Mindgram

mindgram

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has published the latest edition of its Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report. Illicit consumption of movies increased considerably over the previous period, with a new category of live sports leaping almost to the top of the infringement tables. Interestingly, the report also highlights a significant decrease in hardcore pirates. In an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of online consumption habits in the UK, for the past several years the Intellectual Property Office has published its Online Copyright Infringement Tracker. The latest wave of research, dated March 2019, covers both legal and illegal online consumption in several key areas including music, film, TV, video games, software and a new category this year, live sports. At 158-pages long, the report is certainly comprehensive but it does come with an important note. In common with similar consumer surveys, there are concerns that respondents may not tell the whole truth when asked about their illegal activities. With this in mind, instead of asking people whether their sources were illegal, respondents were given a list of options with the categorization being done behind the scenes. Importantly, one of the options was “Download/access for free from the internet, without really being sure where it comes from”. This category was completely excluded from illegal/legal calculations and consumers who only utilized these sources were omitted from the results. This means that caution should be applied when comparing this wave’s results to the previous year’s. The published infringement figures are based on the number of people who used at least one illegal source during the previous three months. The headline figure is that 25% of the online content consuming population did so, a figure that has remained static for the past three years. However, there have been some considerable shifts when individual categories of content are considered. In the area of films, for example, there was an 8% increase in the proportion who used an illegal source, up to 27% of online consumers. Music, on the other hand, remained largely stable at 20% (19% in 2018). Both TV and video game piracy are on downward trends, with the former dropping from 23% to 17% and the latter from 16% to 6% over a single year. However, the addition of a new category (live sports) and the broadening of the e-publishing category to include content beyond just eBooks, reveals large volumes of infringers. From not being counted in 2018, 34% of online consumers said they pirated live sports at least once in the previous three months, with the e-publishing numbers jumping from 13% to 35%, making it the most-infringed category overall. While the headline infringement figure has remained static and some categories show significant shifts, the report notes there are encouraging signs in respect of consumers who can be considered hardcore pirates, i.e those who do not consume from legitimate sources at all. “Across most categories, it is encouraging to note that between 2018 and 2019 there was a decrease in the proportion who only used illegal sources. Where overall infringement levels remained the same, this proportion seemed to migrate towards using at least some legal sources,” the report notes. Films, for example, where the 8% increase in infringement may be considered a setback by the movie industry, the number of hardcore pirates plummeted from 11% down to just 2%. some The actual growth in infringement was to be found among people who use a mix of legal and illegal sources, up from 7% in 2018 to 17% in 2019. Similarly, hardcore music pirates fell from 11% to just 2%, TV pirates from 14% to 2%, and video game pirates from 10% to 1%. When the entire UK population is considered, the report estimates the following numbers of infringers: 5.7m for film, 5.1m for music, 4.4m for TV, 4.1m for e-publishing, 2.4m for live sports, 2m for software and 600,000 for video games. Men were more likely to pirate music, films, TV shows and video games, but women come out on top when it came to live sports, software and e-publishing. Interestingly, the report also touches on VPN usage, noting that “across all categories, respondents who had used VPNs were more likely to have infringed compared to those who had not. This difference was most pronounced in film (+13%), TV (+11%), software (+11%) and music (+8%).” Somewhat inevitably the report also drills down into what would happen if pirate sources dried up. Would people start to pay out money (or indeed more money for dual-use consumers) or would free legal options prove more attractive? In respect of video games, already one of the lowest-pirated mediums, 68% of people who admitted to piracy in the previous three months said they would turn to paid sources. When it came to films and TV, 57% and 46% respectively indicated they would hand over cash to a service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, while 32% and 44% would seek out free services such as YouTube or BBC iPlayer. Just over a third of music pirates (34%) said they would migrate to a paid service if pirate sources ceased to exist, with Spotify and Apple Music coming out on top. However, 61% said they would prefer not to pay, instead searching out free music on sites such as YouTube. When considering live sports, companies such as the Premier League and Sky will be interested to learn that almost half of infringers (49%) said they would shift to a premium service if pirate options were limited, with 31% still determined to track down free legal sources. Finally, the report highlights three broad drivers that lead people to access all types of content illegally, even when they may already be paying for content. “The abundance of free and widely accessible illegal content means that even those concerned about infringing may occasionally resort to using unofficial sources if they want the content badly enough. A few mentioned the near obsessive mindframe of not finding something on legal channels but knowing it is ‘out there somewhere’ and hunting it down,” the report notes. “Another factor is the cost of accessing content and a desire to limit spending. Given the amount of content that is increasingly available, consumers are worried about overspending. As such, the opportunity to turn to free, illegal methods is valued. It enables them to access the content they want without exceeding their budget.” Since finding and accessing illegal content is considered simple, quick and easy to carry out, consumers may actually save time and effort when compared to obtaining material from official sources, the research suggests. Not having to sign up or search through multiple legal platforms for desired content may actually be a time-saver, so improvements can probably be made here. The latest Online Copyright Infringment Tracker can be downloaded here ( pdf ) Originally published as “ As UK Pirates Swarm to Live Sports & Movies, Hardcore Pirates Diminish ” with the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) license

As UK Pirates Swarm to Live Sports & Movies, Hardcore Pirates Diminish

I made an another command line tool, the flog. flog is a fake log generator for common log formats such as apache-common, apache error and RFC3164 syslog: flog It is useful for testing some tasks which require log data like amazon kinesis log stream test. Flog currently supports following features: Completely random log generator Support , , and log format apache common apache combined apache error rfc3164 Support stdout, file and gzip type of logging And I have a plan for support below additional features for next versions. Contextual random log generator Statistical random log generator Support some other syslog formats Support custom log format (Most important feature, it will be added to flog version 1.0.0) I hope this could help someone who want to test something which require log data. Thanks.

