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A streamlined design, accentuated by neutral colours. #XperiaV's fine-grained metal frame and frosted glass rear creates an ergonomic experience, which invites interaction while remaining fingerprint free. #SonyXperia #Xperia5V #NewPhoneNewMe

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Sony | Xperia

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13,314 views • 2 years ago •via X (Twitter)

#XperiaV#SonyXperia#Xperia5V#NewPhoneNewMe
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visionOS in REAL LIFE?! To pitch one of my Vision Pro app concepts to an online interior shop, we prototyped an idea we’ve had for a while: What if you could bring visionOS windows into the real world by printing them onto real frosted glass panels? Not only would this make for a fantastic marketing stunt, but it could also allow people to (kind of) experience these apps in stores without needing to wear a headset at all. Finding the perfect glass, turning a digital design into a printable layout, and producing it took many iterations. Each time, we had to reprint and refine the design, which took several months. For a single pitch, it was definitely too much work, but it was a fun experiment. Looking ahead, I can see this concept becoming the future of advertising Spatial Computing apps in the physical world.
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visionOS in REAL LIFE?! To pitch one of my Vision Pro app concepts to an online interior shop, we prototyped an idea we’ve had for a while: What if you could bring visionOS windows into the real world by printing them onto real frosted glass panels? Not only would this make for a fantastic marketing stunt, but it could also allow people to (kind of) experience these apps in stores without needing to wear a headset at all. Finding the perfect glass, turning a digital design into a printable layout, and producing it took many iterations. Each time, we had to reprint and refine the design, which took several months. For a single pitch, it was definitely too much work, but it was a fun experiment. Looking ahead, I can see this concept becoming the future of advertising Spatial Computing apps in the physical world.

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Announcing LUMIOS, the world's first human-friendly LED. Powered by revolutionary Ra Incandescent LED technology, Lumios addresses the problems of conventional LED lighting. 1. excess blue light -> low / optimized blue light • Conventional LEDs emit excessive blue light, threatening the eyes, chronically overstimulating the hormonal & nervous systems, and disrupting sleep and cellular repair. • Lumios uses advanced LED chips and light conversion technology to smooth the spectrum, reducing unnatural blue spikes and offering a low-blue, hormonally neutral spectrum, which supports balance and rejuvenation. 2. near-infrared absence -> near-infrared enriched • Conventional LEDs completely lack the near-infrared wavelengths which are essential for eyes, skin, and cellular health. • Lumios utilizes advanced phosphor technology to emit significant quantities of near-infrared light, comparable to a traditional incandescent bulb, and more than any broadband visible LED ever made. 3. poor color rendering -> ultra-high color rendering • Conventional LEDs emit a deficient spectrum which causes people and objects to appear pale, dull, and lifeless. • Lumios’ broad spectrum offers the highest color rendering ever achieved with an LED — almost identical to a standard incandescent bulb — so you can experience people and objects in their true colors. Everything looks and feels better. 4. AC flicker -> flicker-free • Conventional LEDs utilize cheap circuitry which carries AC voltage onto the light source, causing a rapid sub-perceptible flicker which has been linked to migraine headaches and cognitive disturbance. • Lumios utilizes high-quality circuitry to remove AC flicker, allowing your brain and nervous system to relax — while allowing you to think clearly and perform your best. 5. excessive brightness -> multi-modal design • Standard LEDs are typically far too bright, optimized for maximum brightness and efficiency rather than visual comfort. • Lumios utilizes an advanced multi-modal design — compatible with standard light switches — providing you with optimal light for every space, setting, and time of day. Lumios unifies the biological benefits of the classic incandescent spectrum with the technological capabilities of LED technology, making it the most advanced light ever created. Experience a new light. Available now.

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🟧VIVID Gallery is launching ‘Looming Emotion’ by Shaderism | Arttu 🪞 A mesmerizing exploration of the overlooked aspects of our deepest emotions. 📅Save the Date: June 12th on Magic Eden on Bitcoin 🟧 Launchpad About the Artist 🧑‍🎨 Arttu Koskela is an algorithmic full-time artist, who uses web technologies to create real-time artwork, often incorporating aspects of audio-visuality, interactivity, and physics simulations, while exploring the themes of playfulness and self-reflection. Among his most notable works stands ‘Blinds Spots’, an Art Blocks collection curated. Through the looking-glass 🪞 Looming Emotion is an algorithmic art collection that depicts the conscious and unconscious habitual patterns distracting individuals from the unresolved emotions lurking behind them, which contribute to many of life's challenges. 🗺️ The collection style is inspired by wood carving artworks, glass distortion and Tom Patti’s sculptures. The variety of the 400-piece collection is created by the visual expression of colours in the glass and background, the noise patterns, tile configurations and different aspect ratios. Collector Benefits 💎 All Vivid Gallery and Shaderism | Arttu collectors can apply for a discounted private sale at 0.008 BTC. To participate in the private sale, complete the forms announced in our Discord Server (link in bio). In addition, every SATS holder is eligible for a free piece 🧡 Become a ‘Looming Emotion’ collector 🖼️ Around 100 pieces will be left after the private sale for a FCFS WL at 0.01 BTC. You can get a WL by filling out Vivid & Shaderism's collectors forms, engaging with our content, winning a collaboration raffle from our partner communities and participating in our upcoming spaces. Find all the info on our Discord (link in bio). Try to win a WL spot 🎁 If you'd like to take part in the WL, we're giving away 10 spots through the looking-glass. Participate in the raffle below ⬇️

Vivid Gallery

15,337 views • 2 years ago

Can GPT-4 teach a robot hand to do pen spinning tricks better than you do? I'm excited to announce Eureka, an open-ended agent that designs reward functions for robot dexterity at super-human level. It’s like Voyager in the space of a physics simulator API! Eureka bridges the gap between high-level reasoning (coding) and low-level motor control. It is a “hybrid-gradient architecture”: a black box, inference-only LLM instructs a white box, learnable neural network. The outer loop runs GPT-4 to refine the reward function (gradient-free), while the inner loop runs reinforcement learning to train a robot controller (gradient-based). We are able to scale up Eureka thanks to IsaacGym, a GPU-accelerated physics simulator that speeds up reality by 1000x. On a benchmark suite of 29 tasks across 10 robots, Eureka rewards outperform expert human-written ones on 83% of the tasks by 52% improvement margin on average. We are surprised that Eureka is able to learn pen spinning tricks, which are very difficult even for CGI artists to animate frame by frame! Eureka also enables a new form of in-context RLHF, which is able to incorporate a human operator’s feedback in natural language to steer and align the reward functions. It can serve as a powerful co-pilot for robot engineers to design sophisticated motor behaviors. As usual, we open-source everything! Welcome you all to check out our video gallery and try the codebase today: Paper: Code: Deep dive with me: 🧵
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Can GPT-4 teach a robot hand to do pen spinning tricks better than you do? I'm excited to announce Eureka, an open-ended agent that designs reward functions for robot dexterity at super-human level. It’s like Voyager in the space of a physics simulator API! Eureka bridges the gap between high-level reasoning (coding) and low-level motor control. It is a “hybrid-gradient architecture”: a black box, inference-only LLM instructs a white box, learnable neural network. The outer loop runs GPT-4 to refine the reward function (gradient-free), while the inner loop runs reinforcement learning to train a robot controller (gradient-based). We are able to scale up Eureka thanks to IsaacGym, a GPU-accelerated physics simulator that speeds up reality by 1000x. On a benchmark suite of 29 tasks across 10 robots, Eureka rewards outperform expert human-written ones on 83% of the tasks by 52% improvement margin on average. We are surprised that Eureka is able to learn pen spinning tricks, which are very difficult even for CGI artists to animate frame by frame! Eureka also enables a new form of in-context RLHF, which is able to incorporate a human operator’s feedback in natural language to steer and align the reward functions. It can serve as a powerful co-pilot for robot engineers to design sophisticated motor behaviors. As usual, we open-source everything! Welcome you all to check out our video gallery and try the codebase today: Paper: Code: Deep dive with me: 🧵

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2,675,676 views • 2 years ago

NORMALIZING INTIFADA AT THE MET MUSEUM Yesterday, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art I went to see the Raphael Exhibition and spend time learning together about one of history’s true masters his relationship with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the process that shaped him into such a prolific artist. Overall, it was an incredible experience and something I’m grateful to have shared with my kids. BUT before entering, the employee checking our tickets was wearing a keffiyeh. I believe in free speech absolutely, and I’m not saying she doesn’t have the right to wear it. My issue is different: when you’re representing a major public institution while on the job, I believe employees should remain politically neutral. And for the record, I would feel the exact same way if someone was wearing overt pro-Israel political messaging while working there. As we walked in, I made a comment asking if there was a Hamas exhibit at the museum. She immediately threatened to call security and began screaming at me, unfortunately I didn’t capture that part on video because I was genuinely shocked by how quickly the situation escalated. She called me a racist. I reject that completely. Opposing Hamas and the ideology it represents is not racism. We moved on and still had a beautiful day at the museum, but the interaction stayed with me especially because my children witnessed the entire exchange. It led to an important conversation with them afterward about free speech, public conduct, politics, and why people sometimes feel compelled to speak up. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
0:58

NORMALIZING INTIFADA AT THE MET MUSEUM Yesterday, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art I went to see the Raphael Exhibition and spend time learning together about one of history’s true masters his relationship with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the process that shaped him into such a prolific artist. Overall, it was an incredible experience and something I’m grateful to have shared with my kids. BUT before entering, the employee checking our tickets was wearing a keffiyeh. I believe in free speech absolutely, and I’m not saying she doesn’t have the right to wear it. My issue is different: when you’re representing a major public institution while on the job, I believe employees should remain politically neutral. And for the record, I would feel the exact same way if someone was wearing overt pro-Israel political messaging while working there. As we walked in, I made a comment asking if there was a Hamas exhibit at the museum. She immediately threatened to call security and began screaming at me, unfortunately I didn’t capture that part on video because I was genuinely shocked by how quickly the situation escalated. She called me a racist. I reject that completely. Opposing Hamas and the ideology it represents is not racism. We moved on and still had a beautiful day at the museum, but the interaction stayed with me especially because my children witnessed the entire exchange. It led to an important conversation with them afterward about free speech, public conduct, politics, and why people sometimes feel compelled to speak up. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Urban Warrior

32,361 views • 4 months ago

How to roll like a local Before rolling, take a moment to observe your opponent’s archetype. Are they heavy and slow, or light and strong? Are they a tough brawler or a glass cannon? First impressions can be deceiving—some strong looking opponents may not feel strong on the mat. Adjust your observations as the roll progresses. Be mindful of any obvious injuries. Avoid targeting these areas. In a competition, exploiting injuries would be part of your strategy, but during training, focus on building skills without causing harm. If you’re more experienced, challenge yourself by working in areas where your partner is skilled. Don’t make it easy for your partner by giving away free guard passes or free submission attempts. If you feel the need to use excessive will power, consider conceding the position and resetting at the next position with a quick attack. As you get a read on your partner, loosen up and engage in a way that encourages interaction. Get them to notice your intentions then you can really mix them up. Be tough and skillful, but keep the roll playful so your partner will attack back. This creates more exchanges and helps both of you improve. Apply pressure but, avoid giving unnecessary chip damage. If your partner concedes an opening for a submission, avoid slamming it on hard. Respect their well-being by catching and releasing submissions. This approach not only promotes safety but also increases opportunities for transitions, providing valuable “XP” When encountering a partner who uses excessive strength and will power against your proper technique, avoid responding with willpower and strength of your own. Instead, ease into the situation. Recognize resistance as an opportunity to set traps or wear them down gradually. If you’re less experienced, avoid your opponents strengths and look for opportunities to capitalize on their weaknesses. Don’t shy away from challenging situations; step into the action and earn your partner’s respect, even if it means getting caught. Keep working out of submissions and recovering your guard. If you’re under attack, extend the engagement and work toward regaining a neutral position. Avoid being timid or overly conservative, this limits the amount of exchanges. Instead, embrace the pace and intensity of higher-level rolls. Progress happens when you immerse yourself in the action and take risks. Remember force and will power are even less reliable against more experienced opponents. Rolling like a local isn’t just about improving your own skills; it’s about contributing to a more connected community.
2:44

