#malt render engine

[axiasart]

How to install malt/BEER

NPR render engine for Blender

What is malt and BEER?

From the official website:

Malt is a fully customizable real-time rendering framework for animation and illustration. It's aimed at artists who want more control over their workflow and/or their art style, with special care put into the needs of stylized non-photorealistic rendering. Designed as a community effort to expand the possibility space of 3d rendering, it provides graphics programmers and technical artist an enjoyable “shadertoy-like” workflow inside Blender, while still allowing to effortlessly share their work with non technical artists through Python and GLSL plugin Official website mal3d.com

Blender Extended Expressive Renderer (BEER) is a free and open source realtime non-photoreal (NPR) rendering engine. The main feature of BEER is the ability to extend the rendering capability from the ease of adding custom shaders to a customizable shader graph. Since NPR is a journey of endless styles which never settle, we need a render engine which will fulfill all the stylized needs. Light BWK, co-founder of BlenderNPR.org

It's a free and Open source real time render engine made with full focus on Non Photorealistic Rendering or Stylized rendering. It distinguish itself from other engine by being extremely customizable for the most skilled among us

Showcase:

Made by @/Renato3xl

Made by myself @axiasart

The only inconvenience with this render engine is the terrible terrible (needed to be said twice) lack of up to date tutorials. This shouldn't confuse people in thinking that this project is dying or unpopular. The latest release was on July 20th.

How to download and install malt/beer?

Downloading malt is pretty straightforward, on the github release page: https://github.com/bnpr/Malt/releases/tag/Release-latest

blender preference, enabled Malt render

Downloading and installing BEER is more complicated, first of course downloading it from github: https://github.com/bnpr/BEER

From the zip you will only need the BlenderBeer folder so you should extract is and put it anywhere.

You will also need to download Pygments which is found here: https://github.com/pygments/pygments/tree/master

You won't need the whole thing, once you download the zip, extract the pygments folder only.

Now that we have all the ingredients we can start cooking.

First you will need a script folder, put it where you keep your blender files. Then in this script folder add two folders modules and addons.

Next, you move the pygments folder in the modules folder and the BlenderBeer folder in the addons folder.

[rocketpunksantics]

Heyo!

Just a little backstory here. Back in last September, I had a burnout from a project that left me apathetic for a couple of weeks. I had a couple of shows in my backlog, and so I binge watched Gravity Falls, Amphibia and The Owl House. Those 3 shows instantly became some of my favorites (although the top spot remains for Code Lyoko, which I'll always hold dearly as THE show of my childhood). But after I watched them, I didn't realize it but I had an idea that stirred for me. Just a seed of a glimpse of... something. I didn't know that, nor what it was. I'm autistic, I've been bullied in middle school, and I really like sci-fi and fantasy.

So, I don't know why, but I started off thinking "Hey, what about a show about an autistic kid in some kind of sci-fi world?", and that's a bit how Chris Duval was created. And then I worked the story some more, figuring out what the world would be like, who the inhabitants would be, and it became pretty much something VERY neurodivergent. The world the show will take place in is like a living encyclopedia, with all its inhabitants being like the living embodiment of the articles you could find in there. There could be Foolishness living alongside Brewery, Stoicism and Slapstick, with monsters based on folklore from around the world. I know it's a weird concept, but I feel like it could work, and be really fun. But then I wanted to have some friends for Chris. I loosely took inspiration from my friends back in middle school, mostly on the personalities. The first one I imagined was Kevin (although I'm only at the pitching and pilot scripting phase so it's subject to change). And then came Jo, which was a bit difficult to do cause I had to figure out a cool aesthetic for her. The one that was the most difficult was Max, cause I wanted him to look pretty eccentric, with odd mixes of colors that would still not hurt the eyes, and whose catogan was the last thing I'd find to make him cool.

I'm a 3d artist. I know I should really learn how to draw beyond just my model sheets, but at the same time I don't think I'd be able to make something look nice, let alone for an animation. Cause yeah, these pictures are 3d models. I made them all by myself. There's a rendering engine for Blender called Malt that makes cel shading really easy, and so I made some tests, but now I think I'll just try to animate everything in 3d using Malt and maybe have some of the VFX and some facial expressions in 2d. I'm not sure yet. For now I'll have to finish writing the first draft of the pilot script and see later. It should be fun, though.

[writer59january13]

Trumpeting future mercurial villain of history

Predicated on his paying obese sense to Ronald McDonald patron saint buzzfeeding his pie hole courtesy "two Big Macs, Fillet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted," he hungrily nabbed the ⁦Tuesday, November 5, 2024⁩ election ofttimes series of unfortunate events found him holed up in his Mar-a-Lago Donjon club. After demise of western civilization linkedin to implementation of Project 2025 courtesy the forty seventh president of these currently fragmented United States, left a legacy that rivaled the fall of the Roman Empire. Nary a trace of North American grandeur discerned amidst the bombed out rubble strewn landscape after the second Civil War, triggered global mortal kombat, which far eclipsed the first and second world wars in death and destruction (courtesy Beatle browed foo fighting, gun toting rebel rousers, who fomented revolution) rent asunder many a complex edifice symbolizing once cherished life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Feeble hot pockets of resistance constituting battle weary tried and true troopers for democracy outmatched by phalanx of heavily armed local militia. No matter wickedly wrought shenanigans essentially widely accessible Artificial Intelligence tools allowed, enabled, and provided users to synthesize audio in anyone’s voice, generated photo-realistic images of anybody doing nearly anything, and power social media bot accounts with near human-level conversational abilities — and rendered on a vast scale and with a reduced or negligible investment of money and time. Due to the popularization of chatbots and the search engines they quickly became absorbed into, also disallowed, disabled the first election season in which large numbers of voters routinely consumed information that is not just curated by Artificial Intelligence but produced by Artificial Intelligence. Blatantly unconcerned

about the populace at large, nor any promises made

while he angrily stormed across the country stumping as dictator of the free world after riling the madding crowds enthusiastically populating campaign trail, most of his waking hours spent schmoozing with other de facto autocrats while divvying up the booty of annexed, subjected vassal states, (a vast swath of territory mainly comprising the former Soviet breakaway Baltic states, and about a dozen republics under the sway of Russia), violently yanked back in the fold of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Within this brave new webbed, wide world each man, woman and child needs to fend for him/herself, and those people flush with ample disposable income will pay (thru the nose, hence the bigger the schnoz the better) for security details unless he/she presents an intimidating mean mien, possesses black belt with at least one martial arts, or a powerful lucky charm to ward off threatening hooligans. Essentially lawlessness will run amuck

imagined in one guise as the phantom of the opera nemesis

multi pronged ferocious buck

accompanied by an outsize chicken legged stricken man, who doth bawk and cluck

also enlisting cannibalistic commander in chief wannabe tricked out as Donald Duck.