Flog: A fake log generator for common log formats

I’ve made a simple CLI for finding awesome resources on awesome series repository. : awesome-finder If you don’t know awesome series, here is an example: which provides a curated list of awesome Python frameworks, libraries, software and resources. awesome-python With this finder, you can find libraries or resources on README from awesome repository on your terminal immediately. _Demo of awesome finder_asciinema.org awesome-finder Thank you

I made a simple CLI for finding awesome curated list on terminal

I’m not a native speaker. Sorry for my english. Please understand. When develop the server applications, you could encounter a problem for managing the configuration. Of course, This issue can be encountered in every place where configuration management is needed as well as server applications. If you are beginner or have no experience with configuration management, it could be little a bit hard to do. Especially, If you have secret values like Database Information, AWS Credentials, it may be very dangerous to manage the configuration on open VCS (Version Control System) such as Github, Bitbucket. In fact, in some cases, due to careless configuration management, web application could be hacked by other hackers or seized their server resources so a ton of price is billed unexpectedly. Therefore the configuration management, especially, the secret values management is a very important issue. In my case, I developed server applications mainly and managed the configurations in different ways for each project. So, I’d like to introduce the ways I used for help you who don’t know configuration management well. I used Python mainly when develop the server applications, so those ways I will introduce are worked in Python. Of course, these are the “ways” to manage the configuration, so you could use these ideas in other languages too. There are no any problems. In this post, I’ll introduce 4 ways of management as follows. (But, In here, I’ll do not talk about large scale management on infrastructure or distributed system levels. I’ll post it later) Using built-in data structure
Using external configuration file
Using environment variables
Using dynamic loading Let’s explore it now! Using built-in data structure It is a very easy and intuitive way. As is the title, it is using the built-in data structure for managing the configuration, basically, it can be used as follow. Then, look at a little more complicated case. For example, If you are web developer, you may need different configurations for each development, testing, production environment, so, you can do as follow. It is easy and intuitive to use because you can import the configuration file directly from the same project and use the built-in data structure as it is. But, if you are using the VCS, your codebase will be exposed to world, so, there could be security issues if there are secret values. Therefore, you should use dummy data (non-real data) on VCS instead of real secret data for protecting you from external security attacks. And then you will replace the dummy data with real configuration values in production server by yourself, but, it would be cumbersome. There is a slightly more advanced way of using dynamic loading, which we’ll discuss later. So, I recommend this way if you have no secret values in configuration. Using external configuration file This way loads the configuration values defined in external file, not the built-in data structures. It is more general way because this way will treats the configuration as just configuration, not as a part of code. Let’s see the basic examples for using the ini and json formats as configuration. (Note that configparser is for Python 3.x, in Python 2.x, you should use ConfigParser instead) You can also use other formats such as xml, yaml. The basic approach is same, so, any formats are ok if there is a way for parsing that formats. In this approach, the configuration will be separated from code, so if you are using Git, just able to specify the file to ignore from VCS. However, when the configuration is completely separated from VCS, your co-worker may not able to use the configuration. So, you can use a following tip for solving this problem. Suppose the config.json has real configuration values. Then make an example configuration file with name which indicate it is an example like config.json.example. And you should manage the only config.json.example instead of config.json on VCS. This allows other developers to know the format and manipulate the configuration by themselves. Of course, they should rename that file name with config.json to use it as configuration correctly. Using environment variables This way does not use the files, instead system environment variables as configuration values. The configuration values are not managed as a separate file, so there is less risk of exposure of secret values, and it is so easy to use and can be used anywhere in codebase. But, of course, eventually, you may have to use shell script or other scripts for managing the every environment variables systematically. So, if you are familiar with system and scripting, this way is for you. However, if some environment which unable to use the environment variables like Apache, Nginx web server, you should use other ways. Using dynamic loading As mentioned above, this is a more advanced way than using built-in data structures one. Previous way should import the configuration .py file from specific file which need to use configuration, so, the config file must be located on import-able path. But, In this approach, the config file does not have to located on import-able path and can even be located on other repository. The principle is so simple. Just registers and loads the path of configuration .py file dynamically. That is, see following. Yes, It seems very similar to first way: using built-in data structures. But, the most advantage of it is that you can separate the configuration .py file from project itself. So, this way is proper when while taking the advantages of both first and second ways, and want to (or need to) separate the configuration .py file from project codebase. In my case, I used this way for managing the configuration repository and API server repository independently. The API server just use the configuration by import that file, but the real configuration values were managed on other repository. Then, when provisioning the servers, I’ve just cloned both repositories and make the API server able to use configuration dynamically. By doing this, you can manage the configuration while taking the advantages of first way and you can also minimize the security risk and manage the configuration easier. Also, especially, as the size of the configuration environment grows larger, it will be more easier and effective that maintain the configuration independently from project repository. Conclusion So far, we talked about 4 ways to manage the configuration. In fact, it depends on your applications. Of course, you can mix them and there may be better ways than these ways. And, when the system is on very large scale, it could be better to use third-party tools or services which provide the configuration management mainly. I hope this post will helps someone who have problems about configuration management. Hacker Noon is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the @AMIfamily. We are now accepting submissions and happy to discuss advertising & sponsorship opportunities. To learn more, read our about page, like/message us on Facebook, or simply, tweet/DM @HackerNoon. If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our latest tech stories and trending tech stories. Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! I’m not a native speaker. Sorry for my english. Please understand. I’m not a native speaker. Sorry for my english. Please understand. When develop the server applications, you could encounter a problem for managing the configuration. Of course, This issue can be encountered in every place where configuration management is needed as well as server applications. If you are beginner or have no experience with configuration management, it could be little a bit hard to do. Especially, If you have secret values like Database Information, AWS Credentials, it may be very dangerous to manage the configuration on open VCS (Version Control System) such as Github, Bitbucket. In fact, in some cases, due to careless configuration management, web application could be hacked by other hackers or seized their server resources so a ton of price is billed unexpectedly. Therefore the configuration management, especially, the secret values management is a very important issue. In my case, I developed server applications mainly and managed the configurations in different ways for each project. So, I’d like to introduce the ways I used for help you who don’t know configuration management well. I used Python mainly when develop the server applications, so those ways I will introduce are worked in Python. Of course, these are the “ways” to manage the configuration, so you could use these ideas in other languages too. There are no any problems. In this post, I’ll introduce 4 ways of management as follows. (But, In here, I’ll do not talk about large scale management on infrastructure or distributed system levels. I’ll post it later) Using built-in data structure Using external configuration file Using environment variables Using dynamic loading Using built-in data structure Using external configuration file Using environment variables Using dynamic loading Let’s explore it now! Using built-in data structure It is a very easy and intuitive way. As is the title, it is using the built-in data structure for managing the configuration, basically, it can be used as follow. Then, look at a little more complicated case. For example, If you are web developer, you may need different configurations for each development, testing, production environment, so, you can do as follow. It is easy and intuitive to use because you can import the configuration file directly from the same project and use the built-in data structure as it is. But, if you are using the VCS, your codebase will be exposed to world, so, there could be security issues if there are secret values. Therefore, you should use dummy data (non-real data) on VCS instead of real secret data for protecting you from external security attacks. And then you will replace the dummy data with real configuration values in production server by yourself, but, it would be cumbersome. There is a slightly more advanced way of using dynamic loading , which we’ll discuss later. using dynamic loading So, I recommend this way if you have no secret values in configuration. Using external configuration file Using external configuration file This way loads the configuration values defined in external file, not the built-in data structures. It is more general way because this way will treats the configuration as just configuration , not as a part of code. Let’s see the basic examples for using the ini and json formats as configuration. (Note that configparser is for Python 3.x, in Python 2.x, you should use ConfigParser instead) configuration ini json configparser ConfigParser You can also use other formats such as xml, yaml. The basic approach is same, so, any formats are ok if there is a way for parsing that formats. xml, yaml. In this approach, the configuration will be separated from code, so if you are using Git, just able to specify the file to ignore from VCS. However, when the configuration is completely separated from VCS, your co-worker may not able to use the configuration. So, you can use a following tip for solving this problem. Suppose the config.json has real configuration values. Then make an example configuration file with name which indicate it is an example like config.json.example. And you should manage the only config.json.example instead of config.json on VCS. This allows other developers to know the format and manipulate the configuration by themselves. Of course, they should rename that file name with config.json to use it as configuration correctly. config.json config.json.example. config.json.example config.json config.json Using environment variables This way does not use the files, instead system environment variables as configuration values. The configuration values are not managed as a separate file, so there is less risk of exposure of secret values, and it is so easy to use and can be used anywhere in codebase. But, of course, eventually, you may have to use shell script or other scripts for managing the every environment variables systematically. So, if you are familiar with system and scripting, this way is for you. However, if some environment which unable to use the environment variables like Apache, Nginx web server, you should use other ways. Using dynamic loading As mentioned above, this is a more advanced way than using built-in data structures one. Previous way should import the configuration .py file from specific file which need to use configuration, so, the config file must be located on import-able path. But, In this approach, the config file does not have to located on import-able path and can even be located on other repository. built-in data structures The principle is so simple. Just registers and loads the path of configuration .py file dynamically. That is, see following. Yes, It seems very similar to first way: using built-in data structures. But, the most advantage of it is that you can separate the configuration .py file from project itself. So, this way is proper when while taking the advantages of both first and second ways, and want to (or need to) separate the configuration .py file from project codebase. using built-in data structures. In my case, I used this way for managing the configuration repository and API server repository independently. The API server just use the configuration by import that file, but the real configuration values were managed on other repository. Then, when provisioning the servers, I’ve just cloned both repositories and make the API server able to use configuration dynamically. By doing this, you can manage the configuration while taking the advantages of first way and you can also minimize the security risk and manage the configuration easier. Also, especially, as the size of the configuration environment grows larger, it will be more easier and effective that maintain the configuration independently from project repository. Conclusion So far, we talked about 4 ways to manage the configuration. In fact, it depends on your applications. Of course, you can mix them and there may be better ways than these ways. And, when the system is on very large scale, it could be better to use third-party tools or services which provide the configuration management mainly. I hope this post will helps someone who have problems about configuration management. Hacker Noon is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the @AMIfamily. We are now accepting submissions and happy to discuss advertising & sponsorship opportunities. Hacker Noon is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the @AMI family. We are now accepting submissions and happy to discuss advertising & sponsorship opportunities. Hacker Noon @AMI accepting submissions discuss advertising & sponsorship To learn more, read our about page, like/message us on Facebook, or simply, tweet/DM @HackerNoon. To learn more, read our about page , like/message us on Facebook , or simply, tweet/DM @HackerNoon. read our about page like/message us on Facebook tweet/DM @HackerNoon. If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our latest tech stories and trending tech stories. Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our latest tech stories and trending tech stories . Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! latest tech stories trending tech stories

