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Juno

juno

These Biotech Execs Made Perfectly Timed Trades in Health Care Stocks 

এই বায়োটেক এক্সিক্স স্বাস্থ্যসেবা স্টকগুলিতে নিখুঁতভাবে সময়োপযোগী ট্রেড করেছেন

Diese Biotech-Manager haben zum perfekten Zeitpunkt Geschäfte mit Gesundheitsaktien getätigt

Estos ejecutivos de biotecnología realizaron operaciones en el momento perfecto en acciones de atención médica

Ces dirigeants de la biotechnologie ont effectué des transactions parfaitement synchronisées sur les actions du secteur de la santé

इन बायोटेक अधिकारियों ने स्वास्थ्य देखभाल शेयरों में बिल्कुल सही समय पर व्यापार किया

これらのバイオテクノロジー幹部はヘルスケア株で完璧なタイミングで取引を行った

헬스케어 주식에서 완벽한 타이밍에 거래한 생명공학 경영진

Esses executivos de biotecnologia fizeram negociações perfeitamente cronometradas em ações de saúde

Эти руководители биотехнологий совершили идеально своевременные сделки по акциям здравоохранения

Bu Biyoteknoloji Yöneticileri Sağlık Hisse Senetlerinde Mükemmel Zamanlanmış Ticaret Yaptı

Những nhà điều hành công nghệ sinh học này đã thực hiện giao dịch theo thời gian hoàn hảo đối với cổ phiếu chăm sóc sức khỏe

这些生物技术高管在医疗保健股上进行了完美的时机交易

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE PRIME MINISTER IS HARD PRESSED. here THE PRIME MINISTER IS HARD PRESSED. It can never be a very easy thing to form a Ministry. The one chosen chief is readily selected. Circumstances, indeed, have probably left no choice in the matter. Every man in the country who has at all turned his thoughts that way knows very well who will be the next Prime Minister when it comes to pass that a change is imminent. In these days the occupant of the throne can have no difficulty. Mr. Gresham recommends Her Majesty to send for Mr. Daubeny, or Mr. Daubeny for Mr. Gresham,—as some ten or a dozen years since Mr. Mildmay told her to send for Lord de Terrier, or Lord de Terrier for Mr. Mildmay. The Prime Minister is elected by the nation, but the nation, except in rare cases, cannot go below that in arranging details, and the man for whom the Queen sends is burdened with the necessity of selecting his colleagues. It may be,—probably must always be the case,—that this, that, and the other colleagues are clearly indicated to his mind, but then each of these colleagues may want his own inferior coadjutors, and so the difficulty begins, increases, and at length culminates. On the present occasion it was known at the end of a week that Mr. Gresham had not filled all his offices, and that there were difficulties. It was announced that the Duke of St. Bungay could not quite agree on certain points with Mr. Gresham, and that the Duke of Omnium would do nothing without the other Duke. The Duke of St. Bungay was very powerful, as there were three or four of the old adherents of Mr. Mildmay who would join no Government unless he was with them. Sir Harry Coldfoot and Lord Plinlimmon would not accept office without the Duke. The Duke was essential, and now, though the Duke's character was essentially that of a practical man who never raised unnecessary trouble, men said that the Duke was at the bottom of it all. The Duke did not approve of Mr. Bonteen. Mr. Gresham, so it was said, insisted on Mr. Bonteen,—appealing to the other Duke. But that other Duke, our own special Duke, Planty Pall that was, instead of standing up for Mr. Bonteen, was cold and unsympathetic. He could not join the Ministry without his friend, the Duke of St. Bungay, and as to Mr. Bonteen, he thought that perhaps a better selection might be made. Such were the club rumours which took place as to the difficulties of the day, and, as is generally the case, they were not far from the truth. Neither of the dukes had absolutely put a veto on poor Mr. Bonteen's elevation, but they had expressed themselves dissatisfied with the appointment, and the younger duke had found himself called upon to explain that although he had been thrown much into communication with Mr. Bonteen he had never himself suggested that that gentleman should follow him at the Exchequer. This was one of the many difficulties which beset the Prime Minister elect in the performance of his arduous duty. Lady Glencora, as people would still persist in calling her, was at the bottom of it all. She had sworn an oath inimical to Mr. Bonteen, and did not leave a stone unturned in her endeavours to accomplish it. If Phineas Finn might find acceptance, then Mr. Bonteen might be allowed to enter Elysium. A second Juno, she would allow the Romulus she hated to sit in the seats of the blessed, to be fed with nectar, and to have his name printed in the lists of unruffled Cabinet meetings,—but only on conditions. Phineas Finn must be allowed a seat also, and a little nectar,—though it were at the second table of the gods. For this she struggled, speaking her mind boldly to this and that member of her husband's party, but she struggled in vain. She could obtain no assurance on behalf of Phineas Finn. The Duke of St. Bungay would do nothing for her. Barrington Erle had declared himself powerless. Her husband had condescended to speak to Mr. Bonteen himself, and Mr. Bonteen's insolent answer had been reported to her. Then she went sedulously to work, and before a couple of days were over she did make her husband believe that Mr. Bonteen was not fit to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. This took place before Mr. Daubeny's statement, while the Duke and Duchess of St. Bungay were still at Matching,—while Mr. Bonteen, unconscious of what was being done, was still in the House. Before the two days were over, the Duke of St. Bungay had a very low opinion of Mr. Bonteen, but was quite ignorant of any connection between that low opinion and the fortunes of Phineas Finn. "Plantagenet, of all your men that are coming up, your Mr. Bonteen is the worst. I often think that you are going down hill, both in character and intellect, but if you go as low as that I shall prefer to cross the water, and live in America." This she said in the presence of the two dukes. "What has Mr. Bonteen done?" asked the elder, laughing. "He was boasting this morning openly of whom he intended to bring with him into the Cabinet." Truth demands that the chronicler should say that this was a positive fib. Mr. Bonteen, no doubt, had talked largely and with indiscretion, but had made no such boast as that of which the Duchess accused him. "Mr. Gresham will get astray if he doesn't allow some one to tell him the truth." She did not press the matter any further then, but what she had said was not thrown away. "Your wife is almost right about that man," the elder Duke said to the younger. "It's Mr. Gresham's doing,—not mine," said the younger. "She is right about Gresham, too," said the elder. "With all his immense intellect and capacity for business no man wants more looking after." That evening Mr. Bonteen was singled out by the Duchess for her special attention, and in the presence of all who were there assembled he made himself an ass. He could not save himself from talking about himself when he was encouraged. On this occasion he offended all those feelings of official discretion and personal reticence which had been endeared to the old duke by the lessons which he had learned from former statesmen and by the experience of his own life. To be quiet, unassuming, almost affectedly modest in any mention of himself, low-voiced, reflecting always more than he resolved, and resolving always more than he said, had been his aim. Conscious of his high rank, and thinking, no doubt, much of the advantages in public life which his birth and position had given him, still he would never have ventured to speak of his own services as necessary to any Government. That he had really been indispensable to many he must have known, but not to his closest friend would he have said so in plain language. To such a man the arrogance of Mr. Bonteen was intolerable. There is probably more of the flavour of political aristocracy to be found still remaining among our liberal leading statesmen than among their opponents. A conservative Cabinet is, doubtless, never deficient in dukes and lords, and the sons of such; but conservative dukes and lords are recruited here and there, and as recruits, are new to the business, whereas among the old Whigs a halo of statecraft has, for ages past, so strongly pervaded and enveloped certain great families, that the power in the world of politics thus produced still remains, and is even yet efficacious in creating a feeling of exclusiveness. They say that "misfortune makes men acquainted with strange bedfellows." The old hereditary Whig Cabinet ministers must, no doubt, by this time have learned to feel themselves at home with strange neighbours at their elbows. But still with them something of the feeling of high blood, of rank, and of living in a park with deer about it, remains. They still entertain a pride in their Cabinets, and have, at any rate, not as yet submitted themselves to a conjuror. The Charles James Fox element of liberality still holds its own, and the fragrance of Cavendish is essential. With no man was this feeling stronger than with the Duke of St. Bungay, though he well knew how to keep it in abeyance,—even to the extent of self-sacrifice. Bonteens must creep into the holy places. The faces which he loved to see,—born chiefly of other faces he had loved when young,—could not cluster around the sacred table without others which were much less welcome to him. He was wise enough to know that exclusiveness did not suit the nation, though human enough to feel that it must have been pleasant to himself. There must be Bonteens;—but when any Bonteen came up, who loomed before his eyes as specially disagreeable, it seemed to him to be a duty to close the door against such a one, if it could be closed without violence. A constant, gentle pressure against the door would tend to keep down the number of the Bonteens. "I am not sure that you are not going a little too quick in regard to Mr. Bonteen," said the elder duke to Mr. Gresham before he had finally assented to a proposition originated by himself,—that he should sit in the Cabinet without a portfolio. "Palliser wishes it," said Mr. Gresham, shortly. "He and I think that there has been