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The demand for software developers is ever-increasing, with many industries turning to IT for help concerning marketing, automation processes, etc. It's estimated that by the end of 2019, the total number of software developers will count over 26 million. Scattered around the globe, could prove to be a difficult job for managers. managing them online Some of the obstacles include: Scheduling Largely connected to different time zones, scheduling tasks and deadlines is a very important matter in project management. This is why it’s important to use the right project management tools when managing a remote team. Language & cultural differences As mentioned above, over 26 million programmers will be available for work by the end of the year, meaning workers coming from different cultures and practicing various religions will join your company. Tracking performance Remote workers are paid by the hour. Thus, it's required of them to fully focus on the tasks at hand and minimize slacking. However, you can't really tell what your worker is doing in front of the computer. Lack of trust and team cohesion Although remote software engineers can remain loyal to a single company for years, there's often a lack of trust between them and managers. Sometimes, it's favoring one person over another and other times, it's simply a difference in characters. Communication Conducting head-to-head conversations is still a major issue when managing remote teams. Apart from talking things over during company retreats and team-building events, you don't get to see your employees for the rest of the year. Let’s dive into specific categories of tools. Project management Finding the perfect app to manage both remote workers and essential projects isn't as easy as many would imagine. Luckily, there are plenty of online project management solutions based on various methods. These are the best of the best. GanttPRO : $15 for personal needs, $5.90-$7.90 for teams based on the number of users. Trial version available for 14 days. Price : average of 4.6/5 at G2Crowd and 4.5/5 at Capterra. Rating Used by over 350.000 project managers and by companies from every industry, GanttPRO app makes life easier for every remote team. Some of its best features include: Famous Gantt chart. It truly assists in every aspect of managing. Prioritization. Time & expense trackers. Resource management. Export and sharing. Team collaboration. JIRA and Google Drive integrations. Due to the multiple tracking and management features, as well as acceptable prices, GanttPRO is the ideal tool for any company, small or large. Jira : starting at $10. Trial version available for 7 days. Price : average of 4.1/5 at G2Crowd. Rating With a dashboard design similar to Trello, Jira is easy to plan and track all tasks. Users can add many apps via Atlassian Marketplace to upgrade the existing software. Some of its best features include: Measuring the amount of work employees can do during working hours. Product release forecast. Budgeting. Time tracking. Overall, Jira is a great tool to have that is easily upgradeable. For managers offering more in-app options for the staff, it's a good addition. Trello : free forever. Paid plans are available at $9.99 and $20.83. Price : average of 4.4 out of 5 stars at G2Crowd. Rating Trello is a well-known management app, incredibly easy to use and with flexible plans, including a free one. Some of its best features include: Setting deadlines. To-do lists. Different dashboard views. The ability to upload various media. For those who want to keep it simple, Trello is the right choice. Beginners can easily join conversations and contribute to all boards, without wasting any time on functionality. Why is Trello good for project management? Due to its simplicity, thousands of companies use it to create boards and delegate daily tasks to the staff. File Management Every company needs a stable file management service to store all projects and media files. Every user is allowed to test out the following apps and choose whichever suits them the most. Google Drive : free up to 15 GB per user. Paid plan starts at $8/month. Price : average of 5/5 at both Capterra and G2. Rating Everything Google does is of the highest quality, and so is their storage management software. It has already crossed the '1 billion users' mark and is way ahead of its competitors. Why do millions of users have it bookmarked? Easy usage, the free version features, and its 'drag & drop files' option are perfect for any programmer and designer in need of safe file storage. Box : starts at $5/month. Four plans available for small and large companies. Price : average of 4.5/5 stars, Box has received generally positive reviews. Rating Box may not be as popular as Google Drive, but it still lets you organize files efficiently and share folders with the rest of the staff. Perfectly adjusted for mobile functionality, Box supports a wide range of file types and supports device syncing, especially between PC and smartphones. Dropbox : offering both free and paid plans for individuals and businesses, it starts at $9.99 per month. Price : average of 4.5/5, making it a great alternative to Google Drive. Rating Dropbox has been around for a decade and is still one of the best file hosting services around. Supporting multiple OS, it's