Even prior to any political fracas, I decry being dependent

(and at the mercy)

to purchase commodities

within consumerist society hierarchy,

yet envy people who live off the grid fostering an ecologically friendly lifestyle, versus being linkedin to Market capitalism (an economic system where private individuals and corporations own the means of production,

and the government has a limited role)

yet yours truly never aggressively learned how

to become self sufficient ala Dick Proenneke

(him of "Alone in the Wilderness" fame - when he retired at age 50 in 1967 decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park)

and certainly never belonged

to an Amish community,

never surviving with some degree

of independent comfort,

cuz the sole son of Harriet and Boyce Harris overstayed his welcome by living social under the same roof as said mother and father,

who ofttimes delivered hollow ultimatums

to shape up or ship out –

meaning intolerance exhibited

toward their singular male offspring,

who struggled securing

and maintaining gainful employment),

hence fantasies throve somehow magically acquiring carpentry and farming skills

sturdy accommodations house families

where every timber secured by strong hands,

and stitch of clothing sewn courtesy adroit woman

traditional gender stereotypical roles obeyed

as if ordained by Biblical

credo, fiat, ideology, et cetera.

[xtruss]

Cornelia Bohn stands among oak barrels in her whiskey distillery in the German village of Schönermark. The trained pharmaceutical engineer has been producing her Preußischer Whisky single malt since 2009. Photograph By Patrick Pleul, Picture Alliance/DPA/AP Images

— By Mike MaCeacheran | February 2, 2021

The whole scene along this whiskey road trip is strangely familiar: historic castles and deer-filled forests, then rows of ploughed soil, golden barley fields, and the sweet scent of cereal grains.

But this isn’t somewhere in Scotland. Nor is it in Ireland or the United States. This is Brandenburg, a sparsely populated region in Germany surrounding Berlin. It the most compact part of a seductive new whiskey country that has upwards of 250 producers—almost twice as many as Scotland, yet with just a fraction of the visitors. Factor in an increasing emphasis on grain-to-glass provenance, and it’s evident that interest in German whiskey is rocketing.

With five compelling distilleries all within a 60-mile radius of the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (which opened in October 2020), Brandenburg is a fruitful place to taste whiskey. A circumnavigation of the German capital region promises new-found tradition and adventure in equal measure, with warehouses, whiskey cellars, and sampling rooms.

“Distilling has been part of Brandenburg’s fabric for centuries,” says Cornelia Bohn, producer of Preußischer Whisky. “But this knowledge was lost during the Communist era when liquor production was controlled and limited to state-produced vodka. It’s amazing to think that whiskey was an outlaw spirit, only available on the black market. So we’re catching up now.”

Spirited Revival

No manufacturer is doing more to put German whiskey on the map than Bohn. Growing up behind the Berlin Wall in Soviet-occupied Uckermark in the former German Democratic Republic, she fell in love with the romance of whiskey advertisements broadcast from uncensored West German TV channels. She took note of the smoky bars, the clinking glasses, the talk of exotic overseas adventures, and revered the banned liquor without ever having tasted it. For her, it represented the West, escape from behind the Iron Curtain, and freedom.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and Bohn crossed the unified German capital for the first time, one small shop caught her eye. “Everyone was gifted 100 Deutsche marks welcome money on arrival and my first instinct was to buy a bottle of whiskey,” says Bohn, who was 24 at the time. “It was a Johnnie Walker, and it was the most amazing moment of my life.”

A barley field in the Uckermark region, known as the granary of Brandenburg, glows golden at sunset. Photograph By Preussischer Whisky

Now 31 years later, Bohn is one of Germany’s most respected whiskey makers and one of the first women to open her own distillery. As Rumpelstiltskin spun gold from straw, she has turned a modest family inheritance into a label born from a teenage dream, producing Germany’s only organic single malt.

Here in the Uckermark region, grasslands tip into beech woods and pastures filled with black horses that, tradition dictates, are still used to pull carriages for village weddings and funerals. The Friesians are central to the local Slavic culture and, fittingly, Bohn’s stills are housed in red-brick stables. The Preußischer mascot, too, is a sleek colt sporting a pickelhaube, a spiked soldier’s helmet. (Preußischer translates to “Prussian.”)

The woman-owned Preußischer Whisky is one of the hundreds of German distillers gaining global recognition. Photograph BY Patrick Pleul, Picture Alliance/DPA/AP Images

Tales like this are everywhere in Brandenburg, hidden behind distillery doors and in the barley and rye fields. At Grumsiner Brennerei, the attitude towards whiskey is to dig deeper into the past. Distillery owner Thomas Blätterlein is reviving ancient strains of forgotten grains.

One cereal is East Prussian eppweizen, an overlooked wheat used for his fruity, single-grain malt Mammoth. On the nose, the hay-gold spirit hints at caramel; the taste is floral and lightly spiced.

Grain Expectations

Less than 40 miles southeast of Berlin, former bartender Bastian Heuser founded Stork Club/Spreewald, Germany’s first rye whiskey distillery, in the village of Schlepzig. Flour mills, witch’s-hat spires, and ramshackle farmsteads point to the town’s centuries-old heritage.

The distillery’s origins began with a road trip. In 2015, Heuser and co-owners Steffen Lohr and Sebastian Brack were looking for a particular cask to take back to Berlin. It turned out that the incumbent owner of one distillery they visited had no family and was looking for a successor.

Left: Spreewald Distillery, located in Schlepzig, produces Stork Club, Germany’s first rye whiskey. Photograph By Markus Schreiber, AP Images Right: Bastian Heuser stands next to a 600-liter (158-gallon) still. The former Berlin barkeeper co-founded Stork Club/Spreewald Distillery. Photograph By Bernd Settnik, Picture Alliance/DPA/AP Images

“Serendipity,” recalls Heuser. “The absurdity is we went from wanting to buy just the one barrel to taking over an entire distillery.”