4 Ways to Manage the Configuration in Python

4 formas de gestionar la configuración en Python

I’m not a native speaker. Sorry for my english. Please understand. The (_) is special in Python. underscore While the (_) is used for just snake-case variables and functions in most languages (Of course, not for all), but it has special meanings in Python. If you are python programmer, , like syntax may be familiar. underscore for _ in range(10) __init__(self) This post will explain the about when and how use the (_) and help you understand it. underscore There are 5 cases for using the in Python. underscore For storing the value of last expression in interpreter. For ignoring the specific values. (so-called “I don’t care”) To give special meanings and functions to name of vartiables or functions. To use as ‘Internationalization(i18n)’ or ‘Localization(l10n)’ functions. To separate the digits of number literal value. Let’s look at each case. When used in interpreter The python interpreter stores the last expression value to the special variable called ‘_’. This feature has been used in standard CPython interpreter first and you could use it in other Python interpreters too. >>> 1010>>> _10>>> _ * 330>>> _ * 20600 For Ignoring the values The is also used for ignoring the specific values. If you don’t need the specific values or the values are not used, just assign the values to . underscore underscore _# Ignore a value when unpacking_x, _, y = (1, 2, 3) # x = 1, y = 3 x, *_, y = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) # Ignore the multiple values. It is called "Extended Unpacking" which is available in only Python 3.x # x = 1, y = 5 _# Ignore the index_for _ in range(10):do_something() for _, val in list_of_tuple:do_something() # Ignore a value of specific location Give special meanings to name of variables and functions The may be most used in ‘naming’. The PEP8 which is Python convention guideline introduces the following 4 naming cases. underscore **_single_leading_underscore**This convention is used for declaring variables, functions, methods and classes in a module. Anything with this convention are ignored in . However, of course, Python does not supports so we can not force somethings private ones and also can call it directly from other modules. So sometimes we say it “weak internal use indicator”. private from module import * truly private, _internal_name = 'one_nodule' # private variable_internal_version = '1.0' # private variable class _Base: # private class_hidden_factor = 2 # private variable def \_\_init\_\_(self, price):  
    self.\_price = price

def \_double\_price(self): # private method  
    return self.\_price \* self.\_hidden\_factor

def get\_double\_price(self):  
    return self.\_double\_price() **single_trailing_underscore_**This convention could be used for avoiding conflict with Python keywords or built-ins. You might not use it often. Tkinter.Toplevel(master, class_='ClassName') # Avoid conflict with 'class' keyword list_ = List.objects.get(1) # Avoid conflict with 'list' built-in type **__double_leading_underscore**This is about syntax rather than a convention. will mangle the attribute names of a class to avoid conflicts of attribute names between classes. (so-called “mangling” that means that the compiler or interpreter modify the variables or function names with some rules, not use as it is) The mangling rule of Python is adding the “_ClassName” to front of attribute names are declared with That is, if you write method named “__method” in a class, the name will be mangled in “_ClassName__method” form. double underscore double underscore. class A:def _single_method(self):pass def \_\_double\_method(self): # for mangling  
    pass class B(A):def __double_method(self): # for manglingpass Because of the attributes named with will be mangled like above, we can not access it with “ClassName.__method”. Sometimes, some people use it as like real private ones using these features, but it is not for private and not recommended for that. For more details, read . double underscore Python Naming **__double_leading_and_trailing_underscore__**This convention is used for special variables or methods (so-called “magic method”) such as , . These methods provides special syntactic features or does special things. For example, indicates the location of Python file, is executed when expression is excuted. A user of course can make custom special method, it is very rare case, but often might modify the some built-in special methods. (e.g. You should initialize the class with that will be executed at first when a instance of class is created.) __init__ __len__ __file__ __eq__ a == b __init__ class A:def __init__(self, a): # use special method '__init__' for initializingself.a = a def \_\_custom\_\_(self): # custom special method. you might almost do not use it  
    pass As Internationalization(i18n)/Localization(l10n) functions It is just convention, does not have any syntactic functions. That is, the underscore does not means , and it is just a convention that binds the to variable has been from C convention.The built-in library which is for uses this convention, and Django which is Python web framework supports also introduces and uses this convention. i18n/l10n i18n/l10n underscore gettext i18n/l10n i18n/l10n # see official docs : import gettext https://docs.python.org/3/library/gettext.html gettext.bindtextdomain('myapplication','/path/to/my/language/directory')gettext.textdomain('myapplication')_ = gettext.gettext # ... print(_('This is a translatable string.')) To separate the digits of number literal value This feature was added in Python 3.6. It is used for separating digits of numbers using for readability. underscore dec_base = 1_000_000bin_base = 0b_1111_0000hex_base = 0x_1234_abcd print(dec_base) # 1000000print(bin_base) # 240print(hex_base) # 305441741 Conclusion So far we’ve covered the of Python. While I’m a Python programmer, I didn’t know some of them till wrote this post. Especially, the is very new to me.Like me, I hope you gain some useful knowledges about from this post. underscore i18n/l10n underscore Next, I’ll cover more interesting things about Python. Thank you. _Update_ Added the new feature (PEP 515) was added in Python 3.6 is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the family. We are now and happy to opportunities. Hacker Noon @AMI accepting submissions discuss advertising &sponsorship To learn more, , , or simply, read our about page like/message us on Facebook tweet/DM @HackerNoon. If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our and . Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! latest tech stories trending tech stories