some mistake about that. You suggested the appointment to him, and he felt unwilling to raise an objection without giving the matter very mature consideration. You can understand that." "Upon my word I thought that the selection would be peculiarly agreeable to him." Then the duke made a suggestion. "Could not some special office at the Treasury be constructed for Mr. Bonteen's acceptance, having special reference to the question of decimal coinage?" "But how about the salary?" asked Mr. Gresham. "I couldn't propose a new office with a salary above £2,000." "Couldn't we make it permanent," suggested the duke;—"with permission to hold a seat if he can get one?" "I fear not," said Mr. Gresham. "He got into a very unpleasant scrape when he was Financial Secretary," said the Duke. But whither would'st thou, Muse? Unmeet For jocund lyre are themes like these. Shalt thou the talk of Gods repeat, Debasing by thy strains effete Such lofty mysteries? The absolute words of a conversation so lofty shall no longer be attempted, but it may be said that Mr. Gresham was too wise to treat as of no account the objections of such a one as the Duke of St. Bungay. He saw Mr. Bonteen, and he saw the other duke, and difficulties arose. Mr. Bonteen made himself very disagreeable indeed. As Mr. Bonteen had never absolutely been as yet more than a demigod, our Muse, light as she is, may venture to report that he told Mr. Ratler that "he'd be d—— if he'd stand it. If he were to be thrown over now, he'd make such a row, and would take such care that the fat should be in the fire, that his enemies, whoever they were, should wish that they had kept their fingers off him. He knew who was doing it." If he did not know, his guess was right. In his heart he accused the young duchess, though he mentioned her name to no one. And it was the young duchess. Then there was made an insidious proposition to Mr. Gresham,—which reached him at last through Barrington Erle,—that matters would go quieter if Phineas Finn were placed in his old office at the Colonies instead of Lord Fawn, whose name had been suggested, and for whom,—as Barrington Erle declared,—no one cared a brass farthing. Mr. Gresham, when he heard this, thought that he began to smell a rat, and was determined to be on his guard. Why should the appointment of Mr. Phineas Finn make things go easier in regard to Mr. Bonteen? There must be some woman's fingers in the pie. Now Mr. Gresham was firmly resolved that no woman's fingers should have anything to do with his pie. How the thing went from bad to worse, it would be bootless here to tell. Neither of the two dukes absolutely refused to join the Ministry; but they were persistent in their objection to Mr. Bonteen, and were joined in it by Lord Plinlimmon and Sir Harry Coldfoot. It was in vain that Mr. Gresham urged that he had no other man ready and fit to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. That excuse could not be accepted. There was Legge Wilson, who twelve years since had been at the Treasury, and would do very well. Now Mr. Gresham had always personally hated Legge Wilson,—and had, therefore, offered him the Board of Trade. Legge Wilson had disgusted him by accepting it, and the name had already been published in connection with the office. But in the lists which had appeared towards the end of the week, no name was connected with the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and no office was connected with the name of Mr. Bonteen. The editor of The People's Banner, however, expressed the gratification of that journal that even Mr. Gresham had not dared to propose Mr. Phineas Finn for any place under the Crown. At last Mr. Bonteen was absolutely told that he could not be Chancellor of the Exchequer. If he would consent to give his very valuable services to the country with the view of carrying through Parliament the great measure of decimal coinage he should be President of the Board of Trade,—but without a seat in the Cabinet. He would thus become the Right Honourable Bonteen, which, no doubt, would be a great thing for him,—and, not busy in the Cabinet, must be able to devote his time exclusively to the great measure above-named. What was to become of "Trade" generally, was not specially explained; but, as we all know, there would be a Vice-President to attend to details. The proposition very nearly broke the man's heart. With a voice stopped by agitation, with anger flashing from his eyes, almost in a convulsion of mixed feelings, he reminded his chief of what had been said about his appointment in the House. Mr. Gresham had already absolutely defended it. After that did Mr. Gresham mean to withdraw a promise that had so formally been made? But Mr. Gresham was not to be caught in that way. He had made no promise;—had not even stated to the House that such appointment was to be made. A very improper question had been asked as to a rumour,—in answering which he had been forced to justify himself by explaining that discussions respecting the office had been necessary. "Mr. Bonteen," said Mr. Gresham, "no one knows better than you the difficulties of a Minister. If you can act with us I shall be very grateful to you. If you cannot, I shall regret the loss of your services." Mr. Bonteen took twenty-four hours to consider, and was then appointed President of the Board of Trade without a seat in the Cabinet. Mr. Legge Wilson became Chancellor of the Exchequer. When the lists were completed, no office whatever was assigned to Phineas Finn. "I haven't done with Mr. Bonteen yet," said the young duchess to her friend Madame Goesler. The secrets of the world are very marvellous, but they are not themselves half so wonderful as the way in which they become known to the world. There could be no doubt that Mr. Bonteen's high ambition had foundered, and that he had been degraded through the secret enmity of the Duchess of Omnium. It was equally certain that his secret enmity to Phineas Finn had brought this punishment on his head. But before the Ministry had been a week in office almost everybody knew that it was so. The rumours were full of falsehood, but yet they contained the truth. The duchess had done it. The duchess was the bosom friend of Lady Laura Kennedy, who was in love with Phineas Finn. She had gone on her knees to Mr. Gresham to get a place for her friend's favourite, and Mr. Gresham had refused. Consequently, at her bidding, half-a-dozen embryo Ministers—her husband among the number—had refused to be amenable to Mr. Gresham. Mr. Gresham had at last consented to sacrifice Mr. Bonteen, who had originally instigated him to reject the claims of Phineas Finn. That the degradation of the one man had been caused by the exclusion of the other all the world knew. "It shuts the door to me for ever and ever," said Phineas to Madame Goesler. "I don't see that." "Of course it does. Such an affair places a mark against a man's name which will never be forgotten." "Is your heart set upon holding some trifling appointment under a Minister?" "To tell you the truth, it is;—or rather it was. The prospect of office to me was more than perhaps to any other expectant. Even this man, Bonteen, has some fortune of his own, and can live if he be excluded. I have given up everything for the chance of something in this line." "Other lines are open." "Not to me, Madame Goesler. I do not mean to defend myself. I have been very foolish, very sanguine, and am now very unhappy." "What shall I say to you?" "The truth." "In truth, then, I do not sympathise with you. The thing lost is too small, too mean to justify unhappiness." "But, Madame Goesler, you are a rich woman." "Well?" "If you were to lose it all, would you not be unhappy? It has been my ambition to live here in London as one of a special set which dominates all other sets in our English world. To do so a man should have means of his own. I have none; and yet I have tried it,—thinking that I could earn my bread at it as men do at other professions. I acknowledge that I should not have thought so. No man should attempt what I have attempted without means, at any rate to live on if he fail; but I am not the less unhappy because I have been silly." "What will you do?" "Ah,—what? Another friend asked me that the other day, and I told her that I should vanish." "Who was that friend?" "Lady Laura." "She is in London again now?" "Yes; she and her father are in Portman Square." "She has been an injurious friend to you." "No, by heaven," exclaimed Phineas. "But for her I should never have been here at all, never have had a seat in Parliament, never have been in office, never have known you." "And might have been the better without any of these things." "No man ever had a better friend than Lady Laura has been to me. Malice, wicked and false as the devil, has lately joined our names together to the incredible injury of both of us; but it has not been her fault." "You are energetic in defending her." "And so would she be in defending me. Circumstances threw us together and made us friends. Her father and her brother were my friends. I happened to be of service to her husband. We belonged to the same party. And therefore—because she has been unfortunate in her marriage—people tell lies of her." "It is a pity he should—not die, and leave her," said Madame Goesler slowly. "Why so?" "Because then you might justify yourself in defending her by making her your wife." She paused, but he made no answer to this. "You are in love with her," she said. "It is untrue." "Mr. Finn!" "Well, what would you have? I am not in love with her. To me she is no more than my sister. Were she as free as air I should not ask her to be my wife. Can a man and woman feel no friendship without being in love with each other?" "I hope they may," said Madame Goesler. Had he been lynx-eyed he might have seen that she blushed; but it required quick eyes to discover a blush on Madame Goesler's face. "You and I are friends." "Indeed we are," he said, grasping her hand as he took his leave. 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. Anthony Trollope (2006). Phineas Redux. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18640/pg18640-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 PRIME MINISTER IS HARD PRESSED.