ideal for remote teams. Users can set storage limits, change between multiple languages for better navigation, while managers can report user activity between folders. Communication Lack of communication leads to distrust and it's essential that you keep everyone in the loop, at all times. We're giving you the few options used by millions of companies and individuals so that every member of the staff is engaged in brainstorming, screen sharing assistance, and task performance. Join.me : this famous meeting app starts at $10 for individuals, depending on the number of allowed features per plan. Price : average of 4.5 stars at Capterra, based on the opinion of over 800 users and 4.2 stars at G2Crowd. Rating Users praise join.me for its simplicity and video quality, giving it an excellent rating. You can schedule and attend internal meetings, as well as manage attendees remotely. Screenleap : for small companies, there's a free plan giving up to 40 free minutes a day. Paid plans begin at $15/month. Price : average of 4.1/5. Rating Users love its user-friendly interface, multi-platform usage, and for not having to install it on their laptops. Screenleap is used by companies such as Home Depot and Whole Foods Market. Zoom : similar to Screenleap, the free version offers limited options, while 'Pro' plans begin at $14.99 per month. Price : average of 4.5/5 stars. Rating Zoom is a pioneer in video conferencing, known for taking care of its employees and customers. The only piece of the puzzle missing are more features in the free version. Still, it's ranked number one on multiple app review sites. Some of the Internet's most famous companies use Zoom for video conferencing, including Dropbox, GoDaddy, UBER, and the board of directors at Atlassian. Why Zoom? It's designed to work flawlessly, it's easy to use and adapted for senior managers, and helps develop discussions with its comment, voting, and instant messaging features. Slack : while there is no free version, the 'Standard' plan begins at $7/month per individual. Price : based on the opinions of over 30.000 reviewers, it has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Rating Slack has officially passed the '10 million users' mark at the beginning of 2019, making it the most used remote communication software ever. By winning several awards for its ease of use, Slack proves to be a great app for tasking, brainstorming, and instant messaging. Pukkateam : all plans are free for the first two weeks, then you get charged for as little as $7 per month. Price : the relatively new remote communication app is quickly gaining on its competitors. Rating Pukkateam may not be as famous as the other apps on the list, but it's still used by remote teams around the globe, including companies like Tesco, Shopify, RyanAir, and Cisco. Some companies love short , such as showing who has the neatest office desk, etc. team building games Security With so many hackers trying to break into the servers of famous corporations, startups are easy targets. Security is an important step to make before any sensitive information is stored in the servers. 1Password : it costs as little as $3.99/month per user, for businesses and remote teams. A free trial is included. Price : average of 5/5 for its efficiency and enhanced security measures. Rating 1Password is one of the best password management apps ever built, offering to store and create all your passwords, making it impossible for hackers to break in your private emails and credit card information. To make our lives easier, 1Password does not only create and store passwords, but there are several folders you can create, containing passport information, bank accounts, and credit cards, IDs, and even driver licenses. Spinbackup : for just $5 flat ratep er month, you'll get complete security and backup for your teams. Free trial and demos are included. Price : it's another full-star app. Rating Spinbackup is used by thousands of companies, mainly to assist with G-Suite and Office 365, safeguarding all business data in the process. Companies love the encryption feature, cloud backup scheduling, and allowing local and remote servers to get connected. Time Tracking Time is money, and money can't be made if remote workers aren't focused on the tasks at hand. Tracking the working hours and completed work will get you the finest employees - the most productive ones, at least. Toggl : the basic plan is always free, while users get a 30-day trial period to explore all options. Price : 4.5 out of 5 stars for its simple design and value for money. Rating CEOs and project managers love this effective time-tracking app for multiple reasons, including the ability to track multiple activities. Besides the usual features, you can see how much a programmer has spent on research, learning, and project tasks. Teamwork Timer : for small teams, there is the 'free forever' plan. Otherwise, paid plans begin at $9 per month. Price : With an average of 4.3/5 at G2Crowd, Teamwork is among the top 5 time tracking apps available. Rating Users praise Teamwork for increasing their work productivity and helping them manage time better. Features include a panoramic view of all projects, messaging, and a general board view. Overall, a great time tracker. Harvest : this time tracking software is relatively cheap, with prices for both individuals and