Corvee

corvee

Version control is the backbone of modern software development, and mastering Git config can take your version control game to the next level. Today, I’m sharing a few tips to enable you to streamline your workflow and leverage the best out of our beloved Git, the Swiss Army knife of version control systems, and turn you into a Git guru. Tip 1: Conditional Configuration In Git 2.13 and later, you can conditionally include another Git config file based on your Git directory or branch. This feature is incredibly handy when you need different configurations for various projects. For instance, if you have a work-specific Git configuration, you can create a file and add or override configuration values as needed. Here's an example: .gitconfig.work [user] email = john@personal.com [includeIf "gitdir:~/work/"] path = .gitconfig.work This way, when you're working within the directory or its subdirectories, Git will pick up these specific configurations, making your work-related tasks a breeze. ~/work Tip 2: Set Default Branch To Main By default, when you initialize a new Git repository, the initial branch is named 'master.' However, there's a growing awareness of using more inclusive terminology, such as 'main,' as the default branch name. To make this change globally for all new repositories, you can use the following command: git config --global init.defaultBranch <name> This command updates your global file, aligning Git with the evolving best practices. ~/.gitconfig If you want to leave the default behavior but rename the branch after initialization, you can use the git branch -m <name> Tip 3: Using External Diff and Merge Tools Enhance your Git workflow by integrating external diff and merge tools like Beyond Compare or KDiff3. By configuring them in your gitconfig, you can seamlessly use these tools for resolving conflicts and comparing changes. Here's an example configuration: [diff] tool = bc3 [difftool "bc3"] cmd = "bcomp \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"" Now, Git will use Beyond Compare (or your preferred tool) whenever you run commands like or git difftool git mergetool . Tip 4: Use Git Aliases Git aliases are your secret weapon for boosting productivity. They allow you to create shortcuts for frequently used Git commands. For example, you can create an alias called co that executes git checkout with just git co. Aliases are defined in your file, and they can replace one or more Git commands. ~/.gitconfig Here's an example alias configuration: [alias] co = checkout ci = commit st = status br = branch hist = log --pretty=format:"%h %ad | %s%d [%an]" --graph --date=short With these aliases in place, running is equivalent to , and provides a custom, more informative git log output. git co git checkout git hist $ git hist *   f790b78 2023-08-27 | feat: add footer #13 [user] |\ | * 11d2d75 2023-08-27 | feat: implement new footer (origin/add-footer, add-footer) [user] | * 091d895 2023-08-27 | feat: add footer component [user] |/ *   e45725d 2023-08-27 | fix: minor style fixes #12 [user] Tip 5: Setting VS Code as Your Default Git Editor If you're a fan of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you can set it as your default Git editor to leverage its advanced features. To do this globally, you can run the following command: git config --global core.editor "code --wait" This command configures Git to use VS Code as the default editor, enhancing your Git experience when it comes to making commit messages or resolving merge conflicts. Mastering Git config opens up a world of possibilities and efficiency. These five tips are just the beginning. If you're passionate about simplifying configurations and helping fellow developers, consider visiting and contributing to our open-source library of config tips and tricks . Config.Tips was born from the idea that collecting knowledge in one place could help make any type of config easier for developers. Config.tips If you like our project, you can also give a star to our . GitHub repository We are one of the open-source repos listed for Hacktoberfest, so don’t be shy to make config even more accessible for everyone by with your config tip(s). opening a pull-request

Unlocking Git's Hidden Powers: 5 Configuration Tips for Effortless Version Control

A Floating City and The Blockade Runners by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . The shot from the “Iroquois,” and miss Jenny’s arguments here THE SHOT FROM THE “IROQUOIS,” AND MISS JENNY’s ARGUMENTS. Until now the navigation of the “Dolphin” had been very fortunate. Not one ship had been signalled before the sail hailed by the man on watch. The “Dolphin” was then in 32° 51´ latitude and 57° 43´west longitude. For forty-eight hours a fog which now began to rise had covered the ocean. If this mist favoured the “Dolphin” by hiding her course, it also prevented any observations at a distance being made, and, without being aware of it, she might be sailing side by side, so to speak, with the ships she wished most to avoid. Now this is just what had happened, and when the ship was signalled she was only three miles to windward. When James Playfair had reached the bars, he saw distinctly, through an opening in the mist, a large Federal corvette in full pursuit of the “Dolphin.” After having carefully examined her, the Captain came down on deck again, and called to the first officer. “Mr. Mathew,” said he, “what do you think of this ship?” “I think, Captain, that it is a Federal cruiser, which suspects our intentions.” “There is no possible doubt of her nationality,” said James Playfair. “Look!” At this moment the starry flag of the North United States appeared on the gaff-yards of the corvette, and the latter asserted her colours with a cannon-shot. “An invitation to show ours,” said Mr. Mathew. “Well, let us show them; there is nothing to be ashamed of.” “What’s the good?” replied James Playfair. “Our flag will hardly protect us, and it will not hinder those people from paying us a visit? No; let us go ahead.” “And go quickly,” replied Mr. Mathew, “for if my eyes do not deceive me, I have already seen that corvette lying off Liverpool, where she went to watch the ships in building: my name is not Mathew, if that is not ‘The Iroquois’ on her taffrail.” “And is she fast?” “One of the fastest vessels of the Federal marine.” “What guns does she carry?” “Eight.” “Pooh.” “Oh, don’t shrug your shoulders, Captain,” said Mr. Mathew, in a serious tone; “two out of those eight guns are rifled, one is a sixty-pounder on the forecastle, and the other a hundred-pounder on deck.” “Upon my soul!” exclaimed James Playfair, “they are Parrott’s, and will carry three miles.” “Yes, and farther than that, Captain.” “Ah, well! Mr. Mathew, let their guns be sixty or only four-pounders, and let them carry three miles or five hundred yards, it is all the same if we can go fast enough to avoid their shot. We will show this ‘Iroquois’ how a ship can go when she is built on purpose to go. Have the fires well banked up, Mr. Mathew.” The first officer gave the Captain’s orders to the engineer, and soon volumes of black smoke curled from the steamer’s chimneys. This proceeding did not seem to please the corvette, for she made the “Dolphin” the signal to lie to, but James Playfair paid no attention to this warning, and did not change his ship’s course. “Now,” said he, “we shall see what the ‘Iroquois’ will do; there is a fine opportunity for her to try her guns, go ahead full speed!” “Good!” exclaimed Mr. Mathew; “she will not be long in saluting us.” Returning to the poop, the Captain saw Miss Halliburtt sitting quietly near the bulwarks. “Miss Jenny,” said he, “we shall probably be chased by that corvette you see to windward, and as she will speak to us with shot, I beg to offer you my arm to take you to your cabin again.” “Thank you, very much, Mr. Playfair,” replied the young girl, looking at him, “but I am not afraid of cannon-shots.” “However, miss, in spite of the distance, there may be some danger.” “Oh, I was not brought up to be fearful; they accustom us to everything in America, and I assure you that the shot from the ‘Iroquois’ will not make me lower my head.” “You are brave, Miss Jenny.” “Let us admit, then, that I am brave, and allow me to stay by you.” “I can refuse you nothing, Miss Halliburtt,” replied the Captain, looking at the young girl’s calm face. These words were hardly uttered when they saw a line of white smoke issue from the bulwarks of the corvette; before the report had reached the “Dolphin” a projectile whizzed through the air in the direction of the steamer. At about twenty fathoms from the “Dolphin” the shot, the speed of which had sensibly lessened, skimmed over the surface of the waves, marking its passage by a series of water-jets; then, with another burst, it rebounded to a certain height, passed over the “Dolphin,” grazing the mizen-yards on the starboard side, fell at thirty fathoms beyond, and was buried in the waves. “By Jove!” exclaimed James Playfair, “we must get along; another slap like that is not to be waited for.” “Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Mathew, “they will take some time to reload such pieces.” “Upon my honour, it is an interesting sight,” said Crockston, who, with arms crossed, stood perfectly at his ease looking at the scene, “and to say they are friends who send such brandy-balls!” “Ah! that’s you,” cried James Playfair, scanning the American from head to foot. “It is me, Captain,” replied the American, undisturbed. “I have come to see how these brave Federals fire; not badly, in truth, not badly.” The Captain was going to answer Crockston sharply, but at this moment a second shot struck the sea on the starboard side. “Good,” cried James Playfair, “we have already gained two cables on this ‘Iroquois.’ Your friends sail like a buoy; do you hear, Master Crockston?” “I will not say they don’t,” replied the American, “and for the first time in my life it does not fail to please me.” A third shot fell still farther astern, and in less than ten minutes the “Dolphin” was out of range of the corvette’s guns. “So much for patent-logs, Mr. Mathew,” said James Playfair; “thanks to those shot we know how to rate our speed. Now have the fires lowered; it is not worth while to waste our coal uselessly.” “It is a good ship that you command,” said Miss Halliburtt to the young Captain. “Yes, Miss Jenny, my good ‘Dolphin,’ makes her seventeen knots, and before the day is over, we shall have lost sight of that corvette.” James Playfair did not exaggerate the sailing qualities of his ship, and the sun had not set before the masts of the American ship had disappeared below the horizon. This incident allowed the Captain to see Miss Halliburtt’s character in a new light; besides, the ice was broken, henceforward, during the whole of the voyage, the interviews between the Captain and his passenger were frequent and prolonged; he found her to be a young girl, calm, strong, thoughtful, and intelligent, speaking with great ease, having her own ideas about everything, and expressing her thoughts with a conviction which unconsciously penetrated James Playfair’s heart. She loved her country, she was zealous in the great cause of the Union, and expressed herself on the civil war in the United States with an enthusiasm of which no other woman would have been capable. Thus it happened, more than once, that James Playfair found it difficult to answer her, even when questions purely mercantile arose in connexion with the war: Miss Jenny attacked them none the less vigorously, and would come to no other terms whatever. At first James argued a great deal, and tried to uphold the Confederates against the Federals, to prove that the Secessionists were in the right, and that if the people were united voluntarily they might separate in the same manner. But the young girl would not yield on this point; she demonstrated that the question of slavery was predominant in the struggle between the North and South Americans, that it was far more a war in the cause of morals and humanity than politics, and James could make no answer. Besides, during these discussions, which he listened to attentively, it is difficult to say whether he was more touched by Miss Halliburtt’s arguments, or the charming manner in which she spoke; but at last he was obliged to acknowledge, among other things, that slavery was the principal feature in the war, that it must be put an end to decisively, and the last horrors of barbarous times abolished. It has been said that the political opinions of the Captain did not trouble him much. He would have sacrificed his most serious opinion before such enticing arguments and under like circumstances; he made a good bargain of his ideas for the same reason, but at last he was attacked in his tenderest point: this was the question of the traffic in which the “Dolphin” was being employed, and, consequently, the ammunition which was being carried to the Confederates. “Yes, Mr. James,” said Miss Halliburtt, “gratitude does not hinder me from speaking with perfect frankness; on the contrary, you are a brave seaman, a clever merchant, the house of Playfair is noted for its respectability; but in this case it fails in its principles, and follows a trade unworthy of it.” “How!” cried James, “the house of Playfair ought not to attempt such a commercial enterprise?” “No! it is taking ammunition to the unhappy creatures in revolt against the government of their country, and it is lending arms to a bad cause.” “Upon my honour, Miss Jenny, I will not discuss the fight of the Confederates with you; I will only answer you with one word: I am a merchant, and as such I only occupy myself with the interests of my house; I look for gain wherever there is an opportunity of getting it.” “That is precisely what is to be blamed, Mr. James,” replied the young girl; “profit does not excuse it; thus, when you supply arms to the Southerners, with which to continue a criminal war, you are quite as guilty as when you sell opium to the Chinese, which stupefies them.” “Oh! for once, Miss Jenny, this is too much, and I cannot admit—” “No; what I say is just, and when you consider it, when you understand the part you are playing, when you think of the results for which you are responsible, you will yield to me in this point, as in so many others.” James Playfair was dumbfoundered at these words; he left the young girl, a prey to angry thoughts, for he felt his powerlessness to answer; then he sulked like a child for half an hour, and an hour later he returned to the singular young girl who could overwhelm him with convincing arguments, with quite a pleasant smile. In short, however it may have come about, and although he would not acknowledge it to himself, Captain James Playfair belonged to himself no longer, he was no longer commander-in-chief on board his own ship. Thus, to Crockston’s great joy, Mr. Halliburtt’s affairs appeared to be in a good way; the Captain seemed to have decided to undertake everything in his power to deliver Miss Jenny’s father, and for this he would be obliged to compromise the “Dolphin,” his cargo, his crew, and incur the displeasure of his worthy uncle Vincent. 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. Jules Verne (2022). A Floating City and The Blockade Runners. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/67829/67829-h/67829-h.htm 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 shot from the “Iroquois,” and miss Jenny’s arguments.