Parliament Meets

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Mrs. Bold Confides Her Sorrow to Her Friend Miss Stanhope here Mrs. Bold Confides Her Sorrow to Her Friend Miss Stanhope When Mrs. Bold came to the end of the walk and faced the lawn, she began to bethink herself what she should do. Was she to wait there till Mr. Slope caught her, or was she to go in among the crowd with tears in her eyes and passion in her face? She might in truth have stood there long enough without any reasonable fear of further immediate persecution from Mr. Slope, but we are all inclined to magnify the bugbears which frighten us. In her present state of dread she did not know of what atrocity he might venture to be guilty. Had anyone told her a week ago that he would have put his arm round her waist at this party of Miss Thorne's, she would have been utterly incredulous. Had she been informed that he would be seen on the following Sunday walking down the High Street in a scarlet coat and top boots, she would not have thought such a phenomenon more improbable. But this improbable iniquity he had committed, and now there was nothing she could not believe of him. In the first place it was quite manifest that he was tipsy; in the next place it was to be taken as proved that all his religion was sheer hypocrisy; and finally the man was utterly shameless. She therefore stood watching for the sound of his footfall, not without some fear that he might creep out at her suddenly from among the bushes. As she thus stood she saw Charlotte Stanhope at a little distance from her, walking quickly across the grass. Eleanor's handkerchief was in her hand, and putting it to her face so as to conceal her tears, she ran across the lawn and joined her friend. "Oh, Charlotte," she said, almost too much out of breath to speak very plainly; "I am so glad I have found you." "Glad you have found me!" said Charlotte, laughing; "that's a good joke. Why Bertie and I have been looking for you everywhere. He swears that you have gone off with Mr. Slope, and is now on the point of hanging himself." "Oh, Charlotte, don't," said Mrs. Bold. "Why, my child, what on earth is the matter with you?" said Miss Stanhope, perceiving that Eleanor's hand trembled on her own arm, and finding also that her companion was still half-choked by tears. "Goodness heaven! Something has distressed you. What is it? What can I do for you?" Eleanor answered her only by a sort of spasmodic gurgle in her throat. She was a good deal upset, as people say, and could not at the moment collect herself. "Come here, this way, Mrs. Bold; come this way, and we shall not be seen. What has happened to vex you so? What can I do for you? Can Bertie do anything?" "Oh, no, no, no, no," said Eleanor. "There is nothing to be done. Only that horrid man—" "What horrid man?" asked Charlotte. There are some moments in life in which both men and women feel themselves imperatively called on to make a confidence, in which not to do so requires a disagreeable resolution and also a disagreeable suspicion. There are people of both sexes who never make confidences, who are never tempted by momentary circumstances to disclose their secrets, but such are generally dull, close, unimpassioned spirits, "gloomy gnomes, who live in cold dark mines." There was nothing of the gnome about Eleanor, and she therefore resolved to tell Charlotte Stanhope the whole story about Mr. Slope. "That horrid man; that Mr. Slope," said she. "Did you not see that he followed me out of the dining-room?" "Of course I did, and was sorry enough, but I could not help it. I knew you would be annoyed. But you and Bertie managed it badly between you." "It was not his fault nor mine either. You know how I disliked the idea of coming in the carriage with that man." "I am sure I am very sorry if that has led to it." "I don't know what has led to it," said Eleanor, almost crying again. "But it has not been my fault." "But what has he done, my dear?" "He's an abominable, horrid, hypocritical man, and it would serve him right to tell the bishop all about it." "Believe me, if you want to do him an injury, you had far better tell Mrs. Proudie. But what did he do, Mrs. Bold?" "Ugh!" exclaimed Eleanor. "Well, I must confess he's not very nice," said Charlotte Stanhope. "Nice!" said Eleanor. "He is the most fulsome, fawning, abominable man I ever saw. What business had he to come to me?—I that never gave him the slightest tittle of encouragement—I that always hated him, though I did take his part when others ran him down." "That's just where it is, my dear. He has heard that and therefore fancied that of course you were in love with him." This was wormwood to Eleanor. It was in fact the very thing which all her friends had been saying for the last month past—and which experience now proved to be true. Eleanor resolved within herself that she would never again take any man's part. The world, with all its villainy and all its ill-nature, might wag as it liked: she would not again attempt to set crooked things straight. "But what did he do, my dear?" said Charlotte, who was really rather interested in the subject. "He—he—he—" "Well—come, it can't have been anything so very horrid, for the man was not tipsy." "Oh, I am sure he was" said Eleanor. "I am sure he must have been tipsy." "Well, I declare I didn't observe it. But what was it, my love?" "Why, I believe I can hardly tell you. He talked such horrid stuff that you never heard the like: about religion, and heaven, and love. Oh, dear—he is such a nasty man." "I can easily imagine the sort of stuff he would talk. Well—and then—?" "And then—he took hold of me." "Took hold of you?" "Yes—he somehow got close to me and took hold of me—" "By the waist?" "Yes," said Eleanor shuddering. "And then—" "Then I jumped away from him, and gave him a slap on the face, and ran away along the path till I saw you." "Ha, ha, ha!" Charlotte Stanhope laughed heartily at the finale to the tragedy. It was delightful to her to think that Mr. Slope had had his ears boxed. She did not quite appreciate the feeling which made her friend so unhappy at the result of the interview. To her thinking the matter had ended happily enough as regarded the widow, who indeed was entitled to some sort of triumph among her friends. Whereas to Mr. Slope would be due all those gibes and jeers which would naturally follow such an affair. His friends would ask him whether his ears tingled whenever he saw a widow, and he would be cautioned that beautiful things were made to be looked at and not to be touched. Such were Charlotte Stanhope's views on such matters, but she did not at the present moment clearly explain them to Mrs. Bold. Her object was to endear herself to her friend, and therefore, having had her laugh, she was ready enough to offer sympathy. Could Bertie do anything? Should Bertie speak to the man and warn him that in future he must behave with more decorum? Bertie indeed, she declared, would be more angry than anyone else when he heard to what insult Mrs. Bold had been subjected. "But you won't tell him?" said Mrs. Bold with a look of horror. "Not if you don't like it," said Charlotte; "but considering everything, I would strongly advise it. If you had a brother, you know, it would be unnecessary. But it is very right that Mr. Slope should know that you have somebody by you that will and can protect you." "But my father is here." "Yes, but it is so disagreeable for clergymen to have to quarrel with each other; and circumstanced as your father is just at this moment, it would be very inexpedient that there should be anything unpleasant between him and Mr. Slope. Surely you and Bertie are intimate enough for you to permit him to take your part." Charlotte Stanhope was very anxious that her brother should at once on that very day settle matters with his future wife. Things had now come to that point between him and his father, and between him and his creditors, that he must either do so, or leave Barchester; either do that, or go back to his unwashed associates, dirty lodgings, and poor living at Carrara. Unless he could provide himself with an income, he must go to Carrara, or to ––––. His father the prebendary had not said this in so many words, but had he done so, he could not have signified it more plainly. Such being the state of the case it was very necessary that no more time should be lost. Charlotte had seen her brother's apathy, when he neglected to follow Mrs. Bold out of the room, with anger which she could hardly suppress. It was grievous to think that Mr. Slope should have so distanced him. Charlotte felt that she had played her part with sufficient skill. She had brought them together and induced such a degree of intimacy that her brother was really relieved from all trouble and labour in the matter. And moreover it was quite plain that Mrs. Bold was very fond of Bertie. And now it was plain enough also that he had nothing to fear from his rival, Mr. Slope. There was certainly an awkwardness in subjecting Mrs. Bold to a second offer on the same day. It would have been well perhaps to have put the matter off for a week, could a week have been spared. But circumstances are frequently too peremptory to be arranged as we would wish to arrange them, and such was the case now. This being so, could not this affair of Mr. Slope's be turned to advantage? Could it not be made the excuse for bringing Bertie and Mrs. Bold into still closer connexion—into such close connexion that they could not fail to throw themselves into each other's arms? Such was the game which Miss Stanhope now at a moment's notice resolved to play. And very well she played it. In the first place it was arranged that Mr. Slope should not return in the Stanhopes' carriage to Barchester. It so happened that Mr. Slope was already gone, but of that of course they knew nothing. The signora should be induced to go first, with only the servants and her sister, and Bertie should take Mr. Slope's place in the second journey. Bertie was to be told in confidence of the whole affair, and when the carriage was gone off with its first load, Eleanor was to be left under Bertie's special protection, so as to insure her from any further aggression from Mr. Slope. While the carriage was getting ready, Bertie was to seek out that gentleman and make him understand that he must provide himself with another conveyance back to Barchester. Their immediate object should be to walk about together in search of Bertie. Bertie in short was to be the Pegasus on whose wings they were to ride out of their present dilemma. There was a warmth of friendship and cordial kindliness in all this that was very soothing to the widow; but yet, though she gave way to it, she was hardly reconciled to doing so. It never occurred to her that, now that she had killed one dragon, another was about to spring up in her path; she had no remote idea that she would have to encounter another suitor in her proposed protector, but she hardly liked the thought of putting herself so much into the hands of young Stanhope. She felt that if she wanted protection, she should go to her father. She felt that she should ask him to provide a carriage for her back to Barchester. Mrs. Clantantram she knew would give her a seat. She knew that she should not throw herself entirely upon friends whose friendship dated, as it were, but from yesterday. But yet she could not say no to one who was so sisterly in her kindness, so eager in her good nature, so comfortably sympathetic as Charlotte Stanhope. And thus she gave way to all the propositions made to her. They first went into the dining-room, looking for their champion, and from thence to the drawing-room. Here they found Mr. Arabin, still hanging over the signora's sofa; or rather they found him sitting near her head, as a physician might have sat had the lady been his patient. There was no other person in the room. The guests were some in the tent, some few still in the dining room, some at the bows and arrows, but most of them walking with Miss Thorne through the park and looking at the games that were going on. All that had passed, and was passing between Mr. Arabin and the lady, it is unnecessary to give in detail. She was doing with him as she did with all others. It was her mission to make fools of men, and she was pursuing her mission with Mr. Arabin. She had almost got him to own his love for Mrs. Bold and had subsequently almost induced him to acknowledge a passion for herself. He, poor man, was hardly aware what he was doing or saying, hardly conscious whether was in heaven or in hell. So little had he known of female attractions of that peculiar class which the signora owned, that he became affected with a kind of temporary delirium when first subjected to its power. He lost his head rather than this heart, and toppled about mentally, reeling in his ideas as a drunken man does on his legs. She had whispered to him words that really meant nothing but which, coming from such beautiful lips and accompanied by such lustrous glances, seemed to have a mysterious significance, which he felt though he could not understand. In being thus besirened, Mr. Arabin behaved himself very differently from Mr. Slope. The signora had said truly that the two men were the contrasts of each other—that the one was all for action, the other all for thought. Mr. Slope, when this lady laid upon his senses the overpowering breath of her charms, immediately attempted to obtain some fruition, to achieve some mighty triumph. He began by catching at her hand and progressed by kissing it. He made vows of love and asked for vows in return. He promised everlasting devotion, knelt before her, and swore that had she been on Mount Ida, Juno would have had no cause to hate the offspring of Venus. But Mr. Arabin uttered no oaths, kept his hand mostly in his trousers pocket, and had no more thought of kissing Madame Neroni than of kissing the Countess De Courcy. As soon as Mr. Arabin saw Mrs. Bold enter the room he blushed and rose from his chair; then he sat down again, and then again got up. The signora saw the blush at once and smiled at the poor victim, but Eleanor was too much confused to see anything. "Oh, Madeline," said Charlotte, "I want to speak to you particularly; we must arrange about the carriage, you know," and she stooped down to whisper to her sister. Mr. Arabin immediately withdrew to a little distance, and as Charlotte had in fact much to explain before she could make the new carriage arrangement intelligible, he had nothing to do but to talk to Mrs. Bold. "We have had a very pleasant party," said he, using the tone he would have used had he declared that the sun was shining very brightly, or the rain falling very fast. "Very," said Eleanor, who never in her life had passed a more unpleasant day. "I hope Mr. Harding has enjoyed himself." "Oh, yes, very much," said Eleanor, who had not seen her father since she parted from him soon after her arrival. "He returns to Barchester to-night, I suppose." "Yes, I believe so—that is, I think he is staying at Plumstead." "Oh, staying at Plumstead," said Mr. Arabin. "He came from there this morning. I believe he is going back, he didn't exactly say, however." "I hope Mrs. Grantly is quite well." "She seemed to be quite well. She is here; that is, unless she has gone away." "Oh, yes, to be sure. I was talking to her. Looking very well indeed." Then there was a considerable pause; for Charlotte could not at once make Madeline understand why she was to be sent home in a hurry without her brother. "Are you returning to Plumstead, Mrs. Bold?" Mr. Arabin merely asked this by way of making conversation, but he immediately perceived that he was approaching dangerous ground. "No," said Mrs. Bold very quietly; "I am going home to Barchester." "Oh, ah, yes. I had forgotten that you had returned." And then Mr. Arabin, finding it impossible to say anything further, stood silent till Charlotte had completed her plans, and Mrs. Bold stood equally silent, intently occupied as it appeared in the arrangement of her rings. And yet these two people were thoroughly in love with each other; and though one was a middle-aged clergyman, and the other a lady at any rate past the wishy-washy bread-and-butter period of life, they were as unable to tell their own minds to each other as any Damon and Phillis, whose united ages would not make up that to which Mr. Arabin had already attained. Madeline Neroni consented to her sister's proposal, and then the two ladies again went off in quest of Bertie Stanhope. 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. Anthony Trollope (2002). Barchester Towers. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3409/pg3409-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