teams beginning at $12 per month, although a single user can activate the 'forever free' plan, working on two separate projects. Price : excellent reviews of 4.5/5 stars make it ideal for companies in the IT sector. Rating Project managers can create visual reports from all data collected, and then check expenditure per hour and project completion. Additional features include project budget alerts, apps integration, multi device availability, and price discounts. Invoicing & Documents Managing remote teams' finances and getting documents in order is often stressful. There are ways to improve and save time on printing invoices with the following apps. Freshbooks : starts at $15, while small businesses can get the 'Plus' plan for just $25 per month. Price : average of 4.5/5 stars on several relevant app reviewing sites. Rating One of the good things about this app is the custom functionality and various workflows. Credit card integration, automated bank importing, and time tracking with estimates are some of the coolest features. TransferWise : it's free to order a TransferWise debit card, and they only charge small fees for transfer and converting between currencies. Price : TrustPilot reviews show a high rating of 9.2/10 stars, making it a highly reliable app to transfer payments and save money for both companies and remote staff. Rating With Virgin's owner as a key investor and over 4 million users worldwide, this money transfer service is relatively cheaper than PayPal. Some of its best features include sending money to over 70 countries worldwide, converting to over 40 currencies, and get paid like a local in some countries. Hellosign : starts at $299, while you can use it for free if you make less than 100 transactions per month. Price : based on over 100 reviews, the digital signature app has an excellent 4.5-star rating. Rating Hellosign is a digital signatures app, letting managers sign invoices and other important documents online, for which they are legally obliged to fulfill. As a bonus, you can authorize other members to sign documents, or simply sign via mobile. In case you forget, there are auto-reminders to keep you updated. Lawgood : they charge $95 per contract review, for 10 pages or less. Other plans exist, depending on the company's needs. Price : unfortunately, you can't find many reviews for this app, being only a couple of years old. However, the ones to be found show a 5/5 rating, since not many people have thought of this idea before. Rating Lawgood is an innovative app in the IT industry, allowing managers to write agreements and contracts without having to consult a lawyer. Experienced attorneys do it for them, reviewing every single page and editing it to perfection. Other options include faster turnaround time, and tips on how to improve contracts, followed by direct calling. Code Management Remote programmers, no matter how experienced they may be, still need assistance on projects. Sometimes, even communication and problem solving sessions with fellow colleagues will result in the status quo. However, these tools help fill in the gaps and solve almost any coding stump. Screenhero : being bought and integrated into Slack's app database, it's included in the latter app's pricing plans. Price : reviews on Trustradius show a high 9.2/10 score, meaning this screen sharing software is highly recommended for any remote coding team to solve problems. Rating Screenhero allows users to share multiple screens and conduct brainstorming sessions without interruptions. As part of Slack, you get this app along with hundreds of other features and apps, as per request. GitHub Wiki : there's a free version, as well as plans beginning at $7/month, for both small companies and major corporations. Price : based on almost 2000 reviews at Capterra, its rating is straight 5/5 stars, given by coders from all around the globe. Rating GitHub is simply a distributed source code management tool that serves as a hosting service for repositories. With its great graphic interface, it offers hosting for project versions used by developers and helps fix many errors in the process. Pros include visualized changes, easily deployable code, and centralized repositories. zipBoard : there is a free/limited plan. Paid plans start at $39 for individuals and $79/month for teams. Price : rated as 4/5, zipBoard is among the few apps focused solely on bug tracking. Rating The app helps developers get rid of those pesky bugs in the code more easily and efficiently. It's a 'must' for every remote team and saves a lot of time on fixing errors. Filtering and issue tracking are some of its pros, with task management added as an extra feature, to make it whole as a bug-tracking software. Conclusion Using any of these tools is the right decision for project managers to really get things going. Teams working remotely are hard to manage, so you'll need all the help you can get. For every process, there are multiple apps to choose from (or combine) and get the best of it. Without using at least a few of these apps, losing both time and money is inevitable. Intelligent leaders know the importance of it and invest in automating tasks, allowing them to focus on everything that needs attention. Which ones would you use? Have you used any of these so far? What are your impressions? Share your opinion with your fellow programmers!