The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . A FINAL THREAT here CHAPTER XVI. A FINAL THREAT On that day, in the colliery of New Aberfoyle, work was going on in the usual regular way. In the distance could be heard the crash of great charges of dynamite, by which the carboniferous rocks were blasted. Here masses of coal were loosened by pick-ax and crowbar; there the perforating machines, with their harsh grating, bored through the masses of sandstone and schist. Hollow, cavernous noises resounded on all sides. Draughts of air rushed along the ventilating galleries, and the wooden swing-doors slammed beneath their violent gusts. In the lower tunnels, trains of trucks kept passing along at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, while at their approach electric bells warned the workmen to cower down in the refuge places. Lifts went incessantly up and down, worked by powerful engines on the surface of the soil. Coal Town was throughout brilliantly lighted by the electric lamps at full power. Mining operations were being carried on with the greatest activity; coal was being piled incessantly into the trucks, which went in hundreds to empty themselves into the corves at the bottom of the shaft. While parties of miners who had labored during the night were taking needful rest, the others worked without wasting an hour. Old Simon Ford and Madge, having finished their dinner, were resting at the door of their cottage. Simon smoked a good pipe of tobacco, and from time to time the old couple spoke of Nell, of their boy, of Mr. Starr, and wondered how they liked their trip to the surface of the earth. Where would they be now? What would they be doing? How could they stay so long away from the mine without feeling homesick? Just then a terrific roaring noise was heard. It was like the sound of a mighty cataract rushing down into the mine. The old people rose hastily. They perceived at once that the waters of Loch Malcolm were rising. A great wave, unfurling like a billow, swept up the bank and broke against the walls of the cottage. Simon caught his wife in his arms, and carried her to the upper part of their dwelling. At the same moment, cries arose from all parts of Coal Town, which was threatened by a sudden inundation. The inhabitants fled for safety to the top of the schist rocks bordering the lake; terror spread in all directions; whole families in frantic haste rushed towards the tunnel in order to reach the upper regions of the pit. It was feared that the sea had burst into the colliery, for its galleries and passages penetrated as far as the Caledonian Canal. In that case the entire excavation, vast as it was, would be completely flooded. Not a single inhabitant of New Aberfoyle would escape death. But when the foremost fugitives reached the entrance to the tunnel, they encountered Simon Ford, who had quitted his cottage. “Stop, my friends, stop!” shouted the old man; “if our town is to be overwhelmed, the floods will rush faster than you can; no one can possibly escape. But see! the waters are rising no further! it appears to me the danger is over.” “And our comrades at the far end of the works—what about them?” cried some of the miners. “There is nothing to fear for them,” replied Simon; “they are working on a higher level than the bed of the loch.” It was soon evident that the old man was in the right. The sudden influx of water had rushed to the very lowest bed of the vast mine, and its only ultimate effect was to raise the level of Loch Malcolm a few feet. Coal Town was uninjured, and it was reasonable to hope that no one had perished in the flood of water which had descended to the depths of the mine never yet penetrated by the workmen. Simon and his men could not decide whether this inundation was owing to the overflow of a subterranean sheet of water penetrating fissures in the solid rock, or to some underground torrent breaking through its worn bed, and precipitating itself to the lowest level of the mine. But that very same evening they knew what to think about it, for the local papers published an account of the marvelous phenomenon which Loch Katrine had exhibited. The surprising news was soon after confirmed by the four travelers, who, returning with all possible speed to the cottage, learned with extreme satisfaction that no serious damage was done in New Aberfoyle. The bed of Loch Katrine had fairly given way. The waters had suddenly broken through by an enormous fissure into the mine beneath. Of Sir Walter Scott’s favorite loch there was not left enough to wet the pretty foot of the Lady of the Lake; all that remained was a pond of a few acres at the further extremity. This singular event made a profound sensation in the country. It was a thing unheard of that a lake should in the space of a few minutes empty itself, and disappear into the bowels of the earth. There was nothing for it but to erase Loch Katrine from the map of Scotland until (by public subscription) it could be refilled, care being of course taken, in the first place, to stop the rent up tight. This catastrophe would have been the death of Sir Walter Scott, had he still been in the world. The accident was explicable when it was ascertained that, between the bed of the lake and the vast cavity beneath, the geological strata had become reduced to a thin layer, incapable of longer sustaining the weight of water. Now, although to most people this event seemed plainly due to natural causes, yet to James Starr and his friends, Simon and Harry Ford, the question constantly recurred, was it not rather to be attributed to malevolence? Uneasy suspicions continually harassed their minds. Was their evil genius about to renew his persecution of those who ventured to work this rich mine? At the cottage, some days later, James Starr thus discussed the matter with the old man and his son: “Well, Simon,” said he, “to my thinking we must class this circumstance with the others for which we still seek elucidation, although it is no doubt possible to explain it by natural causes.” “I am quite of your mind, Mr. James,” replied Simon, “but take my advice, and say nothing about it; let us make all researches ourselves.” “Oh, I know the result of such research beforehand!” cried the engineer. “And what will it be, then?” “We shall find proofs of malevolence, but not the malefactor.” “But he exists! he is there! Where can he lie concealed? Is it possible to conceive that the most depraved human being could, single-handed, carry out an idea so infernal as that of bursting through the bed of a lake? I believe I shall end by thinking, like Jack Ryan, that the evil demon of the mine revenges himself on us for having invaded his domain.” Nell was allowed to hear as little as possible of these discussions. Indeed, she showed no desire to enter into them, although it was very evident that she shared in the anxieties of her adopted parents. The melancholy in her countenance bore witness to much mental agitation. It was at length resolved that James Starr, together with Simon and Harry, should return to the scene of the disaster, and endeavor to satisfy themselves as to the cause of it. They mentioned their project to no one. To those unacquainted with the group of facts on which it was based, the opinion of Starr and his friends could not fail to appear wholly inadmissible. A few days later, the three friends proceeded in a small boat to examine the natural pillars on which had rested the solid earth forming the basin of Loch Katrine. They discovered that they had been right in suspecting that the massive columns had been undermined by blasting. The blackened traces of explosion were to be seen, the waters having subsided below the level of these mysterious operations Thus the fall of a portion of the vast vaulted dome was proved to have been premeditated by man, and by man’s hand had it been effected. “It is impossible to doubt it,” said James Starr; “and who can say what might not have happened had the sea, instead of a little loch, been let in upon us?” “You may well say that,” cried the old overman, with a feeling of pride in his beloved mine; “for nothing less than a sea would have drowned our Aberfoyle. But, once more, what possible interest could any human being have in the destruction of our works?” “It is quite incomprehensible,” replied James Starr. “This case is something perfectly unlike that of a band of common criminals, who, concealing themselves in dens and caves, go forth to rob and pillage the surrounding country. The evil deeds of such men would certainly, in the course of three years have betrayed their existence and lurking-places. Neither can it be, as I sometimes used to think, that smugglers or coiners carried on their illegal practices in some distant and unknown corner of these prodigious caverns, and were consequently anxious to drive us out of them. But no one coins false money or obtains contraband goods only to conceal them! “Yet it is clear that an implacable enemy has sworn the ruin of New Aberfoyle, and that some interest urges him to seek in every possible way to wreak his hatred upon us. He appears to be too weak to act openly, and lays his schemes in secret; but displays such intelligence as to render him a most formidable foe. “My friends, he must understand better than we do the secrets of our domain, since he has all this time eluded our vigilance. He must be a man experienced in mining, skilled beyond the most skillful—that’s certain, Simon! We have proof enough of that. “Let me see! Have you never had a personal enemy, to whom your suspicions might point? Think well! There is such a thing as hatred which time never softens. Go back to recollections of your earliest days. What befalls us appears the work of a stern and patient will, and to explain it demands every effort of thought and memory.” Simon did not answer immediately—his mind evidently engaged in a close and candid survey of his past life. Presently, raising his head, “No,” said he; “no! Heaven be my witness, neither Madge nor I have ever injured anybody. We cannot believe that we have a single enemy in the world.” “Ah! if Nell would only speak!” cried the engineer. “Mr. Starr—and you, father,” said Harry, “I do beg of you to keep silence on this matter, and not to question my poor Nell. I know she is very anxious and uneasy; and I feel positive that some great secret painfully oppresses her heart. Either she knows nothing it would be of any use for us to hear, or she considers it her duty to be silent. It is impossible to doubt her affection for us—for all of us. If at a future time she informs me of what she has hitherto concealed from us, you shall know about it immediately.” “So be it, then, Harry,” answered the engineer; “and yet I must say Nell’s silence, if she knows anything, is to me perfectly inexplicable.” Harry would have continued her defense; but the engineer stopped him, saying, “All right, Harry; we promise to say no more about it to your future wife.” “With my father’s consent she shall be my wife without further delay.” “My boy,” said old Simon, “your marriage shall take place this very day month. Mr. Starr, will you undertake the part of Nell’s father?” “You may reckon upon me for that, Simon,” answered the engineer. They then returned to the cottage, but said not a word of the result of their examinations in the mine, so that to the rest of its inhabitants, the bursting in of the vaulted roof of the caverns continued to be regarded as a mere accident. There was but a loch the less in Scotland. Nell gradually resumed her customary duties, and Harry made good use of her little visit to the upper air, in the instructions he gave her. She enjoyed the recollections of life above ground, yet without regretting it. The somber region she had loved as a child, and in which her wedded life would be spent, was as dear to her as ever. The approaching marriage created great excitement in New Aberfoyle. Good wishes poured in on all sides, and foremost among them were Jack Ryan’s. He was detected busily practicing his best songs in preparation for the great day, which was to be celebrated by the whole population of Coal Town. During the month preceding the wedding-day, there were more accidents occurring in New Aberfoyle than had ever been known in the place. One would have thought the approaching union of Harry and Nell actually provoked one catastrophe after another. These misfortunes happened chiefly at the further and lowest extremity of the works, and the cause of them was always in some way mysterious. Thus, for instance, the wood-work of a distant gallery was discovered to be in flames, which were extinguished by Harry and his companions at the risk of their lives, by employing engines filled with water and carbonic acid, always kept ready in case of necessity. The lamp used by the incendiary was found; but no clew whatever as to who he could be. Another time an inundation took place in consequence of the stanchions of a water-tank giving way; and Mr. Starr ascertained beyond a doubt that these supports had first of all been partially sawn through. Harry, who had been overseeing the works near the place at the time, was buried in the falling rubbish, and narrowly escaped death. A few days afterwards, on the steam tramway, a train of trucks, which Harry was passing along, met with an obstacle on the rails, and was overturned. It was then discovered that a beam had been laid across the line. In short, events of this description became so numerous that the miners were seized with a kind of panic, and it required all the influence of their chiefs to keep them on the works. “You would think that there was a whole band of these ruffians,” Simon kept saying, “and we can’t lay hands on a single one of them.” Search was made in all directions. The county police were on the alert night and day, yet discovered nothing. The evil intentions seeming specially designed to injure Harry. Starr forbade him to venture alone beyond the ordinary limits of the works. They were equally careful of Nell, although, at Harry’s entreaty, these malicious attempts to do harm were concealed from her, because they might remind her painfully of former times. Simon and Madge watched over her by day and by night with a sort of stern solicitude. The poor child yielded to their wishes, without a remark or a complaint. Did she perceive that they acted with a view to her interest? Probably she did. And on her part, she seemed to watch over others, and was never easy unless all whom she loved were together in the cottage. When Harry came home in the evening, she could not restrain expressions of child-like joy, very unlike her usual manner, which was rather reserved than demonstrative. As soon as day broke, she was astir before anyone else, and her constant uneasiness lasted all day until the hour of return home from work. Harry became very anxious that their marriage should take place. He thought that, when the irrevocable step was taken, malevolence would be disarmed, and that Nell would never feel safe until she was his wife. James Starr, Simon, and Madge, were all of the same opinion, and everyone counted the intervening days, for everyone suffered from the most uncomfortable forebodings. It was perfectly evident that nothing relating to Nell was indifferent to this hidden foe, whom it was impossible to meet or to avoid. Therefore it seemed quite possible that the solemn act of her marriage with Harry might be the occasion of some new and dreadful outbreak of his hatred. One morning, a week before the day appointed for the ceremony, Nell, rising early, went out of the cottage before anyone else. No sooner had she crossed the threshold than a cry of indescribable anguish escaped her lips. Her voice was heard throughout the dwelling; in a moment, Madge, Harry, and Simon were at her side. Nell was pale as death, her countenance agitated, her features expressing the utmost horror. Unable to speak, her eyes were riveted on the door of the cottage, which she had just opened. With rigid fingers she pointed to the following words traced upon it during the night: “Simon Ford, you have robbed me of the last vein in our old pit. Harry, your son, has robbed me of Nell. Woe betide you! Woe betide you all! Woe betide New Aberfoyle!—SILFAX.” “Silfax!” exclaimed Simon and Madge together. “Who is this man?” demanded Harry, looking alternately at his father and at the maiden. “Silfax!” repeated Nell in tones of despair, “Silfax!”—and, murmuring this name, her whole frame shuddering with fear and agitation, she was borne away to her chamber by old Madge. James Starr, hastening to the spot, read the threatening sentences again and again. “The hand which traced these lines,” said he at length, “is the same which wrote me the letter contradicting yours, Simon. The man calls himself Silfax. I see by your troubled manner that you know him. Who is this Silfax?” 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. Jules Verne (1998). The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1353/pg1353-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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

A FINAL THREAT

The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . NEW ABERFOYLE here CHAPTER VII. NEW ABERFOYLE The old overman’s experiment had succeeded. Firedamp, it is well known, is only generated in coal seams; therefore the existence of a vein of precious combustible could no longer be doubted. As to its size and quality, that must be determined later. “Yes,” thought James Starr, “behind that wall lies a carboniferous bed, undiscovered by our soundings. It is vexatious that all the apparatus of the mine, deserted for ten years, must be set up anew. Never mind. We have found the vein which was thought to be exhausted, and this time it shall be worked to the end!” “Well, Mr. Starr,” asked Ford, “what do you think of our discovery? Was I wrong to trouble you? Are you sorry to have paid this visit to the Dochart pit?” “No, no, my old friend!” answered Starr. “We have not lost our time; but we shall be losing it now, if we do not return immediately to the cottage. To-morrow we will come back here. We will blast this wall with dynamite. We will lay open the new vein, and after a series of soundings, if the seam appears to be large, I will form a new Aberfoyle Company, to the great satisfaction of the old shareholders. Before three months have passed, the first corves full of coal will have been taken from the new vein.” “Well said, sir!” cried Simon Ford. “The old mine will grow young again, like a widow who remarries! The bustle of the old days will soon begin with the blows of the pick, and mattock, blasts of powder, rumbling of wagons, neighing of horses, creaking of machines! I shall see it all again! I hope, Mr. Starr, that you will not think me too old to resume my duties of overman?” “No, Simon, no indeed! You wear better than I do, my old friend!” “And, sir, you shall be our viewer again. May the new working last for many years, and pray Heaven I shall have the consolation of dying without seeing the end of it!” The old miner was overflowing with joy. James Starr fully entered into it; but he let Ford rave for them both. Harry alone remained thoughtful. To his memory recurred the succession of singular, inexplicable circumstances attending the discovery of the new bed. It made him uneasy about the future. An hour afterwards, James Starr and his two companions were back in the cottage. The engineer supped with good appetite, listening with satisfaction to all the plans unfolded by the old overman; and had it not been for his excitement about the next day’s work, he would never have slept better than in the perfect stillness of the cottage. The following day, after a substantial breakfast, James Starr, Simon Ford, Harry, and even Madge herself, took the road already traversed the day before. All looked like regular miners. They carried different tools, and some dynamite with which to blast the rock. Harry, besides a large lantern, took a safety lamp, which would burn for twelve hours. It was more than was necessary for the journey there and back, including the time for the working—supposing a working was possible. “To work! to work!” shouted Ford, when the party reached the further end of the passage; and he grasped a heavy crowbar and brandished it. “Stop one instant,” said Starr. “Let us see if any change has taken place, and if the fire-damp still escapes through the crevices.” “You are right, Mr. Starr,” said Harry. “Whoever stopped it up yesterday may have done it again to-day!” Madge, seated on a rock, carefully observed the excavation, and the wall which was to be blasted. It was found that everything was just as they left it. The crevices had undergone no alteration; the carburetted hydrogen still filtered through, though in a small stream, which was no doubt because it had had a free passage since the day before. As the quantity was so small, it could not have formed an explosive mixture with the air inside. James Starr and his companions could therefore proceed in security. Besides, the air grew purer by rising to the heights of the Dochart pit; and the fire-damp, spreading through the atmosphere, would not be strong enough to make any explosion. “To work, then!” repeated Ford; and soon the rock flew in splinters under his skillful blows. The break was chiefly composed of pudding-stone, interspersed with sandstone and schist, such as is most often met with between the coal veins. James Starr picked up some of the pieces, and examined them carefully, hoping to discover some trace of coal. Starr having chosen the place where the holes were to be drilled, they were rapidly bored by Harry. Some cartridges of dynamite were put into them. As soon as the long, tarred safety match was laid, it was lighted on a level with the ground. James Starr and his companions then went off to some distance. “Oh! Mr. Starr,” said Simon Ford, a prey to agitation, which he did not attempt to conceal, “never, no, never has my old heart beaten so quick before! I am longing to get at the vein!” “Patience, Simon!” responded the engineer. “You don’t mean to say that you think you are going to find a passage all ready open behind that dyke?” “Excuse me, sir,” answered the old overman; “but of course I think so! If there was good luck in the way Harry and I discovered this place, why shouldn’t the good luck go on?” As he spoke, came the explosion. A sound as of thunder rolled through the labyrinth of subterranean galleries. Starr, Madge, Harry, and Simon Ford hastened towards the spot. “Mr. Starr! Mr. Starr!” shouted the overman. “Look! the door is broken open!” Ford’s comparison was justified by the appearance of an excavation, the depth of which could not be calculated. Harry was about to spring through the opening; but the engineer, though excessively surprised to find this cavity, held him back. “Allow time for the air in there to get pure,” said he. “Yes! beware of the foul air!” said Simon. A quarter of an hour was passed in anxious waiting. The lantern was then fastened to the end of a stick, and introduced into the cave, where it continued to burn with unaltered brilliancy. “Now then, Harry, go,” said Starr, “and we will follow you.” The opening made by the dynamite was sufficiently large to allow a man to pass through. Harry, lamp in hand, entered unhesitatingly, and disappeared in the darkness. His father, mother, and James Starr waited in silence. A minute—which seemed to them much longer—passed. Harry did not reappear, did not call. Gazing into the opening, James Starr could not even see the light of his lamp, which ought to have illuminated the dark cavern. Had the ground suddenly given way under Harry’s feet? Had the young miner fallen into some crevice? Could his voice no longer reach his companions? The old overman, dead to their remonstrances, was about to enter the opening, when a light appeared, dim at first, but gradually growing brighter, and Harry’s voice was heard shouting, “Come, Mr. Starr! come, father! The road to New Aberfoyle is open!” If, by some superhuman power, engineers could have raised in a block, a thousand feet thick, all that portion of the terrestrial crust which supports the lakes, rivers, gulfs, and territories of the counties of Stirling, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, they would have found, under that enormous lid, an immense excavation, to which but one other in the world can be compared—the celebrated Mammoth caves of Kentucky. This excavation was composed of several hundred divisions of all sizes and shapes. It might be called a hive with numberless ranges of cells, capriciously arranged, but a hive on a vast scale, and which, instead of bees, might have lodged all the ichthyosauri, megatheriums, and pterodactyles of the geological epoch. A labyrinth of galleries, some higher than the most lofty cathedrals, others like cloisters, narrow and winding—these following a horizontal line, those on an incline or running obliquely in all directions—connected the caverns and allowed free communication between them. The pillars sustaining the vaulted roofs, whose curves allowed of every style, the massive walls between the passages, the naves themselves in this layer of secondary formation, were composed of sandstone and schistous rocks. But tightly packed between these useless strata ran valuable veins of coal, as if the black blood of this strange mine had circulated through their tangled network. These fields extended forty miles north and south, and stretched even under the Caledonian Canal. The importance of this bed could not be calculated until after soundings, but it would certainly surpass those of Cardiff and Newcastle. We may add that the working of this mine would be singularly facilitated by the fantastic dispositions of the secondary earths; for by an unaccountable retreat of the mineral matter at the geological epoch, when the mass was solidifying, nature had already multiplied the galleries and tunnels of New Aberfoyle. Yes, nature alone! It might at first have been supposed that some works abandoned for centuries had been discovered afresh. Nothing of the sort. No one would have deserted such riches. Human termites had never gnawed away this part of the Scottish subsoil; nature herself had done it all. But, we repeat, it could be compared to nothing but the celebrated Mammoth caves, which, in an extent of more than twenty miles, contain two hundred and twenty-six avenues, eleven lakes, seven rivers, eight cataracts, thirty-two unfathomable wells, and fifty-seven domes, some of which are more than four hundred and fifty feet in height. Like these caves, New Aberfoyle was not the work of men, but the work of the Creator. Such was this new domain, of matchless wealth, the discovery of which belonged entirely to the old overman. Ten years’ sojourn in the deserted mine, an uncommon pertinacity in research, perfect faith, sustained by a marvelous mining instinct—all these qualities together led him to succeed where so many others had failed. Why had the soundings made under the direction of James Starr during the last years of the working stopped just at that limit, on the very frontier of the new mine? That was all chance, which takes great part in researches of this kind. However that might be, there was, under the Scottish subsoil, what might be called a subterranean county, which, to be habitable, needed only the rays of the sun, or, for want of that, the light of a special planet. Water had collected in various hollows, forming vast ponds, or rather lakes larger than Loch Katrine, lying just above them. Of course the waters of these lakes had no movement of currents or tides; no old castle was reflected there; no birch or oak trees waved on their banks. And yet these deep lakes, whose mirror-like surface was never ruffled by a breeze, would not be without charm by the light of some electric star, and, connected by a string of canals, would well complete the geography of this strange domain. Although unfit for any vegetable production, the place could be inhabited by a whole population. And who knows but that in this steady temperature, in the depths of the mines of Aberfoyle, as well as in those of Newcastle, Alloa, or Cardiff—when their contents shall have been exhausted—who knows but that the poorer classes of Great Britain will some day find a refuge? 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. Jules Verne (1998). The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1353/pg1353-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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