Behind its brick walls, the venue retains the cobbled courtyard, whiskey barn, and garden built a century ago, but the brand’s hipster vibe is clearly here-and-now.

Ostensibly, what Stork Club offers the visitor is stunning whiskey. But the distillery is cleverly engineered on the Spreewald canal network. An added thrill is discovering more than 200 intertwined waterways vibrant with wildlife, including 250 pairs of white storks that return each year to nest. A punting trip into the marshy meadows, where the crank of the mash tun fades to silence, comes highly recommended. At times, it is too easy to miss that the wilderness is in the thick of the largest rye-growing greenbelt in Europe.

Visitors to Spreewald Distillery can make a day of it with a boat ride along the region’s canal network. Photograph By Hans-Joachim Aubert, Alamy Stock Photo

“Most German distilleries look towards Scotland for inspiration,” Heuser says. “But we’re more drawn to whiskies made in the United States. It’s funny, really, because rye is part of Brandenburg’s history, but we’ve never wholly embraced it. Until now.”

Transatlantic Ties

Pull this thread and a whole other backstory unravels. Where Brandenburg rye really prevails is across the Atlantic in the stills of some of the largest distillers in the United States, including Kentucky’s Wild Turkey and Four Roses, both of which stockpile the region’s crop. It would be difficult, in fact, to overstate the impact of Germany’s distilling heritage on the U.S., with the roots of many distilleries on the American Whiskey Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Trail first sown by immigrants.

“It’s no great surprise Germans kickstarted the pre-Prohibition rye whiskey industry in the 1800s because of what they learned back home,” says Dave Broom, author of the World Atlas of Whisky and a whiskey writer for 30 years.

Bastian Heuser inspects whiskey at the Spreewald Distillery. Photograph By Tobias Schwarz, AFP/Getty Images

Pennsylvania’s Old Overholt, said to be America’s oldest continuously operating whiskey brand, was founded by German Mennonite farmer Henry Oberholzer in 1810. Johannes Jakob Böhm moved to Kentucky to sell bourbon under the name Old Jake Beam (now better known as Jim Beam).

There are many other immigrant tales, too, including those of George Dickel, from Gr��nberg, Hesse, who came to Nashville in 1844; and the founders of the Stitzel-Weller distillery, maker of cult favorite Pappy Van Winkle. Predictably, after 13 years of Prohibition (1920–1933), many German distillers were forgotten, and today it is hard for whiskey historians to tease out personal stories from romanticized brand mythologies.

The Future of Brandenburg

The blurring of distinctions is common when appraising whiskey, and this paradox is all too familiar to Tim Eggenstein of Old Sandhill Whisky, in the town of Bad Belzig, 55 miles southwest of Berlin. The distiller ages his single malt in virgin German, American, and French oak barrels, as well as scented sherry casks and barrique barrels from Bordeaux, accepting that everyone puts their own spin on a whiskey’s story.

At Glina Distillery, 10 miles outside state capital Potsdam, distiller Michael Schultz is driven to create a rare rye-barley hybrid, using oak casks made by Brandenburg’s last remaining master cooper. This is whiskey rendered in muted, earthy tones.

As a journey around Brandenburg makes clear, whiskey is now part of life in Germany—at once looking backwards to a forgotten past and forwards to a more enterprising and fertile future.

— The National Geographic

[ilomilo]

(Disclaimer: This post is not my own. This is a repost from the official ilomilo developers on blog.ilomilo.com (only accessible on the wayback machine)!)

————————

Meet the team!

Friday, November 20th, 2009

You’ve probably wondered what kind of super people we are. Or maybe you didn’t. Anyway, this is us:

Art, Design and Sound People

Name: Simon Flesser Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius Favourite Food: Vegetarian Risotto Favourite Game: Wii Music Secret Skill: I drink and eat extremely fast Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Responsible for everything art related and that everything in the game feels ilomilo

Name: Martin “Texas” Blomkvist Zodiac Sign: Virgo Favourite Food: Pizza Vegetariana Favourite Game: Psychonauts (Apart from ilomilo of course!) Secret Skill: I can do that freaky hand cooing thing! (Darn, now it isn’t secret anymore…) Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: General gamedesign, leveldesign and dialogue writing

Name: Daniel Olsén Zodiac Sign: Leo Favourite Food: Homemade tomato soup with freshly baked bread and hummus Favourite Game: Rhythm Tengoku Secret Skill: Drumming sessions in Rhythm Tengoku Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Music and sound effects

Coder Ninjas

Name: Björn “Bellman” Persson Zodiac Sign: The Crab Favourite Food: Salami, bacon & cheese Favourite Game: Pro Evolution Soccer Secret Skill: Road work – Surveying & asphalting Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: I’m the rogue coder. I create bugs, then I kill them off

Name: Johan Malm Zodiac Sign: Cancer Favourite Food: Meat! Favourite Game: Zelda: a link to the past Secret Skill: I bake delicious cakes! Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Coding, mainly gameplaylogic

Name: Martin Stjernström Zodiac Sign: Libra Favourite Food: Grilled steak with French fries Favourite Game: Baldur’s Gate 2 Secret Skill: Walking really fast without making any noise Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Prototype and engine technology programming

Name: Mikael Dahlström Zodiac Sign: Gemeni Favourite Food: Strawberry cake Favourite Game: Any old Lucasarts adventure game Secret Skill: I can hold my breath for ten minutes! Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Rendering & visual programming

Name: Erik Beran Zodiac Sign: Pisces Favourite Food: Pancakes Favourite Game: Not getting caught Secret Skill: I mix up a mean drink Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: I wrote the fully playable prototype of ilomilo; actor system, game logic, world partitioning, scripting, level format etc.