23 Time-Tested Apps to Manage Your Remote Software Development Team

I wrote a book on digital addiction. Get a copy from Barnes and Noble or Kobo After watching porn for many years, we may desensitize ourselves to the pornography we had been viewing. Then desensitized to that content we may seek new kinds of pornographic content seeking more stimulation. The new content you then look at may not have stimulated you before you began watching pornography. In fact, it may have disgusted you. But now, desensitized to what you found sexually stimulating from repeatedly viewing it, you try to derive sexual arousal from the new content type. The mind may facilitate this to attain the dopamine fix it became dependent on after years of repeated viewing pornography. In a study cited at the bottom of this article, 49% of men surveyed described sometimes “searching for sexual content or being involved in OSAs (online sexual activities) that were not previously interesting to them or that they considered disgusting”. To repeat: almost of the population surveyed described sometimes searching for content that was half not only not interesting to them before, but that they may have “considered disgusting”. How’s this happening? Today’s pornography is different. We instantly access limitless novel sexual content through free porn tubing sites emerging in ~2005. With our greater computing power in tandem with today’s Internet speeds, we streamline the endless novelty offered in these tubing sites. We watch many videos in each sitting. Zimbardo found boys on average watched 50 videos a week. With today’s computing power, we rapidly tab switch between different new videos. We can rewind and fast forward according to our sexual tastes. The result? An incredible amount of novelty based mental stimulation. An unnatural, abnormally large release of dopamine, greater than that in partnered monogamous sex. The issue is this abnormal release of dopamine may cause dopamine receptors to wear down over time. Then you don’t derive the same kick from the content you viewed before. You then may seek more novelty, through different types of content, to experience that same kick, that same dopamine burst we’ve become dependent on. Desperately seeking to find that dopamine fix, we find our minds somehow aroused by content we didn’t find arousing before. This could mean content of a sexual orientation we didn’t find ourselves naturally interested in before and we still don’t find interesting after ejaculating. This could also involve sex with animals. It can involve incredibly violent content. This has not been proven, but maybe wearing down of old forms of attraction inculcates new sexual states not only in porn but in the real world as well. So, if you’re watching porn, watch out. It’s instantly accessible and insanely stimulating. Meaning, it’s really hard to resist using maximally. The problem is maximalist use may lead you down a path that may not be good for you. Along the way, your dopamine receptivity may be impacted- you may be less stimulated by normal life. It’s hard to change your behavior when you don’t understand the consequences. Now you do. It’s worth restraining yourself for the greater long term benefit even though it’s hard. I wrote a book on digital addiction. Get your copy from Barnes and Noble or Kobo — Source: Wéry A., Billieux J. Online sexual activities: An exploratory study of problematic and non-problematic usage patterns in a sample of men. Comput. Hum. Behav. 2016;56:257–266. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.046. Page 260.

Porn May Lead to New Sex Tastes

THE STEAM-ENGINE.

