedContent.issue.url,
                                    title: check retrievedContent.issue.title,
                                    time: check retrievedContent.issue.updated_at,
                                    user: check retrievedContent.sender.login };

                if (retrievedContent.issue is json) {

                    // If the event is related to an Issue
                    details.sheet = "Issue";
                    error? response = insertDetails(details);

                } else if (retrievedContent.pull_request is json) {
                    
                    // If the event is related to a Pull Request
                    details.sheet = "PR";
                    error? response = insertDetails(details);
                }
            }
        } else {
            io:println("Unrecognized content type");
        }
    }
} If we look at the code in detail, what we’ve done is create a to listen to the Github events, by setting the path to the repo, ngrok callback URL as well as the GitHub PAT that we just created for authentication. subscriber service The subscriber service is created using WebSub Subscriber Service. is a common mechanism based on HTTP webhooks to communicate between publishers of Web content and their subscribers. Validating and verifying subscription requests as well as distributing new content as it becomes available is done through hubs. More details on how to make the best use of the websub module can be found on Ballerina API docs . WebSub here Then each time an event notification is sent, we populate the data we need into a record of type After setting the event type as or , we pass the record into to document the event details on a Google sheet depending on the event type. Details. Issue PR insertDetails() Part 2: Integrating Google Sheets API For the next part of the implementation, we will create a Google Sheet called with 2 sheets to document details and details. Let’s note down the sheet ID, which is the below-highlighted part on the URL. GitHub Changes PR Issue Next, create another file in the same project called to access the Google Sheets API, and insert the following code. gsheet.bal import ballerinax/googleapis.sheets as sheets;

configurable string refreshToken = "1//04xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";
configurable string clientId = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.apps.googleusercontent.com";
configurable string clientSecret = "GOCSPX-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";

// Configuring Google Sheets API
sheets:ConnectionConfig spreadsheetConfig = {
    auth: {
        clientId: clientId,
        clientSecret: clientSecret,
        refreshUrl: sheets:REFRESH_URL,
        refreshToken: refreshToken
    }
};

// A record to store PR/issue related data
public type Details record {
    int number;
    string action;
    string url;
    string title;
    string time;
    string user;
    string sheet?;
};

sheets:Client spreadsheetClient = check new (spreadsheetConfig);
string spreadsheetId = "1l4KUKQ0e5HKB35doSRcaF3QgNYvBAp99q_l5GS3J1B8";

public function insertDetails(Details details) returns error? {

    error? append = check spreadsheetClient->appendRowToSheet(spreadsheetId, details.sheet.toString(), 
    [details.number, details.action, details.url, details.title, details.time, details.user]);

} What we’ve done here is as simple as it looks. Simply calling the Google Sheets API to append the new row of data to our Google Sheet. The next task is figuring out the , , and used in the above code. refreshToken clientId clientSecret Open the page, log in to your relevant Google Account and create a new project. Google API Console Credentials 2. Give the project a name and click . Create 3. Click on to choose how you want to configure and register your app. Configure Consent Screen 4. Set the user type as and click . external Create 5. In the OAuth consent screen, enter an , , and and click on . app name User support email Developer contact information Save and Continue 6. In the screen, click and proceed to the next screen which is Test users. Scopes Save and continue 7. Under , add your email address and click . Test users Save and continue 8. Finally you will be presented with a summary to verify the details you entered. 9. As the next step, under click and click . Credentials Create credentials OAuth client ID 10. Enter the following details in the Create OAuth client ID screen and click Create. 11. This will generate a and that you should save for future use! Client ID Client Secret 12. From the left side menu, select search for and click on it to it. Library, Google Sheets API Enable 13. In order to obtain the refresh token, navigate to and click the OAuth 2.0 Configuration button in the top right corner of your screen. OAuth 2.0 Playground 14. Select , provide the obtained Client ID and Client Secret values and the window. Use your own OAuth credentials Close 15. Under Step 1, select from the list of APIs and select all the scopes. Google Sheets API v4 16. Click on button and select your Gmail account when you are asked and allow the scopes. Authorize APIs 17. Under Step 2, click the to generate and display the Access Token and Refresh Token. Exchange authorization code for tokens That brings us to the end of configuring the Google Sheets API! Use the refresh token, client ID, and client secret in our file and run the project using gsheet.bal bal run. The output would be as follows, which means that the service successfully started in port 9090. tharushijayasekara@Tharushi github-gsheet-integration % bal run
Compiling source
        tharushijayasekara/github_gsheet_integration:0.1.0
WARNING [gsheet.bal:(31:5,32:95)] unused variable 'append'
WARNING [gsheet.bal:(47:5,48:95)] unused variable 'append'
WARNING [main.bal:(17:5,17:5)] concurrent calls will not be made to this method since the method is not an 'isolated' method
WARNING [main.bal:(24:21,29:84)] unused variable 'issueResponse'
WARNING [main.bal:(33:21,38:95)] unused variable 'pullRequestResponse'