NEW ABERFOYLE

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . TORRES STRAITS here CHAPTER XIX: TORRES STRAITS During the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. Her course was south-westerly, and in three days she had gone over the 750 leagues that separated it from La Perouse’s group and the south-east point of Papua. Nautilus Early on the 1st of January, 1863, Conseil joined me on the platform. “Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy New Year?” “What! Conseil; exactly as if I was at Paris in my study at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept your good wishes, and thank you for them. Only, I will ask you what you mean by a ‘Happy New Year’ under our circumstances? Do you mean the year that will bring us to the end of our imprisonment, or the year that sees us continue this strange voyage?” “Really, I do not know how to answer, master. We are sure to see curious things, and for the last two months we have not had time for dullness. The last marvel is always the most astonishing; and, if we continue this progression, I do not know how it will end. It is my opinion that we shall never again see the like. I think then, with no offence to master, that a happy year would be one in which we could see everything.” On 2nd January we had made 11,340 miles, or 5,250 French leagues, since our starting-point in the Japan Seas. Before the ship’s head stretched the dangerous shores of the coral sea, on the north-east coast of Australia. Our boat lay along some miles from the redoubtable bank on which Cook’s vessel was lost, 10th June, 1770. The boat in which Cook was struck on a rock, and, if it did not sink, it was owing to a piece of coral that was broken by the shock, and fixed itself in the broken keel. I had wished to visit the reef, 360 leagues long, against which the sea, always rough, broke with great violence, with a noise like thunder. But just then the inclined planes drew the down to a great depth, and I could see nothing of the high coral walls. I had to content myself with the different specimens of fish brought up by the nets. I remarked, among others, some germons, a species of mackerel as large as a tunny, with bluish sides, and striped with transverse bands, that disappear with the animal’s life. Nautilus These fish followed us in shoals, and furnished us with very delicate food. We took also a large number of gilt-heads, about one and a half inches long, tasting like dorys; and flying pyrapeds like submarine swallows, which, in dark nights, light alternately the air and water with their phosphorescent light. Among the molluscs and zoophytes, I found in the meshes of the net several species of alcyonarians, echini, hammers, spurs, dials, cerites, and hyalleae. The flora was represented by beautiful floating seaweeds, laminariae, and macrocystes, impregnated with the mucilage that transudes through their pores; and among which I gathered an admirable Nemastoma Geliniarois, that was classed among the natural curiosities of the museum. Two days after crossing the coral sea, 4th January, we sighted the Papuan coasts. On this occasion, Captain Nemo informed me that his intention was to get into the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Torres. His communication ended there. The Torres Straits are nearly thirty-four leagues wide; but they are obstructed by an innumerable quantity of islands, islets, breakers, and rocks, that make its navigation almost impracticable; so that Captain Nemo took all needful precautions to cross them. The , floating betwixt wind and water, went at a moderate pace. Her screw, like a cetacean’s tail, beat the waves slowly. Nautilus Profiting by this, I and my two companions went up on to the deserted platform. Before us was the steersman’s cage, and I expected that Captain Nemo was there directing the course of the . I had before me the excellent charts of the Straits of Torres, and I consulted them attentively. Round the the sea dashed furiously. The course of the waves, that went from south-east to north-west at the rate of two and a half miles, broke on the coral that showed itself here and there. Nautilus Nautilus “This is a bad sea!” remarked Ned Land. “Detestable indeed, and one that does not suit a boat like the .” Nautilus “The Captain must be very sure of his route, for I see there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only touched them slightly.” Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not follow the routes of the Astrolabe and the Zelee exactly, for they proved fatal to Dumont d’Urville. It bore more northwards, coasted the Islands of Murray, and came back to the south-west towards Cumberland Passage. I thought it was going to pass it by, when, going back to north-west, it went through a large quantity of islands and islets little known, towards the Island Sound and Canal Mauvais. Nautilus I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, would steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont d’Urville’s two corvettes touched; when, swerving again, and cutting straight through to the west, he steered for the Island of Gilboa. It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began to recede, being quite full. The approached the island, that I still saw, with its remarkable border of screw-pines. He stood off it at about two miles distant. Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The just touched a rock, and stayed immovable, laying lightly to port side. Nautilus Nautilus When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his lieutenant on the platform. They were examining the situation of the vessel, and exchanging words in their incomprehensible dialect. She was situated thus: Two miles, on the starboard side, appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to west like an immense arm. Towards the south and east some coral showed itself, left by the ebb. We had run aground, and in one of those seas where the tides are middling—a sorry matter for the floating of the . However, the vessel had not suffered, for her keel was solidly joined. But, if she could neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk of being for ever fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo’s submarine vessel would be done for. Nautilus I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and calm, always master of himself, approached me. “An accident?” I asked. “No; an incident.” “But an incident that will oblige you perhaps to become an inhabitant of this land from which you flee?” Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a negative gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force him to set foot on terra firma again. Then he said: “Besides, M. Aronnax, the is not lost; it will carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean. Our voyage is only begun, and I do not wish to be deprived so soon of the honour of your company.” Nautilus “However, Captain Nemo,” I replied, without noticing the ironical turn of his phrase, “the ran aground in open sea. Now the tides are not strong in the Pacific; and, if you cannot lighten the , I do not see how it will be reinflated.” Nautilus Nautilus “The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are right there, Professor; but in Torres Straits one finds still a difference of a yard and a half between the level of high and low seas. To-day is 4th January, and in five days the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much astonished if that satellite does not raise these masses of water sufficiently, and render me a service that I should be indebted to her for.” Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his lieutenant, redescended to the interior of the . As to the vessel, it moved not, and was immovable, as if the coralline polypi had already walled it up with their in destructible cement. Nautilus “Well, sir?” said Ned Land, who came up to me after the departure of the Captain. “Well, friend Ned, we will wait patiently for the tide on the 9th instant; for it appears that the moon will have the goodness to put it off again.” “Really?” “Really.” “And this Captain is not going to cast anchor at all since the tide will suffice?” said Conseil, simply. The Canadian looked at Conseil, then shrugged his shoulders. “Sir, you may believe me when I tell you that this piece of iron will navigate neither on nor under the sea again; it is only fit to be sold for its weight. I think, therefore, that the time has come to part company with Captain Nemo.” “Friend Ned, I do not despair of this stout , as you do; and in four days we shall know what to hold to on the Pacific tides. Besides, flight might be possible if we were in sight of the English or Provencal coast; but on the Papuan shores, it is another thing; and it will be time enough to come to that extremity if the does not recover itself again, which I look upon as a grave event.” Nautilus Nautilus “But do they know, at least, how to act circumspectly? There is an island; on that island there are trees; under those trees, terrestrial animals, bearers of cutlets and roast beef, to which I would willingly give a trial.” “In this, friend Ned is right,” said Conseil, “and I agree with him. Could not master obtain permission from his friend Captain Nemo to put us on land, if only so as not to lose the habit of treading on the solid parts of our planet?” “I can ask him, but he will refuse.” “Will master risk it?” asked Conseil, “and we shall know how to rely upon the Captain’s amiability.” To my great surprise, Captain Nemo gave me the permission I asked for, and he gave it very agreeably, without even exacting from me a promise to return to the vessel; but flight across New Guinea might be very perilous, and I should not have counselled Ned Land to attempt it. Better to be a prisoner on board the than to fall into the hands of the natives. Nautilus At eight o’clock, armed with guns and hatchets, we got off the . The sea was pretty calm; a slight breeze blew on land. Conseil and I rowing, we sped along quickly, and Ned steered in the straight passage that the breakers left between them. The boat was well handled, and moved rapidly. Nautilus Ned Land could not restrain his joy. He was like a prisoner that had escaped from prison, and knew not that it was necessary to re-enter it. “Meat! We are going to eat some meat; and what meat!” he replied. “Real game! no, bread, indeed.” “I do not say that fish is not good; we must not abuse it; but a piece of fresh venison, grilled on live coals, will agreeably vary our ordinary course.” “Glutton!” said Conseil, “he makes my mouth water.” “It remains to be seen,” I said, “if these forests are full of game, and if the game is not such as will hunt the hunter himself.” “Well said, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, whose teeth seemed sharpened like the edge of a hatchet; “but I will eat tiger—loin of tiger—if there is no other quadruped on this island.” “Friend Ned is uneasy about it,” said Conseil. “Whatever it may be,” continued Ned Land, “every animal with four paws without feathers, or with two paws without feathers, will be saluted by my first shot.” “Very well! Master Land’s imprudences are beginning.” “Never fear, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian; “I do not want twenty-five minutes to offer you a dish, of my sort.” At half-past eight the boat ran softly aground on a heavy sand, after having happily passed the coral reef that surrounds the Island of Gilboa. Nautilus 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. Jules Verne (1994). Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/164/164-h/164-h.htm 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

TORRES STRAITS

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . VANIKORO here CHAPTER XVIII: VANIKORO This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series of maritime catastrophes that the was destined to meet with in its route. As long as it went through more frequented waters, we often saw the hulls of shipwrecked vessels that were rotting in the depths, and deeper down cannons, bullets, anchors, chains, and a thousand other iron materials eaten up by rust. However, on the 11th of December we sighted the Pomotou Islands, the old “dangerous group” of Bougainville, that extend over a space of 500 leagues at E.S.E. to W.N.W., from the Island Ducie to that of Lazareff. This group covers an area of 370 square leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups of islands, among which the Gambier group is remarkable, over which France exercises sway. These are coral islands, slowly raised, but continuous, created by the daily work of polypi. Then this new island will be joined later on to the neighboring groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New Zealand and New Caledonia, and from thence to the Marquesas. Nautilus One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Captain Nemo, he replied coldly: “The earth does not want new continents, but new men.” Chance had conducted the towards the Island of Clermont-Tonnere, one of the most curious of the group, that was discovered in 1822 by Captain Bell of the Minerva. I could study now the madreporal system, to which are due the islands in this ocean. Nautilus Madrepores (which must not be mistaken for corals) have a tissue lined with a calcareous crust, and the modifications of its structure have induced M. Milne Edwards, my worthy master, to class them into five sections. The animalcule that the marine polypus secretes live by millions at the bottom of their cells. Their calcareous deposits become rocks, reefs, and large and small islands. Here they form a ring, surrounding a little inland lake, that communicates with the sea by means of gaps. There they make barriers of reefs like those on the coasts of New Caledonia and the various Pomoton islands. In other places, like those at Reunion and at Maurice, they raise fringed reefs, high, straight walls, near which the depth of the ocean is considerable. Some cable-lengths off the shores of the Island of Clermont I admired the gigantic work accomplished by these microscopical workers. These walls are specially the work of those madrepores known as milleporas, porites, madrepores, and astraeas. These polypi are found particularly in the rough beds of the sea, near the surface; and consequently it is from the upper part that they begin their operations, in which they bury themselves by degrees with the debris of the secretions that support them. Such is, at least, Darwin’s theory, who thus explains the formation of the , a superior theory (to my mind) to that given of the foundation of the madreporical works, summits of mountains or volcanoes, that are submerged some feet below the level of the sea. atolls I could observe closely these curious walls, for perpendicularly they were more than 300 yards deep, and our electric sheets lighted up this calcareous matter brilliantly. Replying to a question Conseil asked me as to the time these colossal barriers took to be raised, I astonished him much by telling him that learned men reckoned it about the eighth of an inch in a hundred years. Towards evening Clermont-Tonnerre was lost in the distance, and the route of the was sensibly changed. After having crossed the tropic of Capricorn in 135° longitude, it sailed W.N.W., making again for the tropical zone. Although the summer sun was very strong, we did not suffer from heat, for at fifteen or twenty fathoms below the surface, the temperature did not rise above from ten to twelve degrees. Nautilus On 15th of December, we left to the east the bewitching group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen of the Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to the windward, the elevated summits of the island. These waters furnished our table with excellent fish, mackerel, bonitos, and some varieties of a sea-serpent. On the 25th of December the sailed into the midst of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros in 1606, and that Bougainville explored in 1768, and to which Cook gave its present name in 1773. This group is composed principally of nine large islands, that form a band of 120 leagues N.N.S. to S.S.W., between 15° and 2° S. lat., and 164 deg. and 168° long. We passed tolerably near to the Island of Aurou, that at noon looked like a mass of green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height. Nautilus That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed to regret sorely the non-celebration of “Christmas,” the family fete of which Protestants are so fond. I had not seen Captain Nemo for a week, when, on the morning of the 27th, he came into the large drawing-room, always seeming as if he had seen you five minutes before. I was busily tracing the route of the on the planisphere. The Captain came up to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart, and said this single word. Nautilus “Vanikoro.” The effect was magical! It was the name of the islands on which La Perouse had been lost! I rose suddenly. “The has brought us to Vanikoro?” I asked. Nautilus “Yes, Professor,” said the Captain. “And I can visit the celebrated islands where the Boussole and the Astrolabe struck?” “If you like, Professor.” “When shall we be there?” “We are there now.” Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the platform, and greedily scanned the horizon. To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal size, surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty miles in circumference. We were close to Vanikoro, really the one to which Dumont d’Urville gave the name of Isle de la Recherche, and exactly facing the little harbour of Vanou, situated in 16° 4′ S. lat., and 164° 32′ E. long. The earth seemed covered with verdure from the shore to the summits in the interior, that were crowned by Mount Kapogo, 476 feet high. The , having passed the outer belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself among breakers where the sea was from thirty to forty fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some mangroves I perceived some savages, who appeared greatly surprised at our approach. In the long black body, moving between wind and water, did they not see some formidable cetacean that they regarded with suspicion? Nautilus Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about the wreck of La Perouse. “Only what everyone knows, Captain,” I replied. “And could you tell me what everyone knows about it?” he inquired, ironically. “Easily.” I related to him all that the last works of Dumont d’Urville had made known—works from which the following is a brief account. La Perouse, and his second, Captain de Langle, were sent by Louis XVI, in 1785, on a voyage of circumnavigation. They embarked in the corvettes Boussole and the Astrolabe, neither of which were again heard of. In 1791, the French Government, justly uneasy as to the fate of these two sloops, manned two large merchantmen, the Recherche and the Esperance, which left Brest the 28th of September under the command of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. Two months after, they learned from Bowen, commander of the Albemarle, that the debris of shipwrecked vessels had been seen on the coasts of New Georgia. But D’Entrecasteaux, ignoring this communication—rather uncertain, besides—directed his course towards the Admiralty Islands, mentioned in a report of Captain Hunter’s as being the place where La Perouse was wrecked. They sought in vain. The Esperance and the Recherche passed before Vanikoro without stopping there, and, in fact, this voyage was most disastrous, as it cost D’Entrecasteaux his life, and those of two of his lieutenants, besides several of his crew. Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the first to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the 15th of May, 1824, his vessel, the St. Patrick, passed close to Tikopia, one of the New Hebrides. There a Lascar came alongside in a canoe, sold him the handle of a sword in silver that bore the print of characters engraved on the hilt. The Lascar pretended that six years before, during a stay at Vanikoro, he had seen two Europeans that belonged to some vessels that had run aground on the reefs some years ago. Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose disappearance had troubled the whole world. He tried to get on to Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, he would find numerous debris of the wreck, but winds and tides prevented him. Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested the Asiatic Society and the Indian Company in his discovery. A vessel, to which was given the name of the Recherche, was put at his disposal, and he set out, 23rd January, 1827, accompanied by a French agent. The Recherche, after touching at several points in the Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, 7th July, 1827, in that same harbour of Vanou where the was at this time. Nautilus There it collected numerous relics of the wreck—iron utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lbs. shot, fragments of astronomical instruments, a piece of crown work, and a bronze clock, bearing this inscription—“Bazin m’a fait,” the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at Brest about 1785. There could be no further doubt. Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed his course towards New Zealand; put into Calcutta, 7th April, 1828, and returned to France, where he was warmly welcomed by Charles X. But at the same time, without knowing Dillon’s movements, Dumont d’Urville had already set out to find the scene of the wreck. And they had learned from a whaler that some medals and a cross of St. Louis had been found in the hands of some savages of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d’Urville, commander of the Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro he put into Hobart Town. There he learned the results of Dillon’s inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs, second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after landing on an island situated 8° 18′ S. lat., and 156° 30′ E. long., had seen some iron bars and red stuffs used by the natives of these parts. Dumont d’Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to credit the reports of low-class journals, decided to follow Dillon’s track. On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared off Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter found on the island; made his way to Vanikoro, sighted it on the 12th inst., lay among the reefs until the 14th, and not until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the harbour of Vanou. On the 23rd, several officers went round the island and brought back some unimportant trifles. The natives, adopting a system of denials and evasions, refused to take them to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct led them to believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed they seemed to fear that Dumont d’Urville had come to avenge La Perouse and his unfortunate crew. However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck. There, in three or four fathoms of water, between the reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead and iron, embedded in the limy concretions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without some difficulty, their crews hauled up an anchor weighing 1,800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron, and two copper swivel-guns. Dumont d’Urville, questioning the natives, learned too that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on the reefs of this island, had constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost a second time. Where, no one knew. But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d’Urville was not acquainted with Dillon’s movements, had sent the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast of America. The Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vanikoro some months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new document; but stated that the savages had respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the substance of what I told Captain Nemo. “So,” he said, “no one knows now where the third vessel perished that was constructed by the castaways on the island of Vanikoro?” “No one knows.” Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow him into the large saloon. The sank several yards below the waves, and the panels were opened. Nautilus I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, madrepores, through myriads of charming fish—girelles, glyphisidri, pompherides, diacopes, and holocentres—I recognised certain debris that the drags had not been able to tear up—iron stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad voice: “Commander La Perouse set out 7th December, 1785, with his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast anchor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards Santa Cruz, and put into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went first, ran aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground too. The first vessel was destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made the castaways welcome. They installed themselves in the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the debris of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed willingly at Vanikoro; the others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They directed their course towards the Solomon Islands, and there perished, with everything, on the westerly coast of the chief island of the group, between Capes Deception and Satisfaction.” “How do you know that?” “By this, that I found on the spot where was the last wreck.” Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with the French arms, and corroded by the salt water. He opened it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but still readable. They were the instructions of the naval minister to Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVI’s handwriting. “Ah! it is a fine death for a sailor!” said Captain Nemo, at last. “A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that I and my comrades will find no other.” 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. Jules Verne (1994). Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/164/164-h/164-h.htm 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

