Digital Credly badges allow you to quickly share your status as a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach with anyone who views your profile or website. We're thrilled to share that a Credly badge is now ...

How to Claim Your Credly Badge

Paytm Wallet: Pay with Paytm Wallet and get up to Rs. 250 cashback with a minimum cashback of Rs. 25. Offer ends 31st October 2023.

Credly Touch It Now Disposable Sanitary Panty (2 Each) M-L

Students are returning to school shortly after the release of the 2022-2023 Parent Satisfaction Survey, an annual third-party survey that provides families with the opportunity to review their experience at Indiana Connections Career Academy. According to the survey results:

STEAM & career-focused online school students logged on for 2023-2024 school year

Newer forms of career credentialing are becoming more popular, and the human resources field will greatly benefit from adopting micro-credentials and digital badging.

Micro-Credentials and Digital Badging to Become Staple in HR Field, Says Test Preparation Expert HRCP

As some time ago I pubished that now it will be possible to share your Microsoft certificate without user Credly Well, I did it and I would like to share with you my experience. 1 - To be able to ...

Share your Microsoft certification without Credly

According to Future Market Insights’ analysis report on the Digital Credential Management Software Market, global sales of the Digital Credential Management Software Market in 2021 will be US$ 1.2 Bn.

Explosive Growth Projected for the Digital Credential Management Software Market: Reaching US$ 5.3 Billion by 2032 with a CAGR of 14.7% | FMI

The career readiness initiatives for high school students will offer an innovative new tri-credit approach where courses can deliver: Eligibility for college credit toward over 150 bachelor’s degree programs in the U.

Pearson’s Connections Academy Launches New College and Career Prep Initiative

The Digital Credential Management Software Market research provides information on the factors that limit market

Digital Credential Management Software Market Future Trends Outlook 2023, and Forecast to 2030 | Credly, CVTrust, Vottun

The Global Digital Badges in Education Market Report by Infinity Business Insights contains the market strategy,

Digital Badges in Education Market Size, Growing Demand and Trends 2023 to 2030|Accredible, Credly, Forall Systems

According to a recent market study by Future Market Insights (FMI), the global market for digital credential management software would reach US$ 5.3 billion by 2032 from its estimated value of US$ 1.2 billion in 2021.

Digital Credential Management Software Market Poised for Rapid Growth: Projected to Reach US$ 5.3 Billion with a CAGR of 14.5% by 2032

Credly

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Let’s retrace our steps - I’m originally from Malaysia and majored in Computer Science at Western Michigan University. During my 4 years of undergrad, I’ve experienced a lot - my first “11:59 PM assignment due” scare, a pandemic engulfing my priorities, “productive” group projects in the library and so much more. Indefinitely, regrets are bound to follow the graduation plaque you receive in the mail - but rather than keeping it in my head, here’s my attempt at transcribing things into words. CS 1000 - CS 5950 Taking classes at Western From my educational background in Malaysia, it was ingrained in me to strive for academic excellence. Despite the constant reminder that academic achievements aren’t all there is in life, it was difficult for me to break free from that mindset. I loathed the idea of “not being up to par” as my peers and trudged through my classes with the goal of getting good grades. Neither did I prioritize the need to really understand the concepts of my courses in my career, nor did I step out of my comfort zone to make the best of my time. Software Engineering If I Could Start Over, I’d… Do a deep dive into the course material - say that we were learning about database communication, I would’ve liked to know how communication works. Yes, it is “out of scope” and not covered in-depth by the syllabus, but I would’ve liked to let my curiosity run free. Besides, it is only when the foundational concepts are understood, that you can learn higher-level concepts more easily. CS3500 Intro to Web Technologies Explore industry-used concepts It is nearly impossible to cover every aspect of the industry, so my institution opted to prioritize courses focusing on foundational concepts. Reusing the previous example, CS3500 Intro to Web Technologies, I would’ve spent more time researching the trends of the industry, and more advanced topics. Sample questions to ask: What are some best practices to follow? (Folder organization, writing good code, cross-collaboration…) What are the extensions of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript? What does the industry have to offer? What are some of its career pathways? Most importantly, I should’ve continued to utilize my newfound knowledge in my everyday life. For example, once having learned the importance of documentation, I should’ve continued to prioritize implementing it in my future projects. Keep a good track record of the materials used in class You won’t understand its importance until you need it. I know that there is this mentality of “Why would I need this in the future?” but since you’ve already paid to gain access to such material, why not keep it? I’d suggest investing in a hard drive and organizing these items: Slides and course notes In-class exercises Assignments (Implementation and Assignment Requirements) Exam papers On the topic of assignments, I would’ve stored my materials online. I’ll talk more about this in the next section, but tl;dr - it’s to help build my portfolio and online presence. More specifically, I would’ve utilized as a means of documenting my assignments. GitHub Take up courses that seem interesting even though it has a high difficulty on Rate My Professor Thankfully, I allowed myself some freedom to choose my courses based on my interests and was able to gain a lot from this. I understand that the status quo is to go for Easy A’s with minimal workload, but essentially that’ll limit you from getting the most out of your degree. The key here is to organize your academic pathway well. Say that you intend to take up an advanced-level course in the Spring, and you’re aware of its difficulty. For the semesters leading up to Spring, plan to divide and conquer - allocate other hard subjects to be tackled prior to the ML course. Machine Learning On the other note, it is usually the case that your professors are more than willing to help you…(which we will talk about in the next section). Engage with my Professor, Teaching Assistant, Grader, and Classmates Be the first to strike up a conversation. One of the biggest takeaways from your degree should be the growth in your network. It doesn’t hurt to connect with your professors, in fact, you should use the opportunity to learn from others - learn about their experience, a project they’re currently working on… You never know, you just might’ve found your startup co-founder. Onward For the Brown and Gold Engaging with my institution Truth be told, I didn’t know what Western had to offer, but that’s because I didn’t give my alma mater a chance, at least not until I was nearing my graduation date. If I Could Start Over, I’d… Participate in student organizations It doesn’t even have to be the perfect fit. The whole point of going to higher education is to gain the chance to learn. In fact, if you feel the strong need to bring something new to campus, why not start your own student organization? Personally, I was a part of the , and I highly recommend that you check it out. Google Developer Student Club It’s a great program with benefits including: The opportunity to participate in the Global Solution Challenge Being able to network with industry leaders and fellow peers Being mentored in industry topics Research programs offered by various departments Don’t limit yourself to your department. Give yourself a chance to explore and talk to other departments - you never know what you’ll end up stumbling across. At my institution, the Office of Student Engagement offered a leadership program called whereby its interns learn about the fundamentals of being a good leader, how to facilitate a core team, and essential skills like remediating conflicts. LEAD Corp The program is participated by people from different educational backgrounds. In fact, there was a need to be intentional about such diversity. In other words, there may be an amazing opportunity out there which is in need of your participation, you just have to dig deep and search. Engage with leaders It wasn’t until I founded the GDSC chapter at my institution that I gained the opportunity to speak to the various leaders on campus. I got to learn about their leadership experience, and in return, learn to become a better leader myself. You don’t necessarily have to agree with what they stand for, because it’s always interesting to learn about a new perspective. Their point of view may trigger a new understanding, their dissimilarity may transform your norm. Attend events alone We’re social animals and there exists this fear of not already being part of a pack. I urge you to get rid of such a mindset. You shouldn’t limit yourself to only attending events only when you’ve successfully persuaded your friend to tag along. On the other hand, take a chance and attend that event, even if you’re not sure of its relevance, even if you don’t think that you’re “qualified”. Personally, I had the opportunity, as part of a collaboration between the and the , to host an event with an AI/ML Engineer from Google. What I had initially thought to be an intimidating event, turned out quite the opposite. In fact, the speaker was very welcoming toward questions from the audience, no matter the level of difficulty. Google Developers Student Club at Western Michigan University Custer Speaker Series My point is, you should allow your sincerity to learn to shine through - you’re worth the conversation too. 24-Hour Grind with Strangers Participating in extracurriculars In case you didn’t know, the title depicts what a hackathon is - being paired up with strangers in an attempt to come up with a viable product within the usual timeframe of 24 hours. The key point of this topic is to take a chance on yourself. We can’t be perfect to start, but we have to start, to become perfect. If I Could Start Over, I’d… Research and participate in programs Do a quick research, and look for cool opportunities you can participate in. It's crucial to understand that your class level (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) heavily influences the kinds of opportunities you can participate in. Understand that it’s critical to start exploring early, especially during your Freshman and Sophomore year because the requirements are not as heavy. My pro tip? Take advice from platforms that are in the industry (your local newspaper company may not provide the most extensive list, thus shouldn’t be your only source of truth). Here are some topics you can take a look at: Fellowship programs Challenges and programs by tech companies (e.g., ) AWS Associate Challenge Open source projects Hackathons Free learning courses It’s also important to note that you shouldn’t limit yourself to only technical programs. Explore the horizon, attend a roundtable discussion, take part in leadership programs… More importantly, it’s okay to feel intimidated by the scale of things. Just remember to be honest with yourself, and seek guidance when necessary. More: Awesome CS Opportunities Establish my presence Take initiative. The imposter syndrome will haunt you every now and then but it’s important to remember that we’re all trying to put our best foot forward. Advocate for yourself and allow yourself to be seen and heard. So turn on your camera during that online networking session, initiate a project for the community, and keep your chin up. We’re all rooting for you. The 5-9 After the 9-5 Building your portfolio Dedicate a platform to showcase your work. LinkedIn is your best friend, and it’s where you should be modestly bragging about your achievements. At the start of your journey, it’s okay to still be in that exploratory phase, but your goal should be to gradually narrow things down to a niche. If I Could Start Over, I’d… Engage in passion projects The best way to learn is to engage hands-on. In return, you may end up inventing the next best Chrome Extension, or the next most wishlisted game on Steam. All of which you can add to your resume, and boost your “hireability”. On the other hand, you’ll learn the essentials of deploying software to the real world, and not just as a zip file for your grader to assess. There are tons of ways to get started, such as participating in a hackathon or simply following a YouTube tutorial. But most importantly, , and just start. create that GitHub repo Emphasize my branding I misunderstood what a Software Engineering-focused resume would look like as compared to a normal resume. In the tech industry, it’s vital to provide links to platforms that showcase your skills. Focusing only on LinkedIn won’t get you far, here are some other platforms you could take a look at: GitHub Coursera Certification platforms (e.g., Credly) Personal portfolio website Most importantly, you should always tailor your branding according to the role you’re preparing for. Push to Prod Looking for job opportunities So here’s the big one - always start early. In fact, if you’re an international student like me, we stand to be limited by our visa status. It’s crucial to understand the structure of our employment eligibility - some things to bear in mind would be: Off-campus jobs/internships Part-time CPT v.s. full-time CPT If I Could Start Over, I’d… Research Common Interview Questions Depending on the company, they may phase their interviews differently. A common trend I’m noticing is that companies tend to tailor their interviews based on a common workday, a scenario that might occur in the workplace. But most commonly, Software Engineering roles usually touch base with the following interviews: Phone screen Behavioral (Situational) Technical Take-home assignment and demo Leetcode System Design I would’ve liked to spare some time in my schedule to practice my interviewing skills. In fact, I would’ve allocated a slot in my daily routine. After all, it would’ve been much more effective if I got accustomed to such interviews early on. Understand the Interview Timeline This is specifically for internships. It is usually the case that for summer internships, interviews begin starting the Fall of the previous year. Do the research - say that you have a target company: start by looking up its previous internship timeline. You could also try to reach out to a recruiter to gain some insight on how to better prepare but remember - they get an influx of messages all the time, please be mindful and remember to connect not as an interviewee, but as a human being. It’s important to have preparations ready by then, but most importantly, to go in with the mindset that “You are enough”. Someone once told me, “It’s better to let someone else tell you no than yourself” - the job search process will be tough, and you’re bound to face rejections. I hope that you’re able to take this as a learning opportunity instead. Take full advantage of opportunities I used to be “conservative”, almost somewhat of a “Yes Man”, that is I wouldn’t step out of bounds and would work within my role description. However, I would’ve liked to let my creativity run a little wild. Say that I noticed a problem that could’ve had an easy fix and that I had the capability to come up with a solution for it, I should’ve allowed myself to explore its potential. Obviously, I have to respect the work environment and act accordingly, but I don’t see the harm in preparing a pitch. After all, if it benefits the workplace, you just might’ve been a pioneer. If I Could Start Over… Of course, I’d like the opportunity to do a rerun. But my biggest need would’ve been - if I could start over, I would’ve been kinder to myself. Life is bound to happen, mistakes are bound to be made. I hope that your journey, even with all the bumps on the road, remains to be something that you’re proud of nonetheless.