Running executable

time = 2022-04-10T22:18:14.755+05:30 level = WARN module = ballerina/websub message = "HTTPS is recommended but using HTTP" You will see the changes documented on our Google Sheet! Now, you have successfully configured a webhook for GitHub and received the events using a subscriber written in the Ballerina programming language! Thanks for following through to the end. To keep up-to-date on more interesting developments in Ballerina, visit . https://ballerina.io/

How to Integrate a GitHub Repo With Google Sheets Using Ballerina

The Count of Monte Cristo,by Alexandre Dumas, père is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here: . Volume Three, Chapter 70: The Ball [LINK TO TABLE OF LINK] Chapter 70. The Ball It was in the warmest days of July, when in due course of time the Saturday arrived upon which the ball was to take place at M. de Morcerf’s. It was ten o’clock at night; the branches of the great trees in the garden of the count’s house stood out boldly against the azure canopy of heaven, which was studded with golden stars, but where the last fleeting clouds of a vanishing storm yet lingered. From the apartments on the ground floor might be heard the sound of music, with the whirl of the waltz and galop, while brilliant streams of light shone through the openings of the Venetian blinds. At this moment the garden was only occupied by about ten servants, who had just received orders from their mistress to prepare the supper, the serenity of the weather continuing to increase. Until now, it had been undecided whether the supper should take place in the dining-room, or under a long tent erected on the lawn, but the beautiful blue sky, studded with stars, had settled the question in favor of the lawn. The gardens were illuminated with colored lanterns, according to the Italian custom, and, as is usual in countries where the luxuries of the table—the rarest of all luxuries in their complete form—are well understood, the supper-table was loaded with wax-lights and flowers. At the time the Countess of Morcerf returned to the rooms, after giving her orders, many guests were arriving, more attracted by the charming hospitality of the countess than by the distinguished position of the count; for, owing to the good taste of Mercédès, one was sure of finding some devices at her entertainment worthy of describing, or even copying in case of need. Madame Danglars, in whom the events we have related had caused deep anxiety, had hesitated about going to Madame de Morcerf’s, when during the morning her carriage happened to meet that of Villefort. The latter made a sign, and when the carriages had drawn close together, said: “You are going to Madame de Morcerf’s, are you not?” “No,” replied Madame Danglars, “I am too ill.” “You are wrong,” replied Villefort, significantly; “it is important that you should be seen there.” “Do you think so?” asked the baroness. “I do.” “In that case I will go.” And the two carriages passed on towards their different destinations. Madame Danglars therefore came, not only beautiful in person, but radiant with splendor; she entered by one door at the time when Mercédès appeared at the door. The countess took Albert to meet Madame Danglars. He approached, paid her some well merited compliments on her toilet, and offered his arm to conduct her to a seat. Albert looked around him. “You are looking for my daughter?” said the baroness, smiling. “I confess it,” replied Albert. “Could you have been so cruel as not to bring her?” “Calm yourself. She has met Mademoiselle de Villefort, and has taken her arm; see, they are following us, both in white dresses, one with a bouquet of camellias, the other with one of myosotis. But tell me——” “Well, what do you wish to know?” “Will not the Count of Monte Cristo be here tonight?” “Seventeen!” replied Albert. “What do you mean?” “I only mean that the count seems the rage,” replied the viscount, smiling, “and that you are the seventeenth person that has asked me the same question. The count is in fashion; I congratulate him upon it.” “And have you replied to everyone as you have to me?” “Ah, to be sure, I have not answered you; be satisfied, we shall have this ‘lion’; we are among the privileged ones.” “Were you at the Opera yesterday?” “No.” “He was there.” “Ah, indeed? And did the eccentric person commit any new originality?” “Can he be seen without doing so? Elssler was dancing in Le Diable boiteux; the Greek princess was in ecstasies. After the cachucha he placed a magnificent ring on the stem of a bouquet, and threw it to the charming danseuse, who, in the third act, to do honor to the gift, reappeared with it on her finger. And the Greek princess,—will she be here?” “No, you will be deprived of that pleasure; her position in the count’s establishment is not sufficiently understood.” “Wait; leave me here, and go and speak to Madame de Villefort, who is trying to attract your attention.” Albert bowed to Madame Danglars, and advanced towards Madame de Villefort, whose lips opened as he approached. “I wager anything,” said Albert, interrupting her, “that I know what you were about to say.” “Well, what is it?” “If I guess rightly, will you confess it?” “Yes.” “On your honor?” “On my honor.” “You were going to ask me if the Count of Monte Cristo had arrived, or was expected.” “Not at all. It is not of him that I am now thinking. I was going to ask you if you had received any news of Monsieur Franz.” “Yes,—yesterday.” “What did he tell you?” “That he was leaving at the same time as his letter.” “Well, now then, the count?” “The count will come, of that you may be satisfied.” “You know that he has another name besides Monte Cristo?” “No, I did not know it.” “Monte Cristo is the name of an island, and he has a family name.” “I never heard it.” “Well, then, I am better informed than you; his name is Zaccone.” “It is possible.” “He is a Maltese.” “That is also possible. “The son of a shipowner.” “Really, you should relate all this aloud, you would have the greatest success.” “He served in India, discovered a mine in Thessaly, and comes to Paris to establish