This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series of maritime catastrophes

It’s been about 6 years since I started working with Django, and through all these years I’ve made some personal customizations in Django’s structure, and coding style. I decided to wrap up all these to-dos and not-to-dos as an instructor so I could use them in the future and also might be helpful to others. Table of the content Modular Settings Third Party apps that could save you a lot of time: Always Have a TODO file Always Have a core web-app Using Django’s web-app to stay Cohesive Django’s custom management commands Store your service messages in a separated file Bypassing the meanings Managing a web-apps files Stick To Generic Views and Mixins Use Serializers! Fixtures Modular Settings: https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Edu/tree/master/djnagoForFun/djnagoForFun/settings When you are developing your Django project, and after each new web-app you’ll notice you have a lot in your settings.py and finding and managing your configs is harder than yesterday. As you might notice, when you are calling the very famous manage.py Django’s entry-point command, it will try to create and set to it. DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE PROJECT_NAME.settings What I do, I convert the settings.py to a python module with the . .py init Every project as least has 2 separated running environments: Development Environment Production Environment And some of your setting’s configs are similar in different environments. Until now we can include three files in our settings module 1- base.py 2- development.py 3- production.py As I said the base.py is for configs that are similar in different environments base.py: from pathlib import Path
import os  # Do not delete this

# Your everywhere service name

SITE_NAME = ""
# Build paths inside the project like this: BASE_DIR / 'subdir'.
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent


# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = os.getenv(
    "DJANGO_KEY",
    default=“”,
)


# Application definition
DEFAULT_APPS = [
    "django.contrib.admin",
    "django.contrib.auth",
    "django.contrib.contenttypes",
    "django.contrib.sessions",
    "django.contrib.messages",
    "django.contrib.staticfiles",
]

THIRD_PARTY_APPS = []

CREATED_APPS = []


INSTALLED_APPS = DEFAULT_APPS + CREATED_APPS + THIRD_PARTY_APPS 

MIDDLEWARE = []

ROOT_URLCONF = 
TEMPLATES = 
WSGI_APPLICATION = 
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = 
# Internationalization
…
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
…
if not os.path.exists("logs"):
    os.makedirs(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "logs")) Pretty cool right? Let’s go to other files. In the development.py you must include only development configs. development.py from .base import *

# import socket  # only if you haven't already imported this

DEBUG = True

ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
    "localhost",
    "127.0.0.1",
]

try:
    from .local import *
except Exception:
    pass

DATABASES = {
     "default": {
         "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.sqlite3",
         "NAME": BASE_DIR / "db.sqlite3",
     }
 }


INSTALLED_APPS += [
    "debug_toolbar",
    #    'django_extensions'
]

MIDDLEWARE += [
    "debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware",
]

"""
    These commented config  will use \
        when you are running the project on Docker. 
"""
# hostname, _, ips = socket.gethostbyname_ex(socket.gethostname())
# INTERNAL_IPS = [ip[:-1] + "1" for ip in ips] + ["127.0.0.1", "10.0.2.2"]

INTERNAL_IPS = ["127.0.0.1", "10.0.2.2"] You might notice the file that I include here , we’ll get into it later. local.py Now let’s take a look at our production configs. production.py from .base import *

DEBUG = False

ALLOWED_HOSTS = [#YOUR_PRODUCTION_HOSTS_ADDRESSESS]

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2",
        "NAME": os.getenv("DB_NAME", default="db"),
        "USER": os.getenv("DB_USER", default="root"),
        "PASSWORD": os.getenv("DB_PASS", default="root-password"),
        "HOST": "postgres",
        "PORT": "5432",
    }
} When we have our three files, we must somehow manage them at the entry point of the settings module and I mean the .py: your module initializer file: init .py: init from os import getenv

env = getenv("DJANGO_ENV", default="development")

if env == "production":
    print("You Are in the Production Mode.")
    from .porduction import *
elif env == "development":
    print("Warning! You Are in the Development Mode.\nDo Not use in any server.")
    from .development import * Well, now it is time to explain that mysterious local.py file! Everything that only belongs to your local machine configs is going to lie there. For example, your email SMTP configs, your local database and etc. and remember, the local.py will always be in the .gitignore. Of course, Django usually contains more third-party modules like DRF, Celery, Allauth, cache services, CORS headers, channels, Sentry. It is simple now, you’ll make a separate file for each of these modules and call it at the end of your base.py file. Here I only explain the DRF and you will get the pattern. base.py # At the end of your base.py

try:
 from .drf_settings import *
except Exception:
 pass drf_settings.py: from datetime import timedelta
from .base import SITE_NAME

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    "DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS": "drf_spectacular.openapi.AutoSchema",
    "DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES": (
        "rest_framework.parsers.JSONParser",
        "rest_framework.parsers.MultiPartParser",
        "rest_framework.parsers.FileUploadParser",
    ),
    "DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES": (
        "rest_framework_simplejwt.authentication.JWTAuthentication",
    ),
    "DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES": (
        "rest_framework.permissions.IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly",
    ),
    "DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS": ("django_filters.rest_framework.DjangoFilterBackend",),
    "DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS": "core.pagination.CustomPagination",
    "PAGE_SIZE": 9,
    # "DEFAULT_VERSIONING_CLASS": "rest_framework.versioning.AcceptHeaderVersioning", # when we active versioning the swagger ui brakes!= ""
    "TEST_REQUEST_DEFAULT_FORMAT": "json",
    "EXCEPTION_HANDLER": "core.errors.custom_exception_handler",
} Third Party apps that could save you a lot of time: Sentry : It will manage your project transactions, errors, etc. and report to you weekly Django debug toolbar : For the development, it offers very good tools like the SQL query time, available signals and etc. Django Chacheops : A slick app that supports automatic or manual queryset caching and automatic granular event-driven invalidation. Django Admin Honeypot : Django application that provides utilities for preventing automated form spam. uses the library to generate test data for your Django models. This has been “hard-forked” from in order to support newer versions of Python and Django Django Seed : Django-seed faker django_faker Django Filter : Django-filter is a reusable Django application allowing users to declaratively add dynamic QuerySet filtering from URL parameters. Django Allauth : Integrated set of Django applications addressing authentication, registration, account management as well as 3rd party (social) account authentication. And most of the time, it will satisfy your requirements DRF Spectacular : Sane and flexible OpenAPI 3.0 schema generation for If your are using Django REST framework and writing APIs. Django Cities : Place models and worldwide place data for Django. Always Have a TODO : https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Edu/blob/master/djnagoForFun/TODO.md When you have a lot of tasks that need to be done very fast and right, you can not mention all your to-dos in your task management service. Most of the developers write their to-dos in the codebase and in most of the time, they forget to do them! Make sure you have a todo.md or everything else is suitable for you to store all your tod-os list in it! # The project Todo List items

---
- [ ] un-done Task
- [x] done Task
---
## Models

## APIs
- [ ] django channels middleware for JwtAuth
## Others

## Bugs

## Emails
- [x] Forgot Password link

## Tests
- [ ] model tests for Advertisement

## NOTES Another benefit of the tod-os file is you can review all your tod-os in just one file later and archive them as a project document. Always have a core web-app: https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Edu/tree/master/djnagoForFun/core You will always have some models, validations, normalizers, permissions, etc. that you could use in all your future web apps. I call this the common web-app ‘core’. Feel free to call it anything you want. Using Django’s web-app to stay Cohesive https://github.com/mrShahsafi/socialmedia As much as your web-apps perform an atomic action, you will have more space to maintain them in the future. For example, the authentication/authorization process must not be in the user’s app; they are 2 different steps and by separating their web-apps you will easily copy/paste their module to your new project with a very small amount of changes. Django custom management commands: https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Winance/tree/main/wallet/management/commands Django comes with a very useful topic: By following these instructions, your custom command will be like this . Custom Management cmd python manage.py my_custom_command For example, maybe you want to create command or test your machine dependencies before you perform a special action. In this way, all your commands have one structure both for writing and execution. And believe me, it is very important when your project becomes a little complex. fake_user Store your service messages in a separated file: https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Edu/blob/master/djnagoForFun/core/responses/api_messages.py When you raise an error or return a permission denied , you’ll have a message to show. Stay away from hardcoding them into your logic. All you need just a file that contains all these messages as variables. Bypassing the meanings https://github.com/mrShahsafi/Winance/blob/main/wallet/models/base.py Sometimes some actions do not really need to done. For example, you need to delete big amount of data from your database daily. It will be a expensive transaction for your database. Use abstract model that contains attribute with the default value and try to inherit all your other models from this common model. is_deleted False All you need to do for bulk delete is turn the flag of your instances to and make sure you filter your querysets with: is_deleted True qs = Model.objects.filter(is_deleted=Flase) What I have just done here is an example, but you get the idea. Managing a web-apps files Don’t always write all your code in just one file. If you see your .py is become bigger than what could be red in a one or two scrolls, you need to break it to separate files, especially when it comes to views.py. A view’s task is just to deliver the logics to a specific controller. What I do is add a new layer to my views called logics. Lets say we have a registration view called , you can write the registrations logics in and use it in your view. RegistrationApi auth.logics.registration_api_logic Stick to Generic Views and Mixins: Django developers think the Generic views and mixins are for the beginners as they grow as backend developers in the industry. Well I must say, that is not true at all. This is the power of the Django. Then why you are using Django at all if you need to write everything from the scratch? Also when you are using something like the DRF spectacular for Documenting the views , it is very easy for these type of modules to sync your schema and view when you have been use the generic views . Use Serializers! This concept may be a little strange to you but how many time do you use the request.data instead of using a serializer for it? I’m sure it happens sometimes. Remember that the serializers are the best practice to yourAPI view (from validating to creating ) And again, when you are using something like the DRF spectacular for Documenting, it is very easy for these type of modules to sync your schema. And also remember, when you breaking your tasks apart as atomic process, they will be very easy to maintain in the future. So if you wanna hear from me: Separate your serializers by their identities These three serializers: MyModelListSerializer MyModelDetailSerializer MyModelInputSerializer are better than just having MyModelSerializer. Fixtures: introduced concept to provide initial data for models. Django fixtures Always have the fixtures directory; it helps you to store all your fixed files and data in specific place. Conclusion: Hope you’ll enjoy using Django with these discussed concepts and structures. Also, I’ve prepared a service that could generate better projects and web-apps for you. You can check it out . Django here Thanks.