If I Could Start Over: A Computer Science Student's Confession

Si pudiera empezar de nuevo: la confesión de un estudiante de informática

Si je pouvais recommencer : la confession d'un étudiant en informatique

अगर मैं दोबारा शुरुआत कर पाता: एक कंप्यूटर विज्ञान के छात्र का बयान

もしやり直せたら: コンピューターサイエンスの学生の告白

Se eu pudesse recomeçar: a confissão de um estudante de ciência da computação

Nếu tôi có thể bắt đầu lại: Lời thú tội của một sinh viên khoa học máy tính

如果我可以重新开始：一位计算机科学专业学生的自白

Introduction There are many certification exams to prepare you for a career in cybersecurity. There are also many accrediting organizations that offer certification testing as well.  With each certification perhaps costing hundreds of dollars, it makes sense to understand the details, risks, and benefits of each test. Which test will lead to the best career? Which test will show your skills as an applicant the best? Not only will the test cost a lot of money, but it will also cost you time in preparation and taking the exam. You need to ensure your resources are put to the best use. With that in mind, it is important to know more about what the GIAC Penetration Tester Certification is. What Is the GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) Certification? The Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) entity was founded in 1999 and is a company that offers certification testing for various . There are over 40 certification tests from which to choose within GIAC. The GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) is a certification exam “that validates a practitioner's ability to properly conduct a penetration test, using best practice techniques and methodologies.” The content covered is comprehensive penetration test planning, scoping and reconnaissance, in-depth scanning and exploitation, post-exploitation and pivoting, and in-depth password attacks. cybersecurity skills People who have passed the GPEN are those who have agreed to the stringent GIAC code of ethics. They may have acquired their skills from experiential learning or from a training course. The GPEN is a proctored exam administered through Pearson Vue or a computerized testing service.  This is an advanced certification that has required a $1,699 payment in order to take the test in the past. GIAC reserves the right to change the testing structure and fees at any time per their website. Those who have passed the GPEN have demonstrated their ability to perform penetration testing methods as well as the ability to find security . vulnerabilities in target networks and systems Other skills demonstrated by those that pass the GPEN are awareness of network security, penetration testing, web application security, vulnerability assessment, and social engineering. Additionally, GPEN certifiers are able to audit passwords, perform reconnaissance and information security, and are knowledgeable of wireless security. Exam Details The exam format, as written on the GIAC website, is a single proctored exam with 82 questions. It is at most 3 hours long, and the minimum passing score is 75%. The test’s difficulty is advanced and not entry-level. Job Opportunities Those who pass the test may receive jobs with these titles: Security penetration testing engineer Operational technology cybersecurity technologist career Senior penetration tester Senior technologist Technologist, mid -evel Also, those who earn the certification might be able to work remotely. Some people who have earned the certification have high-level roles in companies, like vice president. In the United States, there are 817 job openings for GPEN-certified applicants, according to credly.com. According to Ziprecruiter.com, in February 2023, there were 289 open GPEN jobs.  Salaries are over 100K on the job listings. Many of the jobs requiring this certification are in locations such as Washington, DC; Arlington, VA; Chantilly, VA; Fort Belvoir, VA; and Chicago, IL. Those who pass the certification have earnings of more than $100k USD.  The majority of people with the job certification have 6 figure incomes.  Other earners have a range from $50k to $99k USD in salaries. In the past, the top employers for those who earned the certification have been companies such as Jacobs, CITI, Blackbaud, VMWare, and Guidehouse. Conclusion All things considered, this certification is worth it because it helps demonstrate a high level of skill in penetration testing techniques. This certification leads to high-paying careers over 100K USD. It may be able to help you define your skill set and ensure a better outcome for your career prospects. job applicants References https://www.giac.org/certifications/penetration-tester-gpen/ https://www.credly.com/org/global-information-assurance-certification-giac/badge/giac-penetration-tester-gpen.1/lmi https://www.ziprecruiter.com/jobs-search?location=&redirected=true&search=GPEN

What Is the GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) Certification?