Mrs. Bold Confides Her Sorrow to Her Friend Miss Stanhope

Mrs. Proudie's Reception—Concluded

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . A Morning Visit here A Morning Visit It was known that Dr. Proudie would immediately have to reappoint to the wardenship of the hospital under the act of Parliament to which allusion has been made; no one imagined that any choice was left to him—no one for a moment thought that he could appoint any other than Mr. Harding. Mr. Harding himself, when he heard how the matter had been settled, without troubling himself much on the subject, considered it as certain that he would go back to his pleasant house and garden. And though there would be much that was melancholy, nay, almost heartrending, in such a return, he still was glad that it was to be so. His daughter might probably be persuaded to return there with him. She had, indeed, all but promised to do so, though she still entertained an idea that that greatest of mortals, that important atom of humanity, that little god upon earth, Johnny Bold her baby, ought to have a house of his own over his head. Such being the state of Mr. Harding's mind in the matter, he did not feel any peculiar personal interest in the appointment of Dr. Proudie to the bishopric. He, as well as others at Barchester, regretted that a man should be sent among them who, they were aware, was not of their way of thinking; but Mr. Harding himself was not a bigoted man on points of church doctrine, and he was quite prepared to welcome Dr. Proudie to Barchester in a graceful and becoming manner. He had nothing to seek and nothing to fear; he felt that it behoved him to be on good terms with his bishop, and he did not anticipate any obstacle that would prevent it. In such a frame of mind he proceeded to pay his respects at the palace the second day after the arrival of the bishop and his chaplain. But he did not go alone. Dr. Grantly proposed to accompany him, and Mr. Harding was not sorry to have a companion, who would remove from his shoulders the burden of the conversation in such an interview. In the affair of the consecration Dr. Grantly had been introduced to the bishop, and Mr. Harding had also been there. He had, however, kept himself in the background, and he was now to be presented to the great man for the first time. The archdeacon's feelings were of a much stronger nature. He was not exactly the man to overlook his own slighted claims, or to forgive the preference shown to another. Dr. Proudie was playing Venus to his Juno, and he was prepared to wage an internecine war against the owner of the wished-for apple, and all his satellites, private chaplains, and others. Nevertheless, it behoved him also to conduct himself towards the intruder as an old archdeacon should conduct himself to an incoming bishop; and though he was well aware of all Dr. Proudie's abominable opinions as regarded dissenters, church reform, the hebdomadal council, and such like; though he disliked the man, and hated the doctrines, still he was prepared to show respect to the station of the bishop. So he and Mr. Harding called together at the palace. His lordship was at home, and the two visitors were shown through the accustomed hall into the well-known room where the good old bishop used to sit. The furniture had been bought at a valuation, and every chair and table, every bookshelf against the wall, and every square in the carpet was as well known to each of them as their own bedrooms. Nevertheless they at once felt that they were strangers there. The furniture was for the most part the same, yet the place had been metamorphosed. A new sofa had been introduced, a horrid chintz affair, most unprelatical and almost irreligious; such a sofa as never yet stood in the study of any decent High Church clergyman of the Church of England. The old curtains had also given way. They had, to be sure, become dingy, and that which had been originally a rich and goodly ruby had degenerated into a reddish brown. Mr. Harding, however, thought the old reddish-brown much preferable to the gaudy buff-coloured trumpery moreen which Mrs. Proudie had deemed good enough for her husband's own room in the provincial city of Barchester. Our friends found Dr. Proudie sitting on the old bishop's chair, looking very nice in his new apron; they found, too, Mr. Slope standing on the hearth-rug, persuasive and eager, just as the archdeacon used to stand; but on the sofa they also found Mrs. Proudie, an innovation for which a precedent might in vain be sought in all the annals of the Barchester bishopric! There she was, however, and they could only make the best of her. The introductions were gone through in much form. The archdeacon shook hands with the bishop, and named Mr. Harding, who received such an amount of greeting as was due from a bishop to a precentor. His lordship then presented them to his lady wife; the archdeacon first, with archidiaconal honours, and then the precentor with diminished parade. After this Mr. Slope presented himself. The bishop, it is true, did mention his name, and so did Mrs. Proudie too, in a louder tone, but Mr. Slope took upon himself the chief burden of his own introduction. He had great pleasure in making himself acquainted with Dr. Grantly; he had heard much of the archdeacon's good works in that part of the diocese in which his duties as archdeacon had been exercised (thus purposely ignoring the archdeacon's hitherto unlimited dominion over the diocese at large). He was aware that his lordship depended greatly on the assistance which Dr. Grantly would be able to give him in that portion of his diocese. He then thrust out his hand and, grasping that of his new foe, bedewed it unmercifully. Dr. Grantly in return bowed, looked stiff, contracted his eyebrows, and wiped his hand with his pocket-handkerchief. Nothing abashed, Mr. Slope then noticed the precentor and descended to the grade of the lower clergy. He gave him a squeeze of the hand, damp indeed, but affectionate, and was very glad to make the acquaintance of Mr.—oh yes, Mr. Harding; he had not exactly caught the name. "Precentor in the cathedral," surmised Mr. Slope. Mr. Harding confessed that such was the humble sphere of his work. "Some parish duty as well," suggested Mr. Slope. Mr. Harding acknowledged the diminutive incumbency of St. Cuthbert's. Mr. Slope then left him alone, having condescended sufficiently, and joined the conversation among the higher powers. There were four persons there, each of whom considered himself the most important personage in the diocese—himself, indeed, or herself, as Mrs. Proudie was one of them—and with such a difference of opinion it was not probable that they would get on pleasantly together. The bishop himself actually wore the visible apron, and trusted mainly to that—to that and his title, both being facts which could not be overlooked. The archdeacon knew his subject and really understood the business of bishoping, which the others did not, and this was his strong ground. Mrs. Proudie had her sex to back her, and her habit of command, and was nothing daunted by the high tone of Dr. Grantly's face and figure. Mr. Slope had only himself and his own courage and tact to depend on, but he nevertheless was perfectly self-assured, and did not doubt but that he should soon get the better of weak men who trusted so much to externals, as both bishop and archdeacon appeared to do. "Do you reside in Barchester, Dr. Grantly?" asked the lady with her sweetest smile. Dr. Grantly explained that he lived in his own parish of Plumstead Episcopi, a few miles out of the city. Whereupon the lady hoped that the distance was not too great for country visiting, as she would be so glad to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Grantly. She would take the earliest opportunity, after the arrival of her horses at Barchester; their horses were at present in London; their horses were not immediately coming down, as the bishop would be obliged, in a few days, to return to town. Dr. Grantly was no doubt aware that the bishop was at present much called upon by the "University Improvement Committee:" indeed, the committee could not well proceed without him, as their final report had now to be drawn up. The bishop had also to prepare a scheme for the "Manufacturing Towns Morning and Evening Sunday School Society," of which he was a patron, or president, or director, and therefore the horses would not come down to Barchester at present; but whenever the horses did come down, she would take the earliest opportunity of calling at Plumstead Episcopi, providing the distance was not too great for country visiting. The archdeacon made his fifth bow—he had made one at each mention of the horses—and promised that Mrs. Grantly would do herself the honour of calling at the palace on an early day. Mrs. Proudie declared that she would be delighted: she hadn't liked to ask, not being quite sure whether Mrs. Grantly had horses; besides, the distance might have been, &c. &c. Dr. Grantly again bowed but said nothing. He could have bought every individual possession of the whole family of the Proudies and have restored them as a gift, without much feeling the loss; and had kept a separate pair of horses for the exclusive use of his wife since the day of his marriage, whereas Mrs. Proudie had been hitherto jobbed about the streets of London at so much a month, during the season, and at other times had managed to walk, or hire a smart fly from the livery stables. "Are the arrangements with reference to the Sabbath-day schools generally pretty good in your archdeaconry?" asked Mr. Slope. "Sabbath-day schools!" repeated the archdeacon with an affectation of surprise. "Upon my word, I can't tell; it depends mainly on the parson's wife and daughters. There is none at Plumstead." This was almost a fib on the part of the archdeacon, for Mrs. Grantly has a very nice school. To be sure it is not a Sunday-school exclusively, and is not so designated, but that exemplary lady always attends there for an hour before church, and hears the children say their catechism, and sees that they are clean and tidy for church, with their hands washed and their shoes tied; and Grisel and Florinda, her daughters, carry thither a basket of large buns, baked on the Saturday afternoon, and distribute them to all the children not especially under disgrace, which buns are carried home after church with considerable content, and eaten hot at tea, being then split and toasted. The children of Plumstead would indeed open their eyes if they heard their venerated pastor declare that there was no Sunday-school in his parish. Mr. Slope merely opened his wide eyes wider and slightly shrugged his shoulders. He was not, however, prepared to give up his darling project. "I fear there is a great deal of Sabbath travelling here," said he. "On looking at the 'Bradshaw,' I see that there are three trains in and three out every Sabbath. Could nothing be done to induce the company to withdraw them? Don't you think, Dr. Grantly, that a little energy might diminish the evil?" "Not being a director, I really can't say. But if you can withdraw the passengers, the company I dare say will withdraw the trains," said the doctor. "It's merely a question of dividends." "But surely, Dr. Grantly," said the lady; "surely we should look at it differently. You and I, for instance, in our position: surely we should do all that we can to control so grievous a sin. Don't you think so, Mr. Harding?" and she turned to the precentor, who was sitting mute and unhappy. Mr. Harding thought that all porters and stokers, guards, brakesmen, and pointsmen ought to have an opportunity of going to church, and he hoped that they all had. "But surely, surely," continued Mrs. Proudie, "surely that is not enough. Surely that will not secure such an observance of the Sabbath as we are taught to conceive is not only expedient but indispensable; surely—" Come what come might, Dr. Grantly was not to be forced into a dissertation on a point of doctrine with Mrs. Proudie, nor yet with Mr. Slope, so without much ceremony he turned his back upon the sofa and began to hope that Dr. Proudie had found that the palace repairs had been such as to meet his wishes. "Yes, yes," said his lordship; upon the whole he thought so—upon the whole, he didn't know that there was much ground for complaint; the architect, perhaps, might have—but his double, Mr. Slope, who had sidled over to the bishop's chair, would not allow his lordship to finish his ambiguous speech. "There is one point I would like to mention, Mr. Archdeacon. His lordship asked me to step through the premises, and I see that the stalls in the second stable are not perfect." "Why—there's standing there for a dozen horses," said the archdeacon. "Perhaps so," said the other; "indeed, I've no doubt of it; but visitors, you know, often require so much accommodation. There are so many of the bishop's relatives who always bring their own horses." Dr. Grantly promised that due provision for the relatives' horses should be made, as far at least as the extent of the original stable building would allow. He would himself communicate with the architect. "And the coach-house, Dr. Grantly," continued Mr. Slope; "there is really hardly room for a second carriage in the large coach-house, and the smaller one, of course, holds only one." "And the gas," chimed in the lady; "there is no gas through the house, none whatever, but in the kitchen and passages. Surely the palace should have been fitted through with pipes for gas, and hot water too. There is no hot water laid on anywhere above the ground-floor; surely there should be the means of getting hot water in the bedrooms without having it brought in jugs from the kitchen." The bishop had a decided opinion that there should be pipes for hot water. Hot water was very essential for the comfort of the palace. It was, indeed, a requisite in any decent gentleman's house. Mr. Slope had remarked that the coping on the garden wall was in many places imperfect. Mrs. Proudie had discovered a large hole, evidently the work of rats, in the servants' hall. The bishop expressed an utter detestation of rats. There was nothing, he believed, in this world that he so much hated as a rat. Mr. Slope had, moreover, observed that the locks of the outhouses were very imperfect: he might specify the coal-cellar and the woodhouse. Mrs. Proudie had also seen that those on the doors of the servants' bedrooms were in an-equally bad condition; indeed, the locks all through the house were old-fashioned and unserviceable. The bishop thought that a great deal depended on a good lock and quite as much on the key. He had observed that the fault very often lay with the key, especially if the wards were in any way twisted. Mr. Slope was going on with his catalogue of grievances, when he was somewhat loudly interrupted by the archdeacon, who succeeded in explaining that the diocesan architect, or rather his foreman, was the person to be addressed on such subjects, and that he, Dr. Grantly, had inquired as to the comfort of the palace merely as a point of compliment. He was sorry, however, that so many things had been found amiss: and then he rose from his chair to escape. Mrs. Proudie, though she had contrived to lend her assistance in recapitulating the palatial dilapidations, had not on that account given up her hold of Mr. Harding, nor ceased from her cross-examinations as to the iniquity of Sabbatical amusements. Over and over again had she thrown out her "Surely, surely," at Mr. Harding's devoted head, and ill had that gentleman been able to parry the attack. He had never before found himself subjected to such a nuisance. Ladies hitherto, when they had consulted him on religious subjects, had listened to what he might choose to say with some deference, and had differed, if they differed, in silence. But Mrs. Proudie interrogated him and then lectured. "Neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant," said she impressively, and more than once, as though Mr. Harding had forgotten the words. She shook her finger at him as she quoted the favourite law, as though menacing him with punishment, and then called upon him categorically to state whether he did not think that travelling on the Sabbath was an abomination and a desecration. Mr. Harding had never been so hard pressed in his life. He felt that he ought to rebuke the lady for presuming so to talk to a gentleman and a clergyman many years her senior, but he recoiled from the idea of scolding the bishop's wife, in the bishop's presence, on his first visit to the palace; moreover, to tell the truth, he was somewhat afraid of her. She, seeing him sit silent and absorbed, by no means refrained from the attack. "I hope, Mr. Harding," said she, shaking her head slowly and solemnly, "I hope you will not leave me to think that you approve of Sabbath travelling," and she looked a look of unutterable meaning into his eyes. There was no standing this, for Mr. Slope was now looking at him, and so was the bishop, and so was the archdeacon, who had completed his adieux on that side of the room. Mr. Harding therefore got up also and, putting out his hand to Mrs. Proudie, said: "If you will come to St. Cuthbert's some Sunday, I will preach you a sermon on that subject." And so the archdeacon and the precentor took their departure, bowing low to the lady, shaking hands with the lord, and escaping from Mr. Slope in the best manner each could. Mr. Harding was again maltreated, but Dr. Grantly swore deeply in the bottom of his heart, that no earthly consideration should ever again induce him to touch the paw of that impure and filthy animal. And now, had I the pen of a mighty poet, would I sing in epic verse the noble wrath of the archdeacon. The palace steps descend to a broad gravel sweep, from whence a small gate opens out into the street, very near the covered gateway leading into the close. The road from the palace door turns to the left, through the spacious gardens, and terminates on the London road, half a mile from the cathedral. Till they had both passed this small gate and entered the close, neither of them spoke a word, but the precentor clearly saw from his companion's face that a tornado was to be expected, nor was he himself inclined to stop it. Though by nature far less irritable than the archdeacon, even he was angry: he even—that mild and courteous man—was inclined to express himself in anything but courteous terms. 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. Anthony Trollope (2002). Barchester Towers. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3409/pg3409-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 Morning Visit