12 Essential Django Programming Tips for Developers

Training an Image Classification Model on Azure without storing data on-prem using Dagshub Direct Data Access and Azure ML SDK Introduction Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence have become ubiquitous and one of the key skills of a Data Scientist is to be able to build models that are scalable, deal with sensitive data and also build reliable data and model pipelines — that are reproducible. While Cloud Technologies allow us to build scalable pipelines- we need to store all the files on our cloud before we can use them for training models incurring GPU cost and time to pull the data. In this article, we are going to train a model on Azure with data stored on Dagshub Repo, using the (DDA) feature by Dagshub which allows us to pull data in batches when required— reducing the time taken to pull and store the data on Azure thereby reducing GPU cost as well. Direct Data Access We will use Azure ML SDK to create training job right from our local machine and push it to Azure. We will also see how we can monitor the job right from our jupyter-notebook. We will use the data from Kaggle's, Mayo Clinic — STRIP AI challenge, where the focus is on differentiating between the two major acute ischemic strokes (AIS) etiology subtypes: cardiac and large artery atherosclerosis. Detecting the etiology of strokes can help physicians mitigate recurrent strokes. The code and the data used in this analysis can be found . here About the Data The data originally present for the challenge is in tiff format and is 356GB in size. For the purpose of this analysis, we downscale the images and store them in png format. The code for this downscaling of data can be found . The downscaled images can be found . To map the images to the classes they belong to, the competition data provides us with a CSV file that contains information about the data. This data can be found . here here here The “label” column in the training dataset consists of the class images belongs. The train data folder consists of 754 images out of which 547 belong to class CE (cardiac) and 207 belong to class LAA (large artery atherosclerosis). For our analysis, we have created a column called “int_labels” that assigns a value of 1 if the image belongs to class “LAA” else it is given a value of 0. Approach To use Azure to train our models, we will use Azure ML SDK and run our code on Azure. This will require us to create an ML Workspace and a GPU Compute on Azure. Generally, we upload our data as well onto Azure Storage and create Datastores to allow ML Workspace to access our data. We are not going to store the data on Azure but instead stream the data from Dagshub Repository. To set up Azure Workspace and create a compute using Azure ML SDK refer . here Dagshub is referred to as “Github for ML” as it allows us not only to maintain our code but also enables version control of our data. Data Version Control (DVC) allows us to track changes in large data files similar to how Git helps us to track changes in our code. To enable DVC we can use any of the cloud storage like AWS, GCP and Azure which can be expensive. Similar to how we do a git pull to get the latest code from Git, we do a dvc pull to get the data that are versioned using DVC. Similar to Git commands, we have dvc push, pull and commit commands as well. For this project, I created a Repo on Dagshub and uploaded all my data files and code. All the files and folders that use DVC are marked as DVC in the repo. Once we have the data pushed to Dagshub, we will create scripts that will use the streaming functionality from DDA to fetch data from the repository without having to do a which can take longer. dvc pull Data Streaming using Daghub’s Direct Data Access Traditionally, if we want to build a model or read data that is present in any Data Version Control system — we take a pull and extract all the data files that are present. But, many times we do not need all the files that are present and pulling large files can be time-consuming and incur CPU/GPU time as well. To avoid this, Dagshub introduced the Streaming API which is part of Dagshub's Direct Data Access (DDA) feature. pip install dagshub # Install the Dagshub package for DDA. We then clone the DagshubRepo using Gitpython library. ## Cloning the Repo
git_url="https://"+DAGSHUB_USER_NAME+":"+DAGSHUB_TOKEN+"@dagshub.com/"
        +DAGSHUB_USER_NAME+"/"+DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME+".git"

import git

git.Git().clone(git_url) Once you clone the repo , you can see the Repo in your local system - but you will not find the folders that are versioned using DVC (data and models folder) in the repo. There are two ways of using the streaming client. which can automatically detect calls to Python’s built-in file operations like open(), listdir() and is compatible with most python ML Libraries. using install_hooks(), one can simply access the file as if it was stored on the local machine itself. Python-only “Lite” hooks from dagshub.streaming import install_hooks
import pandas as pd

install_hooks(DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME,password=DAGSHUB_TOKEN)


train_data=pd.read_csv(DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME+"/data/raw/train.csv")
train_data.shape Using this method, when we use os.listdir() we can see the data and the models folder which are DVC versioned as well. On calling install_hooks() we can see that the “data” and “models” folders are visible using os.listdir() This method may not work with Tensorflow and OpenCV — since they have input/output frameworks written in low level language like C/C++ which needs to be handled in a different way as compared to library like Pytorch . In such cases, you can use File Streaming by loading the Dagshub FileSystem. File Streaming using DDA is as simple as loading the Dagshub FileSystem. from dagshub.streaming import DagsHubFilesystem
fs = DagsHubFilesystem(project_root=DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME,username=DAGSHUB_USER_NAME,
                        password=DAGSHUB_TOKEN) We can then replace any use of open(), os.stat(), os.listdir(), and os.scandir() with fs.open(), fs.stat(), fs.listdir(), and fs.scandir() respectively. Using fs.listdir() we can see now that the data and models folders are present, even though they are not there on our machine. Just as a check, let us use both fs and os to list files in the directory. As we can see below, we cannot access the data folders when using os — which means that we are accessing files that are on Dagshub Repo using the streaming functionality To read, say train.csv that is present in the data/raw/ folder we can use the open function Once you open a file, the file is stored in the cache in your local machine and hence will be visible when you use os.listdir() function. The train.csv file that was opened is stored in the cache and becomes visible in the Repo in Local System The main advantage of using the streaming functionality is that you do not download all the files at once instead only access the files that you require. This means we do not have to wait for all the files to download before we start training our models saving GPU cost and time. Visualize the Images using DDA We create a show_image function that takes the image and the streaming client as input and reads the images — converts them into (512,512) images and also flips them horizontally. Here, we use fs.open() to cache the file onto our local system and then use im.read() function to read the image. ## Code to visualise Images - by reading the image from Dagshub
import cv2  
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt


def show_img(fs,img_id):
    IMAGE_FOLDER=DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME+"/data/raw/train/"
    img_path = os.path.join(IMAGE_FOLDER, '{}.png'.format(img_id))
    print(img_path)
    #slide = Image.open(img_path)
    fs.open(img_path) ## This will cache the image
    slide = cv2.imread(img_path, cv2.IMREAD_UNCHANGED)
    img=cv2.resize(slide,(512,512))
    print(type(slide))
    size = slide.shape
    print(size)
    #region = slide.read_region((0, 0), 0, size)
    flipHorizontal = cv2.flip(img, 1)
    

    
    plt.figure(figsize=(8, 8))
    plt.imshow(flipHorizontal)
    plt.show()
show_img(fs,"008e5c_0") Creating Scripts for Training Image Classification Models on Azure The first step to train a model on Azure is to create your own workspace and compute. This can be done using Azure ML SDK (refer ) or you can go to and create a workspace. To ensure reproducibility — I have created my workspace and compute clusters using Azure ML SDK. here portal.azure.com The next step is to create python scripts that will be used for training. All the scripts that are to be used are to be put in the same folder as that folder will be uploaded to Azure. ## Creating Script Folder to store all the scripts that are needed to run job on Azure
import pathlib
script_folder="../src/azure_ml_scripts"
pathlib.Path(script_folder).mkdir(parents=True,exist_ok=True)
print(script_folder) In the scripts folder — since I need to be able to access Dagshub Repo I create dagshub_config.py which contains the Dagshub username, token, and repo name. The token is to be kept secret and should not be shared. file that contains the code to create a streaming client, clone the git repo, list the images in the training folder using data streaming, read the train.csv data frame, and split the data into train and test sets and function to download EfficientNet model using data streaming. util.py Now, the last and the final script ( ) — where all the magic happens. To train an image classification model, we use the ImageDataGenerator class but this requires the files to be present in the system. Since, we are going to use the streaming client to read the images as well as the train.csv file to get the image filename and the class, and create a that will read the images in batches from the Dagshub Repo, using the streaming functionality. train.py Custom DataGenerator We will use the EfficientNet B5 model for our Blood Clot Prediction. EfficientNet allows provides a systematic way to scale CNN models by balancing network depth, width, and resolution. We have stored this model in “data/raw/Pretrained_Efficient_Models” in the repo which contains multiple EfficientNet Models. But, since we only want the B5 Model, we read the weights of only that model. This is possible because of the streaming API — else we will have to download the entire folder and then read that particular file. def download_EfficientNet(fs,model_filename):
    '''
      This function will download the model file into local system and return the path.
    '''
    fs.open(os.path.join(EFFICIENT_NET_MODEL_PATH,model_filename)) 

    return os.path.join(EFFICIENT_NET_MODEL_PATH,model_filename)


efficientWeight=download_EfficientNet(fs,'efficientnet-b5_tf24_imagenet_1000_notop.h5') Resizing the image to (512,512) and creating the validation and training data generator using our CustomDataGenerator is also defined in our . We monitor the model metrics using MLFlow in Azure to track the metrics using training script mlflow.autolog(). Creating Environment and Running Script on Azure Now, that we have our scripts ready, we need to have an environment on Azure where we can run our script — this means installing our libraries and other dependencies. While we can create our own environment with the conda packages and pip packages, we can also use curated environments. In this case, I created my own Environment using an existing docker image that has CUDA installed. ## Creating Environment using CUDA docker image and installing dependencies
from azureml.core.environment import Environment
from azureml.core.conda_dependencies import CondaDependencies


env = Environment('blood-clot-env')

conda_dep = CondaDependencies()
conda_dep.add_conda_package("scikit-learn==0.22.2.post1")

for package in ['azureml-dataset-runtime[pandas,fuse]', 
               'azureml-defaults',
              'dagshub',
              'GitPython','opencv-python-headless','Pillow','mlflow']:
    conda_dep.add_pip_package(package)

other_pip_packages=['azureml-core==1.45.0' ,'azureml-defaults==1.45.0' ,
                                          'azureml-mlflow==1.45.0' ,
                                          'azureml-telemetry==1.45.0' ,
                                          'tensorboard~=2.7.0' ,
                                          'tensorflow-gpu~=2.7.0' ]
for package in other_pip_packages:
    conda_dep.add_pip_package(package)

                                
env.python.conda_dependencies=conda_dep

## Loading the Dockr Image with CUDA
env.docker.base_image = (
    "mcr.microsoft.com/azureml/openmpi4.1.0-cuda11.2-cudnn8-ubuntu20.04:20220902.v1"
)
# Register environment to re-use later
env.register(workspace = ws)

# Save the environment
env.save_to_directory("Environment/",overwrite=True) The next step is to create an experiment. Think of an experiment as a folder within which your jobs are organized. We then create ScriptRunConfig Object. You can think of ScriptRunConfig as a configuration for saving all the details required to run the job on Azure. ## Creating an Experiment and ScriptRunConfig to save details of the job to run on Azure
from azureml.core import ScriptRunConfig
from azureml.core import Experiment

experiment_name = 'blood-clot-classification-mlflow'


exp = Experiment(workspace=ws, name=experiment_name)

src = ScriptRunConfig(source_directory=script_folder,
                      script='train.py', 
                      arguments=None,
                      compute_target=gpu_cluster,
                      environment=env) To run the job on Azure, we submit the experiment with the ScriptRunConfig object and monitor the progress right from our notebook using RunDetails Widget. We can track the metrics from our notebook using run.get_metrics() We can see that the model achieved a validation accuracy of 0.75 and a training accuracy of 0.76. We can also download the saved model using run.download_files(). ## Download the model folder saved after training into our local system 

run.download_files(output_directory="outputs/efficientNet_Model") Oh!! But what if I wanted to write the metrics to a file and push it to my Dagshub Repo — do I need to pull all the data and then push it?? SURPRISE!!! Dagshub introduced the Upload functionality as part of the DDA feature that will allow us to upload our files to our Repo without having to do a pull. ## Uploading files to Dagshub Repo using upload() functionality of DDA
from dagshub.upload import Repo

repo = Repo(DAGSHUB_USERNAME,DAGSHUB_REPO_NAME,branch="main",
             username=DAGSHUB_USERNAME,token=DAGSHUB_TOKEN)

repo.upload(file="../metrics.txt",path="efficientNet_Metrics.txt",
            commit_message="Updating Metrics File",versioning="dvc") VOILA!!! The file is uploaded to Dagshub Repo with DVC versioning. Wrapping it Up… In this article, we saw how we can deploy our code on Azure and also train a model without having to spend a lot of time transferring the data to Azure. While I have taken the example of Image Classification to show how we can merge cloud technologies like Azure with Dagshub’s DDA feature, this can be extended to other data types as well — like Audio or Video Data Types as well. Generally, Video Files are large in size and often take up a lot of storage space, and pulling them every single time can be a time-consuming activity. Interestingly, using the streaming functionality is not limited to deep-learning models alone but can also be used when you have data from multiple tables stored as files that are frequently updated and your analysis just requires a few files — this way using data streaming, one can avoid downloading all the files and also simply re-run the script to get the updated results. Using Azure, we can create our own environment with their dependencies without a lot of familiarity with docker containers. Also, for those who are accustomed to python — Azure ML SDK gives us a way to run our models on Azure without even having to leave the familiar jupyter-notebook environment.