Erik is off to new adventures in the US, and is no longer on the team 😟

Excel Sheet Persons

Name: Malte Olsson Zodiac Sign: Pisces Favourite Food: Smoothie Favourite Game: Grim Fandango Secret Skill: I speak jämtländska fluently Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Assist the team with whatever needs to be done

Name: Fredrik Erlandsson Zodiac Sign: Cancer Favourite Food: Pancakes Favourite Game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Secret Skill: I am really good at baking cookies! Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: I am the lead producer of the project. That means I keep track of the production schedule, make sure that the right people do the right things, solve design or tech issues together with the team and make sure the game is fun to play! Also, I like to write too long texts that won’t fit nicely inside this table

Name: Kim Nordström Zodiac Sign: Virgo! Favourite Food: Anytning with meat, mushrooms and corn Favourite Game: Strategy games like Age of Empires and Starcraft Secret Skill: 6502/6510 assembly programming Stuff I do in the ilomilo project: Making sure that things are done correctly

[minecraft-mod-menu-forge-xd]

Mod Menu / - Minecraft Mod Download

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Modern rendering engine and client-side optimization mod for Minecraft. Lightweight and modular API providing common hooks and intercompatibility measures utilized by mods using the Fabric toolchain. A modern shaders mod for Minecraft intended to be compatible with existing OptiFine shader packs. Makes the game boot faster by deferring non-essential initialization. Adds a mod menu to view the list of mods you have installed. Rewrites the light engine to fix lighting performance and lighting errors. Reduces the memory usage of the game in more modded scenarios. A proximity voice chat mod with audio positioning and lots of features. Reduce FPS lag with block entities, as well as customize them with resource packs. Modrinth uses cookies for various purposes, including advertising. We encourage you to review your privacy settings by clicking on the button below: Review Accept all. Sort by. Consider changing the search query. List is empty. Show per page. Sodium by jellysquid3. Client mod. Created 2 years ago. Updated 2 months ago. Fabric API by modmuss Universal mod. Updated 8 days ago. Lithium by jellysquid3. Updated 6 days ago. Iris Shaders by coderbot. Created a year ago. Updated 10 days ago. LazyDFU by astei. Mod Menu by Prospector. Indium by comp Updated 3 days ago. Starlight Fabric by spottedleaf. Sodium Extra by FlashyReese. Updated 12 days ago. Hydrogen by jellysquid3. Updated a year ago. Phosphor by jellysquid3. Krypton by astei. Updated 5 days ago. LambDynamicLights by LambdAurora. FerriteCore by malte Updated 21 days ago. FallingTree by RakSrinaNa. Server mod. Updated 7 days ago. Plasmo Voice by kpids. Created 9 months ago. Cloth Config API by shedaniel. Created 3 months ago. EntityCulling by tr7zw. Created 2 months ago. Updated a day ago. Enhanced Block Entities by FoundationGames. Updated a month ago. Dynamic FPS by juliand

[digitadotid]

Internet Explorer 11 Tak Lagi Didukung Google Search

Internet Explorer 11 Tak Lagi Didukung Google Search

Google search tidak akan lagi mendukung browser Internet Explorer 11. Browser yang dirilis Microsoft pada Oktober 2013 tersebut merupakan browser terakhir yang menggunakan rendering engine Trident milik mereka sendiri sebelumnya akhirnya datang browser Microsoft Edge dengan engine Chromium yang menggantikan Internet Explorer. Adalah Malte Ubl, seorang pengembang di Google, yang mengumumkan…

[heloisedc]

The darkness embraced him lovingly.[1]

I can no more recognize the form of this light than I can gaze directly on the sphere of the sun. [2]

We are mutually bound together, the lighter being restrained by the heavier, so that I cannot fly off; while, on the contrary, from the lighter tending upwards, the heavier is so suspended, that he cannot fall down.[3]

The excitement rushed through my body as the ritual started. Has meus ad metas sudet oportet equus.[4] (My goal is to transpire)

He was of utter beauty, grazing perfection. The reproduction of the image of the Vitruvian man […][5]

No sculptor can possibly produce a first class work of art here on Gaia without a well crafted Participation and the ones I produce of this particular type are considered excellent[…][6] We seem never to be altogether prepared for the resulting distress. If we do not literally shake, as I did […], we may experience an internal shudder that is the subjective equivalent of the overt trembling that occurred […]. While my physical shaking […] was observable by anyone standing near me, the inner shudder at my own bodily pain may not be visible to others even though it is felt intensely by myself, and felt as foreign to me. Some part of my body has become alien to me, split off from a coherent and unitary sense of self.[7]

He clearly abused himself, but in so doing rendered a stature I had never before had the blessing to see. Ideal form of excellence![8] but For what purpose?[9]

For them.

  I had also studied all the details of housekeeping; I understand cooking and cleaning; I know the prices of food, and also how to choose it; I can keep accounts accurately […].[10]

Mild water? I found suds forming on my body and I rubbed hastily here, there, everywhere, judging it to be the wash cycle and knowing it would not last long. Then came the rinse cycle. Ah, warm  Well, perhaps not warm, but not quite as cold, and definitely feeling warm to my thoroughly chilled body.[11]

If a man is covered by an eruption you will mix flour of malt little by little in oil, you will apply (it) and he will recover; if he is still not cured, you will apply hot simtum and he will recover; if he is still not cured, you will apply the warm residue and he will recover.[12] Since statues are feasting, it’s an interrupted meal. As though eternally interrupted. At which deadly mouthful were they immobilized?[13]

The Greeks were not wrong in showing us the immortals constantly feasting, drinking ambrosia, and laughing endlessly.[14]

Now, everything is finished.[15]

  Here the day has come; here the week of the lectistemium has begun.[16] If we employ extracts, they must have been recently prepared and preserved with great care.[17] Oiling out, making out, polishing, scraping, etc.[18] This new development came from the perfecting of the arts that imitate the human body.[19]

The physical effort was small, but the mental effort of trying to control without controlling was enormously difficult.[20] His only aim, his only possible aim, was to please me.[21] Or so I had thought.