There are lots of videos and tutorials about how to get started with Kubernetes scattered about online, but what about resources that set you up with your own real Kubernetes environment? I've compiled a list of three resources where you can get started with Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat's enterprise Kubernetes platform. No payment is required. 1. OpenShift Open Labs Want to dive deep into Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift? Open Labs gives you six guided walkthroughs to explore scenarios in your own Red Hat OpenShift cluster. These include: Building hybrid cloud apps by connecting to a Cloudant service using OpenShift operators Logging with LogDNA Cloud monitoring with SysDig Securing microservices . ℹ️ Tip: In order to save resources, you'll have access to the cluster for , after which you can request another cluster one hour ℹ️ Tip: There are also Kubernetes-only versions of some labs available . here 🔗 Link: https://developer.ibm.com/openlabs/openshift 🧑‍🎓 Good For: Learning about OpenShift and Cloud services, logging and SysDig Installing and configuring OpenShift Operators 🤔 Be Aware: Clusters time out after one hour 2. Earn your Build Smart on Kubernetes Badge If you only have a couple of hours to spare and want to learn about deploying applications to Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift, this program will get you there. You'll learn how to: Deploy a node.js application using source-to-image, Deploy a Java microservice application on Open Liberty, Deploy a machine learning model and use it to classify images At the end of the workshop, you'll receive a badge certifying completion that you can share on social media (if you're into that kind of thing!) ℹ️ Tip: If you're going for the badge, make sure you open the quiz before starting the workshops! The quiz asks for the output of a command from each lab. So it's easier to complete the quiz as you run through labs. . ℹ️ Tip: The badges are issued once per week, so you may have to wait up to seven days after completion until your badge is issued 🔗 https://www.credly.com/org/ibm/badge/build-smart-on-kubernetes/ 🧑‍🎓 Good For: Application developers interested in deploying apps to k8s Sharing your achievement on social media 🤔 Be Aware: Complete the quiz as you do the labs You may wait a week for the badge 3. Try.OpenShift.com Red Hat’s Developer Sandbox contains a number of workshops that give you a deep knowledge of Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift, including: Learn Kubernetes using Red Hat Developer Sandbox ℹ️ Tip: Red Hat’s Developer Sandbox comes pre-configured with CodeReady Workspaces, Red Hat's productized version of . Eclipse Che 🔗 Link: https://try.openshift.com 🧑‍🎓 Good For: Learning through kubectl and git on your local machine Working with , React, and MariaDB quay.io Deploying applications working with Kafka and JavaScript 🤔 Be Aware: Some of these labs have detailed command line requirements -- but this can be an opportunity for education! Resources Free links from the Linux Foundation Kubernetes Training Keep up to date with the Kubernetes.io blog David's Twitter

3 Free Ways to Learn Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift

I’ve come to talk with you again Photo by on Shubham Dhage Unsplash I’ve written a whole bunch of blogs about running Cloud Foundry on Kubernetes. They all work, to varying degrees of success and have the support of a smattering of communities (read: companies with large budgets + engineers + open source ideals). Sometimes you just want BOSH. That sweet, sweet, familiar BOSH. Enter . bosh-lite What is ? bosh-lite works by spinning up a VM and placing BOSH on it. From there, you can use it to spin , , or anything else that has a BOSH manifest. bosh-lite cf-deployment zookeeper The BOSH director is configured with runtime configs, cloud configs, stemcells, releases, and all the other BOSH-like functionality you’ve come to expect. Installation The tool has been around forever, with a very good tutorial on installing and configuring located at . The rest of this blog assumes that you have followed these instructions up to step #7. bosh-lite https://bosh.io/docs/bosh-lite/ I had an issue with a newer version of VirtualBox (6.1.28), what worked for me is version 6.1.26 which is available . here It ends with an example deployment of which I guess is cool, but I’m guessing most BOSH directors are associated with a Cloud Foundry deployment. Read on for tips that maybe aren’t obvious from the documentation! zookeeper Deploying Cloud Foundry In -land there is documentation for using BBL to deploy and CF to . I point these instructions out in case you have an unlimited IAAS budget, however, I’ll show you how to deploy this to your Mac. cf-deployment bosh-lite GCP or AWS There is also a Readme within . I’ll be using this as the basis for the scripting below. cf-deployment For Operators Deploying CF to local bosh-lite Clone cf-deployment For these examples, I’ve assumed you will clone the CF repo to your home folder: cd ~

git clone https://github.com/cloudfoundry/cf-deployment.git Setup BOSH Environment variables This is spread across a few places in the documentation, I’ve gathered them all together: export CREDHUB_SERVER=https://192.168.56.6:8844
export CREDHUB_CLIENT=credhub-admin
export CREDHUB_SECRET=$(bosh interpolate ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path=/credhub_admin_client_secret)
export CREDHUB_CA_CERT="$(bosh interpolate ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path=/credhub_tls/ca )"$'\n'"$( bosh interpolate ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path=/uaa_ssl/ca)"

export BOSH_CLIENT=admin
export BOSH_CLIENT_SECRET="$(bosh int ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path /admin_password)"
export BOSH_CA_CERT="$(bosh interpolate ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path /director_ssl/ca)"
export BOSH_ENVIRONMENT=vbox

bosh alias-env vbox -e 192.168.56.6 --ca-cert <(bosh int ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path /director_ssl/ca) You might consider adding this to your bash/zsh profile. Upload Stemcell, Cloud Config and Runtime Config bosh upload-stemcell --sha1 f399044d2ebe3351f0f1b0b3f97ef11464d283b4 "https://bosh.io/d/stemcells/bosh-warden-boshlite-ubuntu-xenial-go_agent?v=621.125"
bosh update-runtime-config ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/runtime-configs/dns.yml --name dns
bosh update-cloud-config ~/cf-deployment/iaas-support/bosh-lite/cloud-config.yml As time goes by, CF may complain of wanting a newer stemcell version, update the command with the requested version. The version and are listed , note that uses stemcells. bosh upload-stemcell sha1 here bosh-lite warden Go Get a Drink This part will take around 45 minutes to complete, unless you’ve changed the IP address of the BOSH director, the following command will deploy CF. cd ~/cf-deployment
bosh -e 192.168.56.6 -d cf deploy \
  cf-deployment.yml \
  -o operations/bosh-lite.yml \
  -v system_domain=bosh-lite.com Log Into CF This is done in two steps, targeting the API and then logging in, pulling the admin password out of credhub without printing it to the screen: cf api https://api.bosh-lite.com --skip-ssl-validation
cf login -u admin -p $(credhub get -n $(credhub find -n admin | grep cf_admin | cut -d: -f2) | grep value | cut -d: -f2) -o system -s test Tada! Create a space and start pushing apps. (Optional) Setup SSH to BOSH Director Why? I like to be able to SSH to my BOSH Director to poke around. I’m weird. This is not required for the CF deployment, but nice to have: bosh int ~/deployments/vbox/creds.yml --path /jumpbox_ssh/private_key > ~/deployments/vbox/jumpbox.key
chmod 600 ~/deployments/vbox/jumpbox.key
ssh jumpbox@192.168.56.6 -i ~/deployments/vbox/jumpbox.key Beware of Dragons Issue #1 – Reboot Rebooting your Mac causes to misbehave, badly, unless you follow a couple of easy steps. bosh-lite Before shutdown: In Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager select the VM, right click and navigate to > Close Save State After reboot: In Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager select the VM, right click and navigate to > Start Headless Start Even performing these steps I can’t always bring the BOSH Director back online. If you have accidentally rebooted the host you can recreate the BOSH director using the state file and use to recover the broken CF deployment: bosh cck cd ~/deployments/vbox

bosh create-env ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/bosh.yml \
  --state ./state.json \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/virtualbox/cpi.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/virtualbox/outbound-network.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/bosh-lite.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/bosh-lite-runc.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/uaa.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/credhub.yml \
  -o ~/workspace/bosh-deployment/jumpbox-user.yml \
  --vars-store ./creds.yml \
  -v director_name=bosh-lite \
  -v internal_ip=192.168.56.6 \
  -v internal_gw=192.168.56.1 \
  -v internal_cidr=192.168.50.0/24 \
  -v outbound_network_name=NatNetwork --recreate

bosh cck If that doesn’t work, you can completely wipe and recreate the BOSH and CF deployment by: Logging into Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager, select the VM, right click and select > Remove Delete all files Delete the state file at ~/deployments/vbox/state.json Rerun the command then redeploy CF. bosh create-env Issue 2 – Networking issues If you get: Deploying:
  Creating instance 'bosh/0':
    Waiting until instance is ready:
      Post "https://mbus:<redacted>@192.168.56.6:6868/agent": dial tcp 192.168.56.6:6868: connect: connection refused