How to roll like a local Before rolling, take a moment to observe your opponent’s archetype. Are they heavy and slow, or light and strong? Are they a tough brawler or a glass cannon? First impressions can be deceiving—some strong looking opponents may not feel strong on the mat. Adjust your observations as the roll progresses. Be mindful of any obvious injuries. Avoid targeting these areas. In a competition, exploiting injuries would be part of your strategy, but during training, focus on building skills without causing harm. If you’re more experienced, challenge yourself by working in areas where your partner is skilled. Don’t make it easy for your partner by giving away free guard passes or free submission attempts. If you feel the need to use excessive will power, consider conceding the position and resetting at the next position with a quick attack. As you get a read on your partner, loosen up and engage in a way that encourages interaction. Get them to notice your intentions then you can really mix them up. Be tough and skillful, but keep the roll playful so your partner will attack back. This creates more exchanges and helps both of you improve. Apply pressure but, avoid giving unnecessary chip damage. If your partner concedes an opening for a submission, avoid slamming it on hard. Respect their well-being by catching and releasing submissions. This approach not only promotes safety but also increases opportunities for transitions, providing valuable “XP” When encountering a partner who uses excessive strength and will power against your proper technique, avoid responding with willpower and strength of your own. Instead, ease into the situation. Recognize resistance as an opportunity to set traps or wear them down gradually. If you’re less experienced, avoid your opponents strengths and look for opportunities to capitalize on their weaknesses. Don’t shy away from challenging situations; step into the action and earn your partner’s respect, even if it means getting caught. Keep working out of submissions and recovering your guard. If you’re under attack, extend the engagement and work toward regaining a neutral position. Avoid being timid or overly conservative, this limits the amount of exchanges. Instead, embrace the pace and intensity of higher-level rolls. Progress happens when you immerse yourself in the action and take risks. Remember force and will power are even less reliable against more experienced opponents. Rolling like a local isn’t just about improving your own skills; it’s about contributing to a more connected community.

Drewlock

24,712 views • 1 year ago

Cycles by Material Protocol Arts Cycles by Material Protocol Arts is a network sculpture composed of space and time, a meditation on recurrence and change. Time and its manner of repeating appear as themes in art and metaphysics through the ages. Heraclitus steps into and out of a river, a new man each time while history draws irregular spiral loops, rhyming and stuttering out its story. At its core, Cycles is a network artwork deployed on Ethereum. It comprises an abstract kinetic sculpture of rotating rings, composed of 512 individual lenses. Each lens represents a unique simulation, moving through parametric space and offering viewers a window into complex, evolving patterns. By using Ethereum as a networked computer, the artwork can develop over time and accept interactions via the network. Importantly, the core of Cycles isn't just a JavaScript file loaded and stored on Ethereum, but instead a program running live on Ethereum itself as a world computer sculpture. Using blockchain technology as material for art making offers artists the chance to make artworks that are new in the context of art history: those that continuously evolve, record their own history, and run autonomously with minimal intervention. Leveraging Ethereum's distributed nature and economic incentives, Cycles aspires to operate on an extended time scale allowing viewers to live with and experience its changes over years, decades or centuries. Cycles is a dynamically running network artwork. This distinction is important because in the history of computer-generated art, many artists have focused on designing computer systems to generate outputs such as drawings, videos, or sound recordings. This is a respectable tradition but this approach fails to express the dynamic and interactive nature of computer programs as artworks themselves. Cycles attempts to explore these qualities by creating a dynamic network artwork that runs continuously and autonomously on Ethereum, shifting the focus from the product of an art-making algorithm to the system itself. Dynamism is a prerequisite for interactivity which Cycles allows for its collectors. The piece includes a method to stop a lens’ movement by freezing it. This causes the lens to focus continuously on the same point in space, causing the changing qualities of its simulation to be fixed and allowing collectors to control its aesthetic presentation. Freezing is a weighted decision. Once a lens is frozen it will require certain conditions to be unlocked. Methods for unfreezing lenses will be unlocked over time. The fact that the behavior of the sculpture can be affected by lens owners means that its future state is non-deterministic and will never be able to be fully predicted. In technical terms, Cycles is composed of Solidity, JavaScript, and SVG code, stored and computed on the Ethereum blockchain. This design avoids external dependencies, ensuring the artwork's longevity and resistance to technical failures. While the current form of Cycles is complete, its nature as a software artwork allows for potential future development through non-destructive updates or connections to other systems. By rendering systemic processes as aesthetic experiences, Cycles offers viewers a unique perspective on the passage of time and the nature of change. It invites contemplation of the cyclical yet varied patterns that characterize both natural and human systems. As viewers engage with Cycles over extended periods, they are encouraged to reflect on their own relationship with time, change, and recurrence, viewing the artwork as a lens through which to observe the interplay of repetition and variation that shapes our existence.
4:37

Cycles by Material Protocol Arts Cycles by Material Protocol Arts is a network sculpture composed of space and time, a meditation on recurrence and change. Time and its manner of repeating appear as themes in art and metaphysics through the ages. Heraclitus steps into and out of a river, a new man each time while history draws irregular spiral loops, rhyming and stuttering out its story. At its core, Cycles is a network artwork deployed on Ethereum. It comprises an abstract kinetic sculpture of rotating rings, composed of 512 individual lenses. Each lens represents a unique simulation, moving through parametric space and offering viewers a window into complex, evolving patterns. By using Ethereum as a networked computer, the artwork can develop over time and accept interactions via the network. Importantly, the core of Cycles isn't just a JavaScript file loaded and stored on Ethereum, but instead a program running live on Ethereum itself as a world computer sculpture. Using blockchain technology as material for art making offers artists the chance to make artworks that are new in the context of art history: those that continuously evolve, record their own history, and run autonomously with minimal intervention. Leveraging Ethereum's distributed nature and economic incentives, Cycles aspires to operate on an extended time scale allowing viewers to live with and experience its changes over years, decades or centuries. Cycles is a dynamically running network artwork. This distinction is important because in the history of computer-generated art, many artists have focused on designing computer systems to generate outputs such as drawings, videos, or sound recordings. This is a respectable tradition but this approach fails to express the dynamic and interactive nature of computer programs as artworks themselves. Cycles attempts to explore these qualities by creating a dynamic network artwork that runs continuously and autonomously on Ethereum, shifting the focus from the product of an art-making algorithm to the system itself. Dynamism is a prerequisite for interactivity which Cycles allows for its collectors. The piece includes a method to stop a lens’ movement by freezing it. This causes the lens to focus continuously on the same point in space, causing the changing qualities of its simulation to be fixed and allowing collectors to control its aesthetic presentation. Freezing is a weighted decision. Once a lens is frozen it will require certain conditions to be unlocked. Methods for unfreezing lenses will be unlocked over time. The fact that the behavior of the sculpture can be affected by lens owners means that its future state is non-deterministic and will never be able to be fully predicted. In technical terms, Cycles is composed of Solidity, JavaScript, and SVG code, stored and computed on the Ethereum blockchain. This design avoids external dependencies, ensuring the artwork's longevity and resistance to technical failures. While the current form of Cycles is complete, its nature as a software artwork allows for potential future development through non-destructive updates or connections to other systems. By rendering systemic processes as aesthetic experiences, Cycles offers viewers a unique perspective on the passage of time and the nature of change. It invites contemplation of the cyclical yet varied patterns that characterize both natural and human systems. As viewers engage with Cycles over extended periods, they are encouraged to reflect on their own relationship with time, change, and recurrence, viewing the artwork as a lens through which to observe the interplay of repetition and variation that shapes our existence.

Material Protocol Arts

69,841 views • 1 year ago

Bach – Air on the G String (Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) When a Moment Continues to Live Within the Flow of Time There are strange moments in life when time keeps moving, yet we feel as though we have remained where we are. The clock continues to tick. The light keeps changing. The world outside never stops moving. And yet, for a brief instant, the present seems deeper than usual. Not because time has stopped. But because we suddenly perceive more within that very moment. That is the experience Johann Sebastian Bach creates in Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. The wonder of this music does not lie in eliminating motion. Bach does something far more subtle: He allows time to keep moving, while enabling a single moment to remain alive longer within human perception. Not a Journey Forward, but a State Preserved Many great musical works are built as journeys. The music creates anticipation. It creates tension. It creates transformation. And eventually, it leads the listener toward resolution. Air offers a different kind of experience. It does not rely on dramatic events or powerful climaxes. From its very opening phrases, Bach does not give the impression of a melody eager to rush forward. Instead, he unfolds a continuous melodic line over harmonies that change with quiet patience. Each musical phrase exists not merely to lead into the next. It also creates a space in which the listener can remain and simply experience the present. Bach does not create depth by constantly changing states. He creates depth by allowing a single state enough time to reveal itself. Melody Creates Space What makes the melody of Air remarkable is that it is always moving without ever feeling driven. It does not resemble a straight line racing toward an ending. Instead, it unfolds like a space gradually opening before us. The violin's long, gentle phrases make time seem to expand. Yet this is not stillness. The melody continues to develop. It continues to change. It simply never gives the impression that it urgently needs to arrive somewhere. It allows the present to remain a little longer. The Bass: Time Continues Its Quiet Course Beneath the openness of the violin lies an uninterrupted current. The bass line continues its steady motion. It never demands attention. It never seeks to become the main character. Yet it is precisely this quiet movement that gives the entire work its stable flow. If the melody is the moment being expanded, then the bass is time itself continuing beneath that moment. Here lies the central paradox of Air: One musical layer seems to hold the moment in place. Another continues carrying time forward. Bach does not create peace by removing motion. He creates peace by placing different kinds of movement into perfect balance. Gentle Frictions: Where Structure Becomes Emotion The depth of Air does not arise only from the relationship between melody and bass. It also emerges through the smallest harmonic changes between the voices. Bach often allows one note to continue sounding while the harmony beneath it has already shifted. For a brief instant, the old sound has not completely disappeared, yet the new sound has already arrived. Two states exist simultaneously. This is where harmonic technique becomes human feeling. After all, change in life rarely happens in a single instant. A memory can remain even after the present has changed. An old emotion can still resonate within a new reality. Bach brings that fragile human experience into a musical structure of extraordinary balance. The String Ensemble: Where the Idea Becomes Sound Yet none of this would fully come alive without the unique color of the string ensemble. The strings' ability to sustain and subtly transform a single tone allows Bach's long melodic lines to be heard not merely as consecutive notes. They become a continuous stream of sound unfolding through time. A written note on the score is only a point. But through the violin's bow and the sustained voices of the string instruments, it becomes a space. That is what transforms the idea of "a moment preserved" from an abstract concept into a living musical experience. The Defining Seed of Air What makes Air truly distinctive does not lie in any single technique. Not simply because the bass keeps moving. Not because of its delicate suspensions. Not because of its beautiful melody. These are only the means. The essence lies in the principle that unites them: A moment does not need to stand still to become profound. It can continue to live even as time itself keeps moving. The melody opens the depth of the moment. The bass sustains the movement of time. The harmony creates subtle ripples of emotion. The strings transform all of these into a living sonic experience. That is why Air is not simply a slow piece of music. It is a unique way of experiencing time itself. A Distinctively Bachian Beauty Baroque composers discovered beauty through many different paths. Vivaldi often revealed the vitality and rhythm of nature. Handel explored the expressive and rhetorical power of music. Pachelbel found beauty in cyclical structures and balance. Bach, in Air, pursued something different. He showed that depth can arise not only from great transformations, but also from organizing the smallest movements into a perfectly balanced whole. Conclusion Air does not make time stop. Nor does it remove us from reality. What Bach achieves is something more subtle. He invites us to recognize that within every passing moment lies a depth we seldom notice. That is the enduring power of Air on the G String: Bach transforms a fleeting moment into a world spacious enough for the human spirit to dwell within.
6:02