Image Classification on Azure With Dagshub Direct Data Access

In the recent bear market, one of the winners now in a stronger position is ENS. According to NFTgo statistics, ENS’s trading volume in the past 30 days earns them the top spot in the NFT market. The positive trend is also witnessed in several special name types such as "10k club". In terms of historical transaction volume, the total ENS volume has exceeded 80K ETH, ranking 17th. Therefore, it can be concluded that ENS has become, both in the short and long run, an important part of the NFT market. This article is aimed at discussing the current value of ENS and decentralized domain names and their future development. 1. Ethereum Name Service Ethereum Name Service (ENS) uses readable domain names to provide a secure and decentralized solution for on-chain and off-chain addressing of data. Here is a description of the official document: ENS’s job is to map human-readable names like ‘alice.eth’ to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses, other cryptocurrency addresses, content hashes, and metadata. ENS also supports ‘reverse resolution’, making it possible to associate metadata such as canonical names or interface descriptions with Ethereum addresses. To sum up, ENS is mainly used in two scenarios, namely decentralized identity, and decentralized websites. 1.1 Decentralized Identity (DID) Decentralized Identity is a decentralized domain name case that has been agreed upon. Take ENS as an example, if you set the ENS name as the reverse resolution of the Ethereum address, you can directly access the wallet address through the ENS name. Current mainstream Ethereum wallets and DAPPs are usually compatible with ENS names. After logging into a DAPP, the ENS name will be exhibited. Operations such as transactions can also be performed through the ENS name. Based on this case, some decentralized domain name projects began to position themselves as DID projects, using the domain names as DID. 1.2 Decentralized Website (Dweb) Another neglected case is the content access address which is just like a traditional DNS domain name, which is described as a decentralized website on the official website of ENS. The ENS can associate the content stored in decentralized storage networks such as IPFS and ArWeave, and use the ENS domain name as the link to access the content. However, the ENS has not yet reached the level of functionality of traditional DNS. At a basic level, the current mainstream browsers do not support direct access through the ENS domain name. So, what kind of improvement does the decentralized domain name need in order to be compared with DNS? Let’s analyze and try to find out. 2. Cweb vs Dweb 2.1 Cweb and DNS Most of the current centralized web pages adopt a client-server architecture. The host that provides the service is called a server, such as a big portal website, social platform, etc. Hosts that access servers to obtain useful information are clients, such as various home computers and smartphones. For example, if you write an article on Google Docs, the article is stored in the Google server and accessed by the client through the computer browser when reading the document. The content is transferred from the Google server to the computer browser. The process of obtaining and transmitting the content obtained from the server is implemented through the TCP/IP protocol and the HTTP protocol built on it. Each server has a corresponding IP address through which the client accesses the contents of the server. However, the groups of numbers of the IP address is difficult to remember. Therefore, the concept of Domain Names came into being. The domain name provides a convenient and understandable address for any web server available on the Internet. With the domain name, we do not need to enter an IP address to access the web page. Instead, we can directly enter a domain name in the browser that is easy to remember. The current domain name system is managed and operated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which will assign different suffixes to different regions, countries, and operators for operation and maintenance. For example, the cn suffix is given to CNNIC, the com suffix is given to Verisign, and the operation ownership of mo is owned by the Macao Registration Authority. Suffixes are generally priced based on the operator’s cost plus a reasonable profit, and suffixes such as cn, jp, and hk are priced by each region. Some of the fees paid by users to purchase domain names are given to ICANN, while others are given to service providers. With the correspondence between the domain name and the IP address, it is necessary to record the correspondence and provide a query service, hence there is the DNS (Domain Name Service). DNS is a distributed database that records the mapping relationship between a domain name and an IP address. After inputting the web address in the browser, the user searches through the DNS database layer by layer to finally determine the IP address corresponding to the domain name and transmit the contents of the server corresponding to the IP address back to the client. 2.2 Dweb and Decentralized Domain Name System In Dweb, a very important difference is that the content is not stored in a centralized server, but in multiple nodes of the decentralized storage network such as IPFS and Arweave. Searching for content is no longer to find the location of the content server through IP, but to generate a link corresponding to the content after the file is stored. Although distributed content storage decreases the risk of a single point of failure of centralized servers, the form of its links is also difficult to remember, even harder than IP addresses. Therefore, the decentralized domain name plays a similar role, that is by binding the domain name with the content link, the corresponding content is accessible through the domain name on the link. Different from the traditional domain name, an on-chain domain name does not need a system, like DNS, to record the correspondence, but directly records the correspondence in the intelligent contract, and the content corresponding to the domain name can be found by querying the smart contract data. The following is a comparison table of Cweb and Dweb. 2.3 The Current Dilemma of Dweb The user can find the content by entering the domain name in the browser address bar because the browser uses the HTTP protocol to query the IP address corresponding to the domain name and read the content from the server, but the HTTP protocol cannot access the on-chain domain name. Therefore, apart from a few browsers such as Opera and Brave, the mainstream browsers do not support on-chain domain names, which makes it impossible for users to directly access the content by entering the ENS domain name at the browser address bar. Currently, only through gateways that provide ENS resolution services can users access ENS in mainstream browsers, such as eth.link and eth.limo. For example, if you want to access curve.eth, enter “curve.eth.link” in the browser to access the corresponding content. At this point, eth Link acts as an intermediary, helping you read the content corresponding to ENS, and making it accessible in all browsers through the DNS domain name. 3. The Next Step for Decentralized Domain Names To sum up, Dweb is mainly composed of two parts: decentralized content storage and decentralized domain name. This article takes domain name as the theme, so the following contains a summary of what problems still exist in the centralized domain name, and how to develop it, so as to help the promotion and self-progress of Dweb. 3.1 Develop standards for domain names The current decentralized domain name can be said to be in the wild development stage, there is no unified standard. Because domain names are resolved through smart contracts, multiple identical top-level domain names appeared, such as Unstoppable Domains and TwitterScan, which have both issued “.nft” domain names. As the earliest decentralized domain name and the leading project now, ENS has been planned for a long time. The goal of ENS is to integrate the existing Internet domain name standards. That is to say, “.eth” will be registered with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), so that ENS can become a mainstream domain name on par with generic top-level domain names such as .com and .org. There are also some views that decentralized domain names should establish independent standards, but whether being independent or integrating the existing standards, it is necessary to establish a standard with a unified access method. Each top-level domain name has the only recognized smart contract address, without duplication. Otherwise, decentralized domain names are difficult to put into large-scale applications. Current mainstream browsers are not compatible with decentralized domain names, and the lack of standards is one of the important reasons. At present, there are two main modes for pricing decentralized domain names, most of which adopt the annual renewal system, and a few (such as Unstoppable Domains) adopt the one-time payment and permanent holding mode. But no matter which mode, the fixed fee is set according to the length of the name. There are two main problems with this model: Traditional domain name registrars can alleviate the problem of high-quality domain names being occupied by releasing more top-level domain names. But the problem is that a decentralized domain name has not yet been able to compete with the ENS, and that it is unlikely that there will be a new top-level domain name of the same status anytime soon. Moreover, the current market is abundant with speculators. All these situations create a market environment for speculators to maximize their interests. They can hold domain names and bid high prices, while prospective buyers have no other choice, which greatly increases the cost of domain name acquisition. High-quality domain names are occupied by early adopters, but with low utilized rate. The protocol didn’t enjoy the added value during its development. The ENS DAO (the recipient of the protocol) can only charge the annual registration fee, but cannot benefit from the value added by the ecosystem development of ENS, which limits the income of the DAO and its ability to improve the system. Therefore, Vitalik Buterin proposed a scheme that uses the normal pricing scheme based on demand. In short, anyone can bid on a domain name after it is registered. If the domain name holder does not accept the bid, and the bid lasts for a certain period of time, then the minimum valuation of the domain name is set at this price, and the annual fee of the domain name will be set at a proportion of the valuation (e.g. 5%); If the bid is canceled later and the domain valuation declines at a constant rate, a cap on renewal fees may be considered. For example, if I buy the domain name abcde.eth, and the basic annual fee is $5, after the purchase of the $200 bid, I can immediately accept the bid to sell the domain name. But if I do not accept the bid and the other party does not cancel it, after a period of time, my domain name value becomes $200. At this time, if the ratio is set to 5%, the abcde.eth renewal price becomes $10 / year. 3.3 Improving Supporting Ecosystem Tools Relevant ecosystem tools include domain name market analysis tools, Dweb construction tools, etc. In a way, this has made some progress, but for most external users, it still has a high application threshold. 4. Some Dweb Products Experience If you have a decentralized domain name and want to build your own Dweb, what should you do? Here are two tools to share. The first tool is Plante, through which you can easily build your own decentralized blog. The second tool is 4everland, which is more suitable for developers to host code content through the platform and access it with a decentralized domain name. 4.1 Plante Plante is a tool for building a decentralized blog. At present, the Mac version has been released. In Plante, you can create a blog, and the content of the blog will be automatically stored in IPFS. Then you can configure the IPFS link to the background settings of ENS, and you can access the blog content through ENS. Vitalik Buterin has set up his own blog via Plante, which can be accessed at . https://vitalik.eth.link Instructions for using Plante to build your own Dweb: : Download Plante https://opensource.planetable.xyz/planet/release-0.10.0/Planet.zip : Click on the “+” in the bottom left corner, and then click on “create plant”. Enter the name and description in the pop-up window, and then click on “create” to see the created plant. Create a plant : Right-click on the name of the plant and click on the “new article” button to enter the editing page of the new article; on the editing page, you can enter the title and content, and insert emoji, pictures, videos, and recordings. Create a new article : Click on the small airplane button to publish the article, which will be displayed as follows. The hourglass icon behind the title of Plante is the icon that reminds you of uploading ipfs. When the hourglass icon disappears, the article has been saved in ipfs. Publish a new article : Right-click on the Plante name and select “copy IPNS” in the menu to copy the ipfs storage address; then enter your own ENS management page, click on “edit record”, select “content” in the expanded drop-down menu. Paste the copied link, click on “save” to save, then pull to the bottom of the page, and click on “confirm” to submit the on-chain transaction. After the transaction is successfully completed, the configuration is successfully set up. Configure the ENS : via ENS domain names. Access 4.2 4everland 4everland is a code hosting platform that provides code storage and hosting services based on IPFS and AR. This is a developer-friendly platform, and it doesn't require a lot of instructions for developers, so there is no need to cover step-by-step instructions in the following text. 4everland synchronizes the Github codebase or uploads the code itself, and automatically configures it to IPFS or AR networks. Similar to Plante, 4everland configures storage links to ENS content records to access web pages through ENS domain names. 5. Conclusion Currently, there are two development scenarios for decentralized domain names. One is as a web3 decentralized identity, which has come to a consensus. Second, it serves as the access portal to the decentralized website (Dweb). After configuring the content links stored in the decentralized networks such as IPFS and Arweave to the content records of the ENS domain name, you can access the content through the ENS domain name. Except for browsers like Brave, mainstream browsers do not support the ENS domain name at the current stage, so the content bound to the ENS domain name can only be accessed through the resolution gateway (such as eth.link or eth.limo). For decentralized domain names, further development awaits in domain name standards, pricing modes, and supporting ecosystem tools. At present, there are some tools for building Dweb, such as Plante and 4Everland, which can be used to build Dweb easily. References ICANN - Wikipedia https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/09/09/ens.html About Web3.com is a Web3 information aggregation service platform, dedicated to serving the Web3 ecosystem, guiding new users to enter Web3, and integrating and visualizing off- and on-chain data in a comprehensive and user-friendly interface. The service will bridge Web 2 and Web 3 and be a one-stop for your Web3 exploration. Web3.com

All About Dweb: Current Value, Decentralized Domain Names, and What to Expect in the Future

Big Brand NFTs and why they don’t work (yet) I love a Corvette. I still have the first Stingray my dad bought me back in 1977. The one right next to the Capn’ America branded Firebird. Growing up, I’d imagine zooming around in that sexy stingray and those curves made it stand out from the other ‘matchbox’ cars I owned; the Mercs, the Ferraris… Corvette as a Brand had, and still has my loyalty. Imagine then my surprise when Chevvy had everything that’s right for an NFT to succeed (No crappy generative art ‘mints/drops’, no ‘1000 copies only’)…and yet, there were no takers at their recent NFT auction. Not a single bid. The NFT came with a real-life car! There was even an exclusive paint job; “Minted Green” thrown in, that Chevvy promised would not be used in any production model of the 2023 Corvette Z06. I have a few reasons I believe Big Brand NFTs are not ready for prime time yet… NFTs Sold exclusively in Crypto, show CEO Greed: Let’s be real; the only reason to sell an NFT exclusively in cryptocurrency – shows that the seller is a speculator or has been advised by bad actors to cash in on the speculative nature of Crypto Currency. In the case of the Corvette NFT, bidding started . That put the starting price of the NFT (and car) at $238,960. While being a high price, it also ruled out regular bidders who do not want to touch or be involved with Crypto Currency. at 206 ETH NTF Utility – What does it mean for BRAND NFTs? This is where I feel Chevvy actually got it right compared to many NFT projects that find it fashionable to stick the “Utility NFT” label to overcome the stigma associated with computer-generative art and “ ” sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Corvette NFT actually comes with an exclusive real-life functional car! doodles The argument I’d put forward to the brand manager then is: Why an NFT auction? (aside from the speculate on crypto / ride the NFT hype-train) Specifically, what purpose does holding an auction for a limited edition car as an NFT, serve? Can the NFT be used in a racing game in the many “Cryptoverses” currently masquerading as the Metaverse? Are some of these very Cryptoverses being designed by Man-babies? If they did have a way for the winner of the auction to ‘utilize’ the NFT in a meaningful way, that NFT would: Need to be reduced to a pixelated version of itself in today’s Minecrafty Cryptoverses. (I’m being generous with the blocky-ness resolution in the simulated image) To the best of my knowledge, none of the popular cryptoverses at the time of this writing –July 4th, 2022, allow a user to have their avatar sitting in a (3D) car when navigating. Need deals to be put in place by the BRAND management team of the Chevvy NFT project with different metaverses – to seamlessly recognize, import, and give meaningful life to the NFT, so that the winner could do more than adorn the walls of NFT galleries these cryptoverses actually are. Did the Chevvy NFT team even think of having the NFT as a 3D model of the Corvette? – You’d think the winner of the auction might also want to show off the Digital twin of their real life acquisition in the Metaverse? The original artwork of the Corvette NFT is below. Here’s the original NFT listing on SuperRare This same reasoning applies to many of the Designer Brands out there, mindlessly hopping onto the NFT bandwagon in the hopes of cashing in quick: Fashion NFTs Sneakers / Wearables Brands and managers need to introspect and ask themselves – Why are we “tokenizing” our Brand? Is it because we’ve moved from building brand loyalty to primarily speculating on profits we’ll generate , if any —given the current crypto bloodbath as of July 2022. after the sale Can our customers and clients do more meaningful things to achieve top-of-mind Brand recall via Digital Twins of our products , perhaps utilizing immersive tech like Snapchat, Instagram AR, Tiktok… Facebook and the many non-blockchain hyped solutions? Today It hasn’t gone unnoticed that indeed, Instagram is flirting with NFTs. It’s up to brand managers to then lay the foundations for users to be able to ‘utilize’ these Brand NFTs in a meaningful way by partnering with these platforms prior to launch – rather than having the winning bidder later resort to digitally hanging their achievement on NFT gallery walls. That’s no way to increase Brand value. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈-𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒊𝒕’𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔— 𝓒.𝓓𝓮𝓢𝓸𝓾𝔃𝓪 The CorvetteVerse: https://youtu.be/qgmEk8RubBY Meanwhile, as the Crypto-market crashes, would it mean I could buy the Corvette NFT on the dip and realize my childhood dream of being behind the wheel of a customized Corvette? Truth be told, I already can, as the video above shows —No NFT needed. The way Chevvy could have done it right would have been to create its own Corvette-verse, complete with real-world car-physics that owners of exclusive Corvette 3D NFTs (let’s just call digital assets) could cruise or race in. Or, as a brainchild of savvy marketing partnerships, cut a deal with cult favorites such as Grand Theft Auto, which is already a Metaverse without being positioned as one. As an option, every Chevvy or Corvette showroom could be re-christened a “Portal” to the Corvette-verse, driving people to enter the showroom, get into a corvette, and be ‘seen’ in the Corvette-verse. And, because they made the effort of walking up to the brick n mortar “portal” they get haptic feedback and leather seat smell, gratis. That’s how you build a brand – and seamlessly segue from living , and stepping into the Metaverse. IRL —Meaningless NFT projects is what I wouldn’t sell to any Brand. I sell ideas Also published here.

Why Big Brand NFTs Don’t Work (Yet)

Git is an essential tool for most developers. It allows you to track and describe changes in your codebase, which are then tracked inside repositories. Each repository is set up from a folder—called the root folder—-and by default, Git proposes you track all the files that are inside. In most projects, you don’t want to track and share all the files that are inside the root folder—and Git provides you with a way to easily control what files it should propose that you add to the repository. What Is .gitignore? is a file that lets you describe name patterns of what Git should ignore. It supports wildcards, so with few rules, you can catch many files that should be ignored: .gitignore # Ignore all files with the exe extension
*.exe 

# Ignore dist & converage folders
dist/
converage/

# Nested location
some-folder/another-folder/*.txt

# Complex name pattern
build-config.*.yml Why is ’s name starting with a dot? It’s a UNIX convention for hidden files. So, for example, the command will not show it. .gitingore ls -l Project level The most common is to set up in the root folder of the project. It’s the first place other people will check, and by specifying a nested location, it allows you to control any files across the codebase. You can find it in most serious projects. Here are a few open source examples: .gitignore , React , Boostrap Angular Project subfolders files can be added in on any level of the repository tree. When provided, it will control the files inside it—everything else works like from the root folder. Example for open source: .gitignore Angular Global level You can specify a global , and put the patterns that are specific to your environment. For example, you might do this if your code editor creates temporary files in the folder where it’s open, and you don’t want or cannot alter the project’s . .gitignore .gitignore To get it set up, first check this setting: $ git config --global core.excludesfile You will get the name or your global file, or nothing. In the latter case, you can set the file name yourself. For example, for Linux or macOS, you would probably do something like: .gitignore $ git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore Then, in that file, you add patterns related to your code editor and operating system. In my case, I would ignore temporary files created by Vim: *~

*.swp
*.swo Common Things To Ignore In JS Projects What are things that you should ignore in your JavaScript project? node_modules is a folder where installs all dependencies. Some people argue it can be tracked as part of the repository, but the most common approach is to ignore it. I recommend ignoring it because: node_modules npm it’s big, and there will be a lot of noise changes in it its content can be different between different operating systems—some modules download additional dependencies on installation, and those can differ between Linux, Windows, and macOS it can be recreated from and whenever it’s needed package.json package-lock.json Output folders Any folder containing the results of your build or testing. Some common examples: —default output folder in Webpack dist —often used for coverage reports of unit tests coverage Why ignore them? The output is noisy, and it can be recreated from the source whenever it’s needed. Editor information Different team members often use different code editors. Definitely, you don’t want your configuration leaking to the repository—it could mess up the settings of your colleagues who use the same editor, and it will create noise for everybody else. As editor choice is unrelated to the project, it would make sense to have everybody set the correct ignore pattern on their machine. As you can see in the open source examples above, teams often decide to just add the editor-relater patterns to the project —after all, it’s usually just a few lines at most. .gitignore generators .gitignore As you can see, setting up can get pretty complicated. Luckily, you don’t have to create those files completely on your own! .gitignore GitHub As you create a new repository, you have this dropdown available: With it, you can initialize your repository with a related to your project’s needs. .gitignore gitignore.io Here’s a to generate an ignore file that covers multiple needs—for example, things related to: neat tool technologies used in the project code editor operating system In this way, you can create a file that covers exactly the right combination for your project. More resource How Git Stores Data Pattern format in .gitingore

Setting Up .gitignore For Your JavaScript Project

The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated: Chapter 46 - Unlimited Credit