a mineral water-cure at Auteuil.” “Well, I’m sure,” said Morcerf, “this is indeed news! Am I allowed to repeat it?” “Yes, but cautiously, tell one thing at a time, and do not say I told you.” “Why so?” “Because it is a secret just discovered.” “By whom?” “The police.” “Then the news originated——” “At the prefect’s last night. Paris, you can understand, is astonished at the sight of such unusual splendor, and the police have made inquiries.” “Well, well! Nothing more is wanting than to arrest the count as a vagabond, on the pretext of his being too rich.” “Indeed, that doubtless would have happened if his credentials had not been so favorable.” “Poor count! And is he aware of the danger he has been in?” “I think not.” “Then it will be but charitable to inform him. When he arrives, I will not fail to do so.” Just then, a handsome young man, with bright eyes, black hair, and glossy moustache, respectfully bowed to Madame de Villefort. Albert extended his hand. “Madame,” said Albert, “allow me to present to you M. Maximilian Morrel, captain of Spahis, one of our best, and, above all, of our bravest officers.” “I have already had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman at Auteuil, at the house of the Count of Monte Cristo,” replied Madame de Villefort, turning away with marked coldness of manner. This answer, and especially the tone in which it was uttered, chilled the heart of poor Morrel. But a recompense was in store for him; turning around, he saw near the door a beautiful fair face, whose large blue eyes were, without any marked expression, fixed upon him, while the bouquet of myosotis was gently raised to her lips. The salutation was so well understood that Morrel, with the same expression in his eyes, placed his handkerchief to his mouth; and these two living statues, whose hearts beat so violently under their marble aspect, separated from each other by the whole length of the room, forgot themselves for a moment, or rather forgot the world in their mutual contemplation. They might have remained much longer lost in one another, without anyone noticing their abstraction. The Count of Monte Cristo had just entered. We have already said that there was something in the count which attracted universal attention wherever he appeared. It was not the coat, unexceptional in its cut, though simple and unornamented; it was not the plain white waistcoat; it was not the trousers, that displayed the foot so perfectly formed—it was none of these things that attracted the attention,—it was his pale complexion, his waving black hair, his calm and serene expression, his dark and melancholy eye, his mouth, chiselled with such marvellous delicacy, which so easily expressed such high disdain,—these were what fixed the attention of all upon him. Many men might have been handsomer, but certainly there could be none whose appearance was more significant, if the expression may be used. Everything about the count seemed to have its meaning, for the constant habit of thought which he had acquired had given an ease and vigor to the expression of his face, and even to the most trifling gesture, scarcely to be understood. Yet the Parisian world is so strange, that even all this might not have won attention had there not been connected with it a mysterious story gilded by an immense fortune. Meanwhile he advanced through the assemblage of guests under a battery of curious glances towards Madame de Morcerf, who, standing before a mantle-piece ornamented with flowers, had seen his entrance in a looking-glass placed opposite the door, and was prepared to receive him. She turned towards him with a serene smile just at the moment he was bowing to her. No doubt she fancied the count would speak to her, while on his side the count thought she was about to address him; but both remained silent, and after a mere bow, Monte Cristo directed his steps to Albert, who received him cordially. “Have you seen my mother?” asked Albert. “I have just had the pleasure,” replied the count; “but I have not seen your father.” “See, he is down there, talking politics with that little group of great geniuses.” “Indeed?” said Monte Cristo; “and so those gentlemen down there are men of great talent. I should not have guessed it. And for what kind of talent are they celebrated? You know there are different sorts.” “That tall, harsh-looking man is very learned, he discovered, in the neighborhood of Rome, a kind of lizard with a vertebra more than lizards usually have, and he immediately laid his discovery before the Institute. The thing was discussed for a long time, but finally decided in his favor. I can assure you the vertebra made a great noise in the learned world, and the gentleman, who was only a knight of the Legion of Honor, was made an officer.” “Come,” said Monte Cristo, “this cross seems to me to be wisely awarded. I suppose, had he found another additional vertebra, they would have made him a commander.” “Very likely,” said Albert. “And who can that person be who has taken it into his head to wrap himself up in a blue coat embroidered with green?” “Oh, that coat is not his own idea; it is the Republic’s, which deputed David to devise a uniform for the Academicians.” [12] “Indeed?” said Monte Cristo; “so this gentleman is an Academician?” “Within the last week he has been made one of the learned assembly.” “And what is his especial talent?” “His talent? I believe he thrusts pins through the heads of rabbits, he makes fowls eat madder, and punches the spinal marrow out of dogs with whalebone.” “And he is made a member of the Academy of Sciences for this?” “No; of the French Academy.” “But what has the French Academy to do with all this?” “I was going to tell you. It seems——” “That his experiments have very considerably advanced the cause of science, doubtless?” “No; that his style of writing is very good.” “This must be very flattering to the feelings of the rabbits into whose heads he has thrust pins, to the fowls whose bones he has dyed red, and to the dogs whose spinal marrow he has punched out?” Albert laughed. “And the other one?” demanded the