Exit code 1 You probably skipped the step to add the host routing: sudo route add -net 10.244.0.0/16     192.168.56.6 Final Thought We all deserve nice things. is one of those nice things for folks who enjoy BOSH and want to use it on their own computer. bosh-lite Enjoy! Also published . here

Spin Up a BOSH VM Faster Using BoshLite

Packages play a big role in the scene. How big and which packages?
 To find it out we took the data from the API and filtered out the
 Laravel packages. Laravel Packagist.org How did we identify the Laravel packages? By looking at . We 
classified a package as belonging to the Laravel ecosystem if , , or fields contained the string . 
We also considered it to be a package if it has or any of the subtree splits as a dependancy. And finally — the key in field is also a trigger. composer.json name description keywords type laravel Laravel laravel/framework illuminate/* laravel extra While these criteria do not guarantee a package to be Laravel-only, they do
 show that the package was made with Laravel in mind. The most popular packages By naively looking at the , 
we see quite a bit of unexciting results — core packages and packages with a 
plenty of uses outside Laravel projects. list of the most downloaded 
packages | Package                 | Monthly downloads |
|-------------------------|-------------------|
| nesbot/carbon           | |
| laravel/framework       | |
| laravel/tinker          | |
| fideloper/proxy         | |
| nunomaduro/collision    | |
| intervention/image      | |
| facade/ignition         | |
| facade/flare-client-php | |
| composer/installers     | |
| illuminate/support      | | 4084214 2987907 2455355 2376631 1510258 1099989 966800 934651 803222 756189 Perhaps a more interesting toplist would be one with these "false positives"
 removed. We manually filtered out the top 30 packages that are made for Laravel
 projects and are installed deliberately. We also loosely classified the purposes 
of those packages. |    | Package                            | Monthly | Total    | Purpose |
|----|------------------------------------|---------|----------|---------|
| | maatwebsite/excel                  | | | port    |
| | laravelcollective/html             | | | helper  |
| | barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper        | | | dev     |
| | barryvdh/laravel-debugbar          | | | dev     |
| | laravel/passport                   | | | auth    |
| | beyondcode/laravel-dump-server     | | | dev     |
| | sentry/sentry-laravel              | | | integ   |
| | laravel/ui                         | | | auth    |
| | barryvdh/laravel-cors              | | | helper  |
| | laravel/socialite                  | | | auth    |
| | laravel/slack-notification-channel | | | integ   |
| | tymon/jwt-auth                     | | | auth    |
| | barryvdh/laravel-dompdf            | | | port    |
| | laravel/helpers                    | | | helper  |
| | spatie/laravel-permission          | | | auth    |
| | laravel/horizon                    | | | integ   |
| | laravel/dusk                       | | | dev     |
| | laravel/nexmo-notification-channel | | | integ   |
| | laravel/telescope                  | | | dev     |
| | bugsnag/bugsnag-laravel            | | | dev     |
| | yajra/laravel-datatables-oracle    | | | integ   |
| | aws/aws-sdk-php-laravel            | | | integ   |
| | orchestra/testbench-core           | | | dev     |
| | orchestra/testbench                | | | dev     |
| | symplify/package-builder           | | | dev     |
| | laravel/scout                      | | | integ   |
| | barryvdh/laravel-snappy            | | | port    |
| | webpatser/laravel-uuid             | | | helper  |
| | spatie/laravel-medialibrary        | | | helper  |
| | spatie/laravel-activitylog         | | | dev     | 1 680466 17769696 2 678048 21785383 3 644297 18918427 4 625080 19404288 5 552633 10099903 6 530901 11035024 7 455879 8440070 8 433850 1599042 9 400920 10823255 10 394471 10166784 11 385921 7172937 12 359693 9107092 13 349572 8006731 14 337956 1692185 15 308453 5224001 16 304864 4599598 17 256261 4542482 18 238192 6080124 19 227966 2289576 20 223167 6544766 21 212985 5644721 22 212260 7070121 23 199780 1864659 24 195269 2279889 25 193661 1484783 26 177270 3391042 27 156741 3651684 28 153883 4774711 29 149290 2293823 30 148932 2387978 Explanation of purposes: — authentication and authorization auth — development and debugging tools dev — support and simplifaction of work helper — integration with other services integ — import and/or export in various forma port The development tools are most prevalent on this list followed by integration. We expeceted to see more of the packages at the very top, but it turns out that
 maatwebsite/excel and the tools by are more universally used. Spatie Barry vd. Heuvel Vendor overview In total there were 47337 Laravel packages identified from 23167 different developers. The distribution is quite even with lots and lots of small players. Half of packages (23668) were made by the top 3927 developers which is far more
 than would be if was obeyed here. 15042 of the developers have only
 one package published. Price's law If we sort package developers by number of packages, we get to see some quite
 unheard names. Here are the most prolific package developers along with the
 download numbers summed over their packages. |    | Developer                     | Count | Daily | Monthly | Total    |
|----|-------------------------------|-------|-------|---------|----------|
| | socialiteproviders            | | | | |
| | bantenprov                    | | | | |
| | spatie                        | | | | |
| | railken                       | | | | |
| | laravel-enso                  | | | | |
| | amethyst                      | | | | |
| | faustbrian                    | | | | |
| | artisanry                     | | | | |
| | sukohi                        | | | | |
| | anomaly                       | | | | |
| | sanatorium                    | | | | |
| | laravel-notification-channels | | | | |
| | hnhdigital-os                 | | | | |
| | arcanedev                     | | | | |
| | inetstudio                    | | | | |
| | larakit                       | | | | |
| | orchestra                     | | | | |
| | abuseio                       | | | | |
| | genealabs                     | | | | |
| | smorken                       | | | | | 1 159 10645 256409 5826725 2 132 0 5 3160 3 124 89124 2746665 43095685 4 119 0 11082 313129 5 95 1519 29456 879635 6 92 1232 8118 100819 7 85 152 2639 52698 8 78 129 1190 11938 9 75 58 1773 53805 10 59 198 6095 974489 11 59 0 0 20 12 54 3107 99536 1621420 13 54 38 1571 20304 14 53 3875 127702 3293360 15 53 241 3870 77009 16 49 1 410 18540 17 48 21569 544696 7606461 18 45 1 951 78289 19 43 3219 87234 1215349 20 41 36 985 14277 Apparently there are quite a few developers who make a lot of components and
 put them up without much advertisement. To see more of the better known names
 and how they compare, let us sort the list by total downloads. |    | Developer         | Count | Daily  | Monthly | Total     |
|----|-------------------|-------|--------|---------|-----------|
| | laravel           | | | | |
| | illuminate        | | | | |
| | nesbot            | | | | |
| | barryvdh          | | | | |
| | spatie            | | | | |
| | fideloper         | | | | |
| | intervention      | | | | |
| | composer          | | | | |
| | league            | | | | |
| | nunomaduro        | | | | |
| | laravelcollective | | | | |
| | maatwebsite       | | | | |
| | cocur             | | | | |
| | jenssegers        | | | | |
| | beyondcode        | | | | |
| | laracasts         | | | | |
| | graham-campbell   | | | | |