Bach – Air on the G String (Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) When a Moment Continues to Live Within the Flow of Time There are strange moments in life when time keeps moving, yet we feel as though we have remained where we are. The clock continues to tick. The light keeps changing. The world outside never stops moving. And yet, for a brief instant, the present seems deeper than usual. Not because time has stopped. But because we suddenly perceive more within that very moment. That is the experience Johann Sebastian Bach creates in Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. The wonder of this music does not lie in eliminating motion. Bach does something far more subtle: He allows time to keep moving, while enabling a single moment to remain alive longer within human perception. Not a Journey Forward, but a State Preserved Many great musical works are built as journeys. The music creates anticipation. It creates tension. It creates transformation. And eventually, it leads the listener toward resolution. Air offers a different kind of experience. It does not rely on dramatic events or powerful climaxes. From its very opening phrases, Bach does not give the impression of a melody eager to rush forward. Instead, he unfolds a continuous melodic line over harmonies that change with quiet patience. Each musical phrase exists not merely to lead into the next. It also creates a space in which the listener can remain and simply experience the present. Bach does not create depth by constantly changing states. He creates depth by allowing a single state enough time to reveal itself. Melody Creates Space What makes the melody of Air remarkable is that it is always moving without ever feeling driven. It does not resemble a straight line racing toward an ending. Instead, it unfolds like a space gradually opening before us. The violin's long, gentle phrases make time seem to expand. Yet this is not stillness. The melody continues to develop. It continues to change. It simply never gives the impression that it urgently needs to arrive somewhere. It allows the present to remain a little longer. The Bass: Time Continues Its Quiet Course Beneath the openness of the violin lies an uninterrupted current. The bass line continues its steady motion. It never demands attention. It never seeks to become the main character. Yet it is precisely this quiet movement that gives the entire work its stable flow. If the melody is the moment being expanded, then the bass is time itself continuing beneath that moment. Here lies the central paradox of Air: One musical layer seems to hold the moment in place. Another continues carrying time forward. Bach does not create peace by removing motion. He creates peace by placing different kinds of movement into perfect balance. Gentle Frictions: Where Structure Becomes Emotion The depth of Air does not arise only from the relationship between melody and bass. It also emerges through the smallest harmonic changes between the voices. Bach often allows one note to continue sounding while the harmony beneath it has already shifted. For a brief instant, the old sound has not completely disappeared, yet the new sound has already arrived. Two states exist simultaneously. This is where harmonic technique becomes human feeling. After all, change in life rarely happens in a single instant. A memory can remain even after the present has changed. An old emotion can still resonate within a new reality. Bach brings that fragile human experience into a musical structure of extraordinary balance. The String Ensemble: Where the Idea Becomes Sound Yet none of this would fully come alive without the unique color of the string ensemble. The strings' ability to sustain and subtly transform a single tone allows Bach's long melodic lines to be heard not merely as consecutive notes. They become a continuous stream of sound unfolding through time. A written note on the score is only a point. But through the violin's bow and the sustained voices of the string instruments, it becomes a space. That is what transforms the idea of "a moment preserved" from an abstract concept into a living musical experience. The Defining Seed of Air What makes Air truly distinctive does not lie in any single technique. Not simply because the bass keeps moving. Not because of its delicate suspensions. Not because of its beautiful melody. These are only the means. The essence lies in the principle that unites them: A moment does not need to stand still to become profound. It can continue to live even as time itself keeps moving. The melody opens the depth of the moment. The bass sustains the movement of time. The harmony creates subtle ripples of emotion. The strings transform all of these into a living sonic experience. That is why Air is not simply a slow piece of music. It is a unique way of experiencing time itself. A Distinctively Bachian Beauty Baroque composers discovered beauty through many different paths. Vivaldi often revealed the vitality and rhythm of nature. Handel explored the expressive and rhetorical power of music. Pachelbel found beauty in cyclical structures and balance. Bach, in Air, pursued something different. He showed that depth can arise not only from great transformations, but also from organizing the smallest movements into a perfectly balanced whole. Conclusion Air does not make time stop. Nor does it remove us from reality. What Bach achieves is something more subtle. He invites us to recognize that within every passing moment lies a depth we seldom notice. That is the enduring power of Air on the G String: Bach transforms a fleeting moment into a world spacious enough for the human spirit to dwell within.

🎼🌺Music Love♥️

16,811 views • 1 month ago

M64 is to the Nintendo 64 what the iPhone was to the 3310 Developed by ModRetro, the M64 is presented as the ultimate alternative to the original hardware, featuring the most advanced components on the market and the highest-quality finish that enhances every little detail of the system you remember. Presented in packaging with a ’90s aesthetic, this console comes in a dual-textured plastic case (frosted translucent in any of the five available colors or clear). It’s capable of playing original cartridges, reproductions, backups, homebrew, and, of course, remastered releases and new titles from ModRetro. Through its HDMI output, it supports resolutions of 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, as well as displaying images at their original resolution on a CRT TV via its own adapter. As you’d expect, the system has no region lock, so you can enjoy your NTSC-USA, NTSC-JAP, and PAL-EUR cartridges like never before. Additionally, both the Expansion Pak and—coming soon—the Controller Pak are emulated by the console, ensuring that the entire original catalog is available in the best possible quality. Its architecture is open-source, easy to disassemble, with no degradable electronics, and gold-plated traces and connectors that ensure optimal preservation of the system over the years. Of course, just like with the Chromatic, its firmware is updatable via Wi-Fi or USB cable, and it features a front-end menu that allows, among other things, for detailed on-the-fly customization of resolutions and filters, as well as the implementation of different overclocking levels that take the 64-bit experience to unprecedented heights. And I can’t forget one of its main selling points: the Pro Controller. A controller that stays true to the original form factor but incorporates improved ergonomic solutions, a ceramic-coated aluminum finish, high-end PBT crystalline polymer buttons, and a state-of-the-art TMR joystick coated in soft polymer and free of any drift; which offers a wider travel range, with four levels of spring tension and a greater degree of tilt, achieving unbeatable precision with no dead zones. Additionally, the stick gates are interchangeable, allowing you to customize your experience by installing the classic octagonal, equidistant hexagonal, or circular models. It also features an ERM vibration motor. You can play with the controller connected via cable or wirelessly using Bluetooth 6.2, which reduces response latency to below 0.65 microseconds. It is powered by a rechargeable battery with a USB-C port or by two AA batteries housed in an included module. Like the console, its firmware is updatable and it’s available in the same colors. You can purchase the M64 for $229.99 and the Pro Controller separately (since the system supports your old N64 or third-party controllers) for $89.99. I can guarantee that with this new ModRetro ecosystem, you’ll not only dust off games you may not have touched in decades, but it will also serve as the perfect incentive to dive into one of the most interesting and iconic game libraries—featuring both single-player and multiplayer titles—with undeniable appeal.
2:49

M64 is to the Nintendo 64 what the iPhone was to the 3310 Developed by ModRetro, the M64 is presented as the ultimate alternative to the original hardware, featuring the most advanced components on the market and the highest-quality finish that enhances every little detail of the system you remember. Presented in packaging with a ’90s aesthetic, this console comes in a dual-textured plastic case (frosted translucent in any of the five available colors or clear). It’s capable of playing original cartridges, reproductions, backups, homebrew, and, of course, remastered releases and new titles from ModRetro. Through its HDMI output, it supports resolutions of 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, as well as displaying images at their original resolution on a CRT TV via its own adapter. As you’d expect, the system has no region lock, so you can enjoy your NTSC-USA, NTSC-JAP, and PAL-EUR cartridges like never before. Additionally, both the Expansion Pak and—coming soon—the Controller Pak are emulated by the console, ensuring that the entire original catalog is available in the best possible quality. Its architecture is open-source, easy to disassemble, with no degradable electronics, and gold-plated traces and connectors that ensure optimal preservation of the system over the years. Of course, just like with the Chromatic, its firmware is updatable via Wi-Fi or USB cable, and it features a front-end menu that allows, among other things, for detailed on-the-fly customization of resolutions and filters, as well as the implementation of different overclocking levels that take the 64-bit experience to unprecedented heights. And I can’t forget one of its main selling points: the Pro Controller. A controller that stays true to the original form factor but incorporates improved ergonomic solutions, a ceramic-coated aluminum finish, high-end PBT crystalline polymer buttons, and a state-of-the-art TMR joystick coated in soft polymer and free of any drift; which offers a wider travel range, with four levels of spring tension and a greater degree of tilt, achieving unbeatable precision with no dead zones. Additionally, the stick gates are interchangeable, allowing you to customize your experience by installing the classic octagonal, equidistant hexagonal, or circular models. It also features an ERM vibration motor. You can play with the controller connected via cable or wirelessly using Bluetooth 6.2, which reduces response latency to below 0.65 microseconds. It is powered by a rechargeable battery with a USB-C port or by two AA batteries housed in an included module. Like the console, its firmware is updatable and it’s available in the same colors. You can purchase the M64 for $229.99 and the Pro Controller separately (since the system supports your old N64 or third-party controllers) for $89.99. I can guarantee that with this new ModRetro ecosystem, you’ll not only dust off games you may not have touched in decades, but it will also serve as the perfect incentive to dive into one of the most interesting and iconic game libraries—featuring both single-player and multiplayer titles—with undeniable appeal.