Understanding the underscore( _ ) of Python

Comprender el guión bajo (_) de Python

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . LADY MONOGRAM PREPARES FOR THE PARTY here LADY MONOGRAM PREPARES FOR THE PARTY. When the little conversation took place between Lady Monogram and Miss Longestaffe, as recorded in the last chapter, Mr. Melmotte was in all his glory, and tickets for the entertainment were very precious. Gradually their value subsided. Lady Monogram had paid very dear for hers,—especially as the reception of Mr. Brehgert must be considered. But high prices were then being paid. A lady offered to take Marie Melmotte into the country with her for a week; but this was before the elopement. Mr. Cohenlupe was asked out to dinner to meet two peers and a countess. Lord Alfred received various presents. A young lady gave a lock of her hair to Lord Nidderdale, although it was known that he was to marry Marie Melmotte. And Miles Grendall got back an I. O. U. of considerable nominal value from Lord Grasslough, who was anxious to accommodate two country cousins who were in London. Gradually the prices fell;—not at first from any doubt in Melmotte, but through that customary reaction which may be expected on such occasions. But at eight or nine o'clock on the evening of the party the tickets were worth nothing. The rumour had then spread itself through the whole town from Pimlico to Marylebone. Men coming home from clubs had told their wives. Ladies who had been in the park had heard it. Even the hairdressers had it, and ladies' maids had been instructed by the footmen and grooms who had been holding horses and seated on the coach-boxes. It had got into the air, and had floated round dining-rooms and over toilet-tables. I doubt whether Sir Damask would have said a word about it to his wife as he was dressing for dinner, had he calculated what might be the result to himself. But he came home open-mouthed, and made no calculation. "Have you heard what's up, Ju?" he said, rushing half-dressed into his wife's room. "What is up?" "Haven't you been out?" "I was shopping, and that kind of thing. I don't want to take that girl into the Park. I've made a mistake in having her here, but I mean to be seen with her as little as I can." "Be good-natured, Ju, whatever you are." "Oh, bother! I know what I'm about. What is it you mean?" "They say Melmotte's been found out." "Found out!" exclaimed Lady Monogram, stopping her maid in some arrangement which would not need to be continued in the event of her not going to the reception. "What do you mean by found out?" "I don't know exactly. There are a dozen stories told. It's something about that place he bought of old Longestaffe." "Are the Longestaffes mixed up in it? I won't have her here a day longer if there is anything against them." "Don't be an ass, Ju. There's nothing against him except that the poor old fellow hasn't got a shilling of his money." "Then he's ruined,—and there's an end of them." "Perhaps he will get it now. Some say that Melmotte has forged a receipt, others a letter. Some declare that he has manufactured a whole set of title-deeds. You remember Dolly?" "Of course I know Dolly Longestaffe," said Lady Monogram, who had thought at one time that an alliance with Dolly might be convenient. "They say he has found it all out. There was always something about Dolly more than fellows gave him credit for. At any rate, everybody says that Melmotte will be in quod before long." "Not to-night, Damask!" "Nobody seems to know. Lupton was saying that the policemen would wait about in the room like servants till the Emperor and the Princes had gone away." "Is Mr. Lupton going?" "He was to have been at the dinner, but hadn't made up his mind whether he'd go or not when I saw him. Nobody seems to be quite certain whether the Emperor will go. Somebody said that a Cabinet Council was to be called to know what to do." "A Cabinet Council!" "Why, you see it's rather an awkward thing, letting the Prince go to dine with a man who perhaps may have been arrested and taken to gaol before dinner-time. That's the worst part of it. Nobody knows." Lady Monogram waved her attendant away. She piqued herself upon having a French maid who could not speak a word of English, and was therefore quite careless what she said in the woman's presence. But, of course, everything she did say was repeated down-stairs in some language that had become intelligible to the servants generally. Lady Monogram sat motionless for some time, while her husband, retreating to his own domain, finished his operations. "Damask," she said, when he reappeared, "one thing is certain;—we can't go." "After you've made such a fuss about it!" "It is a pity,—having that girl here in the house. You know, don't you, she's going to marry one of these people?" "I heard about her marriage yesterday. But Brehgert isn't one of Melmotte's set. They tell me that Brehgert isn't a bad fellow. A vulgar cad, and all that, but nothing wrong about him." "He's a Jew,—and he's seventy years old, and makes up horribly." "What does it matter to you if he's eighty? You are determined, then, you won't go?" But Lady Monogram had by no means determined that she wouldn't go. She had paid her price, and with that economy which sticks to a woman always in the midst of her extravagances, she could not bear to lose the thing that she had bought. She cared nothing for Melmotte's villainy, as regarded herself. That he was enriching himself by the daily plunder of the innocent she had taken for granted since she had first heard of him. She had but a confused idea of any difference between commerce and fraud. But it would grieve her greatly to become known as one of an awkward squad of people who had driven to the door, and perhaps been admitted to some wretched gathering of wretched people,—and not, after all, to have met the Emperor and the Prince. But then, should she hear on the next morning that the Emperor and the Princes, that the Princesses, and the Duchesses, with the Ambassadors, Cabinet Ministers, and proper sort of world generally, had all been there,—that the world, in short, had ignored Melmotte's villainy,—then would her grief be still greater. She sat down to dinner with her husband and Miss Longestaffe, and could not talk freely on the matter. Miss Longestaffe was still a guest of the Melmottes, although she had transferred herself to the Monograms for a day or two. And a horrible idea crossed Lady Monogram's mind. What should she do with her friend Georgiana if the whole Melmotte establishment were suddenly broken up? Of course, Madame Melmotte would refuse to take the girl back if her husband were sent to gaol. "I suppose you'll go," said Sir Damask as the ladies left the room. "Of course we shall,—in about an hour," said Lady Monogram as she left the room, looking round at him and rebuking him for his imprudence. "Because, you know—" and then he called her back. "If you want me I'll stay, of course; but if you don't, I'll go down to the club." "How can I say, yet? You needn't mind the club to-night." "All right;—only it's a bore being here alone." Then Miss Longestaffe asked what "was up." "Is there any doubt about our going to-night?" "I can't say. I'm so harassed that I don't know what I'm about. There seems to be a report that the Emperor won't be there." "Impossible!" "It's all very well to say impossible, my dear," said Lady Monogram; "but still that's what people are saying. You see Mr. Melmotte is a very great man, but perhaps—something else has turned up, so that he may be thrown over. Things of that kind do happen. You had better finish dressing. I shall. But I shan't make sure of going till I hear that the Emperor is there." Then she descended to her husband, whom she found forlornly consoling himself with a cigar. "Damask," she said, "you must find out." "Find out what?" "Whether the Prince and the Emperor are there." "Send John to ask," suggested the husband. "He would be sure to make a blunder about it. If you'd go yourself you'd learn the truth in a minute. Have a cab,—just go into the hall and you'll soon know how it all is;—I'd do it in a minute if I were you." Sir Damask was the most good-natured man in the world, but he did not like the job. "What can be the objection?" asked his wife. "Go to a man's house and find out whether a man's guests are come before you go yourself! I don't just see it, Ju." "Guests! What nonsense! The Emperor and all the Royal Family! As if it were like any other party. Such a thing, probably, never happened before, and never will happen again. If you don't go, Damask, I must; and I will." Sir Damask, after groaning and smoking for half a minute, said that he would go. He made many remonstrances. It was a confounded bore. He hated emperors and he hated princes. He hated the whole box and dice of that sort of thing! He "wished to goodness" that he had dined at his club and sent word up home that the affair was to be off. But at last he submitted, and allowed his wife to leave the room with the intention of sending for a cab. The cab was sent for and announced, but Sir Damask would not stir till he had finished his big cigar. It was past ten when he left his own house. On arriving in Grosvenor Square he could at once see that the party was going on. The house was illuminated. There was a concourse of servants round the door, and half the square was already blocked up with carriages. It was not without delay that he got to the door, and when there he saw the royal liveries. There was no doubt about the party. The Emperor and the Princes and the Princesses were all there. As far as Sir Damask could then perceive, the dinner had been quite a success. But again there was a delay in getting away, and it was nearly eleven before he could reach home. "It's all right," said he to his wife. "They're there, safe enough." "You are sure that the Emperor is there." "As sure as a man can be without having seen him." Miss Longestaffe was present at this moment, and could not but resent what appeared to be a most unseemly slur cast upon her friends. "I don't understand it at all," she said. "Of course the Emperor is there. Everybody has known for the last month that he was coming. What is the meaning of it, Julia?" "My dear, you must allow me to manage my own little affairs my own way. I dare say I am absurd. But I have my reason. Now, Damask, if the carriage is there we had better start." The carriage was there, and they did start, and with a delay which seemed unprecedented, even to Lady Monogram, who was accustomed to these things, they reached the door. There was a great crush in the hall, and people were coming down-stairs. But at last they made their way into the room above, and found that the Emperor of China and all the Royalties had been there,—but had taken their departure. Sir Damask put the ladies into the carriage and went at once to his club. 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 (2004). The Way We Live Now. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5231/pg5231-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