| | facade            | | | | |
| | yajra             | | | | |
| | tymon             | | | | | 1 39 364375 9832728 225867755 2 33 244509 7210832 197044965 3 1 179106 4084214 112631927 4 19 82289 2246578 63115434 5 124 89124 2746665 43095685 6 3 100748 2376631 41313378 7 7 46259 1260102 33891504 8 1 10603 803222 26065561 9 7 18996 731742 24433630 10 19 68333 1734552 23394056 11 6 32460 710099 23285426 12 6 27955 717140 18258360 13 1 19246 491761 16609476 14 15 24263 544700 16468485 15 29 14221 677724 12648233 16 11 10352 317232 12119703 17 36 11092 291114 10184667 18 5 67794 1915933 9860242 19 19 17794 446360 9792222 20 2 11437 359693 9107116 If one sorts this list by monthly dowloads instead, the picture is slightly different. |    | Developer         | Count | Daily  | Monthly | Total     |
|----|-------------------|-------|--------|---------|-----------|
| | laravel           | | | | |
| | illuminate        | | | | |
| | nesbot            | | | | |
| | spatie            | | | | |
| | fideloper         | | | | |
| | barryvdh          | | | | |
| | facade            | | | | |
| | nunomaduro        | | | | |
| | intervention      | | | | |
| | composer          | | | | | 1 39 364375 9832728 225867755 2 33 244509 7210832 197044965 3 1 179106 4084214 112631927 4 124 89124 2746665 43095685 5 3 100748 2376631 41313378 6 19 82289 2246578 63115434 7 5 67794 1915933 9860242 8 19 68333 1734552 23394056 9 7 46259 1260102 33891504 10 1 10603 803222 26065561 These distributions are extremely top heavy. Regardless if you order by daily,
 monthly or total downloads, more than half of all downloads go to top 6 package
 developers. For example, out of 5.65 million daily package downloads, 2.85 million
 are split among , , , , and . laravel illuminate nesbot spatie fideloper barryvdh We can use something a kin to to assess the depth of the scene.
 There are only 317 developers that get 317 or more daily downloads. 1118 vendors
 get 1118 or more monthly downloads and the same number is 3003 for total numbers. Hirsch index Licensing choices Our licensing overview is not very precise as various strings are used for the same
 license, for example , , , , even and many more for the same license. gpl-3.0 gpl 3.0 gpl3 gplv3 gnu general
 public license version 3 Luckily, the main conclusions are clear as the string is the license of 
37502 Laravel packages. 6304 packages are unlicensed, More than 500  
packages are licensed under each of Apache 2.0 and GPL 3.0. And there are also few hundred
 packages with BSD 2, BSD 3 and GPL 2.0. mit 79% of Laravel packages are MIT-licensed, 14% are unlicensed and the other
 licenses are each used in used in 2% of projects or less. This is probably in part
 influenced by Laravel which itself is MIT licensed. Among all of the packages
 the prevalence of the MIT license is considerably smaller — 60%. Outside Laravel The number of packages for different frameworks shows the involvment of the
 community in the development of the framework tools and how much they are 
willing to share their code with others. We also counted the abandoned packages
 and their percentage to see which communities are thriving and which are limping. |    | Framework     | Packages | Abandoned | Aband. % |
|----|---------------|----------|-----------|----------|
| | Laravel       | | | , %     |
| | Symfony       | | | , %     |
| | Yii           | | | , %     |
| | ZendFramework | | | , %    |
| | WordPress     | | | , %     |
| | Nette         | | | , %     |
| | CakePHP       | | | , %     |
| | Slim          | | | , %     |
| | Laminas       | | | , %     |
| | Phalcon       | | | , %     |
| | Codeigniter   | | | , %    |
| | Aura          | | | , %     |
| | Kohana        | | | , %    |
| | FuelPHP       | | | , %     |
| | PHPixie       | | | , %     | 1 47337 2618 5 5 2 39428 3362 8 5 3 15354 552 3 6 4 7459 790 10 6 5 6446 480 7 4 6 3460 342 9 9 7 2607 173 6 6 8 1411 64 4 5 9 811 17 2 0 10 726 40 5 5 11 663 91 13 7 12 450 32 7 1 13 341 43 12 6 14 148 12 8 1 15 73 1 1 4 On the other hand, the total download numbers are reflective of how much the 
packages are important in the development of everyday projects. Please keep in mind that these download numbers represent all of the packages related to a framework not just the core. It’s just like the number of packages listed above. The criteria for classifying a package as belonging to certain framework are . One package can belong to ecosystems of multiple frameworks. here |    | Framework     | Monthly   | Total      |
|----|---------------|-----------|------------|
| | Symfony       | | |
| | Laravel       | | |
| | ZendFramework | | |
| | Nette         | | |
| | Laminas       | | |
| | Yii           | | |
| | CakePHP       | | |
| | WordPress     | | |
| | Slim          | | |
| | FuelPHP       | | |
| | Codeigniter   | | |
| | Kohana        | | |
| | Aura          | | |
| | Phalcon       | | |
| | PHPixie       | | | 1 366029776 8945189030 2 56523199 1315681505 3 50789083 1460984224 4 14137793 295710951 5 9540512 134960483 6 5662063 200378585 7 4067892 112091915 8 3871828 96962490 9 2123558 46196613 10 930846 32043126 11 919926 30474042 12 912106 31918403 13 467771 18063339 14 137762 4322810 15 5353 572100 It should be noted that the top position doesn't mean Symfony projects download
 the most packages as some of the Symfony core is used by Laravel and many of the
 Symfony packages can also be used in Laravel projects. It is also noteworthy that Zend packages have almost as many monthly downloads
 as Laravel even though the project is no longer maintained. As a farewell we shall leave you with the list of most downloaded PHP packages overall. |    | Package                           | Monthly | Total     |
|----|-----------------------------------|---------|-----------|
| | symfony/polyfill-mbstring         | | |
| | psr/log                           | | |
| | symfony/polyfill-ctype            | | |
| | psr/container                     | | |
| | symfony/ | | |
| | guzzlehttp/guzzle                 | | |
| | symfony/finder                    | | |
| | psr/http-message                  | | |
| | guzzlehttp/promises               | | |
| | guzzlehttp/psr7                   | | |
| | doctrine/instantiator             | | |
| | symfony/process                   | | |
| | phpdocumentor/reflection-docblock | | |
| | monolog/monolog                   | | |
| | symfony/event-dispatcher          | | |
| | webmozart/assert                  | | |
| | doctrine/lexer                    | | |
| | ralouphie/getallheaders           | | |
| | doctrine/inflector                | | |
| | phpdocumentor/type-resolver       | | | 1 7943600 210645235 2 7768451 238663129 3 7284741 110601284 4 6847606 119345271 5 console 6713344 199367074 6 6607580 168514253 7 6486878 176261290 8 6384401 164860087 9 6372505 149984782 10 6350221 161806561 11 6199120 180684872 12 6167368 169254030 13 6140913 165150240 14 6109702 196673732 15 6098870 190433052 16 5905460 144395517 17 5895066 157678399 18 5861396 66293788 19 5743593 171588858 20 5706391 136101740 The data displayed in this article was compiled mainly by Gatis Šūpulnieks in April and 
May of 2020 as a part of his thesis "Laravel package development and usage". Relevant sources: Raw data https://github.com/Larzs/packagist-packages-data Related article by Jason McCreary https://jasonmccreary.me/articles/laravel-numbers/ Author of this article Juris Evertovskis Compiler of data Gatis Šūpulnieks The package made by Gatis https://github.com/GlaivePro/Invytr Our newest micropackage https://github.com/crudly/encrypted Our silliest and most popular package: https://github.com/GlaivePro/Hidevara Previously published at https://medium.com/@juris_9772/laravel-package-ecosystem-4afd53fad192