Pre-Rendered Backgrounds Aesthetics

23,968 views • 1 month ago

Microphone Shaped Charge Conspiracy Theory It is not improbable, it is impossible to have killed Charlie Kirk. The first graphic depicts the maximum size of the charge that could theoretically fit inside of the microphone, assuming it was a Rode Wireless II (1.8 × 1.7 × 0.8 inches). The size of the charge is limited by the width of the mic. This is because a shaped charge is cylindrical. The most optimally sized charge is based off of the diameter of the cylinder, which does fit into the mic (theoretically). The design of the shaped charge has been around since the late 1800's, and with over 100 years of testing, the science is clear. Limitations: In order to function effectively, the charge must be perfectly "rear center primed" or RCP. As noted in the provided graphic, the detonator must be positioned perfectly center of the cylinder. This is due to the propagation wave of the explosive as it travels towards the empty cone space. Once the wave, traveling at about 8,000 meters per second, reaches the cone, forward and inward pressures cause a compression of the air inside of the space. Any copper, metal, glass liner forming the cone is turned into jagged particles. If the detonator is placed off center, the detonation wave will reach one side faster than the other side, negating the desired effect. BTW, you would also have only a few millimeters worth of space to make this happen. Penetration depth at optimal stand off distance through steel. The expected penetration through steel is 1/2 diameter of the cone at optimal distance. In this case, it could penetrate up to 0.365" with an optimal standoff distance of 1.065 inches. At and estimated 12x the optimal standoff distance from the mic to Charlie's neck, the compressed wave/particles would have completely dissipated. Cutting Through The Conspiracy If all of this was too complicated for you to understand, then know this. Anyone suggesting this is what killed Charlie, or could have been used, has literally no idea what they are talking about or is lying. While this charge is "directional" in nature, it is still an explosive device. The inward pressure that creates the penetrating jet only exists because there is an outward pressure as well. This would have blown a large hole in Charlie's shirt and caused considerable damage to his pectoral muscle. The attached video is 2.5 grams of PETN detonating as a shaped charge. You would have known if there was any explosive charge. He goes by the name "poopswindler" on youtube if you want to look him up.
1:21

Microphone Shaped Charge Conspiracy Theory It is not improbable, it is impossible to have killed Charlie Kirk. The first graphic depicts the maximum size of the charge that could theoretically fit inside of the microphone, assuming it was a Rode Wireless II (1.8 × 1.7 × 0.8 inches). The size of the charge is limited by the width of the mic. This is because a shaped charge is cylindrical. The most optimally sized charge is based off of the diameter of the cylinder, which does fit into the mic (theoretically). The design of the shaped charge has been around since the late 1800's, and with over 100 years of testing, the science is clear. Limitations: In order to function effectively, the charge must be perfectly "rear center primed" or RCP. As noted in the provided graphic, the detonator must be positioned perfectly center of the cylinder. This is due to the propagation wave of the explosive as it travels towards the empty cone space. Once the wave, traveling at about 8,000 meters per second, reaches the cone, forward and inward pressures cause a compression of the air inside of the space. Any copper, metal, glass liner forming the cone is turned into jagged particles. If the detonator is placed off center, the detonation wave will reach one side faster than the other side, negating the desired effect. BTW, you would also have only a few millimeters worth of space to make this happen. Penetration depth at optimal stand off distance through steel. The expected penetration through steel is 1/2 diameter of the cone at optimal distance. In this case, it could penetrate up to 0.365" with an optimal standoff distance of 1.065 inches. At and estimated 12x the optimal standoff distance from the mic to Charlie's neck, the compressed wave/particles would have completely dissipated. Cutting Through The Conspiracy If all of this was too complicated for you to understand, then know this. Anyone suggesting this is what killed Charlie, or could have been used, has literally no idea what they are talking about or is lying. While this charge is "directional" in nature, it is still an explosive device. The inward pressure that creates the penetrating jet only exists because there is an outward pressure as well. This would have blown a large hole in Charlie's shirt and caused considerable damage to his pectoral muscle. The attached video is 2.5 grams of PETN detonating as a shaped charge. You would have known if there was any explosive charge. He goes by the name "poopswindler" on youtube if you want to look him up.

Matt Tardio

70,473 views • 2 months ago

Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K.331: A Dance Between Light, Shadow and Perfect Balance To appreciate the singular character of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331, it is helpful to imagine the entire work as a court dancer moving gracefully across a vast stage. Yet this is no dance defined solely by elegance and refinement. Within every movement lies a delicate equilibrium: between the stability of Classical convention and moments that quietly defy expectation; between the luminous clarity of the major mode and the fleeting shadows of the minor; between the courtly poise of the opening movements and the vibrant vitality of the finale. The sonata derives its lasting power from the way Mozart constructs a unified musical architecture, in which every movement, every variation, and every subtle gesture is bound together by principles of remarkable structural coherence. A Sonata That Begins Where No One Expects From its opening bars, Mozart leads K.331 along a path quite unlike that of most Classical sonatas. A conventional piano sonata almost invariably opens with a brisk movement in Sonata-Allegro form, comprising three principal sections: Exposition, Development and Recapitulation. By the latter half of the eighteenth century, this had become the defining model of the genre. K.331, however, begins with an Andante grazioso cast as a Theme and Variations. This is not merely a change of tempo or expressive character. It alters the very foundations upon which the work is built. Among Mozart's piano sonatas, K.331 occupies a unique place in that none of its movements employs the traditional Sonata-Allegro form. Rather than allowing the music to unfold through the dramatic opposition of contrasting themes, Mozart adopts an entirely different approach. He presents a single theme and proceeds to explore, with extraordinary imagination, the many expressive possibilities concealed within it. If we continue our image of the sonata as a courtly dance, Mozart does not allow his dancer to stride confidently onto the stage with the energetic gestures characteristic of an Allegro. Instead, the performance begins with a dance of quiet elegance, measured poise and perfect control. From this single dance, Mozart gradually fashions an astonishing variety of shapes, colours and rhythmic characters throughout the journey that follows. This bold decision establishes the artistic world in which the entire sonata unfolds. The Bridge of Eighteen Steps: Mozart Expands the Balance of Classical Form A Classical musical theme generally strives for clear symmetry. Listeners become accustomed to phrases built from balanced units, most commonly an opening eight bars followed by another eight, together forming the familiar sixteen-bar structure that typifies Classical proportion. Yet from the very first phrases of Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331, Mozart introduces a subtle departure from convention. The theme of the opening movement (Andante grazioso) does not conclude after the expected sixteen bars. Instead, it extends to eighteen. Technically speaking, the first eight bars establish a satisfying sense of completeness. They seem to arrive naturally at a point of repose. Yet Mozart refuses to close the phrase there. He extends it by a further ten bars, allowing the musical line to continue unfolding before finally returning to equilibrium. Those final two bars are far from superfluous. They create an exquisitely subtle sense of suspension, rather like a court dancer who has completed the principal gesture of a dance, yet lingers for one final graceful movement before coming to rest. If we imagine this theme as a bridge, it is not the familiar sixteen-step bridge of Classical convention. It possesses eighteen steps. The opening eight provide stability and familiarity. Those that follow broaden the landscape, allowing the listener to experience a movement that remains graceful yet never entirely predictable. Even more remarkable is the fact that Mozart employs this design not merely once. All six subsequent variations preserve the original eighteen-bar framework. Although tempo, rhythm and ornamentation continually evolve, the underlying architecture remains intact. The union of rigorous structure with endless variety demonstrates Mozart's remarkable ability to expand Classical form without disturbing its essential balance. He does not reject established rules. He simply reveals how flexible they can become. A Journey Between Light and Shadow: The Dancer Moves Between A Major and A Minor If the eighteen-bar structure provides the inner architecture of the first movement, the continual dialogue between A major and A minor shapes the changing landscape through which the dancer moves during the course of the sonata. In Mozart's musical language, major and minor keys are never merely contrasting harmonic colours. They resemble two different qualities of light illuminating the same stage. A major is a world of brightness, balance and elegance, where every movement of the dancer appears clear, poised and effortlessly graceful. A minor, by contrast, softens the light. Its outlines become deeper and more contemplative, allowing the audience to perceive hidden emotional dimensions within the very same figure. What makes K.331 so remarkable is that Mozart never creates two entirely separate worlds. Instead, he allows the dancer to pass continuously from one illumination into another, so that identical movements acquire entirely different emotional meanings. The first movement opens in the radiant world of A major. The Andante grazioso theme resembles the moment when the dancer first appears beneath the clear light of a courtly stage. Every gesture possesses order, elegance and perfect composure. Yet as the subsequent variations venture into the darker colours of A minor, the very same dance acquires an unexpected depth. The dancer remains unchanged. Each movement still grows from the original theme. Only the light has altered, revealing emotional shades that previously remained unseen. This dialogue between brightness and shadow continues into the second movement, the Menuetto. Here Mozart restores the dancer to the familiar elegance of A major, preserving the balance and refinement that characterise the dance. Yet the Trio, moving into D major, opens an entirely new space, as though the stage itself briefly expands into another landscape before the dancer quietly returns to the original centre. By the time we reach the third movement, Rondo alla Turca, the contrast between A minor and A major has become far more dramatic. The dancer no longer possesses the gentle grace of the opening movement. The finale begins in A minor, creating a world of heightened energy, where every step becomes firmer, more decisive and charged with vitality. Its insistent rhythms, powerful bass writing and weighty chords transform the dance into something altogether different—bolder, more vigorous, yet always governed by an underlying architectural order. Only after this remarkable journey does the sonata finally return to A major. This is more than a simple harmonic resolution. It resembles the moment when the dancer, having passed through many contrasting states of movement, returns to the centre of the stage transformed. The performer retains the same essential balance, yet now possesses greater richness, maturity and emotional depth. Mozart never employs A major and A minor as opposing forces locked in conflict. Instead, he allows them to complement one another, just as light and shadow together reveal the true form of a dancer upon the stage. It is this continual process of transformation that makes K.331 far more than a sonata of memorable melodies. It becomes a musical journey in which beauty arises from the perfect balance between seemingly opposing states. When Time Appears to Stand Still: Variation V (Adagio) and the Song Within the Dance After the continual transformations of the earlier variations, Mozart leads the listener into an entirely different world with Variation V (Adagio). The first striking change lies in the metre. Leaving behind the gentle 6/8 of the original theme, Mozart adopts 2/4, immediately creating the impression that musical time has slowed and become more intensely focused. At this moment, the dancer no longer traverses the stage with broad, clearly defined steps. Every gesture becomes smaller, more intimate and more refined, as though the dance has merged imperceptibly with song itself. The right hand unfolds exquisitely ornamented melodic lines whose graceful embellishments resemble a singer delicately shaping every phrase. Meanwhile, the left hand becomes markedly more restrained, providing a spacious harmonic foundation that allows the upper voice to breathe with remarkable freedom. This contrast gives the impression that time itself has slowed. The notes no longer exist simply to propel movement forward. They become expressions of the music's inner life. Most importantly, Mozart never employs ornamentation merely to display the virtuosity of the performer. Instead, he uses it to expand the expressive possibilities of the piano itself, enabling the instrument to approach the warmth, flexibility and emotional subtlety of the human voice. After this moment of profound stillness, Variation VI (Allegro) arrives like a sudden release of restrained energy. The contrast reveals one of Mozart's greatest gifts as a composer. He does not merely create differences between fast and slow. He shapes our perception of musical time itself, allowing us to experience not simply changes of tempo, but changes within the very character of each passing moment. Rondo alla Turca: When the Court Dancer Gives Way to a Dance of Vigorous Stamping After the stillness and refinement of Variation V, Mozart leads the entire sonata into an altogether different world in its concluding movement: Rondo alla Turca (Allegretto). If the opening movement resembles an elegant court dance, characterised by graceful, measured steps and impeccable poise, the finale introduces a far more vigorous mode of movement. The dancer no longer glides effortlessly across the stage with restrained elegance, but embraces a dance of unmistakable rhythm and decisive energy, where every step radiates vitality and purpose. What is particularly remarkable is Mozart's ability to evoke the impression of an entire ensemble through the resources of a single piano. Rather than imitating the sound of an Ottoman military band directly, he transforms its most distinctive qualities into the expressive language of the keyboard. The most significant technical feature lies in his treatment of the left hand. Instead of employing the familiar Alberti bass accompaniment found throughout much Classical repertoire, Mozart constructs powerful gestures in the lower register through octave chords preceded by brief ornamental notes. These sonorities suggest the firm, rhythmic impact of feet striking the ground. Each resonant bass chord serves not merely a harmonic function, but also provides rhythmic propulsion, much as a drum sustains the pulse of an entire dance. Meanwhile, the right hand creates a more agile and animated layer of movement. Its rapid passagework, flowing thirds and brightly contoured melodies resemble the graceful motions of the dancer's arms and upper body—constantly shifting, yet always retaining absolute precision. These two layers of movement complement one another perfectly. The left hand provides weight, stability and momentum. The right hand supplies flexibility, brilliance and lightness. Together they allow the piano to transcend the limitations of a solo instrument, creating the illusion of multiple musical voices inhabiting the same acoustic space. If we continue to imagine the finale as a dance, this is the moment when the court dancer adopts an entirely new physical language. The octave chords in the bass resemble forceful stamps upon the floor. The swift figurations of the right hand suggest agile turns and flowing gestures. Yet beneath all this exuberant energy lies the firm discipline of the Rondo form. The principal theme continually returns, establishing a stable centre amidst the movement's ever-changing colours and textures. Here we encounter one of Mozart's most distinctive artistic qualities. His music may overflow with vitality without ever surrendering its sense of order. It may convey an impression of complete freedom while remaining securely governed by a lucid and perfectly balanced structure. For this reason, Rondo alla Turca is celebrated not merely for its instantly recognisable melody or its infectious brilliance. Its deeper significance lies in Mozart's ability to transform an irresistibly engaging musical idea into a fully integrated architectural design, in which rhythm, colour and form merge into a single, continuous current of movement. Perfect Balance: The Enduring Essence of Piano Sonata No. 11, K.331 Looking back upon the journey of K.331 as a whole, it becomes clear that the work's greatness does not reside in any single moment. Not solely in the theme and variations with their remarkable eighteen-bar design. Not solely in the lyrical stillness of Variation V. Nor solely in the radiant vitality of Rondo alla Turca. The sonata's enduring value lies in Mozart's extraordinary ability to unite elements that might otherwise appear irreconcilable within a single, harmonious whole. A theme that extends beyond established convention while preserving perfect balance. A musical journey that passes from the brightness of A major into the deeper colours of A minor without ever creating a sense of rupture. A moment in which time itself appears to slow, allowing the piano to sing. A finale overflowing with vigour while never abandoning the elegance of Classical form. Mozart does not create beauty by eliminating contrasts. He creates beauty by placing each contrast precisely where it belongs within a perfectly ordered design. This, indeed, is the principle that permeates Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331. Balance is not a condition of immobility. It is the capacity to allow contrasting forms of movement to coexist within a unified whole. In K.331, Mozart transforms that principle into the very language of music. A court dancer may pass from grace to strength, from light into shadow, from quiet contemplation to exuberant brilliance; yet in every moment, every step remains part of the same dance.
13:47

Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K.331: A Dance Between Light, Shadow and Perfect Balance To appreciate the singular character of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331, it is helpful to imagine the entire work as a court dancer moving gracefully across a vast stage. Yet this is no dance defined solely by elegance and refinement. Within every movement lies a delicate equilibrium: between the stability of Classical convention and moments that quietly defy expectation; between the luminous clarity of the major mode and the fleeting shadows of the minor; between the courtly poise of the opening movements and the vibrant vitality of the finale. The sonata derives its lasting power from the way Mozart constructs a unified musical architecture, in which every movement, every variation, and every subtle gesture is bound together by principles of remarkable structural coherence. A Sonata That Begins Where No One Expects From its opening bars, Mozart leads K.331 along a path quite unlike that of most Classical sonatas. A conventional piano sonata almost invariably opens with a brisk movement in Sonata-Allegro form, comprising three principal sections: Exposition, Development and Recapitulation. By the latter half of the eighteenth century, this had become the defining model of the genre. K.331, however, begins with an Andante grazioso cast as a Theme and Variations. This is not merely a change of tempo or expressive character. It alters the very foundations upon which the work is built. Among Mozart's piano sonatas, K.331 occupies a unique place in that none of its movements employs the traditional Sonata-Allegro form. Rather than allowing the music to unfold through the dramatic opposition of contrasting themes, Mozart adopts an entirely different approach. He presents a single theme and proceeds to explore, with extraordinary imagination, the many expressive possibilities concealed within it. If we continue our image of the sonata as a courtly dance, Mozart does not allow his dancer to stride confidently onto the stage with the energetic gestures characteristic of an Allegro. Instead, the performance begins with a dance of quiet elegance, measured poise and perfect control. From this single dance, Mozart gradually fashions an astonishing variety of shapes, colours and rhythmic characters throughout the journey that follows. This bold decision establishes the artistic world in which the entire sonata unfolds. The Bridge of Eighteen Steps: Mozart Expands the Balance of Classical Form A Classical musical theme generally strives for clear symmetry. Listeners become accustomed to phrases built from balanced units, most commonly an opening eight bars followed by another eight, together forming the familiar sixteen-bar structure that typifies Classical proportion. Yet from the very first phrases of Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331, Mozart introduces a subtle departure from convention. The theme of the opening movement (Andante grazioso) does not conclude after the expected sixteen bars. Instead, it extends to eighteen. Technically speaking, the first eight bars establish a satisfying sense of completeness. They seem to arrive naturally at a point of repose. Yet Mozart refuses to close the phrase there. He extends it by a further ten bars, allowing the musical line to continue unfolding before finally returning to equilibrium. Those final two bars are far from superfluous. They create an exquisitely subtle sense of suspension, rather like a court dancer who has completed the principal gesture of a dance, yet lingers for one final graceful movement before coming to rest. If we imagine this theme as a bridge, it is not the familiar sixteen-step bridge of Classical convention. It possesses eighteen steps. The opening eight provide stability and familiarity. Those that follow broaden the landscape, allowing the listener to experience a movement that remains graceful yet never entirely predictable. Even more remarkable is the fact that Mozart employs this design not merely once. All six subsequent variations preserve the original eighteen-bar framework. Although tempo, rhythm and ornamentation continually evolve, the underlying architecture remains intact. The union of rigorous structure with endless variety demonstrates Mozart's remarkable ability to expand Classical form without disturbing its essential balance. He does not reject established rules. He simply reveals how flexible they can become. A Journey Between Light and Shadow: The Dancer Moves Between A Major and A Minor If the eighteen-bar structure provides the inner architecture of the first movement, the continual dialogue between A major and A minor shapes the changing landscape through which the dancer moves during the course of the sonata. In Mozart's musical language, major and minor keys are never merely contrasting harmonic colours. They resemble two different qualities of light illuminating the same stage. A major is a world of brightness, balance and elegance, where every movement of the dancer appears clear, poised and effortlessly graceful. A minor, by contrast, softens the light. Its outlines become deeper and more contemplative, allowing the audience to perceive hidden emotional dimensions within the very same figure. What makes K.331 so remarkable is that Mozart never creates two entirely separate worlds. Instead, he allows the dancer to pass continuously from one illumination into another, so that identical movements acquire entirely different emotional meanings. The first movement opens in the radiant world of A major. The Andante grazioso theme resembles the moment when the dancer first appears beneath the clear light of a courtly stage. Every gesture possesses order, elegance and perfect composure. Yet as the subsequent variations venture into the darker colours of A minor, the very same dance acquires an unexpected depth. The dancer remains unchanged. Each movement still grows from the original theme. Only the light has altered, revealing emotional shades that previously remained unseen. This dialogue between brightness and shadow continues into the second movement, the Menuetto. Here Mozart restores the dancer to the familiar elegance of A major, preserving the balance and refinement that characterise the dance. Yet the Trio, moving into D major, opens an entirely new space, as though the stage itself briefly expands into another landscape before the dancer quietly returns to the original centre. By the time we reach the third movement, Rondo alla Turca, the contrast between A minor and A major has become far more dramatic. The dancer no longer possesses the gentle grace of the opening movement. The finale begins in A minor, creating a world of heightened energy, where every step becomes firmer, more decisive and charged with vitality. Its insistent rhythms, powerful bass writing and weighty chords transform the dance into something altogether different—bolder, more vigorous, yet always governed by an underlying architectural order. Only after this remarkable journey does the sonata finally return to A major. This is more than a simple harmonic resolution. It resembles the moment when the dancer, having passed through many contrasting states of movement, returns to the centre of the stage transformed. The performer retains the same essential balance, yet now possesses greater richness, maturity and emotional depth. Mozart never employs A major and A minor as opposing forces locked in conflict. Instead, he allows them to complement one another, just as light and shadow together reveal the true form of a dancer upon the stage. It is this continual process of transformation that makes K.331 far more than a sonata of memorable melodies. It becomes a musical journey in which beauty arises from the perfect balance between seemingly opposing states. When Time Appears to Stand Still: Variation V (Adagio) and the Song Within the Dance After the continual transformations of the earlier variations, Mozart leads the listener into an entirely different world with Variation V (Adagio). The first striking change lies in the metre. Leaving behind the gentle 6/8 of the original theme, Mozart adopts 2/4, immediately creating the impression that musical time has slowed and become more intensely focused. At this moment, the dancer no longer traverses the stage with broad, clearly defined steps. Every gesture becomes smaller, more intimate and more refined, as though the dance has merged imperceptibly with song itself. The right hand unfolds exquisitely ornamented melodic lines whose graceful embellishments resemble a singer delicately shaping every phrase. Meanwhile, the left hand becomes markedly more restrained, providing a spacious harmonic foundation that allows the upper voice to breathe with remarkable freedom. This contrast gives the impression that time itself has slowed. The notes no longer exist simply to propel movement forward. They become expressions of the music's inner life. Most importantly, Mozart never employs ornamentation merely to display the virtuosity of the performer. Instead, he uses it to expand the expressive possibilities of the piano itself, enabling the instrument to approach the warmth, flexibility and emotional subtlety of the human voice. After this moment of profound stillness, Variation VI (Allegro) arrives like a sudden release of restrained energy. The contrast reveals one of Mozart's greatest gifts as a composer. He does not merely create differences between fast and slow. He shapes our perception of musical time itself, allowing us to experience not simply changes of tempo, but changes within the very character of each passing moment. Rondo alla Turca: When the Court Dancer Gives Way to a Dance of Vigorous Stamping After the stillness and refinement of Variation V, Mozart leads the entire sonata into an altogether different world in its concluding movement: Rondo alla Turca (Allegretto). If the opening movement resembles an elegant court dance, characterised by graceful, measured steps and impeccable poise, the finale introduces a far more vigorous mode of movement. The dancer no longer glides effortlessly across the stage with restrained elegance, but embraces a dance of unmistakable rhythm and decisive energy, where every step radiates vitality and purpose. What is particularly remarkable is Mozart's ability to evoke the impression of an entire ensemble through the resources of a single piano. Rather than imitating the sound of an Ottoman military band directly, he transforms its most distinctive qualities into the expressive language of the keyboard. The most significant technical feature lies in his treatment of the left hand. Instead of employing the familiar Alberti bass accompaniment found throughout much Classical repertoire, Mozart constructs powerful gestures in the lower register through octave chords preceded by brief ornamental notes. These sonorities suggest the firm, rhythmic impact of feet striking the ground. Each resonant bass chord serves not merely a harmonic function, but also provides rhythmic propulsion, much as a drum sustains the pulse of an entire dance. Meanwhile, the right hand creates a more agile and animated layer of movement. Its rapid passagework, flowing thirds and brightly contoured melodies resemble the graceful motions of the dancer's arms and upper body—constantly shifting, yet always retaining absolute precision. These two layers of movement complement one another perfectly. The left hand provides weight, stability and momentum. The right hand supplies flexibility, brilliance and lightness. Together they allow the piano to transcend the limitations of a solo instrument, creating the illusion of multiple musical voices inhabiting the same acoustic space. If we continue to imagine the finale as a dance, this is the moment when the court dancer adopts an entirely new physical language. The octave chords in the bass resemble forceful stamps upon the floor. The swift figurations of the right hand suggest agile turns and flowing gestures. Yet beneath all this exuberant energy lies the firm discipline of the Rondo form. The principal theme continually returns, establishing a stable centre amidst the movement's ever-changing colours and textures. Here we encounter one of Mozart's most distinctive artistic qualities. His music may overflow with vitality without ever surrendering its sense of order. It may convey an impression of complete freedom while remaining securely governed by a lucid and perfectly balanced structure. For this reason, Rondo alla Turca is celebrated not merely for its instantly recognisable melody or its infectious brilliance. Its deeper significance lies in Mozart's ability to transform an irresistibly engaging musical idea into a fully integrated architectural design, in which rhythm, colour and form merge into a single, continuous current of movement. Perfect Balance: The Enduring Essence of Piano Sonata No. 11, K.331 Looking back upon the journey of K.331 as a whole, it becomes clear that the work's greatness does not reside in any single moment. Not solely in the theme and variations with their remarkable eighteen-bar design. Not solely in the lyrical stillness of Variation V. Nor solely in the radiant vitality of Rondo alla Turca. The sonata's enduring value lies in Mozart's extraordinary ability to unite elements that might otherwise appear irreconcilable within a single, harmonious whole. A theme that extends beyond established convention while preserving perfect balance. A musical journey that passes from the brightness of A major into the deeper colours of A minor without ever creating a sense of rupture. A moment in which time itself appears to slow, allowing the piano to sing. A finale overflowing with vigour while never abandoning the elegance of Classical form. Mozart does not create beauty by eliminating contrasts. He creates beauty by placing each contrast precisely where it belongs within a perfectly ordered design. This, indeed, is the principle that permeates Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K.331. Balance is not a condition of immobility. It is the capacity to allow contrasting forms of movement to coexist within a unified whole. In K.331, Mozart transforms that principle into the very language of music. A court dancer may pass from grace to strength, from light into shadow, from quiet contemplation to exuberant brilliance; yet in every moment, every step remains part of the same dance.