I believed, however, that the soul could achieve temporary separation from the body in an ecstatic trance.[22] Is it truly possible to think without arriving at beauty, without penetrating the secret place where life bubbles up, without the transfiguration of the body?[23]

“Prepared?”[24]

  The Sacrifice, the gift

Then the engine was started, the machine ran along the ground, gathered speed, until finally, all of a sudden, at right angles, I rose slowly, […] as it were static ecstasy of a horizontal speed suddenly transformed into a majestic, vertical ascent.[25]

Now, drawn out from his body, his sinews formed a bundle of dark, shiny stalks, not unlike the bundle of lightning bolts that lay beside him, although these were bright and smoking.[26] Now between the dry head, more than dead, almost abstract, empty and dessicated, suitably objectivized, wholly exterior, pierced, visible, nameable, articulated, analyzable, between the skull and the rest of the world, a circumstantial halo of light, like the ones worn by the great saints, replaces, at bone level, the lining of flesh, fat, muscle, organs, skin, veins, tendons, hair, radiance, charm, beauty, glory. Thus the body thinks. The body thinks therefore shines.[27]

If you ever have to carry someone on your shoulders from the top of a mountain, down to the valley, you will think at first that you are dying, the torture endured by muscles that do not know how to work when walking down a slope is unbearable; then you get your strength back, as is always the case, a second wind and addiction to this new labour, gradually and for the first time previously unknown muscle fibres, unaccustomed angles, slumbering joints, zones of silence in the middle of your flesh make strange yet familiar music, never before heard yet immediately recognized, the mobile, non-homogeneous porterage column separates into its component parts, a whole world comes to life within it, arranges and adapts itself, redistributes its responsibilities under the implacable, crushing weight; the body becomes an architectural structure, moving masonry, a ship; the skeleton becomes a firm framework, with tie beams and rafters; the muscles form the wall and partitions.[28]

The gods were distinguished from men through their immortality; they were physiologically distinguished through their living on a special diet; and they were endowed with a variety of nonhuman qualities such as superior knowledge and strength, the ability to be invisible and to change their form; and so forth.[29]

Moments are points of rupture —ephemeral, euphoric, revelatory of the total, radical, sometimes revolutionary possibilities latent in everyday life.[30]

Everything that I can see in this body produces in me ecstatic wonder.[31]

Now whoever offers sacrifice must be a sharer in the sacrifice,  because the outward sacrifice he offers is a sign of the inner sacrifice whereby he offers himself to God.[32]

Then, having risen to so high a pitch, having been sustained with so much vigour, the chant, mingled with a murmur of supplication in the midst of ecstasy, seemed at times to stop altogether like a spring that has ceased to flow.[33] This music makes me cry because I am not like it, not something complete, which turns toward the lost sweetness of life like a distant quotation. Happiness can only be thought of as something lost, as a beautiful alien. It cannot be anything more than a premonition that we approach with tears in our eyes without ever reaching it. [34]

  In an ecstasy of joy, no doubt intensified by the joy he felt in making me shine before his friends, with extreme volubility, he reiterated, stroking and patting me as though I were a horse that had just come first past the post: “You’re the most beautiful man I know, do you hear?”[35]

BAs soon as he was free, he rushed out to admire the sunlight, crying out ecstatically, 'How beautiful![36]

 Just as a different image of the rainbow enters into every mortal eye, so too does the surrounding world reflect for each individual a different imprint of beauty, However, universal, original beauty, which we can name only in moments of ecstatic intuition and are unable to reduce to words, reveals itself unto the One who created the rainbow and the eye that beholds it.[37]

 It was time to rest again.

     [1] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[2] Newman, Sister of Wisdom

[3] Pliny, Natural History Volume 1

[4] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

[5] Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

[6] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[7] Casey, The World on Edge

[8] Wollstonecraft, Complete Works

[9] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[10] Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[11] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[12] Serres, History of Scientific Thought

[13] Serres, Rome

[14] Serres, The Parasite

[15] Serres, The Birth of Physics

[16] Serres, Rome

[17] Laennec, A Treatise on the Diseases of the Chest and on Mediate Auscultation

[18] Gombrich, Art and Illusion

[19] Younes, The Historical Dictionary of Architecture of Quatremere De Quincy

[20] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[21] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[22] Schmitt, The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy

[23] Serres, The Five Senses

[24] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

[25] Proust, In Search of Lost Time Vol V The Captive The Fugitive

[26] Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony

[27] Serres, Statues

[28] Serres, The Five Senses

[29] Voegelin, Order and History 2

[30] Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

[31] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

[32] Aquinas, Summa Theologica

[33] Proust, In Search of Lost Time Vol III The Guermantes Way

[34] Sloterdijk, Critique of Cynical Reason

[35] Proust, In Search of Lost Time Vol III The Guermantes Way

[36] Foucault, History of Madness

[37] Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815

[un-enfant-immature]

Answering its critics, Google loosens reins on AMP project

Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, has been a controversial project since its debut. The need for the framework has been clear: the payloads of mobile pages can be just insane, what with layers and layers of images, Javascript, ad networks, and more slowing down page rendering time and costing users serious bandwidth on metered plans.

Yet, the framework has been aggressively foisted on the community by Google, which has backed the project not just with technical talent, but also by making algorithmic changes to its search results that have essentially mandated that pages comply with the AMP project’s terms — or else lose their ranking on mobile searches.

Even more controversially, as part of making pages faster, the AMP project uses caches of pages on CDNs — which are hosted by Google (and also Cloudflare now). That meant that Google’s search results would direct a user to an AMP page hosted by Google, effectively cutting out the owner of the content in the process.

The project has been led by Malte Ubl, a senior staff engineer working on Google’s Javascript infrastructure projects, who has until now held effective unilateral control over the project.

In the wake of all of this criticism, the AMP project announced today that it would reform its governance, replacing Ubl as the exclusive tech lead with a technical steering committee comprised of companies invested in the success in the project. Notably, the project’s intention has an “…end goal of not having any company sit on more than a third of the seats.” In addition, the project will create an advisory board and working groups to shepherd the project’s work.

The project is also expected to move to a foundation in the future. These days, there are a number of places such a project could potentially reside, including the Apache Software Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation.

While the project has clearly had its detractors, the performance improvements that AMP has been fighting for are certainly meritorious. With this more open governance model, the project may get deeper support from other browser makers like Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft, as well as the broader open source community.

And while Google has certainly been the major force behind the project, it has also been popular among open source software developers. Since the project’s launch, there have been 710 contributors to the project according to its statistics, and the project (attempting to empathize its non-Google monopoly) notes that more than three quarters of those contributors don’t work at Google.

Nonetheless, more transparency and community involvement should help to accelerate Accelerated Mobile Pages. The project will host its contributor summit next week at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, where these governance changes as well as the technical and design roadmaps for the project will be top of mind for attendees.