Explaining Laravel Package Ecosystem

Longing for That Which Has Gone Before

যা আগে চলে গেছে তার জন্য আকাঙ্ক্ষা

Sehnsucht nach dem, was schon einmal vergangen ist

이전에 지나간 것에 대한 그리움

Daha önce gidenlere duyulan özlem

Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Chapter XXII here CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND. The Jet of Light.—The Missionary.—The Rescue in a Ray of Electricity.—A Lazarist Priest.—But little Hope.—The Doctor’s Care.—A Life of Self-Denial.—Passing a Volcano. Dr. Ferguson darted his powerful electric jet toward various points of space, and caused it to rest on a spot from which shouts of terror were heard. His companions fixed their gaze eagerly on the place. The baobab, over which the balloon was hanging almost motionless, stood in the centre of a clearing, where, between fields of Indian-corn and sugar-cane, were seen some fifty low, conical huts, around which swarmed a numerous tribe. A hundred feet below the balloon stood a large post, or stake, and at its foot lay a human being—a young man of thirty years or more, with long black hair, half naked, wasted and wan, bleeding, covered with wounds, his head bowed over upon his breast, as Christ’s was, when He hung upon the cross. The hair, cut shorter on the top of his skull, still indicated the place of a half-effaced tonsure. “A missionary! a priest!” exclaimed Joe. “Poor, unfortunate man!” said Kennedy. “We must save him, Dick!” responded the doctor; “we must save him!” The crowd of blacks, when they saw the balloon over their heads, like a huge comet with a train of dazzling light, were seized with a terror that may be readily imagined. Upon hearing their cries, the prisoner raised his head. His eyes gleamed with sudden hope, and, without too thoroughly comprehending what was taking place, he stretched out his hands to his unexpected deliverers. “He is alive!” exclaimed Ferguson. “God be praised! The savages have got a fine scare, and we shall save him! Are you ready, friends?” “Ready, doctor, at the word.” “Joe, shut off the cylinder!” The doctor’s order was executed. An almost imperceptible breath of air impelled the balloon directly over the prisoner, at the same time that it gently lowered with the contraction of the gas. For about ten minutes it remained floating in the midst of luminous waves, for Ferguson continued to flash right down upon the throng his glowing sheaf of rays, which, here and there, marked out swift and vivid sheets of light. The tribe, under the influence of an indescribable terror, disappeared little by little in the huts, and there was complete solitude around the stake. The doctor had, therefore, been right in counting upon the fantastic appearance of the balloon throwing out rays, as vivid as the sun’s, through this intense gloom. The car was approaching the ground; but a few of the savages, more audacious than the rest, guessing that their victim was about to escape from their clutches, came back with loud yells, and Kennedy seized his rifle. The doctor, however, besought him not to fire. The priest, on his knees, for he had not the strength to stand erect, was not even fastened to the stake, his weakness rendering that precaution superfluous. At the instant when the car was close to the ground, the brawny Scot, laying aside his rifle, and seizing the priest around the waist, lifted him into the car, while, at the same moment, Joe tossed over the two hundred pounds of ballast. The doctor had expected to ascend rapidly, but, contrary to his calculations, the balloon, after going up some three or four feet, remained there perfectly motionless. “What holds us?” he asked, with an accent of terror. Some of the savages were running toward them, uttering ferocious cries. “Ah, ha!” said Joe, “one of those cursed blacks is hanging to the car!” “Dick! Dick!” cried the doctor, “the water-tank!” Kennedy caught his friend’s idea on the instant, and, snatching up with desperate strength one of the water-tanks weighing about one hundred pounds, he tossed it overboard. The balloon, thus suddenly lightened, made a leap of three hundred feet into the air, amid the howlings of the tribe whose prisoner thus escaped them in a blaze of dazzling light. “Hurrah!” shouted the doctor’s comrades. Suddenly, the balloon took a fresh leap, which carried it up to an elevation of a thousand feet. “What’s that?” said Kennedy, who had nearly lost his balance. “Oh! nothing; only that black villain leaving us!” replied the doctor, tranquilly, and Joe, leaning over, saw the savage that had clung to the car whirling over and over, with his arms outstretched in the air, and presently dashed to pieces on the ground. The doctor then separated his electric wires, and every thing was again buried in profound obscurity. It was now one o’clock in the morning. The Frenchman, who had swooned away, at length opened his eyes. “You are saved!” were the doctor’s first words. “Saved!” he with a sad smile replied in English, “saved from a cruel death! My brethren, I thank you, but my days are numbered, nay, even my hours, and I have but little longer to live.” With this, the missionary, again yielding to exhaustion, relapsed into his fainting-fit. “He is dying!” said Kennedy. “No,” replied the doctor, bending over him, “but he is very weak; so let us lay him under the awning.” And they did gently deposit on their blankets that poor, wasted body, covered with scars and wounds, still bleeding where fire and steel had, in twenty places, left their agonizing marks. The doctor, taking an old handkerchief, quickly prepared a little lint, which he spread over the wounds, after having washed them. These rapid attentions were bestowed with the celerity and skill of a practised surgeon, and, when they were complete, the doctor, taking a cordial from his medicine-chest, poured a few drops upon his patient’s lips. The latter feebly pressed his kind hands, and scarcely had the strength to say, “Thank you! thank you!” The doctor comprehended that he must be left perfectly quiet; so he closed the folds of the awning and resumed the guidance of the balloon. The latter, after taking into account the weight of the new passenger, had been lightened of one hundred and eighty pounds, and therefore kept aloft without the aid of the cylinder. At the first dawn of day, a current drove it gently toward the west-northwest. The doctor went in under the awning for a moment or two, to look at his still sleeping patient. “May Heaven spare the life of our new companion! Have you any hope?” said the Scot. “Yes, Dick, with care, in this pure, fresh atmosphere.” “How that man has suffered!” said Joe, with feeling. “He did bolder things than we’ve done, in venturing all alone among those savage tribes!” “That cannot be questioned,” assented the hunter. During the entire day the doctor would not allow the sleep of his patient to be disturbed. It was really a long stupor, broken only by an occasional murmur of pain that continued to disquiet and agitate the doctor greatly. Toward evening the balloon remained stationary in the midst of the gloom, and during the night, while Kennedy and Joe relieved each other in carefully tending the sick man, Ferguson kept watch over the safety of all. By the morning of the next day, the balloon had moved, but very slightly, to the westward. The dawn came up pure and magnificent. The sick man was able to call his friends with a stronger voice. They raised the curtains of the awning, and he inhaled with delight the keen morning air. “How do you feel to-day?” asked the doctor. “Better, perhaps,” he replied. “But you, my friends, I have not seen you yet, excepting in a dream! I can, indeed, scarcely recall what has occurred. Who are you—that your names may not be forgotten in my dying prayers?” “We are English travellers,” replied Ferguson. “We are trying to cross Africa in a balloon, and, on our way, we have had the good fortune to rescue you.” “Science has its heroes,” said the missionary. “But religion its martyrs!” rejoined the Scot. “Are you a missionary?” asked the doctor. “I am a priest of the Lazarist mission. Heaven sent you to me—Heaven be praised! The sacrifice of my life had been accomplished! But you come from Europe; tell me about Europe, about France! I have been without news for the last five years!” “Five years! alone! and among these savages!” exclaimed Kennedy with amazement. “They are souls to redeem! ignorant and barbarous brethren, whom religion alone can instruct and civilize.” Dr. Ferguson, yielding to the priest’s request, talked to him long and fully about France. He listened eagerly, and his eyes filled with tears. He seized Kennedy’s and Joe’s hands by turns in his own, which were burning with fever. The doctor prepared him some tea, and he drank it with satisfaction. After that, he had strength enough to raise himself up a little, and smiled with pleasure at seeing himself borne along through so pure a sky. “You are daring travellers!” he said, “and you will succeed in your bold enterprise. You will again behold your relatives, your friends, your country—you—” At this moment, the weakness of the young missionary became so extreme that they had to lay him again on the bed, where a prostration, lasting for several hours, held him like a dead man under the eye of Dr. Ferguson. The latter could not suppress his emotion, for he felt that this life now in his charge was ebbing away. Were they then so soon to lose him whom they had snatched from an agonizing death? The doctor again washed and dressed the young martyr’s frightful wounds, and had to sacrifice nearly his whole stock of water to refresh his burning limbs. He surrounded him with the tenderest and most intelligent care, until, at length, the sick man revived, little by little, in his arms, and recovered his consciousness if not his strength. The doctor was able to gather something of his history from his broken murmurs. “Speak in your native language,” he said to the sufferer; “I understand it, and it will fatigue you less.” The missionary was a poor young man from the village of Aradon, in Brittany, in the Morbihan country. His earliest instincts had drawn him toward an ecclesiastical career, but to this life of self-sacrifice he was also desirous of joining a life of danger, by entering the mission of the order of priesthood of which St. Vincent de Paul was the founder, and, at twenty, he quitted his country for the inhospitable shores of Africa. From the sea-coast, overcoming obstacles, little by little, braving all privations, pushing onward, afoot, and praying, he had advanced to the very centre of those tribes that dwell among the tributary streams of the Upper Nile. For two years his faith was spurned, his zeal denied recognition, his charities taken in ill part, and he remained a prisoner to one of the cruelest tribes of the Nyambarra, the object of every species of maltreatment. But still he went on teaching, instructing, and praying. The tribe having been dispersed and he left for dead, in one of those combats which are so frequent between the tribes, instead of retracing his steps, he persisted in his evangelical mission. His most tranquil time was when he was taken for a madman. Meanwhile, he had made himself familiar with the idioms of the country, and he catechised in them. At length, during two more long years, he traversed these barbarous regions, impelled by that superhuman energy that comes from God. For a year past he had been residing with that tribe of the Nyam-Nyams known as the , one of the wildest and most ferocious of them all. The chief having died a few days before our travellers appeared, his sudden death was attributed to the missionary, and the tribe resolved to immolate him. His sufferings had already continued for the space of forty hours, and, as the doctor had supposed, he was to have perished in the blaze of the noonday sun. When he heard the sound of fire-arms, nature got the best of him, and he had cried out, “Help! help!” He then thought that he must have been dreaming, when a voice, that seemed to come from the sky, had uttered words of consolation. Barafri “I have no regrets,” he said, “for the life that is passing away from me; my life belongs to God!” “Hope still!” said the doctor; “we are near you, and we will save you now, as we saved you from the tortures of the stake.” “I do not ask so much of Heaven,” said the priest, with resignation. “Blessed be God for having vouchsafed to me the joy before I die of having pressed your friendly hands, and having heard, once more, the language of my country!” The missionary here grew weak again, and the whole day went by between hope and fear, Kennedy deeply moved, and Joe drawing his hand over his eyes more than once when he thought that no one saw him. The balloon made little progress, and the wind seemed as though unwilling to jostle its precious burden. Toward evening, Joe discovered a great light in the west. Under more elevated latitudes, it might have been mistaken for an immense aurora borealis, for the sky appeared on fire. The doctor very attentively examined the phenomenon. “It is, perhaps, only a volcano in full activity,” said he. “But the wind is carrying us directly over it,” replied Kennedy. “Very well, we shall cross it then at a safe height!” said the doctor. Three hours later, the was right among the mountains. Her exact position was twenty-four degrees fifteen minutes east longitude, and four degrees forty-two minutes north latitude, and four degrees forty-two minutes north latitude. In front of her a volcanic crater was pouring forth torrents of melted lava, and hurling masses of rock to an enormous height. There were jets, too, of liquid fire that fell back in dazzling cascades—a superb but dangerous spectacle, for the wind with unswerving certainty was carrying the balloon directly toward this blazing atmosphere. Victoria This obstacle, which could not be turned, had to be crossed, so the cylinder was put to its utmost power, and the balloon rose to the height of six thousand feet, leaving between it and the volcano a space of more than three hundred fathoms. From his bed of suffering, the dying missionary could contemplate that fiery crater from which a thousand jets of dazzling flame were that moment escaping. “How grand it is!” said he, “and how infinite is the power of God even in its most terrible manifestations!” This overflow of blazing lava wrapped the sides of the mountain with a veritable drapery of flame; the lower half of the balloon glowed redly in the upper night; a torrid heat ascended to the car, and Dr. Ferguson made all possible haste to escape from this perilous situation. By ten o’clock the volcano could be seen only as a red point on the horizon, and the balloon tranquilly pursued her course in a less elevated zone of the atmosphere. 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 (2002). Five Weeks in a Balloon. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3526/pg3526-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