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀

18,390 views • 1 month ago

This video shows an extraordinary coincidence in aviation history..... One of the Concorde's final flights was captured unintentionally, without planning or ceremony - just a camera in the right place at the right time. As the supersonic jet passes through the frame, it represents the closing chapter of an era when commercial air travel briefly defied the limits of speed. Today, Concorde exists only in museums and memories, making moments like this even more powerful. When Concorde made its first commercial departure from Heathrow on January 21, 1976, it was a moment that captured global imagination. Born of Anglo-French collaboration, the sleek white jet embodied not only technical genius but also a shared vision of progress in an era still buzzing with the optimism of the Space Age. Its distinctive droop-nose design, developed to aid visibility during takeoff and landing, became an icon in itself, while its ability to soar at 60,000 feet allowed passengers to glimpse the curvature of the Earth. This blend of aesthetics and performance made Concorde unlike any other aircraft of its time. The Concorde, a supersonic passenger jet that was a joint Anglo-French project. It was renowned for being the first passenger plane to fly faster than the speed of sound, reaching speeds of Mach 2.04 (over twice the speed of sound). Concorde significantly reduced transatlantic flight times, making the journey between London/Paris and New York possible in about three hours. It was in service from 1976 to 2003, primarily flying routes between London, Paris, New York, and Barbados. Developed through a collaboration between British Aerospace and Aérospatiale for the airframe, and Rolls-Royce and SNECMA for engines, Concorde was considered a technological masterpiece. After a fatal crash in 2000 and declining passenger numbers, the remaining planes ceased flights in 2003. The drama of takeoff was unforgettable. Heathrow’s runways would tremble under the roar of its Olympus 593 turbojet engines, a sound so powerful it echoed across West London. Residents and aviation enthusiasts alike would pause to watch the jet thunder down the runway, trailing a streak of heat and sound before lifting sharply into the sky. For the privileged few onboard, the experience was no less thrilling—menus boasted fine wines and gourmet cuisine, while the cabin hummed with the quiet exclusivity of royalty, business magnates, and celebrities en route to New York or Paris in less than half the usual time. Though Concorde’s era ended in October 2003, its legacy remains deeply tied to Heathrow. For nearly three decades, it was both a marvel and a symbol of human ingenuity, demonstrating what was possible when engineering ambition met cultural aspiration. Today, preserved Concorde aircraft at museums around the world remind visitors of an age when the boundaries of speed and style were pushed to new horizons, and every takeoff from Heathrow carried with it the promise of the extraordinary. © Reddit #archaeohistories
0:48

This video shows an extraordinary coincidence in aviation history..... One of the Concorde's final flights was captured unintentionally, without planning or ceremony - just a camera in the right place at the right time. As the supersonic jet passes through the frame, it represents the closing chapter of an era when commercial air travel briefly defied the limits of speed. Today, Concorde exists only in museums and memories, making moments like this even more powerful. When Concorde made its first commercial departure from Heathrow on January 21, 1976, it was a moment that captured global imagination. Born of Anglo-French collaboration, the sleek white jet embodied not only technical genius but also a shared vision of progress in an era still buzzing with the optimism of the Space Age. Its distinctive droop-nose design, developed to aid visibility during takeoff and landing, became an icon in itself, while its ability to soar at 60,000 feet allowed passengers to glimpse the curvature of the Earth. This blend of aesthetics and performance made Concorde unlike any other aircraft of its time. The Concorde, a supersonic passenger jet that was a joint Anglo-French project. It was renowned for being the first passenger plane to fly faster than the speed of sound, reaching speeds of Mach 2.04 (over twice the speed of sound). Concorde significantly reduced transatlantic flight times, making the journey between London/Paris and New York possible in about three hours. It was in service from 1976 to 2003, primarily flying routes between London, Paris, New York, and Barbados. Developed through a collaboration between British Aerospace and Aérospatiale for the airframe, and Rolls-Royce and SNECMA for engines, Concorde was considered a technological masterpiece. After a fatal crash in 2000 and declining passenger numbers, the remaining planes ceased flights in 2003. The drama of takeoff was unforgettable. Heathrow’s runways would tremble under the roar of its Olympus 593 turbojet engines, a sound so powerful it echoed across West London. Residents and aviation enthusiasts alike would pause to watch the jet thunder down the runway, trailing a streak of heat and sound before lifting sharply into the sky. For the privileged few onboard, the experience was no less thrilling—menus boasted fine wines and gourmet cuisine, while the cabin hummed with the quiet exclusivity of royalty, business magnates, and celebrities en route to New York or Paris in less than half the usual time. Though Concorde’s era ended in October 2003, its legacy remains deeply tied to Heathrow. For nearly three decades, it was both a marvel and a symbol of human ingenuity, demonstrating what was possible when engineering ambition met cultural aspiration. Today, preserved Concorde aircraft at museums around the world remind visitors of an age when the boundaries of speed and style were pushed to new horizons, and every takeoff from Heathrow carried with it the promise of the extraordinary. © Reddit #archaeohistories

Archaeo - Histories

166,709 views • 7 months ago

Tesla Model YL impressed the heck out of me! I’ve seen all the reviews and noticed many of the same things, so I won’t repeat what others have said, but I want to highlight stuff I haven’t seen many/any people talk about! TL;DR: passenger space is plentiful and not an issue, best model Tesla sells. Game changer for families. Passenger space/comfort I am 6’2 and can comfortably fit in all 3 rows even when adjusting them all to fit me-sized humans! Leg room is 100% not an issue. The only catch is 3rd row headroom. In a proper seating position, my head hit the glass. However, another guy who was 6’0 sat back there and was totally fine, so torso length matters! Even for me, a lil slouch or scooting my butt forward and it was totally fine. 6 adults can easily and comfortably fit in YL for sure. The thigh supports in the front row do absolutely nothing for anyone taller than probably 5’8. Very underwhelming. The captain’s chairs recline REALLY far, almost laying down, combined with the heated AND air conditioned seats and the first two rows are positively luxurious. Arm rests are also great and very sturdy. They come up high enough to still be comfy even for a tall guy like me. Tons of rear vents, air flow was really good and consistent throughout. Trunk space The sub-trunk cover magnetically attaching to the 3rd row seat-back is a great way to claw back some of the lost space when the 3rd row is up. Makes it very usable. Also, people have criticized the bump when the 3rd row is down, but there’s a pair of little folding arms (4th pic) that pops up and makes it totally flat. Great design! Head rests They are adjustable up and down via a mechanical button that you press and hold and just lift/lower the headrest by hand. (3rd video) Pretty decent amount of travel, and a huge improvement! These are on the 1st row AND the captain’s chairs! Camping I had a quick chance to fold all the seats down and climb in on my belly and close the trunk, and this is a huge improvement over the normal Y. I had TONS of room, my toes weren’t touching the trunk and my head wasn’t touching the front seat, not even close! And that was without moving the front seats at all! I sleep in our 2023 Y all the time and it’s great, but it’s only barely enough room and only with the front seats allllll the way forward. Also, the 4 extra vents in the rear cabin will be huge for air flow, which is somewhat of a problem in other Ys. Zen Grey Interior I’m a big proponent of Tesla’s white interior, and I like the Zen Grey! Definitely not stark white, but it’s still very light and looks phenomenal. Doesn’t look dingy at all. If you’re a white interior enthusiast like me, you’ll love Zen Grey too. General observations The showroom was PACKED with people and everyone was there for YL! I talked to a lot of people and let me tell you, families are super excited about YL! It was fun to watch everyone’s reaction as they climbed in the 3rd row and were shocked how usable it is.
0:08

Tesla Model YL impressed the heck out of me! I’ve seen all the reviews and noticed many of the same things, so I won’t repeat what others have said, but I want to highlight stuff I haven’t seen many/any people talk about! TL;DR: passenger space is plentiful and not an issue, best model Tesla sells. Game changer for families. Passenger space/comfort I am 6’2 and can comfortably fit in all 3 rows even when adjusting them all to fit me-sized humans! Leg room is 100% not an issue. The only catch is 3rd row headroom. In a proper seating position, my head hit the glass. However, another guy who was 6’0 sat back there and was totally fine, so torso length matters! Even for me, a lil slouch or scooting my butt forward and it was totally fine. 6 adults can easily and comfortably fit in YL for sure. The thigh supports in the front row do absolutely nothing for anyone taller than probably 5’8. Very underwhelming. The captain’s chairs recline REALLY far, almost laying down, combined with the heated AND air conditioned seats and the first two rows are positively luxurious. Arm rests are also great and very sturdy. They come up high enough to still be comfy even for a tall guy like me. Tons of rear vents, air flow was really good and consistent throughout. Trunk space The sub-trunk cover magnetically attaching to the 3rd row seat-back is a great way to claw back some of the lost space when the 3rd row is up. Makes it very usable. Also, people have criticized the bump when the 3rd row is down, but there’s a pair of little folding arms (4th pic) that pops up and makes it totally flat. Great design! Head rests They are adjustable up and down via a mechanical button that you press and hold and just lift/lower the headrest by hand. (3rd video) Pretty decent amount of travel, and a huge improvement! These are on the 1st row AND the captain’s chairs! Camping I had a quick chance to fold all the seats down and climb in on my belly and close the trunk, and this is a huge improvement over the normal Y. I had TONS of room, my toes weren’t touching the trunk and my head wasn’t touching the front seat, not even close! And that was without moving the front seats at all! I sleep in our 2023 Y all the time and it’s great, but it’s only barely enough room and only with the front seats allllll the way forward. Also, the 4 extra vents in the rear cabin will be huge for air flow, which is somewhat of a problem in other Ys. Zen Grey Interior I’m a big proponent of Tesla’s white interior, and I like the Zen Grey! Definitely not stark white, but it’s still very light and looks phenomenal. Doesn’t look dingy at all. If you’re a white interior enthusiast like me, you’ll love Zen Grey too. General observations The showroom was PACKED with people and everyone was there for YL! I talked to a lot of people and let me tell you, families are super excited about YL! It was fun to watch everyone’s reaction as they climbed in the 3rd row and were shocked how usable it is.