An Adventure Amidst the Industrial Revolution

A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CONVERSATION AND DISCOVERY here CHAPTER VII - CONVERSATION AND DISCOVERY When I returned, dinner was ready. This meal was devoured by my worthy relative with avidity and voracity. His shipboard diet had turned his interior into a perfect gulf. The repast, which was more Danish than Icelandic, was in itself nothing, but the excessive hospitality of our host made us enjoy it doubly. The conversation turned upon scientific matters, and M. Fridriksson asked my uncle what he thought of the public library. "Library, sir?" cried my uncle; "it appears to me a collection of useless odd volumes, and a beggarly amount of empty shelves." "What!" cried M. Fridriksson; "why, we have eight thousand volumes of most rare and valuable works—some in the Scandinavian language, besides all the new publications from Copenhagen." "Eight thousand volumes, my dear sir—why, where are they?" cried my uncle. "Scattered over the country, Professor Hardwigg. We are very studious, my dear sir, though we do live in Iceland. Every farmer, every laborer, every fisherman can both read and write—and we think that books instead of being locked up in cupboards, far from the sight of students, should be distributed as widely as possible. The books of our library are therefore passed from hand to hand without returning to the library shelves perhaps for years." "Then when foreigners visit you, there is nothing for them to see?" "Well, sir, foreigners have their own libraries, and our first consideration is, that our humbler classes should be highly educated. Fortunately, the love of study is innate in the Icelandic people. In 1816 we founded a Literary Society and Mechanics' Institute; many foreign scholars of eminence are honorary members; we publish books destined to educate our people, and these books have rendered valuable services to our country. Allow me to have the honor, Professor Hardwigg, to enroll you as an honorary member?" My uncle, who already belonged to nearly every literary and scientific institution in Europe, immediately yielded to the amiable wishes of good M. Fridriksson. "And now," he said, after many expressions of gratitude and good will, "if you will tell me what books you expected to find, perhaps I may be of some assistance to you." I watched my uncle keenly. For a minute or two he hesitated, as if unwilling to speak; to speak openly was, perhaps, to unveil his projects. Nevertheless, after some reflection, he made up his mind. "Well, M. Fridriksson," he said in an easy, unconcerned kind of way, "I was desirous of ascertaining, if among other valuable works, you had any of the learned Arne Saknussemm." "Arne Saknussemm!" cried the Professor of Reykjavik; "you speak of one of the most distinguished scholars of the sixteenth century, of the great naturalist, the great alchemist, the great traveler." "Exactly so." "One of the most distinguished men connected with Icelandic science and literature." "As you say, sir—" "A man illustrious above all." "Yes, sir, all this is true, but his works?" "We have none of them." "Not in Iceland?" "There are none in Iceland or elsewhere," answered the other, sadly. "Why so?" "Because Arne Saknussemm was persecuted for heresy, and in 1573 his works were publicly burnt at Copenhagen, by the hands of the common hangman." "Very good! capital!" murmured my uncle, to the great astonishment of the worthy Icelander. "You said, sir—" "Yes, yes, all is clear, I see the link in the chain; everything is explained, and I now understand why Arne Saknussemm, put out of court, forced to hide his magnificent discoveries, was compelled to conceal beneath the veil of an incomprehensible cryptograph, the secret—" "What secret?" "A secret—which," stammered my uncle. "Have you discovered some wonderful manuscript?" cried M. Fridriksson. "No! no, I was carried away by my enthusiasm. A mere supposition." "Very good, sir. But, really, to turn to another subject, I hope you will not leave our island without examining into its mineralogical riches." "Well, the fact is, I am rather late. So many learned men have been here before me." "Yes, yes, but there is still much to be done," cried M. Fridriksson. "You think so," said my uncle, his eyes twinkling with hidden satisfaction. "Yes, you have no idea how many unknown mountains, glaciers, volcanoes there are which remain to be studied. Without moving from where we sit, I can show you one. Yonder on the edge of the horizon, you see Sneffels." "Oh yes, Sneffels," said my uncle. "One of the most curious volcanoes in existence, the crater of which has been rarely visited." "Extinct?" "Extinct, any time these five hundred years," was the ready reply. "Well," said my uncle, who dug his nails into his flesh, and pressed his