The Jet of Light

The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE PATH TO ARCADY CHAPTER XXVIII. THE PATH TO ARCADY October that year gathered up all the spilled sunshine of the summer and clad herself in it as in a garment. The Story Girl had asked us to try to make the last month together beautiful, and Nature seconded our efforts, giving us that most beautiful of beautiful things—a gracious and perfect moon of falling leaves. There was not in all that vanished October one day that did not come in with auroral splendour and go out attended by a fair galaxy of evening stars—not a day when there were not golden lights in the wide pastures and purple hazes in the ripened distances. Never was anything so gorgeous as the maple trees that year. Maples are trees that have primeval fire in their souls. It glows out a little in their early youth, before the leaves open, in the redness and rosy-yellowness of their blossoms, but in summer it is carefully hidden under a demure, silver-lined greenness. Then when autumn comes, the maples give up trying to be sober and flame out in all the barbaric splendour and gorgeousness of their real nature, making of the hills things out of an Arabian Nights dream in the golden prime of good Haroun Alraschid. You may never know what scarlet and crimson really are until you see them in their perfection on an October hillside, under the unfathomable blue of an autumn sky. All the glow and radiance and joy at earth’s heart seem to have broken loose in a splendid determination to express itself for once before the frost of winter chills her beating pulses. It is the year’s carnival ere the dull Lenten days of leafless valleys and penitential mists come. The time of apple-picking had come around once more and we worked joyously. Uncle Blair picked apples with us, and between him and the Story Girl it was an October never to be forgotten. “Will you go far afield for a walk with me to-day?” he said to her and me, one idle afternoon of opal skies, pied meadows and misty hills. It was Saturday and Peter had gone home; Felix and Dan were helping Uncle Alec top turnips; Cecily and Felicity were making cookies for Sunday, so the Story Girl and I were alone in Uncle Stephen’s Walk. We liked to be alone together that last month, to think the long, long thoughts of youth and talk about our futures. There had grown up between us that summer a bond of sympathy that did not exist between us and the others. We were older than they—the Story Girl was fifteen and I was nearly that; and all at once it seemed as if we were immeasurably older than the rest, and possessed of dreams and visions and forward-reaching hopes which they could not possibly share or understand. At times we were still children, still interested in childish things. But there came hours when we seemed to our two selves very grown up and old, and in those hours we talked our dreams and visions and hopes, vague and splendid, as all such are, over together, and so began to build up, out of the rainbow fragments of our childhood’s companionship, that rare and beautiful friendship which was to last all our lives, enriching and enstarring them. For there is no bond more lasting than that formed by the mutual confidences of that magic time when youth is slipping from the sheath of childhood and beginning to wonder what lies for it beyond those misty hills that bound the golden road. “Where are you going?” asked the Story Girl. “To ‘the woods that belt the gray hillside’—ay, and overflow beyond it into many a valley purple-folded in immemorial peace,” answered Uncle Blair. “I have a fancy for one more ramble in Prince Edward Island woods before I leave Canada again. But I would not go alone. So come, you two gay youthful things to whom all life is yet fair and good, and we will seek the path to Arcady. There will be many little things along our way to make us glad. Joyful sounds will ‘come ringing down the wind;’ a wealth of gypsy gold will be ours for the gathering; we will learn the potent, unutterable charm of a dim spruce wood and the grace of flexile mountain ashes fringing a lonely glen; we will tryst with the folk of fur and feather; we’ll hearken to the music of gray old firs. Come, and you’ll have a ramble and an afternoon that you will both remember all your lives.” We did have it; never has its remembrance faded; that idyllic afternoon of roving in the old Carlisle woods with the Story Girl and Uncle Blair gleams in my book of years, a page of living beauty. Yet it was but a few hours of simplest pleasure; we wandered pathlessly through the sylvan calm of those dear places which seemed that day to be full of a great friendliness; Uncle Blair sauntered along behind us, whistling softly; sometimes he talked to himself; we delighted in those brief reveries of his; Uncle Blair was the only man I have ever known who could, when he so willed, “talk like a book,” and do it without seeming ridiculous; perhaps it was because he had the knack of choosing “fit audience, though few,” and the proper time to appeal to that audience. We went across the fields, intending to skirt the woods at the back of Uncle Alec’s farm and find a lane that cut through Uncle Roger’s woods; but before we came to it we stumbled on a sly, winding little path quite by accident—if, indeed, there can be such a thing as accident in the woods, where I am tempted to think we are led by the Good People along such of their fairy ways as they have a mind for us to walk in. “Go to, let us explore this,” said Uncle Blair. “It always drags terribly at my heart to go past a wood lane if I can make any excuse at all for traversing it: for it is the by-ways that lead to the heart of the woods and we must follow them if we would know the forest and be known of it. When we can really feel its wild heart beating against ours its subtle life will steal into our veins and make us its own for ever, so that no matter where we go or how wide we wander in the noisy ways of cities or over the lone ways of the sea, we shall yet be drawn back to the forest to find our most enduring kinship.” “I always feel so SATISFIED in the woods,” said the Story Girl dreamily, as we turned in under the low-swinging fir boughs. “Trees seem such friendly things.” “They are the most friendly things in God’s good creation,” said Uncle Blair emphatically. “And it is so easy to live with them. To hold converse with pines, to whisper secrets with the poplars, to listen to the tales of old romance that beeches have to tell, to walk in eloquent silence with self-contained firs, is to learn what real companionship is. Besides, trees are the same all over the world. A beech tree on the slopes of the Pyrenees is just what a beech tree here in these Carlisle woods is; and there used to be an old pine hereabouts whose twin brother I was well acquainted with in a dell among the Apennines. Listen to those squirrels, will you, chattering over yonder. Did you ever hear such a fuss over nothing? Squirrels are the gossips and busybodies of the woods; they haven’t learned the fine reserve of its other denizens. But after all, there is a certain shrill friendliness in their greeting.” “They seem to be scolding us,” I said, laughing. “Oh, they are not half such scolds as they sound,” answered Uncle Blair gaily. “If they would but ‘tak a thought and mend’ their shrew-like ways they would be dear, lovable creatures enough.” “If I had to be an animal I think I’d like to be a squirrel,” said the Story Girl. “It must be next best thing to flying.” “Just see what a spring that fellow gave,” laughed Uncle Blair. “And now listen to his song of triumph! I suppose that chasm he cleared seemed as wide and deep to him as Niagara Gorge would to us if we leaped over it. Well, the wood people are a happy folk and very well satisfied with themselves.” Those who have followed a dim, winding, balsamic path to the unexpected hollow where a wood-spring lies have found the rarest secret the forest can reveal. Such was our good fortune that day. At the end of our path we found it, under the pines, a crystal-clear thing with lips unkissed by so much as a stray sunbeam. “It is easy to dream that this is one of the haunted springs of old romance,” said Uncle Blair. “‘Tis an enchanted spot this, I am very sure, and we should go softly, speaking low, lest we disturb the rest of a white, wet naiad, or break some spell that has cost long years of mystic weaving.” “It’s so easy to believe things in the woods,” said the Story Girl, shaping a cup from a bit of golden-brown birch bark and filling it at the spring. “Drink a toast in that water, Sara,” said Uncle Blair. “There’s not a doubt that it has some potent quality of magic in it and the wish you wish over it will come true.” The Story Girl lifted her golden-hued flagon to her red lips. Her hazel eyes laughed at us over the brim. “Here’s to our futures,” she cried, “I wish that every day of our lives may be better than the one that went before.” “An extravagant wish—a very