Exploring applications of Web3 tech for the collective management of ‘real world’ cyber-physical infrastructure Web3 evangelists preach the promise of a new Internet of Value and multidimensional democratization where the first iterations of the Internet failed. They say blockchain and cryptocurrency technology offer new modes for economic expression and socio-political paradigms where people-powered organizations can create their own currencies, pool funding, collectively own and manage infrastructure, and self-govern. The vision is ambitious, to say the least, and 14 years after the introduction of Bitcoin, many question the “real world” impact of these technologies as ecological degradation accelerates, and with it, economic and political instability. A recent event, CyborgCamp, illustrated this criticism of Web3 in its memetic governance experiment with “Lamp DAO”. The project’s creators not only poke fun at the crypto space’s inability thus far to create the deep systemic shifts needed to tackle our planet’s most wicked problems, but ironically, what started as a meme may actually hold promise for that bigger change and possibility. This piece takes us underground (literally a basement) to the lesser-known pioneering edges of Web3 space exploration, where cyberpunk is making a comeback and creative solutions engineering is based in play. Here, the hope for a brighter future rests in the hands of a neuroversal group of multidisciplinarians whose greatest weapon of revolution just might be - a lamp. Enter the Lair: CyborgCamp & A World Beyond Techno Feudalism I'm in a basement painted bright primary green. There's a TV streaming fractal, psychedelic art, while high-intensity electronic dance music pulses in the background. There are lamps of varying shapes and computer chips strewn about on a long, polished wood table. On another desk nearby, electric engineering and soldering equipment rest on the table with a hand-drawn picture of a dead stick figure labeled "danger" in red permanent marker. Zargham: "Don't f@!* with that one, Isaac already soldered it! Use the fresh breadboards." Barton: "Breadboards - now that sounds like it's for the people!" Michael Zargham, Founder and Chief Engineer of - a pioneering operations research and complex systems engineering firm - and Barton Rhodes, co-founder of , a visionary research and development exploration simulating and building energy microgrid infrastructure - yell at each other excitedly over the music. They cross the room to a whiteboard, covered in system diagrams, ontology mappings, and new applications of lambda calculus. BlockScience Plurigrid "We just have to sniff our Bluetooth signals!" Zargham says loudly as he draws another diagram. Janita Chalam, a developer with an advanced tooling stack, tries not to get distracted from coding, but can’t help laughing. decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) DAO DAO This is , an event started by Cyborg Anthropologist, public speaker, author of Calm Technology Amber Case in 2008. This year, it found expression in a suburban Albany, New York neighborhood home. The area, known as Rensselaer, was named after a 17th-century and one of the original founders of the Dutch West India Company. CyborgCamp Dutch feudal lord It is only fitting that 20 engineers and researchers gathered here for CyborgCamp 2023 to discuss and the possibilities for global systemic change amidst increasing . The backdrop - economic, social, and political unrest around the world, aging and underfunded public infrastructure, the rise of AI, and the transition from Web2 to Web3 technologies. technological feudalism overshoot of planetary boundaries From Feudalism to Commons: Rebuilding the Internet for Resilience in an Era of Collapse As witnessed in the last few decades, the promise of a democratized and open internet was crushed by the conglomerization and in Web2. Some critics have likened the role of participants of social networks and ride-sharing platforms to feudal peasants, hooked to dopamine drips and the pittance of wage slave economies. While they toil, the feudal overlords of transnational corporate platforms harvest data and build psychometric profiles to profit from advertising. The system is underpinned by a vast substrate of computation in an accelerating feedback loop of black box algorithms with the power to turn geopolitical tides (heavily documented and outlined in documentary films like ). monopolization of internet platforms “The Great Hack” With the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, there has been a foray into the possibilities of a new “Internet of Value.” Proponents envision not only increased agency and revenue sharing of platform participant’s data via and cooperative models, but more transparency and expanded collective governance of . Discussions across crypto communities range from more distributed ownership of network capital, assets, production, and infrastructure to greater resilience through more decentralized infrastructure, to improved pathways for fundraising, democracy, political action, and governance via new organizational structures and voting tools. data trusts algorithmic policy This drama is playing out within the four corners of our screens, but if we look up and out, we see another backdrop and frame - environmental and planetary collapse. With this, an even more important purpose of a new internet comes into view - systemic and paradigmatic shifts to reverse the extractive and destructive feedback loops we find ourselves in. A new iteration of the internet with enabling tools for the coordination of self-organized networks for local and global problem-solving, economic diversity and shelter, infrastructure with enhanced adaptive capacity, and overall greater resilience - . a regenaissance Cyborgers Unite! (Around a Lamp) The potential of Web3 and planetary collapse were just some of the countless discussions and impromptu talks at the un-conference style salon event. The grid of sticky notes on the living room wall displayed other topics like , , , , , and . Metaphysics: How do we formalize and apply it From Agents to Agency Xenomodernism: Dreams of a common language Macro Oriented Programming Exploring Post-Network Connectivity: Connectivity Fields Seizing the Memes of Production: A Memeathon In between bagels, sunset-watching breaks, and discussions on language models, the origins of the universe, and constitutions of science and truth, the Cyborgers were primarily focused on a hackathon experiment deemed “Lamp DAO.” The idea had been brewing for some weeks. Back in the basement, jokingly called “the lair" on the sticky note program grid, the experiment was taking shape. Jake Hartnell, __ __and DAO DAO co-founder was sitting on an office chair, bent over his computer wearing a blanket strung with LED lights around his shoulders like a cape. The  wires led to a Raspberry Pi, which he was using to test newly created voting tools. "So the lights on the blanket are blue now, but say we voted to change it to green - green's my favorite color - the vote would execute. I'll sign the transaction. I always love this part." Juno network Why Lamp DAO and What is it? Lamp DAO is a memetic-inspired demonstration, living art installation, and research and development project. The mission: To map, test and develop a DAO that can collectively control the brightness and hue of a lamp. cybernetics Chalam and Zeke Medley, another developer, are giggling wildly as they code JSON hue inputs generated from conversations with the conversational agent they build with . They query it about vibe preferences, referring to moods such as "dark and gloomy Japanese city in the rain," "bright, bold and glittery,” and “candy-colored hues” to generate a correlating number representing a light brightness and hue. OpenAI’s GPT-3 model "It sounds kind of stupid, I mean, it's a lamp. Why are we voting on the state of the lamp? The point is what it represents, a physical reality that's affecting all of us and we have a way to aggregate our preferences to change the physical reality. We can create a loop where we are reacting to that loop and continually updating it,” Chalam says excitedly. Event organizer, Case expands on the cybernetic aspects - human-machine assemblages and feedback loops of information and processes - emphasizing the importance of play in creativity and problem-solving. "By doing these things we create a temporary reality, a temporary autonomous zone, a liminal space betwixt and between the here and there in which people can come together and make something actually interesting. In this case, a socio-technical cybernetic assemblage that includes lamps, people, networks, DAOs, connectivity, voting, large language models like GPT-3, and other fun tools to demo out what we can do," Case explains. The lightbulb flicked on for Zargham when he was thinking about how to explain and demonstrate cyber infrastructure - socio-technical systems, with human and tech interfaces and feedback loops - and their power in shaping the "real world." Although cyber-physical infrastructure can include various layers of technology, the CyborgCamp group is well-versed in digital infrastructure design and systems engineering, including blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Zargham discussed the idea with Case, Hartnell, colleagues at BlockScience, and the interdisciplinary research collective, - who all came to the quick and full consensus that Lamp DAO must happen. MetaGov Zargham explains his motivation in experimenting with Lamp DAO: "My dad was an engineer for the state of New York's Department of Transportation, so naturally I am versed in public infrastructure. What I do now involves a new technological substrate, but the same engineering and scientific principles apply.” “We must find ways to rewire our current systems to account for environmental, economic, and social externalities that have us in this incredibly destructive feedback loop. One challenge of working with young and smart, but all-too-often inexperienced builders in Web3 is, they're governing their governance to govern; at least " laughs Zargham. lamps are real, The BlockScience founder has a background in electrical and robotics engineering and is particularly interested to see Web3 capacities applied to enhance and control (in the sense) cyber-physical infrastructure. This could be especially useful in outdated systems - like national power grids - in need of upgrades in tech, as well as policies and governance tools that enable quicker response and adaptation to the increasing challenges of the . control theory polycrisis "It's a great time to apply this new technology to our existing physical systems, and at the same time create new digital public infrastructures – such as practical participatory governance for algorithms, especially in emerging technology like AI", Zargham added. How Does Lamp DAO Work? I get a notification from the Lamp DAO Signal chat with several people sending their Juno wallet addresses, and I follow suit. Without even speaking members reply with theirs, the signal that membership NFTs are being minted - the energy in the room - magnetic. The NFTs represent membership in Lamp DAO. From the DAO dashboard, the members can chat with the conversational agent using GPT-3 (built by Chalam and Medley) to set their preferred lighting aesthetic. The agent can translate between a Lamp DAO member’s preferred aesthetic and a JSON configuration. The DAO members can then stake tokens on their preference, while the back-end aggregates the preferences through a weighted average, and the JSON file feeds the chip wired to the lamp and adjusts the lamp accordingly. Chalam explains: “The point of this is to demonstrate a way for people to express their preferences in natural language without having to understand the underlying configuration format, thereby "democratizing" the configuration space. You can imagine using [AI] agents in similar ways to offer people more control and understanding of different governance levers.” Many aspects of the configuration are customizable (such as how to represent membership, token distribution and vote weighting) and Lamp DAO will continue experimenting with different aspects of the system and governance possibilities. I ask if the hue could be “rainbow disco” rather than one color. Within seconds, programmer Colten Jackson types a few lines of code, and the blanket - formerly worn by Hartnell now on the table in front of me - flashes wildly in an array of colors. From Lamp DAO to Energy Grids: Exploring “Real World” Applications After Jackson codes the disco for me, the hackers break from testing components for Lamp DAO to listen to a talk from one attendee’s father, Carl Paatka, on New York’s energy infrastructure. Energy grids are a fitting example (especially for Lamp DAO) of an infrastructure sector facing several challenges - increased demand from population shifts, global warming, and the switch to more electric vehicles to name a few. Patka is an energy and environmental lawyer working on climate change policy and tells me energy grids could employ decentralization and more distributed connectivity and supply to give the grid real-time capacity to load balance and respond to shifting needs. He tells me the intergenerational exchange was fruitful for both sides. “I gained insight from CyborgCamp on how blockchain and automated contracts can provide more tools to achieve climate change goals and actually enhance reliability and transparency of the power system for investors, operators, and customers. The ability to establish algorithmic markets and contracts will enable a two-way grid where the largest power lines are actively integrated in real-time with microgrids and small distributed energy resources and storage. The potential is huge,” said Patka. Lucas Chu, a former researcher at Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society’s metaLAB was especially interested in the grid talk. Chu wasn’t short on puns, but also sees the serious potential of the hackathon experiment as a potential solution to impending infrastructure crises. "Only at CyborgCamp would you have a room full of PhDs asking Chat GPT whether vanilla was the right vibe for an internet-controlled lamp. But what we're really asking is, ‘How do we change energy systems? How do we connect smart devices, wisely?’ We're at the door between data and oil, microgrids and markets, and elections and electrons, and we're just opening the door.” He continues, “Last September, over 1.5 trillion dollars was needed to keep energy trading just in Europe. Bitcoin was created in response to the Great Financial Crisis; we're building Plurigrid as a response to the Great Energy Crisis. Let there be light.” Seizing the “Memes of Production” While discussions of energy crises and AI continued, some of the hackers and I are making memes - like “I love lamp!” and “The future is bright” emulating a classic, cartoon-style propaganda poster. Lamp DAO is not only a cybernetics demonstration, playful experiment, and a , but it is also a chance for DAO DAO to build and battle-test new governance tooling. Medley and Zargham are at the whiteboard again, deriving algorithms for a new, DAO DAO version of a real-time voting tool called that allows people to continuously stream their preferences via a token staking mechanism. larp Conviction Voting While they work at the board, BlockScience researcher Jeff Emmett talks excitedly about the new voting tool and the need for better governance mechanisms in our existing political systems. "Right now in most countries, we vote once every four years. Imagine you touched a hot stove and it took four years for you to decide to move your hand. We need to upgrade our governance systems so they can be more responsive to the existential threats we face as a collective. We have new tools, that when used in the right context, can support more adaptive governance,” said Emmett. While discussions of governance continue, a new guest arrives - a prominent labor lawyer. She is exploring DAO technology for her organization - a network of unions, cooperatives, mutual aid groups, and faith-based institutions serving communities. Hartnell gives a walk-through of DAO DAO tooling for her on the TV in the house's child's playroom - the only vacant room in the house. Other Cyborgers join in and discuss various applications. Case participates in the discussion in between minting NFTs, using a Discord bot to blend AI-generated images. "The DAO tooling can be customized for anything - Delaware BCorps, clubs, coops, municipalities. We don't want to limit what people and DAOs can do with it. To illustrate the point, we have a pretty great larp going - there's a DAO in DAO DAO called 'The Corporation,'" Hartnell continues the walk-through. Hartnell demos the layers of the DAO, one-click smart contract deployments, and "The  Corporation's" sub-DAOs including "Non-Human Resources" and a board layer with an NFT membership profile of CEO, "Chairman Meow." The lawyer laughs and the group exchanges more experience, envisioning how and in what contexts this new tooling could be used. A Dimension Where the Future is Bright With the hackathon and event nearing an end, __ __is for now, a few smart contracts and 14 $LAMP tokens - one for each participant. The DAO managed to execute only one vote - changing the color of the LED blanket from blue to green. The group, however, has lofty dreams and plans to continue experimentation when possible amidst full-time work on projects and companies. Lamp DAO member and Research Fellow at Metagov, Isaac Patka, says running tests at graduated levels of risk is a must before actually deploying any of this tech with high-stakes infrastructure. Lamp DAO "Lamp DAO is a tangible experiment that will help us figure out how to design decentralized, resilient infrastructure. Think about the connection between the lamp and the internet, the internet and the state of the DAO, the DAO and the smart contracts that define the behavior, and the validators that run the nodes. There is counterparty risk everywhere. Before we can replace the lamp with real critical infrastructure we need to figure out how to manage this risk, and ideally without traditional centralized regulators," said Patka. The journey from hackathons and voting on LED lamp colors to power grid deployments and collective governance of major public infrastructure may be a long one, but as CyborgCamp attendees will remind you - the space between digital and physical worlds is shrinking and after all, space and time are relative. I pass various encampments of air mattresses as I head back to the lair. The basement has quieted as the CyborgCamp hackers had to tend to their “bio” needs (going out to dinner). The disco blanket, with its lights off, looks just like a regular blanket. Still on - Lamp DAO’s test lamp with the sticker "The future is bright" on its shade, with a "harmony contingent chill" hue, #42 glow. Acknowledgements Written by with edits and input from , , , , , and . Cover image generated with Stable Diffusion. Jessica Zartler Amber Case Michael Zargham Jeff Emmett Kelsie Nabben Janita Chalam Jakob Hackel Scott Moore