knees tightly together to prevent himself leaping up with joy. "I have a great mind to begin my studies with an examination of the geological mysteries of this Mount Seffel—Feisel—what do you call it?" "Sneffels, my dear sir." This portion of the conversation took place in Latin, and I therefore understood all that had been said. I could scarcely keep my countenance when I found my uncle so cunningly concealing his delight and satisfaction. I must confess that his artful grimaces, put on to conceal his happiness, made him look like a new Mephistopheles. "Yes, yes," he continued, "your proposition delights me. I will endeavor to climb to the summit of Sneffels, and, if possible, will descend into its crater." "I very much regret," continued M. Fridriksson, "that my occupation will entirely preclude the possibility of my accompanying you. It would have been both pleasurable and profitable if I could have spared the time." "No, no, a thousand times no," cried my uncle. "I do not wish to disturb the serenity of any man. I thank you, however, with all my heart. The presence of one so learned as yourself, would no doubt have been most useful, but the duties of your office and profession before everything." In the innocence of his simple heart, our host did not perceive the irony of these remarks. "I entirely approve your project," continued the Icelander after some further remarks. "It is a good idea to begin by examining this volcano. You will make a harvest of curious observations. In the first place, how do you propose to get to Sneffels?" "By sea. I shall cross the bay. Of course that is the most rapid route." "Of course. But still it cannot be done." "Why?" "We have not an available boat in all Reykjavik," replied the other. "What is to be done?" "You must go by land along the coast. It is longer, but much more interesting." "Then I must have a guide." "Of course; and I have your very man." "Somebody on whom I can depend." "Yes, an inhabitant of the peninsula on which Sneffels is situated. He is a very shrewd and worthy man, with whom you will be pleased. He speaks Danish like a Dane." "When can I see him—today?" "No, tomorrow; he will not be here before." "Tomorrow be it," replied my uncle, with a deep sigh. The conversation ended by compliments on both sides. During the dinner my uncle had learned much as to the history of Arne Saknussemm, the reasons for his mysterious and hieroglyphical document. He also became aware that his host would not accompany him on his adventurous expedition, and that next day we should have a guide. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (2006). A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18857/18857-h/18857-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

CONVERSATION AND DISCOVERY

The widow of Charles of Durazzo was shut up in the castle of Ovo

Our Humble Helpers: Familiar Talks on the Domestic Animals by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . CHEESE CHAPTER XXXIII. CHEESE “The chief constituent of cheese is casein coagulated by the action of rennet. But, prepared from casein alone, cheese would be coarse and almost tasteless, and when dry would become as hard as stone. To give tenderness and flavor to the paste-like mass, the cream is commonly retained in milk used for making cheese. The casein furnishes the main substance of the product, while the cream contributes what might be called the seasoning. “Hence we have two principal varieties of cheese: one, prepared with milk from which the cream has been taken, contains only casein; the second, made from unskimmed milk, contains both casein and cream. The first kind, known as cottage cheese, white cheese, or, more expressively, skim-milk cheese, has little food value and is not made for its own sake, but in order to put to some use the milk that has already served to make butter. The second kind, called cream cheese, is what commonly appears on our tables in different varieties and varying appearance, according to the quality of the milk and the mode of preparation. “To make cheese still more unctuous and to give it a finer flavor, we do not always content ourselves with using milk in its natural state; to the cream that it naturally contains we often add some more from milk skimmed expressly for the purpose. The cheeses thus enriched with fatty matter are the most delicate of all. Again, we occasionally adopt a middle course, using neither natural milk nor entirely creamless milk, but of two equal parts of milk we keep one just as it is and skim the other, mixing them together afterward. “By adding or withdrawing, in varying quantities, this fatty constituent of the milk, we obtain as many different varieties of cheese. If also we bear in mind that sheep’s milk has not exactly the same properties as goats’ milk, nor goats’ milk the