wish of youth,” commented Uncle Blair, “and yet in spite of its extravagance, a wish that will come true if you are true to yourselves. In that case, every day WILL be better than all that went before—but there will be many days, dear lad and lass, when you will not believe it.” We did not understand him, but we knew Uncle Blair never explained his meaning. When asked it he was wont to answer with a smile, “Some day you’ll grow to it. Wait for that.” So we addressed ourselves to follow the brook that stole away from the spring in its windings and doublings and tricky surprises. “A brook,” quoth Uncle Blair, “is the most changeful, bewitching, lovable thing in the world. It is never in the same mind or mood two minutes. Here it is sighing and murmuring as if its heart were broken. But listen—yonder by the birches it is laughing as if it were enjoying some capital joke all by itself.” It was indeed a changeful brook; here it would make a pool, dark and brooding and still, where we bent to look at our mirrored faces; then it grew communicative and gossiped shallowly over a broken pebble bed where there was a diamond dance of sunbeams and no troutling or minnow could glide through without being seen. Sometimes its banks were high and steep, hung with slender ashes and birches; again they were mere, low margins, green with delicate mosses, shelving out of the wood. Once it came to a little precipice and flung itself over undauntedly in an indignation of foam, gathering itself up rather dizzily among the mossy stones below. It was some time before it got over its vexation; it went boiling and muttering along, fighting with the rotten logs that lie across it, and making far more fuss than was necessary over every root that interfered with it. We were getting tired of its ill-humour and talked of leaving it, when it suddenly grew sweet-tempered again, swooped around a curve—and presto, we were in fairyland. It was a little dell far in the heart of the woods. A row of birches fringed the brook, and each birch seemed more exquisitely graceful and golden than her sisters. The woods receded from it on every hand, leaving it lying in a pool of amber sunshine. The yellow trees were mirrored in the placid stream, with now and then a leaf falling on the water, mayhap to drift away and be used, as Uncle Blair suggested, by some adventurous wood sprite who had it in mind to fare forth to some far-off, legendary region where all the brooks ran into the sea. “Oh, what a lovely place!” I exclaimed, looking around me with delight. “A spell of eternity is woven over it, surely,” murmured Uncle Blair. “Winter may not touch it, or spring ever revisit it. It should be like this for ever.” “Let us never come here again,” said the Story Girl softly, “never, no matter how often we may be in Carlisle. Then we will never see it changed or different. We can always remember it just as we see it now, and it will be like this for ever for us.” “I’m going to sketch it,” said Uncle Blair. While he sketched it the Story Girl and I sat on the banks of the brook and she told me the story of the Sighing Reed. It was a very simple little story, that of the slender brown reed which grew by the forest pool and always was sad and sighing because it could not utter music like the brook and the birds and the winds. All the bright, beautiful things around it mocked it and laughed at it for its folly. Who would ever look for music in it, a plain, brown, unbeautiful thing? But one day a youth came through the wood; he was as beautiful as the spring; he cut the brown reed and fashioned it according to his liking; and then he put it to his lips and breathed on it; and, oh, the music that floated through the forest! It was so entrancing that everything—brooks and birds and winds—grew silent to listen to it. Never had anything so lovely been heard; it was the music that had for so long been shut up in the soul of the sighing reed and was set free at last through its pain and suffering. I had heard the Story Girl tell many a more dramatic tale; but that one stands out for me in memory above them all, partly, perhaps, because of the spot in which she told it, partly because it was the last one I was to hear her tell for many years—the last one she was ever to tell me on the golden road. When Uncle Blair had finished his sketch the shafts of sunshine were turning crimson and growing more and more remote; the early autumn twilight was falling over the woods. We left our dell, saying good-bye to it for ever, as the Story Girl had suggested, and we went slowly homeward through the fir woods, where a haunting, indescribable odour stole out to meet us. “There is magic in the scent of dying fir,” Uncle Blair was saying aloud to himself, as if forgetting he was not quite alone. “It gets into our blood like some rare, subtly-compounded wine, and thrills us with unutterable sweetnesses, as of recollections from some other fairer life, lived in some happier star. Compared to it, all other scents seem heavy and earth-born, luring to the valleys instead of the heights. But the tang of the fir summons onward and upward to some ‘far-off, divine event’—some spiritual peak of attainment whence we shall see with unfaltering, unclouded vision the spires of some aerial City Beautiful, or the fulfilment of some fair, fadeless land of promise.” He was silent for a moment, then added in a lower tone, “Felicity, you loved the scent of dying fir. If you were here tonight with me—Felicity—Felicity!” Something in his voice made me suddenly sad. I was comforted when I felt the Story Girl slip her hand into mine. So we walked out of the woods into the autumn dusk. We were in a little valley. Half-way up the opposite slope a brush fire was burning clearly and steadily in a maple grove. There was something indescribably alluring in that fire, glowing so redly against the dark background of forest and twilit hill. “Let us go to it,” cried Uncle Blair, gaily, casting aside his sorrowful mood and catching our hands. “A wood fire at night has a fascination not to be resisted by those of mortal race. Hasten—we must not lose time.” “Oh, it will burn a long time yet,” I gasped, for Uncle Blair was whisking us up the hill at a merciless rate. “You can’t be sure. It may have been lighted by some good, honest farmer-man, bent on tidying up his sugar orchard, but it may also, for anything we know, have been kindled by no earthly woodman as a beacon or summons to the tribes of fairyland, and may vanish away if we tarry.” It did not vanish and presently we found ourselves in the grove. It was very beautiful; the fire burned with a clear, steady glow and a soft crackle; the long arcades beneath the trees were illuminated with a rosy radiance, beyond which lurked companies of gray and purple shadows. Everything was very still and dreamy and remote. “It is impossible that out there, just over the hill, lies a village of men, where tame household lamps are shining,” said Uncle Blair. “I feel as if we must be thousands of miles away from everything we’ve ever known,” murmured the Story Girl. “So you are!” said Uncle Blair emphatically. “You’re back in the youth of the race—back in the beguilement of the young world. Everything is in this hour—the beauty of classic myths, the primal charm of the silent and the open, the lure of mystery. Why, it’s a time and place when and where everything might come true—when the men in green might creep out to join hands and dance around the fire, or dryads steal from their trees to warm their white limbs, grown chilly in October frosts, by the blaze. I wouldn’t be much surprised if we should see something of the kind. Isn’t that the flash of an ivory shoulder through yonder gloom? And didn’t you see a queer little elfin face peering at us around that twisted gray trunk? But one can’t be sure. Mortal eyesight is too slow and clumsy a thing to match against the flicker of a pixy-litten fire.” Hand in hand we wandered through that enchanted place, seeking the folk of elf-land, “and heard their mystic voices calling, from fairy knoll and haunted hill.” Not till the fire died down into ashes did we leave the grove. Then we found that the full moon was gleaming lustrously from a cloudless sky across the valley. Between us and her stretched up a tall pine, wondrously straight and slender and branchless to its very top, where it overflowed in a crest of dark boughs against the silvery splendour behind it. Beyond, the hill farms were lying in a suave, white radiance. “Doesn’t it seem a long, long time to you since we left home this afternoon?” asked the Story Girl. “And yet it is only a few hours.” Only a few hours—true; yet such hours were worth a cycle of common years untouched by the glory and the dream. 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. L. M. Montgomery (2008). The Golden Road. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/316/pg316-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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