Austin 🇺🇸

198,564 views • 2 months ago

In Stern Pinball’s King Kong: Myth of Terror Island pinball games, players join Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, and Karl Denham on their journey to the mysterious Terror Island, which results in King Kong traveling back to New York City with disastrous (and fun) consequences. Featuring innovative playfield design and iconic mechanisms from the creative team that brought players pinball mega hits such as JAWS, Godzilla, and Jurassic Park, players will experience King Kong in a whole new way. Watch King Kong come to life while playing King Kong: Myth of Terror Island. A custom-sculpted King Kong will react to player action through a new animatronic animation system, swinging his arms and torso to assert his dominance. Summon him by hitting the custom sculpted Gong bash target, but beware, when pinballs are locked into a New York City train car, an agitated King Kong will destroy and flip it over to start King Kong multiball. Encounter and escape danger as players enter “The Pit” on Terror Island. Guarded by a custom-sculpted giant spider, this area magnetically grabs and attacks the ball, so be prepared. Travel through dangerous terrain by exploring the thrilling helix-shaped Biplane ramp featuring a custom sculpted biplane toy in addition to a secret river ball path and river log diverter. Thrilling gameplay features and challenges await players on this four-flipper adventure. Unlock the secrets of the Lost Temple four bank drop targets with a hidden standup target and navigate into the Kong Cave scoop and vertical up kicker. Survive Kong’s punch-back kicking target, which launches balls back at the player. This pinball adventure highlights original animations, music, sounds, and speech, with original art brought to life by legendary pinball illustrators Kevin O’Connor, Greg Freres, and Jeremy Packer aka Zombie Yeti. Custom speech is provided by comedy legend Brian “Q” Quinn from Impractical Jokers fame, along with Rick Zieff, Peter Mackenzie, and Scott Mosenson. To honor the original creation of King Kong in 1932, the Limited Edition model will be limited to 932 games globally. This highly collectible model includes the Speaker Expression Lighting System with King Kong-themed game effects, a full-color mirrored backglass, full-color reflective foil high-definition cabinet decals with hand-drawn artwork, exclusive custom King Kong art deco inspired pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, a signed Certificate of Authenticity, and a digital Insider Connected LE owner’s badge on registration. “King Kong has been a true staple of pop culture for decades, and we’re so excited for players to experience his larger-than-life persona through pinball,” said Seth Davis, President & CEO of Stern Pinball. “We can’t wait for players to take on the eighth wonder of the world in this completely original interpretation of this legend that is designed perfectly for pinball.” King Kong: Myth of Terror Island is available through authorized Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world, which can be found here. Pricing and Availability: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (“MSRP”)*: *MSRP for sales to USA end-users before any VAT, GST, Sales Tax, Duties, or other taxes. Pro Edition: US $6,999 Premium Edition: US $9,699 Limited Edition: US $12,999
4:50

In Stern Pinball’s King Kong: Myth of Terror Island pinball games, players join Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, and Karl Denham on their journey to the mysterious Terror Island, which results in King Kong traveling back to New York City with disastrous (and fun) consequences. Featuring innovative playfield design and iconic mechanisms from the creative team that brought players pinball mega hits such as JAWS, Godzilla, and Jurassic Park, players will experience King Kong in a whole new way. Watch King Kong come to life while playing King Kong: Myth of Terror Island. A custom-sculpted King Kong will react to player action through a new animatronic animation system, swinging his arms and torso to assert his dominance. Summon him by hitting the custom sculpted Gong bash target, but beware, when pinballs are locked into a New York City train car, an agitated King Kong will destroy and flip it over to start King Kong multiball. Encounter and escape danger as players enter “The Pit” on Terror Island. Guarded by a custom-sculpted giant spider, this area magnetically grabs and attacks the ball, so be prepared. Travel through dangerous terrain by exploring the thrilling helix-shaped Biplane ramp featuring a custom sculpted biplane toy in addition to a secret river ball path and river log diverter. Thrilling gameplay features and challenges await players on this four-flipper adventure. Unlock the secrets of the Lost Temple four bank drop targets with a hidden standup target and navigate into the Kong Cave scoop and vertical up kicker. Survive Kong’s punch-back kicking target, which launches balls back at the player. This pinball adventure highlights original animations, music, sounds, and speech, with original art brought to life by legendary pinball illustrators Kevin O’Connor, Greg Freres, and Jeremy Packer aka Zombie Yeti. Custom speech is provided by comedy legend Brian “Q” Quinn from Impractical Jokers fame, along with Rick Zieff, Peter Mackenzie, and Scott Mosenson. To honor the original creation of King Kong in 1932, the Limited Edition model will be limited to 932 games globally. This highly collectible model includes the Speaker Expression Lighting System with King Kong-themed game effects, a full-color mirrored backglass, full-color reflective foil high-definition cabinet decals with hand-drawn artwork, exclusive custom King Kong art deco inspired pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, a signed Certificate of Authenticity, and a digital Insider Connected LE owner’s badge on registration. “King Kong has been a true staple of pop culture for decades, and we’re so excited for players to experience his larger-than-life persona through pinball,” said Seth Davis, President & CEO of Stern Pinball. “We can’t wait for players to take on the eighth wonder of the world in this completely original interpretation of this legend that is designed perfectly for pinball.” King Kong: Myth of Terror Island is available through authorized Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world, which can be found here. Pricing and Availability: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (“MSRP”)*: *MSRP for sales to USA end-users before any VAT, GST, Sales Tax, Duties, or other taxes. Pro Edition: US $6,999 Premium Edition: US $9,699 Limited Edition: US $12,999

Stern Pinball

41,566 views • 1 year ago

Something amazing is coming to Apache Kafka… Consumer Groups v2! If you’ve ever used consumer groups in production at any non-trivial scale, you probably know all the problems with it: - ⛔️ Group-wide synchronization barrier acts as a cap on scalability A single misbehaving consumer can disturb the whole group. Even if you have cooperative rebalancing and static membership enabled, you will still have rebalances happen. 🤷‍♂️ It’s a fact of life I've heard - death, taxes & consumer group rebalances. And the problem is that even with cooperative rebalancing (which helped a lot!), you’re bound on waiting for the slowest member of the group to complete the rebalance(s). 🐌 The problem is that no consumer can commit offsets while a rebalance is in progress. ❌ Another subtle thing is that with cooperative rebalancing, a rebalance will take longer than usual. Why? Because consumers are allowed to process partitions during rebalances. They will call the poll() method more infrequently -- they're busy processing records after all. Thus, the overall rebalance time will increase. This makes it pretty hard to scale to 1000s of members. - 🤯 Complexity There’s a reason you’re reading this! The current protocol is pretty complex and hard to understand. It's used for a bunch of stuff, including metadata propagation in Kafka Streams. This compexity results in more: - 🐛 bugs The harder to reason about and the more moving parts you have - the greater chance for bugs. There have been quite a few in the protocol. And due to the fact that a lot of the protocol’s logic lives on the clients, that results in: - 🐌 slow fixes Bugs require client-side fixes, which are slow to be adopted. If you run a Kafka ops team, you know how hard it is to get all of your clients' teams to upgrade! If you're using a cloud service, you need to wait for a new Kafka release to go out. Can't have the cloud provider handle it for you behind the scenes! - 🔍 hard to debug Debugging is harder because you need client logs. In the cloud, that's hard to do again. On-prem, it requires reading through a lot of logs and collecting a lot of files. - ⚙️ very extendable There’s a reusable embedded protocol within the rebalance protocol, where clients are free to attach raw bytes that only they can then parse themselves. It's challenging to build compatible software for this cross-client protocol, as well as near-impossible to inspect from the broker side. - 😢 inconsistent metadata Clients are responsible for triggering rebalances based on the metadata, but different clients can have different views of the metadata. - 😵‍💫 interoperability Different implementations of the clients (i.e. anything besides the Java client) may have bugs. The complex logic needs to be re-implemented quite a few times. This usually means more bugs and slower time to ship features in your favorite client. A combination nobody likes. ... So what should an open source community do? Move the logic to the broker! Then? Simplify it. The new protocol is very elegant - it streamlines all of the regular Kafka consumer logic inside a new heartbeat API. It has the broker decide what partition assignments the consumers should have, and totally omits the notion of a Group Leader client. Another major change is that the notion of a group-wide rebalance is removed now. The rebalance is more fine-grained now. 👌 When you think about it, a rebalance is simply a reassignment of some partitions from some consumers to others. 💡 Why does the whole group need to stop and know about this? It had to before because the logic was on the client. It doesn’t now. 🎂 The new protocol is fine-grained in its assignments. It maintains per-member epochs, as well as separate epochs for the general group membership and the global assignment. The goal is simple - get all of those epoch numbers to be the same. The order is the following: 1. the group-wide epoch is bumped. 2. the target assignment epoch is bumped. 3. individual consumers catch up to the epoch via the heartbeat request, individually. (fine-grained) In general, what you have is a simple state machine inside the Group Coordinator broker that’s running a constant reconciliation loop. 💥 Because every member converges to the target state independently, the coordinator is free to simplify that convergence member by member. 👍 It has the logic to resolve dependencies between members - the act of: 1. revoking one member’s partition. 2. confirming the success of that. 3. bumping that member's epoch before assigning that partition to another consumer. Here is an example visual of what happens when two members join a consumer group one by one:
1:37