count. “That one?” “Yes, the third.” “The one in the dark blue coat?” “Yes.” “He is a colleague of the count, and one of the most active opponents to the idea of providing the Chamber of Peers with a uniform. He was very successful upon that question. He stood badly with the Liberal papers, but his noble opposition to the wishes of the court is now getting him into favor with the journalists. They talk of making him an ambassador.” “And what are his claims to the peerage?” “He has composed two or three comic operas, written four or five articles in the Siècle, and voted five or six years on the ministerial side.” “Bravo, viscount,” said Monte Cristo, smiling; “you are a delightful cicerone. And now you will do me a favor, will you not?” “What is it?” “Do not introduce me to any of these gentlemen; and should they wish it, you will warn me.” Just then the count felt his arm pressed. He turned round; it was Danglars. “Ah! is it you, baron?” said he. “Why do you call me baron?” said Danglars; “you know that I care nothing for my title. I am not like you, viscount; you like your title, do you not?” “Certainly,” replied Albert, “seeing that without my title I should be nothing; while you, sacrificing the baron, would still remain the millionaire.” “Which seems to me the finest title under the royalty of July,” replied Danglars. “Unfortunately,” said Monte Cristo, “one’s title to a millionaire does not last for life, like that of baron, peer of France, or academician; for example, the millionaires Franck & Poulmann, of Frankfurt, who have just become bankrupts.” “Indeed?” said Danglars, becoming pale. “Yes; I received the news this evening by a courier. I had about a million in their hands, but, warned in time, I withdrew it a month ago.” “Ah, mon Dieu!” exclaimed Danglars, “they have drawn on me for 200,000 francs!” “Well, you can throw out the draft; their signature is worth five per cent.” “Yes, but it is too late,” said Danglars, “I have honored their bills.” “Then,” said Monte Cristo, “here are 200,000 francs gone after——” “Hush, do not mention these things,” said Danglars; then, approaching Monte Cristo, he added, “especially before young M. Cavalcanti;” after which he smiled, and turned towards the young man in question. Albert had left the count to speak to his mother, Danglars to converse with young Cavalcanti; Monte Cristo was for an instant alone. Meanwhile the heat became excessive. The footmen were hastening through the rooms with waiters loaded with ices. Monte Cristo wiped the perspiration from his forehead, but drew back when the waiter was presented to him; he took no refreshment. Madame de Morcerf did not lose sight of Monte Cristo; she saw that he took nothing, and even noticed his gesture of refusal. “Albert,” she asked, “did you notice that?” “What, mother?” “That the count has never been willing to partake of food under the roof of M. de Morcerf.” “Yes; but then he breakfasted with me—indeed, he made his first appearance in the world on that occasion.” “But your house is not M. de Morcerf’s,” murmured Mercédès; “and since he has been here I have watched him.” “Well?” “Well, he has taken nothing yet.” “The count is very temperate.” Mercédès smiled sadly. “Approach him,” said she, “and when the next waiter passes, insist upon his taking something.” “But why, mother?” “Just to please me, Albert,” said Mercédès. Albert kissed his mother’s hand, and drew near the count. Another salver passed, loaded like the preceding ones; she saw Albert attempt to persuade the count, but he obstinately refused. Albert rejoined his mother; she was very pale. “Well,” said she, “you see he refuses?” “Yes; but why need this annoy you?” “You know, Albert, women are singular creatures. I should like to have seen the count take something in my house, if only an ice. Perhaps he cannot reconcile himself to the French style of living, and might prefer something else.” “Oh, no; I have seen him eat of everything in Italy; no doubt he does not feel inclined this evening.” “And besides,” said the countess, “accustomed as he is to burning climates, possibly he does not feel the heat as we do.” “I do not think that, for he has complained of feeling almost suffocated, and asked why the Venetian blinds were not opened as well as the windows.” “In a word,” said Mercédès, “it was a way of assuring me that his abstinence was intended.” And she left the room. A minute afterwards the blinds were thrown open, and through the jessamine and clematis that overhung the window one could see the garden ornamented with lanterns, and the supper laid under the tent. Dancers, players, talkers, all uttered an exclamation of joy—everyone inhaled with delight the breeze that floated in. At the same time Mercédès reappeared, paler than before, but with that imperturbable expression of countenance which she sometimes wore. She went straight to the group of which her husband formed the centre. “Do not detain those gentlemen here, count,” she said; “they would prefer, I should think, to breathe in the garden rather than suffocate here, since they are not playing.” “Ah,” said a gallant old general, who, in 1809, had sung Partant pour la Syrie,—“we will not go alone to the garden.” “Then,” said Mercédès, “I will lead the way.” Turning towards Monte Cristo, she added, “count, will you oblige me with your arm?” The count almost staggered at these simple words; then he fixed his eyes on Mercédès. It was only a momentary glance, but it seemed to the countess to have lasted for a century, so much was expressed in that one look. He offered his arm to the countess; she took it, or rather just touched it with her little hand, and they together descended the steps, lined with rhododendrons and camellias. Behind them, by another outlet, a group of about twenty persons rushed into the garden with loud exclamations of delight. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022, from Dumas, Alexandre. 2022. The Count of the Monte-Cristo. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm#linkC2HCH0070 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated: Chapter 70 - The Ball