Lamp DAO: a Cybermemetic Experiment in Collective Governance

The Hurrying of Ludovic

There are benefits to obtaining IT certifications regardless of where you are in your profession or how long you have been working in the field. It is not necessary to get a certification in order to find work in the IT industry. Having the appropriate certification, on the other hand, may be beneficial to your job in many different ways. Should you invest in IT certifications? Obtaining a certification may result in greater job performance as well as increased competitiveness in the job market. These are both possibilities. A easy approach for recruiters to assess your skills is to include an IT certification on your CV. In addition, there is a correlation between having certificates and greater salaries. IT employees got an average pay bump of $14,000 as a result of earning a new certification. These are a couple of the more typical IT certifications that will qualify you for entry level work in the information technology industry. The list has certificates that are appropriate for beginners and are comprehensive enough to familiarize you with a range of talents, as well as certifications which will provide you with additional expertise. Microsoft Fundamentals (AZ-900) The Microsoft Fundamentals Certificates are a suitable starting point for people who are expected to work with Microsoft products since they assess essential technological abilities. A poll done on IT decision-makers all around the globe found that more than half of them claimed their firms will invest in Microsoft technology. This suggests that familiarity with Microsoft products will likely be a talent that will be in demand. You can enroll for this exam at Microsoft official AZ-900 page https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/certifications/exams/az-900/ They offer some free practice material and include important updates regarding exam changes. You have the option to take an exam in any one of a variety of specialist fields, including security, Microsoft Azure the company's cloud solution, artificial intelligence AI, data, and software such as Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics. You will be able to understand the fundamentals of Microsoft cloud ideas if you become certified in Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, which is a certification that is offered in a field that is now experiencing high demand. Practice Sources: AZ-900 Practice test Helpdesk support, sys admin, server support technician, Microsoft specialist Prospective jobs: Preferred Requirements: only one exam. No prerequisites needed. After the az-900 exam, students can continue to the more advanced az-104 certification. What's next: CompTIA A+ CompTIA A+ is generally regarded as one amongst the most important credentials to get for a comprehensive and diverse education to information technology (IT) at the beginning level. Individuals who are successful in passing the certification examinations will be able to tackle fundamental problems in the areas of handheld gadgets, Linux operating systems, networking, and cybersecurity. Two examinations are necessary to get the CompTIA A+ certification. The A+ certification serves as a broad introduction to the field of information technology (IT). CompTIA Many IT workers may then go on to become experts in a particular area of information technology, such as networks, security, or cloud computing, either by accumulating more relevant job experience or by earning certifications within the appropriate areas. CompTIA official information about the A+ exam: https://www.comptia.org/certifications/a Desk analyst, Technical support, network engineer, desktop administrator, NOC specialist Prospective jobs: Preferred Requirements: There are two mandatory certification tests. CompTIA examinations do not have any requirements, however the organization does suggest candidates have nine to twelve months of practical experience before taking the tests. : After earning their CompTIA A+ certification, applicants have the option of pursuing other certifications offered by the same company, such as Security+ or Network+, or certifications offered by other sources, such as the CCNA. What's next CompTIA Security+ The CompTIA Security+ certification will provide you with the knowledge and abilities necessary to carry out fundamental security tasks. Encryption, physical security, and wireless security are just few of the topics that will be covered in the certification. It needs one test. You may continue your education and get more advanced security certifications if you are interested in becoming an IT security professional. Some examples of these certificates are the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and the advanced Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). cybersecurity admin, NOC engineer, network administrator Prospective jobs: Includes one certification test. There are no requirements, although CompTIA advises obtaining the CompTIA Network+ qualification as well as two years of experience in IT administration. Preferred Requirements: Can continue similar certifications such as CISSP or ISACA certifications. What's next: Amazon Web Services AWS Cloud Practitioner The use of cloud computing, along with the area of information technology (IT), is one of the most in-demand specializations in the area of information technology, and AWS, or Amazon Web Services, is now the cloud platform that is used the most all over the globe. Therefore, being familiar with the AWS platform might provide you an advantage in this competitive market. The AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is the lowest-level qualification available inside the AWS credential hierarchy. Those who are new to the field of IT may benefit greatly from obtaining the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification since it will assist them in gaining core understanding of AWS. On the other hand, a large number of cloud-related positions need a certification from Amazon Web Services at the associate level, meaning it's a step higher than the practitioner certification. If you already have one year of experience working with Amazon Web Services (AWS), you may find that the associate-level AWS Solutions Architect, SysOps Administrator, or Developer certifications better equip you for entry-level careers in cloud computing. Other cloud credentials, such as the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals qualification or the Google Associate Cloud Engineer certification, are also something you may want to look into. Cloud technical support, devops Specialist, system administrator Prospective jobs: There are no requirements for taking the test; however, Amazon suggests having at least a fundamental grasp of AWS services and usage, as well as around six months of experience working with AWS. Preferred Requirements: After obtaining the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Practitioner certification, you are eligible to pursue other certifications, such as those required to become an AWS Certified Developer or an AWS Certified Solutions Architect. What's next: Cisco Certified Network Associate CCNA The Certified Cisco Network Associate (CCNA) certification is an associate-level certification that focuses on IT networking principles and challenges. It involves access to the network, connection to the Internet, and IP-based services. Despite the fact that it is not a vendor neutral certification—which means that you will only be tested on Cisco products and tools—it is very prominent between network administrators due to Cisco's leadership position in the networks business. In order to obtain the CCNA certification, candidates must pass only one test. Prospective jobs: Network technician, network admins, sys admins, NOC engineer Preferred Requirements: One certification exam is required. There are no prerequisites to the exam, but Cisco recommends having a year of training and experience with computer networks. What's next: The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is the first step for individuals interested in pursuing more advanced network certifications, such as the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or the Juniper Networks Certified Associate (JNCIA-Junos).

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5 certifications informatiques de niveau d'entrée pour les débutants en 2023