[profiletvm]

About Trademark Registration

Registration in Single Class The registration in single class, will gives protection under that class only. Otherwise we should go for multiple class registration, which will be expensive. For example ‘cococola’ is registered in the class relating to food and beverages and somebody is applying cococola in class relating to construction, then authorities will consider the second application also. Trademark application as a word mark: A word mark registers the word one would want to use and renders stronger and wider protection to one’s business. Once registration is granted for a word trademark, the applicant has the right to use and represent the word in any format or font which grants it extensive protection including exclusive rights to the word as a whole and also allows the applicant to depict it in various formats regardless of its style for all the goods and services in respect of the mark. In other words, by filing a word mark, one would prevent third parties from using one’s brand name in any regard. Trademark application as a logo: A logo on the other hand gives one the rights in the combination of images, design and words taken together. Therefore, the protection given to the words encompassed in a logo are limited in comparison with the standard word marks since the rights in a logo are entitled only to the logo as a whole. If one wishes to register a particular stylized appearance or a combination of stylized wording, orientation, shape, colour and design, filing a trademark as a logo would be appropriate. In other words, by filing a logo, one would prevent third parties from using the said logo or any other logo deceptively similar, rather than the words incorporated in the logo. Quite often, the brand name of businesses constitutes both of words and logos rather than just a logo. The safest way to protect the intellectual property in such instances would be to file the trademark as both as a word mark and as a logo. However, since filing multiple trademark applications would be an expensive affair, the next safest pick for businesses who are looking at cost efficiency would be to register the trademark as a word mark. Ideally, separate trademark applications for word as well as logo should be filed to attain the broadest protection for any business. While big companies might have the budget to justify such multiple applications, this may not seem economical for startup businesses. Hence, it is advisable to file the trademark as a word mark, giving one the next broadest protection against unwarranted infringers. An ideal example for such a scenario would be that of the well-known brand PEPSI. Since 1962 till date, PEPSI has changed its logo a significant number of times. Had it registered its initial trademark application as a logo in 1962 and ceased usage of the same each time a new logo was created, then it would have to file a new trademark application for every such new logo created. The initial trademark application would not protect any of the subsequently created logos. However, since PEPSI registered their trademark as a word mark, they were able to do away with such redundant hassles. Classification of goods and services – Name of the classes (Parts of an article or apparatus are, in general, classified with the actual article or apparatus, except where such parts constitute articles included in other classes). Class 1. Chemical used in industry, science, photography, agriculture, horticulture and forestry; unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed plastics; manures; fire extinguishing compositions; tempering and soldering preparations; chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; tanning substances; adhesive used in industry Class 2 . Paints, varnishes, lacquers; preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colorants; mordents; raw natural resins; metals in foil and powder form for painters; decorators; printers and artists Class 3 . Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning; polishing; scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps; perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, dentifrices Class 4 . Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; dust absorbing, wetting and binding compositions; fuels(including motor spirit) and illuminants; candles, wicks Class 5 . Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, food for babies; plasters, materials for dressings; materials for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparation for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides Class 6. Common metals and their alloys; metal building materials; transportable buildings of metal; materials of metal for railway tracks; non-electric cables and wires of common metal; ironmongery, small items of metal hardware; pipes and tubes of metal; safes; goods of common metal not included in other classes; ores Class 7 . Machines and machine tools; motors and engines (except for land vehicles); machine coupling and transmission components (except for land vehicles); agricultural implements other than hand-operated; incubators for eggs Class 8 . Hand tools and implements (hand-operated); cutlery; side arms; razors Class 9 . Scientific, nautical, surveying, electric, photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, checking (supervision), life saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of sound or images; magnetic data carriers, recording discs; automatic vending machines and mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating machines, data processing equipment and computers; fire extinguishing apparatus Class 10 . Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments, artificial limbs, eyes and teeth; orthopaedic articles; suture materials Class 11 . Apparatus for lighting, heating, steam generating, cooking, refrigerating, drying ventilating, water supply and sanitary purposes Class 12 . Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water Class 13 . Firearms; ammunition and projectiles; explosives; fire works Class 14 . Precious metals and their alloys and goods in precious metals or coated therewith, not included in other classes; jewellery, precious stones; horological and other chronometric instruments Class 15. Musical instruments Class 16 . Paper, cardboard and goods made from these materials, not included in other classes; printed matter; bookbinding material; photographs; stationery; adhesives for stationery or household purposes; artists' materials; paint brushes; typewriters and office requisites (except furniture); instructional and teaching material (except apparatus); plastic materials for packaging (not included in other classes); playing cards; printers' type; printing blocks Class 17 . Rubber, gutta percha, gum, asbestos, mica and goods made from these materials and not included in other classes; plastics in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping and insulating materials; flexible pipes, not of metal Class 18 . Leather and imitations of leather, and goods made of these materials and not included in other classes; animal skins, hides, trunks and travelling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness and saddlery Class 19 . Building materials, (non-metallic), non-metallic rigid pipes for building; asphalt, pitch and bitumen; non-metallic transportable buildings; monuments, not of metal. Class 20 . Furniture, mirrors, picture frames; goods(not included in other classes) of wood, cork, reed, cane, wicker, horn, bone, ivory, whalebone, shell, amber, mother- of-pearl, meerschaum and substitutes for all these materials, or of plastics Class 21 . Household or kitchen utensils and containers(not of precious metal or coated therewith); combs and sponges; brushes(except paints brushes); brush making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; steelwool; unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building); glassware, porcelain and earthenware not included in other classes Class 22 . Ropes, string, nets, tents, awnings, tarpaulins, sails, sacks and bags (not included in other classes) padding and stuffing materials(except of rubber or plastics); raw fibrous textile materials Class 23 . Yarns and threads, for textile use Class 24 . Textiles and textile goods, not included in other classes; bed and table covers. Class 25 . Clothing, footwear, headgear Class 26 . Lace and embroidery, ribbons and braid; buttons, hooks and eyes, pins and needles; artificial flowers Class 27 . Carpets, rugs, mats and matting, linoleum and other materials for covering existing floors; wall hangings(non-textile) Class 28 . Games and playthings, gymnastic and sporting articles not included in other classes; decorations for Christmas trees Class 29 . Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, fruit sauces; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats Class 30 . Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, artificial coffee; flour and preparations made from cereals, bread, pastry and confectionery, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking powder; salt, mustard; vinegar, sauces, (condiments); spices; ice Class 31. Agricultural, horticultural and forestry products and grains not included in other classes; live animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds, natural plants and flowers; foodstuffs for animals, malt Class 32 . Beers, mineral and aerated waters, and other non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages Class 33 .Alcoholic beverages(except beers) Class 34 . Tobacco, smokers' articles, matches SERVICES Class 35 .Advertising, business management, business administration, office functions. Class 36 .Insurance, financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs. Class 37 . Building construction; repair; installation services. Class 38. Telecommunications. Class 39. Transport; packaging and storage of goods; travel arrangement. Class 40. Treatment of materials. Class 41. Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities. Class 42. Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software. Class 43. Services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation. Class 44. Medical services, veterinary services, hygienic and beauty care for human beings or animals; agriculture, horticulture and forestry services. Class 45. Legal services; security services for the protection of property and individuals; personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals. Read the full article