same properties as cows’ milk; if we remember, further, that the same animal’s milk varies according to the nature of its feed and the care given to the herd; and if, finally, we take into account the different methods of manufacture, of one sort in one place, of another sort somewhere else, we shall understand how numerous may be and in fact are the various kinds of cheese.” “For my part,” Jules interposed, “I know at least half a dozen kinds. There is Roquefort, a pasty cheese streaked with blue and of a sharp flavor; Gruyère, riddled with large round holes and yellowish in color, and clear like quartz; Auvergne, as large as a big millstone and not very delicate in flavor; Brie, in thin, wide cakes that sweat a kind of ill-smelling cream; Mont d’Or, packed with a little [ ]straw in a round deal box; and a lot of others that I can’t remember now.” 318 “Jules has just told us the best known kinds of cheese; I will add a few words on the way they are made. “Fresh cheeses are those that are eaten soon after being made. They are white and soft. They are made of either skimmed or unskimmed milk, and in the latter case they are incomparably better. When the rennet has brought about coagulation, the curdled milk is poured into round molds of tin or glazed earthenware, with holes in the bottom for the escape of the whey contained in the curdled mass. As soon as this has drained enough and is sufficiently firm, the cheese is done, and it is taken from the mold ready for the table without any other preparation.” “That’s the cheese I like best,” Emile declared. “It’s the kind we spread on slices of bread to make those delicious sandwiches.” “That is very true, but it has the fault of not keeping long. In a few days it turns sour and uneatable. All the other cheeses would do the same, all would spoil and become sour if certain measures were not taken to prevent this. These measures consist in the use of salt, which is rubbed and sprinkled on the outside of the cheese, and sometimes even mixed with the curd itself. All cheeses, then, that are to be kept a long time receive more or less salt, while fresh cheese is not salted at all. “Of these salted cheeses some are soft, some hard. [ ]That of Brie, named from the district where the best is made, in the department of Seine-et-Marne, is a large and thin soft cake, made of sheep’s milk. It is salted on both sides with finely powdered salt, and is left to soak for two or three days in the salted liquid that drips from it. The salting finished, the cheeses are packed in a cask with alternate layers of straw, and are left alone for several months. Then there starts a kind of fermentation, which is the beginning of putrefaction, and which develops new qualities. The curd loses its odor and insipid taste of milk-food, to acquire the heightened flavor and strong smell of cheese; its mass becomes more oily, even partially fluid, and changes under the rind to a liquid pap of creamy appearance. This work of modification is called refining. It has gone just far enough when the liquid part under the rind is of a pleasant taste. The cheeses are then taken out of the cask and are ready for eating. 319 “This first example shows us that cheese acquires its peculiar qualities through an incipient deterioration. Before this putrefaction sets in the cheese is simply curd, sweetish, insipid, without pronounced odor; after this process it has the odor, the taste, in fact all that is required to make it really cheese. But the putrefaction, once started artificially, does not stop where we should like it to stop. It goes on all the time, slowly indeed if we take some precautions, and the cheese, smelling more and more, and tasting stronger and stronger, ends by becoming a mass of rottenness. All cheese, therefore, when it [ ]gets too old, is sure at last to go bad; it spoils by continuing to excess the kind of deterioration that in the beginning gave it precisely the qualities desired. 320 “From its appetizing flavor and fine texture Roquefort is the king of cheeses, the prominent feature in any well-appointed dessert. Its renown extends all over the world.” “That’s the cheese that is so strong and takes so much bread to go with it?” asked Emile. “Yes, that is it. Its pronounced flavor and its blue streaks make it easy to recognize. It is made in a village of Aveyron called Roquefort, and is obtained from sheep’s milk only, the best of all milk on account of its richness in casein and butter.” “Brie cheese also,” observed Louis, “is made of sheep’s milk; yet it doesn’t compare in quality with Roquefort.” “That marked difference shows us how much the method of making it determines the quality of cheese. You have just seen what pains are taken with Brie cheese; now see how much care is given to Roquefort. “The cakes of curd are not thin in this