Something amazing is coming to Apache Kafka… Consumer Groups v2! If you’ve ever used consumer groups in production at any non-trivial scale, you probably know all the problems with it: - ⛔️ Group-wide synchronization barrier acts as a cap on scalability A single misbehaving consumer can disturb the whole group. Even if you have cooperative rebalancing and static membership enabled, you will still have rebalances happen. 🤷‍♂️ It’s a fact of life I've heard - death, taxes & consumer group rebalances. And the problem is that even with cooperative rebalancing (which helped a lot!), you’re bound on waiting for the slowest member of the group to complete the rebalance(s). 🐌 The problem is that no consumer can commit offsets while a rebalance is in progress. ❌ Another subtle thing is that with cooperative rebalancing, a rebalance will take longer than usual. Why? Because consumers are allowed to process partitions during rebalances. They will call the poll() method more infrequently -- they're busy processing records after all. Thus, the overall rebalance time will increase. This makes it pretty hard to scale to 1000s of members. - 🤯 Complexity There’s a reason you’re reading this! The current protocol is pretty complex and hard to understand. It's used for a bunch of stuff, including metadata propagation in Kafka Streams. This compexity results in more: - 🐛 bugs The harder to reason about and the more moving parts you have - the greater chance for bugs. There have been quite a few in the protocol. And due to the fact that a lot of the protocol’s logic lives on the clients, that results in: - 🐌 slow fixes Bugs require client-side fixes, which are slow to be adopted. If you run a Kafka ops team, you know how hard it is to get all of your clients' teams to upgrade! If you're using a cloud service, you need to wait for a new Kafka release to go out. Can't have the cloud provider handle it for you behind the scenes! - 🔍 hard to debug Debugging is harder because you need client logs. In the cloud, that's hard to do again. On-prem, it requires reading through a lot of logs and collecting a lot of files. - ⚙️ very extendable There’s a reusable embedded protocol within the rebalance protocol, where clients are free to attach raw bytes that only they can then parse themselves. It's challenging to build compatible software for this cross-client protocol, as well as near-impossible to inspect from the broker side. - 😢 inconsistent metadata Clients are responsible for triggering rebalances based on the metadata, but different clients can have different views of the metadata. - 😵‍💫 interoperability Different implementations of the clients (i.e. anything besides the Java client) may have bugs. The complex logic needs to be re-implemented quite a few times. This usually means more bugs and slower time to ship features in your favorite client. A combination nobody likes. ... So what should an open source community do? Move the logic to the broker! Then? Simplify it. The new protocol is very elegant - it streamlines all of the regular Kafka consumer logic inside a new heartbeat API. It has the broker decide what partition assignments the consumers should have, and totally omits the notion of a Group Leader client. Another major change is that the notion of a group-wide rebalance is removed now. The rebalance is more fine-grained now. 👌 When you think about it, a rebalance is simply a reassignment of some partitions from some consumers to others. 💡 Why does the whole group need to stop and know about this? It had to before because the logic was on the client. It doesn’t now. 🎂 The new protocol is fine-grained in its assignments. It maintains per-member epochs, as well as separate epochs for the general group membership and the global assignment. The goal is simple - get all of those epoch numbers to be the same. The order is the following: 1. the group-wide epoch is bumped. 2. the target assignment epoch is bumped. 3. individual consumers catch up to the epoch via the heartbeat request, individually. (fine-grained) In general, what you have is a simple state machine inside the Group Coordinator broker that’s running a constant reconciliation loop. 💥 Because every member converges to the target state independently, the coordinator is free to simplify that convergence member by member. 👍 It has the logic to resolve dependencies between members - the act of: 1. revoking one member’s partition. 2. confirming the success of that. 3. bumping that member's epoch before assigning that partition to another consumer. Here is an example visual of what happens when two members join a consumer group one by one:

Stanislav Kozlovski

52,814 views • 3 years ago

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3: Beauty Born from the Order of Relationships The most remarkable aspect of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 does not lie in the presence of a dominant soloist, but in the fact that no single voice stands alone. From the very first sounds, the listener is drawn into the powerful movement of the string instruments. The three groups of violins, violas, and cellos continuously engage in dialogue, passing ideas between one another and supporting each other. Each musical line has its own character, yet none exists apart from the greater flow. This organization reveals a profound principle of beauty: Beauty does not exist only within individual parts; it emerges when different elements discover a harmonious way to connect with one another. The performance by Voices of Music in the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) style highlights this quality. By presenting each musical line with greater clarity in the spirit of the Baroque tradition, the listener can perceive how Bach allows every instrument to maintain its own voice while participating in a larger structure. No Single Note Creates Beauty on Its Own A single note, no matter how beautiful, cannot create the depth of an entire musical work. The meaning of Bach’s music does not lie in isolated elements, but in the way those elements respond to, complement, and illuminate one another. A single stone does not create the beauty of a building; a single brushstroke cannot represent the full value of a painting. Only when each detail is placed in its proper position within a larger structure does beauty truly emerge. In Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, a violin line does not gain value because it stands above the other voices. It becomes meaningful because of the role it plays within the overall movement of the composition. Independent, Yet Not Separate This is one of the defining qualities of Bach’s contrapuntal art. Each musical line in the work possesses its own character. A musical idea may appear in the violins, be taken up by the violas, and then answered by the cellos. The voices do not simply merge together; they continuously engage in dialogue and develop alongside one another. If all instruments played the same melody, the music would lose its depth. Yet if every line existed completely independently, the work would lose its balance. Bach creates a delicate middle ground: each element preserves its own identity, but none exists as an isolated individual. It is this interaction that enriches every musical voice. No part needs to overpower another in order to become significant; the value of each element is revealed through its contribution to the entire composition. A Structure Always in Motion The vitality of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 comes from continuous movement, but this movement is never without direction. Each musical phrase opens the way for the next. Every moment of tension prepares for a moment of release. Within the ritornello structure, the main theme returns repeatedly, yet each appearance carries a new character after undergoing processes of development and transformation. Bach does not create beauty through the simple repetition of a fixed idea. Instead, he allows a familiar theme to be rediscovered in different contexts. This is also a characteristic of sustainable systems in nature: they do not exist by remaining unchanged, but by maintaining balance throughout transformation. A healthy living organism is not a state of stillness. It constantly adjusts, adapts, and renews itself while preserving inner stability. If nothing changes, life loses its ability to develop. But if every change occurs without a guiding principle, balance cannot be maintained. Sustainability requires both a stable foundation and the ability to move. This is precisely what Bach achieves in Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. A musical idea does not merely return; it is transformed through interaction with other voices before appearing again. He creates a structure that possesses both order and vitality — a world where change does not destroy balance, but instead enriches it. Why Do We Experience This as Beautiful? When we listen to music, we do not simply receive individual sounds. We naturally search for relationships, hidden patterns, and the ways in which different elements connect. A completely chaotic work would struggle to create a sense of wholeness. Yet a work that only repeats without development would easily become monotonous. The appeal of Bach’s music lies in the balance between predictability and surprise. The listener senses a familiar foundation while simultaneously being led toward new possibilities of development. When every element in a composition appears to have a meaningful purpose, we experience a structure in which complexity has been transformed into harmony. A Principle Beyond Music What Bach expresses is not only a mastery of counterpoint, but also a vision of harmony itself. A powerful whole is not created by eliminating differences between its parts. Instead, those differences create depth when they are placed within the right relationships. In Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the violins, violas, and cellos do not lose their individual qualities when combined. Through their dialogue, the unique colors of each instrumental group become even more apparent. Beauty therefore does not arise from absolute uniformity, but from the ability to transform many different elements into a unified balance. Conclusion Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is not merely a masterpiece of the Baroque era. Through the organization of multiple independent melodic lines into a harmonious flow, Bach reveals a profound principle of beauty: Each element reaches its fullest expression when it is placed within the proper relationship to the whole to which it belongs. The power of the work does not lie in a single melody or a single technique, but in the way all its elements coexist, respond, and support one another. More than three centuries later, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 continues to move listeners because it expresses a fundamental truth: beauty emerges when diversity finds a harmonious form — when each part preserves its own identity while contributing to a whole greater than itself.
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Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3: Beauty Born from the Order of Relationships The most remarkable aspect of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 does not lie in the presence of a dominant soloist, but in the fact that no single voice stands alone. From the very first sounds, the listener is drawn into the powerful movement of the string instruments. The three groups of violins, violas, and cellos continuously engage in dialogue, passing ideas between one another and supporting each other. Each musical line has its own character, yet none exists apart from the greater flow. This organization reveals a profound principle of beauty: Beauty does not exist only within individual parts; it emerges when different elements discover a harmonious way to connect with one another. The performance by Voices of Music in the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) style highlights this quality. By presenting each musical line with greater clarity in the spirit of the Baroque tradition, the listener can perceive how Bach allows every instrument to maintain its own voice while participating in a larger structure. No Single Note Creates Beauty on Its Own A single note, no matter how beautiful, cannot create the depth of an entire musical work. The meaning of Bach’s music does not lie in isolated elements, but in the way those elements respond to, complement, and illuminate one another. A single stone does not create the beauty of a building; a single brushstroke cannot represent the full value of a painting. Only when each detail is placed in its proper position within a larger structure does beauty truly emerge. In Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, a violin line does not gain value because it stands above the other voices. It becomes meaningful because of the role it plays within the overall movement of the composition. Independent, Yet Not Separate This is one of the defining qualities of Bach’s contrapuntal art. Each musical line in the work possesses its own character. A musical idea may appear in the violins, be taken up by the violas, and then answered by the cellos. The voices do not simply merge together; they continuously engage in dialogue and develop alongside one another. If all instruments played the same melody, the music would lose its depth. Yet if every line existed completely independently, the work would lose its balance. Bach creates a delicate middle ground: each element preserves its own identity, but none exists as an isolated individual. It is this interaction that enriches every musical voice. No part needs to overpower another in order to become significant; the value of each element is revealed through its contribution to the entire composition. A Structure Always in Motion The vitality of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 comes from continuous movement, but this movement is never without direction. Each musical phrase opens the way for the next. Every moment of tension prepares for a moment of release. Within the ritornello structure, the main theme returns repeatedly, yet each appearance carries a new character after undergoing processes of development and transformation. Bach does not create beauty through the simple repetition of a fixed idea. Instead, he allows a familiar theme to be rediscovered in different contexts. This is also a characteristic of sustainable systems in nature: they do not exist by remaining unchanged, but by maintaining balance throughout transformation. A healthy living organism is not a state of stillness. It constantly adjusts, adapts, and renews itself while preserving inner stability. If nothing changes, life loses its ability to develop. But if every change occurs without a guiding principle, balance cannot be maintained. Sustainability requires both a stable foundation and the ability to move. This is precisely what Bach achieves in Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. A musical idea does not merely return; it is transformed through interaction with other voices before appearing again. He creates a structure that possesses both order and vitality — a world where change does not destroy balance, but instead enriches it. Why Do We Experience This as Beautiful? When we listen to music, we do not simply receive individual sounds. We naturally search for relationships, hidden patterns, and the ways in which different elements connect. A completely chaotic work would struggle to create a sense of wholeness. Yet a work that only repeats without development would easily become monotonous. The appeal of Bach’s music lies in the balance between predictability and surprise. The listener senses a familiar foundation while simultaneously being led toward new possibilities of development. When every element in a composition appears to have a meaningful purpose, we experience a structure in which complexity has been transformed into harmony. A Principle Beyond Music What Bach expresses is not only a mastery of counterpoint, but also a vision of harmony itself. A powerful whole is not created by eliminating differences between its parts. Instead, those differences create depth when they are placed within the right relationships. In Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the violins, violas, and cellos do not lose their individual qualities when combined. Through their dialogue, the unique colors of each instrumental group become even more apparent. Beauty therefore does not arise from absolute uniformity, but from the ability to transform many different elements into a unified balance. Conclusion Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is not merely a masterpiece of the Baroque era. Through the organization of multiple independent melodic lines into a harmonious flow, Bach reveals a profound principle of beauty: Each element reaches its fullest expression when it is placed within the proper relationship to the whole to which it belongs. The power of the work does not lie in a single melody or a single technique, but in the way all its elements coexist, respond, and support one another. More than three centuries later, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 continues to move listeners because it expresses a fundamental truth: beauty emerges when diversity finds a harmonious form — when each part preserves its own identity while contributing to a whole greater than itself.

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