[rocketpunksantics]

And there we go! Here's a quick excerpt from the storyboard I'm currently working on. I don't know why the textures are bugging now, so I went back to older versions of the materials. But yes, it's all 3d! Don't mind the A-pose, it's just that I don't really want to pose all 22 characters in the scene all by myself (but that should change in the final version, mind you). I had to roll back on a previous version of Blender so I can work with the Malt render engine as it's easier to get the outlines. I know I could've made it in 2d, it would probably be quicker if I knew how to draw poses. But here I can do what I want with the camera, and I'm just too used to working in 3d that it's easier for me to work. I'll still have to work on the character design for the teacher, a museum employee, and a couple of bullies before jumping on making more backgrounds for the museum portion of the episode. I'll also have to do some research for a pretty important VFX that I'll use both in the storyboard and the animation itself. It's gonna be so much fun!

[booksandcafesblog]

Cafe Review: Render Coffee

Cafe: Render Coffee Location: Devonshire Street, Boston, MA Coffee: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

Located just a few steps away from my morning subway stop, I initially believed Render Coffee would be nothing more than a cafe of convenience for me - a fair-weather friend I’d visit from time to time when I desired a little treat before work. Relationships are complicated, however, and before I knew it Render Coffee became one of the most important aspects of my life.

From the moment I entered Render Coffee, I knew it wasn’t like other cafes. There was a vibe that the coffee was almost secondary, as the decor projected more like artist studio than a cafe. Waiting in line that first time, my soulless post-train ride/pre-caffeine gaze eventually landed on several 3D printers lining the back wall. Upon ordering a large black coffee, I asked the barista, “Is there a sign-up sheet or something for those 3D printers?” The barista launched into a lengthy explanation that I couldn’t really follow, but it sounded like a no.

Now, let’s talk about the coffee. It is strong - very strong,  and having built up a pretty serious tolerance to caffeine over the years, I really appreciate a flavorful, strong cup of coffee. However, an interesting aspect to ordering drinks at Render Coffee is that they don’t put the top of the cup on for you. There is a stack of cup tops you put on your cup yourself. This has proven to be mortifyingly difficult for me, with the barista having to help me out a couple of times. I have seen no other customer struggle as much as I have. 

As far as food is concerned, Render offers a variety of muffins, pastries and croissants. I personally opted for the blueberry muffin, and I must say, it was the best muffin I’ve ever had in my life. I can’t recommend this muffin enough… order this muffin.

Photos from Render’s Facebook

Had I stuck to just ordering coffees and muffins, I could end the review right now and say that Render Coffee is a great little cafe, and you should definitely check it out if you are in the area - bonus points if you have a thing for ogling 3D printers you will never get to use. However, I did not just stick to the coffee. After few months of being a customer, I took things to the next level and graduated to… cold brew. This is where the real story begins.

Now, I am no caffeine prude. I understand that cold brew is much stronger than normal coffee, and I am usually able to handle cold brew without issue, but Render Coffee’s cold brew just blasted me into the stratosphere. I have never done hard drugs, but I can confidently assert that it is more powerful than cocaine. 

The first time I tried Render Coffee’s cold brew, I was at work, quietly typing and listening to music on my headphones. Seemingly out of nowhere, and maybe only halfway through the drink, I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to burst into laughter, and not joyful laughter either… evil laughter… ugly, visceral laughter. The urge was so strong that I had to make a real effort to contain it. Strangest of all, the music I was listening to seemed to be the trigger. If there was a particular moment in a song I enjoyed, it would summon a swell of maniacal giggles I’d have to suppress, causing an involuntary, unsettling smirk to form across my face.

“What’s happening to me?” I asked myself. “What have I become?”

While a normal person who experienced this would never order a cold brew again, I am not a normal person, and ordering these drinks became part of my weekly routine. Oh, the wonderful work I was able to complete in record time. With cold brew coursing through my veins, and cranked up speed metal coursing through my headphones, I would absolutely brutalize my keyboard. Aggressive click-clacks echoed about the office as I suppressed demon cackles, tried to rationalize why everything around me appeared to be moving so slow, and ground my teeth into oblivion. I was a full-blown cold brew junkie, and Render Coffee had become my dealer. Multiple times a week I’d enter the establishment for my fix. Attempting to hide the obvious monkey on my back, I’d act as though I was new to the cafe, fumbling with coffee lids and asking different baristas, “Is there a sign-up sheet or something for those 3D printers?” 

I began to tell others of my secret, of this magic elixir available to any sad sack with five dollars in their pocket and nothing to lose. Though to my surprise, NOBODY ELSE reacted the same way I did to Render Coffee’s cold brew. To them, it was just a normal drink. Was I experiencing the placebo effect? Was I allergic to the cold brew? Was I just an insane person? 

“What’s happening to me?” I asked myself.

“What have I become?”

I’d like to say that I eventually hit rock bottom and turned my life around, maybe even starting a support group for other cold brew addicts, but what actually happened is probably the bleakest outcome of all… over time, I simply got used to it. I gained a tolerance to the cold brew and eventually just lost interest. At one point, in a misguided effort to rekindle the magic, I tried something off the menu called a “Malted Cold Brew.” Consisting of a whole lot of milk and a splash of cold brew, I would not recommend this drink. It tasted… ghoulish. And by that I mean it tasted like someone blended a literal ghoul and served it as a drink. Needless to say, it did not restart the cold brew engine for me. 