LADY MONOGRAM PREPARES FOR THE PARTY

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . LADY MONOGRAM here LADY MONOGRAM. Georgiana Longestaffe had now been staying with the Melmottes for a fortnight, and her prospects in regard to the London season had not much improved. Her brother had troubled her no further, and her family at Caversham had not, as far as she was aware, taken any notice of Dolly's interference. Twice a week she received a cold, dull letter from her mother,—such letters as she had been accustomed to receive when away from home; and these she had answered, always endeavouring to fill her sheet with some customary description of fashionable doings, with some bit of scandal such as she would have repeated for her mother's amusement,—and her own delectation in the telling of it,—had there been nothing painful in the nature of her sojourn in London. Of the Melmottes she hardly spoke. She did not say that she was taken to the houses in which it was her ambition to be seen. She would have lied directly in saying so. But she did not announce her own disappointment. She had chosen to come up to the Melmottes in preference to remaining at Caversham, and she would not declare her own failure. "I hope they are kind to you," Lady Pomona always said. But Georgiana did not tell her mother whether the Melmottes were kind or unkind. In truth, her "season" was a very unpleasant season. Her mode of living was altogether different to anything she had already known. The house in Bruton Street had never been very bright, but the appendages of life there had been of a sort which was not known in the gorgeous mansion in Grosvenor Square. It had been full of books and little toys and those thousand trifling household gods which are accumulated in years, and which in their accumulation suit themselves to the taste of their owners. In Grosvenor Square there were no Lares;—no toys, no books, nothing but gold and grandeur, pomatum, powder and pride. The Longestaffe life had not been an easy, natural, or intellectual life; but the Melmotte life was hardly endurable even by a Longestaffe. She had, however, come prepared to suffer much, and was endowed with considerable power of endurance in pursuit of her own objects. Having willed to come, even to the Melmottes, in preference to remaining at Caversham, she fortified herself to suffer much. Could she have ridden in the park at mid-day in desirable company, and found herself in proper houses at midnight, she would have borne the rest, bad as it might have been. But it was not so. She had her horse, but could with difficulty get any proper companion. She had been in the habit of riding with one of the Primero girls,—and old Primero would accompany them, or perhaps a brother Primero, or occasionally her own father. And then, when once out, she would be surrounded by a cloud of young men,—and though there was but little in it, a walking round and round the same bit of ground with the same companions and with the smallest attempt at conversation, still it had been the proper thing and had satisfied her. Now it was with difficulty that she could get any cavalier such as the laws of society demand. Even Penelope Primero snubbed her,—whom she, Georgiana Longestaffe, had hitherto endured and snubbed. She was just allowed to join them when old Primero rode, and was obliged even to ask for that assistance. But the nights were still worse. She could only go where Madame Melmotte went, and Madame Melmotte was more prone to receive people at home than to go out. And the people she did receive were antipathetic to Miss Longestaffe. She did not even know who they were, whence they came, or what was their nature. They seemed to be as little akin to her as would have been the shopkeepers in the small town near Caversham. She would sit through long evenings almost speechless, trying to fathom the depth of the vulgarity of her associates. Occasionally she was taken out, and was then, probably, taken to very grand houses. The two duchesses and the Marchioness of Auld Reekie received Madame Melmotte, and the garden parties of royalty were open to her. And some of the most elaborate fêtes of the season,—which indeed were very elaborate on behalf of this and that travelling potentate,—were attained. On these occasions Miss Longestaffe was fully aware of the struggle that was always made for invitations, often unsuccessfully, but sometimes with triumph. Even the bargains, conducted by the hands of Lord Alfred and his mighty sister, were not altogether hidden from her. The Emperor of China was to be in London and it was thought proper that some private person, some untitled individual, should give the Emperor a dinner, so that the Emperor might see how an English merchant lives. Mr. Melmotte was chosen on condition that he would spend £10,000 on the banquet;—and, as a part of his payment for this expenditure, was to be admitted with his family, to a grand entertainment given to the Emperor at Windsor Park. Of these good things Georgiana Longestaffe would receive her share. But she went to them as a Melmotte and not as a Longestaffe,—and when amidst these gaieties, though she could see her old friends, she was not with them. She was ever behind Madame Melmotte, till she hated the make of that lady's garments and the shape of that lady's back. She had told both her father and mother very plainly that it behoved her to be in London at this time of the year that she might—look for a husband. She had not hesitated in declaring her purpose; and that purpose, together with the means of carrying it out, had not appeared to them to be unreasonable. She wanted to be settled in life. She had meant, when she first started on her career, to have a lord;—but lords are scarce. She was herself not very highly born, not very highly gifted, not very lovely, not very pleasant, and she had no fortune. She had long made up her mind that she could do without a lord, but that she must get a commoner of the proper sort. He must be a man with a place in the country and sufficient means to bring him annually to London. He must be a gentleman,—and, probably, in parliament. And above all things he must be in the right set. She would rather go on for ever struggling than take some country Whitstable as her sister was about to do. But now the men of the right sort never came near her. The one object for which she had subjected herself to all this ignominy seemed to have vanished altogether in the