case, but as thick as they are wide. They are stored for months in grottoes hollowed in the heart of a rock, either by nature or by man, in the environs of the village of Roquefort. These grottoes are remarkable for the strong currents of air that circulate through them, and for the coolness of their temperature. During the summer, while the thermometer [ ]outside marks thirty degrees, it shows but five inside the cheese caves. The difference is that between the heat of an oppressive summer and the cold of a severe winter. It is in the depths of these cold caves that the cheeses acquire their peculiar qualities. The only care given them is an occasional rubbing with salt and a scraping of their surface to remove whatever moldiness may have developed. This moldiness even gets into the inside by degrees, where it forms blue veins. But that is in no way detrimental; on the contrary, the flavor of the cheese gains by the formation of this mold, which is merely another kind of rotting that adds its energies to those of the usual change undergone by cheese. Hence the makers are not content with letting nature produce these signs of moldiness: they hasten the process by mixing with the fresh curd a little powdered moldy bread. The cheese would be better if left to its own working, but this addition accelerates the result, and to-day, alas, in the making of Roquefort, as in so many other branches of industry, there is greater eagerness for quick results than for excellence. 321 1 “The cheese called Auvergne is made in the mountains of Cantal. Cows’ milk is used. When the curd has formed, the dairyman, legs and arms bare, mounts a table and tramples and compresses with feet and hands the mass of fresh cheese to squeeze out the whey. The curd is then separated, mixed with pounded salt, and pressed in large round molds [ ]containing up to fifty kilograms. These enormous cheeses are finally left in cellars to the action of fermentation, which perfects them. 322 “Gruyère cheese owes its name to a little village in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In the Vosges, Jura, and Ain a great quantity of this cheese is made. This too is made of cows’ milk. The milk, after a third of its cream has been skimmed off, is slightly warmed in large kettles over a brisk fire. Then the rennet is poured in. When the curd has formed, it is separated as much as possible by being stirred in the kettle with a wide paddle, after which it is warmed still further. Finally the curd is collected, placed in a mold, and subjected to strong pressure. The cheese thus produced is next rubbed several times with salt, and then stored in a cellar and left undisturbed for two or three months. It is during its stay in the cellar that the holes or eyes characteristic of Gruyère cheese make their appearance; they are due to bubbles of gas released from the fermenting substance of the cheese. You will notice in the making of this kind of cheese the application of heat. The milk is warmed over the fire just before the rennet is added, which is not done in the other kinds. Hence Gruyère cheese is called cooked cheese. “If kept too long, all cheeses are sooner or later invaded, first on the outside and then within, by mold, yellowish white at first, then blue or greenish, and finally brick red. At the same time the cheese decays and acquires a repulsive odor and a taste so [ ]acrid as to make the lips sore. The cheese is then a mere mass of putrefaction to be thrown on the dung-hill. The rate of decay is proportioned to the softness of the cheese and its permeability by the air. Therefore, in order that it may keep well, it must be carefully dried and also reduced to a compact mass by strong pressure. That is why so much force is exerted in pressing the large cheeses of Gruyère and Auvergne in their molds. But it is nothing in comparison with certain cheeses, called Dutch cheeses, which are noted for their extraordinary lasting qualities. They become so hard and dry that before they can be eaten they sometimes have to be broken up with a hammer and put to soften again in a cloth wet with white wine.” 323 “Those very hard cheeses, as solid as a rock, can’t be of much use,” commented Emile. “That is where you are mistaken. Cooks use this hard cheese to season certain dishes, after grating it to a powder. It is also in favor on shipboard as a valuable article of food on long voyages. The Dutch cheese is round like a ball, and has a reddish rind. It takes its name from the country where it is made.” 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. Jean-Henri Fabre (2022). Our Humble Helpers: Familiar Talks on the Domestic Animals. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67073/pg67073-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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