I still stop by Render Coffee every so often, usually ordering a black coffee. A few months ago, during a quiet moment, I relayed to one of the regular baristas my experience with the cold brew. 

“Has anyone ever talked to you about how strong the cold brew is?”  I asked. “It’s like drugs… and I mean that as a compliment.” 

The barista said no and laughed for a long time. I left Render Coffee feeling pretty funny. 

[placerdiario]

JSConf EU 2018 Generative Visuals from Matt Deslauriers on Vimeo.

For JSConf EU 2018 in Arena Berlin, we created a massive generative artwork on a 50x8 meter projection surface, running entirely in real-time within a Chrome tab. Over the two days of the conference, the artwork was shown in the opening sequence of the event, through idle breaks, and surrounding the speaker's slides during talks. Since the piece is generative, it continually evolves: producing endless unique visuals and never rendering the same composition twice.

CREDITS This was made possible by the entire JSConfEU team and conference, as well as the support from their sponsors, including Google Chrome.

The generative visuals shown in this video were made possible by the following members:

Matt DesLauriers – generative art, creative coding, video editing Szymon Kaliski – creative coding Martin Mostert – cinematography, film footage Martin Schuhfuss – lights, projection mapping Malte Ubl – curator, JSConf EU Silke Voigts – design, brand identity Sam Wray (2xAA) – soundtrack

Also thanks to the rest of the live:js, Nested Loops, JSConf EU and CSSConf EU teams.

TECHNICAL DETAILS The piece, created with JavaScript and ThreeJS/WebGL, is made with a mix of procedural and pre-defined shapes. It is composed of 4 projectors and a total resolution of 6540x1200px on a GeForce GTX 1080.

The shapes are triangulated and rendered with WebGL, using vertex shaders to give them organic movement. An algorithm similar to dart throwing is used to spawn shapes in a pleasing composition, and a slow-motion physics engine repels shapes away from the centre screens if they drift too close. WebAudio and FFT analysis to the intro audio affects the dancing and shifting of the shapes. Most features of the artwork — geometry, pattern, scale, colour selection, movement, etc — are randomized with hand-tuned probabilities.

[theinvinciblenoob]

Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, has been a controversial project since its debut. The need for the framework has been clear: the payloads of mobile pages can be just insane, what with layers and layers of images, Javascript, ad networks, and more slowing down page rendering time and costing users serious bandwidth on metered plans.

Yet, the framework has been aggressively foisted on the community by Google, which has backed the project not just with technical talent, but also by making algorithmic changes to its search results that have essentially mandated that pages comply with the AMP project’s terms — or else lose their ranking on mobile searches.

Even more controversially, as part of making pages faster, the AMP project uses caches of pages on CDNs — which are hosted by Google (and also Cloudflare now). That meant that Google’s search results would direct a user to an AMP page hosted by Google, effectively cutting out the owner of the content in the process.

The project has been led by Malte Ubl, a senior staff engineer working on Google’s Javascript infrastructure projects, who has until now held effective unilateral control over the project.

In the wake of all of this criticism, the AMP project announced today that it would reform its governance, replacing Ubl as the exclusive tech lead with a technical steering committee comprised of companies invested in the success in the project. Notably, the project’s intention has an “…end goal of not having any company sit on more than a third of the seats.” In addition, the project will create an advisory board and working groups to shepherd the project’s work.

The project is also expected to move to a foundation in the future. These days, there are a number of places such a project could potentially reside, including the Apache Software Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation.

While the project has clearly had its detractors, the performance improvements that AMP has been fighting for are certainly meritorious. With this more open governance model, the project may get deeper support from other browser makers like Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft, as well as the broader open source community.

And while Google has certainly been the major force behind the project, it has also been popular among open source software developers. Since the project’s launch, there have been 710 contributors to the project according to its statistics, and the project (attempting to empathize its non-Google monopoly) notes that more than three quarters of those contributors don’t work at Google.

Nonetheless, more transparency and community involvement should help to accelerate Accelerated Mobile Pages. The project will host its contributor summit next week at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, where these governance changes as well as the technical and design roadmaps for the project will be top of mind for attendees.

via TechCrunch

[roseacisco]

Answering its critics, Google loosens reins on AMP project

Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, has been a controversial project since its debut. The need for the framework has been clear: the payloads of mobile pages can be just insane, what with layers and layers of images, Javascript, ad networks, and more slowing down page rendering time and costing users serious bandwidth on metered plans.

Yet, the framework has been aggressively foisted on the community by Google, which has backed the project not just with technical talent, but also by making algorithmic changes to its search results that have essentially mandated that pages comply with the AMP project’s terms — or else lose their ranking on mobile searches.

Even more controversially, as part of making pages faster, the AMP project uses caches of pages on CDNs — which are hosted by Google (and also Cloudflare now). That meant that Google’s search results would direct a user to an AMP page hosted by Google, effectively cutting out the owner of the content in the process.

The project has been led by Malte Ubl, a senior staff engineer working on Google’s Javascript infrastructure projects, who has until now held effective unilateral control over the project.

In the wake of all of this criticism, the AMP project announced today that it would reform its governance, replacing Ubl as the exclusive tech lead with a technical steering committee comprised of companies invested in the success in the project. Notably, the project’s intention has an “…end goal of not having any company sit on more than a third of the seats.” In addition, the project will create an advisory board and working groups to shepherd the project’s work.

The project is also expected to move to a foundation in the future. These days, there are a number of places such a project could potentially reside, including the Apache Software Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation.

While the project has clearly had its detractors, the performance improvements that AMP has been fighting for are certainly meritorious. With this more open governance model, the project may get deeper support from other browser makers like Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft, as well as the broader open source community.

And while Google has certainly been the major force behind the project, it has also been popular among open source software developers. Since the project’s launch, there have been 710 contributors to the project according to its statistics, and the project (attempting to empathize its non-Google monopoly) notes that more than three quarters of those contributors don’t work at Google.

Nonetheless, more transparency and community involvement should help to accelerate Accelerated Mobile Pages. The project will host its contributor summit next week at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, where these governance changes as well as the technical and design roadmaps for the project will be top of mind for attendees.