2023 में नौसिखियों के लिए 5 प्रवेश स्तर का आईटी प्रमाणपत्र

2023 年の初心者向けの 5 つのエントリーレベルの IT 認定資格

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THE MINOR PLANETS

THE PSYCHIC STATE IN PREGNANCY

MEMORY IN DREAMS

Curiosities of the Sky by Garrett Putman Serviss is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . The Riddle of the Asteroids The Riddle of the Asteroids Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter revolves the most remarkable system of little bodies with which we are acquainted—the Asteroids, or Minor Planets. Some six hundred are now known, and they may actually number thousands. They form virtually a ring about the sun. The most striking general fact about them is that they occupy the place in the sky which should be occupied, according to Bode’s Law, by a single large planet. This fact, as we shall see, has led to the invention of one of the most extraordinary theories in astronomy—viz., that of the explosion of a world! Bode’s Law, so-called, is only an empiric formula, but until the discovery of Neptune it accorded so well with the distances of the planets that astronomers were disposed to look upon it as really representing some underlying principle of planetary distribution. They were puzzled by the absence of a planet in the space between Mars and Jupiter, where the “law” demanded that there should be one, and an association of astronomers was formed to search for it. There was a decided sensation when, in 1801, Piazzi, of Palermo, announced that he had found a little planet which apparently occupied the place in the system which belonged to the missing body. He named it Ceres, and it was the first of the Asteroids. The next year Olbers, of Bremen, while looking for Ceres with his telescope, stumbled upon another small planet which he named Pallas. Immediately he was inspired with the idea that these two planets were fragments of a larger one which had formerly occupied the vacant place in the planetary ranks, and he predicted that others would be found by searching in the neighborhood of the intersection of the orbits of the two already discovered. This bold prediction was brilliantly fulfilled by the finding of two more—Juno in 1804, and Vesta in 1807. Olbers would seem to have been led to the invention of his hypothesis of a planetary explosion by the faith which astronomers at that time had in Bode’s Law. They appear to have thought that several planets revolving in the gap where the “law” called for but one could only be accounted for upon the theory that the original one had been broken up to form the several. Gravitation demanded that the remnants of a planet blown to pieces, no matter how their orbits might otherwise differ, should all return at stated periods to the point where the explosion had occurred; hence Olbers’ prediction that any asteroids that might subsequently be discovered would be found to have a common point of orbital intersection. And curiously enough all of the first asteroids found practically answered to this requirement. Olbers’ theory seemed to be established. After the first four, no more asteroids were found until 1845, when one was discovered; then, in 1847, three more were added to the list; and after that searchers began to pick them up with such rapidity that by the close of the century hundreds were known, and it had become almost impossible to keep track of them. The first four are by far the largest members of the group, but their actual sizes remained unknown until less than twenty years ago. It was long supposed that Vesta was the largest, because it shines more brightly than any of the others; but finally, in 1895, Barnard, with the Lick telescope, definitely measured their diameters, and proved to everybody’s surprise that Ceres is really the chief, and Vesta only the third in rank. His measures are as follows: Ceres, 477 miles; Pallas, 304 miles; Vesta, 239 miles; and Juno, 120 miles. They differ greatly in the reflective power of their surfaces, a fact of much significance in connection with the question of their origin. Vesta is, surface for surface, rather more than three times as brilliant as Ceres, whence the original mistake about its magnitude. Nowadays new asteroids are found frequently by photography, but physically they are most insignificant bodies, their average diameter probably not exceeding twenty miles, and some are believed not to exceed ten. On a planet only ten miles in diameter, assuming the same mean density as the earth’s, which is undoubtedly too much, the force of gravity would be so slight that an average man would not weigh more than three ounces, and could jump off into space whenever he liked. Although the asteroids all revolve around the sun in the same direction as that pursued by the major planets, their orbits are inclined at a great variety of angles to the general plane of the planetary system, and some of them are very eccentric—almost as much so as the orbits of many of the periodic comets. It has even been conjectured that the two tiny moons of Mars and the four smaller satellites of Jupiter may be asteroids gone astray and captured by those planets. Two of the asteroids are exceedingly remarkable for the shapes and positions of their orbits; these are Eros, discovered in 1898, and T. G., 1906, found eight years later. The latter has a mean distance from the sun slightly greater than that of Jupiter, while the mean distance of Eros is less than that of Mars. The orbit of Eros is so eccentric that at times it approaches within 15,000,000 miles of the earth, nearer than any other regular member of the solar system except the moon, thus affording an unrivaled means of measuring the solar parallax. But for our present purpose the chief interest of Eros lies in its extraordinary changes of light. These changes, although irregular, have been observed and photographed many times, and there seems to be no doubt of their reality. Their significance consists in their possible connection with the form of the little planet, whose diameter is generally estimated at not more than twenty miles. Von Oppolzer found, in 1901, that Eros lost three-fourths of its brilliancy once in every two hours and thirty-eight minutes. Other observers have found slightly different periods of variability, but none as long as three hours. The most interesting interpretation that has been offered of this phenomenon is that it is due to a great irregularity of figure, recalling at once Olbers’ hypothesis. According to some, Eros may be double, the two bodies composing it revolving around each other at very close quarters; but a more striking, and it may be said probable, suggestion is that Eros has a form not unlike that of a dumb-bell, or hour-glass, turning rapidly end over end so that the area of illuminated surface presented to our eyes continually changes, reaching at certain times a minimum when the amount of light that it reflects toward the earth is reduced to a quarter of its maximum value. Various other bizarre shapes have been ascribed to Eros, such, for instance, as that of a flat stone revolving about one of its longer axes, so that sometimes we see its face and sometimes its edge. All of these explanations proceed upon the assumption that Eros cannot have a simple globular figure like that of a typical planet, a figure which is prescribed by the law of gravitation, but that its shape is what may be called accidental; in a word, it is a fragment, for it seems impossible to believe that a body formed in interplanetary space, either through nebular condensation or through the aggregation of particles drawn together by their mutual attractions, should not be practically spherical in shape. Nor is Eros the only asteroid that gives evidence by variations of brilliancy that there is something abnormal in its constitution; several others present the same phenomenon in varying degrees. Even Vesta was regarded by Olbers as sufficiently variable in its light to warrant the conclusion that it was an angular mass instead of a globe. Some of the smaller ones show very notable variations, and all in short periods, of three or four hours, suggesting that in turning about one of their axes they present a surface of variable extent toward the sun and the earth. The theory which some have preferred—that the variability of light is due to the differences of reflective power on different parts of the surface—would, if accepted, be hardly less suggestive of the origin of these little bodies by the breaking up of a larger one, because the most natural explanation of such differences would seem to be that they arose from variations in the roughness or smoothness of the reflecting surface, which would be characteristic of fragmentary bodies. In the case of a large planet alternating expanses of land and water, or of vegetation and desert, would produce a notable variation in the amount of reflection, but on bodies of the size of the asteroids neither water nor vegetation could exist, and an atmosphere would be equally impossible. One of the strongest objections to Olbers’ hypothesis is that only a few of the first asteroids discovered travel in orbits which measurably satisfy the requirement that they should all intersect at the point where the explosion occurred. To this it was at first replied that the perturbations of the asteroidal orbits, by the attractions of the major planets, would soon displace them in such a manner that they would cease to intersect. One of the first investigations undertaken by the late Prof. Simon Newcomb was directed to the solution of this question, and he arrived at the conclusion that the planetary perturbations could not explain the actual situation of the asteroidal orbits. But afterward it was pointed out that the difficulty could be avoided by supposing that not one but a series of explosions had produced the asteroids as they now are. After the primary disruption the fragments themselves, according to this suggestion, may have exploded, and then the resulting orbits would be as “tangled” as the heart could wish. This has so far rehabilitated the explosion theory that it has never been entirely abandoned, and the evidence which we have just cited of the probably abnormal shapes of Eros and other asteroids has lately given it renewed life. It is a subject that needs a thorough rediscussion. We must not fail to mention, however, that there is a rival hypothesis which commends itself to many astronomers—viz., that the asteroids were formed out of a relatively scant ring of matter, situated between Mars and Jupiter and resembling in composition the immensely more massive rings from which, according to Laplace’s hypothesis, the planets were born. It is held by the supporters of this theory that the attraction of the giant Jupiter was sufficient to prevent the small, nebulous ring that gave birth to the asteroids from condensing like the others into a single planet. But if we accept the explosion theory, with its corollary that minor explosions followed the principal one, we have still an unanswered question before us: What caused the explosions? The idea of a world blowing up is too Titanic to be shocking; it rather amuses the imagination than seriously impresses it; in a word, it seems essentially chimerical. We can by no appeal to experience form a mental picture of such an occurrence. Even the moon did not blow up when it was wrecked by volcanoes. The explosive nebulæ and new stars are far away in space, and suggest no connection with such a catastrophe as the bursting of a planet into hundreds of pieces. We cannot conceive of a great globe thousands of miles in diameter resembling a pellet of gunpowder only awaiting the touch of a match to cause its sudden disruption. Somehow the thought of human agency obtrudes itself in connection with the word “explosion,” and we smile at the idea that giant powder or nitro-glycerine could blow up a planet. Yet it would only need enough of them to do it. After all, we may deceive ourselves in thinking, as we are apt to do, that explosive energies lock themselves up only in small masses of matter. There are many causes producing explosions in nature, every volcanic eruption manifests the activity of some of them. Think of the giant power of confined steam; if enough steam could be suddenly generated in the center of the earth by a downpour of all the waters of the oceans, what might not the consequences be for our globe? In a smaller globe, and it has never been estimated that the original asteroid was even as large as the moon, such a catastrophe would, perhaps, be more easily conceivable; but since we are compelled in this case to assume that there was a series of successive explosions, steam would hardly answer the purpose; it would be more reasonable to suppose that the cause of the explosion was some kind of chemical reaction, or something affecting the atoms composing the exploding body. Here Dr Gustav Le Bon comes to our aid with a most startling suggestion, based on his theory of the dissipation of intra-atomic energy. It will be best to quote him at some length from his book on The Evolution of Forces. “It does not seem at first sight,” says Doctor Le Bon, very comprehensible that worlds which appear more and more stable as they cool could become so unstable as to afterward dissociate entirely. To explain this phenomenon, we will inquire whether astronomical observations do not allow us to witness this dissociation. We know that the stability of a body in motion, such as a top or a bicycle, ceases to be possible when its velocity of rotation descends below a certain limit. Once this limit is reached it loses its stability and falls to the ground. Prof. J. J. Thomson even interprets radio-activity in this manner, and points out that when the speed of the elements composing the atoms descends below a certain limit they become unstable and tend to lose their equilibria. There would result from this a commencement of dissociation, with diminution of their potential energy and a corresponding increase of their kinetic energy sufficient to launch into space the products of intra-atomic disintegration. It must not be forgotten that the atom being an enormous reservoir of energy is by this very fact comparable with explosive bodies. These last remain inert so long as their internal equilibria are undisturbed. So soon as some cause or other modifies these, they explode and smash everything around them after being themselves broken to pieces. Atoms, therefore, which grow old in consequence of the diminution of a part of their intra-atomic energy gradually lose their stability. A moment, then, arrives when this stability is so weak that the matter disappears by a sort of explosion more or less rapid. The bodies of the radium group offer an image of this phenomenon—a rather faint image, however, because the atoms of this body have only reached a period of instability when the dissociation is rather slow. It probably precedes another and more rapid period of dissociation capable of producing their final explosion. Bodies such as radium, thorium, etc., represent, no doubt, a state of old age at which all bodies must some day arrive, and which they already begin to manifest in our universe, since all matter is slightly radio-active. It would suffice for the dissociation to be fairly general and fairly rapid for an explosion to occur in a world where it was manifested. These theoretical considerations find a solid support in the sudden appearances and disappearances of stars. The explosions of a world which produce them reveal to us, perhaps, how the universes perish when they become old. As astronomical observations show the relative frequency of these rapid destructions, we may ask ourselves whether the end of a universe by a sudden explosion after a long period of old age does not represent its most general ending. Here, perhaps, it will be well to stop, since, entrancing as the subject may be, we know very little about it, and Doctor Le Bon’s theory affords a limitless field for the reader’s imagination. 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. Garrett Putman Serviss (2004). Curiosities of the Sky. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6630/pg6630-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

The Riddle of the Asteroids

THE ASTEROIDS, A FAMILY OF DWARF WORLDS

THE STARS OF SUMMER

THE STARS OF SPRING

In the past few months, there were a few stories about tokens being sent to the wrong address. Among them, Optimism Foundation sent 20 million OP tokens to a Wintermute multisig that wasn’t deployed or the Juno whale who sent $36 million Juno tokens to the wrong address due to a typo.  There are many more such cases that you can encounter simply while exploring token contracts on Etherscan (E.g: ) 411K USDT are sitting on the USDT contract With transactions being immutable on most blockchains, this becomes an important problem. In most cases, there is no way to recover the tokens. Therefore there is no solution once tokens are sent to the wrong address but, there is a solution to prevent it. What if instead of sending tokens, you set a specific amount that the receiver can “claim” using his wallet? The best thing about this method is that it makes mistakes easy to correct as you will only need to revoke the approval. There are two ways to do so, one is manual and the other is through a free open-source tool called SafeTransfer. Both methods will be presented in the following lines. Using a blockchain explorer This guide will walk you through how to use Etherscan to transfer your tokens safely. This method also works with any EVM blockchain explorer such as Polygonscan, BscScan, Snowtrace, FtmScan, etc. Alternatively, the following video is available and explains the process step-by-step: https://youtu.be/K25cwTw1EQI Approving tokens to send In order to send tokens in the way described previously, you will need to approve the amount you want to send and select the receiver. Head to the Coingecko or CoinMarketCap to find the token you want to transfer: In our case we will use Ethereum hence we'll be copying the Ethereum contract address. Go to Etherscan or to the EVM blockchain explorer of the blockchain you use. Select the “Contract” tab, click on “Write Contract” and connect your wallet by clicking on “Connect to Web3”. This should display a similar page as the one in the screenshot below Once you’re connected, look for the “approve”  function and expend it. You should see two fields. One for the spender’s address and one for the amount you want to approve. As I was used to multiply by 10**18 every amount I want to transfer, I didn’t notice beforehand that it was different with the USDT contract as the USDT token only supports 6 decimals. In the amount field, multiply the amount you want to transfer by with 6 being the decimal places of the USDT ERC-20 token that you’re transferring. 10**6 By default, ERC20 uses a value of 18 for decimals. Always check in the token page on your EVM blockchain explorer. In the screenshot below, I am approving 40 USDT to be spent by 0x9d….7A6D. The next step is to click on “Write” and complete the approval on your wallet. Receive the tokens To receive the tokens, send the token contract page to your receiver Your receiver will then have to connect his wallet to Etherscan and go the “Write Contract” the same way the sender did but, this time, the receiver has to look for the “transferFrom” function. After filling the fields, the receiver should something similar to the screenshot below. The last step is to click on “Write” and complete the transaction in his Metamask. If there is any mistake, you can still revoke the approval using . RevokeCash Voilà! The receiver was finally able to “claim” tokens directly from your wallet. With this method, there is no way to send tokens to the wrong address. The biggest limitation of this method is how time consuming it can be. It also requires you to know how to interact with contracts on Etherscan (which can be a great thing). The second method follows the same pattern but makes all this process easier. Using SafeTransfer is a free and open-source solution that does all of the above for you. This guide will walk you through how to use Polygonscan to transfer your tokens safely. SafeTransfer Alternatively, the following video is available and explains the process step-by-step: https://youtu.be/K25cwTw1EQI Approving tokens to send Go to . Connect your wallet, select the network, put the receiver’s address, select the token and the amount you want to transfer. safetransfer.cash Lastly, click on “Approve” and complete the approval in your wallet. This should generate a link that you can send to your receiver. You should have something similar to the screenshot below. If you open the link yourself, you should also be able to cancel the approval. Receive the tokens To receive the tokens, send the link SafeTransfer generated to your receiver where he simply need to connect his wallet and click on “Receive” button and complete the transaction in his wallet. The receive page should resemble the screenshot below. That’s it, as simple as that. Both methods work the same. Feel free to use the one you like to make your token transfers safer than ever before.

