CITIES THAT READ THE MOST

CITIES THAT READ THE MOST

Which cities read the most

A ranking compiled annually by Amazon

Milan is in first place, but I am very proud that Pavia is in second place!

Second place but three books: between one coffee and another, it’s been a long time since I did any bookcrossing

In case you missed it, I’ll post the description here:
I hope that it could be a good idea for you as well: if you can be interested in the book you find in the category, all you have to do is to let me know where to deliver it. I don’t ask anything in return for me, but I would suggest using the concept shown in the movie “Pay it forward”: I would like you to pass a favor on to someone else. Thanks.

First book:

UN GIORNO SOLO by Felicia Yap Piemme Editions.

A Day Alone is all about the protagonist born from Felicia Yap’s pen, considered the publishing case of the year and praised by many leading international publications.

Second book:

STRONZE SI NASCE by Felicia Kingsley, Newton Compton Publishers.

Yes: same name. Felicia Kingsley however in this case is a pseudonym, the author’s real name is Serena Artioli. Her first novel, initially self-published, was so successful that it led her to this caustically titled novel.

Third book:

FESTA DI FAMIGLIA by Sveva Casati Modignani Edizioni Sperling & Kupfer.

The author doesn’t need to be introduced, but I will say of Family Feast that it is set in Milan.
The first chapter begins like this: It was the beginning of December.

In case you would like to read one of these books, you can send me an email or a private message on the social networking site of your choice.

Books are in Italian language.

Which cities read the most and then pay it forward?
We will find out together.

Enjoy your reading and THANK YOU in advance.

QR code

QR code

Let me introduce the KCDC QR code aka the Keep Calm & Drink Coffe QR code!

In the hope that it will be useful in some way, I hope to be able to spread it in a sensible way, of course as always advice is welcome 🙂

QR code is short for Quick Response and is basically a bar code on steroids. While the bar code stores information horizontally, the QR code does so both horizontally and vertically.

How?

In the case of barcodes, information can only be encoded in the transverse direction i.e., in one dimension, while in the case of 2D codes, information can be encoded in both transverse and longitudinal directions i.e., in two dimensions.

But it is more difficult for scanners to recognize the position of a 2D code than that of a bar code.

Based on this idea, a position detection pattern was created, located at the three corners of each code.

To avoid false recognition, the position detection pattern must have a unique shape.

Members of the development team began an exhaustive investigation of the relationship between black and white areas in images and characters printed on flyers, magazines, corrugated cardboard and other documents after reducing them to patterns with black and white areas.

Thus identifying the ratio that appeared least on the printed:1:1:3:1:1.

In this way, the widths of the black and white areas in the location detection pattern were determined, and the scanners became able to detect the code regardless of the scanning angle by finding this unique ratio.

But who composed this development team?

To find out, we need to take a step back: in the 1980s the barcode system was used in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail.

In the 1990s due to the shift from mass production of one type of product to more flexible production, more detailed production control was needed at production sites, and in association with this, the development of a bar code with a higher capacity was needed.

In 1992, Masahiro Hara 原正浩, who was engaged in the development of barcode readers and OCR optical character recognition devices at Denso, was asked to develop bar code readers that could read bar codes faster.

In addition, products were being increasingly resized, so it was necessary to create a code that could be printed in a smaller area.

After a year and a half from the start of the development project, following much trial and error, the QR Code system was successfully developed, capable of storing about 7,000 digits with the additional capability of encoding Kanji characters.

This code can store a large amount of information and at the same time can be read at over 10 times the speed of other codes.

Mine, however, keeps coffee time, try it to believe 🙂

HOW DO YOU USE COFFEE GROUNDS?

HOW DO YOU USE COFFEE GROUNDS?

Have you ever reused coffee grounds?

I sometimes add them to the earth of the pots.

Unfortunately they were less helpful against the ants, you say they were particularly naughty like all the insects who decide to move here?

Have you ever tried?

Or maybe you can read them? The first scene that comes to mind is in Joel Schumacher’s Dying Young, when Estelle played by Colleen Dewhurst sees a bad omen in Campbell Scott’s cup.

What do you say? Better to focus on other ways of using it.

For example, RENS from Helsinki, Finland had the best idea of using coffee grounds together with recycled plastic to make sneakers!

They named them coffee shoes, isn’t it great?

I quote verbatim: we transform post-industrial plastic and used coffee grounds into feature-rich products that are made to go the distance.

While waiting to go the distance, this is definitely a first step, don’t you agree?

ALICE JANE RAYNOR

ALICE JANE RAYNOR

The Christmas countdown indicates 8 days to Christmas! While waiting today, the Advent calendar offers us the story of Alice Jane Raynor

I did not know Alice and she is a fantastic discovery!

Starting with the name which is a tribute to her beloved Jane Eyre

The restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes.
Jane Eyre is really a character of the heart, so how not to immediately become attached to Alice?

Among other things, I discover that she loves to read everything, she studies mechanical engineering, is passionate about chemistry and physics, and also carries out historical research …

You will say: there can be nothing more! But no, there is more!
Alice experience her first publication at the age of sixteen.

I can only say chapeau and advise you to read his story The spirit of Christmas:
I walk the streets of a city – my city – and look at the shop windows, barely raising my eyes to a light, a reflection of golden paper and the notes of Christmas music that filters through the doors. The crowd forces me to proceed with a slowness that does not please me. I usually avoid those crowded places, these sticky people who stick to every part of my body go on here

“NOW THE SOUND OF #BEIRUT IS SWEEPING GLASS, THE PIECES OF SHATTERED LIVES.”

“NOW THE SOUND OF #BEIRUT IS SWEEPING GLASS, THE PIECES OF SHATTERED LIVES.”

Now the sound of #Beirut is sweeping glass, the pieces of shattered lives. It is and always is the people here who clean up the destruction of the establishment – and rebuild.

Rusted Radishes wordstruck me almost like the images that flow under our dismayed eyes.

Pieces of shattered life.
Terrible.

And after the bewilderment stunned one wonders WHY.
Impossible to understand it now.

The news chases each other, it all seems so absurd, incredible.
So I tried to read as directly as possible.
Looking for and hoping to find an entry.

Beirut Today writes:
The highly-flammable chemical compound had reportedly been unloaded from a ship impounded at the port in 2013, and then unsafely stored in a warehouse there for six years, according to statements from both the prime minister and presidency.
Lebanon’s Supreme Defence Council said those responsible would face “maximum punishment.” The Lebanese Cabinet also tasked the army with placing all officials who oversaw storage and guarding at Beirut Port since 2014 under house arrest pending the end of the investigation.
The port is a major commercial route that has provided Lebanon, a country that relies heavily on imports, with a lifeline of nearly all needed goods. With its largest port and essential importing facility devastated by the blast, analysts are concerned how Lebanon can maintain the flow of much-needed food, and medical supplies.”

Instead of finding some sort of meaning, it is all the more absurd.

But above all I found Lama‘s voice
“Every official, parliamentarian, judge, minister, general manager, director, and piece of … who knew about the threat of the container that ended up blowing up and killing dozens, injuring thousands, and destroying our city is probably putting on their suit and readying themselves for another day of lies and deceit.
You’ve robbed the country blind. You’ve undermined each and every one of its facilities. You’ve drained every account, facility, fund, project, institution, and corner of this country.
Your resignations mean nothing. We demand justice and accountability.
We demand justice for every life lost, for every citizen injured, for everyone who lost their home and their business and their land due to your gross negligence and your criminal behavior.”

I have no other words.
Collecting shatters is also dangerous at the moment, given the toxicity of the air.
Yet I leave you this video.

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