The Count of Monte Cristo,by Alexandre Dumas, père is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here: . Volume Three, Chapter 68: A Summer Ball [LINK TO TABLE OF LINK] Chapter 68. A Summer Ball The same day during the interview between Madame Danglars and the procureur, a travelling-carriage entered the Rue du Helder, passed through the gateway of No. 27, and stopped in the yard. In a moment the door was opened, and Madame de Morcerf alighted, leaning on her son’s arm. Albert soon left her, ordered his horses, and having arranged his toilet, drove to the Champs-Élysées, to the house of Monte Cristo. The count received him with his habitual smile. It was a strange thing that no one ever appeared to advance a step in that man’s favor. Those who would, as it were, force a passage to his heart, found an impassable barrier. Morcerf, who ran towards him with open arms, was chilled as he drew near, in spite of the friendly smile, and simply held out his hand. Monte Cristo shook it coldly, according to his invariable practice. “Here I am, dear count.” “Welcome home again.” “I arrived an hour since.” “From Dieppe?” “No, from Tréport.” “Indeed?” “And I have come at once to see you.” “That is extremely kind of you,” said Monte Cristo with a tone of perfect indifference. “And what is the news?” “You should not ask a stranger, a foreigner, for news.” “I know it, but in asking for news, I mean, have you done anything for me?” “Had you commissioned me?” said Monte Cristo, feigning uneasiness. “Come, come,” said Albert, “do not assume so much indifference. It is said, sympathy travels rapidly, and when at Tréport, I felt the electric shock; you have either been working for me or thinking of me.” “Possibly,” said Monte Cristo, “I have indeed thought of you, but the magnetic wire I was guiding acted, indeed, without my knowledge.” “Indeed! Pray tell me how it happened.” “Willingly. M. Danglars dined with me.” “I know it; to avoid meeting him, my mother and I left town.” “But he met here M. Andrea Cavalcanti.” “Your Italian prince?” “Not so fast; M. Andrea only calls himself count.” “Calls himself, do you say?” “Yes, calls himself.” “Is he not a count?” “What can I know of him? He calls himself so. I, of course, give him the same title, and everyone else does likewise.” “What a strange man you are! What next? You say M. Danglars dined here?” “Yes, with Count Cavalcanti, the marquis his father, Madame Danglars, M. and Madame de Villefort,—charming people,—M. Debray, Maximilian Morrel, and M. de Château-Renaud.” “Did they speak of me?” “Not a word.” “So much the worse.” “Why so? I thought you wished them to forget you?” “If they did not speak of me, I am sure they thought about me, and I am in despair.” “How will that affect you, since Mademoiselle Danglars was not among the number here who thought of you? Truly, she might have thought of you at home.” “I have no fear of that; or, if she did, it was only in the same way in which I think of her.” “Touching sympathy! So you hate each other?” said the count. “Listen,” said Morcerf—“if Mademoiselle Danglars were disposed to take pity on my supposed martyrdom on her account, and would dispense with all matrimonial formalities between our two families, I am ready to agree to the arrangement. In a word, Mademoiselle Danglars would make a charming mistress—but a wife—diable!” “And this,” said Monte Cristo, “is your opinion of your intended spouse?” “Yes; it is rather unkind, I acknowledge, but it is true. But as this dream cannot be realized, since Mademoiselle Danglars must become my lawful wife, live perpetually with me, sing to me, compose verses and music within ten paces of me, and that for my whole life, it frightens me. One may forsake a mistress, but a wife,—good heavens! There she must always be; and to marry Mademoiselle Danglars would be awful.” “You are difficult to please, viscount.” “Yes, for I often wish for what is impossible.” “What is that?” “To find such a wife as my father found.” Monte Cristo turned pale, and looked at Albert, while playing with some magnificent pistols. “Your father was fortunate, then?” said he. “You know my opinion of my mother, count; look at her,—still beautiful, witty, more charming than ever. For any other son to have stayed with his mother for four days at Tréport, it would have been a condescension or a martyrdom, while I return, more contented, more peaceful—shall I say more poetic!—than if I had taken Queen Mab or Titania as my companion.” “That is an overwhelming demonstration, and you would make everyone vow to live a single life.” “Such are my reasons for not liking to marry Mademoiselle Danglars. Have you ever noticed how much a thing is heightened in value when we obtain possession of it? The diamond which glittered in the window at Marlé’s or Fossin’s shines with more splendor when it is our own; but if we are compelled to acknowledge the superiority of another, and still must retain the one that is inferior, do you not know what we have to endure?” “Worldling,” murmured the count. “Thus I shall rejoice when Mademoiselle Eugénie perceives I am but a pitiful atom, with scarcely as many hundred thousand francs as she has millions.” Monte Cristo smiled. “One plan occurred to me,” continued Albert; “Franz likes all that is eccentric; I tried to make him fall in love with Mademoiselle Danglars; but in spite of four letters, written in the most alluring style, he invariably answered: ‘My eccentricity may be great, but it will not make me break my promise.’” “That is what I call devoted friendship, to recommend to another one whom you would not marry yourself.” Albert smiled. “Apropos,” continued he, “Franz is coming soon, but it will not interest you; you dislike him, I think?” “I?” said Monte Cristo; “my dear viscount, how have you discovered that I did not like M. Franz! I like everyone.” “And you include me in the expression everyone—many thanks!” “Let us not mistake,” said Monte Cristo; “I love everyone as God commands us to love our neighbor, as Christians; but I thoroughly hate but a few. Let us return to M. Franz d’Épinay. Did you say he was coming?” “Yes; summoned by M. de Villefort, who is apparently as anxious to get Mademoiselle Valentine married as M. Danglars is to see Mademoiselle Eugénie settled. It must be a very irksome office to be the father of a grown-up daughter; it seems to make one