No More Sending Tokens to the Wrong Address

God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE LIKENESS OF GOD THE LIKENESS OF GOD 1. GOD IS COURAGE Now having set down what those who profess the new religion regard as the chief misconceptions of God, having put these systems of ideas aside from our explanations, the path is cleared for the statement of what God is. Since language springs entirely from material, spatial things, there is always an element of metaphor in theological statement. So that I have not called this chapter the Nature of God, but the Likeness of God. And firstly, GOD IS COURAGE. 2. GOD IS A PERSON And next GOD IS A PERSON. Upon this point those who are beginning to profess modern religion are very insistent. It is, they declare, the central article, the axis, of their religion. God is a person who can be known as one knows a friend, who can be served and who receives service, who partakes of our nature; who is, like us, a being in conflict with the unknown and the limitless and the forces of death; who values much that we value and is against much that we are pitted against. He is our king to whom we must be loyal; he is our captain, and to know him is to have a direction in our lives. He feels us and knows us; he is helped and gladdened by us. He hopes and attempts. . . . God is no abstraction nor trick of words, no Infinite. He is as real as a bayonet thrust or an embrace. Now this is where those who have left the old creeds and come asking about the new realisations find their chief difficulty. They say, Show us this person; let us hear him. (If they listen to the silences within, presently they will hear him.) But when one argues, one finds oneself suddenly in the net of those ancient controversies between species and individual, between the one and the many, which arise out of the necessarily imperfect methods of the human mind. Upon these matters there has been much pregnant writing during the last half century. Such ideas as this writer has to offer are to be found in a previous little book of his, “First and Last Things,” in which, writing as one without authority or specialisation in logic and philosophy, as an ordinary man vividly interested, for others in a like case, he was at some pains to elucidate the imperfections of this instrument of ours, this mind, by which we must seek and explain and reach up to God. Suffice it here to say that theological discussion may very easily become like the vision of a man with cataract, a mere projection of inherent imperfections. If we do not use our phraseology with a certain courage, and take that of those who are trying to convey their ideas to us with a certain politeness and charity, there is no end possible to any discussion in so subtle and intimate a matter as theology but assertions, denials, and wranglings. And about this word “person” it is necessary to be as clear and explicit as possible, though perfect clearness, a definition of mathematical sharpness, is by the very nature of the case impossible. Now when we speak of a person or an individual we think typically of a man, and we forget that he was once an embryo and will presently decay; we forget that he came of two people and may beget many, that he has forgotten much and will forget more, that he can be confused, divided against himself, delirious, drunken, drugged, or asleep. On the contrary we are, in our hasty way of thinking of him, apt to suppose him continuous, definite, acting consistently and never forgetting. But only abstract and theoretical persons are like that. We couple with him the idea of a body. Indeed, in the common use of the word “person” there is more thought of body than of mind. We speak of a lover possessing the person of his mistress. We speak of offences against the person as opposed to insults, libels, or offences against property. And the gods of primitive men and the earlier civilisations were quite of that quality of person. They were thought of as living in very splendid bodies and as acting consistently. If they were invisible in the ordinary world it was because they were aloof or because their “persons” were too splendid for weak human eyes. Moses was permitted a mitigated view of the person of the Hebrew God on Mount Horeb; and Semele, who insisted upon seeing Zeus in the glories that were sacred to Juno, was utterly consumed. The early Islamic conception of God, like the conception of most honest, simple Christians to-day, was clearly, in spite of the theologians, of a very exalted anthropomorphic personality away somewhere in Heaven. The personal appearance of the Christian God is described in The Revelation, and however much that description may be explained away by commentators as symbolical, it is certainly taken by most straightforward believers as a statement of concrete reality. Now if we are going to insist upon this primary meaning of person and individual, then certainly God as he is now conceived is not a person and not an individual. The true God will never promenade an Eden or a Heaven, nor sit upon a throne. But current Christianity, modern developments of Islam, much Indian theological thought—that, for instance, which has found such delicate and attractive expression in the devotional poetry of Rabindranath Tagore—has long since abandoned this anthropomorphic insistence upon a body. From the earliest ages man’s mind has found little or no difficulty in the idea of something essential to the personality, a soul or a spirit or both, existing apart from the body and continuing after the destruction of the body, and being still a person and an individual. From this it is a small step to the thought of a person existing independently of any existing or pre-existing body. That is the idea of theological Christianity, as distinguished from the Christianity of simple faith. The Triune Persons—omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent—exist for all time, superior to and independent of matter. They are supremely disembodied. One became incarnate—as a wind eddy might take up a whirl of dust. . . . Those who profess modern religion conceive that this is an excessive abstraction of the idea of spirituality, a disembodiment of the idea of personality beyond the limits of the conceivable; nevertheless they accept the conception that a person, a spiritual individual, may be without an ordinary mortal body. . . . They declare that God is without any specific body, that he is immaterial, that he can affect the material universe—and that means that he can only reach our sight, our hearing, our touch—through the bodies of those who believe in him and serve him. His nature is of the nature of thought and will. Not only has he, in his essence, nothing to do with matter, but nothing to do with space. He is not of matter nor of space. He comes into them. Since the period when all the great theologies that prevail to-day were developed, there have been great changes in the ideas of men towards the dimensions of time and space. We owe to Kant the release from the rule of these ideas as essential ideas. Our modern psychology is alive to the possibility of Being that has no extension in space at all, even as our speculative geometry can entertain the possibility of dimensions—fourth, fifth, Nth dimensions—outside the three-dimensional universe of our experience. And God being non-spatial is not thereby banished to an infinite remoteness, but brought nearer to us; he is everywhere immediately at hand, even as a fourth dimension would be everywhere immediately at hand. He is a Being of the minds and in the minds of men. He is in immediate contact with all who apprehend him. . . . But modern religion declares that though he does not exist in matter or space, he exists in time just as a current of thought may do; that he changes and becomes more even as a man’s purpose gathers itself together; that somewhere in the dawning of mankind he had a beginning, an awakening, and that as mankind grows he grows. With our eyes he looks out upon the universe he invades; with our hands, he lays hands upon it. All our truth, all our intentions and achievements, he gathers to himself. He is the undying human memory, the increasing human will. But this, you may object, is no more than saying that God is the collective mind and purpose of the human race. You may declare that this is no God, but merely the sum of mankind. But those who believe in the new ideas very steadfastly deny that. God is, they say, not an aggregate but a synthesis. He is not merely the best of all of us, but a Being in himself, composed of that but more than that, as a temple is more than a gathering of stones, or a regiment is more than an accumulation of men. They point out that a man is made up of a great multitude of cells, each equivalent to a unicellular organism. Not one of those cells is he, nor is he simply just the addition of all of them. He is more than all of them. You can take away these and these and these, and he still remains. And he can detach part of himself and treat it as if it were not himself, just as a man may beat his breast or, as Cranmer the martyr did, thrust his hand into the flames. A man is none the less himself because his hair is cut or his appendix removed or his leg amputated. And take another image. . . . Who bears affection for this or that spadeful of mud in my garden? Who cares a throb of the heart for all the tons of chalk in Kent or all the lumps of limestone in Yorkshire? But men love England, which is made up of such things. And so we think of God as a synthetic reality, though he has neither body nor material parts. And so too we may obey him and listen to him, though we think but lightly of the men whose hands or voices he sometimes uses. And we may think of him as having moods and aspects—as a man has—and a consistency we call his character. These are theorisings about God. These are statements to convey this modern idea of God. This, we say, is the nature of the person whose will and thoughts we serve. No one, however, who understands the religious life seeks conversion by argument. First one must feel the need of God, then one must form or receive an acceptable idea of God. That much is no more than turning one’s face to the east to see the coming of the sun. One may still doubt if that direction is the east or whether the sun will rise. The real coming of God is not that. It is a change, an irradiation of the mind. Everything is there as it was before, only now it is aflame. Suddenly the light fills one’s eyes, and one knows that God has risen and that doubt has fled for ever. 3. GOD IS YOUTH The third thing to be told of the true God is that GOD IS YOUTH. God, we hold, began and is always beginning. He looks forever into the future. Most of the old religions derive from a patriarchal phase. God is in those systems the Ancient of Days. I know of no Christian attempt to represent or symbolise God the Father which is not a bearded, aged man. White hair, beard, bearing, wrinkles, a hundred such symptoms of senile decay are there. These marks of senility do not astonish our modern minds in the picture of God, only because tradition and usage have blinded our eyes to the absurdity of a time-worn immortal. Jove too and Wotan are figures far past the prime of their vigour. These are gods after the ancient habit of the human mind, that turned perpetually backward for causes and reasons and saw all things to come as no more than the working out of Fate,— “Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world and all our woe.” But the God of this new age, we repeat, looks not to our past but our future, and if a figure may represent him it must be the figure of a beautiful youth, already brave and wise, but hardly come to his strength. He should stand lightly on his feet in the morning time, eager to go forward, as though he had but newly arisen to a day that was still but a promise; he should bear a sword, that clean, discriminating weapon, his eyes should be as bright as swords; his lips should fall apart with eagerness for the great adventure before him, and he should be in very fresh and golden harness, reflecting the rising sun. Death should still hang like mists and cloud banks and shadows in the valleys of the wide landscape about him. There should be dew upon the threads of gossamer and little leaves and blades of the turf at his feet. . . . 4. WHEN WE SAY GOD IS LOVE One of the sayings about God that have grown at the same time most trite and most sacred, is that God is Love. This is a saying that deserves careful examination. Love is a word very loosely used; there are people who will say they love new potatoes; there are a multitude of loves of different colours and values. There is the love of a mother for her child, there is the love of brothers, there is the love of youth and maiden, and the love of husband and wife, there is illicit love and the love one bears one’s home or one’s country, there are dog-lovers and the loves of the Olympians, and love which is a passion of jealousy. Love is frequently a mere blend of appetite and preference; it may be almost pure greed; it may have scarcely any devotion nor be a whit self-forgetful nor generous. It is possible so to phrase things that the furtive craving of a man for another man’s wife may be made out to be a light from God. Yet about all the better sorts of love, the sorts of love that people will call “true love,” there is something of that same exaltation out of the narrow self that is the essential quality of the knowledge of God. Only while the exaltation of the love passion comes and goes, the exaltation of religious passion comes to remain. Lovers are the windows by which we may look out of the prison of self, but God is the open door by which we freely go. And God never dies, nor disappoints, nor betrays. The love of a woman and a man has usually, and particularly in its earlier phases of excitement, far too much desire, far too much possessiveness and exclusiveness, far too much distrust or forced trust, and far too great a kindred with jealousy to be like the love of God. The former is a dramatic relationship that drifts to a climax, and then again seeks presently a climax, and that may be satiated or fatigued. But the latter is far more like the love of comrades, or like the love of a man and a woman who have loved and been through much trouble together, who have hurt one another and forgiven, and come to a complete and generous fellowship. There is a strange and beautiful love that men tell of that will spring up on battlefields between sorely wounded men, and often they are men who have fought together, so that they will do almost incredibly brave and tender things for one another, though but recently they have been trying to kill each other. There is often a pure exaltation of feeling between those who stand side by side manfully in any great stress. These are the forms of love that perhaps come nearest to what we mean when we speak of the love of God. That is man’s love of God, but there is also something else; there is the love God bears for man in the individual believer. Now this is not an indulgent, instinctive, and sacrificing love like the love of a woman for her baby. It is the love of the captain for his men; God must love his followers as a great captain loves his men, who are so foolish, so helpless in themselves, so confiding, and yet whose faith alone makes him possible. It is an austere love. The spirit of God will not hesitate to send us to torment and bodily death. . . . And God waits for us, for all of us who have the quality to reach him. He has need of us as we of him. He desires us and desires to make himself known to us. When at last the individual breaks through the limiting darknesses to him, the irradiation of that moment, the smile and soul clasp, is in God as well as in man. He has won us from his enemy. We come staggering through into the golden light of his kingdom, to fight for his kingdom henceforth, until at last we are altogether taken up into his being. 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. H. G. Wells (2016). God The Invisible King. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1046/1046-h/1046-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 www.gutenberg.org, located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

God Is a Person

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