distance. When by chance she danced or exchanged a few words with the Nidderdales and Grassloughs whom she used to know, they spoke to her with a want of respect which she felt and tasted but could hardly analyse. Even Miles Grendall, who had hitherto been below her notice, attempted to patronise her in a manner that bewildered her. All this nearly broke her heart. And then from time to time little rumours reached her ears which made her aware that, in the teeth of all Mr. Melmotte's social successes, a general opinion that he was a gigantic swindler was rather gaining ground than otherwise. "Your host is a wonderful fellow, by George!" said Lord Nidderdale. "No one seems to know which way he'll turn up at last." "There's nothing like being a robber, if you can only rob enough," said Lord Grasslough,—not exactly naming Melmotte, but very clearly alluding to him. There was a vacancy for a member of parliament at Westminster, and Melmotte was about to come forward as a candidate. "If he can manage that I think he'll pull through," she heard one man say. "If money'll do it, it will be done," said another. She could understand it all. Mr. Melmotte was admitted into society, because of some enormous power which was supposed to lie in his hands; but even by those who thus admitted him he was regarded as a thief and a scoundrel. This was the man whose house had been selected by her father in order that she might make her search for a husband from beneath his wing! In her agony she wrote to her old friend Julia Triplex, now the wife of Sir Damask Monogram. She had been really intimate with Julia Triplex, and had been sympathetic when a brilliant marriage had been achieved. Julia had been without fortune, but very pretty. Sir Damask was a man of great wealth, whose father had been a contractor. But Sir Damask himself was a sportsman, keeping many horses on which other men often rode, a yacht in which other men sunned themselves, a deer forest, a moor, a large machinery for making pheasants. He shot pigeons at Hurlingham, drove four-in-hand in the park, had a box at every race-course, and was the most good-natured fellow known. He had really conquered the world, had got over the difficulty of being the grandson of a butcher, and was now as good as though the Monograms had gone to the crusades. Julia Triplex was equal to her position, and made the very most of it. She dispensed champagne and smiles, and made everybody, including herself, believe that she was in love with her husband. Lady Monogram had climbed to the top of the tree, and in that position had been, of course, invaluable to her old friend. We must give her her due and say that she had been fairly true to friendship while Georgiana—behaved herself. She thought that Georgiana in going to the Melmottes had—not behaved herself, and therefore she had determined to drop Georgiana. "Heartless, false, purse-proud creature," Georgiana said to herself as she wrote the following letter in humiliating agony. Dear Lady Monogram, I think you hardly understand my position. Of course you have cut me. Haven't you? And of course I must feel it very much. You did not use to be ill-natured, and I hardly think you can have become so now when you have everything pleasant around you. I do not think that I have done anything that should make an old friend treat me in this way, and therefore I write to ask you to let me see you. Of course it is because I am staying here. You know me well enough to be sure that it can't be my own choice. Papa arranged it all. If there is anything against these people, I suppose papa does not know it. Of course they are not nice. Of course they are not like anything that I have been used to. But when papa told me that the house in Bruton Street was to be shut up and that I was to come here, of course I did as I was bid. I don't think an old friend like you, whom I have always liked more than anybody else, ought to cut me for it. It's not about the parties, but about yourself that I mind. I don't ask you to come here, but if you will see me I can have the carriage and will go to you. Yours, as ever, Georgiana Longestaffe. It was a troublesome letter to get written. Lady Monogram was her junior in age and had once been lower than herself in social position. In the early days of their friendship she had sometimes domineered over Julia Triplex, and had been entreated by Julia, in reference to balls here and routes there. The great Monogram marriage had been accomplished very suddenly, and had taken place,—exalting Julia very high,—just as Georgiana was beginning to allow her aspirations to descend. It was in that very season that she moved her castle in the air from the Upper to the Lower House. And now she was absolutely begging for notice, and praying that she might not be cut! She sent her letter by post and on the following day received a reply, which was left by a footman. Dear Georgiana, Of course I shall be delighted to see you. I don't know what you mean by cutting. I never cut anybody. We happen to have got into different sets, but that is not my fault. Sir Damask won't let me call on the Melmottes. I can't help that. You wouldn't have me go where he tells me not. I don't know anything about them myself, except that I did go to their ball. But everybody knows that's different. I shall be at home all to-morrow till three,—that is to-day I mean, for I'm writing after coming home from Lady Killarney's ball; but if you wish to see me alone you had better come before lunch. Yours affectionately, J. Monogram. Georgiana condescended to borrow the carriage and reached her friend's house a little after noon. The two ladies kissed each other when they met—of course, and then Miss Longestaffe at once began. "Julia, I did think that you would at any rate have asked me to your second ball." "Of course you would have been asked if you had been up in Bruton Street. You know that as well as I do. It would have been a matter of course." "What difference does a house make?" "But the people in a house make a great deal of difference, my dear. I don't want to quarrel with you, my dear; but I can't know the Melmottes." "Who asks you?" "You are with them." "Do you mean to say that you can't ask anybody to your house without asking everybody that lives with that person? It's done every day." "Somebody must have brought you." "I would have come with the Primeros, Julia." "I couldn't do it. I asked Damask and he wouldn't have it. When that great affair