feverish, and to raise one’s pulse to ninety beats a minute until the deed is done.” “But M. d’Épinay, unlike you, bears his misfortune patiently.” “Still more, he talks seriously about the matter, puts on a white tie, and speaks of his family. He entertains a very high opinion of M. and Madame de Villefort.” “Which they deserve, do they not?” “I believe they do. M. de Villefort has always passed for a severe but a just man.” “There is, then, one,” said Monte Cristo, “whom you do not condemn like poor Danglars?” “Because I am not compelled to marry his daughter perhaps,” replied Albert, laughing. “Indeed, my dear sir,” said Monte Cristo, “you are revoltingly foppish.” “I foppish? how do you mean?” “Yes; pray take a cigar, and cease to defend yourself, and to struggle to escape marrying Mademoiselle Danglars. Let things take their course; perhaps you may not have to retract.” “Bah!” said Albert, staring. “Doubtless, my dear viscount, you will not be taken by force; and seriously, do you wish to break off your engagement?” “I would give a hundred thousand francs to be able to do so.” “Then make yourself quite easy. M. Danglars would give double that sum to attain the same end.” “Am I, indeed, so happy?” said Albert, who still could not prevent an almost imperceptible cloud passing across his brow. “But, my dear count, has M. Danglars any reason?” “Ah! there is your proud and selfish nature. You would expose the self-love of another with a hatchet, but you shrink if your own is attacked with a needle.” “But yet, M. Danglars appeared——” “Delighted with you, was he not? Well, he is a man of bad taste, and is still more enchanted with another. I know not whom; look and judge for yourself.” “Thank you, I understand. But my mother—no, not my mother; I mistake—my father intends giving a ball.” “A ball at this season?” “Summer balls are fashionable.” “If they were not, the countess has only to wish it, and they would become so.” “You are right; You know they are select affairs; those who remain in Paris in July must be true Parisians. Will you take charge of our invitation to Messieurs Cavalcanti?” “When will it take place?” “On Saturday.” “M. Cavalcanti’s father will be gone.” “But the son will be here; will you invite young M. Cavalcanti?” “I do not know him, viscount.” “You do not know him?” “No, I never saw him until a few days since, and am not responsible for him.” “But you receive him at your house?” “That is another thing: he was recommended to me by a good abbé, who may be deceived. Give him a direct invitation, but do not ask me to present him. If he were afterwards to marry Mademoiselle Danglars, you would accuse me of intrigue, and would be challenging me,—besides, I may not be there myself.” “Where?” “At your ball.” “Why should you not be there?” “Because you have not yet invited me.” “But I come expressly for that purpose.” “You are very kind, but I may be prevented.” “If I tell you one thing, you will be so amiable as to set aside all impediments.” “Tell me what it is.” “My mother begs you to come.” “The Comtesse de Morcerf?” said Monte Cristo, starting. “Ah, count,” said Albert, “I assure you Madame de Morcerf speaks freely to me, and if you have not felt those sympathetic fibres of which I spoke just now thrill within you, you must be entirely devoid of them, for during the last four days we have spoken of no one else.” “You have talked of me?” “Yes, that is the penalty of being a living puzzle!” “Then I am also a puzzle to your mother? I should have thought her too reasonable to be led by imagination.” “A problem, my dear count, for everyone—for my mother as well as others; much studied, but not solved, you still remain an enigma, do not fear. My mother is only astonished that you remain so long unsolved. I believe, while the Countess G—— takes you for Lord Ruthven, my mother imagines you to be Cagliostro or the Count Saint-Germain. The first opportunity you have, confirm her in her opinion; it will be easy for you, as you have the philosophy of the one and the wit of the other.” “I thank you for the warning,” said the count; “I shall endeavor to be prepared for all suppositions.” “You will, then, come on Saturday?” “Yes, since Madame de Morcerf invites me.” “You are very kind.” “Will M. Danglars be there?” “He has already been invited by my father. We shall try to persuade the great d’Aguesseau, M. de Villefort, to come, but have not much hope of seeing him.” [11] “‘Never despair of anything,’ says the proverb.” “Do you dance, count?” “I dance?” “Yes, you; it would not be astonishing.” “That is very well before one is over forty. No, I do not dance, but I like to see others do so. Does Madame de Morcerf dance?” “Never; you can talk to her, she so delights in your conversation.” “Indeed?” “Yes, truly; and I assure you. You are the only man of whom I have heard her speak with interest.” Albert rose and took his hat; the count conducted him to the door. “I have one thing to reproach myself with,” said he, stopping Albert on the steps. “What is it?” “I have spoken to you indiscreetly about Danglars.” “On the contrary, speak to me always in the same strain about him.” “I am glad to be reassured on that point. Apropos, when do you aspect M. d’Épinay?” “Five or six days hence at the latest.” “And when is he to be married?” “Immediately on the arrival of M. and Madame de Saint-Méran.” “Bring him to see me. Although you say I do not like him, I assure you I shall be happy to see him.” “I will obey your orders, my lord.” “Good-bye.” “Until Saturday, when I may expect you, may I not?” “Yes, I promised you.” The Count watched Albert, waving his hand to him. When he had mounted his phaeton, Monte Cristo turned, and seeing Bertuccio, “What news?” said he. “She went to the Palais,” replied the steward. “Did she stay long there?” “An hour and a half.” “Did she return home?” “Directly.” “Well, my dear Bertuccio,” said the count, “I now advise you to go in quest of the little estate I spoke to you of in Normandy.” Bertuccio bowed, and as his wishes were in perfect harmony with the order he had received, he started the same evening. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022, from Dumas, Alexandre. 2022. The Count of the Monte-Cristo. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm#linkC2HCH0068 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated: Chapter 68 - A Summer Ball