This is a hands-on course on how to deploy a fully Serverless web app using the . You will learn how to: AWS CDK Structure **CDK Stacks **to deploy an application from end-to-end Deploy a integrated with for dynamic requests processing Store data in a fast and cost-effective way with REST API AWS Lambda DynamoDB Use as a source for in an event-driven architecture DynamoDB streams Lambda Ingest and manipulate loads of data streams with Kinesis Firehose Deploy and query a with , and your entire application health in a single place using Data Lake Athena S3 GlueMonitor Dashbird You can use the resources declared in this demo application as a starting point to mix and adapt to your own architectures later, which should save you quite some time. The App and Architecture The demo app is a public blog where anyone can read, publish and like posts. It’s available . Go ahead and publish something in the top-left corner (yellow button) and also “like” articles already published. Check out the codebase on . on this link this repo Frontend Backend Data Lake and Analytical Querying What is the AWS CDK? CDK stands for Cloud Development Kit. Think of it as CloudFormation (CF) in your preferred language (Python, Typescript, C#, etc). Roughly speaking, it works like this: 1. You declare cloud resources using classes provided by the CDK libraries. Example: aws_cdk aws_s3
my_bucket = aws_s3.Bucket(self, ) from import 'MyBucket' 2. Run CDK deploy 3. CDK translates this to a CloudFormation template and deploy it on AWS for you. In case you would like to dig deeper, that will get your basics started. I also strongly recommend reading the . AWS also has a workshop official CDK documentation Advantages using the AWS CDK Use languages that are more expressive than YAML or JSON, for instance. Less - much less! - verbose than CloudFormation templates. Easier to apply reusability and inheritance principles to infrastructure code. Better integration with IDEs for code completion, IntelliSense, etc. Possible to test your infra code, just as any other software Portable: since it’s just a wrapper around CF, we can easily port it to JSON or YAML Disadvantages of using the AWS CDK Although released as a stable project by the AWS team, many parts (a lot of the good ones) are still experimental and APIs may change in backwards incompatible ways. It’s under constant development. During the preparation of this course, I had to upgrade my libraries three times. Documentation is still lacking at some parts and you will need to look at the CDK code, occasionally, to understand how to declare certain things. Deploy it yourself Although we have provided an online demo, you can also deploy this app in your own AWS account: Clone the repo: git clone git@github.com:byrro/serverless-website-demo.git sls-demo; cd sls-demo Setup your virtual environment: virtualenv -p /urs/bin/python3.8 .env; source .env/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements Specify an AWS account ID: ** export AWS_ACCOUNT_ID=1234567890 Deploy all three stacks: cdk deploy sls-blog; cdk deploy sls-blog-api; cdk deploy sls-blog-analytical ** You can also hard code your Account ID in the CDK project, as I’ll show in a minute; When starting a new project from scratch, you would run . This is not necessary for this demo, since the project is already created. cdk init --language [python|typescript|...] Monitoring Deploying this architecture in the cloud and blindly believing it will work flawlessly is not reasonable. We want to be the first one to know when something is not right to act upon it as quickly as possible. In this project, I used for its ease of use and seamless integration. Instead of having to deploy an agent inside my code, Dashbird plugs into my Stacks that I can deploy with the effort of one click. It not only monitors Lambda function errors, but also other resources that we’re using, such as DynamoDB tables. They even suggest cross-referenced against industry best practices. Dashbird through a CloudFormation template insights for architectural improvements Finally, Dashbird offers a free-forever plan. It’s a no-brainer to try it out by . registering for free How a CDK project is structured A CDK project creates an “Application”. This app may have one or more “Stacks”. A Stack is a group of cloud resources (Lambda functions, S3 buckets, etc) that are instantiated using CDK classes. It’s also possible to have multiple applications in a single CDK project. App Object Creating a CDK app is as simple as: app = core.App() When you run , an initial application with basic boilerplate code is created for you in the project root, under . cdk init --language [language] app.py The next thing we need is an environment, which is composed of an AWS Account ID and Region: env = env = core.Environment(
    account= ,
    region= ,
) 1234567890 'us-east-1' Declaring an environment is not required (CDK can infer from your AWS credentials), but is a good practice. Most of us work with multiple AWS accounts. It’s easy to mess around with several projects, accounts, credentials. When we explicitly set the environment in the CDK app, it’s locked and prevents mistaken deployments. Now we declare our stacks: my_project.my_project_stack MyStack

my_stack = MyStack(
    app, ,
    env=env,
) from import 'my-stack' This is how we our stacks for deployment. In the next section we’ll see how to those stacks. instantiate declare Stack Object The Stack object is where we our AWS resources. It inherits from the core.Stack CDK class and accepts a scope - which is our app object - a string identifier and an environment. declare ( . ): ( , : . , : , : . ,
            ** ,
            ) -> : (). ( , , ** )

        # class MyStack core Stack def __init__ self scope core Construct id str env core Environment kwargs None super __init__ scope id kwargs Declare AWS resources here Declaring AWS resources To declare AWS resources, we need a specific library for each service. Here’s a list of all and their counterparts. Other flavors are and . Python libraries Typescript Java .NET Let’s see how a basic REST API would be declared (typing expressions were removed for readability purposes): aws_cdk aws_apigateway, aws_lambda = aws_lambda.Function(
            self, ,
            runtime=aws_lambda.Runtime.PYTHON_3_8,
            code=aws_lambda.Code.asset( my_lambda.handler sls-blog-rest-api-gateway from import ( . ): ( , , , ): (). ( , , ** ) class MyStack core Stack def __init__ self scope id env super __init__ scope id kwargs my_lambda 'MyLambda' 'my_lambda_folder),
            handler=' ',
        )

        aws_apigateway.LambdaRestApi(
            self,
            ' ',
            handler=my_lambda,
        ) We first declare a Lambda function . We point its code to the . Inside this folder, there should be a file, containing a function called . This handler function should accept Lambda invocations normally (an and objects). my_lambda my_lambda_folder my_lambda.py handler event context Next, a is declared, using as the handler (not to confuse with the Lambda’s handler function). This will create a new API Gateway REST API integrated with using an . All HTTP requests will be routed to the Lambda function. LambdaRestApi my_lambda my_lambda AWS_PROXY integration type Our Project App & Stacks comprises one application with three Stacks. They’re all declared in the and files. This project app.py sls_website_stack.py Below we’ll walk through all Stacks in a high level. I encourage you to inspect the to learn how these resources are declared and also integrated. For example: a Kinesis Firehose is created in one Stack and referenced in another to include its name as an environment variable for the Lambda function that will interact with it. stacks file Except for the frontend static Stack - which is small - you will notice that resources are initialized with a (null) value in the beginning. The reason is that, even though the CDK is generally more succinct than CloudFormation, it can still be lengthy enough to clutter the view of the entire Stack. Having each resource declared first in one line, I can provide a short summary of everything that’s in the Stack and then instantiate the CDK classes in other methods. None = static_stack

        # SQS Queues
        self.queue_ddb_streams_dlq = None  # Dead-letter-queue DDB streams

        # DynamoDB Tables
        self.ddb_table_blog = None  # Single-table all blog content

        # DynamoDB Event Sources
        self.ddb_source_blog = None  # Blog table streams source

        # DynamoDB Indexes
        self.ddb_gsi_latest = None  # GSI ordering articles by timestamp

        # Lambda Functions
        self.lambda_blog = None  # Serves requests to the blog public API
        self.lambda_stream_reader = None  # Processes DynamoDB streams

        # Continues other resources... ( . ): ( , , , , ): (). ( , , ** ) . class SlsBlogApiStack core Stack def __init__ self scope id env static_stack super __init__ scope id kwargs self static_stack for for with Notice it takes another Stack object ( ) as an argument to its initialization. In the file, you can see that the is initialized passing the as an argument. static_stack app.py SlsBlogApiStack SlsBlogStack We use it to reference the CloudFront distribution domain ( ) in the Lambda environment variables. This variable can be used to customize the HTTP response header to comply with . This illustrates one way to easily integrate and reference information from one Stack into another within a CDK project. d1qmte5oc6ndq5.cloudfront.net Access-Control-Allow-Origin CORS standards At the end of the initialization, another method is called to instantiate the CDK classes for each resource and configure their parameters. self.create_cdk_resources() Next we’ll walk through each of our project’s Stacks. Stack 1: static website Our focus is on the Serverless backend, so the frontend here is terribly rough and simple. It’s stored in an S3 Bucket and distributed through a CloudFront CDN. CDK has a helpful class called BucketDeployment. It takes the contents of a directory and sync to an S3 bucket. In this case, we stored the frontend code in the folder. website_static aws_s3_deployment.BucketDeployment(
    self, ,
    sources=[aws_s3_deployment.Source.asset( )],
    destination_bucket=static_bucket,
    distribution=cdn,
) 'SlsBlogStaticS3Deployment' 'website_static' Stack 2: API/backend Our backend consists of an API Gateway (REST) connected to a . Microservices receives a lot of press, but you probably shouldn’t always break your applications in several functions. A Monolith is just fine - -, really. monolithic Lambda function and sometimes recommended This API & Lambda support a single endpoint (with GET and POST methods) with a queryString “action”, which takes three parameters: : populates the latest blog posts get-latest-articles : triggered when someone likes an article like-article : post a new blog article publish-article Here’s the power of the CDK model. We can create a REST API with 10 lines of code: rest_api_blog = aws_apigateway.LambdaRestApi(
    self, ,
    handler=lambda_blog,  # Previously declared Lambda 'sls-blog-rest-api-gateway' = . ( ),
    ),
) function deploy_options aws_apigateway StageOptions stage_name= ,
        throttling_rate_limit=lambda_param_max_concurrency,
        logging_level=aws_apigateway.MethodLoggingLevel( 'api' 'INFO' One nice little thing is that Lambda memory is used as a cache for the latest articles. We load the cache container outside the Lambda handler function. It remains in memory even after an invocation ends and is available for subsequent requests. Learn more here about . how to use Lambda as a cache mechanism MAX_CACHE_AGE: int = # In seconds
CACHE_LATEST_ARTICLES: Dict[str, Union[int, list]] = { : time.time(), : [],
} 120 'last_update' 'articles' All the data is stored in DynamoDB (DDB) using a , in . The site only shows the latest blog articles and items get after a few days by setting a attribute. single-table design on-demand mode auto-deleted by DDB time-to-live ddb_attr_time_to_live = ddb_param_max_parallel_streams = ddb_table_blog = aws_dynamodb.Table(
    self, ,
    partition_key=aws_dynamodb.Attribute(
        name= ,
        type=aws_dynamodb.AttributeType.STRING,
    ),
    billing_mode=aws_dynamodb.BillingMode.PAY_PER_REQUEST,
    point_in_time_recovery=True,
    removal_policy=core.RemovalPolicy.DESTROY,
    time_to_live_attribute=self.ddb_attr_time_to_live,
    stream=aws_dynamodb.StreamViewType.NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES,
) 'time-to-live' 5 'sls-blog-dynamo-table' 'id' The DDB table also has a that makes it easier to retrieve articles ordered by date for the site: GSI (Global Secondary Index) self.ddb_table_blog.add_global_secondary_index(
    index_name= ,
    partition_key=aws_dynamodb.Attribute(
        name= ,
        type=aws_dynamodb.AttributeType.STRING,
    ),
    sort_key=aws_dynamodb.Attribute(
        name= ,
        type=aws_dynamodb.AttributeType.NUMBER,
    ),
    projection_type=aws_dynamodb.ProjectionType.ALL,
) 'latest-blogs' 'item-type' 'publish-timestamp' Modifications to DDB items generate streams that are processed by a . These streams are then repackaged and sent to a Kinesis Firehose stream processor. second Lambda function DDB doesn’t provide the flexibility that SQL databases offer and many choose , for example. Although Aurora is a great service, personally I prefer DDB for its simplicity and reliable, consistent performance. But sometimes we do need to run analytical queries, those with aggregations and on-the-fly filters. For that, we’ll be using Athena (more in the next Stack). Aurora Serverless Stack 3: analytical querying A Kinesis Firehose Stream is responsible for batching data inserted/modified in DDB, converting them to Apache Parquet format and storing in dedicated S3 buckets. From S3, we create a Data Lake with AWS Glue (used to declare our data schemas) and Athena (used to query the data). Athena is extremely powerful. We can statements ( ) to query terabytes of data and pay on-demand ($0.005 per GB of data scanned). Using Parquet not only improves query speed, but also reduces cost by minimizing the amount of data Athena needs to scan for each query. use SQL SELECT with some limitations Queries that are impossible or expensive/slow in DynamoDB, such as aggregations and JOINs, are fast and cheap in Athena. The two services combine each other in a perfect way, so that your application has optimized transactional storage and flexible analytical querying capabilities. We can use Athena to query all articles ever published and cross-reference with likes and HTTP metadata (source IP address, country, device type, etc). Even articles that were already expired by DynamoDB TTL (time-to-live) would continue to be available in the Data Lake. For example, which countries are liking the most articles? In the AWS Console, we get something like this: Queries can also be executed programmatically with or (e.g. ) to integrate anywhere we need this data. Athena API AWS SDKs Python’s boto3 Athena also supports JOINs. Here’s an example joining articles and HTTP metadata to analyze the most popular authors among readers of a particular country: Deployment CDK can deploy one Stack at a time. Since we have three, it’s necessary to specify which one when running the command. We do that by passing in the Stack ID as a CLI argument. For example, the following command will deploy the SlsBlogApiStack (id: ): CDK deploy sls-blog-api cdk deploy sls-blog-api Since all Stacks involve some type of permission granting, CDK asks for confirmation before deploying those resources. You can review the permissions requested and hit y when it’s good to go. Wrapping up We’ve covered how to structure CDK apps and add a bunch of AWS Resources to deploy with a simple command. CDK deploy If you’re new to the CDK - and as suggested early in the article -, it’s strongly recommended to follow AWS and . CDK workshop documentation Keep an eye on future publications as well, as is releasing other examples and tutorials to reap the most out of AWS serverless services with the power of infra automation with CDK or else. Dashbird Previously published at https://dashbird.io/blog/crash-course-aws-cdk-serverless-rest-api-data-lake-analytical-querying/

Quick Guide to AWS CDK and Serverless with REST API and Data Lake Analytical Querying