was going on in February, we didn't know much about the people. I was told that everybody was going and therefore I got Sir Damask to let me go. He says now that he won't let me know them; and after having been at their house I can't ask you out of it, without asking them too." "I don't see it at all, Julia." "I'm very sorry, my dear, but I can't go against my husband." "Everybody goes to their house," said Georgiana, pleading her cause to the best of her ability. "The Duchess of Stevenage has dined in Grosvenor Square since I have been there." "We all know what that means," replied Lady Monogram. "And people are giving their eyes to be asked to the dinner party which he is to give to the Emperor in July;—and even to the reception afterwards." "To hear you talk, Georgiana, one would think that you didn't understand anything," said Lady Monogram. "People are going to see the Emperor, not to see the Melmottes. I dare say we might have gone,—only I suppose we shan't now because of this row." "I don't know what you mean by a row, Julia." "Well;—it is a row, and I hate rows. Going there when the Emperor of China is there, or anything of that kind, is no more than going to the play. Somebody chooses to get all London into his house, and all London chooses to go. But it isn't understood that that means acquaintance. I should meet Madame Melmotte in the park afterwards and not think of bowing to her." "I should call that rude." "Very well. Then we differ. But really it does seem to me that you ought to understand these things as well as anybody. I don't find any fault with you for going to the Melmottes,—though I was very sorry to hear it; but when you have done it, I don't think you should complain of people because they won't have the Melmottes crammed down their throats." "Nobody has wanted it," said Georgiana sobbing. At this moment the door was opened, and Sir Damask came in. "I'm talking to your wife about the Melmottes," she continued, determined to take the bull by the horns. "I'm staying there, and—I think it—unkind that Julia—hasn't been—to see me. That's all." "How'd you do, Miss Longestaffe? She doesn't know them." And Sir Damask, folding his hands together, raising his eyebrows, and standing on the rug, looked as though he had solved the whole difficulty. "She knows me, Sir Damask." "Oh yes;—she knows you. That's a matter of course. We're delighted to see you, Miss Longestaffe—I am, always. Wish we could have had you at Ascot. But—." Then he looked as though he had again explained everything. "I've told her that you don't want me to go to the Melmottes," said Lady Monogram. "Well, no;—not just to go there. Stay and have lunch, Miss Longestaffe." "No, thank you." "Now you're here, you'd better," said Lady Monogram. "No, thank you. I'm sorry that I have not been able to make you understand me. I could not allow our very long friendship to be dropped without a word." "Don't say—dropped," exclaimed the baronet. "I do say dropped, Sir Damask. I thought we should have understood each other;—your wife and I. But we haven't. Wherever she might have gone, I should have made it my business to see her; but she feels differently. Good-bye." "Good-bye, my dear. If you will quarrel, it isn't my doing." Then Sir Damask led Miss Longestaffe out, and put her into Madame Melmotte's carriage. "It's the most absurd thing I ever knew in my life," said the wife as soon as her husband had returned to her. "She hasn't been able to bear to remain down in the country for one season, when all the world knows that her father can't afford to have a house for them in town. Then she condescends to come and stay with these abominations and pretends to feel surprised that her old friends don't run after her. She is old enough to have known better." "I suppose she likes parties," said Sir Damask. "Likes parties! She'd like to get somebody to take her. It's twelve years now since Georgiana Longestaffe came out. I remember being told of the time when I was first entered myself. Yes, my dear, you know all about it, I dare say. And there she is still. I can feel for her, and do feel for her. But if she will let herself down in that way she can't expect not to be dropped. You remember the woman;—don't you?" "What woman?" "Madame Melmotte?" "Never saw her in my life." "Oh yes, you did. You took me there that night when Prince —— danced with the girl. Don't you remember the blowsy fat woman at the top of the stairs;—a regular horror?" "Didn't look at her. I was only thinking what a lot of money it all cost." "I remember her, and if Georgiana Longestaffe thinks I'm going there to make an acquaintance with Madame Melmotte she is very much mistaken. And if she thinks that that is the way to get married, I think she is mistaken again." Nothing perhaps is so efficacious in preventing men from marrying as the tone in which married women speak of the struggles made in that direction by their unmarried friends. 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 (2004). The Way We Live Now. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5231/pg5231-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

LADY MONOGRAM

The Milgram Continuum at a glance In 1994 Paul Milgram conceived for the first time the , also called in a scientific paper where he (among with other colleagues) tried to describe all possible combinations of reality and computer-generated images in HUDs. Reality Virtuality Continuum Milgram’s Continuum At the far left, there is the , unmodified as our eyes see it. At the opposite side of the continuum, we can find the where all that wee see has been generated by a computer. This is the case for VR headsets like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, etc. real environment virtual environment The area between the real environment and the virtual environment represents the , with various degrees of overlapping between reality and virtuality. mixed reality Devices like Vuzix, Epson Moverio or fall into the case, where the virutality the reality (i.e. the virtuality is less relevant than the reality), whereas the is represented by devices like Microsoft Hololens or Daqri helmets. Glassup F4 Augmented Reality augments Augmented Virtuality Now, imagine you are in a club and you see a very nice boy (or girl — hey, we embrace diversity here!) but you don’t know what is the perfect first approach: now you know the MIlgram’s Continuum. You are welcome.

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