There comes a time in every business’s living cycle when the company turns to public relations. Reasons may vary, but the most common cause is merely the fact that everybody seems to be doing it. Doing PR has become somewhat a must for every market player, but many of them often approach this subject without a clear understanding of why their business needs it. The most common misconception about PR is that any PR-related activities should inevitably lead to soaring worldwide popularity and long queues of clients waiting to sign off the highest cheques. As tempting as this picture may seem, such expectations may be harmful to the company and eventually jeopardize the real potential outcomes that a good PR strategy could bring them. Choosing an appropriate PR strategy with realistic goals can help you raise awareness about your business and products, gain the trust of potential partners, and even get better investment proposals – which is particularly important for startups that are just starting out. This is what I learned from my own experience working with such brands as Qiwi, Whirlpool, Jumeirah, Alrosa and many other major and tech brands in the industry. Key Things to Know About PR The effectiveness of PR activities cannot be measured by the number of leads. No specialist can guarantee you clients as a result of a particular media publication. PR is a long-term strategy. Not only do you often have to wait for weeks before your first headlines come out, but there is also a big preparation stretch that needs to be done prior to that. The PR specialist needs to study the company and its products, find and connect with the right journalists, pitch the articles and prepare the publications strategically to reach certain goals in the long run. All of that takes time. Key Steps to Take Before Investing In PR Define Your Company Goals and Understand How PR Can Help Decide what you are trying to achieve and whether it’s PR that is likely to solve your problems. Some goals that you may set for your PR activities are: Increase your media exposure and take over your industry niche to bring in more clients, and increase revenue, become the market leaders PR helps influence consumers’ behavior by communicating the brand’s value. However, it’s important to keep in mind that PR guarantees no immediate increase in clients and revenue flows. If the company is limited in its budget, it might be worth investing in other promotional activities instead: a marketing campaign or a fruitful collaboration with relevant influencers can generate results much faster. PR is a powerful instrument in the long run, so it would require more patience and significantly more investments. Appeal to potential partners and investors by creating a reliable, influential image of the company A portfolio of media publications is often needed to provide the company’s credibility to investors. Such articles may highlight the business’s growth, its increasing popularity, or generally showcase that it’s interesting enough to receive some media coverage. Promoting an HR-brand If the company is struggling with its hires, the goal of the business is to help more people learn about the company and become interested in its work opportunities. In this case, PR can help increase the company’s outreach to the audience of popular media outlets. Understand Your Expertise Before consulting any PR specialists, try to put down a few thoughts to answer the following questions: What is it that your company is most knowledgeable in? Who can be your speakers? What kind of expert advice can they share? If your business can’t offer any particular expertise, or you’re struggling to come up with the speakers, there are two ways to tackle this problem: Bring in an external expert or speaker (e.g. high-profile advisor in your industry) Choose other methods of promotion Decide on Your Hire Who will be doing your PR? Three options to consider are: Hire an in-house Head of PR (with a potential perspective of growing a whole PR department) Appoint a PR agency Sign up a freelance PR Manager for a certain amount of tasks When to Hire a Head of PR? The more work there is to do, the more likely your business needs one. A big company with a large product portfolio that strives to generate more news and engage with a broader audience would definitely benefit from an in-house specialist that fully concentrates on the brand. A Head of PR is someone who works for one particular company, which means they can handle a bigger workload and consequently produce more significant results. They are always at the very center of