Hazelcast and Spring Boot for Scalable Task Execution - A How-To Guide

Since my previous article about COVID Innovations, in which I undertaking extraordinary actions to drive change to tackle this pandemic, new change makers have emerged on the horizon. Acting as role models worthy of our admiration and attention, more and more industry giants are taking the lead, including: highlighted 20 ordinary professionals and companies pledged $15 million to COVID-19 response efforts in the U.S. and internationally, donated 10 million masks. Apple pledged more than $800 million to support small businesses and crisis response, along with 2-3 million masks. Google announced that all of its Italian production plants have switched to manufacturing single-use medical overalls for the individual protection of healthcare workers engaged in the fight against the Coronavirus disease. Giorgio Armani teamed up with Lyft to provide work for those in need, donated over $3 million in the UK, and provided scores of services to battle Covid-19. Amazon pledged $20 million in matching funds for Covid-19 response. Facebook provided hundreds of ventilators to help meet demands from the growing coronavirus outbreak. Check out how Ford and GM have joined the club to manufacture ventilators. Tesla here Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations donated medical equipment to African Union member states. Alibaba In addition to these well-known companies, I would like to extend my appreciation and admiration to non-influential individuals taking the lead to provide support, spread the word and call for action to fight COVID-19. Just reading their acts of courage motivated me to share their stories and glorify their accomplishments. 10 Non-Influencers Making a Difference 1. Quinn Callander This 12-year-old is breaking old school thinking and utilizing the power of imagination. After witnessing the complaints of doctors at the local hospital asking for help with a unique problem, which was that its healthcare workers had serious ear pain after long shifts wearing masks nonstop, he put his 3D printer to use. Quinn Callander developed a simple, but effective “ear guard” that prevents the elastic bands on a mask from rubbing against the backs of people’s ears. He prototyped several designs with his 3D printer, landing on a wide plastic strap that goes around the back of the head. The strap has notches so wearers can loop the mask’s elastic straps around the notches that are most comfortable, allowing them to adjust the tension while keeping the mask firmly in place. 2. Ron Arad Ron Arad launched the " " fundraiser with masks featuring famous artists. Celebrities, including Stephen Fry, David Baddiel and Elizabeth Hurley, have modeled face masks designed by Ron Arad that are sold to raise money for UK's National Health Service. Additionally, the cotton masks are printed with portraits of famous artists, including Picasso, Matisse and Dalí. Smile for our NHS 3. Olivia Strong A documentary producer, , started a charity running challenge “ ” on social media with the aim of raising £5,000 ($6,212). It quickly went viral and has now raised over £5 million for UK healthcare workers fighting COVID. Check out her detailed story Olivia Strong Run for Heroes here. 4. Asta Baumöller While millions of people are being laid off, others are helping to locate those in need and match them with potential employers. along with , and Andrea Aeby developed a platform that aims to help self-employed people struggling to find work during the COVID-19 crisis connect with companies and projects. Asta Baumöller Claudia Wulf Holger Eggert, Kathrin Koehler free2freelance 5. Veronica Kirin Stories captivate, engage and call for an action. Veronica Kirin the founder of is a real-time interview archiver who is documenting the impact of COVID-19 for future generations. Check out the podcast here and her that are emotionally moving. Stories of COVID stories 6. Tokujin Yoshioka Japanese designer has created a quick and easy for healthcare workers fighting that attaches to the wearer's glasses. Tokujin Yoshioka face shield Covid-19 's template design creates a face shield in three simple steps from a clear sheet of PET or PVC plastic. Printed on an A3 piece of paper, the template gets placed over the top of a clear sheet of plastic and used as a guideline for cutting around the edge of the shape. Tokujin Yoshioka 7. Lakshmi Menon Kerala-based social entrepreneur Lakshmi Menon launched the coVeed project to foster a sense of coexistence among people. The concept is simple. Lakshmi Menon created a template of the coVeed, a mini-model of a house on the , to be downloaded, printed and assembled just like a pizza box. website Each model can store whatever provisions someone can spare for the needy like grain, pulses, etc. They can also decorate the model creatively and write messages of hope and faith. These can be then be collected and given to people in need. 8. Ieva Vaitkeviciute Mental Health has become more critical than ever before. Dozens of startups, professionals and individuals jumped onboard to do something about it. One of the pioneers is . Along with , in the midst of the crisis, they have developed the app. The app is a safe place in which people can share their thoughts anonymously with the community. They can also take part in one-to-one meetings with certified psychologists from wherever they are. It is highly recommended. Ieva Vaitkeviciute he r te a m Act On Crisis 9. Grace Gravley Grace Gravley studies how the anxieties of the moment and translates dreams. Anyone who wants to tell her their dream can fill out an anonymous form and choose to share the dream publically or not. Going through the stories, it is evident that a variety of thoughts, ideas and impressions of the pandemic are affecting human lives all over the world. Check out the gig here 10. Francesca Perani Architect Francesca Perani has designed a mini-flat that is just in size and is perfect for self-isolation. The space was designed for a couple living in a small Italian town, Albino. It has been added by transforming the porch or a storage space into a mini self-contained living area. 25-square meters How about 1 million USD funding to fight COVID-19? at Upwork are taking influence to the next level. To make it even more interesting and tempting click how anyone, anywhere with a great idea to solve the pandemic related problem could apply... Hayden Brown a n d m a n a g e m e nt here to learn more, There is one more. want to help as much as they can. They are asking companies to submit a request for their business to receive up to $5,000 in monetary support. Learn more Whitney Wolfe Herd a n d h e r t e a m a t Bumble here . Conclusion At the end of the day, despite the type of crisis and where it happens some people see positive opportunities, while other people see problems. This pandemic is a life-changing event in life. It has definitely taught us a lot and it has made us work together and be resourceful. What is most impressive to me is that it has made us think, reflect and make the right choices. You may also Like: What can we learn from a Man Who Built $1 Billion Business Employing 700 Employees Remotely? This is what I learned after researching 300 Decks, So will you. The Art of Raising 400 Million Dollars and How they Made it? 10 Business Models, 10 Companies, 10 New (or maybe not so New) Ways of Working during a Pandemic.

10 Non-Influencers redefining Influence. Opportunity: $1 Million USD Funding to fight COVID-19

To create a useful revision history, teams should first agree on a commit message convention to use, and this also applies to personal projects. Recently I asked a question on asking users " and I got quite some amazing responses with users explaining the conventions they use at work and for their personal projects. Hashnode " Which commit message convention they use at work? In this article, I'll go over why you should write good commit messages and how you can write good commit messages. Introduction to version control with Git Version control software is an essential part of the every-day modern-day software developer practices. By far, is the most widely used modern version control system in the world today is. It is a distributed and actively maintained open source project originally developed in 2005 by , the famous creator of the Linux operating system kernel. Git Linus Torvalds New to Git? Check out the official or from my past talk. getting started guide this slide What is a commit message? The command is used to save changes to a local repository after staging in Git. However, before you can save a change in Git, you have to tell Git which changes you want to save as you might have made tons of changes. A great way to do that is by adding a to identify your changes. commit commit message Commit Options -m <message> This option sets the commit's message. git git commit -m add static/admin/config.yml "Setup multiple roles for netlify-cms git gateway" -a or --all This option automatically commits all (including new) tracked, modified or deleted files. git commit - -m a "Add a new role for netlify-cms git gateway" --amend This option rewrites the very last commit with any currently staged changes or a new commit message and should only be performed on commits that have not been pushed to a remote repository, yet. git git commit --amend -m add . "Update roles for netlify-cms git gateway" Why should you write good commit messages? You might say, "It's just a personal project," but yes, you work alone now, but what happens when you work with a team or contribute to open source? A well-crafted Git commit message is the best way to communicate context about a change to other developers working on that project and indeed to your future self. Have you tried running `git log` one of your old projects to see the "weird" commit messages you have used since inception? It becomes hard for you to explain why you made some changes in the past, and you wish you have read this article before now :). Commit messages can adequately tell you why a change was made, and understanding why a change was made makes development and collaboration more efficient. How to write commit messages with Git Before now, I only used on my personal projects with just a subject and no extra description. This is great for small and clear fixes like but in cases of more extensive changes, you would need to add some extra details. git commit -m "Fix X to allow Y to use Z" git commit -m "Fix typo in README.md Editor method Run without a message or option and it'll open up your default text editor to write a commit message. git commit > To configure your "default" editor: git --global core.editor nano config This would configure git to use nano as your default editor. Replace "nano" with "emacs," "vim," or whichever your preference is. In the opened editor, the first line is the subject (short description), leave a blank line after it, and everything else is the extended description (body). < ( ) > Summarize change s in around 50 characters or less < > More detailed explanatory description of the change wrapped into about 72 characters Command Line method commit -m -m git "Subject" "Description..." The first option is the subject (short description), and the next is the extended description (body). -m How to write good commit messages There are several conventions used by several teams and developers to write good commit messages. I'll only outline some general rules and tips for writing commit messages, you would have to decide what convention you want to follow and if you work for a company or contribute to open source, you would have to adapt to their convention :). For consistency, you can use one convention for work and another for personal projects as you might change your job sometime, and the convention might change. Ensure to check for some amazing commit message conventions or add yours to help someone make a decision. this thread Here's a great template of a good commit message originally written by Tim pope Capitalized, short (50 chars or less) summary More detailed explanatory text, if necessary.  Wrap it to about 72 characters or so.  In some contexts, the first line is treated as the subject of an email and the rest of the text as the body.  The blank line separating the summary from the body is critical (unless you omit the body entirely); tools like rebase can get confused if you run the two together. Write your commit message in the imperative: "Fix bug" and not "Fixed bug" or "Fixes bug."  This convention matches up with commit messages generated by commands like git merge and git revert. Further paragraphs come after blank lines. - Bullet points are okay, too - Typically a hyphen or asterisk is used for the bullet, followed by a single space, with blank lines in between, but conventions vary here - Use a hanging indent If you use an issue tracker, add a reference(s) to them at the bottom, like so: Resolves: #123 Looks great, right? Here's how you can make yours great too: 1. Specify the type of commit: : The new feature you're adding to a particular application feat : A bug fix fix : Feature and updates related to styling style : Refactoring a specific section of the codebase refactor : Everything related to testing test : Everything related to documentation docs : Regular code maintenance. chore [ You can also use emojis to represent commit types] 2. Separate the subject from the body with a blank line 3. Your commit message should not contain any whitespace errors 4. Remove unnecessary punctuation marks 5. Do not end the subject line with a period 6. Capitalize the subject line and each paragraph 7. Use the imperative mood in the subject line 8. Use the body to explain what changes you have made and why you made them. 9. Do not assume the reviewer understands what the original problem was, ensure you add it. 10. Do not think your code is self-explanatory 11. Follow the commit convention defined by your team Conclusion The most important part of a commit message is that it should be clear and meaningful. In the long run, writing good commit messages shows how much of a collaborator you are, and the benefits of writing good commit messages are not only limited to your team but indeed to yourself and future contributors. Want to learn more about Git and become a professional "version controller," check out these excellent resources: https://try.github.io/ https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2 https://www.git-tower.com/learn/ https://learngitbranching.js.org/xxxx Previously published at https://bolajiayodeji.com/writing-good-commit-messages-a-practical-guide-ck3izs56t00sed0s11z515m1j

Writing Good Commit Messages: A Practical Guide

A central aspect of Java's philosophy is that . names matter Brian Goetz, Java Language Architect and author of Java Concurrency in Practice Packages If you work for "acme.com" and you're working on a project called "foo" then is for your root package to be . the convention com.acme.foo Being a , we tend to add lots of "grouping" packages. Our foo project is a utility library, and we might make other ones, so we put it into , to make sure there is space for other utility projects. If we're really forward-looking, we'll take into account that foo is a utility library for manipulating text, so we better put it into . On the other hand, . forward-looking bunch com.acme.util.foo com.acme.util.text.foo YAGNI In the javascript world, there are no packages, you just get one name - - and that's it. I'm glad that I do most of my work on the JVM rather than a runtime which was , but whenever I start nesting my root package deeper than , I try to remember that all those gobs of software being written in Node.js are getting by without any nesting at all, so maybe I can get by with 3 or 4 levels of nesting for my root package, rather than 5 or 6. foo designed and built in 10 days com.acme.foo Maven groupId:artifactId One nice thing about files is that you don't have to pick names for them - they get their name automatically from a 1:1 mapping on the file they came from. Unfortunately, maven asks you to pick names, so it can't be that simple. Luckily, maven also provides not only , but slightly different conventions for how to pick these names! .class .java two one two Accordingly, if you ask , you'll see two popular answers. And when a major library like RxJava ships a new version, you'll need a to figure out what the names ought to be. StackOverflow 12-screen-long debate Luckily, there is a mechanistic answer out there! JitPack turns any git commit into a maven artifact at , which I've found to be huge improvement over for integration testing. The naming convention that it uses is: https://jitpack.io -SNAPSHOT (also , , and ) com.github.{user}:{repo} com.gitlab org.bitbucket com.gitee for multi-module builds com.github.{user}.{repo}:{subproject} If you use JitPack's integration, then you can replace with com.acme for a professional touch. Even if you don't use JitPack, using this convention will mean that you , and it lays down a simple rule that works well enough for . custom domain com.github.{user} could all these people Gradle plugin id In Gradle-land, you can apply a plugin like this: . plugins { id 'any.plugin.id.you.want' } Gradle provides an excellent : guideline As a convention, we recommend you use an ID based on the reverse-domain pattern used for Java packages, for example org.example.greeting. The trouble is, a huge number of the plugins which have been published so far are named... . It seems reasonable while you're the plugin, and you don't realize how silly it is until you it from a distance: gradle-plugin writing use plugins {
    id id id } 'com.acme.gradle.foo' 'org.nonprofit.bar.bar-gradle-plugin' 'beetlejuice.beetlejuice.gradle' What kind of car is that? That's the Chevy Corvette Car. What kind of phone is that? It's an iPhone XS Phone. Wouldn't this be better? plugins {
    id id id } 'com.acme.foo' 'org.nonprofit.bar' 'beetlejuice' It's interesting, because the guidelines that Gradle gives are very good - no excessive nesting, no unnecessary , just the bare minimum. And yet, a lot of the people who it feel like they should add a or two, just in case. Probably the only way to save us from ourselves would be for the gradle tooling to search for in the id and throw a warning, to help us think about it a little before we publish. gradle.gradle use gradle gradle Lessons Designing namespaces is a rare opportunity. Most of us never do it even once in our entire career. And since nobody has experience in it, we're still making lots of beginner mistakes, even in the quarter-century-old world of java. It's hard! Typosquatting, , there are so many pitfalls. If I ever end up defining a namespace, I'm gonna try to remember these lessons: IDN homograph attacks namespaces are helpful for identifying the author/maintainer: com.acme.foo 👍 namespaces are overkill for fine-grained categories: com.acme.util.text.foo 👎 defining the name to be a tuple of two other names is 👎 if the names are all plugins to foobar, people are just gonna name them my-foobar-plugin, and it might be good to warn them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Previously published at https://dev.to/nedtwigg/names-in-java-maven-and-gradle-2fm2

Naming Conventions in Java, Maven and Gradle

Elon Musk is known for his incredibly ambitious, multi-year visions for the future. Tesla’s initial Master Plan, funding cheap vehicles with expensive ones, was realized with the Model 3. Now the Cybertruck is part of a whole new Master Plan that has much more to do with SpaceX than Tesla. You might love the Cybertruck, or you might hate it, but it was never designed for you. Cybertruck was designed to be extremely rugged, Mars rugged. Some Musk tweets aren’t always what they appear (“funding secured” comes to mind), but this one can be taken at face value. Those flat steel panels and thick windows can handle Martian dust storms. Flat panels are also easy to pack and significantly simplify manufacturing and assembly. Every apparent design constraint improves Cybertruck’s chances of being assembled or even manufactured on the Red Planet. Out of This World Design Futuristic is both a great and horrible description of the Cybertruck. It’s absolutely reminiscent of 80s design, like it came out of a or fever dream. This seems unlikely to be the result of Tesla designers starting with a blank canvas, as notes. If you ask automative designers to imagine the future, it’s always more and more aerodynamic shapes. Curves are great for aerodynamics, so why are all the exterior panels so flat? Blade Runner Total Recall Jalopnik The truck’s unibody exoskeleton frame is definitely unique. says that achieving a high towing capacity with a unibody frame can only be done with flat panels. Maybe, but a unibody design also makes the body shell easier to manufacture. Flat panels are also easier to manufacture, and much simpler in assembly. They're also much easier to pack tightly when hitching a ride inside the Starship’s cargo hold. TechCrunch If the Cybertruck is a sales success, it might even revolutionize automative manufacturing and assembly with simpler and cheaper methods. All of these elements make the Cybertruck a reasonable Martian vehicle. Then there’s that clean metal exterior without any pesky paint. Painting sheet metal on Mars would be horribly complicated, and would lose its protective qualities with one 66mph dust storm encounter. There’s a similar benefit in using thick, flat window panels. Especially if your goal is to maintain oxygen and pressurization inside the truck. It’s unlikely Tesla designers decided on completely flat panels without big functional advantages. We weren’t great at predicting the future back in the 80s, and automative design will stick with aerodynamic shapes for performance and efficiency. But if we see Cybertrucks racing across Martian soil, then this really is the most futuristic design of all. Starship Stainless Steel The Cybertruck as the SpaceX Starship. It also seems that Musk within a month of switching from on the Starship Rocket. If the decision to move to stainless steel for the Starship was done in conjunction with Cybertruck development, there might be more synergies here than expected. uses the same stainless steel alloy alluded to a crazy truck design aluminum to steel So why pick steel when aluminum alloys are lighter, stronger, and more flexible? For both the Starship and Cybertruck, steel is significantly cheaper to source and manufacture with. Steel is half the price of aluminum, and about a third cheaper to build with. Tesla Stock-Selloff It’s worth looking into why markets reacted so negatively to the Cybertruck announcement. Polarizing design Not taking pickup market seriously Overly optimistic pricing By breaking norms with an unconventional design, it seemed as if Tesla was missing a huge opportunity. The pickup truck market is one of the , only second to crossovers in the United States. Since pickup trucks don’t have the same weight and size constraints as compact cars, Tesla could really showcase its technological edge in batteries and electric motors. The Cybertruck specifications are impressive, but could have been better with a lightweight aluminum body. Lack of easy truck bed access from the side led others to question how well it addressed pickup owners’ needs. Finally, coming at under $40,000 just seemed incredibly unrealistic for Tesla to generate any kind of margin. It was possible to take a short position right after the announcement during closed markets using . largest automative markets Morpher Elon Musk is aiming to go to Mars by 2024, and with Cybertruck rumored to only go into production in 2021, it makes sense to plan for Martian ruggedness. What Martian settler wouldn’t want a rugged vehicle that has six seats, 14,000 pounds of towing capacity, and 3,500 pounds of payload capacity? If the Cybertruck is a sales success, it might even revolutionize automative manufacturing and assembly with simpler and cheaper methods. For now I think the best way to look at the Cybertruck is as Starship’s little brother. As the official vehicle of Mars, Cybertruck is much more like the Corvettes driven by NASA astronauts than the F-150. Image from NASA

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