the company’s activities and stay on track of everything, thus generating more news hooks and press events. Benefits Fully immersed in the company Always on top of the news Generates news events Finds and hires all the necessary specialists and experts Has a deeper understanding of the company’s PR strategy and a personal interest in its success No limit on KPIs, since you’re an in-house expert Drawbacks May have narrower expertise due to specializing in a particular industry May be less responsive and adaptive to trends occurring in the markets different from theirs Has fewer chances to consult other specialists and compare the company’s activities to other cases If there is not enough work to do for a PR specialist, such a hire can barely be justified Might be less efficient due to less control, as all the KPIs are usually set by the Head of PR themselves When to Hire an Agency? If the company hasn’t grown big enough to consider creating its own PR department, it might be worth hiring contractors instead. However, agencies can be just as useful for bigger corporations once their in-house specialists no longer cope with the workload: in this case, bringing in some help from the agency can impressively maximize the company’s PR efforts. An example of a successful synergy between the company’s in-house PR specialists and contractors is when the first ones are handling the personal brands of the CEO, and the key speakers (e.g., by managing their appearance at key industry events), and the agency covers the KPIs in media publications. Benefits: Offers combined expertise of multiple specialists that can brainstorm together in particularly challenging cases Agency specialists are often highly professional and experienced, as many former Heads of PR continue their careers by opening their own agencies Provides a package of services provided by different specialists (including copywriters, editors, and designers) Own media contact base, personal contacts with journalists, and an ability to build a relationship with the right media in shorter timeframes KPI-oriented approach Drawbacks: Slower speed of response due to handling multiple clients Unless the news event is urgent, the whole process of pitching and preparing media publications can take more time Less integrated into the company and therefore less familiar with its products and activities When to Hire a Freelance PR Manager? This may be the best option for companies tight on budget, but still eager to start diving into PR. Benefits: Cost-friendly Allocates as much time per client as needed, as they have to guarantee some result to justify their service Drawbacks: Less services provided (including consultations) Harder to hire, as the proof of relevant experience is particularly important Decide on the Metrics to Evaluate Your PR Efforts There are a number of parameters that you can use to define the key KPIs for your PR performance. They may include: Number of media publications Audience outreach Quality of the audience Tone of the publications Choose Your Speakers We touched on this subject earlier when we talked about defining the company’s expertise. Now, it’s time to pay closer attention to the profiles of people who will be representing your business. Your speakers are those who… Have a particular expertise Share this expertise with a PR specialist in written form and/or audio recordings. These chunks of information are later transformed into media commentary and publications Usually, the main speakers are the top managers of the company and/or genuine industry experts within the team. If there are no suitable candidates to cope with this role onboard, a PR specialist can suggest bringing in an external expert. For example, a dating app startup can be represented by a popular psychologist. Shortlist Your Preferred Media Not every company needs to be featured in Forbes. Your company’s media needs should be determined by your business goals. For example, when working with the world’s leading diamond mining company Alrosa, we were mostly aiming at industry and luxury lifestyle media, the same media outlets were used for a 5-star hotel chain Jumeirah, including the travel outlets. But when working with fintech company Qiwi, national, business and finance media were used to get the most results for the brand. To Conclude Going through all these steps one by one will help you re-evaluate your PR needs and maximize the effect of your activities without splashing too much cash over nothing. We’re always all in for a startup-friendly approach!

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